Month: December 2023

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We Recommend We Recommend

On the Fly: 12/8-12/14

The annual Memphis Holiday Parade takes over Beale Street this weekend. (Photo: Courtesy Beale Street Management/Downtown Memphis Commission)

🎁 Who’s Holiday
The Memphian Room at The Circuit Playhouse
Performances through December 22
Childhood trauma can really do a number on people. Imagine if a man broke into your home, stole all of your family’s Christmas presents and decorations, and then went to all your neighbors’ homes and did the same thing, and then the town acted like nothing happened. That would do a number on you wouldn’t it? So forgive Cindy Lou Who if she’s not the innocent little Whoville you remember from How the Grinch Stole Christmas. And she’ll tell you how she got here in Playhouse’s adult comedy that is guaranteed to leave you laughing all night long. This show’s for the adults, so leave the kiddos at home or bring them to see Playhouse’s other show The Wizard of Oz, and Dorothy will be the innocent little Kansanian you remember, don’t you worry. Tickets for Who’s Holiday ($25) can be purchased here, and tickets for the family-friendly Wizard of Oz ($25) can be purchased here. (P.S. If you can’t get enough of the Christmas spirit, Theatre Memphis is putting on A Christmas Carol. Learn more here.)

đŸ©° The Nutcracker
Orpheum Theatre
Performances this weekend and next
Building on Ballet Memphis’ nearly 40-year legacy of sharing the joy of Nutcracker with the Mid-South community, this season features an enchanting evolution of set and costume design that brings renewed vibrancy to the classic story. Transport yourself to a sweetly nostalgic riverside and a confectionary dreamland through the eyes of a young girl destined for adventure. Ballet Memphis’ new production of this beloved American holiday tradition promises to delight in both familiar and unexpected ways. Tickets for the show with performances this weekend and next can be purchased here. (Tennessee Ballet Theater is also performing their rendition of the classic ballet, Clara & the Nutcracker, on Sunday, 2 p.m., at the Cannon Center. More info can be found here.)

✹ Laser Holiday Light Show
Museum of Science & History
Friday, December 8, 1:30 p.m. & 7 p.m. | Saturday, December 9, 1:40 p.m. | Sunday, December 10, 1:30 p.m.
This Friday is my cousin Blake’s 22nd birthday. You don’t know Blake. Blake doesn’t live here. But Blake likes (or maybe he’s grown out of liking) Star Wars, and when I think of Star Wars, I think of lightsabers, which are made of lasers, right? I’m not sure. My knowledge of Blake and Star Wars is very rudimentary. But I think a laser show would be a great way for Blake to celebrate his birthday — because of the lights and the lasers. But, like I said, Blake isn’t in Memphis, but you, reader, are. So celebrate his birthday in a way he would enjoy with a Laser Holiday Light Show at MoSH, which mixes everyone’s favorite holiday music, even Blake’s favorite holiday music, from the classical to the modern, all set to fantastic laser lights. Tickets ($15) can be purchased here.

✂ Holidays Crafts
Get crafty — not like Grinch crafty, please, we can’t handle more Grinches in the world — but get arts and crafty this weekend (or any weekend if that’s the journey for you), with any (or all) of these classes hosted by your favorite arts and crafty venues. Be sure to register at the links below.

  • Cozy Candle Making with Keith McBride: Make three beautiful 8 oz. custom scented soy wax candles with the guidance of Keith McBride of Candles by Deuce. Arrow Creative, Friday, December 8, 6:30 p.m., $71.21.
  • Photo Transfer Holiday Ornaments with Valley Evangelista: Create unique holiday ornaments in this hands-on workshop where participants will learn the techniques of emulsion transfer onto wood, transforming their favorite family snapshots into beautiful ornaments for decorating trees, wreaths, and more. No prior photography or crafting experience is required. Arrow Creative, Saturday, December 9, 1 p.m., $49.87.
  • Holiday Door Swag Workshop: Learn to make your own door swag using locally grown greenery and an assortment of complimentary bells, bows, ribbons, and natural elements like pinecones and seed pods that you can add to your arrangement. I went to Bramble and Bloom’s wreath-making class last weekend, and it was a blast and a half and I got to bring home a very cute wreath that I can tell everyone who sees it that I made it. And the pride, the ego that comes from that will soothe any soul. Midtown Bramble and Bloom, Sunday, December 10, 1 p.m., $65.
  • Gold Hoop Wreath Workshop: Learn the basics of wreath design and create your own custom evergreen demi wreath on a gold hoop. Your ticket price includes all the materials you’ll need to make your wreath as well as lots of embellishments and bow options. Midtown Bramble and Bloom, Sunday, December 10, 3 p.m., $55.
  • Woodburning Ornaments: Learn how to use woodburning tools to make holiday ornaments! Bring a couple images to use or choose from Five in One’s stock. Everyone will get a bunch of wooden blanks to decorate. Five in One Studios, Sunday, December 10, 3 p.m., $45.

