Lee's birthday dinner

We took Lee to Ben's Deli in Bayside to celebrate his birthday which was Wednesday.  From there we walked over to the Barnes and Nobles in the Bay Terrace Shopping Center and bought the Sporting News Baseball Register and a jigsaw puzzle of the Beatles.

Saturday Night Oldies was only on for a 1/2 tonight since WABC was carrying the NY Rangers.  Somebody downloaded the show which featured an interview of Wayne Newton which was nothing to get excited about.  Right now I am listening to Sock Hop Saturday Night from WLNG of Eastern Long Island.  They play only pre-1964 hits.

Tags: Lee

Yesterday was Lee's Birthday

I forgot to make an entry lst night, but yesterday was Lee's 19th birthday.  Where did all these years go?  I can remember taking him home from the hospital.  He is not standing with the real Bob Dylan.  He is at Madame Tussaud's wax museum last summer.

My favorite Internet Radio

Since CBS radio flipped WCBS-FM to the Jack format I've had to look for oldies radio on the Internet.  REgular readers of this blog should hotice these on the header of each entry, but let me take this opportunity to summarize my favorites:

Breakfast with the Beatles http://www.bwtb.net - Dennis Mitchell plays Beatles songs not usually heard on the radio.

Sounds of the Sixties with Brian Matthew http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2  This show is played live on Saturday morning, but I listened to the archived version.  I only wish that I could have listened to Brian back in the 60s.  He plays a good mixture of British and American hits of that era.

WLNG http://www.wlng.com This station comes out of extreme Eastern Long Island.  Back in 1977-78 when I lived in New London CT I was able to pick it up over the air.  This is oldies radio the way it ought to be even though there are many announcements of lost pets.  Former WCBS-FM DJ Bob Shannon appears Tuesday from 11 AM - 3 PM.

Chicago's True Oldies Channel WZZN 94.7 FM http://www.947thezone.com/  If Chicago has an over the air oldies station on FM, why can't New York?  I like to listen to oldies legend Dick Biondi who can be heard for 10 PM - 1 PM EDT

WODS Boston http://www.oldies1033.com  The CBS radio jackasses who killed WCBS-FM kept the oldies station in Boston.  I especially like to listen to the Lost 45s on Sunday night with Barry Scott.  This show was syndicated for a while and was heard over the years on several stations.  This show features more 70s and 80s hits.

WOGL - Philadelphia http://www.wogl.com  Greater Media flipped their station in Philadelphia before Joel Hollander and the other CBS executives could kill WOGL.  I like the Elvis and Friends show heard on Sunday mornings.

WMTR - Morristown, NJ http://www.wmtram.com  I can pull in this station over the air from my GE Supperradio during the day.  Reception is poor overnight since the pattern changes after sunset.  Before WCBS-FM flipped, they played only pre-1964 hits.  Now they play oldies from 1955-72.

WNNJ-AM Newton, NJ which is in the Northwest corner of the state.  http://www.oldies1360.com  Former WCBS-FM personality Max Kinkel does the mornings there but he has been out since his automobile accident.

Breeze Radio Long Branch, NJ  http://breezeradio.com  Thie is an Adult Contemporary station which does play oldies.  Former WCBS-FM personality Mike Fitzgerald does morning drive while Bob Shannon has a weekend gig there.

WMGQ-FM - New Brunswick, NJ http://www.wmgqfm.com This too is an Adult Contmporary Station, but I listen mornings to hear former WABC and WCBS-FM personality Steve O'Brien.

XM radio - AOL subscribers can get 70 music stations.  I like the 60s on 6 especially on Friday evenings when they recreate a top 40 station of the 1960s.  I sample several other XM stations as well.

I am not counting Saturday Night Oldies with Mark Simone on WABC since I listen over the air.

 

 

 

Just Love Those Chocolate Chip Pankcakes

Since Lee's birthday will be next Wednesday March 28th, we decided to take him out for breakfast today and for dinner next weekend.  For the first time in about a year we ate at the International House of Pancakes about a mile away from us.  I just love their chocolate chip pancakes.  In the afternoon we went to the local multiplex to see Wild Hogs.  There wasn't much of a selection of movies this weekend, but I was tired and wanted to stay close to home.

The Knicks Won 92-74

I bought today's tickets very early in the season.  The Knicks beat the Toronto Raptors 92-74 and now have a record of 30-36 with 16 games to go in the regular season.  It doesn't make sense that a team that is 6 games under .500 still has a chance to make the playoffs.  Anything had to be better than the team the Knicks had last season.  They even gave Isiah Thomas a 3 year extension on his contract.

