Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

The Curious Case Of Mike and Marc

CREDIT: Matt Preston

I actually left an unfinished draft of this article on my personal blog-site before the season started. It was going to be a an article that explained why, in a transitional season like this one was scheduled to be for the Memphis Grizzlies, having players like Mike Conley and Marc Gasol was so vital. It was meant to outline, while the best years for both Gasol and Conley were behind them, how it would be the best idea to still base the team’s immediate future around them. 
Matt Preston

It seemed like a solid way of thinking at the time but, just like the real life product on the court, I never got around to actually finishing what I started. It was good in theory but the actual follow-through was left incomplete.
Larry Kuzniewski

Conley and Gasol pick-and-rolls have been as much as a staple of the franchise for Grizz fans as growl towels, close wins, bad draft picks, and blowing big leads. The two veterans have had a chemistry that has made them one of the winningest active tandems in recent history. Whether it’s been under the leadership of Lionel Hollins, Dave Joerger, David Fizdale, or JB Bickerstaff, when all else fails, some good ol’ Mike-and-Marc magic has seemed to always save the day — or at the very least, make the Grizzlies a team that can compete and play above the talent level of the sum of its collective parts.

The duo is 361-288 (55.6 percent) playing together over their careers, which is impressive. But they are only 57-56 as a duo since the 2016-2017 season, which also lines up with the departure of fellow “Core Four” members Zach Randolph and Tony Allen.

The Grizzlies are currently 18-21, and have gone 6-16 after starting the season with a 12-5 record. Conley leads the team in scoring but the offense has been abysmal lately, especially with Gasol being inconsistent and limited, either physically or emotionally. It’s also fair to say to say that Conley and Gasol have done a poor job in trying to look for rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. more in the offense.

Trading the last two members of the core four that captured the city’s heart is always a possibility, and honestly, as a media member who is also a fan and a Memphian, I can see both sides. It’s an interesting dilemma, because you know that trading one or both will ultimately send the team into rebuilding mode, immediately.

I took a hard stance against tanking this season, due to the fact that the Grizzlies still owe their 2019 draft pick to Boston if it lands outside of the top eight picks, but as the season and reality progress, I have found myself not as “10 toes down” as before.
Larry Kuzniewski

The two core vets were supposed to be the guys who would help hand the franchise over to the new era, led by Jackson Jr. This looked to be the case early in the season, but lately, it seems like they are simply denying the inevitable change that has to come. You can’t help but wonder if it would be better for Jackson — and the team — if Gasol and Conley would defer to him more, to allow him to be the focal point of the offense while they still do “Marc and Mike stuff.” It would be something similar to the way that they still deferred to Zach Randolph, even while at the height of their careers. It’s frustrating and confusing. It seems like it should be much simpler than what we’re seeing on the court. The two established leaders should be benefitting to the young players and helping them grow, which should ultimately lead to wins.

But it simply isn’t happening.

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

#19 Houston 90, Tigers 77

The madness may be two months away, but the Houston Cougars are becoming part of college basketball’s national storyline this season. In easily handling the Tigers Sunday at their shiny new arena, the Cougars extended their home winning streak to 28 games to remain one of only three undefeated teams in the country (along with Michigan and Virginia). Houston (15-0) led from start to finish to end the Tigers’ four-game winning streak and drop Memphis to 9-6 for the season and 1-1 in the American Athletic Conference.

Armoni Brooks led the way for Houston with 22 points, draining three-pointers (a total of six) whenever the Tigers seemed to be closing in. Nate Hinton added 19 off the Cougar bench.

Senior forward Kyvon Davenport spurred a Tiger comeback early in the second half with eight straight points. But Memphis never reduced the lead below four points (50-46) and finished with its lowest point total since Thanksgiving weekend. Davenport finished the contest with 17 points and Kareem Brewton added a career-high 25, also off the Memphis bench. Jeremiah Martin scored 16 points for the Tigers, but the freshman trio of Tyler Harris, Alex Lomax, and Antwann Jones combined for just seven.

Memphis shot 48 percent from the field but committed 17 turnovers, a factor in Houston taking 21 more shots in the game. The Cougars shot 45 percent and hit 12 treys (to the Tigers’ eight).

Houston does not play in Memphis in the regular season, so the teams will not meet again unless they’re matched against one another in the AAC tournament (at FedExForum) in March.

