Get ready for music, art, cultural experiences, and more this season.
PHOTO: GARY & CAROL COX, GC PHOTO PRODUCTIONS
More Frank Than Ever
e stalwart bassist for the Sheiks and others steps out with a captivating debut album.
PHOTO: KALEY FLUKE
Girl Chores
A monthly mom and daughter day. p31
PHOTO: COURTESY PATRICIA LOCKHART
NEWS
fly-by
{WEEK THAT WAS
By Flyer staff
Memphis on the internet.
901 DAY
Joe Sills posted a series of upli ing photos from last weekend’s 901 Day celebrations.
“A few days of celebration won’t x all of our problems or quell all of the fears surrounding our home, but for a few days at the end of each summer, they can serve as a reminder of the power of this place,” Sills wrote.
e day was also marred with violence. Videos of gun re on Beale Street and major ghts in the streets and a restaurant ooded the MEMernet Monday morning.
THREE WORDS
e Memphis subreddit tried to sum up Memphis in three words. “Drive out tags,” wrote garyareola. “Humidity, barbecue, crime,” said e_Platypus_Says. “Frustrating lost potential,” wrote thelemon8er-2. “Crumpled Nissan bodywork,” said MiniTab.
BRAZEN ROBBERY
A video of the brazen robbery of an armored truck in Whitehaven on Saturday was so pervasive last weekend it can’t be ignored.
e chilling video shows two masked and hooded gunmen aiming AR-style ri es at an armored truck driver. en a third suspect hops into the truck and takes two large bags of cash, according to the Memphis Police Department.
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
Tyré Case, MATA, & National Guard
A new trial, a new leader, and Lee says no troops in Memphis.
PILOTS CUT
e Health, Educational and Housing Facility Board of Memphis revoked the tax breaks granted to the owner of two beleaguered apartment communities that were the subject of reporting by MLK50: Justice rough Journalism, which cited the board’s pattern of delays when dealing with wayward landlords.
e board’s decision came a er the landlord failed to pull o a yearslong plan to improve living conditions at the properties. Residents had been living with leaky roofs and mold, plumbing issues, and roach- and rat-infested apartments.
Governor Bill Lee isn’t considering deploying National Guard personnel to Tennessee cities; a federal judge ordered a new trial in the Tyré Nichols case.
AFFORDABLE HOMES
e Whitehaven Hills community recently unveiled 10 a ordable homes that will diversify options for rst-time homebuyers and Memphis’ a ordable housing market.
United Housing Inc., Convergence Memphis, and the city of Memphis recently announced the opening of nine four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes and one threebedroom, two-bathroom unit. e properties are valued at $200,000 and are earmarked for local homebuyers.
sidered for the permanent CEO role. Board members apologized to the candidates for the abrupt change.
NEW TRIAL IN NICHOLS CASE
A federal judge ordered a new trial for the three Memphis Police Department (MPD) o cers previously convicted in the beating death of Tyré Nichols in 2023.
U.S. Chief District Judge Sheryl Lipman ruled last week that the new trial was warranted a er U.S. District Judge Mark Norris, the judge in the case, was alleged to have made disparaging remarks against the MPD.
STUDENTS QUESTION x AI MONEY
In July, the Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) board voted to accept an unspeci ed amount of money from xAI to x four school buildings in need of need $61 million in repairs. But a small group of student activists said xAI’s funding comes with a moral and environmental cost and they don’t want it.
NO GUARD TROOPS IN MEMPHIS
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee isn’t considering deploying National Guard personnel to Tennessee cities for law enforcement or accepting federal troops to patrol Memphis, despite a presidential order.
COUNCIL TO APPOINT MATA LEAD
e Memphis City Council said it will appoint a trustee to oversee the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA). As a result, MATA canceled interviews for the two nalists con-
Norris allegedly said that the MPD was “in ltrated to the top with gang members.” e remarks allegedly came days a er verdicts against the police o cers were issued and immediately a er one of Norris’ law clerks had been shot in the chest in a carjacking.
NAACP ON DATA CENTERS
e National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), along with other environmental justice groups, is working to address “the rapid expansion of data centers” through collaborative guidelines. is framework will demand accountability, responsibility, and action from tech companies, they said.
Tennessee Lookout and MLK50: Justice rough Journalism contributed to this report.
Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
Court action seems to pave the way for Tennesseans to carry whatever gun they like wherever they like.
Astate court struck down two gun-carry restrictions recently in a move hailed by one lawmaker as “something to celebrate” while another said the ruling would put “Tennesseans at greater risk.”
A three-judge panel in Gibson County said the state’s rules against going armed and its ban on carrying guns in public parks were unconstitutional.
The court battle began in 2023 when plaintiffs from Gun Owners of America and the Gun Owners Foundation sued Governor Bill Lee; Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti; state commissioners; attorneys general for Crockett, Gibson, and Haywood counties; and the sheriff of Gibson County.
They argued the two state statutes violated the state and federal constitutions, making it, basically, illegal to carry firearms in public. After hearings and motions over the intervening years, the court agreed last week. They said both laws violated the Second Amendment and declared them “unconstitutional, void, and of no effect.”
Tennessee state law says “a person commits an offense who carries, with the intent to go armed, a firearm or a club.”
The gun groups argued this criminalizes the open carry of firearms and violated the Second Amendment.
State law also bans weapons “in or on the grounds of any public park, playground, civic center, or other building facility” owned or operated by a local, county, or state government, for recreational purposes. The judges spent much time splitting hairs over differences in parks, schools, polling places, and more. But in the end, they simply leaned back on the Second Amendment.
“The Constitution itself is, of course, not ‘trapped in amber,’” the judges said in their ruling. “But we are not the ones authorized to change it.”
So does this make Tennessee a constitutional carry state? That was the question posed in a blog post by John Harris for the Tennessee Firearms Association last Friday. His short answer: probably yes.
“The declaration that the ‘intent to go armed’ statute is unconstitutional, which rendered it void, that potentially entirely
transforms Tennessee to a state that as a general premise no longer makes it a crime for an individual to carry a firearm [or other weapon] merely to be armed,” Harris wrote. “This declaration, assuming the government tyrants do not appeal, is fundamentally transitional and restorative.”
State Representative Jody Barrett (RDickson) used the decision as a hook for a social media post Monday to remind voters he is seeking the Congressional seat left vacant by U.S. Representative Mark Green (TN-7). He said the legislature should have done away with the laws “long ago” but couldn’t even “with a rubyred supermajority.”
