Month: November 2015

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Tigers 81, Ohio State 76 (OT)

The Tigers scored only one field goal in overtime tonight in Miami . . . but managed to beat Ohio State for the program’s first win over a Big Ten team in seven years. It was that kind of game at the Hoop Hall Miami Invitational, a sloppy, often-ugly victory for one teetering program over another. Led by 23 points from senior Shaq Goodwin (matching his career high) and 16 each from freshman Dedric Lawson and senior Ricky Tarrant Jr., the Tigers improved to 3-2 while the Buckeyes dropped their third straight game to fall to 2-3.

Goodwin hit the only field goal (for either team) in the overtime period. Tarrant hit three of four free throws in OT and Lawson rejected a shot by Ohio State’s JaQuan Lyle that would have tied the game at 78 with 50 seconds left to play. The Memphis defense tightened considerably after allowing Ohio State to score the last five points of regulation play, including a game-tying three-pointer by Keita Bates-Diop with 56 seconds on the clock. Goodwin missed a 15-foot jumper and Avery Woodson’s three-point heave at the buzzer never had a chance. (The ball was nearly lost as Lawson dribbled across halfcourt.)

The Buckeyes seemed to take command in the second half with an 11-4 run to start the period and take a 48-39 lead. But the Tigers answered with a 14-2 run keyed by a Lawson hook shot and a trey by Woodson (who finished with 11 points). The game featured a total of ten lead changes. Lyle led Ohio State with 18 points and eight assists.

With a first-half dunk, Goodwin became the 50th player in Memphis history to score 1,000 points in his career. He played significant minutes — and made significant impact — despite picking up his fourth foul with more than 15 minutes to play in regulation. The Tiger bench was squeezed, K.J. Lawson sitting out with a sore Achilles heel. Memphis reserves combined to score only 12 points.

The Tigers’ next seven games will be at FedExForum (all in December). They host Louisiana Tech next Tuesday, with tipoff scheduled for 8 p.m.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Ten Grizzlies Things I Am Thankful For

Now that most of us have awakened (however slowly) from our food comas, and the Grizzlies have a home game tonight against the Atlanta Hawks, I thought it might be nice to spend some time in reflection. Grizzlies fans have a lot to be thankful for. The team has made the playoffs five years in a row, they’ve made it to the Conference Finals in that stretch, they’re still one of the best teams in the West (though this year I think it’s pretty clear that Golden State is the best), they’ve finally managed to grow—organically, through many repeated years of success and through an uncommon identification between the team and the fans—a fanbase that seems like it will persist for years to come.

But those aren’t the things I’m thankful for this year—well, they are, but they’re not the ones that made my list. Here are ten Grizzlies things I am thankful for.

#1: I am thankful that Mario Chalmers has improved the team since coming in via trade.

#2: I am thankful that I was able to let go of my long-held grudge against Chalmers for what might still be the most emotionally devastating sports loss I’ve ever had to sit through, by myself in a hotel room in San Jose, California, wearing a Memphis Tigers sweatshirt around the Bay Area all week before that garnering some strange looks. I may not have let go of the loss, but I have come to realize that Mario Chalmers was supposed to make that shot. He is a basketball player. Can’t be mad at that. The Tigers’ free throw shooting, though…

Larry Kuzniewski

#3: Well, that got off track, didn’t it. I am thankful for JaMychal Green, who (even though Dave Joerger says he is a small forward) has stepped up as the first big off the bench in ways I don’t think anyone imagined. I’m also thankful that I saw him in Kroger on Union Ave. that one time buying wheat bread at 9PM. Wheat bread is good for you.

#4: I am thankful that Jeff Green has finally started to find a role and a rhythm on this team, because having to watch him amble around the court without a clue what is happening around him is pretty exhausting. His defensive awareness is still only marginally higher than that of, say, a stump, or a small woodland mammal, but when he’s finding lanes to drive to the basket, getting free throws, and not taking so many horrific pull-up jumpers, Green helps this team. Resentment is toxic. Being free from Jeff Green Rage has been good for us, as a group of people who watch this team.

That said, I’m sure it will be back. When Zach Randolph slots back into the starting lineup, the space in which Green has been able to operate so well as of late will go away, and he’ll be back to trying to improvise without anywhere to go. My hope is that he moves back to the second unit when Randolph returns to the first, so that he can continue playing in more pace-oriented groupings. “More pace-oriented” is one of the least direct ways I could think of to say “Gasol/Randolph don’t move very quickly”.

Larry Kuzniewski

#5: I am thankful for the time we had with Beno Udrih, as a city. Beno is a guy who gets Memphis. Now we’ll see how much of Hog & Hominy‘s monthly revenue he was responsible for. The Grizzlies may need to offer them some sort of bailout package.

#6: As ever, I am thankful that the Core Four era continues, even as we start to see the cracks emerging around the edges. As the unit that has brought the Grizzlies their first real run of playoff success, they’re always going to be legends. As the team starts to transform away from this configuration—and you’re kidding yourself if you don’t see it happening already—it’s going to be easy to say “Get rid of the old guys.” And in some sense, that’s the appropriate response—the NBA is not (typically) an environment that engenders loyalty to players. Fans cheer for laundry.

But if you’re not a little bit wistful about Zach’s struggles to keep up on defense, and Tony’s out-of-place-ness and commensurate negative net rating—if that doesn’t give you a little bit of “Oh man it’s finally happening” sadness—I’m not sure I can help you. So I’m glad these guys are still around, even as they start to age. Might as well go on and crown Z-Bo Permanent Mayor of Memphis.

#7: I am thankful for bootleg T-shirts. Come playoff time (assuming the Grizzlies are in it, which seems like a safe bet at this point) I think we’re going to try to do some Beyond the Arc shirts. They’ll probably be weird. It’ll be cool.

