Frank &amp; Friends Show

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Wednesday Sep 20, 2023

Donut Challenge at the 2023 Tennessee Valley Fair

Wednesday Sep 20, 2023

Frank Murphy and Becca James judged the Sweet Goodness Donut Challenge at the Tennessee Valley Fair on September 14, 2023.

Local doughnut shops enter the annual competition, which is the brainchild of Chef Rachel Reagan, who runs the Culinary Arts Stage at the Fair. This year’s winners were:

Best Yeast Donut - The Ultimate Doughnut Shop

Best Cake Donut - Beaver’s Dough Joe

Best Specialty Donut - Panther’s Dough Joe

Best Amateur Donut - Hattie Perry

This year’s emcee was Dino Cartwright. The other judges were Chip Everett and Mark Cawood. Jasper the Rooster, Fairest of the Fair Gracie Hancock, and Junior Fairest of the Fair Brooke Bilbrey also stopped by for a visit.

Next year’s Tennessee Valley Fair runs from September 6 to September 15, 2024. Tickets and information will be available at https://www.tnvalleyfair.org

The Secret City Improv Festival is October 6 and 7, 2023 at the Historic Grove Theater in Oak Ridge. See performances by 23 professional troupes and 3 local high school troupes. Performances are on Friday, October 6th at 7pm, 9p, and 11pm and on Saturday, October 7th at 3pm, 5pm, 7pm, 8:45pm and 10:30pm. Buy your tickets online at https://secretcityimprovfest.com/frank

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Thursday Sep 14, 2023

Episode 0113 - “You Can Call Me AI“

Thursday Sep 14, 2023

Frank Murphy is joined by his friend Sarah Roberto, who brought her trendy Stanley Quencher tumbler. She says some people hide a can of hard seltzer on ice in the tumbler.

Sarah enjoys visiting Washington, D.C. She and her husband felt lucky to get tickets to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum because the tickets are often sold out.

The last time Sarah was here, Frank accidentally deleted the video files on the camera. As Frank got stressed, Sarah urged him to look up how to restore a file deleted from a Micro SD card. He restored the files and posted the show to YouTube but now can’t delete the raw files.

Sarah posts about her dog Baby Bear and about her weight loss on TikTok. After her last visit, she started getting ads on TikTok about canned mackerel, which is something Frank talked about in her presence. The app must have been listening to their conversation.

Frank’s Facebook and Instagram feeds have a lot of ads for prescription drugs even though Frank chooses “do not show this ad.” Sarah credits psychiatric medicine with helping her.

Sarah warned her husband not to wear just his socks around the house for fear of falling. Frank sometimes worries that he will die at home while his wife is at work.

Frank’s neighbor across the street asked Frank to keep an eye on his pool. When Frank texted his contact card to the neighbor, the man was surprised to see the photo of “professional Frank” instead of “neighborhood Frank.”

Sarah used artificial intelligence to create images of herself in different situations. She created a headshot and an image with the U.S. Capitol in the background.

Sarah likes Frank’s neighborhood because the neighbors know each other. When Frank’s home alarm went off, six different neighbors checked on things to make sure it was just a false alarm.

Sarah promises to bring iced pumpkin spice coffee the next time she visits.

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Monday Sep 11, 2023

Tennessee Valley Fair - 2023 Fair Food Throwdown

Monday Sep 11, 2023

Frank Murphy and Becca James hosted the Fair Food Throwdown at the Tennessee Valley Fair on September 8, 2023.

Food vendors enter the annual competition in hopes of winning the banner for Best Funnel Cake, Best Deep Fried Food, Best Sweet Tea, etc.

This year’s judges were Martha Boggs, Kelly Absher, Blake Valentine, and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat.

The Tennessee Valley Fair runs from September 8 to September 17, 2023. Tickets and information can be found at https://www.tnvalleyfair.org

Frank and Becca will return to the Fair on Thursday, September 14 at 6:00 p.m. to be judges for the Donut Challenge.

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Wednesday Sep 06, 2023

Episode 0112 - “One DMC”

Wednesday Sep 06, 2023

Frank Murphy is joined by singer Daniel Michael Crane, who is from New York but is now based in Sevierville. Find him on Facebook at https://www.Facebook.com/DanielMichaelCraneEntertainment/ and on YouTube at https://YouTube.com/MrMusicman25

Frank is surprised to learn that Daniel went to Westhampton Beach High School, which is not far from Southampton and Sag Harbor, which is where Frank’s family vacationed when he was a kid.

