Drive-In Dreams by Lou Christie

Lou Christie was Cousin Bruce's guest tonight.  The Cuz played Lou's new single Drive In Dreams.  I don't expect it to hit #1 on the Billboard Chart, but it is nice to see an "oldies but goodies" guy is still recording.  Several years I saw Lou at the Westbury Music Fair.  The Righteous Brothers were in the same show as Bobby Hatfield made one of his last appearances before his untimely death.

Please check out Lou's Web Site.

They are Playing Like the 1969 Mets

At 8:30 last night the Mets and Marlins were in a scoreless tie at the end of 7 innings.  I can't remember a game moving so quickly.  Dillion Gee was pitching a masterpiece but gave up 3 hits in a row in the bottom of the 8th as the Marlins took a 1-0 lead.  In the top of the 9th Daniel Murphy hit a 3 run homer as the Mets took the lead.  Daniel also turned in a nifty fielding play in the bottom of the 9th as the Mets won 3-1 and now have a 15-5 record.  They won like the 1969 Mets won.   The total time of the game was 1 hour 58 minutes.

Game Summary from ESPN

It's Only a Play

Karen and I always see a Broadway show for our birthdays.  We usually go to a musical, but this year we decided on a comedy.  Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were the big stars of this show.  I enjoyed it and thought it was amusing.  I think this show was aimed at a more regular theater goer as there were references to many Broadway actors, directors, and producers.  I was amused by a scene where the Nathan Lane character read the review of his play from an iPhone.

Bruce's Journal Reaches 300,000 Page Views

According to Blogger.com Bruce's Journal has received 300,000 page views.  The statistics that I get from Blogger and Google Analytics are usually different so I don't know which one is accurate.  Most of the hits are casual as those finding this journal usually stay for a very short time.

Thanks for stopping by.

Subway Series Begins Tonight

Round 1 of the Subway Series begins tonight at Yankee Stadium while round 2 at Citifield will not occur until September.  In previous years these games have taken place in May, June or July.  The Mets are red hot as they have won 11 games in a row which ties their record for longest winning streak.  The Yankees just won 3 out of 4 against the Detroit Tigers.

It seems that the best trades are the ones that you don't make.  Bartolo Colon is now 4-0.  The young pitchers on the Mets have matured and have given the team arguably the best staff in MLB.  Jeurys Familia has risen to the occasion and already has 8 save.  He is likely to stay in the closer role after Bobby Parnell returns.

This is a transitionary year for the Yankees after the retirement of Derek Jeter.

In a short series anything can happen.

Bob Dylan's Ballad in Plan D Inspired Randy Bachman to Write Undun Recorded by the Guess Who

Tonight Cousin Brucie interviewed Randy Bachman who was the lead singer of the Guess Who and the Bachman Turner Overdrive.  One of The Guess Who's biggest hits was Undun, a song that tells the story of a girl whom he had seen at a party who slipped into a coma after dropping acid. Randy said that the word Undun was from Ballad in Plan D an obscure Bob Dylan song from the album Another Side of Bob Dylan.

"Of the two sisters, I loved the young
With sensitive instincts, she was the creative one
The constant scapegoat, she was easily undone
By the jealousy of others around her"

Ballad in Plain D was a very boring song that alluded to Dylan's romantic relationship with Suze Rotolo.

April 22 is Karen's Birthday

On our very first date in 1980 I noticed Karen had a knick knack on a shelf that said Taurus.  I asked when is her birthday and she said Aprill 22 which is one day after mine, but not in the same year.  I will not reveal Karen's age on the internet where anybody could see it.  She is one of the few people I know who is totally disinterested in Facebook, Twitter or any other social media tool.

Happy birthday and many many more.

Hey - Today is My Birthday

This caked was baked by Anita Bonita

This thoughtful gift was sent by Jean Prokopchuk

Here are some "hints" as to how old I am.  I think it is quite obvious

The Mets Beat the Miami Marlins 7-6 But Lose Two Players to Injuries

View from Section 516

It was our first game of the season at Citifield this season. The stadium was almost full as Matt Harvey was the starting pitcher.  The Mets scored 7 runs in the 4th inning highlighted by a bases clearing triple by Ruben Tejada.  At that point the Mets had a 7-1 and it appeared to be an easy victory coming.  Miami chipped away and scored 5 runs to make the score 7-6.  Jeurys Familia came in the 9th inning to close the door on the Marlins.

The Mets lost Travis d'Arnaud when he was hit by a pitch on his wrist. Pitcher Jerry Blevins was hit by a line drive off his pitching arm and suffered a fracture.  Kevin Plawecki, a prized prospect, and right-hander Hansel Robles will be called up from Triple-A Las Vegas to help fill in.

Despite an injury to David Wright the Mets have now won 8 in a row and start the season at 10-3.  The Mets opened the 1986 and 2006 seasons with that record and went on to win the division those years.

