Category Archives: Friends

Morris James

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After 38 years (!), Morris James has hung up his headphones and started blogging (“Purging Radio from My System”). He started in radio when he was 14 and his most recent gig was KRZK in Branson, MO. I met Morris when he was news director at WOW in Omaha (a Great Empire station at the time) and I was doing affiliate relations for Radio Iowa. Morris was instrumental in getting us on that great station.

He lurks regularly here at smays.com and calls his new blog Ozarks First Word (“News, Views and Tidbits”). Sounds like he’s working for the local newspaper and is exploring ways to make blogging pay.

Not sure how much time he’ll have for blogging and podcasting but here’s a guy with a boat-load of experience and a love for reporting. Give him six months or a year and he might just become “Ozarks First Word.”

The Notorious J.E.F. (Jeff McVey)

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Jeff McVey is the son of long-time friends Terry and Nancy McVey. Like many young men his age, Jeff has kicked around and tried a few things. His latest is studying martial arts in China. From his MySpace page:

Deborah and I got into China on May 12. … We’ve found our new home at a martial arts academy in a remote mountain village. I’m pretty sure it used to be some sort of industrial complex, and to call our accomidations meager would be a huge understatement. However, we do have a place to live and good food to eat. We live here with about a dozen other students from all over the world.  There are people from America, England, Germany, Indonesia, Scotland, New Zealand, and other countries (I haven’t quite met everyone).  Fortunately, all the students I have met speak English, which makes a nice little oasis in a land where I can’t comunicate with anyone.  So, we’ve been treated quite well, and we start our training tomorrow.  Everything seems a little daunting right now, but at the same time more than a little exciting.

His mom says this is something he has always wanted to do…and he’s doing it. Now, the person I want to meet is his wife, Deborah.

Jeff: “You know, I’ve always wanted to study martial arts in a remote mountain village in China. Whadya say?”

Deborah: “Cool. I’ll go pack.”

First AppleJAC meeting

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Mac adAttended my first meeting of the local Mac User Group last night. Met some nice people and saw a couple of good demos. George Kopp showed us how Boot Camp makes it possible to run the Mac OS and Windows XP on the Mac. Very handy. And George speculated that the next Mac OS will make it even easier. Saw a fascinating demonstration of SketchUp, a 3D landscape design application. And we started off the evening playing the new Mac TV ads that started airing this week. I’m the guy on the left but I want to be the guy on the right. These are great ads that tap directly into the Mac Lust I posted on several weeks back.

Before leaving the subject of Macs… a thought on the age-old Mac vs. PC debate. I’m too new to Mac and too technically ignorant to have an opinion of which might be the superior computing experience. But after only a couple of weeks, I have a theory. Macs are more fun than PC’s. A person who knows what they’re doing can probably get the job down with either Mac or PC but I suspect the Mac user will have more fun getting it done. If that matters to you.

Last MacNugget: Scheduled to try out the iChat thing tomorrow night with Bass. If there’s a way to record the video chat, I’ll post some here.

Found in Bob Priddy’s desk

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  • Christopher Garbacz (Professor of Economics @ Mizzou) business card
  • 15 yards of Butler dental floss
  • Iodized salt packet
  • Free medium drink coupon from Hardees (Expiration date Sept. 1996)
  • Cut-up American Express card
  • 3-cent postage stamp
  • Children’s Miracle Network pledge card (dated June 1989)
  • Unused “I voted” sticker
  • Illinois & Baltic Ave stickers from McDonald’s Monopoly game

A) Worst-case survival game pieces; B) Things McGyver needs to make a bomb; C) Things found in Bob Priddy’s desk after he cleaned it out.

This is an inside joke that means zip unless you know Bob Priddy and have seen his desk. Thanks to Andy Rawlings.

Bob Priddy replies:

Any good archaeologist is able to take disparate remains of a culture and weave them into a coherent description of the people who once inhabited an area. The archaeologist is able to determine the approximate age of the inhabitant, the diet, the religious beliefs, and the society of his time. You did not include paper clips, which also were found in abundance and which are a valuable clue. The number of artifacts is also important, but since the site as been disturbed and the paper clips have been removed, an important piece of information will forever be open to speculation. I shall give you a few clews, however, about the person who lived there.

He was a carnivore who did not like bland diets but who took excellent care of his incisors so he could properly tear at the meat that was part of his diet. The latest artifact located is dated September, 1996, indicating that he moved from the area or perhaps died shortly after that (did you check for burial sites?). He loved children, worshipped the God John Maynard Keynes, and felt plastic was Satan’s tool for a corrupt society. Now, you may build the story from there, based on the evidence you have found.

Reduce stress, promote healing

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Image of Leaf

If you only know Henry Domke from smays.com, he’s just my podcasting doctor buddy with whom I goof around each week. His passion for healing is matched by his passion for digital photography and he specializes in images from nature. I’ve linked to his work before and some of his pieces grace the walls of our home. A lot of his work winds up in hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices where –like Henry– they calm and heal. From the comments section of Henry’s website (scroll down a bit):

“One of our patients told me how much inspiration she received from one of your framed pictures. She told me that while she waited for her name to be called to go back for chemotherapy, she would gaze at the picture. She said the way the sun shone from behind the tree made her think that the Lord was going to walk out from behind the tree.”

Tell me, how gratifying is that for a photographer? Henry recently added some amazing new images that make you want to spritz on the Deep Woods Off and grab your Nikon.