I’ve spent too much time in line at the grocery store lately and have not been able to escape the latest alleged celebrity romances. They run from the wholesome (Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner) to the bizarre (Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes) to the hotly intriguing (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie). Ben and Jen seem […]
Posted inNews, The Fly-By
Surfin Safari
Many visitors to the Memphis Zoo this summer might call it a “hot spot.” The animals can retreat to the shade or the cool waters of their moats, an amenity that could make zoo patrons jealous. But humans will soon have access to one hot spot the animals don’t. Next time you’re visiting the zoo, […]
Posted inOpinion
Hillary for President?
What the hell are top Democrats doing playing footsy with Hillary Clinton? Do they have a secret death pact we dont know about? If they want to lose a third general election in a row, go ahead, run Hillary for president of the United States of America. The reasons not to do such a thing […]
Posted inNews, The Fly-By
Four More Years?
It’s time to bring our sojourn in Iraq back into some focus. And a few recent events and news stories should help us on our way. First, there was the recent story by Walter Pincus in The Washington Post, in which it was revealed that two of the Army intelligence analysts most responsible for the […]
Posted inArt, Art Feature
That Girl
Visiting Rod Moorhead’s “Recent Works” exhibit at the Jay Etkin Gallery is a unique experience. For starters, his artist’s statement is a highly charged short story titled “Movable Type,” which is printed in cyanotype on a clay tablet. In this account of young, reckless love, the artist searches for a “classy broad whose hips move […]
Posted inFood & Wine, Food & Drink
Drinking It In
Sommelier (soh-mell-yay) is the French term for cellar master or wine steward. He or she is the person who advises customers on selecting wine to go with their meal, their tastes, and their budget. In the movies, he’s the guy working for the swanky restaurant who offers up the cork to be smelled. A sommelier […]
Posted inTheater, Theater Feature
Foreign Affairs
Larry Shue, a 39-year-old actor and playwright, was well on his way to having a brilliant career when his commuter plane crashed in 1985, killing everybody on board. As a performer, he was acting in plays from New York to L.A. and appearing regularly on One Life To Live. As a comedy writer, he’d found […]
Posted inMusic, Record Reviews
Short Cuts
Elevator Hot Hot Heat (Sire) The Bravery The Bravery (Island) The Best Little Secrets Are Kept Louis XIV (Atlantic) The year’s not even half over, and already 2005 is shaping up to be the Year of 1982. So far, the wildly predominant alt-rock trend has been post-punk nostalgia. Vancouver’s Hot Hot Heat may not be […]
Posted inBook Features, Books
Marking Time
School of the Arts By Mark Doty HarperCollins, 108 pp., $22.95 In case you don’t read contemporary poetry, Mark Doty is a nationally recognized, award-winning poet and the author of the memoirs Heaven’s Coast (1996) and Firebird (1999). Each fall, he teaches a semester at the University of Houston, but he divides the better part […]
Posted inPolitics, Politics Beat Blog
Situations and Circumstances
Editor’s note: Last week, more than 30,000 people — including Vice President Cheney, first lady Laura Bush, and members of Congress — were evacuated from their offices or homes in Washington, D.C., due to a perceived threat from a nearby small plane. President Bush, who was biking in Maryland, was not notified until the threat […]
Posted inNews, The Fly-By
They’re Ba-ack
Pull-a-Part, a regional chain of auto salvage yards, is having a hard time convincing Memphians that they’re not your average junkyard. At a public meeting in South Memphis recently, residents let the company know they don’t approve of Pull-a-Part’s plan to open a facility on Belz Road behind the Southgate Shopping Center. Pull-a-Part wanted to […]
Posted inBook Features, Books
Daydream Believer
How To Be Idle By Tom Hodgkinson HarperCollins, 282 pp., $18.95 In this thing called living, you’ve got a couple of long-range options. You can subscribe to the work ethic, knock yourself out, and go for the gold. For inspiration, let killjoys John Wesley, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Margaret Thatcher be your guides. Follow, […]
