Memphis Flyer 11/9/2023

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CONTENTS

SHARA CLARK Editor SAMUEL X. CICCI Managing Editor JACKSON BAKER, BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Senior Editors TOBY SELLS Associate Editor KAILYNN JOHNSON News Reporter CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor ALEX GREENE Music Editor MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS Staff Writers ABIGAIL MORICI Arts and Culture Editor GENE GARD, EMILY GUENTHER, COCO JUNE, FRANK MURTAUGH Contributing Columnists SHARON BROWN, AIMEE STIEGEMEYER Grizzlies Reporters ANDREA FENISE Fashion Editor KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher

OUR 1811TH ISSUE 11.09.23 I’ve just celebrated my MF anniversary — my Memphis Flyer anniversary, that is. Well, one of them. It was November 2022 when I took the reins as editor-in-chief of this paper.

That designation came after nearly 15 years working for our parent company, Contemporary Media, Inc., in various roles. Some may recall my introduction letter, in which I offered the story of how the heck I got here — from intern to editor. Yes, I started this MF journey (it’s just fun to use MF; humor me, please) as an intern, still a journalism student at the University of Memphis.

I had some experience writing for The Daily Helmsman, but I recall not being able to define an “inverted pyramid” in my initial internship interview — doh! Thankfully, Mary Cashiola and Michael Finger gave me a pass on that fumble — and were impressed enough with my little ol’ portfolio — and hired me to join the team. In that first year, I covered arts, entertainment, news, and whatever writing assignments were thrown my way, and managed the After Dark live music calendar (my baby, I called it). Those early days were an adventure. I was a nervous interviewer, and not-so-confident in my question-asking skills — and I had a whole lot to learn about, well, everything. (In my first food story, I may or may not have spelled “sous-chef” “Sioux chef.”) In one on-thescene assignment, a while after Platinum Plus closed, a public auction was held at the shuttered adult entertainment club to sell off its PHOTO: GRZEGORZ KULA | DREAMSTIME.COM contents — the bar, lighting, couches, dance poles, high heels, skimpy outfits, the whole shebang. It was dimly lit and smelled like a musty basement filled with ashtrays, and I was one of few females present. Aside from former employees, the bidders were nostalgic patrons, and I reluctantly approached them: “So, why would you want that heavily soiled chair?” Having never stepped inside a strip club before, it was all just a tad uncomfortable. (“The Last Dollar Dance” can still be found on memphisflyer.com — now that’s how you build a portfolio.)

One time I interviewed Pauly Shore (after waiting anxiously at my desk for a phone call from The Weasel) ahead of his Comedy, TN stand-up show — he said barbecue was “sketchy.” Another time, I attended an event at Lausanne in which TV and film star Ginnifer Goodwin was the keynote speaker, and she was supremely patient with me during our chat when my tape recorder (yes, an actual cassette tape recorder) malfunctioned, causing me to have to go over a handful of questions a second time. Just a couple cool — although awkward — encounters of the Flyer kind. (There are so many more; journalism can be pretty fun.)

Very early on, I covered a protest and purposely avoided the organizer so that I could get my thoughts together and call with questions afterward. All these years later, I’m still a little camera-shy, so to speak (okay, a lot). I’m much more comfortable with written word than spoken (I need time to think, ya know). One of my aims going into the second year of my editor tenure is to try to ease out from behind the byline and get to know you all a little better, whether that be in social media posts, in-person events, or whatever form our next adventures take.

I’m much more comfortable with interviews now and have figured out how to string together a few decent sentences with a little less effort, but I’ve still got a lot to learn. And at this MF anniversary, it might be time for a performance review of sorts. Many of the things I was super-excited about this time last year — bringing back the After Dark calendar, News of the Weird, and Free Will Astrology — have taken flight. Attempts to relaunch the personals stalled on the runway. And we’ve brought in a new column, Metaphysical Connection. I’d love to hear what you think about our content — what works, what doesn’t, where are we lacking, where do we excel? Do you look to us for news, politics, arts, music, food, film — NEWS & OPINION THE FLY-BY - 4 all of the above? Are you reading this in POLITICS - 7 print or online? Do you refer to our robust AT LARGE - 8 online events calendar to help plan your FINANCE - 9 weekends (def add it to your bookmarks: COVER STORY events.memphisflyer.com)? What does the “STREET STYLE” Memphis Flyer mean to you?

BY KAILYNN JOHNSON - 10 WE RECOMMEND - 13 Our team has ideas brewing for the MUSIC - 14 new year as we round the final bend of CALENDAR - 15 2023, but, as always, the work we do is for NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 15 our readers. Send your MF thoughts my ASTROLOGY - 16 way, and let’s take this MF to new heights!

METAPHYSICAL CONNECTION - 17 Thank you all for coming along for FOOD - 19 FILM - 20 the ride.

Shara Clark CL ASSIFIEDS - 22 LAST WORD - 23 shara@memphisflyer.com

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THE

fly-by

MEMernet

CITY REPORTER B y To b y S e l l s

Greensward Moves

AERIAL MEMPHIS

Rubber hits the road on plan to add Memphis Zoo parking and improve Overton Park.

Kyle Delk tweeted some must-see drone footage of the city at sunset last week. He said the clip had “movie-opener vibes.” He’s right.

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BY MEMPHIS MEMES 901 Memphis nightmare fuel.

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November 9-15, 2023

Edited by Toby Sells

Memphis on the internet.

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Questions, Answers + Attitude

“There’s a new watering hole open at MEM!” Memphis International Airport officials announced on Facebook last week. “Passengers can now enjoy Wiseacre Brewing Co. beers for the first time at The Wise Omega Bodega, a new bar at MEM located between gates 21 and 23.”

The new 17-seat location opened last week and serves craft beer (natch), wine, and spirits. There’s also a takeout counter for salads, sandwiches, snacks, and — oh, hell yeah — to-go beverages to take to your gate.

Moves are underway to make real a plan unveiled in March 2022 that will enlarge Overton Park, add parking for the Memphis Zoo, and forever end parking on the park’s Greensward.

A news conference last week updated the project. It came a year and seven months after officials signed a plan to end the decades-long use of the Greensward for overflow parking. Many of those same officials met on that large field last Tuesday to outline some of the movements making their plan a PHOTO: TOBY SELLS reality. Much of the Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland speaks during a news conference last week outlining new activity is thanks some of the work already underway to make the plan a reality. to $3 million in federal funding, announced in July 2021 and secured by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen vacated it.

(D-Memphis).

One of the original plans imagined an earthen berm to be Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland was voted into office built around portions of the Greensward, especially where the one year after tensions between park activists and zoo field bordered the zoo’s main parking lot. Instead, a shaded leaders began to mount. The Greensward issue has been a walking trail will be added all around the Greensward to give mainstay on the Strickland administration’s agenda from visitors access to it and a shady spot to sit. when it began in 2016 to nearly its end (later this year).

Also, improvements around Rainbow Lake will Strickland outlined several projects in motion now to “naturalize and beautify” it to “look more like a real lake make that plan a reality: rather than a concrete pond.” The Rainbow Lake Pavilion • The city of Memphis Public Works and General will be replaced with a new facility that will allow rentals Services personnel have vacated 281 East Parkway and and offer some outdoor education classroom space. moved to the Coca-Cola facility off of Hollywood by Some of these changes were seen on renderings present Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. (Some of these 21 acres during Tuesday’s news conference. Though, Sullivan said will become parkland once again.) those were ideas more than concrete plans.

• Zoo maintenance has begun moving and relocating Tuesday’s event featured many thanks to the several some of their equipment to that 281 East Parkway facility. organizations who worked together for these many years to • The city has performed preliminary design to make a plan that worked and to execute that plan. demolish and regrade the existing city facility located off “Well, the Greensward’s been saved and Jim Strickland East Parkway. had a lot to do with it,” Cohen said, noting that his help • The city has performed preliminary design to demolish, came during the “fourth quarter” of the game. “He received regrade, pave, and re-stripe the existing zoo lot located on a lot of gruff, which he did not deserve because he was North Parkway east of University Street. working quietly to get this done.”

• The city is also working with Memphis Light, Gas & Of special note, though, is the new relationship formed Water (MLGW) to identify and move any power or light between zoo leaders and those from OPC. Much of the poles within the project area. early work on this issue seemed adversarial between the Tina Sullivan, executive director of Overton Park two. However, former zoo president and CEO Jim Dean Conservancy (OPC), noted minor adjustments to the park’s seemingly brought a cooperative spirit to the situation, original plan for the Greensward. Also, she said no solid helping to create a new way forward that not only solved the plans have yet been made for the space in the southeast parking situation but yielded 17 acres of zoo property back corner of the park that will be open once the city has to the park.

‘Failed’ Southern Policy

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ECONOMY B y To b y S e l l s

In Tennessee, for example, the richest 20 percent share more than half of the state’s total income.

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People of color are the hardest hit.

“The racist roots of this model have been obscured and have been replaced by a more acceptable ‘pro-business’ narrative,” reads the study. “The pro-business narrative suggests that low wages, low taxes, anti-union policies, a weak safety net, and limited regulation on businesses creates a rising tide that ‘lifts all boats.’”

