“There were two levels, two stacks right by the counter, right by the fresh fruit, right under the donuts … I couldn’t believe they had them out there in the open.” — Mayor Barth Grayson of Bald Knob, Arkansas, to Little Rock TV station KARK.
Grayson was describing the precise placement of “dirty magazines” being sold at at Jiffy Jerry’s Quick Mart in Bald Knob. Grayson told the clerk it was against the law to display dirty magazines in plain sight, and so near to the fresh fruit and baked goods. He asked that the magazines be moved behind the counter.
It’s a Sign
Fly on the Wall would like to thank an eagle-eyed reader for spotting this delicious sign at Popeyes on Poplar Avenue. For the bargain price of $5, diners may choose to order the daily special: “BUTTREFLY SHRIMP.” Doesn’t that sound tasty?
Not in Memphis
Local TV stations have gotten better at identifying stories shared from other markets. But now and then, things still slip through the cracks.
Via WMC: “Man Strangles Driver Who Wouldn’t Stop Singing Christmas Carols, Troopers Say.”
That happened in Pennsylvania. It also sounds totally defensible.
Philip Ridley’s Radiant Vermin is a comedy about a newlywed couple discovering the dream home they’ve always wanted can be theirs if they’re willing to do what it takes. What it takes is both awful and potentially in the service of some grander, even more awful agenda. Think Whose Line Is It Anyway? meets American Psycho (but British), all rolled up in a gloriously ham-fisted metaphor for a related set of familiar urban plagues.
Storytelling techniques eliminate the need for sets and costumes. Shocking events are shared directly with the audience via light narration and flashbacks, with three actors taking on all roles. Things come to a head in a climactic garden party from hell, when neighbors who’ve all recently moved into the almost mysteriously trendy area converge. With its terrific cast leading the way, Quark Theatre’s creative team plays every note in this darkly comic aria perfectly, delivering surprise laughter and even more surprising flashes of tenderness.
Michelle Gregory, Lena Wallace Black, and Chase Ring make up the tightest ensemble in town. They pull off an energetic balancing act that threatens to soar too far over the top, but stays just grounded enough for the human stakes to matter.
What’s the worst thing you ever did for security? Comfort? Luxury? Did you even know you were doing it? And who are the real rats? These are some of the questions at the core Radiant Vermin, a show that gets in its audience’s face a bit, while spoofing some contemporary British problems that sound awfully American.
Radiant Vermin is a kind of Macbeth for moderns exploring creature comforts and how they help us manage guilt and other unpleasant feelings. It asks us who the real rats are.
Radiant Vermin is at Theatre South through March 31st. I cannot recommend it enough. www.quarktheatre.com.
There are a lot of plays about the civil rights movement in the mid-20th century. Too Heavy for Your Pocket may remind theater fans of things they’ve seen before, but any resemblance is purely superficial. Set a few bus stops outside of Nashville, in 1961, Jireh Breon Holder’s disarmingly unpretentious drama follows the lives of two young African-American couples who are just starting out in life, and practically glowing with the promise of a hopeful future. Things aren’t perfect. Day to day struggles include repossessed cars and infidelities. But these troubles are offset by opportunity, togetherness, and a genuine sense of hope. Were it not for the vintage threads and the occasional mention of Martin Luther King’s oratory, it might be easy to believe that Too Heavy is set in the later 1960s or early 1970s, as the spirit of protest collapsed into politics.
The characters Holder introduces us to are cut from patterns designed by Lorraine Hansberry, taken apart by August Wilson, and satirized by George C. Hunt. Sally’s a young, pregnant wife married to Tony, a kind but philandering husband. Evelyn’s a nightclub singer making ends meet for her husband Bowzie, a flawed but promising young man with an opportunity to attain a college degree — if he doesn’t screw everything up. Too Heavy risks cliche at every turn, finding newness and nuance in old tropes,
After attending Howard, in Nashville, young Bowzie — as close as this ensemble show gets to a protagonist — becomes aware that the relatively happy country life he’s lived doesn’t equate to justice. Against the caution of family and friends, he joins the Freedom Riders — the integrated activists who took buses into the most segregated parts of the deep South. That’s when the friends begin to confront the meaning and real cost of a brighter future.
