Dear Greyhound
I am not sure what to say about your services.
Three times so far in 2012, I have taken the local route from La Grande, Oregon to Pendleton, Oregon. I have had three different drivers and had three different experiences. The only thing consistent has been that the bus was late 30 or more minutes each time. In all three cases, I did not purchase a ticket beforehand because the stations at my point of departure and arrival were closed and I had no way to know sooner that I would be taking the bus. Each time, I arrived with cash to pay the driver.
The first time, the driver said the fare was $19.50. He refused to touch the money and handed me an envelope. I placed the money inside and the driver watched me slide it under the office door of the La Grande terminal. Three weeks later, another driver said the fare was $22. He took the cash and said that, since both stations were closed, he would purchase the ticket in Portland later that day. In both cases, the drivers took cash from other passengers as well. My experience has always been that we can pay cash to the driver. The third time, this past Sunday, after I waited 59 minutes past the scheduled departure time, the driver said he wasn’t allowed to take cash and that I was out of luck. He also said he didn’t even know how much it cost. I told him it was $22 and that I have paid cash the other times. He asked me if I was sure about that, although I am not sure why he would ask if I was sure considering I provided a rather specific amount and had exact change. That would seem to indicate that I was quite confident and familiar. Besides, there is a list on the window at the terminal that shows local fares so that other drivers may be able to collect the proper amount. When the driver this last time finally agreed to take the money, he said that other drivers were just doing me a favor and that I owe him one. I really don’t know what that means. What do I owe him and when will I see him again to get him back? And, honestly, it would have been a bigger favor to not allow me on the bus. Either I would have gotten the day off work, or I would have gotten a cheaper and faster ride by hitch hiking.
Today, I have noticed that the price has now raised to $22.50. Not sure if one of those drivers was wrong, or if the price has raised twice in the last two months. Do I need to pay Greyhound an extra 50 cents? On second thought, the day the driver said the cost was $19.50, I paid with a $20 bill and received no change, so that about makes it even. A big concern here about here is why should this cost $22.50? I have other options for commuting, including driving my gas guzzling Ford F150. A one way trip in that only costs me about $16 when gas costs $4 a gallon. Why would each passenger have to pay $6 more than it would cost one of the most fuel ineffecient cars on the road? The costs of operating the bus can in no way justify such an extreme amount of money, especially when considering the bus is at capacity everytime. Considering that the same stop has a free bus that runs three times daily on weekdays, I really feel ripped off. And that free bus usually runs with me as the only passenger. In comparison, I can get a free ride with front door service on a shuttle that is consistent within a few minutes even on the worst snow and ice over the pass - versus - I walk for twenty minutes to get to the Greyhound station, where I wait for a perpetually late bus just to find out if I will be lucky enough to pay $22 to get home depending on the driver’s “favors”? That makes no sense. Please explain why you need to extort riders for so much money and why your driver’s are not trained equally on how to accept passengers?
My guess is that you cannot provide a clear and acceptable answer for what is such a rediculous hassle of a situation to begin with. I am quite sure I will just hitchhike next time, considering the drive takes less time than I spend waiting for the bus and I could give another driver the same $22 that would pay for their gas most of the way to Portland. Sounds like a better plan. Thanks for not encouraging people to use public transportation.
daniel “kid” yoshida
Monday, March 19, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
rabble rouser of the month nominees ~ february
february nominees for rabble rouser of the month ~ please vote!!
1. unidentified prison inmate puts pig detail in decal on police cars (windsor, vt)
back in 2009, but not noticed until febrauary 1 by a policeman washing his car, some inmates at the female work center in windsor added a pig in the spots of a cow on the state crest that is put on the side of police cars in vermont! look closely at the cow in the crest to the right. the fact that there is a creative enough person doing such a thing is funny. funny, too that the police seem to be offended. funniest part yet is that there is an effort by people all over vermont to keep the pig on the crest. i think the police have no right to complain. you get what you pay for. if you farm your needs out to slave labor organizations, then you get the result of what they provide. furthermore, you are only a reflection of what you see in the mirror. if you don’t notice the pig and let it go onto your car anyway, then what should that tell you? it tells kid yoshida you got fooled. props to the ladies who pulled this off and those who want to hold the police to wallow in it.
