Weather Beacon glitch prompting a quick Beacon history refresher

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Driving around with my little boys tonight, we happened to drive through central Bismarck. It wasn’t long before someon noticed that the Weather Beacon was not lit. My little guys’ eyes frequently check for the Beacon no matter where we happen to be.

I reminded the boys that Daddy used to be responsible for updating the Weather Beacon five nights a week. There are a lot of cool things I’ve been able to do over the years, and this is one of them. As a result, I have a little bit more Beacon background than the average Bismarck-Mandan resident. That’s why I occasionally shift into Weather Beacon History Mode. here’s the lesson material:

The staff of KFYR 500 AM radio are in charge of switching it these days, but I don’t think they have any way of verifying that the relays on top of the building actually switch as they’ve been instructed. Sometimes they don’t. That’s typically the issue when the weather beacon isn’t up there indicating (or, as some surmise, generating) the next day’s weather.

So…that thing doesn’t really make the weather…does it?

It was fun to joke about that during my KFYR days. The TV station control operator (me, five nights a week) was in charge of changing the weather beacon to reflect the updated forecast throughout the broadcast day. On our program log in the control room, in between entries for commercials and programs, were occasional reminders to update the weather beacon.

There was a panel in the weather room with six buttons on it: red, white, green, flashing red, flashing white, and flashing green. These switches are still in a rack at the TV station, even though they are have not been connected to the Beacon for quite some time. Last I remember, the KFYR Radio control guys switched it by dialing a phone number (no, I’m not posting that here).

The poor Beacon almost faded into history in 1997. It was showing its wear, and the cost of modernizing it was prohibitive. That was, however, until KFYR Radio rode to the rescue. Phil Parker and Mark Armstrong of the “PMS in the Morning” show headed an effort to Save the Beacon!

At this time, Meyer Broadcasting was still intact. While I was hard at work on the TV side of the building, I also freelanced the website for KFYR-AM Radio. As part of the campaign to save the Weather Beacon, we had a couple of pages on the website urging people to help donate.

You can click here to see the original Save the Beacon page from my archives. Yeah, the Web has come a long way.

The campaign was a success in that it raised money toward the Beacon’s restoration, increased public awareness of its plight, and served as a rallying cry to its rescue. While the entire cost of the Beacon’s renovation was not raised, its importance to the community was indisputably proven. Through a matching grant from local government and plenty of donations, the project was underway.

As part of the KFYR website, we were happy to post that the Beacon would be saved. Cliff Naylor did a report on the Beacon that aired as part of a live telecast from the roof of the Provident Building, atop which the Beacon still sits.

You can click here to see the post-campaign page from my archives and watch the video.

As I recall, and the details in my head are quite murky, the Beacon was restored but still had some gremlins. I believe it was then refitted one more time and has functioned ever since. None of it would have been possible without Phil and Mark. To this day, the controls reside with KFYR Radio instead of the television station. In fact, why don’t you call the Phil Parker Show on KFYR some morning and ask Phil about it?

Oh yeah…the t-shirt. We had t-shirts made, and I still have mine. It has caricatures of Phil Parker and Mark Armstrong on the front, and a key to understanding the Beacon on the back:

Weather Beacon white as snow, down the temperature will go.
Weather Beacon red as fire, temperature is going higher.
Weather Beacon an emerald green, no change foreseen.
When colors blink in agitation, there’s going to be precipitation.

Provident Life used to sponsor TV spots featuring the Beacon and its rhymes, voiced by the dulcet tones of the late Ron Franke. Since they’re no longer doing business there, the ads don’t run. That means that the weather beacon itself is somewhat obscure now, with newer Bismarck-Mandan residents unaware of its history. For those of us who have lived here a long time, it’s good to see the weather beacon standing tall. No matter what the forecast, there’s something great about seeing it red in the spring, green when things are just right, and white when Thanksgiving and Christmas approach. Thanks to everyone who helped keep it up and running!

And now for something completely different

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I wanted to try one of these funky polar images using a panorama of the sunset at one of Fort Lincoln’s blockhouses. I think it turned out pretty well for a first attempt. In the course of wrangling this through Photoshop I learned a few things about how better to compose and exopse a shot for this sort of treatment, as well as get an idea of which types of shots will respond well and which won’t work at all. Have a good weekend!

Lean into it

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Today’s music reference blog post title comes from the Mr. Big album. This farm sits north of town and was a point of interest for my youngest boy and me a short while ago. We couldn’t go near, but of course I have a loooooong lens for situations like that.

