This past weekend was just about as good as it gets.

Saturday morning was spent riding to Clinton to be part of the “Friends of Whitten Center” rally.  Buddy and Tony moved the location from Gaffney to Clinton this year and let’s just say the availability of shade trees was a welcome addition.

Everyone made us feel welcome.  I say “us” because I was joined by Tyler and Kim, from the Rock 101 Promotion Department.  Tyler works a lot of my events and did his standard great job. Kim is brand new to Rock 101 and this was her first event.  She learns quick and earned her stripes.

During my time there I met Big Al from the “Carolina Cruiser” TV show.  Seems they have had a change in emcees and based on what I can tell, it’s an improvement.  For a brief moment Al and his camera man, Ken Griener considered my chop as “Bike of the Week.”   I think they found a better candidate before I left. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent on the air doing Classic Rock Z to A, play our entire library in alphabetical order, backwards.  This is just one of the many very cool things we do at Rock 101 and I love it.  Bikes and classic rock!!

Like I said, this weekend was just about as good as it gets.

  In the last few weeks WYFF-TV has started running editorials. 

These are being presented by WYFF President and General Manager Michael J. Hayes .  According to the TV4 website they “ will present periodic editorials on behalf of the station, spotlighting important issues to the communities the station serves.”  This is a great idea….that so far has left the road and careened into the ditch.

The first issue they took a stand on was voting. Yep, their controversial position was that you needed to vote in the recent primary.

The next week they went out on a limb and announced they had won an award.  Thats right, they staked out two risky areas right off the bat.

Now, I remember Norvin Duncan and Doug Smith as they took a stand, sometimes unpopular, and made the viewer think, and possibly react.  Now, we get to watch as Mr. Hayes (who I’m sure is a very nice man), walk the tight rope of political correctness telling the viewer “you should vote.”  

I suspect the pieces will get better and the opinions stronger.  In a time where the upstate is seeing growing gang activity, child predators, spiraling costs and a major election, maybe he can throw the dart and land on something with more substance than “hey ya’ll we won an award.” 

When was the last time you drove through your neighborhood and wondered “who lives all around me?”  You might be surprised.  Click on the link and take a peek at the felons that are listed.

 http://www.felonspy.com  

I’m willing to bet you have at least several closer than you think or want.

Yet again, I sit here and write words, mere words, about someone that left me awestruck.  This time it’s the passing of Tim Russert.  A man that anchored “Meet the Press” and served as Bureau Chief for NBC’s Washington office.

Over the years I watched as Russert would conduct an interview and hold his guests feet to the fire, making sure he or she answered his questions.

My Sundays have been watching Meet the Press EVERY Sunday at 9am and EVERY Sunday learning something.  It might have been about the guest or about how to improve my interviewing and listening skills.

I don’t know what I’ll do, with one exception. I know I will miss his work and my chance to get better by way of his work.

Tim Russert, dead of a heart attack at age 58.

Between now and the general election, there are going to be a million pieces of e-mail floating around, trying to convince people how to vote.  This doesn’t do that.

 There will also be a few that bitch and moan, all the time trying to sound deep and thoughtful, while at the very same time being boring and pushy.  Thats what this is.

WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT TO TURN ON THE TV AND HEAR ANY U.S. PRESIDENT, DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN GIVE THE FOLLOWING SPEECH?

‘ My Fellow Americans: As you all know, the defeat of the Iraq regime has been completed.Since congress does not want to spend any more money on this war, our mission in Iraq is complete.This morning I gave the order for a complete removal of all American forces from Iraq This action will be complete within 30 days. It is now time to begin the reckoning. Before me, I have two lists. One list contains the names of countries which have stood by our side during the Iraq conflict. This list is short . The U nited Kingdom , Spain , Bulgaria , Australia , and Poland are some of the countries listed there.The other list contains every one not on the first list. Most of the world’s nations are on that list. My press secretary will be distributing copies of both lists later this evening.