Randy Haspel says he’s seen the likes of the Tea Party before — in 1972 at the Democratic Convention.
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Month: October 2010
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The Big Short
I’m one of those people fascinated by the mortgage/foreclosure crisis: how it happened, how it was allowed to happen, the resulting effect on Americans and their communities …
So I’ve recommended Michael Lewis’ The Big Short to a lot of people. Lewis is one of these talented writers who can take a sprawling, complicated issue and make it easily digestable. In this case, he focuses on the six or so people who saw the bottom coming and bet against the American mortgage machine. By doing so, he encapsulates exactly what was going on and how things were slipping through the cracks.
Fresh Air’s Terry Gross also focused on the “complex foreclosure mess” last night with New York Times financial reporter Gretchen Morgenson.
One of the things that both Morgenson and Lewis talk about is how a bunch of risky loans would be pooled together — and because that seemed to equal a diverse portfolio — it would be given a better rating.
From Fresh Air:
“Thousands of them would go into one security, like say 10,000 mortgages, from a variety of places. They were trying to achieve diversification in these pools so as to diminish the risks associated with them.
And so you would have varying economic ability to repay in the loans. You would have very high-grade loans, you would have subprime loans, you would have a variety of loans from different geographic areas. And so this would, you know, it was hoped, be put into a security that would perform well over time and, you know, where people would repay the mortgages. And at the end of the line, the owner of the securities, and there were many of them because they were sliced up into varying risk degrees, okay. But in case, the idea was that everyone pretty much would get repaid at the end of the line.
Well, what was happening that many people did not recognize was that the types of loans were poisonous, toxic as you describe them, made to people who could not repay them, carried interest rates that would ratchet up dramatically after a few years, thereby making certain that they couldn’t be repaid.”
Lewis goes even further, talking about how loans were made to people who had very little credit history (thin credit files). Say, recent immigrants to the country. Because they had no previous credit history, it was easy to manipulate a high credit score. These loans would then be used to help achieve a certain average credit score in the pool of mortgages, making them appear to be less risky.
So if you’re interested, both Lewis’ book and Gross’ interview are worth a look.
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Which Memphis Schools Will Close?
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C-USA picks: Week 9
LAST WEEK: 3-2
SEASON: 49-16
SATURDAY
Houston over MEMPHIS
SOUTHERN MISS over Alabama-Birmingham
NOTRE DAME over Tulsa
TULANE over Southern Methodist
Texas-El Paso over MARSHALL
UCF over East Carolina
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Daylight Returns, Open Five Wins
The Indie Memphis Film Festival ended last weekend, but the local film scene isn’t taking any time off. After debuting for two screenings at the Paradiso in June and returning for two more screenings at Studio on the Square in July, the impressive local film Daylight Fades will get a full, one-week run at Paradiso starting Friday, October 29th.
The film is the latest and best feature from director Brad Ellis and his Old School Pictures crew, two-time past winners of the “Hometowner” award for best local feature at Indie Memphis. Working with longtime collaborator Allen Gardner, who scripted and co-stars, and a host of other talented local artists and craftspeople, perhaps most notably cinematographer John Paul Clark (who also shot the soon to be nationally released The Grace Card), Ellis has created a vampire-themed relationship drama polished enough that it would look at home in theatrical distribution or on cable.
The film also makes great use of Memphis locations, with an ultra-modern South Bluffs house turned into a compellingly nonstereotypical vampire’s lair and the Young Avenue Deli never looking better.
Screenings of Daylight Fades will be preceded by a trailer for Open Five, the latest work from local filmmaker Kentucker Audley. Audley joined Ellis as a two-time Indie Memphis “Hometowner” winner last weekend, when Open Five took the top local prize at the festival. But that’s not all it took. Open Five also won the overall jury prize for best feature at the festival, an award judged by former New York Times critic and At the Movies host Elvis Mitchell and freelance New York-based critic Aaron Hillis.
The film, a collaboration between Audley and musician Jake Rabinbach (of Jump Back Jake), is an intimate depiction of two twentysomething girls from New York City palling around Memphis with two twentysomething guys (Audley and Rabinbach, playing versions of themselves). Shot by indie stalwart Joe Swanberg, the film captures a certain strain of young Memphis while ably balancing its travelogue aspects with its more personal story.
Open Five is currently streaming for free on Audley’s website (kentuckeraudley.com) and will have a full-week New York run in late November.
Other Indie Memphis “Hometowner” winners were Sarah Fleming’s Training Wheels for best short film and G.B. Shannon’s Que Sera, Sivad for best animated or experimental film.
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Follow Through
Memphis instrumental soul-jazz trio the City Champs will unveil their second album, The Set-Up, this week with an album-release show at the Buccaneer Lounge, an important location in the group’s history.
