The Letter:



Notice how its printed on a typewriter, and the '@' symbol had to be written in. Cuba is a little old school as it turns out.

Sorry for the poor excuse of a scan. I can't seem to figure out how to resize it so the entire card would scan. Oh well.

Now Hipster, its times you write your Bulgarian and Romanian friends so you can post the reply.

It's nice that they think of their listeners as a 'family'. Nice letter.

I will try to take addresses from now on, and I will share any replies. I wonder if they send verification for email responses.

Most stations reply through snail mail, even e-mails, given that you provide your address and ask for a QSL Card in return.

Also, when writing to a station remember to include a SIO Code, which stands for signal, interference, and overall. SIO 555 would be the best and SIO 111 would be the worst. On the back of the card, they print SIO you gave them. I gave Radio Habana a 444 rating, as you can see.

In case you didn't notice, I scanned your Mix Tape artwork as well!

Last night Ecuadors Voice of the Andes presented a stange listen, normally broadcasting in Spanish only, they have a small (yet odd!) segment for people who are just learning or trying to learn English. Granted the actual topic seems rather typical for a radio broadcast (the belly button, and its unsubtle 'fluff'). Anyhow, it was read extremely slow and took a turn for the peculiar towards the end when this tale was told:

“[One] September I went alone on a canoe trip. On the very first day my canoe [boat] turned over in [the water] and I lost some of my equipment in the water. ... I lost all my [extra clothes]. So I knew I would have to wear the same [clothes] for the rest of the trip.

Six days later I was finally back home. The first thing I wanted to do was change clothes and [clean myself]. But when I took off my [shirt], to my amazement, I could see something sticking out of my belly button! I could not believe it; something was growing in there! [It was a small plant!]

... It was actually rooted in some [fluff]! I have never heard of anything like that in my whole life! Well, I guess that seed found everything it needed in my belly button: [fluff] as a [place to grow], [water] from my body sweat and [the river water] splashes, warmth from my body heat, and some sun-light through my loosely knit [shirt]. [I kept the small plant in a container. But,] it died a few days later.”

...Eh?

You can listen to it here: The Belly Button

I've had emails from the Overcomer, because I've written with opinion or comment.


Do you know, I did notice that, but it was just before the old laptop died! I'd forgotten to return to the thread and thank you.


Thank you. That's a very fine story! Reminds me, purely for the fortean/South American river connection, of the dread, cringe-inducing candiru fish: It is feared by the natives because it is attracted to urine or blood, and if the bather is nude it will swim into an orifice (the anus or vagina, or even in the case of smaller specimens the penis—and deep into the urethra). It then erects its spine and begins to feed on the blood and body tissue just as it would from the gills of a fish. The candiru is then almost impossible to remove except through an operation. As the fish locates its host by following the water flow from the gills to its source, urinating while bathing increases the chance of a candiru honing in on a human urethra..

Overcormer Ministry must not believe QSL Cards have a place in end times, as they shorted me one even though I asked for one.

Different continent, but that grotesque fish reminds me of the deadly fugu blow fish which is a Japanese delicacy, but also one of the most poisonous creatures on the planet. Despite this danger and rather unappetizing look, I would love to try it. Certainly not found at sushi joints here in Omaha!

That's the one that chefs train specially for, isn't it? Even then there's no guarantee that the poison will be removed properly - I believe there are deaths every year from eating it.

Brother Stair is singing 'I shall not be moved'.

Yes, I think I've seen on TV that there are only a handful of chefs across the globe that will serve it.

Do you like sushi?

Brother Stair should release an album.

I turned vegetatian before I'd ever heard of sushi, so I've never tried it.

Brother Stair should relesase a ten disc boxset of his best moments, in my opinion.

I have never heard of the problems that Father Christmas was encountering in Austria, but as far as I can tell from your posts, he was only banned at the Viennese Christmas market… I believe this particular market is taking place for centuries in front of the town hall, I suppose it’s quite traditional or at least organised so that it appears traditional, and actually bears the name of the Christ Child that you mentioned and which is apparently the equivalent of Father Christmas in Austria (name of the market in german: "Christkindlmarkt")... therefore...

in the south of Germany (in the catholic part of the country, I would say) they also have those "Christkindlmärkte", so I guess the same problem arised...

but were there really people protesting with banners?

I couldn't find any images of the protests at the time, but the story was being covered by various sites, so it seems there really were banners and all.

Bad SW reception at the moment (I wonder if tat's due to the fog?), so I've got Brother Stair online again!

