Dear Reader: AI overview, Biking and Edmund Fitzgerald
Still no snow despite the cooler weather, so the roads are still my friend for training. Photo by William Bauer
Welcome back to my column, Dear Reader, where you get to experience William’s witticisms, hear about events around town, read song reviews, and more. Please send feedback and comments to baue0649+dearreader@d.umn.edu.
This week, I’ll let you know how last week went, tell you about an AI experience I had, and review a song. It’ll be great!
Well, I was going to start with last week, but I fear I might talk about the same thing each time after reading the AI overview that I found on my own column. Let’s start with that. A few weeks ago I looked up my own column and name to see what popped up, if anything. Now, I’m not exactly sure what the algorithms have on me, but I’m sure I look at my own stuff and The Bark’s website enough for it to put the pieces together. Sure enough, the AI overview pretty much nailed the column. It did say that I “praised” a song in my review, which I didn’t exactly, but close enough, I guess. I’m not super shocked, but it was startling to see it talk about my own work.
I looked myself up, and guess what I found! This was a while ago, and the information was actually pretty accurate. Weird. Photo by William Bauer
With that being said, I once again went for a classic roller ski and a bike ride this past week. Both were lovely, with the sun warming the crisp fall air. I overdressed for the bike, getting scared about the cold after the frosty morning on Friday. Alas, the weather warmed right back up, and it’s been almost balmy again. I’m ready for the snow! Bring on the cold! I’ve heard more than one person say that if it’s going to be cold, we may as well have snow to play in, and I wholeheartedly agree. The gales of November can roll on in and give us all a little blizzard action ASAP!
Check out that shadow! Pretty neat. Photo by William Bauer
And…. If that rings any bells, I know you probably listened to (a totally healthy amount of) “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” by Gordon Lightfoot on November 10. Gordy and the Fitz get quite the hype in my friend groups, so I figured it deserved a song review. Clocking in at six minutes and twenty-nine seconds, Lightfoot takes his time to tell his version of the story. An instrumental opening sets the stage for the emotionally charged sound. The song features the recognizable gliding backing track, sliding from note to note while Lightfoot sings. He uses vivid imagery to describe the gales of November, the good shipping crew, and the Great Lakes. Overall, I’ll listen on any occasion, but a gloomy November day provides the best time to reminisce, listen, and stare out at the rolling Lake Superior. Now you have something to look forward to on the next cloudy, windy day.
That’s all for this week. I haven’t heard from any readers in a while, so send in your song requests! I’m pretty sure at least some of you aren’t AI bots. In any case, thanks for reading.
Cheers!