2. barman liam lloyd warriner – mooning queen elizabeth (brisbane, queensland)
a man from sydney was fined $800 in brisbane for “mooning queen elizabeth ii and her husband, prince phillip. according to the a.p. “warriner admitted to holding an australian flag clenched between his bare buttocks and running toward the royal couple’s motorcade as it drove past well wishers…[warriner said] he’d do the same thing to ‘any self-important, self-propogating elitist.’” that says pretty much everything, but let me add (a) i hope people have sent him money to help pay the fine and his “entertainment value” (b) that is totally worth $800 and (c) any idiot can give the proverbial bird to authority type figures, but who can give such an eloquent defense?
3. alejandrina cabrera – aspiring city councilor (san luis, arizona)
based on what we can tell for certain from the a.p., san luis has used a 120 year old state law to bar cabrera from running for city council for not being able to speak "proficient" english for her predominantly spanish speaking constituents. makes me wonder why arizona doesn’t just use laws from the same era to say she can’t run because she’s a woman? that would be much simpler. furthermore, when such a law that says “unable to speak, read and write in the english language” is applied and then that person writes back to the press in english, it leads one to believe that some other inherent bias is being applied to this surface wipe down. i am guessing that there is some type of posse relationship between the mayor and other latino city councillors that really didn’t appreciate her trying to break it up by wanting to recall the mayor. that is more believable than the necessity of english. the current mayor is also latino and apparently speaks "proficient" english. the only thing i can believe from him is that race had nothing to do with the decision. (vendetta is the implication.)
the article’s jim crow reference provides a good parallel. think about it this way, our business leaders once requested millions of black people from the cheapest dealers from the carribean, africa and elsewhere for many, many years. then, when that race had no other home to return to, we passed laws to prohibit, or discourage, them from taking an active part in their “democratic” government. when laws made it more difficult to get slave labor from this population, we turned to women and children and prisoners, ultimately finding illegal immigrants the cheapest deal. now that they have been here for generations, and there are tons of single mothers whose husbands have been killed in workplace accidents with no insurance to help them, or even proper records of them ever even having a job among the multitude of problems people in such a dire predicament must face, we tell them that we are going to use laws from the days of the nasty industrial revolution to hold back selected applicants. sounds like a hallmark of a “democratic” government.
ethel “punki” mcnamee - renting to homeless people (estacada, or)
punki is a 69 year old woman who has “rented” her house and property to people in dire need for the past 30 years, such as pepsi rea, a 53 year old who suffers from parkinson’s, emphezema, and seizure disorder. pepsi gets by on only $200 per month ($6.67 per day) of food stamps. do you know how hard it is to eat on that amount? especially when you have no refrigerator or pantry for food storage? and how hard is it to get through month long waiting lists for shelters? especially when there aren’t any in your town? 15 such people are facing homelessness by april 15, barring a successful appeal, due to fines the city of estacada has levied against punki for code violations. the city claims it is not “substantial housing” but kid yoshida thinks less than ideal housing is better than no housing. home is where the heart is, even a substadard eyesore. the residents in the neighborhood want to “stop now and forever the illegal encampment” among other petty complaints mostly of neighborhood beautification type thinking. kid yoshida thinks that folks looking out for folks and helping their fellow human is more important than what the neighbors think. one person’s need to put a roof over their head is more important than another’s eyesore. if they want to protect the inherent beauty of their neighborhood, they can pay higher taxes to build shelters and trailer parks in unseen parts of town to banish the people that are lower ranking humans than they are. in very few cases could i support the city or the neighbors, but especially not in a situation that has gone on for 30 years. if it were that bad, it would have been shut down long long ago. When the city and county can’t do anything to help the unfortunates, then hail the people like punki who can!
