Blake's Blog
May 29th, 2007
I didn’t see the Miss Universe pageant Monday night because I was busy watching reruns of “The Sopranos” and “Entourage,” but I understand that Miss USA, a Tennessean named Rachel Smith, had a rough go of it.
Apparently, Smith slipped and fell during the evening gown portion of the competition. Also, she was booed by the Mexican audience during the interview phase.
Despite those problems, Smith did well enough to finish in the competition’s top five.
Hmmm. Let’s think about this. She overcame the embarrassment of falling in public and the jeers of her critics? I don’t know what Smith’s career plans are, but she might want to consider running for state Senate after she returns home.
Continue Reading »
Join the discussion at Blake's Blog!
iDiva Memphis
May 29th, 2007
Maybe it's an unlikely name for a party, but all these folks in Hawaiian dress and leis got the message, and raised money for the American Liver Foundation, dedicated to curing liver disease. Also this week in Michael Donahue's column, a party to honor John Calipari, and "Women Against MS," honoring the late Barbara Ballard. Click here for a link to the slide show, right.
Continue Reading »
Join the discussion at iDiva Memphis!
Student: Revisited
May 29th, 2007
The irony that I'm starting back to school on May 29th at the tender age of 29 is not lost on me. I've been thinking about this date for months now. You could almost say today as been circled in red (not literally) on my mental calendar. Maybe 29 will become my "lucky" number.
According to
Numerology (
which is any of many systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things--thanks
wikipedia) traditionally the numbers 2 and 9 would be quite fitting for me right now:
2. Balance. Union. Receptive. Yin. 9. Completion.
Balance and Completion. It is technically the beginning of something (classes), but I'm working toward life balance and completing my bachelor's degree. See? Maybe there is something to it all. Then again 2+9=11 and 1+1=2 which goes back to the original "balance. union. receptive. yin." part. Receptive and open to new ideas and suggestions? Will I become a "Biology Maven" this month? I hope I can become a hardcore student of anything for only a month.
So if I look at the Cantonese number definitions:
2. easy 9. long in time.
Okay, so it's been a long time coming, right? That's how I'll read into that one. I can cross my fingers that this will be EASY, but maybe I know better than that. Let me restate my "new" summer motto: I can become a hardcore student of anything for only a month.
This morning I have been a bundle of nerves. I woke up at 6 and 6:30 then 7 and 7:30 then 8 and finally decided to take a shower at 8:30. I had a strange dream last night and all I can remember is a locker. A locker like in high school. OH NO! I hope my "stuck in high school at the age of 35' dreams aren't coming back.
I think after class today I will feel a whole lot better. I will have a syllabus in hand and some idea as to expectations for the upcoming 29 or so days.
Oh, and I can become a hardcore student of anything for only a month.
~~J
Continue Reading »
Join the discussion at Student: Revisited!
The Bloodshot Eye
May 29th, 2007
Saying John Wayne can't act is like saying Bob Dylan can't sing: It's meaningless and ign'ant, and at this point in history is a canard that ought to be retired. Yeah, the Duke couldn't play Hamlet and Dylan can't sing Carmen, but what they can play and sing they play and sing with utter confidence and with the bravado of the conquerors of a New World. Make that the New World: If I may be allowed to express a cornball sentiment, they sound like America to me. (Says a frontier gun-runner in Raoul Walsh's "Dark Command," after sizing up Wayne's Texas cowpoke: "You're the kind this country needs.")
Continue Reading »
Join the discussion at The Bloodshot Eye!
Posted by Bret Weaver
May 29th, 2007
I almost forgot… Cindy Sheehan sent this out earlier yesterday morning.
I really can’t blame her.
I don’t think she realized that the game is rigged until she was hip deep in it.
“Good Riddance Attention Whore”
by Cindy Sheehan
Mon May 28, 2007 at 09:57:01 AM PDT
I have endured a lot of smear and hatred since Casey was killed and especially since I became the so-called “Face” of the American anti-war movement. Especially since I renounced any tie I have remaining with the Democratic Party, I have been further trashed on such “liberal blogs” as the Democratic Underground. Being called an “attention whore” and being told “good riddance” are some of the more milder rebukes.
I have come to some heartbreaking conclusions this Memorial Day Morning. These are not spur of the moment reflections, but things I have been meditating on for about a year now. The conclusions that I have slowly and very reluctantly come to are very heartbreaking to me.
The first conclusion is that I was the darling of the so-called left as long as I limited my protests to George Bush and the Republican Party. Of course, I was slandered and libeled by the right as a “tool” of the Democratic Party. This label was to marginalize me and my message. How could a woman have an original thought, or be working outside of our “two-party” system?
However, when I started to hold the Democratic Party to the same standards that I held the Republican Party, support for my cause started to erode and the “left” started labeling me with the same slurs that the right used. I guess no one paid attention to me when I said that the issue of peace and people dying for no reason is not a matter of “right or left”, but “right and wrong.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Memphis Overnight | No Comments »
Posted by Bret Weaver
May 29th, 2007
My weekend was pretty great. I hope yours was, too.
And probably like you, I didn’t want to go back to work, either. Probably unlike you I have the great fortune of going to work at 1 in the morning… so I promise I really wanted to show up.
I’m also having a hard time finding something to entertain (depress) you this morning…
You might just have to find something yourself.
(It’s rough… I know)
How about some pics of the house fire I shot last friday?
Fire is pretty, yes?
The hours are a little rough, but I do dig my job on occasion.
(The house was vacant, no one was hurt.)
Stay in school kids!
Posted in Memphis Overnight | No Comments »
The Memphis Scene
May 28th, 2007
First off, no, I didn’t forget how to log in to my blog. I’ve just been busy for a few days is all. Thanks, as always, for checking back with me.
This past weekend went down as follows …
* On Friday night, we hosted one of our occasional OBSCENE! parties at Murphy’s. It was I, DJ Witnesse, Devil Flake, and our special guest Franswa dropping the usual mix of punk-disco, mashups, some gangsta rap and a cheeky re-edit of Mulatu Astatke for good measure. The crowd was only so-so: there were a bunch of other things going on, and the last one of these we did went on till after 4. You can’t kill all the people all the time …
* On Saturday night, Tom Lee Park was the place for the Regions Sunset Symphony. This year’s special guest was none other than the Temptations, who ran through a seamless presentation of all their hits. The only original Temp is Otis Williams, but he has assembled a top-notch group of singers and musicians, including G.C. Cameron, formerly of the Spinners. In honor of Spain, we drank a lot of (Spanish) wine — rather quickly at that.
* And on Sunday night, I finally made it down to Spindini, Judd Grisanti’s spot down on South Main. I scarfed the pancetta-wrapped shrimp with cannelini beans and olive tapenade, then the Pollo Parmigiana (Judd’s favorite!), and washed it all down with this lovely potion.
Enjoy your week. I’ll be back tomorrow …
Continue Reading »
Join the discussion at The Memphis Scene!
