Shutter Island

I haven't discussed movies much lately in this journal, but today we walked over to the local multiplex to see Shutter Island starring Leonardo DiCaprio. It was set in 1954 when U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island. I don't want to give too much away but viewers had to watch closely to be aware of what was actually happening and what were delusions by the main character.

Please see the internet movie database for more information.

Pitt 71 St. Johns 64

We just had to get out of the apartment after sitting in all day yesterday. The roads were a little slick, so we decided to take the subway into Manhattan to see St. Johns play Pittsburgh at Madison Square Garden in a Big East matchup. For $15/ticket it is a pretty good deal. It is shame that in recent years college basketball hasn't generated much interest in NYC. Pitt maintained a lead throughout the game and won 71-64.

Game Summary

Celebrating the Life of Johnny Cash on a Snow Day

If you do a search of this journal, you will find many references to Johnny Cash. Without any influence from me my son Lee became a big fan of the Man in Black. Before he was born I only had one of his albums in my collection. Today would have been his 78th birthday. Since we are all home today on account of a major snowstorm we have time to celebrate his life. Later today we will view the biopic Walk The Line on DVD. A few days ago I downloaded Johnny Cash; American VI: Ain't No Grave‎ which was released this week 6 1/2 years after his passing. We will listen to at 6 PM when we eat dinner. I will also check out The Roadhouse on Sirius/XM; hopefully they

feature Johnny's recordings today. Below is a video of Bob Dylan and Johnny singing Girl of the North Country that appeared on the Johnny Cash show in 1969. Facebook friends can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRx-5RCImAM

More Snow!

Another snowstorm has hit the New York metropolitan area. Oy Vey! It started out as rain early this morning. While I was on the #7 Flushing train the rain turned to snow. At about 11:30 we were told that NJIT would close at 2:30. The boss came around at 1:15 and said all but a few people could go home. This snow is very wet since the temperature is about 33 F. The forecast says that the snow could continue until Saturday morning. I am waiting for the notification that we will be closed tomorrow.

Bought a 6 ticket package for the Mets for the 2010 Season

Out of a sense of loyalty I bought a 6 ticket package for the Mets for the forthcoming season. Last year we bought a 15 ticket package, but it was for too many games. The Mets offered a 4 ticket package, but those were for the very expensive seats. The 6 ticket package includes the Friday night May 21 game against the Yankees. There are 3 Friday night games and 3 midweek games in this package. The seats are in the upper deck and average about $23. On March 7 the single game tickets go on sale, so I'll buy a few weekend games.

The outlook is not too good for the Amazins in 2010. Outfielder Jason Bay was the only significant offseason acquisition. We'll have to be hopeful.

Bob Dylan Song of the Day - Shelter from the Storm

I often listen to Sirius/XM radio in my office when I am doing work that does not require much concentration. This afternoon I was monitoring QANDANJ, the chat reference service as I tuned in the Bridge Channel which plays folk rock and soft rock oldies. They played Shelter from the Storm originally released on the Blood on the Tracks album in 1974. If I remember correctly WFUV listeners voted in their #1 album. You can hear it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6oPS_C1TKg

Count Your Blessings if you are gainfully employed

I am quoting from the New York Times for the second time in a row. In the main news section of Sunday's paper there is an article titled Despite Signs of Recovery Chronic Joblessness Rises. Many Americans have exhausted their unemployment benefits and must reach into their savings accounts to meet their basic expenses. It is quite possible that many jobs that have been lost in this recession may never come back. Technology may have permanently eliminated some jobs. Why must one go to a travel agent when he can book a hotel, flight and vacation online? The unemployment situation must be especially difficult for older people who must face ageism in hiring.

Thankfully, the last time I was unemployed was during the summer of 1982. Back in the 1970s when I first got out of work I had problems in finding my niche, but in the long run everything worked out. When you wake up in the morning, be grateful that there is a job for you even it mean confronting frustrations. Problems encountered on the job are a lot less than the misery of seeking employment. My best wishes to anyone looking for employment in this very difficult time.

