College Basketball Tonight

We went to CW Post this evening.  CW Post beat Franklin Pierce College 61-57.  For $5 a ticket, how could we go wrong.  It is certainly much cheaper than seeing the losing Knicks.

Reading Biographies during the Winter Break

I have in my bio that I am greatly interested in the popular music of the 1960s.  When I am not listening to the music of that decade I am often reading about it.  I just purchased from Amazon.com biographies of Donovan Leitch (http://www.donovan.ie ) and Mike Bloomfield (http://www.mikebloomfield.com ).  Donovan is a Scottish folksinger often called the British Bob Dylan.  I have several of his albums on Vinyl from the 1960s.  He just released a boxed set on CD, but why should I buy it if I have most of the recordings on vinyl.  I enjoyed the biography, but it stopped at 1969.  Although Donovan was not active in the music business after 1970, it would have been interesting to know what he was doing.  He did release a CD called Sutras in the 1990s. Mike Bloomfield was a blues guitartist from Chicago.  He played with The Butterfield Blues Band, the Electric Flag and with Al Kooper.  I have on vinyl his Supersession recording with Al Kooper.  Yesterday I downloaded his greatest hits from Itunes.  Sadly Mike died in 1981 at the age of 37.

2 Museums in 2 Days

Yesterday we went to the Cradle of Aviation Museum (http://cradleofaviation.org) located in Garden City Long Island.  Lee visited this museum some time ago with his Y group.  It is very similiar to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.  Charles Lindbergh took off from Mitchel Field which is near the museum.  Also Grumann and several other aviation companies existed on Long Island.  Today we went ot the Museum of Televsion and Radio (http://www.mtr.org) on 52nd Street in Manhattan.  We went to the museum and saw a Howdy Doody Show from 1952.  Karen is working on a jigsaw puzzle which shows the history of television.  Lee all of a sudden became intersted in the Howdy Doody puppet.  It satisfied his curiosity to see a Howdy Doody Show.  We also saw the premier of the Johnny Cash TV show from 1969 which featured Bob Dylan and Joanie Mitchell.  We also saw Elvis Presley performing in Hawaii in 1973.

International House of Pancakes

For the first time in about a year the family ate breakfast at the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) on Northern Blvd and 156th Street.  I had my favorite breakfast dish, chocolate chip pancakes.  The bill was about twice as high as our usual breakfast when we go to Uncle Bill's Diner in the Pathmark Shopping Center.  When you go to the IHOP you are paying for the name of the restaurant.  We went to the multiplex to see Cheaper by the Dozen 2 with Steve Martin.  It's nice to have the entire week off.

King Kong 2005

When you are Jewish, there is nothing much to do on Christmas day.  Gentiles generally stay home, open their gifts and have a big family dinner.  Today, the three of us went to see the new version of King Kong.  It was the same story of the original from the 1930s but of course used new computer technology.  These fantasy movies are for kids anyway.  It was good to get out the house for a few hours.

Oy Vey: A New York City Transit Strike

I live in Queens, NY and commute by public transportation to Newark, NJ where I work at a university. I take the subway to Penn Station and then New Jersey Transit to Newark. I have decided to stay home and use vacation time instead of trying to drive in. I would have to go across the Whitestone Bridge to the Cross Bronx Expressway to the George Washington Bridge. Traffic is tough enough on a normal working day. It would be impossible during a transit strike.  For 13 years I have schlepped by public transportation to my job.  Over that time period I've had an exemplary record of attendance and punctuality.  On snowy mornings I have arrived much earlier than people who live in New Jersey and drive to work.  For once I have decided to put my personal needs ahead of my job which I have grown to hate.  13 years of loyalty and excellent service did not qualify me for any kind of promotion.  I have plenty of vacation time which I can use for this strike.  I would rather lose this time than aggravate myself trying to fight the traffic.  I understand the Transport Workers need for a fair and equitable contract.  Striking and imposing a hardship on 7 million New Yorkers is not the way to solve a labor dispute.  Under the Taylor law the union will be heavily fined for this illegal strike.  Let's hope for a short strike.

Basketball/Movies

On Saturday night we went to Queens College to see them beat C.W. Post 84-68.  It is Division II basketball, but it is certainly a bargain.  We pay $5 for adults and $3 for Lee as a student.  It is certainly cheaper than paying $40/ticket to see the Knicks who are now 6-17 under multimillion dollar coach Larry Brown.  On Sunday we went to the movies.  We were going to see King Kong, but we would have to wait for 2 hours.  Instead we saw Just Friends.  It seems that it the "In Thing" to go to a blockbluster movie on the opening weekend.  We'll wait until next. week.  Now I will have to sweat out the threatened transit strike for Tuesday.  If they pull it off, I will use vacation time.  Why should I struggle with Bumper to Bumper traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway to stare out at a computer lab.

