Thursday, 2/28

Okay, time for a “Proud Uncle Moment” ™. Did you know there's a third family member (other than me & Loraine) currently on the radio? If not, click HERE and listen!

(Go ahead.  I'll wait here for a second while another window opens up and a Soundcloud file appears)

There, you finished?  In case you didn't know, that's my niece Mallory, who's currently joining her mom as part of the deli crew out at Great Lakes Fresh Market in Harvey. My sister was supposed to cut a few spots for the store, but decided to assign Mallory the task, and she stepped up like a pro. I may be a little biased, but I think she knocked it out of the park.

Maybe she can take over MY job some day soon!

Actually, I probably shouldn't be too surprised. When she was younger Mallory would spend an hour or two a week at work with me while her sister took a dance class upstairs, and I would let her do everything from push buttons to asking some of my trivia questions on the air. So it's not like she's never had exposure to a recording environment. Add to that the fact that, like everyone else in her generation, she's spent her entire life around cameras and recording devices, and you end up with the conclusion that being around a microphone is second nature to someone like her.

Apparently, it is. And it makes me proud every time I hear one of her commercials, hence the Proud Uncle Moment ™ I mentioned before.

By the way, another one of the things at which she excels is the “Message Cookie” that she does out at the market. It's basically a huge cookie (or cake, because she's that good) decorated with any kind of message or scene that the person who buys it wants. How good are they? Well, she's had them featured on people's Facebook & Instagram feeds, so that might give you an idea.

She's just multi-talented, that young niece of mine!

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com), proud uncle.

Wednesday, 2/27

I think even Phil's ready for the snow to stop--

And that's all I'm gonna say about that.

I have to go run over to Public TV in a bit to tape half an episode of the show (yes, that's what we're reduced to now...shooting half a show at a time when the weather allows). But I do have an observation to share regarding something I saw on my walk home last night.

Oh, you know how I notice strange things everywhere I go? Well, as I was hiking up Front Street last night, marveling at the 82-foot high snow banks, I noticed there was a mattress lying on the other side of the road.

Well, okay, technically it was box spring, but when you see a slightly snow-covered mattress-like object on the side of the road, the first thing (at least if you’re me) that pops into your head is the question “Why is there a mattress on the side of the road”?

So why WAS a mattress on the side of Front Street? And no, don’t answer “It was trying to get to the other side of the road”? (See? I know how some of you think) I can just imagine what words were uttered by whoever lost it when they got to their destination and realized it had fallen out of their vehicle.

It's February 2019, I tell ya. It's trying to kill us. Or, at the very least, drive us insane.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 2/26

It's not official yet, but I think it's pretty safe to say that “The Streak” is about to come to an end.

You may remember "The Streak", that strange little thing where every time I'm running and it's above freezing I wear shorts. It's been going on for 47 months now, since March of 2015, through Decembers and Januarys and even a few Februarys, to boot. Who knew it would take the snowy February of 2019 to finally kill it?

The amazing thing about “The Streak” coming to an end isn't that it was killed by an abnormally cold month; as far as I know, the one way in which February's been average is in temperatures. It hasn't been really cold, but because of the way the systems have been coming in it hasn't been especially warm, either. In fact, it's only been above zero for a few hours this month, and that was this past Friday afternoon when I was at work and couldn't ruin even if I wanted to. And since temps aren't supposed to get anywhere near 20 the next few days, I've come to terms with the fact that “The Streak” is over.

I mean, it's not like it was anything important anyway, right? For whatever bizarre reason temperatures just happen to rise above a certain number on those exact days that I needed them to. If I ran on different days of the week, or if temperatures the one day this past January when it was above zero hadn't happened, we wouldn't even be talking about this. It's almost like one of those streaks a gambler gets on—the cards keep falling your way and keep falling your way and you think you're invincible. Then you bet it all on one hand and you lose it all on one hand.

So my streak was kind of like that, except there was no money involved and a big guy named Guido was standing around waiting for me to pay up.

Because I'm an optimist at heart I fully expect “The Streak” to start again next month. And I'll ride it again as long as I can. I have no idea if it'll go 47 months again. I mean, with the way the climate keeps changing it could go on a lot longer. Or, given the way that climate change seems to be hitting us in the weirdest way possible, may it won't go on at all. I have no idea. I'll just start it again and see where it takes me.

It just won't be THIS streak. So RIP, Streak of 2015-2019. Ye shall be missed.

(jim@wmqt.com), dork

Monday, 2/25

Oh, look. It snowed again over the weekend. It NEVER does that around here...especially 14 wind-blown inches at a time

8-(

In and between the snow and the crud and the SAIL Chocolate Festival (where only about a quarter of the people who bought tickets actually showed up, not that I blame them) yesterday, I managed to finish a book I've been reading for a week or so now. The book, “Girls Like Us”, is the story of three great singer/songwriters, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, and Carly Simon. The book was actually quite interesting. Having grown up listening to a lot of the songs they performed, it was interesting to see what they were actually doing in their lives when they wrote and recorded their classics.

It also caused me to pull out a couple of CDs we have buried in our massive collections to re-listen to a few of those songs. And, me being me, I now have one stuck in my head. I've probably listened to it a couple of dozen times since yesterday, and yet (or because of that) it won't leave my brain.

If you haven't heard it recently, let me reintroduce you to Joni Mitchell's “Free Man in Paris”--

I knew of the song as a kid, but I had pretty much totally forgotten about it. According to the book, it's about the life of Joni's friend David Geffen, the then music executive to went on to found Dreamworks with Steven Spielberg. Listening to the lyrics now, especially after reading the book, you can certainly tell that. But what captured my interest, and caused me to listen to it over and over a couple of dozen times, is the musical complexity of the song. The chord and time changes, and the way everything glides from one to the other, actually made Joni Mitchell look for a jazz group to back her up. Most standard studio musicians just couldn't give her what she wanted. So she teamed up with Tom Scott's group LA Express, drafted Jose Feliciano to play guitar and half of Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young to sing background, and then recorded the little 3 minute and three second song that's been stuck in my head.

