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On the road out of Portland…

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on October 17, 2005, from Portland, Oregon.

The mobilebooth team couldn’t resist stopping at Burgerville for huckleberry milkshakes. Only in Oregon!

Posted by   October 17, 2005   No Comments

Mempho, Tenno!

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on October 14, 2005, from Memphis, Tennessee.

Here in Memphis, TN we’re parked downtown on South Main Street. Beautiful old trolleys clang past the booth every five minutes or so: Memphis’ (semi) rapid transit system.

Right across the street is the Center for Southern Folklore, a wonderful organization devoted to documenting and preserving Southern folk art, music and traditions. Above, Facilitators Maisie Tivnan and Nick Yulman hang with the Center’s Executive Producer, and Queen Bee, Judy Peiser. There could be no finer guide to the city or partner-in-crime in collecting its stories. Judy and her amazing staff operate on the principle that everyone is a king and the Center celebrates such small wonders as handmade quilts, peach cobbler and a farmer who taught his hogs to say grace.

Posted by   October 14, 2005   No Comments

A hello and a fare thee well

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on October 13, 2005, from Memphis, Tennessee.

It is the end of the tour for Facilitator Rani Shankar, pictured here with cofacilitator Nick Yulman. She’ll return home to Brooklyn, NY and continue to facilitate at StoryCorps’ New York Booths.

Rani passes the microphone to new East Booth Faciltator Maisie Tivnan.

Posted by   October 13, 2005   2 Comments

Camp W.O.W. – from New Orleans to Murray, KY

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on October 10, 2005, from Murray, Kentucky.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, private citizens in Murray, KY organized a rescue mission. Volunteers went down to New Orleans in school buses and brought people camped outside the Convention Center back to Murray. The town’s Woodsmen of the World Camp became the base of operations, serving as temporary housing and a resource center. StoryCorps Facilitators Rani Shankar and Nick Yulman had breakfast at the camp and spoke with evacuees about their experiences.

Above, Karen, who had stopped by the booth earlier in the week, gives an update on how her family’s doing. She, like many who came to the camp, had no idea where she was going when she boarded the bus but has decided to settle in Murray because she has been so impressed by the kindness and generosity of the town’s citizens.

Gigi, a hair stylist from New Orleans, tells her story and explains that she’s been doing people’s hair at the camp as a form of meditation.

We also visited the homes of some people who have found places to live in Murray through the camp.
Above, Cherry and her dog Whoopie, who came with her on the bus from New Orleans, pose in front of their new house with Camp W.O.W. director Colleen. "We’re family now," Cherry explained.

Posted by   October 10, 2005   No Comments

The western frontier

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on , from Portland, Oregon.

The mobilebooth reaches the pacific coast.

Posted by   October 10, 2005   No Comments

The Otis Cafe

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on October 9, 2005, from Portland, Oregon.

StoryCorps facilitators ate the best breakfast they’d ever had in the town of Otis, OR.

Facilitator Karen DiMattia finds joy in a cup of coffee.

Linda serves up breakfast.

Homemade bread…….ahhhhh.

Posted by   October 9, 2005   2 Comments

Grapestomping kitty-corner from mobilebooth!

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on , from Portland, Oregon.

The mobilebooth shared space last week at Pioneer Courthouse Square with a hootin’ and hollerin’ grapestomp.

Posted by   October 9, 2005   No Comments

Fake Food/Real Food

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on , from Murray, Kentucky.

Our digs in Murray are on the campus of Murray State University and we’ve been lucky enough to meet a number of students. Annmarie and Jessie, two art students, put up a show of fake food items which culminated in a silent auction benefiting the hurricane relief effort.

A couple of days after the auction, Annmarie had us over to sample some of her delicious real food and pore over her collection of pressed seaweed specimens (truly). Home-cooked meals are a rare treat on the road and we thoroughly enjoyed eating right and chatting with Annmarie and her roommate Claudia.

Posted by   October 9, 2005   No Comments

Bikers

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on October 8, 2005, from Murray, Kentucky.

A parade of bikers riding in support of Toys for Tots roared past the booth today.

This vehicle, carrying a leather-clad fellow and his pet poodle, brought-up the tail end of this otherwise tough procession.