With Patricia Clark directing, and an ensemble comprised of Marcus Allen, Rheannan Watson, Aaron Isaiah Walker, and Elizabeth Baines, Hattiloo’s production is unfussy with a subtle painterly quality to the overall design — like the set and characters all slid off a Charles White canvas. Its power is derived from uncommon intimacy, and there’s a lot of it bubbling just under the surface of this new old-fashioned play.
Too Heavy for Your Pocket at Hattiloo Theatre through April 14th. Hattiloo.org
The variety of work on display will be wide, ranging from traditional visual arts to virtual reality. There will be videography, performers, playwrights, musicians, and a pair of filmmakers, one from Memphis, one from France. The Crosstown Arts Residency Session’s spring studio tour gives Memphians the chance to explore the workspaces of 13 artists currently in residence at the Crosstown Concourse.
“You know, the Crosstown project grew out of a desire to do an artists residency,” residency coordinator Mary Jo Karimnia reminds. “This whole project is an integral part of what goes on here at Crosstown Arts. We have visual artists, musicians, writers, performers, and this is a chance to look into their normally private workspaces and meet the individual residents and see what sort of spaces Crosstown Arts has to offer.”
Jamie Harmon
Behind the curtain
The main purpose of the Crosstown residency is to give artists time and space to work. In addition to housing and workspace, artists are fed three meals a day five days a week. In return, the residents are asked to make art, participate in open studio tours in the spring and fall, and take part in artist talks like the one scheduled for April 9th.
“So there’s no other times, really for the public to access these spaces,” Karimnia says.
In addition to art, film, and musical and theatrical performances, there will be tasting samples from the cafe and drink specials.
“We want people to be able to interact with the residents,” Karimnia says. “That’s important to us.”
Close your eyes and try to picture all the food at a Muslim celebration. Imagine the intoxicating smells of roasted lamb, goat, and chicken as they mingle with the aromas of allspice, cumin, spicy harissa, fried almonds, and honey.
“Of course, I’m German-American, and my favorite thing is potato salad,” Angie Odeh says. Odeh, who does media relations for Muslimmemfest, reminds us that Islam is an international religion, and, to reflect its cuisines more accurately, the food court at this year’s Agricenter event will offer a diverse, international selection of choices.
“But I do think people most enjoy a chance to try the ethnic dishes like shawarma or falafel,” she says. “And there are definitely favorite vendors, but everybody else will get jealous if I say their names.”
Now in its fourth year, Muslimmemfest is an annual cultural celebration created by the Muslims in Memphis organization to “strengthen the relationship between the diverse peoples of Memphis and Shelby County.” In addition to sampling all that food, there are shopping opportunities and kids activities like bounce houses and climbing walls. “And a chance to rub elbows with Muslims,” Odeh says. “One of our most popular booths is called, ‘Ask an Imam.’ We have our Imam there, and people can ask him anything at all, from super-serious questions to something simple. We started doing this at the first Muslimmemfest, and it was so popular we’ve done it every year since.”
Michelle Gregory, Lena Wallace Black, Chase Ring in ‘Radiant Vermin’
Philip Ridley’s Radiant Vermin is a comedy about a newlywed couple discovering the dream-home they’ve always wanted can be theirs, if they’re willing to do what it takes. What it takes is both awful and potentially in the service of some grander, even more awful agenda. Think Whose Line Is It Anyway? meets American Psycho (but British), all rolled up in a gloriously ham-fisted metaphor for a related set of familiar urban plagues.
Storytelling techniques eliminate the need for sets and costumes. Shocking events are shared directly with the audience via light narration and flashbacks, with three actors taking on all roles. Things come to a head in a climactic garden party from hell, when neighbors who’ve all recently moved into the almost mysteriously trendy area converge. With its terrific cast leading the way, Quark Theatre’s creative team plays every note in this darkly comic aria perfectly, delivering surprise laughter and even more surprising flashes of tenderness.
Michelle Gregory, Lena Wallace Black, and Chase Ring make up the tightest ensemble in town. They pull off an energetic balancing act that threatens to soar too far over the top, but stays just grounded enough for the human stakes to matter.
What’s the worst thing you ever did for security? Comfort? Luxury? Did you even know you were doing it? And who are the real rats? These are some of the questions at the core Radiant Vermin, a show that gets in its audience’s face bit, while spoofing some contemporary British problems that sound awfully American.
Radiant Vermin is a kind of Macbeth for moderns exploring creature comforts, and how they help us manage guilt and other unpleasant feelings. It asks us who the real rats are.
