A Scott Carrier (2006) article in Mother Jones, “Rock the Junta; In Burma, a band of heavy metal Christians speaks of liberty between the lines”:
Burma is a forgotten country. You might have a hard time finding it on a map, and it may not even be called Burma on the map you’re looking at. It might be called Myanmar, as that’s the official name for it now. It’s an extremely fucked-up place, the size of Texas, located between Thailand and India, south of China. For the past 44 years, it’s been cut off from the rest of the world by a junta of xenophobic and superstitious generals calling themselves the State Peace and Development Council. Others call them mendacious assholes and hungry ghosts.
UPDATE: The NPR Road Trip site owner tells us NPR now has their own station-trip tool: NPR: Station Finder.
Found this on the NPR site: NPR Road Trip. It’s a nifty gadget that maps your route and the NPR stations along the way. Mouse over the radio tower icon and you’re presented with call letters, frequency and the approximate broadcast range.
A road trip along historic route 66 in New Mexico, exploring America’s past and present. Tour includes a Santa Fe cooking class, a hot air balloon ride above Albuquerque, Acoma tribal traditions, a mining museum in Grants and a historic hotel in Gallup. Aired on NPR All Things Considered; by producer Jake Warga, “Route 66 Postcard” (8:20 mp3):
David Brynes likes bikes, and has a new book about it, Bicycle Diaires.
His music tour travels with a few folding bikes, and the crew pedals around the world’s towns where they’re playing. Here’s the NPR interview, and book excerpt, “David Byrne’s Wild Wild (Biking) Life” (9:31 mp3):
Name: christopher
Subject: field recordings in the sahel
Message: greetings – currently tramping around the desert recording music and sounds. thought something you all might find particularly interesting.
‘Deed I did find the site interesting. Lots of great street and county music from Africa. Like “Mohammad accompanies Boubacar, a Songhai guitarist, in a group in Timbouctou.”
What: Living and traveling through West Africa along the fringes of the Sahara. Collecting sounds and music in guerilla recordings and unorthodox ethnomusicology. Place: nouakchott, timbouctou Tools: zoom h2 recorder and folk guitar
“The traditional music of Fouta is based on the Hoddu; but many traditional ‘universal’ songs have been adapted to the guitar.”
We’re on a bike trip right now and for most of June, so things might get a little lonely in these parts for the next few weeks. Never fear tho, we’ll be back by month’s end w/ all kindsa sonic trivia and innovation to post.
FYI, we were pedaling thru the Cascade Mtns in WA, but after getting south of Ranier, we got blocked by a bridge washout and snows still covering the road at 4K and up. So we’re now diverting to the OR coast, which we’ll ride for the reminder of the trip. Then we’ll cut inland to see friends in Ashland OR.
Note: in WA when the Forest Service sez Closed in Winter they sometimes mean Closed till Summer.
Life good on the road, talk at ya soon,
bg of hv
UPDATE: Made it to N. Cali coast. Turning around now and headin’ home (w/ a pretty good case of poison oak). Great ride, cooperative weather, excellent beer (thanks to Jack R Box for his NW selections). Obsessive posting will resume on this blog soon.
Over the last ten years Steve Fugate has walked over 21,000 miles of the United States, and he has done it all with a sign over his head that reads “Love Life.”
This is the story of why Steve has walked for so long, and the impact he has on the people he meets.
The Love Life Film site has a short video of this work in progress. More info on Steve is at his site, Trail Therapy.
Hearing Voices from NPR®
057 Roof of the World: In the Himalayas
Host: Scott Carrier of Hearing Voices
Airs week of: 2010-07-07 (Originally: 2009-05-06)
“Mount Kailash: Cricling the Center of Creation” (21:00) Scott Carrier
Walking a circuit alongside pilgrims, yaks and yogis, host treks one of the world’s most venerated — and least visited — holy sites, Mount Kailash. Produced for Stories from the Heart of the Land. Scott Carrier teaches Journalism at Utah Valley University in Orem.
