Wednesday, 9/30

Think what you could do with money you'd spend on that car.

Several times the past few weeks I've noticed people driving new Corvettes around Marquette, in bright shiny colors and with nary a scratch on them. You see a bunch of them every year when the snow finally melts and the temperatures warm up, and then, like snowbirds, they disappear for the other seven or eight months of the year.

As you know, I'm not big into cars. Heck, technically I don't even own one. So for people to spend $90,000 (what Google says the price is for a new one) on a car they can only drive four or five months out of the year, I have to wonder--

Isn't there something better you could be doing with the money?

I'm not saying I begrudge the drivers of the Corvettes their cars. I'm sure that they've worked hard for them, and in buying one they're fulfilling a life long dream. And that's their right; after all, it's their money, and they can do whatever they want with it.

But to take $90,000 and buy something you can only use for a third of a year? Aren't there charitable organizations, or people in need, or other worthy uses where the money would help those in need? I mean, if I had an extra $90,000 that's what I'd would do with it. Once again, it's your money. You can spend it however you want. But in these days when social programs are being cut and charities are pushed to the limit in trying to help out those in need...

Does a Corvette really matter?

Like I said, I don't even own a car, so I'm probably not the best person to address this subject.  And if you think I'm wrong or misguided; well, then you're in good company, just like as on many of the things I've written about in here. All I know is that each and every time I saw a Corvette this past summer one thought kept popping into my head. Namely--

"I wonder how many people could be fed by the purchase price of that car".

But that's just me.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 9/29

I should probably learn how to play the game again.

My TV piece last night dealt with what it perhaps the UP's national card game, cribbage. It all started a couple of weeks ago when Deanna, Loraine, and I were out at lunch and Deanna asked if I knew how to play cribbage, because she's been looking for someone to play with. I had to explain that I knew how to once, back a thousand years ago when I was a kid, but I've forgotten just about everything about it since then.

I know; I'm a bad Yooper.

Anyway, the whole experience made me think two things. The first is that I really SHOULD learn how to play it again, if only because it might be one of the few ways that I would fit in as a “real” Yooper and not a “city boy” (as I've been called before by "real" Yoopers).

The second? That I could get a really good TV piece out of the whole thing. And you know what?

I don't think it turned out half bad--

Now, if you don't mind, I have to skip out of here early, as as I have a (gulp) 9 am appointment in Negaunee. As long as I remember how to drive that far, I think I'll get there in time.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 9/28

I guess I might as well own it, right?

Over the years, I have had a lot of people (especially young women, for some reason) compare my looks to that of an actor. Well, I was giving a tour to a group of law professionals over the weekend, and while we were stopped for a second one of them leaned over to me and said those words that have been said many times before--

“Do you know you look like a younger Billy Bob Thornton?”

Here's where it gets weird. I know that when they're comparing me to an Oscar-winning actor and writer they're complimenting me. I realize that young women, especially, find Billy Bob Thornton a very fascinating and attractive individual. However, when they say I look like Billy Bob Thornton, I always assume that they mean Billy Bob Thornton in his most famous, Oscar-winning role.

You know...THIS Billy Bob Thornton--

When they compare me to Billy Bob Thornton, I'm pretty sure they don't mean the way he looked in “Sling Blade”. But for whatever reason—and this probably says more about me than anything—I always assume they mean the very bizarre character he played in that movie, as opposed to the Billy Bob Thornton who married Angelina Jolie or the Billy Bob Thornton who has broken hearts on the big & small screens for 30 years now.

But like I said—that's just me.

Personally, I don't see the resemblance. But I guess that's normal, much in the same way I record someone for a commercial and they say “that doesn't sound like me”. We're just too close to the subject to me impartial. I suppose if I tried to disconnect to everything I know about myself and stared at a picture of Billy Bob Thornton long enough, I might see what everyone else is seeing. Maybe I'd see the dashing but quirky leading man or the tough but intelligent guy trying to hang on to his scruples.

