December 1st, 2017 by Gary Osberg
It has been a tough week here on the third floor of Wimmer Hall. For the latest on Garrison Keillor simply go to www.mprnews.org I am not sure what the subject line of this Friday note will become, but as of this morning www.prairiehome.org is still working. I am sure that Chris Thile will continue to entertain every Saturday. I for one have come to look forward to the new talent that Chris has been bringing to the show.
Amos Lee for one. I have been watching the YouTube video of Amos performing “A Change is Gonna Come” a lot since Wednesday. If you would like the link, just ask.
This week APHC is back live with the first of three December broadcasts from The Town Hall in New York, New York. Spoon joins Chris with sonically adventurous rock’n’roll from their new album Hot Thoughts; Cécile McLorin Salvant is on hand, fresh off her third Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album; and comedian Carmen Lynch stops by with incisive observations from the darker side of life. Plus: a brand-new Song of the Week and a fresh crop of musician birthdays from host Chris Thile and the band — singer Sarah Jarosz, pianist and music director Richard Dworsky, Mike Elizondo on bass, guitarist Julian Lage, drummer Ted Poor, and Gabe Witcher on fiddle; high camp and low humor from our acting company, Serena Brook, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman; and an Instant Song Request from you, the listeners. Tune in on your local public radio station, or watch live (Saturday, 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Central Time) at prairiehome.org!
“Life has its pain and evil, but like a good novel, there is infinite joy in seeing the World, the most interesting stories, unfold, even though one misses the end. W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
November 22nd, 2017 by Gary Osberg
My mother’s mother, Laura Ramlo, and her husband Bert, owned a grocery store in Upsala, Minnesota. (photo attached) Most of us called her Grandma Ramlo instead of Grandma Laura and some just called her Gram. They lived behind the store in small quarters. The bedroom didn’t even have doors. They heated the living space with a fuel oil burner that was in the dining room and it had to be filled often. The store was heated with a wood burning stove. The wood and the fuel oil were stored in the attached warehouse. That was convenient. Gram was famous for her Thanksgiving dinners which were more like a feast. Owning a grocery store made it easy for her to offer turkey, beef and pork some years. Grandpa Bert would complain about her “raiding the stock” but not too hard. My job was to fill the crystal water glasses with water from the cistern pump in the kitchen. The kids would sit at card tables in the living room. We would always sing the “doxology” and express our thanks for the goodness in our lives and the food on the table. Every year, Gram would offer her apologies for the food, even though it was awesome. “I don’t know why I keep doing this, I just can’t cook anymore.” Not true Gram. I trust that you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving feast tomorrow.
The APHC show this week is one final fall rebroadcast before the live shows start again. A show originally broadcast last November from the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver, Colorado. Trey Anastasio plays “Back on the Train” and “Water in the Sky,” The Staves perform “Sadness Don’t Own Me” and “Blood I Bled,” and Tig Notaro joins Chris to discuss life as a comedian. Plus: Chris Thile’s entry in the Thanksgiving Music canon, “The Elephant in the Room”; even more music from Aoife O’Donovan; and a message from a new sponsor, Container Pants (the only Big Pants you’ll ever need.)
“If more if us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” J.R.R. Tolkien author of The Hobbit.
November 17th, 2017 by Gary Osberg
In 1998 Dad moved from his high rise apartment in downtown St. Paul to my house in Upsala. He had been a city fellow for most of his life, but he was raised in Upsala. I was working in Minneapolis as a sales manager with a Xerox agency and I was gone most of the week. It wasn’t much of an inconvenience to have him there. His passion was cooking, however I told him in no uncertain terms that I hated the smell of fried foods and I did not eat leftovers.
In July of 1999 the Xerox agency that I worked for, Albinson, and Xerox parted ways and they no longer needed a sales manager. I spent the summer painting old buildings and garages in the Upsala area and started working here at MPR in October of that year. If I did not leave a post-it note on the counter in the morning that said “NO SUPPER”, there would be a home cooked meal on the table when I arrived home. The food was awesome. The baked potatoes were done in a special way. He boiled them 10 minutes first and then baked them for one hour at 400 degrees.