Game Recap

Selfie at today's game

It's Nice to Have a Winning Team in the Neighborhood

It is really nice to see the Mets start out at 9-3.  The last several years have been tough for fans of the Amazins.  The team has had losing seasons since the opening of Citifield in 2009.  The Mets just missed out on reaching the playoffs in 2007 and 2008.  The last time the Mets made the postseason was in 2006.

Met fans have had some tough periods in their history:

1962-1968 were all losing seasons until we won the World Series in 1969

The late 1970s were especially bad after the Tom Seaver trade. We didn't win it all until 1986.

The Mets were terrible during most of the 1990s and didn't reach the playoffs until 1999 and 2000.

It is a very long season and 12 games is not very much.  So far so good, but I am optimistic about the rest of season.

I Won Another Air Guitar on Bob Radil's 60s 70s Show

Every Friday night Bob Radil has a trivia contest where the "prize" is an air guitar which is a eupehmism for nothing.  The winner just gets the satisfaction of getting the question correct while being the first one to get it.

On tonight's show Bob played a B side and asked the listeners to get the correct artist and A side.  He gave a hint that this was this artist's first hit.  It sounded like Steely Dan so I went to my trusty Joel Whitburn book and saw their first hit was Do it Again.  The B Side that Bob played was Fire in the Hole.

Comments at the Beginning of Baseball Season

I am glad to see that MLB games have moved along faster so far this season.  I have observed that the batters are stepping out of the box less often and the pitchers take less time between pitches.  I still hate it when managers bring in a pitcher to get to just one batter.

I must disagree with the Mets decision to carry 13 pitchers and only 12 position players.  In last night's game they were really in a bind after David Wright was injured in the 8th inning.  They had to use backup catcher Anthony Recker at 3rd base in the 9th.  Luckily no balls were hit to him as the Mets held on to win the game.  They have put Wright on the disabled list and recalled Eric Campbell who can play several infield and outfield positions.

Our first game is this Sunday.

Random Radio Notes

Yesterday was Pat. St. John's show on WCBS-FM as he is moving to San Diego to join his family there.  I was able to listen to most of his show over the air.  I was surprised that the management of 101.1 FM let Pat break format.  Radio friend Matt Seinberg recorded the show which may be downloaded.

Rich Appel played his IRS Top 104 songs that were voted by listeners who believed  they should have charted in the top 10.  Very often records become more popular as oldies.  I appreciate Rich's hard work in this endeavor.  Only a few of the songs that I voted for made the top 104.  The list may be seen at http://musicradio77.com/IRS.html

Recently Radio Disney left the New York airwaves as 1560 AM was sold to Family Radio.  A report from Radioinsight states that Radio Disney will be heard on 60 HD2 or HD3 stations.  It is possible that it will reappear on 98.7 HD3.

The latest radio ratings say that WLTW is still leading the pack with WCBS-FM in second place.

Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour Starts its 2015 Leg

Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour resumed last night at the Borgata in Atlantic City.  You can see the schedule for 2015 so far at Bill Pagel's Boblinks page. Hopefully the tour will come to NYC in the Fall.  Below is the set list that was posted on Bill's site.  It is the same as the ones in late 2014.  I wonder if Dylan and his backup back get tired of played the same songs every concert.

Atlantic City, New Jersey Borgata Borgata Event CenterApril 10, 2015

1.	Things Have Changed
2.	She Belongs To Me
3.	Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
4.	Workingman's Blues #2
5.	Duquesne Whistle
6.	Waiting For You
7.	Pay In Blood
8.	Tangled Up In Blue
9.	Love Sick
	(Intermission)
10.	High Water (For Charley Patton)
11.	Simple Twist Of Fate
12.	Early Roman Kings (Stu on shakers)
13.	Forgetful Heart
14.	Spirit On The Water
15.	Scarlet Town
16.	Soon After Midnight
17.	Long And Wasted Years
	(encore)
18.	Blowin' In The Wind
19.	Stay With Me (song by Jerome Moross and Carolyn Leigh)

It Really Should Have Been a Top 10 Hit

Back in the 1960s and erly 1970s I used to follow top 40 radio station station surveys very closely.  I was always disappointed when a record I enjoyed didn't chart high.  Years later these records wer played as oldies on stations such as WCBS-FM.  Very often records became more popular as oldies than they were when they were first released.

Since 2008 countdown enthusiast Rich Appel compiles a list of records voted by listeners that should have been in the top 10 years ago.  I really thank him for all the hard work he puts in compiling these all these years.  A few years ago I won a 4 CD set of the top 104.  Right now they are played on Rewound Radio.  Here is the 34 songs that I sent to Rich:

