SPURT radio is off the air! There's a lot to say about this, including a review of our last show, an explanation of why we're off the air, and a discussion of the current situation with Micropowered Broadcasting. Also we've gotten some really great letters of support from SPURT fans, and I'd like to post some clips from those.

...don't touch that dial, it's got SPURT on it!!!

For information about SPURT radio at Burning Man, check out our Desert SPURT page.

The following is a Show Summary Archive. Just a quick note about each of our shows, as well as the phone numbers and web sites that we mention on the air. It's starting to get a bit large, but you can always use your Find... under Edit to search for key words on this site if you're looking for something specific that we did. Head to the bottom for more contact information...

6/26/97 - Our first 'real' show presented our good friend and guru of all that is of "Chili Cheeze Fries" Scott on Bass. Live music and storytelling.

7/3/97 - We played a taped copy of "Finnegan King, the greatest not so great songwriter you never heard of." by our friend Jason. Let us know if you'd like details on how to order your very own copy!

7/10/97 - We were going to have Danielle come and play her cello for you, but our technology got the best of us and we weren't able to get on the air. We'll do our best to lure her back another time!

7/17/97 - K opened with a discussion of Cars/Oil/NY Times/Environmental Law. Then Timothy joined SPURT for a really fun show. Many original songs by Tim (including "Give me a ride to Heaven" and "Elephantiatis"), K's singing debut, and a couple of stories read by D with live sound effects!

7/24/97 - K presents 'Topics', and this week, his topic was "SPACE... Space... space...". Then Robin & Bill brought us many great original songs. Special treats included Robin on Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, and Bill reading 'Old Dry Fry'. Also, A made her debut as the Queen of the Green Room Goodies, keeping the artists, hosts, and guests well fed.

7/31/97 - K's show 'Topics' was on suicide this week. It's not all fun and games here on SPURT radio. It was a good show though. Then Tim made a special appearance, joining K & D for some contests and call-ins. Thank god we finally gave away that nickel-plated baby grand piano! Congratulations Amber "Long time listener, first time caller"! And Jeb sounded very pleased about winning that caulking gun. We just did NOT need to know about his pink underwear, thanks anyway Jeb.

8/7/97 - With 100% of the crew away on vacation, SPURT took the week off. We would like to apologize profusely for any inconvenience this may have caused...

8/14/97 - Back on the Air! Although D and A were still off in the tropics with the tickets they won from 7/31's show (it's amazing that they knew the answer to that trivia question!), K was around to give you another dose of SPURT! With some help from good 'ol long boy Tim and Terrific Tetsu, we played plenty of tunes and had some original (spontaneous) live songs as well. Send in those song topics, Tim says he can do ANYTHING!

8/21/97 - WE'RE OFF THE GRID! That's right, we are on the brink of being able to call ourselves completely Solar Powered. Last night we ran ALL of our equipment off of the battery, and as soon as we recharge it with some power from the sun, we're solar! Technical stuff aside, our good friend Joe finally got his cast off and came to play some acoustic guitar for us. He provided some great musical accompaniment to go with a couple of Grimm fairy tales read by Cap'n D, and then a tale from K's garden. K and D also finally got a phone rigged up to the mixer, so we called our buddy Tim for the Sports, Weather, and Horoscope. Unfortunately we aren't quite brave enough to give out a number yet, but we're working on getting a new number just for the station, so look forward to being able to call in soon. In closing, let's all wish Joe a 'get well' for his diphtheria, dengue fever, liver flukes, jock itch, broken heart, amoebic dysentery, cholera, trichinosis...

8/28/97 - 9/1/97 - SPURT wasn't on the air in Berkeley that week on account of being solar powered and on location for Burning Man '97. Some of the highlights? We gave away Margaritas that were blended using solar power, we had five of the most BEAUTIFUL "SPURT Girls" you've ever seen, we did a simulcast with Frequency Publica 91.5, K was probed at Alien Probe Camp (Aack in the Box), we had a seven and a twelve year old on the air promoting the camp that they were staying at which happened to be the Molitov Cocktail Throwing Contest Camp if you can believe that, K learned to breathe fire (and only singed his goatee a little bit!), we played at Mini-Golf Camp, we organized a group honk and had a kid with a duck help us out, we rescued the folks at Fuzzy Dice Camp, and after the Main Burn we took our shade structure apart and used the wood to build and then burn our very own Burning Woman With A Jog Bra with glow sticks in her head and heart out on the playa! Talk about a full weekend, baby, that was it! I'd like to send a HUGE thank you to our good friend James who worked SO hard helping us bring the radio to you!! Everything we did was a testament to the fact that you can do ANYTHING if you've got a Makita, a Leatherman, and lots of duct tape. We're already looking forward to next year!

9/4/97 - Arguably our best show yet! And yes, the whole thing got recorded. K opened with a reading of a Carlotta Headwaters Newsletter, giving us an overview of what's up with the Old Growth Redwood Forest and what failed junk bonds have to do with logging. Then we called up a very well spoken friend of a friend who's an Earth First!er and he filled us in on even more Headwaters Scoop. Truly a great phone interview conducted by K. Then our old pal Timothy dropped in and played a number of songs for us, including two brand spankin' new ones that nobody had heard yet other than him! Thanks Tim! It was a great show, and I hope you caught it. Let us know if you didn't if you're interested in getting a copy.

9/11/97 - This time we REALLY drove home the scoop on the upcoming Headwaters Rally in the hopes of encouraging a few of you to come along. A BIG thanks to our friend Geoff for providing all of us with some very good information on the whole situation. We played a bunch of clips off the new CD "Who Bombed Judi Bari?", a collection from various speeches by the late Earth First! activist. We're looking forward to a positive, productive, informative, non-violent weekend in Humboldt County.

