AM/MW RADIO AND THE CASCADIA 'BIG ONE' -- The Importance of a Dying Broadcast Band During Major Earthquakes & Other National Disasters

As you probably know, I listen a lot to the MW/AM band at night. I have several posts on nighttime, long distance AM band listening, and a few posts on radios that work well on the AM band (as MW is known here in the U.S.).

I also listen to FM, usually when I'm doing stuff around the house -- I have my radios' presets set to the four prominent rock stations in the area here (KVRQ, KISW, KFOO and KNDD), as well as three of the pop stations (KBKS, KQMV, and KPWR).

But AM radio listening is a hobby for me because it's kind of like fishing: a challenge. At night, when the skip is rolling in, you never know what you're going to hear. It's also the only way I can hear California on the radio, being that many stations in the US now geo-block.

Although the AM band in the US is mostly a haven for Sports Talk, News Talk, religious programming and ethnic music and programming, it would be vital during national disasters, because of its long distance capabilities. During a massive power outage or major earthquake, high-performance and low power consumption radios like the once pictured (a Realistic DX-375) would be useful for receiving emergency information.

IT'S A DYING BAND -- NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT

The AM band is slowly dying. It's a fact. In the 1970's, radio listenership in the US was maybe 30-40 percent AM, and the rest was FM. Today AM listenership is about 16 percent at best. The demographics listening to AM are older. The younger demographics listen to FM only, or don't listen to radio at all.

In many other parts of the world, AM is gone. There are no AM stations in Scandinavia, aside from two longwave broadcasters (in Iceland and Norway) that are there to serve local mariners. Europe's MW stations are disappearing. Even in Mexico the AM band is being depopulated as stations move to FM.  Here in the US AM is still alive because of sports talk and ethnic broadcasters -- this is because the FM band is full in most major markets. But newer demographics aren't tuning in very much, if at all. They use their smart phone.

Now, every generation has their favorite technology, and they all make their choices. For example, CD's and DVD's were a terrific technology. Now they are going the way of the Dodo, being replaced by internet streaming. It's just the way things progress. It's much the same in radio.

Mini-boomboxes like this Sangean would be good for disasters because of their excellent long-distance capabilities. One would need a couple extra sets of C Batteries for this radio, however, if the power stayed off for longer than a couple weeks.

AM RADIO'S NATIONAL IMPORTANCE

However, the dying AM band has a use that can't be replaced easily: in cases of national disasters or emergencies, where there are issues with infrastructure or massive power outages, AM is the only dependable means of broadcasting. Unlike FM and TV stations, which are line of sight and are vulnerable in the case of earthquakes or severe storms, a powerful AM/MW station can cover several states easily, especially at night. Unlike the internet, which is wireline technology, where the cables can be broken by earthquakes -- and computers and smartphones are highly dependent on the electrical infrastructure -- AM stations can operate using generators and most AM radios will run for a couple weeks on a good set of batteries.

Location of NW US volcanoes in relation to Cascadia Fault. (Courtesy US Gov't)

I recently read a chilling report on the Big One, the Cascadia Fault earthquake that geologists and seismologists tell us is due to occur. When it happens, it will devastate the Western half of the Pacific Northwest, from Southern BC Canada to the Northern reaches of California.

The Cascadia Fault line is a 900 mile long fault that runs along the Juan De Fuca Plate subduction zone. It is the reason there is a string of volcanoes 200 km east of the Pacific beaches -- that's where the colliding Juan De Fuca and North American plates heat up the molten rock enough that it rises upwards towards the surface of the Earth.

THE CASCADIA FAULTLINE

The Cascadia Fault, like many such faults, has a tendency to lock in place for about 300 years before letting loose with a Big One, a 9 point Earthquake, similar to the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964 and several large ones that hit Chile, Japan, and the one that hit Indonesia in 2004.

