Sunset Symphony

Sunset Symphony rounds out Memphis in May tomorrow night in Tom Lee Park. The Commemorative Air Force air show starts at 6 pm. KC & The Sunshine Band and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra bid farewell to another May along the banks of the Mississippi. Too bad the Soul Train dancers won't also be there. As Don Cornelius would say, "And you can bet your last money, it's all gonna be a stone gas, honey! I'm Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!"

Guest Blogger in Tunisia

Last week I mentioned a guest blogger would be posting something from Tunisia, our Memphis in May 2010 honored country. The GB happens to be in Tunis on business and managed to get some great photos to share. Above is the hotel pool and the view from the balcony - not bad, GB!

A roadside pottery stand, click on the images to see the beautiful details.

Quartier Saint Germain, above, was a French residential area during the colonial years.

Another pretty view from the hotel

Landscape around the olympic stadium

American influenced cafe.

A synagogue!

Shot of the unusual fountain at the hotel

Fire + Cotton Candy + Zombies = Trolley Night

Tomorrow night's South Main Trolley Tour should be a little more interesting than usual. The Memphis Zombies will be walking for their fourth (?) year in a row. Also, South Main's website promises there will be magicians, fire throwers, side shows, cotton candy and face painters. FYI, here's the Zombie's route this year:

Memphis Art Park

Visit the Memphis Art Park updated website to view the presentation and business plan of this exciting proposal for the Front Street Promenade. It would encompass the area from the fire station at Union and Front to the Cossitt Library at Monroe and Front.

Ride Your Bike to Work

Tomorrow is Bike to Work Downtown Day. Alternative forms of transportation have been on my mind lately since my car is still in the shop. Four days of being dependent on the trolley have made me yearn for any other form of transport be it bike, skateboard, Vespa, golf cart, Segway, magic carpet, whatever. Since I’ve been using the trolley’s Madison line I have managed to use it successfully for 10 one way trips in four days. That means that of the remaining 3 one way trips (one a day so far) I started out walking in the belief that a trolley would come along and I would hop on at some point. But in a mile and a half walk I never saw a trolley coming my way so I ended up hoofing it all the way home or to work on those trips. Walking is great in general. I didn’t mind the exercise and it’s lucky that the weather has been nice all week but wow, really? 30 minutes of walking down the trolley line and no trolley? It’s not as if I don’t already get plenty of exercise – running, yoga, workouts, walking Poppy four times a day, so I really wanted a trolley ride. This is to say nothing of the time wasted on a work day element of this scenario. Alas, the system is still hit or miss.

I have a bike but it’s been living in the basement of my building for years now. I haven’t even been down there to check on it. It’s a sad state of affairs to know how useful it would be now if only I had been more attentive to it rather than relegating it to a dungeon, never to see the light of day. Perhaps that needs to change. Bike to Work day is making it easier to ride your bike into and around downtown. There are three group ride routes: the Eastgate route which is about 9 miles and starts at Eastgate Shopping Center, the Brooks route which is about 3.5 miles and starts at Brooks Museum and the Otherlands route starting at Otherlands Coffee. You can join a group and ride from one of those locations or you can use an interactive map to plan a personalized route. More information can be found at: http://downtownmemphis.com/biketowork/

Photos for Wednesday

Memphis College of Art Part II; Urban Garden 2010; Boy Chickens; Do As I Say; Music for Tuesday and a Guest Blogger in Tunisia

Above is a picture, to accompany my post from earlier today, of the ongoing renovations on the future Memphis College of Art graduate school.

I've been looking out to see if the urban gardeners will be urban gardening again this year and it appears the answer is yes! It looks prepped and ready to go on Huling. The mint and thyme (I think it's thyme) in the herb section seem to be doing very well.

When certain things strike you the right way, you can be surprised by how much happiness they give. Take for example my friend Mary who has a way with words. What I mean is that fairly often she inadvertently comes out with some really pretty funny pronouncements. I think that Mary’s brain operates by radiating out many different lines of thought simultaneously and normally it works well. But occasionally she has a convergence of thoughts and the machine just sort of jams. That’s when she says things like this, “I met this guy at BBQ Fest and he had a, you know, a tattoo on his leg and it was of a, you know, of a, oh what are they called, oh it was a boy chicken! You know it had the thing on its head.” Commonly known as roosters, "boy chickens" have combs on their heads. They may also be seen as tattoos on the body. I’m not sure why you would want to tattoo a boy chicken on yourself but there you have it.Later this month I will have a guest blogger who will be blogging from Tunisia which as you may know by now is this year's Memphis in May honored country. I have tasked him with providing photos and exciting tales. We're looking forward to your post, Guest Blogger.

Another happiness item, the Do As I Say candle, is available on Beale Street, where else?

Lastly, this is a Memphis thing so don't expect it to make sense if you're not from here:

Charlotte; Hari's; Memphis College of Art; Corkscrew

Charlotte Fine Jewelry will be re-opening soon at 526 S. Main Street. They closed their store at Saddle Creek in Germantown recently.

A quasi-Indian restaurant called Hari's is opening on Main Street between Monroe and Union. Their sign says "Since 1984". I can tell you they haven't been downtown since 1984. As a matter of fact I'm not quite sure where they've been these past 26 years but I'm happy they're opening in our little area. I say "quasi-Indian" because the menu, which they have taped to the window for the moment, offers among other items cheeseburgers, fries, fried okra, a selection of curries, soft drinks and chai. Huh.

The reason the building at 477 S. Main looks bombed out right now is that renovations have begun to transform it into the Memphis College of Art graduate school. I would have a photo of it to post but I'm currently sans automobile and not getting around as I normally do.

I stopped twittering a while ago and used to mention The Corkscrew every Tuesday. Tuesday's are Ladies Days which means 10% off all wine.

Photos from BBQ Fest

Lots of photos from yesterday afternoon at this year's Tunisian themed Barbecue Fest :

Little Tea Shop's lunch special was Tunisian BBQ Chicken - as evidenced by the sidewalk advertising.

Cockadoos is Open

Cockadoos restaurant opened yesterday in the old Cafe 61 space at 85 S. Second. They serve breakfast and lunch. I ran in this morning just to get some coffee and pastries to go. The blueberry scones are to die for; moist and full of blueberry, not rock hard and crumbly like most scones I've had. In light of my previous post about manners, it was funny to read this quote printed on the bottom of their to go menu, "Don't ridicule our Southern manners. We say "sir" and "ma'am", hold doors open for others and offer seats to old folks because such things are expected of civilized people..."