9/13/97 & 9/14/97 - The term "Amazing" could be used to describe Headwaters Rally '97. With only 3% of the old growth redwoods left, and 60,000 acres perched on the chopping block, 6 to 8,000 people gathered in Humboldt County this weekend to protest the logging of ancient forests. When IS enough going to be enough? Lot's of very positive energy was up there. Many took time away from camp to go help a guy sandbag his property in an effort to save his home and land from the assured mud slides that are going to come with this winter's predicted heavy rain. His neighbors got washed out last year by mud that slid because of poor logging practices. You can't possibly criticize Earth First!'s stance on this issue (Not One More Ancient Tree Shall Fall!) until you actually see the clear-cut land in contrast to sustainably-cut forest and in contrast to un-cut forest. The time to stop is now. 2000 year old trees are NOT a renewable resource. The fact is, even IN 2000 years, this land would still show signs of it's "short-sighted logging practices" past, even IF not one more tree fell. Will there even be any redwood forests then? Think about it... and please re-think that redwood fence/deck.

9/18/97 - If you felt that we beat you over the head a bit last night with our thorough treatment of Headwaters Rally '97, it's only because there's lots to say. That, and we have about six hours of taped material from the rally, and we really wanted to work it into the show last night. Like "K and Cap'n D interview Jerry Brown!" and Bonnie Rait singing "Charles Hurwitz, in the end EVEN YOU are gonna have to get back to mother earth!" Speaking of Charles Hurwitz... if you're interested in $25,000 and think you can get him into jail check out the Jail Hurwitz! site. Also, if you'd like to get in touch with the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH), their number is (510) 835-6303. So I'd like to send a big thanks to Hanuman and Lone Pine for coming in and sharing all of their information and concern for the Headwaters, Thanks Guys! Then, after a good couple of hours of Headwaters it was just K & D on the mic's, and look out, we got our hands on some sound effects. That adventure took you to the depths of the ocean in a leaky submarine, out for some fun car crashing, and we hopped a few flights on jets. Sorry about that pesky mosquito, he just wouldn't give up! *swack!* I'm pretty sure the mosquito's going to find it's way back into the studio *swack!*, so set up your citronella candle and tune in next week! *SWACK!*

9/25/97 - Just good old K and Cap'n D hanging out for most of the night. Bert came by to guess that, yes, we were indeed talking about Bill Gates who's personal net worth chimes to the tune of $40,000,000,000.00! So we talked about wealth. We also talked about one of K's FAVORITE topics... inaccuracy in the media. Since we were at the Headwater's Rally he was able to point out some of the biases in a recent article about said Rally. Then we played a LOT of Oingo Boingo since I happened to have some with me and since we just started having a really good time with it. Fall is here! Keep an ear out for tales of terror and music that will curdle your blood as we approach Halloween!

10/2/97 - SPURT was coming to you live from an undisclosed location in... that big dark house up the hill that you're sure nobody lives in even though you see a candle in the window from time to time. We had Hanuman and Lone Pine come in and read us an update that was faxed to them from the Headwaters Base Camp. Get in touch with BACH if you want to help out. There's a Headwaters event next Thursday (10/9) at Starry Plough in Berkeley at 9pm. Music, slides, info from the Headwaters Rally, and more. Check it out. SPURT may even be transmitting live on location for that! So to make our transition into October and in preparation for the best holiday of the year, we read Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. That was a LOT of fun for me seeing as how it's one of my favorite poetic works of all time. K added another dimension to the thing by running the sound which included creaking ship boards, wind, waves, lightning, frogs, dying sailors, etc, etc, etc.

10/9/97 - This week SPURT came to you live from an undisclosed location in... your mind! Like I said on the air last night... all I can do is be thankful that we got last night's show on tape, so that in the days... no the weeks... dare I say MONTHS to come, we may listen back to ask ourselves "What was it that made last nights show so special? What were the elements that went into a show like we did last night, that made it SO tight, SO cohesive, and just so DAMN entertaining?" *sigh* Well, honestly, it wasn't our WORST show ever, but it ran a close second! Hey, at least we know it and can laugh about it. Even Debbie admitted that she had to tune out a couple of times, so don't feel bad if you had a hard time sitting through it.

10/16/97 - Ok, back on track! Cap'n D here... I tried to read a story that I remember as being a good 'n scary sci-fi, but it was just too complicated and slow for radio reading. The neighbors yelled across the lake (we were, as you may recall, coming to you LIVE from an undisclosed rubber dingy on Lake Merritt) and told us to throw on some tunes. So we got on with the show. Then K paddled out and joined Timothy and I. THEN our Pal In The Woods, Al, called us up. K interviewed him about the recent Cassini Saturn Launch. A few stats? Something like 3/20 Titan Rockets have blown up while launching. Cassini used a Titan Rocket to get off this rock we call Earth, and it was carrying 72 pounds of plutonium. Al was telling us how a rocket with 2 pounds of plutonium blew up in the 60's and every continent at every latitude still has detectable levels of radiation from that, and the worldwide incidence of lung cancer apparently shot up (like a rocket) after that 2 pound incident. So suffice to say, there were people who had their feet on the ground (instead of their head in the clouds, or up their butt as the case may be) who were rather concerned about the launching and the coming 1999 fly-by of 72 pounds of plutonium. Here's a quick tangent about the 1999 fly-by... didn't Nostradomous predict that in 1999 fire would rain down from the sky and all but wipe out humankind? yeesh! I hope those space boys remembered to carry the three in their calculations!

