City Market; Losers Again; Hari's

The City Market build out is underway at the NE corner of Main and Union! Along with N.A. Williams moving into the ground floor space of 88 Union on the NW corner and Thompson & Co. getting demo done for the building they are taking on the SW corner. This intersection has been harboring empty ground floor spaces a long time so seeing three of the four corners come back to life in the heart of the core is super. The City Market is supposed to be an upscale deli and market offering fresh prepared foods.

Again there are losers gathering but this time they are downtown yet still on my route to work...

So filming continues for the movie Losers Take All .

A quick word on Hari's Restaurant that opened a few months ago. I finally went for lunch one day and had the lamb curry. It was very good, the lamb was so tender and there was just the right amount of spiciness. I asked for spicy and they did not hold back! Last night I noticed the sign in the window was advertising palak paneer, shish kabob, samosas and some other of my favorite items. This is the menu I was hoping for. They are located on Main between Union and Monroe.

More on Gelato and India Fest

The gelato. I knew deep in my heart that the Bravo Gelato at Miss Cordelia's would be in tubs in the freezer with the ice cream and frozen desserts. I knew it. Even still, I had a dream that they would have a small 6 flavor glass gelato case with the gelato nestled in the pans at an 8 degree slant. I dreamt that this case, imported from Italy, would be in the deli area by the cakes. It was just a dream. The gelato in fact does come in small sized tubs and Miss C's has three flavors at the moment: chocolate, pistachio and strawberry. I bought the pistachio and W O W it is really very nice; creamy and dense and packed full of flavor. I have no idea what the actual size of the tub is as the only information on it is Bravo Gelato and the flavor but I would guess it's about 16 oz and it's $6.99 with tax. Verdict: Worth it!

India Fest was packed:

As people walked in they were greeted by ladies in sarees who offered to place a bindi on ladies' foreheads. I of course accepted this and a squiggly little adhesive bindi was applied between my eyebrows. Fun! We looked through all of the jewelry and clothes for sale and I am impressed with my resolve as I did not succumb to the siren song of the baubles, beautiful though they were. After circling through the more than 20 food vendors, Mayuri and India Palace among them, we finally settled on one. We ate delicious spicy chicken stew and chicken roast (not roast chicken) with chapati bread and basmati rice followed by a very tasty mango ice cream. It was thick like frozen custard and we both really liked it. Gelato and mango ice cream in one day. Well! We wandered into the movie/entertainment room but we were there in between shows so we didn't get to see anything unfortunately. I'll go back next year for sure as there was much more to do and see than we did in our 2 hours there.

G E L A T O, F I N A L M E N T E. BRAVO!

Finally, after two and a half years of my incessant carping about the gelato deficit downtown Miss Cordelia's has stepped up!!! They will be selling Bravo Gelato from Nashville. I am going there TODAY!

Saturday in the Far East

My friend Dan invited me to India Fest this weekend and although he lives in Bartlett, I thought he would come downtown to pick me up and then we'd head out to the Agricenter, which after consulting my Memphis Map, I determined is in the Far East. He's done this many times before even though it's a ridiculous amount of driving. But he likes to drive and besides he doesn't mind because he's so happy after winning a pie this week from the 30 Days of Free Stuff at the I Love Memphis blog. He was the Day 9 winner. Good times. The pie by the way was from Muddy's Bake Shop and was called the Cocoa Chanel - too clever!

But last night Dan asked if we could meet in the Middle East and then he'd drive us to the Far East. A reasonable request. So with map in hand I shall head out today to distant lands and end up in a facsimile of India for an afternoon. I love Indian food and can't wait to sample, well everything. There is estimated to be bewteen 70-80 vendors selling all kinds of Indian merchandise, the jewelry in particular will be problematic for me. I have a jewelry chest - you know it's a small piece of furniture about 4 feet high and 2 feet wide. Think about that. It's full of jewelry, 98% costume I assure you. Nevertheless I feel compelled to buy the odd bracelet here or a cute pair of earrings there, as if the 700 items in the chest are just not a complete collection yet. Ah well, maybe I'll just have some naan and curry and sail past the sparkling jewels whose siren song will have no affect me.

Five Favorites for Friday

Visit the 35-hour work week for an Eastern European trip and some creepiness in Prague.

