Mind over Memphis: Enter the Wellness

I had the good misfortune of running into illthcare professional Dr. Harold Toboggans at the Old Forest Jamboree. As tireless promoter for his patented brand of street quackery, he let all know about his latest work, Enter the Wellness.

In Place Pillowfights and Putridity

Last weekend's Pillow Fight in Overton Park's Greensward:

Next month's Memphis Zombie Walk on Beale Street.


They're placemaking showmanship meets participatory culture.

Memphis and its places could use more of their fun, goofy, golden touch.

Rolling and Staggering Towards a New Memphis

We had the Skatepark Demo at the Fairgrounds on Thursday.

No one in my family is a skater -- yet -- but I still wanted to see it. When I saw all the cars outside the Youth Building, I assumed something else was going on. When I saw the people riding bikes and carrying skateboards, I knew something really exciting was going on. The turnout was incredible!

Here's a very short video of my experience before the batteries in my digital camera ran out.



Luckily amiev was also there, capturing the energy, enthusiasm and capacity of the turnout.

And Aaron, the mastermind of the event and of Skatelife Memphis, has done a post-vitam of the event. Note to activists: use Myspace.

The next day, the Memphis Zombies walked again. And there was no sophomore slump. The Zombie horde was at least equal to last year's, and their audience was significantly larger, imho.

Here's some recaps.

Here's Paul Ryburn's video chronicle of the passing Zombie throng.



Here's a couple of apprentice zombies.


And I heard a great piece of heckling from a Beale Street bouncer:

Look! It's a zombie Gerry Cooney!

Memphis Events in April

Here are some Memphis events you might enjoy this month:

Thursday, April 3: Sierra Club First Thursday Meetup at Otherlands. The Sierra Club also keeps a calendar and RSS feed of environmental events and alerts.

Thursday, April 3: Cooper-Young First Thursday Night Out. This is not just taking place at the corner of Cooper and Young. Many of the participating businesses are on Central. I hope this will become a huge monthly event.

Since they happen on the same night in the same neighborhood, you can go to the Sierra Club meetup first, then walk over to the Cooper-Young events (a block and a half away). Foot-powered connections are always the best.

Friday, April 4th - Sunday, April 6th: Dream Reborn Conference by Green For All organization. The conference is actually sold out, but there may still be a chance to volunteer.

Saturday, April 5: Old Forest Hike, led by the very active activists of Citizens to Protect Overton Park.

Friday, April 11th: a screening of Third Ward TX, a film about community building and art building in Houston. Details.

Saturday, April 12th: April Rock n' Romp.

Saturday April 19th: Old Forest Hike, led by the activists of Citizens to Protect Overton Park.

Saturday, April 19th: Wolf River Harbor Earth Day Cleanup, on the Memphis Riverfront, led by the Sierra Club.

Friday, April 25th: The Second Memphis Zombie Walk which starts on Beale Street and limps toward South Main's Last Friday Trolley Night.

Alert: Memphis Zombie Massacre 2008

They're coming...so make yer peace.


Last year's walk was alot of fun.

Zombies heading down Beale Street.

Natural allies: Shriners and Zombies.

It was a Zombie Family Friendly Massacre.

A visual bonus: Zombie Dog. Not part of last year's carnage, but it does set a high standard for Zombie Dog.

Support Your Local Zombie

Upcoming events:

1. If you haven't heard about the Memphis Zombie March, they may have already eaten your anchorman. If you are that last lonely fast-moving soul on Earth, here's some philosophical background on why the not-quite-dead-not-quite-alive feel it necessary to wander aimfully through the streets of downtown Memphis in search of brains, beers and condos.
   


2. On Friday and Saturday night, May 26-27
   

   What: CITYCitycity, a multi-media celebration of Memphis art & music
   
   When: Friday, May 25 thru Sunday, May 27
   
   Opening festivities Fri & Sat nights from 7 - 11 pm
   
   Where: Monty Shane Gallery in the heart of Cooper-Young
   
   Co-sponsored by Denise Parkinson, city council candidate for Dist. 5 and the Southern Girls Rock & Roll Camp (www.sgrrc.org)
   
   For more info contact: 276-0346



3. Finally, as promised, here are the details on the next (last?) two Fairgrounds redevelopment meetings:
   

   Thursday, May 31, 2007
   Orange Mound Senior Services Center
   2590 Park Avenue
   Memphis, TN 38114
   6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
   
   Thursday, June 14, 2007
   First Congregational Church
   1000 S. Cooper Street
   Memphis, TN 38104
   6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.