Blogs

To hear the entire show, CLICK HERE.

My guest Nov. 17 live in the studio was John Merchant, the owner of Davis' own 49er Video. We talked about Blockbuster declaring bankruptcy, Netflix, Redbox, public libraries, cable and satellite television.

Criticism of Netflix is just a blip on the national radar, but censoring content is a serious subject. The movie in question is Trash Humpers, written and directed by provocateur Harmony Korine. Netflix refuses to stock the trashy little movie.

The things is, I saw this movie at South by Southwest 2010 and hated every second of it. Here's an excerpt of what I wrote for Boise Weekly at the time:

Erskine Hawkins
Don Byas
Glenn Miller
Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra (with Bix Beiderbecke)
Eubie Blake
Lena Horne
Charlie Barnet & His Orchestra
Louis Armstrong
Ella Fitzgerald & The Tommy Flanagan Trio
Gerry Mulligan
Grover Washington Jr.
Oscar Peterson
Mills Brothers
Ennio Morricone
Etta James
Herb Alpert
The Manhattan Transfer

Listen to the interview at http://kdrt.org/node/4190 I nearly lost a friend to suicide because he was mercilessly bullied for being gay. I heard a powerful young woman speak recently and decided I'd like more folks to hear what she has to say. On Nov. 17, I'll welcome Ashley Horan to the show. Ashley serves as the intern minister for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis. In her capacity as a liaison to students at UC Davis, Horan has spoken about the intolerance that has fueled a widely publicized rash of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) suicides recently, and the resulting "It Gets Better Campaign" on YouTube and Facebook. Horan, who identifies as a queer person of faith, speaks about the perception that people of faith are responsible for perpetuating intolerance, and posits UU as a place and a faith welcoming of all people. She shares a message of encouragement for all who are being bullied because of their sexual preference. Please tune in Wed., Nov. 17 at 10 a.m. or catch the archive here on kdrt.org.

To hear the entire show, CLICK HERE. My guest Nov. 10 on No Country For Young Men was Leticia Miranda of Media Literacy Project. She is organizing around a dramatic public hearing on the Future of the Internet at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque on Nov. 16. The event will feature FCC commissioner Michael Copps and hundreds of locals will be offered a chance to testify about their support for (or, in theory, opposition to) Open Internet principles. Check out the video Leticia appeared in recently, trying to take back the "Rule the Air" theme from Verizon and rethinking it as "Free the Air" by CLICKING HERE. For the rest of the show,

To hear the entire show, CLICK HERE. My guest Nov. 3rd on No Country For Young Men was Jim Ellinger, of Austin Airwaves, who says, "Only radio goes that last mile." Truly a champion of international community radio, Ellinger's travels have covered 300 cities around the world, and 50 countries since 9/11. As I post this blog he is en route to La Plata, Argentina for AMARC X. We talked about his inspiring trips to Haiti and West Africa, as well as the sorry state of student radio in Houston and pirate radio in Austin. As the paperwork for the sale of KTRU to the University of Houston is submitted to the FCC, you can see secret documents uncovered by Jim that show the buzzards have been circling Rice Radio for months. Jim was also on the scene to interview an FCC official as a popular pirate operation in Austin was shut down last week. On Wednesday morning's show I also covered the local election results. You can see the returns from Yolo County by clicking HERE. I've

In the wake of widespread problems with this year's Picnic Day celebration, the City, UC Davis, businesses and community leaders are beginning a dialogue geared at creating a better community experience for all in 2011. A public forum will take place Wed., Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Davis Senior Center's Multipurpose Room, 646 A Street in Davis. Join me at 10 a.m. that same morning for a preview with Gary Sandy, Director of Local Government Relations for UC Davis, and Kelly Stachowicz, Deputy City Manager for Davis, as we talk about the problems, the process and how community members can provide input and feedback. Live on 95.7 FM and http://kdrt.org.

If you have Giants fever, or just want to hear some soulful tunes, check out The Grapevine broadcast from October 28th. Chock full of classic R & B and soul (as always!) with plenty of good-natured fun with a huge orange & black spotlight on the San Francisco Giants.

"And he hits it high...he hits it deep...and... it's.... OUTTA HERE!!!"

D. Kuiper

To listen to the entire show, CLICK HERE. Trudy Schafer of the California League of Women Voters was my guest this morning on No Country For Young Men. I call the interview segment Pushy Questions, though I had a tough time pushing her around since she's been doing this awhile, and I have a lot of respect for the LWV. We discussed the progress of the new Citizens Redistricting Commission, and why the League opposes both Proposition 27 (obviously, considering they helped pass Proposition 11 two years ago) and Proposition 20 (kind of surprising, since it would push for further changes). For more information on her organization, CLICK HERE. Also, on News Undercovered, I talked about the response from PBS to a new study by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting and the Center for Media Democracy's coverage of a political ad in Nevada encouraging Latinos not to vote. *UPDATE on Wednesday night: 'Don't vote' advocate casts vote!

http://kdrt.org/station/archives/123

Hi there … and welcome to Mountain Mama’s Earth Music … and today a celebration of seasons

1) Time Of The Season, The Dave Matthews Band 4:29
2) Mad Season, Matchbox Twenty 5:02

The Signature Mark of Autumn by Gary Young

3) Season of the Witch, Donovan 4:56
4) The Seasons, Lynyrd Skynyrd 4:11
5) I Feel A Change Coming, Bob Dylan 5:25
A Crown of Autumn Leaves
by Annie Finch
Our voices press
from us
and twine
around the year's
fermenting wine

Yellow fall roars
Over the ground.
Loud, in the leafy sun that pours
Liquid through doors,
Yellow, the leaves twist down

as the winding
of the vine
pulls our curling
voices—

Glowing in wind and change,
The orange leaf tells

How one more season will alter and range,
Working the strange
Colors of clamor and bells

In the winding
of the vine
our voices press out
from us
to twine

When autumn gathers, the tree
That the leaves sang
Reddens dark slowly, then, suddenly free,
Turns like a key,
Opening air where they hang

and the winding
of the vine
makes our voices
turn and wind
with the year’s
fermented wine

Gary Simon guests on the Oct. 20 edition of "Speakeasy," a local talk show that airs alternate Wednesdays at 10 a.m. on KDRT-LP, 95.7 FM in Davis. The show is also streamed live and archived at http://kdrt.org. Repeats air the Thursday after taping at 5:30 p.m.

Simon, co-founder and co-chairman of SARTA's CleanStart program. SARTA is a non-profit organization founded to foster entrepreneurial growth in emerging technologies & attract venture capital to the greater Sacramento region. Their Sacramento Clean Tech Showcase, highlighting the clean tech sector's innovators, investors, educators and companies, takes place Oct. 26 on the CSU Sactamento campus.

Hosted by Autumn Labbe-Renault, "Speakeasy" features good conversation with people doing interesting work in Davis and beyond. For more information, please visit kdrt.org.