I'm not a big fan of using the pity card to get loot. That, and I have a demented sense of humor.

Wow. I've become one of those people who wander the streets talking to themselves out loud.

It had better pay off by making me say something interesting eventually.

Betcha thought we'd vanished, dincha? You oughta know we can't quit this crazy business. It's in our blood. Once you've had a tast of the Big Time yer hooked, and even when yer taking yer last breath you'll check to see if the mic is on and the levels are set right....

Here is some silliness in the tradition of The Dusty Show on WFMU.org.

 

Such a big delay between new podcasts--not sure why, except people just haven't been very funny or profound lately. And that definitely includes me most of all....

Thank heavens for Tina, coming to the rescue with this story about lying to children. It has drama, repentence, and even a moral for the ages. For comparison, listen to the Dec. 2007 piece called Terrible Babysitters!

(Music by Solana from the album Shaka Island.)

Jean Parker is an independent radio journalist who lives in India. She told this great story about visiting Libya while sitting in our kitchen this summer.

File this one under "It's a big, strange world," I guess.

Okay, the title is a little misleading. This is really just some musing about the kinds of people I like to think I'm not really one of, and some thoughts to steady myself for the upcoming election, whatever the outcome.

(Music by The 747s.)

Ahh, technology. Is there anything it can't improve?

Here we have some madness as our pal Rachel adds pal Jack to her list of cell phone contacts using the miracle that is "voice recognition." It turns the process of dialing someone who is sitting in the same room into something like an international incident. It also shows that New Yorkers don't back down from a fight!

Riffin' out on the street at the bus stop. Some people are just in the flow, you know? When you're lucky enough to run into one of them, play along....

 

(With some Life courtesy of Sly Stone)

We had the pleasure to sit with this gentleman, Mr. Roberts, on a flight last spring. He is a WWII veteran who had been visiting old friends and, like us, was flying home.

 

[Musical interlude by Yes]

Taken from a recorded call with Gene Gollogly, this conversation is about the kind of practice that can help cultivate a connection with the Earth and with the part we play here. As you will hear, Gene has a warm and inviting way about him. He is president and CEO of SteinerBooks, which offers an enormous number of titles covering spirituality, education, arts, nature, health, psychology, and practically everything else. (www.steinerbooks.org) What a job!

 

This conversation with Japa Buckner continues my wrestling match with the concept of monism--the idea that all of reality is of the same nature, rather than split up into the dual realms of matter and mind. It's easy enough to say, but it's practically wired into us to think of a "Creator" who watches over its "creation," and then I'm off track.

The person we're discussing at the beginning is Rudolf Steiner, and the book is The Philosophy of... read more

Here's some kitchen madness involving Kathy, Fred, Ma and Pa, and assorted vegetables. We didn't quite manage to set off the smoke alarm, but several other kinds of mayhem can be heard. We hope you don't get too disorientaled and wok out on us.

And let us know your thoughts on the topic, "Kissin' don't last, good cookin' do!"

Bjoern's Clock Repair in Bardstown, KY is a neat shop, and Bjoern is a neat guy. Here's the clock-talk part of our conversation (we also talked about Indians in Kentucky and historic reenactments, but those are for another time).

Word to the wise: Don't try to get your cuckoo clock repaired in Louisville. There just ain't a good place to get it done.

Sounds and scenes from the memorabilia appraisal at the Louisville Slugger Museum. Great stuff! You'll hear Fred, his dad and mom, and lots of other characters.

(Musical stingers by .22, The Hoosier Hot Shots, and Edgar Mallaran)

Kathy and Fred revisit the Slugger Factory and Museum to arrange for some old baseball cards to be sold by the appraisal firm. It turns out there's an auction going on right there, right then--what a show!

(Sound effects 'borrowed' from the Kitchensinc baseball game.) 

 

A quick visit to a gallery to see a very creepy print. If you've ever hesitated while perched on the edge of the cellar stairs... or on the edge of your own murky subconscious...

 

(Music by Harry Nilsson)

It feels great to get home and take your work clothes off--just ask Pokey the Dog.

