Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Episode 297 (1-4-16): Water’s on the Agenda—along with a Whole Lot Else—When the Virginia General Assembly Convenes

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:56)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio,  an image, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-30-15.



TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO


From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of January 4, 2016.

SOUNDS – 4 sec

Every year, at noon on the second Wednesday of January, the convening gavels sound at the Virginia General Assembly, calling to order 100 members of the House of Delegates and 40 members of the State Senate.  Those 140 legislators typically consider 2000 to 3000 bills and resolutions, including the Commonwealth’s budget.  Usually between 100 and 200 General Assembly bills each year have something to do with water or with land uses that can affect water.  What topics, do you think, are or ought to be on the General Assembly’s water agenda?  Have a listen for about 10 seconds to one possible list, and see if your choices are there.

VOICES  - 11 sec – “Chesapeake Bay! Southern Rivers!  Groundwater!  Stormwater!  Water Quality!  Water Supply!  Gas Pipelines!  Offshore Energy!  Climate Change!  Land Use!  Wetlands!”

Those and other important water issues often get some General Assembly attention.  But, of course, the Assembly has a lot more on its mind than just water.  Taxes, health care, education, transportation, and other big issues challenge legislators’ time, energy, and negotiating skills.

Whatever the topic of legislation, however, state legislators are always focused on what groups of constituents might be affected.  Have another listen for about 10 seconds to a list of some of the constituents the General Assembly must consider.

VOICES - 8 sec – “Landowners!  Businesses!  School kids!  College students!  Households!  8.3 million Virginia residents!”

Lots of topics, lots of constituents – plus, the sessions move fast and the decisions can have widespread and important consequences.  Those are the legislators’ challenges.  But Virginian citizens have a big challenge, too: following the work of their elected representatives and voicing their opinions.  Citizens can follow legislation and find contact information for General Assembly members online at virginiageneralassembly.gov.  By participating, citizens add their voice to the long history of debate in Virginia’s legislature, which began in 1619 as the House of Burgesses.

Thanks to several Virginia Tech colleagues for lending their voices to this episode.  And we close with a few seconds of a tune that may have entertained Virginia legislators as far back as the 1600s: “Greensleeves,” performed here by Timothy Seaman of Williamsburg.  

MUSIC – ~ 13 sec.
 
For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The voices in this episode were recorded in October 2015 at Virginia Tech.  Thanks to those colleagues who participated.

The performance heard in this episode of the traditional tune “Greensleeves,” from the 1998 album “Celebration of Centuries,” is copyright by Timothy Seaman and Pine Wind Music.  More information about Mr. Seaman’s music is available online http://timothyseaman.com/.

IMAGE
Illustration by George Wills, Blacksburg, Va., http://www.etsy.com/people/BlacksburgArt.

SOURCES

Virginia General Assembly Web site, at http://virginiageneralassembly.gov/.

Wisconsin Historical Society’s American Journeys Web site, “Proceedings of the Virginia Assembly, 1619,” online at http://www.americanjourneys.org/aj-080/index.asp.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).

Previous episodes on the Virginia General Assembly are the following:
Episode143, 1/7/13
; – Music for the Past and Present of the Virginia General Assembly;
Episode 147, 2/4/13
– Committees Guide the Flow of Bills in the Virginia General Assembly;

Episode196, 1/13/14
– The Virginia Legislature on its 396th Opening Day, January 8, 2014;
Episode 247, 1/5/15
– January Means State Budget Time in the Virginia General Assembly;

Episode 252, 2/9/15
– Voting on Water in the 2015 Virginia General Assembly.

SOLS INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following Virginia 2010 Science Standards of Learning (SOLs):

Grades K-6 Living Systems Theme
6.7 - natural processes and human interactions that affect watershed systems; Va. watersheds, water bodies, and wetlands; and water monitoring.

Grades K-6 Earth Resources Theme
6.9 – public policy decisions regarding the environment.

Life Science Course
LS.11 - relationships between ecosystem dynamics and human activity.

Earth Science Course
ES.6 – renewable vs. non-renewable resources (including energy resources).
ES.10 – oceans, including economic and policy decisions affecting oceans, the coastal zone, and the Chesapeake Bay.
ES.11 – the atmosphere, including human influences on climate.

