Category: Best of Memphis

You can be a local celebrity, the face on the TV news, a fashion maven, or a Memphis millionaire. But to get on the true Memphis A-list, you’ve got to start with the letter “A.” Here are 10 people, places, and things that make the grade.

1. Affordable Housing — There’s no question that the cost of living in Memphis is low. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, Memphis is 11 percent below the cost-of-living national average, primarily because housing prices here are 25 percent lower than the national average.

2. Arcade Restaurant — Not only does this throwback to the city’s past have yummy down-home-style food, retro ambience, and great prices, it’s a Hollywood hotspot. Every major movie filmed here in the past few years has used the Arcade Restaurant on South Main as a location. The diner has been around since 1919, and it’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

3. A C Wharton — From his dapper suits to his ability to get the county back on track financially, A C Wharton seems to have it all together, unlike another mayor we could name. One of Wharton’s best accomplishments, the Smart Growth Initiative, encourages the county to grow in ways that protect the environment while reinvesting in urban areas.

4. AutoZone — FedEx gets more attention, but AutoZone is another Fortune 500 corporation with a home here in the Bluff City. Over the years, the company has provided Memphis with jobs, arts support, and an impressive minor-league baseball park.

5. Arts Community — The local arts community has really come together, especially in the South Main district, which has changed from a neglected neighborhood to an ultra-hip gallery row. The makeover is still happening, with a tremendous residential boom taking place just south of the AmTrak station.

6. Architecture — Memphis is home to a number of architectural wonders, such as the imposing Tennessee Brewery downtown and the state-of-the-art Clark Opera Memphis Center in Germantown. And Archimania’s doing some interesting work downtown, including the “Phil Woodward House” across the street from the Flyer offices, which features a skewed roof and a giant wall of glass overlooking the river.

7. Alex’s Tavern — This friendly neighborhood bar has been around since 1953, and it claims to be the oldest pub in town. Known for its hangover-killing burgers and Cheers-like ambience, Alex’s is a Memphis institution.

8. Ardent Recording Studios — Sure, Memphis is the birthplace of rock-and-roll, but if it weren’t for some local recording studios, local music might have passed away when Elvis died. One of the local studio mainstays, Ardent, has produced albums for artists such as Big Star, Bob Dylan, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, and ZZ Top, to name a few.

9. A. Schwab — Another blast from the past, A. Schwab general store on Beale Street is probably the most unusual store in the city. Since 1876, Schwab’s has peddled an eclectic mix of voodoo candles, herbs, salad dressings, clothing, toys, and discount novelty items.

10. Audubon Park — Where else can you see members of the Society for Creative Anachronism sword-fighting in Renaissance costumes, pagans celebrating the full moon, and families picnicking — all in the same place?

Um, okay, here’s a question: The three best women’s clothing stores in Memphis — picked by you, gentle readers — are Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, and Ann Taylor?

Well, we have to admit we’re a little surprised. It’s not that Macy’s or Victoria’s Secret or Ann Taylor are bad choices. Heaven knows, we’ve bought quite a few little items at each of those stores (emphasis on the “little” for Vicki Sees). But you, dear reader, are so creative and wonderful. We just wonder if, perhaps, you are a bit uninspired.

Take the Best Gift Shop category. Target and Kirkland’s and Pier 1 are all nice stores and, yes, we shop them as well, but we hardly think you can call Target a “gift shop.” A gift mega-mart, maybe, but not a gift shop.

We know how it is. Some stores — no matter how great — have that best-kept secret vibe. They’re not top-of-mind. Maybe they’re tucked away in some hidden corner of Memphis. Maybe they rely on word-of-mouth advertising. So if you want to get out of the mall, here’s our list of some hidden (and not-so-hidden) gems.

The National Ornamental Metal Museum

374 Metal Museum Dr.

NOMM is falling-down-the-rabbit-hole hard to find. But like any Wonderland, it’s worth it. The grounds are beautiful, and the gift shop has great handmade metal objets d’art, including jewelry, coffee scoops, night lights, drawer handles, and, at this time of year, ornaments and driedls. It’s all made by metalsmiths and artisans, and yet it’s very affordable, especially for a one-of-a-kind gift.

Celery: Ladies Upscale Resale

728 Brookhaven Circle

Celery is the Memphis equivalent of Miami consignment. Opened by Leslie Acker Robinson, the store offers buyers lots of designer clothes and gently worn merchandise. Celery takes the work out of second-hand buying, making sure that consignments are both in season and in good condition. Just think of it this way: Instead of only a few buyers, Celery has many buyers (consigners), meaning you’ll almost always find something you love.

Sloane

416 Perkins Extended

Sloane was all about little suits and jackets before the look really hit. Now owner Brenda Buckman Green says they’re flying through jackets, especially in velvet. These trendsetters are located on Perkins Extended, but they’re a little off the beaten path of Oak Court Mall and the two Laurelwood shopping centers. Their look is professional but striking, and women who want to dress for work without losing their individuality should definitely make a trip.

