Wednesday, 2/25

I should probably really start reviewing my French again.

It's been nine (!) years since I've actually had to use it, and that was only for a few days while we were in Belgium and Luxembourg for our Black Forest trip back in 2017. But seeing as how we're planning on spending our next trip on the German/French border, with a drive into both France and Luxembourg (to buy chocolate, of course) I should probably brush up on.

At least if my ability to read newspaper articles is any indication.

Those of you who've been reading these forever know I know just enough French to get around and to order things in bakeries (the two most important reasons to know another language), but that's about it. I could probably carry on a conversation with a four year old, but if their parent were to come over I'd just throw my hands up and hope they spoke English better than I spoke French.

Sadly, I'm one of those people who seems to lose their ability with a foreign language if I don't use it. I suppose it's just like any other muscle in your body; if you don't exercise it, it just wastes away. And since there are very few French speakers in Marquette (or, at least, very few that I know), the only chance I get to “exercise” is to read newspaper articles.

And that's where I've noticed my problem.

I follow a bunch of French news outlets on Facebook, and whenever they post a story I try to read the headline and the story in French, just to work on my skills and to see if I can figure out what's going on. But I've found myself more and more recently just hitting the “translate” button the story because I don't understand a reference or I've forgotten a word (or six).

I don't like that.

That means that I now have a little over two months to brush up on the language before we leave. That means that I get to haul out my old laptop, which contains my old version of Rosetta Stone. That means I haul out my “French Isn't Scary” book, a language guide designed for eighth graders but one I've found works perfectly for me. And that means I get to walk around Marquette and, if I see something outside or in a store, I get to call it its name in French, strange looks from people nearby notwithstanding.

So, if you happen to be near me in a store or in a park or on the street and you hear me referring to a black cat as “le chat de noir”, don't worry. I haven't lost my mind (or what's left of my mind). I'm just trying to get ready for a side excursion or two into a country where French is the key to the world's greatest baked goods.

8-).

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 2/24

Oh, look. School's not cancelled for once today. It's a 21^st century miracle.

8-)

Okay; now that the sarcasm's out of the way, I promised you the continuation of a story. As you recall, I ran into someone with whom I was is Kindergarten while grocery shopping Saturday. No more than 30 seconds after that encounter ended, another began, as someone came up to me, and told me how much they enjoy my weekly things on TV-19. As I always do, I thanked them for the kind words and for watching. And then they told me about the one that's stuck with them for a couple of years now.

As always, the segment that is still with them took me by surprise. Especially because I totally forgot about doing it in the first place.

Let me digress for a second. I've written in here before about how ephemeral the “906”s are to me. I write one, I do it, I put it online, and them I'm on to the next. Very rarely do I think back on what I've done; in fact, perhaps the only time I do is to look back and make sure I'm not writing about something I've already talked about in years past (an increasingly common occurrence, by the way).

However, if you're just a viewer of the pieces, your reaction is, I'm guessing, far from mine. Apparently, for some people, my idle babblings stick with them for a bit. And that was the case of the gentleman at the grocery store Saturday, who wanted to let me know just how much he appreciated the bit I did a year or so ago about how people these days, when they leave the UP, can take a part of it along wherever they go thanks to their 906 area code.

Like I said, I had totally forgotten about that one, although once he mentioned it every little bit of it came back to me. It touched him because he's not from the UP, and still has a 231 area code on his phone. However, his daughter, who left for college this past fall, took HER 906 number down to Illinois with her, and when he saw the piece it apparently very close to home.

And I can understand why.

Like I said, after I'm done with the bits I'm done with the bits, if only because I have the next bit to deal with. But it's nice to know that some of them, at least, linger a little longer with the people who watch them.

It's one of the best compliments I could ever get.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 2/23

Who knew that a trip to the grocery store would provide such fodder for conversation?

Like most people, Loraine and I braved the snow (the never-ending snow, which has canceled schools yet again today) over the weekend to head out and grab some groceries. As often happens, while I was strolling the aisles I was stopped by a couple of people. A discussion I had with one of them will be topic of tomorrow's post, but the other is the subject of today's, and it deals with the fact that I don't know the answer to a particular question.

