Month: February 2015

Categories
Music Music Blog

Weekend Roundup Part Four

Thelma and the Sleaze play Bar DKDC Saturday Night.

Like live music? You’ve come to the right place. From local bands to up-and-coming touring acts, here’s a selection of whats going down around town this weekend.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 6TH:
JoJo Jefferies and Ronnie Caldwell, 6:00 p.m. at Lafayettes Music Room.

The River City Cadillacs, 6:00 p.m. at Murphy’s.

Dank, Zigadoo Moneyclips, 8:00 p.m. at the Hi-Tone (small room), $5.00.

Weekend Roundup Part Four (3)

Star and Micey, Magnolia Sons 8:00 p.m. at 1884 Lounge, $12.00.

Big Barton, 8:00 p.m. at The Cove.

Weekend Roundup Part Four (2)

Marcella and Her Lovers, 9:00 p.m. at Bar DKDC

CCDE Bob Marley Tribute show, 9:00 p.m. at the Hi-Tone Cafe (big room), $10.00.

Whores, The Devils Right Hand, 9:00 p.m. at the Buccaneer Lounge, $5.00.

Weekend Roundup Part Four

Ori Naftaly Band, 10:00 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 7TH:

River Bluff Clan, 11:00 a.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

Prosevere CD Release, 6:00 p.m. at the New Daisy Theater, $10.00.

Waka Winter Classic featuring Agori Tribe and more, 8:00 p.m. at the 1884 Lounge, $5.00.

Jeremy Stanfill and Joshua Cosby, 6:30 p.m. at Lafayette”s Music Room. 

Churchyard, Toxie, Liquid Teens, 9:00 p.m. at the Lamplighter, $5.00.

Weekend Roundup Part Four (5)

Dead Soldiers, Strange Wave Connection, 9:30 p.m. at the Young Avenue Deli, $10.00

Weekend Roundup Part Four (4)

One Word, Hazy Skies, Orion, 9:00 p.m. at the Buccaneer, $5:00.

Atlas Road Crew, 10:00 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

Jack Alberson CD Release, 10:00 p.m. at P and H Cafe.

Faith Ruch, 10:00 p.m. at the Hi-Tone (small room), $5.00

Good Paper, Art Edmaiston, 10:00 p.m. at the Hi-Tone (big room), $5.00

Thelma and the Sleaze, 10:30 p.m. at Bar DKDC, $5.00

Weekend Roundup Part Four (6)

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 8TH:
Poppa Top’s West Coast Turnaround, 4:00 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

The Local Saints, 7:00 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

Enabler, Call of the Wild, Dawn Patrol, 8:00 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $10.00

Weekend Roundup Part Four (7)

Elizabeth Wise, 10:00 p.m. at the Buccaneer.

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

Illness Delays the Opening of Threepenny Theatre Company’s “A Long Day’s Journey Into Night.”

Yeah, I know you were looking forward to seeing 3PT’s take on Eugene O’Neill’s sprawling American family drama this weekend. I mean, what a cast, right? Christina Wellford-Scott, Bill Baker, John Dylan Atkins, Gabe Beutel-Gunn, and Jillian Barron… just… wow.  

But you’re going to have to wait till Friday, Feb. 13. Oh well. Life goes on.

In the meantime, here’s the complete 1987 revival with Jack Lemon and Kevin Spacey. I mean, what a cast, right?

Illness Delays the Opening of Threepenny Theatre Company’s ‘A Long Day’s Journey Into Night.’

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

In the Aftermath of Defeat on Health Care, Haslam Faces Next Challenge: Education

CREDIT: JB

JB

Haslam at TPA

WHAT’S IN A NAME? On Thursday, a day after the defeat in a Senate committee of Insure Tennessee, his Medicaid expansion proposal, Governor Bill Haslam addressed members of the Tennessee Press Association at the DoubleTree Hotel in Nashville.

Haslam did not speak directly, in his remarks Thursday, to the issue of how various negative memes associated with the names of “Obama” and “Obamacare” had tainted his “Insure Tennessee” proposal beyond repair. But he offered some candid reflections to TPA members on how matters of nomenclature had become an obstacle in pursuing the matter of educational standards — his next battlefront and a subject to which he devoted marginally more time Thursday than he did to the “Insure Tennessee” debacle.

