Hobo's Lullaby

Carter's Solo Show

2007-12-13T21:36:00.000-08:00

This week we had a very special episode of Hobo's Lullaby, where I, Carter, hosted all by myself. Jenna was cooking latkes at the co-op and so was unable to attend. I know you probably missed all the witty banter and pointless conversations, but hey, this time my mic was on. It was somewhat of an accomplishment for me to have filled up the whole two hours with only my own music, although it did stray somewhat from the folk theme, but not from the revolution. The twenty minute Godspeed song definitely helped. So heres the playlist:

Jolie Holland-The Grey funnel Line
Melanie Beautiful People-Look what They’ve Done To My Song, Ma
The Ditty Bops-Fish To Fry
Melanie Beautiful People-Brand New Key
Ash Reiter -Wide World
Beatbeat Whisper-Try Not To Let The Rain In Your Boots Child
Paul Baribeau-Christmas Lights
Woody Guthrie-Talking Hard Work
Tracy Chapman-Talkin’ Bout a Revolution
Black Ox Orkestar-Violin Duet
Defiance, Ohio- Eureka!
Rosa-Hit The Bottle
Ryan Harvey-Riding My Bike To Work In The Rain
Merle Haggard-Someone Told My Story
Jesse James-Southern Casey Jones
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-la-la Band- Mountains Made of Steam
Willie Scarecrow Owens-Traveling Blues
Blind Blake-Georgia Bound
Ghost Mice-Figure 8
Tom Waits-Fumblin’ With The Blues
Desert Rat-Bloody Fascist Cargo Cans
Weakerthans- My Favorite Chords
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb-Selma
The Everybody Fields-Hobarts
Adhamh Roland-Tina Turner
Against Me!-We Laugh At Danger And Break All The Rules

December 2nd Hobo's Lullaby!

2007-12-03T20:31:00.000-08:00

Despite Jenna not being able to press buttons, we made it through another episode of Hobo's Lullaby Radio Opry! And our good friends Aimee and Matt came to visit! Aimee, Matt, and Jenna hung out at the station until 4, playing a second two hour rock block of Heart Attack Fart Attack! Listen in to hear a side of Jenna you probably never wanted to!

Hobo's Lullaby Playlist:

1. Phil Ochs: When In Rome
2. Jonathan Byrd & Dromedary: I've Been Stolen
3. Gillian Welch: Ruination Day Part 2
4. Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins & Johnny Cash: Down by the Riverside
5. Ash Reiter: Movin On
6. Chris Isaak: 5:15
7. Adhamh Roland: Light A Fire
8. Doc Watson: Roll On Buddy
9. Against Me!: Cavalier Eternal
10. Defiance, Ohio: Lullabies
11. The Everybody Fields: Silver Garden
12. The Weakerthans: One Great City!
13. Woody Guthrie: Little Black Train
14. Beatbeat Whisper: Lulu
15. Cheese On Bread: Cornfields, Cornfields!
16. Simon & Garfunkel : A Poem On The Underground Wall
17. Chris Isaak: Return to Me
18. Gillian Welch: I Dream A Highway
19. Okkervil River: Dead Dog Song
20. The Carter Family: Black Jack David
21. Old Crow Medicine Show: Union Maid
22. Adhamh Roland: Bicycle Ride
23. Willie Nelson: The Harder They Come
24. Woody Guthrie: Worried Man Blues
25. Bob Dylan: Subterranean Homesick Blues

Heart Attack Fart Attack Playlist:

1. Johnny Cash: Daddy Sang Bass
2. Loretta Lynn: Don't Come Home A Drinkin'
3. Jimmy Cliff: The Harder They Come
4. Tom Ze: Teatro (Dom Quixote)
5. Of Montreal: This Feeling
6. The White Stripes: Little Ghost
7. Loretta Lynn & Patsy Cline: You Ain't Woman Enough
8. Dave End: Teen Movie
9. Whiskeytown: Easy Hearts
10. The Weepies: Jolene
11. Stevie Wonder: We Can Work It Out
12. Tom Waits: Earth Died Screaming
13. Sarah Vaughan: Sinner or Saint
14. The Blow: Knowing the Things That I Know
15. Ray LaMontagne: Till The Sun Turns Black
16. The Mountain Goats: Riches and Wonders
17. Daniel Johnston: True Love Will Find You In the End
18. Merle Haggard: Honky Tonk Mama
19. Ricky Skaggs : Drunken Driver
20. Carl Perkins: Be Bop a Lula
21. Neko Case: Loretta
22. Iggy Pop: Real Wild Child
23. The Butchies: Send Me You
24. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps: Jump Back, Honey, Jump Back
25. Amy Ray: Johnny Rottentail
26. Kaki King: Yellowcake
27. Jeff Buckley: Bluebird Blues
28. Flight of the Conchords: I'm Not Crying
29. Cat Stevens: Miles From Nowhere
30. Girlyman: My Sweet Lord
31. Hedwig & The Angry Inch: Sugar Daddy
32. Hayseed Dixie: I Love Rock & Roll
33. Devendra Banhart: It's A Sight to Behold
34. Eartha Kitt: I Want To Be Evil

Also, please take the time to read THIS article.
And visit the Iraq Veterans Against the War website: http://www.ivaw.org/ to learn more about what you can do to really support the troops.

Solidarity,
Jenna

Hobo's Lullaby Radio Opry!

2007-11-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

On this week's episode, we reveled in the fact that the show is now at noon, which means Carter and I are at least awake enough to brush our teeth. The downside being that they usually run out of everything bagels at the cafeteria by that time.

Click HERE to listen to this week's episode.

