Month: September 2016

Categories
Music Music Blog

The Love Light Orchestra at Lafayette’s

Joe Restivo (guitarist) helped organize the Love Light Orchestra.

The Love Light Orchestra returns to Lafayette’s Music Room this Tuesday Night for round two.

Consisting of John Nemeth on vocals, Joe Restivo on guitar, Tim Goodwin on bass, Earl Lowe on drums, Gerald Stephens on keys, and a five piece horn section that includes Marc Franklin, Scott Thompson, Art Edmaiston Jason Yasinksy, and Kirk Smothers, it’s safe to say that this orchestra has crossed over into super group territory. 

The show starts at 8 p.m. and is free to attend, but if Tuesday night rock shows aren’t your thing, the fine folks at Beale Street Caravan will be streaming the whole event. Check out a John Nemeth track below. 

The Love Light Orchestra at Lafayette’s

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Tigers 35, SEMO 17

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

It took 32 years, seven hires, and a university name change, but a man can walk the earth — at least for two weeks — and tell anyone who will listen that he is undefeated as the head football coach at the University of Memphis. Mike Norvell (two years old when Rey Dempsey won his Tiger debut in 1984) paced the Liberty Bowl hatless, unlike his recent predecessors Justin Fuente, Larry Porter, and Tommy West. But he delivered on a fast-paced offense and quick-to-close defense, the Tigers easily handling FCS foe Southeast Missouri State. It may not have been Ole Miss or Mississippi State on the other sideline, but Norvell likes the sound of “1-0.”

“We started really fast,” Norvell said to open his postgame comments. “I liked the way the guys competed. We turned the ball over three times in the first half, and we can’t do that. It looked like a Game 1. We’ve got a bye week with plenty of things to work on. I like the way we started the game; we just have to make sure we maintain that for a full 60 minutes.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Mike Norvell

With the fan base’s collective mood sagging after a Friday report that Memphis has been removed from consideration for Big 12 expansion, the Tigers delivered some temporary salve with the win. Led by junior quarterback Riley Ferguson — making his FBS debut — Memphis drove 75 yards in just 2:17 after receiving the opening kickoff to take an 8-0 (yes, 8-0) lead. Ferguson hit another Tiger rookie — freshman running back Darrell Henderson — on a 15-yard pass play for the season’s first touchdown. The Tigers followed with a trick play, wideout Anthony Miller tossing a short pass to tight end Daniel Montiel for a two-point conversion. You had the impression that if an option for three points after the touchdown existed, Norvell would have taken it. 

Tailback Doroland Dorceus scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes of the first quarter, the first on a 3-yard run to complete a 73-yard drive, then a 13-yard reception after Tiger cornerback Arthur Maulet intercepted a pass by SEMO’s backup quarterback, Dante Vandeven. (Jesse Hoskett re-entered on SEMO’s next series and played the rest of the game.) A 23-yard Ferguson-to-Henderson connection midway through the second quarter essentially put the game away for Memphis. SEMO’s Ryan McCrum hit a 26-yard field goal to make the score 29-3 at halftime, and Will Young galloped for a 61-yard touchdown early in the third quarter, but the Redhawks didn’t close within 20 points until an Adrian Davis touchdown catch with 3:25 left on the clock.

Ferguson finished with 26 completions in 40 attempts for 295 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions. “We executed pretty good at the beginning,” he said. “I made some mistakes, made some throws I shouldn’t have. We’ll be fine. It felt good being back on the field. I had a little bit of nerves, but that first drive helped. We’re 1-0 and that was our main goal. Just gotta get read for Kansas [on September 17th] now. I’m blessed to be here. It’s an unbelievable opportunity.”

Junior wideout Anthony Miller led the Tigers with nine catches for 103 yards. (He also averaged 11.0 yards on three punt returns.) The Memphis rushing attack was supplementary at best, a late 51-yard jaunt by Patrick Taylor almost doubling the team’s total.

Defensively, the Tigers held SEMO to 253 yards and allowed only four third-down conversions on 15 such plays. When asked about the unit’s focus entering the game, Maulet emphasized “execute.” “Get the play and communicate,” he added. “When we communicate and all 11 are on the same play, we’re gonna stop everybody. That was the biggest thing.”