“So now, Second Amendment advocates, lawful gun owners in Tennessee, we finally have a big win,” Barrett said on X. “This is something to celebrate. …
“So go out, fire off some rounds this afternoon after work at the range. Go share with your buddies and let them know good things are coming to Tennessee when it comes to the Second Amendment.”
Barett also said he fought against red
flag laws in the special session. He came back after, he said, and sponsored (and, ultimately, helped pass) legislation so that “all these liberal cities can’t start creating their own red flag laws all across the state and seeking ways to take your guns from you.”
Senator London Lamar (D-Memphis) said the ruling will deepen Tennessee’s public safety crisis.
“This ruling puts Tennesseans at greater risk by tying the hands of law enforcement officers who encounter people who are armed and potentially dangerous,” Lamar said in a statement. “If police can no longer investigate someone for the intent to go armed, officers are left waiting until a crime has already been committed — a failed public safety policy that puts lives on the line.”
Lamar said Tennessee now has the highest violent crime rate in the South, pointing to data from The Council of State Governments Justice Center.
“And here’s the hypocrisy: The same Republicans who keep loosening our gun laws want to turn around and punish people for the violence their policies are fueling,” Lamar said.
Spend a Weekend At
Green Gets Started
And Gonzales tells it plain at law school seminar.
Memphis City Councilwoman Jerri Green, who kicked o a multicounty tour for her gubernatorial campaign last week at the venerable Germantown Democratic Club at Coletta’s Restaurant on Appling Road, made the ritual comparisons of herself as David up against the Goliath who was her presumed foe to be, Republican U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn.
But Green didn’t leave it at that. She asked her Democratic auditors to imagine the worst, that she might run a good campaign and just fall short. “What if I lose?” she asked. It’s the kind of question that long-odds challengers rarely pose. She turned that speculation into a positive by comparing the situation to the one faced years earlier in “ruby red Georgia” by Democrat Stacey Abrams, an African-American who not only won her state’s Democratic nomination for governor in 2018 but came within 1.7 percent of defeating the heavily favored Republican Brian Kemp in the general election.
And, Green asked, what happened two years later, largely as a result of the phenomenal gains in voter registration
achieved during the Abrams campaign?
“We got two blue senators in ruby red Georgia!”
She shi ed to another possibility and another example. What if she did win, just barely, and had to face the reality in o ce of a Republican legislative supermajority? at, she said, was precisely the situation faced by Democratic governor Andy Beshear in Kentucky, also a ruby red state. Beshear, now in his second term, is able to use his executive position to curb the worst excesses of his state’s GOP supermajority. Not only that, Beshear has earned a place on the short list of possible Democratic nominees for president in 2028.
e lesson of Green’s two examples was clear: Never mind the odds. A vigorous Democratic campaign could have unexpected and far-ranging results, even when confronted by the current GOP power monolith.
Green, whose campaign slogan is “One Tough Mother,” followed up the Germantown Democratic Club stop last Wednesday with a full- edged rally ursday at the Wiseacre Brewery Co. site on Broad, and from there intended to head east, making stops in places like Chattanooga, where she campaigned on Saturday.
e auditorium of the University of Memphis law school was the venue on Wednesday of last week for a penetrating podcast/seminar on the judiciary and its relationship to the other branches of government. Participants (l to r) included former Governor Bill Haslam, state Supreme Court Justice Holly Kirby, former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former state Supreme Court Justice Sharon Lee, and former Governor Phil Bredesen.
Many telling points were made, and many of those were by Gonzales, who opined that “I consider it to be extremely dangerous to be critical of the courts. When I walked into the Oval O ce, President [George W.] Bush would say, ‘ at’s what the courts are for, to tell us if we were doing the right thing.’ He would never be publicly critical of a court decision. It undermines the condence of the public.” Gonzales asked at another point, apropos the independence of the three government branches, “Where is the Congress today? Why isn’t the Congress doing its job? It’s missing in action!”
PHOTO: COURTESY DON JOHNSON
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 5
By Bruce VanWyngarden
Your Best Shot
The dangerous politics of healthcare.
DEBORAH SWINEY
7:30 PM | THE GREEN ROOM
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 6
“The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends a 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine for most adults ages 18 and older. Parents of children ages 6 months to 17 years should discuss the benefits of vaccination with a healthcare provider.
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“The COVID-19 vaccine helps protect you from severe illness, hospitalization, and death. It is especially important to get your 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine if you are ages 65 and older, are at high risk for severe COVID-19, or have never received a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine protection decreases over time, so it is important to get your 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine.”
one thing to require everyone to get a shot, quite another to prevent people from getting a legal medicine. Under the new guidelines, a 62-year-old who calls their local CVS to set up a Covid shot may find themselves getting turned down if they don’t have a prescription or if their insurance doesn’t cover drugs that are noncompliant with CDC recommendations. A mother who wants to get her three kids vaccinated will have an even tougher time.
To reiterate: If you are someone who denies the effectiveness of the Covid vaccine and chooses not to get it, you go, bub. No one’s going to make you do anything that might keep you or your family off a ventilator. But the government has no business contradicting medical/scientific opinion and intervening between doctor and patient. What’s next? Stopping cancer trials and heart disease research? Curbing influenza vaccines? Sadly, the answer to those questions is yes. Billions of dollars in grants and funding to universities and medical research organizations have already been cut by this administration.
That message from the CDC’s vaccine advisory panel was posted on the agency’s website on June 6th. On June 9th, Secretary of Human Health Services Robert Kennedy Jr. ousted all 17 members of the panel and appointed a new eight-member panel that included several vaccine skeptics. Two weeks later, that panel posted a revised policy that limited Covid shots to people who are 65 or older or have other health issues. The new guidelines will make it harder for the average American — including the great majority of Memphians — to get the shot, due to insurance coverages and pharmacy guidelines that are pegged to CDC/FDA recommendations.
The CDC director is being forced out for resisting the new vaccine dictates.
Susan Monarez, the CDC director Trump appointed in January, is also being forced out for resisting the new vaccine dictates. Her proposed replacement, a tech executive named Jim O’Neill, who has no medical or science background, is unlikely to give Kennedy much pushback. In a 2014 speech, O’Neill, who was then working for Peter Thiel’s Mithril Capital, suggested the U.S. should allow drugs into the market without being tested. “Let people start using them at their own risk,” he said.“Let’s prove efficacy after they’ve been legalized.” I am not making this up.
