Perpetual Motion
Cute kids and X-treme rollerblading!
Skate into Music Video Monday!
Singer/songwriter Alex da Ponte took some time off to start a family. Now she’s back with a new album This Is Ours. The first video from the album is for the song “Memphis”. This ode to her hometown is directed by Noah Glenn of Perpetual Motion studios. Hit the skatepark and cross the river with Alex and her cute kiddo.
Music Video Monday: Alex da Ponte
Jon W. Sparks
A stellar Ostranders: Dennis Whitehead Darling won two awards for best direction.
It was a brilliant evening at the Ostranders for busy director Dennis Whitehead Darling. The annual theater award event sponsored by Memphis magazine and ArtsMemphis was held at the Orpheum Sunday honoring people and productions around the city, and he earned two nods for best direction, one for The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders at Hattiloo Theatre and the other for Intimate Apparel at the University of Memphis.
The former was in the community and professional category and the latter in the collegiate division. Transcending categories is what Whitehead Darling does — he was the first Opera Memphis McCleave Fellow in Directing, named a year ago, and will be directing at Opera Birmingham next year. And for good measure, he directed Jelly’s Last Jam now showing at Hattiloo.
The Parchman Hour racked up five Ossies for Hattiloo, for Best Production of a Drama, Sound Design for a Drama, Choreography/Fight Choreography for a Drama, Ensemble in a Drama, as well as for Whitehead Darling’s direction.
Awards.
In the College category, Intimate Apparel took 12 of the awards. U of M’s Be More Chill won 6.
The community/professional side was dominated by Theatre Memphis with awards for Hairspray, 1776, Little Women, and Newsies.
The Ostranders ceremonies often include special awards, the most distinguished of which is the Eugart Yerian Lifetime Achievement honor that went to stage veteran Christina Wellford Scott. Other distinctions included the Larry Riley Rising Star Award to Karl Robinson, the Gypsy Award to Brittany Church, and the Behind the Scenes Award given posthumously to Michael Lupfer.
As in the past, financial support for the awards event was provided by Michael McLaren and Judge Diane Vescovo.
If you’re keeping score of multiple winners in the community/professional division, Theatre Memphis walked away with 10 awards, Playhouse on the Square 6, Next Theatre at TM 5, Hattiloo Theatre 5, New Moon Theatre 5, and Circuit Playhouse 3.
New Moon
New Moon’s Lizzie: The Musical won three Ostranders.
Hattiloo’s The Parchman Hour earned 5 and TM’s Hairspray 4. Winning 3 each were POTS’ The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, New Moon’s Lizzie: The Musical, TM’s Little Women, Newsies, and 1776. TM’s Clean House and POTS’ Tuck Everlasting got two apiece.
In the college division, U of M ran away with 19, 12 of which were for Intimate Apparel and 6 for Be More Chill.
Theatre Memphis
Timothy Marsh and Erica Peninger in the Theatre Memphis production of Hairspray, which won four Ossies, including one for Peninger as Best Leading Actress in a Musical.
