Party!

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Sprinkles.

Sprinkles and syrups.

Sprinkles and syrups and fresh cherries and decorations.



That's how the table in the lobby grew this morning. Each year about mid-July, the station has a hot dog roast and ice cream social during the lunch break to celebrate summer birthdays. Right now Verne is playing 52 minute stretches of music to snatch a few extra minutes to help with preparations. A line of ice cream machines churn away on the back porch. Stephanie is coordinating buns, beans, and barbecue. All in the midst of actual station work.



"We like to do this each year to zero in on our real love... food," said Verne. I've been told that his homemade (or rather station-made) ice cream is a big tradition. Added to Verne's vanilla, Patrick and Shelley have brought chocolate ice cream, Neesha is making, according to Verne "something Neesha-esque," and Nancy is whipping up a batch of sherbet for a non-milk-based alternative.

"We've also been eyeing the root beer in the fridge," Verne said. "Somebody might experiment with that."

Luckily for me the annual "ice cream orgy" as Verne put it, falls right on my birthday. So, as a special treat, I get to take a bit of a break from press releases and promos to blog about ice cream. The only concern is that we might wind up with more ice cream than the station can handle.

"It's like why I don't wear Spandex," Verne said.

Spandex? I gave him a look of complete puzzlement.

"You don't have to gear up and make a big fuss to ride your bike to work. Just like that, you don't have to go all crazy to enjoy some ice cream at work. It should be something normal," he added in explanation.

Well I, for one, am all for the normalization of ice cream at the station. Yum!

Work Song

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Right now Nancy and Verne are at work on a new project. Early in September, KPBX's program The Bookshelf will feature the popular regional writer Ivan Doig's latest book, Work Song. Just A Theory host Tony Flinn has already begun recording readings from the sequel to The Whistling Season, a story about the miners of Butte, Montana. What makes this particular selection from The Bookshelf special though, is that the station has commissioned a local composer to create an actual work song to be played with the reading of the novel.

Composer, musician, screenwriter, and novelist Don Caron will bring to life what Nancy says should be "an infectious marching tune" like the song meant to organize the miners in Work Song. The lyrics to the song will most likely be accompanied by a concertina. Between the work of bestselling author Doig and that of award-winning composer Caron, this chapter of The Bookshelf should be page-turning.

Un "Promo" Muy Caliente

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Early Tuesday afternoon, as I was doing a little design work, Shelley called my name.

"Could you come here for a minute? We need your Spanish expertise."

Because this year's An Evening Under the Stars fundraiser is Latin-fiesta themed, they've needed my limited Spanish much more often than one might expect from a public radio station in Spokane. As I entered Shelley's office, our Production Director Patrick looked up with a grin and said "Hola!" with an unmistakeable American-trying-to-be-Spanish accent. One quick glance at the computer monitor that he and Shelley were facing revealed the words: An Evening Under the Stars 2010 Promo - Antonio Banderas style.

"Errrre, errrre..." went Patrick, attempting to roll his "r's." "How would you say 'the beautiful grounds of Arbor Crest Wine Cellars' in Spanish?" Shelley asked me with a critical look at the screen. And so, I became one of the voice coaches to a Spokane radio announcer trying to be Antonio Banderas.


On Wednesday, after we had hammered out the perfect mixture of Spanish and English words so that an everyday listener might understand the promo, the three of us headed to the recording studio. Patrick's voice is naturally pleasantly mid-range but to transform into the sultry latino, he kept deepening it as he practiced the script.

"Buenos días," he said normally. "Buenos días," a little deeper. "Buenos días." With that, he went too deep, reaching instead the voice of a latino you would hope not to run into in a dark alley. Patrick readjusted and ran through the entire script several different times, pausing to ask the correct pronunciation of "señores," to perfect a Spanish-accented version of the word "radio," and several times just to laugh with Shelley and me at the silliness of the whole situation. When Patrick decided that he had enough usable takes, he took the sound recording back to his office to piece together the best versions of each section of the script.

Behind the promo recording he layered (what else?) music from the soundtrack to The Mask of Zorro.

National Impact

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When the sun is beaming cheerfully as it is today, after a gorgeous 4th of July weekend, it's easy for the average person to forget (if only temporarily) that America is at war. Here at the station though, Amanda is knee-deep in the daily effects of war on our country. Part of NPR's Impact of War, the story Amanda is working on will be part of a series called “Living With War At Home.” She is writing about the difficulties for members of the armed forces who plan for a return to civilian life after service in the military.

"Some come back with PTSD; some come back with injuries or, at the very least, trauma," Amanda said. "My story is basically, how do you go back to the grocery store after something like that? How do you return to focus on school when you have trouble even leaving the house?"

The hardest part of this story, she said, has been finding veterans willing to share their day-to-day experiences after the military.

"I can find policy advisors all day," Amanda said, "but I want to know what it's like for the people actually readjusting to regular life."

Her conversation was filled with terms like PTSD, transition, and therapy.

"This is the white noise in my head right now," she said. "It's the hum that's always in my mind."

The story, which will be broadcast in the coming weeks, is one that is not often remembered.

According to Amanda, "This story is so important because it's something you just don't hear about. These people blend in, but they're at a loose end in their lives and there's not a lot of help."