Red Trees

In this week's Voyage to the Bottom of the Barrel, the Gratzbys observe and comment on the red pine trees. Kelli explains it's a result of heat stress and says she read about it on the NASA website. Here's a link to that report.

Time to Think About Cold Weather Crops

Broccoli romanesco

Cole Crops or Brassicas like Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Kohlrabi. You can also frow another crop of leaf lettuce, spinach, and radish if you sow NOW. (This is assumung the first frost comes in mid-October.) Rutabagas are supposed to be planted in the fall only, and you might be able to get away with planting turnips and mustard greens, too. Now's also the time to plant garlic and shallot bulbs for their emergence in spring.

Sagebrush Gear Available

We've set up a souvenir shop where you can get stuff with our radical quail logo. We've also purchased sagebrushvariety.org as our very own. Go tell your friends, and get your Ukiah Digby for Coroner bumper sticker here!

Bucky's Quail Chick Photos

Quinoa and first quail chick.
Happy hen Quinoa with two of her quail chicks
Quinoa with one quail chick
First newly hatched quail chick.
First newly hatched quail chick with remaining clutch.

Vote for Ukiah Digby for Coroner!

It's election season and we're broadcasting the radio play Ukiah Digby for Coroner for Idaho Muscovites, which will be a first for them, but for our wecast/podcast followers, it's the second time around. As our very first radio play, it's a little rough production-wise but thoroughly listenable. It's nice to know how much we've improved over the last year. Still, it's worth listening to again and we've even re-recorded a few scenes. We will provide a listening guide for the hardcore fans on all aspects of the show, episode by episode--and hopefully that won't get us into trouble.

Sagebrush Pesticide Links

As promised by Bucky: Meeting the Challenge of West Nile Virus Without Poisons from Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP). We recommend our Treasure Valley listeners consider joining NCAP-Idaho's listserve for discussion on the decision to aerially spray mosquitoes, explore alternative solutions and avoid future aerial spraying. Send an email to jmiller@pesticide.org if you would like to be added to the listserve. Idaho is late to the spraying for West Nile business. Perhaps we should learn from the past mistakes of others. A good read along those lines is Overkill: Why Pesticide Spraying for West Nile Virus in California May Cause More Harm Than Good from Pesticide Watch.

Pesticide Carnival

This week's show features the exciting, long-awaited conclusion of the Benjamin Franklin Cipher. The rest of the program is dedicated to educating the public about the dangers of pesticides, disease vectors, and the truth about West Nile virus. In the premiere of a new segment, Voyage to the Bottom of the Barrel, the Gratzby family gets sprayed with Naled and all of them get sick. All the symptoms described are realistic and have happened, in fact, to one of the Sagebrush Players. In the one-act radio play The Goathead Assault, the absurdist/surrealist approach takes the idea of assaulting large groups of people with toxic chemicals without their input or consent to the extreme. We've also re-written the Milfoil Song into the West Nile Song. Unfortunately, we ran out of room and could not include our interview with local beekeeper Ed Keener this week, but that has a spot reserved on next week's show.

CIEDRA Bill

Your help is urgently needed NOW - today! - to stop CIEDRA from passing the United States Senate. By taking just a few moments of your time to make calls to Senator Larry Craig's local and Washington offices, you can not only save Idaho's Boulder-White Cloud mountains from being privatized; you can also protect the Wilderness Act as we know it. Please take the opportunity to act today.

Make no mistake: the future of our public lands and the qualities we enjoy and treasure about them will be changed forever if we do not act immediately to STOP CIEDRA in the Senate.

Representative Mike Simpson (R-ID) rushed CIEDRA to the House floor as a "non-controversial" bill on a day when a majority of Representatives weren't even present to vote against it. He has been fast-tracking this horrific bill without meaningful debate because he knows that the more people learn about CIEDRA, the less they like it.

We cannot allow HR 3603 to sail through the Senate the way it did in the House of Representatives. CIEDRA is a controversial bill. It can be stopped if we speak in opposition with a strong and united voice.

Please join your fellow conservationists, friends and family in turning up the volume now. YOU CAN STOP CIEDRA IN THE SENATE BY PLACING YOUR CALLS NOW.

Below are guidelines with the steps and background on how calls to Congress are received.

After you've made your calls, please ask at least two more people to call Senator Craig. Ask them to ask two people, each of whom should ask two more people, and so on. In this way, 2 + 2 can grow to become many more than 4.

Please take the time today to make the calls and contact your friends. Your focused action will STOP CIEDRA NOW!

