Greetings fellow Memphians!
It’s great to be back in the saddle after vacation! Amanda and I really enjoyed our week off with Savannah. There is so much family fun to be had in our wonderful city! We took in a downtown trolley ride, a trip to The Cheesecake Corner off South Main, The ducks at The Peabody, and The awesome Memphis Zoo among other things. One of the things we enjoyed the most was taking in a movie at The Malco Summer Drive-in. I can remember a time when drive-in theaters were everywhere, and while I guess that kind of dates me a little, I think it’s one of the most fun things a family can do! We put out a couple of folding chairs next to the car and saw “Twilight Eclipse” under the stars. If you haven’t been to the Summer Drive-In lately, or maybe never before, take it from the Bannisters it’s a great thing to do this weekend!

Greeting my fellow Memphians!
Hope you’ve had a good week so far. It’s a short one and that’s always a good thing! The Bannisters are taking a long awaited week off to spend some quality family time around our awesome city! When Amanda and I lived in Midtown, we discovered a place that’s worth checking out.Imagine a museum where you not only got to see things like that behind the display cases, but could actually buy them and take them home with you?!  Get ready to enter the way-back machine friends, cause we are about to pay a visit to Flashback.
　　　　　　　　　 Flashback is located at 2304 Central Avenue, just off Parkway in Midtown, and there is nothing in the city quite like it. It’s like a museum, where you can not only see the exhibits of furniture, clothing, accessories, and artwork of the past, but actually touch them, try them on, and bring them home! Flashback features authentic artifacts from the 1930s to the 1970s including antique clothing, furniture, glassware, clocks, telephones, and jewelry. There are sunglasses and hats. Bowties and cufflinks. Dolls and dollhouses from the 1950s. Bowling bags and records. 1960s vintage shirts and blouses. Jeans and coats and jackets and T-shirts. Shoes and flasks and cigarette cases and electric fans. Antique bars and all the barware to go along with them. Martini and highball glasses from the 1940s and 50s. Remember those multi-colored aluminum tumblers your grandma used to serve you Kool-Aid in? Flashback’s got ‘em! 1960s Barbie and all her accessories live at Flashback. So do Johnny Cash and Bettie Page, and Bob Dylan. And speaking of famous Memphians, if you’re looking for a velvet portrait of Elvis (And they are a LOT harder to come by than you might think) Look no further than Flashback. Are you a born too late flower child wanting to get in touch with your inner hippie? Well, a visit to Flashback will have you decked out in authentic summer of love clothing before you can say “Groovy!” Looking to set a nostalgic mood for your home with some REAL art-deco furniture? It’s all at Flashback.
　　　　　　　　　 Flashback is also home to some of the most awesome antique collectibles such as Ceramic cats, and souvenir ashtrays from Las Vegas to Miami. Pink Flamingos and wind-chimes and globes. Spoons and knives and dishes too. My visit to Flashback this week netted me a 1950s Frank Sinatra style hat and a set of vintage Martini glasses.  They even have old magazines and posters and lava lamps to give your nostalgic room a more authentic feel. The Flashback team travels far and wide to seek out only the most authentic collectibles for display and sale at the store, so what you see at Flashback is the real deal. People come from all over to browse the hundreds of knick-knacks, clothes and furniture that you won’t find anywhere else. Notables who have shopped Flashback include people like Susan Sarandon, Courtney Love and even Bob Dylan. You won’t find Flashback in any tourist book, but word of mouth seems to stretch across the globe, because people have come from as far away as Russia, Japan, and New Zealand to shop here. It’s one of the most popular places in town for tourists from Japan, who love the complimentary Coke Gene gives them from the 1955 Frigidaire in the corner. I highly recommend a trip to this awesome store. It’s a place where you can relive your past, or just create a fantasy. A literal dream world right in the heart of Midtown. Flashback is located at 2304 Central Avenue right off Parkway and is open Monday through Saturday 10:30am-5:30pm. And Sundays 1pm-5pm.

