Month: October 2016

Categories
From My Seat Sports

Missing Phil Cannon

Phil Cannon

I miss Phil Cannon. The longtime director of the FedEx St. Jude Classic died last Wednesday after a courageous two-year battle with lung cancer. I last saw Phil and his lovely wife at the Liberty Bowl before the Temple game on October 6th. However sick he may have felt, he didn’t show it. Never did. Like every other time I crossed Phil’s path, he brightened my mood. I wish I’d taken more time to visit with him that evening.

Consider the impact Phil made on this entire region over his four decades in support of our annual PGA event. (Memphis was “big league” long before the Grizzlies arrived.) The city’s two most powerful, wide-reaching brands — FedEx and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — are in the very title of the golf tournament. There was a four-year period (2007-2010) when FedEx was not the title sponsor, and those were rough years for Phil and his staff. But he lured the Fortune 500 titan back into the mix, all the while coordinating an army of volunteers that numbered upwards of 1,800, the faces and voices (“Hush y’all!”) that make the FESJC so distinctly ours. Phil could impact a boardroom packed with CEOs the same way he could an assembled group of groundskeepers, scoreboard operators, and concession vendors.

Phil was the primary source for the first feature I wrote for Memphis magazine, a broad look at the FESJC in June 1994. He treated me like I was reporting for Esquire. Twenty-one years later, I sat down with him to absorb some wisdom for Inside Memphis Business. Among the nuggets he shared: “If you’re going to need 150 carts on Wednesday but only 100 on Friday, go ahead and get the 150.” Perfectly Phil Cannon. Whether it’s transportation, catering, or restrooms, err on the side of making your customers comfortable.

The world can’t replace the Phil Cannons among us. But the kindness, decency, professionalism, humor, and courage that Phil personified live on mightily among those of us who called him a friend. And that’s a slice of immortality.

• Cancer is a monster that takes many hideous forms. Phil Cannon was in my thoughts when my family and I approached the starting line at Saturday’s Race for the Cure downtown. If there’s a more uplifting event in Memphis, I’ve yet to attend it. The annual 5K serves as a coming-out party — that’s what it is, a party — to celebrate the women (and men) we’ve lost to breast cancer, and the thousands around the world beating the insidious disease every day.

If breast cancer hasn’t impacted you personally, it surely has indirectly. (My mom and sister are breast cancer survivors.) I start the Race for the Cure each year with a lump in my throat, reading the tags runners and walkers wear to salute a loved one they’ve lost, or one currently fighting for her life. And the route makes the event so distinctly Memphis: Start in front of the Peabody, then along the river, down South Main, around the National Civil Rights Museum and FedExForum, back along Beale Street, with a finish at AutoZone Park. Whether you’re burning your lungs over the final mile, or walking hand-in-hand with a family member, you can actually feel compassion winning (to say nothing of the extensive research saving lives every day). If you were there Saturday, thank you. If not, consider marking your calendar for next October.

Categories
Blurb Books

Jonathan Safran Foer at the Jewish Literary and Cultural Arts Festival

Jonathan Safran Foer is the author of Extremely Loud and Incredible Close, and the bestselling work of nonfiction, Eating Animals. His first novel, Everything Is Illuminated, was named Book of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and the winner of numerous awards, including the Guardian First Book Prize, the National Jewish Book Award, and the New York Public Library Young Lions Prize. Foer was one of Rolling Stone‘s “People of the Year” and Esquire‘s “Best and Brightest.”



Foer will be a part of the Jewish Literary and Cultural Arts Festival at the Memphis Jewish Community Center this Tuesday evening.



Unfolding over three tumultuous weeks in present-day Washington, DC, his latest novel, Here I Am, is the story of a fracturing family in a moment of crisis. As Jacob and Julia and their three sons are forced to confront the distances between the lives they think they want and the lives they are living, a catastrophic earthquake sets in motion a pan-Arab invasion of Israel. At stake is the very meaning of home—and the fundamental question of how much life one can bear.



A conversation with Jonathan Safran Foer

Memphis Jewish Community Center

Tuesday, November 1

8:00 pm

$12/members; $15/non-members

Categories
Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition

10-year-old girls think this completely inappropriate title is hilarious.

“Why must it always end in ketchup?”

It’s a great line, and my weird family says it all the time. Well, we don’t really say it so much as we overact it. It’s the angst-ridden cry we unleash when things go wrong. Especially when things go wrong in ridiculous ways — “WHY MUST IT ALWAYS END IN KETCHUP?”  The phrase was coined by my effortlessly absurd daughter Josie, as she prepared to shoot a gore-spattered scene in our very first family zombie movie, Attack of the Bloody Hand, starring her and her fraternal twin, Lucy.