The Tigers return home Thursday night to host East Carolina (8-6, 1-1). Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Best Bets: Three Kings Epiphany Cake

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Three Kings cake for Epiphany

I like to be the one to find the king in the “King Cake” during Lent. This is the green, yellow, and purple-frosted coffee-cake-like concoction, which sometimes is filled with cream cheese. It usually is decorated with Mardi Gras beads and other knick knacks. A little plastic baby, which symbolizes Jesus, is hidden in the cake.

Whoever is first to find the baby is supposed to buy the cake the next year. I just like the thrill of the hunt.

If you just can’t wait for the King Cakes to arrive, you can buy a “Rosca de Reyes,” also known as the “Three Kings” cake. It’s an Hispanic tradition for the feast of Epiphany. And it’s another chance to find a plastic baby in a baker’s confectionery.

Kay Bakery, which also makes King Cakes, makes “Three Kings” cakes. This year, they’ll make about 400 cakes, says owner Queo Bautista.

The cake symbolizes the Three Wise Men. “When they brought gifts to Baby Jesus,” Bautista says.

A plastic baby is hidden in the cake, which symbolizes hiding Baby Jesus from King Herod. According to the Bible, Herod, who didn’t know where Jesus was, wanted to kill all baby boys who were born about the time Jesus was born to make sure he’d get rid of him. He was afraid Jesus was going to one day become the new ruler.

Unlike the fancy “King Cake,” the “Three Kings Cake” basically is “bread with some fruit on top,” Bautista says.

The sweet fruits on top of the cake are candied figs, cherries, and strips of green, yellow and red candied papaya, which symbolize the gifts the Kings brought Jesus. They were gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Dollops of yellow sugar icing also adorn the top of the cake, which is made from a slightly sweet dough.

The cake is round to symbolize that “Jesus has no beginning and no end,” Bautista says.

In Mexico, the cake traditionally is served on Epiphany Sunday, which, this year, is January 6th. Children receive small gifts — “Not as big as Christmas” — to symbolize the gifts, which the kings brought Jesus. “Gifts to the new king.”

I love the subtle, sweet taste of the Epiphany Cake. And, to make things even sweeter, I instantly found the plastic baby. Unlike the little pink ones usually in a seated position in the King Cake, these babies are white and in a standing position. My editor said the baby looked like an “android.”

You can order Epiphany Cakes through January 5th  at Kay Bakery. Small, which serves 12, is $18; medium, which serves 20, is $25; and large, which serves 30, is $30.


Kay Bakery is at 667 Avon Road. Call: (901)-767-0780.


Categories
News News Blog

State GOP Challenge Shelby County’s Response to New Immigration Law

CREDIT: TIRRC

TIRRC

After a law that prohibits state and local governments from interfering with the enforcement of federal immigration laws went into effect on January 1st, the Shelby County attorney said that the law doesn’t apply to Shelby County or the county’s sheriff’s department.

In a Wednesday tweet the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) said that Marlinee Clark Iverson, the county attorney, advised that HB2315, the “new Tennessee laws governing sanctuary cities don’t apply to Shelby County or SCSO.”

“Therefore, the SCSO will not detain anyone being released from the jail unless there is a warrant or probable cause to do so,” the agency said.

SCSO will, however, continue to honor requests for notifications from the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE).

State GOP Challenge Shelby County’s Response to New Immigration Law

Now, the notion that Shelby County is exempt from the law and that detaining individuals without probable cause or a warrant would be in violation for the Fourth Amendment is being challenged by Tennessee Lieutenant Governor and Speaker Randy McNally and Speaker Glen Casada, the Associated Press reported Friday.

Associated Press

Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus, policy director at the Tennessee Immigration and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), who has called the law “one of the most extreme, anti-immigration laws in the country” said Friday that the group warned legislators that the measure puts local governments in “impossible positions.”

“Tennessee’s new ‘anti-sanctuary city’ law forces local governments to choose: violate the U.S. Constitution or violate the new state law,” Sherman-Nikolaus said. “If the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House are going to threaten Shelby County, the state should have to foot the bill when counties are inevitably sued for violating their residents’ fourth amendment rights.”

Sherman-Nikolaus adds that the TIRRC applauds SCSO and the county attorney for defending all residents’ constitutional rights.

“Local governments across the state should join together and urge the legislature to reconsider this blatantly unconstitutional law,” Sherman-Nikolaus said.

