Once More, With Feeling: The 10/24 Edition of A User's Guide to Argyle

A small break from the weekend post because I don't have that kind of patience right now to recap everything, I will instead do this week's "A USER'S GUIDE TO ARGYLE" summary (Remember...Monday nights. At 8pm (EST). www.redhawkradio.com (click on listen in)).

So this week's show got off to a semi-rocky start. As we started the show, we randomly had the first song already playing so when we went to play it, it was almost done. Nice and smooth. We tried playing another song from the cd, but it wasn't very good. Ah well. It happens in this business ;-) lol. Also, Gorbachev, the past president of the Soviet Union, was on campus giving a lecture (news article HERE), so I can't imagine any Miami University students were listening. My parents were apparently listening as usual though, and it's possible we had somebody from Panama listen in. She had emailed me through my photo site, Flickr, when she had come across a picture I had taken of the studio and mentioned I had a radio show. So that would be exciting...you know you're moving up in the world when you have an international audience!

OH! By the way...almost all of the shows have been recorded...so take that for what you will. Last weeks wasn't, but other than that we have some form of recording of the previous shows. I personally find that exciting, mayhaps you'ld be able to score a copy if you would like ;-)

Anyhoosiers, back to the show...
Word of the Day: Obsequious
It was badly underused. Sadness.

Now on to the stories...we begin with the real Canard (a corpse theme in a pre-halloween mood. Speaking of which...we have a show ON Halloween! Get excited, foo!):

TIJUANA, Mexico (Reuters) - A motorcyclist with a helmet-wearing corpse strapped to his back crashed in this Mexican city on the U.S. border on Friday and fled on foot, setting off a police murder hunt.

The unidentified driver was trying to ride with the body through the center of Tijuana, south of San Diego, California., when he lost control rounding a curve.

He fled the scene, leaving the dead passenger on the curb. Police said the corpse, which had head injuries and bore strangulation marks, had died at least six hours earlier.

"When the police arrived they took the helmet off the corpse, believing at first that he had died in the crash," said Francisco Castro, a spokesman for the Baja California state police's homicide division.

"But he had adhesive tape stuck to his face, a knife wound to his forehead, and showed signs of strangulation," he added.

Castro said the dead man had wraps of methamphetamine in his pocket and an unkempt appearance, which led investigators to believe the killing was drug related.

"We think the killer was trying to take the body to a more deserted area to dispose of it," he said.

That's rather disturbing. And now onto Story Numero Dos which is just plain sad...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australian authorities have apologized to the family of an elderly man who was given a parking ticket while he lay dead in his car in a suburban shopping center.

The 71-year-old man, known to be seriously ill, went missing nine days ago and his body was found in his car in a shopping mall car park in a Melbourne suburb, police said.

A parking ticket had been placed on the car the day before his body was found.

"It's just tragic. It must be just so sad for the family and we extend our sincere sympathies to them," local mayor Paul Denham told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio on Friday.

"The circumstances surrounding the location of this poor fellow must make it all the harder for the family. It is simply a case of the parking officer not noticing."

Just odd. Story Numero Tres is quite a bit lighter...

BERLIN (Reuters) - The world's tallest -- and smelliest -- flower has bloomed, reaching a height of 2.94 metres, 18 centimetres more than the previous record for the species, the Stuttgart botanical garden said Friday.

The Titan Arum, or Amorphophallus Titanum, nicknamed "corpse flower" because of its putrid stench, blooms rarely and briefly.

Garden staff have nicknamed the purple flower "Diva" and are charting its life on their web site, www.wilhelma.de.

But those keen for a glimpse, or a whiff, in person must be quick: just 24 hours after the 11 year-old plant produced its first flower, the bloom began to wilt Friday.

The Titan Arum was discovered in 1878 in its sole indigenous habitat, the Indonesian island of Sumatra, and grows in cultivation in only a handful of places around the world.

Its scent has been likened to rotting fish or animal flesh.

"The smell is crucial to its survival in its natural habitat because it attracts pollinating carrion beetles and flesh flies," said botanist Franziska Lo-Kockel.