Tennessee policies fit into this model, the study said, as the state has no minimum wage, no income tax, a high salestax burden for all residents, no expanded Medicaid program, a low per-worker GDP, and more.

Poverty is higher in Tennessee than in other parts of the country. This is especial-

ly true for people of color and particularly women of color, according to the data.

Similarly, wages are lower in Tennessee than in other parts of the country, and again it’s especially true for people of color and particularly women of color, according to the report.

“On average, Black women in the South are paid $35,884 at the median and Hispanic women just $30,984, compared with $58,008 for white men,” reads the report.

If the Tennessee economic model is working like politicians claim, where does the money go? The study says it goes to the wealthiest Tennesseans. The top 20 richest Tennesseans share more than half (51 percent) of the state’s total income. The top 5 percent share 23 percent of the state’s aggregate income. The bottom 20 percent share just 3.4 percent.

“Many Southerners may believe their [politicians’] arguments that the Southern economic development model will deliver good, well-paying jobs,” reads the report.

“However, the data presented here show clearly and emphatically that this model has failed those living in Southern states.”

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high rates of poverty,” said report author Chandra Childers, a senior policy and economic analyst for EPI’s Economic Analysis and Research Network.

Here are a few key takeaways from the report: • Job growth across the South has failed to keep up with population growth.

• Workers in Southern states tend to have lower earnings.

• Poverty rates are above the national average in most Southern states.

• Child poverty is highest in the South compared to any other region.

• Southern states are among the lowestGDP states.

The racist remnant of the Southern economic development model, according to EPI, is that business owners in the South continue to rely on “large pools of cheap labor,” particularly Black and brown people. The study points back to slavery in the South when Black people were not paid at all, and then to Pullman porters who were “forced to rely on tips” after slavery ended. Now, incarcerated individuals can be required to work with no pay at all, the study said.

NEWS & OPINION

S

outhern politicians tout the region’s “business-friendly” economic development policies, but a new study finds those policies are rooted in racism and have failed most people who live in the region.

The October study is from Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonpartisan think tank focused on “the needs of low-and-middle-income workers in economic policy discussions.” The study looks at job growth, wages, poverty, and state GDP. The data, EPI said, “show a grim reality.”

The group characterized the Southern economic development model as one with “low wages, low taxes, few regulations on businesses, few labor protections, a weak safety net, and vicious opposition to unions.”

“While this economic model has garnered vast amounts of riches for the wealthiest people across the region, it is leaving most Southerners with low wages, underfunded public services, a weak safety net in times of economic downturns, deep racial divisions, and

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The runoff candidates for city council District 3 (Whitehaven) summarize their intentions for the district if elected.

In the emailed responses below, the District 3 council candidates outline their plans and priorities.

to support our young adults 40 and under as District 3 has the largest millennial population in Memphis.

By prioritizing these areas, we can create a stronger, more prosperous District 3 that benefits everyone. Together, we can build a brighter future for our community.

Pearl Eva Walker, activist/community organizer: I’m running for city council District 3 because I Rev. James Kirkwood, pastor, former believe in the power of public service to MPD official: While canvassing, I’ve affect positive changes in our community. noted the following are significant issues For the past 20 years, I have been working to the people: crime, city services, reducacross our district to inform our coming poverty, blight, and the lack of youth munity of its hidden gems, history, and engagement. opportunities.

We must work together to move our I am committed to addressing the concity forward to becoming the city that cerns of our district to improve the future welcomes people like it used to and for all residents of District encourages people to live, 3. Once elected, I plan on work, and visit. I love helping with community District 3, and it pains me organizing to strengthen that three of the highest neighborhoods, and [will] crime zip codes (38115, work to ensure the com38116, and 38118) are in munity stays well-informed. my district. My priority I will bridge the commuis to ensure District 3 is a nication gap between the safe place for all. I will rally community, police, and the communities to supleadership by engaging port community policing District 3 on multiple platto reduce crime. Colonel forms to include a monthly PHOTO (TOP): COURTESY Davis at Raines Station and PEARL EVA WALKER newsletter with an option to Colonel Adair of Ridgeway share feedback.

Pearl Eva Walker Station need the help of the PHOTO (BELOW): COURTESY As councilwoman, I plan entire community to create REV. JAMES KIRKWOOD to focus on three key areas: a safe district.

1. Safer & cleaner neigh- Rev. James Kirkwood My game plan also borhoods: I will address includes working with our public safety by working division director of Solid closely with local law Waste and Street Mainteenforcement to enhance nance to support a major public trust thus supportDistrict 3 cleanup alongside ing community policing our churches and neighefforts [to] reduce crime borhood watch groups to and increase residents’ implement Councilwoman overall sense of secuRhonda Logan’s Code rity. Data shows that safer Green program. neighborhoods are cleaner, People want to see Disso addressing litter, blight, trict 3 grow and prosper. and illegal dumping must be a priority as I will work to bring our CDCs together it relates to safety as well. with investors and developers to turn 2. Economic development: Just as I our empty lots into booming businesses, have been supportive of businesses and emphasizing the importance of creating economic development in Whitehaven, housing and fortifying small businesses.

I want to be sure we increase economic Poverty is also taken into consideration development across all of District 3. I will when addressing blight. advocate for small business support and Children are our most valuable assets, local job creation to boost our economy and I am committed to their success [and and revitalize our neighborhoods. will continue] to support organizations 3. Youth programs and young adults: that work to engage youth programs that I am committed to improving our public build character, cultivate dreams, and education system by expanding access inspire hope for a promising future. to after-school and youth-development District 3, it’s time to make Memphis programs to ensure our children have the city we love, one of the best destinaevery opportunity to succeed. I also want tions for living, working, and visiting.

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In Their Own Words II

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NEWS & OPINION

POLITICS By Jackson Baker

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A T L A R G E B y B r u c e Va n W y n g a r d e n

Made Ya Look!

You’ve got a lot of opinions, don’t you?

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’m normally not the kind of guy who likes to draw attention to myself or my politics in public. There are no candidate bumper stickers on my car. I don’t wear political T-shirts, unless it’s something like “Save the Aquifer.”

I don’t put up yard signs for candidates, though my wife sometimes does.

I try to keep my professional life and my social interactions separate, but it doesn’t always work. Often, when I’m introduced, people will say something like, “Oh, the Flyer guy. Yeah, I read your column.” Then there’s often a moment of frisson as I wait to check the vibe. I got a bad vibe the other night at a restaurant in Regalia Shopping Center, when the person I was introduced to said, “Oh, yeah … You’ve got a lot of opinions, don’t you?”

Yes, I do. Pleasure meeting you. See ya. Bye. Anyway, as I said, I try to avoid such situations. So I don’t know what on Earth I was thinking last Saturday when I decided to wear a red baseball cap to Fresh Market. It looks exactly like a Trump MAGA cap, but the text reads: MADE YA LOOK BLACK LIVES MATTER It was a gag gift from my wife and it has hung from my desk lamp at home for months. I can’t tell you why I suddenly thought it was a good idea to wear it.

When I got to the store and started walking across the parking lot, I realized that anyone more than 20 feet away would just assume I was wearing a MAGA hat. The joke only worked if the jokee was facing me and close enough to read the text. Oops. Nonetheless, I persevered, while noting as I grabbed a shopping cart, that the damn hat and people’s possible reactions to it was all I was thinking about.

First stop was at the berries display to pick up my weekly ration of blueberries.

There was a Black guy putting out fresh plastic tubs, stacking them neatly. I saw his head jerk my way as he noticed my hat. I stared nonchalantly down at the produce, hoping the dude was reading my hat. He was.

“I like that hat,” he said, laughing.

“You had me for a minute.”

“Oh yeah, this hat? Ha ha. It always gets a reaction,” I said, shamelessly. Ha ha. Phew.

I drew a couple of looks from people in the produce section, but no one was close enough to get the joke, so I was either just another dumb-ass Trumper or a fellow patriot, depending on their politics.

At the deli counter, I studied the array of roast chickens, head lowered, as if deep in concentration. The woman behind the counter made no comment. As I pointed at my selection, she handed it to me with an inscrutable smile and said, “Have a great day.” Bupkis.

It was then that I realized the stupid hat was wearing me, instead of the other way around. I might as well have been wearing a white Klan hood with “JUST KKKIDDING” on the forehead.

Or a Confederate T-shirt with “I’M A LOSER” on the back. Some things just aren’t funny, even ironically. The MAGA hat has become too loaded with political baggage to be amusing any longer.

I took off the hat and stuffed it in one of my reusable shopping bags in the bottom of the cart. Which is ironic at some level, I suppose.

PHOTO: BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN

Heavy is the head that wears a cap.

That evening, being on my own for the weekend, I went to Boscos in Overton Square for dinner. I like to sit at the cozy little bar, and I like their steak sandwiches. As soon as I sat down, I realized I’d seated myself in a combat zone.

The Black woman to my left was arguing with a white guy across from her about Trump. “He emboldened people to be racist,” she said. “I can’t stand the man.”

“He did a lot of good things for the country,” the man said.

And so it went for a few minutes.

