Karen profile picture

Karen

karendropkick

About Me

I loved being a radio deejay back in college and wished there was a noncommercial station in Salem when I moved here seven years ago. So now I'm trying to make this dream a reality by starting a community radio station in Salem -- a "real" one that will be over the airwaves. We are filing the application to the FCC in mid-October and then just have to wait and see what happens! In the meantime I spend most of my hours teaching chemistry, riling up my little ones, and playing guitar in The Funhouse Strippers. I just started taekwondo classes this year and just participated in my first tournament and won first place in sparring for my rank! So don't $@#% with me, haha! But I'm not looking for fights... I just want to be mellow, stay up late, and travel. I can't wait for my next road trip. I need it.

My Interests

Punk rock, DIY media (zines and pirate radio), fire chemistry, playing with my kids, raw music on vinyl, chillin' by the river at night, hiking and camping, road trips, full moons, vintage stores, 80's pinball and video games, playing guitar, yoga, taekwondo, travelling to everywhere and anywhere, community radio, going out to see local bands, and supporting local artistic endeavors and revolutionizing Salem like Culture Shock is doing. I am also a sucker for cutting-edge scientific instrumentation, especially particle accelerators.

I'd like to meet:

Open minded people who are into music, local bands, guerrilla art, fire spinning, zines, punk rock, home-made Halloween costumes (...basically non-corporate-based raucous fun), and who are into things that I don't know about (yet). People who can make me laugh (not as easy as it looks). People who live their lives in concordia discors. Also, anyone who wants to help out with the upcoming community radio station.

Music:

The Ramones were the first punk rockers that I heard as a kid and they've been my no. 1 influence from the beginning. From there on out it's just a huge incomplete list of bands that I've loved over the years. The Avengers, Radio Birdman, The Stooges, The Problematics, the Heartbreakers, The Mullens, The Hot Pockets, Angry Samoans, The Kids, The Fun Things, the Misfits, X, the Little Killers, The Bodies, L7, the Stitches, Loli and the Chones, Radio Reelers, The Shocks,... aw, forget it, this is going to take too long. I also love raw Delta blues, 50's and 60's rock n roll, soul, old time music, classical Indian, Middle Eastern, gypsy music, Taiko, and really anything that is played with passion. I go out and see local bands play live as much as possible. When I was a radio DJ my show transformed every so often through old punk, new punk, indie, industrial, goth, quirky, and experimental/noise. I've played guitar in bands over the past 10 years, including Surrender Dorothy and the Puritans (in Santa Barbara), the Trust Fund Babies and the Shifters (in San Francisco), and now The Funhouse Strippers here in Oregon.

Movies:

Oh man, this is almost as bad, if not worse, than asking for a list of bands that I like. Maybe when I have an hour to kill I'll fill this one out.

Books:

If you want to get totally inspired to start a pirate radio station, read "40 Watts from Nowhere". I have tons of recommendations for books I love, but I'll keep it simple and just say that my favorite book is Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins. It's sexy and sultry with plenty of intellectual candy, mostly having to do with the history of the decline of paganism.

My Blog

The Starlit Lounge

The Starlit Lounge, on the corner of East 28th and Starr. Sounds pretty innocuous. But looking at it late at night, watching the clientele duck inside with their hats low and heads down, trying to a...
Posted by Karen on Sat, 10 Mar 2007 09:42:00 PST

my town

The next person that says Salem is lame will get their ass kicked by ME.Every year it's the same. Year after year. The freshmen arrive, and from Opening Days forward their peers tell them that Salem...
Posted by Karen on Sat, 10 Mar 2007 09:28:00 PST

Geckeler Lane

My best friend in eighth grade, Alison, had a weakness for bad boys. Her boyfriend Todd, two years older, had already been expelled for several felony charges and had recently gotten out of the nearb...
Posted by Karen on Sat, 10 Mar 2007 09:23:00 PST