This week's playlist:

1. Neko Case: Wayfaring Stranger
2. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings: Just a Simple Flower
3. Jeff Buckley: Mama, You Been On My Mind
4. The Red Rose: The Everybody Fields
5. This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb: Grampa
6. Neko Case: This Little Light
7. Doc Watson: There's More Pretty Girls Than One
8. John Prine, Lyle Lovett & Robert Earl Keen: Rollin' By
9. Pine Pill Haints: Wade In the Water
10. Gillian Welch: Red Clay Halo
11. Sam Johnson: We Done Quit
12. The Weakerthans: Wellington's Wednesdays
13. Against Me!: Eight Hours Full of Sleep
14. Defiance, Ohio: Promises
15. Henry Thomas: Railroadin' Some
16. Merle Haggard: My Rough and Rowdy Ways
17. Joe Williams' Washboard Blues Band: Baby Please Don't Go
18. k.d. lang: I'm Down to my Last Cigarette
19. Harry McClintock: Big Rock Candy Mountain
20. Willie Nelson: Can I Sleep In Your Arms
21. Th' Legendary Shack Shakers: Misery Train
22. Patsy Cline: Walkin' After Midnight
23. Old Crow Medicine Show: Rub Alcohol Blues
24. Al Hopkins & His Buckle Busters: West Virginia Gals
25. Th' Legendary Shack Shakers: Agony Wagon
26. The Velvet Underground: Send No Letter
27. Bill Monroe & Doc Watson: What Would You Give In Exchange For Your Soul?
28. Bumble Bee Slim: I Done Caught My Death Of Cold
29. David Rovics: After the Revolution
30. Tom Frampton : Five String

I also shared with our listeners some thoughts on the appeal of hoboing from The Texas Madman Grand Duke of Hobos:

"What's the appeal of Hobo Life? So what appeal to this kind of life is there really?, to the neo-phyte, imagine a way of life where you are not bound by time schedules, home owner bill, job expectations, the IRS, you can live where you want, sleep where you want, travel wherever you want as long as its' in the continental US and Canada. Never pay a travel fare unless you want to, never pay rent, electric, gas, water, or cable bills, never pay taxes, and see places in the US and Canada others only see in the movies, or in a magazine. Sound like the lifestyle of Bill Gates, or Donald Trump?, well hundreds of folks live that kind of life every day, in fact that kind of life/culture has been going on since just after Americas' Civil War. A lifestyle/culture so sweet, so addictive, so seductive, so intoxicating, that those of us who retire after 20, 30, even 40 years of are never really free of it. Because Lady Freedom has gotten too far in our blood to gotten rid of her completely. Freedom, complete freedom, and the ability to pursue that ultimate free life, and the vehicle to propel you ion such a quest, and a constitutionally base right to free movement. It's truly a drug, a greasy steely drug that once it gets in your blood it's there for good, and no matte how you've retired, no matter how much you deny it, you'll never be free of it. Whenever you hear a train whistle, whenever you see a moving train, or just train cars, or even train tracks, that longing in your heart will tug at you so tight you'll realize that you're addicted for life!" (hobo.com)

See you next week on Sunday at noon! Send us cool stuff for our zine/show!

~Jenna

New time!

2007-11-15T21:50:00.000-08:00

Hobo's Lullaby will now be on wmuc radio (88.1 FM on the dial in College Park, or stream it live on wmucradio.com) from 12-2 pm on Sunday afternoons.

Hope y'all listen in!

~Jenna

This week's episode...Just the basics.

2007-11-13T13:22:00.000-08:00

Well, we're all tired kids, so let's just listen to the show.

This week's playlist:

1. Johnny Cash: You Are My Sunshine
2. Gillian Welsh: Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor
3. Ray LaMontagne: Trouble
4. Cat Stevens: Trouble
5. The New Lost City Ramblers: Jordan Is A Hard Road To Travel
6. Odetta: Bourgeois Blues
7. Shannon Murray: Hallelujah I'm A Bum
8. The Almanac Singers: Get Thee Behind Me, Satan
9. Doc Watson: Rank Stranger
10. Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins:
Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley
11. Dave End: When I Grow Up
12: Brenna Sahatjian: Moonsong (Trash Monster)
13. Evan Greer: Picketline
14. Sergio Ortega: El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido
15. Keith and Rusty McNeil: Ten and Nine
16. Sleepy John Estes: Special Agent (Railroad Police Blues)
17. Tom Frampton: Ambush
18. Cloud Cult: Transistor Radio
19. John Denver: Leavin’ On A Jet Plane
20. Rosa: Leah's Song
21. Subhumans: Worlds Apart
22. Joni Mitchell: Parking Lot
23. Robert Johnson: Last Fair Deal Gone Down
24. Country Joe & The Fish: I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die
25. Laura Cantrell: Sam Stone
26. Adam Tanner: Sic' em Dogs On
27. Sentridoh/Lou Barlow: Open Door War
28. John Denver: Looking For Space
29. Odetta: Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
30. Manu Chao: Clandestino
31. Tom Waits: Home I'll Never Be

Sorry there's no exciting shit this week. Here, look, a cool picture:

Andrea enjoying vegan burrito goodness that Jenna made in the TOTALLY PUNK ROCK DORCHIE KITCHEN.

~J

This week's episode!

