Bar Crawl Radio

May 21, 2023 - 6pm. West Side Community GardenIt was a delightful evening in the West Side Community Garden in Manhattan. The Bar Crawl Radio audio wagon was set up on the grass in front of the stage in the garden – as neighbors secured a chair or wooden planter ledge to listen to the Lew Tabackin Jazz Trio. Tenor saxophone and flute musician -- Mr Tabackin has been playing these summer concerts for many years. Jon Ross -- founder and director of MicroAid International -- joined us for a pre-concert warm-up conversation. We had talked with Jon about his work in building single family houses in areas hit by disaster on BCR #36 and #111. This evening we caught up with Mr Ross recent work with MicroAid International -- and then asked him what he would do if he saw a stranger being attacked on the street – or subway. Then -- listen to a sampling of the evening's music played by the Lew Tabackin Jazz Trio with Boris Kozlov on bass and Jason Tiemann on drums – including two flute pieces by Tabackin “Garden and Lifetime” – and – “Out of this World” – a piece he wrote named after the “B Flat” Tokyo bar where he performs called – “B Flat Where Its At” -- a Billy Strayhorn standard – “Day Dream” -- and finally a bunch of tunes by George Gershwin.The podcast ends with 10 minutes of a longer interview I had with Mr. Tabackin in his UWS apartment in 2018. For the full interview see the additional material following this program. BCR Co-Hosts Rebecca McKean and Alan Winson

Recently – David Brooks of the New York Times – wrote about the suicide of his close friend—Pete—and the feelings that followed. Brooks writes that experiencing the suicide of someone close “is not just sorrow; it is a state of consciousness that distorts perceptions of time, space and self.”In 2015, there were over 44,000 suicides in America – the 10th most common cause of death and rising – I million attempt suicide each year – one every 35 seconds. In the world some kills himself – herself every 40 seconds.Robert Altman's "Mash" [1970] was wrong -- suicide is not painless – it is a health issue that needs to be examined.For this Bar Crawl Radio podcast Rebecca and I talked with two people who study and write about suicide – and with the friends of Jen who recently killed herself.Carla Fine – has spoken extensively on suicide and is the author of the widely acclaimed book No Time to Say Goodbye – about Ms. Fine’s husband – a prominent New York physician who killed himself in 1989 when he was 43. Carla’s recent book was co-written with Dr. Michael Myers - it’s title -- Touched By Suicide: Hope and Healing After Loss.Michael Myers is a leader in the field of suicide and professor of psychiatry at SUNY-Downstate Medical School in Brooklyn. In his 2017 book on physician-suicide – Why Physicians Die By Suicide: Lessons Learned From Their Families and Others Who Care – Dr. Myers shares his experiences of counseling doctors who are considering suicide. If you or someone you know is suffering from a loss due to suicide, consider contacting The Samaritans NYC hotline -- 212 673 3000.This BCR program was recorded in May 2023 at Gebhard's Beer Culture Bar in the UWS of Manhattan.

April 2 - Sunday - 2023. First day of the Sacred Peace Walk. 13 miles. We started at the Atomic Museum and walked through Paradise, where all the modern Las Vegas Casinos and hotels are located -- something to do with the local mobsters not wanting to pay high Las Vegas taxes. -- then, through old Las Vegas – then a sit-in at the over-the-top gaudy Fremont Experience -- then to the Las Vegas Catholic Worker for lunch – followed by a brief “hello” to the Carson County Jail – where several of the walkers would end up later in the week – a brief pass-by of the headquarters of the Nevada Nuclear Security Site – a stop at a small park memorializing the 2017 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip, where 60 were killed and well over 400 injured – and a visit to the Martin Luther King Jr. Statue in north Las Vegas -- where I talked with Darcy Ike -- and home to the NDE compound on Barlett Street. It was a full day.