A diagram showing the mechanics of the Cascadia Fault, and its proximity to the Northwestern US and SW Canada. (Courtesy USGS)

Both State and Federal authorities are aware that the Big One is due to strike. They are preparing for it, but how can you adequately prepare for a massive jolt that will take down most of the power to a 900 mile long, 150 mile wide swath of territory populated by 8 million people, including major cities like Vancouver and Victoria, Canada; Seattle; Tacoma; Olympia; Portland; Salem; and Eugene? According to estimates, powerlines will go down, broadcast stations will go off the air, cell systems will crash or run out of power, numerous bridges will be damaged or collapse, port facilities will be damaged, rail lines will be severed, and vital highway links will be damaged in many places. Some buildings may collapse, especially close to the ocean.

One of the things people need during such emergencies is information. With the internet, local FM, TV, and AM broadcasters and cell systems all down, the only reliable source of information is long distance AM radio. Many people believe that the National Weather Service stations would be important emergency stations, and although that may have some merit, most people in this region don't have weather radios and chances are very high that weather stations would be off the air in the coastal regions which would be most adversely damaged.

Diagram showing how the Cascadia Subduction zone is responsible for the volcanoes in the NW US. (Courtesy USGS)

'CASCADIA RISING'

A recent report entitled "Cascadia Rising" admits this fact: when the Big One hits, local broadcasters may be knocked off the air for possibly a couple weeks or more. And the big city, inland FM and TV stations remaining on the air won't reach much of the area that will be most highly damaged (and probably without electric power): the Pacific Coast.

Here is a link to the Cascadia Rising report:
https://huxley.wwu.edu/files/Cascadia_Rising_high_0.pdf

It says that AM radio may be the only broadcast media available for a while to those in the coastal areas of Washington and Oregon, which may be most heavily hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake.

This is where AM radio's importance comes in to play. AM radios are cheap, run well on a few batteries, and at night even low cost AM radios can pick up major regional stations.

I have several used Walkmen I got at a thrift store. They all will pick up KFBK and KGO in California, KBOI in Idaho and KSL in Utah -- all four of them are 50 kilowatt news-talk stations that are audible nearly every night in Western Oregon and Washington. CBR in Calgary, Canada also comes in very strongly (although with some interference from local KOMO on the next channel). Several lower powered stations from Eastern Washington and Oregon also are audible with strong signals nearly every night of the week: KBND from Bend, Oregon; KUMA from Pendleton, Oregon; KGA from Spokane, Washington, and KIT from Yakima, Washington. Several other news stations from areas that would be unaffected by a Cascadia quake (CFFR Calgary, KOH Reno, CBK Saskatchewan) also come in on my Walkmen with decent signals nearly every night.

Small headset radios like Sony Walkmen make for excellent disaster radios. Sony Walkmen usually have good MW/AM band performance and are easy on batteries. Some of them are available fairly cheap at thrift stores or online. The Sony Sports Walkman in the lower left of this picture pulls in distant AM stations decently, is easy on batteries, and was purcased at a thrift store for $2.99. When shopping for walkmen radios, whether new or used, name brands like Sony, Sangean, and GE seem to work best on AM.

The FCC and Federal authorities are well aware of the AM band's importance in US national emergencies. That apparently is one reason they are interested in keeping the band on the air. Other countries and regions perhaps don't have same level of risk of natural disasters that the US has: for example, Europe doesn't have hurricanes, tornadoes, or as many massive earthquakes (aside from Italy) as we receive. Europe is more densely populated and perhaps the emergency infrastructure is more concentrated than we have here in the US -- especially in the Western US, where there are more earthquakes and volcanoes.

The Sony ICF-38 is an excellent emergency radio -- it works great on AM, pulls in a lot of stations every night, it's very good on FM, and is very easy on a set of AA batteries. A set of AA's can last a couple weeks or more if you listen at moderate sound levels.

