Month: December 2020

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Grizzlies 2021 Season Preview

The 2019-2020 season for the Memphis Grizzlies was anything but ordinary. The team started off slow but figured things out and then took the NBA by surprise. Griz guard Ja Morant found his groove and proved he belonged in the league and everyone took notice. The Murray State alum eventually went on to become the NBA Rookie of the Year.

The Grizzlies finished last season 34-39, 9th in Western Conference. Memphis just missed the playoffs, losing to the Portland Trailblazers in an exciting play-in game.

Memphis is still hungry and has the desire to prove doubters wrong in the
upcoming season after being underestimated again. The team will have a mighty hill to climb without the immediate services of budding star Jaren Jackson Jr. (left knee meniscus surgery recovery) and Justice Winslow (left hip displacement).

Prior to Wednesday night’s season opener against the San Antonio Spurs, Aimee Stiegemeyer and Sharon Brown discuss seven key questions for the Grizzlies this season.

This will be Year Two of the rebuild. What are your expectations for the #GrzNxtGen team this season?
Aimee Stiegemeyer: Truth be told, they are already leaps and bounds ahead of what anyone would have expected from a franchise rebuild in year two. I would like to see a continuation on the progress that was built last season, with a focus on defense, and turning that defense into offense on the other end of the floor. Preseason games might not be an accurate metric of overall performance, but it was promising to see the young squad not just force so many turnovers against Minnesota, but scoring off them as well.
Sharon Brown: This team defied predictions and finished well above expectations last season. I expect them to do the same this season. The players seem to have a chip on their shoulders are out to continue to defy the odds and prove the haters wrong. Their season will go as far as Ja Morant can take them in the absence of Jackson Jackson Jr and Winslow.

How would you grade the offseason moves made by the Grizzlies?
AS: I would give them a solid B+. They picked up a good young player in the draft in Desmond Bane. Re-signed De’Anthony Melton to a very reasonable contract. Did not make any ill-advised free agency signings that will hinder the front office’s ability to continue building around the young core of Ja Morant, JJJ, and Brandon Clarke.
SB: The offseason went about as I suspected. The Grizzlies have a certain type of guys who they want on the team with high IQ with no ego who can fit in the locker room. The key was signing De’Anthony Melton to an extension and building upon what they already have. The team is not in a win now mode and that’s a good thing. The offseason grade for me is B that might become an A in the near future.

Which player or players do you think will have a breakout season? Larry Kuzniewski

Kyle Anderson defends against the Spurs, Wednesday night.


AS: Kyle Anderson. Anderson seems to be fully healed from the procedure he had on his shoulder, and it has shown in his performance in the first few preseason games. With Jaren Jackson Jr. and Justise Winslow both out for the foreseeable future, I see Anderson playing a bigger role with the starting unit.
SB: Dillon Brooks, only if he is consistent and become a better decision-maker on both ends of the court. Offensively, he needs to become a better facilitator and playmaker. He has to know when to pass the ball and get his teammates involved. Often, he has tunnel vision on the offensive end and can’t see when his teammates are open. Also he has to defend without fouling, Brooks led the NBA in personal fouls last season.
However, he has been working on his entire game during the offseason. In the four preseason games, Brooks was second in assists (14) behind Morant. It will be huge if that continues when games really matter. Big man, Jonas Valanciunas took joy in seeing Brooks pass the rock more. When asked about the teams 33 assists against the Atlanta Hawks in the final preseason games, JV said, “It’s fun to play that way. Sharing the ball is the key for us  —  even Dillon Brooks is passing the ball. That’s crazy.” It speaks volumes when his teammates notice he is sharing the ball more.