I managed to get my order in, as the bartender rolled his eyes apologetically.

Then I watched, unbelieving, as the two protagonists stared at each other silently for a moment, then walked around the bar and hugged. I wish I’d had my hat.

FINANCE By Gene Gard

Start Them Young Ensure the children in your life are prepared for financial success.

5. Foster entrepreneurship.

Nurture an entrepreneurial mindset in your child or grandchild by encouraging creativity and critical thinking. Help them explore a wide range of interests and hobbies and talk about potential business opportunities. Discuss various moneymaking ventures, such as starting a small business, freelancing, or selling crafts online. By fostering an entrepreneurial spirit, you can instill a sense of independence, resourcefulness, self-confidence, and financial resilience.

6. Offer resources.

Provide children with age-appropriate 2. Lead by example. books, articles, and Children learn by online resources PHOTO: ANNIE SPRATT | UNSPLASH observing, so modeling that reinforce the good financial habits is Teach kids finance basics now. financial concepts and essential. Discuss your skills you’re teaching financial decisions with your children or (creativeplanning.com/insights is a great grandchildren, explaining your reasons place to start). Please encourage them to behind them. Show them how you pay ask questions and discuss money matters. bills, save for the future, and prioritize As teenagers, consider enrolling them in purchases according to your values. Your a personal finance course. The more chilpositive example will have a lasting impact dren understand about personal finance, on your children’s financial behavior. the better equipped they’ll be to make sound financial decisions as adults.

Gene Gard, CFA, CFP®, CFT-I™, is a 3. Teach budgeting.

Private Wealth Manager and PartBudgeting is a vital financial skill that ner with Creative Planning. Creative many adults don’t fully grasp. Teach Planning is one of the nation’s largest your children how to create a budget registered investment advisory firms by allocating their income/allowance providing comprehensive wealth maninto different categories, such as savagement services to ensure all elements ing, spending, and giving. Encourage of a client’s financial life are working them to track their expenses, prioritize together, including investments, taxes, their spending and saving, and regularly estate planning, and risk management. review their progress toward their goals.

For more information or to request a Help your teenagers open and manage free, no-obligation consultation, visit bank accounts. Introduce them to the CreativePlanning.com. basics of building good credit.

m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

1. Start early.

The sooner you start teaching your children concepts of prudent financial management, the better. Introduce basic concepts like earning, saving, and spending wisely at a young age. Teach them the value of money and the importance of delayed gratification. Instilling these fundamental principles early on lays the groundwork for sound financial decision-making later in life.

4. Encourage saving and goal setting.

Teaching children the importance of saving from an early age gives them a better chance of achieving their financial goals as adults. As an alternative to buying your children the latest toy or clothing item, teach them how to save for it. Consider setting a plan to meet them halfway as an incentive. Discuss how much the item costs and strategies for setting aside a portion of their weekly allowance toward that purchase. This lesson will foster discipline, teach the importance of long-term planning, and give your child a sense of pride and accomplishment when they can finally make that big purchase.

NEWS & OPINION

I

t’s no secret that many adults struggle with financial literacy. In fact, according to a recent study, only 57 percent of adults exhibit traits of financial literacy. From taking on too much debt to failing to save for retirement to not understanding the importance of risk diversification, many adults are unable to achieve their financial goals simply due to a lack of financial education.

Unfortunately, few schools teach basic concepts of personal financial management, so it falls on parents and grandparents to educate the next generation. How can you ensure the children in your life are prepared for financial success? The following tips can help you teach your kids basic financial concepts to help them successfully navigate their finances as adults.

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COVER STORY By Kailynn Johnson

November 9-15, 2023

Street Style Bluff City’s Black designers bring fashion to the forefront.

T

his September, Rough Feathers Clothing Co.’s designer Antonio Jones said Memphis was on the cusp of a fashion revolution.

The city has taken hold over the country’s music and entertainment scene at large, and another takeover appears imminent, given the robust talent coming from Bluff City designers. This revolution coincides with a reevaluation of the fashion industry itself.

While 2020 will forever be synonymous with the Covid-19 pandemic, the year also centered many conversations 10 around social justice. As civil unrest brewed around the nation, talk about

inequities in law enforcement broadened to encompass various industries.

Fashion, too, has had its share of controversies surrounding diversity and inclusion efforts. And while fashion houses sought to bring more opportunities to designers of color, many designers opted to prepare their own seat at the table.

This shift not only caused more people to support independent designers and brands, but to focus on the talent of locals in their community as well.

The Flyer talked to designers from five Black-owned brands about their respective journeys — and how the city has influenced their style.

(TOP TO BOTTOM) PHOTO: TALISHA INGRAM

Samilia Colar PHOTO: CASA CREATIVE

Samilia Colar’s envelope clutch PHOTO: BRYCE LANDEN

Cornelius “Kidd” Martin PHOTO: BRYCE LANDEN

Matt Roumain ODDS Atelier Matthew “Matt” Roumain and Cornelius “Kidd” Martin have always been into fashion. The “mid-30”-year-olds have a friendship that has spanned almost two decades and decided when the time was right, they’d either come out with a clothing line together or open up a sneaker store.

The right time fell in 2020.

Martin notes while they started the build-out of their business, ODDS Atelier, during the pandemic, they didn’t have the opportunity to open “until the pandemic tapered off. … Two weeks into signing the lease, and the world shuts down.”

Like many, the pandemic called for the pair to launch into “scramble mode,” or “the road less traveled,” as they recall.

For them, it meant they would have to be more hands-on with their project than expected, but it also led to more innovation and creativity.

Before even starting their business, Roumain and Martin knew intentionality was essential to their “why.” Rou-

Miles Thomas aka “Hippy” When Miles Thomas spoke with the Flyer, he described himself as “somebody who is still learning everything to be the best designer I can.”

“I don’t take any of the success that I’ve had so far for granted,” he says. “I think it’s a blessing to be where I’m at, but there’s more that I want, for sure.”

Thomas’ second collection, “In Due Time,” was released in collaboration with the Memphis Grizzlies on October 27th.

He released his first collaboration with the team in February of this year.

Aside from “Hippy,” Thomas also touts the nickname “The Hustler,” given by those close in his circle. And with good reason: Most of his opportunities have come from cold calls and emails. That dogged determination paid off with the Memphis Grizzlies, after he’d emailed hoping for a chance to work with them.

Through “the grace of God” and after “months of being in their face,” his

school in Collierville. I lived in Cordova and would spend time with my dad in East Memphis,” Thomas says. “While Memphis is very connected, each part of the city has its own flavor. I think I’ve been able to take in the flavor from everywhere, and that’s kind of influenced my designs.”

While being from Memphis gives Thomas a special advantage in the design space, so does being Black. Being Black means there are stories that can only be told by those who live and experience them, he says.

“There are certain things that Black people get that maybe other cultures don’t get, and that’s the dope part.”

Take for instance his limited-edition Bayou Barbie shirts, inspired by LSU women’s basketball player Angel Reese. The shirts were made after he saw the backlash from the “outside world” regarding Reese’s mannerisms and court behavior.

“Sometimes we feel like we have to be so inclusive with the story and break it down so everybody understands it. I don’t necessarily think that’s the case for us,” Thomas says. “I think sometimes we can just tell the story and let people interpret it and let people do what they do with it. But we have to continue to be us, and let our culture be our culture.”

For more info, visit hippyisgood.com.

PHOTO (TOP): MCKENZII WEBSTER

Miles “Hippy” Thomas PHOTO (ABOVE): FRANCOIS VISUALS

Breana Mitchell moment came. An opportunity to work alongside the team through the 191 Collabs program arose. According to the NBA, the program is in partnership with Hennessy “to celebrate Memphis designers and showcase our city’s unique voice and vibe through hyper-local Grizz garments with double the designers and double the gear.”

In his first collaboration, the 23-yearold knew he wanted to pay homage to the relationship he has with his father, and the role the Grizzlies have played in it. But with his most recent collection, Thomas wanted to tell the story of his trajectory as a designer and what his next steps will be.

“That’s where the name ‘In Due Time’ comes from,” says Thomas. “Due to everybody that told me to ‘just stay down. Your moment will come as long as you keep working.’ If you keep doing the things that you’re doing, in due time, everything will come to pass.”

For his work, Thomas draws inspiration from memories and experiences — being born and raised in Memphis, and interacting with “essentially every part of the city.”

“I went to church in Orange Mound,

Samilia Colar Samilia Colar remembers growing up watching her mother sew. But she didn’t really see “what this sewing business was all about” until she enrolled in Memphis College of Art. The 39-year-old’s first foray into sewing began when she started making bags out of the Ankara fabric she had at the house.

She says she was always drawn to the vibrant colors and patterns, which have since become synonymous with her brand.

As a designer and creator, Colar is aware that what she puts out evokes emotion. Her designs have a direct impact on the customer’s mood and sense of self, so she wants people to feel good about them.

“There’s so much in the world that can bring you down, day to day, so I think it’s important to keep your spirits lifted, to keep your emotions in a positive place,” Colar says. “That’s what I want people to feel when they’re wearing any of my pieces.

To feel good about themselves, to feel confident, to feel balanced, to feel joyful.”

