St. John's 75 Providence 66 at Madison Square Garden

Since the Knicks stink and their ticket prices are prohibitively high we went to Madison Square Garden to see St. John's play Big East rival Providence.  Sir'Dominic Pointer lead the Red Storm with 20 points while Kris Dunn lead the visiting Friars with 23 points.  St. Johns led most of the way.  Will they go to the "Big Dance" this year?

Game Recap

Little Red Rooster Sam Cooke and Rolling Stones Versions

Here are two versions of Little Red Rooster.  They are so different, but both of them are so good.  Give them both a listen

 

Meteorology is Not an Exact Science

It didn't turn out to be the blizzard of the century as Queens got about 10 inches of snow which is still significant.  Eastern Long Island and Connecticut got the brunt of the storm. This shows that meterology is never an exact science.  Even today's sophisticated computers can only make predictions.  It is always better to prepare for the worst but hope for the best.  I think this time our public officials did the right thing by closing roads and public transportation at 11 PM last night.  There were open early this morning.

It is back to work tomorrow as service on New Jersey Transit was also restored this morning.  It may take a day or so for things to get back to normal.  It will be cold over the next few days so the snow won't melt quickly.  I just hate dirty snow, but what can I do.

Taking the Blizzard of 2015 One Day at a Time

As I wrote in my previous post I decided to lose a vacation day to avoid the aggravation of commuting in bad weather.  After my morning session on the internet, I got some reading done for a while.  I then looked at my collection of DVDs and viewed the Bob Dylan surrealistic biopic I'm Not There.  At 12 noon there was a break in the snow so I walked over to Dunkin' Donuts for some lunch.  Then it was back to reading from my Amazon Kindle until 2 PM when I turned on Channel 7.  Luckily there was a break in the storm coverage and I was able to watch my second favorite quiz show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire".  Att that time the snowfall began to intensify.  The forecast is still up to an accumulation of 24 inches.

It turns out that classes after 4 PM were cancelled at NJIT as the library and other administrative offices closed simultaneously.  The Vice President in an email announced that everything  would be closed tomorrow, but open on Wednesday.  However, New Jersey Transit announced tht rail service  would be suspended until Thursday.  If NJIT opens on Wednesday, I'll have to decide if I should try to get in via PATH.  I'll have to take this situation one day at a time.

I Decided Not to Go To Work Today Due to the Blizzard

The weather forecast calls for 18-24 inches of snow, but it could be even higher.  The worst of the snow is supposed to come tonight, but you never know it could come earlier.  Governor Cuomo even said that public transportation could be shut down before the evening rush hour.  After what I have gone through with commuting over the years, I don't want to risk a nightmarish commute going home or even possibly being stranded.  Thus, I decided not to come to work today.  I have plenty of vacation time in my bank so I don't mind losing a vacation day.

Many of my earlier bad commutes were discussed in Bruce's Journal, but I have an alternative blog discussing commuting issues.

Trickle Trickle by The Videos

Why should I watch the TV news stories about the forthcoming blizzard in the Northeast?  What is the sense of watching the NFL Pro Bowl which is a meaningless game.  There is Cool Bobby B's Doo Wop Stop of SiriusXM 50s on 5.  Tonight Bobby played my request Trickle Tricke by the Videos from 1958.  Just call 1-866-DOOWOPP and make a request.  If you do not subscribe to SiriusXM, you can hear Bobby Tuesday nights at 9:00 on WLNG.com

NYC Casey Stengel Chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research Meeting Today

Some months ago I joined the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).  I heard much about this organization, but I thought that as I approach retirement, I should get involved.  Today the local Casey Stengel Chapter had their annual meeting at the Mid-Manhattan Library.  Casey Stengel is a good name for the chapter as the mighty Casey was a player or manager withthe Giants, Dodgers, Mets and Yankess in New York City.

I noticed that about 90% of the people in the audience were middle aged or elderly men.  Hopefully more younger people will join to sustain the organization.

The first event was a panel discussion  about Frank Robinson by Peter Keating (senior writer at ESPN) and William Weinbaum (former producer for MLB Productions)  This event commemorated the 40th anniversary of Frank's becoming the first Black manager in Major League Baseball.  Many anecdotes about Frank's playing and managerial days were discussed by the panelists and  audience members.

At lunchtime I decided to walk over to Ben's Deli at 7th Avenue and 38th Street.  This is the location of our annual oldies meet and greets.  I just love their pastrami sandwiches.

After lunch MLB offical scorers Billy Altman and Jordan Sprechman the art and science of that job in New York City.

Michael Gibbons, Executive Director of the Babe Ruth Birthplace in Baltimore,  was the final speaker.  We visited that museum in July 2011.  He related several anecdotes about Babe's baseball careeer.

