Wednesday, 8/12

I wonder how rich you have to be to afford a toy like this--

This is a mega-yacht that's berthed in Marquette's Lower Harbor this week, a leviathan that's been visiting various ports on the Great Lakes this summer.. I don't know who owns it (although there has been a LOT of conjecture on various social media sites), nor do I know why they're tooling around the lakes.

All I know is that it sure has people talking.

I know nothing about the construction of mega-yachts, aside from reading an article or two over the years in Vanity Fair, talking about rich people and their toys. Based on those articles, I would guess that the ship probably costs 8 figures. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if it hit 9 figures. Now, I could be wrong--like I said, I'm basing everything I know on magazine articles--but to have enough spare change to build something like that means you probably have a little too much spare change lying around.

If you know what I mean.

Let say, for the sake of argument, that it costs 80 million bucks. It's your money; you can do what you want with it. But is the world REALLY a better place by sticking a mega-yacht on the Great Lakes? Couldn't you feed, say, a million people for eighty days instead? Isn't THAT a better use of the money? Once again, it's that person's money. They can do what they want with it. All I know is that if I had 80 million bucks in spare change lying around, I sure wouldn't buy a yacht.

But then, that's just me.

I hope the yacht's owner enjoys their time in Marquette. Maybe they can look under the boat's cushions and find a couple of thousand extra dollars lying around to donate to Room at the Inn or some other organization that provides help for those who need it. Because I'm guessing that if you spend that much money on a yacht...

A donation like that is, to use the word I use to much, literally pocket change.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/11

Now, I get to see on which side of the issue everyone falls.

While my TV piece last night did, as always, contain a few jokes, it dealt with an issue that seems to bother a lot more people than I thought it would--the issue of dog owners letting their animals run unleashed.

A couple of weeks ago, on one of my half days, I took my bike and a soccer ball out to Kaufman to run around, and while I was there a car (a blue Subaru, if you're curious) pulled up right in front of a sign that says "no dogs allowed". The back door of the car opened, a dog ran out unleashed and unsupervised, bounded onto the pitch, squatted down, left a big fat calling card, and then ran back into the blue Subaru, after which the car drove away rather quickly.

I was stunned by what I saw; not just the violation of three city ordinances within 30 seconds, but also by the sheer braziness of the people in the car. I'm pretty sure they knew that what they were doing was wrong; after all, they hid in the car while all this was happening. So when I got home I put three hypothetical situations in which someone does something ignorant (like an unleashed dog) on social media, asked people which was the worst, and waited to see what would transpire.

Over 200 responses later, I had my answer.

And that's what led to yesterday's TV piece. Because I was doing that podcast last night I didn't get the chance to post it right away, so I'm gonna wait until later today and stick it up. I'll be curious to see if TV 19 fans are like the people I know on Facebook, or if they're of a different mindset. All I know is that the whole adventure has opened my eyes a little as to what people say is or is not acceptable, and it's nice to know that (for once) I happen to be in the mainstream of acceptability.

Here's the TV piece, so you can judge for yourself--

(jim@wmqt.com) 

Monday, 8/10

I think today's going to be an interesting day.

I mean, it's actually been a couple of interesting weeks what with a bunch of events (like Ore to Shore this past weekend) adding to the chaos of every day life. But today, I have the feeling, is going to be one of those days when I say "my life is weird", because I have a full day of radio to start with, then a TV piece that I have the feeling may rub some people the wrong way, then the taping of a video podcast where I talk about the history of Marquette's harbor.

So yup. My life is weird.

I'll talk about the TV piece (and the story behind it) tomorrow, but I'm curious to see how the podcast turns out. It's being done by a local guy who's getting into the tour business, and one of the things he wants to emphasis on the tour is local history. For some bizarre reason, when you think of local history, my name seems to pop up (really??? 8-)) and so I'll be his next guest, following the esteemed Jack Deo by just a few weeks.

Once I get a link to the finished product, I'll be sure to share it.

I'm also sitting down with a couple of individuals over the next few days to hear bar stories from the 70s as part of my upcoming "Happy Hour II" tour. One would think that, after a while, I would have heard all there is about the bar scene in Marquette during that magical decade when the drinking age was 18, but you know what?

There seems to be no limit to the debauchery that occurred those mystical eight years. And you know what? I'm all the luckier for it.

So wish me luck. It's gonna be a hectic week but, I think, a very fruitful one. And don't be surprised if, over the next few days, you hear me uttering the fateful line that now seems to be my mantra--

My life is weird.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 8/7

Six stitches, a smashed finger, and a broken tooth.

In the UP, there are two ways to get those kinds of injuries. One would be after a really interesting night at Big Bon’s the opening day of deer season. The other?

If you’re a mountain biker.

This is the weekend over 2,000 mountain bikers descend upon Marquette County for the 27th annual Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic. It's the biggest mass start race in the state of Michigan, and you owe it to yourself to head to Negaunee Saturday morning and watch a non-stop stream of riders roll past you. Not only that, but if you head to the finish line in Marquette you can hear the announcer butchering the names of a whole bunch of riders.

That, by the way, would be me doing that.

In a way, the race–actually, the whole trend toward biking–is very emblematic of the way the UP has changed over the past 50 years. If you had told city leaders in the 1970s that people would be moving to Marquette just for the chance to ride their bike every day after work you would have been called crazy. But you know what?

There’s a reason Bike Magazine named Marquette County as one of the 5 best places to mountain bike in the entire United States. We have an amazing set of trail systems up here.

