Pop Culture
Friday, January 20, 2012
Music / Pop Culture / Internet Testing Out a New Campaign Theme Song?: Obama Croons "Let's Stay Together."
Posted by Chris Herrington on Fri, Jan 20, 2012 at 7:55 AM
At a campaign event last night, with the right Rev. Al Green apparently in attendance, President Obama croons a little "Let's Stay Together."
Ladies and gentleman, the radical socialist Manchurian candidate bent on the destruction of all that is American, in action:
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Music / Film / Pop Culture / Internet Live From Memphis Turns 11
Posted by J.D. Reager on Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 1:42 PM
Venerable local arts/film/music organization Live From Memphis will celebrate its 11th birthday this Friday night (01/13) at 7 p.m. with an open-house party at company headquarters (1 S. Main).
Founder Christopher Reyes spoke to the Flyer this afternoon via telephone about the past, present, and future of LFM.
Flyer: What does it mean to you to be celebrating 11 years of Live From Memphis? Did you ever think you'd make it this far?
Reyes: Oh, no. I never thought we'd get to 10. Now I'm thinking about if we can make it to 20.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Film / Pop Culture / Sports Entertainment Memphis Heat DVD Out October 1st
Posted by J.D. Reager on Fri, Sep 30, 2011 at 9:07 AM
After multiple local screenings and successful theatrical runs all over the region, the long-awaited DVD release of Memphis Heat: The True Story of Memphis Wrasslin' has finally come to fruition.
Officially, the DVD doesn't hit the shelves until tomorrow, but Memphians will have an early opportunity to purchase the film in person later today (Friday, Sept. 30) from 4 - 7 p.m. at the Midtown location of Central BBQ (2249 Central). Memphis Heat is also currently available for order online right here.
The film chronicles the glory days of Memphis professional wrestling and features rare footage and exclusive interviews with the likes of Jerry "the King" Lawler, "Superstar" Bill Dundee, "Handsome" Jimmy Valiant, "The Mouth of the South" Jimmy Hart, and many more.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Music / Pop Culture / Internet Live From Memphis Launches "Nothing To See Here" Podcast
Posted by J.D. Reager on Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 3:12 PM
This week the website Live From Memphis unveiled the latest addition to its already robust arsenal of freely distributed online components promoting Memphis music, film and creative work, a weekly podcast titled "Nothing To See Here." Live From Memphis will celebrate the launch of the new podcast with a party this Thursday, August 25, 7 p.m. at the Lamplighter Lounge.
Hosted by local musician Kirk Rawlings (Organ Thief, The Oldest Profession) and musician/filmmaker Chris McCoy (Pisshorse, The New Intruders, the still in-the-works Antenna Club documentary), each installment of "Nothing To See Here" will feature a 30-minute conversation with a different local artist. The first episode withThe Hi-Tone Cafe owner/booker Jonathan Kiersky, can be heard here.
Rawlings and McCoy spoke with the Flyer this morning about what the new podcast is all about.
Flyer: What is the mission of "Nothing To See Here?"
Rawlings: There is no real mission in mind for this show beyond having as much fun as we can. It is not a means to an end or something we have grandiose dreams for, we just wanted to try it. The show is about bullshitting over drinks (sometimes many, many drinks) and getting to know someone. Memphis so often keeps each other at arm's length, and while it can be for good reason, we are bored with it.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Music / Pop Culture Live from Graceland: SiriusXM's Elvis Radio
Posted by Andrew Caldwell on Fri, Aug 12, 2011 at 1:31 PM
It ain’t nothin’ but non-stop Elvis for SiriusXM’s Elvis Radio channel which has been broadcasting live from Graceland 24/7 for the past seven years.
Tony “T Y” Yoken, a DJ at Elvis Radio, sat down to answer questions about the station.
Can you tell me a bit about the history of Elvis Radio?
The Elvis Radio Channel launched live from Graceland right here in Memphis on July 2nd, 2004 — just in time for the huge city wide 50th Anniversary Celebration of The Big Bang Of Rock & Roll!
Elvis’ longest on-going friendship was with George Klein who hosts two weekly shows on Elvis Radio. George and Elvis met and started hanging in 1948 when Elvis’ family moved to Memphis and he enrolled in the 8th grade at Humes High School. George says they met in music class!
We provide live coverage of landmark music, entertainment, and sports events here in Memphis including an annual Candlelight Vigil show every August 15th.
Here is one perspective on how to describe Elvis Radio…
“If you are an Elvis fan, no explanation is necessary. If you are not an Elvis fan…no explanation is possible.”
Monday, August 8, 2011
Music / Pop Culture Who's that Girl (Kissing Elvis)?
Posted by Chris Davis on Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 2:04 PM
Friday, June 3, 2011
Music / Film / Pop Culture / Internet The Onion's AV Club Visits Memphis Landmarks
Posted by Chris Herrington on Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 11:39 AM
The Onion's AV Club is doing an online travel series called Pop Pilgrims, in which a three-man crew is road-tripping to visit 36 pop culture landmarks around the country and shooting five-minute videos at each destination — one city a week for 12 weeks, three landmark locations in each city. Among the initial stops have been California locations that are featured in films such as Vertigo, The Graduate, and Reservoir Dogs. The crew's visit to Memphis is featured on the site this week. The three Memphis locations featured are:
The Arcade Restaurant, where they visited with Shangri-La Projects' Sherman Wilmott to talk about his experience as a production assistant on Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train:
Memphis: Arcade Restaurant - Set of Jim Jarmusch's Mystery Train
Ardent Studios, where they talked to owner John Fry and studio manager Jody Stephens about the studio's history.
