Monday, 9/30

The car was loaded up, and it was loaded up perfectly for Marquette.

Hope your weekend went well; my long weekend with my favorite father-in-law in the world was great (and, as an aside, thanks for making it so summer-like, Mother Nature!). We spent a lot of the weekend outside and wandering around, which allowed us to see all kind of interesting things, including this car right outside of the station--

There's a lot of crap on that car, as we observed. But if you look closely at the car, one with Colorado license plates, all of that crap IS perfect for a visit to Marquette. To wit, if you look at the car closely, you'll noticed bikes on the back, a stand-up paddle board on the roof, and, although I'm not quite sure why, a cross-country ski holder right next to the paddle board.

Can you GET any more Marquette than that?

I often think of this from a historical perspective. If you had told Marquette residents of half a century ago—the 1970s—that people would be flocking to their city to bike or ski or paddle board they probably would have laughed in your face. A half a century ago Marquette offered none of that; instead, it was nearing the end of downtown Marquette being a railroad and shipping hub. Rail lines, not bike paths, criss-crossed the city. And Lake Superior was a place for big boats, and not paddle (or even surf) boards.

It's amazing how much things have changed in 50 or 55 years, isn't it?

When he visits, we often like to point out to Loraine's dad some of the (many) things that make Marquette uniquely Marquette. Seeing that car on Front Street provided the perfect opportunity to do so, and even throw a little history lesson in there at the same time.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 9/26

Because life's so insane these days, it'll be nice to have a long weekend.

That, I guess, is my way of telling you that I won't be here tomorrow. I know; I just took a long weekend in Chicago, and like many people, I'll have Monday the 14^th off, as well. But I'm also taking tomorrow off for two reasons. The first is that Loraine's taking the day off, and the second is the reason why Loraine's taking the day off.

Her dad's coming up to visit.

You may recall that Loraine's mom passed away a few months ago, and we wanted her dad to get away for a little bit. It didn't take that much arm twisting; even when we were downstate for the funeral he was talking about all the things he wanted to do up here, led off by a visit to Blackrocks (the brewery, not the actual rocks, although after a few at the brewery you never know, right?).

So while you're all important to me, my favorite father-in-law in the world is a little more important, if you know what I mean.

And I use that phrase--”my favorite father-in-law in the world”--quite literally. Jokingly, I once referred to myself as his favorite son-in-law in the world (which I am, if for no other reason than he has no other kids -in-law and I win by default, whether I deserve it or not). He then started to call himself my “favorite father-in-law in the world”, because, well, I don't have another, at least not that I know of. So we've been using those phrases for years now, and if I'm gonna have a “favorite father-in-law in the world”, he's a great one to have.

That's why I won't be here tomorrow.

It's probably a good thing I'm taking as long weekend, as well, as next week starts shooting on the latest season of “High School Bowl”, plus another, whole new TV project I haven't even talked about in here yet..

Yes, I know I need to learn how to say “no”. But as both you & I know, that's probably not gonna happen any time soon. So...details on that new project next week.

Enjoy your weekend...whether it's long or not!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 9/24

It's almost as good as the original. And that's saying something.

Over the years I've fallen in love with certain chocolate bars, only to have those bars either discontinued or from a country where I can't order them. It's a shame, especially when you come across something that's so good that with the first bite you know you're about to enter a place where your taste buds have never traveled.

Such was the case with a bar Lindt made that was only available in Germany, a 70% dark chocolate bar with candied pink grapefruit bits in it. I know it sounds weird, but trust me—it was heaven. Every time we went to Germany I would stock up on them.  Unfortunately, when we went back after Covid in 2022, I found out they no longer made the bars.

I was crushed.

Therefore, I was both curious and skeptical when I came across this a couple of weeks ago--

It's slightly different than the one with which I fell in love; aside from being made in Bulgaria (!) for a company in Norway (!!), this one has chia seeds in it, among other things. But you know what? Despite the crunch and despite the fact that the chocolate doesn't totally taste like the German chocolate, the bar is not too bad. It captures the essence of what made the Lindt bar so good, and seeing as how the original no longer exists, it's nice to have a substitute like this one.

