Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

Bickerstaff’s Bad Habits Bite Again Against Boston

Sometimes a person can be so good at what they do that they make whatever it is that they are doing look easy. Oddly enough, sometimes someone can also be so bad at what they are doing that they can make whatever it is look like it’s a lot easier than what it is.
I’ve never coached an NBA team before. I’ve never been a coach of any sports team on any level. I am far from the greatest of basketball minds. I won’t pretend to act like I know all of the ins and outs of what an NBA head coach’s job entails, but like many other people who observe the Grizzlies of late, I can’t help but wonder: Is it really that hard? Samuel X. Cicci

Grizzlies Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff

Certain things seem like they should be simple. If a certain thing works, then let’s keep doing that until said thing doesn’t work, or, even better, starts to show signs that it is about to stop working soon. It also seems that with all of the advanced metrics available at any head coach’s disposal, that it would never be out of the realm of possibility to see, with even more great detail, what works and what doesn’t. Like, there are literally stats that show you what combinations of players work and which ones don’t.

I thought that the Grizzlies had moved past this. After two consecutive wins — against the Lakers on the road and then at home against the Cavaliers — it seemed as if head coach JB Bickerstaff had had an epiphany. It seemed as though he and his players were going to embrace Jaren Jackson Jr. more, and look to make him more of a focal point on both ends of the court. After a great game against Los Angeles, which included a step-back three-pointer to drive a stake through the heart of LeBron James, and a Cleveland game where Bickerstaff allowed Jackson to play through a not-so-good performance without pulling him, it looked like he was finally getting it.

But yeah …

The Grizzlies hosted Boston Saturday night, held a 17-point half-time lead, and led by as many as 19 points. Even so, the team found a way to lose, 112 to 103, in a game where, with a 14-point lead with 5:43 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Jackson was taken out and played only a little more than a minute for the rest of the way.

Dillon Brooks, who finished with 19 points, was the team’s leading scorer when he was pulled early in the fourth quarter in favor of Garrett Temple. Actually, Brooks and Jackson were the team’s leading scorers when both were pulled — which also coincided with Boston’s comeback and a 33-16 fourth-quarter scoring advantage.

Coaching is hard. I’m sure it is. Bickerstaff comes from a distinguished line of coaches who mentored him, including his father, but I swear coaching seems a lot easier than Bickerstaff has made it look, lately.

Bickerstaff has to hear the murmurings from the fan-base. I’m sure he reads tweets and columns like mine, as well as those of other local journalists. I’m sure he knows what’s being said. It seems to me that if he got the same losing results while using all of his assets, namely Jackson and Brooks (and Jevon Carter), that fans and pundits would be more understanding. There would be less, “Well, if we only did this …” and more, “Well, we gave it all we had.”

Therein lies the problem: We haven’t been giving it all that we have. Too much of what we do have — and need, in my opinion — is remaining on the sideline when they’re needed most.

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Tigers 96, Florida A & M 65

Jeremiah Martin scored a game-high 22 points and the Tigers drained a season-high 13 three-pointers Saturday afternoon at FedExForum to beat Florida A & M and end their nonconference schedule with a record of 8-5. Freshman guard Tyler Harris added 16 points while Raynere Thornton and Isaiah Maurice contributed 12 each to extend the Tigers’ winning streak to three games.
Larry Kuzniewski

Jeremiah Martin

Memphis has scored at least 90 points in five straight games. The Tigers shot 59 percent from the field in handing the Rattlers their 12th loss in 15 contests.

The U of M opens American Athletic Conference play Thursday night at FedExForum when Wichita State (7-5) comes to town. The Shockers won last season’s meeting, 85-65, on the Tigers’ home floor.

Categories
Book Features Books

Daryl Sanders’ That Thin Wild Mercury Sound

“The invention of Bob Dylan with his guitar belongs in its way to the same kind of tradition of something meant to be heard, as the songs of Homer.”

— Robert Fitzgerald

I’ve always loved making lists, ranking anything from movies to books to music to my friends. My ears perk up when I hear, “Name your Top 10 whatevers.” So, numerous times throughout my life, I’ve enthusiastically answered the question “What’s your favorite album?” Trouble is I’ve toggled back and forth numerous times between two albums: The Beatles’ Revolver and Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde. To me, they seem the pillars of ’60s rock, my favorite genre in the known universe. Obviously, the book That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound: Dylan, Nashville, and the Making of Blonde on Blonde by Daryl Sanders was right up my alley.

Sanders slowly leads up to the recording of that double album in Nashville, providing some colorful background: Dylan going electric, Dylan making Highway 61 Revisited, Dylan meeting and going on the road with the Hawks (who became The Band). It’s a pivotal period in Dylan’s life. He is about to change music forever. “I know my thing now,” Dylan says. “I know what it is. It’s hard to describe. I don’t know what to call it because I’ve never heard it before.” Sanders adds, “It would be another thirteen years before he found a description that worked — ‘that thin, wild mercury sound.'”

The title phrase refers to a music Dylan heard in his head, but which eluded him in the studio. He thought he found it with the Hawks. Instead, he was finally able to create the sound in his head on record when he went to Nashville and recorded this, his greatest album. Here’s the most common lineup with whom he found that once elusive sound: Producer: Bob Johnston. Nashville cats: Charlie McCoy (guitar and harmonica), Hargus Robbins (piano), Joe South (guitar), Henry Strzelecki (bass), and Kenneth Buttrey (drums). And Dylan brought with him Robbie Robertson (guitar) and Al Kooper (organ).

I’ve read a lot about Dylan, but he seems an inexhaustible subject. I learned a lot here. For instance, I didn’t know that Jerry Schatzberg, who later became a wonderful director (the Al Pacino film, Scarecrow), took the iconic cover shot. Dylan himself chose the blurry print, which delighted Schatzberg.

The meatiest part of the book concerns the actual recording of the album. Many of the sessions were done in the wee hours of the morning, which didn’t always please the professional Nashville cats, though they were, mostly, aware that they were part of something momentous. “According to studio records,” Sanders says, “it was 4 a.m. when the Nashville musicians finally got their introduction to the ‘Sad Eyed Lady’.” The reference is to “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands,” the epic song that took up the entire side four of the LP. “To me, this is the definitive version of what 4 a.m. sounds like,” Al Kooper said. Much of the wait was because Dylan was writing and polishing the lyrics as they went along. Often, he sat in a part of the studio cut off from the other musicians with just paper and a pen. Strzelecki said, “You know, this is going to be either the biggest album in the world, or it ain’t gonna do nothin.'”

