I can't express our gratitude enough to the dozens of KS95 listeners who gave up their Saturday to come help with the Hugo storm relief. It was a fun, challenging, sobering and ultimately satisfying day of volunteering. Here's part of an e-mail I had written my mom and read this morning on our show. Below that is some video Melissa and I took while there.

We went and cleared/picked up debris from the Hugo storm damage.  It's like nothing I've seen before.  What used to be a pretty residential street is just a trash heap. I am amazed only the one child died.  If there's one thing I learned today is that you have no chance unless you're in the basement.  I think 90% of what I picked up; siding, shingles, insulation, dry(wet)wall, lumber, glass was the size of my hand or smaller.

You definitely do not want to be in your garage if it is facing the storm. Houses stood, but garages were gone if they faced the storm. A car becomes a deadly weapon. We were located where the tornado first touched down. The cars there looked as if they had been car-bombed in Baghdad; glass blown out, bent, dented enough where makes and models were unrecognizable.

You try to imagine what those few moments must have been like for that neighborhood. It's as if Godzilla walked diagonally across this community swiping his arms and kicking at things indiscriminately and disappearing. Getting down at eye level and seeing it is heartbreaking.  

Again, thanks for helping and thanks for listening to the Greg and Melissa Morning Show.

We'll see you on the radio.

 After several stories about people stealing gasoline by driving off without paying, some wondered-- Why isn't there a law to require all consumers to prepay at the pump?

 One gas station owner in Minnesota says two outside pumps are pre-pay all day long, "because they're easy access to exit the lot". But when she tried to make all her pumps prepay, it cost her business.

 She "noticed dramatically a loss in volume".

That's why many stations have hesitated going to all prepay. Even though they're losing money because of drive-offs, they worried about losing even more money if customers were inconvenienced.

 BUT-- that thinking has shifted with the rising cost of fuel.

The owner says, "You don't make money from fuel to start with, then to have a drive-off is just astronomical. It can take a whole month to recoup it".

She started an association that would like to see a law to mandate prepay. That way there's a level playing field, and no station would have an advantage.

 Some cash-paying customers don't like to go inside the store before pumping, guess how much it will cost, then pump, then return to the store to get change.

(In California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada, pre-pay is the norm. In New Jersey and Oregon, the law doesn't allow consumers to pump their own gas, so drive-offs are not a problem. In many cities, local governments are mandating pre-pay because their police departments do not want to deal with the burden of investigating drive-offs.)

The gas station owner said she doesn't see the downside to a uniform standard. She says, "Customers will see lower cost in the price of fuel if our overhead's down."

Me, I like standing outside my car at my favorite Holiday Station Store and watching the gas tank-tvs they have on 'em. Think I'll get a lawn chair and invite the wife and neighbors out to watch too and have me a hill-billy happy hour right there at the pump! The only drive-off I do is when I leave the handle still stuck in my gas tank!

Thanks for listening to us, Greg and Melissa on KS95...gotta run, I have some outdoor charity at 11:51am today but it looks like rain, so I'll be preparing for a big Friday morning show and I'll see YOU on the radio!

The massive destruction to the community of Hugo weighs heavy on my mind this morning.

We've had unimaginable typhoon and earthquake disasters half way around the world already this year. And we aren't far removed from Hurricane Katrina and for that matter 9-11.

But something stirs in me when something like this happens this close to home. I think it might have been the damage shown in the aerial pictures of Hugo in the aftermath of the storm. This neighborhood in the small picture below looks a lot like the one I live in. Or at least it used to. I sympathize with anyone who goes through a loss but I wish I could say I feel as much empathy for the victims of other disasters as I do this one. I should. I guess it's just easier for me to comprehend and visualize the loss and heartache when the story is that much closer to home. I guess that's what they mean when they say some disasters are unimaginable. 

It's too diffulcult to see in this photo, but it still amazes me that in the swath of a tornado a home ( and life) can be obliterated and a few feet away a tree, wagon, bicycle, or a life can remained untouched. Untouched in the physical form, at least.