The new author of the Orpheum's blog, Main and Beale , is looking for some affordable lunch suggestions downtown.

Listwork has a list of things to do when the weather cools down and a hilarious list of thoughts on the movie "Julie & Julia".

Like nail polish?: Livy Lu Lu

Poetry of Food is a global food magazine with recipes, travel, interesting stories and great photos.

I Can Tell You Some Things About Beale Street and the Coolest Pedestrian Bridge In the World

Enjoy a minute of Rudy Williams, The Mayor of Beale Street:

I am nearing the end of my research project and my last task is to talk with trumpet player Rudy Williams about his music and his experiences on Beale Street. I introduced myself to him and asked him if we could talk sometime as I had just a few questions I'd like to ask. He kind of looked me over and said, "Yeah, we can talk. I've been on Beale Street since I was 13", as he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. "How old are you, if you don't mind me asking", he inquired as he lit a cigarette. I told him the surprisingly young and tender number at which he sort of chuckled and said, "Oh yeah, I was here before you were born. I can tell you some things about Beale Street." Though my research project and the blog really don't intersect, I may have to tell you some Rudy Williams stories as I have a feeling they're pretty good ones.

Switching gears a bit...

Behold! The coolest pedestrian bridge in the world spans over Court St. and has motion detecting lights that undulate and change colors as you walk across. Clearly these features were not up and running at full capacity when I blogged about them last, but see for yourself the awesome spectacle:

Poppy and I have never had so much fun on our night walk. Again, the pictures don't render just how cool the lights are as they can't capture the changing colors.Yes, I had previously thought the lights were blue but they change to green, red... This is a fantastic addition to downtown! Next time you're downtown at night, stop and walk across it, you won't be disappointed. Bridge lighting by Electroland, look a video!...

Picking Up Where We Left Off; Trolley Night; Back to Beirut

Clever use of random photo and blog post title, no?

Speak of the devil! Earlier this week I posted about a visit to Mud Island and inserted a link to the land use survey that was conducted a while back. According to a Memphis Business Journal article the RDC board approved a plan that will go before the City Council. Think loooooooong term.

I can't believe another Trolley Night rolls around tomorrow. I went to last month's and had a great time but time seems to have slowed way, way down as it feels like forever since then. If the weather continues to be so great it will be perfect to be outside wandering around the galleries and shops.

Ok, last week No Reservations was about Rome which as I predicted, made me long to be on a Roman terrace with a glass of wine. The very terrace I speak of is the one that was mine for a week in 2007:

*bella vita*

This past Monday it was the "Back to Beirut" episode which of course made me recollect my recent trip there as well. Bourdain tried doing a show in 2006 but happened to be there at the precise moment the war between Hezbollah and Isreal started. They didn't film a show about food and culture but instead filmed a show about the surreal experience of helplessly watching a war from a hotel pool and waiting to be rescued by the USS Nashville. The Travel Channel showed the 2006 show before the new episode which was the right thing to do. If you get a chance to see the 2006 show you should watch it. "Back to Beirut" was filmed in May of this year so I missed the possibility of running into Bourdain by one month. This time he seemed to have gotten the show he wanted and visited some places where locals go and ate all the local specialties. Which reminds me of my cute little labneh sandwiches I got burned out on this summer.

Looking for our own local specialties? The next Farm to Fork dinner is September 5 at SOLE.

Sunset to Moonrise; Lights on the Pedestrian Bridge

Sunset in the neighborhood...

...becomes a milky moon dodging the clouds

I've noticed that the pedestrian bridge over Court has had a team of electricians working all week on installing new lights. You can see the lights from underneath that are a pretty blue, though you can't really tell they're blue in this picture:

James Lee House Looking for Restoration Love; Mallory Neely and Magevney; Juvenile Court Centennial

From time to time I like to check in on what's going on with Victorian Village, an area just east of downtown where some gorgeous homes were built from the 1840s through the 1890s by the city's most prominent families..

The Pillow-McIntyre House was built in 1852 according to the Victorian Village website and other sources, though as you can see in the picture the sign out front reads 1847. Curious. It was purchased in 1873 by Mexican War and Confederate General Gideon Pillow and is in the American Greek Revival style. It was for many years the home of the Memphis Art Association’s Free School. In 1976, the Margie Vanlandingham firm bought and restored the house. Somewhere along the line it fell back into disuse, until 2004 when it was again refurbished through corporate and community donations.

