5C
THE DAILY ASTORIAN FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2016
W H A T ’ S
O N
T H E I R
PLAYLIST
T
he Daily Astorian invites people to share the
music they are enjoying and describe a few
thoughts about the work. This week, Brian Bovenizer,
an Astoria musician who plays with the surf country
band, the Koala Cowboys, gives us his playlist. The
“ambassador of marketing ambiance” at Fort George
Brewery also played in Holiday Friends. To submit a
playlist, send to news@dailyastorian.com
Q: What are you listen-
ing to currently?
A: Some of my current
go-to’s are: Eilen Jewell, Char-
lie Parr, Commander Cody
and his Lost Planet Airmen,
Tom T Hall, Luther Dickin-
son and Jason Isbell. A lot of
roots/psych-country,
new
and old.
Q: How did you dis-
cover it? What’s its special
appeal?
A: I guess I don’t really
keep track much anymore.
I’m always trying to ind the
next ix in music, which is a
lucky addiction with how
much music is accessible
these days. Some of the ways
— I try to keep up on vari-
ous different music sites (No
Depression, Consequence of
Sound, The Bluegrass Situa-
tion, Saving Country Music,
Pitchfork, etc.). Without tak-
ing a stance on streaming,
that “related artists” tab is also
a valuable tool.
Most importantly, I also
like to listen to REAL radio.
There was a while where I
could have been quoted
very often saying the now cli-
che, “Radio is dead.” I thought
that “Internet radio,” what-
ever that meant, was going
to take over. I was comfort-
ably wrong. While an algo-
rithm can introduce you to
new music, it can’t curate
the same emotion as some-
one personally picking out
an ordered group of songs. It
isn’t until you’ve completely
surrendered to a feeling
that some songs can really
get you. If that DJ does not
have an monetarily-driven
agenda, they can mix old and
new in a way that old music
can be new (or new again)
and vice versa. A song can
course KMUN (Astoria) wher-
ever I might be in the coun-
try. When I hear something
I like, I write it down or save
it on my device to check out
more. Outside of that, I keep
up on all of the major festi-
vals and venues that I trust
in major cities. Those names
down at the bottom of the
poster often end up to be the
diamonds in the rough. Or
the names at the top. How’d
I miss out on that?! It’s always
fun to watch the music that
you love, “blow up.” It’s great
fun to see anything blow up
really as long as nobody gets
hurt, but I guess that is inevi-
table with rock ‘n’ roll.
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
Brian Bovenizer.
take on an unforeseen emo-
tion depending on how and
where it is played in a set.
Independent radio has
been huge for my discovery
in the past few years, while
that wasn’t the case for a long
stretch. Though I don’t use an
actual tuner much anymore,
I’ve been using apps and
radio streams, keeping up
with stations like KEXP (Seat-
tle), WNCW (North Carolina),
KBOO, WXRT (Chicago) and of
Q: What music do you
keep coming back to?
A: I have music for differ-
ent parts of the year that I can
always go back to and then
there are those albums that I
can play over and over again
forever, regardless of the sea-
son. It’s good to have both
on hand for the un-inspired
day. Neil Young for the fall and
Dylan for the spring. The ones
that get the most wear are the
ones that are dearest to my
taste, mostly so I can sing them
out loud and unabashed. John
Prine’s, “Bruised Orange,” Guy
Clark’s “Dublin Blues,” Wilco’s
“Being There,” or the Michael
Hurley/Jeffery
Frederick
and the Clamtones/Unholy
Modal Rounders “Have Moicy”
are probably annoying the
neighbors.
Q: What advice would
you give to discover new
music?
A: Don’t segregate or
pigeonhole an artist because
of a genre that they are clas-
siied into. Most of the time,
the folks making the music
are not the ones that pick
their genre. Everything gets
labeled as “Americana” or
“Indie” these days, but those
words do not tell you any-
thing about what the music
sounds like. I spent too many
years ignoring great music
because of a claim that “I
don’t like country music” and
I sneer at the word Ameri-
cana now, even though a lot
of what I listen to could fall
into that genre.
My other advice to all lis-
teners is that some music
requires, even demands, a
few listens. Some of my favor-
ite albums did not get my ini-
tial thrill, but like a good beer
they took a couple to become
my favorite and are there for
me every time I need another
taste.
