Friday, 4/29

This has been a week, hasn't it?

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for a break. Unfortunately, I don't get one, as I have to get to work and record someone for a couple of spots. So with that in mind, I'm taking the easy way out, and sharing the latest “Pieces of the Past” with you. It's the longest one I've ever done, at over six minutes, but the topic—and the person sharing the information—was so cool that I had trouble cutting it down.

When I started doing this series of the videos I said that they would be longer and more complicated than in past years, and I wasn't kidding.

So check it out if you're so inclined, and have yourself a great weekend while you're at it!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 4/28

I don't have a car, so I don't have to buy gas for a car. But if I did, I don't know that I'd let it sit there just running, and running...

And running.

For those of you not fortunate enough to live a (mostly-car) free lifestyle, just let me say this—I feel your pain. Every time I walk past a gas station and see prices driven sky-high by Russia's idiotic invasion of Ukraine I myself cringe a little. I can't imagine what it's like having to drive 15 or 20 or 60 miles a day.

It must be painful.

So that makes me wonder about the guy around the corner from where I live. I don't know him, but he's one of those stereotypical guys around here who drives a pickup truck. He also, from what I can tell, has a habit of starting his pickup so that it's warm when he gets into it. With the weather we've been having recently I guess don't begrudge anyone that. I really don't.

But...I went running this morning. When I ran past his truck it was turned on, the engine roaring like the engine of a pickup truck usually does. I finished my four miles, which means that about 35 minutes later, as I was walking up the street cooling down, I noticed that his truck was still running.

And as far as I can tell, it hadn't moved an inch.

Gas is what...four bucks a gallon, at least here in Marquette? How much gas—how much money—must a big pickup truck left idling in a driveway burn up in that (at least) 35 minute span? I mean, forgot about all the toxins you're spewing into the atmosphere by leaving your pickup running for at least 35 minutes; that's a rant for another day. How much money do you (literally) burn by letting your truck run just so you'll be warm?

I just don't get it. But then, I'm not a pickup owner. Heck, I'm barely even a driver of a (fuel-efficient) car. There may be a reason for letting a truck run every morning, just as the money that goes out the tailpipe may not be an issue. But still...you're wasting a finite resource (gas). You're throwing away a valuable commodity (money). Where's the sense in that? Where's the logic in that?

Somedays, I see things that make me realize I'm not like other people. What I noticed while running this morning was one of those things.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 4/27

Maybe today's the day we'll get a plague of locusts.

This has been a weird week so far, at least weather-wise. Sunday it was sunny and 77 here in Marquette; the beaches were packed, and Loraine and I were able to to get out and kick soccer balls for the first time in a loooong time.

Then Monday rolled around, and by yesterday afternoon?

Ah, spring in the UP. You gotta love it, doncha?

8-(

I think the sneak peak of summer we had Sunday has driven everyone right up to the edge of their sanity, especially now that we're back to having snow and temperatures in the 30s for the next few days. As I've written in here several times recently we've had a very cold & wet April. Flowers that have usually popped out by now are staying underground, and grass that slowly turns green has thus far remained that attractive shade of brown that makes Marquette seem like less of the paradise that it usually is.

I mean, I know “spring” has to come sometime. That's the way the planet's weather works, no matter how much we as humans keep screwing it up. But I'm wondering if this is going to be one of those years where we jump from “late winter” right into summer. You know the kind of year; one week it's rainy and in the 40s, the next it's in the 70s, and then it stays that way. Not that I would complain about that, but I do know there are people around here who actually enjoy the concept of a “spring”, and I wouldn't want to begrudge them that.

So we'll see how the next few days turn out. But like I said, nothing would surprise me anymore. So if a plague of locusts just happens to pop up this afternoon, don't be shocked.

It's just one of those years.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 4/26

When I was a kid, I loved doing them. But now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen one for decades.

When I was a kid, I loved to do mazes. In fact, every couple of months I'd hop on my bike, ride down to the old B. Dalton Bookstore in the old Marquette Mall, and look for two things—the latest Star Trek book, and a new book of mazes to replace the ones I'd already finished. I don't know why I liked them so much; maybe it had something to do with the fact that I had a weird sense that would guide me through them without too many wrong twists and turns. But when I was young, I had a bunch of them, before eventually turning the small part of my brain that still enjoys doing puzzles to logic puzzles, something I still do to this day.

Then right before Easter Loraine was looking at the Facebook page of one of our favorite French grocery stores, where they has a posted a maze in the shape of an Easter egg. Knowing that I used to like doing them, she pointed it out to me, I printed it out, and then after staring at it for a few seconds found my way through the puzzle. Now, admittedly, it wasn't a hard maze, but it's nice to know that I still have whatever “sense” about them that I had as a kid.