#8: I am thankful that Jordan Adams hasn’t been traded yet. If there’s one thing I wish for the Grizzlies franchise, it’s that they might finally get their collective act together and start developing younger players. With Adams, that trajectory has been complicated by his lingering knee injury, but the plan—as far as I can tell—is still to let him get on the floor and start figuring out the NBA game. That’s something that hasn’t happened in a while: a real commitment to developing a young guy. The past is littered with Grizzlies first round picks who are playing better for other teams (or out of the league, Thabeet). Let’s not go back there. Adams and Jarell Martin both have a lot of potential, and they need a fair opportunity to develop it. I am thankful that it appears they’ll get that chance. (Watch them both get traded tomorrow now that I’ve said that.)

Larry Kuzniewski

#9: I am thankful that Marc Gasol re-signed with the Grizzlies. There didn’t really seem to be a backup plan beyond “throw money at Kosta Koufos” (which, let’s be honest, not a bad backup plan), but more importantly, it keeps a guy who loves this city as much as the rest of us around for the next five years, and gives the Grizzlies time to develop the organization around him so that as he ages and retires, along with Mike Conley, there is a new generation of talent there ready to step up. That’s what it really means to be “like the Spurs”: to avoid bottoming out, and have guys ready to step up into bigger roles as soon as players start to fall off. Locking Gasol up for the long term not only keeps one of the best in the game in Memphis for a long time—which is a good thing in and of itself—but means that there’s now a five year window to start preparing for the future. One assumes that Conley will be re-signed this summer as well (and I will continue to consider that a fait accompli until proven otherwise), which just makes that window even more of a real thing.

#10: I am thankful that the Grizzlies don’t have to play the Warriors again until April. Maybe the Warriors will have actually lost a game by then. Hopefully they’ll already have the 72-10 record beaten and will take those games off. Holy moly.

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

AAC Picks (Week 13)

LAST WEEK: 3-3
SEASON: 67-22

THURSDAY
USF at UCF

FRIDAY
Navy at Houston
Tulsa at Tulane

SATURDAY
SMU at Memphis
Cincinnati at East Carolina
UConn at Temple

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Josh Pastner’s Attitude of Gratitude

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Larry Kuzniewski

Josh Pastner

Attention, Miserables. The season of great feasting has begun.

“The Miserables,” of course, was the name former University of Memphis Coach John Calipari gave to a contingent of Tiger fans that was seemingly never happy during his time here. They were always kvetching, always looking for gray clouds, no matter how well the team performed. Calipari always said they didn’t know how good they had it. He was probably right.

Now the Calipari years are long gone, as the Tigers begin their seventh season under Josh Pastner, but the Miserables are back and calling for the coach’s head. Pastner is on every major sports medium’s “Hot seat” list. After the program lost a couple of key players via transfer last summer, Pastner tried to downplay expectations for this year’s squad, forgoing the usual glitzy Midnight Madness with rappers and fireworks in favor of a family-friendly event in the daytime. It did not draw many folks, but the plan all along was to turn down the hype and outperform the lowered expectations. This year’s bunch would have to rely on freshmen and transfers to carry much of the load.

In preseason, Pastner revved up one of his favorite themes: That the team — and indeed, all of us — need to have an “attitude of gratitude.” Which, at its simplest level, is being grateful you’re alive; being thankful you’re playing (or watching) basketball. It could be a lot worse. You could be getting attacked by terrorists or dying of a wasting disease. It’s just basketball. Let’s enjoy the games. (This could also be called the “attitude of platitude,” but I digress.) He also not-so-subtly called out a couple of members of the local sports media for their negative attitudes.

Let’s be honest, being grateful for what you have and putting silly things like basketball games in perspective is a great way to live a happier life. It’s a simple but wise message, one that I’ve heard from ministers and Boy Scout troop leaders and motivational speakers through the years. It’s a great thought to take to heart during this Thanksgiving season. Be grateful for your blessings.

But it’s not a message you’ll hear from Nick Saban or Tom Izzo or Bobby Knight. They don’t like perspective. They hate gratitude. Unless it’s for beating the crap out of their last opponent. They realize that no one’s grateful about anything in big-time college athletics except winning. Is that a sad indictment of our culture? No doubt. Is it what may get Pastner shown the door? Possibly.

Pastner has been an absolute model human being and a near-perfect representative for the University of Memphis. He’s been generous with his time, kind to the infirm and dying, helpful with all kinds of good works and charities. There’s no cussing, no drinking, no hanky-panky. He’s a model father. His players graduate (at least, the ones who don’t transfer), and they stay out of trouble. His teams win 20 games a year, contend for conference titles every other year or so, and often go to the NCAA tournament, though they don’t tend to stick around long.

Is that enough for him to keep his job? I don’t know. It would cost a fortune to buy out his contract. But if there are many more losses like the one this week to the UT-Arlington Mavericks, the university’s gratitude for Pastner’s attitude will be tested like never before.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

The Great Unfriending

CREDIT: Bhofack2 | Dreamstime.com

Bhofack2 | Dreamstime.com

If nothing else, Facebook was certainly interesting last week. After the horrible carnage in Paris, people changed their profile pictures to the French flag or superimposed the vertical red, white, and blue stripes over their faces. We were united in solidarity with the French in their grief and anger.

Then, in the aftermath of the attack, it was discovered that one of the soulless killers had a Syrian passport and had registered as a refugee in Greece. When the topic of refugees from the Syrian civil war being resettled in this country arose, all hell broke loose.

Thus began “the great unfriending.”

Generally speaking, a new strain of xenophobia exploded onto social media. The most common sentiment was that this was all a plot for ISIS to infiltrate this country and kill Christians, and, of course, it’s Obama’s fault. The ignorance and racism on Facebook was appalling. An exact quote from my comment section said, “All you liberal lesbians and out-in-left-field democrats can take a flying fuck. Our gutless president needs to pull his head out of the sand and to be like France.” He got unfriended. In fact, one social media critic claimed, “It was the largest unfriending week in Facebook history.”

Of course, the crassest and most repugnant remarks came from the klavern of GOP presidential candidates. Ben Carson compared the refugees to “mad dogs.” Marco Rubio said, “We can’t background check them. You can’t pick up the phone and call Syria.” And Donald Trump out-uglied everybody.

