Thursday, 9/30

 Since I have to be at the dentist in a few minutes to get the permanent cap on the tooth I broke while brushing my teeth last week, I'll leave you with a tale from three or four years ago.

Well, actually, I wrote about the tale three or four years ago. The stories behind it goes back a few decades before that.

Something new tomorrow!

(jim@wmqt.com)

*****

Back in the 60s and the 70s there was a bowling alley and bar in Marquette called The Four Seasons. It was located on the west side of the city, in what is now the office building behind First Bank on Washington Street. Anyway, it was one of those places where people went if they were under-aged and after one night of drinking at that establishment led two young people to decide they wanted to take something home with them.

Specifically, they wanted to take two bowling balls home with them.

So, in their drunk state, they somehow smuggled two full-sized bowling balls out of the bar, and soon found themselves standing at the corner of Front & Ridge in Marquette. There they were—in front of Peter White Library, at the top of a very steep hill, holding two bowling balls.

You can guess what happened next.

As they rolled the balls down the street, they realized they had forgotten one very important concept—that of gravity. As the balls rolled down the (rather steep) hill, they picked up speed and within a few seconds had already traveled three blocks, down past Main Street. It was there the first ball hit a pothole, flew into the air, and into the window of a parked car. The other ball made it a few more feet, until it hit the curb and ended up going through the front window of Getz's.

If the Mining Journal had a police log back in those days, I can just imagine what the entry would've read, but alas, it didn't. The two young people never were caught, although the person who shared the story says they still feel guilty about it. I don't know their names, so their secret is save with me, but it's just one of the many stupid things people have done when they're young & drunk. And in possession of two bowling balls.

Ah, you gotta love history, don't you?

8-)

Wednesday, 9/29

 When you sneeze, how many times do you sneeze?

Yeah, I know. It's a strange question. But it is a legitimate one, born of yet another weird discussion between me and the most amazing woman in the world. Usually, when I sneeze, I sneeze twice in a row. In fact, most people, when they sneeze, sneeze twice in a row.  But in the past few weeks (since we've returned from visiting Loraine's parents, in fact), I seem to be sneezing only once. I sneeze, I wait for the second, and it never comes.

On the scale of important things in the world, that probably ranks last. But I'm wondering why I've changed, a wonder made even stranger when Loraine informed me that she's always usually only sneezed once.

Married all these years, and there are still things I'm discovering about her.

Actually, the fact that I never realized she only sneezes once at a time probably goes to show just how trivial this whole subject is. But I like to think I'm attuned to what goes on with my body, and when I all of sudden started sneezing only once instead of twice I noticed it, much in the same I'd notice something else weird, like a toe dropping off or a third eye growing out of my forehead.

It was just out of the ordinary.

Now, I sneeze a lot, especially during the summer. It's not (always) allergies. I'm one of those people who has photo-voltaic sneezes. When I step out in the bright light, especially summer sunshine, I sneeze. In fact, I usually sneeze twice. So why I've started sneezing only once instead of the usual twice has me perplexed. Did something happen downstate that robbed me (or cured me) of that extra sneeze? Has the diminishing light of Autumn caused me to lose the extra sneeze, and for the first time in my life I've actually noticed it? Has living with a single sneezer all these years finally rubbed off on me?

I have no idea. And while the world won't stop revolving on its axis if I don't find out, it is the kind of thing that might cause someone with a weak mind to lie awake at night pondering the mysteries of it.

Not, of course, that I'm someone with a weak mind. Nope...not me.

8-)

Like I said, in the schemes of things it ranks slightly below the mystery of where your socks disappear when you throw them in the dryer. Who knows? Maybe my double sneezing will return, and I'll forget all about it. Or, heck, who knows—maybe I'll keep my habit of single sneezing, and in a year I'll forget that I was ever a double sneezer. Neither way would surprise me.

After, it's just a sneeze (or two).

(jim@wmqt.com)

Tuesday, 9/28

 If everything goes to schedule—no sure bet these days—we get to start it again a week from today.

