Month: May 2016

Categories
Sports Sports Feature

Memphis City Football Club sets a foundation for the future

A 5-4 aggregate loss might not be what the organization had in mind for its first two games, but Memphis City Football Club can walk away proud from its first competitive efforts. The I-40 Cup, fought between Memphis City FC and Little Rock Rangers, was a pre-season tournament with an aim to capture the “I-40 Trophy” and, more importantly, possession of the I-40 Traffic Cone given to the current title-holder. While this could plant the seeds for a relatively new rivalry, the final score line of the two-legged affair suggests thrilling, end-to-end games could be in store for local soccer fans.

Memphis City FC picks up the soccer mantle long since vacated by the Bluff City’s last organization, the Memphis Rogues. That team began playing at the Liberty Bowl in 1978 but quickly moved into a downward spiral that would end three years later with the team’s exile to, and finally, its dissolution in Canada.

Memphis Rogues head coach Malcolm Allison’s brief tenure began with a failure to sign enough eligible outfield players. His pre-season blunder pushed him out the door before the season began and contributed to the issues that plagued the team for the rest of the season. The Rogues finished third in the division and missed the playoffs.

Things only got worse from there. The following season, the players went on strike, leading to a disastrous last-place finish. That, coupled with a dwindling fan base, led to an abject third season that forced the owners to sell the club. New ownership moved the team to Alberta, Canada. After a solitary season in new territory, the franchise closed.

Such mistakes might seem like a distant memory, but Memphis City FC’s owners made sure everything was in place for a stable foundation this time around. Co-founders Doug Kranz and Dan Collins are both passionate about the game and have experience at the grass-roots level. Their drive to start a team was fueled by their love of the game and a desire to provide more for local fans.

“Dan and I met to discuss how we wish there was more for the [soccer] fans in the area,” says Kranz, who is also the president of Memphis City FC. With a clear vision in mind, Kranz and Collins fixated on the best league for Memphis. “We found the NPSL [National Premier Soccer League] is a perfect match because it’s a U.S. Soccer Federation-recognized league that really affords business owners freedom to operate.”

With their options open, Kranz and Collins were able to look for candidates to fit their vision of what the team would be. Their selections provide a mix of local and global experience. Matt Williams, last year’s assistant coach for the University of Memphis, has been chosen to lead Memphis’ new soccer team, while board members Tom Byer and Mads Davidsen have international experience working with some of the top coaches and professionals involved in the game.

Kranz and Collins made their appointments with Memphis City’s playing philosophy firmly in mind. “On the offensive side, we’re both big fans of ball possession,” Kranz says. “We want players who can bring very strong foot skills and understand how to play a patient yet penetrating style.” A possession-heavy game is utilized by some of the top European teams, such as Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and has led both organizations to sustained success over the past few years. In addition, the possession game makes for a much more entertaining experience for both casual and hardcore fans, as it promotes an attacking style of play.

Memphis City’s home game against Little Rock, a 3-3 draw at the Mike Rose Soccer Complex, showcased early signs of an offensive playing system. While it takes time to implement that style, the team was finally able to take to the field this week for their first official training sessions with a full roster. Backed up by the fan group, Rogue Squadron, look for Memphis City Football Club to live up to its motto of “Memphis Rising” when the regular season begins on May 7th.

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We Recommend We Recommend

Latino Memphis’ Festival de Brazil at Overton Park

Brazil knows how to pitch a party. Every year, for four days preceding Ash Wednesday, the country shuts down for Carnival. It’s Mardi Gras writ large, with parades rolling day and night, revelers packing the sidewalks, and colorful costumed characters dancing in the streets. Although Carnival season has already passed down in São Paulo, Memphians can still march to samba rhythms and savor the aromas of churrasco when Latino Memphis’ annual festival pays tribute to Brazil in Overton Park this weekend.

The Latino Memphis’ festival started small with a 5K followed by a salsa competition. Like the community it celebrates, the festival has grown, then blossomed into a day-long event highlighting the diversity of Latino culture.