Either way, the AM band is vital for national emergencies, and I hope those in power in the Federal government continue to see its value. It is very difficult to completely disaster-proof the communications infrastructure: as several massive power blackouts during the last decade have shown, sometimes it doesn't take much to wipe out power in several states for days at a time. For example, one major blackout that occurred in the NW US during the 1990's happened because several power lines heated up and drooped into some trees during some warm weather, down near the Oregon border. This triggered a series of shocks to the electrical grid that caused a regional blackout.

A major earthquake could possibly wreak more havoc with the grid than that.

Even though AM stations also run on electricity, the fact the MW band has a long distance nighttime capability, and the receivers are readily available and fairly cheap, is an important factor that hopefully the authorities won't overlook.

Medium Summer, 'Tropenatt', and An Encounter With Owls

Seattle skyline at night, a recent pic.

We're now nearing the end of the second month of summer here in the PNW, and summer so far has been medium, in that the temperatures have been moderate, if sunny.

The last few days have been typical, with temperatures about 75F to just under 80F.

However, the last few nights have been nice -- I go out on an evening bike ride many evenings, and the last couple of evenings it's been 68-70F as late as 10 p.m. (21C). In some of the northern European countries they have a word for it: "Tropenatt" (Tropic-night), which I think is more colorful than our American "wow, it's warm out tonight!"

The mystery plant that grows on my birch tree, which blooms in early June.

Some people wading in the river during low water season.

Robins getting the 'early worm' down at the local river park. They basically ignored me snapping away with my Nikon L32 camera.

LATER THAN USUAL SEASONAL CHANGES

I think that although we're apparently in global warming, it feels like it's actually cooling. Maybe it's the sun's output slackened during the solar minimum. The frogs kept croaking and chirping in the ponds much later than they usually do; the cottonwoods put out very little cotton this year, and the season only lasted a week or two; there are fewer moths out than usual -- my cats have less of them to bat at and run after. And at night it somehow feels like autumn out, even though the trees are all green.

Trees near the clutch of cottonwoods where the local owls hang out at night.

AN ENCOUNTER WITH OWLS

Unfortunately, I have no pictures -- but I was almost sideswiped by a OWL a couple nights ago while riding my bike!

I was pedaling my ten-speed down a wooded part of the Cedar River Trail, where it is lined on each side by groves of cottonwood, alder and firs. The past three weeks I've been hearing these unusual skreeeeee noises coming here and there from the trees to each side of the trail, seemingly coming from trees maybe 20-50 feet away or more, with some more of these unusual sounds echoing down from higher up in the hills. One animal would make this skreeeeee noise, and then others would answer.

Three or four nights ago as I was riding I heard a skreeeee and then I suddenly heard and felt the flopping of wings off of my left shoulder: a large bird had swooped down to get a small animal and I apparently had scared him. He flopped his wings slowly -- as owls do -- and went up into a nearby branch of an alder tree that bordered the Trail.

I stopped my bike, and turned, and shined my LED flashlight at the animal: it was a Barred Owl!

Suddenly, he made this skrreeeeeee noise. Then he made another.

Several other skrreeeeeee noises answered his call -- it was as if there were several of these owls in the area, all warning each other of the intruder on the bike (probably my headlight disturbed him).

Now I knew what sort of animal was making that noise in the hills -- only in that one section along the Trail.

Apparently the Barred Owls like that section, perhaps because there is a large, large field nearby, and they probably can hunt mice and small rabbits easily.

The funny thing is -- I never had heard so many of them before. Not before this summer. I'd heard the noise before, but only rarely. Now there seem to be at least five or six of these owls, calling out during the night time.

You learn something new every day.

I've heard such owls before, up in the hills -- although you don't hear them often. They have a higher pitched 'hoot' than a Great Horned Owl (the kind you always hear in the movies, hooting at night).

Apparently the government wants to kill off a lot of Barred Owls, thinking they are displacing the Spotted Owl -- an owl that I doubt has ever seen this area in 100 years. The idea of killing an Owl for just being an Owl seems a bit displaced.