And that got me to thinking (which, as we all know, can be a dangerous thing). Do they still make books filled with mazes like they used to when I was a kid? A quick, cursory search of those book catalogs we seem to get on a daily basis says “no”. Oh, they have a ton of puzzle books for both kids & adults. You can find hundreds of word search puzzles, crossword puzzles, Sudoku puzzles, and even (if you look hard enough) “adult” puzzles (about which I'm almost afraid to ask). But nowhere in any of the catalogs we have lying around, nor on the company's website, could I find any books of mazes.

Hmm.

Maybe mazes just aren't in fashion any more. Heck, it's quite possible that “books” aren't even in fashion any more, which makes my search for a book of mazes twice as quixotic as it might normally be. And it's not like I'd actually want to work my way through a book of mazes. After all, the Easter egg maze was the first time I had even thought about them in decades. But still, it seems like some dorky kid growing up some where like I did might enjoy doing them. I mean, I know I'm kind of unique, but there must be someone of a younger generation who'd be interested in them. I couldn't have been the last person who liked doing them, could I have been?

Because, if so, I'd have more in common with a dodo bird than I ever thought.

One of the things Loraine and I do when we head to Chicago (like we're planning on doing for a long weekend in June) is to visit the Barnes & Noble store on Rush Street. Maybe, when we're there this summer, I'll stroll upstairs and see if they have a section of puzzle books. If they do, I'm sure I'll find books of word search puzzles, crossword puzzles, Sudoku puzzles, and heck, maybe even “adult” puzzles. But I'm not holding my breath that I'll find a book of mazes.`

That's life, I guess.

(jim@wmqt.com), the last of the dodos.

Monday, 4/25

That was a ripple I didn't see coming.

I've spoken in here about the concept of “ripples”, especially pertaining to the work Loraine does with her World War II research. You put something out there and, like tossing a pebble into a pond, the ”ripples” extend outward.

Sometimes they even come back to you.

Here's the one I didn't see coming, and let's start with a little context. My great-grandmother on my dad's side was a young woman from Sweden named Beda Levine. She came to the US with her family around the turn of the 20^th century. She ended up marrying the guy after whom I'm named, James Hogan, while four of her brothers became the ubiquitous Levine Brothers, opening a plumbing & heating company that's still around.

There's your context. Now, you may recall last week when I wrote about about the concept of “dying twice”, and included a video I had made about a Marquette resident named Charlie Pong. That same day I posted the video, as I usually do, on Facebook, and a couple of days later I received this note from a guy named Gordon Levine--

“JIM KOSKI, thanks for the piece on Charlie Pong. You have a connection to Charlie. Links can run very deep in Marquette. Your great, great Uncles (Oscar, Hilmer, Eric, Gus) (on your Dad's side) all knew Charlie very well having downtown business connections on the 200 block of West Washington as Levine Bros. Plumbing & Heating. Several times and years Charlie and his workers roomed above the plumbing shop at 219 W Washington.

A couple of times in the late 1910s my dad, Gus Levine, bought some items for Charlie while on work trips to Duluth-Superior. Things that Charlie could not purchase in Marquette.”

That's right. My great-great uncles were friends with Charlie Pong. It's almost like I was destined to help keep his name alive.

My mind was blown when I received the note, and it's still pretty much that way. I first learned of Charlie Pong two decades ago when Loraine came across his obituary in a newspaper, and it was a story I thought should be told. I had no idea—none whatsoever—that there was a link long ago between Charlie and the family of my great-grandmother. I would never have thought that a guy from China and a family from Sweden would ever have come together like this, but you know what?

They did.

Like Gordon said in his note, links can run deep in Marquette; I just had no idea that they ran this deep. But as this ripple shows, there seems to be connections that I never would have imagined existing between my family and a long-time Marquette resident whose memory I've tried to keep alive, a resident named Charlie Pong. So, in a way, by telling his story I guess I'm just carrying on an old family tradition.

Who knew?

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 4/22

Because I’ve been listening to a lot of their music recently, because I haven't written about them for at least a month, and because I don’t have anything else to write about today, here we are--

Jim’s top 10 Beatles songs. Ever.  Your opinions may vary.

10. “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”. I first remember hearing this song when I was just a couple of years old. It’s stuck with me in the 210 years since.

9. “Magical Mystery Tour”. A guilty pleasure for some people, perhaps, but an amazing guilty pleasure, you must admit!

