RITA: Hi, it's Rita.
This is your evening broadcast, 8192.
Wow, it's really raining out there!
Damn. I can really hear it from here.
We have a few leaks. Put some pots and bowls under them.
Thanks, Ron, for lending us your extra pots and bowls.
I hope you had a good day, despite the weather.
Although it was really nice earlier, huh?
I had a good day today.
I met a new friend;
she's gonna join us in about a minute or so.
Maybe you saw her earlier, around lunch?
Or, if you didn't get a chance to meet her,
then you'll meet her in about a minute.
Or, if you met her already, but you still want to hang out,
I'm sure there's plenty that we can talk about.
Wow, so this is broadcast 8192.
Is that right, Emily?
That's a lot of broadcasts.
I came in around the fives?
So I've only been here for about half of them.
And back then, in the fives, let's see,
we had .. I did "Night Noise."
And we had the Swap Show.
And the bird show, that's right.
And people were just coming in and
dropping off tapes all the time, and ...
And now, well, now it's just
the evening broadcast.
But it's not like I'm saying we're in decline
or anything like that; I love the evening broadcast.
I think it was the first show we had on here.
Yeah. So, it's the "spine" of the station.
Or maybe it's the heart?
Or is it the skin?
What part of the WEVP body do you think this is?
Why don't you come on by and tell us about it?
We're gonna be here for another 30 minutes or so.
Or, if you don't want to brave the storm,
you can always give us a call.
Same number as always:
(270) 216-5556
OK, so we're going to start with a tape.
This is an old one.
It's one of mine.
But maybe you haven't seen it.
Or, if you've seen it, it's been a while
So maybe you've forgotten.
So this is one I made several years ago,
back when I was really into history.
Local history.
The history of this place.
Here.
So, in it I share some of my research,
and some of my thoughts about
some people that lived here a long time ago,
before the company, before the airstrip,
like, over a hundred years ago.
OK. So, I hope you enjoy it.
Ready, Emily?
Right, exactly, and even then
it's not even the same as real toothpaste.
Oh. OK.
Hi. Um.
So, I hope you enjoyed that video.
Like I said, that was from, like ...
it's several years old; I can't remember exactly.
MAYA: I enjoyed it very much.
RITA: Oh, thank you, Maya.
MAYA: I didn't catch the ending ...
What happened to them?
RITA: Oh, right. We don't really know.
RITA: That's sad, right? Do you think that's sad?
MAYA: Oh, well, no I don't think so ...
In fact, I think it's rather common.
When a society collapses,
everything gets very muddled, I think.
Nobody remembers to write everything down.
RITA: Right, they might have bigger problems.
MAYA: Or, historically, I think,
they might have been conquered?
conquerors don't usually preserve
their subjects' records ...
RITA: Oh, right.
Wow.
MAYA: Well, do you think it's sad?
RITA: Yeah.
MAYA: Why do you think so?
RITA: Oh, I don't know. I'm sentimental.
Hi, everybody. This is our guest, Maya.
If you're watching us at home,
you probably met Maya earlier today.
She was kind of, you know, "doing the rounds," right?
MAYA: That's right.
RITA: And then we had a meal together.
MAYA: It was very nice, thank you.
RITA: But for those of you who maybe didn't get a chance to meet Maya.
Or who maybe didn't get to hear all about your project,
Maya would you mind telling the folks at home
a little bit about yourself?
MAYA: Yes, sure.
RITA: So, what do you do?
MAYA: Well, I'm an artist.
Just like you.
Just like everybody here, I think.
Everybody I met here today is an artist.
RITA: Right! Everyone's an artist!
MAYA: Right, but also, here --
RITA: Everyone who ever lived!
It's part of being human!
MAYA: I agree, but when I ask someone here
"what do you do?"
They always say, um ...
"I make videos of trees."
or "I'm working on an opera."
or "I maintain the Sandin Image Processor"
You know -- no one ever says:
"I'm an electrician."
Or "I'm a grocery bagger,"
or "I'm an office manager here."
RITA: Right.
MAYA: Is it an artists' colony?
RITA: Oh. No.
Uh, maybe ad-hoc.
We all came here for the station, basically.
To work on the station.
There were some folks here at first
who had straight jobs for a while.
Then they left.
Or they switched over.
And then the company pulled out.
but they had to keep the station going
for legal reasons.
MAYA: Oh, you have a corporate patron?
RITA: No, not really ...
They don't maintain anything,
and they don't really pay for anything.
Except for the one powerline.
