Two Mazel Tovs at Work Today

Today when I arrived at work, I found out the Rhonda had just given birth to a baby boy.  She told everyone that she was not due until late August, but last Thursday she was really enormous and wasn't feeling well. I certainly wish Rhonda the best.

This morning my colleague Jackie announced that she was expecting at the end of January.  This certainly came as a surprise to everyone.  She is in her late 30s and of course a pregnancy at that age may be risky.  She said that the tests she had taken indicated everyone was OK and that the baby is going to be a boy.  I didn't find out that Lee was a boy until the instant he was born.  I was in the delivery room and gave Karen all my support.  Likewise, I wish Jackie and her family all the best.

 

Miami Vice The Movie

As I am writing this entry Brian Matthew is playing I Shot Mr. Lee by the Bobbettes, a minor hit in 1960.  It is a follow-up to Mr. Lee by the Bobbettes, a Slutsky family favorite since 1988 when Lee was born.  At Lee's Bar Mitzvah in 2001 the DJ played Mr. Lee while Lee walked into the reception.

Enough reminisicing for now.  I had seen an advertisement for a free Jazz festival at Queens College for today.  We didn't go since it was oppressively hot again.  We certainly didn't want to stand on a hot campus and be uncomfortable.  It would have been nice to do something different but the weather did not cooperate.  Instead we walked to the local multiplex and saw the Miami Vice movie.  The producers of movies these days can't think of any new ideas so they make movie versions of old TV series.

 

Semi-Annual Visit to Yankee Stadium

For the last few years we have made a habit of going to two Yankee games, one before the All-Star break and the other after.  It is just a nuisance to schlep up to the Bronx by subway.  It would be worse to drive there.  Anyway the Yankees were creamed by the lowly Tampa Bay Devil Rays 19-6.  Got home in time to catch the last 1/2 hour of Saturday night oldies.

John Lennon Quote

You can listen to Breakfast with the Beatles any time of the day or night.  The late John Lennon once said "A conspiracy of silence speaks louder than words."  It applies to something I did at work today.

Saturday night oldies on WABC with Mark Simone

Regular readers of this blog (if they still do :)) should recognize that I am always listening to Saturday night oldies on WABC with Mark Simone.  About 6 months after WCBS-FM dropped oldies for the dreaded Jack format, WABC started an oldies show on Saturday night.   From 1960-82 WABC was the premier Top 40 station in the USA if not NYC.  From 1982 to the present it has been a conservative leaning talk station.  This oldies show gives enthusiasts of 60s and 70s music a place over the air to listen to their favorite music for 4 hours a week.  The show has a message board at:  http://www.musicradio77.com/wabcboard/wwwboard//wabcboard1.html

A little after 8 PM he played an obscure oldies called Ma Belle Amie by a Dutch group called the Tee Set.  I wrote on the board that back in 1970 when this was a hit Dan Ingram would say "Who is Ralph Bellamy's mother?"  Ma Belle Amie.  Mark Simone read my post.

 

Today the terrific trio braved the rain and went to Shea Stadium.  On the way to the game it started to rain.  The game was supposed to start at 1:20, but it was delayed until 2:20.  The Mets came from behind to beat the Houston Astros 4-3 with El Duque as the winning pitcher.

Hot day today

It hit 90 degrees in NYC today.  They are predicting a heat wave for the next week.  We went ot the movies to see Pirates of the Carribbean.  What can I say.  It was for kids.  Some of the action scenes seemed to frighten Lee.  The Mets just beat the Chicago Cubs 13-7.  They scored 11 runs in one inning which is a record for runs scored in one innings.  They also hit two grand slam home runs in that inning.

Grease the Musical at Hofstra

I was looking at Newsday yesterday and saw a listing for the musical Grease playing at Hofstra University.  We have gone to Hofstra many times over the years to see football and basketball games.  The price was reasonable so we decided to go.  I had seen the movie version years ago, but never the show.  At the beginning there was a recording of Dan Ingram, the WABC and WCBS-FM radio personality,  introducing the show.  It turns out that Dan graduated from Hofstra in 1956.  It has been 3 or 4 years since Dan has been on the radio, so it was a pleasant surprise to hear him do the introduction.

