Light to shine on Jim Carlson's memory

(image from UMM's website)

Mark your calendar for the concert to honor the memory of James "Doc" Carlson, Saturday, Oct. 29, 7 p.m. A reception starts at 6 at the foyer of the Ed and Helen Jane Morrison Center. Get ready to enjoy jazz from the stage where Jim held forth for the Jazz Fest.

Flashback to January and the discussions following Jim's sudden and tragic death. Below I share a portion of an email I received from a retired UMM individual whose name I ought not share here. But then again, maybe I should. I mean, why not? If it's the truth or a well-educated judgment. Oh, but I won't. I quote from the January 23 email. It was a response to my own email. There is a reference to my late parents Ralph and Martha.

 

It all comes down to $$$'s, and the college struggles with enrollment...I think there are around 1300 current students, but all of those are not on-campus. There has been an increase of unfilled positions, early retirements, program restructuring, and early buyouts in recent years. The place isn't much like Ralph & Martha as well as you remember it! Also very sad to watch!

You won't read this kind of assessment in the Morris newspaper. Nothing but puffy white clouds in the Morris paper. "All our kids are above average."

The purpose here isn't to just lionize Carlson. That isn't necessary. His performance spoke for itself. His background at UMM went back to when he sang in the men's chorus under my father. See photo at top of this blog site. I know, having a gender-specific group seems dated today. But it was 1962. I suppose equity would have been accomplished with a female-only group. Groups with men and women then were called "mixed chorus," as if the gender thing always had to be acknowledged. 

Gender has become a very complicated matter in our present times. Informed as I strive to be, I really get bewildered.

Re. Jim's state of mind when he left UMM, I had already explored this angle within days after his passing. He left us at Christmas. I emailed with another individual in position to know the landscape. I pushed the subject because I thought Jim had tread left on the tire when he left here, would have savored a more extended tenure.

BTW Jim's passing was not reported very well in the legacy commercial media. I raised this topic and got the now-standard response that the news was on this thing called "social media." So we're talking "Facebook," just like how the city manager talked about Facebook as where to find updates on snow removal policies. We're supposed to understand these days that there's a Facebook page for such things. I think it was Kim Gullickson, now a mayoral candidate, who pushed back and said that the city's official website should at least inform people where to find the needed information. 

Well I certainly agree with Kim on that. And I felt sorry for the people who had their cars towed, abundantly. Below is the email response from my well-placed source on December 28. It begins by quoting the question I posed.

 

“So, is it possible there's some bitterness in Carlson family, having to do with when Jim left?” I didn’t ever talk to Jim or Kay about that, but it wouldn’t surprise me that they may have been a little bitter by the way things went the last couple of years when “Herman the German” (Martin Seggelke) kind of took over the music dept., wanted to get rid of the jazz program and turn the department into a conservatory. But that wouldn’t reflect on what they thought of the school – after all, Jim did accept that “distinguished alumni” award, and the 2 of them journeyed back to UMM for that banquet a few years ago.

 

At the peak of his powers: Jim Carlson

I remember the banquet for the Carlsons but my family was not there. My parents had become dependent on me for transportation, and I thought it best we not go. 

I had been "tipped" that Kay had a quite negative view of me. So I thought it best we not attend. Mom wanted to go. But I don't want to be present where my presence would be detested. I'm sad about that now. We could have just gone and I could have sulked in the corner. 

My reputation was never good among the people soaked in "academics" at UMM. Also, when I was with the Morris paper, I could only do a hit-and-miss job covering UMM athletics. UMM went many years without having a real sports information department. Actually it wasn't even close for a long time. Mark Fohl would not dispute me on this. So I wrote about Cougar sports on a sort of sporadic basis.

I had enthusiasm on those occasions when I did, for example when I went out of my way to write about the inaugural season for soccer. And the seasons immediately following, as I recall. I can remember the name of the first-ever Cougar soccer goalie, Katie Riba. 

I guess I have a thing about inaugural things at UMM, as it was my father who started the music department and was the only music faculty in the first year. His office was where the multi-ethnic building is now. Sometimes I would stop by and play a John Philip Sousa record real loud. (Jim Carlson would laugh if he were to read that.) 

I should add about Fohl that he was always cooperative and level-headed when I contacted him for interviews about Cougar baseball. He didn't make an issue of anything.

 

Venue with history

"All good things must come to an end." Is this how we rationalize about when Jim left here? Was it fate or destiny? Well I think it was unfortunate. The upcoming tribute concert will revive memories for Edson Auditorium, the long-time home of the Jazz Festival. It was the home for all UMM music when my father started out. I thought the place worked out fine. 

The problem today? Maybe it's that the parking lots are too far away. Today handicapped accessibility is so important. 

Frankly, I think UMM should have held the normal Jazz Fest last spring. It has been scaled back since Jim's departure. But it wasn't held at all last year, and it's my understanding that if we had gotten Dusty Retzlaff signed on the dotted line, it would have been. Dusty was more or less all set to jump on board here, legend has it, then the UMM administration low-balled him re. $. 

At the peak of his powers here too!

I can't control these things, sorry. Jim is gone and life must go on. I'll quote Warrenn Anderson who said "talk about a guy with a positive attitude." My words to Del Sarlette: "Jim had more impact on me than any other human being I've been around." 

Del took two of the photos you see with this post. Thanks a bunch.

Let me add that I shouldn't just type "Edson Auditorium." The place is part of the larger venue named for Ed and Helen Jane Morrison. The Morrisons set the example for yours truly in terms of being benefactors. Why was I at the Morris paper for 27 years? (I wrote for the Hancock paper too.) Well I suspect it was because of Helen Jane, who is quite the example of resilience in life now, over age 100! Not only that, she gets around, is conversational and clearly enjoys life. 