“The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three,” said Kennedy, the brain-worm-infected former heroin addict, vaccine truther, and general all-around lunatic who was appointed by Donald Trump to lead the federal department responsible for securing our healthcare.
Like the FBI, CIA, Justice Department, Homeland Security, State Department, IRS, ICE, and FEMA, the CDC is about to become little more than a propaganda arm of the Trump administration.
Kennedy was just following his boss’ lead, meaning the only qualification needed for appointees, no matter the position, is loyalty to the one doing the appointing. It’s why — to name just two of many unqualified clowns now in positions of power — former World Wrestling Entertainment executive Linda McMahon is secretary of education and Fox News nitwit Pete Hegseth is secretary of defense.
The Covid policy revision is particularly troubling because it’s an intrusion between patients and their doctors. It’s
Here’s Demetre Daskalakis, who just resigned as director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases: “I am unable to serve in an environment that treats CDC as a tool to generate policies and materials that do not reflect scientific reality and are designed to hurt rather than to improve the public’s health. … I have never experienced such radical non-transparency, nor have I seen such unskilled manipulation of data to achieve a political end rather than the good of the American people.”
Former President Ronald Reagan liked to say: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’” That sentence never rang more true.
SPORTS By Frank Murtaugh
Catching Crooks
A Cardinals prospect has excelled with Memphis, both at the plate and behind it.
The St. Louis Cardinals are collecting catchers. A year ago, Willson Contreras and Ivan Herrera handled backstop duties for the club. ese days, Contreras plays rst base and Herrera o en handles DH chores, if not cutting his teeth in le eld. Pedro Pagés has been the Cardinals’ primary catcher, backed up by Yohel Pozo. Meanwhile on the farm, climbing their way toward Triple-A Memphis are Rainiel Rodriguez (the franchise’s h-ranked prospect) and Leonardo Bernal (fourth).
But if you’ve been a regular at AutoZone Park in 2025, you know Jimmy Crooks has been the man behind the plate for the Redbirds. e 2024 Texas League MVP with Double-A Spring eld, Crooks has transitioned to Triple-A baseball rather seamlessly, posting a .274 batting average with 14 home runs and 79 RBIs, all gures near the top of the Memphis roster. e home run total is the most for a catcher in 27 years of Redbirds baseball. Last Friday, Crooks was rewarded with a promotion to St. Louis, where he made his major-league debut in Cincinnati. (He homered in a Cardinals loss on Sunday.)
Crooks bats from the le side, distinctive on its own for a catcher, and with his hands closer to the pitcher than you see in a typical batting stance. (It’s a timing mechanism Crooks adopted last winter to generate more power.) And he seems to have mastered the one element most critical to staying in the lineup and ultimately earning his big-league promotion: consistency. “ at’s the name of the game,” he says. “Stick with your routine. ere have been some hills and valleys for sure, but you gotta keep your head straight. at’s what I’ve learned this year: have a good mindset when things aren’t going
well.” Crooks’ current numbers read like a natural progression from his award-winning 2024 season: .321 batting average, 11 home runs, and 62 RBIs in 90 games.
Particularly as a catcher, Crooks recognizes the mental challenge baseball brings, whether he’s holding a bat or suited up in the “tools of ignorance.” “It’s a game of failure,” he says. “You gotta keep your feet above the ground. Look back on the good times, but keep grinding. Pitching is di erent up here; they’re just a call from the big leagues. You need to keep the same approach, drive the ball up the middle, and be on time. If you’re on time for the [fastball], you’ll be on time for anything else.”
Crooks has thrown out close to 30 percent of base thieves this season, a rate that should please the parent club. “I started catching when I was 10 years old,” he says. “ e new, one-leg-down approach is helping most catchers’ bodies. And it helps you steal strikes on the bottom half of the zone. I have a pretty good arm, but the key for me is to be accurate and trust my arm. I need to be calm and throw to the [in elder’s] glove.”
Like every catcher before him, Crooks enjoys the entire eld in front of him, literally every pitch requiring both action and decision-making from a position that is, technically, outside the eld of play.
“You’re the leader,” he emphasized, “directing tra c when you need to. Catching’s like a video game. You have the pitch-com [audio communicator], so you know what’s coming, and I’m ready for it.”
How might Crooks separate himself from the Cardinals’ crowded catching club? “Just trust in my abilities,” he says. “Be happy where I am, and when I get the call, I get the call.” Crooks won’t shy from the bright lights, having starred at Oklahoma and helped the Sooners reach the 2022 College World Series (where they lost the championship to Ole Miss). While he’s competing with the likes of Pagés and Pozo for a prize job, he also credits them for helping him learn a challenging cra on his way up. “Having a good group has been fun,” he says. “We talk a lot, and when it’s go time, it’s go time.”
Having grown up in North Texas, Crooks cheered for the Rangers as a young player. But he confesses that his favorite player was Yadier Molina, the iconic Cardinals catcher who retired in 2022, the year St. Louis dra ed Crooks. Should he continue to mash baseballs and control opponents’ running games, Crooks may soon command the hallowed patch of land at Busch Stadium Molina called his own for 19 years.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27
PHOTO: WES HALE
Jimmy Crooks
IFall Fairs & Festivals
GET READY FOR MUSIC, ART, CULTURAL EXPERIENCES, AND MORE THIS SEASON.
COVER STORY
By Abigail Morici
—
t’s time. Fanny pack on. Sneakers laced. Deodorant please. e kind that works pretty please. Festival season is upon us. Fall edition.
SEPTEMBER
Delta Fair & Music Festival
Delta Delta Delta Fair, can they help ya, help ya, help ya? Only if you’re in need of a good time with music, attractions, and food.
Agricenter International, through September 7
30 Days of Opera
ere are 525,600 minutes in a year — that’s one way to measure a year, but you can measure September with 30 days of opera.
Various locations, through September 30
(above) Delta Fair & Music Festival; (right) International Goat Days Festival
Orion Free Concert Series
Freeeeeeee music, including the Memphis Country Blues Festival . North Mississippi Allstars and the Sensational Barnes Brothers on October 11th.