1. unidentified prison inmate puts pig detail in decal on police cars (windsor, vt)
back in 2009, but not noticed until febrauary 1 by a policeman washing his car, some inmates at the female work center in windsor added a pig in the spots of a cow on the state crest that is put on the side of police cars in vermont! look closely at the cow in the crest to the right. the fact that there is a creative enough person doing such a thing is funny. funny, too that the police seem to be offended. funniest part yet is that there is an effort by people all over vermont to keep the pig on the crest. i think the police have no right to complain. you get what you pay for. if you farm your needs out to slave labor organizations, then you get the result of what they provide. furthermore, you are only a reflection of what you see in the mirror. if you don’t notice the pig and let it go onto your car anyway, then what should that tell you? it tells kid yoshida you got fooled. props to the ladies who pulled this off and those who want to hold the police to wallow in it.
2. barman liam lloyd warriner – mooning queen elizabeth (brisbane, queensland)
a man from sydney was fined $800 in brisbane for “mooning queen elizabeth ii and her husband, prince phillip. according to the a.p. “warriner admitted to holding an australian flag clenched between his bare buttocks and running toward the royal couple’s motorcade as it drove past well wishers…[warriner said] he’d do the same thing to ‘any self-important, self-propogating elitist.’” that says pretty much everything, but let me add (a) i hope people have sent him money to help pay the fine and his “entertainment value” (b) that is totally worth $800 and (c) any idiot can give the proverbial bird to authority type figures, but who can give such an eloquent defense?
3. alejandrina cabrera – aspiring city councilor (san luis, arizona)
based on what we can tell for certain from the a.p., san luis has used a 120 year old state law to bar cabrera from running for city council for not being able to speak "proficient" english for her predominantly spanish speaking constituents. makes me wonder why arizona doesn’t just use laws from the same era to say she can’t run because she’s a woman? that would be much simpler. furthermore, when such a law that says “unable to speak, read and write in the english language” is applied and then that person writes back to the press in english, it leads one to believe that some other inherent bias is being applied to this surface wipe down. i am guessing that there is some type of posse relationship between the mayor and other latino city councillors that really didn’t appreciate her trying to break it up by wanting to recall the mayor. that is more believable than the necessity of english. the current mayor is also latino and apparently speaks "proficient" english. the only thing i can believe from him is that race had nothing to do with the decision. (vendetta is the implication.)
the article’s jim crow reference provides a good parallel. think about it this way, our business leaders once requested millions of black people from the cheapest dealers from the carribean, africa and elsewhere for many, many years. then, when that race had no other home to return to, we passed laws to prohibit, or discourage, them from taking an active part in their “democratic” government. when laws made it more difficult to get slave labor from this population, we turned to women and children and prisoners, ultimately finding illegal immigrants the cheapest deal. now that they have been here for generations, and there are tons of single mothers whose husbands have been killed in workplace accidents with no insurance to help them, or even proper records of them ever even having a job among the multitude of problems people in such a dire predicament must face, we tell them that we are going to use laws from the days of the nasty industrial revolution to hold back selected applicants. sounds like a hallmark of a “democratic” government.
ethel “punki” mcnamee - renting to homeless people (estacada, or)
punki is a 69 year old woman who has “rented” her house and property to people in dire need for the past 30 years, such as pepsi rea, a 53 year old who suffers from parkinson’s, emphezema, and seizure disorder. pepsi gets by on only $200 per month ($6.67 per day) of food stamps. do you know how hard it is to eat on that amount? especially when you have no refrigerator or pantry for food storage? and how hard is it to get through month long waiting lists for shelters? especially when there aren’t any in your town? 15 such people are facing homelessness by april 15, barring a successful appeal, due to fines the city of estacada has levied against punki for code violations. the city claims it is not “substantial housing” but kid yoshida thinks less than ideal housing is better than no housing. home is where the heart is, even a substadard eyesore. the residents in the neighborhood want to “stop now and forever the illegal encampment” among other petty complaints mostly of neighborhood beautification type thinking. kid yoshida thinks that folks looking out for folks and helping their fellow human is more important than what the neighbors think. one person’s need to put a roof over their head is more important than another’s eyesore. if they want to protect the inherent beauty of their neighborhood, they can pay higher taxes to build shelters and trailer parks in unseen parts of town to banish the people that are lower ranking humans than they are. in very few cases could i support the city or the neighbors, but especially not in a situation that has gone on for 30 years. if it were that bad, it would have been shut down long long ago. When the city and county can’t do anything to help the unfortunates, then hail the people like punki who can!
