Five Favorites for Friday

I had to have my oil changed today and I went to one of those 10 minute places. While waiting for exactly 10 minutes (!) I sat in the little waiting room surrounded by car magazines and the usual paraphernalia scattered about. All the usual stuff except for the photo of the old Citroën above, quelle surprise! I was reminded of the one I saw in Paris last year. Here it is sitting in a Parisian parking garage -a bright, cheerful red with that cute roll back roof:

This leads me to this Friday's favorites.. all about cars, bikes, scooters, skateboards and a little travel thrown in for good measure:

Driver Distraction Blog  from the Car Talk

Fix Memphis

Memphis Kings Scooter Club

Skatelife Memphis

Italy by Vintage Car

By the by, Walk the Line, which was filmed in Memphis, is showing at the Orpheum tonight.  Does this street look familiar? It's South Main at G.E. Patterson. Look, an old car! Also, the South Main website has all the details on tonight's Trolley Tour. Of interest, and in keeping with today's anything with wheels theme, you can find  American Dream Safari's ’55 Cadillac at The Arcade Restaurant tonight and take a spin -  $20 per car load (4-5 people).

I Found Your Tie; Art; Tacos

To whoever lost this rhinestone encrusted tie: it's on South Main between St. Paul and Georgia hanging on the USPS parking lot fence. I would love to hear the story of how this happened. Great BeDazzler work by the way. 

Artwork for you to study. Talk amongst yourselves (sorry about that glare).

Ugly Juanita's Tacos on Beale Street. This is new to me but I rarely roll down Beale so it could have been around for the past year for all I know.

A Milestone is Approaching

Very soon I will be publishing my 1000th post! So in celebration I am planning on having a giveaway, the details of which are sketchy at the moment but I have a couple of weeks to work it out. I will be asking  readers a few questions related to Notes from Memphis and whoever answers the most questions correctly will win some downtown Memphis themed prize. Now my readers are very busy people with lots of interests and many with blogs of their own to tend to, so I don't want to give a Memphistanista Pop Quiz with no warning and leave readers with no time to properly prepare. So, I will recap a few items today that you can study and refer back to in the next couple of weeks that should serve you well when the Big Day arrives.

Item #1: It's been a while since I've posted my Memphis map but according to my cartograffiti, Memphis is divided up into five areas: Downtown, Midtown, Near East, Middle East and Far East, behold:

Item #2 : You may be aware that the Corkscrew has a Ladies Day every Tuesday and ladies get 10% off all wine

Item #3: Every Friday I post "five favorites" which can be anything from favorite blogs to favorite things about downtown. Five favorite somethings. On Fridays.

Item #4: Downtown has a lot to offer but one major void still needs to be filled. Gelato. There's no gelato shop. It's uncivilized.

Item #5: Despite all the good restaurants within a stone's throw of my place I love to cook and eat at home. Name one recipe from the blog. Helpful quick links: http://www.memphistanista.com/2010/11/sunday-supper-inspired-by-pranzo-di.html;    http://www.memphistanista.com/2010/05/lamb-couscous-new-pedestrian-bridge.html;     http://www.memphistanista.com/2008/10/pumpkin-pie.html;     http://www.memphistanista.com/2010/04/persian-ice-cream.html;   http://www.memphistanista.com/2009/03/fun-food-fast-eggrolls-and-whats.html

Item #6: Each summer I post the Orpheum Summer Movie series schedule. The Orpheum is a beautiful, grand place and watching a movie there is nice way to beat the heat.

Item #7: Memphis in May hosts a series of events that take place each May - the events revolve around an honored country. The three biggest events all happen downtown. They are the Music Fest, the BBQ Fest and Sunset Symphony. Bonus item: The honored countries since I've been writing this blog were: Turkey, Tunisia, Chile & Belgium.

Item #8: What animal is the mascot of this blog? Include her species, her name and her stage name. Check the sidebar for the answers.

Item #9: Something I love about downtown but don't think works exactly right: the cute trolleys.

Item #10: The #1 thing I like to post on the blog: photos of downtown.