Thanks a bunch to Helen Jane and son Jim for coming over to sit with me at the Homestead snack area for Crazy Days. My social life is limited. I was not impressed with the "Crazy Days Special" there, thought it was a ripoff. But that doesn't matter as I savored the company of Helen Jane and Jim. We should all seek such resilience as what Helen Jane has demonstrated. 

What's up with UMM music website?

Why am I having to inquire about this? Sharper people than me should be in charge of this. Here I share an email I sent to Warrenn Anderson on September 16. The music website looks, well, vestigial. Warrenn and I have each carved out our niche for supporting UMM. Or is it UMN?:

 

Hello Warrenn - I am disturbed by how the UMM music website has been neglected. During the last academic year there were already signs of this, and when I gave a heads-up to Erin Christensen, she got back to me and said the problem was that "they were designing a new website." I guess that's always a fall-back line: "we're designing a new website."

Here's the problem: it hasn't happened. Yes I'm being a pain by writing this email, sorry, but why can't UMM get its act together? Am I asking too much? A couple days ago I went to the music website just to see if any concert dates were posted yet. I clicked on the handy link for that. There were no concerts announced. I'm sure they at least have some events on the schedule by now. But it was the same old website as last year, with photos of faculty members who have departed like Miller and Campbell. I started pointing out the out-dated photos to UMM a long time ago. Don't they have anyone keeping the websites current? Look what our high school does with YouTube: so dynamic.

Let me say this: the UMM sports website is 100 percent top-notch. This appears to be a "new website" and it had some confusing aspects at first, but then I got on top of it. I blogged about the Cougar football game at Hamline. At the bottom of the post I shared some memories of when I attended a Cougar game at Hamline back in 1981. (Our quarterback was Craig Larson, a tall guy who unfortunately had kind of a sidearm throwing motion).

The UMM sports site has to be top-notch for recruiting purposes! But isn't it important to recruit for music too? Remember, last spring the big concert featuring symphonic winds/choir was in ALEXANDRIA and there was no repeat concert here. What would my father say about that? My theory: the recital hall would have such congested seating and that's a problem with covid? The recital hall has always been too small. I remember when I worked with Jim Carlson to promote the "Godzilla concert" of the symph. winds, and they ended up having to turn people away. 

I couldn't attend last year's Homecoming concert because I forgot my mask. I rode bike out to campus. I have masks in my car. (Name withheld) left his in the car and he literally had to run back to the lot to get back in time.

Back in '81 we joked about "Norton Field" at Hamline. Someone thought it might be named for the Art Carney character in "The Honeymooners."

It will be a long winter for me because I cannot really blog about Tiger athletics this year. My main (but not only) source for info has been the West Central Tribune website, and they have a real rigid paywall up now. Leave it to Forum Communications to do something so pissy-ant like this. The coaches should quit calling in.

I checked the UMM music website again this morning, no change.

- Brian Williams

 

Caribou Coffee closed all day!

My, what a jolt to start the day, this Monday as September plods onward toward you-know-what: colder temperatures. Thought I'd grab some coffee and a bagel bright and early. Not so fast. I entered Willie's and could see that Caribou Coffee was dark, plus the sign making clear they're closed. I usually look for Betsy there. She has such an uplifting laugh! But no-go today, so I trod over to DeToy's. 

DeToy's has been such a reliable place through the pandemic and onward. Looks like the exterior of the building could use some work. But the business inside goes very well. The place opened as "Country Kitchen" many moons ago. I believe the first manager was Rich Meiss. Meiss was an oboe player in the UMM band. I played with him for a few months. My "axe": French horn.

What's the story with Caribou today? Well, "they can't find anyone to work." Familiar malady all over, it seems. Maybe getting worse with school having started, n'est-ce pas?

 

Addendum: If back-biting or politics contributed to Jim's exit from UMM, maybe the matter should have been tossed up to the chancellor. Keep a clear path for Jim and his program, IMHO. However I am only like Mongo: "Just pawn in game of life."

 .

Addendum #2: Hell's bells, I have complained to several pretty well-placed people over the past several days, yet nothing has been done with UMM's music website. I show a greater commitment with my blogs. I just called up the UMM music website and it's dead as it was last week. When I was with the paper, I was expected to be on the ball all the time.

UMM was not Jim Carlson's only "gig"

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

I scan wreckage of 2022 America

Mimieux and Taylor

Remember the "talking rings" from the sci-fi classic movie "The Time Machine?" Rod Taylor in the starring role and a very young Yvette Mimieux as the ingenue. As the Taylor character probed his mystifying new surroundings in the distant future, he and Mimieux came upon the rings. The rings if spun on a table emitted narration about humanity's downfall. The rings are on the table in the image at left.

So it was a world of the docile and sheep-like people of the Earth's surface, versus the hideous "Morlocks" who were underground. The Morlocks periodically lured the regular humans down to be consumed. 

Anyway, this little sojourn into movieland is prompted by what I see as the current state of affairs in America. For sure I know people in my town of Morris MN who would dismiss me as a totally irrelevant writer. To an extent I cannot dispute them. Shall I put myself forward as a "voice in the wilderness?" I'll suggest a better depiction. Maybe I'm a writer whose words, if unearthed someday, will come across as prescient. Not just prescient - I am describing what is happening in real time. 

The collapse is most likely underway. We see it with the shocking erosion of civilized standards. My writing could well be likened to the "talking rings." We can only guess who might discover my aroused commentary someday. And I'm taken aback by how so many around me are just clueless about the disturbing stuff. They go about their routines as if nothing is amiss. 

Not only that, an incredible percentage of these souls buy in to the outlandish stuff that is dragging us down, perilously. An excellent barometer is the "Mediaite" website. So as I'm writing this, the top headline informs us "Trump warns there will be 'big problems' if he is indicted." 

