Rainy Days and Mondays [Tuesdays Too] by the Carpenters

 

It looks like there will be two rainy days in a row.  Yesterday I watched the movie Diamond King on Amazon Prime Video.  It is about Dick Perez, the Official Artist of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.  Maybe today, I'll do some reading.

No More Bagels in My Immediate Neighborhood

 

The JK Bakery on Union Street in Flushing, around the corner from my building, has closed permanently. The discussion about this on Nextdoor and Facebook assumes that the landlord has raised the rent so high that the business could no longer be profitable.  There was no sign on the front at all, so assumptions must be made.

When I moved into the neighborhood in the mid 1980s Jews owned the business, but shortly thereafter Koreans bought it.  I don't know if the same woman has owned it for all these years.  The current owner only sells bagels, coffee, and bottled water.  In the past, we could buy assorted pastries, sandwiches, and sodas.

The owner always listened to 1010 WINS, the all-news station.  That station must be repetitive and assumes only short-term listeners.  I asked the owner once if she is bored listening to the station all day.  Her response was "I like the news."  Maybe she does, but I sure don't.  All you hear about is crime, fires, natural disasters, and corrupt public officials.

For the past week, I got my bagels at Stop and Shop when I do my bi-weekly trips there.  Their bagels are not as good as the ones from the JK Bakery.  There is another bagel bakery at 34th Road and Union Street about 1/2 mile away.  Once in a while I will have to walk over there.

Nothing in this world is permanent.

It is Sad that the President Signed an Executive Order to End Federal Funding for NPR and PBS

 

This article in the New York Times states that the president wants to cut federal funding for NPR and PBS.  I have some concerns:

• The current president is overusing Executive Orders.  He thinks he can do whatever he wants without consulting Congress.
• He perceives the news on NPR and PBS stations is biased against him.  I believe they are objective and present all sides of the issues.
• Music and cultural programming on these stations will be adversely affected.
• I am a sustaining member of WFUV, WBGO, and WNET (TV).  They will be more aggressive in their fundraising in the future, which is understandable.  
• I hope that the quality of their programs will not suffer.

Mets 8 Diamondbacks 3

 

Our 20-game Sunday plan includes some weekday games, so Lee and I were at Citi Field last night.  The game featured two-run home runs by Francisco Lindor and Starlin Marte and a solo homer by Pete Alonso whose batting average is now .346.

The Mets had a spectacular defensive inning, as seen below, with amazing plays from Mark Vientos, Tyrone Taylor, and Francisco Lindor.

The Mets improved their MLB-leading record to 21-9 and their league-best home mark to 13-1.

Box Score

Happy 92nd Birthday to Willie Nelson

 

At 92 years old, Willie Nelson will appear at the Outlaw Music Festival this summer.  The tour will stop at Jones Beach on August 1, when Lee and I will be there.  Last summer he skipped the stop at Jones Beach for health reasons.  Of course, I picked his cover of Bob Dylan's What Was It You Wanted.

Where the Action Is (Was) - A Follow Up on a Journal Entry from 2011

 

Last night, Freddie "Boom Boom" Cannon was a guest on Cousin Brucie's show.  It did not come up in the conversation, but I remembered that Freddie sang the theme to Where the Action Is, a TV show in the mid 1960s hosted by Dick Clark that featured performances by the rock stars of that of that era.  I searched my journal and discovered an entry I wrote in 2011.  It refreshed my memory and stated that I have two DVDs of shows from that series.  I will have to re-watch them now.

There is now a detailed article in Wikipedia describing the show.

Check out this full episode:

Chicago the Musical at the Ambassador Theater

 

Today, we continued a family tradition of seeing a Broadway show at birthdays.  Lee decided to see Chicago The Musical.  It originally opened on Broadway in 1975 and ran for about two years.  It was revived on Broadway in 1996 and holds the record as the longest-running musical revival and the longest-running American musical in Broadway history.

It tells the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife who murders her lover, and Velma Kelly, a vaudeville star, as they both navigate the legal system and the media circus surrounding their crimes. 

I observed that all the actors were dressed in black.  There was no scenery as the orchestra was always behind the actors and dancers.