Snow Day

Wherever you may be, whatever the weather is like, however you celebrate (or do not), season's greetings from me to you.

And the winner is . . .

Steve Harvey at a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
By Angela George, 13 May 2013. License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported.

How I wish Steve Harvey had announced the winner of the 2000 Bush v. Gore election for the President of the United States.

Just imagine! We would be living in a totally different world right now. I'd like to think we'd be war-free since whenever, that 9/11 never happened, that perhaps Taylor Swift and the Kardashians had never been visited upon us.

Taylor would be teaching pre-school somewhere in Pennsylvania. Kim K. would be an aging stripper down on her luck in Las Vegas.

But I'm a realist at heart.

Bad crap always happens whether you want it to or not. The key is to mitigate it as much as possible--and to not actively add to the crap fiasco you're enduring. Yes, I'm talking to you, the George "Dubya" Bush administration from 2000 to 2008.

Nevertheless, it's lovely to have a dream or two stored away, just in case you ever have the opportunity to vigorously rub a genie's bottle, are granted three wishes, and don't screw up said wishes. Then you can ask for the privilege of traveling back in time to help every Florida man and woman, not to mention the U.S. Supreme Court, make the right call and change history as we know it.

Early bearded hipster trendsetter, Rutherford B. Hayes
Public Domain.

But if that's too far-fetched for you, just ask the genie to let Steve Harvey announce the winner. First, he would say, "Ladies and Generals, I present to you the winner of the 2000 President of the United States pageant, Miss Texas, Georgina Bush!" Then in less time than it takes to look up "emigrating to Canada" on your smartphone, Harvey could say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I meant Miss Tennessee, Albertina Gore!"

* * *

Another plus to giving Steve Harvey that kind of power--Pornstar mustaches would be cool again, not beards that make every guy look like a young, swagger-delic Rutherford B. Hayes.

Steve Harvey for Time-Traveling Emcee in 2016!

The songs of shortwave, volume 1

The Songs of Shortwave Radio, Volume 1: Out in the Wide World by Montagsonfire on Mixcloud

Author's note: I updated this mixtape on 1 January 2016 (Happy New Year!). This is volume 1; volume 2 is forthcoming--hopefully no later than later this month. Enjoy!

* * *

Happy early holidays--at least if receiving a new mixtape/podcast from me is a fun gift in your mind. I hope it is because it's all I've got for you this year. Perhaps, ahem.

My gift to you is all about me, of course! Ha, well, kinda. It's another in a series of my explorations into my childhood, into what made me tick then and continues to make me tick now, decades later.

I was a huge aficionado of international broadcasting on shortwave radio back in the day, and I still think about buying a new radio--the kind of set, a tabletop or a highly sensitive portable, that I couldn't afford when I was younger. After all, I live in a new part of the globe, and there are no power lines in our neighbo(u)rhood. (Everything's buried so as to prevent snapping during extreme cold and icestorms, and I suspect to soothe suburban aesthetic sensitivities as well.) Just imagine what I might hear again or for the first time from our near neighbors--Iceland! Greenland! Saint Pierre et Miquelon!

Or maybe I would hear from some place completely different--Indonesia, Thailand, Kenya, Cote D'Ivoire--all those places I wanted to tune in so long ago but could never quite pull in on my static-friendly portable in rural North Carolina.

This is not to say that I was a slouch as a DX-er (aka, long-distance listener). I remember staying up until the early hours to hear the opening of the broadcast day in Togo and Cameroon. I remember going to bed listening to Latin rhythms emanating from stations in Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela--and have the QSL cards to prove it. I remember hearing Iceland, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Tahiti, Tashkent, Morocco, and hundreds of others, near and far.

My favorites? In no particular order--the Voice of Turkey (for the music), Radio Australia, Brussels Calling, Radio France International, Radio Sweden, Radio Exterior de España/Spanish Foreign Radio, Radio Austria International, Deutsche Welle, Radio Nederland, Radio RSA: The Voice of South Africa (I know, I know . . .), and, naturally enough, Radio Canada International.

A European bias perhaps, but these were often the best, most consistently received stations where I lived at the time.

Which came first--My interest in the world outside of where I lived or my enthusiasm for shortwave, which led to an interest in the world elsewhere? I would say the former. I mean, how many kids were in the second grade trying to borrow books on Sweden from their small-town public library? Not many, at least not in North Carolina in the 1960s and '70s. Some days I truly feel for my parents. What a bafflement I must have put them through with the constant arrival of letters and packets of information from the Soviet Union, Germany, Japan, South Africa, and Australia.

I still yearn for those days of uncomplicated childhood, when my only "responsibility" was to listen to shortwave, learn about different cultures and perspectives, write some letters to radio stations (or penpals), and receive mail from all over the world.

