Thursday, 7/16

Talk about going from the frying pan to the fire--

This is a shot down Front Street in Marquette yesterday. And here's one from NMU's webcam on Mount Marquette, looking toward the city--

That's not fog you're looking at; that's smoke from fires around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota and Ontario. After two straight days of temperatures above 100, we're now in our second day of smoke so bad you can smell it in your house and small particles in the air that are 105 times what the World Health Organization recommends.

Not 105%. 105 TIMES. It's bad.

Really, really bad.

It's funny; 40 years ago, when scientists first started to raise the alarm about global climate change they said it would manifest itself as “extreme events”. I'm thinking that two days of temperatures above 105 followed by several days of smoke so heavy you can breathe qualifies as an “extreme event”.

Wouldn't you?

Of course, we're not the only ones dealing with this. Most of the US is suffocating under the heat & smoke, while Europe is broiling (and dealing with major drought), as well. It blows my mind that there are still people out there who deny climate change is happening. You'd think that walking outdoors or just trying to breathe would convince them otherwise.

But, apparently not.

For however long this keeps going, make sure you stay safe. Don't push yourself, and be aware of how this crud is affecting your lungs. Oh...

And keep your fingers crossed it ends some year soon.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 7/15

I don't know who's behind the project, but I highly approve of it.

Highly.

When I was walking to work yesterday afternoon I noticed someone had put painted rocks all along Front Street in Marquette, rocks that said things like –

Or this--

The rocks extended all the way down the street, including one that was set on the retaining wall outside of the station--

Like I said, I have no idea who put them there. I'm thinking it might have been a library project, because there were a LOT of those rocks near there, but I don't know for sure. All I know is that it was a nice thing to see, and something that most people may not have even noticed.

Why? Because people usually don't look down at the ground when they're walking. I mean, I usually don't at the ground myself, but for some reason the first rock caught my eye, and I soon began seeing them everywhere. I'm pretty sure that tourists—looking at all the the cool buildings—wouldn't notice them, and locals, tied up on their phones or caught up in their everyday lives, may not have realized they were there, either.

That's why I'm glad I managed to notice them. So to whomever decided to spread the rocks around downtown Marquette yesterday, kudos. I'm assuming you undertook the projects to make people's days brighter and, at least in my case, you succeeded.

Thanks!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 7/14

Yay. The weather forecast was actually right yesterday!

It's about time.

It also looks as if it'll be correct today, which means that it'll be hot and sunny, which means that I may not be going to work for a bit, So with that in mind, I'll just leave you with what I talked about on TV last night...

The weather. Because, you know, I don't talk about that enough.

8-)

I'm off to once again play in the sun and the heat!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 7/13

 This may have been one for the record books.

Now, before I go any farther, just let me say that I would not want to be a weather forecaster.  It's a science that's not always exact, and climate change is making it harder to do correctly.  Add to that the fact that you get blamed whenever the weather turns out poorly, and I'd much rather stick with the four jobs I currently have.

So there's that.

But still...you have days like yesterday.  The weather forecast called for sunny skies and temps around 90, and Loraine and I were looking forward to getting out, kicking around soccer balls, and getting some some.  However, as the morning progressed the cloud started to move in, and by the time we got to Kaufman it had started to rain.

By the time we made it home, it REALLY started to rain--

Several waves of thunderstorms moved through, and the day that was forecast to be sunny & 90 ended up being rainy and 67.  Like I said, I don't blame the forecasters; their job is hard enough as it is.  But I'm starting to think Mother Nature has it in for us, as evidence by the bottom picture here, the visible satellite picture of what was supposed to be a sunny & 90 degrees day--

The only part of the entire Great Lakes region covered by clouds and rain?  Well, that would be the lucky people in the central UP.  And don't think we don't appreciate it, Mother Nature.

8-(

Today and tomorrow call for hot & sunny conditions, and I'm hoping things turned out as planned, if for no other reason that I'm taking half days today and tomorrow to enjoy the heat.  However, I won't be too surprised if it turns out like it did Sunday.

Because, apparently, Mother Nature has it in for us.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 7/10

Oh great. I'm going to have to look at a dork all summer, aren't I?

As you know, I'm doing a bunch of walking tours for the History Center this summer, and instead of giving each one a poster, they decided to stick them all on one. I'm okay with that; after all, in a way it shows just how active the Center is. But for whatever reason my pal Emily, who put the posters together, also stuck my ugly mug on it. And since we have one of the posters stuck in the window at the door to the station, I get to see this every time I go into work--

There should be a law against something like that, you know?

