I've been back at the radio since July on a part-time basis. I do Morning News on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, which means that for people in Wrangell who are religious (in consistency, not in spirituality) radio listeners (meaning the first thing they do when they wake up is turn on the radio
*), my voice may be the first thing they hear when they get up. Among other things, I tell them the local weather, introduce NPR news, read the local and regional news. I give them state news, the marine weather forecast, read the community calendar items. I even tell them whose birthday and anniversary it is. What I don't do is deviate from the precise lineup of my Morning News duties, unless there's some "technical difficulties," which in rare cases do occur. I don't give them any extra chatter or flowery language, like elaborating on the weather, and I don't thank them for listening. I do the Morning News as neutrally as I can.
The other component to doing Morning News is starting off Coffee Break Music Show, which starts whenever the news ends, usually around 8:30 and goes until 10:00 am. My co-worker, Cindy, usually relieves me around 9 am, which means I have about half an hour to impart music on the listening KSTK audience.
What you may not know is that Wrangell can only receive three radio stations – KSTK (public radio aired out of Wrangell, of course), Gateway Country (a commercial country station aired out of Ketchikan), and a religious station (I'm not sure what it's called but I believe it's aired out of Petersburg but that may be wrong). I can't say for certain, but I like to think that the majority of radio listeners in Wrangell are tuned to KSTK. What
is certain is that many local businesses listen to KSTK. This means that I could be listening to KSTK in the truck while driving to Ottesen's True Value and then also hear it as I'm shopping there. My KSTK listening enjoyment is interrupted by the few seconds it takes to get out the car and walk to the entrance of the store. It's also what you hear when you're put on hold when calling many local businesses and local agencies. My point is that KSTK is everywhere. What music to play is important.
I've walked into Bobs' before (Bobs’ is one of those businesses that airs KSTK store-wide) and have had their employees look at me with a pained expression and say that whatever happens to be playing at the very moment I'm standing there should be played in the middle of the night or, better yet, never. I never want anyone thinking that about any music I'm playing.
Sending music out over the airwaves in Wrangell can be a special thing. For a while, before I started working at the radio station, I volunteered as a guest DJ. During my free time I'd come to the station for two hours during some weekday evening and play music. Oftentimes I was with friends but sometimes I was alone. It was something I enjoyed a lot. It was once a week. Now, I play music three times a week. Also, nighttime music is different than daytime music. The audiences are different and the feel is, of course, different. I try to play more upbeat music during the morning.
But I run into some troubles. My biggest trouble is that I don't have new music and neither does the station. The station does use Rhapsody, an online music site that allows us to play a multitude of music. Like other music sites, it allows you search thousands of artists, bands, and songs, so I could find new music if I wanted. But the thing is is that I'm not familiar with any of it and I don't like listening to a song for the first time as it’s aired on the radio. Before I moved to Wrangell, new music came to me by listening to the radio, watching TV, and reading information and reviews about who was hot and what sounded good – all the normal routes that one hears about pop culture. All of this disappeared when I moved to Wrangell. I stopped being informed in that way. I stopped knowing what and who was ‘in.’ Wrangell is essentially a pop culture desert. This is a byproduct of the fact that Wrangell is an island of less than 2,000 people in Alaska and is therefore removed from mainstream society and culture. Most of the time I love this about living in Wrangell, but the music thing is hard.
My default music source is my own iPod. The next thing I turn to is the station's collection of music kept either on the CD shelves or in their computer storage system, which is called the Vault. Usually I compile playlists by searching my iPod by Artist or Album, but lately I’ve been searching for music by Song. As any iPod owner knows, everything is listed alphabetically. Last Friday, I played all songs that began with “B” – Beautiful Day by U2, Better Man by Pearl Jam, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Boogie Shoes by K.C. and the Sunshine Band, Boom Boom by Big Head Todd and the Monster, Boys Don’t Cry by The Cure, Breakdown by Jack Johnson, Brown Sugar by the Rolling Stones, Buddy Holly by Weezer, and Burned Down by Assembly of Dust. This morning I played “C”s – California Stars by Billy Bragg and Wilco, Carry You by Dispatch, Castles Made of Sand by Jimmi Hendrix, Catch My Disease by Ben Lee, Central Reservation by Beth Orton, and Character Zero by Phish. Some may think this is lame, but it’s worked pretty well for me. I wonder if anyone in Wrangell has noticed this obvious pattern.
Wednesday will be songs that start with “D”. I don’t know why I skipped “A”.
*I do this and have been doing it since I moved to Wrangell. During my early days in Wrangell, the radio sat on the kitchen counter and on my way to the bathroom shower – in my first apartment you had to go through the kitchen to get to the bathroom – I’d switch the power button on. It was a motion that gave me as much security as a blanket gives to a baby. I needed that radio on. I guess it's how some people feel about the TV.
I have never picked a fungus from a tree or the ground and put it straight in my mouth for obvious reasons (like the fear of dying), that is, until yesterday. Britta had her sights set on Chanterelles, but when we stumbled upon Oyster mushrooms, she didn’t pass them by. The Oyster mushrooms we found were creamy white in color and moist to the touch. When you bite into one, there’s an ever so slight crunch, and the taste is amazing – subtle and fresh. They ranged in size from half an inch wide to over two inches wide. Pictured on the right is one of the bigger ones I picked (that I’m about to eat).
As for the Chanterelles, we didn’t find any harvestable ones at first. But then we drove about 6 miles back towards town to the Rainbow Falls Trail. Britta was looking for another mushroom, the name of which I cannot recall, and she found it on the side of a tree. And while searching for this other mushroom, Britta ended up spotting Chanterelles hidden beneath some wooden stairs.
I have never picked a fungus from a tree or the ground and put it straight in my mouth for obvious reasons (like the fear of dying), that is, until yesterday. Britta had her sights set on Chanterelles, but when we stumbled upon Oyster mushrooms, she didn’t pass them by. The Oyster mushrooms we found were creamy white in color and moist to the touch. When you bite into one, there’s an ever so slight crunch, and the taste is amazing – subtle and fresh. They ranged in size from half an inch wide to over two inches wide. Pictured on the right is one of the bigger ones I picked (that I’m about to eat).
As for the Chanterelles, we didn’t find any harvestable ones at first. But then we drove about 6 miles back towards town to the Rainbow Falls Trail. Britta was looking for another mushroom, the name of which I cannot recall, and she found it on the side of a tree. And while searching for this other mushroom, Britta ended up spotting Chanterelles hidden beneath some wooden stairs.