Here is the complete list of winners:
COMMUNITY AND PROFESSIONAL
Best Set Design of a Drama: Bryce Cutler, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, POTS
Best Set Design of a Musical: Jack Yates, Hairspray, TM
Best Costume Design for a Drama: Heather Steward, Little Women, Next Stage, TM
Best Costume Design for a Musical: Amie Eoff, 1776, TM
Best Hair/Wig/Makeup for a Drama: Lindsay Schmeling, The Legend of Georgia McBride, CP
Best Hair/Wig/Makeup for a Musical: Barbara Sanders, 1776, TM
Best Props Design for a Drama: Jack Yates, The Clean House, Next Stage, TM
Best Props Design for a Musical: Brandyn Nordlof, Tuck Everlasting, POTS
Best Lighting Design for a Drama: Justin Gibson, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, POTS
Best Lighting Design for a Musical: Justin Gibson, Tuck Everlasting, POTS
Best Sound Design for a Drama: Ashley Davis, The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo
Best Sound Design for a Musical: Gene Elliott, Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon
Best Music Direction: Jeff Brewer, Newsies, TM
Best Choreography/Fight Choreography for a Drama: Naivell Steib, The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo
Best Choreography for a Musical: Jordan Nichols & Travis Bradley, Newsies, TM
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama: Aliza Moran, The Clean House, Next Stage, TM
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical: Annie Freres, Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon
Best Leading Actress in a Drama: Kim Sanders, Sweat, CP
Best Leading Actress in a Musical: Erica Peninger, Hairspray, TM
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama: Oliver Jacob Pierce, Twelfth Night, New Moon
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical: Luke Conner, Newsies, TM
Best Leading Actor in a Drama: Ryan Duda, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, POTS
Best Leading Actor in a Musical (2 winners): John Maness, 1776, TM and Michael Gravois, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, POTS
Best Featured Performer in a Drama: Jason Gerhard, Junk, CP
Best Featured Performer in a Musical: Daniel Kopera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Harrell
Best Ensemble in a Drama: The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo
Best Ensemble in a Musical: Lizzie: The Musical, New Moon
Best Direction of a Drama: Dennis Whitehead Darling, The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo
Best Direction of a Musical: Jordan Nichols & Travis Bradley, Hairspray, TM
Best Production of a Drama: The Parchman Hour: Songs and Stories of the ‘61 Freedom Riders, Hattiloo
Best Production of a Musical: Hairspray, TM
Carla McDonald
Playhouse on the Square’s Tuck Everlasting won two Ostrander Awards.
COLLEGE
Best Set Design: Kenton Jones, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Costume Design: Jen Gillette, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Hair/Wig/Makeup: Jen Gilette, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Props Design: Karen Arredondo, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Lighting Design: Zoey Smith, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Sound Design: Anthony Pellecchia, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Music Direction: Jacob Allen, Be More Chill, U of M
Best Choreography: Jill Guyton Nee, Be More Chill, U of M
Special Award: Intimacy Choreography: Roberta Inscho-Cox, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama: Ariona Campbell, Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Southwest Tennessee Community College
Best Supporting Actress in a Musical: Lea Mae Aldridge, Be More Chill, U of M
Best Leading Actress in a Drama: Simmery Branch, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Leading Actress in a Musical: Aly Milan, Be More Chill, U of M
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama: Toby Davis, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Supporting Actor in a Musical – College: Landon Ricker, Be More Chill, U of M
Best Leading Actor in a Drama: Christian Hinton, Shaming JANE DOE, U of M
Best Leading Actor in a Musical: Toby Davis, Be More Chill, U of M
Best Featured Performer: Jasmine Roberts, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Ensemble: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change (2018 version), Rhodes College
Best Direction: Dennis Whitehead Darling, Intimate Apparel, U of M
Best Overall Production: Intimate Apparel, U of M
OTHER AWARDS
Best Original Script: Little Women, Next Stage, TM
Best Production of an Original Script: Little Women, Next Stage, TM
Larry Riley Rising Star: Karl Robinson
Gypsy: Brittany Church
Behind the Scenes: Mike Lupfer (posthumously)
Eugart Yerian Lifetime Achievement: Christina Wellford Scott
Jamie Harmon
Project Logic, with DJ Logic, Vernon Reid, MonoNeon, and Daru Jones
The Continuum Music Festival has come and gone once again, leaving many reeling from over two solid days of innovative sounds. Here, we present a slideshow of some highlights, by photographers Jamie Harmon and Jillian Baron.
Your faithful correspondent was able to witness one highlight of the weekend, Opera Memphis’ staging of the modern opera As One, by composer Laura Kaminsky and librettists Kimberly Reed and Mark Campbell. Since its premier in 2014, this has become the most produced new opera in North America, and upon seeing the performance at Continuum, it was easy to see why.
Jillian Baron for Opera Memphis
Blythe Gaissert, mezzo-soprano, and Michael Kelly, baritone, in As One
Featuring Blythe Gaissert, mezzo-soprano, and Michael Kelly, baritone, singing with the Blueshift Ensemble String Quartet (Marisa Polesky, Jessie Munson, Beth Luscombe, Alisa Horn), the piece tells a heart-wrenching saga of a transgender person grappling with her identity. The two singers orbit around each other throughout, each furthering the tale of a young boy’s struggle with, and gradual acceptance of, his often secret female identity. The effect of the two singers inhabiting different aspects of one life is indescribably captivating; coupled with the string quartet, it is gripping.