Festival de Brazil

Latino Memphis’ communications director Fabiola Cervantes promises “Samba dancers, Brazilian martial arts, and a Brazilian pavilion where you’ll be able to taste Brazilian food and learn all about Brazil in this huge, colorful tent at the center of the festival.” There will also be a a Brazilian-infused Zumba class, samba dance classes, mask and musical instrument-building workshops, a soccer clinic, and more. Festivities kick off at 9 a.m. The parade, led by the University of Tennessee at Martin’s percussion ensemble, starts at 11:30 a.m. Festival-goers are invited to to dress up in costumes and bring musical instruments to play.

Because parking is limited, organizers are encouraging people to carpool and ride bikes, and the first 75 cyclists to arrive will receive a gift. They have partnered with the Roo bus, which will shuttle festival attendees from parking locations at Christian Brothers University, Idlewild Church, and First Baptist Church.

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We Recommend We Recommend

Vunkbaum show at Jay Etkin

Vunkbaum is a portmanteau combining the names of Ray Vunk and Barry Buxbaum, two process-oriented Memphis artists whose symbol-laden work is complementary but stylistically dissimilar. Buxbaum loves negative space, texture, and surfaces. Layers of milky wax give his illustrative encaustic paintings depth. Vunk prefers busy collages that are flat, neat, hard-edged, and heavily graphic. “Putting all of that together creates this really interesting tension,” Buxbaum says.

There’s another thing the artists’ share: a deep appreciation of one another’s work. “I’m one of Ray’s biggest fans,” Buxbaum says. “We’d just never thought of collaborating before,” Vunk answers. Buxbaum, again: “Because our styles are so different.” The sentence-completing artists were friends at the University of Memphis in the ’90s, but had fallen out of touch for years. Shortly after reconnecting they acquired a large board and set out to see what kind of art they might make together.

Vunkbaum prove two heads are better than one.

Two Heads, is the title of Vunkbaum’s first jointly created multimedia work and the name of an exhibit of work by both artists opening at Jay Etkin gallery Friday, May 6th and on display through June 4th. The nine-piece show features four works each by Vunk and Buxbaum. The one large collaborative piece combines encaustic, acrylic, charcoal, and collage to depict a mad tumble of carousel horses, deer heads, mermaids, tiny skeleton kings, churches falling through space, and sad little row houses. “So you can really see the whole story,” Buxbaum says.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Break in the Weather

The political situation, locally as well as statewide, might appear to be in something of a lull, but the apparent calm could well presage something of a storm.

That would certainly seem to be the case at this week’s committee meetings on Wednesday of the Shelby County Commission, where at least two of the agenda items are sure to generate sparks.

One is a referred-back-to-committee item on funding the Shelby County District attorney general’s office to deal with car and body cameras employed by law enforcement; the other is a Shelby County Schools audit report and a discussion of SCS’ capital improvement needs. 

The request by D.A. Amy Weirich‘s office for $143,378 to pay for “additional personnel and equipment to process in-car and body-worn cameras” got a turndown two weeks ago by what amounted to a skeleton crew of commission members meeting under the rubric of the commission’s law enforcement committee.

It fared little better when presented to the full commission at last Monday’s regular public meeting. Though there were advocates to go ahead with the funding matter, there was significant opposition as well, particularly relating to the body-cam issue, which turned out to have enough jurisdictional, philosophical, and fiscal overtones to justify a 10-1 vote for another committee go-over — this one sure to be more fully attended.

The SCS matters are sure also to generate some close attention as the commission swings into the initial stages of its budget season. This is especially so, given the school district’s emergency request for an additional $40 million to stave off Draconian cuts, accompanied by some heated exchanges back and forth between the commission and the SCS administration and board.

• The 2016 legislative session of the Tennessee General Assembly is formally over, but questions regarding what it did and didn’t do are still provoking serious — and, in some cases, heated — reactions.

Mary Mancini, the chair of the Tennessee Democratic Party, scheduled a press conference for Tuesday of this week “to discuss the recently ended legislative session and the upcoming elections.”

