Month: July 2019

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Harris, Biden, and Busing

We have no objection to the sudden rise to viability as a presidential contender of California U.S. Senator Kamala Harris. As the sentient world knows, Harris’ ascension to contender status was shaped last week by her strong performance during the second nationally televised debate of Democratic candidates.

Former Vice President Joe Biden

It came at the expense of former Vice President Joe Biden, the putative Democratic front-runner, who was slow on the uptake when challenged by Harris for his previous remarks regarding his ability, while serving in the Senate, to co-exist and seek common ground with out-and-out segregationists like then-Senators James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia, “old bulls” who, due to the prevailing seniority system, had outsized power over the Senate committee system and could obstruct or facilitate legislation.

Biden’s point was that he retained the ability to work constructively with political figures of different persuasions from his own — something likely to be highly relevant in post-2020 Washington. Still, Harris’ well-stated rebuke was on point and timely, given today’s different sense of priorities and impatience with foot-dragging on matters related to human justice.

And we like Harris’ prosecutorial style, hitherto in her public interrogations of disingenuous functionaries of the Trump administration.

We are not so enamored of Harris’ follow-up point in her confrontation with Biden, wherein she took him to task for having, as she alleged, opposed busing back in its heyday as a means of desegregation. The fact is that, in urban locales ranging from Boston in the northeast to our own case in Memphis, the ultimate outcome of court-ordered busing, however well-meaning, was to foster, not integration, but resegregation via a host of hothouse private schools and new residential enclaves beyond the reach of judicial orders. Court-ordered busing in the Memphis case in 1972 was upheld 2-1 by a federal appeals court, but, as former Flyer writer John Branston noted in a retrospective years afterward, “History would show that it was dissenter Paul Weick who got it right: ‘The burden of eliminating all the ills of society should not be placed on public school systems and innocent school children.'”

In 1973 and 1974, as Branston further noted, “Some 30,000 students left the Memphis public school system in white flight in reaction to court-ordered busing for integration.” That out-migration, augmented by a generous number of middle-class blacks, increased year by year, to the point that what remains of the Memphis City Schools system, now reorganized ironically as Shelby County Schools, is virtually segregated, serving an impoverished population, while most white students are cloistered in a small network of “optional” schools or attending classes in private institutions or in public schools operated by the county’s suburban municipalities.

Perhaps the best verdict on busing was rendered by the federal judge who ordered it, Robert McRae, who recalled in his retirement, “I was disappointed in the reaction to Plan Z. But I had to keep a stiff upper lip because this [reaction] was an act of defiance. Still, I was disappointed that we hadn’t come up with something that worked.”

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

A Vibe on the Island Independence Day Celebration

CREDIT: Misfit Studios International

Pack your chairs, coolers, and picnic blankets and walk, scooter, or bike to Mud Island River Park for A Vibe on the Island. A monthly event, July’s AVOTI falls on Independence Day. To ring in the holiday and the fireworks is a three-parter musical event featuring Ping Rose and the Anti-Heroes, Black Cream, and Marcella & Her Lovers.

“I’ve never played a show with any of the openers,” says Ping Rose, a soul, rock, and funk artist based in Nashville, but who hails from Memphis. “But one of the members of Black Cream is one of my longtime friends,” he says. “I’m excited to play with them.”

Misfit Studios International

Ping Rose

Rose is due to release a studio album, Sketchbook, in July, and he plans to post a single from the album to Spotify before this event for a special preview. Also, be sure to check out Black Cream’s new single “All I Need Is You” and Marcella & Her Lover’s EP The Bronze Age.

The event is free, but those who want to watch the fireworks and hear some music from the sidelines can float on the Wolf River Harbor in a kayak rented from Kayak Memphis. The fireworks show can also be viewed from nearby Tom Lee Park or River Garden. Riverside Drive will be blocked off to cars after 5:30 p.m., but visitors can still walk, scooter (Bird or Lime), or ride bikes (Explore Bike Share) to any of the parks. Fireworks will begin at 9:15 p.m.

