Yep, another popsicle!
The first person to correctly ID the dish and where I’m eating wins a fabulous prize.
To enter, submit your answer to me via email at ellis@memphisflyer.com.
The answer to GWIE 102 is Acre, and the winner is John Scruggs!
Month: June 2016
Categories
What They Said…
Greg Cravens
About Bianca Phillips’ post, “Tennessee Suing Obama Administration Over Transgender School Guidance” …
I’m just surprised that Wisconsin is part of the Confederacy supporting “states rights” this time around. The rest of them could be taken en bloc from the old South from 150 years ago.
Thoughtful
Thoughtful, Wisconsin is not a surprise since Scott Walker and the crazies took over a few years back.
DatGuy
I wish I was in the land of Wisconsin, old times there are not forgotten. Look away, look away, look away. … Oh, wait. Nevermind.
Cheddar
About the Flyer editorial, “Silver Lining” …
Believe me, I’m in the “Save the Greensward” camp. Overton Park should be preserved and enhanced and parking on the grass adjacent to the zoo parking lot (which is an eyesore in the first place) should not occur. The zoo and its board are just greedy for the money parking makes available for efforts that I consider inhumane (to the captive animals).
That said, I have neither seen nor heard anything in response to my suggestion, I’ll suggest it again: When there are more cars than parking spaces in the existing lot, rather than the zoo taking over the Greensward, why not direct the overflow to the Center City shopping center and have them park in a designated area and have a small bus to shuttle patrons to and from the front gate of the zoo? The parking there is free, but if a small fee were charged for riding the shuttle the “loss” in revenue could be recouped. Seems reasonable to me.
Cheryl M. Dare
About Richard Cohen’s Viewpoint, “Support Trump and Be Mocked by History” …
I’m not a Trump supporter, but I get sick of seeing the left try to talk about Trump’s “lack of qualifications” after supporting Obama’s Presidential run in 2008. If you could get behind him and Obama’s lack of resume in 2008, you can’t really talk about Trump’s lack of qualifications.
The current political system (both right and left) have helped to create this monster. All of the focus has supposedly been on the middle class lately, yet no one in the government from either side is doing anything for the middle class. It’s on minorities or on homosexuals or the trans-gendered. The working class has it even worse. The working class gets nothing.
If you’re a white, working-class person in middle America, this government isn’t for you and hasn’t cared about you in a long time. They’ve been relaxing immigration laws to allow more cheap labor in to squeeze your labor market. They’ve been making it easier and easier for corporations to move manufacturing jobs overseas, essentially exporting your job market. And on top of all that, the few social issues you care about get almost zero attention.
All of that has finally boiled over. It’s created Trump on the right and Sanders on the left. The people who have been ignored are rising up and creating a movement. The point being, if you don’t like the Trump movement, maybe you shouldn’t have ignored a wide swath of the population for so many years. You can’t just keep crapping on working-class white America and not think that the people will eventually lash out.
GroveReb84
Trump is a saint compared to the morally corrupt, lawless, criminal Democratic administrations — Clinton, Obama, Lynch, Holder, etc. Finally, they are going to learn they are no longer above the law.
FlyingTiger
The Trump campaign really shows what white Republican Americans are all about. They don’t care about morals and never have. They don’t care about racism and never have. They don’t care about America and never have. They say they are upset about government aid such as welfare, food stamps, Medicare, etc, yet it’s the corporations that receive most of the free aid. Trump is an example of what they really are: lying, cheating, women-hating, and bigoted.
Kevin Jones
Categories
X-Men: Apocalypse
You can always tell a survivor of the Cola Wars by their sallow complexion, bulging waistline, and rotting teeth. Back in the 1980s, Coke and Pepsi, two competing manufacturers of carbonated sugar water, spent millions of advertising dollars to convince the world that their product was superior, when in fact, the two were virtually indistinguishable. In the summer of 2016, we find ourselves caught in the crossfire of a similar conflict, only this time with superhero movies.
In retrospect, the studios flying the Marvel and DC flags owe much of their success to Bryan Singer. The director proved he could handle an ensemble cast with his 1995 indie hit The Usual Suspects and then used those skills to bring Marvel’s flagship superhero property X-Men to the big screen in 2000, which mutated Aussie musical theater actor Hugh Jackman into an international movie star and paired Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier with his frenemy, Ian McKellen’s Magneto for the first time. This year alone, we’ve seen three films that borrowed heavily from Singer’s first two X-Men films: from the boring Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice to the more successful Captain America: Civil War to the genre-expanding lewdness of Deadpool (who, technically at least, is an X-Man himself).