8. “Ticket To Ride”. John Lennon once called this “the first heavy metal song”. I used to think he was joking, but if you listen to some of the chords in the song, and the way it’s structured, you get an idea of what he’s talking about.

7. “Twist & Shout”, the only song on this list members of group didn’t write. In the same interview where John Lennon called “Ticket To Ride” the first heavy metal song, he also said that, in the later years of the group, he would process and distort his voice because he hated the way he sang. I beg to differ, Mr. Lennon. Listen to yourself on this tune, and tell the world that again.

6. “All You Need Is Love”. Groovy, man.

5. “Got To Get You Into My Life”. ‘Cuz I grew up liking songs with horn arrangements. No other excuse needed.

4. “Norwegian Wood”. Between the sitar and the lyrics (one of the first they wrote about real live happenings, and not just about “girls”), this one (at least in my opinion) is one of those great “transition” songs of theirs, showing the evolution from what they started out as to what they’d soon become.

3. “Eleanor Rigby”. As far as Beatles’ songs with string quartets, I like this one much better than “Yesterday”. In fact, check out the version on “Anthology 2” that has JUST the strings, and no vocals. It’s the ultimate in Karaoke!

2. “Something”. Like “Eleanor Rigby”, I used to love this song because of the string arrangement. But then after listening to it several thousand times on a iPod, I’ve decided I love it because of the string arrangement and because of Paul McCartney’s harmony vocal in the middle of the song.

1. “A Hard Day’s Night”. After all, it has perhaps the world’s most famous guitar chord as an open. How could you ask for more?

And you? Take a listen to some of their music if you're not sure. After all, there are worse ways to spend part of a weekend, right?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 4/21

Here's a note to daily blog readers Chick & Darlene of Melbourne Beach, Florida--

It's today, Mom & Dad. Our wedding anniversary is TODAY.

8-)

You know how every family has their own inside jokes, quirks, traditions, rituals, and ways of doing things? Well, my family's no different. We have certain ways of doing things, certain things that get brought up and never fail to make everyone laugh, and certain traditions that have been followed since time began.

And one of those traditions would be my parents thinking that my wedding anniversary is on a day other than today

We're not quite sure how it started. We're pretty certain my parents were on the courthouse steps when Loraine and I said “I do” all those years ago. I'm pretty certain because they're in the pictures, and we got married so long ago that Photoshop wasn't even a brand-name, much less the verb it's become. Yet for some reason we've received anniversary cards and calls on the 23^rd, or the 25^th, or the 27^th, but not that often on the 21^st.

But that's one of the things that makes the day so special.

Now, in my parents defense (and this was one of the excuses we've been given over the years), a lot of big family dates occur on the 21^st or the 23^rd. So it's easy to see how, for a decade or two, you might juxtapose one date with another. But today Loraine and I are celebrating our (gulp) 33^rd anniversary. Over the years, part of that celebration has branched off into “what day you think we'll get the card from your parents?”. And you know what? It's actually kind of sweet, and it's become an ingrained tradition on a day that Loraine and I really don't make that big a deal out of anyway.  We wouldn't change this little "tradition" for anything in the world.

So mom & dad, just remember for future reference—it's on the 21^st. Really, it is!

*****

And to the Most Amazing Woman in the World, happy anniversary. Thanks for letting me spend all these years with you. I can't wait to see what we get to do in the NEXT 33 years!!!

Love,

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 4/20

I wonder how many people I've kept alive that way?

No; I'm not a doctor or a paramedic or a healer or a psychiatrist. I am not involved in people's health, other than my own, in any way, shape, or form. And I probably wouldn't know what to do faced with a situation where someone's life needed to be saved by me, although I do know CPR and I don't panic easily.

So I probably wouldn't know what to do in 80 or 85% of situations that might arise.

But that's neither here nor there. Loraine and I were watching something a couple of weeks ago and the show contained a line that's really stuck with me. One character was having an encounter with the ghost of another (yes, we watch weird stuff). The ghost thanked his friend for being there for him, both while he was living and after he passed away, and he expressed his sentiment with the line that's stuck with me--

“People die twice. Once, when they draw their last breath, and again when people stop thinking about them”.

I don't know why the line hit me the way it did, but I've thought about it quite a bit in the past ten or so days. And the more I think about it, the more I come to believe it's true. As I get older (and trust me, despite my best efforts I AM getting older) I think about things like the legacy you leave and how (and how long) people will remember you after you're gone. I'm well aware that everyone physically dies at some point, but are they ever really, truly gone as long as they're still around in our collective consciousness?

