• Arkansas Leader
• WOO PIG FOOEY: ASU fans unhappy with Dustin McDaniel Hog callout.

A couple of potential sore points here. One, ASU's athletic teams are now the Red Wolves. Indians (the name that applied when D Mac was growing up in Jonesboro) were packed away as politically incorrect by NCAA edict several years ago. Plenty of unreconstructed A-Staters no doubt were happy to hear McDaniel invoke the outdated mascot.

But Hogs? Even if McDaniel is an alumnus of UAF ....

The Hogs, otherwise known as the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, have long disdained meeting ASU on the athletic fields and the Red Wolf, nee Indian, nation is slaphappy these days with former Hog coach Gus Malzahn at the helm of the ASU football team.

Sample comment from ASU athletics message board:

He's a UAF grad so I guess that was the reason for the "go hogs"....still inexcusable. But what was the "go Indians"? Was he trying to be cute or does he not even know what ASU's mascot is?

Also:

Everyone, please tell this nut how you feel. Someone this dumb would hurt the state and ASU even more. Can you imagine Beebe saying "go indians" in Fayetteville? Gress it was a stupid attempt at humor but it was as hell isn't funny. Would suggest he run for dog catcher but I wouldn't trust him with my dog.

McDaniel had a defender:

He said "Go Indians" while explaining he grew up going to ASU games. No need for the "Go Hogs" comment, but no need to get your panties in a wad about "Go Indians". That isn't a shot at ASU. Not sure sending e-mails to him about it will do anything other than make ASU fans look stupid, just like sending e-mails to the Gazette does. Razorback fans and propaganda spreaders will only laugh at Red Wolves supporters when they do so. It's time for our fans to take a step back and get away from the computer and realize the only way we will increase our respect and state coverage is by winning and supporting our program. No need obsessing over the lack of coverage our university receives. Trust me, I get pissed when the Gazette puts us on pg.12 and have witnessed their shenanigans for the past ten years or so. But ultimately, we have only had one winning season in the middle of a lot of losing ones. Things will begin to change once we keep winning. Simple as that.

Lots more, including tangents into the 2014 race for governor. And more here.

UPDATE: Aaron Sadler of McDaniel's office provides the context (tell it to those howling Wolves, I say):

A Twitter from Mallory Hardin at Channel 4 says, and I've confirmed, that this wrecked Harley now up for auction in Northwest Arkansas is the cycle former Hog football coach Bobby Petrino was riding when, well, you know the rest.

Current bidding is at $2,550 for the 2007 model with "Hawg Wild" emblazoned on the side and more than a few scratches and dents. The bidding will continue until noon May 30, when it will go "live" for up to two more hours of bidding.

The bike is being auctioned by Copart, a Prairie Grove auction company that handles sales, such as this one, for insurance-company owned vehicles on which claims have been paid. A spokesman said there'd been quite a bit of interest in the Harley because of its history and several people had asked to come out and be photographed with it. The bike has 1,032 miles and will be sold "as is where is." Current bidding doesn't reflect anyone who might have authorized a higher price depending on what other bids come in.

• THE PRIZE: Stuck on a Truck winner will claim this pickup this year.

Says the Log Cabin Democrat:

David Druey, who is running the 2012 Stuck on a Truck contest, said Root was disqualified because his history of being a professional contestant and questions surrounding his residence "were not in the spirit of the contest."

Root's Facebook page says he resides in Miami, Florida, but his residence application in this contest says Hot Springs. Contest officials confirmed each contestant must be an Arkansas resident. Root is also known as a professional "handathoner." A Web site, www.brianroot.com, was active on Wednesday but as of Thursday had been taken down. On his site, Root had been pictured with Rosie O'Donnell after appearing on her television show as a professional handathoner.

Who knew?

You might remember Gerard Matthews did a feature on the Toad Suck contest back in 2009.

• Google Maps
• 'ARKANSAS'S GRACELAND': Jennings Osborne's house to be auctioned June 5.