2007-11-06T08:20:00.001-08:00

This week, Carter and I were saddened to have to say goodbye to our friend and fellow DJ, Bryan Massoff, the host of Moroder Lives on WMUC. Bryan was found dead in his apartment last Monday (there is an article from our school paper here). He will be sorely missed by all, and various WMUC DJs will continue to play his favorite music and tell stories about what an awesome dude and brilliant dresser he was, during his regular time slot from 10 pm-12 pm every Monday night. You can stream it live at wmucradio.com, or check the archives under Monday, Moroder Lives.
This week we also heard a report back from Powershift '07, the nation's first youth led summit to solve the climate crisis. Jenna shared some excerpts from "What's the Use of Walking If There's a Freight Train Going Your Way," and Carter talked about mountaintop removal and how it sucks on pretty much every level of suckiness.

You can listen to this week's episode HERE.

This week's playlist:
1. Scott Matthew: In The End
2. Woody Guthrie: Will You Miss Me?
3. The Fools: Ambiguous Utopia
4. Tin Tree Factory: Grown Up Kids
5. The Weakerthans: Illustrated Bible Stories For Children
6. Wind And Rain: Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, and David Steele
7. Lost Highway: Jeff Buckley
8. Cross Road Blues: Robert Johnson
9. TCI Section Crew: Track Linin'
10. Tom Waits: Bottom of the World
11. Woody Guthrie: Along In The Sun & Rain
12. Ryan Harvey: Making The Road As We Go
13. Phil Ochs: Days of Decision
14. Bread And Roses: Bedtime For Plutocracy
15. The Fools: Heart Strings
16. Lia Rose: Awake
17. Evan Dando: Why Do You Do This To Yourself?
18. Heavenly Gospel Singers: We Shall Not Be Moved
19. This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb : We Shall Not Be Moved
20. Rosa: Bike Rides & High Fives
21. Mirah: Bella Ciao
22. Ryan Harvey: 'Til It's Worker-Run!
23. Against Me!: Beginning In An Ending

More to come, but right now Jenna is at her internship at NCTE and needs to freak out over ENDA some more.

Solidarity,
J

p.s. My friend Eitan pointed me in the direction of this website, which talks about how hoboes played into the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Hoboes, they're everywhere!

October 29th Episode of Hobo's Lullaby!

2007-10-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

Today on Hobo's Lullaby, we heard some breaking news on Dumbledore's sexuality, got an awesome call-in from honorary host Andrea Calderon, heard some No War No Warming stories from Carter, and listened, mouths agape, as Jenna accidentally cursed on the radio while talking about how the South will rise again (from the grave). Good job Jenna. We also got an update from Rae in Argentina, and heard some info about how y'all can help Red Emma's and 2640 recover from a recent break-in that left them devoid of some pretty important sound equipment:

"We were dismayed this afternoon to find our sound cabinet at 2640 broken open, with most of our sound system missing. About $2000 worth of gear was taken, almost all of which we had bought with money borrowed from our own (meager) personal finances in order to help get the space off the ground. We used this equipment for most of the events we do at the space, from talks to concerts to film screenings, and until we can replace it, we're pretty much screwed. We're trying to raise money to replace the stolen equipment - any support you can offer is greatly appreciated, and will help us get community events running smoothly and audibly at 2640 that much more quickly. You can donate online via paypal (at redemmas.org, or end checks made out to "Red Emma's" to: Red Emma's ATTN: Kate 800 St. Paul St. Baltimore, MD 21202)

If you come across any of the following equipment, please let us know at (410) 230-0450 or at info-at-redemmas.org:
-3 AKG D8000S Mics. labeled "2640"
-Yamaha EMC 5016C powered mixer
-Elation Stage setter 816CH DMX Stage Light Console
-2 c. 1970 Silver Realistic Mics."

Thanks!

To listen to this week's episode of Hobo's Lullaby, click on this: PRESSE LIBRE.
Today's playlist:

1. The Everybody Fields: His Pontiac
2. Will Bennett: Railroad Bill
3. God Gays and Guns: Hanging On The Ol' Barbed Wire
4. Umlaut: Let's Go(originally performed by Bette Midler)
5. Ash Grunwald: Tobacco Road
6. Bob Dylan: Pretty Boy Floyd
7. Bikini Kill: Rebel Girl
8. This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb: Trains and Cops
9. Bill Monroe & Doc Watson: Where Is My Sailor Boy (What Does The Deep Sea Say?)
10. Cisco Houston: The Cat Came Back
11. Creedence Clearwater Revival: Sweet Hitch-Hiker
12. Adhamh Roland: Ol' Timey Music
13. Daniel Johnston: Go
14. Dave End: Fruits Commonly...
15. Defiance, Ohio: Lambs At The Slaughter
16. Hayseed Dixie: Fat Bottom Girls
17. The Weakerthans: Aside
18. Ricky Skaggs: Ridin' That Midnight Train
19. Ryan Harvey: John Brown
20. Bonnie "Prince" Billy: Cold & Wet
21. Leadbelly: Ain't Gonna Study War No More
22. Janis Joplin: Mercedes Benz
23. Charlie Parker & Dizzy Gillespie: Salt Peanuts
24. Bukka White: Special Stream Line
25. Brenna Sahatjian: Rise Like Lions
26. Old Crow Medicine Show: Take 'em Away
27. Defiance, Ohio: Road Signs Always Look Better Looking Over Your Shoulder

From Rae:

"Los turistas llaman a esta miseria color local." ~Piglia

I’ve thought for months that I was sad here, but I misunderstood. It’s Buenos Aires that is sad. It’s a sadness so full and unmoving that has settled in this place that it makes the air heavy and hard to breathe and spills out into the cracks in the ever-deteriorating sidewalks. It’s in the shit smeared all over the streets, the torn posters that line them, the eyes of the cartoneros and the little boys dressed in rags ever searching through the trash-cans. It presses against the women so slowly and forcefully that they are always shrinking to make room for it, their faces growing ever more hollow and corpse-like, like ghosts walking amongst us. There are real ghosts too. Dictators and caudillos whose legacies are buried deeply in the people’s memory, authors who walk purposefully into the sea to never return, desaparecidos whose stories never found endings, and madres still marching for answers but dying off without finding them. It’s a city surrounded by water so dirty it can’t be touched, where the tourists visit cemeteries and the corpses of the politicians dissapear. It's a culture where the people are always waiting and never sleeping. No one can sleep and no one can admit they’re tired. They dress to the nines, and dine on steaks, and drink cafecitos, and tango until morning, and it’s all too much and all too garish and obvious not to be a distraction, like silence is a collective fear.

