Sounds Good

Dr. Charles Daughaday, long-time faculty member of the Department of English at Murray State University, visits Sounds Good to reflect on his writing life and the value of poetry today.  He shares one of his poems and attests to his strong belief in the value of the Humanities and literature.

Rubycat Lawson's Roadhouse Lounge starts at 7:30 next Thursday evening at the Glema Center for the Arts at Madisonville Community College.  We meet the originator of the show, Darryl Van Leer, in conversation with Kate Lochte.  He bills the show as "a  foot-stomping musical tale of redemption that follows the story of a once famous Blues and Rock & Roll juke joint whose owner recalls the glory days of the place in an effort to save it."

Terri Long is one of several volunteers with the Murray Lions Club who are trained to perform FREE vision screening tests for children ages 6 months to 6 years, catching vision problems that could impede education and worse, cause death. So far the Murray club has screened over 1,000 kids. Long says that she can make appointments for day care centers and schools who want to provide this FREE screening for their children upon parent notification and approval. Her phone number is 270-436-5588. Her e-mail address is:  tflong@wk.net.

We begin an occasional series called the WKMS Parenthood Project. Our Membership Coordinator and mother Jenni Todd hosts this series of conversations. The Parenthood Project strives to address topics important to parents working to balance daily life and family, and to raise happy healthy kids. Jenni speaks with Murray/Calloway County Hospitals Child Care Coordinator and Lactation Consultant Elisabeth Khadem about one of the first decisions after becoming a mother, how to feed the baby.

Two well-published poets who both teach at The University of West Georgia near Atlanta, Chad Davidson and Gregory Fraser, give a reading of their works in Clara Eagle Gallery, starting at 6 p.m.Thursday. Then on Friday, they take the bull by the horns and offer two presentations about teaching and learning basic composition. Davidson and Fraser have co-authored two books: Writing Poetry: Creative and Critical Approaches and Analyze Anything: A Guide to Critical Reading and Writing. Kate Lochte wanted to learn more about how they approach teaching writing at the college level.

Kentucky Human Rights Commission Director John Johnson speaks with Kate Lochte next. The focus of their conversation is a set of 7 social justice and civil rights resolutions honoring the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., adopted this month. With the 11-member board of commissioners, the executive director and 36 staff members, the Commission receives, initiates, investigates, conciliates and rules upon jurisdictional complaints alleging violations of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act. These resolutions are calls for action to government officials and the public.

The Yeiser Art Center in Paducah shows its 20th Annual Teen Spirit Exhibition through February 15. Students from area public high schools, Christian schools and home schools entered a massive array of art for judging by Paul Aho who visits Sounds Good via a telephone interview with Kate Lochte.

Steve Schneiderman teaches in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology at Murray State. In the wee hours of the morning he goes to his office for the solitude of after-hours and chuckles as he writes the continuing adventures of technically proficient but otherwise feckless detective Louie Leppedimay (a.k.a. Lippodoodle, Lippadoomie, and other similar attempts at the name). Schneiderman credits Mel Brooks as one of his inspirations.

Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns, lived just 37 short years, but left a powerful legacy of poems celebrating the folk songs of his native land and his own romantic expression. Master Robert Valentine, faculty member of Murray State University, publisher of Murray Life Magazine, and Scot, serves as Master of Ceremonies for a Robert Burns Supper Saturday, January 26 at the Murray Woman's Club House. He visited our Sounds Good Tuesday to talk about the poet and the dinner.

Dr. Steve White joined Murray State University in 1981 about the same time as the local TVA hacking program was underway. Captive-born eaglets were released into the wild without human contact to repopulate the region whose habitat is preferred by eagles. Eagles stay where they learn to fly and today the resident population is stable and thriving. Dr. White gives the historical perspective.