Though long overdue, here is the current length of my facial hair! Now beginning to resemble a shrubbery, my face is entering a phase of overgrowth. I have never felt so itchy in all of my life (except for the time I tried laying under a palm tree in Miami and hours later discovered I had been bitten by some unseen insect). I'm deciding I need a trim. There's no way my family will condone this look on me. I think they'll already be very surprised at the fact I have facial hair at all, nevermind that it's gotten so shabby. As you can tell by my attire, I have had final presentations this week. None of my teachers have pointed out my scruff (though I've been told it makes me look more mature, yay?) so that's a good sign. Alright, I don't think I can come up with anything else remotely interesting about this beard.

The winter programming has begun! Sadly, WUNH will be lacking in many of your well known DJs as the students head home. Never worry, for they will be back, and you can still listen to WUNH throughout the week. Prepare for a wide array of Christmas programming to come! 

Having finished my first full week of beard-dom, here I am now (Exact number of days since my promise: 9). It feels like a month. I'm scared for a month. But come in it does. I have unfortunately discovered that I have difficulty growing hair on the underside of my chin but as long as no one is shorter than me it shouldn't be a problem (seriously, this won't be a problem). I can already tell I'm going to have to trim the hair growing on my neck if I want any sort of job prospects come December but I will attempt to leave it untouched for as long as possible. 

At this point, we are still tallying up the efforts of our lovely donors. Premiums and raffle prizes will be going out early this year- well before Christmas! If you would still like to donate you are more than welcome to by clicking the button at the top of this page on our header (in case you aren't sure what to get the WUNH listener in your life for the holidays yet). I will also be sure to send mystery donor a special treat for the this...

For those of you who listened to my show last Saturday, you may have heard me make a ridiculous claim that I would grow out my facial hair if people donated over $30 to The Lounge. The deal was whatever the highest amount over $30 was, I would subtract 30 from that amount and that would be the number of days I let my locks grow. Well, as it turns out, some wonderful (though perhaps malicious) donor supplied us with a generous offer of $91.30 dollars. As a result, I will now be turning my five o' clock shadow into a wild bushy beard for the next 61 days (and 8 hours). While I absolutely despise facial hair, I love this station even more. So I will honor my deal (albeit somewhat begrudgingly).

This is where I'm at now. As you can see, I've already got a little something going on (little being the key word). I regret not having shaved the day I took that pledge. I'm hoping that our Engineer is right in his prediction that in 2 months, my face will still be baby smooth. I also appreciate the fact that he thinks my face is as smooth as a baby.

Check in each week to see how my beard growth is doing. If the bushiness does set in, I can always just say that it's filled with my love for this radio station.

On that note, thank you to EVERYONE who donated last week (including you, mystery beard donor). You really have made our station a success and because of you, we can continue broadcasting for another year. Now we just need the donations to come in so we can fix our phone (sorry to all of you calling in to hear "good bye" from that rude automated woman - I hate her too!).

Looking for something to tune into on Thursdays? Why not start off your work day right by listening to WUNH's own Olivia? Originally from Long Island, Olivia brings her eclectic tastes right to your work day radio. "I'm big into funk, electronica, motown, indie... basically anything but screamo," she tells us. And take it from us- it couldn't be more true.

When you're listening to Olivia's show, one minute you'll be listening Two Door Cinema Club, the next you'll be swinging to Herbie Hancock. "My favorite band is called 'Big Bad Voodoo Daddy'" she says of her music tastes. "It's safe to say I love swinging to Big Band music - I play the saxophone." Despite her extensive tastes, Olivia almost didn't travel down the path to DJdom. "I tried out for the campus theatre troupes freshman year and didn't make any of them. So instead I joined the radio. Funny how these things work out!" 

Olivia's involvement with WUNH and the UNH community overall is very impressive. She is in RA as well as into education. Her dream is to have her own children's television show. "I'm the next Ms. Frizzle!" she laughs. When you tune in, you'll be entertained by her quips and cleverness, specifically the word of the day. "Every show, I pick a word of the day, like Heliotrope. It's just a fun to add something to your vocabulary everyday."

Sound like a good time? Be sure to tune in Thursdays 9-12pm on WUNH Durham!

 UPDATE: Olivia is now a part of WildActs! Congratulate her on her theater triumphs.

If you tuned into Monday Night Jazz last week, you may have been pleasantly surprised to hear a new voice on the freewaves to go along with that great ensemble sound. Well, new to the show at least. WUNH's Bill Cooper (AKA DJ Coop) is now the new host of this classic show. Despite the difficulties of providing unique content in one genre for hours at a time each week, DJ Coop has stepped very comfortably into his role as host.

So how did the new jazz guy find his niche in the first place? "I started playing guitar when I was pretty young,", he recalls, "but it wasn't until I met Gerry Adams, a wonderful jazz guitar teacher, until I really started to like playing." It was through instruction under this teacher that allowed for his exploration of the genre. "At first, I was really into more of classic rock and metal, but after joining the jazz band and listening to two albums that changed my life ("Kind of Blue" Miles Davis, and more importantly, Stanley Clarke's "School Days" album), I became infatuated with it."

Coop also appreciates the extreme skill and sound of artists who can improvise at the drop of a pin, something very common in the many styles heard on Monday Night Jazz. "I began to love the 60's-70's combo sound and from there, dug further into the older jazz. It was then I found big band jazz, newer Buddy Rich with older Count Basie and Charles Mingus. I think soloing is one of the coolest things an artist can do in music, to take a chord progression and improvise a melody on top of it. Not only is it fun to play, but it's so much fun to listen to. Over the years, it has become one of my favorite genres, and I'm glad to have the opportunity to share my love of it to others."

You can hear DJ Coop each week Monday from 6-8PM on Monday Night Jazz for the best in that big band, swing, and that good ole classic style, only on 91.3fm WUNH Durham, the seacoast sound alternative.