My New Favorite Beverage

     In 1891, a pharmacist in New Jersey named William Boylan created an elixir in his apothecary that became the New Jersey staple known as Boylan's Birch Beer. Flash forward 122 years and you get me sitting in a gourmet hamburger place in Atlanta called Yeah! Burger sipping on my first taste of Boylan's Black Cherry beverage. I know I left out a lot, but you can read about their history on the webpage. (Click the link!)

     The Boylan Bottling Company has had a long history of brewing small batches of fine beverages. It began with the Birch Beer which was sold from unused beer barrels during Prohibition and now they are known for their Pure Cane Soda line; of which Black Cherry is a part of. They are still most popular around the New Jersey/New York region, but they are beginning to be found in a lot of places like right here in Macon, Georgia: population 92k. Part of that popularity is the actual shape and look of the bottle in which the beverage comes out of. The Boylan name has always been found on very colorful and/or decorative glass bottles. They began selling their beverages in them and still continue to do so even when most other companies have long abandoned the practice save for special or commemorative editions of their beverages. And if you are like me, you will know that for some reason, most beverages taste best when served very cold and come from a glass container.

     

       I will be very honest and say that I have only had the Black Cherry variety, but I do hope to sample the other flavors. (I have even read about places that a fountain machine option of Boylan beverages!) I have always loved a good cherry based beverage, but for many reasons, Boylan's Black Cherry is the best I have ever had. Previously, my favorite had been Dr. Brown's Black Cherry Soda, but one taste of Boylan's changed that for me for several reasons. The first reason being the taste. It tastes more like carbonated juice rather than a soda and I love juice. The second being the ingredients. Boylan's only uses real and natural ingredients in their beverages. They don't use any artificial flavors, additives, or preservatives and in their Cane Sugar line of beverages, they do not use High Fructose Corn Syrup. The Boylan Black Cherry beverage gets its incredible and remarkable flavor from a variety of cherry flavors, wild cherry bark, and vanilla bourbon extract. You can really taste the cherry juice and it reminds me of the cherry juice my sister Amy once brought home from a German cherry farm she lived at when she was 14 during a summer mission trip.

       Another plus for me is that I can consume the beverage during XC and Track & Field seasons. The reason for that is that I require my runners to give up caffeinated beverages for the season due to numerous studies that show caffeine to lessen the fitness levels and the oxygen processing ability of athletes who participate in endurance sports. And most people who consume caffeinated beverages end up consuming more of those than water and are not able to perform at 100% due to being dehydrated. And I never require my runners to do anything that I'm not willing to at least try to myself. 

     I am so glad that first cold bottle of Black Cherry fell into my hands. I have purchased one four pack since then, along with a a few singles here and there when I see them offered, and I let myself have one every few nights as an after dinner treat and it is worth it. I would spend the day looking forward to it. That may mean that my life has come to a lower point than I think it has, but I don't think that is the case. I think its just that Boylan's Black Cherry is just that deliciously satisfying. Think I'll go put one in the freezer to sit a little while so it will be extra cold for dinner. 

Happy reading,

   DAVID

Alabama Shakes--An Album Review with Some Thoughts About Music

   A couple weeks ago, I was driving FH around in our new ride and came to two full realizations that I wasn't really looking for. We were actually looking for somewhere to blow about a half hour besides the insides of the Envoy and we realized that the vehicle has no option to plug in my trusty iPod and we had run through all of the cd's that we had available and we were at the not so benevolent hands of the radio tuner and although we begged for mercy, it showed us none. The two realizations were that 1) the Envoy NEEDS a plug in option for some outside source for acquiring music and 2) all radio, minus AM and maybe public radio, is so, so, so very terrible. And I don't mean that Top 40 radio stinks in that hipster nonsense way in that I'm actually too good for it, but in that please play more than the same 10-15 songs and please, dear Mr. DJ, please quit playing those loud screaming commercials where the speaker is promising me a golden goose if I would just come in and test drive a 2014 KIA kind of way. 

    And this got me to thinking about how much music has digressed over the last 70 or so years. I am really talking about feeling. And by this, I mean that while the song is playing, what am I feeling and how the artist relays what they are feeling through the music or through their voice. If you don't understand exactly what I'm getting at, I ask you to go find an older song, say Ella Fitzgerald's, "At Last, My Love Has Come Along ", and then compare it to even a great voice of today like Adele and compare the feeling of the voice and the feeling of the music. Or say listen to Bill Withers sing, "Ain't No Sunshine", and compare it to John Mayer sing, "Half of My Heart". Can you hear a difference? Can you feel a difference? Or say go listen to BB King sing, "The Thrill is Gone", and compare that to Pitbull singing, "Give Me Everything". And lastly, say go listen to Hank Williams or even Waylon Jennings sing, "Your Cheatin' Heart" or "Casey's Last Ride" and compare that to Darius Rucker singing, "Come Back Song". Hopefully you can get what I am trying to get at. 

