“Does anything need bringing back less than sexy?” — from a review of Justin Timberlake’s “Future Sex/Love Sounds” in the latest issue of The New Yorker. Read the rest of the mostly positive review here.
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Month: September 2006
Keep an eye out for the clever ads that feature people pining for their pets. It’s part of a marketing campaign for the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County. The nonprofit is hoping to raise funds for their new 23,000 square foot facility at Shelby Farms by playing up the companionship dogs and cats provide.
The two biggest names among local African-American
office-holders headed an all-star cast which, at a Wednesday morning press
conference, conferred enthusiastic support on the Democratic nominee for the 9th
District congressional seat, state Senator Steve Cohen.
Speaking on Cohen’s behalf at a stand set up in front of
the Federal Building downtown were Memphis mayor Willie Herenton and
Shelby County mayor A C Wharton. Neither left any doubt as to his
preference in a general election race which matches Cohen against Republican
Mark White and independent Jake Ford.
“It is very simple: Steve Cohen is the best qualified
candidate for this job,” Herenton said of Cohen, whom he characterized as
having “a wealth of experience and a knowledge of the governmental process.” As
for Ford, who is the beneficiary of a movement among some ministers and other
blacks who support him on racial grounds, the mayor was scornful. “No one can
convince me that Jake Ford has a modicum of qualifications for this position.
All he brings to the table is the Ford name…. He has simply no qualifications to
serve.”
In his turn, Wharton noted the somewhat festive atmosphere
of the endorsement ceremony, which attracted a goodly crowd, including several
legislators and other local officials, both white and African-American. The
county mayor said, ‘This is a joyous day in which we’re looking at those things
which unite us and not those things that divide us.”
He praised Cohen for “what he has done for the entirety of
Shelby County” and for “the “knowledge of legislative process he has mastered in
Nashville,” and said pointedly, “There will be no learning curve for him.” The
county mayor predicted that Cohen would not only faithfully represent the
district but, “He will serve our nation well, both here and abroad.”
Two figures whose personal histories link them to the
history of the Civil Rights movement – just-retired General Sessions Judge
Russell Sugarmon and longtime NAACP head Maxine Smith — also spoke
on Cohen’s behalf.
In his own brief remarks, Cohen stressed his determination to help revise national priorities — in the case of Iraq, by “bringing peace to the table with strength but bringing our troops home.”
Said Cohen: “We don’t need more troops on the streets of Baghdad, we need more cops on the streets of Memphis. And, Mayor Herenton, I’m going to work to get more federal money to bring more policemen here.”
Asked afterward if something other than racial
consciousness might be involved in the stop-Cohen movement, Herenton alluded to
his running quarrel with the extended Ford family over questions of political
influence locally. “You know I’ve resented for decades the politics of the Ford family. You know, the family seems to think they should have a monopoly on
all elected positions in this state and this county. I’ve always rejected that,” he said. As for Jake Ford, “Because his name is ‘Ford,’ does that bring magic to the seat? I don’t think so.”
Herenton said he had no plans to make an endorsement “at
this point in time” in the U.S. Senate race, which matches the current 9th
district congressman, Democrat Harold Ford Jr. (Jake Ford’s brother) against Republican
Bob Corker.
As it happened, Corker would be addressing the downtown
Kiwanis Club within the hour, and afterward acknowledged an earlier conversation
with Mayor Herenton, which he said, however, was not political in nature.
Meanwhile, Jake Ford released a statement later in the day
that began, “As a democrat [sic], I am a supporter and admirer of both mayors;
however, I disagree with their choice for Congress,” and went on to promise the
continuation of a “tradition of service…that the district has enjoyed for
thirty-two years, under my father and my brother.”
Ford’s statement also made mention of such issues as “President Bush’s continuance of allowing record oil profits,” crime, and “adequate health care.”
In a response of his own, GOP candidate White lambasted what he called “career politicians,” and said, “I don’t believe in gay marriage and legalizing drugs, but by endorsing Cohen, they are endorsing his outrageous policies.”
The two biggest names among local African-American office-holders headed an all-star cast which, at a Wednesday morning press conference, conferred enthusiastic support on the Democratic nominee for the 9th District congressional seat, state Senator Steve Cohen.
