Lately the temperature swings have made for some cool frost. Not the long spiky kind, unfortunately, but frost just the same. This is one knobby on the tire of my truck, and it caught my eye as I was getting ready to head out with my camera the other day. This was before the current warm stretch, of course. I hope I can start getting back out with my camera more, just like the old days…
Crews spent some time lashing the Lewis & Clark riverboat to the shore this weekend as the river level jumped up in the area. The park is closed and water is high due to ice packing in downstream.
Every year they take this boat out of the water with a huge crane and set it on some heavy duty cribbing until spring. That’s all fine and dandy until the water rises to the level of the boat anyway.
Even the ice machine wanted to get into the act. That’s a pretty decent seal, although I doubt that water is going to do the compressor or electrical components any favors.
I didn’t take a look at the water level indicator further down River Road, but I did notice some water in the ditches and low lying areas further north along the road. Hopefully we don’t have to deal with more flooding this year, in Bismarck or anywhere else in North Dakota.
Fargo police officer Jason Moszer has passed away due to injuries inflicted by one of the citizens he’s sworn to protect. Domestic violence calls can be the most unpredictable and volatile situations, and this proved true on the night he was shot. This cowardly act on the part of the shooter was senseless and deprived a community and a family of their hero. I drove to the capitol yesterday and stopped at the Peace Officer Memorial to ponder for a second. The thought of another name being added to that wall is infuriating.
There’s a donation campaign underway. If you want to help out Officer Moszer’s family, please consider going here and donating. I’ve been on the receiving end of financial help from others when we were going through our family’s avalanche of medical and other issues, and it’s an enormous blessing. Here’s the link:
https://www.crowdrise.com/fargopoliceofficermoszersfamilybenefit/fundraiser/aaranjoneson
Pray for the family and comrades of Officer Jason Moszer.
This little bugger is known as 1059580, which to the average person is KBMR 1130 AM. It sits over on East Rosser Avenue, right in the backyards of some Bismarck residents. And it’s putting out 10,000 watts of your favorite country classics. Unfortunately it’s putting it in some rather troublesome places.
Anecdote: when I was working at a local TV station years ago, our on-air talent began complaining that they were hearing “country music” in their IFB earpieces. At first we thought they were nuts (after all, they are broadcasters) but eventually had to switch to wireless earpieces. One of the station engineers figured out that the offending signal was coming in through the power lines.
I recently came across this situation again with an audio mixer that proved susceptible to this phenomenon. When I’d adjust the microphone preamps I would be treated to a twangy jam instead of the audio source on the other end of the wire. I ended up switching to a different mixer to get rid of the result.
I’ve also had instances east of town where I couldn’t leave a microphone cable on the concrete floor without picking up KBMR and had to switch to wireless. What a joy.
A friend of mine who used to work over by the Coca-Cola plant said he could hook up to his filing cabinet and get his dose of the classic country. I don’t know if he could feel his teeth tingle, but maybe that’s just reserved for the people who live right next to this tower.
I’m just a layman and possess no engineering or electrical degrees, but I think I know the issue:
The image above shows KBMR’s tower, which these days is located behind the studio building, in relation to two big electrical junctions: the Western Area Power Administration and Montana-Dakota Utilities. Remember how I said the engineer traced the interference to the power coming into the building? By the way, those are people’s homes in the left edge of the photo.
What I’m wondering out loud is whether it’s a good idea to be throwing 10,000 watts of radio frequency energy into the local electrical grid. In one of our trucks, if I drive alongside the power lines on the south side of Century Avenue, KBMR even bleeds into KFYR 550 AM. Not an ideal situation. It seems as though being adjacent to two substations turns the electrical wires into a giant antenna array.
My understanding is that KBMR’s daytime tower (they go low-power at night) used to be east of Menoken. When Anderson Broadcasting began building 710 AM KXMR, they moved all operations of KBMR to the in-town stick and used the Menoken tower as part of a directional array for 710. I can’t find an online paper trail of this using the FCC’s page, because their site and search aren’t very intuitive. But that’s my foggy recollection.
My contention is that if KBMR’s full-power signal was beaming 10,000 watts on 1130 kHz from this site east of Menoken, people wouldn’t be picking up Merle Haggard in their dental work and houses on 35th Street wouldn’t require filters on their telephones. But that’s just me… I’m just a simple caveman when it comes to this stuff. As a video professional, though, I sure wish I didn’t have to chase this signal out of my microphones when recording within the Bismarck city limits. I grew up listening to classic country & western music with my dad, but there are times I wish it would only come out of my radio and nothing else.
