Tag: Letter from the editor

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

ICYMI: We Want to Hear From You

In the olden days, these were used to contact people. Send us an email instead. (Photo: Quino Al | Unsplash)

ICYMI, last week we announced some new and exciting things happening here at the Memphis Flyer. We’re still working out the kinks on a few items, but we have welcomed the glorious return of Rob Brezsny’s Free Will Astrology horoscopes and the always-fun (if not gross or creepy) News of the Weird column. We’ve got the bigger, better New York Times crossword puzzle for your brain-teasing enjoyment, and we’ve revived our After Dark live music schedule.

Speaking on the latter, please help us fill out this schedule with your events! Send your live music info to afterdark@memphisflyer.com to be included in our online and print (space permitting) calendars. For other events — arts, fests, fitness, theater, film, etc. — as always, send those to calendar@memphisflyer.com for inclusion. It doesn’t cost you a thing to submit your listings, and we’ll do our best to fit them in our weekly print editions, as long as you send them two weeks in advance of the issue date. Also be sure to check out the full calendar of events online, any time, at events.memphisflyer.com. It’s searchable by category and date, and perfect for planning your free-time fun stuff!

We also want to hear from you for 20<30 nominations. Every year, we highlight 20 inspiring folks under 30 years old who are doing outstanding things in our community. And believe us, there are a lot of you out there — narrowing down and selecting 20 from the list of nominees each year is a difficult task! For our 13th 20<30 class — the class of 2023 — ​​we’re looking to find and honor 20 of the city’s best and brightest young people. Candidates must be no older than 29 on January 1, 2023. Know someone who fits the bill? Send a brief bio/summary of the nominee’s work and activities, along with a photo, to under30@memphisflyer.com. Use “20<30 Nomination” in the subject line. Deadline for nominations is December 9, 2022. Honorees will be announced in our January 26, 2023, issue. We want to hear from you on other stuff, too! What would you like to see more of? Less of? What are we doing right? Or just plain awful at? What about bringing back our “I Saw You” missed connections? The personals ads? Do you have a lead on something we should investigate? Is your neighbor’s cat using your planter as a litter box and destroying your begonias? We won’t regret at all asking you to email or call (but really, who makes actual phone calls anymore?). So please do! Carrier pigeon, smoke signals, or messages in a bottle are all acceptable forms of communication, but you’ll probably fare best by emailing. And I will personally respond (even if it’s to tell you, “Heck no! We’re not pestering your neighbor or their cat! But sorry about your begonias.”). If you’re not already, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (are people still using that or is it a dumpster fire now?), Shplerble, Tweedle-Dee, and Tweedle-Do. (No, those last three aren’t actual things.) Add our website to your browser bookmarks. There’s always more happening beyond these pages. We’ll see you back here, same place, next week.

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Extra! Extra! Something New’s Stirring in the Flyer

Get weirder. (Photo: Dan Parlante | Unsplash)

I am so excited! I wish you could have seen me last week when I realized I was going to be able to bring some old favorites back into the pages of the Memphis Flyer. Just giddy as all get-out! Grinnin’ and whistlin’ and dancin’ a jig … well, I wasn’t really whistling. I’ve never been able to get much out aside from a tea-kettle-like whisper. Anyway, after our tasting for the fall beer guide we published a couple weeks back, we (may have been buzzed and) got to talking about changes we might want to implement, what new and exciting — or simply reader-friendly and engaging — things we could do to make the paper bigger, better, and weirder.

We’ve still got some ideas stewing, but we really went for it this week. And I am excited for y’all, too! I’m also excited for the handful of coworkers who are going to be just as surprised as you are when they crack open this week’s issue. I did my best to keep this a secret outside of the folks who work in the design and copyediting trenches of producing this paper.

Longtime readers will surely recognize some changes — and the return of some fun and super-useful content — all in a slightly larger, 32-page package that allowed us the breathing room to TCB on these goals. Some of you may remember the weekly insights offered by Rob Brezsny with his Free Will Astrology horoscopes. His work has been syndicated for years by alt-weeklies across the U.S. and was in our very own paper for a long time. It was cut some years back when so many publications like ours downsized and focused more closely on original content in limited print space. Another item that was cut — that I continue to be asked about when the Flyer comes up in conversation — is News of the Weird, a compilation of strange and surreal news stories from headlines across the globe. Well, guess what, lovelies? They’re baaaaack!

Also gracing these pages once again is our After Dark live music calendar. This is a bit of a trial run on those listings, as we’ve not printed them since the Before Times. But live music is kicking and thriving in the city now, and we believe this to be a valuable resource. If you’re in a band or do promotions for local venues, please send your music events to calendar@memphisflyer.com with the subject line AFTER DARK.

