Video Killed the Radio Star

Years ago, MTV played their first video which changed millions of lives instantly. As “The Buggles” played their one hit wonder “Video Killed the Radio Star,” music lovers of all ages became glued to their television sets. I personally don’t think I changed my channel for two or three months. All the musicians I was listening to on the radio now had faces I could see, like millions of others I was blown away.

Critics, always looking to find something wrong with everything, didn’t cut MTV any slack. They said the wildly popular TV station was going to ruin the youth of America. While MTV has seemed to have lost it’s way over the past few years, I don’t really think it ruined a generation of kids. If anything it opened our eyes to new cultures and people. Having graduated high school in 1983, I am quite proud to be a part of the MTV generation…it was a blast.

As the 90’s rolled in video game technology was really coming on strong. Once again the critics fired their comments all around but hardly anybody listened. They said these games would rot the brains of the children that played them. Well video games can’t really rot anything but they can be quite addicting. These gamers are now referred to as the “Nintendo” generation. This gaming addiction which started back in the 90’s has gained steam and is rolling hard and heavy here in 2011.

Evidence of this gaming madness is pretty easy to find. Any employer that hires very many young adults can verify this quickly. They say that most young people that are entering the workforce these days have never hit a lick at anything…except playing games. What does this mean for the workforce? Well, it seems that kids that have never worked any at home or at the occasional odd job are completely at a loss when it comes to working a job. Many can’t even comprehend how to push a broom. Too bad we don’t have joysticks that can run a broom where I work, we would be in good shape.

I blame all this gaming addiction crap on MTV. They let us down when they quit playing music videos and started running the most God awful programming. Kids had to have something to fill the void and Nintendo wryly smiled and said “come in my children.” So MTV, do us all a favor…bring back the rock and roll and save our kids. Hurry please before it’s too late!

After putting my eight hours in at work today, I decided I needed to head to the river for a little bass fishing. The weather was perfect and the fish were biting, so all in all the day turned out pretty good. The bass in the picture was one of about fifteen I caught this afternoon. These Mulberry river bass are the strongest fighting fish I have ever had the pleasure of catching.

If you look closely in the top photo, the black and blue jig I was using is still hanging out of the fishes mouth. Sometimes when fishing a jig it’s hard to tell when they pick it up…not today. They were slamming it pretty hard. I think they were concerned about another fish trying to steal it. These types of days make it fun to be a fisherman.

For me today was a much needed get out of the house day. It’s been awhile since I took a good walk through the woods down to the river. I need to make the same walk everyday, by the time I got back up the hill and to my truck I was huffing and puffing. Getting old I guess. Thank you guys so much for reading, have a great day…Lowell

It was another beautiful day here in northern Alabama. The temperature was in the seventies by late afternoon and we were blessed with tons of sunshine. After a long day at work I decided to go sit on the river and do some writing. Normally that’s a wonderful idea, today however the sound of the rapids below me lulled me right to sleep. Needless to say I didn’t get much work done.

There’s just something especially relaxing about the water to me. I think if everything works out just right I would like to spend my retirement years on a houseboat. No yard to mow or weed eating to do and a sunrise in a different location anytime you choose…sounds awesome.

Catching and eating fish is one of my most favorite things to do, so I’m sure I would very rarely be bored. With wireless internet my office could be anywhere and finding the peace and quiet in which to write in shouldn’t be a problem either. Might even make for a new more interesting blog.

So now that I completely have my own attention, I wonder just what lake or river should my boat call home. Well for starters I will have to stay here in the south, not a big fan of being cold. I think the Tennessee river would be an interesting choice. The fishing is great, the people I have met on the Tennessee have been friendly and it seems to just stretch on forever. This would be a good thing for my own little exploring journeys.

Yes, this is definitely a project I will be looking into. I am curious if any of my readers have a houseboat or live on one. If so, what advice can you give me to make my leap from dry land onto the water an easier one. As always comments from everyone are welcome. Stay tuned…I’ll keep ya informed.

What a beautiful October morning. It’s clear and cool with tons of sunshine. Took my granddaughter to Carinas for breakfast and then back to the house to watch cartoons. Cartoons just aren’t what they used to be. What happened to writers that actually had an imagination. Now don’t get me wrong, the Pixar movies are pretty much all awesome but the thirty minute cartoons the kids see on T.V. everyday well…they’re lacking a little.

Ok, I’m done with that rant for now. Tonight is the Lake Catoma Classic. This is the last of the night tourneys for the season and I have fished enough to qualify to fish in the classic. The weather is probably going to be one of our toughest competitors tonight. It’s been warm fishing up until now, but tonight the temp may drop into the lower 40’s which I am totally not used to. Might be a test of wills.

Well the dryer has buzzed so it’s time to fold the towels. Guess I’ll wrap this ole’ blog up for the day. Good luck to the Tide tonight, may they roll through the swamp like a tsunami.

Motorcycle Stroll Through Blount County

Recently, I took the opportunity to ride my new bike through some of Alabama’s beautiful countryside. Riding partner Ronnie Holloway and I, took full advantage of the warm afternoon to cruise through some of Blount County’s fine back roads. The landscape in Blount County reminds me a great deal of riding in Tennessee, which by the way has some wonderful riding roads too.Ronnie had to stop a minute to yak on his phone.

One of the stops we made was at an old covered bridge that is no longer in service. This bridge is located on Easley Bridge RD and doesn’t look to be in all that bad of shape. It’s kind of a shame that the repair work hasn’t been kept up to date so that it can still be used.

As the cooler weather sets in, there will begin to be many more shorter rides as compared to our normal one to three hundred mile rides. Alabama has many historical sites and locations to visit and the surrounding counties are home to quite a few of them…more pictures soon.