Bruce Slutsky was born in New York City in 1949. I retired six years ago after working as a Science/Engineering Librarian at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark for 25 years. I was married to Karen until she passed away in February 2021. I have a son Lee who is now 35 years old. I am very much interested in the popular music of the 1960s, especially Bob Dylan and the Beatles. I am interested in rock and roll radio. I am an enthusiastic fan of the New York Mets.
It was closing day at Citi Field as the Mets faced the Miami Marlins. For several years Karen, Lee and I have gone to the final game of the season but today we were joined by the host and two distinguished listeners of the 60s 70s Show heard on Friday nights on Rewound Radio joined us. Bob Radil, Mary Ellen Brown and Ira Sonin watched the game from section 515.
Noah Syndergaard pitched a 5-hit shutout improving his record to 13-4. The hitting highlight was an RBI double by Todd Frazier. In my opinion, it should have been caught by left fielder Isaac Galloway. Thus, the Mets finished the season with two 1-0 victories over the Marlins. At least today's game was completed in 9 innings while last night's game with a tribute to David Wright lasted 13 innings.
This ends a very disappointing season for the Mets who finished with a record of 77-85 which was an improvement of last season's record of 70-92. In both seasons the team was plagued by injuries. they won 33 of their last 55 games. but it was too little, too late. Let's see what play moves management makes in the off-season.
Lee with his Superman Shirt with the Three Stooges
In August 2013 I reported in this journal statuettes of the Three Stooges on a lawn at 154th Street and 32nd Avenue in Flushing. Today we took a walk to Bowne Park about 1 1/2 miles east of our apartment. On the way back we passed by the house with those statuettes and took a few photos seen above. The owner of the house was holding a lawn sale. We spoke to her for a few minutes and found out that she was unaware of the Stoogeum near Philadelphia.
For readers who are not radio enthusiasts, Scott Muni was a distinguished radio personality who worked at WMCA, WMCA, WNEW-FM, and WAXQ in New York until his passing in September 2004. I searched the Paley Center's online catalog and found two tributes for him that were held at the Center previously known as the Museum of Television and Radio.
September 26, 2002 - while he was living
May 19, 2005 - several months after his passing
At the 2002 tribute, he appeared on stage with Zach Martin who was one of his producers. The program started with several airchecks and interviews from the various radio stations listed above. He started in radio while he was in high school and at one time succeeded Alan Freed at WAKR in Akron before he came to New York. He also related some anecdotes including what happened the night that John Lennon was killed. He was at WNEW-FM's Christmas show at Radio City where he received a phone call and then rushed uptown to the Dakota. Much of the session was devoted to questions from the audience that included radio personalities such as Dan Ingram and Meg Griffin. I was surprised to see radio enthusiasts Mary Shaw and Matt Seinberg seated next to Dan Ingram.
Dennis Elsas moderated the May 2005 tribute with Bill Ayres, Dave Herman, Dan Neer, and Ken Dashow as panelists. There were recorded tributes by Billy Joel and Paul McCartney. There were many comments by the panelists and audience members who were in the radio business. They remarked that Scott introduced obscure recording artists to a wider audience. They considered Scott a brother to other radio personalities.
I remember Scott best for his syndicated Beatles show called Ticket to Ride that was heard on WNEW-FM Sundays at 11 AM. There is a radio station with the calls WNEW at 102.7 FM today, but it is just not the same. I miss the classic rock radio of the Scott Muni era.
I have followed the Byrds since 1965 when Mr. Tambourine Man was a number 1 hit. The original members of the group were:
Roger McGuinn
David Crosby
Chris Hillman
Gene Clark (deceased)
Mike Clarke (deceased)
Ove the years there were personnel changes in the group while the members also performed as solo artists. David Crosby joined Crosby, Stills, and Nash while Chris Hillman later appeared in the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Desert Rose Band.
In 1968 the Byrds with McGuinn and Hillman as the only originals in the group recorded Sweetheart of the Rodeo, a seminal country rock album. Earlier this year they started a tour for the 50th anniversary of this album which came to Town Hall on West 43rd Street last night. It included McGuinn, Hillman, and Marty Stuart with his Fabulous Superlatives.