1. Just Like A Woman - Bob Dylan
2. Knockin' on Heavens Door - Bob Dylan
3. I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better - Byrds
4. River Deep Mountain High - Ike and Tina Turner
5. Nothing but a Heartache - Flirtations
6. Tangled Up in Blue - Bob Dylan
7. All I Really Want to Do - Byrds
8. Eight Miles High - Byrds
9. There is a Mountain - Donovan
10. Catch The Wind - Donovan
11. I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday - Fats Domino
12. Ring of Fire - Johnny Cash
13. From Me to You - Beatles
14. Matchbox - Beatles
15. Hey Joe - The Leaves
16. Mind Games - John Lennon
17. Crackerbox Palace - George Harrison
18. Blow Away - George Harrison
19. When We Was Fab- George Harrison
20. Here Comes the Sun - Richie Havens
21. Someday Never Comes - Creedance Clear Water Revival
22. Suite Judy Blue Eyes - Crosby Stills and Nash
23. Woodstock - Crosby Still Nash and Young
24. Ohio - Crosby Stills, Nash and Young
25. Uptown - Crystals
26. Bang Bang - Joe Cuba Sextet
27. Come and Get Thes Memories - Martha and the Vandellas
28. Reet Petite - Jackie Wilson
29. Happy Jack - Who
30. Abigail Beecher - Freddie Cannon
31. Say Man - Bo Didley
32. The Joker Went Wild - Brian Hyland
33. So Far Away - Carole King
34. Everyone's Gone to the Moon - Jonathan King

Two Facebook Notes

It is almost impossible to get through to Cousin Brucie to ask a request.  I have phoned his toll free number umpteen times over the years, but have never gotten through to him.  I have been more successful reaching him through e-mail.  There is the Cousin Brucie Official Friendship Page that has been up for several years.  There is now a Cousin Brucie Fan Fall where listeners can make requests.  The is also the Cousin Brucie Fan Page which actually pre-dates the official page.

There is a new group called 7 Train Blues which I read about in AM New York.  It gives me another place where I can bitch about my delays on the #7 train in Queens.  I already posted a few links to my commuting blog.

Opening Day - Yankees Lose at Home While Mets Win on the Road

The Yankee game began at 1 PM while I was at work, so I couldn't pay much attention to it.  The reports said that Alex Rodriguez got a good hand as he played his first game back from a year long suspension.  Masahiro Tanaka was ineffective for the Yankees as they lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 6-1.

Game Recap

At age 41 Bartolo Colon was the oldest opening day starting pitcher in Mets history, but he did win 15 games for them last season.  He did pitch effectively for 6 innings and was helped by two errors by the Washington Nationals.  The Mets won 3-1 but I am concerned since Jenrry Mejia could not close because of elbow stiffness and pain.  Buddy Carlyle got his first career save at age 37.  The Mets are now 34-19 in opening days in their 53 year history.

Game Recap

Random Comments of the Day

We walked over to the local multiplex to see Furious 7 which was shown on 5 of the 12 screens.  The theater was crowded as it was its first weekend.  I guess kids like to see expensive cars being smashed up.  I was one of the oldest people in the theater.  I noted that the movie "The Wrecking Crew" about backup musicians of the 60s is still playing at the IFC Theater in Greenwich Village.  I am reluctant to spend money on subway fare just to see a movie.  I will likely wait to buy it on DVD.  Danny Collins should come to Queens next weekend.

The baseball season started tonight with the Cardinals playing the Cubs at Wrigley Field.  There is a modern scoreboard in left field, but the construction of the bleachers will not be complete until later in the season.

I backed up this blog to an XML file.  It is housed on Google's server, but just in case there is a problem I have a backup.

The New York City schools will be on spring break so the buses and subways should be significantly less crowded in the morning.  Also since the weather is warmer, people will not be wearing winter coats which take up space in a crowded bus or subway.

Events In the Next Week

In no particular order:

• Rich Appel will play his IRS 104 on his That Thing Show and on Bob Radil's 60s 70s show on Rewound Radio.  This is list of 104 songs voted by the listeners that should have charted in the Top 10.  It is always a fun listen.

• Monday is the start of baseball season.  The Yankees are starting at home while the Mets are on the road in Washington, D.C.  Our first game is Sunday April 19

• Bob Dylan's Never Ending Tour resumes in Atlantic City on Friday April 10.  There are concert scheduled through the middle of July in the USA and Europe.  This means he will likely come to NYC in the Fall.

Postcards from Paradise - 24 Beatles Songs by Ringo Starr

1. Here There and Everywhere
2. I Saw Her Standing There
3. I am The Greatest
4. All I've Got to Do
5. All Too Much
6. Little Child
7. Honey Pie
8. 8 Days a Week
9. Getting Better
10. Don't Pass Me By
11. Tell Me Why
12. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away
13. Bad To Me
14. It's Only Love
15. Let it Be
16. All My Lovin'
17. Here Comes the Sun
18. Nowhere Man
19. I Want to Hold Your Hand
20. The Night Before
21. We Can Work it Out
22. Twist and Shout
23. Love Me Do
24. P.S. I Love You

Monkey Man by the Rolling Stones

 

From the album Let it Bleed

Eye Doctor Appointment This Morning

Today I am going for my annual eye examination.  Luckily, the doctor's office is right across the street from my home.  I am hoping they will not find any cataracts.  My sister Joyce and friend Roy had catract surgery recently.