The band was originally formed about four years ago out of a regular Tuesday-night jam session at the local pub among a small collection of friends and veteran musicians, including organist Al Gamble, guitarist Joe Restivo, drummer George Sluppick, and saxophonist Art Edmaiston.
“It was sort of our weekly poker night,” Restivo says. “But instead of playing cards, we played soul-jazz. Sometimes different musician friends would sit in with us, and it was always a great time.”
That core foursome came to be known as the Grip and released a fine EP for Archer Records in 2007 called Grab This Thing. But eventually Edmaiston became too busy with his other band, J.J. Grey and MOFRO, reducing the group to a trio.
“We decided to go ahead and change the name since Art couldn’t do it anymore,” Restivo says.
Rechristened the City Champs, the trio approached local producer and musical kindred spirit Scott Bomar in 2008 about working on some new recordings. Bomar agreed, and the City Champs cut what would become their debut album, The Safecracker, entirely live to a vintage tape machine in three days at his local Electraphonic recording studio.
“Originally, our plan was to shop it to other labels,” Restivo says. “We had no intention of getting a record deal out of him.”
But six months after the sessions, Bomar decided to sign the band to his own label, also dubbed Electraphonic.
“I was a big fan of the group even before they became the City Champs,” Bomar says. “The band and I both tried to find another label to release the album at first, but I found myself listening to it a lot at home and really enjoying it, so I decided to put it out myself.”
Released in March 2009, The Safecracker earned the band excellent reviews in local and national media, several film and television placements, and a spot on tour opening for local heavyweights the North Mississippi Allstars.
The following summer, Bomar approached the band about recording a second album.
“I was excited to get to do one album,” Restivo says. “This is a band that started out just for fun, and then suddenly we’re touring and have a legit record out. Doing a second record wasn’t really in our thoughts.”
For the follow-up, the band decided to spend a bit more time in the studio, as well as expand their musical horizons beyond their trademark Booker T & the MGs/Meters-inspired sound.
“I had been listening to lots of different kinds of world music, and when I started writing new material, some of that started to get incorporated,” Restivo says. “The band and material had progressed in the two years since The Safecracker.”
“I think we all felt that the stakes were higher this time, and we had to collectively raise the bar,” Bomar says. “All of the guys in the group are really forward-thinking and creative. The band wanted to expand the palette on this record and expand their sound.”
To accomplish the task, the band brought in a handful of outside collaborators, including legendary Motown backing musician and percussionist Jack Ashford, the horn section from Bomar’s R&B group the Bo-Keys, and Bomar himself, who contributes bass to the song “Crump St.”
“Getting to record with the City Champs was a pleasant surprise for me, as I never get called for any sessions or gigs in Memphis,” says Ashford, an area resident since 1983. “I liked the material, and all the guys in the band were great.”
Still, The Set-Up is unmistakably a City Champs album. The trio recorded everything live in the studio (overdubbing only the horns and extra percussion), and their sound remains driven by Gamble’s smooth, masterful organ playing.
“Al’s left hand is one of the best bass players in Memphis,” Bomar says. “I think one of the things that makes the City Champs unique is they are a trio, and Al has to play melody, chords, and bass on the organ all at the same time, which is very difficult.”
After this Friday’s release show, the group will play a short run of dates on the road before returning to the studio to record a single backing up Shreveport blues singer Big Baby. They’ll also be gearing up for a few potentially big opportunities next year.
“I probably shouldn’t say anything at this point,” Restivo says. “But there are some possible tours with big-name artists in the works and some other interesting projects coming in the months ahead. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens.”
The City Champs
The Set-Up CD-release show
Buccaneer Lounge
Friday, October 29th
10 p.m.
Categories
On the Move
Circa is moving to Regalia Shopping Center, and the current location on South Main will slip into something a little more comfortable.
“The new place is going to be [like] the one downtown,” says John Bragg, owner of Circa. And the downtown location?
“It’s loosely defined at this moment, but let’s call it a casual wine bar and lounge. We’re going to have affordable and fun gourmet food and drink but hold the reservations. It’s not so much a formal dining experience.”
The downtown Circa will eventually be renamed. Expect to see a larger bar and more space for gathering, as well as more wines by the glass and a lot of seasonal and local food items. Bragg is still sorting out the specifics, but the project will be under way once the new Circa in Regalia is open, sometime in early December.
The menu at the new Circa location will have a similar seasonal and local mien.
“There will be changes to the menu but in the same vein as the Circa we have now,” Bragg says. “There will be some upgrades to the dessert menu with homemade ice creams and sorbets and specialized pastry items. More local items are going to find their way on there. But that’s as far as I’ve decided on. There are certain core items we’ll keep up with, like our sorghum-cured rack of lamb with sweet potato flan, our bananas Foster soufflé, and crawfish beignets.”