Maybe you saw it coming in from the forest?
MAYA: Oh, right, I followed it out here.
RITA: Oh, of course. Of course.
It's the only way to find this place.
So, they can't tear that down.
And they can't shut down the station.
But they don't really maintain this place
against like the weather, or
regular wear and tear
MAYA: Sounds precarious.
RITA: That's the word for it.
Right.
So, you came to see the mounds.
MAYA: Yes, exactly. The mounds.
To, um, to summarize:
I'm an artist, and I work with earth
as my medium.
I make piles of dirt.
Very large piles of dirt.
RITA: Mountains.
MAYA: Well, hills, let's say.
And I'm working in the tradition of some of the people
who used to live here in this land
hundreds, even thousands of years ago,
and built great mounds of earth.
RITA: Native americans.
MAYA: Yes, pre-colonial.
Some of their works have been wiped out over time
but it's a testament to their
ingenuity and craftsmanship
how many of these mounds have survived
hundreds, even thousands of years.
I travel a lot in this region,
and I make sketches of these surviving mounds
which is how I heard about you,
and your beautiful, ancient mounds
that you have surviving, right here
in this town.
So I parked my car, and
followed the power line through the woods.
which was about two days' walk from wherever I was.
I followed directions.
RITA: All alone. Brave.
MAYA: Well, I was worried about bears.
RITA: Oh, right.
Yeah, we haven't seen those around in a while.
MAYA: Oh, really?
RITA: Yeah, they used to be a big problem
but they ... I don't know.
I guess they found somewhere else to congregate.
Oh. Yeah, so we're gonna put on another tape.
Will you stick around, Maya?
MAYA: Absolutely.
I'm not going anywhere in this storm.
RITA: Right. No one's going anywhere in this storm.
OK.
So, the next video we're gonna watch
is a new one, actually, I haven't even seen it yet.
But Ron brought it in this morning.
and he's gonna come out in a couple of minutes
to tell us more about it
but we're just gonna watch it first
so we can get the full effect.
But I will tell you the title
because he wrote it on the box.
Ron calls this video "Wild."
RITA: So, OK, Ron.
Anything that you want to tell us about that tape?
RON: Yeah.
Everything on that tape was wild.
RITA: Really?
Everything?
RITA: Really?
Everything?
MAYA: Wild stuff, indeed.
RITA: Even the horses?
RON: Everything on that tape was wild.
MAYA: Were the horses wild?
I thought those were the horses here.
RITA: Oh, the neighbors?
Oh, we call the horses here "The Neighbors."
No, I didn't recognize that one.
I don't think there's any wild horses anymore.
MAYA: Really? How could that be?
RITA: Oh, well, they've all been domesticated.
MAYA: Are the neighbors domesticated?
RITA: Uh ...
We don't own them, no, they're, um ...
feral?
MAYA: Oh, right.
In your documentary, you had said
that the people who used to live here had
freed their horses.
RITA: Exactly.
Um, but ... you can free your pet cat,
but it won't ... turn back into a panther.
MAYA: Right.
What about the dogs?
RITA: Uh, yeah, Ron
was the dog wild?
RON: Everything on that tape was wild.
RITA: It didn't look wild to me.
MAYA: I guess it's a matter of perspective.
RITA: Well, I don't think I agree ...
but, um ... hey it's time for the weather
Well, I can tell you it's going to be pretty "wild!"
I can hear it from here.
MAYA: Yeah, it's getting pretty intense out there.
Do you get storms like this often?
RITA: More and more.
MAYA: Oh, right.
RITA: Alright, we're gonna go over
to the weather report with Elmo
and, lucky us, we have
Cyrano Cole to add a little bit of drama
musically.
Oh, and I hear he's gonna be over at The Rum Colony
if you want to get a drink after the show.
Alright, let's go live to Elmo
with the weather report.
RITA: Thanks, Elmo and Cyrano.
So, next we have a selection from the Video Databank.
You're gonna like this one, Maya
This one's about caves.
MAYA: Oooh.
RITA: Yeah, local caves.
We play this one a lot, it's pretty cool.
[Telephone ringing.]
RITA: Oh, but we have a phone call.
Should we get it now, or should we wait?
We'll get it now, OK.
Hello, WEVP.
GEOFF: Hey, Rita, it's me
Uh, Geoff with a --
remember you called me -- it's Geoff with a "G", but
the first time I got on the air, you called me
"Gee-off" by accident.
I don't know if you still remember that.
So you can still -- it's Geoff. With a "G."
