Memphis Flyer 4/6/2023

BACKGROUND PHOTO: TAELOVE7 | SHUTTERSTOCK; JUKE JOINT FESTIVAL (PHOTO: COURTESY JJF); COOPER-YOUNG GARDEN WALK (PHOTO: KENZI CAMPBELL); MEMPHIS PRIDE FEST (PHOTO: KEVIN REED)

We’ve got a fever — and the only prescription is more festivals.

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

CARRIE BEASLEY

Senior Art Director

CHRISTOPHER MYERS

Advertising Art Director

NEIL WILLIAMS

Graphic Designer

JERRY D. SWIFT

Advertising Director Emeritus

KELLI DEWITT, CHIP GOOGE

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MICHELLE MUSOLF

Account Executive

CHET HASTINGS

Warehouse and Delivery Manager

JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN

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OUR 1780TH ISSUE 04.06.23

Editor’s note: Flyer writers will occasionally share this space.

The excitement began last Thursday with a post by former President Donald Trump on his Truth Social network: “These Thugs and Radical Left Monsters have just INDICATED the 45th President of the United States …” he wrote. Yes, Trump was very angry that he had been “indicated,” but the misspelling went mostly unnoticed, except by snarky liberals who were unaware that outrage doesn’t need no damn proofreader.

Trump went on in his usual grammar-free, random all-caps style: “THIS IS AN ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!” he wrote. Which was true, since previous attacks on our country have involved bombs, airplanes, armies, other nations, and such. But this was not an attack on our country. It was an indictment of one American citizen, which happens around 90,000 times a week in the U.S. judicial system. Still, Trump had a point of sorts: This was at least an indictment, the likes of which have never been seen before — one issued to a former U.S. president.

Those who’ve lived in this country for the past seven years have experienced a political maelstrom unlike any in our history, one involving a president — nowformer president — who utters one lie after another, ignores all political and ethical protocols, and has no apparent respect for the rule of law. Trump used all of these tools during the final months of his presidency, culminating on January 6, 2021, when his planned attempt to overturn the national presidential election mercifully came up short.

Now that he’s facing real-life repercussions, the evidence is pretty clear to anyone not in the Trump cult that the former president will not hesitate for a nanosecond to do whatever it takes in order to keep himself out of jail. It’s who he is. It’s who he always has been.

The forthcoming New York case is likely just the preview before the main feature hits the screen. The charges (unreleased as I write this) in this first indictment are not expected to rise to a level that would put Trump behind bars, unless there is an egregious felony charge that no one saw coming. His punishment, if he is found guilty, will probably involve a fine, probation, and/or suspension of his business license. (There could also be a mug shot that will break the internet for a couple of days.)

But this is worth remembering: A defendant in a criminal case has to appear in court every day during his trial. With a possible 34 counts to argue, this trial could go on for weeks, meaning Trump would have to stay in New York City and sit in a courtroom for several hours every weekday. No social media, no Mar-a-Lago schmoozing, no television, no golf, no distractions. Just hour after hour of sitting still, watching other people talk about him, unable to interrupt. That scenario will be pure hell on earth for a twitchy narcissist like Trump.

But, unfortunately for millions of schadenfreude lovers, that’s not going to happen for weeks, if not months. Trump’s lawyers have those 34 charges to appeal, and they will — all the way to the Supreme Court, if necessary. Trump attorney Joe Tacopina has said that his client does not intend to take a plea deal, and that his team planned “substantial legal challenges,” including motions to dismiss or appeals on all or most charges.

The same scenario will play out in any subsequent indictments of Trump, whether they be in Atlanta, New York, or Washington, D.C. Trump’s legal tactics have remained the same for 40 years: delay, appeal, obfuscate — anything to throw gravel in the gears of the legal system. The day when Trump will have to sit down and face a jury of his theoretical peers isn’t coming any time soon. In fact, we can expect that Trump’s various legal entanglements will be ongoing during the 2024 primary season and ensuing presidential campaign.

NEWS & OPINION

THE FLY-BY - 4

SPORTS - 8

POLITICS - 9

FINANCE - 11

COVER STORY

“FAIRS & FESTIVALS”

BY ABIGAIL MORICI - 12

WE RECOMMEND - 18

MUSIC - 19

AFTER DARK - 20

CALENDAR - 21

NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 22

FOOD - 24

METAPHYSICAL CONNECTION - 25

NEWS OF THE WEIRD - 26

ASTROLOGY - 27

FILM - 28

CLASSIFIEDS - 30

LAST WORD - 31

This isn’t comforting news for any American longing for a return to normalcy. The lunacy, crudeness, and threats of violence from Trump and his die-hard supporters will be with us for the foreseeable future. The 65 percent of Americans who just want this all to go away will have to remain strong and steadfast. Maybe it will help to remember the former president’s own words: “THIS IS AN ATTACK ON OUR COUNTRY THE LIKES OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!”

Bruce VanWyngarden brucev@memphisflyer.com

THE fly-by

{WEEK THAT WAS

By Flyer staff

Memphis on the internet.

OBLIVIANS

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

Sterick, Taxes, & Shooting

Reactions

SCHOOL SHOOTING

A music researcher found that nches don’t like e Oblivians. A fascinating New Yorker story about the research said the birds would hit levers that played bird songs, utes, and trumpets many times.

ey avoided a lever that played a recording of a canary, “a large, threatening species,” and another with a song by e Oblivians, described as a “noisy garage-rock band from Memphis.”

“ e rst time they heard the band, the nches shrieked and jumped away from the lever,” reads the story. “ ey never listened to e Oblivians again.”

THAT STORM

Lawmakers reacted early last week to a shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School that le three children and three adults dead.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee) tweeted that she was “heartbroken” to hear about the shooting.

“My o ce is in contact with federal, state, & local o cials, & we stand ready to assist.

ank you to the rst responders working on site. Please join us in prayer for those a ected.”

“When is enough going to be enough to empower my colleagues to have some sort of capacity for courage to do the right thing?” asked state Sen. Raumesh Akbari (D-Memphis). “If you actually want to make an impact to stop gun violence, a tweet is not going to cut it. A statement is not going to cut it. You’re actually going to have to have the courage to act, and do the right thing.”

Properties, announced last week that his team closed on the purchase of the historic Sterick Building.

When the weather was wild last Friday, e DAMN Weather of Memphis was there for the play-by-play “because you need balance with actual weather reporting and shitty, cult-following weather reporting,” he posted.

Reddit user u/Smoke1000Blunts got the convo going on the Memphis subreddit asking, “What are you drinking for the end of the world tonight?” Milo’s Sweet Tea got the most upvotes.

APRIL FOOLS’

Meddlesome Brewing Company announced a new Mashed Potato & Gravy Black and Tan and a Loaded Mashed Potato Porter last week in an April Fools’ release that said it was “time to carb up and veg out.”

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said, “We will act to prevent this from happening again” but did not detail next steps.

NO TAXATION?

Tennessee Republicans maimed (and likely killed) bills this session that would have allowed state taxpayers to know which corporations pay no state corporate income taxes. e bills were carried by Nashville Democrats and got negative recommendations from a majority of lawmakers in committee sessions.

e lawmakers said the Tennessee Department of Revenue (TDOR) told them more than 60 percent of corporations pay no state income tax, and “that is jarring to hear,” state Sen. Heidi Campbell said. About 27 percent of Tennessee companies that report more than $1 billion in taxable income to the federal government paid zero Tennessee income taxes, she added.

“We don’t know which companies are paying nothing because the state law shields that information from public view,” Campbell said.

STERICK RISES AGAIN

ere are changes in store for one of Downtown’s most notable buildings. Stuart Harris, principal of Constellation

e 340,000-square-foot, 29-story skyscraper was built in 1929 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. However, the building has stood vacant since 1986. Previously, the idea of a purchase had been complicated, owing to a ground lease that had considered the building separate from the land it sits on. But the new agreement resolves that issue, allowing for future plans of a full redevelopment to begin taking shape.

NO CANCER CLUSTERS

No clusters of major cancers were found in a government investigation of the area around Sterilization Services in South Memphis a er health alerts were raised on emissions from the company last year.

e company uses ethylene oxide (EtO) in its Florida Street facility to sterilize medical equipment. e Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warned last year EtO emissions from the facility could pose a risk to those living in the neighborhood around it.

However, a report issued last week found no heightened cases of leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, stomach cancer, nor breast cancer.

“Just because we cannot nd evidence of increased rates of cancer that are associated with EtO does not mean there may not be increased risk,” reads the report.

POSTED TO FACEBOOK BY THE OBLIVIANS

POSTED TO FACEBOOK BY THE DAMN WEATHER OF MEMPHIS

PHOTO: METRO NASHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT e shooting at e Covenant School in Nashville le three children and three adults dead. e shooter was killed by police.

Drag Suit {

By Kailynn Johnson

Memphis theater company temporarily blocks state legislation.

Friends of George’s, an LGBTQ theater company at the Evergreen eatre, has led a suit against the state of Tennessee regarding what is being called the “reckless anti-drag law.”

e organization announced on its Instagram page that the bill “imperils the lives of drag performers and seeks to oppress queer culture state-wide.”

“We believe that the act of drag challenges traditional societal structures while also providing a medium to connect with others in a celebratory and avant-garde manner,” the statement said. “We refuse to sit silently in the shadows while the government attempts to strip away our right to free speech and expression.”

e post said the suit is led against the State of Tennessee in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.

e organization was founded in 2010 and, according to Friends of George’s president Mark Campbell, is a drag-based theater company that hosts shows similar to Saturday Night

Live, with lip-sync performances and occasional live vocals.

Drag has long been essential to the dramatic arts. Campbell says that in Shakespearean times, women were not allowed to perform in theaters, so men were cast in those roles.

Campbell says this bill is an attack on the LGBTQ community which considers drag an art form. With drag having such a heavy in uence on theater, the bill has drawn criticism nationally as well, with groups like the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), a labor union representing live theatrical performances, rejecting the law and “lobbying for its elimination.”

“We want to be extremely clear that performing artists across our country are protected from government overreach by the First Amendment,” AEA said in a statement. “For centuries performers have worn costumes that society deems inconsistent with the sex they were assigned at birth.”

Many worry that this law will a ect performances of shows such as Hairspray Kinky Boots, and Mrs.

Doubt re. Actors who play these roles would be considered “male or female impersonators,” who are classi ed under “adult cabaret performances.” e bill says that such performances cannot be on public property and cannot be viewed by anyone who is underage.

Campbell explained that shows performed by Friends of George’s heavily feature drag performers, both male and female.

“ is is basically a First Amendment case and our right to self-expression, trying to dictate how someone dresses,” said Campbell. “If I, as a grown man, were to dress in the same manner as the Grizz Girls and give the exact same performance, my performance would be illegal and deemed harmful to

children, while theirs wouldn’t.”

While Campbell understands that the majority of the Tennessee legislature voted to pass the bill, he said he does not believe that this is re ective of Tennessee residents.

“I know a lot of conservative people. People who vote for Republican presidential candidates and Republican legislators and stu , but a lot of those people come to our shows and bring their kids occasionally,” said Campbell. “I’ve spoken to those people, and they’re as appalled as I am. ey’ve seen what we do, the creativity that we put into it, and the causes that we support, and I just hope that everybody will talk to their friends, tell them about us, what it’s really about, and the self-expression that we put into it.”

PHOTO: KEVIN REED Friends of George’s

STAR & MICEY

Star & Micey are Memphis’s Indie sweethearts. They’ve opened for bands like the Steve Miller Band, The Black Keys, & the Lumineers. Their albums span genres — Americana to Folk to Indi Rock. Their music is winsome, old-timey-tinged pop tunes that make you feel-good!

Silver Season

BAILEY BIGGER

Hailing from western Arkansas, Bailey Bigger began writing & performing in Memphis at the age of 14. Bailey has received national attention for her songwriting & otherworldly vocals. Americana Highways said, “Every now & again one of those shining voices appears. Now is definitely one of those times.”

TICKETS & INFO 24/7 @ BPACC.org

901.385.5588 — Box O ce Hours — 10a.m. to 2p.m. Michael Bollinger — Artistic Director

APRIL 15 / 7:30 PM 36th Year

The Memphis Redbirds have begun their 25th season — 23rd at AutoZone Park — with a ashback of sorts. Way back in 2001, a 21-year-old slugger by the name of Albert Pujols was to be the team’s headliner, having delivered the home run that won the 2000 Paci c Coast League championship for Memphis. Pujols stole the show, though, at the St. Louis Cardinals’ spring camp, made the big-league roster, and 703 home runs later, is bound for the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible in 2028.