The first person I ran into at the grocery store was, as it turns out, someone I knew as a kid. When I first saw them I had no idea who it was, aside from thinking to myself "look at the old person over there". But when they came up and introduced themselves as someone I'd been in Kindergarten with, I was shocked.

And stunned, and, well, you know...

We exchanged pleasantries, and they mentioned they've been following the work I do for the History Center, even though they no longer live in Marquette and were just visiting for the weekend (joking, of course, that they picked the best weekend they could for such a visit). And through all the work I do for the History Center, this person wondered a). where I get the energy to do it all, and 2). how I've managed to stay so "youthful", both physically and mentally.

And I have to admit that I have no idea.

I mean, genes play a part of it. Even though my parents are both in their 80s they're still active; heck, when my dad's in Marquette he still rides his bike up the Iron Ore Heritage Trail a couple of times a week. That covers the physical part of it. And far as the energy and mental outlook of a young person? Well, after thinking about it for a bit I'd like to chalk it up to a positive attitude. I love the stuff I do, and I'm always looking forward to tackling the next big thing. If what I did was drudgery or boring, I'd probably approach it differently.

But thankfully, it's not.

The question this person asked also made me think, which, as we all know, can be a very dangerous thing. As I've said in here many times, I'm an incredibly lucky person. I get good genes from my parents. I've stumbled into a fascinating career and enjoyable side diversions. And I recognize that without those I too could end up being stared at by someone in a supermarket thinking that I'm nothing more than an old person.

We become who we are by the circumstances in which we live. I'm just fortunate enough to have had a pretty good set of circumstances leading up to an incredible (if occasionally very weird) life. So if I had to give an answer to the question of "why", I guess that would be it.

And if I ever see this person again, that's the answer I'd give to the old Kindergarten classmate I saw a few days ago in the middle of a supermarket.

Tomorrow—the the story of the individual I ran into 30 seconds later.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 2/20

Oh, look. Everything's shut down again because of the weather.

I know I've been whining a lot this week about the “Throwback Winter” we're currently enduring, but the optimistic part of me hopes this may be the last time. There's wet, heavy snow out there yet again, the winds are whipping all the crap that's falling around, most schools are closed, and our epic end-of-the-season “High School Bowl” shoot has been pushed back a few weeks.

So, you know, it's just another day in the never-ending winter of 2026.

What gives me hope that it may be the last time? Well, it's nothing I can tangibly prove. There's no forecast model I've looked at, and no hard data to back it up. But I have a...feeling. There just seems to be something that's saying that this might be the last time.

Like I said, I have nothing to prove it, and it might just be me grasping at straws as I slowly descend into madness, but it just...feels like this might be it. Maybe I'm reading something into the (relatively) warmer temperatures that's not there, and maybe the fact that it stays light later at night has stripped what's left of my sanity, but it just feels like this might be the last big one of the winter.

Of course, I realize that up here we can get a “big one” at any time before Memorial Day, and this year we'll probably get several, but like I said, I'm grasping at straws here. At least let me dream a little, right?

8-)

I'll be curious to see how it turns out. Maybe it'll be in the 60s some day soon, and the snow will melt. Or maybe the snowbanks, like this one outside of my house--

will keep growing at an exponential rate until they become the highest points in the entire state of Michigan.

This year, we're gonna get one extreme or the other. I have a feeling there's no middle point. Just like I have the feeling that we're (hopefully) closer to the end of all this crap than we are the beginning.

Keep your fingers crossed. And stay warm this weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 2/19

It's never gonna end, is it?

After suffering through the snow day yesterday, watching almost a foot of wet, heavy snow dumped on us, comes word that another system is moving through tonight and tomorrow, promising up to another foot of the crap on top of the crap we just received.

What the what, Mother Nature?

I'll be curious to see what happens with it all, as tomorrow we were supposed to shoot the final episodes of “High School Bowl”--the semi-finals, the championship match, and a bunch of material for the “Year in Review” show. However, since we have teams coming in from (literally) all four corners of the UP, I'm guessing we may have a few issues with that.

