Tuesday, 10/15

What I found (or, actually, didn't find) stunned me.

First of all, hope you had a great (extended) weekend. I did, even though it was the first truly “Fall” weekend in Marquette this year and, as such, I didn't quite know how to handle it. But what with it being cold & rainy means I had the opportunity to get some work done, and when it was getting said work done that I made my discovery.

Or, depending upon how you look at it, my lack of discovery.

Let me explain—I was putting together my “Life in the 906” for Monday and, as I seem to do every week, spent almost as much time looking for pictures to go along with it than I do writing. That was really the case this weekend as I was looking for a picture of Lake Superior—just the lake, and nothing else—to illustrate a point I was making.

Now, I've been taking pictures with digital cameras for over 20 years, I have tens of thousands of shots on my laptop, and you think I'd have one—just one—of the lake, and nothing man-made in front of, on, or near the water. But you know what?

You'd be wrong.

It actually did blow my mind. I spend summer afternoons just wandering around Marquette shooting pictures. Many of those wanderings take me right by the lake, but not once—not once—did I ever take a picture of just the water, with nothing else in the shot to show humans were around. This, in fact, was the closest I got--

And even then, if you look in the trees, you'll see the tops of several houses and a few power lines. And since I needed a shot that had NO sign of human habitation, I was almost resigned to walking down to the lake in the cold rain and taking, for the first time (apparently) in two decades, a shot of water and nothing but water.

Luckily, Loraine looked through her accumulated photos, and found this--

Thanks to her I was spared having to go out in the rain, and it's the shot I ended up using last night. But it just blows my mind that in over 20 years I have yet to take a picture of just the lake, and nothing else. Here, I thought I had taken every conceivable picture there was to take in Marquette.

But, as is often the case. I was wrong. Guess I now know what I get to do on the next nice day I go out for a wander with my camera in hand, huh?

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 10/11

Wait, I only have to shoot one TV show today? What kind of life is that?

8-)

As I've been mentioning, my life has been somewhat insane this month, with the past Friday and Wednesdays devoted to shooting “High School Bowl” segments in the morning and “Marquette @ 175” segments in the afternoon. That's why it seems strange that today I only have to shoot one TV show.

Oh, the problems in my life, huh?

Not only is that a first-world problem, but it's a first-world problem that most of the first world would never even have to deal with. That's made me think and, as we all know, that's a dangerous thing.

But if this is the biggest problem in my life I'm one insanely lucky dude.

I know I whine about how hectic things are, but if you had told the college-aged me that the adult me would be working in radio and starring on TV and on a daily basis write about everything from history to how I don't like hockey, I'm pretty sure the college-aged me would have said “cool”. Like most people of that age, I had no idea how my life would turn out. I had hopes, I had dreams, but I really had no concrete idea or no firm concept of how things would end up.

And all in all, despite all of my whining (and occasional lack of sleep), I'd have to say that things turned out quite well.

So maybe I should curtail the comments, whines, and occasional pity parties about the state of my life. As a great American (the one I'm married to) will say on occasion, “you have no one to blame but yourself”. As usual, of course, she's right. And in all honesty, the comments, whines, and pity parties aren't THAT big of a deal. They're just...me being me.

And I have it on pretty good authority that if you'd would have told the college-aged me that the adult me would be happy, healthy, and creatively fulfilled, but a bit whiny about it, he just would have shook his head.

And said “cool”.

I'm off to be insanely lucky.  Have a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

(PS--I have Monday off, so back with something new Tuesday!)

Thursday, 10/10

Since the “Best Of” I left with you yesterday dealt with a series of guilty-pleasure movies, maybe we should continue that theme today, if only because over the past few months I've (on occasion) been watching one of those movies that I know I shouldn’t, yet still keep watching it over and over.

Long-time readers of this blog may remember the little, uhm, “addiction” I seem to have to the movie “Smokey and the Bandit”. Whenever it’s on, I feel compelled to watch it all the way through, even though I know I’ve seen it dozens of times before and even though I know I’m probably killing off dozens of brain cells watching it again.

I just can’t help it.

Well, it now looks like there may be another movie that’s on its way to joining “Smokey and the Bandit” and the post "Gorija" Godzilla movies in the Jim Hall of Shame. That movie? “Urban Cowboy”.

Oh, the horror! The horror!!!

