Memphis Mourns Death of Legend Isaac Hayes
The latest today from the Commercial Appeal:
Isaac Hayes' cause of death said to be a stroke
By Daniel Connolly (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Originally published 01:59 p.m., August 12, 2008
Updated 02:21 p.m., August 12, 2008
Isaac Hayes’ doctor believes a stroke caused the death of the legendary soul musician this weekend.
The physician, Dr. David Kraus, listed stroke as the cause of death on a certificate, Shelby County sheriff’s department spokesman Steve Shular said today.
The musician’s body was stored at the Regional Forensic Center until the doctor returned from out of town, but no autopsy was performed, Shular said.
Family members found Hayes unconscious in his home Sunday afternoon. He was on the floor next to a treadmill that was still switched on, Shular said earlier this week. Hayes was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Family members said Hayes was under a doctor’s care for unspecified problems. He had suffered a mild stroke in 2006.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO CHECK OUT ISAAC HAYES' RECORDINGS AND INFORMATION, CHECK OUT THIS SITE FOR STAX RECORDS AND THE ROCK & SOUL MUSEUM
www.soulsvilleusa.com/
Labels: Isaac Hayes, Memphis, Shelby County, Soulsville USA, Stax Museum, Stax Records, Tennessee
Ole Miss vs. Memphis State Football Game Time Change
The game pitting the 10 point favorite Ole Miss Rebels from the Southeastern Conference versus their Conference USA opponent Memphis State Tigers has been moved back one (1) hour to 6:00 p.m. The time change reflects a desire by both schools to give an additional hour to the fans for the temperatures to cool before the game. Weather forecasts are predicting hot and humid for the game in Oxford, Mississippi.
Labels: C-USA, football college football, Memphis State, Mississippi, Ole Miss, Ole Miss Rebels, Oxford, SEC Conference USA, Southeastern Conference, University of Memphis
Memphis not L.A. yet! Call ME to Bring Your Fast Food Franchise Here!
This from the local paper today... though it is an AP story...
L.A. blocks new fast-food outlets in poor south side
By Christina Hoag
Associated Press
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
LOS ANGELES -- City officials are putting South Los Angeles on a diet.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to place a moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in an impoverished swath of the city with a proliferation of such eateries and above-average rates of obesity.
The yearlong moratorium is intended to give the city time to attract restaurants that serve more healthful food. The action, which the mayor still must sign into law, is believed to be the first of its kind by a major city to protect public health.
"Our communities have an extreme shortage of quality foods," Councilman Bernard Parks said.
Representatives of fast-food chains said they support the goal of better diets but believe they are being targeted unfairly. They say they already offer more healthful food items on their menus.
"It's not where you eat, it's what you eat," said Andrew Pudzer, president and chief executive of CKE Restaurants, parent company of Carl's Jr. "We were willing to work with the city on that, but they obviously weren't interested."
The California Restaurant Association and its members will consider a legal challenge to the ordinance, spokesman Andrew Casana said.
Thirty percent of adults in the South Los Angeles area are obese, compared to 19.1 percent for the metropolitan area and 14.1 percent for the affluent Westside, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
Research has shown that people will change eating habits when different foods are offered, but cost is a key factor in poor communities, said Kelly D. Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
"Cheap, unhealthy food and lack of access to healthy food is a recipe for obesity," Brownell said. "Diets improve when healthy food establishments enter these neighborhoods."
South Los Angeles resident Curtis English acknowledged that fast food is loaded with calories and cholesterol. But since he's unemployed and does not have a car, it serves as a cheap, convenient staple for him.
On Monday, he ate breakfast and lunch -- a sausage burrito and double cheeseburger, respectively -- at a McDonald's a few blocks from home for just $2.39.
"I don't think there's too many fast-food places," he said. "People like it."
Others welcomed an opportunity to get different kinds of food into their neighborhood.
"They should open more healthy places," Dorothy Meighan said outside a Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet. "There's too much fried stuff."
Los Angeles' ban comes at a time when governments of all levels are increasingly viewing menus as a matter of public health. On Friday, California became the first state in the nation to bar trans fats, which lower levels of good cholesterol and increase bad cholesterol.
