Pika Radio

     Happy 2018!!! We finally received SNOW! Not much but we will take it. Bring your leftover fruitcake to be murdered, I mean tossed for the Great Fruitcake Toss on Saturday, January 27th, from 1-3pm, including a Bake Off at Memorial Park. The event is FREE to attend. For more info click HERE.  The Manitou Springs Heritage Center will be open during the event to give you a place to warm up and snack on goodies. Located at 517 Manitou Ave, just South of Memorial Park.       The Canon Avenue Flood Gates has become a hot topic because of FEMA red tape. The gates are up but they are just for "show" until we pay FEMA a ransom. Just kidding! The flood map needs some tweaking and then Canon Avenue will be ready for our surfing pleasure without property damage. Speaking of water, a huge thank you goes out to our Water Department: Ronnie Huery, Mike Deaguero, Star Sterling, and Rick Blundell. Even though we didn't get snow lately, we were hit with zero temps. Our Water Team led a silent war that resulted in neighborhoods without water.       We recap the movement for people that need to move out of Manitou and Colorado. We warned them they would be miserable. WE TOLD YOU SO! Well, we might be getting Steve and Michele back from North Carolina. Many know them as the couple who ran the Celtic Show at KRCC. Yeah Us!! Thank you to The Bedlam Boys for our into music and to John Dartnel for your tunes. So, get to Manitou and toss your fruitcake were you will be among your kind. 

Happy Holidays, Pika Peeps! During Episode 109, we discuss the "big blue metal frame" that somehow mysteriously appeared in the Garden of the Gods Park. The photo op had to have been transported from an alien craft and set at High Point because no human commercial structures were allowed inside the park, right? We were wrong and in need of therapy because of the whiplash intensity of the flashback nightmare we endured twenty-five years ago against commercializing the Garden of the Gods. Erick talked GE Johnson, that constructed the frame, from his perspective.Thank you to Jim Johnson for talking to us! On a lighter note, we received an early Christmas present in the form of the frame's removal at 12:15 pm, Monday, December 18th. Next, we tell you about our local Holiday festivities and what to do with the family while they are in town? 

Tis’ the Holiday Bazaars in Manitou Springs! Our top favs in date descending order. Did I hear “pie”!:November 10-11th, Community Congregational Church of Manitou Springs, Christmas Bazaar & Bake Sale at 103 Pawnee Avenue in the Community Hall behind the main building, free parking, featuring upcycle Christmas items including trees, wreaths, ornaments, lights, dishes, etc. Bake sale items will be various pies, BBQ sandwiches, salads including drinks. More info? November 17th at 5 pm,  Manitou Community Market’s first indoor holiday market at Manitou Art Center!Stop by and check out what our art/crafters/creators bring and share for this season. It’s together with Friday Art Walk and Heritage Center’s Holiday Fair, too.We have music with our town’s favorite, heartwarming Front Porch Singers at 5 pm. More info. November 17-18 Manitou Springs Heritage Center’s features local artisans and crafters with an Old Fashioned Bake Sale. For More Info   November 18th, Manitou Springs High School’s Craft Fair at 401 El Monte Place, featuring jewelry, beauty products, chili, and home décor. 9am- 4pm

We stopped by our own Wendy Wilkinson, cover writer for Cowboys & Indians and Colorado Living Well Magazines about her up and coming issues with Lou Diamond Phillips (their cookbook American Fusion, Longmire, Criminal Minds, Goliath), Lindsey Vonn (Chasing History with Lindsey Vonn), John Elway (Chairman of the Senior Open 2018 at the Broadmoor Hotel), Ed Harris (Current cover of Cowboys & Indians, Geostorm, Westworld), and Christian Bale (February cover of Cowboy & Indians, Hostiles, The Dark Knight). We covered other Native American actors and their current projects; Wes Studi (Hostiles), Adam Beech, David Midthunder, and Graham Green (Windriver, Longmire). How is Morgan Freeman? Wendy gives us the update on “God” from his health after the car crash, their cookbook together Morgan Freeman and Friends: Caribbean Cooking for a Cause, and Morgan’s new movie Beautiful Jim Key in development. Wendy is off on a little R&R down to Taos and Santa Fe so we had to ask her about Meow Wolf. What did she think? The Southwestern revival has given us a lot to talk about!

A special interview with Manitou Springs Mayoral Candidate, Mr. Ken Jaray, in the last few days before our election.

    ¡Feliz Día de Muertos, hermanos! Erick & Tammila Wright was overwhelmed by Ryan Flores, our local Latin Gypsy musician, preparing for Dia De Muertos (Day of the Dead) Celebration, a 3,000+-year-old Latin American tradition. You can go hear him in person, on Saturday, November 4th, the Smoke Brush Foundation sponsored “Noche de Los Muertos.” Flores performed an excerpt from his album “Coyote del Quinto Mundo” and you can hear it too, here on Pika Radio!