I’m an open book on social media, but, tend to keep family life out of my columns. Today I’m breaking that rule because it’s Halloween, and, at the risk of seeming self-indulgent,  I want to share the family tradition that brought this beautifully bloody catchphrase into our lives.

Shot on location, when old Ozymandias was just around the corner.

I’ve been making homemade monster movies with my daughters for 10 years now. We’ve made Sci-Fi flicks too. And at least one swashbuckler. But it’s mostly horror because we do it in October, usually the week before Halloween. We have rules too, to make sure things never get too expensive or serious. It’s an imagination game, not about set-building. The shoot takes place in our house, but can spill out into the yard, and immediate neighborhood. We have a $20 budget, but can sometimes splurge on an item if it’s just that cool, or we know we’ll use more than once. Shooting has to be completed in one day, and the whole project has to be completed before Halloween.

I’m not a filmmaker, and don’t pretend to be one. This isn’t fancy stuff— It shouldn’t be about that. Our 5 to 15-minute flickers are all lit with natural light and flashlights. They are costumed from closets, shot on Flips and iPhones, and edited in iMovie. Sometimes we make our own special effects and write our own soundtrack music, but we also truck in parody, mixing  in clips and sounds from horror classics. It’s the sort of thing  anybody can do with tech they carry in their pocket, and as stupidly fun family traditions go, I can’t recommend it enough.

Prepare yourself now for the macabre in miniature — Ten years of highly collaborative short movies made with 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14-year olds.  We’re not Hammer, or Universal exactly. But on a good day we can at least compete with Eegah! 

1. The Robbers: It’s about pirates, but the girls wanted to call it The Robbers. I don’t think we really planned this, but just kind of fell into it while playing with toy swords at the park. Little did we realize this was the beginning of something completely ridiculous. This chase sequence is shot in a small format, and it’s sometimes hard to hear. We get better.

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition

2. Three Against the Sky: Costarring their friend Avery, this movie found three little girls saving the universe from a three-headed, lightning-breathing dragon, and flying saucers. Lots of pure joy in this one.

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition (2)

3. Attack of the Bloody Hand: We didn’t know it at the time that Attack of the Bloody Hand would be part of a trilogy. Part three, in fact. Though shot out of order the three parts of The Bloody Hand Trilogy are The Ancient Evil Mummy, Ancient Evil From Before the Dawn of Time, and Attack of the Bloody Hand. Trivia: There’s no bloody hand in chapter one, The Ancient Evil Mummy. The last one — which is also the first one —is a zombie flick with some familiar horror movie music.

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition (3)

4. The Wolfing: I have no idea what we were doing here. Werewolf movie? Bergman parody? Just hanging out on Saturday?

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition (4)

5. The Ancient Evil Mummy: What happens when you unlock the secrets of Cleopatra’s closet? Part 1 in The Bloody Hand Trilogy. Also, a lot of fun. So glad we shot this while the Ramses II statue was still at the Pyramid.

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition (5)

6. Invaders From Uranus: This is an homage to a popular Twilight Zone episode starring Endora, and Earth vs the Flying Saucers. The twins, had just started playing musical instruments (and a band with featured friend Janie). So they wanted to try making some of their own soundtrack music. Who knew monsters could be destroyed by tween rock?

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition (6)

7. Ancient Evil From Before the Dawn of Time: In the past we’d written outlines and just made stuff up as we went along. Here Lucy emerges as a strong writing collaborator, with a real sense for Lovecraftian dread. The girls add a nifty original song to the soundtrack— “Shooting Star.” This is part 2 in The Bloody Hand Trilogy.

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition (7)

8. The Devil Doll: Inspired by the scariest part of Trilogy of Terror. More Josie & Lucy songs too.

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition (8)

9. Bride of Boggy Creek: This one’s inspired by the Bigfoot cheapie The Legend of Boggy Creek and also by The Blair Witch Project. It’s the funniest of the bunch, and probably my favorite. The twins had just discovered Drunk History and borrowed some of that show’s storytelling techniques. No, there wasn’t any booze involved, but you wouldn’t know from all the giggling. Featuring a ukulele remake of the original Boggy Creek theme song.