As Dad struggled with old age and cancer, sometimes the quality of the supper was not up to the usual standards. Also, many times the smell of burnt food or worse, burnt plastic, from the tea pot handle, would greet me at the back door. He burned three tea pots, with plastic handles, in the last six months. It got so that the only time I did not leave out the post-it note, “NO SUPPER”, was on Fridays. On November 18, 2004, I came home and he greeted me with “I have to go to the hospital, but you can eat first, your supper is in the oven.” I responded “No way” and I put on the oven mitts and grabbed the baked potatoes and dish of meatballs from the oven and shoved them in the frig and we drove to the VA in Minneapolis.
That was Dad’s “Last supper”, he never did come home. That weekend I ate the leftover meatball supper. It was a very tasty meal.
This week the APHC show is the second of three November rebroadcasts, this one from just over a year ago at The Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jason Isbell sings “Speed Trap Town” and “Cover Me Up,” Angélique Kidjo performs “Afirika” and “Orisha,” The Dover Quartet plays the Adagio for Strings by Pennsylvania’s own Samuel Barber. Billy Collins shares “On Rhyme” and “Thanksgiving” from his collection The Rain in Portugal. Plus: Chris Thile’s Song of the Week, “I Made This for You”; they will check in with the Philly Chapter of We’re Not Actually Doing Construction, Just Making Loud Noises Early in the Morning; a glimpse into the world of fine dining. Lydia Rogers of The Secret Sisters joins Chris on Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me to the End of Love.” Tune in on your radio or your digital device.
“Never esteem anything as of advantage to thee that shall make thee break thy word or lose thy self-respect.” Marcus Aurelius
November 12th, 2017 by Gary Osberg
Tomorrow is Veterans Day, which started as Armistice Day, commemorating the cessation of hostilities on the Western Front in Europe, at eleven o’clock am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. In many parts of the world, people observe a two minute moment of silence at 11 am as a sign of respect for the roughly 20 million people who died in the “war to end all wars”. I plan to visit the grave site of my father and my uncle at the Gethsemane Church Cemetery in Upsala. I used to visit a couple of vets who lived in Mother of Mercy in Albany. Aymer Nelson passed away this last year at age 104. Aymer was in the landing at Normandy Beach on D Day and he fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Bob Holmen Sr was on a destroyer in the Pacific. I miss them both.
My dad, Bill Osberg, served on a destroyer escort in the Pacific, the USS Vammen. He was a radar operator, spending hour after hour in a small room on a “tin can” while the fighting raged around him. In one of his journals he wrote: “The two months at Okinawa were hell.” We owe a great deal of thanks to all of those men and women who fought to protect this country. War is hell, but the warriors are not to blame. When you meet a man or women in uniform, simply offer them your hand and say, “Thank you for serving”. If you would like to help to honor veterans thru artwork, simply go to www.vetsart.org
The APHC show this week is the first of three rebroadcasts in a brief November break, this one originally from last October at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats perform “Wasting Time” and “Out on the Weekend”; Anaïs Mitchell sings “Why We Build the Wall” and “El Helwa Di”; and John Hodgman joins Chris to talk beards, sing “Roadrunner,” and test his Star Wars trivia mettle against Chris Thile. Plus: Chris’s Song of the Week, “Dates”; Sarah Jarosz sings “Green Lights”; Brittany Haas leads the band on a medley of Swedish fiddle tunes; our very own Bertrand Falstaff Heine reviews the new lineup of snow tires; and much, much more.
“Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” George S. Patton
November 3rd, 2017 by Gary Osberg
Art rocks! Tonight is the last “Downtown St. Cloud Art Crawl” of the season. If you have never taken time to visit the various galleries and meet the artists, tonight would be a good time to check it out. Charles Gilbert Kapsner will be in the Gallery St. Germain, across from The Paramount Theatre. Charles is a Little Falls native who chose to study at the private studio of Nerina Simi in Florence, Italy. The family business in Little Falls was blacktop installation. Renaissance painting is quite a stretch from installation and maintenance of driveways. Recently, Charles won first place in the Salmagundi Club 2017 new member show. He is also working on the fourth of the five 8 foot x 10 foot oil paintings for the Veterans Historic Education Monument that are on display at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery located north of Little Falls. You can purchase a print of the Army, Navy or Coast Guard paintings tonight at the gallery. Tomorrow night the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra will be performing at Ritsche Auditorium on the campus of SCSU. www.stcloudsymphony.com
The APHC show this week is live from the San Diego Civic Theatre for the second broadcast of a two-week stand in sunny Southern California. Hometown heroes Nickel Creek are reuniting for the occasion and will contribute a new song to Chris Thile’s Song of the Week series; Fantastic Negrito and company head down the California coast for a blast of blues from the Bay Area; and comic Maria Bamford joins Chris from Duluth, Minnesota, by way of Hollywood. Plus: music and musician birthdays from our band — singer Madison Cunningham, Richard Dworsky on keys, guitarist Chris Eldridge, Brittany Haas on fiddle, bassist Alan Hampton, and Ted Poor on drums); Tom Papa checks in with observations from Out in America so the gang can focus on stuffing themselves with leftover turkey and yams during the brief November vacation, a pre-Thanksgiving script or two from our Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Serena Brook, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman. Tune in!
