Racer Update

Bracketologists say Murray State’s current undefeated run isn’t your typical Cinderella story.

From: NCAA.com’s Amy Farnum

This week, the Racers are the only remaining unbeaten team in the nation, are No. 11 in The Associated Press poll and have climbed up to No. 9 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Top 25, becoming the first OVC team to crack the top 10 since Western Kentucky in final poll of the 1970-71 season.

 

The news of MSU’s perfect record has been splattered all over the ESPN bottom line and sports pages all across the nation, especially after Syracuse suffered its first loss of the season to Notre Dame last weekend.

 

the morning cram [The next time I have to come in here I'm crackin' skulls edition]

Good News. If you’re ever captured by Somali Pirates, Obama’s got your back, even if you’re Danish!

NPR reports Obama sent in his A-squad to deal with a hostage situation. With their success rate, I think Obama should start using the special forces to deal with all of his problems. Let’s start with a raid on the investment banks.

Kentucky~ The PRA is now a city agency. Here’s to hoping shiny tape will save our Amish from jail.  Cadiz seeks to ban synthetic marijuana. Looks like Kentucky teachers may have to be held back. The Commonwealth considers a tax amnesty plan.

Tennessee~ Titan tire hopes to hire 300 people  by the year’s end.

 

 

Datebook: January 25 – Guiding Light Debuts 75 Years Ago

Guiding Light is an American television soap opera credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest running drama in television and radio history, running from 1937 until 2009. It is also among the longest running broadcast programs in history of any kind, across radio media for 15 years, and then television media for 57 years, being first broadcast five days after President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second inauguration. The show’s title refers to a lamp in the study of Reverend Dr. John Ruthledge, a major character when The Guiding Light debuted in 1937, that family and residents could see as a sign for them to find help when needed. Guiding Light was created by Irna Phillips, and began as an NBC Radio serial on January 25, 1937. In 1947, the show moved to CBS radio. In 1952, it began airing on CBS television. It would continue to air on both television and radio until 1956. The series was expanded from 15 minutes to a half hour in 1968, and then to a full hour in 1977. Guiding Light aired its 15,000th televised episode on September 6, 2006.

It’s Wednesday, January 25

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network of Western Kentucky hosts a meeting for volunteers, pancreatic cancer survivors, caregivers, and supporters tomorrow night at 6:30. The meeting will be held in the Borders Community Room of the Lourdes Hospital Marshall Nemer Pavilion. All attendees are encouraged to wear purple. For more information, visit pancan.org.

The Pennyroyal Area Museum in Hopkinsville hosts a Russian Artwork exhibit through the end of the month. See stacking dolls, lacquered barrettes, a lacquered chess set, woodburning paintings, and more. The museum is located at 217 East 9th Street and is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 to 4:30 and on Saturday from 10 to 3.

Applications are now being accepted for participation in the 2012 Paducah Downtown Farmers’ Market, which will be held April 25 through November 21. Regional vendors can reserve a space at the farmers’ market for an individual day, a weekend, or the complete season. Register online at paducahalliance.org/farmersmarket.

Find more at wkms.org.

Good Read – Bossypants by Tina Fey

Bossypants
by Tina Fey

Buy this book on Amazon

(Your purchase supports WKMS!)

Product Description:

Before Liz Lemon, before “Weekend Update,” before “Sarah Palin,” Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV. She has seen both these dreams come true. At last, Tina Fey’s story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon — from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence. Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve all suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.

Jenni Todd says:

If you like to laugh, then please, read Bossypants! It’s Tina Fey’s “kind-of” memoir published last year. While I loved the show biz highlights about Second City, SNL, and 30 Rock (and cutie Alec Baldwin), I really connected (and laughed hysterically) with her reflections on being a young woman, a wife, and a mother. Near the end of the book there is a chapter titled, “The Mother’s Prayer for Its Daughter” that had me rolling in the floor unable to breath. It’s three pages of comedy gold for men and women, daughters and sons, mothers and fathers.

Book’s now in paperback. Here’s last year’s interview with Terry Gross.

Click here to check out more Good Reads.