Beer and wine offerings will be more or less similar at both locations, with just a few items catering specifically to each location.
“The wine list is going to be more global with a lot of Italian and Spanish wines by the glass. You’ll probably see more big-name California Cabs at Circa, and we’ll have an assortment of domestic and craft-type beers, probably with more draught beers downtown.”
Circa, 119 S. Main (522-1488)
Loyal patrons are already aware that Jim’s Place East, a staple in Memphis’ restaurant industry for almost 90 years, will be leaving its Shelby Oaks Drive location for a new space at Poplar and Perkins.
“We felt like moving to a better location with more traffic,” says Costa Taras, who co-owns the restaurant with Dimitri Taras and will bring on his son Bill to help run the new location.
“We had to make a move. We hate leaving here; we’ve been here since 1976. But we felt for the best interest of the business, we should close this one down.”
Taras says that 90 percent of the menu will stay the same: “We might add a few items here and there, some more Greek and Mediterranean, but it will basically be the same menu we’ve had all these years.”
The restaurant won’t have the same “old-world” feel as before, as Taras plans on leaving the antiques behind. But a more modern Jim’s Place is something he hopes will bolster the restaurant’s appeal for younger people. “We’ll keep the same client base, but I think we’ll pick up some new, younger customers in that location.”
The old Jim’s Place East location closed on Saturday, and the new location should open the week of November 15th. “It’s going to be a change, but we feel like it’s a change for the better,” Taras says.
Jim’s Place East will be moving to 518 S. Perkins Ext.
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Safe Schools?
Memphian Trevor Rush wasn’t even “out” when he was targeted by bullies at Craigmont Middle School. Now 24 years old, Rush was punched and kicked and had wet toilet paper thrown at him repeatedly in middle school.
“One time, this guy was yelling at me and calling me faggot, and I wouldn’t answer him, so he squirted a mayonnaise packet in my face. The teachers wouldn’t even do anything about it,” said Rush, who eventually left the school system in the eighth grade after being beaten for appearing gay.
Rush’s case is not an isolated one.
After a recent rash of suicides nationwide by gay teens who have been bullied, the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center held a public forum last week about the ongoing problem of anti-gay bullying in city, county, and private schools.
At the forum, Lynda Sagrestano, director of the University of Memphis’ Center for Research on Women, said 26 percent of the almost 600 local middle and high school students surveyed in 2007 and 2008 reported having been called gay or lesbian by another student.
“The ultimate insult is to question somebody’s masculinity. Boys and girls are doing this as an insult, and it doesn’t even matter whether or not they think someone is gay,” Sagrestano said.
Memphian Diane Thornton spoke at the forum about her son William who was bullied at a charter school, which Thornton did not name, when he was 14 and 15 years old. Thornton said her son experienced “a series of small events,” such as name-calling or pulling on his backpack, that added up over time. Before he left that school, another student slammed him against a table.
Like Rush, William transferred from that school. William had not identified himself as gay, but Thornton said kids picked on him because “he’s not a real macho guy and he’s very respectful. He was perceived as an outsider.”
“When a kid comes home and says, ‘I hate school and I’m not going back, because they’re all mean to me,’ it means that school is not safe, and the child may not be able to express what’s going on,” Thornton said.
According to Memphis City Schools policy, reported incidents of harassment are fully investigated, and MCS provides counseling to students free of charge. Rush and Diane Thornton both said the administrators at the schools were not helpful or responsive when approached about the bullying.
At least one Memphis school — Kingsbury High School — is hoping to do a better job at curbing anti-gay bullying. Last February, English teacher Ian Smith founded a gay-straight alliance for students at Kingsbury.
“I’ve seen kids show up to meetings that I’ve never seen before. We’ve even had straight-identified basketball players come to multiple meetings,” Smith said. “If we can do this at Kingsbury, there’s no reason another school can’t do it.”
Tim Smith, a former Marine kicked out of the military under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, announced that the University of Memphis is starting a Safe Zone project to help university faculty and staff respond to bullying on campus.
“We think that once kids turn 17 they’re safe, but these highly publicized suicides have shown that [bullying] is a danger to college kids as well,” Tim Smith said, referring to the September suicide of Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi.
Rush considered suicide after being assaulted in eighth grade, but his life improved dramatically after he began home-schooling.
“Things really did get better after I left that environment,” Rush said. “If bullying were squashed, there’d be a lot more happy people in school.”