10/23/97 - It never ceases to amaze me, what kind of thing can turn itself into a glitch in the fine-geared workings known as SPURT radio. K and Cap'n D were doing a joint reading of Poe's The Raven (with Terrific Tetsu as the Raven) when the kitten that's been haunting our studio climbed up onto K's shoulder! Well, that was it for K. He laughed and staggered his way along from there. That kitten is just TOO cute!! ANYWAY... SPURT was coming to you LIVE from... the graveyard (a wolf howls a long and lonesome cry). So we played a bunch of Oingo Boingo which is undeniably good cemetery music. Then for our Psychotic Homicidal Fucked Up Maniac Hour we played some Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds off their Murder Ballads CD. Cap'n D read The Cask Of Amontillado as well. Oh yeah, then we dug up a couple of dead-ish guys. We figured, hey why not, here we are in the cemetery and all. The first guy tried to eat K's brain, so that didn't go so well. Then Mr. Henry Vee had a few words to say to Cap'n D about the world series, France, and El Nin~o. Since Debbie didn't say she had to listen to the classical station in the middle of our show just because we were SO bad, I assume that it was better than the 9th! Until next week... (that same wolf lets out a long howl that stills the crickets... and this time... it's closer...)

10/30/97 - We came to you live from an undisclosed location in... the pumpkin patch! Cap'n D ranted about sport hunting in the context of talking about Mountain Lions. I was reading facts from the recent Express article on them. Then K talked a bit about money money money. Then we played some Coolio for our ever devoted wacky neighbors! (And of course, there was the kitten.) Keep an ear out, Captain Midnight Coded Messages are coming soon to a SPURT show near you! Get in touch with Klutz Press (1-800-558-8944) if you need to order a Captain Midnight Decoder Badge. (The badges themselves aren't listed on their web site, they only do books on the web, check it out anyway though.) And our phone situation gets closer to fruition with every passing day. If you listen really closely on the 31st, you just may hear SPURT doing a thing or two as well.

10/31/97 - Yes indeed, you may have heard us howling over the air waves a bit on Halloween. It was mostly taped dance/party music. Well, we were awful busy keeping the sound system at it's peak and doing the party thing anyway, so we had fun.

11/6/97 - E-mail your solutions to last night's Captain Midnight Encoded Message to us. And if you couldn't decipher it, you need to get an official Decoder Badge! (see 10/30). K talked about Oregon's euthanasia law, and then about our country's propaganda machine in the context of Iraq. We also had a Headwaters Update from Hanuman with a discussion about the Pepper Spray issue from Earth First!'s perspective. We had a new segment that Cap'n D has been joking about doing for a while... "Erik's Refrigerator... What lies therein?". Timothy, acting green-room boy for the evening, gave us a Sport Spurt and an El Nin~o update.

11/13/97 - Deputy Driscoll already filed a formal complaint against K about last night's Captain Midnight Encoded Message. In K's defense, we were scrambling to shut things down so we could go catch "When the Cat's Away" (a French film, I liked it). So, being pressed for time, and not thinking anyone would be able to write down the code fast enough anyway, K gave you a bogus message. Come on! Don't get bummed out on the coded message thing though, you should still get your hands on a Decoder Badge, we DO plan on making Encoded Messages a part of our regular show! *sigh* That said... it was a pretty good show last night. K did a good commentary on Iraq and our own country's propaganda machine and on asking "What is our motivation against Iraq?" It's always good to ask questions. Then we had Wallace, the drummer from Zuba, come in to tell us about the band and upcoming shows and a few road stories, and we played 3 songs off their CD. They are playing at the Maritime in SF tomorrow (11/15) at 9pm. Should be a good show! Check it out. Then Cap'n D read Rapunzel, with the AMAZING help of Kirt who did Rapunzel's and the evil sorceress' voices, while D narrated and did the prince's voice. Fun fun fun. Then we had the "Wacky Neighbors' Movie Review". They might have a better name for their segment, but that'll do for now. They reviewed Boggie Nights. It sounded like they both enjoyed it to me... they both recommend it. (Especially if you've ever been, or had a friend or sibling, in the... well... "adult" industry. ??) Ok, so that was about it. Tune in next week for the next exciting chapter of SPURT!

11/15/97 - Just a quick plug... go see ZUBA at the Maritime in SF on Saturday 11/15 at 9pm. Tell them SPURT sent you!

11/20/97 - Ok, let's see here. This weeks show was that... weak. Actually it wasn't that bad. K and I talked about this and that for a bit and mostly played music. No luck on getting anyone to come in and do a live music thing, but we've got a few things coming up. Keep that fan mail coming to let us know about stuff you'd like to hear or of people you know who want to be on the air! Who am I kidding? I mean START that fan mail coming! *sigh* Anyway... Cap'n D read a Grimm's fairy tale called "The Companionship of Cat and Mouse". Kindof a precursor to Tom & Jerry, or Itchy & Scratchy, with a bit of Ren & Stimpy in there. We might do Snow White next week (if we do a show on Thanksgiving... still no telling on that one. We'll have to see what time everyone gets back into town.) If not then, soon. We're all curious what the original story is like, I know I've never read it before, and these Grimm's Tales have been quite surprising. Ok, enough for now. Catch you later... -Cap'n D p.s.: oh... one more thing... were you able to decode the Secret Encoded Message?? Well, now you know why all the aliens come to California for vacation! If you didn't get it, then get on it and get a Decoder Badge! Let us know if you need help.

11/22/97 - Special Edition! In a last minute decision this morning, SPURT decided to take it's solar-powered butt down to the grand opening of Real Good's Berkeley Store on Gilman and 10th. It was pretty mellow. We just played some music and provided a bit of "local color" for their ribbon cutting. We were hoping it would land us in one of their catalogs, but I didn't see a lot of pictures being taken, so I doubt it. Anyway... just keeping you up to date!

11/22/97 - Mark your calendar!! Paddlefoot (SPURT radio's FAVORITE band) is playing in Berkeley at the Starry Plough. Be prepared to get up and dance, you really won't be able to help yourself.

11/27/97 - *zzzzz zzzzzzz zzzzzzzz* Well, at first we were going to do a Thanksgiving show... THEN we thought it'd be funny to just do an hour or so of dead air and call it our "Turkey Coma" episode, but then we really WERE in Turkey Comas... too much so to even get to the transmitter to put on dead air. Alas... there was NO show. So I guess it really WAS a "Turkey Coma" episode! Catch you next week...