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition (9)

10. Three Against the Sky 2: This year’s project is a cease and desist letter waiting to happen. It should have been a 10-year extravaganza, but became one of our least ambitious efforts due to a number of unforeseen obstacles cutting into our planning time. This is a sequel/remake and, at the very least, it’s nice watching little heroes grow up. There are flashbacks, and a lot of pure joy in this one too.
 

Home Horror Movies: A 10-Year Halloween Tradition (10)

Thanks for enduring that. I won’t post anymore backyard movies of my kids until we’ve been doing this for 20-years. In the meantime, I’d love to see other people pick up this tradition. I’ll happily publish homemade horror movies here at Fly on the Wall every Halloween. They don’t have to be good, they just have to look like they were a lot of fun to make.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies 112, Wizards 103: The Marc Gasol Three Game

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Larry Kuzniewski

Marc Gasol’s minutes restriction didn’t stop him from winning the game with 3-point shooting.

It was the first “Instant Classic” game of the Grizzlies’ young season: the Grizzlies defeated the Washington Wizards in overtime last night, 112-103, mostly because of Marc Gasol’s three-point shooting (seriously! Gasol was 4 of 6 from long range, including 2 for 2 in overtime) and because a flagrant foul committed against Vince Carter shifted the momentum of a game that looked to be spiraling out of the Grizzlies’ grasp. But it wasn’t the only game the Grizzlies played this weekend; they lost to the Knicks 104-111 Saturday night. Let’s talk about that game first, because I owe the reader some poetry.

Game Haiku #2

The defense rested.
The offense froze, pillars of salt,
Looked back at the past.

There was a lot going on Saturday night: Mike Conley was on a minutes restriction and only played 23 minutes, and even with Conley limited, the game followed the same pattern as the home opener against Minnesota: the Grizzlies started slow, got behind early, and then spent the whole rest of the game trying to dig out of the hole they’d gotten themselves in. The problem is that’s much harder to do when you’re playing a team featuring Kristaps Porzingis and the interior defense could charitably be described as “porous.” The defensive problems were compounded by a lack of movement off the ball when the starters were on the floor. Nobody but Conley and Gasol tried to do anything other than stand at the 3-point line and watch what happening. The Grizzlies made it close, but that’s all it ever really was; they closed the gaps but couldn’t ever keep the Knicks from answering a run with a run of their own.

And then:

[jump]

Game Haiku #3

Gasol has new range
And Half Man Half Amazing
Looks to have new life

A List Of Thoughts About Last Night’s Game

Thought: Starting Jarell Martin instead of Andrew Harrison may not have been the best move tactically, but it paid off strategically. WIth Martin at the small forward, James Ennis had to play out of position at shooting guard, and I think he’s much better suited to play “up” than “down.” But it was undeniable that the energy was better, the Grizzlies got off to a better start, and that things went more smoothly. Martin had a rough night after that, but don’t be surprised if that starting lineup sticks, at least until Tony Allen returns.

Larry Kuzniewski

Mike Conley and Marc Gasol carried the Grizzlies down the stretch.

Thought: Much has been made of the fact that Marc Gasol was only supposed to play 20 minutes Sunday night because it was the second night of a back-to-back and Conley had been restricted the night before. Given that Fizdale discarded the limit, Gasol played an entire overtime, and still only played 29:01, I’m fine with it. He only played 31 minutes against the Knicks the night before, and Conley only played 23:36. This new world where those two don’t get run into the ground by January is a world I’m happy to live in.

Thought: Vince Carter is the oldest player in the league and he looks better than he’s looked in two years. It seems like the injury to and surgery on his ankle affected him more than we thought last year. In spot minutes this year, Carter has been great. He was 5 of 6 from the field last night, with every shot a three-pointer, and set the screen that got Gasol open for the game-tying 3 to send it into overtime. His defense has been really good in spurts so far (Exhibit A being how he ruined Andrew Wiggins’ night in the opener). I hope he plays until he’s 50.

Thought: Zach Randolph is going nova in his new bench role. Last night he played 25 minutes, scored 22 points on 16 shots, and pulled down 7 rebounds. The problem is that what we’ve all long predicted has finally happened: his defense has fallen off so much that he’s just not credible protecting the interior at all. He gave the Grizzlies a desperately-needed scoring lift last night—exactly what his role is designed to do—but his defense was just flat-out not good. Worth watching to see whether the defensive limitations interfere with his Super Sixth Man status.

Larry Kuzniewski

Zach Randolph was a force of nature on offense, but struggled at the other end.

Thought: This season’s a lot of fun so far.