A Vibe on the Island, Mud Island River Park, Thursday, July 4th, 6 p.m., Free.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Yesterday

There is a video that occasionally pops up online, but usually gets taken down quickly. It’s an August 3, 1983, benefit concert at First Avenue for the Minnestoa Dance Theater — the night Prince debuted his new band, The Revolution, and played “Purple Rain” for the first time.

Every other time Prince plays “Purple Rain” from that moment until his tragic death in 2016, the opening chords are met with ecstatic cheers, and the audience sings along to the “woo woo-woo wooooo” of the coda. But not that night. When the anonymous First Avenue videographers who captured the moment pan across the crowd, most of them are half-ignoring Prince. Who cares about some new song that doesn’t sound anything like “1999”?

Himesh Patel in Yesterday

But for some of them, there is a growing recognition that something wonderful is happening. When Prince plays the climactic guitar solo like he’s calling the angels down from heaven, a girl in the front row clasps her hands and bows her head as if in prayer. The guy beside her turns to his friend and, slack-jawed, jabs a thumb at the band. “Are you hearing this?”

That feeling of being there at the creation, when it suddenly felt like the world was new, is what Yesterday is all about. Jack (Himesh Patel) is a singer/songwriter from a sleepy English coastal resort town who splits his time between his music and working part-time at a Tesco-like warehouse superstore. Ellie (Lily James), his friend since childhood, is his “manager” and biggest fan. She comes to all of his gigs, which range from busking on the street to being ignored at children’s birthday parties. Finally, she gets him a spot at the Latitude Festival in nearby Suffolk. He’s excited. This could be his big break! But since it turns out to be in the locals tent, he once again plays to no one.

Terminally frustrated, he decides to hang up his guitar for good and return to teaching. But when he’s riding his bike home after a row with Ellie, a mysterious worldwide blackout happens. In the darkness and chaos, Jack is hit by a bus. When he awakens in the hospital, he’s missing a couple of front teeth. But the world, he soon finds out, is missing something more significant: The Beatles. No one but Jack can remember John, Paul, George, and Ringo. When he searches for them, Google asks, “Did you mean: beetles?”

So what does a singer/songwriter do when he’s slipped into an alternate universe where no one has heard “Yesterday”? He struggles to remember the chords and lyrics, then passes the song off as his own. Jack’s own personal First Avenue moment comes when he plays “Let It Be” for his indifferent parents. But slowly, word gets out about this kid who had a head injury and then starting writing incredible songs, and Jack is on his way to fame and fortune.

There are a lot of fascinating “what ifs?” along these lines, moments when a subtle twist here or there would forever change history. What if Elvis hadn’t made a big impression on Sun Records’ Marion Keisker and she never told Sam Phillips about him? What if DJ Kool Herc’s family never migrated from Jamaica to the Bronx? What if Mark David Chapman’s wife called the cops before he murdered John Lennon? But the real question is, would any of those scenarios make a better light comedy by Trainspotting director Danny Boyle and Love, Actually writer Richard Curtis?

Yesterday has its moments. Patel, a veteran British comedy actor, is charming and charismatic. He’s no Sir Paul, but he can actually sing okay. English songster Ed Sheeran appears as himself, and he can actually act okay. The film finds some teeth when Kate McKinnon shows up as Jack’s agent and starts dripping venom on the music industry.

But there’s not enough of that. Like most music nerds, I’m a fan of the Fab Four. But I understand how folks are turned off by the hype from the Beatle Industrial Complex. The film treats it as a given that the world would be unrecognizable if no one had ever heard “I Saw Her Standing There” and that “Help” would be a hit in 2019 if you just punked it up a bit. Yesterday plays it safe and provides pleasant entertainment. But The Beatles took big chances and never took their own press too seriously. That attitude would have made for a more interesting — and funnier — film.

Yesterday
Now playing at Cineplanet 16

Opens Friday at multiple locations

Categories
News The Fly-By

MEMernet

Why they lyin’?

Leodan Rodriguez, “the first Latino Sigma in the history of the University of Memphis,” tweeted this beautiful scene:

It got some comments: “Why they lyin?” “This is hilarious and so wrong.” “It doesn’t snow in Memphis…this is fake.”

Yes, it was.

Crucified

Need some eye bleach from all the terrible stuff you’ve read on the internet?