Were you tired of having to dig out a magnifying glass to read the clues on The New York Times crossword puzzle? Did you have to use the smallest pen in the world to fill in the answers in those teeny-tiny boxes? We’ve got great news for you (and for the many folks who’ve complained about it over the years) — we upsized the puzzle!

Lastly on the new-and-different front this week is a “now playing” conclusion to the film/TV section, where we’re testing finishing up there with a rundown of must-see films currently in theaters.

I’m new to this position and title, but I’m not new here, as you may have read in my introductory official editor’s note a few weeks back. I started out as a reader more than two decades ago — literally just a kid. I looked to the Flyer for the fun stuff — like astrology and weird news from around the world, long before we all scrolled viral videos on our phones. The extensive live music, arts, food, theater, film (etc.!) event listings helped me plan my weekends, and showed me just how much Memphis had to offer in terms of entertainment. And of course these were icing on the cake for the unmatched news reporting, politics analysis, event highlights, music and film reviews, food coverage, poignant opinion pieces (etc.!) that could be found in every issue, every single week.

We’re hoping you all will find these additions, along with our outstanding standard content, informative, fun, and useful — and we’re hoping some new readers will join us on this journey as we make the Flyer bigger, better, and weirder! (And boy, there are a lot of exclamation marks in this column! Did I mention I was excited?) With that said, after you’ve read through this week’s issue, pass your copy along to a friend or colleague. Share the love and legacy of Memphis’ alternative weekly newspaper — and stay tuned for what comes next!

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

On Falling Back (and Forging Ahead)

I feel this on a cellular level. (Photo: Simon Holland | Twitter)

“Don’t forget to set your clocks from sunshine and happiness back to misery and despair this weekend.”

These words appeared in meme format a few times in my newsfeed last weekend. So how’s everyone’s first week of misery and despair going? Okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Perhaps falling back an hour and returning to “standard time” isn’t quite the doom and gloom so many of us make it out to be. But there is something to be said about missing that end-of-day sunshine.

Statistics show that about 5 percent of the population — around 10 million Americans — experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD), most commonly starting in late fall/early winter or coinciding with the end of daylight saving time (DST). And around 20 percent have mild symptoms of SAD, which can contribute to social withdrawal, mood shifts, sleep disruption, appetite changes, low energy, difficulty concentrating, and a slew of other not-so-fun, where’s-the-sun side effects. Yuck.

Granted, I’ve seen some positive posts, from folks who are happy to have a sunny drive to drop the kids off at school, or whose children are elated at the prospect of not walking to the bus stop in the dark, or those who are now enjoying the sunrise on their morning commute. Maybe bedtime comes a little easier or earlier, eventually. But the effects one little hour can have on our brains and bodies are kind of astounding. Was Sunday the LDOAT (longest day of all time) for anyone else? The day dragged on, and the night, well, I woke up three different times thinking sleepy time was over when it was, in fact, not. Weird. It’s a lot like jet lag, it’s all kinds of confusing, and we all have to adjust.

It’s interesting, though, how society just accepts that we move time twice a year. Can you imagine if I told my co-workers or friends that 10 o’clock was now 9 o’clock, officially, and that they had to follow that format for approximately four months? It’s dark now when you 9-to-5ers step out of work — get over it.

As for daylight saving time, here’s a summary, courtesy of the Infinite Wisdom of the Internet: The idea was first suggested, in 1784, in a satirical note to the editor of The Journal of Paris from Benjamin Franklin (to minimize candle usage). In 1895, a guy (an entomologist, if you want to get technical), George Hudson, proposed moving clocks two hours so he could have more time to study bugs in daylight (gotta commend his passion and effort). A British fella, William Willett, in 1907 said it could be an energy-saving solution (I see where he was going with that). The actual implementation of DST, however, has roots in transportation, and, as succinctly stated by CNN, “was put into practice in Europe and the United States to save fuel and power during World War I by extending daylight hours, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics.” There’s a lot more to it, but you get the gist.

The National Conference of State Legislatures reports that more than 20 states currently have set forth legislation or resolutions regarding DST, with 18 states (Tennessee among them) seeking to stay on DST permanently, pending approval by Congress and the president, of course. Gah, so much power, moving time and all.

Speaking of power, I’m seeing a lot of people talking about “things I cannot control” — the time change being among them. (Well, apparently someone can control time. *Cough.*) But there are some things we can control.

