Here’s to another 500

Big wheels keep on turnin’, Proud Markie keeps on churnin’ … Rollin’ on the WordPress. I received the Big Blue 500 this morning. My story about Syracuse veteran guitarist Mark Doyle got me to that nice, round number. Not bad for a writer who pushed the button for his first markbialczak.com piece — “Yeah, I’ve…

Mark Doyle ready to set the mood with ‘Guitar Noir’

When I moved from suburban Washington, D.C., to Syracuse in the late summer of 1983, I was always on the lookout for good live music. I mean, during the six years I lived in suburban Maryland, I got to see local players like sizzling guitarist Danny Gatton, and blues kings The Nighthawks with top guy…

Jury duty: When your number comes up, you’re ‘it’

Originally posted on Jim McKeever:
Odd as it may seem, I was looking forward to jury duty when my summons arrived in the mail. The system requires those summoned to call the court each day after 5 p.m. to listen to a recording. If your number is within the range chosen for the next day,…

Syracuse Dreamin’

This is not my beautiful lawn. This is not my beautiful house. This is not my beautiful yard. This is not where I hang out with my beautiful friends. I have showed you all of those places in the days gone by, people. Here we have Bellevue Country Club, on the grounds of which I…

Spider-Man makes me glad that my superhero days are far behind me

I left my days of comic book superheroes behind in my teen years. Young teen yeers, actually. When presented with the fork in the road at age 13, I chose sports. This weekend I went to see “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” with big hopes regardless. What would modern technology mean for a guy who shot…

First cut of the season puts a hop in the dog’s step

No rain. A tiny break in the schedule. The mower came out of the shed late yesterday afternoon at last. I do believe May 4 is the latest I’ve pushed the cutter around the lawn to start the spring season at our home in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood in the 10 years since…

Chiefs put me up 3-1 in blockbuster bloggers baseball wager

I know, I’m wearing my New York Mets hat in a sea of Syracuse Chiefs caps in the picture above, taken by my dear wife Karen when we visited the ballpark merchandise store Friday night. What with the Chiefs defeating the Toledo Mud Hens 1-0 Sunday at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse, it must might…

That Crawfish of Louisiana comfortably opens fest season in Syracuse

Five months worth of available dancing, drinking and eating in downtown Syracuse’s Clinton Square kicked off yesterday afternoon. The spring gray broke for a stretch, my dear wife Karen and I took off our jackets, the good friends were chatty, and my very favorite Syracuse band was on the stage. I enjoyed the Crawfish Festival.…

Chalk one up for the Chiefs

Game three in the biggest bloggers baseball wager ever is in the books. The Syracuse Chiefs defeated the Toledo Mud Hens this afternoon at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse. The final score was a whole lot to not so much. You can see it in the glorious line score from the Chiefs site above. You…

Business wear suits you perfectly, young Linus

Our friend Judy held up her iPhone this morning to show off the picture of her nephew Linus. The dozen-plus of us at breakfast to talk about our next group cruise collectively put down our silverware. I clapped and exclaimed: “Send that picture to my Facebook page, please, Judy.” Yes, young Linus was really dressed…