Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Culture dispatch from Homer, Alaska.


Joanna Tornes telephoned her regular culture dispatch from Homer, Alaska on the Wednesday WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM radio program. Her telephone call is subsidized by the staff and volunteers of the Homer, Alaska chamber of commerce.

Joanna’s first comment was that daytime temperatures in Homer are in mid-forty degrees Farenheit. She also commented that this has been a cool summer. Joanna reported that the signs of autumn were coming on. Ground dogwood with red berries is evident; fireweed is turning with its long purple flowers as part of the early autumn landscape.

Joanna commented that when the purple flowers reach the top of the firewood plant, it is a sign that summer has ended. She also commented that this year the fireweed flowers are a sign of the "lack of summer" because this summer was the coolest ever recorded.

Joanna and her sister Ginger are being visited by another sister, Angie, and her husband Mark. Both guests were part of the culture dispatch, Angie as an active speaker and Mark as a disembodied voice in the background.

Angie and Mark are residents of Milwaukee, Wisconsin spending their summer vacation in Alaska.

Angie is a 1974 graduate of Bexley High School. Mark did not offer any educational or cultural credentials which might explain why he was left as a background sound.

Angie described their trip on the ferry boat from Bellingham, Washington to Juneau, Alaska. She said the trip is “incredible” and the boat is neat and clean with good meals. Sensational views of whales spouting and breeching make the travel unforgettable.

The ferry is called the Columbia. Angie and Mark were on the ferry for two nights with a cabin. The cabin was spartan but comfortable and warm. A forest service ranger gave daily lectures about the sights visible from the ferry.

Angie and Mark also traveled on another ship, the Taku, where they had a cabin for the trip to Sitka, Alaska and they also took a high speed ferry from Juneau to Homer.

For dinner on their guests’ first night in Homer, Ginger and Joanna took them to the Finns Pizza on the spit in downtown Homer. They arrived after eight o’clock and found Finn's Pizza to be closed that evening so they went to Fat Olives for dinner.

Joanna returned to the telephone and discussed some Russian cultural influences. She said that she has made a trip to a town called Ninilchik to see Russian Orthodox church architecture. She also said that there is a Russian tea room on a distant island that she has not visited.

The Homer orchestra had its music week.

Joanna attended a Buddhist retreat at the Alaska Culture Studies Center. This was a four day event that stretched over the weekend and she attended Friday through Sunday. The Center is located at Patterson Bay and is primarily concerned with marine and coastal environment matters.

Joanna’s Buddhist weekend was filled with sitting postures, meditation, dharma talk and vegetarian food. The instructors were Buddhists monks from Anchorage, Alaska. Their talks touched on life and awareness of the moment and the connectedness of all living things.

Meals for this Buddhist retreat were in silence and outdoor walks were silent experiences too.

During one outside session, clouds disappeared and sun shine appeared and invigorated the experience.

Joanna then discussed the karma experience of “dip-netting” on the Kenai River. This is a fishing technique that uses nets to catch fish. It has become such a popular sport that it has spawned “combat fishing" where people fight over prime dip-netting spots. Dip-netting is also popular on the Anchor River and the Russian River.

Joanna also reported on her shopping for fishing waders. She has been pricing french-built waders. For hip waders the typical retail price is in the range of $40.00 to $80.00. The retail price for chest waders begins at $90.00.

On a recent fishing venture, Joanna caught two fish. The fish were cleaned and filleted by a local native with an uhlu knife.

Summer volunteers Sarah Lamar and Robert Moore complete assignments and depart for college.

Each week this summer, four hours of WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM programming was hosted by interns Sarah Lamar and Robert Moore.

Sarah and Robert are both 2008 graduates of Bexley High School. Their last day of work on the radio was Friday August 15.

Sarah will begin her studies at Syracuse University in New York and Robert will study as a National Merit Scholar at Denison University in Granville, Ohio.

Their daily work on the radio included the weather report from the Old Farmer’s Almanac, local news from The New Standard, Bexley News, Catholic Times and the Eastside Messenger and second chair dialogue with on-air personalities Katy Taylor, Amy Maurer and Terry Pugh.

They also offered consumer comments to Frank Ingwersen’s Mid-morning Wall Street Update and did the production work for the daily lunch specials at Bexley eating spots.

Sarah and Robert also provided content about Ohio county fairs and auctions.

