Month: December 2017

#21 Cincinnati 82, Tigers 48

Post author By Frank Murtaugh
Post date December 31, 2017

The ball dropped a few hours early on a new year of American Athletic Conference play for the Memphis Tigers. And the 21st-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats provided a 40-minute measure of the gap Memphis must close before it can again be considered a contender for the AAC title. Gary Clark scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Bearcats, and Clark is merely one of three Cincinnati starters named second-team all-conference in the preseason coaches poll (along with Kyle Washington and Jacob Evans).

Cincinnati secured the win by halftime with a lead of 35-16. The margin expanded to 30 points merely four minutes into the second half. The Bearcats shot 52 percent from the field (and hit 9 of 18 three-point attempts) while Memphis was limited to 32 percent and missed 18 of 22 long-distance shots.

Kareem Brewton led the Tigers with 17 points off the bench. Point guard Jeremiah Martin was limited to eight points, less than half his average entering the contest. Mike Parks was the only other Tiger in double-figure scoring (10).

The loss drops Memphis to 9-5 on the season and gives the Tigers their first losing streak of the winter. Cincinnati improves to 12-2. (The game was played in Newport, Kentucky, as Cincinnati’s home arena undergoes significant renovations.)

The Tigers travel to Orlando to face UCF on Wednesday before returning to FedExForum next Saturday to host Tulsa.

Tags Cincinnati beats the crap out of Memphis 82-48, Happy New Year Tubby!

Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Iowa State 21, #19 Tigers 20

Post author By Frank Murtaugh
Post date December 30, 2017

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

One-point losses torture. Today’s defeat in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl — by that most narrow of margins — will leave a scar for certain Tigers, those like Riley Ferguson, Anthony Miller, Genard Avery, and Gabe Kuhn, who have now each played their final game in blue and gray. Playing before a sellout crowd of 57,266 on a chilly, overcast day in the Mid-South, Iowa State capitalized once more than did the home team, a third-quarter touchdown reception by game MVP Allen Lazard providing the winning point total. Lazard pulled down the catch — his 10th, tying the record for the bowl game — as he fell down behind a trio of Memphis defenders, his backside barely still in play.
Larry Kuzniewski

Riley Ferguson

Lazard’s game-winner came moments after Memphis linebacker Curtis Akins intercepted a Kyle Kempt pass, a turnover that seemed to preserve a 17-14 Tiger lead. But Avery — voted the Tigers’ Most Outstanding Defensive Player — was penalized for roughing Kempt on the play. (The senior linebacker didn’t leave his feet on the contact that knocked the Cyclone quarterback to the turf.) “I was just playing my game,” said Avery during the postgame press conference. “I felt like it was a bad call.”

The third 10-win season in Memphis history ends, ironically, on a two-game losing streak, the team’s final record 10-3. Iowa State finishes 8-5.

“It was among our tougher challenges,” said Cyclone coach Matt Campbell. “To come in here and win a game against a team that’s very familiar with their environment. That’s one thing that makes a bowl game a little different: usually it’s at a neutral site. But that’s part of the uniqueness of the game this year. Our guys were all for it. I think it adds to the lore of the win for this football team.”

Trailing by one (21-20) with just over four minutes left in the game, Memphis forced the first fumbled turnover all season by the Cyclones, Iowa State tailback David Montgomery losing the ball as he fell into the end zone. (The play was confirmed after a lengthy review that left the blue side of the stadium elated and the red enraged.) But The Tigers’ final drive of the game stalled at midfield, Ferguson missing his fourth-down target (senior receiver Phil Mayhue) before Memphis could get within field-goal range for kicker Riley Patterson.

“[Coach Campbell] came into the huddle and told us that he hoped the call went against us,” said Cylcone linebacker Joel Lanning. “He wanted us to show people that we’ve learned [through adversity]. We just keep playing. Memphis is a great team, and they drove down on us pretty quick. We had to cover everything. Guys made great plays there at the end.”
Larry Kuzniewski

Mike Norvell

“We weren’t able to establish our running game today,” said Memphis coach Mike Norvell. “And that allowed them to tee off on us a little bit.” The Tigers allowed Ferguson to be sacked six times after allowing a total of 15 sacks over the team’s first 12 games. The U of M’s top rusher this season, Darrell Henderson, missed the game with a leg injury. Patrick Taylor had a pair of 20-yard runs on a drive that culminated in a field goal late in the third quarter, the final points of the ball game.