Quotation by William C Rhoden of the New York Times

"What a precious waste of time. The obsession with Tiger Woods’s personal life and infidelity says more about our misguided priorities as a nation than it does about Woods. It also speaks volumes about the current state of the news media, which unashamedly feed this obsession. We create these inventions only to tear them down. "

We are fighting two wars, there is a constant threat of terrorism, and millions of Americans are out of work.

The article is in today's New York Times.

Hofstra 92 Rider 89 in OT

This game was advertised as a bracketbuster , but I doubt if either of these two schools will be invited to the Big Dance next month. Behind the basket a group of Hofstra students were taunting a Rider player by yelling out "pony tail" and "cut your hair" whenever this student athlete handled the ball. I never liked pony tails on men, but I wouldn't criticize anyone for this hair style. The game was tied at 75 at the end of regulation by the Pride of Hofstra pulled ahead in the overtime period and won 92-89.

The Media is Creating the News Again

This morning when I checked Facebook I noticed that WCBS-TV announced that it was covering the Tiger Woods press conference where he would apologize for his actions. Certain everyone makes mistakes in their personal and professional lives, and has a right to atone for their indiscretions. If an "ordinary Joe" cheated on his wife, the world would not know about it. But since a professional athelete has extramarital affairs the media must pick up on it to sell newspapers and add to their viewership.

Personally, I don't care. There are much more important things in this world than the personal life of a golfer. A man who hits a ball with a stick into a cup makes millions of dollars doing it and is hired by companies to endorse their products. There is nothing else I can do but look the other way.

Got a New Sony CD Player

A couple of days ago my Sony CD player just was not performing. It would skip all over the place. I looked at the receipt and noted that I bought in 2003. In 6 1/2 years we certainly got a lot of use out of it. Back then I got the CD player at Circuit City in College Point. Of course Circuit City along with many other electronic retailers have gone out of business in recent years. I bought the same model CD player at J & R online. I am surprised that this model is still on the market.

Here's to many more hours of listening pleasure,
.

Walking the Dog by Rufus Thomas

I heard this oldie but goodie this morning on Sirius/XM 50s on 5 channel. It reminded of the "dog days" at CCNY from 1967-72. When I say "dog day" I am not referring to the hot and humid says of August. I mean the two legged and four legged dogs of that era. The latter of course refers to pets while the former was an unattractive young lady. If a friend was desperate to get a date he would go out with any "dog" that he could find. Those were the days. Facebook friends can see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6AZNywvF-s .

Green Green Grass of Home by Tom Jones

I am at work tonight. In a few minutes I'll be going over to Tiernan Hall to teach chemical engineering students how to search Scifinder Scholar and Scopus. For more information please see my work related blog. Anyway, since I can't think of anything else to post here, I will go back to my color songs. We are still in the "greens.". I think it was back in the summer of 1967 when Scott Muni played the top British hits on WOR-FM. The Green Green Grass of Home by Tom Jones was a much bigger hit in the UK than it was in the USA. I'll have to check my Joel Whitburn book when I get home. Facebook friends can see and hear Tom Jones at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5IABqwVO2U

President's Day is not a holiday at NJIT

For the 18th year in a row, I have taken an administrative day on President's Day. All the public transportation is on a weekend schedule, so it would take me much longer than usual to get to work and home. We get 3 such days every year, so I have always used one on the third Monday in February.

Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You - Bob Dylan song for Valentine's Day

I remember this song quite well from the country flavored album Nashville Skyline. One of the reviews for it said "That young angry kid has gone romantic". Facebook friends can here it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07z-UqOooRE

CW Post 81 Dowling 56

You can't get in to see a movie for $5 these days, but you can see a Division II basketball game. We saw CW Post overwhelm Dowling College 81-56 in a laugher at the Pratt Recreation Center. The nice thing about Division II games is that there are no annoying "media time-outs" which break up games. I guess they are needed to insert commercials when games are on TV and/or radio. Division I college sports are big business.