Passersby report that notices of public auction signs have been erected on homes along Cantrell Road that were part of the family holdings of the late medical researcher Jennings Osborne, a flamboyant philanthropist who died last July. He left tangled financial affairs, as evidenced by his sale of a stable of collector vehicles and a recent foreclosure suit filed on the three homes by Metropolitan National Bank, as well as a suit over money owed on a private jet and other properties. Blackmon Auctions will be handling the sales.

The Cantrell properties includes the family's main residence, the sprawling white house behind a high wall that was location of an extravagant Christmas light display until neighbors sued over the traffic it generated.

• Facebook
• BREEZY OSBORNE: Saying farewell to the big white house.

She points me to her Facebook post on the auction of these and other family real properties (the three houses and farm, Breezy Meadows on Kanis Road), set to begin June 5, and then personal property June 7. She writes (in addition to noting family properties have been hit repeatedly by thieves in recent months):

It pains me that my childhood home-what is like Arkansas' Graceland-will not be apart of my physical life anymore. Riley will never get to play like I did in that front yard, running at full speed and learning how to drive. The past two years I have had numerous closet sales you might recall, or those mass texts of designer purses & such... maybe it is all making sense to some. Purging every ounce of materialism I ever had was more simple than I had ever imagined. I even held two sales while Dad was in the hospital. He knew I was having them, but he had no idea to what I was selling and not keeping. I knew it would get me by for the month or two of my debt/loans, I knew it would help my parents pay some personal or office bills-I mean, its the least I can do when they have supported me my ENTIRE life. Needless to say, me doing all of that partly meant the world to Dad, but also crushed him. He is a provider. Providers should never have to take help from the people they enjoy supporting (according to providers). Every chance he got he tried to pay me back...Can I tell you how long how I would have to live on this earth to be able to repay my parents for what they've done for me? There is no way they are paying me back. Hell no. As I say to Mom, we are in this together. Blood, sweat, tears...more and more tears. That is why I have chosen to be open about this situation.

Breezy recognizes the events are sure to attract media attention. How could Jennings' daughter think otherwise? She closes in a way that would have been sure to touch a man who was one of the world's softest touches:

As much as our family is not of the norm at all, and we tend to do things out of the box...we still are human, and just like every other person in this country right now. Every person is struggling in some sense or another. Different levels, degrees, events in their lives. No matter what happens to all of this situation...the worst has already happened. We lost Dad. Mom and I have each other and always will. Its the damnedest rollercoaster I've ever been on, but I'm not jumping off. There's nothing we cannot get through...that is what my parents taught me

• CIRCLE IN THE SQUARE: New container shown in press invite to event Thursday.

Yarnell's Ice Cream is back in business in Searcy under new owners, the Schulze and Burch Biscuit Company. A publicity event is scheduled Thursday at the Capitol to get customers fired up.

They're calling it a "sqroundbreaking." They'll be rolling out a new container. Out are the familiar round containers. In is a square container with rounded corners — sqround. Some consumers believe it's a better fit in freezers. It eliminates corners and thus eases digging out the payload.

It will be bigger — holding 56 ounces of ice cream versus 1.5 quarts, or 48 ounces, in the old round containers. Still not quite a half-gallon.

Waiting word here on the varieties of vanilla to be offered. I'm out of step with consumer preference, which seems to favor the icy "homemade" vanilla. I prefer Real Vanilla, French Vanilla and, most of all, Angel Food, for unmatched silky texture when thawed slightly. I have one more critical question: Will classic peppermint return, at least as a seasonal flavor?

PS — I'm told initial flavors will be announced Thursday, including two best-selling vanillas. One is certain to be homemade or homestyle. The other? I fear Angel Food, a flavor that had been produced under license from another dairy, may bite the dust. Seasonal flavors to come later.

An open line commences. But:

* A reminder, if you didn't already know from Rock Candy, print, etc., that our Ninth Pub or Perish, the literary love child of the gifted David Koon of the Times' staff, begins at 7 p.m. tonight at the upstairs room at Lulav, 220 W. 6th.

