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Film Features Film/TV

Now Playing Aug. 16-22: Didi, Watchmen, and a New Alien

What’s up, Memphis? Here’s what’s on the big screen for your viewing pleasure this weekend.

Alien: Romulus

Cailee Spaeny (of Priscilla fame) stars as an astronaut who discovers a derelict space station. Then, she and her crewmates discover why it is derelict: It’s overrun by alien xenomorphs. Set in the time between Ridley Scott’s original Alien and James Cameron’s Aliens, director Fede Álvarez aims to bring the sci-fi horror franchise back to its roots, and give you a big hug right in the face. 

Dìdi

It’s the summer of 2008, and Chris (Izaac Wang), the first-generation son of Chinese immigrants, is trying to make new friends before he starts high school. He starts hanging out with some skaters, but since he can’t skate, he films them in the hopes of making skate videos. But the awkward teen has a lot of learning to do about life and friendship. Director Sean Wang’s ode to growing up in the early internet age swept the Audience Award and Dramatic awards at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. 

The Phantom of the Opera 

The 1925 silent film set the standard for horror films to come. Lon Chaney, in his signature role, stars as the Phantom, a hideously scarred man condemned to live beneath an opera house in Paris who falls in love with a singer (Mary Philbin). He uses his organ playing skills to bewitch her, but sets himself and the opera up for a painful reckoning. The Orpheum Theater presents Phantom on Friday, August 16th, with live score on the Mighty Wurlitzer by organist Tony Thomas.  

Time Warp Drive-In

This month’s Time Warp Drive-In theme is Comic Book Sinister, taking you to the darker side of cinema based on comics and graphic novels. Naturally, the first film on Saturday night at the Malco Summer Drive-In is Sin City, Robert Rodriguez’s pitch-black adaptation of Frank Miller’s noir graphic novel, starring Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, and the late Brittany Murphy. To answer your question about this scene, no Rourke didn’t cut himself shaving.

I give Zack Snyder a lot of grief these days, but credit where credit is due, his 2009 adaptation of Alan Moore’s Watchmen is actually a great movie. That’s probably due to the lengths he goes to to make his film match Dave Gibbons’ artwork from the original comic. It’s definitely worth watching on the big screen. Notice the very effective use of Philip Glass’ Koyaanisqatsi score in this original trailer.

The third and final Time Warp film is The Crow. Directed by Alex Proyas, the 1994 film is from the first post-Batman wave of superhero films that included stuff like Darkman. The film is notorious for the death of star Brandon Lee, who was killed on set in circumstances similar to what recently happened on Alec Baldwin’s Western Rust. This year, it will get a reboot. Here’s the trailer for the spooky original. The Time Warp Drive-In starts at dusk on Saturday, August 17th, at the Malco Summer Drive-In.

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On the Fly We Recommend We Recommend

On the Fly: Week of 08/16/24

Waitress
Playhouse on the Square
Friday, August 16-September 15
I can’t wait any longer for Playhouse on the Square to open its production of Waitress. This is one of my personal favorite musicals that I’ve ever seen. The music is top-notch, and the story, oh my, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll get warm and fuzzy. As Playhouse writes, “Jenna, a skilled pie maker and waitress, finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage and a small town. With an unexpected pregnancy, she worries that her dream of owning a pie shop might never materialize. However, a baking contest in a neighboring county and the arrival of the town’s charming new doctor present her with a chance at happiness. Encouraged by her unique group of fellow waitresses and devoted customers, Jenna discovers the one thing she’s been lacking — courage.” Tickets are $25 and can be purchased here. Performances are Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.

Black Lodge Final Events 🙁
Black Lodge
Various Times

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Black Lodge is closing. Before you start crying, the Lodge has a few events left on its calendar. Friday at 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Night Phonk will deliver a concert of pure uncut street bass music and sounds straight from the Memphis underground ($10). Afterward, the Lodge will host Psytrance, where you can “transport yourself to another dimension of rolling bass lines and dazzling visuals by Feral Perspective” — whatever that means ($10). 901Wrestling will take over the Lodge on Saturday at 7 p.m. (more on that here). Then there’s the Zombie Luau — think zombies in Hawaiian gear — where the Memphis Zombies will be raising money for ghoul school supplies. There’ll be music, hula hoops, leis, karaoke, and a chance to get your zombie makeup done ($15). On Sunday at 3 p.m., the Bluff City Liars return for an afternoon of improv comedy ($10).

Wurlitzer Silent Movie: The Phantom of the Opera (1925)
Orpheum Theatre
Friday, August 16, 7 p.m.
The Phantom is taking over the big screen at the Orpheum Theatre this Elvis Week. In the silent horror classic, The Phantom of the Opera, aspiring young opera singer Christine Daaé discovers that the Phantom, her mysterious admirer, is intent on helping her become a lead performer. For this screening, Orpheum house organist Tony Thomas will breathe new life into this haunting tale as the theater’s Mighty Wurlitzer Organ will transport audiences to the heart of the Phantom’s mysterious world. Donations of $10 are recommended.

