3 Museums Today in Phoenix

Our first stop of the day was the Arizona Capitol Museum.  Years ago the original capital building seen above was repurposed as a museum as the state legislature and similar offices were moved to adjacent buildings.  It uses a balance of technology, hands-on activities, historical artifacts, and public programs to help visitors learn about cultural, political and social history.  There was an exhibit that demonstrated the visit of Martin Luther King to Phoenix in 1968.  Another exhibit traced the history of the Phoenix Sun basketball team that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Our next stop was the Phoenix Police Museum which traced the history of the local department from its inception in the 19th century to the present.  There was a large exhibit about the Miranda case which happened in Phoenix in the 1960s,  Much of the equipment used by the police was demonstrated.  Below is a photo of Lee riding on a motorcycle.

The last museum of the day was the Wells Fargo History Museum which featured:

• An authentic 19th Century stagecoach
• A replica stagecoach you can climb aboard
• Interactive telegraph
• Art gallery—the largest public display of N.C. Wyeth’s western-themed work

Arrived in Phoenix Today

We flew out from JFK airport this morning and flew out to Phoenix.  The only little problem was that only cookies were offered during a 5-hour flight.  I would have been willing to pay the airline for a lunch on the flight, but nothing was available.  When we arrived the temperature was 99 degrees, but with low humidity.

There was no bible in the hotel room.  It seems that the Gideons don't make the round anymore.

Dylan Cash Sessions - 1969

I was listening to Johnny Cash Radio when they featured Dylan-Cash sessions that were recorded in 1969.  This was never officially released, but can be purchased over the web.  I think I have the entire "album" on a cassette tape in my collection.  The only song that was on an official album was their duet of Girl from the North Country.  Above is a recording of Guess things happen that way.

Day at the Society of Illustrators

Today Karen and I visited the Society of Illustrators on East 63rd Street.  Two floors of the museum were devoted to an exhibition of original artwork showcasing characters from the Marvel Universe featuring the Avengers and other heroes.  There was also a video featuring Stan Lee and John Buscema describing how the images should be drawn.  The second exhibit was titled Funny Ladies at the New Yorker.  It is described as a commemoration of some of the women who drew cartoons for The New Yorker past and present.  The third exhibit featured the Tuskegee Airmen and the Harlem Hellfighters.

A Half Million Page Views of Bruce's Journal

Blogger, an analytics tool provided by Google, indicated today that there have been 500,000 page views of Bruce's Journal since I started it in October 2005. I have written about 3600 entries from the ridiculous to the sublime almost 13 years.

I sense that most of these page views are cursory as the viewer looks at my journal entry quickly and moves on to something else.  I never know who reads my journal.  I also sense that there are a few regular readers, but I don't know if these people have ever met me.  I got very responses the few times I tried to poll my readers.  Many readers access my journal through my Facebook page.

I plan to keep on writing.

RIP David Stein

Facebook friend David Stein passed away from complications of sepsis at age 70.  I met him online on AOL back in the late 1990s as he was an avid collector of oldies record and a fan of radio.  He sent me a replica WMCA Good Guy sweatshirt years ago.  I vaguely remember speaking to him over the phone, but I never met him.

I send my condolences to his longtime companion Barbara Murphy-Pastore, his family and many friends who will miss him.

Terrible Weather Forecast for the Week

It looks like it will rain for most of the week.  Here is the forecast from WNBC-TV:

"Scattered showers and thunderstorms will continue to move through parts of the region this morning, but do look to recede a bit further inland during the afternoon and evening. Still, it will be a very humid and gray day across most of the region, with highs peaking in the lower 80s in the city. Conditions will remain rather muggy and overcast tonight, with lows only dropping into the 70s. A few spotty showers or thunderstorms could pop up overnight, but this will mainly be across our suburbs north and west of town. Tomorrow will be a touch drier overall, and we could even see a few peeks of sunshine at times. However, there is still a possibility that we could see a few more showers and thunderstorms fire up during the day. Regardless, it will continue to feel very warm and humid across most of the region with highs rising back into the mid-80s."

Most museums are closed on Mondays and I just went to the movies yesterday.  I'll have to think of something to do.  I can always read yesterdays New York Times.

Suggestions for Yoenis Cespedes

Yoenis Cespedes just missed 57 games and came back last night to hit a home run to help the Mets beat the Yankees.  He missed today's game since he was sore after playing in just one game as DH.  Today it was announced that he may have to undergo surgery on both heels that would require a recovery of 8-10 months.

