St. Louis News Blog

​Gay Wilkinson has been a busy man since he and his anvil shooting hobby were the subject of a feature story in a recent Riverfront Times. Not only has the RFT-produced anvil shooting video in which he starred received more than a million views on YouTube, on Monday Wilkinson was profiled on CBS Evening News' "Assignment America" feature.

The segment, titled "Anvil's Away," was filmed last week in Wilkinson's hometown of Farmington, Missouri. Other than misspelling Wilkinson's name in the text-version of the story, at least one obviously staged moment, and the requisite kitschy jokes, correspondent Steve Hartman and his crew did a solid job of encapsulating all the quirks that make Gay one of the most colorful (and hilarious) interviews any reporter will ever encounter.

Watch the video (embedded after the jump) and be sure to stick around until the end when they toss it back to the studio; the look on Katie Couric's face when Hartman tells her she ought to see an anvil shoot is absolutely priceless.

Akin

​We kid, of course. But Todd Akin, the U.S. Representative from Missouri's 2nd Congressional District (Town and Country), forgot the word "indivisible" from the Pledge of Allegiance today while reciting the oath along with anti-health care reform advocates in Washington.

Perhaps Akin made such a political issue of the fact that "God" is invoked in the pledge that he forgot the all-important next word -- indivisible. As in, united.

Akin said the "Under God" portion of the Pledge -- added in 1954 -- "drives liberals crazy." A twist to the pledge story and perhaps why Akin was, uhh, achin' to recite it today: He's promised to "Protect the Pledge of Allegiance" through legislation. So one figures he knows it well enough to not forget words. But then again, that's a large crowd and nerves have gotten to the best of us.

One of Akin's aides likened the gaffe to a Supreme Court Justice John Roberts' swearing-in of President Barack Obama on January 20, writes Jo Mannies over at the St. Louis Beacon.

It's also worth noting that at least one person in the audience could be heard saying "nice job" after verbal fumble, but Akin, judging from the pregnant pause after he omitted the word, seems to have realized it immediately.

Politics is not a perfect science:



And if you've forgotten the words since grade school, here are the words to the Pledge of Allegiance.

It's election day in communities across America. Here in Missouri, St. Louis County voters -- only 10 percent them, actually -- are expected to to go to the polls to vote on a smoking ban for bars and restaurants.

​Stereotypically, it's been the younger generations who are least likely to vote, and over the years a whole band of celebrities have shot PSA's encouraging these young slackers to head to the polls. (Remember the "Vote or Die" campaign?)

Some of the messages have lasting power. Others, like this Madonna video from 1990, are such outdated relics that their only purpose today is entertainment.

Does Madonna really sing, "Freedom of speech is as good as sex"? Of course she does. She's Madonna. In 1990. Back when she was as sexy as, say, men in white tees and tight jorts.



Here are the exact lyrics:

obgyn.wustl.edu

​We shall let the New York Times' international wanderer-columnist Nicholas D. Kristof open this blog post with a description of obstetric fistula, a truly grotesque condition suffered by women mostly in the global south. Such a woman, writes Kristof,

suffers obstructed labor, has no access to a C-section, and endures internal injuries that leave her incontinent -- steadily trickling urine and sometimes feces through her vagina.

She stinks. She becomes a pariah. She is typically abandoned by her husband and forced to live by herself on the edge of her village. She is scorned, bewildered, humiliated and desolate, often feeling cursed by God.

But "the happiest thing" that could happen to such a woman, according to the column published in the NYT by Kristof on Saturday, is meeting Dr. Lewis Wall from Washington University's School of Medicine.

Wall launched the Worldwide Fistula Fund in 1995 and continues to do all kinds of medical work in Africa. He's also a Rhodes scholar and Fulbright recipient. Frankly, Daily RFT is disappointed that he's not more impressive. Check out Kristof's column here.

This year halloween fell on a weekend / Me and geto boyz are trick-or-treating / Robbing little kids for bags / Till an old man got behind our ass

Yes, like the lines rhymed by Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys on the 1991 hit, "Mind Playing Tricks On Me," Halloween was on a weekend this year, meaning there were a bevy of nightlife options for anyone who wanted to go out.