The moratorium affects only standalone restaurants, not eateries located in malls or strip shopping centers.
Greater Memphis Reacts
Denise Bollheimer, Healthy Memphis Common Table chairwoman: "Healthful fast food can be a blessing for travelers, workers and students on the go, and busy families. Unhealthy fast food is not good. We should avoid unhealthy foods no matter where they are served. Restaurants that offer healthful foods should be favored over those who don't offer good options."
Mary Cay Oyler, Church Health Center manager of wellness education and nutrition: "I would like to see this happen in Memphis. Cities place moratoriums on land development all the time. They have specific zoning areas established for business types, residential areas, etc., so what would be the difference of regulating restaurants? I could even see additional tax breaks or small business assistance designed for a restaurant that serves a certain percentage of healthy foods and that way encourage innovative restaurants to come into the community."
-- Compiled by Mark Watson
Labels: California Restaurant Association, Fast Food, Los Angeles, Memphis, Memphis Restaurant Association, Restaurants
Great East Memphis Flex Space
Former French Riviera Spa building (near old Mall of Memphis) would make a great use for a church, office, retail, funeral home, or medical use. Two-story, 10,000 +/- SF space still set up on bottom floor like a workout facility including pool, locker room, and shower area. Ample parking for lots of cars, fenced lot, elevator.
Asking Price: $625k
Great deal! Call me today to set up your showing or receive additional information regarding this property.
Labels: Church Site, East Memphis, Flex Space, Funeral Home, Mall of Memphis, Medical Space, Memphis
Ownership Has Its Priviledges!
The Football (Soccer) Club in which I am a fractional owner, Ebbsfleet United, won a glorious victory in the FA Trophy finale on Sunday. Below is the recount from the Ebbsfleet website:
McPhee sinks Gulls in Wembley dream
Sunday, 11 May 2008
FA CARLSBERG TROPHY FINAL - Wembley Stadium
EBBSFLEET UNITED 1-0 TORQUAY UNITED
By Ed Miller
If ever a story was asking to be written about the FA Trophy this season it is Chris McPhee's. The former Torquay striker who ended last season relegated from the Football League and roundly castigated by Gulls fans, and who only signed for the Fleet at the 11th hour in the close season after a late trial, took centre stage at Wembley Stadium to vanquish his former club and help the Fleet to an historic and unforgettable triumph.
Half of Gravesend decamped en masse to Wembley Stadium and were rewarded as their local club won a prize that no other side in their county has ever managed. Estimates that some 25,000 of the 40,186 fans inside Wembley Stadium – the Trophy Final's second biggest gate ever – were of the red persuasion were clear from the vast swathes of crimson occupying half of the lower tier and some of the upper section as well.
In glorious sunshine, a sharp-suited Liam Daish led his men from the tunnel into a cacophany of noise, the bright yellow glow of Torquay's following to his left, the massed bank of red to his right. Twice a winner at the old Wembley, Daish must have impressed upon his side how important it was to settle inside the opening 10 minutes... but even the sternest of disciplines is likely to waver on an occasion such as this and, while looking far from frightened in the opening period, the Fleet were unsettled as Martin Atkinson's whistle signalled the beginning of the 2008 Trophy Final and the culmination of two months of preparation and hype.
Daish's team held no great surprises, although Peter Hawkins' shuffle across defence to right back at the expense of Mark Ricketts was certainly unexpected. The tried and test midfield quartet of Barrett, Bostwick, Long and McPhee lined up in midfield while responsibility for goals rested heavily on the shoulders of Daish's young homegrown starlets John Akinde and Luke Moore.
But the men from Devon found their rhythm first, eager to make up for their disappointing play-off exit that condemns them to at least another year of non-league football. Only six minutes in and Kevin Nicholson made Lance Cronin work as he struck a low shot from outside the box. Torquay manager Buckle's tactics were certainly forward-thinking with Tim Sills and Lee Phillips supported by fleet-footed flank men Chris Zebroski and Roscoe D'Sane. Indeed it was D'Sane who was finding most joy down the right, despite the attentions of Sacha Opinel, and his crossing ability threatened to carve the Fleet defence open in that first quarter. Sills saw a header fly just wide on 9 minutes, while McCarthy got an early booking for upending Phillips, who two minutes later combined well with D'Sane, the latter shooting narrowly wide with Cronin beaten.
