“I had to talk to him about that,” Jackson said. “Del was out of line.”

What Gill had done was approach the debate table as the candidates, having finished the debate, were preparing to vacate it. Then, with the meeting room at Hooks Main Library still teeming with members of what had been a Standing Room Only audience, Gill began complaining in a loud voice about the inclusion in the debate of Sheriff Mark Luttrell, a Republican mayoral candidate, along with Democrats Jackson, Shelby County Commissioner Deidre Malone, and interim mayor Joe Ford.

“At first I wasn’t sure what he was saying, but when I found out what it was, I had to talk to him,” said Jackson, who pointed out the obvious. “This wasn’t a Democratic Party event. It was sponsored by the League of Women Voters. They invited us [the four participating candidates], and we could either say yes or no, accept or not accept. It was their meeting.”

As for reports that Gill, who worked in Jackson’s successful 2008 campaign for General Sessions Clerk and was subsequently hired to work in the clerk’s office, had been influential in Jackson’s surprise decision to seek the mayoralty this year, Jackson spiked that rumor hard. “The amount of Del’s influence was nil. He had nothing whatsoever to do with my decision to run. He had nothing to do with it. Trust me. He didn’t even find out about it until way later.”

• Terrico White

The Tigers pulled within three (50-47) after an 8-0 run eight minutes into the second half. (The run was aided by an overlooked shot-clock violation that resulted in a three-point play by Wesley Witherspoon.) But a combination of long-distance marksmanship from White (21 points) and Zach Graham (19) and a pair of alley-oop dunks within a minute of play (by White and Murphy Holloway) extended the Ole Miss lead to 64-51 with seven minutes to play. A pair of late treys by Williams and Doneal Mack closed the deficit to eight points, but Memphis was forced to foul over the last two minutes of the game. Six of the seven Tigers who played had at least three fouls. Witherspoon fouled out with 13 points. Angel Garcia led Memphis with 17.

Josh Pastner's first season at the helm ends with a record of 24-10. The only Tiger coaches to have a more successful debut season are Larry Finch (26 wins in 1986-87) and Eugene Lambert (25 in 1951-52). Seniors Willie Kemp and Doneal Mack finished their Tiger careers with 128 wins, second only to the class that preceded them.

The first meeting will be held on Sunday, March 21st at 2:30 p.m. and the second is scheduled for Sunday, April 4th at 2:30 p.m. Both will be held at the MGLCC (892 S. Cooper).

HE'S B-A-A-A-CK!

You know how bugs are irresistibly attracted to light? I admit: I'm the same way when it comes to Tiger Woods. So, when he turned on his light bulb this week by announcing that he was coming back to the golfing scene, and no less than at that grandiose event, “The Masters” (don't you just love it when one of the many fat old white men who run the event intones that name—-in his finest “Joe-ja” accent—-during the broadcast?), I couldn't help myself—-I had to go towards the light.

Obviously, I'm not alone: every media outlet, from the Wall Street Journal to the Hindustan Times, flogged the story on their online front page. Hey, who cares about stories that have foregone conclusions, like health care “reform” (hint: follow the money), when we can watch the soap opera Tiger Woods has become and wonder about its ending.

Tiger's story, thus far, has been taken from Greek mythology. Is Tiger Dionysus (a/k/a Bacchus, the inventor of orgies), or maybe Oedipus (did you see the way he hugged his mother after his “press conference”)? And, will he return, triumphal, to his throne atop the professional golf world, like Achilles (did I hear someone say “heel”) returning from the Trojan (something else, like discretion, Tiger has no use for) War, or will he, like Icarus, fall to earth having flown too high, a victim of his own hubris (itself, a concept of ancient Greek origin). His subjects await, with baited breath.

Will he stage a successful comeback in Augusta, or will he, like he did at Turnberry, implode yet again? Of course, we now know why he faltered so dramatically at the British Open last year: he had, shall we say, too many irons in the fire (and not enough on the links). It's hard (so to speak) to keep track of getting the ball in the hole on the golf course when you've got who knows how many skanks back at the hotel waiting for you to do something similar with them.

