BSR Magazine Show #12A

“Cuba Special (15 minute version)”

October 27, 2016

Hosted by James M. Branum

A production of BroadSpectrumRadio.com with support from the Upwave Media project of the Center for Conscience in Action

 

 

NOTE: The following set of notes is a rough script that I used, however, it is not an exact script as I made some changes as I read it as well as in editing.

 

Welcome to a special program of the BSR Magazine show from BroadSpectrumRadio.com for October 27, 2016

 

Your host for today is James Branum and this program will be all about my recent trip to Cuba!

 

I will be talking about my experiences in travel, the food, the culture and especially my visit to the Correspondence Department of the famous shortwave broadcaster, Radio Havana Cuba, mixed in with some of the sounds I recorded while on my journey, so stay tuned.

I’ll also be talking a bit about the ways that Cuban society is changing and how much it defies the expectations we in the US may have of it.

Also I want to let you know that the full program is one hour long but not every station is airing the full hour. For listeners on Channel 292 from Rohrbach, Germany and Unique Radio 3210 in Halls Creek, Australia will hear the whole program, but our listeners on other stations will only hear the first part of the program, so please go to our website to hear the entire broadcast. Also I will have lots of pictures and other materials online as well, which can all be found at www.broadspectrumradio.com/cuba.

 

(Music or street sounds here)

 

The trip itself – A bit more complicated than expected but also fairly smooth, involving a flight from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Santa Clara, Cuba, then a taxi ride to downtown Santa Clara, then a Viazul bus ride from Santa Clara to Havana. I was blessed to get to experience a small taste of the city of Che, Santa Clara, but mostly spent my time in the Viejo and Centro districts of Havana, staying in a wonderful little Casa Particular (or Guest house) in Viejo, only a 100 meters or so from the Malecon, on a side street of Avenida Prada.

The logistics were not bad, thanks to the arrangements made by Jet Blue Airlines to help make the dealings with the US and Cuban authorities go as smooth as possible. For most US travelers, one only needs a US passport and $50 to purchase a Cuban tourist visa at the airport in the US, as well as to complete an affidavit for the US authorities that attests to the fact that the US traveler is going to Cuba for one of the approved reasons and not just pure recreational tourism. I will go into more detail about all of this on the Cuba section of the BSR website, but overall this part wasn’t bad at all. Generally I was treated with kindness and respect by both US and Cuban authorities throughout the trip.

Language was more of a challenge. My only formal Spanish training was two years of study in high school, 23 or so years ago, with a little bit of informal learning since then, so I was pushed to the max to communicate. Thankfully most folks I met are eager to communicate, and normally I could have decent conversations, often mixing a little of English and Spanish as needed. Still the amount of negotiating regarding taxis, travel, etc, was not easy.

(Music or street sounds here)

The culture of Cuba was glorious. I only got to experience a little bit of in my 3 short days in Cuba, but what I saw was pretty awesome. Lots and lots of music, everywhere. In restaurants and tourist areas I heard lots of traditional Cuban music, while on the radio I heard traditional Cuban music, but also lots and lots of Jazz, a little bit of classical and a surprising amount of the Beatles. But when on the streets, riding taxis, etc, the main music folks were playing was hip-hop,

BSR Friday Show September 30, 2016

hosted by James M. Branum

Broad Spectrum Radio.com

Aired on KTLR Community Talk Radio 890 am in Oklahoma City

Includes the KG5JST DX Radio Report (aired with permission)

The basic script (which might differ a bit from what was actually said on the air in small ways) follows:

Welcome to the Friday BSR Show, from Broad SpectrumRadio.com

A program for listeners of Community Talk Radio, KTLR 890 am in Oklahoma City.

 

IN this episode, I’ll share about the upcoming Mennonite Harvest Festival in Oklahoma City which will be followed by the KG5JST DX Radio report, so stay tuned…

(CHORD)

(Old 606 – music in background)

In celebration of the harvest season, we are hosting a family friendly party to enjoy the fall weather and seasonal offerings at Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th Street in Oklahoma City!

Bring a dish to share with what’s fresh from your garden or available at the Farmer’s Market! We’ll have activities for kids as well as fun opportunities to contribute money to Joy Mennonite Church. Mostly, we’d love to get the chance to share a meal and conversation together.

Rumor has it that there will be a pie auction, and possibly some music and maybe a jam session, so be sure and bring your instrument if you want to join in. And there may even be some traditional Mennonite Peppernut cookies for sale.

All of the fun will happen on the grounds of Joy Mennonite Church, 504 NE 16th Street at the corner of NE 16th & Lincoln, just a few blocks south of the state capitol.

And for those of you wondering about the folks throwing this shindig, Joy Mennonite Church is a small congregation dedicated to work together in community to try to live out Jesus’ way of peace, justice and inclusive love.

Joy Mennonite Church’s members are active in the OKC community individually as well as a church body. Joy has taken active steps to support #BlackLivesMatter actions, is active each year with the International Day of Peace and participates in the the inter-faith community of OKC. Additionally, we contribute to many ministries that support justice and development work around the world including Mennonite Central Committee, Amnesty International, Jubilee USA, Heifer International, and Christian Peacemaker Teams. And Joy is the primary sponsor of the Center for Conscience in Action, an organization that I am proud to work for.

We hope you’ll join us at our Harvest Festival to learn more about who we are & help us support the important work of peace and justice. To find out more, visit the Joy Mennonite Church page on facebook.

(morse code audio – KG5JST)

Welcome to the KG5JST DX Radio Report

For broadcast on international shortwave and local radio stations beginning September 30, 2016

This report was created by James M. Branum and is a production of Broad Spectrum Radio.com

 

In this episode…

* I will discuss my upcoming trip to Cuba in mid-October.

* And then for the bulk of the program, I will discuss highlights of my radio listening fun on a recent train trip to California.

I always welcome comments and QSL reports. Please send them to [email protected].

Also the background sound for this show is a recording of the ambient noise from Amtrak’s Southwest Chief, recorded late at night.

(Chord)

THIS SEGMENT EDITED OUT FOR TIME:

GMRS

I’ve recently decided to get licensed to use GMRS, the General Mobile Radio Service.