Or maybe I'd just keep seeing the dude from “Sling Blade”. It's one or the other.

In the end, there's nothing I can do about it. We're all born looking like we look, and if we happen to slightly resemble an Oscar winning writer and actor enough that people keep mentioning it?

Well, I suppose there are worse people to be compared to.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 9/24

Attached to the protective grating around a tree right outside of the station is this--

Yes, you are seeing that right. It's a (I'm guessing) Valentine's Day-themed teddy bear, strung up like it's the first week of February and not a random day in late September. But because it's Marquette, I'm not sure WHY the Valentine's Day-themed teddy bear is stuck on the protective tree grating. Because it's Marquette, it could be there because someone lost it and someone else wants to whoever lost it to find it.

Or, because it's Marquette, it could be art. Maybe, just maybe, someone put it there as, I dunno, a statement on their love for a random day in February or as a comment on the disposable aspect of our modern day society.

Because it's Marquette, it could be either one.

I'm not saying that in a bad way. Marquette is just one of those places filled with artists, and often time those artists will try to make a statement with “found objects”...things you find just lying around on the ground. Like, you know, a Valentine's Day-themed teddy bear that just happened to sitting in the grass or lying on the sidewalk.

Hence, my confusion as to why the Valentine's Day-themed teddy bear was stuck to the protective tree grating outside of the station in late September.

If it disappears some day soon, I'll trust that whoever lost it found it and took it home (or, I guess, that DDA workers found it and wanted to remove it from the protective tree grating). But if it remains there for some time, allowing passersby to ponder the statement that someone is trying to make, I'll know it's art.

If for no other reason than I just happen to live in a place where either of those is a possibility.

*****

By the way, tomorrow is a corporate holiday, so there won't be a new one of these. Have yourself a great weekend (whether it be 2 or 3-day). You'll find something new here on Monday!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 9/23

Okay, it’s time for me to rant about geography again.

Every so often I’m astounded by the geographic ignorance of the people in this country. Now, I realize most people don’t care, and that I probably do because I minored in the subject in college, but I came across two scary statistics while reading news sites this past weekend, and they just blew my mind.

The first statistic? Despite the fact that we’re engaged in a war in this particular country 63 percent of Americans can't find Iran on a world map. They had no idea that you go to the Mediterranean Sea, take a slight zig to the left when it ends, and go a couple of countries in.

Of course, that would pre-suppose that they knew where the Mediterranean Sea is.

The other statistic might even be scarier...around 50 percent of ALL Americans can’t locate New York state on a map. That means HALF of all Americans, despite knowing of the state, couldn’t point to where the Empire State Building sits, or where Long Island juts out into the Atlantic.

Don’t you think it says something about Americans when we don’t know where world hot spots are? I mean, how can we as a country care about things like the past tragedy of mass starvation and mass death in Darfur when most of us don’t even know where it is? I guess it’s just a little disappointing that we as a people don’t seem to be aware that we’re not just Americans. We’re humans sharing a planet with many different people and many different countries, and in that sense, don’t you think we SHOULD have some knowledge of our neighbors?

(Darfur, by the way, is in the Sudan. In Africa. PLEASE tell me you know where Africa is.)

Now like I said, maybe I’m just a little sensitive to this mass ignorance because it’s something about which I’ve always had an interest. That interest, by the way, started from the time I was 4 years old and my mom read to me from Rand McNally’s World Atlas. I, apparently, was disappointed that I couldn’t go to school with the other kids, so she decided to let me learn at home. And it’s an education that’s stayed with me to this day.

So thanks, Mom, for opening my eyes to the fact that there’s an entire world out there, filled with different people, different customs, and different problems. It’s an education that I would hope ALL kids could get some day.

And then we would never have to see statistics like the two above, the ones that blew my mind, again.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 9/22

 Why yes, I DO put the "goof" in goofy.

8-)

This week's TV piece was not at all serious, and one of those that just popped into my head one day a few weeks ago.  As usual, I was out running right before school started for the year, and for whatever reason the topic of Yooper-themed school classes entered my brain, as did an image for a Kindergarten book.