We're about to see whether Tiger's lengthy sojourn at a sex rehab clinic in Hattiesburg (I suspect a few weeks in Hattiesburg will make you swear off of more than just indiscriminate sex) had an effect on anything besides his obsession with cheap women. My bet is, unless Elin has figured out a way of adapting a chastity belt to Tiger's gonads, or convinced him that her clubhead speed has significantly increased since the first time she used one of his “rescue” clubs to rescue him from his delusion that she didn't know about his indiscretions, sooner or later Tiger will prowl again.

I'm intrigued both by the similarities, and the differences, between Tiger and another fallen golfing idol, John Daley. The major difference between them, of the many, is that Daley has both a sense of humor and of irony about himself, and about his rise and fall in the world of professional golf, whereas Tiger, by all outward appearances, has neither. Both of them are, in some ways, tragic characters, but Daley at least realizes it.

It has been said of Daley that he owes his popularity to being perceived as the “every man” of golf, someone whose foibles and excesses endear him to his followers, not because they suffer from the same, or even similar, impairments (though some do), but because they see in him the imperfection and vulnerability we all suffer from. This is something we could never say about Tiger.

Up until recently, the thought that the words “imperfect” or “vulnerable” could be uttered in the same story, much less sentence, about Tiger was unthinkable. And there, of course, is where Tiger's redemption lays (if we're speaking of his peccadilloes) or lies (if we're speaking of golf), in the eyes of his many acolytes. Jesus won't help him (sorry, Brit Hume), and neither will that master of deception he's reportedly hired to help him restore his reputation, Ari Fleischer (which is like someone hiring Jeffrey Dahmer to advise them on their diet). Ari, being who he is, and who he's worked for, obviously played a role in Tiger's decision to lie when he told the world, barely over three weeks ago, that he “just didn't know when that day [returning to golf] would be.”

Of course he knew he was going to play in The Masters when he said that. Can anyone seriously doubt that? Gee, thanks, Ari, for at least being consistent.

So, while playing golf like he used to may go part of the way to restoring his image (and I'm still not discounting the prospect of disquieting—-to Tiger—-albeit soto voce, snickers and catcalls from the Masters galleries), until he makes us believe that he understands he's both imperfect and vulnerable, and stops trying to BS us, like he did with that snickering-up-his-sleeve, born-again, mea-sorta-culpa he tried to run down on us a few weeks ago, he will continue to be seen as damaged goods in the eyes of anyone, including fans and sponsors, who recognizes the difference between contrition and hubris.

Just as there's easy-access, I've aged-out of any clothing that even approaches the flirty hemisphere.

Aw, well. There's always the cute kitchenwares, such as this set of measuring spoons. This set was included in every foodie blog's Christmas gift guide.

"One of the things I'll be watching this year is if there is a benevolent higher power in the universe or if it's all just chemical chaos. That all-time-great question will be answered with the outcome of the tournament. If Kentucky wins it all, there is no god. (Or, perhaps god is Worldwide Wes). If Kentucky doesn't win, it's evidence that there is a being who is master of all our fates, John Calipari included. Depending upon the fashion in which Kentucky loses, I believe we can even settle upon which variation of god is applicable. Eliminated so far: the god from Exodus (very direct, with plagues and such; would've eliminated Kentucky in the first round). Still in play: the god from Genesis (long-term planner), the New Testament (martyrs — maybe Omar Samhan goes after DeMarcus Cousins to get him ejected), Buddha (karmic finale vs. Kansas), Kali (lots of blocked shots), and many others."

Being the KISS fan I am, I can only hope the God of Thunder plays a role in Kentucky's march to ruin. We must find faith where we can.

• Ray McKinnon

That Evening Sun was an opening night film at last fall's Indie Memphis Film Festival and went on to win the festival's award for best narrative film, as well as similar awards at several other festivals. Later, That Evening Sun was named the year's best Southern-themed film by the Southeastern Film Critics Association. (Full disclosure: I had That Evening Sun second on my ballot for that award, after Goodbye Solo.) Starting today, That Evening Sun returns to town for a full theatrical run at Malco's Ridgeway Four, and McKinnon — also a producer on the film — will be on hand for tonight's 7:10 p.m. screening, conducting a Q&A after the screening. The event with McKinnon is being hosted by Indie Memphis. You can read more about That Evening Sun from our Indie Memphis fest coverage here and here.