Colar started out solely making handbags. But little by little, she expanded her brand to encompass other pieces of fashion.

“I really started with handbags, and then apparel, making things for myself and my kids, and anytime I would have something, people would say, ‘Can you make me one?’ or ‘Can you make me an outfit?’

And that’s how that came about,” she says.

Colar’s work is filled with duality.

While the fabrics pay homage to her African heritage, they also encapsulate the vibrancy she’s always been drawn to. Her

most recent line of streetwear-inspired looks combines repurposed denim and Ankara fabric.

“I always loved duality,” Colar says.

“I like combining the vibrant fabric with something toned-down or neutral or something refined. Combining that with something a little distressed — I just love that juxtaposition. I think it brings interest to whatever you’re wearing.”

The decision to pair repurposed denim with her beloved fabrics not only demonstrates her versatility as a designer but exemplifies the responsibility she holds as a designer. She seeks to be a part of sustainable change, and part of that requires her to ensure her pieces are a reflection of that.

“It’s important for me to consider sustainability in my practice because I do a lot with younger generations,” Colar says. “I teach workshops all throughout the year. I’m teaching all ages, from youth on up to adults, but with the youth that I have in my workshops, since they are the next generation, I want to be able to instill [in them] and practice what I preach with sustainability. If we’re not teaching it, then where is it going to go when we’re not in the field anymore?”

And she recognizes these decisions not only impact the people in her community, but the industry as a whole.

“You never know who’s watching you, who’s looking at your post, who might engage with you, and what years they have,” Colar says. “It’s just a great way to change how things are, if it’s not working, and to have impact.”

For more info, visit texstylebags.com.

Brezerk Breana Mitchell describes herself as an artist. Art is personal, and it affects her life in many ways.

“I put my hands in a lot of things dealing with creativity,” Mitchell says.

Known around the city as Brezay, Mitchell is a pop star, excelling in singing, songwriting, and dancing. And it’s no surprise a pop star would have a hand in crafting their own look and image. But Mitchell knew she wanted to be a part of fashion, and not just someone who rocked it.

The 23-year-old launched her clothing brand, Brezerk, while enrolled in college at Jackson State University. The brand’s name, one might notice, is a fusion of the designer’s own name and the word “berserk.”

“The original vocab for that means ‘go crazy, insane,’ something like that,” Mitchell says. “Every time I would put on some clothes, the first thing people would say is, ‘Oh, your clothes go crazy. Where’d you get that from?’ So I was like, ‘Let me put my initials into berserk,’ and I ended up coming up with Brezerk.”

As a self-imposed trendsetter, Mitchell says hopping on trends begins and ends with dance challenges, not her clothing. continued on page 12

COVER STORY m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

main recalls conversations during their brainstorming process where they said, “If it’s not going to be art, then why even waste our time?”

“Being unique is one thing, but being intentional is another,” says Martin.

Each piece in ODDS has a bit of the pair’s personality in it, they say. With fashion being such a personal creative outlet, it’s hard not to find an imprint of the designer in the pieces they create.

A bulk of their work is influenced by travels and memories.

“I think both of us are very well-read, spiritual, and philosophical,” says Roumain. “When you get into those schools of thoughts, intentions are transferable.

The energy you put into something is what’s going to resonate or reverberate. We’re very intentional about using high-quality materials. Attention to detail — having a reason as to why we actually created something. Not just because it’s trendy or in vogue.”

The decision to go atelier style is reflective of this attention to detail. Atelier translates to “workshop” in French, Roumain explains, which is why they opt for a more “industrial” aesthetic in the brick-andmortar store. “Lots of metals, raw materials, glasses, concrete … they kind of just exist in this cohesive manner that’s infused with art. We just wanted to, you know … tell the story.”

These sentiments are apparent in every component of ODDS, from the copper chandelier made in hopes of bringing good energy to the shop itself, to the decision to call their items “pieces” as opposed to “merch” or “apparel.”

“There’s a space for that,” says Martin.

“This just so happened not to be that space. These are pieces. Timeless pieces is what we’re going for.”

ODDS Atelier will release a collaboration with the Memphis Grizzlies’ 191 Collabs on November 24th. For more info, visit oddsatelier.com.

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25TH

ANNIVERSARY

THE DILLARDS NOVEMBER 17 7:30P.M.

The Dillards burst on the music scene as The Darlings on the Andy Griffith Show. They introduced bluegrass to mainstream audiences.

The Dillards are credited with launching Country Rock, & infl uencing bands like THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND – THE EAGLES. Led by Rodney Dillard, experience The Dillards – only at BPACC.

MARK NIZER 4D THEATRE NOVEMBER 18 2:00P.M.

FAMILY FUN – Mark Nizer combines juggling, comedy & technology to create a remarkable 4D experience. With lots of audience participation, you’ll even get your own 4D Glasses when you see the show. Mark Nizer spells entertainment for the whole family!

TICKETS & INFO @ BPACC.org

She prides herself on deviating from the norm when it comes to fashion and “not copying anybody.” Her style is reflective of her inclination to stand out, and so are the pieces from Brezerk.

“I’m not really a trendy person,” Mitchell admits. “I really like to create stuff that is different and starts the trend. I base my clothes off of trying to be different.”

At times, though, that can be difficult, Mitchell adds. “I want to be different, but I still want it to look good and make sense.”

Mitchell draws from her personal experiences, as well as the city that raised her, when creating pieces. Her brand’s “Homemade” shirts remain a local crowd favorite.

“A lot of people from Memphis really love that shirt,” she says. “Memphis is how a person is.

“If you’re raised in Memphis, you’re a certain way when you go out of town.

I’m homemade. I’m original. I came from Memphis. I based that off the city.”

For more info, visit brezerk.com or find @brezerkclothing on Instagram.

Juss Vibe Scrolling Juss Vibe’s Instagram (@jussvibez_), you’ll find an infinite feed of Memphians who “put that sh*t on.”

Both the page and the clothing brand of the same name are all about community — and were born out of the spirit of collaboration. The brand is the brainchild of five friends — Torrey Washington (23), Antonio Webster (21), Gregory Webster (24), Kameron Jackson (24), and Demarcus Williams (22) — who “shared a dream

of creating something that transcended their individual selves.”

“If I was to describe Juss Vibe to someone who doesn’t know nothing about it or ever even heard the word, I’ll just say it’s a cool little clothing brand,” Washington says. “Just promoting vibes. Promoting good clothes — just going about life.”

The brand is the product of people who sought to make something of themselves while also creating affordable and accessible clothing for their peers and community. The name speaks to their mission, which is more a way of life, they say.

“Positive vibes. Just putting out good energy,” Gregory says.

You’ll find the signature saying on a number of the brand’s pieces, such as their breast cancer awareness collection and their bucket hats and tees. They even put their own spin on University of Memphis game-day apparel, not only to celebrate their school but also to “represent their community as a whole.”

The group has found a way to master the art of virality, making it work for their online presence and brand in tandem.

With the brand’s inception, they hadn’t set out to make clothes that appealed to the masses. But their signature duffle bags and hoodie quickly fell among the hottest pieces of streetwear. Soon after, their page was flooded with requests from people wanting to be featured sporting the brand’s newest apparel.

While having an impressive following proved to be integral to their brand visibility, its popularity can be traced to its mission to “empower individuals to embrace their unique vibes.”

For more info, visit jussvibe.com.

November 9-15, 2023

901.385.5588 — Box Office Hours — 10a.m. to 2p.m. ♦ Michael Bollinger — Artistic Director

continued from page 11

PHOTO: JADARIUS LAWSON

12

Torrey Washington, Antonio Webster (back), Gregory Webster, Kameron Jackson (back), and Demarcus Williams

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Boom, Roasted

By Abigail Morici

PHOTOS: COURTESY GRIND CITY COFFEE XPO

Prepare for some great roasts.

People have been drinking coffee since 800 A.D., so says the internet. But the Grind City Coffee Xpo is only going on its fourth year, so says Daniel Lynn, the event’s founder.

If you haven’t been to the event that has only grown each year since it’s been around, Lynn describes it as “really focused on education of the whole coffee experience, just trying to spread the coffee culture to people who maybe aren’t as familiar.” For the day, as in years past, more than 20 vendors, both local and from as far away as Wisconsin, will pass out samples — anything from cold brews to pour overs — and folks are encouraged to ask vendors questions. “I’ve heard from multiple vendors in the past, especially from our out-of-town vendors, that Memphis always has some of the best questions that they hear.”

Being able to host both local and out-of-town vendors, Lynn adds, “really increases the value of the expo. I look at it as like showing people from around the country how cool the Memphis scene is. It’s really spreading our coffee community around.

Everybody in the community around here is so cool. Like, that’s why I keep doing the thing.”

This year, for the first time, the expo will have coffee-infused cocktail samples, latte art demonstrations, and panels. The panels will be about sustainability around coffee, coffee’s journey from farm to cup, and an “Ask a Barista.” The panels, Lynn hopes, will lend themselves to creating a bigger picture of the coffee industry.