Goodwill

574 S. Highland

For Celery’s Robinson, the Goodwill is one of her shopping secrets. “You can always find baby furniture and car seats,” she says. “They may not be current, but it you need them for spare cars, maybe Grandma and Grandpa, you can get them for anywhere from $3.99 to $6.99. You just have to clean them. And they clean easily.”

Jun Lee

3397 Summer

A Flyer staff favorite — lunchtime fieldtrip, anyone? — Jun Lee is the ultimate in extremely affordable costume jewelry, purses, scarves, and even fake hair. Due to the sickly looking yellow panels covering the windows, it fails to impress from the outside. On the inside, however, it’s a style junkie’s dream (if you can see through the herds of women mulling over the merchandise).

Diane’s Art, Gift & Home

1581 Overton Park

If you need a gift for someone with discriminating taste, try Diane’s on Overton Park. It’s eclectic and fun, artsy and sophisticated. Find animals made out of car hoods, herringboned wood jewelry, and tons of surprises. You won’t be sorry.

Williams Sonoma Marketplace

4718 Spottswood

Williams Sonoma Marketplace is maybe the worst-kept secret on the list, but we just couldn’t exclude it. In fact, Robinson says it’s at the top her list. They carry cookware and tableware that have that clean Williams Sonoma look but at less than the Williams Sonoma price. “You can buy gifts for people there and they’ll think you got it from the real store,” says Robinson. “I even like their CDs. It’s terrible, but true.”

Zoe

4564 Poplar

“I think it gets overlooked,” says Sloane’s Green. “Every time I mention it, people say, ‘What’s that?'” This tiny Laurelwood store carries exclusive beauty and skin-care products designed to make you look and feel fabulous. “It has a lot of men’s stuff that my husband uses, and it’s the only place I can get it,” says Green.

South Front Antiques

374 S. Front

When asked about Memphis’ best-kept secrets, Diane Laurenzi immediately thought of Front Street Antiques. When she was opening Diane’s, she bought several old doors that she used to make fixtures for the store. She also bought a Mission-style desk for the shop.

“They have all these found architectural pieces: doorknobs, shutters, doors. I got my fireplace mantel from there,” she says. “They have three levels. The upstairs has windows and shutters; the middle floor has a lot of tin pieces, and they have furniture too. If you are into found pieces, it’s really a treat.”

GOODS & SERVICES

Best Grocery Store

1. Kroger

2. Schnucks

3. Fresh Market

Best Liquor Store

1. Buster’s Liquors & Wine

2. Joe’s Wines & Liquor

3. Arthur’s Wine & Liquor

Best Department Store

1. Macy’s

2. Target

3. Dillard’s

Best Shopping Mall

1. Wolfchase Galleria

2. Oak Court Mall

3. The Shops of Saddle Creek

Best Gift Shop

1. Target

2. Kirkland’s

3. Pier One

Best Book store (new)

1. Davis-Kidd Booksellers

2. Barnes & Noble Booksellers

3. Borders Books Music & Cafe

Best Book store (used)

1. Burke’s Book Store

2. Midtown Books/Sip

3. Tiger Book Store

Best Bank

1. First Tennessee Bank

2. Regions Bank/Union Planters

3. Bank of America

Best Women’s Clothing

1. Macy’s

2. Victoria’s Secret

3. Ann Taylor

Best Men’s Clothing

1. James Davis

2. Oak Hall

3. Macy’s

Best Vintage Clothing

1. Flashback

2. Goodwill

3. Salvation Army

Best Shoe Store

1. Designer Shoe Warehouse

2. Rack Room Shoes

3. Payless Shoe Source

Best Home Furnishings

1. Pottery Barn

2. Pier One

3. Bed Bath & Beyond — tie —

Samuels Furniture & Interiors

Best Hair Salon

1. Gould’s Styling Salon

2. Supercuts

3. Dabbles Hair Company — tie —

Hi Gorgeous

Best Day Spa

1. Gould’s

2. Touch of Health

3. Germantown Day Spa — tie —

Serenity Day Spa

Best Fitness Club

1. YMCA

2. French Riviera Spa

3. 24 Hour Fitness

Best Jewelry Store

1. Las Savell Jewelry

2. Mednikow Jewelers

3. Kay Jewelers

Best Tattoo Parlor

1. Underground Art

2. Trilogy

3. Memphis Tattoo Co.

Best Antique Store

1. Bojo’s Antique Mall

2. Palladio

3. Antique Mall of Midtown — tie —

Flashback

Best Smoke Shop

1. Tobacco Corner

2. Wizard’s

3. Madison Ave. Tobacco (Vince’s) — tie —

Whatever

Best Dry Cleaners

1. Bensinger’s Fine Cleaners

2. Dryve Cleaners

3. Mercury Valet

Best Florist

1. Pugh’s Flowers

2. Flowers by Sandy

3. Holliday’s Flowers

Best Sporting Goods

1. Bass Pro Shop

2. Sports Authority

3. Outdoors Inc.

Best Place to Buy A Computer

1. Best Buy

2. Dell

3. Apple Store

Best Place to Buy a Bicycle

1. The Peddler

2. Midtown Bicycle Co.

3. Outdoors Inc.

Best Video

1. Blockbuster Video

2. Black Lodge Video

3. Hollywood Video

Best Record Store (new)