Even the threat of a transit strike stinks

There was a threat of a transit strike for 12 midnight.  I commute from Queens to NJIT in Newark, NJ.  I take the subway to Penn Station and from there New Jersey Transit to Newark.  If there was a transit strike, I would have to drive across the Bronx to the George Washington Bridge and down to Newark.  Traffic would really be a nightmare.  Who needs the aggravation.  If there was a transit strike, I would take vacation time.  Even the threat of a strike creates anxiety.  When I woke up this morning, there was no settlement, but the trains were still running.  I decided not to go to work. I was just afraid that the union would commence a strike in the middle of the day leaving me stranded.  It turned out that the trains were running all day after all.  There is a threat of a strike now for Tuesday.  By being absent today, I missed a boring staff meeting.

College Basketball Weekend

It's Sunday night, I'm writing this blog entry and am listening to Sound of the Sixties with Brian Matthew.  I seem to be falling into a pattern.  Anyway we went to two college basketball games this weekend.  On Saturday we went to Queens College were we saw Queens beat Bentley College 87-79.  Today we drove out to Hofstra in Hempstead where the Hofstra Women lost to St. Johns 71-65.  College basketball games are very inexpensive, about $8.  For the Knicks we would have to pay $40 a ticket to sit in the stratosphere.  Even with Larry Brown as coach the Knicks are struggling at 6 - 13.  We will see our one Knick game of the season on King Day.

Crummy weather today

There was light snow this morning which later turned to rain.  It was only about an inch, but it kept me inside most of the day.  Maybe you can call it Seasonal Affective Disorder or Cabin Fever, but I just hate being cooped up in the apartment.  The winter hasn't started yet.  We saw the movie Mine, Yours, and Ours at the College Point Multiplex.  It is nice to have a movie theater complex within walking distance.  I must get out of the house even in the worst weather.  yester we drove out to Hofstra University to see the mens' basketball team beat the University of Delaware 79-65.  When I got home I listened to the return of Musicradio WABC 77.  People are still venting after WCBS-FM abruptly dropped oldies for the Jack format last June.  Back to work tomorrow.  I have to put up with the bean counters and bureaucrats in the NJIT Library.

Thanksgiving Weekend

It seems that I have a Sunday night ritual of listening to BBC2's Sound of the Sixties with Brian Matthew while I add to this blog.  Thursday night, Karen, Lee, and I went to Bens of Bayside for Thanksgiving Dinner.  My mother went with my sister to her husband Keith's family dinner in New Jersey.  On Friday we went to the Harry Potter movie.  These movies are not my cup of tea but Lee said that he enjoyed it.  Saturday morning we went to breakfast at Uncle Bill's Dinner.  It was good to have pancakes and sausages.  In the afternoon we saw the movie Rent at the College Point Multiplex.  It's really nice to have a movie complex within walking distance.  Sunday morning I went with my mother to the unveiling for my Uncle George who died last February at the age of 93.  It was nice to see my cousins on my fathers side of the family.  In the afternoon we went to St. John's University to see the Women's basketball team.  They beat Niagara University 67 to 43.  The quality of college basketball is not the greatest, but at $7 a ticket it is a bargain.  After the game, we went to a Barnes and Nobles Bookstore.  Karen and Lee bought calendars while I bought yet another Bob Dylan book.  I am going to have to write an entry about my 40 years of being a Bob Dylan fan.  Back to work tomorrow. UGH!!!!

Walk the Line

Lee finally got to see the movie about his beloved Johnny Cash.  While most kids his age ran to see the new Harry Potter movie, Lee was the youngest person in the audience in the theater.  He was thrilled when he heard a short clip of Dylan's Highway 61 Revisted.  In one scence Johnny Cash was in the office of Columbia Records where on the wall was the same photo of Dylan from the Blonde on Blonde album.  The movie ended at 1968 when he proposed to June Carter on stage.  The Man in Black had a very successful career after 1968.  This was not shown in the movie.  Otherwise it was excellent.

Jeopardy DVD

I had a cold today, so I stayed home for most of the day and took it easy.  The Jeopardy DVD arrived in the mail toady from Sony.  I have been a great fan of quiz shows since I watched 21 in the 1950s with my father.  I began to watch Jeopardy in 1964 when Art Fleming was the host.  That version lasted until 1975.  In 1984 a new version with Alex Trebek came on the air.  This DVD featured some of the significant games in the show's history such as the defeat of Ken Jennings on his 75th appearance.  They showed what goes on during the show behind the scenes and had interviews with Ken Jennings, Frank Spangenburg, Eddie Timmanus, and Brad Rutter.

