Markley's Blog

With summer arriving soon just a little glimpse at what my summers where like in my younger days and how I now long for the same days that have past so rapidly by.
I can recall really not looking forward to weekends in the summer. We had a trailer that sat on the banks of the Fox River in a little town called Norway. It would start out with the task of loading the car. “Don’t put that there”, my brother would tell me. “Where else do you want me to put”? I asked. “Both of you need to learn how to pack a trunk”, our mother told us. We did not have a station wagon and the minivan was never even heard of yet.
It was about sixty miles west of where we called home, but to me it was like an eternity away from my normality. I would always fall asleep on the way there. There was really nothing for me to do. Except for when we first got down there, my brother and I had the chore of cutting the acre parcel. That was exciting! “Don’t forget to cut around the evergreen trees out in the front”! My stepfather yelled out. “I can’t hear you. What did you say”? I asked as I shut of the mower so I could hear him. He would repeat himself and act annoyed that he had to remind me. “This really wasn’t any fun”.
My parents and my brother would look forward to the ritual every week because for them it was a weekend getaway from their normality and a way to relax. They would sit all weekend long and fish. For me the best part of the weekend were the meals. From a well stocked breakfast to a dinner that was always grilled. That was about the biggest highlight of my weekend. I remember one meal mom asked. “Who wants bread”? I sat there and thought for a moment and then answered. “I do”. I must have taken too long to answer, for when I did mom was already sitting down. Out of frustration she blurted out “What do you want bread for”? In an act of defense my stepfather said, “You asked who wanted bread”. That was something we would always talk and laugh about whenever someone would ask for bread.
Following each meal they would go back and fish. In the early morning till late into the night they fished! I would amuse myself the best I could by playing with my Matchbox cars and listening to the radio. (AM radio) I would also play solitaire and listen to the radio. This was way before iPods and personal computers. Heck, it was even before most portable anything. Just me and my little cars, a deck of cards and the radio, for the whole weekend!
Needless to say I would look forward to Sundays because we would head back home (again falling asleep) and I would be back to my normality once again. If that was not bad enough; one whole week of the summer my parents would take a vacation down there and I would be in that situation for the entire week! I hated it. There were bugs (which I hated). And we had to use an outhouse that would make me gage whenever I had to use it.
As my brother and I got older we were surprised when my parents bought us mini- bikes. Now the weekend was something I looked forward to. “Now you guys be careful” would be moms warning. “Ok mom don’t worry we will” we would tell her, trying to sound convincing. My brother and I would be gone for hours and we would be having a blast, as we would fly down the gravel roads with both of us smiling and laughing as we made new adventures every weekend.
Time goes by so quickly that sometimes all you have left are memories. You may think that you never had quality family time, but you really can see that those were some great moments. And it makes you stop and think of all the good times you had as a kid. When loved ones are gone those memories seem to be constant and you wish for those times to return. In today’s hectic life with cell phones and personal everything’s, there is really no escape from everyday responsibilities. When those memories invade my thoughts I kind of wish I could go back to the weekends that were filled with boredom, bugs and even that stinky outhouse.

In 1998 the movie “Enemy of the State” starring Gene Hackman and Will Smith, showed how technology is taking over and how those in control can view and track whomever and whenever they want. Some thought that this was a futuristic portrayal of our government. Well technology is now thirteen years older than it was shown in the movie so just imagine were it is now. There are security camera’s and traffic camera’s taking video and still pictures all over the place. With cellphones now being a normal accessory and not a high-priced gadget we are in touch constantly. Just think, when we are connected we are even more connected than you may think or want to be.

That battery that supplies that electronic toy also allows those who have the ability to know exactly were you are. The Internet is a social hot bed of communication. With “Twitter and “Facebook” and My Space” we can talk to anyone we want in any part of the world with just a click of a button. Or at least that’s what we’re to believe. If not knowing who is really on the receiving end of our socializing, we could be talking to the next door neighbor and be duped into thinking it is a friendship we are making with someone else across the globe. There is no personality involved.

