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.

The Ashes of Oakridge - One Year Later ... Arthur Dong's "Hollywood Chinese" documentary becomes an exhibit ... Eli Broad and Sam Hall Kaplan help Off-Ramp mark MOCA's 30th ... Lisa Ling and KCET on middle-class homelessness.

Mayor Picks Beck to Lead LAPD ... Melrose Larry Green Weighs In ... Dracula author pays tribute to his late, great brother ... Jackson Musker has Encounter at LAX ... CyberFrequencies on Life on the Web.

A Halloween Special ... Chris Ames and the Dog in the Nighttime ... RH Greene's News Take on Dracula ... Lugosi, Jr. on Life with Father ... Bats: Behind the Myths ... Creepiest Moment from Richard the Third.

We're for Contradancing ... It's Mourning at Heritage Square ... New Dracula Memoir Preview ... Rabe's Family History ... WEB EXCLUSIVE: Comics Icon Marv Wolfman ... Selling Medical Marijuana.

Randolph Mantooth of "Emergency!" and "Scream of the Bikini" ... John and Queena pitch good journalism and public radio ... Ed Asner on "Up!" ... Carl Orff teaches kids music ...

Richard III - done straight for once ... Dinner Party Download makes you smarter ... Asner's radio work ... Spiders creep into the Natural History Museum ... Meet the Raincoats

Orff-Ramp Music for Kids ... the late Henry Hopkins on Race in Art ... the Eagle Rock music festival ... Jackson Musker has the poop on zoo poop ... CyberFrequencies on stars who explode online ...

Music Savant Brian Eno's art installation comes to Long Beach... John Rabe plays Mo Roca at the Aquarium, sustainably ... Will Riverside's Chris Arreola become the new World Heavyweight Champ?