1. Cat’s Compact Discs & Cassettes

2. Tower Records

3. Best Buy — tie —

Pop Tunes Record Shops

Spin Street

Best Record Store (used)

1. Cat’s Compact Discs & Cassettes

2. Pop Tunes Record Shops

3. Shangri-La Records

Best Music Equipment

1. Strings & Things

2. Yarbrough’s Music

3. Amro Music Stores

Best Car Dealership

1. CarMax

2. Dobbs Brothers Honda — tie —

Covington Pike Toyota

Saturn of Memphis

FOOD & DRINK

Best Chef

1. Judd and Alex Grisanti

2. Erling Jensen

3. Jose Gutierrez

Best Lunch

1. Huey’s

2. McAlister’s

3. El Porton Mexican Restaurant

Best Breakfast

1. Brother Juniper’s

2. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

3. IHOP

Best Romantic Restaurant

1. Paulette’s

2. Jim’s Place East

3. The Melting Pot

Best Sunday Brunch

1. Owen Brennan’s Restaurant

2. Peabody Skyway

3. Boscos Squared

Best Wine List

1. Le Chardonnay Wine Bar & Bistro

2. McEwen’s on Monroe

3. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

Best Steak

1. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

2. Ruth’s Chris Steak House

3. The Butcher Shop

Best Barbecue

1. Corky’s

2. Central BBQ

3. The Bar-B-Q Shop

Best Burger

1. Huey’s

2. Back Yard Burgers

3. Earnestine & Hazel’s

Best Hot Wings

1. Hooters

2. Buffalo Wild Wings

3. D’Bo’s Buffalo Wings-N-Things

Best Ribs

1. Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous

2. Corky’s

3. Central BBQ

Best Dessert

1. Paulette’s

2. Peabody’s Deli and Dessert

3. The Melting Pot

Best Italian

1. Ronnie Grisanti & Sons

2. Pete and Sam’s Restaurant

3. Olive Garden

Best Mexican

1. El Porton Mexican Restaurant

2. Molly Gonzales’ La Casita Mexican Restaurant

3. On the Border Mexican Cafe

Best Chinese

1. PF Chang’s China Bistro

2. Wang’s Mandarin House

3. Formosa Restaurant

Best Thai

1. Bhan Thai

2. Bangkok Alley

3. Sawaddii Thai Cuisine — tie —

Jasmine Thai Restaurant

Best Vietnamese

1. Saigon Le

2. Pho Saigon

3. Pho Hoa Binh

Best Japanese/Sushi

1. Sekisui

2. Benihana of Tokyo

3. Pacific Rim

Best Indian

1. India Palace

2. Bombay House

3. Golden India

Best Home Cooking/Soul Food

1. The Cupboard

2. Gus’s Fried Chicken

3. Blue Plate Café

Best Vegetarian

1. Wild Oats Market

2. The Cupboard

3. La Montagne Natural Food Restaurant

Best Seafood

1. Red Lobster

2. Anderton’s

3. Joe’s Crab Shack — tie —

Blue Fish Restaurant & Oyster Bar

Bonefish Grill

Tsunami

Best Pizza

1. Memphis Pizza Cafe

2. Exline’s

3. Papa John’s — tie — 

Camy’s

Best Deli

1. Lenny’s Sub Shop

2. McAlister’s

3. Fino’s from the Hill

Best Service

1. Huey’s

2. Houston’s

3. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

Best Place that Delivers

1. Camy’s

2. Papa John’s

3. Pizza Hut — tie — 

Young Avenue Deli

Best Bakery

1. La Baguette

2. Howard’s Donuts

3. Kay Bakery — tie —

Atlanta Bread Company

Best Coffeehouse

1. Starbucks

2. Otherlands

3. Java Cabana

Best Restaurant in Memphis

READERS’ CHOICE

Texas de Brazil

Huey’s

McEwen’s on Monroe

Jim’s Place East

Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

Best New Restaurant opened 2005

1. LoLo’s Table

2. Blue Fish Restaurant & Oyster Bar

— tie — Big Foot Lodge

3. Casablanca

NIGHTLIFE

Best Place To See Live Music

1. Hi-Tone Cafe

2. New Daisy Theatre

3. B.B. King’s

Best Local Band

READERS’ CHOICE

Ingram Hill

Lucero

Gabby Johnson

The Dempseys

Twin Soul

Best Bar

READERS’ CHOICE

Young Avenue Deli

Flying Saucer Draught Emporium

Blue Monkey