There is beauty in Buenos Aires, though. You can find it at an old landfill that was filled and forgotten about. Years later, the nutrients the soil had absorbed from all of the waste began to nourish wild flowers that spread through it, until they seized the entire space. Rooted in the rubbish, they radiate through it, making the trash look like it was just put there as a foil to their beauty. It’s been named an Ecological Reserve now, because Buenos Aires needs to protect it. They're begging it to be a metaphore that if a place holds enough sadness for long enough, something beautiful is eventually bound to take root there and resist.

Just a reminder, we are still (as always) accepting submissions, of pretty much anything-- travel stories, DIY stuff, activist information, whatever. My friend BF sent us some vegan recipes he created, that Carter and I are definitely going to try out and report back on.

Solidarity,
Jenna

Feedback!

2007-10-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

"Hey Jenna--

I just looked at your radio show's blog. Nice! I like that you quote one of my favorite Patti Smith songs ("little sister the sky is falling, i don't mind, i don't mind"). I love Patti Smith. I met her once at a rally against space weapons in New York in 2001. She looked insane. Her eyes looked like she was on acid. It was so strange. But it was pretty amazing to meet her. I was kinda star struck. Before the Fools were the Fools, Mahra and I would preform together sometimes at different events under different names. One time we performed "Redondo Beach" by Patti Smith in drag (she was in a suit and I was in a little red dress) while a bunch of our dancer friends hula hooped around the stage in bikinis, like they were at the beach. It was absurd, and funny. Another time, we performed an Avril Lavigne song ("Complicated") then segued into a White Stripes song ("Hotel Yorba") while wearing masks and on stage with us were two friends wearing space alien masks emerging from a big egg and engulfing us in fabric. Hehe. I guess I've gotten boring in my old age. That and me and Mahra live very far from each other now.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnyyyyyyyywwwwwwwwwwwaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy, I just wanted to say I appreciate your radio show, and your website. I appreciate the diversity of the music you play--a broad definition of folk, i'm feeling it. The new Lucinda Williams, Son of Nun, John Lee Hooker, Les Miserables. Hehe. Les Miserables radicalized me as a kid. I asked my parents for red fabric and a wooden pole for Hannukah when I was eight and I made a red flag and would play revolution in my bedroom, pretending to be Gavroche. A few years later, the fantasy was that, for whatever reason, the IRA was fighting the British in Pikesville, using my parent's home as a base.

Don't we know each other from Baltimore? I believe we do, if you're the Jenna I think you are. If you are, howzitgoing? How's school? How's life? IF you're not, howzitgoing? I'm Mark, nice to meet you.

Anyway, those are some random stories for today. This is what I do when it rains, check my email. I was supposed to work today, yardwork, but it was pissing rain and I couldn't.

Fucking a. I'll talk to you later. Keep up the good radio work. I love the radio. I love free media. I hate the FCC.

Peace,
Mark Gunnery"

(mark with brenna, another awesome riotfolker)

Now it's your turn, y'all. E-mail me at jenna.brager@gmail.com and let us know what you're thinking. Especially if it's stories about playing Les Miserables as a child. Personally, I used to think Cosette was kind of lame; I was all about Eponine. What a badass!

~Jenna

p.s. I used to pretend that there was a repressive government in place and we had to build a huge barricade around my parent's neighborhood in Reisterstown and were under siege from these evil fascist government people. My games mostly were concerned with stockpiling supplies and gardening, as well as administering first aid to "injured" people, and climbing up trees and under porches to "spy." I also dressed like a pirate, only in a green speedo from swim team practice. Our other favorite game was playing bartender with the antique Natty Bo cans my father collected when he was a teenager and until recently, continued to reside in my Bubbie's basement in Randallstown. SWEET.

Oct. 22 Episode

2007-10-22T21:37:00.000-07:00

This week on Hobo's Lullaby, Jenna held down the fort solo while Carter went to check out the No War No Warming action in DC. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to call in and give us a live update, so y'all will hear more about that next week. This week, we did hear the audio of a scene from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, an update on the battle for an inclusive ENDA, some info about upcoming Terpoets events in College Park and local Students for a Democratic Society meeting times. Also, check out Citizens Band Radio, a sweet vintage honky-tonk retro rock n' roll band who were kind enough to send Hobo's Lullaby their album, at www.thecbradios.com.

Click ME to listen to this week's show!

