From: Memphis Blues Society

MBS Meeting at Kudzu's OCT 3

The Memphis Blues Society will have a meeting open to all at Kudzu's on Tuesday, OCT. 3 at 7 pm. If you don't know Kudzu's is located at - Kudzu’s Bar & Deli
603 Monroe Ave
(901) 525-4924

posted by Joe Terry

From: Whining & Dining

What did George W. Bush fans eat for lunch today?

The President was in Memphis for a fundraiser at a private home today, with the Peabody Hotel catering the meal... at $2,000 a plate.

Here's the menu:

Hors d'oeuvres
Curried Chicken Salad in a Mini Cheese Basket
Mini Smoked Salmon Lollipops
Crabmeat Cigars with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
Black Mission Fig with Prosciutto and Gorgonzola
Vegetable Tartelette with Goat Cheese

Drinks
Sweetened and Unsweetened Fruit-Flavored Iced Tea with Lemon and Lime Wheels
Voss Mineral Water
Lemonade with Fresh Lemons to Garnish

First Course
Goat Cheese Walnut Mousse and Smoked Trout Rillettes with Assorted Olive Relish, Rosemary Crostini and Pickled Beets

Main Course
Sherry Poached Breast of Chicken with Spiced Estragon Consomme, Pearl Pasta and Vegetables, Oven-Roasted Tomato Tzatziki

Dessert
Flourless Chocolate Cake and Pineapple Almond Tart with Fresh Berries, Raspberry Coulis and Chocolate Straw

Yes, I had to look up estragon... a fancy moniker for tarragon!
Here's the team that put that meal together: Executive Chef Andreas Kisler created the menu.

Executive Sous Chef Andrew Black and Banquet Chef Brian Williams helped to prepare it.

Executive Pastry Chef Konrad Spitzbart did dessert.

UPDATE: A person who attended the lunch commented on the blog that president did not actually eat... too bad, sounds like he missed a delicious meal.

Posted by Leslie Kelly

From: Whining & Dining

What did George W. Bush fans eat for lunch today?

The President was in Memphis for a fundraiser at a private home today, with the Peabody Hotel catering the meal... at $2,000 a plate.

Here's the menu:

Hors d'oeuvres
Curried Chicken Salad in a Mini Cheese Basket
Mini Smoked Salmon Lollipops
Crabmeat Cigars with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
Black Mission Fig with Prosciutto and Gorgonzola
Vegetable Tartelette with Goat Cheese

Drinks
Sweetened and Unsweetened Fruit-Flavored Iced Tea with Lemon and Lime Wheels
Voss Mineral Water
Lemonade with Fresh Lemons to Garnish

First Course
Goat Cheese Walnut Mousse and Smoked Trout Rillettes with Assorted Olive Relish, Rosemary Crostini and Pickled Beets

Main Course
Sherry Poached Breast of Chicken with Spiced Estragon Consomme, Pearl Pasta and Vegetables, Oven-Roasted Tomato Tzatziki

Dessert
Flourless Chocolate Cake and Pineapple Almond Tart with Fresh Berries, Raspberry Coulis and Chocolate Straw

Yes, I had to look up estragon... a fancy moniker for tarragon!
Here's the team that put that meal together: Executive Chef Andreas Kisler created the menu.

Executive Sous Chef Andrew Black and Banquet Chef Brian Williams helped to prepare it.

Executive Pastry Chef Konrad Spitzbart did dessert.

UPDATE: A person who attended the lunch commented on the blog that president did not actually eat... too bad, sounds like he missed a delicious meal.

Posted by Leslie Kelly

From: Secret Agent Mom

Dichotomy (part 1)

It was 5:17 pm when I got a call from W*, my poker buddy, former ad salesman and local music magnate. He was on his way to a meeting with JR, and asked if I wanted to come along. W's sneaky like that.

He'd emailed me a few days prior, extolling the virtues of young master JR and casually mentioning that the poor boy was having a bit of trouble getting shows together. I tried to ignore the bait, as I generally do when I hear that valid but common complaint, and I busied myself by going over the 419 things I needed to get done for my current clients. But then, as I was innocently checking my MySpace messages, I ran smack into an email from JR's friend/manager-type-guy, chock full of links to JR's debut album. Curiosity got the better of me, and I clicked. I listened. I promptly sent an expletive-laden email back to W., cursing him out for having the gall to drop a really, really talented songwriter on me. Now what was I supposed to do, say no thanks and watch him wander off to another agent who would recognize his talent and set up a 50-city tour but pay no attention to whether or not he owned a decent parka?