I have a strict rule about obeying posted NO TRESPASSING SIGNS (and the law) when out on these photo hunts. I’ve found that if I discover a place where I want to take my camera, locating that sign and calling the landowner listed thereon will result in an invitation to proceed. Only once have I reached some drunk jackhole who thought it’d be fun to be rude, swear, and insult me rather than simply say “No.”

If you are into photography, I suggest the same diligence when out with your cameras. It only takes one wandering uninvited photographer to tick off a landowner to the point of never allowing anyone on their property. Ask a hunter how that works out.

Missed ’em

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This is what I was hoping for last night; however, I spent the evening dozing off with an ice pack while waiting for an unsettled atmosphere to suddenly flare up. Horsing around with my boys, I managed to acquire a huge, swelling bruise that I needed to tame before any late night excursions. Thankfully, it worked…but I did end up sacking out for the night.

This photo is from the last time Northern Lights abounded in North Dakota: 2005. It’s partially responsible for me getting a digital camera in the first place. I spent the previous solar maximum in the 1980s hanging out at Double Ditch with friends while breathtaking displays filled the sky overhead, and I wanted to capture the moment. Then, as if my purchase had single-handedly extinguished the sun, the solar activity period waned and I’ve waited ever since. I only got a handful of Aurora Borealis photos before things quieted down. Needless to say, I’ve been waiting as anxiously as all those scientists who’ve been scratching their heads and wondering why the solar maximum has taken so long to return!

Hopefully, now that I’ve almost totally ditched this head cold and managed to bring down the swelling of my brand new shiner, I’ll be able to hit some of my favorite spots and put to use some of the best tricks I’ve learned in astrophotography over the past six years. Naturally I’ll be treating you to the results as soon as they manifest – I hate posting recycled content!

Melange and malady

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At last – some snow! It’s a couple feet less than I prefer, having grown up in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, but it’s a start. Of course, I set things in motion when I took my snowblower in for a tune-up…but this isn’t even enough to bother with it. I have a little boy who LOVES to shovel snow, so we turned him loose instead.

I managed to capture this incongruous mixture of random rural elements while out on some remote gravel road, as usual. This particular photo is actually from quite a while back; I spent most of my weekend unconscious while trying to sleep some sort of cold/flu/sinus malady instead of outside with the cameras.

I sure was excited for the Northern Lights which resulted from a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the sun over the weekend – but of course it was cloudy! I actually don’t mind that so much, since my ailment had me bedridden (or couch-ridden) anyway. If conditions had been right overhead and I’d missed the event due to illness, I’d have been plenty frustrated!

Here’s to the start of another great week.

Mater could not be reached for comment

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I spotted this rusty old vehicle hiding behind some trees southwest of town a while back, just as the sun was starting to really splash the area with color. The hour before sunset/sunrise and the hour after are absolutely magical from a photography point of view.

I know this isn’t a tow truck, but thanks to Pixar I start thinking of Tow Mater every time I see a rusty old truck anywhere. That may have something to do with having two little boys who love all things related to Cars and Cars 2!

Chillin’

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Yeah, these cold snaps aren’t much fun. They’re slightly more tolerable if you possess the ability to fluff up by a factor of two or three times your actual body size!

This little guy and his friends inhabit the bushes along the McDonald’s drive-thru on Main Avenue. I couldn’t help but take a quick photo before rolling ahead to get my food.

Iranians no longer an underserved demographic in Bismarck-Mandan television

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I’m kind of bewildered at why a new digital television channel, 43.1, is transmitting some sort of Aryan Iranian 24/7 broadcast. I don’t know what the actual content is, since I don’t speak Farsi…but there it is.

I actually was clued into this little broadcast by a friend who lives on the north end of town; those of us living down south are unable to pick it up, apparently. I have an excellent antenna array and usually get a 96% or greater signal on the locals, but I can’t get channel 43-1.

My friend surmises that New Song Church is operating this station (for instance, check the GPS location of the transmitter) and has attempted to contact someone at the church, but has not received a response. There’s a pretty good paper trail on this station, though:

– It’s licensed by the FCC to a little LLC called EICB-TV;

– EICB stands for Excellence in Christian Broadcasting, and they have a partially finished website template running with a ton of Lorem Ipsum text placeholders.

– EICB apparently has approximately 31 stations nationwide.

– The broadcast they’re transmitting is Iran Aryaee International TV, and their website can be found by clicking here.

– The content appears to be a “Free Iran” sort of theme, as an opposition to the Islamic regime currently in control of Iran. The weird term that stuck out to me was “Aryaee”.

