In response to Cathlyn's Reading Memphis paper I have to say that I have about the same view of such places and tend to avoid them for this reason. I thought she had a wonderful and very articulate response for her the experiences she encountered. I felt like I was listening to an am radio station and think that her ability to express herself so well could land her in a public speaking job easily some day. I think she might have a better time, if she were to venture out to a club again, at the Rumba Room. Last semester I took a salsa class at studio 108 and had a lot of fun doing so with a good friend. However, you do not need a partner to do so and after a few lessons you can go to the club with a very basic knowledge of salsa and have a lot of fun there. I certainly did. They also have free lessons at the club before everyone gets there. Its a bit different since they have a theme and sometimes actually play some decent music.
I was also interested in Hau's project. One thing that really stuck out in my mind was when he said that he was more comfortable with the place because there were mostly upscale white people. I always get the impression that a lot of white people feel that a way but I've never heard that from another race and it did make me realize that Mr. Branch was right... there is usually a lot of talk about white and black and not much about other cultures in Memphis. I asl thought that it was strange that the prices were so low and yet the consumers seemed to be upscale. It made me wonder why lower income families were not present , and what drew the white collars in.