Author: Mark Malinowski

Mark is WBJC's morning host. His full bio can be read here.
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Leap Year…

This February 29 (ever notice how so many people say Feb-YOU-ary?  It’s Feb-RUE-ary, but why split hairs?) we celebrate the birthday of Rossini.  An interesting and brilliant guy.  He stopped writing operas when he was 39 (William Tell was his last) and decided to spend the rest of his life dining and partying.  His parties were all the rage in Paris, and anyone who was ANYONE wanted to attend.  By all accounts, he was a gourmet chef, and liked to eat as much as he liked to cook.  Later in life, he started writing music again–his “Sins of Old Age” as he called them.  He used interesting titles, like the “Would-be Dramatic Prelude” and “A Word to Paganini.”  Although we hear his music a lot, we only get to celebrate his birthday once every 4 years.

When I was in 6th grade (Transfiguration Grade School, in Detroit) a classmate of mine, Ron Wrobel was a “leap year” baby.  We all felt sorry for him, because he only had a birthday once every 4 years.  Now, at my age, that doesn’t sound so bad…

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Oscar stuff…

Once again, the Academy Awards have come and gone, and, once again, I didn’t watch it on television.  Once reason is that the only awards I am interested in come at the end of the program, and having to get up at 3:30 am…well, it’s just too late for me.  Additionally, I like to say I don’t care.  The fact is, when I get into work the next morning, the first thing I do is go to the Associated Press computer and look up the winners.  Yes, I’m a real fake.  Funny thing is, I don’t go to movies very often, and when I do, they generally are not in the running for Oscars.  I like movies, but I don’t particularly like movie theaters.  I enjoy watching movies at home–TCM is one of my favorite cable channels.

Normally, I really don’t care who wins, since I rarely, if ever, see any of the movies nominated. This year, however, I was happy to see the silent film “The Artist” win for best picture, and it’s star win for best actor.  I don’t know whether someone campaigned real hard, or if the voting members were that impressed.  I think I’m going to see that movie.  I remember about a year ago, the silent version of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (Lon Chaney) was on TCM, and I watched it and couldn’t believe how engrossed I got in it.  The “low tech” aspects of the film never occurred to me.   I hadn’t seen a silent film in a long time, and forgotten how good they can be.  I do like the high-tech stuff, but it is refreshing when something simple can give such pleasure.  So I think it was nice that the winner (among a group of films that I am sure were outstanding) was a silent film.

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Social Networking, again

So, someone has come up with something called “The 10 Commandments of Twitter.”  I’m not going to go through all of them.  Suffice it to say that most of it seems obvious (to me, anyway), but because someone has come up with these, it’s obvious that it’s not obvious. (How’s that for obfuscation?)

I will discuss two of the “Commandments.”  Commandment IV states that one should always thank someone for a complimentary tweet, or a retweet, or a mention (when someone uses your “twitter handle” in a tweet).  I don’t think one needs a Ph.D. to figure this one out. Acknowledgement is part of common (nothing common about it these days) courtesy.

Commandment IX states “Though shall not be vulgar.”  Holy (smoke) Batman! I am astounded at how vulgar some of the tweets I see are.  Look, I’m not a prude. I’ve heard it all (remember–26 years in the Navy).  Once again, what one chooses to say in a private missive is one thing, and what one chooses to say in a VERY public forum is another altogether. When I was an instructor at the Defense Information School (I taught journalism and broadcasting) I would tell my students that every word they wrote is an autobiography, every picture is a self portrait. Like it or not, you will be judged by what you choose to put before the public.

Perhaps I AM prudish, or maybe I’m becoming an old fuddy-duddy. I think not, though.  I just think that we can do better, and feel that if more of us “cleaned up our act” on an individual level, we would improve on a collective one.

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Thank you!

Our Winter Fundraiser ended Saturday night at 9, and in a big way.  During the three-day drive, WBJC received  over 1,000 pledges, 375 of which from NEW members, and we exceeded our overall goal for the drive.  Thank you to everyone who called in or visited our new website and made a pledge.  Thanks also to the many volunteers who came here day and night to take calls, sort pledge forms, and generally help out where possible–we certainly couldn’t do it without you.  Thanks to all the food donors who provided breakfast, lunch and dinner (and snacks in between) and made the whole experience so much more pleasant. During the drive you hear me and my colleagues on the air, but the real work goes on behind the scenes.  Yvonne Allen and Diana Ross from membership make the arrangements and schedule volunteers, and also are charged with keeping track of all the pledges, getting credit card approvals, and sending out thank you gifts.  The drive starts weeks early and ends weeks later for them.  Our Development director, Jim Ward makes arrangements with the many food (and equipment) donors, schedules when they will be here, and picks up and delivers a lot of the stuff himself.  Our Engineer, Bob Lenio, has to hook up all the phones,  set up additional computers, and the microphone link to the pledge area.  Thanks Bob, for the “cough” button in the studio!

It’s really a team effort, and even our general manager, Joe Hutchins, is actively involved during the drive as a shift leader (keeping track of pledges as they come in, entering the numbers and ensuring the announcers have totals updates) along with Yvonne and Diana.  You don’t hear them on the air, but they really are the ones who make it happen. Of course, your calls and “e-pledges” are the real stars of the show!  Thanks again for your support–the money is important, but your validation of what we do can’t be measured!

