Lets Make it Happen!

Listen to a message from Click & Clack The Tappet Brothers from Car Talk about our upcoming Fall Fundraiser - we're raising the same amount of money in half the time. The "Do It Yourself" Fundraiser starts on Sunday Oct. 25th during Backporch Harmony and runs through Halloween on Saturday, Oct. 31st. If you'd like to pledge early, it will still count towards our $50,000 goal, just click here!

Now Hear This! Audio Highlights from KAXE

There is always a lot going on around the KAXE Studios, and this last week is a good example. Here is a sampling of recent audio highlights:

Making Sausage of Proposed Out-State Health Coverage
Republican commentator Chuck Marohn and DLFer Colleen Nardone talk about Governor Pawlenty's proposed change to allow Minnesota residents to buy health insurance from companies located outside the state.

Guido's Guide to the Arts
Steve Downing (Guido) is what you might call a renaissance man. Writer, patron and slave to the arts, hunter, hair model, connoisseur of fine wine, beer and food, recycler and fashion guru.

Heidi and the Bullhead Queen
Minnesota author Sue Leaf talks about her memoir "The Bullhead Queen: a Year on Pioneer Lake" where she asks the questions what is our relationship to wild animals and what is our responsibility to them?

Digging For Your Roots
The 28th Annual "Digging For Your Roots" Genealogy and Local History Conference is Sat. Oct 17th at the MN Discovery Center in Chisholm and we talked with Dr. Melissa Stewart, the new museum director and she talked about tracking down the source of a quilt.

Gun Lake Potato Farm
Roger & Markel Vogt talked about the potato harvest this year, and the growing season, varieties and marketing the Gun lake Potato Farm in Palisade.

Monthly Forestry Update w Eli Sagor
University of MN Extension educator Eli Sagor gives his monthly update about Minnesota forests. Eli manages www.myminnesotawoods.org

Namco Museum Essentials
A downloadable game for the PS3 network which includesPacman!!! But is there anything else do this boringly-named game? LISTEN!!! And enjoy more at The Binary Boys page.

The Public Speaking Bear is Going To Maul You
Aaron Brown would much rather give a 5 minute talk than die horribly before his time. Public speaking is a like a bear that never kills but instead just bats you around for 15 or 20 minutes every time it sees you. Check out more from Aaron at his blog MinnesotaBrown.com. On Between You and Me.

Subtleties for Sound Bites?
Michael Goldberg has the Last Word on "Public Speaking." Let's face it, things were never like they used to be...what about our own time, right now - when all the world is one wide web. On Between You and Me.

We Can't Do It Without You

By Jennifer Poenix

KAXE's fall fundraiser begins in a few weeks on Sunday, October 25th, during "Backporch Harmony." It's going to be shorter than our past fall fundraisers, which have traditionally been twelve days. This one is going to go just over six, yet we still need to raise the same amount of money. Our goal is $50,000.

We hope you, as a listener, will enjoy a shorter fundraiser. We're pretty sure we, as a staff, will. Looking at the public radio fundraising scene in general, KAXE has definitely been on the longer end of things. Some community radio stations have even started doing one-day fundraisers.

Of course, each community radio station is unique, and therefore, they have unique fundraising styles too. We've prided ourselves on our fundraisers at KAXE, thinking we keep them more fun than you'll hear anywhere else. We plan to keep them that way, but twelve days is a long time. So, wouldn't it be great if we could reach our goal in less time?

It's something worth trying, and we'll see how it goes.

If you wish to pledge before the fundraiser, your contribution will be put towards the goal. You can pledge online, or call 218-326-1234 or 800-662-5799.

Thank you.

Big Weather Picture: Oct. 12-18

by Tornado Bob

The weather this coming week may be best described as "dull". We will have mostly mostly cloudy weather with occasional chances of light snow or rain as warm air attempts to move in from the southwest and our cold high pressure attempts to remain in place. Liquid equivalent precipitation may be 0.15" to 0.30". Highs will be in the 30s and 40s most of the week with lows in the 20s and 30s. The main storm track remains mostly to our south and west like it has for the past couple months. By the second half of this coming weekend (17th/18th), we'll have breezy conditions and temperatures returning to average for this time of year (near 50 for highs).