In the absence of Jaren Jackson, Jr. for the foreseeable future, will Jonas Valanciunas have a key role in the offense as he’s paired with Ja Morant?
AS: I think that for the Grizzlies to build on the successes they had last season, Valanciunas will have to become more of an offensive contributor. He will almost certainly need to take on a larger role this year and I believe he is up to the challenge.
SB: Yes, Morant and JV will have to be the 1-2 punch in the absence of Jackson Jr. They have a great connection with the pick-and-roll and that’s a major part of the reason the Grizzlies led the league in paint points (55.9 per game) last season. The offense shouldn’t settle for threes and go inside more when shots aren’t falling. JV also has been passing the ball more and having good assist numbers, so that will help on offense as well. Maybe JV can throw some lobs to Morant this season. 

Jonas Valanciunas


How well will Memphis fare in the loaded Western Conference?
AS: This is another time when I am hesitant to speculate, but provided Jaren Jackson Jr. returns to his pre-injury form and the Grizzlies can avoid any major injuries — I don’t think a 7th or 8th seed is out of the realm of possibility. A healthy Grizzlies team can absolutely build on the success they had last season.
SB: My prediction is finishing between the 7 and 12 spot in the standings. The West is so unpredictable because of so many good teams. Hopefully, Jackson Jr. and Winslow are the pieces the Grizzlies are missing to go to the next level. The players have something to prove again, despite performing above expectations last season. They will continue to grow and continue to show they can compete with the best in the league.

It’s year two for the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, Ja Morant, what areas of improvement do you think he should work on?
AS: Safe landings after dunking! Morant has such tremendous athleticism and court vision, and he plays with a level of physicality that rivals players who have many more years of experience in the league. His fearlessness is certainly a positive thing but I have been uncomfortable at times watching him land in ways that could contribute to serious injury.
SB: Morant needs to be a better defender; he had a tough time guarding CJ McCullom down the stretch in the play-in game against Portland last season. During a recent Zoom conference, Morant said one of his goals this year is to be a better defender. He wants to be a two-guard like Brooks and De’Anthony Melton. Morant has to be a better pick-and-roll defender or teams will exploit him every time. He also should work on his three point shot. During his rookie campaign he shot 48 percent from the field but managed only 33.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Also I wish for him to be a little more selfish, but I know that’s not him. His focus is to make his teammates better but there are times when he shouldn’t defer. Last season, as Morant was the seventh-best scorer in the league in the final period. He averaged 54.9 percent from the field! If he could turn it on earlier in games, it would be beneficial.

What are your expectations for Desmond Bane in his rookie season?
AS: He’s clearly got a very high basketball IQ, which I think will help his transition from collegiate play to the NBA. Based on his college career, he can play well both on and off ball, and his defensive skills will be a great addition. Bane might not be in the Rookie of the Year race, as Morant was last season, but I feel like he has the potential to be another great steal from the draft, much like Brandon Clarke has been.
SB: The TCU standout plays well on both ends of the floor. He fits the mold of the Grizzlies by being a high IQ player who plays hard and can knock down the three-ball at a high level. He shot 44.2 percent from three as a senior at TCU while averaging 16.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 2.9 3-pointers per game on 45.2 percent shooting.
In the Grizzlies preseason games, Bane scored in double figures in three-out-of-four games. He should continue to become comfortable in his shot and learn from the veterans. I expect him to be go-to player on the bench and develop a good chemistry with Tyus Jones, Melton, and Brandon Clarke. He should fit right in with one of the best benches in the league.

Categories
News News Blog

Marilyn Belz Dies

CREDIT: belz.com

Noted philanthropist Marilyn Belz, 91, who, along with her husband of 72 years, Jack Belz, created an indelible legacy of giving in the arts, education, civic endeavors, and their Jewish faith, died Tuesday from complications of COVID-19.  belz.com

Marilyn and Jack Belz

A life-long Memphian, Mrs. Belz (nee Hanover) attended Idlewild Elementary, Fairview Junior High, and Central High School, as well as Ward-Belmont College and Memphis State. She and Jack Belz were married in 1948 at the Peabody Hotel, long before the Belzes bought and reinvented the legendary hotel in the 1970s, in what was arguably the single most important factor in the revitalization of Downtown Memphis.