There were cute spring dresses ...

and these things ...

and cute, cute aprons. (So cute, in fact, that I saw one of the workers walking around and thought, That is the cutest dress. And then I realized it was a half-apron over her dress!)

And for those of you who asked me about this already, here's your answer: Yes, the store may have just opened, but they already have a sale room.

They might as well rename it Denim Day.

Sophorn says she wears jeans almost every Friday, but still likes to wear heels with them. This particular pair is from Dillards.

In addition to her jeans — from Forever 21, one of the only stores that carry a size 0 — she paired a brown cowl neck shirt from Coco & Lily, and a striped wrap sweater from Old Navy.

"The clutch is a Gecko Traders purse made in my home country of Cambodia from old fish bags," she says. "I bought it locally from Delphinium, but I know it still helps those women in Cambodia support their families."

Socially responsible and stylish to boot.

While getting her architecture degree at Auburn, she did a design for Afghan refugees as part as of interior architecture thesis: "I included, with the interior architecture and furniture design, a redesign of the burka which I sewed and modeled. It was made more functional but still seemed avant-garde. I wish I remembered where I put those photo files," she says.

Me, too.

Tom Guleff and Ron Williams say they fell in love on Facebook.

That's a joke, but Guleff, a Republican who lives in Midtown, and Williams, a Democrat who lives in unincorporated Shelby County, became friends through the social media site.

That friendship became the basis of their anti-consolidation group, Save Shelby County.

"We could not have done this 15 years ago," Guleff says. "There's no way he and I could have linked up."

The group formed as a "counter weight" to Rebuild Government.

"It goes back to the listening tours," Williams says. "I could never get a straight answer about why are you doing this? How is it going to save me money? What are the advantages?"

• The Luau in 1972

We went back and forth on it, fistfights broke out, beer bottles were thrown, and we finally agreed that oh, what the heck, it MIGHT be the Dobb's House Luau, the restaurant on Poplar across from East High School, though I had my doubts, especially since no one could recall actually seeing a decent photo of the Luau interior. Mainly they just remember the giant head outside by the front door.

Well, I'm not trying to start any trouble here, people, but tonight I was scrutinizing my old copies of KEY magazine with a magnifying glass — doesn't everybody do that? — and found a teeny-tiny photo showing the interior of the Luau, and if you compare the two images you'll see that it is NOT the place I had shown you before.

The image is rather grainy, since the original photo was about the size of a postage stamp, but you should be able to see that the tables, chairs, floor design, and other details don't match. Both places seem to have an arched ceiling, but even the slope of that is different.

Tally, Stein, and Ronnie, by the way, were a trio who performed at the Luau in 1972, but I don't have the time or energy to talk (or type) about that right now.

• Del Gill

Almost as soon as the meeting at the Hooks Main Library broke up, even as candidates were leaving their seats and members of the Standing-Room-Only crowd began discussing the event in separate conversations, Gill marched up to the panelists’ table and began loudly denouncing a format which had included a Republican candidate, Sheriff Mark Luttrell, along with the three participating Democrats — interim mayor Joe Ford, General Sessions Court clerk Otis Jackson, and Shelby County Commissioner Deidre Malone.

Gill has taken the lead in recent years on the county’s Democratic executive committee in demanding strict interpretation of exclusivist aspects of party by-laws — most recently in denying space on the May 4 Democratic Party ballot to Mike McCusker and Derek Bennett, prospective candidates for Criminal Court Clerk and Trustee, respectively.

But Gill did not explain how -- or why -- the League of Women Voters should be required to enforce some rigid political dividing line in pursuing the League’s well-known non-partisan mission of expanding public awareness.

