After a few years making a name for itself around Fayetteville, Benjamin Del Shreve (the band) is about to follow Benjamin Del Shreve (the man) in making the leap to the next level.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, following a packed show at Sticky Fingerz down in Little Rock, Benjamin Del Shreve stood on a hotel balcony, ready to jump.

"I wanted to do it, man," Shreve says. "We were on the second floor, and the pool was only about ten feet away. I know I could have made it."

That Shreve didn't jump wasn't a matter of willingness but of architecture: a rail that ran along the top of the ledge made it impossible to balance for a good jump.

"I couldn't do it without someone on either side of me helping me balance until I was ready to jump," he says. "Nobody would help! Everybody kept telling me to jump, but nobody would help."

Probably, I say, because nobody wanted to be an accomplice to his untimely death.

"Security finally showed up," he says, smiling. "We didn't get kicked out, but some people had to leave the party. That's how it is with us: we always almost get kicked out of whatever hotel we're in."

UPDATE: Yeah, so it took us a few days to get the pics posted. Find them—and a brief report—after the jump. (Apparently the Pope isn't all that exciting.

Wal*Mart, understandably, is pissed, but there's nothing the company can do. Hilarious, no?

Candid Camera: Trove of Videos Vexes Wal-Mart [WSJ via Gawker]

Via Brain of G

Earlier: The Northwest Arkansas Times Explores the Blogosphere

The Burgeoning Blogosphere [NWAT]

We've already claimed the comfortable leather couches at Common Grounds when three members of Jonathan Taylor Rose arrive for the interview. For the three barely-twentysomething rockers, they appear remarkably well organized and prepared, but then Jonathan Taylor Rose is on a mission—according to the group's MySpace page—to bring passionate, poetic rock and roll to the masses. Rose is actually carrying a large organizer from which he immediately extracts a burned CD. "I've only got one copy," he says. "I didn't know there'd be two of you."

We almost admit we didn't know there'd be three of them, what with us having been regrettably lax in preparing for the interview. When we were offered the chance to interview Jonathan Taylor Rose, we thought we'd be interviewing a man, not a band. We each made a note to prepare better next time (and to get out more).

It seems odd that just six months after hiring Lee Scott's son, Eric Scott, Bill Schwyhart now has a Neighborhood Market with no advertising for alternate sites, a proposed site for relocating Walton Arts Center, and is now apparently off to China with Eric to drum up Chinese vendor prospects for his developments. Surely a twenty-something new hire without name recognition or clout would not have made such an impact. Seems a bit too transparent for a company bent on ethics and transparency.

Thanks for your continued patience. Remember: send your story ideas, tips, and substantial financial donations to editors (at) thefiveforty.com.

[Via WWJCD]

• Name-dropping Obama as a potential running mate suggests a certain inevitability to her nomination
• Offering Obama the bottom slot might comfort undecideds who like his message of hope and change but aren't quite comfortable with his experience, thus potentially swaying them to vote for Hillary instead
• The move offers superdelegates a way to ease their consciences should they overturn the will of the people and tip the nomination to Hillary
• By suggesting they work together, Hillary looks like she's working to unite an increasingly divided party
• For voters who'd like to see both candidates—and there are plenty out there—voting for Hillary offers a better chance at seeing both on the ticket, as there's no way in hell Obama, if nominated, would choose her as his running mate

So the little girl in that absurd "3 am" ad the Hillary camp ran before last week's primaries? She's nearly eighteen now, and oh yeah, a volunteer on Barack Obama's campaign. Woops. She appeared in a few local commercials as a child. The footage in the "3 am" spot was sold to Getty Images. Pretty funny, eh? [MSNBC]

UPDATE: That didn't take long. The local ABC affiliate reports that Adrianna Torres-Flores of Springdale was left in a secure holding area at the Washington County Courthouse over the weekend. Torres-Flores had appeared in court for a plea agreement on Thursday, March 6, and was remanded to custody by Judge William Storey (the judge we'd heard associated with the rumor) for violation of a condition of her release on bail. She was found at some point today. [KHOG]

The brilliant and considerably accomplished Samantha Power recently spoke at the University of Arkansas. We attended her lecture and were impressed. Did you know she's a senior adviser to Sen. Obama? She is! And being such, she is now in trouble for calling Hillary a "monster" in an interview for The Scotsman. Woops! After failing to keep the comment from being printed, Power was forced to apologize: "It is wrong for anyone to pursue this campaign in such negative and personal terms. I apologize to Senator Clinton and to Senator Obama, who has made very clear that these kinds of expressions should have no place in American politics." At least not in front of reporters. [The Scotsman, AP]