Datebook: January 24 – Shoichi Yokoi Found 40 Years Ago

Shoichi Yokoi was a Japanese sergeant in the Imperial Japanese Army during WWII. He was among the last three Japanese hold-outs to surrender after the end of hostilities in 1945, being found in the jungle of Guam in January 1972, almost 28 years after the island had been liberated by US forces in 1944. When American forces captured the island in the 1944 Battle of Guam, Yokoi went into hiding with ten other Japanese soldiers. Seven of the holdouts moved away and the other two died of starvation. Yokoi survived by hunting, primarily at night. He used native plants to make clothes, bedding, and storage implements, which he carefully hid in his cave. On the evening of January 24, 1972, Yokoi was discovered in the jungle by Jesus Duenas and Manuel De Gracia, two local men who were checking shrimp traps along a small river on Talofofo. They had initially assumed that Yokoi was a local villager, but managed to surprise and subdue him, and carry him out of the jungle. “It is with much embarrassment, but I have returned,” Yokoi said upon his return to Japan. The remark would become a popular saying in Japanese.

It’s Tuesday, January 24

The American Red Cross holds a blood drive on Friday from 11 to 3 at St. John’s Episcopal Church, located at 1620 West Main Street in Murray. Donors must be healthy, be at least seventeen years old, and weigh at least 110 pounds. Find more information and schedule an appointment online at redcrossblood.org.

The Alzheimer’s Association provides a program on legal and financial planning on Thursday at the Pennyrile Area Development District Office in Hopkinsville. The program begins at 5:30PM. For more information, contact James Patterson at 886-9484.

Land Between the Lakes hosts their annual Bison Auction on Saturday, with viewing at 8AM. The auction will occur at the South Bison Range Corral beginning at 9AM. All buyers are required to pay in full and to load bison on the day of the auction. For more information, contact Curtis Fowler at 924-2061.

Hear President Obama’s State of the Union speech tonight at 8 on WKMS.

the morning cram [she thought we'd be getting a million dollars...its not fair edition]

Good news. Romney pays less in taxes than I do, and likely you as well. I’m not sure why that’s good news, but I’m an optimist.

NPR reports Mitt Romney’s 2010 tax return shows he made $21.7 million dollars, and paid 13.9 percent in taxes. He’s rollin in it.

OVC Scores…

Kentucky~ Canaan gets OVC honors for a fourth time…he’s a bad man. A twister touched down in Hazel on Sunday. Former McCracken Judge-Executive gets that money. Madisonville Police ID remains. School bus ads die easy (sorry Bruce Willis). Lawmakers say the budget is tough, wow. Pharmacists say providers are screwing them.

Tennessee~ Beavers backpedals on bill.

Datebook: January 23 – Chinese New Year (Year of the Dragon)

Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as “Spring Festival,” marking the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western carnival. Within China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese New Year vary widely. People will buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also the tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house to sweep away any ill-fortune in hopes to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of “good fortune” or “happiness”, “wealth”, and “longevity”. Food will include pig, duck, chicken and sweets. The family will end the night with firecrackers. Early the next morning, children will greet their parents by wishing them a healthy and happy new year, and receive money in red paper envelopes. The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone. This year is the Year of the Dragon, considered the luckiest year in the Chinese Zodiac.

It’s Monday, January 23

The Western Kentucky Highland Society holds a supper commemorating the birthday of Scottish poet Robert Burns. Enjoy a dinner of haggis and roast beef, toasts, recitations of Burns’ poetry, live bagpipes, and a silent auction. It takes place on Saturday at 6:30PM at the clubhouse of the Murray Woman’s Club. Make reservations by Wednesday at 753-5831.

Celebrate the Year of the Dragon and make your own dumplings from scratch at the Chinese New Year celebration in the Murray State University Curris Center, tomorrow afternoon from 4:30 to 6. Features include door prizes, Chinese zodiac signs, games, Chinese calligraphy, and songs. There’s a suggested one dollar donation to support the learning and teaching of foreign cultures at MSU.

The Girl Scouts host a Desserts First fundraiser on Saturday at the Carson Center in Paducah. Sample gourmet desserts made from Girl Scout cookies, enjoy live music, and participate in a silent auction. Tickets are thirty dollars per person. Purchase tickets at 443-8704.

