Blue Steel on a Meme

We're not responsible for it, but it's something we wish we'd thought of. Facebook has exploded in the past few days with Stephen A. Burroughs Memes, honoring our favorite personal injury lawyer.

We here at the Wigshop have long be fans of the East Tn. Lawyer, as evidenced by this post, this post, this post and this post. We could spend all day uploading our favorite contributed memes celebrating the Blue Steeled Billboard King, but instead we'll let you go take a look yourself. We are pretty partial to this one, though ...


That's right, Knoxville. You now know the other half of the secret.

We're also glad to see he has a sense of humor about it all (he's been lurking on the wall of the FB page).

Knoxville Urban Wilderness Corridor

One of the things I love most about Knoxville is its commitment to outdoor recreation. The city has been mostly on the front edge of a push to bring more greenway space to urban areas. Already you can access 16 miles of uninterrupted greenway from downtown to Bearden, and many other neighborhoods have their own, shorter greenways.

Thanks to the work of Legacy Parks, South Knoxville soon should have it's own extended greenway-like system that could end up being the crown jewel of Knoxville's outdoor green spaces. Through land acquisitions and cooperation with land owners, Legacy Park is working to create the Knoxville Urban Wilderness Corridor -- 15 miles of uninterrupted paths that link some of South Knoxville's existing treasures, like Ijams, the quarries and the riverfront bluffs. Much of the trail system already exists but needs to be improved.



I also love that Legacy Parks Foundation Director Carol Evans tells the Knoxville News Sentinel that the aim is to not only preserve green space but encourage residential and business improvements on the south side of the river. Kind of an 'if you build it, they will come' approach.

Legacy Parks could use some help with funding after Knox County cut it out of its 2010 budget. They're looking to make up a $50,000 loss in revenue at an Oct. 14 luncheon. The price of the tickets are a little rich for my blood, but Legacy Parks does take donations. More deets on their website.

(H/T: Knoxville News Sentinel)

up on the rooftop bar

Ok, I have a confession to make. I, a little Knoxvillian, have never been a huge fan of Preservation Pub (my fellow Wigshoppers are going to disown me now). But before you scoff at me and stalk off to judge me as you drink your PBR, hear me out. As a nonsmoker, I struggled to tolerate the smoky inside of Pres Pub for long stretches at a time, and unless I was there to see a particular band, the acoustics usually made it too loud for me to talk with my partners in crime if there was a band playing.

But. BUT ... Have you heard about Pres Pub's expansion? As in the new second floor and rooftop lounge?

Having been gone from Knoxville for nearly a month, this was all news to me when my friends suggested a trip to Pres Pub's smoke-free second floor on Friday. "Get out of town!" I said. "Pres Pub has a second floor? Is that why the 'Man who lives here is loony' sign disappeared?' (The answer is yes, and the sign now is posted proudly on a second-floor wall. The second floor has a gorgeous bar and some awesome overstuffed bean-bag chairs in addition to the usual table seating.

Except, when we made our way to the second floor on Friday, we noticed a sign declaring the Moonshine Rooftop Lounge open. So despite the 90+ degree temperatures, we climbed one more staircase to find ourselves on a rooftop oasis in the middle of downtown Knoxville.


Now I've long said Knoxville needed some more public rooftop spots, and this one is up to the challenge. There's a small cash-only bar that serves a few canned beers and basic mixed drinks in plastic cups. There are tables all the way to the railing along the front edge, where you can peer down to the peons below on Market Square (please don't pee on them, though). There is mood lighting. There are pretty flowers. There is a decorative fountain. And most importantly on a steamy summer night, there's a breeze.

I didn't get a shot of the view because all the spots at the edge were occupied, so this is the best I can offer you. You'll have to go and check out the view yourself.

He's got his eye on you

I don't know if Blue Steel is making an appearance or if he's just encouraging you to attend Sassy Ann's tonight.

Knox Kickball

When I'd hear about another friend of mine in D.C. or Nashville or NYC or various other cities that are larger that Knoxville joining a kickball league I'd secretly be jealous, thinking Knoxville wasn't big enough to have a kickball league. What a silly thought to have -- of course Knoxville is big enough! It just needed someone to step up to the plate (pun intended) and organize a league.