12/4/97 - So for the 12/4 show, we were coming to you live, millions of years ago, from the Land of the Lost! "K, look out for that Sleestack! AAAAA... oh NO!" So K was talking about the sports "industry/machine", make no mistake, it's both. We also had a secret encoded message about stuff you can't live without this Christmas. ALSO... we did, in fact, start reading The Hobbit. We're going to be reading 30mins of it each week. We do Captain Midnight at 9, so from about 9:15 to 9:45 we'll have The Hobbit for a while. It should be fun. We were taking calls this week. Nobody called us, but we were giving stuff away! So keep an ear out for chances to get something like a SPURT sticker! Well... that and we want to know if anyone is actually listening... Oh, one more thing... we're going to make a Christmas Tape Special with highlights of SPURT 1997! Interested in a copy? Get in touch with us.

12/11/97 - SPURT radio... coming to you LIVE from yet another undisclosed location... that I can't seem to recall at the moment. Oh, wait! Now I remember, we were on the Borg Ship! How could I forget? K got us over the hump of the show with a discussion about money and how insanely pervasive the rippling effects of it are. We're also charging ahead with The Hobbit, thirty minutes at a time.

12/18/97 - This week we were transmitting from the Island Of Lost Toys. Indeed an appropriate location for a station such as ourselves. With Christmas around the corner, we wanted to remember all the neglected toys, and the toys that nobody wants.

12/25/97 - No show tonight, but Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from SPURT radio! If you'd like a copy of our 1997 retrospective tape (60 mins) that we made to give to our friends, send us some e-mail and we'll see what we can dig up for you.

1/1/98 - HAPPY NEW YEAR! Yes, we did indeed do a show on New Year's Day, coming to you live from an undisclosed location in 1998. This was our Dan Davis episode. We were still a bit hung over, but our spirits remained high with the promise of the arrival of the Original! Dan Davis. Alas... he must have been too wiped out from the combination of salt air and flaming christmas tree fumes (not to mention the whisky) to make it, but we know he wanted to come. We made it a short night, both because we were tired and because those wankers at Channel 20 moved Xena to Thursday nights! Don't worry, we aren't going to start shutting down at 9 just because Xena is on (we'll just have to start watching it on Saturdays) but we were winding down anyway. Ok, well, catch us next week!

1/8/98 - This week we triple booked ourselves, and THEN we zero booked ourselves, and THEN K even had somewhere else to be, so it ended up being a Cap'n D solo show! Lot's of music, and I read an article about the use of solar power in Sri Lanka, and how it is quickly becoming the solar power mecca since most people already run their houses off car batteries, it's just that they used to recharge them downtown off the grid. So going to a solar panel for their recharging needs is not a big step. And we did a quick Captain Midnight Message as well. We're still waiting for The Original Dan Davis to show up... he should be here any time now! Tune in next week for our 25th episode!!

1/15/98 - Can you believe it??!?!? Our 25th episode! Wow. Almost 7 months on the air every Thursday evening! Who knew, 7 months ago, that we would come so far? So for our 25th episode we had our first guest DJ, and let me tell you, we were all funked up. Lot's of very groovy tunes brought to you by our very good friend Jeffrey. K incited a virtual riot in the kitchen, by bringing up the topic of cigarette smoking in bars, and then talked about the 40-some people that were killed in Chiapas recently. Chiapas, as it turns out, is a pirate radio hot spot. It's the only way some folks have of organizing against an oppressive and violent government. So we also continued along with our reading of The Hobbit. We had a little Miles Davis in the background for that. So thanks for joining us, we hope you got that secret encoded message, and we'll see you next week! And please... California Highway Workers... Give Them A BRAKE! (Not 'break', they know how to take those... just don't run them over!!)

1/22/98 - THERE we go! I don't know how long it's been since we've had LIVE music, but it had been TOO long. Joel, from Paddlefoot, came by with a guitar and played some songs for us, including some unveilings of new songs! Thanks Joel! K ran a news commentary, talking about Newsweek's coverage (or lack thereof) of the Clinton Sex Scandal, and how it was the right thing to do. It's a shame that they are getting panned for not pushing what was, at the time, skanky rumors. (Oh well... they're big children, they can take care of themselves.) It's just that the media is really saying they WANT that crap shoved down the American information conduit. K also talked about the Pope's visit to Cuba, and since SPURT was coming to you LIVE from Cuba, we asked him to stop by. Of course he did, and he sends his blessings to all of you devoted SPURT fans... I'm sure that includes those of you checking out our site! Thanks a millions for stopping by Your High Holiness! What else... Joel played background music for story time. Cap'n D is still reading The Hobbit, last night was the part where we meet Gollum! I've been looking forward to that part since the beginning! And FINALLY, as IF all this wasn't enough! The Original Dan Davis made his long awaited SPURT debut! So last night's show was full of treats... we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

1/29/98 - Oh jeeze... what did we do last week... see this is what happens when I don't write these things right away! ummmm.... I remember K had a really good news segment, and he had a PILE of newspaper in front of him. There was a plea from K to the American media to PLEASE stop with the "scandal" already! Then he talked about the public smoking thing... his "favorite topic to debate since abortion". Ok... so then Jason showed up! An old friend to SPURT radio, from the days when the studio was a table covered in wires and beer wasn't allowed within 5 feet of the transmitter! He also happens to be a VERY talented musician AND yet another member of "SPURT radio's favorite band" Paddlefoot. (see link to their page somewhere above). He played a few songs for us, and did a great job I might add. Then, to wrap up the show, he played the musical accompaniment to Cap'n D reading another half hour of the Hobbit. That's about all I remember at the moment... I'll write more if it comes to me. Keep an eye out for a new and improved SPURT page... also keep an ear out for a further and less static-y signal when we put up a new tower!