“It’s been a heckuva two years,” said Ferguson, voted the Tigers’ Most Outstanding Offensive Player. “I’ve been truly blessed to play for the University of Memphis. I love my brothers, my coaches, this program. It’s not the way we wanted to end it, but this is a special place, no matter what.” In passing for 286 yards, Ferguson became the first Tiger quarterback to surpass 4,000 yards in a single season. His two touchdown passes Saturday set a new U of M single-season mark of 38 for the year.

Ferguson’s first touchdown connection came on a screen to senior Anthony Miller, his record-breaking partner in crime. The 40th touchdown of Miller’s Tiger career tied the score at 7 midway through the first quarter. (Among former Tigers, only DeAngelo Williams reached the end zone more often.) Miller was generally held in check by the Cyclone defense but finishes his senior season with new records for receptions (96) and yardage (1,462), eclipsing the standards he set in 2016.

Memphis took the lead on its first possession of the second half. Ferguson completed a four-play, 66-yard drive with a 36-yard completion to Mayhue, one the receiver signed with a brilliant juke around two Cyclone defenders. That 21-17 lead held until the Lazard game-winner. No points were scored in the fourth quarter.

One Tiger possession late in the first quarter will linger in the minds of those who ponder when, exactly, a game tilts. With the game knotted at seven points, Ferguson appeared to hit his target for a go-ahead touchdown, only for the play to be negated by an illegal-player-downfield penalty. When Riley Patterson missed a 38-yard field-goal attempt, the possession proved empty. And in one-point games, empty possessions can prove fatal.

In being held to 20 points, Memphis fell eight points shy of the first 600-point season in program history. The Tiger offense ran only 59 plays, compared with 80 for the Cyclones. The Tigers were only 3 for 12 on third-down conversions. In a one-point game, the heavy advantage Iowa State enjoyed in time of possession — 37:49 to 22:11 for Memphis — may be, for posterity’s sake, the decisive factor.

“All the pieces are in place to continue to grow,” said Norvell, now armed with a five-year contract extension after putting up a record of 18-8 over his first two seasons in Memphis.
“The commitment from our university, from the young men in our program, is one of the highest standards. We have to learn from these experiences. The highs, the lows. That’s all part of it. These kids are going to be hungry. We have a great foundation.”

Tags 2018 Liberty Bowl, Iowa State 21 Memphis 20

News News Blog

Cook Convention Center Makeover Could Begin Early 2018

Post author By Maya Smith
Post date December 29, 2017

Renovations on the Cook Convention Center could get underway in 2018, as Friday the mayor outlined the plan for the $175 million project in his weekly newsletter.

Mayor Jim Strickland said the convention center will be expanded and transformed into a “modern showplace” that will grow its status as a “major economical engine” and be a “game-changer” in the tourist industry.

Some of the planned features of the renovation include:
-A glass concourse on the western side of the building overlooking the river, skyline, and Bass Pro Shop.
-Hotel-quality finishes throughout
-Upgrades to meeting rooms, the main exhibit hall, way-finding technology, and the parking garage.
-Cosmetic and back-of-house upgrades in the Cannon Center.

Funding for the project comes from hotel/motel taxes, as well as revenue from the Downtown Tourism Development Zone.

A construction team will be chosen over the next few months, and the mayor says the goal is to have 30 percent minority participation on the project.

The convention center and the Cannon Center will remain open throughout the construction , which is scheduled to completed by late 2019.

More details on the future convention center can be found here.

Opinion The Last Word

To Air is Human

Post author By Jen Clarke
Post date December 29, 2017

CREDIT: Wisconsinart | Dreamstime

I prefer to stay close to home during Toyotathon and avoid the throngs of holiday travelers scampering away for quality time with grandparents, in-laws, and other loved ones. But responsibilities at my day job called me to the friendly skies just as Happy Honda Days were heating up.

I arrived at Memphis International Airport way early for my connecting flight to Orlando to allow myself plenty of time to endure the TSA cattle call and hoof it to the Starbucks in Terminal B. At the gate — the very last one in the terminal — I discovered I not only was one of the few solo travelers, I was one of the only ones not wearing a monogrammed outfit announcing my impending visit with Mickey and his friends.

I wanted to be excited for the kids in their princess dresses and personalized mouse ears. But I was annoyed that the “quickest” route to DC takes me 850 miles south of there, and frankly, the children were no more chipper than I was. Their T-shirts said “Happy” but their attitudes were repping Grumpy. And why not? They know. Even when the Magic Kingdom is the destination, the journey is two hours in an oversized Pringles can with way too many humans crammed inside. Think about it. Technology and innovation have made our lives easier in so many ways. Yet air travel remains expensive and dumb.