Who knew that reading something could be so dangerous?

Anyway, if you ever come across the book, I highly recommend it. I can't guarantee you'll get one of the songs they discuss stuck in your head; in fact, I hope for your sake that you don't. But it IS an enjoyable way to get through a snowy couple of hours.

Not that we'll ever have THAT happen again...

(jim@wmqt.com), sarcasm professional.

Friday, 2/22

Guess what I'm doing two months from tomorrow?

First of all, kudos if you said “still trying to shoot all the 'High School Bowl' episodes canceled by the weather”. That might be a valid answer, although the final episode IS supposed to air ten days before that date, so I hope we don't get to that point (in fact, I'm off to shoot next week's episode in a few). Nope; two months from tomorrow we're going to Germany to watch a soccer game, and then we're coming home.

As I've mentioned in here before, this down & dirty trip is very unlike anything we've ever been done before. We'll be gone for just slightly over a week, and we're still waiting for the team to announce exactly which day the game will be played. They haven't even started selling tickets for it yet, in fact.

THAT'S how down & dirty of a trip this will be.

However, like all excursions over there I have to work ahead to make sure I can miss six days of work. I'm doing well; I'm doing stuff that I usually do at the end of June, which means I'm right on track. But I am wondering about something. Usually, when we go I do two things—I write blogs about the trip each and every day, and each weekday I send back audio reports that get played on the air. The blogs I'll keep doing. The audio reports? I don't know.

Here's why. Like I said, I only do them on weekdays, and not on weekdays that we're traveling. Because of the way this trip is set up there will only be four weekdays when I could send the reports back and have them played on the air, as opposed to the usual eight or nine. That's why I'm wondering if it's even worth it; especially, the second half of the trip, where there would be two weekend days with no reports, one that would play on Monday, and a travel day without one Tuesday before I'm back here (hopefully) Wednesday. To me, at least, it just doesn't seem like there's chance to build up any kind of continuity or momentum.

Of course, that's just me. Your opinion may vary.

Thankfully, I still have a little time to figure out it. In fact, I have two months from tomorrow to figure it out. And if that's the only item that's causing me a moment of thought in the run-up to this little getaway, then we're (hopefully) on a clear glide path to landing.

Keep your fingers crossed. I have to get over to Public TV 13 now, so have yourself a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 2/21

Now I can tell you the secret.

Remember how I told you I had to write a speech over the weekend, and then give it last night, even though I couldn't tell anyone why? Since it's happened. I can now spill the beans. Last night, I was given the Helen Longyear Paul Award by the Marquette Regional History Center for, basically, walking around and talking about hookers & old buildings.

I guess they ran out of deserving people to whom to give the award.

When I found out I was being given the award last week I literally scoffed at the idea, which probably wasn't quite what they expected. To put me in the same league as everyone from Fred Rydholm to Frank Matthews to Fred Stonehouse to Loraine Koski (all past winners of the award) strikes me as strange. I mean, those people are all heavyweights in the local history field.

I just crack bad jokes.

I'm not big on getting praise or recognition for what I do. I do it because I enjoy it, and because I want to do it. I'm not looking for a pat on the back or a participation trophy. I'm just trying to do my part. And that's why I get a little uncomfortable and start joking about things when something like this award comes up. To me, at least, it's not that big of a deal. But I've also come to know that for the people who pass out the praise or give out the awards it IS a big deal. They're trying to show their appreciation for whatever's been done, and I get that. And while I don't think it's necessary, I guess it is actually kinda cool to be honored like this.

And that's why I made my little speech last night.

In it, I mentioned a line I use at the beginning of every tour or program I do, and that's that I don't know everything. It's true; even the best research can leave vital information uncovered, and it actually gets to the heart of why I enjoy doing this stuff so much. After every tour or every program I'll get people coming up to me and letting me know a story I've not yet heard, or correcting a story I'd previously been told. That's why I do all this stuff for the History Center—so I can share what I know, and so that I can learn stuff that I'd not previously known.

The award is nice, but the knowledge I gain is even better.

So that's what I've been working on the past week. They wanted to keep the award recipients a secret, and I was more than happy to honor that request. So the next time you see me leading a tour throughout downtown Marquette, you can tell yourself it's being led by a (reluctant) award winner.

But an award winner who's looking to gain a few more stories to tell himself.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 2/20

Today looks like it will be a busy day.

I have to go shoot the first of two “High School Bowl” episodes for the week in a few minutes; like last week, this show will be one that airs this Saturday. I then have to go to work and do whatever it is I do there. I may take a few moments to curse Mother Nature, especially if we get the snow that's promised. Then after work I have to go make that speech to which I've been alluding the past week or so.

And do some other stuff that goes along with giving it.

I'm in no way complaining; it should, after all, be a very fun day (except, of course, for the snow). And I've been promised treats after the speech tonight and the other stuff that goes along with it, so that's a bonus. It's just another one of those days I wrote about a few weeks ago, when there are so many cool & fun things going on that you don't have a second to sit back and reflect on what just happened before you have to move on to the next one.

I mean, if you're gonna have a problem in your life, that's a good problem to have. So maybe I should just shut up while I can.

Because I have to scoot soon, I will leave you with that, and with this promise—tomorrow, the full scoop on why I had to write a speech, why I have to give it tonight, and why I couldn't tell you the reason behind it.

Assuming, of course, the snow doesn't get to me first.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)