So when W called, I was torn. Not only was I unsure if I could commit to another artist, but I also had to get to my daughter's PTA meeting half an hour later. The wardrobe decision alone was nearly enough to keep me at home - how could I possibly find something to wear that would suit both scenarios? Was there anything in my closet that simultaneously said "culturally aware" (read: young) and "maternally responsible" (read: able to locate Band-Aids in less than 3 seconds)? But I threw caution - and my mom shorts - to the wind and agreed to meet W and JR for coffee.

From the minute I saw his bedheaded silhouette, I knew I was done for. Maybe if all songslingers didn't look like 8-year-old boys, I'd have an easier time telling them that no, they'll just have to take care of their careers themselves. The meeting itself was as fruitful as possible, considering the normal level of awkwardness between two people who've never met yet have had other people trying to hook them up for the last week. Considering JR and I are both married, that's not a situation we're accustomed to these days. W earned his nickname of The Great Facilitator (okay, I don't know if anyone calls him that, but they should) and somehow managed to plan out the next six months of our lives, all in the course of one bottle of green tea. Of course, maybe he didn't realize he was planning out that far, but that's how long it takes to set up a decent tour. Just as I was about to issue my slow sigh of contented resignation, I realized it was time to pack up my briefcase/diaper bag and head off to the PTA meeting.

Life lesson of the day: the PTA doesn't recognize "club time"; they actually start meetings when they say they will. It's hard to be a very secretive agent when you're creeping in the squeaky front door right in the middle of the cookie dough fundraiser briefing.

* Look, I'm still deciding how anonymous to be, or at least how much privacy to give other people. Give me a week and I'll probably be giving names, cell phone numbers and SAT scores.

Briefed by S.A.M.

From: Wineography

It's hard to document your drinkin' when you're doin' none
So I've been on a sober bender, if you can believe it, since, really, the last time I posted here. Because that night I polished off my last bottle and I've been too broke to splurge and buy any since. (It can be a terribly expensive habit, even if you limit yourself to $10 bottles.)

But rather than let this blog languish because of my own boring sobriety, I'm going to post about something or another, a real point be damned!

Oooh, this is good. It's a primer on Long Island wines*.

I've only ever had a sip of one particular Long Island wine, and it was extra special because I was actually on Long Island and drinking from a bottle procured by Amber's roommate, who works for the vineyard where the bottle was made.

I'll need to keep my eyes open for Long Island wines that can be bought locally.

*I am swooning over this website. So pretty and sophisticated it hurts!

posted by theogeo

From: Sketchwork

Late-Night Sketching

From: Urf!

Just Ducky

Kristy called me as I was on the way home from work to say that Andria had called her to say she and Miss M were at the duck pond and would we like to join them? We would indeed. I met Kristy, The Quartet and our friends, and found the kids running around, glad to be free of school, schedules and teachers. It was Friday, and as JP is fond of saying on Fridays, “It’s Friday, we can stay up late.” Amen to that.

The duck pond, in Chickasaw Gardens, is our little oasis in the middle of the city, it’s our miniature Central Park, it’s a place we feel comfortable letting the kids run somewhat wild and unrestrained. Tonight, with the temperature in the low 70s, was a great night for releasing pent up energy and blowing off some steam. As the adults sat and talked about our day, C and JP explored the far east side of the pond, climbing Magnolias and meeting another boy roughly C’s age. S and Miss M, tired of throwing rocks toward ducks, tormented a dachsund that had shown up with another family. The boy C and JP had befriended had a net for catching turtles and the boys were taken with it and the idea of pulling something alive from the water. They followed this boy and his net as they traveled around the perimeter of the pond. And we let them go. The boy with the net was with his father, we assumed, who seemed like a normal enough person, although he was wearing white pants. I don’t trust men who wear white pants. But they explored the pond, staying close to the waterline, until they were finally out of sight, obscured by the oaks and pine. We adults joked about letting our kids tag along with strange men in white pants who was either the father of another boy or a man who was simply collecting children in the park. So Kristy, ever the paranoiac, and GK, who had no choice, went in pursuit of C, JP, the man in white pants and the boy with the net. And she found them on the opposite side of the lake harassing turtles and the occasional duck. Good news, the man was sane and safe.

The evening ended back at our house for burritos, birthday cake, catfights, negotiations, water and, ultimately, forced separation. Perhaps more on that tomorrow…

Birthed by RJA

From: Paul Ryburn's Journal

Sunday update: An artsy link, football, AMOGs, and more

Here's a link to a Commercial Appeal article that is a must-bookmark: The 2006-2007 performing arts calendar, by writer Christopher Blank. It's a comprehensive calendar listing the schedule of just about every performing arts group in the city. It also contains a good article about the new Hattiloo Theater on Marshall.