The life of a freelancer does not jive well with sleeping normal hours (or at all, some days). The past month and a half has been insane and, while I’ve been buying a lot of gear and software with the proceeds, I haven’t actually gotten to use any of it for my own enjoyment. Yet.
You know how I say, “The best camera is the one you have with you!” ad nauseum? Well, in this case I took my iPod Touch out to snap a quick pic with some Photoshop in mind.
Every time I drive down East Divide Avenue and pass the Winger Apartments, I can’t help but start singing “Seventeen” or “Down Incognito”. I’m not a Winger fan, but I’m aware of the body of work. So in this case I dug up a photo of Kip Winger, threw it in the foreground, and while it is not my finest work it at least got this out of my system.
If I was a renter here I’d get a cardboard standup of Winger and put it in the window. How many folks do you think would get it?
I know you’ve seen them: those vinyl letters pasted on the back windows of almost any vehicle sold in Bismarck-Mandan, proclaiming the URL (website address) of the dealership which sold the vehicle. Often they’re very large, almost always they use a rather unattractive font, and they’ve been a pet peeve of mine since they started popping up.
I’d figured that when I found myself in the position of buying a new vehicle, I’d propose that the dealership either remove said decals before I take the vehicle or give me a $300 payment or credit on the vehicle in exchange for leaving the decals on the car for one year. After all, advertising has value. Dealerships pay radio and TV stations to advertise for them. But as a long time advocate of “if you want something done right, do it yourself” I decided not to do so when buying my wife a vehicle recently. Also, the sales person is a friend and I didn’t want to dump that kind of conflict in his lap.
This reminds me of the occasional “offer” I receive – and others in the creative and technical fields receive as well – of doing something either for free or for a ridiculously low fee. Invariably it comes with the promise that “you’ll get your name out there” (without actually saying where “out there” is) as a result of donating my time and work to said offer.
Right. My name is “out there” plenty, and I have more than enough side work (mostly video, sometimes photo) to keep me busy – especially when juggling kids, a new house, and (from 2013-2015) serious health issues. I think I’ll pass on such a promise.
In our photo club people who engage in photography and other pursuits for a living urge up-and-coming photographers to charge what they’re worth. I like to hammer four little words into every such conversation: Your work has value.
So does someone driving around with your website emblazoned across their car window. In fact, there are places that will pay you to put decals on your car and drive around with them. The car dealerships are well aware of what the product on their lots and in their showrooms is worth. They’re not afraid to tell you and charge you accordingly. Therefore they should not be offended if, no hard feelings, you take that new purchase home and promptly scrape off the uncompensated advertising as soon as is convenient. That’s exactly what I did. No hard feelings, but nobody rides for free.
This is the photo that started it all on January 1st, 2006. Ten years ago. Wow. A lot has changed since then. Not only am I much more occupied with work, freelance work, and being a husband and Daddy, but I’ve also had to ride out some major health issues and lots of moving: moving my family into a new house, moving my studio/office at work, and moving my church. So I don’t post daily anymore, but I do share what I can. I keep thinking that soon enough I will be able to get out with my cameras more. Meanwhile, I took some time to chase down even more photos like the one above:
This angle looks so straightforward, doesn’t it? The fact is, I only recently discovered it. This is actually taken from down Sixth Street a little ways. That’s the best way to get the NORTH DAKOTA CAPITOL sign in the shot without having it dominate the photo. Getting farther away gets a perspective that matches it in size with the pioneer statue, and allows both of them to grow in relation to the capitol tower. It’s a fun shot to get, but not when there’s a lot of traffic whizzing across the frame on Boulevard Avenue.
Here’s what I’m talking about. If you just go to the bottom of the mall and take a photo from the road, this what you get. The capitol sign is large, the tower is small, and the pioneer statue is all but indistinguishable. I don’t know why I didn’t think to venture farther away and set up my shot down 6th Street before this, but I’m thankful for this year’s epiphany.
The parking lots on the north side of the capitol were redone a year or two ago, and that opened up this shot from the backside of the legislative wing. Previously this angle was obscured by trees, and I’m sure it will be once again someday as newly planted ones grow to adult heights, but for now I have a brand new perspective on the capitol that was not possible when I first started doing this bloggin’ thang.
This year I had a clear sky at sunset and decided to try something a little different. I’ve had a blast taking shots of the entire capitol complex from the northeast hill and posting it as my blog’s Facebook cover photo. That’s fine, since it’s such a wide angle shot that it crops very nicely into the 851×315 dimensions required by Facebook. But what about a traditionally framed shot? Well, rather than worry about the DOT / Heritage Center buildings I opted this time to pan west toward the sunset and include only the judicial and legislative wings of the capitol along with the tower. It worked great with the peachy sunset colors, too.
