Margin Notes: Llamas, 10s, Radke, Random

What appeared to be a family of llamas wasn't moving very rapidly at the High Park Zoo in Toronto, Ontario early on 9-October-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - This weekend is the Thanksgiving long weekend in Canada, and people are spending relaxing time with their families--if reduced traffic levels in the early morning and people walking today along the Humber River amazed by the scenery are any indication. From a walk through the High Park Zoo early yesterday morning, the llamas seem to be having a similar weekend, not moving very much and lingering over breakfast.

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Those in the United States who listen to NPR received an introduction to Canadian Thanksgiving, courtesy of CBC satirist Rick Mercer. Mercer appeared on Weekend Edition Saturday yesterday, a nice nod by Scott Simon and staff toward their northern neighbour.

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Today is also 10-October-2010, or in simpler terms, 10-10-10. Numerologists are going a bit crazy about that arbitrary concurrence, with perhaps the largest phenomenon a large number of couples getting married on a "lucky" date--Toronto City Hall alone has twenty ceremonies today. I'm thinking the bargain was to get married on October 9th or October 11th this year.

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Speaking of "10s" (and, no, that's not a Too Beautiful to Live reference), Free Speech Radio News has turned ten years old. The independent half-hour news broadcast that started with a strike against the now-defunct Pacifica Network News has now demonstrated for a decade how much quality can be produced on a shoe-string, Internet-leveraging international newscast.

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Luke Burbank (of the aforementioned Too Beautiful to Live) isn't the only person from public radio make a transition to commercial radio, in particular KIRO in Seattle. Now, Bill Radke (once of KUOW, American Public Media, and Marketplace Morning Report) is leaving Los Angeles to do the morning news on KIRO-FM in Seattle starting 1-November-2010, co-hosting with Linda Thomas. Based on Radke's move, I'll now make a prediction, obvious from this item a couple weeks ago--John Moe will be on the KIRO-FM staff within in a year.

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The street sign at the east end of Random Street at Kipling Avenue in Toronto, Ontario was noted on 7-October-2010

If this entry ranging from llamas to John Moe seems especially random, perhaps that's because I live in Toronto--which even has a street in Etobicoke named "Random Street" that I first encountered last week, as demonstrated above.

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Steps leading to an escalator? The Broadview subway station in Toronto, Ontario could use more accessibility work as seen on 2-October-2010

One of the most random things I saw in Toronto in the past week was an escalator at the Broadview subway station that could only be accessed by going up three steps--what exactly were the people at the Toronto Transit Commission behind that thinking?

Margin Notes: Fall, Analogies, Radke and Moe

The first tree I found this year almost completely devoid of green color was on Dundas Street West in the Junction neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario on 22-September-2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO - The season has officially turned from summer to autumn, and with it came the first tree full of fall color (er, colour). While technically summer still had a few hours remaining, I was already in fall mode when I noted an almost completely-yellow tree on Dundas Street West in the Junction neighbourhood last Wednesday afternoon.

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A raccoon peered from the side of a 1942-built steam locomotive as it was switched at the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre on 26-September-2010

The start of fall means nightfall comes earlier, which helped facilitate a night photo session at the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre this evening. I'm sure spectacular night photos from the session will be appearing around the Internet from the real photographers on hand; my favorite shot from the night is featured above. We have had evidence and second-hand accounts of raccoons taking up residence in former Canadian National steam locomotive #6213, and first-hand evidence was attained the form of those eyes peering out as the locomotive was switched onto the turntable. Abatement plans are being contemplated.

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The raccoons apparently mistook a locomotive for a home, but would you mistake a telephone for a baby? It doesn't seem so crazy after watching this week's Search Engine videocast from TVO.

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The other analogy that blew me away this week came from Daniel Kehlmann and host Christopher Lydon on the Open Source podcast. They discussed the analogy of the Internet as God--it might seem blasphemous, but if one believes in a passive deity, a lot of the descriptions prove to be the same.