Sarah is a brilliant ad libber. Comfortable behind the microphone, Sarah is a natural program host. She listens to her guests and, if times were different, she would make an easy living as an interlocutor. She has a gentle wit, and is a listener who laughs at the humor of others.

Robert is organized and a quick writer. His curiosity is unpredictable and takes him to places that others overlook. As an interviewer he is an earth mover rather than a tidy archeologist. But then, he is a young man. What he uncovers is interesting as radio content and his treatment of content is always skillful. His culture reviews of movies and music were excellent radio.

The radio station staff appreciate the work of these two students.

Contact us.
WCRX-LP Editorial Collective
Bexley Public Radio Foundation operating as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation operating as WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Yet more on Laura Frank’s Bexley Consumer Price Index.


In Laura Frank’s Bexley CPI radio report last week, she described the price of one item of school supplies as declining a “whopping” eighty-three percent (83%).

After her report was completed, Laura was asked whether “whopping” is a technical term in finance and economics.

She laughed and said “Of course it is.”

Well, once again Laura is right on the money.

In an article in this week’s Wednesday Financial Times there is an article on wholesale price inflation by James Politi.

The article quotes Kenneth Rogoff, a Harvard University professor and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund about the recent failures of some financial institutions

“We’re not just going to see mid-sized banks go under in the next few months, we’re going to see a whopper, we’re going to see a big one, one of the big investment banks or big banks”

So, Laura is right. The word “whopper” is a technical term used by economists and financiers.

The Editorial Collective of Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation operating as WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

The Bexley Consumer Price Index is a copyrighted feature of Bexley Public Radio Foundation. “Bexley Consumer Price Index” and “Bexley CPI” are styles owned by Laura Franks.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation.

[where: 43209]

Monday, August 18, 2008

Social work, Bexley-style.


The adult daughter of a Bexley resident was speaking regretfully to a member of the WCRX-LP editorial collective. The daughter said that her mother misses the early evening cocktail hour.

The daughter lives in a distant city, almost a third of the way around the world. The mother’s residence is in a Bexley neighborhood of double-income professionals who have nannies for their children.

The daughter said that she felt there was nothing she could do to restore this small but significant pleasure to her mother.

In a recent mother-daughter phone conversation, mother got wistful for the evening social life she enjoyed in Bexley. It began during Camelot, the few brief years of JFK, and continued through two maybe three subsequent decades.

At six o’clock. A Manhattan, a Scotch and soda. Sometimes a Tom Collins. A gin & tonic. Even an Old Fashion.

Cocktails for two. Sometimes two cocktails for two.

Then sometime, maybe during the Clinton administration, when no one was paying attention, the cocktail hour disappeared.

The mother still has fond memories of this simple pleasure but the daughter saw no practical way to restore the cocktail hour.

Enter the media. The daughter wonders if suitable cocktail companions might be in the WCRX-LP listening audience.

Daughter has offered one or two convivial Bexley residents a weekly tab at the Bexley Monk, Giuseppe’s, Rusty Bucket. The cocktails can be preceded by a stroll with her mother to these spots.

An occasional ride to the Top and Wings might also be in order.

Candidates may express their interest at the address listed below for Bexley Public Radio.

Minimum requirement is good manners. An appreciation of gossip, malicious and otherwise, will be considered.

A demonstrated record of wit, malicious especially, is a plus.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

More thoughts on deflation of Bexley retail prices.



Last Tuesday, Laura Franks reported the Bexley Consumer Price Index for the Third Quarter, 2008. The report announced a seven percent (7%) quarter-to-quarter reduction in retail prices.

This deflationary result was attributable to steep discounting in stationery and back-to-school supplies.

Because major media have been reporting inflationary signs, listeners and also radio staff were surprised by the deflation reported by the Bexley CPI.

But facts are facts. The Bexley CPI reported what the retail prices are. And those prices demonstrate a decline in local retail prices. If WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM is out of step with other media, we accept that and report the facts as we find them.

By coincidence other media are starting to see some deflationary signs. One columnist in the Financial Times, sees more than signs of deflation.

In his Wednesday August 13, 2008 column, John Authers Financial Times columnist begins “The deflationists have it. All year long, the debate has raged over whether the world faces a greater risk from resurgent inflation or from deflation to match Japan in the 1990s. The sudden fall in commodity prices has, for now, convinced the market that we need not worry about inflation.”


