Month: May 2019

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From My Seat Sports

Memphis Sports Hall of Fame Announces Inaugural Class

As Memphis celebrates the city’s bicentennial, its sports legends will soon have a home — a Hall of Fame — all their own. Wednesday afternoon at AutoZone Park, the Memphis Sports Council announced the members of what will be called the Bicentennial Class of the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame. The inaugural class includes 22 members — six of them deceased — and will be featured in the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame exhibition space on the third floor of AutoZone Park. The Hall of Fame will be open to the public year-round. (Visitors will need tickets when attending during sporting events at the stadium.) According to Memphis Sports Hall of Fame project manager Pierre Landaiche, the goal is to complete design work for the museum in 2019.

The Memphis Sports Council tasked a 35-member advisory committee to select the inaugural class after a nomination process that began in March. (Disclosure: I’m a member of the committee.) There are three categories under which candidates could be considered. Athletes must be five years removed from competing in their sport of choice. Coaches must be five years removed from competition or over the age of 50. And contributors include administrators, philanthropists, trainers, or members of the media who have demonstrated “outstanding service . . . through the development and advancement of sport.”

Below are the members of the Memphis Sports Hall of Fame’s Bicentennial Class:

Betty Booker-Parks — Record-setting basketball player at Memphis State (1976-80). Scored more points (2,835) than any player at the university, male or female. Jersey number (31) retired by Tigers.
Isaac Bruce — First Memphis Tiger football player to accumulate 1,000 receiving yards in a single season (1993). Jersey number (83) retired by Tigers. His 15,208 receiving yards rank fifth in NFL history. Caught game-winning touchdown pass for St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV.
Bill Dance — Nationally renowned bass fisherman and TV personality. Three-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year and member of the Professional Bass Fishing Hall of Fame.
Billy Dunavant — Founder and original owner of The Racquet Club of Memphis and key player in attracting professional tennis to venue, which hosted a tournament for 40 years. Owner of Memphis Showboats, one of the most successful franchises in USFL (1984 and 1985). Helped attract Ducks Unlimited headquarters to Memphis from Chicago in 1992.

Larry Finch

Larry Finch — Star guard for the early-Seventies Memphis State basketball team that helped unify the city in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination in 1968. Led Tigers to the 1973 championship game and still holds program record for career scoring average (22.3 points per game). Won 220 games in 11 seasons (1986-97) as Tiger coach.
Avron Fogelman — Prominent real estate developer and owner of the Memphis Chicks for 20 years (1977-97). Part-owner of Kansas City Royals when franchise won first World Series (1985). President of ABA’s Memphis Pros. First chairman of Memphis/Shelby County Sports Authority.
Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway — Most accomplished basketball player in city’s history. All-America (1992-93) at Memphis State, third pick in 1993 NBA draft, two-time first-team All-NBA with Orlando Magic, and member of the 1996 gold-medalist U.S. Olympic team. Took over coaching duties at the U of M in 2018.
Claude Humphrey — Star defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. Twice named All-Pro and accumulated more than 100 sacks before stat became an official statistic in 1982. Born in Memphis and played at Lester High School. Member of Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Jerry Johnson — Won more than 800 games over 46 seasons as basketball coach at LeMoyne-Owen College. Led Magicians to 1975 NCAA Division III national championship.
George Lapides — Longtime sports journalist, first an editor and columnist at the Memphis Press-Scimitar then a longtime talk-radio host and sports editor with WREG-TV. President of the Memphis Chicks in mid-1980s when Bo Jackson played briefly for team.
Keith Lee — All-America forward for Tiger team that reached the NCAA tournament’s Sweet 16 four straight years (1982-85), culminating with an appearance in the 1985 Final Four. Tops Tiger charts in career points (2,408) and rebounds (1,336).
Verdell Mathis — One of the top left-handed pitchers in the Negro Leagues. Played nine years for the Memphis Red Sox and beat the legendary Satchel Paige three times. Attended Booker T. Washington High School.
Tim McCarver — A baseball and football star at Christian Brothers High School before playing for three World Series teams with the St. Louis Cardinals, earning championships in 1964 and 1967. Followed playing days with renowned career as a TV analyst. Honored in 2012 by the Baseball Hall of Fame with the annual Ford C. Frick Award.
Nikki McCray-Penson — Star basketball player at Collierville High School before earning All-America status at the University of Tennessee. Won gold medals with U.S. Olympic team in 1996 and 2000. Played nine seasons in the WNBA.
Cary Middlecoff — After graduating from Christian Brothers High School, became first All-America golfer at Ole Miss (1939). After giving up dentistry to play full time, won 40 PGA tournaments including the 1955 Masters and two U.S. Opens (1949 and 1956).
Cindy Parlow — Led Germantown High School to 1994 state soccer championship before twice being named national player of the year at North Carolina, where she helped the Tar Heels to two national titles. Member of iconic 1999 World Cup-champion U.S. soccer team.
Ronnie Robinson — Teammate and close friend of Larry Finch, first at Melrose High School, then at Memphis State, where “the Big Cat” helped the Tigers reach the 1973 Final Four. One of only four Tigers to score 1,000 points and pull down 1,000 rebounds.
Verties Sails — Won more than 700 games over 33 years as basketball coach at Shelby State Community College. Graduate of LeMoyne-Owen College and University of Memphis (where he earned his master’s degree in 1967).

