Vicky's Pick

The band Taigaa! is my pick of picks from this week’s Open Mic.

Inspired by a variety of genres – Experimental Pop, pre-80's Korean Pop, Gypsy, Punk, Rock, Goth, Mexican Folk, and Middle Eastern Pop – their sound is hard to pinpoint.

When I first listened to them, I had this take on their music:

Hard-driving, straight-forward vocals and instrumentation reflect their punk side and remind me of some New Wave bands. They also have more whimsical elements in their lyrics and performance that reveal their pop influences.

In the band, Fantastico Pirato sings, K.O.K.O plays keyboard and violin and Dusty Gold handles drums.

They stuck out to me because of their originality. I haven’t really heard a band quite like them. Also, I’m in love with Dusty Gold’s drumming style.

Check out the Open Mic site to learn more about them! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6458158

Also, they have a video of another of their songs, “Deep Moustache Forest.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCE9LVtzTOs

Behind the Scenes on Election Night

Coming into NPR 6:30pm Tuesday night, I was excited (and a little anxious) about my Election Night duties. My shift officially began at 7pm and wouldn't end until 5 the next morning.

When I got to Studio 4a, the studio built specifically for election coverage, it was already a whirlwind of activity, much of it centering around the buffet table.

My job was call runner, which meant handing out cards to Online, Newscast, and the Board that listed the House, Senate and Gubernatorial races and projected the winning candidate. Julia Moss, the election unit intern (better known as my "Cross-country Sprinter" partner) and I frantically checked off the names of the candidates that Ken Rudin and Ron Elving (NPR's political experts) projected would win. The two of us developed an excellent system -- although, one time, I almost knocked someone over (sorry!) as I hastily ran up to the stage where Linda Wertheimer and Robert Siegel sat.

During downtime, which there was a lot of -- NPR being extremely careful not to call races too soon -- I was able to enter the studio and listen to the show. I was impressed by how smoothly things sounded, despite how hectic things were on the other side of the glass.

I am sad to report that my call runner position will probably be eliminated next year due to a technical upgrade -- man replaced by machine. But a note to the Fall 2008 interns: find a spot on election night duty. It was incredibly fun, even though by 4am I was speaking with 5 minute pauses between sentences.

- Bertina Yu

More local knowledge

A few more ways to explore DC -- or at least start the process without getting out of your desk chair.
- Flickr user AlbinoFlea takes surprising photos from around the DC area. Find more photos in the Flickr Washington DC cluster

- FishbowlDC is a gossipy DC-area media blog.

- Upcoming: DC is an organized-by-date event listing that does not overlook big draws like Bob Saget at the GW Lisner Auditorium (Thursday!)