Help Wanted

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--Steve Proffitt

As most of you know, this program will be going off the air in March. We've been canceled as part of NPR's response to a budget shortfall. And that means everyone on the staff is looking for a job.

At least we know we are not alone. We know among our listeners, there are many, many people who are in the same situation.

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So while we try to find our own unemployment solutions, we thought we'd try to help out our friends who listen to Day to Day.

Here's the deal: If you are out of work and looking for a job, write us, and tell us about your situation. Let us know about your former job, tell us about some of your skills, and describe for us the kind of work you are looking for. Paste your resume in the email, if you like

We'll pick from some of these stories - and if we pick you, we'll call and do a little interview, which we'll air on the show. Then we'll invite employers to contact you, through us.

So, just send an us an email. Put Help Wanted in the subject line. And please include a phone number where we can contact you.

Oh, and if you know of any jobs for a radio host, or an editor... or a producer, write us, too.

Tags: help wanted | job search | unemployment

9:47 AM ET | permalink

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Practicality Almost Reigns At Detroit Auto Show

Green, cost-efficient and electric were the buzz words at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. But not everyone was willing to give up the glitz. Explore the most creative, boring and politically strategic reveals in this gallery.

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Killer Magician

--Madeleine Brand

Magician Bill Maloney

Nancy Farghalli, NPR

My life was threatened today.

By a magician.

This guy:

Bill Maloney has been hired by Ford to attract people to the Ford booth here at the Detroit auto show. He does magic tricks. He makes jokes -- "Do you drive a Ford? me: "No." Bill: "I can get you a good deal; I know some people!"

As he's performing, he drops Ford facts into his patter: "Pick a card, don't show me. The new Ford Fusion gets 40 miles per gallon. Is this your card?"

He told me he'd have to kill me if he if he told me how he turned a card in my hand into another card after snapping his fingers. I contemplated that for a second; I really wanted to know how he did it.

Then I asked him, is this really the message Ford wants to send -- having a magician perform tricks under the Ford logo? Does Ford really want people to think its new cars are nothing but sleight-of-hand versions of the old ones? His answer -- PR-y, but true: "The whole world needs a magic trick right now."

Tags: auto show | cars | hype | magic

11:58 AM ET | permalink

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Shades of D.B. Cooper?

Today on the program, a little discussion of one of the most curious stories in the news this week - the tale of an investment advisor/stunt pilot who apparently tried to fake his own death.

Federal marshals are searching for Marcus Schrenker, a 38 year-old Indiana businessman.

Sunday night, Schrenker reported that the windshield on his single-engine Piper Malibu had imploded and that he was bleeding. Authorities believe he jumped from the plane somewhere over Alabama. The Piper continued flying on auto-pilot and crashed in a Florida panhandle swamp not far from a residential area.

Then, Monday morning, police in Childersburg, Alabama say a man with Schrenker's driver's license told them he'd been involved in a canoeing accident. They took him to a local hotel. When they learned of the crash, they returned to the hotel, but Schrenker had disappeared.

Last week Schrenker, whose wife recently filed for divorce, was on the losing end of a more than half million dollar judgment brought by an insurance company who claimed Schrenker bilked them on commissions for annuity or insurance plans.

But here's what you really want to see. The investment advisor/pilot flying under a pair of bridges in the Bahamas. The video, via Youtube, features some cheesy music, and the camera remains focused on Schrenker. But the money shot is about 2:30 in, when you see the two bridges pass by behind him.

Tags: crazy stunts | missing pilot

10:23 AM ET | permalink

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E-Mercedes?

 

--Madeleine Brand

This was my first time at the auto show, so I have nothing to compare it to. But the regulars tell me, I'm missing out. On the parties. There are no parties this year, as everyone is observing the new austerity. Everyone, that is, except Mercedes.

They held the only party the night before. And we couldn't get in. My producer Nancy and I weren't on the list. No amount of sweet talking, name dropping, or pretending we were BMW haters would get the clipboard lady to relent. I wondered why Mercedes wouldn't want to wine and dine us. After all, their sales were way off last year.

Mercedes Blue Zero E-Cell

Not that you'd know that at the auto show. They've created a cafe in their display area, with a working chef turning out beef medallions, shitake mushroom quiche, roquefort salad, beer and wine. Free to any journalist who manages to grab a seat. As I sipped my latte, I gazed at Mercedes' main attraction

The Blue Zero E-Cell, an all-electric concept car. Instantly, I could picture myself driving it. Eco, yet stylish. Alluring, yet attainable. Not a Prius, but not a Fisker.

Wait - did I say "attainable?" Who am I kidding? A Mercedes clipboard guy refused to tell me how much this car would cost. But I imagine, much like the press party, this is one car I'm not getting into. When I get back to L.A., this is the only Mercedes that will have me.

Photo by Gary Dauphin, NPR

Tags: Mercedes | automobiles | detroit auto show | electric car

11:38 AM ET | permalink

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The Curious Music of Benjamin Button

--Nihar Patel

Day to Day host Alex Cohen and I had the same sensation while driving out to interview film composer Alexandre Desplat.

Nihar Patel

We were listening to his score for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and the spare, melacholy music was soothing our traffic-addled brains.

I love driving to movie music; you get to pretend that your own life is somehow worthy of cinematic grandeur. Maybe you're driving to meet a lost love who you met a decade ago on a platform at the Gare d'Nord in Paris (instead of picking up dry-cleaning). It's the little ways we daydream to deal with the insanity. Woah, watch out for that jogger!

