YARN

Neighbors

All Grown Up Blues

Featuring: Astri Kingstone and Maya Kingstone-Frei
Recorded:  March 2012, Brooklyn, NY
Original Music:  Jay Kustka

A portrait of a mother and daughter, born forty years apart. Astri Kingstone and Maya Kingstone-Frei live two floors below me in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, NY. 

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(2:52)

Loving Charcoal

Featuring: "Julie"
Recorded:  March 2012, Brooklyn, NY
Original Music:  Jay Kustka

A portrait of a woman who lives one floor below me, and her hamster. Unnamed at the time, the hamster has since become known as "Lily."

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(3:00)

These pieces were produced as entries in the Third Coast International Audio Festival's 2012 ShortDocs Competition.

Jay Kustka is a Boston guitarist and singer/songwriter with 30+ years experience. A recent semi-finalist of Lee Ritenour’s Six-String Theory contest, his playing styles range from roots rock/blues to funk, reggae and beyond.  Check out his music at the links below:

http://www.jaykustka.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheDayRiffer
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaykustka/with-a-little-help-my-first-album

 

Railfans

Featuring: Al Holtz, Jack May, and Walter E. Zullig, Jr,
Recorded:  May-September 2011, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Ossining, NY
Original Music:  Jay Kustka

Since October 1962, a small group of dedicated rail enthusiasts have been sending each other letters, photos, and reports about their common passion.  Over time, what began as a means of sharing information has become the lifeline for a lifetime friendship.  And it shows no sign of slowing down.

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(16:22)

PHOTO GALLERY:  View photos of Walter, Al, and Jack in action, train photos by Jack, a copy of the very first Circuit letter, and more, by clicking HERE.

Jay Kustka is a Boston guitarist and singer/songwriter with 30+ years experience. A recent semi-finalist of Lee Ritenour’s Six-String Theory contest, his playing styles range from roots rock/blues to funk, reggae and beyond.  Check out his music at the links below:

http://www.jaykustka.com
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheDayRiffer
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jaykustka/with-a-little-help-my-first-album

Special thanks to Adam Greenfield, Melinda Mogel, and Lisa Zullig.

Pride of the Lady Cubs

Story by: Scott Schultz
Recorded:  August 2011, New York, NY
Music:  Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou; Nomo; Glissandro 70; Public Enemy
Music Coordination:  Jeff Golick 

Broadcast February 5, 2012 on KUT-FM's "O'Dark 30" (Austin).
 
With his comedy career stalled out, 30 year-old Scott Schultz enrolls as a Freshman at down-and-out L.A. City College.  After Scott is named Sports Editor of the school paper by default, the college's legendary basketball coach, Mike Miller, enlists his aid in assembling LACC's first women's basketball team -- an experience that changes Scott's life.


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(18:10)

Scott Schultz has been a comedian, journalist, photographer and editor for various newspapers, blogs and magazines, covering sports, music and science.  He has been a regular contributor for LA Record, since 2008, and his work has appeared in L.A. Weekly, L.A. Times and Maxim En Espanol among others. As a comedian he has performed at clubs and colleges across the country. Having grown up in Marblehead, MA and moved to Southern California via Greyhound bus when he was 18-years old, Scott graduated from UCLA.  He currently lives in the seaside town of Winthrop, MA and participates in storytelling and readings throughout Cambridge, MA.  His favorite basketball movie is Hoop Dreams, and his all-time favorite basketball coach is John Wooden.

View photos of the 1998-99 team with Coaches Miller and Schultz here.  View photos of L.A. City College's late Lady Cubs in its prime here.

Beyond the rope: a captivity's aftermath

Featuring:  Kristen Mulvihill and David Rohde
Recorded:  June 2011, New York, NY
Music:  Ryan Rumery

In November 2008, while in Afghanistan writing a book on the region, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter David Rohde was abducted by Taliban gunmen.  At the time, he had been married only two months, to Cosmopolitan photography director Kristen Mulvihill.  Seven months later, after being moved from Logar Province to the tribal areas of Pakistan, after multiple videos depicting Rohde's captivity and a string of dead-end negotiations, Rodhe and his Afghan colleague Tahir Ludin escaped from the compound in which they were held.  Days later, Rohde was reunited with Mulvihill in Dubai, and within a week the two were back home in New York City.  In December 2009, the two began work on a book about their experiences during the period.  The resulting narrative, A Rope and a Prayer, was published in November 2010.  During the months that followed, on tour and elsewhere, Rohde and Mulvihill relived details of their ordeal for audiences both awestruck and enraged by what they had to say.