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Combining the last two topics of technology and babies, is anyone else as dumbfounded by the IBM ad running before CBC video programming available on line lately? It shows a baby with its abdomen clearly breathing with the voiceover: "Here is a baby... a baby generating data..." When I see a baby, I can see a lot of things, but data generation is pretty much never on the list.

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Somehow, I doubt even journalists Bill Radke and John Moe, both known for their wit, would ever see the baby that way, either. The two seem to keep following each other around in the media world. I was introduced to both of them at KUOW-Seattle when they were still hosting their own local shows there, Rewind for Radke, The Works for Moe. Radke left for Los Angeles and became host of the nationally-syndicated show Weekend America, but was eventually replaced by Moe, who had moved to the Minnesota headquarters of program producer American Public Media. Radke then signed on to host Marketplace Morning Report, and now, with the re-naming this week of Future Tense as Marketplace Tech Report, both Radke and Moe are anchoring for the same Marketplace "brand" on American Public Media. Just once, I'd like to hear these two guys co-host the same program at the same time.

Radio Pick: E-Mail a Dinosaur?

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - This week's radio pick turns to short-form radio. I've long admired John Moe since his days on the staff of Seattle's public radio station KUOW. In the era of this feature, he has been working on American Public Media shows that I didn't find particularly enticing. However, he's now doing the five-minute daily "Future Tense" broadcast on technology, a very good outlet for his Generation X humor exemplified by a look at the future of e-mail that aired this week.

Listen to MP3 of Future Tense "Is E-Mail Going the Way of the Dinosaur?"

Margin Notes: Gravestone, Wildlife, Radio

The grave of Charles and Florence Harper was observed at Mountain View Cemetery in Connell, Washington on 15-June-2010

BELLEVUE, WASHINGTON - After attending the reunion of the descendants of Charles and Florence Harper last weekend, it seemed only appropriate that I would also visit their grave site, located at Mountain View Cemetery above Connell, Washington. Their gravestone sits prominently above town, along with that of many of other family members including my grandfather.

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Eastern Washington state, besides being the home of many of my relatives, is the realm of rural radio. Paul Harvey once reigned supreme across the AM dial at noon, but with his passing, ABC is now distributing Mike Huckabee. This trip was my first chance to check out the short-form news and commentary broadcast, airing in Harvey's old time slot on KONA-AM in the Tri-Cities, and I have to say I just didn't find it interesting. Where Harvey kept me tuned in for the rest of the story or the humorous story on "page five," Huckabee didn't have any hooks that I noticed, and if I want conservative commentary, there are plenty of other sources for that.

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Another radio voice that I heard for the first time this week on his new assignment made a much more positive impression. The five-minute Future Tense from American Public Media is now hosted by John Moe. Moe distinguished himself in a variety of assignments at KUOW in Seattle, most notably the business show "The Works," before moving to St. Paul to join the national network, including a stint as host of "Weekend America." Future Tense has long been a technology show hosted by Jon Gordon, and Gordon finally got a promotion, leaving the slot open for Moe, who brings a Generation X sensibility to the show--exactly the kind of technology show for which I had been searching! (Goodbye, Natali Del Conte--I'm sure you'll keep getting Loaded.)

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A ground hog watched me carefully from his secure position in Schlagel Park in Pasco, Washington on 17-June-2010

I didn't have to search to find wildlife in Pasco, Washington's Schlagel Park last week. In addition to quite a variety of water fowl, I encountered a large Garter Snake and the ground hog shown above kept a close watch on my activities near the shore of the Columbia River.

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Former Amtrak SDP40F #644 showed off its restored Amtrak light package in Portland, Oregon on 20-June-2010

My return trip to western Washington was routed through Portland, Oregon so I could check in on progress at the Brooklyn Roundhouse as the various groups that make up the Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation prepare to move to a new home. In addition to seeing plans for the new facility, there was quite a bit of progress to see on the Alco PA and, dearest to me, the restored Amtrak lighting package on SDP40F diesel locomotive #644 seen above.