People reading their work include Little Rock young-adult novelist Trenton Lee Stewart, author of "The Mysterious Benedict Society" series. Others include Arkansas writers Loria Taylor, Amy Manning, Rhett Brinkley, Clint Murphy, Hope Coulter and Nickole Brown.

* Sorry not to be there, though I'm not complaining about New Orleans. I've been going to meetings of a legal group between meals and have heard, among others, a presentation from Mara Leveritt on the West Memphis Three case (she's receiving an award from the group for her work tonight); a tribute to retired federal Judge G. Thomas Eisele, with whom I had dinner last night and chatted a tiny bit about his days as legal advisor to Winthrop Rockefeller, and an impassioned speech on trial advocates from William Ginsburg, who achieved the rare feat of appearing on all five major TV Sunday news shows in one day during his representation of Monica Lewinsky. We saw a new special effects movie at the World War II museum, expanded to even more impressive dimensions since our last visit. Tonight, dinner and maybe a trip to the brass band stage. The town is swamped with people for the French Quarter Festival, a free event with maybe 20 venues in a relatively tight area, generally featuring local talent, some terribly underappreciated.

Lunch (above), for those who follow eating adventures, was at Butcher, the meat market, sandwich shop and charcuterie that is the even more casual little brother to Cochon, Donald Link's hot homage to my part of the world on Tchoupitoulas in the warehouse district. Like me, he grew up in Lake Charles, La. Dare I question his press clippings a tiny bit? He's Frenchified some of the Cajun favorites of my youth. Hoghead cheese was less gelatinous and less gristly, more like a smooth pate or rillettes than the gutsy and peppery grocery store head cheese I love. His "hot" boudin was surprisingly mild and meatier than I'm accustomed to. I like lots of distinct grains of rice in this Cajun sausage and also an obvious dose of pork liver, missing from his more refined version. Both were great, though. I'm nitpicking. His homemade bread-and-butter pickles and chow chow were the perfect tangy, crunchy counterpoints to the various proteins, including an acclaimed pork belly sandwich. The same for a salad of chopped cucumbers and tomatoes (Louisiana tomatoes have started trickling in somehow) with lots of fresh herbs. I've saved for later a bacon praline. How bad could it be? If you visit and have a crowd, be sure to check out the torpedo-shaped pretzel. It's fat, stuffed with cheese, bacon and ham and toasted. It's served with a dollop of the house Creole mustard, juiced with Abita beer. I pined over being unable to order a hot dog all the way, having seen a steaming fat frank loaded with house chili pass by. Another day.

PS — See that Mountain Valley sparkling water in the background? I've found it everywhere we've been in New Orleans. Wish I could say availability was the same in Little Rock, less than an hour up the road from the source.

• ERIN GO BRAG: Despite criticism, the turnout at this year's St. Patrick's Day parade in Hot Springs seems worth bragging about.

Is there anything wackier than the Garland County taliban, a unholy alliance of religious righters and teabaggers intent on governmental domination, tax reduction, religion in public life and discouragement of drinking, gambling, tourism and other pastimes that have made Hot Springs what it is today?

We've written about them before. Today, I'm prompted by news from the Garland Good Government Group, umbrella organization for the jihadists. It has commissioned an official-sounding report on — hold your breath — the attendance figures at the recent St. Patrick's Day Parade, a seemingly successful annual gathering that features a TV celebrity and "world's shortest" parade. The frivolity draws crowds to downtown bars and restaurants in Hot Springs.

Why the report? The 'baggers have long contended organizers have exaggerated attendance. They care because the tax that supports tourism promotion in Hot Springs has long bugged the 'baggers.

So they hired an outfit called Worldwide Leisure Management Inc. — the business of Dan Aylward, a Hot Springs Village conservative and former Magic Springs manager who has, among others, opposed the tax increase for the Mid-America Museum in Hot Springs. He will report Friday that, based on an alchemy of crowd estimation metrics and actual observations by 'baggers with sufficient toes and fingers, the 2012 parade drew fewer people than organizers estimated. But, fair and balanced as Fox News, he apparently will also report that the number wasn't as small as some critics thought.