I had no idea you were a vegetarian! There are so many joys when it comes to eating sushi, and then there are some fish that taste like something you'd wish you'd never have put in your mouth. Its a guessing game. I've tried to stop eating meat, but its hard! Living in the beef center of the United States and all.

Speaking of Santa:


Now, the strange part is not that this elephant is dressed as Santa, but that this photo was taken in Thailand, which is what, 95% Buddhisht?

I've been veggie since I was 12. There's vege sushi, of course (rice and seaweed?) but I've never tried it.


A quick search reveals the exaxctitude of your statistic, but also reveals that the main industry is tourism:

Capital: Bangkok
King: Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX)
Prime Minister: Thaksin Shinawatra
Government: constitutional monarchy
Time zone: GMT +7
Area: 517000
Population: 65000000
People: 75% Thai, 11% Chinese, 3.5% Malay; also Mon, Khmer, Phuan and Karen minorities
Languages: Thai is a complicated language with its own unique alphabet, but it's fun to try at least a few words. The main complication with Thai is that it is tonal: the same word could be pronounced with a rising, falling, high, low or level tone and could theoretically have five meanings!
95% Buddhist, 4% Muslim
Currency: Baht (Bht)
GDP: Approx. Bht480000000000
Major industries: Tourism, computers, garments, integrated circuits, gems, jewellery
Major Trading Partners: Japan, China, ASEAN, USA, European Union
Daylight Saving: From not in use to not in use
Country Dialing Code: 66

Tourism shouldn't be called an 'industry' in my opinion. Industry is industry, tourism isn't.

I can't remember the name of the person doing the sermon at the Overcomer right now, but he's a regular. He's OK.

Though industry can bring in foreign money, and tourism most defintely brings in cash from abroad. Either way!

I've been trying to pick up something on the radio but it is quite dead. Instead I'm watching Chelsea and Wigan.

Also, Dead Radio is a fantastic song from People Like Us.

This post is about dictators and radio.

It came to my attention last night, via the web stream of Voice of Russia, (who has oversight from an increasigly obvious dictator, yes Vlady, you) that Turkmenistans bizarre leader Saparmurat Niyazov died of a heart attack on December 22nd. Strange that this went seemingly unnoticed by Western media, at least to my knowledge. Nothing on CNN World News, or ABC World News. I've even watched BBC World News a few times since the 22nd, but I saw nothing about it. Granted, it may not be headline worthy as Mr. Niyazov has little relevance on a global scale, per se, but perhaps this will open Turkmenistan?

On a related note: I suspect I may have picked up Radio Turkmenistan! I can't be too sure, as it was in a language similar sounding to Russian, enough that my amateur ears could recognize that, but different enough that I could not understand a word of it. Except for Niyazov, Niyazov, Niyazov, and more Niyazov. Who knows?




Same region, different asshole: Radio Tashkent International was one of the first stations I heard and one of my favorites. I knew on a daily what time, and what frequency I would hear them on, but then without notice, it was gone. After seeing Passport left their address out of their 2007 annual, it became obvious it was no longer in operation. It seems as though Uzbekistans president Islom Karimov deemed Radio Tashkent International useless, and treasonous, and needed to be shut down. Bummer.

Finally, I got a surprise in the mail yesterday afternoon. Radio Habana Cuba sent me a New Years greeting card. "Feliz Nuevo Ano!", is what the inside read. I guess they really do think of me as family. How nice.

Thank you, Fidel?

Radio Prague issues new set of QSL cards link.

Other than that, they are currently interested in injuries and brawls that occured on New Year's Eve.

Radio Tashkent International still have a homepage, but the online listen links are in Russian (?) so I can't understand them. Perhaps you'd have more success?

http://ino.uzpak.uz/

Actually, the news hasn't been updated since MArch...

Those are neat!

I'm awaiting one from Radio Sweden.

One of my bookmarked pages. They rarely updated any online information anyway, but the English program was ready to be streamed at all times. There is still a music station you can stream, nothing but Uzbek music pop and folk. Interesting it is. http://www.mtrk.uz/en/homepage/

You can also see a very aimless explanation for why the station in not airing anything anymore on the English page.

Also, I've noticed they have abandoned the Cyrillic alphabet for the Uzbek page, and returned to its Latin lettering. Odd. Ripples from the Putin administration. Its cool to hate Russia right now.

A while back when were talking about the BBC's adaptation of Dead Souls, I seemed to have forgot who exactly Micheal Palin is!