Item #11: Name one shop, restaurant or bar that's been featured on the blog. Hint: The Cumulonimbus in the sidebar under the picture of the animal wearing the blue boa can help you with this.

Those items will put you well on your way to victory, dear readers! Ok, I have to go walk the animal with the boa and then come back in for an afternoon of French studies.

Five Favorites for Friday

Signs...

This one looks best at night with its zillion lights.

A new favorite

Peaceful from Above

I had a group of people over last Saturday night for an impromptu gathering on my roof. The weather was surprisingly pleasant and so it was ideal for hanging out on the roof deck overlooking the river and the city. We all settled in around a table popping open bottles of wine. A couple of people remarked about how nice the view was and how peaceful downtown looked  from up there (here it comes) only because you couldn't hear the gunshots or see people being assaulted. Really? It amazes me how this perception persists. I mentioned that, in fact, downtown had the lowest crime rate of any other part of the city and had for years. I ventured out to the new Downtown Memphis Commission website (formerly the Center City Commission) this morning to find this item:

"The Memphis Police Department has good news for Downtown! Crime is down 20% in Downtown this year. The 20% drop started with the installation of MPD bike patrols. What's more, MPD reports that the Downtown area has the lowest crime rates in the City! Thanks MPD!! "

WMC TV clip  - recent story about crime rates decreasing

It's Making Sense

Back to French....I've been waiting for a stretch of time when I'd be able to write about my French Connection (FC) and his English. He's completely snowed under with work at the moment and so I'm betting he won't get a chance to look at Memphistanista any time soon. First I have to start by saying he is fluent in English and three other languages. I on the other hand speak only English and am having quite the battle trying to learn French. All of this is to say that what follows here is due mainly to my not understanding French. And I know this now as I've been studying more and more and realizing why he says some of the things he does. Some things he says are just purely concocted from words he knows and I can see how he'd think we'd say it that way. Examples:

Dye your hair = FC says "Paint your hairs". I get it. I do.

Eyelashes = FC says "Eyebrushes". Makes more sense and actually I say it this way now.
Storage space = FC says "The box"

Hedgehog = FC says "Porkipick". This one is all my fault. He saw a hedgehog while talking with me on the phone and did not know the name for it. Seriously, how many times in your life do you have to say hedgehog, let alone say hedgehog in another language? Anyway after me guessing that it was a porcupine and then having to spell it and say it a few more times I finally figured out he meant hedgehog. But we had said porcupine so much and talked about spines and picks and quills etc... So it became cemented in his mind as porkipick.

FC says fry-panned instead of sauté. Though it seems to me he'd say jump-panned or pan jumped or something since the French verb "sauter" means to jump.

FC says prune to mean plum, see why?

FC says raisins to means grapes, bien sur.

FC says biscuit to mean cookie. Although he actually says it like "biskweet" because of the "...cuits" which in French is pronounced "kwee".

FC says chest to mean breast when talking about poultry. Ex: "I ate duck chest with potatoes today."

FC says drapes to mean sheets, naturally.

So you see, it's starting to make more sense to me and I am having little breakthrough moments. But believe me, I have a long, long way to go. If anyone out there will work for food, I'll cook dinners in exchange for French lessons. Think about it, I could make duck chest with potatoes for you.

Out and About

Ever photogenic South Main. One of the buildings there was getting a fresh coat of lime colored paint on the trim. It pops in a good way.

The Peanut Shoppe

Oddly, I posted a "ghosts" photo on my second post of this blog back in March 2008.

South Front Antiques & Architectural Salvage

Original Art Sale

Buck Thomas original paintings are 50% off!

July 19th through August 1st.

At Red Fish Gallery, 356 N. Main Street

Blues on the Bluff 2011

WEVL's 23rd Annual Blues on the Bluff® is this Saturday, July 23. Live music from three bands and a stunning river view! Click here for all the info and discounted advance tickets through July 22.