Overton Park Shell, select dates through October 23
Art on the Rocks: A Garden Cocktail Festival
On the rocks about this festival? Let me sell you on it: Botanical cocktails, cra beer, and curated bites from local Memphis restaurants are gonna rock your world.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, September 5
Germantown Festival
You wanna see the weenies run, don’t ya? You wanna see them run real chaotically in Germantown Festival’s annual race — among other things. Civic Club Complex, September 6-7
International Goat Days Festival
Bah, humbug! More like bahhhhhhh, no humbug. is festival is the GOAT.
Ed Haley Sports Complex, September 6
eatreWorks 30th Anniversary
eatre and Arts Festival
ere’s no business like a show business that’s been in business for 30 years. Celebrate with workshops, performances, and more.
eatreWorks@the Square, September 6
6th Annual Cra Food and Wine Festival
Graze away on at this tasting festival. You are a gazelle now. A gazelle who eats not grasses, but artisanal cheeses,
gourmet snacks, chocolates, and more divine bites from Memphis’ foodpreneurs.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, September 7
A Taste of Memphis
Get a taste of Memphis by learning about local neighborhoods, community development corporations (CDCs), faith-based organizations, and more. Tiger Lane, September 11
Cooper-Young Festival
You know it; you love it. Music, food, vendors, all in Cooper-Young. Cooper-Young Historic District, September 13
Memphis Comic Expo
Nerd out on the best in pop culture, comics, cosplay, and artists at the Mid-South’s premier creator-focused convention.
Memphis Sports and Events Center, September 13-14
PHOTO: GARY & CAROL COX, GC PHOTO PRODUCTIONS (RIGHT) COURTESY MILLINGTON PARKS & REC
B.B. King’s Beale Street Birthday Bash
Celebrate B.B. King’s 100th birthday with live performances and familyfriendly fun.
Outside of B.B. King’s Blues Club, September 14
Memphis Pride Festival
Rain, rain went away, so Memphis Pride Festival comes another day. Overton Park, September 14
Memphis Tequila Festival
Tequila might make your clothes fall o , but we request that you keep them on for this festival.
e Kent, September 19
Mid-South Balloon Festival
Latin Fest
Celebrate Latin culture with music, dance, delicious food, a kids area, and more.
Overton Square, September 27
AfroSoul Fest
Take part in a one-day outdoor celebration of modern African culture through music, food, art, and community.
Court Square Park, September 28
Memphis Yoga Festival
It’s not much of a stretch to say that 15-plus yoga classes, vendors, live music, and food trucks make up a good time.
Rhodes College, September 28
Oktoberfest(s)
See the Wizard of Oz’s preferred form of transportation take ight at this fest. Corner of TN-57 and Frazier Road, September 20-21
High Point Arts Fair
You’d better make it a point of the highest priority to visit this fair of artists, artisans, and more.
High Point Terrace, September 20
Teen Arts Fest 2025
Teenagers might scare you, but you can appreciate their art, right? at’s not scary, unless they make scary good art. Benjamin Hooks Central Library, September 20
Delta Blues & Heritage Festival
Head to Mississippi for the oldest continuous running blues festival in the country.
Greenville, MS, September 20
Lace up your lederhosen, folks. It’s time for Soul & Spirits’ Oktoberfest, and then before you know it, it’ll be time for another one in Overton Square. (And I’m sure there’ll be more in this city in between. Let us know.)
Soul & Spirits Brewery, September 20 Overton Square, October 25
Lemon Drop Festival
You’ll wanna lemon-drop by this fest, with bold martinis, live DJs, and highenergy vibes.
Fourth Blu Park, September 21
Gonerfest 22
Going, going, gone to this multi-day rock festival, headlined by Lightning Bolt, Silkworm, Radioactivity, Snooper, and the Zambian psychedelia of W.I.T.C.H.
Wiseacre Brewery on Broad, September 25-27; Overton Park Shell, September 28
Mid-South Fair
is fair is far from mid as the kids say these days.
Landers Center, September 25-October 5
Southern Heritage Classic Cultural Celebration
University of Arkansas at Pine Blu faces Alcorn State University, plus a weekend full of events.
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, September 25-27
53rd Annual Pink Palace Cra s Fair
Make it blue; no, make it pink. Make it MoSH. No! Pink! Pink Palace!
Audubon Park, September 26-28
Annual Free Shout-Out Shakespeare Series
Something Shakespearean this way comes, and it’s free performances of Much Ado About Nothing all around the city.
Various locations, September 27-October 19
OCTOBER
Mempho Music Festival
Here’s your memo to go to Mempho. is year’s headliners: Widespread Panic and Tyler Childers. Radians Amphitheater at Memphis Botanic Garden, October 3-5
Mighty Roots Music Festival
Whatta fest, whatta mighty good fest. I wanna take a minute or two and give much respect due to the fest that celebrates the best of Americana and roots music.
Stovall, MS, October 3-4
e 2025 Bartlett Festival, BBQ Contest & Car Show
Bartlett’s coming in hot, hot, hot with music, a 5K, children’s activities, arts and cra s, barbecue, and more.
W. J. Freeman Park, October 3-4
Highway 61 Blues Festival
A down-home free blues festival. Downtown Leland, MS, October 4
Memphis EuroFest Car Show
One car, two car, classic car, new car. C. O. Franklin Park, October 4
Wine on the River Memphis
Don’t drink the Kool-Aid. Drink the wine. Tom Lee Park, October 4
King Biscuit Blues Festival
You know what butters our biscuits? e blues. And the King Biscuit Blues Festival is one of the nation’s foremost showcases of blues music. Helena, AR, October 10-11
continued on page 12
continued from page 11
Memphis Bacon & Bourbon Festival
We’re bringing home the bacon. And bourbon. Lots of bourbon. And bacon. Lots of bacon. And did we mention bourbon?
FedEx Event Center at Shelby Farms Park, October 10
Monster Market
Get freaky at this annual pop-up of weird art, hand-plucked oddities, strange apparel, and bizarre home decor.
Medicine Factory, October 10-16
Yazoo County Fair
is event o ers amusement rides, exhibits of local canning, arts and cra s exhibits, talent stage, youth exhibits, and more.
Yazoo, MS, October 10-18
Edge Motorfest
is fest really revs our engines, with 150-plus cars competing for 25 di erent awards, live music, food trucks, and a general good time.
Edge Motor Museum, October 11
Paint Memphis
Paint it fun, seeing murals go up all over town?
Summer Avenue & National Street, October 11
V&E Greenline Artwalk is free, family-friendly event features over 50 local artists and makers, live music, food, drinks, kids’ activities, and more.
