Author Archives: Kevin Walsh

About Kevin Walsh

Kevin began MyMediaDiary.com in 2013 as an experiment that was as simple as "What's a blog?" and ended up becoming a forum for fellow writers. He's been a high school teacher for 28 years and worked as an administrator and instructor in colleges for 10 years since then. Contact him at: kevin@mymediadiary.com He is also the producer of the web-series and blog, www.DiggingDetroit, founder and producer for MMD Productions at www.mmdphotovideo.com which offers quick, professional photography, video and multimedia solutions for individuals, organizations and businesses. His high school media production text, "Video Direct," has been used in 40 states--and he occasionally still sells a few. He is the current president of the non-profit DAFT (Digital Arts Film and Television) which sponsors the Michigan Student Film Festival. He lives in Royal Oak, Michigan, is married to Patrice and is tolerated by his two kids Aidan and Abby who have all graciously allowed him to write about them on occasion.

The Legacy and Questionable Power of My Father’s Puns

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My dad had three puns that were so bad, they were only permitted on his birthday–and one was pretty challenging to employ on June 28th.

Jim Walsh would have been 76 years old today.  He came from a long line of punsters and its with mixed emotions that his grandchildren also subject unsuspecting audiences to his legacy.

At his funeral, 19 years ago, we passed around two leather-bound green books for folks to jot down their favorite memories of my dad, a precurser to the amazing testimonial strings found on Facebook at the passing of a loved one.

My college buddy Dan added two of his favorite groaners from my dad’s visit to campus on his tri-state route, often in the South Bend area selling windshields to … Read More… →

Empathy Be-Damned, Just Find Your Foxhole and Someone to Blame

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When a tragic event happens, we’ve changed from a nation of mourners to a nation of soldiers in foxholes.  We’re stunned by the first noise then dive for cover and peek above the rim and fire away, perhaps taking aim.  Hurry!  Which hole will be yours–the gorilla’s, the parent’s or the zookeeper’s?

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Gorillas don’t kill people, the zoo does!  Do the same people in favor of shooting the Cincinnati Zoo’s gorilla support banning AR-15s?  After all, neither is by default a man-killer, but, in the wrong circumstances they can be as deadly as a seven year-old driving your minivan. If you’re in favor of keeping zoo patrons … Read More… →

Defining the American Masses: The Common Man or Third-Graders without a Chaperone?

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“You’ve reached group-sales for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  How may I help you?”

“Hi there!  Our third-graders are touring Manhattan and we thought we could bring them by tomorrow.”

“Certainly.”

“That’s great.  This chaperoning is wearing us down so thought we’d drop them off in the morning, catch a show and a few beers and pick them up around 5 or so, if that’s okay”

“Umm….Well, we need to have the kids chaperoned…because, you know, there’s a lot of priceless items…”

“Thanks so much.  We’ll be by at 10!”

There aren’t too many teachers or directors of any respected institution that would permit this scenario.  After all, it’s hard to take a selfie of you and Van Gogh if there’s some kid drawing horns … Read More… →

McMansions and Boo Radley–Paving the Way for Progress, Right Over a Royal Oak Neighborhood

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Featured on May 16 Detroit Channel 7 news (link).

I suppose I was guilty, but they were such pretty trees.  The city of Royal Oak sent me my warning that a fine was on its way if I didn’t take care of the maples growing in my garage gutter.

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Meanwhile, down the block, we’ve got our own version of the Boo Radley home that has sat vacant for nearly four years. My wife doesn’t like to walk too near it because of the rats that have been seen.

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Recipe for a Great Mom – Reflections from One Outnumbered Male

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I was sifting through my students’ essays when I came across this undeniably true thesis statement…

“If it weren’t for my mom, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”

I resisted the urge to add to the margin in snarky red ink, “No kidding.”–maybe even with a little smiley face.  After 25 years, that line is still is one of my favorites along with “UFOs are possible” (which is true, they are unidentified) and “Mr. Walsh, you don’t really read these journal entries, do you?” (to which I added, “No”).

But on Mother’s Day, I’ll borrow a bit from my student’s paper and tweak it a bit…

“If it weren’t for the mothers in my life, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”

When my wife laughs that I’m often … Read More… →

Loss of My Roommate, Micah – Champion of the Big Idea and the Little Guy

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Classrooms and schedules can make strange bedfellows.  Yesterday, I lost my roommate of 10 years, Micah Greene.  And like a brother who shares a bunkbed for so long, you become so in tune to his tossings and turnings, snoring and other idiosyncrasies that you stop paying attention–at least consciously.

Drama teacher Micah Greene came to West Bloomfield High School in 2003, the second year of the new TV studio whose courses I was asked to create.  He was a proud Western Michigan Bronco who had also spent some time at a Kalamazoo television station.  He was a natural to teach extra sections of our Beginning Video Production program once the program got rolling and had more sections than hours available.