See details at wkms.org.

Severe Weather Tonight 1-22

NOAA Map of Predicted Storm Impact

The National Weather Service  has issued a tornado watch until 2:00 a.m for the entire WKMS listening area.  The rapidly moving storm front will bring significant wind gusts, torrential rain, hail and potential flash flooding. We won’t be able to post all of the warnings with this storm system. Stay tuned to your local weather radio service, WKMS will provide Emergency Alert System notifications of warnings on the air throughout the evening.

For consistent updates throughout the storm system tonight we suggest visiting McCracken County Emergency Management Meteorologist Beau Dodson’s facebook update page.

The storm system ahead of a cold front will move from southwest to northeast. The storm poses the greatest threat of tornadoes and hail in Northwest Tennessee and along the Kentucky/Tennessee border.  Western Kentucky and Southern Illinois residents should also  expect high damaging winds  up to or exceeding  70 miles per hour and torrential rain. NWS forecasters says windshear is the big story for this event.  Higher levels of windshear are common in January, and with more windshear, forecasters say, it takes less instability to spawn a tornado. Forecasters don’t expect this to be a record breaking event but  There will also be a good chance for flash flooding overnight and into the morning hours.  The storm system will move quickly, around 50 miles per hour.

Night time storms poses a greater safety risk than daytime storms simply because they impact our area while most are sleeping. Forecasters say to test your weather radios and be sure they have fresh batteries.

Weather radios need to be programmed or set to weather stations monitoring where you live. Details are here about programing your weather radio.

The Weekend Energy Preview 1-21

Here’s what’s in the mix this week. It’s so mental, it defeated Watson the super computer in the final round of Jeopardy – the answer: What is the loudest show on public radio?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFR3lOm_xhE

Highlights

RackNRuin- Dazed & Confused feat. Janai & Illaman (SKism’s Baroque Out Remix) –  I mean look at the title, it’s got to be good, right? Baroque Out? Awesome. This song lives up to its genre counterpart, beginning with a build into a carnival-like beat with vocals by Janai, then winding up into a tight dubstep beat with layers of Illaman rapping, then it loosens up with a quick tribal drum rhythm. Dare I say this song has it all? I made  a bold decision, too, and made it the show’s opener. Yikes!

Scarlett & The Pixels – Sea of LCD, Sparks – See this week’s “Discovery” below.

Skream – Anticipate (Netsky Remix) – This’ll warm your heart on a chilly winter weekend… Apparently Skream produced this song in anticipation of his son, on the way. It’s an uplifting track: “I can’t wait to meet you, And I know, I’ll have to learn how to teach you, I need to let the fool in me go, I’m gonna work like crazy, Give you everything you need, Build the world that you will see.” Even though the video has a robot dancing around, you have to admit, the lyrics are really, really sweet. Have I gone soft? No way The Netsky Remix speeds up the song a bit and gives it a nice drum and bass wash. The lyrics are in-tact, though, and I think the remix just makes it all much stronger. But the original version is great, too. I think congrats are in order for the new father. Oh, and here’s the official video, truly a great gift his son will grow to appreciate.

David Heartbreak – Elmo (Valentino Khan Remix) – I’m a Fresh Air fan, and as a young kid I loved Sesame Street (still do, whatevs), So when I heard Kevin Clash interviewed on Fresh Air, I’ll admit I did not get much accomplished in those 20 minutes. When I came across Elmo by David Heartbreak, I thought, okay this will be interesting. Yeah, it is. The original mix has a surreal moombahton drum-machine vibe with some vocal sampling from Elmo and friends. A couple weeks ago, I played a dope track by Valentino Khan called Kingstone, and saw he did a remix of this song, too. So that’s the one I put in the mix. It’s just insanely well produced moombahton, with more kick than the original and a couple solid drops, with the cute “Elmo!” popping in here and there.