The Fleet registered their first real shot moments later, but Stacy Long's blast from 20 yards was off-target and heading into the Torquay fans behind the goal. It wasn't much in terms of a chance but it signalled the end of the Fleet's timidity as the men in red began to inch their way back into things. Long had another shot in the 25th minute that was more troubling for Torquay goalkeeper Martin Rice, while Michael Bostwick's low, hard shot was only gathered at the second attempt.
An unlikely goal hero in Sacha Opinel also materialised briefly as the Frenchman ran into space outside the Torquay box and struck a good shot but the effort lacked accuracy. As half-time approached, Fleet fans got what they thought was a breakthrough. McPhee sent Luke Moore through on goal and the striker – possibly Fleet's best player of the first half with strong running and good hold-up play – went down under Rice's challenge. The script was written as Atkinson cautioned Rice and pointed to the spot. The Ebbsfleet end erupted as McPhee placed the ball on the spot and faced his yellow tormentors. The kick was decent enough but not struck as cleanly as McPhee would usually manage and Rice guessed the right way, palming the ball high to his left. The yellow army exploded and McPhee held his hands to his head in disbelief.
But as the hoots of derision rained down from behind the goal, the former Torquay man rammed them back down 15,000 throats. On the stroke of half-time, Opinel pumped a decent long ball down the left to Akinde. Chris Todd came across to collect on the byline but in his haste to play his way out of danger, Akinde's strength robbed him of the ball. The Fleet striker muscled past him and struck a low, hard cross into the box which eluded Torquay's first two covering defenders and McPhee zipped in between the others to touch the ball past the stranded Rice. McPhee grabbed the ball from the net and held it aloft to the Gulls fans before unveiling a message to his ill sister on a T-shirt as the red half of the stadium feasted on the scoreline emblazoned across Wembley's giant scoreboards.
Buckle made a change in the second half, hauling off Phillips and replacing him with Danny Stevens, but the Fleet were in no mood to allow Torquay to regain the initiative. James Smith headed wide when well placed from a Long free-kick on 54 minutes and a similar set piece, on 63 minutes, was only parried by Rice. Akinde jumped in for the rebound ahead of Todd only to see it hit the post and bounce wide. Not to be dissuaded, Akinde again troubled the Gulls defence after racing on to Opinel's pass. He cut inside but seemed to dwell too long on the ball and was in two minds whether to pass or shoot. The result was a combination of the two and the effort failed to find either the onrushing Moore or the back of the net.
Torquay almost made the Fleet pay for those misses – Nicholson crossed for Sills who planted a header into Cronin's arms that directed anywhere else would have been the equaliser. Smith saw yellow for bundling substitute Elliot Benyon over as Torquay broke swiftly from midfield and on 73 minutes Long had to be alert to clear Sills' header from a corner off the line. Torquay's last real effort of siginifcance was their best on 77 minutes. The impressive Nicholson evaded Hawkins' attentions and sent a sweeping high cross into the Fleet box. Benyon was in acres of space and he rose to head home what seemed an inevitable equaliser only for the ball to fly wide to the massive relief of the Fleet following.
As the minutes visibly ticked away on the scoreboards, the Fleet's belief stepped up a gear. When Sills made way for Torquay's record-breaking appearance holder Kevin Hill on 88 minutes, it seemed that even the hoodoo of the former Aldershot striker's last-minute goals against the Fleet was broken. Three minutes of added time were signalled and while they seemed the longest three minutes of any Fleet fan's life, in truth Daish's men seized control and gave a perfect example of how to close out a game. As the whistles shrilled from the Fleet end and pierced the clear blue Wembley skies, referee Atkinson finally deigned to call a halt to proceedings. McCarthy and Smith embraced, Bostwick made a half-hearted attempt to hold McPhee aloft, Alan Kimble raced off his bench pumping his fists while Liam Daish took a step or two out of his technical area, one arm held up in a victory salute, and savoured his finest achievement... indeed one of the finest achievement of any Fleet or Kent manager.