Fortunately, the former part of his prediction is on the mark. After Blonde on Blonde was released and digested, it became one of the most influential records in rock music. Much about the recording, the songs, even the title, has become part of rock myth. Many believe the title is a reference to Edie Sedgwick, from Warhol’s factory, who dated Dylan briefly. Others suggested it referred to Brian Jones and Anita Pallenberg, or to Dylan’s high school girlfriend. Sanders adds, “Finally, there is also the fact that taken as an acronym, the title spells BOB.”

This fascinating, delicious book offers great insight into both the minutia of the recording process and Bob Dylan’s idiosyncratic, eccentric methods. For songwriters, this book may offer unlimited inspiration. For Dylan fans, it is a must.

Categories
News News Feature

Counting down to 2019.

Editor’s Note: Ghost River Brewing will be closed on New Year’s Eve. It will be open on New Year’s Day for its New Year, New You, Not Today event from noon to 8 p.m. An earlier version of this story contained incorrect information.

You survived the holidays without cracking under the pressure — or stabbing your unruly uncle who won’t stop bringing up politics at the dinner table. No, I do not want to hear just one more thing about “Pizza-Gate,” Uncle Rob. And you made it through the rest of 2018. That alone is cause for celebration, and your trusty Flyer calendar editor (that’s me) is here to help guide you through the last night of the year. Without further ado, here’s our guide to New Year’s events in and around Memphis.

BEALE STREET

Starting at 10 p.m., the entire street is given over to a holiday celebration, with live music, dancing, fireworks, and food and drinks. The street-wide party, open to all 21 years old and older, is part of a night-long celebration with a big fireworks finale. Beale (526-0117)

Hard Rock Cafe

The folks at Hard Rock bring on the bright lights, flapper fashion, giggle water, and all that jazz at their Roaring ’20s Party, with a 10-foot-tall guitar dropped at midnight. $35-$125. 126 Beale (529-0007) Jerry Lee Lewis’ Cafe & Honky Tonk

Celebrate the new year with this concert featuring Jerry Lee Lewis. Seating for the show is at 7 p.m., the Killer plays at 11 p.m. $150-$325. 310 Beale (300-6788)

New Daisy Theatre

Daisyland presents the fourth annual New Year’s Eve Blackout!, featuring DJs Z-Dougie, Oh Losha, Finn, Defcon Engaged, and more. Doors at 9 p.m. $12-$25. 330 Beale (525-8981)

Tin Roof

Glow Co, Max Victory, and Desire perform. Fast passes and booth rentals are available. 315 Beale (527-9911)

DOWNTOWN

Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid

The Lookout at the Pyramid offers the chance to spend the holiday at the pinnacle of style at the top of the Pyramid, with a four-course meal, live music, and complimentary toast at midnight. Reservations required: (800) 225-6343 to reserve your spot. $125. 1 Bass Pro Drive (291-8200)

Loflin Yard

The evening’s festivities include bonfires, s’mores, drink specials, and more. 7 W. Carolina (524-0104)

The Peabody Hotel

This year’s high-energy party includes performances by Garry Goin Group, Seeing Red, and DJ Epic. The party will be hosted throughout the Grand Lobby and Mezzanine of the “South’s Grand Hotel,” with the bands playing in the Continental Ballroom. The Rene Koopman Trio will perform classics in the Corner Bar. 8 p.m.-2 a.m. 149 Union (529-4000)

MIDTOWN

Ballet Memphis

The Phoenix Club presents the Suit and Sequins party at Ballet Memphis’ elegant digs in Overton Square. General admission includes an open wine and beer bar, late night hors d’oeuvres, and a champagne toast at midnight. $75-$150. 9 p.m.-1 a.m. 2144 Madison (737-7322)

Beauty Shop

A celebration with a four-course dinner and live music by Gary Johns & His Mini-Orchestra. 966 Cooper (272-7111)

Black Lodge

From its new location on N. Cleveland, Black Lodge presents a party with music by a resurrected Dead Soldiers, an album release and music by Ben Abney & the Hurts, with Lipstick Stains, Shamefinger, and 1,000 Lights. “We’re all excited to get to play together again,” says Dead Soldiers guitarist and vocalist Benjamin Aviotti of the band’s reunion show. “Our hiatus continues indefinitely after this, but as we’ve said before, we’re not done. We all have projects in the works. It probably won’t be [Dead Soldiers’] last show ever, but what if it is?” $10. 9 p.m. 405 N. Cleveland

Blue Monkey

The Smiths/Morrissey tribute group Louder Than Bombs performs. 2012 Madison (272-2583)

Celtic Crossing

Cooper-Young’s neighborhood bar is setting up tents to accommodate the crowd. The celebration includes music from a live band and a DJ, a champagne toast at midnight, a prix-fixe menu, and more. $10. 903 Cooper (274-5151)

Hattiloo Theatre

The FunkSoul New Year’s Eve party is a full night of mini-concerts and comedy in Hattiloo’s theater-turned-dance hall. An on-site bistro will offer an à la carte menu designed by some of Memphis’ finest chefs. $150. 37 Cooper (525-0009)

Hi-Tone

Get an early dose of strange and unusual by starting the year off with performances by Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Jack Oblivian, and Three Brained Robot. Will it rock? Oh, yes. Will Quintron break out the Weather Warlock act? There’s only one way to know for sure. $20. 412-414 N. Cleveland (278-8663)

Lafayette’s Music Room

Pearl and Almost Famous perform. The event features reserved seating “Vegas style,” with hors d’oeuvres, champagne toast, and party favors. $80. 2119 Madison (207-5097)

Dara Garbuzinski

Minglewood Hall

Friends for Life presents Pink Champagne, a high-energy New Year’s Eve dance party. “We’re performing on stage with these giant champagne glasses I’ve constructed,” says Dara Garbuzinksi of Sock It to Me Burlesque. With performances by DJ A.D., Goldie Dee & Friends, the boys of Ballet Memphis, the aerialists of QCG Productions, and the aforementioned burlesque beauties of Sock It to Me Productions. $20-$60. 1555 Madison (312-6058)

Playhouse on the Square

The Germantown Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity hosts its first-annual Nupe Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball with complimentary hors d’oeuvres. $50. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. 66 Cooper (725-0776)

Railgarten

Midtown’s backyard is celebrating with live music from Porch Pigs and Walrus, champagne, and a photobooth. 2166 Central (504-4342)

