Al's Blog-o-Sphere

I went for a bike ride this Wednesday that was a bit more than I had bargained for. Not more than I could handle, but more than I had planned. By “bike” of course, I mean on my recumbent trike.

A long time friend, who I met originally riding with a local bike club, passed away in Florida recently. Her husband and family held a memorial picnic for her friends here in Mayor’s Park in North Tonawanda. Gloria and her husband, Chuck, had met through the ski club I also belonged to, and we had been on several ski trips together. They were good people and good friends and I wanted to attend.

I decided that, since we had met through cycling originally, I would ride to the event. The distance was doable and it was along a route I had ridden many times. The only questionable aspect was the time, it started at 5pm and lasted until 8pm. If I didn’t stay too late, I could ride home most of the way before dark.

The day, however, turned out to be cool and overcast. The rain stayed well south of Buffalo, but the clouds cut at least a half-hour of daylight out. I talked to my son, who had plans to meet some friends in N. Tonawanda that evening and I asked him to drive my truck, so that if it rained, I could meet up with him.

Continue Reading…

It’s been too long since I wrote anything here. I’ve had this desire to write reviews of TV shows for a while, so I may as well do it.

I’ll write about one days’ shows at a time. All shows that air on the same night. I’ll rank them from +5 to -5 with zero = “meh, I’m too lazy to turn it off.” Also, I will only comment on shows I have actually seen. At least half a show. There are so many I won’t even waste that much time on.

So, let’s start with Sunday. Continue Reading…

Just in case you don’t realize it, this is a spoof of those emails you get from someone asking you to donate money because they are participating in some charity bike ride, walk or footrace.

Dear Friend,

By making a donation to me, you will be helping me change my life and improve my health, both physically and mentally. Continue Reading…

https://youtu.be/wT4EQ1VtSwg

I was channel-flipping last night and came across The Voice and stopped to watch this one song. It completely blew me away. It is all at once what is right about The Voice and what is wrong about our American music industry.

Here you have a young woman, the youngest on this season’s show, singing a great song and obviously owning it. She was on top of her game, confident enough to enjoy every moment of it. I told my wife, if she wrote this song, she’s got it all. She didn’t, it was written by Jo Dee Messina, but I didn’t really expect an original composition.

The song was clearly targeted to a country audience. That’s what is wrong with so-called country music these days. It’s not a country song at all. It could have been arranged slightly differently and been a rock song or a ballad. But country sells, so it gets twisted into that genre. She still nailed it, though.