If you’re into mountain biking there’s the RAMBA trails or the north and south Noque trails. If you enjoy something a little more mellow, there’s the Iron Ore Heritage Trail. And if you just wanna ride to work every day or get your kids started on their bikes, the city of Marquette has a world class multi-use path system.

And it’s not just Marquette. You head to the Copper Country or Ontonagon or any place in the UP with hills, and you’ll find mountain bike trails. Summer or winter you can go for a ride, get as muddy or as icy as you want, and then join your friends for a beer, swapping stories about your ride and just which one of you has been banged up the most.

So if you see a lot of people on bikes this weekend, say “hey”. Ask which trail system is their favorite. And if you’re curious, find out just how banged up they’ve been. Because they’re mountain bikers. And they’re kinda proud of that.

By the way…those random injuries I mentioned at the beginning of this piece? So, I personally am up to six stitches, smashed finger, and a broken tooth. Keep your fingers crossed the count doesn't go higher.

8-)

Have a great Ore-to-Shore weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 8/6

It's nice to know that for once I (hopefully) chose wisely.

Because of my Ore to Shore commitments this weekend I've been trying to take a little time off this week. As you know, I try and take time off when it's supposed to be nice & sunny, and yesterday morning I was faced with a forecast that called for mostly sunny skies both Wednesday & Thursday.

I had to choose one, and (hopefully), I chose the correct day. After all, yesterday was NOT the day to take off when you wanted sun. Until, of course, around 2, when I would have had to come into work. Then the sun came out--

Perfect timing, huh?

This is happened to me before, and it usually goes like this—I wake up on a day that calls for sun, and when it's cloudy I'm concerned but not panicked. After all, the forecast still calls for sun. I go to work for a bit, and when I leave the clouds are still around, so I go running. When I finish running and take a shower, only to find that there was still a lot of haze in the sky, I start to have my doubts. I'll then usually stand at my apartment window, staring at and silently cursing the clouds until it's time to go back to work. And as I walk down Front Street to the station, the clouds finally break and the blue sky with its inviting sunshine pours out.

Oh, the irony of it all.

Now, I could whine like a six year old about the unfairness of days like that, but I'm gonna try & take the high road. After all, I am (theoretically) an adult. I should realize that Mother Nature doesn't do that just to get back at me for some perceived slight I might have accidentally unleashed upon the universe. I should think of it unselfishly; instead of how it affected my day, I should think about how the skies cleared just in time for everyone who was stuck inside of work all day to get out and enjoy the nice weather. I should instead revel and chuckle ruefully at the timing of the clouds leaving. I mean, how often does something like that occur at exactly the time it happened? Not often. And I should laugh at that instead of complain about it.

So that's what I'm going to do. Even if it kills me inside.

Now, the forecast for today calls for sunny skies and warm temperatures, and as I write this is looks okay. Will it hold out? Fingers crossed, especially that it doesn't turn out like it did yesterday, and like it has in the past--

With the finally sun coming out at 2, right as I walk into work.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 8/5

I have got to stop using the word “literally”.

Literally.

It’s funny; every so often, I’ll notice that I use a word WAAAAAAY too often, and this time around that word is “literally”. I seem to do it a lot when I give tours; especially while explaining some of Marquette’s wonders. If you listen long enough you'll notice that in each description of a building or a person I seen to use the “L” word, and have to mentally make myself stop doing it.

(I WAS going to say I had to “literally make myself stop”, but see? I’m getting better at it.)

I don’t know how I get into a word rut like that. I just know that it happens every so often, and I usually don’t notice it. I’ll have Loraine or someone come up to me or drop me a note and say something like “have you notice you say (fill in the blank) an awful lot?” To which my reply would probably something like “really? I literally say it that much?” And the vicious cycle starts all over again, as I stop saying the offending word and start saying “literally” (or whatever) again.

Recently, though, I've been catching it myself, which means that maybe, just maybe, I’m becoming aware of my verbal faults. Maybe, just maybe, I’m starting to realize my dependence on certain words or certain phrases. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll end up as an erudite aging (even if he doesn't want to admit it) but still young man who no longer uses certain words as crutches and who no longer drives certain phrases into the ground.

And, while we’re at it, maybe I can get my own spaceship, too? That’s probably more likely than me ever dropping all of my verbal faults.

Literally!

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 8/4

Sometimes I put the jokes in just for me. I hope you're okay with that.

My TV piece last night was one of those gag-filled bits I stick together every so often, prompted by “Jimothy”, a raccoon with a deformed spine that seems to have captured the fancy of half the people on the Internet. In response, I came up with five “Wild Creatures of the UP”, starting with real ones and slowly devolving into the land of the absurd. And as a bonus, aside from the gags I verbally delivered, there were also little ones written in the graphics I put together.

I wonder if anyone even noticed?

The gags were in the form of the scientific names of the creatures. The first, for a monarch butterfly, was scientifically accurate, while the rest were just figments of my twisted mind. They were, in a way, connected to the picture on the screen, but were not grounded in reality at all. While I was coming up with them I realized that were actually a play on the fake scientific names that Chuck Jones would always stick in Road Runner cartoons.

And if you're gonna rip off someone, you rip off a master of the form, right?

So check 'em out for yourself. While I don't think they approach Chuck Jones-levels of madness, just consider them extra bonus gags in a piece already filled with bunch of stupid gags to begin with.

And you get them with no extra charge!

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)