Singer did two X-Men movies before leaving the franchise for the ill-fated Superman Returns, leaving Brett Ratner to butcher the resolution of the Dark Phoenix storyline in The Last Stand. Since then, Hugh Jackman got a pair of spinoff stand-alone Wolverine stories that proved imminently forgettable, and Singer returned to the series as a producer for a prequel trilogy, which got an unexpectedly spiffy start with 2011’s First Class. Singer directed 2014’s Days of Future Past, which featured Wolverine time traveling back to 1973 to prevent a mutant genocide, and now the prequel series concludes with X-Men: Apocalypse. Or probably concludes. Who knows with these things?
Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse ushers in a new age of endless permutations of superhero franchises.
The good news about Apocalypse is the same as the bad news: It’s a Bryan Singer X-Men movie, with all that implies. The cold open takes us back to 3,600 B.C.E., where the original mutant, Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), is in the process of absorbing another mutant’s healing powers to gain immortality, when he is imprisoned underneath a collapsed pyramid by rebellious slaves. Singer’s brief foray into Pharaonic times is 10 times more rewarding than all of the misbegotten Gods of Egypt.
Flash forward to 1983, when CIA agent Moria Mactaggert (Rose Byrne) witnesses the resurrection of the fearsome mutant by his cult in Cairo. Apocalypse sets out to find and enhance four mutants, beginning with Storm (a mohawked Alexandra Shipp) Angel (Ben Hardy), Psylocke (Oliva Munn), and finally Magneto (Michael Fassbender).
Meanwhile, Magneto’s former protege Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is running an underground railroad to get mutants out of communist Eastern Europe, where she meets Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and inadvertently helps bring the teleporting Catholic into the fold of Professor Xavier (James McAvoy), who is training Scott Summers (Tye Sheridan), who will one day become Cyclops, the leader of the X-Men. Summers’ slowly blossoming affection for Jean Gray (Sophie Turner, aka Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones) as the showdown with Apocalypse looms is the film’s most deftly executed subplot.
Due to the current state of Marvel copyright case law, the X-Men franchise is in the hands of 20th Century Fox, and thus is not a part of the Disney conveyor belt. That works in Apocalypse‘s favor, highlighting Singer’s distinct look and feel. But Apocalypse still feels like a warmed-over version of what worked better 16 years ago. McAvoy and Fassbender work hard at animating Professor X and Magneto, but they still can’t fill the X-shoes of Stewart and McKellen. Lawrence brings humanity to Mystique, but I miss the chilly cunning of Rebecca Romijn. Only Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy improves on the previous incarnation of Beast. And Storm is as underutilized as always. Apocalypse arrives in a season when even single-hero movies such as Captain America have expanded into super team-ups. Whether you choose Coke or Pepsi, it’s still the same brown sludge.
Scott Stallings will be an underdog at this week’s FedEx St. Jude Classic. His gallery, let’s just say, would lose a rumble with Phil Mickelson’s. But the 31-year-old pro from Worcester, Massachusetts, is, in many ways, the embodiment of life on the PGA Tour. Traveling from one tournament to the next, aiming to, first, make the cut for weekend play, and then climb the leaderboard where the paychecks get fatter and the headlines larger. Stallings has three Tour wins to his credit (the last at the 2014 Farmers Insurance Open). This will be his sixth straight appearance at the FESJC, where he shot four sub-70 rounds in 2013 and finished in a tie for second behind Harris English. (Stallings missed the cut last year.) The Tennessee Tech alum — Stallings now lives in Knoxville — has earned $594,797 this season and ranks 112th in the FedExCup standings.
You have an interesting origin story for a golfer. You played team sports as a kid, then you saw a light of sorts. Share that story.
When Tiger Woods won the Masters in 1997 [when I was 12], I quit everything else. I stuck just to golf. Golf struck my interest and I decided it was something I wanted to pursue as a career. It appealed to me as something different, and very exciting.
At what point did you realize you might be able to make a living on the PGA Tour?
I still struggle with that sometimes today. When I was a junior in college I was an All-American at a small school that had some success. I decided I wanted to give it a go and see if I could compete at the next level.
