The number of holiday travelers in Tennessee and across the nation are expected to break records this year, according to AAA.
The auto club began tracking holiday travel in 2009 and officials there believe more will travel this season than any other previous year. AAA considers the holiday travel period to be from Saturday, Dec. 22nd through Tuesday, Jan. 2. The eleven-day period is one day longer than last year, according to AAA, as Christmas and New year’s Day fall on Tuesdays.
AAA
About 2.7 million Tennesseeans — two of every five people who live in the state — are expected to travel this season, AAA said, a 5.1 percent increase over last year. About 2.5 million will travel by road. About 70,000 will fly this year, and 93,000 Tennesseans are expected to get on a train, bus, or cruise ship.
About 112.5 million Americans are expected to travel this holiday season, according to AAA. About 102.1 million will travel by road, 6.7 million by plane, and 3.7 million will travel by bus, train, or cruise ship.
“Tennesseans, even more than the average American, are traveling in record numbers this holiday season journeying to spend time with friends and family,” Stephanie Milani, AAA’s Tennessee public affairs director, said in a statement. “Gas prices below year-ago levels is a nice gift for any driver this season, but strong economic growth fueled by robust consumer spending also continues to drive strong demand for seasonal travel.”
AAA
AAA expects gas prices to remain low throughout the holiday season. Prices fell about 51 cents across the country from October through December to an average of about $2.40 per gallon (as of Dec.12th). But AAA expects those prices to rise as the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will cut production for the first six months of 2019.
Christmas music is a hallowed tradition, especially in a city built on music. And there are plenty of chart-topping yuletide tracks that have emerged from Memphis studios, like Elvis’ “Blue Christmas”, or the entire album by Booker T. & the MGs, In the Christmas Spirit. Such masterpieces get plenty of airplay, and, in the case of the MGs, tribute concerts recreating the entire album live (thanks to that masterful tribute band, the MDs).
But there are plenty of neglected gems, twinkling like ornaments at the back of the tree. Let’s see what surprises we may find behind the tinsel…
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks
And hey! Look who we found hanging out back there — Elvis! “Mother Nature wears a bridal gown,” sings the King. Hmm…who’s the lucky fella? Sounds like it might be Santa, for this is from Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas. Bassist Norbert Putnam writes evocatively about recording this album in his recent book, Music Lessons, Vol. 1. True, the Bluff City doesn’t get snow very often, but a fella can dream, can’t he?
And of course, we all know Carla Thomas’ brilliant “Gee Whiz, It’s Christmas,” don’t we? Most Memphibians do, and here are some paying tribute to the original in miniature. Yes, it’s the Memphis Ukulele Band, bringing a wonderfully earnest version with a well-crafted arrangement. The key line, “Oh by the way, it’s snowing,” always gets me, as I imagine silent flurries sweeping past the Stax marquee.
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (3)
Speaking of Stax, there were plenty of holiday tracks cut there. When the late bassist Duck Dunn toured the newly rebuilt Stax building one summer, he remarked how strange and welcome it was to finally have air conditioning in the museum. It’s hard to imagine that, through all those years of hits, they were cutting tracks in the Memphis swelter without climate control. Pioneers! It gives one renewed admiration for the MGs. Just imagine them recording their holiday masterpiece there in the summer of 1966.
And while we’re visiting Stax (which may have been the most Christmassy label in the city’s history), let’s tip our hat to this answer song, of sorts. Everyone’s dreaming of a White Christmas, yada yada yada. Let’s appreciate a Black Christmas too, while we’re at it.
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (2)
Yes, let a thousand alternative Christmasses proliferate! Moon Records was all about “alternative,” back in the day. They were the other rockabilly label named after a celestial orb, and the label’s queen and CEO was Cordell Jackson. Here’s her shout-out to those who celebrate the season with bongos and jazz cigarettes. I’m still waiting for an actual be-bop interpretation of this song.
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (5)
And, since we know how scary jazz can be for some folks, here’s Cordell once again, bringing Christmas rock to the world:
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (6)
Speaking of alternative, the decades following Moon Records’ heyday have been more and more about the growth of once-underground cultures. The beatniks have taken over, and alt-rock is king. Nowadays, we have thousands of slightly tweaked visions of sugar plums. Heck, even I have dabbled in the genre, and both Reigning Sound and Big Ass Truck were early adopters of Christmas motifs. Here’s a gem from BAT’s own Robby Grant, whose band Vending Machine has a long track record of holiday cheer. On this latest addition to his ever-growing Christmas “album,” he recruits several other Grants.