Ravi Shankar is performing on October 5 at the Germantown Performing Arts Center. He's the guy who taught George Harrison from the Beatles how to play the sitar. I bet he'd be worth seeing. God, he's gotta be pushing 100 now.

Sitting here in the Union Avenue branch office. Just posted Deal of the Week, with good deals on an MP3 player, a laptop, and accounting software. Been a good morning so far... walked out my apartment building's door and the first person I saw was a Romanian, on her way to buy cigarettes at Walgreens before heading to work. Hmmm. Maybe she's stalking me.

Apparently because I hang out in bars a lot, everyone thinks I should have an opinion on tonight's Eli Manning vs. Peyton Manning matchup. I don't. Well, unless "don't care" counts as an opinion. Oh, fine. I'll have an opinion. I'll pull for Eli because when I hung out at the downtown Blue Monkey for Sunday brunch, my bartender was named Eli. She was a girl though. Game starts at 7:15, which means I'll probably be sitting in Sleep Out's watching it. Could go to the Saucer to watch it but the place will be full of AMOGs (Alpha Male Other Guys; it's a term used on how-to-pick-up-women websites) who take NFL football way too seriously. Actually, it's kind of fun to watch them watch the game, kind of like it's fun to go to the zoo and watch the animals. Maybe I will go to the Saucer after all.

Ole Miss lost yesterday. Good. Maybe they should change their cheer to "Hotty Toddy, We Suck!"

Plans for this week: Rooftop party on the roof of my apartment building Thursday night. Cooper-Young Fest on Saturday. Otherwise, the usual stuff - Pint Nite tomorrow, team trivia on Tuesday, Court Square concert series on Wednesday. Friday I will probably take the night off and get some rest. I don't mess around when it comes to Cooper-Young - I absolutely will not allow myself to wake up with 3 hours sleep and a hangover that morning, like I do most Saturdays.

Time to log off and play the NTN trivia game. See you later!

11:27 AM

From: Click(Daily)

Nothing finer

From: artbutcher

Oh Sweet Jesus

oh sweet jesus
i know
i know
i know
i said
i would never write another mass email
but i have promised a lot of people
a lot of different things
and didnt come through
that were more important than an email
but lets get down to business
as i wait for the gesso to dry
on what i hope like hell
is not the 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th canvas
to be thrown against the wall
i have a little time to tell you a story
a short story
more of a to do list really
as i scratch off entries
on my own
things to do before the wedding list
we have booked the band
an irish bluegrass band
oh sweet jesus
tell me that aint going to be a good time
you have never seen me
dance my
lord of the dance
that i dance so well
good times
good times
another good time was the roller derby prom
and the sexual sensory overload that it was
talk about subject matter for paintings
only to be thrown against the wall
what a waste
just like money for a tent at our wedding
nothing but clear skies ahead
atleast i hope that is the case
five months from now
when i sign my life away
they say half of all marriages end in divorce
i know four couples
that have yet to get a divorce
i dont like the odds
oh well
it is better than sitting at home on friday night
you get to see
what no one else has seen
larry edwards paintings at marshall arts
imagine being in a room with him
talking about art
his crazy pelican eating roses art
good times
good times
but do not linger
as there is an opening at material on broad
with a soon to be
new yorker
wearing the finest fashions
that will get to memphis
just in time
to get them at the vintage shops
in nyc
carolyn bomar
i bet she wants to see me
do the lord of the dance
dance
good times
good times
but do not linger
as there is an opening at david lusk as well
with maysey craddock
the only person i know
that is making powerful work
about hurricane katrina
and she lives in germany
what does that say about us
oh yeah
we dont care about poor people
anyways
good times
good times
but do not linger
erin king is showing at
the world famous p and h cafe
it is world famous
i talked to a guy from england
who loves this place
he loves the table tops
thank you
thank you
and he will love erin
who said she is dressing up as wonder woman
now
that you just have to see
but do not linger
bobby spillman
is having his first show
since getting his mfa
he has come out of his hermits shell
got a hair cut
pulled out the three year old diamond crowns
and is showing a lross gallery
i wonder how those white walls
are holding up
good times
good times
almost as much
as preparing for a wedding
do i see wedding planner in my future

posted by dwayne

From: LeftWingCracker

Kathyrn Bowers is going to fight!

According to this CA article, Kathyrn Bowers has decided NOT to plead out on bribery charges and will instead go to trial, which will be sometime this spring. Bravo for Kathryn!

Call me too idealistic, call me naive, whatever you want, but I am rooting for her. These charges are a stain on what has otherwise been a sterling career of public service, and I hope she is acquitted. After all that's happened to her recently, it's a good sign that she still has the stamina to fight.