And I think that's one of the reasons why the line from the show stuck with me. In my role as History Jim I've brought the stories of people, perhaps long forgotten by many, back into that collective consciousness. I mean, I did it because they had interesting stories to tell, and I thought they were stories about which people should know. There are so many stories out there that have been lost to time, and the people behind them forgotten. If I can do my part to help keep one or two of them alive, at least in a story sense...well, that's the least I can do.

The line from the show stuck with me for many reasons. And a tale like this is just one of them--

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 4/19

I have a question for you--based on this excerpt of an Amazon review, which book do you think this person is talking about?

“Since the dawn of civilization, every major culture has spawned at least one immortal work that has withstood the erosion of time and has endured as a monument of that culture's literary heritage. Ancient Greece had the Odyssey. Rome had the Aeneid. England had Hamlet, Germany Faust, Russia War and Peace.

And for 20th-Century America, there is this book. Its sweeping tableau of modern life, its biting critique of post-capitalist materialism, and its trenchant insights into the predicament of modern man mark it as one of the greatest novels of all time.”

What do you think? Is the reviewer speaking of Hemingway, or Updike, or Burroughs, or a lost masterpiece by Fitzgerald? Well, not quite. However, if you said the reviewer was speaking of “The Lennon Sisters: The Secret of Holiday Island”, you'd be absolutely right.

Saturday night waiting for the championship match of “High School Bowl” (congrats, Calumet!) Loraine and I were joking about the show that comes right before it, Lawrence Welk. I don't know how the subject of the “lovely” Lennon Sisters, members of that show's endless cast, came up, but Loraine remembered that as a kid, she may have read what she thought was a bizarre murder mystery featuring the singing siblings. Now, why someone would actually write a a murder mystery about sisters who sang on “The Lawrence Welk Show” is beyond me, but someone did, Loraine read it as a kid, and to help her make sure that she was remembering correctly, I did an internet search for it, found out you can still buy it on Amazon, and then read what might be possibly the single best review ever written for a book.

At least the single best tongue-in-cheek book review ever written.

I have no idea who wrote the review. I have no idea if they actually ever read the book, or just decided to write the review and stick it on Amazon. But what I do know is that it may be one of the funniest things I've ever read. I'm guessing that very few people would ever search Amazon for “The Lennon Sisters: The Secret of Holiday Island”, and because of that this amazing piece of writing is just sitting there, hidden on a musty corner of the Internet. I personally never would've found if it hadn't been for the serendipity of reruns of “The Lawrence Welk Show” preceding the TV the show I host, and with me being married to a woman who actually thought she knew something about a book very few people have ever heard of.

I mean...could anyone even calculate the odds of all that ever happening?

Like I said, the review made me laugh for almost five minutes straight, and since those incalculable odds mean that most people would never even know the review exists, I wanted to share it. Maybe you'll get a laugh out of it, too.

(jim@wmqt.com)

(ps—because it's so good, here's the full review of the book--

“Since the dawn of civilization, every major culture has spawned at least one immortal work that has withstood the erosion of time and has endured as a monument of that culture's literary heritage. Ancient Greece had the Odyssey. Rome had the Aeneid. England had Hamlet, Germany Faust, Russia War and Peace.

And for 20th-Century America, there is Schroeder's "The Lennon Sisters: The Secret of Holiday Island." Its sweeping tableau of modern life, its biting critique of post-capitalist materialism, and its trenchant insights into the predicament of modern man mark it as one of the greatest novels of all time. Readers are struck dumb by the skill, compassion, and power with which Schroeder portrays the characters populating her vast canvas -- Deedee, the eldest sister, with one foot in the past and other diffidently testing the waters of modernity; Peggy, the Parsifal-like optimist, unable to comprehend the darkness that ineluctably engulfs her family as the brilliant plot speeds forward; Taggart, the brooding embodiment of a future both fascinating and awful; and Janet, the wary, wide-eyed everychild through whose neophyte eyes the reader witnesses the entire panorama. And the propulsive drama of the story, with its searing eroticism, its gripping climax, and its unforgettable denouement, assure it a permanent place in the pantheon of world literature.”

Monday, 4/18

 Here are two pictures I took.

The first is from yesterday, when Loraine and I took a post Easter dinner walk even though it was sunny but very cold--

The second from about an hour ago, after I finished running in the gloom and the snow--

Sunny but cold, or gloomy & snowy.  Those have been our only two weather choices this entire month.  So, if I seem like I whine a lot about the weather, I just wanted to show a little photographic proof that I have a reason for doing so.

I really, really do.  And to quote a great American philosopher, that's all I'm going to say about that.