Those days are mostly gone, I fear. Who writes letters anymore? I can barely send out Christmas cards. I still listen and watch international broadcasting, but it's all internet-based, whether on my computer, my phone, my Kindle, or my Roku.

Now at least I can hear the content without squelch and static, the jamming and knob-twiddling, but the serendipity, the happenstance, the fun, are somewhat lacking. Where's the challenge if all you have to do is go to a URL, an app, or a channel? Tuning in--figuring out the frequency, realizing the time difference, setting the dial just right, and hoping against hope that some other undesired station didn't bleed into the broadcast you wanted to hear--was an adventure.

So this mix and the previous podcast I did are ways for me to hark back to that time but also to celebrate its positive influence on my life. I might never had ventured out of North Carolina and moved to Texas, let alone Canada, without my shortwave radio. I might never have been open to meeting and falling in love with a truly lovely man from Egypt. I might never have learned about music--and international communism!


* * *

Now about these tunes . . .

In most cases, I think they speak for themselves, that is to say, there is a clear connection between the signature tune and the song played. In other cases, not so much. So below you'll find an annotated playlist in which I try to explain myself and where my mind was when I made my choices.

1) "Oranges and Lemons - the Bells of St. Clement's" and 2) the BBC Caribbean relay station version of "Oranges and Lemons."

This is immediately followed by 3) the tonal "B-B-C" interval signal, enchanting and slightly haunting, mixed with 4) the BBC "V" interval signal, mixed with 5) the BBC World Service bells.

Radio RSA QSL card. Author's collection.

6) A version of "Lillibulero" was (and maybe still is) featured at the top of the hour of most BBC World Service broadcasts.

7) "London Calling" by the Clash: Again, another popular song that seems inspired by the world of international broadcasting. I first heard the Clash on the BBC World Service Top 20 or A Jolly Good Show, can't remember which now.

8) Radio RSA: The Voice of South Africa - interval signal and announcement: My favorite signature tune and possibly the most beautiful one ever created. For a moment put aside the racist Apartheid regime that created the tune to lure you in. It is still a gorgeous melody played simply and lushly. It's probably single-handedly responsible for my life-long fascination with Afrikaans and Afrikaner South Africa. (Other connections: Dutch colonial expansion led directly to the unique culture and grinding problems of contemporary South Africa.)

9) Toni & Jan: A modern interpretation of the folk tune, "Ver in die Wereld, Kittie," upon which the signature tune is based. It doesn't compare all that favorably to the original in my mind. Thus I'd love to hear remake played as slowly and sparingly as the original interval signal.

10) and 11): Two versions of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" ("God Bless Africa"), the new, post-Apartheid national anthem of South Africa. 10) is by the Mahotella Queens and 11) by Beston Barnett.

12) Radio-Télévision Guinéenne interval signal and opening: If I'm going to celebrate Afrikaner culture, I'm going to have to balance things out by celebrating post-colonial African culture as well. Guinea--home at one point to Pan-Africanist revolutionary Stokely Carmichael and performer, activist, and South African ex-pat, Miriam Makeba.

13) "Alpha Yaya" by Bako Dagnon: I don't know the history of this song, other than it's considered a "heroic" song and may or may not be sort of a Guinean, post-colonial African anthem. It seems like a good balance to anything inspired by Radio RSA.

14) Interval signal and announcement for the general overseas service of All India Radio. A broadcaster I was only able to listen to sporadically over the years, but one with a mystical, unmistakable interval signal.

15) Dissidenten - "All India Radio": Not a song from that era--I don't even remember how I first heard about Dissidenten--but part of my interest in exploring (the world, world music) I suspect. The title makes it seem as though I wasn't alone in being fascinated by foreign radio broadcasts.

Radio Japan QSL card. Author's collection.

16) Interval signal for Radio Japan, 17) "Kazoe Uta," and 18) "Sakura, Sakura": Apparently, Radio Japan used "Kazoe Uta," described as a Japanese children's counting song, as the interval signal for its international broadcasts, but it also used "Sakura, Sakura" ("Cherry Blossoms") for others. I have no idea which this is, and I have no clear sense of whether the "Kazoe Uta" and "Sakura, Sakura" selected are matches to the signature tune. Nevertheless, it's an attempt to pay homage to the beauty and significance of Japanese culture. I never listened much to the Radio Beijing or Radio China International, so I have nothing to offer from there in this mix. Maybe in volume 2 . . . .

19) Radio Australia interval signal and the laughing kookaburra, along with 20) "Waltzing Matilda" by the Seekers: Again, here's another case where I find the interval signal more enjoyable than the folk tune upon which it is based. Oh well.