Below is a link to a video of Babe Ruth playing at Yankee Stadium in 1925

http://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A20955

I was quite impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the speakers and the members of the organization in the audience.

I Lost on Jeopardy - Weird Al Yankovic

I guess this is "Game Show Week" on Bruce's Journal so here is I Lost on Jeopardy by Weird Al Yankovic:

Wheel of Fortune by Teresa Brewer

My last post was Who Wants to Be a Millionaire by Frank Sinatra.  How about Wheel of Fortune by Teresa Brewer.  Neither of this recordings made the Billboard Top 100.

Frank Sinatra Sings Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Since today was a holiday I was able to watch Who Wants to Be a Millionaire at 2 PM.  There was this question:

In the 1956 movie High Society Frank Sinatra sang a song with the title of which game show?

A. Family Feud
B. The Wheel of Fortune
C. The Price is Right
D. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Since Teresa Brewer had a minor hit in 1960 with The Wheel of Fortune, I thought that was the answer.  It turns out that Frank sang Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?  You can hear the clip in the movie below:

When Police Go Beyond the Call of Duty Where is the Media Attention?

There have been much attention paid to stories in Ferguson and Staten Island where police have acted inappropriately and as a result there were deaths.  However when police go beyond the call of duty and save lives, little is heard about it.  I don't watch WCBS-TV news regularly, but I found this story linked to Facebook.

A driver trapped upside down in an SUV was saved by police officers.  The woman said that the police officers called her in the hospital to check on her condition.

I would like to congratulate Officers Robert Falcone, Michelle Forthman, Marc Rudon and Anthony Orban from the 105th Precinct for a job well done.

A story like this should make the front page of the newspapers and be the lead story on the news.  Our public officials should also congratulate these fine officers.

UNCW 79 Hofstra 74

For the first time in over a year we drove to the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex to see the Hofstra Pride play the Sea Hawks of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.  I am certainly not going to waste my money watching the Knicks.  The home team was ahead for most of the game but the visitors outscored the Pride 16-5 in the last 5:40 to get the vistory.

Ameen Tanksley lead Hofstra with 19 points while UNCW's highest scorer was Addison Spruill.

Game Summary

Oldie of the Day with it's B-Side

Bob Radil on his 60s 70s Show has a feature where he plays an obscure B side and asks his listeners if they can figure out the A side and the artist.  On tonight's show he played Our B Side by Three Dog Night.  Music maven Rich Appel know that Shambala w as the A side.  I am sure that he knew it off the top of his head and didn't have to look anything up.  Below are the two songs:

Why is this Man Smiling?

I guess Phil "Action" Jackson is smiling since he just opened his paycheck.  He is getting $12 million a year and has produced the worst professional basketball team I have ever seen at 5-36.  Today the Knicks played in London, England and lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 95-79. The Knicks lost even with Carmelo Anthony playing. They have now lost 16 in a row and 26 out of 27.

Management must offer a competitive team even during a rebuilding stage.  They have traded some good players in J.R, Smith  and Iman Shumpert and waved the players they got in return.  They are playing with a bunch of scrubs with 10 day contracts.  The fans who play $100+ for ticket disserve much better.

Thinking Ahead to Retirement

Tomorrow afternoon I am going to TIAA-CREF in Manhattan  to make a contribution to a Roth IRA.  With a little luck, I hope to retire at the end of 2017, but that date is not engraved in stone.  By that time I will have completed 25 years of service at NJIT and be eligible for certain benefits.  There is always that fear of not having enough money in retirement.  I feel that I have invested wisely.

The other issue is keeping occupied during retirement.  I have seen too many elderly people just walking the streets having nothing to do.  A few months ago I joined the Society of American Baseball Research.  I thought is to use my library skills to research some baseball topics.  A thought came to mind to write a book with thumbnail biographies of baseball players who were born in the New York City area.

Walking the Dog by Rufus Thomas - Oldie of the Day

As Brian Matthew played this on Sounds of the Sixties it brought back memories of the fun we used to have with this song.  Does he mean 2-legged or 4-legged dogs?  Those were the days.

Selma the Movie Had the Wrong Bob Dylan Song

It was a very cold day so it was off to the local multiplex to see Selma the movie.  It was about the civil rights movement in 1965 when blacks in the south were fighting for the right to vote.  Martin Luther King led protesters on a March for Selma to Montgomery to assert their consitutional right to vote.  As the people crossed the Edmund Peetus bridge the Odetta version of Masters of War was heard in the background.  This is a song that Dylan wrote in protest of the military industrial complex.  I think Blowing in the Wind would have been a more appropriate song for this film.

