• thefreshmarket.com

Need a little inspiration for your holiday cooking? Or better yet, need a big push toward holiday meals to go?

Stop by Fresh Market Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the store’s annual “Taste of the Holidays Sampling Event” where the food is fresh, free, and someone else prepared it.

6.

I admire most of Harvey's albums, and all of them up to this point. But Stories from the City, Stories From the Sea is the only one I love — probably because it's so full of affection itself. After years of tormented, severe, magnificent English blues-rock of her own imagining, Harvey crossed the Atlantic and made her love album: A woozy, breezy, blushing but endlessly rocking romantic ramble through Manhattan and Brooklyn. In truth, I hadn't listened to it front-to-back in a few years before pulling it out during a summer vacation road trip this year. And I was taken aback at how gloriously well it had held up.

Song Sample: "You Said Something"

Equality Project
by Bianca Phillips

Just one day after President Barack Obama signed the Matthew Shepard Act, expanding the federal hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity, local lawmakers and University of Memphis law students discussed efforts to enhance the hate crimes law in Tennessee.

In a panel discussion at the U of M's Cecil B. Humphreys Law School last Thursday, state representative Jeanne Richardson and state senator Beverly Marrero discussed a bill they're co-sponsoring that would add "gender identity and expression" to existing state law. Attorney Murray Wells, Tennessee Equality Project board member Darlene Fike, and hate crime victim Jack Robinson also were on the panel.

• Jeanne Richardson

Though "sexual orientation" was added to the state hate crimes law in 2001, Richardson introduced a bill last February to enhance the law with protections for transgender people.

"One of my colleagues actually said to me, 'I don't like [expletive] queers,'" Richardson told the panel. "I've been a lifelong Midtowner and downtowner and I haven't heard those kinds of comments about gay people in years. But they're alive and well."

If the bill makes it out of the House, Marrero will have to convince her colleagues in the Senate to pass it as well.

"When I was teaching my kids right from wrong years ago, I never would have imagined that we'd still be dealing with this issue in 2009," Marrero said.

Even though the federal law encompasses transgender people, Wells said a state law would offer stronger protections.

"At the state level, we're far more equipped to deal with assaults. That's the sort of thing the Shelby County district attorney's office does, not the feds," Wells said.

Locally, Wells represented Duanna Johnson, a transgender woman who was beaten by former Memphis police officer Bridges McRae in the Shelby County Jail. McRae hit Johnson on the head with handcuffs after she refused to answer to "he/she" and "faggot."

McRae cannot be charged with a hate crime under state law yet, but he will face a judge on a federal civil rights violation on December 14th.

Richardson encouraged those who support adding transgender protections to state law to contact their representatives.

"Don't make it easy for people to do the wrong thing," Richardson said. "The more people who contact them about this issue, the more likely it is to pass."

Further: Dan Aykroyd = Yogi. Anna Faris to play a documentary filmmaker. I smell Oscuster (an Oscar-winning box-office blockbuster).

No word yet if the script will have Boo Boo bringing pic-a-nic baskets back.

A.I. almost a Clipper?

Iverson can ponder what might have been when the Grizzlies visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday. Back in July, the Clippers seriously contemplated offering him a one-year contract paying up to $4 million so he could be a “Vinnie Johnson-type” player, a source with knowledge of the talks said. Denver Nuggets assistant Tim Grgurich, who was considered for a job on Mike Dunleavy’s staff over the offseason, also strongly recommended Iverson to the franchise.

The Clippers, however, were concerned about how Iverson’s addition would affect the development of second-year shooting guard Eric Gordon, along with other chemistry issues. The Clippers cooled on the idea after Iverson told Dunleavy in a phone conversation that he would have a serious problem with coming off the bench.

The possibility of signing Iverson became a dead issue once the Clippers acquired guard Sebastian Telfair and swingman Rasual Butler. But had A.I. been fine with coming off the bench, he could very well be with the Clippers now.

Whew. That must have been some party!

But while I was in that lovely town, I wandered past this football stadium. It wasn't a very large place, so I imagine it must have been for a local high school. What I most recall, though — in fact, it was the only thing I can remember about Ripley — was the curious sign on the place.

