Here are some things that I have seen and heard the past few days, and some of my thoughts on them

Very sad to see the the passing of Sonja Christopher, the fists person ever voted out of Survivor A former music therapist, she competed on the reality competition’s first season, Survivor: Borneo, at 63 years old in 2000. Really nice to see all the posts and tributes for Sonja, showing the impact Survivor has had on people over the past 24 years.

Rest in #PEACE Sonja, you will be missed.

As a Trading Card collector, I always wished that a company would have put out a set of Survivor Cards (other than the one below put out by Upper Deck in 2001)

I while back I even tried to create a set of Cards for Season 1 (Survivor Borneo) with the thought of possibly getting them autographed.

Speaking of Survivor, just saw @JeffProbst announce that #Season50 will consist of returning players. While I always liked it when they brought back players from previous seasons, I always felt a bit jealous as they got to play the game I love for a 2nd, 3rd or 4th time, while I am dreaming of just getting a call back from casting and chance to show the producers that I would be a great contestant. At 57 years old, I still feel I would bring a lot to the show and prove to myself and others that I have what it takes to compete with younger and more athletic players in a game to Outwit, Outlast and Outplay them all.

I’m here and waiting, so give me a call, text, email or even a letter letting me know where and when you want to meet and get to know me, and I promise you will not be disappointed

Switching gears, I have been following the New York Radio Message Board for a long time. As a life long New Jersey resident, I grew up with New York Radio as the background of my youth. WNEW (102.7) with its classic DJs, WAPP (100.3) with its commercial free Summers, WPLJ (95.5) with its classic morning show, and WXRK (92.3) have all had a large influence on me over the years. Reading industry insiders, and radio experts views and opinions has given me great insights. But I also shows that as people get older, they get stuck in their ways, and really dislike change. There are still people on the message board complaining that CBSFM switch away for oldies over 10 years ago. They complain how radio executives are out of touch with listeners and how come radio stations don’t play more of the songs they like, and lest of the songs they don’t. This brings me to Howard Stern

While I was not a huge fan of Howard Stern, I always gave him credit for being true to himself. Once he left terrestrial radio and moved to SiriusXM, people though he would get even more nasty and controversial , since he could now saw whatever he wanted with no censoring. But over the years the opposite happened. He became more entertaining and a great interviewer, able to book top level celebrities, musicians, and recently the President of the United States, Joe Biden. My wife listens to Howard all the time, and I will listen along when we are driving. Yesterday while running errands, we listed to a replay of the interview with Joe Biden. Taking any kind of politics out of it, I really enjoyed it and how Howard was able to make it feel like two people sitting down for a honest conversation. But because of the world we now live in, some posters on the NYRMB complained on how much of a powderpuff interview it was, and why Howard didn’t focus more on things going on in the world like wars and trials. This made me think that the people complaining have not listened to Howard in years, and are just going on there feeling from years and years ago. Go back and listen to his past interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and Hilary Clinton. They are very insightful. Howard does his research, and gets his guests to open up and have some very personal discussions.

For those who think that todays Howard Stern is the same as 30 year old Howard Stern should take some time to listen to him now before just throwing out old grudges. Its just lazy

For the record, there are plenty of times when listening to Howard in the car with my wife, where she will turn him off and stay she hates that particular bit. I acknowledge his antics and humor are not for everybody, but you do need to give him credit where credit is due.

The New York Mets look a little fatigued in dropping the 1st two games to the St. Luis Cardinals. Looking for a bounce back game today. Baseball is a long and grinding season, the the good teams are the ones that can avoid long stretches of bad baseball. The Mets have enough talent and should be fine, but just need to play with a bit more urgency.

Really enjoying “These Silent Woods” by Kimi Cunningham Grant. Switching things up a bit and trying to read books that are different than what I usually read. I will get to the new books by Clive Cussler / John Grisham and Dean Koontz soon, but just need a change of pace for a bit

Watch “Dune” last night and really enjoyed it. Thought is was very well done and it was refreshing to watch a big budget Sci-Fi movie that didn’t over do it with way to much CGI. Was able to follow the story without being bombarded with extra characters and scenes just to showcase what they can do with special effects. Heard good things about ‘DUNE Part 2’ and looking forward to watching it soon. I am also interested in the new Planet of the Apes film “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” coming out soon. A huge fan of the original Planet of the Apes films of the 70s, I was a bit disappointed in some of the remakes, although I did like” War for the Planet of the Apes”. Will definably be checking out the new one in the theater, and will let you know my take

Sitting in Starbucks and writing this was very therapeutic and relaxing. Hope to continue writing more

#PEACE

#Survivor #Survivor50 @JeffProbst @MarkBurnett @DaltonRoss @JesseTannenbaum

#NeverToOldForSurvivor #GiveMeAChance

AverageAndy

*Sugar Mice by Marillion

I was flicking through the channels on the TV
On a Sunday in Milwaukee in the rain
Trying to piece together conversations
Trying to find out where to lay the blame
But when it comes right down to it there’s no use trying to pretend
For when it gets right down to it there’s no one here that’s left to blame
Blame it on me, you can blame it on me
We’re just sugar mice in the rain