My favorite weekend of the year. You will lose an hour of sleep tomorrow night (3/13/2010), but starting Sunday you will gain one glorious hour of sunlight in the evening. Spring is here! Enjoy!

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More goodbyes for the Fairgrounds

by Joe Spake on March 11, 2010

Presidents Island School House at the Fairgrounds

In a parking lot in the shadow of the Arena building at the former Mid-South Fairgrounds is a little piece of Memphis history.  Moved there and set up on blocks is the one-room school house from President’s Island, dating back before the industrialization of the area when it was a rural community.   It  looks like an easy target for the long arm of the next trackhoe that happens to be by there.  Does this building have any value for preservationists?

Turn 180 degrees and look into the empty stalls of the cattle barn.

Cattle Barn - Fairgrounds


We have all been in  there during the Mid-South looking at cows close up and talking with the 4-H-ers and breeders who camped there with them.  The livestock barns are scheduled for demolition, and if consultant, former city councilman (and undisclosed principal in some future Fairgrounds project) Tom Marshall has his way, that will happen real soon, along with demolition of most everything left at the Fairgrounds, including Memphis Roller Derby’s home – the Youth Building, other exhibit buildings, and about everything left standing except the Arena Building.

The Arena Building

The city has chosen to keep the ugliest building intact because they use it for storage.

As is typical in our City, demolition is happening before there is a set plan.  Oh yeah, there is that plan to make the whole thing into a shady grove so the tens of thousands of UM fans can have tailgate parties before games, leaving Memphis’ version of “the Grove” to collect litter for the other 355 days of the year.

What about the big box?  What about the athletic fields? Retail? Who knows?  Just keep the demolition equipment running.

If you have memories of the Fairgrounds, get over there quick and get some pictures and video before it’s all gone.  The decision makers are keeping pretty quiet about the Coliseum, but considering that much of it’s parking lot is being greened turned to mud, it probably doesn’t have much longer either.

Read Mary Cashiola’s piece in this week’s Flyer

The Eagles did “The Last Resort”  and Joni did this:
Maybe there’s a Memphis songwriter who can put all this to music.

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Auto inspection station – some real Memphis misery

March 3, 2010Memphis

>>>>>UPDATE<<<< Thanks to my Facebook friend Ruth Hendrix for providing this link. Check the web cams at the inspection to see how busy they are…. Thanks, Ruth. <<<<>>>>
Maybe I am just a grumpy old wimp, but 78 minutes seems like a lot of time out of my life to get the mandatory car inspection, [...]

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Commercial Appeal introduces garage sale finder app

March 2, 2010Memphis

Time to make some more space in your house and buy a bigger pick up truck or more ropes for your car roof and trunk.  The CA’s new, unique iPhone app will keep you from missing any great garage sales.  Complete with maps, search and customization options.
Here’s the press release.  Check it out:    (No word [...]

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We are Number One, we are #1!

February 26, 2010Memphis

All in the course of one short week, Memphis was named 3rd most miserable city in America and 6th best housing market by Forbes.  And to top it off, Memphis was also honored with a NUMBER ONE – Numero Uno – #1 spot as “the best place to get your car repaired“, according to The [...]

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Miserable city – great housing market

February 25, 2010Culture

The day after Forbes.com declared Memphis the number 3 Most Miserable City USA, raising the hackles of local politicians and the My Memphis Right or Wrong loyalists, Forbes came back with their next list rating Memphis number 6 in America’s Best Housing Markets.
This is the text of Forbes’ post

Memphis has a “Housing Opportunity Index of [...]

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Misery

February 24, 2010Memphis

The pundits and politicians have been buzzing and posturing since last week’s Forbes article citing Memphis as number 3 among America’s 10 most miserable cities.  While Mayor Wharton whittles away at quality of life issues, and preaches that Memphis must control it’s own message and tell it’s own story; and Congressman Cohen challenges Steve Forbes [...]

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ATT still thinks it’s THE telephone Company

February 22, 2010Marketing

I am old enough to remember Lily Tomlin’s routine as the condescending telephone operator on Laugh In.  The way she handled customers strengthened the public perception of the “Omni-Potent” Telephone Company of the late 1960s.  It was no laughing matter when I opened my telephone bill the other day to find an extra $14.95 charge [...]

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Harold Toboggans brings humor to the Memphis non-profit scene

February 15, 2010Memphis

Check out the Mind Over Memphis, a video series that highlights the work of Memphis charities, non-profits and assorted artists with comedy. Think of it as Dirty Jobs meets Monty Python meets MIFA.

Here’s a playlist for the entire series:

OR you can check out Dr. Harold Toboggans Mind over Memphis YouTube Channel HERE.

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Human aggregators – the latest magic bullet?

February 13, 2010Social Media

Everyone’s looking for a magic bullet to conquer social media, leverage Web 2.0 to their advantage, dominate the digital marketplace, and further their self-described expert/guru status.  This seems to be especially prevalent with the late adopters in RE.net ( the real estate cool kids of Web 2.0),  but I see traces of the magic bullet [...]

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