V&E Greenline, October 11
Mushroom Festival
Shroomlicious makes vegans go loco. ey want some treasures so they get their pleasures from this festival. So delicious. It’s hot, hot.
Tom Lee Park, October 11
Tambourine Bash
Make like a tambourine and shake your booty down to the Shell for a night of Memphis music collaborations.
Overton Park Shell, October 12
Delta Hot Tamale Festival is festival is a real hot tamale, celebrating local and regional artists, musicians, and tamale makers.
Main Street, Greenville, MS, October 17-18
Fall Fest
Fall into this fest of music, barbecue, vendors, food trucks, rides and attractions, and more.
Catholic Church of the Incarnation, October 17-18
Memphis miniFEST
A music fest, but make it mini. Duh! Hi-Tone, October 17
Soul of the City
Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead … and the tour guides on Soul of the City, uh, are dead — and ready to reveal their hidden truths. Best to keep your lips sealed.
13 albums, 300 Grand Ole Opry shows, CMA Award –T. Graham Brown the real deal! T’s played with The Oak Ridge Boys, Tanya Tucker, George Jones, & more. He’ll perform hits like “Don’t Need Your Rockin’ Chair,” plus music from his newest album From Memphis to Muscle Shoals
BOOKER T. JONES
NOV. 8 / 7:30P.M.
Leader of Booker T. & the M.G.’s, Memphis native Booker T. Jones is a living legend with Grammy Awards - the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – pioneering career at STAX Records –Hammond B-3 hits like the iconic “Green Onions”. As a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, & producer he’s collaborated with the artists Questlove, Lou Reed, Otis Redding & Elton John. Welcome Booker T. back to his hometown…get your tickets now!
DARCI LYNNE & FRIENDS
OCT. 24 / 7:30P.M.
From her America’s Got Talent win, Darci Lynne has captivated audiences of adults & children across the Globe as a ventriloquist – comedian - singer. She’s collaborated with artists like Toby Keith, Kristin Chenoweth, & Pentatonix. Watch Darci Lynne bring her puppets to life for in hilarious evening. Get your tickets soon!
LINDA RONSTADT EXPERIENCE
JAN. 16 & 17 / 7:30P.M.
Making her return to BPACC, The Linda Ronstadt Experience is a show you won’t want to miss! Vocal powerhouse Tristan McIntosh, gives a stunning portrayal of Linda Ronstadt in the prime of her career. We’ll take you to where Ronstadt ruled the airwaves. Performing songs like “Blue Bayou,” “When Will I Be Loved,” & “You’re No Good.” This American Idol alumna and her talented band will blow you away.
ELISABETH VON TRAPP / HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
NOV. 22 / 7:30P.M.
Celebrate the holidays, & the 60th anniversary of The Sound of Music, with Elisabeth von Trapp! The granddaughter of Maria von Trapp, Elisabeth continues the musical tradition of the famous Trapp Family Singers. With her clear vocals & classical guitar, Elisabeth performs classic Christmas music alongside enchanting folk songs. You’ll leave BPACC with a smile in your heart!
ARTRAGEOUS
NOV. 1 / 2:00P.M.
An unforgettable show combining live music - dynamic choreography – beautiful singing - remarkable painting. Artrageous creates masterpieces live on stage in this “family-friendly” performance with tons of audience participation. This inspiring, high-energy show will leaves you on the edge of your seat!
Sweet Dreams MANDY BARNETT SINGS PATSY CLINE
FEB. 14 / 7:30P.M.
Mandy Barnett has sung Patsy Cline’s songs 500 times in Always… Patsy Cline at the Ryman Auditorium. She’s a member of The Grand Ole Opry. Mandy pays tribute to the legacy of Patsy Cline with classics like “Crazy,” “I Fall to Pieces,” & “Leaving’ on Your Mind.” Don’t miss a performance that will stick with you “Today, Tomorrow and Forever.”
THE WEDDING SINGER
DEC. 5, 6 / 7:30P.M.
DEC. 7 / 2:00P.M.
Hopeless romantic Robbie Hart dreamed of being a rock star but fi nds fulfi llment in his career as a wedding singer. Heartbroken & lost after his fi ancée leaves him, Robbie fi nds himself accidentally falling in love with Julia, who’s set to marry a guy who doesn’t treat her right. Based on the hit comedy fi lm starring Adam Sandler & Drew Barrymore, this musical is full of laughs & lots of Hart.
OTHER OUTSTANDING SHOWS
PHIL COLLINS EXPERIENCE
APR. 25 / 2:00 & 7:30P.M.
Englishman Terry Adams, Jr. captures the look, sound, & presence of Phil Collins. Experience music from Phil Collins’s solo career as well as with Genesis. Savor “In the Air Tonight,” “Sussudio,” “Land of Confusion,” “You’ll Be In My Heart” & more. With a 12-piece band, you must make this concert!
BUY 5 OR MORESAVESHOWS 25%
Art on Fire
One word to describe this event: FIRE. Need more words to describe it? Music. Wine. Beer. Tastings. Art. Fire dancing. Bon re. FIREEE.
Dixon Gallery & Gardens, October 18
Cooper-Young Beerfest
You must be 21 or older to read this event description. Why? Because there’s a lot of beer involved.
Midtown Autowerks Parking Lot, October 18
Fantasy Faire
Once upon a time there was a fair, full of cra s, games, food, and more. Cordova Library, October 18
RiverArtsFest
As the largest artist market in the MidSouth, this festival features more than 150 artists from around the country. Riverside Drive, October 18-19
Ska-Tober Fest
Ska’s still around apparently. So around there’s a festival for it — whether you like it or not.
Meddlesome Brewing Company, October 18
Mid-South Food Truck Festival
Get (your tummies) ready to rumble for this festival of delicious food trucks and vendors. No assembly required.
IKEA, October 19
Wolf River Fall Fest 2025
Get ready for an awesome time doing an arboretum scavenger hunt, meeting some creepy crawly critters, participating in a costume parade, and eating delicious treats from food trucks.
Wolf River Greenway - Shady Grove Trailhead, October 24
Cars on Main e wheels on the car go round and round all down Main Street. Riverside Drive, October 25
Greenline 15 Birthday Bash
’Cause when you’re 15 and somebody tells you to celebrate 15 years of Shelby Farms’ Greenline, you’re gonna do it with live music, food trucks, a beer garden, kids’ activities, and good vibes. Shelby Farms Park, October 25
NOVEMBER
901 Hot Wing Festival
Wing … wing … wing … the chickens are calling, and they know what you want from them for this festival. ey know. Answer the call.