Larry Kuzniewski

Riley Ferguson

Maulet also acknowledged the boost the Tiger defense gets from the pace of the team’s offense. “It helps us. I don’t know how many plays the other team had [63], but we weren’t even tired because how high the tempo is in practice.”

The Liberty Bowl crowd of 42,876 was actually larger than the the one that saw last year’s opener (41,730). After a bye week, the Tigers will host their next two games, against the Jayhawks (of the Big 12, mind you) and Bowling Green (September 24th). The Mike Norvell Era has officially begun in Memphis. Whatever the conference affiliation, winning sells tickets. So consider the 2016 season off to the right start.

“I’m so very grateful for this opportunity,” said Norvell. “If you want to see what college football is all about, come to the Tiger Walk. That was one of the most impressive things I’ve ever been a part of, and I’ve coached at many places. You pull up and see a sea of blue. We understand everything we do on the field represents this community.”

Categories
Music Music Blog

Weekend Roundup 78: Rock For Love, Baroness, Star and Micey

Baroness plays the New Daisy tonight.

Welcome to another edition of my Weekend Roundup. There are a ton of shows worth your attention today, and plenty of them get going well before the Tigers kick off a new season at the Liberty Bowl tonight. Here is everywhere you to be to fulfill your musical destiny this weekend.  

Saturday, September 3rd.
Stone Soul Picnic, 2 p.m. at The Levitt Shell, free.

Crockett Hall,  Summer Avenue, HEELS,Papa Top’s West Coast Turnaround, 2 p.m. at Loflin Yard.

Weekend Roundup 78: Rock For Love, Baroness, Star and Micey (2)

Live Up Fest, 5 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $10.

Baroness, Pallbearer, 6 p.m. at the New Daisy, $22.50-$25.00.

Weekend Roundup 78: Rock For Love, Baroness, Star and Micey (3)

Julien Baker, Dead Soldiers, Me & Leah, 7 p.m. at Otherlands Coffee, $10.

Weekend Roundup 78: Rock For Love, Baroness, Star and Micey (4)

Chickasaw Mound, 10:30 p.m. at Bar DKDC, $7.

Memphis Funk and Horns, 10:30 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

Weekend Roundup 78: Rock For Love, Baroness, Star and Micey (5)

Sunday, September 4th.
Blind Mississippi Morris, 5 p.m. at B.B. King’s Blues Club.

Weekend Roundup 78: Rock For Love, Baroness, Star and Micey (6)

Star and Micey, Jack Oblivian and the Sheiks, Amy LaVere, 6 p.m. at the Levitt Shell, donations.

Weekend Roundup 78: Rock For Love, Baroness, Star and Micey

Mighty Souls Brass Band, 8 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

Categories
Memphis Gaydar News

OUTMemphis Closes on Property for Youth Housing Project

This map shows where the OUTMemphis youth homeless shelter will be located.

OUTMemphis (formerly the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center) has closed on a piece of Shelby County Land Bank property at 2059 Southern for its project to house homeless LGBTQ young adults ages 18 to 25.

The sale closed on Wednesday. According to a letter from OUTMemphis to the Shelby County Board of Adjustments (BOA), the proposed project will span three parcels on Southern near the Cooper-Young neighborhood. OUTMemphis is requesting a zoning variance from the BOA to use shipping containers to create “comfortable and unique living spaces for our youth.”

They’re also requesting a variance to increase the number of parking spaces allowed on the site to five spaces. Each parcel will have a maximum of four residents, so the parking will allow for one guest spot.

“We have modeled the project after other, similar facilities in cities such as New York and Ohio and have taken into account things that have proven to be successful. We plan to have 24-hour surveillance cameras around the facility for protection of our young adults as well as for neighborhood security. The site will have 24-hour staff supervision of all young adults present on the property to ensure order and respect of the neighborhood,” reads the letter to the BOA.

The project serves a need currently unmet in Memphis, according to the letter.

“Currently there are no secure options in Memphis for this population. Emergency shelters currently in place have proven themselves unsafe for our LGBT young adults. LGBT people make up 7 to 10 percent of the general population but homeless LGBT youth make up between 20 to 40 percent of the homeless youth population. The numbers are overwhelming and have given us a reason to come up with a solution to help our youth here in Memphis. Our project will be a safe haven for young adults who are trying to improve their lives and move forward to a more stable place of their own,” according to the letter.