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (6)
And they’re not the only family band this season. Just get a load of this offering from the Burks family, who could go pro at any minute. Note to other Memphis parents: we need to step up our game!
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (14)
This is just the tip of the Memphis alt-Christmas iceberg, of course. Some years ago, underground champions Makeshift Music released an entire album of holiday music from the city’s back alleys and hidden corners. Here’s one that conjures the disarming frankness and intimacy of the Magnetic Fields, but with a Bluff City angle. Yes, it’s Tommy and Trace Bateman.
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (7)
And here’s another from this intriguing compilation. Time to rock the holidays with the True Sons of Thunder!
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (8)
And another, because doesn’t Christmas make you want to hear some Joy Division or Bauhaus?
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (10)
It turns out there are plenty of noirish, sci-fi takes on the season, including Robert Traxler’s mashup of samples and electronic noise from this year’s Memphis Concrète holiday event at the Hi Tone. Keeping that icy holiday sheen going, we peruse Soundcloud, where New Memphis Colorways keeps things human in the face of all the tech that capitalism can muster:
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (9)
This year, in honor of these yeoman musicians’ indefatigable commitment to gigging, even on Christmas Day, here’s the latest from the Sheiks’ secret holiday studios. It brings to mind the goofy songs/skits the Beatles would visit upon their fans “at the end of every year.”
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (11)
And now I must go finish my holiday shopping: It’s time to “wrap up” this blog. Yes, plenty of gems were left out, but I hope this has only marked the beginning of your Christmas journey. Check out the Easter Egg links in the text above for more, and if you really want to get raunchy (I don’t, not at this hour), you can groove to Indo G’s “Santa’s Ho House” from 2002. (Pro tip: the album also features such hits as “Frosty the Blowman” and “All I Want for Christmas is my Charges Dropped”). But how can we quit before hearing one of the greatest, most hypnotic Christmas blues ever cut in the Bluff City? Here’s Jessie Mae Hemphill bringing things back home, and back down to earth:
Get Yer Nog On With These Rare Memphis Christmas Tracks (12)
Mark Edgar Stuart, Kyndle McMahan, Jason Freeman, Logan Hanna, and Jon Hornyak, aka The Memphis Ukulele Band, bring you a very Bluff City Christmas. Director Kim Lloyd mixed live footage of the band playing at Lafayette’s with 8mm home movies from the Sam Phillips archive showing the mastermind of Memphis music at home with his family. Lloyd dedicates the video to Becky Phillips and Louise Layton, and we dedicate it to you, our loyal MVM readers, on this holiday season.
ServiceMaster, city-owned golf courses, new health benefits for Shelby County Commissioners and more made this year’s Pork Report from Nashville’s Beacon Center, a free market think tank.
Each year the center lists the biggest examples of what it deems to be government waste in its report.
Here are the Memphis and West Tennessee morsels from the report.
Beacon Center
Shelby County Commission benefits — “Christmas came early”:
Did you know that in order to have lifetime health and life insurance benefits, all you have to do is serve on the Nashville Metro Council for two terms? It seems that Shelby County Commissioners got word of that, and this year, Commissioners voted themselves those same types of benefits once they have served on the commission for eight years. Those benefits are estimated to rack up a tab for taxpayers between $6 and $10 million. For Shelby County commissioners, Christmas presents came early this year, while local taxpayers got stuck with the bill.
TNECD
A view of the megasite looking north from I-40.
West Tennessee Megasite — “a complete and unmitigated disaster”:
The practice of corporate welfare is bad enough, but the Memphis Regional Megasite really takes the absurdity of this practice to a whole new level. Tennessee decided to spend $144 million of taxpayer money and eight years to “develop” an empty field, with the hope of attracting businesses at some point. That means we spent nearly $150 million with absolutely no commitment from any business to open up shop there.
What’s worse is that apparently the $144 million and nearly a decade still wasn’t enough to make that site “shovel-ready,” so now the Department of Economic and Community Development (ECD) received another $30 million for wastewater improvements. Several businesses have passed over the site for other states, yet officials want to waste even more of our hard-earned dollars on a job site with no actual jobs. To top it all off, the government will have to take people’s private land through eminent domain to bring the project to fruition.