Thought: Mike Conley and Marc Gasol carried the team through the end of the 4th and into overtime last night, but it masked a pretty bad shooting performance from Conley. He missed several point-blank layups, and shot 8-19 on the night (that percentage was notably worse before the last 5 minutes of the game). It’s worth watching to see whether Conley can regain his ability to finish at the rim or whether he’s going to have to adapt his game to go around it.

Thought: I bet John Wall wishes he hadn’t clobbered Vince Carter on that layup attempt. There were around 3 minutes left, and the Grizzlies were trailing 96-90. The flagrant foul resulted in two shots and possession for the Grizzlies, which started a little 5-0 run that got the Grizzlies back in striking distance and led directly to overtime. Funny how momentum can change on plays like that. I didn’t ask Vince whether he was willing to sacrifice taking more blows to the head to seal close games.

Next

Another back to back, this one on the road against Minnesota Tuesday and then home again to face the Pelicans on Wednesday, completing this stretch of four games in five nights by starting a four-game home stand. Clippers on Friday, and then home games Sunday and Tuesday as well.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Indie Memphis

This week marks the return of the music video competition to the Indie Memphis Film Festival.

In 2000s, Indie Memphis co-sponsored a music video competition with the much-missed community arts web site Live From Memphis, but the Music Video Showcase has been AWOL for five years. In an era where YouTube is the most important venue for new music discovery, the music video is more important than ever, so Indie Memphis will feature two blocs of music videos during the seven day festival, which begins tomorrow, Nov. 1.

The Hometowner Music Video bloc bows at the Orpheum Theatre’s Halloran Centre on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 8:10 PM. 23 videos from the fusion of Memphis musicians and filmmakers reflect the city’s explosive creativity the Flyer has been covering on our Music Video Monday series. Among the MVM alums is our best music video of 2015, Vending Machine’s “Let The Little Things Go”, directed by G.B. Shannon.

VENDING MACHINE "Let The Little Things Go" Music Video from GB Shannon on Vimeo.

Music Video Monday: Indie Memphis (2)

Another MVM alum is Andrew Trent Fleming and Marco Pavé’s scorcher, “Black Tux”:

Music Video Monday: Indie Memphis (3)

The third MVM alum is the Halloween-appropriate “No Loving But Yours” from Crown Vox.

Music Video Monday: Indie Memphis

Indie Memphis’ newest category is Sounds, which includes both music themed features and music videos. The Sounds video bloc, which is open to videos from all over the world, will screen on Friday, Nov. 4 at 4 PM. Among the highlights of the 18 videos in competition are this naughty puppet party from Eric White:
 

El Muppet Song from Eric White on Vimeo.

Music Video Monday: Indie Memphis (4)

And finally, there’s this highly acclaimed, thumb wrestling epic from Etienne Fu-le Saulnier:

MUSIC VIDEO LITTLE PARTY QUEEN from Fu-Le Saulnier Etienne on Vimeo.

Music Video Monday: Indie Memphis (5)

You can buy tickets to the video blocs or festival passes at the Indie Memphis website. If you would like to see your music video on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

Rep. Cohen Calls on FBI Director Comey to Resign

The fallout keeps growing  from Friday ‘s bombshell announcement by FBI director James Comey that the FBI would be reopening its investigation of the Hillary Clinton email affair in view of a reported discovery that a laptop shared by Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her disgraced husband Anthony Weiner might contain emails “pertinent” to the seemingly closed Clinton case.

Both presidential campaigns — and their respective supporters — are treating the matter as something 

Director Comey (l); Rep. Cohen

much more than the proverbial “October Surprise” — rather, it would seem, as something that could wrench the election one way or the other from its seemingly inevitable course. Both Republicans and Democrats seem to believe that while emotional reaction to the matter might or might not open up a pathway for a Donald Trump victory, it could have a drastic effect on the so-called “down-ballot” races for contested House and Senate seats.

Memphis congressman Steve Cohen, an enthusiastic supporter of Clinton’s presidential candidacy, is the latest public official to go public with anger over the development. The 9th District congressman is calling Director Comey ‘s action improper and demanding that he resign.