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What’s in a word?

Saw a report on a morning news show the other day about the proliferation of vulgarity in mainstream entertainment, specifically in book titles.  The books in question all had titles that had to be blurred (pixillated, in high-tech parlance) because they are not allowed to be said (or read, for that matter) on television.  This is clearly a gimmick to attract attention to a book that one might otherwise not be very interested in.  Probably with good reason, but I shouldn’t make value judgements, should I?

One aspect of language that I find a bit distressing is the creation of words.  Don’t get me wrong, all language is evolutionary in nature, and new words become a necessity.  100 years ago, the word “television” didn’t exist.  Because televisions didn’t exist.  That is not what I am talking about.  I’m talking about words like “wellness.”  What the heck is “wellness?”  Is it anything like “wonderfulness?”  Now we don’t go to the clinic, we go to the “Wellness Center.”  Why, so I can hang out with all the “well” people? Instead of saying “wellness,” why can’t we say “good health?”  Or are we SOOOOO busy we don’t have time for two words when one will do.  Well, it doesn’t do.  That’s not evolution in language, it’s just lazy.

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Another one in “the can”

Well, the season ended for our Baltimore Ravens last night.  It was a real heartbreaker, right down to the last seconds, but overall, a tough game between two worthy opponents.  A lot of people are blaming the hapless kicker for missing what should have been a routine field goal, but there were other issues in the game that could have changed the outcome.   A “dropped” pass in the endzone that should have been ruled a touchdown (read the rules, and it was a TD by definition), and then when not ruled so, should have been challenged.  Of course, it’s easy for me (and a lot of other “armchair quarterbacks”) to sit in judgement.  What would I have done if I were there?  Good question, and the answer is, I don’t know, and never will.  What I do know is that our team gave us a great season, with a lot of thrills and spills, and never lost at home all season.  We have several pro-bowlers, and one of our players is one of three in the entire NFL nominated for a humanitarian award.  Thanks guys, for a great season, and we’ll just have to teach ’em a lesson next year!

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01/22/12 – Beethoven and Liszt

Franz Liszt was a great admirer of Beethoven.  He played Beethoven’s Sonatas and Concertos regularly, and did several arrangements of Beethoven’s music, including arranging the symphonies for piano solo.  One might very well ask, “why do such a thing?”  Well, we take so much for granted in our time.  In Liszt’s day, the opportunity to attend symphony concerts were rare, and were limited to those who lived in big cities.  Traveling 25 miles by carriage or on horseback to attend a concert–well, it probably wouldn’t happen.  And, while Beethoven was pretty well-known at that time, outside of the major metropolitan areas, much of his music had never been heard.  The best way to get people to hear Beethoven’s symphonies was to arrange them in a format that the music could be taken to the people.  Moving an entire orchestra was far too impractical, but smaller ensembles, or soloists could make that happen.  Liszt’s arrangements of Beethoven’s symphonies did just that–took these works to audiences that might not ever hear them.   Oh, it also provided a great vehicle for showing off great virtuosity.  Kind of an added bonus.  Listen for a Beethoven Symphony in arrangement for piano solo by Franz Liszt on this Sunday’s “Toccata” on WBJC.

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That’s Entertainmen?

I can’t help but worry about the state of “entertainment” in our country.  I know it’s all so subjective, but I’m bothered by the fact that some of the most popular programs on television provide entertainment at the expense of others.  Look, I’n not above a bit of “low brow” humor from time to time, but some of this stuff…

One popular program (“Hoarders”) focuses on people who are compulsive hoarders.  Some of them have had their homes condemned because the situation had gotten so bad.  They always insist that there is nothing wrong.  These are people who need serious treatment for a serious mental problem.  They should not be put on public display for the entertainment of the masses.

Another program (there have been several, actually) looks at people (often celebrities) who are in rehab centers for drugs and/or alcohol.  Once again, these are sick people trying to get well.

Of course, there are the “reality” (how “real” are they, I wonder) shows where the participants see who can get away with lying to their fellow participants the longest before getting voted or booted off.  Behavior we would find reprehensible in any other context.

Well, I suppose I could go on, but I feel the entertainment value of this piece is pushing the limit.  I know the solution is simply–don’t watch the stuff, which I don’t, now that I know what they are about.  I just wish enough people took the same course, and then we might have some better choices.

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Holidays

It’s the best and worst time of the year. I love the Christmas season, largely for what it used to be–a time where people seemed to go everywhere with a smile. People seemed friendlier during this time of year. “Filled with good cheer,” I suppose you could say. People were busy then, shopping, cooking, entertaining, decorating, all the same stuff we do now. It seems different now, though. Part of it is certainly because I see things through the eyes of an old (well, mature might be a better term) guy as opposed to a young man or child. but something else is different. Everyone is walking around with cellphones held up to their ears, or wearing “blue tooth” devices and giving the appearance of talking to themselves, or wearing earbuds connected to some mp3 device listening to probably anything BUT holiday music. People seem oblivious to their surroundings, and appear to do anything possible to isolate themselves from it. Maybe it’s just me. I don’t think of myself as a Luddite–I like hi-tech as much as then next guy, but a little human interaction during this holiday season couldn’t hurt, could it?