Thursday, 12/21

I’m a guy, and I like it. Is it THAT big of a surprise?

One of my favorite movies of the last 20 years (right behind “The Martian”, in fact) is “Love, Actually”, a movie that kind of flopped when it came out in theaters but has now taken on a second life as a modern-day holiday classic (in this regard, it resembles “It’s a Wonderful Life”, a film many of my co-workers at TV-19 have never watched, shame on them). Anyway, as happens around this time of the year there have been a slew of articles released about the movie, many of which deal with the same topic--

Did you know guys like “Love, Actually”?

Speaking as a guy, just let me say this--yes, some of us DO like “Love, Actually”. In fact, some of us LOVE “Love, Actually”, and I’m not quite sure why all these writers are surprised. I mean, sure, it doesn’t have any explosions, farts, or fights, and it’s filled with heart and humor, but that doesn’t mean guys don’t like it. In fact, I’ve always been a fan of Richard Curtis, the guy who wrote and directed the film, if only because his movies DO have heart & humor, and conspicuously lack explosions and farts, and when he does include fights, they’re usually between Colin Firth and Hugh Grant, and they’re hilarious.

So there.

Another of my favorite articles on the movie is one that asked people which of the nine subplots they liked best (for those of you who haven’t seen the movie, [and shame on you, by the way, if you haven’t], the movie juggles nine inter-related subplots in the 5 weeks leading up to Christmas), and that’s almost like asking someone which of their nine kids or puppies or classic cars or whatever they like best. I don’t know that I could pick my absolute favorite, although I will admit that I have a fondness for both the Hugh Grant and the Colin Firth story lines. The one that always gets to me, though, is the plot with Keira Knightly and the guy in love with her. Once again, I don’t wanna spoil it for anyone who’s never seen it, but if you aren’t in some way affected after watching that plot line, you’d better check to see if you have a pulse!

So there you go. I’m a guy, and I love “Love, Actually”. Think they’ll write an article about me, now??

8-)

******

I received a note from daily blog reader Rachel, who lives downstate, and who was wondering if I was actually serious yesterday when I wrote about the distinct possibility of another green Christmas here. Yes, Rachel, I am. Here's a picture of our snow cover (at least as of yesterday afternoon)--

The forecast through Christmas? Sun or rain, and temperatures in the upper 30s to upper 40s (!). I'm pretty sure whatever snow we have won't even make it through the end of the day today.

So hope that shows I was actually serious for once, Rachel!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 12/20

Should it be green or brown?

Unless something radically changes in our weather forecast in the next few days (the forecast that calls for sun & temps in the 40s this weekend) it looks like those of us living in the city of Marquette will be having our fourth snow-free Christmas in the past dozen years this year.

That led to me having a discussion with a listener on the air yesterday. If we do indeed have a snow-free Christmas again this year, is it better to refer to it as a “Green Christmas” or a “Brown Christmas”? “Brown Christmas” certainly is a more accurate term, because that’s certainly what you see the most of these days. But “Green Christmas” is a little, well, prettier. A little more gentle. A little more Christmas-like.

And it’s not like it’s totally inaccurate. Before we had maybe an inch of snow on Monday, snow that will be melted well before Christmas arrives, I could look out the big studio window at work and see nothing but green, thanks to the plethora of cedar trees in front of the First Presbyterian Church across the street. And when I walked to work every morning, I saw the green (well, partial green) on front lawns ranging from my next-door neighbor to that of the Peter White Public Library. So while “Brown Christmas” is certainly more accurate this time of the year, “Green Christmas” can’t be dismissed out of hand.

So what do YOU think? Green or brown? Seeing as how, at least in Marquette, those will probably be our only two choices this year, I think we should decide this, and decide this quite soon!

****

For some people, I know today’s an important day in one respect--it’s the shortest day of the year. Very early tomorrow the winter solstice will occur and our lovely planet will start to (slowly) tilt the northern hemisphere back toward the sun. That means that every day from now through June we get a few more minutes of daylight.

That means the days start getting longer. So it’s all uphill from here. Or downhill from here, I guess, depending upon your point of view and whether or not you think “up” or “down” is the good way to go. Regardless of the semantics, we start getting more daylight now. Even with the sun & clear skies we're experiencing on and off these days, we may not notice it right away, but our days WILL be getting longer.