A month ago I wrote that it was never proper to use Hitler references when discussing American politics, but Trump has gone flat-out Nazi. Saying, “we’re going to have to do things that were frankly unthinkable a year ago,” Trump favors a database to track Muslims, surveillance of mosques, warrantless wiretaps, and ID cards proving religious affiliation. A Black Lives Matter activist was beaten and kicked at a recent Trump rally. Asked if Muslims should wear some sort of identifying badge, he shrugged it off but didn’t rule it out. Obama countered with, “perhaps ignorant racists should wear special ID badges too.”

Trump’s new applause line, “I would bomb the shit out of them,” is a sentiment held by many, but not exactly what you want to hear from the potential leader of the free world. He’s still trying to find a “humane way” to round up 11 million Mexicans. I don’t know, but it sure sounds like Germany in the 1930s.

While every GOP candidate is rattling a sabre for more wars using other people’s children, Congress passed a bill that forces every refugee from Syria to be screened by the head of the FBI. Half the governors in the country, all but one a Republican, have put out the sign that says, “Syrians not welcome here.” Contrast that with the sentiments expressed by French president François Hollande. After the bloodiest terrorist attack on French soil, Hollande said it was France’s “humanitarian duty” to help refugees landing on European shores. Hollande proclaimed that France would accept 30,000 Syrian refugees and spend $53.3 million to develop housing for them. Since the United States pledged to stand with France, aren’t we fortunate to have a secretary of state who speaks the language fluently? And do you remember when John Kerry was mocked by the Republicans for being “too French?” Or the “freedom fries,” and the “cheese-eating surrender monkeys?” Germany has offered to settle 800,000 refugees. The United States is accepting 10,000 with hysterical resistance. Isn’t it ironic that in 70 years, Germany has transformed from Nazism into a beacon of hope for the world?

The truth is that the United States has resettled more immigrants than any other country. Since 9/11, the United States has admitted 859,629 refugees. Of that number, three were convicted of planning attacks on targets outside the United States, none of them successful. This country has one of the most thorough vetting processes for immigrants in the world, but how do you stop someone who is both suicidal and homicidal? These savages aren’t the huddled masses yearning to be free. They are well-financed zealots who can afford an airline ticket and a visa. They aren’t the desperate refugees who walked from a war zone in Syria all the way to Europe with their babies and grandmothers, looking for sanctuary from hell.

Before Facebook, most people kept their idiotic opinions to themselves until they were drunk. Not any more. Right-wing media spews misinformation as a business plan. You might hear some Fox News quotes from an angry uncle this very week.

Before sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner, we should be mindful of what the holiday is for and remember that, once, our forefathers were accepted as refugees into this country by the indigenous population. So just shut up about the Muslims and eat your turkey.

Randy Haspel writes the “Recycled Hippies” blog, where a version of this column first appeared.

Categories
Cover Feature News

When Black Friday Comes …

CREDIT: Illustrations by Greg Cravens

‘Tis the season of joy — and dread. Thanksgiving, which once kicked off the holidays with family gathered around a groaning table loaded with turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, and mincemeat pie, has been now inextricably linked to the beginning of Christmas shopping season.

The Friday after Thanksgiving, once a laid-back day of watching football, eating leftovers, and burping contentedly, has become “Black Friday,” the day when serious holiday shopping kicks off — with early-bird sales, lines of shoppers, and traffic wrapped around mall parking lots. Then there’s Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday and God knows what else.

Just go buy something, will ya?

We here at Ye Olde Flyer have decided to offer some alternative thoughts on this new manifestation of American consumerism. In the stories that follow, you’ll learn of some delightful (and delightfully uncrowded) shopping options. We’ll let you know what the best local coffees are to sustain your shopping buzz. There’s a Memphis music playlist; there are shopping suggestions for millennials, for your workout-obsessed pal, and for that geeky cousin who never comes out of the basement. There’s art! It’s a potpourri of ways to get through the weekend alive. And get your shopping done.

And, really, what else can you ask for? — Bruce VanWyngarden

Joe Dirt

The effective Black Friday shopper wakes up early in the morning. He or she will be alert and aggressive: mobile, agile, and hostile. Multiple cups of locally roasted coffee are strongly recommended — served black for the occasion, and the darker the bean the better. All of the Memphis-roasted coffees listed in this dirty half-dozen are guaranteed to get your motor started. They’d also make welcome gifts for the java junkies on your list.

Illustrations by Greg Cravens

Relevant Roasters’ Italian Roast is a darkly cooked Nicaraguan bean that grinds to a chocolaty brown and tastes like a field of freshly torched hops mixed with chicory ash poured into a charred wooden barrel. It’s one smoky brew and drinking it made my my face contort like I was reading a George Will op-ed or playing a scorching hot guitar solo. Recommended for aggressive shoppers who are unafraid of life’s little penalty boxes.

If you don’t believe in Darwin’s theory of natural selection, a shot of Dr. Bean’s El Salvador Roast will fix you right up. Dr. Bean’s promises deep chocolate flavors that “evolve into apricot with a hint of wintergreen.” And evolve they do. In the cup, El Salvador looks like molten caramel, and, without the aid of flavored syrups or additives of any kind, it does everything the good doctor said it would. This is a deceptively complex and satisfying cup of joe, and it kicks like Giorgio Petrosyan in a title fight.

Aroma is everything, and J. Brooks’ Old Country Espresso smells like a Roman cafe. Rich and sturdy, with a mahogany crema and a woody finish. It’s exactly everything you want from a shot of espresso and even better with a shot of grappa, as long as somebody else is driving. Recommended for shoppers who like to start the day with a shot of grappa. You know who you are.

A freshly ground bowl of Relevant Roasters’ Kimel Estate Papua New Guinea looks as rich and fertile as worm dirt. The packaging says this toasty bean dust should taste of molasses, apples, and tobacco. I don’t know about all that, but it sure would taste great with an unfiltered Lucky Strike or two. Or with a platter of country ham, home fries, and pancakes. Relevant Roasters ranks this supercharged diner brew four out of five on the darkness scale, but it’s light-bodied in the cup.