Wisconsinart | Dreamstime

We’ve all heard the reason we have to remove our shoes in the TSA line: the “shoe bomber,” right? Richard Reid, the would-be terrorist, didn’t actually blow anything up. First, he tried to board a flight from Paris to Miami. Authorities pulled him aside because he looked unkempt and he didn’t check any bags on an international flight. They ended up delaying his flight a day. So he came back, boarded the plane, and guess what he did? A flight attendant followed a smoky smell right to him, with a lit match and his shoe in his lap. It didn’t detonate because the fuse was too wet. Sweaty feet save lives.

Instead of banning matches, the newly created Transportation Safety Administration implemented random shoe checks. We didn’t start having to take off our shoes and place them in bins until 2006. Maybe the shoe industry should hire a lobbyist away from the NRA to help put an end to the ridiculous practice that unfairly vilifies footwear. After all, those guys are masters at changing the subject when a crisis necessitates new regulations. Shoes don’t kill people! Good guy with a shoe? Whatever.

And the full-body scanners are so powerful they can see your cells, but I still have to take my computer out of my backpack? Right. Rarely am I as grateful for MEM’s relative chillness as when I’m chasing my belongings down a conveyor belt. But hey, at least I can use my phone as my boarding pass now!

I followed the news about the Atlanta airport power outage with great interest. Every time I’ve been there, I’ve cursed whoever at Delta decided nobody can go anywhere without first visiting ATL. I’ve wondered how it can get worse, with its trams and Kilimanjaroesque escalator. We got our answer: an electrical fire that brought the entire operation to its knees with terrifying ease. As if airports don’t already bring out society’s worst impulses, see what happens when it’s dark, the complimentary wireless internet doesn’t work, and folks have no business being in Atlanta in the first place.

Traveling can be fun! But travel almost always sucks. The stress of flying makes people act like idiots. It’s the only explanation I can muster for the tendency for passengers to stand up and rush the counter the moment the gate agent starts speaking. As if jumping up when they call for Diamond Elite Business Plus is going to make the plane take off faster. Everybody knows the plane’s probably overbooked and we’re all just holding out for enough vouchers to consider a later flight. So get comfortable with me and the other Budget Economy Bucket Seat travelers because this is going to take a while.

Inevitably, these will be the same flyers who spring from their seats in row 209 as soon as the wheels hit the ground and the seat belt indicator goes dark. Or worse, the ones who clap their hands as if to congratulate the pilot for maneuvering a 20-year-old 737 through some clouds above Baltimore. They’re just on edge because they paid a small fortune for a terrible-to-mediocre experience that went about as well as they hoped it would. Aside from health care, and that’s a tirade for another day, where else is the ratio-of-cost-to-experience-quality so unbalanced?

Jen Clarke is a digital marketing specialist and an unapologetic Memphian.

Tags holiday travel on airplanes, Orlando air traffic, removing shoes at TSA check, the perils of flying commercial, TSA checks

Politics Politics Feature

Past and Prologue

Post author By Jackson Baker
Post date December 29, 2017

CREDIT: Jackson Baker

Perhaps miraculously, given the ever-accelerating nationwide rate of exposed horndogs brought low by accusations of sexual harassment, no prominent Shelby County or Tennessee political figures had bit the dust by year’s end, but the prospect continued to exist.

Meanwhile, women were finding other ways to come out from under male domination, notably by steadily increasing their prominence as active political candidates.

The effect was most noticeable in the Republican primary for governor, where, of the seven GOP gubernatorial candidates active at year’s end, four were women. Another Republican, 7th District U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn was widely considered the favorite in her race for the U.S. Senate, while Juvenile Court Clerk Joy Touliatos was one of three viable candidates for the Republican nomination for Shelby County mayor.

And women — young ones, at that — were hastening to fill positions of public influence and distinguishing themselves in offices already gained. Prominent among the latter were two Memphis state representatives, Raumesh Akbari, named Legislator of the Year by the National Black Caucus of State Legislators and Woman of the Year by the National Organization of Black Elected Legislative Women, and Karen Camper, winner of the Women of Excellence Award from the National Foundation for Women Legislators.

Nor should the accomplishments be overlooked of youthful activists such as Tami Sawyer, who galvanized local sentiment toward the dismantling of monuments to the Confederacy.

The statue issue, involving ultimately the expunging of memorials to such avatars of the age of slavery as Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and Confederate President Jefferson Davis, preoccupied Memphians throughout the year, resulting in determined responses by local public officials, including direct action from Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and the city council and formal support from Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell and the county commission.

Strickland and the council had their differences early in the year, but the mayor was considered by many to be a tacit supporter of, or at least acquiescent in, the council’s unanimous decision at year’s end (angering a significant corps of activists) to re-submit for a new referendum an experiment in Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), planned for the 2019 election cycle and authorized by a prior referendum of the city electorate in 2008.

