Month: October 2023

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We Recommend We Recommend

On the Fly: 10/27-11/2

Memphis Botanic Garden’s Halloween Hike offers family-friendly, not-so-spooky fun this Saturday. (Photo: Courtesy Memphis Botanic Garden)

📽️ Indie Memphis Film Festival
Various locations
Through Sunday, October 29
The festival showcases a range of independent features, documentaries, and short films from all corners of the world — including right here in the 901. See the full schedule of screenings here, where you can also find a range of ticket/pass options available for your screening desires. Be in the know before with the Flyer’s Indie Memphis coverage, including Chris McCoy’s cover story from last week and our film blog. 

📚 Friends of the Memphis Library Fall Book Sale
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
Friday-Sunday, October 27-29
Booooooooks … and CDs, vinyl records, DVDs, and more will be for sale at bargain prices. The sale opens to the public on Friday, October 27th, at 10 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m. Saturday, October 28th, hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, hours are 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 

🎶 A Celebration of the Mad Lads and the Invaders
Stax Museum of American Soul Music
Friday, October 27, 6 p.m.
Prepare for an unforgettable evening at the Stax Museum, celebrating the musical prowess of both The Mad Lads and The Invaders. The night unfolds with a dynamic live performance, an engaging panel discussion, and a captivating new Invaders exhibit. Doors open at 6 p.m., allowing you to explore the new exhibition before the main event at 7 p.m. Learn more before you go with Alex Greene’s piece from this week.

🎃 Family-Friendly Halloweekend
If you’re looking for a more family-friendly Halloweekend because you’re a parent, a grandparent, an actual child (which, like, hi! but also hi?), I’ve scrambled up a few events you might be interested in: 

  • Zoo Boo has taken over the Memphis Zoo for yet another year. It’s a Halloween bash you truly don’t want to miss, so just boo it. Tickets are $18/nonmembers.
    Memphis Zoo, select nights through October 31, 6-9:30 p.m.
  • Halloween Spooktacular brings all the not-so-spooky fun. It’s all treats and no tricks. The entire family can enjoy a mini clay pumpkin sculpting station, Halloween crafts, temporary tattoos, face-painting, carousel rides, candy, music, and a scavenger hunt. Cost is included in museum admission ($20/nonmembers).
    Children’s Museum of Memphis, Saturday, October 28, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
  • The Fire Museum of Memphis is putting on Halloween Scavenger Haunt, where kids can try their luck at finding scary objects hidden around the museum, with a sweet treat at the end.
    Fire Museum of Memphis, Saturday, October 28, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
  • Novel hosts a Trick-or-Treat Story Time with books about Halloween. Wear a costume, enjoy a not-so-spooky story, and take home a special Halloween treat. Recommended for children up to 5 years.
    Novel, Saturday, October 28, 10:30 a.m.
  • Memphis Botanic Garden’s Halloween Hike features friendly Halloween characters, music to boogie-man down to, and some hair-raising fun. The day is a safe alternative to traditional door-to-door trick or treating with stops for treats, hands-on activities, learning opportunities, and more. Tickets are $15/nonmembers.
    Memphis Botanic Garden, Saturday, October 28, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
  • Honor your ancestors and celebrate the cycle of life and death at Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group and the Brooks’ Día de los Muertos Festival & Parade. The parade kicks off at Overton Square at 11 a.m. and concludes at the Brooks’ plaza, where the festival will commence. Attendees can expect art-making, dance performances, and more. Admission is free.
    Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Saturday, October 28, 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

🎻 Woe Is Me: A Tour of Tragic Tales
Elmwood Cemetery
Saturday, October 28, 10:30 a.m.-noon
Life is hard. Woe are we who have to live it. Woe, especially, are those whose deaths are, er, untimely. There are quite a few of them who are at rest at Elmwood Cemetery, and you can learn more about them at Elmwood’s tour this weekend. You’ll hear of a man killed in a laboratory explosion due to the carelessness of others, an Elmwood resident who fell off a mountain, and many more. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here. You can also attend Elmwood’s lecture on Ghosts, Spiritualism, and Cemeteries on Sunday; learn more about it here.

🧙 Women and Witches in Beer Halloween Candy and Beer Pairing
Wiseacre Brewery
Saturday, October 28, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Did you know that the original beer brewers were women? Did you know that for the vast majority of history, women ran the beer world? Did you know that Halloween candy and beer are actually a delicious combo? Well, Wiseacre has the class for you! Get ready to learn about beer history, women in beer, and where witches come in to play. Classes, which are offered at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., will include a special Halloween candy and beer pairing. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased here. You must be 21+. 