What’s a strength of your game these days, and where are you focusing on improvement?
My short game’s been coming around a lot. I’ve been working hard. I’ve always hit the ball pretty well [off the tee], but my short game has let me down in pressure situations. I’ve tried to make it a point of contention every day when I practice, to get to the point where it’s a strength, an asset that keeps me in tournaments. I’d like it to become the most important part of my game, instead of just something that’s there in case I needed it.
How’s the putter?
I’ve been working on [putting] for three or four months. We’re getting to the point of the season where I feel like I play my best, when it gets hot. We’re playing in areas of the country where I feel really comfortable, especially coming up to Memphis, my home state. The hotter the weather, the better I play.
What have you come to enjoy about the FESJC?
Growing up, I played some junior events at TPC Southwind and thought it would be cool to be a part of this as a pro. I watched it in college. The charitable aspect with St. Jude, especially being a father of two now . . . well, you obviously hope your kids never have to be in a facility like that. But it’s nice to know that if it was necessary, they’d have a place to go. The tournament does a heckuva job in supporting [the hospital]. For anyone with kids [on the Tour], it’s a no-brainer to play [in Memphis]. My dad’s from west Tennessee, so I get to play in front of friends and family. I love the area and I love the golf course.
Is there a specific hole at TPC Southwind you find most challenging?
I think the golf course is underrated. If you play well, you’ll be rewarded. If you play badly, it’s gonna show. There are not a lot of tricks to the course. It will show who’s playing the best.
Looking back at your three Tour victories, is there a consistent thread to your performances? Something you’d like to bottle?
Not really, because I’ve won three different ways. I’ve won from behind, won from in front, and won in a playoff. All I want to do is be in position [to win] coming down the stretch to 18.
You’ve taught golf to wounded Army veterans. That must have been especially inspiring.
My father-in-law is a Marine, and my brother-in-law is an Army vet and spent 18 months in Iraq. They were fortunate to not have any major injuries to deal with, but they’ve been around enough guys to see how war can affect people, not just physically, but mentally as well. The game of golf can be an outlet for the guys, provide some comfort to a situation. We wouldn’t be where we are without them. They teach us way more than we teach them.
What’s the most important swing tip you’ve been given?
I don’t know if it’s a swing tip; it’s more of a mentality. The moment you let other people affect how you do things is the moment you’ve lost it. You need to consistently learn every day and pick up tips, but you need to own your game and know how you play. Know what you do when you play well. Don’t try to model your game after certain individuals. You have to play the way you’re most comfortable.
Categories
The Lobster
Tired of the superhero grind? Ready for something weird? Never fear, The Lobster is here!
No, The Lobster is not an obscure X-Man—although maybe Marvel should look into it. It’s Colin Farrell, and when this dark, surreal comedy begins, he’s not a lobster yet. He’s just a sad, recently single guy named David checking into a hotel. But it’s quickly apparent that this hotel has some special features. For one thing, there’s a rifle that shoots tranquilizer darts hung over the bed. For another, everyone in the hotel is single like David, and they’re all varying degrees of sad about it, because if they can’t find a mate in 45 days, a strange fate awaits. But, as the Hotel Manager (Olivia Colman) says, “The fact that you will be transformed into an animal should not alarm you.”
But at least they get to choose what kind of animal their undatable selves will be transformed into. Most people choose to become dogs, but David wants to be a lobster, because, he says, they can live for a hundred years. His choice earns him a compliment from the Hotel Manager, who like most of the cast assembled by director Yorgos Lanthimos, is an expert at the particularly British art of getting a laugh by saying emotionally charged things in a detached deadpan.
Rachel Weisz and Colin Farrell aren’t monkeying around with love in Lanthimos’ The Lobster.
As if being forced to look for a life partner in a room full of identically dressed, frumpy people dancing to the universe’s worst party band isn’t bad enough, there’s the matter of the tranq dart guns. It turns out, checking into the Hotel is not voluntary. All citizens of The City without a husband or wife are sent there to face the mating ultimatum. Naturally, some run, choosing life in the woods as radical singles. The Hotel’s denizens are led into the woods on periodic hunting parties to track down and tranquilize fugitive singles, who are then dragged back to the Hotel for animalization. Bag a single, and you get an extra day added onto your stay at the Hotel. Some people, like the Heartless Woman (Angeliki Papoulia) have extended their lives indefinitely by becoming ruthless players of the Most Dangerous Game.