And with that, I was off to the races.

As usual, the gags came pretty easily in this one, while the graphics took a little more time.  I really do need to work on being a better graphic artist, but with little or no talent in that area, I guess I'm stuck doing what I do.  And thank goodness for Canva, a web-based graphics program that actually makes sense (and doesn't use AI, unless you wanna pay for it).  I'm pretty much able to stick together stuff that kinda sorta looks like I want it to, and with my limited abilities in that area...

I'm happy with the results.

So just how goofy did I end up this week?  Judge for yourself--

(jim@wmqt.com), goof.

Monday, 9/21

Wow. It’s just about over. It’s really over.

Tomorrow (tomorrow night at 8:05 Eastern time, actually) marks the Autumnal Equinox, or as a normal person would put it, the beginning of Fall. Summer’s over, and while we (once again) really didn’t have much of a summer this year, the door has been officially slammed on it.

Yikes!

Every week on the air we do something we call our “At Work/Online Network Question of the Week”, in which we ask a question on the air and also throw it on our station Facebook page in hopes of getting a little discussion going. An upcoming question, written knowing what is on the way, asks if everyone is ready for another Upper Michigan winter.

I know what my answer will be.

I’ve always thought of Summer as a time to recharge your batteries, a time to (literally) soak up enough sun to wash away the memories of the winter you’ve just lived through and to charge your psyche up enough to face the onslaught of the next, upcoming cold season. I mean, that’s just how I perceive it, but in talking with other people it seems like I’m not alone in that area.

This year, though, was something special. We had a brutally cold and brutally long-lasting winter, one that I know drained my batteries far more than they’ve ever been drained. We didn’t have much a spring at all, and then “summer” this year consisted of a nice Memorial Day weekend, a few nice days here and there, a hot (but hazy) July, and a few more okay days in August before all heck broke loose. Sure, it might not be too bad a day or two this week, but did we really have enough of a “summer” this year to erase memories of what we lived through a few months ago, and what we may have to live through a few months hence?

Don’t answer; it’s mostly a rhetorical question. After all, we each handle weather (and what it does to us) in different ways. But I have a feeling that if you were to ask 100 different U.P. residents that question that a majority—maybe even a large majority—of them would answer the same way I did.

And I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.

Maybe we’ll get lucky this winter. Maybe there will be a strong El Nino in the Pacific this year, and we’ll have warmer than average temperatures. Maybe, like a few years ago, we won't even have any snow throughout the year. Hopefully, though, we'll have few (if any days) where the temperature falls below zero. Maybe Lake Superior won’t freeze this year, which means that we’ll have a warmer Spring, which might lead to us having a “normal” summer next year.

Maybe.

Living up here, you gotta have hope, especially as far as the weather goes. After all, there’s nothing you can do about it; you just have to live through it, and keep your fingers crossed that it turns out for the best.

So as we head through the last full day of "summer" and stand on the brink of the first day of Fall, perhaps the best thing I can say is “good luck, everyone”. We may need it.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 9/18

Okay...my eyes can stop watering any day now.

When I was young I used to suffer from rather severe hay fever twice a year (spring & fall). But one of the few good things about getting older, I've discovered, is that allergy problems, at least for me, have fallen way off. I no longer have any sort of problems each Spring, and for the past few Autumns I haven't noticed anything happening at all.

And then there's this Fall. For the past week or so, my eyes have been watering like a fire hydrant left on during a hot Summer's day. And also for the past week or so, I've had a non-stop low-grade headache centered right behind my eyeballs. My nose hasn't in any way been stuffy, but several days this week you could actually hear all kinds of roughness in my voice. In total it's not quite as bad as what I suffered through as a younger person, but it's not that far off, either.

I have no idea why it's hit me with a vengeance this year. I don't know if it's the fact I was downstate around farm fields for a few days or if the (and I say this generously) weird weather we've had this year kick-started something in my head that's been laying dormant for a couple of decades now. All I can say is...