🕸️ Halloween Bar Crawl 
Atomic Rose
Saturday, October 28, 4 p.m.-10 p.m.
Creepy crawlers on Halloween? No thanks. A creepy Exorcist-style crawl down the stairs? Hell no. A bar crawl? Now that’s more like it. The Halloween Bar Crawl returns, kicking off at Atomic Rose, making its way to Blues Hall, Coyote Ugly, Havana Mix, Kings Palace Cafe’s Tap Room, the Absinthe Room, Tin Roof, and Jade’s Sports Bar. Tickets ($20) include exclusive drink specials, food specials, waived covers, professional photographers, after-party at the Absinthe Room, and more. 

🩸 Masters of Mayhem Evening Cabaret
High Expectations Aerial Arts
Saturday, October 28, 8:30-9 p.m.
Villains — you either love them or you hate them. Morally speaking, you probably shouldn’t be their biggest fans, but if they can put on a good show, who can blame you? And, let me tell you, they’re going to put on a good show this weekend at High Expectations Aerial Arts this weekend. Yes, that’s word for word what I wrote earlier this week in my article about the upcoming cabaret show, but the truth doesn’t change. Tickets for the show are $25 in advance and $30 at the door.

😱 Time Warp Drive-In: Shocktober 10 – Legends of Horror
Malco Summer 4 Drive-In
Saturday, October 28, 7 p.m.
Prepare yourself for Shocktober as Time Warp bows down and pays tribute to the landmarks of fright films: Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Gates open at 6:30 p.m., first film at 7 p.m. It’s $25 a car, for as many people as your car, truck, or van can hold.

🎭 23rd Annual Black Lodge Halloween Masquerade Ball
Black Lodge
Saturday, October 28, 7 p.m.-3 a.m.
Black Lodge invites you to a night of music and mischief, of costumes and chaos, unleashing a devilish mix of dancing, drinks, and debauchery. Performing live are Jack Oblivion, The Sheiks, Turnstyles, Optic Sink, Joybomb, and Little Baby Tendencies. After midnight, dance all night to music by DJs Selector Jack and Graveyard Gloria. There will be hoop and flow dancers, fire performers, and sideshow performances. Tix are $20 in advance, $25 night of. The party is 18+. Find out more in this week’s cover story.

🧛 Black October
Orange Mound Tower
Saturday, October 28, 9 p.m.-2 a.m.
TONE invites all to kick it at the Orange Mound Tower, so come dressed to impress the creatures of the night. This year’s theme is Vampires in Memphis. Tickets are $15 with costume and $20 without costume. So don’t be a party-pooper. 

🪲 Beetlejuice
Orpheum Theatre
Tuesday-Sunday, October 31-November 5
Beetlejuice … Beetlejuice … Beetlejuice … Welp, sorry, folks, I’ve done it now. I’ve summoned the ghost with the most all the way to Memphis, and he’s coming to the Orpheum’s stage. For a full schedule of Beetlejuice performances, check here. Tickets are $45 to $150.

There’s always something happening in Memphis. See a full calendar of events here.

Submit events here or by emailing calendar@memphisflyer.com.

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

Elmwood Cemetery Breaks Silence on the Paranormal … Sorta

(Photo: Abigail Morici)

Memphis is host to many a haunting — the Orpheum Theatre, the Woodruff-Fontaine House, Earnestine & Hazels, maybe even the very house you live in. But one place which makes no claim of a haunting is Elmwood Cemetery.

Sure, it’s been around since 1852 and is home to over 75,000 of the, er, formerly living, but Elmwood’s executive director Kim Beaden hasn’t seen a ghost in her 25 years working at the cemetery, nor has she heard of such a sighting. That’s not to say ghosts don’t exist — or that they do. Bearden, when asked whether they exist, circumvents the questions. Good on her. 

But she will be presenting a lecture on the historical side of ghost stories. (Also good on her.) “The history of spiritualism in the United States kind of fascinated me,” she says. “I want to examine how our current concept of ghosts arrived in the United States. It came over from multiple points, from the South and the East, from Europe and from Africa. And so it’s a pretty interesting subject matter to me. I think it tells us a lot. The study of spiritualism can tell us a lot about ourselves, and the things that we are longing for or afraid of. All those stories are just part of the American story. It’s part of the Memphis story, too.”

