Rosh Ha Shana Services Today

For many years there was an orthodox synagogue in our neighborhood called Congregation B'nai Avraham.  This Mitchell-Linden section of Flushing was a naturally occurring retirement community.  Many young Jewish families moved there when the co-operative apartment complexes opened in the early to mid 1950s.  As the years went by, most of the Jews either moved to Florida or passed away while Koreans moved in.  The orthodox temple lost members and was forced to close.  The members sold the building and the property to an adjacent nursing home with the agreement that services could be held in perpetuity in the community room.  For the last five years or so we have gone to high holiday services in this new First Congregation of Flushing.  It is advantageous for us to go there since many synagogues have a large fee for non-affiliates to pray on the high holidays.  They ask for a donation to a Jewish organization after Yom Kippur.

My family belonged to a conservative congregation years ago  while Lee was bar mitzvahed from a reform temple.  It is difficult for me to attend an orthodox service since it is entirely in Hebrew.  Rabbis in conservative and reform services explain the significance of the holidays and the specific prayers.

This Journal will be moving

I just received an announcement (see below) that AOL will not be providing a blog service after October 31, 2008.  I do not want to lose my thoughts over the past 3 years that I have written in this journal so I will follow the instructions that I will receive from AOL on how to transition to another blogging service.  I obviously could not move all the entries manually, so I will wait for their instructions

Althought there have been over 11,000 hits, I don't know how many different people have read this.  I obviously don't don't know how many are complete strangers and how many knew me all those years ago.

Thanks for visiting.  I will keep everyone posted on the change of address

Bruce

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Dear AOL Journals user,

We’re sorry to inform you that on Oct. 31, 2008, AOL® Journals will be shut down permanently. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

It’s very important that you save your Journals content before the shutdown. We're working on a way to easily move your Journal to another blogging service -- you can expect an email within the next week with more details about how to do it. We want the transition to go as smoothly as possible for you, so you’ll have two choices. You can either save your information manually and find another place to blog on your own, or choose to automatically transfer your Journal to a different blogging service we’ve selected.

In the meantime, please bookmark the People Connection Blog, where you can find out more about AOL Journals. You can also subscribe to the People Connection Blog RSS feed to stay informed about any changes. We’ll be updating the People Connection Blog often, so please check it regularly.

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Happy Jewish New Year

Shea Goodbye for the last time

At about 10 AM I turned on WFAN and heard Mike Francesa say that Shea Stadium was a dump.  It is outdated and nondescript but I certainly think it is quite irresponsible for a sports radio personality of his stature to call it a dump.

Anyway as we left for the Stadium it started to rain.  In 45 years I never saw so much autmobile traffic heading toward the stadium.  People are advised to take public transportation, but I guess people just love their cars.  the game was schedule to begin at 1:10 PM, but the rain pushed that back until 2:00 PM.  Oliver Perez started for the Mets and pitched creditibly, but Scott Schoenweiss gave up a home run and Florida won 4-2.  Game Summary .  simultaneously the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Chicago Cubs 3-1 to clinch the wild card.  For the second season in a row the Mets lost a chance to advance to the playoffs on the final day of the season.

I brought my camera and took a few pictures that may be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/bigtownman/SheaGoodbye  I have an inexpensive camera with a zoom lense so I couldn't get close-up pictures of the field.

After the game there was a parade of former Mets stars including Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, Mike Piazza, Ed Kraenpool, Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry and many others.  Shea Stadium certain brought some very wonderful memories to Met fans over  the years.  Even though it was outdated, and nondescript I will miss it.  Citifield will be more luxurious, but a lot more expensive.

Shea Goodbye - Part 1

Today we were going to go to CW Post to see a college football game, but since the weather was damp we decided to see the movie Eagle Eye. When we cam home the Mets were in the fourth inning.  Johann Santana pitched a complete game as the Mets beat Florida 2-0.  Later in the afternoon the Cubs beat the Brewers so tomorrows last game will have meaning since the Mets can still win the wild card.