(jim@wmqt.com), who would kill (not literally, but you get the point) to see a flower or a blade of green grass popping up any day now.

Friday, 4/15

I don't know how'd I'd be able to do them without his help.

As you know, I'm now almost two months into putting together the latest season of my “Pieces of the Past” video history series. I've chosen some strange topics this time around, and have been putting a lot of work into them. Because some of the subjects are ones that haven't been explored much at all in local lore, I'm having to dig deep to find visuals to include in them.

After all, you can't have a video without visuals. That's just radio, and who really wants that?

8-)

Anyway, in trying to dig up pictures & videos of these long-unexplored topics I've come to rely heavily on my pal Jack Deo (he of the “Jack & Jim” History Center shows). I can send him an outlandish request, and more often than not a couple of days later I'll get either the exact picture I was looking for or something that's so close you couldn't tell the difference. It doesn't matter how weird the request.. more often than not, Jack can dig it up.

So I would like to propose that today, April 15^th, become Jack Deo Appreciation Day.  After all, that's a lot better than Tax Day, right?

Even when one of the videos I'm producing is on a subject that people know about, Jack can often come up with something not rarely seen. Case in point? The latest “Pieces”, featuring Jack himself, with clips from an old newsreel he found tossed in a dumpster, a newsreel that was shot during Marquette's centennial celebration in 1949.

History expert...dumpster diver. Is there anything Jack CAN'T do???

Have a great Easter weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 4/14

As I mentioned yesterday, I find myself getting awoken earlier and earlier every morning. But I've decided I'm not gonna complain about it.

I usually sleep pretty soundly in the morning. In fact, it's when it seems I get my best REM sleep, which may account for why I have trouble functioning during the first part of the day. I'm still trying to rouse my body from a very deep level of unconsciousness. But I notice that I seem to be sleeping less soundly in the morning recently, and it's not because of people or sounds or the rumbling of street sweepers.

Nope. The sun (or just the light from the sky on a cloudy day) is waking me up.

It's not a jolting wakeup like you get from 3am phone call or a 7am alarm going off. Nope, it's a gentle wakeup call. It's a wake-up call where your mind gradually becomes aware that there’s something out there, and it keeps nudging you closer and closer to consciousness to find out what that something is, until you eventually wake up, and realize that for the first time in so long you can’t remember you’ve been welcomed into your day by sun bouncing off of nearby houses, sun that for the past few months hasn't even risen when you wake up.

And since it would be anathema to everything for which I stand to complain about the sun, I'm not gonna.

I usually don't get back to sleep after the sun wakes me up, and for some strange reason my body and my mind don't seem to care. I don’t know if it was because my body's just naturally adapting to the circadian rhythms of the sun or if was the way in which my alarm clock for the day was so gentle in doing its job, but I seem to bound into my days in a very strange way, at least for me—not dead. In fact, on a couple of days, I've actually had energy and a willingness to face whatever's coming my day. There's no lethargic wandering around, trying not to bump into things. There was no sitting on the couch, staring at the wall for two hours while trying to summon enough energy to actually get off the couch. Nope...the sun, while waking me up early, also apparently provided me with the unique manner in which everyone should start the day.

Too bad it only works that way for a few months each year, right?

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 4/13

Don't worry. I have not turned into an early bird.

Those of you who know me know I have trouble waking up early. Those of you who know me know I have trouble really functioning at all before, say, noon. And that's why a couple of you, over the past few months, have been reading these and wondering how in the world I've been posting these blogs at, say 6:30 in the morning, an hour when I'm usually lost deep somewhere in slumberland.

The answer is, I haven't been posting them that early.

Here's the deal—a couple of years ago I started using Blogger to post these on our website. Before, I used to send them to our webmaster and he'd stick them up, but to save him some work and to allow me a little more control over what gets posted when we made the switch. And so far, it's worked out well.

There is, however, one slight quirk, and that quirk has led a few of you to believe I've become an early bird. If you scroll down to the bottom of this particular blog you'll notice it says it was posted a little after 6:30 this morning, something that it says almost every day. Well, I can tell you for a fact that I, like a sane person, was still sleeping at 6:30 this morning. I didn't wake up that early, and I certainly didn't write this that early. I woke up like I usually do, I wrote this like I usually do, and I posted it like I usually do.

Just not at 6:30 this morning.

Why do people think I've become an early bird? Well, Blogger is part of the Google family. Google, like most tech companies, is located on the west coast. The west coast is three hours behind us in time; in fact, they're in the Pacific time zone. So when you see the time this blog was posted, what you're seeing is the time it was posted on Google's server. On the west coast. In the Pacific time zone.

