Nonogirl Radio

Grizzly Man

In flu-recovery mode, I watched Grizzly Man, checking another film off my "To See" list.

Let me just say that this guy is weird! He needs a reality check and I'm glad that Herzog presents dissenting opinions that aren't just from the anti-tree huggers, including a First Nations person who thinks that Treadwell did more harm than good for the bears.

Despite revealing the main character's death by bear mauling within the first thirty minutes, Herzog is able to weave a story that held me gripped as Treadwell's motivations and character unfold set against some of Treadwell's beautiful footage.

Most interesting is the DVD feature on the scoring of the film. Herzog brought together a super group led by Richard Thompson and asked them to improvise the score while together for two days at Fantasy Studios. The results are breathless.

Scrabbel-ed B-day

Click to go to the B-day Set

The plan was simle: dinner at Lime, Scrabbel show at Du Nord.

Lime's small plates were perfect for my A.D.D. appetite and it helped that cousin Bryan treated.

Scrabbel played a great set and clearly has a bunch of new fans.

I don't think 33 will be so bad.

Go For It

My dad is rad. He sent me a birthday card that brought me to tears:

Daughter,

You are the author of your own life.
It's up to you to dream it,
imagine it, sketch it, shape it,
build it, go after it,
and make it happen.
And then color it in
with bright, shining
shades of joy
and deep, lasting
shades of meaning
that are yours
and yours alone.

No one else can know
the dreams you dream
or the strengths
you have within you
that will help you make
your dreams come true.
No one else needs to.
Because they're yours
And so is today.

Happy Birthday

And although he usually just adds a "Robynn" and a "Love Dad," this time he wrote, "Go for it!"

Rock Shows

I've been talking with a friend about starting a book of "Shoulda Saids." You know, where you think of your witty comeback hours, minutes, or even seconds after the event is over? So here's the first one:

At Dinosaur Jr. last night, there was  one particularly squirrly boy amongst a group of kids at the front. He squirmed between his girlfriend and his friends, taking up a bunch of room to do so. Eventually, he talked over my friend to reach his friend, hovering over her to high five his friend...several times.

Finally, she pushed him and told him, "You need to stop!" He was totally invading her space as if she wasn't even there. His friend replied, "That's my friend," as if that made it ok to hover over her.

I'm not sure what words were exchanged and the kid did stick to his side of my friend after that. But I did come up with a shoulda-said. To his "That's my friend," I shoulda replied, "Yeah, but she's not. And he's got his arms around her more than his girlfriend!"

Kids these days...

Crossing East at KQED

Folks, the day is finally here!

Crossing East, the eight hour radio series that I've poured my heart into over the past year and a half, is starting to air!

And I invite people in the Bay Area to a special preview event held at KQED on Tuesday, May 2. There will be a reception followed by a short preview of the series and a panel discussion with the scholars who helped with the series: Judy Yung, Bill Hing, Catherine Choy, and Nguyen Qui Duc.

Tuesday, May 2 6-8 pm
KQED: 2601 Mariposa Street
* reservations required
call 415-561-2160 or email info@aiisf.org

Experimental Films

I know, they can be tedious. You may squirm. You may wonder what the point is or why aren't things ever in focus. Does there have to be that high pitched noise?!

But I'm excited about two films that may or may not be considered experimental, but are definitely worth catching:

First, is Dolissa Medina's Cartography of Ashes. I caught a preview of this at last night's Hybrid Project at Intersection. I find it hard to describe but the soundscape is amazing, layered and with a narrative that weaves different parts of the city together. The images are both archival and perhaps modern images that are treated to provide a century-old look. It's playing in several places, but I'm going to catch it Friday projected on to the Folsom Street fighter training tower.

Also, I'll finally get to see a full Alan Berliner piece. I first learned about his work at the Third Coast Festival for audio producers. Sure, he created an installation of drawers that, when opened, activate up to 108 different audio sounds. But I think primarily he's a filmmaker. Thanks to my useless memory, I completely forgot what made his films so compelling, but I remembered his name. And his latest film, Wide Awake, is screening at the SFIFF!

Rise Up! Like Zorro(?)

With literary, cultural, and political references delivered at a hundred miles an hour, the complex Zorro myth was teased out at Berkeley Rep by Culture Clash in their play Zorro in Hell.

A brilliant set and strong improv (particularly when the wet bar accidentally collapsed, the stage hands quickly clean up, and Ric Salinas adlibs (while the rest of the cast sings a cowboy version of Greenday's "American Idiot"), "Where did all those white people come from?!" remind me that sometimes it's worth it to shell out money for a mainstage play.

As thousands have been taking to the streets for equality and recognition, this play is timely as it posits (with a Zorro mask at the back of the program that we are encouraged to wear as Salinas climbs into the audience) that we all need to be Zorro.

NERT Ready

When I was a kid, I was terrified of earthquakes. I bathed with shoes in the bathroom so I'd be ready to run with protected feet. At night, I couldn't sleep, my fear so deeply gripping me.

I've grown out of that fear, but seeing the total chaos after Katrina, it takes no fool to know that we *are* going to have to take care of eachother in a disaster. So I signed up for the Fire Department's free Neighborhood Emergency Response Team training. And last week, I graduated. While I didn't do all my assignments (our survival kit isn't completed, I didn't find where our building's gas turn off is, etc.), I still feel much more prepared.

Prepared enough to not be freaked out by listening to A Practical Guide to Disaster (April 2), an amzingly rich documentary produced by Ben Trefny from KALW News.

The Power of Radio

Part of my passion for radio is for it's democratic potential.

Although community service radio is ghetto-ized at the bottom of the bandwidth, I love the potential that lies in anyone who channel surfs to listen to something new. While we may fear physically enter other communities, we can do so wtihin the safety of the radio dial.

The low barrier to entry is also appealing. As Robert Seigel says, "You have radios attached to your cars, to your clocks..." So many different people can experience the medium for free (as opposed to film or cable).

This story on the California Report looks at the power of radio and how some Spanish-language djs helped turn people out for the pro-immigrant actions in Downtown Los Angeles.

El Otro Lado: The Other Side

"A group of POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights) members and low-wage workers investigated teh lives of domestic workers in San Francisco. From their own words, they have created a mosaic of inspiration, heartbreak, and resistance."

My day job helped support this project, which is an amazing marriage of community art and political movement. Come show your support!