Cohen’s complete statement follows in a press release from his office:

October 31, 2016

House Judiciary Constitution and Civil Justice Subcommittee Ranking Member Cohen Calls for FBI Director Comey to Resign

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, today called on James Comey to resign as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

“FBI Director James Comey’s recent public comments on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her emails, apparently before seeing any evidence, and against the advice of the Justice Department according to press reports, and even, some have suggested, in violation of the Hatch Act, make it clear that for the good of the FBI and the Justice Department, he should resign his position effective immediately,” said Congressman Cohen. “In the past, even quite recently, I have expressed my appreciation for Director Comey. I appreciated his courage as Deputy Attorney General when he stood up to President Bush’s Chief of Staff Andrew Card and White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales when they attempted to persuade hospitalized Attorney General John Ashcroft to reauthorize Bush’s domestic surveillance program, which the Justice Department had just determined was illegal. When, in July of this year, Director Comey recommended no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton for her handling of classified information while she was Secretary of State but added his own sidebar of opinions to the announcement, I gave Director Comey the benefit of the doubt, despite the fact that his making such highly unusual remarks was called into question by many.”

Congressman Cohen elaborated, “While I cannot know Director Comey’s reasoning for his recent letter to House members notifying them about the FBI’s review of emails that he deemed ‘potentially related’ to Hillary Clinton’s personal server, it was plainly premature, careless and unprecedented in its potential impact upon a Presidential election without a speck of information regarding the emails in question, their validity, substance or relevance. Director Comey stated in the letter that he had no idea of ‘the significance of this newly discovered collection of emails’ which makes his decision all the more disturbing.

“There is a reason that FBI investigations are not usually made public until they are completed. To do so gives an impression of guilt before all the facts have been determined. That was the case during the FBI’s investigation of Secretary Clinton’s emails that led Director Comey to state that there was no evidence that Secretary Clinton intentionally transmitted or willfully mishandled classified information and that ‘no reasonable prosecutor’ would bring a case against her. In light of that finding and the Department of Justice’s prohibition and practice against influencing elections, it is clear that Director Comey’s actions, no matter his motivations, have called into question his judgment and ethics. That is unacceptable as the FBI Director must, like Caesar’s wife, be above suspicion. I agree with CNN’s Paul Callan who, in calling for Director Comey to resign wrote ‘Trashing the Justice and FBI rule books in the interest of “openness” is likely to put the FBI front and center in one of the most contentious presidential races in recent U.S. history.’ ”

Congressman Cohen continued, “Additionally revelatory is the New York Times opinion written by Richard Painter, chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, in which he states:

Absent extraordinary circumstances that might justify it, a public communication about a pending FBI investigation involving a candidate that is made on the eve of an election is thus very likely to be a violation of the Hatch Act and a misuse of an official position. Serious questions also arise under lawyers’ professional conduct rules that require prosecutors to avoid excessive publicity and unnecessary statements that could cause public condemnation even of people who have been accused of a crime, not to mention people like Mrs. Clinton, who have never been charged with a crime.

Congressman Cohen concluded, “The fairness of our electoral system is like the fairness of a trial, and no justice official should act in such a way to potentially influence an election whether intended to or not. Standards must be upheld and an FBI Director needs to investigate, not inject issues into a presidential election when no investigation dictates action or basis for action. At a minimum, Director Comey’s actions are, to use his own verbiage, ‘extremely careless’ this close to the election and without any apparent substance. If Director Comey cares about the Bureau and the rule of law, as I have felt he has in the past, I’m sure upon reflection of this action, he will submit his letter of resignation for the nation’s good.”

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Tulsa 59, Tigers 30

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Halloween arrived two days early for the Tiger football team, particularly those players responsible for slowing an opponent’s offense. A week after being gashed by Navy for 532 yards, the Memphis defense allowed 596 to Tulsa and made a star of Golden Hurricane tailback James Flanders. Filling in for the injured D’Angelo Brewer, Flanders ran for 249 yards and set a Tulsa record with five touchdowns. (Flanders and Brewer now each have more than 800 yards rushing on the season.) Tulsa improves to 6-2 on the season (3-1 in the American Athletic Conference) and virtually eliminates Memphis (5-3, 2-2) from contention for the AAC West division title. The Tigers have lost consecutive games for the first time under rookie coach Mike Norvell.
 Larry Kuzniewski

Trevon Tate

“Congratulations to Coach [Philip] Montgomery and his team,” said Norvell after the game. “They dominated in every phase. Tonight, we’re not a very good football team. We had a lot of mistakes, a lot of things to correct. That starts with me. The only thing I know to do is focus and get back to work. I believe in the young men in [that locker room], but you can’t go out and play like we did tonight and be very successful.”

The Tigers turned the ball over four times (two fumbles and a pair of Riley Ferguson interceptions) and committed 12 penalties for 115 yards. Just as damaging, the U of M defense put no pressure on Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans, who completed 20 of 33 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns. In eight games this season, Memphis has a total of seven sacks. The Tigers had two tackles behind the line of scrimmage compared with eight such hits for the Golden Hurricane.

