Movies to Watch this Winter from KAXE

Last Saturday on Between You and Me Jack Nachbar and Julie Crabb joined Heidi Holtan to talk movies.  Jack is a retired professor of Pop Culture who hosts movies at the Edge Center for the Arts in Bigfork.  This Thursday evening at 6:30 pm he's showing "On the Town" and will lead a conversation afterwards. 

Here's the list of movies that Julie, Jack & KAXE listeners compiled:

Holiday movies:
Pieces of April
Home for the Holiday
It's a Wonderful Life
A Christmas Story
Elf
Scrooged
Holiday Inn
White Christmas
Jeremiah Johnson
The Santa Clause
Love Actually
Miracle on 34th Street
Meet Me in St. Louis
Bad Santa

Frozen River
Fargo
The Station Agent
Sweet And Lowdown

Strong Heroines:
Silkwood
Erin Brockovich
North Country
Norma Rae

John Hughes movies:
Planes, Trains & Automobiles
Home Alone
National Lampoon's Vacation

Burt Lancaster movies:
Elmer Gantry
Come Back Little Sheba
Field of Dreams
The Swimmer
Trapeze
Crimson Pirate
The Killers
Local Hero
The Rose Tattoo
From Here to Eternity
Seven Days in May

other favorites listeners suggested:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
The Way We Were
Dr. Zhivago
GiGi
Imitation of Life
Little Miss Sunshine
Groundhog Day
Out of Africa
Day of the Outlaw
Man from Snowy River
North to Alaska
Brassed Off
Winter's Bone
Romeo & Juliet
Moulin Rouge
Strictly Ballroom
Black Swan
Avatar
The Family Stone
SnowCake
Danny Deckchair
The Ref
Roxanne
The Jerk
Man With Two Brains
Mostly Martha
Reversal of Fortune
Damage
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Alfie
Annie Hall
The Big Chill
Fiddler on the Roof
Manchurian Candidate
Mystery, Alaska
African Queen
The Princess & the Cobbler
Singing in the Rain
Court Jester
The Man I Love
Zero Kelvin
The Last Place on Earth
Corner Gas
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
500 Days of Summer
I Love You Phillip Morris
Raining Stones
Wind that Shakes the Barley
Land & Freedom
Once
The Committments
Rebel Without a Cause
On Dangerous Ground
The Shining
Popeye
The Departed
The Sting
Shop Around the Corner
Insomnia
Culpepper Cattle Company
Outlaw of Josey Wales
The Greatest
Moonlight Mile
Rabbit Hole
The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid
High Noon
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes
Sweetland
Asphalt Jungle
Lawrence of Arabia
Memento
25 Hours
Don't Look Now

Culturology 10-27: The Pasty Edition

by Travis Ryder

Our food says a lot about our culture. Lutefisk, wild rice, venison and potica all reflect place as well as history.  The pasty, a meat-and-vegetable meal-in-your-hand, has been Iron Range lunchbucket fare since the 1880s, when expert miners from Cornwall, England brought the recipe to their new homes and jobs here. Heidi Holtan recently visited with folks on the pasty assembly line at Hibbing's Wesley United Methodist Church. For seventy-five years, they have been producing pasties as a fundraiser.  What food is part of the culture where you live?  Send us your stories: arts@kaxe.org.  

The Tweed Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota-Duluth has a new show up through the winter.  It’s the Art and Design Faculty Show.  KUMD’s Maija Jensen visits with printmaker Robert Repinski whose work is in the show.  The Art and Design Faculty Show is on display through March 4 at the Tweed Museum on the UMD campus in Duluth.

Martha Larson  

The gypsy-jazz outfit Clearwater Hot Club has a special pair of gigs this weekend: the group will be joined by a kindred spirit toting a cello.  Martha Larson has played in the scene in Chicago, as a member of the Northwestern Philharmonia and learning the gypsy style with Alfonso Ponticelli. Professionally, she's an engineer and is now back home in Minnesota as the sustainability manager for Carleton College in Northfield.  Clearwater Hot Club guitarist Sam Miltich joined us in studio, and Larson connected by phone for this chat.   The group plays at Brigid's Cross in Bemidji Friday night and the Grand Rapids VFW on Saturday; both gigs start at 7.