Auteur: Music Inspired by the Films of Wes Anderson
The Green Room at Crosstown Arts
Friday, August 16, 7:30 p.m.
Presenting saxophonist Amanda Gardier performing original compositions inspired by the distinct imagery and characters of one of the most famous auteurs in film, Wes Anderson. Tickets for the show are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Renaissance Faire
Wiseacre Brewing Company
Saturday, August 17, 1-6 p.m.
Hear ye, hear ye, by a royal-in-spirit decree, all subjects of Memphis are invited to the Renaissance Faire this Saturday at Wiseacre Brewing Company. The day will have “live music, a mermaid, face painting, dancers, a queen who will knight fair-goers, and armored knights doing demonstrations,” says event organizer Ashley Riley. “There will also be several vendors selling medieval garb, jewelry, and accessories, as well as plenty of food vendors — including the iconic turkey leg, a staple at any Renaissance fair.” Admission is free, but donations of school supplies are encouraged.

Shop Black Fest
Bass Pro Dr. and Riverside Dr.
Saturday, August 17, 2-7 p.m.
August is National Black Business Month, and this weekend’s Shop Black Fest is the perfect opportunity to connect with and shop from Black-owned small businesses. Fest-goers will also enjoy live music, raffle giveaways, yoga, and a kidzone. Here’s a link to the day’s schedule and a list of all the vendors who will be setting up. General admission is free; RSVP here.

On Paper Community Night
The Dixon Gallery & Gardens
Saturday, August 17, 5-8 p.m.
We might know a thing or two about making a paper, but the Dixon knows arguably a lot more about the art of paper. Their “On Paper!” interactive exhibit, which will be on display through September 29, celebrates paper “as a material, a communication tool, and a creativity and innovation initiator.” To coincide with the exhibit, the Dixon is hosting a community night full of stories, artmaking, performances, and a special highlight of the plants and natural resources used to make paper. The night will include live poetry, gelato from Zio Matto, snacks from La Antojería, a book giveaway, and more. The event is free to attend. 

Time Warp Drive-In | Comic Book Sinister: The Pitch Black Pulp of Gothic Comic Heroes
Malco Summer Drive-In
Saturday, August 17, 8 p.m.
Time Warp Drive-In dives into the dark side of comic book heroes, descending into the dark noir world of three unforgettable cult comic legends brought to cinema life: Sin City (2005), Watchmen: Director’s Cut (2008), and The Crow (1994). As always, the cost is $25 per car for as many people as your car, truck, or van can hold. 18+. 

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News News Blog News Feature

TVA Board Still Has No Memphis Members

More than 11 months since she was nominated to become the only Black member of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Board of Directors, Memphian Patrice Robinson is still waiting to take her seat. The nomination awaits approval from the Senate Environment and Public Works committee.

Robinson, a former Memphis City Council member, was nominated by President Joe Biden to the nine-member TVA board on September 11, 2023. She has yet to be confirmed. In fact, she has not even had a confirmation hearing, and it doesn’t look like one will be scheduled any time soon.

Patrice Robinson
Patrice Robinson

“I am still waiting to be confirmed by the Senate. This has just not been a priority,” Robinson said. “It has been a little nerve-wracking, but I am not there yet.”

Currently, eight people are seated on the nine-member board. All are white. None are from West Tennessee.

A federally owned utility company, TVA supplies electricity to parts of seven states. It is the exclusive supplier of electricity to Memphis. As TVA’s single largest power customer, city-owned Memphis Light, Gas & Water (MLGW) pays $1 billion a year for electricity. Yet the city has not had anyone on the TVA board since John Ryder, a Memphis attorney and former general counsel for the Republican National Committee, who died in May 2022, just months after leaving the board.

That is unacceptable, said state Rep. Justin J. Pearson.

“It is imperative that we get representation on the TVA board,” said Pearson (D-Memphis), a frequent critic of TVA. “We provide a significant amount of revenue for TVA. And we in Memphis have the greatest energy burden for any place in the country. We are spending a lot of our money on energy. Our voice is critically important.”

When contacted July 25 about the status of Robinson’s approval, a spokesperson for the the Senate Environment and Public Works committee offered a one-line email response: “The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has yet to schedule further consideration of Patrice Robinson’s nomination.”

Gridlock on Congressional confirmations is nothing new and not unique to Robinson’s appointment. On July 30 at a U.S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration hearing, an official with the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service urged Congress to streamline the process of approving presidential appointments, which she said hurts local communities and even threatens national security.

“The work required to select, nominate, and vote on presidential appointees is longer, more complicated, and more uncertain,” testified Jenny Mattingly of Partnership for Public Service in a written statement. “Many positions remain vacant for months or even years; some never will be filled.”

Previous appointments to the TVA board have also waited long periods before getting confirmed. Current board member Beth Geer of Brentwood, who works as the chief of staff for former vice president Al Gore, and two others, were first nominated in spring of 2021 but waited until December of 2022 to be approved.

