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News News Blog

Midtown Store to Re-Open Under Safety Conditions

CREDIT: Google Maps

Google Maps

A Midtown convenience store was allowed to reopen Tuesday after its owner agreed to a long list of new safety improvements for the store, including hiring a security guard.

Last week, Memphis Police Department officials shuttered the tiny Express Deli and Grocery at 1295 Jefferson. Police said a months-long investigation there found dozens of police calls that led to dozens of arrests involving drug trafficking, prostitution, assaults, robberies, and thefts.

Store owner Fatima Saeidi agreed in Judge Patrick Dandridge’s Environmental Court to  a host of changes to re-open the store.

That new agreement requires Saeidi to install security lighting and surveillance cameras, allow Memphis Police Department (MPD) access the cameras, hire a security guard to monitor outside the store, pay $300 restitution to offset a portion of the MPD investigation, place “no trespassing” signs outside the store, and authorize police to enforce the no trespassing order.

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Street Ball: Memphis and Manhattan filmmakers team up to premiere independent film Out of Bounds.

Deyonte Hunter in Out Of Bounds

There’s nothing quite so easy to identify with as a rock-and-a-hard-place situation. We’ve all been there, robbed Peter to pay Paul, hopped from the frying pan into a blazing fire, hoping against hope that, at the last instant, some third option would materialize. That struggle is at the heart of Out of Bounds, the new film by writer/director S.D. Green. Green was the producer on the short film “Dean’s List,” which was an official selection for the Memphis Film Prize in 2018, and espouses a hard-work ethos that’s right at home in the Bluff City, home of “grit-and-grind.”

In Out of Bounds, New Jersey-based rap artist Deyonte Hunter plays Travis Elliot, a high school basketball player gunning for a spot on a college team and, eventually, the NBA. Travis has talent and drive and a healthy dose of cautionary tale in his older brother, Rico (Tenichi Garner), who waved goodbye to his own promising basketball career when he got tangled up with a criminal element.

Rico is “the bad boy of the film,” Garner says. “He was a basketball player, and the streets took him away from all that.”

Tenichi Garner

Rico’s example looms large for Travis, who can’t fail to see the multitude of ways plans can go awry. Still, despite all the warnings, after some serious family trouble at home, Travis finds himself poised to follow in his brother’s footsteps.

But Travis has people in his corner. His girlfriend, Naomi Farsee, played by actress and producer Shalonda “S.J.” Johnson, is well aware of Travis’ potential. “I push him in the right direction,” Johnson says. “She doesn’t want him to fall victim to the streets. She’s kind of bull-headed about him continuing his career and education.” Out of Bounds pivots on the crux of that decision, and there’s not necessarily a shiny prize waiting for Travis if he does the right thing. Even if he manages to stay clear of the pernicious influences of the streets, he might not make it to a college team or to the pros. His career might be derailed, as so many are, by an injury. The only guarantee that awaits Travis is more hard work, both on and off the courts.

Shalonda Johnson

Out of Bounds was filmed in Memphis and features both Memphis- and New York-based talent, such as the film’s associate producer, Winston Hardy. “I’m most excited about the depiction of the city of Memphis,” Hardy says. He goes on to explain that filming in Memphis was important to S.D. Green. Johnson says the collaboration on the film was “sort of like a marriage,” and that Green cared more about the quality of the final product than about who came up with what idea. It’s a team-player ethos that resonates with the subject matter of the film. Whatever decision Travis makes, the cast and crew of Out of Bounds made their shot — and made it count.

Out of Bounds red carpet premiere will be at the Malco Cordova Cinema, on Thursday, January 24th, at 6 p.m.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Rizzo’s Closing (temporarily) for Repairs

Obsidian PR

Rizzo’s on South Main will close for about a month for repairs. The last service will be Sunday (January 20th) brunch.

A tree growing into the north wall of the restaurant’s building necessitated the repairs to the wall and the floor.

But, Rizzo’s will go on in a series of pop-ups.

The first pop-up is at Fuel, Friday-Saturday, January 25th-26th. Rizzo’s Michael Patrick says that he hopes to do a vegan or vegetarian dish or two, “As a nod to Fuel and as a thank you.”

Fuel closed in late December, though it still runs its food truck and catering operations. In Fuel’s announcement of its closing, they stated that they wanted to host pop-ups.

After Fuel, Rizzo’s will move on to the 409 Main food hall. This pop-up will run from January 29th through February 21st.