Sustainability itself is a theme within the event, with all the profits going to Protect Our Aquifer. “We like to say that you can’t have good coffee without good water,” Lynn says. “That’s why the coffee and beer in Memphis are so good. So, we gotta we gotta make sure that doesn’t change.”

Additionally, Lynn says the expo plans to be as zero-waste as possible, thanks to the help of the Compost Fairy. Plus, tickets include a ceramic tasting mug made by Kelsey Berry.

Tickets can be purchased at grindcitycoffee.com and are priced according to entry time (i.e. $35 for 9 a.m., $30 for 11 a.m., and $25 for noon). After the expo, all are invited to the free Grind City Throwdown, “a latte art competition in a party wrapper,” at Comeback Coffee at 7 p.m. Guests can expect Grind City Brewery beer, food from Kinfolk, a live DJ, and, of course, coffee — and lots of it.

MEMPHIS WIND SYMPHONY VETERANS DAY

FREE!

SATURDAY, NOV 11 2:00 PM

CYRILLE AIMÉE

GRIND CITY COFFEE XPO, BRIDGES USA, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 9 A.M.-2 P.M., $25-$35.

Urban Farmers Market Black Seeds Urban Farms, Saturday, November 11, 9 a.m.-noon Join Black Millennials 4 Flint in partnership with Black Seeds Urban Farms as they host the official Urban Farmers Market. This event is all about educating the community on how trees and plants naturally remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and how fruits and vegetables help remove lead and heavy metals from the body.

There will be food, prizes, music, and more. This is a kidfriendly event, but kids must be accompanied by an adult.

GERMANTOWN HOLIDAY CONCERT

SATURDAY, DEC 9

IT’S ALL HAPPENING AT GPAC!

gpacweb.com (901) 751-7500

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Laser Live with Salo Pallini Museum of Science & History, Friday, November 10, 7 p.m., $18$20 At this exclusive Laser Live program, MoSH will feature the Memphis band Salo Pallini in the full dome planetarium, accompanied by a full laser light show.

Salo Pallini is a four-piece instrumental group. In 2021, the band recorded 11 songs meant to serve as musical accompaniment for Kurt Vonnegut’s 1959 novel, The Sirens of Titan. Band members are Landon Moore, John Whittemore, Pat Fusco, and Danny Banks, along with percussionist Felix Hernandez.

There will be drinks available to purchase and enjoy throughout the show.

An Evergreen Trailer Park Christmas The Evergreen Theatre, FridaySaturday, November 10-11, 8 p.m.; Sunday, November 12, 2 p.m.

Step into the twinkling world of The Evergreen Trailer Park, where Christmas cheer is in the air and festivities are around every corner.

Will and Brenda are hosting their lively holiday toy drive party, while Mary Kay is bustling about, ensuring the Christmas Mobile Home Decoration Contest goes off without a hitch. As guests flit in and out of the trailer, they don’t merely drop off toys — they light up the stage with whimsical numbers and festive skits that embody the spirit of the season.

The evening promises endless laughs, vibrant drag performances, and all the nostalgic charm of a Carol Burnett-styled variety show.

m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

SATURDAY, NOV 18

VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES November 9th - 15th

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MUSIC By Alex Greene

Sparks Quartet “Spontaneous folk music” from seasoned jazz explorers.

November 9-15, 2023

W

14

hen Eri Yamamoto, William Parker, Chad Fowler, and Steve Hirsh settled in for their first recording session together, there wasn’t much conversation beforehand. The engineer simply shouted “rolling” and sparks flew. But they weren’t steel mill sparks: The music unfolding in that moment was more like a crackling campfire, smoke rising slowly, points of light lifting lazily into the breeze — and foreshadowing a greater heat to come.

Such an image is apt for the airy chords with which Yamamoto kicks off the title tune of Sparks, the quartet’s 2022 album on Mahakala Music. After her piano begins, like wind chimes playing standards, Parker and Hirsh fall in as if walking up from the woods, and then Fowler’s saxello enters, do-re-mi-do, like a sprite carrying memories of a folk song.

“Spontaneous folk music,” says Yamamoto with a ripple of laughter, recalling the phrase Fowler used to suggest the quartet’s point of departure that day. And she responded immediately to the premise, as Yamamoto herself has created hybrid free/ composed jazz that “gracefully bridges the worlds of post-bop and free jazz,” according to Time Out New York, with her “evocative songs without words.”

“The chemistry is really something. The way our sounds combine is quite exceptional.”

A classically trained pianist with a vibrant improvisational streak, she’s long performed and recorded with William Parker, a composer in his own right and a mainstay of the New York free jazz community. Indeed, playing a session with Parker, who has pursued an unparalleled vision of free jazz since before his days with Cecil Taylor, and whose quartet recordings in this century are legend-

ary, was an inspiration to all. “I’ve played on nine or 10 albums with William as a leader,” says Yamamoto. “He’s really been an eye-opener for me. It was like he reminded me, ‘Ah, I can be free!’ And he always writes great melodies, which is very natural for me: Start with a good melody, and have a lot of open space.”

With only those sentiments guiding them, the players created the album on the spot. And like a strong line in visual art, a spontaneous, striking melody typically jumpstarts each performance on Sparks. That’s always been at the core

of Yamamoto’s playing. “Growing up in Kyoto, I was surrounded by a lot of traditional Japanese music, with very minimalist melodies. I started writing music when I was 8, and I still write the same way. It all starts when I hum some melody. But even with my composed tunes, my approach is to leave a lot of space for musicians to go beyond the form.”

While drummer Steve Hirsh, a native New Yorker now living in the Minnesota woods, was amazed at the meeting of minds at the 2022 session, he wondered if lightning like that could ever strike twice.

“The CD came out in April of last year, and we had a release show in Brooklyn — our first public performance. The place was packed. And before we went on the bandstand, I was sitting there thinking to myself, ‘Well, we’ve played together exactly once, in the studio, and the magic definitely happened. I wonder if it’s going to happen again. Maybe we’re just a one-

hit wonder.’ So we get on stage, and literally four notes into it, I was like, ‘Okay, we’re good.’ And every time we’ve played it’s like that. We just played last week at Roulette in Brooklyn, and it was the same thing.

The music just soared. The chemistry is really something. The way our sounds combine is really exceptional.”

He’s not alone in thinking that. Now Mahakala Music (Fowler’s prolific imprint based in Arkansas) has released Sparks Quartet Live at Vision Festival XXVI, a show the group performed a few months after their first live appearance together.

PHOTO: KELLY FOWLER

Sparks Quartet playing a gig at LunÀtico in Brooklyn Born in a spur-of-the-moment recording date, the group has taken on a life of its own, as Hirsh applied for and received a grant from South Arts’ Jazz Road initiative for the current tour. And, like the ephemeral flickers for which the group is named, each performance is unique, unpredictable, and exquisite. “William describes it as painting sound on the silence,” says Hirsh. “Somebody tosses the color out, somebody makes a sound, somebody responds, and then we’re off.

The other players hear where you’re going, they hear your intent, and they meet you there.”

Sparks Quartet plays The Green Room at Crosstown Arts this Thursday, November 9th, at 7:30 p.m. For more details, visit crosstownarts.org.

CALENDAR of EVENTS: November 9 - 15

Urban Farmers Market

FOOD AN D DR I N K

This event is about educating the community on how trees and plants naturally remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and how fruits and vegetables help remove lead and heavy metals from the body. Saturday, Nov. 11, 9 a.m.-noon.

Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Blue Dancer, 2017. Oil on canvas, 68 x 54 in, on display in “Young, Gifted and Black”

Grind City Coffee Xpo

The Xpo highlights the amazing people and passion that exist in the coffee community. Saturday, Nov. 11, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

BLACK SEEDS URBAN FARMS

BRIDGES

Red, White & Blue Pawty

FA M I LY

Free November Family Day

A guided tasting of Blue Note Bourbon’s products. Benefiting Whisker Wishes Rescue and The Savior Foundation. $60.

Saturday, Nov. 11, 2-5 p.m.

Live music, food trucks, arts and crafts, activities, and more for young people of all ages. Free admission for all. Saturday, Nov. 11, 1-4 p.m.

STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC

trailer park chic, with campy holiday fun. $30-$60. Friday, Nov. 10-Nov. 12.

THE EVERGREEN THEATRE

B.R. DISTILLING COMPANY

Schoolhouse Rock, Live!

F ES TI VA L Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.

DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, VISIT EVENTS. MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.

This show is based on the animated series that taught generations of youth about grammar, math, science, and history. Friday, Nov. 10-Dec. 22.

P E R F O R M I N G A R TS

Blue Suede Vintage Fall Market

BSV hosts regional vintage vendors to celebrate shop’s first year. Saturday, Nov. 11, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Liars’ Matinee - November Improvember A matinee of easy-going improv comedy. $10.

Sunday, Nov. 12, 3 p.m.

BLUE SUEDE VINTAGE

CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE

Silent Sky

BLACK LODGE

Memphis Comic and Fantasy Convention

The story of 19th century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discovery.

Through Nov. 18.

The Magic of Rob Lake

Named “The World’s Greatest Illusionist” by NBC, Rob Lake is internationally renowned for his mesmerizing and award-winning illusion spectacular. $39.50. Saturday, Nov. 11, 7:30 p.m.

