Dear Cherry Blossom Special:
My name is Gavin, and I’m 28 years old. I am curious about a situation that came up the other day and maybe you could give me some insight.
I was standing inside of Lenny’s Sub Shop on Cooper when a man came walking in having a conversation on his cell phone. He was very loud as he spoke, and everyone could hear the intimate details of his conversation. He paused for a moment to make his order then continued talking. There weren’t many people inside at the time, but everyone heard him talking to the person on the phone about a girl “whose p***y I ate like a vulture” the night before and how he “should’ve never given that stupid c**t his phone number”. He was so loud, one of the two kids who were in the booth with their mom sat up and asked their mom, “What’s a c**t?” The mom reached over, smacked their hands and told them never to repeat that word out loud again or she would “beat them within an inch of their lives”.
Do you have any advice for what to do in this situation?”
Gavin, this is an excellent question and one I’ve pondered many times as I’ve listened to people’s personal conversations as they enter restaurants, enter stores, even walking down the street. Before I knew better, I was as guilty as the next person of doing it. But in your situation, I think there’s a lesson we can all learn.
Finish your conversation outside, then go inside to order your food. The person you’re talking to will still be there when you get done with your business. It’s not just that talking loudly on your cell phone is rude and obnoxious, nobody around you gives a shit what girl you ate out last night. Nobody cares what your friend in Little Rock is doing for their anniversary. Nobody cares what club you’re going to tonight, nobody cares what your husband or wife did to you when she was drunk.
If someone insists on walking into a place talking on their cell phone loudly, maybe you should grab the phone out of their hands and say, “Hello!” When they ask who this is, tell them your name. Follow up with a reminder of how they know you, like, “Oh…yeah, you remember a minute ago when your boyfriend told you he flushed your ring down the toilet and he hates you and wishes you’d choke on a chicken bone? That was me listening to him saying it in the middle of Mapco. It’s like we’re old friends already.”
Some folks have already figured out that text messaging is a great way to get around the rudeness, but that’s also pretty rude if you think about it. When what you’re talking to someone about is less important than the text message they’re getting, there’s nothing wrong with asking them to take it outside, is there?
If you get an important phone call, excuse yourself from wherever you are and take it somewhere private. I don’t want to hear about how you puked in some girl’s bed this morning when I’m traversing the salad bar at Schnuck’s. I really don’t want to hear, “What you tryin’ to shake?” coming from the mouth of someone who is in line for the bathroom at a nightclub, and the person on the other hand probably can’t hear you anyways. I could go the rest of my life without wanting to see you walking down Union Avenue yelling at the girl who cheated with your man, “Ok? Ok? Ok? Oh no you didn’t!”
If people insist on treating you with no respect by talking on their cell phones without excusing themselves, what’s wrong with making a suggestion that will keep you from having to listen to them?
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I’m honored to be participating in this conference with several of my colleagues within the music industry and some others. If you’re a musician looking to find out how to move forward with your career, attending this conference is one of the smartest things that you can do. This is an opportunity not to be missed out on. If you do, you’ll just be short-changing yourself. Save $25 from your next gig and buy a ticket. It’s a chance to get inside the minds of people who make the music industry happen.
If you’re in a band with four people, it’s only $19.25 a ticket to participate. Take advantage of this deal. Many of these folks have never been in Memphis to speak before, and you’ll wish you had been there if you miss out.
Panelists:
- E.J. Friedman, Independent Musician, Writer/New Media Consultant, Publisher, Loudersoft.Com
- Rachel Hurley, Music Journalist, The Commercial Appeal
- J. Reid Hunter, Entertainment Attorney, Serling Rooks & Ferrara, LLP (Drive-By Truckers, Soundtribe Sector 9, Redeye Distribution/Yep Roc Records, Ray Lamontagne, The Fray)
- Steve Manning, Publicity/Marketing Director, Sub Pop Records (Nirvana, The Shins, Postal Service, Iron & Wine)
- Shawn Rogers, Television & Film Licensing, Sub Pop Records
- Patrick Moxey, President, Ultra Records (Indie label DJs John Digweed, Ferry Corsten, The Crystal Method, Morcheeba)
- Lil Keke, Artist (Houston, TX)
- Jeff Powell, Recording Engineer (Alvin Youngblood Hart, North Mississippi Allstars)
- Ralph Sutton, Recording Engineer (Stevie Wonder, Jill Scott)
- Larry Crane, Recording Engineer, Founder/Editor of Tape Op Magazine
- Brett Clark, Product Specialist, digidesign
- Cameron Mann, VP of Operations, Memphis Records/Young Avenue Sound
- Jody Stephens, Director of A&R, Ardent Studios
- Michael Watts, Founder & CEO, Swisha House Records (Label to Paul Wall, Mike Jones and leading distributor of chopped & screwed recordings)
- Mike Clarke, VP Marketing/Promotions, Swisha House
- Billy Hume, Producer/Mixer (Ying Yang Twins, Ludacris, David Banner, Lil John, Nelly)
- Michael Weeman, Weeman Entertainment Group (Manager to producer Billy Hume)
- Vanessa Satten, Deputy Editor, XXL Magazine
- Wendy Day, President, Rap Coalition (Coined major label deals for Eminem, Master P, Cash Money, Twista, Ruff Ryders)
- Peppa Williams, Mouth of the South Management (Former manager to Yo Gotti, Three 6 Mafia, indie promotions)
- Ricardo Hunter, Hunter Promotions, TVT Records
- Wes Phillips, Select-O-Hits (One of the largest urban indie distributors in the country)
- Howard Q, DJ/Promoter (First DJ to break Yo Gotti)
- Lindsey Collins, VP of Operations, CD Baby
- Nakeeta Ragoowanski, Director of Artist/Label Relations, Sound Exchange
- Rick Reed, Label Relations Representative, eMusic
- Al Thrash, Director New Business Development, Emergent Music Marketing
- David Fleishman, Fleishman Promotions
- Bob Merlis, Publicist, Merlis for Hire
- Jim Green, TCB Concert Promotions
- David Less, President, Memphis International Records
- Tonya Butler, Entertainment Attorney
- Nancy Prager, Attorney, Intellectual Property
- Thomas Cain, VP Writer/Publisher Relations, BMI
- Jay Healy, Financial Advisor (and former recording engineer to Bruce Springsteen and R.E.M.), Progress Capital Inc.