This Sunday, Bearden will talk about the religious belief that the dead communicate with and advise the living, ghost photography, séances, and more. You’ll learn about the young United States and young Memphis, too, including, yes, some Memphis spiritualism. “We do have at least one spiritualist buried in the cemetery,” she says. “His name was Samuel Watson, and he was a Methodist minister for a time. So his life story is included in the presentation.”

“I don’t pretend to have any answers,” Bearden continues. “At the end of the end of my presentation, I’ll leave you with, hopefully, some history, but also some mystery. I don’t have any definitive answers, but I leave them with food for thought. And I hope that they enjoy what they have to hear regardless.”

With this being Halloween weekend, Elmwood has a few other events going on. Unfortunately for you, most of them are sold out. You can still get tickets to “Woe Is Me: A Tour of Tragic Tales” right now — and we mean right now as we write this, so if they’re sold out by the time you read this, that’s on you. 

“The ‘Woe Is Me’ is a relatively new tour,” Bearden says. “If you’re a fan of Edward Gorey and The Gashlycrumb Tinies, this is the tour that you would probably be interested in. It’s a tour of unfortunate events.”

You’ll hear about a man killed in a laboratory explosion due to the carelessness of others, another lost at sea, and a child who drowned in the Court Square fountain in 1884 in broad daylight. Fun fact: Some (read: those who believe in ghosts) say the fountain is still haunted to this day by that child. 

“October is our most popular month for people to visit the cemetery, but we’ve got stuff going on throughout the year,” Bearden says, pointing out the upcoming Veterans Tour of Elmwood Cemetery, Tree Tours of Elmwood Cemetery, and Victorian Christmas Carols event.

Bearden’s “From the Beyond: Ghosts, Spiritualism, and Cemeteries” lecture is Sunday, October 29, 2-3 p.m. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here.   

“Woe Is Me: A Tour of Tragic Tales” is Saturday, October 28, 10:30 a.m.-noon. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here. 

Categories
Hungry Memphis

Eat Like a Movie Actor

The Indie Memphis showing of The Taste of Things will be followed by an actual food tasting.

Moviegoers often wish they could be eating what the characters are eating in certain scenes in a film. Think of the famous dinner scene in Tom Jones. Or everything edible in Julie & Julia, the movie about chef Julia Child. And then, of course, there’s that spaghetti in Walt Disney’s animated classic, Lady and the Tramp.

Well, Dan Kopera is making that a reality. He will serve some of the cuisine featured in The Taste of Things following the 11:30 a.m. movie showing, which will be Saturday, October 28th at Playhouse on the Square. Those who bought tickets to the 2023 movie, directed by Tran Anh Hung ,will then walk to the old Pantà restaurant at 2146 Monroe Avenue for Kopera’s take on some of the dishes in the film.

Chef Dan Kopera (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Describing the movie, Kopera, 49, a chef at The Second Line, says, “It’s a romantic relationship between the chef and his cook, and it all revolves around food. There’s so much food in the movie. It’s primarily French food. It does take place in France in the 19th century.

“They sent me a screening line. I enjoyed it. It’s not a movie I would have sought out for myself. It’s not my style. But it was very good.”

Then, he says, “I copied a few things from the movie that were interesting to me.

“I spent a couple of hours the next day just brainstorming and doing some research. Which then I took to chef Kelly English [owner of The Second Line] and consulted with him to get his thoughts on it. He added his opinions and that’s how we came up with these four items.”

Some dishes in the film were unfamiliar to Kopera. But, he says, “A couple of things from the movie I could do. Baked Alaska was one. It’s the only dessert featured in the movie.”

Making Baked Alaska is “much easier to make in modern days than it was in the 19th century when it was invented.”

Back then, making the dessert “was kind of an all-day-long process.

“For one, we have refrigeration. And they had to use ice chests to make the ice cream. And, also we have modern equipment. The blow torch to cook the outside of the meringue. Rather than what they did, which was light brandy on fire and roll it over it to cook the outside. Meringue protects the ice cream from melting.”

He’s also doing chicken vol-au-vent. “They did a very large version of this. It’s a puff pastry filled with various things. I’m doing a chicken dish with it. It’s one of those things you can fill with anything. Almost a cream puff kind of thing. I’m going to be doing little mini vol-au-vents for everyone to try.”

Kopera will make croque monsieur dip with crostini. “The original dish is a sandwich. A grilled ham and cheese. I’m taking it to another level. I’m French toasting it.”

And, finally, he will be serving ratatouille skewers. “It’s eggplant, zucchini, tomato, peppers — taking the basic ingredients of ratatouille, which is usually baked in a sort of casserole — and I’m making that into hand-held bite-sized skewers.”