21) The interval signal for l'Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF) in Tahiti, unforgettable with its South Pacific rapid-fire drumming, one I often heard in the evening in North America.

22) The bird-chirping interval signal and opening anthem of Radio New Zealand.

Moving on to the Nordic world, I offer in rapid succession the following: The haunting interval signal for 23) Radio Norway, followed by the one for 24) YLE Radio Finland. That is followed by the interval signal for 25) Rikisutvarpid, the national broadcaster of Iceland, with 26) Radio Denmark up next. And that is followed by 27) Radio Greenland, a station that I think I heard once or twice way back in the day but one that I was never able to clearly identify.

28) Radio Sweden interval signal and opening: The "classic" broadcast opening featuring notes from the song, "Storm och böljar tystna ren . . . ," and Hugo Alfvén's "Swedish Rhapsody."

Radio Sweden QSL card. Author's collection.

29) A longer, instrumental version of "Storm och böljar" performed by Tomas Blank and the Göteborgs Symfonietta, followed by 30) Ralph Lundsten's "Out in the Wide World," the song that eventually replaced the classic Radio Sweden interval signal and broadcast opening. I like it, quite a lot actually, but I still prefer the 1970s version.

Is Canada a Nordic station? Some would say yes, but then we might have to examine what is meant by the term "Nordic." For the purposes of this mixtape, I'm lumping 31) Radio Canada International's interval signal, the first four notes of "O, Canada," with the other Nordic national and international broadcasters.  This is where my intense like affair with Canada didn't so much begin but was greatly encouraged and strengthened. (My stamp collection and the GAF Viewmaster slides of Canada I received as a birthday gift are also to blame for my Canada crush.)

32) "Vive la Canadienne" and 33) "Les Montréalais": Two songs that were featured in Radio Canada International's broadcasts in the 1970s. This exact recording of "Vive la Canadienne" was used to open the broadcast, while this exact recording of "Les Montréalais" was used as part of the closing. Where my love affair with Montréal all began.

Next we transition to the Benelux countries (minus the 'Lux): 34), 35), 36), and 37) are various interval signals from various versions of Radiodiffusion-Télévision Belge (RTB) and Belgische Radio en Televisie (BRT), the French and Dutch broadcasters, respectively, of bilingual Belgium.

BRT often used versions of the Dutch folk song, 38) "Kwezelken" for it's interval signals. You can clearly hear this in 37) but also in 35) if you pay close attention. Meanwhile, RTB used versions of the song 39) "Où peut-on être mieux . . . ?" for its interval signal. Why can't we all just get along?

40) Radio Netherlands - interval signal and opening: One of the first international broadcasters I ever listened to. The interval signal and opening are far more stilted than the broadcasts that used to and still emanate from Hilversum.

41) Ben van Bergen and the Voices Inside My Head: A modern interpretation of "Merck Toch Hoe Sterck," the Radio Netherlands signature tune. 

42) Voice of Spain interval signal and opening: I always think of this as Radio Exterior de España or the awkwardly named Spanish Foreign Radio. "Radio Spain International" never seemed to be a workable option.

REE pennant. Author's collection.

43) The Spotnicks - "Spanish Gypsy Dance": A popular version of "España cañi" or "Gypsy Spain," a paso doble composed by Pascual Marquina Narro, a piece of music that always makes one think of Spain. (I might also suggest anything by Miles Davis's Sketches of Spain LP.)

44) Interval signal for RAE, Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior: An incredibly long opening. Apparently the interval signal features the first few notes of "Mi Buenos Aires querido," although I struggle a bit to hear it.

Next up, two versions of "Mi Buenos Aires querido," 45) by Daniel Barenboim, Rodolfo Mederos, and Héctor Console and 46) a piece of chill wallpaper by La Fonda Tango Club. The original is by famed Argentine tango composer, Carlos Gardel. My Gardel CDs are still locked in a storage bin in Pittsburgh (no, really), so we'll have to "make do" with these contemporary versions.

And to round everything out (with a hint of what's to come in volume 2), I conclude the mixtape with 47) Radio Havana Cuba's interval signal and opening, plus 48) the Red Army Choir performing "La marcha del 26 de julio." Radio Havana's interval signal features the opening notes of this march. 

Comrades, let the Revolution begin! Forward left to volume 2, coming soon to a MixCloud near you.

¡Ølé!

It's just the holidays as usual in our casita in the Toronto suburbs.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, all--and just try not to think about what an unrepentant quisling Sonja Henie apparently was. Why spoil all our good cheer with the blunt-force trauma of that reality?

¡Olé!

I'm sure he meant to say this

So I fixed it for him.

Thanks to today's New York Times for recording all the news that's fit to print--but even the NYT has to make the occasional correction.