Patrick says that one of the reasons he’s doing the pop-ups is to keep his valued staff close by and employed. “I have a great team,” he says. “I don’t want to lose them.”

Patrick has no set menu yet for the pop-up. He says to check his Facebook page for updates on that point. The pop-ups will be prixe fixe, $50 for three or four courses.

Patrick says the goal of the repairs is to make the restaurant safe. He’s not planning any new, fancy bells and whistles.

Of the pop-ups, he says, “I encourage people to come see us.” 

Categories
Music Record Reviews

The Sore Losers: A Monstrous Mash-Up Rises From The Grave

One of the highlights of last year’s Gonerfest 15 was the screening of director Mike McCarthy’s The Sore Losers at Studio on the Square. Having received the full remastering treatment, it jumped off the screen as never before, combining the best of modern digital clarity with the richness of its original analog film stock. The film, first released in 1997, is an often hilarious Zippin’ Pippin ride through exploitation, low budget sci-fi, and B-movie tropes. But it also provided a portal into the (then) unheralded underground music scene of the era.

Last November, the soundtrack was released on vinyl via Goner Records and Portugal’s Chaputa! Records. It’s barely left the turntable since. For what this double LP offers is nothing less than a reanimated, full-strength Frankenstein’s monster of ’90s garage rock, retro rock, and lo-fi experimentalism.

If the movie itself is a brilliant hodge-podge of styles, so is the album. The tracks are not just lo-fi, they are different varieties of lo-fi, from the late Jack Taylor’s bashed-out title song, to the terrifying/thrilling onslaught of Guitar Wolf, to the quavering homespun charm of Poli Sci Clone. Satisfyingly snotty vocals and chugging/chopping guitars abound, as in contributions by the Makers, the Drags, Gasoline, and Los Diablos del Sol, but many artists you might think you have pegged defy formula altogether.

People were already nostalgic for the Gories by 1997, but Mick Collins avoids that familiar territory with a kind of minimalist crime jazz built on the prominent sax work of Jim Spake. Nick Diablo’s track is reminiscent of Can’s “Ethnographic Forgery” series, with Diablo channeling a lost field recording of some aged Delta harp player. Tracks from ’68 Comeback and Jack Oblivian are littered with wah-wah guitar, organ, and synth hiccups that are true to the flick’s sci-fi universe. Or, in the case of Jack Oblivian’s back-shed funk “Vice Party,” the flick’s soft porn universe. 

Dan Ball

The Clears

One gem, highlighted at the film’s Gonerfest 15 premiere in the form of a 1997 music video that was never released, is “We Are a Rock & Roll Band” by synth pop trio the Clears. Also known as “Rock & Roll Band” to fans of the Clears’ standalone album, the different title may be appropriate, as either a remix or a remastering has given the soundtrack version considerably more snap and crackle. Jack O and Chris Clarity also mine that back corner of the garage where grandpa stores his synthesizers.

Mingled in with all these sonic adventures, we also hear some first rate songwriting. The closer, of course is the 1953 chestnut, “Look Me Over Closely,” (later popularized by the White Stripes), but we also hear the neo-classic swamp pop of the Royal Pendletons, whose “I’m a Sore Loser” is perhaps even more a definitive track than Taylor’s. 

The Royal Pendletons

And finally, in stark contrast with so much clamor, side three closes with the simple, haunting “Bad Man” by Greg Oblivian/Greg Cartwright, all mellow guitar, toy piano, and disembodied, over-the-phone vocals. The recurrence of that track through the film anchors it in a seemingly incongruous mood of regret and heartache. Though it no doubt surprised many Oblivians fans at the time (for this was well before the Reigning Sound), it’s an especially fitting cornerstone for a film built on, and reveling in, incongruities.

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Intermission Impossible Theater

Addicted to Capote? Cloud9 and Mark Chambers tell Tru Stories

Things are seldom about the things they seem to be about. Take Tru, for example. This solo performance by the mighty and all-powerful Mark Chambers, would appear to be a dramatic portrait of In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s author, Truman Capote, but it’s not really. While Capote is clearly the subject, this brief, intimate and fantly gonzo encounter, brought to us courtesy of Cloud9 Theatre, is a fully developed play about the slippery multifaceted nature of addiction.

Tru introduces us to a man keenly aware of expiration dates. He’s planning a comeback built on weight loss, plastic surgery, and fine hats to hide an expansive forehead where shaggy locks had hung. This is Capote at his lowest; he was more famous for being famous than for the extraordinary sentences he used to spin out of dust and memory and diamonds and horror. Now he’s just a drunk and an A-list gossip who’s been delisted for telling tales and naming (a few) names.

