Kayte has a friend who is into miniatures. Amanda Nickey mostly crafts pottery at 1:12 scale (standard for traditional doll houses), but she also goes to shows and connects with miniaturists all over the world. She wanted Kayte to check out the biggest miniatures show in the Midwest, the Tom Bishop International in Chicago. She said it was mind blowing.
Kayte went to the show. And it was indeed very impressive. Almost anything you can think of has been crafted at a 1:12 scale—desks, chairs, plants, loaves of bread, soup ladles, replicas of vintage toys, jewelry, holiday decor really anything!. Kayte spoke with creator, Janet Middlebrook, who hand-sews miniature clothing from past eras. She is currently focused on replicas from the 1950s and 60s (swimsuits, motorcycle jackets, nightgowns...).
But what Kayte found more compelling than this spectacular miniatures show was her friend Amanda’s practice of making miniature objects herself, and what her involvement in the world of miniatures means to her.
Orbital Decay
Nice Work host Tyler Lake talked to Mike Klinge, aka TV Mike, back in October. They talked about how hard it is to run a restaurant, or a bar or a performance venue in Bloomington, or just about anywhere, actually. And at a rate that feels too quick to keep up with, these places close. There’ve been a rash of them in town the last few months? Or is it years now?
And sadly, it happened to Orbit Room. They announced recently that they’ll be closing at the end of July.
In my appraisal, it's a major loss to Bloomington. It's a major loss for a pinball enthusiast, but more importantly, for people who want to see interesting movies, or experimental sonic oddities of the best kind, or just one of your favorite acts around town. Some of it at least, is the kind of stuff that might not have a place to live anywhere else in Bloomington. And I can already hear the laments from locals, it’ll start by fall, the eulogizing of the hot dogs. The Cosmic Chili Dog or the Full Tilt Dog, it doesn’t matter; a certain slice of people will vocally measure every new hot dog in Bloomington or wherever they find themselves to an Orbit dog. and they will, to a dog, be weighed, measured, and found wanting.
But there is a tiny, tiny, tiny Silver Lining, and that is that they don't close until the end of July. They close. So, I appeal to you now, and this is for you, not the folks at the Orbit Room, it’s looks like it’s too late for all that. If you haven't been to orbit room. You should probably go. I’m Pretty sure this is your last chance.
The thing about interesting local spots, like say, for example, Orbit Room in a town the size of Bloomington is this: If we want to be able to go check stuff out when it interests us at places like Orbit Room, we might have to patronize them with a little bit of regularity. So, you know, they are still there when the fancy strikes us to go.
I will admit, I am out here on my hypocrite’s soap box, I didn’t go to Orbit Room enough, I enjoyed myself every time I went, but I didn’t go enough. Bloomington has lost a lot of great spots, and now, after 8 years, it’s going to lose another one. And so it goes, but man, I sure wish I could learn a lesson from this particularly heartbreaking closure, I just don’t know what it is.
WFIU’s Local Favorite from the NPR Tiny Desk Concert: Jermaine from the South
NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest is underway, and episode 5 of NPR’s Tiny Desk Top Shelf, which picks ten favorites from the 6,000 entrants, featured a Bloomington musician. Jermaine from the South, aka Jermaine Butler, is Jermaine Butler is from the very south of the American South. He spent his early years in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and then lived in Baton Rouge until he came to Bloomington for a PhD. His 2024 album, The South, showed his skills as a hip-hop producer influenced by psychedelic rock, southern rap, and drum and bass from video games. His new album, including the song he submitted to the Tiny Desk Contest, is his first foray into rapping. Not only is he rapping, he’s rapping in Louisiana Creole, a language he only started to learn as he was starting the album. You wouldn’t know it. He looks confident and sounds great, and his music slaps.
CREDITS
This episode was produced and edited by Alex Chambers. We get production help from Danny William, Karl Templeton, and Jonah Ballard.
Our theme music was composed and performed by Alan Davis. Additional music from Universal Production Music. The executive producer is Eric Bolstridge.