The story about my niece yesterday reminded me of another “monkey” story that I had been meaning to post here. But first, you need some background information. Rhodes College, where I teach, is in Midtown Memphis, which just so happens also to be the location of the world-famous Memphis Zoo. The college sits on one…
Read MoreMy family has never really wanted for drama. Sometimes it’s unwelcome and unpleasant, but sometimes it’s the best thing ever. The Friday before Christmas, I met my family for lunch. There’s a really great and pretty fancy steakhouse in town, which is usually only open for dinners, but every Friday afternoon they open for lunch…
Read MoreFor those of you who don’t know, I host a radio show on Sunday nights from 7-8 pm (Central time) on Rhodes Radio. My show is called “Americana the Beautiful” and is ostensibly devoted to American “roots” music (country, blues, jazz, rock n’ roll), but I often just play whatever I like. Anyway, we’ve now…
Read MoreThe quote above is from the Jim Jarmusch film “Mystery Train.” In my experience, this is the quote that people most often associate with our strange city. However, as a Memphian, I’ve always thought that another line from the Jarmusch film was a much more apt description of the Memphis experience. My favorite line comes…
Read MoreApologies to the regular readers of this blog for my absence. Apparently, Memphis is the destination of choice this month for all of my far-flung friends and associates. Be back soon with stories of the carpetbaggers, I’m sure.
Read MoreStill registering over 100 degrees every day here in Memphis. My own heat-related misery was coumpounded in 2 ways yesterday, leading me to believe that the end (or my end, anyway) is nigh. First, we had Convocation yesterday afternoon. It was about 107 degrees when the “procession” started, during which we make about a quarter-mile…
Read MoreI went to my first Roller Derby match last weekend. It was a double-header– the Women of Mass Destruction vs. The Angels of Death, followed by the Legion of Zoom vs. the PrissKilla Presleys. I expected it to be campy and entertaining, which it was, but what I didn’t expect was to learn that this…
Read MoreIf you’ve heard me talk about Memphis for any length of time, you’ve heard me talk about Wild Bill’s (pictured above, Bill standing in the doorway). After Junior Kimbrough’s Place burned down in 2000, Wild Bill’s became one of the last surviving “juke joints” in the Delta. It wasn’t much bigger than a large living…
Read MoreRobert Gordon (author of one of my favorite books, It Came from Memphis) once said that Memphis “could be easily mistaken for a town of doughnut shops and churches.” So, I’ve decided to apply Gordon’s formulation to the other places I’ve lived. If you cuurently live, or have previously lived, in any of the following…
Read MoreThis morning, I had my first evangelists come to the door. Well, not the first in my life, but the first since I’ve been back in Memphis. I have to say that I was feeling a bit neglected, as such visits are pretty much standard fare around these parts, and I didn’t understand how my…
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