April 5th, 2013 by Gary Osberg
March 29, 2013
Good Friday morning from Collegeville,
On move day, I shipped the Direct TV box back. I had become addicted to HBO and Showtime. I would record many of the shows like Web Therapy and Boardwalk Empire. Now I use the TV for watching DVD’s, period. The first one that I played was Adele recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall. She has an awesome voice and during the last two numbers she asks the audience to sing with her. Very good stuff. I do plan on getting wireless and maybe Netflix will come in handy during next winter. Spring should arrive someday soon and then TV truly becomes the vast wasteland. With The World and Fresh Air on MPR each night, there is plenty of info available. I will still send my money in to public TV.
The APHC show this week is the last spring rebroadcast before the show goes on the road. This one was recorded at The Town Hall in New York City in April of 2012. Renee Fleming sings “Hallelujah”, the Punch Brothers perform “New York City” and Heather Masse and Aoife O’Donovan sing “Time’s a Hoax.” On the News From Lake Wobegon, Pastor Liz is stopped by the Highway Patrol after a boring blind date. Enjoy the show.
“Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.” Thomas a Kempis
March 22nd, 2013 by Gary Osberg
Good frosty morning from Collegeville. Zero degrees on the car dashboard display. Yuk. My brother Bill is in Arizona. Smart. No way that I am going to get the seed potatoes in the ground by next Friday. There is a 15 foot pile of snow where my garden was last year. I love Yukon Gold potatoes freshly dug from Mother Earth.
There is a village in central Minnesota with only one resident. It is near an old mill close to a stream. That would be Mill Stream Village in St. Joseph, and the one resident would be me. I moved in to a cottage in the village on Monday during a blizzard. Two guys from Red’s Transfer arrived at the loft at 8:15 in the morning and they left the village at 11:15. One fellow had been doing this work for over 20 years and the other 16. I did not hear them say “oops” even once. I still can’t find the box with the tea pot, but I did find the sauce pan, so all is well. The cottage to the south of mine is in the Parade of Homes , # 24, this weekend, so check it out. For more info on being a neighbor, go to www.millstreamvillage.net
The A Prairie Home Companion show this week is a re-broadcast of a show done in April of 2009 in the Town Hall in New York City. Special guests include Wynton Marsalis and Heather Masse.
The News From Lake Wobegon features a story about a ritual argument between Mrytle and Florian Krebsbach. Enjoy the show.
The Freedom Flight & Honor Flight fundraiser is tomorrow night at the VFW on 18th Avenue North in St. Cloud. Call Luke at 654-1156.
“It has been said that a pretty face is a passport. But it’s not, it’s a visa, and it runs out fast.” Julie Burchill
March 15th, 2013 by Gary Osberg
Good icy morning from Collegeville,
This morning I really needed the strap-on ice walkers that my very thoughtful son gave me for Christmas. Interstate 94 is closed near Fergus. I am closing on a new cottage this morning and the moving van is coming on Monday. A snow storm is in the forecast. The infamous “tournament storm”.
The most memorable one for me was in 1965. We had a blast driving my girl friends 1963 Chevrolet Corvair Monza which was a rear engine design and hence it had better traction than most cars of the day. Ralph Nader wrote a book, Unsafe at Any Speed, in 1965 which lead to the demise of what some called “the most beautiful car to appear in this country since before WW 2. Nader cited the Swing-axle Suspension as the problem. It was a blast to drive, but you were able to get much better handling if you kept the tire-pressure very low in the front tires.
The Upsala girls basketball team made it to this year’s tournament, but I am not sure how they did in their first game which was played in “The Barn” on the campus of the U of M yesterday. The boys team has had a great year also. Let’s wish them both well.
The A Prairie Home Companion show this week is a re-broadcast of a show from October 2009. Special guests include the boys of Wilco and Patty Loveless singing “Busted”. Enjoy the show.
Next weekend you can help a worthy cause by attending a fundraiser for Freedom Flight & Honor Flight at the VFW Granite Post 428 on 18th Avenue North in St. Cloud. Dinner tickets are $15 at the door or $12 in advance by calling Luke at 654-1156. The raffle drawing is at 10:30. Dinner starts at 4 PM.
“In the best institutions, promises are kept no matter what the cost in agony and overtime.” David Ogilvy
March 8th, 2013 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
“Job Growth in US surges”. That was the lead in for today’s Marketplace Morning Report on MPR news. Working on a college campus, I am aware of the constant thought, “What am I going to be when I grow up?” Most of us evolve into a job, in my case faking it to get a job as a draftsman, which lead to being asked to jump ship from Control Data Corporation, where I had risen to “Lead Draftsman”, to a job as a “Facility Manager” for a start-up company, Norwood Engineering. Norwood Engineering was the brain child of a drafting supply house salesman, Dick Engebretson. Dick managed to raise $250,000 of capital from a group of St. Paul investors in 1967 to launch the very first “computerized drafting service bureau” in the US. Norwood Eng purchased a 6 foot by 9 foot Calcomp flatbed plotter for $70,000 and it only took a couple of years before we had to file for bankruptcy. The software was not ready.
