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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.

bespoke / Instagram / IU / photo / podcast / television / Tuesday / Twitter — Comments Off on Another multimedia Tuesday — or as we call it, a Tuesday
21
Sep 21

Another multimedia Tuesday — or as we call it, a Tuesday

Did something a bit different this morning, and it worked out well.

It’s National Clean Energy Week, and so I talked with a guy who researches bioenergy and land-use and the impact of changing vehicle fleets and we talked about some of these things and a whole lot more, like ethanol, switchgrass, private use, government programs and so on. It’s delightfully nerdy, so please press that little orange play button in the top left corner.

We did that one over Zoom, which is the part that was different. I (finally) discovered an ingenious setting for my computer, Zoom and mixer. So, on my end, it sounds like a studio. On Dr. Jerome Dumortier’s end, it sounds like he was in his home office in Indianapolis. You can hear the sound of his voice bouncing off the drywall, but it’s much better than the typical compression you experience when I record these as a phone call.

So I am pleased both by the outcome of the interview, and the aural quality. I’m only kicking myself, a little, for not doing that interview earlier, and discovering how I could integrate Zoom audio much sooner into these episodes.

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

Today’s was not the best look, I think. I like the pocket square. It works with the jacket and the shirt.

And I like the cufflinks, which worked well as a contrasting splash of color on the shirt.

But I think three points of contrast are too many for my limited style.

They can’t all be the best combinations, I tell myself. And I was a bit rushed this morning, I keep telling myself.

But my mother-in-law said she liked the cufflinks, so I’ve nothing to worry about on the day, right?

Studio tonight. News time, and so we go the desk …

It occurred to me this evening that I need to think up a few new ways to shoot studio gifs.

There’s always next week. And tomorrow.

And tonight! This is our view of the cloud-covered harvest moon.

Monday / photo — Comments Off on Catching up
20
Sep 21

Catching up

Here are just a few photos to get us started on the week. May yours be productive, but not overly busy!

We had a nice long walk this weekend. Here we are walking on the path to be paved later.

There’s a nice wide asphalt pedestrian/cycling path on either side of that section, and the connection would be logical, if not inevitable. The paths are one of the more attractive local features, but, sometimes, when we’re on this section, I wonder if maybe we’d all prefer to leave the occasional stretch in this well-maintained condition.

Some of the hardwoods are getting ready to go.

It’s both beautiful and distressing, really.

Equally distressing, I just noticed that we did not check in on the cats last Monday. It’s only our most important weekly feature! Shame on me.

Phoebe didn’t remind me to put up the pictures. That was the problem. She was too busy relaxing around the fireplace.

And Poseidon didn’t point out the oversight after the fact, either. He was too busy hiding out under the stove cover.

I built this when Phoebe and Poe came into the house because they are young and all over everything — Poseidon in particular. We were concerned they would walk over the stove top and singe their pads. I built it a little high, so heat could escape, but also so the top would be level with bar behind the stove. Both cats love to lay on it, which we allow. Poseidon especially loves it after a meal has been made. He enjoys the warm.

And now he’s figured out how to get under the thing.

He’s a toddler who will never grow out of it, I’m convinced.

But they’re both going to have a great week, and we all hope you do, too.

Catch ya tomorrow. Until then, did you know that Phoebe and Poe have an Instagram account? Also, don’t forget my Instagram. And keep up with me on Twitter. There are also some very interesting On Topic with IU podcasts for you, as well.

bespoke / IU / journalism / photo / Tuesday / video — Comments Off on We count our Olympians on this site
14
Sep 21

We count our Olympians on this site

Another Tuesday, another Olympian comes into the studio to take part in an IUSTV shoot. Just another day at the office.

That’s Andrew Capobianco, who won the silver in the 3-meter synchronized diving in Tokyo, and he goes to school at IU.

Capobianco tells us about a cool tradition you don’t hear about all that often.

He’s talking about his Olympic diver partner Michael Hixon, and Hixon’s former dive partner Sam Dorman.

The full interview will be in a program you can see online a bit later this week.

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

Today’s pocket square combo:

Also, here are a pair of my new, bespoke cufflinks I made this summer.

Pretty snazy, huh?

More videos and fashion and such tomorrow.

If you have some more time to kill right now, though, there’s always more on Twitter and check me out on Instagram, too. Speaking of On Topic with IU podcasts, and, oh hey, did you know that Phoebe and Poseidon have an Instagram account? They do. Check them out.

IU / Monday / photo / video — Comments Off on Weekend photos
13
Sep 21

Weekend photos

Just a few shots from weekend walks outdoors. And there’s also a video down below. But, first, the pretty things.

The sun silhouetted the trees and I further polarized the lens with a pair of cheap sunglasses.

The photos of which are never as cool, somehow, as what you’re seeing through the glasses themselves, but still fun nonetheless.

I thought this was a bit of toadflax, or hairy skullcap (that’s actually a wildflower name, yes) but now I think it could be any number of other things. I’m going with downy lobelia (Lobelia puberula).

And that is why when I did the last wildflower post I made the joke about failing hilariously at plant identification.

I’m not even going to try, here. Let’s just admire the contrasting colors.

I’m guessing this is some genus of Persicaria, or smartweed. There are 30-some species in that group. One of them has to be this color, right?

I feel comfortable with this one, it’s white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima):

I was rather surprised to find honeysuckle blooming this late in the year. I was pleased. It should bloom more. And, if not, this should be a sign of the new spring. It is almost springtime, right?

Look at this Yellow wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia), so full of life and promise:

Your standard issue bunch of goldenrod.

On our Sunday walk I heard this doe before I saw her. I don’t think that happens very often. She stood and stared for a long time, and let me get within about 15 feet before she calmly walked off.

I did not see the deer that was with her, which had stayed very still, until they both walked away.

We had a big video chat this evening with a Pulitzer Prize winner. Elizabeth Kolbert joined us via Zoom as part of the fall 2021 Themester, “Resilience.” Her Prize-winning book — The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, covers mass extinctions She has a new book, Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future, which was released a bit earlier this year.

The interview went well, after it got started. I’ve queued it to the beginning.

It’s always fun working on someone else’s projects.

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