Bootleg is J. Brooks’ darkest roast. It comes out of the automatic drip coffeemaker tasting like it was just poured from some metal pot freshly lifted from a fruit-wood fire. It’s intensely smoky without tasting burned or bitter. Consume with chocolate for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up. Recommended for shoppers who’ll spend Black Friday in places that smell of leather and lumber.

Reverb Coffee Company’s Tanzania Peaberry coffee is a milder-smelling brew than you might expect from beans so jet black and oily. In the cup it’s a dark, chestnut red, light-bodied but full-flavored. It’s strong stuff without being acidic or aggressive: the kind of almondy, good coffee that makes you say, “Now that’s a damn fine cup of coffee.” Recommended for unhurried shoppers who are more interested in enjoying a day out than being first in line. — Chris Davis

Shop Your Values

Love Starbucks but hate that communist red cup? Show your politics in your shopping cart this Black Friday with some apps that will tell you if the products you buy (or the companies that sell them to you) are Christian, gay-loving, Democrat, or Republican.

• Faith Driven Consumer app 

Here’s what you do about that red cup: Go to Dunkin’ Donuts. 

That’s according to Faith Driven Consumer, the Raleigh, North Carolina, Christian group that has measured 330 brands’ “faith compatibility” for Christian consumers. The group says Christians will wield $30 billion in buying power this holiday shopping season and Faith Driven Consumer launched its #ChristmasBUYcott campaign to channel that money to the most “faith-compatible brands.”

Starbucks and its red cups are out, according to the group. Dunkin’ Donuts and its “Joy” cups are in.

And so on.

Here’s a select list from the Faith Driven Consumer “Best in Class”: Hobby Lobby, Pepsi, Cracker Barrel, Walgreens, Sprint, JetBlue, and Chick-fil-A.

Just in time for the holidays, Faith Driven Consumer has packaged its list in an app for Apple and Android platforms. Users can check the database to make a battle plan before they shop, or they can check the list on the go in the Black Friday mayhem.

•Human Rights Campaign’s Buy4Equality app:

Want to make sure the company you buy from treats their gay and transgendered employees with equality in the workplace? Download Buy4Equality, an app that mobilizes the Human Rights Campaign’s annual “Buying for Workplace Equality” list. The list ranks brands on everything from whether or not they offer benefits to domestic partners to extending workplace protections to transgendered workers. 

Here’s a list of companies with perfect or near-perfect scores from the Human Rights Campaign: CVS, Bath & Body Works, Macy’s, Costco, Target, Coca-Cola, and Walt Disney Co.

• BuyPartisan app:

Is that big-ass TV you’re about to take home a Democrat or a Republican?

Scan it with your phone, and you can know in an instant, thanks to the BuyPartisan app from a D.C. tech start-up called Spend Consciously. The app matches the product to an constantly updated database that shows the political contributions made by the company’s board of directors, CEO, political action committee, and employees. 

BuyPartisan also allows you to track a company’s spending and to compare the spending of two different companies. If a product doesn’t show up, you can manually search the app’s database. — Toby Sells

The Gift of Art

It is an undeniable fact that artists contribute as much to community vibrancy as do bike lanes or locally sourced food. The challenge is keeping those artists in our community, and the way you do that is by supporting them. Not through the plague of art auctions that have beset our town, where organizations ask artists to donate their merchandise for free and the artists get nothing except “exposure.” Support them by buying their products, just as you would a car or produce. What better opportunity to help keep Memphis wild and wonderful than to purchase work by local artists sold at local independent shops on Black Friday and Small Business Saturday? Here’s a roundup of some (keyword “some”) of the local shops selling local art.

You could spend an entire day walking Broad and popping into the varied embodiments of curated arts and crafts. City & State’s name is indicative of their mission. They sell the increasingly celebrated pottery by Brit McDaniel (Paper and Clay) and jewelry by the actively followed Question the Answer (Lauren Carlson) as well as by the purpose-driven business Ekata Designs, which helps refugee women in Memphis, and refurbished watches constructed by the old soul Colin Britton of Memphis Mean Time. Some of these lines will be included in the shop’s (which also serves as a craft coffee house) special edition Holiday Boxes of Awesome gift boxes. Saunter down a block to Falling Into Place. Everything is hand-picked by the owner Mary Claire White — yes, the maker of those ambrosial candles. Almost everything is art here and probably a third, if not more, local.

Can we all just say we all love Maggie Russell’s art. I remember the first time I saw it (on Facebook). I had to shut down my computer and breathe. White carries Russell originals as well as her cleverly inscribed prints and cards. She has abstract landscapes by Hillary Butler, florals by Amy Hartelust, including ornaments, dog paintings by Melanie Anderson, and more. I was thoroughly impressed with the cut-paper pieces by Cassie Weigman, including her map of Memphis.

One more block, and you have Bingham & Broad, which offers furniture, art, housewares, and accessories by 60 artists, 80 percent of which is locally crafted. Several of the artists work with humanitarian groups. A Way Out offers assistance to those involved in sex trafficking, and Peace of Thread sells accessories made by refugee women. And if you’re a big fan of found-object artist Kenny Hays, like I am, he now makes lamps, which are sold here.

It’s pretty much impossible to overlook Five in One. It’s a treasure trove of locally made art, including the most authentic Memphis T-shirts in Memphis, designed and printed by co-owner Michael Andrews. I send tourists there so that they can spread the Memphis gospel one T-shirt at a time. Baby Creep jewelry (I am powerless over her awesomeness), coloring books by Birdcap (Michael Roy) and Jenean Morrison, Astrid French’s jewelry, fairy-tale plaques by Michelle Duckworth, and food jewelry by Funlola Coker.

Museum shops are the best, aren’t they? The Brooks Museum offers jewelry by Lisa Butts, Kaye Brooksbank, Yuki Maguire (if you’ve ever wanted origami jewelry, now you know), Estelle Hood, Frances Cianciolo (Ancia), and Shove It (the skateboard people) and pottery by Agnes Stark, Baucum Pottery, David Johnson, and raku by Lester Jones.