A three-day celebration of super heroes, science fiction, video gaming, LEGO, and everything else in geek culture. Friday, Nov. 10-Nov. 12.

HOLIDAY INN, UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS

THEATRE MEMPHIS

THE HALLORAN CENTRE

Memphis Crafts & Drafts Festival Holiday Market

TO U R S

Veterans Tour of Elmwood Cemetery T H E AT E R The top shop local market experience in MemVeterans, history, and Elmwood Cemetery. $20. phis. Saturday, Nov. 11-Nov. 12, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

The New TimesTrailer Syndication Sales Corporation An York Evergreen Park Christmas Saturday, Nov. 11, 10:30 a.m.-noon.

CROSSTOWN CONCOURSE 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018 Dive into an evening where glamour meets ELMWOOD CEMETERY

For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550 For Release Saturday, February 23, 2019

AR T AN D S P EC IA L E X H I B I TS

“Commune (verb)”

Crossword

“Young, Gifted and Black”

“Young, Gifted and Black” champions an emerging generation of artists of African descent who are exploring identity, politics, and art history. Through Dec. 6.

CLOUGH-HANSON GALLERY

AR T HAP P E N I N G S

Artist Talk: Thomas Jackson

Hear artist Thomas Jackson speak about his multidisciplinary practice. Wednesday, Nov. 15, 5 p.m.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

ARTSmemphis 60th Anniversary Celebration

ARTSmemphis celebrates its 60th anniversary.

Thursday, Nov. 9, 6:30 p.m.

THE KENT

“Tall Tales, Short Stories” Art Afternoon

In this exhibition, Don Estes revisits paintings he made years ago and references abstractions in ancient writing styles inscribed on damp clay using a pointed tool. Saturday, Nov. 11, 3-5 p.m.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

B O O K EVE N TS

Meet the Author: Alice Faye Duncan Novel welcomes Alice Faye Duncan to celebrate her new books Coretta’s Journey: The Life and Times of Coretta Scott King and Traveling Shoes: The Story of Willye White.

Saturday, Nov. 11, 2 p.m.

NOVEL

C O M M U N I TY

Aquifer Action Meeting

Join the community to learn and discuss solutions to #ProtectOurAquifer. Food will be provided. Thursday, Nov. 9, 5:30-7 p.m.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

Come Tell A Story

Storytellers of various backgrounds, religions, and ages will share stories that discuss the highs, lows, sorrows, and benefits associated with the single life. Thursday, Nov. 9, 7-9 p.m.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

ACROSS 1 Leafleter’s cry 9 Betrays a

scratchy throat 15 Under tight control 16 They’re down in the mouth 17 Fat burner?

19 Three-syllable woman’s name meaning “gift” 20 King of the stage 21 “Not feeling it” 22 Third of a dozen?

23 Freckle, e.g.

24 Combat sport, for short 27 Squeeze (out) 28 Task on a summer to-do list 29 Actress Jessica

30 Coat under

feathers

31 What most

online passwords are

34 “Becoming”

someone?

35 Mine field?

36 G.O.P. grp.

37 Jar filler 38 Dict. abbr.

48 Musical title

that’s 19-Across spelled backward 49 2016 or 2028 54 Original name of Mount Rainier 55 Chemistry exam?

56 Sauce brand 57 Left for

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hardness scale 39 40 41 42 43 44 2 One of two 41 Hypocritical poles 45 46 47 48 grp. at Harper 3 Olympic Valley Junior swimming 49 50 51 52 53 High, in song gold medalist Ledecky 54 55 42 Spot for some piercings 4 Idris of “The 56 57 Dark Tower” 45 Bugs of a sort, 5 Get ready to for short swing, with “up” PUZZLE BY ERK AGARD AND PAOLO PASCO 46 What one of the 6 Film with the 18 Traditional 47 Persian word five Olympic 31 Stilted tagline “The symbols of from which performance, rings stands for nightmare isn’t royalty “chess” comes perhaps? over!”

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE 23 Participate in a 32 Tries to smack 7 Key 48 Deal preceder speed round?

P A P A W S A C T U A L 8 Much of the 33 Tic ___ (mints) 25 Where writing population of 50 Landmark I C E B O W L D O A B L E is believed to 34 Suits and such Iran 1970s L I S A L O E B S P I E L S have been Supreme Court 9 Something to 35 In on E D O F O A L S S P R I T invented case, informally chew on S E N D O U T E D T 41 King or queen 26 Chinese S T E A D B O N E T I R E D 10 Parts of some 51 “4 real?!?” e-commerce caravans, for 42 Was high on W E S T M A D S E N I R A giant short 52 Org. concerned E T C S O L V E N T V A T 43 Words of 28 Many editorial with traffic E R A I N L E T S M E T E 11 “Scram!” explanation workstations P A P E R T O S S O A R E D 12 Stretch for 29 School sounds 44 Check words 53 Quizzical relaxation H E X H O S T I N G H E R T Z N E R D S M D S 13 Traditional drink Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 7,000 past with sedative A D O R E S L I E A B O U T and euphoriant puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year).

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S A M S O N S E X T E T 14 “Listen up!” that ends “bah!”

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): Your victories-in-progress are subtle. They may not be totally visible to you yet. Let me describe them so you can feel properly confident about what you are in the process of accomplishing. 1. A sustained surge of hard-earned personal growth is rendering one of your problems mostly irrelevant. 2. You have been redefining what rewards are meaningful to you, and that’s motivating you to infuse your ambitions with more soulfulness. 3. You are losing interest in a manipulative game that doesn’t serve you as well as it should.

4. You are cultivating more appreciation for fascinating and useful problems.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus physicist Richard Feynman was a smart and accomplished person who won a Nobel Prize. He articulated a perspective that will be healthy for you to experiment with in the coming weeks. He said, “I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it’s much more interesting not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong. I have approximate answers and possible beliefs and different degrees of certainty about different things, but I’m not absolutely sure of anything, and there are many things I don’t know anything about.” Give Feynman’s approach a try, dear Taurus. Now is an excellent time to explore the perks of questioning everything. I bet you’ll be pleased with how free and easy it makes you feel.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): To earn money, I have worked as a janitor, dishwasher, olive-picker, ditch-digger, newspaper deliverer, and 23 other jobs involving hard labor. In addition, I have done eight artistic jobs better suited to my sensitive temperament and creative talents. Am I regretful or resentful about the thousands of hours I toiled at tasks I didn’t enjoy? A little. But mostly I’m thankful for them.

They taught me how to interact harmoniously with a wide array of people. They helped forge my robust social conscience.

And they motivated me to eventually figure out how to get jobs I really loved. Now I invite you to take an inventory of your own work life, Gemini. It’s an excellent time to evaluate where you’ve been and where you want to go in the future.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): There are so many kinds of sweetness. Zesty spicy sweetness. Tender balmy fragrant sweetness. Sour or bitter sweetness. Musky piquant sweetness. Luscious succulent sweetness. One of my favorite types of sweetness is described by Cancerian poet Stephen Dunn. He wrote, “Often a sweetness comes as if on loan, stays just long enough to make sense of what it means to be alive, then returns to its dark source. As for me, I don’t care where it’s been, or what bitter road it’s traveled to come so far, to taste so good.” My analysis

of the astrological omens suggests to me that you are about to commune with at least three of these sweetnesses, Cancerian. Maybe most of them.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Author Dan Savage advocates regular indulgence in sloth.

He notes that few of us can “get through 24 hours without a little downtime. Human beings need to stare off into space, look out the window, daydream, and spend time every day being indolent and useless.” I concur, and I hope you will indulge in more downtime than usual during the coming weeks. For the sake of your long-term mental and physical health, you need to relax extra deep and strong now — to recharge your battery with delicious and delightful abandon.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): According to my deep and thorough analysis of your astrological rhythms, your mouth will soon be a wonder of nature. The words emerging from your lips will be extra colorful, precise, and persuasive.

Your taste buds will have an enhanced vividness as they commune with the joys of food and drink. And I suspect your tongue and lips will exult in an upgrade of aptitude and pleasure while plying the arts of sex and intimate love.

Congratulations, Mouthy Maestro!

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In addition to being a masterful composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) played the piano, violin, harp, bassoon, clarinet, horn, flute, oboe, and trumpet. His experience led him to believe that musicians best express their skills when they play fast. It’s more challenging to be excellent when playing slowly, he thought. But I will invite you to adopt the reverse attitude and approach in the coming weeks, Libra.

According to my astrological analysis, you will be most successful if you work gradually and incrementally, with careful diligence and measured craftiness.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In her poem “Requiem,” Anna Akhmatova says, “I must kill off memory … and I must learn to live anew.” I think most of us can benefit from periodically engaging in this brave and robust exercise. It’s not a feat to be taken lightly — not to be done more than once or twice a year. But guess what: The coming weeks will be a time when such a ritual might be wise for you.

