Month: February 2020

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News News Blog

TN Lawmaker Wants CNN, WaPo Labelled as “Fake News”

CREDIT: Micah Van Huss/Twitter

Micah Van Huss/Twitter

Today a real Tennessee state House committee will hear a real House Joint Resolution from a real Tennessee House member to label CNN and The Washington Post as “fake news.”

On the agenda for the real Constitutional Protections and Sentencing Subcommittee, is HJR 0079 by Rep. Micah Van Huss (R-Jonesborough).

Here is exactly what the resolution would do:

“Resolves to recognize CNN and The Washington Post as fake news and part of the media wing of the Democratic Party, and further resolves to condemn such media outlets for denigrating our citizens and implying that they are weak-minded followers instead of people exercising their rights that our veterans paid for with their blood.”
[pullquote-1] Van Huss explained the resolution to conservative talk show host (and self-proclaimed Memphian) Todd Starnes, on his podcast, “the ToddCast.” Van Huss said the resolution stems from reports last fall from both news outlets that labeled supporters of President Donald Trump as “part of a cult.”

TN Lawmaker Wants CNN, WaPo Labelled as ‘Fake News’

Further, Van Huss said CNN recently “mocked Trump supporters for being rude, basically as hayseed hicks.” Van Huss said in 2016 that more than 60 percent of Tennesseans voted for Trump.

“My constituents are tired of these elitists in the media for denigrating them,” Van Huss told Starnes. “They’re tired of Republicans who don’t fight.”

Van Huss said his Republican colleagues in Nashville were “excited” about the legislation and that he is “looking forward to making this statement on behalf of all Tennesseans.”

TN Lawmaker Wants CNN, WaPo Labelled as ‘Fake News’ (2)

Some northeast Tennessee lawmakers told Bristol, Virginia’s WCYB News 5 that the resolution isn’t necessary.

The resolution has 13 House co-sponsors, including Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden).

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

V-Day Dining: Honey Do

CREDIT: Penyushkin | Dreamstime.com

If your significant other is anything like me, they appreciate a good meal out on the town — where someone else handles the cooking and the dishes and you’re able to enjoy a nice plate of food without having to lift a finger. I’m also quite food-motivated, so roses, while beautiful, aren’t necessary (they’re going to die after a few days anyway: sad face). My suggestion: Skip the flowers or heart-shaped box of chocolates and aim straight for the heart (the gut).

If you’re going to brave the dining crowds for Valentine’s Day, keep these things in mind.

Make a Reservation

If you’re looking for a romantic, sit-down experience, you’re probably not the only one. And with Valentine’s Day falling on a Friday this year — an already busy day/night for many restaurants — you may have a tough time getting seated if you just show up unannounced. This goes for the day of and likely the entire weekend. If you’ve got big plans in your mind but haven’t acted on them yet, stop reading this right now and call (or go online) and make a reservation. Do it. Now. We’ll wait.

Penyushkin | Dreamstime.com

Plan Ahead

Will your restaurant of choice have a limited or special menu that night? Will there be special pricing? Since you’re already calling to make a reservation (ahem, have you done this yet?), ask some questions and know what you’re getting into.

Prepare for People

Remember that you won’t be alone out there. It’s going to be extra people-y, folks! Many groups and couples will be lining up for a taste of Valentine’s fare. Somewhere in the crowd, you may see a lot of hand-holding, or possibly some more-blatant PDA. If you’re flying solo, know that you might bear witness to a good bit of mushy, romantic verbal or physical proclamations of love — maybe order to-go or delivery if that sort of thing annoys you. If you’re the kissing couple, be mindful of others — we came to eat; we could do without a full-on show. (But we love that you’re in love!)

Be Patient and Polite

In a packed restaurant, things can get a little hectic behind the scenes. Be respectful of the servers who are busting butt to get your extra salad dressing and drink refills as quickly as they can while juggling multiple tables. Understand that the bartender has a dozen drinks to shake and pour before yours. And know that the kitchen staff is all-hands-on-deck churning out plate after plate of food for hungry V-Day diners. This is not the time to be impatient. Enjoy some good conversation with your dinner date between courses, and the night will unfold as it should.

