Farewell to a friend...

On Saturday, Harold Shersky, who was the owner of Harold's Deli on the 100 block of Gay Street, died. I did not personally know Harold, but I enjoyed frequenting the deli before it closed about 2 years ago. We used to go in the morning for bagels or at lunchtime for Reuben sandwiches and Matzo ball soup. Here's a link to the News Sentinel obituary.

a taste of havana, numero dos

We reviewed "A Taste of Havana" a while back, when it was partnered up with World Grotto on Market Square, but a few weeks later it disappeared. According to an inside source, Cuban business practices and hippie bar culture didn't mix very well. However, having gotten used to a regular infusion of spicy rice and beans, your correspondent was disconcerted over the state of Cuban cuisine in downtown.

Never fear- much like Castro, "A Taste of Havana" is still ticking. Yesterday evening I noticed a sign on the 100 block of Gay Street advertising that the Cubans will be back soon. Their new location will be right next to Nama. A welcome addition to one of my favorite blocks in downtown, and a welcome return to spicy goodness in my belly.

king tut's

before i kick the dust off my feet and head west, i've been trying to get my fill of knoxville essentials. so when i heard a friend was going to celebrate successful completion of grad school at king tut's, i was selfishly excited for myself as well.






king tut's is a knoxville treasure for many reasons. it has a strong mediterranean menu--flavors uniquely under-appreciated in knoxville (i can think of two non-hippie restaurants that serve hummus). but the aesthetics bring me back every time--a cross between cracker barrel with no inhibitions (as if it had any to begin with) and big don the constumier on bourbon street. there are masks. many, many masks--more on them later. your drinks come out in giant flower vases. kitschy signs plaster the walls. one of my favorites: as a jittery woman stares at a giant cake, "stressed backwards is desserts." yes it is.


the food is very good. the greek salad would feed five helots--or you and a friend, and is everything you would expect it to be. after you finish, soak up the leftover olive oil with the pita that comes with the egyptian sampler. this is the other essential dish. plenty of food to split as well. you should expect all kinds of delights, many of which i digested unnamed. but there was something wrapped in grape leaves that was delicious, a small dish with chick peas and beans, and of course the requisite hummus and baba ganoush.


to finish the night, we had delicious cake with sort of peach glaze/topping and huge pot of fine coffee. beware when you drink the coffee--mo brings it out in the pot he perks the coffee in, so their are dregs at the bottom. i recommend not drinking those.

[that's a troll above]

after the delicious dessert and coffee is when king tut's superb restaurant turns into king tut's karaoke lounge. depending on your crew, you may be expected to don a grotesque troll mask and sing. not to be resigned to this uncomfortable fate, i darted out before i could sing ("i'm a very important person! i must do important things."). i instantly regretted it. when you go--and by all means, you should go--don't make my mistake. put your head in the sweaty hulk mask, place your legs into the over-sized underwear (i'm not kidding), sing "cheeseburger in paradise."

too men share giant underwear. i can't explain it any better than you. this is just how things work at king tut's.


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i give it 67 wigs.

also, sorry about the images. i only had my phone.

The Pol Debated the Issues... and WON.

Just in case you missed it. (And actually there was no winner declared, but it seems like the presidential candidates always declare victory so I figure I could.)

Last night there was a forum introducing all of the candidates for Knox 1A hosted by Politicalknoxville.com and The Historic Fort Sanders Neighborhood Association. It was a wonderful time of discussion and interaction with a number of concerned and active citizens who came out.

It was great to meet all of those who came and the other candidates. Also Brian Paone over at Political Knoxville has posted the entire forum on Google video so you can watch it.

There is another debate coming up on the 31st, early voting starts today and runs through the 2nd so get out and vote . And remember write in John Spellings for a change in Knox County's leadership.

Write-In Spellings, Write-out Nepotism

WATCH THE FORUM HERE

[addition by ck] a picture of the intense debating:


The Pol is the white, bald one.

omg! hsm 4 is coming here?! srsly? that is 2 kewl !!!!

According to here and here, High School Musical 4 is to be filmed in Knoxville at Vine Magnet School. The script is a "closely guarded secret." Heh. I can tell you now that it will involve many choreographed dance numbers loosely tied to a story with "lessons about true friendship". Yes!!!!! Troy UR the 1 4 me! lol!

photoblog : union street cafe

Today I spent my lunch hour sitting outside of the Coffee and Chocolate shop on Union Street, reading a book. The coffee was good, but the weather was better. Thank goodness for this rare low humidity!

spawn of the sunsphere

Knoxville isn't alone in having an iconic giant [dildo] observation tower in its skyline. Though rarer in the U.S., these things seem to be everywhere in Europe and Asia. A quick stroll through Wikipedia's list of towers in the world came up with the following:

Kuwait Towers [Kuwait]
They've got three, count'em, THREE spheres.

Fernmeldeturm Nuernberg [Germany]
Is that some gold tinted glass I see?

Baghdad Tower (!) [Iraq] (formerly International Saddam Tower)
Iraq has its own mirror ball tower. That hasn't been blown up.

Berliner Fernsehturm [Germany]
Built to show off East Germany's disco prowess- Fernsehturm means "git down oont boogey."

Oriental Pearl Tower [China]
As decreed by the People's Government: "Nobody will beat China at giant pink-tinted sex toys. Nobody."

Colonius [Germany]
"OK, OK, we get it- Germans love big phallic towers."

As you can see, Knoxville is in that grand global fraternity called "Cities That Built Big Towers That Don't Serve Much Purpose." Where does our Wigshop rank among the big boys? At 266 feet, we come in at 487th in the world. Oh well... For better or worse, our Sunsphere is not quite as odd as we might have thought.

Come See the Pol Debate LIVE!!

Well, it's technically a forum, but for a county commission race it's pretty good.

Next Thursday, July 17th at 7:00PM at Redeemer Church in the Fort (17th and Highland). All of the candidates from the District 1A race John Spellings (The Pol), Albert Baah (Republican) and Sam McKenzie (Democrat) will be there to answer questions about their ideas for the 1st District and County Commission in General.

It's a great opportunity to get a little civic involvement and learn about the issues.

Come on out and meet your future commissioner... cause it'll be one of us... hopefully me.

Write-in Spellings, Write-out Nepotism