Wednesday, 10/11

It's a good thing I don't have to work with audio, Otherwise...

Oh, wait. I work in radio. I DO work with audio. That explains the problem.

If I sound weird the next few days (okay, weirder than usual) it's not the fault of your radio, it's the fault of me. A couple of days ago I noticed that during my yearly bout of hay fever, my right ear wasn't working as well as it usually does. That either cleared up or just migrated to the other side of my head, because as I type this I can't hear a thing out of my left ear, although I can feel some sinus pressure in my left Eustachian Tube.

Cool, huh?

I shouldn't say I can't hear a thing; I actually can hear a lot of white noise and, if I move my head just so, can also faintly hear stuff in the background. But for now, it's like I have the world's strongest earplug in my left ear. I know there's sound there, but I can't hear it.

That's a real good trait for someone who spends a chunk of their day editing audio. Really, it is.

While I do suffer from hay fever every fall, I've never had this particular thing happen to me. It's a little disconcerting, especially when I'm trying to listen to audio I'm editing or people talking to me. It doesn't seem to have affected my voice yet, and I'm hoping it doesn't. I'm also hoping it goes away soon; if it doesn't, I may to need to starting learning how to read lips.

And that would not be pretty.

I'm also hoping it doesn't spread to my other ear, especially because that's the ear in which this all began. Having one bad ear is bad enough; I don't even want to ponder what might happen with two bad ones. My usual hay fever medication doesn't seem to have any effect on this situation, and I'm waiting a few days to see what happens before taking any more action. I'm hoping it drains and my hearing comes back soon, otherwise if you see me talking to someone or trying to listen to audio with my head cocked to the right, it's not one of my usual quirks.

It's a new quirk. Because, after all, we need more of those in the world, right?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 10/10

What a difference a week makes, huh?

I mean, think of it--80 degrees & sun last Tuesday, and temperatures half of that (plus rain!) today.  Aren't we the lucky ones, huh?  But I'm not here to whine about the weather today; instead, I'm here to point out something that occurred to me as I was deciding what to wear this past three day weekend.

And that has to do with shorts.

In the spring, after six months of cold and snow, the first day when temperatures rise above freezing is a cause for celebration in the UP.  One of the ways in which we celebrate it is the ceremonial wearing of shorts.  In fact, some people (okay, me and a few other diehards) will even continue to wear shorts every time the temperature rises above 32, if only because there were months when we couldn't.  And besides, it's nice to be liberated from pants when you have the opportunity, so, you know, why not?

So if the 32 degree mark is the threshold for wearing shorts in the spring, should we also continue wearing shorts every other day of the year when it's above freezing?  Apparently not in the fall.  Every single day this past three-day weekend the temperatures were well above freezing--10 to 12 degrees above, in fact--yet when I was out & about I did not see one person wearing shorts.  I myself didn't even consider putting them on.

Obviously, a temperature that seems tropical in February or March seems downright Arctic in October, especially just a few days after it was 80 degrees.

I will often tell people visiting the UP that we wear shorts whenever it's above freezing, and that's something I may have to adjust in the future.  Apparently it's okay to wear shorts when there's snow everywhere, but not so much when everything's still (mostly) green.  But like I said--if it's 40 degrees in March it's downright tropical.  But 40 degrees in October?

Welcome to Siberia.

(jim@wmqt.com), still hoping to wear shorts (many times) in 2023

Friday, 10/6

Wow. I can't believe this is the ninth season of it already.

I don't have much time to write this morning, as I'm shortly due at Public TV 13 to tape the first shows of the year for “High School Bowl”. It's the 45^th year for the show, and the ninth with me as host, which is kind of unbelievable seeing as how it seems I just started doing it last month. But as we discover more and more, time doesn't seem to lie, so year nine is now in the starting gate.

It's funny, because it seems like we just taped the championship game from last year last week. But nope; that was February 10th, over half a year ago, and here we are, getting ready to start it all over again. The show we tape today airs November 4th, preceded by a repeat of the “Year in Review” show from last season. And that, of course, means that I have to remember to do one thing—watch a few seconds of that shows to make sure that the ties I wear in the first few shows aren't the one I wore in that particular recap. Sure, it might seem a little shallow and stupid, but as I've found, people actually pay attention to those things.

No, I'm not quite sure why, but they do. And that's why I keep track of what I wear on TV when, and that's why the list I keep throughout the season seems more and more invaluable, especially after doing this for nine years.

So with that in mind, I'm off to make a fool out of myself, as usual. But at least I'll be wearing a tie viewers haven't seen recently. On that note, have yourself a great weekend..And it's funny to be saying this after the early portion of our week, but stay warm!

(jim@wmqt.com).who has Monday off so...see you Tuesday!

Thursday, 10/5

It's never ever the gags I think it will be.

I did another semi-humorous piece on TV a few days ago, a list of the changes we can expect now that October's here. Much of the list were jokes, and since then I've had a couple of people have told me the one line they liked the best. It wasn't the one about Florida being the third peninsula of Michigan, nor was it the one about how October is the only month when Red Wings fans have any hope.

In fact, it was more an observation than a joke. It was a bit about how October is the month when you have to buy more Halloween candy because you've already eaten the Halloween candy you bought when it first went on sale back in August.

Who knew?

It's funny; out of all the gags that made the list, that line was the only one that wasn't UP-specific. It could, in fact, happen anywhere. And who knows—may that was the reason it hit the way it did. It's something everyone can relate to (unlike, say, having to add words like “pank” to your vocabulary). But I put work into some of those gags. The one about Halloween candy just occurred to me while I was typing the other gags in. I basically included it as filler, just in case the piece came out a little short, which it did, which is why it made the final cut.

