Oh, Kentucky

"Rights," "heritage," "taxation" ... blah, blah, blah.

March 2019 marked the best "Scratch-off" month for the Kentucky Lottery Corporation since April 1989.

"I want to continue to raise our educator voice so that we’re boldly and bravely speaking the truth about public education and what it means for our students, for the educators who serve those students." Interesting Q&A from WFPL's Liz Schlemmer with the new KEA president, who is on loan from Knox County  Public Schools.

The Kentucky Green Living Fair draws about 1,200 in Year 6, reports Christopher Harris in Somerset's Commonwealth Journal.

London's old Kmart is going to be a Kohl's.

Oh, Kentucky

Positions change over time for politicians who are in office a LONG time. In 1989 in the wake of the Standard Gravure tragedy, Sen. Mitch McConnell was an uncertain vote on banning assault rifles. He thought they were only good for killing people.
9-25-1989. pic.twitter.com/vQyyjsnmVl

— KYPoliticalHistory (@HistoryKentucky) May 30, 2018

 

For now, anyway, Sen. McConnell is supporting national-monument status for the Nancy site of the 1862/"Zolly's Folly"/Battle of Mill Springs/Logan's Cross/Fishing Creek.

Per the Kentucky State Police, via The Springfield Sun, the number of concealed handgun permits issued in the state increased by about 240 percent from 2007 to 2016, to about 437,000.

Good jobs news from Hebron.

The (indispensable) Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting is hiring for a managing editor.

The U.S. Women's Open starts tomorrow, and I will be rooting for Princeton's Emma Talley.

Album Reviews: Lena Horne, Freddie Hubbard

Here are two good albums. I'm pretty sure I bought both of them in the summer of 1989 at a used-record store on Bardstown Road in Louisville.

I learned from Wikipedia today that It's Love by Lena Horne with Lennie Hayton and "His orchestra" (that's really how they capitalized it on the cover) was released in 1955 and was her first complete studio album. The liner notes by Fred Reynolds ranks Horne's "crystal-clear enunciation" in the Frank Sinatra class. The album includes 11 songs, all pleasant. Actually, "Frankie and Johnny" is not pleasant at all--it's about some woman whose lover cheats on her, so she shoots him six times. It's not my thing, and I would rather it was not on the album. The rest is a smooth collection of short love songs--my favorite is probably the title track, which is actually the last song on the album, but, truthfully, I don't really separate the numbers--that are expertly sung and perfect for a 21-year-old to put on an imagine what being married might be like. 

Lena Horne and Lennie Hayton ... wow! Man, there's a musical for you right there.

At the end of that summer in Louisville, one of the editors at The Courier-Journal had all of us interns and several other members of the newsroom over to his house for a pool party. Oh, I was so nervous to go to that thing, and I really do still get embarrassed thinking about some of the ways I acted out that night in my awkwardness. Well, anyway, at one point during the event, some music was playing over the backyard speakers that caught my attention, and I asked the host who the performer was. It was Freddie Hubbard; I'd never heard of him. So I went out not long after that to the Bardstown Road shop and found this album, Straight Life. I don't think I'd ever listened to it all the way through until today, and I don't think I'd ever paid a lick of attention to the cover design. Anyway, it's quite good if you're in the mood for 35 mostly unbroken minutes of "soul/funk influenced jazz" (Wikipedia's phrase). And I'm excited to see that it's going to come out in November 1970; rich Hoptown 1970 me will have to pick that up later this year.

One more thing about Freddie Hubbard of Indianapolis, from Wikipedia the Great:

Freddie Hubbard had close ties to the Jazz Foundation of America in his later years. He is quoted as saying, "When I had congestive heart failure and couldn't work, The Jazz Foundation paid my mortgage for several months and saved my home! Thank God for those people."[14] The Jazz Foundation of America's Musicians' Emergency Fund took care of him during times of illness. After his death, Hubbard's estate requested that tax-deductible donations be made in his name to the Jazz Foundation of America.

