Copious Notes

DeAnn Stephens and JD Pelletier on the air at WBUL-FM 98.1 in January. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

WBUL morning hosts DeAnn Stephens and JD Pelletier decided not to let CBS Early Show weatherman Dave Price get away with trash-talking the University of Kentucky basketball team, who will annihilate play his alma mater, Cornell, Thursday in the third round of the NCAA tournament.

Price in his Cornell gear. Photo from www.ilr.cornell.edu.

Price has been wearing his Cornell hoodie on the air this week and talking about how Big Red will kick Big Blue’s butt Thursday night — his fantasy words, not ours.

“Dave,” Stephens asked the delusional highly-educated weatherman, when she got him on the air Wednesday morning. “What were you thinking?”

Pointing out he was 700 miles away, Price said, “this is like a local game for Cornell. The Carrier Dome,” where the game will be played, “is 48 miles from the Cornell campus.”

Stephens said that doesn’t scare UK and Pelletier advised Price to wait until he sees all the blue in Syracuse.

JD and DeAnn got Price on the air to try to get him to agree to give Kentucky equal time on The Early Show. On their blog, they say they got Price to agree to wear a UK sweatshirt on the air Friday after if Kentucky wins Thursday.

Click the blog link to hear the whole exchange.

LexArts president and CEO Jim Clark was interviewed by a TV reporter in front of the foals and school student designs for Horse Play for Arts Education, a spinoff of Horse Mania. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Horse Play for Arts Education, a spinoff of Horse Mania 2010, was unveiled Wednesday morning by LexArts with students all over Lexington designing and decorating “foals,” smaller versions of the Horse Mania horses.

Horse Mania is a public art project that first filled the streets of Lexington in 2000. The new edition is designed to coincide with the Alltech/FEI World Equestrian Games in September and October.

Hopes are fans of the project will take to the streets across the city to see the horses like they did in 2000, and Fayette County public schools Superintendent Stu Silberman said that’s a good motivator.

Fayette County Schools superintendant Stu Silberman and spokesperson Lisa Deffendall looked over design proposals for Horse Mania.

“It’s human nature,” Silberman said after looking at student designs Wednesday morning. “When people know their work is going to be on display they work harder.”

Much like the original Horse Mania, designs for Horse Play ranged from patterns like a puzzle horse to representations of Kentucky life and traditions to civic mindedness. Sayre Middle School student Clay Barnett’s City Horse depicted the construction and population of a city, including an alien space ship landing in town.

“We were happy that we had 100 percent participation,” of the public schools in the design competition, Silberman said.

In all, 50 foals and 7 full-sized horses are heading out to county schools to be decorated. They will be on display along with the 79 horses by local artists starting June 30. They will be on display until after the World Equestrian Games, and will be sold at auction in December at Keeneland.

“I hope most of the schools will be able to buy their horses back,” Silberman said.

Fifty percent of proceeds from the auction will benefit the school’s arts education program and the other 50 percent will go to LexArts’ Youth Arts Council and other arts-in-education programs.

LexArts president and CEO Jim Clark said Horse Play, “Showcases the talents of our young people and arts educators and draws attention to creativity in the schools.”