IT CAN STOP NOW!

I really hope that it's just an anomaly brought on by travel. I really hope that our increasingly screwed up climate hasn't caused my annual bouts of hay fever to return. But I always travel somewhere—Reese, Chicago, or Europe--during this time of the year and have not have the allergy problems that I do right now. So if the problems HAVE been caused by the weather, let's hope they've just been caused by our weird weather year, and not by our increasingly weird weather patterns.

After all, I suffered enough when I was young. I'd really dislike having to do it again. So if you see me walking down the street in the next few days with tears running down my face, realize that I'm not weeping in joy at seeing you (although I suppose i COULD be weeping in joy, at least inside). It's just my stupid sinuses getting their revenge for some inexplicable reason.

******

One more note before I go...I need to wish a happy anniversary to the two people without whom I wouldn't be here! It's my parents anniversary, so if you see either Dar or Chicky-Poo, make sure you wish 'em a happy day, because they sure do deserve it!

Love to them both,

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 9/17

The signs are starting to go up. Now we'll see if they make any difference.

If you've been reading these the past few years you may recall all the issues that the city of Marquette has had with e-bike (actually, riders of all bikes) riding where they're not supposed to, and with many suggestions on how to control the few people who ride their machines like they're out of control. Out of that came a series of laws that the Marquette City Commission passed earlier this year.

One of those new ordinances involved the banning of riding any kind of bike or e-mobility devices on sidewalks in downtown Marquette. One of the ways to inform the public about the new law involved posting signage throughout downtown Marquette, and that has, after several months, finally started--

Even without the signs, the new ordinance has been in effect for four months now, and I've noticed a marked decrease in people riding bikes on sidewalks outside the station. However, it's not universal,; I still see kids (and adults) speeding down the Front Street sidewalk, oblivious as to the fact that someone may be stepping out of a building or getting out of a car. Hopefully, the signs will inform them that you can't do stuff like that.

And hopefully, those people actually listen.

I talked about this on TV a month or so ago. There seems to be a (small) subset of people out there who think that any kind of rule infringes upon their “freedom”. When it comes to things like public safety, that actually baffles me. You're being asked not to speed down a sidewalk on a hill to avoid injuring people. How is that infringing upon your freedom other than, perhaps, your freedom to hurt others?

Some days, I just don't get some people.

But that's neither here nor there. The signs are going up, which means that anyone on any wheeled device will soon know that they're not supposed to ride on sidewalks in certain areas of Marquette.

I'll be curious to see if those signs actually do their job.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 9/16

It's another sure sign that summer is over. My auxiliary office was empty yesterday.

I've been writing here and there about signs that our too-short summer has now receded into the depths of history, and I noticed perhaps one of the surest signs of that yesterday. The temps were mild, the sun was (kinda out), so I decided to head down to my auxiliary office to eat lunch and to do some writing, and that's when I saw yet another sign that summer's over.

My auxiliary office was, except for me, empty--

My "auxiliary office" is actually Marquette's Lower Harbor Park, one of the crown jewels of Marquette's park system, and a park that, during the summer, is filled with kids on the playground, bikers on the multi-use path, and individuals eating lunch at one of the many picnic tables. In fact, when I head down to my auxiliary office during the summer, sometimes I find that there's actually no place to work.

But not yesterday. In a giant city park, I was the only person within sight.

Yes, I know some of it's because school's back in session and yes, I know some of it's because (most of ) the tourists are gone. But to see the park that empty and that desolate just made me think that people have given up for the year, that they know fall is here, winter is coming, and it's time to hibernate for the next eight months.

And that's always one of the saddest revelations you can have this time of the year.

I myself am hoping that I get a few more days in my auxiliary office, although I guess that's up to Mother Nature. I'm guessing, though, anything like that would be a bonus, especially when you consider all of the people who already seem to have given up for the year, and who are ready for winter to show up, in whatever form it takes this year.. We'll have to see, I guess.