There are few cultural institutions in Memphis that have not received generous gifts from the Belz family through the years. The couple founded the Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art in Downtown Memphis, which features a remarkable collection of jade and stone sculpture and other artworks, as well an exhibit on the Holocaust. The Belzes also gave generously to many Jewish institutions in the United States and in Israel, including the Memphis Jewish Home & Rehab Center and Yeshiva University in New York City, now home to the Belz School of Jewish Music.
 

In a statement released by the Belz family Wednesday, Marilyn Belz was cited for her “beauty, kindness, and graciousness. She sparkled at every event or occasion she and her husband Jack attended. … She was a joy to meet and an instantaneous maker of life-long friends. Everyone adored her.”

Congressman Steve Cohen said, “She did so much for Memphis in the arts and for charities, but she’ll be remembered best as a great mother, a great wife, and a sweet person. They were a great team. She and Jack had a wonderful marriage.”

Marilyn Belz is survived by her husband, Jack Belz; children Marty (Julie) Belz, Gary (Shelly) Belz, Ron (Anise) Belz, and Jan (Andy) Groveman; 13 grandchildren and their spouses; and 12 great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by a daughter, Lynn Belz.

Jack Belz is a long-standing board member of Contemporary-Media Inc., the parent company of the Memphis Flyer. 

Categories
News News Blog

Airport Officials Expect Half Normal Holiday Season Travel

CREDIT: Memphis International Airport

Memphis International Airport

Memphis International Airport (MEM) officials expect passenger volume to be down by 50 percent this holiday travel season but issued travel tips for those choosing to fly.

Passenger counts were cut in half for the Thanksgiving travel season, MEM officials reported recently. December holiday travel at the airport ”is not expected to exceed” that amount, they said.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said the holiday travel season this year will be from Wednesday, December 23rd, through Monday, January 4th. Based on available airline seats for that period, as many as 40,000 passengers and employees could pass through the TSA checkpoint during the 11-day travel period. The peak days are expected to be Wednesday, December 23rd; Sunday, December 27th; and Monday, January 4th.

MEM issued these tips for those traveling this holiday season:

• MEM recommends that travelers arrive at the airport at least 90 minutes before their departure time.

• Passengers should check with their airlines to monitor schedules.

• Each airline has different policies and fees for baggage.

• Airlines rather than the airport are responsible for all aspects of ticketing, scheduling, gate operations, and baggage handling. Check with your airline if you have questions about any of these aspects of air travel.

• Each airline maintains its own COVID-19 policies and procedures.

• Airlines require passengers to wear masks/facial coverings when boarding and throughout the duration of the flight.

• Additional information about the effects of COVID on airport and airline operations can be found at flymemphis.com/covid-19.

TSA

• TSA has implemented new procedures to increase social distancing, reduce contact between employees and passengers, and increase cleaning and sanitation at the checkpoint. More information: tsa.gov/coronavirus.

• All screening continues to be performed at the B Checkpoint. The C Checkpoint is currently closed.

• As a temporary exemption from its “3-1-1” rule (no liquids in excess of 3.4 oz. in carry-on bags), TSA is allowing one oversized liquid hand sanitizer container, up to 12 ounces per passenger, in carry-on bags.

• In order to expedite security screening time, passengers should review the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA’s) list of prohibited items.

• Firearms in carry-on bags are prohibited by federal law. Check your bags before you arrive at the airport.

• Food items should be removed from carry-on bags and placed in bins for screening. (Does not apply to TSA PreCheck members.)

At MEM

• Masks are now required in public buildings per the city of Memphis face covering ordinance.

• Complimentary masks are available at the ticketing counters and the TSA checkpoint, and additional masks are available for sale at retail shops.

• Ride-sharing companies Uber and Lyft now require both drivers and passengers to wear face masks during trips. More information can be found at Uber or Lyft.

• Floor markings are in place which illustrate the recommended 6-feet distancing between passengers.

