PascalFleischman
New member
I'm not sure if I can swing it on Friday.....
Had an interesting moment today
- Thread starter Rick O'Shay
- Start date
Boomboy007
New member
Don't mean to hijack the thread, but.....
fftopic:
Speaking of squid soup, is the Pho Saigon still there? It was so delish. I also miss hanging at the North End. :smile:
fftopic:Speaking of squid soup, is the Pho Saigon still there? It was so delish. I also miss hanging at the North End. :smile:
Rick O'Shay
New member
Speaking of squid soup, is the Pho Saigon still there? It was so delish. I also miss hanging at the North End. :smile:
Yes it is. That is what we call the "Viet Cong", and go there for lunch every couple of weeks. Pascal and I used to work together, and he is the one who told me about this forum.
PascalFleischman
New member
Speaking of squid soup, is the Pho Saigon still there? It was so delish. I also miss hanging at the North End. :smile:
Yes, Pho Saigon is still at the corner of Tillman and Poplar.
The place to which we refer is Saigon Le, on Cleveland between Madison and Poplar....right across the street from "Thong Auto Repair".
The North End is a shell of its former self. Ever since the Pyramid got "retired", the Pinch district has floundered. The North End is now called "Westy's". Mulligans is still rocking, but the High Point is all but shut down as well.
Boomboy007
New member
Wow, automatic underwear repair. What will they think of next?
Oh no. That is actually more painful than you know. I realize that the only constant is change, but the West End was a landmark. I was also unaware that the Pyramid was "retired". What are they going to do with it? It's not like it is a double wide you can just haul away. Maybe they should move it piece by piece to Tunica!
I try to explain Memphis to people, but they never understand until they actually visit. I miss the zoo, too.:cray:
Rick O'Shay
New member
While dining at the "Viet Cong" I always wonder what the mechanics are wearing at "Thong's", but never so much that I walk over to see for myself.
The Zoo is more awesome than it was in the 90's. It is arguably the best zoo in the country now.
The Pyramid? A typical boondoggle much like Mud Island with about as many visitors. Some of King Willie's friends got rich, and that would be the end of it if the taxpayers weren't still paying for 2 multi-million dollar vacant tourist attractions.
The best way to explain Memphis to people that I have found is that "Memphis has two mayors and one newspaper."
PascalFleischman
New member
In 2003, the Memphis Grizzlies decided that the Pyramid was an insufficient venue to hold basketball games. Remember when it was built? Its main purpose was to attract an NBA team. Now that we have one, the venue built for them was no longer viable. Enter the FedEx Forum. It was built to the tune of about $250M (without approval via referendum), and is a huge "Charlie Foxtrot". The Pyramid still stands, but no longer hosts any event, since the Grizzlies were given "First Rights of Approval" for any event held in town. If they wanted it at the Pyramid, the Grizzlies had to approve. The only reason an event would be held at the Pyramid is if the Grizzlies were at the Forum on the same night. So, no, the Pyramid will NEVER be approved as an alternative venue. So, it sits, $15M still owed, and its lack of maintenance is showing.
Since the Forum was built, numerous entities have expressed interest in the Pyramid:
1) Local consortium of businessmen wanting to put an indoor amusement park in. (Libertyland shut down 3 years ago)
2) Local church wanting to use it as a megachurch site, similar to what Joel Osteen did in Houston
3) Indian casinos (shut that option down a LONG time ago)
4) Bass Pro Shops.
Option 4 is an interesting situation. In early 2005, BPS entered into a non-binding "Letter of Intent" agreement with the city to develop the Pyramid into a mega BPS store, with hotels, restaurants, museums, an aquarium, shooting ranges, and boat rentals. Nobody has committed to anything in 4 years, with numerous non-binding agreements having been signed. So the Pyramid still sits.
Since the Forum was built, numerous entities have expressed interest in the Pyramid:
1) Local consortium of businessmen wanting to put an indoor amusement park in. (Libertyland shut down 3 years ago)
2) Local church wanting to use it as a megachurch site, similar to what Joel Osteen did in Houston
3) Indian casinos (shut that option down a LONG time ago)
4) Bass Pro Shops.
Option 4 is an interesting situation. In early 2005, BPS entered into a non-binding "Letter of Intent" agreement with the city to develop the Pyramid into a mega BPS store, with hotels, restaurants, museums, an aquarium, shooting ranges, and boat rentals. Nobody has committed to anything in 4 years, with numerous non-binding agreements having been signed. So the Pyramid still sits.
Rick O'Shay
New member
Nice to see you are hard at work at the "Pulling Company".
OldOwl
New member
I was leaving our gun club one afternoon. It was pleasant out and I decided to go for a walk in the woods behind the club. I followed the trails out a ways. A large black area was a reminder of someone's carelessness, about an acre of burned woods. It had been that way about a month. I thought I'd look for some antler sheds and went way back near the swamp edge where there's oaks, and just as I walked over the top of a hill, I saw a guy, maybe 19 years old, all alone, and he was lighting a dead oak branch on fire on a fallen tree. The dead grass was catching as well.
He was taken by surprise when I asked "What are you doing?" to which he said "Lighting a fire." I told him to put it out, and he had a bottled water which he splashed on the branch and stomped out the flames in the grass. I said what did you do that for? and he smartassed me saying that he "Felt like it." So I said come on with me, I'm turning you in. When I said that he reached inside his jacket to a sweatshirt pocket, and I went on defense mode, took a step back and turned my right side away from him and put my hand on my Walther, but that was where I stopped to see what he was doing. Mind you, were in the middle of the woods and this guy's bigger than I. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit one and started walking toward the club, and I followed. He had no idea how close he came to getting dusted.
When we got almost to the club, he said "It was nice meeting you, and took off through a swamp toward a road. It was the first time ever I didn't have my cell phone on me, and I ran for the club, which was about a quarter mile. The treasurer was pulling in the lot and I used his cell to call police and they went to head him off at the road. When I got there, they had someone fitting the description to a T, but it wasn't him.
The police had me bring the fire fighters back to the site, and I showed the water bottle to the cop telling him the kids prints were all over it, but he wasn't interested. Probably too much paper work for him. Sure pumped up the adrenalin.
He was taken by surprise when I asked "What are you doing?" to which he said "Lighting a fire." I told him to put it out, and he had a bottled water which he splashed on the branch and stomped out the flames in the grass. I said what did you do that for? and he smartassed me saying that he "Felt like it." So I said come on with me, I'm turning you in. When I said that he reached inside his jacket to a sweatshirt pocket, and I went on defense mode, took a step back and turned my right side away from him and put my hand on my Walther, but that was where I stopped to see what he was doing. Mind you, were in the middle of the woods and this guy's bigger than I. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit one and started walking toward the club, and I followed. He had no idea how close he came to getting dusted.
When we got almost to the club, he said "It was nice meeting you, and took off through a swamp toward a road. It was the first time ever I didn't have my cell phone on me, and I ran for the club, which was about a quarter mile. The treasurer was pulling in the lot and I used his cell to call police and they went to head him off at the road. When I got there, they had someone fitting the description to a T, but it wasn't him.
The police had me bring the fire fighters back to the site, and I showed the water bottle to the cop telling him the kids prints were all over it, but he wasn't interested. Probably too much paper work for him. Sure pumped up the adrenalin.
Rick O'Shay
New member
I understand. That event last Sunday really brought into focus for me that "Anytime, anywhere you may find your life in danger." Never again will I allow myself to go to Condition White in public.
