Last Friday at this time I was at some bar in the Marigny watching a band play with my cousin and one of her friends. We’d spent most of the day at Jazzfest (thanks to our uncle – THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU) in the sporadic rain. We watched Trombone Shorty and Stevie Wonder, admired the wares in Congo Square and had snowballs (the first in at least ten years, for me).
Then Saturday I did some serious shopping (I made Urban Outfitters my bitch) and went to Angeli’s for lunch (great veg options and one of the best non-touristy places to eat in the Quarter) we went to Game One of the Hornets/Spurs playoff series.
WOW. I’ve been to a lot of basketball games, including a Hornets game (two, counting when they came here to embarrass the Grizzlies) , and I have to say that was the most fun I’ve ever had at a game. The energy and enthusiasm are unbeatable. Even in spite of that little fire-extinguisher incident. Each attendee got a free “Fan Up New Orleans” t-shirt and a fan shaped like Peja Stojakovic’s head. After a kinda shaky first half, the Hornets came out with guns blazing and put the Spurs to bed. Tim Duncan scored only five points. CP3 got a double-double and I got a foam finger.
Sunday after breakfast we went to see our grandma (after picking up a dozen pink carnations at Dorignac’s). That was a little bit surreal – but I think it brought me a little bit closer to acceptance. And, um, how long does it freakin’ take to lay down some sod? It’s been more than two months. After that we did a bit of shopping uptown. I got some necklaces at Buffalo Exchange. Then it was home to Memphis.
Tonight, by contrast, the highlights of my evening were hunching over a grocery cart in Whole Foods, followed by pouring old beer down the sink to make room in the fridge. What a difference a week makes.
PS: Pictures from last weekend and a few from the Old Haunts show are here.
Josh at the Cove always always plays really good tunes on the stereo when he’s working. One night Brian and I were there (I think Justin was there too) and this band came on that I was really digging. I didn’t know who it was (shock, I know) so I asked. Josh told me, and then I drank more shots with the boys and forgot about it completely.
Luckily the next day when I was doing laundry, I found a napkin in the pocket of the jeans I’d worn. It said, in my often-illegible handwriting, “OLD HAUNTS. OLYMPIA.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I wondered. I have a high-school friend who’d recently moved to Olympia, but I hadn’t talked to her in ages. I then re-traced my steps the night before and remembered it was the awesome band I heard at the Cove. So I promptly downloaded their first album, “Fallow Field.” It’s straight-up guitar-driven garage rack, and it rules. It’s since become our soundtrack for our ride home when we go out during the weekends. Their second and third albums, “Fuel on Fire” and “Poisonous Times,” are great as well. In fact, “Fuel on Fire” is quickly becoming my favorite of the three.
I found out today that they’ll be playing at The Barbaras’ 7″ release party at Murphy’s Tuesday night with local band Dead Trends and Rise Up Howling Werewolf from Florence. I try not to do stuff like this on “school nights” but this show is something I can’t pass up.
April 29, 2008 at 2:59 pm · Filed under Music, Tube
If you didn’t see Feist on last night’s episode of the Colbert Report, allow me to do you a favor.
“I discovered her at a little out-of-the-way club called ‘An iPod Commercial’”:
She played my favorite song from “The Reminder.” “I Feel It All:”
I love it when he has guests on his show that either a) make him blush or b) render him speechless. She did both. The episode re-airs tonight at 7:30 p.m. central if you want to watch it on a bigger screen.
Since the Hi-Tone’s Web site is under construction and thus a hideous eyesore, I thought I’d do you Memphis folks a service and post the good acts coming through there in the upcoming months.
This Wednesday the 30th we’ve got Islands. Tickets are $8 and it’s an all-ages show. That should be good.
Thursday May 1, Jay Reatard for $7. Don’t get kicked in the face.
May 4, Holy Fuck. I know I’ve heard them on KEXP show they should be decent.
Coach and Four next Friday the 9th. I work with one of those guys, so definitely go to that one.
Then Al Kapone the 17th. His shows are fun.
Here’s one I’m really excited about: MGMT June 11. That’s going to sell out for sure. Then Frog Eyes the 14th.
My eyes need to recover, so here’s Prince covering Radiohead at Coachella. Unbelievable.
More exciting news: Sunday 80s night is returning to Dish next week. No more mashup deejays, hallelujah! There is talk of some of the old drink specials (dollar beers, what?) returning, but I don’t know any details.
I’ve been working on a little side project called Scarf Watch. Basically, it’s a blog dedicated to making fun of Hillary Clinton’s ugly scarves (among other things). It’s pretty loose and I use pretty coarse vocabulary. I’m enjoying it so far — I’ve made four posts, so take a peek. Maybe even Digg it if you feel like it. Heh.
Oh, and if you see any photos of HRC wearing horrible scarves, send them my way.
Thanks for visiting, but please get off the computer and take your grandma to the freaking hospital. I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure if she’s almost in a “comma,” things are probably pretty serious.
You know how the Flyer usually includes “Best Category We Left Out” in its yearly “Best of Memphis” poll?
Behold, my write-in vote for “Best Cupcakes.”
