Author: John Bollwitt

It goes without saying that being with loved ones is very important this holiday season. Heading home to spend time with those that mean so much to us is important, more so if you give in to what this time of year means. Sure, there is the whole exchanging of presents and so on, but the memories of christmas past are what stick with you most.

However, what is really bothering me is my neighbor who has apparently left town for such purposes, leaving his alarm clock to go off at 5:30 every morning. I would go as far to say that his bedroom must be opposite of the wall where I lay my head, the alarm clock being at the same level and location on the other side. I can’t hear anything else when it comes to my neighbors, but this just pierces straight through, waking me up quite annoyingly.

A whole week of this?… Oh boy, I can’t wait.

There are elements of those things I get obsessed about that tend to drive me completely nuts. Take TV for example. I have such a love/hate fascination with pop culture. One minute I can try to enjoy an episode of a sitcom, the next minute I find the audience laughter worse than nails on a chalk board. Reality programming perks me up for a few seconds, but I quickly feel it all being the same and uninteresting. Music video channels are great, but it can get as sugary as commercial radio, except the pictures make it just that much more painful.

I blame a lot of it on education. It’s something anyone should keep in mind when they come to college with a media studies track on their mind. Quite honestly, it’s a lot of fun to sit around class rooms and talk about the social impact of television and radio, but nothing seems the same when you take your favorite television show and are forced to write an eight page paper about it regarding some deeply ethical topic you examined in class. This can be applied to many aspects of study, but we’re talking about entertainment here.

Of course, all this is done to enlighten you to different ideas and theories that otherwise wouldn’t be considered unless you were stuck in a room listening to such things. Once it’s there, the bad taste left in your mouth takes a lot of time to get rid of.

I have come to never underestimate the power of a song. There is the power to move you. The ability to add meaning to life. Putting a smile on your face because no matter how ugly life is at that exact moment, things got a little better because you hear something that just feels good. However, have you noticed its ability to underscore life as it passes you by?

Allowing the car to warm up before driving home this evening, Pizzicato Five was on the radio with their version of “Silent Night.” I have loved them for many years now, but sadly own none of their music. Two people from Japan who make absolutely incredible, funky, lounge type music that is just sugar to my brain. Keep in mind that most, if not all, of their lyrics are in japanese, this song being no exception. The funk I have grown to know and adore was missing, but I could tell pretty clearly that it was them.

I’m sitting there, waiting for the engine to prepare for the ride home when I see a couple walk in front of me carrying garbage sacks, one stopping to crawl slightly under a nearby truck to kick a bottle out to add to their collection. We all looked at each other from the moment we spotted one another, but I am not too sure as for what reason. Eventually they drifted out of sight, the song ended, and I made my way home.

I now carry a scarf, gloves, and cap with me where ever I go. In the trunk of the car, I have insulated boots, overalls, and a survival kit consisting of enough food to stay alive in the event that I end up in a ditch. For the most part, I have taken these measures in case I end up having to fix or do something outdoors when it comes life at the station. The other half of the story is the bitter cold air that has drifted in from the north.

Winter is here.

Serious this time.

Riddle me this…

Why have car commercials stayed the same after all these years? The formula has always been static, and the only thing to change is the cars or car dealers they promote. Show the car, flash the numbers on the screen, and mix in a spokes person that you have never heard about in your life up until the point that they feel the need to tell you what his or her name is as this horribly annoying ad runs before your senses. Sure, the numbers do have significance, but we all know that buying a car is a messy situation. Give me something like trunk monkey. At that point, I’m sold.

I’ve added various pictures from KRUI into the gallery for your viewing pleasure.

The station within itself has become a workout of sorts. Anyone who knows me understands the routine I put my body through in the early morning hours of nearly everyday that passes. The reason being is for the simplicity of just feeling normal. Feeling human. My health also plays a major factor. This fact is true for most people, but if I neglect this element from my life, I run into too many instances of not feeling well. I grew tired of that sometime ago, and this is the best way to combat that.

We are pushing hard to get projects done that have sat idle for too long. I’ve said before that there is that end of the year push, but with consolidation on the calendar, this is something entirely different. I am in the area of business where we make things work. No one really comprehends the tinkering that goes into making something he or she wants to do possible. The pinched fingers, scraps, bruises, sore muscles, and relentless, unpaid hours of labor that goes into a subtle element of a single broadcast that you, the listener, takes to be just a matter of commonality. You might not even notice, but people like me are apart of it.