1. John Lee Hooker: Will the Circle Be Unbroken
2. The Fools: Rise You Restless Dreamers
3. Emmylou Harris: Hobo's Lullaby
4. The Mountain Goats: Jenny
5. Citizen's Band Radio: Waiting on a Train (I think Jenna screwed up the audio on this song a little bit, and she apologizes profusely. This song is awesome and doesn't deserve a moment of screwy audio, but no one is perfect, not even Jenna. :p)
6. The Beatles: Why Don't We Do It In The Road
7. Adhamh Roland: I prefer to sing (It sounds like Jenna screwed up the audio on this one, but unfortunately she had to beep out the word "asshole," which kills her soul, but if she didn't, the FCC might kill her future. Fuck the FCC.)
8. Arlo Guthrie: Last Train
9. Woody Guthrie: Train Blues
10. Shannon Murray: Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Foot?
11. Jane Sapp, Pete Seeger, & Si Khan: Solidarity Forever
12. Blind Willie McTell: Travelin' Blues
13. Uncle Tupelo: Train
14. Rufus Wainwright & Teddy Thompson: King of the Road
15. Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps: Waltz of the Wind
16. Madeleine Peyroux: Lonesome Road
17. John Handcox: Going to Roll That Union On
18. Incredible String Band: Way back in the 1960s
19. Subhumans: Think for yourself
20. Lucinda Williams: West
21. Englebert Humperdink: Little Boxes
22. Phil Ochs: Draft Dodger Rag
23. Okkervil River: Happy Hearts
24. Citizen's Band Radio: My Ramblin' Ways
25. Julie Doiron: Some Blues
26. John Denver: Take Me Home Country Roads

Also, Carter apparently was captured unsuspectingly by a reporter at the World Bank/IMF protest on Saturday (I was volunteering at the Master Peace Community Garden at the time), and now his shocked mug is on the BBC News website, Yahoo news etc. The pumped-up looking kid next to him is our friend Josef:

Carter says:
"Oh my goodness. I saw this guy with the camera, and was not cool with it, thinking 'Hm, where is this image going?' Obviously being syndicated to news websites, and probably to some government database."

And Jenna would like to point out that only grandmas say "oh my goodness".

Tune in next week for some great stories about recent protests, some historic hobo goodness, more great music, and more than you could ever imagine having to do with ramblin', rovin', and revolution.

~J

p.s. GIVE US FEEDBACK! What do you want to hear on the show/see on the blog? Let me know either by commenting or e-mailing me at jenna.brager@gmail.com.

Episode III

2007-10-16T13:35:00.000-07:00

Despite being on the far end of half-asleep (or at least I know I was), Carter and Jenna managed to bring a pretty fresh episode of Hobo's Lullaby this Monday morning. We heard from Carter about upcoming Students and Workers Unite events while Jenna slept in a corner and sang songs from Les Mis softly to herself while sobbing at the injustice of existence ("Master of the house, quick to catch your eye *sob* nev-*sob*nev-*sob* never wants a passerby to pass *sob* him *sob* by"). Not really. She did complain on the air about non-facilitated meetings, and I'm sure she did something other than that, we just aren't sure what.

Click ME to listen to the October 15th episode of Hobo's Lullaby!

This Week's Playlist:

1. Lyle Lovett- Texas Trilogy: Train Ride
2. The Magnetic Fields- Fear of Trains
3. Ryan Harvey- The Ballad of the Hudson Valley Rent Strikes
4. Ghost Mice- Boy Meets Girl
5. Joni Mitchell- All I Want
6. Bitch & Animal- Black Eyed Girl
7. Son of Nun- Imagination
8. Women- Peep
9. Christine Fellows- Migrations
10. Phil Ochs- Here's To The State of Mississippi
11. Billy Bragg- I Dreamed I Saw Phil Ochs Last Night
12. Uncle Tupelo- No Depression
13. The Weakerthans- Left and Leaving
14. Bread and Roses- Let The Wind and Sea Be My Grave
15. Cisco Houston- The Dying Cowboy
16. Ethan Miller and Kate Boverman- Lonesome Traveler
17. Incredible String Band- No Sleep Blues
18. Iron and Wine- Red Dust
19. Cat Stevens- If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out
20. Reverend Horton Heat- Liquor, Beer, and Wine
21. The Everybody Fields- T.V.A.
22. Sub Urban Defiance Alliance- The Crossroads
23. Bob Dylan- It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train to Cry
24. This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb- R.O.D.A.D.
25. Les Miserables- Do You Hear The People Sing?
(Only Jenna plays musicals on the radio)
26. Kudzu Wish- Unknown Title
27. Patti Smith- Trampin'

This Week's IWW Instigator was: LUCY PARSONS

Lucy Parsons (1853-1942) was a radical American labor organizer, anarchist (and possibly later also a member of the Communist Party), and is remembered as a powerful orator. She was born in Texas (likely as a slave) to parents of Native American, Black American and Mexican ancestry.

Described by the Chicago Police Department as "more dangerous than a thousand rioters" in the 1920s, Lucy Parsons and her husband had become highly effective anarchist organizers primarily involved in the labor movement in the late 19th Century, but also participating in revolutionary activism on behalf of political prisoners, people of color, the homeless and women. She began writing for The Socialist and The Alarm, the journal of the International Working People's Association (IWPA), which she and Parsons, among others, founded in 1883.

In 1905 she participated in the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World, and began editing the Liberator, an anarchist newspaper that supported the IWW in Chicago. Lucy's focus shifted somewhat to class struggles around poverty and unemployment, and she organized the Chicago Hunger Demonstrations in January 1915, which pushed the American Federation of Labor, the Socialist Party, and Jane Addam's Hull House to participate in a huge demonstration on February 12. Parsons was also quoted as saying, "My conception of the strike of the future is not to strike and go out and starve, but to strike and remain in and take possession of the necessary property of production." (Wobblies! 14) Parsons anticipated the sit-down strikes in the US and, later, workers' factory takeovers in Argentina.

Lucy Parsons died in 1942 in a house fire. The state still viewed Lucy Parsons as such a threat that, after her death, police seized her library of over 1500 books and all of her personal papers.

This week we heard from Dan Schwartz on his travels through the Land of Bad Decisions:

(visual interpretation shamelessly stolen from explodingdog.com)

Foreign Lands
by Dan Schwartz

I wanted to live in the land of bad decisions. In order to live in the land of bad decisions, you have to make some bad decisions.