Like popcorn, everything Kopera is serving will be finger food. “These are little tastes, so people can get the taste of the movie and the taste of France.”

For more information on The Taste of Things showing and tasting, go here.

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Indie Memphis 2023: Scent of Linden

Velko (George Zlatarev), Pavel (Ivaylo Dimitrov), Stefan (Ivan Barnev), and Georgi (Toncho Tokmakchiev) brew rakia in Scent of Linden (Courtesy Reflective Projects Pictures)

Sissy Denkova estimates there are 50 Bulgarians in Memphis, and they all know one another. “We’re always together,” she says. “The reason we crossed paths here is because we just happen to be here and we’re sort of involuntary friends.”

Denkova emigrated with her family from Bulgaria in 1997 at the age of 10. By chance, her family ended up in Memphis, where her father searched through the phonebook for Bulgarian names, inviting whomever he could to create a Bulgarian pocket, a feeling of home, in a foreign country. “Everybody is on their immigrant journey,” Denkova says. “And we’re experiencing it together because we’re sticking together. And that lends itself to some comedy, some interesting situations, personalities, and journeys that you wouldn’t otherwise encounter. If we lived in Bulgaria, would we be friends?”

It’s this awareness of comedy in the immigrant experience that Denkova underscores in her directorial debut, Scent of Linden. “I wanted to make a movie about that sense of ambiguity because you’ve got one foot in one sense of home and you’ve got the other in this new sense of home,” says Denkova. “But I made it through the lens of my growing up in America within a Bulgarian community. This is the most authentic thing that I have to talk about now. It’s like a rite of passage. You cannot move to the next place or the next subject until you talk about the subject. And that’s the case for me.”

Rada (Yoana Bukovska Davidova), Emilia (Jeannette Ivanova), Maria (Reni Vrangova), and Nikita (Albena Mihova) watch the drama outside their window in Scent of Linden. (Courtesy Reflective Project Pictures)

Yet Scent of Linden isn’t Denkova’s story, exactly, in that it isn’t told from the point of view of a young girl coming to America. Instead, the film, set in Memphis, follows Stefan (Ivan Barnev) on his immigrant journey, guided by a small community of Bulgarians, chief among them being Georgi (Toncho Tokmakchiev) and Dima (Albena Koleva), who host Stefan and help him get on his feet. “The whole cast is of age,” says Denkova, “because when you are in that stage of life, everything is more dire. Everything is more at stake. … They’re all-encompassing of many immigrants that I’ve seen and know because the stories and experiences really overlap.”

Stefan struggles to find a job; we see him drip sweat in an ice cream truck. He’s middle-aged, his mother is dying back home, and he flirts awkwardly. He is, put simply, extraordinarily ordinary, his life neither exceedingly successful nor terribly tragic. That’s where the authenticity lies for Denkova. “There’s the comedy and the tragedy [of life],” she says. “The comedy and the drama constantly depend on one another. The way to talk about something painful, for me, is with a sense of humor. And since it’s my first movie, I felt like I had a lot of creative liberty to kind of do what I wanted to do.”

Denkova used her creative liberty to insist her first film be acted in the Bulgarian language by Bulgarian actors. “As a debut filmmaker, I’m trying to not only talk about the most authentic subject to me, but I’m trying to make sure that I’m not doing things for the wrong reasons,” she says. “I felt that asking these Bulgarian actors to constantly speak in English as if it was everyday life, it’s not authentic, that’s not what we do. You’re recreating life as if it’s happening for the first time right in front of you even though it’s a film.”

Nikita (Albena Mihova) wows at karaoke in Scent of Linden. (Courtesy Reflective Project Pictures)

The film feels wholesome, but not wholesome in the vein of tales that prescribe a moral code. It’s a kind of wholesome where the undeniably flawed characters are inherently endearing, where themes of forgiveness and found family tug at your emotions, as your heart sits on the edge of your seat with you. 

Scent of Linden is believed to be the first Bulgarian feature film produced entirely in the U.S. After premiering at the Sofia International Film Festival and making its American debut at Cinequest in San Jose, California, the film opens this weekend in more than 60 theaters in Bulgaria.

It’s a big weekend for Denkova, who will be flying back from Bulgaria on Saturday for Scent of Linden‘s Sunday screening at Indie Memphis. “This film was made with a lot of love,” Denokova says, “because there’s a bigger purpose that is outside of me. I would never have made this if it was about me because that wouldn’t have gotten me through all the hard times. This belongs to all those other people who will know these feelings.”

