It's a three-fer this week!

First, in the summer of 1970, you couldn't pass through the un-airconditioned parts of Los Angeles without hearing radios blaring "Viva Tirado," the groundbreaking hit from El Chicano ... an East LA band who were the first Latino group to play The Apollo. We get the story from band member Bobby Espinoza. 

Then, as KPCC's Adolfo Guzman Lopez works on his new podcast, The Forgotten Revolutionary - the new season of Imperfect Paradise from LAist Studios - we listen back to an early instance of Adolfo talking about his background on KPCC ... the occasion being the time he was name-checked on "The Simpsons." 

And finally, we listen to the trailer for The Forgotten Revolutionary, which is about Oscar Gomez, a tragic star of the Chicano rights movement, whose radio show used "Viva Tirado" as its theme song. It's also about Adolfo's history as an activist, which he is revealing for the first time as he explores what happened to Gomez.

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and bythe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

(Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.)

With Governor Newsom contemplating mandatory water restrictions - because we are actually using MORE water this year, despite his warnings - it seems like a good time to bring back the time Sanden Totten, now the host of Brains On, took a timed Navy shower back in 2015 ... on the radio.

The Navy shower is a strategy for getting clean when you're on a boat with limited freshwater, and lots of sweaty seafarers in line behind you. (People in the Navy apparently call landlubber showers "Hollywood showers.")

In this episode, Sanden also chats with an astronaut about how they use and reuse water in space. And drink what used to be pee. You have been warned.

Support for this podcast is made possible by Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and bythe Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

(Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.)

Alex Cohen and "Crazy Heart's" composer ... EatLA's 2010 guide to the best food in the county ... The Secret of Kells gets one more showing ... Dinner Party Download ... Mark Lacter's homebuying advice ... Queena Kim talks with author Reyna Grande about her new book, "Dancing with Butterflies"

Off-Ramp ushers in 2010 with a (historical) tour of LA's Sewers ... Marc Haefele offers a "culinary" solution to our invasive species problem ... William Shatner dishes on his talk show "Shatner's Raw Nerve" ... up and coming painter Camille Rose Garcia finds whimsy in the macabre ... Cyberfrequencies takes us to a beatboxing contest--on the web.

CyberFrequencies on Life on the Web ... Clint Eastwood on his Life in Movies ... Jackson Musker on insurance woes for Oakridge victims ... Leonard Maltin tells the backstory for his movie guide ... the man behind "Sleighride," Leroy Anderson.

New takes on Dickens' classic ... plus the original Lionel Barrymore radio broadcast of "A Christmas Carol."

Queena Kim meets Ricky Jay ... Martin Eisenstadt talks back ... Mateo Stoneman's secret: "I learned to be a mariachi in prison!" ... Dinner Party Download makes you smarter, AND more intelligent ... Andy Rooney STILL hates Christmas ... Early peek at Downey and Law in "Sherlock Holmes."

Mateo Stoneman's secret ... The mother of all LA photo books ... Metallica as I knew them, by Steven Cuevas ... trying to Vanish in America ... Brian Watt controls air traffic, kinda of ... CyberFrequencies and the Rosetta Project.

Off-Ramp's Thanksgiving tradition: "Walking Out of History," the true story of Shackleton's miraculous "Endurance" expedition of 1914.

Mary Poppins descends on LA ... CyberFrequencies recommends a daily dose of video games ... MOCA's permanent collection ... Musical Books? ... Pigtails&Sauerkraut and other Thanksgiving traditions.