Rec Room

Live music from PXLS and a complimentary champagne toast. 3000 Broad (209-1137)

Second Line

Celebrate with a patio party, live DJ, a buffet, and a champagne toast at midnight. $30. 2144 Monroe (590-2829)

Young Avenue Deli

The Deli invites Memphians to celebrate in comfort with a pajama party sponsored by Wiseacre Brewing and Sipsmith Gin, with a champagne toast at midnight. 2119 Young Avenue (278-0034)

SOUTH MEMPHIS

Guest House at Graceland

The VIP Celebration includes a dinner buffet for two, dancing with live music from Party Plane, a cash bar, and a champagne toast at midnight. The grounds will still be decked out for the holidays, Christmas at Graceland-style. $125. 8 p.m.-1 a.m. 3600 Elvis Presley Boulevard (443-3000)

EAST MEMPHIS

Gold Club

Free champagne toast and balloon drop at midnight. 777 N. White Station (682-4615)

Old Whitten Tavern

Live music by Bob and Susie Salley, with a champagne toast at midnight. 9 p.m.-1 a.m. 2465 Whitten Road (375-1965)

West Memphis

Southland Gaming & Racing

With a $25,000 Cash Ring in the New Year Hot Seat, and five winners will receive $2,019 at 11:30 p.m.. 1550 N. Ingram (800-467-6182)

Tunica, MS

Horseshoe Casino

Includes overnight accommodations and a $50 spa credit. 1021 Casino Center Drive (800-303-7463)

Hollywood Casino Thumpdaddy and Roxy Love perform. 1150 Casino Strip Resort Boulevard (800-871-0711)

Tunica Roadhouse

Silk and Sir Charles Jones perform. 1170 Casino Center (800-745-3000)

Categories
Film Features Film/TV

2018: The Year In Film

If there is a common theme among the best films of 2018, it’s wrenching order from chaos. From Regina Hall trying to hold both a restaurant and a marriage together to Lakeith Stanfield navigating the surreal moral minefields of late-stage capitalism, the best heroes positioned themselves as the last sane people in a world gone mad.

Dakota Johnson in Fifty Shades Freed

Worst Picture: Fifty Shades Freed

In her epic deconstruction of the final installment of everyone’s least favorite BDSM erotica trilogy, Eileen Townsend called Fifty Shades Freed a “sequence of intentionally crafted visual stimuli” that “bears coincidental aesthetic similarity to a movie … But I believe Fifty Shades Freed is nonetheless not a movie at all, but something far more pure — a pristine document of the market economy, a kind of visual after-image created as an incidental side effect of the exchange of large sums of capital…We literally cannot perceive the truest form of Fifty Shades Freed, because to do so, we would have to be money ourselves.”

Sunrise over the Monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey

Best Moviegoing Experience: 2001: A Space Odyssey in IMAX

The Malco Paradiso’s IMAX screen, which opened last December, has quickly earned the reputation as the best theater in the city. During the late-summer lull, a new digital transfer of 2001: A Space Odyssey got a week’s run to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. Even if you’ve watched Stanley Kubrick’s film a dozen times, seeing it the size it was intended to be seen is a revelation. Also, all lengthy blockbusters should come with an intermission.

Chuck, the canine star of Alpha

Best Performance by a Nonhuman: Chuck, Alpha

Director Albert Hughes’ Alpha is a sleeper gem of 2018. The star of the story of how humans first domesticated dogs is a Czech Wolfhound named Chuck, who dominates the screen with a Lassie-level performance. Chuck and his co-star, Kodi Smit-McPhee, spend large parts of the movie silently navigating the hazards of Paleolithic Eurasia, and the dog nails both stunts and the occasional comedy bits. Chuck is a movie star.

KiKi Layne and Stephan James in If Beale Street Could Talk

Best Scene: The Family Meeting, If Beale Street Could Talk

Most of Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel is an intimate, tragic love story between Tish Rivers (KiKi Layne) and Fonny Hunt (Stephan James). But for about 10 minutes, it becomes an ensemble dramedy, when Tish has to tell, first, her parents that she’s pregnant out of wedlock with a man who has just been arrested for a crime he didn’t commit, then his parents. If you pulled this scene out of the film, it would be the best short of 2018.

Rukus

Best Memphis Movie: Rukus

Brett Hanover’s documentary hybrid had been in production for more than a decade by the time it made its Mid South debut at Indie Memphis 2018. What started as a tribute to a friend who had committed suicide slowly evolved into a mystery story, an exploration into a secretive subculture, and a diary of growing up and accepting yourself.

Ethan Hawk stars as a priest in existential crisis in First Reformed.

Best Screenplay: First Reformed

Taxi Driver screenwriter Paul Schrader penned and directed this piercing drama about a small town priest, played by Ethan Hawk, who undergoes a crisis of faith when a man he is counseling commits suicide. 72-year-old Schrader is unafraid to ask the big questions: Why are we here? Is it all worth it? His elegantly constructed story ultimately looks to love for the answers, but the journey there is harrowing.

Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger in Black Panther

MVP: Michael B. Jordan

Michael B. Jordan played a book-burning fireman with a conscience in HBO’s Fahrenheit 451 adaptation and the heavyweight champion of the world in Creed II. But it was his turn as Killmonger in Black Panther that elevated the year’s biggest hit film to the realm of greatness. Director Ryan Coogler knew what he was doing when he put his frequent collaborator in the the villain slot opposite Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa, making their personal rivalry into a battle for the soul of Wakanda.

Regina Hall in Support The Girls

Best Performance: (tie) Regina Hall, Support the Girls and Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade

In a year full of great performances, two really stood out. In Support the Girls, Regina Hall plays Lisa, a breastaurant manager having the worst day of her life, with a breathtaking combination of technique and empathy. We agonize with her over every difficult decision she has to make just to get through the day.

Elsie Fisher as Kayla in Eighth Grade

Elsie Fisher started work on Eighth Grade the week after the 13-year-old actually finished eighth grade. She carries the movie with one of the most raw, unaffected comic performances you will ever see.

Emma Stone takes aim in The Favourite.

Best Director: Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite

Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’ previous efforts has been bracing, self-written satires, but he really came into his own with this kinda true story written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. Everything clicks neatly into place in The Favourite. The central troika of Olivia Coleman as Queen Anne and Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz as backstabbing cousins vying for her favor are all stunning. The editing, sound mix, and costume design are superb, and I’ve been thinking about the meaning of a particular lens choice for weeks.

