On My Way to Tulsa - Wish Me Luck With Traveling

I guess when you plan a trip, you just don't know what the weather will be.  There are afternoon thunderstorms predicted in NYC, but my flight to Chicago will leave a 1 PM which is before that weather will come.  There will be floods in the Tulsa area, the organizer of the conference said that the conference venues are on high ground.

This article in Tulsa World state that there will be about 500 people at the conference.  I hope that my anxiety about travel will be relieved and I will not have to face delays.   I have brought much reading material in case I have to wait.  Hopefully, the conference will be a stimulating experience for me.

I am not taking my laptop to the conference.  I feel that I should get away from surfing the web for a few days, but I am taking my Kindle Fire to know what is going on.  Thus, there will not be entries to Bruce's Journal until next Monday when I will summarize the conference.

24 Hours From Tulsa - Maybe

In 1963 Gene Pitney had a hit called 24 hours from Tulsa.  Tomorrow, I am scheduled to leave for Tulsa for the World of Dylan Conference.  However, there have been heavy thunderstorms and tornadoes in the midwest including Tulsa and Chicago where I would have to change planes.   Yesterday, the organizer of the conference made the following announcement on Facebook:

We have received numerous questions about how the storms and flooding in Tulsa might affect The World of Bob Dylan conference this week. These have been challenging days for many in the Tulsa region and we have been monitoring the situation closely.

Currently, we do not believe that the flooding on the Arkansas River will have any effect on the conference. All our venues are safely elevated and the weather forecast looks relatively stable for most of the event. The major highways and turnpikes in the area remain open, though we urge you to check your specific route if driving.

Many people have been displaced and homes in the area are underwater. We ask you to keep those affected in your thoughts and we'll plan to set up a donation point for the Red Cross at the registration table for those who wish to help.

Please keep an eye on all our social media channels for ongoing update

Right now I am worried about the situation in Chicago.  I just don't want to be stranded at an airport.  All of this is hobby related and I just don't want to undergo a great hardship over this.

I will come to a decision later today.

Mets 4 Detroit Tigers 3

About a week ago the Mets were 20-25 and there were rumors that the manager was going to be fired.  They returned to Citi Field and won 6 of 7 to reach the 0.500 mark.  Today's game was part of our 13-game package, so off we went to see the game.

The Tigers took an early 3-0 lead with a home run and RBI single by Nicholas Casetellanos.  In the 4th inning, Todd Frazier got an RBI single by beating the shift and pushing a bunt into right field.  One out later, Adeiny Hechavarria hit a three-run homer for a 4-3 lead.  I was hoping for some tack-on runs since the Mets' bullpen has been inconsistent.  Starter Zach Wheeler was relieved in the 8th inning by Jeurys Familia who struck out his 2 batters.  Closer Edwin Diaz was shaky in the 9th inning but struck out JaCoby Jones with runners on second and third to secure the save.

Game Recap

Another Visit to the Guggenheim Museum

I was last at the Guggenheim in February, but since the exhibits have changed since then, I thought it would be time for a return.  The major exhibit was:

Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection

The following artists - Cai Guo-Qiang, Paul Chan, Jenny Holzer, Julie Mehretu, Richard Prince, and Carrie Mae Weem had influential solo shows at the museum sometime in the past.  Each was asked to make selections to shape a discrete presentation, one on each of the six levels of the rotunda.

Since this exhibit is scheduled to run until January 2020, it will not be necessary for me to revisit the museum until next year.

Thoughts on Bob Dylan's 78th Birthday

Every year I post something about Bob Dylan's birthday so here I go again.  I woke up to WFUV this morning and heard New Morning and I Want You played back to back.  Don McGee said the station will be featuring Bob Dylan music all day.  After 9 AM they will be playing Dylan covers as suggested by their listeners.  I remember back in the 1990s WFUV would devote the entire day's programming to Dylan.

When I listen to Bob Radil's 60s 70s show later today I will mention that and recommend that the 4th-hour theme be devoted to artists whose name is Bob, Bobby, Robert, Roberta or Bobbi.