My thoughts, prayers, and concern go out to all the victims of Sunday's storm. If you feel there is something you would like to do to help, below are a few avenues in which to do so.

DONATIONS

Hugo Relief Fund - Money donations are being accepted by U.S. Banks.  You can drop off donations at the Hugo Branch at 14431 Forest Boulevard North or any U.S. Bank.  For information you can call 651-429-7758.

Hugo Relief Fund - Money donations are being accepted at the Lake Area Bank located at 1400 East Highway 96, White Bear Lake, MN  55110, or call 651-653-9619.

All other donations are being accepted at the Hugo Fire Department located at 5323 140th Street North (one block west of Highway 61 on 140th Street.) 

Donations can be made to the American Red Cross.  Please call their hotline at 612-460-3700 or drop off donations at 1201 West River Parkway, Minneapolis.

 VOLUNTEERS

Volunteers are needed to clean up the site.  Volunteers should plan to meet at 8:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 31, 2008.  The meeting site has not yet been determined.  Please check back later for more details.

Reviews are favorable for the new Indy movie. I'm leaving the station with Producer Zack at 10:30 to go see it at our MAN-tinee.  All the highlights (without the spoilers) tomorrow morning + pairs of tickets for Melissa's BFF club night out at the Twin Cities premier of Sex and the City. And speaking of movies, Movie Mom joins us too...Have a great day and I'll see you on the radio!

Check out this below!

10 Awesome Indiana Jones Facts

 1. It Started with Bond Ambitions

George Lucas wrote a story called "The Adventures of Indiana Smith" in 1973. While on vacation in Hawaii in 1977, he spoke with Steven Spielberg, who mentioned he always wanted to do a James Bond film. Lucas told him the Indiana Smith character was even better than James Bond, and that's how the collaboration between the two movie giants began.

 2. Tom Selleck Almost Starred in It

Spielberg wanted to use Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones from the beginning, but Lucas rejected the idea, since he had already used Ford in American Grafitti and Star Wars. So Tom Selleck was chosen for the role. However, he dropped out to star in the television series Magnum, P.I.

 Selleck thought it would be a scheduling conflict, but filming on Raiders of the Lost Ark finished before Magnum went into production. Nick Nolte turned down the role also. Danny DeVito was the first choice for the character Sallah, but dropped out to do the TV show Taxi.

 3. The Fourth Wall (it keeps out snakes)

Indiana Jones is not the only one afraid of snakes. When Marion (Karen Allen) falls in the snake pit, you can see the reflection of a cobra in the glass wall between them. You can also see a glass wall between Indiana and the cobra in the original movie and videotape, but it was cleaned up for the DVD release.

 4. Star Wars Tributes

There are many Star Wars touches in The Temple of Doom. The name of the nightclub in Shanghai is Club Obi Wan. The sound effect you hear when the lava pit opens as they begin to sacrifice Willie is the sound of Darth Vader opening his light saber. The sound effect of the plane failure is the same sound effect used for the Millennium Falcon when it stalls in The Empire Strikes Back.

 And the vest that Indy wears in his palace room was made for Han Solo.

 5. Dan Akroyd has a Cameo?

Part of the crew made cameo appearances. In the airport scene at the beginning of the movie, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, costume design Anthony Powell, and PR man Sid Ganis are missionaries. Executive producer George Marshall is a coolie pulling a rickshaw.

 Dan Akroyd (not a crew member) appears as an airport official who walks the cast to the plane.

 6. An Elephant Almost Ruined the Movie

The dress Kate Capshaw wore in the Shanghai nightclub scene was covered with rare vintage beads made in the '20s and '30s. The club scene was filmed last, but the dress also made an appearance during the camping scene, where an elephant began eating it! Since there were no extra beads to match, the costume department had to repair the dress as best as they could.

 The result was so tight that Capshaw had trouble moving in it when they filmed the nightclub scene. Costume designer Anthony Powell filled out insurance forms for the dress, citing the cause of the damage as "dress eaten by elephant". This was only the second movie for Capshaw, who has a masters degree in special education.

 Spielberg married Capshaw in 1991.