Radiant Vermin is at Theatre South through March 31. I cannot recommend it enough. More details are available here.
Pop metal may have lost the spotlight when the glammy 1980s gave way to the alternative 1990s. Poison frontman Bret Michaels got his share of hits in before the party went underground — “Unskinny Bop,” “Talk Dirty to Me,” “Every Rose Has It’s Thorn,” to pick a few. He proved to be more resilient than his genre, too, forging a solo career before moving into reality TV with a three-year run as the star of his own dating show, Rock of Love.
Michaels followed Rock of Love with a 2010 win on Celebrity Apprentice (starring a certain US President). Life as I Know It, focused on home and family life. Now Michaels is back on the road with a new single that he wrote with his daughter Jorja Bleu, and he’s stopping in Memphis to headline Graceland’s military appreciation weekend.
The concert is free to active military, vets and first responders.
Graceland Hosts Poison Singer, Reality Star Bret Michaels
Memphis Flyer: You’re coming to town and to Graceland for a show that’s part of a big military appreciation weekend — marking the anniversary of Elvis’s army service — can you just tell me a little about that for starters?
Bret Michaels: Two things that are very important to me: I love Memphis and I’ve been to Graceland many times on my own, for personal reasons. I’m just absolutely honored to do this and for this really important reason: I’m the son of a veteran. A lot of the staff on my road crew are veterans. Every night on stage I honor our vets, and our first responders. I’ve been doing that every single night since the beginning of my career. And I think that’s why so many people know it’s the real deal for me. I never bring politics into it. It’s just simply a big thank you for the freedoms that we get and the sacrifice that the veterans and their families made so that we get those freedoms. This is the most important thing, and I say this every night. My crowd is very diverse. Three generations. But we all come together because I don’t use it as a political stance. It’s just a big thank you — a thank you for the freedom of opinions that we get.
MF: And the concert’s not just for military, it’s for everybody. It’s just part of this special military week event.
BM: This is for everybody. It’s a big party. I’m bringing all the Poison hits. I’m putting on the show I put on every night. I give 1000 percent energy, as does my stellar band. We play all the Poison hits. We play other Bret Michaels songs. We’re going to do the new single “Unbroken.” It’s just an absolute party. I’m a details guy. I want to show that from the minute the show opens. We’re going to have guys handing out picks guitar picks. We got people at the front of the stage greeting people. We go out of our way. It’s just a party, no matter what. And that night will celebrate our veterans too.
MF:You’ve got a new single, “Unbroken.” And you’re back on the road. Is that good? I know everybody has a different opinions about touring.
BM: I love the road. It’s a part of my life. I’m one of those guys, and if you’re around me, this is the real me. I don’t become two different personalities. I literally live my life and am a very grateful person. I get to do what I love to do. I get to travel. I get to play music. And then I go home. And when I’m at home, I’m at home. I’ve got a family. I’ve got kids. And my kids are music-oriented. They play music. They love music. They go on the road with me a bunch. It’s a difficult combination, but I love the road. When I hit that stage, you’ll see I’m still excited to be out there.
Graceland Hosts Poison Singer, Reality Star Bret Michaels
MF: That’s great that you still get excited about it, because it can be tough, particularly if you have any kind of special circumstance.
BM: I’ve been a type-1, insulin-dependent diabetic since I was six. First thing I do when I roll out of bed in the morning is check my blood sugar. Second thing I do is take insulin. Then I eat and get in some form of exercise. I work out at a gym if I can, but whatever is available I make do with it. In Memphis, I’ll go out in the area and probably work out in a local gym there. I like to take in the scenery.
MF: So do fans. It’s good to get out, but after all that TV, I’m sure you get recognized. Do you like interacting with fans?
BM: 1000 percent. If I’m grabbing a bite to eat, or at the gym, people will come up for different reasons. Some because of the music. Some because of Apprentice or Rock of Love. There’s different reasons they know me. I’m grateful.
MF: You’re bringing up the TV — is there more of that? Has that phase passed? Are you back doing music full time now?