2/5/98 - SPURT radio featured guest DJ: ariel13 on her turntable. She also had a sidekick DJ: ever Thanks for coming over! K opened with a great news segment with a few solid criticisms for the Chronicle and their coverage (or avoidance of) world issues. He also mentioned the Bill Gates "pie in the face"... of course we'll take credit for knowing the original "Apple-pie-er" (search above). So we skipped the Captain Midnight secret message and story time, it was a calculated cut that seemed the best thing to do considering the amount of time it had taken me to get the turntable working properly. Last night show was very reminiscent of SPURT's early days... WAY back... last year. And, man, we REALLY need a tower... the wind was doing a job on our antenna! Well... catch you next week!

2/12/98 - We sure didn't see THIS one coming! K and I were sitting in the kitchen around 6 o'clock, trying to figure out what we were going to do for the show when we got a call... we ended up with a whole new segment! It's called Doctor T's Musical Love Therapy. Send us your e-mail about your love problems, and Doctor T will give you his advice... in a song! WARNING: listening to Doctor T's Musical Love Therapy while operating a vehicle or heavy machinery may be hazardous to your health! His Therapeutic debut included a tribute to Dan & Stephan in the Stacks of Wurster Hall... not the Mall... Wurster Hall... So let's see, what else did we do? Cap'n D read another bit of The Hobbit. (Accompanied by live guitar ala Timothy.) I'm trying to remember if K did a news segment... (sorry K!) You see, I'm writing this almost a week after the fact. Well, anyway, the main point of this episode is... SEND US YOUR LOVE PROBLEMS ON E-MAIL for Doctor T's Musical Love Therapy! He'll cure what ails ya!

2/19/98 - This show was quite good! Our good friend DJ Debbie Jay presented us with a stack of CD's and a play list. Although she couldn't be there in person, she was "virtual DJing" and it worked out quite well. The stack even included an Edilweiss CD that is illegal in the US!!! We also did an Erkie Pagel Triple Shot. Yet another friend who wasn't there in person, but who wanted some songs played. The MEAT of the show was all K though. He did a fantastic job preparing and presenting some interesting commentary on the US government's stance against Iraq. Things are getting very hot over there in The Gulf, and if you listen to what people, like the President, are ACTUALLY saying, you'll hear some interesting things. He took some clips out of a speech from earlier this week, and talked about a handful of points. So that was cool... What else? Cap'n D read another half hour from The Hobbit. This week, our intrepid heroes met Beron... very cautiously... but traded a good tale for a meal and some rest.

2/20/98 - This week was Micro-power Radio Teach-In Week. The culmination of said week, is in a "Free Radio Forum" TONIGHT (2/20). It's at the Unitarian Fellowship in North Berkeley on Cedar/Bonita. SPURT radio will be on location! Come learn some stuff about the Micro-power Radio movement. Free Radio Berkeley might even be putting on some workshops on how to build your OWN transmitter this weekend!!

2/26/98 - So you might be thinking to yourselves, "What the hell kind of show was THAT!??!" Well... that's what WE were left thinking... and it was OUR SHOW! *sigh* Oh well, just like the "good old days", last night's show had lots of music and LOTS of K & D rambling on about what they thought of this and that and some of this and don't forget that time about that... The show was (and I AM quoting) "...too rude to listen to in public." It did, however, have another Erkie Pagel Triple Shot, and this time there was a theme! Tell us what it was and get a free copy of our '97 Best of SPURT Radio Tape! We still haven't gotten any e-mail love problems for Doctor T to put to song! Come on! Haven't any of you been dumped or something!? Doctor T will write a song about it for you! Also, Dawn/Cedric, the movie critics that the critics are calling "bold", "really out there, man" and "camp-a-rama-licious" stopped by after the 7pm show to say "We liked Goodwill Hunting". So there you have it! We'll be back next week! Oh no! Oh YES!

3/5/98 - The return of Doctor T's Musical Love Therapy... including an update on Dan and Stephan! This week SPURT radio was coming to you, live, from an undisclosed crater on the moon, near an undisclosed pole (even though there's only two, so you've got a 50/50 chance even if you guess, but we'll take it, it's better than nothing, and you STILL don't know WHICH crater either way!), where the ice is. It was also the debut of K on guitar! He played the background for D's story time which included another segment of The Hobbitt. K also did a news segment, skimming over some of the things that caught his eye last week. We were supposed to have a guest, but he'll be in NEXT week. Catch ya then!

3/12/98 - I'd say this week's show came just in time! I was having one of those weeks where you start to question why you do what you do. Is it all worth it? Nobody's listening anyway, right? And THEN we had the studio FULL of friends! A whole bunch of people came and went this last week, and it was a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone who stopped by! We had Big Daddy Jim and DJ Adrian in the studio early in the evening. Jim was telling us about his upcoming 'Zine... Radix. It's going to feature articles about and by people who are tired of complaining and of hearing others complain, and decided to get out the and do something about it! So keep an eye out for those, and if they end up on the web, I'll make sure to put up a link. Then we had a movie review by Mysterio and Oblivia. Here's what one listener had to say about them...
"i thought that the movie review section was fantastic. it was insiteful and informative. they seem really cool. mysterio has such a sexy voice and i find him fascinating. that oblivia sounds like a godess. she must be really cool. i have seen goodwill hunting and there review was right on the money. now i can't wait to see the wedding singer. your station is fantastic and fun the music cool and the on on air personnel are cool. that captain D is so funny. and K is way existential love spurt and you guys are way cool.
a spurt fan.
p.s. i listen in bed on my satin sheets."
Okay... so what else was up, did you decode the secret encoded message? We know that some of you out there were getting paid to... so how'd you do? Well, thanks again everyone for a great show. Now, if only we could get up a bit higher so the guys in the glass studio could get us!

3/19/98 - This week we had two guests, they were DJ Travisty and Soupchewey, both DJ's on Radio X at 102.5 FM in the Mission in San Francisco. They got a little visit from the FCC a few weeks ago, and are currently off the air. They told us about what Radio X does with it's bilingual programming, and how their search for a new home is going. SPURT radio wishes them the best and hopes that they get back on the air to share the frequency soon!

