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)

You never know where that rascal Pan will show up. Here he appears at an otherwise civilized sculpture exhibit that my friend Jim and I visited. Glad to know he's still out there, keepin' it real.

A tale of a strange place I know all too well, the wheelchair supply house, whose name I'll leave unsaid. I had just come from there and met my crazy new chair, then recounted the story over dinner with our friends Scott and Janie.

Yeah, the place is a real mess, but I love it and feel loyal to it--and hope that comes through in the story. The folks there are like family in an odd... read more

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

Another encounter at the Frankfort folk festival. This game is known around Louisville because of our German heritage, and it's played at least once a year in the Germantown neighborhood. This was our first chance to experience the spectacle of it in person.

Once you look past the silliness and difficulty of it, it actually looks like fun. I kinda wanted to try it, but not in the street in public....

Just because this is our, oh I don't know, umpteenth recording on the subject of bathrooms--it doesn't mean we're obsessed with the topic or anything. Really! These things keep coming our way! Is it our fault that bathrooms make great material?

This encounter took place at a folk festival in Frankfort, KY. You'll hear a little of the family band Murphy's Echo at the end.

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

We heard this critter in the trees of New Harmony, Indiana. It's not a call we've heard here.

If you go to songsofinsects.com you'll learn that it's a Scissor-grinder cicada.

Eric really should start his own podcast--he's such a great source for funny material. Here are a couple of his tales from the Land of the Great Rodent, a k a Disney World.

My day took me near some woods with well-made trails, and I got out of the car to sit amid the trees for a while. Wish I'd had better microphones etc., but making a recording wasn't my goal; it just happened. It's hard to give a sense of how quiet it was and how full that quiet seemed.

I didn't see the bird whose call opens up the recording. A turkey maybe?

Talking with a friend about his wife's brother and his, er, unusual product.

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

This correspondence with eMachines/Gateway customer service gave me a chance to stretch out as a writer. Something about being an anonymous "consumer" (their term) gave me license to fly with whatever rhetorical skill and sarcasm I could muster!

By way of back story: I sent in the paperwork--complete and double-checked--to claim a $50 rebate on our new monitor, an in-store floor model. After a month I received notice that the claim was rejected because... read more

A story picked up at a conference on mobility and traveling skills of blind people, told by a wonderful instructor named Dona Sauerberger.

All I can say is, Yikes!!

While we're on the subject, here's another little tale about finding money. This one has a different outcome....

One great thing about money is that is shows you something about who people are. Here's a tale about my sister Nance and her son Peter doing the Right Thing.

In which Kathy realizes her spiritual union with Stephen Colbert through eating his ice cream; and Fred is relieved of a heavy debt even while taking on another.

Americone Dream, The Final Chapter ... or is it?

Our neighbor can now, at long last, bask in the reflected glow of our ever-burning fame, rather than a sunny cow-field. Actually, it may not turn out to be an improvement, but try telling that to all the celebrity seekers; they won't listen.

I'm happy to have found this place--more for the well-loved and homey feel than for the food--kind of hidden downtown. As you can tell from the conversation, it has its regulars (but then, it's the kind of place where you'd feel like a regular after about three visits).

Apparently the mac & cheese brings 'em in, and breaks their hearts when it's gone!

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.

Another wistful reminiscence, this time with a side of eggs. Hurry and get dressed already.

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!

What cads we've been! How cruel!! It's been weeks since we put up part 1 of this how-tutorial and, whaddya know, some people actually listened to it--but we never got around to posting the climactic conclusion. 'Til now.

By the way, even if you're not into the plumbing thing, the soundtrack is a killer!

Mentioning "climactic conclusion" reminds me of this:

Climax and Anticlimax sat on a fence. Climax blew up; who was left?  Aw, nevermind.

 

 

Cary, the barber, is rattled about his near-death encounter with a steak sandwich. His friends show great sympathy, as you can see!

I borrowed a hair cutting kit and took it to a family gathering. Dad was brave enough to volunteer for the operation! Here is the cast of characters:

Laurie, Stylist/Riveter

Dad, Innocent Victim

Kathy & Mom, Chorus of Doubt

Christopher, Boy Itching to Get in the Game

Fred, Instigator

Roger Tibbs, Yodeler (a sure sign of quality!)