Daniel Tiger (left) and Fred Rogers, star of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood

Best Documentary: Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Once in a while, a movie comes along that fills a hole in your heart you didn’t know you had. Morgan Neville’s biography of Fred Rogers appears as effortlessly pure as the man himself. Mr. Rogers’ radical compassion is the exact opposite of Donald Trump’s performative cruelty, and Neville frames his subject as a kind of national surrogate father figure, urging us to remember the better angels of our nature.

Sorry To Bother You

Best Picture: Sorry to Bother You

Boots Riley’s debut film is something of a bookend to my best picture choice from last year, Jordan Peele’s Get Out. They’re both absurdist social satires aimed at American racism set in a slightly skewed version of the real word. But where Get Out is a finely tuned scare machine, Sorry to Bother You is a street riot of ideas and images. When his vision occasionally outruns his reach, Riley pulls it off through sheer audacity. No one better captured the Kafkaesque chaos, anger, and confusion of living in 2018.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Food News 2018

Well, 2018 can go ahead and take a flying leap. It was sort of a grim year in general and for the Memphis food scene particularly.

We’ll start with the bad news.

RIP

Bud Chittom died in September. He was eulogized as a legend, the force behind some 50 area restaurants — Blues City Cafe and Earnestine & Hazel’s among them. Gary Williams, chef/owner of the Creole restaurant DeJaVu, passed away in early December. He was remembered for his kindness and sense of community and was sent out in style with a second line parade in front of his restaurant.

Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

Gary Williams

A number of restaurant breathed their last breath or were on life support as of press time. Places that closed include: LYFE Kitchen, The Kitchen, Fino’s on the Hill, Old Zinnie’s, and Fuel.

Ripped

It makes you want some booze, doesn’t it? You’re in luck as a new law passed last spring allowing wine and liquor to be sold in liquor stores on Sunday. Wine will be sold on Sundays in grocery stores starting in January.

Crosstown Brewing, selling their signature beers Siren and Traffic, opened in February at the Crosstown Concourse campus. Originally, they had planned to be inside the concourse, but logistics and those huge pillars made constructing a separate building to the west of the concourse a necessity.

Big River Distilling introduced its Blue Note Bourbon earlier this year. It’s from the folks behind Pyramid Vodka.

Media

Last spring, rumblings of a new media venture grew louder and louder. Details about the online-only nonprofit Daily Memphian came out slowly, as it was revealed that three big-name Commercial Appeal writers were jumping ship. Among them was the food writer Jennifer Biggs.

Jennifer Chandler, well-known in Memphis food circles, took over for Biggs at The Commercial Appeal.

Edible Memphis

Also last spring came the news that the food-centric journal Edible Memphis was being revived by Bill Ganus. Ganus assembled a crack team, with Brian Halweil as editor in chief and Stacey Greenberg as managing editor. The first order of business was to create a social media presence for Edible Memphis. Its Instagram is newsy and has broken a number of stories. The first issue of the new Edible Memphis is set to hit the stands in January.

New Tunes

The Vault announced its new branding as a “gastropub.” With the new moniker comes new hours and new menus. Sleep Out Louie‘s is back. The bar, known for its laid-back Sleep Out Louie character and its cast-off ties, opened in Peabody Place last spring. Caritas Village reopened with a new executive director Mac Edwards, formerly of the Farmer. Like a phoenix, Pete & Sam’s emerged from a devastating fire, with a classy new look and a full bar. Judd Grisanti paid tribute to his late father by reopening Ronnie Grisanti’s in the fall. Restaurant Iris unveiled its new look and new menu in August. Old Venice morphed into Venice Kitchen earlier this fall. The new name came with an updated look and a new menu. Strano ditched its spot in Cooper-Young for the old Jim’s Place East site in East Memphis.

P.O. Press

‘Burbs

Collierville had its restaurant game upped with the addition of P.O. Press Public House and Provisions and Raven & Lily. P.O. Press is in the former site of the Collierville Herald and before that a post office. It serves upscale Southern food. At Raven & Lily, they serve what the owner describes as “modern Southern comfort” food.

Mac Edwards

And, finally — finally! — Trader Joe’s opened in Germantown after some doubt that it ever would. Its opening wasn’t wrinkle-free, however. There was some tiny hoopla about the store handing out reusable bags printed with “Nashville.”

Hot Mess

There was a bit of an uproar when Gibson’s Donuts opened its doors to and provided one of its precious donuts to the horrible Marsha Blackburn. The owners countered that they weren’t hosting Blackburn per se, and, in any case, Blackburn was treated like any other customer.

Racks, a Hooters-like barbecue restaurant, opened in Southaven.

From Scratch

The Crosstown Concourse has been the source of a lot of food news over the past year. Opened this year were Elemento Pizza, which adheres to Neapolitan standards, and Global Cafe, which serves a delightful selection of foods from Nepal, Syria, Sudan, under the supervision of refugees from those countries. Lucy J’s Bakery also opened. All its workers earn a living wage. Saucy Chicken took over the space once occupied by the all-organic, vegetarian restaurant Mama Gaia.

Also opened this fall is Today and Always, a plant-based cafe which feeds participants of Crosstown Arts’ resident program for free. Chef Raymond Jackson has noted that working under the no-meat edict has stimulated his creativity, which shows in such dishes as its vegan pimento cheese dip and the chicken fried tofu. Bart Mallard is in charge of Crosstown’s Art Bar, which serves creative drinks, such as the Meditation of the Copulating Lizards, in the loungiest of lounge spaces.

Milk Dessert Bar serves over-the-top desserts as well as sentimental favorites. Featured on the menu is a cookie dough flight. Fam, a casual noodle restaurant, opened Downtown recently, and Mahogany, an upscale Southern restaurant with a movie theme opened in East Memphis in November.

Gray Canary, the latest from Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer, opened in January in the same building as Old Dominick Distillery. Its m.o. is that everything is cooked over an open fire. The setting, with a river view, is smokin’ hot, too.

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

From Us to You: Thanks!

Frequent Flyer lapel pin

Whew. Another year under our belts at the Flyer. That makes 29, if you’re counting. And we are. In fact, in February, we’ll celebrate our 30th anniversary as Memphis’ only independent, locally owned weekly paper. That’s a long time in newspaper years, especially these days. It’s the kind of anniversary that makes an editor want to take stock of things, and maybe even brag a little.

