To remind you why Off-Ramp is unparalleled in bringing you the people, places, and ideas that make Southern California a great place to live, here's a sample of our best pieces from the last year. With your contribution, we can do another year of great radio. Without it, we can't. Please give now!

“No blue skies and no green grass” is animator Genndy Tartakovsky’s rule for "Samurai Jack." He tells us about bringing back the wandering samurai (right) for Adult Swim. ... Meet jazz singer Donna Fuller, a sultry contralto who made two albums that are now eBay gold. ... It would be enough if we went to the shop where they make custom limousines and hearses, but they also make custom hunting trucks Middle East potentates use when they hunt with their falcons.

A pristine fallout shelter in the Valley ... the Channel Island Fox makes a comeback from extinction ... the USS Indianapolis ... a time machine in LA City Hall: the mayoral portrait gallery.

How strong are the Watts Towers? Do you know the Natural History Museum's newest taxidermist? And military erotic fiction: 50 Shades of Khaki?

We talk to Dr. George Fishbeck, Los Angeles' most beloved weatherman, page through graphic novelist Gilbert Hernandez's Marble Season and more!

We go to the corner of Hollywood and LaBrea as Stevie Wonder helps Shotgun Tom Kelly get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, talk with a photographer of very small things, explore the Rolling Stones' San Bernardino roots, and reconsider the New Hollywood's "flops."

Billy Ray Cyrus and his Hillbilly Heart ... puppet month ... hidden and forbidden staircases ...

A lifesaving moment at the Boston Marathon ... talking with Stephen Hawking ... Mazda unveils its first diesel racecar ... real racecar drivers talk about LA traffic pet peeves ... Stoltze and real people on the LA mayor's race ... bringing Rodney King back to life on stage ...

Mt Zion Cemetery, plagued by vandals and neglect ... Jim Beckler, last journalist left from the pressbox the day Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier ... meet Bleached and their three favorite LA LP's ... How "Toilet to Tap" helped kill reforming LA's looming water shortage ... an undiscovered mosaic mural uncovered in Downtown LA.

We go to Dodger Stadium for Opening Day; to imaginary cities with Ben Katchor; to the Weimar Republic with singer Max Raabe; to the stage with Paul Dooley; and to a pet cemetery with Tess Vigeland.