Weekend OTR: Tales of the Texas Rangers -- 'Blood Trail'

For over a year now, First Arkansas News has posted at least one old time radio episode a week in its Weekend OTR series.

That's worked out well enough, but there's a bit of a problem -- First Arkansas News is, strictly speaking, a news site and the series has always seemed somewhat inappropriate as it's all about recycling content rather than creating anything new. Still, there is value in sharing old time radio shows for people to enjoy. It just seems more appropriate to post these episodes on this site as it's geared for such things. To that end, First Arkansas News (which is owned by me) is moving it's weekend OTR series here at The Natural State Hawg (also owned by me).

The episodes themselves are courtesy of OTRCat.com. If you're an old time radio fan, you owe it to yourself to pay that site a visit. While you're at it, head on over to First Arkansas News' Lum and Abner page every Sunday to read a new, original comic strip featuring those two beloved Arkansas boys who made good in the world of old time radio.

Having said that, click the below link to enjoy this weekend's show and make sure to stop in next weekend to enjoy another old time radio program.

Tales of the Texas Rangers -- Blood Trail (1/20/1952)

Homes sales for 2011 up in northwest Arkansas, Jonesboro area

The homes sales numbers for 2011 are in for northwest Arkansas and the Jonesboro area (that’s Craighead County in northeast Arkansas).

First Arkansas News is the first media outlet in the state to have those numbers available to the public.

Click here to read the year-end housing market reports for those two areas of the state. Don’t worry – the central Arkansas numbers will be out before too much longer and First Arkansas News will also have those.

Horoscope for Jan. 16

You visitors to The Natural State Hawg are in for a treat – the famed Dr. Zodiac is moving here permanently from First Arkansas News.

Who is Dr. Zodiac? Why, he’s a general purpose psychic, soothsayer and master of the occult who can predict the future through his impressive connection to the stars. According to Dr. Zodiac, the stars hate us all and have chosen to tell him the calamity they have in store for us.

That’s not to say that it’s all misery for us. No, Dr. Zodiac says the stars will throw mankind a bone every now for the heck of it. The stars may not like us, but that doesn’t mean we won’t get a positive horoscope from time to time. Actually, Dr. Zodiac calls them StarCasts, but that’s another story.

What do the stars have in store for you this week? Scroll through the below StarCasts, find your astronomical sign and see for yourself.

Aries

Mar 21-Apr 19

Monday is Dr. Martin Luther King Day and it’s time for you to engage in a bit of introspection. Dr. King had a dream and he helped change the world. You had a dream, too – do drive a really cool car. Your priorities are out of whack, Aries. You can do better. Your lucky number this week is 16.

Taurus

Apr 20-May 20

Big Star, the undisputed leader of the stars, tells me you’re in trouble this week. Why? The stars are particularly angry at you and are out to make an example of you so as to warn others not to engage in your foolish behavior. What did you do? You’ve run around wishing on stars for years. The stars are sick of it. Instead of dreams coming true, you’ll discover a few low grade nightmares will become your uncomfortable reality this week. Good luck. Your lucky number this week is n/a.

Gemini

May 21-Jun 21

You’ll live up to your astrological sign this week in a kind of Jeckyll & Hyde way. You’ll be all kind and charming one moment and completely intolerable the next. Dealing with you this week will be like putting up with someone on Prednisone. It’s unpleasant, sure, but you’ll not be able to control your behavior – the stars have spoken. Your lucky number this week is 2.

Cancer

Jun 22-Jul 22

You’ve got it all wrong. The lyrics to ‘C’mon and Love Me” by Kiss are “she’s a dancer / a romancer / I’m a Capricorn and she’s a Cancer.” And you’ve gone around all these years thinking Paul Stanley was singing “she’s got Cancer.” Wacky. Your lucky number this week is 4.

Leo

Jul 23-Aug 22

You’re not getting any younger, Leo. That will become very evident this week when you step into an elevator and here one of your favorite songs from your teen years playing. You always knew that would happen, wouldn’t you? Your lucky number this week is 1984!

Virgo

Aug 23-Sep 22

I wish that I was lucky enough to be a Virgo this week. Why? Because you’re in for a good week, Virgo. Years ago, I – the famed Dr. Zodiac – was playing golf on a course here in Little Rock. I chased my ball into the woods and found $5. That was a great feeling. Just imagine that great feeling multiplied by about 1,000 and that’s the kind of week you will experience. Enjoy it! Your lucky number this week is 17.

Libra

Sep 23-Oct 23

You will finally get sick of all the Republican primary stuff this week. The Republican candidates stink. President Obama is rotten, too. You’ll strongly dislike the fellow who takes over as president in January and you know it, so why suffer through the primaries? A lot of us are asking the same question. Cheer up – it’ll all be over in a little less than 10 months. Yuck. Your lucky number this week is November.