BM: I’m a creative person. I like to create stuff and see it through. There are a lot of creative people. My blessing is being able to bridge the gap. Once you create something, then you got to go get it done. You can create a song, but you’ve got to lay it down. You’ve got to record it. You got to make sure it gets out then for sale on iTunes. You shoot the video. There’s a lot of hard work. Being creative is what turns me on. Getting it done is where I’m blessed. I’m a hard worker and I constantly write and record music. In the Great digital world we live in, you don’t have to go in for 6-months and plow it all out at one time. You can go in and write “Unbroken,” and put that out right then. When you feel something like this, it hits you, you write that, you record it, you put it out digitally. That’s the great thing about the world we live in now.
MF: Every artist I know has a mixed relationship with how digital recording and marketing changed the business. You seem to really like it.
BM: It’s where the world is going and went. Go look at “Bohemian Rhapsody” with Queen. Look at the rebirth of that catalog. It’s amazing that this music gets a complete rebirth. And it’s the same with Bret Michaels and Poison. No matter how digitally advanced we get, it still comes down to people. It comes down to hard work, and embracing people. Even if you do EDM you’ve got to go out there and do concerts. You got to mix. I warn every artist out there, no matter what your art genre is, you can be easily exposed in a digital world, and easily disposed. But you got to go out there and take your music to people.
MF: Truth.
BM: The “gatekeepers” went away with digital. So it opened up the world of creativity. The “gatekeepers,” if they didn’t like the shoes you were wearing, could stop you from putting a record out. I’m telling you the truth. The “gatekeepers” are like, “I don’t like that guy’s record. I don’t like the way his shoes are. So we’re going to shelve the record.” That’s all over. So the ability to be talented and creative is now wide open. The downside is there so much — the floodgates opened. The “gatekeepers” went away and the floodgates opened. And when the floodgates opened, the world itself can’t possibly take all of it in. So you, as an artist, have to learn to work even harder now to stand out.
MF:We haven’t talked about the new single yet.
BM: I co-wrote this with my youngest daughter Jorja Bleu.
MF:That is awesome.
BM: She’s my youngest daughter and she goes to a music school, and she’s 13. She was going through a tough time in her life and I’ve gone through a lot of adversity of mine, being diabetic, going through the brain surgery. So we wrote the song “Unbroken,” to be inspirational. It’s about seizing adversity and being stronger than our storms sometimes. It really is resonating with people. It’s exploding organically. It’s helping people, no matter what they’re going through in their life.
MF:Nice. I have musical twins and one’s a songwriter. We’ve done stuff together and it’s like the most fun, rewarding thing younger you never saw coming.
BM: Yes — you said it exactly. It’s a joy this bonding that is unexplainably great.
Graceland Hosts Poison Singer, Reality Star Bret Michaels (2)
What is Military Appreciation Weekend? Via Graceland:
WHAT: Graceland will celebrate the 61st anniversary of Elvis’ military service March 23 – 24, 2019 with its annual Military Appreciation Weekend. This two-day celebration will showcase salute and commemorate Elvis’ patriotism. WHO: Along with honoring active military, retired veterans and first responders, Graceland will also recognize special guests currently serving in the 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, which was previously activated as the 1st Battalion, 32nd Armor Regiment where Elvis served in his military career.
On Saturday the 23rd at 8:00 p.m. the weekend will be highlighted by a Graceland Live concert featuring Bret Michaels performing live at the Graceland Soundstage. WHEN: 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Saturday and Sunday March 23 and 24 WHERE: Elvis Presley’s Memphis
Highlights: Free Entry to Museum Exhibits (with Valid Military ID) Daily Flag Ceremonies
Guests are invited to observe flag ceremonies led by troops from Fort Campbell’s 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment at 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. both days at Elvis Presley’s Memphis. Care Package Donation Stations
Graceland will be collecting care package items for deployed service members, veterans, recruit graduates and first-responders throughout the weekend. Letter Writing Campaign
In the Hollywood Backlot Exhibit. Letters will be sent to our nation’s heroes through Operation Gratitude. Photo Opportunity with Elvis’ Presidential Medal of Freedom Veteran & Active Duty Member VIP Gathering
Graceland’s Archives Department will provide stories and an up-close and personal look at special artifacts from Elvis’ time in The US Army. Patriotic Mansion Lighting
Graceland mansion is lit up in red, white and blue all week to showcase our appreciation for Active Duty and retired U.S. Armed Forces members. Kids Crafts and Activities
A family friendly activity where kids of all ages will learn how to create a variety of fun military-themed crafts out of everyday household items.