The first set started out with Dylan's My Back Pages and included A Satisfied Mind, Mr. Tambourine Man and Time Between, After an intermission, the group played all of the songs from the album, the encore included a tribute to the late Tom Petty and concluded with the Byrds big hit, Turn Turn Turn.
I really enjoyed this concert as Roger, Chris and Marty spoke to the audience about every song that they played. There was even a sing-a-long with Dylan's You Ain't Goin' Nowhere. The quote of the evening was Roger saying "If it is a Dylan song, it doesn't make sense."
The only disappointment was that nothing was said about the late Gene Clark who left the group after the second album. Gene had a career as a solo performer and also appeared in a few groups.
I observed that most of the people in the audience were baby boomers. I was 19 years old when Sweetheart of the Rodeo was released. It was a very enjoyable evening.
I have had my iPhone 6 since March 2015 so I thought it would be time to upgrade. That phone only had a 16G hard drive so things were really getting tight. For at least a year I had less than 2Gs left so I had to delete lesser used apps to make room. I couldn't even upgrade to IOS 11.
I went over to the AT&T Store in downtown Flushing and purchased the iPhone 8 with a 256G hard drive. I will never have to worry about running out of disk space again. I will be able to transfer music from my CD collection to this phone. The new phone has IOS 12, so I'll have to take time to figure out its capabilities.
I guess planned obsolescence is the issue as Apple forces you to buy a new phone every few years.
Paul Simon has recorded since the 1950s with and without his "sidekick" Art Garfunkel. I read in a recent biography that Paul and Art have not seen eye to eye in recent years and apparently are not talking to each other. He took a little "potshot" at Art when he sang Bridge Over Troubled Water and set he regretted giving this song away.
Hilburn, R. (2018). Paul Simon: The life. New York: Simon & Schuster.
The concert started out with America as Paul sang with a very large backup band. He did talk to the audience at times, unlike Mr. Dylan who just doesn't even introduce his backup musicians. Most of the songs he performed were from his solo career which started in 1970. Toward the end, he did an acoustic set of some S&G hits from the 60s. Most of the audience were older people like myself who have followed his career for years.
My favorite performance was the "Boy in the Bubble."
There is an extensive review of the show by Ben Yakas in the Gothamist.
Many fans of Dylan (not me) feel that Blood on the Tracks originally released in 1974 was his greatest work. My favorite is Blonde on Blonde from 1966. This 6 CD set to be released on November 2 includes alternative versions of the songs and a hardcover book. I just ordered the boxed set on Amazon.com so I'll receive it on the release date. I am disappointed that there have not been any new Dylan compositions released since 2012.
New Jersey Transit is a major reason why I have not set foot in the Garden State in 2018. I hear every day on the TV or radio news reports of significant delays on the trains which I rode for 25 years. One of the reasons is a shortage of train engineers which I feel is a result of poor management. I always hear of switch problems and downed overhead wires. I also think of the money that I save by not having to buy a monthly ticket from NYC to Newark.
Yesterday there was a situation where a door on the train was open while it was going full speed ahead toward NYC. If you look at the photos, you'll see a few passengers standing near the open door. It was also my observation that often commuters don't use common sense.
On Thursday I took advantage of the Culture Pass that I got by using my Queens Library card and visited the Bard Graduate Gallery on West 86th Street. It featured an exhibit called Agents of Faith: Votive Objects in Time and Place. The exhibit provides a perspective on why humans across the globe create these material objects with the intention of being offered as acts of faith.
Yesterday we walked over to Flushing Town Hall to see a concert by New Music Horizons featuring classical music and jazz. The classical works were composed by Yui Kitamura while Mark Wade was the jazz composer. It is nice to have a cultural institution in the neighborhood.
How about 7 more nights! The Never Ending Tour is coming to NYC in 2018 after all. Rolling Stone reports that Dylan will appear from November 23 - December 1 at the Beacon Theater. I will be there. The pre-sale starts this Tuesday, September 18.
Mets.com reports that David Wright will be activated for the Mets last homestand from September 25-30 and will start at 3rd base for the last time on September 29th against the Miami Marlins. He suffered from spinal stenosis which is a condition, not an injury and has undergone three surgeries in recent years. His determination to return must be admired by all. The article did not indicate retirement but states that David does not expect to be ready to play in the future.