Tru’s still giving Tiffany for Christmas, but he’s getting flowers in aluminum buckets. Hard candy for a naughty boy who’s grown accustomed to spending his nights at Studio 54 and his days with folks able to produce $50-million, “ready money.” He knows there’s meaning here, but chooses to drink it away, chasing booze with pot and pills.

The real addiction, though, is celebrity. It’s no good for Capote the writer and artist , but he craves it. He wants it for himself and he wants to be near it. In Tru, celebrity is the lens through which Capote’s addictions are most clearly viewed. If the play’s primary struggle isn’t about this, transcending the tropes of Capote’s own fame, what’s left is mere tribute artistry. 

Ann Marie Hall (seated) and Mark Chambers in The Mystery of Irma Vep

Thankfully, Mark Chambers is every inch the actor I remember from our overlapping time in Memphis. He is no mere mimic. He’s revived this show four times now, and it’s evident in this revival at The Evergreen Theatre, that he is very comfortable in Capote’s uncomfortable skin. Tru could still stand fine tuning to tease out narrative threads, connect the dots of conflict and addiction, and make it drama-forward, but all the raw material is all there, and hardly insufficient.

Chambers, who longtime Memphis theater fans may remember as the sweet transvestite in two separate Playhouse on the Square productions of The Rocky Horror Show, is a professional member of Actor’s Equity. But it’s probably more important to point out that Cloud9 is community theater. I don’t say that to trigger memories of Waiting for Guffman, but as a reminder that this, and other companies exist to correct for institutional deficiencies. Cloud9, for example, helps to account for the limited number of great roles available to older actors in Memphis. That’s exactly how community theater should work and Chambers has often described Tru as “a good show for this time in [his] life.” I don’t disagree and won’t complain a bit about how Cloud9 does its thing, but as I watched Chambers do his thing, I kept thinking there would be a lot more great roles available to older actors if more people thought Dr. Frank-N-Furter would still be a good part for him, “at this time in life.”

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News News Blog

U of M to Open Tech Research Facilities

As a way to strengthen its role as a researched-based driver of economic development, the University of Memphis announced Tuesday the opening of a CommiTech Research Park.

Spearheaded by the University of Memphis Research Foundation, the research park will be launched in three phases, beginning Thursday with the opening of the first facility in the University District.

An inaugural cohort of 17 citizen companies and collaborator members will move into the facility. Working with university students and staffs, the companies will look to grow in the University District over upcoming years.

The seven citizen companies involved are:

• SweetBio, a Memphis-based biotech company in the wound-care industry with Manuka honey-incorporated products

• DayaMed, a Toronto-based B2B2C digital health and analytics company that provides real-time medication adherence

• Minute School, Waterloo-based learning management system solving continuing education opportunities in higher education and beyond

• BookLocal, a Memphis-based blockchain travel company enabling hotels to tokenize, manage, and rent their room inventory with the security of the blockchain

• Green Mountain Technology, Memphis-based technology company providing highly customizable parcel spend management solutions

• XYO Network, a San Diego-based blockchain company building a people-powered location network built on the blockchain

• Ops-Fuel, Memphis-based, veteran-owned company helping soldiers, athletes, and others achieve better health.

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Ten other companies, including DexFreight, Blockchain901, Web3Devs, IBM, IMC Companies, Tech901, Epicenter, Memphis Women in Technology, Remedichain, and CodeCrew will also collaborate in the facility.

The grand opening of the initial phase will be held Thursday, January 17th from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m. at 460 S. Highland.

During the second phase later this year, an applied research facility will be developed at the U of M’s Park Avenue Campus. Finally, phase three will center on a public-private partnerships to attract research enterprises and labs to the University District.

The research park will help to create more jobs and opportunities in the city, U of M President M. David Rudd said.

“We are excited to create jobs and opportunities for Memphis and our students,” Rudd said. “We welcome companies from all over the world to work with our faculty and students, benefit from our world-class research, and engage an innovative community of companies and scholars.”

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News News Blog

Explore Bike Share Looking to Expand Staff

CREDIT: Explore Bike Share

Explore Bike Share

Memphis’ Explore Bike Share (EBS) is looking to add two more full-time staff members, as well as part-time bike technicians to its team, the organization announced Tuesday.