As Gill held forth, at his elbow, at least briefly, was local Democratic Party chairman Van Turner. It was hard to tell whether Turner was there to restrain Gill or to indicate solidarity with him or whether Gill had merely approached Turner on his own.

But Turner is almost certainly going to be sounded out in days to come about Gill’s performance and/or his philosophical position. So might candidate Jackson, who employs Gill. (Reportedly Gill was a major force behind the General Sessions clerk’s surprise last-minute entry into the mayor’s race.)

* If future forums for the mayoral candidates draw as well as the first one, larger venues are going to be needed to accommodate audiences. Monday night’s affair completely filled up one of the library’s major meeting rooms, which was separated by an accordion curtain from another meeting in the next room.

That room was hosting an oratorical contest involving area youth, and from time to time the sounds of it bled significantly into the room where the mayoral forum was going on. At times this made things difficult to hear, and LWV officers cautioned the candidates to speak directly into their microphones.

Once in a while applause from the oratorical contest coincided with reaction to a mayoral candidate’s statement, sometimes to ironic effect.

* One of the topics brought up in the mayoral debate was one that was new to such occasions, though it concerned a problem that has been long ongoing in the Memphis area.

This was “wage theft,” a term describing the practice of fly-by-night employers — often construction companies — of hiring laborers to complete a project and then finding ways of avoiding their promise to pay, either by filing to show up on appointed payroll dates or by handing out checks that turn out to be worthless.

(More general applications of the term “wage theft” have been employed for a variety of litigations of late.)

Needless to say, all the candidates expressed concern about the issue and promised to do what they could to suppress instances of wage theft.

In what is surely an early frontrunner for the most bizarre local music story of 2010, local comedy rapper Muck Sticky has announced a partnership and tour with the animatronic former house band from the old Showbiz Pizza (a precursor to Chuck E. Cheese's) chain, the Rock-afire Explosion.

“Considered to be the greatest animatronic rock band of all time” (according to the press release posted on Muck Sticky's blog), the Rock-afire Explosion will join Muck Sticky's colorful crew for college, theater and festival dates nationwide this summer and fall on a joint venture called “the L.I.F.E. (Love Is Free Everyday) Tour.” The show will consist of songs from both Muck Sticky and the Explosion's catalog of original songs, along with comedy skits, interactive games, and motivational speaking.

There is no word yet if and when the show will hit Memphis.

www.mucksticky.com

Those who have missed the sound of Jordan's singing during his recovery are in for a treat. He will be joined by Carla McDonald, Lili Thomas, and David Foster in a concert benefiting Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndrome.

Call 901-270-5372 or email SADSbenefit@gmaill.com to make your reservation.

Event: Benefit concert for SADS Foundation (Sudden Arythmia Death Dyndrome)
Start Time: Monday, March 29 at 7:30pm
End Time: Monday, March 29 at 8:30pm
Where: Playhouse On The Square

You can watch the video here.

Memphian Matthew Smart is hosting an event he's billing as the "First Semi-Annual O-So-Gay Yard Sale" on Saturday, March 20th at 3789 Healey Road.

The LGBT community and gay-friendly straight people are invited to sell their stuff at the yard sale. Anyone interested in selling should contact Smart at 552-0853.

Chilton, of course, had worked with Dickinson, most notably on the final Big Star album, Third/Sister Lovers, and on his notorious solo album Like Flies on Sherbert, and the two were always linked, with Dickinson also presiding over the recording of the Replacements' tribute song "Alex Chilton" in 1987.

Chilton's death happens on the eve of what was meant to be a busy period for the modern incarnation of Big Star, a group that included Chilton and original drummer Jody Stephens alongside new hands Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow. With the Big Star legacy back in the news thanks to a high-profile reissue campaign last year, the band was set to perform this Saturday night at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, a performance preceded by a panel on the band. That panel was to include Stephens and original bass player Andy Hummel, but not, notably, a publicity-shy Chilton. The band was also slated to make a rare hometown appearance with a May concert at the Levitt Shell. As of now, it remains to be seen whether those concert appearances will be canceled or reconfigured, but the early word out of Austin was that the panel was likely to still be held, but now as a tribute to Chilton.