The James Lee House, above, has been maintained in its original condition for the past half century, yet it has never been restored. It is about to go before the City Council in October in an effort to transfer ownership from the city to the Center City Development Corporation. It will then be put up for sale in the private sector for *love* restoration and *love* re-use. I heart this house, it is my favorite in the area. It’s hard to believe this Second-Empire beauty started out in the 1840s as a little ol’ farmhouse, was enlarged a couple of times and finally the Lee family added the tower to “impress”.

Also, the process of re-opening both the Mallory-Neely House c. 1852 and the Magevney House, c. 1837 to the public after being closed for five year is being started. There will be a blog up that will follow the process of what’s happening with the houses but for now you can visit

www.memphismuseums.org/mallory_neely-overview

At the end of September Victorian Village will be hosting Juvenile Court’s Centennial Celebration. Among the events is the Right Road 5K followed by a picnic and tours:

Saturday, October 2
7 a.m. (registration) - 9 a.m. (start) Right Road 5K Run
Homecoming in the Village
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. - Picnic in Victorian Village Park, free and open to the public.
Noon to 3 p.m. - Tours of Juvenile Court and historic houses.

See all the Centennial Celebration details at www.victorianvillageinc.org

Monday Morning Commute

Driving to work this morning I noticed an unusual detour sign. I took that detour since I thought it may apply to me and at any rate I wanted to see who was at the Losers Base Camp. Believe me there is an endless list of possibilities...

Alas, yet another film crew this time at the Orchid Club waaayyy down on the east end of Beale when it becomes just another street on which to drive to your base camp.

In the Water

My nephew and I spent some time together this weekend and ended up renting a canoe on Mud Island this morning and paddling around in the harbor. Afterwards in the park it was so hot, he couldn't help but splash around in the fountain near the "Gulf of Mexico", the terminus of the scale model of the Mississippi River, which is five blocks long.

Paddling under the bridge in some much appreciated shade.

The Coast Guard stopping at the marina to re-fuel.

Interestingly, my nephew's comment was "I wish there were more people here. This place is really cool." Which prompted me to revisit the RDC's Mud Island Land Use Study phase III survey results from January this year. I am wondering how the upcoming completion of Beale Street Landing and later, Bass Pro at the Pyramid will impact Mud Island, sandwiched bewteen the two.

Five Favorites for Friday

Five favorite blogs for your reading pleasure from Memphis and distant places...

Eye Prefer Paris spots Montmartre scenes on cafe tables.

Behold the Betsey Johnson and Diane von Furstenberg at The Manolo.

There's general fun over at I Love Memphis.

Have a look at Kip Gordon photos.

Check out the book list at A Memphis Traveler.

Koi

Nestled away in the Harbor Town Square commercial district is a little bitty pond where a few happy koi live...

You can venture out to their small, shady patio from Cafe Eclectic and quietly study them while you have a latte or whatever you would get if you went there. You get the idea.

The Product v2.0 and Can You Find it Downtown?

Those who really know me well know that Thursday night is my “beauty night”. Dubious though I may be of the results of this weekly ritual, still I persist. Facial scrubs and minty facial masks, specialized foot care meant to mimic a real pedicure, application of Vitamin E oil to nails and cuticles, etc. etc… I know I’m a day early talking about this but in anticipation of another Thursday spent touching-up and spackling myself I am relaying my situation. Have you ever found a product that you cannot live without, one that you have used for years; a Product so magical that you would look like a totally different person if you did not use it daily? Then one morning you wake up and discover that The Product has been discontinued. Yes, the manufacturer has decided that they will no longer make The Product. They have no idea how much they have impacted your life by this reckless move. You see that The Product is no longer available online, but you’re sure they will be re-stocking it soon so you give them a ring to confirm that is the case. You reach a cheerful person in customer service and inquire as to when The Product will be available again. They politely ask you to hold and return a few moments later and utter the phrase, “That item has been discontinued.” You reel back a bit, steady yourself and ask them to please re-check that information which they do and then tell you with absolute certainty that The Product has indeed been discontinued. You feebly ask something like, “do you have a similar product?” to which the reply is “No ma’am, I’m sorry.” You hang up the phone wondering what your next move will be.