Pop culture-inspired outfits and attitudes dominated at many St. Louis Halloween parties last night, and from some vantage points, it appeared that the backlash against slutty Halloween costumes had an effect on attire of female revelers, as nary a sexy nurse, sexy pirate or sexy schoolteacher could be spotted.

We have two slideshows up now, from two downtown parties at Lure nightclub and a few blocks up the street at Flamingo Bowl.

Photo: Egan O'Keefe

Balloon boy. See more photos from Flamingo Bowl.

​

​Our years apart have not dimmed the torch Unreal carries for former Post-Dispatch gossip columnist Jerry Berger. (Now that we think of it, make that "former Post-Dispatch and Globe-Democrat gossip columnist Jerry Berger"!) Yet we realize that not every St. Louisan follows the Bergermeister's journalistic peregrinations as loyally and breathlessly as we do.

So for those who don't regularly check in on JB's newish website, bergersbeat.com, we offer highlights of Berger's most recent dispatch, dated today, October 30.

Jer's lead item, "Pressing On," is a scoop and a half! He reveals that one cost-cutting measure Lee Enterprises is mulling for the Post involves removing the giant bottles of water the company provides via coolers. Even better, Berger writes that "publisher Kevin Mowbray has spent more than $160,000 to outfit his new office on the sixth floor. Costs include $48,500 for his private bathroom, that includes black fixtures. More than $2,000 was paid to install light switches. Then, there is the matter of a plasma, wide-screen television price-tagged at about $3,000."

Sadly, Berger's sensitive nose for news did sniff out one truffle that turns out to be rotten... 

www.thisweekontheinternet.com

​Any writer who's ever had the sweet, sweet assignment of reviewing a movie will tell you that the job ain't as easy as it would seem. It requires a pretty substantial background in film history, technique, and style as well as uncanny ability to gauge what the mainstream audience is expecting when they pay $10 to plop down in a cushy seat with a bucket of popcorn.

Then, even the most balanced criticism can be construed as bitter grousing by an overweight and balding failed screenwriter. It's unfair, even if the stereotype in this instance is often spot-on (and that's coming from someone who just attended a press screening earlier this week.)

All that said, sometimes even the best critic just flat-out f**ks up.

In honor of Halloween, let us examine one of the spectacular misjudgments in the history of movie reviews: The New York Times' scathing take on Ghostbusters, as published in 1984.

This used to be a two daily town. In the morning came the conservative-leaning St. Louis Globe-Democrat. In the afternoon, the liberal-leaning St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

​Then came a joint-operating agreement, in which the two papers agreed to share some costs and expenses. But even that wasn't enough to save the Globe-Democrat. It last put out a paper in 1986 -- October 29, 1986, to be specific.

Now 23 years later (to the date), comes the announcement that the G-D will return as a web-only publication with some old familiar faces -- including the paper's former baseball reporter Rob Rains.

If this sounds at all familiar, see our coverage of last year's launch of the St. Louis Platform Beacon -- an online news site created and staffed with former Post-Dispatch reporters.

The new, new Globe-Democrat will debut December 8 and is being headed by KPLR's (Channel 11) former IT director, Dan Rositano, 39, who was laid off following that station's newsroom merger this year with KTVI (Fox 2).

"The Globe-Democrat is an awesome brand," Rositano tells Daily RFT. "We looked at this as a great opportunity to involve a lot of the talented news people in this region who've been downsized. That's one thing we really take pride in. The ability to create jobs."  

Darin Slyman, a.k.a. D-Sly

​Apparently there was more to the story we reported last month regarding St. Louis' only LGBT newspaper, The Vital Voice.

In September the monthly tabloid published its last issue for 2009. At the time publisher and owner Pam Schneider told Daily RFT the reason was because she needed time to concentrate on a redesign and office move.

Turns out, Schneider left out a key detail: she was also selling the newspaper. Effective yesterday, the new owner of the Vital Voice is Darin Slyman, a.k.a. "D-Sly the Style Guy."

A St. Louis media veteran who has written fashion columns for Riverfront Times, Ladue News, toastedrav.com and Alive Magazine, Slyman joined Vital Voice earlier this year as a style contributor. That gig eventually led to a spot as associate publisher of the paper. Then, two months ago, Slyman says Schneider asked him if he wanted to take the reins.

"She's done a great job building this paper up over the years and felt the time had come to pass it on to a new generation," says Slyman, 36. "My response: Let's do it!"  

