Sunrise over OSU
A beautiful morning greets us on the winter solstice in The Ohio State University
Good morning, this is Mike George coming at you on the winter solstice 2024 — the 21st of December, to be more specific. It is around 7:45, about five minutes before the latest sunrise of the year. For the late sleepers who like to sleep in, this is your best chance to catch the sunrise on the shortest day of the year.
It’s a beautiful morning. I’m going to let the music play while I get changed, and then we are going on a little adventure outside for some breakfast treats and maybe some coffee to say hello to our new neighbors. I haven’t smoked any weed yet, which is an advantage while I’m playing producer, music director, and host.
I see Dee, Steve, and Dwight are already watching!
I’m going to continue getting changed so we can get outside in time for the sunrise. Actually, we don’t really have to go outside; we can enjoy the view from our lovely penthouse suite. That’s the advantage of having a penthouse; we’ll go outside after the sunrise when it’s slightly warmer. I need to get my money’s worth here, especially since I haven’t paid rent in about 20 months.
[Background Music: "1st of tha Month" by Bone Thugs-N-Harmony plays].
Sunrise over The Ohio State University
Good morning, this is Mike George coming at you from his new place in Columbus, Ohio. It is approximately 7:52, just two minutes past the official sunrise. Let’s take a look outside. This is actually my first time seeing the sunrise from this vantage point over The Ohio State University. We are at the 9th floor of this building.
I’ve switched my audio to my earbuds—the little guys hidden in here. Hopefully, the production assistants have done their job correctly and you can hear me better now that the audio is coming through my headphones.
Let's do a panoramic view from the perch of this "penthouse loft" I’ve secured for the Christmas season. I think we’re going to head downstairs now to get a free Frosty from the nearby Wendy’s and take the trash out while I’m rummaging around. I’ll say hello to the "mortals" and "civilians" down there. Since it is Ohio State’s break, it's mostly just hardcore grad students, doctors, and hospital staff.
[Background Music: "It’s Such a Good Feeling" (Mister Rogers' Neighborhood theme) plays].
Walk to Wendy's
It is a cold but beautiful winter solstice. They do a really good job on this part of campus filling it with holiday spirit. I’ve never done an impressive Christmas display at any of my places, but I need to make a commitment to that for next year.
I’m heading over to Wendy’s now for a free Frosty. This is the most viewers we’ve ever had on a Facebook Live; it must be the magical hour, though I wouldn't have thought 7:00 in the morning would be it. I guess it shows the average age of my viewership—we’re old now.
Getting to the Wendy’s through the hospital is a tricky labyrinth, but I love mazes. Oh, wait—I just realized I forgot to bring my coupon. So much for my free Frosty; I’ll have to go back and get it later.
Mirror Lake
I’m heading toward the library now, which should be opening soon. You guys are being quiet — I assume because you are enjoying this and have no critiques.
Being from the Ohio Valley, we’ve become accustomed to breathing air with various levels of carbon. We folks from Steubenville have iron lungs; we made it out without emphysema or dying from COVID.
I’m going to check out the library since no students are inside yet. I tried to bring Dwight, Steve, Dee, and Liz on camera, but Facebook is claiming there are technical issues. It sounds like the excuses my students used to make when I was a teacher. We worry about AI and sophisticated delusions, yet we can’t get Facebook Live to work correctly.
Look at Mirror Lake. I didn’t expect it to be this beautiful. The water is quite low, and these red plants are gorgeous and picturesque. I’ll continue the music and see if we can awaken the fury of Copyright KAREN this morning. I’m having a technical moment with the camera adjustment, so please stand by.
Our Anthem
I typically play my morning wakeup sequence until we get to the Star Spangled Banner. When I lived by the Air Force Base in Dayton, I tried to time it for 7:30 to match the start of the work day. If the Dow hit a record high, we might play the Whitney Houston version.
[Background Music: "Good Morning Baltimore" and Janelle Monáe play].
Happy Winter Solstice, the latest sunrise of the year. It is December 21, 2024, in the non-Oprah universe. I’m looking for a US flag to stand at attention to. There it is — that was a perfect shot of the flag.
Interestingly, the Ukraine national anthem played right after in the same key. It felt like a symbolic continuation, suggesting we should defend our fellow democracy just as we did during World War II. I like to keep our national anthem special, not butchered like Roseanne used to do.
The Starbucks Strike
I’m heading toward Starbucks. It looks like they are protesting, and I want to see if they want some camera time.
Mike: (to the protesters)
What are you guys doing here? Is this a protest?
Protester:
We are on strike—the first time in Columbus. We’ve been bargaining for a few months, but they haven't come back with a peaceful economic proposal.
Mike:
Is there an excuse? Are people buying coffee from Walmart?.
Protester:
No, they are giving us bogus numbers saying our needs are unobtainable.
Mike:
Are these corporate stores?
Protester:
Yes, all Starbucks in Ohio are corporate-owned, not franchised.
Mike:
I admire that you guys still have unions. I come from Steubenville, where we used to have the steel industry unions until NAFTA, China, and Walmart caused the demise of our area.
Sign-Off
Support your unions, fellas. If you don’t like your union or your country, run for office; don't just destroy it and hand it over to fascism. This has been Mike George on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Merry Christmas and Happy Kwanzaa to you all.