🎄 ¡Christmas Fiesta!
Dixon Gallery & Gardens
Saturday, December 9, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
¥Feliz Navidad! Cazateatro Bilingual Theatre Group, Opera Memphis, and Dixon Gallery & Gardens present their third annual Christmas Fiesta! Visitors will enjoy the Christmas traditions of Latin America and the Caribbean, and learn about parrandas, posadas, piñatas, and more. Enjoy traditional Christmas music in Spanish, Latin food, crafts, and activities. The event is ~free~.

☃ Free! Free! Free!
Extra, extra, read all about it. The free Flyer is here to tell you about two free monthly events at two of Memphis’ favorite museums. That’s right on Saturday, 1-5 p.m., you can enjoy the Stax Museum of American Soul Music’s Free Family Day, where visitors can enjoy free admission to the entire museum, live music, food trucks, games and activities, and arts and crafts for children. Also on Saturday, 10 a.m.-noon, the Brooks Museum of Art presents its Super Saturday, which offers free admission and art-making facilitated by an art educator. This month’s Super Saturday will celebrate and explore families and communities through art. (P.S. Admission is free at the Brooks every Saturday 10 a.m.-noon.)

🧑‍🎄 2023 Memphis Holiday Parade
Beale Street
Saturday, December 9, 2-3 p.m.
The grandest holiday parade in the region rings in the holiday season on Beale Street with marching bands, steppers, twirlers, floats, and all sorts of sights. Stick around, or, I guess, return to Beale between 5 and 7 p.m., and get your picture taken with Santa Claus for free against the backdrop of Beale.

đŸŽ¶ Iris Collective’s Small Business Series: Cremaine Booker & Olatunde Osinaike
Cafe Noir, 635 Madison Ave.
Thursday, December 14, 5:30 p.m.
This Thursday, Iris Collective kicks off its Small Business Series with a performance by Cremaine Booker, aka That Cello Guy, and poet Olatunde Osinaike at the soon-to-be-opened Cafe Noir, a bookstore that will specialize in filling its shelves with BIPOC and LGBTQ authors. The performance is sure to be unique and intimate, so get your tickets ($20) here. Read more about Iris’ Small Business Series in our Fall Arts Guide, and more about Cafe Noir in this piece by Kailynn Johnson.

😂 Gianmarco Soresi with Sean Reilly
Growlers
Thursday, December 14, 7 p.m. & 10 p.m.
Not sure if you’re up on the TikTok drama but a certain male comedian has been under fire for a certain Netflix special. Now, we’re not here to talk about that male comedian who I don’t care about, but I like to point that out to say that I’m putting a lot at stake here by saying, look here, another male comedian, whose comedy is enjoyable! Hopefully this one won’t make a, uh, how to put this delicately, Grinch out of himself. Anyways, not to make this about myself, but I interviewed him last year, and he’s back in Memphis for two whole shows on Thursday, sooooo obviously you can thank the Flyer for his return. Just kidding, we know we don’t have that much power! Gianmarco isn’t the only one who can make jokes. Hopefully, his land better. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here.

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

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

Categories
News News Blog News Feature

Bill Would Make “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” Official TN Holiday Song

credit: WIkipedia

A bill filed for the 2024 session of the Tennessee General Assembly would make “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” the first official holiday song of Tennessee. 

Rep. Jason Powell (D-Nashville) filed the bill Wednesday morning to mark the official designation of the Christmas staple by Brenda Lee. She was a longtime Nashvillian, and the first woman inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. Lee was 13 when she recorded “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” in 1958.

The song was recorded in the heart of Nashville’s Music Row at Quonset Hut Studio and produced by Owen Bradly.

However, the song was written by Johnny Marks, who seemingly had no connection to Tennessee. He specialized in Christmas songs, although he was Jewish and did not celebrate Christmas, according to Wikipedia. Marks wrote “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver and Gold,” and many others.