Speaking before a festive crowd on Cohen’s behalf at a stand set up in front of the Federal Building downtown were Memphis mayor Willie Herenton and Shelby County mayor A C Wharton. “It is very simple: Steve Cohen is the best qualified candidate for this job,” Herenton said of Cohen, whom he characterized as having “a wealth of experience and a knowledge of the governmental process.” In his turn, Wharton said, ‘This is a joyous day in which we’re looking at those things which unite us and not those things that divide us.”
Also speaking were two figures whose personal histories link them to the history of the Civil Rights movement – just-retired General Sessions Judge Russell Sugarmon and longtime NAACP head Maxine Smith. (For more, go to “Political Beat”.)
I had to say goodbye to a dear friend last week. A friend who, over the last nine years, has shaped my life — my entire family’s, really — in ways I’ll better measure several years from now. Funny thing is, my friend doesn’t even have a name. Sure, four clinical numbers and the name of the Central Gardens street on which she’s sat since 1922. But not the kind of name she deserves. So for the purposes of this recollection, I’ll simply call her Our Home.
I lived under the roof of Our Home longer than any other dwelling in my 37 years. And I can say without equivocation, the last quarter of my life so far lived has been the happiest any man could dream or script. My wife and I, you see, welcomed two little girls into our lives at Our Home. They
learned to walk there, talk there, sing and dance there, even cheer the St. Louis Cardinals there. Which had me considering: just how many sports
memories will I take with me from Our Home?
To begin with, I’ll remember the first nine years of Memphis Redbirds
baseball. We were living in Our Home all of four months when the Redbirds
took up residence at Tim McCarver Stadium. By my count, I’ve attended 213 Redbird games over the last nine seasons, and after every one, I’ve made a 10-minute drive back to Our Home, first from the Fairgrounds, then over the last seven years, from downtown’s AutoZone Park. “Little Mac” McEwing, Stubby’s flips, Ankiel’s curve, Albert’s homer, and more Sundays on a picnic blanket on the leftfield bluff than I can count. These were all celebrated
at Our Home.
On a national level, the Redbirds’ parent club had its longest stretch of
unbroken success since the 1940s during my time in Our Home. Sure, Mark
McGwire’s pair of sensational seasons took our breath away (if only to have
us wrestling our conscience a few years later). But five postseason trips in six years between 2000 and 2005 — with a sixth possible this fall — have made life in Cardinal Country particularly glorious over my family’s years at Out Home.
My parents met at the University of Tennessee, so you can say my DNA has a
strain of orange. I watched the 1999 Fiesta Bowl at Our Home and saw the
first UT team A.P. (after Peyton) upset the mighty Florida State Seminoles to win the school’s first outright national championship since 1951. By mere chance, I got to watch the Vols play LSU in the 2001 SEC Championship during a visit from my dad. The living room got a little gloomy that night, but it’s been said that watching a football game with your father is equivalent to three hugs and five I love yous (thanks, Darrell Harris).
Tommy West continues to build the kind of football program most Memphians felt out of reach before his arrival in 2001. While they have years — and many wins — to go before they achieve the kind of reputation UT has earned, my wife’s alma mater is currently the only team in the state to have reached a bowl game each of the last three seasons. I’ll be bragging someday about my afternoons and evenings in the Liberty Bowl press box, watching Danny Wimprine and DeAngelo Williams establish new standards for quarterback and
tailback, respectively, at the U of M. But my first reflections on these
twenty-first-century pioneers in shoulder pads took place, yep, at Our Home.
Memphis was, is, and will always be a basketball town. When we moved into
Our Home, Tic Price had just begun his first year on the U of M bench. (Now,
doesn’t THAT provide perspective on how long we were under that roof!) Three seasons and an ugly scandal later, John Calipari took over and Tiger Nation has yet to look back. Cal’s clubs have had their ups and downs, but for a sports journalist, his program is a hanging curveball. The stories actually dance across my keyboard.
And of course, the Grizzlies arrived in 2001, just when the local sports scene already seemed beyond a considerable, shoulder-sagging hump. Nice to have Our Home a 10-minute drive from an NBA arena.