Shouldn't society just coalesce to shut this blowhard ignoramus down? Shouldn't that be more or less instant? How often have we been through this: an outrageous and dangerous bit of behavior/rhetoric from this man named Trump? 

 

Miscalculation, always

Maybe Laura Ingraham of Fox News thought it was nearing an end. She had bent over backward for MAGA. She attacked the D.C. cops when they testified, accusing them of "theatrics." "Theatrics" is the argument you can use in these situations if all else fails. Then she accused them of "partisanship" because one testified he was a Biden voter. As if that's a disqualifier. To simply have voted for the Democratic Party candidate for president of the U.S. 

Didn't an awful lot of people across the U.S. actually vote Democratic, or did I miss something? Is it purely illegitimate now to be Democrat? Is it dangerous to put a Democratic bumper sticker on your car, to have a Democrat lawn sign? If you watch a considerable portion of the media now, you might think the answer is "yes." So many gullible souls consuming this. So many older white men gathering in their coffee klatches like right here in Morris - listen to them equate Democrats with sheer stupidity along with other non-flattering qualities. I hear it quite often. Enough for me to change where I go out to dine sometimes. 

Ubiquitous, yes

Eventually, will there just be no escaping it? This is the fear I'd address in a manner like the "talking rings" of the movie. If Trump were to be indicted on purely reasonable grounds because of having done something clearly over the top - seizing highly classified documents that didn't belong to him - what on earth would be wrong with that? He after all had argued that Hillary Clinton "should be in jail" because of her emails. 

The media bought into "both sides-ism." If Trump were seen to have done some terrible things, well then Clinton had to be reported on the same way. Find something that looks improper, jump on it. 

Trump "promised" in 2016 that he'd appoint a special prosecutor re. Hillary's emails. Then he didn't do it. It is black and white, you knaves. And of course he didn't do it because there was no potential for prosecution there. James Comey bent over backward, painfully, to keep Republicans calmed down re. all that. He made a special point of saying that Hillary was really a little careless. It was unlike the FBI to behave as such. Really, no laws broken equals no charges equals silence. 

Comey subsequently went through misery, make that hell, because Trump found his way into the oval office. What does Trump exactly mean now when he says there will be "big problems" if he is indicted? Sounds exactly like a threat.

 

The promise of Cassidy

Why do we all keep taking this? I hoped and prayed that after Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony, it would be over, this absurd and dangerous chapter in U.S. life with Trump at the forefront almost every day. So there's a picture of Trump at the top of the Mediaite site today, Sept. 15, as the routine goes on and on. Nobody cares what Laura Ingraham thinks. I never cared for her anyway, obviously. She "dared" to say it was time for us all to "move past" Trump. I wonder if she has tried to backtrack. 

I keep repeating my concerns about the nature of the media today. We so easily forget how different it is compared to the pre-digital times. The old media would not have let so much of the outrageous stuff see the light of day. We took that world for granted for a long time. Today the barriers have largely vanished. 

A firebell in the night

People flock around Trump because people always flock to where power is. Think of the people around Hitler. Do you think they were all really born bad people? Well I don't think so. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I was telling a friend of mine in the clergy last week: Look up a picture of Martin Bormann. Look at him. Doesn't he look like the most ordinary, boring person, who could be selling insurance in main street America? I'm just trying to describe a common occupation, nothing wrong with selling insurance. 

So Trump pounds his chest, in effect, and proclaims that the people of America will not stand for him being prosecuted. He added that people "will not sit still and stand for this ultimate of hoaxes." So he's back on the "hoax" theme for describing the 2020 election. He uses the same word for climate change theory. And the interviewer Hugh Hewitt just sits there and digests all this, without just rejecting the guy, maybe laughing at him and cutting his mike. 

I can share all about this for the "talking rings." And Lindsay Graham warns there will be "riots in the streets." Graham's newest headline-grabber is about how he'd like to see a nationwide abortion ban. Mike Pence says it's more important to beat down women's rights than it is for his party to win in the mid-terms. How would I describe all this in the "rings?"

 

Addendum: The "Morlocks" of the 1960 "Time Machine" movie had me keep the light on in my bedroom for a few days. What movie did that for you? I have often read that the Laurel and Hardy "Babes in Toyland" had a scene that terrorized kids. The big robot of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" stuck in my mind in a menacing way. Actually that was pretty minimal special effects/costuming. The movie's black and white format helped us overlook that.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

At the pinnacle of nice weather now

Here's a favorite fall picture I took several years ago.

What a perfect Saturday morning. These times can be the most pleasant of the year, weather-wise. My church of First Lutheran is having a picnic at Pomme de Terre City Park Sunday afternoon. No trace of wind this morning, even. 

Not only is this the fall season, it is road construction season for Morris. It was an adventure for yours truly walking home after the MACA football opener on September 1. Iowa Avenue is all torn up, so bad it's almost impossible to walk along the edges. It helps to have moonlight if you're walking home! The area around the old Heartland Motors is known to have a few critters out and about, skunks and raccoons. 

I got home without falling into a hole. 

So we're forced to use a couple of road alternatives. It's not a simple decision. There's the dirt road going to the west toward Dan Sayles' dog kennels. Then you take a left and head into town. But the dirt road up until just a few days ago was in quite poor condition. The issue was the old "washboard effect" that can develop with dirt roads. Think of dirt roads and you think of country music songs, eh? 

Those of us on Northridge Drive, close to the soils lab, have another alternative for getting into town, and that's an old non-maintained road that has been there for time immemorial. It's the former private driveway from when venerable diversified farm operator Earn Julius lived out there. It was the classic diversified farm, could have been subject for a Norman Rockwell painting. Ducks in the barnyard. Neighbor kids would fool around and play games over there in a way that would be harrowing to ponder now, from the standpoint of liability. People must not have been worried about getting sued much in those bygone times. Swinging on ropes in the "hay mow" like Tarzan? 

