December 4th, 2009 by Gary Osberg
Good snowy morning from Collegeville,
Winter has arrived in central Minnesota. I attended the 20th birthday party of the Chamber Connection at the St. Cloud Country Club. 200 folks showed up to network. Luke Cesnick was the original chair of the “Chamber Leaders” which met in the basement at the Chamber of Commerce office. Later it was changed to “Chamber Connection” I remember attending the second meeting at The Americana Inn on highway 10. It is a great way to end the week and it does work for growing your business.
I am wearing a brace on my right wrist because I used the “red button” curser on my laptop for the past ten years. This is my third laptop and I always bragged that I didn’t need a mouse because I had mastered the “red button”. Not a good idea. Tell your HR department and your tech dept to spread the word.
The show this week is live from The Town Hall in New York City. Guests include bluegrass band the Punch Brothers, Heather Masse and The Klezmatics. Tune in on Saturday and be a part of the raucous live broadcast.
You can attend the Paramount Theater tonight in vibrant downtown St.Cloud and catch Linda and Robin Williams, frequent guests on APHC. The show starts at 7:30 and MPR members receive a discount. Call 320-259-LINE for tickets. I will be there giving away “stuff”.
“I do what I love. You don’t need an MBA to be successful. You need a unique concept and guts.” Deborah Karabin
cell 320-293-6771
November 20th, 2009 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
There is a heavy fog hanging over campus this morning. The forecast is for sunny and highs in the fifties. It is hard to believe that next week is Thanksgiving already. “Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go…” Now, grandmother has a townhouse in the city and there is hardly room for all of the family. My grandmother on my mother’s side owned a grocery store in Upsala, Minnesota, so Thanksgiving Day was a big deal. She would fix not one, not two but three entrees, turkey, roast beef and a small pork roast. My job was to fill the crystal glasses with ice and water from the cistern pump. “Gram” would always start out with a prayer and then an apology for the quality of the meal, “I don’t know why I keep doing this, I simply can’t seem to cook like I used to.” The food was delicious. I think that is where we got the Lutheran guilt from. Barby and I are planning on going to the Radisson Hotel in downtown St. Cloud for the second year in a row. It is quite the spread and the clean up is real easy, you simply walk away from the table. The kids always go to their in-laws and should any of them ever want to, they are welcome to join us. A new more contemporary tradition is born.
The show this week is a live broadcast from the historic State Theater in downtown Minneapolis. Special guests include Steve Wariner, singer song-writer Nellie McKay and Andra Suchy. Enjoy the show and have a happy Thanksgiving Day celebration and be sure to have a piece of pie. Thank you for all that you do for Minnesota Public Radio.
“I often ask myself, ‘What would be an ideal life?’ I think an ideal life would be just drawing.” William Steig, cartoonist and author of Shrek at age 83
November 13th, 2009 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
“Today some people will be so paralyzed with fear they simply won’t get out of bed. Others will steadfastly refuse to fly on an airplane, buy a house, or act on a hot stock tip. It’s Friday the 13th and they’re freaked out.” National Geographic News 2004
Donald Dossey, founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute in Ashville, North Carolina estimates that almost a billion dollars is lost in business on this day because of the fear of bad luck.
Dossey traces the fear of 13 to a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party at Valhalla, their heaven. In walked the uninvited 13th guest, the mischievous Loki. Once there, Loki arranged for Hoder, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Balder the Beautiful, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. “Balder died and the whole earth got dark. The whole earth mourned. It was a bad, unlucky day.” said Dossey. In addition, Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th guest to the Last Supper.
The show this week is a compilation of a couple of past Thanksgiving shows. Guests include Meryl Streep and Leon Redbone. A special Thanksgiving Cantata is presented by Phillip Brunelle with Vern Sutton and Janis Hardy. Enjoy the show.
If you enjoy art, you have an opportunity to attend an open house this evening in the granite lobby of The Paramount Theater in downtown St. Cloud. Our own renaissance man, Dan Eller, lawyer, author and photographer will have his wildlife photos and the work of Victor Medina on display. The open house is from 6 until 8 PM. Also, artist Elly Van Diest is displaying her watercolor paintings in the lobby of US Bank across the street from The Paramount. Elly belongs to the Central Minnesota Watercolorists Group which is having their annual show this weekend at Atonement Lutheran Church.
“We first make our habits, and then our habits make us.” John Dryden
November 6th, 2009 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
The weather guy used the words Indian Summer this morning. It will be nice to get out and enjoy some sunshine. I have been suffering from some sort of stomach flu all week and I am looking forward to some fresh air.
Two weeks ago, Barby and I went to Barnesville to help celebrate her nephew Seth’s confirmation. Barby’s brother Eddy is one of those unique characters that can make you laugh. He has a supervisors job in Fargo and he told of his latest idea, the “Hurt Feelings Report”. The idea of emailing the HR department to ask about the companies procedure on how to go about filing a “Hurt Feelings Report” struck me as very creative.