“We gotta win gaps, both offensively and defensively,” said Norvell. “We didn’t get that done tonight. We turned the ball over. Mistake after mistake. And it’s a good team we played; they capitalized.”

The Tigers played from behind throughout the game, down 14-0 barely five minutes into the game and 28-14 after a 1-yard Flanders run midway through the second quarter. The only consecutive scores Memphis enjoyed flanked halftime, a 40-yard field goal by Jake Elliott with 1:31 left in the first half, and a 3-yard touchdown reception by Anthony Miller early in the third quarter that closed the Tulsa lead to 35-30 (after a failed two-point attempt).

The Tigers held Tulsa to a field goal after the Miller score, but were forced to punt on their next two possessions. Flanders galloped 48 yards for his fourth touchdown with 3:06 left in the third quarter, then scored for the final time on a 7-yard run after Tulsa recovered a Tiger fumble, putting the game out of reach at 52-30.

The lopsided defeat made a footnote out of a historic night by Miller, who broke a 51-year-old Memphis record with 250 receiving yards. (Bob Sherlag had a 186-yard game in 1965.) The junior from Christian Brothers High School caught 12 passes, scored two touchdowns, and now has 822 yards for the season. Only Isaac Bruce has reached the 1,000-yard milestone for Memphis (in 1993), and his season-record of 1,054 yards is well within Miller’s reach with at least four games left to play.

Larry Kuzniewski

The Tigers went pink with their logo in support of the fight to beat breast cancer.

Ferguson completed 19 of 41 passes for 349 yards and three touchdowns, though he lost a fumble, threw the two picks and was sacked three times. Freshman Patrick Taylor led the Tigers’ ground attack with 92 rushing yards.

“It’s a challenge,” emphasized Norvell, “when you have a plan and you go out and don’t execute to the level that’s necessary to be successful. Our guys are sick; I’m sick. Opportunities are there, and we have to capitalize. I felt confident. They jumped up 14-0. A key play early: we had a personal-foul penalty on a third-down stop on their first drive. We did not play the way I expected we would. Each man — including myself — needs to get better. All the things that are the true core of who we are . . . we didn’t get done tonight.”

The Tigers will travel to Dallas next Saturday to face SMU, winners over Tulane Saturday and Houston on October 22nd. They remain a win shy of bowl eligibility with four games (two at home) left to play.

Categories
News News Blog

Prairie Farms Expansion Stirs Neighborhood Controversy

CREDIT: Apple Maps

Google

The Prairie Farms facility on Madison.

A project at the Prairie Farms plant in Midtown has some neighbors and at least one developer hoping the milk plant will move, while the company’s owner said the project will clean up the site for its neighbors and keep and create skilled jobs in Memphis.

Neighbors of the Midtown production facility complained recently to city officials about the trucks parked in the vacant lot behind the milk plant. Jim Turner, owner of the land and the Prairie Farms milk plant, said he wasn’t aware zoning laws prevented him from parking trucks there.

His company, Turner Holdings LLC, is now asking city officials for a legal change to the vacant lot that would allow it to be used for “vehicle maintenance, repair, warehousing, and temporary parking of trucks and trailers,” according to the company’s city application.

Google

The ‘back lot’ at Prairie Farms.

The Land Use Control Board (LUCB) is slated to review the request during its next meeting on Thursday, Nov. 10 at 10 a.m. Turner has scheduled a public meeting on the zoning change for Monday, Oct. 31 at 4:30 p.m. at the Brooks Museum.

This move comes after the company was awarded a tax-break deal from the Memphis and Shelby County Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE) board in June. The seven-year deal is worth more than $1 million and covers what is now a $10 million project to add a new building to the milk plant, which fronts Madison. The project will bring about 50 jobs, Turner said.    

Turner said before his company was awarded the payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) deal, he received maybe an average of two complaints a year form neighbors. That increased once the company’s name was in the news about the PILOT deal.

However, Turner said his company has a construction permit for the plant expansion in hand and is moving forward with the plans. That expansion will take place on the company’s south lot, not on the vacant lot for which Turner is asking for the zoning change.

But neighbors plan to fight that zoning change. That fight includes a a larger question as to whether or not a factory belongs at all in Midtown, and especially as a close neighborhood to the burgeoning Overton Square.

“That’s just no place for an industrial site right in the middle of that neighborhood,” said Gordon Alexander, a member of the Midtown Action Coalition. “Not only has the dairy changed, but the neighborhood has changed.”