Each year, I collect a stack of the past 52 issues on my office desk, and every December I look through them, trying to get a perspective on the year’s work. In 2018, we instigated a series of stories called the Justice Project — in-depth investigations on issues such as food deserts, environmental racism, the Memphis immigrant community, and the Memphis City Council’s attempts to end-run democracy, to name a few.

We also published insightful cover stories on the Midtown “skinny houses” building boom, the fight over the future of the Fairgrounds, the member/board/employee struggles at WEVL and the Children’s Museum of Memphis, and the burgeoning reboot of our riverfront.

As I look back on the year, I’m proud of our commemorative MLK issue and the retropective look we took on the work of Ernest Withers. And our annual 20<30 issue has become a community project that’s grown by leaps and bounds each year.

When it comes to politics, I don’t think anyone in town can top the Flyer and Jackson Baker for local coverage and insights. Just sayin’. Actually, I can say similar things about all the Flyer staffers. And maybe I just will.

Associate editor Toby Sells is as solid as they come, an ace reporter who pulled together many of the stories mentioned above and edits the Fly-By news section. No one in town tops Chris Davis for theater, entertainment, and media coverage — not to mention, he’s one funny dude. Music editor Alex Greene is hard-wired into the scene as only a long-time musician can be. Chris McCoy absolutely owns the local film beat. Fight me. And Maya Smith has emerged as one of the city’s best young reporters; she can tackle anything you throw at her. And we’ve thrown a lot at her.

Helping to pull it all together is long-time managing editor Susan Ellis, who helms our entertainment, arts, books, and food coverage, and copy editor and calendar editor Jesse Davis. And, of course, there’s Michael Donahue, who graces this week’s cover and is our writing Jack of all trades — and the life of 1,000 parties.

Andrea Fenise is our fashion editor, which, if you’ve seen how we dress, you would know is a necessary thing. In sports, Frank Murtaugh covers all things Tigers and Redbirds like the roving outfielder he once was, and newcomer Anthony Sain is now helming our Grizzlies coverage.

That’s a solid damn team and I’m proud and privileged to work with all of them.

As I look at the past year’s covers, I’m also struck by how much fun we have around here. Consider our hard-hitting cover story on … cheese dip. Or the annual barbecue issue, or our in-depth look at the city’s best hamburgers, or our first annual Dog Issue. Arf!

Then there’s, well, beer. We like beer. Do you like beer? I like beer. So, in March, we do an annual beer bracket challenge to determine the city’s best craft beer. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has been invited to be a guest judge this year. We haven’t heard back from him yet, but we’re sure it’s just an oversight.

We also won a boat-load of regional and national writing awards in 2018. Fact.

But enough about us. None of this would happen without your support. All of us want to thank all of you who keep picking up the Flyer each week. Our 90-percent-plus pickup rate is the envy of alt-weeklies around the country. And thanks go also, of course, to the folks who pay our bills — our advertisers in print, online, and at our events. We love you and appreciate what your support means.

I’d also like to thank the 275 (and counting) members of our Frequent Flyer program — folks who support what we do with their monthly pledges. (Go to support.memphisflyer.com, if you’d like to learn more — or better — join them.)

I could keep name-checking our staffers — art director Carrie Beasley and her team; ad director Justin Rushing and the sales crew — but I’m running out of space. Look just to the left of this column, at the masthead, and you’ll see everyone involved in making the Flyer happen. Blow them a kiss.

We’ve got great plans for the year ahead, including a print redesign in the next few months. Join us; 2019 is going to be great. And thanks again for keeping us flying.

Categories
Cover Feature News

2019: The Year Ahead in Politics, Business, Government, Theater, Film, Food, and Music

Politics

As the year 2018 began to fade into the archives, a new year and very likely a new and unpredictable new era were beginning to emerge. To be sure, there were some personalities and issues that would carry over into 2019. One was Jim Strickland, the mayor of Memphis since his inauguration on January 1, 2016, who was active in the waning days of the old year, raising money and pressing the flesh for a reelection campaign that is already well under way and, superficially at least, seemed destined to be invincible.

Jackson Baker

(l to r) School Board member Kevin Woods, state Representative Larry Miller, and School Board member Michelle McKissack.

Strickland, a genial, giant-sized man, is armed with a fresh poll showing his approval ratings to loom large over any and all potential opponents. Former Mayor Willie Herenton, one declared opponent, can match Strickland in height and more than match him in mayoral tenure (17-and-a-half years, beginning with his 1991 election as the city’s first elected black mayor). But Herenton’s stock had run low indeed by the time of his 2009 resignation (or “retirement,” as he chose to call it), and his dismal, underfunded comeback attempt in 2010, a challenge to 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen, resulted in a five-to-one wipeout. So far, there is no detectable groundswell whatsoever for his current, second comeback attempt — apparently fueled by his stated desire, in the wake of this year’s MLK anniversary events, to carry on the Great Martyr’s crusade. In that regard, it augurs badly for Herenton that the reelection bid of Strickland, who is white, is underscribed by a generous portion of the city’s African-American office-holders.

Nor is there any sign of momentum for Memphis Police Association president Mike Williams, whose own crusade on behalf of equity for his union members is only modestly buttressed by support from a small community of activists and dissenters.

Yet who knows, really? Surely one of the lessons of the 2016 presidential election, with its come-from-nowhere Trump win, is that politics — all politics — is undergirded by tectonic plates that can shift unexpectedly. Speaking of which, there’s a whole lot of shaking goin’ on with the Memphis City Council, where three of the body’s 13 seats are vacant and must be filled with interim occupants even before all 13 seats come open in the quadrennial city election of 2019. A deadlock between a mainly white faction responsive to the city’s business elite and an African American bloc espousing the cause of grass-roots nominees has so far frustrated agreement on council-named appointees, and sentiment at year’s end was building toward a possible special election early in the new year.

Shelby County government meanwhile seems to be on an unusually harmonious path, as new county Mayor Lee Harris attempts to build support for an ambitious reform agenda by mending fences with a county commission whose holdover members are veterans of a prolonged struggle for dominance with former Mayor Mark Luttrell. Harris’ gamble is that allowing the commission its own legal counsel and other concessions will not tilt the power balance against him.