Yes, I know I have strange tastes in chocolate, but you know what? Apparently I'm not the only one who likes the mix of dark chocolate & pink grapefruit. It may be an acquired taste, but I, at least, think it's s taste worth acquiring.

So if you happen to come across it at a store, don't look at it with a jaundiced eye. Check it out for yourself!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 9/24

What makes someone want to become an opera singer?

I mean, is it one of those things where you just wake up one morning and think to yourself, “You know, this would be a good day to learn an aria”? Is it because of a love of music and/or Italian and/or Viking horns?

Or is it because of “Gilligan’s Island”?

More on that in just a second. This was actually a topic of thought this weekend when, coming from Blackrocks Breweries' Oktoberfest, I head a tuba band doing a polka version of “March of the Tin Soldiers” from “Carmen”. (As an aside, I've heard a LOT of strange things living a block away from Blackrocks; that, however, may be one of the strangest). But because I actually knew what the tuba band was playing, (and, as another aside, you know some of the music, whether you realize it or not), I started thinking, which, as we all know, that can be a dangerous thing.

What is is that causes someone to become an opera singer?

I mean, it obviously takes a certain kind of voice and a certain kind of mentality to get up on stage and blow your lungs out (usually in Italian) for three hours. And opera singers today aren’t what they used to be, or at least they aren’t what they used to be if your only exposure to opera was Elmer Fudd singing “Kill the Wabbitt”. In fact, lots of opera singers now shuttle between opera and pop with no problem whatsoever. So whatever stereotype of opera singers exists in your head, it's different nowadays. But that doesn't necessarily explain why people wanna sing opera.

Although “Gilligan’s Island” might.

Now, the reason I know some of the music for “Carmen” (actually, the reason you know some of the music for “Carmen”) is that it was used in a very famous episode of the show. Remember when Phil Silvers, as Broadway producer Harold Hecuba, landed on the island, and the castaways put on a musical version of “Hamlet”? Well, the music they used was from “Carmen”; when they’re singing “I ask to be, or not to be”, they’re singing along to “Habanera”, while “Les Toreadors”, which opens the opera, served as the basis for “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”.

Isn’t it amazing, isn't it? Americans are familiar with two of the world’s highest pieces of culture, Shakespeare and opera, because of one of the world’s lowest pieces of culture, “Gilligan’s Island”. It’s almost like if the Sistine Chapel had been painted by Hulk Hogan.

It boggles the mind.

One more opera related note to pass along; after hearing what this blog was going to be about, Loraine asked if I was going to tell you guys how I drove her crazy the rest of the weekend by singing the “Gilligan’s Island” version of the music. I could, but me driving her crazy with stupid stuff like that kind of goes without saying, right?

Opera. Who knew it could be so much fun?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 9/23

There are a ton of them in France. I wonder why there aren't any in the U.S.?

I think I've written many times, at least in our trip blogs, that you can't drive around Normandy without running into a memorial to the Americans who fought and died there during World War II. The exact phrase, in fact, is “you can't swing a dead cat without running into a memorial”, a phrase that came to mind as I was looking through a few pictures from our last trip to France eight years ago (and yes, it IS sad it's been eight years. I don't know how that happened). It's true—everywhere you go, not only in Normandy but in most areas of France, you'll find a statue or a monument or a flagpole to a certain division or company that fought in that particular area. It's not surprising; after all, tens of thousands of Americans died liberating the land, and the French just want to show their appreciation.

That's cool.

And that's why a statistic I saw a few years ago made me scratch my head. In this country's very first war—The Revolutionary War—our biggest ally was France. In fact, over 7,000 French soldiers died in North America giving the U.S. its independence. Yet, as far as I know (and I could be wrong) there is not a national memorial to honor the sacrifices those soldiers made in liberating this country. The French have their memorials to Americans who fought in World War II, but we don't seem to have any memorials to the French who fought in the Revolutionary War.