If you are interested take a look at this interview on Twitter.  Cespedes is using an interpreter to answer questions from reporters.  Here are 2 suggestions:

1.  You have a contract for $110 Million.  Can't you use a little bit of that to hire a tutor to teach you the English language?  Met fans who buy tickets and subscribe to cable TV are paying you big bucks.  Can't you communicate with us in English?  I don't think that is asking too much.

2.  If you have surgery on your heels, please do it soon so you can come back earlier in the 2019 season.

49th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

I remember being at home with my parents watching the moon landing on July 20, 1969.  I was taking summer session classes at CCNY that summer.  To celebrate the moon landing, classes were canceled.  That summer I also worked as a stock boy for Alexanders in Rego Park,

The Rubin Museum Today

I didn't know about the Rubin Museum until a few weeks ago when I heard an announcement about it on WBGO.  I was curious and thought I would check it out.  Some museums are comprehensive in the types of art they collect, but the Rubin was quite specific as it specializes in the art of the Himalayas and the surrounding regions.  Some of the art was as old as the 13th century while other offerings were as recent as 2017.  The docent who gave us a tour was quite knowledgeable as he gave detailed analyses of some of the artwork in the collection.

If I waited until August, I could have gotten free admission with my library card as I stated in my last entry.  I never object to paying to get into a museum as I believe in supporting cultural institutions.

You Can Now Get Free Admission to NYC Museums with a Library Card - Please Read the Fine Print

There was an announcement yesterday that NYC residents with a library card from Queens, Brooklyn, or NYPL can gain free admission to 33 museums.  The announcement implied that one can just walk into a museum, show a library card and get it.  You can read all the details at https://www.culturepass.nyc/ .   

One must access that website and pick a museum and make a reservation in advance.  For some of the museums, one must have to wait a month or more for an open date.  There is also a limitation on how many times one may visit a particular institution.  In any event, this is a very good deal.  I just felt that the details should have been given in the preliminary announcements.

Lee Saw Yellow Submarine for the First Time

 In 1968 I went with my friend Roy and his Dad and saw Yellow Submarine at the Fresh Meadows theater.  Some years I saw it on TV with Cousin Brucie as the host.  A few weeks ago I read about the re-release of the film in Goldmine Magazine.  Earlier this week I researched the movie in the Performing Arts Library of NYPL in Lincoln Center.  Today we went to the Kew Gardens Cinema to see it.  This version included the song Hey Bulldog which was omitted from the 1968 version,

Lee was so thrilled about seeing the movie.  When we got home he insisted on hearing the soundtrack CD again.  The music of the Beatles will never die, but "Greatest Hits" radio stations like WCBS-FM refuse to play their music which transcends the generations.

Mets 7 Nationals 4

I finally saw a good game at Citi Field as the Mets defeated the Washington Nationals 7-4 with a good pitching performance by Zach Wheeler who won the first time since April 29.  The Mets took a 7-0 that featured a  3-run homer by Michael Conforto.  It seemed to be a safe lead but Wheeler faltered in the 8th inning by giving up a 2-run homer by Matt Adams.  I felt that Mickey Callaway kept Wheeler in a little too long, but all's well that ends well as Jeurys Familia closed the door in the 9th inning for his 17th save.

Game recap

Happy Birthday Roger McGuinn

Roger McGuinn is 76 years young today.  I have been following him since 1965 when the Byrds version of Mr. Tamborine Man was a #1 hit.  Above is a video of Roger with fellow Byrd Chris Hillman singing You Ain't Goin' Nowhere.  Roger, Chris, and others will be touring for the 50th anniversary of the seminal LP Sweetheart of the Rodeo.  I will be buying tickets for their show at Town Hall on September 24.

Listening to Sports Talk Radio

Since I've been retired, I listen to WFAN and ESPN New York with some degree of regularity. I find that I can only listen for 20-30 minutes at a time. First of all, there is so much repetition of the topics of the day. I am especially annoyed with callers who constantly speculate on trades. If I tune in later in the day, I hear the same speculations. Should the Mets trade Jacob deGrom? Also, it seems that the commercial load on sports talk stations is very high. I just have to tune out after hearing more than 3 minutes of spots.

There was a report today that Mike Francesa's WFAN show beats Michael Kay's ESPN Radio show in the ratings.  I do listen to both, but it annoys when Michael Kay and his two co-hosts talk too much about non-sports topics.