‘Memphis Bill’ Terry

Fred Smith — Founder, chairman, and CEO of FedEx. Integral in promoting and supporting the Memphis sports landscape, with FedEx attached for years to the local PGA tournament and FedExForum the home (since 2004) of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. FedEx is also the presenting sponsor of the annual Soutern Heritage Classic football game at the Liberty Bowl. Graduate of Memphis University School.
Rochelle Stevens — State champion at Melrose High School then 400-meter national champion at Morgan State. Won 400 meters at 1992 U.S. Olympic trials and earned silver medal as part of 4×400 relay team at Barcelona Games. Won gold with 4×400 team at 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Melanie Smith Taylor — Won gold medal in show jumping at 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. One of only two to win Triple Crown of show jumping, and only rider to win aboard the same horse (Calypso). Longtime television analyst.
Bill Terry — Star first-baseman for the New York Giants in the 1920s and ’30s. Batted .401 in 1930 and .341 for his career. Later managed Giants to three National League pennants and the 1933 world championship. Inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954.

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News News Blog

Swiss Design Firm to Take on “Brooks on the Bluff”

The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art introduced a world renowned design firm as the creative force behind “Brooks on the Bluff,” the future Downtown incarnation of the 103-year-old institution.

Herzog & de Meuron of Basel, Switzerland and New York, will collaborate with Memphis-based archimania, the architect of record. The design is expected to be unveiled early next year and the $105 million facility completed in four to five years.

Herzog & de Meuron has a formidable reputation, having won the Pritzker Architecture Prize for its renovation of London’s Tate Modern in 2000. It also did the striking Bird’s Nest Stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Pérez Art Museum Miami, and several other notable projects.

Tuesday evening’s presentation was held at the site of the future museum at Union and Front, which now is a fire station and parking garage.

Deborah Craddock, president of the museum’s board, told the attendees that, “Relocating the Brooks to the Fourth Bluff and along the banks of the Mississippi river is a move that offers an unprecedented opportunity for the art museum to serve as the primary cultural anchor in downtown core of Memphis along a revitalized riverfront.”

She said several planning and engagement sessions have been held since plans for the museum’s move were announced in 2017. “Our goals as an institution perfectly aligned with those indicated in community responses to create a radically welcomed and inclusive art museum for all people,” Craddock says.

The term “radically welcomed” is also being used by Brooks executive director Emily Neff, which indicates a determination to get higher numbers of people through the doors of the museum. Memphis mayor Jim Strickland told the Memphis Flyer that the Brooks sees about 80,000 people a year now, but with the new facility, “We will easily get hundreds of thousands of people a year coming into this great museum.” He says, “The Brooks museum is a good museum; this is going to make it a really great museum. We need a new building, and building it here on the river bluff and building it here downtown is going to be incredible.”

