Radio Curious

Spanish songs sung and played on guitar is something I have enjoyed beginning when I lived in Peru in the mid 1960′s. I often have the pleasure of listening to and talking with Marcos Pereda, a person who can do just that. Marcos was born in Cuba and made his home there until the end of the last century when he moved with his American wife to the United States and soon thereafter to Mendocino County where he has settled, and can often be found playing his guitar and singing the soft sounds of his songs. Marcos Pereda joined Radio Curious at our studio in Ukiah on the 24th November 2008.

The book Marcos Pereda recommends is “The Course of Miracles” by Dr. Helen Schucman.

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Alex De Grassi is a guitarist extraordinaire whose interpretation of the Radio Curious theme, entitled “The Last Cowboy”, you may hear if you listen carefully. In this edition of Radio Curious he asks us ‘What does a cumulous cloud sound like when played on guitar?’ Alex De Grassi will share that sound with us in this interview. De Grassi played the trumpet as a child and when he was about 12, his brother was given a guitar, which soon gave Alex inspiration… allowing us to hear what a cumulous cloud sounds like. Our conversation began when I asked him about his relationship with the guitar. You can learn more about his work at his website www.degrassi.com. Alex De Grassi came to the studio of Radio Curious for this conversation on November 12th 2008.

The book Alex De Grassi recommends is “Musicophilia: Tales Of Music And The Brain”, by Oliver Sacks.

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State guidelines for growing and possessing medical marijuana, were issued by the California Attorney General on August 25, 2008. In this edition of Radio Curious, we visit again with Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman, who participated in the development of these guidelines, to discuss their implementation. This interview was recorded August 27, 2008, in the studios of Radio Curious.

The book that Tom Allman recommends is, “Reagan’s War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph Over Communism,” by Peter Schweizer.

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To Kill or Not To Kill: That is the question still presented to juries in capital cases in the United States, one of the few countries remaining in the world to employ the death penalty. In this edition of Radio Curious, we visit with Pastor Carroll Pickett, who served as chaplain for the Texas Department of Corrections from 1982 to 1995 and counseled 95 inmates on their way to death by lethal injection. “At the Death House Door: No Man Should Die Alone,” is a independent film documentary, directed and produced by Steve James and Peter Gilbert, that presents a personal and intimate look at the death penalty in Texas through the eyes of Pastor Pickett, a Presbyterian minister. Over the years, after each of the 95 executions, Pickett would record his experiences with that person on the tape he used to practice his sermons. Although he never listened to those tapes, they became the thread and primary source for the movie. I spoke with Pastor Carroll Pickett on May 23, 2008 from his home in Texas, after hearing him speak at a special hearing on capital punishment in San Francisco, CA, while he was on a break from a national publicity tour. We began when I asked him to explain what brought him to work with condemned men and be with them in their last hours. This program was originally broadcast on June 25, 2009.

The book Carroll Pickett recommends is “Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist,” by Mike Farrell and Martin Sheen.

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On the bluffs of the Village of Mendocino, overlooking the Pacific Ocean about 155 miles north of San Francisco, California, the sounds of the Mendocino Music Festival are heard for two weeks beginning in early July every year. The music festival features Orchestra, Opera, Chamber, Jazz and World Pop music drawing participants and listeners from around the globe. Allan Pollack, who has worked as the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Mendocino Music Festival for the past twenty-two years, is our guest in this edition of Radio Curious. In this conversation from his home in Northern California, recorded on July 1, 2008, we began when I asked him to tell us about the Mendocino Music Festival. This interview with Allan Pollack was recorded on July 1, 2008.

The book Allan Pollack recommends is, “The Complete Works of Shakespeare.“

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Ukiah, California, a small vibrant community, approximately 100 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge is the home to the Ukiah Players Theater. An annual May fundraiser for the theater offers a tour of old and new homes on the west side of town, offered by the residents willing to share their history with community members. Kate Magruder, a founder of Ukiah Players Theater and considered by many to be the soul and life force of the UPT, successfully strives to search out and tell historical stories of the Ukiah, the ancestral home of the Pomo people who called the area Yokayo, meaning long narrow valley. In this program Kate Magruder explains the importance of place, knowing where we come from and our history, and in the benefits of telling communities’ stories. This interview was recorded May 11, 2008.

The books Kate Magruder recommends are, “Our Land Ourselves, Readings on People and Place,” and “The Great Remembering: further Thoughts on Land, Soul, and Society,” both published by The Trust for Public Land.

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Few people in Mendocino County who are not elected officials have created as much enmity and as many disruptive relationships as has Richard W. Johnson, Jr., the owner, editor and publisher of four local newspapers under the banner of Mendocino Country, since 1984. Johnson, who characterizes himself as a community organizer, lives in his office in downtown Ukiah, CA, overlooking Courthouse Square; he claims among many other things to be the original organizer of California Certified Organic Farmers, the Recipient of Walking Stick Award from Mendocino Environment Center in 1992 for promoting Ocean Sanctuary off the Mendocino Coast, and the original proponent of Measure G on the 2000 ballot. When I invited him to visit Radio Curious he said he would like to discuss “the amazing but little understood and seldom appreciated Richard Johnson, his life and times.” We touched on those and a few other topics in this conversation, recorded in the studios of Radio Curious on February 19, 2008, and began when I asked him about some of the areas where he would like to be better understood.

Richard W. Johnson, Jr. said he does not have time to read, but you can read what he writes in his newspapers and at www.mendocinocountry.com.

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Can rural, local government actually run smoothly and meet the changing needs of the community?  It is slow to happen in Mendocino County, California.  In this two part interview about the politics and development possibilities in Mendocino County, specifically in the North end of Ukiah, where a large shopping center is proposed that would be 700,000 square feet with 3,800 parking places and approximately 28 restaurants, we’ll be talking with Frank McMichael and Richard Shoemaker.  Both of these men were members of the Ukiah City Council and representatives of the Ukiah area on the Mendocino County board of Supervisors, serving consecutively, ending in 2005. Frank McMichael served a one year-term, and Richard Shoemaker served a two-year term. This program was originally broadcast on March 12, and March 19, 2008.

Richard Shoemaker recommends, “Longitude,” by Dava Sobel. Frank McMichael recommends, “Coercion: Why We Listen to What ‘They’ Say,” by Douglas Rushkoff.

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In this edition of Radio Curious, our guest is Dan Hamburg, a long time political activist, a former member of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors and a former member of Congress who represented the North Coast of California. In our conversation, recorded in the studio of Radio Curious on February 26, 2008, we discuss the concept of, “rule by fear or rule by law,” and what rules at the national level and legislative level, as well as at the local level.

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