I hope I'm wrong about that. I hope that someone drops me a note and lets me know that there is a memorial, even if it's in a little town somewhere in, say, Massachusetts. Then I will withdraw my complaint and admit to the world that I was wrong about something (because, as we all know, THAT never happens). But I have a feeling that there isn't one around. It might be because it was 248 years ago and any memorials have crumbled into dust. It might be that Americans don't even realize it or don't care.

I think I know which of those answers is actually correct.

Hopefully, I'm wrong. Hopefully, someone sets me straight. But if I'm not wrong and there isn't a memorial to the French soldiers who died on American soil, shouldn't there be? I mean, there are monuments galore in France to the Americans who fought and died there. Shouldn't we, at the very least, return the favor and thank THEM for helping us become a country?

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 9/20

Well, the change is finally here.

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a shot blog about how the way you read this would be changing, and then...nothing happened. You forgot about it, and I kinda forgot about it myself until yesterday, when I went to check on something and noticed that when you typed in 'wmqt.com” that it redirected to the new “keepitintheup.com” website.

No one told me it would finally be happening, which would have been nice, but at least I now know, right?

Anyway, if you've been reading these directly from the Blogspot site on which I write them, absolutely nothing will change. But if you did visit our old website to get to them; well, you'll now have to visit our new website to read them. And while you're there, if you wanna check out the sites for the other stations in our group, go ahead. After all, the whole idea behind this was to stick all the stations at one easy site.  It's been in the works for QUITE a while now, and it's nice to see that it's finally ready to go.

So hopefully, you would have found the new way to get to these; otherwise, I'm just writing this particular one for practice, which I really don't need. And if you're new to these, just scroll down. The past (I think) eight years of my babbling is contained below this one, so if you're really looking for something to do this weekend, there you go.

Just remember—I make no guarantee that you'll come out of an experience like that with any sanity left. You've been reading these for years, now.  You'll understand WHY I can't make that guarantee, right?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 9/19

I know I keep saying I'm going to write about the soccer match Loraine and I went to almost a week ago now, but today I can't. You see, today's a big day in the extended Koski family.

Today Chicky-Poo and Dar, the two people responsible for me and my siblings, and therefore, I guess, my siblings’ kids, will be celebrating an anniversary.  And it’s not just ANY anniversary; no, it’s one that ends in a “5”.  Because of my family’s phobia about aging, I’m not allowed to tell you WHICH anniversary (ending with a “5”) they’re celebrating, but seeing as how they were married when Dwight Eisenhower was President, THAT should give you a pretty good idea.

We’re not making too big a deal about it; just a few friends and family members over to celebrate with a little dinner that my sister's throwing together. However, we did want to make sure that this day preserved for all posterity. I'll get to that in just a bit.

Aside from my parents and their friends, Loraine and I have been lucky (through her research) to meet many couples who’ve celebrated several anniversaries that end with a “5”, and it always blows our collective mind that there have been people who’ve been together since some time in the 1950s, or the 1940s, or even the 1930s.  Maybe it’s a generational thing; I know that just about every single member of the people in our little circle of friends have either been divorced or never married, or have been married just a few years and still aren’t too sure about the whole concept.

But to reach multiple anniversaries that end with a “0” or a “5”?  I don’t even think we (as in people my age) can comprehend being married 10 or 20 years, much less 40 or 50 or 60.  Yet here are people like my parents and their friends, all of whom are setting a shining example of what it’s like spending a lifetime living through “for better or worse, in sickness and in health, ‘til death do us part”.

Wow.  So the next time you’re celebrating because you’ve reached your 5th anniversary, or your 10th, or your 20th, take a moment and think about your parents, or your grandparents.  Think about how they’ve celebrated their 40th or their 50th, or their 60th, and about how, with any luck, you’ll reach the same number of anniversaries it took them a lifetime of togetherness to accumulate.

Happy anniversary, Mom & Dad.  Here’s to hoping you celebrate a couple more anniversaries with “0”s and “5”s in them!