Cooper-Young’s Me & Mrs. Jones, which has a second store in Germantown, offers Melissa Bridgman’s enchanting pottery and hand-lettered prints by Meriweather Adams (Hand Lettered With Love).

Diane Laurenzi, of Diane’s Art Gift & Home, has been selling local art-ware before millennials were a thing. She’s got metallic photos, pottery, hand-painted silks, and pottery you can use or hang on your wall by Niles Wallace.

South Main is becoming the new Broad. Wait, what? Stock & Belle, who’s watchword is “intentional,” focuses on local art, including paintings by Sarah Best Johnson and everyone’s favorite Grizzlies artist, the fountainhead of BIG SPAIN, Kyle Taylor. For more of his genius, head around the corner to Hoot + Louise for this year’s Grizz tee (a dream catcher) and reprints of last year’s Wear the Bear, and you can find prints by that Instagrammer @mississippipetrichor (ahem, ahem).

Two other museum shops that must be included are the 477 store in the MCA Nesin Graduate School, which sells work by MCA alums, students, faculty, and staff. Can we say Kong Wee Pang, Annabelle Meacham, Horse and Hare, and Lance Turner? And the Metal Museum store. I stop in there just about every Christmas. This year I think I might pick up some ornaments by Susan Younger and Jeannie Tomlinson Saltmarsh (the baby-head artist).

Now that you have my Christmas list, you can find me at the Flyer Mondays, Tuesdays, and Fridays. Just drop them off at the front desk. — Lesley Young

Break Up With Black Friday

Lesouque founders Gokben Yamandag and Penelope Fisher launched their online store of ethically made homewares and fashion last summer, introducing up-and-coming designers to consumers around the globe. As are most retailers, they are now promoting the start of the holiday shopping season, but in a different way: They are encouraging consumers to “Break Up With Black Friday.”

“Think about the madness of Black Friday, where you will probably buy things you might not need. The holidays are about family. Breaking up with Black Friday is saying, ‘stop and take a breather,'” Fisher explained.

This mini-campaign is an expansion of the pair’s main goal: educating consumers on the hidden costs of the items they buy. The Lesouque site features tips on how to be a conscious consumer, along with eye-opening facts on manufacturing. They encourage their customers to use the hashtag #BlackFridayBreakUp.

Yamandag has witnessed firsthand how the high demand for inexpensive and mass-produced goods can impact the well-being of people. Working as a textile engineer in Turkey, Yamandag saw the harsh conditions in apparel factories.

Lesouque sells handbags, scarves, mugs, platters, jewelry, and more made by artists and designers from around the world. There are three Memphis artists as well: Brit McDaniel; Melissa Bridgman; and Kong Wee Pang.

“The fun of it is helping to market small and up-and-coming designers, some with no other place to sell, like designers from Istanbul. We build connections and relationships and have become friends with most of them. Everyone works for the same goal,” Yamandag said.

“We focus on the designers and the makers who treat their employees fairly. [Plus, the items] are all things we love,” said Fisher. — Sophorn Kuoy

Lesouque.com

Buy Black-Owned

Supporting black-owned businesses is essential to the economic growth of Memphis. There are thousands of black businesses providing various services here — some online and some with storefronts. I’ve pulled 10 dynamic businesses from Power Box, an intensive black business directory that I launched this summer. Support these homegrown entrepreneurs plus 900 others listed on Power Box this Black Friday and beyond, moving the needle on economic equality and empowerment.

• Phillip Ashley Chocolates offers gourmet chocolates with a twist, concocted and crafted in the heart of Midtown by Memphis’ own Willy Wonka, Phillip Ashley Rix. Tami’s Favorite: Posh Pralines Collection.

798 S. Cooper, phillipashleychocolates.com

• Guilt Free Pastries is a 100 percent natural and vegan alternative for healthy shoppers with a sweet tooth. Tami’s Favorite: Avocado Brownies. 344 S. Main,

guiltfreepastries.com

• Bubble Bistro founder Andrea Johnson fills her bath and body products with love and fun. Visit the Crosstown location for the full experience. Tami’s Favorite: Power Body Oil. 425 N. Watkins, bubblebistro.com

• The Candle Bakery’s hand-poured candles not only smell amazing but they are presented in the shape of your favorite desserts. Tami’s favorite: Vanilla Buttercream Cupcake candle. 2838 Hickory Hill Ext., Suite 11, thecandlebakery.com

• Sheila Jay Designs is owned by local designer Sheila Jay. This collection features fly clothing for the everyday woman. Tami’s favorite: Ankara Real Wax Blazer. Online only at sheilajay.com

• Quistt is full of exciting accessories to jazz up your wardrobe. Tami’s Favorite: Ankara rope necklace. Online only at etsy.com/shop/Quistt

• Mo’s Bows was founded by young entrepreneur, Moziah Bridges. Mo’s Bows is a source of Memphis pride for its success and style. Tami’s Favorite: the bold Orange Gingham bowtie. Online only at mosbowsmemphis.com

• Beautiful Monster is a soulful T-shirt line with numerous nods to African-American history and culture. Tami’s Favorite: Brown v. Board of Education. Online only at

etsy.com/shop/Monsteez

• New Tribe New Traditions designs apparel for the African-American naturalista (natural hair wearer). Tami’s favorite: gold on black Afro glitter tee. online only at

etsy.com/shop/NewTribeNewTradition

• MANE captures a classic in Memphis lingo perfectly with this quality apparel line. Tami’s Favorite: pink MANE hoodie. Online only at manetshirts.com — Tami Sawyer

A Memphis Black Friday Playlist

Insane lines, insane prices, and insane people can only mean one thing: Black Friday is upon us. Take this playlist of 10 songs by Memphis (or Memphis-related) artists with you as you hit the front lines of the Apocalypse, I mean, Black Friday.

• John Gary Williams “The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy” (Stax Records)

John Gary Williams might not have been singing about Black Friday when he sang “I believe that the whole damn world is going crazy,” but it certainly applies to this unofficial American holiday. Slam some coffee, and prepare for the worst, because anyone who goes out in the middle of the night to go shopping must be crazy.