There is no person to person or face to face so the relationship is two-dimensional. there is no real connection so there is no emotional response. We can’t truly get to know a person staring at a computer screen full of words. Words that may not be a true representation of the person we are talking too. Our relationships or friendships could become sterile and of no true significance of what happens to the person. With no physical contact there is less emotional ties produced. We feel that if we type a few caring words than that’s all the obligation that is needed. We can type very eloquently and feel if we do it well enough than that’s it. But do we really feel the words we type or are we just letting our fingers do the talking and not the heart. Sometimes we type faster than we can talk and think.

Technology is getting in the way as far as control more than convenience. The I-pass is no more than a way to be able to track how you got from point “A” to point “B” and how long it took you to get there. Then there is the “Little Black Box” that are in most new cars and is another way technology is overtaking human involvement. It’s just like the “Black Box” on an airplane. It records things like how fast a person was traveling, when they put on their brakes, and all other types of information on the performance of the vehicle. No longer will there be human error. Insurance adjusters and police will be able to know exactly who was at fault.

Little black boxes, cell phones, computers we feel that we are getting better and have the world available at the touch of a button? Don’t be fooled. As much as we are connected because of technology the less in touch we are as humans.

I’m an audiophile, who is now a lone consumer. The independent music store is a thing of the past. Stereo and music buying is either at the “Big Box” stores or Wal-mart. In todays electronic jungle it is all about technology and portability. How many songs can I download and carry on my MP3 player? There is no longer the music listening experience once cherished in the 70s. With the emergence of the eight track tape the portable music movement started. I’m talking personal music. There always was the portable transistor radio, but the listener was left with the playlist the station was playing and not exactly what they wanted to hear. Now you can carry upwards of 10,000 songs wherever you go and listen all to it all by yourself. Now its always music on the go. In the car, exercising, going shopping riding the train to work or bus to school.

There is less interaction with what’s going on around because the listener has the earphones stuffed in their ears and is incoherent to the world around them. Not only does that create a problem it also steals the sheer joy of listening to music. Music was created to get an emotional response. All songs are personally written as an experience of one sort of another. No matter if it is a great piece of classical music or a country ballad. Its author wrote with some kind of emotion. That emotion is what moved the hand to write the note or pen the lyric. The artists wants the listener to feel that emotion when they listen to the piece of music. That is lost I feel when a person just listens to music via an MP3 player.

One needs to be surrounded by the music. Let the strings of the symphony lift the soul and the rhythm of the bass guitar and drum drive the beat. The listener needs to feel that bass and be surrounded by the music. That dosn’t happen when a person in listening to a personal device. Don’t get me wrong, each of us will be effected by a piece of music differently. But music is a universal language and is meant to be shared and enjoyed. I can remember having friends over to hear a new piece of stereo equipment I had purchased. They would be amazed how the music would fill my listening room. I can’t tell you how many people I have introduced the 1812 Overture too, but each and everyone of them loved it. And these were not classical music lovers. In fact I came to appreciate that genre because of hearing it on my stereo. As the music would fill the room my emotions would rise with each crescendo and in many times brought to tears over the enormous sound that I would hear coming from the speakers. Technology as a whole has hurt the the music industry. My favorite record store shut down after thirty plus years as the place to get your music fix.

There is not a record store chain or independent dealer (not including any Big Box or Wal-marts) within a twenty mile radius from where I live. And stereo stores? Forget it. The simple joy of walking in and talking to a knowledgeable person about my stereo needs is gone. Now all you do is walk in purchase a MP3 player, go home and either illegally or legally download music to it. People brag about their musical library and how they can take it all with them. I myself like to brag about mine but, I also want to share it and let them experience music the way it should be. Filling a room with sound they cannot only hear but also feel. And you can’t do that when you listen alone. Just the other night I experienced that exact feeling. It had been over six months since I was able to hear music pulsate from my speakers. (Reasons for this to much to expand on). I would listen to my laptop at work hooked up to a small system. I recorded some cds and wanted to hear how they sounded so I walked into my music sanctuary and the music came to life. I increased the volume and fell in love with the music all over again. You can have your MP3, your ipods, laptops or whatever else brings you tunes to your ears. I’ll take the home stereo with sounds that fill the room and fill my heart with the joy of music.

Not another one?! If it’s not couples dancing, i’ts couples losing weight. If it isn’t tribes fighting against each other, then we have super model want-to-be’s stabbing each other in the back to be the next super one. In the beginning of the millennium, we had Survivor. Now we have Super nannies and husband swapping wives. When it will it all end? The real reality is that people seem to believe that what they are watching is real. Each show has the same premise. If it’s not sorry cooks doing terrible right before dinner, you have house builders driving in nails with little or no time to spare.