According to Spencer Bowers, the TNDP communications director, actions to be discussed (which is to say, deplored) at the event, scheduled for the steps of the War Memorial Building, include the passage of a bill allowing professional counselors to reject gay and transgendered clients on the basis of “sincerely held principles” and another allowing college and university employees to carry weapons on campus, along with Governor Bill Haslam‘s refusal to veto the bills. The agenda for the Democrats’ press conference also included mention of an expanded list of Democratic candidates running in congressional races and in legislative races across the state, to challenge the Republicans’ current super-majority status in the General Assembly.

On Wednesday, three prominent Shelby County Republican members of that selfsame General Assembly will present their own takes on the legislature’s deeds, misdeeds, actions, and omissions at a noon luncheon of the National Federation of Independent Business at Regents Bank on Poplar Avenue.

The legislators are state Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Brian Kelsey of Germantown, and House Education Committee chair Mark White of Memphis. The trio will surely have both satisfactions and disappointments in the wake of the late session. Their complaints are likely to be in an opposite direction from those of Mancini and the Democrats.

• There is, however, one lament in which the official statements of the two parties are close to being on the same page. This is in regards to the matter of Measurement, Inc., the North Carolina company entrusted with preparing and grading testing materials for the state’s new TNReady program of student/teacher evaluations.

Days after public statements by Haslam disparaging the performance of Measurement, Inc., the Tennessee Department of Education revoked its contract with the company, which failed to generate workable materials for online testing and then failed to deliver printed testing materials as well, for any but grades 9 through 12.

In a press conference at the Raleigh legislative office, state Representative Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis), state Senate Minority Leader Lee Harris (D-Memphis), and SCS School Board member Stephanie Love slammed the unreadiness of the TNReady program. Parkinson called for a three-year extension of the current moratorium on expansion of the state’s Achievement School District and for scrapping of any official testing procedure until a satisfactory one might be developed.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Fly on the Wall 1419

Peeing There

Sometimes it only takes the omission of a single letter to completely change the meaning of a news report. On its Sunday evening broadcast, WMC-TV identified 38-year-old window flasher Kasey Collins as a “Peeing Tom.”

According to the Memphis Police Department’s Facebook page, Kasey was accused of standing outside his victims’ windows, “while exposing himself and fonding [sic] himself.” There was no mention of urination.

Neverending Elvis

What really killed Elvis? Barbra Streisand, apparently. Or not being cast opposite Barbra Streisand in the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born, at any rate. In a New York Daily News article promoting the film Elvis & Nixon, the King’s friend and confidant Jerry Schilling is quoted as saying, “I think that would have made a difference, but I think the major problem was creative disappointment. … He wanted to do A Star Is Born. Barbra Streisand offered it to him.” And then he died.

Great Apes

WREG reports that the Memphis Zoo has named its new baby orangutan “after naming contest,” which seems like an odd thing to do. Contesta, maybe? Or N.C., perhaps? All this time your Pesky Fly thought they’d named it Rowan, because, like most orangutans, it has red hair.

Categories
Music Music Features

Local Show Roundup

Now that the weather is warming up and festival season is here, there’s plenty of reasons to get out of the house and catch some local bands as well as touring acts. Here’s a smattering of shows worth your attention, starting with Thursday night’s indie rock show at Amurica.

Ryan Azada EP release at Amurica Studio, Thursday, May 5th.

Frequent Julien Baker collaborator Ryan Azada releases his debut EP Weird, But Cool this Thursday night, alongside locals Pezz, Choir Vandals, and Forrister. Weird, But Cool is a three-song EP recorded at the Pezz studio last winter with OAM Network founder Gil Worth manning the controls. Julien Baker, Matthew Gilliam, and Rebecca Flax play on “Madison and Cleveland” and “What Can I Say,” while Scott Scharinger of DADS (6131 Records) plays on the single “Return to Nothing.”

Azada’s debut EP features some of the same style of esoteric guitar work that catapulted Julien Baker into the limelight, and his lyrics are also incredibly personal, much like Baker’s. Amurica doesn’t host shows very often, and with veteran-punks Pezz on the bill, this gig should deliver. Doors are at 8 p.m., admission is $10, and the show is all ages.

Dirty Fences and Faux Ferocious at Bar DKDC, Thursday, May 5th.

