If you've been thinking about opening a disco, now is the time.

With the space at 668 Union — most recently home to Sky Grille and Quetzel coffeehouse before that — currently empty, the building's owner is selling some of the furnishings and speakers.

Fred Charron, who ran Quetzel in the spacious Edge District building, will be in Memphis this weekend selling subwoofers, club speakers, amps, LED dance lights, and a variety of furniture.

According to the Quetzel newsletter, which still circulates occasionally, the items are in "great shape but no longer needed." To inquire about buying an item, email Fred Charron here.

• Silky Sullivan

Beale Street bar owner Thomas "Silky" Sullivan has passed away at the age of 71 as a result of health problems. Silky opened Silky O' Sullivan's on Beale in 1992, and he previously ran Silky Sullivan's in Overton Square from 1973 to 1998.

According to a source at the Beale Street Merchants Association, Silky's wife Joellyn reported that Silky was not feeling well on Thursday due to lingering complications from colon surgery. As they were arranging to drive him to the ER, he fainted and 911 was called. He seemed to recover briefly and chatted with Silky's house manager Johnny Price. He responded to questions asked by the EMTs. But as he was positioned on a stretcher, he fainted again and stopped breathing. He was rushed to the ER but never recovered. He had been scheduled for surgery next week.

In an email to the Beale Street Merchants Association, Joellyn had this to say about Silky's passing: "Silky lived a full life with loads of friends. Please share this news for me. There’s a party in heaven with some fabulous dancing going on right now."

Silky was well-loved on Beale and during his Overton Square days for his boisterous manner and sense of humor. His bar on Beale has become a tourist attraction, thanks to beer-drinking goats and massive mystery "diver" cocktails served in buckets.

Silky celebrated the 40th anniversary of his bar and the St. Patrick's Day pub crawl this past March. The Flyer interviewed him for the occasion. Here's what he had to say. Years ago, Silky was also the subject of a Memphis Flyer cover story on the "The King of the Irish." Silky was named King Pontchartrain by the Krewe of Pontchartrain in this past year's Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans.

• Broad Avenue water tower

The old water tower on Broad Avenue that has become an iconic symbol for the burgeoning arts district will soon get a facelift.

The Broad Avenue Arts District won a $350,000 grant from ArtPlace America to pay an artist to paint the tower and to transform the warehouse loading dock under the tower into a live music amphitheater.

The UrbanArt Commission will launch a national search for an artist to design the tower. The winning design will be chosen using Crosstown Arts' MemFEAST concept through which patrons at a catered dinner hear proposals for art projects and vote on their favorites (Crosstown Arts held its latest annual MemFEAST event for a public art project on the V&E Greenline this past Saturday).

The grant money will fund the construction of seating and a public art installation for the warehouse loading dock. The dock has been used as a live music stage for the past several Broad Avenue Art Walk events. The warehouse, which is partially inhabited by Power Telephone & Supply, will continue to house that business.

• God hates Elvis?

Members of the Westboro Baptist Church, best known for their "God Hates Fags" protests and picketing at the funeral services of soldiers, are planning to demonstrate in front of Graceland on Friday, May 17th at 4:45 p.m.

According to their website, Westboro members view Elvis Prelsey as a false idol and a drug addict. Here's their bizarre explanation:

God hates your Idols, so Westboro Baptist Church will picket one of the many major idols of Doomed USA, to wit: Graceland. Former home of Elvis Presley. ALL the evidence suggests that his present home is HELL.

Ask the Question: How did Elvis die? The Internet gives this: Elvis died on August 16, 1977 in the bathroom at Graceland. After being found on the bathroom floor, Elvis was rushed to the hospital where he was officially pronounced dead.

The coroner recorded the cause of death as cardiac arrhythmia. While true in the strictest sense (cardiac arrhythmia means that the heart was beating irregularly), the attending physicians deliberately omitted the fact that what had apparently caused Elvis' heart to beat irregularly and then stop was an overdose of prescription drugs. These drugs included codeine, Valium, morphine, and Demerol, to name a few.

Some people believe that Elvis Presley is still alive. It is an interesting idea to explore. (WHAT?! You people need something to do with your time!!)

Assuming you do believe that Elvis died, you can visit his grave at Graceland. (YES, gotta worship the rotting carcass of that lecherous, adulterous, pervert and drug addict!) I did NOT ask the Question: What happened in the Jungle Room! My stomach is only so strong.

Oh, and of course they have to work homophobia in somehow. After a listing a few Bible verses, this little nugget is thrown in at the end of the post:

GOD killed your idol, Elvis.

For ALL this, God has cursed you with Same Sex Marriage, a thing that will be your final undoing! Praise God!

Westboro is also planning to protest Ole Miss on May 18th. Though we can't quite make out the reason by reading the ranting post, it appears to have something to do with their football team as a false idol and something to do with the movie, The Blind Side.