Meanwhile, Luttrell and the county commission were able to agree on a few matters in the course of the year, including the establishment of new, more inclusive standards for contracting with locally owned small businesses (LOSBs) and enterprises operated by women or minorities (MWBEs). And the two branches of county government were able to concur on a 2017-18 fiscal budget that contained both employee pay raises and a modest decrease in the property-tax rate.

But the year also saw the continuation — and, in some ways, the worsening — of an ongoing power struggle between the county mayor and the commission. Stemming originally from disagreements about the disposition of surplus county funds in fiscal 2015-16, the schism had come by 2017 to be a no-holds-barred dispute over essential prerogatives and the balance of power itself.

One objective desired by a bipartisan commission majority was the appointment, after the model of the Memphis City Council, of an attorney who would function at the service of the commission alone. This aim was foiled by the administration, which cited the county charter as calling for the county attorney, a mayoral appointee, to represent both the executive and legislative branches. Unsurprisingly, County Attorney Kathryn Pascover concurred.

As a stopgap, the commission was allowed to employ former Commissioner Julian Bolton, a lawyer, as a “policy advisor,” and that was the status quo until late in the year when newly elected commission chair Heidi Shafer unloosed a bombshell by contracting, in the county’s name, with an outside legal firm to pursue damages against a broadly construed network of opioid distributors.

Ruling on an injunction request by Luttrell to halt the action on grounds that the charter gave him oversight of legal contracts, Chancellor Jim Kyle ruled for the mayor, who maintained that he intended anti-opioid actions of his own, but urged the two branches to mediate a joint action on the legal front, “in the public interest.” A few more legalistic hairs would be split, but that’s essentially where the matter stood on the eve of a year-end deadline for joint action that Kyle had suggested.

And Shafer and the commission had added one more provocative (and ironic) flourish — the hiring of Allan Wade, the city council’s attorney, to oversee any further court action vis-a-vis the mayor.

On the state front, the General Assembly was moved, after extensive debate and compromise, to approve an increase in the state gasoline tax proposed by Governor Bill Haslam as a means of pursuing overdue improvements in roadways and other aspects of state infrastructure.

The Republican-dominated legislature, often given to silliness and parochialism, acted constructively in other ways as well. Turned back — at least for the session — were a bill that would confine transsexuals to bathrooms of their birth gender, a “natural marriage” proposal aimed at invalidating same-sex unions, and an “open carry” gun bill.

Other questionable bills did make it through the filter of common sense, however — including one, billed as a hearing-protection measure, that would allow unbridled sale of silencers for firearms. And on the session’s last day, a fateful measure obliging Memphis to submit a de-annexation plan on short order or submit to a Draconian plan of the rural-dominated legislature’s devising made it through both chambers.

Those are some highlights of the political year, and many of them will continue to cast their shadow on election year 2018, as matters unfold.

Tags Memphis Political year in review 2017, Memphis politics 2017, What happened in Memphis politics in 2017

Sports Tiger Blue

LSU 71, Memphis 61

Post author By Frank Murtaugh
Post date December 28, 2017

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Memphis dropped its final nonconference game of the season Thursday night, falling to LSU at FedExForum. Freshman guard Tremont Waters led the Bayou Bengals with 18 points. The loss is the Memphis Tigers’ first at home this season and drops their overall record to 9-4, while LSU improves to 9-3.
Larry Kuzniewski

Tubby Smith

Junior forward Kyvon Davenport led Memphis with 17 points. The score was tied at halftime (36-36) after eight lead changes over the first 20 minutes.

The loss will leave Memphis with an 0-3 mark against teams from “Power 5” conferences, the Tigers having also dropped games against Alabama and Louisville.

American Athletic Conference play will open for Memphis Sunday when the Tigers visit Cincinnati. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. (The next home game for the U of M will be January 6th when Tulsa comes to town.)

Tags LSU beat Memphis 71-61

Letter From The Editor Opinion

Making Memphis History

Post author By Bruce VanWyngarden
Post date December 28, 2017

CREDIT: Jackson Baker

Last Wednesday night was a historical one for Memphis. Late in the afternoon, the city council passed a resolution selling two city parks to a recently created nonprofit group called Greenspace. Those two city parks just happened to have the city’s two remaining Confederate war memorial statues standing in them: Nathan Bedford Forrest and Jefferson Davis. Within minutes of Mayor Strickland’s signing of the papers confirming the sale, the physical removal of the statues was underway.

Word spread quickly through social media, and crowds gathered to watch the first of the statues — that of Forrest and his horse in Health Sciences Park — get lifted off his pedestal and taken away to an undisclosed location. Shortly thereafter, Jefferson Davis’ statue in Memphis Park downtown suffered the same fate.