That means winter will be over before we know it. Of course, winter has to actually start this year for it to be over before we know it, but if it ever does start, we’ll be ready.

Longer days, here we come!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 12/19

I have no idea what I'm going to do for the next two and a half weeks.

First of all, that's a joke. I have PLENTY of things to do over the next two and a half weeks (hello, “Legends & Lore” History Center show at Kaufman in January). But in what is a very rare confluence in my life these days, I don't have to be on TV for two and a half whole weeks.

Hopefully, the world won't stop spinning on its axis.

How did this all come about? Well, “High School Bowl” is on hiatus for the holidays; we'll shoot the next episode on January 5^th. And because the next two Mondays are holidays—Christmas & New Year's Day—there won't be newscasts on WZMQ 19, which means that last night's “Life in the 906” was the last one until January 8^th.

I don't think I've been off of TV for two and a half weeks since TV Jim sprang into life back in 2014.

I realize that, for “normal” people, that's not too big of a thing. But, as we all know, I'm anything BUT normal. So being TV-free for two and a half weeks means I won't have writing deadlines or show prep for 17 days. That, in and of itself, is strange. Then add to it the fact that I have two days off of my radio job both next week and the week after for the holidays, and I find myself with some serious free time on my hands.

That's a nice concept. It's a very unfamiliar concept, but it's a nice concept.

I haven't devoted too much thought to it yet, as I have all kinds of work I have to do on the radio side to get those radio days off, but there are a lot of things I could tackle over the next two and a half weeks. I will, definitely, put in a LOT of work on “Legends”, seeing as how it's only as month away. Because there's no snow and temperatures are supposed to shoot back into the 40s for the holiday weekend I could go bike riding, or walk along the beach. Or, if I was a responsible adult, I could write a little bit and get ahead a few weeks on my TV projects.

Thankfully, though, I'm not too often a responsible adult.

I'm sure I'll figure it out. Hopefully, I'll have it figured out before the two and a half weeks is up, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. So when you don't see me on TV for the next half a month, remember that it's not the fault of your TV set.

It's just a weird confluence that it worked out that way.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 12/18

I have a Barry Manilow song stuck in my head, and like a drunk ex at 3 in the morning, it just won’t go away.

We all know how weak my mind can be. We all know that songs will enter my brain and burrow in just like a chipmunk hibernating for winter. We all know that for days on end I'll have a song stuck on an endless loop and it won't stop, no matter how many times I pound at the “off” button.

That song is currently Barry Manilow's “Daybreak”.

We played it during last week's “Throwback Thursday”, and that was when I knew I was in trouble. The song has hooks & key changes and everything else that slams a tune into my brain. And even after listening to a myriad of holiday music this weekend while baking cookies & wrapping gifts I still woke the past two nights with a performance of “Daybreak” running through my head.

I guess I'm just special that way.

Just how bad is it? Well, I listened to (and don't judge me here) “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” three or four times in an attempt to cleanse my musical palate. Usually, for some bizarre reason, “Grandma” is a song that gets stuck in my brain around this time of the year, whether I want it to or not. But even after listening to it several times over the weekend “Daybreak” is still the chart-topper on my own personal top 40.

Barry Manilow 1, Elmo & Patsy 0.

I'm hoping “Daybreak” goes away soon. Of course, when it does, it'll probably be replaced by something equally as irritating. At this point, I have no idea what that song will be, but I'm confident my brain can come up with something even worse than “Daybreak”.

After all, my brain's good like that.

So that the song might be stuck in YOUR head, as well...

That's okay. You can thank me later.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 12/15

Why yes, I DID wear shorts to work yesterday. In the middle of December.

Don't believe me?

I've been writing in here about how wacky our weather's been this month, and we're now even running a contest based around it. So when I heard it was supposed to be sunny & in the 50s yesterday I figured that, since I don't often get a chance to do it in December, that I'd wear shorts to work.

So I did.

Lest you think I'm joking about the weather, here's what Marquette's Lower Harbor looks like right now--

And with the forecast calling for rain and temperatures in the 30s or 40s for the next week or so, I have the feeling that some people (perhaps not me) might be wearing shorts through the upcoming holiday season.

After all, that's what we do up here.

8-)

On that note, I have to go to work (no shorts today, sadly, because of rain) and take care of a bunch of stuff so I can then spend the weekend baking, wrapping, writing, and, perhaps, pondering if I will indeed get to wear shorts again to work before the end of the year.