However the other night his excellent TV series aired on the Travel Channel called Himalaya made a light go off in my head. Terrific voice for radio I might add.

Surely Himalaya was shown over there too!

Radio Tirana also seems to have gone, at least in terms of an English language broadcast. Even their site is restricted to Albanian and German.

He's done a load of those series in recent years: Around the World in 80 Days , Full Circle, Pole to Pole and more. He's more popular than ever now.

Solar Flares and Geomagnetic storms have a great deal to do with the propagation of shortwave radio. When this activity is high, radio signals get weakened and interference increases. This is particularly true for shortwave radio, which uses the ionosphere to bounce the radio waves across the globe.

NASA's Solar Weather page (includes 3-day forecast).

Bookmarked!

This could come in handy.

ON this page at Polskie Radio you can download two especially interesting items:
the first is called 'Krakow: Home of the Bagel', the second concerns the 'Wieliczka salt mine'. The salt mine is a huge underground complex with chapels carved in salt.

I come from a salt-mining county, don't you know. Cheshire folk never created underground chapels, though.

I had no idea you were in salt land.

I hail from corn land. But we don't do much else with the corn other than eat it, lots of it.

There is the odd corn maze, and of course the corn heads:

The world-famous Lion Salt comes from Cheshire. Northwich in fact, which is a very nice town. There's even a salt museum in Northwich.

In summer there's a maize maze at Brimstage, which is quite close to me.

I like corn, with a bit of butter.

The last few stops in the bookstore I've seen a book on the history of salt, and it looks like a good read, but I always find something more interesting. I think Mr. Bush read the book as well. Yes, he reads. (?)....

Also, I got this book for Christmas and think you would enjoy it too:

Its been weeks since I've had a listen. There is a layer of dust on my radio. Shame it is, really.

What have you been hearing Hipster, and what have I missed?

I've had less opportunity to listen in the past few weeks, but whenever I've scanned there's been nothing happening. I'm going to have a go now though.

This is in my plans for the night too. If I don't fall asleep before I get the chance.

Radio Bulgaria's Keyword Bulgaria have just been examing the threat posed to Bulgaria's biodiversity by industry and the like. There are substantial proposals to set up protected areas.

Over in the World Music thread, Pork has shared a gem with everyone.

It is maybe more relevant in this thread:

Great stuff. Thanks, Пятхъдесят Шест and porkmarras.

Talking of great stuff, I've just been listening to a German station playing sea shanties.

Now I've got BBC radio's Superbowl coverage on.

Ah, its too bad the game went pretty sour in the second half. And the rain!

I didn't want to see the Colts win either.

Some selected thoughts on football (soccer) as inspired by Radio Netherlands report:

Italian youth detained in connection with football riots
Italian police are questioning a 17 year-old youth in connection with the death of a police officer during football riots in the town of Catania on Sicily last week. The teenager and two friends were detained after police studied video recordings made by security cameras in the Catania stadium. All football matches were cancelled last weekend due to the violence. The competition has been resumed, but spectators are only allowed in the four stadiums that meet government security requirements.

Just a snippet of a longer report about the ongoing crisis in Italian football. It has me wondering if there is anything that can save Serie A from shaking its horrendous reputation, that continues to disappoint and shock.

Maybe Europeans don't find this as surprising considering a long history of hooliganism in Sport there, which is not to say things have not changed considerably in the last decade especially in the UK, Germany, and Holland. But from an American perspective, its sort of hard to imagine rioting over and sporting event, save for the few isolated cases (such as LA Lakers fans turning over cars after winning the championship, and last seasons brawl that went into the stands in Detroit.)

What are the chances things can be cleaned up in Serie A, and how long before the league closes down completely? After all, Italy are World Champions...

Also, I could not be more pleased with the US national side once again defeating Mexico on American soil, making it 8 straight, and out scoring them 13-0 in those games. Granted it is just a friendly, but these games against Mexico are not pointless, it means a lot for this region. Excellent turn out for the game too, albeit a pro-Mexico crowd.

The latest slew of friendlies have been entertaining. Did you catch Portugal - Brazil, or Greece - South Korea?

Unfortunate loss for England, but what a goal from Iniesta. How long before McClaren is given the boot?

Cripes. There's such a dearth of English-language programmes tonight that not even Radio China International appear to be broadcasting.

That is strange. Especially for RCI. No RTI either?

Nothing. I will check again at half past.

It's half past now.