Head on over to the Memphis subreddit for Tell Me Something Good Tuesday. Here’s an example from last week:

bonsaibo – The golden hour pre-sunset light tonight was gorgeous.

MemphisMoon – Only 5 more months ’til I get to visit Memphis again.

CodySpring – Got our offer accepted for the house we are looking into in Memphis. Now to just hope the paperwork and appraisal go through alright.

P.S. Please don’t crucify me but I tried it on my second visit to Memphis and didn’t find Central BBQ to be all it is hyped up to be. Any other recommendations?

BBQspaghetti – We stopped crucifying people 4 or 5 years ago.

Categories
News The Fly-By

More Power to You: TVA Plan

CREDIT: Tennessee Valley Authority

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) will harness more solar energy over the next 20 years, more wind power if it gets cheaper, and less power from coal. But some say its environmental goals don’t go far enough.

The TVA dropped its final Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) late last week, the culmination of a process that began in February 2018. That plan is a basic roadmap the nation’s largest power supplier will follow to meet the ever-growing needs for power to 154 local power companies and 58 other customers throughout the Valley.

Tennessee Valley Authority

At the heart of the plan is the mix of energy sources TVA says it will likely use over the next 20 years. Picking that mix was driven largely by the need of diverse and flexible sources of energy and a federal mandate for low costs, TVA said in its report issued Friday.

TVA measures that mix in megawatts, or 1 million watts of power, enough to power about 750 homes at once. So, how much does it need? In its 2018 fiscal year, TVA provided more than 163 million megawatt-hours of electricity to its customers.

Coal power will reduce as TVA retires two coal-fired plants, in Paradise (Kentucky) and Bull Run (Tennessee). TVA will try to renew a 20-year license to operate its Browns Ferry (Tennessee) nuclear plant. It will up its use of combined cycle plants, like our Allen plant, over the next 20 years. How much, though, (maybe up to 9,800 megawatts by 2038) depends on demand and natural gas prices.

As for renewables, TVA said they’re definitely in the mix. Solar power could expand on the TVA grid (as much as 14,000 megawatts by 2038) if the demand is there. TVA said it could add up to 4,200 megawatts of wind power to its mix by 2038 if it becomes cost-effective.

Environmental groups gave TVA some credit for “moving in a smarter economic and environmental direction,” according to a statement from the Sierra Club’s Southeast region chapter, but the agency has a long way to go.

“Renewable energy technologies are smarter and safer than fossil fuels, and it’s now known that they’re the cheapest form of new electricity generation across most of the world — cheaper than both coal and gas,” said the Sierra Club’s Al Armendariz. “So, even as TVA is making positive strides in this new plan, its leaders must start planning for an energy future that doesn’t just trade coal for gas — which not only exposes customers to a volatile market, but also worsens the climate crisis.”

The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) did note that TVA’s new plan does include “recommendations for greater energy efficiency, transparency, and renewables.” But the group called the energy plan “outdated and a blow to customers.”

For one, it said, the plan undervalues energy-efficiency savings for customers. For example, Duke Energy Carolinas customers get seven times more savings from efficiencies than TVA customers.

Also, TVA’s solar plans, SACE said, would only benefit big business customers like Google and Facebook. Residential and small business customers here are “being left out and left behind” on potential solar savings.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Council Race Switcheroo; Tax Rate Questioned

CREDIT: Jackson Baker

Petitions for elective positions on the October 3rd city of Memphis ballot continue to be pulled, and there has been one major surprise of late — a switch of intent on the part of city council candidate Cody Fletcher, who has withdrawn his petition for the Super-District 9, Position 1 council seat and has picked up another petition for the Super-District 9, Position 3 seat.

The change does not alter the geographical location that Fletcher, a University of Memphis development specialist, hopes to represent, but it certainly shakes up the dynamics of races for the two council positions.

Jackson Baker

Criminal Court Clerk Heidi Kuhn (right) was recently presented with a “Good Samaritan” Award from the County Commission for her heroic life-saving efforts at the scene of a traffic accident. Commissioner Reginald Milton does the honors.