Scent of Linden screens Sunday, October 29 at Playhouse on the Square as part of the Indie Memphis Film Festival. Purchase tickets at indiememphis.org/imff23.

Categories
Music Music Blog

Rock-n-Romp Rides Again

Above Jupiter (Credit: Graham Burks)

For a good decade or more, this city offered a brilliant solution to music-loving parents who couldn’t take their young kids to see great indie bands in the bars that featured them: Memphis Rock-n-Romp. Founded by Stacey Greenberg in 2005, the loose-knit organization was active for 10 years, staging afternoon shows by local bands in backyards and other kid-friendly spaces. And, because the music wasn’t typical children’s fare, younger parents too overworked to frequent the club scene flocked to the events, kids in tow. I know I did.

All the sense of discovery that one finds in the club experience was still present in the Rock-n-Romp shows, and there was even good beer to be had (for the adults). I’ll long remember seeing The Barbaras in all their glory at one such event on the grounds of the Metal Museum. There I was, a dedicated parent, discovering a new band! With their multi-voiced harmonies and pop hooks and hint of madness, The Barbaras were a revelation in more ways than one, and the kids liked it too.

Now, after a long hiatus with only occasional revival shows over the years, Memphis Rock-n-Romp is back in full swing. And with it comes another revival, the beloved Live from Memphis platform, which helped pioneer live-streamed music concerts in the early 2000s, including some of the Rock-n-Romps, before going into hibernation itself for some time.

This Saturday, October 28th, Live from Memphis presents a special Halloween Rock-n-Romp from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Ravine, which many Memphis Flyer readers know from our recent Best of Memphis party. Entry is $5 per adult, but children are admitted free of charge. Adults must have a child with them to attend. (Click here for details).

Bands include KittyPool, Above Jupiter, and Tamar Love (from Mama Honey). While Love is the wisest, oldest, and biggest name on the bill, some of the other players were avidly taking in the music of the original wave of Rock-n-Romps, even playing together as kids at the Rock-n-Romp summer camp more than a decade ago. Their interest thus piqued, they’re still cooking up sounds of their own today.

One often saw the Davis family at the original events; now Josie Davis will be performing in KittyPool. And she’s not alone. As Live From Memphis co-founder Christopher Reyes notes in a statement, “When Mati was a baby, we took her to one of those classic Rock-n-Romps at Mud Island, but she doesn’t remember. She and her sister are now at the perfect age to really appreciate it, so for me, it made a lot of sense to bring it back. Once we started planning, we were all like, ‘Hell yeah,’ and everyone we told about it pretty much had the same response.”

Board member Graham Burks has long been deeply involved in the organization, including as a player, and now it’s time for his son, Graham Burks III, to take the stage in Above Jupiter. Memphis Flyer readers may recall our review of Graham-the-Younger’s band The Becomers two years ago. Above Jupiter began around that same time, and all of the band members attend Stax Music Academy together.

As Graham-the-Elder explains, “An early version of Above Jupiter opened up for the Becomers at the Time Warp Drive. Graham (III) and keyboardist Desmond Coppin have been playing together since they were three, and played a Rock-n-Romp 10 years ago at age four. Bassist Noah Hand and Graham met in elementary school and started plotting this band as an extension of Noah’s visual art. They call the music ‘art pop’ and Noah designs their shirts and art. Noah recently had an animated short in the Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest. He is currently animating their first music video for their first single ‘Details,’ which combines his animation with live footage shot by my brother Justin Burks and edited by Noah.”

And, as Burks notes, Above Jupiter will clearly be in the Halloween spirit this Saturday. “They’ll be in costume as Gorillaz,” he says, “and they’ll be performing live on WREG Live at 9 a.m. on Friday morning.”

The Art Project will also lead Halloween arts and crafts activities for the kids at Saturday’s event, and there will be a Halloween costume contest with prizes awarded.

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

New Just City Court Watch Report Urges Judges To Be More ‘Sensitive’ and ‘Neutral’

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

The latest observations from Just City’s Court Watch report say that while most of Shelby County’s judges are accessible, many need to work on their ability to “treat both the accused and the victim with dignity,” as well as with sensitivity.

Just City is a Memphis-based nonprofit that works for criminal justice reform. Its Court Watch is a project that aims to bring “transparency and accountability to the county’s criminal legal system” and reduce barriers to justice.

“We do that by publishing these reports to provide a glimpse into what happens at 201 Poplar daily,” said the organization.

Just City’s “Court Watch” report is composed of observations from volunteers, who watch and evaluate the judges in the criminal courtrooms. Judges are scored on a scale from one to four, with one being the worst and four being the best.

