If 2004 is an election year of more than usual consequence at the national level, there are local problems, too, that will shortly bear addressing in earnest. Education, consolidation, and the bottom-line one of how to pay for government at all. Just now, Shelby County government is the test case. Budget deliberations by that body […]
Posted inFilm Features, Film/TV
It’s Our Pleasure
Directed by prolific Korean film-maker Kim Ki-duk, perhaps best known for his extreme 2000 thriller The Isle, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring is a Buddhist parable notable for its deliberate pace and serene mood. As the title suggests, the film has a cyclical structure, divided into five sections, each one taking place in the […]
Posted inNews, The Fly-By
Saying We’re Sorry
During the final few days of the 103rd General Assembly session, the Tennessee legislature passed a bill of conscience — righting wrongs levied on claimants who have been falsely imprisoned in state correctional facilities. The bill, named for Shelby County resident Clark McMillan, pays innocent claimants up to $100 for each day served in jail. […]
Posted inNews, The Fly-By
Mary Sims, 1940-2004
Noted artist dies in Eureka Springs. A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 30th, for noted artist Mary Sims, who died May 19th at her home in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Although she spent the past three decades living in Arkansas with her husband, writer Bill Earngey, Sims was considered a […]
Posted inCover Feature, News
The Big Empties
Clarissa Davis moved to Memphis for two reasons: her husband and the Whitehaven neighborhood where he lived. The lush green lawns, large backyards, and sociable residents in the Holmesdale subdivision appealed to the Chicago native. The nearby woods also provided just enough nature for walking expeditions and an escape from the sounds of the city. […]
Posted inFood & Wine, Food & Drink
UP & AWAY
It’s hard to believe that just three-and-a-half hours away is an award-winning wine region in southern Illinois — yes, I said southern Illinois. Recently, I visited Winghill Vineyards in Cobden, stopped by Von Jakob Vineyards in Pomona, and attended the Spring Wine Festival at Alto Vineyards in Alto Pass. All three are in the picturesque […]
Posted inMusic, Music Features
Music
Last week, The Bo-Keys took their Stax– and Hi-infused soul show on the road: They played three shows in New York (Piano’s and B.B. King’s Blues Club in Manhattan and the infamous Frank’s Cocktail Lounge in Brooklyn), a gig in Philadelphia (Zanzibar Blue), and a performance on independent FM station WFMU, then squeezed in an […]
Posted inOpinion, Viewpoint
Torture Porn
If you want to get through to the American public, don’t put it in words — put it in pictures. And if you really want the average American to perk up and pay attention, make the pictures about sex. From Janet Jackson’s nipple to Iraqi prisoners’ penises, nothing does it for us like sex. For […]
Posted inWe Recommend, We Recommend
monday, 17
Oberservances of 50th anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, National Civil Rights Museum.
Posted inWe Recommend, We Recommend
sunday, 16
Catfight concludes: The final game of the baseball series between the University of Memphis Tigers and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats will get underway at 1 p.m. at Nat Buring Stadium.
Posted inWe Recommend, We Recommend
Satuday, 15
MEMPHIS XPLORERS vs. Arkansas at the DeSoto Civic Center at 7 p.m.
Posted inMusic, Music Features
Sound Advice
Sharon Jones hails from James Brown’s hometown of Augusta, Georgia, and practices the same kind of proto-funk R&B the Godfather of Soul developed in the mid-’60s: soul exhortations over spare, popping rhythm with just a little chitlin-circuit bottom. On Dap-Dippin’ with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, her recent record for Brooklyn’s Daptone Records, Jones leads […]