Jordan Walker would like to be “the next Pujols,” at least by measure of his predecessor’s Rookie of the Year season 22 years ago. e 20-year-old Walker excelled at Double-A Spring eld last year (.306/.388/.510) and climbed to fourth in the Baseball America rankings of all minor-league prospects. With a strong performance in Jupiter, Florida, Walker earned a roster spot with the Cardinals and made his big-league debut last week following the annual Opening Day Clydesdale parade at Busch Stadium. Fans of the Cardinals’ Triple-A franchise may not see Walker until St. Louis returns for an exhibition game at AutoZone Park.

Into the headliner’s spotlight for Memphis steps another top-50 prospect, shortstop Masyn Winn. Blessed with an arm that would be the envy of many big-league pitchers — he’s hit the high 90s on throws to rst base — Winn brings extraordinary athleticism to a premium in eld position, calling to mind Hall of Famer Ozzie Smith, the Cardinals’ acrobatic legend of the 1980s and ’90s. Only 21 years old, Winn led the Cardinals’ minor-league system with 36 doubles last season (split between Class A and Double A). He hit .333 and slugged .556 in 18 spring-training games with the Cardinals, but last Friday’s opener at Charlotte was Winn’s rst game at the Triple-A level. With the St. Louis middle-in eld currently occupied by Tommy Edman and Brendan Donovan (both former Redbirds), Winn will have to perform to earn his call to e Show.

• ree familiar faces are back with the Redbirds a er extended time in the big-leagues. Dakota Hudson earned Pitcher of the Year honors from the Paci c Coast League in 2018, then won 16 games for the Cardinals as a rookie

the next season. But he’s struggled with control, a problem compounded by the fact Hudson can’t overpower hitters with velocity. is is likely a make-orbreak season for the 28-year-old righty, at least in the Cardinals’ system.

Juan Yepez slammed 22 homers in 92 games for the 2021 Redbirds, then spent most of 2022 with the Cardinals, shadowing the great Pujols as he learned the ropes in a supporting role (12 homers in 76 games) for St. Louis. But Yepez essentially lost his spot in the out eld/DH rotation to Walker this spring, so like Winn, he’ll need to hit — hard and o en — to regain a roster spot with the Cardinals

Oscar Mercado may have the most compelling story as the Redbirds open their season. Mercado played an electric out eld for the 2018 Redbirds and stole

31 bases in 100 games for Memphis. But a crowded Cardinals out eld led to a trade to Cleveland, where Mercado nished 8th in voting for the 2019 American League Rookie of the Year. He’s battled injuries for the last three years, though, and signed a free agent contract with St. Louis last November. Still only 28 years old, Mercado nds himself in somewhat of a Groundhog Day season, aiming to prove himself a major-league talent ve years a er doing precisely that here in Memphis.

• ere’s a new playo format for TripleA this season. e International League (and Paci c Coast League) will award a rst-half champion on June 25th, then a second-half champion at season’s end in September. e two teams will play a best-of-three series for the league title, then face the opposing circuit’s champ in Las Vegas on September 30th for the Triple-A National Championship.

PHOTO: BEN MUNSON/ST. LOUIS CARDINALS Redbirds shortstop Masyn Winn

e Memphis Redbirds take the eld for their 25th campaign.

SPORTS By Frank Murtaugh

POLITICS By Jackson Baker

Turmoil at Capitol

Crowds roar as Democratic legislators face expulsion for supporting gun protests.

Not since the income tax riots of 2001 has the Tennessee state capitol building in Nashville seen such intensity.

Monday’s session of the General Assembly, which included the introduction of resolutions in the House threatening the expulsion of three Democratic state representatives, concluded with the crowded galleries shouting epithets — including “fascists” — at members of the Republican supermajority.

Outside the capitol, worse things were being chanted by massive crowds at the expense of GOP Governor Bill Lee, who, like the Republican lawmakers, was faulted for inaction on gun safety following last week’s gun massacre at a Nashville Christian school.

“E Bill Lee!” the demonstrators chanted.

e three Democrats in jeopardy — representatives Gloria Johnson of Knoxville and Justin Jones of Nashville, along with Memphis rsttermer Justin Pearson — had gone to the well of the House last ursday, and, with the aid of bullhorns, encouraged protesters in the galleries to keep demanding action on guns.

A vote on expulsion of the three will probably take place ursday, along with, equally probably, energetic new protests on their behalf and for gun-safety legislation.

• On ursday this week, Chancellor JoeDae Jenkins will hold a status conference on suits by mayoral candidates Floyd Bonner and Van Turner against an apparent edict by the Shelby County Election Commission (SCEC) requiring ve years of prior residence in Memphis for candidates.

Neither candidate could clear a strict interpretation of the SCEC’s

edict, which is included on the Commission’s website via a link to an opinion from former Commission chair Robert Meyers.

Jenkins gave a preliminary ruling last Friday against the SCEC’s e ort to include the city of Memphis as a corespondent against the suits.

• ere was some unprecedented attention given to the matter of county contracts at Monday’s public meeting of the Shelby County Commission, and it all started while the body was considering the meeting’s “consent agenda,” ordinarily regarded as routine and largely consisting of prescreened items.

With Democratic member Britney ornton in the lead and with fellow Democrats Erika Sugarmon and Henri Brooks, among others, taking

part, members kept county nancial o cers and economic opportunity administrator Shep Wilbun in the well for more than an hour answering detailed questions about each and every contract up for a vote, including many that appeared to be essentially maintenance matters.

e two basic questions were: How many bids were there for the contract? And how many bidders were minority? In most cases there was an obvious and even enormous disparity in the two numbers, which was, of course, the point of the questioners.

PHOTO: JOHN PARTIPILO | TENNESSEE LOOKOUT Democrats in jeopardy: (from le ) Justin Pearson, Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones

Investments As Cars

You wouldn’t sell your car due to a minor issue, so why do we think of investments this way?

Everyone has an opinion about cars. Luxury or economy, sedan or hatchback, van or pickup truck — preferences stay pretty consistent outside major life changes, like a new baby or a new RV to pull. To some extent, cars help de ne your personality in America, and car lovers tend to stay loyal to their favorite model or brand.

Investment portfolios help de ne your future, but hopefully they don’t de ne your personality. While you might get satisfaction from driving a fancy sports car, we believe “exciting” investments are likely best avoided. Your investments should actually be relatively boring and low cost while historically providing the performance you need in the long run.

ere’s one quick and nearly certain way to lose money in cars or investment portfolios — making big changes too frequently for the wrong reasons. Hopping around from one investment to another can even be much more expensive than trading in for a new car every year, which we know is one of the pricier car decisions you can make.

markets, and I believe only some of them are patently “wrong.” An appropriate portfolio for your circumstances will undoubtedly outperform and underperform various benchmarks at various times, and the periods of underperformance don’t mean you’ve bought the wrong portfolio. Financial news focuses on what is outperforming a er the outperformance has already occurred, and using that backward-looking news as actionable trading advice can be devastating to your long-term returns.

Even if you can ignore the news, there are still opportunities to be distracted by recent performance. A sound investment portfolio for you might hold 10 di erent funds. Over any period, one of those funds will perform better than the others and one will perform worse. Performance comes in chunks, and although the instinct to sell the worst recent performer is strong, previous worst performers have a chance of improving and should therefore only be sold if something has materially changed in your initial investment thesis. One important thing to remember is why each element of your portfolio is there (regardless of recent performance) in order to avoid making big, emotional decisions due to the natural dispersion of investment returns.

Let’s say you own an Accord, and a er ve years and 100,000 worry-free miles you need a new water pump. You might feel a bit unlucky, but you would probably sigh and get it replaced. What you probably would not do is start second-guessing your decision to buy the car in the rst place. You wouldn’t run across the street and trade in your Accord for a Camry because your friend told you at a cocktail party that Hondas are no good anymore and Toyotas are now the only reliable choice. You probably would have been ne in an Accord or a Camry, but switching back and forth between them because of short-term problems is far worse than picking and sticking with one or the other. Nobody manages their vehicles like that, so why do we think about investments in that way?

ere are countless ways to invest in

Driving a new car o the lot usually cuts its value instantly and dramatically, but people don’t always think about the devastating consequences of chasing performance and making large and frequent changes in their investment portfolios. ere’s little chance breaking nancial news or current events mean you should make changes to an appropriate, low-cost, diversi ed portfolio. Consider showing the same brand loyalty to your portfolio that you show to your cars — investment loyalty can actually make a positive di erence on the path toward a secure nancial future.

Gene Gard, CFA, CFP, CFT-I, is a Wealth Manager with Creative Planning, formerly Telarray. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest Registered Investment Advisory rms providing comprehensive wealth management services to ensure all elements of a client’s nancial life are working together, including investments, taxes, estate planning, and risk management. For more information or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit CreativePlanning.com.

PHOTO: FELIX FUCHS | UNSPLASH

COVER STORY BY ABIGAIL MORICI

Strap on your fanny packs, lace up your sneakers, smear on that sunscreen, and brace yourself for another banger festival season with our guide to Memphis’ favorite festivities.

APRIL

e Mid-South Poets and Writers Festival

Spoken Memphis hosts its rst MidSouth Poets and Writers Festival, celebrating local literary artists and their written arts. e day will include a Headshots and Books Brunch, a youth talent show, an erotic poetry and burlesque show, and a battle between rappers and poets.

Timeless Event Center, April 8

Italian Film Festival

Luci, camera, azione! Whether or not you speak Italian, you’ll delight in the critically acclaimed Italian lms this lm festival has to o er (all for free). Attendees will enjoy the local premieres of e Champion, e Invisible Witness, and Never Too Late For Love. English subtitles will accompany each lm. University Center eatre, University of Memphis, April 11, 14, & 20

Art in the Loop

Are you in the loop about this art festival in East Memphis? I’ll give you the 411: Talented artists working in metal, glass, wood, clay, ber, jewelry, paint-

ing, photography, basically anything you can think of, are coming together for an artists’ market.

Ridgeway Loop Road, April 14-16

Storyfest

Once upon a time in the not-so-faraway Halloran Centre, real Memphians shared their real stories in an e ort to build community. at time has come once again with this Storyfest that features live performances, engagement activities, and community re ections.

Halloran Centre, April 14-15

Cooper-Young Porchfest

Rascal Flatts once sang of sitting on the front porch, drinking ice-cold cherry Coke, and now the front porches in Cooper-Young are for more than a refreshing refreshment. At this unique music festival, they’re stages for free intimate concerts with local bands playing throughout the day.

Cooper-Young Historic District, April 15

Juke Joint Festival is festival has 100+ blues performances plus real-deal juke joints, monkeys riding dogs, racing pigs, arts and cra s, music workshops, children’s events, Southern food, and much more.

Clarksdale, MS, April 15

Shelby Forest Spring Fest

Go wild with live music, food, arts and cra s vendors, wildlife and cultural exhibits, and a cornhole tourney at this fest.

Meeman Shelby Forest, April 15

Taste the Rarity

A hundred bottles of beer on the wall, a hundred bottles of beer, take one down, pass it around, and you’ve still got four hours of unlimited drinking at this festival, bringing the best and weirdest brews from all over the country. Wiseacre, April 15

Rajun Cajun Craw sh Festival

Bob it, eat it, race it — the “it,” here, is of course the craw sh at this festival raising money for Porter-Leath. e day will also include live music, arts and cra s vendors, and a kids zone.

Riverside Drive, April 16

Africa in April

Africa in April will salute the Republic of Rwanda for its 36th annual festival, lled with live performances, food and merchandise vendors, and the International Diversity Parade.

Robert R. Church Park, April 19-23

Shell Daze

You’ll be dazed but not confused by this lineup of musical acts, with Southern Avenue, Neal Francis, Paul orn, Trampled by Turtles, Le over Salmon, and Bailey Bigger.

Overton Park Shell, April 21-22

Brewfest

Enjoy all the beer you could ever want from local and regional breweries, plus a concert by the Amber McCain Band. Mississippi Ale House, Olive Branch, MS, April 22

Hopped Beer Festival

Hoppy times are ahead as this fest returns, with limited-run hoppy ales, live music, food trucks, and games from Board to Beers.

Memphis Made Brewing, April 22

Overton Square Craw sh Festival

It ain’t gonna suck, so you best go cray at the Overton Square Craw sh Festival where there will be craw sh galore. Overton Square, April 22

Shop Black Fest

Shop from Black-owned small businesses and enjoy empowering workshops, training, and networking opportunities.