Biden’s 2021 TVA board nominations included Kim Caudle Lewis, an African-American businesswoman from Huntsville, Alabama, but she withdrew to make an unsuccessful run for the Alabama state senate.

Robinson, 68, completed her two terms on the Memphis City Council in December, where she served as the council’s liaison to MLGW. She also spent 17 years as a supervisor with MLGW. The TVA board position became vacant in January with the retirement of former TVA board chairman Bill Kilbride of Chattanooga.

At the time of her nomination, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) praised Robinson as the ideal person to represent Memphis and West Tennessee on the TVA board.

“Patrice Robinson has a lifetime of experience in utility management and public service and is the ideal candidate for the TVA Board. I am happy to see a Memphian again appointed to the board,” Cohen said in a statement.

Robinson said she has talked to a representative of the Senate committee, but she is right now “in a holding pattern.”

Four of TVA’s current eight board members are from Tennessee. But none of those four live anywhere close to Memphis (Nashville, Brentwood, Chattanooga and Johnson City). The others are from Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia and Kentucky.

Scott Brooks, TVA representative, said TVA has no influence on who is nominated nor confirmed for its board. The board has met twice since January, being one member short for each of those meetings. The board meets again on August 22 in Florence, Alabama.

Memphis has had previous TVA board members in addition to Ryder. Cohen’s office reported that Robinson would follow in the footsteps of these Memphians who previously served on the TVA board: Ron Walter, V. Lynn Evans, and Bishop William Graves.

Pearson suggested that public pressure could help get Robinson’s nomination confirmed, as it has worked in the past when Congressional confirmations have been delayed. Pearson has been highly critical of TVA’s pursuit of fossil-fuel generating plants at the expense of green energy such as wind and solar power.

“It makes no sense that we have no representation on the TVA board,” Pearson said. “We need someone to help elevate our issues. And to speak out against the horrible direction that the TVA is going.”

Robinson declined to comment on whether Memphis and West Tennessee citizens should be concerned that such an important component of the area’s energy supply has no representation. She said she would prefer to focus on her credentials for the job.

“I do believe I would represent West Tennessee and our community well. I have a utility background and a political background, and I cannot think of a better candidate,” Robinson said.

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News News Blog News Feature

U of M To Address Transportation Challenges For Ford’s Blue Oval City

The University of Memphis has been chosen to further explore transportation challenges for Stanton, Tennessee, as the city prepares to become the destination for Ford’s Blue Oval City.

An announcement from Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) said the university, along with civil engineering professor Sabya Mishra, will receive $75,000 to “study the transportation challenges facing Ford’s future Blue Oval City employees.” 

Blue Oval City is a project that was announced in 2021 by Ford Motor Company as a part of its investment in electric vehicles and sustainable manufacturing. The planned expenditure of $5.6 billion marks the largest investment in the company’s history, with the goal of creating the “next-generation electric truck” from Ford.

“The site spans six square miles and will be among the largest auto manufacturing facilities in U.S. history. It will encompass vehicle assembly, battery production, and a supplier park in a vertically integrated ecosystem,” the company said.

Ford said the project  will create approximately 6,000 jobs for West Tennesseeans.

This grant comes from the National Science Foundation as a part of the Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) Stage One project. Officials said the initiative provides a closer look at “efficient public transit systems” by examining things such as fixed-line buses, on-demand micro-transit, and more.

The United States National Science Foundation (NSF) said CIVIC’s purpose is to bridge the gap between “essential resources and services and community needs.”

“By addressing priorities at the local scale that are relevant across the U.S., CIVIC is laying the foundation for a broader and more fluid exchange of research and technology capabilities and civic priorities through joint partnerships involving civic partners and the research community,” NSF said.  “CIVIC funds projects that pilot state-of-the-art solutions to community challenges over 12 months.”

According to the abstract for the project, researchers plan on  developing a  “multi-modal transit system for Blue Oval City..”

Researchers said they will improve public transportation for prospective workers by using a mix of regular-sized buses and smaller ones. They will utilize on-demand transit to ensure on-time performance.

The university said it will create models using artificial intelligence (AI) to address the “high volumes of employee trips and create service zones with optimal pick-up and drop-off locations.” They will also work to make sure this initiative “incentivizes ridership and ensures social equity.”

Cohen said the project is crucial for the future success of Blue Oval City and it’s workforce. “I congratulate the University and Dr. Mishra for being awarded this prestigious grant for such forward-thinking and innovative research. Benefiting our entire region,” Cohen said.

According to NSF, the program will begin October 1, with an estimated end date of March 31, 2025.

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News News Blog News Feature

Black Lodge to Close

Black Lodge owners have announced they will close the venue, citing “exorbitant rent” and “crippling debt” as reasons for the move. 

Black Lodge opened on Cleveland in the Crosstown area in 2019. That move came after it closed its original location in Cooper-Young in 2014. That location opened in 2000. 

The original location was, primarily, a video-rental store, housing a collection of more than 30,000 VHS tapes, DVDs, and more, according to a post on the Crosstown Concourse website. The new location rented movies but it was also a restaurant, bar, and a venue for live music, and events. 