Let me use today' journal entry to recall some of the games that I saw at Shea.  I got tickets with my 9th grade classmate Alan Metzer to see the second game played there on April 18, 1964.  On the subway we saw from a distance our Spanish teacher Miss Singer.  The Mets lost that game to the Pittsburgh Pirates but when we returned to Spanish class on Monday we discussed the game in Spanish.  In June of 1964 I went to my second game with my dad and sister right after my junior high school graduation.  Later in the 60s I usually went with friends a couple of times a year to Shea.  In the 70s when I lived away from Queens I would always make sure I went to one or two games a season when I visited my parents.

In 1978 I saw Fuzzy for the very first time.  He was and still is a diehard who sits in section one of the upper deck.  He and his crew of diehards would be there for every game.  In Queens Bnai Birth singles I might Howie who was another diehard who sat with Fuzzy's gang.  I never took a date to a ball game until I met Karen in the early 80s.  Lee's first game was in 1993 as Florida beat the Mets.  That was a terrible year for the Amazins since they had a worse record than an expansion team.  In recent years we have purchased a 7 pack which included a game against the Yankees.  This year our 7 pack included the last regular season game to be played at Shea.

>>>More tomorrow

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I just hate crowded subways and buses

Nothing specific happened today or even this week with subways or buses.  It just burns me up the way the people just can't use a little common sense and courtesy on public transportation.  My number one peever is the way that people just block doors.  If you are not getting off at the next stop, don't stand near the door.  People don't need advanced degrees to understand that, but they just do it anyway.  The MTA has added hycrid buses to their fleet.  It is certainly a good thing to save energy, but these hybrids are poorly designed.  In order to walk all the way to the back, riders must go up two steps.  Instead of doing that peo[le just stand by the back door and won't move when people try to get off.  What can I do?  Move to a rural area, I guess.

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11,000 hits in less than 3 years

Bruce's journal will reach its 3rd anniversary on October 15, but today I have reached 11,000.  I would like to poll my readers.  Why post or type of posts that you have read did you find the best for whatever reason?  I think the majority of my posts fall into one of the following 6 categories.

Radio

Bob Dylan

Family

Work

New York Mets

Work ( also check out http://njitbruce.blogspot.com)

Harry Harrison always would say....

"Every day should be opened like a precious gift." He would say that several times each day during his morning show throughout his 40 years in New York radio.  That saying really meant something today when we received an e-mail at work saying that Associate Provost and Professor of Chemical Engineering Dana Knox (seen below) passed away.  I just saw him yesterday at a retirement luncheon.  He was likely in his 50s younger than I.  The cause of death is not known to me at this time.  I had many pleasant dealings with him during my 16 years at NJIT.  We used to have lunch in the NJIT pub with other faculty in the chemical engineering department.  We would always kid about how slow the service was.

So remember what Harry told us so many times that life is a precious gift.  It can be taken away from us or a loved one at any time.

Rest in peace, Dana - You will be missed by the NJIT community

Interesting HD2 radio stations

About two years ago I bought an HD radio to get the HD2 stations that represent formats not heard on ordinary analog FM radio.  For example, there is WKTU-HD2 that plays country music.  When Smooth Jazz was dropped in favor of Rock at 101.9 FM, the old format was moved to the HD2 channel.  Most HD2 stations can also be heard on internet radio.  Clear Channel which is one of the biggest owners of radio stations in the US, lists their HD2 stations with links to their streams at http://www.clearchannelmusic.com/hdradio/ ,  I have explored this site and found one interesting station WPYX-HD2 from Albany, NY.  It is described as Classic Vinyl.  The station plays classic rock leaning toward Folk Rock.  I try to listen to it a few times a week.  It can also be heard on another Clear CHannel HD2 station from Charlotte, NC. Here I go again talking about one radio station while listening to another.

