Category: Uncategorized

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got Sen. Barack Obama’s book The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream as a Christmas present. Currently I’m about halfway through it.

Today I was reading chapter 5 (“Opportunity”), and I absolutely loved what Obama had to say about education. Let’s start with this quote, where he says that building a 21st century school system means

“paying teachers what they’re worth. There’s no reason why an experienced, highly qualified, and effective teacher shouldn’t earn $100,000 annually at the peak of his or her career. Highly skilled teachers in such critical fields as math and science – as well as those willing to teach in the toughest urban schools – should be paid even more.”

BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well said, Senator!

Here are some other points he makes in the preceding and following paragraphs:

• We need to remove red tape in the certification process, so, for example, if a chemistry major wants to teach, he or she is able to do it without expensive additional course work;
• Proven teachers need to be given more control over what goes on in their classrooms;
• In exchange for more money, teachers need to become more accountable – and school districts need greater ability to get rid of ineffective teachers;
• Scores on standardized tests do not accurately reflect teacher performance. Therefore, unions, states and school districts should work together to come up with a system combining test scores and peer review that is a fair and accurate tool for evaluation.

Here we have a politician talking about education, and saying things that make sense. That’s refreshing. I also like it that he takes the attitude of “How can we do these things?” rather than “this is a nice wish list, but it’ll never happen because of A, B, C…”

I’m really starting to like this guy. I’m going to reserve judgment until I finish the book, but I will say that based on his views on education, I’m going to have to give him serious consideration if he does indeed run for president in 2008.

One other thing: Steve Cohen fans may want to read this book and pay special attention to Chapter 4 (“Politics”). Obama explains how, once you get to Washington, there are so many forces pulling you so many different directions – lobbyists, the media, your party, etc. – that it’s nearly impossible not to lose the sense of idealism that got you elected. Hopefully Steve will wade the political waters successfully, but it sure doesn’t look like he’ll have an easy time, given the picture Obama paints of the current situation.

And that’s all for now. Getting ready to head up to the Saucer for Tuesday night trivia. Hopefully I’ll be able to file a report tomorrow saying that the Rapscallions added to their accumulated winnings.

In the early 1930s, former president Gerald Ford played for two national championship teams. After graduating college, he received two offers to turn pro – from the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers – each for $200 a game.

By contrast, Our Gang/Little Rascals star Farina (who was replaced in the early 30s by Stymie, who was in turn replaced in the mid 30s by Buckwheat) was getting $250 an episode.

Yesterday afternoon I stopped by the Saucer for a beer, and found that they were pulling out the old picture-tube TVs above the bar and installing two new Philips 42″ widescreen LCD HDTVs.

The TVs are up and running, and just in time for tonight’s Ohio State vs. Florida BCS national championship game. And it’s Pint Nite. Mmmmyeah there’s a good chance I’ll be up there.

Over on the left pane of my blog, underneath “How to contact me” and “Help keep Downtown safe,” I’ve added a “Free software” section. These software packs contain programs I’ve recommended in my blog over the past year.

Google Picasa is a program that will search your hard drive for photos and images, and will allow you to organize them however you choose. It also offers numerous options for retouching photos – there have been several photos over the past year that I thought have been unsalvageable, yet using Picasa’s editing options I was able to turn them into blog-worthy (there’s that word again) images. Picasa also allows you to upload your photos to the Web to share with friends, and provides free space for you to do so. My two most recent photo albums, my birthday album and Rapscallion Party II, were created with Picasa. To get it, click the button that reads, “Organize and share photos with friends. Google’s photo organizer.” Again, it’s on the left menu pane of this blog, under the “Free software” section.

Google Pack is an entire package of programs that will make your PC more useful. In addition to Picasa, it comes with a screen saver to display your photos, a tool to organize your desktop and the documents on your computer, and a tool that adds the Google search bar to your browser. Best of all, it comes with the incredible Google Earth application, which lets you browse and zoom in on satellite images all over the world (try “Manhattan” as a search term to get you started and see what it can do… or enter your own address and see what happens). You also get anti-virus software, anti-spyware software, and more. You have the option to remove any program you don’t want, and there are optional programs you can add – including Skype, which lets you make free phone calls anywhere in the world. To get it, click the “Make your PC more useful. Get the free Google Pack” button. The pack includes Picasa, so if you download the Pack, you don’t need to download Picasa.