Well, here’s to another ten years! It looks like I’ve posted in the neighborhood of 3,500 photos so far. I sure hope I have plenty more photos and musings to share!
If you’re like me and enjoy taking in the sight of the decorated capitol building each Christmas, then I’m sure you noticed something brilliantly new this year about the decorations. In fact, it is visible from a long distance away: the new lighting on the stars atop the tower.
An interesting anecdote about these stars: my best friend’s dad built them and, in an old-school display of awesomeness, airlifted them to the top of the tower with a National Guard helicopter. This was about 45 years ago. They have since been touched up with welding to repair corrosion on the tips, had their mounts modified, been updated with different lighting sometime in the 80s, and they now sport some awesome LED light bars.
Like a nice, white, star-shaped cherry on top. At a friend’s house on the big hill directly east of the tower, you can still see the stars from a 90 degree angle. They originally caught my eye from east Century Avenue! In other words, these stars are extremely visible and make a fantastic accent to the Christmas decoration of the tower windows.
I don’t care if today is the 29th. Merry Christmas!
I know, Christmas is so yesterday. Literally. But I don’t care, I’m going to continue the Christmas spirit for a while. One of the things I do is to pump Christmas music out on 102.5 FM using an extremely low-power FCC-legal transmitter, allowing me to turn on a radio anywhere on my property and listen to the music playing on my garage computer. I love Christmas music, and it’s great to be able to have it on in the background wherever I may be when I’m at home.
If you’re into Christmas music, I invite you to peruse this meticulously prepared Christmas playlist. Clocking in at nine hours and fifty minutes in duration, it’s enough to play throughout the day with nary a repeat. There are some real gems here, and I have no problem admitting that I’m a little proud of the collection I’ve curated this year. They appear in no particular order; in fact, I went out of my way to randomize them.
Next year I will have to select a new frequency, as Dakota Media Access will be broadcasting on that frequency. Now worries, a flip of a few DIP switches and I’ll be happy as a clam on another vacant frequency. My sincere hope is that some of you take the time to check out some of these songs on iTunes and enjoy them for yourselves in future Christmases.
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Bing Crosby
The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year – Burl Ives
Gabriel’s Message – Sting
Jingle Bells – Count Basie Orchestra
Yabba-Dabba Yuletide (extended) – The Brian Setzer Orchestra
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! – Dean Martin
Deck the Halls – Mannheim Steamroller
Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow – The Andrews Sisters
He Shall Reign Forevermore (Live) – Chris Tomlin
Christmas Candles – The Andrews Sisters
The Little Drummer Boy – Bing Crosby
The Little Drummer Boy – Johnny Cash
Winter Wonderland – The Andrews Sisters
I Wish You a Merry Christmas – Bing Crosby
Sleigh Bells – Gene Autry
All I Want For Christmas Is You – Mariah Carey
Mistletoe & Holly – Robert Davi
Song of the Sleighbells – June Hutton
Silent Night – Jingle Cats
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) – U2
Peace On Earth / Little Drummer Boy (With Dialogue) – Bing Crosby & David Bowie
Silent Night (1947 Single) – Bing Crosby
Little Jack Frost Get Lost – Frankie Carle and His Orchestra
A Merry Christmas At Grandmother’s (feat. Danny Kaye) – The Andrews Sisters
White Winter Hymnal – Pentatonix
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (A Shrift Remix) – Andy Williams
Christmas in Killarney – Bing Crosby
Here Comes Santa Claus [feat. Bing Crosby] – The Andrews Sisters
Christmas Alphabet – The McGuire Sisters
The Little Drummer Boy – Harry Simeone Chorale
Christmas Dreaming – Seth MacFarlane
Look Out the Window – Gene Autry & Rosemary Clooney
Christmas Dinner Country Style – Bing Crosby
You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch – Thurl Ravenscroft
Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer – Dr. Elmo
Here We Come A-Caroling – The New Christy Minstrels
The Reindeer Boogie – Hank Snow
That’s What Christmas Means to Me – Eddie Fisher
The Things We Did Last Summer – Dean Martin
What Child Is This – Vince Guaraldi Trio
We Need a Little Christmas – Percy Faith
Peppermint Winter – Owl City
Twelve Days of Christmas (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
The First Snowfall (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
