I never get tired of watching somebody bowl a 300, even against us in our league

Why I like bowling, reason No. 100: You can drive over to the neighborhood lanes for your weekly league and witness perfection. Take last night at the Thursday Night Men’s League in North Syracuse. I’m ready to pretty much tend to my own business — that is, throw my three games in the mid-100s or…

‘Nashville’ returns with plenty of drama but not enough music

They dove right into the drama in the “Nashville” season two premiere last night on ABC. When last the fictional folk Rayna and Deacon were cavorting their way onto our flat screen they’d crashed the car in the midst of their biggest fight ever. Deacon had been drinking. Rayna knew that meant big trouble. Heap…

Musician offspring of Harry Chapin, Jim Croce to perform in Landmark Theatre in Syracuse

A generation ago, Harry Chapin performed a concert to help keep Syracuse’s Landmark Theatre from the wrecking ball. A citizen group had formed with the hope of purchasing the theater to keep it alive in downtown Syracuse. With the help of that sold-out benefit concert by the popular singer, songwriter and guitarist born in Brooklyn…

Thank you Terrel Hunt, for giving Syracuse football fans hope for first ACC season

Relish the points put up the last two games by the Syracuse football team, all 108 of them. That sort of offensive dominance doesn’t happen much around these parts. Terrel Hunt sure looks good as the Orange quarterback. I finally got to see Syracuse with my own eyes Saturday in the Carrier Dome, having missed…

From Baltimore to Bermuda and back on a beautiful big ship with buddies

My cruise logbook came full circle last week. The first time I stepped onto one of those gigantic ships, the destination was Bermuda. That was in 2006, when Karen — before she became my dear wife — convinced me that all would be well if I stuck one of those little white Dramamine patches behind…

Syracuse University football fans do not need a trip down the hole that 0-3 would bring

This is the Saturday where the Syracuse University football team shows why new head coach Scott Shafer has kept the faith. Or else. If the Orange doesn’t look very, very good against the Wagner Seahawks in the Carrier Dome, fans around these parts will give up on the season. A mark of 0-3 and it’s…

How do you like this new look called Expound?

Old friends, I present to you a new look. The folks at WordPress have a bunch of designs available when you’re sharing posts with the world through their blog platform. Since the start of markbialczak.com in February, I’ve gone with a theme they call Wu Wei. I believe it served us well, you and I,…

A Parade of Homes that winds through the cul-de-sac of very big dreams

Every year at this time, they open the doors of a stretch of spanking new houses in Central New York and allow the world inside. Dreamers welcome. Big dreamers, especially. It’s called the Parade of Homes, and the only strict rule is that you must pull on the white, don’t-scuff-the-floor, disposable booties they hand everybody…

Remember radio commercial makers, we’re listening while driving the car

Two little beefs to note as we get ready to ring in this autumn-is-coming weekend in Syracuse. Nope, they have nothing to do with falling temperatures. This time around, at least. Welcome back, Grumpus. Today I’ve got to gripe about the stuff they put on the soundtrack of radio commercials. I’m driving in my car,…

Anne Tyler’s odd and interesting characters in ‘The Beginner’s Goodbye’ again help put life into perspective

Every time I pick up an Anne Tyler novel, I feel my age. And am quite happy about my place in time. Tyler was just 22 when her first novel was published. “If Morning Ever Comes” came out in 1964, when I was still getting into Dennis the Menace comic books. So it took awhile…