Alexander said neighbors complain that loud noises and lights emit from the dairy site as early as 4:30 a.m. The 18-wheelers that haul in and out of the site are loud, congest traffic, and pose threats to cyclists using the Madison bike lanes.

Turner said the company has operated in the area for more than 80 years. Alexander maintains, though, that in the company’s infancy here, it was a small, neighborhood dairy “that delivered glass bottle to people in Midtown.”

George Cates, founder of Mid-America Apartment Communities, agreed with Alexander’s assertion about the land’s use back in June (during the EDGE meeting that gave Prairie Farms the PILOT) but for a different reason.

He said told EDGE board member the “Turner site would be beneficial if it were used for purposes other than an industrial site, such as a hotel, retail, apartments, or for mixed use,” according to the minutes of that meeting.

“If the site was used for one of the suggested purposes, Mr. Cates stated they would generate more than 25 jobs and the taxes to the city and the county would be substantially greater,” read the minutes.

For some of this, Turner said he felt that some people see the recent controversy on the project as a “reason to kick us out of Midtown.” But he said he doesn’t agree with that. The company has “every right” to change the zoning for the vacant lot and it will “not cause any harm to the neighborhood.”

Turner admitted the exterior of the site looks a “little run down,” adding that the company has been focused on its expansion plan and put off exterior improvements. But a portion of the company’s plan will change that.

The company wants to build a fence around the lot (and the entirety of the facility’s northern and western borders) to help shield the site from neighbors, like The Blue Monkey restaurant and bar to the west and to homes and apartments to the west.

The eight-foot-tall fence would be made of pine wood and brick. Plants like knockout roses, magnolias, loblolly pines would be placed inside and outside of the perimeter of the fence.

Council member Worth Morgan urged everyone involved in the debate to “be as cordial and civil as possible.” He also said there may be a third way available on the issue soon was bound against giving any details.

“There are more options still being pursued right now that can be good for the neighborhood and be good for Turner,” Morgan said. “Right now, our efforts are focused on pursuing some of those options.”

Apple Maps

This aerial shot of the Prairie Farms Dairy site shows the production facility on the south side of the property, and the now mostly vacant north side.

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Intermission Impossible Theater

Where Do All The Frankie Vallis Come From? Frankie Camp, That’s Where.

Jersey Boys isn’t just one of the most successful jukebox musicals of all time, it’s one of the most successful musicals period. But, because all the actors are required to play their own instruments and the lead character —Frankie Valli — sings 30-numbers in an impossibly high falsetto, keeping numerous resident and touring companies fully staffed requires a casting strategy as unique as the show. Richard Hester, the show’s original stage manager talked to Intermission Impossible about where all the Frankies come from — a little place called Frankie Camp. 

Intermission Impossible: I’ve heard of all kinds of dance camps, and vocal camps that get actors up to speed to join big tours. Frankie Camp sounds completely different. 

Richard Hester: How it all came about— I was the original stage manager of the show at La Jolla in 2005. Almost immediately thereafter I became the supervisor of the companies because we started opening so many of them all over the world. One of the things I’m responsible for is all the preliminary casting along with our casting associate, Merri Sugarman. Merri and I are responsible for all companies — at one point 11 worldwide, staffed and cast. Each company requires four guys who can play Frankie Valli, because the role is so demanding.

I know big shows like Jersey Boys spin off all kinds of almost cottage industry. You have to have fabric for the costumes, matching or similar props, etc. This is maybe the human resources version of that?

The problem we found, having to find four guys for every company, is that the pool of guys who can actually do this is limited. Anybody who plays Frankie has to be 5’9” or shorter. They have to be vaguely Mediterranean looking. We can help that in some regards. We’ve had a Lebanese Frankie and a Native American Frankie you could sort of buy as Italian. They have to be able to sing up in that falsetto. Frankie sings 30 songs in falsetto. They have to be able to dance well. And act, aging from 14 to 70. Without makeup.

[pullquote-1]So how does it work?

We do open auditions several times a year. Will also do specific trips to places like Los Angeles or Boston or Orlando — places that have a music community. Where we can find people who wouldn’t necessarily come to a call in New York. So, over time, we gather these guys. When we get 100-120 of them we’ll have a couple of days in New York where we bring them all in, listen to them sing and compare them to each other. Out of that group we’ll pick a maximum of 10-people — to either fill a Frankie, Joe Pesci or swing slot. And we put those 10 people through a rigorous week’s worth of work. They each get a day with our choreographer. Our vocal coach, who’s worked with people like Jon Bon Jovi, works with every Frankie. If you go to a normal music theater vocal coach, you can’t sing rock-and-roll properly. You know, if Jon Bon Jovi gets sick and cancels an arena show, that’s a loss of several million dollars. His voice has to be strong enough to get through these concerts.