In county attorney Iverson’s legal opinion, she agreed that the law could violate constitutional rights: “The language in the statute is unclear to the extent that it can be interpreted as requiring absurd and/or potentially unconstitutional conduct by any law enforcement agency.”

Categories
News News Blog

Union to See Major Reconstruction, Public Input Wanted

Union Avenue could be vastly different in the years ahead, as the city is planning to revamp the street through the Union Avenue Complete Streets Project.

The street will undergo a multi-phase “major reconstruction,” according to the city’s Bikeway and Pedestrian program’s Facebook.

Beginning with the segment of Union from Marshall Avenue to Manassas Street in the Medical District, the street will get improvements like street beautification, enhanced transit stops, heightened safety for pedestrians and cyclists, modernized traffic signals, and eco-friendly solutions to stormwater runoff.

Google Maps

The first segment of the project is highlighted in yellow.

City officials spearheading the project, as well as a team of design consultants will present the plans for the first segment in detail and seek feedback at a public meeting on Tuesday, January 8th. The meeting is slated for 6 p.m. at High Cotton Brewing Co.

A social hour sponsored by the Memphis Medical District Collaborative will follow. Attendees of the meeting will receive a complimentary drink ticket.

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

If Beale Street Could Talk

Kiki Layne and Stephan James in If Beale Street Could Talk

Let’s get this out of the way: If Beale Street Could Talk is not set in Memphis. It’s not about Beale Street or the blues, or loquacious rights-of-way. In fact, in the opening epigraph, author James Baldwin says Beale Street is in New Orleans.

James Baldwin may have been geographically challenged, but he was a stone cold literary genius. When he invoked Beale Street in the opening of his 1974 novel, one of the country’s first black-owned business districts existed to him as a lost world of African-American freedom. The name represented the realization of the kind of personal autonomy American capitalism always promises, but which was ultimately denied to people like Tish Rivers (Kiki Layne) and Fonny Hunt (Stephan James), two young, working-class kids from Harlem, who happen to be black.

Tish and Fonny are in love like only 19-year-olds can be. As soon as Fonny gets a new place — he’s got a crappy cold-water flat, but the budding sculptor is looking at a fixer-upper artist’s loft — he’s going to pop the question. But then Fonny gets in the mildest of street hassles, just a little pushing and shoving over Tish’s honor, and all the sudden he’s in the crosshairs of the prison-industrial complex. The racist cop he pisses off that fateful night soon gets an opportunity to frame him for a brutal rape that happened on the other side the city. With Fonny on trial for his life, it is not a good time for Tish to announce she’s pregnant.

Director Barry Jenkins has broken the rule that mediocre books make the best movies. He takes Baldwin’s dauntingly nonlinear literary structure and makes it smooth and easily understandable. Each jump forward and backward in time reveals a little bit more of the story in a way designed to maximize the emotional impact. The ending, when it comes, reveals characters who are forever changed, but unbroken.

Jenkins color sense is second to no one working today. I think he invented some new, tastefully early-70s hues especially for this movie. The film’s recreation of 1970s Harlem is flawless, and, knowing Jenkins, done efficiently. Jenkins loves to work in close up, or with his camera fixed on an effortlessly flawless composition. When his camera does move, it flows through space.

Every performance on the screen, from Layne’s heartbreakingly naive Tish, interrupted on the edge of lasting happiness, to Colman Doming bringing laughing gravitas to the role of her father, feels fully human. As Tish’s mother, Regina King puts on a one-woman Strasberg-ian acting clinic.

Regina King as Sharon Rivers

It all comes together in an emotionally epic scene where Tish and Fonny’s families grapple with the reality of a new baby on the way. If my description makes this film sound like a downer, it’s not. Tish’s family’s first reaction is to rejoice at the prospect of a new member. They know Tish and Fonny’s love is real. It’s different with Fonny’s family. His religious mother (Aunjanue Ellis, tightly wound) lashes out at the Rivers family, while the two grandads-to-be hatch plots to pay for it all. It’s a deeply humane and instantly recognizable scene that, if removed from the larger context, would be the best short film of the year.

But the tender pas de deux between Tish and Fonny, told intermittently between scenes of fear and despair, is the beating heart of the picture. Is there anyone who does romance better than Jenkins? The couple’s wide-eyed innocence, an emotion never available to the brutally repressed Charon Harris in Moonlight, is pure joy to behold. If, as Roger Ebert said, movies are machines to create empathy, then Jenkins is our greatest empathetic engineer.