The variance request will be heard at the BOA meeting on Wednesday, September 28th.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Indie Memphis Announces First Crop of Movies for 2016 Festival

A documentary about a controversial chapter of Memphis history, a coming-of-age drama by one of Memphis’ favorite sons and a look back at a seminal Bluff City work by Hollywood’s hottest writer will be the centerpieces of the 2016 Indie Memphis Film Festival. 

Indie Memphis released this video today to reveal the first crop of the160 films that will screen at the weeklong festival in November. 

Indie Memphis Announces First Crop of Movies for 2016 Festival

The Invaders

The opening night film will be The Invaders, a documentary by director Prichard Smith, writer J. B. Horrell (who is better known as the Memphis musician behind Ex-Cult and Aquarian Blood), and executive producer Craig Brewer. The film traces the history of Memphis’ indigenous black power group of the 1960s, The Invaders. Contemporaries of the Black Panthers, The Invaders became infamous during the aftermath of the 1968 Sanitation Workers Strike. The film tells the story from their perspective, shedding new light on the events leading up to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Full disclosure: This columnist consulted on the film) 

Little Men

Director Ira Sachs, a Memphis native who lives in New York City, has been garnering acclaim for his new film Little Men, which will premiere at Indie Memphis before beginning its run at the Malco Ridgeway. Sachs, who recently had a retrospective of his work at the Museum of Modern Art, will be on hand to introduce the film and answer questions from the audience. 

Free In Deed

Director Jake Mahaffy’s Free In Deed, shot in Memphis in 2014, is based on a true life story of faith healing gone wrong. It premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival and has garnered international acclaim from Europe to Australia. 

The People vs. Larry Flynt

20 years ago this summer, The People vs. Larry Flynt shot here in Memphis. Directed by Milos Foreman, the film was the brainchild of screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, who scored this year’s biggest television hit with The People vs. OJ Simpson. Karaszewski will return to Memphis for the twentieth anniversary screening of his epic tale of the Hustler publisher’s visit to the Supreme Court. 

Kallen Esperian: Vissi d’arté

The closing night of the festival will be director Steve Ross’ locally produced documentary profile of the Memphis opera singer Kallen Esperian: Vissi d’arte’. The film premiered with a pair of sold-out shows earlier this year, and the closing night gala will give more Memphians an opportunity to see this remarkable work. 

This year’s festival, sponsored by Duncan Williams runs from November 1-7. Tickets are now on sale at the Indie Memphis web site. 

Categories
News News Blog

TEMA Director Apologizes for Emergency Alert Test

The director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) apologized for the statewide test of emergency alerts that had cell phones buzzing across the state yesterday.

At 9:33 a.m. And 9:34 a.m. Thursday, TEMA sent out messages to test the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts to mobile devices. The first suggested Tennesseans “prepare an emergency kit and an emergency plan.” The second reminded Tennesseans that September is National Preparedness Month, which it totally is by the way.

TEMA officials said they got hundreds of calls and messages from Tennesseans “letting us know about problems with receiving messages and the concerns caused by the messages received.”

“In many instances the caveats that the message was part of a test were not received, making it seem like an emergency was imminent,” TEMA director Patrick Sheehan said in a statement. “While many are understanding, knowing that we need to test our systems, many have voiced their concerns about the angst this test caused.

“Please accept my sincerest apologies for any inconvenience today’s test caused.”

Sheehan said TEMA will be evaluating its protocols and systems related to the alerts and will not be conducting any public tests of the system in the foreseeable future.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Chris Vernon Out at 92.9 ESPN?

It appears that longtime local sports radio personality Chris Vernon is no longer employed by 92.9 ESPN. His show was removed from the schedule on the station’s website Friday morning, and Vernon later confirmed the story on Twitter:

The Commercial Appeal reported that Vernon and the station were engaged in a contract dispute. Vernon’s show has been popular for years, and he played a role in the growing legend of the Grit & Grind Grizzlies by selling the original Tony Allen “All Heart Grit Grind” T-shirts back in 2011. More recently, Vernon has also appeared on Fox Sports’ television coverage of Grizzlies games.

No one at 92.9-FM would speak to the Flyer on the record. More on the story as it develops.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A Peek at Zaka Bowl’s Menu

“Almost there,” says Ed Cabigao of the opening Zaka Bowl, a create-your-own veggie bowl restaurant in East Memphis.