We'll see.

I did a little math for my “Weird Fact of the Day” yesterday, figuring out that it's been 86 days (and counting) since it was snow-free here in Marquette. That prompted a listener to call and suggest, politely, that maybe I should go to my happy place, and think about summer. Maybe, she said, even post a few pictures of flowers to take my mind off the snow.

We have the greatest listeners in the world, don't we?

So with that in mind...

There. I don't know if the pictures will get rid of the snow (okay, they won't) but for at least a few seconds, as i was going through the hundreds of flower pictures I've taken over the years, I didn't think about all the crap sitting outside.

And these days, we count that as a win, right?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com), at 87 days and counting...

Wednesday, 2/18

It's not fair, when you really think about it.

We've had a nice stretch of weather recently, with sun, warm temperatures, melting snow, and a hint that after a throwback type of winter that Spring is on the way.

But apparently that's over--

That's what it looked like just a few minutes ago, on my walk to work this morning. We're under a Winter Storm Warning, with schools closed all across the UP, mostly because all the stuff that was melting the past few days has now frozen over, to be covered by the heavy snow that's blowing around because of the heavy winds.

Oh, joy.

After several mild winters in a row I think a lot of us forgot just how brutal of a slog a “Throwback” winter can be, especially in regards to the way it teases you into thinking it's over, only to cruelly slam it back into your face, laughing while it does so.

Summer doesn't do that to you.

The past several years Loraine and I have been able to get out on a soccer pitch and start kicking the ball around sometime in March, or even, in the case of two years ago, on Valentine's Day. Based on what this winter has been like and what's in the forecast, I know it's not gonna be anything like that this year.

In fact, if we're lucky, we might be able to get out there by, oh, Memorial Day. I mean, I know it won't be that long, but on a day like today?

It sure feels like it.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 2/17

This one walked a bit of a tightrope.

Even though I didn't have to work my radio gig yesterday, I did have one of my TV jobs, and since it was President's Day I had the idea to riff on the topic. I was batting several ideas around, and then (as usual) I woke up in the middle of the night realizing the best way to do it.

The only deal? If I didn't set it up correctly the whole bit would fall flat on its face, and I'd look a fool. Or, at least, more of a fool than I usually do.

Basically, the entire TV piece last night lead up to the gag, to the punchline of the entire segment. If I didn't set it up correctly, or if I didn't leave enough clues, when I revealed the “gag” I ran the risk of people just shaking their heads in disbelief and/or throwing things at their TV sets or computer monitors.

And I probably get that happening enough as it is.

Not only did I need to set the bit up correctly, but the payoff—the gag, the punchline—had to be the best it could. I ran several different options through my head, and it wasn't until I came across the one that I eventually used that the piece lit up and, at least to me, seemed to work. But once it did, it came off even better than I had imagined.

See for yourself--

Sadly, as with most TV pieces it came in way too long, which means I had to cut out a couple of gags.  Thankfully, though, I WAS able to sneak in a possible campaign slogan--“You don't have to BELIEVE in him. You just have to believe IN him”.

Yup; I know I'm not normal. What's your point?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 2/13 (!)

Since I'm not working Monday, President's Day, I figured I'd write about the topic today, if for no other reason than to remind you that you may keep staring out the window and eventually asking yourself, “How come the mail hasn’t shown up yet”?

You know--one of those days!

Instead of spending the day Monday pondering the achievements (or lack thereof) from everyone from Millard Fillmore to Gerald Ford, most people will simply shrug and wonder, if you were to ask them, just who the heck Millard Fillmore and Gerald Ford were. And that’s kind of sad. I mean, I know I’m a history geek, and knew who all the Presidents in this country’s history were at a young age, but I’d like to think that names like James K. Polk, James Buchanan, and Rutherford B. Hayes should at least spark a tiny flame of memory in most people. I mean, I know they don’t, but I’d like to dream that they would.

And as long as I’m dreaming, can we have beach weather this weekend, too?