Lanthimos’ strange creation sets a similarly dark, humorous tone as Terry Gilliam’s masterpiece Brazil. But lacking Gilliam’s extravagant budget, his absurdities are more grounded in the familiar. There’s a lot going on underneath the surface of The Lobster. As it was unfolding, I began to take it as an allegory for the age of internet romance: Social norms that used to be enforced invisibly are now formalized when everyone is forced into the same online arenas to meet people they might be attracted to. Not that the old system of meeting random people in bars produced any better outcomes, but at least it was unmediated by invisible tech companies whose motives we are pretty sure don’t align with our own. David is constantly being pulled by opposing forces which cannot be reconciled, no matter how he tries to adapt. When he’s in the hotel, he tries to connect with the Heartless Woman, because he has to hook up with somebody. Later, when he’s fled to the woods, he meets his soul mate (Rachel Weisz), but they have to go to hilarious lengths to keep their love secret from the radical individualists of the forest.
To call Lanthimos’ film “quirky” is a dramatic understatement. The Lobster is that rare idiosyncratic film that remains emotionally accessible, largely thanks to a carefully honed lead performance by Farrell and some timely help from John C. Reilly as another hopeless schlub on the fast track to dog town. In a summer where theaters are plagued by Batman Poisoning, The Lobster is a suitable antidote.
If there’s one show people associate with Playhouse on the Square it’s Peter Pan. The boy who wouldn’t grow up has made Christmastime appearances off and on for years. This season he’s back on stage at Circuit Playhouse in a very different kind of show.
Peter & the Starcatcher is a dark-edged and self-aware origin story. It’s all about how Peter Pan became Peter Pan and how a certain pirate lost his hand. It’s a nifty take on the J.M. Barrie classic.
In this rehearsal footage from the Circuit Playhouse production you’ll note the presence of none other than musical theatre powerhouse David Foster who’s been sidelined for most of this season due to medical issues.
It’s good to have him back.
On Stage this Week: ‘The Wiz,’ ‘Peter and the Starcatcher,’ and ‘The Great Cable Cooking Show Contest.’
What a piece of work is Hamlet. How evergreen. How ripe for appropriation and parody. Aye, there’s the rub. Will Memphis theater audiences be over Shakespeare’s original man in black when the curtain rises on New Moon Theatre’s February production? That may not be the question, but given all the Hamlet-related shows we’re seeing this season, it’s one worth asking. Or will productions of shows like The Compleat Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and One Ham Manlet whet appetites for the real, complete thing?
Paul Rudnick’s light comedy I Hate Hamlet is Germantown Community Theatre’s contribution to Hamletpalooza, and it sure is a mixed fardel. Rudnick’s script is a bumpy muddle of real-estate gags, sitcom hijinks, and splendid set pieces about celebrity, passion, immortality, and tight pants. An uncommonly engaging cast pulls it all together and keeps spirits high, even when the writing threatens to let everybody down…
Long story short, it’s a fine production of an uneven play with some great performances that make everything worthwhile. To read the rest of my review, click here.
I Hate Hamlet closes at GCT this weekend.
Also opening this weekend The Great Cable Cooking Show Contest, a new play written and directed by Memphis theater artist Ruby O’Gray.
A synopsis:
The play is a zany look at chefs from the most unlikely places, who compete in the small town for money and bragging rights for their culinary creations. Five finalists are chosen to prepare their creations for judges and TV land along with storylines that will tickle your funny bone.
The Great Cable Cooking Show Contest is at TheatreWorks through Sunday, June 5, with two shows on Saturday.
Last but not least… The Wiz.
I’d say, “Get ready to ease on down the road” with this popular favorite. But if you haven’t already purchased tickets, the road may be blocked. The Hattiloo Theatre sold this show out before opening night. That’s good for them, but not so good for those among us who always wait till the last minute to reserve.
Oh, there may some stray tickets available here and there, but good luck getting one.
A shot from the Hattiloo”s first production of The Wiz.
Nate Currin plays the Center for Southern Folklore this Saturday.
Good afternoon and welcome to the 66th edition of my Weekend Roundup.This weekend is PACKED with concerts, with a heavy dose of metal and punk bands coming through town.
