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."

Musical Kids

This morning at quarter 'til 11, Verne had the nagging feeling that he'd forgotten something. As he pondered over what it could be, a line of excited 8-to-15-year-olds filtered into the lobby. It suddenly hit Verne that today was the live broadcast for the Holy Names Music Center piano camp and he shot into action.

"Us trapeze artists were about to splatter on the pavement," he said of the accidental lapse of memory and the unprepared live-recording studio. Together he, Jerry, Brian, and Patrick cleared out the room and set up sound equipment with record speed just in time for the 11 am broadcast.

It was at this point that I entered the office, only to be asked by a station volunteer, "Are you one of the pianists? They already went to the back room."

"Pianists?" I replied confusedly and sure enough, the strains of a lovely classical piece reached my ears. Shelley handed me a camera and I tracked down the tinkling notes to discover this scene:




35 kids of varying ages and attention-levels coated the carpet of the little room. A small strawberry-blond head bent over the piano.



Verne perched upon a stool, narrating between each of the 14 child-performers' turns on the piano and the camp instructor shuffled her students into place. Parents and friends spilled out into the hallway, listening to each piece and snapping rapid-fire photos of their children. Some kids waited patiently for their turn.



Others waited less patiently.

But when they sat down at the piano, the music was beautiful.



And everybody remembered to applaud.




The applause actually proved to be a bit of a problem. In an adjacent room, John was trying to record a news story in between the clapping and sounds of the piano. Because the building is not sound-tight, a few bars of a piano solo leaked onto the end of his recording.

"I had to redo it a couple times to make sure there wasn't any extra sound on it," he reported.








Overall, though, the broadcast of the young pianists' performances was a complete success.

"It was a wonderful rush of energy," Verne said with a grin.

Paper Parade

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Today SPR is preparing for one of its biggest mailings just as The Guide is nearing completion for the printers. So, everywhere I turn there is paper. Third, fourth, and fifth versions of pages from The Guide hit my desk to be proofread and then passed on to Neesha or Stephanie's desk to be proofed again. Every little detail must be caught and made perfect before the finished product can go to the printers for distribution. Shelley types away correcting everything that the office full of proofreaders manage to spot, and dozens of papers in various stages flit from chair to chair.

At the same time, Mary, our Membership Coordinator, is organizing for a massive mailing on Friday. Just moments ago, Brian's voice came over the intercom with a polite, "If you'd like some exercise we could use help setting up for the mailing." Then came Amy's voice, a little more insistent, "Whether you want exercise or not, now is the time for action!" At that, people from across the office rose from their chairs and were put to work carrying stacks of envelopes, address sheets, and chairs down to the mailing room. By the time the paper parade came to a close, the room was ready for mailing and The Guide was ready to go to the printers.

A Red, White, and Blue Brainstorm

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While for most people the 4th of July means food, flags, and fireworks, at SPR the patriotic holiday means brainstorming. This afternoon Verne padded into the office with no shoes and a harried but eager look on his face, clutching a fistful of scribbled notes on 4th of July special programming. During any holiday listeners expect something different and exciting from the station to match the mood of the day. This all boils down to the need for a surge of creativity from the broadcasters. Verne ran his fingers through his hair so that it stood wildly on end as he went over the first draft of the holiday weekend schedule. In addition to special programs like satirical singing group Capitol Steps performing their 4th of July version of “Politics Takes a Holiday" and the critique of government action during the Vietnam War "Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers” performed by L.A. Theatre Works, Verne said that the station will also run a mix of holiday-appropriate music throughout the weekend.

“We’ll have patriotic songs and music to burn burgers by,” he said, thumbing through notes. Verne mentioned the tentative schedule (that Capitol Steps will air on KSFC on July 2 and 5 at 5 pm and on KPBX on July 4 and 5 at 4 pm and noon respectively) but be warned that times may be altered.

“That’s the fun of radio,” he said, heading back to work, “changing our minds at the last minute!” And with that he ducked out the door, leaving half-formed notes as the remains of a patriotic brainstorm behind him. For an up-to-date schedule of 4th of July weekend programming go to kpbx.org or follow Spokane Public Radio on Facebook.

Taking cover from the Prairie

This week at SPR my job has become to help wherever I can... mainly by staying out of the way. The station is a flurry of activity as the countdown to "A Prairie Home Companion" rapidly draws to a close.

Shelley has been painstakingly designing and proofing program fliers for the event. Amy and Nancy are busy fielding phone calls about tickets. Soon, a small group will be headed down to the Spokane Arena to set up and make final preparations for the show. People fly in and out of the door bearing stacks of fliers, programs, and paperwork. Everywhere you can hear the low murmur of "Garrison! Garrison!" The entire station is driving to make this show the best it can possibly be.

As for me, I find I can be most helpful by keeping out of everyone's hair for a while and working on other tasks. I'll come out from under my desk when all this is over and we can enjoy the success of "A Prairie Home Companion."