This entire project has been a complete and unmitigated disaster. We are going to spend over $170 million and still have absolutely nothing to show for it. Even if a big company does eventually move to the Megasite, there is no possible way that taxpayers will get our money back. The worst part about this is that there is no end in sight. Who is to say that ECD won’t ask for another $100 million next year if the site is still unoccupied? Tennessee needs to learn the idea of a lost cause and sell this barren land to the highest bidder.
City of Memphis
The Links at Galloway
City of Memphis golf courses — “Memphis lost over $2 million”:
Instead of spending tax dollars on essential public services like roads, public safety, and schools, local governments across Tennessee spend millions on city-owned golf courses that continue to lose money. In 2017 alone, Memphis lost over $2 million dollars trying to operate eight golf courses.
Why should fans of any other sport have to subsidize the hobby of golfers, a sport that is generally played by wealthier constituents? Even worse, why are governments competing with private businesses that offer the same service but don’t have access to taxpayer funding, putting them at a severe disadvantage?
Even if you love golf, it’s not the role of government to use your tax dollars to enter the golf business. Taxpayers should demand their local governments take a mulligan on the concept of funding golf courses and focus instead on vital services.
Collierville Middle School PTA/Facebook
Collierville Middle Band Director Embezzles — ”using these funds on personal gambling trips…”
Former band director and band booster for Collierville Middle School Jason Seek was charged with embezzling after a state Comptroller investigation discovered that Seek misappropriated $133,064 of band booster funds.
Seek was found forging signatures and creating elaborate schemes to cash checks and withdraw funds from ATMs over the course of roughly five years. Seek was caught using these funds on personal gambling trips to Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia, and even Las Vegas.
ServiceMaster
ServiceMaster Moves Downtown — ”What’s next? The government giving money to the McDonald’s across the street.”
Earlier this year, employees for ServiceMaster began reporting to their newly renovated office in the old Peabody Place mall in Downtown Memphis after relocating from their former location on the edge of town. The renovation and relocation was announced in 2016 and cost more than $35 million.
Everybody loves a good ol’ HGTV-style renovation with an open concept and natural light for their office, but does government need to fund it? The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, which has never seen a taxpayer handout it doesn’t like, gave ServiceMaster $5.5 million to aid in the move across town, despite knowing that ServiceMaster would not create a single job in exchange for the grant money.
Company officials are hoping the renovation helps the company “recruit technologically savvy and creative millennials.” What’s next? The government giving money to the McDonald’s across the street to serve kale chips and kombucha to get them to spend money eating out for lunch instead of brown- bagging it?
If ServiceMaster has trouble attracting programmers with man buns, that’s their problem to fix, not the problem for Tennessee taxpayers to subsidize.
The five most memorable sporting events I attended in 2018:
5) Redbirds 4, Oklahoma City 3 (September 9) — There are no analytics that measure The Stubby Touch. But it was on full display in Game 4 of the Pacific Coast League semifinal series between the Redbirds and Oklahoma City Dodgers. Leading the series two games to one, with a chance to advance to a second straight championship series, the Redbirds fell behind, 3-1, in the top of the 10th inning (in a game scheduled for seven innings as part of a potential doubleheader). With two outs and two strikes, Alex Mejia drilled a line drive single just over the glove of the Dodger second baseman to drive in the tying run. An intentional walk to Max Schrock ensued and forced Memphis manager Stubby Clapp to send his pitcher to the plate, having exhausted his supply of bench players. Giovanny Gallegos clubbed a ball into the left-centerfield gap for the series clincher. It was his second at-bat in seven professional seasons. The Stubby Touch.
St. Jude Marathon
4) Tigers 52, Houston 31 (November 23) — Teams that start league play 1-3 are not supposed to play for a conference championship. But thanks to help from other middling teams in the American Athletic Conference’s West Division, the Tigers found themselves playing favored Houston for a chance to face undefeated UCF in the AAC title game. The Tigers’ incomparable running-back duo of Darrell Henderson (178 yards, two touchdowns) and Patrick Taylor (128 yards, two touchdowns) were too much for the Cougars. Three of the tandem’s four scores came in the fourth quarter after Houston had tied the game at 31. Oh, and Tony Pollard was there with 116 receiving yards, 83 on the ground, and a 37-yard kickoff return. Stars were shining this Friday afternoon at the Liberty Bowl, and Memphis indeed clinched a second straight division crown.