Biology Course
BIO.8 – dynamic equilibria and interactions within populations, communities, and ecosystems; including effects of natural events and human activities.

The episode may also help with the following Virginia 2008 Social Studies SOLs:

Virginia Studies Course
VS.3 – first permanent English settlement in America.

Civics and Economics Course
CE.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
CE.7 – government at the state level.
CE.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.

World Geography Course
WG.10 - cooperation among political jurisdictions to solve problems and settle disputes.

Government Course
GOVT.1 – social studies skills that responsible citizenship requires.
GOVT.8 – state and local government organization and powers.
GOVT.9 – public policy at local, state, and national levels.
GOVT.16 – role of government in Va. and U.S. economies, including examining environmental issues and property rights.

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Friday, December 18, 2015

Episode 296 (12-28-15): Setting a Course for 2016 with “On a Ship” by Kat Mills


CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (3:28)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, a photo, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-18-15.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO

From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of December 28, 2015.

This week, music by a Blacksburg, Va., singer-songwriter helps launch our journey toward the horizon of the New Year.  Have a listen for about 40 seconds.

MUSIC - ~43 sec

You’ve been listening to part of “On a Ship,” by Kat Mills, from the 2015 album, “Silver.”

The imagery and metaphors of the song allude to ships traveling the waters of the earth.   But the real subject is the collective journey of humanity aboard our watery, space-traveling, planetary ship.  The lyrics note that 21st Century humans on that crowded ship need supplies of clean air and water, food and sunshine, but that “most of all” we need qualities that sustain human relationships, such as love, trust, generosity, and even fun!  Point taken; after all, humans are only mostly, not completely, made of water.

Thanks to Kat Mills for permission to use this week’s music, and we close this episode and 2015 with about 40 more seconds of “On a Ship.”

MUSIC – ~38 sec

For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463. Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment. Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show. In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.

AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

“On a Ship,” from the 2015 album “Silver,” is copyright by Kat Mills, used with permission.  Accompanists on the song are Ida Polys, vocals; Rachel Handman, violin; and Nicholas Polys, banjo.  More information about Kat Mills is available online at http://www.katmills.com/.

PHOTO


Large commercial ship on the Chesapeake Bay, as seen from the Bay Bridge-Tunnel, October 7, 2007.
SOURCE USED FOR AUDIO

U.S. Geological Survey, “Water Science School/The Water in You,” online at http://water.usgs.gov/edu/propertyyou.html.

RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES

All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).

Previous New Year’s episodes are the following:
Episode 142, 12-31-12: Encore of John McCutcheon’s “Water from Another Time.”

Episode 195, 1-6-14: Wading into the New Year, the New River, and Water Thermodynamics.

SOLS INFORMATION FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS

This episode may help with the following Virginia’s 2010 English Standards of Learning (SOLs):

Reading Theme
8.5 (symbols and figurative language)
9.4 (imagery and other literary devices)
10.4 (imagery and other literary devices)
11.4 (imagery and figures of speech)

Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/.

Episode 295 (12-21-15): A Year of Virginia Water Sounds and Music – 2015 Edition

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (4:26)

Transcript of audio, notes on the audio, photos, and additional information follow below.

All Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 12-18-15.


TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO



From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the week of December 21, 2015.



This week, we look back on 2015 with a medley of mystery sounds.  Have a listen for about 60 seconds, and see if you can identify these sounds from the past year of Virginia Water Radio.
SOUNDS - 61 sec

If you guessed all these, you get an aquatic A+!  The sounds were the names of three Virginia salamanders; Virginia Tech students sampling for freshwater snails; bat-echolocation sounds; a Spotted Sandpiper; three of the names of tropical storms in 2015; swarming adult midges; the Conway River in Madison County, 20 years after that county’s historic 1995 flood; part of “Lesson from an Egret,” by Alyson Quinn; and an excerpt from “All Hands Radio,” by the U.S. Navy, which turned 240 in 2015.  Thanks to the Lang Elliott for permission to use the Spotted Sandpiper sound, to Alyson Quinn for her egret essay, and to several Blacksburg friends for providing their voices.

We close this 2015 revisit with a 60-sec sample of music heard on Virginia Water Radio this year.  Thanks to No Strings Attached, Bob Michel, and The Steel Wheels for these pieces.  And to 2015: so long—soon—and thanks for the water!