Game Summary

The Times They Are A Changin' - Performed at the White House

Bob Dylan's performance is now available on YouTube. Facebook friends can see it at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cC4Ovz3733o

New Jersey Devils 5 Nashville Predators 2

When Lee received a belated graduation gift, he told us that he wanted to see another hockey game. It was impossible to get single game tickets for the Rangers, so we decided to go to see the Devils. I am guessing that almost all the seats for the Rangers at MSG are for season subscribers. Since I work in Newark, it was easy for me to get other there and met them at the seats just before game time.

All fans at this game received a New Jersey Devils baseball cap. When Ilya Kovalchuk scored the go ahead goal in the third period, numerous hats were thrown on the ice. Kovalchuk scored only one goal, so it was not a hat trick for him. Perhaps the fans did that since it was Kovalcuk's first goal for the Devils after he was acquired in a trade.

Game Recap

Even the President of the United States Knows about the Never Ending Tour

I reported in this journal last week that Bob Dylan was scheduled to appear at a White House concert with several other artists to celebrate the civil rights movement. I just finished watching the show on PBS. President Obama opened the program by making remarks about the performers. He thanked Bob Dylan for taking a break from his never ending tour to come to the White House. Dylan sang The Times They are a Changin'. I was especially impressed by a version of Abraham Martin and John sung by Smokey Robinson. If you missed the concert, you can see it at PBS.org. It was not downloadable so I could not feature Bob or Smokey in this journal. Who says that Bob Dylan should retire?

Below is a video of Dylan singing that song in the early 1960s. Facebook friends may see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKm65xLpwIM

Snow Day Today - Sort of

Last night I received an e-mail from NJIT saying that the university would not open until 12 noon today. I gave this some thought and decided not to come in and use vacation time. Over 17 1/2 years the commuting from Flushing to Newark has taken its toll on me. I have reported some horror stories about my trips in this journal. Very often, the train service is very bad the day after a major snow storm. The 7 train usually runs local only and New Jersey Transit service is delayed. When trains are stored outdoors, snow gets into the mechanism which forces them to be taken out of service. This obviously creates problems. I may as well stay home and take it easy.

How I amused myself on a snow day

I did some reading, listened to my favorite radio stations and watched a few shows of Car 54 Where are You. We counted the times Gunther Toody said Ooh! Ooh!. It was 3 in the two episodes that we watched. Facebook friends can see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o67ZE8uBCAs

NJIT is closed today - We have a Snow Day!

We got the news about 6:30 last night that NJIT is to be closed today. Right now(8:10 AM) the snow is picking up in instensity, but the worst is going to come this afternoon. I was disappointed that I had to call off the METRO Science Librarians meeting. I will reschedule it for later in the spring semester. It will be a good day to get some reading done.

WCBS-FM Hall of Fame March 13, 1986

For about 20 years starting in the mid 1980s I regularly taped specialty radio shows. Back then Bob Shannon hosted the WCBS-FM Hall of Fame show from 6 - 10 PM. Each show would feature a single recording artist. Bob often played records that didn't reach high chart positions and were not usually heard on the station. Today I pulled out a tape featuring Neil Sedaka on March 13, 1986. It is a shame that Neil has not yet been elected to the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. Today I had the pleasure of listening to Bob 3 times:

• WCBS-FM today
• WLNG today
• WCBS-FM 24 years ago

Below is a recording of Calendar Girl by Neil. Facebook friends can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUlOyj9F5gM

Reconnecting through a common interest in Cousin Bruce

A few weeks ago I got a Facebook friend request from Bob Lasky whom I knew from Queens B'nai Brith Singles. Yesterday I received a message on my cell phone that he called and invited me to phone him back. So tonight I called Bob who moved to Daytona Bech, Florida as we reminisced about our days in the old singles group almost 30 years ago. I mentioned to him that I run into his old buddy Eddie Rimsky who lives in my neighborhood. Herb Hollander is the only guy in the old group that I speak to regularly, but Herb keeps in touch with several others. Bob and I also reconnected with Marsha Schnee who was the President.

