Thursday, 3/28

I didn't think it would be that much of a landslide. And the results once again show that I'm a bit of an oddball.

Our “At Work/Online Network” for this week is tied into what's coming up Sunday, asking how individuals eat their chocolate Easter bunny—ear first, tail first, or some other way. I had no idea how people would respond, so I was a little stunned when almost everyone (or at least everyone's who's answered so far) said “ears first”.

Really?

Now, I don't want to make this into another one of those “which way to hang your toilet paper” controversies, but that's not the choice I would have made. Why, you ask? Well, I answer, there are many chocolate bunnies that have solid ears, unlike their hollow tails & bodies, so why not save the part with the most chocolate (the ears) for the end. You know, save the best for last.

At least, that's what I do.

Of course, I understand that some people want to scarf the good part first. I totally understand that, and won't fault you one bit. But unlike the Great Toilet Paper Controversy, I'm not totally agnostic on this. I do have a preference. I'm just surprised that my preference is so out of the mainstream. Of course, I shouldn't be surprised; after all, many of the things I do or find interesting are out of the mainstream.

But this far out? That's a new one even for me.

8-)

On that Easter-y note, we have tomorrow off, so there won't be a new one of these. I hope you have a great Easter weekend, and enjoy your chocolate bunny...no matter how you eat it!

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 3/27

I wonder if anyone knows this about me?

I received a text from daily blog reader Chicky-Poo in Melbourne Beach, Florida over the weekend (hi, dad!), and he was telling me about a video he was watching. The video dealt with a seven year old, and how the seven year old's dad was supposed to speak to his class. The dad had something come up, so the kid instead asked his garbage collector to come in and talk about collecting trash.

Apparently, the garbage collector was the most popular speaker the class had all day.

Anyway, my dad brought this up because of his nerdy first-born. As has become readily apparently over the years, I was an unusual kid (thankfully, I grew out of that, right? (and as a side note, it's a pity sarcasm doesn't transform into the written word very well). And that...uniqueness apparently translated into my first-ever dream job. Nowadays, my dream job is to be a beach bum; when I was growing up, it was astronaut. But when I was five or so, I had a really different dream job.

I wanted to be a trash collector.

I don't really recall this personally, but both my parents have mentioned it over the years. When I was young, I would always wait for the day when the garbage truck would come by. I would then watch as the trash dudes threw stuff into the back of the truck, and stare in fascination as everything was compacted together. Whether it was the truck or the noise or something else, I don't know. But whatever it was made me proclaim to my ever-understanding parents that, one day, I wanted to be a garbage collector.

How I went from that to doing what I do now...I have no idea.

It actually reminds me of what happened here ten or so years ago, when we had a first or second grade class tour the station. There was one boy who, when told that we had a big battery downstairs to keep things running if the power went out, had no further interest in the station itself, or talking on the air, or recording himself. All he wanted to see was the big battery. He kept asking about it until I took him downstairs and showed him.

And by doing that, I'm pretty sure we made his day.

Kids are interested in what adults think are the strangest things. But that's what makes them kids. They're curious. They're learning about the world, and what makes it run. And if they see or hear about something that's big or loud or both, so much the better, whether it's a battery or a garbage truck.

Some kids, in fact, are so impressed that, if even for a short while, they dream of growing up and being able to put one to use every day when they go to work.

(jim@wmqt.com), garbage collector in another life.

Tuesday, 3/26

It's not my fault. I'm sure of that.

Winter finally decided to make an appearance (only its second of the season) yesterday in Marquette--

As a joke yesterday, we solicited people who were to “blame” for the return of the nasty weather. One listener blamed their husband because he put their snowblower away, while another blamed herself because her knees hurt every time it snows and she was trying to wish it away. I guess in the end it doesn't matter; as I mentioned last week or the week before, we've just become really spoiled this year, and when winter decides to reclaim its rightful territory, we get a little upset.

But still, winter—go away. It's April next week. Those flower blooms that are already popping our of the ground need their space. Really, they do.

****

Speaking of stuff I wrote about a while ago, you may recall that I mentioned, in once of those “my life just keeps getting weirder” posts, that I spoke with a reporter for Marquette Monthly, because they wanted to do a profile on me. Well, that profile is coming out this week, in their April issue. I have no idea what it'll be like, but the editor says it' a “highlight” of this month's edition. So, I guess, check it out and see if you agree.