Some brief and not terribly original thoughts while meditating. So many of the bitter divisions between people arise from the conviction that "we are not of this world," meaning that God has put us here as a sort of trial--after which we will assume our true form. While I agree that the material world is not our true form (or not all of it, in any case), I'd still argue not just that "we are of... read more

When I was called for Jury Duty last month, it turned out that all the potential jurors were being considered for one trial--a murder case with burglary as an "aggravating circumstance." One by one, each juror was interviewed in the presence of the judge, attorneys for the defense and the prosecution, various court officials, and the defendant himself.

I'm not usually tongue-tied, even in public speech, but this setting made me quite uneasy. As you can... read more

It's a strange title for this podcast, but if you sing it like a three-year-old it makes more sense.

This is basically just a trip to Oscar's hardware store with our teenage pal to buy the parts needed for our coat rack project. Somehow we managed to work in some mildly naughty conversation, as we often do.

Fred and Kathy talk about their marriage on the morning of their 13th wedding anniversary. Listen up, you young people, and thosa you new to marriage, too. Sometimes it is all it's cracked up to be!

In a sunny, open hall, in another city, surprised by music from another life played on a borrowed computer.

It's like someone tapping you on the shoulder and saying, "Hey, man...."

To a guy with a hammer, it's said, everything looks like a nail.

Add to that:  To a guy with a digital recorder, everything sounds like a deep thought. Still, if you leave out the words and other sounds and listen only to what we were trying to mean, it's not a bad little glimpse into our philosophy.

We have an Open House one night each month, and everyone is invited to come by. The night before this year's Derby, Kathy and several others were in the living room while Fred talked with our friends Bill and Brad in the kitchen. Here are some clips from the kitchen side of things, which will show why the title is appropriate.

At the offbeat movie rental shop, we got into discussing Reflections of Evil, which was on my list of movies to see. Apparently it provokes strong reactions!

See notes for part 1. This one has more Duanne and less me.

See notes for part 1. This is another piece of our conversation in Duanne's room.

She was 16; I was 7. The beginning of a really awful romance novel? Not at all! The beginning of a really neat relationship with a decades-long gap in the middle of it.

Duanne remembers my visiting her room in the rehab center when I was but a plucky wee lad, and apparently it gave her the lift she needed at the time. Now, as she recovers from a recent operation, we reunite. Duanne's friend, a feature columnist... read more

Kathy's Hungarian dad talks about his wild teenage times while Budapest was under siege in December 1944.

 

We had a great hailstorm a few days ago, and Kathy caught some of it.  Definitely use your headphones to listen to the storm from without and within!

Two hard-core radicals embark on a crusade to change...? kill...? Well, something, we're not sure.

A southern culinary adventure. Really, if you look past the texture, the spongy feel, the smell, the unappealing look, and the extreme briny-ness, they're not all that bad.

Funny conversation with a stranger in the Tampa airport who overheard Kathy reading aloud. And he's right, the pilot did look as if he'd come from a weekend frat party!

I was thinking of naming this post Peanut Butter & Jihad, but thought that might be going too far....

Always being the last ones to leave the airplane, we get to hear all the farewells being said. It usually strikes me as a ritual that makes the challenging and honorable job of flight attendant seem, well, kinda silly.

Because the service counters are built at a height suitable for NBA players, Kathy had to do all the paperwork duties at the airport auto garage. Lucky for us, Florida seems to have no rules about renting cars to totally blind people!

Okay, this one is ridiculous, but it's short. And clean. And static-free.

Another 'cast from a summer past...A bee encounter, with some schlepping music for accompaniment. (Can I say "schlepping" if I'm not Jewish?)

Kathy teaches the young people how to change a bed and muses about other bed topics.

Continues the conversation with Japa Buckner about healthy child development, the Waldorf classroom, and how our ideals are dead things unless we enliven them through our own forces.

Just a bit of silly talk at the Wild Oats health food store, with some dire portents for the future.

Taken from a conversation with Japa Buckner, teacher in the Louisville Waldorf school. Touches on the forces that shape a child's development; importance of rhythms; "vessels" for holding learning; and the relationship between teacher and student as the basis for education.

You'll never hear your coffeemaker in quite the same way; I know we don't!

Conversation with Janey Newton, artist and longtime Waldorf teacher, touching on how reading groups can be conducted and on things she's learned over the years.

Part 1 of 3; We narrate the process of changing the flush lever or whatever it's called. On the way, we give an audio tour of the inner workings of your basic water throne.