Month: October 2013

Milestones Were Reached Within the Past Week…

Post author By Jackson Baker
Post date October 4, 2013

CREDIT: JB

JB
octobenarian golfer John Malmo

***by advertising maven John Malmo, who observed his 80th birthday on Sunday and was honored by his employees with a birthday party the preceding Friday. The affair, complete with cake and party favors, included a 9-hole game of miniature golf, which took place on the several floors of the downtown Union Avenue site inhabited by archer-malmo communications and the Cotton Museum.

Here Malmo (above) prepares to finish up on the 9th hole (4th floor). He later took time to reminisce about his off-and-on relations, personal and professional, with various political worthies, ranging from 9th District congressman Steve Cohen — with whom Malmo feuded, to the point of handling the advertising for the largely nominal and symbolic candidacy of Cohen’s 2012 Republican opponent, Charlotte Bergman —to former Mayor Willie Herenton, whose first several mayoral campaigns Malmo assisted with.

Bergman would finish well behind Cohen, as Malmo and virtually everyone else expected. “Just as well,” commented Malmo, who harbored no illusions about the candidate or her chances but has remained vexed with Cohen (and with businessman/philanthropist Avron Fogelman).

The issue was one of disagreements with the two over what Malmo, then chairman of the Park Commission board, regarded as too lenient rental terms arranged by the pair for the then Houston Oilers to sojourn briefly in the Liberty Bowl on their way to becoming the Tennessee Titans in Nashville.

JB
Ford and Miller during Open House

**by former long=term 9th District Congressman Harold Ford Sr., who held Open House last Friday at the Sycamore View site of his new state-of-the-art Harold Ford Funeral Chapel . The new facility is but the precursor of the even more futuristic Serenity Columbarium and Memorial Garden, to come later via expansion.

In what was his last post on his City Beat blog, my colleague John Branston talked with Ford and gave details of what is to come.

Here Ford is discoursing on his plans to state Representative Larry Miller, one of scores of plugged-in p9litical and civic types who paid a visit to the Open House.

In a separate conversation with me, Ford was reminded that, during his second trial for bank fraud in 1993, he accounted for a controversial loan from the Knoxville-based Butcher banks by stating that his purpose had been to build a “world-class funeral home

The jury had believed him and acquitted him, and here he was, after a lucrative intervening career as a blue-ribbon lobbyist, apparently on the way to achieving his goal. Clearly pleased with the memory, Ford said, “I’m glad you remembered that.”

Art Exhibit M

Metal Museum’s Repair Days This Weekend

Post author By Eileen Townsend
Post date October 4, 2013

If you’ve never been to Repair Days or, heaven help you, never been to the Metal Museum, this weekend is the time to go. The museum itself (currently exhibiting works by Master Metalsmith Thomas Latané) is hands-down one of the best spots in Memphis, and Repair Days is the museum’s largest event of the year.

I spent a minute trying to come up with an analogy for what Repair Days is in comparison to the city’s other annual events. I was pretty unsuccessful. Repair Days is not “like BBQ Fest for blacksmiths.”

The weekend is, as museum director Carissa Hussong puts it, “…its own organism.” It is an informal reunion for craftspeople, a teaching event for young metalworkers and hobbyists, an auction, a dinner party, a family day, and a many-tiered repair market. This is the event’s 34th year.

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The museum hosts an estimated 150 volunteer metalsmiths over the course of the weekend. Members of the public are encouraged to bring their broken metalwork to the museums grounds, where the metalsmiths are set up under white tents. For those not in need of repairs, there will be ongoing metalsmithing demonstrations, work for sale, and, on Saturday evening, an auction and dinner.

Pizza cutter by Tom Latané

Lock by Tom Latané

Tom Latané, this year’s honored Master Metalsmith, is a blacksmith.

About this year’s selection, Hussong says, “It’s fun to go back to the roots of blacksmithing, which is very central to the Metal Museum.” Past years have showcased jewelers and “whitesmiths” (craftspeople who work with white metals such as tin and pewter).

Latané, who is largely self-taught, started working with metal as a teenager, after observing blacksmiths in Colonial Williamsburg.

“I set up a little blacksmith shop in my parents’ backyard while I was in high school, in suburban Baltimore, in 1970,” he says. “When I graduated, I started making things out of wood and metal for art and craft fairs and a couple consignment shops.”

Many of the works on display in the museum are tools he built for personal use or are presents for his wife, Kittie.

“It’s an honor to be presented to the public by the museum,” Lantané says. “A big honor.”

Latané will host a gallery talk and demonstration on Saturday, October 5th at 5 p.m., followed by an auction and live music.

Repairs are available 10 a.m.-5 p.m., through Sunday, October 6th.

Images of Repair Days by Tod Swiecichowski; images of Tom Latané’s work courtesy of the artist

News News Blog

Free Funerals for Furloughed Federal Employees

Post author By Bianca Phillips
Post date October 4, 2013

Brent Taylor

If you’re a federal employee on furlough during the government shutdown, and you have a death in your family while you’re off the job, former Memphis City Councilman/funeral director Brent Taylor wants to give you funeral free of charge.

