Derek Operle

fave january first-time watches, pt. 2
• cane toads: an unnatural history (lewis, 1988)
• american job (smith, 1996)
• sexy beast (glazer, 2000)
• awesome: i fuckin’ shot that! (yauch, 2006)
• local legends (farley, 2013)
• no bears (panahi, 2022)

fave january first-time watches, pt. 1
• the kid (chaplin, 1921)
• battleship potemkin (eisenstein, 1925)
— w/ pet shop boys score
• closely watched trains (menzel, 1966)
• the incredible shrinking woman (schumacher, 1981)
• where is the friend’s house? (kiarostami, 1987)

new year, new monthly film “discoveries” thread. a running tab of new-to-me movies that are at least a couple years old.

A small anti-ICE demonstration — no more than two dozen people — took place in front of the McCracken County courthouse in Paducah on Friday, as many across the country protest against actions taken by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and in other places.

AHC: Mapping North American Art Houses - Google My Maps Art House Convergence (arthouseconvergence.org) is mapping art houses in North America. If you run an art house fill out our survey and we will add you to the map: https://forms.gle/DwvdEy38soA28qG87...

Oh, that's not what was I counting. I was going off classification on their overall map, which includes museums, film societies, microcinemas, and such.
www.google.com/maps/d/viewe...

I agree they're a part of the independent film scene, but even things like the Art House Convergence classify Speed as being a different type of entity because of it being a museum. An incredibly valuable resource and screening location, just a separate type of space.

hey there! speed is mentioned in here but they are a museum with a theater, not a dedicated independent cinema. big fan of what they do, but there’s not first-run films there weekly like there were at baxter and like there still are at mac and at the kentucky.

Loss of Louisville’s Baxter Avenue Theatres leaves just two Kentucky indies still standing In Kentucky, just two dedicated art house cinemas are still in operation following the recent closure of Louisville’s Baxter Avenue Theatres.

In Kentucky, just two dedicated art house cinemas are still in operation, following the recent closure of Louisville’s Baxter Avenue Theatres. From @doperle.bsky.social at @wkmsfm.bsky.social

YouTube video by unahmean The Making of The Pharcyde's Drop

the pharcyde guys learned the lyrics to "drop" backwards phonetically so they could move "forward" through the reversed video. awesome mad science music video making.
youtu.be/8CBsxCUhNu0

YouTube video by PharcydeVEVO The Pharcyde - Drop (Official HD Music Video)

friday vibing. one of the great music videos from spike jonze.
youtu.be/wqVsfGQ_1SU?...

Due to a bomb threat on Murray State campus, classes in several buildings have been cancelled for the remainder of Monday.

General Matter scores $900M award from DOE to support HALEU enrichment in Paducah CEO Scott Nolan said this federal funding will accelerate General Matter’s production scale by years, with the DOE award going toward construction and startup costs for the company's western Kentucky ...

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $900 million to a Paducah company building a uranium enrichment facility. General Matters' CEO said the funds would allow it to accelerate its timeline and open before 2030. From @doperle.bsky.social at @wkmsfm.bsky.social #kyga26

this is how i learn we have ways in paducah??

my 2025 in books (aside from sonya lea’s american bloodlines and kyle chayka’s filterworld, both on loan)

recent cassette finds

me personally? i’d need to talk to my aunt like A LOT.

Nonfiction: Kyle Chayka’s Filterworld + Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine + Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves To Death (still wildly prescient despite it being a full 40 years old)

Fiction: Richard Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America + E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime + Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer

Our student reporter Shelby Bloomer spent weeks reseaching, interviewing and traveling out to different hemp businesses in western Kentucky to put this piece together, and I think she did a pretty dang good job exploring this issue. Check out the results of her labor:

YouTube video by Joan Of Arc - Topic Joan of Arc Presents: Joan of Arc

big rec: watch Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc with the score recorded a few years ago by Joan of Arc (Tim Kinsella’s post Cap’n Jazz project)

Multiple witnesses in Jessica Currin case recant statements during evidentiary hearing It’s been more than 25 years since 18-year-old Jessica Currin was found dead and burned behind a Mayfield middle school, but the man convicted for her murder still maintains his innocence. An…

It’s been more than 25 years since 18-year-old Jessica Currin was found dead and burned behind a Mayfield middle school, but the man convicted for her murder still maintains his innocence. An evidentiary hearing for the case began this week and is expected to conclude in mid-December.

If only you could have interviewed Hollywood’s finest carpenter turned actor for this’n

This week on Transmissions: Steve Von Till of Neurosis joins us to discuss his art, teaching, philosophy & work with the indigenous suicide prevention campaign Firekeeper Alliance.

Listen wherever you get podcasts & direct at reader-supported @aquariumdrunkard.com. @talkhouse.bsky.social

Massively underrated documentary. Funny and insightful.

Chris Thile was on @npr.org's All Things Considered to talk with @doperle.bsky.social from @wkmsfm.bsky.social in Murray, KY, about his new album, 'Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2,' which he recorded in multiple locations of personal significance including Murray: www.nonesuch.com/journal/list...

I live in Paducah and work for the NPR affiliate near here. Interviewed Terry for the first time like 5 years ago because he’s just been playing forever. Never mentioned this tho!

Stop Making Sense
Aliens
Back to the Future
Bull Durham

Thousands of rare American recordings — some 100 years old — go online for all to enjoy The project, which will include some 50,000 songs from private record collections, is a collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and the Dust-to-Digital Foundation.

Thousands of rare American recordings — some 100 years old — go online for all to enjoy

A collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and the nonprofit Dust-to-Digital Foundation

laist.com/news/arts-an...

Out there UK folkie John Martyn got obsessed with dub and befriended Lee Scratch Perry … who inspired him to record One World on guitar amps floating a 1/2 mile offshore in a lake. Lapping water and late night goose honks can be heard throughout but maybe to best effect on the magical “Small Hours.”

Kentucky legislature’s AI task force makes recommendations heading into General Assembly As what’s expected to be a jam-packed legislative session in the Bluegrass State approaches, lawmakers on Kentucky’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force met Thursday to finalize their recommendations f...

The Kentucky General Assembly's artificial intelligence task force made recommendations heading into the 2026 legislative session that begins in January. From @doperle.bsky.social at @wkmsfm.bsky.social #kyga26

"No Kings" protest photos from around Kentucky On Oct. 18, 2025, Kentuckians took to the streets to protest the Trump administration's actions in a day of national "No Kings" protests. Reporters from Kentucky Public Radio took these photos.

See photos from “No Kings” protestors around the state from @kentuckypublicradio.org reporters.

www.lpm.org/no-kings-pro...