Are you ready to purge old business and prepare the way for a fresh start? Here are your words of power: forgiveness, clearing, cleaning, release, absolution, liberation.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): We need stories almost as much as we need to breathe, eat, sleep, and move. It’s impossible to live without them. The best stories nourish our souls, stimulate our imagination, and make life exciting. That’s not to

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In my horoscopes for Scorpios, I tend to write complex messages. My ideas are especially thick and rich and lush. Why? Because I imagine you as being complex, thick, rich, and lush. Your destiny is labyrinthine and mysterious and intriguing, and I aspire to reflect its intricate, tricky beauty. But this time, in accordance with current astrological omens, I will offer you my simplest, most straightforward oracle ever. I borrowed it from author Mary Anne Hershey: “Live with intention. Walk to the edge.

Listen hard. Play with abandon.

Choose with no regret. Continue to learn. Appreciate your friends.

Do what you love.” say that all stories are healthy for us. We sometimes cling to narratives that make us miserable and sap our energy. I think we have a sacred duty to de-emphasize and even jettison those stories — even as we honor and relish the rich stories that empower and inspire us. I bring these thoughts to your attention, Capricorn, because you’re in a phase of your cycle when you will especially thrive by disposing of the bad old stories and celebrating the good ones.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I could be wrong, but I don’t think so: You are smarter and wiser than you realize about the pressing issues that are now vying for your attention. You know more than you know you know. I suspect this will soon become apparent, as streams of fresh insights rise up from the depths of your psyche and guide your conscious awareness toward clarity. It’s okay to squeal with glee every time a healing intuition shows up. You have earned this welcome phase of lucid certainty.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In Indigenous cultures throughout history, shamans have claimed they have the power to converse with and even temporarily become hawks, coyotes, snakes, and other creatures. Why do they do that? It’s a long story, but one answer is that they believe animals have intelligences that are different from what humans have.

The shamans aspire to learn from those alternate ways of seeing and comprehending the world. Many of us who live in Western culture dismiss this venerable practice, although I’ve known animal lovers who sympathize with it. If you are game for a fun experiment, Pisces, I invite you to try your own version. Choose an animal to learn from. Study and commune with it. Ask it to reveal intuitions that surprise and enrich you.

M E TA P H Y S I C A L C O N N E C T I O N B y E m i l y G u e n t h e r

Scorpio Season The sign’s card in tarot shows us death is just a transformation.

The evolution of a Scorpio also parallels the changes we see in the Death tarot card. Yes, the Death card can represent a person’s death, but most tarot readers will say that this does not happen frequently. Typically, the Death card represents change or transformation. In order for us to move on, we have to let go of the past. If we want a new job, we have to be willing to leave the old job. We cannot accept new things in our lives if we do not clear out the old. That version of ourselves has to die so we can grow into the person we want to be.

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The Death tarot card is closely associated with Scorpios.

The word death conjures many images and feelings for people. One thing people associate with death is grief. When a loved one dies, we are hurt by their passing. We mourn their potential or all the memories we will never make with them. We miss them. This is natural, and although we mostly fear grief, we need to accept when it comes. Grief can teach us many things.

It prepares us for coming to terms with our own mortality, it brings communities and families together, and it can help us to mature and grow. It also teaches us empathy and understanding.

The Death card holds room for grief.

In tarot, there are multiple cards that represent change and moving on. However, Death is one of the few that lets us know that although the change is good and necessary, it can be painful. The Death card gives us the space to grieve for those things that are dying in our lives. Sure, you want that new job and its better benefits, but that doesn’t mean you won’t miss aspects of your old job. Yes, we want to grow and learn, but that means we have to let go of bad habits and old programming — which is a decision you have to make every day. You may find yourself grieving for who or what you used to be, or even being upset with yourself because navigating growth can be difficult. The Death card knows this and holds space for us to process our feelings through our transformations.

As we struggle to model the evolution of Scorpio, from the jealous and angry scorpion, to the mature and wise eagle, to the final stages of the reborn phoenix, the Death card is there for us. The change represented by Death is deeply transformational — you will not be the same after your Death experience. That is the whole point. Death is the end of something, yes, but it is also the birth of something new. You cannot separate the end from the beginning — they are happening simultaneously.

As we navigate through November into the next round of holidays, we often experience grief and anxiety. When that happens, think of the Death card. Change is coming, and it may be difficult, but you are the phoenix who will rise above.

Emily Guenther is a co-owner of The Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.

2023

A

lthough Halloween and Samhain are behind us, we are still in the season of remembrance. November 1st was All Saints’ Day and November 2nd was All Souls’ Day. We are also well into Scorpio season on the astrological wheel, which is appropriate given the sign’s association with the occult, death, and taboos.

Death is the tarot card associated with Scorpios, for good reason, but there is a lot to unpack with the Death card.

Scorpio is a unique zodiac sign. There are three symbols that represent the transformation of a Scorpio, rather than the standard one symbol for all other signs.

The scorpion, the first stage of transformation, represents Scorpio’s baser emotions. The eagle is the second stage and is considered a symbol of courage and power. The phoenix represents the final stage of transformation for Scorpio, emblematic of the capacity for empathetic observation without judgment.

The phoenix — strongly associated with rebirth, resurrection, and transformation — is a symbol that represents Scorpio breaking the chains of attachment, having learned the lesson of letting go.

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FOOD By Michael Donahue

Chef Driven Nate Henssler leads the way at Amelia Gene’s.

PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE

Nate Henssler Henssler, who describes Amelia Gene’s as “a modern American chefdriven restaurant,” says, “Duck is something we’re having on the menu probably all the time.”

His crispy duck dish, which he calls “a play on duck à l’orange,” takes five days to produce. “The legs we cure in a salt and sugar mix with soy spices. And we cure that for a day, cooking it in its own fat. Confit. It’s a technique. This dish is not something I made up. I like these techniques, and it makes the duck taste really good.”

The dish includes butter, garlic, shallots, and Belgian endive. “It’s served with the same sauce we make from the duck bones with orange purée and kumquats preserved in honey.”

Rather than do a seasonal menu change, Henssler plans to just scale back the menu. “It’s hard on the staff to do a seasonal menu change.”

In addition to the duck, Henssler says his blackberry oysters with cauliflower soubise, pickled cucumber, and bay leaf will remain on the menu. “It’s based on an oyster I ate when my wife and I were in

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Henssler, who is executive chef at Amelia Gene’s restaurant adjacent to the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis Hotel at 255 South Front Street, grew up in New Hampshire watching the legendary chef ’s TV show. “I was watching Julia Child, The French Chef, maybe because my parents watched it a little bit. I thought her voice was funny. And she just seemed like a grandmother type.”

And, he says, “She was always very curious. And you could feel the love — or see it —when she cooked. It was very approachable.”

London over Christmas. A tweak on that.”

His charred octopus salad with mustard greens and salted lemon dressing is another one. “The octopus is a super simple dish. I cook it really slowly.

The octopus takes about eight hours. It’s slowly braised in white wine.”

He uses the bones from the black bass on the menu to make a fish stock.

“Reduce that down. And we purée salted lemon and lemon oil in that. It comes out like a warm mayonnaise.”

As a child, both Henssler’s parents worked. His mother was a “day-to-day cook. A lot of casseroles. Early ’80s American food. Crock pot food. A lot of leftovers. It seemed like we had leftovers every night, actually.”

His dad, who was known for his spaghetti, would cook the sauce all day.

But, Henssler says, “My parents didn’t use a lot of salt or pepper when they cooked.”

He recalled tasting food at his first restaurant job and “realizing how alive everything tasted with just a pinch of salt.”

Henssler’s first “paying job” was working as a baker’s assistant. The bakery owner knew he was interested in food, so she let him “do some prep work in the bakery. Forming dough.”

He then got a job as garde manger at the Bedford Village Inn. His boss, chef Christopher Ward, noticed Henssler’s interest in cooking. “He pushed me to get off that station and move up to the next station.”

When he was 18, Henssler enrolled at the New England Culinary Institute, where he got to work with the school’s founder, Michel LeBorgne. “Some of the chefs at the culinary school seemed like such badasses. The men and women teaching us. We idolized them.”

Henssler, who has worked at top restaurants in Las Vegas and Chicago, moved to Memphis a year ago. He’s also a managing partner in the Carlisle Restaurant Group. “I think Memphis diners are ready to sort of experience what diners in Chicago or New York are experiencing. We need a restaurant that could compete in any city.”

Describing his “contemporary American chef-driven” cuisine, Henssler says, “This is what I feel like cooking. If something is in season and the purveyor has this for the next two months, we’ll come up with a really good dish. And do as little to those ingredients as we can so we can showcase that ingredient.”

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FILM By Chris McCoy

The Prisoner of Graceland Sofia Coppola explores the other side of the Elvis myth in Priscilla.

O

November 9-15, 2023

ne choice forced on director Sofia Coppola could have sunk her adaptation of Priscilla Presley’s Elvis and Me before it ever set sail. Sony BMG, which now owns the rights to Elvis Presley’s music, refused to cut her a deal for the use of The King’s music for the film, perhaps because they just backed Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis biopic last year.

Without Elvis’ music, how can you tell the story of his relationship with his wife, whose favorite song was “Heartbreak Hotel”?