More recently, I was riding my bike at night and heard one of these owls skreeeeeeing by the Trail, and a small group of people came by. I pointed out the sound to them, and we all looked up and saw the owl. He was also looking down at us, skreeeeing a few times from his alder tree branch, and then he flew off to another tree about 50 feet away (about 13 meters).

I've seen Barred Owls in trees a couple times before. They don't fly away quickly. It's almost as if they are curious about people, looking down at you, like they are saying "what are you looking at?"

A Seattle skyline pic on a grey day; photo taken last month.

Overall, life has been normal. Work has stayed fairly busy, I'm relearning new bagpipe tunes (the number of tunes I know now is around 37 of them -- although I can't play them all proficiently on the pipes yet). Re-learning tunes I knew in the past, they never leave your memory completely. The fingers manage to find them on the chanter.

My radio hobby has taken a back seat -- the AM band is mediocre most evenings. Or maybe I'm bored with it. I don't know.

I've included a few pictures here from the past couple of months, mostly taken during bike rides along the Trail, as well as others I've taken when I have my trusty Nikon L32 with me.

As per usual, if you right click on the pictures on this blog, they should appear in their own screen to be viewed a little better.

A small, early summer backyard bonfire.

Tropenatt ('tropic night'), 77 degrees F (24-25C) at 9 p.m.

A pic from a ride at sunset on a warm, 'tropenatt' evening.

A look at a distant hill right at sunset.

Sunset in late July. As the year progresses, it sets further West. At solstice, it sets in the middle of the three little trees to the right center of the pic. As mentioned before on this blog, I call it my "Solstice Sundial".

You never know what you're gonna see on the Cedar River Trail.

Yep....

Here's hoping all are having a good mid-year. Here in the U.S. it's the heat of the summer, and here in Seattle our best month, weather-wise, is happening: August.

Happy August to everyone.

CC 7-28-2017, 8-9-2017

FOURTH OF JULY

When I was a child, the Fourth Of July used to be a very fun holiday. Over the years, it got more low key... as it was this year. I made pizza. I decided to not bother with fireworks -- any sparklers I have are stored away somewhere -- and as I had no guests over, there was no real reason to pull out the sparklers and light any of them.

The surrounding neighborhoods had very few fireworks going on. The City's ban on them has quashed such activity for the most part. As I have written before, even "safe-and-sane" fireworks are banned, which seems a bit extreme.

The moon rising over the River on the night of the 4th. The second, tiny light below it is a jet airplane.

On the hills on each side of the area where I live, however, there still were numerous rockets and mortars being lit, and the 'boom' noises echoed down through the valley.

I took a night-time bike ride, and got a halfway decent picture of the moon rising over the Cedar River. I also saw a lone electric shopping cart -- apparently stolen from a store somewhere and ridden until the battery gave out.

The renegade shopping cart, a day or so after it was dropped off alongside the Cedar River Trail.

I saw some guy riding an electric shopping cart down a nearby sidewalk the previous evening. His ride seemed awful slow -- I think one can walk twice as fast as those carts move: now I know how far he got before the machine would drive no further. :-)

A pic taken of the Cedar River closer to Solstice... But it's how everything looks here when it's full-on summer.

Today (July 5th) the weather was sunny and 85 degrees F. Full-on summer.

Hopefully, the weather will hold. I still have a lot of clearing to do around an apple tree that has been taken over by that common threat, the Himalayan Blackberry. :-) There are so many Himalayan Blackberries in Washington they should be the State plant. People treat them as a weed, which they sort of are: except during August and September they're loaded with very edible berries.

I've sometimes wondered why people want to kill off a plant that grows without any cultivation needed, is the world's cheapest security fence, and provides baskets of free food. Ah well.

Usually the local pond ducks never stay still long enough to get a decent picture. This time they apparently changed their minds.

A couple shots of the moon rising a couple nights after the 4th of July. The Nikon L32 can take decent moon and night shots.