Well, the old Julius driveway remains but it's part of the U of M field that you see across from Pizza Hut and other familiar businesses. It's a non-public road but people have always availed themselves of using it. In my case, often with a bicycle or just plain walking. 

Driving it? That's less practical now. It no longer hooks up with the state highway that goes in front of Pizza Hut et al. The connection to the highway was eliminated when the new service road was put in. The service road is where you see the Greeley's building, excuse me it's Morris Electronics now. What happened with that? The Chamber of Commerce was there for a while. I should say "alleged" Chamber of Commerce because I have not been too impressed with its performance. The Chamber let the old Prairie Pioneer Days just up and die. 

We experience many changes these days and some I find difficult to grasp. 

Now, the old non-maintained road has "sort of" a connection to the service road. However, it is designed to really discourage vehicles crossing over. There's an incline. I went down that incline on my bike once and wiped out. The front tire got lodged in a little hole or rut. So now I can understand why helmets are recommended for bike riders. I survived with a pretty big scratch on my face, but no concussion to my knowledge. 

And to think football players experience collisions like this all the time! Did you read about that poor kid from Bloomington who got paralyzed at the shoulders from a routine tackle in a football game? Do I need to keep writing posts where I seek to ring alarm bells about football? I have been doing this for ten years. You are taking a concerning chance every time you let your son go out onto the field. 

Don't just smile when I bring this up - some people do that just like some smile when I try to make a point about Donald Trump being terrible and a disgrace. They smile as if to just show amusement with what they see as my misdirected concern. I'm so upset about that, I'm in a mood where I probably will not write a new original Christmas song this year. Our country could be headed toward truly dark times due to MAGA. 

 

City of Morris responds

Oh, I have some follow-up on the dirt road going to the west. I emailed city manager with concern about the washboard condition of the road. This was on Saturday morning of Labor Day holiday weekend, and would you believe Mr. Hill answered very promptly? Life has its pleasant surprises. He said "a blade" was the answer, and it wasn't long before we got some work done. The road is at least usable now, yes not ideal. 

The Iowa Avenue project is expected to conclude in the middle of next month. The skunks and raccoons might want to make a note of that. We won't need to hope for a full moon anymore. 

I told my neighbor that I am an asset living among them, for getting City of Morris response, because I BLOG. I noted that "I have been aware of power of the press since I was in the cradle." 

 

Tigers defeat Monte

So it's Saturday morning and I can at least find the score of the Tiger football game at Montevideo. A win, 48-26. As of this morning I cannot find any other game details in the available media. Media issues always interest me. The West Central Tribune sports website has been off-and-on with its (nagging) "paywall." First I'll share an email I sent Wednesday to an old newspaper compatriot/friend in Central Minnesota:

 

Hello Randy - It's 6 a.m. and I'm getting ready for the biscuits and gravy special at DeToy's. I just made a check of the West Central Tribune's sports site. I was curious to see if the paywall was up. For the past couple weeks, they have had a paywall and it is now the type I cannot get past with the "incognito" trick. So I was ready to write off this site as a sports info source. They were really just asking for a negligible amount: $2 for six months in a "limited time" offer!! Wow, just like the Ginsu knives. "Operators are standing by." A friend sort of sniffed at me and suggested "what's two bucks." I guess I was addressing the principle of the matter. I think information should be free, unless it's in newspaper form where the paper has overhead with printing.

So this morning I made a check and - guess what? - THE PAYWALL ISN'T THERE! I went right in and checked the volleyball update from Tuesday. The Morris match was not covered. You see, when you force people to pay something, they will complain if their favorite team isn't there. The Forum is always in retreat, always trying to wring money out of people and then having to continue with retrenchment. Here's another example. They drop their "limited time offer" and then just open the site up to everyone - bad form obviously.

When I left the Morris paper, there was big talk about how we'd be shooting video at sports events. The following fall, I noticed there were in fact links to watch little snippets from games. That's not there now. A big reason is that kids at the school have taken this over themselves. They are known as the "YouTube geniuses" locally. So the paper's efforts with its little snippets would be useless, pointless. So there you go: the continued retreat by newspapers. We once had access to the all-powerful printing plant. That advantage has eroded substantially.

It is questionable how much Morris sports coverage will even be on the WCT site this year. Starting last year, Morris was no longer in the WCT official coverage area. So, Jackson Loge not on All-Area team etc. However, I found during the spring that a fair amount of Morris info was still getting on the site. Some maybe was called in by opposing coaches. Or maybe the WCT continues to take the calls from Morris coaches regardless, at least those coaches who bother. It looks like the Morris tennis coach (my neighbor) emails complete match results to the radio station which puts them on the website - very nice.

If you are counseling the Morris paper's sports person, it has not yielded any improvement yet. I checked the SCT site a couple times in the last few days. Because of the Labor Day holiday they probably went to press early. I expect their sports service so far in the school year to be almost nil. Meanwhile, for what it is worth, I've done just fine with my online efforts. I'd be lost without a platform for doing this. A top MACA athlete recently had the torn ACL bugaboo and is out for the whole school year. That's Cate Kehoe, daughter of the principal.

Such an irony: SCT has someone paid to write sports, and I don't get paid. But I am relieved of the overwhelming pressure which was crushing me at the end. It was really almost comical. About a month after I left the paper, Sue Dieter actually called my home because they were in a pinch for a driver on short notice. Well sorry Sue, maybe you'll have to drive the van yourself. As for Tom, he must have needed the job awful bad to be willing to behave like such a horse's ass. And this behavior came on so sudden. Doesn't take a genius to know he got some order from higher up in the (expletive) Forum chain of command. They gave up on Morris.

- BW

 

And, here is an email I sent to a different friend Friday morning covering some of the same stuff. Hey, this is pertinent!