I know all too well how this goes as this has been my situation for four long months. C.O. Bigelow’s Extra Light Face Lotion was The Product (ELFL). I have no idea why this lotion worked so well for me but it did for many years and I saw no end in sight until this past April when I got the bad news. What’s the big deal, it’s just face lotion, right? Wrong, oh how wrong. The mere thought of putting lotion on my face was something I would never even have dreamed of at a point in time. Every time I tried a lotion, and friends I’ve tried them all, my face would become an oil slick of disastrous proportions, the results of which were too grisly to describe on such a public forum. I’ll spare you. Suffice it to say when at last I found ELFL my skin looked radiant, healthy and balanced for the first time ever. And I carried on using the ELFL, all the while never knowing the sands of the hourglass were running out on my facial happiness. So, for four months I’ve tried everything manufactured on earth in the face lotion category. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars on the full range of what the world of cosmetics has to offer - oil free, all natural, with spf, without spf, mattifying, moisturizing, hydrating, day cream, night cream, gels, sensitive skin, oily skin, combination skin, and on and on. The naming of these lotions are mind blowing and baffling and there is no end to the descriptors: “ultra calming daily moisturizer, SPF15”, “healthy skin anti-wrinkle cream”, “dramatically different moisturizing gel”, “UV defense regenerating lotion”, “deep hydration regenerating cream” and such. It’s ridiculous, the marketing for this stuff is over the top.

Finally, I found The Product v2.0 just this week. It’s by Origins and it’s simply called “Zero Oil”. Thank God in heaven. Downtown is woefully lacking in the cosmetics department. There’s Walgreens but finding something life changing may not happen there. Delphinium is the nicer place where you may find your next best thing as they are the only shop downtown to carry a few special items. I can’t think of anywhere else. There used to be a Merle Norman in the Peabody but MN always reminds me of coral colored shimmery lipstick and these earrings:

They always carried these mesh earrings with matching bracelets and necklaces, of course.

I Miss These Guys

Bring back Bret & Gemaine

August 16th and a Roman Holiday

To me August 16 means two things:

1. It's my sister's birthday

2. It's the day Elvis died, which I always remember because I live in Memphis and there's no way to forget but mainly because of #1.

There are quite a few famous births and deaths on this day. I do not want to take away from the candlelight vigil, but maybe there’s room to think about these other deaths today while hot wax drips down your hand as you proceed toward the graveside at Graceland…

Some other August 16th deaths:
1938- Robert Johnson, the famous blues musician who reportedly sold his soul to the Devil at a crossroads somewhere in Mississippi.
1948- Babe Ruth
1949- Margaret Mitchell, wrote Gone with the Wind
1956 - Bela Lugosi, actor who played Dracula waaaaayyyy back before the Twilight Saga. What, you think they invented it?

And on the brighter side, some August 16th births:
1953 - Kathy Lee Gifford
1954 - James Cameron, director (Titanic, Avatar, the Terminator..)
1958 - Madonna and Angela Bassett
1960 - Timothy Hutton
1962 - Steve Carrell, hilarious!

No one covers all the Death Week fun as well as fellow blogger Carbunkle Trumpet, so do stop in and check out his Elvis shenanigans.

As for me, I'm psyched! Tonight the new episode of "No Reservations: ROME" airs and I must see it. I can't wait to get back to Rome, where all roads lead afterall. I know what's going to happen. I'll watch the episode, squealing with delight at everything I see, then I'll start writing out the shopping lists to try to recreate the unrecreatable (new word I just made up) in my kitchen.

Memphis Music & Heritage Festival

Labor Day is right around the corner and that means it's almost time for the Center for Southern Folklore's Memphis Music and Heritage Festival (Sept 4 and 5). There will be lots of music, food and art at this FREE annual festival. I wandered down to Court Square a couple of weeks ago and among the growing number of vendors that have been setting up down there during the day is an artist named Atoosie. He is one of many artists that will be participating in the festival this year. Here are a few samples of his work:

Five Favorites for Friday

It's fun to venture outside of one's bubble for a while and have a look at what other people in Memphis, as well as in far off places, are up to. Here are a few links to some of this Friday's Five Favorites that will take you away :

creative structures is taking an August photo break.