You’ve also got the funk master George Clinton at the New Daisy tonight, and a bunch of shows happening on Sunday. Let’s get it on.
Friday, June 3rd.
Memphis Punk Fest 4: No Comply, Evil Army, Donkey Puncher, Hauteur, Dawn Patrol, Lost In Society, 7:30 p.m. at Murphy’s, $10.
Weekend Roundup 66: George Clinton, Nate Currin, Pezz (8)
George Clinton, 7:30 p.m. at the New Daisy Theater, prices vary.
Weekend Roundup 66: George Clinton, Nate Currin, Pezz (7)
Valiant Thor, Hammer Fight, Namazu, 9 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $15.
Ex-Cult, 10:30 p.m. at Bar DKDC, $7.
Weekend Roundup 66: George Clinton, Nate Currin, Pezz (6)
Saturday, June 4th.
Nate Currin, 5 p.m. at the Center for Southern Folklore, prices vary.
Weekend Roundup 66: George Clinton, Nate Currin, Pezz (5)
Subteens, Pezz, The Drawls, Fresh Flesh, Shame Finger, Ez Kebage, Hotlips Messiah, Bombflower, El Escapado, Indeed We Digress, 7:30 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $20 or $15 with canned good.
Weekend Roundup 66: George Clinton, Nate Currin, Pezz (4)
Catholic Easter Colors, Small, China Gate 10 p.m. at the Lamplighter, $5.
Brennan Villines, 10 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.
Weekend Roundup 66: George Clinton, Nate Currin, Pezz (3)
Sunday, June 5th.
Joystick, Commonwealth of American Natives, Chinese Connection Dub Embassy, 7:30 p.m. at the Den, $10.
Love Cop, Funeral Gold, Small, Melinda, 8:30 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $5.
Weekend Roundup 66: George Clinton, Nate Currin, Pezz (2)
Southern Underground Hip Hop Fest, 6 p.m. at the Minglewood, $15.
Marcella and her Lovers, 10 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.
Weekend Roundup 66: George Clinton, Nate Currin, Pezz
This week on the show, Kevin and Phil talk about:
- David Fizdale is hiring his staff. Is his goal to get the Grizzlies to the playoffs? Is that within his control?
- Can Gasol and Conley stay healthy for a full season next year?
- Are we confident the Grizzlies can find talent with the 17th pick?
- Will the Grizzlies bring Lance Stephenson back on his team option, and if not, will they try to bring him back at all?
- Playing devil’s advocate: who plays PG if Conley leaves?
- A rundown of some free agents who the Grizzlies could look at.
The Beyond the Arc podcast is available on iTunes, so you can subscribe there! It’d be great if you could rate and review the show while you’re there. You can also find and listen to the show on Stitcher and on PlayerFM.
The Beyond the Arc podcast will return next season. Thanks for listening.
You can download the show here or listen below:
Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam made things official today when he announced that ServiceMaster is moving its global headquarters from East Memphis to Peabody Place in downtown Memphis. The move means approximately 1,200 employees will occupy the renovated former mall by the end of 2017.
“I’m a former mayor, I believe in cities,” Gov. Haslam said. “Cities are the heartbeat of what happens. [Memphis] is a city that, I think has, not just an incredible past with creativity coming out of its pores. But an incredible future.”
Haslam then introduced ServiceMaster CEO Rob Gillette who said he was, “Thrilled to be joining the downtown business community,” and excited about plans to create a new technology and innovation center in the new Peabody Place location.
ServiceMaster moved its headquarters from Downer’s Grove, Ill. to East Memphis in 2007. Earlier this year the residential and commercial service provider relaunched its corporate brand and was named one of the world’s most admired companies by Fortune magazine.
ServiceMaster Moves its Global Headquarters to Peabody Place
Memorial Day passed without a Music Video Monday, so here’s something to send you into your weekend.
The AV Club’s music series AV Undercover has featured lots of strange synergy by pairing musical acts with unlikely songs to cover, from Ted Leo covering Tears For Fears classic “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” to Gwar massacring Kansas’ “Carry On My Wayward Son”. True to form, when Flyer darling Julian Baker appeared in the tiny Chicago studio, she took a Death Cab For Cutie song, stripped it down, and breathed new life into it. Enjoy!
Music Video Whatever: Julian Baker on the AVClub