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Bill's Broadsides
POSTED:Mon, February 11, 2008 @ 3:13PM
The age of specialization is overWhen the management here at The Leader-Herald informed the editorial staff that we'd be able to write personalized blogs on the paper's new Web site, I immediately set to pondering what the subject of my blog should be.Should I offer commentary about issues in the local news we cover? Or perhaps one of my hobbies? The enlightened minds of cyberspace seem to agree that a blog doesn't stand a chance of attracting a large readership if it doesn't zero in on a specific topic. "Specialized sites rule the Web," one such blog guru opines. Hmmm. Allow me to allay Google's fears and assert right from the start that "ruling the Web" is not one of my goals for this blog. I'm simply interested in using this platform for an extended conversation with a few readers in Fulton, Montgomery and Hamilton counties. A song by one of my favorite songwriters (who isn't dead) quotes no less an authority figure than The Lord of All Creation on the subject of specialization: "The Age of Specialization is over ... everyone can cook. Everyone can paint, and everyone can sing, and everyone can dance ..." That's a sentiment that speaks to me, though I must draw the line at dancing (except at the weddings of close friends or relatives, and only if there's a good live band or a superb DJ (an open bar helps)). But I do have a wide range of interests, such as: Music (as a listener and a player) Literature (as a reader and a writer) Theater (it's been awhile, but I used to trod the boards) Local news and politics (no, I'm not currently running for president) Food (I like to cook almost as much as I like to eat) Art (ever look at a piece of art and think, "I don't get it?" Yeah, me too. But I keep looking) History and culture (I'm especially curious about the period between the Civil War and World War II, though I'm not sure why ...) Life, the universe and everything (to borrow a phrase from a Douglas Adams) Yeah, I think I'll write about all of that stuff. Sounds like more fun than "ruling the Web."
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Bill Ackerbauer Assistant City Editor Johnstown native Bill Ackerbauer began his journalism career in 1996 as a reporter with The Leader-Herald. He has been an editor and writer for newspapers in Schenectady, Saratoga Springs and Dover, N.H., and returned to the Leader in 2007. 'Bill's Broadsides' has twice won first-place awards (2007-08 and 2008-09) in the New York State Associated Press writing contest for newspapers in the Leader-Herald's circulation category. Bill teaches English as an adjunct instructor at Fulton-Montgomery Community College, and he has taught journalism courses at the University at Albany. In his spare time, Bill plays folk music on guitar, banjo, fiddle and other traditional instruments. He lives in Johnstown with his wife, Jen, and their two sons, Liam and Carter.
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