Archive for the Radio Category

The Melon Underground Ep 6 – Legalizing Marijuana

by Jack Faust

Monday, March 1st, 2010

6a00d83451b1b869e200e54fcd525c8834-800wiWhen it comes to pot, The Melon is always open to a good discussion. Discussion, that’s what the kids call it now-a-days, right? For this Episode of The Melon Underground, Joemetheus and Electric Elliot delve into the fight to legalize marijuana in Washington State. Featured guests of this episode are Vivian McPeak, Co-Founder and Director of Seattle Hempfest, and Professor of Moral Philosophy, at the University of Puget Sound, Lauren Flemming.

Find out more about the initiative to legalize cannabis (I-1068) and how you can help support it at http://sensiblewashington.org/.

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Tacoma Community House – Scrabble Rousers Interview

by Jack Faust

Monday, February 15th, 2010

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The Melon’s Jack “Joe” Faust, interviews Tacoma Community House’s Hana Kato and Derrick Rhayn about the community event that is taking Tacoma by storm: Scrabble Rousers.

 

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Press release:

 

Brush up on your two letter words because Scrabble Rousers: Season Deux is on its way.

TCH presents Scrabble Rousers: Season Deux, an amazing line up of nontraditional and themed Scrabble tournaments for players of all levels to gather together and celebrate words. Through community
partnerships with King’s Books, University of Puget Sound (UPS) Office of Community Engagement, and Click! Cable TV, TCH is offering Scrabble Rousers monthly from February to September throughout the Tacoma. Each
tournament will have an individual theme like Mardi Gras, Alfred Hitchcock Day, Bad Poetry Day and the ever popular International Talk like a Pirate Day. Prizes and bragging rights will be available for the winners.

TCH  has been an advocate for education and words since Jan. 10, 1910. Scrabble Rousers is one of the ways TCH honors and celebrates 100 years of service to the community. All Scrabble Rouser proceeds benefit Tacoma Community House’s Student Scholarship Fund, a student run committee that helps students transition from TCH to other educational institutions and programs.

Event Details:
February 16th, 2010
Mardi Gras Scrabble-Rousers
UPS- The Rotunda
6:30pm-9:00pm
$10

Scrabble Rousing Details:

Dressing up: We encourage everyone to dress up in Mardi Gras flare.

Games: We will play two 45 minute games. Warm up games will be available in the beginning of the night.

Mardi Gras word list: We will have a list of Mardi Gras related words at the event. If you use one of those words you get 25 bonus points.

Eats: We are having a cake donated by Kathy’s Cakes. Water and cider will also be available.

For more info contact:
Derrick Rhayn
Phone: 253-383-3951
Email: drhayn@tacomacommunityhouse.org


Interview with Paul Jacob, Krist Novoselic and Kelly Haughton on RCV and Reject All Three

by The Melon

Monday, October 19th, 2009

PrintWe were pleased to hear that we would have the opportunity to sit down with three fantastic authorities on voting reform.


  • Paul Jacob, former President of U.S. Term Limits and current President of Citizens in Charge
  • Krist Novoselic, former bassist from Nirvana (yeah, that Nirvana), current voting reform advocate and Chair of FairVote
  • Kelly Haughton, President of Citizens for a Better Ballot


Huddled in The Melon’s studio, what followed was a riveting discussion on Ranked Choice Voting, democracy, and three big amendments in Pierce County’s upcoming election.

 

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protectvoterchoice.com – Official No on Amendment 3, RCV website

noriggingthesystem.com – Official No on All 3 website

rankedchoice.blogspot.com – Kelly Haughton’s personal blog on RCV

fairvote.org – National election reform organization


Special thanks to Erik Connell for making this interview possible


Interview with Jake Fey – Tacoma City Council District 2

by Chris Van Vechten

Monday, September 28th, 2009

jake2Chris Van Vechten sits downs with City Council incumbent Jake Fey to discuss his time on the Council and his unopposed reelection campaign.


Learn more about Jake at jakefey.com.


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Interview with Stan Smith – Tacoma School Board Candidate, Pos 4

by The Melon

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

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Stan Smith wants the Tacoma School Board to be engaged and accountable. His hope is that “every child enrolled in the Tacoma School District is entitled to a quality education.”


Chris Van Vechten sat down with Stan, to discuss his vision and platforms.


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Interview with Catherine Ushka-Hall – Tacoma School Board Candidate, Pos 2

by The Melon

Thursday, September 17th, 2009
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With a long list of experience working with youth and community development, Catherine Ushka-Hall is looking to tackle the big issues facing our schools. Catherine intends to use her organizational and management experience to help advance our school system.


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For more information visit: http://votecatherine.com/


Interview with Jerry Thorpe – Tacoma School Board Candidate, Pos 2

by The Melon

Monday, September 14th, 2009

thorpe_jerry_460Jerry Thorpe is one of two candidates running for Connie Rickman’s seat in the Tacoma School Board. With a history as a teacher and Port Commissioner, Jerry Thorpe wants to see Tacoma schools to start refocusing on serious education.