“This report, which combines court watch and data analysis, provides an overview of the performance of judges in Criminal and General Session courts at 201 Poplar Avenue since September 2022,” said Just City.

Some of the group’s key findings concluded that most judges received lower scores in sensitivity and neutrality. Their findings also raised concern surrounding extended duration cases and the “frequency of dismissed cases.”

When evaluating judges, volunteers are asked to consider questions such as “Did the judge give the appearance of neutrality?” and “Did the judge handle each case with the sensitivity warranted?”

After receiving 10 rubrics from the judges that the group focuses on, they begin compiling that information into their latest report. In the current report, volunteers observed judges Paula L. Skahan, Carolyn Wade Blackett, Jennifer J. Mitchell, Bill Anderson Jr., and Louis J. Montesi Jr.

Skahan received high marks in accessibility and “ability to hear,” with her lowest scores being in timeliness and sensitivity. Volunteers noted that Skahan was “kind, but firm” and “demonstrated genuine concern for people in her courtroom.” However, volunteers also believed that Skahan can improve on her sensitivity, and that she should be “less condescending.”

Volunteers noted that Blackett “runs an efficient, fast paced courtroom,” and applauded her clear communication skills. They also remarked that Blackett was “responsive to defendants who had questions.” While Blackett received high scores in accessibility, and neutrality, her lowest score was regarding appointment of a public defender. Volunteers also believed that Blackett could improve on her interactions with defendants and her sensitivity.

Mitchell scored high in neutrality and accessibility, with comments noting her ability to be “conscientious of defendants needing to return to jobs” and her ability to provide “thorough explanations.” According to volunteer scoring, Mitchell scored lowest in timeliness with comments saying she “could be more efficient getting through her docket.” They also urged Mitchell to “take less phone and coffee breaks.”

Judge Anderson is recorded as having a “great handling of courtroom,” and volunteers took note of his decision to “take times to explain things.” However, a former client noted that he could be “less condescending” and should “allow for second chances.”

In terms of a lasting impression, however, volunteers also said “at times it felt like the prosecutors had more control of the courtroom than the judge,” and that he could “make better use of his time.”

A former client also noted that court under Montesi was “very efficient and organized,” while volunteers said he excelled in having “clear communication in layman’s terms.” However, Montesi was urged to “treat Black and white defendants equally.” The report also said they observed that Montesi seemed to have a “mean demeanor towards everybody.”


The full report can be viewed here.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Old Dominick Distillery Teams Up With Bain BBQ

(Credit: Bain BBQ)

Starting Friday, your glass of Old Dominick Distillery bourbon may come with a side of barbecue.

That’s Bain BBQ, to be specific, as Old Dominick announced that it would introduce a food offering from the Cooper-Young restaurant beginning October 27th at its Downtown distillery at 305 South Front Street.

“Our partnership with Bain BBQ creates a delightful food offering for our guests,” Ben Brown, director of guest experiences at Old Dominick Distillery, said in a statement. “Starting October 27th, you can savor the best of both worlds, with their culinary offerings paired with our premium spirits.”

The Distillery had been without a food component since Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman’s Gray Canary, which opened in 2018 inside the Old Dominick building, closed in January this year.

Bain BBQ’s menu at Old Dominick will include a range of sandwiches, including turkey breast, pulled pork, and brisket, and available sides like coleslaw or chips. And save some room for the Texas Twinkies (basically poppers), a combo of bacon, jalapeños, and cream cheese.

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports Uncategorized

‘Chemistry is Everything’

Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

The Memphis Grizzlies opened their season with a 111-104 loss against the New Orleans Pelicans, primarily due to being beaten on the boards and a poor shooting performance.

Season openers have traditionally been like kryptonite for the Beale Street bullies — and rebounding is their Achilles heel right now. The Grizzlies were without Ja Morant (league suspension), Steven Adams (season-ending knee surgery), Brandon Clarke (Achilles tendon repair), and Santi Aldama (ankle sprain). 

It wasn’t all bad. Opening night saw the return of favorite sons, Tony Allen and Zach Randolph. Accompanied by The Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Allen and Randolph introduced the starting lineup for the young cubs. 

Newly signed Derrick Rose, who played college ball at the University of Memphis, also made his return to the Grindhouse with the loudest pop of the night. 

Rose contributed eight points and three assists in 15 minutes as a reserve. 

It was a frustrating night. Every time an attack was mounted by the Grizzlies, the Pelicans countered. It could to be a long season without Adams on the boards. 

Three-point shooting hurt the Grizzlies (27.9%) while it was solid for New Orleans (43.8%). 