“Never give up. Keep your thoughts and your mind always on the goal.” Tom Bradley
October 29th, 2017 by Gary Osberg
I am not that much of a sports fan, but I do enjoy baseball in October. Tonight is game 3 of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the LA Dodgers. Of course I did not stay up Wednesday night to watch the crazy ending of game 2. Neither of the teams that I wanted to be in the series won.
During the sixties my dad worked as a night desk clerk at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. I was attending high school in Upsala, so Ma would ship me down to spend some time with him once in a while. The first thing he would do is send me to the barber shop in the lower level of the hotel for a haircut and a shoe shine. He would put me up in a room at the hotel or at the YMCA.
Fifty-two years ago, the Twins were halfway to a World Series Championship on October 12th. “Mudcat” Grant was the ace pitcher of the 1965 Twins. The Twins beat the Dodgers in both home games but the road trip to LA was a bust. The Dodgers swept three games on October 9, 10 & 11. Back in Bloomington, Mudcat started game 6 in the Metropolitan Stadium and the Twins beat the Dodgers 5-1 to even the Series.
Dad was able to get me a press pass for game 7. I was worried about being challenged, so I stopped at a drug store and bought a note pad and a nice ball point pen. The press pass worked and they even gave me a box lunch. Sandy Koufax shut the Twins out in game 7, allowing only three hits and striking out 10. The final score was 2-0.
This week the APHC show is heading west for the first tour show of the season, live from The Pasadena Civic Auditorium in sunny Pasadena, California. As befits a visit to Tinseltown, it’s a star-studded affair, with a blast of Nashville-tinged rock ‘n’ roll from Dan Auerbach and his band; and violin virtuosity from Hilary Hahn, including a few Bach pieces with Chris Thile . Also with the gang: all the way from Bernice, Louisiana, gospel-soul-blues-man Mr. Robert Finley; and one of the most mesmerizing singers your ears will ever behold, Fiona Apple. If that weren’t enough, you will be treated to wit and wisdom from comedian, actor, author, citizen, and woodworker Nick Offerman . Also, a new Song of the Week and a final batch of October musician birthdays from the host and band (singer Madison Cunningham, music director Rich Dworsky on the keys, bassist Paul Kowert, drummer Ted Poor, Sean Watkins on guitar, and Gabe Witcher on fiddle); and APHC will celebrate Halloween with a selection of spooky scenes featuring the Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Serena Brook, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman). Tune in this Saturday as MPR rolls two hours of red carpet radio straight to your favorite listening device!
“Life is easier than you’d think; all that is necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable.” Kathleen Norris
October 20th, 2017 by Gary Osberg
MEA weekend is a special time of the year. Many a father/son(daughter) combo head for the woods or ponds to bring home the “bacon” in the form of grouse or duck. Larry, a friend of mine who died way too young, knew that I had never taken up hunting, but he wanted my son and myself to experience a weekend of grouse hunting, up north at “the shack”. He invited our friend Ron and his son Matt, my son’s best friend, to join him and his son Danny. So there were three dads and three sons along with a black lab, named “Bear”. We formed two teams and since I don’t own a gun, I was the “bird dog” on the dads team. Bear went with the boys.