The bike-sharing nonprofit is seeking a “proven sales leader” to serve as the Membership Marketing Director, a “proven fundraising and business development leader” to assume the Development Manager role, and “revolutionaries” to serve as bike technicians.

Applicants for both of the full-time positions should have the ability to collaborate with diverse groups; familiarity with and connections in the area; action-oriented, entrepreneurial, adaptable, and innovative approaches; and be a persuasive, passionate communicator with excellent interpersonal skills.

Serving as the EBS representative in its business and community relationships, the Membership Marketing Director will develop and execute programs, activities, promotions, and relationships that work to increase ridership and retain memberships. Other specific responsibilities include:

• Assisting the executive director and board with budgeting and developing short- and long-range plans, making adjustments when necessary

• Coordinating public relation efforts, member communications and news, media events, and marketing materials

• Interacting with Chamber of Commerce, Memphis Tourism, and other organizations to network and market EBS memberships

• Assessing membership categories and pricing to meet the changing market of needs

Qualifications for the position include a thorough commitment to EBS’s mission, along with a college degree and proven sales, marketing, and leadership experience. More specifically, applicants should have:

• An unwavering commitment to increasing ridership through sales, engagement, promotions, and data-driven evaluation

• Success at managing a wide array of tasks and projects

• Ability to thrive in an ever-changing, fast-paced environment

• Excellent organization, leadership, and planning skills

Secondly, EBS is looking to hire a development manager who will be charged with expanding the reach and impact of EBS through business development, corporate partnerships, fundraising, specials events, grant writing, networking, and referral cultivation.

Applicants should have experience with fundraising and constructive leadership. Some of the duties include:

• Increasing annual revenue by growing and stewarding sponsors and donor base

• Identifying, cultivating, soliciting, and stewarding philanthropic support

• Developing and maintaining relationships with large donors, corporate partners, and gate-keepers

• Preparing and delivering presentations and proposals when needed

The development manager should have three or more years of fundraising experience, a proven ability to manage relationships, meet goals, and articulate messages, as well as success with writing grant proposals and a demonstrated knowledge of nonprofit fundraising best practices.

Finally, EBS is looking for part-time bike maintenance technicians with customer service and mechanical skills. The technicians will work about 25-35 hours a week starting at $15 an hour.The main duties include:

• Maintaining the bike fleet, including assembly, inspections, and basic repairs.

• Operating and maintaining company vans and mopeds

• Moving bikes among stations

•Installing and removing stations

•Troubleshooting at stations

Applicants for the role should be at least 21 years old with basic bike mechanic experience, critical thinking skills, a clean driving record, skills to ride a bike in an urban environment, and the ability to lift up to 55 pounds and work in strenuous weather conditions.

To apply for any of the three positions, submit a resume and cover letter to EBS via email at info@explorebikeshare.com. For more information about the jobs, visit EBS’ career page.

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News News Blog

UPDATE: Water Rights Hearing Postponed Until May

CREDIT: Corey Owens/Greater Memphis Chamber

Corey Owens/Greater Memphis Chamber

A diagram shows the layer of aquifers underneath Memphis.

UPDATE: The water-rights case the Flyer told you about yesterday (the one that was supposed to start today) has been delayed until May.

One of the expert witnesses expected to testify in the case is out on a medical condition. The parties agreed to delay the hearing until May 20th and wrap up the proceedings on May 24th.

ORIGINAL POST: Mississippi and Tennessee take the nearly 14-year-old water-rights lawsuit to Nashville Tuesday for what could be a final hearing before the case goes before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The case is (obviously) complex and the first of its kind. For a deeper dive into the case, we’ll point you to this blog post by Catherine Janasie, writing for the University of Mississippi’s National Sea Grant Law Center.

But here’s what you should know before the case gets underway Tuesday.

The players:
State of Mississippi
State of Tennessee/city of Memphis/Memphis Light, Gas & Water
Judge Eugene E. Siler, Jr., appointed as Special Master for the case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit

Role of the Special Master: holds hearings, hears evidence, makes a report, suggests an opinion to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The core of the case:
The Memphis Sand aquifer is part of the larger Sparta Aquifer, which straddles the Tennessee/Mississippi border. Mississippi officials claim billions of gallons of their water have been pumped into Tennessee at Memphis.

Arguments:
Tennessee’s argument: Water in the aquifer should be shared between states.
Mississippi’s argument: That water belonged to us.

What do they want?
Mississippi: $615 million in damages
Tennessee: a water-sharing agreement between the two states.

So, what could happen during this week’s hearings?
1. The case could be heard and the ultimate decision would be for the U.S. Supreme Court.
2. Siler could dismiss the case.