• Useless Eaters “Panic Attack” (Tic Tac Totally Records)

Some people might set alarms to make sure they are the first in line for that $400 flat-screen TV. I recommend not sleeping at all. Remember Black Friday only comes once a year. Don’t mess this up and have a panic attack.

•The Sweet Inspirations “Slipped and Tripped” (Stax Records)

And don’t be the person who ends up on the local news after trampling someone on their way into Walmart. Nothing puts a damper on the holiday spirit quite like a lawsuit, so take it down a notch when the gates of retail hell finally open. Nose position is everything.

• New Memphis Legs “You Won’t Get Me” (Goner Records)

Everyone knows the speed limit is more of a guideline than a rule on Black Friday. Blast this relatively unknown jammer by a Memphis garage band of yesteryear while you accelerate over shopping-mall speed bumps en route to the next super-sale.

• Rufus Thomas “I’ll be Your Santa Baby” (Stax Records)

You’ve made it through the first round of shopping, but you still have miles to go before you sleep, so let Uncle Rufus cheer you up. Get in the zone; it’s time to blow some money.

• Three 6 Mafia “All or Nothin” (Prophet Entertainment)

Your car is filling up with all kinds of stuff, half of which you didn’t even plan on buying. Don’t look in the trunk, and by all means don’t look at your bank account. You have to buy it all, or nothing at all.

• Lost Sounds “Don’t Bother Me”

(Big Neck Records)

By now the masses of fellow shoppers are probably starting to get on your nerves. Instead of going into a full-blown, coffee-induced rampage, take a deep breath, and let Alicja Trout do the screaming for you.

• Playa Fly “Situation Critical”

(Super Sigg Records)

This is pretty self-explanatory. The shopping situation has reached critical mass. Either you got the deals you wanted, or you were left out in the cold. Don’t be the one (as Playa Fly so eloquently puts it) “lookin’ pitiful.”

• Little Milton “Walking the Back Streets and Crying” (Stax Records)

Fear is setting in. Did you remember to hit all the places you wanted to? Surely you missed at least one sale. Dry your eyes with a Best Buy receipt and let Little Milton take the wheel.

• The Oblivians “Pill Popper”

(In the Red Records)

By now you’ve hopefully navigated through the trenches and made it back home. Take some aspirin and remember, this is only the beginning of your Christmas shopping experience. Happy holidaze! — Chris Shaw

Six Things to Do Besides Shopping

National outdoors outfitter REI made headlines when its CEO Jerry Stritzke announced the company would be closed on Black Friday. They’re actually paying their 12,000 employees to take Black Friday off and go hiking or something.

“Black Friday is the perfect time to remind ourselves of the essential truth that life is richer, more connected, and complete when you choose to spend it outside,” Stritzke has said.

Maybe he’s on to something. We’ve compiled a list of alternatives to shopping on Black Friday. Not all of them are outside or even during typical, early-bird-sale shopping hours. But hey, maybe reminding ourselves of essential life truths is less about being outside and more about sleeping in and sipping martinis.

25-cent Martinis at Felicia Suzanne’s

Every Friday at lunchtime, this upscale Southern eatery serves vodka and/or gin martinis for a quarter. That’s less than what you’ll pay the meter to park when you get there. Diners are limited to three (party poopers), and purchase of a meal is required if you want the discount.

South Main Art Trolley Tour

From 6 to 9 p.m. on the last Friday of each month, shops along South Main feature local art shows. And you can catch a free ride on one of those new buses that look like trolleys. Hey, you might even find a few works of art for the folks on your holiday list.

Starry Nights

The annual drive-through, holiday light show in Shelby Farms Park features 1.5 million lights, and this year, the park is unveiling a new theme showcasing iconic Memphis places. The show is open nightly, but on Black Friday, the hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Admission is $20 per car, truck, or minivan.

Memphis Improv & Sketch Collective

On the last Friday of every month from 8 to 9:30 p.m., a collective of Memphis’ funniest people gather at Midtown Crossing Grill to present an evening of improv comedy. There’s typically a special-guest comedian. And the cover is only a suggested donation of $5. Grab some pizza or the vegan Bianca Banh Mi (shameless plug) for dinner while you’re there.

Black Friday Movie Day

Classic seasonal films screen all day at the Rec Room. Catch Die Hard, Edward Scissorhands, Gremlins, Lethal Weapon, and others. Bar opens at noon.

North Mississippi Allstars

The Hernando-based blues rockers play a Black Friday show with Grammy-winning bluegrass musician Jim Lauderdale and the South Memphis Allstars at Minglewood Hall at 7 p.m. — Bianca Phillips

Millennially Yours

Those of us in the millennial generation wish you a very thrifty Christmas. We are harnessing a combination of sales, shopping apps, second-hand stores, and old-fashioned craftiness to cover our gift-giving needs. Here are three resourceful young folks willing to share their secrets.

• Kristin Jonakin

Gifting: Her two kids, plus a large number of nieces and nephews, more than she could recall. Tricks of the trade: Target, the shopping app called Cartwheel, and manufacturers’ coupons.

“I shop early; I don’t wait until December,” Jonakin said. “I’m an avid Target shopper, and they price-match Amazon and Walmart. They also have an app called Cartwheel, and November through Christmas they will feature one toy that’s 50 percent off. So, combine that app with Target coupons and manufacturers’ coupons, and you’ll get toys that are normally $40 for $15 or $20.”

Jonakin is no ordinary couponer. She activates push notifications from savings apps, keeps a watchful eye on upcoming sales, and organizes her entire gift-giving duties on Excel spreadsheets.

• Amber Smith Hampton

Gifting: Mainly her two kids.

Tricks of the Trade: Thrift stores, touch-up paint, pragmatic views on gift-giving.

“One year, Audrey wanted a bike, and we didn’t have the money for a new bike, so I grabbed one at Goodwill for $16. It had some paint missing, so part of the present was packing up some art supplies to go with it, and we gave it to her as a ‘Decorate Your Own Bike’ present. She loved it,” Hampton said.