The music ranges from the hypnotic or pastoral pulses of childhood, to ever more strident and dissonant harmonies as the dual protagonist, Hannah after and Hannah before, confronts misunderstanding and threats from the world at large.
For impressions of the remainder of the festival, I asked Paul Taylor, aka New Memphis Colorways, to describe his impressions of the festival’s second day.
Jamie Harmon
New Memphis Colorways
Paul Taylor: There was a restorative yoga thing led by Sean Murphy and Anne Froning. That was a nice addition to both days. Sean does a really interesting looping with a bunch of wind instruments and delay pedals. Pretty cool.
The Theremin-Lap Steel duo was super beautiful and tranquil. It was really refreshing and surprising. They took it in a direction that was totally not directly linked to the expected sounds of those instruments.
Then I played my set, which was a re-imagining of my New Memphis Colorways Vignettes. That’s a project I’m doing on social media this year, releasing little 60-second video clips that are intended to exist only on social media. They’re not advertisements for anything else. They’ve just reached their destination and I’m done with it when they wind up on social media, as art intended to live there.
But I decided, for this show, to reanimate them into longer versions by mapping out sections of each of the videos to a MIDI controller, so I could trigger start points in the video and audio in each of them, and spontaneously improvise longer compositions. And that sort of created new chord changes and beats by utilizing different start points as they were not originally intended to be. And I think I survived relatively unscathed.
Directly after me it was the Blueshift Ensemble playing music by ICEBERG. And the pieces they played were just astonishing. I was absolutely blown away at the breadth and scope of those tunes. They’re really challenging, they’re really enlightening.
And after that was Project Logic. That was a really interesting show, in that I think a lot of people expected Vernon Reid to just be a shredder, which he is, but man, he was playing the holy hell out of funky neo-soul repetitive groove guitar, and those guys were in a trance for, like, two hours straight. They had the audience completely entranced. And the venue and lights were fantastic.
[slideshow-1]
“I try to read it too deeply, everything becomes absurd,” intones local guitarist and singer Chuck Vicious on asyndeta, the new record by his band Datadrums, before ramping up to double-time: “Absurdity! It’s how you feel! It’s how you think! It’s how you believe!” It’s on the last track of the album, but could have easily been the first, summing up as it does the feel of the entire work.
“You know I like it when you hollow out my soul,” as one song announces. This is an LP that simultaneously laughs and rages at the arbitrary nature of existence. Conjuring up a sound and attitude reminiscent of the the Fall’s Mark E. Smith fronting the Stooges, with a bit of Clash-style chanting and rave-ups thrown in, the band rocks both earnestly and sardonically.
“Twenty! Twenty! Twenty! Twenty! Nine! Nine! Nine! Nine!” sings Vicious, as the band pounds away. Somehow it works, with the Da-Da lyrics setting up an anything-goes atmosphere that promises and delivers surprises.
Datadrums has been around for fourteen years now, and the power of this record is a testament to the staying power of the classic lineup of bass, drums and dual guitars. The band makes the most of such instrumentation, with perfectly dialed-in, crunchy guitar tones, all with the spontaneous energy that comes from being recorded live. There are occasional flourishes of synth or walkie-talkie vocals, as on “Robot Repair,” but this affair is grounded in a kick ass rock band.
The band’s rock solid 70s hard rock sound, complemented by oblique lyrics and an unfussy recording and production style, is a perfect setup for the wry observations that do cut through the murk. Perhaps keeping the band’s sounds relevant over such a stretch of years lies behind the lyrics of “Vacuume Sealed,” both a desperate demand and a plea: “Please don’t throw me away. I’ll be fresh another day…”
asyndeta by Datadrums is out now on Also Tapered Records. Release party at Shangri-La Record’s Sweat Fest 5, Saturday, August 24 at 2 pm. Other bands include The Sheiks, The Heels, Louise Page, Risky Whispers, the Tennessee Screamers, and James Walker.
Jon W. Sparks
Tony Isbell, director of The Humans at Circuit Playhouse.