Lo-Kockel brought the bulb of the plant, weighing some 40 kilograms, from the University of Frankfurt to the Stuttgart gardens 11 years ago.

Yay for smelly flowers! This next one is just plain interesting...

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - Archeologists have uncovered the remains of the oldest mummy ever found in Peru's capital, Lima -- a high-ranking official of the Huari tribe who lived about 1,300 years ago, researchers said on Wednesday.

The headless mummy was found in September in Lima's Huaca Pucllana ceremonial complex after studies and exploration at the site.

"He was decapitated and belongs to the Huari culture that invaded Lima," said archeologist Isabel Flores, director of the Huaca Pucllana museum, adding the Huaris predated the Incas, who dominated South America from Colombia to Chile until being toppled by Spanish conquerors in the 1530s.

"Judging by the clothes he is wearing, we're talking about a senior official who was buried wrapped in cloth and tied with rope made of vegetal fiber," Flores added.

The Huaris, a warrior society that conquered Peru's central Andes and coastal regions between 600 and 1000 A.D, were known for their high-quality textiles and pottery styles.

They were supplanted by Ichmas, who Flores said were likely responsible for decapitating the Huari official well after he was buried in an attempt to erase all vestiges of a tribe that dominated them for years.

"It was an act of rebellion against the Huaris. Without doubt, this gives us valuable information about ancient inhabitants of what is now Peru's capital," she added.

The mummy, which was found surrounded by tunics and food such as corn and beans, is not well preserved because of the humidity of Peru's coast. Its dried skin and bones are badly chipped and many of its ligaments are visible.

Peru has made some striking mummy discoveries in recent years. In February last year, two 700-year-old mummies were found in southern Peru by construction workers under a school. Thousands of Inca mummies were found at an ancient cemetery under a shantytown near Lima in 2002.

So that's exciting. And finally, the last Real Canard of the day...

BHOPAL, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of Indians flocked to a village in the central state of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday to see if an astrologer who forecast his own death would die as predicted.

Kunjilal Malviya, 75, who lives in Sehara village, about 125 miles south of state capital Bhopal, was meditating in his house after announcing he would die on Thursday.

His family fears his forecast will come true.

"We are afraid of his prediction coming true because all his predictions till date have been correct," his son Anirudh said by phone.

"My father had predicted the death of my grandfather 15 years ago and it came true exactly like he calculated."

Television footage showed relatives and friends seated around Malviya, singing religious songs and reading Hindu texts.

Policemen have been posted near his house to prevent the astrologer from killing himself, authorities said.

The "Argyle Around the World" segment went back to our roots as we traveled once again to Argyle, Texas, but this time to focus in on what appears to be a very successful school district.

The Argyle Independent School District (or Argyle ISD) centered in Argyle Texas, which was the season premiere of Argyle Around the World, this school district is worthy of mention. It consists of one elementary called Hilltop, a middle school, and a high school. In 2004, the high school received an exemplary rating (one of only 15 in the state), the middle school received recognized, and the elementary school also achieved an exemplary. Class of 2003 was first graduating class and all years since then have had 100% graduation rate. High School was 2004 UIL State Academic Champion. 2003, 2004, 2005 Texas Math and Science Coaches Association Champion. The Argyle High School Band is the current Class 2A State Marching Band Champion, the middle school’s band is the current State Honor Band. The High School’s One Act play was the district championship this school year. Their school mascot is the Eagle. The library contains 9700 books, 350 Videos, and 65 current periodical subscriptions. Cafeteria prices at the elementary school is $2 for students and $2.50 for adults, Robin McWhorter is the principal. Salary increase for every year you work up to 26 years. A teacher with no experience with a Masters degree will make $38,700 the first year working. Without a master’s degree, $37,200.

That's basically the mangled mess of a summary I read on the air. You can go to their actual site HERE.

So this has been fairly long. Lots of Canardage. Soon (hopefully!) I will be updating you all on the fabulousness of this past weekend and maybe some other such things. I do believe I should be going now...

Happy thoughts and yummy dreams!
~Brandon Michael