After you’ve checked out what the bands at Amurica have to offer, cruise on over to DKDC to catch Nashville garage rockers Faux Ferocious and New York’s Dirty Fences. Dirty Fences played Murphy’s a year or two ago, and their mix of classic rock and ’70s metal instantly won over the crowd. The band tours often and has tight connections with L.A. rockers the Shrine, who absolutely destroyed Scion Rock Fest three years ago. Dirty Fences wrap their month-long tour up at DKDC on Thursday, so the band should be road-tested and ready to shred.

Switchblade Kid at Murphy’s, Friday, May 6th.

Switchblade Kid founder and front man Harry Koniditsiotis must just get tired of playing normal shows. His past few concerts have all been themed, and this gig is no different, as it’s being billed as “a night of comics and music.” The show will feature a pop-up shop from 901 Comics — the new comic shop currently under construction in the Cooper-Young neighborhood. Friday will also serve as a launch party for the documentary Who the Hell Is Alfred Medley?

Filmed in New Orleans and Memphis, the documentary focuses on musicians who are avid comic book readers and the urban legend of Alfred Medley. If comics, music, or stiff drinks are your thing, bring $5 to Murphy’s by 10 p.m., but leave the kids at home for this one.

Colleen Green

Colleen Green at 140 Cumberland Street Saturday, May 7th (House Show).

Sometimes a great band comes through town, and, for whatever reason, the show falls through the cracks, like that time a few years ago Black Dice came to Memphis and played downtown to almost no one, or like a week or so ago when Dwight Twilley played Amurica and no one knew about it. Luckily for you, this is not one of those times, but unlucky for the homeowner, because I may have just invited way too many people over.

Colleen Green has been making waves with her witty pop-punk since 2011, and LA Weekly readers love the hometown songwriter, voting her the Best Solo Artist of 2015. A known supporter of the legalization/decriminalization of marijuana (or, in other words, a Californian), Green crafts hazy pop-punk hooks that fit alongside other California girl-led rock groups like Bleached, Kim and the Created, and Peach Kelli Pop.

Also on Saturday’s bill is locals China Gate, the band that’s perfect for the support role on these type of shows. China Gate has opened for Diarrhea Planet multiple times, who used to feature drummer Casey Weissbuch, who coincidentally played drums with Colleen Green on her latest album I Want to Grow Up. Everything is connected; time is a flat circle and all that. Ben Katzman’s DeGreaser, All People, and Melinda are also on the show.

If seeing one of L.A.’s best songwriters in the comfort of someone else’s home sounds like fun to you, head to 140 Cumberland Street 38112 by 7 p.m. with $5 in your hand. Just don’t tell them I sent you.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Governor Haslam’s Three Non-Vetoes

Re SB 1556 — allowing professional counselors to withhold services: “There are two key provisions of this legislation that addressed concerns I had about clients not receiving care. First, the bill clearly states that it ‘shall not apply to a counselor or therapist when an individual seeking or undergoing counseling is in imminent danger of harming themselves or others.’ Secondly, the bill requires that any counselor or therapist who feels they cannot serve a client due to the counselor’s sincerely held principles must coordinate a referral of the client to another counselor or therapist who will provide the counseling or therapy.

“The substance of this bill doesn’t address a group, issue, or belief system. Rather, it allows counselors — just as we allow other professionals like doctors and lawyers — to refer a client to another counselor when the goals or behaviors would violate a sincerely held principle. I believe it is reasonable to allow these professionals to determine if and when an individual would be better served by another counselor better suited to meet his or her needs.” ­— Governor Bill Haslam, April 27, 2016

Re SB 2376 — allowing employees of colleges and universities to carry concealed weapons on campus: “I am letting SB 2376 become law without my signature. I have long stated a preference for systems and institutions to be able to make their own decisions regarding security issues on campus, and I again expressed this concern throughout the legislative process this year. Although SB 2376 does not go as far as I would like in retaining campus control, the final version of the bill included input from higher education and was shaped to accommodate some of their concerns.