Sparkling Like a Diamond is back with Monday - Friday recipes.

Sicily Scene tells us about the August holiday in Modica, Sicily.

Not your run of the mill Chardonnay and the "whiskered fish" are parsed at Benito's Wine Reviews .

Visit Trattoria da Vicenzo to see how folks will soon be able to eat like Romans in Longbranch, Washington. Restaurant build out in progress.

The Ten Commandments in the Park

I've noticed that the Ten Commandments that are installed in Confederate Park have been collecting an odd assortment of coins and various objects. I don't remember where the 10 C's were located before the park's renovations but now they are placed directly behind a light pole almost in the center of the park. When I say directly behind I mean there's about 6 inches between the city light pole and the stone block. Odd placement I think.

This park looks better now than I ever remember it looking but it's been a sort of catch all for plaques, statuary and the like that are not specifically related to the park's moniker. The 10 Commandments were apparently installed there in 1952 by the Jaycees, the World War II artillery was recently packed away in storage and there is a nearly unreadable plaque commemorating World War I soldiers. There is also a bust of a Captain James Harvey Mathes, of whom I know nothing. I had to do a little research and found to my surprise a Mecklenburg Declaration connection (see post from July 27). It's baaacckk. It seems that Capt. James Harvey Mathes' grandmother was the niece of one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration. Huh. Anywho, I'll be curious to see if the 10 C's pick up any more odds and ends.

Goin' to Graceland

There is a week every August in Memphis that thousands look forward to and during this week there are:

Meditation garden visits
A candlelight vigil
Jewelry shows
Book signings
A midnight breakfast
Fan club meetings
Bingo
Tribute Artist Contests

Just to name a few of the scores of activities planned for Elvis Week which started a couple of days ago. You just have to click the Elvis Week link above to behold the schedule.

The God that Looks Ahead and Behind

I'm veering way off topic in this post as the only connection it has to downtown is that I live downtown and sit perched in my little condo by the river as I write this. This blog is not about personal introspection or my deepest thoughts or feelings and I ordinarily write only about what's new or cool downtown. So forgive me as I indulge in a rare personal post, vague as it may be.

I was always fascinated with mythology when I was a child. I spent lots of time at my grandparents house and for some inexplicable reason they had a book about Greek mythology. I poured over it a thousand times, the classical portraits of the characters cemented the myths in my mind. I loved to look at the illustrations by the dim light from the nightstand lamp. The old clock on the dresser had an audible second hand which was a figure of a girl on a swing that ticked- ticked-ticked the seconds off with each swing back and forth as I read. My favorite myths were Tantalus, who was never allowed to drink from the water in which he stood or to have a bite of low hung fruit above his head, Medusa with a tangle of snakes for hair and Pandora who out of curiosity opened her box and let evil out into the world and when she closed it again only Hope remained inside.

Then much later I learned about the Roman god called Janus for whom the month of January is named. Janus is intriguing to me because he has two heads, one that looks to the past and one that looks to the future. He is the god of doors, beginnings and endings. 2010 has been my Janus year. Many doors have closed and others have opened. Two and a half years ago when I started this blog I had the feeling of being on a precipice, that things were about to change. I was right as only a few days later I had a tangible change in my life but in an unexpected form. How monumental it would later become was unknown to me at the time. Doors are still opening and closing, I still have the clock and I'm still looking ahead and behind.

Art on South Main and Bicycles

At lunch today I took note of a few interesting things:

The building at 372 S. Main is in the process of a makeover. It's getting some new artwork that replaces the old yellow, black and white geometric art that had been there a long while.

If you find yourself with half a Cadillac you could always make a grill out of it....

It's unusual to see someone riding a bike on Main Street in the middle of the day on a Tuesday when the temperature is 100 degrees and it's extremely unusual to see a pack of riders in that scenario. There were a lot more guys riding down Main Street today than in the picture below. I guess they are training for something. There happened to be an article in yesterday's Commercial Appeal about the growing popularity of bikes in Memphis just in time for the upcoming Midnight Classic Bike Tour.

Signs, Notes, Messages