Daniel has Asperger syndrome and finds music beneficial. Frank relates that to the way he finds comedy beneficial. Daniel asks Frank about comedian Alex Stokes.

Daniel took acting classes at Suffolk County Community College. He also received training in doo wop, operatic and musical theater singing. He performs at private parties, restaurants, and retirement homes among other places.

Frank recalls the time that Rihanna performed a few songs using backing tracks at the Knox County Back to School Bash at the Expo Center on Clinton Highway.

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Friday Sep 01, 2023

Episode 0111 - “You Basically Drank It?“

Friday Sep 01, 2023

Frank Murphy is joined by his friend Kathryn Frady of Marble City Opera. Frank asks Kathryn if we are still in the “off-season” for opera companies.

Frank’s wife Jere asked him to donate some of her old clothes to the Ladies of Charity Thrift Store on Baxter Avenue (https://www.ladiesofcharityknox.org/). While he was there, he picked up fifteen neckties to wear while hosting Tennessee Scholars’ Bowl on East Tennessee PBS or when emceeing an event.

At his last teeth cleaning, Frank found out that his dentist was not in his new insurance network and he had to pay the full rate for a cleaning and x-rays. When he called to make an appointment with a new dentist, he was offered an appointment at 2:30 p.m., which is the best dad joke ever.

Frank’s wife joked that he would search for an attractive blonde dentist, based on his choice of dermatologist. Kathryn is thinking of dying her hair blonde again. In 2018, she went from bleach blonde to black hair in order to sing Tosca with the Helena Symphony.

This episode is sponsored by BoneZones.com (don’t forget the S). Buy books and other merchandise autographed by Body Farm founder Dr. Bill Bass at https://bonezones.com/ including Body Farm t-shirts. You can also get several of Sam Venable’s books, signed by the author and the new book by former UT counsel Ron Leadbetter.

Marble City Opera used to schedule one mainstage performance in the Fall, one in the Winter, and one in the Spring but this season’s shows will be The Christmas Spider on January 6, 2024; The Doctor and the Devils on June 6 and 8, 2024; and Puccini’s Il Tabarro on a party barge on June 20, 2024. Season tickets are on sale now at https://www.marblecityopera.com/events/seasonticket

Frank and Jere were walking from a parking garage to a birthday party for Alex and Jenny Stokes in a downtown bar. Frank tried to swallow an Aleve gel-cap without water but it began dissolving in his mouth. Frank recalls that he knew some ballet dancers who used to pop the capsules and rub the gel on their toes.

Kathryn is headed back to Baton Rouge. She is concerned about recent wildfires and the possibility of hurricanes in Louisiana. Frank recalls that the owners of Little Nicky’s New York Pizza in Solway lost their Florida restaurant in a hurricane. Kathryn and her husband James once got stuck in a Florida hurricane.

Frank went to a reception after Mass at which representatives of the various ministries recruit new members. Frank was speaking with the members of the Haiti Outreach Program because he will emcee their annual fundraising dinner on September 22, 2023. Admission is free but you are asked to RSVP at https://haitioutreachprogram.org/

Frank was recognized by a member of the group that holds an annual fishing trip called the Fly Fishers of Men Retreat. The man asked if Frank was the host of Tennessee Scholars Bowl. Frank returned the favor by recognizing the man as the guy who saved the day when a teenager’s hair caught fire at the Easter Vigil in 2022 as described in episode 0043, “Hair on Fire” https://youtu.be/m4hsynpCJGM

Kathryn offers to sing a special aria when we finally surpass 1,000 subscribers on YouTube. Tell your friends.

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Tuesday Aug 29, 2023

Episode 0110 - “Meow Mix“

Tuesday Aug 29, 2023

Frank Murphy is joined by his friend Kathryn Frady of Marble City Opera. Frank says he is more comfortable on Diva Daylight Time. Frank was reminded of Kathryn when he heard a mention of Sazerac cocktails and when he used an empty whiskey bottle as a flower vase.

In last Tuesday’s Einstein Simplified show, Frank was in a singing game called Three-Headed Broadway Star. Jessica Brackeen, Sara Grace Peglow, and Frank each sang one word at a time.