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
this is the new design i came up with on rather short notice as a banner for the rabble rouser show. the previous photo of the girl being peppersprayed at occupy portland was owned by a heartless newspaper organization who denied my use of it.
screw it.
this is a picture of an apartment in kansas city that i have wanted to live in since i was a kid. if anyone has better designs for a banner for my show, i would be glad to see them. preferably, they should be fair use photos that are not owned by some bastard organization.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
ode to the post office
when I first moved to japan in 2003, the u.s. post office charged 80 cents for international airmail first class (65 cents for an international postcard). comparably, the rate for the same service from japanpost was 80 yen (or 70 yen for a postcard). now by 2012, the rate for first class airmail postage in the u.s. has increased several times to its current rate of $1.05 (international postcards have been the same as first class for some time now, so also $1.05 to mail a postcard). meanwhile, japanpost still charges 80 yen (70 yen for a postcard). can this be explained? yes, it actually can.
for years, the post office has been complaining of lost revenues due to the internet, even though that sounds quite short-sighted to me. the internet should have been like a dinner bell ringing. instead, the post office cannot make ends meet. they cry uncle and beg for bailout from the government. it sounds like the usps has a sense of entitlement to claim that they should be able to make money on something just because it has always been that way. but that’s not the way business works. when companies don’t change with the times, they go out of business. while the u.s. post office has left an indelible impression of daily american life for over 100 years now, it is nonetheless replaceable. when the post office goes away, life might be difficult for a month or so, but people will adjust.
a quick glance at the two country's systems, shows a revealing contrast. japanpost has a grip on the pulse of japan. while they may lose some money in letter postage, they also have pushed many more packages through, as well as offering banking, wire transfers, insurance and other necessary services. in contrast, the u.s. post office only sells stamps and a few generic packaging supplies. and those stamps rates keep raising while more locations disappear and other consumer friendly services disappear, such as international surface mail. in other words, they are providing less service and charging more money. that is not a typical blueprint for success. especially considering that even if people loved the nostalgia enough to pay higher prices, it would be kind of hard if the local post office is not open or if it is 50 or more miles away. and why would someone send a package airmail via usps, when the same package can still be sent by ground mail using fedex or ups for cheaper and just as easily?
so, the way i see it, the u.s. post office problems are not due to changing times as much as they are due to the post office not having changed with the times. the post office needs to cure whatever mismanagement problems are obviously troubling it, and learn 21st century business. more locations + lower prices is the kind of formula that keeps walmart an industry leader, not lss locations + higher prices. doing things the old fashioned way is romantic and nostalgic, and it will also read nicely on the headstone and historical biographies.
it has been a yearly tradition for me to mail new years cards to japan and other places. however, with a postage rate of $1.05 for each postcard (as of january 23), it actually costs me less to buy the card stock and print the post cards than to mail them! i can’t afford that. i have been a diligent letter writer and have also maintainted a post office box through all these times that people continued to send emails, but it is getting too much. 15 years of having a p.o. box and i am looking for an alternative. when people like me are pulling away, the fate seems sealed. usps had better act quick, or else it is but a matter of certain death. i’ll try not to miss it.