Riverside Dr., April 22

Vintage 901 Wine, Food, and Music Festival

Food, wine, and music — what more could you ask for?

Arrow Creative, April 22

Black Arts & Wine Festival

e inaugural Black Arts & Wine Festival will feature visual art by 20 local Black creatives. Attendees will sample wine and liquors from 20 Black-owned brands, and shop from Black-owned businesses.

Museum of Science & History, April 23

Memphis Mimosa Festival

e Mimosa Festival is back, with creatively cra ed mimosas, food, music, and games.

Court Square Park, April 23

Double Decker Arts Festival

e Double Decker Arts Festival boasts 100+ art and 20+ local food vendors, an impressive slew of musical performances, art demonstrations, and more. Oxford Courthouse Square, Oxford, MS, April 28-29

Blues for the Blue Craw sh & Blues Festival

Support the Southaven Police Department and feast on all-you-can-eat craw sh while enjoying live music, drinks, and more, including a TouchA-Truck event, where kids can touch, climb, and explore emergency vehicles. Silo Square, Southaven, MS, April 29

We’ve got a fever — and the only prescription is more festivals.

HEADER PHOTO: TAELOVE7 | SHUTTERSTOCK

Bookstock: Memphis Area Authors’ Festival

If you’re overdue for a treat-your-shelf kind of day, you have to check out Bookstock, where you can meet 60+ local authors and enjoy cultural performances, live music, a virtual reality empathy lab, and more.

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, April 29

Spring Faire/Memphis Children’s eatre Festival

Let me set the scene for you: a free event, 30 artists’ and artisans’ booths, food trucks, performances, and a simultaneous children’s festival with youthfocused performances and activities.

eatre Memphis, April 29

Walk a Mile in Her Shoes/FIT Fest Families in Transition, which supports those impacted by violence and abuse, will host its third annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes to raise awareness for and speak out against violence against women. Following the walk, families can enjoy in atables and games for children, food trucks, vendors, a cornhole tournament, and live entertainment.

Tilden Rodgers Park, West Memphis, AR, April 29

MAY Memphis in May International Festival

For the month of May, this festival salutes Malaysia with cultural events and performances, educational experiences, museum and gallery exhibits, lms, and more.

Various locations, May 1-31

Beale Street Musical Festival

Let’s groove tonight, share the spice of life, baby, slice it right — oh, pardon me, I’m getting carried away with Earth, Wind & Fire lyrics. But I can’t help it! I’m just too excited that they’re coming to Memphis! Also, some other people, like e Lumineers, Hardy, GloRilla, Yola, Cedric Burnside, and more.

Tom Lee Park, May 5-7

Collierville Fair on the Square is family-friendly festival has something for everyone — from vendor booths to great food to puppet shows.

Collierville Historic Town Square, May 6-7

Made in Memphis Summer Series at Saddle Creek

Shop local businesses, makers, and artists, and enjoy live music, drinks, and food.

Saddle Creek South, May 6, June 3, July 1, & August 5

Memphis Public Libraries Comic Con

e inaugural and free Memphis Libraries Comic Con will feature legendary comic creators, plus artists and vendors selling their wares, cosplay contests, a trivia contest, cra s, and comics.

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, May 6

Memphis Fashion Week

e devil wears Prada, but no Pradawearing devils will be walking the Memphis Fashion Week runway (so chill your satanic panic) — it’ll just be some gorgeous mortals wearing awesome and cool local emerging designers. Regardless, the event promises to be a devilishly good time.

Arrow Creative, May 12-13

Memphis Greek Festival

Call me the dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding because if you give me a word, any word, I’ll show you that the root of that word is Greek. Take the word Memphis. You see, Memphis comes from the ancient Greek word for the ancient Egyptian city of Memphis — cue your amazement at this wild connection between Memphis and Greece. Of course, there’s also the Memphis Greek Festival, with scrumptious Greek food, tours of the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, live music, artisan booths, and activities for kids.

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, May 12-13

World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest

I don’t eat meat, so don’t take my word for it when I say that this contest is the “Most Prestigious Barbecue Contest.”

USA Today made this bold statement and apparently they hold more clout than I ever will. For four days, the best of the best barbecue bu s will compete in such categories as Ribs, Shoulder, and Whole Hog, as well as Hot Wings, Sauce, and “Anything But Pork.”

Tom Lee Park, May 17-20

Blu City Fair

You know what doesn’t sound like a great time? Majestic thrill shows, rides galore, fair food, and an all-day petting zoo. Okay, ne, call my blu — that sounds like a heck of a great time.

Liberty Bowl Stadium, May 19-29

Cooper-Young Garden Walk

With over 80 green businesses and urban gardens to tour, mini talks and demos to attend, vendors and artists to meet, and educational booths to visit, you’ll have the best day ever.

Cooper-Young Historic District, May 20-21

continued on page 15

PHOTO: KEVIN REED e Memphis Pride Fest Weekend o ers family-friendly fun, welcoming more than 50,000 attendees from all walks of life every year.

PHOTO: JOSHUA TIMMERMANS e Mempho Music Festival features some of music’s biggest stars and local favorites. is year’s lineup will be announced soon.

PRESENTED BY:

celebrating food, music & the arts on oxford’s historic downtown square!

april 28 - 29

friday

music @ main stage 6pm - 10pm

shuttles 4:30pm - 11pm

saturday

100+ art vendors 10am - 5:30pm

blue delta blues alley 10:30am - 6pm

music @ main stage 11am - 11pm

shuttles 9:30am - 12am

shuttles $5 roundtrip Festival Free

2023 MUSIC LINEUP

FRIDAY, APRIL 28

THE STEWS

CHAPEL HART

ASHLEY MCBRYDE

SATURDAY, APRIL 29

THE MISSISSIPPIANS JAZZ ENSEMBLE VIEUX FARKA TOURE

SENSATIONAL BARNES BROTHERS

SOUTHERN AVENUE

LISSIE

BLACKBERRY SMOKE

MARCUS KING

VisitOxfordms.coM @visitoxfordms

PRESENTED BY

30TH ANNUAL FREE ADMISSION

APRIL 16

SUNDAY 2023 11:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

RIVERSIDE DRIVE BETWEEN JEFFERSON & UNION

continued from page 13

JUNE

Memphis Italian Festival

On top of spaghetti, all covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball, when somebody sneezed. It rolled o the table and onto the oor, and then my poor meatball rolled all the way to Marquette Park for the Memphis Italian Festival. e event boasts Memphis’ favorite Spaghetti Gravy Contest and other food-related competitions, live music, games, vendors, activities, and tons and tons of great food.

Marquette Park, June 1-3

Memphis Pride Fest Weekend

Spanning four days, the celebration includes a Drag N Drive, complete with a movie screening and drag show, a dance party, a brunch crawl, and the signature parade and festival with two stages, over 150 vendors, food trucks, and much more.

Various locations, June 1-4

Memphis Margarita Festival

Will you nd yourself wasted away again in Margaritaville, searching for your lost shaker of salt? Or will you nd yourself at the Memphis Margarita Festival? e choice is yours, but you’ll get 12 margarita samples from your favorite restaurants at this fest and you

can’t say the same for Margaritaville. Overton Square, June 3

Memphis Cra s & Dra s

Shopping is exercise. Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t kill the summertime fun. So if you don’t want summertime fun to be smothered by rising temperatures, you’ll want to head over to this summer market of local makers and artists.

Crosstown Concourse, June 10

Tri-State Black Pride

With this year’s theme of “ e Time

Is Now,” Tri-State Black Pride presents four days of fun, education, and community, with workshops, lectures, a drag show, and a music festival to cap o the weekend with performances by national and local artists.

Various locations, June 15-18

Memphis Juneteenth Festival

For the 30th Annual Memphis Juneteenth Festival, celebrating AfricanAmerican culture, the two-day event will include food, music, and entertainment. Health Sciences Park, June 17-18

Juneteenth Shop Black Festival

Shop Black businesses, food trucks, and food vendors.

e Fourth Blu , June 17

Memphis Vegan Festival

Rede ne what it means to veg out with all the vegging out you’ll do at the Memphis Vegan Festival, a full day of vegan food, live entertainment, and a marketplace.

e Fourth Blu , June 18

Cra Food & Wine Festival

My favorite word in the English dictionary is borborygmus, a fancy word for when your tummy rumbles, which happens to be my least favorite bodily sensation. Ironic, isn’t it? Also ironic: I’m dealing with some borborygmus as I write this blurb about the Cra Food & Wine Festival, bene ting Church Health. I mean, the artisan breads, the cheeses, the fruit preserves, the popcorn — just oh my. Columns at One Commerce Square, June 25

JULY

Memphis Summer Cocktail Festival

Heads or tails? No thanks, I’m not in the mood for games to decide my fate. I’ll tell you what I want: a cocktail. What kind? Well, at the Memphis Summer Cocktail Festival, the choice

continued on page 16

PHOTO: COURTESY PORTER-LEATH Rajun Cajun Craw sh Festival

continued from page

is easy: Sample them all (and enjoy the party with music, food, and dancing).

Shelby Farms Park Event Center, July 14

Fully Loaded Comedy Festival

Are you a “haha” texter or do you prefer an “lol”? Whatever your style, it doesn’t matter when it comes to this festival that will have you LOLing IRL with stand-up by Bert Kreischer, Big Jay Oakerson, Chad Daniels, Mark Normand, Ralph Barbosa, Rosebud Baker, and Ti any Haddish. AutoZone Park, July 8

AUGUST

Crown Me Royal Film Fest is lm festival boasts panels, workshops, and independent lm screenings from BIPOC behind-the-scenes lmmakers and creatives from all media platforms. Various locations, August 4-6

Elvis Week

Lord almighty, I feel my temperature rising, higher, higher — it’s burning through to my soul. And it’s not a hunk of burning love; it’s just the thought of the Memphis heat in August, burning, burning, burning. But August in Memphis means more than just heat; it means that Elvis Week is here, with highlights including a special screen-

ing of Elvis’ ’68 Comeback Special, the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest, and the annual Candlelight Vigil. Graceland, August 9-17

Memphis Chicken & Beer Festival

I’ve never really understood why we are always asking why the chicken crossed the road. e answer is obvious: It was headed to the Memphis Chicken & Beer Festival to mingle with fellow beer-drinkers and enjoy live entertainment, games, in atables, and more. Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Field, August 12

SEPTEMBER

Delta Fair & Music Festival

Carnival rides, live music, attractions, livestock shows, oh boy, there’s so much going on every day at the Delta Fair — way too much even to t in this space as my word count runs out like sand in an hourglass and the days of our lives. Agricenter International, September 1-10

Cooper-Young Festival

At last year’s Cooper-Young Festival, I saw a pink parrot in an orange diaper and I haven’t seen one since. Who knows if I’ll see him again this year, but at least I can count on the usual art, music, and cra s that make the fest a hallmark tradition to look forward to.

Cooper-Young Historic District, September 16

Mighty Roots Music Festival

Last year I opened this blurb with the lines: “Whatta fest, whatta fest, whatta mighty good fest.” And gosh, that tune has stayed in my head all the way till now as I introduce the festival’s third year. e lineup for the music fest will be announced June 12th.

Stovall Gin Company, Clarksdale, MS, September 22-24

Pink Palace Cra s Fair

e Pink Palace Cra s Fair celebrates 51 years. Explore the variety of artwork,

and let the kiddos enjoy the attractions. Audubon Park, September 22-24

Latin Fest

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at this festival, complete with Latin music, Latin food and drinks, cra s, vendors, and fun for all ages.

Overton Square, September 23

Mempho Music Festival

You know it, you love it, do you really need me to tell you more about it? Keep up with all things Mempho, including the lineup announcement, at their website and on their socials.

Radians Amphitheater, Memphis Botanic Garden, September 29-October 1

PHOTO: COURTESY MOSH Pink Palace Cra s Fair

upcoming events

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Who Is That Artist?

By Abigail Morici

Growing up in Colombia, Johana Moscoso resented the fragility of the two porcelain gures her mother treasured, gurines whose ngers and nose would always break. Years later and now living in Memphis, she stands in the gallery housing the Dixon’s collection of decorative porcelain — equally untouchable, fragile, and overwhelmingly European — but in the room over, in the interactive gallery’s “Who Is at Artist?” exhibit, Moscoso holds the hands of her life-size recreations of porcelain gures in the collection. ese pieces are structured with recycled cardboard and paper, with their exteriors clad in used denim. “I wanted to create something that people can touch,” she says.