Kathryn’s upstairs air conditioning unit isn’t working properly. She thinks the repairman has not been up to the attic, where he would see the creepy painting of a child that has been there since before Kathryn and her husband moved in. She discussed it a year and a half ago in podcast episode 0025, “Attic Painting Ghost Girl” which can be seen at https://youtu.be/uP019i2sjNY

Kathryn asked Frank to record a video of Marble City Opera’s “Stalactites, Sopranos, and Stilettos" concert in order to make fifteen-second clips for social media. Frank recorded the entire one-hour concert rather than be responsible for choosing which fifteen seconds to record.

Frank enjoyed the performance of Rossini’s "Duetto buffo di due gatti” (The Cat Duet), which Kathryn rearranged as a trio to sing with Jacquie Brecheen and April Hill. A brief video clip is included.

Frank tried to AirDrop the one-hour video to Kathryn but there wasn’t enough memory on her iPhone. He offered to show her how to go to Settings, General, iPhone Storage, Messages, Review Large Attachments and then delete a few files but she wanted no part of it.

Dr. Bill Bass turns 95 on August 30, which is also “Missy Barrett Day: A Day to Do Good Deeds.” Frank received a Facebook message from the fictional character that said: “So, Mr. Frank, are you going to help out on International Missy Barrett Day: A Day To Do Good Deeds on Wednesday, August 30th by doing more good deeds than usual and telling people why you're doing more good deeds than usual and asking them to do more good deeds than they usually do?” Learn more at https://missybarrett.wordpress.com/

At a Marble City Opera production at the Old City Performing Arts Center, Frank and his wife sat behind an older woman who could not access the electronic program on her phone. Kathryn loaned her iPad to the woman, who accidentally tapped the messages icon. Frank could see that she was now reading a text conversation between Kathryn and Frank.

Kathryn heard from a friend that their high school band was having a reunion. The friend told Kathryn that there is a private Facebook group with many photos, including several that include Kathryn. She makes Frank try to find her in three group photos.

Subscriber April wore her Frank & Friends Show bucket hat to the “Stalactites, Sopranos, and Stilettos" concert. Jere took a photo of April with Frank and Kathryn.

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Thursday Aug 24, 2023

Episode 0109 - “Not a Morning Person”

Thursday Aug 24, 2023

Frank Murphy is joined by his friend Becca James, who gets up early because of her kids. Frank fell back asleep and has been awake less than an hour. It used to take Frank at least an hour to go from “the floor to the door.”

Frank wonders if Becca could learn to do improv after she compliments his participation in Einstein Simplified. Frank likes doing clean improv shows for kids and families.

Becca and her husband went to a stand-up comedy show headlined by Caitlin Peluffo at the Square Room. Frank struggles to remember the name of Gary Jackson, who organizes the monthly Hip To Be Square comedy nights. Their website is https://hiptobesquarecomedy.com/

Becca is proud of the way Knoxville Area Transit assisted those affected by the tornado on August 7, 2023. They offered transportation to those who had to vacate their apartments. Frank points out that legitimate charities can usually do more with a monetary donation than with a case of water or other items.

The last time Becca visited, her home had no electricity for several hours. She had placed the contents of her refrigerator and freezer into coolers filled with ice. She deep-cleaned the fridge and reloaded it when the power came on, only to have the power go out again.

Becca recalls attending a 2017 Tennessee Volunteers football game during a strong storm that knocked down part of the scoreboard. It also knocked down a tree at her house and caused a power outage.

Becca points out that Bradford Pear Trees are structurally weak. Frank says that you used to be able to donate them to the zoo and they would be fed to elephants but Zoo Knoxville has sent all its elephants to a sanctuary.

Frank spits his peach pits into his yard and has discovered three seedlings that could grow into peach trees.

Becca wants to go to Andy’s Frozen Custard to try the limited-time Cannoli Thunder Concrete. She and her family had ice cream for dinner while attending the Great Smoky Mountains Hot Air Balloon Festival. Frank is considering going to the Monroe Life Balloon Festival in Vonore over Labor Day weekend.

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Tuesday Aug 22, 2023

Episode 0108 - “Figging Disaster”

Tuesday Aug 22, 2023

Frank Murphy is joined by his friend Kathryn Frady of Marble City Opera. Frank is mildly surprised that Kathryn isn’t in Baton Rouge at the moment. Frank wonders if Louisiana has a state income tax (it does).