MUSIC - 61 sec - “Minor Meander,” by No Strings Attached; “The Oysterman’s Ball,” by Bob Michel;
“Riverside,” by The Steel Wheels; and “Ode to a Glowworm,” by No Strings Attached.



For more Virginia water sounds, music, and information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call us at (540) 231-5463.  Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of Cripple Creek to open and close the show.  In Blacksburg, I’m Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water.



AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS



The bat-echolocation sounds were provided by Alexander Silvis, a postdoctoral research associate with the Virginia Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and the Virginia Tech Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation, used with permission.



The sound of the Spotted Sandpiper was taken from the Stokes Field Guide to Bird Songs-Eastern Region CD set, by Lang Elliott with Donald and Lillian Stokes (Time Warner Audio Books, copyright 1997), used with permission of Lang Elliott, whose work is available online at http://www.langelliott.com/ and the “Music of Nature” Web site, http://www.musicofnature.org/.



The excerpt of “Lesson from an Egret” is courtesy of Alyson Quinn, from her blog “Winterpast” (9/21/07), available online at http://www.winterispast.blogspot.com/, used with permission.  Ms. Quinn made the recording after a visit to Algonkian Regional Park, located in Sterling, Va. (Loudoun County), part of the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority.



The U.S. Navy’s “All Hands Radio” archive of podcasts is available online at http://www.navy.mil/navydata/radioList.asp. The excerpt heard here was from 11/03/15—“70 Year Journey Home Search remains for fallen Airmen.”



“Minor Meander, from the 1999 album “In the Vinyl Tradition Volume II,” and “Ode to a Gloworm,” from the 1999 album “In the Vinyl Tradition Volume I,” are copyright by No Strings Attached and Enessay Music, used with permission.  More information on No Strings Attached is available online at http://enessay.com/.



“The Oystermen’s Ball,” from the 2004 album of the same name, is copyright by Bob Michel, used with permission.  More information on Mr. Michel's music is available online at http://www.bobmichel.com/.



“Riverside,” by The Steel Wheels,” is from the 2011 album “Live at Goose Creek,” recorded October 10, 2014, at Franklin Park Performing Arts Center, Purcellville, Va., and produced by Goose Creek Productions; used with permission of The Steel Wheels.  More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at http://www.thesteelwheels.com/.


LINKS TO PREVIOUS EPISODES


Previous episodes of Virginia Water Radio are listed by category at the Index link above (
http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).



Please see the following episodes (all are hyperlinked to the respective episode) to listen to the sounds and music heard in this episode, to see additional acknowledgments to people involved, to find more information and sources used, and to see suggestions on correlations to by Virginia’s K-12 Standards of Learning (SOLs; Virginia’s SOLs are available from the Virginia Department of Education, online at http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/).



Sounds from 2015



Virginia salamander names – Episode 257, 3-16-15



Virginia Tech student research or freshwater snails – Episode 262, 4-20-15



Bats and water – Episode 263, 4-27-15



Spotted Sandpiper and Baltimore Oriole along the New River – Episode 264, 5-4-15



Atlantic tropical storm season – Episode 266, 5-18-15



The aquatic insect family of non-biting midges (Chironomidae) – Episode 268, 6-1-15



The 1995 flood on the Conway River and other waterways in Madison County, Va. – Episode 272, 6-29-15



Great Egret and Great Blue Heron, featuring “Lesson from an Egret” – Episode 277, 8-10-15



The U.S. Navy, for Veterans Day – Episode 289, 11-9-15



Music from 2015



“Minor Meander,” by No Strings Attached, for stream channel energy and patterns – Episode 248, 1-12-15



“The Oysterman’s Ball,” by Bob Michel, for oysters, nitrogen, and the Chesapeake Bay – Episode 279, 8-24-15



“Riverside,” by The Steel Wheels, for an introduction to Loudoun County’s Goose Creek – Episode 286, 10-19-15



“Ode to a Glowworm,” by No Strings Attached, for bioluminescence – Episode 278, 8-17-15


Previous "Year of Sounds/Music" Episodes







PHOTOS


Spotted Sandpiper and Baltimore Oriole, photographed along the New River on April 29, 2015, by Robert Abraham of Christiansburg, Va.; used with permission.  Mr. Abraham’s photos provided the idea for Episode 264, 5-4-15, A Bird Day on the New River.