Rowdy game of tag takes dad back to childhood

"Because I Said So" column for The Commercial Appeal

April 29, 2010

Last week we received a DVD from Netflix in the mail that has allowed us to stream movies and such into our television from the Internet.

It's as though the 21st century was delivered to our mailbox.

The following morning began with a film festival of classic cartoons created by Tex Avery and Chuck Jones for Warner Bros. The kids and I laughed aloud at the antics of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner.

It was as though the 1940s were delivered to our living room.

The plot, as it were, of so many of these old cartoons is simple. It's the chase, the hunt. Elmer chased Bugs, Coyote chased Roadrunner, Sylvester chased Tweety, and Pepe Le Pew chased anything that moved.

So it was disheartening later that same evening to watch my kids, some friends and a cousin outside playing chase. Or, rather, attempting some awful approximation of the classic childhood activity ... (read more)

Skate park competes for $250,000 grant

Metro news story for The Commercial Appeal

April 25, 2010

Pepsi contest rewards community projects

A Memphis grassroots organization that advocates public skate parks is backing the Binghampton Development Corp.'s bid to win $250,000 for a park in the neighborhood.

Pepsi, through its site refresheverything.com, is awarding two organizations, people or businesses grants of up to $250,000 every month for one year for ideas that will have a positive impact on their communities.

"Memphis is two places from the bottom among the U.S. for the amount of money spent per person for parks and recreation," said Dr. Aaron Shafer, founder of the nonprofit Skatelife Memphis and a researcher at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. "This is an incredible opportunity for churches to cooperate together and bring in some funds for their communities."

On Saturday, the Binghampton Development Corp. -- under the headline "Get our kids Moving! Build a skate park for inner-city Memphis youth" -- was ranked No. 16 among "Current Leaders" in the $250,000 category. Voting ends April 30 ... (read more)

Restaurateurs find opportunities in new technology

Feature story for The Memphis Daily News

April 22, 2010

Nowadays there’s a cell phone app for nearly everything – and restaurant reservations are no exception.

That’s not been lost on local restaurateurs, who are embracing online reservations and finding that they are weathering the struggling economy better as a result.

“In an economy like this, we can’t leave any stone unturned, especially when people are cutting costs on dining,” said Josh Spotts, catering sales and conference service manager for The Madison Hotel, which operates Grill 83.

“You can get full off a hamburger at McDonald’s, but is that the experience that you want?”

Among the most popular apps available is OpenTable.com, a Web-based program offering reservation and table management services in real time for more than 12,000 restaurants worldwide.

Founded in 1998, OpenTable now seats about 4 million diners per month and has done so for more than 130 million since its inception.

The mobile app was launched in November 2008, and has been used by more than 2 million, a number that represents about $100 million to restaurant partners, according to OpenTable ... (read more)

Treehouse is platform for flights of daring

"Because I Said So" column for The Commercial Appeal

April 15, 2010

My children's aunt and uncle, Elizabeth and Toby, just returned from a 10-day trip to Spain. They visited the village of Robledillo de la Jara and the metropolis of Madrid. They sampled new foods, saw centuries-old architecture, watched a bullfight and met new and exciting people.

My family and I recently returned from the local hardware store just off Summer Avenue.

We spent my wife's -- she's a school teacher -- and kids' spring break building a tree house and planting a garden.

The house is 7 feet off the ground with a zip line that will carry a kid 50 feet through the grove of pine trees behind our house. The only thing missing at this point is any sort of railing, some type of safety precaution.

Despite the lack of safety (or maybe because of it), this is the tree house I always wanted as a child. A Swiss Family Robinson structure, a home that would have made Tarzan proud.

Some people, especially here in the South, may look at it and think "deer stand," but I know differently. In my mind it rivals Frank Lloyd Wright's house, Fallingwater, for design and placement within nature.

It is Falling Daughter ... (read more)

Economist to address influence of big banks

Business news story for The Commercial Appeal

April 10, 2010

Is a financial system dominated by giant banking institutions good for business?

Dr. Paul Merski says that's a question that deserves an answer, and he plans to offer his insights next week in Memphis.

The Rhodes Chapter of the Financial Management Association and the Department of Economics and Business will host Merski's lecture, "Financial and Economic Outlook: A View from Washington," on Wednesday.

Merski is the senior vice president and chief economist for the Independent Community Bankers of America, an organization representing 5,000 community banks of all sizes throughout the United States.

