It seems like we’re the only radio station around not talking about Michael Jackson lately.That said there were a few of us pop music fans on staff saddened by the news of the King of Pop’s untimely passing.And while you won’t be hearing any of his hits on our airwaves, when I came across this tribute I couldn’t resist posting it on the blog!This medley including the 1983 hit “Beat It” and the Jackson 5’s “ABC” was performed as the postlude from a church service in New York.No matter what you may think of the various scandals that surrounded him during his lifetime, it’s impossible to deny the lasting impact of Jackson’s music and style.He will be missed.
You know her as the weekday overnight host at All-Classical FM, but did you know that she’s also a flutist, a silversmith, a yoga teacher and an adjunct instructor of philosophy at PortlandCommunity College?
Brandi is a veteran of K-Mozart in Los Angeles, Minnesota Public Radio’s Classical 24 syndication service, Public Radio International and the Minnesota Opera broadcasts. In the few years that I’ve had the chance to work with Brandi, I’ve found her to be a kind person - smart, funny, and deeply connected to classical music.
These are the reasons I’m so happy to tell you that, starting tonight, Brandi will be your late evening host beginning at 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. She’ll be with you through the night till 5 a.m. My friend Andrea Murry will be your 10 p.m. host on Fridays.
I’ll still be around from 5 till 10 p.m. each weeknight; a little less time on the air will give me the chance to help with special projects and cultivate my personal life - not a bad thing.
If you’re one of my regular late-night music companions, please tune in early so we can still share the beauty of this amazing, powerful, healing music. And please enjoy the enthusiasm, erudition and charm of Andrea and Brandi.
Bill Fulton lost his wallet at a Baker High basketball game. But in small towns like Baker CityOregon, when you lose something, even a wallet; you can still get it back, even if it takes 63 years. His wallet had dropped beneath the gym bleachers in 1946 and was soon forgotten as lost forever. Then on June 17th, 2009 Nathan Osborne found the wallet when he removed the bleachers from the wall during recent renovations. The next day it was hand delivered to Bill Fulton’s door.
Major events of 1946: The United Nations General Assembly met for the first time and John D Rockefeller donated the money for the New York headquarters. The Nuremburg trials returned 16 verdicts: 12 death sentences, 2 life sentences and 2 acquittals. The Atomic Energy Commission was created. The US Navy tests atomic bomb at the Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. And Dr. Spock’s book Baby and Child Care is released.
Both sides of my family come from Eastern Oregon and it isn’t everyday that MSNBC runs a story with the byline from Baker City, Ore. So I thought that I’d share it with you. It may not be as cool as flat track roller derby, but we can’t all be Robert McBride.
When I read about the Rose City Rollers, Portland's Roller Derby organization (whose motto is "a game of brutal beauty"), I thought it would be fun to watch them in action. It took a few years, but I finally got there, last Saturday night. I watched two bouts, seeing the Heartless Heathers have their way with the Guns 'n' Rollers (186 to 153) and the Break Neck Betties beat up the High Rollers (124 to 109). I could dimly remember watching Roller Derby on TV when I was a kid, but I'd never seen the real thing, up-close and personal. While I can honestly say I enjoyed watching the girls duke it out at the Expo Center, the pleasure was primarily vicarious, because they looked like they were having SO MUCH FUN! I haven't been on quads - roller skates - since junior high school, but I took up in-line skating about fifteen years ago, and ice skating more recently. Both are very enjoyable forms of exercise, but I've never competed on skates, in any way. Nor would I want to, against the likes of these girls: Barba-Hella, Domesticated Violence, Glamour Hammer, Shove Me Tender, Hurricane Skatrina, Madame Bumpsalot, Aurora Brutalis, Ruby Bruiseday, She Rex, Teq"Kill"Ya, and Viagrrra Falls. Not a Shrinking Violet in the bunch. A big (and I mean big, baby) fan favorite was Smack Ya Sideways, whose personality and show(wo)manship were on a par with her skating ability and aggressive leadership. One of the fastest skaters (and I rather like fast women, so how could I miss her?) was the only black gladiator out there, and her nom de skate is - are you ready for this? - White Flight. Perfection has been achieved, with that one.
Is there a classical music connection here? Yes. While for most of the night DJ Atom 13 was blasting Michael Jackson, The Stray Cats, AC/DC and a whole bunch of artists (ahem) I couldn't identify by name, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Richard Wagner both made appearances, whether they would have wanted to or not. I guess I should not have been at all surprised to hear The Ride of the Valkyries blare from the speakers, but I would not have predicted the Turkish Rondo movement from Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 11 would make the playlist. Roll over, Wolfgang, and tell Herr Wagner the news.
I've got to get back on my skates. I think if I shaved my legs I might even look semi-OK in torn fishnets. Not without reason did Little Smitty Horowitz used to call me B. Otis "Legs" McBride. But that's a story for another day, and maybe a different radio station.
I hope you'll tune in to Played in Oregon (Sunday at 5pm) to hear the fantastic Ebène Quartet. They performed this version of "Misirlou" as an encore to their Portland recital in March:
In addition to this "Pulp Fiction" theme, they'll also be performing Haydn & Beethoven (with equal energy!) on Played in Oregon, Sunday at 5pm.
The Oregon Ballet Theater would like to thank you for making their Dance United fundraiser such a success:
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