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Month: April 2002
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monday, 22
Blues Jam at the P&H.
COVINGTON — Former governor Lamar Alexander said Thursday that his Republican primary opponent in the U.S. Senate race, 7th District congressman Ed Bryant, “should spent more time characterizing himself and less time distorting my record” and denied suggestions by Bryant and others that he had advance knowledge of Sen. Fred Thompson‘s plans not to seek reelection.
Talking with reporters on the grounds of Covington Country Club, where state House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh was hosting his annual “Coon Supper” for members of the legislature and other state politicians, Alexander discounted Bryant’s claims of being a more genuine conservative than himself. “He’s a good conservative,and I’m a good conservative,” Alexander said. “The issue should be, who is the most experienced and has the best record.” The former governor and two-time presidential candidate said he had been a defender of such conservative causes as Right-to-Work and Right-to-Life and that former Reagan cabinet official Bill Bennett, a well-known figure on the Repubican Right, had told Nashville talk-show host Steve Gill recently, “’He [Alexander[ is to the right of me.’”
Acknowledging that Senator Bill Frist. head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, had “encouraged” him to run for the Senate a year ago, when Thompson had first indicated he might not seek reelection, Alexander insisted that he had no advance knowledge from Thompson, Frist, or the White House about the senator’s final decision this year, made after the untimely death of Thompson’s daughter.
“ I’d heard rumors like other people,” saide Alexander, who said his first certain information came in a phone call from Senator Frist on the morning of the day–Friday, March 8– on which Thompson would announce he was withdrawing from his reelec6tion campaign.
Noting that .Thompson had reacted to the events of September 11th by shelving earlier plans to withdraw, Alexander said that day of national crisis was the final catalyst that made u his own mind about running when and if the opportunity should present itself.
About frequent reports that the White House had expressed a preference for his own Senate candidacy, Alexander said, “ I keep reading that, but the only person who saysAlexander said he had thus far amassed a “primary budget” of $3 million and was organized in every Tennessee county.
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sunday, 21
If you want to drop 500 bucks to go to a black-tie fund-raiser for the U of M s College of Communications and Fine Arts, Cybill Shepherd is performing a one-woman cabaret show tonight in the Big Red Theatre. If you don t have that kind of cash and would like to help out a worthy cause anyway, today s big party is the 10th Annual Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival at Wagner Place, benefiting Porter Leath Children s Center. And Di Anne Price & Her Boyfriends are playing at Huey s Downtown this afternoon followed by rockabilly crazy men The Dempseys, and if you miss Di Anne this afternoon, you can catch her later tonight at the Blue Monkey.
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SHANE AND PAU: SORRY, DUDES
We ve heard through the grapevine that super-hoopers Shane Battier and Pau Gasol weren t too happy when Fly on the Wall compared their Big Time cover photo to a picture of Ace and Gary, Saturday Night Live s Ambiguously Gay Duo. We hope everyone understands that this was meant to be a critique of the magazine s art direction and by no means a suggestion that our Grizzlies sho-nuff wonder twins are anything less than a pair of swinging he-men. Of course, meeting ladies of quality may become more and more difficult for Pau should the Grizzlies remain his primary image consultant, that is.
Check out this artist s rendering of our Spanish fly-guy from a Grizzlies-produced brochure promoting Pau and his (definitely) platonic partner Shane as co-Rookies of the Year.
Well, at least he seems polite.
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VIVE LA DIFFERENCE!
C’Mon, C’Mon
Sheryl Crow
(Interscope/A&M)
At her worst, Sheryl Crow reminds me of my all-time least-favorite band, the Eagles, except she’s a she, and in that case it makes all the difference in the world. An El Lay soft-rock chick at the bottom of her Kennett, Missouri, heart, when Crow regurgitates all those familiar romanticized road images and peaceful, easy feelings and wallows in the same kind of backstage, in-crowd vibe (guest appearances here from the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Stevie Nicks, and Gwyneth Paltrow!), at least she strips it all of the male chauvinism and casual misogyny that infect the Eagles’ music. She lays the “Desperado” shtick on thick on the opening “Steve McQueen” (and, no, this is not the Drive-by Truckers’ “Steve McQueen,” for all five of you who are wondering), describing herself as an “all-American rebel” and a “freebird” and complaining, “All my heroes hit the highway,” but the lyrics thankfully become more generic and less obtrusive after that.