Culture Calendar 
Thursday, October 27

Ian Ethan performs on his double-neck acoustic guitar at Davies Theater on the Itasca Community College campus, tonight at 7:00.  Listen today in the 2:00 hour.  Ian talks and performs for us on “Currents”.

An evening of Irish music and mythology with Garry Jones and Laura MacKenzie.  This starts at 7:30 tonight at the Headwaters School in Bemidji.  They'll also appear at 2 p.m. at Bemidji Public Library.

Friday, October 28

The closing reception for the October show at the Edge Center Gallery in Bigfork is Friday night from 5 to 7. Gordon Coons’ drawings, prints, and carvings finish their engagement on Saturday.
A poetry reading at Itasca Community College this Friday, featuring Bart Sutter, who has won the Minnesota Book Award in three categories.  Sutter was Duluth’s first poet laureate and has a Bush Fellowship to his credit. Ryan Vine's poems have appeared in many literary journals including American Poetry Review and Ploughshares, and his book, Distant Engines, won the Weldon Kees Award.  Their performance will be followed by an open mike and readings by ICC faculty and writers published in the campus literary journal Spring Thaw.  The reading will start at 7 in Backes Student Center on the ICC campus.
Grand Rapids High School presents an original farce, “Bird Brains,” penned by local dramatist John Schroeder.  Friday and Saturday at 7:30.
Sam Miltich and Clearwater Hot Club featuring cellist Martha Larson at Brigid’s Cross, Bemidji. 7 p.m.

Saturday, October 29

‘Tis the season: Hear local ghost stories at the Beltrami County History Center from 1 to 2:30 on Saturday. Come in costume for half-off museum admission, refreshments included. Bring a story to share!
Hall of Fame bluegrass player Dick Kimmel will be on hand for a concert, workshop, and dinner at Deep Portage Learning Center in Hackensack.  Workshop starts at 5 with dinner at 6 and concert at 7.

Sam Miltich and Clearwater Hot Club featuring cellist Martha Larson at the VFW, Grand Rapids.  7 p.m.

Wednesday, November 2

It’s Only Clay, the ninth annual clay arts celebration, opens with a community lecture by juror Guillermo Cuellar at the Headwaters School in downtown Bemidji.  It starts at 7 p.m. 
Ashley Kolka leads a discussion on American art in Minnesota collections during a Brown Bag session Wednesday at noon.  It's at MacRostie Art Center in Grand Rapids.

What's on your calendar? Let us know: arts@kaxe.org. 

Minnesota History Datebook

Did you know Itasca County has existed for as long as there have been counties in Minnesota?  The territorial legislature created the original nine counties of Minnesota this week in 1849. Benton, Dakota, Itasca, Ramsey, Wabasha and Washington still exist in some form, and three no longer appear on a Minnesota map: Wahnahta County, near Lake Traverse; Pembina County included much of what would become North and South Dakota; and Mahkahta County was north of present-day Crow Wing County.

October 28, 1949: President Harry S. Truman appoints Eugenie Moore Anderson of Red Wing as ambassador to Denmark, making her the United States' first woman ambassador.

Two Twins wins:  In the seventh game of the World Series, October 25, 1987, the Twins beat the St. Louis Cardinals with a score of 4-2, winning the series 4-3.  On October 27, 1991, Jack Morris pitches a ten-inning shutout as the Minnesota Twins beat the Atlanta Braves 1-0 in the seventh game of the fall classic.

What's For Breakfast on Friday Mornings

Every Friday morning about 7:45 John Bauer and Heidi Holtan talk with a KAXE member and ask them what's for breakfast.  Listeners have told us this is some of their favorite programming because it's real people talking about something as universal as oatmeal.  Or coffee and a cigarette. 

Last week on What's For Breakfast Cindy Hinkanen of Floodwood was their guest.  She spends her mornings with her mother and told John all about her morning routines.  At the end of the conversation she said that she and her mother would stop by KAXE.  John and Heidi didn't really believe it, but sure enough, Cindy and Janet walked through the doors!  Listen to the conversation here! 

