Nonogirl Radio

Walmart

There have been many boring and mis-informed discussions about whether or not "bloggers" are journalists. I call the discussion mis-informed because they lump everyone who distributes their writing via the internet under the blog label. I certainly am not a journalist as I'm espousing my personal opinion. But there are many online writers out there, even from the political left, who are practicing journalistic ethics and even representing multiple perspectives on a subject.

The current Making Contact show on Walmart does a great job of this! Ben Trefny's segment teases out the complicated ways Walmart's discounted products appeal to people with fixed incomes yet also serve to drive down wages.

Save our Public Media

Over five years ago, I got all teary eyed when a London tour bus swung by the BBC building. To me, the building represented government support for the media dissemination of culture, education, news, and entertainment, to its country-folk with a global perspective.

Sadly, the state of American media is reduced to info-tainment. And with Bush in his second term, it's only getting worse.

If you believe in American democracy, then you must believe in a strong public discourse that allows many different perspectives be heard. So maybe NPR is mostly uses white men for their sound bites or fails to cover key stories/angles that people from progressive left find important. We can't let the POTENTIAL the Corporation for Public Broadcasting offers.

Please scan this page and call your congressperson! It's quick. You don't have to have arguments prepared; their aides just register your perspective.

History of the Guitar

My cousin Melanie was my symbol of cool growing up. She taught me "driving words" like "shithead," took me to my first two rock concerts (Pat Benatar and Jackson Browne), and to Rocky Horror. She also bought me a guitar when I was 9.

She taught me how to tune harmonically and how to play "Take it Easy." After learning chords and strumming to folks songs at the Torrance parks and rec. I took private lessons with Melanie's then-husband, Pedro. My repetoire expanded to some rock: "Twilight Zone" by Golden Earring, "We Got the Beat" by the Go-Gos, and some dinner music: "Suicide is Painless," "Somebody's Baby" by Jackson Browne but I never reached proficiency.

But some people around me make that instrument dance and cry and moan and light fire in the hearts of all that listen.

And during the groggy morning hours of this past weekend, I learned more about the history of the guitar than I expected from public radio.

This piece ties in the reporter's personal story, the art of guitar making, and the important role that Hawaiian, Joseph Kokuku, played in propelling the guitar to the popular status it has today.