Sun Studio, where they took in the studio tour, including getting some input from Goner Records' owner Eric Friedl.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Pop Culture King of Puerto Rico: Your occasional dose of vintage Lawler
Posted by Chris Davis on Thu, Feb 24, 2011 at 11:26 AM
See the joke? You know the kid's Puerto Rican because he's got a switchblade.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Film / Pop Culture Bob Friedstand on Animation History Tuesday
Posted by Susan Ellis on Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 2:06 PM
On Sunday, January 23rd, the Germantown Performing Arts Centre presents “Rhapsody in Boop,” a concert celebrating the animated, jazz-loving sex-pot Betty Boop, who was first introduced to audiences in the 1930s.
“I’ve been a fan of animation and visual effects since childhood, and I’ve worked in film and video all my life,” Friedstand says.
In the ’70s and ’80s, Friedstand lived in L.A. and worked on the first Star Trek movie. Back in Memphis, he’s been involved in a number of projects — from film features to music videos to the odd commercial job. (One promotional video he made for a medical company featured tear-duct plugs dancing to swing music.) At the IMAX theater, he’s the projectionist and does maintenance on the machines.
Friedstand says that his ArtSavvy presentation isn’t so much a lecture as it is a show-and-tell. Using PowerPoint, he’ll show clips and other materials that delve into the history of animation that extends from the early days to stop-motion on through to computer-generated advances in the form.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Pop Culture Signs: A holiday greeting or just bad advice?
Posted by Chris Davis on Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 1:29 PM
Honestly Pastor Williams, I love Christmas but after thinking it over I've decided to see other holidays...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Pop Culture Ryko Releases Bill Hicks Anthology
Posted by J.D. Reager on Thu, Sep 30, 2010 at 9:44 AM
Bill Hicks
The Essential Collection
(Ryko)
This month, Ryko rolled out a long awaited four-disc (2 CDs, 2 DVDs) retrospective on the now legendary late comedian, Bill Hicks. Since his untimely death in 1994, Hicks' status has slowly but steadily risen to the level of a cult icon, thanks in part to the success of “alternative” comedians such as David Cross, Patton Oswalt, and even Russell Brand, all of whom Hicks is often credited as being an artistic influence on and forerunner to.
Whether that's true or not, Hicks was definitely a dynamic, unconventional, but still polished (you'd never see Hicks carry notes onstage) performer. And his material still feels fresh and relevant, whether he's talking politics (Reagan, Bush, the first Iraq war) or pop culture (art vs. commerce, reality TV, manufactured pop stars).
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Pop Culture A Very Unfortunate Elvis Item
Posted by Chris Herrington on Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 12:51 PM
The items — which include a toe tag — were apparently saved by for many years by an embalmer at the Memphis Funeral Home and will be put up for auction in two lots (estimated at $6,000-$8,000 and $4,000-$6,000, respectively) on August 12th. You can see the Hindman site for more details — if you dare.
(Credit to Boing Boing for unearthing this.)
Friday, June 4, 2010
Music / Film / Pop Culture Sound Advice: Jesco White at the Hi-Tone Cafe and Brooks Museum
Posted by J.D. Reager on Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 2:07 PM
This Sunday, June 6th, presents two unique opportunities for local devotees of cult icon Jesco “the Dancing Outlaw” White to delve further into the Appalachian wild-man's bizarre and, at times, comical world.
White, 53, originally achieved notoriety as the subject of the 1991 PBS documentary Dancing Outlaw, which chronicled White's devotion to the dying art of mountain dancing (his father, D. Ray White, is regarded by some as the greatest mountain dancer who ever lived), as well his many criminal exploits, regular drug use, and troubled family life. Yet the film played like a comedy, and took on a life of its own thanks to word of mouth and relentless bootlegging.
In 2009, actor and Jackass creator Johnny Knoxville produced a new film about White and his large and equally rambunctious extended family, titled The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. The film serves as both an update on the life of Jesco White, and a culture study on the depressed, poverty-ridden West Virginia community that helped shape the Whites into a hell-raising bunch of misfits and tap-dancers.
Music / Pop Culture Faces of Death: Photographer Jonathan Postal opens All the People who Died
Posted by Chris Davis on Fri, Jun 4, 2010 at 1:59 PM
"All the People who Died," which opens at the Jack Robinson Gallery on Friday, June 4 and runs through July 19, doesn't just include shots from Postal's punk days. It also includes artists as diverse as Alex Chilton and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Pop Culture Dead Again: Scenes from a Zombie March
Posted by Chris Davis on Fri, May 28, 2010 at 11:15 PM
Once a year people dress up like zombies and take a walk down Main Street for no apparent reason Here's a taste of the Memphis Zombie March 2010.
THIS WEEK'S ISSUE
SPECIAL ISSUES