for years, the post office has been complaining of lost revenues due to the internet, even though that sounds quite short-sighted to me. the internet should have been like a dinner bell ringing. instead, the post office cannot make ends meet. they cry uncle and beg for bailout from the government. it sounds like the usps has a sense of entitlement to claim that they should be able to make money on something just because it has always been that way. but that’s not the way business works. when companies don’t change with the times, they go out of business. while the u.s. post office has left an indelible impression of daily american life for over 100 years now, it is nonetheless replaceable. when the post office goes away, life might be difficult for a month or so, but people will adjust.
a quick glance at the two country's systems, shows a revealing contrast. japanpost has a grip on the pulse of japan. while they may lose some money in letter postage, they also have pushed many more packages through, as well as offering banking, wire transfers, insurance and other necessary services. in contrast, the u.s. post office only sells stamps and a few generic packaging supplies. and those stamps rates keep raising while more locations disappear and other consumer friendly services disappear, such as international surface mail. in other words, they are providing less service and charging more money. that is not a typical blueprint for success. especially considering that even if people loved the nostalgia enough to pay higher prices, it would be kind of hard if the local post office is not open or if it is 50 or more miles away. and why would someone send a package airmail via usps, when the same package can still be sent by ground mail using fedex or ups for cheaper and just as easily?
so, the way i see it, the u.s. post office problems are not due to changing times as much as they are due to the post office not having changed with the times. the post office needs to cure whatever mismanagement problems are obviously troubling it, and learn 21st century business. more locations + lower prices is the kind of formula that keeps walmart an industry leader, not lss locations + higher prices. doing things the old fashioned way is romantic and nostalgic, and it will also read nicely on the headstone and historical biographies.
it has been a yearly tradition for me to mail new years cards to japan and other places. however, with a postage rate of $1.05 for each postcard (as of january 23), it actually costs me less to buy the card stock and print the post cards than to mail them! i can’t afford that. i have been a diligent letter writer and have also maintainted a post office box through all these times that people continued to send emails, but it is getting too much. 15 years of having a p.o. box and i am looking for an alternative. when people like me are pulling away, the fate seems sealed. usps had better act quick, or else it is but a matter of certain death. i’ll try not to miss it.
Monday, February 13, 2012
tax time
Dear Oregon Tax Department,
Can I file a complaint with my tax return?
This is ridiculous. I have always claimed 0 exemptions, so that I have never had to write a check to pay taxes at the end of the year. For some reason, this is the first time I have had to do so. Perhaps, I figured something wrong somehow? Perhaps you could do me a favor and check? Last year, the state sent me an extra check for a couple hundred dollars for some error or another – and I didn’t even hardly work last year, much less have taxes to pay!
And why should I have to pay $2200 for state taxes anyway? Though it probably doesn't sound like a lot to most people, I only made $28,000. On that salary, I am grateful when lightbulbs burn out because it helps save on the electric bill. Let’s say I made double my salary, $56,000. Within such a dreamscape, the same rate of taxation would cost me $4400. That wouldn’t seem all that bad. Heck, it would leave me less room to complain that the federal government also digs in pretty deep. At least, the federal government can withhold enough to keep from pinching me harder in the end. But when I only make $28,000, $2200 is a lot of *&^%ing money! That’s at least half a year worth of rent. Could you at least send me a picture of the person I am helping to house by contributing such a large amount?
OK, that’s the end of my complaint. But it really makes me wonder if you are trying to get people to leave the state? Do you have a problem with overpopulation, or something? Because I am pretty sure with one more year like this, I will be more than happy to start looking elsewhere. Thank you and good luck with your filing duties.
Signed,
taxpayer yoshida
Can I file a complaint with my tax return?
This is ridiculous. I have always claimed 0 exemptions, so that I have never had to write a check to pay taxes at the end of the year. For some reason, this is the first time I have had to do so. Perhaps, I figured something wrong somehow? Perhaps you could do me a favor and check? Last year, the state sent me an extra check for a couple hundred dollars for some error or another – and I didn’t even hardly work last year, much less have taxes to pay!