Grind City Brewing Company, November 1
Broad Avenue Art Walk
Broaden your horizons at this annual art walk.
Broad Avenue, November 1
Día de Los Muertos Parade and Festival
Celebrate the Day of the Dead with the Brooks and Cazateatro Bilingual eatre Group.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, November 1
PHOTO: ANGEL ORTEZ
Día de Los Muertos Parade and Festival
Memphis Comic & Fantasy
Convention
Superheroes, science ction, fantasy. I don’t know much about that world, but I imagine it’s fantastic.
Hilton Memphis, November 1
Memphis Japan Festival
Celebrate the history, culture, and people of Japan with interactive and hands-on experiences of Japanese culture featuring food, entertainment, games, cra s, and more.
Memphis Botanic Garden, November 2
Memphis Cra s & Dra s Festival:
Holiday Market
Shop till you drop at this locals- rst market.
Crosstown Concourse, November 8
Memphis Monster Con
Horror celebrities, over 100 vendors and artists, cosplay, panels, food trucks, and much more — talk about a monster of a convention.
Pipkin Building, November 8-9
Lantern Festival
Something new to do at the zoo.
Memphis Zoo, November 14-January 31
Like You Children’s Film Festival
Screentime takes on a whole new meaning at this familyforward lm festival.
Pink Palace Museum & Mansion, November 22-23
Holiday Spirits: A Christmas Cocktail Festival e ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future can move over. A new set of spirits is in town.
e Kent, TBA
DECEMBER
Mid-South Toy Fest
We are toying with you when we say there will be over 50 vendor booths with new and vintage toys.
e Great Hall & Conference Center, December 6
Raised by Sound Fest
Sound o about how much you love Memphis music at this fest.
Crosstown Concourse, December 6
St. Jude Memphis Marathon Weekend
Choose the marathon, half marathon, 10K, 5K, or take on the 2-Race Challenge for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s largest single-day fundraiser.
Memphis, December 6
JANUARY
AutoZone Liberty Bowl is is THE Liberty Bowl, where football, parties, and more happen.
Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, January 2
WILDERADO
steppin’ out
We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews
For the Foodies
By Abigail Morici
is Saturday marks the return of the Cra Food & Wine Festival, Memphis’ favorite all-inclusive, unlimited tasting event. For the sixth annual feast, this year at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 35 local vendor stations o ering food, drink, and artisan retail will share their nest bites and goods.
Cristina McCarter, owner of Feast & Graze and co-owner of HighP Hour Wellness, founded the Cra Food & Wine Festival in 2019 shortly a er starting her charcuterie business. e goal was, and still is, to highlight “foodpreneurs” like herself, people who specialize in a certain food or drink product, whether that’s artisanal cheeses, vegan creations, wellness beverages, or gourmet snacks. “Having a restaurant is one thing, having a food truck is one thing, having a catering company is one thing, and then you add in food products as a way to make it in the culinary world,” McCarter says, “I think that one doesn’t get noticed as much in the local world. We’re all out here doing amazing things, and I just want to be able to showcase it.
“And that’s how Memphis works. It’s a community of people; we all inspire each other.”
For the evening, McCarter’s own Feast & Graze will serve Italian sliders among other snacks, and her HighP Hour Wellness will have fresh-pressed juices mixed with tequila. Chef Corrinne Knight of Grecian Gourmet will prepare a grazing table for the VIP experience, which includes early admission at 5 p.m., a champagne toast, and exclusive wine tastings. Other vendors include e Paper Sack, e Chocolate Pour, Dance Like a Cupcake, and Clay’s Smoked Tuna.
Plus, the night will have cocktails by Solida Tequila and Old Dominick Distillery, and DJ A.D. will set the vibe. “We do also have that aspect where, if you like something, say, you enjoy the herbal popcorn or something, you could buy it from that vendor,” McCarter says.
“You’ll discover some new people, for sure, because most of the time these brands may only be at farmers markets or on the Kroger shelves, so you never get to see the face behind the brand, but here you will,” the foodpreneur adds. “So it’s a great time to just connect it all together.”
Tickets for the Cra Food & Wine Festival can be purchased at cra foodandwinefest.org. A full lineup of vendors can be found there as well.
CRAFT FOOD & WINE FESTIVAL, MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART, 1934 POPLAR AVENUE, SATURDAY,
$105/VIP, 21+.
Cat Video Fest
Pink Palace Giant Screen eater, 3050 Central Ave Memphis, Saturday, September 6, 11 a.m.-1 p.m., $14
Cat Video Fest is a compilation reel of the latest and best cat videos culled from countless hours of unique submissions and sourced animations, music videos, and classic internet powerhouses. It is a joyous communal experience, only available in theaters, and raises money for cats in need through partnerships with local cat charities, animal welfare organizations, and shelters to best serve cats in the area. Ten percent of ticket sales from this screening at the Pink Palace will be donated to Mewtopia Cat Rescue.
Purrrrrrrchase tickets at tinyurl.com/5dc3u5zk.
Opening Reception: “ e Scarcity of Sand”
Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College, 2000 North Parkway, Friday, September 5, 5-7 p.m.
An exhibition of new work by Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo, “ e Scarcity of Sand” grapples with the intangible yet universal nature of grief and its e ect on human behavior. Leaning on Pre-Columbian Latin-American mythologies that center the serpent and the a erlife, Cornejo’s work asks if the terrifying possibility of nonexistence has caused a “susto” that has scared the soul from our bodies, leaving us nihilistic and violent. From the abyss of fear she o ers moments of dogged rootedness in a troubled present that is worth saving.
“ e Scarcity of Sand” will be on view through November 1st.
eatreWorks 30th Anniversary Celebration
eatreWorks @ the Square, 2085 Monroe, Saturday, September 6, noon10:30 p.m.
eatreWorks is celebrating 30 years in Overton Square with a daylong open house and reunion. Check in with your favorite companies, participate in workshops and classes, and help support three decades of independent theater in Memphis. Visit theatreworksmemphis.org/30thanniversary-party for the full lineup.