 7. Even the Rats were Insured

The thousands of rats used in The Last Crusade were insured. The insurer wanted to know the minimum number of rats the scene could be shot with, and used the answer to write a policy with a "1,000 rat deductible."

 The cast was padded with another thousand mechanical rats. Their voices were enhanced with the sound effects of ....chicken voices!

 8. Lucas' Dog was his Inspiration

At the end of the movie, Jones explains to his friend Sallah that his nickname Indiana came from his pet dog from long before. Sallah responds, "You were named after a dog?" and gets a great laugh out of it. But it's true.

 Indiana was the name of an Alaskan malamute George Lucas owned in the '70s. The same dog inspired the look of the Star Wars character Chewbacca.

 Jones' real first name is Henry, which is why his father Henry Jones, Sr. calls him Junior. The characters Willie and Short Round in The Temple of Doom were also named after other people's dogs.

 9. The Sequel Almost Involved Mars

Nineteen years is a long time to come up with a new title for a movie, and many were posed before producers settled on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Fake titles that have been released over the years include Indiana Jones and the Staff of Moses, Indiana Jones and the Shores of Avalon, Indiana Jones and the Jade Princess,Indiana Jones and the Raiders of Time, and Indiana Jones and the Ravages of Time.

Real script titles or ideas that were rejected were Indiana Jones and the Garden of Life, Indiana Jones and the Monkey King, Indiana Jones and the Saucer Men From Mars, and Indiana Jones and the Red Scare.

 Working titles for The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull have included Fourth Installment of the Indiana Jones Adventures, Indiana Jones 4, Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods, Raiders of the Lost Ark Sequel, and The Untitled Genre Project.

 It is clear that a lot of work went into the movie before they even knew what it would be about!

 10. The Secret of the Film's Look

Great pains were taken to give the fourth movie the look and feel of the first three, despite the time gap. Steven Spielberg insisted on using stunt men instead of computer animation. Computer-generated effects are used only when absolutely necessary. The footage was shot on film instead of digital format.

 Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski painstakingly studied the first three movies in order to preserve the style of previous cinematographer Douglas Slocombe (who is now retired). The result looks, as George Lucas said, "like it was shot 3 years after the Last Crusade, you'd never know there was 20 years between shooting." Unlike a certain other George Lucas franchise we all know and love.

This morning we talked about the more revealing prom dresses for this year. I haven't seen prom dresses in a couple of years and apparantly they've become a little more risque'.

But check out the most bubblicious prom date for '08...

A 17 year old girl in Wayne, Indiana walked into the gymnasium on prom night wearing a chewing-gum-wrapper dress.

The high school senior made the dress out of 3,000 gum wrappers she has been collecting for the past 3 years. Friends, relatives, and co-workers saved wrappers for her as well. She says the dress is held together with duct tape inside and along the edges and she used elastic braids around the straps and collar and in between some of the chains down the back so she could easily slip into the dress.

 Walking into the gym on prom night with a girl on his arm draped in a chewing-gum-wrapper dress was definitely different.

Max Pistner, Maranacook Community High School senior, said he thought it was "very cool" that his girlfriend, Vanessa Randall, made her prom dress out of 3,000 gum wrappers.

Randall, a 17-year-old senior from Wayne, started collecting Wrigley gum wrappers three years ago to make the dress. She had all her friends, relatives and co-workers chewing gum and saving their wrappers.

Randall said she reinforced the dress with duct tape inside along the edges, and used elastic braids around the straps and collar and in between some of the chains down the back so she could easily slip into the dress.

She came up with the design after drawing sketches all year.

"I came up with how it was going to look like the week before the prom," she said. "The theme of the prom was Japanese, so I was inspired by that in making the collar and flower pattern around the middle and back."

Ellen Randall said she and her husband are proud of their daughter's achievements, saying Vanessa always follows through on tasks she puts her mind to.

I wonder if the dress only comes in a size "ATE"!!!  Good morning everybody! 

Thanks for listening to the Greg and Melissa morning show on 94.5 KS95 and don't forget Birthday Bucks on Thursday for $10,000!  Have a great day and see you on the radio!