Intro

Thanks for visiting Long Beach Radio. Clicking on the orange bits above will give you more information about the station. Scroll down for weather forecasts and other useful stuff. The Blog below is intended as a compliment to our regular programming. Some of the items posted there may have been because they weren't appropriate for broadcast. (Web) Surfer discretion is advised.

Monday, January 24, 2011

The Most Romantic Place On The Coast

If you're here looking for the audio from Left at The Junction's vist this morning here it it

Please read on though for a great Valentine's Day contest


Long Beach Radio and Flowers By Sandra want you to tell us what the most romantic place in the Long Beach region. Take a photo and tell us a short story about why your choice is the most romantic place around. IS it the place you met your true love? Is it the boat that carried your madly in love parents across the ocean decades ago? Does the sunset always look best from that place on the beach? A panel of judges will consider the stories and pick a winner. That winner will recieve 2 dozen roses and a box of Godiva chocolates delivered, on valentines day to the location of your choice in Tofino or Ucluelet.

So, get your thinking cap on, strap on your cupid wings and grab the camera. Don't worry it's not a photography contest, we just want the photos so we know exactly where your romantic place is.

Submissions can be emailed to me @ geoff@longbeachradio.ca or hard copies can be dropped off at Flowers By Sandra in Ucluelet.  Stories and Photos will be posted here so if you want don't want you romantic secrets shared change the names or something.

I'll start with an example to get things rolling.


This is the Cedar Sanctuary at the Ancient Cedar Spa in the Wickaninnish Inn.  It's a lovely, stand-alone couples treatment room out on the rocks North of Chesterman beach.  I'm sure that a treatment in that room with your loved one would be sublime but I've got a different story.... With the help of the Wick's staff I was able to sit in that room while sipping wine and watching the sunset after proposing to my wife.  An elaborate ploy brought her to the room where I had prepared wine, canapes, some chairs, light music, photos of family, my Armani suit and a modest ring.  I had never thought I was the marrying kind but the right woman changed all that. 

There's my romantic place and story.... I'm sure there are a lot of great stories and magical places out there so please share.  If you're reading this from far away but still want to participate please do and if you win I'll make sure your prize goes to a deserving local volunteer.  


We have our first entry from the lovely Christine Edwards.  Here is it


"I'd have to say that the most romantic place I have ever been is Chesterman's Beach. My love affair with Chesterman's started when I was 16 after a spontaneous road trip with my newly acquired drivers license and a good girlfriend. We didn't know Tofino very well and slept in our car at what turned out to be the Middle Chesterman's parking lot. After an uncomfortable mostly sleepless rainy night, we were awaken by the Bylaw officer at 5am and told to move along. Instead we decided to go explore and walked down onto the most breathtaking beach that was orange and pink with the early morning sunrise. I looked at my friend and said "This is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, I'm going to live here someday!"


Fast forward to a few years ago when I was set up by my aunt and uncle with a handsome diver/pilot named Andy who was living part time in Tofino. I thought he was pretty cute, we had the same interests and most importantly HE LIVED IN TOFINO!!

After a whirlwind romance we moved to Tofino full time, started the Tofino Dive Shop and had the most precious little girl together who we named Ember Ocean. Last year, I married my soul mate on the most beautiful beach I have ever seen, on a chilly February evening, barefoot in the cold sand. I also married Chesterman's Beach that day, because it is a place that speaks to me like no other. So here I am, surrounded by the people I love most, in the place I love the best, and I have to say, I'm truly the luckiest lady I know!"

Thanks for your story Christine, Here's one from Wayne

"The most romantic location is easy to point out. Love is a hard thing to find and keep........... so this location reflects that. I've been to this location 22 times. Only the brave of heart need to apply and thats the reason why this location is without question the best spot to take your loved one. If you want a memorable Valentines Day,take your loved one up to the top of Lone Cone!

99% of everyone who hears this will not go up there and thats part of the charm to this spot. Only the strong of body and heart will be able to do this! So basically you have the best view in the area all to yourselfs!
The weather is the only sticking point however! It obviously has to be sunny,but than any location used by anybody has to have the weather as well!"

Oddly, despite being one of my favourite photographers Wayne didn't include a picture. However, if you look straight out the window at the radio station or down the end of the 1st Street Dock in Tofino that's Lone Cone.

Here's a typically long-winded one from Long Beach Radio's very own Cam Dennison.

I am writing about the most romantic place on the west coast. Oddly enough, I was introduced to this amazing place on Feb 14th 2010. Just one romantic year ago! I was taken on the 45 min long journey by my then new romance for the purposes of a picnic of sorts. All of the usual culprits that go with a romantic picnic, grapes, wine, really great cheese, fruit and by far, the most amazing view and experience I have ever had.