“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” topped the Billboard Hot 100 this week for the very first time, 65 years after its release — the longest stretch ever between a record release and hitting No. 1, according to Powell. This made Lee the oldest person ever to hit No. 1 on the chart.  

“Brenda Lee is a music icon and a true Tennessee treasure,” Powell said in a statement. “Brenda Lee’s ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ has spread holiday joy throughout the world for decades and we are proud her No. 1 song was made in Nashville.  

“I am thrilled to introduce my legislation to make the beloved ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’ by Brenda Lee the first official holiday song of Tennessee. I look forward to passing ‘Rockin’’ around the Capitol floor in 2024.”

Tennessee has 10 official state songs, including “Rocky Top,” “A Tennessee Bicentennial Rap: 1796-1996,” and “Smoky Mountain Rain.” Steve Earle’s “Copperhead Road” was made an official state song this year. However, Tennessee has no official state holiday song.

Categories
Music Music Features

That Memphis Sound

The Memphis Blues Box: Original Recordings 1914-1969 (Photo: Courtesy Bear Family Records)

Many have spoken of a “Memphis sound” that permeates the playing of musicians who grew up here, yet the particulars of that sound can be elusive. That’s especially true if one takes the long view of over a half century, as does the latest release from Bear Family Records, The Memphis Blues Box: Original Recordings 1914–1969. And yet that title alone, and the span of its purview, connotes one common thread through Memphis music: the blues itself.

As David Evans says of his contribution to the box set’s liner notes, “I tried to address that in my essay, which looks at urban and regional blues and whether there was any particular sound to it. By and large, you get a lot of variety. So it’s pretty hard to characterize urban blues. I’d be reluctant to go too far in that direction, trying to characterize a Memphis sound. But in a broader sense the blues itself and blues techniques permeate an awful lot of Memphis popular music.”

That said, listeners should buckle up for a wild ride through history as Bear Family, known for its thorough, completist collections, takes a tour through “Memphis blues as defined by the performers and their record companies during the years 1914 to 1969,” as the set’s promotional material says. Significantly, that was the period when blues was issued primarily on singles (78 RPM records and later 45s), and the box includes at least one side of every blues record made in Memphis by Memphis-area musicians in that period. But there are also many sides cut elsewhere by artists whose grasp of the blues took them to studios far and wide. Aside from the blues, the key common thread is that, as with Harry Smith’s 1952 Anthology of American Folk Music, all of these tracks were commercially released at one time.

That doesn’t make them any more rare or surprising. There was a lot of music to choose from. With 20 CDs, 534 tracks, and an accompanying 360-page book, the set starts over 100 years ago with W.C. Handy’s tune “Memphis Blues,” then moves through classic blues, jug band blues, itinerant blues from the 1920s and ’30s, the R&B bands and small combos of the 1940s and ’50s, and the tougher blues styles recorded up until the close of the 1960s. And even within those stylistic movements, there’s considerable variation. It’s a testament to how diverse the blues can be.

Take track 10 on the first disc, “I Raised My Window and Looked at the Risin’ Sun,” by Ollie Rupert, released by Victor Records in 1927. What could have been a typical guitar-driven blues takes on an eerie quality through its use of the jaw harp, with its strangely atonal harmonics adding a uniquely alien sound to the small combo’s sound. Blues from Mars, perhaps? As Evans notes, “That’s an interesting one. It might be the only commercial recording of that instrument in a blues setting. It’s a little chaotic, musically, and Ollie Rupert was obviously kind of an amateur performer, with that voice. I’m glad it was issued, though.”

More familiar names abound as well, including Furry Lewis, Memphis Minnie, Elvis Presley, and even Booker T. Jones, but sometimes it’s the names behind the stars that are most striking. Many Stax fans know that drummer Al Jackson Jr.’s father was a bandleader, but now you can hear the actual sides Al Jackson Sr.’s jump band cut. Here too are sides cut by pianist Phineas Newborn’s father and “the Phineas Newborn Orchestra.” And two local music dynasties are evoked with The Jesters’ stomping version of “My Babe” on disc 20, featuring both Sam Phillips’ son Jerry on guitar and Jim Dickinson on piano and vocals.