So, you see, I haven't become an early bird. I'm just a victim of a little time travel.

That's right. The time it says this blog was posted today was actually what time it was posted in the Pacific time zone, three hours behind those of us in the Eastern time zone. So add those three hours to the 6:30, and you get 9:30, still an early hour for me, but one where I have at least 20% of my brain cells functioning; enough, apparently, to write and post one of these.

Never fear; I'm still not an early bird. And based on the way my body works, I probably never will be. I have, however, been waking up a little earlier than usual recently, through no fault of my own. Details on that tomorrow.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 4/12

Wow. I've never had to swear an oath before.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago I am embarking on yet another weird adventure in life, this time as an appointed member of the city of Marquette's Harbor Advisory Committee. I was approved by the City Commission last week, and before the first committee meeting, which happens to be today, I had to go down to city hall and do the whole Oath of Office thing.

So now I'm official!

(And, just as a side note, seeing “James” is just...weird. Really, really weird)

Seeing as how the first meeting is this afternoon, I spent a chunk of last night going through all the paperwork, agendas, and various informational items. It seems like the committee delves into some interesting topics and discussions, all with an eye toward providing the City Commission—the people with the votes on a subject—all the information and recommendations they need when deciding on a project or on a new law.

I think it'll be really interesting. As I mentioned, this is another new weird adventure in a life that's has more than its share of weird new adventures. But unlike some of them, this adventure could, in its recommendations, affect an entire community. As I've said before, the city's lakeshore and harbors are perhaps its most precious asset, and what the committee I'm now on is tasked with is recommending how it's used in the future.

So, you know, no pressure, or anything.

8-)

Wish me luck. After all, this is the first project upon which I've embarked that I've ever had to swear an oath. This should be fun!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 4/11

Really. It CAN stop any time now.

Friday, when I walked to work, this is what I walked through--

Then after a few days of rain (and then sun), this was what it looked like this morning--

I don't know that there's actually a phrase called “weather whiplash”, but if not, I'd like to create it. And then maybe trademark it.

You know...Weather Whiplash ™

I've pretty much given up on figuring if we'll ever get an actual “spring” this year. As soon as we melt the snow, we get some more. As soon as it's a sunny day, we get rain. Last year, Loraine and I were able to take our soccer balls out and play for the first time in mid-March. Now here we are this year, almost a full month later, and we haven't been able to venture out even once.

I mean, it's May 20 days from today. It really DOES need to stop some time soon, doesn't it?

At the very least, I'm guessing we won't see too much snow. Well, at least in the next few days. It's supposed to be in the 40s and raining, and unless climate change has done a real job on what happens on the ground I'm guessing any remaining white stuff will disappear. I mean, that doesn't mean it won't return at a future date; this IS Upper Michigan, after all. But it would be nice to put it all behind us for a bit and concentrate on what's to come.

Really, it would. But it wouldn't surprise me one bit if we have one or two or sixteen more cases of Weather Whiplash ™ before it's all said and done.

I guess it's just one of those years.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 4/8

Remember I was mentioning yesterday about how I was a bit disappointed by not being able to hang out with fellow history geeks Wednesday night? Well, it because I could have shared information like this--

I work in a D. Fred Charlton building.

I work in what’s known as the Pythias Building in downtown Marquette, a building first constructed for the Pythias Fraternal organization and a building approaching its 100^th anniversary. For many years it was a printing shop; before we moved in, it was Range Telecommunications, and then a vacuum cleaner sales place. I’ve worked in here for almost 20 years now, and walked past it for many more before then.

But I just recently found out it was a D. Fred building.

For those of you who don’t know the name, you sure know D. Fred’s work. He was one of Marquette’s pre-eminent architects of the late 1800s and early 1900s; he was the designer of the Marquette County Courthouse and Marquette Branch Prison, among buildings still standing, and also designed several dozen schools across the U.P. some of which are still in use in places in Houghton and Gogebic Counties. He was responsible designing for some of the great “lost” sandstone buildings in Marquette. And even after he retired he still kept his fingers in the business, consulting with the architect of Graveraet in the 20s and the rebuild of St. Peter’s Cathedral after fire almost totally destroyed the church in 1935.

Needless to say D. Fred had a huge influence on the way Marquette looks today, and that’s why I was geeked to find out that I worked in one of the buildings he designed. I had no idea he had anything to do with it; after all, it doesn’t have the typical D. Fred look. It’s brick instead of sandstone, and the front of it has been rebuilt several times over the decades. But if you look up to the third & fourth floors of the building, you can see intricate designs carved into the stone offsets, plus interesting shapes jutting out into the air.

