Brandi Parisi

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 Portland Community 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.

The Motherlode of Lost & Found stories…

Bill Fulton lost his wallet at a Baker High basketball game. But in small towns like Baker City Oregon, 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 17^th, 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.

This morning I reported on the discovery, in SW Germany, of 2 flutes believed to be about 35,000 years old.  Here's a picture of the flute, built from griffon vulture bone by early humans:

The vulture-bone flute measure 8 and half inches in length when assembled, and has five finger holes.  There are fine lines which suggest that the maker was calibrating the holes' placement to produce the nicest tones.

Researchers say that the discovery of the flutes, along with a prehistoric "Venus" figurine indicate that early homo sapiens developed a relatively rich culture which may have been one contributing factor to their survival.  Neanderthals, on the other hand, are believed to have disappeared due to being demographically more isolated and to not have developed a culture on a par with modern humans.  climate and diet are also cited as contributing factors.