OK, both Wednesday morning and this morning, I checked West Central Tribune sports site and the paywall is gone!!! I got right in. However, Morris volleyball hasn't been appearing. There's always hit-and-miss there. I have to believe that the WCT was getting negative feedback on the paywall. Otherwise, how embarrassing to have people sign up only to have the wall come down. Maybe coaches and athletic directors were saying "take down the wall or we won't call in information any more." The price wasn't the issue, it was the hassle. It's an instant turn-off. What's happening is that step-by-step, newspapers are losing the privileged position they once had. Look at video coverage: it is not done through the newspaper. The YouTube geniuses wouldn't think of working with the paper, and certainly there is no "paywall" for that, and we don't want them to get ideas! I think it will stay free.

Another thought: maybe a few years from now, sports parents and fans will be satisfied with video-only coverage. There's no excuse for the Stevens County Times website being so "dead." You'll probably want to stick up for them. Who cares if it's Labor Day weekend? That shouldn't matter anymore, people want to see coverage in the media.

Well, Friday night 2nite so I go to Don's about 5:15 p.m. and get a chocolate shake in big metal cup along with grilled cheese sandwich, no fries, $12.26. I wonder how the steak restaurant is doing, or if it's having effect on Stone's Throw or Old No. 1. Shoeshine guy say anything?

 

Did I comment to you about the Edward Jones FDIC-insured certificates of deposit? There's an ad in fishwrap, I think page 2, and it jumps out at you. They only promote their two-year CDs. You should go online and look up their 5-year CDs too. So there's hope with CDs now. The main street banks can go sit under a cow.

The main street banks brag about "free checking." Well my goodness. Bremer doesn't even have that. It's $10 a month to have a debit card.

 

Again, you'd be welcome at Sunday picnic at PDT Park, app. 11:45 a.m. Come fill your plate two or three times, to honor memory of Allen Anderson.

- BW

Here's a Minnesota fall picture from Wikimedia Commons.

  

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Volleyball needs to sustain its better efforts

West Central Area 3, Tigers 1

Fans could feel upbeat through game 1 of the Thursday volleyball match at MAHS. The Tigers took the opening game of the match against West Central Area, score of 25-15. It would not be a preview of things to come. The WCA Knights picked up steam. They took the second through fourth games by scores of 25-20, 25-23 and 25-17. 

The outcome left the orange and black at 0-2 going into Labor Day weekend. Both of the Tigers' matches to date have had the promising start. They need to keep it together after that. 

Against WCA it was Brianna Marty leading the team effort in kills with nine. She was followed by Maddy Grove and Taylor Kill each with seven. Whitney Bruns was busy in set assists where her total was 25. In serve aces: Lauren Hottovy with two. 

The visiting Knights evened their record at 1-1 on the young season. Their Macy Grosz was a cog with 36 set assists and 28 digs. Mya Foslien came at the Tigers with 23 kills.

 

BOLD 3, Tigers 2

The Tigers' season opener was in Morris too. The day was Tuesday. Fans were excited to see the new prep sports campaign get going from Tiger Center. MACA fans were buoyed to see their team get up 2-0 over the BOLD Warriors. Just one more win would wrap it up. Alas, it slipped out of reach. BOLD found the winning approach in games 3 through 5, thus it was BOLD that went home happy. 

A review of the scores with the MACA numbers first: 25-22, 25-22, 14-25, 12-25 and 6-15. 

Our kmrs site points out that the tipping point was in game 3. The score stood 10-10 during that game. Then you might say the bottom fell out for MACA. 

Maddy Grove fueled the MACA attack with 14 kills and seven digs. Brianna Marty powered 12 kills and dug up the ball eight times. Kaylee Harstad was a factor with her seven kills. In assists it was Whitney Bruns with 30. And Lauren Hottovy came through with ten digs. The BOLD kill leaders were Mari Ryberg with 19 and Mackenzie Visser and Adyson Knake each with 11.

 

Cross country: Appleton meet

Appleton was the site for the Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd Invite on Thursday. Is there really a "valley" over there? Anyway, it's a nice place to visit as I was reminded over the summer when I took in the Swift County Band performance at the Appleton park. Nice little community. I did not notice if they still have the "do not pick up hitchhikers" sign. The place used to have a prison. 

Remember at the start of covid? Remember the major belief making the rounds that the former Appleton prison would be converted to a major covid treatment center? Always be skeptical of rumors, I guess. That got nixed. We were all so consumed with anxiety back then - I was worried if a south wind might bring covid here from Appleton. 

Remember how at the start of covid, you didn't dare cough even softly if you were close to other people? We all have to cough sometimes, even if we're healthy. 

Hailey Werk has been a prime performer for MACA cross country in the early-season. At Appleton she was No. 4 to the finish chute. The MACA girls were third on a team basis. Kendal Fischer was tenth to the finish chute for the Tigers. Hanna Shutz took 13th and Alayna Perkins 15th. 

Minnewaska Area had the top two female runners: Lauren Ankeny and Kierra Wilmes. 'Waska exceled with three runners in the top 10. 

The MACA boys had Gavin Stallman take seventh, then we see Matthew Giese in 21st and Jacob Buhl in 26th. MACA was fifth in the boys team standings. The individual champion was Maeson Tank of Minnewaska. LQPV-DB had the No. 1 team and 'Waska was second.

 

Tennis: MACA 5, Sauk Centre 2

I'm proud to say my neighbor Britney House coaches the MACA tennis Tigers. House's squad impressed in its early-season win over Sauk Centre, 5-2. Oh no! The match review on the kmrs site does not specify which players are Tigers and which are Streeters. I'm sure I could recognize some of the Morris names. Still, it's not good to assume stuff like this. Some new names are always on the way up. 

Looks like Tiger athletics will be without the talents of Cate Kehoe for a while. I'm told it's the torn ACL bugaboo, always heartbreaking.