In creating her sculptures, Moscoso took inspiration from the Colombian New Year’s tradition of Año Viejo, where friends and family make an e gy of the past year to burn as a way to welcome the next and say goodbye to the last. Likewise, the artist hopes to burn these sculptures, honoring her roots and looking to the future, but for now, she strives to make accessible what was once inaccessible in the porcelain. For instance, in one piece, where the original depicts a woman assisting a young lady at a vanity, Moscoso doesn’t include the young lady; instead, a stool sits for anyone to take her place and to see themselves as part of the art.

Similarly, Danielle Sierra, another artist in the exhibit, also aims to make visitors a part of her art. In her typical work, Sierra reinterprets Mexican milagros, religious charms used to pray for miracles. Instead of saints, images o en found in milagros, Sierra renders faces of those in her life enshrined in rays of gold and surrounded by owers. “I wanted to focus on the human being the miracle,” she says. “We tend to not see the beauty in ourselves, but we’re so quick to see it in owers and plants and creation.”

In the exhibit, Sierra has created a photo stand-in for guests to see their own faces as part of one of her milagros. “It’s a matter of you becoming those things that you see as beautiful,” she says.

e third artist in the exhibit is Karla Sanchez, who challenges visitors with a comic-making station to re ect on what plagues their minds — their hopes, fears, worries. As an artist who has struggled to understand her complex identity as a DACA recipient from Mexico, she has found comics to be a therapeutic outlet to express her experiences as an immigrant. She hopes that by sharing her illustrations in the exhibit, she can inspire others to nd healing in creativity, whether that’s in drawing or writing or something else entirely.

Altogether, the three Latina artists hope to upli their respective cultures and welcome others into their work. For more information on the exhibit and the artists, visit dixon.org.

“WHO IS THAT ARTIST?”, DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS, ON DISPLAY THROUGH APRIL 16TH.

VARIOUS

Chicago

Orpheum eatre, performances through April 9, $29-$125

Come on babe, why don’t we paint the town? … And all that jazz. Surely, you know what I’m talking about: Chicago, baby, the one musical with everything that makes Broadway shimmy-shake. Honored with six Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, a Grammy, and thousands of standing ovations, it’s a universal tale of fame, fortune, and, er, all that jazz, with one show-stopping song a er another and the most astonishing dancing you’ve ever seen. So you won’t want to miss out when Chicago takes the stage at the Orpheum.

Chicago is recommended for audiences ages 13+. Purchase tickets at orpheum-memphis.com.

In A Dark Wood eatreWorks, performances through April 9, $15-$20

In a Dark Wood is a psychoacoustic, immersive theatrical experience where participants are immersed in darkness and must rely on their other senses as stories from Appalachian lore are relayed.

30 Days of Opera

Various locations, performances through April 30 is April, Opera Memphis is excited to present another 30 Days of Opera, a month of free, live opera performances throughout the MidSouth.

On ursday, April 6th, 5 p.m., join Opera Memphis for a live, open rehearsal of Bon Appetit, a delicious one-act opera bringing back to life a classic episode of Julia Child’s popular television show with

music. Rehearsals will take place on the second oor of the Crosstown Concourse lobby, near the red spiral stairs.

On Saturday, April 8th, 10:30 a.m., Opera Memphis will perform at the Downtown Farmers Market. For a full schedule of 30 Days of Opera performances, visit operamemphis.org.

“Waddell, Withers, & Smith: A Requiem for King” National Civil Rights Museum, on display through August 28 is exhibit honors the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through the artwork of sculptor James Waddell Jr., photographer Ernest Withers, and mixed-media artist Dolph Smith, Memphis-based artists who have created pieces in response to the tragedy of the assassination.

PHOTO: ABIGAIL MORICI

One of Johana Moscoso’s denimclad sculptures on display.

Fly Away

Ava Carrington faces the past and present through music.

Ava Carrington’s rst musical instrument was a fence in her grandmother’s backyard.

“I’d get two sticks and I’d play on her old rusty metal fence,” she says. “I thought that sounded like I was making music, and I would sing along with it and make up little songs.”

Sixteen years later, Carrington, 18, is a recorded singer-songwriter. She played her version of “Canon in D (Pachelbel’s Canon)” by ear at the age of 4.

Carrington picked up the guitar at 7 and began writing songs the next year. “I’d never been in love. I’d never experienced that. But at age 8 I was only writing love songs. e lyrics are very funny.”

But, she says, “I had a pretty hard childhood. ere was a lot of stu going

on. Fighting around me a lot of the time, which was stressful as a child. I took it upon myself to try to x everything and be a people-pleaser. And I got lost in that. Because of that I missed out on a lot of my childhood and a lot of things I wish I would have experienced.”

Carrington began writing proli cally when she was in a treatment center for anxiety at 14. “Dragon Fly” was “about stu I went through the year prior, which was one of the reasons I was sent there.”

She had gone to a Connecticut boarding school. “ ere was sexual assault,” she says. “And a lot of people didn’t believe me or do anything about it until it was happening to other girls at that school. I was barely 14 when I went there.”

“Dragon Fly” is about “going

through it and processing it and wanting to get away or y away from it.” Writing that song a er “going through that shock at a young and impressionable age” gave her a lot of closure.

“ at experience kind of made me lose myself a little bit. I didn’t feel I knew myself. And being able to have pieces of dialogue between myself and I helped me realize that sense of self — of who I am as a person.

“I do remember one line from it. It’s: ‘You sit and wonder why your head hurts when you cry/But, darling, that’s just life/You live until you die.’”

Treatment center residents sat outside her room and listened to her play guitar and sing. “ e amount of people grew and grew and grew. I felt I was inspiring people, in a way. And I was able to connect with people in a creative and musical way.”

Carrington realized she wanted to “create music that people can relate to and experience life through.”

She then went to St. Mary’s School, a boarding school in Raleigh, North Carolina. “It was kind of a big breath of fresh air. Being somewhere where I had a sense of freedom.”

Carrington moved back to Memphis in 2021 and began recording with Elliott Ives and Scott Hardin at Young Avenue Sound.

e track “Messed Up Man” is based on experiences at that rst boarding school, she says. “How the person that did that stu to me and all the people screwing me over a little bit were supposedly mature people. But they really acted like children.”

Says Ives: “Ava is extremely talented at such a young age. She has a unique self-taught unorthodox guitar style that only she can execute. She’s not afraid to venture into di erent genres with her songwriting and production. Her voice is so pure and balanced. e mic loves her full range. She reminds me of a female Kurt Cobain, which I have not heard anyone of the like since Nirvana.

“All these elements combined with her real-life experienced subject matter set her apart as a songwriter and performer.”

Carrington, who is working with California producer Adam Castilla, says “loss of childhood” is a theme running through a lot of her new songs. “And wondering whether I’m grieving the passing of a simpler time or mourning the loss of something that was never given a chance to exist.” To hear Carrington’s music, nd her on Spotify.

PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE Ava Carrington and her dog, Mars

MUSIC By Michael Donahue

After Hours Sundays

NYCELYFE and friends will be hitting you with your favorite music all night long! 21+.

Sunday, April 9, 9 p.m.

JERRY LEE LEWIS’ CAFE & HONKY

TONK

Cody Clark

Friday, April 7, 10 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Donna Padgett Bowers

Presents

Variety show of Memphis talent. Friday, April 7, 8:30 p.m.

WESTY’S

Eric Hughes Band

ursday, April 6, 7-11 p.m.

RUM BOOGIE CAFE

Jarred Kingrey

ursday, April 6, 6:30 p.m.;

Saturday, April 8, 3:15 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Nia Nicholls, Steve Hopper, Wyatt Edmondson

Friday, April 7, 7-9 p.m.

SOUTH MAIN SOUNDS

Party Down

Saturday, April 8, 10 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Robbie Bletscher on Piano

A singing waiter with talent.

Wednesday, April 12, 5:30-8 p.m.

WESTY’S

Rodell McCord

Friday, April 7, 6:30 p.m.;

Saturday, April 8, 6:30 p.m.;

Sunday, April 9, 7 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Roxi Love

Wednesday, April 12, 8 p.m.

TIN ROOF

Sarah Spain

ursday, April 6, 6:30-9:30 p.m.

CENTRAL STATION HOTEL

Scratch and Snare

Every ursday night come to Tin Roof for Scratch and Snare with DJ Stringbean and Matt the Drummer. ursday, April 6, 10 p.m.

TIN ROOF

The Lizzard Kings Live!

$7. Tuesday, April 11, 7-9:30 p.m.

CAROLINA WATERSHED

Trevor Berryhill

Saturday, April 8, noon.

TIN ROOF

Wendell Wells & The Big Americans

Free live music, songwriters, musicians, singers, jam session.

Saturday, April 8, 8:30 p.m.

WESTY’S

Wyly & The Coyotes

Saturday, April 8, 9:30 p.m.

EARNESTINE & HAZEL’S

Billy Clay

Saturday, April 8, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

ELWOOD’S SHACK

John Williams and the A440 Band

$10. ursday, April 6, 8 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule April 6 - 12

Keepin It Memphis

Promoting Memphis culture and highlighting the works of the Memphis underground arts scene. $15. Wednesday, April 12, 7-10:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS MUSIC ROOM

The Mixers

Playing the songs you love from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s.

$5. Sunday, April 9, 4-7 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

Alexalone, Melinda, Spence Bailey

ursday, April 6, 9 p.m.

HI TONE

Almost Elton John & The RocketMen

Friday, April 7, 10 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Ami Dang

Amrita “Ami” Kaur Dang is a South Asian-American vocalist, sitarist, composer, and producer from Baltimore.

ursday, April 6, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Aubrey McCrady

Saturday, April 8, 10 p.m.

B-SIDE

Bellysauce Ensemble

Joined by Dinosauria and Paul Maceri. ursday, April 6, 7 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Brenna: Free Music

Video Shoot Show

ursday, April 6, 6 p.m.

GROWLERS

Church of the Cosmic Skull

Sunday, April 9, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

Dale Watson

ursday, April 6, 8 p.m.

RAILGARTEN

Daykisser, Slack Times (Birmingham)

Friday, April 7, 9 p.m.

BAR DKDC

Devil Train

ursday, April 6, 9:30 p.m.

B-SIDE

Electric Nobody, Driftwood Ramblers, Oliveria

Friday, April 7, 9:30 p.m.

B-SIDE

Elevation 333

With Sleepy Loco, Lil Tino, Ace Picasso, Drumma Queen, R.E. Double, Superstarswish, Wolf Cat, D.A.D, and Krisiz Jay. Friday, April 7, 6:30 p.m.

GROWLERS

Heldtight and Second Life

Monday, April 10, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

Housewerrrk

With DJ NoChance, DJ Sledro, DJAD901, and a special guest DJ. Friday, April 7, 8 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

JD Westmoreland Band

Monday, April 10, 10 p.m.

B-SIDE

Joybomb, The Heavy Pour, Screamer, The Ellie Badge

Saturday, April 8, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

JXDN

Friday, April 7, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Keep Rockin’ in the Free World: A Tribute to Neil Young by the Memphis Harvest Band

Saturday, April 8, 7:30 p.m.

WISEACRE BREWERY

Laura Jane Grace

Saturday, April 8, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Modern Masters Jazz Series: Greg Tardy

Saxophonist, multi-reedist, and composer Gregory Tardy is one of the most versatile jazz musicians of his generation, equally comfortable in a variety of musical and improvisational situations. $20-$25. Tuesday, April 11, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Omenkiller, Severed by Dawn, Anaphylactic Shock, Discard

Tuesday, April 11, 7 p.m.

GROWLERS

Paprika, Big Clown, Geepmane, Switches

Saturday, April 8, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

Polyphia

Tuesday, April 11, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Roberta Lea

With a voice like cinnamon and a pen like butter, Roberta Lea is a rising artist, ready to give the world a taste of what she’s made of. $20. Saturday, April 8, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Shakermaker

Sunday, April 9, 8 p.m.

B-SIDE

Shell on Wheels:

5 Fridays of Jazz |

Michael Townsend

Shell on Wheels seeks to amplify the voices of Memphis artists and creatives and to make the performing arts accessible to all of Memphis from the Shell’s historic stage to your backyard. Free.

Friday, April 7, 6:30-8 p.m.

BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

Squirrel Nut Zippers: Shell Yeah! Benefit Series

All proceeds from Shell Yeah! Benefit Concerts directly support and power the free concert series while keeping the mission of the Overton Park Shell accessible for all. $35. Thursday, April 6, 7:30 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

The Corrupting Sea, Robert Traxler, Autodealer, Artificer

Sunday, April 9, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

The Field Day Tour

With Austin and the Powers, e Kitchen Counters, Ravine, and special guest Lady Owl.