      I say all of this because as I was driving along and FH and I got to thinking and wishing that music could sound like it used to. I know, I know. We're nostalgic and sentimental, and maybe we are hoarders of past emotions a little as well. But what happened? No, I don't want musicians to not be there own, but I would like them to make me feel as if the lyrics to the songs they are singing mean something to them so much so that they make them feel real to me. And yes, there are musicians and singers who are putting heartfelt music out there, but it seems like it is becoming more and more of a rare thing. But what I was really wondering about was about if there were any bands/musicians/artists around making music that sounded and felt like music did 50 years ago and then we got to where FH and I were suppose to be and then the thought died. If you are a parent of a little child, you get this. 

       And then a small moment of inspiration occurred. A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to work once again at Alpine Camp for Boys in Mentone, Alabama. On one of the days we were there, the other guy I was working with and the boys who were in our stead headed north to have a grand day in Chattanooga. One of the places we went to was McKay's Used Book Store (One of my favorite places in the whole world to go to!). The other guy, Doug H., bought a cd and then popped it in the car radio on our way to location two of our planned day and what came out of the speakers blew me away. The cd that he had purchased was Alabama Shakes: Boys and Girls. 

    Alabama Shakes was formed in 2009 when a group of high school band members starting getting together after school to write songs in Athens, Alabama. They first played under the name The Shakes, but added the word, Alabama, in 2011. I won't give you their whole history because you can read about it elsewhere, but all I really wanted to do was bring the band to your attention. My youngest sister who is very hip and with it knew about them already, but I hadn't heard about them at all. But I am so glad that I know about them now.

        The sounds, the voice, and the music that came blasting from the Bose speakers in that Suburban that day answered my question in more than one way. Yes, there are a few bands out there making music like it used to sound and one of those bands is Alabama Shakes. From the first song, "Hold On", to the last song, "Heavy Chevy", the band led by lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Brittany Howard, will take you to places that BB King, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, The Temptations, and Muddy Waters once took you. Each of the songs has a very old feel about it and some even sound at times like songs from other bands. An example of that would be the first track, "Hold On", it could very well be a CCR song until Brittany Howard begins singing and you realize that John Fogerty was replaced by a blend of Aretha Franklin and Ella Fitzgerald. 

      No, I would in no way say that Alabama Shakes is breaking new ground, but I would say that all 12 songs on the album are great songs and worthy of several listens. To be honest, it took me two full rotations of the cd through the Suburban's speakers before I took a full liking to the way the band sounds. No, the lyrics aren't soul inspiring every single line, but they are and do, like the country songs of old, tell great stories and are full of life's moments. I would say the music to the songs is spot on; especially the percussion portion of the songs. I know very little about drumming, but will say that the drummer, Steve Johnson, is impeccable. And the voice of Brittany Howard is a driving force in each song. She can lay it down thick and dense and she can be light and airy, but nowhere on the album did I feel like she was anything, but heartfelt. 

    Since I first heard Alabama Shakes, I have purchased their album and have given it about 10-12 full listens and with each listen it grows more and more on me. If you have not heard it, give it a try. You won't be disappointed unless you are looking for more auto-tuned voices and songs featuring ten performers who have parts like saying, "Yeah, Yeah, Word" during the chorus. This is a great album and worth the nine dollars you will throw down for it, unless you buy it somewhere for less. I look forward to a night I can go home from work, start the grill, help Mel and FH cook dinner, turn on our little deck lights, pour myself a tall limeade, and let Alabama Shakes sing me into the weekend. 

Happy reading and happy listening,

   David 

     

    

The Bicycle With A Past

     

          It is funny how some words acquire an abominable feeling about them even when you mean them in a very positive light. I, and I'm sure you do too, always equate the word "past" with a very dubious feeling that means that many years ago, so and so, did some bad things that some people still know about and whisper about to their friends when they see them slinking around pretending to be better than they used to be. However, that is not what this post is about, but the bike this post is about does have a past, but not in that it used to drink, or do drugs, or cheat, or be in a ska band way of thinking. 

          The bike in question is a 1982 Huffy Bay Pointe 3-Speed cruiser; back when Huffy still made good steel framed bikes in the great city of Dayton, Ohio. Strange to think that less than 30 years ago, most bikes were made right here in the US of A. I wish they still were, but I digress as usual. The Huffy was purchased at Sears in Fitzgerald, Georgia and was used very heavily during the years 1983-1985 on the streets of the Colony City. I know all this because I found this bike in the rafters of my in-laws' storage building at their farm. They used to ride good ole' Sweet Melissa around when she was a little tike. This little tidbit of information makes my use for the bike even that much sweeter for me and us. 