By the way, have I mentioned my life is weird?

8-)

(jim@wmqt.com)

Monday, 3/25

You know, maybe I need to enunciate a little more clearly.

I’ve now had two people come up to me at entirely different times in the past two weeks and ask the exact same question--“How come, when you’re taking Instant Requests, you ask the caller about their station for “More Music, More Fun, and and Instant Request? Why do you say ‘and' twice”? Well, I actually don’t. I ask them about their station for “More Music, More Fun, and AN Instant Request”. And once I explain that to the person asking the question, they realize what’s going on, and nod their head in acknowledgment.

However, as I’ve found out many times over the hundreds of years that I’ve been doing this, if more than one person notices something, then a LOT of people are noticing that same exact thing. Therefore, I guess I need to enunciate a little more clearly.

In all honesty, I don’t even pay attention to stuff like that, and I’m sure I should. I’m sure a vocal coach could come in and explain dozens of things I’m doing wrong (like not enunciating clearly and being overly dependent on the words “okay” and “like”). I’m sure a real radio “professional” would point out that I don’t punch the right words or phrases, and that I often just sound like I’m talking to someone, instead of having a voice that sounds like I Should Be On The Radio.

My bad. I guess I just don’t really have a radio voice, something that’s been pointed out many times when people meet me for the first time and say, “You sound just like you do on the radio!” Well, yeah...that’s just because it’s me talking. I’ve never approached it like I should sound like I Should Be On The Radio; I just always figured it’s just me talking to you guys, and why should I have a “radio voice” to do that? Yet there are so many people in this business who are what are known as “pukers”; people with big RADIO voices that make themselves sound like their tonsils are coming out of their throats. I’m sure you’ve heard them before, and I know that’s what some people expect when they turn on the radio.

But that’s not me, and it’s not something to which I ever aspire.

However, maybe I SHOULD work a little on the enunciation, especially if people keep wondering about the double “ands” at the end of an Instant Request. I do tend to speak rather quickly, and maybe, sometimes, on occasion, my words tend to run together, especially if they have the same sounds, like “and” and “an”. So I’ll try and work on that.

Like I said, my bad.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Friday, 3/22

Because I have to go out and shoot a couple pieces of coverage for some “Pieces of the Past” before I head to work, I'm going to leave you with something I wrote a couple of years ago. But considering I'm working on another set of the videos, and I'm up to my eyeballs in old pictures, maybe it's appropriate.

Maybe.

Have a great weekend!

(jim@wmqt.com)

******

(as originally posted 3/1/21)

I know dreams don't literally come true. But I sure wish this one could.

As I've gotten older, the dreams I have at night have become less vivid. No longer about falling from the sky or walking down the street with no clothes on, my dreams now tend to be a bit more prosaic,.a bit more down-to-Earth. Because of that, I don't really seem to remember them when I wake up as much as I used to.

And that's why the dreams I had two nights ago really stuck with me.

The dream wasn't about anything weird or strange; it didn't involve zombies, dragons, Jennifer Aniston, or me heading down the street wondering where I had left my underwear. It was another in a series of prosaic, boring dreams. No one died, no one was in danger; my subconscious wasn't trying to tell me anything. It was just a dream. But it was an amazing dream, at least for me. It's a dream that has stuck with me the past two days, and a dream that makes me wish dreams really could come true. Some of you may laugh when I tell you about the dream, while others will think it makes perfect sense.

What was the dream that's stuck with me the past few days? Well, I had a dream that I was wandering around downtown Marquette, taking pictures with my 20 megapixel Nikon DSLR camera, which is something that I actually do all the time.

But in my dream, I was doing it in 1935.

That's right—the dream that I had involved me having a piece of modern technology in my hand and using it to document buildings and people that were around decades before I was even born. Instead of looking at the black & white pictures that exist from that era, I was able to capture structures that burned or were torn down in vivid, stunning color. In my dream, I saw the old Marquette in a way that I'd never actually be able to in real life. In my dream, I was able to walk down Washington & Front Streets and take pictures of the Opera House, of the Union National Bank building, of the Nester Block, of all the bars that existed on the 300 block of South Front, and all the old hotels that existed around the train station.