I think Matthew would give It's Love by Lena Horna, Lennie Hayton and His orchestra and Straight Life by Freddie Hubbard 2 stars each.

'Not One, Not Two, But Three Straight Class A State Titles for Pikeville'

Bravo, WYMT of Hazard, for this terrific report on the 1987, '88 and '89 Class A state-champion Pikeville Panthers football teams. 

Everything about this thing is fantastic. For example, we get some great footage of stadiums, like Pineville High's ("PINE is FINE") ...

Also, it's great seeing all of the helmets in the modern-day "Sports Overtime" studio ...

And, watching this report led me to reading about the great Wikipedia history of 1969-launched WKYH (for "KentuckY Hazard")/1985-renamed WYMT ("We're Your Mountain Television"). 

Hooray for Jay Crawford, Hillard Howard and his champion Panthers, the Pineville sign and press-box painters, the KHSAA championship organizers at U of L, the Wikipedia editors, Lauren Cash and the WYMT-studio helmet arrangers, Walter Camp and Philo Farnsworth and everyone else who in the last 46-plus years had some hand in bringing about this happy past 15 minutes this morning for me. Thank God for all of you.

Oh, Kentucky

Same sex marriage opponents praying in Ky rotunda as Casey Co Clerk meets with @GovSteveBeshear @WHAS11 pic.twitter.com/kCgcCAf8N2

— Joe Arnold (@joearnoldreport) July 9, 2015

"Accordingly, this newspaper will follow the law of the land, and we will be publishing same-sex engagements and same-sex marriage announcements."

"Great strides," but Breathitt County Schools remain under state control.

"Brother against brother over Civil War statue."

Jefferson Davis Gets His Citizenship Back, by Robert Penn Warren, by The Kaintuckeean.


Code Louisville's Obama bump.

Employment in Kentucky has rebounded to surpass its 2007 and 2008, per a study from the state chamber.

Speaking of #throwbackThursday, here's Bowling Green's Ty Barc rocking "Whispers" in 1978 ...

Fazoli's, founded in Lexington in 1989, has been sold.

Jimi Hendrix playing with the 101st Airbourne while stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky in 1962. pic.twitter.com/yOKCumRrQz

— Historical Images (@Historicalmages) July 9, 2015

Mark your calendars.

Prayers for Paducah.

Eight teams left

Quick question:  When was the last time the First Region won at least one game in the State Tournament for three years in a row?

Answer:   1951-53.  Cuba reached the final in 1951 and 1952, and then Tilghman reached the final in 1953.  But last night, Calloway County upset Knott Co. Central, meaning that we have a Jackson Purchase team in the quarter-finals for the third year in a row.


Quick question:  When was the last time that Regions 1, 2, 3, and 4 -- the four westernmost regions -- all advanced to the quarterfinals of the State Tournament?

Answer: 1960.  To give you a sense of how long ago that was, check out these scores:

Symsonia 69, Meade Memorial 60
Hopkinsville Crispus Attucks 64. Clinton Co. 62
Owensboro 77, Lincoln Institute 75
Beaver Dam 61, LaRue Co. 56

That's right:  three of the four Western Kentucky schools that went to the quarter-finals in 1960 no longer exist.

So live it up, Western Kentucky!  We don't get too many chances like this one.  Plus, the four Western Kentucky teams will be playing each other, so our end of the Commonwealth will have two teams in the semi-finals.  That hasn't happened since Tilghman and Henderson County reached the semi-finals in 1999.

Our gain is Appalachia's pain.  The 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th regions have all been eliminated prior to the quarter-finals.  This is the first time that's happened since 1989.

OK, here are the scores from yesterday:

(1) Lou. Ballard 83, Johnson Cent. 69
Boyle Co. 60, Lex. Catholic 59
Bowling Green 86, Elliott Co. 44
Calloway Co. 73, (4) Knott Co. Cent. 68 (2 OT)

And that sets up the following quarter-finals today (all times Central):

11 A.M:  (7) Owensboro (28-4) v. (8) Hopkinsville (27-5)
12:30 P.M:  (9) Cov. Catholic (30-5) v. Lou. Doss (27-6)
5:30 P.M.:  (1) Lou. Ballard (32-2) v. Boyle Co. (27-6)
7 P.M.:  Bowling Green (29-5) v. Calloway Co. (30-3)

Oh, Kentucky

Bon Appétit Appalachia!