Tip — and Tip Well

This should really go without saying — because DUH! — but absolutely tip your servers well. Over-tip even. The people making this happen for you are missing this time with their own loved ones. You don’t have to cook, and you don’t have to do the dishes. Make sure you show your appreciation for their time, attentiveness, and job well-done in the form of cold, hard cash (or a few extra dollars written in on the “tip” line of your credit card receipt). Show them the money!

If you follow these suggestions (the tip thing is more of a demand, really), you should be all set for a successful Valentine’s dining experience. Happy Day to you and yours and bon appetit!

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We Recommend We Recommend

“Notable Black Memphians” Exhibit at Woodruff-Fontaine House

In 2008, after 10 years of research, Dr. Miriam DeCosta-Willis published her book Notable Black Memphians, a biographical and historical study that documents the accomplishments of more than 200 African Americans born between 1795 and 1972 who were instrumental in paving the way for society and strengthening the Memphis community.

Now, 12 years later, her hard work is being displayed at Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum starting Friday, February 7, until March 15th.

DeCosta-Willis herself has made strides in the civil rights movements, having been the first African-American professor at Memphis State University, participating in the Montgomery Bus Boycotts with her mother, and more.

Miriam DeCosta-Willis

“I have been an activist all my life,” she says. “And I think [my ex-husband Russell Sugarmon and] I have passed the political bug down to two of my children.”

DeCosta-Willis is the mother of four children, two of whom are active in the local political scene: Erika Sugarmon (a candidate in last year’s City Council elections) and Tarik Sugarmon (a judge for Division 2 of the Memphis Municipal Court). One of her other daughters, Elena Williams, is helping her put this exhibit together.

“I raised them to be independent primarily and to seek their own area of community activism,” she says.

DeCosta-Willis credits her lineage for influencing her family’s involvement in the community. Her great-grandfather was born into slavery and was freed in 1865, after which, he was able to turn around and acquire property, put all 12 children through college, and give back to the community.

“I’m proud of my enslaved ancestors,” she says. “And I always talk about my descendents because I’m very proud of them, too.”

Notable Black Memphians, Woodruff-Fontaine House Museum, Friday, February 7th, 5-8 p.m., $20.

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Don’t Just Vote: Lead Others to Do the Same

CREDIT: Tmcphotos | Dreamstime.com

Pulling up to El Gallo Giro on Lamar Avenue, I hurried behind my mom as she grabbed a handful of volantes from the car and walked into the restaurant. She asked the manager if she could pass them around, and a second later she was introducing herself to everyone, one by one, and handing them a flyer.

Some entertained a conversation. Others received a flyer and continued eating, and my mother moved on to the next person. I don’t remember what was on those flyers, probably some kind of community event. But it wasn’t the flyers that left an impression on me. It was watching my mom move through the room and approach each individual with a paper in hand and a smile on her face. I stood a few steps behind her as she made her rounds, watching in amazement. The conversations were brief but personal.

Tmcphotos | Dreamstime.com

Can’t you hear me knocking?

My reaction to this also left an impression on my mom. When she shares this story, she laughs as she recalls, “Me preguntastes, Mamá, ¿cómo hablas con extraños?” How do you speak to complete strangers like that? I was about 7 years old then. I couldn’t recall anything in school that would prepare me to do something like what she had just done. In a society where we’re supposed to watch out for ourselves and our family, Mom was bringing in the community around her. She wasn’t talking at people, she was listening and connecting people to each other.

That was one of my earliest memories of seeing “ground game,” as political campaigns call it, in action.

Last week, I was driving back into the city when I was reminded of this moment. My Spotify-curated playlist “Your Top Songs 2016” played in the car, and I was driving through Jackson when Bambu started rapping about the ground game. Bambu is a father, organizer, and Filipino American hip-hop artist from L.A., and, like my mom, he’s not shying away from having one-on-one conversations with his neighbors. “That’s the beginning of groundwork / Building on that face to face / And not just on that Facebook, organizing on a Twitter page.”

Bambu ain’t wrong.

As technology and social media advance, it’s easy to lean too much into those tools. The primaries are getting here closer and closer (early voting in Tennessee starts on February 12th). We cannot rely on social media to do the work for us. The posts, shares, and retweets may be good at distributing some information, but they’re not enough to activate the change we need.

Campaigns know this, too. Having a strong ground game, having conversations with people directly, is the most effective way to turn out voters, and you can learn a lot about a campaign that is investing in this work.