Fox & Hound English Tavern

Best New Bar opened 2005

1. Celtic Crossing — tie —

Big Foot Lodge

2. Lolo’s Table — tie —

Dish

Best Hole in the Wall

1. Alex’s

2. P&H Cafe

3. Earnestine & Hazel’s

Best After Hours Club

1. Raiford’s Hollywood

2. Earnestine & Hazel’s

3. Alex’s — tie —

Two Way Inn

Best Beer Selection

1. Flying Saucer Draught Emporium

2. Boscos Squared

3. Young Avenue Deli

Best Happy Hour

1. Chili’s

2. Blue Monkey

3. Flying Saucer Draught Emporium — tie —

On the Border Mexican Cafe

Best Place to Dance

1. Senses

2. Alfred’s

3. Club 152 on Beale

Best Jukebox

1. Earnestine & Hazel’s

2. Alex’s

3. Young Avenue Deli

Best Place to Play Pool

1. Fox & Hound English Tavern

2. Highland Cue

3. Young Avenue Deli

Best Sports Bar

1. Fox & Hound English Tavern

2. Buffalo Wild Wings

3. T.J. Mulligan’s — tie — 

Hooters

RECREATION

Best Museum

1. Memphis Pink Palace Museum

2. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

3. Stax Museum of American Soul Music

Best Art Gallery

1. Memphis College of Art

2. Midtown Artist Market Gallery

3. David Lusk Gallery

Best Live Theater

1. The Orpheum

2. Playhouse on the Square

3. Theatre Memphis

Best Movie Theater

1. Paradiso

2. Studio on the Square

3. Muvico Peabody Place 22

Best Golf Course

1. TPC at Southwind

2. The Links at Galloway

3. The Links at Overton Park

Best Casino

1. Horseshoe Casino

2. Grand Casino

3. Gold Strike Casino

Best Place for a Picnic

1. Shelby Farms

2. Overton Park

3. Memphis Botanic Garden

Best Family Entertainment

1. Redbirds Game

2. Memphis Zoo

3. Grizzlies Game

Best Sports Team

1. Memphis Grizzlies

2. Memphis Redbirds

3. University of Memphis Football

Best Local Athlete

1. DeAngelo Williams,

University of Memphis Football

2. Shane Battier, Memphis Grizzlies

3. Pau Gasol, Memphis Grizzlies

MEDIA

Best FM Station

1. WEGR-FM 102.7, Rock 103

2. WMBZ-FM 94.1, The Buzz

3. WXMX-FM 98.1, The Max — tie — 

WEVL-FM 89.9, Weevil

Best AM Station

1. WHBQ-AM 560

2. WWTQ-AM 680

3. WMC-AM 790

Best Drive-Time Show

1. Drake & Zeke, WXMX-FM 98.1, The Max

2. Dennis & Ric, WEGR-FM 102.7, Rock 103

3. Howard Stern, WMFS-FM 92.9, 93X

Best Sports Radio Show

1. SportsCall, WMC-AM 790

2. Sportstime with Lapides & Calkins, WHBQ-AM 560

3. Sports with Marky B, WXMX-FM 98.1, The Max

Best Talk Show

1. Mike Fleming, WREC-AM 600

2. The Leon Gray Show, WWTQ-AM 680

3. Dennis & Ric, WEGR-FM 102.7, Rock 103

Best Newspaper Columnist

1. Wendi C. Thomas,

The Commercial Appeal

2. Geoff Calkins, The Commercial Appeal

3. Tim Sampson, The Memphis Flyer

Best Weatherperson

1. Dave Brown, WMC-TV, Channel 5

2. Jim Jaggers, WREG-TV, Channel 3

3. Tim Simpson, WREG-TV, Channel 3

Best TV Sportscaster

1. Jarvis Greer, WMC-TV, Channel 5

2. Greg Gaston, WPTY-24, Channel 24

3. Glenn Carver, WREG-TV, Channel 3

Best TV News Anchor

1. Joe Birch, WMC-TV, Channel 5

2. Kym Clark, WMC-TV, Channel 5

3. Donna Davis, WMC-TV, Channel 5

Best Radio Personality

1. John “Bad Dog” McCormack, WEGR-FM 102.7, Rock 103

2. Ron Olson, WMC-FM 99.7, FM 100 3. Drake & Zeke, WXMX-FM 98.1, The Max

Best Memphis-Themed Web Site

1. MemphisFlyer.com

2. Rock103.com — tie —

CommercialAppeal.com

3. MemphisTigers.org

Best Memphis Blog

1. RachelandtheCity.com

2. Halfbakered.blogspot.com — tie — 

Scenestars.net

Goner-Records.com/board

AND THE REST

Best Category We Left Out

READERS’ CHOICE

Bartender

Strip Joint (Gentlemen’s Club)