The owners announced the move to close in a Facebook post Tuesday evening.

Here’s the post in full:

”Dear Black Lodge Community,

“With heavy hearts, we must announce that Black Lodge is closing its doors after five unforgettable years. Your unwavering support, especially through the challenges of a global pandemic, has made this journey more magical than we ever could have imagined. Together, we created something truly special — a place where friends, art, music, and memories were made.

“Despite our modest financial backing, we poured our blood, sweat, and tears into building a venue that stood out in this city. 

“Unfortunately, the weight of exorbitant rent and the crippling debt we incurred during Covid-19 have made it impossible to continue. 

“We’ve fought hard, but the reality of a struggling economy means that nights out have become a luxury that many can no longer afford.

“For those still interested in Lodge’s movie library and rentals, the video store will be moving to a new location.  We’ll be announcing about its new home soon. 

“As we close this chapter on the venue, we hope that the memories you’ve made at Black Lodge will live on. Thank you for being part of our story. We will be open this weekend, so if you’d like to come say goodbye and party one last time, come on by! 

“If you have any amazing photos or videos of your experiences at Black Lodge please post them in the comments.

“With love and gratitude,  

Black Lodge”

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Music Music Features

Mark Edgar Stuart: Never Far Behind

Some artists ponder making albums, wondering if they have enough material, enough musicians, or enough money. But when you’re a player on the level of bassist Mark Edgar Stuart, always staying busy with one project or another and forever mingling with other musos at gigs and in studios, albums sometimes just fall together. One recording session here, another there, and eventually the whole thing snowballs.

That’s how Stuart’s latest release, Never Far Behind, came about, as the singer-songwriter himself admits. “I didn’t really mean to put out another record,” he says. “I thought I was done for a little bit. And then this record just sort of happened.” 

Things like that tend to occur when you’re part of a crack studio band, as Stuart is — in this case at Bruce Watson’s Delta-Sonic Sound studio, where Stuart, as a member of the Sacred Soul Sound Section, plays bass behind artists like Elizabeth King on the Bible & Tire Recording Co. He can also be heard on secular Watson-related projects, some of which end up on Big Legal Mess Records. There’s always music cooking over at Delta-Sonic. And at times Stuart would show up only to find his own material on the menu. 

“Over the past two years, my buddies and I would get in the studio — Will [Sexton] and Bruce and that whole crew. We just slowly recorded tracks,” Stuart says. “I kind of felt like the universe produced it, you know? Will was the official producer, but every session was just last minute. Will would say, ‘Hey, what are you doing tomorrow? Bruce is in town, I’m here, let’s record some songs!’ And I’m on the phone going, ‘Well, who’s going to be the band?’ So it was pretty much whoever was available at any given moment. Then three months would go by, and Will would go, ‘Hey, we’re in the studio now working on your record! What are you doing?’ I’d say, ‘Oh, shit, I guess I’d better get down there!’”

That approach made Never Far Behind one of Stuart’s most collaborative efforts, including songs he co-wrote with Sexton, Jed Zimmerman, and, perhaps most strikingly, Greg Cartwright. “That loose approach made for some cool combinations,” says Stuart, “like when we recorded a song that me and Greg wrote together [‘We Better Call It a Day’]. I was like, ‘Greg, you in town?’ ‘Yeah.’ ‘Come over!’ So he played guitar, and Amy [LaVere] played bass, and Krista [Wroten] played on it, and Shawn Zorn, and Will played the keyboards. In the studio, it wound up becoming a duet. It was just real loose and cool. Amy was going to sing backup, and all of a sudden she sang the first verse and it was like, ‘Fuck it, a duet it is! Keep rolling!’”

That track draws on the wit and musicality of Stuart and Cartwright, two of the city’s finest songwriters, to create a kind of Eastern European lament over a failed romance, made all the more haunting by LaVere’s and Stuart’s swapped vocal lines, wistful mandolin, and atmospheric, Tom Waits-esque percussion. 

Yet another track, “The Ballad of Jerry Phillips,” grew from a would-be collaboration between Stuart and the song’s titular hero, son of Sun Records’ Sam Phillips. “I was hanging out with Jerry about a year and a half ago,” says Stuart, “and he said, ‘Man we’re gonna write a song together, and it’s gonna be called “Don’t Block Your Blessings.”’ 

“You know, we’re always blocking our blessings,” explains Stuart. “It’s like God’s trying to bless us, but we get in our own way. We fuck it up sometimes! Sometimes you’ve just got to let it be and just open yourself up to all the goodness. And Jerry and I were supposed to write that song together, but we couldn’t get anywhere with it. So I just turned around and wrote him a silly song about his own biography, and used the blocked blessings idea for the chorus. It came out perfect, you know?” The party atmosphere of the track, a Memphis cousin to “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” captures Phillips’ rock-and-roll spirit and epitomizes the loose recording style that shaped the entire album.