The most interesting thing that Bob told me was that he found me on the Cousin Bruce Morrow Facebook page. I told Bob that I have met the Cuz on a number of occasions over the years. We will certainly keep in touch through Facebook and phone calls.

Galen Faison - Facebook Friend of the Day

Whenever Superbowl Sunday comes around I always think of Galen who is scheduled to work at the NJIT Library . He is arguably the biggest football on the library staff, who may have to miss watching the big game since he must work. Galen and Dr. Din Garcia, a former NJIT employee, have used their high tech savvy to use slingbox so that Galen may watch Indianapolis play New Orleans. Galen will not sacrifice his devotion to the NJIT student body during the game. He is good at multitasking and will assist all library patrons who needs his expertise during the game. Since the library closes at 8:45 PM, he will be able to catch the end of it at home with Lisa and Xander.

West Virginia 79 St. Johns 60

We like to see at least one college basketball game each season at Madison Square Garden. The weather forecast called for a big storm, but luckily for us the storm stayed to the south. New York City received hardly any snow while Philadelphia, only 100 miles south of us, got over 2 feet. We took the subway to see a Big East matchup between St. Johns and West Virgina. The Red Storm had a 16 point lead early in the game and led at halftime 33-22. West Virginia came to life in the second half and won 79 to 60. St. Johns' overall record is 12-10, but only 2-8 in the competitive Big East. There were only about 6000 fans in the stands. It is unfortunate that college basketball does not the big following that it did in the Big Apple years ago.

Game Summary

A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement

This coming Thursday February 11 at 8 PM PBS stations (Channel 13 in NYC) will broadcast a concert that takes place in the White House East Room. President and Mrs. Obama will host the event in honor of Black History Month. Bob Dylan will among several performers. It is a very special occasion while Dylan appears on TV.

More details

Paul McCartney 2009 - Ringo Starr 2010

Today I bought tickets to see Ringo Starr at Radio City Music Hall on July 7. The last time I was at Radio City was a few years ago when we got free tickets to see a taping of Jeopardy. I think the last time we saw a show there was when Lee was a little boy and we took him to see Barney there. I never saw the Beatles in concert since back in the 1960s I didn't have the money to buy tickets. I never saw George or John as solo artists. Unfortunately Ticketmaster is a ripoff since 25% of the price goes for their fee. Below is a video of Ringo singing "It Don't Come Easy" at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971. Facebook friends may see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1HX3MIJE-U

Knick Great Dick McGuire dies at 84

It was reported that New York Knick great Dick Mcguire died at age 84. I remember back in 1966-67 using my high school G.O. card to go Knick games at the old Madison Square Garden (8th Avenue and 50th Street) for $1.25. Yes, those were the days before the multimillion dollar contracts. My friend Paul Vernon and I would wait for the players to exit after the game to try to get autographs. I remember once meeting Dick McGuire and asking him if Bill Bradley was coming to the Knicks.

Jeopardy Competition at Our House

The scholar in this photo, Lee Slutsky, takes after his Dad and never misses Jeopardy. Anyway we have a competition during every show. If Lee gets a question right before the contestants he gets a point. If his dad gets a question right after all 3 contestants get it wrong or fail to answer I get a point. Today's score was Bruce 5 Lee 4. However, he often beats me. Today he got the final jeopardy question. It was Who was Benjamin Franklin?

Both the Daily News and the New York Post really stooped low

Rex Ryan, the head coach of the New York Jets, gave the finger to Miami Dolphin fans Saturday night at a mixed martial arts event in Sunrise, Florida. Ryan later apologized in a statement made the team. If you walk by your neighborhood newstand, you will see the obscene gesture on the front page of the New York Post. The Daily News put it on the back page.

As far as I am concerned you can take these two newspapers and use them to paper train your dog. Does the media report the news or create it. I guess the jerks who edit these two scandal sheets think the photo will sell more newspapers. I think this qualifies for an "oy vey."