I went off to foreign lands for a vacation, mostly around Europe. Every new country is a new opportunity to make a bad decision. You don't know anybody there, and sometimes you don't even know the language. What are they going to do, deport you? And even if they do, you were going back home anyway.

I was arrested after a soccer riot in Spain. They found many, many drugs on me. I am not ashamed.

In France I attempted to beat a man up, but this proved to be difficult. I didn't go to a hospital. I take pride in that.

I tried to have an affair in Luxembourg, but the language barrier kept getting in the way. I don't even know what they speak in Luxembourg.

In Switzerland I ate as much chocolate as I could, as fast as I could. I had to go to the hospital for that one.

Finally in England I wore a shirt that said "AMERICA" in big letters and had a big flag on it and went into the seediest bars I could find. I don't really want to talk about it right now.

I returned home satisfied that Europe was okay and the land of bad decisions is indeed an international place. It has no borders. It is inside all of us.

Check out The Land of Bad Decisions blog project at http://lobd.blogspot.com/

Also, just a reminder:

SUBMIT SUBMIT SUBMIT. We also use this material for the radio show, and it's really self-directed, so send us whatever you want, pretty much.

Promise to be more awake next week,
Jenna

Trying out a new host...

2007-10-08T17:16:00.000-07:00

Click on ME to listen to today's episode of Hobo's Lullaby on Archive!

Click on ME to listen to October's 1st's episode of Hobo's Lullaby on Archive!

Hope that works,
J.

p.s.
Check out this super nerdy picture of my best friend Jo and I making a sign at the pro-inclusive ENDA picket of the HRC dinner. We were smiling for a different picture and someone snapped this one:

Episode II (Also pretty sweet)

2007-10-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

Today on Hobo's Lullaby we heard from special in-studio guest Chazaq Llinas about the best 24-hour hang out in Ocean City, Maryland, from Rae Borsetti (in absentia) on expectations v. reality in Buenos Aires, from your host Carter Thomas on going to four Defiance Ohio shows in a row, and from yours truly, Jenna Brager, on the importance of passing a gender-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. We also played a poem by Andrea Gibson, who is the first feature in the Terpoets Queer Poetry Series (which Jenna helped plan) on Friday night at 7 pm in the Prince George's Room of Stamp Student Union. Her work can be found at http://www.andreagibson.org/.

This morning's playlist:

1. The Ditty Bops: Moon over the Freeway
2. Bill Monroe & Doc Watson: East Tennessee Blues (Live Duet)
3. Willie Nelson: Red Headed Stranger
4. Bob Dylan: Dirt Road Blues
5. Ani DiFranco: Gravel
6. Woody Guthrie: I Ain't Got No Home in This World Anymore
7. Phil Ochs: Outside A Small Circle of Friends
8. Gordon Lightfoot: Steel Rail Blues
9. Odetta: Nine Hundred Miles
10. Whiskeytown: Jacksonville Skyline
11. Dave End: Going to College
12. Adhamh Roland: Train Wrecks
13. Tom Rush: Panama Express
14. Robinella: Brand New Key
15. Ani DiFranco & Utah Phillips: Joe Hill
16. "Haywire Mac" McClintock: The Preacher & The Slave
17. Johnny Paycheck: Take this Job & Shove It
18. Bread & Roses: Dump the Bosses Off Your Back
19. Zora Young: Two Trains Running
20. Tom Waits: Cold Water
21. Chris Isaak: Western Stars
22. Andrea Gibson: Blue Blanket
23. Shannon Murray: The Preacher & The Slave
24. Gillian Welch: Leaving Train

Our WONDERFUL WOBBLY of the week was: JOE HILL!

Joe Hill was a radical songwriter, labor activist and member of the Industrial Workers of the World. Born in 1879 in Sweden, Hill traveled widely in the U.S. organizing with the IWW. He was responsible for writing many famous political songs and poems, including “The Tramp,” “There Is Power in a Union,” “Rebel Girl,” and “The Preacher and the Slave,” in which Hill coined the phrase “pie in the sky.”
Hill was executed in 1915 by firing squad after a controversial murder trial. Common belief holds that Hill was framed in the robbery/ murder that he was convicted of, because of his status as a foreigner and a radical. This can be compared to the later trial and execution of Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti in 1927.
Right before his execution, Joe Hill wrote a letter to IWW organizer Bill Haywood, saying, “Don’t waste any time in mourning. Organize.” Since his death, Joe Hill’s life, legend, and words have inspired countless radicals and artists. He has been immortalized in song, and had his songs immortalized, by the likes of Phil Ochs, Earl Robinson, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Riotfolk, and many other notable musicians.

Today's in absentia guest rambler was: Rae Borsetti, who is currently living and studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina!

Anthropology or Something Like It by Rae Borsetti

"The only two times I’ve ever been to Latin America and actually had a chance to get to know Latin Americans, I was meeting members of 1) a Mayan pueblo and 2) The Landless Worker’s Movement. Between these trips and learning about leftist movements in Latin America, from Chavez to the Oaxaca to the reclaimed factories of this city, I had developed this sense that Latin America must be made up of these really awesome people who all believe in community solidarity, have a developed class consciousness and analysis, and a radical politic.

Then, I moved to middle class Buenos Aires. I wanted to spend six months immersed in a new culture, only I wanted it to be the culture I imagined. I wanted the Hotel Bauens mixed with Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, some piquetes, manifestaciones, and murales. I came to see la lucha contra el capitalismo and I was transported to the land of billboards, leather boots (don’t leave the house without them), and more varieties of Diet Soda on every corner than even I had ever wished for.