After many months of such hilarity, an album coalesced. As Stuart describes the process, “A year and a half later, Will was like, ‘Well, we’ve got 15 songs here. … Are you going to put a record out?’ And I was like, ‘I guess we should.’ It was really friendly, you know, and that was cool. I’m really happy with it, probably more so than anything I’ve done in a long time. Nothing against anything else I’ve done, but it’s just that cool! I think this could be it for a while. I think after this I’m just going to get into other things.” Could Stuart really mean it this time? We’ll believe it when we see it. 

Hear Mark Edgar Stuart at the 8750’ Barbecue and Music Festival in New Mexico on August 16th; the Fishstock Music Series in Wisconsin on August 25th; Thacker Mountain Radio Hour in Oxford, Mississippi, on September 5th; the Memphis Songwriter Series at the Halloran Centre in Memphis on September 12th; and the Mempho Music Festival on October 4th.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Fannie Lou’s Gourmet Chicken & Waffles 

Get in the groove with some waffles and celebrate National Waffle Day on August 24th.

And if you missed National Cheesecake Day on July 30th, you can celebrate both days at Fannie Lou’s Gourmet Chicken & Waffles at 500 Tennessee Street, Number 166.

Owner Kevin Matthews is serving his tantalizing chicken and waffles and other chicken dishes, including a chicken waffle pizza. He’s also selling his iconic cheesecakes that he made at his old place, The Cheesecake Corner.

Instead of fried chicken, Matthews uses roasted chicken. He seasons chicken wings with his own blend of ingredients. “We call it ‘oven roasted to perfection,’” Matthews says.

Photo: Michael Donahue

He also makes the waffle batter with his own blend of ingredients and serves them with “warm butter and warm syrup.” 

People are always curious about the “Fannie Lou” in the restaurant’s name, Matthews says. They’ve asked him, “Who’s Fannie Lou?” and “How is Fannie Lou?”

Matthews named his restaurant after his mother, the late Fannie Lou Matthews, but he doesn’t use her recipes. “All of these are my recipes, my creation,” he says.

But that is his mother pictured on the sign in front. Matthews wanted a “vintage name,” so he jotted down names, including those of family members, before deciding to go with his mother’s name. His graphic artist told him he wanted an image to go with the logo, so Matthews went with a picture of his mother. 

A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Matthews studied fashion merchandising at Jefferson State Community College. “I was thinking about possibly opening a men’s clothing store.”

Things changed when he was 18 and he got his first restaurant job. “I started out as a dishwasher and ended up as a line cook.”

He made his first cheesecake while he was working at a seafood restaurant.

Matthews came across a cheesecake recipe, which “seemed pretty interesting,” in one of his mother’s magazines. 

“My mother was an excellent cook and baker. She was a homemaker, but she didn’t bake cheesecakes. I think that’s what drew me to it,” he says. He used his own money to buy the ingredients and a “springform pan.” 

As for his first stab at a cheesecake, Matthews says, “All I remember is, it was something with pineapple.”

He does remember that it “didn’t come out perfect.” But, he says, “My dad kept asking for more.”

That cinched it. “I kept at it until I perfected it.”

Even today, he says, “I take my time and put in everything that it takes to produce a superb cheesecake.”

Cheesecakes are complicated to make, expensive, and time-consuming. They also have to be cooled and refrigerated.

“If it’s not baked, then it’s not a cheesecake. A real cheesecake has real eggs and all that stuff in it, and it has to be cooked.”

After leaving the restaurant business, Matthews worked in the steel industry. He was a heater technician, controlling “the temperature of the coke oven.”

Ten years later, when he was ready to return to the kitchen oven, Matthews opened his own cafe, The Cheesecake Corner, in Mountain Brook, Alabama. In addition to cheesecakes, he served soup, salad, sandwiches, and quiche. Matthews did the baking and the chef he hired did the cooking.

Matthews specialized in more than 100 different flavors of cheesecakes. “Twenty-four flavors were available by the slice on any given day.”

Two years later, Matthews closed his restaurant and moved to Memphis. A restaurant owner he knew in Birmingham also owned one in Memphis. Matthews had always thought about moving to another city and opening a restaurant, so, he says, “I decided to take a chance and move to Memphis and just feel it out and see if that was a good market to do what I wanted to do.”

He worked as a cook at Amerigo Italian Restaurant for a few years before opening The Cheesecake Corner on G. E. Patterson Avenue in 2002. “I was ready to do a brick-and-mortar space.”

The Arcade Restaurant was nearby, but the South Main area was pretty empty. “A lot of people thought I was crazy.”

After a slow start, his cheesecakes, which he sold by the slice, eventually took off. 

Matthews then thought about opening an additional business. “I wanted to create a chicken concept. I wanted a restaurant concept that didn’t consume so much of me. The cheesecake concept consumes all of me.”

The cheesecake business is “a very complicated concept on a daily basis. It’s very difficult to expand it and it maintain its quality.”

Matthews opened Fannie Lou’s in November 2019 while he was still running The Cheesecake Corner. This was “a few months before the pandemic.”