12:39 PM ET | permalink

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What To Wear At -78 Degrees

Courtesy Aliza Sherman Risdahl via Bunny Boots

 

--Heather Murphy

On the show this morning, we interview a woman who lives in Tok, Alaska where the thermometer recently dropped to -78 degrees. Because here in southern California, we snuggle up next to heat lamps at 50 degrees, we are quite fascinated by this woman and how she gets by in such extreme cold. One characteristic Aliza Sherman Risdahl shares with many Los Angelenos, however, is that she has a Chihuahua. He can't go out in air that resembles dry ice, but his brother the Lab can. After a certain point outside, he just stops moving and lays down, she says. Apparently they don't sell bunny boots -- the human shoe wear of choice in Tok (above ) -- for dogs. She blogs about her experiences here.

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Animals Make Us Human

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--Alex Cohen

In 2003, I did a story for Day to Day about doggie well-being. One of the folks I interviewed for that piece was none other than Cesar Millan -- the Dog Whisperer. This was long before his TV show or his line of pet food and toys...

I remember going out shortly before the break of dawn with Cesar and about 15 large dogs -- an assortment of Rottweilers, Pitbulls and German Shepards. Cesar had these dogs utterly under his control. They were obedient and well behaved. Cesar told me that you had to be the PACK LEADER in order to have control over your dogs. And that seemed to make a lot of sense to me.

But then I picked up Temple Grandin's new book, "Animals Make Us Human". The book looks at the different emotional state of animals and how you can create a better emotional environments for them.

In her chapter on dogs, Grandin points out that Cesar Millan's philosophy of being the pack leader works well in his situation -- where there are more than a dozen dogs of different breeds who may be prone to fighting living together. But, she points out, most dogs aren't living in this sort of situation.

In households where there are just one or two dogs, it may be more appropriate for the human to be a PARENT, not a pack leader. "A good parent sets limits and teaches his kids how to behave nicely," Grandin writes, "and that's exactly what dogs need, too."

Alex's dog Sadie

Rich Dean

Grandin goes on to give a few examples of how to teach manners to your dogs. She recommends teaching your dog patience by making him or her wait a few moments before going out for a walk. I've been trying this out with Sadie, a Golden Retreiver Chow mix we adopted a few months ago. Sadie gets INCREDIBLY excited every time she sees me put on my sneakers because she knows that means it's time for her chance to go out in the world. Lately, I've been making her contain that excitement by sitting and staying for at least 20 - 30 seconds before we head out. And, as Grandin suggests, it does seem to make her much calmer when we head out on a stroll.

Jason DeRose plays with Ajax

Willis Johnson

Temple Grandin suggests that dogs need at least an hour of exercise or play per day. As a rule of thumb, she says 30 minutes of walking, 15 minutes of playing and 15 minutes of learning new tricks. Our editor, Jason DeRose makes sure his dog gets much more than that (though Jason says he's not much for tricks).

"Ajax attends Doggie Day Care near our home in Santa Monica," says Jason.

So, he gets plenty of walks and playtime during the day. He's usually tired after hours with his friends and spends the evenings sleeping on a big leather chair in the living room. But Jason notes that on days when Ajax doesn't attend daycare, he can be a little agitated by nightfall even if he's had several long walks.

"We've found that a little tug-o-war right before bed helps Ajax relax."

Tags: animals | caesar millan | dog training | dogs

9:57 AM ET | permalink

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Recipes, From A 5 Year-old Chef

 

--Steve Proffitt

On the show today we talked to Chef Julian, who is, we have to figure, the world's youngest celebrity chef.

As promised, a couple of Julian's recipes. Enjoy!

Chef Julian's Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup molasses
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips

Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately, then mix the two together. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done.

Chef Julian's "Persinnamon" Smoothie

Ice
3 ripe persimmons
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Blend all ingredients in a blender.

And here's a little of the junior chef in action:

Tags: celebrity | food | recipe

12:31 PM ET | permalink

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A Calming Parrot, A Guiding Horse And An Anti-Anxiety Monkey

Rebecca Skloot

 

--Heather Murphy

This woman isn't driving around with a monkey on her lap just for fun. Richard, a 25-pound bonnet macaque monkey, helps Debby Rose get through the day without debilitating panic attacks. Debby has agoraphobia, a severe anxiety disorder. Until getting Richard four years ago, she required heavy doses of anti-anxiety drugs just to go out in public.

Rebecca Skloot

Beyond just guide dogs for the blind, animals are fulfilling a vast array of needs, reporter Rebecca Skloot tells Alex Cohen on the show this morning. In an article for The New York Times Magazine, Skloot writes about the benefits and complications of using less traditional service animals.

There's Sadie the parrot, who talks down her owner Jim Eggers, when he's on the verge of a psychotic episode with, "It's O.K., Jim. Calm down, Jim. You're all right, Jim. I'm here, Jim."

Jim carries Sadie around with him in a backpack (above) designed to hold Sadie's cage.

Rebecca Skloot

And there's Panda, one of an increasing number of guide-miniature horses being used by blind individuals. Ann Edie relies on Panda to lead her through her daily activities, such as a shopping expedition to Staples (right). Skloot, who spent many hours with the pair, says she was taken aback by the level of care the horse takes with Ann.

"I saw her maneuver around things that I as a sighted person wouldn't have thought of," she explains. Panda taps on the sidewalk with her hooves to signal Ann to step up and to taps a metal pole to help Ann find the crossing button.

"You can hear all these different tones with Panda's hooves. This is something that a dog absolutely couldn't do," Skloot says.

Although individuals often have to fight health ordinances and local laws to live with and enter businesses with a miniature horse, it can be worth it as the animals typically live for decades longer than guide dogs.

Rebecca Skloot

 

You can see additional photos and find out more on Rebecca Skloot's blog.

12:13 PM ET | permalink

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