Here's a sample script for making your calls to Senator Craig to STOP CIEDRA NOW!

WHEN CALLING SENATOR CRAIG, TELL HIM: "I'm calling to thank Senator Craig for opposing CIEDRA. There are a number of reasons to oppose CIEDRA, but most important to me is that it gives away public land and erodes protections for the Sawtooth National Recreation Area that Senator Craig has staunchly supported."

Call Senator Craig's Washington DC office at (202) 224-2752 AND The office listed below nearest to where you live:
Boise (208) 342-7985
Coeur d'Alene (208) 667-6130
Lewiston (208) 743-0792
Twin Falls (208) 734-6780
Pocatello (208) 236-6817
Idaho Falls (208) 523-5541

NEVER CALLED A SENATOR BEFORE? IT’'S SIMPLE! HERE’S WHAT TO EXPECT.

From Senator Craig's website http://craig.senate.gov/email/ "When you call my office:

Please be patient as there may be other callers ahead of you, or your call may have to be interrupted briefly to place other incoming calls on hold. If you are calling to voice your opinion on an issue, please be prepared to provide your name and address, or remain anonymous if you prefer. All information provided is kept confidential. If needed, I will respond to your message quickly and thoughtfully and in writing. No matter the issue, my staff will be friendly and polite. I hope you will show them the same respect."

Your call will probably go something like this:

You: "Hello, my name is so and so. I'd like speak with your Environmental Legislative Aid, please.

[You will then be transferred to that person or their voicemail. You may be asked by the person answering the phone what the issue is that you are calling about. Tell them you are calling in regards to CIEDRA].

You (to the Environmental Aide): "Hello, xxx. My name is so and so and I'm calling to thank Senator Craig for his past support of wilderness and to urge him to OPPOSE CIEDRA. There are a number of reasons to oppose CIEDRA, but most important to me is that it gives away public land and erodes protections for the Sawtooth National Recreation Area that Senator Craig has staunchly supported."

If possible, please share your experience in making the call and the response of the staffer with whom you spoke. Email colleen@wildrockies.org and put "Called Sen. Craig" in the Subject line so we can track the number of calls made to the Senator's office.

Pass it on

After you’ve made your calls, PLEASE send this request to call Senator Craig to at least two other people and ask them to make calls just as you did. Ask them to ask their friends to make two calls, too!

Like you, we are grassroots activists in this fight to save the heart of Idaho. We don't have money for slick advertising, telemarketing calls, and paid lobbyists. The more noise we make, the more we can equal this very lopsided playing field.

Finally, thank you.

[unapologetically plagiarized from the Committee to Save the Sawtooth National Recreation Area (CSSNRA)]

Endangered Chicken Links

Sorry about the delay in posting promised links associated with last weeks backyard chicken broadcast. I've been a little distracted by the suspense of wondering if our broody hen, Quinoa, will hatch the fertilized quail eggs we snuck under her. We may be breaking new ground here - I can't find any evidence of anyone else encouraging a chicken to hatch and raise quail although I've heard plenty about chickens bringing ducks up. My own observation is that some hens really want to experience motherhood and Quinoa has that personality. We really don't have enough space for more birds in the backyard (not to mention the city code limiting us to 3 hens) so I'm hoping they hatch and get some early instruction and then leave to explore the wide world (maybe coming back to visit us from time to time). Most importantly, I hope Quinoa find the experience rewarding. If it works out, I'll do an episode on it. Below are the links on endangered chicken breeds. Regards, Bucky Buckaw American Livestock Breeds Conservancy: Conservation Priority List Society for the Preservation of Poultry Antiquities

Under The Pavement

I just came across my own name in the "what listeners are saying" section of the website for Under The Pavement, Manchester's radical/ alternative radio show out of ALL FM 96.9, a community radio station for south, central and east Manchester, England. If I'd known they were going to reprint the positive comment I left on a the Post Punk Kitchen messageboard I might have written something more expansive. At any rate, it's one of a handful of podcasts I subscribe to, because the mix of guests and interviews, alternative news and reports from radical and activist groups (mostly out of Manchester, but still inspiring to this Idahoan) has a lot in common with what the Sagebrush Players are trying to communicate and promote. Solidarity, Robert

Corporate Prime: The Making of

This week we have a special "behind the scenes" discussion of Corporate Prime with writer Kevin Bayhouse, April Hoy, Robert McMinn, Gwen Sanchirico, Jeremy Sinkinson, and Khalil Linane. We'll discuss some of the philosophy and details behind the story, as well as speculate on some of the characters. Next week, we'll premiere the new serial play, The Benjamin Franklin Cipher.