When I’m able to ignore that her main pop function is to provide comfort food for classic-rock clingers who refuse to come to grips with the pop eruptions of the late ’70s and who prefer the good old days before punk and disco and hip hop made everything so messy, I like Sheryl Crow. She’s the kind of modest, down-to-earth gal who could sing a quintessential bit of Eagles post-hippie hedonism, Me-decade crap like “Lighten up while you still can/Don’t even try to understand/Find a place to make your stand/And take it easy” and make me sing along rather than gag. And that’s basically what she does on C’Mon, C’Mon‘s lead single, “Soak Up the Sun.”
“Soak Up the Sun” is the most El Lay anthem in years, so laid back it makes Train sound as agitated as the Dead Kennedys. It’s also the loveliest thing on the album, helped along by Special Guest Star Liz Phair, who only sings backup but whose sharp, understated style still dominates the song, inspiring dry vocals and crisp guitar lines the way the devil incarnate, Don Henley, encourages Crow to oversing shamelessly on the duet “It’s So Easy” (Crow made the over-the-top vocals work on “If It Makes You Happy,” but Henley pulls her toward Diane Warren/Celine Dion schmaltz here).
Elsewhere, Crow’s best moments come when she forgoes the celeb backup, like on the title song, in which the novel 12-string acoustic lead makes it sound like an outtake from Rod Stewart’s Every Picture Tells a Story (post-hippie roots rock of the gods), or the future radio hit “Hole in My Pocket,” which updates Crow’s sound all the way to, say, 1987. —Chris Herrington
Grade: B
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OTHER PEOPLE’S PROBLEMS
MULTIPLE CHOICE
Listen:
Guys do it all the time, so what’s the big deal, right?
Here’s the skinny: I think I’m dating three men. I know that in the minds of most men you’re not officially dating until you’ve said as much, but I’m getting the distinct impression that I’m cheating — on all three. I started seeing all three at almost exactly the same time (obviously “exactly” isn’t possible, but within a day or so of each other) and I like them all — a little bit. I’m not completely drawn to any one of them but I’m a little bit drawn to each. I definitely haven’t used any words that would imply that I’m in a relationship with any of them — but I find myself dodging calls and rearranging plans so as not to get my lines crossed.
The worst part is, if I met someone else interesting today, I’d start dating him too. Maybe if I met Mr. Right, I’d end it with the others, but so far I can’t even narrow it down to two, much less one. I like them all, and it’s wearing me out. I think of myself as a decent person so I definitely don’t want to hurt anyone, but in fashion terms I’m still in the dressing room and not at all ready to move on to the cash register.
What do I do?
Signed,
Triple-booked
Okay:
First of all, just because you’ve said yes to a cup of coffee doesn’t mean you’re getting married. Or, to use your analogy, just because you’ve picked up a shirt off the rack doesn’t mean you have to buy it. But you know all that. Or at least rationally you do. Now what you’ve got to work on is your guilt.
To go back to that cup of coffee, you wouldn’t feel bad about ordering an “iced chai” instead of your usual “black, no sugar,” would you? No, because you’ve never made any particular commitments to that cup of joe. And this is fairly obvious, but I think important: how will you know you even like the chai if you always stick with the old standby?
Actually, I think a lot of this comes down to your end goal. Are you looking to score a marriage? Or are you just playing the field for the heck of it? If you’re just playing the field and so are they, I wouldn’t worry about winnowing them down exactly this second. I know enough about guys and enough about relationships to know that they don’t always last; you might as have fun while you still can. They (the guys, not the relationships) will say something stupid sooner or later and that will be that.
And if you don’t feel comfortable about rearranging plans and that sort of thing? Invest in caller id and a palm pilot. And voice mail (answering machines are bad, btw). That way you can make plans once and that’s it — listen, these guys don’t expect you to be there only for them. They’d probably like that, but they might be seeing other women, too. Really, until you say the words “relationship” “you and me” and “in one,” most people consider it a free for all. I didn’t make the rules, I’m just saying.
But if you’re end goal is marriage or you really can’t date more than one person at a time (listen, I have a hard time dating one person at a time), end it with all three. It’s obvious none of them meets your perfect standard of maleness or is Mr. Right or whatever. So make another selection and see how it fits.