And why should I have to pay $2200 for state taxes anyway? Though it probably doesn't sound like a lot to most people, I only made $28,000. On that salary, I am grateful when lightbulbs burn out because it helps save on the electric bill. Let’s say I made double my salary, $56,000. Within such a dreamscape, the same rate of taxation would cost me $4400. That wouldn’t seem all that bad. Heck, it would leave me less room to complain that the federal government also digs in pretty deep. At least, the federal government can withhold enough to keep from pinching me harder in the end. But when I only make $28,000, $2200 is a lot of *&^%ing money! That’s at least half a year worth of rent. Could you at least send me a picture of the person I am helping to house by contributing such a large amount?
OK, that’s the end of my complaint. But it really makes me wonder if you are trying to get people to leave the state? Do you have a problem with overpopulation, or something? Because I am pretty sure with one more year like this, I will be more than happy to start looking elsewhere. Thank you and good luck with your filing duties.
Signed,
taxpayer yoshida
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
rabble rouser of the month ~ january
beginning in 2012 comes a rabble rouser of the month award feature. for january there are two people i deemed worthy. so, i turn to you for help in voting for which one should take home the award.
choice a...
terra schaller (portland, oregon)
kid yoshida does not support abortion. kid yoshida would never advocate someone have an abortion. he does, however, suggest taking care of yourself, such as not sleeping around and getting an unwanted pregnancy. he also supports a wide variety of healthy options to be available for personal care when bad things happen. he supports abortion as a last resort only if numerous other alternatives are not possible. but he will not tell you how to live your life. when it comes to the 39th anniversary of rvw and that whole mess of a debate, kid yoshida is totally pro-choice. pro-choice debaters speak clearly and make sense. pro-life debaters speak in abstraction and symbolism regarding loving a child, even though pro-choice people have never shown a lack of love for anyone. often pro-lifers present with hysterical emotion,
while never actually countering arguments made by the pro-choice side. and really, when the scene turns violent, which side do the perpetrators almost always stand on? kid yoshida supports safety, justice, freedom and thoughtfulness. and though terra schaller is not the first, and maybe not the face of a movement, she is sensible person that kid yoshida supports. good on ya!
choice b...
kid pan alley (washington, va.)
kids protest! apparently there was an uproar caused when kid pan alley taught some third graders to sing “part of the 99” because it uses “occupy speak”. on my last show, i played the woodbrook elementary kids in virginia singing that song and made the comment that if religion can not be taught in schools because christianity does not fairly represent all views, then marketing, business, government, history, etc shouldn’t be taught if they can’t represent all views. popular music, by its very nature, is protest oriented. for example, the first song i played on mlk weekend was a war protest song written by irving berlin in 1914. and children’s choirs have been used by johnny cash, pink floyd, james brown and many many more in politically charged output. so what’s so bad about third graders singing an occupy song? i think it’s a good opportunity to let them learn about something which is relevant in the modern world. certainly better than teaching them that columbus “discovered” america. kid yoshida supports kid pan alley.
who should be the rabble rouser of the month, or should it be a joint award???
or if there is another person that you feel earned the award this month please let me know who should get it...and why.
choice a...
terra schaller (portland, oregon)
kid yoshida does not support abortion. kid yoshida would never advocate someone have an abortion. he does, however, suggest taking care of yourself, such as not sleeping around and getting an unwanted pregnancy. he also supports a wide variety of healthy options to be available for personal care when bad things happen. he supports abortion as a last resort only if numerous other alternatives are not possible. but he will not tell you how to live your life. when it comes to the 39th anniversary of rvw and that whole mess of a debate, kid yoshida is totally pro-choice. pro-choice debaters speak clearly and make sense. pro-life debaters speak in abstraction and symbolism regarding loving a child, even though pro-choice people have never shown a lack of love for anyone. often pro-lifers present with hysterical emotion,
while never actually countering arguments made by the pro-choice side. and really, when the scene turns violent, which side do the perpetrators almost always stand on? kid yoshida supports safety, justice, freedom and thoughtfulness. and though terra schaller is not the first, and maybe not the face of a movement, she is sensible person that kid yoshida supports. good on ya! choice b...