Memphis In May has released their free 2013 smart phone app, and it's a vast improvement over their apps in years past (thanks Paul Ryburn for letting us know). The app is available for iPhones and Android phones.

The app features the lineup of bands for the Beale Street Music Festival, and users can highlight favorites to create their own personal schedule within the app. There are two general maps of the park tailored to the music fest and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, each highlighting where stages and vendor tents are located for the events. And there's a separate map highlighting the disability-accessible viewing areas for music fest.

Additionally, the app includes information for where to take or locate "lost and found" items during the festivals, a list of events throughout May celebrating Memphis In May's 2013 honored country of Sweden, and a list of barbecue teams participating in the cooking contest.

Perhaps, most importantly, the app includes themed photo booths for music fest, the barbecue contest, and Sunset Symphony. In the spirit of investigative journalism, we've tested them out.

• Flyer intern Chris Shaw sings for the band, Ex-Cult by night. But we just can't get him to stop singing ... like ever.

• We can't believe Contemporary Media executive assistant Michael Shelton actually stopped eating to pose for this shot. He's such a pig! Okay, we kid.

• Ernie Alexander

Members of Save Our Shelter-Memphis (SOS) will be holding a peaceful demonstration on Saturday, April 27th at noon at the corner of Poplar and Highland to protest the district attorney's office's decision to drop animal cruelty charges against former Memphis Animal Services (MAS) director Ernie Alexander and supervisor Tina Quattlebaum.

The DA's office announced last week that it would not prosecute Alexander and Quattlebaum for charges that stemmed from a 2009 Shelby County Sheriff's Office-led raid at Memphis Animal Services that revealed dogs dying of starvation.

According to a statement from the Shelby County district attorney's office, the charges were dropped due to lack of cooperation of key witnesses, a lack of direct evidence of the defendants’ contact with the animal victims, budget constraints that were placed on MAS by the city administration at that time, and because both Alexander and Quattlebaum made attempts to notify their supervisors about shelter conditions. Based on those factors, the DA's office determined that prosecution would not have a "reasonable likelihood of success."

Members of SOS wants the former administrators to be held responsible: "SOS Memphis implores the City of Memphis and the Shelby County Attorney General to prosecute all documented animal cruelty cases to the full extent of the law and to request the Courts to sentence the full terms of imprisonment and fines allowed by Tennessee Law with regard to aggravated and misdemeanor animal cruelty."

They're also asking the city to implement an employee review process for workers at MAS. According to SOS's press release about the protest, "Due to lack of documentation and lack of action taken, two MAS employees are still on the job despite watching animals being tortured and doing nothing. Mistakes attributed to 'clerical errors' continue to occur, resulting in animals that are missing or unnecessarily dying while in the care of MAS."

The Tennessee House voted in favor of a bill that would require anyone who shoots video or takes pictures of animal cruelty to submit those images to law enforcement within 48 hours. UPDATE: The Senate has now also passed the bill.

Known as the "Ag Gag" bill, it was one of many being considered by state governments across the country. Proponents of the bill, which was heavily favored by animal agriculture lobbyists, claim the requirement to turn over cruelty images protects animals.

But the bill's critics, which includes the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Tennessee Political Action Committee, claim the legislation is designed to prevent thorough investigations of animal cruelty. Many undercover cruelty investigations at factory farms can take several weeks of documenting footage, and such bills would prevent animal activists from carrying out those investigations.

The bill was one vote shy of being voted down.

East Tennessee's Knoxville News Sentinel is taking a brave stance against the bill. In an opinion column written before the bill's passage, the paper states, "If the Ag Gag bill happens to pass and the News Sentinel records images of animal cruelty, we will not consider ourselves bound to turn those images over to law enforcement. We will assume that the [state's] shield law, and more importantly, the First Amendment, will pre-empt such a law. I'd recommend that anyone else who believes in freedom of expression take the same position, too."

Flyer editor Bruce VanWyngarden has more on the First Amendment implications of "Ag Gag."

Last year, Lausanne Collegiate School added optional meditation classes for its middle school students. Kids could choose to opt out of recess one day a week in exchange for a guided meditation class led by Peddler Bike Shop founder Daniel LaMontagne.

Those sessions have been so successful, Lausanne is now beginning meditation classes for its high school students. Starting last week, those students had the option of skipping their daily 35-minute advisory period — the time they meet with their academic adviser — in favor of finding some inner peace.

The six-week meditation course for high school students is also led by LaMontagne, and the first session of 25 students is already at maximum capacity.

Greg Graber, the principal at Lausanne, said he's been traveling the world to talk about Lausanne's successful meditation program. He's led talks in Philadelphia, Des Moines, Iowa, and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"Our students today live in this accelerated culture. Everything is done at hyper-speed, at the touch of a button. It seems like they're always plugged in," Graber said. "This is way for them to relax and focus."