Neighborhood

Best Memphian

1. Shelby County mayor A C Wharton

2. FedEx founder Fred Smith

3. State representative Harold Ford Jr. — tie — Elvis

Best Locally Produced Product

1. Barbecue

2. Music

3. FedEx

Best Memphis Failure

1. Memphis mayor Willie Herenton

2. Former state senator John Ford

3. Park names debate

Best Memphis Success

1. The Tennessee Waltz sting

2. FedExForum — tie — 

John Ford resigns as state senator

3. International Paper headquarters moves to Memphis — tie —

University of Memphis football program

I’m a tightwad. When I was a freshman in college living on my own, I had no choice but to be cheap. I lived on macaroni and cheese and Ramen noodles. But what college student didn’t?

Now, I can afford to eat a little better, and I do when I’m at home. But when dining out, I’m still a penny-pincher. I try and keep lunch under $5 and dinner for two under $20. When I go out drinking, I look for beer busts and drink specials.

What follows is a guide to filling your belly and satisfying your alcoholic urges for $5 or less.

Eats:

1 Warehouse Wednesdays at Spaghetti Warehouse — Even a fat man can get full here for $4.99! All day on Wednesdays, that price gets you a seven-ounce bowl of spaghetti with tomato, marinara, or meat sauce, bottomless soup or salad, a loaf of bread, and a non-alcoholic beverage.

2 The China Doll — Don’t let the hot pink facade or its ghetto-fied location fool you. This Chinese and Thai restaurant on Lamar has some of the best Chinese food in town, and about half of its menu is under $5. I usually go with the Vegetable Fried Rice ($3.25), which is enough to feed at least three people. I’m also a fan of the vegetable soup for two, a clear broth with fresh steamed veggies and crispy crackers for $1.85. Their meat entrees are equally cheap.

3 Lunch Buffet at Pho Hoa Binh — No wonder this place is so hip. For $5, you can eat your heart out at Pho Hoa Binh’s lunch buffet, and it’s a vegetarian’s dream come true. Nearly half of the buffet selections are tofu dishes.

4 Black Bean Soup at Café Olé — I know what you’re thinking. I can’t get full on one bowl of black bean soup. And that’s probably true. But don’t forget about the freebies. With a free hefty basket of warm tortilla chips and a large bowl of salsa to start you off, this hearty soup with a hint of lime for $4.50 should tide you over.

5 House Salad at Central BBQ — This large salad for $3.99 is a true value since even the bowl is edible. The bed of iceberg lettuce is topped with red cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, cheese, and pepperoncini peppers and your choice of dressing.

6 California Classic at McAlister’s Deli — Olive salad, provolone and mozzarella cheeses, lettuce, tomato, bell pepper, and onion on pita bread with your choice of chips, potato salad, or a fruit cup. All for $4.69. This is one of my all-time favorite lunches, and the prices remain the same through dinner.

Drinks:

1 Beer Bust at The Buccaneer —This place has the King of all Cheap Beers — Pabst Blue Ribbon — on tap, which means they reign supreme catering to poor, Midtown hipsters. Even better, on Thursday nights, it’s all-you-can-drink for just $5.

2 Beer Bust at Metro — By far the cheapest beer bust in town. For $4, drink all you want from 9 p.m. to midnight as you watch the city’s loveliest drag queens strut their stuff. Now that’s value!

3 Beer Bust at the Hi-Tone — This is also a Pabst Blue Ribbon bust. For $5, drink until you drop or until the keg runs dry, whichever comes first. DJs Sex Pot Piper and Franswa spin old-school tunes until midnight.

4 Too Tall Tuesdays at Newby’s — You and your fellow tightwads will be in heaven on Too Tall Tuesdays. Special items are just $2 ($2 Coors Light, $2 burgers, $2 off all Red Bull drinks).

5 Pitchers at Neil’s — For only $4, you can get a pitcher of Miller Lite or Bud Light. It’s best to bring friends and take turns buying pitchers. By the time you finish four, you’ll each have a good buzz and money left to burn elsewhere.

6 Bloody Sundays at the Blue Monkey — On Saturday and Sunday mornings, head over to the Blue Monkey and try one of their thick and spicy Bloody Marys for just $2.50. Perfect for curing that hangover from too much beer the night before. Not an early bird? No problem. The special runs 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

7 Trolley Night on South Main — This is a tip for true penny-pinchers who have no class. Hop from art opening to art opening on trolley night, helping yourself to a free glass of wine at each show. If you know the artist, you can have two or three and no one will mind. It’s a good buzz, you see some good art, and you don’t have to drive.