Good jobs news from Henderson, London and Louisville.

Hiring in downtown Marion.

Ominous Christmas news from Shelbyville.

Starting bid is $1.99: "'The 'Broadway Mall' is the new look of Paducah. It presents a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere for downtown shoppers:"

The state police says traffic fatalities around the state were at their lowest since 1947 last year--and that they're projecting downward again for 2014.

TIME says Hopkins is the 631st most dangerous U.S. county in terms of safety from natural disaster.

CNN celebrates the entrepreneurship surge in Kentucky.

NPR investigates the pie-crust controversy at the state fair.

Estately assesses the commonwealth's love of Dallas, Dirty Dancing and Ronald Reagan.

Thankfully, the Angels Lost, Too

So, ...

I don't know about the Oakland players, but I, for one A, am happy to have today off from a game. This is an intense race for the American League West Division pennant, and a grizzled (literally, in my case) veteran like me needs more rest than does, say, one of our babe-in-the-woods brothers-in-arms such as Billy Burns.

I found it amazing to learn the other day that Billy Burns, 24-year-old from Marietta, Ga., is the first rookie to play for the A's all this fantastic season. He debuted earlier this week in the Houston series (which didn't go that great; Oakland lost two of three and had to rally from 4-1 down in the ninth to win one). 

Billy Burns was born Aug. 30, 1989. On Aug. 30, 1989, I had just turned 21 years old, had just finished a summer internship at The Courier-Journal and was just getting back to WKU for my senior year as editor of the College Heights Herald. Let me tell you; I thought I was a big shot. I'm sure Billy Burns feels like a big shot now. Of course, he feels like a big shot--he's a freaking Major League Baseball player with the freaking Oakland A's, battling for the freaking American League West pennant. Billy Burns is a big shot. I don't know what else I want to say about that--other than that I hope he enjoys it, that I hope he receives it gracefully (more gracefully than did 21-year-old I, when I was only feeling like a big shot) and that I hope he receives it gracefully, too, whenever, inevitably, his plans are changed.

At the time his picture was snapped for this 1969 baseball card, Hank Bauer would have been 46, the age I am getting ready to turn this weekend. And here's Joe Rudi, who was 22.

'The Ninth Hour'

"... and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.' When he had said this, he breathed his last.

"The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, 'Surely this was a righteous man.' When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things."

That's Luke 23:44b-49.

Album Review: Red by Taylor Swift

I want to start this review out by talking about what is bad. The production is what's bad with the album. The sound is all too often overly generic and uninteresting. Take my album of the year from 2010 Body Talk by Robyn. That was a straight up dance, pop album but it was much more than just a simple pop album because of the superb production. I also think there are too many tracks. Sixteen full tracks is a bit much for the kind of album this is. OK that's enough about what's bad, now onto what is good and interesting about the album.

First thing to note is that Taylor Swift has completely thrown off country music on this album. There are tiny hints of country here and there, but no more than you might find on any pop album. I like the fact that she simply went all in. I think if you are going to make a pop album that's the way to go.

Most musical artist hit their musical peak at 24. Taylor Swift turns 24 this year so if she takes a few years off, it could be that Red is the album released closest to what is everyone's normal peak. As a singer I think this is probably her best work. As a writer she shows real growth and maturity and that's good. She writes good melodies. The probably for Swift is that she really needs a Ben Watt or a Michael Buck or a Johan Agebjörn to bring her music to that next place. I have hopes that she can still get better because I think she is still growing and developing as an artist, but I do think she needs a serious collaborative partner.