Another meme I saw over the weekend read: “On Sunday, set your clock back one hour. On Tuesday, be careful that you don’t set the country back 50 years.” We’ve just passed election day. I write this before any results have come in, but I hope those of you who do wish to have some control over the few things you can got out and voted for the changes you want to see, for the people and things that will keep us moving forward for the greater good of all.

Even beyond elections, remember that you can support organizations right here in the city that pave the way for positive change in our community — whether that be through monetary contributions or volunteering your time. Use your voice, resources, and actions to make sure we are no longer, in a broader sense, falling back, but forging ahead — away from any lingering misery and despair, toward sunshine and happiness.

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

From Intern to Editor

Hello, from the editor’s chair

Hello, dear readers. You’ve probably seen my name within these pages by now, mostly in this space or in the back in Last Word or a byline to the occasional music or food feature. Today, you’re seeing it for the first time with me as this paper’s editor-in-chief. And I’d like to formally introduce myself.

I picked up my first copy of the Memphis Flyer more than 20 years ago as a fledgling writer — and an outspoken, screw-the-system teenager — on the newspaper staff at my northern Mississippi high school. Once a week, I’d drive to my favorite local music store, Disc-O-Tech (shout-out to Tomcatt who’s still keeping it going in Southaven!), and grab a copy. It gave me easy access to the big city that then felt worlds apart but lay just across the state line. In many ways, the paper’s voice — edgy, bold, and unapologetic — matched that of mine, even then, as a determined kid with much to learn.

It was nearly 15 years ago that I drove to the Memphis Flyer offices for the first time, then housed on Tennessee Street Downtown, with a slip of paper in my hand and a dream in my heart. On the paper were handwritten directions, given to me over the phone by senior editor Michael Finger, who I’d be interviewing with for an internship position. In my final year as a journalism major at the University of Memphis, I was nervous but excited at the prospect of seeing behind the scenes, learning from the company’s talented staff of writers and editors — and being a part of making the magic happen.

A bonus — for me, as a Mississippi Delta native who’d always yearned for big-city life — through an editorial internship, there were endless opportunities to learn more about Memphis from on the ground, by talking to community movers and shakers, artists, activists, entertainers, and leaders. And I’d come to do just that.

The first story I wrote for the Flyer was back in 2008, on Anthony Lee’s Modern Hieroglyphs art project along South Main at Central Station. I’d later cover controversies surrounding expansion at the Memphis Zoo, a host of events around town for the paper’s Steppin’ Out section, and — one of the strangest for a young reporter — the on-site auction of property left behind at the former Platinum Plus strip club. I learned more with every story, about myself as a writer, about how to ask the right questions, about what made Memphis uniquely Memphis. And I found my journalistic footing.

Once my internship was up, I stuck around, hoping to keep that foot in the door. Through the years, I worked in various departments within Contemporary Media, wherever they’d take me — selling advertising space, writing advertorial content and editorial features for Memphis magazine, taking the helm as the editor of Memphis Parent. And, in 2019, I circled back to where it all started, on the Flyer staff, this time as managing editor. It has been a hell of a ride.

I have profound respect for all of the people who keep the Flyer and its sister publications rolling, who’ve weathered stormy waters as digital media took its hold, who persevered through precarious times, including navigating an unprecedented pandemic. Our entire crew — reporters, editors, designers, sales executives, distribution and production facilitators, and management — are to be lauded for what they do day in and day out. It truly takes teamwork to make the dream work.

Through it all, the Flyer has been a beacon, representing the spirit and grit of the city and its people, covering the curious and quirky, the light and the dark — and maintaining its focus of giving a voice to the voiceless, telling the hard stories, doing the deep digging, and providing that work to the public, for free.

During my time here, I’ve gotten to know Memphis at its core — its humans, its hardships and successes, its scuffs and scrapes, its beauty. The stories I’ve helped tell, that came to life on the pages of these publications, are the stories of our city. There are many more to be told, and I look forward to — along with our outstanding (and ridiculously cool) team — sharing them with you all.

We wouldn’t be able to continue the Flyer’s 33-year legacy without you, and we’re grateful to have you on this journey alongside us. Thank you for reading.

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Letter From An Editor: Time’s Up

Here it is: the chance to pen the Flyer’s famed “Letter From the Editor” column. This week, I hold the keys to this journalistic kingdom and can lead off with whatever topics I deem fit. At last, an opinion column! Sounds like fun, right?

The reality is that as press day ticked ever closer, my Google Doc remained the same, a lone cursor blinking steadfast in the upper left corner. What did I want to say? Do I have anything to say for a piece like this? There are already so many voices needlessly screaming into the internet ether; do I really need to add another one? Should I even be penning such a column? I’m an editor, sure, but for our sister publications Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. My co-workers all expect a column about soccer, but no, I won’t give them the satisfaction.