Dogs: Animals that have to wait to get adopted can get depressed
Continued from Page 1C
Full house
With stereotypes working
against him, Louie is lucky to
have found a home, especially
given how many dogs he had
to compete with.
During the last few eco-
nomically sluggish years, the
shelter’s dog occupancy has
been consistently over capac-
ity, hovering around 20 avail-
able dogs at any given time.
“We’re full. We have dogs
living in vet rooms,” Hildreth
said. “That’s pretty regular
anymore.”
The cat room is pretty
packed most of the time, too.
About half of the animals
housed in the shelter have
been surrendered by owners
who lack the resources to keep
them.
“People cannot afford to
take care of their animals,”
he said. “They’re losing their
homes.”
One diabetic dog, for exam-
ple, was turned over to the shel-
ter because her owner couldn’t
pay for her medication.
And when people need to
scale down their lifestyle, they
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in the area won’t allow dogs on
the premises; the dogs become
a liability. The same goes for
many folks who move to the
area and search for affordable
housing: Their options often
preclude pet ownership, or
require a nonrefundable, pro-
hibitively large pet deposit.
And keeping a pit bull
— even docile, tempera-
Photos by Erick Bengel/The Daily Astorian
LEFT: Deputy Steven Hildreth, supervisor of Clatsop County Animal Control and Shelter,
points out Angus, a dog he babysat before it was adopted. Behind him is the wall of crit-
ters, a collage of adopted animals and shelter success stories. RIGHT: Presenting Punkin
Butt, Deputy Steven Hildreth’s Boston Terrier tattooed on his calf. He has more than a
dozen animal tats on his body.
ment-tested specimens like
Louie — is often out of the
question.
“It’s either: They give their
kids a home, or they get rid of
their dogs,” he said.
In January, it was eight dogs and
23 cats; the month before it was
17 dogs and 25 cats.
“If it’s a popular kind of
breed, they can be gone in
a day,” said Linda Dygert, a
shelter volunteer and secretary
Compassion fatigue
of Clatsop Animal Assistance.
The adoption numbers vary
The shelter advertises the
wildly from week to week, DQLPDOV RQ 3HW¿QGHUFRP WKH
said Dunning, who also serves day they become available.
as president of Clatsop Animal
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$VVLVWDQFH D QRQSUR¿W WKDW critters and volunteers occa-
raises money to pay for virtu- sionally burning out, “we
ally all of the shelter’s veteri- always need more volunteers:
nary bills.
dog-walkers, people to be in
“Some days we’ll have four the cat room socializing the
animals go out, and then we’ll cats,” Dunning said.
go a week with nothing,” she
“People who work at ani-
said. “Sometimes we feel like mal shelters and volunteer here
we’re sending our children out — these people are different.
into the world because we get They’re more sensitive,” said
to know our animals so well.” Hildreth, who is fostering two
Last month, the shelter dogs in his home.
adopted out 20 dogs and 41 cats.
“They get tired of com-
ing in every year and seeing
the same dogs in that kennel,”
he continued. “You get a little
down.”
The average length of time
that people stay in animal con-
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years, a phenomenon born of
“compassion fatigue,” he said.
“It’s a hard job to deal with
constantly,” he said. “You’re
bombarded with animals that
Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian
come in abused.”
Jeff and Judy Rusiecki adopted Louie.
A new opportunity
Animals that have to wait,
and wait, to get adopted can
also become depressed, Dygert
said.
“It’s like a stir-crazy thing.
Some animals will spin in their
cages, and it’s an obsessive
thing that they do,” she said.
“That doesn’t really happen
very often because the animals
don’t stay a horrible length of
time — except for somebody
like Louie.”
For these rare cases, the
volunteers make a point to
spend extra time with them to
keep them from slipping into
a funk. “We try to keep them
mentally kind of engaged,”
Dunning said.
This way, when they’re
¿QDOO\ KDQGHG RYHU WR D QHZ
owner, the animals are ready
to adjust to a domestic envi-
ronment. And even a pit bull
used to getting passed over is
prepared to enjoy a new life in
a love home.
“Every animal that comes
in here is a new opportunity,”
Dygert said. “And we make
people happy, too.”
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