The moves set off a spirited reaction locally and drew national attention from the likes of The New York Times, the Washington Post, and several national news networks. I spent 20 minutes on the phone with a Times reporter who was seeking to get, as reporters are wont to do, the “mood” of the city.

The mood — and reaction — hereabouts, to put it mildly, was mixed. A survey of comment sections on local media websites made that abundantly clear.

Many Memphians, including me, were proud of their city for standing up to the Tennessee Historical Commission, which had at first denied the city’s request to take down the statues, then stone-walled and delayed further action with procedural moves. Their belief, and mine, is that the city — any city, really — should have the right to control its own parks, including the contents thereof. The city council, mayor, county commission, and even the governor had all expressed a similar opinion: They thought the city had a right to take down the statues. When the state continued to put sand in the gears of that process, the city found a creative work-around and did what it wanted — and honestly, what I suspect the majority of its citizens wanted.

Those opposing the removal of the statues resurrected the usual arguments, the most common one being: You’re removing history.

This is true, in a sense. In taking down the Forrest statue, the city was removing a historic monument to the Jim Crow era, one that was erected half a century after the Civil War to intimidate the city’s black residents. In taking down the Jefferson Davis statue, the city was removing “history” in the form of a statue that was erected in 1964, a century after the Civil War, at a time when the Civil Rights movement was riling the South. It was another middle finger to the city’s African-American majority by the white power structure in place at the time.

So yeah, all those zillions of folks who got their history from walking past those two statues every day will have to settle for reading a book. Bummer. Meanwhile, the 65 percent of the city’s residents who, when they went to these city parks, had to look at monuments honoring men who fought a war to keep them in human bondage, will no longer have to do so.

Another (very) common criticism was: “I guess now that the statues are taken down, all the city’s crime and poverty problems will go away.” No, they won’t. But we’re working on it. And those of us who are committed to this city — black and white and brown — are trying to pull together to lift Memphis, one step at a time. This city is rising and changing. Get behind it, or get out of the way.

I was also struck by the fact that many of the comments on various websites denigrating the city’s decision came from people who don’t live here, and/or have moved away. The tone was often something to the effect of: “I’m so glad I moved away from that place.” To which I humbly respond: At least we agree on something.

Tags Confederate statues taken down in Memphis, Jefferson Davis statue in Memphis, Jim Crow in Memphis, Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in Memphis

Cover Feature News

2018: A Look at the Year Ahead for Memphis

Post author By Flyer Staff
Post date December 28, 2017

Business and Development

No franchise can deliver a blockbuster year after year, and while 2018 won’t see the opening of a Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid or a Crosstown Concourse, there is plenty of boom on the horizon.

Central Station: Maybe the biggest development on the Memphis landscape next year will be the re-opening of Central Station on South Main. Back in March 2015, Archie Willis, president of Community Capital, and Henry Turley, CEO of the Henry Turley Co., revealed a $55 million plan to the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) to transform its 103-year-old train station and surrounding area into a boutique hotel, restaurant, bar, and more.

Central Station

The project has also brought new apartments to the South Main area on the station’s campus. Dirt is now being moved on a five-screen Malco movie theater there, too. Officials hope to have the new Central Station opened by summer 2018.

Tourism Development Zones: City officials went on a Tourist Development Zone (TDZ) blitz late this year. They hope to score a new TDZ for a $160-million re-development of the Mid-South Fairgrounds into a recreation and sports hub. They also hope to change an existing TDZ for downtown to include the Memphis riverfront, in order to build — possibly — an aquarium on Mud Island and a new home for the Brooks Museum of Art on Front Street, among other things. State officials were slated to review these plans late this year and in early 2018.

Other projects: Look for two new apartment buildings that will transform the corners of Madison and McLean, and Union and McLean.

Work may begin next year on a plan to transform The Edge district, with a $70 million project that includes apartments, offices, and retail spaces.

Dirt will be moved all around the University of Memphis campus next year, as the school follows its $66 million, five-year master plan that includes a new music hall, a land bridge over Southern Avenue, a parking garage, and more.

Finally, you’re likely to see some big changes as you jet in and out of Memphis International Airport next year. Work is slated to begin on MEM’s $214 million plan to modernize its concourse. — Toby Sells

Restaurants and Dining

One of the most anticipated openings of 2018 is the Gray Canary in the Old Dominick Distillery. It was a stroke of genius to recruit Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman for the job. The pair are concentrating on an open-fire concept. From the press release: “It’s a technique-driven restaurant, where we get to explore every style of cooking with fire, from flame to ember to smoke to ash.” It’s set to open in January.