“I was planning to do a grand opening in spring 2020 and the pandemic hit,” he adds. “I ended up with two restaurants and no workers.”

After 21 years, Matthews closed The Cheesecake Corner in May 2023.

He originally wanted to start a Fannie Lou’s franchise, but the pandemic messed that up, too, Matthews says. “So it’s almost like I’m creating a totally new concept in real time.”

“Once I perfect the concept,” he adds, “I may open another one somewhere. And if it goes well, if it’s a proven concept to me, then I will look at expanding.”

And Matthews is diplomatic when people ask him to name his favorite cheesecake. “If I don’t like it, I don’t make it. When I get ready to enjoy a slice, I’m probably just like my customers. I’m there pondering.” 

Categories
Opinion The Last Word

Project 2025

The right-wing Republicans — the Christian nationalists — have hoisted their flag: Project 2025, aka Project Hell on Earth, and it’s coming to a future near you. Or so they believe (and hope).

But the Democrats are on our side! They won’t let it happen, right? While the deep right puts forth its stalwart vision of a recreated world, the moderate center stands cautiously and awkwardly for the status quo of the moment: only some war, mixed with social spending and even a minimal awareness of the problems posed by climate change. God forbid, however, that a counter-vision of the global future — a vision of a world that transcends war and militarism — should be part of mainstream politics. That would be pushing things too far, which is to say, defying the corporate donors who keep the political process going.

So, as the presidential election looms, we have to look at what’s at stake, as outlined in Project 2025: “The nearly 900-page document,” Liz Theoharis and Shailly Gupta Barnes write at TomDispatch, “outlines a plan to ramp up U.S. military might, slash social welfare programs, and prioritize ‘traditional marriage.’”

Military might — yeah, that’s the political key. They add: “Nor is this new. Every year, the Pentagon budget invariably passes with widespread bipartisan support, even if a few representatives vote otherwise. Since the 9/11 attacks, in fact, $21 trillion has been funneled into war, surveillance, policing, border control, and incarceration. In Fiscal Year 2023, nearly two-thirds of the federal discretionary budget funded the military-industrial complex and militarized spending.”

Militarism is more than the flow of blood. It’s also the flow of money. War is taught, historically, as a simple and precise matter: good and evil go at each other, one side (usually the good guys, the “righteous” side) wins, and life simply moves on. There are no further consequences. The takeaway is only this: If you want to be safe and secure, you have to be well-armed and ever-prepared for battle. War, in other words, is permanent — and always on the horizon. At least this is the world of today, the world that “civilized humanity” has bequeathed itself.

Project 2025 simply eliminates all doubt: Peace is not the way — at least not the lefty version of it. The unquestioned worship of militarism must be our future, and will be if Trump wins, at least according to Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, the organization behind Project 2025. He called it the “second American Revolution” but assured us it will be bloodless, uh … “if the left allows it to be.”

What fascinating wordplay. Those who disagree with our Project had better keep their mouths shut. If they don’t, we’ll have to respond violently, but it will be their fault. That’s how the system works.

Here’s another way to look at it: “The end of World War II was not the beginning of an era dominated by a devotion to peace,” Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu writes at Community Psychology. “Instead, the defining mindset of the period was militarism with no moral limits. Nuclear war was now possible and more was on the way. … It is now [more] clear than ever that militarism is morally bankrupt. It can justify everything: Nuclear massacres, nuclear weapons, hundreds of military bases around the world, toppling regimes in Guatemala, Chile, Grenada, or any other country for that matter. Add an undeclared war on Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Add napalm and Agent Orange. And no, it did not stop when the Cold War ended. Militarism justified the invasion of Iraq and of Afghanistan, black sites, Guantanamo, and so on. Militarism has always served and justified injustice — at home and away from home.”

Let me repeat: Militarism has no moral limits — which, seemingly, turns the term “war crime” into an absurdity. Once you start killing people, it’s hard to stop. You kill innocent civilians. You kill children. You commit genocide. But, oh gosh, doing that is a crime. Well, so what? That means nothing.

Militarism “can justify everything.” And the terrain of justification keeps expanding. In the wake of World War I, one of the horrors wreaked upon the world was poison gas. Less than three decades later, we had the atomic bomb to ponder, fret over and, of course, continue developing. Oh, but “mutually assured destruction” has kept us safe! Except for all the non-nuclear wars the world has managed to squeeze in (during my lifetime).

So Project 2025 seems like nothing more than Project Same Old, Same Old, amplified with political arrogance (social spending is bad) and the belief that we need a good dictator. That’ll keep us safe! All I can do is spray a little poison gas onto this viewpoint, that is to say, quote the ending to Wilfred Owen’s poem about World War I — specifically, about the horror of a poison gas attack and the soldier who failed to get his gas mask on in time. Titled “Dulce et Decorum Est,” the poem ends with a Latin phrase that means: “It is sweet and fitting to die for one’s country.”

. . . If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood

Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,

Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud

Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,

My friend, you would not tell with such high zest

To children ardent for some desperate glory,

The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est

Pro patria mori. 