Musically, Memphis is best known for legendary recordings made by local artists in local studios. But, from the early blues and jazz on Beale Street to Elvis Presley’s public debut at the Overton Park Shell to the emergence of the Midtown post-punk scene, it’s long been a great live-music town as well, the city’s concert history filled with famous (or infamous) concerts by touring acts such as Ray Charles, the Sex Pistols, the Rolling Stones, and, ahem, G.G. Allin.

As a music fan, I’ve long cherished records more than live shows, but through two stints in Memphis I’ve seen lots of memorable concerts. Here, in chronological order, are the 10 I remember best:

1 The Country Rockers at Antenna Club, fall 1989: A few weeks after moving to Memphis from a small Arkansas town, 15-years-old and entering a new world for the first time. A friend and I were there for some forgettable alt-rock band called Scruffy the Cat, which came on too late for us to see anyway. But the freak-show scene — the club, the videos, the band, such a peculiarly Memphis mix of rootsy weirdness — was quite an eye-opener.

2 D.I. at Antenna Club, 1989/1990: A hardcore band I’m sure I would find utterly ridiculous now, but they had been in the Penelope Spheeris punk movie Suburbia, which was quite meaningful at the time. When they did “Richard Hung Himself,” the lead singer pretended to strangle himself with the mic chord. Very outré.

3 The Replacements at the New Daisy Theatre, 1990: My fave band at the time and the only chance I had to see them. On their final tour and with only two original members, but it might as well have been the Stones in ’72 as far as I was concerned. They led with my favorite of their songs (then and now), “I Will Dare,” and just kept getting better.

4 Iris Dement at Hi-Tone Café, 1998: Back home after college and freelancing for the Flyer, I previewed this show, and it’s still one of my favorite interviews I’ve ever done. I’d seen Dement in Minneapolis the year before at a 1,000-seat theatre. Here at a tiny club, the building was full, with a line outside the door three hours before showtime. Dement came on around 9:30, opened her mouth and broke hearts around the room. Elvis Costello’s Hi-Tone shows got lots of attention. This was about 100 times better.

5 Lucero CD-release party at Hi-Tone Café, 2000: Still a great live band with a huge local following, but the string of shows culminating with the December 2000 release of their debut album were special. There was the sense of a great new local band coming into its own, and the shows felt epic for the modesty of the setting.

6 Sonic Youth at Beale Street Music Festival, May 2001: Following Mavis Staples on a beautiful Sunday night. I had retreated from the over-crowded Bob Dylan show the next stage over to find a smaller but more humane outdoor rock-show audience than these kinds of festivals usually draw. I’ve seen the band many times, but their art-noise guitar attack has never sounded so optimistic or gorgeous as it did this night.

7 The White Stripes at Earnestine & Hazel’s, September 10, 2001: They hadn’t conquered MTV or modern-rock radio yet but were still big enough that seeing them set up on the floor in the middle of this crowded South Main bar was completely surreal. Then the next morning happened.

8 The Dixie Chicks at The Pyramid, Summer 2003: I loved the Dixie Chicks — live and on record — long before lead-singer Natalie Means decided to take on the president. But this post-“controversy” show was more than a concert: It was a public dramatization of embattled citizenship that morphed into a victory lap.

9 The Drive-By Truckers at Newby’s, Friday, October 17, 2003: My fave Drive-By Truckers song is Mike Cooley’s “Zip City,” sung in the voice of a small-town 17-year-old boy frustrated that his younger girlfriend won’t “put out” and more so by the sense that his life isn’t headed anywhere. The Truckers closed their show this night with “Zip City,” but Cooley didn’t sing it. Instead, in an act of weird, invigorating inappropriateness, they brought a 12-year-old girl named Audrey Brown (a member of their local “street team,” a publicist later told me) on stage, who sang the song completely without guile as the band riffed gloriously behind her.

10 Bob Dylan at AutoZone Park, 2005: Bob Dylan has been making music for more than 40 years and got saddled “Voice of a Generation” almost exactly four decades ago. But he doesn’t go through the motions, or at least didn’t on this night. He closed the show with “Summer Days,” from 2001”s “Love & Theft,“ and the crowd ate it up, as they should have. Is there any other classic-rock icon who could close a show today with a recent album track to wide audience approval? No way.

Other Voices

I also asked other Flyer music writers about their most memorable Memphis concert experiences, and here’s what some of them came up with:

Andria Lisle: Suicidal Tendencies at the Antenna Club, May 1987. “I attended that instead of the prom.” Public Enemy at Mid-South Coliseum, 1990. “Flavor Flav pulled out an effigy of a KKK member and everyone was hollering ‘Kill whitey!’ Great and scary all at the same time.”

Stephen Deusner: Guided by Voices at Last Place on Earth, 2000. “The first concert to make me feel old. My friends and I left after two hours, but Robert Pollard — nearly 50 and very drunk — kept going for another hour or so. Highlight: starting the show with rarity “Titus and Strident Wet Nurse.”