Musical based on songs by Bob Dylan set to open on Broadway in October

NEW YORK (AP) - Twyla Tharp took on the music of Billy Joel and created Movin' Out, which ran for more than three years on Broadway.

Now the director-choreographer has turned to another pop superstar, Bob Dylan, for her next project - The Times They Are A-Changin'.

The musical, a coming-of-age story set in a circus, opens Oct. 26 at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre. Preview performances begin Sept. 25.

The Times They Are A-Changin concerns a young man, played by Michael Arden; his tyrannical father, portrayed by Thom Sesma, and a beautiful circus performer (Caren Lyn Manuel).

The musical received mostly encouraging reviews when it premiered last February at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre. The San Diego Union-Tribune called it an "exciting, flawed, phantasmagoric fable," while the San Francisco Chronicle said it "looks like a success," praising the production's "dynamic performances and imaginatively acrobatic choreography."

Among the Dylan hits in the show - besides the title song - are Blowin' in the Wind, Mr. Tambourine Man, Lay Lady Lay, Subterranean Homesick Blues and Don't Think Twice, It's All Right.

Doubleheader Today at Shea

Back when I was growing up in the late 1950s and 1960s there was usually a doubleheader in New York on Sunday.  Times have changed in baseball.  Games are a lot longer now since the batters work out long counts and foul off a lot of pitches.  Back then there were relatively few pitching changes, but now there are often 5 or 6 pitchers for each time.  These pitiching changes take time.  Most games these days are 3 hours or longer.  Today, Saturday, there was a doubleheader at Shea with the Florida Marlins to make up a game earlier rained out.  We went to the first game that started about 1:30.  The Mets lost 3-2.  We decided to stay for part of Game 2 since we didn't want to spend 7 hours at the stadium.  We left after the first inning with the Mets ahead 5-0.  Mke Pelfrey was making his major league debut.  When we got home and turned on the TV, we heard that the Mets wallopped Florida 17-3.

Johnny Cash – ‘American V: A Hundred Highways’

I was listening to Shawn Nagy's oldies station http://www.superoldies.com/main.html and a Johhny Cash song It's About the Time comes up.  I was getting to write a blog entry about the release of the Johnny Cash CD American V: A Hundred Highways.  Lee and I drove over to the FYE in Bayside to buy it today.  I was suprised that it was open on the 4th of July.  A good review may be found at http://music.monstersandcritics.com/reviews/article_1177939.php/Album_Review_Johnny_Cash_%96_%91American_V_A_Hundred_Highways%92

The CD was somewhat morbid.  Johnny recorded it during his last year and the songs reflect dieing.

The New York Mets this weekend

Before the season began we bought a 6 pack of tickets to see the Mets this season.  It included the July 3rd game which was also fireworks night.  The Mets were just awful as they lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-1.  At this point the Mets had lost 6 out of 7 games.  Any good team goes into a slump at some point of the season.  The Mets still hold a 10 1/2 game lead in the National League East.  Let's hope that the slump has ended and that we can coast into the playoffs.  However, there have been some collapses in penant races in the past.

A few days ago I was sitting with Lee outside my building.  A neighbor passed by and said she had some extra tickets for todays game against the Pirates.  How can I say no.  The Mets feel behind but scored 3 runs in the 8th inning to win 7-6.

Brooklyn Cyclones

Today, the family took our yearly trip to Coney Island to see the Brooklyn Cyclones, a farm team of the Mets, play.  We got to the game a little early for some time to walk around the boardwalk.  Since there was no place to sit at Nathans, we ate our hot dogs at Keyspan Park.  Larry King and his son were at the game and were introduced to the fans.  Also the Blues Brothers performed between innings.  The Cyclones lost to Aberdeen 6-4.  For details, please go to http://www.brooklyncyclones.com/news/?id=3597