It's called Tiny Knee Stadium.

Does anybody know why?

Like his former cohort Judy Peiser, with whom he co-founded the Center for Southern Folklore, Ferris understands how to be a true folklorist: He disappears into the background and, with tape recorder and camera, documents his subjects in their natural light.

In this week's issue of the Flyer, Leonard Gill reviews Ferris' newest book, Give My Poor Heart Ease. As Gill notes, the Mississippi-born Ferris, founder of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at Ole Miss and the former chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, who currently works at the Center for the Study of the American South at UNC, will return to his former stomping grounds — the Center for Southern Folklore — for a booksigning at 7 p.m. tomorrow.

The book's title comes from a 21-minute film produced by Yale University Media Design Studio with the Center for Southern Folklore back in 1975. (View it at Folkstreams.net.)

Meanwhile, the book itself is chock full of revelations, such as this first-person narrative from Otha Turner in his prime:

"I can dance. I can sing, ride horses, chop cotton and plow, whoop and holler, cut somersets, do all that stuff. I got two acres and two-tenths of land. I bought it. Scurrying hard, my labor paid for it. I paid one thousand for the land and 150 dollars for the house. Paid three hundred dollars to move the house. And I rent twelve acres and a half of cotton land."

With that, Memphis will lose its access to fabulous November fashion. I mean, let's be honest, the convention is known as much for hats as its economic impact or spiritual message.

So the other day, Justin let me tag along with him. Unfortunately, it was mid-morning and there weren't that many hats out and about, but on the other hand, a lot of the outfits sparkled in the mid-morning sun. There were diamonds and rhinestones, iridescent fabrics, beads, sequins, jewelry. Take Shelia Sewell's outfit, for example.

She was wearing a cream-colored three-piece skirt suit in lace. But her leopard print hat includes a big satin bow and a rhinestone trim.

And her jacket clasp is completely inlaid with rhinestones, as well. Which matches her necklace and earrings.

Cute little Faith Jackson was in town from Chicago to attend the convention and wore this gray skirt with a short-sleeved black cotton blouse because she thought it was going to be hot.

(Funny how our perceptions change depending on what we're used to. See the next item.)

"My skirt looks like it's wool, but it's actually cotton," she says.

She says her style is simple, but sophisticated. I especially liked her silver name necklace.

Texan Christin Gordon was one of the vendors out on the Main Street Mall this week.

(I think I'll let you guess what she was selling.)

I loved her mix of high and low — what she called her "Chicago" coat, the stripey tee and jeans, and her Texas A&M/Aggie camo cap.

"I wanted to be warm," she said. "It's beautiful now, but when the wind starts to blow, it gets cold."

She also brought a number of different scarves with her, not just to Memphis, but to the booth.

"I love scarves. I have a bunch," she says. "You can still be cute in the cold."

Alexander, who was hired in March 2008 to fill the long-vacant director position, was let go after an investigation found inadequate administrative oversight, a lack of documentation on paperwork, and missing paperwork. Wharton said some of that paperwork pertained to the use of euthanasia drugs. [image-1]

"That has led to the unacceptable conditions here," said Wharton, standing outside the animal shelter.

The other three shelter employees who were placed on paid suspension after a shelter raid by the Shelby County Sheriff's office last week remain on paid leave.

Wharton announced that he's appointing Lucy Shaw as interim facility coordinator. Shaw once served as the CEO of the Med. Wharton said he's appointing a health care expert because, we're going to have the same level of care [for the animals] as you would want if you were taking your child or grandparent [to the hospital]." Shaw's first task will be to inspect the facility to determine a plan of action for improving shelter operations.

Wharton says he'll also be working with the Memphis City Council to restore funding for a shelter operations manager, a position that was recently slashed from the city budget.]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

• The Elephant Man

Let's all cross our fingers and hope that Theatre Memphis takes good care of itself this weekend and doesn't break a hip. This enduring organization—quite literally born in a stable— is pulling out the stops to celebrate its 90th birthday. There's a concert by Kallen Esperian on Friday evening and dancing into the late bright. Then There are kid's events on Saturday afternoon.