But my existential pondering didn’t matter; deadlines still exist, and time was almost up. You may have noticed that the Flyer’s letter from the editor has featured several different names over the last month or so, mine being the fifth to appear in this “temp-editor” carousel. As we continue our hunt to find a new editor to help carry our alt-weekly forward, I like to think of us as a motley crew of mad hatters, each with a staggering variety of headgear piled high as we juggle myriad responsibilities and adjust to the demands of 21st century journalism. The writing, editing, social media, event planning, endless conveyor belt of irrelevant emails, and who knows how many other random miscellaneous tasks every week add up to quite a bit, but we soldier on.

That packed schedule that we all deal with has got me thinking about “time” lately. My perception of it has faded into dust since we entered Covid lockdown back in 2020, and it’s all hazy from there. That trip to Kentucky I took recently? That was actually in 2016. Didn’t I go to the Bar-B-Q Shop last month? Nope, that was back in March. But again, it’s the looming deadlines that fill me with the most anxiety.

I looked up at the calendar and, wow, it’s been almost seven years at Contemporary Media, a good bit longer than my initial two-year plan. My 30th birthday approaches in several months; does that milestone signal the end of fun, and a long, slow decline into bitterness? Or is that when the fun truly begins? When my lease expires in March, does that mean I buy a property and take on a mortgage that will stretch my finances to the brink, or do I re-up on an overpriced ramshackle apartment because “the rent is too damn high”?

The big decisions and milestones coming thick and fast get you thinking about your time, and what you do with it. I imagine it’s been easy for many over the past couple of years to just end up drifting as the world burns, as social media platforms demand our attention and try to dictate our lives, and as puffed-up malcontents in government try to dismantle our country piece by piece. What you do with your work, and what you do outside of it, matters greatly. It doesn’t necessarily mean big-picture, but rather, finding that thing which brings your zen or purpose.

Some might say you need to be constantly productive in your spare time. They’re wrong, of course, just as I’d be wrong to say that overloading on leisure time is key, because there is no one-size-fits-all solution. I head home after work and glom in front of a TV after booting up my PlayStation 5; others might grind out a side hustle or work on a passion project. Ignore all the noise and find what works best for you. It can be hard to tune it all out, but a small respite, even just a little peace of mind, goes a long way after the years we’ve had.

What we here at the Memphis Flyer choose to do with our time every day is to continue bringing you news, columns, and stories about anything and everything Memphis, and it means a lot when you pick up one of our issues and validate the hard work of our entire crew. If you really like what we do, consider becoming a Frequent Flyer and donating to the cause. Heck, you can even just give me cash directly (my Venmo is @Samuel-Cicci). And if you really, really, like what we do, then perhaps apply to become our new editor. If you’ve picked up this week’s issue, I hope the content is well worth your time. Anyway, looks like mine’s up for today.

The Memphis Flyer is now seeking candidates for its editor position. Send your resume to hr@contemporary-media.com.

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Letter from the Editor: Journey to the Homeland

I journeyed last weekend to my home state of Missouri to visit my octogenarian parents. It was a trip into the heart of a battleground state — and into the heart of my family — fraught with nostalgia and memories, good and bad. Herewith, a few notes:

Interstate 55 runs flat as a carpenter’s dream through the bootheel. Billboards, talk-radio stations, and political yard signs make it clear this is “red” country — Limbaugh-Land. The accents are Southern with a dollop of flat Midwestern tones. At a gas station, I see a cap for sale with a “Yankee Hunting License” on the front. Yeehaw.

Just south of Cape Girardeau, the eastern edge of the Ozarks merges with river-bluff country to give the land the feel of New England. The blue hills roll into the distance. The leaves are turning yellow and red. Pumpkins are everywhere. You can buy jugs of apple cider at the highway mini-marts.

Around St. Louis, Obama signs and billboards begin to appear. The local NPR station is easy to find, and I forego the country music and right-wing talk that has accompanied me for 200 miles. Never has the divide between rural and urban seemed more pronounced.

My hometown is small and rural, smack in the middle of the state. A new sign greets me at the county line: “The Bio-Fuels Capital of Missouri.” Who knew? When I was growing up, we were “The Firebrick Capital of the World.” The brown clay of Audrain County was somehow perfect for building kilns for steel mills. My father worked for one of the brick plants and often traveled to Pittsburgh on business. Now the brick plants are gone, just like the steel mills.