Where it then, of course, became the standout bit of the piece.

Once again...who knew?

I'm not complaining; nope, I'm just glad there was something in the piece that touched viewers the way it did. It just, once again, goes to show that my tastes and the tastes of the people watching (or listening) aren't anywhere similar. But that's okay.

Now I just have to figure out how to match my taste and the taste of everyone else up, and we'll be all set.

8-)

If you didn't see it, click HERE for the full piece.

(juim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 10/4

I'm gonna miss my auxiliary writing studio.

As you know, I do a lot of writing, both in my personal life and for here at work. I will usually just type away in my office, but there are a couple of months a year when I can head down to my "auxiliary" office and type. Unlike my regular office, which is surrounded by four walls, my auxiliary office has a slightly better view--

One of the (many) joys of working in downtown Marquette is that you're only a few seconds away from Lower Harbor Park. And on the nice days we get between June & September (or, in the case of the year, early October) I will forego the four walls and bring a laptop down to Lower Harbor Park, where I can sit writing away in 80 degree sunshine 40 feet from the greatest of lakes.

A day like that actually makes it worth going to work.

8-)

I wasn't alone yesterday, either, as I sat in the park writing promo copy. It was filled with people picnicking, people running or walking or biking, and people just sitting on the benches, gazing upon the water, and enjoying the precious final few hours of summer.

I'm not surprised, though. People who live here seem to have a built in clock, an alarm that goes off altering them to what might be the final park-worthy day before six to eight month of gloom set in. Maybe "clock" isn't the right word; maybe you just spend enough time up here, and you get this...feeling, I guess, as to when a change is coming and how you really need to take advantage of it.

Which is what everyone was doing yesterday.

So unless something strange happens (and this year, I'm discounting NOTHING) I'm guessing the time I spend in my auxiliary office is coming to an end. I really wish it could have gone on, but I am thankful that I've had the opportunity to use it.

Much like, I'm sure, everyone else in the park was thankful yesterday.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 10/3

 Apparently, I'm starting to talk like Loraine's grandmother again.

Okay, let me explain. I don't swear an awful lot. I try to keep my language clean, and I try to keep my discourse elevated. That's just the kind of person I am. Plus, having worked in radio all these years, I've learned not to use language that might be problematic should there ever be an open microphone nearby. Yet there are times when something stupid happens or I'm so shocked by an event that I have a reaction that causes certain words to come out of my mouth. And what are those words, at least usually?

Words along the lines of “Jeez 'o Pete”, “Seriously????”, or, if it's really bad, “Crap”.

Shocking language, isn't it? But sometimes you just have to say the things you have to say, if only to express your true feelings about a matter. And sometimes the words “Jeez 'o Pete” are the only words that get across those feelings. Loraine does think I sound like her grandmother when I say them.

And this isn't the first time she's mentioned it.

I don't know why I started using a phrase like “Jeez 'o Pete”; it's certainly not something a normal person my age would use. Maybe Loraine's right. After all, she's right about a lot of things. Maybe I heard my own grandmother (or someone like her) use the phrase so much that it stuck itself into my brain. Or maybe I subconsciously picked it up from one of those old radio shows I listen to.

Or maybe, just maybe, I'm weird. Don't discount that theory.

I've been reading a book about euphemisms (called, imaginatively enough, “Euphemisms”) recently, and it talks all about how we tend to use substitute words when the subject about which we're talking makes us uncomfortable. The writer actually goes through hundreds of euphemisms and discusses how they came about. “Jeez 'o Pete”, however, was not one of them. I'd be curious, though, to know from where it came, and why it's so associated with women of a certain era.

And, apparently, me.

So if you happen to see me doing something stupid, like dropping a can of soup on my bare foot or walking into a cupboard door, both of which actually prompted use of that phrase, be aware that the words “Jeez 'O Pete” will be probably be coming out of my mouth. Sure, I could use a different word or phrase, but that wouldn't be as much fun, would it? And it would also be so much more predictable, too.

And that's something I'd never want to be. So “Jeez 'o Pete” it is!

                            *****

Before I go I do have to mention I have a sister who's getting just a tad older today.  She says she doesn't even want to acknowledge the fact, so I'll respect that.  Well...except maybe to say happy birthday, Mel unnamed sister!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 10/2

 Let's see...

It's the second of October.  It's supposed to be sunny and 88 here in Marquette today.  The last two times it was this nice in Marquette I was out of town and unable to take advantage of it.  So...does taking a few hours off today to go and enjoy it make sense?

It does in my world.

8-)

Actually, I'm still kind of flabbergasted at how our weather this summer/fall has gone.  Yes, I know a couple of weeks ago that I said I wouldn't whine about it any more, but this really is a somewhat unique situation, in which our September (and now, apparently, the first few days of October) end up being warmer than either our May (with its snow days) or August (with all of its gloom & rain).

And it's not just here, either.  We were watching RB Leipzig's match Saturday night.  This is the exact weekend when we went over there last year to watch a match, and if you recall, that day it was 45 and raining.  But for their match on the same weekend this year?

Sunny & 82.

Strange things happen, I guess, when you break the planet.

Actually, we get a return to much more "normal" conditions later this week when it's supposed to be rainy and in the 40s, which makes a day like today that much more of a gift.  And when you're given a gift, you're supposed to appreciate it, use it, and enjoy it, right?  Which is what I plan on doing with it for at least a few hours today, before the reality of first radio and then TV beckons.

So, if you're in a place where you've been given the unexpected gift of a "summer" day, appreciate it.  Use it. Enjoy it.  Because even though we have broken the planet and our weather isn't always what it should be, we do know that a gift like this won't be given to us much longer, if at all, for the rest of the year.

Have fun with it!

(jim@wmqt.com)