It’s getting close to March Madness time once again, but in my household it’s madness all the time as I am surfing the web to bring you the stories that “Caught My Eye” each week.

These are the stories that I did not have time to write about during the week, so I take a quick look at them and sometimes add a little sarcasm in my comments.

This week I write about KRTV and KFBB, REO Speedwagon, spiders, Charlie Sheen, and I take a look at some of the e-mails that hit my political inbox!

Since it’s Friday and not much work is being done, grab a cup of your favorite drink (no alcohol before noon, please), sit back and relax and enjoy the 33rd straight week of Caught My Eye.

Scooped:

The Western Word was scooped by local television station KRTV. A few weeks ago I mentioned on Twitter that the greatest rock band of all times, REO Speedwagon was playing a show in Medicine Hat, Alberta, on July 30 and it would be great if they came to Great Falls and played at the Montana State Fair. It was a hint…

KRTV was first to report that REO would be in Great Falls on August 2. I had checked REO’s website on Monday waiting for the announcement, but I was a little early as it was announced on Wednesday. To add to the insult of not being first, my son told me that KRTV announced it.

But in honor of this significant concert event, I am appointing myself “the greatest REO Speedwagon fan in Montana.” I have the T-shirts, hats, ticket stubs, CDs, videos (and DVDs) to prove it. Starting way back in 1976-77, I have seen them around 20 times. Sure they are older, but they still put on a great rock show – and by the way I still can still rock, too!

See you at the concert on August 2!

A feud?

In almost every community there is competition between the media sources to get the most viewers, readers, and listeners. Sometimes it’s fun to watch because we (the consumers) are in a win-win situation when the latest technology is used.

Recently one of the local television stations (I think it was KFBB) aired a commercial saying they were the only local station with “local mobile video” although the other local station (KRTV) has been offering this service for a few weeks or months. That commercial did not sit well with my blogger friend, David, over at GreaterFalls.com. You can read his post HERE.

Since the KFBB and KRTV television stations are in close proximity to each other in Great Falls, I’ll have to personally check to see if there’s been any snowball fights during the commercials on the evening news. Maybe this whole feud could be decided with a texting contest between the anchors or with a snow shoveling contest between the meteorologists… Better yet, let’s decide this feud with a friendly basketball game between the on-air staffers to raise money for charity…and for the title of “Greatest Television Station in Great Falls!”

Boo-yah…

X-37B:

According to Space.com, “The U.S. Air Force is poised to launch its second robotic X-37B space plane on a secret mission today (March 4), with some experts speculating that the classified flight will test new spy satellite technologies”

After reading about the X-37B, I wondered about the X-33 VentureStar program. They were poised to use Malmstrom AFB’s runway for test flights back the late 1990s and early 2000s. NASA cancelled the program in 2001 due to excess weight and fuel tank problems, but Lockheed Martin continued the research and has had three test flights (two successful). They are using facilities in New Mexico to conduct the flights. The last test flight was in 2009. You can read about it HERE.

Maybe Montana should have built a spaceport…

The Political Inbox:

Almost every week in this column I write about some of the political e-mails I receive. Here are a few of the ones that deserve mention:

-The Denny Rehberg for Senate campaign sent me an e-mail with the subject “Letter to the Editor Campaign” saying “It seems Jon Tester’s campaign operatives are up to their old tricks again. Recently, a coordinated state wide letter to the editor campaign has been launched attacking Denny and his conservative values.”

Letters to the editor are very important in political campaigns. A coordinator for this task is a must for every political campaign team and one of the most important duties…

-The Montana GOP sent me an e-mail with the subject “Tester Breaks Promise, Votes Against Balanced Budget” saying “Once again Senator Jon Tester finds himself outside of the mainstream of Montana. Tester’s latest extremist vote was in opposition to a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”

It seems when people get to Washington, D.C., they forget what they said to get there…

–Senator Jon Tester was also busy sending out e-mails this week. I received one with the subject “The responsible thing to do for our kids and grandkids” where he writes, “Recently I visited with a group of young Montana 4-H leaders at their meeting in Helena. Conversations like this bring into sharp focus the importance of getting down to work to seriously address the fiscal situation our country is in today.”

That e-mail kind of reminds me of the Jimmy Carter quote in a debate where he said, “I had a discussion with my daughter, Amy, the other day before I came here to ask her what the most important issue was, she said she thought nuclear weaponry.” Amy Carter was 13 at that time…and I don’t know if she was member of 4-H.

-The Montana Democratic Party continued their attack on Denny Rehberg sending an e-mail with the subject, “Tell Congressman Rehberg we need solutions, not symbolism” writing “The last thing Montana needs right now is more pointless, feel good legislation that doesn’t deliver for our families. It’s time to tell Congressman Rehberg to cut the symbolism, and to start working to create jobs.”

Montanans are probably thinking the “last thing” we need is a long campaign…

The itsy-bitsy spider…

…climbed into the Mazda and caused a recall – 52,000 of them. You can read the story HERE.

Twitter:

Although I have not made the rounds on national television like Charlie Sheen, I still need you to be one of my over 400 followers are Twitter! Charlie now has over 1.5 million followers on Twitter and he just started his Twitter account this week! Charlie’s profile says, “Born Small… Now Huge… Winning… Bring it..! (unemployed winner…)”

Everyone likes to sneak a peek at a car wreck…

Unemployment:

Speaking of unemployment, some of us are not “suffering” like Charlie Sheen. Although the rate dropped to 8.9%, there are literally millions of people who don’t count because they dropped off the rolls due to running out of benefits or just don’t care to play anymore.

So don’t let the politicians (who have jobs) or the folks who go on the local cable news (who have jobs) try to tell you “things” are better.

Most Importantly:

The most important thing I can tell you is: Don’t forget to stretch…