Dance in 30 (DI30)
Ballet Memphis, 2144 Madison Avenue, 2144 Madison, Friday, September 5, 6-7 p.m., $25 DI30 is 30 minutes of dance paired with 30 minutes of cocktails and conversation. is edition features excerpts from August Bournonville’s “Napoli” (1842).
SEPTEMBER 7, 6-9 P.M., $70/ GENERAL ADMISSION,
PHOTO: COURTESY CRAFT FOOD & FESTIVAL Sip and snack at this fest.
Located in the heart of Historic Hernando, MS,
MUSIC By Alex Greene
More Frank Than Ever
e stalwart bassist for the Sheiks and others steps out with a captivating debut album.
You’ve seen and heard Frank McLallen many times if you love live music in Memphis. With the Tennessee Screamers, Model Zero, the Sheiks, and other garage-adjacent groups, he’s been on the local scene for over a dozen years. So why am I now thinking McLallen, with his new album Extra Eyes now dropping on Red Curtain Records, might just be the city’s best emerging artist?
Perhaps it’s because this LP hits so di erently from any of the groups above. Anyone used to the galloping, stomping Shieks will recognize the lo- aesthetic, but might be surprised at the moments of sparse quietude on Extra Eyes, sometimes only maracas and acoustic guitar. Tennessee Screamers fans will recognize the soulful harmony singing, but not necessarily over chord changes more reminiscent of the Beach Boys or Bowie. Indeed, the album’s closest sonic antecedent might be Tyrannosaurus Rex, Marc Bolan’s psychfolk precursor to T. Rex. But the greatest revelation is hearing McLallen’s voice in a new register, the quieter settings allowing his expressive baritone more space than it can nd in a typical club environment.
“Manic.” He was just recording artists at his house, and over a week or two, I’d just walk over to overdub and hang out. en I went over to the Bunker, the home base for bands I’ve been in for a long time.
Andrew McCalla and Keith Cooper are really setting that studio up. I’m comfortable there, and we had unlimited time to tweak little things. e Bunker is what I imagine studios in Kingston [Jamaica] in the early reggae movement being like, just thrown-together gear, cushions for sound insulation. It’s a good vibe over there. I wanted to have fun with harmony in the studio. Sometimes just the two of us, me and Andrew, would have sessions deep into the night, for 10 hours sometimes, just working on the songs. We did a lot of layered vocals because we had time to do them. I’d always wanted to have vocal harmony layers like that. I’m a huge Harry Nilsson fan, and I’ve always loved how he just layered his own vocals on himself.
How did you connect with Memphis Magnetic and Red Curtain Records?
at goes hand in hand with the album’s overarching sense of a man taking stock of his life, his loves, and the landscapes he’s walked, all via lovely melodies, folk-pop ri s, and swinging, swaggering vocals. Finding the whole inventive-yetsparse musical stew especially captivating, I set out to ask the artist himself how he’d arrived at the recipe.
Memphis Flyer: Looking at the credits for Extra Eyes, it seems you began with smaller home studio sessions and then worked your way up to bigger rooms, culminating in sessions at Memphis Magnetic Recording. Yet through all those stages, you played most of the instruments yourself.
Frank McLallen: It started when Graham Winchester lived down the street from me, about a year and a half ago. I went over to his place with this new song,
At some point in the middle of recording all these tracks, I talked to Scott [McEwen, founder of both the label and Memphis Magnetic], and I played him these songs. en that’s when he got interested, and we talked about doing an album. at was when it became real, and I put together some kind of deadline in the back of my mind. e dream was, “Let’s release this on your birthday, Frank,” and so now that’s actually happening. Friday, September 5th, is when everything releases on all platforms. en the show will be the 6th at Bar DKDC, and people can buy the LP there. And Lucy from Big Clown is making a zine to go with the album, and it’ll also be for sale by itself.
I see that another artist who performs at Bar DKDC, my Flyer colleague Michael Donahue, is thanked on the LP. He’s a huge gure in my life. He’s an uncle, but he’s much closer than an uncle, and having him always playing the piano, around our house and at his place, it was contagious, and I gravitated towards that real quick. We even lmed a video at his place in Red Banks, Mississippi. Frank McLallen & Extra Eyes, with openers Runi Salem and Recent Future, play at Bar DKDC, Friday, September 6th, 9 p.m., and again at the Big Eyes Festival at Downing Hollow Farm Stays, Saturday, October 25th.
LIVE MUSIC ON WEDNESDAY’S
SEP 10TH: CHARVEY MAC
SEP 17TH: THE DELTA DUKES
SEP 24TH: CHARVEY MAC
PHOTO: KALEY FLUKE Frank McLallen
CALENDAR of EVENTS: September 4 - 10
ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS
“100 Years in the Making: Collierville’s 1970 Centennial Celebration” rough photographs, artifacts, and stories, this exhibition highlights the grand festivities that marked 100 years of Collierville’s history. rough Sept. 6.
MORTON MUSEUM OF COLLIERVILLE HISTORY
“2024 Accessions to the Permanent Collection”
New additions to the museum’s permanent collection. rough Nov. 2.
METAL MUSEUM
Arnold Thompson
Exhibition ompson dubs his work “synthesism,” to indicate hybrid expressions of diverse experiences he has lived and observed. rough Sept. 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
“Artiful Adventure”
Original paintings by Phyllis Boger, Suzanne Evans, and Barrie Skoda Foster. Free. rough September 26.
WKNO DIGITAL MEDIA CENTER
“B.B. King in Memphis”
Photographer Alan Copeland documented King’s 1982 show with stunning black and white photographs. rough Oct. 19.
STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC
“Bleeding Together – A Correspondence”
A collaboration between Andres Arauz and Abby Meyers. rough Sept. 14.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
Cat Lenke: “Wild Light, Urban Lines: A Watercolor Journey Through the City & Forest”
e artist captures the quiet majesty of forests and the bold geometry of cities in luminous watercolors. rough Sept. 26.
ANF ARCHITECTS
“CREATE | CREA” is vibrant environment invites guests of all ages to dive into the creative process. rough Sept. 21.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Dezmond Gipson: “Generally Digital”
A self-professed “digital generalist,” Gipson explores multiple modes of expression through digital media. rough Oct. 10.