Anacreon in Heaven

Here are the lyrics to one stanza of the English drinking song on which the Star-Spangled Banner is solidly based:

The news through Olympus immediately flew;
When Old Thunder pretended to give himself Airs
If these Mortals are suffer'd their Scheme to pursue,
The Devil a Goddess will stay above Stairs.
"Hark! already they cry,
"In Transports of Joy
"Away to the Sons of Anacreon we'll fly,
"And there, with good Fellows, we'll learn to intwine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's Vine.

Visit the link above for the full lyrics.

Apparently, it was de rigeur in colonial days to write new lyrics to existing songs. And in 1812, Francis Scott Key concretized that characteristic American tendency to plagiarize in our national anthem.

Click here for a midi file of the song (which sounds exactly like our national anthem).

From Bucky Buckaw: Show Links

This week's Backyard Chicken Broadcast is another sagebrush piece on transgenics but my first. Here's a link to the article on Creating Transgenic Chickens that got me started on the topic. As you can see the link is to a web reprint of the article on a website I thought I should plug Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering (NW RAGE)

RadioBoise website is back

Things are back to normal for RadioBoise, so our website is now up to date and you can catch up on downloads/podcasts. Good times, good times.

RadioBoise.org Server Is Being Quirky

For the record, we've been updating our website but the changes aren't coming up. RadioBoise's host changed their servers recently, so until tha issue is resolved, check this blog for the latest info!

This is what's on this week (June 13):

-part 6 of the current serial drama, Corporate Prime, written by Kevin Bayhouse
-the latest Sagebrush Variety Show Farm (cilantro)
-Bucky Buckaw's Backyard Chicken Broadcast on chicks
-a special edition Sagebrush Pollution Report on the Atlanta Gold mine proposal
-a rant from Kevin on the current governor
-a new Suburbia Watch

Don't forget you can listen to Sagebrush on Tuesday at 4pm PDT on Radio Free Moscow 92.5 FM

Oh, and most of the guitar in the scene transition music in Corporate Prime nowadays is played by Khalil (with tweaking by Gwen).

That Thai "Pesto" Recipe

3 tablespoons peanuts 3 tablespoons lime juice 4 tablespoons lime juice 1 tablespoon red chile paste or fresh hot peppers (optional) 1 1-inch square piece ginger, peeled, grated 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon brown sugar 2 tablespoons water Put all ingredients in food processor and buzz till creamy. You can play with the proportions and quantities easily.

The Secondmen

We pull a few local Idaho references in addition to ridiculing the Minuteman border project: aged rocker Paul Revere, ex-Governor Dirk Kempthorne, and ne'er-do-well Phil Pimpleslot (actually one of the Simplot clan who we really did watch nearly sideswipe every other parked car in the supermarket parking lot on State Street, famous for terrorizing the town on his hawg).

Essay of the Week: Subtitle D Landfill Burial

It's been months since we've recorded an Essay of the Week! This one is based on a memo we found on the Idaho DEQ website [PDF]. Joanne Sheepsley-Peasey makes a disparaging remark about Howard Lyman, who's got a great website, and is one of our greatest influences. (Can you tell?)

Khalil's Band in this week's BW

Khalil Linane, who plays the lead role of David Ortega in the Corporate Prime drama series, can be found in this week's Boise Weekly. His ensemble, the Wilson Street Pub and Sluthouse Band, is interviewed in the Noise section. Too bad the photographer caught him smirking in the photo. He looks better in person. Some of the Sagebrush Players used to play music with Khalil regularly, and we're proud to see him moving on to bigger and better things, musically. We're also trying to get him to record some music for Sagebrush. Maybe if you send him some fan mail he'll be inspired to do that sooner rather than later.

Energy in Corporate Prime

The "corpytown" in New Arco City lies on nuclear energy from two surviving reactors at the INEL site, while in the Treasure Valley energy is mostly decentralized. By decentralized, we mean there's no major power grid. Most neighborhoods or areas have their own combination of solar panels (all structure surfaces), wind-based generators, and geothermal (shallow and deep), depending on local availability. Sure, the hydrodam generators are still functional, but that's just icing on the cake, and in the event of a drought or some other disaster, there's enough locally generated electricity to keep everyone comfortable. Wind designs such as this, or this, or even ... there ar eso many design possibilities. The solar tree mentioned in one of the episodes is a design conceived by Gwen Sanchirico and Michael Tilbrook when they were PhD students in New York. Starting with the space-saving natural design of a deciduous tree, which contains on average an acre of surface are in its leaves.