A few months ago we did an NPR series on the NEA book project
Operation Homecoming, which asked troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan to write down their experiences. This week, as part of the America at a Crossroads PBS series from, The Documentary Group produced a moving collection of video interpretations of writings from the book, along with interviews with the troops/authors:

Operation Homecoming: NEA | PBS | NPR | HV | Doc Group

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Demetri Martin (Trendspotting from The Daily Show) has some clever-funny stuff of his CD These Are Jokes, like this one performed w/ his mom, “The Wisdom Song” (mp3 3:09):

Dmitri’s site | space | cd

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Jakes new video for his NPR piece searching for the “Ark of the Covenant” and finding humanity. A radio story with photos from a trip to Ethiopia:

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My bud Lukas, a WFMU Blogger and fellow KGLT DJ, has posted mp3s of the audio art classic Soap Opera Suite & Snake Oil Symphony (MP3s). These cut-up compositions are by Daniel Steven Crafts, before now available only on vinyl. A sample, “Soap Opera Suite I: The Essence of Melodrama” (5:10):

Sez Lukas: “In 1982, self-taught composer Daniel Steven Crafts released an album with two tape compositions, Soap Opera Suite and Snake Oil Symphony, on the Berkeley-based Lutra label. It is a pioneering work of found sound, and it perfectly captures the essence of TV in purely aural form. Or so I am told. I found a thoroughly used (and abused) copy on the shelves of WCBN one day, and it became one of my favorite secret weapons for weird audio collage shows and general freeform madness.”

Crafts also collaborated with Adam Cornford on (Tellus #11: The Sound of Radio) “Fundamentals: Musical Preachers” (1:00 excerpt):

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the circus/charade that’s been the media coverage of events at virginia tech, I found it more than a little amusing that chimps appear to have evolved more than humans since we split from a common ancestor:
Chimps More Evolved Than Humans

while thirty shot dead is historic for USA, it’s just another bad day in Baghdad:
160 slaughtered in Baghdad car bomb avalanche

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My kick ass guitar teacher has a brother who developed software that allows you to create loops and other sorts of musical feats without ever touching a computer. Amazingly cool. Introducing, the Amazing Rolo’s Wii Loop Machine!

I can’t wait to check it out. I already am imagining myself dancing around the kitchen while making music for radio, with just the click of a button.

Check out the Demo videos here.

The Amazing Rolo’s Wii Loop Machine, part 1:

Part 2:

PS–I have to say it’s a little eerie how much my guitar teacher and his brother look alike.PPS-And NPR passed on this guy when he applied for a Kroc fellowship. I can’t believe they let this genius slip through their fingers. Or wait, maybe I can.

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This week’s HV cast is for Poetry Month. Sonia Sanchez performs her poem written to “all you young girls.” Produced by Steve Rowland and mixed by Joe Waters (a commission from WXPN with funding from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts) with original music by Jamaaladeen Tacuma. “Song #2″ (mp3 1:56):

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Even the military is starting to see the light or feel the warmth, as the case may be. I thought the most interesting point (made in the audio portion) of the story was retired Gen. Anthony Zinni’s comment that the real resource war isn’t going to be about hydrocarbons. It will be about hydrology or, in other words, water scarcity. He noted that many of the same places in the world that are rich in oil are poor in water.

NPR story | source for map

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