After the game, Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said, “Obviously, we’re going to feel out our lineups and stuff, but I’m very confident this group can get going once we get our chemistry up and running”

Desmond Bane had an All-star performance, leading the way with 31 points, five rebounds, and five assists. “Chemistry is everything and building that takes time,” said the TCU alum on the different rotations.

Xavier Tillman, Sr. held his own against the Pelicans front line. He secured his first double double of the season with 17 points, 12 rebounds, plus four assists, and three steals.

Newcomer Marcus Smart added 17 points, three assists, and two steals. After the loss, Smart said, “It definitely wasn’t the result we wanted, but I’ve never seen a championship won in the first game. We have 81 games left.”

Smart also chimed in about building chemistry: “For us and for me personally, it’s important to continue to find these guys and continue to build confidence in my guys. We had a lot of shots there that just didn’t go in for us, both in the paint and outside the paint. And for me, we have a bunch of young guys who continue working, and every day I’m in the gym and seeing them work, I have to continue to find them and give them the confidence that they need to keep going because we’re going to need everybody.”

The reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Jaren Jackson, Jr., had a poor shooting night, going 2 of 9 from the field, but made up for it with dogged defense. blocking five shots, and doing the little things down low defensively; fighting for position against Jonas Valanciunas and Zion Williamson is a tall task. Jackson finished with eight points and five rebounds.

Except for David Roddy (9 points) and Rose, the bench hardly contributed. There are still things to figure out with new teammates and new lineups this season. As Smart said, no championship is won in the first game. 

Up Next:

The reigning NBA Champions, Denver Nuggets come to town Friday night, with an early 6 pm tip-off at FedExForum. 

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Indie Memphis 2023: Lagueria Davis on Black Barbie

Black Barbie won the Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 26th Indie Memphis Film Festival.

The story of Lagueria Davis’ timely documentary Black Barbie is actually a part of the film. It started almost a decade ago when she moved from Fort Worth, Texas, to Los Angeles. Looking to break into the business, she asked her aunt for a place to live. Actually, “My mom asked because I was too shy, since I only met her twice as a kid, and she didn’t know me as an adult,” the director says. “She said, ‘Yes, yes, you can stay with me.’ I was like, ‘I’m pretty independent person. I’ll be with you two to three months tops.’”

Her aunt was a doll collector, and longtime employee at toymaker Mattel. Davis didn’t play with dolls very much growing up, but she was captivated by her aunt’s story of how the Black version of the Barbie doll came to be. “I was just struck by how I didn’t know about Black Barbie, and I never even thought about Black Barbie, to be honest. It was a really eye-opening conversation with her, and I was struck with the sense of history having been lived. I don’t even know if this story would be something we would read in any text or history book. These are stories from front lines, from people who’ve lived it. It’s also people who look like me who are telling me these stories, not someone with a different gaze or perspective. … My aunt is kind of the key and Black Barbie, the door which we can unlock and open and walk in to talk about these greater themes of representation as it relates to Black women and Black girls in particular.” 

The film Black Barbie traces the development of the dolls, from Barbie’s meteoric rise to the top of the toy box to the various experiments with racially diverse dolls, both successful and unsuccessful, by Mattel and other toy companies. Davis tracked down Kitty Black Perkins, a fashion designer who, after designing clothes for Barbie for years, finally convinced Mattel to allow her to design a Barbie with Black skin. “Why did it take 21 years? Because that’s what was happening.” 

At one point, Davis and her collaborators recreate a famous sociological experiment, which was cited in the landmark school desegregation case Brown vs. Board of Education, where children were asked their opinions of dolls with different shades of skin. “It was so fun. Our producer, Aaliyah Williams and our associate producer, Brianne Klugiewicz, they were the ones who set out to find the children. We shot it at a charter school in Los Angeles, and we put out a notice to them who then put out an APB, if you will, to other charter schools. We got submissions, and then I also put out a casting call, so to speak. And so, we got a few children from that pool of children. We worked with Dr. Amirah Saafir, who decided we should group them in threes with their peers. That makes them more comfortable, so they would be able to talk and play. We had the dolls there for them to interact with and not make it a forced choice situation, and we had a spectrum of children and dolls. Then it was just like, ‘Let’s make it conversational.’” 

In addition to setting toy history straight, Davis brings a wide variety of voices on the screen to discuss the impact Barbie has had on children, race, and femininity. “I thought it was really important to have several different voices, from academia to fanatics to people who didn’t particularly see her as progressive. … I just wanted a spectrum of voices and a spectrum of thought from people who were a part of the community, but could also speak to diversity of thought within that community, because it’s not a monolithic experience.” 