Some Thoughts on the Closing of Yankee Stadium

Much has been said and written recently about last night's last game at Yankee Stadium and the opening of the new stadium in 2009.  There is certainly much tradition associated with the New York Yankees and the Stadium which opened in 1923.  The original stadium was completed renovated in the mid 1970s.  I am glad that the new Stadium will not have a corporate sponsor.  However, the new stadium will cost $1.3 Billion much of which will be the burden of tax payers.  Is this welfare for the rich?  How much will we have to pay for a seat in the upper deck?  Will the salaries of ball players go even higher?

There are many poor people living within block of the stadium.  They obviously can not afford to go to a game.  25 acres of parks were taken away for the new stadium.  Some people feel that the stadium (1976-2008 version) should be preserved as a landmark.  The real landmark was the original 1923-73 building.  The old stadium must be demolished to provide park space to the residents of the South Bronx.  I read that there will be several baseball fields at that site.

Mini Meet and Greet of Saturday Night Oldies Enthusiasts

From SNO Gathering September 21

I would like to thank Terri Du and Alan Berman for arranging this Meet and Greet and Bens Deli in Bayside Queens. Another thanks goes to Patrick Guice who traveled from Toms River, NJ to Queens to meet some of the message board posters. Alan Berman dazzled the people at our table by his knowledge of the history of New York City Oldies Radio. He has earned his title as Distinguished Professor. He is welcome to add his comments here any time. His screen name is snofan1. Until recently, only Facebook suscribers could see his comments, but now they are available to everyone on the Internet. We also phoned Dave DuBrow from Chicago and Joe Postove of Norfolk, VA who are well known to the community of Saturday Night Oldies listeners. For photos that I took, please go to http://picasaweb.google.com/Bigtownman/SNOGatheringSeptember21 Pete Ritzert and Eileene Gianetta also took photos. I will post links to their photos when they become available.

College Football Today - Hofstra vs Rhode Island

Readers of this journal may recall my post of July 6th when I described my two years as a student at the University of Rhode Island (URI).  Today the URI football team played Hofstra at James Shuart Stadium as seen above.  Since one must be a season ticket holder to see professional football, we have seen games at Hofstra for years at $10/ticket.  We sat on the visitors side to root for my Alma Mater.  It is almost 35 years since I got my degree there, so I really didn't expect to see anyone that I knew back then.  Once a year I meet a chemistry professor that I knew at American Chemical Society meetings.  In a very exiting game Hofstra beat Rhode Island 23-20 with a field goal with 3 seconds to play.

I was teasing readers when I said that I would listen to Bob Dylan radio at 6 PM today.  I am listening to Saturday Night Oldies as a usually do.

A Bob Dylan Internet Radio Station

Expecting Rain is a very popular web site for Bob Dylan enthusiasts.  I checked it out a few days ago to see if there was an announcement of the beginning of the third season of Theme Time Radio Hour.  I didn't find that but  found a link to http://www.dylanradio.com .  Wow!!  They are playing the most terrific rarities. Right now I am hearing Dylan sing the Carl Perkins song Matchbox that was also recorded by the Beatles.  I think I am going to sit home all day and night and listen to it.  I will not go with my family to a football game.  I will listen to Dylan radio from 6 PM until 10 PM tonight.

I'm So Tired

I'm So Tired by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

I'm so tired, I haven't slept a wink
I'm so tired, my mind is on the blink
I wonder should I get up and fix myself a drink
No,no,no.

I'm so tired I don't know what to do
I'm so tired my mind is set on you
I wonder should I call you but I know what you would do

You'd say I'm putting you on
But it's no joke, it's doing me harm
You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane
You know I'd give you everything I've got
for a little peace of mind

I'm so tired, I'm feeling so upset
Although I'm so tired I'll have another cigarette
And curse Sir Walter Raleigh
He was such a stupid git.