Last week here at Daily RFT we took a look at a recent interview St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols gave to a Dominican radio station and, more precisely, explained that Pujols' comments were inaccurately spun by the U.S. press, nationally and locally.

Wikimedia Commons | shgmom56

El Hombre, misunderstood All-Star

The Daily Show correspondent Wyatt Cenac spent some QT in Town & Country earlier this fall, hanging with the Whole Foods buycotters/teapartyers. Bill Hennessy and Gina Loudon, among others, get featured in the final cut:

 

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Whole Foods Boycott
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis

​ Today a former Anheuser-Busch executive filed a lawsuit claiming her former employer  discriminated against her based upon her gender.

The suit filed by Francine Katz claims Anheuser-Busch (now AB-InBev) has a "locker room and frat party atmosphere" that works against female employees.

Whoa! Stop the presses! You're saying that a company that came up with an ad like this one (suggesting an act they refer to as "sodomy" down in Texas) is overtly sexist?



Nah! No way. And the ad below is somehow demeaning to women?

Image Via

​Heck, no! Who doesn't like to go home and cover her (or his!) naked body with Budweiser bottle caps!? That's not "frat house" culture and neither are the following Budweiser ads going back decades. In fact, we defy you to find a "frat house" or "locker room" in any of the following images. Go on! Just try!

Todd Smith was the only person wounded in the Kirkwood shootings to survive.

​In case you missed Deb Peterson's schmooze on Todd Smith, the former Suburban Journals reporter who was wounded in the Kirkwood City Hall shooting a year before being laid off by the employer he took a bullet for: Smith has been hired by The State Journal-Register in Springfield, Illinois.

Smith is now an editor and writer for the newspaper's medical website, BeHealthySpringfield.com.

After being shot in the hand by Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton in February 2008 while he covered a public meeting, Smith says he knows a thing or two about medicine and hospitals. "One of the first stories I did was on people who are knitters and who set up a knitting group for people who have brain injures," he tells Daily RFT. "I get the idea of what an injury is like, obviously."

Smith was out of work for nearly five months after the Lee Enterprises-owned Journals canned him during lay-offs this past April.

There are few easier ways to make an ass of yourself in public than by being a college football fan. The face-painting, the (usually off-key) singing, the shouting, the chanting, the marshmallow-throwing, the growling, the grunting, the hooting, the horns-hooking. The only redeeming factor is that when you do all these things, you are usually surrounded by a stadium full of like-minded idiots.

flickr.com/photos/finitefocus

University of Missouri fans. In case you couldn't tell.

​
Now Hershey's has decided to isolate the idiots and get them to post videos on its website to compete for the dubious honor of College Football's Biggest Fan. Every week, we, the public, can vote in the Hershey's Big Fan contest. Then there will be a big face-off and the grand prize winner will get four tickets to the 2010 college football game of their choice, plus a tailgate sponsored by Hershey's. (Quick, which beer goes best with chocolate and comes in a keg?)

In the lead this week appears to be Jumpin' Jerry, a tailgater from the University of Louisville whose special fan-talent is shouting "Yeah!" a lot and spelling out C-A-R-D-S with his arms. (His spelling ain't got nothing on the O-H-I-O arm-waving folks at Ohio State. There's a reason St. Louis Cardinals fans don't spell at Busch Stadium, which Jerry makes abundantly clear: You can't tell what the hell he's supposed to be spelling.)

Clearly, this fool must be stopped.

St. Louis sports radio host Randy Karraker announced yesterday on his show The Fastlane (ESPN 101.1 FM) that he's putting together a group to purchase the St. Louis Rams.

How does Karraker plan to buy a team recently valued at an astronomical $900 million? He's soliciting donations. Whatever you have -- be it "25 cents or $600 million."

We'll let Randy explain...



BTW: Karraker says that if his effort fails to win the Rams, he'll give all the donations made for the purchase of the team to the Special Olympics of Missouri.

That seems like a pretty fitting charity to us, especially given how "special" Karraker's idea is.

media.photobucket.com/image/we suck/emilyandbobby

​At first it seemed like an aberration that St. Louis and the Show-Me State consistently came in last (or first in a bad way) in every national poll, study, and ranking under the sun.