Greetings friends and neighbors!
Hope you had an awesome weekend! The long hot Memphis summer rolls on. The Bannister’s drove up to Pickwick Friday night for a little R&R at the lake house and a day on the water. All was going well until we developed some yet unknown engine trouble and had to head back to the marina using our trusty electric trolling motor. Slow going but it sure beat paddling! When we got back to Memphis we decided to take Savannah swimming in the backyard pool. It was her first time and boy did she LOVE it! We did some shopping had lunch at Cracker Barrel. The hashbrown casserole alone is worth the wait. I decided it was about time to mow the lawn, so I went out to the garage to fire up the mini-tractor only to discover it had 2 flat tires. Oy Vey. I guess it wasn’t my weekend for vehicular harmony. We’ve just about decided to hire the lawn duties out anyway, so if you know anyone reliable send me an e-mail. Yesterday afternoon I fired up the grill and cooked up some delicious burgers and we called it a weekend. As we approach the 4th of July, we pay tribute to a unique American freedom on Underground Memphis. Check it out starting tomorrow morning as we visit Range USA on Whitten Road. Join me all week long for the afternoon ride home on WRVR 104.5 The River! I’ve got Redbirds tickets to give away and tickets to The Orpheum Summer Film Series too! See ya on the radio! Bill

Hi friends and neighbors!
Hope you had a great week so far! Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Our poor overworked Air Conditioner stopped dead in it’s tracks a couple of mornings ago. As you know, this can be a real problem when the heat starts to climb up into the triple digits. Out came the box fans and the quest to find someone to give us the verdict. I was quite prepared to spend the night elsewhere, but very fortunately we were able to find a technician who could come out the same day, and just about the time our clothes began to cling and we began to develop that good old New Orleans sheen, Our hero found the problem (a blown capacitor) and got that sweet cold breeze flowing through our ductwork once again. Jody Jones, if you’re reading this I owe you a big steak and a cold six-pack of your favorite brew. Amanda and I are both southern born and bred, and we’d never consider living north of the Tennessee state line, but I have come to the conclusion that the finest technological advance of the century, and therefore the best gift to mankind was the one developed by a man named Willis Haviland Carrier.

In 1906, Carrier discovered that “constant dew-point depression provided practically constant relative humidity,” which later became known among air conditioning engineers as the “law of constant dew-point depression.” On this discovery he based the design of an automatic control system, for which he filed a patent claim on May 17, 1907. The patent, No. 1,085,971, was issued on February 3, 1914, thereby recognizing Carrier as the inventor of “dew-point control.” Willis Carrier’s company pioneered the design and manufacture of refrigeration machines to cool large spaces. By increasing industrial production in the summer months, air conditioning revolutionized American life. The introduction of residential air conditioning in the 1920s helped start the great migration to the Sunbelt. So here’s a salute to Willis Carrier, inventor of modern air conditioning, a GREAT American! The Bannister’s are off to our summer home at Pickwick lake this weekend. Hope yours is a good one! Next week as we approach the 4th of July Underground Memphis pays tribute to our Second amendment rights as we visit Range U.S.A.! It’s one you don’t want to miss.    Bill

Hey friends and neighbors!
Hope you had a great weekend! It’s the summer solstice and you can sure feel it here in Memphis. Temperatures approaching 100 degrees, and that stifling Memphis humidity. But there are lots of really great things about summer to enjoy too! The smell of charcoal grills smoking into long afternoons, fireflies dancing around on the lawn at dusk, the smell of fresh cut grass and the song of cicadas whirring in the trees. Baseball games at Autozone park and swimming pools and fresh lemonade in the shade too! I decided to do a little fishing this weekend, and drove up to Kentucky lake with some guys from the bass club friday night after work. We were on the water at 5am, and spent the whole day looking for fish. I caught 12 keepers and a sunburn that will remind me to apply sunscreen more often than once in the morning. Of course I slept pretty well Saturday night cause I could still feel the rocking of the boat as I lay in bed.  Sunday of course was Father’s Day, and we took Amanda’s dad and brother along with Savannah and her little cousin Cameron to Mimi’s Italian Kitchen on Summer avenue for a late lunch. If you haven’t tried Mimi’s I highly recommend a visit soon! We had a Caesar salad with the most tender delicious Italian chicken I ever put in my mouth, covered in a rich creamy spinach sauce. Savannah had lots to eat too, wolfing down spaghetti, buttered bread, and her share of a Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake. She slept like a baby (no pun intended) for the rest of the afternoon while Mama and I ran a few errands. Monday is here and it’s gonna be a great week! Join me for the ride home from 2-7 each afternoon! Get your Sing Like John Mayer videos uploaded to www.wrvr.com and let’s see who the next big rock star will be! Maybe it’s YOU!  Bill