Carol of the Bells – Mannheim Steamroller
Happy Holidays – Percy Faith & His Orchestra and Chorus
O Holy Night – Ray Conniff Singers
Mele Kalikimaka (Merry Christmas) – Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters
Santa Claus Meets the Purple People Eater – Sheb Wooley
What God Wants For Christmas – Darius Rucker
It Snowed – Meaghan Smith
When It’s Christmas on the Range – Bob Wills
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
Christmas / Sarajevo 12/24 (Instrumental) – Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Christmas on the Plains – Roy Rogers
A Marshmallow World – Dean Martin
Suzy Snowflake – Dale Evans
Come On! Let’s Boogey to the Elf Dance! – Sufjan Stevens
Jingle Bells – Dean Martin
The Christmas Song – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Hark, The Herald Angels Sing – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Nuttin’ for Christmas – Barry Gordon
The Walk – Dickon Hinchliffe
Silent Night – Dean Martin
Sleigh Ride – The Ventures
Away in a Manger – Jeannie C. Riley
I’ll Be Home for Christmas (Single) – Bing Crosby
Star of Wonder – Sufjan Stevens
O Come, O Come – MercyMe
Winter Wonderland – Bing Crosby
It’s Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas – Michael Bublé
Silver Bells – Dean Martin
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree – Brenda Lee
O Fir Tree Dark (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
The Littlest Angel – Bing Crosby
Thirty Two Feet, Eight Little Tails – Dale Evans
Christmas the Whole Year Round – Sabrina Carpenter
We Are Santa’s Elves – Burl Ives
Parade of the Wooden Soldiers – The Andrews Sisters
Sleigh Ride – The Andrews Sisters
The Christmas Song – Mel Tormé
Joy to the World – Percy Faith
O Tannenbaum – Naturally 7
Mele Kalikimaka (the Hawaiian Christmas Song) [feat. Bing Crosby] – The Andrews Sisters
Carol of the Bells / Jingle Bells – Barry Manilow
Christmas Island – The Andrews Sisters
Christmas Time Is Here (Instrumental) – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Run Rudolph Run – Bryan Adams
O Holy Night – Sufjan Stevens
Light of Christmas (feat. tobyMac) – Owl City
Christmas Carols by the Old Corral – Tex Ritter
If Santa Could Bring You Back to Me – Jimmy Wakely
Great Pumpkin Waltz – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Old Tex Kringle – Tex Ritter
Here Comes Santa Claus – Gene Autry
Frosty the Snowman – Jimmy Durante
Winter Wonderland – Dean Martin
The Winter Solstice – Sufjan Stevens
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing / It Came Upon a Midnight Clear – Bing Crosby
White Christmas (1947 Single) – Bing Crosby
Jingle Bells (Single) – Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters
The Christmas Song (Chestnut Song) – Love Tractor
Humbug – Greg Lake
Peace On Earth / Silent Night – Dean Martin
Winter Wonderland (Bonus Track) – Jason Mraz
Auld Lange Syne – The Lonesome Travelers
Silver And Gold – Burl Ives
Silver Bells – Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely
Christmastime Again – MercyMe
Where Did My Snowman Go? – Gene Autry
Christmas Medley (Music from the Videocraft TV Musical Spectacular) – Burl Ives
Frosty the Snowman – Bing Crosby
What a Glorious Night – Sidewalk Prophets
Angels We Have Heard On High – Aretha Franklin
Christmas As I Knew It – Johnny Cash
Pat-A-Pan / While Shepherds Watched Their Flock – Bing Crosby
I Saw Three Ships – Sting
Für Elise – Vince Guaraldi Trio
White Christmas – Dean Martin
I’d Like to Hitch a Ride With Santa Claus – The Andrews Sisters
The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late) – David Seville & The Chipmunks
Jingle Bells – The Singing Dogs
The Twelve Days of Christmas – Mitch Miller & The Gang
I’ll Be Home for Christmas – Dean Martin
Poppa Santa Claus (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
O Holy Night – John Williams & Chorus
Jing-a-Ling, Jing-a-Ling – The Andrews Sisters
Silent Night – Eddy Raven
December Prayer – Idina Menzel
Blue Christmas – Dean Martin
Skating – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Single) – Bing Crosby & The Andrews Sisters
Faith of Our Fathers (Single) – Bing Crosby
Jingle Jingle Jingle – Burl Ives
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – Bing Crosby
Only at Christmas Time – Sufjan Stevens
Blue Snowflakes – Ernest Tubb
The Closing Of The Year (Reprise) – Happy Workers (“Toys” Soundtrack)
Up On the Housetop – Gene Autry
Jangle Bells – Love Tractor
My Little Drum – Vince Guaraldi Trio
May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You (feat. Bing Crosby & Nat “King” Cole) – The Andrews Sisters
Joy to the World – Jeannie C. Riley
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas – Bing Crosby