Neff says that one of the appealing aspects of Herzog & de Meuron was that it doesn’t have a signature style. What they do, she says, “is informed by the site and the context of the site and the uniqueness of Memphis and the pride we take in our city and what the architect can say about our city. We thought they were the perfect match. And it helps that they have major experience in the cultural sector and in art museums.” She says that the selection of archimania means there will be an intimate knowledge of Memphis by two firms that are focused on design excellence and collaboration.

Two of the members of the team from the Swiss firm have a local connection. Project manager Philip Schmerbeck went to Germantown High School and got his architecture degree at Mississippi State University. Another team member, Jack Brough, is a graduate of Ridgeway High School.

Ascan Mergenthaler, senior partner and partner in charge, told the gathering, “there’s something about the people of Memphis, a very special spirit about them and we’re very impressed with that. We’re convinced that this building and this place will become the hotspot of Memphis, really like a focal point were people come not only to see art but also to come and just hang out and to enjoy the place, meet people and just make it a truly civic building.”

Mergenthaler says the site intrigued the design firm. “The Bluff, this very interesting nature form formed by the river and with the downtown, and then we have this beautiful slope on the left and the right which is also fantastic. It’s a challenge, but its also an opportunity to create something very specific for this place, so we will come up with something which is really firmly rooted in this and grounded in this, and can only be here and nowhere else in the world.”

Categories
News News Blog

Memphis’ Park System Rank Improved, But Still Low

CREDIT: Trust for Public Land,

City of Memphis


Out of the country’s 100 largest cities, Memphis ranks 87 when it comes to parks, according to one group’s annual report on the country’s best park systems.

The Trust for Public Land nonprofit ranks parks based on accessibility, investment, acreage, and amenities.

Memphis’ park system, comprising 194 parks, earned an improved ranking from last year. It was up four points from the 91st ranking Memphis received in 2018.

Memphis’ highest score was in acreage, where it earned 60 out of 100. That number is calculated based on median park size and the percentage of the city’s land dedicated to parks. Here 5 percent of the land is used for parks and recreation, according to the report. The national median is 15 percent.


Memphis scored significantly lower in the investment category with 30 out of 100. That score is based on the amount of public and non-profit spending that goes toward parks, as well as the number of hours volunteers invest in parks.

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Lower still, is Memphis’ amenity score — 25 out of 100. The group awards points in this category based on the availability of six key park amenities. The amenities include basketball hoops, off-leash dog parks, playgrounds, recreation and senior centers, restrooms, and splash pads.

Based on the report, there are, 2.9 basketball hoops, 1.8 playgrounds, and .1 restrooms in parks per 10,000 residents. There are .3 splash pads and .6 dog parks per 100,000 residents. Recreation and senior centers rank in the highest percentile with .9 centers per 20,000 people.

Finally, in the access category, Memphis’ parks scored 20 out of 100. Accessibility is determined by the percentage of the population living within a 10-minute walk or a half mile of a park. Here 45 percent of residents live within that proximity to a park. The national average is 54 percent.

The report also breaks down accessibility based on demographics. It found that more low-income households here are within a half of mile of a park than both middle and high income households. Only 16,697 middle-income households, compared to more than 54,000 low-income households, are located within a half mile of a park.

Trust for Public Land,

Percentage of Memphis living within a 10 minute walk of a park.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland is one of more than 250 mayors across the country who have joined the Trust for Public Land’s 10 Minute Walk campaign. Organized in partnership with the National Recreation and Park Association and the Urban Land Institute, the campaign aims to bring a park within a 10-minute walk to every household in the country by urging mayors to adopt long-term strategies to improve equitable access to quality parks.

The report also lists five ideal quarter-mile-radius areas for new parks here. Those locations are near the intersections of Getwell and New Willow, Kirby and Mt. Moriah, Goodlett and Winchester, Perkins and Winchester, and Macon and Whitten.

Based on this year’s report, the U.S. city with the best park system is Washington, D.C., followed by Saint Paul, Minnesota; Arlington, Virginia; and Portland, Oregon.

