Behind the Mic with Crystal Sarakas

Gobbledigook

I've been listening to the new Sigur Ros album non-stop lately. Here's a shortened version of one of my favorite songs (so far):

When Legos rules the world

I loved Legos as a kid. Not the kits like you can buy now, where almost everything is pre-assembled for  your ADD pleasure, but the giant box of Legos that you assembled one-by-one into whatever structure your mind imagined. I was also a big fan of Lincoln Logs, and had a grand time building cabins and garages for the cars and planes I made out of Legos.

Fellow fans of those toys will really appreciate this photoset over on Flickr. The user known as  Balakov has recreated several famous photographs, using the Lego minis as the "people." You'll find his version of Lunch Atop a Skyscraper, Tiananmen Square, the D-Day Landings, and my favorite, the Moon Landing.

I love it when people let their creative side rule.

Fizzy peanuts...

My co-workers have heard my story of how you order a soft drink back in my home state of Texas:

Waitress: What do you want to drink?   

Me: A coke.

Waitress: What kind?

Me: A Dr. Pepper/Sprite/Coca-Cola...

In fact, when I moved to New York eleven years ago, I had absolutely no idea what the whole soda vs. pop thing was all about. 

One of the other things we did growing up was to put peanuts in our Dr. Pepper. (We also put cornbread in a glass, poured milk over it and ate it with a long spoon.) So I was all kinds of delighted when I saw the subject of Dr. Pepper and peanuts on one of the blogs I read. The author of Homesick Texan lives in New York City but, like me, has fond memories and wistful dreams of that certain cuisine you just can't find in New York. If you want a peek into what those strange Texans like to eat, then read her blog.

Of course, I don't think it's all that weird. Not like those boiled peanuts Scott Hollis brought to work one day (he's from a different part of the South)...

Now I'm craving a cold Dr. Pepper with some salty peanuts. I think you should try it too and tell me what you think. Even better,  I'll bring some Dr. Pepper and peanuts to our next radio staff meeting and have my colleagues try it. I'll report back with their reactions.

Kitaro - Matsuri o

This is what I've been listening to tonight. It's the perfect music to listen to with the windws open and the sound of the peepers and the scent of honeysuckle drifting through on the breeze.

The best idea since sliced bread...

As I've mentioned before on this blog, I'm an avid reader. I'm also faced with the problem of not having enough space for all the books I buy, and the annoying realization that I might spend too much money on books. I frequent the library quite often, but there are a lot of books and authors that I enjoy that aren't found at the local libraries.

So imagine my giddiness when I discovered Paperspine.* It's Netflix, but for books. The subscription prices are very reasonable - even the most expensive tier is less than what I spend per month on books. I spent some time last night comparing my 'I want to read this but the libraries don't have it and I'm not sure about buying it' list to what's available on Paperspine. Out of 20 books I compared, only 4 weren't available. It looks like Paperspine is only doing paperbacks or trade paperbacks right now, but they say they're looking at a hardcover plan too.

I think I may have found an answer to the space/money issues. I'm all excited. I'll let you know how it goes.

*Disclaimer: This is not an endorsement of this company. I have no idea how well it works so if it's something you find you're interested in, please do your own research and such. But if you do join, let's see if there's a friends option where we can compare reading lists.

A little pride ...

I'm really pleased with tonight's show. I experimented with putting it together in a different way (I won't bore you with the technical details) and as I was editing it, really paid attention to the flow from one song to the next. I love it when a song sounds like a natural progression from the track before, even though it's a different artist and CD.

Wow. I am a radio geek.

I got to play a track from a CD I've been listening to a lot lately - In The Name Of Love: Africa Celebrates U2. This came to the station last month and since I'm a big fan of both U2 and of African music in general, I grabbed it. It's a pretty varied list of performers - Angelique Kidjo performs Mysterious Ways, Vieux Farka Toure performs Bullet the Blue Sky, Tony Allen (a Nigerian performer) does his version of Where the Streets Have No Name. I played my favorite track from the CD on the show tonight - the Soweto Gospel Choir performing Pride (In the Name of Love). That's one of my favorite U2 songs and I love the African gospel choir version of it. I also have a feeling I'll be ordering a few CDs by the Soweto Gospel Choir very, very soon.