I invite you to compare my coverage of MACA sports with what you see on the Morris newspaper website.

 

It's Labor Day weekend

Is Labor Day observed in any official way locally other than for people to get a three-day holiday weekend? 

The significance of the holiday? Well, mostly it seems a "goodbye to summer" and a signal that school is starting. Varsity athletic events are held in the week leading up. When the Tigers take the field at Big Cat, you know that "school days" are on. The Tigers had a heartbreaking first game, losing by two points as time ran out on them, excruciatingly. Did time really expire? Well, in the judgment of the referees it did. 

I noticed some protest - it was to no avail. We had to accept the outcome, which is more than you can say about Donald Trump accepting the outcome of the 2020 presidential election! Rimshot, I guess. Yes, we had to get a little political. 

Adults like Trump are supposed to set an example for young people: accept the official results which are overseen by the proper authorities. Is Trump really an adult? You laugh. Hey, the guy might make another serious run for president. But hey, isn't it a slam-dunk that he could be charged with criminal offenses now? Seems to be consensus on that. 

The conventional wisdom (CW) has it that formal charges against political figures should not be made just before an election, to affect the election. We have the mid-terms coming up where there are a lot of Trump-endorsed loony, crazy MAGA candidates. So whether or not Trump is charged would seem to be impactful. Here's my question: Would the failure to charge Trump affect the election in an unacceptable way? I mean, what if this Mastriano in Pennsylvania wins? America might start tilting toward Third Reich territory. Just though I'd mention it.

 

Addendum: The Swift County band which performed in Appleton is directed by Wanda Dagen. She's the MAHS director for the new school year, has held the spot for a very long time now. She has been dealt rather a wallop by covid. We hope she's progressing toward a complete recovery. Maybe there could be a Stevens County band someday that could have her with baton. I'm rooting for that. 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

The changed media landscape imperils the U.S.

Joe Rogan (youtube image)

I have never listened to this fellow Joe Rogan. In the "old days" of the gatekeeper media, how would he have found a platform? Ditto with so many other commentators who manage to become public figures nowadays. They slip past whatever guardrails once existed. 

So, the guardrails were bad? To an extent they were probably not ideal. They forced you to curry favor with the gatekeeper honchos, to get a job that reached the masses the old way. 

The new system might suggest empowerment. I think all wise people have mixed feelings about this. Don't we all celebrate free speech? We ought to in theory. However, the people who get toward the top of the heap too often do so with rhetorical bomb-throwing. To what extent are these opinions sincere on their part? And to what extent have these people simply learned to appeal to a certain audience? 

You can surmise what I'm talking about, most likely. If you can't, maybe this blog isn't for you. 

I'm thinking of this "Joe Rogan" today because yet again he gets attention on other media. The implication is that we are supposed to pay attention to what he says. He may be a nice, even intelligent person. But it seems you get nowhere in today's media culture if your views tilt left of center sometimes. 

I love her: Stephanie Miller

Right wing ideas "sell" and they are fun to bandy about and react to - would you believe even among the "progressive" crowd? One little example: the Stephanie Miller podcast. Steph has a pretty long and distinguished background. So it's not like she came out of nowhere. I find her program on YouTube - a podcast? - tremendously entertaining. But she seems to have developed a focus of just hashing over the Trump-related ridiculousness every day. So she would seem to owe her current success to the Trump phenomenon. Yes, most ironically. 

So today a top headline on "Mediaite" references this Rogan fellow. The headline tells us that "Joe Rogan encourages listeners to 'vote Republican' due to 'serious errors' made during pandemic." 

Vote Republican! A "name" commentator comes at us with "vote Republican!" Imagine. Meanwhile the people who are inclined to at least consider voting Democrat seem programmed not to get excited by the media at all. It's not central to their lives. They go about their regular affairs daily, so many other personal and family priorities. 

I have actually checked out "liberal" programming using the search mechanism with "iHeart Radio." You know what? Even though I'm inclined to support those progressive views, I find such programming to be boring, unlistenable really. So there's something about the political right that becomes entrancing. 

The people who once ran the gatekeeper media knew human nature, I'm sure. They were quite aware of what they'd call the "crackpot" element out there, the John Birch Society etc. For as long as they held power, they would not allow the extreme thinking to become normalized, as if it warranted respect. I remember being at the Crow Wing County Fair in Minnesota a long time ago, the '70s I think, and seeing a booth that gave out the wacko literature. I took some samples just to explore. I'm sure you'd find this stuff at our Stevens County Fair too. 

Meanwhile the gatekeeper media of old guided us American citizens with a fundamental conscience, one glaring exception being with the Vietnam war. The media held out respect for far too long, for government spokespeople who were trying to rationalize the war. I make a face as I write this. But on the whole, the gatekeeper media exuded wisdom as it was generous in its reporting about civil rights advances. We were persuaded on the need for Federal involvement.

The Voting Rights Act seemed reasonable to a large majority of us. We accepted Jimmy Carter as a president of conscience and high moral character to take over in the wreckage of Nixon. Carter the Democrat, whose brother Billy was the featured guest on "Hee Haw" one week. The heart of "Hee Haw" was right in line with the conservatives of today, the year 2022. 

We're all in the midst of Trump influence, still, not tamped down at all, no matter what comes out. 

 

No love here: Lindsey Graham

Whatever. . .

So we have a U.S. Senator, the wacky Lindsey Graham, saying as of yesterday there will be "riots in the streets" if the Justice Department moves on Trump. Riots in the streets. 

Republicans eventually got a conscience with Nixon. We ought to pray for that kind of phenomenon again, the acquiring of brains by Republicans. Instead we have this daily avalanche of commentary which is connected directly or indirectly to Trump - his phenomenon. It's not a "teachable moment" yet. 