Anyway, this film covered one chapter in the life of Marting Luther King.  I am not aware of any movie or TV miniseries that covered King's entire life.

Frank Thinks I Look Like Governor Daniel Malloy of Connecticut

Today I got an e-mail from Frank D'Agostino saying that I resemble Governor Daniel Malloy of Connecticut.  I have to tend to disagree with him this time.

Back in June 2013 Frank thought I looked like David Doty.  I think I look more like Mr. Doty than I do to Governor Malloy.

Sports Comments of the Day

Two Disappointed Mike Piazza Fans

4 Players were voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame:

• Pedro Martinez - He pitched for the Mets for 4 years, but only one of them was good.  He'll be inducted as a Boston Red Sox
• Craig Biggio
• John Smoltz
• Randy Johnson

Mike Piazza missed out by 5.5%.  Hopefully he'll get in next year.  Don Mattingly also was not elected to the Hall in his last year of eligibility.  Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, and Barry Bonds who were suspected of using performance enhancing drugs also did not get in,

As reported in the New York Post and other sources:

"In a three-way deal with Oklahoma City and Cleveland, Jackson shipped shooting guards J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to LeBron James’ Cavaliers and also waived center Samuel Dalembert, whose contract would have become fully guaranteed on Saturday, in a separate transaction. The trade became official late Monday.

The Knicks received three players with non-guaranteed contracts, a 2019 second-round pick and two trade exceptions worth $6 million and $2.6 million, respectively.

They will waive at least two of the players with the possibility of keeping young Oklahoma City forward Lance Thomas, a Brooklyn native. The Knicks could use the trade exceptions for a player without regard to the salary cap and have up to a year to use them."

It is obviously that Phil "Action" Jackson is throwing in the towel for the season.  This is obviously a salary dump as the Knicks are trading away some good players and getting little or nothing in return. Jackson is making $12 million a year and is responsible for a team with a 5-32 record.  He is clearly salary cap space for next season.  Is there any guarantee that Jackson will bring a winner to MSG in the forseeable future?

I really think that any person who bought Knick tickets for games this season should be offered a refund.

Winter Break 2014-15

Since I work for a university I have always gotten the time off between Christmas and New Years Day.  Since January 2 was on a Friday this year we were given that day off as well.  I pretty much stayed home during this break. It was nice not to have try ride the trains for a while.

I saw three movies at the local multiplex:

• Unbroken - this was excellent
• Night of the Museum: Secret of the Tomb - the original back in 2006 was better
• The Hobbit - Battle of the Five Armies - this was really for kids

I saw the College Basketball Festival at the Barclays Center

• St. Johns vs Tulane
• Hofstra vs LIU Brooklyn

Its back to work tomorrow.

Don't You Just Hate Waiting for A Furniture Delivery

A few days ago Karen and I ordered kitchen chairs from a major furniture store (I won't mention the name).  We thought we would do it this week since we were both off from work.  We ordered the chairs online Sunday night for delivery today (Friday).  The company called to confirm our order and to say that the delivery would come between 12 noon and 3 PM.  OK, this was not too bad as we could go out during the morning and come back in plenty of time.

By 3:30, we had not received our beloved delivery.  I phoned the company who put me on hold for abuot 20 minutes.   They said that the truck was delayed by a big delivery a few stops before ours.  Finally the truck came at 5:45 PM.  

Alls well that ends well as we received our chairs.  The only issue was that if we had known in advance that the delivery would come at 5:45PM, we could have gone out for the entire day.

New Morning - A Bob Dylan Song That Generates Optimism For the New Year

Seven and a half years later I found Dylan's version on YouTube, I am posting a cover of this song which generates optimism. I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year,

Can’t you hear that rooster crowin’?
Rabbit runnin’ down across the road
Underneath the bridge where the water flowed through
So happy just to see you smile
Underneath the sky of blue
On this new morning, new morning
On this new morning with you

Can’t you hear that motor turnin’?
Automobile comin’ into style
Comin’ down the road for a country mile or two
So happy just to see you smile
Underneath the sky of blue
On this new morning, new morning
On this new morning with you

The night passed away so quickly
It always does when you’re with me

Can’t you feel that sun a-shinin’?
Groundhog runnin’ by the country stream
This must be the day that all of my dreams come true
So happy just to be alive
Underneath the sky of blue
On this new morning, new morning
On this new morning with you

So happy just to be alive
Underneath the sky of blue
On this new morning, new morning
On this new morning with you
New morning . . .

Copyright © 1970 by Big Sky Music; renewed 1998 by Big Sky Music

Read more: http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs#ixzz3NZira8TM