“Ultimately, this legislation was tailored to apply to certain employees in specific situations, it provides protection from liability for the institutions, and it requires notification of law enforcement before carrying on campus. I hope that as a state we will monitor the impact of this new law and listen to the feedback of higher education leaders responsible for operationalizing it.” — Governor Bill Haslam, May 2, 2016

Re SB 812 — providing an alternate means for alleviating hunger: “I am letting SB 812, the so-called ‘Johnathan Swift’ bill, become law without my signature. No idea for resolving the all-too-prevalent problem of hunger in the state’s low-income communities can be dismissed out of hand, and particularly not when the proposed solution also addresses such collateral issues as over-population and ever-proliferating child-care costs. Granted, the bill’s provisions for a requisitioning of dependable supplies of infants for consumption would seem to call for a fiscal note, but this would seem to be minimal, given the mechanisms also prescribed in the bill for out-sourcing responsibility to private vendors for procurement and all necessary food-preparation procedures.

“The idea of converting excess child flesh into edible commodities for the relief of hunger will clash with the moral sensibilities of some of our citizenry, and for this reason, I am withholding my signature. We cannot ignore either that the motivating idea behind this bill originated  from a certified man of genius three centuries ago within the cultural umbrella of a kindred English-speaking nation. It is time to give this idea the fair test without which its efficacy cannot be judged.” — Governor Bill Haslam, May 1, 2017

Categories
News News Blog

Terry Cook Named to Head Nature Conservancy in Tennessee

Terry Cook has been named State Director for The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee, following a six-month national search.

Terry Cook

Cook comes to The Nature Conservancy’s Tennessee Chapter from The Trustees of Reservations, the oldest land trust in the United States, where he served as the Northeast Regional Director. There Cook managed a staff of more than 40 full-time employees and a $6.5 million budget.

“Terry is coming to Tennessee with a tremendous background and leadership skills which we strongly believe will vigorously continue to expand our conservation efforts in the state,” said Edgar Faust, chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy’s Tennessee Chapter. “Since our beginnings in Tennessee in the 1970s, the Conservancy has a long list of conservation successes, including protecting 318,000 acres across the state for people and nature. We look forward to Terry and the staff expanding on those successes in the years ahead.”

Cook’s appointment as the Tennessee Chapter’s chief executive marks a return to the Nature Conservancy fold. A veteran ecologist and conservation leader, Cook had previously worked for more than 20 years in a variety of capacities for The Nature Conservancy, ranging from staff ecologist in Texas, to Director of Science for the Eastern U.S. Region of the Conservancy, to State Director of the Kentucky Chapter in his last post with the nonprofit.

“Terry is a very experienced conservationist well suited to lead our work in Tennessee,” said Rob McKim, Director of the Central Division of The Nature Conservancy’s U.S. Program. “He has a terrific blend of passion and commitment rooted in his experience as an ecologist and pragmatic commitment to building effective partnerships.”

Categories
Intermission Impossible Theater

McCoy Theatre Alumni Throw a Party for Retiring Professor Julia “Cookie” Ewing

Teresa Morrow Brown directs a cast of 43 Rhodes College theater alumni.

I’d never questioned a grade before, but something about that B in beginning acting just bugged the hell out of me. How could I have made a B? I was a senior for gosh sakes. I’d already taken advanced acting, and directing, and “Languages of the Stage,” and done quite well. I was only returning to the 101 course because I’d changed my major late in the game and the intro-level class was required to graduate with a degree in Theater & Media Arts. Thing is, I loved that intro class and did so much more than what was required. But there it was, big as life, staring back at me —- B.  

“I think there’s been a mistake,” I said to my professor and faculty advisor, Julia “Cookie” Ewing, making what seemed like a strong case for a better grade. She listened intently, as always, nodding her head from time to time. Then, when I finished my pitiful monologuing she agreed. No, she vociferously agreed, doling out high praise. 

“But I require students to give themselves a daily grade in their journals,” Cookie reminded, softly, melodically. She’s always had a switchblade edge, zero tolerance for malarkey, and a reputation for gentleness and generosity, in addition to an uncanny ability to shut out the whole world and devote her full attention to whoever she might be talking to. She didn’t have to say another word. I knew exactly where this conversation was going. 