Chef Ryan Trimm will be in the kitchen at 117 Prime, a new steakhouse slated to open in spring at 117 Union, formerly the site of Belle Diner. The goal of 117 Prime is “to bring a traditional old-school-style steakhouse to downtown Memphis,” says Johnny Lawrence, director of operations for Across the Board restaurant group, which also includes Sweet Grass, Next Door, and Sunrise.

The restaurant may be old-school, but it won’t look old-school. “The steakhouse is going to be a very elegant space, but we’re going to steer away from the ‘going into the steakhouse and it’s so dark in there you have to use a flashlight to read the menu.'”

Their restaurant will be “light, bright, airy, and open.”

Crosstown Concourse has already added plenty to the culinary landscape, but it isn’t done. Hoping to open in late January is the Crosstown Brewery. The brewery was originally supposed to be inside the concourse, but that would have required removing one of the building’s necessary beams, so they opted for building an adjacent space west of the concourse. They hope to have the beer available around that same time. Set to open in March is Elemento Neapolitan Pizza, at the front of the building near the Next Door Eatery.

Cocktail-centric space Atomic Tiki, with island-style food and drinks, is opening early in the year on Overton Park.

Coming next spring is Hopdoddy, the Texas-based burger chain. The Memphis restaurant will serve the bleeding, plant-based Impossible Burger.

Hattie B’s

Hattie B’s, the Nashville hot chicken place, is set to open in the old Curb Market spot on Cooper in early April. There will be seating for about 120 (with 60 of that outdoors), plus a cool retro design. Says Nick Bishop Sr., co-owner, Hattie B’s Hot Chicken, “We are so excited about our Memphis opening in early spring. It’s such an honor for all of us at Hattie B’s to be a part of the community, and we look forward to seeing our many Memphis friends and meeting new hot chicken lovers real soon!”

Eastward, the restaurant group behind Rec Room, Railgarten, Loflin Yard, and Bounty on Broad is planning something at 525 South Highland. Expected to open this winter.

— Michael Donahue & Susan Ellis

Politics

For the first time in many years, the preview of the coming year in politics will offer a plethora of competitive primaries and statewide races involving name candidates in both parties.

No fewer than seven candidates — several of them with decent financial backing and prospects — will be vying for the Republican nomination for governor in 2018, to succeed term-limited two-term GOP Governor Bill Haslam. Suiting out for this battle royal are Haslam’s former Commissioner of Economic Development, Randy Boyd; 4th District U.S. Representative Diane Black; state House of Representatives Speaker Beth Harwell; former state Senator Mae Beavers; former Trump campaign official Kay White; and Nashville-area businessman/rancher Bill Lee.

Democrats, who now constitute the minority party in Tennessee and who in recent years have fielded no-name candidates for state office, are attempting a rebound with two solid starters in their own gubernatorial primary: former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and state House minority leader Craig Fitzhugh.

It appeared for a while that Democrats might also manage a competitive primary for the U.S. Senate being vacated by Bob Corker, but Nashville lawyer and Iraq war vet James Mackler, a promising newcomer, finally saw discretion as the better part of valor and withdrew in favor of Phil Bredesen when the former Nashville mayor and two-term governor, the last Democrat to win statewide office, offered himself as a standard-bearer to his fellow party-mates just before Christmas.

As befits their majority-party status, Republicans will see a race featuring two serious candidates — 7th District U.S. Representative Marsha Blackburn and former 8th District Congressman Stephen Fincher, with several wannabes filling out the ballot list.

The local ballot has some fascinations, as well — with Shelby County Commissioner Terry Roland, County Trustee David Lenoir, and Juvenile Court Clerk Joy Touliatos competing for the GOP nomination for county mayor, while state Senator Lee Harris hopes to capture the Democratic nomination without a serious foe but, at year’s end was having to keep an anxious eye on the possibility of a race by Bartlett Bank president and former state representative Harold Byrd. Meanwhile, former city councilman and current Memphis Chamber of Commerce official Shea Flinn continues to hint at a race for county mayor as an independent.

Beyond these marquee races, the year promises some stout legislative tangles and at least one controversial referendum for city voters — a rerun of the successful 2008 referendum authorizing Instant Runoff Voting — in time for the Memphis city election of 2019. — Jackson Baker

What’s New Downtown

The “I Am A Man” Plaza near Clayborn Temple is slated to open in conjunction with the citywide recognition of the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination in Memphis. To commemorate the occasion, the National Civil Rights Museum will hold a two-day speaker symposium, followed by a time of musical and spoken tributes, and finishing with An Evening of Storytelling where living civil rights activists tell their stories of fighting social and racial inequality.