Like Jonakin, Hampton also encourages shopping in the months preceding the holiday season. And Hampton is a fan of thrift stores.

“My big advice is to realize that kids will be excited about anything. Most of them won’t realize or care whether or not something is brand new, because it’s new to them. So, don’t skip over the second-hand stores, because there’s a ton of good stuff out there for mega-cheap.”

• Clark McGee

Gifting: An intimidating number of coworkers and acquaintances.

Tricks of the trade: Cheap booze, ingenuity, and patience.

McGee is the coworker you want to have, because you will be rewarded with a four-serving cocktail starter kit, or even a bottle of infused vodka.

“You don’t necessarily have to buy expensive vodka, because you’re altering the actual flavor of the vodka,” said McGee, who has lately been fielding requests for his homemade limoncello. “All limoncello is, is lemon zest and vodka. You let that sit for a month, and then add an equal amount of simple syrup. So, your one handle of vodka is now two handles of limoncello, and you’ll have enough to fill 10 Mason jars, and this runs you about $60.”

McGee’s messiah-like ability to make two handles of alcohol out of one means he can get almost a dozen gifts for $60. For closer friends and those who don’t drink, McGee advises watching for the annual sales at Michaels, stocking up on acrylic paints and canvases, and getting crafty with select smarmy quotes made into art-installations with light-up capabilities. — Micaela Watts

Gifts for Those Who Are Impossible to Buy For

The Self-Denying Mother: This woman is always giving up sugar, and, when you ask her what she wants, she tells you that she “wants to want less.” She routinely suggests that you donate to charity instead of getting her a present. The problem is that you need something to put inside wrapping paper. So you should pull the old “stand-in present” trick, i.e. donate to a charity that helps save Bengal tigers and draw her a picture of a happy-looking tiger to put under the tree. Or donate to a charity that fights world hunger and get her a felted throw pillow in the shape of a carrot (OK, maybe not.) But you get the picture. 

The Extended Family Member Who Has Everything (and always gets you a present): This one is the worst, because it is nearly impossible to successfully gift someone who is in the habit of purchasing everything they could ever want. And they always get you exactly the thing that you want, that you might have mentioned once, in passing, way back in July. You will never win this game. The answer here is that everyone, no matter who they are and what sort of success they have had in their life, always needs a nice pair of gloves. 

The Cousin Whose Hobbies You Don’t Endorse: This cousin is a member of his local citizen militia and all he loves in this world are guns and duck calls. Let’s say that you are a vegetarian pacifist and don’t know your way around a Bass Pro to save your life. You have to bank on the great unifiers of our time: alcohol, artisanal condiments, or fuzzy blankets. Maybe just go with a combo of all three. 

The Rare Media Collector: You can’t buy this person what they really want, because what they really want is either ungodly expensive or impossible to find. You don’t have the energy or finances to find an original pressing of that one Talking Heads record or an author-signed first edition of “The Parisian Omnibus” or whatever. The goal here is to go for unique storage furniture in which the collector can keep their goods. A stylish book bag or an archival baseball card organizer. 

The Teenage Boy Whose Only Interest Is World of Warcraft: Just get this guy a Fushigi ball. Everybody loves Fushigi balls. Or a balance board. Those are all the rage.  — Eileen Townsend

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

The Buck Passes on Obama’s Economy

Senator Bernie Sanders

In the GOP primary race, the economy is the dog that has not barked. Given low unemployment, low gas prices, and low inflation, it is easy to understand the GOP’s silence. The current unemployment rate is 5.1 percent, the lowest since April 2008.

Under President Obama’s stewardship, the economy has added over 7 million private sector jobs. The Dow Jones has more than doubled, and the NASDAQ has more than tripled. The president has exceeded every promise for speedy economic recovery made by his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, in the 2012 campaign.

But now Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders is drawing crowds with harsh indictments of the American economic system as unfair to the poor, the working class, and the middle class. Sanders recently described the nation as having a “rigged economy, designed by the wealthiest people in this country to benefit the wealthiest people in this country at the expense of everybody else.”

His criticism echoes that of Senator Elizabeth Warren who has blasted erstwhile Obama economic officials such as Larry Summers and Tim Geithner for being too cozy with the Wall Street banks they were supposed to be regulating.

Unions have for decades been suffering from declining membership and declining leverage at the bargaining table. That was before the president beat them and their Democratic supporters in Congress on the trade deal in question, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He stood with the Chamber of Commerce and the GOP majority in Congress to win approval for fast-track authority pertaining to TPP.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sanders, and other top Democrats give Obama credit for leading the nation’s steady economic growth after the 2008 recession. But, as with the unions, their current focus is on income inequality and stagnant wages.

“The defining economic challenge of our time is clear,” Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, said in July. “We must raise incomes for hard-working Americans so they can afford a middle-class life.”

The president, however, prefers to emphasize how the nation has recovered from an extraordinarily deep recession, pointing out the errors of his past Republican critics. In a recent speech to the Business Roundtable, the president focused on those Republican criticisms, not the new carping from Democrats.

‘”Seven years ago today was one of the worst days in the history of our economy,” he said, going on to note that in September 2008 “stocks had suffered their worst loss since 9/11, businesses would go bankrupt, millions of Americans would lose their jobs and their homes, and our economy would reach the brink of collapse.”

Obama then offered a contrasting picture of the current economy:

“Here’s where we are today,” the president said. “Businesses have created more than 13 million new jobs over the past 66 months — the longest streak of job growth on record. The unemployment rate is lower than it’s been in over seven years. There are more job openings right now than at any time in our history. Housing has bounced back. Household wealth is higher than it was before the recession.”

Obama’s victory lap might also include a mention that this year’s Republican candidates have no answer for income inequality. In fact, with the exception of Donald Trump, the current Republican candidates consistently call for tax cuts for the rich that would worsen inequality by widening the wealth gap.

These are facts. They are powerful ammunition for any Democrat who wants to run on the strength of the Obama economic record in 2016. But as debates begin next month among the Democrats, you can expect that consultants will be advising the candidates that they need to distance themselves from Obama because of stagnant wages and income inequality.