Amy Hubbard is in the process of doing just that, can I get a heck, yeah! Amy, she of Girl House Productions, has nailed down the Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum as the site and our friends at Marble City Brewing Company as the sponsor for the inaugural season of Knox Kickball.

Here's the plan:
Games will be on Sundays from May 15 through July 24, at 5-9 p.m. (with the exception of May 22 which will be 1-5 p.m.). Only a couple of teams will play each Sunday, so if you're worried about it being an extensive time commitment, don't. She's hoping for between six to eight teams of 10 to 12 players each for now. You can either organize as a team or sign up as an individual and be assigned to a team. This summer seasons is kind of a trial run, so it's mainly just a time to show up and play some kickball, but Amy hopes to have a tournament-based season in the fall if all goes well.

Want to learn more or just meet Amy and tell her how awesome she is for organizing this? Meet her at the Public House on Thursday (as in tomorrow) at 7:30 p.m. And here's a sign-up form!

Cultivating my cookie skills at Magpies

A favorite childhood holiday tradition of mine was making and decorating Christmas sugar cookies with my mom. I loved combing through our collection of cookie cutters and colored sprinkles. Sadly I've never made any Christmas sugar cookies since leaving home 10 years ago. So when I saw that Magpies, my absolute most favorite bakery of all time, was offering cookie-decorating classes, I sprung for it to both relive the tradition AND take it to the next level -- the Magpies level.

Well, maybe not quite to the Magpies level, but our lovely hostess Maren did everything she could to coach u. First she explained how royal icing is made and how the consistency affects your icing skills. Then we practiced on designs we drew on parchment paper. Finally we took some time to ice and decorate the dozen cookies we were given. And we did it all while munching on snacks, sipping sodas and listening to Christmas music.

The lovely Maren shows us how it's done

Practicing on parchment paper

There's ONE MORE class on Tuesday, and if you hurry you may be able to get a spot. This is fun for all ages too -- my class' youngest student was a seven-year-old boy there with his mother and his grandmother. YOU HAVE TO CALL AND MAKE A RESERVATION, or else they won't have enough supplies for you. Call Ryan at Magpies at 673-0471 to make your reservation. The class costs $25 for one person or $40 for an adult/kid duo.

Finished product: some got smushed in transit, some I snagged from Maren's stash, others are already in my belly

P.S. Hey Peggy, I'm totally ready for my cookie-decorating gig!

Spreading downtown too thin?

I know this is like three weeks after the fact, but who remembers this month's First Friday (hint -- there was a bit of discussion about it here on this very blog after it happened). There were A LOT of people out because there was A LOT of stuff going on.

I will never, ever, ever complain about people coming to downtown Knoxville. I'm glad to see downtown so bustling. But ... there was still TOO MUCH going on. Besides First Friday, Pretty in Pink was being shown as part of Movies on Market Square, the 100 Block of Gay Street was having a reopening celebration (technically part of FF, but I think there were people who came out specifically for that) and the Wine on the Water fundraiser for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was happening, well, on the water down at Volunteer Landing. And those are just the things I was aware of ... I know there were a few other happenings planned at clubs in the Old City and elsewhere.

I made it out to eat and hit one store on Market Square that night and didn't get to do anything else because I couldn't get anywhere else for the crowds.

Like I said, even though I'm not terribly comfortable in crowds, I won't complain about people coming downtown. I will whine a bit about not getting to take part in all these wonderful things because they were going on simultaneously and as good as I am at multitasking I've yet to figure out how to be in four places at once.

I get that it's a beautiful time of the year and everyone wants to take advantage of the gorgeous weather. I get that UT football is its own force of nature, preventing anything else from happening in Knoxville seven Saturdays a year. Can we try to plan a little bit better though? Can we skip Movies on Market Square on First Fridays of the month? Can we try to hold some events on Sunday afternoons? Or even Thursday nights and agree to all be useless on Fridays at work :) Let's not only entice people to come downtown, but give them a chance to actually enjoy downtown and not just the function they're coming to take part in.