I also like the liner notes for this album, which is a rarity for me since I seldom even look at liner notes. Each track has a write-up about the artist performing, and includes a little fact sheet about the country in Africa that the artist comes from. I definitely recommend this one if you like the sound of U2 with an African musical approach. Here's a video talking about the album with some samples of the music.

sploosh!

You can find such cool things on the internet. That and I'm very easily entertained.

Go for the Green - last chance!

I'm going to be on-air tonight for the last few hours of our 'Go for the Green' pledge drive so I won't have time to put together a Monday's Music article for you. That will return next Monday with a look at a wonderful indie-pop singer who plays frequently in the area.

In the meantime, here's a very cool ambient video I found on YouTube. And if you haven't contributed to the 'Go for the Green' drive, please do so. We're so close to our goal and every dollar counts.

Today's lesson...

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.  ~Clay P. Bedford

I've recently rediscovered my fascination with encyclopedias.

I grew up with the massive collection of encyclopedias in my parents home that were sadly outdated by the time I was old enough to appreciate them. They became a fun past time when I was bored, and helped foster a lifelong interest in vintage photographs (vintage sounds so much nicer than 'old').

When I moved out of my parents home, that interest faded a bit. I was going through old files on my computer the other night, and was delighted to find a complete edition of World Book on the machine (I purchased it from a friend a couple of years ago and he must have left it on there for me). This led to a very happy couple of hours of flipping through the files and being amazed at how what used to be shelves full of books is now available at the touch of a keystroke anytime I want to look.

I especially enjoy looking up dates to see what happened on a particular day in history. Today, for example, marks the following events:

240 BC - the first recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1867 - the purchase of "Seward's Folly" for $7.2 million
1954 - the Yonge Street subway line opens in Toronto. It's the first subway in Canada.

That's among many, many others. And on the list of people who were born on March 30th is Anna Sewell, author of one of my all-time beloved books, Black Beauty. And speaking of horses, the great racehorse Secretariat was also born on March 30th.

If you like "today in history" kind of things, the New York Times has On This Day, complete with reproductions of the front page of the paper. Today is the anniversary of the shooting of President Ronald Reagan back in 1981.

What have you learned today?

gimme some of that old time music...

A friend and I were discussing our rather eclectic taste in music and the conversation turned to what we listened to in high school. I vaguely remembered some of my teenage favorites (most of the hair bands back in the late 90s) but had a hard time pulling up specific memories of my senior year. So, I headed to Google to rediscover the 'music of my time.'

On the charts back on March 5, 1992:

Nirvana - Come As You Are - Ahh, Nirvana. I remember trading in my hairspray for my boyfriend's flannel shirts and my first pair of Doc Martens because of this band. Nirvana was a revolution, even if I had no idea what Mr. Cobain was singing half the time.

Ugly Kid Joe - Everything About You - I loved this song. I bet I can still sing it perfectly. In fact, I'm going to find that CD again when I go home tonight.

Queensryche - Anybody Listening -  Queensryche! I haven't listened to them in ages, but I still own most of their CDs. I remember this song - all emo and very, very serious. 

Soundgarden - Outshined - It's funny when the minute you see a song title, the music comes rushing back in your head. I'm constantly amazed at how much stuff is stored in my brain - it's nice to know I can still access those memories.

u2 - Until the End of the World - U2 remains one of my favorite bands to this day. Joshua Tree is still frequently played at my house, and ranks as one of my 'Top Ten Desert Island' picks. This particular song wasn't a big favorite of mine, and Achtung Baby is probably my least-listened-to U2 release. I should probably give it another go.

Pearl Jam - Alive - As revolutionary as Nirvana may have been in introducing the grunge scene to the rest of the world, Pearl Jam was the ultimate grunge band for me. Alive is also one of my favorite albums ever. I specifically remember when I bought that CD and promptly drove my sister insane when I listened to it for 6 months straight. This is another one I haven't listened to in far too long, although I can still sing along with every song on the disc.

Your turn - I want to hear about the music you were listening to your senior year. Check out Tunecaster's list of top songs year-by-year and let me know what you remember. In the meantime, I'll be digging through my CDs and making a new mix to listen to. Maybe I'll drag out the flannel shirt and smoke a clove cigarette for old time's sake while I'm at it.