Thus, a good deal of fine-grained, detailed history resides in this music, and the book alone is a monumental work of scholarship. Introduced by Charlie Musselwhite, the book offers biographies of every performer (many newly researched), notes on each recording, and many unseen photographs. The project was produced and part-written by historian Martin Hawkins, but the book also includes important essays by other experts on various aspects of the Memphis blues, including local scholars like Evans, Richard Raichelson, and Tyler Fritts.

Categories
Book Features Books

Baseball’s Silent Genocide

I must admit I’m no baseball aficionado; I understand the basics — home runs, foul balls, three strikes and you’re out at the old ball game. There’s a reason I’m writing a books column, and not the sports column. Yet, when I heard about Reginald R. Howard’s Baseball’s Silent Genocide: How They Cut Black Youth Out of Baseball, I knew it was a story I wanted to know more about. Yes, it’s a story about baseball, specifically Negro League Baseball, but it’s a story that examines an unheard perspective. “People sing the praises of Major League Baseball players but Negro League players aren’t even mentioned in that song,” Howard writes. “My primary reason for writing this book is to express my heartfelt beliefs about why and how black youth in this country have been kept from playing the ‘Great American Game’ called baseball.”

Within his book, Howard, who played for the Indianapolis Clowns in the ’50s and ’60s, weaves the history of baseball and his own experiences in the league into his thesis. Growing up in South Bend, Indiana, Howard says his family was addicted to Black baseball, with his uncle even playing for the Memphis Red Sox. Yet, he says, “All the black students who played baseball were being steered toward track and field. The coaches didn’t want us to play baseball. In fact, I kept hearing stuff like, ‘You guys don’t like baseball.’ Well, they were saying that to the wrong person when they said it to me.”

To Howard, as he reflects back on his early days, it was like “the [white] majority said, ‘We’re going to preserve baseball for our kids. We do not want minority kids to dominate all sports.’” It began with defunding baseball in the inner city and creating more expenses to play, and segregation only helped keep Black players out of the sport.

When Jackie Robinson broke the baseball color line in 1947, Howard was still a child, but “when I became an adult it didn’t look that good to me,” he says. Indeed, at the time, the Negro League was a successful business, “second only to the black insurance industry.” But as Major League Baseball gleaned players here and there from Negro League rosters, the team owners were not compensated, and eventually, the Negro League deteriorated into oblivion.

As of 2021, 8 percent of MLB players are Black, compared with 78 percent in the NBA and 67 percent in the NFL. “Those numbers don’t become that lopsided without somebody doing something to cause that,” Howard writes.

Today, Howard laments baseball’s fall in popularity. Eighty or so years ago, baseball was America’s most popular sport, followed by football and basketball. Now, baseball places third. “When I go to speak to black kids today and ask, ‘Who doesn’t like baseball?’ hands shoot up all around the place,” Howard writes. “‘Why don’t you like baseball?’ ‘Oh, it’s too slow.’ ‘It don’t move fast enough.’ ‘Basketball is faster.’ ‘It’s dull!’ I’ll counter with something like, ‘Hey, something is happening on every pitch. There’s always something happening in baseball.’”

Howard goes on to say, “I’m not saying for one second, or the militancy of black baseball is not saying for one second, that black kids playing baseball would be a panacea for race relations and black incarceration in America, but it would have helped a lot.”

In its entirety, Howard’s book is only 135 pages long, but it is filled with insights that the baseball enthusiast and non-enthusiast can appreciate. “I’m in my 80s now,” he writes, “and I want to make these statements. I don’t want to die with this stuff in my head. It would be a serious dereliction on my part if I did.”

Within the pages are photographs, charming excerpts from Howard’s own life, passages about forgotten players and their contributions to the sport, and a chapter about Tennessee’s and Memphis’ significance in the Negro League — all of it written as if you were sitting beside the writer listening to him speak in a conversation that draws your full attention.

Purchase Baseball’s Silent Genocide at tinyurl.com/t7t7kcu4.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Jimmy Sinh to Open New Restaurant

Jimmy “Sushi Jimmi” Sinh (Photo: Michael Donahue)

Jimmy “Sushi Jimmi” Sinh is opening a restaurant in Cordova. And that’s all he’s going to say about it.

For now.

“I just want everybody to know I do have a restaurant coming up next summer,” Sinh says. “No date on it. Just signed the lease. So, that’s 100 percent guaranteed.”