Like with “Smokey and the Bandit”, I don’t know WHY I do it, I just do it. Maybe it’s the over-the-top characters and dialogue; maybe it was the fact that I was in Texas for a couple of days right around the time they filmed the movie and I saw people like Bud & Cissy and the neighborhoods in which they live. Or maybe it’s the fact that Debra Winger was a babe in the movie. I’m not quite sure; all I know is that I’ve felt compelled to watch parts of it here are there over the past few months.

Why me?!?!?!?!?!?

Actually, I think that two good things HAVE come out of this whole “Urban Cowboy” situation. The first is that I’ve never ever worn a cowboy hat, and now realize I never ever will. The second is that I listened to Boz Scaggs again.

One of the few non-country songs on the movie’s soundtrack is the Boz Scaggs’ ballad “Look What You’ve Done To Me”, and hearing it in the movie reminded me that I really used to like the R&B-ish stylings of the 3-time Grammy winner. So Tuesday, while I was lifting weights, I pulled out his greatest hits CD and listened to tracks like “Lowdown”, “Breakdown Dead Ahead”, and “Lido Shuffle”.

That was nice; much nicer, in fact, than seeing people break bones on a mechanical bull.

I'm hoping that now that I've written about it, and have worked out whatever deep-seated psychoses make me do it, that watching parts of it here and there will not become a habit. With any luck, this whole thing will NOT turn into another “Smokey and the Bandit”-type situation. Because if it did. . .

Well, then I’d be staring at the screen, shouting out “Look What You’ve Done To Me” to the characters on screen. And that would not be a pretty sight...

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 10/9

Well, today is one of those days.

You remember how yesterday I was telling you that my inability to say “no” has led to a packed schedule on my part? Well, I wasn't lying, as I soon have to rush out to shoot an episode of “High School Bowl”, followed by a little radio work, following by shooting a big (outdoor) interview for “Marquette @ 175”, followed by my usual gig on the air (radio-wise).

So...I'm going to take the easy/wimpy out, and leave you with something I wrote (I think) five years ago. But, believe it or not, I'm still (occasionally) watching what I talk about.

Go figure. Back with something new tomorrow!

(jim@wmqt.com)

*****

(as originally posted 10/16/19)

Okay. So maybe they're not QUITE as good as I remember.

When I was a kid I loved Godzilla movies (explains a lot, doesn't it?). I would sometimes stay up late to see them, I bought a monster movie book once just because it had pictures of the creature, and I would always look forward to hearing the “rawr” and watching the cardboard buildings get the heck stomped out of them.

Don't look at me like that. You already knew I was a weird kid.

Anyway, Turner Classic Movies is featuring Godzilla movies Friday nights this month. They're showing each and every movie Toho made featuring the creature from 1955 to 1976, the films I watched as a kid, so I figured I'd DVR them and see if they live up to how I remember them as a kid.

Spoiler alert—with the exception of one, they don't.

That one would be the original Japanese version of the tale, “Gojira”. That's the film they cut Raymond Burr into for the first US release of “Godzilla, King of the Monsters”. I've seen the movie many times; I even have a Blu-ray with both versions of the film. And the original is a harrowing, atmospherically black & white allegory of the dangers of nuclear war, perhaps not surprising considering Japan was just a decade past having had two atomic bombs dropped on them. Even the Americanized version of the film still holds on to some of the power of the original.

So that one still holds up.

The rest, though? Not so much. As the years advanced and Godzilla was made more and more human-like, the series devolved into a formula piece, where you knew that Godzilla would make X appearances stomping a building and would be joined by one or two other monsters, ending in a fight that made pro wrestling seem unscripted by comparison.

That was especially true in a movie they showed last weekend, “Invasion of the Astro Monster”. I remember loving the Americanized version of it, “Godzilla vs Monster Zero”, almost as much as the original. But upon viewing it the past few nights my fond memories turned into thoughts that I must've been drunk when I watched it, even though I don't drink and even though I was probably eight the first time I saw it. The plot made no sense, the characters made no sense, and even Godzilla was in an alien-induced coma for most of the film. Loraine walked into the living room while I was watching it, caught a few seconds, and said (quoting here) “This isn't a very good movie, is it”.

And I found it very hard to disagree.

So while I'll always have fond memories of watching Godzilla movies as a kid, the adult version of me now realizes that there wasn't really that much to recommend those fond memories. But I'll always still love “Gojira”, and no matter what, seeing a guy in a rubber suit stomp over a cardboard version of a skyscraper—no matter how badly produced or how formulaic--will still always bring a nostalgic smile to my face.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 10/8

I forgot to tell you, didn't I?