Tony Isbell is drawn to certain kinds of plays, those, he says, with natural, honest, and truthful dialogue — and relationships that are “juicy.” So when Michael Detroit, executive producer at Playhouse on the Square, asked him to direct The Humans, Isbell said he’d give it a read. “I immediately fell in love with it. Playwright Stephen Karam has a way with dialogue that is maybe the most naturalistic that I’ve ever read or dealt with.”
The play runs at Circuit Playhouse through September 8th and has lured a remarkable cast.
Jo Lynne Palmer, Christina Wellford Scott, Barclay Roberts, Lena Wallace Black, Brooke Papritz, and Steven Burk tell the story of a family that has gathered for Thanksgiving. It’s a common storytelling device, but the execution of it is far from typical, Isbell says.
“On the surface it seems maybe familiar, like something we’ve seen before,” he says. “It’s like one of those slice of life dramas where we see a family get together and spend time together. There’s a grandmother, parents, grown daughters, and one of the daughter’s new boyfriend. But this is not one of those plays where there’s a big astounding revelation that people then spend the next hour fighting over. There are a lot of smaller revelations that people deal with, like people do in real life.”
For Isbell, this is the heart of the production, the relationships among characters. “I am less interested as a director in a spectacle and you know, cool sets and costumes. I mean, yeah, I like all those things, but I try to provide the best possible ground for actors to really shine and really dig their teeth into something. And these people do.”
They’re a blue collar, lower middle class family, recognizably Irish American Catholic hard-working stock. And there are pressures: an ailing parent, financial stresses, children who have strayed a bit from the church. “The most important thing about this play in one way is the fact that these characters all love each other,” Isbell says. “They have some conflicts, they resolve them, they love each other, they make fun of each other, they laugh with each other, they occasionally cry with each other.”
To know Isbell is to appreciate his passion for theater. He is a co-founder of Quark Theatre (its slogan is “Small Plays About Big Ideas”) and as it embarks on its fourth year, it continues with its mission to get under the skin and make viewers feel and think and react. So while The Humans is not Quark fare, it is very much in that spirit. And you won’t have to wait long for Quark’s first show of the season. The Memphis premiere of Wakey Wakey by Will Eno opens September 20th at TheatreSouth.
For Isbell, having shows bunching up like this is next to normal. “I’ve averaged about three shows a year over the last 40 years,” he says, “which seems unbelievable, but that’s kind of what I’ve done.” That’s a long commitment to directing and acting at venues all around the area, and his devotion was noted last year when he was honored with the Eugart Yerian Lifetime Achievement Award at the Ostrander ceremonies. He is quick to point out that he’s not the only lifetime achiever in The Humans. Jo Lynne Palmer received the award a few years ago and Christina Wellford Scott will take it home this Sunday from this year’s Ostrander ceremonies.
So Isbell is confident that audiences will be drawn in to the play and will take something home. “It will probably leave you questioning some things and will probably have you discussing it with your companion saying, ‘I think this was like this’ and then ‘No, I think it was like this.’ It’ll be that kind of thing.”
The Humans
8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. The Circuit Playhouse, 51 South Cooper Street. Call 901 726-4656 or visit the website.
A Tennessee organization is looking for community-sourced solutions to the criminalization of poor Tennesseans.
Free Hearts, an organization led by formerly incarcerated women, seeks to provide support, advocacy, and education to families impacted by incarceration. The group’s ultimate goal is to keep families together or reuniting them.
The organization is asking the public to complete a survey to help generate community-based solutions to decriminalize poverty in Tennessee.
“#ItsNotACrime to be poor, but the state of TN has made it a crime to be poor and working-poor,” the survey introduction reads.
Dawn Harrington, executive director of Free Hearts, said that the survey will help identify new Tennesseans who want to join their efforts to end the criminalization of the poor and “transform our state into one that is just and equitable for all.”
The survey will be open through October 4th. Those who are interested can also send a 1-minute video on the criminalization of poverty to the group.
[pullquote-1]
Free Hearts, along with the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls, helped push for a recently-passed state law meant to help parents facing incarceration stay with their families.
The Primary Caretaker Bill, which became law in July, requires that courts factor in someone’s caretaker status when handing down sentences. The idea is for the caretakers to be offered a community-based alternative to incarceration.