****

Now, how do we mark this big anniversary for posterity? Well, by reminding you that my parents have their own website. It tells their story, from their birth up to until a few years ago (I really DO need to update it some day), and has all kinds of pictures, many of them throughout the years, as well as their kids and grandkids. There may—may--even be one or two dorky pictures of me in there as well.

Maybe.

If you wanna check it out, just CLICK OR TAP HERE and see how this amazing couple has lived their amazing life!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 9/18

And now, the rest of the pictures.

Yesterday I shared some pictures I took in Chicago with my phone camera. Last night, much to my surprise, I actually got around to looking at the shots I took with the bigger real camera I brought.  I have to say I was pleased with how a lot of them turned out. I mean, much like Marquette, you really can't take a bad picture in Chicago, something that's readily apparently when you spend a lot of time in Grant Park--

Or at Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park--

Or on any of the myriad of walking/biking trails through Grant Park--

Or even if you catch a dude sleeping by one of the statues in Grant Park--

Before we leave Grant Park, by the way, let's head back to Buckingham Fountain for the obligatory picture of tourists taking pictures of themselves--

I know; I shouldn't make fun of tourists being tourists. But it's so easy!!

8-)

What else is picturesque? Well, certainly the entire skyline, a shot that's very hard to get unless you're in a certain place--

That, by the way, was captured from the Adler Planetarium, where crowds go to enjoy a hot summer day--

And birds spend time pooping on the head of Nicholas Copernicus--

From there, you can also see just how much money Chicagoans spend on their boats--

Something that, thankfully, you won't see a few miles away from the beach in the Wicker Park neighborhood.

We spent a lot of time on the L Train visiting (or revisiting) parts of the city to where we hadn't been in a while, and that was a lot of fun (and, in some cases, quite yummy, as well). Also, despite popular perception and the ranting of politicians, Chicago's a very safe place to be, even at night, which allows you to go out and take pictures like this--

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month they had a big Mexican food festival over the weekend at Grant Park, plus it was also Hispanic Appreciation Night at the soccer match we went to. And yes, I know I promised I would write about that, but since I had these pictures to share, you now get to look forward to that tomorrow.

So until then...

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 9/17

Okay. I have some pictures, but not all of them, if that makes any sense.

Yesterday I promised I would get around to going through some of the pictures I took during our little getaway to Chicago, and I kinda sorta did. By that I mean I took the pictures off of my phone, while all the shots from the bigger camera I brought are still sitting in said camera, waiting for get removed.

What can I say? Mondays are always busy, especially Mondays after I've been gone for four days.

Nonetheless, I do think that my phone pictures do capture the spirit of our little getaway, especially if you consider that spirit to be eating Greek food--

Picking up a croissant filled with (yum) brownie batter & cookie dough at a farmer's market--

And finding a cheese that you would not expect finding in Chicago at a grocery store--

We did get lucky at most grocery stores we went into, although the selection of European chocolate wasn't as good this time around at the Korean grocery store we went to.  It is, however, a cool place to take pictures--

Elsewhere, I have to ask--does the Chicago Department of Public Works know something about the weather that we don't?--

Does every tourist who visits Chicago have to take a picture of themselves reflected in the Bean?

(Full disclosure,...yes)--

And finally, if you ever wondered what Soldier Field looks like before a soccer match, this is what Soldier Field looks like before a soccer match--

More on that experience tomorrow. And, if I get to them, maybe the pictures off of the real camera I brought, as well.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 9/16

For once we were not cursed..

Loraine and I are back from Chicago, where we had lots of fun during our little weekend getaway. Pictures are forthcoming tomorrow or Wednesday; as always, I took waaaaay too many, and haven't even started going through them yet. But for the first time in a long time we did not bring our travel curse with us, our singular talent for leaving Marquette, giving you great weather, and bringing the rain with us wherever we go.

You're welcome. Chicago.

While you were enjoying a VERY summer like weekend, we had pretty much the same in the City of Big Shoulders.  And we were trying to figure out the last time we left and had the weather for forecast the city we're visiting not rapidly deteriorate while the weather in Marquette turns out to be amazingly nice.