But his fans have to wait to hear his concept. “The menu and everything like that. I don’t have any of that information at the moment. I should have all the information by next spring.”

So, he’s keeping people in suspense. “We’re still figuring things out now.”

Any hints? “I’m not going to spill the beans.”

Sinh, who has been working out of his Poke Paradise food trailer and his Poke Paradise kitchen/pick-up center at 5310 Crestview Road, says all of that will end when the restaurant opens because he wants to focus on the restaurant. That includes his private dinners and catering. “I need everyone to put in their dates now because May 2024 is my last month taking any type of catering order or any private dinners or weddings and stuff that I do.”

The upcoming restaurant isn’t Sinh’s first rodeo. He owned the popular Sushi Jimmi Asian Fusion restaurant at 2895 Poplar Avenue. He closed that restaurant on May 23, 2019. He said at the time he was burned out and he wanted to spend more time with his family.

That “was a while back,” Sinh says. “And I went through a lot with my old restaurant. So, it’s been a few years and I just feel more comfortable now, looking back. I was going to move, but since we’re here I want to establish another brick and mortar.

“I’m very excited to be honest. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. The food truck is good. But I think I’m ready to get back into brick and mortar.”

Sinh ordered a new 16-by-8-foot food trailer made for his Poke Paradise business. Poke is diced, raw fish served with either a soy base or mayo base.

The food trailer “will be put on the market for sale. And if anybody’s interested, they can contact me. We can even sit down right now.”

Same goes for his Poke Paradise location. “If they want to take over Poke Paradise, they’re welcome to come talk to me about it.”

That goes for all his equipment.

Sinh opened Poke Paradise for business last year. “It’s good. No complaints. I stay busy all year long. I established it just to keep myself here in Memphis and keep myself busy. Nothing like working for yourself. Right?”

The idea to open another restaurant wasn’t sudden, Sinh says. “It hit me around the summer of this year. Because I want to get back in the kitchen. And I want to create something, which will serve Memphis in a good way. And I just think that Memphis needs it really bad. So, I created something that everyone can appreciate. And that’s what I always wanted.”

Sinh believes in reinventing himself. “I’m a chef. So, I’m always up for trying new things. Whatever works works. And you’ve got to take out the stuff that doesn’t work.

“I’m very, very open minded. I like to try new things and I like to perfect my craft. I like to go outside the box and create new things. I even help other people with their restaurants. I train a lot of staff.”

After he closed his first restaurant, Sinh announced he wasn’t going to open another one. “Every chef, every server, every dishwasher, when you’re in the restaurant industry it’s long hours, long weeks.

“You get burned out from time to time. You just have to know when to take a break. If you don’t, it will just kill your team. And that’s what I didn’t want to do. So, I took some time off. And now I’m back.”

Sinh is reachable at 901-604-0058, or online at poke-paradise-106339.square.site.

Categories
News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Marathon Weekend, Ribs? Yes, but 
, and a Meteor?

Posted to Facebook by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Memphis on the internet.

Marathon Weekend

The St. Jude Memphis Marathon drew throngs to the streets here last weekend with unbelievable sights like the one above on Riverside Drive.

More than 20,000 from 50 states and 75 countries ran this year. The marathon raised a record $15 million for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and brought an estimated $43 million in economic impact for the city.

Ribs? Yes, but 


Posted to X by @slow_school

X user @slow_school posted this piece of AI art with the caption, “Who wants some ribs?” It’s cool but disturbing in a way that’s hard to explain.

Meteor?

Over the weekend, many Memphis Reddit users reported seeing “a very bright white flare that shot straight down and turned more greenish as it fell.” It was most likely a meteor, according to the consensus in the comments. Redditors said they saw it from Arkansas, Midtown, and the Memphis Botanic Garden.

“The spaceship was found in a parking lot near 4th and Beale,” joked u/FedexRebel, “but it’s already been stripped of its landing gear, rocket boosters, and luggage.”

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Memphis Is My Boyfriend: Friday Fun, Free Art, and Frightening Heights

There’s plenty of Memphis family fun to be had on the weekends 
 even for the kids. (Photo: Patricia Lockhart)

Let’s be honest: Memphis has many outlets for adults and little kids, but there aren’t as many options that interest pre-teens and teenagers. So I’ve decided to be intentional and create a Memphis Weekend for my kiddos. Twice a month, we’ll go to a Memphis location on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Since we are a family of six and not overflowing in riches, our outings will always be wallet-friendly. Here were the stops for this past weekend.