• Businesses and airlines have installed Plexiglass at counters as an extra measure of protection.

• MEM and its partners continue to maintain enhanced cleaning and sanitation of high contact areas, including the gate areas and the security checkpoint.

• Sanitizer dispensers can be found throughout the terminal and in both the A and C concourses.

• Torn Basil has reopened near gate A27. The restaurant will initially operate Thursday-Monday, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hours may vary based on traffic.

• Due to the significant decrease in passenger traffic, HMS Host (food/beverage) and Paradies (retail stores) have reduced hours and closed some locations. Updates are listed at flymemphis.com/covid-19.

• The Delta Air Lines SkyClub remains temporarily closed.

Categories
News News Blog

Museums’ COVID Closings Extend Into January

CREDIT: Jon W. Sparks

Jon W. Sparks

Spring, Summer, Fall at the Brooks Museum by Wheeler Williams

Most museums are temporarily closing their doors due to recent COVID restrictions. This list will be updated as needed.

  • Memphis Brooks Museum of Art will remain closed until Wednesday, January 6th. This includes all public programming.
  • The National Civil Rights Museum is temporarily closed until further notice.
  • The Pink Palace Museum closes December 24th at 2 p.m. through January 23rd.
  • The Metal Museum buildings and grounds will remain closed through the New Year and will reopen to the public on Friday, January 8th.
  • Stax Museum will be closed from December 24th through January 4th.
  • The Dixon Gallery and Gardens will continue to be open except for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. It has a strict capacity limit and requires guests to wear masks and social distance during their visit.
Categories
News News Blog

Memphis Restaurant Association Releases Statement on New Health Directive

CREDIT: Memphis Restaurant Association

Memphis Restaurant Association

The Memphis Restaurant Association has issued a statement in response to the new health directive announced on Monday.

Restaurants are, in fact, among the safest places to be due to social distancing, mask requirements, and numerous other regulations ensuring the safety of our staff and guests. Local, state, and national data (see links below) bear out the truth that restaurants are not a significant source of transmission, yet our local officials continue to unreasonably single out the restaurant industry. We are disappointed with the Health Department’s decisions and continued lack of communication and are asking for the support of our membership, employees, and community by contacting community leaders to push back against this injustice. Shutting restaurants down drives the public to higher-risk, unregulated, private gatherings.

The statement ended with the tag #SafePlacesSaveLives and provided a myriad of links to back up their claims. Among the links were a Tennessee government link showing fatality rates in the state, a Democrat & Chronicle story from New York that looks at contact tracing data, a story from News 4 Nashville covering a statement from the Nashville Mayor, and a news story from Los Angeles covering the spread of COVID in restaurants.

Under Health Directive 16, restaurants are encouraged to close or operate at 25 percent capacity from the 26th of December to the 22nd of January.

Categories
News News Blog

New Virus Cases Rise by 449

COVID-19 Memphis
Infogram

New Virus Cases Rise by 449

New virus case numbers rose by 445 over the last 24 hours. The new cases put the total of all positive cases in Shelby County since March at 62,783.

Total current active cases of the virus — the number of people known to have COVID-19 in the county — fell slightly to 6,632. The figure had been as low as 1,299 in September and rose above 2,000 only in October. The new active case count represents 10.6 percent of all cases of the virus reported here since March.

The Shelby County Health Department reported 3,589 tests have been given here in the last 24 hours. Total tests given here since March now total 793,077. This figure includes multiple tests given to some people.

As of Tuesday morning, acute care beds were 91 percent full in area hospitals with 199 beds available. Of the 2,131 patients in acute care beds now, 411 of them were COVID-19 positive. Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds were 95 percent full with 23 beds available. Of the 420 patients in ICU beds now, 162 were COVID-positive.

The latest weekly positivity rate rose slightly. The average positive of test results for the week of December 6th was 12.4 percent, down from the 12.1 percent rate recorded for the week of November 29th.