Scorpio

Oct 24-Nov 21

You will be tempted to take up a hobby this week. Don’t do it. Listen to me closely – just don’t. Why? If you take up a hobby, you will wind up spending a bunch of money on something you’ll not like. If you’re in a hurry to blow some cash, though, I have a solution – just send it to me, your good friend Dr. Zodiac. Your lucky number this week is blue.

Sagittarius

Nov 22-Dec 21

That blasted squirrel is back again. You know the one – he or she hangs around outside your window, chatters and appears to be watching you. Here’s some news for you – that squirrel is watching you. It was sent by the stars, in fact. The squirrel is harmless, but very annoying. Your lucky number this week is 48.

Capricorn

Dec 22-Jan 19

You will annoy your friends and family this week by becoming obsessed with creating a new buzzword or catchy phrase for the masses. Your new phrase may well catch on, but it will fall out of favor by this time next year. Fame is fleeting, my friend. Your lucky number this week is 23 skidoo!

Aquarius

Jan 20-Feb 18

You’re in trouble this week. Why? You will start examining the philosophical meanings behind Jim Varney’s “Ernest” character. Here’s the thing – there’s nothing deep or heavy about those Ernest movies. They’re just fun. Just stupid, plain fun. Accept it. Your lucky number this week is 22.

Pisces

Feb 19-Mar 20

Television will become very important to you this week. Actually, you’ll become obsessed with it. And you’ll want to watch all kinds of awful reruns – 1970s sitcoms and that kind of thing. Don’t let it get you down – it’s only for a week. Your lucky number this week is 4077.

Weekend OTR: Fabulous Mr. Tweedy–Tweedy Plays the Bassoon

The following was originally posted at First Arkansas News. We’re posting it here in hopes that more people will enjoy it. Why? Because old time radio (OTR) is more fan than a barrel full of monkeys and is well worth sharing.

Well, you lucky thing. It’s another weekend and that means it’s time for another fantastic show in our ongoing Weekend OTR series.

What show do we have on tap? It’s the Fabulous Mr. Tweedy, a comedy starring Frank Morgan. As usual, this week’s program is courtesy of our friends at OTRCat.com. So, listen to the show then pay The Cat a visit. Deal?

How do you listen to the show? Simply click the below link and you’re set, pilgrim.

Fabulous Mr. Tweedy – Tweedy Plays the Bassoon (1/12/1946)

Realtors vote down merger

Three boards of Realtors in northwest Arkansas voted down a proposal on Wednesday that would have resulted in the largest local Realtors association in Arkansas.

You can read all about the vote and such at First Arkansas News by clicking here.

Now, here’s the interesting thing – a person familiar with what went down on there said it appeared the proposal might pass until the full details of the merger weren’t released until right before the vote. Those details allegedly caused a lot of people to say “hell no” and vote against the merger.

What details was our source talking about? We’re investigating and will have more details in the near future. So, stay tuned to First Arkansas News and we’ll post that information when we get it.

Hands on with the Nook Tablet

Barnes & Noble released the Nook Tablet back in November and it's caused more than a bit of a stir in the "budget" Android tablet market.

Does it live up to the hype? I like mine, but there are some severe limitations to the machine.

Want to read more? Just click here and you're on your way, sports fan!

Introducing Wikipedia Brown!

Yes, it's a sad thing -- The Natural State Hawg is looking a bit abandoned these days, isn't it?

Well there's a reason for that -- the bulk of my attention has been focused on FirstArkansasNews.net since April 2010. Why? That's more of a news site than this one is and, hey, I actually make a few bucks with that one.

Besides, there's something to be said for owning your own server space and installing WordPress on it. Ah, the joy.

At any rate, one of the things we've focused on at the aforementioned site has to do with original projects. For the absolute latest project, click here to listen to Wikipedia Brown, an original bit of modern audio theater featuring some actors from the Royal Theater here in scenic Benton, Ark. Fun stuff. We hope.Maybe....

Firefox 4 -- a nice improvement

The new Firefox 4 browser is out and it's well worth a look.

Mozilla did its homework on this one, tested the heck out of it and has put forth a browser that's good enough to not only gain on the dominant Microsoft Internet Explorer, but possibly halt gains in market share made by the aggressively marketed Google Chrome and Apple Safari browsers.

Want to read all about the new Firefox browser? Sure you do! Just click here and you're on your way.

OTR serials

Yes, The Hawg is an old time radio nut.

I love those old OTR programs -- can't get enough of the things. I was born well after those had been shoved out of the way to make way for television, but that doesn't matter one whit.

I've got another site -- First Arkansas News -- that's been keeping me busy for close to a year now. Rented my own server space. Installed Wordpress. Modified the heck out of a template to suit my needs. Fun stuff.