I saw the Madres, but more of my experience has been watching one Madre try to get her beautiful, thin thirteen-year-old daughter to eat less. I met an army of women who aren’t fighting oppression but their scales, who don’t leave the house without their hair perfect and who drink cafecitos instead of eating meals. I saw one pointed mural with naked bodies in a shopping cart that read “No queremos seguir shopping,” but I mostly saw three-hundred posters of naked women selling cars per block, with a break every once in a while for one that just read “proba los sabores nuevos!!” Instead of a celebration of indigenous culture, I heard my Literature teacher today explain point-blank that the Europeans had civilization and the rest was barbarie.

I’ve been disenchanted, sure. But today, I realized that the adventure of being here isn’t supposed to be finding what I hoped for. It’s experiencing what I find. I learned about community solidarity in Guatemala and Brazil. I learned things about how I want to live. Here, I’m learning a little bit more about capitalism, machismo, and our blindness to our privilege, but those are important lessons too. I can’t demand that Argentina be what I want it to be, but I can learn from what it is.

Today, we went to a home for women and children in my class on the Social Solidarity Movement, and I met people who are fighting. It occurred to me that it’s the side of the culture I’m seeing that triggers the culture of resistance came to find. If Buenos Aires weren't what it is, there wouldn't be anything to fight for."

Don't Mourn, Organize!
~Jenna

Episode 1 on Podcast...

2007-10-02T03:27:00.001-07:00

Click here to get your own player.

The first like two minutes are the show before ours, but after that, it's all hobo, all the time.

~J

FIRST EVER EPISODE OF HOBO'S LULLABY A SMASHING SUCCESS!

2007-10-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

Today on Hobo's Lullaby, we heard from Carter about labor issues on campus and the cheapest cigarettes ever, from Jenna on Casey Jones, and from Kamikaze Noise frontman Dan McGregor on wearing the same pants for a really long time. Which is something Carter knows a lot about.

This morning's playlist:
1. Woody Guthrie: Hobo's Lullaby
2. Tom Waits: Cold Cold Ground
3. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band: God Bless Our Dead Marines
4. Robert Johnson: Rambling on my Mind
5. Mississippi John Hurt: Casey Jones
6. Adhamh Roland: Cottonmouths & Freight Trains
7. John Lee Hooker: Hobo Blues
8. This Bike is a Pipe Bomb: Depression
9. Hank Williams Sr.: Lost Highway
10. Defiance, Ohio: Response to Griot
11. Merle Haggard: Just A-Bummin' Around
12. Zegota: Sleepwalkers
13. Hank Williams Jr.: Ramblin' Man
14. Woody Guthrie: Baltimore to Washington
15. Adhamh Roland: Bella Ciao
16. The Weakerthans: Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist
17. Reverend Horton Heat: Couch Surfin'
18. Los Cojolites: Luna Negra
19. Ryan Harvey: Ain't Gonna Come Today
20. Grateful Dead: Friend of the Devil
21. Against Me!: Pints of Guiness Make You Strong
22. Shannon Murray: The Train Song
23. The Evens: Crude Bomb
24. John Prine & Bonnie Raitt: Angel from Montgomery
25. Paul Baribeau: Ten Things
26. Odetta: Midnight Special
27. The Mountain Goats: Weekend in Western Illinois

Our Revered Rail Rider of the Week was: CASEY JONES.
"“Casey said just before he died,/fix the blinds so that the bums can ride..."

Casey Jones, who has been immortalized in song by the likes of Johnny Cash, the Grateful Dead, Mississippi John Hurt, Eric Clapton, Shannon Murray, This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, and countless others, is the world’s most famous railroad engineer. Born in 1863, Jones was the lone fatality when his locomotive collided with a stopped freight train one foggy night in Mississippi, in 1900. His valiant efforts to stop his passenger train from crashing probably prevented the deaths of many other individuals. While living, Jones supported collective bargaining and was a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Division 99. Known for keeping to his schedule (people set their watches by his train since it was so punctual), Casey Jones’s body was found with his pocket watch stopped at the time of impact, and his hands still clutching the whistle cord and brake.

Today's guest rambler was: our good friend and Kamikaze Noise Frontman DAN MCGREGOR!

10 Random Things I Learned on the Kamikaze Noise MidWest Tour by Dan McGregor

1. Boom Boom Kid is the best band ever. No matter what the situation, just listen to the Kid tell you about how vegetables are good for you and you’ll probably feel better.

2. Wearing the same pair of patched up dirty as hell blood stained plaid shorts every single day will not make matters better, only worse. My shorts smelled terrible and were disgusting to touch. Even though they looked pretty stylin, in the end I regretted not bringing any change of clothes. Chances are though, when the next tour rolls around, I’ll do it all over again.

3. 100% of those “from now on whenever _____ happens I will do _____” never work out. We had about 7 of those per day, ranging from “from now on whenever anyone says anything, I will only make sarcastic and mean remarks in response” (which was hilarious for about 20 minutes and then got irritating), to “from now on whenever we eat I will make obnoxious and over-the-top sound effects” (still funny) to “from now on I will only wear these huge obnoxious sunglasses that used to belong to my grandma” (which was dumb from the start). But none of them lasted longer than a day. They never do. This is both good and bad.

4. We carried a broken TV in our laps from Columbus OH to Lexington KY. Our friend Mikeal was throwing it out and thought we should smash it on stage. We wound up not doing so. I didn’t learn anything from this, but it’s one of my favorite stories to tell.