Cabigao, who owns South of Beale with his wife Brittany, says they are putting the finishing touches on now — painting, testing menu items, training the staff. If permit process goes well, Zaka Bowl could be open as early as September 16th. 

Of Zaka Bowl, Cabigao says, “Our mission here is to show that compassionate choices can lead to a cleaner, happier, healthier you and planet!”

Here’s a peek at Zaka Bowl’s menu:  

[pdf-1]
Zaka Bowl is located at 575 Erin Drive. 

Categories
News News Blog

ACLU: Memphis Marijuana Reform a Matter of ‘Racial Justice’

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee is urging citizens to support a proposal before the Memphis City Council to decriminalize marijuana.

Two weeks ago, council member Berlin Boyd proposed lowering charges for those possessing a half ounce (or less) of marijuana. The new rule would allow Memphis Police Department (MPD) officers to enforce existing state rules on possession or the new charges proposed by Boyd.

State laws come with a maximum fine of $250 and up to a year in jail. Boyd’s original proposal called for a $50 fine for marijuana possession and, possibly, some community service. He has revamped the rule to include, among other things, a sliding scale of fines based on the number of times an individual is arrested on marijuana possession.

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee, urged its members to contact city council members to support the proposal, calling the issue a matter of “racial justice” and that the state spends a large amount of money each year enforcing marijuana laws.

Here’s what Weinberg said in her letter:

“For too long, thousands of Memphians have been arrested for possession of tiny amounts of marijuana — leading to disastrous consequences for their lives, including the loss of job, education, and housing opportunities.

Make no mistake — this is an issue of racial justice. As of 2010, in Shelby County a black person was 4.2 times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession as a white person, though the two groups use marijuana at comparable rates.

Tell council members to reduce unjust and discriminatory marijuana arrests.

In 2010, approximately 42.2 percent of Tennessee drug arrests were for marijuana possession and Tennessee spent an estimated $42,948,820 enforcing marijuana possession laws.

This ordinance would significantly reduce the costly incarceration rate for this low-level violation, freeing law enforcement to focus on addressing violent crime.”

Categories
Blurb Books

Jamey Hatley to receive a 2016 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award

Jamey Hatley

Memphis fiction writer Jamey Hatley has won a 2016 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award, given annually to six women writers who demonstrate excellence and promise in the early stages of their careers, the awards are $30,000 each.

Jamey Hatley is working on her first novel, The Dream-Singers. It is the story of twins, one born at the moment Martin Luther King, Jr., delivers his final speech and the other at the moment King dies. After the devastation of the assassination, the people in an all-black neighborhood of Memphis fixate on the babies as a symbol of hope. Their hope is short-lived when the boy twin dies under mysterious circumstances just three months later. Her nominator writes, “Reading her work is like witnessing past, present, and future on one page. She creates a very convincing community and voice through her use of fable.”

Hatley has recently returned to her hometown of Memphis to care for her elderly parents. She says, “So many of the themes that were already present in my novel have become starkly real since my return: dreams as debt, who gets to leave home and who must stay, the responsibility to home, and collective amnesia. It attempts to interrogate the cliché to ‘just follow your dreams’ and reveal what a complex proposition that is for a community where one of the most famous dreamers of all time is killed.”

Her work has appeared in Callaloo, The Account, and Oxford American, among others. She has attended Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference for the past five years and is the recipient of a 2016 National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. She received her B.S. from the University of Tennessee, her M.A. in journalism from the University of Memphis, and her M.F.A. from Louisiana State University. Hatley plans to use her award to cover living expenses during the next year so she can write full-time and complete her novel.

Novelist Rona Jaffe (1931-2005) established The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Awards program in 1995. Now in its 22nd year, the awards have helped women to build successful writing careers by offering encouragement and financial support at a critical time. It is the only national literary awards program of its kind dedicated to supporting women writers exclusively. Since the program began, the Foundation has awarded more than $2 million to emergent women writers, including several who have gone on to critical acclaim, such as Elif Batuman, Eula Biss, Lan Samantha Chang, Rivka Galchen, Rebecca Lee, ZZ Packer, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts, Tracy K. Smith, Mary Szybist, and Tiphanie Yanique.