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IU / television / Twitter / video / Wednesday — Comments Off on Late night, so just a few quick things
29
Sep 21

Late night, so just a few quick things

Something for you to listen to, if you haven’t already heard this one.

These school board meetings, around here, around the country, the angst, the rage, parents targeting students. It’s a bizarro world driven by the insecurities of a few preying on school board members who didn’t sign on for this. And everyone knows it.

Read this statement from a school district in northern Indiana:

A person’s beliefs notwithstanding, harassing and trying to intimidate others because of what you read on Facebook or have seen on OAN is some kind of performance. People are going to have to live with this one day. Righteous indignity and a lack of self-awareness don’t stay merged forever.

Except, of course, when they do.

Tonight!

It was a part of a big show. They shot it like proper television, and it worked well. They only had to loop two or three pick-ups.

I stopped by their post-production meeting — which I do about twice a year at most, even though they always look like a lot of fun — to compliment them specifically. The sports folks are doing some really nice work to be this early in the year.

And the news side, a bit younger but no less enthusiastic, is coming along, too. These were the shows they produced when we were in the studio last night.

And on this show, Anna was riding solo. It was a bit of last-minute planning. Unfortunate that it had to happen, but this is a good place to have to learn to deal with curveballs.

And if you like baseball talk, come back later tomorrow, and Friday, for a lot more sports, here in this same space. Until then, listen to that show above. And if you see yourself in a television, be just as cool as Ta, up there.

IU / photo / television / Tuesday — Comments Off on Puck and Oberon do not appear in this post, but other fossils do
28
Sep 21

Puck and Oberon do not appear in this post, but other fossils do

Here are a few of the crinoids I found down on the lake shore on Friday, or, as I’ve lately come to think of it, My Struggles With White Balance.

I shot all of these on my phone, because that’s convenient, isn’t it? But, next time, a real camera. There’s just far too much variation, and at the same time, a poor representation of the fossils colors.

Here are a few small samples of the 340-million-or-so year old columnal segments which became a part of sedimentary rock.

At first I wrote that in the present tense. Like it was happening before our eyes. How many millions of years ago did all those lumps freeze up as one?

You don’t often find samples, at this site anyway, which demonstrate the animal’s branches.

And a bunch of the typically small artifacts you’ll find on a public and oft-used site.

But, hey, not everyone comes here for the fossils.

No one does.

Some of you want to see things that are living.

Or at least pretending!

So here’s a rugged bit of damage on a young tree just trying to make do in the shadows of its elders.

(It’s doing well, in fact.)

Somewhere after noticing fall, and all of its pleasures, it’s time to notice the falling away of the ubiquities of summer. It’s the moment after Lileks’ annual observation of the apogee of summer and before Camus’ proclamation of the second spring, and you can see it easiest in the flowers we still have now.

All year, these two walnuts have been together. I wonder how far apart they’ll be when they eventually fall from the branches. I’m not saying it’s Midnight Summer’s Dream in those woods, but if you think of Hermia at the end of the second act, I would understand.

And, if it’s too late in the month for a bad Shakespeare reference, here’s something more prosaic. Anna Black is doing standups for What’s Up Weekly and I somehow managed to get all the signs in one shot. And she isn’t even blinking here!

That was this evening, one of two shows the news division of IUSTV produced this evening. I’ll share them in this space when they make it online, which should be sometime tomorrow.

adventures / Friday / IU / photo — Comments Off on A full fall Friday
24
Sep 21

A full fall Friday

First thing this morning it was into the studio. The morning show folks were under the lights this morning. I saw part of their production, but had to duck in and out for other things. There was a special alumni presenting to students today, so I had to do a bit to help with that.

And then there was a student who needed to interview someone in a podcast studio. That required giving a crash course in the equipment. (I saw her later. She said it all went great.) Then back to the guest speaker. And then another podcast tutorial.

After which I was able to sneak in a quick sandwich at my desk. And then the actual speaking event took place. After which I was able to catch up on Email.