Give a Fig, Get a Fig

There are a lot of community gardens and farmers markets springing up, and that have sprung up, around town. There is a nice article about the fledgling Memphis City Gardens downtown  in the paper today. I think some day I might want to get out there in the dirt and grow something edible but then again, I have no shortage of friends and neighbors who inquire if I would like for them to unload their surplus on me. The answer to this question is always a resounding yes. For 'tis that time of year when the fruits of their labor are rolling in and across my threshold. Lucky me! I've taken in their reserves of tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs, corn, squash, hot peppers, onions and lately, figs. I'm doing them a favor you see, this way they won't have to worry about any of it going to waste. While there's not a thing wrong with making some fresh whipped cream for these delicious figs, I also have a really nice recipe for Fig & Raspberry Clafouti. I did manage to drown the hot peppers with some garlic in a couple of bottles of white vinegar and gave one bottle to a friend. And with the corn I was given I made some black bean & corn salsa for that very same friend. So that's proof I'm not entirely selfish. I think. I'm trying to pay it forward, really.

Five Favorites for Friday and a Bonus Favorite

This week's five favorites are photos of some of my favorite things to look at on the morning walk with Poppy down Main Street before a lot of people are out an about:

Shop Windows

Patios

Progress: Van Vleet Flats

Cute Trolleys

Old buildings restored

  And the bonus favorite: The Washburn Chicken who is perched on one of the Washburn Apartments window sills overlooking Main. I always look at it. Funny.

Ice Cream, Dragon Boats and Vieille Ferme

Is is hotter anywhere else on earth at the moment? Probably yes, but still it's a scorcher. It's so hot that planning what to wear to work becomes difficult. I have several summer dresses that I grabbed and then put back because most of them have those dreadful synthetic linings that stick to your skin when you attempt to move at all in the heat. Who puts those things in them? Ever heard of cotton? An antitdote to this oppressive heatwave is ice cream, so don't forget:

The Center for Southern Folklore is having its first pre-event in support of the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival on Tuesday evening, July 12, 2011, from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM at MaggieMoo’s, 125 S. Main Street, next door to the Center’s Folklore Store.  Stop by MaggieMoo’s tonight from 5:00 to 9:00 to hear some fabulous music and purchase ice-cream, floats, cupcakes and cakes. A percentage of every sale supports the Center’s Festival.

Another way to keep cool: dragon boats! This Friday, July 15, is Dragon Boat demo day at Mud Island in anticipation of the Dragon Boat Races coming up September 24. Read all about it here.

It's Tuesday so it's Ladies Day at the Corkscrew which gives you yet another opportunity to cool down. When it's hot I like the rosé of the  "Chicken Wine" or as some people like to call it Vieille Ferme .

 

The Party is Over

Remnants of a weekend event?

These white lanterns illuminated by sunlight looked pretty today as I drove out of Harbor Town after a quick trip to Miss Cordelia's.

Five Favorites for Friday

This Friday's favorites are my five favorite downtown shops:

Red Fish - I missed their First Thursday Sip and Shop sale last night.

Lansky 126 - Great selection of nice clothes and I always find the cutest things on their sale rack.

National Ornamental Metal Museum shop - a great place for unusual gifts

Lit - the go-to place for kitchen and party supplies

Muse -always amusing

Getting a Visual

I have been trying to teach myself French and Italian for a long time. Longtemps. Molto tempo. Truth be told I would throw myself into Italian, and only Italian, if I had my way. But I have a serious French Connection and therefore I am obliged to learn French. For a while I tried to learn both at the same time. Catastrophe. Disastro. That was not working so well so I put Italian aside (che tristezza) and started to focus on French. I ran across a visual dictionary which I think will help me along with my boring 12 CD set of mind-numbing repetition and a workbook full of reading and writing exercises. Quelle horreur. But the visual dictionary brings words to life for me and I was happy to discover I already know how to say important things in French like "le cocktail", "le martini" and "le gin tonic".  More intricate concepts await....



In Honor Of

The Memphis Police Association conducted a procession tonight through downtown in honor of Officer Timothy Warren who was killed July 3rd. A fund has also been set up to help his family. See this article.

Healing Broken Hearts Since 1939

The Green Beetle is set to re-open very soon. Check out their blog full of photos and some beetle history at The Green Beetle

Happy 4th of July

Photos I took from my window of the fireworks downtown...