Seth’s god father, neighbor Dave, told Eddy that the Biewer’s had named their fifth child Coleman. The Biewer’s own Biewer’s Tractor Salvage in Barnesville and they have named their children after antique tractors. So far they have children named Rumley, Dane, Avery, McCormick and now a Coleman. We debated if they were changing their theme since Coleman is famous for camp stoves, but by checking “Google” I was able to source that indeed Coleman built a tractor many years ago. The only one that did not come up was “Dane”. I tried many variations on the spelling, but still no luck. It might be worth a trip to Barnesville to ask the Biewer’s about their source.
The show this week is live from the Civic Center in DesMoines, Iowa with a French theme. Special guests include the maestros of Cajun music, Beausoleil avec Michael Doucet, French folk chanteuse Francine Roche and accordionist Mark Stillman. The usual cast of characters will be there also. Enjoy the show.
“In the best institutions, promises are kept no matter what the cost of agony and overtime.” David Ogilvy
October 30th, 2009 by Gary Osberg
Good rainy morning from Collegeville,
Yesterday was a big day in history for all of us and for me it was special in a couple of other ways. First, forty years ago yesterday, Charlie Klein, a 21 year old computer programmer sent a message to a friend at Stanford Research in California over what he called the “ARPANET”. The computer that he was working on was an IBM SDS Sigma 7, about the size of a two car garage. That one event changed our world.
Secondly, 37 years ago yesterday, my son Erik Jon was born at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids. I missed the actual event since my mother-in-law who was supposed to come to our house to baby sit my daughter Kerry, had purchased a new car and she confused the temperature gauge for the gas gauge. The fact that the Vikings game was on TV had nothing to do with it. That event changed my world forever.
Last of all, 10 years ago yesterday was my first day with Minnesota Public Radio. It had taken me 2 months and 7 interviews to get this job and I don’t plan on ever giving it up. You would be hard pressed to call what I do for a living “work”.
The show this week is a hair-raising Halloween episode broadcast live from the Bismarck Civic Center on the Great Plains of North Dakota. Special guests include Maria Jette, Andra Suchy and Janet Sorenson. The usual cast of characters will attempt to scare you out of your seats. Check out the newly redesigned web site www.prairiehome.org
“For a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine.” Arthur Miller in “Death of a Salesman”
October 23rd, 2009 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
The brother-in-law is doing just fine. They are already in their winter home in Sun City West in Arizona. They bought a house last year “lock-stock-and-barrel”. Houses are priced right in the Phoenix area. They were pleased to see that they had “summerized” the home properly. Mineral Oil in all of the traps instead of anti-freeze like we have to do. Weird.
For those of you who are “history buffs” you should plan on a trip to St. John’s Great Hall. As part of the celebration of 150 years since they arrived, Brother Linus started a process of gathering old photos and putting them on display in the Great Hall. Now, they have hung many of them on the hallway walls in the Quad. This morning I discovered photographs of the Abbotts, beginning with Abbott Rupert Seidenbusch, who was born in Munich, Bavaria in 1830. There have been ten Abbotts and only one football coach since the inception of St. John’s. The photo lineup of Abbots is in the hallway between the Great Hall and the Alumni Lounge. Check them out.
The show this week is live from the Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. Special guests include broadcast news veteran Harry Smith, of CBS fame. Some old friends, the boot-stomping, fiddle-plucking, heart-breaking Old Crow Medicine Show, honky-tonk heroes, Robin and Linda Williams will entertain as well. Tomorrow would be a great day to get in the rush line for the seats on the stage. First come, first serve.
Sherman Alexie was on Mid-Morning with Kerri Miller this week and last night he appeared on The News Hour on PBS. check it out at www.newshour.pbs.org
“He loved her, of course, but better than that, he chose her, day after day. Choice: that was the thing.”
Sherman Alexie
October 16th, 2009 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
This has been the coldest first two weeks of October on record in Minnesota. I guess the expectation for “weird weather” was correct. We had our summer in September and now November in October. We might see the sun this weekend and that will be nice.
My brother-in-law had an “episode” similar to what happened to Garrison. He did not drive himself to the hospital, rather, he did have to go by ambulance from Willmar to St. Paul. He seems to be fine, but of course they will keep him there until they can figure out what actually happened. He and my sister had already packed the van for their exodus to Arizona for the winter. I sure hope that they can make the trip soon.
We really do have to take stock of what is really important. Family and friendships are what it is all about. Barby and I are planning to go to The Local Blend in “vibrant” downtown St. Joseph tonight to listen to a musical genius, George Maurer. He has a new CD coming out, “Songs From The Wayward Journey”. Go to www.georgemaurer.com to get the latest on George and his friends.
St. Thomas, ranked number 15, is coming to campus tomorrow to play football against The Johnnies, ranked number 6 in Division 3. Kickoff is at 1 PM. The two teams are archrivals. Come out and enjoy the sunshine. Come early and eat at the “Refrectory” the food is awesome.
