WAMU 88.5FM American University Radio

Friday September 14, 2007

Contact Metro Connection

Week of September 10, 2007

Your purchases from the NPR Store support WAMU 88.5

What's this?

Cruising with Kitchen Grease

'Hold those french fries - I'll take that oil in the fryer.'

Their numbers are small but some local drivers are getting around on vegetable-oil powered cars - with exhaust that smells more like French fries than fossil fuel. They can pick up used cooking oil, typically free-of-charge, from area restaurants. A new Montgomery County website aims to make it easier for drivers of these alternative-fuel vehicles to hook up with restaurants looking to get rid of the stuff. Shia Levitt spoke with some of the likely users of the site and has this report.

Renee Fleming In Her Own Words

It's a voice that has inspired a bestselling novel. A voice that the French Government recognized with knighthood. A voice that even inspired one of New York's master chefs to create a dessert called, "La Diva Renee." This Sunday, Renee Fleming brings her Grammy-winning, dessert-inspiring voice to Washington. She's playing a starring role in the National Symphony Orchestra's season opening gala at the Kennedy Center. As part of the series "Musicians in their own words," Fleming spoke with producer David Schulman.

Fred Fiske "Meets The Press"

Senior Commentator Fred Fiske remembers the days when he was the announcer for the original radio version of "Meet The Press."

Full Moon Fever at the U.S. National Arboretum

The U.S. National Arboretum opened a new entrance this week - for BOATERS paddling along the Anacostia River. We hear about the new floating dock access AND about the popular full moon hikes which get started later this month.

VSA Arts

A pair of new art exhibits are going up in town under the same name – "Driven." Maybe that's because the shows are sponsored by a car company, but it's also an appropriate word to describe the artists. They all work with a group called "VSA arts," a non-profit that advocates for people with disabilities. A juried show at the Smithsonian's S. Dillon Ripley Center that opens this weekend - and a comprehensive exhibit opening in October at the Kennedy Center - will bring their works to the walls of Washington's most established institutions. While the paintings were still going up, Metro Connection's Stephanie Kaye had an early peek at the Smithsonian exhibit.

3 Videos, No Waiting

Art house classics get the deluxe DVD box-set treatment on another edition of Three Videos, No Waiting. It's called "Essential Art House -- 50 Years of Janus Films." It's a hefty box, and just to keep the numbers nice and even, it boasts FIFTY discs. You can buy the whole doorstop OR you can rent them one by one and plan your own at-home film festival. And that's what critic Bari Biern is here to help us with today.

Meg Roggensack: Searching For The "Sweet Spot"

What does a kayak have to do with writing a new chapter of your life? Writer Meg Roggensack is still searching for the answer.

Meg Roggensack splits her time between the District and the Eastern Shore.

Subscribe to the Metro Connection podcast