Instead, Coppola makes the lack of “Heartbreak Hotel” or “Jailhouse Rock” or the apropos “Suspicious Minds” into one of Priscilla’s greatest virtues. On stage, Elvis became a Dionysian demigod, and as mythology tells us, the gods do not play by the same rules as us puny humans. But without the songs to perform, Elvis (Jacob Elordi) is just another dude — an incredibly good-looking and charismatic dude, to be sure, but it’s easier to see the red flags when he’s no longer divine. That’s how 24-year-old Army private Elvis Presley seemed when Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) met him when she was a 14-year-old high school freshman at the American high school on a military base in West Germany. It takes some convincing to get her father, an Air Force captain (Ari Cohen), to agree to let his very underage daughter spend time with the most famous sex symbol on Earth, but

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Elvis could be quite convincing. In the end, his conditions were that Elvis pick up and drop off Priscilla himself, and have her back by 2200 hours.

Priscilla is, naturally, starstruck, as are all the other folks who gather to party in Elvis’ off-base housing. But the Elvis she discovers behind closed doors is wounded, lonely, and missing his recently deceased mother. The romance that blooms between them is positively wholesome, and for a very good reason alluded to in one of the film’s few musical moments. At a party, Elvis plops down at the piano and tears through Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On.” Shortly before E was charming ’Cilla in Germany, Jerry Lee’s musical career went into a tailspin because of his marriage to his 13-yearold cousin Myra Gale Brown. So when

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Cailee Spaeny and Jacob Elordi as Priscilla and Elvis Elvis’ tour of duty was over, he returned to the states and started publicly dating Nancy Sinatra. When Priscilla was 17, she moved to Memphis, quietly taking up residence in Graceland. (Those who attended Immaculate Conception High School will be quite amused by its depiction in Priscilla.)

According to the only person who knows for sure, Elvis and Priscilla didn’t consummate their relationship until she was 18, and they were married. But that only makes this relationship a little less icky to contemporary eyes. Yes, Priscilla enthusiastically consented at every turn, and the 10-year age difference was culturally acceptable in the

South at the time. But as Priscilla languishes in Graceland with only the office staff and cook Alberta (Olivia Barrett) to talk to, it becomes clear that Elvis sees her mostly as a possession.

To the Memphis Mafia, she was little more than a PR problem. Coppola slyly outlines the tangle of relationships when Elvis gifts her a poodle, then Dee Presley (Stephanie Moore) chides her for playing with it on the lawn where the fans who gather at the gates of Graceland could see her.

This kind of elliptical storytelling is Coppola’s trademark, and she has rarely done it better than in Priscilla. In her own way, Coppola is as meticulous a director as Wes Anderson. Often, the camera lingers on the impeccable production design, while plot points float by in the little details and callbacks.

On the surface, Coppola’s languid Priscilla couldn’t be more different than Baz Luhrmann’s frenetic Elvis, but the two films share one thing in common: If you can’t tune into the director’s unique wavelength, it’s going to turn you off. From Lost in Translation to Marie Antoinette to Somewhere, Coppola keeps returning to lonely young women who see beauty in the world that others miss. In Priscilla, she has found her perfect subject.

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N O W P L AY I N G B y C h r i s M c C o y Our critic picks the best films in theaters.

The Marvels When Captain Marvel came out in 2019, it was the peak of the superhero era. The sequel debuts in very different times.

Brie Larson is back in the spandex as irradiated-fighter-pilot-turned-ascendedsuperbeing Carol Danvers. After her friend Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) gets into some high jinks with a wormhole, she finds herself swapping places with Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani). It’s like Freaky Friday, but with superheroes.

It’s a Wonderful Knife Too early for Christmas movies? I haven’t even had my turkey yet. But maybe this horror comedy comes at the right

time. Yellowjackets’ Jane Widdop stars as Winnie, who saved her town of Angel Falls from a psychotic killer on Christmas Eve. But after a year of fame and fallout, she finds herself wishing she had never been born. That’s when, kinda like Jimmy Stewart, she’s bounced into an alternate universe to see what the killer would have done had she not been there.

Five Nights At Freddy’s The Blumhouse adaptation of the beloved video game is a monster hit.

The once-cuddly animatronic animals at the abandoned Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza are now decaying, frightening, and possessed with vengeful spirits. The night watchman Mike has to make sense of the situation and stay alive. Who says no one wants to work any more?

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THE LAST WORD By Winslow Myers

Gaza and Maine

THE LAST WORD

I live a couple of counties away from where the mentally ill Robert Card, apparently hearing voices inside his head that sounded as if people were putting him down, shot up a bar and a bowling alley and forever changed the lives of too many of the good citizens of Maine.

The horror in what has been statistically the safest state in the nation competed for headlines with the exponentially larger agony of the brutal Hamas attack and Israel’s decimation of Gaza. The tragedies in Maine and Israel are cousins, however PHOTO: SHEILA FITZGERALD | DREAMSTIME.COM different in scale they appear. But are they in fact so different in scale? 48,000 AmeriIn 2021, 48,000 Americans suffered gun-related deaths. cans suffered gun-related deaths in 2021, the last year for which reliable statistics were available.

Our newly minted speaker of the House offered the usual contemptible dodge of thoughts and prayers, confirming the outrageous inability of our political system to address the gun violence epidemic. After the massacre, by contrast, one member of Congress, Lewiston-born Jared Golden, had the courage to change his mind toward favoring an assault rifle ban.

Ironically, there are very strict gun laws for civilians in the state of Israel. They must demonstrate good reason for gun ownership and obtain a permit, and people who are caught with an unlicensed gun receive strict sanctions, often a year in prison. The result has been far less gun deaths per capita there than here — at least until October 7th.

To get and to stay elected in the U.S., politicians have had to augment their campaign funds with the blood money of the NRA, tenaciously ignoring the clear wishes of the American people for sensible reforms like universal background checks. The U.S. Congress along with a majority on the Supreme Court stubbornly adheres to obsolete interpretations of an amendment that was written hundreds of years before the AR-15 perversely became “America’s gun.” Nick Kristof, in an excellent article The New York Times keeps republishing after each new mass shooting, makes a case for the “whys” of our appalling statistics (for one, the crystal-clear correlation between numbers of guns and gun deaths). Kristof also lays out the common-sense changes we could make that would save a whole bunch of lives. Liberals blame the conservative obsession with the Second Amendment while conservatives advocate beefing up mental health initiatives. But real solutions will not emerge from blaming and either/or polarities.

A similar political refusal to address root causes has come back to haunt Israeli politicians — and massacre the innocent by the thousands in both Israel and Gaza.

Netanyahu maintains his power with a coalition that ignored the longing of great numbers of Israeli citizens for a peace that can only come by looking into the mirror of equivalent Palestinian longings. While a subtle anti-Semitism often holds Israel to a higher standard than other nations, its reputation will take a tremendous hit from its military’s vain attempt to stamp out an idea, or an attitude, by collective punishment. The catastrophic destructiveness of Israel’s reaction, far from eliminating the cynical and nihilistic Hamas, will ensure a further generation of young men who see no alternative to murder and martyrdom. Hamas is playing Netanyahu like a violin.

There are plenty of wise citizens of Israel who, in spite of their tears and rage, have not been swept away by the siren voices of violent revenge. New Yorker editor David Remnick’s recent on-site report cites a retired army general named Yair Golan, who told Remnick: “When you have a crisis, like Pearl Harbor or September 11th, it is a multidimensional crisis, a multidimensional failure. [Netanyahu] wanted quiet. So, while Hamas was relatively quiet, Netanyahu saw no need to have a vision for the larger Palestinian question. And since he needed the support of the settlers and the ultra-Orthodox, he appeased them. He created a situation in which, so long as the Palestinian Authority was weak, he could create the over-all perception that the best thing to do was to annex the West Bank. We weakened the very institution that we could have worked with, and strengthened Hamas.”

The cycle of violence is clearly systemic and cyclical, with mistakes, missed chances, and the inability of some to take “yes” for an answer. The righteous assertions of blame churned out by all sides becomes so much static, irrelevant to the copious flow of innocent blood.

In like fashion, the U.S. head-in-the-sand fetish of gun rights guarantees an equivalent flow of blood will continue here. Robert Card lost the capacity to see his victims as fully human. Netanyahu heeds a voice within that tells him that only more violence can save his nation. He has been unable to see Palestinians as fully human, just as Hamas refuses to see Jews as fully human.

The paralysis that continues this cycle of mutual dehumanization engulfing thousands of families and children in the Middle East may be different from the paralysis in the U.S. that failed to prevent yet another troubled man with a gun from mass murder and suicide. But the two tragedies are not only indistinguishable in their heartrending pain and loss.

In Maine and in Gaza, violence became the last best way to subdue the “other.” Robert Card didn’t get adequate help for his illness, and acquired a gun far too easily. It could have gone another way. Hamas and Netanyahu each chose mindless revenge.

It could have gone another way.

Winslow Myers, syndicated by PeaceVoice, is the author of Living Beyond War: A Citizen’s Guide and serves on the advisory board of the War Prevention Initiative.

m e m p h i s f l y e r. c o m

The U.S. fetish of gun rights guarantees an equivalent flow of blood will continue here.

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