“There will be pushback,” he said. “Some people want to stand in the door and go back.” His administration had been fully committed to Common Core, but there had been “so much misunderstanding and controversy” over the name and concept that “the brand has become worthless.” He spoke of encountering on the stump a “double-degreed” woman in Bristol who was obsessed with the idea that Common Core would mandate sex education in kindergarten. “I couldn’t budge her,” Haslam said

“We’re not going to fix the brand. It’s too hard,” he said. “There are certain hills you can die on. Dying on the hill that people feel that way about, I don’t think is smart.” Accordingly, his administration was in the process of developing its own system of English and math standards which would operate similarly to Common Core, it seemed clear, but would steer clear of any name suggestive of the “ruined brand.”

Something similar is underway with regard to another discredited component of Haslam’s education reform program. “The legislature didn’t like PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) “ as an assessment vehicle, so the administration was developing something similar it called “TNReady” in that TCAP, the traditional testing format, no longer fit the state’s objectives. (One modification in the state’s evaluation system, the Governor said, would be to reduce somewhat the percentage by which teacher evaluation in student achievement would be weighted.)

FREUDIAN SLIP? In the Q-and-A session with reporters following his remarks at the TPA meeting, Haslam was asked about the fact that, in his Monday night address to the General Assembly, he had stayed close to his previously released prepared text, only interpolating some synonymous language here and there. But there had been one conspicuous outright omission from the printed text. As the text read, the Governor responded to the oft-expressed objection of Insure Tennessee critics that the federal government could not be trusted to follow through with its commitment of 90-percent funding in two years’ time. The line in the text was: “I understand the concern, but I think it’s worthy of mention that the United States of America has never missed a scheduled Medicaid payment.“

Asked about the omission, Haslam seemed honestly confused, protesting that he thought he had said the line. When his aide Alexia Poe confirmed that he indeed had not, the Governor attributed the omission to “operator error,” not to any conscious calculation.

PROMISES, PROMISES…Toward the end of the Q-and-A session, after Haslam had responded to questions about his late efforts to familiarize the public with the purpose and mechanics of Insure Tennessee by saying the framework of an agreement with HHS was long in coming, a reporter said something jokingly to the effect that he have made public promises of a deal anyhow, that politicians made promises all the time.

Haslam smiled and said, “I thank you for saying I’m not a politician.”

AND THAT’S NOT ALL…When another reporter, riding down from the TPA event in an elevator with Haslam, suggested that if “Jesus Himself” had come to the legislature and proclaimed, “This is My Plan,” someone would have yelled, “Crucify him!”

Another Haslam smile: “I’m not Jesus.”

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

The Charm of John Willingham

I always like finding abandoned grocery lists or notes scribbled in the margins of used books. 

A couple weeks ago at Second Editions, the used bookstore at the central library, I hit the motherlode: an elaborately signed copy of the late John Willingham’s World Champion Bar-B-Q. I would expect nothing less. 

It reads: 

If you read this book and practice what it teaches, 
It won’t help your favorite candidate win election
It won’t help your favorite team to win the NFL or NBA
Nor will it help your sex life, but … 
It will sho-nuff help your bbq’n!
Remember — “Southern White beans,” never pass gas in a Southerly direction — So …. 
You should choose your “beans” carefully. 
Yours in que, 
John Willingham 
Memphis, TN

P.S. May Godl bless you and the republic for which we stand. God bless America! 

Categories
Calling the Bluff Music

Throwback Thursday: Cities Aviv’s “F*ckeverybodyhere”

 
During my freshman year at the University of Memphis, I remember seeing this guy around campus that reminded me of The Cool Kids. He was always clad in skinny jeans, bright-colored Nikes, and had the bill of his hat flipped up. 

I would later find out he was an artist that went by the name of Cities Aviv.

In spring 2011, I got a chance to see him perform at Young Avenue Deli in Cooper Young. Other artists on the lineup that Friday night were Knowledge Nick, Red Eye Jedi, and Jason Da Hater. And the headliner was DJ Quickie Mart.

I remember being impressed by how different but dope Cities Aviv’s music was, along with the high-energy performance he provided. Some of the cuts he performed would later be featured on his 2011 debut, Digital Lows.

Digital Lows was littered with eclectic production, dated samples, and hard-edged lyrics centered on the mindframe and experiences of someone “born in the city where they killed the King.”