But what does all this shindigging mean for people who actually want to see a show? The choices are slimmer than usual to be sure, but there's still plenty to choose from.

The Commercial Appeal reported today that there were similar problems at Alexander's previous employer, the Animal Services Division of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Alexander was hired by the Herenton administration after the proverbial "nationwide search."

• Bianca Phillips
• Vigil at Memphis Animal Shelter

The public's outrage was fueled by photos in local media of starving animals and the disgusting conditions at the shelter. There have been dozens of letters to the editor, comments on websites and, last night, a candlelight vigil. And as might have been predicted, numerous reactive letters and comments immediately appeared along the lines of: "How come all these people are outraged about animals when (pick one) 1) babies are being aborted 2) children are being shot 3) people are being murdered at Fort Hood ..."

It's so tiresome and misguided. The director and employees of the Animal Shelter betrayed the public's trust. We expected them to treat animals in their care humanely and compassionately. Instead, they ran an animal holocaust. Why shouldn't people be pissed and why shouldn't they protest vociferously? And what's that got to do with drive-by shootings? They are also horrible, but caring passionately about one cause does not preclude people from caring passionately about another cause.

I don't understand why it's somehow deemed clever or insightful to demean the outrage because it's "just about animals." As in, "I love my dog, but he's not as important as my Momma." Well, duh.

Comparing the importance of causes is not insightful or clever. It's predictable and meaningless. If you feel your issues are more important, then by all means organize, protest, make your voice heard. But lay off the silly conflation of issues. It's apples and kittens.

Voting will be held through December 18th, and winners will be revealed in the magazine's February 2010 issue.

• Larry Kuzniewski
• Griz Advice? Feed beasts on the block.

1. Slow it Down, Pound it Inside: The Grizzlies three most dynamic scorers are O.J. Mayo, Rudy Gay, and Allen Iverson. But the team's most efficient scorers have been interior tandem Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Randolph is averaging 20 points a game on 56% shooting. Gasol is averaging 18 points a game on 60% shooting. Each player is averaging four offensive rebounds a game and shooting better than 78% from the foul line. They have also established quick chemistry together, hooking up on several high-low plays.

With Randolph so-far correcting the sloppy shot selection that had grown to infect his game in recent years and a slimmed-down Gasol making a mini-leap as an offensive threat, the Grizzlies suddenly have one of the best offensive frontcourts in the league. On most nights, this is where the team's advantage will be and the team has been at it's best when exploiting it. But with all the firepower on the perimeter, it's been too easy for the team to neglect feeding the beasts on the block. Wednesday night, in losing to the undersized Golden State Warriors, Randolph had only nine field-goal attempts, with 6 of those coming in a first half in which the Grizzlies were only behind by one point.

Slowing the game down a little and focusing on the interior game could also help the team's porous defense as the Grizzlies don't have great depth and have been losing track of outside shooters in up-and-down games.

• Chancellor Perkins

Chancellor Perkins denied the immediate injunctive relief sought by Common Cause of Tennessee and associated counsel, including University of Memphis law professor and county commissioner Steve Mulroy, but explicitly invalidated the persistent claim by defendants Hargett and Goins that no acceptable voting machines are available to carry out the act’s mandates.

What the Act, passed by the Tennessee legislature with virtual bi-partisan unanimity in 2008, calls for is that all 95 Tennessee counties be outfitted with optical-scan voting machines in time for the 2010 election cycle. The machines would electronically process paper ballots.
\
Hargett and Goins have raised several objections — the most noteworthy being that the Act requires machines meeting 2005 standards of the Federal Election Assistance Commission, a monitoring body established under the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA). In his ruling after Thursday’s ruling on a motion by Common Cause to require immediate action by Hargett and Goins, Chancellor Perkins summarized the key points this way:

“The TVCA does not require the voting system to be implemented by the State of Tennessee to meet 2005 standards. The Court determines that the State is obligated to take prompt, effective steps to meet the statutory deadline using compliant voting systems.