Can you say --
I was going to tell you to say "Hi" to May and Ron
but Maya and Ron you can probably hear me.
Hey Maya, hey Ron.
I didn't know if anybody got my last message I left
on the voicemail.
But I was, like, I was talking about
those raccoons that keep eating my garbage.
And I named -- I've been watching them eat my garbage,
saying, "should I go out there?"
I tapped on the window, and they would just look at me.
And I said maybe, well, is this like ...
remember there was that movie, with the circle of life?
I said, maybe this is the circle of life for my garbage.
And then, I was watching so much I started naming them.
I named one of them first "Bumbles"
because he was a bit of a bumbler
with the garbage.
And one I named "Garbage Face."
Because he would -- but then I called him "Banana Peel Face."
But then I said "those aren't nice names."
and ...
I call another one "Milk Toes"
Milk Toes, I think is the sweetest one.
And I don't know how ... like I ...
I consider them general neutral beings.
Milk Toes, her toes look like milk ...
... so ...
I was thinking about making a book about them.
Like maybe a children's book.
Like, remember the Garbage Pail Kids?
These would be the ...
I couldn't call them the garbage pail raccoons.
So, I don't know if you got my message,
because things have changed
and now I feel good about the raccoons.
They're not quite my friends.
Because I did try to go out there.
... and ...
They just gave me this look.
Cause I said "Bumbles! It's me!"
Geoff. With a "G."
Uh, so there's that ...
Then there's, you know I like walking so much
too, during the day, because there's not much to do.
Like, because I wait for your show.
Between calling in, I go for walks.
When I'm not watching the raccoons.
And, one time I was ... like ...
I saw this shining ....
in this grass, and then I kept going
and I was like "Ooh."
There's something twinkling.
And I dug through these bushes
one of which unfortunately was poison ivy.
I can read your mind.
And it's this glass ...
I think they used to call them "baubles."
It's not a bubble.
It's a glass thing.
I can't figure out what it is.
It's still got some dirt on it.
Cause I'm having trouble with my water.
I don't know if ...
I think I was double-paying my Consolidated Power bill ...
... and not paying my water bill.
I don't know why they can't just combine those things.
But, so, I'm having trouble with my water.
So I can't wash it off.
I think, I was ... I'm going to bring it down to the stream.
But it's a very strange piece of glass.
And I can't tell if it's, like,
part of an industrial thing,
or, I mean, it fell from a spaceship ...
... maybe ...
Or if it's worth --
I could bring it -- again, I would
love to come by the studio, if you'll have me.
I could bring this by.
And we could talk about it.
Or I could wash it in your sink, at least ...
cause I do have to figure out the water thing.
But I don't know where to go cause it's a PO --
like how do you go, if it's a PO Box?
Where do you go?
And they don't have, like ...
... their number again is like those, uh ...
I keep pressing zero,
and it doesn't work, and I don't --
RITA: Um ... hello?
Um ...
Was that the storm?
Or was it the damn phone lines?
Man, they're really flaky.
Ugh. Business as usual.
MAYA: He has a really soothing voice.
RITA: That's Geoff.
He's a regular caller.
MAYA: He's asleep.
RITA: Hm?
Oh. Well ...
Let him sleep.
OK. Well, let's play the tape.
This is "Cave Art."
It's a classic around here.
MAYA: I'm excited.
MAYA: That was great!
RITA: I like that one.
I kind of --
[Loud thunderclap]
RITA: Wow, so just completely ...
NIKKI: Yeah, just completely flooded.
I passed Ron on the way in.
He's gonna take a look and
see if there's anything he can do.
MAYA: Will they be OK?
NIKKI: Ron knows what he's doing.
He used to be a firefighter.
RITA: It's a little bit different though, right?
NIKKI: I guess.
Oh, thanks.
NIKKI: I brought my work.
RITA: Oh, good!
Nikki reads her poetry,
it's a weekly feature of our broadcast.
MAYA: Oh, great.
I look forward to hearing it.
RITA: Yeah, I just hope that
we can keep going.
We lost power a little while before, right?
NIKKI: Better get started, then.
NIKKI: To the Out-of-Towner.
What eagle flew you to your final bed?
It was not men who brought you there to sleep.
The men who left you bloodied then, and fled
had chosen mud and muddy-watered creek.
Did wild turkeys gobble, dote, and care,
And wipe the moss beneath your eyelids clear?
Did cardinals pull the twigs out from your hair
and wash your hands and feet, and trim your beard?