"I'll be looking at where we've come from in the past few years with the large financial crisis and the meltdown in the financial sector largely caused by the too-big-to-fail Wall Street banks," Merski said recently by phone from his office in Washington ... (read more)

Autism center provides intense therapy to transform childrens' behavior

Business news story for The Commercial Appeal

April 9, 2010

Tracy Palm, executive director of Transformations Autism Treatment Center, simply wants the parents of children with autism spectrum disorders to have hope.

"I get so many families that come into my office who have completely lost their hope that their child will ever be able to do anything, even speak," she said.

"What I want them to know and understand is that these kids make progress ... they just need the right therapy to be happening in their life at that time."

Palm, a board-certified behavior analyst, began Transformations in 2007 and moved into a new facility on the edge of Bartlett in Memphis last January. The center, at 2535 Whitten Road, is just off Interstate 40 and is accessible to clients who come from as far away as Forrest City, Ark. The one-story, brick building is 2,500 square feet sectioned into rooms for group activities such as music and art, as well as private rooms where counselors can work with clients one on one ... (read more)

Art infusion: local artists look to beef up market in Midtown

Small business spotlight for The Memphis Daily News

April 6, 2010

Frank Roberts, the owner of nine businesses in six buildings known collectively as The Palladio Group, understands the way to best use retail space.

When his tenant at 2256 Central Ave., Artists on Central, with its various art vendors and flea market feel, fell on difficult times in 2008, Roberts felt that the century-old house could be used better. He wanted to upgrade the offerings and inject the Cooper-Young area with fine art.

“Artists on Central had an image that was not consistent, nor could it be made consistent with our vision, and where there’s no vision, people perish,” said Roberts, whose background is in architecture and home building. “So we wanted to be sure there was a very clear vision and a deliberately chosen and focused point to reach that vision: a true fine art gallery, a sophisticated gallery, not intimidating and stuffy.” ... (read more)

Firm wants to bring top talent to Memphis

Small business spotlight for The Memphis Daily News

April 5, 2010

Chris Chotard sees himself as a coach recruiting members to business teams throughout Memphis.

He founded his company, Top Notch, last year to bring the brightest college students to Memphis to spend eight weeks working for some of the most well known mid-level companies in the city.

“Some of the best marketers, best recruiters out there are college football coaches and their staff, or college basketball, and they’re selling very similar things,” Chotard said. “They’re trying to sell the city of Memphis as a place to live for a short period of time and they’re trying to recruit the best talent from cities around the country as well as locally.”

Chotard employs the same tactics to get the best to Memphis. And the mid-size businesses are his bread and butter ... (read more)

City pass would defray cost of 'I don't know' visits

"Because I Said So" column in The Commercial Appeal

April 1, 2010

The first question out of my children's mouths every Saturday morning is usually, "Are we going anywhere today?"

The past couple of weeks, with spring in the air, I've told the housebound foursome that, "Yes, you're going outside."

But outside won't do. The backyard is not far enough away from the inside, requires much less effort to get there and much -- much -- less expense than traveling across town to ... where?

"Where would you like to go?" I ask them.

"I don't know."

I Don't Know. It's a faraway land of exotic promises and myriad possibilities. With a coastline on the Sea of Shrug, it borders the land of Mumbletopia and is inhabited by people other than, and much more fascinating than, their mother and me. It is a domain so vast as to be vague.

What is it these kids wish for? I don't know ... (read more)

Cody named co-chair of Society of Attorneys General Emeritus

Law Talk profile for The Memphis Daily News

April 1, 2010

Michael Cody of Burch, Porter & Johnson PLLC was recently named co-chairman of the Society of Attorneys General Emeritus (SAGE).

SAGE is an organization formed in 1990 as a compliment to the National Association of Attorneys General, the 50-member group of active AGs. Cody was attorney general of Tennessee from 1984 to 1988. His co-chair is former attorney general and governor of New Hampshire, Stephen E. Merrill.

“What we (SAGE) do is a nice relationship, because current attorneys general can use our group as sort of a resource to talk with, we help them with programs,” Cody said. “It serves the purpose of us actually being a helpful part of their organization and giving us an opportunity to get together twice a year.”

Cody began his career with Burch, Porter & Johnson in 1961 under Lucius Burch, whom Cody considers a mentor. Except for his years in public service as attorney general, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee (1977-1981) and Memphis City Council (1975-1977), his entire law career has been spent at the law firm housed in the old Tennessee Club building overlooking Court Square ... (read more)