The first day we brought back 17 grouse and Larry fixed a meal of grouse with wild rice and mushroom soup in the giant iron skillet that hung from a nail in “the shack”. It was one of the most memorable feasts of my life. I trust that you are doing something special with your family this weekend. If you want to see examples of other hunting and fishing experiences go to www.theoutdoorreport.com
The APHC show this week is back at the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota for one more hometown broadcast before the gang heads off on the road for visits to Pasadena, San Diego, New York, and beyond. Composer, singer, arranger, and pianist Randy Newman will sing songs full of wit, warmth, and well-honed satire; Margo Price brings her crackling band up from Nashville to turn the Fitz into a honky tonk for an evening; and Alice Wetterlund, originally of Minnesota and now making her home out in California, joins Chris for a bit of comedy. Plus: the third Song of the Week this season from host Chris Thile; Tom Papa is back with an update from Out in America; music from public radio’s finest variety show ensemble (singer Madison Cunningham, pianist and music director Rich Dworsky, drummer Matt Chamberlain, guitarist Chris Eldridge, Brittany Haas on fiddle, and bassist Paul Kowert); leaves crunching, overhead geese, apple-cheeked conversation, and more autumn hallmarks from the Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Serena Brook , Tim Russell, and Fred Newman); a fresh selection of musician birthdays; and a song request straight from you, the listeners. It’s almost more entertainment than can comfortably fit into two hours, but they will dot their very best — tune in on your local public radio station or watch live (5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Central Time) at prairiehome.org!
“Remember, it’s not about having time, it is about making time”. Erik Jon Osberg
October 12th, 2017 by Gary Osberg
Tomorrow is homecoming in Upsala. In my day it was the Upsala `Cardinals’, but some time ago Upsala football merged with Swanville and now it is the USA (Upsala Swanville Area) `Patriots’.
Some of my favorite memories of football games are those played in the mud. I was an overweight freshman on the Upsala Cardinal team in 1957. Freshmen wore the old uniforms and helmets and we did not win any fashion awards. John Atkinson, a senior running back, ran with his knees pumping up and down high and hard. He still managed to make yardage. In practice, I would simply bounce off of his knees. The memory of the pain is still with me. That was the year when no other team even scored on the Upsala Cardinals football team. Clarissa got to our three yard line, but our defense held.
A couple of years ago, the entire 1957 Upsala football team was inducted into the Upsala Sports Hall of Fame. I was one of nine of the twenty-nine original members of the 1957 Upsala Cardinal football team who showed up for our induction into the Sports Hall of Fame. One of the guys, Dave Chuba, came all the way from Ohio. Our quarterback, Bob Soltis, was named All-State that year. It was the second year that inductees were chosen. Bob’s brother Ralph was chosen the previous year and another brother John was a junior on the 1957 football team. John accepted an individual award for his brother Bob. There were lots of Soltis boys and they all played football. No one lifted weights in those days, they just threw bales of hay all summer. Us “village kids” had a tough time keeping up.
The APHC show this week is back at their home base at the Fitzgerald Theater for the second live broadcast of the season. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band joins Chris for classic sounds from the other end of the Mississippi River, there will be guitar rock from Margaret Glaspy, and author George Saunders will share selections from his novel Lincoln in the Bardo with a little help from the acting performers. Plus: Chris Thile is working away on a brand-new Song of the Week, the band members (singer Rachael Price, pianist and music director Rich Dworsky, drummer Matt Chamberlain, Brittany Haas on fiddle, bassist Paul Kowert, and Sean Watkins on guitar) are warming up their various musical implements, our Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Serena Brook, Tim Russell, and Fred Newman) is running lines backstage, and — we hope — you’re thinking up suggestions for the Instant Song Request segment. And if that weren’t enough, there will be another round of musician birthdays. Can it top last week’s epic edition? Tune in Saturday on your local public radio station or watch live — 5pm to 7pm Central Time — at prairiehome.org to find out!
“Leaders aren’t born, they are made. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal which is worthwhile.” Vince Lombardi.
October 7th, 2017 by Gary Osberg
I live on a street named after a nun. I live on Colman Court in Mill Stream Village in St. Joseph. Sister Colman O’Connell died last Saturday at the Saint Benedict Monastery in St. Joseph. She was 90 years old. Sister Colman was a very special person. She always greeted you with a smile. One of my favorite times together was our attendance at the annual Boy Scout fund raiser at the home of Dan and Mabel Coborn. Sister Colman was a “Bennie”, graduating in 1950. She was an “English Major” and taught English for many years. She also taught theater and dance. She served as the President of CSB from 1986 to 1996. After she retired from the College of St. Benedict, she continued in her capacity as “Chief Fund Raiser”. In 2005, at age 78, she became Senior Development Officer for Institutional Advancement at CSB. I am sure that Sister Colman raised millions of dollars for CSB in her lifetime.