In honor of the veterans, of whom I often think about on the Fourth, I found a link of music that I usually think of when the Fourth hits. It's not American band music, but -- after all -- I played in a bagpipe band for 4 years a long time ago, and the bagpipes historically were an instrument of war. All The Blue Bonnets Are Over The Border shall have to suffice. Apparently a piper played it while the Brits were storming the beaches of Normandy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YsMCqgZPKE

A slightly cleaner sounding recording of it is here: it's the third (last) tune in this short YouTube audio clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwKgGTANQQg

I've been relearning All The Blue Bonnets, and still have a ways to go before I get it down right. Perhaps if and when I do I'll record it and post a link here.

As I post this, it's about a week after the Fourth, and the last fortnight has been a bit tiring for some reason. There was more work than usual, which is good; but less sleep than usual for some reason, which isn't so good.

We're having lots of sunny, pleasant weather here in the great green Northwest, and plenty of yard work and bicycling awaits.

Hope all are having a great July so far.

CC -- July 9th, 2017

St. John's Eve

An empty Rainier Beer carton being burned on St. John's Eve.

Summer has finally arrived here in Seattle, with bright sun and clear nights. This past week the temperatures were in the 90's F. After a long spell of grey skies and some rain, we finally are seeing hot weather.

Although St. John's Eve was the 21st (the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere), it sort of came and went without fanfare.

Friends having beer, cola, and a very hot fire in a specially built burn-barrel. As one can tell -- the fire could get very hot!

However, last night (as I write this on the 24th) a friend and neighbor had a large bonfire, and the 23rd is close enough to the 21st for it to be called a St. John's celebration -- even though the fire would have been burning through the evening anyway, as it was started to rid the yard of some tree branches. :-)

St. John's Eve isn't generally celebrated here in the U.S., as far as I know. In fact, the only people who know about the holiday are those who study ancient European culture, or History. I found out about the ancient bonfire celebrations by reading about ancient Celtic and ancient British traditions, both in the famous book "The Golden Bough" by Sir James George Fraser, and other similar books.

Tony stokes the bonfire with some wood.

Some people here have heard of the solstice holiday, and bonfires used to be more common in the U.S. during summer until laws were enacted against them in the 1970's - 1990's, either for pollution reasons, or fire reasons. In rural areas before then bonfires were used to burn yard clippings, and families would also use the fires as a social occasion, for roasting apples, potatoes, etc. But those traditions are long gone now.

The barrel could get rather hot. The holes at the bottom made it act like a blast chimney. :-)

I've posted a few photos of our own version of the St. John's celebration here: much Rainier Beer was imbibed, and Coca Cola as well.

My thermometers showing the afternoon temperature being around 95 degrees F. I was doing some hedge trimming out front and had Coke and 98.9 FM playing on my Sony boombox.

In the sun it was closer to 100 degrees F. Great summer weather!

A street just before sunset in late June.

The Cedar River Trail, around Solstice.

I rode my bike the late afternoon before my friend had his bonfire. It was close to Solstice, and the sun set where it usually does this time of year, the distant marker trees still in place. It was still very warm out, around 75-78 degrees F (18C? or thereabouts).

Sunset a couple days after Summer Solstice. Taken with my Nikon L32 snapshot camera.

A quiet spot along the Cedar River Trail at sunset.

It was a really nice evening for a quiet ride on the Trail. At night the frogs are still croaking -- they seem to be doing it a bit later this year than usual. The trees here also leaved out a week later than normal, and cottonwood season was a bit short and late. Whether this is a micro-climate change, or just poor observations on my part I'm not certain.

As for life in general? It's going. Writing and work, and playing the bagpipes a few times a week. When I fire up my bagpipes I put my cat in the bedroom so she doesn't have to hear the racket. I've been re-learning tunes I used to know way back when. The fingers remember them -- mostly. With plenty of mistakes.

My Memorial Day flags.... I'll be putting them out this Fourth of July also.