One of the highlights off the project is the apathetic “F*ckeverybodyhere,” which boasts a sample of Steely Dan’s “Midnight Cruiser.”

Stream it below.

Throwback Thursday: Cities Aviv’s “F*ckeverybodyhere”

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Categories
Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Tennessee Denied Coverage to Remove Cancerous Lawmakers

A microscopic view of Tennessee’s legislature-shaped growth.

Tragedy struck this week, as the US Surgeon General advised Tennessee that the mass growing in the greater Nashville region was, in fact, cancer of the state Legislature, and that its current insurance plan would not cover any sort of invasive surgery to remove it.

“This is one of the most aggressive, repugnant tumors I’ve ever seen,” said the Surgeon General. “It has already spread to the Judiciary and state Constitution, and is eyeing the Executive as we speak. God, I wish we could have caught it sooner.”

One of the so-called “marginally poor” states, Tennessee generates barely enough revenue to disqualify itself from federally guaranteed health care coverage, but lives paycheck-to-paycheck, considering health care to be an unaffordable luxury.

Functional state legislatures are a vital organ of the state, regulating many of the industries and practices that comprise a reasonable modern government. Friends and family of Tennessee urged it to seek medical attention when the legislature developed abnormally high concentrations of guns and regressive taxes, but after years of ignoring the problem, the situation appears dire.

“This cancer has grown unchecked for years, and it appears to be self-funding at present,” the Surgeon General explained, “without treatment I’d give you two years before you experience total public school shut down.”

Doctors recommended the state begin immediate radiation therapy, with debate raging on as to whether the Legislature should be defined as a living person and protected from destruction.

Tennessee has set up a GoFundMe to help defray the cost of medical bills.

Robert Callahan is a Memphian living in Chicago, Wiseguy, and regular contributor to Fly on the Wall. 

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Pink Diva Cupcakery Pop-up Sunday

Pink Diva Cupcakery, a new vegan desserts business founded by Cassi Conyers, is holding a pop-up shop on Sunday, February 8th, 2:30-5 p.m., at Co-Motion Studio at 416 Cleveland. 

Among the flavors on sale: cookies and cream, strawberry shortcake, bellini, snickerdoodle, rainbow glitter, and diva delight.

The rainbow glitter is a champagne cupcake with layers of yellow, pink, and blue cake with a rainbow frosting dusted with edible glitter. The diva delight is a chocolate coffee cupcake with a ganche filling with a  whipped topping with a ganche drizzle.

Cupcakes are $3 and the “happy hour” cupcakes (booze-filled) are $5. 

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

“Miss Firecracker” Lights Up the Stage at Germantown Community Theatre

I’m not exactly a fan of Beth Henley‘s 1984 comedy The Miss Firecracker Contest, although I do have a soft spot for the show, and fond memories of its long-ago Memphis premiere. The script’s too contrived, too mechanical. And no matter how much I may enjoy the antic bits and surreal set pieces, Henley’s screwball romance never seems to go anywhere. Maybe it’s Chekhovian in that regard, but never as substantial or satisfying.

Henley’s storycraft may be pat, but she’s a genius when it comes to memorable, unexpected moments. And to borrow a feel-good line from countless forgettable romantic comedies, sometimes the journey really is the destination. And seriously, when’s the last time you sat through a feel-good comedy laden with so many over-the-top stories about terrible deaths and hideous deformities?

With diversions touching on everything from malformed kittens and midgets to terrifying dreams of female dismemberment and mutilation, Firecracker tells the “bless-her-heart” story of Carnelle, a “Delta Dawn” in training, pinning what’s left of her tattered, tarted-up self-worth, on the outcome of a small town beauty contest. She’s an orphan, raised by relatives, living alone in the ancestral manse and working on a patriotic tap routine to be performed with Roman candles. Carnelle yearns to ditch her current title, Miss Hot Tamale, an honor unceremoniously bestowed upon her by the mean boys (and girls) of Brookhaven, and roll out of Mississippi in a red, white, and blue blaze of glory. She’s been messed up, but she’s working things out.