3/26/98 - Coming to you live from an undisclosed albatross somewhere over the Pacific... After some goofing around to get rolling, we had a guest this week, Cereza, who has been travelling, off and on, to Central America since the late 60's, and just returned from Chiapas. She was telling us about some of her experiences there, and answering some of our questions about how screwed up the government/economic/military situation is. Another very informative show!

4/2/98 - After a few weeks of serious formats, we're back to the show that you know and love... K and Cap'n D running the scene, pizza and beer in hand, playing lots of music. We did, however, have an interlude of seriousness from a member of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association. She came in and did a slide show presentation. Now, while you folks on the receiving end couldn't enjoy the lovely slides, she made sure to gauge her talk towards being understandable without the pictures. It's really exciting to learn about the marine sanctuary that's right in our back yard here in the Bay Area! They are a non-profit, and do lots of good work. So get in touch with them if you're looking for a good cause to put your volunteering energy into, or if you'd like to become a member. Of course we had story time, and read another portion of The Hobbit. And then we had the return of Mysterio and Oblivia, doing their movie criticism thing. This week they went and saw, what is it... the Nelson Boys, or the Newton Boys? That bank robber movie. They really liked it. Next week they're going to do a nightclub review, and it sounds like they might check out Bondage-A-Go-Go, so you might want to tune in for THAT review! Catch you next week!

4/9/98 - Oh boy! They went and did it... Mysterio and Oblivia, in an effort to branch out for their "review segment", decided to review nightlife in San Francisco rather than see a movie. So they went to, among other places, Bondage-A-Go-Go. We got the latest tips on chains and whips, some information about the latest fashion craze... liquid latex! (that's right, you thought jeans were tight in the 70's... try painting on a pair for the evening!), and a review worth remembering! Aside from the review, we were coming to you live from an undisclosed sewer pipe deep in the bowels of the city. We played a lot of music and read an article out of the Earth Island Journal (a quarterly put out by Earth Island Institute) that delved into the connection between Fluoride, Dupont, and the A-Bomb (be afraid... be very afraid).

4/16/98 - This week we had a guest DJ who has done some "virtual DJing" here at SPURT radio in the past, but had a chance to come in and spin some discs in person... erkie pagel. He had us guess some really great "what's the connection" triple shots, and then we gave him a connection to try and mix to, and he pulled it off in less time than it took for me to find something to read while he thought about it! And, we can't forget that incredibly embarrassing tape that he found of us in High School when we accidentally recorded our conversation on the way to the store to buy a six pack of Jolt cola! yipes! Thanks for the tunes and the company erkie! So, let's see... what else did we do... K did a news segment about the media's choice of terms in the continuing debate about the legalization of marijuana. For example, if they call them "pot clubs" instead of "marijuana clinics"... that certainly paints a different picture, wouldn't you say? And then, once again, we could hardly find the Chronicle's "World" section, buried behind the full page Lucky's ad that was styled to look like it was actually a series of articles. So then Mysterio and Oblivia came through in their whirlwind fashion with a review of the Parkway Theater. Couches, beer (so how was that beer Oblivia?), and $3 admission, of course they loved it. They saw Great Expectations, and I think they liked that too. That's it for this week... catch you next week!

4/23/98 - No we WON'T catch you this week... there will be NO SPURT show this Thursday. Instead, everyone should go to Slims in San Francisco to see "SPURT radio's favorite band" play for the last time. Paddlefoot comes on at 9 p.m., but there is going to be a short film shown between bands, so get there a bit early so that you don't miss "sentence stories". Once again, we repeat, there will be no radio show this week, we're gonna be crying our eyes out at Paddlefoot's last live performance!

4/30/98 - SPURT radio's old nemesis, "Technical Difficulties", reared it's ugly head this week! It had been a while since we had seen it last, and we weren't expecting the attack. "Distract it K... I'll be back..." I said slyly, as I slipped off to Radio Shack to pick up the tools necessary to battle the beast. Smiling faces, more coax in hand, we made a swift, valiant assault. BLAST! Our overconfidence had become our downfall! Technical Difficulties made a devastating counter attack! Now it was 7 o'clock and we had no idea where to turn. Our gear was failing us and the show was supposed to start. We beat a hasty retreat, screaming, arms in the air, running in circles, and regrouped in the shed. Now that we had gotten our panic out of the way, we methodically isolated the faulty piece of equipment. Who's side was Radio Shack on?!? We had the wrong cable! It was now 7:20, and we had three choices. 1)Race back to Radio Shack and attempt to get the correct cable, which they may not even have. 2)Make the necessary changes to our setup in order to avoid needing the cable. (A slow and dangerous procedure.) 3)Crawl into a safe, dark hole, and hope that nobody notices that we wimped out in the face of adversity. NOW we knew what we had to do, and we set about making option #3 a reality. Oh, wait, no we didn't. Option #2 was the only SURE way we had to get on the air that night, and we were already a half an hour behind schedule. "The show must go on!" we yelled, as we caught the tip of Technical Difficulties' tail, and slowly, piece by piece, dismantled it into a smoldering pile of ashes. Reverting our gear to a tried and true state, we had "SPURT radio in... five, four, three, two, *pop* *beeeeeeep*! *tap* *tap* *tap*" at 8:00 PM Pacific Daylight Time. Victorious, but exhausted, we were rescued from having to actually do a show ourselves by Doctor Pimento (no relation). Then we had a wonderful review segment by Mysterio & Oblivia, which included a FREE CD of a band I, regretfully, can't remember at the moment but will include in this archive entry as soon as I find out. So thank you to our co-conspirators Doctor Pimento (no relation), and Mysterio & Oblivia, for helping to make this week's show a reality. Tune in next week, for the next exciting chapter!

