Tag: MEMernet

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Winter Wonderland, and CA for Arts?

Posted to Facebook by Tom Bailey

Memphis on the internet.

Winter Wonderland

The MEMernet was wild for the white stuff last weekend. It was that “good snow,” making snowmen, snowballs, and snow sledding all easy and fun and driving not so dangerous. 

“These children give added meaning to ‘birdie’ while taking flight Saturday above the Overton Park golf course,” said Tom Bailey on Facebook.

The Memphis Zoo’s socials were blown up last weekend. Reels showed tigers playing, a grizzly bear rolling in the snow, and Babu, a mandrill, knocking over a snowman. 

Posted to Facebook by Memphis Zoo

There was also lots of love out there for the often-maligned city and Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW). Redditors tipped their hats to MLGW’s tree-trimming efforts, which helped to keep the lights on, and to the city for keeping the roads clear. Wow.

CA for Arts?

Posted to Facebook by Jay Etkin

Art gallery own Jay Etkin wants to turn the former Commercial Appeal building on Union into the Flow Museum of Art & Culture. Etkin said he is in talks with city, county, and state leaders on the idea. 

The building is on the auction block at the end of the month. Another idea would turn the building into a vocation training center for youth (see here).    

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: MLGWhat?, New Year’s Tear, and ‘Distinctive Weapon’

Posted to Facebook by Memphis Light, Gas & Water

Memphis on the internet.

MLGWhat?

Memphis Light, Gas & Water last week invited customers to play bingo with a card holding squares that said, “bragged about my low utility bill,” “didn’t lose power during a storm,” and more. 

Commenters (not so gently) reminded MLGW of the impending 4-percent energy rate increase this month and that their power can still be unpredictable. Many said the post was “tone-deaf,” with some suggesting that it was proof of MLGW’s “toxic” relationship with customers.

New Year’s Tear

Posted to Facebook by Moth Moth Moth

Drag artist Moth Moth Moth was on a Facebook tear New Year’s Eve morning, saying, “Understand this. I will rip this town apart and sew it back together myself if I have to.”   

By that afternoon, though, Mothy softened: “I’m not feeling grumpy anymore! I just needed to eat some toast.”

“Distinctive Weapon” 

Posted to Facebook by WREG

Comments went wild-larious on two WREG posts about the search for and arrest of Jayden Burns. He allegedly robbed Midtown stores, using an old-timey, long-barreled pistol. Steve Clarke said, “Hear ye! Hear ye! Unhand thy currency!”

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MEMernet: Best of 2024

Posted to Reddit by u/mempian

Memphis on the internet.

Best of the MEMernet 2024

Video of the Year

Once again, Hitler was ranting about the Memphis food scene, this time about the abrupt closing of Houston’s. Instant classic.  

Weirdest Tweet of the Year

Memphis businessman Elon Musk tweeted at Taylor Swift: “Fine Taylor … you win … I will give you a child and guard your cats with my life.”

Photo of the Year

Facebook by Danielle Lewis 

Comment of the Year

Posted to X by @gorgeousbrains

@gorgeousbrains said Vice President-elect JD Vance “looks like he wants to go to Slider Inn but thinks the neighborhood is too violent.”

Highest Profile

Posted to Instagram by GloRilla

Easily the biggest celebrity moment of the MEMernet in 2024 was when GloRilla met President Joe Biden at the White House. Go Glo!

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MEMernet: Houston’s Problem, Haunted Hepburn, UFO on Sam Cooper?

Posted to Facebook by Jeremy Pierre FOX 13

Memphis on the internet.

Houston’s Problem

The MEMernet was dominated late last week with the news that chain restaurant Houston’s closed its longtime Memphis location, citing staffing and safety challenges. 

Reactions online followed a familiar rhythm — shock at the news, sadness over the dishes that will be missed, remembrance of good times had at the chain restaurant, a wave of pffffftt about safety concerns in one of the safest parts of town, a review of all the other restaurants in the area that are thriving, undertones of racism in the motivation to close, context on how the restaurant never engaged with the Memphis community, news that a local wanted to step in to reopen the place, and, finally, a meme showing Houston’s could reopen as a Jack Pirtle’s Chicken. 

Haunted Hepburn

Posted to Facebook Marketplace

Someone bought some Halloween just for Christmas. A recently purchased poster ($50) of Audrey Hepburn was described as “haunted” in a Facebook Marketplace post from Collierville. The poster said whatever spirit was attached to the poster was “escalating” things by touching them and even leaving red marks.  

UFO on Sam Cooper?

Posted to X by @the_paranormal_chic

A video posted to X by Myra Moore The Paranormal Chic apparently showed a UFO transported through Memphis last weekend on a flatbed trailer, driving down Sam Cooper Boulevard. 

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MEMernet: Real MEMernet, Redbirds Update, Moneybagg

Posted to Reddit by u/GrowMemphisAgency

Memphis on the internet.

Real MEMernet

Wouldn’t it be cool to drive around Memphis in a video game? That’s just what Cory Owens has been working to do. His MemphisMETAs project is a “Digital Twin” of the city. Driving and walking around the virtual model is just the beginning. Owens imagines users buying virtual properties, hosting virtual events, and more.  

Redbirds Update 

Posted to Facebook by Memphis Redbirds

Turns out the “something big” teased by the Memphis Redbirds on Facebook last week was, indeed, an exhibition match with the St. Louis Cardinals in March. 

Moneybagg

Posted to YouTube by @saydattv

A new YouTube Short from @saydattv shows “Moneybagg Yo feeding the streets of Memphis.” Moneybagg played a sold-out show at FedExForum last weekend on Rod Wave’s Last Lap tour. The show included a surprise appearance by GloRilla.  