kid pan alley (washington, va.)
kids protest! apparently there was an uproar caused when kid pan alley taught some third graders to sing “part of the 99” because it uses “occupy speak”. on my last show, i played the woodbrook elementary kids in virginia singing that song and made the comment that if religion can not be taught in schools because christianity does not fairly represent all views, then marketing, business, government, history, etc shouldn’t be taught if they can’t represent all views. popular music, by its very nature, is protest oriented. for example, the first song i played on mlk weekend was a war protest song written by irving berlin in 1914. and children’s choirs have been used by johnny cash, pink floyd, james brown and many many more in politically charged output. so what’s so bad about third graders singing an occupy song? i think it’s a good opportunity to let them learn about something which is relevant in the modern world. certainly better than teaching them that columbus “discovered” america. kid yoshida supports kid pan alley.
who should be the rabble rouser of the month, or should it be a joint award???
or if there is another person that you feel earned the award this month please let me know who should get it...and why.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
the day the internet blacked out!
the threat is real! naturally you could expect that kid yoshida is against pipa (protect ip act) and sopa (stop online piracy act). i discussed the craigslist posting in the last hour of the rabble rouser show on saturday night and then this week the english wikipedia, reddit and others have blacked out in protest. i applaud the efforts of the most used websites, though i wish it could go further. one day without wikipedia doesn't really hurt. they should black out wikipedia until the proposed bills die. however, one day will probably spur enough letters to politicians. i urge everyone to write to local senators and congressman. below was what popped into my mind when i clicked off an email to greg walden and others...
Dear Mr. Walden,
Being a constituent of yours in La Grande, I am happy to say that I voted for you even if you are the only Republican party member I have voted for in years. I do not in any way, shape, or form support the idea of the corporate control of information. The FCC has already given too much of the airwaves to corporate giants since the 1990s. From my small community radio show, I try to give one option to keep people open to the things we are already not allowed to hear on mainstream radio. I don't want this to grow worse and spread to the web. It can accomplish nothing more than continuing to dumb down the American public. I hope that you will stand along with Mr. Wyden in opposing such rediculous legislation such as PIPA and SOPA which is so ever harmful to the American public. Thanks for your consideration.
in happier news, kid yoshida has upped the ante and added a midweek show time during the lunch hour on wednesdays 11-1 ~ weather on the pass permitting ~ an extra dose of new music and cool classics to help get through the middle of the school and work week. meanwhile, saturday's program for the rabble rouser show continues to gather steam. expect to hear such goodnesses as the following...
laura gibson
laura gibson's soon to be released cd entitled la grande is nothing short of amazing. it has been streaming on npr's first listen for a couple of weeks and was recently named album of the month for january in rolling stone germany. soon, the video for the title track should be out. it was filmed at the spooky hot lake in early december. on la grande, she plays about eight or ten different instruments and collaborates with some big time scenesters including peeps from calexico and the decemberists. but all the instrumentation is dwarfed by the most amazing voice you are likely to hear all year. so, yeah, you can check it out on npr or city slang, but no need. tune into the rabble rouser at 6pm on saturday and hear the entire cd hitch free!
jimmy castor
known as the everything man, jimmy castor was a master of all types of music from doo-wop to funk to latin soul and played everything from sax to bongos. castor grew up in spanish harlem and was close friends with frankie lymon. in fact, castor had a comparable voice to lyman such that he often filled in with the teenagers when lyman couldn’t make gigs. presumably, as lymon deteriorated in drug addiction in his early 20s, this opened the door wide for castor to own the stage. then he got all mixed up with the puerto rican movement that took hold in 50s and 60s nyc and recorded some great funk like the famous hey leroy, your mama’s calling you. he then started a band called the castor bunch, who owned early 70s soul with songs like cave man and bertha butt boogie. early hip hop and dance scenes started to sample from his works liberally, such as his song it’s just begun being used in the movie flashdance. in more recent years, his work has been sampled by guys like kanye (we don't care), ice cube (friday) and mos def (history). there is a pretty nice compilation that can serve as an introduction to castor called the everything man . unfortunately, time and public taste changes in music were not kind to castor and he struggled to get much work beyond the 1980s. a true legend,(71, or 64 depending on the source) cantor passed away on monday, january 16.