To some, knocking on doors or making cold calls to voters isn’t the most exciting part of activism. It may even seem daunting. But we have to think of it as a muscle we’re exercising. You’re not going to knock out a marathon tomorrow morning without any training or preparation. You have to practice, run a couple of races; you’ll make mistakes, and you’ll get better. It’s similar to having a conversation with someone in the context of furthering a movement or political campaign forward. You’ll get people who are on board with you and others who will disagree. No one expects you to have all the answers — just to be a part of something larger than yourself.

Social media protects us a bit in this way. We sit comfortably behind our screens, away from confrontation or rejection, but without having real conversations with our friends, family, and neighbors, we’ll continue to be in a cycle of reacting to news, logging off, and not doing anything to change it. Getting active in your community and learning about and supporting other communities can be enjoyable and healing. Don’t just stick around when it’s fun and convenient. Lend a hand because when you need it, your community will be there for you.

We need you now. Our city needs you now. So put on your walking shoes, and let’s talk to our neighbors.

Aylen Mercado is a brown, queer, Latinx chingona and Memphian exploring race and ethnicity in the changing U.S. South.

Categories
News News Blog

Man Who Schemed City Out of $85K Pleads Guilty

The son of a former City of Memphis employee pleaded guilty Monday for scheming a city maintenance program and fraudulently making nearly $100,000 in the process.

Karl “Shun” Blackmon, 46, son of Leon Blackmon Sr., 70, who was formerly in charge of the city’s Housing and Community Development (HCD) maintenance program, pleaded guilty to mail fraud and conspiracy.

The HCD program’s purpose is to maintain vacant city-owned lots and properties. From April 2013 until November 2014, Blackmon recruited at least 13 friends and family members to form lawn care companies to participate in the HCD program, according to information presented in court.

Blackmon and Blackmon Sr. instructed the recruits to apply for business licenses, obtain federal EIN numbers, open post office boxes and business bank accounts, and finally apply to become city vendors.

A list of city-owned properties was given to the recruits and invoices for their work was sent to Blackmon Sr.. Except, at least half of the properties shown on the invoices were fraudulently billed and the work was never done.

City checks were generated and mailed to the recruits who then shared a portion of the money with Blackmon. The scheme costs the city approximately $84,665.

U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant said the fraudulent scheme has “significant financial consequences to the public interests of the city of Memphis and created unfair business advantages for vendors in the HCD maintenance program.

“This office is committed to the protection of the integrity of public services, and schemes to defraud programs or compromise public office will not be tolerated,” Dunavant said. “This case demonstrates our commitment to protect taxpayer resources from such disturbing crimes of dishonesty, and to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse in government programs.”

Blackmon pleaded guilty Monday and now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison followed by three years supervised release. His sentencing hearing is set for May 22, 2020, before U.S. Circuit Judge Sheryl Lipman. Charges against Blackmon Sr. and eight other alleged co-conspirators are still pending.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Morant Saves the Day as Grizzlies Top Wizards 106–99

Ja Morant

Is anyone else sensing a pattern here? It will almost certainly not be the last time we witness Ja Morant put this Grizzlies team on his shoulders, but watching it against the Wizards on Monday reminded me of just how special a player this young man is. Down five heading into the 4th quarter, and by as much as 12 earlier in the match, it seemed as though it was all over but the shouting. Spoiler alert: Reader, it was not. 

It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s SuperJa! 

If you didn’t think some variation of that phrase last night during the 4th quarter of the Grizzlies @ Wizards game, do you even basketball? 

Messed Around and Got a Triple-Double
Morant achieved his first ever NBA triple-double against the Wizards. When the dust had cleared, Morant led all scorers with 27 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists.

The Good
Ja Morant’s 4th quarter heroics combined with some lockdown defense won the game, as Memphis was able to hold Washington to just 14 points on 4-25 shooting in the final frame. 

Brandon Clarke finished the night with 9 points and 6 rebounds, including a clutch 3-point make in the 4th that helped spur the team to victory. 

The Grizzlies came up big in the 4th on both the offensive and defensive glass, with 6 offensive rebounds and 17 defensive rebounds. You did read that correctly, Memphis had 23 boards in just the 4th quarter. Most of those rebounds came courtesy of … you guessed it: Ja Morant.
Overall, the Grizzlies won the rebounding battle with 62 total boards to the Wizards 50. 