I know you guys are among the smartest people in the world, so here are two tests for you. First of all, before the current one, who was the only U.S. President to be elected to non-consecutive terms? In other words, he was President, then he wasn’t, then he was elected again? The answer to that comes at the end of this.

Secondly, going backwards from our current President, how many in a row can you name until you stump yourself? Go ahead, give it a try. I’ll wait for you.

(By the way, this is just me, waiting until you stump yourself).

(Stump yourself yet? Good. Keep going).

(Now are you stumped?)

From a statistic I saw, the average person can only go back FIVE Presidents before failing. FIVE. That means that they have no idea who was President before Bill Clinton. I mean, they may know the names of Nixon and Kennedy and at least one of the Roosevelts, but they don’t know where they fall in that order. And that’s kind of a shame. I don’t expect everyone to be able to name all 46 Presidents in reverse order--heck, even I can’t do that--but it is kind of nice to know who falls where and what effect that had on the growth and the history of this country.

And for the record--I can go back 20 Presidents. I always forget who came before William McKinley. I know; dorky, right?

So have yourself a great President’s Day Monday. If you wanna impress the people around you, slip into conversation how interesting you believe it to be that Grover Cleveland was the first President to be elected to non-consecutive terms. And if you REALLY wanna impress the people around you, add to the conversation the fact that during his second non-consecutive term Cleveland asked Peter White to head what would now be the Bureau of Indian Affairs, but that White turned him down because he was too busy being, well, Peter White.

President’s Day. More than just another day you don’t get mail.

Have a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 2/12

I wonder if Bob Seger ever considered this?

When I was out running yesterday morning Bob Seger's “Hollywood Nights” popped up on my iPod. If you're not familiar with the song, it's about a Midwestern boy who heads out to California and falls in love with a girl, a girl who dumps him by the end of the song. The girl, as described by Seger, is one of those stereotypical California girls who, as the lyrics put it, had been born with “a face that would let her get away” with just about anything.

But that's not what sent my brain into overtime. Nope; this is what sent my brain into overtime. The song is 48 years old. The album from which it came, “Stranger in Town”, was released in 1978. So, for a second, assume what took place in the song really happened. Assume that the girl born with “a face that would let her get away” was (for the sake of argument) 22 when the song happened. That would mean that the girl born with “a face that would let her get away”, the girl that broke the protagonist's heart, would now be 70 years old.

The girl born with “a face that would let her get away” would now, in all likelihood, be a grandmother. And the guy whose heart she broke? There would probably be kids calling him “grandpa”.

That's what sent my brain into overdrive.

No, I don't know why I thought of that. I mean, I knew in the back of my head that the song was almost 50 years old. I haven't heard it in a while, which probably led me to listen to the lyrics a little closer than I normally would've. And for some strange reason, stuff just started to add up until I realized that the two characters in the song are now eligible for Social Security and enjoying senior discounts at their favorite restaurant.

Where they probably eat dinner at 3 in the afternoon.

Like I said, this is just something that popped into my head while running. Hopefully, weird stuff like that won't send your brain into overdrive throughout the day

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 2/11

What? You don't use the phrase “face pants” in your everyday life?

As we all know, my life is weird, and it keeps getting weirder by the day. I mean, I could mention things like walking into a store Sunday, saying something, and having the young man waiting on me say “You're the dude from the history videos!”. I could also mention the e-mail I received yesterday from someone who saw me on TV Monday and really REALLY wants to make “Six Pack Speed Skating” a thing.

Or, I could just show you my face pants--

Yup; you're looking at exactly what you think you're looking at. A couple of weeks ago the Painesdale High School Bowl team decided to show up for a shoot wearing pajama bottoms with my face on them.

Have I ever mentioned my life is weird?

When I saw the “face pants” I almost lost it, laughing so hard that we had to delay taping a few minutes while I composed myself. I mean, strange things have been happening to me on a regular basis, but I really don't think I had “face pants” on my Weird Life Bingo Card.

I don't think ANYONE would have “face pants” on their Weird Life Bingo Card.