Carnelle shares the stage with cousins Elain (who’s left her husband… and all her beautiful clocks), and Delmount, an unhinged Tom Wingfield type, who’s in and out of trouble but longs to settle down and study philosophy so he can finally tell people why we’re here. They’re joined in mutual Southern Gothic silliness by Popeye, a an oddball Southern seamstress, Mac Sam, a randy carnival roustabout with the clap, and busybody pageant organizer named Tessy Mahoney. Each character is somehow imprisoned by economic circumstances, tyrannizing ideas, and societal expectation. Only the sickly, hard-drinking Mac Sam counts himself a king of infinite space.

Germantown Community Theatre wants to step up its game. The teenincy east-side playhouse has expanded its lobby, and built what, at first glance, seems to be a more actor and tech-friendly stage. And, while this revival of Miss Firecracker, may miss some marks here and there, it really fits the space, both physically and tonally. It made me wonder why, for all of its shortcomings, the show hadn’t been revived in Memphis in almost 30-years.

As much as I like what’s been done with the GCT space, it might have been interesting to take things a step further and experiment with less representational scenic design. Not to play backseat director, but simply taking away solid walls and leaving old photos (and maybe some clocks) floating in the background like ghosts, might help the audience transition visually into a less representational second act, where an unchanging circus tent backdrop currently makes it difficult to know where the actors are playing from scene to vaguely-defined scene. Oh well, baby steps.

Sometimes it’s hard to tell if GCT’s cast members are inhabiting their characters or judging them, however sympathetically. And for all the good humor and laughs, this Miss Firecracker misses a number of emotional marks along the way. Jenny Smith, Shawna Lei Gardner, and Rebecca Lipscomb all turn in nicely crafted performances, but the only sparkler on this stage is Meredith Koch, as TCB pageant coordinator Tessy Mahoney.

I understand the show’s selling out. And at GCT, a theater that, to my mind, has always been plagued with a bit of an identity problem, this one absolutely should. 

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

Two Dialogues from the Climactic Committee Meeting That Finished Off “Insure Tennessee” in Nashville

The following two snatches of dialogue which speak for themselves, occurred Wednesday morning during the climactic hearing of the state Senate Health and Welfare Commitetee, whose ultimate 7-4 vote against Governor Bill Haslam’s “Insure Tennessee” health-insurance plan doomed that reform proposal, prevented it from reaching the floor of either the House or the Senate, and caused the abrupt termination of the special session called by Governor Haslam to consider his plan.

Gardenhire

Yarbro

DIALOGUE BETWEEN SENATOR JEFF YARBRO (D-NASHVILLE) AND SENATOR TODD GARDENHIRE (R-CHATTANOOGA). 
COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN  RUSTY CROWE (R-JOHNSON CITY) WAS MODERATING.

  • YARBRO: ..Mr. Chairman, I would just note that virtually every member of the Tennessee General Assembly receives some form of subsidized health care. Before we make the decision to do nothing, I just think that any members who are opposed or have doubts about this would offer some type of suggestion about what the governor’s plan should do that would actually allow us to accomplish this.

    • .
    CROWE: Senator Gardenhire is recognized.

    GARDENHIRE: Senator Yarbro, I’ve heard you twice take a slap at some of us, and I’m getting a little resentful of it. I have very nice health care provided to me through my private employer. My wife is on Social Security. I guess some people say I should be on Social Security but I’m not.

    Number Two, when you said while ago that we ought to take this seriously, would you name the ones on this committee that’s not taking this seriously? And if you can’t, how about apologizing. This is not a campaign. This is serious.

    YARBRO: Oh, Senator Gardenhire, I completely agree it’s not a campaign, and it is very serious, and I don’t think there’s anyone who’s not taking the job seriously.

    GARDENHIRE: Then why did you say so?

    YARBRO: I did not say so.

    GARDENHIRE: Yes, you did. I know you’re new, but you need to learn how to respect us

    YARBRO: Senator, with all due respect, I do respect this body , and this body gives serious consideration of the issues. The only thing that I’m offering is to say that…

    GARDENHIRE: What you said was, we should take this seriously, and I want you to understand it so you don’t misunderstand it, I’m taking this seriously. I’m taking my time off from my job to be here to look into this and spend my time looking at every aspect of it. So please treat us with respect.

    YARBRO: Yes sir, I will absolutely treat you….

    GARDENHIRE: That’s enough.