Robert Koehler (koehlercw@gmail.com), syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a Chicago-based award-winning journalist and editor. He is the author of Courage Grows Strong at the Wound, and his newly released album of recorded poetry and art work, Soul Fragments.

Categories
Astrology Fun Stuff

Free Will Astrology: Week of 08/15/24

ARIES (March 21-April 19): Years ago, when I worked as a postal delivery person in Santa Cruz, California, I mastered my route quickly. The time allotted to complete it was six hours, but I could easily finish in four. Soon I began to goof off two hours a day, six days a week. Many great works of literature and music entertained me during that time. I joined a softball team and was able to play an entire game each Saturday while officially on the job. Was what I did unethical? I don’t think so, since I always did my work thoroughly and precisely. Is there any comparable possibility in your life, Aries? An ethical loophole? A workaround that has full integrity? An escape clause that causes no harm?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): From an astronomer’s perspective, Uranus is huge. Sixty-three Earths could fit inside of it. It’s also weirdly unique because it rotates sideways compared to the other planets. From an astrologer’s point of view, Uranus symbolizes the talents and gifts we possess that can be beneficial to others. If we fully develop these potentials, they will express our unique genius and be useful to our fellow humans. It so happens that Uranus has been cruising through Taurus since 2018 and will mostly continue there until 2026. I regard these years as your best chance in this lifetime to fulfill the opportunities I described. The coming weeks will be especially pregnant with possibilities.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Mountaineer Edmund Hillary is renowned as the first person to climb to the summit of Mt. Everest. It happened in 1953. Less famous was his companion in the ascent, Gemini mountaineer Tenzing Norgay. Why did Hillary get more acclaim than Norgay, even though they were equal partners in the monumental accomplishment? Was it because one was a white New Zealander and the other a brown Nepalese? In any case, I’m happy to speculate that if there’s a situation in your life that resembles Norgay’s, you will get remediation in the coming months. You will receive more of the credit you deserve. You will garner the acknowledgment and recognition that had previously been unavailable. And it all starts soon.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): As an American, I’m embarrassed by the fact that my fellow citizens and I comprise just 4 percent of the world’s population but generate 20 percent of its garbage. How is that possible? In any case, I vow that during the next five weeks, I will decrease the volume of trash I produce and increase the amount of dross I recycle. I encourage you, my fellow Cancerians, to make a similar promise. In ways that may not be immediately imaginable, attending to these matters will improve your mental health and maybe even inspire you to generate an array of fresh insights about how to live your life with flair and joy.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The coming weeks will be a wonderful time to waste time on the internet. If you are properly aligned with cosmic rhythms, you will spend long hours watching silly videos, interacting with friends and strangers on social media, and shopping for products you don’t really need. JUST KIDDING!! Everything I just said was a dirty lie. It was designed to test your power to resist distracting influences and mediocre advice. Here’s my authentic counsel, Leo. The coming weeks will be a fantastic phase to waste as little time as possible as you intensify your focus on the few things that matter to you most.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Scientific research suggests that brushing and flossing your teeth not only boosts the health of your gums, but also protects your heart’s health. Other studies show that if you maintain robust microbiota in your gut, you’re more likely to avoid anxiety and depression as you nurture your mental health. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to focus on big-picture thoughts like these, Virgo. You will be wise to meditate on how each part of your life affects every other part. You will generate good fortune as you become more vividly aware and appreciative of the intimate interconnectedness that underlies all you do.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The official term for the shape of a single piece of M&M candy is “oblate spheroid.” It’s rounded but not perfectly round. It looks like a partially squashed sphere. An Iraqi man named Ibrahim Sadeq decided to try the difficult task of arranging as many M&Ms as possible in a vertical stack. He is now the world’s record-holder in that art, with seven M&Ms. I am imagining that sometime soon, Libra, you could achieve a comparable feat in your own domain. What’s challenging but not impossible?