5. Convention centers never seem to lock all their doors. Me and my pal Charlie heard there was an anime convention going on right there in Fort Wayne the night we were playing. So we went to check it out. We asked some people and they said it cost $40 per day, well fuck that!! So we checked the back door and it was unlocked, so we just marched right in and watched some random episodes of Gurren-Lagann before the show started. Sweet!

6. If you’re not bleeding by the end of your set, you’re not doing a good job of being a punk band. If you can still walk in a straight line without collapsing after your set, you’re not doing a good job of being a punk band. If you still have both feet on the ground, you’re not doing a good job of being a punk band. If people can’t feel your breath in their face, you’re not doing a good job of being a punk band.

7. Cincinnati sucks.

8. Kentucky is like its own little kingdom of magic. They have their own home brand of cheap ginger ale, called Ale81s, what a fuckin genius name!! But apparently they are not vegan, my friend Ami claims there are animal bones in there? They also have the most ridiculously cheap and crappy cigarettes in the US, a carton of Waves was less than $20. We “rode the Wave” a lot (at least the one non-edge member of our band did).

9. It’s ok to go skinny dipping in broad daylight in public in areas full of rocks with shitloads of “no swimming” signs surrounding you. We did this in Lake Michigan in Chicago in the morning, we drove overnight from Lexington KY to escape having to stay at the Chug Chug House another night. We found a nice pile of rocks by the shore and wondered if we could go swimming, so we took off all our clothes and made a run for the ice cold water. It wasn’t until we got out that we realized there were “no swimming” signs everywhere.

10. Big Cat tolerates no insolence.

We still are looking for a file-hosting site so that we can post episodes of hobo's lullaby on this blog! I have the episode saved, so hopefully I can get going on that and you'll be able to listen right here on the blog, and not even have to wake up at 6 am ever!

Keep on Keepin' On,
Jenna

Meet the Hosts!

2007-09-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

Carter Thomas is a student, labor organizer and upright bass player, who was born in Denver, Colorado, grew up in Johnson City, Tennessee, and lives outside of Ocean City, Maryland. He possesses superhuman powers of beard growth, makes a mean scrambled tofu, and his drink of choice is Kentucky Gentleman. He smokes hand-rolled cigarettes, believes in a gift economy, and is still attempting to finish reading Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord. He often wears the same pair of pants for decades at a time. His favorite food is any kind of meat. The fact that the University of Maryland has skate-proofed the ledge in front of Centreville Hall makes Carter Thomas, an avid rollerblader (or fruit booter, as it were), very upset. Despite the fact that Thomas is sometimes mistaken for a hippie who listens to jam bands, he actually won’t know or listen to any jam bands that you ask him about, and frequently participates in violent wall-of-death action. (Bio by Jenna)

Jenna Brager was born in Baltimore in December of 1988. After staking it out in B-murder for a while, 6 years to be exact, she left. Unlike most children, who run away to the backyard, Jenna ran away to the highway, where she cleverly told people that her parents had lost her and gave them ever changing stories about where she lived, in order to hitchhike to Georgia. After getting there, she went to the coast and stowed herself away on a fishing boat. After getting out to sea, she came out from the cargo hold, and needless to say, the crew was very surprised, and angry. They were tempted to take her back to shore, but they could not afford to turn around for they would miss much of the prime catching time. Normally they might have thought it more important to return her to shore, but they were already coming up relatively short for the year, so they were forced to let her stay. She quickly proved to be a valuable asset on the ship, and the crew was glad they had not returned her. With her help, they caught plenty of fish, and made enough money for the crew to get by very comfortably that year. After that season, and with a decent amount of money for food, she decided it was time for her to move on from the seas, and from Georgia. After a brief stint in Texas, panhandling other children her age while they were at recess, she decided it was time to return to Baltimore and go to high school, because she didn’t want to close herself to the option of higher education. This was a smart move on her part, because after graduating high school, she decided that although she would never cease to love the rambling life, she also had to change the world. So now she goes to College Park, and fights for various causes, which she cares deeply about. But she also just likes to fight. (Bio by Carter)

Carter and Jenna in the old days. . . Last semester.

Carter Thomas and Jenna Brager met in a Walmart’s McDonalds and started their friendship talking over Big Macs about their love for red meat, Fox News, and the Man. Immediately after their shopping spree, they decided they should probably become vegan Anarchists and cohost a riotfolk radio show. (Guest bio written by Ryan Smith, who lives in Dorchester with us. Thanks Ryan!)

Jenna and Carter have been friends since 1963. The two met each other in a bar in Wyoming while train hopping across the country. After arriving in California, they helped the free speech movement in Berkeley and went onto protest the Vietnam war. After attending Kerouac's funeral, they partied with Warhol and went to CBGB's for punk shows. After Warhol's funeral, they went to El Salvador to help the peasant farmers in the civil war. In 1989, Jenna went to Berlin to watch the Wall come down. Carter figured it would be best to just stay home and watch it on television. In the 1990s, Carter and Jenna teamed up to fight crime on the hard streets of DC, but when that didn't work out, they moved to Chile and were cattle ranchers. Today, they live happily together in Dorchester Hall and write poetry. (Guest bio written by Megan Lahman, who is Jenna's across-the hall-neighbor. We all know it's BS, but thanks Megan!)

Carter and Jenna today, with fellow activist and good friend Andrea.

Good times in the station.

LISTEN IN FOR MORE SWEET HANGIN' WITH JENNA AND CARTER ON HOBO'S LULLABY!

Hobo's Lullaby on WMUC Radio

2007-09-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

Hobo's Lullaby
Songs for drifters and revolutionaries...

Monday mornings from 6-8 am
WMUC College Park 88.1 FM
or stream it live @ wmucradio.com