How many guys make it?

120 guys over the course of several months boiling down to Frankie camp — if we’re lucky we yield 2 or 3 guys who can really do the role.

I’m sure the theater guys are looking for different things than Frankie, and Bob Gaudio. Does that ever create conflict. 

Bob and Frankie to their credit are pretty hands off. They trust us and know we’re looking ut for them. And nobody ever copies a role. When somebody comes in we want them to find their own way through it— to bring their personality to the role.

How to put this. I love the Four Seasons. But listening to all those guys singing falsetto — Ouch. Do you have to go home and listen to guided meditation tapes? Waves crashing? Wind blowing? 

I’ve worked on a lot of other musicals. I always get bored with the music in a year or two, and I’ve never done a show longer than two years or so. I’ve been working on this one for twelve, and I’m still not bored with the music. But I’ll tell you this, a day of listening to 120 guys singing “Walk Like a Man,” is enough to make your fillings come out sometimes. When you hear somebody who can really do it, and has the control, that’s exciting. The problem is all the guys who don’t have that control and you start getting pitchy versions. Hits you right in the fillings.

Not blowing smoke. I see so many tours that just look tired. These people have been doing the same parts over and over for a long time, and have lost steam. Not Jersey Boys. Every time I see it it’s as good as the last time. Sometimes better.

We check in on the companies as often as we can and make sure they are running the way they should. There’s something about the way Jersey Boys is constructed with music and underscoring that moves like a freight train. Also, for whatever reason, we always seem to have happy companies. They always seem to enjoy what they’re doing. Really, what person hasn’t dreamed of being paid to be a rock star. Audiences treat these guys like rock stars, and they thoroughly enjoy it. It’s also a satisfying script to act.

Very solid storytelling.

You could almost take the music away and have an interesting night of theater.

You could. But why would you…

Where Do All The Frankie Vallies Come From? Frankie Camp, That’s Where.

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Music Music Blog

Weekend Roundup 85: Halloween Edition

Al Kapone plays the New Daisy Tonight

GOOooood Afterrnooooon and welcome to the 85th edition of my Weekend Roundup (read that first part in your best Dracula voice). There are PLENTY of spooky shows worth your attention this weekend, no matter what kind of freak you want to be. Let’s get it on.

Friday, October 28th.
Melissa Etheridge, 8 p.m. at Minglewood Hall, prices vary.

Weekend Roundup 85: Halloween Edition

Bruise, Meth Mouth, Seraph/The Light, 8 p.m. at Rock House Live, $5.

Morris Day and The Time with Shelia E, 8 p.m. at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, prices vary.

Weekend Roundup 85: Halloween Edition (7)

Hallowed Be Thy Rave featuring Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Lord T and Eloise, Al Kapone, 8 p.m. at the New Daisy, $20.

Weekend Roundup 85: Halloween Edition (2)

Intimacy, A55-Condcuta, Future DZ, 9 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $5.

Marcella Simien, 10:30 p.m. at Bar DKDC, $7.

Saturday, October 29th.
Jim Dickinson Dixie Fried Reissue Party w/ Cody Dickinson & more, 4 p.m. at Shangri-La, free.

Weekend Roundup 85: Halloween Edition (3)

Taylor Hicks, 7:30 p.m. at the Center For Southern Folklore, $5.

Mayhem, Z Dougie, TBM, 10 p.m. at the New Daisy, $10.

Space Face, China Gate, 9 p.m. at the Young Avenue Deli, $6.

Weekend Roundup 85: Halloween Edition (4)

Glorious Abhor, Tape Deck, To Serve Man, 9 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $5.

Southern Avenue, 10 p.m. at the Blue Monkey, $5.

Nots, Brain Bags, 10 p.m. at Bar DKDC, $7.

Weekend Roundup 85: Halloween Edition (6)

Sunday, October 30th.
Gringos, 4 p.m. at the Buccaneer, $5.

Front Country, 8 p.m. at Lafayette’s Music Room.

Heavy Pull Halloween Bash with Ugly Girls, Stone Rangers, and Crockett Hall, 9 p.m. at the Hi-Tone, $10.

Weekend Roundup 85: Halloween Edition (5)