As I finally post this, it is early morning, the Fourth of July, America's Independence Day. I have no huge things planned. I may light off an (illegal) sparkler in my back yard, and am planning on having pizza. I had dinner with a friend a couple nights ago and saw the movie Munich, which I hadn't watched in a while (I have the DVD). That's the extent of my Independence celebrations for this year. :-)

Hoping all in the Northern Hemisphere are having a good summer, and those of you south of the Equator -- hope your Winter is a good one.

CC -- July 4th, 2017.

The Problem With Weddings.... Sometimes they are depressing affairs

My set of RG Lawrie bagpipes, with an RG Hardie chanter. Still making noise the Scottish way.

As one may tell, I haven't posted an article on this blog for a while. It's not that there hasn't been anything to write about, just nothing exciting enough to make me want to post anything.

The weather has been so-so... But it hasn't been super cold, so I'm not complaining. Work has picked up, as has my novel writing.

MW DXing has been a bust, basically. I tune the AM band every night and hear the same 300 or so stations.  I won't complain, though. As I work on my writing projects I tune the Sangean PR-D5 and get a great mix of South Asian (Indian) movie music, pop music, and classical music on KVRI 1600 every night. In fact, the past few weeks, I have kept the radio tuned to 1600 AM, and listen to the South Asian music booming south from Bellingham (about 120 km north of here).

I'm bored with anything else, listening wise.

Although I am a musician, I haven't touched anything musical in probably two and a half months. I have a relative who is staying with me, recuperating from an injury, and the only place they can sleep is in the same room where my guitars, amp, and stereo are -- it dampens any chance of cranking the amp and playing guitar.

Me playing the bagpipes a few years ago, many pounds heavier, and at an Uncle's funeral in June, 2011.

BAGPIPES

I did pull out my bagpipes last weekend, however. I have a cousin who got married on Saturday.

When I was a kid I really didn't enjoy weddings. I don't know why, but I just never liked them much.

Now, as I get a bit older, I like them less and less. Being a single man at a wedding where everyone is all lovey-dovey just doesn't roll well with me. The plus side is that if it's a family wedding, they want me to play Amazing Grace on my bagpipes, which I actually enjoy doing.

I've played the bagpipes off and on since the 1980's, when I learned from one of the best local pipers, a Pipe Major named Angus Ironside. Angus learned from Donald MacLeod, one of the bagpipe greats (if you get a chance, check out his recordings -- he made the Scottish pipe tunes sing).

Angus had a band, and after I got my full set of bagpipes I was basically drafted in -- not that I was complaining about it. In fact, it was fun. We competed at Scottish Highland Games in places like Tacoma, Everett, Portland, Bellingham and in Santa Rosa (California), and we marched in fun parades like the Wenatchee Apple Blossom Festival and Stanwood Pioneer Days.

Playing in the Clan Stewart Pipe Band was one of the best times of my life.

Pipe Major Angus Ironside, way back when.

When my father died, however, my enjoyment of piping nosedived. Since then, all I did was play at family functions and the odd birthday party or whatnot.

This past Saturday my mom and I went up to a church north of the Snohomish County border and attended my cousin's wedding. I took my bagpipes out the previous evening and fired them up. They worked fine. My cat hated them, though. She kept running over and pawing at me, complaining.

I guess she thought I was under attack by some strange looking, very loud octopus.

Surprisingly, the pipes worked very well. See, bagpipes can be cantankerous. In the days of all natural, cane reeds, they were a pain to keep in tune. Any change in temperature or humidity (even from blowing air into them) could throw them out of tune -- and sometimes the reeds would cut off.

Then the powers-that-be invented plastic drone reeds (the "drones" are the three pipes hanging over the shoulder, that put out one constant, droning note) -- instantly, the plastic reeds made life a bit easier. And finally, they invented plastic/synthetic chanter reeds (the "chanter" is the higher pitched pipe that plays the melody). No more pitch changes, and no more squeals or cut-offs. No sooner than I got my first synthetic chanter reed, playing the pipes turned from hard work to a pleasure.