Friday: Crosstown Concourse

After a school week, everyone needs to relax! Each person in this family has their own way of relaxing. For my daughter, it’s fries and a book. One twin loves a good MemPop, while the other is more partial to artwork and scenery. My oldest must grab a pizza, play a game, or hear some cool beats. My husband enjoys a good cocktail. Me, I love it all!

Crosstown Concourse has everything. We first stop by MemPops and grab some minis. They are the perfect size to snack on while walking to the WYXR radio station. We sit and watch the people in the glass like a fish bowl. They always wave kindly to us. Next, we go to the other side of the stairs. My boys take a pit stop at Sweet Magnolia for some gelato. How they can eat sweets back-to-back is beyond me! My daughter, husband, and I share some fries from Farm Burger. We have balance! Something sweet and something salty.

We agreed to meet in the Memphis Listening Lab after snacking. My kids get a kick of listening to music from the 1900s. (I know, I know. I keep asking them to refer to my birth year as the 1980s, but they insist on saying that I was born during the 1900s! The disrespect!) Oh, the Listening Lab is free! After listening to a few tunes, the kids go to the big steps to read or play cards, while hubby and I grab a quick cocktail at Art Bar. The cocktails there are top-notch, and I love the oddly decorated yet comforting rooms. When the kids start texting me they’re done, we take a walk through the Crosstown Arts Galleries, which are also free!

Before we knew it, we’d spent about two hours at Crosstown Concourse and enjoyed every minute of it. One day I hope to save up enough money to spend the weekend at Crosstown’s AirBnB Pettigrew Adventures. That would definitely make me Parent of the Year!


Photo: Patricia Lockhart

Saturday: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

After a slow morning filled with video games and a melee of breakfast, we finally break out of our pajamas and head to the Brooks Museum. At the Brooks, the first Saturday of every month is Super Saturday. From 10 a.m. to noon, they have free admission and art making facilitated by an art educator. My kids love art galleries, but it’s not often they get to see Black art by Black artists. The Brooks currently has an exhibit called “Black American Portraits.” It’s so DOPE! My kids laughed, joked, and stood in awe of some of the work. While you can roam and view for yourself, we decided to get a guide. The docents were so knowledgeable and provided a lot of context about the work and artists. There was even some Memphis artwork by a Memphis artist showcased!

I’m going to remind you, like I have to remind my kids at every gallery we go to 
 Don’t get too close to the art! No matter how much it boggles and inspires you.

Sunday: Memphis Rox

I’m not afraid of heights. I’m simply afraid of falling. But my fear of landing face-first was not dampened by Memphis Rox’s atmosphere. This is a place where my teenagers are sure to be ready for a nap afterwards.

Because I’m new to rock climbing, I thought about taking the Top Rope Class. I felt it would be informative and reassuring. I thought if I had proper training and guidance, I could be the best climber in the building. I thought about how cool I would look scaling the wall and mastering near-impossible reaches. I thought about hanging from the “cliff” by sheer finger strength. I thought the entire time 
 with my feet planted securely on the solid ground. I did not engage.

My family, however, thoroughly enjoyed themselves! They were climbing and bouldering as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Even my daughter was having a good time! (Which reminds me, when she was 4, she refused to hold my hand on the Ferris wheel when I was afraid. The disrespect!)

What I most love about Memphis Rox is that they exclude no one, regardless of ability to pay. While a day pass can cost anywhere from $10 for kids to $12 for adults, you’re also welcome to set a price that works for you.

Although I didn’t climb, I did sign up for Memphis Rox’s next community cleanup. It’s always good to give back! Register for the next event via Volunteer Odyssey. Next time, I promise I’ll try a little climbing.

Enjoy Memphis!

Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. Her days are filled with laughter with her four kids and charming husband. By day, she’s a school librarian and writer, but by night 
 she’s asleep. @realworkwife @memphisismyboyfriend

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Two on the Move

(left) Doug McGowen (Photo: Doug McGowen | Facebook); (right) Brent Taylor (Photo: Senator Brent Taylor | Facebook)

Simultaneously the most feared and most courted man in Memphis government for the last several years has been Doug McGowen, successively, director of innovation for the City of Memphis, head of the Memphis and Shelby County Covid-19 Task Force, and chief operating officer for city government. For the last year he has served as president/CEO of Memphis Light, Gas and Water, the city’s utility.