I Am A Man Plaza

The weekend of events will be themed on King’s final book, Where Do We Go From Here?

The focal point of the commemoration will be the art plaza on the corner of Hernando and Pontotoc. The interactive art installation will acknowledge the historical significance of Memphis, the sanitation workers’ strike, and King in the Civil Rights Movement, while providing visitors interactions with art that inspires them to stand up for social justice and positive change.

Vintage Trolleys: It’s been a long time coming, but the vintage trolleys are set to return to the Main Street tracks in April. And when they do, the Memphis Area Transit Authority’s CEO Gary Rosenfeld says, they will be much safer than the previous fleet of trolleys, which were discontinued after fires and other safety issues in 2014. The 100-year-old trolley cars are being re-engineered from top to bottom, which includes new wiring, brakes, and tires.

Alcohol on Main: You might soon be able to get off the trolley, buy a beer, and walk the length of Main sipping it, as the Memphis City Council is considering an amendment to a city ordinance that would allow just that. On January 9th, the council will take the third and final vote on whether to allow open plastic containers of beer, wine, and liquor on Main from E.H. Crump to A.W. Willis. — Maya Smith

Music

As I scan the horizon ahead through the holiday haze, I spy 2018 sending up flares. Let’s look first to the live music scene. Ring in the new year with Quintron & Miss Pussycat at the Hi-Tone. Fast on their heels, the new year will offer sounds of the old, weird America, as our beloved Dead Soldiers do a set at Buckman Arts — a great space for listeners — while J.D. Wilkes will get so creaky-stompy at Lafayette’s Music Room that televisions may flicker. Meanwhile, Hi-Tone will host its Za Fest IV, rocking out and inward with edgy and/or emo music by Ten High, Faux Killas, Alyssa Moore, and others. January will also see an influx of blues players both famous and unknown, at the International Blues Challenge.

Joe Restivo

This winter, expect a flurry of world class jazz, as the Germantown Performing Arts Center hosts Russell Hall, Storm Large, and John Scofield, capped off with the inventive and soulful Joe Restivo on February 9th. Shading into classical, Branford Marsalis will soon after be appearing with Memphis’ Iris Orchestra.

The new listening room at Crosstown Arts is on every music fan’s mind, and I’m assured it will be open in 2018; meanwhile, their old space across Cleveland will host the intriguing Afrospace event, featuring “intergalactic sounds of the African diaspora” including Spekulate the Philosopher and others. Later in January, Crosstown will see a crack jazz quartet pay tribute to Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers.

The Wailers

A more dread beat will kick off 2018 at the New Daisy when Bob Marley’s original backers, the Wailers, take the stage, still boasting bassist Aston “Familyman” Barrett and guitarists Julian Junior Marvin and Donald Kinsey. And, dominating the skyline in far-distant March, we’ll have George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic — start charging your flashlights. A month later, Mississippi’s Big K.R.I.T. will bring his politically conscious rap to the venue.

As for local underdogs going global, the great Oblivians will reunite twice next year — at the Debauch-A-Reno (yes, in Nevada) in April and at the Primavera Sound festival (yes, in Barcelona) in June. Meanwhile, all our favorite dives, clubs, and house show hosts are gearing up for untold delights, and check the smartly-curated lineup for the River Series at Harbor Town when the nights get balmy.

— Alex Greene

Film

The first interesting release of 2018 is on January 12th, with Proud Mary, Taraji P. Henson’s solo debut as a kick-ass blackspoiltation heroine. I have high hopes for that one. The same day sees Steven Spielberg’s The Post, the story of the Pentagon Papers, starring Meryl Streep as Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham, show in Memphis, and the advance word is extremely good. The next weekend, the highly acclaimed love story Call Me By Your Name hits town.

Black Panther

After awards season calms down, we’ll get the year’s first Marvel movie, the highly anticipated Black Panther. And then everybody’s favorite softcore lifestyle porn series ends with Fifty Shades Freed. Whoopee!

March looks pretty packed with Ava DuVernay’s adaptation of the beloved science fantasy novel A Wrinkle in Time, and Wes Anderson’s star-studded, stop motion, pup-stravaganza Isle of Dogs. Spielberg’s dive into metafiction, Ready Player One, could either work wonders or die in the Tomb of Horrors.