Fletcher’s withdrawal from the Position 1 race basically leaves that contest a one-on-one between two major contenders, Shelby County Schools teacher Erika Sugarmon and developer Chase Carlisle. Previously, Sugarmon, daughter of the late African-American legal eminence Russell Sugarmon, was in a position to take advantage of vote-splitting between Fletcher and Carlisle, who drew on similar East Memphis business constituencies.

Fletcher now finds himself essentially in a mano-a-mano battle for the Position 3 seat with Jeff Warren. It remains to be seen whether the shift, recommended by consultant Brian Stephens, who advises both Fletcher and Carlisle, actually increases Fletcher’s chances since he and Warren, an early and well-established entry in this year’s election, also draw upon similar bases of support.

,
• As previously noted in this space, the Shelby County Commission managed last week to approve both a budget and a tax rate, thereby beating the timetable of preceding commissions, which generally were still wrangling well past July 1st, the traditional beginning of a new fiscal year.

One longtime observer of county government isn’t so sure that such promptness was called for or even desirable. Jimmie Covington, longtime reporter on Shelby County government for The Commercial Appeal, before his retirement some years back, still keeps a close watch on county affairs.

In a Facebook post, Covington wrote: “Did the Shelby County Commission act contrary to state law when it approved this year’s county property tax rate on third and final reading on Monday, June 24? For 30 years or so, the commission has been setting the tax rate after July 1 of each year.

“One year, when the late Vasco Smith was serving on the commission, commissioners set the rate before July 1. Smith, who objected to the move, filed a lawsuit in which he charged that state law prevented the county from setting the rate before July 1. Smith won the lawsuit.

“Every year since then, the county has been holding third reading on the rate after July 1. Last year, the rate was set on July 9. … With a new county mayor, new county attorney, and eight new commissioners in office this year, did a mistake occur?”

Covington cites state law: section §67-1-701(a) [our italics].

“Establishment of county tax rate: It is the duty of the county legislative bodies, on the first Monday in July, or as soon thereafter as practicable, to fix the tax rates on all properties within their respective jurisdictions for all county purposes, except that in any county having a population in excess of seven hundred thousand (700,000) … establishing tax due dates other than the first Monday in October each year, in accordance with §67-1-701(a), shall have the authority to fix tax rates for all county purposes at dates prior to the first Monday in July.”

Apropos the seeming loophole of that last clause, Covington notes, “The due date for collecting taxes in Shelby County has not been changed from the first Monday in October.”

Hmmm. “No foul, no penalty” is our guess.

Categories
Music Record Reviews

40 Watt Moon’s Ghost From the Stone

In his 1980 absurdist-romance novel, Still Life With Woodpecker, Tom Robbins says that the light of the full moon, seen through a window set high in a lonely bedroom, is almost equal to the brightness of the light of a 40-watt light bulb hung high from a lonely bedroom.

While the science behind Robbins’ claims probably doesn’t hold up, the image has stuck with me a long time, and I’ve long wondered if veteran Memphis rockers 40 Watt Moon are fans of Robbins as well. Whatever their reading tastes, though, last month, the group released their new full-length album, Ghost From the Stone. They will continue the promotion of the release with a concert at Lafayette’s Music Room this Wednesday, July 10th, at 8:30 p.m.

Ghost From the Stone


The album pays homage to ’70s and ’80s power pop (think The Posies) and ’90s Britpop. The guitars, played by vocalist/guitarist Kevin Pusey and lead guitarist Chip Googe, are crisp and bright, and Vince Hood beats on the drums as if he’d just heard them insulting his mother. Bassist Michael Duncan rounds out the band and keeps the low end grooving in sync with the drums.


The tracking was done at Young Avenue Sound with engineer Scott Harden and at American Recording with in-demand Memphis mixmasters Toby Vest and Pete Matthews.


The album opener, “Venus and Mars,” is an excellent example of what’s to come, all jangle and melodic vocals. The refrain is infinitely hum-able: “Venus and Mars and runaway cars on the skyway.”


On “Lazarus,” Pusey sings about an old friend returned from the brink of oblivion. The relief is palpable in the singer’s voice as he welcomes an old friend he never expected to see again. The song is made especially poignant by the ranks of Memphis musicians who have fallen prey to overindulgence of their more hedonistic appetites.


