Nonogirl Radio

Weekend America

I've tried to listen before but it never stuck. Now I'm kicking myself!

This show is great! It's conversational, it's light (but touches on political issues), and it's very sound rich.

I listened to last week's show and love it.

• There's Steven Cuevas' story on a fire fighter who's job it is to protect archaelogical areas during a fire fight.
• A two-way that places the listener in the shoes of fire commander making decisions
• A technology two-way that makes me want to see a three-d movie
• A stand-up comedy routine that hits you from the backside!
• (...i think i tuned out during the stem cell story)
• a three-way where the host places two pawn shop owners in conversation with each other (can you imagine having dinner with them? the stories you'd hear!)
• and a great personal journal entry-type story from Philip Babich about visiting his kids. I'm glad that there is an outlet for this kind of story but I'm sad that I again will miss producing for Philip (We had applied for him to be my mentor when he was at the National Radio Project).

OK San Francisco, we need to get this show up here! And I need to start producing for them!

Tracking

I'm researching Weekend America and I have an interesting comparrison to make. Listen to the different style of tracking Steven Cuevas does for the California Report (scroll down to July 13) and for Weekend America (top story).

While conversational, the CalReport is much authoritative. It's public radio sounding.

While still about fires, the WA story has a story twist. It's about preserving archeological sites during fire fighting. But his tracking also changes. He talks as if he were hanging out; there's more energy and lilt to his voice. I doubt the CalReport would let him say "red stuff."

An interesting comparrison of style and how one reporter responds to the different shows.

Intermediary

I love Youtube, but why go there, when I can just go to Insurance and News?

It's got the good, the bad, and the ugly (so much HAIR in the '80s) of  '80 videos! Falco's Rock Me Amadeus, B-Movie's Nowhere Girl, USA for Africa's We are the World, Extreme's More Than Words! It goes on and on!

Review: Fireside Chat

We got written up!

Home, sweet home

What constitutes home is the question up for postulation at Space 180.

Presented by Kearny Street Workshop, the community art organization birthed at the famed International Hotel in Chinatown, the exhibition “Home: A New Exhibition About Belonging” showcases various artists’ take on the nebulous term and its wide range of interpretations and experiences.

“Fireside Chat,” an audio installation created by artists Max Chen, Sue Pak and Robynn Takayama, takes aim at what it means to be home. The artists have replicated a fireplace, complete with mantel cluttered with framed photographs, with removable bricks that play audio feeds of stories told by immigrants who’ve witnessed the numerous displacements of the Kearny Street Workshop.

The stories are intriguing and the play upon Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s series that shares the same name is intelligent, political and witty all at once.

--Examiner

Home: Fireside Chat

Team Fireside Chat, originally uploaded by nonogirl.

Last night was the opening for Kearny Street Workshop's gallery show, Home.

Our piece came together at the last minute: I had to replace one of the mp3 players, Sue replaced three of the images on the bricks, and Max was drilling it all into solid place.

But we pulled it off and I received some really great compliments! Folks liked the construction and the images on bricks. And other folks really appreciated the application of the show's theme to our larger Asian American artists family and the paying of respect to our KSW roots.

I believe the Examiner is writing about it and Pacific Time is covering it in this week's show! Please check out the show and share YOUR thoughts. It's up through August 31.

More:

• Jay Jao (photos of the whole Home show)
• my photos of Fireside Chat on Flickr

Home on the Radio

Pacific Time covered Kearny Street's opening of Home and now I've been on the show both as producer and as subject matter!

Warren Buffet

I can't say that I knew who he was until I heard about his historic $30 BILLION donation to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

But someone posted her notes after seeing Charlie Rose's Warren Buffet: The Man. I found them to be quite inspiring:

• Don't wait until you're 80 to do what you love. Don't go through life waiting for the big moment.
• What are you going to feel good about when you're 70? Figure out how to engineer your life to get there.
• What kind of world you would want to be born into? How would you design it if you didn't know who you would be when you were born - gender, ethnicity, class, etc? That is the world you should seek to create.

Here's more info about Warren Buffet.

Award Winner!

Award Winner!, originally uploaded by nonogirl.

I'm proud that I can say I'm "an award winning radio producer!" Receiving the award for my Maui water story was made MORE sweet by receiving it in Hawaii! I wore my grandma's suit especially for the award ceremony.

Look for an updated story on this issue in August on National Radio Project's Making Contact.

Hawaiian Press

  Hawaii Crew
  Originally uploaded by nonogirl.

I haven't written much about the Hawaii trip, but we had a great listening session at Hawaii Public Radio for Crossing East. The station manager really gave it up to Dmae for the fundraising and seeing the project through to production as well as her insight to plan these listening sessions for people to gather and launch the series locally.

Nine family members came out and the show was well received with an equal part of the post-listening discussion about production decisions, historical questions, and constructive criticism.

The event received some press; I was quoted talking about my grandpa and the importance of our story in American history.

Tongan Royals Killed by Teen

The British royals received a police escort across San Francisco. The Tongan royals were inflicted
with youthful recklessness.

[Prince] Tu'ipelehake, considered a political reformer and free-speech advocate, was visiting areas with large Tongan expatriate populations to gather public opinion on how to improve citizen input in the political system... (from the Chronicle)