NPR on your Cell Phone

by Neil Woodburn on


Personally, I only put on headphones when I travel; all that transit time is best enjoyed with sounds from elsewhere. That means I only have my iPod with me when I’m jumping on a plane. I do, however, always have my cell phone with me. And this, as it turns out, is becoming a very good thing.

More and more audio entertainment can be accessed through cell phones these days. Most recently, NPR has joined the potpourri of cell phone friendly audio goodness beaming through the airways and I can’t be more excited.

National Public Radio, for those of you living outside of America, is the very best entertainment on radio. It’s eclectic, commercial free and simply a joy to listen to. And now, when I’m sitting in line at the bank, stuck in traffic, or bored at work, I can point my mobile web browser in the direction of NPR and happily wile away the hours.

And the best part is that it’s completely free–although data usage charges will vary according to your provider and contract.

Jack Keroauc’s On the Road Turns 50

by Jamie Rhein on

“What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing?- it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s goodbye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.” Part 2, Chapter 8, page 156 (From Web site Book Rags: Quotes from Jack Keroauc’s On the Road.)

Isn’t this just a perfect sentiment about what travel feels like sometimes? When I think of travel, Jack Keroauc comes to mind. Yesterday I came across articles about this being the 50th anniversary of the year On the Road was published. Growing up with that traveler gene, I missed out on this book, but carried its title with me in my head until I read it sometime after my Peace Corps days. Still, Keroauc paved the way for those of us with a passion for travel, pondering and writing about those experiences, hopefully touching on what is the soul of those we meet along the way–and ourselves.

If you want to brush up on Keroauc, here is a link to an NPR show about him. There are some terrific photos, anecdotes and audio tapes of him reading from his work. Here’s another link to the New York Times Arts Beat section where people are currently leaving comments about the book’s lessons. This is what tipped me off about the anniversary. There were 154 comments last I checked.

Poetry in Baghdad

by Adrienne Wilson on

Every time I hear Baghdad mentioned in the news my face and stomach both turn to sour. The American death tolls, the Iraqi death tolls, Bush, politics, etc. All of it makes me want to holler. Can the world get any worse? Surely, but I’m in no mood to discuss politics tonight. Instead I’m going to point you to this NPR piece on poetry. No, wait, not just poetry, but poetry shared in what they call the “Freedom Tent” in Baghdad so I suppose they’ll be some politics involved after all, but not from me.

Organized by the women’s Freedom in Iraq group, the goal is to bring Sunni’s from Madaan (a violent neighborhood in south Baghdad) together with Shiites from Sadr City to open up and share poems filled with both hope and grief. The environment is peaceful and the energy is the same. What would the world be like if it were always the way things went in the Freedom Tent? Who knows? Still, I have always loved poetry and the words from within insiders in foreign places. The pauses, winding of the words and the words themselves always have a different feeling and ring to them. Kind of like gun shots and the pitter-patter of children’s feet running down dark Baghdad streets to find shelter. The pause in the poet’s poem – the brief moment in time when the violence has ceased.

If you’re into news, arts, and culture – check it out.