
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.
We take a closer look at Kuk Sool Won, a form of martial arts that integrates various fighting techniques.
More information available at www.kuksoolwon-rogers.com
Becca Martin Brown from Northwest Arkansas Newspapers tells us about Arts Night Live at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and more.
KUAF’s Robert Ginsburg has a preview of this year’s KUAF Summer Jazz Concert Series. He talks to Kyle Kellams about what’s in store for us.
Music included in the story:
“Oam’s Blues” by Aaron Goldberg
“Moon and Sand” by Vic Juris
Syrian journalist and activist, Omar al Muqdad has been covering the Syrian Revolution since it began in March 2011, part of the Arab Spring.
Because his life was at risk, the U.S. State Department granted him political asylum. He recently settled in Fayetteville. Jacqueline Froelich met with the self-described media smuggler to bring us his story.
The Siloam Springs 7th Annual Heritage Festival, hosted by the Siloam Springs Museum, is this Saturday in City Park. In addition to music from bands such as Prime Time Performers and Bill acorn and Friends, there will be demonstrations in lace-making, wood carving, and a an Old West street gunfight presented by the Arkansas Lead Slingers.
More information is available at www.arkansasleadslingers.com.