May 2011
 |
05/26/11A Note From JoplinFrom our friends at 417 Magazine in Missouri:"Greetings from 417 Magazine in southwest Missouri. "Earlier this week, in place of our 417 Magazine Deal of the Day, we asked our readers and friends to donate $10 to the local non-profit relief agency called Convoy of Hope to help with the massive recovery effort getting underway in Joplin after Sunday night's tornado. 100 percent of the donations went to Convoy; we simply provided a quick and easy platform through which to donate.To say our readers came through big-time would be an understatement.So far, 417 readers have made 834 $10 donations, for a total of $8,340 going straight to Convoy of Hope. But wait, there's more. Based on Convoy's wholesale buying strategy on food, clothing, and medical supplies, every $1 donated to... |
 |
05/20/11Elvis, Justin Bieber, or Lady Gaga - Who's the King of eBay?Teen sensation Justin Bieber and singer/performance artist Lady Gaga have been duking it out lately on YouTube, seeing who can set a record for the most online views in history. So far, Justin is the winner, with an astonishing 546 million views of the video for his hit song "Baby" and Lady Gaga is in second place, with more than 379 million viewers watching her hit "Bad Romance." To put that in perspective, the population of the entire United States is "only" 307 million. So ... wow!But there are other ways to judge popular culture, and one of them is eBay. Which performer, we wondered, had the most "stuff" listed on eBay?It's not even close. The King of Rock-and-Roll is the undisputed King of eBay, with more than 100,129 items currently for sale... Posted at 08:07 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
 |
05/20/11Reunite with Your PetDuring the flood, several rescue groups partnered to set up and operate an an emergency animal shelter. Now, however, the operation is winding down, and owners are urged to come and reclaim their pets.Among the partnering groups are the the ASPCA, the American Humane Association, the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County, and the Memphis Animal Shelter. Emily Schneider, with the ASPCA, says that more than 200 animals have been housed at the shelter. "They're mainly dogs and cats," she says, "but we also have ducks, parakeets, and a guinea pig."About 110 pets are waiting to be reclaimed by their humans, but workers have witnessed many happy reunions, at least one of which was captured in the photo above — Salimah Kemp with her puppy Sky.The... |
 |
05/18/11Exchanging Visits with President ObamaI visited Barack Obama's house on St. Patrick's Day, so it was especially nice to have him in town earlier this week, during this most signficant of months for Memphis. Felt like we were exchanging visits, as friends across regions tend to do.Whatever your political persuasion, President Obama's brief stay in the Bluff City — to deliver the keynote address at Booker T. Washington's commencement ceremony — must humanize the leader of the free world to some degree. It's one thing to see the U.S. president on a screen, to read about him in your favorite monthly magazine, or to have him among your Google alerts. It's quite another to see, read, or hear about him appearing at places (the Cook Convention Center), eating food (Rendezvous barbecue), or clogging roads (most of... Posted at 03:14 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
 |
05/17/11CNN Interested in Shelter PhotosFirst it was the "little suitcase dog." Now it's "trashcan puppies."Those are images on the webcam of Memphis Animal Services — better known as the Shelter — that are sparking outrage and making news — and one of them could go national this week. Reporter ABC/Channel 24 reporter Jeni DiPrizio's covered the "trashcan puppies" on Monday evening. As a result, CNN called and requested the story "to be put on the feed," says DiPrizio. If they decide to run it, it will appear on all CNN affiliates.Alerted by concerned animal advocates, DiPrizio reported that the webcam video "showed two women dropping off a female dog and her puppies. The women took the animals back to a cage. Three days later, employees put the... Posted at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments: 13 |
 |
05/16/11Happiness Happens Group Goes NationalA couple months ago, I wrote a piece for the Memphis Flyer about a group of grannies who call their joint effort to reach out to strangers "Happiness Happens."The women, who range in age from 50 to 70, regularly choose random people to help with utilities and car payments. Sometimes they pass along succulent lemon cakes (they really are succulent -- I've tasted one) to people in the hospital, and sometimes they donate needed items to women's shelters or fill empty pantries. And they are not, as I originally was told, a nonprofit group. They're more like an extremely secretive cadre of anonymous philanthropists.Whatever their random acts of kindness, this circle of "Nanas" has been acting as fairy godmothers for about 34 years. Most... Posted at 03:23 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2 |
 |
05/11/11No Longer Davis-KiddThe bookstore formerly known as Davis-Kidd has a new moniker. "We made the decision late yesterday [May 10th]," says marketing rep Carley Cianciolo. Henceforth the popular business and cultural center will be called The Booksellers at Laurelwood.Neil Van Uum, whose now-bankrupt Joseph-Beth Booksellers chain bought the store in 1997, negotiated a deal to buy it back from a large national liquidator who'd purchased at auction two weeks ago. But because the Davis-Kidd name rights were purchased by Booksellers Enterprises (the buyer of three other Joseph-Beth stores), Van Uum had to select another name.The new name is a fine fit, considering the store has been at Laurelwood Shopping Center since the mid-1980s — and also because Van Uum praised... |
 |