Tags: Knicks

Odds and Ends

Jeopardy really hit a milestone last night.  For the first time in over 40 years there was a three way tie at the end of the show.  There was a snow and sleet storm here that ended very early this morning.  There was nothing to do but go to the movies.  Although the sidewalks were icy we walked over to the College Point Multiplex and saw Premonition with Sandra Bullock.  We when returned we shoveled the ice away from my garage.  Right now I am listening to Saturday Night Oldies which is a full  four hour show.

Tags: Jeopardy, Saturday Night Oldies

Two Professional Meetings in Two Days

It was Spring break week at NJIT and the library was very slow.  Although there were no classes, the library was open and we were expected to come to work.  Yesterday I went to a meeting at Princeton University  called Technology and Library Services:  Meeting Today's User Needs.  The presentations discussed the use of Myspace and Facebook among other social networking software in libraries.  Today I went to a meeting at Laguardia Community College in Queens for a meeting about information literacy.  It was nice not to have to schlep to Jersey for the day.  The meeting was only 1/2 day son I decided to take a half a vacation day and come home for the afternoon.  It was just as well since the weather was a mixture of snow and sleet.

Tags: NJIT Library

No Basement Tapes at Joe's Pub Last Night

I really wanted to do something different last night so Karen, Lee and I went to Joe's Pub in Greenwich Village to see Howard Fishman (http://www.howardfishman.com)  .  We met my NJIT colleague Heather there.  Howard was supposed to play covers of Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes but instead played 18 new songs.  In preparation for last night I pulled out my vinyl copy of the Basement Tapes originally recorded in 1967 by Dylan and the Band.  These recordings were bootlegged for several years until they were officially released in 1975.  A few years ago WFUV broadcast a special on the basement tapes which I recorded.  Greil Marcus also wrote a book about the Basement Tapes called Invisibile Republic.  I still enjoyed the show and even bought a CD of Howard Fishman's version of the basement tape.  The only disappointment of the evening was that the food was really overpriced.  You can't have everything.

 

If I stayed home I would have listened to Saturday Night Oldies (SNO) and watched the Knick game.  SNO was less than 1/2 hour, but I was able to download it from the Internet.  The Knicks beat the Washington Wizards 90-89, but we watch enough baskeball games in the course of a year.

Tags: Joe's Pub, Howard Fishman, Basement Tapes

Don't Look Back (Again - this time on DVD)

In Spring 1965 Bob Dylan toured England.  D.A. Pennebaker filmed the documentary Don't Look Back during that tour.  I remember in September 1967 the movie was released.  I went to Manhattan with my friend Eric Fradkin and saw it at the 34th Street East Theater.  In the early 1980s I saw it in a movie theater on the upper west side with Karen.  Later in the 1980s I bought the VHS version and have seen it umpteen times on my VCR.  Just this month Don't Look Back was re-released on DVD.  This version includes a bonus disk called Bob Dylan 65 Revisited.  It contains outtakes which have never been seen by the public.  We saw the first hour of that tonight.  We'll continue tomorrow by seeing some concert footage from the Royal Albert Hall and added commentary by Pennebaker.

Tags: Bob Dylan, Don't Look Back

Breakfast with the Beatles in the Morning

I usually listen to Breakfast with the Beatles on Monday evenings.  Last night I watched the PBS special on British Rock.  It featured Petula Clark, the Tremeloes, Peter and Gordon, the Searchers, Eric Burdon, and Paul Jones of Manfred Mann among others.  Many rock stars of the 60s are no longer with us.

Tags: Beatles, British Rock

Queens Museum of Art

Today we went to the Queens Museum of Art in Flushing Meadows Park.  There was a special exhibit featuring the contributions of Robert Moses to New York City.  See http://www.queensmuseum.org/exhibitions/moses.htm There were also exhibits with artificats from the Worlds Fairs of 1939 and 1964.  We also visited the Panorama of New York City.

Long Island Radio Day at CW Post

I always like to explore new places.  I read yesterday on the New York Radio Message Board that there would be a Long Island Radio Day at CW Post Sponsored by Long Island Wireless Historical Society.  The main thrust of the show was old time radio broadcasts, ham radio, and antique radio.  There were tables with people selling old radios including the transistor radios that we used back in the 1960s  There was another table with CDs and cassettes of Old Time Radio shows.  We bought a CD of radio interviews of Elvis Presely.  We attended a one hour talk detailing the history of ham radio.  CW Post offered a tour of WCWP, the campus radio station.  In the parking lot there was an SUV with the license plate 77 WABC.  I posted on the Saturday Night oldies board (http://www.musicradio77.com/wabcboard/wwwboard//wabcboard1.html) asking who owned that car.  Mark Simone didn't know.

Tags: radio, WABC