Together, Baldwin and Jenkins celebrate the love that flourishes in the midst of tragedy and injustice. Jenkins came up from the indie underground, emerging from Miami in 2008 with Medicine for Melancholy and going on to win Best Picture for 2016’s Moonlight. He found the perfect material to adapt in If Beale Street Could Talk. Its examination of the human cost of the carceral state and indictment of institutions of justice that wink at racism as long as the conviction numbers stay high is, sadly, as relevant as ever.

If Beale Street Could Talk

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Tigers 85, Wichita State 74

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Memphis opened American Athletic Conference play Thursday night at FedExForum with variables both known and unknown. Having completed their nonconference slate of 13 games, the Tigers know they have a veteran playmaker and leader in senior Jeremiah Martin. In Tyler Harris, they know they have a freshman with a scorer’s frame of mind (whether or not he’s on target). But what’s to be made of players like Antwann Jones, Alex Lomax, or Mike Parks? Swing variables — like that trio — tend to steer a season one direction or another.
Larry Kuzniewski

Alex Lomax

Jones, Lomax, and Parks played significant roles in helping the Tigers beat Wichita State to complete a 6-1 homestand and extend their current winning streak to four games. A sloppy opening five minutes gave way to the accelerated pace Memphis has shown under rookie coach Penny Hardaway. Lomax converted a steal into a layup to cap a 9-0 Tiger run and give Memphis a 29-20 lead with 4:15 to play before halftime. The Shockers closed the margin to five points (46-41) early in the second half, but the Tigers never surrendered the lead in avenging a 20-point loss to Wichita State a year ago. (The Shockers return no starters from their 2018 NCAA tournament team.)

“I’m proud of the effort, overall,” said a hoarse Hardaway after the game. “We had some mental lapses, but we overcame that with hustle and came away with a great victory. This game meant more to Alex Lomax than anybody, because of his [previous] ties to Wichita State. And Antwann Jones . . . what can you say about him? He’s just a talent. We’ve been waiting for him to come around.”

Lomax stuffed the stat sheet off the Tiger bench with eight points, a team-leading eight rebounds, five assists, and three steals in 25 minutes. Fellow-freshman Jones scored a season-high 16 points in just 21 minutes, connecting on seven of nine shots from the field, including a few among larger defenders in the paint. “Back in my YMCA days,” said Jones, “I played the five [position], so I’m comfortable [down low].”

Parks converted a pair of reverse layups in the first half and hit all four of his field-goal attempts to go along with four rebounds and three steals. Hardaway emphasized that the inconsistent senior is physically healthy, noting only “a mental thing” hindering his becoming an integral part of the Tiger rotation.

Senior Kvon Davenport had his finest game since cutting his signature dreadlocks, scoring a game-high 25 points in 27 minutes off the Memphis bench. He hit nine of 11 free throws, boosting a huge advantage for the Tigers from the charity stripe. (The Tigers made 25 of 31 shots while the Shockers only took — and made — six.)
Larry Kuzniewski

Penny Hardaway

“We scored 85 points on an off night,” noted Hardaway, whose team had scored at least 90 points in its previous five games, a streak unmatched by a Memphis squad since the 1975-76 season. “Our offensive woes don’t worry me, because I feel like we’ll be able to turn it on at any time.”

The Tigers won the rebounding battle, 35-29, impressing Hardaway with the toughness necessary to win league clashes. “That’s a different Memphis than they’re used to seeing,” said Hardaway. “They’ve only been in the league one year, but last year they kind of had their way with the team physically. To be able to take that physicality, and put it back on them, I’m definitely proud of that. We want to grow in that category.”

Markis McDuffie led the Shockers with 19 points but needed 17 shots to match his season scoring average. The loss drops Wichita State to 7-6.

Now 9-5, the Tigers will play their first road game in over a month when they travel to 19th-ranked Houston Sunday. Memphis is 0-3 against ranked teams this season.

Categories
News News Blog

Wiseacre’s Downtown Brewery In GIFs

via GIPHY

Wiseacre’s Downtown Brewery In GIFs

If you don’t know yet, Wiseacre Brewing wants to build a brand new, 40,000-square-foot brewery and tasting room Downtown close to South Main. Check our previous story here.