What’s the over/under?
Can’t say. However, Siler allowed the case to go on after Tennessee officials asked for it to be dismissed in 2016.

But in the decision he said “dismissal would likely be warranted” because federal law calls for the aquifer to be shared. Also, he wrote that Mississippi’s argument fails to plausibly show that the Sparta Sand aquifer is not an interstate resource.

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Beyond the Arc Sports

Is It Time To Crank Up The Tank?

This time last year, I created a hashtag on Twitter that would serve as a coping mechanism for fans who were left to deal with the doom and gloom of that losing season. As a play on words, based on the rallying cry for the Confederate statues to be removed — “Take ‘em down 901” — as coined by former Grizz head coach David Fizdale — #TankEmDown901 was my personal attempt to get fans on board for the team’s tanking.

Last year, it made perfect sense. A team that was aging and filled with mediocre young talent in need of a potential young star had the opportunity to position itself to do just that. Mike Conley had suffered a severe heel injury, so sitting him for the season gave the team an out. The Grizzlies were so bad without him that it was second nature to do as little as possible to try to actually win games. It was clear what the best course of action was. The “tank” was full of gas — locked and loaded.

This season, things are a little different. The Grizzlies owe a conditional first-round draft pick to the Boston Celtics from the Jeff-Green-for-Tayshaun-Prince trade. So, it would be a little haphazard to go into what is an imminent rebuild for the franchise without a strategic plan.

It was no secret that Grizzlies ownership and management were doing everything they could to make this season’s team the best it could be in order to convey the worst pick possible to Boston. If this plan also resulted in a playoff berth for the Grizzlies, it would be a win-win for the organization. Regardless of the spiel coming from the front office, coaching staff, players, and even the owner, the main goal was always to get off of the trade obligation to Boston with the least amount of damage.

This plan looked like it had a great chance of working, earlier in the season, but now that the Grizzlies sit at 19-24, 14th in the Western Conference, and with the eighth worst record in the NBA, the question of whether or not to tank again this season is not as simple as it seemed, even a few weeks ago.

There are a few things of which many fans don’t really have a clear understanding. So, it’s been entertaining to see those who fought the #TankEmDown901 movement last season until the bitter end, now turn bloodthirsty over the chance of taking another high pick this year. Tanking has an odd thrill to it.

But fans need to understand what is at stake in totality and not what is just in front of their faces. For one thing, the pick that the Grizzlies owe Boston is top eight protected this season, top six protected in 2020, and unprotected in 2021. If the Grizzlies are bad enough to finish in a position in which they draft in the top eight this season, you can expect that they will be bad enough again next season to be among the top six picks.

The kicker is that in the 2021 draft, which is most certainly going to be a bad one for the team, the team is staring at the possibility of not only being bad but having to surrender their pick, regardless of position, to Boston. Most who are for tanking this season are basing that position on the team getting one of the projected top four picks, including Duke Freshmen Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett. The reality is that the Grizzlies would more than likely, based on current odds and record, draft outside of the top four — in a draft that is weak, except for the studs at the top.

I would prefer the Grizzlies just let the season play out and not do anything drastic to put themselves in the best position to neither win nor lose. The reality is that with proper planning and execution of the pending cap space, good things could become available over the next two years. I know that asking for proper planning and execution from Pera and company is basically like asking for consistent weather in Memphis. But regardless of what they do, a lot is at stake regarding the draft this season and the next few to come.

There are too many question marks about how tanking this season could turn out. I would prefer to see the team finish outside of the top eight picks, but with the way things have been going lately, the Grizzlies may not have a choice.

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News News Blog

Commercial Appeal Moving to Peabody Place

Google Maps

The Commercial Appeal office building at 495 Union.

The Commercial Appeal will move from its longtime home at 495 Union to Peabody Place’s Pembroke Square in May, according to a post on the newspaper’s website Monday afternoon.

Gannett Co., the paper’s owner, announced in April it had sold the Union location to a group called Twenty Lakes Holdings LLC. Owners then gave a one-year timeline to find a new office location for the paper’s staff.

Here’s what Mike Jung, president of The Commercial Appeal, said of the move in a blog post Monday:

“We are thrilled to be moving into Pembroke Square and being a part of Peabody Place, a hub of activity in the heart of Downtown Memphis.

“While 495 Union has been a great home during the past 40-plus years, it will feel good to move into a more modern space that will better serve our needs now and in the future.”