3) Tigers 76, Tennessee Tech 61 (November 6) — I’ve sat courtside at Memphis Tiger basketball games for the better part of two decades. I’ve been able to read tattoos on the likes of Derrick Rose and Will Barton, hear the screams of John Calipari and the cheers (alas, too infrequent) of Donna Smith. But on this night, I confess to staring more than a sportswriter should during game action. For there on the Tiger sideline — finally, after making us wait more than seven months! — was coach Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. The announced crowd (15,231) made it feel like a major conference clash in late February, and not merely Tennessee Tech on the other bench, the Tiger football season still going strong. Senior forward Kyvon Davenport scored 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help Memphis win Penny’s first game as a college coach. But the star of this show was wearing a coat and tie, a new era dawning only a few feet from where I sat.
2) Redbirds 5, Fresno 0 (September 15) — Randy Arozarena drilled a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run bomb in the eighth. Jake Woodford pitched seven shutout innings. And the Memphis Redbirds clinched their second straight PCL title (and first at AutoZone Park since 2000). Despite suiting up 66 players over the course of the season and sending only two position players — Wilfredo Tovar and Tommy Edman — to the field with 2017 championship credentials, Memphis ended another season with champagne showers. Having won Game 3 with the first squeeze play of their season (Mejia drove in Edman), the Redbirds made the celebration seem almost formulaic.
1) St. Jude Marathon (December 1) — If you don’t get a lump in your throat at the sight of thousands of runners on Riverside Drive — all for the kids at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — your throat isn’t designed properly. My wife, Sharon, ran this year’s marathon, her first (at age 50). Attending a marathon as a spectator is somewhat similar to a golf tournament except the athletes are, you know, running. I caught a glimpse of Sharon (she claims she saw me) on Front Street, early in the race. Then I did my own jogging, first to Riverside (around mile 7), then to Carolina Avenue. From there, I drove to Midtown, where I saw her closing in on mile 20 on North Parkway. All the while, other spectators ringing bells, flashing signs of support, and calling these runners what they are: heroes. It’s the single greatest sports day in Memphis, Tennessee, and may not need the “sports” qualifier.
The Grizzlies have lost five straight games, including three straight on their current five-game road trip. After a 14-5 start that had them atop the Western Conference, the home team is now 16-16 and sitting outside of the top eight playoff seeds in 10th place. Larry Kuzniewski
JB Bickerstaff
Whenever a team has a fall from grace like this, there is always a wide range of reactions and responses. Fans are asking, “Is this who the team really is?” “Do the Grizzlies need to do something drastic to shake up the roster?” “Are we about to move to Nashville?”
Well I haven’t heard that one yet, but it wouldn’t be a Grizzlies season without someone worrying that each and every loss inches us closer to Nashville.
Probably the most common response to the Grizzlies recent run of mediocrity has been an increased amount of criticism towards first-year head coach J.B. Bickerstaff. Bickerstaff, who filled in for David Fizdale after Fizdale was fired early last season, is serving in his first permanent role as a non-interim head coach after stints as interim here in Memphis and in Houston. Many of the questions concern his perceived under-utilization of rookies Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jevon Carter, and his over-use and over-dependence on the players who stand in their way the most — Jamychal Green and Shelvin Mack.
This year’s Grizzlies roster is far from perfect. As a matter of fact it has a generous helping of flaws. Mike Conley and Marc Gasol are at the twilights of their respective primes and there is no other consistent scorer outside of those two. There is definitely a need for talent upgrades in certain areas, but I, for one, believe that a lot of the Grizzlies’ problems don’t come down to “trade this player and trade that player” but more to “play this player and not that player.”
Yes, the Grizzlies could trade for another scorer or shooter, but in the meantime, I believe that a lot of the team’s roster issues can be remedied internally. Maybe the most unsettling feeling that I have is that we are leaving bullets in the chamber. It’s the feeling of not maximizing everything that the team has to get the best results — and that, unfortunately, points directly to Coach Bickerstaff.