Don't believe me? Just ask the people in Freiburg, Germany's sunniest city, which had four cold days of rain when we visited earlier this year, only to have the sun & warmth return the day we left.

That's one special talent we have there.

I mean, I KNOW we have nothing to do with the weather; if we did, you better believe that our forecast in Marquette would be sunny and 80 365 days a year. But it just seems...odd that whenever we leave the weather here becomes nice and the weather at our destination isn't as good as it normally is. I can't explain it, and I know it's just the result of a fluke, of random chance. But you'd think that after a while the odds would be in our favor. 

And this weekend, for the first time in a long time, they were.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending upon your point of view) we won't have a chance to test that theory again, as after a busy summer we're not scheduled to go anywhere any time soon. But when we do, I'll be very curious to see if the weather at whichever destination we're visiting is as nice as the weather we (usually) leave at home.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 9/11

Well, it's all over except the shouting.

Actually, I hope there won't be any shouting involved, but 24 hours from now Loraine and I should be in Chicago to kick off four days of eating, walking, eating, shopping, eating, exploring, eating, and going to a soccer match. The match was actually our primary reason for going this weekend, but seeing as how the player we originally went to see is a). hurt, and 2). left his wife & kids in Sweden to take up with another woman and thereby became a douche-bag, the match is the least of our concerns this time around.

If we even go to it, that is. We might just head over to Soldier Field, see what it's like inside, and then leave. I hope the host Chicago Fire wouldn't be too upset by that.

Because the primary reason for the trip was a soccer match, we're staying in a different place than we did before, a hotel near the border of The Loop and Printer's Row neighborhoods. That means we'll have new places to explore, with Grant Park right nearby, and jaunts to Greektown and our favorite Indian restaurant just a few steps away.

Did I mention one of the things we want to do on this trip is eat?

Now, because of this little getaway there won't be a new one of these until Monday, so feel free to come back then. In the meantime, wish us luck, keep your fingers crossed the weather forecast holds up, and, above all, enjoy the amazingly summer-like forecast that's supposed to come your way!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 9/10

It's happening again.

Over the year I've written about a personality quirk of mine. Actually, over the years I've written about many personalty quirks of mine, but the one to which I'm specifically referring is my weird habit of locking into a particular song and listening to it over and over again. I don't know how it happens or why it happens, but happen it does, as evidenced by the fact that (he says checking his iTunes program) I've listened to this particular song 68 times in the past week.

And seeing as how it's a six minute long song, that means I've spent a LOT of time over the past week listening to this particular song.

That song? Al Stewart's “Time Passages”

Now, why I've spent that much time listening to a 45 year old song escapes me. I have no idea why I started listening to it; probably, it popped up on a shuffle, I hit “repeat”, and before you know it, 68 consecutive listens have followed. While I don't know why I listened to it the first, I do know why I hit “repeat”. It's a very symphonic song, with a great string arrangement and sax & guitar solos that fit right into the orchestral feel. In fact, last night I even woke up with the song stuck in my head and a vision of an orchestra playing the sax solo section of it.

Yes, I need help. What's your point?

I'm sure I'll stop listening to it soon; if nothing else, going to Chicago on Thursday pretty much guarantees that. However, that doesn't mean it won't happen again sometime in the near future, and while it probably won't be “Time Passages”, I do have to wonder--

What song will I be listening to 68 times in a row next?

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 9/9

I wonder if our rate has gone up or gone down?

A couple of days ago I had a “Weird Fact of the Day” released by the Centers for Disease Control showing that the smoking rate in the US has gone down to 11% overall. It's the lowest rate in history, and a sign that people are finally realizing that there is nothing at all good about exposing yourself and others to cancer-causing chemicals.

Maybe there's a little hope for the world yet.

About a decade and a half ago I was curious about Marquette County's smoking rate (I think for a “What's Up, UP” question), and in the course of research found that Marquette County had the lowest smoking rate in the entire state. Back in 2007, Marquette County's smoking rate was at 14%, which at the time was much lower than the national average. So in the past 17 years, has Marquette County's rate dropped even further, or were we just a decade (and change) ahead of our time?

