The times...

...THEY ARE A-CHANGIN'
Yet another time-honored tradition has gone the way of the Instamatic camera—school closings read aloud on the radio!  One of my favorite childhood memories was waking up at the crack of 4:30AM and tuning in the radio on those Wintry days just aching to hear those magic words "Raytown Consolidated District #2 is closed today", especially when longtime local K.C. newsman Noel Heckerson did it with his commanding and authoritative baritone.  Thanks to today's information age with the Internet and crawls on the TV news rattling off the next day's school closings, apparently even the major news/talk radio stations don't bother to read them anymore.  Is there nothing sacred today?  Hell, part of the reason I got into radio in the first place was so I could read off the school closings and be the bearer of good news to all the 9-year-olds glued to their radios at the crack of 4:30AM...

Then again, the rules have changed drastically for closing the schools over the last few years anyway.  It used to take an act of Congress to get them to shut down school on snowy days (Raytown in particular) back in the '70s, but with all the raging paranoia about potential lawsuits if a bus goes off in the ditch and the kids get frostbite, school districts are now cancelling class at the first sighting of a snowflake the night before instead of waiting until morning like they used to.  The Raytown schools were closed on Tuesday, even though the streets were merely wet, and quite drive-able.  Hell, the roads were icier today following last night's overnight glazing, yet the schools were wide open.  Okey-fine...

As for the big ice storm, we dodged a major bullet here in K.C., as the storm knocked out power to folks north of us in St. Joseph, and way south of us in Oklahoma and southern Kansas.  Apart from tornadoes and heat waves, ice storms are the one weather phenomenon that I dread the most because of their one-two punch of slick roads and power outages.  My electricity was out for eight straight days after the 2002 ice storm here, and it basically sucked.  Let's hope those without power tonight get theirs restored ASAP.

IKE TURNER, 1931-2007
Big news of the day was the passing of Ike Turner, who evidently died in his sleep today.  With all the negative aura about him in light of Tina Turner's biography I, Tina in which she detailed the constant beatings she suffered from him, it's easy to forget that Ike Turner was a top-flight musician.  It's a damn shame that his drug addiction and abusive nature got the best of him, too.  Although I respect him as a musician and songwriter, I have NO respect whatsoever for men who beat on their women.  Unfortunately, ol' Ike nevah evah did nothin' nice and easy...

DEAD ROCK STAR UPDATE
Quiet Riot singer Kevin DuBrow's death was apparently caused by an accidental cocaine overdose.  It figures.  Uhh, drugs are bad, ummm-kay?  Dumbass...

LIVE ROCK STAR UPDATE
Most accounts of Monday night's Led Zeppelin concert in London were quite favorable, although drummer Jason Bonham may well have stolen the show from his dad's former co-horts.  Plant, Page and Jones are still pretty non-committal about doing any further shows after this one, but now the rumors of an impending tour are flying like bum notes at a Sex Pistols concert.  For those of you keeping score, here's Monday's set list:

Good Times, Bad Times
Ramble On
Black Dog
In My Time of Dying
For Your Life
Trampled Underfoot
Nobody’s Fault But Mine
No Quarter
Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You
Dazed and Confused
Stairway To Heaven
The Song Remains the Same
Misty Mountain Hop
Kashmir
-------------------------------
Whole Lotta Love
Rock And Roll

CLASSIC MISHEARD LYRIC #64
"The Immigrant Song"—LED ZEPPELIN (1970)  "Hammer of the gods..."  Glaring omission from Monday's set list, from which I originally mistook this phrase for "camera of the gods".  Then again, I can't understand half the stuff Robert Plant sings anyway.  Come to think of it, can any of you?

M-IT!
Congrats to former Kansas City Chiefs defensive back Emmitt Thomas for being named interim coach of the Atlanta Falcons today.  He was always one of my favorite players during the Chiefs' glory days when I was a small child, and it's nice to see #18 finally get a shot at running the show, even if it's just for three games.  This all came about when Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino abruptly (and cowardly) bolted the team less than 12 hours after their Monday night loss to the Saints to take the head coaching job at the U. of Arkansas.  In the words of A. Bunker, "Oh, if he ain't a horse's patoot!"

MAD MAX, BEYOND FUKUDOME?
The Chicago Cubs signed OF Kosuke Fukudome from Japan today.  Let me tell you right now, my friends, me and ESPN's Chris Berman are going to get plenty of mileage out of this dude's name!  Fuck who's dome?