Z is for Zoo

R.a.n.t. of day 04/30/15

Zoos are a fun way to see animals you'd never get a chance to see. Milwaukee has an amazing zoo and you could spend all day in. The Milwaukee County Zoo has such a wide variety of animals to see. Lizards, penguins, bats, llamas, lions, tigers, bears. Oh my, the list could go on and on. The problem with the zoo is it's very expensive to maintain. And understandably so. I can only imagine how much it costs to house and feed a single gorilla or elephant, much less an entire zoo.

Obviously, some of the cost is passed on to visitors. Currently, if you want to visit our zoo, it's $14.25 admission for adults, $11.25 for children and a $12.00 fee for parking. The cost for a small family of four is $63.00. And that's just to walk in the door. Coming from a family with five other siblings living in the same house as them, you can imagine how often my father took us as a family. The number starts with the letter Z.

So as not to be completely negative, I have to give thanks to the zoo because it's a beautiful place and they do provide a select number of free days. One day in each month, October - March, is selected. True, it's the coldest months in Wisconsin, but still, it's provided for free. I've been to the zoo several times, normally when I was in school. I'm much older now, and perhaps I should take advantage of either those free days, or stop being a cheap-skate and get to the zoo to see these wonderful, beautiful creations. And while I'm thinking about it, maybe invite my children. I believe the number of times I've taken them begins with the letter Z too.

Some questions for discussion:
What do you like or dislike about zoos?
What's your favourite animal?
What great attractions do you have where you live?

Can you believe this is the end of the A-Z blogging month?
Thanks go out to each and every one of you who have stopped by my little corner of the worlds this month. Yes, I r.a.n.t. a lot, but I hope I accomplished that with warmth and humour.
See you in the funny papers!

(Vote for the rant that annoys you the most on the right side) ------->

The American Radio - Part 41

R.a.n.t. of week 10/26/14

This week I decided to take another break and repost an article written by one of my contributing bloggers, Charles Winthrop. Mostly because this week his series touches on a local radio station.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

So far in this series, I've looked at the origin of the radio as well as the growing and changing evolution of the American radio station. As I continue the exploration this week, I move from information stations to the more mainstream, 'popular' music stations. For this article I'll be looking at a Milwaukee based station, 99.1 The Mix. Details of my findings have been listed below. When looking at this small slice of airplay, it illustrates some interesting data.

First: one needn't wait to long for their favourite song to be replayed. Chances are, when one tunes to the station, ones particular songs of choice will be played within the hour. Given, of course, they are popular, mainstream and modern.

Second: any tune from before 1995 and one will be waiting a while, though a few are still played. Additionally, often requests are taken, an excellent time to get your preferred song played.

For my findings, I took two random days from the week of 10/19/14 between the times of 7:00 and 17:00. Within this time frame, I came up with the following data.

296 song plays
(Averaging less than 15 songs per hour)

Songs most played.
8 - "Am I Wrong" - Nico & Vinz
8 - "Boom Clap" - Charlie XCX
8 - "Love Runs Out" - OneRepublic
7 - "All About That Bass" - Meghan Trainor
7 - "Girls Chase Boys" - Ingrid Michaelson
12% of total airplay

Artists most played.
14 - Katy Perry
(1)California Gurls
(3)Dark Horse
(2)Hot n Cold
(2)I Kissed a Girl
(1)Last Friday Night
(2)Roar
(2)Teenage Dream
(1)The One That Got Away

14 - P!nk
(2)Blow Me One Last Kiss,
(2)Don't Let Me Get Me,
(2)Just Give Me a Reason,
(1)Perfect,
(2)Raise Your Glass,
(1)So What,
(3)Try,
(1) Who Knew

12 - Maroon 5
(4)Animals,
(1)Daylight,
(1)Love Somebody,
(3)Maps,
(1)Moves Like Jagger,
(1)One More Night,
(1)Wake Up Call