Facebook/Free Hearts
Free Hearts with Gov. Bill Lee as he signs the Primary Caretaker Bill
The group has since been talking with Gov. Bill Lee’s office about solutions to the criminalization of poverty. The organization was asked to present solutions to address the issue and other policies related to poverty and criminal justice.
The survey is a step in that direction. Harrington said the group wants to build on the work it’s done for caregivers, by looking for alternatives to parts of the system it says criminalizes poverty, such as bail and pre-trial detention.
“It is our belief that participation is the first win and in order to propose solutions to a problem that affects so many of us, we must get input and buy in from Tennessee across the state on their ideas and organizations that already exists that they believe are effective,” Harrington said.
To incentivize participation, Free Hearts will enter all survey participants or those who create videos in weekly drawings through October 4th for a chance to win a $500 gift card.
Michael Donahue
Lobster stew at Flying Fish
I craved lobster stew for decades without ever tasting it.
It’s all because of the 1957 song, “Old Cape Cod.” Patti Page sings, “If you like the taste of a lobster stew served by a window with an ocean view, you’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod.”
Every time I heard those words, I wanted lobster stew even though I’d never had it before. Those two words conjured up such a tasty dish in my mind.
So, imagine my surprise and delight when I saw “Lobster Stew” on the menu when I was at Flying Fish the other day. I didn’t know they sold it.
The song didn’t specify whether the lobster stew was served in a bowl or a cup, so I went with the bowl.
It’s wonderful. It’s the realization of the lobster stew taste I created in my mind.
Manager Owen Ray told me the stew, which contains lobster, celery, carrots, and cream, is “in the top tier” as far as popular dishes at Flying Fish. And, he says, “I love it.”
The weather outside was in the top tier — mid 90s — when I took my first bite of Flying Fish’s lobster stew. The stew definitely will be a quick lunch and dinner go-to when the weather is chilly.
Now that I’ve tasted lobster stew, I’d like to eat some served by a window with an ocean view. But I’ll settle for a Mississippi River view.
Flying Fish is at 105 South Second Street; (901)-522-8228
Bill Nelson’s Walking Back to Waters Crossing With Cordie, oil on canvas, at the Horn Island exhibition at Memphis College of Art
There will be a lot of “lasts” at Memphis College of Art this coming year. The school closes for good after the next spring commencement with the remaining students graduating and going on their way, alumni to a memory.
As fall gets underway, the first of the year’s lasts begins with the 35th Horn Island Exhibition, one of MCA’s most distinctive endeavors. In the early 1980s, professor Bob Riseling liked the idea of students going on an excursion to the uninhabited barrier island off the Gulf Coast near Ocean Springs, Mississippi. There was a fitting historic resonance: Noted artist Walter Inglis Anderson (1903-1965) spent a good deal of the last 20 years of his life going to and from Horn Island, portraying the animals and landscapes. The Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs keeps his memory alive and his art protected.
Riseling imagined students, faculty, and alumni going for several days to the island where they would observe and absorb the environment while roughing it the whole way. To this day there are no amenities on the island, so everyone camps and creates with the idea of coming back to complete artworks inspired by the experience. Riseling led the expeditions for years and then handed off the direction to MCA faculty member Don DuMont, who remembers well how it changed him.
“The first year I was adjunct here at MCA, well in my forties,” DuMont says. “That experience on Horn Island took me all the way back to when I was really young, to all the islands I had been on throughout my service years. Things just flooded back into me. And I started looking at my life and it just took a big 180.”
Jon W. Sparks
Don DuMont’s Horn Memories Spirit Box. Walnut, cedar, pewter, found objects, at the Horn Island exhibition at Memphis College of Art
For many of those who have trekked to Horn Island over the years, it is revelatory in its own way. “Some of them have never camped before,” DuMont says. “Some of them had never even been to the coast. Some of them never even been on a boat.”
DuMont went to Horn Island three times when Riseling was running the show, and the senior professor saw the effect. “He told me, ‘I think you’re the one to take this over,'” DuMont says. “And I’ve done it 14 years. It’s been just a tremendous opportunity and something that’s changed my life greatly, and then to be able to see all of this wonderful work all these years. All of these people that have participated feel that it really had big significance in their lives, too. So it’s pretty damn sweet.”