Unofficially, the onetime combat aviator is generally credited with having been a major force behind the scenes in the late city mayor’s race and, some say, was the inspiration for the erstwhile residency-requirement issue that for a crucial two-month period in midyear, until invalidated, stymied the mayoral campaigns of such major mayoral contenders as Sheriff Floyd Bonner and Van Turner and, whether by design or not, boosted the steady efforts of ultimate winner Paul Young.

The MLGW role is probably destined to be the most controversial of McGowen’s career. Having presumably reaggregated the hierarchy to his satisfaction, he is poised to spearhead two major initiatives — to push a 12 ⅓ percent MLGW rate increase through city council and, allegedly, to arrange the transfer of the utility’s headquarters from its current site in a core Downtown area to a suburban location out east.

The one move already has the city’s ratepayers, exhausted by a series of service dysfunctions, alarmed; the other has reportedly activated an ongoing revolt among Downtown business owners, who fear the immediate economic consequences of losing the 500-strong customer base of MLGW’s employees.

McGowen will need all his acknowledged skill, persuasiveness, and derring-do to achieve these new objectives, which are sure to dominate much of the news of the next few months.

‱ Another increasingly active mover and shaker on the governmental scene is District 31 state Senator Brent Taylor, a Republican who, since his election last year, has rapidly become a major player in the arenas of both Nashville and Memphis. A veteran of both the Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Commission, Taylor also led the Shelby County Election Commission in recent years.

Having disposed of a far-flung regional funeral-home empire, netting millions in the process, Taylor became an indispensable source of donations and campaign support for the Shelby County Republican Party, which is some years past its heyday in county politics. He has single-handedly endowed major party occasions, and his Eads mansion is a staple stopping point and fundraising site for any significant statewide GOP election campaign.

Even as former state Senator Brian Kelsey’s growing legal issues made his position in the suburban district unstable, Taylor became the obvious party choice for a replacement, and his Senate campaign was ready to go in 2022. He won easily, backed not only by his party establishment but by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, a nominal Democrat.

Predictably, Taylor has become a player in state government, acquiring key committee positions and ready access to Governor Bill Lee and other state officials. He is notable lately for his published communications seeking increased state involvement in the crime-control affairs of Shelby County, even suggesting at one point that the National Guard be activated in the county. Whatever Taylor’s long-term personal goals — and a 2026 gubernatorial try could be one of them — he is clearly on the board to pass go.

Categories
Fun Stuff News of the Weird

News of the Weird: Week of 12/07/23

Ewwwww!

Desirae Kelly of Farmington, Missouri, woke up at 5 a.m. on Oct. 24 to a strange feeling. “I actually felt something move in my ear,” Kelly said in a TikTok video. Fox News reported that Kelly was in such discomfort, she started to cry in the waiting room at urgent care. As a nurse started to flush her ear with water, Kelly “felt whatever that was crawl out of my ear 
 and I watched out of the corner of my eye something fall and land on my sweater,” Kelly said. “I watch this black spider with all eight legs crawl across the floor.” She said she screeched and threw up as the nurses trapped the spider in a container. “The nurses were so sweet and passed no judgment like I thought they would,” Kelly said. “I don’t think I could ever sleep without earplugs again.” [Fox News, 10/26/2023]

It’s Come to This

A 75-year-old woman in Pavia, Italy, had to get the courts involved to get her two sons, ages 42 and 40, out of her house, CNN reported on Oct. 27. Mom described her sons as “parasites” who had been living with her without contributing financially, even though both had jobs. Judge Simona Caterbi called the brothers “bamboccioni,” or big babies, and declared they have until Dec. 18 to vacate the woman’s home. “Once a certain age has been exceeded, the child can no longer expect the parents to continue the maintenance obligation within limits that are no longer reasonable,” Caterbi said. The brothers hadn’t decided whether they would appeal the decision. [CNN, 10/27/2023]

News You Can Use

Bet you didn’t know that every year, U.S. Department of Agriculture officials distribute oral rabies vaccines to raccoon populations in 14 states, driving around and targeting areas where the critters will find and eat the bait. But, as NPR reported, in rural communities, it’s more efficient to drop the little packets from low-flying planes. “The planes have a tube and a conveyor belt that just drops these vaccines to make sure they’re sort of evenly dispersed,” said journalist Emily Mullin. Jordona Kirby with the USDA said the trick was to make the vaccines palatable to a raccoon, so they come in a fish flavor and a sweet flavor. If other animals find and eat the packets, it won’t hurt them. [NPR, 11/1/2023]

What’s in a Name?