Posted by   October 8, 2005   No Comments

Paducah, Kentucky

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on October 4, 2005, from Murray, Kentucky.

Today we visited Paducah, Kentucky. Crafty facilitator Rani Shankar was particularly excited as Paducah is the quilting capital of the United States.

Paducah is situated on the banks of the beautiful Ohio River. Facilitator Nick Yulman dreams about a StoryBoat tour.

Posted by   October 4, 2005   No Comments

Mobilebooth West Facilitators Take a Hike

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on October 2, 2005, from Portland, Oregon.

StoryCorps facilitators Sarah Kramer and Karen DiMattia get rained on at Multnomah Falls.

Oregon may be rainy, but it sure is green.

Mobilebooth west takes in the scenery.

Posted by   October 2, 2005   No Comments

Oregon Welcomes the Mobilebooth

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on September 30, 2005, from Portland, Oregon.

The mobilebooth sitting pretty in “Portland’s living room,” Pioneer Courthouse Square.

Posted by   September 30, 2005   No Comments

Opening Day in Murray, Kentucky

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on , from Murray, Kentucky.

Here in Murray, Kentucky we’re situated on Courthouse square, right off of Main Street.

The opening ceremony kicked off with a rendition “My Country ’tis of Thee” performed by a local music student. MobileBooth Operations Manager Matt Ozug serves as a music stand.

East BoothFacilitators Rani Shankar and Nick Yulman receive keys to the City and County from the Mayor and County Judge.

Many thanks to the citizens of Murray for such a warm welcome.

Posted by   September 30, 2005   No Comments

Caffeine faster than you can say “Oregon!”

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on , from Portland, Oregon.

Meet the espresso drive-thru, a western phenomenon.

Posted by   September 30, 2005   No Comments

St. Louis send-off

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on September 27, 2005, from St. Louis, Missouri.

Missouri Historical Society Director of Communications Donn Johnson gives StoryCorps an enthusiastic send-off.

After three fantastic weeks in St Louis, the StoryCorps EastBooth bids a fond farewell to the Gateway city. Onward to Kentucky!

Posted by   September 27, 2005   2 Comments

Jasper’s Antique Radio Museum & Tropical Fruit Gift Baskets

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on , from St. Louis, Missouri.

Jasper has over 10,000 radios, a selection of which are on display in his Cherokee Steet shop in south St. Louis. He used to live in an apartment on the second floor but filled it with radios and had to move out. Radios are his passion and he prefers collecting them to selling them. Instead, he sells tropical fruit gift baskets. Facilitator Rani Shankar eyes an array of tabletop radios.

Jasper says that every radio has a story. Here, he adjusts an old breadboard set playing through a horn speaker.

This was our second trip to the Museum in as many days. Despite a professed sadness over parting with his radios, Jasper was kind enough to give Facilitator Nick Yulman and MobileBooth Operations Manager Matt Ozug a good deal on a couple of bakelite beauties.

Posted by   September 27, 2005   No Comments

Sports cars have stories too

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on September 26, 2005, from Seattle, Washington.

The competition!
Mobile Booth meets Lamborgini during the Italian festival at the Seattle Center.

Posted by   September 26, 2005   2 Comments

Library: Seattle Style

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on , from Seattle, Washington.

Rem Koolhaas designed the koolest library we’d ever seen.

There was even art on the escalator ride!

Posted by   September 26, 2005   No Comments

Bocce at Seattle Center

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on September 24, 2005, from Seattle, Washington.

StoryCorps facilitators enjoy watching bocce tournaments during their lunch break.

Posted by   September 24, 2005   No Comments

City Museum

Posted by webmaster@storycorps.net on September 23, 2005, from St. Louis, Missouri.

Almost every StoryCorps participant in St Louis told us not to miss the City Museum. Pictured here is the Monstrosity, a tremendous outdoor playground fashioned out of scrapped vehicles and salvaged architecture. On weekends the museum stays open until 1am- we stayed to close the place.

The inside of the museum is a maze of tunnels and elaborate passages. The building, once a shoe factory, now houses a variety of wonders including a circus, underwater caves, a dinosaur dig, and the dramatic 2-story system of slides shown here.

Facilitator Rani Shankar considers taking the plunge in the Monstrosity.

Posted by   September 23, 2005   2 Comments

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