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Interview with Tacoma Poet Laureate Antonio Edwards

by Electric Elliot

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

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Tacoma is Antonio Edwards city. After 25 years, he can’t think of living anywhere else and as Poet Laureate of Tacoma is determined to helping transform the City of Destiny into the bustling arts scene foreseen by prophecies.


The Melon sat down with Antonio to discuss his art, his message and his accomplishments as Poet Laureate. Listen for a presentation of his poem “Hilltopia” at the end of our interview.

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photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/maybelline/


The Rotten Melon – Ep1

by The Melon

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

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Electric Elliot and Chris Van Vechten speak with the New Takhoman’s John Hathaway about Tacoma in this new podcast segment: The Rotten Melon.


In this episode we discuss:


  • Term Limits
  • Dale Washam’s scandal
  • Election 2009
  • Martin Luther King Housing Authority
  • And more!!!

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The Melon Underground Ep 5 – Real Life Super-heroes

by Jack Faust

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

super-hero

In this episode of The Melon Underground, Jack Faust (Jometheus), Electric Elliot and Lando 253 discuss Real Life Super-heroes, individuals who dress up and/or act like comic book super-heroes (01:12:03).

 

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Jack’s Take:

The Invisibles


Faster than a speeding bullet: no, gets winded playing video games. More powerful than a locomotive: actually, less powerful than a fifty-cent wind up toy. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound: has a vertical jump smaller than their IQ.  What the hell am I referring to? You’ve seen them on Youtube, you’ve watched them on CNN, and you’ve solemnly visited their blogs. I am talking about the new litmus test for moral and social imbecility: the Real Life Super-Heroes.


Don’t let the name fool you. These self-proclaimed Super-Heroes are anything but; unless, of course, dressing in a gaudy Halloween costume and regurgitating the sub-moronic obliquely asinine emotional pap from The Dark Knight while handing out sandwiches to the homeless and allegedly instigating fights with the lowest socio-economic strata of our society counts as “super”. If that is the case, then these men and women are super duper. Most rational people call it laughable, naïve, brave yet ill-thought. I call it a fucking travesty. What Shadow Hare, the Crimson Fist, the Eye, Oni, Agent Null etc. all have in common (other than un-inspiring monikers, shoddy physical prowess, and dim intellects) is that each and every one of these costumed do-gooders actually think that what they are doing can be quantified as “good”.


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Is it good to don S&M fetish outfits and force a deluded ethos on an unsuspecting public? I say thee, “Nay villain!” Although Shadow Hare has been quoted as saying he “just wants to show his city that there is still hope if people stand together,” his actions echo as hollow as his words. Does dressing in a Lucha Libra outfit inspire social change? Maybe in the WWE, but in real life it doesn’t. Sure it may get you some poontang at Comic Con, or hits on your Myspace page but if these spandex clad, self-aggrandizing, media-philes put down their action figures and limited edition signed lithium cover comic books, stopped playing dress-up and pretending to be superhuman, they might discover that there are ways to make a positive difference in the community that doesn’t involve living out your jerk-off fantasies.


In fact, the term Real Life Super-Hero is at least an oxymoron and at most meaningless. For starters absolutely none of them have super-powers. No telepathy, no super strength, no unbreakable claws, no lasers jettisoning from orifices, nothing, zilch. Therefore, they are not super. Nor are they living in what can be called “real-life”. Wearing colorful tights and marching through the streets supposedly righting wrongs under the guise of an alter ego is not what people in real life do to make a difference. “Real life” people trying to make a finer world do it the hard way. They dedicate their lives to professions which benefit the community, they are the teachers, the social-workers the fire-fighters, the (dare I say it) police; they work at non-profit organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, the Red Cross, The United Way, Boys and Girls Clubs. Allow me to crack an egg of knowledge on all the pseudo Real Life Super-Heroes reading this, here is what to do: Google non-profit community organization, then have your mom read the list to you, after you realize the fact that you belong to none of those groups the grim enlightenment that you are a fucking tasteless joke should set in.


l_57d2572345adb2273a12277cbcc35c02As a matter of fact the only super-power you douche bags possess is to make the real community heroes mentioned above more invisible than they were before. Save the costumes for your sex-clubs and comic shows, if you want to make a real difference take off your childish outfits, throw away your media fueled ideals of value judgments and stand aside to let the professionals handle it or have the courage to become one. You are all too poorly trained, too under-educated, and too morally depraved to even realize that it takes more than the inane actions which you have all paraded over the blogsphere to promote social improvement.


I dare you to step up and do a build for Habitat for Humanity, I challenge you to join the Boys and Girls Clubs and become a big brother or big sister (if that is, your parole officer lets you around children), get educated and become teachers, or tutors, or social workers. I am officially throwing down the gauntlet to all you costumed fucks to actually spend your seemingly limitless energies doing what you pretend to do: make a difference.


Your Arch-Nemesis,


Jack Faust.