Colors of the Mind

Contemporary artists skirt the edge of reality.

• by Carol Knowles

Free Porn, Desperate Housewives, and American Idol

These are allegedly the top three search subjects on the Internet these days. The first is a myth; the second soap-opera fiction; and the last is (theoretically, at least) “reality.” In tonight’s American Idol semifinal elimination, one of the three remaining contestants will return to “real” reality.

Last week, it was thought that Elliott Yamin, the untrained underdog with the magical natural voice, would last another week into the Top Two. (We think that’s only fair. After all, El’s the one who had his ticket bought for last summer’s American Idol audition in Memphis — the one that was rained out by the afterwash of Katrina), so he’s almost home folks. But the inside betting today is that the E-train probably got derailed last night when Yamin gave so-so performances on his three esoteric songs.

That leaves Californian Katharine McPhee, the looker, and Alabaman Taylor Hicks, the karaoke spastic, as probabilities to lung it out next week.

See you at the Barbecue Fest, Elliott.

• by John Branston

Cameron's Not So Nice

According to a survey done for Newsday, Johnny Depp topped the list of Hollywood's best and worst autograph signers. Homeboy Justin Timberlake’s main squeeze, Cameron Diaz, was named the worst.

Diaz, the article said, usually either snubs fans who ask for her autograph, or gives them lectures on how "stupid autographs are." Hmmm. Sounds like she needs a few lessons in graciousness from her Southern Gentleman.

• by John Branston

All the Cool Kids are Doing It

More than 30 percent of the 9th-graders in Memphis City Schools have had sexual intercourse. Almost 70 percent of MCS seniors have. And Memphis students were above the state and national averages on questions concerning sex with multiple partners, pregnancy, dating violence, and low condom use. That’s according to a “self-reported” survey developed by the Center for Research on Women at the U OF M and administered by MCS. For more go here.

• by John Branston

Shop Til You Drop

It’s that time of year. Out with old, in with the new. Clean out your over-stuffed underwear drawer. Donate that sweater you haven’t worn since 1992 to Goodwill, and get rid of all those socks that have lost their mates.

And then go buy all new stuff at Spring Market at the Agricenter. They’ll have over 100 booths of clothing, jewelry, gourmet foods, and cookware. Also learn makeover tips from Dan Brickley, host of TLC’s A Makeover Story.

Shopping begins May 19th and goes through the 21st. Cover is $7 at the door. For more, go here.

• by John Branston

Q And A: Larry Godwin

Director of the Memphis Police Department

• by Ben Popper

Clean Getaway

Channel 5 Eyewitness News reported Wednesday that robbers are targeting Memphis car washes. On Tuesday, May 16th, a man was carjacked at a car wash on Highland; the thieves got the man’s white Pontiac Grand Prix and $20 in cash. Apparently, three other similar incidents have occurred since April.

So if someone writes “Wash Me” on the back window of your vehicle, beware: It just might be a trap.

• by John Branston

A Breath of Fresh Air?

The polluted air in Shelby County gives new meaning to the term "Dirty South."

• by Bianca Phillips

Business Etiquette for Dummies

You’re up for a new job and your prospective boss invites you to dinner. You're presented with a baked potato. If you tear off the foil, wad it into a ball, and set the ball on the tablecloth, the potato may be baked, but your goose is cooked. This, according to Lillian H. Chaney, professor of office management and an expert in business etiquette at the University of Memphis.

Chaney and Jeanette S. Martin, an associate professor at the University of Mississippi business school, are the authors of Global Business Etiquette: A Guide to International Communication and Customs (Praeger Publishers). Some more “Don’ts”:

Don't do like the businesswoman from Texas who showed up at a conference in Antwerp in a bright-green jacket. (Black would have been more appropriate.) And don't do like the man who made the mistake of wearing a tan suit in the dark-suited company of his Tokyo associates. And definitely don't give a striped tie as a gift to an Englishman. It may just represent a British regiment other than his own!

Lessons learned: Mind your manners. Don't look dumb. According to Jeanette Martin, if you're doing business abroad and you have poor etiquette, "it doesn't matter how intelligent you are. You are going to be viewed as stupid."

• by John Branston

The Cheat Sheet

• by Michael Finger

Keeping the Faith

A Memphis group arises from a failing national organization to deal with diversity issues.

• by Mary Cashiola

It's a Boy for Isaac Hayes

People magazine is reporting that Adjowa and Isaac Hayes are the parents of a baby boy. Nana Kwadjo Hayes — Hayes's fourth son and his first with Adjowa — was born April 10, said spokesman Rob Moore. Nana, means "King," and Kwadjo (pronounced "Kwo-Jo") means "boy born on Monday" (April 10 was a Monday). Hayes was named honorary king of Ghana's Ada region in 1992 in honor of his humanitarian work. He and Adjowa were married in May 2005. To read more, go here.