First we topped that dubious "most dangerous city in America" poll. Then we found out we're just the 24th most intelligent city (tied with Chicago!). Hell, pollsters even tell animals they shouldn't live here: the Humane Society called Missouri one of "the five worst states for exotic pets."

Well, three new studies are out and none of them are flattering for our neck of the woods. Unless you consider being one of the cheapest places for old people to retire to as a compliment.

Here are the latest slaps in the face:

In Unreal's continuing effort to make the world a better place, we turn to potentially misleading typos in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. An inveterate racetrack denizen, if there's one thing Unreal knows, its how to read the odds.
​

Wikimedia Commons

​Near the end of 2006, a tempest boiled over in the local sports teapot when Albert Pujols, in an interview with reporters in his native Dominican Republic, opined that maybe he, and not Ryan Howard, was entitled to that season's Most Valuable Player award, by virtue of the fact that Pujols' St. Louis Cardinals reached the postseason that year and Howard's Philadelphia Phillies didn't.

Streetballers rolling to Kansas City.

​Received a note last week from the guys behind Streetballers, the independent film shot in St. Louis that's won an armful of awards and accolades at film festivals across the country. 

​On Tuesday we speculated on the "big change" that KMOX (1120 AM) had been hinting at on its website and Twitter feeds. 

Don't count Keith Olbermann among those poo-pooing the cigar-chomping talk show host's bid to buy the Rams.

On his show last week, Olbermann declared that his arch nemesis shouldn't be excluded from owning a sports franchise solely because he is a douche. Such a criteria would disqualify all but three current NFL owners.

He also says that Limbaugh buying the hapless Rams would be akin to "throwing his money down a rathole."

www.rushlimbaugh.com

​Yesterday on his radio program Rush Limbaugh took a few minutes to address the wave of criticism surrounding his potential purchase (with others) of the St. Louis Rams. 

kmox.com

​All day KMOX (1120 AM) has been teasing a "major change" in the works at the station. 

Photo Via

Joe Mahr

​Let's start with the bad news: the imminent departure of St. Louis Post-Dispatch investigative reporter Joe Mahr (who the RFT just named its Best Reporter of 2009 earlier this month.) You probably saw his byline, along with that of fellow muckraker Jeremy Kohler, atop this past weekend's smackdown of the municipal judicial system.

A memo to newsroom staff says Mahr is moving on up to the Chicago Tribune, where he'll sniff out corruption and other shenanigans in the metro suburbs.

Mahr joined the Post's masthead in 2005. He's revealed abuse inside group homes for the mentally retarded, and pointed out how numerous folks with felony warrants go free. Mahr also worked with Kohler on the St, Louis police department towing scandal that led to former police chief Joe Mokwa's resignation.

In other news, no more layoffs for now. In fact, the Post is hiring...

The new No. 1

​It's a record that may never again be duplicated. For at least 40 years, the most listened-to station in St. Louis has been KMOX 1120 AM. No longer.

Yesterday the radio ratings agency, Arbitron, announced the results of its July/August/September survey.

Top billing went to rock/pop station 106.5 "The Arch" (WARH-FM) which captured 8.8 percent of listeners over the age of 12. KMOX, by comparison, garnered 7.1 percent of the market.

stl-style.com

​Another week another ranking for St. Louis. This time it's from Travel + Leisure. The magazine is out with its "America's Favorite Cities" issue -- a completely arbitrary survey ranking 30 U.S. metropolises on everything from culture and shopping to affordability and sex-appeal. 

​After 61 years on the airwaves, a last-ditch effort to save Classic 99.1 (KFUO-FM) was all for naught. Yesterday the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod announced the sale of the classical music station to Christian music broadcaster Joy FM.

The church owns the rights to KFUO and began quietly negotiating the sale of the station earlier this year to Joy FM.

A group of donors to the listener-supported KFUO attempted their own effort to purchase the station and keep classical music on the St. Louis radio dial, but the group couldn't come up with as much money as offered by Joy FM.

One of the reasons for that could be that the church refused to provide the donor group a copy of the term sheet for the 100,000 watt station.

The Vital Voice has ceased publication until January 2010. 

At the current rate, the co-owners of Cranky Yellow, an art gallery/concert venue/clothing shop on Cherokee Street, will become the Mark Zuckerbergs of the art world.