There are certainly new memories to be made at my family’s new home. Isn’t
this the foundation of uprooting — even if only across town — in the first place? But there will never be a baby crib at the new home. My dad will
never walk through the front door of the new home. Sports? I can only cross
my fingers and hope for as many smiles and goose bumps as I enjoyed over the
last nine years at Our Home.
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The Gerbils Took a Long Lunch Today.
We’ve had technical problems this afternoon that have managed to take this site partially offline for a few hours.
Our issues seem to be resolved now, however, and the gerbil exercise wheel slash electricity generator that runs the joint is spinning again!
Our apologies…
Though he is meeting with resistance in isolated quarters of Memphis’ African-American community, state Senator Steve Cohen, the Democratic nominee for the 9th congressional district, is rapidly acquiring support among that community’s recognized pillars.
A joint press conference will be held Wednesday by Memphis mayor Willie Herenton and Shelby County mayor A C Wharton to affirm their endorsement and support of Cohen, who is opposed on the November general election ballot by Republican Mark White and independent Jake Ford.
In advance of that press conference, to be held at the Federal Building, Herenton is said to have rebuffed a direct approach from would-be organizers of a stop-Cohen movement. It’s too late, the Memphis mayor told them. The Democratic primary, he said, was the time to have coalesced around a qualified black candidate for those so inclined. The mayor discounted Jake Ford as having insufficient credentials for such a purpose, especially when compared to veteran legislator Cohen.
At a fundraiser for Cohen at the river-bluff home of developer Henry Turley Tuesday night, Wharton weighed in on the same subject, calling the effort to organize a racial bloc against Cohen “one of the most unpleasant” aspects of the current political season. Should it succeed, said Wharton, “We’ve fallen, we’re going backwards. It’s a Memphis and a Shelby County that I don’t see, quite frankly.”
The county mayor jested that he carried all precinct boxes but seven in his recent reelection effort, “seven little corners that I couldn’t get to.” He said, “I think, quite frankly, everybody ought to have to run countywide. I don’t think people ought to be able to lock down a little corner….It can be done: to run un-racially and along all lines where we have to answer to the public at the polls. I think Steve’s candidacy will advance that same character.”
The 9th District race, said Wharton, “is a test to see if I’m just some oddball or whether the people have attained the level of intelligence I think they have.” Cohen’s election would confirm “the values that I have found that most Shelby Countians hold, and they hold dearly.”
A joint press conference will be held Wednesday by Memphis
mayor Willie Herenton and Shelby County mayor A C Wharton to affirm their
endorsement and support oin the 9th congressional district of Democratic nominee Steve Cohen, who is opposed on the November general
election ballot by Republican Mark White and independent Jake Ford. In advance of that press conference, to be held at the Federal Building, Herenton is said to
have rebuffed a direct approach from would-be organizers of a stop-Cohen
movement The mayor discounted Jake Ford as having insufficient credentials for
such a purpose, especially when compared to veteran legislator Cohen.
At a fundraiser for Cohen at the riverbluff home of
developer Henry Turley Tuesday night, Wharton called the effort to organize a racial bloc “one of the most unpleasant”
aspects of the current political season. He referred to Cohen’s candidacy as an “advance” and said the 9th District election “is a test to see if I’m just some oddball or
whether the people have attained the level of intelligence I think they have.”
For more, go to “Political Beat”.
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D-I-V-O-R-C-E … yeouch!
“David was devastated when he found [this] out a year after they had been together and six months after they were married,” a source close to Gest told the New York Post.
In the same papers, Miss Minnelli asserts that she was “living in fear” during the 14-month marriage, adding that perma-tanned Gest was “trying to poison her with drugs.”
Herpes, poison, and perma-tan: The divorce proceedings between Memphian David Gest and Liza Minnelli are getting really nasty. They’ve even hired private detectives to follow each other around. To read more about the nastiness, go here.
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“4796 Days on Death Row”
Los Angeles City Beat’s cover story this week revisits the case of the West Memphis 3 — Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley. The three have been incarcerated in Arkansas since their 1994 convictions for murdering three young boys. Since their convictions, several HBO documentaries and a growing nationwide network of WM3 supporters have highlighted the dubious circumstances of the investigation, interrogation, and subsequent trials. To read this provocative reappraisal of the case, go here.