Today on Davisville we talk about Measure D, a parcel tax renewal on the city’s June ballot that would raise $1.37 million per year for parks maintenance in Davis. It is the second tax measure in the city this year, the first being the school tax that voters approved in March.

The guests are Charlie Russell, a local businessman and chair of the city Recreation and Park Commission, and David Luckscheider, park manager for the city.

Among other subjects, we look at why the city kept the rate at $49 per house, how the city ended up supporting park maintenance this way, and what the money pays for.

Flowers abound on the islands of Hawai'i, and so, naturally, do songs about flowers. Listen to this garland of songs about the "pua o Hawai'i", strung together for you by the likes of Cyril Pahinui, Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau, Darlene Ahuna, and others. Now go give someone you love a lei and encircle them with aloha!

After today's spectacular overture by Franz Von Suppe, you will hear Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries"! Valkyries are Norse goddesses that collect the slain Norse warriors from the field of battle and carry them off to Valhalla, home of Odin and the other Norse gods. Hear their blood-curdling cry of "Hotohoyo!" as they sweep the battlefield in search of the dead.
In honor of upcoming weddings, Dr. Paul plays Wagner's Wedding Chorus. Listen and relive your own wedding, or imagine your future.
The second hour is dominated by the monumental Piano Concerto #1 by Tchaikovsky, whose concluding movement is like an out-of-control, onrushing train.
Sprinkled throughout the show are the civilized Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola by Stamitz; a gorgeous piano trio by Brahms; three small gems composed by Albeniz played by the queen of Spanish piano music, Alicia de Larrocha; some uber-romantic tracks from movie soundtracks by Ennio Morricone; and lilting waltzes by Schubert.

To celebrate their "Ina" tour, we play songs from Keola & Raiatea's new collaboration album, as well as cuts from their individual albums "Mohala Hou" and "Island Born" (Keola) and "Sea of Love" and "Far Away Heaven" (Raiatea). Enjoy the mixed mastery of Hawaiian voice and slack key guitar from these two excellent musicians.

"Hookah Caterpillars," "Zombie Ants Fight Back" and "Corporate Sharks Eat Honeybees" are some of the headlines on today's show. Also, "How Queens Become Mothers," "In Your Words," and "Alice Through the Looking Glass."

Yes, today Dr. Paul features music that showcases a wide variety of instruments. A Paisiello piano concerto, a selection from Albeniz' masterwork, Iberia for the piano, a Vivaldi concerto for two cellos, a Hummel concerto for trumpet, a movement from a Chopin piano concerto, and two pieces written for the piano as transcribed for the guitar. A circular argument would contend that today's is a well-rounded radio show!

Today’s Davisville looks at spiders in Davis and Yolo County, with a focus on the Explorit Science Center’s “Spiders in Your World” community science project for 2012. Explorit board President Lars Anderson—pictured here with a properly capped black widow display jar—explains why they chose this project and what they want to accomplish. Of course, we talk about the little carnivores too.

Spiders are never far away. Nor have we discovered more than a fraction of the types that exist in the world. Explorit hopes to conduct solid research on spiders in Yolo County by enlisting the public, all while acquainting us with the roles spiders play beyond lurking in the corners of garages. The project includes attitude surveys, home experiments, and a website for posting spider sightings.

At the end we also get a short update on the 30-year-old Davis center as it makes progress recovering from its financial setbacks of 2010-11.

Much of the world knows about Hawaiian music because of songs with titles like "My Little Grass Shack," "Hawaiian War Chant," and "Across the Sea." All are songs that Johnny Noble wrote, composed, or made popular, and represent a kind of music called "hapa haole (half Anglo)." This fun genre combines Hawaiian topics or themes with ragtime music sensibilities. Beginning with his first cowritten song, "Across the Sea" (1919), Johnny Noble contributed more than 100 songs to the genre, and was the first Hawaiian composer to be inducted into the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), in 1935. Listen in today to the wide range of topics and styles Johnny brought us.

Yes, Dr. Paul's wife, Erin, asked him to play "Something Russian." And so, Dr. Paul obliged by airing the entire piano trio in a minor by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, subtitled "In memory of the great artist." This elegaic piece was written to honor the memory of the recently deceased Anton Rubinstein, one of Tchaikovsky's mentors. You'll find it at the top of the second hour. It is beautiful, sweeping, and very Russian, like the onion-domed cathedral shown here.
To start the show there is the usual overture, this time by Beethoven, then the "Archduke" piano trio, also by Beethoven. This trio was written for the son of the emperor of Austria (the archduke), who was a student and close friend of the composer. The first hour closes with a tone poem by Aaron Copland.
In the second hour, after the piano trio by Tchaikovsky, there is a piece by Anton Rubinstein, played by the incomparable cellist, Antonio Janigro. The show ends with a whisper; a nocturne by Chopin wraps things up.

San Francisco jazz pianist Vince Guaraldi (right, with characteristic handlebar moustache) wrote music for “Peanuts” specials, influenced countless musicians, and created one of the top-selling Christmas records ever (“A Charlie Brown Christmas”), but in-depth appraisals of his career are scarce. Davis author Derrick Bang has fixed that with “Vince Guaraldi at the Piano,” an account of Guaraldi and his music. Bang holds a copy of his book, left.

Guaraldi, who performed in Davis in 1963 and 1972, died of a heart attack at 47 in 1976. Bang worked on the book for three years, talked with musicians Guaraldi played with—some still performing—and today on Davisville, he discusses what he learned.