Too many words, according to officials in Spain. Fernando Fitz-James Stuart, the 17th duke of Huescar, recently baptized his second child with a name 25 words long, Sky News reported. The name pays tribute to the baby’s mother and father, other members of the family, and religious devotions. But register rules limit a child’s name to one compound name and two simple ones, and the duke and his wife will need to shorten the name for legal purposes. [Sky News, 10/26/2023]

Questionable Judgment

As college antics go, it stands up: On Oct. 25, someone wearing a giant penis costume was escorted out of the stands at a football game between Sam Houston State University and the University of Texas at El Paso, HuffPost reported. A school spokesperson said the prankster was given “the option to take the costume off or leave the stadium.” Sam Houston was winning the game until the phallic fan was removed; they lost 37-34. [HuffPost, 10/26/2023]

Crime Report

Officials in Melbourne, Australia, raided a home on Oct. 31, where they found a meth lab, boxes of gemstones, and so many Legos that they’ll need a truck to haul them away, The Guardian reported. Police found 1,130 boxes of the plastic blocks valued at more than $200,000 and arrested a 36-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman. “This is the first time our detectives have seized a Lego collection,” said Detective Inspector Anthony Vella. [Guardian, 11/1/2023]

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

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NEWS OF THE WEIRD
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Categories
Film Features Film/TV

Dream Scenario

This is what dreams are made of — Nic Cage, just being Nic Cage.

This bit of wisdom was posted on Twitter by user @maplecocaine in January 2019: “Each day on Twitter there is one main character. The goal is never to be it.” Social media promised to fulfill the techno-utopian dream of the internet by connecting every human being on the planet, but there was a reason that, even before the carnage of pandemic information warfare, Twitter’s heaviest users called it a “hellsite.” The reality of universal connection is that you’re a few milliseconds away from every asshole on Earth. Fame has unpleasant side effects, and that goes double for internet fame, which can be both unexpected and unintentional. When everyone knows your name, you become less of a human being and more of a symbol. Elon Musk is currently finding this out the hard way.

Fame in the internet age is the subject of Kristoffer Borgli’s Dream Scenario. Like many directors before him, his best decision was casting Nicolas Cage as his lead. Cage plays Paul Matthews, a biology professor at a sleepy Midwestern liberal arts college. Paul has done some pioneering work on hive minds, which he calls “antelligence,” but his book on the subject is languishing while his former colleagues get all the credit. 

One day, he notices a lot of strangers staring at him on the street. Then, he runs into his ex-girlfriend Claire (Marnie McPhail), who tells Paul she’s been dreaming about him. This doesn’t go over very well with Paul’s jealous wife Janet (Julianne Nicholson), but she takes some comfort in the fact that he’s not doing much, just watching the dream unfold along with the dreamer. Soon, other people realize that Paul is the weird guy showing up in their dreams, and he becomes an internet sensation. His biology lectures go from sparsely attended to overflowing. Paul is, at first, amused and excited about his newfound notoriety. Maybe he can use his fame to get his book published. But he can’t help but be a little disappointed that he never seems to actually do anything in the dreams but watch.

But as the phenomenon spreads, Paul gets his wish, and his image becomes an active participant in dreamtime. For some people, his presence is benevolent. For others, like Molly (Dylan Gelula), it’s erotic. But most people see Paul trying to murder them in ways director Borgli has way too much fun staging. 

Paul’s celebrity sours. The endorsement contract with Sprite, which marketing guru Trent (Michael Cera) painstakingly negotiated, is suddenly off the table. When Paul tries to hook up with his dream lover Claire IRL, it leads to one of the least erotic sex scenes ever committed to film. Even though real Paul has done nothing wrong, he is barred from his daughter’s school and forced to make an apology video. Naturally, that only makes things worse. 

As usual, Cage is better than the material — and nobody does “schlub” better. But in this case, Borgli’s screenplay is thoughtful, and his execution is always impeccable. When the metaphor gets stretched thin, Cage is there to beam a goofy smile or wet his pants or do literally anything asked of him with manic charisma and superhuman intensity. Dream Scenario is a comedy that gets in your head. 

Dream Scenario
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