I'd be curious to know.

I know a few people still smoke in Marquette County. Trust me, I know that for sure—every so often we have a contest winner come in to pick up a prize reeking so strongly of cigarette smoke that we have to open our doors just to air out our lobby. I don't know if those listeners are aware they smell that bad, or if they're just nose-blind, but it's bad. Really, really bad. So I do know that some people in Marquette County still smoke.

I also know that a lot of temporary residents and tourists smoke, as well. During the tourist season I see a marked increase of people walking down the Front Street hill outside of the station, looking at the buildings and puffing away on their cancer sticks. So at any one time a chunk of the people in Marquette County who smoke aren't from here (and, trying hard not to stereotype, I've noticed that a lot of those smokers I observed had either just left the Landmark Inn up the hill or had just parked cars with out of state license plates).

Spending a lot of time walking around downtown Marquette, you notice now apparent that can, on occasion, be. In fact, Loraine and I have a running gag going that if we see someone smoking on the sidewalk, it's most usually a tourist, especially when they blow smoke in the direction of passers-by.

Yoopers are just too gosh darned polite to do that.

But overall, I have no idea how many residents of Marquette County still smoke. I have no idea if we still have the lowest tobacco usage rate in Michigan, or if we've just settled in amongst the pack. Maybe I'll have to do a little more digging; if any of you know, please share. No matter what, though, it's nice to see that the country as a whole has decided that smoking sucks.

Something that people around here started realizing and putting into practice over a decade ago.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 9/6

I wonder if it would be heaven on earth or if even I would get a little irritated by it?

Knowing my preference in weather, one of my co-workers yesterday mentioned that for the 100^th day in a row it was at least 100 degrees in Phoenix, Arizona. At the moment (what with it only supposed to be in the 50s today in Marquette) conditions like that seem like paradise, especially because it's a dry heat.

But I wonder how I would handle 100 straight days of it.

Mind you, if given a choice between 100 straight days of 100 degree temperatures or 100 straight days of snow & cold I know which I would choose in a heartbeat. But 100 straight days? I think I could handle it, and I would sure like to try...

But that IS a long time.

I mean, I'm sure I'd be fine with it and, as I mentioned, it's so much preferable to the alternative. But a small part of me wonders if, somewhere around day 80 or so, I'd utter something I never thought I would utter--

“Boy, I sure could go for some snow right about now”.

At that point, of course, the world would stop spinning on its axis and the Lions might actually win a Super Bowl, so would I really WANT to tempt fate like that?

8-)

All I know it that 100 degrees for 100 straight days sounds like paradise. Whether or not it might turn out to be one, though, might be an entirely different matter.

Have a great weekend, even if here in Marquette it won't be anywhere near that 100 degree mark!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 9/5

Sometimes it's good to be boring.

I had my annual checkup a couple of days ago, and it culminated with my doctor saying what he says every year--”You're medically boring”. It's become kind of a running joke; in fact, each year, he even types it into my file. And as someone who's tried to defy being boring my entire life—in fact, in college, I spent several years with a button that said “Why be normal?”--I think that, at least in this instance, I really don't mind being boring.

Really, I don't.

I'm an incredibly lucky person, and I'll be the first to admit it. I've never had a serious medical issue in my life. Aside from hay fever and the occasional klutzy move on my part, I've never even had to see a doctor outside of these annual check-ups. I don't know if it's genetics, the fact that I exercise and try to eat well, that fact that I don't smoke and I rarely drink, or just blind luck, but my health is something that I only think about on days like today.

And for that, I'm grateful.

Another running joke used to be the fact that I'm in “great shape for someone my age”,but as it turns out, I'm actually in pretty good shape for someone at any age. It's funny; I see people who I know are around the same age as me, and oftentimes I'll see they have problems moving around, or other health issues, or have actually died of some horrid disease. And here I am, jumping around like I did twenty five years ago. Heck, I actually think I'm in BETTER shape than I was twenty five years ago, if only because I don't have Pop Tarts & Dr. Pepper for breakfast every morning, and I now know how to properly prepare myself for all of that jumping around, thereby not injuring myself quite as often as I used to.