Dance offs, cook offs, runway walk offs, or body weight coming off, the real stars should be the ones sitting in front of the TV believing it all to be unprepared and unscripted. Let’s face it. Reality TV is bringing in big bucks so all the networks are cashing in. Even cable channels are hosting their own. I myself am tired of the same old script with different characters and situations, but the same outcome. When I was growing up I had four channels to watch and saw the birth of UHF. If they had reality TV back then I would have nothing else to watch. Talk about saturating the airwaves. What fun is there when each channel you turn on is a reality show? It’s like watching after midnight and seeing nothing but infomercials. How depressing. Are they running out of ideas? As long as they have viewers watching, they’ll think of other shows. I just hope they run out soon.

But just like all other business if money can be made than why kill the piper? The bottom line is that they are not looking or caring about quality, just content. The only show I feel that is real is the one that you see changes in characters. 340 pound people turning their life around and dropping 200 pounds. Now that’s real and that is inspiring. I feel good when I watch a show like that, instead of a bunch of celebrities fighting amongst themselves each week as the task has the same formulation. Is that real? Do we need another show that just points a finger and makes us feel good about ourselves, while trashing a person.

Money talks. If the network can rake in more of that green paper that has the pictures of dead Presidents printed on it we will continue to see more of the same shows. I remember when sitcoms had live audiences and bragged about it. It must have cut into the profit to much because there is not one that I know of anymore that boast “filmed before a live studio audience”. Now all we get is “Find out what happens next week when… ” Enough already. Lets get real.

I always wanted to be a rock star. They were cool and I wanted to be cool. The girls swooned over them and well… never mind that. Two things stopped me from being a rock star. I didn’t cut my hair or change my name. That’s not it. It’s because I never took any music lessons, and trust me, you don’t want to hear me sing. So I was destined to at least go for the look. I still didn’t swoon any girls. Music has always been an escape for me. Like a fisherman who would spend hours casting his pole and never catch anything but claim how it was relaxing, music would have that effect on me. I can spend hours upon hours listening to music and I would be relaxed. Everything form Kiss to Mahler.

I would use different songs to reflect on my emotions and channel my aggression. It became a good way to express myself. But I didn’t want to use other people’s words to do that, so I began writing poetry then short stories.  Now I have my first book in print.  So now my words have the potential of reaching millions  of reader’s.  That made possible because of the internet and social media. The arena is wide open and full of reader’s.  I just need to touch the right nerve and who know’s what will happen. I want to write so that my words can create emotion. Sort of like a songwriter or a performer. Maybe like a “rock star”.

A little bit about me; if I’m a sports fan, than its hockey that I place my allegiance. The Blackhawk’s rock! As for baseball I choose the White Sox over the Cubs, end of discussion! Basketball and football don’t even figure into the equation. Though I have an opinion on all sports, which I’m sure I will write about. As a matter of fact I have opinions on a lot of things, which more than likely you will find what they are if you become part of my fan base. I’m hoping to write about everyday life. Mostly how it affects me. I feel that I’m an average American, if a poll was taken. So you will get the average American view. Sprinkled with a little of my own sarcasm and wit.

I am a conservative but still look at life with an understanding that not everyone or everything is the way I want it to be, or should be. I hate the offense try to love the offender. Everyday will be a ride, and I will be at the controls. Sorry but that is the glory of writing. I can share all my opinions uninterrupted and wait to see how my words affect those that read them. That is that fan base I have mentioned at least twice in this article. Fan base doesn’t mean they like me. But if they read they read for a reason.

So keep on reading and maybe you will get to know me better. You may like and agree, I hope it will put a smile on your face and make your day a little more enjoyable. You may disagree and it may ruin your day, I apologize for that in advance, but remember I’m at the controls and you’re along for the ride.  Hope you enjoy the ride. If not you can always get off, but that will affect my fan base and I can’t control that. So welcome aboard keep hands and feet inside and remain seated until you finish the article. In the end you may stand and cheer or just get off and be disgusted and not enjoy the ride at all. Either way I will write and people will read. Read on!