Discovery

Scarlett & The Pixels

Almost exactly one year ago, I stumbled upon a remix of Sequin Burn by Scarlett Etienne and was blown by her lovely, syrupy voice. Her latest grouping, Scarlett & The Pixels is irresistible neo-techno-pop at its finest. Slowed down, pulsing rhythms with hooks that’ll ensnare your head all week. Sea of LCD is a mesmerizing glam anthem and Sparks is an absolute electric rockabilly swagger shoegazing theme song for a wintry week. I think Scarlett is one of the most exciting artists this year and her music just keeps getting better. Her Sea of LCD / Sparks EP is most definitely worth picking up – the remixes are great, too. Be sure to check out her music as Scarlett Etienne – especially the dark chugging bass of Figurine, The Flex, and Sequin Burn.  Also check out her Facebook page.

Almost Made It

Mord Fustang

We Are Now Connected is his huge hit right now, one of the biggest tracks in the genre at the moment, but for some reason I can’t seem to find a place for in the last few mixes. Right now it’s sitting in my shortlist pile and I hope to play it soon. This Estonian DJ came out of like nowhere last year with huge bombs like Magic Trooper, A New World, Lick the Rainbow, Super Meat Freeze, Milky Way… He’s certainly made a hame for nimself. Maybe next week he’ll be on Eeekend Wnergy. Check out his interesting Tumblr page.

Playing We Are Now Connected live:

Second Hour Rewind

The second hour rewind is the previous week’s first hour. In this mix, hear Afrojack, Panda Da Panda, Skrillex, Jupiter, Mustard Pimp, The Weeknd, Fischerspooner, Sidney Samson, and more! I’ve had a love affair with Fischerspooner’s music ever since their single Emerge released with their album #1 back in 2001. I saw the pairing of Infidels of the World Unite and Gooseflesh Remix and thought instant gold. Fischerspooner is one of those groups that’s already excellent without any revision, but Casey Spooner’s great vocals are so workable that some artists proved that The Best Revenge could be even better with some revision, see Alex Gopher, autoKratz, and Designer Drugs. Also, the DIM remix of Supply & Demand. Another one of Gooseflesh’s songs is in the mix tonight, in the first hour, hear Drift.

A Little Extra

This guy does some really great moombah live mixing:

“Crank up your stereo, bust out the strobe light and kick up the bass.”

Weekend Energy has been blowing out car stereo systems, upsetting the neighbors and enhancing the night life of western Kentucky every weekend since July 2007 on WKMS. Host Matt “McG” Markgraf pours through hundreds of songs each week to create “the loudest show on public radio” featuring the best techno, dance and electronica from around the world. Weekend Energy airs Saturdays on 91.3 WKMS from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Stream it live on wkms.org Saturday nights.

Hear the show streaming online or else.

Datebook: January 20 – Richard Henry Lee Turns 280

Richard Henry Lee was born on January 20, 1732 (and died June 19, 1794). He was an American statesman from Virginia best known for the motion in the Second Continental Congress calling for the colonies’ independence from Great Britain. He was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and his famous resolution of June 1776 led to the Declaration of Independence, which he signed. He also served a one-year term as the President of the Continental Congress, and was a U.S. Senator from Virginia from 1789 to 1792, serving during part of that time as one of the first Presidents pro tempore of the United States Senate. He was also the great uncle of famous Confederate general Robert E. Lee. He famously said, “The first maxim of a man who loves liberty, should be never to grant to rulers an atom of power that is not most clearly and indispensably necessary for the safety and well being of society.”

It’s Friday, January 20

Land Between the Lakes offers an Eagle Viewing Van Tour on Sunday from 1 to 4:30. Spend the day visiting some of LBL’s eagle-viewing hot spots as staff members share tips on how to spot bald eagles in the wild. The cost is $7 for adults and $5 for children. Register by calling 924-2020.

The Humane Society of Calloway County seeks volunteers for next Saturday’s Fashion 4 Paws formalwear consignment sale. Volunteers are needed throughout the week to collect and transport dresses, hang up clothing by style and size, and set up for the sale. To find out more about volunteer opportunities, call the Humane Society office at 759-1884.

A free class on planning for a weed-free garden and lawn takes place tomorrow morning at 10 at the McCracken County Extension office. Susan Fox and Dr. James “Chip” Martin will discuss identifying and eliminating weeds and invasive plant species.

Find more about these and other community events online at wkms.org, and thanks for listening!