That's right. One week from today—barring any kind of tragedy—we, for the first time in almost two years, get to start taping a new season of “High School Bowl”. After all the fits and starts of hoping we'd be able to do it last year, and then having the plug pulled at the last minute, I think we're all looking forward to getting back into the studio and spending a little time with the brightest young people on the planet.

At least I'M looking forward to it.

The guts of the show--smart kids and a dorky host—will remain the same. However, it'll look a bit different that it did when we wrapped up the previous season in the Before Times. A new set was built for the season that never was last year; now, that's been modified even more and, perhaps for the first times since the 70s, the show will now look “modern”. I've seen mock-ups of it, and I can't wait to see it in person.

I think people watching the show might really like it, too. It sure is...different, even though it's set up in a very familiar way.

Another big change that might occur? Well, there's a chance we'll all be masked up on camera. It's an NMU rule, and we're still seeing how that all falls out. All the students, of course, are seated close to each other, and while I'm more than six feet away from them, I do have to get in close for the mid-show interview segments. I don't mind wearing a mask—if nothing else, it means I could probably get away with not shaving before a show--and if it sets a good example for someone out there, I'm all for it.

As with the new set, we'll see how that all shakes out.

And finally, although people watching will have no idea at all, we're having to shoot the first couple of episodes in segments, and not necessarily in order. We shoot the first half of the first show on day one, and then the second half a week later, when we also shoot the second half of the third show. It goes on like this for most of October—for instance, we don't shoot the opening half of show two until week five—but the viewing audience should have no idea.

The only person to whom it really matters is me, if only because I have to make sure my clothes from one half of the show to the other match up.. Hopefully, the chart I made up actually works. Otherwise, you'll be sitting there wondering why I'm in a pink shirt for the first half of the show and a black one for the second.

And nobody wants that.

Like I said, one week from today we'll see if all this works. And, if I haven't mentioned yet, it's something to which I am really looking forward. Hopefully, it'll be as much fun as it was the first six years we were able to do it!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 9/27

 Loraine's a good person to have around.

I mean, there are many reasons why the Most Amazing Woman in the World is good to have around, but the way in which I'm thinking today has to do with a 1947 movie called “Daisy Kenyon”. One of the times she was at Peter White Public Library doing her World War II research she came across a little snippet about the movie and shared it with me.

I've been taking it to the bank ever since.

You see, the film was on “Turner Classic Movies” this past Saturday, so I decided to share that fact on a couple of places on Facebook. Why would I do that, you ask? Well, I answer, because the nugget Loraine found out about the film was that a scene was shot here in Marquette. This scene, specifically--

That's a screen shot from the 20-second scene they shot at Presque Isle one day in March of 1947. Before Loraine shared the newspaper clip with me I had no idea it existed; since then, I've gotten blogs, TV commercials for the History Center, newspaper articles, and now, a Facebook post with over 500 likes from it.

I think I owe her something for that, don't you?

I actually think we make a pretty good team in that way. She comes across something that she can't use but I might find interesting and shares it with me. I do the same for her. In the case of that story from a long-ago edition of the Mining Journal, it's just a gift that keeps on giving.

And I'm really glad I'm the one to whom she gave it.

So next time you see a blog, commercial, newspaper article, or Facebook post about “Daisy Kenyon” and how one scene of it was shot in Marquette, just remember that while I'm probably the person telling it, it's a story that would not be told without the keen eye of the Most Amazing Woman in the World.

Thanks, Loraine!!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 9/24

 Maybe it's a sign the sign should be moved.

Several times this past summer, when it was nice out, I would take my lunch down to Lower Harbor and munch on it at one of the picnic tables in front of the ore dock. Several times this past summer, when it was nice out, my mom & her cousins would hold their weekly Wednesday dinner at one of the picnic tables in front of the ore dock. Aside from the fact that we both eating there there was another thing that occurred to both of us at least five or six times a visit--

Tourists asking what that “thing” is in the water.