Bianca Phillips: Tori Amos at The Orpheum, 1998. “I have never seen anyone get quite as into their music as Tori does. As she played, she was practically humping her piano, occasionally bursting out orgasm noises in the middle of her songs. (She kind of does that anyway, but it was way worse this time.)”

Though blogs (a contraction for “web-logs”) have been around for a few years, it is only in the last year or two that they have begun to predominate as the favored medium of expression in the ever-burgeoning cybernetic universe. The blog is the bastard child of the conventional Web site and the chat room, blending the focus of the former with the masquerade party of the latter. Add a dash of group therapy and a jigger of trick or treat, and you’ve got it. I hate to drag Aristotle into this, but his established duopoly — that art must both amuse and instruct — definitely holds as a standard by which to measure blogs.

The art is interactive, of course. There’s a session leader of sorts, the blogmeister, and a rotating stable of respondents — some familiar, some dropping in out of nowhere on a given day, others part of an organized campaign to influence opinion (the Internet equivalent of the letter-writing campaign). Many of all types pretend to be somebody they’re not — a circumstance abetted by the custom of Internet-specific monikers.

One of the charms of the Internet, of course — and a chief reason why the personal computer is achieving such an overriding importance in daily life these days — is that the form absorbs and reconfigures all the flotsam and jissom of pre-existing aesthetics. Oh yes, the preceding pun was very much intended; not only is porn, both sought and unsolicited, a staple of the cybernetic universe, but there exists a site (www.thebestporn.com) which comprehensively sifts through it all, assigns numerical ratings to the thousands upon thousands of sites, classifies them according to various criteria, and provides thoughty reviews of each — part Pauline Kael, part Consumer Reports — from a crew of what appear to be preppy young adults of both, er, all genders. (These, of course, are probably ringers; see above under “masquerade party.”)

In any case, all the genres you’re used to — TV, movies, newspapers, novels, stereo hi-fi, etc., etc. — can be had, sometimes all at once, via Internet Web sites, and an astonishing amount of this amalgam is carried forth in the rapidly mushrooming world of the blogs, which now number — according to a recent calculation cited by Flyer editor Bruce VanWyngarden — around 17 million.

That being the case, I’ll restrict myself to citing only two brief Best-Of blog lists — one local, one national — that best provide the right combination of entertainment, authority, and interactiveness that, IMHO, a good blog should have. (If you have to ask what “IMHO” means, you’re not ready for this list, BTW.) Since the Flyer has an established hard-news focus and since my usual bailiwick is politics, and since (further) politics and public/social issues tend to predominate in blogs qua blogs, the lists will have that bias too. There are so many good ones that it tears me up to leave any out, but that will just have to be.

Best Local Blogs

1. The Flypaper Theory (thepeskyfly.blogspot.com). This one ranks high on my personal list, and not just because, in the proprietor’s occasional absence, I’m one member (and, by all odds, the least prolific) of a group that fills in for him — “him” being the Flyer‘s Chris Davis, a renaissance man if there ever was one — wit, wag, weighty thinker, all at once. (And occasional bomb-thrower, even if that term doesn’t alliterate.) TFP is subtitled “Where It’s All Effing Politics/And It’s All Effing Personal.” Graphics are good, sometimes wonderful, there’s a nice set of archives, easily accessed, and on a good day, there are multiple posts, all on point. Leftward tending? Yeah, buddy!

2. Half-Bakered (halfbakered.blogspot.com). This one, by an industriously quirky, self-described “libertarian” named Mike Hollihan, tends to the right side of the spectrum — though “Mr. Mike” (as the proprietor also refers to himself) has been known to wage war on other self-professed “conservatives” (e.g., radio talker Mike Fleming, whom he abhors, for reasons never quite explained). Mainly, though, Mike is full-time on the trail of P.C. liberals (and no, I don’t mean progressives who own laptops). His misreadings are as frequent as his right guesses — something true of any wild swinger and an explanation of sorts for the name of this blog (don’t ask). A bonus: He does long takes on the local media — interesting even when they are misguided.

3. Fishkite (fishkite.com). Operated by one Mick Wright, this “blog between church and state” is another conservative-oriented blog, but it eschews propaganda in favor of exploring the seams and testing its hypotheses (come to think of it, this describes Hollihan too, and maybe that’s why he’s contemptuous of Fleming). Fishkite seems to make a real effort to round up fresh material, whether or not it corresponds with some pre-ordained point of view.

4. Smart City Memphis (smartcitymemphis.blogspot.com). Operated by all-purpose urbanism junkie Carol Coletta, this site scours the landscape for ideas and material relevant to the future of the local environs we all inhabit and takes sides with adroit little essays that educate while they are stimulating. Sample titles: “Let’s Not Be Dense About Density,” “The City’s Budget Crisis Calls for Honest Answers,” “Current Policies for Tax Freezes Defy Logic.” If that looks too wonky, you just have to go there and see for yourself. Coletta (aided and abetted, it would appear, by former Shelby County executive Tom Jones) doesn’t shy away from radical notions — like sending The Pyramid into Kingdom Come.