Riots in the streets? Let me repeat: when we begin to see signs of a truly violent uprising, I do not think it will come from the political right. No - surprise - it will come from the left. The ideological part of it will be obscured by the sheer needs on the ground. People will start to feel desperate. We have allowed the Federal Reserve to become the true government of America. It's the central bank. Too few people see this. The Fed is pretending to take on inflation. It is not. To attack inflation we'll need interest rates that are set above the rate of inflation. Ha! I repeat: Ha! 

So when the economic house of cards comes tumbling down, then what? What will Joe Rogan say then? Or Mark Levin? We won't care any more what such individuals have to say. Their "racket" in the media will be ended. They had better be careful or they might be tracked down by the new communists. You know what they did to Mussolini?

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Kantor gave us a lot of Americana

MacKinlay Kantor

MacKinlay Kantor was a writer who deserves to be remembered better than he is. Kantor gave us a story that was the basis for the best-known movie about scouting, as in the Boy Scouts. Once ensconced in the most pure American tradition/values, the Boy Scouts seem to have crashed and burned. Isn't that something? Really unbelievable. Justified, though, based on the sordid behavior that eventually became known. 

The Catholic Church has at least survived up until now. Scouting, no. But Kantor's story "God and My Country" was the basis for the movie "Follow Me, Boys!" from 1966. Movie was timed to coincide with the young years of the boomer generation. What power we had to determine what was important in our culture. The boomer generation left footprints like no other. But we will pass from the scene like all other generations. 

New values have come into play like gender neutrality. I confess I cannot even follow all the stuff that is happening with gender. But the Boy Scouts? Once a pillar for American wholesomeness, filed away in a dustbin. It was right in line with Norman Rockwell. 

America can survive and maybe even prevail without the Boy Scouts. "Scout's honor" was offered as a humorous line in the movie "Hoosiers," right? As if to suggest it meant nothing. I have used it that way myself, to prompt a chuckle perhaps. 

Let us emphasize that "Follow Me, Boys!" was a product of Walt Disney. In this era, the Disney productions sought to impress various political or philosophical viewpoints. It was subtle, perhaps barely noticeable in the eyes of boomer youth. Now that we're older, we recognize it. The important thing is that we can recognize and react to it. 

You should read the current popular book "Forget the Alamo" to get things straightened out in your head about the Alamo story, to be sure. Walt Disney was anti-communist which is fine to an extent, but people impassioned by this often seem to just be protecting their own personal wealth. The attitude can obviously morph in some dangerous directions. Disney made a myth out of the Alamo and propped up this folk hero Davy Crockett. Coonskin cap. Boys everywhere learned the theme song. In my neighborhood we altered the lyrics to have some fun. 

But whatever, Disney the man and his company had a vision of America that was never really planted in reality. 

The author Kantor was supremely gifted and with a talent for evoking sentiment. I am utterly fascinated by this: Kantor was known for his limited use of punctuation! He shied away from quotation marks too! 

 

The return from war story

I'm thinking of Kantor today because recently I had the opportunity to re-watch the movie "The Best Years of Our Lives." The opening portion of the movie is as sentimental as you can get. I still have to dry my eyes about halfway through that portion. My eyes have to be clear to appreciate the rest. 

Movie producer Samuel Goldwyn commissioned Kantor to write a screenplay shortly after WWII. The theme would be "veterans returning home." Kantor titled his work "Glory For Me." He was disappointed about the title change. Kantor's screenplay or novel was in something called "blank verse." 

The screenwriter Robert Sherwood changed some details. Well, that's the way it goes in corporate entertainment. Kantor did not take all of this in stride. Nevertheless the movie was a boffo success all the way around. Indeed, by any yardstick. 

So I suppose it could not have been done without Kantor. Soldiers returning home: that's the story. So we see their particular challenges. I have enjoyed watching the movie, especially (by far) the opening part, as the three central characters become acquainted with the return home. Then we see the reunion with family/friends. We see adjustment challenges of leaving war, returning to normal life. 

 

The dead don't matter

I am reminded of a poignant comment during the O.J. Simpson trial: "We reserve our sympathies for the living." The masses of war casualties are forgotten because they literally exist no more. They didn't survive to give sanctimonious speeches at Memorial Day programs. We cannot appreciate their "take" on things. Instead we have the survivors. 

I have felt that in an understated way, "The Best Years of Our Lives" takes a generous view toward WWII. Look at it this way: how would the lives of the three men have proceeded if the war had never happened? Dull and full of ennui? Instead the war was the most dramatic possible chapter any young man could have experienced. You just had to survive it. Odds were not super-good of that. 

The military service gave these guys a sense of identity and pride they could not have dreamt of otherwise. In a way, Hollywood put forward a template about "the good war" that made us all more sympathetic to future military actions. Look how the nation was so slow in recognizing the sheer futility of Vietnam. 

Boomer boys like me not only grew up with the Boy Scouts, we grew up with WWII movies, carefully sanitized to not show the full carnage, and with war-themed toys: facsimile weapons, even plastic "hand grenades" that worked with caps for "cap guns." You'd expect all of this to generate some PTSD in our fathers. If it did, it was kept under wraps. 

 

A thread in Kantor's stories

I realized that the two Kantor-inspired movies cited here - "Follow Me, Boys!" and "The Best Years of Our Lives" - have a fascinating theme or commonality. I hugely congratulate the late writer on this. I wonder how many others have noticed this. Here it is: the idea of how a purely chance encounter or impulse can have life-changing results. The three servicemen in "The Best Years of Our Lives" meet in a fleeting way, as they seek plane transportation home after their service commitment. They hop on a military aircraft that has rounds to make. They are headed for fictional "Boone City." Their lives become intertwined. 