And that’s a D. Fred design.

I found out he was involved with the building from a 1980s-era newspaper article talking about one of the periodic refurbishings of the building. They talked about how Charlton originally designed the building and about how a then-young newcomer to the Marquette architectural scene--Barry Polzin--designed the redesign. Since then, Polzin has gone on to refurbish a whole gaggle of old Marquette buildings; odds are, he’s even redone a few pieces of D. Fred’s work, as well.

I know a lot of people are familiar with the iconic buildings of downtown Marquette, but I’m guessing few know who was responsible for their look. That’s why I was so excited to find out I work in a D. Fred Charlton building; after all, Marquette wouldn’t look the way Marquette does without people like him.

See? History geek, with or without a trivia contest.

Have a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 4/7

Really? The number's that low?

I had a “weird Fact of the Day” yesterday that kind of blew my mind. The fact was that only 35 percent of Americans—just over a third of us—yell at the TV on occasion, mostly during sporting events. It blew my mind in two ways—the first being that the numbers seemed low.

The second was this—35 percent of Americans are Detroit Lions fans?

That may seem like a (cheap) joke, and it is. But there's a little truth behind that joke. Thanks to my dad (hi, dad!) I was brought up to be a Detroit Lions fan. Of course, in the early part of the century they became so bad that whenever I would watch them I'd spend most of the game yelling at the TV. It got to be so bad, in fact, that Loraine told me I had to find a new team for which to cheer, if only because she didn't really want to keep listening to me yell at the TV every time the Lions screwed up.

You know...basically every single play.

So I chose Indianapolis and the yelling at the TV stopped, only occasionally to return each and every time they played New England and the evil Tom Brady. And mostly, now, I don't yell at the TV at all. But it's funny. Since we've started following RB Leipzig and watching their matches, I notice the person with whom I watch the games will occasionally shout at the TV, much like I did back when I was watching the Lions.

But don't worry. I won't make her choose a new team.

8-)

****

Finally, I was saddened to hear of the passing of one of our long-time listeners. Eddie Stull--”Eddie from Gwinn”--died unexpectedly this past weekend. Eddie was a fun caller, and I'll miss his contest answers and occasionally interesting Instant Requests.

Our thoughts go out to his sister Kathy and his entire family.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 4/6

Have any plans for tonight? Good for you!

Because I no longer do.

Tonight was supposed to be the triumphant return of the Marquette Regional History Center's annual trivia contest, hosted by History Jim. However, because of circumstances beyond anyone's control, it has been postponed and will now be held Wednesday, June 8^th.

So I now have nothing to do tonight.

Well, that is, of course, an invalid statement. I have a TON of things I can do. But I won't be able to hang out with a bunch of fellow history nerds (fellow history nerds, I might add, who may have had a drink or two), talk history, and make a lot of good-natured fun of them when their recall of history might not be as good as it could have been.

Oh well. I'm sure June 8^th will be just as much fun. So mark it on your calendars now...hint hint.

8-)

Since I was planning on writing about the contest tonight (specifically, a couple of topics that may have potentially been dealt with), how about if I stay in the vein of history with the newest “Pieces of the Past”? We actually head out of Marquette for this one for the story of three amazing individuals.

Enjoy!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 4/5

Apparently I am now a dinosaur.

I don't know if you've stumbled across a story once again making the rounds about how a particular rule of writing is rapidly changing, but it's made me realize that I'm on one side of the fence on this subject, and it's probably, in the long run, the wrong side. Because of the way in which texting has insinuated itself into American society, there's now a way that writing experts can separate “old” people from “young” people, and that's by this--

If, while typing, you leave two spaces after ending a sentence, you're “old”. If you leave one (or none), you're “young”. If you leave two spaces after ending a sentence, you learned how to write in the 20^th century. If you leave one (or none), you learned how to write in the age of 160-character text messages or 280-character Tweets; i.e. this century. Now go back to the lines I just wrote, and count how many spaces I left after finishing a sentence.

Yup. I AM apparently a dinosaur.

I knew this day would come. I knew that, at a certain point in my life, I'd be faced with something that told me time was moving on and leaving me behind. I had no idea what that “something” would be. I figured it would be something like having my leg break while trying to stand up or wondering who the heck Cardi B. is and just exactly what E.D.M stands for. But nope; I'm fine as far as stuff like that goes.

I'm a dinosaur because of the way I type.

