Costa Rica - Sizzling San Jose

Hoooo boy that Austrian station was GREAT, huh? There is a slight possibility that Ellen will never leave. 

So, are you doing anything right now? Just putting pop tarts in the microwave with the wrapper on just to see the blue lightening and stink up the cafeteria? Quit being a douchbag, dude. Why don't you come listen to Costa Rican radio, instead. Pinky picked this station for the super gimmicky but totally fun web radio player thing, plus the music's pretty good.

Are you planning on finding a new lover in Costa Rica? Apparently sweethearts call each other their media naranja which translates to "the other half of their orange". That's a nice thing to say to someone! Some close friends of ours call each other that.

orange you in love?

If you die there (or wen you die there), they bury you pretty much the day it happens. You can get embalmed, but it's really pricey. When someone dies, their close family and friends are called, and then they call the TV stations. A few times a day the TV stations cut into the broadcasts with soft music and scroll brief obituaries across the bottom of the screen. Everyone watches to see if they know anyone, and that's how you find out when folks die. Wild, huh? Imagine that you're sitting there, watching your soap opera, and suddenly you find  out by scrolling obit that your ex died. That's way better than anything Days of Our Lives can throw at you.

when Ellen googled "costa rican death announcements television," this is what came up. and who are we to argue with google? we love your creepy flesh colored beard, spencer!!

Perhaps your ex died from bullfighting. Although bullfighting is still practiced in Costa Rica, the bull itself is rarely killed. They let a bunch of dudes into the ring and they fuck with the bull, pulling its tail and swatting his balls and all the other asshole things rodeo folks do to piss them off. At least they make sure that you're sober. They recently stopped letting the drunks do it. Gorings are still a regular occurrence, so at least the bull gets to win sometimes. Plus they get to go home at the end of the day and don't have some dude slicing their spinal cord. It's really a win-win situation.

what was that rule about drunks?

Ecotourism, canopy tours, blah blah blah, we've all heard about it and are jealous of everyone who's been.

So, grab your shades, sun block, long board and throw away your watch and let's head on to the capital, San Jose! We hope you enjoy the music!

911 la Radio

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don't get car sick watching that record spin...

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Austria - Glorious Graz!

How'd you like Liberia? It was pretty good and way upbeat! If it weren't for that one repetitive commercial, it would be one of our favorites.

Today let's tune in to Austria!

zere in ze dark green.

"Put another shrimp on the barbie, eh?" God, Pinky's seen Dumb and Dumber too many times. Kinda wish he could wipe it from his memory at this point. And, just to prove we're not total idiota, here is an audio clip to clear things up:

(Link) View more Lisa Stothard Sound Clips and Lloyd Christmas Sound Clips

Pinky whipped through Austria for a minute about 10 years ago. He doesn't really remember much about it beyond the incredible landscape and walking down a beautiful street with a bunch of cafes. He randomly picked one and tried to decipher the menu and was pleasantly surprised to find out that, as an English speaker, he could figure out a lot of it. Yay for Germanic languages! Pinky ended up getting a bratwurst or hot dog or some kind of meat stuffed into a casing. He was 16, y'all. Shut up. He saw his first Unimog there too. Needless to say, his mind was totally blown. 

what is it doing?!

Our friend Kesi had a more recent experience in Austria. You should read about it. She's kind of amazing.

OK, let's make a deal and not get into all the history that we so easily could. We all read about it in high school world history. You remember... the Hapsburgs and the treaties among creaking monarchies that dragged Europe into WWI and, let's not forget, the Von Trapp Family Singers. Let's ignore the dancing horses, too, even though Ellen totally thinks this is wild and crazy and might constitute animal cruelty. But, since we're skipping all of that we'll go ahead and get it out of the way that Austria the home of Hitler, Schwarzenegger, Mozart, and Porsche, which really shows that you can grow up to be anything that you want to kiddos.

haha! horses!

In asinine trivia, there's a tiny town of barely more than a hundred people that's named "Fucking", which is a beautiful name for a town. The road signs get stolen ALL the time by tourists. And, while you're touring, you can visit the Museum of Contraception and Abortion, and the Museum of Esperanto, as well.

water, snow, mountains, charm... it's everything asheville aspires to be!

You know what else Austria is home to? PEZ! This dude invented PEZ in the late 20's as a smoking alternative, targeting it toward adults. The dispenser was made to look like a lighter, too. They were originally minty, hence the name which is short for the German word for peppermint.

come on baby, light my fire.

