Blake's Think Tank

I’m about to head away from the blog for the rest of the evening. There’s some work, a class I teach at the law school and whatever other mischief I can cook up.

But before I leave you . . .

Kim Hendren for U.S. Senate: If you want to learn all there is to know about the state of the 2010 Arkansas Senate race, David Kinkade of The Arkansas Project has compiled an excellent summary. Hey, with the legislature gone, Mr. Kinkade needs a reason to play with photoshop (other than me, of course). Oh, and note the inclusion of Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, a Democrat. Sneaky sneaky.

No Layups for Contenders: Roby Brock of Talk Business weighs in on the Hendren announcement.

Senate Fever Continues: Jason Tolbert of The Tolbert Report notes that Mr. Hendren and Tim Griffin will both be speaking at the Saline County Republican Day Dinner this Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at the Bauxite Community Center. I’d go but I have a life.

Bitching: John Brummett. Tomorrow he weighs in on the impact of Mr. Hendren’s candidacy.

Capturing the Spirit of Arkansas on Twitter: New media enthusiast Jessica Dean of KATV Channel 7 kicked off the Spirit of Arkansas Roadtrip today. 25 cities in 25 days. She’s utilizing all sorts of technology, too. Follow her on Twitter if you must.

Pimp My TOMS: Local Arkie blogger Ms. Adverthinker continues her obsession with Blake Mycoskie, chief shoe giver or TOMS shoes. Mr. Mycoskie was in Little Rock a while back for a fashion show. I went. I felt weird about it, but the company and the shoes are cool. I wonder, too, if Mr. Mycoskie has a TRO out on Ms. Adverthinker? Follow him on Twitter. Follow her on Twitter.

Local Newspaper Help: Matthew Petty, an alderman in Fayetteville and social media advocate, offers 10 11 ideas for his local papers. Mr. Petty’s made a stop on The Think Tank before. Follow him on Twitter. (Thumbs Up: Joe Jacobs)

More Newspaper Help: Sen. John Kerry promises to hold hearings into the business. His Boston Globe is in real trouble. Zack Stovall expresses his concern on his blog. Sure, Mr. Kerry ran a disasterous presidential campaign (Thanks, Bob Shrum), but can he really make the newspaper business worse? And why doesn’t his wife just buy the Globe? An assessment from The New Republic.

J-Schools Play Catch Up: A great piece about journalism schools adapting to meet the changing world of journalism from Brian Stelter of The New York Times, a former Clinton School speaker.

The Pulitzer Prizes: Announced today. Arkie Douglas A. Blackmon won for his book Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. Props, dude. Psyched for Eugene Robinson. Future Clinton School of Public Service speaker Jon Mecham won for “American Lion.” (Thumb Up: Max Brantley)

Lonely Misfits Drinking Society: Wednesday.

Text of the Day: It was absolutely a badass move.

E-mail of the Day: Hey, did you catch this on Brummett’s blog the other day? He was checking up on some word he’d used to determine if his usage was accurate and he wrote, “I just love words. Ya’ll gonna miss ‘em when they’re gone.” I’ll admit that the rare burst of self-awareness amused me.

Quote of the Day: It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strickly business. – - Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) in the film “The Godfather” directed by Francis Ford Coppola.