“Without making a direct ruling at this early stage about what HAVA requires, the Court determines that the State has discretion in determining whether to utilize the 2002 or 2005 standards, as long as this choice of standards does not jeopardize meeting the legislative mandate to implement a voting system that uses compliant precinct-based optical scanners on or before the November 2010 general election….”

Chancellor Perkins declined at this point, however, to find that the defendants in the suit had “wrongfully” intended to obstruct implementation of the act, and the sentence granting them “discretion” on the matter of standards weighs in the defendants’ favor, just as his warning that they may not “jeopardize” implementation of the Act weighs in favor of the plaintiffs.

The bottom line is that both sides appear to have enough wiggle room to continue a protracted struggle that has taken on discernibly partisan outlines.

In his statement on the ruling, Secretary of State Hargett invoked another major argument against immediate implementation of TVCA — that of exorbitant expense, concluding: “…Responsible legislators argue with these hard economic times upon us, it is not the time for additional taxes or government spending. As I stated earlier, we are preparing to go back to paper ballots as directed under current law by the November 2010 election. We understand this debate will continue in the next legislative session."

While Hargett’s statement would appear to be guardedly compliant with the Act and Thursday’s ruling, the references to “current law” and to the prospect that “this debate will continue in the next legislative session” would seem to validate the fears of TVCA supporters that Hargett andf Goins mean to postpone any effort to implement the TVCA in the hope that the General Assembly, meeting in January, will amend the Act, negate it, or postpone the date of its implementation.

The unspoken premise of the showdown — which, in political terms, matches key Republicans like Hargett and Goins against Democratic spokespersons — is that next year’s elections will determine the shape of federal and state reapportionment in the elections of the next decade. Demcorats have been outspoken that only a “paper trail” can prevent electronic hacking or other potential distortions of election results.

Various proponents of the Act have rebutted claims, asserted by Hargett, Goins, and others, that the Act would impose prohibitive expenses on the 95 Tennessee counties, maintaining that $35 million in federal HAVA funds already dispensed to the state are more than enough to offset the costs of implementation.

Mulroy issued a lengthy statement interpreting Chancellor Edwards’s ruling as a qualified victory for the plaintiffs and said, “If the Defendants do not promptly implement, the Plaintiffs will have an additional opportunity to seek relief from the court.”

State Rep. Gary Odom of Nashville, Democratic leader in the state House, said in a statement, “…The court has ruled that it is time for the secretary of state’s office to stop dragging its feet and to provide for paper balloting for all of our voting machines in Tennessee elections by 2010.”

And state Senator Roy Herron (D-Dresden), a candidate for governor, said, “…I call on Secretary Hargett to implement the Voter Confidence Act and begin purchasing new voting machines with paper ballots without delay. The time to protect our vote is now….”

A statement by Tennessee Democratic Party chairman Chip Forrester included this assertion: "...Mr. Hargett cannot use the bogus claim anymore that the machines do not exist. Now maybe he will follow the law and do the job he was sworn to do."

But all indications were that, pending another court test or ruling in the next two months, the battle may well continue into the General Assembly in January before anything definitive is done.

Another statement by Hargett suggests as much by indicating that the shape of a "request for proposal" (an invitation by the state for competitive bidding to supply the machines) cannot be determined until December or January and that "[a]t that time, we will issue a RFP to purchase machines certified to the strongest standards."

Last week, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the shelter after a tip came into District Attorney Bill Gibbons’ office alleging abuse. Deputies found malnourished animals (like the one pictured) starved to the point of euthanasia, as well as dogs with rabies placed in cages with healthy dogs. Gibbons said criminal charges are likely.

Mayor AC Wharton has assembled a task force to look into the problem, and cameras have been installed at the shelter. He’s suspended euthanasia at the shelter until the city wraps up a investigation tomorrow. Wharton is expected to further address the problem at a press conference to be held Friday morning.]]> [ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Is there anything more delicious-sounding than a cake-cutting ceremony?

Today at Shara’s Paperie, there will be such an event to announce its new line of gift cakes, Cake Bliss, produced locally by Hilda Osarogiagbon.

Osarogiagbon says the path to Cake Bliss and Shara’s Paperie was like one of a boomerang.