Five new deaths were recorded since Tuesday morning and the number now stands at 826. The average age of those who have died in Shelby County is 74, according to the health department. The age of the youngest COVID-19 death was 13. The oldest person to die from the virus was 101. 

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Life at a Distance

“The sounds of music and the smell of barbecue will again rise from Tom Lee Park in May 2020 …”

“The biggest film weekend of the year looks to be the titanic matchup on December 18th, when Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction epic Dune, Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story, and Memphis’ own Craig Brewer directing Eddie Murphy in Coming 2 America battle for box office supremacy. See you at the movies!”

“Memphis foodies have a lot to look forward to in the year ahead, including more French food, riverfront views, and even a brand-new brewery.” 

“… And there’s Bar DKDC, Lafayette’s Music Room, Wild Bill’s, B-Side, Hi Tone, Minglewood Hall, Murphy’s, Lamplighter, Blue Monkey, and many others, including the ever-reliable Beale Street. Get out there and keep live music alive!”

The preceding sentences were written by Flyer staffers in late December 2019, as they attempted to foretell what the forthcoming new year would bring. It was for a cover story called “2020 Vision,” though in hindsight it should have been called, “2020: ARGGGHHH MAKE IT STOP!!!”

We’d just had a great company holiday party, and things were looking pretty good for the Flyer. Ad sales were up. Our editorial staff was hitting on all cylinders. We had a snazzy Downtown office in the Cotton Exchange Building. Life was good.

If you’d told us a year ago that we’d be vacating our office in mid-March and not seeing each other in person again for months, we’d have thought you were nuts. How could we possibly do our jobs without an office? In my March column announcing the “temporary” shutdown of our office, I wrote: “I don’t know when we’ll all see each other in one place again. Weeks from now, I suppose.”

Or maybe a year from now? Who could have imagined? Not me, obviously.

It’s been nine months and counting so far, and it turns out we can put out a paper without an office. It’s not as much fun, but we’ve learned to work remotely via Zoom and Slack — two words that meant entirely different things to all of us a year ago. When we do go back to an office, it may be smaller. We’ve learned some things.

And 2020 was going to be a year of change for me, personally, as well. In the third week of January last year, I announced that, after 20 years of doing the gig, I would be retiring as editor of the Flyer. I was going to continue to write my weekly column, maybe take on some Memphis magazine work, pick back up on that novel I’d been fooling with, and get my wading boots wet more often. I was going to leave the editing and scheduling and hiring and firing to a new person, while I was still younger than the presidential candidates.

Oops. Turns out you really can’t change leadership in the middle of an existential crisis. You can’t bring in a new editor when they can’t even meet with their staff. You can’t make a pivotal hire when everything, including the future of the paper, is in doubt. So here I am. And glad about it. We’ll try again this year when it seems feasible.

So much about everyday life has changed in the past 12 months. Imagine how shocking it would have been to walk into Kroger a year ago and see everyone wearing a mask. Or imagine being told a year ago that you wouldn’t be able to go hang out at your favorite bar, or gather with your extended family for holidays. Imagine being told that in the year ahead the country would become so divided that even medical advice would become politicized, that the very reality of a death-dealing pandemic would be questioned and called a hoax. And imagine being told that some of those same questioners would rush to be first in line to get a precious vaccination on the pretense that they were doing so to convince others it was safe.

“I’ll use this last parachute just to show you it works.” Yeah.

But, politicized or not, the vaccine does offer the first real hope that this nightmare will end, that a year from now we’ll be back to some semblance of normal. I’m tired of social distancing. I’m tired of not seeing smiles. I miss my family and friends. I miss live music, live theater, going to the movies. And yes, I miss bars and restaurants. I know this: When I get that vaccination, I’m going to hit the back bar at my favorite Midtown bistro and order the best steak and best bottle of wine they’ve got. And then maybe do it again.

This is our last issue of 2020. Thank you for all your support of the Flyer during this difficult time. We made it, and we’ll see you next year. And may it be a better one this time around.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

2020 on Screen: The Best and Worst of Film and TV

There’s no denying that 2020 was an unprecedented year, so I’m doing something unprecedented: combining film and TV into one year-end list.