- Bruce Newman, CPA/Attorney
- Stanley J. Blue, VP, First Tennessee Brokerage
- Steve Mack, Principal, LUX Media (podcasting, streaming, webcasting)
- Michael Allensby, Associate Manager, Red Light Management (Los Lobos. North Mississippi Allstars, John Butler Trio)
- tobi, Program Director, XM Satellite’s XMU Channel 43
- John Allen, Sr. Creative Director, Bug Music Publishing
- Devin Steel, Program Director, K97 FM
- Andria Lisle, Music Journalist, MOJO/Spin/Paste/Harp/Wax Poetics Magazines
Indie Impact Seminar & Showcase
May 13, 2006
Seminar: Bridges, 477 N. 5th St., Downtown Memphis, 12 – 6 p.m.
Showcase: The Warehouse, 36 G.E. Patterson St., Downtown Memphis, 9 p.m. – Midnight
The Indie Impact Seminar is a day-long series of panels focused on independent artists and labels.
Workshops include:
* What’s your goal….do you want to be a major or an independent artist; the pros and cons of both, and who to surround yourself with in order to reach your goal.
* Label operations
* Turn your music into money (performance rights, digital royalties, copywriting, publishing, attorneys and more)
* Financial management
* Independent marketing and public relations
* Independent distribution
* Booking/promotions
* Hands-on recording workshop hosted by Digidesign (maker of ProTools)
* How to get your music in movies, commercials, on iTunes, etc.
An independent music showcase featuring the top indie rock and urban artists in the Mid-South will be presented after the seminar at 9 p.m.
Tickets for Recording Academy members are $25, non-members $45, and bands up to four members may attend for $99. Or join The Recording Academy for $100 and attend the Indie Impact Seminar & Showcase for a discounted rate of $20.
Contact the Memphis Chapter for tickets.
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It was recently suggested to me by a friend that I should veer outside the lines of mainstream television looking for a show to become addicted to. Clearly, my addictions to The Sopranos, Desperate Housewives, Law & Order and The Amazing Race were not enough to lull myself into submission that I had a problem. It was time to prove one and for all that I had fallen completely off of the no-TV wagon, and I’ve discovered a show that does the job. It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is clearly one of the most overlooked, underappreciated, and absolute hands-down fall-0n-the-floor-laughing hilarious shows I have ever watched. The F/X original series premiered in 2005 and, since I didn’t have a television in 2005, I missed it completely. Now that I have seen the funny, its as if I had been wandering the halls in a housecoat and slippers carrying a torch and a glass stem for years.
The show centers around four friends, Mac (played by show creator Rob McElhenney), Charlie (actor Charlie Day), Dennis (actor Glenn Howerton) and his sister Dee (played by Kaitlin Olson) working in the Irish pub that Mac, Charlie, and Dennis own together. Of course, a television show about a bar in Philadelphia could go flat and draw comparisons to Cheers if not for the twenty-somethingness of the characters and their struggles to make the bar successful. The show’s storylines involve the usual young adult stuff — relationships, college, girls, drinking. However, the infusion of each character’s troubling world views makes the show far from normal. Dealing with racsim, homosexuality, abortion, politics, religion, and inner-city life (and that’s just in one episode), each character’s obliviousness is so confounding and surreal that if you’ve ever lived in the inner city, you’d almost think you were seeing yourself there on the screen. There is truly something to offend almost everyone in this show, but it doesn’t go for the “dick and fart” joke comedy. It does what really great comedy does — it hits you right in the places you don’t want to talk about and makes you laugh.
Only seven episodes of the show were ordered last season, however I am told that there will be more episodes coming this year. I’m looking forward to it and hope that people will catch on to this gem. It’s really and truly the single best comedy on television, easily outpacing other shows I love like Arrested Development, Family Guy, and my Desperate Housewives. If you hear that it’s coming on, I’d suggest you put down the bong for a few minutes to catch the laughs. You’ll be very happy that you did.
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