Each week, the Flyer will feature adoptable dogs and cats from Memphis Animal Services. All photos are credited to Memphis Pets Alive. More pictures can be found on the Memphis Pets Alive Facebook page.
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Month: May 2017
Judging by a recent round of defensive, hyper-literal tweets from the official MLGW account, it would appear that Memphis’ public utility has hired in Drax the Destroyer to man social media during this period of post-storm crisis. Drax, the blunt alien powerhouse who struggles to understand metaphor and most figurative language, responded negatively to a tweet by Memphis newsie Joyce Peterson. When Peterson accurately explained how “45,000 customers without power” means more than 45,000 people remain in the dark, Drax answered back sharply: “This tweet is unequivocally wrong and malicious.”
After a number of Twitter uses invited Drax to munch a chill pill MLGW’s guest tweeter doubled down on his initial pronouncement: “Our customer is not a house or an apartment building. Our customers of record are people who have families, employees, and customers.” 
While it’s cool of MLGW to bring in such a big celebrity and card-carrying Guardian of the Galaxy, the PR gig may not be a good fit for Drax’s skill set, which is basically destroying things.
Insert your own “covfefe” joke here.
City of Memphis
Overnight the City’s Public Works teams continued to make a dent in clearing the 481 reported trees down in the city’s streets.
Over half of those trees have been cleared as of this morning and more than 20 crews continue to work throughout the day, according to Mayor Jim Strickland.
Meanwhile, Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) crews have cut the number of customers without power— 188,000 at its peak— down to about 44,000.
The utility says they will now begin tackling smaller outages, which require more intensive work, and unfortunately, can take more time to repair in some instances.
MLGW officials maintain that full restoration will take up to a week.
Regarding whether or not the City, as well as individuals, will receive federal assistance, Mayor Strickland says Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell has declared a state of emergency and the City is working on adding up the preliminary cost of damages associated with Saturday night’s storm, which must exceed $9.07 million to qualify for federal assistance.
Once preliminary cost are passed on to Shelby County Mayor Luttrell, he will coordinate with Gov. Bill Haslam, who will then forward the information to the federal government for evaluation.
If it meets the criteria, three things can happen:
1) The City would be reimbursed for 80 percent of cost associated with damages to government buildings, schools, infrastructure, as well as clean up costs.
2) Individuals in Shelby County will be able to apply for federal financial assistance to pay for damages to their homes through the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
3) Local small businesses could receive low-interest Small Business Administration loans to help rebuild.
The walking dead gathered in Handy Park on May 26, 2017 for the 11th annual Memphis Zombie Walk. This family friendly event featured zombies of all ages (including some zombie dogs), and had special guests like Wonder Woman Zombie, the Scooby Doo Family zombies, and the Village People zombies. Participants collected canned goods for the Food Bank, and lurched and stumbled their way up Beale Street and then down South Main St all the way to the Arcade.
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Development as Metaphor
Bing Hampton plants himself in what he describes as “the spiritual epicenter,” of Memphis’ Pinch district, in front of an iconic piece of architecture, and a humble sign reading, “PAY HERE IN ADVANCE.” Once settled, the activist turned entrepreneur begins a colorful, expletive-laden folk tale about a, “mighty pyramid-shaped fishing lure,” built by Memphis’ civic leaders to win favor with the professional sports franchise Gods. Growing more excited with every word he tells the stories of brave young men with bulldozers who flattened all the crappy antique buildings that once blighted that stretch of N. Main, and laid down a lush carpet of asphalt for overflow sports fans to park on. As the founder, CEO, and lone employee of $5-Parking Lot Tours, Hampton worries that new plans to redevelop Memphis’s first commercial district will result in the loss of some of the city’s most historically important pavement.
Hampton’s passionate about his topic and walks the lot like a minister, dropping knowledge as he goes. “Only the finest white and yellow pigment was used,” he shouts. “It’s widely accepted that Pinch-style striping set a new standard for affordable surface rental.”
Parking wasn’t the only thing going on in the pinch in the 90’s and early 2000’s.“You could purchase all sorts of goods and services here,” Hampton says. “You could get your windows washed, pick up a loose cigarette, and maybe get a good deal on a Red Hot Chili Peppers CD. One time I bought a whole case of 60-watt light bulbs for $3.”
The urge to preserve is relatively new to Hampton. “I think I first started paying attention to what was going on in 2013 when they tore down the Taco Bell that had been built on top of the Taliesyn Ballroom where the Sex Pistols played on their disastrous 1978 American tour,” he says. “Then they went built a brand new Taco Bell on top of all that. Where does that kind of madness end?”
Hampton’s a realist. “I don’t expect to save all these beautiful old parking lots,” he says, noting how empty, and quiet everything is nowadays — how clean the air is now that there’s no good reason to choke the district with automobiles. “It really is a paved-over paradise,” he says. “And I know they’ll never replace it with anything half as nice.”
Michael Donahue
Colleen Radish, Beth Wilson, Liza Rauth, Locke Isaacson and Kristin Smith at Summer Symphony at the Live Garden at Memphis Botanic Garden.
Transformers began exploding over an hour after the last firework exploded May 28 at “Summer Symphony at the Live Garden.”
The fireworks display and Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” the final selection performed by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, were finished at 9 p.m. The storm hit around 10:30 p.m.
A total of 2,310 attended the event, said the garden’s executive director Mike Allen. “With the support of the Symphony we decided prior to the show to eliminate the intermission, which was 22 minutes, and one number, which was nine minutes, so we could get people out early and home safely,” Mike said. “Which was wise.”