Steve Carrell sucking up oxygen in Space Force.

Worst TV: Space Force

Satirizing Donald Trump’s useless new branch of the military probably seemed like a good idea at the time. But Space Force is an aggressively unfunny boondoggle that normalizes the neo-fascism that almost swallowed America in 2020.

John David Washington (center) and Robert Pattinson (right) are impeccably dressed secret time agents in Tenet.

Worst Picture: Tenet

Christopher Nolan’s latest gizmo flick was supposed to save theaters from the pandemic. Instead, it was an incoherent, boring, self-important mess. You’d think $200 million would buy a sound mix with discernible dialogue. I get angry every time I think about this movie.

We Can’t Wait

Best Memphis Film: We Can’t Wait

Lauren Ready’s Indie Memphis winner is a fly-on-the-wall view of Tami Sawyer’s 2019 mayoral campaign. Unflinching and honest, it’s an instant Bluff City classic.

Grogu, aka The Child, aka Baby Yoda

Best Performance by a Nonhuman: Grogu, The Mandalorian

In this hotly contested category, Baby Yoda barely squeaks out a win over Buck from Call of the Wild. Season 2 of the Star Wars series transforms The Child by calling his presumed innocence into question, transforming the story into a battle for his soul.

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton

Most Inspiring: Hamilton

The year’s emotional turning point was the Independence Day Disney+ debut of the Broadway mega-hit. Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hip-hop retelling of America’s founding drama called forth the better angels of our nature.

Film About a Father Who

Best Documentary: Film About a Father Who

More than 35 years in the making, Lynne Sachs’ portrait of her mercurial father, legendary Memphis bon vivant Ira Sachs Sr., is as raw and confessional as its subject is inscrutable. Rarely has a filmmaker opened such a deep vein and let the truth bleed out.

Cristin Milioti in Palm Springs

Best Comedy: Palm Springs

Andy Samberg is stuck in a time loop he doesn’t want to break until he accidentally pulls Cristin Milioti in with him. It’s the best twist yet on the classic Groundhog Day formula, in no small part because of Milioti’s breakthrough performance. It perfectly captured the languid sameness of the COVID summer.

Soul

Best Animation: Soul

Pixar’s Pete Docter, co-directing with One Night in Miami writer Kemp Powers, creates another little slice of perfection. Shot through with a love of jazz, this lusciously animated take on A Matter of Life and Death stars Jamie Foxx as a middle school music teacher who gets his long-awaited big break, only to die on his way to the gig. Tina Fey is the disembodied soul who helps him appreciate that no life devoted to art is wasted.

Jessie Buckley

Best Performance: Jessie Buckley, I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Buckley is the acting discovery of the year. She’s perfect in Fargo as Nurse Mayflower, who hides her homicidal mania under a layer of Midwestern nice. But her performance in Charlie Kaufman’s mind-bending psychological horror is a next-level achievement. She conveys Lucy’s (or maybe it’s Louisa, or possibly Lucia) fluid identity with subtle changes of postures and flashes of her crooked smile.

Isiah Whitlock Jr., Norm Lewis, Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, and Jonathan Majors in Da 5 Bloods.

MVP: Spike Lee

Lee dropped not one but two masterpieces this year. Treasure of the Sierra Madre in the jungle, the kaleidoscopic Vietnam War drama Da 5 Bloods reckons with the legacy of American imperialism with an all-time great performance by Delroy Lindo as a Black veteran undone by trauma, greed, and envy. American Utopia is the polar opposite; a joyful concert film made in collaboration with David Byrne that rocks the body while pointing the way to a better future. In 2020, Lee made a convincing case that he is the greatest living American filmmaker.

