So just who is this crazy woman podcasting scratchy old belly dance records to the masses, anyway? Why, that would be me!
My name is Marisa Young, and I'm a 40-something fledgling Tribal bellydancer wanna-be living in Portland, OR. I moved to Portland
in 2002 to be with my now-hubby Byron, after spending my entire life in Washington state (really, from Washington to Oregon is not
that big a stretch!). I am currently training to become a birth labor doula through DONA International.
One of my main passions is thrift shopping, which no doubt fueled my interest in old belly dance LPs. They are becoming
harder and harder to find in the thrifts, however; my main "supplier" these days is eBay! The base of my collection
(currently numbering over 100) was acquired at a garage sale held by a retired belly dancer in Mt. Vernon, WA (my
previous residence) a couple years ago. I got 21 LPs for 50 cents each, and she threw in the 21st one for free! Seeing as how these
things go for $5-$10 and more apiece on eBay, I felt like I was stealing them!! I began collecting them in earnest after
that, and soon after I moved to Portland, the idea for Radio Bastet was born. Its first incarnation was at Live365.com in
the spring of 2002; when my financial resources became a bit stretched, I moved it to Suite101.com for about a year. We
were finally able to get a domain name during the summer of 2003, and in August 2003 we moved the site to its new home at
radiobastet.com. Radio Bastet has definitely found its audience and has
developed quite a following, beyond anything I'd ever imagined. I'm eternally grateful for that!
By the way, who is Bastet? Also known as Bast, She's the Egyptian Cat Goddess of the city of Bubastis, later becoming a
national deity. According to The Witches' Goddess by Janet and Stewart Farrar, She is "a kindly goddess of joy,
music and dancing; her rituals included light-hearted barge processions and orgiastic ceremonies... She is depicted as a
cat-headed woman, carrying a sistrum and a basket, or as a whole cat. Often, in either form, there are kittens at her
feet." I considered Her to be a natural namesake for a site celebrating Middle Eastern music and dance - orgiastic
ceremonies optional!
Some of my other favorite things: My cat Marvin, who occasionally makes an appearance on the show (we now have two more cats, Spalding and Delbert);
tattoos (I have four - a mermaid on my lower left leg, a peacock on each forearm, and a Goddess over my heart); Third Wave feminism (BUST and
Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture magazines are the prime proponents of this, I'd say; there are links to them on the
Links Et Cetera page); space age bachelor pad/exotica/lounge/cocktail music (Byron is Mr. Smooth of
The Mr. Smooth Show; he's webcasting himself now, so check it
out!); MST3K (that's Mystery Science Theater 3000, in case you didn't know); knitting and making rosaries; mermaids; and books, books, and more books!!
Anyway, that's a bit more about me, in case you were wondering...
AAAHH!! They're everywhere, they're everywhere!!!
Dancing to the music of Serpentine
Marvin guards the Radio Bastet record collection!
 Email me! webmaven @ radiobastet dot com
 
 
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