Now that we know all about Austria, it's time to tune in to Soundportal, a net radio station based out of Graz. Back in 2001, Ellen was scheduled to do an exchange with another high schooler from Graz. But, September 11th happened, every parent in the world freaked out, and now she only has a story of how should could have gone to Graz and listened to pirate radio. She might still be bitter. 


Any way, you should tune in and enjoy! We've already heard some Metallica and some sweet pop tunes!

Soundportal - Netradio

Listen Here 

(Press the play button and take a deep breath. Now, let it out. It should be playing by now.)

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Liberia - Apropro for MLK Day

So, what did y'all think of Armenia? It was OK-ish... there sure was a lot of American pop music.

On this glorious MLK Day, let's tune in to Liberia!

Ellen is really bad with African geography. There are just so many countries!

Just to get you warmed up, here is a gratuitous Michael Jackson video. We lost you too soon, MJ. Too soon.

With that out of the way, Liberia (which means "Land of the Free") was founded by freed American slaves. A bunch of (mostly) Quakers started this group called the American Colonization Society, and their mission was to transport freed slaves back to the African continent where it was thought they could live better lives.

At the time (approx 1820), many abolitionists, including Abe Lincoln while he was a sitting president, thought emigration was the best option for freed slaves. They thought American society would never accept them. It's taken a very, very long time, and the good lord knows we aren't there yet. Anyway, the American Colonization Society was actively transporting freed slaves to Sierra Leone. In 1821 or so, they founded the colony of Liberia in nearby territory which became an independent republic a few decades later. 

how many pop culture references can we stretch in today's post?

There was friction with the indigenous population. Raise your hand if you're surprised. And, that conflict echoes among their descendants today. The colonists named their capital Monrovia after former president James Monroe, who'd been a large supporter. Pinky has always loved the name Monrovia. He used to go out to Monrovia, Maryland every now and then on business. It's such a pretty name. Ellen grew up next door to Mr. Monroe's hometown and loves to see Virginians in the world!

although not the most formidable of presidents from virginia, he decidedly better than all of the ones from texas. oooo, burnnn!

OK, we hate to skip so much, but let's move on up the timeline. So, there was a pretty successful American-emulated democratic rule up through the 20th century. In 1980, a coup was enacted by a guy named Samuel Kanyon Doe. Over the next decade, repression tightened and the political climate became heated enough to cause a civil war in 1989.

we know a bunch of tiny white girls who would kill for those glasses. fucking hipsters.

Charles Taylor, a former government minister, established himself as a warlord, and with the backing of Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi (who Ellen thinks looks like Fred Armisen), led an insurgency that eventually toppled the government. Taylor and his men tortured Doe to death. Taylor was elected president in '97. His slogan was "He killed my ma, he killed my pa, but I will vote for him." Daaaaaaaaaaaamn... Everyone voted for him 'cause they figured if they didn't, he'd resume the war. They were probably right. 

  

that's fred in the middle. dead ringer for muammar al-gaddafi.

Taylor did all of the dictatorial shit you'd expect: child soldiers, diamond smuggling (supposedly giving some to Naomi Campbell), backing (and allegedly directing) a nasty rebel movement in the Sierra Leone Civil War, and plenty of civilian atrocities. The complete and utter disfunction of his government led to another civil war in '99 and lasting until 2003 when Taylor was forced to resign.

campbell, taylor, and... desmond tutu?! what are you doing up in this mess?

A women's peace movement was instrumental in his deposition, forcing peace talks and creating an atmosphere for Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to become the modern, elected female head of state in Africa. Taylor has since been charged with all sorts of war crimes and crimes against humanity and is on trial in the Hague.

yay! ladies in charge! in gold lame!

One of the most interesting stories to emerge from Taylor's rule is that of his son, Chuckie. He was raised by his mom in America until he was 17 and then went to live with his dad in Liberia during the Civil War. He became head of the "Anti-terrorist unit," which was a notoriously violent. When his personal chauffeur dented his car, he ordered him beaten "till you see bones and shit." We find that particularly chilling. "Bones and shit." It's such an offhanded comment. Imagine being a kid, finding out your dad is a warlord, going over and helping him take over a country, and then torturing a nation. We're sure Freud would have something to say about all of this. Rolling Stone did a fascinating article on Chukie Taylor a while back. It's really good.

Today, Liberia is a stable democracy and, under the leadership of Ms. Sirleaf, they're rebuilding their country in a transparent, cooperative manner, admirably addressing and repairing their country's problems and deep wounds.

So, that is a lot of heavy for MLK Day. We hope you find a moment to reflect on your freedoms and remember from whence they came. Can we get an amen?

Ok, let's tune in. This seems like a great station. Hope you enjoy it!

Radio Lib

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