A new festival is coming to Memphis next month, and this one is not a live music festival, or a festival that celebrates a particular culture. This will be something entirely different.
YOGA!
The Memphis Yoga Festival will happen at my alma mater, Rhodes College, Saturday, September 22 from 7:30 AM to 8 PM. There will be over 30 different yoga classes throughout the day, as well as a kids’ zone, a tea garden, food trucks, walking meditation, vendors, and more. Have a look at the schedule to see the vast array of activities the festival is offering. $35 in advance, $45 at the door. For those of you who have never been to Rhodes’ campus, it is beautiful and serene and an ideal place to do yoga and meditate.
Time to do the Time Warp tonight as The Rocky Horror Picture Show returns to the Orpheum. Audience participation is encouraged and you can bring your own props or buy a bag of props from Orpheum concessions. Doors open at 7 PM for an on-stage costume contest, with the movie starting at 8. I have been to this and it is a lot of fun.
There’s a fundraiser going on for a member of the Bardog Tavern family. While helping to raise money for the kids of St. Jude last Sunday, server London Wood fell off a curb, breaking her ankle and tibia. Not only will she have medical bills related to her injury, but, of course, since servers have to be on their feet all day, she will not be able to work for 4 months. Anything you can spare for medical and living expenses will be much appreciated by the staff at Bardog.
Have you heard about the Downtown Parking Study? Learn about it here.
The Redbirds return to Memphis tonight to play the Nashville Sounds, and although first pitch is 7:05, you’ll want to get there right at 6 when the gates open. The first 1500 fans in the gate get a replica of the Redbirds’ 2017 PCL Championship rings. There will be live entertainment and $2 beers in the Plaza before game time, and giveaways every inning with one fan rolling the dice for a chance to win $100,000.
Baked to Perfection is the theme at the Memphis Farmers Market this Saturday. No, that’s not a weed reference. There are many baked goods you can buy at the Market, including breads, cookies, and dog treats. UT pharmacy students will be on site 8 to noon to share information about the silent killer, high blood pressure. Also from 8 to noon, kids can make watermelon suncatchers in the crafts corral. Master Gardeners will be there from 8 to noon to answer any gardening questions you may have. The Market runs from 8 AM to 1 PM under the pavilion at Front and G.E. Patterson.
Listen to radio host Gary Parrish on the way home from work? Help put him in a dunk tank at Just City’s Plunge to Expunge at Memphis Made Brewing Co. next Thursday.
We’re putting @GaryParrishCBS in a dunk tank a week from today, but only if we get to $1,000 first. Our accountants tell us that’s $142.86 per day. Go! https://t.co/xjD0QJMuQV pic.twitter.com/Kwknshnd5i
— Just City (@JustCity901) August 23, 2018
Burlesque show JustLarry’s Return to Paradise comes to the Evergreen Theater August 31-September 2.
A blogger who writes a blog called Vida Fashionista recently stayed at Hotel Napoleon. If you’re not familiar with the hotel, she does a great job covering the hotel’s feel and its amenities. Read her review here.
Daniel from Silly Goose posted a photo of a dish he and Wok’n in Memphis are thinking of doing for their collaboration pop-up brunch this Sunday. Kung pao chicken and waffles:
Trolley Stop Market posted to Facebook that they are looking to hire a cashier.
South Main Sushi is hosting a fundraiser next Friday on South Main Trolley Night, August 31, from 5 PM to midnight. DJ Dre will perform and Wiseacre will roll out its new Japanese-themed beer. The party will raise funds to help a student nurse anesthetist make a medical mission trip to the Dominican Republic.
Want to learn how to solder? HACKmemphis and Midsouth Makers are offering a class.
A group called Friends of WEVL wants change at the radio station. They claim that the amount of locally-sourced programming has decreased at WEVL in favor of more syndicated shows. They also note that of the local programmers the station does have, there is a lack of diversity, with only one of 42 being African-American.
ESPN Front Row has an interview with Marc Gasol about his time spent last month on the Mediterranean helping rescue immigrants fleeing from war and famine.
There’s a new Citizens’ Police Academy class beginning September 4.
Purple Haze has won a court battle allowing the nightclub a block south of Beale to continue serving alcohol until 5 AM, just as its neighbors on Beale are allowed to do.
This is very cool: Lyft to offer 50% off rides on Election Day
This will never get old. pic.twitter.com/KPY92j67rg
— Bruce VanWyngarden (@sylamore1) August 24, 2018
I’ve been thinking about something this morning: Trump is now implicated in a crime involving the Michael Cohen payoff to Stormy Daniels. Now that’s pretty bad, but it alone is not enough to be an impeachable offense. However, let’s assume that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Let’s suppose that the rumors I’ve heard for over a year are true, and it is discovered, say, 5 months from now, that the NRA did indeed launder $30 million in Russian money and funnel it to the RNC and the Trump campaign. Furthermore, let’s suppose there is conclusive evidence that both Trump and Pence knew about the Russian money and approved it.
So let’s say that, in January 2019, a group of Congressional leaders come to Trump and Pence, just as Congressional leaders did with Nixon in August 1974. They tell Trump and Pence, we can no longer do anything to save you. If you don’t resign, you are going to be impeached and you are going to be found guilty and removed from office. So, Trump and Pence both resign, or they both go to impeachment hearings and are removed by a two-thirds vote of the Senate.
With the two top offices vacant, the third in line to the presidency moves up. That’s the speaker of the House.
President Paul Ryan? No. Not so fast. We’ll be past the midterm elections at that point. Ryan has said he’s stepping down as speaker. More important than that, though, is that the Democrats are rated at about 75% (according to a recent estimate by FiveThirtyEight) to take back the House. So the speaker of the House could very well be a Democrat.
No kidding, folks, we could have a Democrat in the Oval Office in 2019.
For that reason, Democrats need to be extra careful to get the Speaker election right, if they take the majority in the House in November.
President Nancy Pelosi? I have to admit it would be sweet, sweet revenge on the Republicans for enabling the orange baboon’s corruption for as long as they did. She’s not the right choice, though. She is a polarizing figure. She’d cause more years of partisan bickering, and we as a society would fail to remember that we are Americans first, before we are Republicans and Democrats.
We need someone who will be a calming influence, the way Ronald Reagan was in the ’80s. I didn’t agree with a lot of his political views, but there was no doubt he was the Great Communicator, and he had the ability to make people believe that everything was going to be all right. We need a Democrat with that kind of communication ability in the speaker seat, in case the move up to the presidency does indeed happen.
Just something to think about.
By the way, if that scenario did play out, that would really suck for anyone with presidential aspirations not serving in the House of Representatives. They would face the tough choice of contesting a primary against an incumbent of their own party, or possibly having to wait as late as 2028 to run.
Whew! That’s the end of this very long post. Back tomorrow with more.