Now, I realize that the Lower Harbor Ore Dock—dock #6, as those of us in the know like to call it—is something that tourists find fascinating. It's unique, it commands your attention, and it compels you to find out more about it. That's why so many people visiting the area asked us about it.

When asked, I was more than happy to tell visitors the story behind it (sometimes, perhaps, more than they wanted to hear), and my mom & her cousins did the same. When we were discussing it last week my mom mentioned that the city might want to put up a sign explaining what the ore dock is.

Then, while I was out taking pictures this past Sunday I was at dock #6, and noticed there is indeed a sign explaining what the dock is. Unfortunately, it's on the bike path and not right near the dock--

I understand why there's a sign on the bike path, so that people walking or biking nearby can learn about the dock. But what about all the people who just pull their car into the parking lot to catch a glimpse of the dock? They don't know there's a sign on the bike path (heck, even I wasn't fully aware there's a sign on the bike path) so they have no idea there's the whole story nearby. Instead, they have to ask people sitting at the picnic tables. Thankfully, almost all of us are more than happy to explain what the dock is.

But what about those times when there's no one eating lunch or visiting with their cousins? Then what do visitors do?

I guess I'll have to drop a few hints to people about either moving the current sign or putting another one up by the dock. After all, it is one of the symbols of where we live. It's one of the unique things that make Marquette “Marquette”. And wouldn't it be nice for people visiting this rather unique community to get the whole story of the iconic structure?

At the very least, I think so.

Have yourself a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Thursday, 9/23

 Thankfully, today started out much better than yesterday.

When we last met I was on my way to the dentist after losing an outside chunk of one of my teeth. I'm now the proud owner of a temporary cap on that tooth, and awaiting the arrival of the permanent cap one week from today, which means my smile will be back to normal a mere five days before I start shooting “High School Bowl” for the first time in two years.

So if I needed to lose part of a tooth, this was the perfect time for it. Not that there's ever a perfect time to lose a tooth, but if it was going to occur I'm glad it occurred now. Let's just hope it doesn't happen again until, say, the end of February.

Not that I want it to happen again, but you know what I mean.

Now onto the other adventure of the week (so far)--the tide may be turning against the Russian hackers.

For those of you who don't know, Russian hackers had tied up the company upstream from the company that provides our phone service at work with ransomware, demanding $5 million to unclog their servers. Thankfully, the people at both companies affected are quite smart and outfoxed the Russian hackers, which means that for the first time since Friday we have working phones at the station. Good thing, too, seeing as how phone calls from listeners are a big part of what we do here.

That's not the only dealings with Russian hackers that touched us peripherally, either. The company that provides us with our traffic software—how we schedule commercials—had their servers brought down by a different Russian hacking group. Thankfully, that didn't affect us at all, because while we use their software we don't use their cloud-based services. They keep trying to get us to do that, but we have older equipment and we like to keep things local.

In this case, it worked out. Otherwise we'd be manually placing each and every commercial we play in the computer by hand. And trust me—as the only one working here, that's NOT something to which I'd look forward.

Really.

So all the little kerfuffles of the week (so far) have been taken care of. I'm hopeful that the final two days of the week will be kerfuffle-free. If you would, keep your fingers crossed that's the case.

My sanity thanks you for that.

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 9/22

 This is not how I planned on beginning my day.

I lost a chunk of a tooth while brushing my teeth a little while ago (and just as a side note, isn't brushing your teeth supposed to be a GOOD thing?). I have no idea how it happened, other than the fact the tooth was more filling that actual tooth and it finally gave out after decades of protest. No matter how and no matter why, I do have to go see about getting it fixed, and the only time in the next week and a half my dentist could fit me in is, well, about 45 minutes from now.

And I do need to get it fixed—you can see the missing chunk of tooth when I smile. I start shooting a TV show in two weeks. A TV show where I smile a lot.

See why I need to get it fixed?

Anyway, that's my long-winded way of saying that this will be a short one today. Don't worry, though. Tomorrow I get to tell you about Russian hackers.

Really, I do!

(jim@wmqt.com)