All of a sudden I am becoming more anxious about traveling to Tulsa for the World of Dylan Symposium.  I am just afraid that I will miss my plane connection in Chicago,  I guess the organizers didn't want to do it on Bob' Birthday since it would conflict with the Memorial Day weekend.

Mets Beat Washington 6-5 on a Walk-Off Infield Hit by Amed Rosario

We had tickets for the Met game on Friday Night April 26 when the game started at 9:50 PM after a long rain delay.  The team announced that ticketholders could redeem those tickets for a game played Monday-Thursday.  Thus, we went to last night's game.

Zach Wheeler started for the Mets and pitched well for 6 innings but yielded a 2-run homer to Brian Dozier in the 7th that gave Washington a 3-1 lead.  J.D. Davis hit a 3-run homer for the Mets to give them a 4-3.  Jeurys Familia was ineffective in relief in the 8th innings as the Nationals regained the lead at 5-4.  In the bottom of the 8th Pete Alonso hit a home run that tied the game at 5.  In the bottom of the 9th, Amed Rosario hustled to first base and beat a throw from shortstop Trey Turner as the Mets won 6-5.  Walk-off victories are always exciting.

Game Recap

Can the Mets use Yoenes Cespede's Non-Baseball Injury as Grounds to Void His Contract?

It was reported today that Yoenis Cespedes fractured his ankle in a violent fall at his ranch.  Until now the Mets hoped that he could return to the team sometime this season.  He is now being evaluated by physicians in New York.  He is in the middle of a $110 million contract that runs till the end of 2020.

In 2004 Aaron Boone's playing contract was voided by the Yankees since he was injured in a pick-up basketball game during the offseason.  Can the Mets do the same thing with Cespedes?  I don't think he has done much since the 2015 season.  All of the Mets fans are paying his salary unless it is covered by insurance.

Tampa Bay Rays 2 Yankees 1 in 11 Innings

Even though I am a big Met fan, I like to go to Yankee Stadium about 2 times every season.  I was able to get tickets through StubHub in the upper deck behind home plate.  We arrived at the ballpark at 12:50 PM, but had to wait on line for about 30 minutes to be screened.  This is what everyone must face in this post 9/11 world.

The Yankees have performed quite well this season in spite of losing so many players to injuries.  At this point in the season, they are fighting with Tampa Bay for first place in the AL East.  However, the bats died in today's matinee.  They only scored one run as Brett Gardiner scored on a Blake Snell wild pitch in the third inning.  The Rays tied the game with a 7th inning home run by Brandon Lowe.  The game went into extra innings with Austin Meadows hitting a home run in the 11th inning to win the game for the visitors.

Game Recap

I was on the Staten Island Ferry Today for the First Time in Decades

Over the years I have passed through Staten Island many times, but I rarely stopped there.  Back in the 1970s, I met a club to hike through Clove Lakes Park.  I once interviewed for a librarian position at the hospital.  I'll never forget that this was the only time that a Human Resources Manager actually phoned me a few weeks after the interview to tell me that I didn't get the job.

I don't remember the last time I took the ferry there.  Since I didn't have anything planned for today, I thought I would take the free ride and look around.  When the boat docked on the island, a light rain began.  I quickly walked over to the Richmond County Bank Ballpark where the Staten Island Yankees play.  From there I walked over to a new outlet shopping mall and looked around.  Since it was still raining I thought it was best to go back to the ferry terminal and begin my journey home.  Had it not rained at that time, I would have taken a longer walk through the borough.

I am Looking Forward to the World of Dylan Conference but with Some Anxiety

A few months ago I registered for the World of Dylan Conference to be held at the University of Tulsa from May 30 - June 2.  I have been a Dylan fan since 1965 and have written extensively about him in this journal.  Many of his songs have moved and stimulated me over the years.  Over the years I have had online contact with several Dylan fans and hope to meet some of them at this conference.  I am especially looking forward to seeing Roger McGuinn for the third time in the last year. There is already a Twitter tag (#DylanWorld19) and a Facebook Page for the conference.  I have already made a few new Facebook friends with people in that group.  I am looking forward to the conference, but am anxious over a few things:

• Traveling - will there be plane delays?  I will have to change planes in Chicago as there is no direct flight from NYC to Tulsa.  On my last vacation, our flight from Phoenix was canceled and we had to wait 11 hours for the next available flight to JFK airport.
• Will the people at the meeting be friendly?  Very often online "relationships" change when people meet face to face.
• Most important, will the meeting be too "academic"?  There will be many presentations by Professors of English whose talks may be "over my head".   Will the speakers pick apart Dylan's lyrics? I had subscribed to a Dylan journal where I felt one needed a doctorate in English literature to understand it.  I appreciated Dylan's lyrics on how it affects me personally.  

Random Thoughts of the Day

Since the beginning of the year, I have become less prolific in writing entries for this journal.  There seem to be fewer things to write about.  I don't want to bore my reader by repeating myself.

Today is the third day in a row that it is rainy and dreary.  I just don't want to sit around the apartment and watch TV all day.  My number one activity has been walking over to the public library with my own books and magazines.  I am just getting a little tired of doing that.

I am looking forward to the World of Dylan conference at the University of Tulsa in 2 weeks.  There certainly be several journal entries about that.

Visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see Play it Loud Instruments of Rock & Roll

 I think it has been about a year since I last visited the Met, but this exhibit, Play it Loud Instruments of Rock & Roll, prompted me to make a return visit.  Most museum exhibits are devoted to one artist or musical genre, but this must be the first to feature instruments.  The exhibit was co-organized with the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and will present approximately 130 instruments, mostly guitars, alongside posters and costumes.  There was a catalog of the exhibit at the gift shop, but it was much cheaper at Amazon.com.  Below are some photos that I took.

Beatles Drum Set

Bo Diddley's Guitar

Buddy Holly's Guitar

Ravi Shakar's Sitar

Poster from Bob Dylan Concert

at Town Hall in April 1963

Do I Really Need This Business Card?

Just for the heck of it, I had this business card made up.  I thought I could give it out to people that I meet at various hobby related gatherings.  500 cards should last quite a while.

Ask Dr. Ruth - An Excellent Documentary about the World's Most Popular Sex Therapist

Back in the 1980s, I would regularly listen to Sexually Speaking with Dr. Ruth Westheimer on WYNY when it was an AC station at 97.1 FM.  This documentary is available to Hulu subscribers and is also being shown in selective theaters including the Kew Gardens Cinema.  She tells that she was born in 1928 in Germany just before the Nazis took over.  Her parents sent her to Switzerland where she lived as an orphan.  She eventually moved to the United States where earned a doctorate and then became a sex therapist.  She got her fame with the radio show that started out in NYC and then was heard all over the county.  From there she moved to TV as her popularity skyrocketed.

I highly recommend this film.

Baseball Vacation in Seattle This Year

Yesterday we made arrangements to go to Seattle for our July vacation.  We will obviously to the T-Mobile Stadium to see the Mariners play.  I hope they will let me in with an AT&T cell phone.  Over the past several years we have visited a city with a major league team to go to a game but also visiting the tourist attractions.  Since 2011 we have visited:

• 2018 - Phoenix
• 2017 - Houston
• 2016 - Denver
• 2015 - Miami
• 2014 - Nashville - we saw the AAA team there
• 2013 - Atlanta
• 2012 - Baltimore
• 2011 - Los Angeles and Anaheim

14 CD Set of Rolling Thunder Revue to Be Released June 7

There is no need to write anything as this YouTube video tells everything.

Mets 1 Reds 0 in an Early Afternoon Game at Citi Field

It is nice being retired so that I can go to a mid-week game at the ballpark.  So far this season the Mets have been mediocre with both the starting and relief pitchers underachieving.  In today's game Noah Syndergaard put on a one-man show as his third-inning home run and his superb pitching defeated the Reds 1-0.  He struck out 10 and allowed only 4 hits in this victory.  It is the first time since 1983 that a pitcher hit a home run and throw a shutout in a 1-0 victory.  The Mets now go on the road to play the Milwaukee Brewers.

Game recap