I got laid off on my daughters first birthday, August 1, 1969. Two guys who worked under me, Butch and Red, went on strike until management hired me back. When the manager, Ron Crew, said, “What could Gary do, we don’t need a facility manager?” Butch suggested that Gary could be the sales force, since the founding partners who were performing that function had all been let go. It was Butch who suggested that I read “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie I ended up as the last General Manager with only Butch and Red on the payroll and we shut the company down for good after the stockholders refused to put any more money in to the venture. They did not have faith in three young men in their 20’s. Butch died way to young of a brain tumor and Red and his wife Linda own a movie theater in Hutchinson. I stayed in sales.
The APHC show this week is a repeat of a show originally broadcast in March of 2002. Special guests include cowgirl singer Stephanie Davis, Peter Ostroushko and guitarist Mike Dowling. Cindy Cashdollar sits in on steel guitar with the Guy’s All Star Shoe Band. Enjoy the show.
“Don’t let the noise of others opinions drown out your inner voice.” Steve Jobs
March 1st, 2013 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
One year ago today was Leap Day. There had been a serious snow storm the night before, however, the parking lot at the loft in St. Joe was plowed, so I headed in to work. Classes had been canceled and even though the roads were open, the parking lot on campus was not yet plowed. I managed to get stuck and the guy with the Backhoe helped push me out and cleared a spot for me to park.
I left early and I stopped to ask the same fellow if he had cleared a way for me to get out. He said he had and as I headed to my car my feet went out from under me and I hit the back of my head on the pavement. I was stunned but I was able to get up and continue towards my car. I did have a headache, so I stopped at the store for some Tylenol. The next morning I felt nauseated and I was diagnosed with a “mild concussion”. Four and a half months later, the nausea and exhaustion went away. My heart goes out to folks with chronic illness. This fall I walked into Sc huller Shoes and asked Greta for a pair of shoes that had “grip”. They are ugly but they do the job. In addition, my son bought me a pair of “ice fishing clamp-ons”. Be careful out there, it can be dangerous.
The APHC show this week is live from The Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. Special guests include Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell, vocalist Heather Masse and pianist Jed Wilson. Singing sisters Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele will join the usual cast of the Royal Academy of Radio Actors. Enjoy the show.
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519
February 22nd, 2013 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
“You just need to find your authentic swing” Bagger Vance, a character in the movie “The Legend of Bagger Vance”, released in 2000, directed by Robert Redford. Doing well at the game of golf is akin to doing well at the game of life. I am here doing what I do, loving what I do, to a large degree because of luck. Being in the right place at the right time. I had no idea what I was “going to be when I grew up”. I once signed up for the “Phillips Gas Station Management Program”. They taught us how to properly check the oil and wash the windshield while keeping an eye on the gas pump. One day my sister’s boy friend Barry Larson asked me if I had any skill with “drafting”. He had a side job that he needed help with. I was living with my mother recovering from a back operation and I told a fib, but I got the job. When he came to pick up the finished work, he was not happy. “Don’t you know the difference between an object line and a dimension line?” Clearly I did not. I bought an instruction book and did the work over again. I ended up as an Engineer Aid on the Polaris project at Honeywell and designed a part for the gyro for the missile . I probably still have that instruction book in the basement of the Parsonage. When I left that job to go back to college they gave me a very nice compass set and a briefcase to carry my books.
The A Prairie Home Companion show this week is a live broadcast from The Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. The show will be a celebration of all things banjo. Special guests include five-string masters, Noam Pikelny, Joe Newberry and Bill Evan, singer Suzy Bogguss and country music historian Bill C. Malone plus the Royal Academy of Radio Actors. Garrison will report on the News From Lake Wobegon. Enjoy the show.
“The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” Steve Jobs
February 15th, 2013 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
It is a bit nippy this morning. The on-board display in the Pontiac read “0”. The days are getting longer, but I still have not heard the call of a Cardinal.
This was “Gary Eichten Week” at St. John’s and St. Bens. Gary had a very heavy schedule including students events, speaking at the St. Cloud Rotary Club in St. Cloud on Tuesday, interviewing Governor Dayton at the Gorecki Center on the campus of St. Benedict on Wednesday evening and a “Lunch and Learn” in the Quad yesterday. I was able to be at two of the events. He did a wonderful job.
I know that it was hard on Gary to miss the “Member Drive”, but he managed.
Gary began his career as a student employee in 1967 when KSJR was launched from the third floor of Wimmer Hall. I found a file folder with a quantity of Student Employee Time Cards. In March of 68, Gary logged 225 ½ hours hitting 55 ½ hours in the third week. Somehow he still managed to graduate in the spring of 1969. Hopefully he will be back on the air soon with a special program.