Frank considers yard work and gardening to be his exercise program. He bought a tray of wilting marigolds from the clearance shelf but they are now thriving in his garden. Frank wants to grow more perennials like day lilies instead of annuals like the marigolds.

This time last year, Frank was spending hours per day harvesting figs. No figs have ripened yet this year because the trees are behind schedule due to the winter freeze and the extreme pruning that was necessary.

Dr. Frank Jr. PhD arrived for a visit shortly after a strong thunderstorm that knocked down several fig branches. They cut away the damaged branches but since then Frank has been bothered by a rash on his legs that could be from the irritating fig sap.

Frank planted parts of the damaged branches on his property and on his neighbor’s property. Frank’s wife Jere is concerned that there is no more room in the yard for more fig trees.

Another neighbor has a new pool and asked Frank to clean it for a week. The neighbor also invited Frank to pick some apples from his tree. Frank put his grandsons on his shoulders to reach the higher fruit. When Frank’s daughter arrived, she made applesauce and apple butter from the fruit the boys picked.

Frank and Jere took Artie and Timmy to Dollywood. Frank and both boys rode the Dragonflier roller coaster. Frank and Artie then rode Big Bear Mountain. Frank wished the wait time had been longer because he felt unwell after Big Bear Mountain. He skipped lunch but later Jere bought him a soft pretzel that was the best thing he ate all day. He ate the pretzel while enjoying the Dreamland Drive-In show, which Frank’s friend Mike Howard is stage managing.

Kathryn took her husband James to Andy’s Frozen Custard in Baton Rouge. It was his first visit and he asked for a cone with cookie-dough ice cream, which is not on the menu. Kathryn improvised by ordering a cup of vanilla custard with cookie-dough mixed in and then requested an empty cone and a spoon.

Frank went to two wedding receptions that had cookie bars, meaning a buffet assortment of cookies, many of which reminded Frank of Christmas baking. At one reception, the cookies were uncovered after dinner. At the other reception, the cookie bar was set up near the bar before the dining room was opened.

At the fancy reception, Frank was excited to meet a radio sports announcer who was assigned to the same table. Frank and Jere were the only people at the table because the sports announcer didn’t show up. The guests at another table invited Frank and Jere to squeeze into their table rather than sit alone.

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Friday Aug 18, 2023

Episode 0107 - “Singin’ in the Cave”

Friday Aug 18, 2023

Frank Murphy is joined by his friend Kathryn Frady, who will be singing in Marble City Opera’s second annual Stalactites, Sopranos, & Stilettos concert on Saturday, August 19, 2023 at Historic Cherokee Caverns. Tickets are on sale at https://www.marblecityopera.com/tickets

Frank mentions Dr. Randall Lange who writes children’s books featuring his dog Josh. The current Josh is number 4. Kathryn went to see a tiger named Mike VII at Louisiana State University. Frank is reminded of the live tigers used in a photo shoot with Mark & Brian for the cover of the Los Angeles Radio Guide.

Frank received a postcard about the Opera America conference in Los Angeles in June, 2024. He also received a save-the-date postcard from the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. The Frank & Friends Show logo is on the postcard because Frank will emcee their annual gala on November 17, 2023.

The activities director of a retirement home left a message for Frank about an upcoming performance. She was actually trying to reach an elderly singer and his wife who also call themselves Frank & Friends.

Kathryn and her husband went on vacation to Cancun. She was able to turn off her phones and read books on the beach. They saw sea turtles laying eggs on the beach.

Kathryn stops at the Buc-ee’s in Leeds, Alabama when driving between Baton Rouge and Knoxville. Frank enjoyed the brisket and egg burrito at the Buc-ee’s in Sevierville.

Kathryn likes the Dr Pepper Float ice cream from Blue Bell. Frank has deja vu because he also talked about the ice cream with Becca James.

Frank’s wife Jere got a coupon for a free Starbucks Frappuccino because she is in the top 1% of Frappuccino customers. Jere’s sister has thousands of points on her Starbucks card.

Kathryn likes the chicken strips at Chick-fil-A but usually has to wait for them to be cooked whereas the nuggets are cooked in advance.

Frank and his wife made reservations at a fancy restaurant in downtown Knoxville. They had to put down a credit card number to make the reservation and they will be charged $25 a person if they don’t show up.

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