In the two weeks since, my friend Deanna has been using the phrase “face pants” as often as possible in conversation, attributing everything going on in the world—good & bad—to my “face pants”. Even I've found myself using the phrase once or twice, only to then have to explain the whole thing to the person who just heard it. Of course, once they hear WHY I'm using the phrase “face pants” they get it, and, if only for a second, realize that my life is weird.

Because, if you weren't aware, my life is weird.

So the next time something strange happens to you—and I'm assuming that I'm not the only person to whom weird things happen—don't give it a second thought. Just realize that there are forces greater than you & I at work in the universe. Whatever happens, we can just blame it on one thing and one thing only.

Face pants.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 2/10

Well, one of them COULD be a real sport, right?

Last night's TV piece was my latest flight of Yooper fancy, in which I (hopefully) accomplished two goals—making people chuckle a little, and ragging on a certain news anchor for not yet eating a pasty.

The second of those is, actually, quite easy. The first one's a little harder, and with any luck I at least came close.

I haven't really watched any of the Olympics yet, although I did see a clip of Lindsey Vonn's horrific crash, an experience that I really don't wanna repeat. But I know how many people really get into the Games, especially with a Yooper like Nick Baumgartner trying to get another gold, so I figured I would put my own unique spin on a couple of events that SHOULD be in the Winter Olympics but aren't.

Much, I'm sure, to the loss of the rest of the world.

Did I succeed? Well, that's not up to me to decide. It IS, however, something you can determine by checking it out for yourself--

This is one of those bits that just came to me in a flash of inspiration, as when I was walking home from TV last Monday night the phrase “Six Pack Speed Skating” popped into my head. By the time I finished dinner, I had most of the gags; the spot itself was fully written by Wednesday, and when I came back to it Sunday to put graphics together it still held up.

I wish all of my TV bits were that easy, you know?

Anyway, I suppose I should wrap this up. If nothing else, I should start drafting a letter to the International Olympic Committee. I'm pretty sure they'll be as excited by “Six Pack Speed Skating” as the rest of us, right?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 2/6

Who knew I was so hardcore, huh?

First of all, hope you had a great weekend. I enjoyed mine, as for the first weekend in a lot of weekends I didn't have much to do. I talked to my dad (the birthday boy; more on that in a bit), I took care of some chores, and Loraine and I headed over to the Fit Strip for a little outdoor winter exercise.

Look what I came back with--

It's not what it looks like. I mean, yes, it IS a cross country ski pole that's obviously broken in half, and if I wanted to leave you with the impression that I had a massive accident while head through the woods, I could use that as evidence, right? But, alas, I'm not that hardcore. I mean, I DID break the pole while skiing, but it wasn't while being hardcore.

It was while I was trying to move a tree out of my way.

As you know, we've had an intense winter up here, so intense that all around Marquette's Fit Strip there are trees & branches that have been blown down, and frozen in place. I came across one while heading around the woods on Sunday, and figured I would be a good community citizen and try to move it. I'm sure someone smarter than me would have figured this out, but it's REALLY hard to move a frozen tree while on cross country skis. So I tried using one of my poles are leverage, and voila...

I ended my skiing with one working pole. Oops.

I did eventually get the giant tree branch out of my path, and used my one working pole to get back to civilization. I'm guessing I won't be doing too much skiing until I get the pole replaced, although I do have an old pole from an old set somewhere on our basement. Maybe I'll try using the one I still have with the old one, and see how it works.

Although if I come across more tree branches on the ground, I'll know better than to use one of those poles to move it.

8-)

*****

I had mentioned that it was Chicky-Poo's birthday on Saturday. What he doesn't know is that the kids on “High School Bowl” wanted to say something to him!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 2/6

Well, you'll be happy to know I made it through a “normal” week okay.

At the beginning of this week I mentioned how this was my first “normal” week in, like, forever. I wondered how I would handle it, and you know what?

I think I handled it quite well. I got everything done I wanted to get done; I even got a head start on next week's TV piece. So I made the most of a “normal” week. And that's a good thing, because next week?

Anything BUT normal.

But before we even think about that, I have something I need to announce. I could not let this day go by without wishing a “happy birthday” tomorrow to my favorite old guy in the whole world. That's right; tomorrow it's Chicky-Poo's birthday.