Tuesday, April 11, 8 p.m.

HI TONE

The Hirs Collective, The Gloryholes

Friday, April 7, 9 p.m.

HI TONE

The Peterson Compound Presents An Evening With! Episode 2

With Pink Williams, Gus Carrington, Nate Woloshin, and Just Jake. Listen to their songs and hear the story that goes with them. Engage with them in a Q&A and get to know these awesome performers.

Wednesday, April 12, 7 p.m.

B-SIDE

Wavy Friday Featuring Missy Midwest, DZNVTZ, Toro, and Ferb. Friday, April 7, 9 p.m.-2 a.m.

CANVAS

Willi Carlisle

Born and raised on the Midwestern plains, Carlisle is a product of the punk-tofolk music pipeline that’s long fueled frustrated young men looking to resist. $20. Sunday, April 9, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Writers in the Round with Eron Ackerman, Caleb Martin, Pink Williams, Tony de Velasco

Tuesday, April 11, 8 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Xiu Xiu

Xiu Xiu’s most recent work is a record of halves. $20$25. Wednesday, April 12, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Corey Lou & Da Village

Saturday, April 8, 7 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Sierra Bryan, Red McAdam, Alexis Jade, The Mulberries ursday, April 6, 7 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

PHOTO: MANDEE MALLONEE JXDN

PHOTO: CHRIS BAUER Laura Jane Grace

Send

CALENDAR of EVENTS: April 6 - 12

ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS

“AI Artificial Intelligence: Your Mind & The Machine”

Learn how AI touches lives — now and in the future.

Through May 6.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

“All Power to All People”

Hank Willis Thomas’ eightfoot tall Afro pick with a power fist cast in aluminum.

Through May 7.

FOURTH BLUFF PARK

“American Made: Paintings and Sculpture from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection” Exhibition of more than 100 works from the DeMell Jacobsen Collection, spanning 250 years of American history.

Through April 16.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Brick X Brick: A Billion Pounds of Cultivation”

An interactive exhibition to bring about restoration to the folks in the community, presented by Talibah Safiya and Bertram Williams Jr. Through May 7.

TONE

“Build a Heaven of My Own: African American Vernacular Art and the Blues”

This group show explores how the musical and verbal tropes, meaning, and context of the blues not only share traits but have informed the visual culture of African-American artists from Memphis. Through June 24.

ART MUSEUM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS (AMUM)

“Extending the Potential: The Art and Techniques of Bill Helwig”

A tribute to both Helwig’s art and passion for experimentation, this exhibit explores the breadth and mastery of Helwig’s techniques while detailing the processes behind the art. Through May 21.

METAL MUSEUM

“From the Studio”

Carl E. Moore’s response to the Tennessee Triennial theme of Repair. Through April 29.

JAY ETKIN GALLERY

“Gentle Awakenings, The Art of Keith Burns” Exhibition of woodwork by Keith Burns. Through April 22.

MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE

HISTORY

“Going with the Grain”

A collection of crayon drawings on wood by Rose Marr.

Through April 6.

HATTILOO THEATRE

“Of This Place”

Jeanne Seagle’s perceptive drawings portray the landscapes surrounding Memphis.

Through April 9.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Mixed Media Art Gallery

Featuring work by Timothy Darian Brunson. Thursday, April 6-April 30.

THE SALVATION ARMY KROC CENTER

New Works by Brin & Dale Baucum

Well-known potters Brin and Dale Baucum explore new mediums and new creative paths, she in photography and he in watercolor. Through April 30.

CHURCH HEALTH

“Offerings/Please Save The Baby!”

Through the combination of images/footage from her personal archive, found objects, personal belongings, and text, Jasmine Marie unpacks her coming of age in the arts scene. Through April 23.

CHRISTIAN BROTHERS UNIVERSITY

“Seed Society”

An art exhibition by Erika Roberts honoring the MidSouth’s fields, farms, and flowers. Through April 29.

THE COTTON MUSEUM AT THE MEMPHIS COTTON EXCHANGE

“Tend To”

A flora-filled group exhibition featuring works from Joel Parson, Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo, and Verushka Dior, exploring themes of healing, growth, and self identity.

Through May 7.

URBAN ART COMMISSION

— 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

With over 70 pieces by local African-American artists, “Build a Heaven of My Own,” on display at AMUM, considers craft and folk traditions, self-taught expressions, and modern reflections on the blues.

“The Making of Elvis Movie Exhibition”

Exhibition looking at the beginning of the creative process for Baz Luhrmann’s film.

Through Sept. 4.

GRACELAND EXHIBITION CENTER

“Tommy Kha: Eye is Another”

A site-specific, photographybased installation by artist Tommy Kha exploring themes of identity, (in)visibility, and sense of place. Through May 7.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

With performances at the Orpheum, Chicago has one show-stopping song after another and all that jazz.

“Two Minutes to Midnight and the Architecture of Armageddon”

Exploring the development of the Doomsday Clock against the backdrop of the Cold War.

Through May 24.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

“Waddell, Withers, & Smith: A Requiem for King”

Honoring the 55th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through the artwork of Memphis-based artists. James Waddell, Ernest Withers, and Dolph Smith. Through Aug. 28.

NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM

“Who Is that Artist?”

Visitors can explore interactive components created by Johana Moscoso, Karla Sanchez, and Danielle Sierra, who speak to Latinx identity, intersectionality, and transcendence. Through April 16.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

ART HAPPENINGS

Bourbon and Brushstrokes

Follow along with the instructor to paint your very own masterpiece, while enjoying some Old Dominick specialty craft cocktails. All supplies provided. Thursday, April 6, 7-9 p.m.

OLD DOMINICK DISTILLERY

Marketplace in Motion at Loflin Yard

Join Arrow Creative for food, drinks, and shopping! Saturday, April 8, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

LOFLIN YARD

Shoot & Splice: Intimacy on Set

Indie Memphis & Crosstown Arts are excited to present a

panel and conversation on film set intimacy coordinating. Tuesday, April 11, 7 p.m.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

Spring Artist Pop Up

First Friday Shop new spring art and goods from your favorite local artists that will be set up in participating shops! Friday, April 7, 5-8 p.m.

BROAD AVENUE ARTS DISTRICT

Textile Art with Brittney

Boyd Bullock

Artist Brittney Boyd Bullock will guide participants on color theory and how to use the latch hook to create a small fiber wall hanging. $20-$30.

Saturday, April 8, 1-4 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

BOOK EVENTS

Meet the Author: Katherine Grace

Celebrating the launch of Katherine Grace’s Just a Fling

Tuesday, April 11, 6 p.m.

NOVEL

CLASS / WORKSHOP

Celebrate What’s Right: Risky Business

Engage in conversation with a power-packed panel of entrepreneurs who are boldly shaping the future of the city to get an insider-view of what it’s like to lean into the momentum and reap big rewards.

Thursday, April 6, noon-1:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Gardening Classes: Growing a Kitchen Garden

Learn how to start a kitchen herb garden. Free for 38127 Frayser residents. Thursday, April 6, 6-7:30 p.m.

FRAYSER CONNECT

Heartworms in Pets: Everything You Should Know & How to Prevent Them

Hollywood Feed University presents this free online course. Thursday, April 6, 8 a.m.-6:30 p.m.

ONLINE

COMEDY

Big Memphis Comedy Jam

Starring headliner Cleatis Allen Jr., Wild Beale, D-Lane, B-Gunna, J Moore, and Lotus B. Hosted by Toy Danielle. Thursday, April 6, 6-9 p.m.

TIMELESS EVENT CENTER

Saturday Night Laughs Headliner Playa Mook. $20. Saturday, April 8, 8 p.m.

THE COMEDY JUNT

Shaun Jones

This New Jersey native has been tantalizing the comedy world with his quick wit and universal style of comedy for over two decades. $60. Thursday, April 6-April 9.

CHUCKLES COMEDY HOUSE

Straight Jokes! No

Chaser Comedy Tour

Featuring comedy greats Mike Epps, Cedric The Entertainer, Earthquake, D.L. Hughley, and DC Young Fly. Friday, April 7, 8 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

Tim Bae

Timothy Scott AKA Tim Bae hails from Houston, TX. Timothy found his way to stardom by creating a personality affectionately named “Bae”. $25-$50. Saturday, April 8, 7:30 p.m.

CHUCKLES COMEDY HOUSE

continued on page 22

continued from page 21

COMMUNITY

Open House for Volunteers / Casa Abierta para Voluntarios

Discuss different ways you can help Cazateatro, as an individual or organization. If you like to help and learn from other cultures, here is your opportunity; come by yourself or with a friend.

Wednesday, April 12, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

CAZATEATRO OFFICE

Stone Cleaners Orientation & Demonstration

Learn the proper techniques for gently and carefully cleaning the stonework in the cemetery. Saturday, April 8, 10 a.m.-noon.

ELMWOOD CEMETERY

Tennessee Women Connect Launches

Germantown Chapter

Tennessee Women Connect fills the gap between sisterhood and networking. The regional networking platform empowers business-minded women. $20. Tuesday, April 11, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

MOONDANCE GRILL

EASTER EVENTS

2023 Annual Easter Egg Hunt

Hunt some Easter eggs filled with prizes, candy,

CALENDAR: APRIL 6 - 12

and even Golden Eggs with BIG prizes like basketballs, binoculars, and other fun outdoor recreation prizes! Saturday, April 8, 9-11 a.m.

T.O. FULLER STATE PARK

Bunny Brunch

This family-friendly event is complete with a delicious buffet-style breakfast, an exclusive animal encounter, and of course a special bunny meet-and-greet. $30-$45. Saturday, April 8, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

MEMPHIS ZOO

Easter Brunch at The Peabody

Memphis

Enjoy a lavish brunch in the beautifully appointed ballrooms on the Mezzanine Level. Sunday, April 9, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

THE PEABODY HOTEL

Easter Egg Hunt

This event is open to children ages 2 through 9. Bring a basket or bag and prepare to find candy-filled eggs. $5. Saturday, April 8, 9 a.m.

ELMWOOD CEMETERY

Easter Egg Hunt

Hunt for eggs and meet the Easter Bunny! $8, $10. Saturday, April 8, 9:30-10:30 a.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Easter Egg Hunt

EXPO/SALES

Black Business Expo

The Black Business Expo is designed to showcase and support the Black-owned businesses of Memphis. $10, $350. Saturday, April 8, noon-4 p.m.

CENTRAL PRINTING & MARKETING

Midtown Con 2

Featuring an interview with Dustin Starr and the Stars of Memphis Wrestling, cosplay contests, DJs, and 35 vendors selling comics, toys, records, video games, vintage clothing, RPG/gaming, and more. $5. Saturday, April 8, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

FAMILY

Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour Dance, sing, and learn with Blippi and special guest Meekah as they discover what makes different cities unique and special. Wednesday, April 12, 6 p.m.

LANDERS CENTER

Family Day at the Stax Museum

The Stax offers a day of free admission, plus live music, arts and crafts, record decorating, games, and more. Free. Saturday, April 8, 1-4 p.m.

STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC

teaches kids the basics about horticulture and the flora around them. Free. Saturday, April 8, 10:30 a.m.-noon.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Renaissance Adventure: Homeschool Day

This Homeschool Day will focus on how Renaissance art tells stories and influences contemporary artists. Learn about what life was like in the Renaissance and make your own masterpiece in the studio. Thursday, April 6, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

“Rube Goldberg The World of Hilarious Inventions”

Inspired by Goldberg’s original illustrations, the exhibit contains a collection of new 3D, life-size machines and hands-on, interactive components. Through May 7.

CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF MEMPHIS

FESTIVAL

The Mid-South Poets and Writers Festival

Celebrate local literary artists and the written arts. Saturday, April 8

TIMELESS EVENT CENTER

Food, face-painting, bouncers, Easter egg hunts, and more. Free. Saturday, April 8, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

The New York Times Syndication Sales Corporation

Kids in the Garden (ages 7-10)

FILM

620 Eighth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10018

This fun, hands-on gardening workshop

AUSTIN PEAY PLAZA

For Information Call: 1-800-972-3550

For Release Friday, January 18, 2019

Crossword

Edited by Will Shortz No. 1214

It’s Rex Manning Day!: A Screening of Empire Records

A true day-in-the-life film, the film captures the comings and goings, the fights and the affairs, the laughs and loves of a small independent music store. Free. Saturday, April 8, 7 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

Laser Taylor Swift and Laser Lizzo

Enjoy a concert experience like no other. Friday, April 7, 6:30-10 p.m.

MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

Marx Double Feature

A double dose of one of the most unforgettable comedy teams in cinema history, screening Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera. Free.

Tuesday, April 11, 4:30 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

UnCaged Fury: The Pulp Cinema of Nicolas Cage - Night 1

Unleashing the madness of one of Hollywood’s most beloved and eccentric actors ever, screening Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, Face/Off, and Drive Angry. 18+. Free.

Wednesday, April 12, 7 p.m.

BLACK LODGE

FOOD AND DRINK

Crawfish Boil

Crawfish for sale all day, live music, and plenty of beer to wash it down with! Saturday, April 8, 1-6 p.m.

CROSSTOWN BREWING COMPANY

Crawfish Boil Sundays

Enjoy live music while you munch on delicious crawfish boiled and seasoned to perfection. Sunday, April 9, noon-3 p.m.

LOFLIN YARD

Food Truck Fridays in Health Sciences Park

With Good Groceries Mobile. Friday, April 7, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.

HEALTH SCIENCES PARK

HEALTH AND FITNESS

Argentine Tango practica

Covid vaccinations required. $10. Sunday, April 9, 5:30-7 p.m.

THEATREWORKS

Body Balance

Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 7,000 past puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). Read about and comment on each puzzle:

A new generation yoga class that will improve your mind, your body, and your life. Saturday, April 8, 11 a.m.-noon.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

Living Life Deliberately: Mindfulness

Meditation in Daily Life

This class focuses on how we can practice

PUZZLE BY ANDREW J. RIES

CALENDAR: APRIL 6 - 12

meditation in ways that foster our ability to live deliberately, paying attention to what matters. Friday, April 7, noon-12:30 p.m.

CHURCH HEALTH

Taijiquan with Milan

Vigil

Led by Milan Vigil, this Chinese martial art promotes relaxation, improves balance, and provides no-impact aerobic benefits. Ages 16 and older. Saturday, April 8, 10:30-11:30 a.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Twilight Yoga and Pilates

Join the Shell each Monday for a rotating yoga and Pilates workout. Monday, April 10, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

Yoga in the Park with Camille Potter

Beginners are welcome at this all-levels class. Bring your water bottle and a mat. Free.

Wednesday, April 12, 5:306:30 p.m.

HEALTH SCIENCES PARK

Yoga on the River

All experience levels welcomed. Don’t forget your mat/towel and water! Free.

Tuesday, April 11, 6-7 p.m.

RIVER GARDEN

Zumba

A fusion of Latin and international music and dance themes that create a dynamic, exciting workout. Saturday, April 8, 9-10 a.m.; Tuesday, April 11, 5:30-6:30 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

Zumba in the Park with David Quarles

Shake up your Saturday with a Zumba class led by David Quarles! Free. Saturday, April 8, 10-11 a.m.

HEALTH SCIENCES PARK

PERFORMING

30 Days of Opera

Dazzle Saturdays with Keleigh Klarke

Featuring this month JR Stone, Alanna Stephens, Stephanie Embark, Shanice R. Cassadine, Will Ryder, and Chance X!

Saturday, April 8, 10 p.m.

DRU’S PLACE

In A Dark Wood

A unique evening of storytelling based on Appalachian urban legends and lore through most — but not all — of its audience’s senses. $15-$20.

Through April 9.

THEATREWORKS

SPECIAL EVENTS

Best Night Ever: Best of Both Worlds

A dance party spinning Nick and Disney bangers. Saturday, April 8, 8 p.m.

GROWLERS

Nineties Club Night!

Get lost under the lights of the dance floor, as the Lodge unleashes a nonstop flow of ’90s imagery and visuals, while spinning the most unforgettable music of the decade. 18+. $5. Saturday, April 8, 9 p.m.-3 a.m.

BLACK LODGE

SPORTS

Harlem Globetrotters: 2023 World Tour

The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters are bringing their amazing basketball skills, outrageous athleticism, and nonstop LOL good time.

Saturday, April 8, 2 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

Memphis Redbirds vs. Nasvhille Sounds

Thursday, April 6, 6:45 p.m.;

Friday, April 7, 7:05 p.m.;

Saturday, April 8, 3:05 p.m.;

Sunday, April 9, 1:05 p.m.

AUTOZONE PARK

ARTS

A month of free, live opera performances throughout the Mid-South. Through April 30.

MEMPHIS

THEATER

Chicago

Murder, sex, and celebrity — a musical that transcends the ages. Through April 9.

ORPHEUM THEATRE

In this family-friendly musical, the titular character Freckleface Strawberry learns to accept her differences.

Freckleface Strawberry

Adapted from the awardwinning book by Julianne Moore, Freckleface Strawberry

The Musical presents the beloved children’s story onstage as Freckleface finds out what makes everyone special.

Through April 15.

CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE

Ink

Ink depicts a team of underdog reporters and a rogue editor set out to beat the competition and change the way the world looks at news — all this under the watchful eye of Rupert Murdoch.

Through April 16.

CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE

Mrs. Mannerly

The charming and entertaining comedy inspired by hilarious memories of a childhood etiquette class.

Through April 16.

THEATRE MEMPHIS On Stage, School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play

This buoyant and biting comedy explores the universal similarities (and glaring differences) facing teenage girls across the globe. $30-$35.

Through April 16.

HATTILOO THEATRE

TOURS

Introduction to the Urban Wolf River

This tour is great for the beginner wanting to try kayaking to the expert just wanting a couple of hours on the water to relax. There’s also a lot to learn about this section of the river! Saturday, April 8, 9 a.m.-noon.

WOLF RIVER GREENWAY EAST

FRIDAYS FROM 3/31 THRU 4/21

MEMPHIS MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY

XIU XIU

FOOD By Michael Donahue

Spice of Life

Spice Krewe isn’t a group of Mardi Gras revelers, but it does include three “kings.”

James Williams, Andy Johnson, and Gary Windham are founders of the Memphis-based spice company, which specializes in seasonings for craw sh and seafood boils.

Spice Krewe is one of the sponsors of Donuts & Dogs 5 Miler!, a fundraiser for Streetdog Foundation, that will be held April 23rd at Wiseacre Brewing Company at 398 South B.B. King Boulevard. Free samples as well as for-sale products will be featured.

Williams, 45, said his love for crawsh boils began when he was majoring in nance at Mississippi State University. His fraternity would do craw sh boils on Super Bulldog weekend. “It was basically the start of spring season. We would do big craw sh cookouts.”

ey used commercial craw sh boil seasonings. “Nothing gourmet and nothing out of the ordinary.”

OPIOID OVERDOSE CARRY NARCAN

A er moving to Memphis in 2000, Williams and his wife, Keshia, attended local craw sh boils, but the portions were small. ey’d only get a pound or so of craw sh with some sausage and a piece of corn. “De nitely not what I was used to, eating craw sh.”

In 2010, Williams began holding his own craw sh boils at home. About 15 people got together and cooked around 40 pounds of craw sh. Team members cut up the potatoes, garlic, lemon, and oranges. ey just used a commercial seasoning.

As the crowd began growing, Williams and his team began experimenting with seasonings.

ey began ordering their craw sh seasoning from a company in Louisiana. But they had to scramble when their order was short in 2018 because their craw sh cookout was the next day. ey came up with their own blend o the top of their heads.

It was that same year when the team decided to create its own unique blend.

ey wanted a mixture of Cajun, which is more salt, cayenne, and black pepper, and Creole, which includes mustard, coriander, and oregano.

“We built a spreadsheet. We took a bunch of Creole seasoning blends and a bunch of Cajun seasoning blends and put them across our spreadsheet and found commonalities where we could tweak.”

ey eventually came up with their own seasoning blend. “It’s the mix of spices that are in it. ey’re very unique in the mixture. But I would say it’s a

little more of a savory avor than just heat and salt.”

Williams, Johnson, and Windham launched Spice Krewe on Feb. 21st — Fat Tuesday — 2023. “It’s pretty much online only. We’re working on getting shelf space in some places.”

Craw sh season can last from January to July, but Spice Krewe seasonings also are good on “shrimp, sh, chicken, any kind of meat. A lot of people put it on eggs, hash browns, and in soups.”

Spice Krewe now o ers four blends. According to the website, Bayou Blend is “an all-purpose Creole seasoning that’s the perfect mix of spicy and savory. is blend is carefully cra ed to complement any dish, whether you’re cooking up some jambalaya or just adding some extra avor to your roasted vegetables.”

Bayou Burn is “hotter than the Bayou Blend and gives your dishes an extra boost of heat.”

Bayou Seasoned Salt is “a tamer version of our Bayou Blend, perfect for those who prefer less heat and more salt.”

e Bayou Boil bag is “speci cally designed for seafood boils. is blend is a perfect mix of seasonings that take the avor of your seafood boil to the next level.”

Williams has already come up with 55 more seasonings. “I thought what we’d try to do is one or two actual releases a year. But maybe put out three or four or ve or six as samples for people to try and do market research. What works best.”

ey’re also discussing o shoot products like roux. “Maybe even dry mixes. Like doing our own jambalaya.”

And they’ve created a Spice Krewe step-by-step craw sh cooking method for beginners. ey also o er names of places where people can buy pots, boilers, and other craw sh cooking equipment. “It’s not just about being a spice company. We want to bring the experience to people.”

To order Spice Krewe products, go to spicekrewe.com.

PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE James Williams, Gary Windham, and Andy Johnson

Spice Krewe takes seasoning to another level.

METAPHYSICAL

By Emily

Retrograde, Again

How to prepare for a Mercury retrograde in Taurus.

Aer the potent energies of March, April usually brings us a bit of steadiness. It is the fourth month of the year, o ering the energetic stability of the number four. However, this month, the usual solid foundation April brings is going to be rocked by the second Mercury retrograde of 2023.

Mercury retrograde happens three to four times every year, and usually lasts for four weeks. It is an astronomical phenomenon that makes the planet look like it is moving backwards in its orbit around the sun. It’s an optical illusion that occurs because it takes Mercury only 88 days to orbit the sun, compared to the 365 days it takes the Earth to orbit the sun. is is an observable scienti c occurrence, but that does not mean it doesn’t energetically a ect us.

e planet Mercury is named for the Roman god Mercury, the messenger of the gods, delivering news and goods but also acting as a translator or interpreter. Mercury rules over wealth, communication, commerce, and good fortune. When the planet of Mercury appears to move backwards in its orbit, these qualities may struggle to move forward or have more glitches than usual.

Guenther

ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL

USA OF MEMPHIS

April 11, 14 & 20, 2023

down, to review where you are putting your time and energy and assess if it is going to the right things.

e next Mercury retrograde will begin on April 21st and end on May 14th. is year, every Mercury retrograde will happen in an earth sign, with April’s happening in the sign of Taurus. e astrological sign of Taurus is represented by the bull and is ruled by the planet Venus. Taurus represents our creature comforts, money and nances, and industry. Taurus is known as a stubborn sign, slow to move, logical, sensual but with an allor-nothing attitude. is xed earth sign does not enjoy change or uncertainty, which means the upcoming retrograde may cause some chaos in our lives.

ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL USA

All films shown in Italian with English subtitles.

ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL USA OF MEMPHIS

ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL USA

Mercury is about to be in retrograde.

Generally, retrograde is a period of frustration, with delays, miscommunication, and technological mishaps. It is commonly advised that people should not travel, sign contracts, or make any major life decisions during a Mercury retrograde. During this time, try to be exible as plans may end up changing o en, be patient and understanding, back up your work and important documents ahead of time, and leave yourself some wiggle room for any major projects.

Mercury retrograde gets blamed for many things, and it can be a frustrating period, but it can bring us some much-needed perspective. It’s advised to not start any endeavors during the retrograde, but it makes a great time to nish things up. If you have any lingering chores or projects, use the energy to get them nished and o your plate. You can also use the time to re ect and slow

With Mercury retrograde in an earth sign, we may end up focusing more on the physical world this month. It may have us reconsidering our values and nancials. Taurus is the sign of all things material and natural, which could mean this retrograde may surface some previously buried issues related to our home, families, or money. Taurus is also the sign of nances, values, and power, so we could nd ourselves rethinking our relationship within those areas. Now may be a good time to reevaluate your budget or make one, or put a plan together for any major purchases or trips.