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...."

Kathy loves Stephen Colbert and believes sampling the Ben & Jerry's ice cream named after him will somehow perfect her spiritual union with him. The search for this elusive ice cream takes us into strange (for us) territory--the suburban cinema multiplex where the youths of America roam in the open expanses.

Faithful listeners will note that this adventure goes the way all of our expeditions go! When will we ever learn? When will we e-e-e-e-e--ever learn?

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.

We walked in a fundraiser for (or probably against) CP. Along the way, we fell in with a happy boy named Austin whose mother was pushing his chair. I found myself pestering him the same way my old elementary school principal used to pester me....

Fred comes from a line of larceny and skullduggery (well, plantduggery), as shown herein. With parents like these--leapin' lizards, that's why he's a punk!

Dinner music by Swing 39.

We are highly sophisticated and multi-dimensional creatures, we guys are. Here is a conversation after a basketball workout. (The nuts referred to, by the way, were supposed to be holding a wheelchair footrest together, but I guess that word can be multi-dimensional, too.)

Just about what you'd think from the title, with a few amusing moments. Joining lengths of PVC tube together with couplers, then hoping for no leaks when the water comes on!

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!

We get way up in your grill (well, ours actually) with this audio spectacularama. Just listen to the sparks! Things got so dag-blag flashy I had to call my Dad to make sure we were doing things right.

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!

Fred's old friend Eric has a great memory for funny incidents. Here at a visitation he fondly recalls two moments with his late father-in-law.

You gotta take your epiphanies when you find 'em. In this case, it was a restroom. Which is a good place to go to take epiphany time! Har har!

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!

At the ballpark...guy in charge of summoning the elevator can't figure out how to speak to us...we get in...he turns back a crowd of other people wanting to ride too...points to the dog....

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?)

Five Fabulous Topics crammed into 11 minutes of conversation: A head cold, slutty drinks, the wondrous jicama, the Mystery Song, and non-fat French women. Fret not; there is no quiz and the cold only lasted one day!

The Intrepid Pair take on installing a new bathroom sink faucet. Thrill to the sounds of tools, water, marriage, and music! Better yet, get your own faucet kit and play along!

Reminiscing about a summer job with Patty, who always makes me laugh and who finally has a job she loves, working at the library. (Musical clips from "La Polka du Colonel" by Andri Popp.)

Kathy & her friend from childhood getting to, and into, the bus. Just the sounds of life, no big deal, but it adds up. (With a sentimental soundtrack from a group called "Danny Fong Extraordinaire.")

Our ex-chorus visits the state pen to sing. Voices of the interesting chorus characters (!), footsteps, doors locking behind us and opening in front...and a song.

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

A melancholy short story (my first). It grew from the question, "Do our opinions have any value in the world?"

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.

Losing a view and a neighbor in one swoop.

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

I suppose when you go shopping for squid-flavored snacks, you gotta take what comes. Note the dejection which follows when I state I'm not a church-goer.

An attempt to bring the cultures together, and yet somehow wrong. So very, very wrong. And probably not legal. Please forgive me! I meant well.

Forget Deal, Millionaire, and all those impostors. This is the World Cup of coffee and we're playing for all the beans.

Reminder of spring

and what it means

to a dog on a string

who loves peas and beans

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.

Some say TR2 jumped the shark, failing to live up to the lofty expectations spawned by TR1. "Worst toilet repair podcast ever" was a typical remark, echoed by thousands. Still, comforted by the fact that even George Lucas made some clinkers, we press on with the stunning finale of the series. And if you're tuning in to toilet repair podcasts, you probably don't have cause to be too critical anyway....

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

An odd discovery on a street in Frankfort, KY. With a nod to Clay Pigeon of The Dusty Show on WFMU, whose shadow we are not worthy to stand in.

A walk on a leafy fall day, with some good sounds of the neighborhood. Perfect.

A sweet taste of a summer morning from Kathy, the early riser in the group. Builds slowly but hey, it's summer, what's the hurry?

Sequel to the smash hit Toilet Repair, part 1. This episode moves things along but, true to the cliffhanger tradition, leaves the repair unfinished. You'll be on the edge of your seat! Heh.

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.