This year’s show runs through October 4th, with the reception this Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at MCA. As in the past, there will be refreshments in the form of barbecued Spam and Gatorade, the essential sustenance of the art adventurers.
Students are required to do four to six pieces for the show. They have sponsors, and the idea is to give the benefactors choices in selecting a work for themselves. The sponsors are typically art collectors and understand the value of a visit to Horn Island. Sometimes they’re happy to forego having a piece — they’d rather the student have the experience on the island and then have a chance to sell their work.
Jon W. Sparks
Scottie Wyatt’s gyotaku print Pompano, at the Horn Island exhibition at MCA
That experience, DuMont says, is different every time, whether veteran or newbie. “We step on a different island every year,” he says. “As a matter of fact, every morning when you step out of your tent, it’s a different island.” Nature does what it pleases and it presents the artists with fresh visions and not just a few lessons. He mentions Hurricane Katrina that blew through the region in 2005. “Pre-Katrina, the island was very lush. After Katrina, we witnessed a significant die-off.” The devastation came, he says, because there wasn’t significant rain for several months after the hurricane. “So that island just sat there and had salt water that killed off a lot of those trees. Over the years, we watched the island come back, and this year in particular, it seemed really, really lush. I think it had a lot to do with our wet fall and winter.”
Each artist takes away whatever they will from the excursion and then spends the summer working on their art. There is certainly no theme imposed on them, although DuMont says, “I think people really were reflecting a lot, maybe thinking about the past, and thinking about what they’ll do now.” And then when the pieces started coming in to MCA to be hung or placed, DuMont noticed a thread that ran through many of them. “Reflection literally shows up a lot in work,” he says. He points to a symmetrical work made of cut paper. “It’s almost like a mirror,” he says, speculating that perhaps it being the last show spurred thoughts about past, present, and future, which then emerged as balance, reflection, and symmetry in the artworks.
Peyton LaBauve’s porcelain Don DuMonster (Smoking Pipe) at this year’s Horn Island exhibition
There is also much diversity in the show, DuMont says. “It’s all like-minded people there, so you would think they’re all going to be doing the same thing. But that’s so far from the truth. We have beautiful jewelry, we have ceramic work that’s phenomenal. The other thing is that it’s not just traditional style work, but there are all kinds of mediums here.” Painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, animation, fabric. “New technologies, old methods, just a wonderful blend,” he says.
Dreamstime
Tired of robocalls blowing up your phone? So is the Tennessee Attorney General.
State AG Herbert Slatery said Thursday that he and 51 other attorneys general and 12 phone companies have adopted a new slate of protocols to fight robocalls.
“Robocalls are uninvited, a breach of privacy, distracting, and generally a menace,” said Slatery. “This agreement should better protect Tennesseans from illegal robocalls and enable this office and other attorneys general to investigate and prosecute offenders.”
The new plan would install call-blocking technology at the network level, give consumers free call-blocking technology for their phones, and implement new technology that would ensure callers are coming from a valid source.
Phone companies will assist in the effort by helping to identify bad actors, notifying law enforcement if they find them, tracing the origins of robocalls, and requiring call traceback identification.
[pullquote-1] “The principles offer a comprehensive set of best practices that recognizes that no single action or technology is sufficient to curb the scourge of illegal and unwanted robocalls,” said Henning Schulzrinne, professor of computer science at Columbia University. ”I hope that all parts of the telecommunication industry, both large and small, will commit to rapidly implementing these principles and work with state and federal authorities to make people want to answer their phone again without fear of being defrauded or annoyed.”
YouMail RoboCall Index
The group is comprised of attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The coalition of companies includes AT&T, Bandwidth, CenturyLink, Charter, Comcast, Consolidated, Frontier, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, Verizon, and Windstream.
If your phone rang in Memphis last month, it was a scammer 40 percent of the time, according to YouMail, host of the RoboCall Index. So, how many calls are we talking here? Nearly 15 robocalls were made every second here last month.
YouMail RoboCall Index
YouMail RoboCall Index
The No. 1 robocaller in Memphis last month was Intelliquent, reminding you to pay your credit card. Other robocallers included prison-call consents, payment reminders, debt collectors, and straight scams.