For the record, however, you might want to cool it on the woe-is-me-I’ve-got-guys-coming-out-of-my-ears; some people might get jealous.
Listen:
My brother is driving me insane. We’ve always been close — he’s about a year younger than I am and we were in the same clique in high school. I always dated his friends; he always dated mine. We went to different colleges and have subsequently began different careers in different cities.
The problem is that he calls me every day or so. He’s not that talkative of a guy, so he doesn’t have that much to say, really, but he’ll want to stay on the phone for hours. It’s not that I mind him calling, exactly, but I’ve got other things I need to do instead of babysitting him via Ma Bell.
I want to tell him to buzz off, but he’s my brother. What should I do?
The Bad Sister
Okay:
There come times in our lives when we’re all a little clingy. Or most of us. Maybe it’s because we just moved to a new city or our longterm sweetie dumped us cruelly or we were abandoned as children to the care of our toothless, deaf grandmothers. It happens.
So it’s happened to your brother, for whatever reason. I’m guessing that since he wasn’t driving you crazy before that his neediness is relatively new. On the one hand, you can take a firm stance with him and tell him, as you say, to buzz off. I think, however, that the best way to handle this would be to gently tell him to get a life. Maybe suggest he find a hobby or join a club or get a dog, something that will take up his phone time … has he thought about getting cable, per chance?
But at the same time, I wouldn’t hang up on him every time I heard his voice. Really, I think you should spend some time listening. He’s obviously calling you for a reason; maybe he’s trying to come out to you and hasn’t worked up the nerve. You just never know.
(Gotta problem? Wanna make it my business? Write cashiola@memphisflyer.com.)
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HOW IT LOOKS
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TRAINING IN TUNICA
The rumors have been confirmed: Fitzgeralds Casino in Tunica will host Mike Tyson and his training camp, and Sam’s Town casino will host heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis. The boxers will meet June 8th in The Pyramid.
“My owner, Don Barden, challenged me with the task of making sure the next heavyweight champion would be working out here. I think I’ve accomplished that,” jokes Domenic Mezetta, vice president and general manager for Fitzgeralds Tunica Casino.
Representatives from Fitzgeralds, Sam’s Town, the Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau, and fight promoter Brian Young announced the decision on the training camps Tuesday, April 16th, in a press conference at Fitzgeralds.
“It was an easy choice on these casinos,” says Young. “Fitzgeralds made us a tremendous offer. We were so impressed with them. We didn’t feel there was any place better suited.”
Mezetta claims there was no truth to the rumor that Fitzgeralds was the only casino willing to host Tyson’s camp, saying, “There were other people who wanted him too.”
He says Tyson is expected to arrive on June 1st and will stay at Fitzgeralds until June 9th. Mezetta also says that there will be at least one public and one media workout scheduled but does not know the dates or how tickets will be handled. With a capacity of only 500-700 spectators in the training area, Mezetta anticipates that the viewing audience will have to rotate for everyone to watch.
The training camp is expected to begin June 1st with the dates and times of public workouts to be announced at a later date.
Rick White, Sam’s Town director of marketing, says that he ranks the upcoming Lewis/Tyson fight in the same category as the legendary Muhammad Ali/George Foreman match.
“Here you have two fighters who have been there — have knocked out the best in the world. There are two champions at work here,” says White.
Young says that the undercard fighters have not yet been decided but that they and their camps will likely be housed at some of Tunica’s other casinos.
Categories
SHANE AND PAU: SORRY, DUDES
We ve heard through the grapevine that super-hoopers Shane Battier and Pau Gasol weren t too happy when Fly on the Wall compared their Big Time cover photo to a picture of Ace and Gary, Saturday Night Live s Ambiguously Gay Duo. We hope everyone understands that this was meant to be a critique of the magazine s art direction and by no means a suggestion that our Grizzlies sho-nuff wonder twins are anything less than a pair of swinging he-men. Of course, meeting ladies of quality may become more and more difficult for Pau should the Grizzlies remain his primary image consultant, that is.
Check out this artist s rendering of our Spanish fly-guy from a Grizzlies-produced brochure promoting Pau and his (definitely) platonic partner Shane as co-Rookies of the Year.
Well, at least he seems polite.