Much else has changed. There’s a brisk new bypass around the town. No longer do you drive past the Wreck-O-Mend auto repair or the ‘Bout New car lot. In fact, the ‘Bout New car lot looks to be ‘Bout finished. There are a Wal-Mart and a McDonald’s where once was a soybean field. McCain-Palin signs are back in vogue here.

But as we gathered around the family television to watch the valiant Mizzou Tigers get their butts handed to them by the evil Texas Longhorns, nobody snorted at the Obama ads, like once might have happened in my longtime Republican parents’ home. Even with their set-in-stone politics, my parents were bothered by McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate. They weren’t scared of Obama. This I take to be progress.

Bruce VanWyngarden

brucev@memphisflyer.com

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Letter from the Editor: The Mediocre American Base

“Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren’t they?”

Nebraska senator Roman Hruska made the above remark in 1970 in support of one of Richard Nixon’s nominees to the Supreme Court: G. Harrold Carswell. Hruska, who was once called the dumbest member of Congress, was fighting for his people, his Mediocre-American base.

Of course, Mediocre Americans are not an interest group — at least, not officially. There are no lobbyists demanding tax breaks for mediocre people. Mediocre Americans are allowed to get married and vote and run for office. Mediocre Americans have never been forced to sit in the balcony of theaters or in the back of buses. You are free to be mediocre in America. And proudly so. In fact, I’m surprised there aren’t “Mediocre Pride” parades and T-shirts reading, “It’s a Mediocre Thing. You Wouldn’t Understand.”

Now, in the proud tradition of Senator Hruska, mediocrity is again being turned into a virtue, something to be admired. Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin is the political poster girl for mediocrity. She’s “one of us,” she claims, a “hockey mom,” a representative of “Joe Six-Pack.” And, by all the evidence that’s been presented thus far, Palin is being truthful in these claims. She appears mediocre to the core — in her education, her intellect, and her “knowledge” of the issues.

I will concede mediocrity has its place. I don’t mind a mediocre television anchor or a mediocre waitress, for example. I hear mediocre musicians and talk-show hosts on the radio every day. I accept mediocrity when mediocrity doesn’t mean life or death. Some of my best friends are mediocre. (Kidding.)

But here’s the thing: Nobody wants a mediocre pilot or heart surgeon or even a mediocre teacher for their kids. Why would we want a mediocre vice president, a person who is so dense she is unable to answer the question: “What newspapers do you read?” Do we really want to elect a vice president whose primary skills seem to be those of a television sportscaster?

Yes, Palin’s cute. She can read a script. She can repeat things and excite a crowd. But if she can’t handle Katie Couric, what do you think she’ll do when she has to sit across the table from Vladimir Putin? Pop open a Bud Light and wink?

Bruce VanWyngarden

brucev@memphisflyer.com

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Letter from the Editor: A Joke or an Insult?

It all started when Don Imus made fun of Hawaiian singing legend Don “Nappy-headed” Ho. Then, ol’ Tiny Bubbles up and died! After that, things got crazy. The media went into a feeding frenzy, and Imus was ultimately fired from his gigs at MSNBC and CBS Radio.

At least, I think that’s how it went down. But I could be confused. It’s hard these days to keep track of all the stupid things people say into a microphone.

Let’s review the action over just the past year: There was Imus’ racial slur against the Rutgers women’s basketball team; Mel Gibson slandering Jews after being arrested for drunken driving; Kramer (Michael Richards) attacking blacks in his standup comedy routine; Ann Coulter calling presidential candidate John Edwards a faggot in a speech to a conservative group; Virginia senator George Allen naming a young man “Macaca” during one of his stump speeches; and Rosie O’Donnell using fake Chinese words to make fun of Asians.

Is there anyone left uninsulted? Oh yeah, straight white people. But that could be remedied easily enough if you count the Duke lacrosse team players, who were called rapists and worse by MSNBC news-harpie Nancy Grace and the Rev. Al Sharpton (deacon of the Church of Shameless Self-Promotion). Or Memphis city councilman Edmund Ford, who suggested a couple of his councilmates should “get a white sheet.”

So, why is it that all these folks got in trouble? I think it’s because they dared to insult folks outside their peer group. Black rappers and comics use the same phrases Imus used without losing their jobs. Jewish comics make fun of their Jewishness all the time. Gays call each other slang terms that straight folks dare not employ. But let someone outside the fold do the same thing and it’s racism or anti-Semitism or homophobia.

Is there a lesson here — besides the obvious fact that the difference between a joke and an insult often depends on who’s talking and who’s listening? I don’t know. Maybe it’s that free speech means just that: It’s free for everybody, whether you like what you hear or not.

Bruce VanWyngarden

brucev@memphisflyer.com