Montery Travel Missive #2

The Juniper trees by Sloat Ave. are massive and gnarled like overly muscular arms cranked from steroids. ...and the Hickory Trees have left shells all the way to Hawthorne. It was a strange thing to fixate on after a walk through Cannery Row, but it's what I remember now. I also recall vividly that the street signs were carved out of wood. I walked to the aquarium to check out the otters, and at first saw none. Then I noticed one fat sea otter lying on a rock facing away from me. It did nothing cute like the ones on TV. It's just looked fat and somewhat bored.

KNRY-AM turns out to have a studio on the row. The rest was dull tourist shops and restaurants that smelled like wine and fish. (I like neither) I met two men who used to have a show on KNRY-AM who were very funny and charming and knew just where to get a good sandwich. We went to a local joint called Randy's (10th street & church?) It's only open for lunch 11:30 -1:30 Monday thru Friday. I had the Jaws2 hoagie which had turkey, ham, salami, bologna, provolone mayo and was on a soft sesame roll. Truly a sandwich to be reckoned with. I ate that sandwich in the park and then got a ride in a Ferrari at about 90 mph in that little tunnel before Lighthouse St. Fun people out here.

I bought a couple books at Bookbuyers used books on the same street. We were only going 35 when we passed it, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to read the sign. Tremendously knowledgeable and engaging bibliophiles in there. Next door is recycled records, a viny shop, which sadly was closed for a dinner break when I finally happened by. www.bookbuyers.com

In related Monterrey News, I noticed that Melanie Walker, former morning show host of KAZU has reappeared as MD of KCMP in Minneapolis replacing Thorn. We she here I would have coughed her show, in liu I spent some time listening to a Tropical show on KKUP, their first break from the reggae. It was a set of Venezuelan harp rock. Host Cristina Boyd presided over a st of music like nothing I have ever heard before. It began with recognizable Afro-cuban jazz and ended with surreal call-and-response music with the call consisting of Hammond B3 Organ and the response being the same line etched in harp picking. The program is called Amenidades Latino Americans and only airs every other week.

I also discovered 1410 KRML-AM which runs all jazz and blues but leaning nostalgia across both. It's much less fruity than the two standards outlets KIDD-AM and KABL-AM running zero show tunes and zero Streisand. It was a relaxing discovery this evening. http://www.krmlradio.com/

Monterey Travel Missive #1

I landed at Monterey Peninsula Airport airport yesterday, and after accidentally driving into the high security lot behind the air traffic control tower I eventually found my way down to Rte 1. I drove past Sand city which as far as I can tell is a big beach and Home Depot... possibly a Berkley art project representing the two halves of the male brain. I got a cheap hotel in Marina in walking distance of the beach and got used to the idea. I heard some fantastic radio already. On the AM band I caught the last half of Radio Ranch, a program on 1240 KNRY-AM. http://www.knry.com/Programs/RadioRanch.htm

Host J.P. Mick Vernon reads cowboy poetry by himself and others in between obscure and not-so-obscure country oldies tunes. It is a totally unparalleled program in all of radio land. He told a story about a young girl riding colts and developing a preference for a very old mare, then played some Dale Evans ...and it totally worked. He was included in the 2005 Nevada County Poetry Anthology and is also the author of The Lyrical Lawman Rides, a book of original cowboy poetry.

90.3 KAZU used to be a local scene powerhouse, with a morning show that often beat out Nic at KCRW in local polls. But Melanie was ousted from that slot when management decided that Monterey needed a third NPR news outlet in the market... I often wonder if she picked up a show somewhere down the road. This afternoon they were running something that ran simultaneously on 88.9 KUSP. They seemed impotent and dull.

Still in market are 88.1 KZSC the U. or Santa Cruz and 91.9 KSPB at Robert Louis Stevenson H.S. I am sure I'll check those out during the week ahead.

I drove up the road a bit and bought some supplies for the traveling I'll be doing over the week. two boxes of low-cal snack bars, an apple, a 6 pack of water, a six pack of Dew, a bag of bagels etc. Across the way on reservation road I found a consignment shoppe of called Del Monte Bargains. It was run by some middle-aged Slavic woman, possibly Russian with corn rows. Her accent was thick, and it made her explaining too viscous. I bought 4 books, supposedly at a dollar each but she took about 3.50 when I turned out my pockets:

Burma Road by Nicol Smith
The Fall by Samuel R. Delany (ironically a Philly Local)
A Winter Walk by Tolbert McCarroll
Solomons House by the Cowell College History Workshop... some kind of hippie college let the class of 1970 print a book. It's spectacularly fragmented so far.

I had brought A movable feast with me. I like reading Hemingway when I travel, as he reminds me why it is good to do so. But I think it may go back in the duffel. I have so many options now.