Another gem from the diamond in the rough

I think the real test of a band is if it sounds good on the radio. Man, if you’ve got that down during live performances you can just sing over your album, like E40 did. Of course, radio play for local bands is tough in a commercial market. So, once again, hats off to KZFR, the only station that consistently plays local music. On the Sunday-morning Christian-rock show, I heard two local bands whose tracks sounded great. $7 Shirt and Number One Gun both have slick, well-produced songs whose deeper message is disguised enough to be accepted by the mainstream. Of course $7 Shirt features Chris Keene, son of our councilman Rick. It’s a fact that I won’t ever mention again, as the kid needs to get out from under the shadow of his famous dad. But how many of you ever thought that Rick would have a son in a rock band?

In the world of astronomy, Comet Ikeya-Zhang can be seen streaking across skies over the Northern Hemisphere for the next several weeks. Ikeya-Zhang was last seen in 1661 (another year that is also a palindrome). The first time around its appearance was so great that many thought it heralded the return of Jesus and the revealing of Satan. A medal was even coined for the “Great Comet” that had these words engraved on it, “The star threatens evil things; trust only! God will turn them to good.” It’s also interesting to note that Ikeya-Zhang’s presence wasn’t known by any world agency till it was already visible to the eye of two amateur astronomers.

My god, I’ll miss Dr. Betty Carr, whose talk show on KZFR was always a great way to ease into a day. "Hello, you’re listening to Dr. Betty Carr, and I have some thoughts on our current situation with our president [referring to the Monica Lewinsky incident]. Why don’t we take a room in the White House, perhaps the Lincoln Bedroom, fill it up with women and throw Bill in there. Let him do what he has to do and let him get back to his job as president. Focusing on his indiscretion doesn’t allow him to run the country. This is Dr. Betty Carr, call me and tell me what you think." Betty was one of the best minds in town.