Nonogirl Radio

R-Circle

Public art in San Francisco is wrought with controversy. There's the Foot, the Geary Bridge, and the Moscone bust (and pedestal). But murals, graffiti, and other forms of street art are rich with pluralistic defiance to the gallery system.

Somewhere between Sunday night and Tuesday evening a bicycle that had been slowly disintegrating over the past two months re-emerged as a Ghost Bike, public art in the Castro.

I've warned people that although the Castro seems safe, bikes in front of my house are frequently stolen. The precursor to the Ghost Bike first lost a front wheel, then the other, then the basket, and finally the handlebars! It lay skeletal, tied to the parking sign washed over by blowing leaves and errant trash.

After daring to leave my own bike locked on top of the stripped bike over Saturday night, I mustered up energy to move it to my apartment, not daring to tempt the theives two nights in a row.

On Tuesday, the remains of the bike transformed into a visual statement as it stood tall against the parking sign in a ghostly monotone gray. And by the marking on the sidewalk, I knew this enlivened bicycle was a gift to me from someone who transforms destroyed bicycles into art.

Disney War

Having worked at Disneyland for two torturous summers and a winter, I'm a sucker for any writings on Disney. Here's a Pop and Politics review on the latest Disney book. Remarkably, the reviewer read this 500+ book in one day!

It's now on my wishlist.

Two Stories

This weekend, I went to the Bay Area Storytelling Festival, which surprised me with great talent and depth.

Donald Davis, an older white man who spoke with a Southern twang while sporting a bowtie, created a live version of "the driveway moment" in radio.

Before he began, he applauded the storytelling "opening act" for painting two images: one for the one she told and one for the story it reminded him of.

And as he shared a story that he will never record because *he* wants to control when it is told, I shed my prejudices of him being a white man from the south as a warm story about a neighboring family reminded me of my dear southern friend Bo, who was a Catholic priest, an amazing cook, a kind spirit, and the closest person I know who died of AIDS.

Davis told a story that made me laugh, cry, and open my heart.

Let it Rain

The gray clouds that loomed over Bike to Work Day cleared as my evening began shedding light on so many of the things I take for granted in San Franciso:

• Hetero cruising in the Castro. Who woulda thunk?
• Sweet tunes from a sax player in the Panhandle
• The sight of crusty punks, the mandatory dog mascot, and tattered luggage
• Progressives from a totally different scene
• The Red Vic (see movies there, they need your support!)
• Amandla!
• Plantains from Baobab
• and the well seasoned Scrabbel!

Yes, a rare night of activity for the Nonogirl. But the inspiration from the above list outweighs my hangover.

Word. From Chuck D

Thank you Commonwealth Club for making the audio archive of Chuck D available! Listening to his critique, his analysis, and his sense of hope gave me that same rush that rock'n'roll once did.

He's a culture worker, a proponent of self distribution, an internationalist, and a KPFA fan.

The dialogue is just over an hour. Listen in for quotables like: "'The masses.' Just move the 'm' and it's 'Them asses!'"

Mountain Goats

NPR goes "indie." John Darnielle goes autobiographical. LISTEN

APAs on NPR

I was told that Crossing East will be the first Asian Pacific American history series ever, yes, EVER on NPR.

I'm not surprised. I listen to a lot of NPR to learn storytelling techniques, and I think today is the first specifically Asian AMERICAN story I've heard. Sure, we'll hear about Indonesia or China or Japan. We may even hear about Hmong hunters in Minnesota. But rarely do we hear about an Asian American experience in the U.S. This story is different. There's references to how racial stereotypes were constructed and I felt that the story recognized Asian Americans as part of the American fabric.

I think the story said Yoshio Kishi recieved $300k for the collection. Hmmm. What did Yuri Kochiyama receive for all her movememnt memorabilia?

Red Tape

I work for "the City" so I know all about bureaucracies; about filling out forms, which get lost; or bank account numbers that are suddenly wrong, corrected, and still wrong. After 4 1/2 years, I'm somewhat used to it.

But two radio stories relaying the impact of poor administration and oversight made me very sad. The first is about the MOVE bombing which most folks know about if you know anything about Mumia Abu Jamal.

The second is about how funds are (or rather are not) being used to rebuild Aceh, one of the areas hardest hit by the December 26 tsunami.

Why do bureaucrats have to be so bureaucratic!

Radio vs. Podcasting

My life has been pretty consumed with one radio project. It's an amazing project that allows me to explore my own roots in Hawaii along with current issues relating immigration and who can call themselves an American. But it leaves little room for anything else.

I did, however hop on board the podcasting train, cemented with this article for Pop and Politics.

The possibilities are amazing. Rather than thinking of it as a replacement for radio, I'm pulled back to my days as a zinester, before I used email and before "blogs," when creating for a niche audience that loved music. To me, podcasts are more like what DailySonic (my favorite podcast!) free MP3 zines. And while some people are droning on and on about their mundane lives, others are really using this distribution tool to spread interesting sound nuggets!

So if I weren't working on this radio project, I'd be starting the Nonogirl Podcast. Stay tuned because the ideas are brewing.