On the state front, a special election for the state Senate seat vacated by newly confirmed federal Judge Mark Morris is the only local electoral matter on tap for 2019. A new Democratic momentum in 2018’s legislative races did not transform the fact of a Republican super-majority in Nashville, and the appealing personality of new Republican Governor Bill Lee co-exists with his espousal of educational vouchers and open-carry gun legislation and his resistance to Medicaid expansion. These and other positions carry the seeds of a contentiousness that could curtail Lee’s political honeymoon in the legislative session of the 2019 General Assembly. — Jackson Baker

Theater

Calm down, people. I know you’re so excited to have an opportunity to see Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical theater phenomenon when it comes to the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis. But here’s the catch: Hamilton‘s not rolling into town until July 2019, individual tickets have yet to go on sale, and no date for individual ticket sales has even been announced yet.

Flyer readers have been calling in or emailing, outraged because they’ve gone online to buy Hamilton tickets only to find third-party websites charging $600 or more per ticket. These sites aren’t legitimate, and it’s not too difficult to predict that anybody who advance purchases a bogus ticket at that price will be sorely disappointed when the show finally comes to town.

To help combat the problem, the Orpheum has added the following information to its website: “An on-sale date for single tickets has not been set, and individual tickets are not available through any verified ticket seller. Please note: Any ticket obtained prior to the official Orpheum Theatre Box Office and Ticketmaster on-sale period for this show is counterfeit or is being resold by a third-party vendor at potentially inflated prices.”

With Ballet Memphis having moved into its new Overton Square facility in August 2017, and the Tennessee Shakespeare Company moving into Ballet Memphis’ old Trinity Road building in time to open its 2018-19 season, there are currently no major moves in the works, for the first time in several years. Tennessee Shakespeare is, however, halfway through a capital campaign to fully renovate the interior of a space that was designed with dancers, not actors in mind.

Circuit Playhouse Incorporated, the parent organization of Playhouse on the Square, launched in November 1969, so anticipate opportunities to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary in 2019.

Theatre Memphis is also approaching a major milestone. The East Memphis playhouse launched in 1920, and is entering its 99th year of existence. That sets local theater lovers up for two solid years of celebrating the lively arts in Memphis.

— Chris Davis

Development and Business

Forget feeling bullish on Memphis. We’re in a full-on stampede. 

Development projects with multi-million-dollar price tags seemed to fall out of the sky in 2018. So, take a drive around town and take some mental images. This is all about to change, y’all. And 2019 is the year we’ll really start seeing that change, especially in the Downtown skyline and the ever-bustling Midtown. 

One Beale: Dirt is slated to finally turn next year on the nearly 15-year-old One Beale project at Beale and Riverside. The latest version of the plan puts construction at $225 million and includes a hotel, apartments, restaurants, retail, and more. The first, $130-million phase of construction is set to begin in January. It’ll bring a 227-room Hyatt Centric hotel, 227 apartments, and a 475-space parking garage. That phase is expected to be complete by 2020.

The Citizen, Madison@McLean, Union Row, One Beale, Hyatt Centric, and the Mid-South Fairgrounds — will Memphis “build up, not out” in its 200th year?

Union Row: The Daily Memphian called the $950-million Union Row project the largest mixed-use project in Memphis history. Marinate in that a minute.

Roughly centered at Union and Danny Thomas, the 29-acre Union Row project is expected to bring a mix of retail (including a grocery store), residential, a garage, office space, and a hotel. But it’ll also bring parks, public spaces, and pedestrian connections to more points Downtown. More than half of the lots Big River Partners want to build on are vacant. The company is hoping to get $100 million in public help for the project. Should it get it, the company will begin closing on the properties in February and begin construction in June. The first phase is expected to open in August 2021.

Mid-South Fairgrounds: All right, no dirt is gonna move at the Mid-South Fairgrounds next year, but paper might. City leaders have worked for years on a project that would transform the now-sleepy Fairgrounds into a youth sports destination. The possibly $181 million plan includes an $80 million youth sports complex, a parking garage, upgrades to the Liberty Bowl, basketball courts, a track, a soccer and football field, and more.     

City leaders scored a huge win in 2018 as state officials approved a new Tourist Development Zone for the project. The move allowed city officials to start collecting commitments of the $61 million in private funds needed to fuel phase two of the project. State finance officials will only sign off on the $90 million in bonds city leaders will issue for their part of the project if they can raise those private funds. So, state officials are slated to vote on the plan again next year. 

Other projects: Expect to see work crews in the Memphis Zoo parking lot this year as its re-do is expected to forever halt overflow parking on the Overton Park Greensward by 2020. 

Look for the grand openings of two high-profile apartment projects started in 2018 — The Citizen at McLean and Union, and the five-story Madison@McLean.

Watch hammers swing early next year on The Ravine, a new public greenspace concept between Union and Madison in the Edge District. Developers DSG want the $5 million Ravine to be the Edge’s true gathering spot with an active retail plaza, kid-friendly play structures with water features, flexible seating, an amphitheater-style performance venue, and festival and event spaces. Phase one of the project is expected to be finished in May.

Construction of a new seven-story, 109-room hotel was set to begin in the Edge this winter and wrap as early as 2020.

Renovations continue at Central Station, to transform the century-old train station into a hotel, restaurant, and retail space. Malco officials recently told The Commercial Appeal its new Downtown theater could be open by the end of 2018.

Finally, construction was set to begin on Wiseacre’s new 43,500-square-foot brewery and taproom close to South Main sometime this winter. 

None of this is even to mention the ongoing, $1 billion expansion of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Phew. Buckle up, y’all. — Toby Sells

Film

The biggest event in Memphis film due in 2019 will be Craig Brewer’s Dolemite Is My Name. Written by The People vs. O.J. Simpson‘s Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the biopic stars Eddie Murphy as pimp-turned-blacksploitation auteur Rudy Ray Moore. With a generous budget and a supporting cast that includes Chris Rock, Snoop Dogg, and Keegan-Michael Key, this Netflix production promises to be epic. The street date is still up in the air.

January 4th brings the Memphis release of If Beale Street Could Talk. Barry Jenkins’ brilliant followup to Best Picture winner Moonlight is a must-see. Later in the month, we get Samuel L. Jackson in Glass, the sequel to M. Night Shyamalan’s best movie, Unbreakable.

February looks wintry with an unwanted remake of the 1990 mind-bender Jacob’s Ladder and James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez’s live-action anime adaptation Alita: Battle Angel. A possible bright spot is The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part. March will be ruled by the superhero blockbuster Captain Marvel. I’m sorry, but the first images from Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo adaptation look hideous.

Big studios come out swinging in April, with DC’s Shazam and reboots of Pet Sematary and Hellboy, before Avengers: Endgame blows everything else out of the multiplex. I’m most excited for It Follows director David Robert Mitchell’s long-delayed neo noir Under the Silver Lake.