The company sent renderings (really fancy concept drawings) of the proposed facility to the Downtown Memphis Commission’s (DMC) Design Review Board.

In Wiseacre’s application, they included shots of the site now and what it could look like in the future, if the brewery is approved.

The GIF above shows what it would look like looking east down Butler right by Central BBQ’s Downtown location.

The one below looks from the same direction but closer up on the corner of Butler and B.B. King.

via GIPHY

Wiseacre’s Downtown Brewery In GIFs (2)

Wiseacre’s proposal will be heard by the review board on Wednesday, January 9th, at the DMC headquarters at 114 N. Main.


That board will also have a look at One Beale’s Hyatt Centric hotel, the expansion of the Arcade restaurant, and the renovation of a Beale Street law firm.

Categories
News News Blog

Cohen’s New Agenda: Marijuana, Trump, Cops, Voting

Memphis Congressman Steve Cohen outlined his legislative agenda for the new Congress Thursday in a torrent of proposals that take aim at everything from infant mortality rates, medical marijuana, and criminal justice reform, to abolishing the Electoral College and curtailing presidential pardon power.

Constitutional Amendments

• Cohen first proffered an amendment to cut the Electoral College in 2016.

He brought it back Thursday, seeking the direct election of the President and Vice President of the United States.

“In two presidential elections since 2000, including the most recent one in which Hillary Clinton won 2.8 million more votes than her opponent, the winner of the popular vote did not win the election because of the distorting effect of the outdated Electoral College,” Cohen said in a statement. “Americans expect and deserve the winner of the popular vote to win office. More than a century ago, we amended our Constitution to provide for the direct election of U.S. Senators. It is past time to directly elect our President and Vice President.”
Palinchak | Dreamstime

Donald Trump

• Cohen’s second proposal would limit presidential pardon power, prohibiting presidents from pardoning themselves, members of their families, members of their administrations, and their campaign staff. The proposal seems aimed at President Donald Trump.

“Presidents should not pardon themselves, their families, their administration or campaign staff,” he said. “This constitutional amendment would expressly prohibit this and any future president, from abusing the pardon power.”


Criminal Justice Reform

• Cohen and congress member Lacy Clay (D-Missouri), whose district includes Ferguson, Mo., introduced the Police Training and Independent Review Act Thursday.

The law would give federal funding as an incentive for states to require sensitivity training on ethnic and racial bias, cultural diversity, and interactions with the disabled, mentally ill, and new immigrants. The bill would offer the same federal funding incentive for independent investigations and prosecution of incidents in which police use of deadly force results in a death or injury.

• Cohen also introduced the National Statistics on Deadly Force Transparency Act. It would require recipients of federal law-enforcement funding to gather data — including race — on all instances the use of deadly force by law enforcement and report it to the Department of Justice.

• Another bill, the Police Creating Accountability by Making Effective Recording Available (CAMERA) Act, would establish a grant program to assist state and local law enforcement with the purchase and operation of body-worn police cameras.

• The Fresh Start Act would give some nonviolent former federal offenders a chance to have their nonviolent offenses expunged. It would also use federal funds to encourage states to pass similar expungement laws.

“These bills will help bring much needed reform to our criminal justice system, and help restore trust between police and the citizens they serve and protect,” said Cohen. “Asking the local prosecutors to investigate the same local police with whom they need to work so closely on a day-to-day basis creates a conflict of interest which we should be working to end.

“Better training, statistics, and video evidence will also help, as will an orderly process or enabling appropriate ex-offenders, who have completed their sentences, to re-enter society.”

Shelby County Health Department


Infant Mortality Rates

• The Nationally Enhancing the Wellbeing of Babies through Outreach and Research Now (NEWBORN) Act would create pilot programs to reduce infant mortality rates in the highest-risk areas of the country. Cohen noted that Memphis ”continues to have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country.”

usatoday.com


Voter Protection

The Streamlined and Improved Methods at Polling Locations and Early Voting (SIMPLE) Act would require states to:

• allow early voting for federal elections for at least two weeks prior to election day

• ensure that polling locations are within walking distance of a stop on a public transportation route

• have sufficient voting systems, poll workers, and other election resources

• ensure wait times are fair and equitable for all voters across a state with no one required to wait longer than one hour to cast a ballot at a polling place.