Graber said, since the school began implementing meditation for its middle school students, he has noticed a big change in some students' abilities to focus on school work.

Last week, the Memphis Flyer reported on Knox County Senator Frank Niceley's support of cockfighting on the (likely historically false) grounds that Abraham Lincoln was down with cockfighting as well.

Niceley was urging fellow Tennessee senators to vote against the Animal Fighting Enforcement Act (SB285), which would have increased penalties for spectators at any animal fight to a Class A misdemeanor and would have made cockfighting a Class E felony. Cockfighting is still a misdemeanor in Tennessee. That bill failed to pass a Senate vote yesterday.

No senators from Shelby County voted against the bill, but two passed on voting. Jim Kyle of Memphis, Brian Kelsey of Germantown, and Mark Norris of Collierville voted in favor of strengthening penalties against animal fighters and spectators. Ophelia Ford of Memphis did not vote, and Reginald Tate of Memphis passed on voting. The bill was only two votes shy of passing, so had Ford and Tate (or another of the many senators who passed on voting for this) taken a stand, the bill would have passed.

• Frank Niceley

The Animal Fighting Enforcement Act, SB285, was put up for a vote this morning in the Tennessee Senate, but it was rolled over until next week.

In discussions about the bill, which strengthens penalties for spectators at animal fights, Senator Frank Niceley of Knox County, a long-time opponent of punishing cockfighters, said the following: "I'm gonna vote against this bill, and I'm gonna tell you why ... it's out of respect for Abraham Lincoln, the founder of the Republican party, who was fighting cocks on the White House lawn when he was accosted by an irate woman. He said, 'Ma'am, as long as the good lord allows civilized men created in his own image to fight wars and kill each other while the civilized world stands by and watches, it's not my place to deny the lowly chicken the same opportunity.' "

The Tennessee Humane Political Action Committe sent Niceley's remarks around in their email newsletter today.

It would seem though, according to Thomas F. Schwartz, curator of the Henry Horner Lincoln Collection, that Niceley's information on Lincoln is incorrect. Schwartz sent a letter to the Humane Society of the United States that says, according to his research, Lincoln was never involved in cockfighting, and in fact, was a lover of animals. In Lincoln's autobiography, he wrote that he gave up hunting after shooting a turkey, and he was the first president to pardon a turkey on Thanksgiving.

But Niceley knows people who attend cockfights, and he has previously stated that he doesn't think cockfighters are "bothering anybody." In 2011, he was quoted as saying: "They pay their taxes. They're not bothering anybody ... It's been going on for centuries; I don't know what the big deal is. ... They buy food, they stay in hotels, they buy gas."

The Tennessee Humane PAC is also focusing on the state's "ag-gag" bill, which would protect animal agriculture facilities from activists attempting to document animal abuse.

Magician Rob Lake successfully made an armored truck appear out of thin air on a stage in front of the FedExForum Friday night. The performance was sponsored by Caesars Entertainment as part of its Millionaire Makers promotion.

Every week in April and for an unspecified number of weeks in the future, Harrah's Tunica, Tunica Roadhouse, and Horseshoe Casino will be giving away $1 million to a lucky Total Rewards player. For more information on the contest, read this post.

Photographer Larry Kuzniewski caught Lake's magic trick on camera.

Here's the stage before Lake made the truck appear:

And here's an "after" shot:

• Rob Lake

Money doesn't grow on trees, but it can appear out of thin air. At least, when award-winning magician Rob Lake is in town.

Lake will be in Memphis on Friday night to make an armored vehicle appear out of nowhere in front of the FedExForum. It's the kickoff for a promotion by Caesars Entertainment — parent company of Harrah's Tunica, Horseshoe Casino, and Tunica Roadhouse — that will award one person with a $1 million prize every Saturday night beginning in April.

To enter the Millionaire Maker giveaway, one must be a Total Rewards player. But signing up for Caesar's Total Reward program is free. Total Rewards members get discounts on dining and hotel rooms, as well as better seats for concerts at the casinos.

Sign-up for the first weekly giveaway begins this coming Monday, April 1st, and the first drawing will take place on Saturday, April 6th. The giveaways will happen every week in Tunica throughout the summer, and there is no set date for when the campaign will end. To enter, you must swipe your Total Rewards card in a kiosk inside one of the Caesars Entertainment casinos in Tunica each week.

"The million dollars has to make it to the casino somehow, so this armored truck is what delivers the million dollars. A millionaire appears out of thin air every week, so I'm making the delivery vessel appear out of thin air," said Lake, who, in 2008 at age 25, became the youngest person to ever win the prestigious Merlin Award for stage magicians.

"The Merlin Award is the magic industry's equivalent of the Oscar or Tony or Grammy. It's the highest honor a magician can receive," Lake said.