Cities with the lowest-ranked systems include Oklahoma City, Charlotte, North Carolina; and Mesa, Arizona.

Categories
News News Blog

Memphis Pets Alive (May 23-29)

Each week, the Flyer will feature adoptable dogs and cats from Memphis Animal Services. All photos are credited to Memphis Pets Alive. More pictures can be found on the Memphis Pets Alive Facebook page.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Sweet New Menu and Decor at Sweet Grass

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Sweet Grass has a new look……

Michael Donahue

….and a new menu.

Sweet Grass has gone back to its roots.

Guests were invited to a reveal May 21st to check out the Cooper-Young restaurant’s new menu and new look.

“So many changes were made to the Sweet Grass menu over 10 years,” says chef/owner Ryan Trimm. “When we first opened, we catered to groups and parties that wanted to taste a lot of food and pass around the table, family-style. I enjoy eating with a group of friends and share more than I enjoy a three-course meal. We wanted to bring that back. A service style, an atmosphere, a cocktail list, and our menu have been shifted to the original Sweet Grass style, but we have focused more on tapas and shared cocktails portion of the menu this time.”

The renovation actually began after brunch Easter Sunday, Trimm says. Instead of going home, his staff decided to stay and clean up the place so work on the restaurant could begin the next day.

Sweet Grass has new flooring, a new wall on the South side of the restaurant, new tables and chairs, banquette seating along one wall, chalk boards, new chandeliers, and shelves that span the length of the 30-plus-foot bar.

Baskets made of sweetgrass from South Carolina hang on one wall. Trimm says he chose the name “Sweet Grass” for the restaurant because sweetgrass grows in the South Carolina low country. Low country cuisine is what he began serving when the restaurant opened.

On another wall is a piece made of oyster shells. Sweet Grass also is known for its oyster bar.

The restaurant interior was painted in antique cream with an accent called “Jasper,” Trimm says. Ann Parker from Parker Design Studios did the interior design work.

Guests tried a variety of new dishes, including braised pork dumplings, goat cheese crostinis, lamb lollipops, lump crab cakes, pan-seared sea scallops, and tonkatsu pork santos made of crisp pork loin, spicy mustard, white bread, and cabbage.

Trimm says Sweet Grass now offers “pintxos,” which are “one to two bites” items as opposed to small plates. Servers will walk amongst tables with the pintxos. If people want to try them, they’ll leave them at the table. If not, they’ll go on to the next table.

Bartender Nick Lumpkin says two of the most popular cocktails on the spring menu are the “plum sour” made of wheatley vodka, lemon, black plum, fernet branca, and sage; and the “rye thyme” made of Wild Turkey 101 Rye, honey gastrique, lemon, angostura, and thyme.

Sweet Grass is at 937 Cooper; (901) 278-0278

Michael Donahue

Roger Sapp, Ryan Trimm, Nicole Carstensen, and Marisa Grifiith at Sweet Grass’s spring menu/decor unveiling.

Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

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We Recommend We Saw You

Those Memphis in May festivals!

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

I got to pose with the bartenders at the ever popular Cadillac Grillz booth at Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.

Michael Donahue

Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival

Only once did I almost drop my phone while frenetically taking photos during Memphis in May. I was shooting and the phone slipped out of my hand, but, miraculously, I caught it. The person I was taking the photo of said, “Good save!”

I feel like I took 100s of photos at the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and the Beale Street Music Festival.

I asked Memphis in May vice-president of marketing Robert Griffin to say a few words about the festivals:

“After great attendance at Beale Street Music Festival, including another sold-out Sunday, and huge crowds at World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, we’re looking to close out the month with a spectacular salute to Memphis with the Celebrate Memphis bicentennial event. There’s so much excitement surrounding this birthday celebration. The Mid-South is anticipating it as much as we are.”

That event will be at 3 p.m. May 25th in Tom Lee Park. Another festival! Music, fireworks, an air show, and the Mighty Lights Show.