And all the pictures I was taking of those amazing old buildings were in color.

I know; I'm a dork. You won't get any argument from me. The fact that, in my dream, I was able to walk down the street and know exactly where each old building was is a testament to that. But just to have the chance to break multiple rules of physics and to go back in time, even if it was in a dream, was amazing. I've poured over hundreds of historic photographs in a decade-plus of doing programs for the History Center, but those were all black & white. In the back of my mind, I always wondered what those buildings looked like in person, what they looked like to those who passed by them on a daily basis.

And thanks to my dream, I now know. Kind of. I mean, whatever images popped into my brain while I was sleeping weren't true. They weren't real. They were just stylized images, put together with whatever clouding and shading my unconscious mind generated. But still...they were in color. Unlike every other time in my life when I've glanced at those long-gone buildings, they looked like living, vital structures, and not just mono-chromed images from decades past. I realize no one else would probably ever have a dream like that, but I still think that it was an amazing way to spend part of an REM cycle.

It's just too bad a dream like that can never come true.

Thursday, 3/21

I guess we really HAVE been spoiled so far this year.

I've written in here quite a bit about the mild winter we've had. It really hasn't been cold at all, we're only at about 40% of our usual snowfall, and even though Spring technically started a few days ago it seems like it's been Spring since, oh, Thanksgiving. So when we actually do get a little winter-like weather, which we have on occasion, we whine.

A lot.

Here's what it looked like outside yesterday--

Yeah, I know. There was an inch or so of snow and a cold north wind, both of which occur quite often as we head into the latter part of March. But because we've had such a mild winter it now seems as if we feel we're entitled to nice weather. So when we get “normal” late-March conditions, like we did yesterday (and should again today) we complain that it's cold and it's wet and it's yucky in general.

Amazing how quickly you can get spoiled, huh?

Now, if this was late April (or, heaven forbid, late May) I could see the reason for the complaining. In fact, I would probably lead the masses in that complaining. But even I realize that it's still March, and in many Marches if we had a day like we had yesterday we'd look at it as a sign Spring was on the way because we ONLY had an inch of snow and temperatures were up to (gasp) the 20s.

But not in the “winter” of 2024.

The way things have been going this year I'm guessing we'll soon be back to the sunny skies and, I dunno, temperatures in the 90s by next week. Honestly, in 2024, nothing would surprise me. But even if the more seasonal weather sticks around, we probably shouldn't complain about things being “normal” too much.

After all, as we all know, it could be a whole lot worse.

(jim@wmqt.com)

Wednesday, 3/20

Because I was curious (or because I'm a masochist...I'm not quite sure which) I went back into the archives to see what I wrote on this date back in 2020.

It was not a pretty thing to read.

That, of course, was right in the heart of the Covid shutdown. The week prior saw the world turn upside down, with no idea what would happen. Because radio was considered an essential service I still went to work every day into a studio complex that was devoid of people except for me (something that lasted for over a year, if you're curious). And because no one knew how bad things would get, on this date four years ago I wrote about something I hope I never have to write about again--

“I now find myself in possession of a document that I never thought I would have, nor one that I ever thought I would actually want. Should the state come under a quarantine or a stay-at-home order, I have permission to leave my apartment and go to work, and not get arrested for doing it.

That's just way too weird for me.

However, radio is considered an essential service in this country, and is still, despite all kinds of social media floating around, one of the primary ways in which people get information. So it's not like we can just stop our lives and hunker inside with everyone else. We're licensed to operate in the “public interest”, and this is one of those times that literally define “public interest”.

Hence, we're an 'essential service'”.

Thankfully, I never had to use the piece of paper. Thankfully things did, after several starts & stops, get better, even if the virus is now part of our everyday lives. But when you think about what we were going through four years ago this month & next it makes you shudder. Or, at least, it makes me shudder, not only because of what we went through back then but also because of the fact that we're still dealing with the fallout from it, in many different ways, four years later.

Our world really did change four years ago. And not for the better. But for now, at least, you don't need to be in possession of a piece of paper to walk three blocks to work.

And let's hope it stays that way.

(jim@wmqt.com)