Researching Yellow Submarine Before Seeing the Movie Again

I found out that the Beatles Yellow Submarine movie will be re-released for theaters this month and will be shown next weekend at the Kew Gardens Cinema.  I took a ride to Manhattan to read the book seen above at the Performing Arts Research Library of NYPL at Lincoln Center.  Here are some facts that I discovered about the film:

• It premiered in the UK on July 17, 1968, thus the re-release is scheduled for the 50th anniversary.  I was not released in the USA until November of that year.
• Al Brodax was the producer
• The Beatles had no role in the production of the film.  Their voices were done by actors.  They did appear at the very end.
• Heinz Edelmann designed the Yellow Submarine for the movie
• Erich Segal of Love Story fame was a screenwriter
• There were 200 animators but only 10  were considered the creative drive behind the basic design and preparation.
• The film was renovated in 1999 and 2012 and re-released in those years.
• The original American version did not include Hey Bulldog

Tampa Bay Rays 9 Mets 0 - I should have gone to a museum today

When I bought Met tickets in March, I didn't buy anything for July since I didn't know when in the month we would go on vacation.  Since we are not leaving until July 29, I thought we would get tickets for one or two games early in the month.  Since the weather forecast was promising, I decided to get tickets for today's game.  If I had bought promenade infield seats from the box office, I would have paid $40.  I checked out StubHub and was able to buy tickets for $17 each.  I guess season ticket holders are trying to dump their tickets.

C.J Cron hit a three-run home run for the Rays in the first inning off starting pitcher Chris Flexen.  it was then downhill from there for the Mets.  At the end of the 6th inning, the Rays were ahead 7-0 and to add insult to injury Rays starter Nathan Eovaldi retired the first 18 batters.  Brandon Nimmo singled in the 7th for the Mets to end the threat of a perfect game.  The Rays scored two more runs to win 9-0.

I should have gone to a museum today.

Game Recap

Museums that I Have Visited in 2018

Here is a list of museums I have visited since I retired in January 2018:

1. Brooklyn Museum – David Bowie Exhibit
2. Frick Collection
3. Guggenheim Museum
4. Holocaust Museum
5. International Center of Photography
6. Jewish Museum
7. Metropolitan Museum of Art
8. Museum of Modern Art – Manhattan
9. Museum of Modern Art – PS1 – Queens
10. Museum of Sex
11. Museum of the American Indian
12. New Museum
13. Paley Center for Media
14. Skyscraper Museum
15. Whitney Museum

In the months to come I want to see:

Brooklyn Museum - I only saw the David Bowie exhibit

Queens Museum - this one is really close to home

American Museum of Natural History - this is an all-day trip

Bronx Museum of Art

Visited the New Museum on the Lower East Side

The New Museum was established by an independent curator Marcia Tucker in 1977. It is dedicated to introducing new art and new ideas, by artists who have not yet received significant exposure or recognition.  If you go to this museum, don't expect to view Andy Warhol, Picasso, Monet, Manet, or any other familiar artist.

The exhibits that I viewed today were mostly videos which seemed to be very "off-beat".  The featured artists were:

• Anna Boghiguian
• Hiwa K
• Aaron Fowler
• Naufus Ramirez-Figeroa
• John Akomfrah
• Thomas Bayrle  - this was my favorite

Starting the Second Half of the Baseball Season

After 81 games the Mets are 33-48 which is pretty bad.  What happened to the team that started out as 11-1?  I read that Noah Syndergaard, Yoenes Cespedes, and Jason Vargas are all progressing in rehab, but there is no timetable for their return.  It is obvious that Sandy Alderson will not be back as General Manager, so who will assume that position?  What deals will be made by the July 31 trade deadline?  I hope the Mets will build their future around deGrom and Syndergaard and not trade either one.

The Yankees are in second place with a 54-28 record one game behind the Red Sox.  I think they will need one more starting pitcher to strengthen their rotation.  It is imperative that the Bombers finish ahead of the BoSox to avoid having to play in the wild-card game.

This Silly Commercial Perpetuates a Prejudicial Stereotype

As a research librarian for almost 40 years, it was my job to expedite the flow of information from the person creating it to someone needing it.  I always enjoyed consulted with students, faculty, and staff to understand their question and guide them to find the information they need.  Today, much research can be done outside a building known as a library which must be a quiet place.  Some ambient noise is unavoidable.  Librarians do not spend most of their time shushing people as it is implied in this commercial.

Librarians and other professionals regularly attend conferences to exchange ideas.  They don't just sit at a desk as shown in this commercial.

By this way, the commercial was filmed at the main reading room of the Schwartzman Building of the New York Public Library.