And when you think about it, it's funny. I never took a typing class. I never learned how to type “correctly”, a fact that drives my properly-educated-in-typing wife mad. I just learned how to type by doing. I started with one finger, added another, and have sailed through life slowly adding fingers to my typing repertoire. Over the years, my right thumb became quite adept at hitting the space bar twice when finishing a sentence.

Now, as I find out, that skill is becoming about as relevant as getting up off the couch, walking over to TV, and using a dial to change the channel.

You DO remember what a TV dial is, right?

One of the reasons “the kids” only use one space after a sentence is that when you send a text you only have 160 characters to use, and a space counts as a character. So when it comes to texting, I can understand why you would only want to leave one space after a sentence. But when you're typing a note or a letter or an e-mail or (even) a blog, you're not constrained by the amount of spaces you leave after a sentence. Heck, if you wanted to, you could even leave THIS many spaces after a sentence. . . . . . . . Of course, your paragraph structure would all weird if you did it that way, but unlike a text message, there's nothing to stop you from doing it.

I guess I just find it funny that one particular form of writing is making all other kinds of writing conform to its particular quirks. I”m not surprised; after all, I've studied the English language enough to know that it's a very elastic, living type of creature. It's constantly evolving (much, I'm sure, to the detriment of William Shakespeare and those who've study him the past 400 years). But to change just because of a 160-character limit imposed by technology, and then to claim that anyone who doesn't use the change is out of date?

Well...I guess I now know how those Tyrannosaurus Rexs felt, just before the meteor hit 65 million years ago and sent them all into oblivion.

*****

By the way, before I leave you I do have to wish happy birthday to one of the two people without I would not be a typing dinosaur. It's my mom's birthday today, and I hope she gets to spend the day in the Florida sun doing whatever she wants to do, be it walking, painting, or wondering just how she ended up with a son who's a typing dinosaur.

Happy birthday, Mom!!

Love,

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 4/4

I might want to join Instagram just for this one page.

While reading the paper Sunday morning (yes, I still read those mythical things called “newspapers”, even if it's the New York Times on a laptop) I came across an article on a very strange Instagram page called “the Depths of Wikipedia”. It was started by a University of Michigan student during Covid lockdowns, and highlights some of the strangest things you'll ever find on Wikipedia.

And some of it is hilarious.

Now, I've laughed my head off at Wikipedia entries on my own. After all, when you have a crowd-sourced encyclopedia, you're bound to find strange and unusual stuff, like the time I was looking up hockey player Jaromir Jagr for Loraine and read in the “personal facts” section of his entry that he had just married a goat. Sports and political figures have the most snark and inaccuracies in their entries; probably not surprising when you consider all the fandom and political agendas out there.

But the cake was probably taken by one of the Wikipedia pages showcased in the article, a page for a song called “The Most Unwanted Song”. It's an actual tune from the mid 90s put together by two avant-garde artists and a composer. When I saw the description of the song I literally did a spit take (I usually drink tea while reading my newspaper, after all). It's not snarky and, as far as I can tell, there's nothing fake about it. Apparently, the song is just this bizarre---

“The song was designed to incorporate lyrical and musical elements that were annoying to most people. These elements included bagpipes, cowboy music, an opera singer rapping, and a children's choir that urged listeners to go shopping at Walmart.”.

Does that sound like a good song or what? And here's the topper—it's 21 minutes long. Yes...almost a third of an hour of aural irritation. So, for your listening pleasure...

Let me guess—you didn't make it through even the first minute, right? Don't worry; neither did I. But thanks, “The Depths of Wikipedia”. Now I at least know something like that exists.

I appreciate it.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com) 

Friday, 4/1

I wish I was fooling on this April Fools Day...but I'm not. I wrote something 13 years ago, and it popped into my head as I was walking home through the snow/rain/wind/cold last night. I think it's, perhaps, more appropriate now that it was back then, at least based on my state of mind during the walk home.

Have a great weekend. Stay warm!!

(jim@wmqt.com)

****

(as originally posted 4-12-09:

I want to go outside and play again.

I want to be able to wear shorts and t-shirts.

I want to be able to lose my gloves and not give a rip.

I want to throw my car’s ice scraper away.

I want to forget about wind chill.

I want to forget about lake effect.

I want to not have to cringe every time I see a weather forecast.

I want to be able to talk to Laura, ask her if it’s going to be 80, and have her say “yes”.

I want to ride my bike.

I want to go to the beach.

I want to smell flowers and freshly cut grass and poplar trees along the bike path.

I want to see green.

I want to forget the color white even exists.

I want to be able to pull out my camera and take pictures of something, anything, other than this on an April morning--

I want summer.