Although Mercury retrograde can interrupt our best laid plans, it is not meant to frustrate. It helps us see what no longer serves us and needs to be ltered out of our lives. O entimes there are blessings. During this month’s retrograde, there are other astrological happenings that may help balance it out. Saturn moved into the sign of Pisces at the beginning of March, and this blending of energies supports our mental faculties and helps with focus and determination.

Just remember to plan ahead and leave yourself time and space. Emily Guenther is a co-owner of e Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.

OF MEMPHIS

April 11, 14 & 20, 2023

University Center Theatre at the University of Memphis

OF MEMPHIS

April 11, 14 & 20, 2023

Paid Parking available in the Zach Curlin parking garage next to the University Center

April 11, 14 & 20, 2023

Sponsored by Volpi Foods and the Italian Institute of Chicago University of Memphis and the Memphis chapter of UNICO (in-kind sponsor)

Come spend an evening in Italy! Enjoy the local premieres of three recent, critically-acclaimed films at the 2023 Italian Film Festival USA of Memphis. All films shown in Italian with subtitles at the University Center Theatre on the campus of the University of Memphis (Paid available in the Zach Curling parking garage next to the University Center.) Sponsored by Volpi Foods the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago; in collaboration with the University of Memphis and the chapter of UNICO (in-kind sponsor)

Come spend an evening in Italy! Enjoy the local premieres of three recent, critically-acclaimed films at the 2023 Italian Film Festival USA of Memphis. All films shown in Italian with subtitles at the University Center Theatre on the campus of the University of Memphis (Paid parking available in the Zach Curling parking garage next to the University Center.) Sponsored by Volpi Foods the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago; in collaboration with the University of Memphis and the Memphis chapter of UNICO (in-kind sponsor)

THE CHAMPION • IL CAMPIONE

Tuesday, April 11 • 7:00 pm

Come spend an evening in Italy! Enjoy the local premieres of three recent, critically-acclaimed films at the 2023 Italian Film Festival USA of Memphis. All films shown in Italian with subtitles at the University Center Theatre on the campus of the University of Memphis (Paid parking available in the Zach Curling parking garage next to the University Center.) Sponsored by Volpi Foods the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago; in collaboration with the University of Memphis and the chapter of UNICO (in-kind sponsor)

(Director, Leonardo D'Agostini, Comedy/Drama, 2019, 105 min.)

THE CHAMPION • IL CAMPIONE

Tuesday, April 11 • 7:00 pm

THE CHAMPION (IL CAMPIONE)

TUESDAY, APRIL 11 • 7:00 pm

THE INVISIBLE WITNESS (IL TESTIMONE INVISIBILE )

FRIDAY, APRIL 14 • 7:00 pm

ASTOLFO

(NEVER TOO LATE FOR LOVE)

THURSDAY, APRIL 20 • 7:00 pm

THE CHAMPION • IL CAMPIONE

Tuesday, April 11 • 7:00 pm

(Director, Leonardo D'Agostini, Comedy/Drama, 2019, 105 min.)

Young, talented, and very spoiled, Christian Ferro is “The Champion,” star of the soccer world. Valerio, lonely, shy, and burdened with financial problems, is the professor who is assigned to the young soccer star him pass his high school equivalency exam. The two men could not different. But they will learn to lean on each other, generating a bond change them both.

(Director, Leonardo D'Agostini, Comedy/Drama, 2019, 105 min.) Young, talented, and very spoiled, Christian Ferro is “The Champion,” star of the soccer world. Valerio, lonely shy and burdened with financial problems, is the professor who is assigned to the young soccer star to him pass his high school equivalency exam. The two men could not be different. But they will learn to lean on each other, generating a bond that change them both.

THE INVISIBLE WITNESS • IL TESTIMONE INVISIBILE

Friday, April 14 • 7:00 pm

Young, talented, and very spoiled, Christian Ferro is “The Champion,” star of the soccer world. Valerio, lonely, shy, and burdened with financial problems, is the professor who is assigned to the young soccer star to him pass his high school equivalency exam. The two men could not be different. But they will learn to lean on each other, generating a bond change them both.

Friday, April 14 • 7:00 pm

THE INVISIBLE WITNESS • IL TESTIMONE INVISIBILE

(Director, Stefano Mordini, Drama, 2018, 102 min.)

THE INVISIBLE WITNESS • IL TESTIMONE INVISIBILE

Friday, April 14 • 7:00 pm

(Director, Stefano Mordini, Drama, 2018, 102 min.)

(Director, Stefano Mordini, Drama, 2018, 102 min.) Adriano wakes up in a hotel room next to the dead body of his lover, The door is locked from the inside and there is no evidence of anybody in the room. Despite his claims of innocence, Adriano is charged with and chooses a veteran criminal attorney who has never lost a trial, to the defensive strategy With no alternative, Adriano is forced to tell the truth to the lawyer.

Adriano wakes up in a hotel room next to the dead body of his lover, Laura. The door is locked from the inside and there is no evidence of anybody in the room. Despite his claims of innocence, Adriano is charged with and chooses a veteran criminal attorney who has never lost a trial, to the defensive strategy With no alternative, Adriano is forced to tell the truth to the lawyer.

ASTOLFO • NEVER TOO LATE FOR LOVE

Thursday, April 20 • 7:00 pm

Adriano wakes up in a hotel room next to the dead body of his lover, The door is locked from the inside and there is no evidence of anybody in the room. Despite his claims of innocence, Adriano is charged with and chooses a veteran criminal attorney who has never lost a trial, to the defensive strategy With no alternative, Adriano is forced to tell the truth to the lawyer.

ASTOLFO • NEVER TOO LATE FOR LOVE

Thursday April 20 • 7:00 pm

ASTOLFO • NEVER TOO LATE FOR LOVE

Thursday, April 20 • 7:00 pm

(Director, Gianni Di Gregorio, Romantic Comedy, 2022, 117 min.) Astolfo, a pensioner who no longer expected anything more from life, evicted from his apartment in Rome and takes refuge in the old family He adjusts to life in the small town, barely gets by and gives refuge couple of misfits. Then he meets Stefania, a woman of his age, and love. Will it be the beginning of a new life? FREE admission further information, visit www.italianfilmfests.org

(Director, Gianni Di Gregorio, Romantic Comedy, 2022, 117 min.) Astolfo, a pensioner who no longer expected anything more from life, evicted from his apartment in Rome and takes refuge in the old family He adjusts to life in the small town, barely gets by and gives refuge to couple of misfits. Then he meets Stefania, a woman of his age, and falls love. Will it be the beginning of a new life?

(Director, Gianni Di Gregorio, Romantic Comedy, 2022, 117 min.) Astolfo, a pensioner who no longer expected anything more from life, evicted from his apartment in Rome and takes refuge in the old family He adjusts to life in the small town, barely gets by and gives refuge to couple of misfits. Then he meets Stefania, a woman of his age, and falls love. Will it be the beginning of a new life?

FREE admission

For further information, visit www.italianfilmfests.org

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PHOTO: NASA GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT CENTER FROM GREENBELT, MD, USA, PUBLIC DOMAIN, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Size Matters

Momo the lar gibbon, who lives at the Kujukushima Zoo and Botanical Garden Mori Kirara in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan, delivered a baby in February 2021, which surprised zookeepers, since Momo lived in her own enclosure with no males around. She was very protective of the offspring, United Press International reported, so it wasn’t until two years later that handlers were able to collect DNA from the youngster to determine who the father was. As it turned out, a 34-yearold agile gibbon, Itou, was the baby daddy. Zookeepers found that a partition between Momo’s exhibit and Itou’s off-display area had a perforated board with holes about 9 mm in diameter, and they believe the two were able to mate through one of those holes. The perforated board was replaced with a steel plate, but Momo and Itou will be introduced properly to each other so that they may live as a family.

[UPI, 2/3/2023]

Great Art!

Marcelo “B-boy” De Souza Ribeiro of Sao Paolo, Brazil, is known as the most modified man in the world, with 1,500 tattoos covering his skin and now, a new transformation: a “devil hand.” The Daily Star reported that Ribeiro did a lot of research before undergoing the procedure, which split his hand between the middle and ring fingers. “I began to see the possibility of making an opening … through the middle where you can have opening and closing movements and a firmer folding of the hand,” he said. Over the years, he’s spent about $35,000 on his modifications, which also include a split tongue. Ribeiro said he thinks of his body as an “art exhibition.” [The Daily Star, 2/9/2023]

Wait, What?

The Exmoor Squirrel Project, a conservation endeavor in the United Kingdom aimed at saving the native red squirrel, has proposed that people set live traps for the non-native grey squirrel and that restaurants serve its meat, the BBC reported on Feb. 28. “Our woodlands, landscape, and the biodiversity isn’t set up to deal with the behaviors of the grey,” said the

group’s manager Kerry Hosegood. “We’re going to introduce them to restaurants in the Exmoor area because they actually make for good eating,” she added. “This isn’t something that we like to do … just target greys. … It’s a very serious project.” She said the grey squirrels have caused about 40 million pounds’ worth of damage to trees annually. [BBC, 2/28/2023]

Suspicions Confirmed

Madison County (Illinois) coroner Steve Nonn solved a nearly year-old mystery on March 2 when he released the results of an autopsy on Richard Maedge of Troy, Illinois. Maedge’s wife, Jennifer, had reported him missing in late April last year after he failed to come home from work, KTVI-TV reported. His car, wallet, and keys were at the house, but she couldn’t find him. Police searched the house, which they described as a “hoarder home,” but did not locate him. In fact, they searched twice, as Jennifer was also looking for the source of a “sewerlike” odor in the dwelling. Finally, on Dec. 11, as Jennifer pulled out Christmas decorations from a concealed storage space, she discovered Richard’s mummified body. The coroner ruled that Maedge hanged himself and that there was no foul play in his death. [KTVI, 3/6/2023]

News You Can Use

Mushrooms have been in the news a lot lately, but you probably didn’t know that Texas has a state mushroom: the Devil’s Cigar or Texas Star. KXAN-TV reported that the Lone Star State’s designated fungus is ultra-rare, growing only on decomposing cedar elm or oak tree stumps and roots in the U.S. and Japan. It comes out of the earth in a cylindrical shape, then “will open up into a three- to eight-pointed star,” said Angel Schatz of the Central Texas Mycological Society. That’s when it releases its spores and sometimes hisses. “It is a very cool mushroom to have as our state mushroom,” Schatz said. [KXAN, 3/7/2023]

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The dirty work is becoming milder and easier. It’s still a bit dirty but is growing progressively less grungy and more rewarding. The command to “adjust, adjust, and adjust some more, you beast of burden” is giving way to “refine, refine, and refine some more, you beautiful animal.” At this pivotal moment, it’s crucial to remain consummately conscientious. If you stay in close touch with your shadowy side, it will never commandeer more than 10 percent of your total personality. In other words, a bit of healthy distrust for your own motives will keep you trustworthy. (PS: Groaning and grousing, if done in righteous and constructive causes, will continue to be good therapy for now.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “’Tis the good reader that makes the good book,” wrote Gemini philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. “In every book, he finds passages which seem confidences or asides hidden from all else and unmistakably meant for his ear.” In the coming weeks, a similar principle will apply to everything you encounter, Gemini — not just books. You will find rich meaning and entertainment wherever you go. From seemingly ordinary experiences, you’ll notice and pluck clues that will be wildly useful for you personally. For inspiration, read this quote from author Sam Keen: “Enter each day with the expectation that the happenings of the day may contain a clandestine message addressed to you personally. Expect omens, epiphanies, casual blessings, and teachers who unknowingly speak to your condition.”

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Traditional astrologers don’t regard the planet Mars as being a natural ally of you Crabs. But I suspect you will enjoy an invigorating relationship with the red planet during the next six weeks. For best results, tap into its rigorous vigor in the following ways: 1. Gather new wisdom about how to fight tenderly and fiercely for what’s yours. 2. Refine and energize your ambitions so they become more ingenious and beautiful. 3. Find out more about how to provide your physical body with exactly what it needs to be strong and lively on an ongoing basis. 4. Mediate on how to activate a boost in your willpower.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I won’t ask you to start heading back toward your comfort zone yet, Leo. I’d love to see you keep wandering out in the frontiers for a while longer. It’s healthy and wise to be extra fanciful, improvisatory, and imaginative. The more rigorous and daring your experiments, the better. Possible bonus: If you are willing to question at least some of your fixed opinions and dogmatic beliefs, you could very well outgrow the part of the Old You that has finished its mission.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The Supreme Deity with the most power may not be Jehovah or Allah or Brahman or Jesus’ Dad. There’s a good chance it’s actually Mammon, the God of Money. The devoted worship that humans offer to Mammon far surpasses the loyalty offered to all the other gods combined. His values and commandments rule civilization. I bring this to your attention, Virgo, because now is an excellent time for you to deliver extra intense prayers to Mammon. From what I can determine, this formidable Lord of Lords is far more likely to favor you than usual. (PS: I’m only half-kidding. I really do believe your financial luck will be a peak in the coming weeks.)