You'd say I'm putting you on
But it's no joke, it's doing me harm
You know I can't sleep, I can't stop my brain
You know it's three weeks, I'm going insane
You know I'd give you everything I've got
for a little peace of mind
I'd give you everything I've got for a little peace of mind
I'd give you everything I've got for a little peace of mind
(mumbling)

I guess I'm so tired by helping a graduate student find the photoluminescence of germanium in the n-state.  Maybe the Distinguished Professor can help me.

Spotlight on WLNG Sag Harbor Long Island

In 1977-78 when I lived in New London, CT I was able to pick up WLNG from Sag Harbor at the eastern end of Long Island.  Even back then it was one of very few locally owned radio stations.  They played oldies rarely heard on good oldies stations like WCBS-FM.  In the 1990s I often traded for tapes of WLNG since the music was so good.

In 2005 After Bob Shannon was let go after the hijacking of WCBS-FM WlNG hired him and his wife Connie T. Empress to do a Behind the Hits Show Tuesdays from 11 AM to 3 PM.  Even when Bob was rehired by WCBS-FM he July 2007, he kept the gig at WLNG.  This station is a dinosaur, but a very enjoyable one.  Where else on the radio dial in this area would you hear announcements for lost pets and other local announcements.  Today I was able to work in my office and hear WLNG for about 1 1/2 hours.  Isn't webcasting wonderful.  You can hear almost any radio station you want at any time of the day or night.

Murray the K, the anti-chart guy

I think it is safe to say the Murray the K was controversial.  As my other entries on radio personalities, this is not be be an encylopedic biography.  You can see his Wikipedia entry for more information.  I listened to Murray when he appeared on WINS, WMCA and WOR-FM. He appeared on other radio stations in NY and other markets.  He really imposed his musical tastes on his audience which was really unfair especialy whe he appeared on the free form WOR-FM which was discussed in a recent journal entry of mine.  He was famous for running concerts at the Brooklyn Fox Theater.

I really think he had a lot of nerve to call himself the 5th Beatle.  WINS wasn't that influential in popular music duing the British invasion of 1964.  Bruce Morrow should have been the DJ with that moniker.  In any event I think that Billy Preston who played with the Fab Four in 1969 or so should be called the Fifth Beatle.

One thing that Murray said on the air that he said that if you enjoyed a record, you should not care of what number it is.  I must agree completely.  Many of my favorite songs never charted.  There are "chart guys" on various music message boards.  If they enjoy that, more power to them.

Murray was last on the New York airwaves in the early 1980s when he hosted a syndicated show called Soundtrack of the Sixties which was heard in NYC on WCBS-FM on Sunday mornings.  Murray became ill and Gary Owens became the New host as it moved to WYNY.

Let me clear up a little confusion about Breakfast with the Beatles that I usually hear on Monday nights.  It seems that nobody has a copyright on that name.  There is a version heard on Q104.3 in New York on Sunday at 8 AM.  The version that I am hearing now may be heard on http://www.bwtb.net .

In Memoriam - Irving Slutsky November 1, 1917 - September 14, 1997

It was 11 years ago today that my dad passed away.  That year September 14th was also a Sunday.  It was 8:05 AM when my mom called me to say that he had died.  He had fought a brave battle against pancreatic cancer.  When that form of cancer is diagnosed, the person usually has only a few months to live, but my dad survived for two years.  Today Karen, Lee and I picked up my mother and visited the gravesites of Karen's mother, grandmother, aunt, and uncle before visiting my father's grave.  We also met my sister Joyce and brother-in-law Keith there.  I am sure my dad would have been pleased.

When I visit the cemetery I always remember how my dad went out his way for the family.  He was a manager of a ladies clothing store and had to work 6 days a week for year.  In December he had to work several nights a week.  Today I told Lee the time he took me to my first baseball game in 1957 to see the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbetts Field.  My dad also introduced me to Top 40 radio.  I remember sitting in his car while he played WABC or WMCA in the early 1960s.