The show this week is another live broadcast from The Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. Bob Andrews drove up from DesMoines to attend the show with me last Saturday. It was a wonderful show. The whistle you heard when Garrison mentioned Bobby Bell and the Gopher Football team was myself. Special guests this week include Rosanne Cash, THE Rosanne Cash and singer-songwriter Heather Masse. Enjoy the show.
“You are free to choose, but the choices you make today will determine what you will have, be and do in the tomorrow of your life” Zig Ziglar
Gary M. Osberg
October 9th, 2009 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
What a wonderful trip I had to Sun Valley and Bozeman. It was sunny and warm on Monday and that night we had our first snow of the season on Bald Mountain. Ananda of Akasha Organics signed an agreement as did Maureen of ArtQuest West, a gift shop in Ketchum. Christine of S&C Importers renewed. If you have never been to Sun Valley/Ketchum, check it out at www.sunvalley.com . Be sure to thank our underwriters.
On Thursday I drove to West Yellowstone and then followed the Gallatin River down to Bozeman. The road construction is complete and the snow on the mountains made for a delightful drive. On Friday Aunt Maggie and I drove to Yellowstone National Park and we watched Old Faithful go off at 3:25 PM. It was her 83rd viewing and my third. We ate an ice cream cone at the Yellowstone Inn and we were back in Bozeman in time to watch the final episode of the PBS special on The National Parks, America’s Best Idea. Great work by Ken Burns and PBS.
At age 24 Maggie decided to bring her Aunt to the radio show, Queen For A Day. The host Jack Bailey would select six women from the audience and ask them to join him on the stage. The woman that was seated next to Aunt Maggie grabbed at Jack’s arm and Jack noticed the look of disapproval on Aunt Maggie’s face. He asked Maggie where she was from and when Maggie replied “Montana”, he asked her to go up on stage.
Once on stage the six women were asked a series of questions. When Jack got to Aunt Maggie, she kept backing away from him. Jack said, “Why don’t you stand still?” Maggie replied, “I like to be chased by handsome men.” The audience selected Aunt Maggie as Queen For A Day.
The show this week is live from The Fitzgerald Theater. Special guests include, Neko Case who will “conjure up a storm of song with her elemental voice and genre-meshing musical style” Other guests will be Andra Suchy plus Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele along with The Royal Academy of Actors.
“It’s easy to make a buck, but it’s hard to make a difference.” Tom Brokaw
September 28th, 2009 by Gary Osberg
Yesterday I arrived at the Holiday Inn in St. Cloud by 7:15 to catch a ride to the airport with Executive Express. On the ride down I visited with a woman who used to live in Pierz, neighbor to John Stumpf, the soon to be CEO of Wells Fargo. She told me a story about making a mistake at her wedding. She was so nervous that she tried to get the wedding band on her husbands right hand instead of his left hand and the ring was so tight that it took the best man 20 minutes to get it off at the recepetion.
Her husband John was a farmer, so after snagging his wedding ring a couple of times on equipment, he placed in a dresser drawer.
Forty years later, she surprised her husband with a party in Little Falls. She was able to get into her wedding dress and she wisely had made the ring one size larger. She placed the ring on the correct finger and sold the farm and moved to Arizona.
It is a beautiful morning in Sun Valley. I look forward to meeting some new folks.
Gary
September 24th, 2009 by Gary Osberg
Good afternoon from Collegeville,
It is sunny and warm. A beautiful afternoon in central Minnesota. This is hard to believe. We will pay for it, of that I am sure. Daylight Savings Time does not end until November 1st. . Get out there and enjoy.
I am taking a day off tomorrow and on Sunday I will fly out to Sun Valley, Idaho to meet some current program sponsors and to try and find some new ones. Last year I met a fellow at the coffee shop who loves our classical music station KWRV and he agreed to become a member of our Golden Baton Club. He promoted various art events in the valley with on-air messages. That does not happen if you stay home on the couch.
On Thursday, I will drive the rental car to Bozeman, Montana to visit with Aunt Maggie. I hope to get a chance to meet some more of her cousins. When I flew out for Uncle Bill’s funeral in March of 2008, I met a cousin who works for an advertising agency in Bozeman. In the last quarter of 2008, “Travel Montana” was on MPR a lot to promote the great state of Montana as a vacation spot. I love this job.
The show this weekend is the Season Opener plus the Street Dance and Meatloaf Supper from The Fitzgerald Theater on Exchange Street in St. Paul. Special guests include singer-songwriter Connie Evingson, The Sam Bush Band, Salsa Del Soul, Sarah Jarosz and Andra Suchy. The usual cast of characters will be there. Even if you don’t have tickets for the show, you should go for the meatloaf. Folks will start to gather in the street during the broadcast and Garrison will come out after the show to entertain some more.
“Tomorrow, who will really care how fast we grew? Isn’t it more important to know what we are building with our growth, and why? Measuring more is easy; measuring better is hard.” Ron Kendrick
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