8-)

I suppose I shouldn't complain too much. I've written in here before how you can take a shot of me from a video, freeze it, and I look either like I'm about to have an apoplectic fit or that I'm a moron of the highest degree (the latter of those, I suppose, is always a possibility). Emily, however, went through some of the stuff we've shot together and found an almost normal looking freeze of me, taken from a teaser video for my bar tour last year. I don't know if it's the exact shot I would have used for a poster, but because there were so many possibilities that were about 1,000 times worse, I'll happily accept what she did.

Even if I still have to look at it every single day when I walk into work.

I know...first world problem, right? I'll shut up now, except to say this—have a fantastic weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com), dork

Thursday, 7/9

There. I think I have my “brand”.

You may remember a week or so ago I was talking about how I seem to do too many things to give myself a “brand”, a 2-5 word statement that describes me and what I do. You know, like Loraine's “That World War II Lady”. Well, after talking to someone about several of the tours I've given recently, she said five words that, if they weren't so absurd and over-reaching, would be a perfect “branding” statement.

What did she say? She said, and I quote, “you're the funniest guy in history”.

Hmm. “The Funniest Guy in History”. Well, it DOES fall into the two to five five word limit for a branding statement. It IS pithy and memorable. And aside from the fact that it's wildly inaccurate and way too narcissistic for me, I suppose it could work.

In another universe.

First of all, she did not mean that I was the funniest person who ever lived...you know, the funniest person in all of history. I wouldn't even come in the top 500 million of that category. What she meant (and had to explain to me after she realized what she had said) was that I was the funniest person she's ever heard talking about history. You know, “history” as in an academic subject, and not “history”, as in “of all time”. In all honesty, I sure there have been many funnier people than I talking about historical subjects. But I do appreciate the thought.

I guess looking for the strange and the absurd in local history has paid off in at least one way.

So while I do appreciate the thought, I don't think “The funniest guy in history” will become my branding statement any time soon. I'm still trying to figure out how to combine Radio Jim and History Jim and TV Jim and Traveling Jim and just Plain Jim in to one pithy statement, but with no luck yet. Daily blog reader Carli of Marquette did have a suggestion after my original post a few weeks ago. She said I should just call myself “Jim Koski, Renaissance Man”, which I suppose could work if real renaissance people like Leonardo Da Vinci or Thomas Jefferson or Bono hadn't set the bar so high.

Ah well; it was just a thought experiment to begin with. Maybe I don't really need a “brand” to be who I am. Although, I have to admit, it probably WOULD be neat to hand out business cards that say “Jim Koski, the Funniest Guy in History”.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 7/8

You might wanna think twice before you do it. I'm just saying...

Working on Front Street in Marquette gives me a front row view to the world outside. It's often quite entertaining, especially during the summer, when there are a lot of visitors to the area. Every so often I'll see people stop and stare at our front window, reading the signs on it and realizing there's a radio station inside. On the rare occasion, I'll even actually see people put their face up to the glass and try to look in.

But that's nothing compared to the people who use the window as a mirror and don't realize that there's someone on the inside who can see them.

You'd be surprised by the amount of people who walk down the street, see a big window, and use it as a mirror to fix their hair, fix their clothes, or just check out their appearance. Because it's a bit of a tinted window, and because the sun's shining on it a good portion of the day, you can't really see inside (unless, like I said, you put your face right up to it). But even though you can't see inside, when I'm in my studio I can see outside.

Trust me on that.

Of course, my situation is nothing compared to Loraine's, who works across the street from me at Range Bank. Their windows are specialty windows designed to reflect the sun and keep out the heat, and you can't see into them. Loraine, however can see out of them just fine, and has regaled me with tales of people taking selfies in the window next to her desk, people using her window as a makeup mirror, people drawing on her window, and people passing by and using the window to uhm, adjust themselves.

When they're doing all this, they have no idea Loraine and her coworkers can see everything they do.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is this—next time you're in a downtown setting, be it in Marquette or another urbanized area, and you see a business with a big window that looks like a mirror, keep walking. Resist the urge to use the mirror-like window as a mirror. Because if you do, I can almost guarantee that there will be someone on the other side watching whatever you do. And if what you do could be considered embarrassing, impolite, or downright raunchy, trust me.

Those of us on the other side of the window will be chuckling about it the rest of the day.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)