All I know is that after yesterday, it seems as if the summer that was way too short has now had the curtain officially drawn upon it.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 9/15

And now, the rest of the story.

Well, technically, it's not the REST of the story, as I haven't actually told any of the story yet. But if you recall last week when I wrote in here after returning from visiting my favorite father-in-law in the whole wide world, I said that I was going to put together a TV piece about small towns, both here and downstate. Since last night was TV night, guess what I did?

Yup. I told the whole story.

Once again, technically, it's actually not a “story”. It's more a series of observations punctuated by jokes (or at least by attempts at jokes) that came to me while I was out running one morning in Reese. I sat on my father-in-law's front porch (because that's what you do in a really small town, right?) and wrote most of it right there. I did not, however, have the “kicker”, the one thing near the end that ties the whole piece up with a nice bright bow. But then I went running another morning and ran into someone on the street as I was finishing.

And what she said to me was the PERFECT kicker for the piece.

What observations did I make, what jokes did I attempt to tell, and just what did the lady on the street say to me? Well, find out for yourself--

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 9/14

If you're ever wonder why I'm doing something weird, just blame Stevie Wonder. He's probably the reason.

I received an e-mail Friday afternoon from someone I don't know, but who obviously knows who I am. The e-mail said, and I'm quoting here, “Jim—I saw you our for a run this morning and it looked like you have either have a very unique running style or you were air drumming . Which one is it”? Well, I can state without fear of being wrong that I don't have a very unique running style.

However, I kinda have to plead guilty to air drumming, just because...well, just because. I have no other explanation other than that.

After reading the e-mail I thought back to the early morning run through downtown, down Pine Street, and then back up the lakeshore bike path. While I couldn't tell this person exactly to which song I was air-drumming, I have a pretty good idea, if only because I listened to the song (ahem) five times in a row.

But then, Stevie Wonder's “Sir Duke” will do that to a person.

It's funny; I haven't listened to “Sir Duke” for a while now. But it stuck in my head because we're coming up on the 50^th anniversary of “Songs in the Key of Life”, the classic album from which it came, and I was reading an article about it. Now if I'm being honest, I much prefer the other number one song from that disc, “I Wish”, but something in my brain told me to listen to “Sir Duke”, and once I listened to it I couldn't stop.

Much like, apparently, I couldn't stop air drumming to it while I ran.

Part of the joy of being me is that pretty much everything I do in public is noticed by someone, whether I want it to be or not. Thankfully, I don't do anything so bad that it would land me in jail, but I do seem to have a propensity for getting caught doing goofy things, like air drumming But you can't blame me for this one.

After all, it's all Stevie Wonder's fault.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 9/11

25 years, huh? Doesn't seem that long, does it?

I'm sure you'll be reading a ton of stuff today about the 25th anniversary of 9/11. It's one of those touchstone moments, like Pearl Harbor, Kennedy being shot, or Challenger blowing up--you knew exactly where you were when you heard the news, and and that day is seared forever into your brain

After all, we're still feeling the reactions to 9/11 in the way we live even now.

When you tell a younger person that you grew up in a world without omnipresent security cameras or that you used to be able to walk into an airport with getting undressed they look at you like you're from another world. And in a way, you are--you're from a world before planes went crashing into buildings, before layer upon layer of draconian security was imposed upon every day life, and before countless wars were launched in the name of making the world safe.

That's how much things have changed in the past quarter century.

Now, there can be a debate as to whether or not the world is a safer place; that, however, is best a debate in other forums and by people who know more than I. I guess I'm just stunned by two things--by the fact that the defining moment of this century was a quarter of that century ago, and by the fact that the after-effects of that incident are still being felt today. 25 years after Pearl Harbor, we were allies with the Japanese. 25 years after Kennedy was shot, the republic still stood. And 25 years after Challenger, space shuttles were still flying.

It's like we moved on after those events. But 25 years after 9/11? It feels like in many ways, we're still living with it.