After all, in 2023 you never know!

Have a great weekend yourself,

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 12/14

Tell me if you can see what's been done to this sign.

That is a sign for marking the limit of Marquette's Social District, an area where you can buy an alcoholic drink from a participating vendor and then take it with you, strolling the streets and looking at the wonder that is downtown. It was especially popular this past summer, and if it wasn't, you know, December, I'm sure it would still be going strong.

(Although, as a caveat, I should add it's supposed to be 50 degrees & sunny today so it wouldn't surprise me if someone DID take advantage of it in the next few hours).

Anyway, on many of the Social District signs around downtown someone has taken a sharpie and made one slight change to it. Figure it out yet?

That's right. Someone has taken the phrase “please drink responsibly” and crossed out the word “responsibly”. Oh, what a wacky, wacky sense of humor that person has, right?

8-)

I've noticed at least four of the signs “changed” like that around downtown, and I'm sure there are many more all throughout the district (which is not only downtown Marquette but up Third Street, as well). In all honesty, I'm surprised that something like this hasn't happened sooner; after all, there are a bunch of people around downtown late at night who may---just may—have had too much to drink, and, well, when you combine alcohol, a sign, and a sharpie...

You know what you're gonna get.

So if you're around downtown Marquette and partaking of the Social District, take a gander at the sign and remember to do both—drink, and drink responsibly.

After all, someone with a sharpie wants you to.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 12/13

For the last time in 2023, I have to run out & shoot yet another episode of “High School Bowl” (that's right—after this morning, we're on hiatus for a whole three weeks!), so for one last time in 2023 I'm going to take the quick and/or lazy way out and leave you with an oldie but goodie from eight or so years ago.

However, it's still still something I think about on occasion, so it has that going for it.

Tomorrow—the story of a street sign, and what someone has been doing to it.

(jim@wmqt.com)

*******

(as originally posted 12/23/15)

I wonder how popular The Carpenters would be these days?

That thought entered my mind when Loraine was listening to their “Christmas Portrait” album the other day. If you’ve not heard it, it’s a mix of instrumental and vocal holiday tunes, all segued together into kind of a Christmas symphony, and contains one of the most touching yet melancholy songs of the season ever, “Merry Christmas Darling”. It’s one of those albums that’s gained kind of an iconic status over the years, and that led us to wondering where The Carpenters would be these days, had Karen not died of anorexia in 1983.

Loraine and I, both being children of the 60s & 70s, have the gender-differing views of the duo you’d expect of children of the 60s & 70s. She grew up listening to and enjoying them, while for me The Carpenters were something my mom listened to and became something to which I should to pay little or no attention at all. Yet because Loraine still listens to a song of theirs on occasion, and because she listens to “Christmas Portrait” every holiday season, I find myself exposed to their music more than ever, and I have to admit something that no guy who grew up as a child of the 60s & 70s should ever admit--

They were actually pretty talented.

If you put aside all your pre-conceived notions of The Carpenters as schmaltzy or syrupy or any other sticky adjectives you’d care to conjure, you’d notice two things--that Richard Carpenter, who did most of their producing and arranging, really had a flair for melody. And, of course, you’d notice that Karen Carpenter could actually sing, despite the sometimes schmaltzy and syrupy material with which she had to work. You can tell that they both learned a lot from the people who wrote their songs, people like Burt Bacharach, and when you consider that Bacharach is now treated like a musical legend by his younger contemporaries, how would The Carpenters be treated?

Would they still be vital recording artists, having albums produced by people like Jack White or having their songs covered by groups like Arcade Fire? Would they still be touring every year, perhaps performing albums in their entirety like other iconic groups of the 70s? Or would they be stuck playing Branson or Vegas eight months out of the year, and find themselves peddling their music on late night infomercials? After all, it’s a very thin line between kitschy and cool, and I’d be kind of curious to know on which side they’d fall--would they be like Burt Bacharach, or would they end up like, oh, I dunno, Tony Orlando, with or without Dawn?

Sadly, it’s one of those things we’ll never know, although that doesn’t stop some of us from speculating upon it. Just one of those things that runs through your head when you listen to a Christmas album in the week leading up to the holiday. Amazing how things like that work out, isn’t it?