What do you think ... is this a pie in the sky request?

Goodbye to Abode

So by now you may have all heard that Abode on Market Square likely will close sometime in November after four years of operation ... unless a deal is worked out to sell it. For now, owners Allison and Matt Sprouse are working to sell off the remaining inventory. Allison says she's had a few people express interest in buying the business, but she's not going to get her hopes up just yet.

The Sprouses have two, well three successful businesses outside of Abode. Matt has a career in television production and Allison runs an event planning service called The Modern Hostess (I swear I'm not connected to her, but I do LOOOOVE the name :) Their third business is parenting two adorable girls, and they've decided they were spread a little too thin want to focus more on that job and their other businesses.

Still, I'm going to miss Abode in its current incarnation. I'm guilty of visiting the store once a week just to touch all the gorgeous hardwood tables and artsy knick-knacks. I splurged on my biggest grown-up furniture purchase there a few months ago -- a huge square sheesham wood table -- and it's the best furniture purchase I've ever made.

Right now most of Abode's inventory is on sale for 15%-30% off. If a furniture purchase isn't in your future, there were still a lot of adorable homewares available when I was in on Friday. At least stop by soon to give Allison and Matt your love and thank them for being such great business owners!

Octoberpalooza

It's Friday and holy moly is there a lot going on this weekend. I'm having a hard time prioritizing my to-do list, that's for sure.

It's also Oct. 1, so you know what that means -- First Friday!! How beautiful is the weather? And the 100 block of Gay is open. Seriously, there is no reason not to be out tonight. Here are a few things you might want to catch:

• Ashley Maynor's award winning documentary "For Memories' Sake" is being screened at 6p and 7:30p at the East Tennessee History Center. The film is a half-hour long and explores Maynor's grandmother's passion for photography and home videos and a bit on how to preserve and interpret memories captured on film. You can bring your own photos or film for advice from Maynor on how to preserve.
• Also, Abode is possibly closing (more on that later). Catch one of their last First Fridays, where the shop will feature paintings by local artist Lauren Karnitz. You can also get 10% off purchases.
• When you head to Magpies to try out their Pumpkin Spice super deluxe flavor (psych! I'm going to eat them all before you get there!) check out Newisher Works by our friend Dale Mackey in the small hall between Magpies and the Glowing Body.
• And if that isn't enough, swoon over Duckie and indulge in your love of '80s by catching "Pretty in Pink" as part of Movies on Market Square tonight. Starts around 8pmish.

So, that takes us to Saturday, and there's no rest for the weary on Saturday either.

• Kick off Saturday by participating in the the regional bicycle program's 10th annual neighborhood bike ride. The ride starts at 10 a.m. at Central St. and Baxter Ave. in Happy Holler, and you can park at the Knox Central building at 1000 N. Central. There will be snacks from Three-Rivers Market at the beginning and discounts at Magpies, Time Warp and the Freezo after. The ride is for people of all skill levels and ages and will take you through Old North, Parkridge, Old City and Mechanicsville. Lasts about an hour, and BRING YOUR HELMET (can't ride without it).
• After that's done, it's Happy Hollerpalooza time! Things will be going on in the 'hood all day, but N. Central will be closed down from 2p to 8p for this sort of block-party festival. All the Happy Holler businesses will be open during this time as well.

You think you've got Sunday off? Think again. Sunday brings the annual Hank Day, honoring Hank Williams, who possibly died here or at least on his way to Knoxville. WDVX's Red Hickey will host the festival, which runs from 1p to 7 p at the Candoro Marble Building at 4450 Candora Ave. There will be live music, cooking and I hear B will be hawking some salvage wares.

Sky, ho!

A new public art installation or a new way to forge Third Creek?

Shot along the Neyland/Third Creek Greenway, whose detour through the UT Ag Campus is supposed to last through the spring on account of KUB construction.

Fellini undergoing 'the change'

So, apparently the Fellini Kroger is going to be going through a bit of a change in the next year. (HT to Lady Entropy for bringing this to our attention).