I’ve been watching what I eat lately — abstaining from meat, snacking on fruit and nuts, avoiding partially-hydrogenated oils and all that. Such a diet requires a lot of trips to the grocery to re-up on freshness. So after work today I stopped at “Whole Oats” to pick up some food. As I was pulling out of the parking lot, I remembered the article I’d read about Muddy’s Bake Shop, which was right around the corner. I also remembered Trish’s appointment with the groomers, which would be happening in about an hour. Eyeballing the (canvas) sackful of organic produce and other white people delicacies in my passenger seat, I decided it would be OK if I indulged a little bit.
I moved out of Midtown because my needs for convenience (i.e. a Target and a grocery store that’s not “ghetto”) and safety outweigh my love of food, music and culture. Here in East Memphis, all that’s still 10 minutes down the road. Muddy’s appeals to the Midtowner in me and ups the East Memphis cool factor by several points— so it’s my kind of place! It’s quirky and creative, and most importantly, it smells sooooo friggin’ good in there. Last week I caught a good whiff of the Wonder Bread factory — but it’s like a faint linger of perfume at the end of the day in comparison.
I kept it simple and ordered a half-dozen of the “Capote,” which is simply chocolate with vanilla icing. I’ve only had one, but it was the best cupcake I’ve had since my elementary-school class-birthday days. There are a bunch of other cupcake flavors, all cleverly named, and there are also cakes, muffins, pies, bread, cookies which I’m sure are as yummy. If you’re in Memphis, check it out. It’s in the same shopping center as the Fox & Hound on Sanderlin. But you don’t have to take my word for it! (That just satisfied my childhood dream of being one of the kids on Reading Rainbow) Visit the Web site and look at the pictures of all the treats.
April 2, 2008 at 12:02 am · Filed under Cat Ladytude
My cat has mats in her fur. Two little dreadlocks right above her tail, which she can’t reach when she cleans herself. I’ve tried to get them out myself, but sitting still and letting me pick at her fur are two things (among many) that Trish does not enjoy. So I had to send for reinforcements.
I called Petco yesterday to see if their grooming department services kitties, and the woman I talked to told me that they do, but only have one groomer who works with cats. So I asked when she would be working next. “Tomorrow from 10 until 6,” she said.
I was going to leave work early today, but we got new workstations and I wanted to get my fonts and settings and whatnot loaded up before leaving, and it took a little longer than I’d hoped. When I got home (still about 30 minutes earlier than usual), I immediately put Trish’s towel and a couple of toys in her carrier, and tried to coax her in with them. Because her only experiences in the carrier have involved vaccinations and removal of girl-kitty parts, of course she wasn’t cooperative. Brian eventually crammed her in there and we were on our way.
I suspect it’s because she’s gotten bigger and has less room to thrash around, but to Trish’s credit, it wasn’t the worst she’s behaved in the carrier. She’s pounded on the wire with her paw, hissed, hyperventilated, basically done everything short of peeing/pooping during previous excursions. This time she just cried, which is totally heartbreaking and unnerving for me. And because I had to divide my attention between keeping the car on the road and talking her down, the drive to Petco took twice as long as it normally would have. Oh and it was totally rush hour.
After what seemed like the longest 5-mile drive in history, we made it to Petco. I got my howling cat out of the car and rejoiced that Hard Part #1 was over.
When the woman at the grooming salon told me the cat-groomer-lady had already gone home it took all my strength not to climb over the counter and release all the just-washed freshly-shaved dogs from their cages, open the door and let them run wild on Poplar Avenue. Or at least in Petco. Actually, I was so frustrated I could barely talk. Very curtly, I made an appointment to bring Trish back tomorrow night at 7, on the promise that she would actually get groomed this time. I hope the lady I talked to is working tomorrow so I can apologize.
It was then time for Hard Part #2, formerly known as Hard Part #3.
It actually ended up being the easiest part, because I decided to do something extremely unorthodox and dangerous. I couldn’t bear another twenty minutes of howling, so once I got in the car and got Trish and the carrier in the passenger seat, I let her “run free” in the car. I held her in my lap for a minute, and when she got comfortable on the floor (halfway under the seat, between the backs of my calves) I started the engine. Careful not to let her anywhere near the pedals and making sure she didn’t get her neck caught, I drove home. Save for a few “meows” she hardly made a peep. Dare I say, she kind of enjoyed it. When we got home I opened the car door, scooped her up like a baby and let her look around outside for a minute. She didn’t even try to squirm free. And by the time I got her into the house and put her down, she’d already forgotten about the ordeal.
Can’t wait to do it again tomorrow!
PS: Forgot to mention that during all this, I forgot about the David Brooks lecture at Rhodes that I’d so been looking forward to. And I slept through it. A wag of the finger to you, Petco!
March 30, 2008 at 3:24 pm · Filed under Memphis, Sports
Go Tigers Go, Go On To Victory,
Be A Winner Thru And Thru;
Fight Tigers, Fight Cause We’re
Going All The Way —
Fight, Fight
For The Blue And Gray And Say — Let’s Go Tigers Go,
Go On To Victory.
See Our Colors Bright And True;
It’s Fight Now Without A Fear,
Fight Now Let’s Shout A Cheer,
Shout For Dear Memphis U. GO TIGERS GO!
GO TIGERS GO!
In case you were wondering what's going on: the requisite 