“Liz Phair,” a personal favorite, opens with blues licks in a crunchy, rock guitar tone. The song is a tribute to one of rock’s leading ladies, who last year celebrated the release of her landmark debut album Exile in Guyville with a vinyl reissue. The 40 Watt Moon song is replete with references to Phair’s oeuvre (including her sophomore release, Whip-Smart): “Whip-smart right from the start … Liz Phair, I don’t care if the whole world stares.”
       
The closing track, “Nine Muses,” is quieter and more contemplative, with arrangements that give the song room to breathe and marinate in the atmosphere it creates. Fittingly, the final lyrics on the album are, “She has trouble with goodbyes.” 40 Watt Moon will have CDs available at the upcoming show at Lafayette’s. So fans who are similarly afflicted with farewell-difficulties never have to say goodbye.

40 Watt Moon performs at Lafayette’s Music Room, Wednesday, July 10th, at 8:30 p.m. $5.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

The Chandler Parsons Error Comes To An End

CREDIT: Joe Murphy (NBAE/Getty Images)

Joe Murphy (NBAE/Getty Images)

Chandler Parsons

In their 18 years of existence in Memphis, the Memphis Grizzlies have had their fair share of eras. There was the “Young and Hungry” era that kicked off their first years in town, with players like Pau Gasol, Shane Battier, Jason Williams, and Stromile Swift. There was the “Three Year Plan” era that consisted of a rebuilding unit focused around Rudy Gay, Hakim Warrick, Kyle Lowry, and Mike Conley. Then there was, of course, the “Grit ‘n Grind” era that included the Mt. Grizzmore of Grizzlies lore: Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, and Tony Allen.

There was also an era that started in the summer of 2016 that included the hiring of David Fizdale as head coach, drafting Wade Baldwin, and acquiring Deyonta Davis, Rade Zagorac, Troy Daniels, and James Ennis. This era was also headlined by the signing of Chandler Parsons, who will probably go down as the worst signing in franchise history.

Now it’s over. The Grizzlies have traded Parsons and his $94 million contract to the Atlanta Hawks for Miles Plumlee and Solomon Hill.

Parsons wasn’t to blame for all of the things that have happened to the team since his acquisition, but it would be hard to believe otherwise, based on fan and media opinion. Whether it be memes, jokes about how he never plays, or cheap shots taken at the condition of his knees, Parsons has been the butt of many jokes and the scapegoat for most of the Grizzlies’ perceived shortcomings. No money to sign someone? Blame it on Chandler Parsons. Zach Randolph is coming off the bench? Parsons’ fault. No good wings? Yep. Chandler Parsons.

Parsons was supposed to be the bridge from the Core Four into a new Big Three era consisting of Conley, Gasol, and Parsons.

It didn’t happen.

A healthy Chandler Parsons would have been just what the franchise needed. A tall, play-making wing who could shoot from three and had decent enough defense to hold his own. But yeah, that never happened. Parsons was damaged goods when the team signed him, and his efforts to rehab and get back into form from his knee injuries, although admirable, were cringe-worthy.

I was never among the crowd that took pleasure in Parsons suffering what amounted to a career-ending injury while trying to salvage a career. But Parsons didn’t do much to help his own case, either. He wasn’t conscious of how certain things came off to the fan-base.
Showcasing his playboy lifestyle and the spoils of his riches while the fans weren’t getting any payoff on the court was a bad look. It’s not his fault that he had Chick-O-Sticks for knees, but he did a horrible job of understanding or empathizing with the fan base. “Chancun,” anyone? Michael Donahue

Chandler Parsons and Joakim Noah hanging at Gibson’s Donuts.

Some things said about Parsons were either overblown or false. Many fans assumed that because they were disgruntled with Parsons, the players in the locker room had issues with him as well. Although they wanted him to be able to produce, I’ve been told by a number of sources that Chandler was among the locker room favorites, and seen as a professional by his teammates.

In any event, finding a taker for Parsons — and his knees and his contract — is a great thing, especially considering that the Grizzlies didn’t have to send out any additional assets or take on a contract that extends beyond this season. It blows away a cloud of incompetency that still hovered over the franchise from the previous regime and gives the current front office a fair shake and a clean slate.

It’s the end of an era and the end of an error.