The APHC show this week is live from The Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. Special guests include young bluegrass band Run Boy Run, soprano Maria Jetta, and the Midwinter Tuba Quintet. The Royal Academy of Radio Actors , Tim Russell, Sue Scott and Fred Newman will perform skits and Garrison will deliver the latest News From Lake Wobegon. Enjoy the show.
I will be at The Paramount Theater in downtown St. Cloud on Sunday to give away some goodies. The Harlem Gospel Choir will be performing at 2 PM. I have a couple of tickets for the first person to respond to this email.
“Great men never complain about the lack of time. Alexander the Great and John Wesley accomplished everything they did in twenty-four-hour days.” Fred Smith
February 8th, 2013 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
It has been ten years since I started sending these “Friday Notes”. It began by my simply forwarding the note that the Prairie Home Productions folks sent out every week. One Friday, there was no note so I had to go to the APHC website and find out where the show was going to be broadcast from and who the guests would be and then create some “fill” otherwise the note would be too short.
I almost lost my job, because I called the APHC office to inquire as to what had happened to their notice. Duh, never call the APHC production office the day before the live show. In 2008 I had a website created to archive the Friday notes and to promote the business of selling “unique messages” on public radio that would be heard by a “unique audience”. www.garyosberg.com
If fate allows, I plan on doing this note for another ten years.
The APHC show this week is live from The Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. Special guests include Buddhist inspired folk musician Ellis and men’s choir Cantus. Plus the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott, Lindsay Marcy and Fred Newman. Enjoy the show. Try the “rush” line sometime. Cheap seats for those that don’t mind standing in line. You may even be able to sit on the stage.
“Let us go singing as far as we go; the road will be less tedious”. Virgil (My first weekly quote)
February 1st, 2013 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
I truly enjoy my role as “sidewalk superintendent” here on the campus of St. John’s Abbey and University. This summer they replaced the metal roof on the Quad with a copper roof. The Brothers always think long term. A copper roof may last up to 150 years. I managed to pick up a piece about the size of a calling card. Very impressive.
In the fifties, the Abbey hired Marcel Breuer to design a new church. It was dedicated in October of 1961. Even today it is too contemporary for some folks. Breuer studied at the Bauhaus in Germany with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier. In all he designed ten buildings on the campus.
A few years ago a renovation created a Blessed Sacrament Chapel designed by the architect firm of VJAA headed by Vincent James, FAIA. During the construction I noticed workers were applying a thick layer of plaster on the ceiling. I am not a construction expert, but it struck me that they had not applied any steel mesh first. Sure enough, the next morning most of the plaster was on the floor of the new chapel. The next week the workers were securing steel mesh. The set back did not detract from the outcome. The ceiling is finished in a metallic fashion and it adds greatly to the special feeling of the room. Recently the work received yet another award from The American Institute of Architects. http://www.aia.org/practicing/awards/2013/interior-architecture/bsc/
Tomorrow you may choose to attend the Saint John’s Arboretum’s presentation of “Living in the Avon Hills; a Conference for the Whole Family, here in The Great Hall.
Simply Google “Saint John’s Arboretum”
The APHC show this week is live from The Fitzgerald Theater in frosty downtown St. Paul. Special guests include big-voiced New Orleans vocalist Topsy Chapman and Butch Thompson and His New Orleans Orphans. Plus the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott and Fred Newman. Enjoy the show.
“It is not the experience of Today that drives men mad. It is remorse or bitterness for something that happened Yesterday and the dread of what will happen Tomorrow.” Robert J. Burdette
January 25th, 2013 by Gary Osberg
Good morning from Collegeville,
Tuesday was the forty-sixth birthday of Minnesota Public Radio. On January 20, 1967 at 3:37 PM, St. John’s University received a telegram from Ben F Waple, the Secretary of the Federal Communications Commission, authorizing KSJR-FM to transmit “effective radiated power of 37 kilowatts” on the 90.1 frequency. It took us a couple of days to get on the air. The first words uttered on MPR’s airwaves by Dan Rieder, was “Heed my words, Earth People. You have 10 minutes to live.” We started as Minnesota Educational Radio and in 1974 the name was changed to Minnesota Public Radio.
The telegram was chosen as one of the “10 objects that define the St. Cloud area” by a panel of judges in February.
Today, Minnesota Public Radio® (MPR) operates a 43-station radio network serving virtually all of Minnesota and parts of surrounding states. Reaching nearly one million listeners each week, Minnesota Public Radio produces programming for radio, Internet and face-to-face audiences, and is home to the largest and most experienced radio newsroom in the Upper Midwest. Programs produced by Minnesota Public Radio’s parent company, American Public Media™, reach over 17 million listeners on more than 800 public radio stations nationwide each week. A complete list of stations, programs and additional services can be found at www.minnesotapublicradio.org.
The APHC show this week is a live broadcast from the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin. Special guests include close-harmonizers The Krause Family Band and good friends, Robin and Linda Williams. Dean McGraw sits in on guitar with the Guy’s All Star Shoe Band, plus Garrison will report the news from Lake Wobegon. Enjoy the show.
“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” Johnny Cash
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