Hey Memphis!
Hope you’ve had a great week this week. I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty excited about the weekend! Lots going on too. Join me tomorrow at Gossett Volkswagen Germantown, 10am-noon 7420 Winchester for some pretty awesome deals! The Bannisters are making plans to do a little antiquing that afternoon. We’re heading down to one of my favorite Memphis treasure chests, BoJo’s Antique mall at Summer and National. Our quest is for some of those Bama jelly jars from back in the day. Remember those? Your mom would wash ‘em after all the jelly was gone and use them for little glasses. Then we’re heading over a few blocks to Sweden Kream for the best doggone burger in this city!  Sunday is grill day at the Bannister estate, and I don’t know what I’ll be throwing on the fire, but I can assure you it’s gonna be good! Have a smashing weekend, and I’ll be back for your ride home Monday afternoon at 2!

Hey Memphis!
Hope you had a great weekend. The Bannister’s spent the weekend at The Peabody as guests of Turner Broadcasting for the media kickoff of their new police drama “Memphis Beat”. We got to meet lots of really great people from all over the country who flew in for the event, not to mention we got to hang out with all the stars of the show like Jason Lee, D.J. Qualls, Alfre Woodard, Sam Hennings, and Executive Producers Liz Garcia and Josh Harto. The show premiers Tuesday June 22nd at 9pm on TNT, and I think it’s gonna be a really big hit! Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl) stars as Memphis cop Dwight Hendricks who when he’s not fighting crime is making the Memphis music scene by night. He loves this city as much as I do. It’s a unique concept and I’m excited to see a show about Memphis that combines all the grit and soul that makes Memphis what it is with the music that we are famous for. The fabulous Keb Mo does the soundtrack to Memphis Beat, and I think you are simply gonna love it! One of the things I really enjoyed about this weekend was that we got to experience Memphis as few memphians do. Through the eyes of tourists. You know it’s amazing all the things we take for granted living here. Friday night we attended a reception at The Stax Museum in south Memphis. What a local treasure! It’s a place that captures all the magic of Memphis music in a way that few places do.Saturday we hung out downtown from our base at The Peabody, riding the trolley, walking the streets with our camera. It was fun! We went to The Peanut Shop on Main Street, Took in the fabulous view of the river from The Madison Hotel, The Civil Rights Museum, Mud Island, and a place on G.E. Patterson in the South Main district that will be featured in an upcoming Underground Memphis, The Cheesecake Corner. Amanda had a slice of peanut butter cheesecake that literally made our heads swim, and I had a quiche that was simply indescribable. We walked Beale Street and had a couple of expensive drinks, then a couple of Dyer’s hamburgers. Saturday night we boarded The Island Queen riverboat for an evening dinner cruise and a breathtaking view of the city skyline and the M bridge. Even the music was Memphis perfect, provided by the one and only Daddy Mack. Friends it was a big fat wonderful Memphis weekend, and I highly recommend taking some time to get out of the suburbs and drink in all the awesomeness of our wonderful city. You’ll be amazed at what you’ve been missing out on. Now, back to work!  Bill

Happy weekend friends and neighbors!
I’m just soaking up this Memphis heat and getting ready for another long summer. Amanda and I are spending the weekend at The Peabody with the cast and producers of TNT’s new police drama “Memphis Beat”. This is gonna be a really great show, and we’re looking forward to talking with Jason Lee, D.J. Qualls and Keb Mo. I’ll have the exclusive interviews on my afternoon show here on WRVR in the coming days, so watch for that. Monday of course is a big day for Underground Memphis as we take a little trip to the Midtown castle of Memphis’ own extra-terrestrial and perennial Mayoral candidate, 333 year old Prince Mongo from the planet Zambodia. He’s offers some pretty unique ideas on how we can cope with life on Earth, not to mention a generous offer to board his spacecraft for a one way trip to his home planet. You DON’T want to miss this one friends. In the meantime I hope you have a smashing weekend! Monday we start taking your uploaded videos for the “Sing Like John Mayer” contest. I can’t WAIT to see them! I’m due for a cold beverage, so keep the faith and I’ll see ya on the other side of Sunday!  Bill