05/10/11Mississippi River MusingsWhenever I'm able, I eat my lunch on the Bluffwalk, high atop the 50-foot bluff that holds the southern portion of downtown safely above the mightiest river in North America. The time I spend on that bluff is the most tranquil of my workday, an hour that allows my mind to ease its priority-juggling, and my eyes to absorb one of the most remarkable vistas in the entire world. The beauty of the Mississippi River goes beyond its size or strength. It's a matter of — how best to say — significance. This body of water has fueled economies, transported armies, nurtured agriculture, and provided life to innumerable creatures large and small.Then came the spring of 2011, with its biblical storms, tornado destruction, and rising waters unlike any seen in more than 70 years. In an age... Posted at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
 |
05/09/11MLGW Even Sandbags the TransformersSpotted in the 1700 block of Chelsea on Monday afternoon — an electrical transformer surrounded by more than 200 sandbags.Just a few blocks south of the ever-rising Wolf River, certain low-lying parts of Chelsea have already been closed off to traffic, with barriers constructed of sandbags and piles of rocks. The gates in the flood walls have been closed in many areas. While nearby residents worry about the potential damage to their homes from the water, it probably never occurred to many of us that another hazard would be shorted-out electrical equipment — at a crucial time when businesses and home-owners might need that electricity to keep pumps going.I've never seen this done before, but have to commend whoever did the sandbag stacking here. It's a mighty neat job. I bet... |
 |
05/09/11To the RescueAs the Old Muddy continues its rise to historic levels, attracting media attention from around the country, some folks are looking out for the welfare of animals. The Red Star team, located at 1716 Shelby Oaks Drive and a partnership of the American Humane Association and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), has a twofold purpose: taking in creatures whose owners have been forced to relocate, and plunging into high waters to rescue pets in peril. It currently houses some 200 animals, including dogs, cats, domestic ducks, guinea pigs, hamsters, and parakeets.Perhaps the most fortunate of those rescued was a pregnant mother cat. Her owners called the county office of emergency preparedness on Saturday, May 7th, to report that they... |
 |
05/09/11Chelsea Avenue Closed - Flood Gates in PlaceAs the rising Wolf River threatened to engulf neighborhoods and businesses in North Memphis, city officials closed off sections of Chelsea Avenue as a safety precaution.Sections of the street east and west of North McLean were dammed with sandbags and piles of rock. Meanwhile, heavy wooden beams, tied together with steel straps, had been dropped into the gaps along the 1940s-era concrete flood wall that runs parallel to Chelsea. Normally, these gaps allow cars and railroads to pass through the flood wall, but on Monday only North McLean and North Watkins remained open.Electrical transformers and other utilities along the street were protected by walls of sandbags, as authorities braced for the highest flood waters since the devastating flood of 1937. Already, many businesses in the... |
 |
05/04/11Help is HereAt around 8 p.m. on Wednesday evening, in response to rising floodwaters, an animal rescue convoy rolled into Memphis.American Humane Association's Red Star Emergency Animal Services team is stationed at 1716 Shelby Oaks Drive North, near Sycamore View and I-240. The team is working in partnership with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), which received an official request from Memphis mayor A C Wharton's office and the Shelby County Office of Preparedness. Their purpose, as the Mississippi River is expected to crest at a near-record high within the next week, is to assist with regional rescue of pets and other animals. Included in the convoy is a horse trailer and a four-wheel-drive vehicle.The Red Star team operates out of an 82-foot mobile... |
 |
05/04/11Shakespeare Done Right“Romeo is sweating like a dog, and you can see his spit!” My wife whisper-shouted these observations to me last Friday night during the Tennessee Shakespeare Company’s performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens. I smiled at the details that struck my own true love, but didn’t respond with the obvious. All actors sweat on stage, you see, and they all spray a little when they say the word “passion” with passion. But only when seen as intimately as we were able to witness this particular performance — and under the stars, mind you — do body fluids become part of the drama. I’m no theatre critic, but I’m an absolute Shakespeare addict. Credit goes to the right emphasis —... |
 |
05/03/11Bringing Home the GoldWe don't often toot our own horn — but humor us a bit.At a banquet held on May 2nd in Chicago, winners of the 2011 City and Regional Magazine Awards were announced. We're proud to report that Memphis magazine, for the third time in four years, won the coveted General Excellence award in our circulation category.More than 85 judges — representing such publications as Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, The New York Times, Bon Appetit, and National Geographic Magazine, to name just a few, along with journalism professors from the University of Missouri School of Journalism — selected the winners. We submitted three issues from 2010 (including November, the cover of which is shown here) to represent the best of our work.An excerpt from the judges comments explains why... Posted at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
 |
05/02/11Dixon Gallery trip to the Jean-Louis Forain opening at the Petit Palais, Paris 03.09.11A group of Dixon Gallery trustees, donors, and interested individuals travelled to Paris for the March 9th opening of the Jean-Louis Forain exhibition at the Petit Palais. Barbara Williamson, who was on the trip along with her husband, Lewis, her mother, Brenda Crain, and her sister, Kim Lowrance, says they were entertained by Manuel Schmidt, a third-generation Parisian art dealer, and by Waring Hopkins, as well as by Florence Valdès-Forain, the artist’s great-granddaughter.Dale Skaggs, Director of Horticulture at the Dixon, led the group on garden tours, and Dixon Assistant Curator Julie Pierotti was on hand to ensure everything went smoothly. Others on the trip included Ann and Stephen Reynolds, Chairman of the Dixon Board, Irene and Joe Orgill, Adele Wellford,... |
