WFMU Marathon 2014: Support Free-Form Radio

Love free-form radio? Then consider supporting independent station WFMU during its annual fundraising Marathon that runs February 23 through March 9, 2014. WFMU first hit the airwaves on April 24, 1958 at the now-defunct Upsala College and has never looked back. Currently based in Jersey City, New Jersey, WFMU broadcasts at 91.1 Mhz and via a second signal at 90.1 Mhz in Mount Hope, New York. WFMU has also long been an Internet pioneer, streaming its programming 24/7 in multiple formats, including iPhone and Android. Past shows are archived at the station's website, which also features WFMU's entertaining and content-rich blog.

What is free-form radio you might ask? WFMU describes itself as follows:

WFMU's programming ranges from flat-out uncategorizable strangeness to rock and roll, experimental music, 78 RPM Records, jazz, psychedelia, hip-hop, electronica, hand-cranked wax cylinders, punk rock, gospel, exotica, R&B, radio improvisation, cooking instructions, classic radio airchecks, found sound, dopey call-in shows, interviews with obscure radio personalities and notable science-world luminaries, spoken word collages, Andrew Lloyd Webber soundtracks in languages other than English as well as country and western music.

And because the station is listener-supported, WFMU DJs have for years maintained complete autonomy and control over their own programming, which is extraordinarily eclectic. Check out the current WFMU audio smorgasbord, and see for yourself!

Mary Poppins and Pulp Fiction among Additions to 2013 National Film Registry

Established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, the National Film Preservation Board is an advisory body for the Librarian of Congress. The Board helps shape national film preservation planning policy, and also recommends films for the National Film Registry.

Chosen for their cultural, historic, or aesthetic significance, the Board's 25 selections for 2013 cover a wide gamut of genres and time periods, from such early films as A Virtuous Vamp and King of Jazz to such later works as Judgment at Nuremberg and The Right Stuff.  The full list is as follows:

2000s
Decasia (2002)

1990s
Pulp Fiction (1994)

1980s
Roger & Me (1989)
The Lunch Date (1989)
Bless Their Little Hearts (1984)
The Right Stuff (1983)

1960s
Brandy in the Wilderness (1969)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966)
Cicero March (1966)
Mary Poppins (1964)
The Hole (1962)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
The Magnificent Seven (1960)

1950s
Forbidden Planet (1956)
The Quiet Man (1952)
Notes on the Port of St. Francis (1951)

1940s
Gilda (1946)
Men & Dust (1940)

1930s 
Martha Graham Early Dance film (1931-44)
Midnight (1939)
Wild Boys of the Road (1933)
King of Jazz (1930)

1920s
Ella Cinders (1926)
Daughter of Dawn (1920)

1910s
A Virtuous Vamp (1919)

Further information on the Registry as well as the films themselves can be found on the Library of Congress' web site. All 500+ films selected for the Registry since 1989 can also be browsed online. In addition, the public is encouraged to make nominations for selections to the 2014 National Film Registry.

2014 RAGBRAI Overnight Towns Announced

The eight overnight towns for the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa XLII were announced recently at the annual Route Announcement Party: Rock Valley > Okoboji > Emmetsburg > Forest City > Mason City > Waverly > Independence > Guttenberg. The 40 pass-through towns for RAGBRAI will be announced in early March. This year's ride takes place July 20-26, 2014 and will be 418 miles in length, with 11,316 feet of total climb, making it among the shortest and flattest since RAGBRAI started in 1973.

Registration for the world's oldest, largest, and longest recreational bike touring event is currently open, with a deadline of April 1, 2014 for online applications. Lottery results will be announced May 1, 2014.