Authers column is “The Short View” and he concludes yesterday’s column by observing “In the longer term, deflation is bad news for almost everyone. It implies a global slowdown rather than the vision of emerging markets growing, and pulling up prices in their wake…But the US consumer staples prosper in this scenario. They produce lots of cash in dollars and are not too vulnerable to a recession.”

Pay attention to Laura Franks and her Bexley CPI. She reports the facts as she finds them and it helps us understand what is going on in the local economy.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Editorial Collective of WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM proposes compromise ordinance.

A Bexley resident has requested that Bexley City Council adopt an ordinance to ban protests outside his home.

The citizen has attracted anti-choice demonstrators and is concerned for his safety as well as his privacy.

Some of the protestors also are thought to be Bexley residents.

The city has declined the opportunity to legislate because of First Amendment limits on governmental authority.

At this point it looks like local government’s door has been slammed in one resident’s face.

The editorial collective has reflected on the situation and proposes a compromise ordinance that will protect First Amendment values, express the ethos of Bexley and defuse whatever tensions exist in the circumstances.

The core idea of the editorial collective proposal is that when any Bexley resident attracts demonstrators and protestors, the resident is required to provide refreshments and suitable facilities and accommodations for the public protestors.

City council can set the standards for refreshments, accommodations and facilities.

The standards for refreshments might be simple tap water, or perhaps tap water and ice.

But city council should give weight to existing Bexley community standards and consider requiring at a minimum that the resident provide ice and mineral water from Perrier, Gerolsteiner or San Pellegrino as suitable refreshments.

One advisor to the editorial collective said the standard should be champagne and French champagne at that.

The standards for facilities and accommodations established by city council should also reflect Bexley values.

Umbrellas should be available for inclement weather and lawn chairs provided so the protestors can rest.

This is Bexley after all and when Bexley residents disagree, we must do it politely.

The Editorial Collective of Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

Bexley Public Radio Foundation operating as WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Empire and Western Deposit Agency.

[where: 43209]

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Bexley Consumer Price Index marks seven percent retail price decline.


Laura Franks reports surprising seven percent price decline in the Bexley Consumer Price Index for the third quarter.

Entering the third quarter of calendar year 2008, Bexley retail prices declined at the rate of seven percent (7%).

In the exclusive feature produced for Bexley Public Radio, Laura Franks made the surprising report in her Tuesday broadcast on 102.1 FM.

The Bexley Consumer Price Index reports on the aggregate prices paid for a uniform basket of merchandise purchased at retail from Bexley merchants and nearby retail stores.

The Bexley CPI measures the change of prices for typical retail purchases made by Bexley residents.

The Bexley CPI can be compared to the price changes reported by the Bureau of Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. The comparison can provide useful information for Bexley consumers about local price changes compared to price changes in other parts of the United States.

The price data reported by Laura Franks on Tuesday surprised WCRX-LP staff and management and was not what they expected based on general news reports about the economy and the forecasts of media pundits.

As reported by Franks for the third quarter, 2008, Bexley retail prices for a standard market basket of purchases showed a seven percent (7%) decline compared to the second quarter, 2008.

Franks attributed this decline to special sale prices for back-to-school supplies that are included in the market basket. One item of school supplies was discounted an amazing eighty-three percent (83%) from its second quarter price.

Some items reflected pricing increases. Notably, two beverage items in the market basket recorded small price increases.

Personal hygiene items also showed modest price increases.

These price increases were slight compared to the significant discounting for stationery and school supplies.

The result of the steep discounting is that the quarter-to-quarter change in retail prices for Bexley is a seven percent (7%) price decline for the entire market basket.


Bexley Public Radio Foundation broadcasting as
WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM, Local Power Radio
2700 E. Main St., Suite 208
Columbus, OH 43209
Voice (614) 235 2929
Fax (614) 235 3008
Email wcrxlp@yahoo.com
Blog http://agentofcurrency.blogspot.com

The Bexley Consumer Price Index is a copyrighted feature of Bexley Public Radio Foundation. “Bexley Consumer Price Index” and “Bexley CPI” are styles owned by Laura Franks.

Bexley Public Radio Foundation operating as WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM is exempt from federal taxes under IRC Section 501(c)(3). Donations are deductible from federal income taxes for individuals who itemize. Checks may identify the payee as Bexley Public Radio Foundation WCRX-LP, 102.1 FM.

Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. Bexley Public Radio Foundation.

[where: 43209]