Meanwhile, here’s a sampling of faces I encountered at the music and barbecue festivals:


Michael Donahue

The great Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies was at Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest

Michael Donahue

Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest

Michael Donahue

Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Al Kapone and Oona Mitchell Bean at Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking ContestAl

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Smoking at Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest

Michael Donahue

More smoking at Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest

Michael Donahue

And still more smoking at Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Beale Street Music Festival

Michael Donahue

Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest

Categories
News News Blog

Pro-Choice Advocates Rally to ‘Stop the Ban’

CREDIT: Maya Smith

Maya Smith

About 40 people rallied near City Hall, Tuesday, against the recent abortion bans that have been passed in other states.

Chanting “Stop the ban,” participants held pink signs reading “Protect safe, legal abortions.”

Tuesday’s effort was spearheaded by the Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, in collaboration with Indivisible Memphis, Choices, and other pro-choice advocacy organizations.

Ashley Coffield, president of Planned Parenthood for the Greater Memphis Region said that 73 percent of Americans oppose banning abortion, and “we’re out here today to raise up their voices and tell the nation that we won’t stand for it.”

“In Tennessee we have Planned Parenthood and other organizations that offer abortion, and that’s a great thing,” Coffield said. “But we are under attack from our legislature right now. It’s worse than it’s ever been.”

Sixteen states passed legislation this year either placing greater restrictions on abortion or effectively banning the procedure completely.

Coffield said the Tennessee legislature was close to passing an outright abortion ban this year, but that measure failed in the state Senate. That legislation is slated to be discussed during the legislation’s summer session.

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Tennessee did, however, pass a law that would criminalize abortion in Tennessee if the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision is overturned. That law, the Human Life Protection Act, would ban abortions except “when an abortion is necessary to prevent death” or “substantial and irreversible impairment of major bodily function.”

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, the law would make it a felony offense for doctors to perform abortions. Under the law, women seeking abortions would not be prosecuted.      

“The fight is far from over in Tennessee,” Coffield said. “Our rights are at risk like they’ve never been before and this is a coordinated attack nationwide to get a case to the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.”

Coffield said abortion is basic health care for women and making abortion illegal won’t stop abortions: “Abortion will just be unsafe and women will die.”

Currently, in Tennessee abortion is legal throughout the first 20 weeks of a woman’s pregnancy. However, the law places restrictions and regulations on clinics who offer abortion and women seeking the procedure, according to Holly Calvasina, director of development and communications for Choices.

One of those regulations is the 48-hour waiting period, Calvasina said. Women seeking an abortion must a woman to see a physician on two different occasions. According to the law, this is to ”reduce coerced abortions and to allow time to carefully consider the information and resources provided by informed consent provisions.”

Calvasina said this makes abortions more expensive, because women must pay for two doctor’s visits.

Diane Duke, executive director of Friends for Life, was also at the rally. She said that abortion is a woman’s right.

“Women are able to make their own decision about the timing and the size of their families,” Duke said. “We are women. We are the ultimate authority and definitive authority of our own body. We know if abortions are illegal, women will die.”

Duke also noted that “because of white privilege, our brown and black sisters will disproportionately bear the burden of an abortion ban.”

“This will further reinforce the institutional racism that is so predominant here in the South,” Duke said.

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Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, who sits on the Planned Parenthood board here, was also at the rally, speaking against abortion bans.


“It was more important for me to be here with you on the ground to say ‘this won’t fly for us’” Sawyer said. “I know personally what it means to be able to make decisions about your body. No one should be able to tell anyone what they can do what their life and their future.

“When we are talking about stopping the ban, it is important that we show up in Memphis because if you don’t think Tennessee is next, you’re sleeping.”

Tuesday’s rally here was one of more than 400 happening across the country, urging for an end to abortion bans.


Categories
Politics Politics Beat Blog

Casada Backs Down, Will Resign

Though his initial instinct on Monday was to respond in the negative to the latest call for his resignation as speaker of the Tennessee House — this time from members of the House Republican caucus — Glen Casada (R-Franklin) has finally capitulated, after indicating in an earlier statement on Tuesday that he intended to remain in office despite a lopsided 45-24 vote against him by his fellow House Republicans.

