Davisville

The mornings are cold. Dusk arrives at a time that would barely qualify as late afternoon in July. The holidays are diverting the usual business of life, bringing people back home for celebrations or visits, in memory if not in practice. It’s a fine time for stories. And so, for the last Davisville of the year I asked three people with some of the best voices in town to read out 2011 with a story, or part of a story, that means something to them. We hear from:

• Rebecca Plack (right), a classically trained singer and voice teacher who grew up in Davis. She chose part of a story that she often re-reads in December.
• Jeff Hudson, a freelance reporter whose venues include Capital Public Radio, and who chose poems by California poet Robinson Jeffers.
• Anne Hance, a co-founder of the Explorit Science Center and former teacher. She selected a recent short story written by an author who is, like her, from Great Britain.

I thank all three for helping Davisville end the year well—and I thank all of you for tuning in. Happy new year, and see you again in 2012.

Hank Shaw has written an unconventional book that takes a primal approach to obtaining food. His “Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast” says we should consider foraging, fishing and hunting for more of what we eat, not to fulfill a social agenda or political movement, but because it’s a healthier, satisfying, and more vivid way to live. The book struck me for its clear, persuasive writing, diverse appeal, and insight into the outdoors. When he writes, “North America is home to so many native fruits that all but the most obsessive of foragers will never taste them all,” that sounds like Eden. I haven’t thought of our continent that way. On Davisville we talk about foraging – including good places in the Davis area – the thrill and horror of hunting, how much time he spends hunting/foraging/fishing during the average week (about 8 hours), and the fact he hasn’t bought meat in a store, except for pork fat, since 2005. We talk about the

This show is a Halloween treat. UC Davis instructor Sarah Juliet Lauro (pictured), who co-edited the new book "Better off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human," appears on Davisville this week to talk about the book, zombies, how she got interested in zombies, what our interest in zombies says about our culture – and why she came to UC Davis to get her PhD in English. The book’s essays range in tone from seriously scholarly to accessible for non-academics. The chapters discuss zombies in old radio shows, zombies in movies, public zombie walks, the evolution of zombies (there are nine types), the origin of zombies – unlike Frankenstein and Dracula, for instance, they did not originate in Europe.

A few weeks ago, Michael Bisch and Rosalie Paine wrote an article in the Enterprise that backs plans to build a parking garage and 12,000 square feet of new shopping space between E, F, 3rd and 4th streets. Today's show focuses on the idea.

The basic question is why downtown needs another parking garage when it already has two; plus lots at the Amtrak station, behind the former Border’s, and next to the E Street Plaza; plus street parking; plus the tree-shaded lot that exists (see photo) where the new garage would be built. The answers lie in a discussion of where downtown is headed, in terms of growth (UC Davis’ plan to add 5,000 students in five years is a factor), civic policy, and other development ideas. Those other ideas include creating a new E Street promenade which, in one version, would close E to cars from 1st to the new garage.