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(14:51)

Kristen Mulvihill has been a fashion and photography editor at various women’s magazines, including Marie Claire and Self. Most recently, she was the photography director of Cosmopolitan magazine. She is also a painter and illustrator.

David Rohde, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes in journalism, is a foreign affairs columnist for Reuters. Previously, he worked as a reporter for The New York Times for 15 years. He won his first Pulitzer Prize in 1996 for uncovering the Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia for The Christian Science Monitor and his second in 2009 as part of a team of New York Times reporters covering Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is also the author of Endgame: The Betrayal and Fall of Srebrenica.

They both grew up in New England, graduated from Brown University and live in New York.

Photo by Erik Swain.  To view more photos of David Rohde and Kristen Mulvihill, click here.

To order the book, click here.  To order the e-book, click here.  To pre-order the paperback edition (released Oct 25, 2011), click here.  To read Rohde's series of articles in the Times and view an interactive feature about his captivity, click here.

What was left behind

Story by:  Lisa Lerner
Recorded:  May 2011, Brooklyn, NY
Music:  Esmerine; Sir Richard Bishop
Music Coordination:  Jeff Golick 

Broadcast July 31, 2011 on KUT-FM's "O'Dark 30" (Austin).

Arriving at her family's storage space in Syracuse, NY, a Brooklyn-based writer and mom is surprised to find the contents far more plentiful and significant than expected.  And now, with her four year-old daughter in tow, she has to figure out how to deal with it.

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(15:20)

Lisa Lerner is the author of the novel Just Like Beauty. You can read her latest short story, Childhood, at www.swinkmag.com. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her daughter, a rabbit, and a bunch of stuff she probably doesn't need.

 

MOS #12: dada, "Dizz Knee Land"

Year:  1992
Writers:  Joie Calio, Michael Gurley, Phil Leavitt
Album:  Puzzle
Label:  I.R.S.
Highest US chart position:  #5 (Modern Rock)

That was the 90s for you:  power pop ruled the airwaves, and songs like “Dizz Knee Land” were aimed directly at the heart of Generation X.
 

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(3:40)

MOS #11: Camper Van Beethoven, "Take the Skinheads Bowling"

Year:  1985
Writers:  Victor Krummenacher, David Lowery, Chris Molla, Jonathan Segel
Album:  Telephone Free Landslide Victory
Label:  Independent Projects
Highest US chart position:  N/A

It’s the not caring that makes it work, the not knowing why the skinheads have to go bowling – or even if they’d want to go.  
 

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(3:14)

MOS #10: The Outfield, "Your Love"

Year:  1985
Writer:  John Spinks
Album:  Play Deep
Label:  Columbia
Highest US chart position:  #6 (Hot 100)

First Tony Lewis says, “I just wanna use your love tonight.”  Then he admits, “I don’t want to LOSE your love tonight.”  Well, which is it? 
 

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(3:45)

MOS #9: Robert John, "Sad Eyes"

Year:  1979
Writer:  Robert John
Album:  Robert John
Label:  EMI
Highest US chart position:  #1 (Hot 100)

"Sad Eyes" went to #1 on the Hot 100, but it took 20 weeks to get there, tying the record set by Nick Gilder’s “Hot Child in the City” for a single taking the longest time to hit the top spot.  
 

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(3:23)

MOS #8: Fleetwood Mac, "Oh Well"

Year:  1969
Writer:  Peter Green
Album:  Then Play On
Label:  Reprise
Highest US chart position:  55 (Pop Singles)

Split into two parts upon its release, “Oh Well” is three minutes of hard rocking blues followed by six minutes of spaghetti Western-style strumming, piano, and cello.
 

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(3:57)

MOS #7: The Champs, "Tequila"

Year:  1958
Writer:  Chuck Rio (Danny Flores)
Album:  Go Champs Go!
Label:  Challenge
Highest US chart position:  #1 (Hot 100)

Intended as a throwaway B-side to a song by guitarist Dave Burgess called “Train to Nowhere,” “Tequila” was literally written on the fly.
 

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(3:14)