What I will say is that where I am now, people say “thank you.” I cannot express how much that phrase means to me.

The worst part of winter is the lack of sunlight. You can feel every last bit of happiness start to leave you as the winter solstice slowly approaches, only to be relieved by the cheer that your respective winter holiday might bring you. Once the new year passes, what’s left to get you through it? Sure the days slowly grow longer, but there is really nothing else to drive you until spring has a chance to really take hold. However, I have made my share of people upset with me for impromptu snowball fights. I can’t help it. There’s just something about pelting some one with a good handful of snow.

Light is good. In fact, in these dark months, it’s the best thing for you. I took steps to combat the lack there of in confines of my apartment.

I shall prevail.

Some have asked as to why I have been working so diligently on my resume. The story is finally starting to roll out into the public realm, but for those who know me, I haven’t been very quiet about it. It always strikes me funny that public entities keep things so secret from the taxpayers who pay for their jobs. Down the road, they can’t figure out for the life of them as to why people have developed this sense of “hate” for them. Perhaps it’s just another example of the sick, capitalistic society we live in that I constantly find myself arguing against. Granted that I’m not the best guy at it, but “that’s the way it is” gets on my nerves faster than country music does. And that’s pretty fast.

Consolidation is going to happen. The questions of if and when are no longer apart of the plan. The agenda is being set next week, and all control has been vacated by everyone I work with. The timeline will be dictated, new bosses will appear, some people will lose their jobs, others will shift into new positions, and the local public radio station in this area will not be as local as it used to be. In less than a year, a completely revamped, statewide network will replace what has been here, at least in this area, since 1919. Everything that is here now will stay here. The difference will be a small group of people controlling what they believe is in the best interest for the state.

Where does this put me? I’m not sure. The memo is sitting here on my desk, and I see places where I will fit in. I’m told I’ll still be here, but no one has any solid answers. However, I saw it coming. My search has been going on for a few weeks. Change is the inevitable. Finding out where you are within that is the adventure. I’m just getting impatient to see what’s going to happen next.

So I met Ira Glass tonight…

Truly, he’s just a normal guy. Ira’s fun, easy to talk to, and dry wit as you could probably imagine. I have to say that my years meeting people of fame, some of those being of the utmost, personal respect, I don’t really get hyped up about the situation other than just being able to shake the hand of some one I have absolute respect for. It makes me happy to do that. I don’t like to bother them with a lot of questions or try to act all suave to what’s going on. He has a heart, liver, and digestive system just like I do. We just have vastly different jobs and lives.

During his lecture, I had moments of where I was looking into a mirror. So many ideas and theories that I have about radio were echoed by the bullet points he went across. The major difference is that Ira is out there doing all the things that are constantly floating around in my head about the theatre we both work in. What he is doing today with This American Life isn’t perfect, even after the years put into the project, but that’s what makes it so incredibly wonderful. The fact is that there are all sorts of things being applied to his product. They are either new, unique, or simple. It’s different. It’s the art of storytelling.

There was a point where he asked the crowd to clap if they were aspiring journalists. The next question for those who wanted to progress on to a career of working in radio. The third question was for those who were happy with what they were doing with their life. I might not be there one hundred percent, but I couldn’t help but make my contribution to the applause on the third request. There used to be a time where I would have done that for the second, but I’m doing that now. Embarrassingly, I almost did anyway.

I can officially feel like the holidays are here. Christmas came yesterday morning when I woke up, with sleep caked in the corners of my eyes, I pulled the shades open to see snow. Real snow. About that point, I don’t feel so bad about summer leaving us for the depths of winter. In a couple months, we’ll be friends again. The snow I can handle… for now.

Life at the station is picking up into a mad push towards the end of the year. There is something to remember when you are sitting there, thinking that broadcasting is where you’d like to be in life. Take a moment to think about all the holiday programming that goes on. Some of it you love, some you loathe. Either way, there is some one out there making it possible. Staying late, working hard, and planning out how it’s all going to go.

It gives a whole new meaning to “holiday cheer.”