Uninvited Guests on Between You and Me

by Steve Downing

           Historically, the classic bad uninvited guest is in most cases a relative. Either blood kin or in-law. The reason being: it’s often harder to say “No” to a rellie, though the “Yes” is rarely unanimous or unconditional. By the time “No” (or “Please leave”) becomes unanimous, the damage is done, and a lifetime of further family trouble is pretty much guaranteed.

            It’s the small stuff, isn’t it. Always the small stuff. The uninvited guest needs a 20-minute shower, then requires two towels, sometimes twice a day. The uninvited guest takes over your personal KAXE coffee mug, wanders outdoors with it, and drops it on the sidewalk. The uninvited guest eats and drinks too much, consistently, and is consistently elsewhere during kitchen clean-up. The uninvited guest, after eating and drinking too much, gets sick all over the heirloom night-table, and the hallway between bedroom and bathroom. Then has a myocardial infarction, in the bathroom. And dies. With the door locked. This does transcend small stuff, and it proves my point. You can forgive the uninvited guest for locking that door before he croaked in the bathroom. But shattering your KAXE coffee mug?

            You’re right there with me on this, aren’t you?

Tune in to our weekly conversation - this week on uninvited guests on Between You and Me - Saturday from 10-noon with Heidi Holtan.

Do you ever disconnect?

This week John Bauer and Heidi Holtan talk with author Susan Maushart about her new book, "The Winter of Our Disconnect - How Three Totally Wired Teenagers (and a Mother Who Slept With her iPhone) Pulled the Plug on Their Technology and Lived to Tell The Tale".  She took a six month hiatus from technology and forced her kids to do the same. 

How tied are you to your technology?  Susan's kids found some things out about themselves - one found out that she had really been lacking in sleep (and had a different personality because of it) and another started seriously playing his saxophone again (during the times he used to play video games) and learned to love it and find new people to hang out with. 

Though most people aren't going to give up their wireless internet, dvds, tv or phones, Susan had some good advice on how to control the technology some. 
*make your bedroom as free of technology as you can
*make a point to NOT use technology at the dinner table
*have a media free day once a week or set up a curfew everynight
*if you are worried about your kids wifi use after you go to sleep, power down the modem every night

What do you think? 

Realgoodfood

by Heidi Holtan

This week is the debut of the audio documentary I put together in the last few months as part of the class some of the staff at KAXE participated in put on by Milt and Jamie Lee. I was honored to participate in this workshop and learned some amazing things about telling a story through radio.  Thanks to the MN Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as well as the Blandin Foundation for making this possible.

So what is Realgoodfood all about then?  Sometime last year, I started thinking more about food....finding interesting, good food when you live in a rural, northern place.  Food coops have been expanding throughout northern Minnesota - farmer's markets are growing in popularity -more and more people are subscribing to CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture).  All of this interested me, but I didn't know what story I wanted to tell.

So I grabbed the recording kit and got in my car and visited a farm in Bovey, Virginia (Natural Harvest Food Coop), Bemidji (Harmony Natural Food Coop)  and Brainerd (Crow Wing Food Coop) in search of people making and selling good food.  Hope you enjoy my audio story!

Culturology 12-16: Log Church and Good Food

by Travis Ryder

 This edition of 'Culturology' features a piece by Justin Cook on the beautiful, 102-year old Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in the west Range town of Coleraine.  The city's founder/designer and Oliver Mining superintendent John C. Greenway was a charter member.  By 1987, the congregation could no longer maintain the landmark.  The City took ownership and a local group took action to preserve the sturdy structure and make it available for special events.  The 'Christmas in the Country' concert, held in the church each December, benefits the preservation fund.

Also featured this week, Heidi Holtan's documentary takes us to the garlic fields of Itasca County and several co-operative grocery stores in our region. 'RealGoodFood' is another in the series of documentary pieces produced by KAXE staff as part of a recent training course.

Also, the Culture Calendar and a look back in this week's Minnesota history moments.

Culturology airs select Thursdays at 8:10 am, and is supported by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.

Brandon Chase's Grandma's Tavern Burgers

by Heidi Holtan

KAXE volunteer Brandon Chase dropped by on Between You and Me last week to tell us about his grandma, Mary Helen Hoffoss' TAVERN BURGERS.  People couldn't get enough of them, and it's still a recipe requested all the time at Brandon's house.  I tried it for dinner at our house, and it was GREAT!

