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.

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.