Medical Marijuana

The Compassionate Access, Research Expansion and Respect States (CARERS) Act would:

• allow states to set their own medical-marijuana policies

• allow doctors with the Department of Veterans Affairs to prescribe medical marijuana to veterans

• would not legalize medical marijuana in all 50 states but would respect the states’ decisions to legalize medical marijuana

• would prevent federal law enforcement from prosecuting patients, doctors, and caregivers in those states.

Categories
We Recommend We Saw You

New Year’s Day Firsts. And Some Old and New Friends.

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

I ran into Chandler Parsons and Joakim Noah at Gibson’s Donuts. I shamelessly gave them a copy of the Memphis Flyer with my photo(s) on the front.


January 1, 2019 included a few firsts for me.

I took my first photos of Memphis Grizzlies players Chandler Parsons and Joakim Noah. I ran into them around 10 p.m. while I was getting coffee at Gibson’s Donuts. I unabashedly gave them a copy of the current issue of the Memphis Flyer, which features my profile in stereo on the cover.

Earlier that same day – around 12:30 a.m. – I took my first photos of Quintron and Miss Pussy Cat. And I saw my first show featuring the New Orleans duo at the Hi-Tone. It was fabulous. I stood near the stage, where I could see Quintron’s fingers flying across the keyboards and Miss Pussycat working those maracas.

That evening I viewed several episodes of “The Twilight Zone” I’d never seen before. I sat in front of the TV for hours watching Syfy’s annual “Twilight Zone” marathon. My plan was to stop watching when I got to an episode I’d seen before and couldn’t bear to watch one more time. I did sit through – once again – the one with the woman having bandages taken off her face for almost 30 minutes. And I did learn for the first time that Donna “Elly Mae Clampett” Douglas wasn’t the woman behind the bandages during most of the show.

I finally stopped watching when the episode with the little doll that says, “My name is Talky Tina and I’m going to kill you,” came on. The channel then was changed to one showing football.

Finally, I got a flat tire after driving into a sinkhole. I also bent the rim. It was the first flat I’d gotten on Shelby Drive.

So, if nobody said it yet, let me be the first to wish you “Happy New Year!”

Michael Donahue

Quintron and Miss Pussycat at the Hi Tone.

New Year’s Eve at the Hi Tone.
…………….

The following is a roundup of some of the people I ran across and places I visited over the holidays and earlier.

Michael Donahue

Elf Rage was practicing during Open Studios at Marshall Arts, which was held Dec. 13. Guests toured the space, viewed art and chatted with the artists.

Michael Donahue

Anthony Lee at Open Studios at Marshall Arts.

Michael Donahue

Davey Mann at Open Studios at Marshall Arts, which was held Dec. 13.

Michael Donahue

Marq and Brittany Cobb were among the guests at The Vault Influencer Dinner, which featured cuisine from executive chef Aaron Winters.

Michael Donahue

The Vault Influencer Dinner.

Michael Donahue

Lees Romano and Alden Knipe at Woodruff-Fontaine Victorian Open House. Both Woodruff-Fontaine and Mallory Neely held open houses on the same night, which was Dec. 2.

Michael Donahue

Mallory-Neely open house.

Michael Donahue

Jonah McDonnell at The Sheiks show on Christmas night at DKDC.

Michael Donahue

Black Lodge isn’t open yet, but the venue was the sight of a jam-packed New Year’s Eve party.

Michael Donahue

Black Lodge New Year’s Eve party.

Michael Donahue

Edge Alley owner/chef Tim Baker held a series of parties before Christmas. They included one for the media and a neighbor party.

MIchael Donahue

Pints for a Purpose to benefit Wolf River Conservancy was held Dec. 11 at Outdoors Inc. on Union.

Michael Donahue

Pints for a Purpose

Michael Donahue

Dylan Thomas and August Stevens at Pints for a Purpose.

Michael Donahue

Pints for a Purpoes

Michael Donahue

Wok’n in Memphis chef/owner Spencer Coplan and Jordan Ayers hosted their ‘Black, Silver, & Gold’ New Year’s Eve party. Guests were encouraged to dress in the party colors. Hog & Hominy sous chef Josh Hunt wore gold shoes. Cooks, bartenders and severs showed up around 12:30 to 1 a.m., Coplan says.

Michael Donahue

Not pictured is son, Austin, who was celebrating elsewhere with friends.

Michael Donahue

Lee, Audrey, Ethan, Josh and Christian Stewart were at the Williams’ New Year’s Eve gathering.