TAVERN BURGERS
1 lb hamburger
medium onion chopped
1 cup ketchup
3 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp - 2 Tbsp mustard
splash of vinegar
brown sugar to taste (about 1 Tbsp)

Brown hamburger and onion together.  Mix other ingredients together and pour into pan.  Simmer and sprinkle with brown sugar.

Compelling Radio Coming to a Speaker Near You

by Doug MacRostie

When my wife saw this picture she said, "I can see the fear in your eyes..". And yeah, I'm facing off with Butterscotch Bitch, one of the Iron Range Maidens; also known as KAXE Producer Heidi Holtan. I walked into work today proudly wearing my Babe City Rollers t-shirt and as soon as I saw her Maidens shirt I knew there would be trouble... but things settled down. That's one of the amazing things about derby, such a sense of friendly community.

I have been working on a radio documentary, "The Women of Roller Derby," for months now; driving to homes, sitting on the floor, and chatting with people about Derby. I'm doing it as part of Documentary Production Training class for Northern Community Radio by Milt & Jamie Lee along with a few other staff members. It has been an amazing experience. We all have been doing interviews for years, but to make a documentary is an entirely higher level of production and commitment - and we are making some very compelling pieces to share.

Other topics include a hand bell choir, finding good food, and young golfers.

We plan to have a listening session on The KAXE Morning Show on Friday, Dec. 3rd and we are all racing to have our pieces ready for their debut. Milt and Jamie will join us in-studio to present the documentaries. This will be a morning of radio you won't want to miss as we bring local voices and stories onto the airwaves.

Creepy Crawlies Are Nothing to be Scared Of

Everyone has something that gives them the creepy crawlies; snakes, worms, toads, spiders. While unique to each individual, they have the commonality of extreme discomfort; sweaty palms, shaky knees, dry mouth, flushing. Kitura Main from the Headwaters Science Center in Bemidji came to the KAXE Studios to help us face our fears during the There's Nothing to be Scared of fundraiser. She brought along turtles, birds, and lizards, which didn't have quite the impact as the tarantula spider and corn snake (not to mention the boa).

Doug MacRostie, who has a long history of conflict with spiders, was uncomfortable days before the tarantula arrived, and nervous and sweaty just being in the room to take pictures, faced his fears and held the spider. "I thought the tips of her legs would hurt when they touched me...like pierce my skin, or scratch, or maybe just kill me instantly. But really, she was slow and gentle...and ******* scary looking."

Heidi Holtan, who has long had a discomfort with even small snakes, jumped right in and was the first person to hold the corn snake. "I didn't even think about it, I just did it," she said. Co-host John Bauer added, "It's because she's one of the Iron Range Maiden roller girls now, she's fearless, empowered."

KAXE Engineer Dan Houg noted, "We've all overcome something this afternoon, and I think it's because we're doing it together. That's building community at it's core." And that's what we're all about: building community in northern Minnesota.

Think of why you listen to KAXE, (or "Like" us on Facebook or Twitter, or stream us online, or check out our Photo Album). Whatever draws you to KAXE is something special that is made possible by listeners just like you who take the next step and pledge their financial support. Whether it's $5 a month, or $1 a day, every member is vital to our continued success as local, independent media. Pledge online, or call 800-662-5799.

What do your pets eat?

On the first Friday of the month Dr. Michael Fox joins Heidi Holtan and John Bauer for a call-in segment about pets. Whether it's questions about food, behavior or a sweet story, Dr. Fox ALWAYS has something interesting to say!

If you have a question for Dr. Fox you can call in starting at 8:15 on Friday morning, or join the Facebook discussion of pets on KAXE's page. You can also email us or post your quetions here!