Me playing at my aunt's house, some time in the 2000's.

So after playing a few marches, a couple slow airs (Amazing Grace, The Skye Boat Song, and My Home) -- and disturbing my kitty cat -- I tossed the pipes in their case and tossed the case into the trunk of my car. The next afternoon I drove up to the wedding.

The pipes played well, for what it's worth. I played the standbys: Amazing Grace and Scotland The Brave. For a while, when I needed a respite from the happy-dappy pop music at the reception (I was in a mediocre mood for some reason), I went out and marched back and forth in the nearly empty parking lot, playing an old competition tune which had garnered me a second or third place maybe in 1983 or '84: The Siege Of Delhi. I played it several times, and played it OK. Then the rain started dripping, but I kept playing, because it felt great. It was a terrific mood-lifter.

That tune, and another march, Dundee Military Tattoo, are probably my favorites to play.

I would have played The Siege Of Delhi inside at the reception, but a) nobody would know the tune, and b) because I hadn't played the pipes in over a month (I had a recent bout with the flu) I would have run out of air before the tune was done.

Playing at a neighbor's birthday, sometime in the mid-to-late 2000's.

GOING HOME : A BAGPIPE JOURNEY

I have a sentimental but fun romance story about bagpipes on Amazon Kindle eBooks, which I placed under a pseudonym: the eBook is called "Going Home: A Bagpipe Journey". It's a story about a guy who rediscovers the bagpipes and finds a lost love at the same time.

The eBook is listed under my pseudonym James Fenamore Blake. The eBook has a pic of my bagpipes on the cover with a green background (the same picture as the one at the top of this blog post). Its sale price is 99 cents US.

Why did I use a pseudonym? Because the only book I want under my real name is the children's Christmas book (Woody The Woodchuck Saves Christmas) I wrote several years ago. It's a personal reason, I guess. The eBook (and my upcoming novels) have some rough language in them, and I would rather not have the same name on the novels and eBooks that is on the Woody children's Christmas story.

I chose the pseudonym as a partial joke, combining the names of two famous authors, the classic American author James Fenimore Cooper and famed British poet William Blake. The misspelling of "Fenamore" is intentional. I am 99.9 percent certain that I will use the same pseudonym for my other works of fiction.

Me playing the pipes at a friend's sister's wedding, with long hair, during better days perhaps.

As I write this, my day's work is done and I'm listening to the CBC on 690 AM, coming down from Vancouver B.C. Canada, on my Sony ICF-38 (a great AM DX radio and probably a terrific disaster or emergency preparedness radio).

It's raining out. And why wouldn't it be? It's Seattle.

Here's hoping your Spring (or Fall, if you're in Oz) has been good so far.

CBC
May 15th, 2017

A PART OF MY CITY HAS DIED

Early this morning, as I was listening to Coast To Coast AM on my GE Superadio III, George Noory suddenly played a piece of the Soundgarden hit "Black Hole Sun".

Wow, I thought, they're adding Soundgarden to their bumper music. Cool.

Then he announced that they had just heard that Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell was dead.

He apparently died after a Soundgarden show in Detroit. The latest news, however is even sadder: it appears he may have taken his own life.

I remember when Soundgarden was just a local band. It was 1988, and I had just gotten involved with college radio, and the station where I was volunteering was an alternative rock station, KCMU.

A lot of the people there not only were really into the new alternative music, they were very much into the local scene, which -- at the time -- was turning from a punk scene into something else: grunge.

Soundgarden was the first grunge band I ever heard. I still remember when DJ Maggie (a cute, punked up blonde who was dating one of the other DJ's, who played drums in another local band) held up the new Soundgarden EP, Screaming Life, and held it in the DJ booth window for everyone in the station to see.

Then she played a track off of it called "Nothing To Say." The music was thrilling, to say the least: Soundgarden had a way of taking the classic rock guitar and vocal sound and updating it with punk and alternative twists, with odd timings and strange chord sequences thrown in for good measure.