• JB
• Bill Gibbons addressing Shelby County YR meeting

Though rumblings have been heard from time to time among Memphis-area Republicans that favorite son Bill Gibbons might be wise to follow local Democrat Jim Kyle’s lead and depart the gubernatorial race, Gibbons himself, the Shelby County D.A., claims not to have heard them — cash-poor campaign or no cash-poor campaign.

And if someone did approach him with the idea? “It would be a short conversation,” Gibbons averred Tuesday night just after making a forceful, detailed case for himself as governor to a group of Shelby County Young Republicans at Central Barbecue on Summer Avenue.

In his talk to the YR group, Gibbons was frank about what it would take for him to overcome the comparatively well-funded efforts of GOP rivals Bill Haslam, Ron Ramsey, and Zach Wamp. “I need to win my home county by a landslide. We’ve really got to make this a grass roots effort,” he said.

And he cited an historical precedent in his favor — that of Winfield Dunn, the unheralded Memphis dentist who in 1970, at a time when Gibbons was a young activist serving as president of the College Republicans, came from obscurity to win the Republican nomination and the governorship itself.

“There was a grass roots movement in Shelby County. He was unknown in the rest of state and was outspent by the other candidates.” But he won. “And we hope to do the same thing this year. That’s my strategy.”

From that point on, Gibbons delivered a succinct version of his platform, focusing on three areas — jobs, crime, and education.

His recipe for providing “good-paying jobs” and improving the state’s employment picture, both qualitatively and quantitatively, was to upgrade the state’s infrastructure, its “roads, bridges, and industrial megasites,” and providing tax incentives to industry, particularly in the “growth industries of the future: solar energy, the biomedical industry, and auto manufacturing.” Entertainment and tourism were two other areas for development, the candidate said.

Tennessee’s crime rate, had become the third highest in the nation, Gibbons said. And it wasn’t just a Memphis problem. It extended everywhere. “It’s a Nashville problem, and one from Athens, Chattanooga, Lexington, Dyersburg, and Jackson.” He proposed tougher sentencing laws like those imposed by New York State, which, he said, had significantly lowered that state’s crime state.

“I do not buy the notion that tougher sentences mean we have to have more prisons. They serve as a deterrent. New York’s prison population has actually gone down.” But if new confinement facilities turned out to be needed, “then so be it.” The state constitution’s first clause promised to “provide for the peace and safety of the people.”

In discussing schools, Gibbons revived an old barb he had thrown at Knoxville mayor Haslam a year ago. Without naming Haslam this time, Gibbons chided “another candidate” who purportedly said that Tennessee doesn’t have good schools “because Tennesseans don’t care.”

Contending that Tennesseans did care and did have the will to improve education, Gibbons proposed solutions to “change the status quo” by rewarding good teachers and getting rid of bad ones. (In remarks to reporters afterward, he would praise recent efforts by Governor Phil Bredesen in that regard.) He also suggested increasing the number of charter schools (“we need to get rid of the 90-school cap”), giving the University of Memphis its own governing board and ending what he said was state government’s neglect of the University of Tennessee Center for Health Sciences at Memphis.

On that last score, he would add that the state has been shortsighted in its attitude toward the financially beleaguered Med. “UTCHS can’t function without the Med,” he said. “It’s a training hospital, and it’s the only trauma center within a 200-mile radius.” And the Med had its historical role as a “safety net hospital.” Like other local Republicans, Gibbons proposed revising the state’s current funding formula and distributing federal funds generated by the Med’s uncompensated care services wholly back to the Med.

That was how it was before the creation of TennCare in the 1990s, Gibbons noted, but since then such funds had been sent, not back to the home institution, but to state government, which distributed them throughout the TennCare network.

In his conversation with reporters after his speech proper, Gibbons dilated on his prospects, noting that he had done well in selected polls, including one carried out on behalf of Zach Wamp, and pointing out that his bailiwick of Shelby County would provide fully 20 percent of the GOP primary vote. Middle Tennessee, he said, was “wide open,” and “I hope what gives me an advantage is my message.”