Speaking of fun, I just started a new section over there -- click here to check out the OTR serials on it. We're talking about great stuff -- Superman, Lum and Abner, Little Orphan Annie, One Man's Family and Flash Gordon. The page will be updated often and more programs will be added regularly. Check it out and submit a request while you're over there, huh?

Music Monday - Horatio Lee Jenkins

A beautiful, beautiful Christmas song.

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

Music Monday – King Uszniewicz and his Uszniewicztones!

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

Good news for Lum and Abner fans...

Ah, the good old Lum and Abner show.

I used to listen to reruns of that brilliant bit of old time radio on a station that broadcast out of Hot Springs. Specifically, I listened to those with my dad in the 1970s and 1980s.

There are still a good number of us Lum and Abner fans left. A good number of them have taken up residence at the National Lum and Abner Society. That group exists, in part, to preserve the history of the aforementioned radio program and God bless them for it.

The Society, for years, published newsletters dedicated to the program and has some script books available, too. You can buy some back issues of the newsletters and some of those script books while the Society has some in inventory -- click here to figure out how to do that.

Get 'em while they're hot, kids.

Music Monday - The Marsist

For a friend who left us too soon...

Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. Rules are simple. Leave ONLY the actual post link here and grab the code below and place it at your blog entry. You can grab this code at LadyJava's Lounge Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted without prejudice.

PS: Because of spamming purposes, the linky will be closed on Thursday of each week at midnight, Malaysian Time. Thank you!

Tell Me Thursday – Brenda and the truck

Tell Me Thursday is a pretty dandy idea, indeed.

The idea, see, is to come back after the famed Wordless Wednesday event and add some words (so to speak) to your post.

Yesterday, I posted a photo of my daughter, young Brenda SueCarol, behind the wheel of my new truck.

What’s the point? In addition to taking advantage of an opportunity to show off my new vehicle, I can admit that the Dodge Ram has converted me from a Toyota fan to someone who’s happy with an American vehicle. No, I never thought I’d see that happen, but there it is (you’ll find more about my renewed admiration of American auto manufacturers right here).

Oh, and this is the first brand new vehicle I’ve ever purchased. Yes, I overdid it. The truck is heavy (5,064 pounds), I can’t manage more than 22 MPG on the Interstate due to a thirsty V-8 and the thing cost too much money. Ah, but screw gas mileage – that truck is more fun than a barrel full of Brass Monkey, I can carry four adults in comfort in it and and I’m sick of four-cylinder engines, anyway (there’s no substitute for a V-8, kids).

Enjoy some more pics of my kid and my new Ram:

Wordless Wednesday: ‘I can almost touch the pedals!”

More Wordless Wednesday participants here.

The Hawg becomes a new media mogul

Yeah, that's right – my fiendish plan to take over the Internet has been launched.

Want to see the future of them Internets? Just point that browser over to FirstArkanasNews.net and gaze at the site in wonder.

I feel just like Sheriff Buford T. Justice on Smokey and the Bandit when he complained of “decorating up the whole town at a cost of $40.” I went and spent around $60 to reserve a couple of domains and host the aforementioned site for a year. I’m amazed at how cheap things are on the Internet – if that project fails, I’m out $60 and that’s not a bad deal.

So, what is that site? It’s something I came up with after watching online publications like Fort Smith’s The City Wire thrive. I visited with some other public relations guys, some freelance reporters and a newspaper (we need a content partner, right?) as I figured a bunch of us “professional” writers from around Arkansas could have a lot of fun and offer people a statewide source of news.

I told the writers I mentioned that my newest blog wouldn’t make money for at least a year so I wasn’t going to pay anyone who worked on the blog until we have some, like, revenue to share. Amazingly, a lot of those talented folks still accepted my invitation to help by submitting articles and photos.

The site is barely a day old and I’ve already learned that, well, I’ve got a lot to learn. Maintaining your own site can be a chore. Still, I figure I’m not too far away from modifying my template to my liking. After that work is done, the fun begins.

Stay tuned…

A professional kite flyer?

My wife was reading the Thursday edition of the Benton Courier when she noticed the first Benton Kite Festival had been scheduled for Saturday at the old airport.

You can read all about the festival here, by the way.

One thing that struck me about the event is that a special guest, Robert Lassond, will be there. The Courier identified him as a professional kite flyer and reported that he goes all over the country to events such as, well, the Benton Kite Festival.

I can’t help but feel more than a bit jealous. How do I get that gig? How does one turn the enjoyable pursuit of flying a kite into a career? Why did I spend all those years in school to sit in a dull, drab office day after day when I could be getting paid to fly kites?

Seriously – what could be better than that? Earning a living by skipping rocks across a pond? Getting paid to drink beer or drive expensive muscle cars? Making cash money by taste-testing cotton candy or traveling throughout the nation watching major league baseball games?