I wasn't expecting it, having adventured around our coast for years seeking out beautiful places and vistas, but I definitely got it. After a half hour drive from Tofino, we arrived at the Wickaninnish interpretive centre. From there we walked on the connector trail that goes from behind the centre to a beach that I now know is called south beach. From there I can say no more as the sacred spot is a little bit more of an adventure than that but, like any good and romantic relationship there should be a little seeking right?

I have done the West Coast trail and the North Coast trail two of the most amazing and rugged coastal trails in the world and wouldn't have believed that this vista existed so close to my own home. As we crested the trail to the top of the sacred spot, the sun was just preparing to set and the array of spectacular colours was stunning and a perfect prelude to our first kiss! Yahoo! I had waited and worked months for just this moment. Birds were soaring and there were just enough clouds in the sky to reflect the powerful rays of the sun in a myriad of directions. A pastel explosion unmatched by everything but the kiss.

After letting this experience sink in together and after a few more moments of blissful silence, my partner and new love, challenged me to see things a little differently. She proceeded to get on her hands and knees and then began to raise herself up into a perfectly balanced headstand. Reluctant at first though not willing to be outdone, I tried as well. Once, twice, she laughed at me from her askew vantage point, I got fired up and .... (almost) presto! My first prolonged headstand since my childhood and as it turned out, the beginning of my renewed love of my relationship with yoga. This truly was a romantic spot and a romantic time.

Preparing to leave our paradise, taking in the monumental waves bursting like fireworks, exploding like powerful thunder straight from the deep blue sea and traveling straight up into the breathtaking multi coloured sky. Hearing the birds sing all around us, neither of us felt like we ever wanted to leave but knew we needed to before the tide made the choice for us.

We got back to the path as the sun was just giving its last salute to this particular perfect day and found ourselves back at the junction of the path where there is a majestic and powerful Totem pole. I stopped to check it out and in my excitement to share what I had read about its meaning, turned to tell my new love to find her directly behind me, smiling. Then again, another mind blowing, heart warming kiss that I will never forget. A perfect memory etched in my mind and spirit forever.

I know that this is the most romantic spot on the west coast and for me anywhere. It will always remain majestic on its own and together with the memory of both my first valentines day and first kiss with my beautiful partner, it is the most romantic place in the world.

I will be back there this valentines day for sure and I get very excited by the prospect of having a wonderful bouquet of flowers and chocolate to surprise her at our romantic spot. I think I would make the effort to got there a little earlier and have everything there and set up (protected from the elements of course!) A bit of effort but both she and the spot deserve it!

Thank you for your considerations in making this happen for us.
I appreciate the opportunity. Even in writing this I am inspired to further romance.
What an amazing a special place we all live.
Sincerely,
Cameron Dennison

Cam sent along some pictures as well.





More stories coming, thanks for your contributions.

Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

New Album Review Show Coming Soon

Hey folks, I've been thinking of doing an album review show for some time. I've got the first review together and I'll let you know when the radio show airs, tentative name "The Sound". The reviews will be published on another site here.

Just a short update. News on our Valentines Day giveaway with Flowers By Sandra soon.

Thanks for listening.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

With Spring Comes A Time To Renew - Rachel Sutton Interview

If you were listening this morning you may have heard this interview with local author Rachel Sutton. Hopefully I'll find the time to finish reading her new novel before her book release event Sunday night at The Spotted Bear Bistro in Tofino. Here it is again if you missed it.



With luck we'll be hearing more from Rachel in the near future.

If you are reading this entry from Alberta or some other uninhabiable wasteland I apologize but out here in Long Beach Radio Land it's starting to smell a bit like spring.  I've seen some fresh buds sticking their noses up in local gardens and it's less than 60 days til Whalefest.

What does that mean for Long Beach Radio?  Well a lot really..

First, I'm busy doing some programming and I'd love your help.  Please take a second to complete a short survey (It won't ask for your name or email so don't worry). So I can better know what you expect and what you'd like from us. Click here to take survey

Secondly, fresh faces (and voices) often start showing up in the coming months. You may have heard the first few mutterings of Justyna this morning, hopefully we'll have a few more people float in with evening shows in the next little while. If you are interested in radio and would like to get involved send me an email; Geoff@longbeachradio.ca

And, with Valentine's Day coming we'll be having a "Most romantic place in Long Beach Radio Land" contest. The prize will be 2 dozen roses and a box of chocolates delivered to the person of your choice on the West Coast from Flowers By Sandra!!! I'll have more details soon, but put your thinking caps on now.

If you tuned in for man eating lion antics they're right here
If you prefer lion eating men check out this story

Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Money for nothing and your moral compass for free

It's a funny world we live in.  I don't think I need to cite examples in the big picture but I think I'll narrow things down a bit to the world I live in as a media "personality". 