Pet food comes up quite often, and Dr. Fox has studied the pet food industry exclusively and usually mentions that you should be making homemade food for your animals. Why? Here's his reason:

Home-prepared foods for our animal companions, ideally with organic ingredients that were locally produced, are important because you then know what your animal is being fed if a food-related health problem such as an allergy to a particular ingredient or digestive upset were to arise. With most processed commercial pet foods containing all kinds of human food-industry by-products and ingredients considered unfit/unsafe for human consumption, many of questionable nutritional value after repeated processing, you just don’t know. Aside from coloring agents that may cause problems other than saliva-staining of animals’ faces, and paws, most commercial pet foods contain artificial preservatives like BHA that is linked with cancer of the bladder and stomach; BHT that may cause cancer of the bladder and thyroid gland; and Ethoxyquin, one of Monsanto’s many allegedly harmful products that renderers (meat and poultry processors) add to the fat/tallow that is put into pet foods to prevent rancidity. Ethoxyquin is a recognized hazardous chemical, a highly toxic pesticide. Most pet food manufacturers have recently phased out using BHA and BHT and now use ‘mixed tocopherols’ (a claimed source or form of vitamin E), citric acid, beta-carotene and Rosemary extract as preservatives.

Have you ever tried it? Here is his recipe for dog food. Click here for the cat food recipe!

Dr. Michael Fox's Homemade 'Natural'
Food for Dogs

2 cups uncooked whole grain rice (or barley, rolled oats, or pasta noodles)
Pinch of salt
1 T. vegetable oil (flax seed oil* or safflower oil) and 1T organic butter
1 T. wheat germ
1 T. cider vinegar
1 t. brewer's yeast
1 T calcium carbonate/citrate/ or lactate, or oyster shell or 3 Tums tablets
1 t. dried kelp
1 lb. lean hamburger, or ground lamb, mutton, or one whole chicken or half of a small turkey.
Combine all above ingredients. Add water to cover ingredients, simmer, stir, and add more water as needed until cooked. De-bone chicken parts and do not feed cooked bones since they can splinter and cause internal injury. The recipe should be thick to be molded into patties (add oat bran or rice or buckwheat flour to help thicken).Mix well into the stew while it is still very hot, a cup full of raw, grated carrots, sweet potato or yam. Serve 1 cup full of this recipe for a 30 lb. dog with the rest of his/her rations, and freeze the rest into patties and store in the freezer. Serve thawed, or frozen to gnaw on outdoors in hot weather.

For variation, you can use cottage cheese, plus well-cooked lentils, chick peas (garbanzo beans), lima beans or other pulses, or a dozen organic eggs as meat alternatives. Don’t forget, lightly cooked, or if organically certified, raw calf and beef liver, heart and kidneys are good sources of animal protein and other essential nutrients. All pet food ingredients, ideally, should be organically certified. (Note: some dogs are allergic or hypersensitive to some foods, especially soy, beef, eggs, wheat and dairy products.).

* Add flax seed oil after the cooked food has cooled down to room temperature.

*** Also give the dog a daily multi-vitamin and muti-mineral supplement, such as Pfizer’s Pet Tabs, or a good quality human ‘one –a day’ supplement equivalent, crushed up in the food, calculating one half of the human daily dose for a 50 lb dog.

For dogs under 30 lb, and for over-weight and less active dogs, use 1 cup of uncooked rice in the recipe.

--TRANSITION YOUR DOG GRADUALLY ONTO THIS NEW DIET---MIX INCREASING AMOUNTS OF YOUR DOG’S NEW FOOD WITH DECREASING AMOUNTS OF THE OLD FOOD OVER A 7-DAY PERIOD TO ENABLE ADAPTATION AND AVOID POSSIBLE DIGESTIVE UPSET.
IT IS ADVISABLE TO VARY THE BASIC INGREDIENTS TO PROVIDE VARIETY AND TO AVOID POSSIBLE NUTRITIONAL IMBALANCES, AND TO MONITOR THE ANIMAL'S BODY CONDITION SO AS TO AVOID EITHER OVER-FEEDING OR UNDER-FEEDING, BASED ON THE AVERAGE DOG CONSUMING ONE CUPFUL OF THE FOOD TWICE DAILY PER 30 POUNDS BODY WEIGHT.

--NOTE: DIFFERENT ANIMALS HAVE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT NUTRITIONAL NEEDS ACCORDING TO AGE, TEMPERAMENT, AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND HEALTH STATUS.