It would be cool if I could say my life had changed -- but it didn't. I was heavily into Australian rock and pub rock music at the time -- Midnight Oil, Rose Tattoo, and bands like them. Heavy hitting, Oz talking punch rock bands. It took a while for me to get into grunge.

But I'll never forget hearing Soundgarden for the first time. I wasn't sure about some of the other bands of the Seattle scene, but I knew I really liked Soundgarden's music.

A couple years went by and I was working at a company that delivered weekly music to radio stations all over the United States. No sooner than I started working there, Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger album hit. I remember putting the CD on the CD player and hearing "Rusty Cage".

I was blown away.

In early 1994, Soundgarden were recording Superunknown at Bad Animals Studio, which was across the alley from where I worked. The company I worked for shared the parking garage with the studio. I remember going out to my car one afternoon and several dudes that looked familiar strode in -- it was the band, along with some other guy, perhaps the producer. I could recognise Mr. Cornell immediately, from his hair (he hadn't cut it yet). They got inside a Jeep Wrangler or similar SUV vehicle, and within seconds I heard the opening chords to "My Wave", which they apparently had just recorded. I guess they wanted to hear how their new album would sound on a car stereo system.

A month or so later in 1994, I had a chance to meet Chris Cornell, if only for a few moments. I had heard that Soundgarden were doing an interview at Sit and Spin, which was a club on north 4th Avenue with a laundromat included.... Inside it was a very artsy place, where they served alcohol drinks and fruit smoothies.

I managed to catch Mr. Cornell out front, just as the band were leaving, and just before they boarded the tour bus to start the Superunknown tour. I had my copy of Superunknown in hand -- which I"d already been playing to death. I still think it's one of the best albums ever made.

I handed him my CD, which was in the plastic wrapper I used to keep the jewel case from getting marred, and asked him if he did autographs.

"We thrive on it!" he said, half pulling my leg. He grabbed the CD, and gingerly pulled it out of the plastic wrapper, and opened it up, and I handed him the Sharpie pen, and he very politely autographed the back of the booklet.

I told him how much I liked the entire album -- every single song.

He thanked me for my comments on their music, and soon enough, the band were on their way.

A couple months later, Soundgarden did a video for "Fell On Black Days". They were rehearsing it in the Bad Animals soundstage, and they kept the back doors wide open for a half hour or so, as they tuned up, and ran through the track a couple times. I guess they were filming at the same time, so they could use the footage in the video.

Soon enough, a small crowd of people -- maybe eight or nine -- stood in the alley, listening.

After a bit, they closed the doors. It was a hot night in August or early September, if I remember correctly. It was so long ago I can't really remember exactly the month or the date.

Just last Thursday night I went to karaoke with my mom at a local pub. I sang Soundgarden's Rusty Cage. I did a good job on it for once. The off-beat part in the middle is always tricky. I love singing that song, and a couple other Soundgarden songs, Pretty Noose and Outshined. I don't sound like Chris Cornell, but I can hit the notes. I always have been amazed at the way he could sing.

Now Chris Cornell is gone. I feel like in some way, a small part of my life has been ripped away.

It's sad to hear that he may have taken his own life. They say Mr. Cornell was in good spirits overall, but the police are investigating it as a possible suicide -- just like Michael Hutchence, of the Oz band INXS; the band thought he was O.K. -- but it turned out he really wasn't.

One day they are looking happy, then they leave this Earth.

Anybody remember CD's? I guess they're now a 90's thing.

It's always a tragedy when someone who has touched your life dies. My thoughts and prayers go to Chris Cornell's family.

He was a part of this City we call Seattle. The scenes and streets and waterways of the City are mentioned in many of Chris Cornell's songs. His band was the first Seattle band to be taken seriously in years. And they hit it big in the early 1990's when Seattle was the thing going.

Now a part of my City has died along with him.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Cornell, and may God bless your soul.