And after that there was another podcasting tutorial.

One of the emails I fielded today was also about teaching people how to podcast.

Perhaps I should add that as an additional title.

(At least I had a nice matching blue theme today, no?)

After work it was to the house, and then immediately out to the lake to watch my lovely bride do one of her last Ironman workouts.

I also walked through the woods by the lake shore.

And I studied some of the flowering weeds.

And that sums up Friday, and most every day.

It’s the weekend. Supply your own allusion. And enjoy your weekend!

family / IU / memories / music / photo / television / Thursday / video — Comments Off on What was your first concert?
23
Sep 21

What was your first concert?

It was a productive and quiet Thursday, which allowed me to catch up on things and prepare for tomorrow, which will be productive and hectic.

I had a great memory this morning.

This is Ray Charles’ birthday. He was born in Georgia. I saw him when I was a little boy at Opryland, in Tennessee. My mother and my grandmother were at the park. And, to be honest, it was probably just an excuse to get out of the sun and heat for an hour or so. But, as I recall, they opened the doors for general admission seating and I, being smaller than everyone waiting to get inside, weaved through the crowd and got us seats close to the stage and right in the center. Maybe six or eight rows back.

Pretty great first concert.

Charles came on from stage right, sat at his piano, and The Raelettes came in behind him. At some point my mother leaning over and saying “I remember, he was old when I was young!”

He would have been about 54 or 55 at the time, my mother was in her mid-20s. That sentence is now hilarious.

He played to the crowd for a nice long matinee set. He leaned way back on his stool. He sang all of the songs you’d expect. He wailed on Hit the Road Jack. I remember that clearly. This isn’t from that show, but a concert about two years before.

I’m sure my grandmother knew some of his songs. Probably some of the country catalog and the stuff that, by then, had become American standards. I wonder what she thought about the show.

Here’s the sports show from last night. It’s just a barrel full of IU sports. What transpired, and what’s coming up. It’s all on Hoosier Sports Nite.

And here is one of the planters out front of Franklin Hall. This area, in the Old Crescent, is one of the campus highlights, and it’s always photogenic. The landscape and facilities people are putting out their best fall colors. They always do terrific work on campus. Just imagine this sort of thing all over the heavily landscaped parts of a sprawling campus.

We’re waiting for them to return my call about whether they work on private residences. I’ll let you know.

bespoke / IU / photo / television / Twitter / video / Wednesday — Comments Off on A case of pareidolia not smooshed flat after all these years
22
Sep 21

A case of pareidolia not smooshed flat after all these years

I park in a parking deck on campus. It’s a block from the office. I like the walk, most of the time, because it’s almost enough to separate the parts of your day. (Plus it keeps my car out of the weather!) So you figure I’ve parked there almost every working day for five years. Which means I’ve made that walk more than 1,000 times, allowing for parking in other places and what not.

Which means I’ve made that walk, back and forth more than 2,000 times or so.

Which means I’ve walked by this speed bump that same number, whatever it is, and never noticed …

But I saw that expression this evening and my immediate thought was, Now here’s a speed bump that’s seen some things…

The daily duds: Pictures of clothes I put here to, hopefully, help avoid embarrassing scheme repeats.

Today it saw a classic pocket square.

It’s all a part of my fall collection. I did not make that square. It came with a tie I bought years ago. Later this autumn I’ll wear the tie.

Here are today’s bespoke cufflinks.

I made these last summer. The colors mean they’ll match a lot of shirts.

I’m a fan of that sort of utility.

Last night’s TV productions … the news!

And the pop culture!

Tonight we were in the studio again, and it’s all about sports.

This episode, which I’ll share here tomorrow, boasts of origins from Indiana to Thailand to Alabama. And, no, that part isn’t me. Noah, the third person in that gif, is from Montgomery. Studios may as well be home, and you always want to have a bit of home around you. But it’s even more fun to talk about the same towns and schools and restaurants and such with someone who grew up not far away from where you did.

Someone has to tell all these midwesterners about good food, after all.

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