Do I think that Bickerstaff is a bad coach, in general? No. I’ve seen bad coaches and I’m not quite ready to label him as such. He’s a phenomenal defensive coach and has the genuine, unanimous respect from his players — something that has been a rarity throughout the history of the Grizzlies. Is he stubborn? Yes. And it is clearly to his detriment. It makes me wonder if someone from the Grizz front office or owner Robert Pera himself has ever addressed Bickerstaff about certain things.
Unlike the three Grizzlies coaches before him, Bickerstaff comes off as the one who would most likely respond well to criticism — or a decree — to make a change, which makes me wonder if it’s ever happened.
Pera has been around the team up close lately and I, like many, would love to hear his thoughts. We have a rookie in Jackson who has all of the tools to be a superstar and it often seems as though Bickerstaff handles him with unnecessary caution. This was clearly seen in Friday night’s 102-99 loss to the Kings, in which Jackson had 12 points in the first quarter, then went scoreless and, more importantly, was under-utilized for the rest of the game. Jevon Carter brought life into a Houston game last week and he was not rewarded for his performance, either.
It’s odd. It’s head-scratching. It’s frustrating. Bickerstaff seems to manage his rotations as if the Grizz are a star-studded super team that doesn’t need a young star like Jackson or a defensives spark like Carter to help win games. They are both treated like luxuries, instead of two players that the team needs to help them win. Bickerstaff is old-school, cut from the same cloth as his father, Bernie Bickerstaff, and former Grizz Coach Lionel Hollins. He comes from a belief that rookies have to wait their turn and that it’s best to rely on your veterans to win. But, in my opinion, his over-dependence on Grizz veterans has cost him several games this season, and has rightfully brought him criticism.
In a season where you already are at a talent disadvantage, there is no excuse for not using all assets that you have at your disposal. He’s a new coach with old-school ways, a combination that so far has had mixed results.
Twelve games into his college coaching career, Penny Hardaway has a laugher under his belt. The blowout victory came Saturday afternoon at FedExForum, at the expense of the Tennessee State Tigers. Playing the fifth game in a seven-game homestand, Memphis dominated throughout, taking a 47-17 lead at halftime and almost doubling the margin over the game’s final twenty minutes. The win improves Memphis to 7-5, while TSU falls to 3-8.
Guard Jeremiah Martin
Six players reached double figures in the scoring column for Memphis, led by senior Jeremiah Martin with 14 points. Isaiah Maurice scored 13 off the bench, Kyvon Davenport added 12, Antwann Jones and Mike Parks 11 each, and Kareem Brewton 10.
Memphis shot a cool 60 percent from the field and hit 34 of 45 free throws in the drubbing, the first game between these packs of Tigers since January 2011. Memphis has won all nine games in a series that dates back to the 1983-84 season.
The U of M now has a week off before hosting Florida A & M on December 29th, the final nonconference game on its schedule. Wichita State visits on January 3rd to open American Athletic Conference play.
A record-breaking football season for Memphis ended in heartbreak at the Birmingham Bowl Saturday afternoon. Sophomore kicker Riley Patterson pushed a 43-yard field goal attempt just outside the right goalpost as time expired, giving the Wake Forest Demon Deacons the win and extending the Tigers’ losing streak in bowl games to four.
The Tigers led the game by 18 (28-10) in the second quarter, and took a four-point lead (34-30) on a 9-yard Patrick Taylor touchdown with just 1:15 left in the game. But after failing on a two-point conversion attempt, Memphis allowed the Deacons to drive 75 yards in 41 seconds, quarterback Jamie Newman rushing the final yard for what proved to be the game-winning points, his third touchdown of the contest.
The loss leaves Memphis with a final record of 8-6 for the season while Wake Forest finishes 7-6.
After falling behind 7-0, the Tigers scored on a 41-yard run by Tony Pollard not quite five minutes into the game. Pollard (109 yards on the ground) and Taylor (108 yards) absorbed carries that might have gone to All-America tailback Darrell Henderson who declined to play in the game as he prepares for next spring’s NFL draft.
Memphis extended its lead to 21-7 on a short touchdown reception by Taylor (who finished the season with 18 touchdowns) and 37-yard interception return by sophomore cornerback Chris Claybrooks on the first play of the second quarter.
Wake Forest closed the lead to 21-10 on the first of three field goals by Nick Sciba, a score that set up college football history. Pollard received the ensuing kickoff at the three-yard line and raced 97 yards for his seventh career kickoff-return touchdown, tying the mark of three other players.