Mozilla Firefox is a better browser than Internet Explorer. Plain and simple. It’s more secure, more sophisticated, and numerous add-ons allow you to extend your browsing experience. If you haven’t tried Firefox yet, what are you waiting for? It won’t harm your computer to have both Firefox and Internet Explorer installed at the same time, so if you don’t like Firefox it’s painless to switch back. Click the “Get Firefox with Google Toolbar for more secure browsing” button to get it.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll mention that these buttons are referral links – I get paid when you download these programs through my site. But these are all programs I personally use and enjoy, and if they weren’t I wouldn’t mention ’em here.

(Dammit… now blog reader “Stan” will probably be e-mailing me accusing Google of paying me off. This time, he’ll be right, though)

Coming this week to my blog: I have a challenge for Rhodes College, my alma mater; a significant upgrade at the downtown Flying Saucer; and who knows what else I’ll find to talk about. Check back often.

– This morning I was riding down the elevator, and I noticed a card advertising LoLo’s Table, a very good restaurant ’round the corner on Monroe between Main and Second. I noticed that they have a website now where you can check out their menu and special events like Wine Wednesday and Tuesday night wine dinners. They also have one of the best happy hours downtown. Great place. Glad to see them online.

– I also noticed the The Peanut Shoppe has a website now. The Peanut Shoppe, located on Main between Madison and Monroe, is one of the unknown treasures of downtown. Before I headed home for Christmas, I stopped by and picked up a pound of mixed nuts in a decorative tin and a pound of roasted-in-the-shell peanuts for my mother. The owners of this place are two of the kindest, most gentle people you’ll find downtown. They also have a good selection of candy (both regular and sugar free) if you have kids. Their products page has a complete list of the items they carry.

That’s all for now… having had two weeks off has affected my sleep schedule (sleeping until 11 every day lately) so I’m getting a relatively late start for a Sunday. Tomorrow it’s back to Cubicle World.

A couple of days ago a reader e-mailed me, asking me to list some places where a single woman in her late 40s could go to meet available men. I wasn’t sure, so I turned the question over to my readership, and got the response below, which seems to be really good.

I’m not in my 40s yet, but I’d recommend the First
Wednesdays at the Brooks and the Third Thursdays at
the Dixon. They tend to attract a slightly older,
often single crowd. And volunteering is a nice way to
meet people of any age. Why not sign up for some
Hands on Memphis activities? Or take some continuing
education classes or social dance classes or join a
gym? I think the library has a book club. Get active
in local politics? And there’s always internet
dating. Who knows? I’ve heard church is a good place
to meet people, if you’re so inclined. Several local
churches have singles ministries, but I doubt this is
the sort of advice this woman turned to you for.
Where do slightly older singles go to party down?

I enjoy being helpful, so I did a little web search.
The following was recommended for “older” singles in
Memphis. Notice the East Memphis bias:

• Ruth’s Chris for Wed. happy hour or Salsa right
across the parking lot
• Fleming Steakhouse’s wine bar, also right across the
street, also on Poplar
• Yia Yia’s in Germantown on a Tuesday or Wed
afternoon/early night
• Chinese restaurant and piano bar at the Park Place
Mall at the corner of Park and Ridgeway
• The Grove Grill’s bar area for happy hour
• Cockeyed Camel, 6000 block of Primacy Parkway
• Bonefish Grill for happy hour

As for downtown bars, Stella, LoLo’s Table, The Corner
Bar at the Peabody, or Grill 83 might work well.

Thanks for responding. Anyone else have comments? Shoot me an e-mail if you do. To the reader who asked, hope this list gets you started.

One of these days Queen Elizabeth II will die. And while I would normally place that event in the “can’t happen soon enough” category, I can’t, because at that time Prince Charles will ascend to the throne. And honestly, can anyone really see him as a king? The guy is a wimp. A wuss. He needs some serious image reform if he is ever going to make it as England’s top royal. And I have an idea for him.

You see, in modern times people can’t relate to images of great historical kings, like Henry VIII of England or Louis XIV of France. No, folks these days are spoon-fed by the media – they get their idea of what a “king” should be like from media outlets, television in particular.

And what king does the average guy on the street see most often on television? The Burger King, corporate mascot of fast-food restaurant Burger King. He’s been all over the place on commercials lately. And I have to admit, for the first time in my life I’ve wanted to buy an Xbox, because that “Sneak King” game BK released over the holiday season looks like so much fun. The Burger King sneaks around and tries to deliver tasty cheeseburgers to people before they die of hunger. He’s a hero!