On this episode, we interview Manitou Springs Mayoral Candidate Mr. Ken Jaray to inform us with his ideas to change our village for the better. He discusses with us about bringing an open forum between our city council, our public, and working in a cohesive environment with our commissioner's recommendations. Thank you to the MAC for supplying the studio to record this informative episode.

Come take a VR headset and full immersion experience on a bus ride into hell with VR Terror Tours. CAN YOU HANDLE VIRTUAL REALITY HORROR IN MOTION? Unique and Grotesque worlds are waiting for you. Dreamality LLC has been bringing awesome terror experiences to the public for more than four years utilizing classic haunts and our virtual reality platform. We are excited to present you with ‘VR Terror Tours,’ an immersive virtual reality horror bus ride. Nothing like this has ever been done before. Come be the first to experience it if you can handle it. Choose from Ticket to Terror, a monster-packed trip to Hell or Dead Sexy, a grindhouse style hot babe massacre

We bring you into the world where driving a hearse is an everyday event for members of The Pikes Peak Hearse Association. In between prepping their hearses for their busy season, including the parade of Hearses, that will precede the Coffin Race, Arthur & Izzy Prince (father and daughter) and Squirrel (Izzy’s fiancé) gave us insight into the world of owning a hearse. Then we descended on Jeanna at the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce to get the latest on the Emma Crawford Festival and Coffin Race. Including VIP tickets, you can buy to sit in bleachers at the Finish Line! Only one week to go! Check out our blog for more info about other events surrounding Emma Crawford Festival and Halloween.  

Do you know that one does not have to be embalmed upon death? Do you, also, know that there are other options available than a traditional funeral home? We interviewed Susan Coffey, a death midwife from Going- My Way Deathcare, and Lauren Carroll, a Home Funeral Educator from Returning Home that enlightens us with the idea of a home funeral. We discussed the following topics: funeral choices, preplanning, home funeral legalities, the horrors of embalming, vaults, caskets, the shelf life of a body, honoring a loved one’s last request, autopsy requirements, City versus private cemeteries, finding closure for families, the funeral industry as a billion dollar industry, and creating your last wishes in writing.      Monster Movie Friday Nights all through October at the Manitou Springs Heritage Center, 517 Manitou Ave. October 13th, Lon Chaney’s “The Phantom of the Opera”, October 20th, “The Killer Shrews”, and October 27th, “The Brain That Wouldn’t Die”. Donations are accepted. Doors open at 6:30 P.M. and movies start at 7:00 P.M. For more info click HERE.      We launched our first blog series about hidden historic places and things in Manitou. First up, Crystal Valley Cemetery that we talked about in Episode 100. Here’s your quick LINK. Have a great weekend everybody and do NOT behave!

      A water break gave us a reality check on what life would be like living in Puerto Rico for an entire six hours without water. Our hearts go out to the victims of Las Vegas concert shooting. We ran into AJ and got the low down on when Tenderfoot Bluegrass will be performing next. You just gotta attend the Monster Movie Nights at the Manitou Springs Heritage Center for all of October. The admission is free and so much fun! Here is the schedule.      We entice you to visit Manitou Springs to taste Fall, yes taste! Manitou Brewing Co. at 725 Manitou Ave. has brewed up a batch of Gourd Hoarder’s Pumpkin Ale, Manny over at Goldminer’s Candy at 110 Canon Avenue has whipped up Pumpkin Pie Fudge (shipping available), Uncle Sam’s Pancake House at 341 Manitou Avenue are cooking up Pumpkin Pancakes, Pikes Peak Chocolate & Ice Cream whipped up Pumpkin Seed & Sea Salt Bark, and over at Red Dog Coffee & Café at 739 Manitou Avenue have created Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and Maple Walnut Muffins. For their drink selection, they have designed just for you; Smores Latte, a Snickerdoodle Latte, Pumpkin Spice Latte (hallelujah!), Maple Spice Latte, Waffle Latte, Pumpkin Chai, and a Mexican Spice Mocha!      Before launching into the second half of Spider Murphy’s interview that included his education background at Berkley and New Orleans music scene, we talk about Emma’s Wake at Miramont Castle. The event includes dinner because one must feed mourners after the Wake. For ticket and info go HERE. Yes, we will be there portraying historic figures!

