I Have a Guest Blogger Too
Today I'm turning Paul's Falls over to a guest blogger - Randy Newman - who is responding to an earlier blog by Jeff Davis:
Battle Bot competition at Discovery World
I can't let this opportunity pass to tell you about the Battle Bot competition that is going on at Discovery World on Saturday, April 4th.
See Village Election Results First on Channel 14
The 2009 School Board Race and the Village Board Presidents Results will be broadcast on Channel 14 again this Tuesday, April 7th. In the race for two spots on the school board, Kathy Shurilla, David Noshay and Anthony Poth are on the ballot. Randy Newman and Jefferson Davis are running for the spot on the Village Board currently held by Rick Rechlicz. The 2009 Voters Forum can be found 2 ways this year. It can be found running on Channel 14 by going to http://www.fallscableaccess.com/weekly_schedule.html for times and dates. If that doesn't fit into your schedule you can watch the forum on-demand by viewing the streaming video at our Peg-Central link http://fallscable-wi.pegcentral.com/. The Forum is listed in the Village Government folder. Remember to VOTE on Tuesday and if you can't Vote on Tuesday be sure to stop at Village Hall on Monday where you can VOTE early.
Much happening at the studio lately. The 2009 Voters Forum was hosted by John Mercure of WTMJ-TV and was shown "LIVE" on Channel 14. Technically running a show live on public access is fairly simple as far as routing the signal. Hitting the scheduled time running and keeping it moving are another thing completely. The show went off with only 2 minor glitches and they were only obvious to crew. It helps having a professional like John in the drivers seat and our now seasoned camera people, Alyssa Demge and Gorrdon Kirchoff, were able to handle all the challenges of a live audience and unrehearsed format. We expect to run other live programming in the future when it calls for it. The National Association of Broadcaster Conference as proved to be a valuable source of information for FCAC and this year we will be doing further investigation on Digital trans coding and Micro-wave technology. With the cost of microwave coming down, the technology improvements and the our remote trailer in full operation we are close to providing "LIVE" remotes of the parades, concerts and sporting events.
Program Registration Begins April 21
Resident registration for summer programs offered through Menomonee Falls CE & REC begins at 12:01 AM on Tuesday, April 21 (the night of April 20). The best way to get into the class of your choice is to register online at www.fallsrec.org. Non-resident registration begins Friday, April 24 at 12:01 AM (the night of April 23).
Traditional Summer Programs
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Summer Kids INC (Playgrounds)
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Swim Lessons (Daily and Weekly)
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Safety Town
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Youth Sports Camps
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Adult Athletics
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Chalk it Up
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Lego and Science Camps
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Tennis (Youth and Adult)
Public Forum for School District Facilities
Titanic
On Friday we went to see Titanic: The Artifact Exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum. It was amazing! Have you seen the exhibit yet?
It was also rather depressing. Especially when I saw that our boarding passes were for 3rd class passengers. You see you are given an actual boarding pass for a passenger who was on the Titanic. It tells you their name, age, who they were traveling with, where they were from, why they were on the ship, etc… after walking through the exhibit for over an hour, listening to the audio tour, I really didn’t want to check to see if my lady was lost or survived, however Zoe started to look up her person so I had no choice.
Spring
I am such a lucky man! Last week Meg and I had the opportunity to take a spring vacation. We stayed at a timeshare in Hot Springs Village, AR. We chose to drive rather than fight the crowds and hassles at airports.
On the way down we watched the scenery change from grubby brown winter colors ever so subtly to light green. When we arrived at our condo, the leaves were just starting to emerge on the trees. The dogwoods were in full bloom.
Let's Go, Batter Up, We're Takin' the Afternoon Off!
It's that time again. Friday's Brewer Home Opener signaled the start of Spring in Southeastern Wisconsin. The kids are enjoying their Easter Break. Teachers are driving to relatives all over the US and Falls Cable Access is running Little League Weekend again. Why run 72 Little League Games back to back to back? Well the first reason is there is a lot of work involved in each of those games and it seems a shame that they sit on a dark shelve in the high school collecting dust. The second reason is that we get so many comments from our viewers about Little League Weekend. From stories and anecdotes they want to share to tearful Thank You's from parents and Grandparents. And the third reason...they are infectious. Watching your long lost friends in the stands, your dentist or mail person hitting off the pitching machine, or my favorite, seeing people who are your friends now who you didn't know at the time, has a tendency to have you watch just one more to see who is next. And then another. Maybe just one more. And then you've either blown an afternoon you could have been working or it's 3 am and you have to usher at the 7:30 Mass. Whatever your reason, Little League Weekend will continue to be an annual event in Menomonee Falls. Go on, try to watch just one. One extra note...the games will not be streamed on the website for 2 reasons. 1. The would have to be re-entered into the drives to transfer to the server. (Lots of hours) and 2. It would consume most of our allotted space on the Peg Central server.