A week or so ago, it's been brought to my attention, I promised to fill you in on the latest example of how I have an inability to say no. It's the latest example of why my life's insane, and also proof positive that, literally, I'll sleep when I'm dead.

I'm writing, producing, and hosting a half half TV show on the founding of Marquette. So, you know, no big deal.

I've written in here about how this is Marquette's 175^th birthday, and back in June some of my colleagues over at TV 19 approached me to see if I had any interest in helping them put together a birthday show. Things happened here, more things happened there, and I now find myself knee deep into actually putting the program together.

Have I ever mentioned my life is weird?

Due to staff changes and other factors my involvement in the show is actually quite greater than when we first discussed it. That's okay; after all, I can write, produce, and star in TV shows about local history in my sleep. But to put a show like this together, and to put it together well, takes time. And, as we all know, I'm not going to do a half-sassed job. So over the past month we've been shooting interviews and stand-ups; I've gathered pictures and recorded voice-overs. But there's still a lot left to go, and between my radio duties, my weekly TV 19 gig, the starting up of “High School Bowl” for the season, and, I dunno, the need to eat & sleep, things might be a little hectic for a bit.

So, sadly, not that all different than usual.

The final product will air several times, the first being November 10^th. More details on that as we get closer to the date, but between now and then if you happen to see me on the street and I look someone insane—or, perhaps, even more insane than usual—now you know why.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 10/7

I'd be a catch if I were single.

First of all, let me state this—I am not single. I have not been single for many years. I don't wish to be single again. I am not implying anything with this blog other than the facts about to be stated. So don't read anything into it other than the fact that if I were somehow to be single, I have two things going for me.

'Nuff said.

Now, a “weird fact” I used last week had to do with the two things people are looking for when on a dating website. We've all heard stories about how said sites are not always filled with, well, the best of catches. But there seem to be two things that are deal-breakers, at least for 88 percent of women and 75 % of men.

The biggest deal-breaker is personal hygiene. Apparently, if you post a picture of yourself in bad clothing, or looking like you haven't washed your hair in three weeks, that turns most people off.

Who knew?, he says sarcastically.

The other? Bad grammar. Poor spelling and not knowing which there, their, or they're to use is a turn-off for both men and women, although more women than men. So if you find yourself on a dating website any time in the near future, you know what to avoid.

That's okay. You can thank me later.

Like I said at the beginning of this, I'm not single, nor do I have the desire to be single. But I'd like to think that I'm pretty good with my own personal hygiene. And I know how to construct a sentence like, say, “They're on their way there”. So if the world were to flip on its axis—or flip on its axis more than than it has since 2020—and I found myself needing the services of a dating website, I would hope that I would pass muster.

After all, it seems like it's hard being single these days. Who knew there was so much pressure to get everything absolutely right?? Any kind of head start a person can get, I guess, is a start well worth exploiting.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 10/4

Wow. I can't believe this is the (gulp) tenth season of it already.

I don't have much time to write this morning, as I'm shortly due at Public TV 13 to tape the first shows of the year for “High School Bowl”. It's the 46^th year for the show, and the tenth with me as host, which is kind of unbelievable seeing as how it seems I just started doing it last month. But as we discover more and more, time doesn't seem to lie, so year ten (which actually would have been year 11 if Covid hadn't interceded) is now in the starting gate.

It's funny, because it seems like we just taped the championship game from last year last week. But nope; that was February 22nd, over three quarters of a year ago, and here we are, getting ready to start it all over again. The show we tape today airs November 2nd, and in the lead I have to lay out my schedule of what to wear for the year; to make sure I alternate through all of my jackets, and to make sure I don't repeat a tie or a color combination without a buffer of a bunch of shows between them. Sure, it might seem a little shallow and stupid, but as I've found, people actually pay attention to those things.

No, I'm not quite sure why, but they do. And that's why I keep track of what I wear on TV when, and that's why the list I keep throughout the season seems more and more invaluable, especially after doing this for six years.

So with that in mind, I'm off to make a fool out of myself, as usual. But at least I'll be wearing a shirt & tie TV-13 viewers haven't seen recently. Oh, they may have seen it on my other TV job, but at ;ast on “High School Bowl” I'll be safe.

8-)

On that note, have yourself a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)