    YARBRO …with respect, and I really do look forward to discussing both this plan and any other plans that anyone would have.

    CROWE Point well taken. Okay, we’re good….



    Despite his protestations, Senator Gardenhire is indeed on state insurance, as several press reports indicated on Thursday. Minutes after the exchange above, the witness was Charlie Howorth of the Tennessee Business Roundtable, a blue-ribbon business panel.    .

    DIALOGUE BETWEEN WITNESS CHARLIE HOWORTH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TENNESSEE BUSINESS ROUNDTABLE AND SENATOR MIKE BELL (R-RICEVILLE)
     

    Howorth

    HOWORTH…This has positive health benefits. It has positive benefits for 

    Bell

    business….What Governor Haslam has proposed is unique. I’ve seen a lot of these plans…I thnk the Governor has come in with a unique plan that presents conservative values and all the things we were looking at. It is true health reform, which is what we need….If [a business offered the same benefits] ] I don’t think there would be any discussion about it….[Insure Tennessee] is the biggest economic impact that will occur in this state this year. It’s like several Volkswagens [Volkswagen plants, like that in Chattanooga] coming into this state….It’s a great plan….

    BELL: Mr. Howorth, I don’t have a question, but I do have a statement. And it’s for the committee members and those in the audience as well. I want to remind them who the Tennessee Business Roundtable is. I have a copy of a press release here, April 9, 2002. They were one of the main proponents of the state income tax in the state of Tennessee, and again I’ve got a copy of the press release in front of me right now. They ‘re also one of the main proponents of Common Core.

    Now they’re here supporting Insure Tennessee. It doesn’t surprise me that they’re wanting to expand government more. From this 2002 press release it shows that they represented 153 of the largest businesses in the state of Tennessee, and I would remind the committee members and those in the audience that we just last week received a survey from the NFIB [National Federation of Independent Businesses] saying that 65 percent of our independent small businesses in their state oppose Insure Tennessee, and again I just wanted to remind the committee members of that.

    HOWORTH: I wasn’t there in 2002. We do support education reform and educating our children. We certainly do….

    In case anyone is wondering, Senator Yarbro voted for “Insure Tennessee;” Senators Gardenhire, Bell, and Crowe voted against.

    Categories
    Beyond the Arc Sports

    Next Day Utah Haiku: Grizzlies 100, Jazz 90

    CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

    Larry Kuzniewski

    The Man, the Myth, the Calathes.

    Last night’s 100-90 Grizzlies win over the Jazz in Salt Lake City was both eventful and uneventful, which is typical of these mid-week February road games. You’re excited to be watching basketball, and then you remember that just about everybody on the court just wants to make it to the All-Star break so they can have a week off and recharge, and you remember that it’s a Wednesday, and so you feel the same way about the weekend.

    On the one hand, it was a grind-it-out road victory over a team that is young and still developing (and for some reason starting Dante Exum instead of Trey Burke even though at this point in time Burke is a superior player.)

    On the other hand, it was a masterful defensive performance in spots, and a shining example of just how good the Kosta Koufos/Nick Calathes pairing can be when they’re firing on all cylinders (and, of course, the budding Calathes/Tony Allen/Koufos trio that is a nightmare of turnover generation for opponents), and a showcase for the two-point-guard sets that have been proliferating this year with the ascension of both Beno Udrih and Nick Calathes to solid backup roles.

    Anyways, here are some haiku. Some of these are assisted by the excellent Vine work of @BenTBrown.

    1.
    Jeff Green dunks and dunks
    Like no Griz has in a while
    (Never forget Stro).

    2.
    From Greece comes a new
    Lord of Basketball Chaos:
    Nick, who swipes and steals.

    3.
    O Gordon Hayward,
    I still can’t believe that you’re
    good at basketball.

    4.
    A suprise attack,
    An unexpected ambush:
    Tony off the bench.

    5.
    Z-Bo rails against
    the finite nature of time:
    Sixty-foot basket.

    Tweet of the Night

    No comment necessary, assuming you watched the Super Bowl and its accompanying maudlin Dad-ads:

    Up Next

    On the road against the Timberwolves, who actually have some of their injured players back now. On the plus side, it’s not at altitude like Salt Lake City is. On the down side, it’s in Minnesota in February, and someone might freeze to death walking from the bus to the locker room if an exterior door is left open.