While I’m one of those people who thinks that classical music is the perfect soundtrack for all aspects of life, some folks think it is particularly well suited to Halloween.  Join the super-scary Linda Bruno for an hour of spine-tingling favorites this Saturday night at 7:00.  The trick-or-treaters will get a kick out of Night on Bald Mountain, Toccata and Fugue in d minor, Funeral March of a Marionette,  the Dies Irae from Mozart’s Requiem and so on.  A spooktacular program of great classical music guaranteed to raise the little hairs on the back of your neck.  Happy Halloween from KDFC.

My Top 5 Spooky Movies:

The Shining

The Others

Rosemary’s Baby

Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Don’t Look Now

I can’t believe it. I’ve used up virtually all of my vacation time. Hardly a single day left for a three day escape to Mendocino or Beijing . I’ll admit that the last moments of my vacation time 2009 were well spent with a delightful group of KDFC listeners. We sailed out of Boston Harbor on a crystal clear late summer afternoon headed for Montreal. Perfect weather throughout as we made our way to Bar Harbor, Maine (sort of a cross between Carmel and Mendocino, but with a unique “yankee” feel), then on to Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown and magical Quebec. Calm seas, interesting ports of call and fine company. Who could ask for more. Well, more time would be nice. But I have to save it up, one week at a time, for the next adventure, and it’s a doozy. Next May 14th Jacquie and I will board an Air France flight to Paris and our final destination, Warsaw to celebrate Chopin’s 200th birthday and we’d love to have you come along. We’ll also visit Krakow,  Olomouc and Prague, too. If you decide to join us you might want to add another couple of days at the end of the trip to Paris for more Chopin sites and a little Cordon Bleu cooking class as well. Click here for more info.

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The latest Arbitron ratings show 660,000 listen to KDFC locally every week, and there’s another 60,000+ who listen online.   Classical radio has taken a hit recently in NYC, Boston, and St. Louis.  The commercial classical stations there have gone out of business.  Public stations will try to fill the void as best they can, but there are classical fans in these great cities experiencing classical radio withdrawal,  especially those who enjoy a more casual approach to seriously great music that KDFC created here.

We invite you to tell your friends they can go to KDFC.com, click on ‘listen now,’ and enjoy this San Francisco treat! And don’t forget to remind them to become a fan of 102.1 KDFC on Facebook for even more Casual—Comfortable—Classical.

It feels a little like “Gustavo Dudamel Week” around here.  His new CD, Dudamel Discoveries, is our KDFC CD of the Week.  plus we’ll be airing his inaugural concert as L.A. Phil music director on Sunday night’s Symphoncast.  This concert, which got rave reviews, features the Mahler Symphony #1 and a major new piece by Bay Area-based composer, John Adams called City Noir.  What you need to know is that Dudamel is 28 years old, that he comes from the mean streets of Carcarcas where he was “saved” by El Sistema, the music education program for Venezuela’s youth, and that he just can’t stop smiling!  Hear him in action everyday this week at 4pm and be sure to be listening Sunday night to KDFC for his historic debut as Music Director with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Maestro Dudamel

In the October 8, 2009 Wall Street Journal Coca Cola CEO Muhtar Kent wrote an op ed piece about the proposed soft drink tax. He argued that a tax won’t really help the situation of American obesity and that more exercise will. I won’t take a side on the tax issue. I will take a side with fewer sweets and more exercise and more importantly, making exercise fun. To that end check out the new video “Fun Theory – piano stairs” on our video page at kdfc.com or click here.

Do you have a way to make everyday exercise more fun? You can share it below. Thanks.

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Well, not the whole symphony, just president John Goldman tonight in San Francisco. It’s the 17th Annual Celebrity Pool Toss benefiting the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation. Also taking the plunge are ACT’s Richard Davis, Linda Corso of ADCO and more. A great cause featuring celebrity MCs like Cheryl Jennings of Channel 7, actor Cindy Williams and columnist Warren Hinckle, plus fine food and libations, too. You’ll find out more here.

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World Vegetarian Day, a nice day to try something a little different, don’t you think? I tried years ago to go totally vegetarian, but realized I like fleshy foods. The experiment wasn’t a failure because I also realized that I can enjoy a number of weekly meals without meat. Our favorite foody here on the KDFC Morning Show, cookbook author Geraldine Duncann from  Sonoma County,  emailed some nice suggestions for tonight’s meal. She writes…

“How about a dinner consisting of:

Fresh Heirloom Tomato and Basil Soup

Fresh Corn on the Cob – (don’t cook the be-jusus out of it – 3 minutes in boiling water tops, and try olive oil instead of butter)

Fresh Green Beans with Slivered Almonds – (in a sauce of Sweet and Hot Mustard and Cream Sherry)

Medley of Fresh Summer Squash

Green Garlic Toast – (make with butter blended with lots of garlic and finely minced fresh basil)

Fresh Melon and Berries for Dessert

or

Salad of Fresh Heirloom Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Olives, Basil and Garlic

Pasta al Fresca – (pasta with lightly cooked tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, and zucchini)

Fresh Baguette

Dessert – Fresh Plum Crumble”

Sounds yummy to me! Find out about Geraldine through her blog

The Questing Feast

Bon appetit,

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