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): I’ve heard many people brag about their hangovers. The stories they tell are often entertaining and humorous. One of my best laughs emerged in response to two friends describing the time they jumped on the roof a parked Mercedes Benz at 3 a.m. and sang songs from Verdi’s opera Falstaff until the cops came and threw them in a jail cell with nothing to eat or drink for 10 hours. In accordance with astrological omens, Scorpio, I ask you to not get a hangover in the coming weeks, even an amusing one. Instead, I encourage you to studiously pursue extreme amounts of pleasurable experiences that have only good side effects.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Most famous musicians demand that their dressing rooms be furnished with specific amenities. Beyoncé needs rose-scented candles. Rihanna expects her preparatory sanctuary to have dark blue or black drapes topped with icy blue chiffon. Eminem insists on a set of 25-pound dumbbells, and the hip-hop duo Rae Sremmurd wants Super Soaker water guns. Since the coming weeks may be as close to a rock star phase of your cycle as you’ve ever had, I recommend you create a list of your required luxuries. This imaginative exercise will hopefully get you in the mood to ask for exactly what you need everywhere you go.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Sleep deprivation is widespread. I see it as a pandemic. According to some studies, over half the people in the world suffer from insomnia, don’t get enough sleep, or have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. Most research on this subject doesn’t mention an equally important problem: that many people aren’t dreaming enough. And the fact is that dreaming is key to our psychological well-being. I bring this to your attention, Capricorn, because the coming weeks will be a favorable time to enhance your relationship with sleep and dreams. I encourage you to learn all you can and do all you can to make your time in bed deeply rejuvenating.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Only 47 people live on the volcanic Pitcairn Islands, which are located in the middle of nowhere in the South Pacific Ocean. Pollution is virtually nonexistent, which is why the honey made by local bees is the purest on the planet. In accordance with astrological omens, I’d love for you to get honey like that in the coming weeks. I hope you will also seek the best and purest of everything. More than ever, you need to associate with influences that are potent, clear, genuine, raw, vibrant, natural, and full-strength.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Many Indigenous people in North America picked and ate wild cranberries. But farm-grown cranberries available for commercial use didn’t appear until 1816. Here’s how it happened: In Cape Cod, Massachusetts, a farmer discovered a secret about the wild cranberry bog on his land. Whenever big storms dumped sand on the bog, the fruit grew with more lush vigor. He tinkered with this revelation from nature and figured out how to cultivate cranberries. I recommend this as a teaching story, Pisces. Your assignment is to harness the power and wisdom provided by a metaphorical storm or disturbance. Use it to generate a practical innovation in your life. 

Categories
Fun Stuff News of the Weird

News of the Weird: Week of 08/15/24

Animal Antics

Paisley Toten, 2, was riding in a pickup bed through the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas, on June 1 with her parents when their interaction with the animals took an unexpected turn, the Associated Press reported. The family stopped their truck to feed a giraffe, but the giraffe nibbled instead on Paisley’s shirt, lifting her several feet into the air. When Paisley’s mom shouted, the giraffe dropped the toddler into her mother’s arms, leaving her unhurt. After the incident, the park changed its rules to disallow riding in an open truck bed. Paisley got a stuffed giraffe from the gift shop for her trouble. [AP, 6/6/2024]

End of an Era

If your July 4 traditions have included watching Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Competition, steel yourself: Joey Chestnut is out. The contest in Coney Island has taken place since 1916, and Chestnut has prevailed a total of 16 times, and every year since 2016, the New York Post reported. His record, set in 2021, was 76 dogs and buns. Sadly, Chestnut didn’t compete this year. Major League Eating (MLE), which runs the event for Nathan’s, said Chestnut’s recent deal with Impossible Foods to rep their vegan dogs was beyond the pale. “He’s the Michael Jordan of competitive eating,” a source said. “But imagine if Michael Jordan said to Nike, ‘I love being the face of Nike, but I want to do commercials for Adidas, too.’” MLE commented, “It seems that Joey and his managers have prioritized a new partnership with a different brand over our longtime relationship.” [NY Post, 6/11/2024]

Bright Ideas

• The ancient statues at China’s Yungang Buddhist Grottoes have taken a back seat to a new installation: Timers installed above a row of toilet stalls in the women’s restroom show whether the cubicle is occupied and, more controversially, how long the door has been locked. CNN Travel reported that the timers were installed to help mitigate the increased number of visitors: “We aren’t setting a time limit. … It’s impossible that we would kick someone out midway.” But one user said, “I found it a little embarrassing. It felt like I was being monitored.” [CNN Travel, 6/12/2024]

• On June 5, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ex-mayor Cesar Maia, 78, took a seat to join a Zoom meeting of the city councilors, the Daily Mail reported. Unfortunately, his seat was the toilet, and he was caught with his pants down on the video feed. Maia quickly brought his computer closer to his face, but his fellow councilors couldn’t control their reactions. Pablo Mello, who was leading the meeting, is shown on the feed laughing into his hand before he asked Maia to “turn off the camera, please.” [Daily Mail, 6/7/2024]

Crime Report

The Golden State Water Company in Los Angeles is installing locked shields over fire hydrants in some neighborhoods in response to a surge in thefts, CBS News reported on June 3. The company said the thefts happen daily; because the hydrants are made of iron and brass, company officials think they’re being sold as scrap metal on the black market. Replacements cost $3,500 a piece; so far, the company has lost $1.2 million. “It’s mind-boggling that someone would just come into a neighborhood and steal a fire hydrant,” said resident Krystail Cousins. “You’re now putting a whole neighborhood in danger.” [CBS News, 6/3/2024]

Least Competent Criminals

Christy Turman, 37, called 911 to let the Lee County (Florida) Sheriff’s office know that she was trying to steal a car from a dealership, WFLA-TV reported on June 6. “I’m trying to steal a car that’s not legally mine,” she said on the call. “So y’all better come make a report.” Sure enough, when deputies arrived, they found her getting out of a stolen Toyota Corolla. Turman said she was training in a game of Black Ops to nick the car, but she called authorities so it’d be legal. Joke’s on her: She was arrested on trespassing charges. [WFLA, 6/6/2024]

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NEWS OF THE WEIRD
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