• by John Branston

You Can’t Win ’Em All

Takegreatpictures.com recently ranked the Memphis In May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest 7th in its top 10 event and destination picks for taking pictures this spring. It’s number 1 pick for pix? The World Grits Festival in St. George, South Carolina.

Southland Tales

Director Richard Kelly (left) impressed the critics with his last film, Donnie Darko. His latest, Southland Tales — maybe not so much. At least that’s the first reaction at the Cannes Film Fest.

The film depicts the effect of a terrorist nuclear attack on the U.S. It stars The Rock as, well, The Rock; Sarah Michelle Gellar as a porn star with a talk show; and last but not least, our own Justin Timberlake as a crazed Iraq War veteran selling a “spiritual drug” to people in Los Angeles.

If it all sounds a bit, um, goofy, take heart in the praise being aimed at JT. “I think you will see Justin do extraordinary work,” said Kelly, who called Timberlake’s role the “spiritual center of the film. Read more about it here.

• by John Branston

A Nod for Wink

From Overton Square to Hollywood Boulevard: Former Memphis television star Wink Martindale is getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Wink’s star will be placed between Suzanne Sommers and Tom Hanks. The “installation,” as they call it, is June 2nd.

Martindale hosted a program called Dance Party in the 1950s and 1960s and briefly owned a restaurant in Overton Square.

• by John Branston

The Best Fest?

• by Mary Cashiola

American Idol: Memphis Has a Dog in the Hunt!

Now that the competition for the next American Idol comes down to Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee, (with our previous sentimental favorite, Elliott Yamin, having been eliminated this week), we find out that Hicks’ band back home in Birmingham performs under the name “The Little Memphis Blues Orchestra.”

And now we know why one reviewer kept referring to Hicks’ “bluesy Memphis style,” and why another reviewer jested on the eve of the visit by four Idol finalists to Graceland two weeks ago that “Taylor Hicks will get to revisit the Memphis places where he and The King hung out when they both were kids in the 1940s.” (That joke is based on the 29-year-old Hicks’ prematurely gray hair.)

At any rate: You da man, Taylor! You da band, Little Memphis! Break a leg. Or, better yet, Knock on Wood.

Clarification: Some Internet sites are reporting that the Memphis Blues Orchestra will be performing with Hicks on next week's Idol finale. That rumor is being denied by members of the band and was evidently based on video clips of Hicks gigging with the band on an Idol-sponsored visit home to Birmingham last week.

• by John Branston

Bottoming Out

ATV riders rip through the Covington Pike Bottoms.

• by Ben Popper

Ted Faiers: A Memphis Original

If you haven't dropped in to see the Ted Faiers exhibit downtown, you need to do so. Faiers was a true original whose works influenced a generation of painters.

"Pattern Recognition: A Ted Faiers Retrospective" - prints from 1952 through 1955 by Ted Faiers. Through July 2nd. Memphis College of Art “On the Street” Gallery, 431 S. Main.

• by John Branston

Things Just Didn't Pan Out

Viking Culinary Arts, one of the cornerstones of Peabody Place and the downtown Main Street Mall, has closed. A sign on the door says other Viking retail locations in Memphis will remain open. The downtown store at 153 S. Main is closing at a time when downtown, and South End in particular, are enjoying a boom in residential construction.

• by John Branston

Another Arena

Another Mid-South sports venue is in the works, this one in the Arkansas Ozarks town of Bentonville, which is also the headquarters of Wal-Mart.

Last week developers unveiled plans for a 9,000-seat arena that would host hockey, soccer, basketball, and big-name concerts. A group of 13 investors joined together as Arkansas Sports and Entertainment Park to finance the arena and expects to build it off State Highway 12, near the regional airport. Spokesman and ASEP managing member Chris Talley — who is also president of Memphis Pro Soccer, an organization that’s building a new American Indooor Soccer League franchise in Memphis — says the facility could have a $56 million impact on Northwest Arkansas and attract 400,0000 visitors a year. The arena is the first phase of plans that also include hotels and restaurants. For more go here.

• by John Branston

GADFLY: Is the Snooping Aimed at Al Quaida -- or at Us?

• by Marty Aussenberg

Gibbons Bows out

District Attorney Bill Gibbons, a Republican and the target of an organized effort by Democratic nominees for countywide office who objected to his planned attendance at the Democrats' annual Kennedy Day dinner Monday night, confirmed by a formal statement Monday that he would not be attending the event.

Said Gibbons: "I purchased a ticket to the Kennedy Day Dinner held by the Democratic party for two reasons.  First, as district attorney, I am the public's lawyer. I consider it part of my job to be present throughout the community in order to listen to people's concerns. Second, many key Democrats who support my re-election had urged me to attend.

"As district attorney, I represent all of the people. In my re-election campaign, I intend to seek the support of all citizens, regardless of party. Our community would be much stronger and less divisive if more candidates for office went the extra mile to reach across party lines.  I have always done that and will continue to do so.