I'll be curious to see what it's like in 2051, when the 50th anniversary rolls around. Will we have moved on? Will some other disaster, either man-made or natural, have taken over our everyday life? Or will we still be living in the shadow of events that occurred on a sunny day in New York City in 2001, 25 years ago today.

It'll be interesting to see.

On that note, have yourself a great weekend. And maybe keep your fingers crossed that we DON'T have another disaster like that in the next 25 years.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 9/10

I guess we now have an answer to the question that's been plaguing mankind since the dawn of time.

A couple of months ago Loraine, Deanna, and I were having dinner when Deanna posited one of those interesting questions she comes up with. To wit--

"Do you think our parents have ever watched 'Friends'"?

It's actually quite the legit question. For our generation, "Friends" is a touchstone. It's one of those shows that defines who we are and how we act. It was a big chunk of our lives, and we're still watching episodes for the 45th time. But what about the generation older than us, our parents? They probably knew of the show, and may have even watched it once out of curiosity. But did they really know the show the way we did?

That question was answered this past weekend when Loraine and I were downstate visiting her dad. We were showing him some stuff on my laptop when a picture of the cast of "Friends" popped up (maybe in an ad, or something). He took one look at that picture--of the six actors on the show--pointed at David Schwimmer, and said, directly quoting him here--

"Hey--that's the guy from 'Band of Brothers'".

Yup. He had no idea that David Schwimmer was on "Friends", but he sure did remember him from his memorable one episode role on a TV mini-series 25 years ago.

Now, this is just a one parent sample group; other people's parents may vary. But if you've ever wondered, like Deanna, Loraine, and I did, if our parents generation ever watched "Friends"...

Well, now you have your answer.

By the way, we DID show him an episode and he thought it was a hoot.. So who knows...maybe slowly but surely, we'll get the older generation hooked on the show that defined our generation yet.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 9/9

And greetings from somewhere on I-75. I’m not quite sure where, but it’s the place where there are trees on the left and trees on the right.

So wherever that is, that’s where we are.

We had a very nice, very extended weekend down in Reese, visiting Loraine’s family and for a few short hours actually forgetting what day of the week it was.

And that VERY rarely happens.

Otherwise, we just spent time with Loraine’s dad's cats, eating a lot, and, uhm, going to the one place we can’t go to in Marquette, if only because we don’t have one--Aldi. I told you if you behaved I'd take a picture, and you did, so...

Hi, my name is Jim, and I’m an Aldi-holic. And if you think I’m bad now, just wait until we actually DO get one in Marquette. After the first week, I may need an intervention.

So be forewarned.

We also spent some time just wandering around Loraine’s home town. Reese reminds me a lot of and is about the same size of Gwinn, and that led to something you may—just may—see on TV next Monday night.

But that's next week.

For now, how about a couple of pictures, like yet another example of “The Awesome Flatness of Reese”--

It’s actually hard to capture in a picture just how flat Reese is; in sections with no trees you can see for miles and miles and miles. Because it’s flat it’s home to hundreds of farms, which means that the only things that rise more than 20 feet above the terrain would be the grain elevators, as you see in the picture above, although some of the farm equipment on sale might qualify, as well.

But if you know where to look, you can see things in the nooks and crannies that make Loraine’s home town uniquely “Reese”.

But for now, it's back to reality...not that reality is in any way a bad thing. The past weekend did, however, show just how nice it is to escape from that reality on occasion, if only for a few days.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 9/3

Now, it's all over except the shouting. Or the sobbing.

After all, it's been that kind of week.

It's actually been a couple of “that kind of weeks”, as you well know if you've been perusing these rantings on a daily basis. But like I said, after today it slows down...or, at least changes venues. Tomorrow morning Loraine and I head downstate to visit her dad over the Labor Day weekend, which means that we get to do three things--

1.  Hang out with her nieces & nephews

2. Visit the Aldi in Caro (a town a quarter of the size of Marquette but, for some reason, has an Aldi while we don't), and

3. Enjoy the awesome flatness of Reese--

That's a phrase Loraine once coined, and she's right. Growing up where there are a LOT of hills I never had an idea any place could be so flat. It's so flat, in fact, that on a clear day you can see the top of the Zilwaukee Bridge, which is TWELVE miles away.

