Thursday, August 04, 2016

TBT: Tony Bennett, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"; happy 90th!

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Tony Bennett , born Anthony Dominick Benedetto in Astoria, Queens ninety years ago yesterday, will appear on stage with Lady Gaga at Radio...
Thursday, July 28, 2016

Tom Kibble, physics pathfinder, 1932-2016

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In a 2012 post about the then discovery of the Higgs boson, a particle the existence of which was first theorized by several groups of ph...
Thursday, July 14, 2016

Do the Mets suffer from the Avis syndrome?

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Back in the day, Avis Rent-A-Car tried a lemonade-out-of-lemon advertising tactic based on their being the second largest company in their...
Thursday, July 07, 2016

Happy birthday, Ringo!

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Paul McCartney posted this photo of himself and Ringo taken at AIR Studios on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, probably in 1981 dur...
Sunday, July 03, 2016

The Mariners, handsomest of cargo ships.

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In July of 1954, my father, mother, and I boarded the USNS Geiger at Southampton for our return voyage to the U.S. following Dad's th...
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Sunday, June 12, 2016

Guy Clark, "Texas 1947" and "Let Him Roll"

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Guy Clark (1941-2016), who died on May 17 , was a songwriter and singer from Texas. Although he was a very good singer, he's better r...
Saturday, May 14, 2016

It's Spring Astronomy Day, and here's the Ring Nebula

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Today (Saturday, May 14) is Spring Astronomy Day . I almost missed it. There's also a Fall Astronomy Day--this year it's Saturday, ...
Sunday, April 24, 2016

April 24, 1916: a day to remember.

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April 24, 1916 was Easter Monday that year. On that day members of the Irish Citizen Army, a volunteer force led by James Connolly and Pat...
Thursday, April 07, 2016

TBT: Merle Haggard (April 6, 1937--April 6, 2016), "Sing Me Back Home"

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This, I'm sad to write, is another TBT/RIP. Merle Haggard died on his 79th birthday , Wednesday, April 6, 2016. As the Times obit  t...
Tuesday, April 05, 2016

An inauspicious opener for the Mets.

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Trying to forecast a team's season from early results is chancy at best. It's widely agreed that spring training game records are ...
Sunday, March 27, 2016

At Lent's end.

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It's late on Easter Sunday. This morning The Reverend Stephen Muncie proclaimed, "Alleluia, Christ is risen!" I, along with ...
Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Floradora: Floral and flora-inspired paintings at Art/Place Gallery, Fairfield, Connecticut.

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My wife and I went to the Art/Place Gallery in Fairfield, Connecticut for the opening of the exhibition Floradora , featuring works by the...
Sunday, March 20, 2016

Pontius Pilate: arch-villain, fall guy, or saint?

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This year I volunteered, as I have done for some years, to participate in the Passion reading at the Palm Sunday service at Grace Church. ...
Wednesday, March 16, 2016

TBT: Black 47, "Livin' in America"; happy St. Patrick's Day!

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I got to know Larry Kirwan (photo) in 1978 when he and Pierce Turner , as Turner and Kirwan of Wexford, were the house band at the Bells o...
Sunday, March 13, 2016

Sir George Martin (1926-2016), Brian Wilson, and "God Only Knows".

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I wanted to do a TBT about Sir George Martin, who died last week , but responsibilities to work, family, and the Brooklyn Heights Blog go...
Wednesday, March 09, 2016

The Arc of American Advertising

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As a leading edge member of the baby boom generation, I've been witness to how the dominant themes of advertising have changed over th...
Thursday, March 03, 2016

TBT: Fats Domino, "My Girl Josephine".

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Antoine "Fats" Domino turned 88 on February 28. He was an early (1986) inductee into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and had ...
Wednesday, February 17, 2016

TBT: John Fogerty, "Centerfield".

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It's that time of year--pitchers and catchers reported today. So, what could I choose for my TBT but this John Fogerty classic. The cl...
Sunday, February 14, 2016

Tyler Kepner rains on the Mets' parade (and just about everyone else's).

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Pitchers and catchers report this week! The Mets, contrary to all expectations, not only made it to the post-season, but also won the Nati...
Thursday, February 11, 2016

TBT (under the wire): Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks

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My TBTs of late have, sadly, been mostly about the recently late. Dan Hicks, who died last Saturday , was a musician of great talent and i...

S.S. United States revived as a cruise ship?

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The news that S.S. United States , former flagship of the U.S. Merchant Marine fleet and last holder of the Blue Riband , may be purchased...
Thursday, February 04, 2016

TBT: Bob & Ray, "The Slow Talker"; R.I.P. Bob Elliott

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Bob Elliott, best known as half of the radio comedy duo Bob and Ray (at left in photo from FamousFix ) died on Tuesday. His partner, Ray G...
Friday, January 29, 2016

Alice Denham: Playboy Playmate, feminist, writer, and friend, 1933-2016.

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I met Alice Denham some years ago at--where else?--the Lion's Head . I don't recall what animated our first conversation. Perhaps ...
Thursday, January 28, 2016

TBT: Richie Havens, "Freedom (Motherless Child)"; Woodstock, 1969.

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Richie Havens (1941-2013), a Brooklyn native who "brought an earthy soulfulness to the folk scene of the Sixties" ( David Browne...
Wednesday, January 27, 2016

It's Mozart's birthday.

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Today (though it's fast passing) is the 260th birthday of Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, better known as Wolfga...
Wednesday, January 20, 2016

TBT: The Eagles, "Doolin-Dalton" and "Doolin-Dalton and Desperado Reprise" live; R.I.P. Glenn Frey

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I'll confess: in my twenties and early thirties I was an Eagles fan. "Take it Easy", the first song I heard by them, was asp...
Sunday, January 17, 2016

Martin Luther King Jr. on extremism.

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From Dr. King's "A Letter from Birmingham Jail": You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather...
Thursday, January 14, 2016

TBT: David Bowie (1947-2016), "Heroes".

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David Bowie, who died Sunday , was one of rock's protean figures. As he says in the interview shown in the video embedded in the linke...
Wednesday, January 06, 2016

TBT: Sonny Boy Williamson, "Nine Below Zero".

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It hasn't quite made it to nine below zero here in New York yet--well, maybe on the Centigrade scale--but it's sure felt like a sh...
Monday, January 04, 2016

New Year's Shout-Outs and Remembrances

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I'll start with remembrances. 2015 took a heavy toll of those I knew and loved, and those I admired. At the beginning of April, my pho...