Rhea Seehorn and Bob Odenkirk in Better Call Saul

Best TV: Better Call Saul

How could Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould’s prequel to the epochal Breaking Bad keep getting better in its fifth season? The writing is as sharp as ever, and Bob Odenkirk’s descent from the goofy screwup Jimmy McGill to amoral drug cartel lawyer Saul Goodman is every bit the equal of Bryan Cranston’s transformation from Walter White to Heisenberg. This was the season that Rhea Seehorn came into her own as Kim Wexler. Saul’s superlawyer wife revealed herself as his equal in cunning. If she can figure out what she wants in life, she will be the most dangerous character in a story filled with drug lords, assassins, and predatory bankers.

Michael Stuhlbarg and Elisabeth Moss in Shirley.

Best Picture: Shirley

Elisabeth Moss is brilliant as writer Shirley Jackson in Josephine Decker’s experimental biographical drama. Michael Stuhlbarg co-stars as her lit professor husband, Stanley Edgar Hyman, who is at once her biggest fan and bitterest enemy. Into this toxic stew of a relationship is dropped Rose (Odessa Young), the pregnant young wife of Hyman’s colleague Fred (Logan Lerman), who becomes Shirley’s muse/punching bag. If Soul is about art’s life-giving power, Shirley is about art’s destructive dark side. Shirley is too flinty and idiosyncratic to get mainstream recognition, but it’s a stunning, unique vision straight from the American underground.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

She Devil! How to Drink Your Way Through the Family Zoom

CREDIT: Meddlesome Brewing Company

Ah, you mighty Nimrod you! You made an ass out of yourself on the family holiday Zoom call, didn’t you? I get it, the digital age is no excuse for being any less annoying to your relatives than when you’re in the flesh. Or perhaps you are brave enough to ford the in-person get-together — if so, arm yourself with Meddlesome Brewing’s spanking yet dangerous She Devil Belgian Golden Strong. You picked it because the name reminds you of your Aunt Pidge, and as it is a hefty 8 percent ABV, it’s medicinal. It doesn’t taste too “big” and is very good. A little too refreshing, because suddenly you might go off on an unholy mission to turn the ordeal into a sort of Festivus “airing of grievances.”

I hope that you pour your She Devil into a glass: It tastes better than way, and with a name that clever, there is no way you wouldn’t use it on Aunt Pidge when you let fly. The possible overstep is understandable; these people have been mercifully free of your company for the better part of a year, so you have a lot of aggravation to dispense. Besides, Zoom holidays are a new medium: Any actor worth their salt will tell you that acting for stage and the camera are two entirely different art forms. So what if you play the part a little large? It happens.

Meddlesome Brewing Company

Meddlesome’s She Devil

Assuming that you don’t actually hate your family and they in turn still harbor some affection for you, despite that unique stamp you put on things, you might find that an apology is in order later. If this becomes the case, let me suggest a beer that just gives you some holiday feelz (note the z) that you might actually rememberz later. Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Brown Ale comes in at a more neighborly 4.5 percent ABV, which will help you manage your Ps & Qs just enough to calm your nerves, while explaining your appalling behavior to your horrified grandmother or impressionable nieces and nephews.

As far as I know, it’s the only beer that uses whole roasted pecans in the brewing process — so it’s a unique brew, literally. Located down in Kiln, Mississippi, it takes locally sourced to a new level and gives the beer a nutty and deep flavor. And, just like that cousin home from college who wants everyone to know that he’s far too cool for family but won’t log off, it is lightly hopped, so a lot of that caramel comes through. It also sets the sort of holiday tone in a situation where a pecan pie isn’t forthcoming. Not after what you said about it.

While it is very interesting, Southern Pecan isn’t likely to ever be one of my go-tos. That sweetness does lend it to pairing well with savory foods, though. A friend of mine told me it goes well with Thai food. So maybe if Aunt Pidge’s dried-out turkey isn’t on the table, call up Bhan Thai and give it a whirl.