My hat’s off to that Lassond fellow. Anyone who can turn kite flying into a profession has to be living right.

Playing guitar in church? You’d better get a capo, bub.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to play my guitar regularly in my church.

I was thrilled to do so, but I learned something in a hurry – piano players just love playing in keys that are completely unnatural for guitarists.

As odd as it may seem, piano players tend to love playing in odd-ball keys such as B-flat, F-sharp and, well, just strange stuff. Guitarists, meanwhile, tend to stick to conventional keys such as A, C, D, E and G. Why? Because it’s a lot easier to grab the chords in those keys than it is in say, B-flat (unless you’re playing barre chords, but those tend to not come out real well on a 12-string guitar like the one I bring to church on Sundays).

The solution to this problem is to get a capo. Yes, they’ve been slapped with the derogatory term of “cheater” over the years, but that’s not exactly fair. A capo allows a guitarist to easily shift to those wacky keys with ease. It’s the very device that allows pianists and guitarists to get along and I use mine extensively.

Here’s an example. Yesterday, we played “The Old Rugged Cross,” which is in the key of B-flat. Rather than throwing a fit about the key, I simply slapped my capo on the guitar on the third fret and played the chords for the key of G. The pianist didn’t have to bother with transposing chords and I was able to get through the song with ease. Everyone was happy.

In case anyone's interested, I've used Kyser capos for years and have had a lot of luck with them. They last forever (the one I've got for my electric guitar is over 20 years old and still working) and are very easy to use (one-handed operation for everyone but weaklings). If you've got a 12-string guitar, you want to buy a capo specifically for one of those. A standard, common capo for a six-string is too short for that wide fretboard on a 12-string and you'll have a lot of nasty buzzing on the high "E" strings (and perhaps the "B" string, too).

By the way, I got my 12-string back in February. My wife came home with a beautiful Fender acoustic 12-string guitar that I had my eye on for a few months.

Sure, she bought that because she got tired of hearing me make racket on my electric guitar. Still, that was a pretty cool move on her part.

If you’re going to criticize Obama, get your facts straight

Here’s a scenario to ponder.

A talking head on a television network reports that there’s some language buried in the new health care legislation that will impose a 3.8 percent national tax on the sale of all new homes.

Since I’m a public relations guy in the real estate industry, I start getting calls from people who correctly point out that will absolutely kill the still recovering real estate industry. While such a move would certainly be devastating, there’s a problem here – the aforementioned talking head got her facts wrong.

What is actually buried in the healthcare legislation is a 3.8 percent tax on capital gains from the sale of homes. For individuals, that means that gains of over $250,000 (and $500,000 for couples) will be taxed 3.8 percent. In other words, most people won’t have to worry about the tax at all.

While I’m fundamentally opposed to new taxes (particularly at a time when the economy is garbage), there’s a huge difference between the tax as it was wrongly reported and the actual tax at hand. If you’re going to criticize Barack Obama, get your facts straight.

There are plenty of things coming out of Washington to get mad about these days. Why, then, do people seem to be going out of their way to make up things to criticize?

Griping about proposals that don’t exist is counterproductive – it makes Obama’s detractors look less than credible. That’s not the kind of thing we need going on now as we’ve got an opportunity to put a lot of Republicans in Congress.

What’s the best way to spoil the Republicans chances in November? Running around frightening people based on false information would do it – a dumb tactic when there are so many legitimate issues to discuss.

Hangin’ with the CEOs

My, but it’s been a long time since I updated this blog.

I’m sure that one person – heck, maybe even two – has asked, “What’s that The Hawg been up to lately?”

Well, quite a bit, actually. I’ll get into some of that later, but I figure simply pointing out that I’ve been ridiculously busy lately reveals enough details for now.

One thing that has been going on in the past few months is the my wife (the beloved Marci Kay!) and I have found a church that we really enjoy. That would be Parkview United Methodist here in Benton, Ark.

The reason I mention this right now is that I had the rare opportunity to stand up in church and give the sunrise devotional this morning. The church has a tradition of picking a layperson to give the devotional and this year, for some reason, the pastor decided to pick on me.

Oddly enough, I’m used to public speaking but I was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs while I was standing up there at 7 a.m. To see the devotional I came up with, just click here and give it a read.

What’s odd to me is that I’m due to speak to just about all the county tax collectors and a few people running for office on Tuesday about how to put together an effective media relations plan. That doesn’t bother me. Standing up in front of my church and talking about faith and spirituality, however, bothered me quite a bit.

Strange.

At any rate, the crowd was fairly small at 7 a.m. What was funny to me is that a slew of people showed up for the 11 a.m. service. A lady who’s in church just about every Sunday identified the crop of unfamiliar attendees as CEOs – people who show up in church on Christmas and Easter only.

That’s absolutely brilliant.

I hope everyone had a great Easter.