12 - OneRepublic
(4)Counting Stars,
(8)Love Runs Out
17% of airplay

Artists having only one song played.
51 - Alex Clare, Anna Kendrick, Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, Blink 182, Britney Spears, Capital Cities, Christina Aguilera, Christina Perri, D.H.T., Def Leppard, Ellie Goulding, Enrique Iglesias, Green Day, Gwen Stefani, Hoobastank, Imagine Dragons, Jason Mraz, Jessie J, John Mayer, John Mellencamp, Kei$ha, Lady AnteBellum, Marcy Playground, Matchbox 20, Michael Buble, Naked Eyes, Natasha Bedingfield, Nelly, No Doubt, Norah Jones, Oasis, Phillip Phillips, Pitbull, Poison, Police, Rick Springfield, Rixton, Robin Thicke, Ryan Cabrera, Selena Gomez, Sheryl Crow, Soft Cell, Sugarland, The Band Perry, The Fray, The Wanted, Third Eye Blind, U2, UB40, Whitesnake
17% of airplay

Artists having two songs played.
18
11 having the same song - Avril Lavigne, Echosmith, Fleetwood Mac, Florida Georgia Line, Fun, Hot Chelle Rae, John Legend, Magic, Passenger, Plain White T's, Taio Cruz
7 having different songs - Adele, Journey, Kid Rock, Madonna, Neon Trees, Nickleback, Rihanna
12% of airplay

Shortest wait for a replay in a single day.
2 Hours, 20 minutes / Charlie XCX "Boom Clap" (8:47am - 11:07am)

Longest wait for a replay in a single day.
8 hours, 42 minutes / P!nk "Try" (7:57am - 4:39pm)

Interesting to note how songs being played continually only six months ago, have now been relegated to being only single or double plays within a two day time frame. Certainly an indication of the evolution of an American radio station happening before ones very eyes.

Join me next week as I take a look at Indie Rock Stations
Featuring Boston's - 92.5 The River

This excerpt from - 'The Walla Walla Whistler',
used with permission.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Charles Winthrop is a Washington
state writer & D.J. His interests
include music (both modern and
classical) and is a fine art connoisseur.
His articles have appeared in various
magazines including, 'Art Beautiful',
'Music of the Renaissance', and 'The Walla Walla Whistler'.

Road Closed

R.a.n.t. of week 04/06/14

No jokes, no puns, no comedy. I really, really, really hate roads being closed. I especially hate it when there are two major roads closed where I live. One of Milwaukee's main streets (27th) has a stretch closed for about a mile, if not more.. Four lanes reduced to two. This makes for much congestion in the morning. And since the road is being torn up, all the asphalt scraped off needs to go somewhere. A MAJOR CROSS STREET! Let's put it there!!! Who are the road wizards that came up with that one? It's so bad, Loomis is starting to look more like a quarry than a street. Honestly, I think I saw the Beeb filming an episode of Doctor Who there yesterday.

So I can't use 27th, I can't use Loomis (the open part of Loomis goes the wrong way) so I must find a new route to work. The next logical choice would be 35th street (Yes, I'm frightened people are starting to figure out exactly where I live, but I'm moving in the future so that won't be a problem). As for 35th, there's good news, and there's bad news. The bad news is my idea is shared by many others looking for an alternate route. This tends to cause a another major back up. The good news is.... well, I lied there is no good news, just more bad news. When you travel 35th street, about a mile North is a bridge which is currently having a construction project of it's own after a train ran into with a double stacked load. Half of the bridge is closed which brings the four lane bridge down to two. For almost a mile South of the bridge, traffic is backed up, pretty much all the way to Loomis.Why is it not 2015 yet? According to Back to the Future, we'll have hover cars. I can't wait.

Photo of a Dalek (Behind the gravel pile).

Dragon Boat Racing - 07/13/13

Each Drag Boat raced to the beat of a different drummer.

Not knowing most of the teams, I just called this the blue team.

Each team member must row together if they want to be effective. Posing for the camera is optional.

Normally I'd call this the yellow team, but my friend Ray is one of the rowers. This is the Miller/Coors sponsored "Dragon Brew" team. No dragons on their shirts, but who needs a mascot as long as you've got the strength to win.

While the rest of the team is hard at work, Ray takes a refreshing break.