Therefore, I think Prince Charles should grow a beard, to make himself look more like the Burger King. That would allow him to better fit into the image the public has of what “royalty” should look like. As a result, subjects of the UK would better accept him as their king, and he would be more likely to have a successful reign.

Yesterday I posted how the Flying Saucer won an award for being one of the 100 best bars/nightclubs in America, as recognized by its peers in a trade publication. And I wrote how they totally deserved that award. And, not surprisingly, I attributed much of their success to the girls who work there, the waitresses and bartenders.

But, thanks to a friend, I realized that I left someone out. When I come there between there between 7 pm and close, Monday through Thursday, there’s a big guy at the door named Will checking IDs. And as soon as he sees me, he gives me a generous handshake and says, “Welcome home, baby!” and waves me on through.

And I guess I never really thought about it until tonight, but half the time I come there, he’s the first face I see at the Saucer. And he does indeed make the place feel more like “home.” And that’s important. There are probably 10 other bars I could walk to as quick as or more quickly than I can walk to the Saucer. But Will makes me, and lots of other downtown locals, feel like we belong there.

So I just want to give him a shout-out. It’s easy to give the waitresses the credit but he deserves it too. I just don’t ever want to see him in a miniskirt. Not even on Halloween.

On this day 66 years ago, the Merrie Melodies cartoon Elmer’s Pet Rabbit was released. It was the second cartoon to feature Bugs Bunny and the first in which he was listed as a title character.

Watch the cartoon here.

– Looks like Court House Deli will be moving from their home on Court Square to the building on the Main Street Mall, between Madison and Monroe, formerly occupied by I. Siegel Culinary Productions. Hope the new move works out for them, and exposes them to people who haven’t given them a try before, because they have GREAT food. My favorites are the cajun chili and the crawfish etoufee. They also have jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and deli sandwiches. And excellent brownies. It’s a locally owned family business and you can get out of there for 5-6 bucks.

– Congrats to the Flying Saucer on being named one of the top 100 bars/clubs in the U.S. by Nightclub & Bar Magazine, the trade magazine for the restaurant, bar and club industry. Even though I snipe at the Saucer about little things from time to time in this blog, I have to agree, they totally deserve the award. They deliver a very consistent dining and drinking experience, and it’s just a good place to get some work done on their wireless Internet connection, or watch the game on TV, or shoot pool, or throw darts, or educate yourself on different styles of beers. And they consistently hire good people. Sure, there’s the miniskirt thing (and I’m not going to lie, I do look), but once you get past that, the bartenders and waitresses are some of the most interesting and intelligent people downtown. They’re the main reason I come back almost every day.

– Speaking of the Saucer… don’t forget, The Dempseys tonight at 9:30. Usually when they play the Saucer, it’s a work night for me and I only make it through their first set and sometimes their second. But since I have tomorrow off, it’s a sure bet I’m there for all three of their sets. And then I’ll probably stumble across the street to McGuinness. I’m disappointed that I didn’t make it to any of their shows in December, when they usually do some rockabilly interpretations of Christmas music.

– I fulfilled one of my vacation-time goals last night… to stop by the Black Diamond for a pizza and a PBR. I’m eating the leftover pizza as I type this.

– Sharp Dressed Bum has reappeared on Downtown streets. For those of you who haven’t had the displeasure of meeting this guy, he’s about 5’9″, 150 lbs., approximately 35 year old black male with goatee. He walks around Downtown streets (especially Monroe, Union, Main, and Second) begging for money. Sometimes he’ll ride on a bike. He usually dresses better than other bums, with well-pressed clothes that make him look like he’s on his way to a club. If you tell him “no” when he asks for money (and why on earth would you tell him “yes”), he’ll cuss at you and act like he’s going to come at you.

I know I’ve been asking my readers a lot of questions lately, but I’d like to ask one more, especially to any police officers or lawyers who might be reading this: When he acts like he’s going to come at me, that’s assault, right? Whereas, it’s battery if he actually makes contact. Any strategies you can recommend for getting this guy off the streets and in a jail cell? He’s been a nuisance downtown for three years now and I know a lot of people are sick of seeing him.

– I’ve gotten some good responses to the question I posed on behalf of one of my readers yesterday: Where should a woman in her late 40s go to meet men? And not just any men, but men who don’t use hairspray or have comb-over hairstyles. I’m going to give readers one or two more days to respond, then do a follow-up post.

– Congrats to the Grizzlies on their 144-135 victory last night at the FedExForum. I think Coach Barone has hit on the key element to ensure success for the team: They’re having fun. Wonder if there’s a chance Barone will be named the permanent head coach?