This recipe is safe for all puppies as well as for adult dogs unless they have a genetic predisposition for nutrient-related disease, or have a pre-existing medical condition such as pancreatic of kidney disease. In which case, consult with your veterinarian, and always remember to transition on to any new food gradually. Giving probiotics daily during such transition can be helpful. Normally, when healthy animals are fed a wholesome, balanced diet, they absorb what nutrients they need. An unbalanced, high-cereal content diet leads to unbalanced physiology, nutrient excesses and deficiencies leading to obesity and a host of health problems as documented in the book NOT FIT FOR A DOG; THE TRUTH ABOUT MANUFACTURED DOG & CAT FOOD.

Startling Words with MN Author Maureen Gibbon

by Heidi Holtan

Northern Minnesota author Maureen Gibbon is my guest this week. She's written a compelling new novel called "Thief". It's startling even - mainly because it's a book that doesn't shy away from sexuality.

In "Thief" Suzanne is a teacher in her early thirties who has come up north to get away from her life and problems during her summer vacation. She places a personal ad and one of the people who responds is an inmate from Stillwater State Prison. Most people might turn away, but Suzanne is curious. It turns out the inmate is a convicted rapist - and Suzanne, as a survivor of a rape in her teenage years, wants to find out some things. They begin a friendship that leads to more. Gibbon's writing is raw but not gratuitous. Kirkus Reviews wrote, "In an odd way this book is a female, and highly sexual, version of Thoreau's Walden; there are some lovely bits about solitude, nature and solitude-in-nature, but Suzanne is a woman who craves and needs contact, and much of her contemplation is devoted to exploring the tangled roots of that need. Grim but inspiring, this is a flint-tough, plainspoken novel about a flint-tough, plainspoken woman who asks no pity and gives no quarter."

Gibbon also writes with a very strong sense of place. You feel the northwoods of Minnesota in her writing - especially the lakes. Suzanne, her main character, gets comfort from her daily swims in the lake where she can witness the natural world around and be buoyed by the water. When I talked to Maureen Gibbon, she mentioned a poem by Robert Francis called "The Swimmer".

II
Observe how he negotiates his way

With trust and the least violence, making

The stranger friend, the enemy ally.

The depth that could destroy gently supports him.

With water he defends himself from water.

Danger he leans on, rests in. The drowning sea

Is all he has between himself and drowning.

II

What lover ever lay more mutually

With his beloved, his always-reaching arms

Stroking in smooth and powerful caresses?

Some drown in love as in dark water, and some

By love are strongly held as the green sea

Now holds the swimmer. Indolently he turns

To float.--The swimmer floats, the lover sleeps.

We'll also talk about a con man this week on Realgoodwords, named John Drewe. Laney Salisbury has written a book that looks at this extraordinary true life character who created one of the most far-reaching and elaborate cons in the history of art forgery. Salisbury talks about how subjective the world of art is - her book is called "Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art". Oprah magazine wrote "Specatular... a real-life thriller of the fine art of the con."

Crow Wing Food Coop

by Heidi Holtan

Last month I visited the Crow Wing Food Co-op in Brainerd. They've been around for 30 years, but because of the push to support local food producers and a move to a newer, brighter building, the co-op is exploding.

Desiree Hopkins is a mother of 3 and a member of the coop. I asked her why she shopped there. "The girls of course" she said. "And they are super smart and seeking out healthy, local food."

When you walk into the coop - the bells on the door ring, and more often than not, someone greets you with a smile. While I was there for about an hour I saw a young woman with a baby buying organic baby food, a mother and daughter who asked about using food stamps, a member dropping off older editions of Mother Earth News, a woman who sat at one of the tables with her laptop, using the Co-op's wi-fi and drinking coffee with her gluten-free cookie... as well as farmers dropping off produce and tourists stopping in on their way to Duluth.

So why, in this down economy, have the food co-ops in our listening area not just been able to stay afloat, but find themselves expanding? Throughout the summer I'll check in on the Natural Harmony Food Coop in Virginia and Harmony Natural Foods Coop (who is also expanding) in Bemidji. You can listen here to the audio story of Crow Wing Food Co-op.

Ann Hood: "Aching Beauty and Indelible Grace"

by Heidi Holtan

This week I get the chance to talk with Ann Hood again - this time she's written a novel that was inspired by her own life and the adoption of her daughter Annabelle from China. It's called "The Red Thread" and Dennis LeHane called it "a work of aching beauty and indelible grace. A novel that elicits nothing less than wonder." Tune in for our conversation on RealGoodWords.

