From: Urf!

Most Mistake

The Commercial Appeal has released their special section Memphis Most in today's paper.

I worked on this section for two and a half weeks. Halfway through working on it, I lost almost half of what I'd written, yet still managed to finish three days before deadline.

If you look at the section itself, in the paper, I wrote every syllable from page 18, Most "Memphis" BBQ Sauce, to page 36, Most Boundless Beer Selection. That's 34 categories; nearly 9,000 words. And, if I may, it's all pretty good stuff.

For some reason I was left out of the list of section writers on page 1. I'm not sure yet why that is, but I hope to find out soon. In the meantime, the categories I was responsible for are:

• Most "Memphis" BBQ Sauce
• Most Beloved BBQ Joint
• Most Prime Steak Dinner
• Most Enticing Burger
• Most Savory Slice of Pizza
• Most Sensational Sushi
• Most Profitable Business Lunch
• Most Satisfying Biscuits
• Most Revered Sunday Brunch
• Most For The Money
• Most Craved Catfish
• Most Romantic Restaurant
• Most Delicious Deli
• Most Tempting Bakery
• Most Vietnamese Restaurant
• Most Bountiful Buffet
• Most Fine Dining
• Most Italian Restaurant
• Most Indian Restaurant
• Most Kid-Friendly Cuisine
• Most Thai Restaurant
• Most Chinese Restaurant
• Most Mexican Restaurant
• Most Mediterranean Restaurant
• Most Japanese Restaurant
• Most Exotic Cuisine
• Most Scrumptious Seafood
• Most Wholesome Health Food
• Most Popular Pub
• Most Cosmopolitan Night Club
• Most Masterful Martini
• Most Fanatical Sports Bar
• Most Bona Fide Blues Club
• Most Boundless Beer Selection

Birthed by RJA

From: The Gates of Memphis

Completing Main Street

When the Center City Commission asked the public about returning auto traffic to Main Street, the public came out strongly against the idea.

There have been many arguments for returning traffic to Main. The CCC's retail consultant made the argument. The NEA Director of Design, Maurice Cox recommended it. His predecessor at the NEA, Jeff Speck, made it one of his 12 suggestions for Memphis.

Even if public sentiment for the pedestrian over the car is technically flawed from an urban design point of view, such sentiment is still a good, progressive sign for Memphis. And I want to point out that Speck had also suggested fixing the South Main knuckle, the walking discontinuity formed by the Main/Beale parking lot, MLG&W's mega-berm and parking garage, and the empty Chisca. I believe that the knuckle is a much greater obstacle to Main Street revitality. It cuts Main Street off from the energy of both South Main and Beale Street (which is itself auto restricted yet prospers). I don't think returning traffic without fixing the knuckle will fix Main Street.

The CCC will decide later this month what it will do. They could still open Main to traffic. At the very least, I hope the public's opposition will keep them from the more invasive, multi-million dollar projects. Maybe the opposition will lead the Commission to take Speck's specific advice and try a woonerf, a simple plan that would make the pedestrian and the car and the bike equals on Main.

From: My Midtown Memphis

Overton Park Shell Schedule, new local beer, Harlan T. Bobo show, and the return of Schlitz

Ok, big post today.

First off let's start with the schedule for the newly remodeled Levitt Shell (formerly Overton Park Shell). I know a lot of people are really anxious for this to get going and I'm one of them. This is just one more thing that Memphis lacks that other cities this size have. I think Midtown will be able to support the project and I'm very impressed with the progress of the project so far. I would paste the schedule below but it's way to large to fit on the page so you can check out the homepage HERE for some more info. It's a really well done site as well so that always helps a projects image. I will say that the opening Amy Lavere show on Sept. 4th should be great and I'll be sure to attend.

The Memphis Flyer had a little write up today on a new local beer brewery called Ghost River Brewing. It's made at the Boscos facility downtown on South Main and is made by the same guy that co-owns Bosco's. The thing that makes them special is that it's brewed with Memphis Artisan well water, the same special water that makes Memphis famous in terms of clean, natural water sources. The Ghost River beers — Ghost River Golden, Glacial Pale Ale, Brown Ale, as well as seasonal beers, such as a German-style Hefeweizen and a Scottish ale — are draft-only beers and are currently being marketed to local restaurants and bars by Southwestern Distributing. It will be available at both Flying Saucer locations, both Central BBQs, Ciao Bella, Equestria, and Yia Yia's.

In case you're reading this RIGHT NOW at 7pm on Monday, then I have something for you to run out and do right now.....HARLAN T. BOBO Video Shoot Monday NIght @ HiTone

"$5 Cover" will be shooting footage of Harlan performing on Monday night at the Hi-Tone.
This will be a free, 18+ shoot, and we would like to invite those who love Harlan and his music
to participate.

Exact time has not been set yet, but if you would like to take part, please email Lorin here:
fivedollarcovercasting@gmail.com and she will contact you as soon as the time is set.

IMPORTANT:

Please dress accordingly for a Harlan show. Think darker or muted colors.

Please also avoid the following things, as they
do not show well on the camera:

Black, white, red
Logos/Writing
Small stripes/patterns (1/2inch or larger, fine)

PLEASE BRING CLOTHING OPTIONS.
Feel free to bring a friend as long as they are aware of the wardrobe constrictions.

Finally, the beer that we all love to get tall boys of at the Deli is going retro on us and reverting to their old fashioned recipe. I'm talking about Schlitz, the beer that made Milwaukee famous. According to a Yahoo! news report, Schlitz was originally the most popular beer in the world until about 1955 when a Milwaukee beer brewers union strike opened up the floodgates to the world of Budweiser. After that it was downhill for the beer with "just a kiss of the hops" and now you can really only find it in tall boy cans that border on malt liquor. But the company, which is owned by Pabst Blue Ribbon, has now done their homework and is going back to the original recipe that made it loved worldwide. Apparently, years of cutting corners to save money and sacrificing flavor as well as poor marketing campaigns, resulted in the downfall of the Schlitz empire but it is now poised to return. For right now, the old school recipe beer is only available in Milwaukee, Chicago, and Minneapolis (another reason Minnesota rocks) and they cant keep it on the shelves there. It's gotten to the point where stores have to have a waiting list for people and also won't let them buy more than a certain amount of the stuff in one trip. So keep your eyes and mouth open for the return of the Beer that Made Milwaukee Famous!

Posted by Ryan