If you want to taste the lighter side of the burgeoning all-ages punk scene, there’s no better place than the show Saturday, May 14th, at the Skate Park of Memphis featuring 7 $ Sox, Wicker, Moh, Foxy Hogan, Jerry Has No Skates, and Middle Class Jasper. All are signed to Smith Seven Records, a nonprofit […]
Posted inOpinion, Viewpoint
Nuzak
Recently, I encountered the term “WPN” (for “what passes for news”). I’d like to propose a related term, “Nuzak.” It’s a functional description of how WPN fits into the life of the average Joe, who never reads a newspaper except for the sports section. Nuzak is like Muzak. It runs in the background. It’s a […]
Posted inNews, The Fly-By
No More Pencils?
Elizabeth Brisco is not your usual activist. Slight in stature and soft-spoken, she seems more like a grandmother. “I am a grandmother,” she says. “But I’m a fighter too.” Brisco heads a group of concerned parents and alumni of Stafford Elementary School. Since the Memphis City School Board voted earlier this year to merge the […]
Posted inNews, The Fly-By
A Quickie with co-founders of Mothers Acting Up,
On Mother’s Day, about fifty people in brightly colored dresses, feather boas, flowery hats, and a lot of beads gathered in Overton Park for the first annual Mothers Acting Up (MAU) March for Peace. The group, which was recently founded in part by Michele Mazzu and Kristi Duckworth and has about 17 members locally, encourages […]
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, […]
Posted inCover Feature, News
Rebuilding the Grizzlies
A year ago, with the Grizzlies making their postseason debut and Hubie Brown accepting his Coach of the Year award, the NBA playoffs in Memphis felt like a festival. This spring, in a new building with new expectations, game three of the Grizzlies’ first-round series with the Phoenix Suns felt more like Festivus, the made-up […]
Posted inFood & Wine, Food & Drink
Off the Hook
The recent openings of seafood restaurants in Memphis reads like a Dr. Seuss rhyme. Bonefish, a St. Petersburg-based chain, has been drawing big crowds to its Cordova location for the past year. Bluefin recently opened on Main Street and features an extensive sushi menu and Asian-influenced entrées. And then there is Blue Fish, which adds […]
Posted inBook Features, Books
Face The Nation
here’s the joke: “If it’s bad for the country, it’s good for The Nation.” The country is the U.S.A., and The Nation is the journal of leftist opinion that’s been a weekly publication since 1865. A profitable journal? Yes and no. Yes, if you count the three out of its 140 years that The Nation […]
Posted inNews, The Fly-By
Missed Opportunities?
Who: Marie Milam is the director of YO! Memphis, an at-risk youth-service agency run through the city of Memphis. The Memphis program is one of 36 across the country funded by a federal Department of Labor grant. Where: The organization provides educational and occupational services to almost 3,500 students, at two campuses, including the main […]
Posted inOpinion
Marketing Memphis
Memphis isn’t known as a particularly bicycle-friendly city, but a little marketing and a few fairly simple additions to the riverfront could change that. The model could be New York City’s Five Boro Bike Tour, which was held last Sunday. Twelve Memphians, including myself, were among the 30,000 riders who pedaled from Battery Park to […]
Posted inNews, The Fly-By
[B]AD
Week before last, the Nashville Tennessean ran a story about the ongoing investigation of state senator John Ford and the members of his own party who think he should resign. The online version of the article was accompanied by a banner advertisement reading, “Crown Ford: We always shoot for the best deal.”