His not playing for the last 2 1/2 years likely precludes him from being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, but obviously will make it to the Mets Hall of Fame. It would be a crime if Mets management did not retire his number 5.
We already have tickets for the closing game on September 30. Perhaps David will pinch-hit in that game.
Please, always keep the following in mind. It is the true meaning of Rosh Hashanah
On Rosh Hashanah it is written, and on Yom Kippur it is sealed.
How many will pass and how many will be created?
Who will live and who will die?
Who in their time, and who not their time?
Who by fire and who by water?
Who by sword and who by beast?
Who by hunger and who by thirst?
Who by earthquake and who by drowning?
Who by strangling and who by stoning?
Who will rest and who will wander?
Who will be safe and who will be torn?
Who will be calm and who will be tormented?
Who will become poor and who will get rich?
Who will be made humble and who will be raised up?
There was a steady light rain all morning, but since we live close by we decided to venture out to Citifield. When we arrived the tarp was taken off the field, but the game did not start until 1:37 PM. Jacob deGrom was scheduled to be the starting pitcher but was scratch since management did not want him to pitch in the rainy weather. We sat in the nosebleed seats and were covered by the roof of the stadium.
The Phillies took the early lead with a home run by Rhys Hoskins. But the star of the game for the Mets was Michael Conforto who hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning. On defense Conforto reached into the left-field seats to grab Santana's fly out for the final out of the sixth, stranding a pair of runners.
It rained throughout the game, but there was no stoppage. The announced crowd was 24,000, but likely no more than 10,000 fans were in the stadium. There are always diehards like me.
Today Karen and I want to go to the Paley Center but when we arrived we find out that it was closed for a special event in the evening. We decided to walk around the corner and go to the Museum of Modern Art. Lee and I were there in March so I thought there would be new exhibits. We saw:
Toward a Concrete Utopia: Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948–1980
Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams
The Long Run
I wish there was more time to examine the numerous paintings, sculptures, and photographs in more depth.
Please disregard yesterday's journal entry. Girl from the North County was extended until December 9th. I phoned the box office and got tickets in the second row.
The main exhibit featured the works of artist Alberto Giacometti whose plaster sculptures and paintings investigated the human figure. The second exhibit called One Hand Clapping featured newly commissioned works by Cao Fei, Duan Jianyu, Lin Yilin, Wong Ping, and Samson Young. This is the first time that I had seen films at the Guggenheim.
On Sunday I reported in this journal about Girl From the North Country playing from September 11 - November 18 at the Public Theater. I phoned the box office yesterday and found out that all the shows were sold out. The woman said that it was possible that tickets could be released in the future or that the run may be extended.
I checked Stub Hub and Ticketmaster and found out that secondary market tickets were available at least twice the regular price. It seems that it is common that people are not interested in the show, but buy tickets just to make money. I would like to see this show, but it is not worth $300/ticket to see it. There is nothing I can do about this.
Please disregard this journal entry. The run was extended until December 9. I got tickets for Saturday November 24 at 1:30 PM.
Girl from the North Country was originally released by Bob Dylan on the Freewheelin' album in 1963, Six years later he recorded a duet with Johnny Cash of the Nashville Skyline album. I read some months back in the Dylan fanzine Isis that a musical of Dylan songs titled Girl from the North Country was showing in London. At that time I was able to get the soundtrack CD of that show as I reported in this journal.
I just found out from my friend Roy that this show is opening at the Public Theater in Manhattan on September 11 and will play until November 18. As of today, tickets are not available. Of course, I will be there.
In 2006 a Dylan musical called The Times They Are A'Changin' flopped on Broadway. I think Girl from the North Country has a storyline that was lacking in the 2006 production. If it succeeds at the Public Theater, perhaps it will come to Broadway.
I guess I have nothing much planned for this holiday weekend. We will go over to the Applebees in Bayside for dinner tonight. Last weekend we went to the Applebees in the Skyview Mall in Flushing and found out it was closed. It seems that selected restaurants in that chain are closing. I think we'll also take a walk over to the local multiplex to see Operation Finale. I hope someone doesn't try to kick me out of my seat.