The Bad and the Ugly
Once again, outside shooting woes plagued the squad, with just 5-of-32 makes from distance. This is the second game in a row where the Grizzlies have struggled to get outside shots to fall. Free throws were also a struggle as the Grizzlies went 15-of-25 from the charity stripe.

Turnovers remain a problem for Memphis as well, as does preventing their opponent from converting those turnovers into points. Case in point – the Wizards scored 18 points off the Grizzlies 15 turnovers. 

The Grizzlies might have the highest assist percentage in the league, but the Wizards came out ahead with 25 assists on 35 made baskets, while Memphis had just 19 assists on 43 made baskets. 

Jaren Jackson Jr.  and Dillon Brooks both got into foul trouble early. Unfortunately, this is a familiar story from Jackson Jr.  and Brooks this season, and an area I hope we will see some improvement on after the All-Star break. 

 

By The Numbers:

Ja Morant – 27 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists 

Kyle Anderson – 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting, 5 rebounds, 2 assists 

Jaren Jackson Jr. – 14 points, 11 rebounds 

Jonas Valanciunas – 8 points, 18 rebounds, 2 blocks 

Tyus Jones- 13 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists 

 

Who Got Next?
The Grizzlies will return to their home court Wednesday night, as they face off against the Portland Trail Blazers in the last game before the All-Star break. Tip-off is at 7PM CST

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Takashi Bistro Now Open in Midtown

CREDIT: Photo by Youjeen Cho on Unsplash

Photo by Youjeen Cho on Unsplash

Takashi Bistro opened in midtown last week on February 4th.

Takashi Bistro is open for lunch and dinner and serves a mix of Japanese and Thai cuisine, as well as sushi rolls, nigiri, and sashimi from the sushi bar.

The menu includes many popular Japanese and Thai staples such as Pad Thai, teriyaki chicken, edamame, and Tom Yum soup, as well as hibachi meals that come with a choice of soup, salad, and rice. They also offer a lunch special during the day.

Located in the space that was formerly Pei Wei Asian Kitchen, Takashi Bistro features an open kitchen and a full-service bar. They’re also offering delivery via the BiteSquad app.

Takashi Bistro is owned and operated by Tony Leong, Sonny Mei, and Roy Ng, who also own the Southaven restaurant Akita Sushi & Hibachi Steakhouse.

Takashi Bistro is located at 1680 Union, Suite 109.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Chocolatier Phillip Ashley Rix To Appear on Food Network

CREDIT: Phillip Ashley Chocolates / Facebook

Phillip Ashley Chocolates / Facebook

Memphis chocolatier Phillip Ashley Rix of Phillip Ashley Chocolates will appear on the Food Network tonight.

Rix will appear on a new show called Chopped Sweets, which is a dessert-themed spinoff of the show Chopped. This is Rix’s first time competing on a television show, but it’s the third time in the past year that a Memphis chef has appeared on a national cooking show.

Erling Jensen’s chef de cuisine Keith Clinton appeared on Guy’s Grocery Games last year, and Chef Tamra Patterson of Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe appeared on Guy’s Grocery Games for the third time last week on February 5th.

On Monday’s episode of Chopped Sweets, titled “Chocolate Perfection,” Rix will compete with three other chefs to “make every chocolate lover’s dream come true by whipping up decadent, chocolatey creations that are as beautiful as they are craveable.”

The episode will air at 9 p.m. tonight (Monday, February 10th) on Food Network.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday: Louise Page

Music Video Monday is murder.

Today we’ve got a world premiere from the creator of MVM’s Best Video of 2019, Louise Page.

“In my work, I like to explore themes of love, loss, beauty, betrayal, revenge, classical art, and not-so-classical gender roles,” says Page.

“Paw in the Honey,” the latest from her album Silver Daughter is “…about feeling like someone’s affection for you is based purely upon their attraction to you, and the humiliation, frustration, anger, and hurt that comes with that feeling.”

To express her themes visually, Page worked with a female director for the first time. Laura Jean Hocking (who, full disclosure, is your columnist’s wife) was inspired by “…an uncredited 1950s color photo I found a few years ago of Vegas showgirls playing chess in their dressing room. I’ve always been intrigued by the dichotomy between the stage and the dressing room, our public and private faces.”