April looks quiet, with only the potentially goofy Super Troopers 2 to provide laughs on 4/20, but the summer blockbuster season blows up early with Avengers: Infinity War on May 4th. Then geeks get to see if Kathleen Kennedy and Ron Howard successfully saved the troubled Solo: A Star Wars Story on May 25th. We crash into June with Deadpool 2, the all female heist picture Ocean’s 8, Pixar superhero sequel The Incredibles 2, Jurassic Kingdom, and Best of Enemies co-director Morgan Neville’s must-see Mr. Rogers documentary, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

July 4th gives us Marvel’s Ant Man and the Wasp, before we will be asked to pretend to care about Mission Impossible 6, long gestating anime adaptation Atilla: Battle Angel, and the aptly named Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!

From there, things get hazy. The Coen Bros were brought in to save Universal’s Scarface remake, so keep your fingers crossed in August. There’s a Robin Hood reboot from Lionsgate in September. October opens big with Lady Gaga in A Star Is Born, Damien Chazelle directing Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in First Man, and Jamie Lee Curtis returning to the Halloween franchise. In November, we have another retelling of the X-Men: Dark Phoenix saga with Game of Thrones‘ Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, for which I feel 0 percent anticipation, and J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.

The big year-end offerings will be Spider Man: Into the Spiderverse, Mortal Engines, Aquaman, and finally, the Freddy Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.

Will 2018 clear the high bar set by 2017’s film releases? Only one way to find out — go to the movies.

— Chris McCoy

Tags and more, film, Food, Memphis predictions for 2018, Music, Politics, What's to come in Memphis in 2018 in business

Food & Wine Food & Drink

Hangover Helpers

Post author By Richard Murff
Post date December 28, 2017

CREDIT: Elnur | Dreamstime

Understand something, if you have a hangover, then you have poisoned yourself. Maybe not in league with strychnine, but you’ve got some toxins to work through. Obviously, the best thing for a hangover is not to get gassed the night before. If you can’t manage that, then cut this column out and stick it in the pocket of whatever it is you think you are going to wake up in on New Year’s Day.

The ancient Greek god Dionysus is often pictured with a mitra around his head — a strip of tightly bound cloth to counter that pounding morning-after headache. If the god of the vine and ritual-madness can get a throbbing hangover, then mere mortals don’t stand a chance. Barring an anti-hangover hat handed down from Mount Olympus, let’s delve into some more modern cures.

Kingsley Amis helpfully wrote about both the physical and mental aspects a hangover. Sure, your stomach is churning and you have a splitting headache, but there is that other part: a sort of vague, paranoid depression. He suggests that if you wake up with a hangover, have sex with the person next to you: It gets your heart rate up and will “tone you up emotionally.” Amis was a hard-won expert on drinking, but he doesn’t appear to have known much about relationships.

Elnur | Dreamstime

For more single-handed hangover cures, the most famous was penned 101 years ago by P.G. Wodehouse in his first Jeeves and Wooster story “Carry On, Jeeves.” Bertie Wooster is feeling a bit ragged, and Jeeves appears at his door to whip up a cure of raw egg, Worcestershire sauce, and red pepper. “It is the Worcestershire that gives it its color. The raw egg makes it nutritious. The red pepper gives it bite. Gentlemen have told me they have found it very invigorating after a late evening.”

Not prone to original thought, Wooster says “I swallowed the stuff. For a moment I felt as if somebody had touched off a bomb inside the old bean and was strolling down my throat with a lighted torch, and then everything seemed suddenly to get all right. The sun shone in through the window; birds twittered in the tree-tops; and, generally speaking, hope dawned once more.”

I’ve tried it a couple of times (scientific method, you see). It never worked quite as vividly at as it did for ol’ Bertie, but it did get the job done — and fast. This makes sense: the egg is a blob of protein to counteract the sugar all the alcohol has been processed into, the Worcestershire sauce has salt to help retain water (dehydration is the real enemy), and red pepper sauce opens up the snoot for more oxygen. The pepper sauce also kills the crud associated with eating raw eggs.

So will a shot of whiskey, which puts you into “hair of the dog” remedies. People swear by the Bloody Mary, but for a number of reasons we aren’t going to suggest that route. Or a raw egg.

Almost nothing beats a painfully hot shower, Gatorade (lots of it), and going back to bed.

If you can’t go hide under the covers waiting for the cold embrace of death, you’ll likely run into other humans, which will aggravate the mental component of the hangover. Steel yourself to being cheerful — or at least likeably pathetic — despite your creeping cynicism about this grim world. This is not to lift your spirits, or anyone else’s. The point of the friendly disposition, however fake, is to manage people’s reactions to you. Social friction is not what you need right now. Honestly, if you already think that they are out to get you, do you really need proof?

My mother has never had a hangover, avoiding them with the obvious technique of simply not drinking. It’s not in the spirit of this column, but I thought I should mention it.

Tags Hangover cures, how to cure a hangover, New Year's Eve hangover