in addition to a healthy dose of jimmy cantor's funky latin soul expect to hear:
- a tribute to the soul of puerto rican song; a woman who pushed gender and racial barriers all the way to a senate seat
- kids singing protest songs?
- flashback to 1987 in music
- more wonderful new and local music
tune it in. all the time.
while the government still lets you.
it's kid friendly. keol, la grande.
flashdance clip featuring it's just begun
Dear Mr. Walden,
Being a constituent of yours in La Grande, I am happy to say that I voted for you even if you are the only Republican party member I have voted for in years. I do not in any way, shape, or form support the idea of the corporate control of information. The FCC has already given too much of the airwaves to corporate giants since the 1990s. From my small community radio show, I try to give one option to keep people open to the things we are already not allowed to hear on mainstream radio. I don't want this to grow worse and spread to the web. It can accomplish nothing more than continuing to dumb down the American public. I hope that you will stand along with Mr. Wyden in opposing such rediculous legislation such as PIPA and SOPA which is so ever harmful to the American public. Thanks for your consideration.
in happier news, kid yoshida has upped the ante and added a midweek show time during the lunch hour on wednesdays 11-1 ~ weather on the pass permitting ~ an extra dose of new music and cool classics to help get through the middle of the school and work week. meanwhile, saturday's program for the rabble rouser show continues to gather steam. expect to hear such goodnesses as the following...
laura gibson
laura gibson's soon to be released cd entitled la grande is nothing short of amazing. it has been streaming on npr's first listen for a couple of weeks and was recently named album of the month for january in rolling stone germany. soon, the video for the title track should be out. it was filmed at the spooky hot lake in early december. on la grande, she plays about eight or ten different instruments and collaborates with some big time scenesters including peeps from calexico and the decemberists. but all the instrumentation is dwarfed by the most amazing voice you are likely to hear all year. so, yeah, you can check it out on npr or city slang, but no need. tune into the rabble rouser at 6pm on saturday and hear the entire cd hitch free!jimmy castor
known as the everything man, jimmy castor was a master of all types of music from doo-wop to funk to latin soul and played everything from sax to bongos. castor grew up in spanish harlem and was close friends with frankie lymon. in fact, castor had a comparable voice to lyman such that he often filled in with the teenagers when lyman couldn’t make gigs. presumably, as lymon deteriorated in drug addiction in his early 20s, this opened the door wide for castor to own the stage. then he got all mixed up with the puerto rican movement that took hold in 50s and 60s nyc and recorded some great funk like the famous hey leroy, your mama’s calling you. he then started a band called the castor bunch, who owned early 70s soul with songs like cave man and bertha butt boogie. early hip hop and dance scenes started to sample from his works liberally, such as his song it’s just begun being used in the movie flashdance. in more recent years, his work has been sampled by guys like kanye (we don't care), ice cube (friday) and mos def (history). there is a pretty nice compilation that can serve as an introduction to castor called the everything man . unfortunately, time and public taste changes in music were not kind to castor and he struggled to get much work beyond the 1980s. a true legend,(71, or 64 depending on the source) cantor passed away on monday, january 16. in addition to a healthy dose of jimmy cantor's funky latin soul expect to hear:
- a tribute to the soul of puerto rican song; a woman who pushed gender and racial barriers all the way to a senate seat
- kids singing protest songs?
- flashback to 1987 in music
- more wonderful new and local music
tune it in. all the time.
while the government still lets you.
it's kid friendly. keol, la grande.
flashdance clip featuring it's just begun
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