Graceland Hosts Poison Singer, Reality Star Bret Michaels (3)
“I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace — two are called a law firm — and that three or more become a Congress.” — John Adams opening remarks in 1776. The musical, not the year.
Like the nation whose birth it celebrates, 1776 is an extraordinary creation — the most delightful musical stuffed inside the most contentious play, wrapped in an endlessly urgent history lesson more truthy than accurate. It’s a miracle, of sorts, famous for containing the longest scene in any musical without singing, choreography, or a single note of music played. Also, like the nation it celebrates, 1776 is complicated, built on enough deception, prioritizing drama over all else, that it’s probably a good thing to knock the dust off from time-to-time and re-evaluate.
Cecelia Wingate’s known for staging monster musical extravaganzas. What surprised me most about her very fine production of 1776 for Theatre Memphis, was just how conventional it is, erring on the side of magnificent. The lush, 18th-Century costumes are so thoughtfully detailed they often say as much about characters as the actors wearing them. That’s saying something given a mostly superb cast. Though it’s hardly palatial in spirit, the gleaming, brightly-lit set works at cross purposes, making the emerging nation seem too solid and formidable — less the worn-out crazy quilt with no chance in hell of weathering the coming storm. We hear it’s “hot as Hell,” in Philly, but take away the fans and complaints, and not much else in the breezy space says so.
It seems critics can’t write about 1776 these days without some comparison to its kindred Tony-winner, Hamilton. I won’t do that, but will say that between the hotly-paced Hamilton and a faintly iconoclastic interpretation of 1776 staged by The Encores! in 2016, one might hope for a touch more currency and self-awareness.
I’m almost afraid to give John Maness another glowing review. People will think he’s paying me. But Maness’s growing reputation as a dramatic actor who vanishes into his characters, obscures the fact that he’s always been a solid musical theater performer as well. When Hedwig and the Angry Inch finally made it to town, Maness took the title role and rocked it just right. Now older, and more furrowed, his John Adams is a firebrand, full of righteous fury — always just at the edge of caning somebody on the floor of Congress.
Adams’ character — a blending of John and his second cousin Samuel — doesn’t quite mesh with reality. Though he had adversaries in Congress (even among allies), the man from Massachusetts wasn’t universally regarded as obnoxious and disliked until after his presidency. Independence was the popular choice in the year of our show, and Adams was a tireless, vocal advocate. Maness translates the alleged obnoxiousness into impatience at the edge of impertinence, and, excepting turns by Lydia Hart’s’s Mrs. Jefferson and Kevar Maffitt’s Rutledge, he’s seldom the second most interesting thing on stage.
Wingate’s 1776 — a story about uniting the American colonies to declare of independence — struggles a bit with antagonists. Though he has been absent from Memphis for a long time, I know Brian Helm to be a fine and committed actor who relishes physically demanding roles. As Dickinson, a patriot whose intellectual reservations are amplified for dramatic purposes, he’s the face of opposition. As one of the show’s two principal “bad guys,” he makes the case for wealth, tradition, and security over independence, leading Congress’s anachronistic right-wing through the song “Cool, Considerate Men.”
1776 landed on Broadway in 1969, a year after the infamous televised debates between arch-liberal Gore Vidal and arch-Conservative William F. Buckley Jr. On the page, Dickinson’s gravitas mixed with cool certitude calls to mind the latter, who once dryly claimed, “It’s terribly hard to stand carrying the weight of what I know.” Helm’s more scheming and excitable interpretation is more reminiscent of radio pundits like the late Mike Fleming, or a stiffer Rush Limbaugh. It makes the debate at the heart of act one less dynamic, and more shrill than it might be, as he seeks to match and top Maness’s Adams rather than own him. This less poised depiction yields the floor, and principle antagonist role, to the reliably excellent Maffitt, who delivers a cooler, more self-sufficient vision of Rutledge, the pro-slavery representative from South Carolina whose eerie, musical lesson in triangle trade makes a case that implicates every man in congress with the shameful practice. But does it also implicate itself? The script? 50-years worth of audiences, swept up in light nationalism?
Theater Memphis serves up charming, humanizing portraits of America’s best known founding fathers like Ben Franklin (Jimbo Lattimore) and Thomas Jefferson (Sean Carter). It does a somewhat better job bringing in lesser known figures like George Washington’s messenger and a hard-drinking representative from Rhode Island who never met an idea too dangerous to talk about. As Abigail Adams and Martha Jefferson, Edna Dinwiddie and Hart show two distinctly different ways to keep the home fires burning while the menfolk, “Piddle, Twiddle, and Resolve.” The ensemble is built on solid foundations, and the voices collected for this production blend gorgeously, lifted by a tight orchestra.