"Based on the recommendations of many of my Democratic supporters, I have decided not to attend the dinner tonight."

The attorney general's statement was accompanied by a lengthy list of individuals Gibbons described as his Democratic supporters.

This week's Flyer will provide a follow-up report on the controversy and on the dinner itself, which features a keynote address by Governor Phil Bredesen.

• by Jackson Baker

Common Cause

Looking down the road, GOP Senate candidate Hilleary reaches out to rival Bryant for a joint effort of sorts.

• by Jackson Baker

Return of the Gadfly

The question arises: What is the government's (and, in particular, the Bush administration's) motivation for its domestic surveillance and recently revealed telephone data gathering programs? Oh sure, they say it's to catch terrorists (so much for the validity of the "fighting them over there so we won't have to fight them over here" mantra). But it's pretty obvious by now that the government hasn't needed (and doesn't need) to break the law to catch terrorists. Read more here.

• by Flyer Staff

All’s Well That Ends (if this Democratic Brouhaha Ever Does End)

After all the fuss and bother over the weekend about the prospect of Republican nominees attending the Shelby County Democrats’ Kennedy Day Dinner, there was no taint of Republicanism when the newly cleansed Democrats’ dinner actually took place this week. Sheriff Mark Luttrell bowed out gracefully, and District Attorney General Bill Gibbons responded to an intermediary’s plea that he do likewise. The D.A. got his check returned by a heavily pressured Democratic chairman Matt Kuhn, who had a few sardonic things to say at the dinner about his party’s ongoing rites of purification. Read more.

• by Jackson Baker

Common Cause

Looking down the road, GOP Senate candidate Hilleary reaches out to a rival.

• by Jackson Baker

POLITICS: Litmus Test

• by Jackson Baker

DEMS GIVE CHAIRMAN ULTIMATUM: DISINVITE GIBBONS, LUTTRELL

• by Jackson Baker

EDITORIAL: On Democratic Purity

• by Flyer Staff

Democratic Chairman Gets Ultimatum

Seven local Democratic Party nominees have addressed a letter/ultimatum to party chairman Matt Kuhn (pictured), that "demanded" he disinvite two leading Republicans – Sheriff Mark Luttrell and Ditrict Attorney General Bill Gibbons – from Monday night's Kennedy Day Dinner, an annual party fund-raising affair that will feature Governor Phil Bredsesen. A storm of controversy has erupted in Democratic ranks over the planned appearance at the affair of Luttrell and Gibbons, both of whom have prominent Democratic supporters and frequently cross party lines on such occasions. Read more.

NBA Mock Draft

Check out the latest forecast from HoopsHype.com. You’ll see where the Tigers’ Rodney Carney might land … and how an old Tiger foe may well become a new resident at FedExForum. But hey, where’s Shawne Williams?

• by John Branston

A Matter of Degree

Darius Washington faces a life-changingdecision: the NBA or a B.A.?

• by Frank Murtaugh

That’s “beh-JAY-gus”

He’s currently on the cover of three national golf magazines, one of which says his surname means “chick magnet” in Spanish. PGA rookie Camilo Villegas will be in Memphis for the upcoming FedEx St. Jude Classic. His gallery will be the one with the teen squeals. Read about Villegas here.

• by John Branston

Redbirds Give a Gift

One member of the Redbirds RBI program has been selected to receive one year of elite athletic training with D1 Sports Training, a speed, strength and agility training facility in Cordova.

"This program will give a child the opportunity to go through some training to better prepare his body not only for baseball but for sports in general," Redbirds Vice President of Community Relations Reggie Williams said.

D1 Sports Training is owned and operated by both college and professional athletes, including partial ownership by Shane Battier of the Memphis Grizzlies.

"We are proud to have the opportunity to expose a child who would otherwise never have this type of opportunity to have access to this kind of professional training," Williams said.

• by John Branston

FROM MY SEAT: Cannon Shots

• by Frank Murtaugh

Starstruck

Ira Sachs scores big names for his new movie: period genre flick Marriage.

• by Chris Herrington

La Lohan tries on adulthood.

• by Mary Cashiola

West Memphis Three Movie

Variety reported last week that Dimension films has purchased the rights to Mara Leveritt’s book Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three, which covered the murder of three young boys and the controversial conviction of three teens in West Memphis in the early 90s. The film will be directed by Scott Derrickson and and written by Paul Harris Boardman, who worked together on The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Read the story here.

On Sunday, former Misfit member Michale Graves will stop by the Complex for the Almost Home Tour concert in support of Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin, the men convicted of the murders who are also known as the West Memphis Three. Read the story.

Straight Talk

• by Flyer Staff

Lunacy and Politics

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

• by Molly Ivins

Death Row Treadmill

On the eve of his scheduled execution, differing views of Sedley Alley.

• by John Branston