Lake says it's the first time he's made such a large vehicle appear in an open, outdoor setting.

"Normally, we're in a theater, where we have the audience on one side. So we can control the elements, like the lighting and if there's a draft or wind," Lake said. "But here, we'll be in the elements, in the daylight, with people literally all around us on all sides. It's the most challenging and impossible of conditions to present the illusion, especially with such a large and heavy apparatus. It weighs about 50,000 pounds."

The armored truck act will take place between 6:15 and 6:45 p.m. on Friday, March 29th in the outdoor entrance courtyard of the FedExForum. The event is free to the public.

The Red Door Foundation's "Saving Ourselves" Symposium, which is scheduled for June 6-9, is geared toward members of the African-American LGBTQ community, and the bulk of the conference will focus on clinical research, treatment, and prevention of HIV/AIDS. The Community Summit portion of the four-day event was slated to take place at the UT Alumni Center.

Shelby County represents 40 percent of all new HIV cases in Tennessee and 90 percent of those infections happen within the African-American population.

"We're just trying to come in and do a community education event," says Dustin James, board chair of the conference and Executive Director of the MidSouth AIDS Fund. "It's something they said was in line with their mission as a university."

James says the "Saving Ourselves" Symposium was approved by the university last fall, but recent scrutiny over sexual health events on the University of Tennessee Knoxville campus has had a domino effect across the state.

Earlier this month, word got out about the inaugural "Sex Week" event organized by Sexual Empowerment and Awareness Tennessee (SEAT) group of UT-Knoxville. The week, April 5-12, is dedicated to promoting a "comprehensive sex-positive understanding of sexuality that promotes sexual health, pleasure, and empowerment."

In response, Sen. Stacey Campfield (R), Rep. Bill Dunn (R), and Rep. Susan Lynn (R), pressured University of Tennessee to strip SEAT and Sex Week of its state funding or face inquiry by the Senate Education Committee. Chancellor Jimmy Cheek and President Joe DiPietro quickly announced that the $11,145 originally approved for Sex Week would be withdrawn.

Shortly thereafter, James and other organizers of the "Saving Ourselves" Symposium, received an email stating that they would no longer be allowed to host their event on the UTHSC campus. They were asked to remove the UT logo from all promotional materials.

"The UT system which is governed by the president's office on the Knoxville campus is undergoing revision of policy and procedure regarding usage of campus facilities," the email said.

James says the event will go on regardless, but the conference organizers are still hoping the university will reverse its position.

"We chose this location for a lot of reasons. It's along the trolley lines and a bus line. We're trying to gear this toward the African-American LGBTQ community, and we wanted to make sure it would be the easiest accessible venue," says James. "We also wanted to have up to 12 different classes taught at one time and get as much educational information out there at one time, and this location allows for that."

A representative of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center could not be reached for comment.

Hipsters: Either you are one or you hate 'em (or, more likely, you hate them even though you are one). But according to a new top 10 list from Movoto Real Estate, Memphis is practically a hipster-free zone.

Memphis is number seven on the list that's topped by El Paso, Texas. Other not-so-hip cities include Jacksonville, Florida; Fort Worth, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Houston, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; San Antonio, Texas; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Dallas, Texas.

How did a real estate company — an industry not exactly known for being uber-hip — determine the Bluff City wasn't a fit hotspot for the PBR-guzzling, fixie bike-riding cool kids?

They looked at the population of young people, the walkability and bikeability of the city, and the number of thrift shops, vinyl record stores, vegetarian restaurants, dive bars, and artsy jobs. And they used a combination of internet resources, such as Yelp, WalkScore, and bicycling.com, to determine the prevalence of these criteria.

We're not saying Memphis is a bastian of hipsterdom or anything, but we beg to differ with Movoto's findings. Memphis was named most improved city for bicycling by Bicycling magazine in 2012, after the city added 50-plus miles of bike lanes. Midtown surely has as many dive bars as churches, and Memphis is now home to three totally vegan restaurants (plus, oodles of vegan-friendly eateries) and at least three vinyl record stores. And while all of Memphis probably isn't very walkable, Midtown gets a score 78 on WalkScore. And we all know that Midtown is Memphis anyway. Oh wait, do we sound like hipsters now?

The first annual "Memphis Rocks" Film Contest has extended its deadline and waived the $25 entry fee.

Sponsored by the Lipscomb-Pitt Breakfast Club and Lipscomb-Pitt insurance, "Memphis Rocks" is a new category in the On Location: Memphis International Film and Music Festival, giving citizens a chance to share what they love about Memphis. Each submission will be uploaded to the "Memphis Rocks" YouTube channel, where online viewers can watch and vote for their favorites. The video with the most votes will receive the "viewer's choice" award. The new deadline is April 22nd.

For more on "Memphis Rocks," read Chris Shaw's Memphis Flyer story.