When I mailed my dad's birthday card a couple of days ago and actually addressed it to “Chicky-Poo Koski”, someone asked how I had gotten into the habit of referring to him as “Chicky-Poo” instead of something normal like “Dad” or “Father” or “Sir” or “You know, that guy”. And in all honesty, I have no idea whatsoever. I don't even know when it started. I just know that one day, probably as a joke, I must have called him “Chicky-Poo” and, for some strange reason, it got stuck in my brain. I started referring to him in that manner. Not all the time, and certainly not when I'm actually having a conversation with him, but I address his mail to him that way, I refer to him that way when he wants me to tell Loraine something, and when talking to my Mom on the phone, I'll ask her to tell “Chicky-Poo” I said 'Hi”.

I know; great son, right?

Anyway it's Chicky-Poo's (excuse me, my dad's) birthday tomorrow, and I couldn't let the day go by without making sure that everyone else knew it was his big day, too. Since he's in Florida, I'm guessing he'll either be playing pickleball or going for a long bike ride (or both). So have a great day tomorrow, DAD. Enjoy the weather, and enjoy all the attention for a few hours!

Love,

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 2/5

You know what? I'm thinking it might be a pretty accurate description.

Over the past few months, as you well know, I've been putting out all kinds of content—these things every day, my TV-19 work every week, 12 “Pieces of the Past” videos, and a whole bunch more. I was speaking with someone who's seen most of it, and whether or not they intended to, they gave me a compliment that, as I think about it, describes what I seem to be these days.

They told me I'm a great “Two Minute Storyteller”.

It's a strange sobriquet, but you know what? It fits perfectly. The TV pieces I do every week? 2 minutes. These things, if you were to read them out loud? About 2 minutes. The history videos? Some are 90 seconds, some are a bit longer, so that averages to (around) two(ish) minutes.

I've never actually even considered it, but I do seem to have a talent for getting a point across in two minutes. I guess I really AM a “Two Minute Storyteller”.

It's funny, because I'm guessing that if you were to go back in time (which, as we know from yesterday, is pretty much impossible) and ask the younger me what title they would end up with, I can pretty much guarantee the younger me would NOT have guessed “Two Minute Storyteller”. In fact, I'm pretty sure the younger me would either laugh the laugh of the ironic at that suggestion, or just shake his head, make a sarcastic comment, and walk away.

But you know what? The younger me would have been quite shortsighted in that reaction.

I'd be curious to know if I've always, deep down, been a “Two Minute Storyteller”, or if it's a talent I've developed over the years, thanks to the type of work I've done (like writing these for 20+ years). Maybe it's a chicken or egg thing, or maybe there's just something in my brain that suited to short spurts of lucidity. I guess it doesn't matter; all I know is that it's a title that I never knew I had, but it's one that I'll proudly carry for the rest of my life.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll have to see if I can come up with a business card that says “Jim Koski: Two Minute Storyteller” on it.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 2/4

It's probably the closest I'll ever come to fulfilling an impossible dream.

I think I've written in here before about a fanciful dream I have that was actually inspired by a real dream, a dream from a couple of years ago where I was walking through downtown Marquette with a camera. That's something I actually do quite a bit in real life, but in that dream I was walking through the downtown Marquette of the 1930s with my 21 megapixel Nikon DSLR, taking pictures (and hi-def video) of a Marquette long-gone, of buildings no longer there and businesses consigned to history.

It was an amazing dream. Sadly, I know a little bit too much about physics (and the impossibility of time travel) to know that it's a dream that will never come true.

Or...so I thought.

When I was doing prep work for the season of “Pieces of the Past” that we just finished, I came across a treasure trove of photos of Marquette of 1929. They were taken by Robert S Platt, a sociologist working for the American Geographic Society. He was working on an article for the AGS's magazine, and spent a week in Marquette that summer just taking pictures. Now, aside from being a sociologist, Platt also had an amazing eye for photography, shooting some of the iconic pictures of Marquette of almost 100 years ago.