The North Knoxville recycling center and Goodwill dropoff trailer in Fellini's parking lot are set to close Sunday in order to clear room for a Kroger gas station. The city is looking for a place to relocate the center, but in the mean time, the closest recycling dropoffs are at the old Fountain City Kroger site and on State Street downtown. (Allow me to once again plug the subscription curbside service.) Not sure what's going to happen to the Goodwill drop, but I'm guessing you can just take your stuff to the store located in the same shopping center for now.

And according to the Kroger managers, Fellini is going to get an interior remodel sometime in 2011.

So this brings up some mixed feelings for me on both accounts. On one hand, yay for cheaper gas. My fiance and I do all our grocery shopping at Kroger, so we really rack up the gas points, and it would be nice to actually get to use them.

But on the other hand, B and I used that recycling dropoff regularly when we lived in Fourth and Gill. In fact, lots of people use it regularly because there was ALWAYS someone else there dumping their recycling. I'd venture to guess that's one of the more popular dropoff sites.

Someone else also questioned whether the site itself was appropriate for a gas station and the large gas tanks that will come with it being practically on top of First Creek. Gas tanks leak. Leaking means a big pollution hazard for a creek that's already got its share of troubles.

And then the remodel: I know some people might say updating Fellini will cause it to lose some of its charm. I'm not one of those people. I say hooray for Kroger investing in what has felt like a seriously overlooked store. The crazy characters that shop there will still shop there.

Anyone got more dirt on the changes?

Knoxville recycles

Recycling is something I took for granted growing up in Memphis. Single-stream curbside recycling was introduced fairly early in my life, so separating trash and recyclables became second nature for me.

The city of Knoxville has been a little bit slower to the game, but it's getting there. Recycling is an expensive business, and it takes a lot of recyclables for a government-sponsored program to break even on the costs. Drop-off centers, like the ones you may have seen at your local grocery store, tend to be the most affordable options. But it's hard to get motivated to use the drop-offs, even for a recycling freak like myself, when you have to separate and haul it yourself.

Just last week I noticed something new: a recycling bin chained to a light post at the corner of Market and Clinch.

photo by ck.

As it turns out, the city is launching a pilot recycling program downtown. There are 20 bins just like this one all over downtown where you can toss your aluminum cans, bottles, glass containers, plastic cups, mixed paper and other standard recyclables. For a list of locations, check out this press release.

It's going to last for another month and a half, or so, as the city gathers data on how much the bins are being used, if they're being used properly, etc. Basically they want to see if it's worth it to turn this into a full-time thing. If the city does make downtown recycling a permanent thing, the powers that be promise they'll get us some prettier bins.

Please, please, please help this pilot program succeed, friends. We need all the recycling help we can get.

And don't forget, many city residents can participate in the pilot curbside program run by Waste Connections. For a couple bucks a month you get a big recycling bin like the one in the photo above, and the truck will come empty it every other week. For more information on that, check out Waste Connection's recycle website.

The Waste Connections program is also a pilot program, and a successful one at that. The city is working on developing a FREE citywide, single-stream curbside program, though we won't see the first phase of that 'til next year.

First Friday: August

It's a Friday of the First variety. Maybe, just maybe, we'll get some respite from this awful heat tonight for the First Friday goings on downtown. If you're limiting your FF activity because of the heat, though, might I suggest these four things tonight?

1. The new Knoxville Transit Center is complete, and it's really turned out to be a beautiful building. It's the first LEED-certified (ie green) public building built by the city of Knoxville, and the architect will be on hand tonight to offer tours and discuss the unique features of the building. There's also an art exhibition going on there with works by a variety of artists. The center is on the Church Street bridge that crosses over James White Parkway (ie between downtown and Hall of Fame Dr.) and will be First Fridaying from 5 to 8 p.m.

2. Our very own B is showing again at La Costa this month! I haven't had a chance to see any of her work, but word on the street is it's a bit different than her usual work, so even if you've seen her before at La Costa or Tomato Head, you should make a plan to see her stuff. La Costa's drink specials run from 4 to 7 p.m., and the restaurant is open until 11 p.m.

artwork by b.