The title The Red Thread, is based on an ancient Chinese belief that connects children to all of the people that eventually play a part in their lives.

From Afton to Zippel Bay: MN State Parks

This week on Between You and Me we’re talking about one of Minnesota’s greatest treasures: STATE PARKS. Photographer Doug Ohman has a new book out called “Prairie, Lake, Forest: Minnesota’s State Parks,” he’ll be taking your questions and tell us about visiting and photographing all 66 Minnesota State Parks. But we want to hear from you too!!!

Which park is your favorite?

Which one have you been meaning to visit?

What's your most memorable experience?

Between You and Me with Heidi Holtan, our weekly get-together, a mix of music and conversation from 10-noon on Sat - streaming at kaxe.org. Call in during the sho, email comments@kaxe.org or call out talkback line 218-999-9876

You can also join our online facebook discussion and share your stories of MN’s State Parks, click here!

Adventure and Memory on Realgoodwords this week

by Heidi Holtan

Linda Greenlaw is one of my guests this week on Realgoodwords this week... she's the only female swordboat captain in America. You may know her from the movie The Perfect Storm or the book by Sebastian Junger... or maybe you've seen her discovery channel show Swords. I talked with her about her new memoir about getting back out on the water to captain a swordboat after 10 years. It's called "Seaworthy: A Swordfish Captain Returns to the Sea". Now I'm not usually the kind of gal who likes this kind of adventure writing - but I found this book to be fun and fascinating about this hardworking world of fishing I knew nothing about. Hope you get to hear the interview, I found my conversation with Linda delightful.

I also talked to Australian writer and speaker Michael McQueen about the book he's put together "Memento: My Life in Stories". After the surprise death of his father, McQueen realized how important stories are to us. He had given his father a notebook with questions and after he passed, they found it, filled out, in his desk. It has helped him deal with such a big loss in his life. Questions in the book include things like "What was your favorite childhood toy" and "What can you remember about your first kiss" and "What was your wedding like".....

We also get the chance to hear my conversation with Nick Hornby again this week - his latest novel is "Juliet, Naked".

If you missed the show, check here for Realgoodword archives.

Memoirs and Poetry on Realgoodwords

by Heidi Holtan

This week I talk with the author of "Memory of Trees - A Daughter's Story of a Family Farm"- Gayla Marty. It was a great conversation - and I'm afraid I jumped all over the place because there were so many things I wanted to talk with her about. Hers is a memoir - her life growing up on the farm. She's created this in a really unique way. First, she starts the book from her point of view as a young girl - so the language and storytelling changes as she gets older. Also, she's using the idea of her favorite trees on her family farm in Rush City, MN to tell her story. For example:

MAPLE
At the cemetery east of town, a young maple tree grows by the Marty family plot. When I go with Gramma Marty to take care of our plot, she tells me to water the tree too. It's bark is smooth gray and its leaves are yellow-green, like hands with three points, bigger than the pages of the book I use for pressing leaves. Its seeds are attached to a wing like a dragonfly's. There are millions of seeds every spring. page 39 "Memory of Trees" published by University of MN Press

I also talk with Elise Paschen this week about "Poetry Speaks: Who I Am" - a new anthology of written and spoken word poetry for middle to high school age kids. It includes poetry from people like Sherman Alexie, Billy Collins, Joy Harjo, Julia Alvarez and many, many more. One of the poems included is "Mowing" by Midge Goldberg.

You know those chores you always have to do,
like mowing grass: I grumble, go outside—
a lawn this size will take an hour or two
at least—put on my Red Sox hat and ride
around designing circles, lines, a border.
I move from shade to sunshine, deftly steering,
looking purposeful and bringing order
so neat and sure—and sure of disappearing.
With all this sun, I know that what I’m doing
won’t last, won’t keep a week; I ride about
to find the pleasure in the not pursuing,
to learn beyond the shadow of a doubt
the patterns that I long to bring to pass
get mown and overgrown like summer grass.

I'm so EXCITED!

by Heidi Holtan

I really don't want to quote the Pointer Sisters. I mean really don't want to. As a geeky reader type who lives in Minnesota, this week is one of my favorites. But seriously, I AM so excited for this week's episode of Realgoodwords.

Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee are writers from Minneapolis/St. Paul that are known nationwide. Kate for her books and movies like "Because of Winn-Dixie" and "The Tale of Despereaux" and Alison is a Pulitzer Prize nominee and a #1 New York Times bestselling author. Both of them are nominated for the MN Book Awards happening this weekend in St. Paul.

Even though both of these authors write for kids, I love reading their books and talking with them. They both seem almost magical to me, and I know that sounds silly, but here's what I mean.

*When I talked with Kate she is so quick to point out, even with all her success, that she knows she's lucky she get to do what she gets to do (write books and talk to readers!). She readily admits how HARD it is for her to write, but lucky for me and for her readers, she still abides by her own rule of writing 2 pages everyday. Not at least 2 pages, but 2 pages only! Telling me that makes me think anything is possible.

*When I talked to Alison McGhee about her latest picture book "Song of Middle C" that is about a little girl about to perform at her piano recital, she reminded me that we occasionally need to do things in our lives (adults I'm talking to you!) that we aren't good at. Things we can't POSSIBLY ever be that good at. Like taking up the piano. How liberating, to not expect perfection but only practice.

Hope you get a chance to hear the program this week - Wednesdays from 6-7pm and Sunday mornings from 9-10. You can check the archive later in the week as well....

Have you ever had one of those days? Called Monday?

by Heidi Holtan, KAXE's Outreach Producer

Maybe you showed up to work with two different shoes (Dan Houg). Maybe you forgot to shave or forgot your lunch or thought it was Wednesday when it was really Tuesday.

John Bauer started his week off a little shaky yesterday. Or so he came to learn. He threw on clothes, came to work, stopped in to see his wife at her workplace where he found out something that practically shut his Monday down.

She said to him, "Why are you wearing my jeans?"

Turns out he WAS indeed wearing his wife's jeans.

"That's why I'm chafing!" he said.

Later in the day he had to address a community group. Due to the tightness, John had changed to some gym shorts in his car. Gym shorts with paint splotches on them.

He got up to speak at the event and everyone's head went up and down, eyeballing and trying desperately to understand why someone would not just go out in public, but address a community group wearing gym shorts.

"Have I got a story for you..." John started off with. Within a matter of moments he had them eating out his hand. Overheard between a husband and wife at the meeting was "I'm NEVER getting into your pants!"

Ahh, Mondays. Beautiful Mondays. How was yours?

Having a KAXE bumpersticker pays off!!!

by Heidi Holtan, KAXE's Outreach Producer

Brenda Greeley is a longtime member of KAXE (and former staffer!) and like any mom, she's always been concerned about keeping her kids safe.

"When Cait turned 16 we contemplated finding a used car for her to use. I was sick with worry but then my husband reminded me that she wasn't going to be alone out there on the roads."

Brenda and her husband Mark protected their young daughter with two things.

a. They ripped the knob off the radio on 91.7fm
b. They put a KAXE bumper sticker on the back bumper.

Consumer and safety expert Lance "Crash" Martin was the first in his field to note this unusual occurrence. "KAXE bumper stickers have proven to be one of the best indicators of durability and crash-less-ness. Quite frankly we don't get it. It's a sticker. And it's not the most attractive shade of green either!"

The Greeley's attention to detail and support of KAXE paid off. Young Caitlin used the car without problem or incident until her recent move to the West Coast. According to her facebook page, she credits her steady diet of KAXE's Realgoodwords, On the River and live music events as one of the reasons she's a well rounded individual. Modest to the core, sources close to Caitlin say it goes much deeper. "She's cool man. I mean super-cool. Knows music. Knows ridiculous trivia. And once she even started spouting off some stuff about birds and maple syrup and some guy named Martin Sexton!"

Recently the Greeley's put the trusty KAXE wagon up for sale. Brenda said, "In my heart of hearts I really knew it to be true that we would sell to someone who listens to KAXE!!! The buyer noticed right off that it had a KAXE bumper sticker and he had no problem that we ripped the knob off to 91.7fm. He listens to KAXE and loves it! It's the KAXE Connection!"

Got a KAXE bumper sticker story? Let us know!!!