What I Read On My Summer Vacation

by Maddi Frick

The books I have most enjoyed this summer, after The Picture of Dorian Gray, were two books by New York Times Bestselling author Gail Carriger, Soulless and Changeless. I read the first in under 24 hours, and then made my dad stop at the Village Bookstore to pick up the second, which I promptly finished in another 24 hours. And no, I didn’t finish them so quickly because they’re a quick read; I literally could not put them down.

Ms. Carriger’s novels follow Alexia Tarabotti, an unmarried, quick-witted, pragmatic lady living in Victorian England. She also has no soul. The novels are set in a world where werewolves and vampires have somewhat assimilated into high society, yet proper manners are still a must.

I wouldn’t call this series a derivative of the still-strong vampire/ supernatural craze sweeping the nation, although vampire popularity may have helped these novels become so popular so quickly. I sense no whiff of epic teenage “love-me-or-I-will-die” histrionics usually found in every book in the Young Adult book section in Target (I challenge you to find a book there without black on the cover or lurking vampires within its pages).

No, Ms. Carriger has succeeded in writing a more enjoyable novel of the supernatural, dabbling in humor, sci-fi steampunk, mystery and romance. Not only were the books delightful to read, so was Ms. Carriger to interview. We talked about her inspirations, personal rules and upcoming projects; the third in the series, Blameless, releases September 1st. Listen in this Wednesday at 6pm CT to Real Good Words to hear my interview with Gail Carriger.

BONUS- I have a tendency to make my own playlists for things and I made one for researching for this interview; here it is!

Wishing He Was Dead - The Like

100 Years From Now - Karen Elson

The Tale of Two Doves - A Whisper in the Night

Body And Soul - Billie Holiday

The Great Exchange - Thrice

Novocaine for the Soul - Eels

Vampires - Fastball

You’ve Changed - Sia

A Change Would Do You Good - Sheryl Crow

Werewolf - Cat Power

Oil Under Us: Time for Vigilance

by Scott Hall

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the recent million gallon spill from a ruptured pipeline in Michigan are reminders for us to keep the pressure on to prevent pipeline disasters here in northern Minnesota. We have at least six pipelines carrying crude oil and other oil byproducts from oil fields in northwest Canada across northern Minnesota. One of those pipeline routes is almost 60 years old. In the KAXE listening area the pipelines follow a route roughly parallel to U.S. Highway 2 between Clearbrook and Superior, Wisconsin.

Enbridge Energy owns and operates the pipelines. Enbridge is not an oil company, but a transportation company. Every day millions of gallons of crude oil flow under farm lands, bogs, lakes and streams here. Enbridge officials correctly point out that the pipelines carry this fuel more safely and cheaper than other modes of transportation.

The pipeline that ruptured in Michigan on July 26th is part of Enbridge's vast pipeline system. In a recent MinnPost article, Derek Wallbank reports on Enbridge's recent record of spills in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The oil spill in the Gulf revealed that the federal agency responsible for overseeing the safety of the offshore oil operations did not, to put it mildly, adequately oversee BP's operations.

Now we have to ask: is the agency responsible for overseeing Enbridge's operations, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), doing its job? MN 8th District Congressman, Jim Oberstar, chairs the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the House. He has scheduled a hearing on the Michigan oil spill and the safety of similar pipelines owned by Enbridge Inc., including nine in Minnesota. That hearing will be on Wednesday, September 15th.

Learning Ojibwe: Awesiinhyag

From Chelsea Annette's new book, "Discovering The Little Brothers"

Awesiinhyag: Wild Animals

In "Discovering The Little Brothers" we learn many Ojibwe expressions for "Awesiinhyag", wild animals.


Listen

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.

I Feel the Burn... and it Feels Good

by Doug MacRostie

This Thursday night at 6pm on Centerstage MN I am very excited to welcome back The Brothers Burn Mountain. A very dynamic duo, their music is unique and identifiable instantly. They just put out their 3rd release "Partly in the Blue, The White" and it's another amazing journey of moving rhythms, burning vocals and an overall sense of freedom. "We have to move when we play - if my head isn't moving then I'm not playing," Jesse told me, and I think it's true when you listen too - even if you're not physically moving, you're mind is soaring across the universe.

The phrase, "I'm just a vessel" is used a lot when I ask artists about where their music comes from, and while the Brothers Burn Mountain never simply said that, I don't think it could be any more true for them. Their music is alive - it's a breathing force that you can feel. The music is all around them, in everything they see. They absorb it and appreciate it and it becomes a part of them that then flows out with no thought process or agenda - true musicians, true artists. Be sure to tune in and enjoy! They'll be playing throughout MN and WI over the next month, check out their tour schedule on their website.

We'll also hear a MN music reminiscence from Dan McKenzie, an 18 year old DJ from Lawrence Lake Township and his growing relationship with Prince from a young boy to today - more specifically, understanding the meaning and context of the lyrics (oh, the innocence of youth, lol).

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 and can be heard again Sunday mornings at 6. All interviews are archived at www.KAXE.org. Centerstage MN is also heard on KSRQ in Thief River Falls, and on KMSU in Mankato. Sometimes heard on KFAI in Minneapolis & St. Paul and WTIP in Grand Marais. Often featured on MNartists.org.

Amy Goodman on the Power of Community Media

Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!, stopped by a session that Doug MacRostie and Heidi Holtan of 91.7 KAXE were presenting during the 2010 National Federation of Community Broadcasters conference in St. Paul.

This is our video of Martina Tran of NFCB getting a video asking Amy about the importance of local media. What do you think?

More info:
91.7 KAXE: http://www.kaxe.org
Democracy Now!: http://www.democracynow.org/
NFCB: http://www.nfcb.org/

What's New on KAXE

The Giving Tree Band "The Joke, The Threat & the Obvious"
Brian Wilson "Reimagines Gershwin"
Great Big Sea "Safe Upon the Shore"
These United States "What Lasts"
Angel Band "Bless My Soul"
Stevie Ray Vaughan "Couldn't Stand the Weather"
Los Lobos "Tin Can Trust"
Herbie Hanbcock "The Imagine Project"
Read more on the Currents Playlist...