Rest in peace Dad.

My Penultimate visit to Shea Stadium was disappointing

We had tickets to this 3:55 PM game which was originally scheduled to be a single game but was expanded to a doubleheader due to last night's rainout.  Johann Santana was the starting pitcher for the Amazis and pitched until the 8th inning.  This time Jerry Manuel made a mistake by leaving him in too long.  The Mets were leading 2-0 after 7 innings, but Santana gave up two singles in the 8th when he was removed for Scott Schoenweiss who gave up a single that became the winning run.  As in many recent games, the Mets scored early, but could not add more runs.

Years ago the Sunday doubleheader was the rule, not now they are only played to make up for rainouts.  Back then the games were much shorter, but today most games are more than 3 hours since managers often bring in a pitcher just to face one batter.  We decided to leave after the first game at 7 PM. Most of the crowd left at that point. It turns out that the Mets are leading 4-0 in the 5th inning of the second game.  Lee is in the living room watching the game while I am listening to Saturday Night Oldies.

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Big Changes on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

My second favorite game show is Who Wants to be a Millionaire now hosted by Meredith Viera.  I am rarely home when it is seen at 12:30 PM in New York on Channel 7, so once a week usually of Friday we tape it and watch it later.  Since the Met game was delayed we decided to watch it at 8 PM.  There were some major changes in this new season:

1.  New graphics

2.  There is now a time limit to answer questions.  There is a longer time limit for the more difficult questions.

3. The 50/50 lifeline was replaced by double dip.  This means that the contestant has two picks to get the right answer.

4.  There is no more switch the question lifeline at the $25,000 level.  At the $1,000 level the contestant gets an ask the expert lifeline.  This week it was Bill Nye the Science Guy.

5.  There is chair for the next contestant.

6.  There are photos of the phone a friend lifelines.

Nothing in this world stays the same.

TGIF

But Monday always comes.  I am too tired to write anything write now.  It is raining and I hope they get the Met game in tonight.

Remembering September 11

Today we remember the approximately 3,000 people who perished on that dreadful day.  We recall the brave police, fireman and medics who did their best to save the people in the towers.  We thank the brave people on Flight 93 who stood up to the hijackers and prevented further casualties.  Now the first responders are suffering from illnesses caused by inhaling toxic dust.

At 9 AM on 9/11/01 I was giving an orientation of the library to new students.  A colleague told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center.  At that point everyone thought it was a private plane that got lost.  As time went on we heard of the second plane at the WTC, the Pentagon and the downed plane in Pennsylvania.  The President closed NJIT at 12 noon.  Since all public transportation was stopped, I had no way of getting home.  My boss let me stay at his home in Metuchen, NJ.  I couldn't sleep that night.

NJIT was open the next day, but nobody could concentrate on academics.  I could not let those cowardly hijackers to stop me so I tried to follow my normal routines.

There is a memorial at NJIT honoring the alumni who perished that day.

When We Was Fab _ My favorite Rock Video

Spotlight on WOR-FM

Reader, please keep in mind that my radio journal entires are based only on my memories of listening to that station years ago.

Back in early 1966 WABC and WMCA were the only rock stations in New York.  Those stations were excellent, but were too formatted.  Popular music of that time was changing.  There were many artists whose best music were on album cuts which were not played by the Top 40 stations.  The FCC issued a regulation at that time that co-owned stations had to duplicate programming at least 50% of the time.  Thus WABC AM and FM, WCBS-FM, WNEW AM and FM, and WOR AM and FM had to split their programming.

WOR-FM took the air on July 30, 1966, but there was DJ strike.  It wasn't until October that disk jockeys like Murray the K, Johnny Michaels, Rosko, Dick Birch and possibly one or two more took the airwaves.  I remember that I didn't have an FM radio at that time but my sister did.  She could be somewhat bitchy to me, so I had to sneak into her room when she wasn't home and borrow her FM radio.  Murray the K was a character to say the least.  He would ram his favorites down your throat and didn't care what the listeners thought.  In her book Janis Ian noted that Murray played the controversial Society's Child once an hour.  He also played Ike and Tina Turner's River Deep Mountain High.  That was a big hit in the UK, but never charted in the USA.