Who knew I'd end up like this? I guess being a skinny, nonathletic geek when young gives you nowhere to go but up.

Like I said, I feel so lucky that I'm “boring”. I'll take it every day of the week, especially when the other choice is being “medically interesting”. I see too many examples of that every day. I'm sure my doctor does, too, which is why he keeps pointing out just how unusual I am. And in typing that sentence, it just occurred to me—by being “boring” I'm actually living up to the credo “Why be normal?” After all, without all those medical issues staring me in the face, I'm (thankfully) not like everyone else. So when you think about it, in one fell swoop I'm making both my doctor happy and I'm living up to one of my goals in life. You can't say that happens every day.

So I'm boring, at least in this one instance. And while I never hoped I would be in any way boring , I think this is one instance that I really don't mind.

(jim@wmqt.com), medically boring.

Wednesday, 9/4

I am not he.

I'm not quite sure why, but several times the past few days I have had people wish me "good luck in the election". Now, as far as I know, I'm not running for anything, nor am I behind a ballot proposal or other issue. Yet, several people have wished me "good luck".

Because, apparently, they're mistaking me for someone else.

I know who they're mistaking me for--an ex media personality running for state house--but I have no idea why I'm being mistaken for him. We look nothing alike, our policy positions are probably nothing alike, and the only thing we have in common is that for a year and a half we appeared on the same TV station and were in the same picture on the side of a bus. But other than that...

We're VERY different people.

It's funny, and it's actually part of being in the media. People recognize you, but they're sometimes not quite sure of HOW they recognize you. They know you're in the public eye, but unless they spend a lot of time watching or listening someone else may pop into their head when they see you. That's why I've been wished "good luck" twice the past two weeks.

But never fear. I am NOT running for any office; in fact, I'll probably never run for office. I don't know why anyone would want to embark on a project where as soon as you announce half the people start to loathe you. Maybe I'm just a wimp in that regard, but I don't think I have the (pardon the political pun) constitution to be unliked by 50% of the population. Call it a character flaw on my part, but that's how I feel.

So...once again, I am not running for office. You can wish me luck in the election, if you'd like, but I'm not running for anything. And, just so you know, I'm not him.

Really, I'm not.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 9/3

It's only one hour, but it's always weird.

First of all, hope you had a great holiday weekend. I did, and took advantage of all the gorgeous late-summer weather we had (especially Saturday and Monday). As I discussed last week I'm not yet ready for summer to be over, so I was outside every single second I could be.

And, of course, I dressed for it. The past few months shorts have become my standard go-to, and that's why it's always weird the one hour a week that I DO have to wear long pants, which I had to again yesterday, even though I wasn't working my radio gig.

I had to put pants on for an hour this weekend to go on TV and do "Life on the 906".

Just because it's a holiday doesn't mean that TV news gets to take the day off, so around 530 yesterday afternoon I had to throw on both pants and a jacket and walk the four long blocks to TV-19 where, after complaining about having to put pants on, I did a bit about "906 Day", then went home and promptly took my pants back off.

Where, just between you & me, said pants may stay until NEXT Monday night.

One of the joys of working in radio is that it really doesn't matter HOW you look, a factor I've taken quite the advantage of over the years. Yet since starting both my TV gigs I do realize that shorts aren't appropriate in every situation, and I've learned to live with that. That doesn't mean I haven't jokingly complained about it, like I did to my TV colleagues Monday night. They felt my pain; in fact, one of them even opined that I should change my usual sign-off to something like "I'm Jim Koski, going home to take off my pants, and that's another slice of 'Life in the 906'".

That would work, right?

8-)

Sadly, we'll soon be to that time of the year when I won't have this particular matter to complain about, as it'll be so cold that even I will have to wear pants every single day. But when you have a stretch of weather as nice as the one we had this past weekend, it sure takes a lot of willpower to put on a pair of pants.

Even if it's just for an hour.

(jim@wmqt.com)