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Rundown for the Week of February 9, 2001

Bad Taste Tour: Putting the "Fun" in Funeral?
Now, if you want a tour that encounters the unexpected, you might want to tag along with our Cash Peters. He scours the globe looking for the most bizarre tourist destinations and now, he's found one that some folks are just dying to get into. In Cash's case, he's dying to get out. Our stop? Houston's National Museum of Funeral History on today's Bad Taste Tour.

Interview: Persian Virtuoso Kaylan Kalhor
Tune into just about any radio station on the dial and you'll hear rock music, country, rap, Top 40...but how often do you hear classical Persian Music?

Experience the sound of musician Kayhan Kalhor, a virtuoso on a violin-sounding instrument called the kamanchi. After spending nearly two decades away from his homeland of Iran, Kayhan is well known there today. Currently, he's developing a following in the US. He appears with cellist Yo Yo Ma and the New York Philharmonic for several performances next month. Right now, Kayhan has assembled some of Iran's top musicians and is playing to sold out American concert halls on his way to New York. He and singer-percussionist Homayoun Shajarian took time out from their tour this week to stop by our studios.

Kathmandu, City of Love
We got a postcard this week from Mary Lou Weisman, who's been thinking about her honeymoon years ago aboard a Greek ocean liner. She remembers nights sharing canned tuna, bread and wine with other budget-conscious passengers and sleeping on the deck under the stars. She also recalls, a bit uncomfortably... how she felt about the middle-aged tourists below, snugly sleeping in beds and eating at tables. Didn't they realize how their money actually insulated them from the very travel experiences they craved? Well, as she tells us now...times have changed.

Postcard: Blue Aerogramme
There's an email going around - maybe you've seen it - about all those Sheens and Altmans and everyone who promised they'd leave the country if George W. was elected president. Well, you may not believe this, but writer Hank Rosenfeld was way ahead of 'em. He took off back in 1981when Ronald Reagan took over the oval office. So, for this Valentine's Day week, Hank sent us one of those Blue Aerogrammes from his old European getaway, which really didn't get away from much.

Deal of the Week
St. Louis by the Other Airline