In light of the actual economic facts, perhaps a winning message for Democrats would be to promise to continue and improve on the president’s record by dealing with stagnant wages as they seek “Obama’s third term.” Yet, even among Democratic candidates, that seems to be too much to ask.

My advice for President Obama? Just bite your tongue, and let it go. A fair reading of history will show the economy came back to life on your watch.

Juan Williams is an author and political analyst for Fox News Channel.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Brooklyn

While Jennifer Lawrence is off saving the poor and hungry in The Hunger Games and Brie Larson is saving her son from cruel captivity in Room, there’s a third great performance by a young actress in theaters this month. Saoirse Ronan is in practically every scene of Brooklyn, the story of Ellis Lacey, an immigrant from a small town in Ireland who must find her way in an unfamiliar America. The film is kind of refreshing because Ronan is not saving anyone from anything except herself from a life of unfulfilled promise.

The international production is based on a novel by Colm Tóibín and directed by John Crowley, who counts among his recent credits two episodes of True Detective‘s divisive season two. Brooklyn couldn’t be more different than that cynical, metaphysical crime drama, and that’s probably due to Nick Hornby’s finely tuned screenplay, which opens with Ellis working in a grocery store for a cruel taskmistress named Miss Kelly (Brid Brennan). Eager to give Ellis the opportunity she never had, her sister Rose (Fiona Glascott) arranges passage to America and a place for her to stay in Brooklyn. Things are tough at first, as Ellis battles seasickness on the trip over and then homesickness in her little boarding-house room. But, determined to make it in the new world, she gets a job at a sprawling department store and goes to night school to become an accountant. She doesn’t really feel like she fits in until she meets Tony Fiorello (Emory Cohen), a first-generation son of Italian immigrants who has a thing for redheads with Irish brogues. But their budding romance is cut short when Ellis gets word that her sister has died unexpectedly, and she must return to Ireland and choose which side of the Atlantic to live out her life.

Saoirse Ronan and Emory Cohen in Brooklyn

The whole weight of the production is on Ronan’s shoulders, but she carries it with grace. She is expressive but restrained as she traces Ellis’ arc from naive schoolgirl to self-confident woman, making her one of the best-constructed characters of the year, male or female.

The conflicts and characters of Brooklyn bring a gentle and humane vision of the immigrant experience in a time when foreign visitors to our shores are very much in the news. The film doesn’t offer any lofty political prescriptions; America’s welcome mat is assumed to be out, and the melting pot of the title city is taken as a universal good thing. We follow Ellis through the immigrant’s dilemmas: How to find a job, how to educate yourself, how much do you assimilate, and how much do you cling to your home culture? Ellis comes from a deeply conservative Catholic background, and her love affair with Tony is formal and relatively chaste. The filmmakers don’t seem to have intended any political message, but one emerges in the context of post-Paris, anti-immigrant hysteria. The old country is a place of stifling roles, but Brooklyn is where you go for self-determination. Brooklyn is a low-key tribute to the better angels of American nature.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Afternoon Delight Burlesque Show at Crosstown Arts

To borrow a line from ’70s-era hitmakers, the Starland Vocal Band, “Everything’s a little clearer in the light of day.” Sure, burlesque shows usually don’t start bumping and grinding ’til deep in the middle of the late night, but who doesn’t look forward to a little afternoon delight now and again?

The Afternoon Delight burlesque is a benefit for the Mid-South Food Bank, showcasing the skinful talent shake-show vets Cherie Cheezcake, Mai Oui, and Vivica Noir. The complete roster reads like a who’s who of Memphis’ titillatingest titillators. The event is hosted by Memphis comic Katrina Coleman and climaxes with what is being described as a “shimmy contest.”

“Worms wiggle,” Coleman says, trying to distinguish the shimmy from jiggles and bounces. “And you shake when you’re cold. A shimmy has a point to it. A good shimmy involves eye contact, a smile, and moving what your mama gave you.” While a proper shimmy may be enhanced by fringe, feathers, beads, and other things that sparkle and catch light, Coleman doesn’t think burlesque attire is necessary to perform quality work.

“It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing,” she says, evoking the spirit of Martha and the Vandellas. “I’ve seen good shimmies performed in an oversized Tweety Bird T-shirt. If you need samples of what a good shimmy is, go to YouTube and find some of those old Motown girl bands. They did it right.”

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Kevin Jones in A Christmas Carol at Circuit Playhouse

Kevin Jones is an actor’s actor. Before leaving Memphis for New York, he did a little bit of everything, from Shakespeare and Shaw to Tennessee Williams and A Tuna Christmas. He wrote and performed original works, took part in holiday shows at Theatre Memphis, and even engaged in a bit of Gross Indecency at Playhouse on the Square. This week, Jones returns to Memphis to help an old friend and perform his critically acclaimed one-man version of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

The old friend in question is David Foster, another of Memphis’ most prolific and prized actors. Foster is an uncommonly versatile actor best known for standout roles in musicals like Next to Normal, Ragtime, Assassins, and his award-winning dramatic turn in the Horton Foote play Dividing the Estate. Foster’s arched-eyebrow performances as Crumpet, the inappropriate elf, in David Sedaris’ SantaLand Diaries were definitive. Only Sedaris himself does it better. On a good day. Maybe. When Foster took time away from the stage, and from his day job cutting hair, to fight a tough battle with cancer, he was determined not to let the illness define him. But Jones is hard to resist, and his proposal was a unique opportunity to help Foster help himself. Donations from this free performance all go to cover the cost of Foster’s chair rental at La Nouvelle Salon.

“I’m calling the event, ‘Put my BFF back to work,'” says Jones, describing an act of kindness that might appeal to old Scrooge both before and after his miraculous conversion. “If we can cover the chair rental, he gets to keep 100 percent of what he makes while he’s getting back on his feet.”

Jones, who often played Scrooge’s nephew Fred in Theatre Memphis’ annual Carol, is drawn to the enduring story because of its message and possibilities. His performance is lifted directly from Dickens’ own reading text, with only a few amendments.