This is good government at work, a news release on the jump assures us. Not, you might be tempted to think, a petty exercise in political sour grapes. Said spokesman Blake Robertson:

“There is no question that the Parade is a good event and should continue in our community. This is one of those wonderful ‘Chamber of Commerce’ type events that highlight the area, generates publicity and creates a positive environment in the community. We believe, however, that we all should be realistic about the attendance and recognize events for what they are and what the real impact might be. Due to last year’s conflicting attendance numbers, our mission statement basically dictated that we conduct this study.”

Next question:

How many teabags necessary to brew a full pot?

CLARIFICATION: My original headline pinned this activity on Garland County tea partyers. I meant that in a general philosophical way, but I've amended the headline because a member of what's said to be a formal Garland County Tea Party group objects that it has no official connection with this effort. Tea Party sentiments are certainly evident in the "good government" posse, but to avoid any confusion I happily make the change.

Greetings from Barcelona, where I am in transit home. I won't be back at work until Wednesday morning, but finally got access this morning to some reliable Internet service and thought I'd mention one Arkie-related item noted in my catchup.

The New York Times T Magazine, a periodic home publication, this week features the '"bold move'' by a gay couple and their six-year-old son to Bentonville. The focus is on their makeover of a home in the city in a stylistic manner befitting the residence of the director of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

That would be Don Bacigaulpi, profiled with his partner and stay at home "'mom" Dan Feder. They report easy assimilation in a city that the article describes as "'one of the most cosmopolitan small cities in America.'"

• Roger Anderson's "Bigfoot" film ... enhanced.

That the mayor wants to extend a bond issue is news, and that the lottery commission won't man up to fight the ticket vendor that's been gigging the state is news, but the fact that people are paying a man named Moneymaker around 400 to 500 bucks to look for Sasquatch in the Buffalo National River area? Now that's news! (Read here if you have a subscription and missed the story this a.m.)

Here's more on Moneymaker, who said on Huffington Post's Weird News that he has no doubts that Bigfoot exists. No wonder he believes that — getting someone to pay you $500 to search for the creature is prima facie evidence that there is weirdness afoot.

A few tense moments at the 9th Annual World's Shortest St. Patrick's Day Parade down in Hot Springs last Saturday, after what is thought to be a piece of confetti fired from a parade float fell across power lines, causing a transformer to short out, which blacked out power to a large area.

More details on the jump...

OK, folks, the St. Patrick's Day Parade is going by my office and has been for about 15 or 20 minutes, no kidding, and there's more to come. Men in kilts atop Harley Davidson's showing a bit of leg, red Farmall tractors, girls in fancy skirts and tops and guys in black slacks Irish dancing, an old convertible Thunderbird with Patrick Henry Hays, mayor of NLR, sitting on it and waving to the crowds. Fairies, elves, bagpipe players, music and, of course, pieces of gold. The Capital City Corvette Club. Irish for Ron Paul! Wow.

Slideshow on the jump

His talk is part of the Legacies and Lunch series. Bring a sack lunch. Drinks and dessert are provided.

• MICROBREWERY: Fox 16 says the Superior Bathhouse could be used by new Hot Springs microbrewery.

I mentioned yesterday that the National Park Service has a news conference scheduled today in Hot Springs about two leases in historic buildings on Bathhouse Row.

Scuttlebutt is that one lease finally ties up a pre-existing arrangement with the Muses Creative Artistry Project for its cafe and bookstore in the old Hale Bathhouse.

The other lease would be real news if rumors are true: A lease for a brew pub. I'm guessing it would be in the Maurice Bathhouse, scene of today's news conference. Park Service officials had been resistant in years past to uses including alcohol sales.

UPDATE: David Goins of Fox 16 says the microbrewery is planned for the Superior Bathhouse.