 |
 |
How Hot is It?
When downtowners want to know just how blazing hot it is, they look to the omniscient digital gauge atop the AmSouth building on Gay Street. But for the past two weeks, the readout has been giving out misleading numbers. At first we speculated that the gauge, addled by the numerous recent thunderstorms, had kicked over to Celsius. But after attempting a few calculations (gee, high school chemistry came in handy after all) we discovered that the numbers—anywhere between 18 to 21 during the day—weren’t high enough to be centigrade reflections of the summer heat.
When we called Shay Lowe, manager of the building for Eagle Properties, it was the first she’d heard of the false readings. The building is owned by Universal Properties, Inc.. But an altogether third party owns the sign. Lowe forwarded our repair request to Jim McCarter, the building’s affable maintenance chief, along with the request to fix some burned-out bulbs. McCarter will contact AmSouth, who will then call this third party responsible for the clock and its thermometer.
Hook 'em, Hubbs
Brent Hubbs' website, volquest.com, established an Internet market for in-depth UT sports recruiting news and analysis. A virtual one-man operation, Hubbs' site has held out for a few years and solicited $9.95 monthly subscriptions. Recently, the News Sentinel created a nearly identical on-line product and threw its mega-tonnage marketing and promotional resources behind the site, offering it at an introductory $2.95 monthly charge. Competition, we know, is a wonderfully American pastime, and there's no such thing as too much UT football news and commentary. But the Goliath hurling stones at the little David? You could call it an intellectual property grab, probably, it's such an obvious rip-off. Maybe Hubbs will make it, though. His site is a true Vol orange, while the NS's looks a lot more like that Texas Longhorn shade.
A Last Party for Siao
It doesn’t sound like an ordinary estate auction, but, then again, Kenny Siao wasn’t an ordinary guy. Furrow Auction Company called to inform us that when the late restaurateur’s belongings go to highest bidders on Aug. 14, the event will be more like a party than a stoic settlement of stuff. “The more the merrier,” said Terry Bazzoon of Furrow. Siao, who drowned May 15 along the coast of Hilton Head Island, N.C., was the owner of Stir Fry Café, Mango, and the tapas bar Cha Cha, which will cater the auction, contributing to the celebratory atmosphere Siao created at his restaurants and among his friends and employees.
The items up for auction, listed on Furrow’s website, include a 2003 BMW Alpina Roadster V8, a 2000 Chrysler Cirrus and a ’97 Dodge Avenger, plus a solid collection of stylish furniture, mostly purchased at Nouveau Classics in 2001. The decorator who created the hip, cozy and uptown environs of his restaurants had a hand in designing his home as well, says Bazzoon, adding that Siao’s family came from Malaysia to take back his more personal belongings to the country of his birth.
August 5, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 32
© 2004 Metro Pulse
|
|