3. The Arts & Cultural Alliance is having an art consignment sale in the balcony at the Emporium. Artists and members of the alliance will offer new or gently used artwork, antiques, bric-a-brac, crafts and jewelry for sale. A third of the sales benefit the alliance. Sale will be going on from 5 to 9 p.m. and again on Sunday from 11 to 3 p.m.

4. Ferd Moyse, the fiddler for the Hackensaw Boys and now Knoxville resident, is hosting his own little party at the Visitors' Center/Morelock Music (where he's now working!). Moyse will be jamming with banjoist and songwriter Morgan O'Kane. The party will start at 6 p.m. at the Visitors' Center, where there will be food from The Parlor, and then will migrate down Gay Street to Morelock Music at 8 p.m.

Happy First Fridaying!

To go or not to go? There is no question

What are YOU doing tonight? Or tomorrow night? Or Saturday or Sunday night? If you have any of these evenings free or really any Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday night free through August 15, you should totally be heading down to Market Square at 7 p.m. for the FREE Shakespeare on the Square performances.

The Tennessee Stage Company may not have Leonardo DiCaprio or Claire Danes, but they're bringing you Romeo and Juliet anyway on the stage at Market Square. I don't think I need to give you any background on R&J -- you know the drill -- That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, and all that jazz.

On alternate nights you can see The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). If you're unfamiliar with this little parody of the Bard's work, trust me when I tell you it is worth the effort of parking in the Market Square Garage to see. Three actors squeeze all of old Will's works into one tidy little show, complete with corny jokes, pop culture references and a little crowd interaction.

Here's the complete schedule if you're aiming for one show or the other.

If you like what you see, I'd encourage you to bring some cash to donate to the TSC to help cover their expenses and the good works they provide to our community. They usually have T-shirts for sale that look like the above artwork, if you're into sporting that fine fellow on your frontside.

AND DON'T FORGET YOUR LAWN CHAIRS!! I've sat on my rear end for a whole performance, and while it can be done I don't recommend it.

A tragic loss for one of our neighbors

If your a regular reader of other Knoxville-centric blogs, you may have heard that one of our city's blogging superstars, Katie Allison Granju, today is dealing with the tragic death of Henry, the oldest of her four children, at age 18. Katie is an author, maintains several blogs on parenting (her main one, Mama Pundit, appears to have crashed with the news of Henry's passing) and works for Ackermann PR.

You can read Katie's own honest account of her son's struggles with drug addiction and the brutal assault which left him with serious head trauma for the past few weeks.

Some of Katie's friends in the community have set up a fund to help her and her family manage the costs of Henry's care. Her coworker Shane Rhyne says you can donate by doing the following:

Simply write a check made out to Katie Allison Granju.

Mail it to:

Crystal Cardwell
c/o Ackermann PR
1111 Northshore Drive, Suite N-400
Knoxville, TN 37919

We’ll handle it from there and deposit the funds raised into an account for the family.

At the very least, please keep Katie and her family in your thoughts. I cannot even begin to fathom what she's going through right now, and yet I know that I or any of us could be faced with the same heartbreaking situation at any point in our lives. We love you, Katie.

How Whoop-Ass Industries became Yee-Haw

Knoxville is so lucky to have the country's premier letterpress print shop located right in the heart of downtown. I love to stop in Yee-Haw Industries' print shop from time to time and just gaze lovingly upon all the kitchy music posters and chat with Kevin, who is never short on energy. I almost always leave with a new set of letterpress greeting cards.

I get especially excited when the world at large acknowledges Yee-Haw's greatness, like last year when they showed at Chelsea Market in NYC. Here's a great video put together by Southern magazine Oxford American on what Yee-Haw's all about. Enjoy.

SoLost: Yee Haw Industries from Oxford American on Vimeo.

P.S. If you're reading this from afar, don't forget you can order Yee-Haw's goods through their etsy.com site.

BBQ Quest: RouXbarbecue

Let me preface this post by saying RouXbarb is one of my favorite restaurants in Knoxville. I love the creativity of Bruce Bogartz's menus (and boy, does he come up with some tasty stuff), not to mention the quality of food you get for the price is amazing. Because I hold RouXbarb in such high regard, I had some serious expectations for RouXbarbecue. I mean, one of my favorite chefs tackles one of my favorite kinds of foods and promises to do some in a Memphis style? Fabulous!