May has Pokemon: Detective Pikachu and a third John Wick film, but I’ll be lining up for Godzilla: King of the Monsters. In June, Dark Phoenix takes another crack at the best X-Men storyline, in which Game of Thrones‘ Sophie Turner does Jean Grey’s heel turn. July 4th weekend brings Spider-Man: Far From Home, then later in the month Quentin Tarantino’s Manson Family epic, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

August looks pretty dire unless you’re a Dora the Explorer fan. I’m telling you right now I’m not sitting through another Angry Birds movie. September will no doubt be dominated by the scary clown sequel It: Chapter Two. October kicks off with Will Smith playing clones in Ang Lee’s Gemini Man and the godforsaken Joker movie starring Joaquin Phoenix.

November sees Ahnold back as the Terminator, a Sonic the Hedgehog film, and schlockmeister Roland Emmerich remaking the World War II drama Midway. Bet instead on Rian Johnson’s star-studded murder fest Knives Out. The box office matchup of the year comes in December when the Taylor Swift-led adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats bows on the same weekend as J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode IX. And finally, Greta Gerwig helms a promising Little Women with Saoirse Ronan as Jo, Emma Watson as Meg, and Meryl Streep as Aunt March.

City Government

Council Conundrum: The Memphis City Council, down three members, is slated to fill its three vacancies at the first meeting of the year on Tuesday, January 8th. The council began its attempt to fill the first of the three, the District 1 seat vacated by Bill Morrison, in late November. As of press time, the body has been at a deadlock and unable to reach the necessary seven votes for any one candidate.

Both of the top two contenders for the seat are out of the running, as Lonnie Treadaway pulled his bid for the seat, and Rhonda Logan was eliminated. Only Tierra Holloway, Paul Boyd, Mauricio Calvo, and Danielle Schonbaum remain as candidates for the District 1 seat.

Maya Smith

The Memphis City Council (above) has been much in the news in 2018 and still has hanging business to be completed in the new year.

The council has been unclear about how it will move forward with filling the position, if they will consider the aforementioned candidates, or if the application process will be re-opened.

The vacant District 6 and Super District 8-2 seats, which were slated to be filled at the council’s most recent meeting, will also be addressed at the January 8th meeting.

At this point, after the council has had hours of debate and is still seemingly unable to reach a decision for the District 1 seat, some Memphians, including representatives with the Memphis chapter of the NAACP, are calling for a special election to fill all three positions.

Tension has been a constant in the council chambers throughout the process, with accusations of racism and gerrymandering being thrown at council members, outbursts from onlookers, and spats among members. The fate of the 10-member council for 2019 is unknown.

Third Century Plans: Memphis could adopt a new comprehensive plan — dubbed the Memphis 3.0 Plan — as the city enters its third century. Drafted with input from more than 15,000 citizens, public and private partners, and city officials, the hundreds of pages of the plan detail a plan for future growth in the city: “Build up, not out.”

The Memphis 3.0 plan largely revolves around improving public anchors — centers of community activity — in the city’s core and surrounding neighborhoods. In sum, the plan focuses on connectivity, opportunity, and land, touching on everything from transportation, safe streets, housing, parks, the environment, as well as access to fresh food, jobs, and education.

Public comment on the plan, which will be reviewed by the Office of Comprehensive Planning, is accepted through February 8th via email, mail, or fax. If adopted by the Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board and subsequently the Memphis City Council, the plan will be the guiding document for the city’s future development and investments for the next 20 years.

Bag Tax: The bad news is you could start paying seven cents for every plastic bag you get from certain stores. The good news: The environment could benefit.

At its January 22nd meeting, the city council is set to vote on the third and final hearing of a city ordinance that would implement the seven-cent tax at stores that have more than 2,000 square feet of space or are part of a chain.

Seniors and those in the SNAP program would be exempt from the fee. The council said the motive behind the move is not to make a profit, but to help sustain the environment. Specifically, council chairman Berlin Boyd said he wants the ordinance to protect the city’s waterways, which he claimed are overly polluted by plastic bags.

Local environmentalists such as Scott Banbury with the Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, agree that plastic bags are a problem and that taxing them is a good step toward addressing the issue.

— Maya Smith

Food and Restaurants

For 2019, keep your eyes peeled on various locations that once held restaurants.

There are some key spaces in some key locales waiting to be filled. One of them is the Kitchen in Shelby Farms. There is interest in this pretty spot, and Shelby Farms expects to have a restaurant up and running there in 2019.

Plans for Beale Street Landing, which once held Front Porch, are fuzzier. The site is currently being used for special events and is part of the overall Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP) overhaul of Tom Lee Park and other Downtown public spaces. In 2019, the MRPP plans to set up Beale Street Landing as an “engagement center.” According to George Abbott of MRPP, “Quality food and beverage options will be a part of the new park experience, but we’re not sure yet how they will be provided — and what role [Beale Street Landing] will play in that.”

Justin Fox Burks

The Kitchen

Other spaces up for grabs include the old LYFE restaurant Downtown, Paulette’s/Stanley BBQ in Overton Square, Indian Pass near Overton Square, and Strano in Cooper-Young.

A few projects that were set for 2018 have spilled into 2019. David Scott of Dave’s Bagels, announced his brick-and-mortar spot earlier this year. He says he’s still working on it. Bogard was supposed to go into the old Paulette’s/Stanley BBQ spot, but that project fizzled after a couple partners backed out of the deal. But don’t count Bogard out yet. They are aiming for a spring or summer opening in an unnamed location. Porch & Parlor, going in the old Bar Louie space, is now looking at a spring opening. It’s set to start its construction phase in January.

Rizzo’s on South Main will be closed for a few weeks for some necessary renovations. A leaking wall caused damage to the electrical system and the floor. Michael Patrick says the restaurant will be closed, starting in early January and probably throughout the month. Patrick has been actively feeling around for places to hold pop-up shops. He says his main concern is keeping his staff intact. “I have a great team,” he says. “I don’t want to lose them.” The goal is have to restaurant back open by Valentine’s Day.

Salt/Soy, Nick Scott’s sushi pop-up, is making it permanent with a brick and mortar restaurant somewhere in Cooper-Young. And Pop-a-Roos, the gourmet popcorn seller, is due to set up shop some time in January at Crosstown Concourse in the spot vacated by So Nutz.