Radio stations evolve, change formats and change formats.  I am aware of two articles that discuss the history of the 98.7 FM dial position in NYC.  If you e-mail me I will send it to you.

Alex Trebek and Jeopardy start their 25th Season

The Alex Trebek version of Jeopardy started in 1984.  I remember that back then it was shown on WNBC-TV before I had a VCR.  For many years it has been on WABC-TV at 7 PM.  This season Channel 55 from Eastern Long Island moved it from 6 PM to 5 PM.  I am sure that there are special shows scheduled for this season.  I vaguely remember reading that there will be a book published this year relating contestants' stories on how their appearance on the show changed their lives.  Stay tuned.

They were shouting Carlos Delgado for MVP

The Met game for Sunday September 7th was part of out 7 pack of tickets.  The game was oringinally scheduled for 1 PM but was moved to 8 Pm to accomodate ESPN.  The pitching match was Johann Santana against Cole Hamels.  The Mets pulled out to a 3 -1 lead and eventually won the game 6-3.  Santana lasted for 7 1/3 innings until the bull pen took over.  We just found out that closer Billy Wagner may miss the rest of the season with an injury.  Carlos Delgado was the hitting star of the game with two home runs and a double to drive in 4 runs.  He got off to  a slow start this season but the fans were shouting MVP when he came to bat.  There were plenty of Phillies fans at Shea since Philadelphia is only 100 miles away.  There were a couple of attractive young ladies with Phillies shirts a few rows ahead of us.  When they went out for food, they were resoundly booed.  At the end of the game a guy with a David Wright shirt asked the Phillies fan for her phone number.  I don't think she gave it to him.  It would be a long way to travel for a date anyway :)

Price of Beer - Grocery Store vs Ball park

We went to the local grocery store and bought 18 twelve once bottles for about $12 plus tax.  That amounts to about 70 cents per can.  At Shea or Yankee Stadium it costs at least $8 for a 16 once bottle of beer.  That is why I drink my beer at home.  However, you will see people at the ball park getting 3 or 4 beers during the game.  It's their money.

Society's Child - The Song and the autobiography

Several weeks ago Mark Simone interviewed Janis Ian on Saturday Night Oldies.  I just completed her autobiography Society's Child that I got from the Queensborough Public Library.  Janis wrote that song about interracial dating when she was 15 years old in 1966.  In the book, she said she got death threats at concerts.  Attitudes toward bicultural dating and marriage were much different back then.  Many radio stations rfusued to play the song.  Murray the K played it quite regularly on WOR-FM, but WABC did not play it until after Leonard Bernstein praised the song on TV.  I distinctively remember Dan Ingram playing it for the first time and said "Don't call the radio station."

Janis wrote openly open her family, sexuality, failure to conceive a child, and an abusive husband.  I highly recommend it to readers of this journal.

The Impending Tropical Storm Hanna changed our plans

For a while I knew I had to go to work for a few hours today to present a lecture to the chemical engineering students.  Please see my work blog for the details.  Since Karen and Lee and not been to the NJIT campus for several years, I thought I would drive with them to school, and after my lecture we would go to the Yogi Berra Museum on the campus of Montclair State University, 20 minutes away.  Since the weather forecast was so ominous, we changed our plans.  I took the train to NJIT and left immediately after my lecture to avoid the storm.  I got home before 2 PM, while it didn't start to rain until 3 PM.  We'll reschedule the trip to the museum.

Happy Birthday Mom

They say you should never reveal a woman's age.  Since my mother was born in Europe her actually date of birth was not recorded.  She always celebrated her birthday on September 4th.  Happy Birthday Mom and many many more.

