
Ozarks At Large

Senator John McCain was in Little Rock late last week, and he called President Obama's reaction to tension in Syria a failure of American leadership. Speaker of the Arkansas House Davy Carter wanted more time to explain the federally backed Medicaid expansion to constituents, so the vote was postponed until today. And Governor Mike Beebe speaks in favor of changes that are coming for some child welfare programs in the state.

Here are our ten clips from our montage dedicated to April Showers. Well, dedicated to rain at least…
- B.J. Thomas sings "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
- Hugh Grant and Andie Macdowell admit their mutual love at the end of Four Weddings and a Funeral.
- Prince sings "Purple Rain."
- Bill Cosby with an early TV rendition of his famous Noah routine.
- Mahalia Jackson with the gospel great "Didn’t It Rain".
- Gene Kelly about to launch into the best three minutes ever recorded in a movie musical.
- Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst exchange a rainy kiss as Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson.
- Tom Hanks (as Forrest Gump) describes the many kinds of rain.
- Sam Neil tries to save kids from a hungry T. Rex in Jurassic Park.
- Audrey Hepburn finds the cat…and George Peppard…at the end of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The Mancini notes should have given this away.
Apologies to: The Weather Girls, Andy’s escape in Shawshank Redemption, the bubbling skeletons in Poltergeist, the Eurythmics, John Wayne in the Quiet Man and all those movies with Notebook in the title. Maybe next time.
In case you need a spot to duck into in between April showers, local and regional art galleries and exhibition spaces will have plenty for you to soak up throughout the month, including exhibits at the Arts Center of the Ozarks, the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum, the John Brown University art gallery, and elsewhere.

Christina Thomas visits Timothy Nutt, head of special collections for the University of Arkansas library. Nutt says that the library's collections are directly affected by the death of letter writing.



Forty years ago Jed Clampit left his day job to become a professional musician. Saturday night he performed live at KUAF for Mike Shirkey’s program, The Pickin’ Post. We hear one of the songs.
Latest Edition of Ozarks at Large
Friday, October 25, 2013
Ahead on this fundraising week edition of Ozarks, Michael Johnathon joins us in the studio, our weekly conversation with Michael Tilley of The City Wire and more.
Here are the 9 pop culture references used for today's montage:
"Reel Around the Sun" from a 1995 performance of Riverdance
Rudy gets ready to lead the Fighting Irish onto the field for the first, and only, time
The Band backing Van Morrison on "Tura Lura Lura (It's an Irish Lullaby)" on Thanksgiving night, 1976
A Lucky Charms commercial from the early '70s
Kermit the Frog being upstaged by none other than the late, great Ray Charles singing "It's Not Easy Being Green"
John Wayne tries to get his bearings from local Dubliners upon his arrival in Ireland in The Quiet Man
A 1979 commercial for Irish Spring soap
John Lennon singing "The Luck of the Irish"
A recent commercial for Jameson Irish Whiskey
"Perfect Stranger" by Dropkick Murpheys
Katy Henriksen fills us in on today's Independent Film event at the Fayetteville Public Library and tonight's Sunday Symphony.
"Swan Lake" by Tchaikovsky
To close out today's show, we have another traditional Irish song by musicians Carol Widder and Richy McCusker.
Simultaneous tax cuts and hikes, charter schools and the latest on Medicaid expansion from the state legislature; jockeys prepare for this weekend's Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn; more sidewalks in Fayetteville and the population continues to grow in Northwest Arkansas; all in today's Segment A.
"Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons
Michael Tilley from The City Wire discusses home sales numbers, the governor's race and football.