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Brother’s Keeper
This is what happened: In 1980, in Ayer, Massachusetts, Katherina Brow was savagely murdered. Her next-door neighbor, Kenny Waters, often in trouble with the law, was suspected of the crime. Two years later, an ex-girlfriend of Kenny’s told the police that Kenny had confessed committing the crime to her. Kenny was convicted on the basis of the testimony and sentenced to life without parole.
Kenny’s sister, Betty Anne Waters, believing her brother to be innocent, began a years-long crusade to get Kenny exonerated. Feeling that Kenny didn’t receive proper legal counsel during the trial, Betty Anne got her GED, then a bachelor’s degree, and then put herself through law school, all so that she could represent her brother as a professional advocate.
This story is the basis of Conviction, a new film starring Hilary Swank as Betty Anne and Sam Rockwell as Kenny. It sounds a little like a modern fairy tale, but it doesn’t play out that way: Based on a true story, the hardscrabble film gives you a sense of the enormity and difficulty of the undertaking. Betty Anne struggles through school, her marriage falls apart, and her kids reject her. Kenny attempts suicide. The years mount, and hope wanes.
We see the painful upbringing of Betty Anne and Kenny, little scofflaws who break into houses so they can pretend to have better lives. We see the deepening bond between the siblings, devoted to each even after being put into separate foster homes. Kenny grows up on the local police’s radar because he’s one of those guys who’s always getting into trouble. Betty Anne trusts her brother in part because he always took the fall for her. When he’s arrested for murder, Betty Anne knows that it could just as well have been her life that led to it.
Conviction draws a lot of comparisons to another true-story movie, Steven Soderbergh’s Erin Brockovich. Both are about single moms overcoming the disadvantages of their circumstances as they throw themselves into the legal arena, sacrificing to right a wrong, struggling to strike a balance between their big-picture goals with the daily needs of their families.
Conviction is a more compelling film. Betty Anne’s journey is both longer and with a less certain conclusion: She dedicates almost two decades to exonerate a convicted criminal who, so far as she knows, may actually be guilty. Compare Betty Anne to the cinematic Brockovich (Julia Roberts), who devotes her time to protecting a small town from nefarious corporate misdeeds. One story just makes for a better movie.
Conviction‘s director, Tony Goldwyn, is no Soderbergh. But Goldwyn, best known as a character actor, coaxes great details out of the cast’s performances. Betty Anne’s clipped Massachusetts accent is affecting. Kenny is a charming asshole as only Rockwell can play one. Swank and Rockwell are both good bets for Oscar nominations.
As Betty Anne’s law school friend, Minnie Driver adds warmth and a healthy perspective to the proceedings but doesn’t become a one-note functionary. Juliette Lewis plays Kenny’s ex, but her behavior doesn’t veer into villainy. Rather it is poignant and one more indictment of the world in which the film takes place.
Conviction doesn’t spend much time on the murder victim, which has reportedly upset Brow’s family members. Right or wrong, Conviction isn’t your typical courtroom drama and doesn’t delve into the facts of the case. It’s more about family than crime. The film isn’t about whodunit but who didn’t do it. It’s also about the institution of the state, which is more concerned with procedure than justice. It’s about a different kind of victim, a life shattered by bureaucracy.
Conviction‘s morals are simple: Blood is important. Education is important. Effort is important. Justice is important.
Opening Friday, October 29th
Ridgeway Four
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Fly on the Wall
Controversy?
It all started when Shelby County commissioner Mike Carpenter tweeted a joke between colleagues:
mikecarpenter1: “Comm Roland discussing situation in Millington where person selling pit bulls. Comm Bunker: ‘Don’t they eat those in Millington?'”
This resulted in an overheated news report by WMC reporter Kontji Anthony slugged “Twitter Controversy swoops through Shelby County Commission.”
mikecarpenter1: “RT @actionnews5: Twitter controversy swoops through Commish || only ‘controversy’ cuz you made it. Joke among colleagues.”
Now that the controversy that never actually existed has died down, Carpenter is having some sly fun with WMC:
mikecarpenter1: “Joe Ford pension on agenda. If anything funny said, I will note it is a joke 2 avoid appearance of controversy.”
mikecarpenter1: “Comm Mulroy honoring first Memphis comic and fantasy conference. Some would say that’s what we do every two weeks.”
mikecarpenter1: “Mulroy dressed as Star Trek crew member. BTW this is a joke. It’s not a real debate.”
get to work
WMC reporter Anna Marie Hartman has some advice for the unemployed: Get pretty! A “news” package, credited to Hartman on WMC’s website and to other reporters on other news websites, suggests that looks seem to matter more than education. It quotes North Carolina plastic surgeon Stephan Finical, who says people who need a job might think they need a little work done: “That is a big reason why Botox sales are booming.”
In the old days, we called this a commercial.
By Chris Davis. E-mail him at davis@memphisflyer.com.