Categories
News News Blog

Zoo Parking Problem? Nah. Go Valet.

CREDIT: Memphis Zoo

Memphis Zoo

Memphis Zoo adds valet service from A+ Parking Services.

The Memphis Zoo, home to what was the most controversial parking problem in Memphis, has a newer, easier parking option for guests. (See the how-it-works video at the bottom.)

Construction begins this month on a project that will add 415 new parking spaces for the Memphis Zoo. The project will forever end parking on the Overton Park Greensward.

Zoo parking on the field has been a controversy for some three decades here. But it boiled again in 2016 and roiled until a plan was finalized in 2018. That plan will increase the number of parking spaces from 865 to 1,280.

Here’s the official word on the new construction from the zoo:

“Parking construction begins in mid-July at Overton Park and Memphis Zoo. The first stage will focus exclusively on the Prentiss Place parking lot. Prentiss Place (the road) will be open to through traffic on all but three or four days during construction. It is anticipated that the first stage of construction will continue through October or November.”

But if you want to just avoid all that, valet that whip.

Memphis Zoo announced a new valet service Wednesday. It’s an add-on service, provided by A+ Parking Services, “which provides high-end valet parking for venues like Hardrock Café, The Orpheum, National Civil Rights Museum, Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, and more.”

[pullquote-1]
“The zoo’s valet attendants will not only make parking easier, but will unload and load coolers, strollers, backpacks and anything else guests bring along when visiting the zoo,” reads a statement. “A text-to-retrieve option is available for visitors who choose valet, which allows them to text ahead of time and have their vehicle waiting.”

VIP valet parking at the zoo is offered at an additional cost of $5 for members and $10 for nonmembers.”

Wanna see what zoo valet looks like? Check it out here:

Zoo Parking Problem? Nah. Go Valet.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Bar Ware Opening Soon

Libby Wunderlich’s human baby is due July 13th. Her business baby is due July 12th.

Yup. It’s cutting it close. But Bar Ware and the juice bar, Juice Brothers, is scheduled to open next week.

Both establishments are side by side in Phase II of 266 Lofts building at 276 South Front. They are just north of Gus’s on the same side, across from Old Dominick.

David Boone (Memphis Pizza Cafe) will act as general manager.

Wunderlich has worked in the restaurant business since she was in high school, both front of house and back-office-type jobs. She says she felt like it was time to do something on her own.

“There’s still a big learning curve, though,” she says. “I’m still learning a lot.”

Inside, there are leather couches, nice rugs, and big round tables. It’s got a clubhouse feel, with a masculine vibe. It’s definitely a place you can settle in and hang out.

Wunderlich says that she was going for comfortable, something that harkened back to old style bars. Natalie Lieberman, who did work on The Liquor Store and the new hotel at the train station, helped her with the interior design.

Next door, the juice bar is the polar opposite in terms of styling. It’s bright and pristine.

Juice Brothers was founded by a friend of Wunderlich’s. She says this friend, who is also a fashion designer, went to Amsterdam and noticed there weren’t a lot of juice bars there, so she started one and the company has grown from there.

Juice Brothers will offer a number of juices, tonics, “mylks and brews,” waters, shots, and smoothies. As for food, Wunderlich is envisioning a grab-and-go section with salads and wraps and protein bites.

Bar Ware’s food will have a healthier bent as well. The focus will be on shareable plates using seasonal ingredients. 


According to Kevin Quinnell (Itta Bena, Southern Social), chef at Bar Ware, they plan to have health conscious salads and sandwiches, deviled eggs, charcuteries boards, and more upscale dishes. Nothing fried.

“It’s food that’s not to be expected from a bar, but not pretentious,” he says.

Jacob Leonard (Second Line) is heading the bar. He says he plans to craft cocktails taking advantage of the juice bar. He promises that these cocktails will be good but won’t take 10 minutes to make.

“It won’t be too fancy,” he vows, “but yummy.”

Wunderlich says that plans for the bar predated the baby. “That’s just how life goes,” she says.

JuiceBrothers:
Tuesday-Saturday 7 a.m.-6 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Monday Closed

Bar Ware:
Tuesday-Thursday 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Friday-Saturday 11 a.m.- midnight
Sunday 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Monday Closed