Most of the tracks are love songs, and that's fine though I would like to see her expand her horizons a bit more. She also has a tendency too often to personalize songs and it would be nice to see her move away from that. Take a song like "The Lucky One" which is about escaping from the glam and glitz of Hollywood for a better life and you find something that is hard for her fan base to really relate to. As she expands her world to look beyond love and romance, it also has to look beyond her own life. Good writers like Swift I believe can learn this and so again I have hopes for her going forward that she will get better.

All of this being said, what Swift has done with this album is quite incredible. It is in many ways a boilerplate pop album. Too many tracks, too much variety, it's all over the place. But with the right producer and collaborator I think this could have easily been the best album I hear this year. The songs, even the goofy songs like "22" are interesting. "22" is her take on the whole Ke$ha club track. But here is what makes Swift so interesting. First, she doesn't go vulgar or glamorous. This song is quite simply about a group of 22 year old women going out after work to relax. Second she has this great pre-chorus lyric "Yeah we're happy, free, confused and lonely at the same time. It's miserable and magical." For someone who was writing this song while at the age of 22 it shows smart insight into her own age, and all of this is being thrown in on top of what is essentially a generic sounding club track.

There are a few very strong tracks, but all in all where the album repeatedly falls down is in the boring presentation. Swift does her part with very good vocals. This is the most I've heard her push her own abilities, but that can't make up for the lackluster production. Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 2 out of 5 stars for Not Bad.



Just a note about this video. It really bugs me when people blow a video. This song could so easily translate into a video, but they don't follow the plot of the song. It's obviously about a girl who is going out on a date, probably a blind date, after recently being out a bad relationship. She's getting dressed she gets there, he's early, he's a gentleman, he's funny, he's smart, and she finds herself once again being drawn in even though part of her feels like she shouldn't so easily be drawn in. There is a great line in this song where she sings
"And I almost brought him up
But you start to talk about the movies
That your family watches
Every single Christmas
And I want to talk about that"

The video just doesn't capture any of that.

Oh, Kentucky

"A football star at the University of Kentucky, (Lexington-native Frank) LeMaster exhibited his athleticism when he was asked, by coach Joe B. Hall, to play for the freshman basketball squad in 1970 and he wound up as a starting power forward, averaging eight points and nine rebounds per game."

Elizabethtown Sports Park has snagged its first big fish.

I've got to get on the telethon stick! I need to see if I can find my autographed picture of Willard Scott that I secured at the 1981 WPSD Telethon of Stars.

Speaking of me, I spent the summer of 1989 living at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

More me (and Middlesboro): “If you’re out there at 12:00 (a.m.) then you’re out there for no good” ... pretty much what my dad told me after, as an impressionable teen in the summer of 1985, I was lured out to a midnight showing of The Song Remains the Same by an older peer.

Best of the 80's: 3 Feet High and Risin' by De La Soul

Unless you were present in 1989 it is hard to explain just how different this album sounded from every piece of hip-hop anyone had ever heard up to that point.  Listening to this album for the first time was similar to watching Raiders of the Lost Ark in the theater on opening night.  It was a mind blowing experience which marked a new front in music and a new path for hip-hop. 

There are multiple areas in which this album is so important.  One is the sampling.  These guys tapped into everything for samples.  This is important because it allowed De La Soul to create a sound that no one had managed before.  It was light at times, pop at times, funk at times, even country at times.  It showed that hip-hop didn't have to be so heavy, so formulaic in its structure and allowed people that followed to delve much deeper for samples than they had done previously.  Another is the voice.  These guys aren't the voice of the inner city, but the voice of the suburbs.  They are interested in funny stuff, interested in love, interested in societal problems.  But they rap about it in a smart, friendly way that strips away the anger that was such a strong part of so much rap which came before.

If the album has a fault it is the goofy fill ins which were fun in 1989, but feel tired and played today.  If you strip those out and just focus on the fully constructed songs you'll find that you have not just one of the best hip-hop albums ever made, but one of the best debut albums ever made. 

There is never a bad time to play this album and is a great choice for a day of spring cleaning.

Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 4 out of 5 stars for Really Good. Currently this album sits at number 58 on the Best of the 80's list.