Memphis ranks 28th on the RoboCall Index with nearly 40 million calls last month. No. 1? Atlanta. More than 187 million robocalls were placed to callers there last month.
See all of the data here.
Aldo’s Pizza Pie’s, Catherine And Mary’s, The Majestic Grille (Facebook)
Owners of nearly 70 Downtown businesses support the renovation of Tom Lee Park
Owners of well-known Downtown restaurants — Aldo’s Pizza Pies, The Majestic Grille, Catherine and Mary’s, and more — say they, and nearly 70 Downtown businesses fully support a renovated Tom Lee Park. (Read the letter in full at the bottom of the story.)
The group made public Thursday a letter of support it sent to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland in June. The letter urged Strickland to move ahead with the Mississippi River Park Partnership’s (MRPP) $60 million plan for the park.
That plan adds contours, trees, facilities, and more to the now-wide-open Tom Lee Park. The plan was unveiled in February and raised concern for Memphis In May (MIM) officials, worried that their month-long festival would not fit inside the new park.
Studio Gang
A view of Tom Lee Park from Studio Gang’s 2017 Riverfront Concept Plan.
That concern simmered to a boil for some citizens, afraid the new plan is taking precedent over the MIM tradition. A Facebook group called “Save Tom Lee Park & The Festivals” has nearly 2,500 members. Another Facebook group called “Memphis-Wake Up Save Memphis In May, Riverside Dr. and Tom Lee Park” and signs for another group read, “Let Tom Lee Be.”
The group of Downtown business owners said they want to set straight “recent inaccurate news reports that the majority of Downtown businesses are opposed to the transformation of Tom Lee Park and other misinformation being disseminated on social media.” They say ”a world-class, riverfront park that is activated 365 days per year will be better for business, better for Downtown, and better for Memphis as a whole.”
[pullquote-1] “We need this park to happen” said Andy Ticer, partner in Catherine and Mary’s and The Gray Canary. “Downtown has seen such positive growth over the past two decades, and because of this momentum, we chose to open two signature Downtown restaurants.
“A re-envisioned Tom Lee Park affirms ours and others’ investments in Downtown, and helps our businesses and Memphis continue to move forward.”
The group said they collectively employ thousands of people and generate tens of millions of dollars in annual tax revenues for the city. The group includes creative agencies, developers, retailers, major corporations, tourist destinations, “and contrary to the official stance of the Memphis Restaurant Association, over 40 restaurants and bars.”
Studio Gang
“I hate to think that all the joys of Memphis are relegated to just one month in the springtime,” said Aldo Dean, owner and operator of Bardog Tavern, Aldo’s Pizza Pies, and Slider Inn. “While I understand the economic impact of May’s festivities, as an owner of multiple Downtown businesses, I’d rather see my chosen city benefit from the year-long activity and density that a single month’s revenue can’t hope to match.
[pullquote-2] “The re-imagination of the riverfront seeks to deliver it from the dormancy of mediocrity. The prototype at River Garden exists as a glimpse of the long-term vision of this much needed improvement, and any argument against the proposal is short-sighted and self-defeating.”
The letter was delivered to Strickland on June 26. It says ”pedestrian connections between the Downtown core and the riverfront are crucial for Memphis to continue to be an attractive hub for headquarters, creative agencies, and entrepreneurs, for our identity as a top tourist destination, and for our continued growth as the most diverse, inclusive neighborhood in the MidSouth.”
City of Memphis
Strickland
Renovation construction was slated to begin right after the festival ended this year. It was pushed back to the fall in May. Strickland announced in late July that MIM would return to the park next year, be held at an alternate location in 2021, and return to Tom Lee Park in 2022.
“We are pleased that Mayor Strickland has shown such strong leadership and vision by announcing that this project is moving forward,” said Patrick Reilly, co-owner of The Majestic Grille. “The revised timeline ensures Memphis in May ample time to plan for alternate sites in 2020 and almost two years to plan the evolution of the festival to the new space and a new era.
“We’re looking forward to experiencing a new and improved festival and a world-class park that both reflect the current trajectory of our great city.”
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Bruce VanWyngarden
Tom Lee Park model at Beale Street Landing.
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