These two beers are polar opposites, but either is a tasty choice. The difference between the two goes beyond the flavor to a matter of utility: Ones tastes like pecan pie served at gatherings of people who haven’t raised self-medication to a performance art. She Devil, on the other hand, is a spanking beer for a holiday to remember (except by you). If nothing else, it’s an example of honest marketing.

My advice for next year is to pump the brakes. Get just zippy enough to annoy, but not enough to get disowned. The vaccine is here, my friend, so next December you may have to sit next to these people armed only with the good silver.

Categories
News News Feature

2021 Forecast: Prepare for Post-War Prosperity

Authors of history, sociology, political science, and economics books will feast on the impacts and unintended consequences of the 2020 COVID pandemic for years. Rarely in world history has an event created this much structural change.

At home, kitchens have become DoorDash staging areas. Corporate offices have become home offices. Front porches have become shopping carts. At work, headquarters have gone remote. We measure commuting in steps not stoplights. Virtual has become vital for all businesses. In government, central banks have pledged to create inflation rather than fight it. Federal legislators have abandoned deficit spending constraints. Recessions have been outlawed. COVID swept through our public and private institutions with hurricane-force winds, bringing chaos and destruction. Fortunately, in a system as dynamic and resilient as the U.S. economy, chaotic destruction becomes creative reconstruction.

David S. Waddell

World War II ended in 1945, after claiming more than 400,000 American lives. During that period, the sluggish post-depression U.S. economy reoriented population and manufacturing to the coasts to support the war effort. Productivity surged. Fiscal policy became ultra-expansionary as deficits vaulted from 4 percent of GDP in 1941 to 27 percent by 1943. Monetary policy also became ultra-expansionary, as M2 money supply grew almost 25 percent. For the period, U.S. industrial production doubled, U.S. corporate profits doubled, and wages rose 50 percent.

This occurred despite rationing restrictions. Consumer savings rates hit 21 percent, as fear and restrictions stockpiled consumer demand. Once the fighting stopped, spending levels surged. Factories retooled from ammunition to appliances and from tanks to automobiles. Economic productivity in the United States entered a golden age. Between 1940 and 1960, the U.S. economy grew from $1.2 trillion to $3.2 trillion for an annualized growth rate of 5 percent.

COVID will likely end in 2021, after claiming over 400,000 American lives. Just as the industrial response to WWII led to population migrations to the coasts, the technological response to COVID has led to population migrations away from urban centers. Technology utilization rates have soared as e-commerce and Zoom have replaced superstores and business commutes. Fiscal stimulus has inflated the U.S. deficit from 4.5 percent to 18 percent in 2020, while total M2 money supply has ballooned by 26 percent.

Personal incomes for all Americans have risen 8 percent this year despite high unemployment rates. Household net worth has risen 5 percent this year, so far, to an all-time high. Just as fear and rationing encouraged higher savings rates in WWII, shutdowns and lockdowns today have led to personal savings rates near 14 percent. Even still, total retail sales hit record highs in June. With vaccines in distribution, economists predict GDP growth of 4.5 to 5 percent for 2021, which is more than double our pre-COVID run rate. Recent productivity measures suggest GDP could remain above trend for years.

Bottom line: In 2020, the U.S. went to war with COVID-19. Not since WWII has the nation fully engaged systematically in the defeat of a foreign adversary. The mobilization of the industrial economy then resembles the mobilization of the technological economy now. Population migration to the coasts to work at factories then resembles population migration away from the urban centers to work on laptops now. Historic growth in the money supply and deficit spending then resemble historic growth in the money supply and deficit spending now. After WWII, many economists forecasted a post-war hangover and a slowdown in U.S. productivity. The opposite occurred. The end of WWII ushered in a prolonged period of productivity growth and well-above-trend economic growth. Textbooks refer to the period from 1940 to 1960 as our economic Golden Age. As we look ahead to the end of the war on COVID, history may not repeat, but we expect it to rhyme.

David S. Waddell is CEO and Chief Investment Strategist at Waddell & Associates. Sources: St. Louis Fed Database, Bureau of Economic Analysis.