5. Are we here already? Fifth on the list, with at least 20 more really good ones left to enumerate? It’s kinda like that “I’d like to thank …” time on the Academy Awards show. Okay, here are several good local ones (google the titles and find the URLs yourself), and I’m still leaving out a lot of winners! (I’ll make it up to you guys in references down the line.) The (very partial) list: LeftWingCracker; Dark Bilious Vapors; The Polar Donkey; Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This. River City Mud Company and Darrell Philllips’ blog are now defunct, unfortunately, and Thaddeus Mathews’, though it occasionally is a useful tip sheet, is so close to the lip of legal action that you might get process-served just reading it.

Best National Blogs

Space allows me only the briefest run-through: Talking Points Memo (talkingpointsmemo.com). Josh Marshall is the dean of the progressive national blog, its New York Times and Washington Post rolled together. Comprehensive and factual. For both better and worse, he tends to stick with a theme until it has been fully dealt with.

Others in the same ballpark: The Daily Kos (dailykos.com); Eschaton (atrios.blogspot.com); Crooks and Liars (crooksandliars.com), a wonderful source for good video links; The Booman Tribune (boomantribune.com), relatively new and comprehensive.

Honorable Mention (including some sites that aren’t, technically speaking, blogs): The Drudge Report (drudgereport.com), still crazy after all these years, and yes, this guy is a right-wing grunt and highly biased in what he posts, but his links are superb; Technorati (technorati.com) and Feedster (feedster.com), both blog-finding sites; The Raw Story (therawstory.com); and … oh hell, I thank Mom, Pop, and all members of the academy. Slate’s worth a read; so is Salon, though that’s partially subscription, and subscription sites are another issue. Literally.

The public often gets to see what celebrities are up to at night. Their faces are splashed across the pages of the supermarket tabloids, their exploits recounted in the entertainment pages. But when the night has ended, these A-listers need a place to lay their heads (and maybe something else) just like the rest of us. The beds on this list have been used by presidents and pop stars, diminutive divas and pro athletes.

Talbot Heirs Suites: $175 a night

The intimate lodging at the Talbot Heirs on Second Street has drawn an impressive list of celebrities. The hotel’s owner, Dana Gabrion, discovered the Talbot while working on the film Finding Graceland, when stars Bridget Fonda and Jonathan Schaech were staying there. Gabrion, who is currently the co-executive producer on the television program America’s Next Top Model, purchased the Talbot Heirs this year. Her parents manage the place while she is out of town.

The queen-size beds at Talbot Heirs are each unique; one even has suede duvet covers. Marti Pellow, the former lead singer of Scottish band Wet Wet Wet, is staying at the Talbot while he’s in town recording with Willie Mitchell. “I sleep in hotels eight months out of the year, in places all over the world,” he says. “When I come to Memphis, I always stay here because the beds are so comfortable, almost dreamlike.”

Heartbreak Hotel themed suites: $379 a night

There is plenty to appreciate about the beds at the Heartbreak Hotel on Elvis Presley Boulevard, from the hand-crafted pool-cue headboards to the bejeweled mountains of pillows. The Heartbreak Hotel has had a few celebrity guests, like Jim Carrey and Gunner Nelson, but it’s true popularity comes because its beds allow guests to sleep close to their favorite A-lister, Elvis.

“Yes, I do dream about Elvis when I’m here,” says frequent guest Jerry Engelby. “Just snuggling down with Elvis’ picture above me and his movie on — what more could you ask?”

“When I first got here, they were barely open. They didn’t even have bedspreads yet. I told them I didn’t care, I just wanted to be close,” says Sharon Parker, the Heartbreak’s first guest. Now she stays here several times a year.

Madison Hotel Presidential Suite: $1,300 a night

General manager Mohamad Hakimian says that the beds in the Presidential Suite at the Madison Hotel downtown are so nice it sometimes causes problems. “We had a doctor from Arizona staying here. About a week after he left he called up and said he could no longer sleep on his own bed.” The hotel uses Egyptian cotton in its 650-thread-count Italian linen, making beds smooth as silk.

The Peabody’s Celebrity Suite: $1,200 a night

The Peabody probably boasts the city’s longest list of celebrity guests, in fame and stature. It has hosted three U.S. presidents and 14 NBA teams. “We always make sure those players get our California king-size beds,” says Kelly Earnest, director of public relations.

The Peabody “Dream Bed” features a duck-down blanket, dual-chambered pillows, and a Platinum Plush mattress pad. “People rave about the beds, but I’ve also gotten in trouble because of them,” says general manager Douglas Browne. Browne was in the lobby when he overheard a customer complaining that he had missed his business meeting. Browne asked if they had forgotten his wake-up call. “No,” the man replied. “It’s that damn bed; I didn’t want to get out of it.”