Nonogirl Radio

The First...

Third Coast asked us to share the first radio piece that left a deep, lasting impression on us and might have influenced our path towards radio producing.

That's easy. It's Remembering Stonewall. And here's how I heard it:

i was doing a summer internship for a film and video organization during college. one of the perks was taking a video editing class they offered. but my passion was music and i realized that i HEARD things more than i visualized things.

one day, stuck in traffic, i drove home and i heard this piece about the gay liberation movement and i had my first driveway moment.

i wasn't a public radio listener and i don't think i had ever heard a radio documentary before. but this piece wrapped me up in the story of oppression and resistance and i knew that this is what i wanted to do.

Marketplace Gets Sassy

During my rush hour drive across the bridge, my attention faded in and out of Marketplace.  Business and economics is really not my cup of tea, but sometimes I tune in, hoping the info will seep in while I'm deciding whether I should switch lanes or not.

But yesterday, the show popped into the forefront of my attention when I heard "next up from musician and commentator, Ian Svenonius."

Huh?! The sassiest boy in America? The performer who makes me say, "Yeh!"? On Marketplace?

Sure 'nough. His commentary was about how music trends (the current popularity of electroclash and acoustic folk) is influenced by economics. When you live in cramped quarters, you can't be making music with a drum kit, so we've turned into bedroom music makers with drum machines.

Interesting analysis. But I think Ian must be new to this. His read sounded, well, like he was reading. I think that newbies to radio tend to read slow; we try to enunciate. Take a note, Mr. Svenonious: throw in some of that gospel preacher yeh-yeh and read faster, make it more conversational, and hurry up with your next segment to spice up Marketplace!

Third Coast 2005

I'm back in San Francisco and thinking through all that I experienced in Chicago. Yes, there were great pointers from David Kestenbaum and Susan Stamberg and it was amazing to witness Michele Norris' poise live and in the flesh. But the most exciting radio moment I had was upon my return to the internet where I searched to see what Ben Adair is up to.

Pacific Drift!

When people ask me if I see myself moving back to Los Angeles, my hometown, I usually think about how huge it is and how I'd feel too overwhelmed to stay up on all the food, culture, and music. I like my listtle 7X7 city, where I actually only need to stay on top of about 3X3 of it.

With Pacific Drift, I can reconnect with parts of Los Angeles I miss, learn about the parts that I never visited, and hear some great radio while I'm at it. It's urban, it's hip, and it sounds like it will also bring people together in the real via live events.

Can we do this in the Bay Area?!

Katrina

Besides this post about On the Media's analysis of Katrina coverage, I haven't posted about some of the really great radio produced during the crisis. I'm braindead from travelling, but I'll post a couple gems:

* This American Life: episodes 296 and 297 take the emails and three minute news blips you heard and flush those stories out with personal detail.
* I was impressed with Michele Norris' coverage of Katrina, like on this piece for All Things Considered. She inserts herself, like when her interviewee talks about how walking through the toxic water is ok, she points out that he has an open wound on his foot. And finally, when she asks how the residents on a dollar a day, she breaks out of her generic NPR voice and I might even recognize through her voice that she's Black!
* and big, big, big props to Hard Knock Radio and Third World Majority for their delegation to the Gulf Coast to bring back stories that I still need to listen to.

From Monument to Masses 2003

FMTM plays tonight at their record release party and I can't wait!

The Bay Guardian interviewed me for the article about their Goldie win in 2003. Here's some thoughts I might have shared at the award ceremony:

"When I moved to San Francisco, I fell in love with rock ‘n’ roll. I loved the music, the energy, and the sweaty bodies in crowded pits. And I believed that we danced together to the revolutionary beat of social change.

Ten years later, I’m much more jaded. I’ve seen music used more as a fashion statement than a political statement. I realize that unity in the pit was imagined. And kids these days don’t even dance anymore!

But in a small black box theater South of Market, From Monument to Masses won my heart over to rock ‘n’ roll again. Their vision puts politics back into the music and harnesses the spirit of the movement.

When I hear the voices of Philip Vera Cruz, Angela Davis, or Che Guevara in their songs, I know that all of us in the audience dance and raise our fists aroun a common vision. We all want Bindlestiff to have a new home, we want to save the California Arts Council, and we want to end this war on terrorism.

From Monuments to Masses, you are my soundtrack to the revolution.

Friends with the Card

I'm on deadline with an art show and two conferences coming up, but I did find time to enjoy the sun at Eva's birthday party...that is until I had the "tainted" pie...(click on the photo to see my slow fade).

Come out to Locus on Thursday, October 20th where I'll be playing a track from my Remapping Chicago CD for the LapPop show.

Enough About Me

So back to the main mission of this webzine: a review of the sounds around me.

Bikescape: Here's a great podcast, Bikescape, with a very timely feature on San Francisco's Courier Response Team spearheaded by Serenity Enriquez. Her idea is to harness the skills of bike messengers after a San Francisco emergency so that they can maneuver through debris and deliver supplies to areas in need.

This segment is a great reminder that we should all do the Neighborhood Emergency Response Training through our local fire department because it's clear that it's really upon us to take care of eachother.

My one criticism of this podcast is that like most podcasts, it could benefit from economizing on time and cutting the useless banter.

This American Life: And while I'm talking about disasters, TAL does a great job of personalizing the stories that news can only spend 5-7 minutes covering in two episodes (episode 296 and 297) devoted to Katrina survivors.

The confusion, disorganization, and blatant racism expressed in these stories exposes the gaping wound in America that has been pussing since the rape of Native American lands.

The Mission

This was my Mission District weekend as I went to Galeria de la Raza's artist talk between Rio and Rene Yanez, Balazo's Tattoo Show, and Casanova's soul night.

To back up, Galeria's (Re)generation brings two artists (emerging and established) together in dialogue. This time, it was between father and son. I learned how prolific Rene has been (establishing Day of the Dead traditions here in the United States, co-founding Galeria de la Raza, conceiving of Culture Clash, and curating Cheech Marin's collection into a touring show called "Chicano Visions"). And it's always great to hear from youth who grew up in the movement.

After a pupusa dinner and seeing J's flash tattoo art up in the back gallery, I was reminded what punk is all about. Outrage's hardcore punk from Watsonville started it off with Los Dryheavers and Boom Boom Kid and the Gummy Bears keeping it going. It was loud, sweaty, and full of energy. Despite the venue being primarily Latino, I saw Fat Floyd and met Smurph (who thankfully gave me a fresh pair of earplugs). And I've concluded that in this town there are only TWO, not six degrees of separation.

And while I surrounded myself this weekend with the "brown and down," I quite ironically closed out the weekend by dancing to Black soul music with a bar full of white hipsters.