adult entertainment – Memphis Flyer

Art’s Sake

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research, a conservative think tank, recently released a study cleverly titled 2007 Tennessee Pork Report: Tennessee Government Gone Hog Wild. Not surprisingly, the organization frowns on public funding of the arts, and knowing that you can’t bash The Nutcracker, TCFPR honchos Drew Johnson and Trent Seibert have wisely compiled a list of dirty art made by dirty artists with public money. Five thousand dollars went to Jeff Hand, a sculptor who stitches pillows that look like Viagra and well endowed teddy bears. University of Memphis alum Nate Eppler, who received numerous critical plaudits and awards when his play Keeping Up with the Joneses premiered at the U of M, was also singled out. Eppler used his 5G to produce his latest play, Mr. Greenjeans, which the report describes as “an intentional misinterpretation of a 1970s Japanese play The Green Stockings … follow[ing] the life of a man who has both the stomach of a cow and a suicidal panty fetish.” Congratulations of some sort are probably in order.

Fun with Headlines

Can you guess which of these actual headlines from local media organizations doesn’t belong here?

“South Memphis Neighborhood Happy the Bullets Stopped Flying”

“Police Standoff Ends”

“Woman Shot in North Memphis”

“Three Teens Wounded in Random Shooting in Memphis”

“Commissioner Plans to Propose [Adult] Nightclub Crackdown.”

Even as the bullets zip around our ears and ankles, Shelby County Commissioners like Mike Ritz are devising newer and better ways to suspend liquor licenses and combat the dangerous proliferation of jiggly female nakedness. The latest surge against the skinful enemy is crucial because if you don’t fight these glitter-smeared boobies in their native clubs today, you’ll be fighting them in your kitchen tomorrow. Better buy a gun, y’all.

Over the past month, construction crews have been erecting the wall of a new building on Fisher Steel Road, and if neighbors’ suspicions are correct, that might not be the last thing to be, er, erected at the site.

Outside the windowless structure, a sign heralds the arrival of La Italiano, ostensibly an Italian restaurant. But given the building’s facade and the fact the owner, Steve Cooper, also runs Christie’s Cabaret and the Gold Club, some Cordova residents fear the restaurant will actually be a strip club.

Last week, more than 200 concerned citizens gathered at a Cordova Leadership Council meeting. Brian Stephens, who sits on the council’s board of directors, informed residents that Cooper’s property is zoned “heavy industrial,” the proper zoning for a strip club.

However, Stephens said the location is too close to both a church and a residential area for a strip club. According to city ordinance, sexually oriented businesses cannot be located within 1,500 feet of churches, schools, homes, or parks.

Stephens warned residents of Cooper’s plans to subdivide the lot. If divided a certain way, the restaurant would be outside the 1,500-foot perimeter.

Shortly after Cooper purchased the land in 1998, he went before the Land Use Control Board to request the property be divided into two lots. The board asked Cooper for a plan describing what he would be doing with each piece of the property, but Cooper refused and his request was rejected. He appealed to the City Council, but it told him to go back to the Land Use Control Board.

“He didn’t want to do that, so he filed suit against the city,” Stephens said. “The local federal court said no, you do need to go back to the Land Use Control Board and show them what they’ve asked for. He didn’t want to do that either, so he’s appealed to the Sixth Circuit appellate level court.” That case is ongoing.

Recently, the County Commission approved a resolution calling for Cooper to use his property in a lawful manner.