He shot many of the same things I shot in my dream, and that I would like to shoot if I could break every law of nature and head back in time.

I used a few of his pictures in various videos, and then saved the lion's share—some of his best work—for the final episode of the season. I also made them into the last segment of mine during “Legends & Lore III” at Kaufman last month, and I still have people coming up to me to talk about a particular shot of Platt's that has stuck with them.

So, while I know that I'll never ever be able to go back in time and take those pictures and videos, I'm thankful that someone at the time actually did.

And because of that, I will forever be in awe of Robert S. Platt.

(jim@wmqt.com) 

Tuesday, 2/3

Today, whaddya say we have a little fun with numbers?

The first number is 45. In a rare instance of something the predates even me (and that's saying something these days), Q107-WMQT became Q107-WMQT 45 years ago this past Sunday (the 1^st). In a move that I'm pretty sure was borrowed from “WKRP in Cincinnati” an elevator music station flipped things on its head one afternoon, when the elevator music stopped and the rock music began, hosted by a very..unique individual named “Marcus Marquette” (in reality, station co-owner Bob Olson). The older people of Marquette County (including, if I remember correctly, my grandfather) weren't too happy, but a station was born.

And it's been around ever since.

A couple of years later, the rock music left and the station switched to pop music, where it's pretty much been ever since. I've been lucky enough to be the steward of it for over three decades now, and I'm always humbled when I think about the awesome staying power of this place. Very few stations are able to become “:legacy” stations—ones that multiple generations of a family grow up listening to—but this is one of them. Credit for that goes to Joe Blake and Marcus Marquette's alter ego, Bob Olson, as well as Tom Mogush, who picked up the baton from them, and passed it along to the people now entrusted with the legacy, the KBIC.

Of course, to celebrate the milestone we have a contest all this month, our “Hot Rockin' Flame Throwing 45^th Birthday Bash”, in which we're giving almost $2,500 in prizes to one lucky listener. So if you feel like it, listen for your chance to qualify.

It's our birthday, but you might walk away with the gifts. After all, that's one thing at which we've excelled the past 45 years.

And, hopefully, will excel at for the next four and a half decades.

*****

The other number I mentioned at the beginning of this? Well, that would be 18.6.

Why? The reason is right here--

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 2/2

This is going to be a weird week. After tonight, I don't have anything out of the ordinary going on.

As we all know, I've had an amazingly hectic past few weeks, with multiple episodes of “High School Bowl”, my weekly TV 19 appearances, a big History Center show at Kaufman, and the Noquemanon all pecking away at my time, my voice, and my sanity. Well, after I share a few numbers and make fun of Kevin tonight, I then have a week—a week—of nothing out of the ordinary.

Unless, of course, you consider radio as “out of the ordinary”.

I'm not quite sure how I'll handle it; after all, I've spent the past couple of weeks preparing for and then rushing from one thing to another that a few days of down time, a few days when there will be absolutely nothing pressing on my schedule, will seem strange. I can see myself waking up in the middle of the night, thinking that I forgot to do something or have a deadline to meet.

When that happens, I just hope I'll be able to get back to sleep.

How did all this happen? Well, after doing three episodes in the past ten days there will be no “High School Bowl” tapings until next Friday (the 13^th!), thanks to the schedules of the remaining schools in the competition. There's no big sporting event that requires my participation, and after dropping the last episode of “Pieces of the Past” last week I now have no official History Center duties for the next couple of months, when I have a new walking tour on the schedule.

See? It's gonna be a weird week, isn't it?

It's actually coming at a pretty good time, although between you & me it would have been better if it wasn't the beginning of February. In fact, can you imagine what I could do with a free week in, say, July, when there's actually no snow on the ground?

That would be magnificent. But seeing as how I could tell the strain on my voice was growing after shooting “High School Bowl” last Friday, I'll take what I can get.

Because, as we all know, nature abhors a vacuum, which means that before I know it, something—or many somethings—will soon be filling up my schedule and I'll be once again rushing from place to place wondering (as I did several times in the past few weeks) where I am and what day of the week it is.

(jim@wmqt.com)