And then in "Follow Me, Boys!" Fred MacMurray as the heroic character is playing saxophone with a traveling band when the band bus passes through a typical small town. On main street the character sees a "help wanted" sign on a storefront. Is this the American ideal? He leaves the band, befriends the shop owner and grows into a pillar of the community, gets married etc. And, becomes the iconic scoutmaster. You might say he's a hero like Davy Crockett if you want to subscribe to all that. 

 

Money talks

Whither the Boy Scouts? The Boy Scouts of America reached a settlement with sexual abuse survivors in 2021. The sum was $850 million. And so goes the deconstructing of Norman Rockwell's America, eh? We might pine for an America that in truth never existed, eh? 

Kantor had a fascinating and overall impactful career. I have touched upon just a portion of it here today. His name ought to be bigger. Scout's honor.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Wonderful picnic leads into new UMM (UMN?) year

Walkers and runners can have unexpected things come up along the route. I put "walkers" first because that is my thing now, as opposed to the running I once did. Kudos to Kevin Wohlers who is still a committed jogger/runner. Heard the other morning that Kevin might be running for mayor. He is the one person in city government that I have comfort for breaking bread with. 

So on Wednesday, yours truly is taking a late afternoon walk in my usual environs - that includes the outskirts of our UMM campus. Hey, there's a picnic outside of the HFA. Out of curiosity I walked toward it a little. Someone spotted me! It was a UMM staffer with whom I have been friends a long time. So even though I was not invited to the event, I joined the fold with this person who said I could be a "member of her family" for the occasion. 

Such a pleasant surprise and a nice meal too. It was the welcoming picnic for UMM staff. We're getting around to that time: start of new school year. I wonder how enrollment is looking for the new academic year. 

I'm very curious if UMM music will have its concerts at the HFA recital hall. We do not have the full-fledged concert venue that an august institution ought to have. Strange how the public school has that, not UMM. Instead the HFA has this cavernous hallway but a too-small performance site for the music department. We scratch our heads. 

 

That was then

I must remind you: the HFA along with the science auditorium were designed when "avant garde" ideas were the "thing" all over the place. I lived through that, alas. The stranger the idea, the better it was received. It meant you were being imaginative, not locked into old norms. The '70s were a time when shedding of old norms defined the zeitgeist. We are stuck with the HFA.

A friend emailed me some terrific memorabilia a few days ago. It was a UMM music program from a concert in 2004. Way back in 2004! The year does not seem that long ago in my mind. Even 2000 does not seem so distant. Is this a trait of the aging process? I vividly remember "Y2K." How many of y'all remember? I smile as I recall talking to my father the next morning, after the whole thing blew over without incident. Yes, like the Comet Kohoutek.
I asked Dad if our dog "Sandy" showed any apprehension with midnight approaching. My dad chirped "he was snoring." 

The 2004 concert program from UMM (UMN?) included an arrangement of my father's "UMM Hymn." The arrangement was by John Stanley Ross, music faculty member at the time. John Stanley and my father became close. Dad wrote the Hymn for the opening of our august institution. So the "band played on" with the spirited rendition of the UMM Hymn which dated from 1960. 

Dad directed the first-ever UMM music concert in 1960 at the National Guard Armory which then was located where the public library is now. The band played the Hymn on that special day, when the audience was Stevens County 4-H youth and their families. Concert sent a superb message about how UMM would seek to groom a good relationship with community. I don't think that ideal was embraced fully through the years. 

I once mused with Jim Morrison how periodically, Morris would get some new do-gooder community leader who'd make a public proclamation about how the campus and community should have a better relationship. Yours truly and Jim might fall into a cynical mindset, common among journalistic types. Jim might deny that but hey. . . 

People know I wouldn't deny it. I would further point out that to the extent the relationship was not ideal between campus and community, it really was UMM's fault. That's a bald-faced opinion, I concede. 

I can remember the time when students floated around the term "townies" to describe non-UMM inhabitants of this burg. It was not a flattering word, suffice to say. Shall I assume the term has vanished now? Looks to me like UMM students today are (far) more mature and respectful than in earlier times. In the same vein, I'm assuming that UMMers of today are nice and accommodating toward people who come here from other institutions for sports events. Holy cow, I can remember when the inverse of that was so obviously true. 

As I tell these stories today, I sense that a lot of people don't have the background of the remote past at UMM. They might not even believe me. Well. . . 

 

It had to be good

Take a look at the UMM concert program from 2004 that appears with this post. Can't you imagine what a full and delightful musical event this was? 

Last spring the symphonic winds and choir had their big concert in Alexandria. Strangely and sadly, there was no repeat performance here. Stranger than fiction? Was this because the HFA recital hall was too confining in these days of covid? This might be understandable. But the arrangement is very sad and discouraging, n'est-ce pas? 

My friend emailed me a photo of archival quality from the 2004 concert. It's at bottom of this post. You see my father Ralph up front (at left) with Jim Carlson. Carlson was the genius behind the UMM Jazz Festival. He was in vocal music under my father when we had a group go to Seattle for the World's Fair. Don't ever forget the names Williams and Carlson. You can put me aside.

My life has been anticlimactic ever since 2006 when I left the Morris newspaper. Most likely it was a forced departure due to the fallout from the UMM goalpost incident. I got more public criticism than anyone because of this, and I wasn't even there when it happened. Scapegoat, I guess. The nail in the coffin for my career was most likely a letter to the editor from Dr. Busian. He's deceased now. 

I was reminded of ol' Dr. Busian Wednesday night when I saw the surgeon Dr. Sam at the picnic. Is it true that if you were a patient of Dr. Busian, Dr. Sam was reluctant to do surgery on you, might refer you elsewhere? Just asking. You might say "legend has it." 

I thank UMM for having its fine picnic fare available for me Wednesday night. The weather could not have been better. I always see a few familiar faces at events like this. We get used to the turnover.

UMM music: what it's all about

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com