After working for years to create this unique documentary, Davis’ project got a big boost in interest this summer when Greta Gerwig’s Barbie unexpectedly became the biggest grossing film of the year. Black Barbie has now appeared in 75 film festivals, and was recently purchased for distribution by Shondaland and Netflix. “I felt like the story that we were laying out for Black Barbie, the doll, is very much parallel to the story of making Black Barbie, the documentary, and getting it out there. And it’s funny because I think my brain is kind of wired to connect dots.”  

Black Barbie screens in competition at the Indie Memphis Film Festival Saturday, October 28th, at noon at Playhouse on the Square. Individual tickets and passes are available at the Indie Memphis website.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Local on the Square Closing, Madison Tavern Moving in

In November, Madison Tavern will take over the space of Local on the Square, which will close October 28th. (Credit: Tim Quinn)

Local on the Square will close Saturday, October 28th, and Madison Tavern will take over the space at 2126 Madison Avenue in November.

“We’re hoping to be open — if dreams come true — for Thanksgiving,” says Tim Quinn. He and his wife Tarrah are the new owners. “Probably a couple of weeks afterward if things don’t go perfectly.”

Describing Madison Tavern, Tim, who also owns Local on Main Street with his wife, says, “It will be a neighborhood place. I want it to be a nice spot — something that can be for a nice occasion to go out, but also casual enough to go to every day if you live in the neighborhood or nearby.”

He doesn’t want to compare Madison Tavern to Local on the Square, which he describes as “iconic,” but he wants to keep that same “cool atmosphere. We’re trying to create that same feel where people can come in and they’re comfortable and just hang out.”

Tim wants it to be the place where people can go if they’re planning to stay for dinner or drinks or go somewhere else before or after. If they’re not staying for dinner, they can get drinks before going across the street to dinner at Porch and Parlor or to see a show at Lafayette’s Music Room, he says.

As for Madison Tavern’s fare, Tim says, “I want to try to keep a fairly small menu. Some burgers. Some sandwiches. Some nice dinner plates. As much of it from scratch as possible. Locally sourced whenever we can. Downtown, we put some hydroponic towers in. We’re growing our own herbs.”

He plans to “offer some strong seafood” items, including catfish, which has been a “huge thing” at Local on Main Street.

Tim also wants to include beef. “I’m sure a beef tenderloin. Or a filet. But big steaks don’t tend to go over. People come in, they’re wanting to get a nice meal, willing to spend money, but they want to be in and out in 30 minutes: ‘I’ve got a show to see.’”

Madison Tavern will offer specials, which will depend on what is locally sourced that week. “We want to have a solid menu. A couple of daily specials.”

They will be open for dinner only around 3 p.m. during the first week, Tim says. “We want to catch that happy hour crowd. We’ll have nice happy hour specials. Small plates.”

He plans to stay open until 1am on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, but “be out of there by midnight” the rest of the week.

And he wants to have “a very welcoming atmosphere and specials” for service industry people who want to grab some food and drinks when they get off work. He wants to “keep those guys happy. They work hard.”

As for the decor, Tim says he wants Madison Avenue to have “a lodge feeling. There will be some stained glass chandeliers. I want to put some copper, tin tiles on the ceiling. Change the colors of the booths, the walls. Some hunter greens and burgundies. Then some blues. A couple of different neutral colors. Anything we can change, we’re going to change. We want it to be obvious that somebody’s come in and done something different.”

The Quinns also owned Memphis Clover Club, but Tim says, “The lease came up to be signed. I wasn’t willing to commit that much longer. I dropped out of that lease. I closed that one down at the beginning of last week.”

Local on the Square opened October 2012, says owner Jeff Johnson, who now lives in Santa Rosa, Florida. “We had a great run and enjoyed it,” he says. “But part of it was not living in town anymore. And trying to manage it from afar. It wasn’t what I wanted to continue to do. I’ve got some other business interests I’m concentrating on.

“I’ve had a lovely time in the 30 years I’ve been in the restaurant business in some capacity. Maybe one day down there in Florida or another town, I’d like to get into it again. Right now in my life I’m concentrating on real estate development and short-term rentals. Which is where I’d like to concentrate my efforts.”

He’s not disappearing from Memphis, though. “I still have a home in Memphis. I’m not going to be a stranger, by any means. And if Tim needs any advice along the way, I’ll offer that, too.”

And, Johnson says, “I think he’s going to do well.”