Susan Ellis

Music

We get announcements of upcoming releases all the time, but a few on the 2019 horizon have us especially impatient. Next month, Big Star’s Live on WLIR, recorded during the band’s final tour in 1974, will be available again thanks to Omnivore Recordings. February will see the release of previously unheard tracks by Alex Chilton. Songs from Robin Hood Lane (Bar/None) mixes tracks from his Clichés album with others featuring the singer and a full jazz band, lending his distinct voice to standards like “Look for the Silver Lining.” Also in February, the soundtrack for Waiting: The Van Duren Story, a documentary about the songwriter, will drop before the film itself. It collects choice tracks from his debut, Are You Serious?, with a few from later in his career.

NOTS

Goner promises new albums from both Hash Redactor and NOTS in the months to come, and Negro Terror, the African-American hardcore band, whose live shows have everyone flipping, promises a new work, Paranoia, sometime next year. Finally, the City Champs have been playing again, most notably in a show with Al Kapone at the Railgarten. Could a new album be far off? And what Champ collaborations does this portend?

Speaking of live shows, GPAC promises eclectic fun with shows ranging from the Fred Hersch Pocket Orchestra, to Shawn Colvin with Amy LaVere and Will Sexton, to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. The Bar-Kays will be bringing the funk to Soulsville’s “Staxtacular” event, February 8th. The Buckman Arts Center will bring eclectic shows into the spring, including the intriguing “Italian World Music” of Newpoli. And in April, the old reliable Lucero Family Block Party will take over the Minglewood Hall environs once again.

Speaking of spring, the Beale Street Music Festival should be interesting in May, as they coordinate with designers overseeing the remodel of Tom Lee Park. Performers have not yet been announced, but tickets are on sale. The Levitt Shell will no doubt bring another jam-packed schedule of musicians of all stripes to Overton Park for music under the stars. As will the Live at the Garden concerts.

Despite rumors to the contrary, September’s Gonerfest 16 is on! The new year will also bring events celebrating the record store/label’s quarter-century mark.

And, finally, MemphoFest looks to be back at Shelby Farms for another year.

— Alex Greene

Categories
Beyond the Arc Sports

He’s Not Z-Bo, But …

The Grizzlies need to continue to feed Jaren Jackson.

During the aftermath of the Grizzlies’ five-game losing streak, I decided to visit a fan page on Facebook to sample what the responses were. I stumbled upon a comment thread that included someone basically saying that Jaren Jackson Jr. needs to be more of a focal point — and that he was “Z-Bo 2.0.” A couple of people responded with agreement, but I, for one, want no part of it. Joe Murphy/NBAE

Jaren Jackson Jr.

I’m a huge Zach Randolph fan. He and Mike Conley are easily my two favorite Grizzlies ever. He had amazing touch around the basket, he was as strong as an ox, and his hands swallowed offensive rebounds like Pac-Man threw down power pellets. He was the team’s leading scorer during the Grit ‘n Grind era and he embraced and reflected everything that was the heart of this city. What Randolph meant to this team and this city will never be duplicated — but that’s not the issue I had with comparing Jackson to Randolph.

Despite all of Randolph’s strengths, and the contributions that he made to the franchise, he still had a game that was mostly limited to scoring around the basket and from mid-range. He showed the ability to occasionally knock down three-point shots, but for the most part, his bread-and-butter plays were made in, or near, the paint. You knew what Randolph was — and what he wasn’t. No one expected him to dunk on someone or lock somebody down on defense. He was Z-Bo and we expected him to do Z-Bo things.  Larry Kuzniewski

Jackson, on the other hand, has a ceiling that is almost literally through the roof. Many draft analysts and NBA minds projected him to be a stretch big with limited post skills and elite defense. Not many predicted that he would be as good in the paint as he has already showed so far this season, and even fewer foresaw his ability to get to the basket off of the dribble. In just 34 games this season, Grizzlies fans have seen him showcase an ability to shoot three-pointers at an increasing rate, score in the paint and in traffic, get to the basket off of the dribble, roll to the basket or pop out to the perimeter when setting screens, score off screens set for him, and, of course, do awesome things like hit a step-back three-pointer in LeBron James’ face to seal a victory.

Jackson’s potential is scary-high and it seems as though Coach JB Bickerstaff — and Jackson’s teammates — are finally realizing, after initial stubbornness, that a player like Jackson should not be treated as a project or as a cherry on top of the team sundae. He has the potential to be this Grizzlies team’s first or second option — something that it needs in order to balance out Conley’s high usage and point production. Even in games like Wednesday night’s 95-87 victory over Cleveland, where Jackson finished with 11 points, 5 rebounds, and 1 block after struggling for most of the game, Bickerstaff continued to use him. This wasn’t the case just a few games ago.

No, Jaren Jackson Jr. is not Zach Randolph, but even on past Grizzlies teams that had Marc Gasol and Conley in their primes, Randolph was still consistently the team’s leading scorer. Even though the offense was run through Mike and Marc pick and rolls, they still managed to get the ball to Z-Bo enough to let him carry the scoring load. Jackson is not the same type of player, especially when it comes to rebounding, but he has the tools to be called upon more as a scorer for this team. And he has defensive skills that Randolph never had.

Jackson doesn’t need add muscle or start wearing a headband to try to live up to short-sighted comparisons. He just needs to be the given the opportunity to be the best version of Jaren Jackson Jr. that he can be.

Categories
News News Blog

New Study Looks at Link Between Smoking, HIV Treatments

University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Kumar

Smoking makes it harder for HIV-1 therapies to work, and a professor here won a $1.71 million grant this year to figure out why.

Santosh Kumar, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), won the five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health in November. Kumar’s team will review the role of certain enzymes that enhance HIV-1 replication in smokers.

“Despite the success of antiretroviral therapy, effective treatment outcomes for people living with HIV-1 occur in only a third of the total population who receive treatment,” reads a statement from UTHSC. “While reduced adherence to antiretroviral therapy is an increasing concern, substance abuse, in particular smoking tobacco, is one of the major contributing factors for ineffective treatment outcomes.”

Kumar said his team’s studies suggest that the enzymes are induced by smoking tobacco and that it interrupts the metabolization of HIV therapies.

“Our ultimate goal is that once we know the target, what is causing this progression, we can develop a drug that inhibits the enzymes, either in the exosomes, the brain, or primary sources like the liver and lungs,” Kumar said.

The project would impact the treatment of HIV-1 patients who smoke by providing a new target for therapeutic interventions, and potential application of exosomes as therapeutic carriers in effectively treating these patients, UTHSC said.