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It’s an excellent time to give up depleted, used-up obsessions so you have plenty of room and energy to embrace fresh, succulent passions. I hope you will take advantage of the cosmic help that’s available as you try this fun experiment. You will get in touch with previously untapped resources as you wind down your attachments to old pleasures that have dissipated. You will activate dormant reserves of energy as you phase out connections that take more than they give.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “The best revenge is not to be like your enemy,” said ancient Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius. I’m tempted to advise every Scorpio to get a tattoo of that motto. That way, you will forever keep in mind this excellent advice: As fun as it may initially feel to retaliate against those who have crossed you, it rarely generates redemptive grace or glorious rebirth, which are key Scorpio birthrights. I believe these thoughts should be prime meditations for you in the coming weeks.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Sometimes love can be boring. We may become overly accustomed to feeling affection and tenderness for a special person or animal. What blazed like a fiery fountain in the early stages of our attraction might have subsided into a routine sensation of mild fondness. But here’s the good news, Sagittarius: Even if you have been ensconced in bland sweetness, I suspect you will soon transition into a phase of enhanced zeal. Are you ready to be immersed in a luscious lusty bloom of heartful yearning and adventure?

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): What shall we call this latest chapter of your life story? How about “Stealthy Triumph over Lonely Fear” or maybe “Creating Rapport with the Holy Darkness”? Other choices might be “As Far Down into the Wild Rich Depths That I Dare to Go” or “My Roots Are Stronger and Deeper Than I Ever Imagined.” Congratulations on this quiet but amazing work you’ve been attending

ARIES (March 21-April 19):

Aries-born René

Descartes (1596–1650)

was instrumental in developing of modern science and philosophy. His famous motto, “I think, therefore I am,” is an assertion that the analytical component of intelligence is primary and foremost. And yet, few history books mention the supernatural intervention that was pivotal in his evolution as a supreme rationalist. On the night of November 10, 1619, he had three mystical dreams that changed his life, revealing the contours of the quest to discern the “miraculous science” that would occupy him for the next 30 years. I suspect you are in store for a comparable experience or two, Aries. Brilliant ideas and marvelous solutions to your dilemmas will visit you as you bask in unusual and magical states of awareness.

to. Some other possible descriptors: “I Didn’t Have to Slay the Dragon Because I Figured Out How to Harness It” or “The Unexpected Wealth I Discovered Amidst the Confusing Chaos.”

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): It’s swayswirl-swivel time for you, Aquarius — a phase when you will be wise to gyrate and rollick and zigzag. This is a bouncy, shimmering interlude that will hopefully clean and clear your mind as it provides you with an abundance of reasons to utter “whee!” and “yahoo!” and “hooray!” My advice: Don’t expect the straight-andnarrow version of anything. Be sure you get more than minimal doses of twirling and swooping and cavorting. Your brain needs to be teased and tickled, and your heart requires regular encounters with improvised fun.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): When I was growing up in suburban America, way back in the 20th century, many adults told me that I was wrong and bad to grow my hair really long. Really! It’s hard to believe now, but I endured ongoing assaults of criticism, ridicule, and threats because of how I shaped my physical appearance. Teachers, relatives, baseball coaches, neighbors, strangers in the grocery store — literally hundreds of people — warned me that sporting a big head of hair would cause the whole world to be prejudiced against me and sabotage my success. Decades later, I can safely say that all those critics were resoundingly wrong. My hair is still long, has always been so, and my ability to live the life I love has not been obstructed by it in the least. Telling you this story is my way of encouraging you to keep being who you really are, even in the face of people telling you that’s not who you really are. The astrological omens say it’s time for you to take a stand.

FILM By Chris McCoy

Living in a Fantasy World

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among ieves gets what’s great about the game.

In the 50 years since Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson’s rst gaming session in a Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, basement, Dungeons & Dragons has gone from weird niche hobby to Satanic plot to pillar of popular culture. Game concepts like hit points, character classes, and alignment, which underlie everything from Final Fantasy to Grand e Auto, began with D&D. Now in its h edition, the game is more popular than ever; current owners Wizards of the Coast estimate there are more than 50 million players worldwide.

D&D has evolved since e Straight Dope described it as “a game that combines the charm of a Pentagon brie ng with the excitement of double-entry bookkeeping.” But what most players found fascinating was creating characters and derring-do. D&D 5E and other contemporary role playing games like Stars Without Number are primarily story creation engines. A typical nerd poker night in 2023 is equal parts improv theater and group problem-solving.

e setting that Gygax and company envisioned for their game was a mix of real details from the Middle Ages (Gygax had a peculiar obsession with halberds) and fantasy literature from Ivanhoe to e Eternal Champion Knights and kings rub shoulders with wizards and gri ons. e game’s appeal is that everyone can create their own fantasy stories, but in practice, the characters and plots created rarely rise to the majesty of Tolkien or exhibit the moral clarity of Le Guin. But so what?

What’s important is, you’re the one who gets to make the choices, reap the rewards, and su er the consequences.

D&D was catapulted into the mainstream when Eliot played it in E.T. the Extra Terrestrial, but four previous attempts to adapt it for the big screen (not to mention the beloved but terminally corny animated series) have been abject failures. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among ieves avoids the traps its predecessors fell into by taking the source material as seriously as the average player takes their gaming sessions. In other words, it’s an action comedy.

Edgin (Chris Pine) is a bard who ditched his vows as a Harper to take a few levels as a rogue a er his wife was killed by the Red Wizards of ay. He nds crime pays better than heroism and forms a party with the barbarian Holga (Michelle Rodriguez), sorcerer Simon (Justice Smith), and charismatic thief Forge (Hugh Grant in full camp mode). ey meet the warlock So na

(Daisy Head) in a tavern, who enlists them in her quest to burgle a Harper trove which she says contains a magic item that could resurrect Edgin’s wife. Leaving daughter Kira (Chloe Coleman) behind, Edgin leads the party into the vault, only to be betrayed.

Two years later, Holga and Edgin escape the slammer to nd that Forge has parlayed his ill-gotten gains into the lordship of Neverwinter, with Sona as his trusted advisor, and Kira his adoptive daughter. Instead of the family reunion they were expecting, Forge marks them for execution, so they’re on the run again. Such is the life of the freelance murder hobo.

In true D&D fashion, each new obstacle in the party’s path leads to a mini quest. To succeed, Edgin needs his old

friend Simon, the druid Doric (Sophia Lillis), and the paladin Xenk (Regé-Jean Page).

e usual problem with adapting games into lm is that there’s not enough story. (I’m looking at you, Angry Birds.) But D&D is nothing but story. Honor Among ieves feels like something a dungeon master would cook up. Directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley understand that formulating a plan and then bickering about who messed up the plan is the real essence of the game. e action sequences are generally well done, and — with the exception of a bravado one-shot where the shape-shi ing Doric escapes from a castle — succinct. e magic duels are actually creative, not just wizards shooting lasers at each other like so many Harry Potter movies. For longtime players, it’s thrilling to see Monster Manual entries like Gelatinous Cubes come to life — proving that these classic creature designs are still superior to most Hollywood imaginings.

Pine, who has been great in everything for years, nally comes into his own as a movie star. e chemistry between him and his team ultimately elevates Honor Among ieves. What the lm most resembles is the midbudget fantasies of the ’80s, like Willow and Ladyhawke. Even for the uninitiated, it’s still good fun.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among ieves

Now playing Multiple locations

Michelle Rodriguez as the barbarian Holga and Chris Pine as Edgin, a bard turned rogue, in Honor Among ieves.

Our critic picks the best films in theaters. The Super Mario Bros. Movie Everybody’s favorite plumber-jumper gets a moment in the spotlight. The all-star voice cast includes Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen, and Keegan-Michael Key. But will it escape the curse of video game adaptation? Spoiler alert: The princess is in another castle.

Air

In 1984, Nike was a struggling athletic shoe company on the verge of bankruptcy. Then they struck a sponsorship deal with a young basketball player named Michael Jordan. Ben Affleck returns to the director’s chair for the origin story of the modern sneaker

culture, with Viola Davis as Jordan’s mother Deloris.

A Thousand and One

The winner of the 2023 Sundance Grand Jury Prize, A.V. Rockwell’s film is the story of a poor, Black, single mother trying to raise her son in New York City. Triple threat Teyana Taylor stars in what is being called the performance of the year.

John Wick: Chapter 4

Come for the great Keanu Reeves gunfu-ing his way through hordes of assassins who disrespected his dog. Stay for the scene-stealing turn by action movie legend Donnie Yen. This is what happens when action choreography is elevated to the level of dance.

Hypocrisy in High Places

Here we are in yet another crisis: the debt ceiling debacle.

Most folks are honest; this tricks them into a belief in the bedrock honesty of others, especially those who make bold public statements. How could someone lie in a public statement? Most folks know they would not want to live with that embarrassment when the truth inevitably came out. And yet we get fooled again. And again. George Santos claimed his mother died in the 9/11 attacks. She did not. He claimed his grandparents survived the European holocaust. As we all know, his shenanigans have been extraordinary.

From Trump’s incessant and continuing lies to the ctions spun up on Fox News, we are awash in a gaslighting culture from the right that cannot seem to stop its relentless daily “ ooding the zone.” But this is the chop on the surface; what about the current underneath? Where does the political le join the political right in framing pro ts as patriotism, bloodshed as glory, immiseration as inspiration?

Here we are in yet another crisis of our own making (well, made by the people we freely elected), the debt ceiling debacle. At the actual nut of the problem is the military budget. Why? Because it seems to be literally more sacred than the money the government takes out of your paycheck for your retirement, Social Security. Just ponder the headlines. Forbes: “Republicans Plan To Cut Social Security — Will Voters Let em?” Time magazine: “How Biden Got Republicans To Run Away From eir History of Pushing Social Security and Medicare Cuts.” e ght is on, even as your paycheck shows the deductions made to the Social Security fund. at is your money, not Congress’ to play around with. And yet it’s a public debate now.

On the other hand, nd me the politicians who are calling for cuts to the biggest budget item by far in the pool of your tax dollars that we do give Congress the right to divide as they see t, discretionary spending. at would be the Pentagon budget, of course. ere is pretty much radio silence on that topic. Where there are minor quibbles it’s usually about how much to increase it, not whether it should be cut.

Back in the day, Ronald Reagan’s head of his O ce of Management and Budget, David Stockman, in an interview in e Atlantic, talked about the defense contractors and noted, “ e hogs are really feeding now.” Fast forward to today and those hogs are breeding and feeding, gorging on your tax dollars, and yet the Pentagon is so reckless and eager to spend that they cannot pass an audit, year a er year. So the bloated Pentagon budget, some $816 billion o cially, is far more than every hostile foreign power combined, and yet in reality is much more than that, since military costs are also absorbed into other budgets, such as Veterans A airs, Department of Energy, and NASA, amongst others.

Into all this comes the fatuous self-in icted threat of a default to the U.S. full faith and credit because Republicans won’t honor past expenses they voted to make. If a dad does that, he’s a deadbeat dad. If a contractor does that to a subcontractor, expect a lien. Do that to a neighbor nice enough to sell you an appliance that you never paid for and he’s going to see you in small claims court. Deadbeat Republicans never met a weapons system they wouldn’t vote for but now that the bill is here they want to dip out. Gullible Democrats also voted for those military boondoggles but at least they want to honor those debts.

Republicans are, as usual, aiming to cut programs that really serve human needs, but the budgets they seek to eliminate are so small the Pentagon would regard them as rounding errors. ey want to cut Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)? No food for poor kids! More caviar for Raytheon war pro teer executives!

It is long past time to really pare down the DoD budget. We should not have sophisticated weaponry all over the Earth, under the seas, and in space while families are living in tents in the snow on sidewalks and while healthcare is still not available to all. Can we unite for peace and prosperity?

Dr. Tom H. Hastings is coordinator of Con ict Resolution BA/ BS degree programs and certi cates at Portland State University, PeaceVoice senior editor, and on occasion an expert witness for the defense of civil resisters in court.

PHOTO: JJ GOUIN | DREAMSTIME.COM

Where is a budget that is of the people, by the people, for the people?