Excluding Pollard’s heroics, though, a Memphis offense that entered the game ranked fourth in the country disappeared for most of the game. The Tigers went ten possessions without scoring a point, a period that allowed Newman and the Deacons to slice away at the lead, ultimately taking it (30-28) with a 39-yard Sciba field goal late in the third quarter. (The Tiger defense was compromised by injuries to linemen Jonathan Wilson and O’Bryan Goodson.)
Memphis quarterback Brady White completed a 43-yard pass to tight end Joey Magnifico on the Tigers’ final possession, setting up Patterson’s attempt to tie the game. He connected on two 38-yard attempts, though both were nullified, the first by a Wake Forest timeout and the second by a Tiger false-start penalty. The final kick had plenty of distance, but was just right of the target.
The Tigers completed the highest scoring season in program history, with 601 points over their 14 games. But they beat only one team (Houston) with a winning record.
Memphis Current will debut at a launch party December 23rd at 409 South Main.
“It’s an arts and culture quarterly that focuses on the creative forces behind Memphis — the artists and musicians, restaurateurs that make Memphis unique,” says founder/editor-in-chief Sam Prager, 25, a native Memphian who graduated from Germantown High School and University of of Memphis, where he received his journalism degree.
Asked why he decided to start the magazine, Prager says, “I just needed a job in journalism.”
Actually, he says, “I just think Memphis deserves as much attention as it can get. There are not enough people to talk about it. And Memphis gets a bad reputation even from its own media a lot of the time. Those TV guys. I always think it’s good to shed light on the city. There are a lot of people’s stories that need to be told.”
The first issue’s music section will feature a story, written by Prager, on local band Spaceface. “I just think they’re a good band from the area and they have a good enough following,” says Prager, a veteran musician who plays guitar in Racquets.
And, he says, the members “are all real involved in the music community and other communities they serve.”
The restaurant Ecco on Overton Park is the subject of the first food feature. “Sabine Bachmann [owner/founder] has a super cool story,” says Prager, who also wrote that story. “She’s an immigrant woman in Memphis who came to the city without a lot of resources and had three sons here. She got divorced really early on and was in a strange country by herself with three sons.
“Those are the stories that need to be shared about Memphis — a city of opportunity, perseverance, and soul. And anything can happen here.”
The magazine, which includes staff and freelance-written articles, also features an outdoors section, a cocktail section with a bartender and one of their cocktails highlighted each issue, a history section, and a travel section, which will feature a destination within six hours of Memphis.
Memphis Current will include a heavy emphasis on art, Prager says. About half the magazine will feature full-page spreads on artists and photographers. “I think local artists and photographers are looked over a lot in the city and under-appreciated a lot as well. So, I think with the closing of MCA (Memphis College of Art) and Brooks (Memphis Brooks Museum of Art) moving, it’s important to appreciate the local artists we do have while we have them.”
The first issue is “100 pages from cover to back. We hope to expand it by 20 pages by the next issue.”
The public is invited to attend the Memphis Currents launch party, which will be from 7 to 11 p.m. December 23rd at 409 South Main. Spaceface will perform, Ecco is providing the food, Wiseacre Brewing Co. the beer, and Joe’s Wines & Liquors the wine. The cocktail will be “The Best Negroni in Town” made by Morgan McKinney. The cocktail and bartender are featured in the first issue. Tickets are $25.
“I hope the magazine not only sits on your coffee table but brings new people to surround it,” Prager says.
When the holidays get hectic and stressful it’s good for the soul to pause and remember the true reason for the season: Selling shit. Anxious for this yearly opportunity to serve a special convergence of reader interest and advertiser need, many news organizations, including the one that publishes this blog, create special gift guides. That’s why it’s so nice that The Commercial Appeal went a completely different way and told the story of a magical Christmas stocking that suffers for your favorite cook.
Wait, never mind. It’s just another gift guide. That “suffers” bit was just a typo. Our bad. Fly on the Wall has been hoping for miracles lately, and we thought this might be one.
Brandon Dill 
AAA 
AAA 
Beacon Center 
Beacon Center 
TNECD 
City of Memphis 
Collierville Middle School PTA/Facebook 
ServiceMaster 
Larry Kuzniewski 
Michael Donahue 