Friday May 1st, the access studio will be buzzing with activity as we are a host site for tours of WAPC members attending the state conference in Pewaukee. We are putting the finishing touches on the studio at this time to give the best impression and for those who are building or starting an access center, a good model to learn from. I am planning a survey of the visitors to see what they think of Falls Cable Access and how it compares to their own studio.
I'll Gladly Pay You Tuesday for a Hamburger (Free Garbage Pick up) Today
Kenosha County Town of Paris has a $21 million Budget Surplus due to Waste Management and We Energies
There has been widespread news coverage recently, except for the 4 local Menomonee Falls newspapers, of The Town of Paris (population 1,500) in Kenosha County and their burgeoning budget surplus of $21 million as a result of landfill and power plant payments from Waste Management and We Energies in a time when other governmental entities are cashed strapped and looking for ways to raise taxes and fees to meet their endless spending habits instead of reducing costs to lower taxes in severe recessionary times.
Photo Hunt
Can you guess where these photos were taken? True, they are all in the same place, just a few different angles.
As with previous Photo Hunts, all comments will be moderated so everyone can participate should they choose.
St. Anthony Parish School Profits Record Amount for its Endowment Fund
St. Anthony Parish School held it???s 6th annual auction and tasting event on Saturday, March 28, 2009. With a new theme, Taste Around the World, experienced record attendance with over 270 parishioners, school families and friends supporting the St. Anthony Catholic Education Endowment Fund. In addition to record attendance, we also made over $17,000 from our cash raffle, silent and voice auctions, raffle baskets and other donations and sponsorships! Thank you to everyone who attended and supported this event! We look forward to seeing you next year!!!
You're Kidding Me, Right?
A headline in the April 20th Wall Street Journal read:
"Administration Seeks to Target Wasteful Spending"
I may be a little dense, but after throwing around over a trillion of our bucks to stimulate the economy, our President is now going to nickle and dime some programs started in earlier administrations.
Graduate from the Church of Your Choice
Elmbrook district sued over plans to hold graduation in church
From Mike Johnson of the Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/43455537.html
Hear no Evil, Speak no Evil, See no Evil...IRS Violations?...Attorney General Citings?...You're Hired for at Least 10 Years
Non-Competitive, No-Bid 10 Year Contract of Nearly $1,000,000 is Unanimously Awarded by Village Board at Taxpayer Expense for Falls Cable Operations with Village Manager's Recommendation
Like the popular 70's cartoon character Alfred Newman who always seemed to be oblivious to those things around him that didn't seem just right with his "hear no evil, speak no evil and see no evil" attitude, 
Talk like a pirate
First things first, the Photo Hunt was a photograph of the Alexander Calder mobile that is hanging in the Milwaukee Art Museum. The view was from underneath the mobile, I was one floor down at the parking garage level. Congratulations if you knew it!
Next thing is How I Became a Pirate at First Stage Children's Theater is amazing! We went to see it this afternoon and really enjoyed it. The music is very catchy and the acting is superb. I think it's one of my favorites this season, right up with The Happy Elf and Giggle, Giggle, Quack. What can I say? I loooooooooooooove a musical! The play runs through May 17th, so you still have plenty of time to see it.
FLU - You can beat it!
The Swine Flu is spreading to humans at an astonishing rate. If this continues our health care system may well be overwhelmed. Since there is no vaccine for the current flu strain, here are some measures you can try to avoid getting sick.
1. Wash your hands several times an hour. Use plenty of soap and water.
New Contract, New Horizons
With the new contract in place for Falls Cable Access the door is now open to some changes and improvements to the channel 14 viewing experience. A lot of the planning and direction of the access studio was in limbo since the state adopted the video provider legislation that gives the state the control over cable franchise agreements instead of the local municipalities.
Although the legislation is being challenged as not com sumer friendly, the Village needed to make sure that they were complying with state laws, and that the organization running the day to day operation of the channel understood and complied also. Falls Cable Access provides more original programming at less than 1/5 the budget of Milwaukee or West Allis, which are two of the more successful access centers in the state. We are very pleased with the Village Boards vote of confidence and the detailed and responsible work of the Village Manager and Village Attorney. The contract allows for the continuation of the cable access channels while providing a larger portion of the franchise fees collected to go into the village general fund. Specifically, the reserve fund, which as of April 15hth was around $250,000 and made possible by volunteer work in the late 80's through the 90's, will be used for capital improvements.