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer – Gene Autry
Happy Holiday (Beef Wellington Remix) – Bing Crosby
What Child Is This? / The Holly and the Ivy – Bing Crosby
O Tannenbaum – Vince Guaraldi Trio
What Child Is This (Greensleeves) – Lorie Line & Robert Robinson
Do You Hear What I Hear? – Bing Crosby
Looks Like a Cold, Cold Winter (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
Little Donkey – Beverly Sisters
Winter Wonderland (feat. Perry Como) – The Andrews Sisters
All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth (feat. Danny Kaye) – The Andrews Sisters
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – Andy Williams
Snow Snow Snow – Band of Merrymakers
Santa’s Beard – The Beach Boys
You’re All I Want for Christmas (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
Christmas in Killarney (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
Silver Bells (Single) – Bing Crosby & Carole Richards
Jingle Bells (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
Thanksgiving Theme – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Snoopy’s Christmas – Royal Guardsmen
Chiron Beta Prime – Jonathan Coulton
Sleigh Ride – The Ronettes
Jingle Bell Rock – Brenda Lee
Somewhere in My Memory (Chorus & Orchestra Version) – John Williams
White Christmas – The Drifters
O Holy Night – Lorie Line & Robert Robinson
Is Christmas Only a Tree (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
Christmas Is Coming – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Merry Christmas Polka – Tex Ritter
Very Merry Christmas – Dave Barnes
Overture and A Holly Jolly Christmas – Burl Ives
Track Meet – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Christmas Candles (feat. Curt Massey) – The Andrews Sisters
It’s Christmas (Medley) [Live] – Chris Tomlin
Joy to the World – Mannheim Steamroller
Hallelujah (Remix) [Bonus Track] – Mannheim Steamroller
I Pray On Christmas – Harry Connick Jr.
Jingle Bells – Band of Merrymakers
Winter Wonderland (Christian Prommer Remix) – Shirley Horn
Blue Christmas – Ernest Tubb
Snow (From White Christmas) – Seth MacFarlane
Adeste Fideles (1942 Single) – Bing Crosby
Little Saint Nick (Single Version) – The Beach Boys
Greensleeves – Vince Guaraldi Trio
Wonderful Christmas Night – Roy Rogers & Dale Evans
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Single) – Bing Crosby
Christmas Candy – Margaret Whiting & Jimmy Wakely
O Holy Night – Bing Crosby
My Everything – Owl City
Angels We Have Heard on High – Sufjan Stevens
The Merry Christmas Polka – The Andrews Sisters
The Star Carol – Simon & Garfunkel
The Christmas Tree Angel – The Andrews Sisters
Be a Child at Christmas Time – Doris Day
Last Christmas (Studio Version) – Jimmy Eat World
Frosty the Snowman – Gene Autry
Happy Holiday (feat. Bing Crosby) – The Andrews Sisters
Here she is: the 2015 Christmas tree in the Capitol’s Memorial Hall. I wrote earlier about its assembly as the first artificial tree in Memorial Hall. You may have heard about it a day or two later from one of the mainstream media stations/publications that follow my Twitter feed.
It’s a biggun, too. Whereas previous trees were in the 24 foot range, this looks considerably taller. In fact, as you can tell from the photo above, I couldn’t even take its photo from my usual location:
This is how I would photograph previous trees, but this new one is so tall that the hanging light fixture completely obscures several feet of the tree top.
See what I mean? That’s why I had to take the photo from an angle this year to get a pleasing perspective of the tree. That’s okay, I get more windows (and the candle-shaped light in the windows) that way.
No room for presents underneath, although that’s probably never been an issue. While I’m extremely disappointed that we won’t have real trees again, this “tree” does have two redeeming features. The first is that since it isn’t a fire hazard they can hang electrical lights on it. In fact, the post I referenced earlier shows that the branches come with LED lights already affixed. The other is that it has a LOT of real estate for the donated ornaments that come in from North Dakotans via the ND Council On the Arts.
So, this is what change looks like. Again, as a matter of general principle I prefer a real tree. But this artificial one is not without its merits. Since it doesn’t change from year to year, I probably won’t be back next Christmas to photograph it. I might see if there are any individual ornaments that catch my eye, and share photos of those, but other than that the Christmas tree will be on repeat in future Christmases.
Merry Christmas!
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