5/7/98 - Oh, let's see, about a week has gone by since this show, so now I have to remember what the heck we did! Ummmm... AAAAAA! The pressure's killing me! What did we do? What did we do? Well, we played some music, we goofed around, we stomped the decomposed granite down, oops, I mean I had NOTHING to do with stomping down the granite! It was T's idea! I DEFINATELY didn't have anything to do with pouring another layer (that was a different color) around the edge. *sigh* This really doesn't mean anything to any of you, does it? We had another episode of Doctor T's Musical Love Therapy and the other SPURT doctor, Doctor Pimento (no relation) helped us wrap up the show with an eclectic selection of tunes. Hopefully we'll have our antenna in it's new location soon. If this weather ever lightens up, we're going to start BBQing on radio nights, so get ready for that. Catch you next week...

5/14/98 - So THAT'S what happens when you run the station on auto-pilot... it's not pretty! We have to admit, we sacrificed this week's show's integrity for TV... and it wasn't even for Xena! We put on a long CD and watched the final episode of Seinfeld. I have to say I would have RATHER watched Xena... or REALLY would have rather done a better SPURT show, but what's done is done. Next week's show looks like it'll be better...

5/21/98 - Oh yeah! Back on track! Every song we played was the "right" song, our plug for out sponsor ("...drink some of this, it's good!") came off pretty well, dinner was good, and the news, oh my god, K's news segment kicked butt! A very interesting examination of the language and selective memory at work by our country's media machines. The topic was Suharto's resignation following the hundreds of deaths following the riots following the murder of six students, by the Indonesian military, while protesting the energy cost increases being imposed on the people. (Funny how the NY Times forgot that bit about the six students dying just 7 days after reporting it... hmmm... selective memory? overt omission? The world may never know, but we should wonder.) So we also had another installation of Mysterio & Oblivia. They saw "As Good As It Gets" at the Parkway Theater. It was something of a beer/couch review. Next week they're going to be getting into some trouble it sounds like, so tune in. Send them some e-mail! Their new addresses are accessible from the bottom of this very page! Catch you next week...

5/28/98 - This week we didn't do a show for a VERY good reason. We found out at the last minute that Free Radio Berkeley was going to appear before the Berkeley City Council's Zoning Board because issues were being raised about their right to erect an antenna. Now this really didn't have to do with the legality of their operation, although I'm sure the FCC would have LOVED FRB to lose the right to have an antenna. Hell, the City Council would have been doing the FCC's dirty work! MANY people showed up on behalf of FRB... including SPURT radio! Actually, lots of folks wanted to speak in favor of FRB, but the council had to limit the total speaking time to 20 minutes, but Stephen let us get up and say a few words, which was really cool for both FRB and SPURT... solidarity! As luck would have it, the council had NO interest in debating the legality of Free Radio Berkeley's operation, although on the side they seemed rather into it! (They were even curious about when they could catch SPURT radio!) Anyway, all this comes down to the fact that we made a last minute ditch and ran to the Council Chambers to support our neighborhood micro-powered radio rights. Thanks to the Council for being cool about it! So, sorry there wasn't a show. We would have thrown Dr. Pimento (no relation) on the air, but he was nowhere to be found. Next time we'll try to find a substitute. Catch you later. Oh, wait, I almost forgot. Mysterio & Oblivia showed up all ready to do another review and found the lights out and the door locked. I did, however, get an e-mail concerning the lapsed show... here you go...
Well kids, you'll be comforted to know that neither rain nor hunger nor City Council meetings will keep Mysterio and Oblivia from informing you of what's happening on the wild streets! This week despite our lack of appearance on a non existent show, we once again braved the social scene of Thursday night. Joining us this week was our very special guest, Exotica. (Exotica will be on location for the next month for another series of fabulous reviews!) Our mission this week? Tattoo Parlors! Hitting the streets of San Francisco, we researched tattooing, henna tattoos, and body piercings. As this project becomes a work in progress, we'll keep you up to date on the latest and greatest. We also viewed "famous" birthplaces in The City and toured The Tattoo Museum at 841 Columbus Ave. Until next week, for another fabulous outing. -Oblivia

6/4/98 - Ok, so last night we had an interesting response to the news segment. K talked about nuclear testing, ecological disaster in the form of fires raging across Mexico, and cigarette ad's. And what did the studio get all in a huff over? You guessed it. It's very interesting when you think about it. I mean maybe we DO want pulpy news-crap instead of world coverage in our news? I consider the SPURT studio a pretty open-minded, critically thinking, environmentally concerned group, but if we'd rather talk about cigarette ad's than topics with world wide life threatening consequenses, then what can we hope to expect from more closed-minded demographics? (Please note, that when I use the term "closed-minded" I am choosing that term specifically. I fear closed minded-ness from ANY direction, including not only Conservatives, but also Liberals, and especially from myself!) I don't know what I'm trying to say, really. I'm just musing over the times when I've criticized "the masses" for their carelessness and their lack of interest in things that seem totally infuriating at the time. I'll have to think about this one some more and I'll let you know what I come up with. On the lighter side... Myseterio & Oblivia called in their back-up and took the night off. In their place we had Lois & Clark come in and do a movie review for us! They went to The Parkway to see Mercury Rising. It sounded like a typical Bruce Willis flick. Very entertaining even if it's a bit easy on the brain. They had a lot of very nice things to say about the theater itself, including raves about the pizza, the beer, and the couches! Well, that's it for this week. Hey, check out Paddlefoot's page, they've got some new stuff on there, including a new story by Jason!

6/11/98 - K did a good news segment. Mysterio & Oblivia reviewed The Truman Show. I lost my case full of blank tapes, but found them again on Friday, so we don't have a copy of this show. The Prime Number was in the studio and gave us a serious dose of accordian music. The Prime Number then stayed on the air until 11 or so.