Notice his co-worker glowering at him.

When the real race begins, it's every team for themselves.

It's going to be close. Who's going to win?

It's my blog, so I can say what I want. Would you believe me if I told you Miller/Coors was number one?

Truthfully, they came in second place.

Ray enjoying his second place medal along with one of his co-workers.

Brady Street Storefronts

Not much to say with this set. The photos really speak for themselves.

Essentially, a few of my favourite Brady Street storefronts.

Which are your favourites? Hope you enjoy the set.

J.A.Scott

Brady Street Signs

Not much to say with this set. The photos really speak for themselves.

Essentially, a few of my favourite Brady Street signs.

Hope you enjoy this set.

J.A.Scott

Tour of America's Dairyland - Bike Races - 06/26/13

Tuesday, Schlitz Park area - Pleasant Street. You can see the starting line behind the bikers.

The first part of the race is uphill. This is the corner of 2nd & East Reservoir.

Same corner, here is a shot of the pace car, followed closely by many of the racers.

Here's a close-up of one of the bikes.

A smaller group, continually checking behind them.

Coming around the corner of Vine & North Hubbard St.

A map of the course.


Additional information can be found HERE.

Milwaukee - Beauty and the Buildings

A perfect combination of Beauty and City.

The U.S. Bank building in the distance. 

I used to work there, it'll always be the 'First Wisconsin' centre to me.

Kind of hard to see, but there is a pond between the trees and the buildings.

You can see some of the reflection in the pond here. Another great example of Beauty and the City.

A great place for an early morning jog. I need to get involved in this again.

Awesome City Living!

R.a.n.t. of week 05/05/13

Oh the joys of living in the city. It means I'm blessed with tons of human contact. For example, a neighbour upstairs shares her music with me late into the evening. At times till one or two in the morning. Sometimes it's a film she's watching, but the sounds are still shared with me. Additionally rewarding is the great view I have from my bedroom windows. From one side, I get to observe the traffic of the busy street and the other a fantastic view of the panelling from the house next door.

Also, there is much to do during the day while living in the city. Just this morning I was able to listen to one of my audio books while I sat in bumper to bumper traffic on the motorway. My favourite game when I arrive to work is the "Find a Parking Spot" game. In this game, the object is to find a place to park close enough so you can keep tabs on your car during the day. You automatically lose this game if you park too far away and have your car broken into. This happened to me once, it sucks losing the game this way. Of course, the only way to really win this game is to find a decent parking spot in the morning, and then still have the same parking spot available once you arrive back from lunch. No, it doesn't happen frequently. The city is also filled with many awesome decorators. Not really my cup of tea, but their attempts to decorate the streets with used drink bottles, snack bags and cigarette butts is encouraging. Truly, I find the decorations puzzling, but they must seem to like it, why else would they do it?

Once the work day is over and I'm done playing games and admiring the decorated landscape, it's time to head home. And yes, the evening in the city is just as fun. If you want to enjoy a calming fire, you don't have to worry about constructing or maintaining a large fire pit. The city insists you keep any fire small and contained. And living where I live, I don't have to worry about setting much on fire because the only place to set a fire-pit up is on a cold hard parking stall. How awesome is that? I don't have to worry to much about the cars that park there either because they are out on the street speeding up and down. Nothing makes an evening more enjoyable than the sound of cars gunning their engines. Certainly more enjoyable than the annoying sounds of evening birds chirping. One last reason why the city is so much better than living in the country, the intense traffic and street lights drown out the hum-drum view of the nightly stars. It's kind of like living inside a giant light bulb. Now who wouldn't want that?

Yes, city living. Near perfection.

Milwaukee's Snow Day 2013

Stopping at a park during a Milwaukee snow day.

 

The trees were heave with snow.

 

The branches were icing over.

 

Lake Michigan was choppy.

You can see the Lake crashing over the break waters. Also you can see how the Lake has iced over.

A closer look at the iced water.

A closer look at the water.

Milwaukee's Historic Water Tower on a Snowy Winter Day

Hope you appreciated this photo set. Make sure to leave your comments below.

What is your favourite photo?