As any teacher can tell you, … Read More… →

The $10 Voter-Apathy Tax: Avoiding Lead-Poisoning & Raising $1 Billion for Michigan

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My first job was supposed to be as a dishwasher–until my buddy heard me mention I was applying for the job and got there an hour before me.  I ended up becoming the kitchen slopboy/custodian–mopping the basement and scraping out the grease under the prep table after the health department again threatened to shut down the swanky Pagoda.

Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. Place your bets...

Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen. Place your bets…

The place is long-gone but I still have that first green pay-stub reflecting my 9 hours that July 1979–for $3 an hour.  I remember looking at the top right and seeing … Read More… →

From Detroit to the Bulge: Priceless Snapshots of One Soldier’s Journey Across Europe

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Before he was selected in WWII’s first draft for 18 year-olds, Detroit’s Lawrence Dupuis didn’t know the value of being color-blind.  “They would take me up in the aircraft and I could detect where the landscape had been disturbed and camouflage was laid down.”

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His cartooning skills were even put to use, although someone else would have to color the wall-sized illustration below:  “This drawing was painted on the stage of the Great Dunmow Airport Building that was to be used as an all-purpose room by the 8th Air Force who were to take over the field.  They sent over a sergeant to check … Read More… →

The Right to Bear Left: 2nd Amendment Mad-Libs, Replacing Cars for Guns

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What if, under an old desk in James Madison’s study,  the following were found scribbled on the back-side of the Second Amendment–the words in bold written into blank spots like a Mad Libs page…

Amendment 2.5:  A well-regulated Transportation System, being necessary to the mobility of a free State, the right of the people to keep and conduct Transportation Devices, shall not be infringed.

After all, the right to transport yourself is a pretty inalienable right, too, isn’t it?

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Eisenhower saw the immediate benefit of the German autobahn–allowing quick movement of Hitler’s troops across WWII.  But in addition to Cold War defense, Eisenhower also saw the expressways as a vital route for emergency evacuation–all under strict central government oversight.  After all, you wouldn’t … Read More… →

Two Brothers Swimming Against the Amazon: Rochester’s Village Lamp Shop

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Don’t tell me you haven’t done it–found something in a store, then guiltily taken out your phone to find a better deal on Amazon, Craig’s List or eBay.

You could argue with your guilty ol’ self and say that in the days before apps, it was similar to heading into the tire store with a newspaper add of a competitor’s price and asking them to beat it.  But now, you just have to click the little button and the over-stressed Amazonians are already whisking down their sweatshop canyons of shelves to get your order out the conveyor belt before you reach your car–with the retail owner, like your dog at the beginning of your work day, watching and your “Buy American” bumper sticker roll away.

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“Spotlight” on America’s Conscience: The Church, Jameis Winston & Refugees

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“It takes a village to raise them. It takes a village to abuse them. That’s the truth of it.”

–Spotlight‘s Mitchell Garabedian (Stanley Tucci) 

 

Michael Keaton’s character, Walter “Robbie” Robinson, in the newly-released Spotlight, is seeking Boston Globe confirmation of the Archdiocese cover-up for 70 priests involved in child molestation.  He passes the list to his longtime friend and attorney, “We all knew something was going on.”

His friend kicks him out of his house and then follows Robbie into the street and asks him why he didn’t do anything–if he knew something was going on.

Robbie pauses and can only say, “I don’t know.”

Spotlight’s portrayal of the 2001 investigation by the Globe’s Spotlight unit (Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams and Brian d’Arcy James) … Read More… →

New Podcast: “Detroit in World War II” with Author Greg Sumner

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Note:  This podcast was co-produced with Digging Detroit and can also be found at this link.

A look inside the “Arsenal of Democracy” as Professor Gregory Sumner of University of Detroit Mercy joins Digging Detroit’s Thomas J. Reed Jr. and Detroit History Tours‘ Bailey Sisoy Isgro at Detroit’s historic Abick’s Bar.   Sumner previews his upcoming book-signing, Detroit in WWII, at Abick’s on November 10, 2015.

Thanks to our Abick’s host, Eric and Kit, we visit with Prof. Sumner in the cigar room–formerly a barber shop.  Amazing eats was provided once again by Andy Surowiec of Smokin’ Pole BBQ!

Topics include:

  • Advantages of being an Hoosier looking in at Detroit
  • Coming out of isolationism with the $1 men and patriotism of Joe Louis and  Edsel Ford
  • Warren Tanks … Read More… →

Destroying the Decepticon in My Living Room – Cutting Cable TV’s $1K Umbilical Cord

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Our electric bill had jumped so much, I thought maybe three or four neighbors had run extension cords off the back of my garage.  We walked all around the house, examining every outlet, toaster, stereo and toothbrush charger–right past the culprit hiding in plain sight.  We were so used to its soft roar that it had become almost therapeutic–like a wave-machine in a sauna.  But, to quote Ross Perot, we finally identified “that sucking sound…” the cause of our depleting bank account–it was a Decepticon–the cable company’s Swiss army knife of doom–our modem/router/DVR/corkscrew.