When it comes to critique, it’s sometimes said that “everything before the ‘but,’ is BS.” Can’t disagree. I’m sure regular readers sense a “but” coming and, of course, they’re right. See, 1776 makes a virtue of compromise at any cost, and as we know, the cost was human bondage and chattel slavery. As considerate as the script may be, sounding bells over the struggle for common ground feels off in 2019, as the last campaigns of the American Civil War play themselves out in proxy battles over Confederate iconography. Where some may see currency in these debates, I tend to see continuity, and even affirmation. But — and you knew it was coming — I don’t think we need to put 1776 away just yet. If anything, it’s probably not revived as often as it might be. But (yes, another one) we know how the story ends. Furthermore, we know where it goes after it ends and where it goes wrong. So maybe in 2019, it might be more interesting to strip 1776 down than to dress it up.
To summarize: Great voices? Check. Good acting? Check. Profound wig game? Double check. Given Theatre Memphis’s reputation for razzle dazzle, Ellen Inghram’s choreography is uncharacteristically subdued. The acting is top-shelf, from Bill Andrews as John Hancock to Helm, whose questionable use shouldn’t be mistaken for bad work. Songs stuck in my head for decades never sounded better, from the lusty, “He Plays the Violin,” to the mournful “Mama Look Sharp.” Maybe, like the nation whose birth 1776 celebrates, I was just expecting too much.
Personalities on the Plate author Barbara J. King isn’t out to convert the planet to veganism. “As an anthropologist, I know that love of food is deeply rooted in cultural and family traditions as well as in sensory pleasures,” she says, acknowledging Memphis’ rich history as a barbecue capital. But most pork products come from factory farms where, according to King, “the very thinking and feeling abilities of pigs make their suffering especially acute.”
King’s an anthropology professor at the College of William and Mary, but she’s visiting Rhodes on Thursday, March 21st, to deliver a lecture based on her premise, “that it’s a good thing for each one of us to inform ourselves about who we eat, about what their lives are like.
The wives tell their story.
“Pigs are widely understood to be smart mammals,” she says, calling out porcine celebrities like Canadian Facebook star, Esther the Wonder Pig. They are good at acing cognition tests, problem-solving using mirrors, reacting intelligently to our symbols, and beating young kids in computer-based games.” All of that is based on a human standard, however, and King prefers to look at pigs on their own terms.
“They’re fun-loving,” she adds. “Intensely loyal, express a wide range of emotions from joy to sadness in their daily lives.” To many people, they are also a delicious dietary staple.
“Yet I think we can take heart,” King concludes. “More and more, people are waking up to the urgent ethical issues surrounding the cost of meat and dairy consumption not only for other animals but for our whole planet. In this regard, it’s a very exciting time.”
Your Pesky Fly knows how much time he spends buzzing around his glass house. If I’m going to have a laugh at other people’s errors and typos, I’ve got to include the Flyer’s, too.
In last week’s otherwise up-to-date cover story about the state of print media in Memphis, The Best Times was identified as Active Times. In fairness, that was the periodical’s original name. It just hasn’t been named that since 1990, and we regret the time traveling.
On a different note, a recent politics column lurched in an unexpected direction when the subject of “safety-nut funding” was introduced. We also regret that error while simultaneously supporting any future efforts to make safety-nut funding an actual thing.
Quotable
“I am deeply concerned about journalism in this era… It concerns me when being educated and well-read is called ‘being an elitist.’ I am disturbed when being dumb and not well-read is more desired.” — outspoken sports journalist Jemele Hill at the University of Memphis last week.
Pot Chronicles
According to various reports, Memphis police arrested a 20-year-old man who is accused of selling marijuana outside a Family Dollar on Mendenhall, where he was trying to get a job. Remember when initiative used to be rewarded?
Neverending Atticus
“You remember the Faulknerian prophecy — the Snopeses shall inherit the earth? They’ve already taken over Monroeville … they are trying to turn Harper Lee into a tourist attraction like Graceland or Elvis.” — from a 1993 letter written by To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper Lee, recently sold at auction.
Jamie Harmon 
Darius B. Williams 