She was a first class lady, always dressed to the nines. Her favorite libation was Jameson in a tall glass with only one or two small ice cubes. She enjoyed life to the fullest and she will be greatly missed by the entire community. There will be a gathering at Sacred Heart Chapel tonight at 7 and a burial service Saturday at 10am, also in Sacred Heart Chapel at St. Benedict’s Monastery.
The A Prairie Home Companion show this week is a live broadcast from the Palace Theatre in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Kentucky-by-way-of Nashville vocal powerhouse and guitar hero Chris Stapleton will help start things off with a potent blend of country, rock’n’roll, bluegrass, and soul; Memphis singer-songwriter Julien Baker stops by with songs of introspection and redemption, and comic Laurie Kilmartin will join the gang with incisive humor sharpened as a writer (and frequent guest) on late-night television. Plus: the very first Song of the Week of the season from our host Chris Thile and our ever-talented band — vocalist Emily King, pianist and music director Rich Dworsky, guitarist Chris Eldridge, Brittany Haas on fiddle, Paul Kowert on bass, and drummer Ted Poor — a few musician birthdays for the early days of October, and your chance to influence live radio with the Powdermilk Instant Song Request. All that, and scripts, characters, and unencumbered zaniness from our Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Serena Brook, Tim Russell , and sound effects man Fred Newman) and it’ll be a veritable feast for the ears on your local public radio station. If you’re so inclined, you can also watch live (5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Central Time) at prairiehome.org, and if you’re in the Twin Cities, join the gang in downtown Saint Paul for a block party celebrating Minnesota Public Radio’s 50th anniversary.
“She had nothing against developing..development, change, ripening, were life.” Mary A. Arnim (1866-1941)
October 3rd, 2017 by Gary Osberg
Sunday I drove up to Breezy Point Resort for our annual retreat. The weather co-operated and the food was great. One of the cabins that is available is the 11 bedroom Fawcett House. It was Breezy Point Resort’s founder Captain Billy’s personal residence. My mother, Bernice Larson was a nanny for the grandchildren of Captain Billy Fawcett in the 1930s. She had a bedroom in the Fawcett House and spent the winters in Los Angeles with Captain Billy’s son Gordon Fawcett, his wife Vivian and their two children, Gordon Jr. and Dennis.
Wilford Fawcett, better known as Captain Billy, was a millionaire publisher from Robbinsdale, Minnesota. His most famous publication was the Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang magazine. The book “Humor Magazines and Comic Periodicals” noted that “Few periodicals reflect the post-WW I cultural change in American life as well as Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang. For much of the 1920’s Capt. Billy’s was the most prominent comic magazine in America.”
Captain Billy purchased Breezy Point in Pelican Township, from Fred LaPage in 1920 and soon the main lodge was built along with his personal residence. The original lodge was destroyed in a fire in June of 1959. Of course he rebuilt the lodge and the “Fawcett House” still stands. With 11 bedrooms it is perfect for large family reunions. It was recently renovated. For details on rates and golf packages, go to www.breezypointresort.com
This week’s APHC show is the final (finally) rebroadcast before the new season starts on October 7! (Tune in for a live broadcast from Saint Paul!) Jack White visits the Fitzgerald Theater to play “City Lights” and brings out singer Margo Price for a duet on “I’m Lonely (But I Ain’t That Lonely Yet)” — Lake Street Dive performs “Call Off Your Dogs” and pays tribute to Prince with “When You Were Mine,” and comic Maeve Higgins talks dating and life in New York City. Plus: Chris Thile’s inaugural Song of the Week, “Get it Out on the Radio,” Sarah Jarosz and the band play Harley Allen’s “High Sierra,” and a word from the Meditation App from Fritz Electronics. Tune in on your radio or your smart device and we’ll see you back again next weekend for a brand new live broadcast!
“Is there nicotine stains on his index finger? A dime novel hidden in the corncrib? Is he starting to memorize jokes from Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang?” Professor Hill in The Music Man.
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