The audience didn’t get to hear that one selection, which Mike thinks was the “Vienna Waltz,” but they left with their coolers, blankets and chairs before the strong winds arrived.
“There was no damage in what’s called the ‘Live Garden.’ There was one large tree along the eastern edge by Audubon Lake that we lost. The Live Garden, the stage, all that was unaffected. Thankfully.”
….
Michael Donahue
Chris Milam and Elen Wroten at Chris Milam’s album release concert.
Toward the end of his outdoor concert, Chris Milam said listeners to his songs probably were thinking, “Maybe this has a happy ending,” and “Maybe this relationship will work out.”
Chris on guitar and Elen Wroten on cello performed songs from Chris’s new album,”Kids These Days,” May 27 on the front porch of the record store on Madison.
“The album itself comes from basically one year of my life that was an especially trying time,” Chris said. “While there are moments of hard won optimism, a lot of the songs are about a dark time. And so, yeah, sometimes if people haven’t heard the songs before or are new to my music, I can see over the course of a concert maybe they’re looking for some comic relief or a bit of levity. I’ll provide it if I can.”
Michael Donahue
Kyle Bors-Koefoed at The Warehouse.
….
Kyle Bors-Koefoed paid homage to Memphis at his album release party May 27 at The Warehouse near South Main.
A native Memphian now living in Nashville, Kyle said the event was the “official album release” for “Becca’s Mix Tape.” “I wanted to launch it in Memphis because Memphis is where I have my roots for music,” he said. “That’s where I started in music.”
He described the album as “a range of singer-songwriter style music that is blues heavy. It’s got a bit of Pink Floyd, John Mayer-ish-type stuff. Very modern sounding.”
Blues artist Blind Mississippi Morris was among the guests. “He’s the one that I followed,” Kyle said. “I shadowed him for about five years. He’s the one that really taught me how to play the blues harp the way I play it. He’s like family now. We love Morris.”
Asked if he planned to move back to Memphis some day, Kyle said, “There’s possibly not more exposure, but a different kind of exposure here in Nashville for my singer-songwriter stuff. So, that’s why I’m still staying out here.”
But, he said, “If it wasn’t for Memphis, I wouldn’t be who I am today. I wouldn’t have learned to play the
music that I play the same way. Memphis has that soul that I haven’t been able to find in Nashville.”
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Memphis Public Libraries
Beginning today, 16 Memphis Public Libraries will begin longer hours of operation for the summer.
All libraries within the City of Memphis and Bartlett will now be open six days a week, with an additional 145 hours of operation each week.
New hours are as follows:
The Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library on Poplar Avenue will now be open Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Sundays, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Cordova, Whitehaven, Raleigh, and Poplar-White Station Libraries will now be open from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
While the Frayser, Parkway Village, Hollywood, North, South, Randolph, Cherokee, Levi, Crenshaw, Cossit, and Gaston Park Libraries will be open Monday through Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
“Additional hours of operation mean better service for youth and their families, working individuals, and the entire city of Memphis,” said Director of Libraries Keenon McCloy. “We are especially excited to expand library hours in the summer, so that more customers can explore what the Memphis Public Libraries have to offer.”
Increased library hours are funded by the City’s budget for fiscal year 2018 which allows $475,000 to hire an additional 20 part-time assistant librarians and $50,000 to enhance library programs and services, such as Explore Memphis 2017, CLOUD901, and STEAM.
“We look froward to re-opening the doors of several Memphis public library branches whose doors have been closed on Fridays for years,” McCloy said. “Libraries make a positive difference in the communities they serve by placing literacy and lifelong learning as top priorities.”
McCloy encourages all Memphians to take advantage of the libraries’ longer hours, programs, and services this summer.
The City Council has approved Mayor Jim Strickland’s request for $6 million from the emergency reserves to be allocated to storm debris clean up.
The funding will allow the mayor to authorize the city’s Public Works team to pick up oversized debris placed on the curb— something the city usually does not do.
Additionally, the funds will allow the city to provide assistance to those needing help cleaning up their properties.
Need for that assistance will be prioritized based on age, ability, and income.
However, this second phase, which could take up to eight weeks, will not start immediately, as Public Works’ priority remains removing debris from streets and emptying garbage from bins.
As the City wraps up phase one of storm restoration, more details on how to receive additional assistance will come.
The M-Bridge.
This weekend’s wind event didn’t wipe out all the electricity in Memphis, but it took out enough to transform the nighttime city into a virtually unrecognizable noir landscape where every tree-lined street suddenly looked like the cover of a Stephen King novel. These photos were all taken in the immediate wake of the storm using only available light.
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It’s Tuesday, but yesterday was Memorial Day, so we have a music video anyway, and it’s super!
You can read up on China Gate’s new album Good Grief in Josh Cannon’s recent Memphis Flyer music blog entry. The Memphis rockers, led by songwriter Tiger Adams, celebrated the release of their record with a party last week. Now, here’s the music video for the first single, “Covered In Flames”.
Directed by Noah Miller, “Covered In Flames” lays on the nostalgia element with a Super 8 look. The film grain and light leaks give the footage of Adams and the band the feeling of being rescued from a long-lost reel of vacation footage from the 1970s. Even better, the video features a cute dog.
That’s right. It’s puppy time. Check it out:
Music Video Monday on Tuesday: China Gate
If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com