TEAM: Cronin, Hawkins, Opinel, Smith, McCarthy, Barrett, Bostwick, Long (MacDonald 84), McPhee, Moore, Akinde. Subs not used: Mott, Purcell, Eribenne, Ricketts.
Att: 40,186
Labels: Chris McPhee, Ebbsfleet United Football Club, FA Trophy, Fleet, Liam Daish, myfootballclub.uk.com
Executive director of U.S. Botanic Garden to speak May 17 at Memphis Central Library
This piece of local interest from the Commercial Appeal website:
By Christine Arpe Gang
Friday, May 9, 2008
As executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, Holly Shimizu presides over a complex of indoor and outdoor gardens filled with gorgeous plants from all over America and the world.
Located near the U.S. Capitol and the New Museum of the American Indian, the botanic garden and its conservatory is a place for weary tourists to get a serene respite from sight-seeing.
Lush plants in Bartholdi Park, a part of the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, frame the recently-renovated Conservatory.
Plants from tropical jungles are showcased in the center of the Conservatory at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington.
But the plants that hold a special place in her heart are the herbs that make our lives more tasty, fragrant and beautiful.
Shimizu will speak on herbs for fragrance and beauty at a symposium from 9:30 a.m. to noon May 17 at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar. The event is sponsored by the Memphis Herb Society and the library. Admission is $20; $15 for herb society members.
Her first attraction to herbs was in her grandfather's Rhode Island vegetable garden, which always included parsley.
Then as a horticulture student at Penn State, she planted herbs in a community garden she tended.
"They all grew really well, but I didn't know what to do with them," Shimizu said in a telephone interview. "I was afraid to cut them."
She was intrigued and yet perplexed by the aromatic plants.
Now she tells beginners that herbs love to be pruned.
"Don't be shy about clipping them once they are established," she said. "Herbs should be harvested throughout the growing season, not just in the fall."
Most herbs love full sun and well-drained soil, especially those from Mediterranean climates.
"Some herbs -- like chervil, cilantro, angelica and lovage -- like more moisture and do not mind afternoon shade."
As Shimizu sought to broaden her horticultural knowledge by working at gardens in Europe, she also deepened her relationship with herbs.
After college she went to work at Wisley Garden in England, where she worked in the herb garden and studied how to use them by reading "Modern Herbal," by Maud Grieve. The book was published in 1931 and reprinted in 1971.
"I had a lot of fun experimenting with things like making candied angelica."
When she moved on to the Kalmthout Arboretum in Belgium, she found out how useful herbs could be in enhancing the flavor of food.
"Everyone who worked there shared in cooking and we used lots of herbs and vegetables from the garden," she said. "Every day was an adventure in using the food we grew."
That's where she met her future husband, Osamu Shimizu, a Japanese-born landscape designer who is also a great cook.
When she returned to the U.S. in the early 1980s, she found her ideal job in the newly established National Herb Garden at the National Arboretum in Washington. It was just when gardeners in America were rediscovering herbs.
Her mentors were members of the Herb Society of America, a 75-year-old gardening group that raised $200,000 to establish the National Herb Garden.
"They helped me in designing gardens with herbs and in labeling them with the correct names."
Her greatest challenge was not in getting herbs to grow. They did that very nicely on their own. But it was in arranging them in the various theme gardens in attractive ways.
"The fragrance and American gardens were easy, but I had more difficulty with the themes like beverages and industrial herbs."
She left the National Herb Garden in 2000 for the U.S. Botanic Garden, an institution that has had ups and downs over its 160-year history.
Before extensive renovations were completed in 1996 and 2000. the place was run down and falling apart, she said.
"It hasn't always been well cared for or funded," Shimizu said, "Now we've had a rebirth. We sharpened our mission to make the conservatory and gardens more relevant, informative, inspirational and exciting."
There is no special herb garden in the complex there, but herbs are prominent in displays that explain their relationship with humans in providing fragrance, medicine and ceremonial uses.
"We have a great collection of medicinal herbs and we use herbs as ornamentals everywhere," she said. "They are also in our pollination gardens."
"Herbs are wonderful for attracting pollinators such as bees and butterflies," she said. "Don't spray any toxic chemicals near the plants, so you can enjoy the pollinators."