You can hear Tornado Bob on the KAXE Monday Morning Show at 8:40.

Dr. Bob Conzemius is senior scientist at the WindLogics Research Center in Grand Rapids.

Two Hours of Enchantment on Centerstage MN

by Doug MacRostie

Last month on a beautiful Saturday night, as the sun set and darkness slowly crept over the KAXE Amphitheater, Enchanted Ape were rocking out, their long shadows projected on the walls of the Rotary Tent surrounded by shades of red, blue and green during nearly two hours of outstanding music. Guitarists Chris O'Brien and Pat Riddle traded back and forth with amazing solos that would build and grow and take the music to excellent heights of musical emotion mixed with the tight and intricate rhythm section of Adam Kuchelmeister on drums and Rob Bruce on bass. And of course, we recorded it :D This Thursday night at 6 on Centerstage MN we'll be broadcasting the Enchanted Ape concert in it's entirity (the perfect set up for The Dead Set with Steve Ross starting at 8!).

From Minneapolis, Enchanted Ape play organic roots-rock, with improve guitar work and intricate songwriting and you'll get to hear them in action! With influences from The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Eric Clapton and Paul Simon, they mix genres and styles for a unique blend of living music that grows and changes every time they play it. Special thanks to Forrest Ross for mixing and engineering the Enchanted Ape concert. You can see pictures here and check out the highlight video below.


Centerstage MN is Thursday evenings at 6, streaming live online at www.KAXE.org; or 91.7 Grand Rapids, 89.9 Brainerd and 105.3 Bemidji. All interviews are archived at www.KAXE.org and the show is rebroadcast Sunday mornings at 6.

Tornado Bob's weekly weather report: Colder Weather on the Way, First Flakes by Friday

The early part of this week will essentially be a repeat of last week with a significant storm system moving just to our south. Again, the most rain will fall across central and southern Minnesota with amounts in excess of an inch likely in the Twin Cities, St. Cloud, Little Falls, and Morris. We sure could use those amounts here because we're about six inches short on moisture for 2009, although the Twin Cities needs it worse-- before last weeks rains, they were 14-16 inches short on moisture since June 1, 2008!

Expect rain to start Monday evening, persist throughout the nighttime and daytime Tuesday, and move out of the area Tuesday evening. Places along the Canadian border from International Falls westward may not see any rain, and amounts will be larger to the south, with nearly an inch possible in Brainerd. 0.25" looks like the most probable amount in Grand Rapids.

We'll have a brief break on Wednesday, then a strong cold front will sweep through Wednesday night, bringing a chance of showers. An Arctic air mass will then pour into the region and settle in through the upcoming weekend. Cold air aloft, combined with warmth and moisture provided by the open lakes, will produce some instability in the atmosphere, resulting in scattered rain and snow showers from Thursday through Sunday. Highs will be in the 30s and 40s with lows in the 20s. The upcoming pattern looks like a repeat of what we had over the summer except that it is now fall, and that means some freezing weather.

Sinclair Lewis Writer's Conference Saturday October 10th in Sauk Center

I talked with author Will Weaver this week on Realgoodwords. He's going to be the keynote speaker at the 20th annual Sinclair Lewis Writer's Conference in Sauk Center (where the infamous book Main Street was set). Will is known for his short stories, adult novels and young adult novels as well as the award winning independent film (Sweetland) that was based on Will's short story, "A Gravestone Made of Wheat". Will's keynote address will be about audience.

Minnesota mystery writer William Kent Krueger will also be there, his talk will be about how to use suspense. Krueger has been a guest on Realgoodwords in the past, and I'll be talking to him later this fall about his latest in the series about Cork O'Connor, "Heaven's Keep".

Also speaking is Minnesota author Wang Ping. She will speak about writing short stories. Wang Ping was awarded a 2009 McKnight Artist Fellowship for creative prose from the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.

Milkweed Editions editor Daniel Slager will also be presenting at the conference in Sauk Center. His talk will be about the future of books.

The 20th Annual Sinclair Lewis Writer's Conference is Saturday October 10th from 8:30-5:30. For more information click here.