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Apparently, according to my friend Scott Sowers, these bad boys draw more energy … Read More… →

New Podcast! Playwright Frank Anthony Polito and B.F.s!

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Playwright Frank Anthony Polito shares his journey from blue collar Hazel Park Michigan to New York’s theater scene, then back again, nearly 20 years later with a drama about his teenage years with his best friend–both discovering they are gay in the late 1980s.

For two more weekends–through October 4th, audiences can share this remarkable show in Hazel Park at the the Slipstream Theatre Initiative’s production of “B.F.s!” (link to website).

Topics include:

  • Frank’s move journey home
  • Writing a play (from an original novel)
  • Basing characters on real people–and merging them
  • Teenagers, friendships and drama
  • Becoming a drama coach at your alma mater

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Emmy Schools Oscar: 5 More Tips to Make the Academy Awards Less Eternal

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A film’s producer was asked about his DP—or “director of photography”—or “cinematographer” in case he’s nominated for anything. “He should be great,” he laughed. “But this is his first non-television gig. He might be too efficient!”

Sunday’s Emmy Awards was a perfect example of the terrible crime of being too efficient. The Oscars are notoriously always late–– a tiresome joke that probably began with “Wings” in 1929. Last February I discussed kicking Oscar out of the bingo hall (link).  Not sure if anyone at ABC read it, but perhaps they noticed the show from the Fox producers of the Emmy Awards–Oscar’s “little brother on the little screen”–that now produces more quality filmmaking then any 10 hour epic created by Peter Jackson.

The big winner was once again HBO.  “Olive Kitteridge,” “Veep” and “Game of … Read More… →

New Podcast: Archivists Roundtable at Historic Abick’s Bar in Detroit

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What to keep, what to throw away? The eternal question for the archivist.

In a partnership with Digging Detroit, we take our podcast on the road and chat with some of Michigan’s top historical archivists in a roundtable discussion at historic Abick’s Bar on their unusual world–sometimes spent in dusty shelves and digging through dark basements and mysterious attics–but often waiting for you at the reference desk.

They’ll share some familiar requests, general misconceptions, surprise treasures and offer some great advice for everyone on preserving documents, photographs and memories for posterity.

Recorded August 4, 2015 at Abick’s Bar & Grill

Host

Pete Kalinski:  Digging Detroit Host/Producer

Guests:

Rebecca Bizonet:  Oral History Project Archivists at The Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University

Andrea Gietzen: … Read More… →

Fr. Jack’s Open Mind, Open Heart & Open-Mic – Remembering to Breathe

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I thought of Fr. Jack Trese at the Traverse City Film Festival this weekend.  In its eleventh year, Michael Moore’s enormous contribution to the economy of northern Michigan has outgrown the city’s world-famous Cherry Festival.  Even staunch conservatives in town are giving him his due for spearheading the 6-day screenings with thousands of friendly volunteers assisting at the film-camps, youth activities, shuttle buses, ticket booths, outdoor movies and panel discussions open to the public.

We left our campsite early Saturday morning, riding our bikes to the Opera House to get in line for the Comedy Panel.  We got great seats and waited smugly for the show to begin.  I thumbed through the program and read Mike’s intro explaining that the theme of the 2015 festival … Read More… →

Playpens, Curfews and Trust: Our Responsibility to Children

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One of the longer hours you can put a teacher through isn’t monitoring lunch or that final 60 minutes before spring conferences are over–it’s at an in-service, the mandatory training that the state, city, superintendent or your principal inflicts upon educators.  Topics can range from the terrors of airborne pathogens to the correct way to open your laptop.  Michigan teachers are required to attend 30 such hours by law and most fall under the same sad irony found in the half-day seminar on the twenty-minute attention span.

But somehow, in 1991, I found myself at a training that stays with me to this day.  Its metaphor was the playpen.  Al Dicken, who would later become my administrator when I changed school districts, was the trainer at … Read More… →

New Podcast: Woodwords! Launching (and Maintaining) a Blog & Podcast with Kale Davidoff

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Woodwords, “Your Detroit Avenue to Alternative Pop Culture and Talk” is a new blog and podcast created by MMD contributing writer and podcaster Kale Davidoff.

Kale joins Kevin to discuss:

  • The first two months of a blog
  • Writers and stage-fright
  • The big thing before the big thing (aka “Off the Wall” pre “Thriller”)
  • Cold-calling special guests for podcasts
  • Just diving in and keep on swimming forward
  • Surprises and the fun of evesdropping at the table next to you at the bar
  • Marketing blog-posts with Facebook and Twitter trends
  • Maintaining a blog
  • Power of a deadline
  • Consistency of Vanna White

“Me too!” – Graduation of a Kind Soul

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“Me too!”

My mom actually had a dress decorated for my three year-old daughter with her all-inclusive expression painted above a daisy.

Abby came into my life five weeks before my father left it.  She was kind enough to arrive ten days early, at the respectable time of mid-afternoon for Patrice, who doesn’t mind a good night’s sleep.  Abby’s is a good old soul and today she’s done with high school.

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We were … Read More… →