This might be a good weekend to check out the Mid-South’s corn mazes.
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Month: September 2011
It was a momentous day in Memphis. Longtime former mayor Willie Herenton’s portrait was hung in the Hall of Mayors, and the schools merger got closer to reality. John Branston reports.
Willie Herenton was back in the Hall of Mayors Thursday for the first time in more than two years.
Herenton, joined by his 90-year-old mother and hundreds of friends and past and present city employees, was there for the unveiling of his portrait. He served as mayor for 17 years, longer than anyone in Memphis history. Mayor A C Wharton introduced him with his usual graciousness. Herenton, who showed emotion and his famous feistiness, spoke for about 35 minutes, recalling his youth in segregated Memphis and his razor-thin election in 1991.
“History will be kind to me,” he said, “because it will reveal the truth.”
Herenton’s portrait hangs next to those of his predecessors Dick Hackett, Wyeth Chandler, and Henry Loeb, among others. His is the only black face in the group. It was painted by artist Larry Walker and is inside an ebony frame, at the former mayor’s request.
By coincidence, or perhaps not, the ceremony came during a momentous 24-hour period. Late Wednesday, federal judge Samuel Hardy Mays adopted the consent decree merging the city and county school systems, writing that “it prevents years of litigation and establishes the basis for cooperative solutions based on good public policy rather than legal solutions imposed by the court.” On Thursday, the transition team for the school systems merger held its first meeting and the seven-member Shelby County Board of Education held its last meeting. Trite as it sounds, it really was the end of one era and the dawn of a new one.
Herenton will play a minor part in the brave new world of public education if his application for a charter school is accepted, and how could it not be? He is a child of Memphis, a Booker T. Washington High School graduate, and former teacher, administrator, and school superintendent. The proliferation of charter schools, possibly including one led by Herenton, strongly suggests that enrollment in the combined city and county system will decline and that there will be even more school choices than there are now. Suburban municipalities could also start their own systems after September 2013.
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Project: NO WAY, Gurl!
Perhaps the only fashion show this year with a category for “Slut Wear,” Project: NO WAY, Gurl! will feature the latest looks modeled by drag performers to benefit the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center.
The fashion show will be sponsored by Friend’s of George’s at Club Spectrum (616 Marshall) on Friday, Sept. 30th. Allysun Wunderland will host the event, which also includes categories for “Athletic Wear (for the Bedroom)” and “Evening Wear (for Ladies and Gentleman of the Evening).” Entry is $5.
For more information, go here.
I’m posting the video of MGMT playing Pink Floyd’s “Lucifer Sam” on the Jimmy Fallon show Wednesday, because, hey, maybe you didn’t stay up late or you were still crawling around the Sears parking lot at the BOM party.
I wish I had the inside dope on why they dressed up like zombie lobstermen, or why that guy from Deerhunter is onstage dressed like Joey Ramone, but I don’t. But it sounds good, especially through earphones.
Check it out here.
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About That Best of Memphis Thing …
Bruce VanWyngarden has some deep thoughts about the Flyer‘s annual Best of Memphis issue.
There will be a meeting Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Snowden School to discuss the city’s plans to possibly tear down some houses in the Evergreen Historic District because of flooding problems.
The district’s newsletter says “The City of Memphis Engineering approached EHDA late last week with potential plans to tear down houses in the middle of Evergreen. The city may be proposing this to solve some flash flooding issues that have happened prior to storm water improvements on Overton Park Avenue.”
This is a hot-button issue with Midtowners and Evergreeners in particular who still remember the houses that were torn down more than 40 years ago for the aborted Interstate 40 leg through Overton Park and Midtown.
Among those who are supposed to be at the meeting are Mayor A C Wharton Jr., and City Council members Jim Strickland, Kemp Conrad, Shea Flinn, and Reid Hedgepeth, along with the Lick Creek Storm Water Coalition.
Quoting from the newsletter, “It is EHDA’s belief that the resolution to this problem is not tearing down historic homes in the middle of our neighborhood, but actually addressing the infrastructure problems in the neighborhood as well as the influx of water from upstream which is the source. If you would like to hear the city’s plans or voice your opinion, please show up at tonight’s meeting.”
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Roster Forecast: Power Forward
As we face a moment-of-truth weekend in the CBA negotiations, we here at Beyond the Arc continue to prepare for the best. The fourth post of my five-part look at the Grizzlies roster entering an abbreviated “off season”:
- LARRY KUZNIEWSKI
- Zach Randolph
Zach Randolph
Regular Season: 36.3 mpg, 20.1 ppg, 12.2 rpg, 2.2 apg, .84 spg, .33 bpg, 2.0 tpg, 22.7 PER, 50fg%, 76ft%, 19 3p% (.6 att)
Playoffs: 39.6 mpg, 22.2 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 2.4 apg, 1.08 spg, .77 bpg, 2.1 tpg, 22.1 PER, 45fg%, 82ft%, 25 3p% (.6 att)
Age: 30
Contract Status: In first year of four-year, $66 million deal. First year should be around $15 million.
What a year. Randolph didn’t make the All-Star team like he did in his first season with the Grizzlies, but he was an even better player, and his payoff came at the end, with an all-NBA selection and a post-season explosion that solidified him — at last — as a recognized elite player.
In 2010-2011, Randolph consolidated his previous season’s efficiency as a scorer and rebounder — notching his highest shooting percentage since becoming a starter and his best rebound rate ever — but made his real strides in areas that have always been his biggest weaknesses — passing and defense. Randolph didn’t morph into vintage Kevin Garnett, but the days of legitimately labeling him a “black hole” or a “bad defender” were over.
At his very best, Randolph was as dominant a post-season player as anyone last season — including Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant. In consecutive Game 6s — one to close out a series and one to avoid elimination — Randolph took completely took over games. But Randolph’s brilliant playoff games overshadowed some bad ones. In truth, Randolph was inconsistent in the playoffs, although this inconsistency probably had as much to do with the Grizzlies’ inability to relieve pressure on Randolph with perimeter offense as it did with Randolph’s own play.
Randolph had three playoff games in which he shot under 36% from the floor. In those three games, he averaged 11.6 points per game and the Grizzlies lost all three by an average of 14 points a game, which underscored all much the Grizzlies missed Rudy Gay as a second shot-creator on the perimeter.
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Grizzlies Preview: Small Forward
Chris Herrington continues his optimistic preview of the Memphis Grizzlies’ roster. Today, it’s the small forward position.
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