As I see it my job carries a large social responsibility.  Broadcast media is responsible in many ways for creating the social conscious and identity of the groups it serves.  The broadcast industry is monitored in many ways, mostly by organizations of it's own making to ensure that role is performed responsibly. One of these organizations recently decided (based on the complaints of 2 listeners in Newfoundland) that a song that you've heard on the radio for decades is inappropriate for broadcast in it's original form.  While the commentary on this blog is mine and mine alone, Long Beach Radio's "official" stance is made quite clear HERE.

So here we go, Dire Strait and "Money for Nothing".



The offensive term, if you didn't pick it out yourself is "faggot".  Which, of course is widely used as a derogatory term for homosexuals.  In the context of the song I feel it is used to create a character that the listener is intended to feel disdain for, one that is not romanticized and is in fact at odds with the singer of the song.  Oddly, I've encountered a lot of women that would also in offended by the word "chicks" which is even more heavily featured in the song but I digress.  Interestingly it seems Mark Knopfler of Dire Strait replaced the word with "Queenie" in live performances including this one with Elton John on Keyboards.



Does Mark feel that the word itself is destructive or was he just sick of pleading his case with promoters?  I can't answer that but I don't feel changing it to some other homophobic word really makes a  difference either way. Maybe we need to look at it from Weird Al's perspective. Turn "faggot" into Clampett and dive into the nearly unchanged lyrics of the theme song of a long running TV show.



Though, even then... should we change them to "Hill Williams" or something even more generic like "Rural Mountain Americans"?  Which brings us to another recent case of censorship gone mad.... Huck Finn's good buddy; "Slave Jim" as he has become known in a recent edition of the Mark Twain American classic.  In this case the word change has a wider impact, changing the potency of the message and indeed labelling the character, who was a free man as a slave. This muddies the character's identity and reduces the impact of the message that I feel is en early example of humanizing a victimized minority.  Sometimes "harmful" words can give a posititive message power.

Back to music though, I've been trying to think of a song that wouldn't offend anyone, let's have a look at some classics.

This tune is consider by many Rock and Roll historians as the first Rock and Roll recording. It portrays a hurtful woman who's only redeeming feature is her physical beauty.... Time to pull this one from our collective cultural identity.


Here's one that's a radio classic around Christmas time... encouraging getting a reluctant woman drunk and using devious arguments to get her to spend the night. NO Means NO Johnny Mercer



Here's one that equates blind people to sinners, nice. In fact it seems like there might be an underlying threat to agnostics and atheists that if they don't straighten up they are bound to an eternity of suffering, that sounds divisive to me. Guess we should pull all that gospel.



This one's a no-brainer... "yellow man" in the trash with you.



This one, of course encourages sexual feelings toward underage girls



One last one that I feel is especially appropriate;  Bob Dylan's "Hurricane".  A difficult song to find a video of online but one that helped build a movement to free a wrongfully convicted man.  Again, like in "Money for Nothin'" an unpopular word is used to help create unsavoury characters by using it in their dialog.  But that said, Dylan doesn't exactly have a long history of promoting human rights or anything like that... I bet he's actually just trying to promote racism.

Bob Dylan - Hurricane - sott.ita.



I could go on for days but honestly... if you choose to you can be offended by anything. I'm not saying anything here that a lot of people, a lot smarter than me haven't said before, I'll leave you with a few interviews and soundbites that apply. I am a free speech believer of course, I feel that limiting communication limits thought. Conversation is the answer, not blanket legislation. If you feel a statement, belief, idea, technology, or whatever is harmful to society by all means encourage others to avoid those things, share your beliefs and do so in a positive spirit. I don't want to learn NewSpeak... that would be double-plus ungood.















Thanks for listening to Long Beach Radio

Friday, January 14, 2011

Emergency Social Services Chat With Christine Brice

First, if you came to see a man eaten by Lions click here

If you're looking for the Interview from Friday morning it's right here


here are some links that are mentioned
More info on the courses (including phone numbers and emails for even more info)

The BC Shake Out

Here, also is an older interview with Jacqueline Windh regarding the Cascadia Earthquake (in 3 parts)







I think that's it for now.  Thanks for listening to Long Beach radio.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Watch a man get eaten by lions - Limited time offer - NOW WITH REAL SUPERHEROS



You're probably asking yourself; "Why hasn't Geoff locked himself in a cage with ferral cats? He seems like a generous guy/idiot" Well I am willing to lock myself in the Long Beach Radio studio with 2 cougars if they can be collected. We'll raise money for.... I don't know.... SCAT cats or something. Just to clarify I mean the real, deadly type of cougar, like the one featured in the video below.



I mentioned this video in the morning show... The superhero revolution come when we decide it comes.