The Modest Offices of WORT Radio are only four blocks from where I work, but either they transmit from another location or they broadcast at about 50 watts of power, because I've got to constantly fiddle with the tuner of my radio to pull in the station. After two o'clock on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday it's worth the trouble, though, because that's when they play plenty of hot jazz.

[Footnote: According to the station's website, they broadcast a 2,000-watt signal from a tower on the southwest side of town.]

Ranks of Lantern-like Lamps line the Facade of the Lorraine on West Washington Street


The Lorraine used to be one of the grand old hotels in downtown Madison, back when there were grand old hotels in Madison. If it were still a hotel, it would be called The Grande Olde Hotel and be crammed to the rafters with pretentious geegaws and foofery. Either that, or it would be the seediest rat trap in town.

But it's not. It's been refurbished as condos, and pretty nice ones, from what I can tell of the photos I've seen posted by bloggers who've been inside, and even a few who live there. Even from the outside, it looks like quite a beautiful old pile now. The copper patina on these lanterns and around the overhang add a venerably aged look to the front entrance.

If there's anything I don't like about The Lorraine, it's that the face of the building almost always seems to be in shade, but that's a very minor quibble.

Ice Out

Open water is slowly making a return to Monona Bay.

I had a little walk along North Shore Drive and took a detour through the park by the rowing club's boat house. The rip rap has soaked up enough warmth from the sun to force a retreat of the ice sheet.

The waterway under the trestle leading out to Monona Bay is entirely free of ice now. You could've walked under that trestle on a sheet of ice six inches thick a week and a half ago.

... and there's a little more open water on the other side of the trestle, but there's still quite a bit of ice out there.

A coworker said she saw a couple guys row out to the ice in a boat, then climb out onto the ice to fish.

Damn.

My Darling B shows the Timster how it was done in the early days of video games.

It doesn't get much easier to grasp than Pac-Man: One joystick, that's it. No jump button, no fire button, no other buttons at all after you punch "one player" or "two player."

He thrashed his mother. He couldn't beat his old man at Galaga, however.

The video games were part of an exhibit at the museam of the Wisconsin Historical Society on the western corner of capital square. It was a lot more popular than we though it'd be; we had to wait in line quite a while to play Galaga.