Legend of Zorro

Lee wanted to see Legend of Zorro.  It's nice to have a movie multiplex in the neighborhood.  As far as I was concerned it was nothing to get excited about, but most movies these days are aimed at kids anyway.  Back to work tomorrow.

My son the Johnny Cash Fan

Lee is counting the days until next Friday November 18th, the opening of Walk the Line the bio-pic of the late Johnny Cash.  I don't remember how he became interested in the Man in Black, but he has collected several CDs and DVDs of his.  Today I ordered a Johnny Cash t-shirt for him.  Since he was off from school for Veterans Day Karen took him to the Museum of TV and Radio where he saw highlights of the Country Music Association Awards over the years.

Mild day in November

It must have been close to 70 today.  We went to Hofstra to see a football game.  Hofstra lost to the University of New Hampshire 29-26.  Most of the games that we've seen this year have been one sided.  When we got home we watched the DVD called Festival which featured performances from the Newport Folk Festival from 1963-66.  There was Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Donovan, Peter Paul and Mary among many others.  I wish I had the money to go to concerts back in the 60s.

This Weekend

Saturday we went to the football game at CW Post who beat Merrimack 41-7.  It seems that when we see a game at Post it is usually one sided.  My mon has been ill with the flu for about a week.  I went to the kosher caterer and bought her a chicken today becuase she can not get out of the house.  Fortunately, her doctor has an office in her building.  Later today, we wlaked to downtown Flushing to try out the new hamberger place.  I bought some clothes in Macys.

October 28, 2005

Lee was a bit of a problem at his afterschool problem at the Samuel Field Y so Karen had to pick him up to take hime home.  Same old crap at work.  Too much management, all talk and no action, too much of the management mumbo jumbo. It seems that I don't need as much sleep as I used to.  Last night I went to sleep at 11:30 and got up at 4:30 and couldn't fall back asleep.  The Beatles sound terrific after all these years.

Movies this weekend

It rained yesterday so we went out to see Dreamer.  It is about a 7 year old girl who becomes the owner of a horse who was almost put to sleep after a racing injury.  The horse later went on to win the Breeders Cup.  Today it stopped raining but was blustery so we saw Elizabethtown with Kisten Dunst and Orlando Bloom.

Manfred Mann's Birthday

People misunderstood my October 18th post.  October 18th is Chuck Berry's birthday while Lee's birthday is March 28th.  October 21st is Manfred Mann's birthday.  About a year ago I downloaded a CD of Manfred Mann fro Itunes.  They had some good hits in the UK that didn't chart in the USA.  The CD started with a cover of Dylan's Just Like A Woman.  In included Ha Ha Said the Clown and Sem-Detached Suburban Mr. James.  Listening to Breakfast with the Beatles in the evening.

October 20, 2005

The last couple of days were quite mundane at work,  The same old same old.  I stayed on this job much too long.  It is quite frustrating to be on the same job for 13 years without any advancement.  Management is just prejudiced.  The important thing is that is almost impossible to be fired.  Gary Jackson has just posted his new My Generation Show on Live365.com.  He plays some good British hits from the 1960s that are not heard on radio stations. At 7 AM WFUV announces the birthdays of prominent recording artists.  Today was Tom Petty's birthday so we listened to a vinyl recording of his that I have in my collection.

October 18, 2005

I turned on WFUV this morning and Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat by Bob Dylan came on.  That is a good way to start the day.  I left the house a few minutes early to make sure I got to NJIT on time for my Freshman Seminar class.  These kids really hate being in the class.  Well, a few more weeks to go.  Nothing terribly exciting happened today.  More of the same nonsense.  When I got home Lee wanted to hear Chuck Berry music on the stereo because it was his birthday today.

October 17, 2005

The #7 train was lousy today.  I missed my connection at Penn Station and got to work at NJIT about 1/2 hour late.  I gave my seminar on how to find technical information to the Civil Engineering graduate students.  You never know how effective these seminars are.  I got home and checked the New York City radio ratings.  WCBS-FM which unceremoniously dropped the oldies format on June 3rd dropped to 1.5 in the Arbitron ratings.  Most listeners of oldies in NYC were quite irate when the station changed its format.  It gives us a sense of satisfaction that radio listeners snubbed their nose at the new format.  Hopefully the radio executives learned their lesson.

Our 22nd anniversary

Today, Karen and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary.  October 16, 1983 was a very sunny and mild day in NYC while today was quite windy.  I took Lee out to play basketball in Crocheron Park this morning while we stayed home most of the afternoon.  In the early evening we took Lee to stay with my Mom in Forest Hills while we went to eat at the Santa Fe Steakhouse just off Queens Blvd.  Back to work tomorrow :(

October 15, 2005

Today we went to see Hofstra play the University of Maine.  Hofstra won 44-0.  It only costs $8 to see a college football game.  Even though it was a one sided game we had fun.