Reconnecting with the man who introduced me to beer on Facebook

I have a talent for finding people on the Internet that I knew years ago.  I rarely try to contact them, but I found Joe Viel through Facebook.  If you go back to http://journals.aol.com/bruces8852/BrucesJournal/entries/2008/08/06/recalling-1967-1972-the-city-college-years/1390   I talked about my City College years, but I didn’t mention anything about Joe.  I must remember Joe for introducing me to beer.  Remember back in those days we could drink at age 18.  Joe transferred to City College from St. John’s University and joined our Sigma Beta Phi fraternity.  He brought us to a bar on Union Turnpike near St. John’s called the Frontier Palace.  He would mix his beer with apple cider and called it “Special Sauce”.  Back in 1969 the fraternity brothers went to a now defunct restaurant called “Steak and Brew” where you can have all the beer you can drink.  We walked back to the fraternity house on 6th Avenue and 28th Street in Manhattan all drunk.  I started dancing with Eugene the Puerto Rican kid who dated Jewish girls and yelled out “Announcement, Eugene and I are engaged”.  Joe laughed so hard.  Some time later we told fraternity pledges that Sigma Beta Phi stood for silly boys funhouse and that we were a gay fraternity.  I said I became engaged to Eugene, but had to break it off because Eugene wasn’t Jewish.  Attitudes toward gays were a lot different back then.  In October 1970 we went to a bar in Wantaugh where Joe lived called Mulcahy’s .  I remember that I had 7 beers and threw up my pretzels outside the bar.  I remember Barry, a fraternity brother walked around the block with me to sober me up.  There was a year when Joe phoned my home just as Yom Kippur was ending and asked me if I wanted to go drinking.  Joe, not just after a fast!  Oy vey!


I also remember Joe as a womanizer.  He always bragged about how far he went with his girlfriends.  There was one time he said he went out with Jane and that girl did not go all the way (he did not use that language).  I then asked Joe if he got a handshake instead of a kiss.  I was last in touch with Joe until1973 when he was rooming with Bill Bernstein another fraternity brother in Middle Village Queens.  I am sending Joe a private e-mail about what I know about the fomer brothers of Sigma Beta Phi

Spotlight on Brian Matthew

I discovered Brian Matthew and Sounds of the Sixties by accident a couple of years ago as I was browsing a message board of sixties music a few years ago.  Please see the Wikipedia entry detailing his biography.  At age 80 he sounds absolutely terrific.  This is a perfect way of using Internet technology to hear a radio show that I could never get over the air.  A few years ago I requested Niki Hoeky by P. J Proby which I last  heard 40 years ago on WMCA.  Reg Tomkins, an NJIT Professor of Chemical Engineering who is British, actually heard my request when he was on vacation in the UK.  About a year ago Brian played my birthday dedication to Karen.

I like the eclectic music mix of British hits that did not chart in the USA coupled with the regular American and British oldies.  The show is hear live on Saturday morning from 3 AM - 5 AM Eastern time, but I can listen to the archived version anytime during the week.  I don't have to wake up in the middle of the night.  I usually listen to it on Sundays, but this week it was not posted until Monday.  Mark Simone did mention Brian a few times over the past few months on Saturday Night Oldies. (Hi Frank)  I should also thank the many people behaind the scenes at BBC2 (Phil "the collector" Schwern is the only one I remember) for making the show possible.

I certainly hope that British oldies radio enthusiasts discover Dan Ingram, Cousin Bruce Morrow, Dick Biondi and many other American radio personalities.

Shop till you drop - Who Me?

I decided to go to downtown Flushing to look around Macy's.  For some people, escpecially women, shopping is an avocation.  They will go to shopping malls and spend hours comapring prices and whatever.  When I go shopping, I just find what I want, go to the cashier, and leave.  I bought a couple of pairs of slacks, a belt, and a pair of pajamas.  The Mets won today 4-2!