Well the Modern Fiance and I paid our first visit to RouXbarbecue on Saturday and found it, well, disappointing.

Before I get into why I was disappointed, let me also say that Bruce did an amazing job transforming his space, previously the Hardees at Rocky Hill, into RouXbarbecue. It feels like a BBQ joint and looks nothing like a fast food restaurant. The aesthetic is perfect, the bar looks fun and his smoker set up out on the porch looks like a chef's dream. We sat on the patio, which was huge and also a nice touch.

But then there were the tables, which looked awesome but were hard to squeeze into, even for the 5-foot-4 Modern Gal, because they were kind of short (or maybe the benches were high) and had a lot going on on the ground to keep them propped up. I watched as a fellow diner in a wheelchair had to sit at his table at an awkward angle because he couldn't even begin to get his wheelchair to fit at the table.

Now the food, since that's what this BBQ Quest is all about. The pork was tender and the consistency was right with a little bit of the fatty stuff and a little bit of the tough stuff. But the taste was bland with no hint of smokiness to it. The bun was tasty, but the sauce was your typical North Carolina-style sauce that you find all over the place here. Runny and again, bland. I soaked my 'cue in it and still hardly tasted it. The Modern Fiance broke protocol and tried the ribs. They were Memphis-style dry rub, but I couldn't really taste the spices.


I had swooned when I heard he was offering mac and cheese with Benton's bacon mixed in. Seriously, who does not love Benton's bacon? Well, I think my serving had only two or three tiny bits of bacon, which I couldn't even taste. The mac and cheese itself? Also bland. I nibbled at the slaw, but won't pass judgment on it since I'm not much of a slaw fan. The cabbage bits were huge and it had a lot of mayo and a few spices -- the Modern Fiance approved. The fries were decent too.

The lemonade I had was tasty, and the meal came with a side of cheesy biscuity cornbready bread and dipping sauce (I think it was raspberry?) though neither blew me away. We didn't try any desserts, namely because there was no banana pudding, but I'm presuming they're similar to RouXbarb's fare and probably well worth it.


I should also note that the restaurant, which just opened on Thursday, is suffering from the typical new-restaurant service gliches, like servers forgetting to bring silverware to the tables until after the food had been served. I don't fault the restaurant for that since every new place tends to struggle with things until everyone's in a rhythm. Just be warned if you make your own visit sometime soon.

I'm not writing off RouXbarbecue completely, and for this reason: I know Bruce likes to tinker with his menus, so I *hope* he'll be working to improve his RouXbarbecue fare. I also saw some tasty-looking Po'boys at a nearby table that I'd like to try, and cajun is definitely among his talents.

RouXbarbecue
7426 S. Northshore Dr.
Knoxville, TN 37919
865-951-2880

What's cooking?

Before I mention anything about what's going on this weekend, I want to warn everyone that the weather gurus are predicting severe weather for Saturday afternoon/evening (we're talking possible tornadoes here). Please keep that in mind before you head out to any event this weekend. Better to be safe than sorry!

Now if the weather people are wrong, as they often are, then I want to suggest to you a barbecue event that's for a very good cause. Now for me, there's always a good cause for barbecue, but this one comes with an extra benefit. The Pork Knox Q-Fest at World's Fair Park is this weekend benefitting the Knoxville disABILITY Resource Center, an organization that helps make everyday life more accessible to people with disabilities while also working as an advocacy group. They perform a great service to the community, and supporting them is very worthwile.

It is a barbecue cooking contest (though a Kansas City-sanctioned one, so keep that in mind :), and there's a whole lineup of events (click that link) from now through tomorrow evening. From 6-9 p.m. today, you can participate in the people's choice sampling. Tomorrow there's a hot-dog eating contest and you can meet the Hard Knox Rollergirls.

You've probably also heard, but the Rossini Festival is this weekend too. Street vendors will line Gay Street tomorrow, and you can catch a performance of the Barber of Seville by the Knoxville Opera today and Sunday.

