In a Name

When Shunryu Suzuki (one of the earliest teachers to bring Zen Buddhism to the US) came to California his English was very poor. He asked a passerby in a San Francisco park the question in my poem below. The straightforward reply encouraged him that here was fertile ground for Zen.

Suzuki Roshi Discovers America

What do
you call
that black
bird there?

Blackbird.

Most of the names of NCPR programs follow a similar pattern: The Eight O'Clock Hour, Music for a Monday Afternoon, FM in the Morning, etc. I could say it was due to our advanced spiritual state, but no, we just can't come to consensus on anything clever and exciting. Coming up with good names is hard. No doubt Eve vetoed many of Adam's "best" ideas, when he legendarily named the animals. "Platypus? Really?"

NCPR has a new program in the works, and rather than settle on some pedestrian in-house pick, we have decided to reach out for suggestions. Jonathan Brown, known to most of you as our All Before Five host and news reporter, will be launching a new hour-long music program leading into the weekend. Regarding format, Jonathan says, "I'll play rock, folk, blues, R&B, soul, alt-country and roots from the '60s to new stuff. Each set will mix more well-known (and probably older) tracks with newer songs that listeners may not be familiar with."

So, what do you suggest, besides The Rock, Folk, Blues, R&B, Soul, alt-Country and Roots Hour? While you're at it, feel free to suggest alternatives (by preference non-scatological) to any of our other generic program names.