   

        Over the past several months, I have been doing a lot of reading about bikes and bicycle components and have been doing my share of plotting on trying to get my palms on an older American built, steel framed bike, but it seemed like I was only finding three options (1. It was very, very expensive. 2. It was rusted out so much, it wasn't worth trying to remodel and it was still pricey. 3. It was somewhere like Chicago and it was pricey) when I found a bike that I thought might do the trick. And so when I saw the Huffy sitting there all by it's lonesome there in the dusty rafters, I made a mental note of it when the time came for me to need a bike perfect for a copilot. 

         When Father's Day was coming around this year, I knew that this was the time I had been waiting for since April 26th of last year. As I have said before, there were two things I had been looking forward to ever since Melissa told me that we were going to have a baby and those two things were 1) Putting FH in the jogging stroller and heading out and 2) Putting FH in a baby bike seat and heading out. The latter is something both my parents and Mel's parent's did with both of us and I knew it was something I wanted to do with Ford. I asked Mel if she and FH had any plans this year as far as gifts go and they said they didn't, so I sprung at the chance to rescue the bike from the rafters, clean it up, take it to the miracle workers at Cherry St. Cycles for new tires and a tune up, find the best baby bike seat within our price range, and then ride off into the sunset with my Krewe. 

        Baby bike seats are a tricky and semi-controversial subject these days. I didn't know that till I went to start doing my homework on them. A lot of bicycle shops don't and won't carry them because it makes their business insurance go up so much. And Dick's Sporting Goods is phasing them out for much of the same reason. You can find them freely on the internet, but then again, what can't you find freely on the Net? The new trend in carting your offspring around by bike is the bike trailer. It reminds me of a roller coaster seat and when I borrowed one from a friend and tried it out, it also reminded FH of one too, but he has yet to enter the gates of Six Flags. He looked like he was terrified when we would come to a stop even when we were going a blazing 8 mph. 

        So, we decided that no matter how many nasty looks we got, we would go with the baby bike seat. We all did our research and we decided the best bang for our buck lay in the Bell Classic Bicycle Child Carrier. Once this was decided upon, we loaded up the car and headed out to see what we could see in the great city of Maconga. After several stops at stores who let us down, we bottled up all our shopping courage and found just what we needed at Academy Sports. We took the seat to the register and gave them the cold hard cash and made a quick stop by Target for a baby bike helmet and then headed home to get things going. 

        As soon as we got home, I grabbed the bike, FH's wagon, some tools, some toys, and some cold waters, and we got to work. The directions were very easy to follow, which is and was a change for me, and between Mel, Ford, and myself, we got the seat on in about a half hour. As you can see from the pictures, the whole family came out to see what exactly was going on. We had dogs milling about, chickens nosing around, a baby banging tools and toys in the metal bottom of his wagon, and two college grads working through some amateur sketches from the Bell company. I am sure it was quite a scene. And then came the time I had been really waiting for: time to ride!

       I got my helmet out and Mel put FH's new helmet on, of which he was far past skeptical of, and we slowly walked down our little driveway with great anticipation and great caution. I have been riding bikes for a long time, but I am not the best of riders and I had a very tough learning curve back when I was first learning to ride in the first place. I acquired the nickname, "Clyde Crash-Cut", back when my dad was pushing me and trying to get me to not run into every other mailbox on Lois Drive. The exact day I earned my nickname, my family was doing a youth group bike ride and I proceeded to ride down a very steep hill while shouting back to my parents, "Where are the brakes?". I did not want the sequel to this moment to be made with FH on the back and if you would have scene the reservation in the eyes of our sweet Melissa as we headed off, you wouldn't have either. 

     Once we hit Hines Terrace, I got on and we rode to the end of the our street and back and knew things were going to be just fine. The Bay Pointe was a great ride and FH was a hesitant, but amicable co-pilot. Mel got her bike out and we went for a little two or three mile family bike ride and it was and is something I will never forget. They couldn't have given me any better Father's Day gift even if they would have tried. 

     Since that day, FH and I have ridden close to a 75 miles all around Macon and we have had such a great time. We ride for a little while and if we see something worth stopping for then we just stop for a while. We hit the parks, bookstores, fountains, and other great little pit stops. We have even ridden a time or two to breakfast. Mel joins us on occasion and we turn it into a real family affair. We started out with some short rides and have now stretched them out to a couple of rides of 10 miles and then 15. We always take it slow and easy. I added a basket to carry our things in and that has gotten us a couple of laughs from a few youths near our house, but that's okay because they don't have cold waters and some Cheddar Bunnies and we do. Our main goal is to just ride and look around and I'm pretty fine with it always being the goal. 

Happy Slow and Easy Riding,

    David