“Burlesque is all about people reclaiming their body, their nudity, their sexuality, and their power—themes that interlaced perfectly with the content of the song,” says Page. “Women are often reduced to two-dimensional, decorative, sexy objects in film—especially in music videos. Women, both in life and in film, are also often pitted against one another rather than presented as a cohesive team. In this video, we take the trope of the ‘sexy music video woman’ and make her dangerous, unhinged, thirsty for revenge. People are more than two dimensional vehicles for your sexual pleasure, and to treat them as such is incredibly dangerous.”

Music Video Monday: Louise Page

If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com

Categories
From My Seat Sports

Memphis and The NCAA Tourney: Destination Dance?

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

“Right now, it’s tough. But it’s not impossible.” — Penny Hardaway

Go ahead and cry a river for Penny Hardaway and his Memphis Tigers. A Top-10 team the first week in January, the Tigers now find themselves in the home stretch of the 2019-20 season without James Wiseman, without D.J. Jeffries, and without a spot even in the Top 25. They sport a still-solid record (17-6), but are considered a “bubble team,” at best, among prognosticators drawing up brackets for the 68-team NCAA tournament. With four of their next six games on the road (starting Thursday in Cincinnati), the Tigers must run a gauntlet of villains to reach the promised land for the first time since 2014. How do they do it? Here are four factors to watch.

• Find a floor general. Quickly: Who is the Tigers’ point guard? The ambiguity in your answer, I’m convinced, is related to this team ranking dead last among American Athletic Conference teams in turnover margin and next-to-last in assist-to-turnover ratio. The irony is that the team has four players seemingly capable of seizing the ball when a game grows frenzied: Alex Lomax, Damion Baugh, Boogie Ellis, and Tyler Harris. So why so many sloppy turnovers, so many of the unforced variety that make Hardaway cringe like he’s discovered a dog dropping on his welcome mat? (Malcolm Dandridge, let’s agree, should not be handling the ball near midcourt, let alone passing it.) The four potential generals are still learning their games still. (Yes, a college sophomore — like Lomax and Harris — is still a young player.) For this team to reach the Big Dance with any chance of advancing, it must know who will handle the ball in crunch time. Point-guard committees don’t cut down nets.
Larry Kuzniewski

Precious Achiuwa


• Make Precious moments. Lots of them. The damaging loss to USF last Saturday may not have happened had Precious Achiuwa not been sitting on the bench for 12 minutes of the first half, saddled with two fouls. Achiuwa is one of the top two or three freshmen in the country and a finalist for the Julius Erving Award (given to the nation’s top small forward). He’s been a double-double machine this season (12 of them so far) despite not being a volume shooter. (Achiuwa has taken no more than 10 shots in five of the Tigers’ last six games.) Particularly with Jeffries sidelined, the Tiger offense needs to find Achiuwa, if not run through him as the season winds down. He can score in traffic, from mid-range, and even connect from three-point country. Memphis may still be in search of a true point guard, but the team’s star has been here all along. And he needs to learn to play with foul trouble. Don’t let this season end without maximizing Achiuwa’s impact.

• Be angry at tip-off. The Tigers don’t start fast. They really haven’t in two seasons under Hardaway. A lead at the first media timeout (four minutes into a game) is as rare as a Louisville t-shirt at FedExForum. Particularly on the road, this has to change. Temple coach Aaron McKie said last week that his first priority in game-planning for Memphis was to take the crowd out of the game. The Owls indeed scored the game’s first six points and led (8-7) at the first media timeout. They just aren’t built to last with a team as talented as the current Tigers. Hardaway must instill in his team the importance of not climbing Comeback Mountain before halftime. Perhaps this means slowing the pace of play immediately after tip-off. Perhaps it means getting to the foul line. Crowds at Cincinnati, Connecticut, SMU, and Tulane are ready to chew this “overrated” team up if they start slowly.

• Set a Cougar trap. TheTigers’ best chance to regain support for an NCAA tournament berth would be to sweep Houston. Memphis will host the Cougars on February 22nd (one of two home games in the upcoming six-game stretch) then play in Texas in the regular-season finale on March 8th. Houston is the only AAC team currently ranked and just destroyed a team (Wichita State) that has been ranked (and handled Memphis). The Tigers must establish themselves among the top two or three teams in their league. Winning these two cat fights would accomplish that.