9th Annual Rossini Festival from Knoxville Opera on Vimeo.

So whatever you do this weekend, have fun. But more importantly, be safe and avoid any bad weather headed our way!

A slowed-down Sundown

A little less than a year ago, we here at the Wigshop aired a few grievances -- for better or for worse -- about Sundown in the City and the effects it had on downtown. Before you get all up in arms, let me remind you that we do LOVE the premise of Sundown bringing people to our favorite part of the city, and we LOVE what Sundown has done to promote music in Knoxville. But we were concerned that people didn't do enough to respect downtown while they were there by disrespecting local businessowners and employees, leaving their trash and wreaking general havoc.

AC Entertainment must have heard what we (and others) had to say and decided to scale back on the event this year, cutting from 12 Thursday shows to five. Ashley Capps told Knoxville.com that 'We plan to do fewer events, but do them really, really well.'

The official schedule was released last week, and I'm curious to know what people think about it. I know lots of people are either really excited about the Drive-By Truckers or at least curious to see them live for their first time. I've seen Blues Traveler live (albeit several years ago), and they put on a decent show. Every person I've mentioned Tonic has said something to the effect of, 'Oh yeah, I remember that one song they had.' And it's always nice to see Jill Andrews take the stage.

I also noticed on Sundown's website, a 'Recycling' link where the sponsors encourage everyone to recycle their drink cups. I can't remember if that's been on the website before, but I hope AC Entertainment does make recycling as easy as throwing cups on the ground or in the trash.

So what do you all think about the acts and how having fewer shows will impact the event overall?

BBQ Quest: Dead End BBQ

I was heading out to West Knoxville on business the other day and looking for lunch on the way when it occured to me that I still had not tried Dead End BBQ on Sutherland Ave. It was a beautiful day, so it seemed like the perfect time to try out Dead End's patio.

The atmosphere is very nice if you're looking for something that isn't the typical BBQ dive. It reminds me a little of the Sticky Fingers franchise in Chattanooga and the Carolinas. There's a fancy-schmancy bar and the patio has a humongous flat-screen TV (though when we were there it was tuned to CNN without any closed-caption, so I'm not really sure the point there).

The menu kind of reminded me of Sticky Fingers too for its sheer variety. I spent probably 10 minutes gazing at the things I wanted to try while reminding myself that this BBQ Quest was focused on pulled pork sandwiches. I really wanted to try the BBQ nachos, BBQ sliders and the cheese dip w/ pulled pork mixed in (you get Fritos for dipping!). But, alas, I only have so much room in my belly so they'll have to wait for another time.

So, about the pulled pork for which I quest. It was good. It wasn't my favorite, but it's enough to satisfy a basic barbecue craving. It was mostly tender. It's already got some sort of seasoning or sauce mixed into it, which I was ambivalent about because while I liked the taste I felt like it masked the flavor of the meat a little too much. (If you accuse me of being picky, you won't be the first one).


Dead End offers three different kinds of sauces with the bottles right there on the table. They seemed to each be a variation of the same thin, vinegary sauce with increasing level of spiciness The flavor was decent, but again, not my preference.


The sides. like the nontraditional pork offerings, all piqued my interest. I ended up going with corn on the cob, which was oozing with butter and delicious -- hard to ruin corn on the cob. I also got the mac and pimento cheese. It was, well, very pimentoey. My dining companion got the beans and smoked sausage as a side. The sausage didn't do much to improve the beans, so I'd recommend going with the standard side of beans, known as the Mayor's Beans.

As I'm reading back over this post, it almost sounds like I didn't like Dead End. Please don't get that impression. Overall it's a nice package, and if I wanted to get barbecue with several friends with diverse tastes Dead End would be a great place to go. The service was solid, and I will be going back to try some sliders and nachos AND the peanut butter pie that's listed under desserts. But if my Memphis tastebuds need a barbecue fix, Dead End just isn't quite my style.

Dead End BBQ (that link has a menu and all the info you could want)
3621 Sutherland Avenue
Knoxville, TN 37919-4309
865-212-5655