“What’s the highest grade you ever gave yourself?” she asked, and I sputtered excuses about not wanting to be presumptuous, and always thinking I could make even my best work better. Then I ran out of steam and answered the question she asked: “I gave myself a B.”

“Why would I give you a grade higher than the highest grade you gave yourself,” she then asked, with the intensity of Meryl Streep playing Yoda.  Oh, I had an answer. But  I couldn’t bring myself to say, “Because I earned it, dammit!” Because suddenly, I wasn’t so sure I had. 

Cookie

With Cookie there was often very little separation between life lessons and the regular kind. She’s one of those tough-loving teachers who makes you want to work harder and be better at everything you do. Everybody who’s ever worked with her has a story to tell and many of those stories were related this past weekend — on stage and off— when numerous representatives from every class she’s ever taught, and every show she’s ever directed or acted in, returned to the McCoy Theatre to thank her, hug her neck, and wish her a happy retirement.

What happened Saturday was supposed to be a surprise, though I have it on good authority, she’d sniffed out the plot a week or so before. Hopefully she was at least surprised by the scale of the SRO event, which included a performance co-written and directed by Teresa Morrow Brown (Class of ’83),  featuring a cast of 43 former students. (I encourage you to read all about it here). The show referenced dozens of productions including J.B., Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Brecht on Brecht, The Metamorphosis, Pippin, Cabaret, The Miss Firecracker Contest, Summer and Smoke, The Children’s Hour, and Rhodes’ landmark production of Nicholas Nickleby. It ended, appropriately enough, with images of a mama bird turning an out of the way corner of the McCoy Theatre into a safe place to raise her babies, followed by the formal presentation of a bronzed nest.  The McCoy Theatre’s newer studio space was also renamed The Ewing Studio Theater. 

I could list all of Cookie’s awards, accomplishments and accolades, but I’d rather share the image of former students, separated by decades, interacting like old friends and family. The sense of kinship and camaraderie was palpable. The abundant love and clear legacy evidenced an extraordinary teacher’s virtuoso performance as a mentor to generations.

Standing O.

Oh, about that B. The grade stood — and I’ve continued to earn it. I never really learned that last lesson, and remain my own worst critic. Now, at least, I’m everybody else’s worst critic too. 

Florence Johnson, Amy Matheney, and an all Rhodes cast celebrate the career and legacy of Cookie Ewing.

Special thanks to Wes Meador, Dustin Pappin, Laura Canon, and Kevin Collier for the parts they all played in organizing a perfect evening.

Categories
News News Blog

Strickland Announces Demolition for Blighted French Fort Hotel

A crumbling, long-vacant hotel that has greeted I-55 travelers for years as they first enter Memphis will be demolished by September 1st, according to a consent order from the Shelby County Environmental Court.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland — flanked by Memphis City Council members, French Fort residents, and the building’s owner Lauren Crews — made the announcement on Wednesday afternoon in the shadow of the boarded-up, five-story hotel that’s situated just a couple blocks away from the National Ornamental Metal Museum.

“Our administration facilitated an agreement that will lead to its demolition. This has been an eyesore to the neighborhood and passers-by on I-55 for 30 years,” Strickland said.

Crews said he purchased the property from an out-of-state owner several years ago because he didn’t want to see a non-Memphian do anything undesirable with the property.

“I’ve never been a proud owner of this building. I purchased it to protect the neighborhood. I didn’t want anyone to do anything with it that wouldn’t be advantageous to the neighborhood,” Crews said.

Crews owns quite a bit of land in the French Fort neighborhood, including the long-abandoned Marine Hospital that sits next door to the Metal Museum. Crews said he would eventually like to develop some of the abandoned properties, including the Marine Hospital, into new, mixed-use and residential property.

Crews had originally planned on reusing the old hotel building by fixing it up and turning it into new residential space. But he said the long-stalled Tennessee Department of Transportation Crump Boulevard/I-55 Interchange project has held up his ability to get financing for that project. After the hotel is demolished, Crews hopes to eventually develop the empty land.