Glen Casada

The last straw for Casada was Monday’s caucus vote, which was followed almost immediately by a statement from Republican Governor Bill Lee that the governor would call a special session of the legislature to consider the matter of Casada’s tenure if the beleaguered Speaker resisted resignation. “Today, House Republicans sent a clear message,” Lee said.

Casada’s first response to the caucus vote was one of continued resistance. ““I’m disappointed in the results of today’s caucus vote,” the speaker said. “However, I will work the next few months to regain the confidence of my colleagues so we can continue to build on the historic conservative accomplishments of this legislative session.”

That statement was supplanted on Tuesday by this one: “When I return to town on June 3rd, I will meet with caucus leadership to determine the best date for me to resign as speaker so that I can facilitate a smooth transition.”

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News News Blog

City Council Wants State to Incentivize ‘Bluff City Law’ to Film in Memphis

CREDIT: NBC

NBC

The Memphis City Council will ask Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to set aside $10 million to incentivize NBC’s new legal drama to film in Memphis.

The pilot for “Bluff City Law,” a drama about a Memphis law firm fighting landmark civil rights cases, was filmed here and nearby in Oxford, Mississippi, in March.

Earlier this month, NBC picked up the show as a weekly series. Producers of the show have said previously that about $50 million will be spent on location during filming.

Councilman Martavious Jones said Tuesday that the only way the council can speak is through a resolution, so he proposed a resolution urging the governor to allocate $10 million of discretionary state funds to the production of “Bluff City Law.”

A city council committee recommended approval of the resolution Tuesday ahead of the full council voting on it. Jones said the Shelby County Commission has already passed a similar resolution.

Similarly, officials with the Memphis and Shelby County Film and Television Commission traveled to Nashville earlier this year, hoping to secure the same level of financial incentives that the ABC show “Nashville” received to film in its namesake city.

Close to $45 million was given through Tennessee Entertainment Commission grants and other incentives to keep the show in the state for six seasons.

 “Bluff City Law,” starring Jimmy Smits and Caitlin McGee, is set to air on NBC this fall. See the trailer below. 

City Council Wants State to Incentivize ‘Bluff City Law’ to Film in Memphis

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Onscreen Women Dominate Indie Memphis

Eileen Townsend in ‘Two Whole Days of Nothing But Uppercase F*CK!’

Indie Memphis’ salute to the Bluff City in May continues this week with two programs featuring strong women.

On Tuesday, May 21st, Indie Memphis’ venerable Microcinema series presents a selection of shorts by women directors from Memphis.

The program doubles as a who’s who of Memphis female filmmakers, including Rachel Taylor’s fantasy “Avarice,” Sarah Fleming’s whimsical travelog “Carbike,” Munirah Safiyah Jones’ savage comedy “Fuckboy Defense 101,” Aisha Raison’s “Girls Like Me: A Self Love Story,” McGehee Montieth’s Memphis Film Prize winner “He Could Have Gone Pro,” Melissa Anderson Sweazy’s childcare parable “John’s Farm,” Sissy Denkova’s “Sabine,” Nubia Yasin’s Youth-Fest sensation “Sensitive,” Kathy O. Lofton’s “Tether,” Laura Jean Hocking’s surreal mood piece “Two Whole Days Of Nothing But Uppercase Fuck,” and Deaara Lewis’ “What If?”

Show starts at 7:00 PM at Crosstown Arts.

TETHER OFFICIAL TRAILER from Kathy O Lofton, MBA, MPA on Vimeo.

Onscreen Women Dominate Indie Memphis

Then, on Wednesday at Studio on the Square, Memphis’ indie originator Mike McCarthy is celebrated with a screening of his 2000 magnum opus Superstarlet A.D. McCarthy’s career has been defined by taking high concept film, culture, and feminist theory and wrapping those ideas in the cinematic language of the low-budget, drive-in grindhouse. Nowhere is that more evident than in this post-apocalyptic romp.

Tickets are available at the Indie Memphis website, but don’t take the kids to this one.

Superstarlet A.D.