Guide Jane Mills take us on a night tour inside the walls of Port Arthur, Tasmania’s former convict settlement and notorious 19th century penitentiary, now one of Australia’s top tourist attractions. Aired on PRI The World; by producer Jake Warga, “Ghostly Prison- Tasmania” (2:49 mp3):
“We lost thrust in both engines… We’re going to be in the Hudson.”
–pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger
The FAA released audio recordings related to the successful river landing of US Airways Flight 1549. Communications are between pilots and air traffic controllers at LaGuardia tower, Teterboro tower, and the New York Tracon (Terminal Radar Approach Control).
#135 Don’t dismiss warning signs, especially: BEWARE OF MUTTONBIRD HOLES
#136 Sandals are not the best thing to wear for hiking through a tropical forest to grassy, steep ocean cliffs after two days of heavy rain—no matter how much they look like ones Jesus would have worn.
#137 Swim shorts are not the best attire to hike through tropical forests in, some grasses are like razor-blades and if there’s a vine, it most likely will have thorns.
#138 Listening to NPR podcasts on your ipod while hiking around birds that are shrieking “you’re stepping near my nests!” is not a good idea for the other thing you can’t hear them shrieking is “I’m going to dive-bomb you for your trespass while you stumble around on wet grass in sandals near deadly ocean drops!”
#139 Wear a hat, always, especially in countries not fond of ozone but populated with dive-bombing birds (see #135 and #138)
#34 Those most interested in history are those about to become it. Try to take an interest no matter your age.
#156 If you hear “The Gambler” playing, run. Run away. Something is horribly wrong, will be, or ought to be.
#35 Good traveling is making sure you say, “wow, what’s that?” more than “I remember when that was a…
The lore of the Yukon used to be the gold, hidden in the rocks. Today, only a few still dig and pan, but others treasures in culture and history still abound. Aired on NPR All Things Considered; by producer Jake Warga, “Exploring The Yukon” (5:26 mp3):
[Carmen Delzell lives in Mexico, travels to India, and does occasional audio essays for us. Here’s the first of what we hope will be a series of posts & pix she’s calling the Bag Lady’s Guide to What’s Left of the Planet. This one’s from India…]
Today I took my regular rickshaw to Mother Theresa’s house to see if there was anything I could do to help or just see the poorest of the poor. I was expecting to be horrified by all the suffering but it wasn’t really as bad as I had expected. When I say it wasn’t as bad I mean it wasn’t as bad as the miserable beggars I see everyday on the streets of Delhi and Jaipur. At least at Mother Theresa the people I sat with were clean, comfortable and most of all smiling.
Years ago when I was at Mother Theresa in Calcutta a traveler girl told me that the ladies loved to be touched and hugged and patted. So I did that and I sang to them and I started to dance my version of Bollywood style movements waving my arms and undulating my hips. They were delighted… all of them old ladies or very brain damaged young women. More…
Hearing Voices from NPR®
020 The Old Country: Back to the Homeland
Host: Neenah Ellis of If I Live to Be 100
Airs week of: 2009-07-29 (Originally: 2008-07-16)
Forgot to post this when it aired, 1/1/08 on NPR ATC— A travel writer’s upside-down Australian dilemma of drop bears and hoop snakes, swag and snores, knee-clicks and star clusters, by Jake Warga “Hike Australia” (7:50 mp3):
Trailer for new fish film w/ (my kid) Jess Atkins and some great music— “A new fly fishing documentary, ‘Raising the Ghost,” chronicles 7 epic days of fly fishing in a remote region of British Columbia’s Skeena River system. The Fly Boys team attempts to catch Steelhead eating dead-drift dry flies.”
Got an email yesterday:
Guide Jane Mills take us on a night tour inside the walls of Port Arthur, Tasmania’s former convict settlement and notorious 19th century penitentiary, now one of Australia’s top tourist attractions. Aired on PRI 
“We lost thrust in both engines… We’re going to be in the Hudson.”
A travel writer’s tips for international travelers via an audio postcard from Taiwan.
Forgot to post this when it aired, 1/1/08 on NPR