Shimizu recommends against mulching herbs with shredded hardwood mulch, especially around the crown (center) of the plant in favor of finely ground pine bark, chicken grit or small gravel. Heavy mulches can promote fungal diseases.
Pinch off flowers from basil to encourage more leaf production, she said.
Roses are considered herbs because they are used in the perfume industry, as well as in cooking. The botanic garden is using organic methods to grow roses and their companions, many of them herbs.
Growing roses without resorting to synthetic fungicides and pesticides is as much a challenge in Washington as it is in Memphis. The two Zone 7 cities have extremely hot and humid summers that are hard on most roses left to fend for themselves.
"If a rose does not perform well, we rip them out," she said. "Selecting the right roses is very important. We're continually evaluating them."
Part of the garden's mission is to educate and preserve rare and endangered plants and to warn against the proliferation of exotic plants that can become invasive enough to choke out native species.
Bartholdi Park, a green space across the street from the botanic garden, serves as a demonstration area for people seeking inspiration for their own gardens.
The three-acre National Garden, completed in 2006, is home to the rose garden, butterfly garden and the First Ladies' Water Garden.
Significant plant collections at USBG include orchids, begonias, carnivorous plants, cacti and succulents, bromeliads, palms, cycads and ferns set in a dinosaur garden. Major shows focus on chrysanthemums, poinsettias, spring flowers and summer gardens. Classes and tours are also available. (Go to usbg.gov.)
"We have a fabulous staff and 140 volunteers that we can't do without," Shimizu said.
Freelance writer Christine Arpe Gang can be reached at chrisagang@hotmail.com or through her Web site midsouthgardens.com.
Top picks
It's difficult for an herb lover to narrow choices to a top 10 list, but Holly Shimizu was glad to comply.
Her top five herbs for fragrance are:
Heritage rose: It does well with minimal maintenance, is ever blooming and has a wonderful scent. Its a modern pink shrub rose from David Austin.
Lavenders of all kind, but especially those with deep blue flowers. "I can never have enough blue in my garden."
Lemon verbena and lemongrass.
Lime leaf, a staple in Thai cooking
For beauty she likes:
Curly leaf parsley, and uses it as an ornamental in containers and for edging.
Nasturtiums with their colorful and tasty yellow, orange and red flowers.
Moonflower vine.
Calamintha, bushy perennials with white, pink or blue flowers.
Walker's Low catmint.
"That's my list at this time," Shimizu said, knowing as plant lovers do, that her affections can change at any moment depending on what is blooming.
"We sharpened our mission to make the conservatory and gardens more relevant, informative, inspirational and exciting."
Holly Shimizu, executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington
Symposium details
What: Herb Symposium with Holly Shimizu.
Her topic: "Fragrant Herbs and The Beauty of Herbs." Event includes herbal refreshments, silent auction of herbal container gardens and book sales.
When: 9:30 a.m. to noon May 17.
Where: Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, 3030 Poplar.
Cost: $20; $15 for members of the Memphis Herb Society.
Tickets: Available at the central library or by calling Ann Waldon at 359-2849 or Pat Skaggs at 853-7731.
History
Establishing a national botanic garden in Washington was a dream of three horticulturally-savvy founding fathers: George Washington who presided over his estate and gardens at Mount Vernon; Thomas Jefferson whose gardens at Monticello were revered then and now; and James Madison, who corresponded with horticulturists in America and Europe to plan the landscaping and gardens at his home, Montpelier in Virginia.
The U.S. Botanic Garden became a reality in 1842, when the first greenhouse was constructed.
In 1933 the botanic garden was moved to its present site at 1st Street and Maryland in order to open the vista from the Capitol to the Washington Monument. The present Conservatory, which was avant-garde in its use of aluminum supports, was completed in 1933.
Labels: Benjamin Hooks, Botanic Garden, Holy Shimizu, U.S. Botanic Garden, United States, Washington DC
Great East Memphis Flex Space for Sale
5683 South Rex Road
6,500 SF
$750,000
Great flex space with amazing parking on approximately 0.9 acre tract. Signage visible from the Interstate (I-40). Come See it today!
Labels: East Memphis, Flex Space, For Sale, Interstate 40, Memphis, Rex Road, Signage