That's flat.

So there won't be one of these either tomorrow or Tuesday, which is the day we'll be driving back. Wednesday, you'll get to see picture of the “Awesome Flatness” and, if you behave, maybe even one of the Caro Aldi, as well.

I know...THAT will get you through the weekend, won't it?

8-)

Speaking of the weekend, have yourself a great one. Back on Wednesday!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 9/2

Nope. I will never, ever use it. Not even if you put a gun to my head.

The world has been turned upside down the past few years by the advent of AI, artificial intelligence. It's crept into every facet of life these days, whether you want it to or not, and it's been used for many different purposes, up to and including replacing writers, musicians, and other creative individuals in doing things like writing daily blogs.

But I'll make this guarantee to you right now--

You'll never have to worry about one of these being written by a machine.

After once again talking about how busy I was this week, someone sent me a note and suggested that if I'm ever in a time crunch, I should try & see if AI could write one of these. She says she's used it, and no one was the wiser. In theory, I suppose I could outsource these to a machine. I've written almost 3,000 of them, and I could feed those 3,000 into AI, have it analyze my writing style, pick out a topic, and then have it write 500 words. And you know what? I'm guessing that it could come up with a reasonable facsimile of what I do.

And that's just one of the scary parts.

I mean, no "artist" (not that I consider myself an artist) wants to be replaced by a machine, but these days it is possible.. And seeing as how we're only in the early days of artificial intelligence, I'm guessing that in a couple of years the machines may supplant human creativity. But that's not the point. Up until a few years ago creativity was just that--a human endevour. If we allow AI to do it for us, does that make us a little less human? The machines more human?

The mind boggles.

Aside from the ethical consideration, there's also the environmental ones. Every time someone uses AI it sucks up a huge amount of electricity to power the computer chips behind it, and a huge amount of water to cool those chips so they can keep working. With the way we've been wrecking the planet lately do we really want to spew more power plant pollution into the air and suck more precious water out of the ground?

It blows my mind that some people are okay with that. But apparently, they are.

I realize that I sound like a technological Luddite in writing this, but as we all know I'm really not. It just seems like we're at a tipping point in our growth as a species. Do we really want to outsource the most human of our activities--the arts--to a machine that gobbles up finite natural resources? In my opinion, at least, it's not a thing I want to be party to. I mean, I realize that I'm probably in the minority on this, but change just for the sake of change isn't always the best thing in the world.

So, if you don't mind, I'll just keep writing these with my human brain, powered by chocolate and green tea. You won't catch me using AI to assist in anything to do with these. And I hope that's okay.

I do wonder, though, if that means I'm somewhat akin to a dinosaur standing on a North American plain 66 million years ago, watching a fireball streak across the sky, and not knowing that things are about to change forever, and not for the good.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 9/1

And here, after I did two TV bits last night, I thought things would slow down.

You may recall that I had a bit of a busy week last week. Even though I'm getting ready to head downstate to see Loraine's dad in a few days, I was hoping it would be a little slower this week. But you know what?

I was wrong.

I mean, I'm on course to make sure everything's ready for radio while I'm gone. As I said, I taped next week's TV piece (to air on Labor Day) last night. But now, I all of a sudden find I have meetings today and tomorrow, plus an interview someone scheduled for me without (ahem) asking if I have the time to do it.

So, you know, now I have those to look forward to.

I keep thinking back to a coffee cup I once saw that said “being an adult means hoping your schedule clears up next week”. Well, it's now next week, and (checking his calendar) my schedule hasn't cleared up yet.

I think the coffee cup may have been on to something.

So with that in mind, I'm going to leave you with one of the TV things I did last night. It's horrifying, it's chilling, and it's apocalyptic.

Or maybe that's just me.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)