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MEMernet: Memphis Redbirds, Board to Beers, and ‘Slideshow’

Posted to Facebook by Memphis Redbirds

Memphis on the internet.

Memphis Redbirds 

The Memphis Redbirds teased on Facebook last weekend that “something big is coming.” The post’s image had big, vague shadows cast on the field. Guesses in the comments included a Cardinals game here in March, Deck the Diamond, aliens, price increases, a winning season, and more.

Board to Beers

Posted to GoFundMe by board to Beers

The MEMernet — like the internet everywhere — got a little tense last week. Board game bar Board to Beers launched a GoFundMe to move into a new space in Poplar Plaza. The owners said three air-conditioning units ($10,000 each, the owners said) have been stolen and replaced by them at their Chickasaw Crossing location.  

Some Memphis subreddit users blasted the move, like u/memphisthrowaway9876 who said, “Make more money or realize your business model isn’t working out.” On Facebook, owners cast shame on “hateful” comments and asked, “What have you done for your city?” 

‘Slideshow’

YouTube by SRT JD

Meet the folks who leave those tire tracks all over the city in a YouTube video called “I WENT TO THE MOST DANGEROUS SLIDESHOW IN MEMPHIS!” by YouTuber SRT JD. 

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MEMernet: Huey’s, Abandoned, and Oak Court

Posted to Facebook by Jada Renee

Memphis on the internet.

Huey’s

Jada Renee’s now-deleted post about Huey’s on a first date tipped off what was a whole week of debate about the restaurant and first dates in Memphis. See this story by Kailynn Johnson for all the details. 

Posted to Facebook by Huey’s

Huey’s owned it all with a great and subtle response, BTW. 

Abandoned

Posted to YouTube by Mayday.Aerial

Click yourself over to YouTube to watch some amazing drone footage of the abandoned Memphis International Raceway. The race track closed in 2022 amid rumors of a land purchase for a new warehouse. But Mayday.Aerial’s video from last week shows that little has been done on the site, aside from vandalism. 

Oak Court

Posted to Reddit by u/etherian1

Memphis Reddit user u/etherian1 alerted the community to “that one door at Oak Court that leads to a secret courtyard paradise” with a video that was just way more amazing than it needed to be.

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MEMernet: Drone Home, Taraoke?, and Reddit Round Up 

Posted to Facebook by Reggie Corker

Memphis on the internet.

Drone Home

Go find Reggie Corker’s amazing drone Reel of Downtown Memphis and Tom Lee Park. Perfect for a little MEMernet zen and a bit of perspective on our city. 

Taraoke? 

Posted to Facebook by Barbie’s Bar

Barbie’s Bar was slated to host Memphis’ first-ever Taraoke event this week, blending karaoke and tarot readings. 

“Do you like to sing?” asks the event page. “Do you identify as your zodiac sign? Free karaoke and tarot. The zodiac team that does best will win prizes.” The events are set for Wednesdays in October. 

Reddit Round-Up

Posted to Reddit by u/auralcavalcade

Friendly Redditors named an imaginary Memphis Major League Baseball team (Memphis Junts, and Manes, for example), recommended Acre as a wedding venue, looked to open a chapter of a lock picking group, and sought help seasoning a wok, re-homing a kitten, and sourcing two-liter bottles of Diet Sundrop. They also reimagined the Pyramid as a huge mech fighter (see above).    

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MEMernet: Preaching Politics, MonoNeon Gold

Posted to YouTube by World Overcomers Church

Memphis on the internet.

Preaching Politics

Federal law says churches could lose their tax-exempt status if they preach politics from the pulpit. That didn’t stop Alton R. Williams from unleashing a sermon called “Seeing the Election Through God’s Eyes” last week. 

In it, Williams painted Kamala Harris (and mispronounced her first name like Trump does) as a socialist, said the government is coming for people’s guns, that one political party (wink, wink) is letting immigrants in (including from the Middle East, which is “nothing but terrorists”), that “they” are setting the stage for a race war between Black and brown people, with abortion “they’ll kill a baby in a minute,” and just so much more.  

Maybe he mentioned Donald Trump over the hour-long sermon. We just couldn’t hang around that long to find out. But the “Why Trump?” section of the church’s website will tell you all you need to know. 

Any cops out there enforcing the Johnson Amendment? 

MonoNeon Gold

Posted to Facebook by Mononeon

MonoNeon gave Trump his unique treatment a couple of weeks ago and it’s simply amazing. The Memphis musician overdubs viral video clips with his bass. For example, Trump’s debate screed about immigrants eating pets transforms into a funky R&B thing with soaring background vocals. 

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MEMernet: Never Forget, Truth, and Doughty/Duck Dunn

Posted to Facebook by James Dukes

Truth

James Dukes (IMAKEMADBEATS) spoke the truth last week after threats shut down several Memphis-area schools.

“Sending our kids to school should not be like this,” Dukes said on Facebook. 

Never Forget

Originally posted to Twitter by Ryan Poe/Reposted to Facebook by Myrlon Lowery

The MEMernet remembered that 15 years ago, then-acting Memphis Mayor Myron Lowery fist-bumped the Dalai Lama and said, “Hello, Dalai!”

Doughty/Duck Dunn

Posted to Facebook by Mike Doughy

Memphis transplant Mike Doughty reunited with his band Soul Coughing recently for a tour. He found a little Memphis backstage in California. 

“Thank you to The Fillmore in [San Francisco] for providing Soul Coughing, as per the backstage rider, an original painting of Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn,” Doughty wrote on Facebook.