When Eugene, OR, comes up in conversation, several fixations quickly pop to the average mind: rain, forest, hippies, marijuana and Ducks. Easy to miss would be a chubby, middle-aged man with a shaved head who often adorns dark sunglasses. But that, perhaps, may be just how Frank Black likes it.
Leisurely enjoying the morning at his home in the rainy college town, the former leader of the Pixies is on daddy duty. “We all have kind of like this flu thing and my wife is eight months pregnant and she’s just wiped out. I’ve got the babies with me downstairs so we may be periodically interrupted,” tells Black through sounds of toddler babble. Already a father of four, his two youngest, Lucy and Jack, can be heard adjoining his every move. “Oh, I see Jack, okay, all right. Let daddy talk on the phone for a few minutes.”
Born Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, the self-titled Frank Black has enjoyed a fairytale career of indie success. The Pixies, both in their efflorescence and after, have been embraced the world over, and Black has since sustained an acclaimed solo career over the course of 16 albums. Returning to the proven stage name of Black Francis for 2007’s fall release Bluefinger, Black has continued channeling the powers of old for his newest output; a seven song EP tagged Sv n F ng rs. The process of writing, recording and producing said record took place over just six days, which Black is quick to downplay. “I don’t know if it’s that big of a deal. As long as I’ve got a day or two in the studio [I can] come up with something. It may not be ‘Hey Jude,’ [laughs] but I’ll come up with something.”
The creative burst came from label Cooking Vinyl simply asking for a b-side. Black, typical of his prolific nature, proceeded to hash out six additional cuts in a flurry. Violet Clark (who also happens to be Black’s wife) and Jason Carter, both of whom joined on Bluefinger, make returns to the studio filling out bass and drums respectively. Carter also wears the producer hat, but more to the tune of engineering assistance and relaxed constructive feedback.

synthesis.net

Wacky Jack’s Singing Telegrams
New business offers variety of characters, packages to satisfy all
By Fred Pace
One of Keith Berneburg’s first jobs was with Eastern Onion Signing Telegrams in Pittsburgh. He dressed in various costumes and delivered the humorous telegrams in a musical form.
“I had a blast,” he said. “It was a fun job.”
When Berneburg and his wife, Rhonda, relocated to Beckley they began thinking about starting their own singing telegram business.
“There was nothing like this in Beckley,” Keith Berneburg said. “We did some research and surveying and due to the tremendous amount of requests for this type of entertainment, we decide to start Wacky Jack’s Singing Telegrams.”
Rhonda Berneburg says her husband has always been an entertainer.
“I thought it was a wonderful idea,” she said. “Telegrams have been around for a while, but you don’t see them around as much these days.”
Singing telegrams are historically linked to normal telegrams, but tend to be humorous. Sometimes the artist is in costume or formal clothing. Singing telegrams are often given as a gift.
Western Union, the American telegraph company, began offering singing telegram services in 1933. On July 28, 1933, a fan sent Hollywood singing star Rudy Vallee a birthday greeting by telegram.
According to Wikipedia.com, the Western Union public relations director at the time decided this would be a good opportunity to make telegrams, which had been associated with deaths and other tragic news, into something more popular. He asked a Western Union operator, Lucille Lipps, to sing the message over the telephone, and this became the first singing telegram.
Western Union suspended its singing telegram service in 1974, but independent singing telegram companies, like Wacky Jack’s, specializing in often costumed personal delivery of gift messages, have kept up the tradition.
“The memory of an event like this will never die,” Keith said. “And it’s just as fun to send one as it is to get one.”

register-herald.com

Readers who lose, or find an item, can call the Times & Transcript Lost & Found line at 383-2255 and leave a brief message describing the item, giving a general location of where it was lost/found, when it was lost/found and a phone number to call.
If you believe the recovered item is yours, contact Codiac RCMP at 857-2442 or 859-2549.
* Set of rings in a small bag found in the Costco area. Call 858-1714.
* Piece of construction equipment on Hildegarde Drive. Call 874-0594.
* Set of our keys on Killarney Drive in Riverview. Call 852-3755.
* Reading glasses in a brown case found in Sears parking lot. Call 758-2245.
* Two keys on heart keychain. St. George and Weldon. 854-1849 or 389-9998.
* Set of keys, Staples parking lot, Trinity Dr. 386-5052.
* Honda and Chrysler car keys on sidewalk, Gunningsville Blvd. 386-4018
* Yellow mountain bike in Upper Coverdale area. Call 372-8191.
* Chrysler key. Call White Cab 857-3000.
* Ladies black gloves at Arby's in Moncton. 386-3395.
* Small black pouch containing crosses, medals, and other religious items. Call 854-2876
* 10K gold ring with the name Martin engraved on the inside. Call 383-9927.
* Pewter angel found at the Busy Bee car wash on Mapleton Road. Call 862-8167.
* Pontiac car keys with a remote starter found in the Forest Glen area. Call 384-3429.
* Black Panasonic cellphone found on Buckingham. Call 386-6604.
* Heavy silver ring with a cross symbol on it on Collhill Drive, Riverview. Call 386-4014.
* Jewelry at the ballfield on Bridge Street. 855-7459
* Child's stroller, at Wal-Mart in the Power Centre. 860-6197.
* Set of rally car keys. Please call 852-4522.
* Acura car keys with remote lock and 2 others keys attached lost in Highfield Square area. Please call 853-6010.

timestranscript.canadaeast.com

The Early Learning Center will have pre-registrations for preschoolers, every Friday from 9:00am to 11:00am and 12:00pm to 2:30pm. Children should be 4 years old before September 1st.
Required documents at registration are: an original official state birth certificate, immunizationrecords, and 3 (three) proofs of residence,(these are documents with your name and physical address)
Individuals with questions may call the ELC office at 364-8473 or 364-2447 ex. 5000.
Ms. Hernandez and Ms. Alma – 4 year olds
During this week we did an assessment on letters, numbers, and shapes. We are closing the yellow color with a sunflower project. We talked about different types of plants and seeds as well. We read the story “Jack and the Beanstalk and we also planted beans in a plastic bag, we are monitoring thegrowth of the plant by measuring how much it grows everyday. We are planning in planting different types of flower seeds such as magnolias and sunflowers.
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douglasdispatch.com