– A cursory Google search for “Aryaee” reveals it to be a term associated with Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persiam transcendentalist religion. The imagery on the ieatv.com website doesn’t look very Christian. So what gives?

Apparently “Aryaee” can also be a racial reference (remember Hitler’s fascination with the Aryan race?) that applies to people of this area, and some claim that the name Iran comes from Aryan. That would fit with a theme of national pride you’d expect from an opposition broadcast, such as a “Free Iran” sort of thing. But why Bismarck?

Often what happens with these little low-power (LPTV) stations is that a local custodian is hired to maintain the physical operation of the transmitter for an out-of-state owner, without doing anything related to content. A satellite receiver is hooked to a transmitter, and voila’ – instant TV station. So…could this be a case of a receiver turned to the wrong transponder?

I don’t see any mention of Iran Aryaee TV on the EICB TV website. Hopefully my friend gets a response back from the parties he emailed soon, I’d love to hear the story behind this one – at this point I’ve got more questions than answers!

Visit ND. Drink booze, score with heavyset chicks, go home with a story. Wait…what? (updated)

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I kid you not: that’s pretty much the implied message this bizarre tourism ad for North Dakota delivers. I’m still trying to figure out how this could have seemed like a good idea.

Since they’re willing to take this bizarre (and tasteless) approach to luring visitors and tourists to North Dakota, maybe they’d like to try my attempt from a while back:

When the Will Smith movie “I Am Legend” came out, I had a little fun with its post-apocalyptic movie poster by applying it to North Dakota’s then-fledgling “I Am Legendary” campaign (again, who comes up with this stuff).

At the time I thought I’d made a somewhat funny, but oddball and questionable attempt at a tourism poster. It has just been demonstrated that it’s possible to do much worse.

(Update – While rubbing two brain cells together to generate a comment on the Great Plains Examiner site, I came up with this barely coherent screed…)

I understand that the “Leave a Legend” campaign is the underlying theme…that tag line with this photo was simply a BAD combination. Without the “leave a legend” text on this ad, you take a LOT of wind out of the critics’ sails. Even so, it’s not a great tourism ad.

I’m a North Dakota Ambassador, and as such I think we’ve got far better things to promote than downtown night life. Even if one wants to dispel any perceived misconceptions that we don’t have any thriving metro areas, why not find a more family-friendly setting such as a unique restaurant or something with broader appeal? Who are we trying to attract to our state, and do we expect them to bring their families?

We locals may tire of promoting things like Teddy Roosevelt’s sojourn here, but let’s not forget that we have something unique that people want to come and see. Despite North Dakota tourism’s inexplicable ad buys within the state, our campaign should be targeted at the tourists we wish to attact to North Dakota, not at the locals. If you want to encourage tourism within the state, Marketing 101 should tell you to generate a separate campaign for that separate objective.

By the way, aren’t we telling local youths that there’s more to do around here than drinking? I sure am…I’ve been spinning that broken record since the 1980s. So now we have an ad touting the bar scene. Great.

Hopefully this will cause some folks at ND Tourism and their favorite ad agency to step back and take a fresh look at some things. In that case, some good will have come from this blunder.

Moon upon the left

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So there I was: blazing down a gravel road at sunset, working my way back toward town. The sun had descended past the horizon, with only the purples and pinks in the eastern sky remaining for another couple of minutes. It’s a magical, fleeting moment that occurs after the brilliant, blazing light of the sunset has passed…and it’s a marvelous window of photographic opportunity in its own right.

That’s when I saw this sign, locked up the brakes, and hopped out into the ditch with my camera and tripod. I had to wander a bit to get just the right angle, but it wasn’t difficult. I had just enough time to try a few exposures before the light began to fade.

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you know that I often like to make musical references in the title of my posts. In this case, I’m referring to the song by folk singer David Mallet. Here are a couple of lyrical samples:

There’s a moon upon the left,
And there’s a star upon the right.
There’s a nightingale a singin’
To the wondrous summer night.
There are gentle deer a grazin’
In the meadow with no fright.
And there’s no past and there’s no future, only now.
We have chanced upon this fragile scene somehow.

…

Now there’s a cottontail a’watchin’,
O’er his lady as she sleeps.
I’m a lover of tradition,
Here’s my heart it’s yours to keep.
Won’t you take me as I’m giving,
We’ll be lovers in our flight.
Cause there’s a moon upon the left,
And there’s a star upon the right.


The days are already getting longer and even though (presumably) we’ll have a cold snap to brave our way through before winter’s over, those calm moonlit nights are just around the corner – perfect for those hand-holding walks with my sweetie. Soon, I tell myself…soon.