But you must first register your family with Brentwood Funeral Services furloughed employee hotline, just in case. To register, call 901-461-7956. The program ends when the government reopens.

“A federal employee who is without a paycheck could be financially ruined if faced with purchasing a funeral during this government shutdown,” said Taylor. “These public servants should not have to worry about an unforeseen funeral expense while the government is shutdown. They deserve peace of mind.”

Taylor has served on the Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Commission.

Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Playing Chicken: The Stretch of Front Street in Front of Gus’s Fried Chicken Isn’t a Parking Lot

Post author By Chris Davis
Post date October 4, 2013

This delicious chicken makes people forget how to drive. And walk.

This delicious chicken makes people forget how to drive. And walk.

You know who needs to learn some manners? All the evil shits who think it’s okay to just turn their flashers on and park their giant-ass SUVs in the middle of Front St. in front of Gus’s Fried Chicken, that’s who.

We all have chicken needs. I get that. But this is a two lane street with double yellow “do not pass” lines painted down the center. And fucking sharrows. It’s bad enough in the morning when all the delivery trucks turn that stretch into a blind fucking death alley. But holy Christ. Nowadays it’s like there’s never a time of day or night when some fool isn’t taking up half the goddamn road just sitting there.

Please don’t misunderstand me, I love to crunch into those hot, dark mahogany bird parts as much as the next guy. I live to feel the spices searing my lips and tongue. And I completely understand how the juicy allure of those perfect breasts might cause some uncouth fuckers to behave erratically. But I’ve got to say, if you’re the sort of doofus who thinks it’s okay to park your mud-spattered Yukon in the middle of a busy street so cousin Joe can pop in to see if his to-go wings are ready, you might seriously consider the possibility that you and your cousin are fucking assholes and even your friends think you’re fucking assholes, and everybody but you knows because they they swap hilarious stories about you when you’re not around.

Now I understand that some people have real accessibility issues, so I’ve assembled an exhaustive list of all the reasons why it might be okay to park your fucking SUV on the street in front of Gus’s.

1. You are assisting a very special chicken lover with mobility issues and you need to get your friend or family member as close to the door as possible.

2. That’s fucking it, there are no other reasons.

3. Seriously, there are no other reasons, stop trying to justify what you’re doing because it only makes you look like a bigger asshole than you already are.

Obviously, a lot of these middle-of-the-street parkers are scared shitless. They are worried. They think you can’t walk more than 15-feet down a mean Memphis sidewalk without being robbed by mutant bangers or kidnapped and sold to Alabama sex farmers or forced to make/avoid making uncomfortable eye contact with that earnest-sounding panhandler who may or may not be telling the truth about his kids who haven’t had any tasty chicken in a long time. But for the love of sweet baby Jesus can everybody just stop for a minute and consider all the other poor fuckers out there on the road, most of them drunk, or sexting, or playing Bejewled Blitz on their phones, and not expecting you to just randomly park right in front of them? Can we think about that just a tic? For the children? For the fucking children?

And while we’re talking about the fucking children, do you know who all else needs to get their asses right with Amy Vanderbilt? Pretty much every pedestrian — every man woman and child — crossing that same stretch of Front.

Chicken or no chicken, the “Look both ways before crossing the street” rule is in effect motherfuckers. There needs to be a law that says if you are hit by a moving vehicle in front of Gus’s Fried Chicken you can just fucking deal with it yourself because it’s probably your own goddamn fault you asshole. This is not a video game. It’s not 1981 and you are not playing fucking Frogger in your fucking bedroom on your Atari. This is a real goddamn street with real goddamn cars driven by real red blooded Americans who are currently unable to stop in the middle of the street and eat a styrofoam plate full of delicious fried chicken because they have someplace else to fucking be.

In short, I don’t know what kind of country we live in anymore. I don’t know who we are or what we believe in. I just know I almost die and nearly kill every time I drive by Gus’s Fried Chicken on Front. Usually while trying to get around some SUV that just fucking stopped like somebody shot it with a freeze ray.

It doesn’t have to be this way Memphis. It never had to be.

News

Indie Memphis Announces Lineup

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date October 4, 2013

Greg Akers has the scoop on what’s on the schedule for this year’s Indie Memphis Film Fest. Hint: Some biggies.

News

Style Sessions: Fabiana

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date October 4, 2013

Flyer fashion writer Sophorn Kuoy spends the day with a co-worker, examining the elements of her style.

Sing All Kinds We Recommend

Indie Memphis Bares It All: Full Lineup Announced

Post author By Greg Akers
Post date October 4, 2013

Production still from Hometowner film Being Awesome

Production still from Hometowner film “Being Awesome”

Last night, at Craig Brewer’s Indie Memphis Peep Show at the new Hi-Tone, the director hosted a party replete with burlesque to properly fluff the audience in advance of the film festival, coming later this month.