Pika Episode 102  We recorded at The RED DOG COFFEE & CAFE at 739 MANITOU AVE., Southside of the street because it was raining. Check them out at reddogcoffeemanitou.com    We dropped into The Manitou Springs Chamber to vote for best Emma T-shirt. Forty artists participated so it was hard to pick!! Hurry in before Friday, September 29th. No later than 3:30 pm to vote for your favorite. The Manitou Chamber is Located at 354 Manitou Ave., open 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Visit here at manitousprings.org for more info.      We were treated to a ride in a 1972, 4 wheel drive, Cadillac Hearse that could personally deliver Emma to the top of Red Mountain. The driver, Arthur will have the hearse in The Emma Crawford Coffin Race Parade, Oct. 28th, before the race so you can personally check it out for yourself! We give you a teaser about an up and coming release of our Pika Blog concerning a topic that we are sure will keep you up at night, especially if you reside in Manitou. "Which has generated more money, Jesus or Jedi?"      Then we had the opportunity to catch Spider Murphy while he was in town for a Wake. This week is Part One where we discuss what brought him up from New Orleans, his long music career, his discovery of haunted New Orleans, and a surprise phone call. Spider treated us with some music from a mandolin banjo! Tune in to next week for Part Two.

Episode #101 part 2, finally, we interviewed a local author, Ann Doolan-Fox and talked about her latest book, Celtic Road Home, her website is www.celticroadhome.com. The book is Ann's journey to America from Ireland. The book can also be purchased through Amazon. We cried and laughed! Hope you will too!

Episode# 101 part 1, Pika Radio is coming to you from the historic Greenstone steps across from The Spa Building Manitou Springs. The steps we are sitting on are but a dozen of historic walkways that exist today. They were created to provide easy access to link residential to the commercial areas of Manitou Ave. in the 1800's.  Our Fall is visiting early but today we should hit in the 80's again! The aspens are turning up in Cripple Creek so plan those leave tours NOW! We are having a very busy week with Manitou Springs Homecoming! Click here for a full list of events including the bonfire, parade, tailgate, the football game, and the homecoming dance. Learn about the new “FU Files” about our loss of class, I mean patience, about The Bird Stalker, Maid-of-honorzilla, the Cemetery Dog Park. Finally, we discuss THE most cringe worthy experiences that one of our listeners could experience living in a mountain town.       There are a few tickets left for the Manitou Brewfest happening on Saturday, September 23rd. Make sure you remember to ask the Brewers for $5.00 off coupons for buying $20 or $25 in beer. Only 1,000 tickets will be sold so purchase now and beat the day of event rush! Link for tickets!      For this week's first interview, we visited Rebekah Ratterree, owner of the Iron Spring Chateau about their production of Rocky Horror Picture Show. Click here for their flyer!

Pika Radio is celebrating our 100th episode!!!! We discovered a “damn fine cup of coffee” called New Mexico Pinon Coffee during a quick summer road trip. We were surprised to find out that they are the official coffee sponsor for The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. NM Pinon Coffee is our new “best friend” in the morning and we hope they will become yours, too. Our own local author, Joel Diehl Sensei will be signing his new book, A Matter of Being, September 15th, 5-7pm and October 20th, 5-8pm at The Hemp Store. Want to hear some live music? We tell you the hotspots for the weekend. But what about “dead spots”? We take you to  Manitou Springs’s Crystal Valley Cemetery for a little shame review of late-night human visitors. We tell you about the restoration of the little chapel building (National Register of Historic Places, 1882) and a few of our famous, forever, historic residents; Tom O’Neil (the Colorado Mummy), Dr. Isaac Davis, and the Union General Charles Adams (Meeker Massacre). A great site to check out for other legionary figures  HERE.  Up and coming “Outside Our Village” segment- Nessa Alexander Begg Robertson tells us what it is like to work in one of the most haunted castles in Scotland, Pittodrie House. We found Andy Barnard that has moved from Scotland to the U.S. to become a Colorado Officer. Offended by a new trend to be a witch? We will found one to let her vent about the “sisterhood” tend.*Thank you to Woji for providing our intro music!

Howdy, everyone. This weeks episode is all about our village of Manitou Springs and what is going on today. We fill you in on the September happenings at the Library. Then we bring you interviews from two great businesses that make Manitou what it is today, Anna's Apothecary and Goldminer's Candy. We hope you enjoy. 

Pika Radio returns. In this episode we talk about the recent CS Comicon, visit with the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce about our fall happenings and the Emma Crawford Coffin Races. Next, we visit with David Walker about this years Brewfest. Thank you for listening and promoting Pika Radio.

Hello folks and welcome back to a new episode of our ongoing series about men's products from around the world. This week we discuss Dubs mustache wax and beard oil made by Nicholas Watford and what we think of the products.

Hello Pika purveyors. This week we give the Black Feather butterfly razor a test drive. We also sample the Edwin Jager Lime and Pomegranate shave soap and aftershave.Thank you for tuning in to this ongoing series. Your questions and feedback are always welcome. 

Howdy Pika peeps. W continue our series of shaving products from around the world. In this episode Mistress Tammila gives her 30+ years of experience in skin care, hair, and environmental factors pertaining to skin care and how this affects your skin with shaving. We compare two Sandlewood shave soaps, 1 from Italy by Prorasso and 1 from Edwin Jagger. We also review the Edwin Jagger 3 piece razor. Thank you for being loyal and tuning in.