6/18/98 - The shit has hit the fan... I'm not sure how to break this down. There's going to be a lot of information here... First I guess I should do a straight archive entry, and then I'll get into the explanations... For our final episode, we took our transmitter and threw it on wheels and walked it down to Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. We had the transmitter running as we walked down Telegraph. We didn't seem to be much of a spectacle, but that's Berkeley for you! (We were SURE that we had a white van following us, but that wasn't confirmed.) So we rolled onto campus and parked our gear right on top of this cement circle at Sroul Plaza. It's about 4 feet in diameter and around it there are words to this effect: "This space and the air above it shall not be subject to any entity's jurisdiction!" It seemed a fitting location for a station on the run. We talked about the current situation with Free Radio Berkeley as far as we understand it. We also did a segment following our running interest in Central America and Chiapas. Things lightened up for a while when Doctor T came by and stole the show. I can't wait to listen to the tapes of this show because he made up some songs on the spot that were pure genius! Songs about telephones, guys on bikes, dirty old chimichangas, dating, the list goes on! We're going to have to put some of his songs up on the web for your downloading pleasure. Anyway, it was a beautiful night... the sunset, the antenna up in the sky, K was sporting a Zapatista t-shirt, I was in an alien t-shirt, we had bandanas over our faces for a while, it was great! Though we were limited to scattered last minute phone calls, we were able to stir up about 20 SPURT supporters! So that's pretty much the summary of the show.

This is a new section... it's going to contain: an explanation of why SPURT isn't on the air any more, letters from SPURT supporters, and maybe some up to date information on the Micropowered Radio Movement, or at list some other web pages where you can stay up to date.

While I'm here, I think I'm going to put up some letters from a few SPURT supporters...

....you and K should be congratulated on all you have done to maintain the radio station over the last year. For those of us that are fans.......its definitely been enjoyable! So, THANKS to YOU! I am truly sorry that we've seen the end of the SPURT era. (Still looking forward to the "Best of SPURT Series" Complete for only $19.95, I'm sure!)
As always, I remain....
Oblivia ........In any context.................

The last broadcast was fun and I would like to thank you for allowing me to be part of it. it was fun meeting the various members of the SPURT family and being part of it. MYSTERIO $ OBLIVIA were great.OBLIVIA was lovely as usual. Their review of "CIRCLE OF NOISE" was great. where can i get that cd? I just loved that song WHAT'S THAT NOISE. "DOCTOR T" was great. His love therapy music was very helpful. I just need to find that k-tel 12 cd set for a certain friend. K and CAPTN.D were great. I just want to know who the men in the bandanas were. DR PIMIENTO was fun but where was the accordion? ERKIE PAGEL was there as well, spinning disks of the frisbee kind with LOIS of LOIS & CLARK they were there too. they reviewed MYSTERIO & OBLIVIA's review of CIRCLE OF NOISE. the GREEN ROOM GIRL was there, she did a fabulous job of making everyone happy. Plus the press, the fans and the constant threat of police invasion made for a fun if not thrilling evening from our undisclosed location. Lets just say we came to you live from the arena at the BLACK HOLE OF FREEDOM. You guess where. Well as you probably figured out, our last broadcast was a blast and if you missed it; you missed the most fun you can have on a thursday for free with your cloths on. well I'll miss SPURT but the cause will live on. Freedom of the air waves forever.
-Mysterio

Thanks for sharing your creative efforts with us through SPURT. Bill and I enjoyed being a part of your programming and have regretted that a Thursday night guitar class kept us from stopping by for the past 3 months.
-Robin

Thanks for opening the door into the world of micro-transmitting and opening my eyes to the scary, omnipotent presence of the FCC. Long live free, accesible speech!!!!!!
LOvelovelovelovelovelovelovelove
-bert

Sorry to hear that The Man has pushed you off the airwaves. Don't let him get you down, just find new waves to revolt and subvert the dominant paradigm (learned that in Berkeley even if I can't spell it).
-Leonard

Wow, I can't believe SPURT is gone. I wasn't here last week or I definitely would have been there for your last show. I guess it's the end of an era. Thanks though, for doing SPURT in the first place. It was a great thing (even though I wasn't able to catch it much) and I, for one, am a lot more aware of the importance of local radio. It was something I always took for granted before. Plus, doing radio with solar power was another great idea.
Well, I hope that one day, SPURT will be revived.
Take care my friend,
Melinda

Now to your Spurt letter....First I have to admit it made me very MAD...You are absolutely right, we the public are not being told the truth. You know just recently I found out how most of the news and the reporting is very contrived and minipulated and we think we have "free choice". Wow it is very scarey! Then I found I was very sad that this should happen to you and K, you had done a lot of hard and very creative work and no matter what size the audience it was for the pleasure of all. I will be very interested in the future of not only "Spurt" but other forms of the communication after all that is what life is all about. Thank you very much for sharing your letter, it will be kept!!!
-M&J

Spurt's
still my
favorite
station
tho
it
no
longer
broadcasts
in
electromagnetic
waves.

love
j

Congratulations! You're visitor since 11/24/97!

Where can you learn more about micro-powered radio? Go to Free Radio Berkeley's web page!

Looking for a page about... SPURT radio's plans for Burning Man '98? We won't be on 102.5 FM when we're at Burning Man, it looks like we'll be on 103.5 FM, but listen for us when you get there! Being solar powered and all, we'll probably be hanging out in the Alternative Energy Zone for much of the time... when we aren't running around trying to find people to interview!

If you have questions or comments about this site, or anything on it, or want to send us a description of your love problem for Doctor T's Musical Love Therapy, please contact us by email: spurt_radio@geocities.com

Would you like to get in touch with Mysterio and Oblivia directly? Feel free to send them some e-mail!

A good way to contact us, especially DURING a show, since we don't have a phone, is by using ICQ. If you haven't discovered the wonders of ICQ, check them out. (Their stuff is FREE!) To find SPURT, do a search for our e-mail address, or use our ICQ# which is 7431975.

Yet ANOTHER way to contact us is to try AOL's Instant Messenger. Our login name for this is: "SPURTradio". We haven't used it much yet. You can get a copy of the software and get an "account" for free from AOL. Here's the link for you...