Indie Memphis runs Thursday, October 31st, to Sunday, November 3rd, featuring more than 45 feature films screening at locations including Malco’s Studio on the Square, Playhouse on the Square, and Circuit Playhouse, and many filmmakers and actors will appear in Q&A sessions.

Some of the highlights of the festival include:

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Escape from Tomorrow, the opening night film, a horror film that was shot undercover at Disney World and Disneyland. Mickey Mouse will not be pleased, but everyone else should be.

August: Osage County, an adaptation of Tracy Letts renowned family drama. The film, which has serious Oscar aspirations, stars people you’ve heard of like Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, and Benedict Cumberbatch, among many others.

Mandela: A Long Walk to Freedom, the Idris Elba’s vehicle to stardom. Elba plays the South African civil rights leader.

H4 is Shakespeare’s Henry IV updated to L.A. and considering black political struggles. Actor and executive producer Harry Lennix and the film’s screenwriter, Ayanna Thompson, will appear at the festival.

Olivia Wilde and Ron Livingston in Drinking Buddies

Olivia Wilde and Ron Livingston in “Drinking Buddies”

Drinking Buddies, about love at a craft brewery, makes its Memphis premier, and writer/director Joe Swanberg will participate in a Q&A.

The Room, the crowd-pleasingly notorious “worst movie ever,” will be the Midnight movie on Friday evening.

Four other features had previously been announced: Nebraska, One Chance, Computer Chess, and Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay.

Hometowner features include the high school reunion film Being Awesome, the high school fairy tale What I Love About Concrete, the music documentaries I Am Soul and Meanwhile in Memphis: The Sound of a Revolution, and doc Orange Mound, Tennessee: America’s Community.

For the complete lineup, including screening times and locations, go to Indie Memphis.

Style Sessions We Recommend

Style Diary with Fabiana

Post author By Sophorn Kuoy
Post date October 4, 2013

Some look to fashion magazines and runway shows for style inspiration. Others find much more inspiration through people around them in an environment where fashion must also function practically. Inspiration comes through seeing a perfect balance between the practical and artistic realm. As an ode to Mary Cashiola’s original intent of Style Sessions, I’m resurrecting the Style Diary series that documents real Memphians and their style solutions to their typical work week.

Today, we feature Fabiana Vazquez, my colleague and a recent graduate of the University of Memphis architecture program, transitioning to the professional but creative office environment of Looney Ricks Kiss, an architecture and interior design firm based in downtown Memphis.

We use the rich architecture of downtown as our backdrop to demonstrate how Fabiana strikes that balance between the comfortable and the stylish with her easy-to-wear pieces inlaid with colors and patterns that perfectly fit her contagiously exuberant personality.

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Monday
I try to wear things that show off my personality and sometimes even brighten my mood, especially on Mondays. I had just gotten these colorful print pants at the Germantown Festival the weekend before, so I felt them to be appropriate enough to liven up my Monday morning. Bold colors and patterns paired with neutrals are always in, and this outfit just felt like the right choice to start out my week.

Tuesday
My work environment is very casual, but Tuesdays are still the beginning of the week, so I try to wear things that are comfortable but still work appropriate. On this day, I wore my favorite jeans from Free People with a casual loose-fitting top from Urban Outfitters and topped it off with a sports coat that I got from Macy’s Bar III. Something about adding a sports coat to a casual outfit makes it more “business-y”. Accessories are always a last-minute thing for me, so I added my favorite necklace from J.Crew to finish the look.

Wednesday
It had been chilly in the office the last couple of days, and with fall being my favorite season, I couldn’t wait to start wearing my scarves again. I kept it pretty monochromatic because I love the color of my scarf and pairing it with my stripped cardigan from New York & Company accentuated it even more. My everyday shoulder-strap purse matched the trim of my flats and my watch, and it played a nice contrast with the black.

Thursday
Thursdays are my “business”-look days. I try to throw one put-together look every week to prove to my mom that I am no longer a student and that I work in an office. I also like monochromatic and neutral colors too much, so most of the clothes in my closet are black, grey, and white. I tucked in a very casual sweater into a form-fitting black skirt and added teal drop earrings from Francesca’s and coordinating bracelet from Dazzle to add a pop of color.

Friday
This is definitely my “I’m Done” look. Fridays are my lazy mornings, so I usually put on a pair of jeans and whatever top matches best, then head out. I wore my favorite brown wedges from Macy’s and my Marc Jacobs watch for some simple accessorizing, and I’m off.

Overall, I try to keep things casual and comfortable. I’m not very big with heavy accessories or make-up so my clothes usually do most of the talking. What’s most important to me when picking an article of clothing is its diversity. I don’t necessarily care about what’s “in” or not. If I really like something, I buy it. I buy things that I can wear multiple times and coordinate to different things.

Photographed at Visible Music College, top of Toyota Plaza, Aldo’s Pizza Pies, and The Mad Earl

News

DejaVu Downtown

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date October 3, 2013

Susan Ellis checks out the new downtown DejaVu with a slideshow.