Month: January 2014

Lake Michigan, Mid-January 2014

John Winkelman

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Four weeks after my Christmas Eve walk around Kirk Park I returned to Lake Michigan to see what had changed, and to try out my new camera.

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The extreme cold of the past few weeks increased the ice cover dramatically, and now the lake is covered out to near the horizon.

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1116″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”480″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”640″}}]]

The large piles of ice roughly correspond to where the sand bars or shallow regions near the beach appear in the summer.

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I walked out to the first large piles. I am certain the ice would have held me out much farther, but it was difficult walking; slick ice interspersed with patches of snow which might also be deep holes.

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After an hour here I drove up to Grand Haven State Park, where many people (comparatively) were enjoying themselves on the ice.

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1131″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”480″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”640″}}]]

The mouth of the channel was apparently the only open patch of water in this area, and therefore there were ducks in abundance.

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1136″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”480″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”640″}}]]

You can see the entire set here on Flickr.

Barebones Backbone/Marionette File

John Winkelman

I am posting this for two reasons: First, so that I have an easy place to go when I want to start a new Backbone/Marionette application and I don’t want to search around for a bare-bones template; and second, because when I started working with Backbone/Marionette I wish I could have found something like this; the equivalent of ‘Hello World’. Code follows, with comments therein.

/* create a new instance of the Marionette app */
var app = new Backbone.Marionette.Application();

/* add the initial region which will contain the app */
app.addRegions({
	/* reference to container element in the HTML file */
	appRegion: '#AppBase'
});

/* define a module to keep the code modular */
app.module('App',function(module, App, Backbone, Marionette, $, _){
	
	/* define a view; in this case a 'Layout' */
	module.GardenLayoutView = Marionette.LayoutView.extend({
		
		/* the auto-generated element which contains this view */
		tagName: 'div',

		/* id attribute for the auto-generated container element */
		id: 'AppContainer',

		/* reference to the template which will be rendered for this view */
		template: '#layout-template',

		/* called when the view initializes, before it displays */
		initialize: function() {
			console.log('initialize');
		},

		/* called when view renders in the DOM */
		onRender: function() {
			console.log('onRender');
		},

		/* called when the view displays in the UI */
		onShow: function() {
			console.log('onShow');
		}
	});

	/* Tell the module what to do when it is done loading */
	module.addInitializer(function(){
		/* create a new instance of the layout from the module */
		var layout = new module.GardenLayoutView();

		/* display the layout in the region defined at the top of this file */
		app.appRegion.show(layout);
	});
});


$(document).ready(function() {app.start();});

And here is the base HTML file, including references to all of the libraries which are required for creating a Backbone/Marionette application.

<!doctype html>
<html>
	<head>
		<title>Backbone/Marionette bare-bones setup</title>
		<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css"/>
	</head>
	<body>
		<!-- Base element for app -->
		<!--
			Dont use the BODY element as the base because when the app renders in the BODY
			it will wipe out the template files before the views can pick them up 
		-->
		<div id="AppBase"></div>

		<!-- TEMPLATES -->
		<!-- main layout template -->
		<script type="text/template" id="layout-template">
			<h1>This is a rendered template</h1>
		</script>

		<!-- libraries -->
		<script type="text/javascript" src="js/jquery-1.10.2.min.js"></script>
		<script type="text/javascript" src="js/underscore.js"></script>
		<script type="text/javascript" src="js/backbone.js"></script>
		<script type="text/javascript" src="js/backbone.marionette.js"></script>

		<!-- app code -->
		<script type="text/javascript" src="js/script.js"></script>
	</body>
</html>

The libraries which load in before the code for the script can be found here:

Each link also has information necessary for learning and implementing the libraries.

A Collection of Links Concerning Jim Harrison

John Winkelman

This post is a central point where I can collect articles about, and interviews with, the American author Jim Harrison. I’m trying to keep them in roughly chronological order. One interesting effect of this is listening to his voice change through the years, and being able to hear him in my head while reading the print articles.

The Art of Fiction No. 104 – Paris Review interview, Summer 1988

Between Dog and Wolf (French documentary on JH), 1993

Writers and Company interview with JH from 1994. (audio)

“Will Write for Food”; NYT interview with JH, April 1994.

Excerpt from a documentary c. 1997. (video)

Wild Duck Review interview with JH from 1997.

Joseph Bednarik interviews Jim Harrison, October 2000.

JH reading at the Lensic Theater in Santa Fe, New Mexico – February 2002. (video)

JH conversation with Peter Lewis, February 2002 (video)

Robert Birnbaum interviews JH for The Morning News, June 2004.

Pleasures of the Hard-Worn Life – New York Times article 2007.

All Things Considered review of Returning to Earth, February 2007. (audio)

Interview for PlumTV, c. 2008. (video)

Article about Harrison’s Montana farm house; Wall Street Journal c. 2009.

PBS Newshour interview with JH, 2009. (video and transcript)

Daily Beast interview c. 2010.

Outside Magazine article about JH – “The Last Lion” c. 2011.

Interview with JH in Patagonia Arizona, February 2012. (video)

“Courage and Survival” essay by JH in Brick Magazine c. 2012.

Mario Batali interview Jim Harrison for Food & Wine Magazine, April 2013

“Four Meals with Jim Harrison” – HuffPost Books, May 2013

Q&A with Jim Harrison – Oregon Live, December 2013

“It Has to Come to You” – Jim Harrison discusses Theodor Roethke in The Atlantic, January 2014

“What I’ve Learned” – article in Esquire Magazine, August 2014

“A Prairie Prologue in Nebraska” – essay by JH in the New York Times, January 2015

“The Rodney Dangerfield of Literature” – essay in The Daily Beast, February 2015

“An Afternoon with Jim” – article in The Big Timber Pioneer, October 2015

The Gospel According to Jim – article in Angler’s Journal, February 2016

This page will be updated as I find more links.

Kirk Park, Christmas Eve 2013

John Winkelman

By Christmas Eve the ice had stopped falling and we had an inch or so of snow taking the edge off. This made it fairly easy to drive out to Kirk Park in time to catch the sunset over Lake Michigan. I have the entire set available for viewing on Flickr.

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The dune path leading to the water was covered by a shell of ice at least two inches thick. This was not obvious until I stepped on it and slid, feet out front like on a toboggan, to the bottom of the dune. Anyone on an actual sled probably could have easily made it to the waterline.

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1076″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”480″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”640″}}]]

The clouds came in from the west in two distinct layers; the higher ones which flowed to the horizon, and the lower ones which formed over the water and dropped lake-effect snow farther inland.

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1081″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”480″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”640″}}]]

On the beach the ice made for treacherous footing. Out in the water I could see some small chunks of ice floating and growing, and tiny ice crystals forming where the cold air pulled the heat from the water.

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1091″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”480″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”640″}}]]

On the shoreline the beginning of what would become huge piles of ice began to form.

[[{“type”:”media”,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”fid”:”1101″,”attributes”:{“alt”:””,”class”:”media-image”,”height”:”480″,”typeof”:”foaf:Image”,”width”:”640″}}]]

As they day wound down the sun came through at an oblique angle and created spots of brilliant color in an otherwise muted landscape.