BEVERLY + SAM ROSS GALLERY
Earnest Withers: “I AM A MAN” Withers’s photographs of the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike illustrate the dignity of workers’ activism. rough Oct. 12.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
“[Fe]ATURED AR[Ti]STS”
Works created and curated by sta members of the Metal Museum. rough Sept. 14.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
“Horizon Lines”:
Anthony Lee, Matthew Lee, and Sowgand Sheikholeslami ese Arkansas artists showcase the unique characteristics of the region. rough Sept. 21.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Kristi Duckworth Exhibition
Inventive pottery and mosaics. Free. rough Sept. 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
“Landshaping: The Origins of the Black Belt Prairie”
Learn about the region’s geological past. Fossils and farm tools are displayed alongside photographs by Houston Co eld. rough Oct. 12.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
“Last Whistle:
Steamboat Stories of Memphis” rough model boats and original steamboat artifacts, this exhibit rekindles the romance of the steamboat era. rough June 26.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
“Layers”: New Works by Carolyn Cates
Uniquely layered views of nature. rough Sept. 22.
BUCKMAN ARTS CENTER AT ST. MARY’S SCHOOL
“Light as Air”
Beauty in tension: a balance of forms, contrasting heavy and light. rough Sept. 7.
METAL MUSEUM
“Navigating Knowledge” is exhibition explores vessels and navigation as metaphors for the containment and transmission of knowledge. rough Oct. 31.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
“Overcoming Hateful Things”
Subtitled “Stories from the Jim Crow museum of racist imagery,” the exhibition contains over 150 items from the late 19th century to the present. rough Oct. 19.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
Poonam Kumar
Exhibition
Watercolors, with some works in pencil, ink, pastel, and acrylic. rough Sept. 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo: “The Scarcity of Sand” ese works explore grief, our own mortality, faith, and fear. Friday, Sept. 5-Nov. 1.
CLOUGH-HANSON GALLERY
Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.
DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.
ursday, Sept. 4, 5-6:30 p.m. BURKE’S BOOK STORE
Phillip Ashley Rix: For the Love of Chocolate e author and Gina Neely speak about his new cookbook, subtitled 80 At-Home Recipes From a Master Chocolatier’s Imagination. Tuesday, Sept. 9, 6 p.m. NOVEL
Stacy Willingham: Forget Me Not
A new Southern thriller from the author of the bestseller A Flicker in the Dark. Friday, Sept. 5, 6 p.m. NOVEL
Thomas “Sparky” Reardon: The Dean: Memoirs and Missives
Kelly English will speak with Reardon, who dedicated 36 years to his alma mater, the University of Mississippi. Wednesday, Sept. 10, 6 p.m. NOVEL
CLASS / WORKSHOP
Art as Activism
Inspired by the work of Charles White, this teacher workshop examines themes of resistance and the human condition in the work of various artists. Free. ursday, Sept. 4, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Art History 101
Sean Nash: “Cosmic Produce”
Sculptural paintings that take their forms from marine organisms, magni ed and painted in vivid splashy colors. rough Sept. 14.
TOPS AT MADISON AVENUE PARK
“Speaking Truth to Power: The Life of Bayard Rustin”
Exhibition
An exhibition exploring Rustin’s innovative use of the “medium” to communicate powerful messages of nonviolence, activism, and authenticity. $20/adult, $18/senior, college student, $17/children 5-17. rough Dec. 31.
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
Steve Nelson Exhibition Loose and impressionistic acrylic paintings. rough Sept. 30.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Summer Art Garden: “A Flash of Sun”
Featuring geometric sculptures that cast vibrant hues in the shi ing sunlight. rough Oct. 20.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
“Susan Watkins and Women Artists of the Progressive Era” e exhibition explores the environment in which Watkins and other female artists of the time forged their professional identities. rough Sept. 28.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Tad Lauritzen Wright: “Zen on the Installment Plan”
Photo abstractions and sculptural works constructed from salvaged wood. rough Sept. 14.
CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE
Tributaries: Leah Gerrard’s “Longline” e museum’s newest Tributaries artist shapes ethereal steel forms, blending basketry, jewelry, and large-scale pieces. Free. rough Sept. 14.
METAL MUSEUM
ART HAPPENINGS
Art & Aperitifs: Calida Rawles in Conversation with C. Rose Smith Rose Smith sits down for an in-depth conversation with celebrated painter Calida Rawles on the topic of her current exhibition, “Away with the Tides.” Friday, Sept. 5, 6 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
“Artiful Adventure”Works by Phyllis Boger, Suzanne Evans, and Barrie Skoda Foster Meet artists Phyllis Boger, Suzanne Evans, and Barrie Skoda Foster. Free. Saturday, Sept. 6, 2-4 p.m.
WKNO DIGITAL MEDIA CENTER
Fresh Perspectives in Sculpture and Painting ree artists debut all-new
work: site-speci c sculpture, Arctic-inspired paintings, and bold canvases. Saturday, Sept. 6, 6-8 p.m.
MARSHALL ARTS GALLERY
MUSE Creative Gathering: HISTORY — Journal Making Workshop + Narrative Art Therapy
Create your own journal and practice narrative art therapy exercises. $10. Monday, Sept. 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
BAR DKDC
Protect Our Aquifer: “Away With The Tides” Gallery Talk
Protect Our Aquifer representatives Sabrina Taylor and Scott Schoefernacker will join Zaire Love in a conversation about the urgency of protecting the Memphis Sands Aquifer. $10. ursday, Sept. 4, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo: “The Scarcity of Sand” Opening Reception
Meet the artist behind these works of grief, mortality, faith, and fear. Friday, Sept. 5, 5-7 p.m.
CLOUGH-HANSON GALLERY
BOOK EVENTS
Ernest Kelly: Poems of a Green and Pleasant
Land
Kelly’s poetic journey through British and Irish history.
A series beginning with prehistoric art and focusing on a new period each week. $12. ursday, Sept. 4, 6-7:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Blacksmithing I: Drawer Pulls
A two-day workshop on the fundamentals of blacksmithing, forging a set of drawer pulls. $450/registration. Saturday, Sept. 6, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 7, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
METAL MUSEUM
Fall Planter Box Workshop
Create your own fall planter and BYOB. 21+. $65. Friday, Sept. 5, 6-8 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Figure Drawing (Nude Model)
Artists of all levels can practice their skills drawing the human form. $12/general admission. ursday, Sept. 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Photographing with Intent
Join acclaimed photographer Bruce Meisterman for a twoday intensive photography workshop. Saturday, Sept. 6, 11:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Super Saturday - Eggstatic Creatures! Art fun for all ages! Saturday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m.-noon.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
PHOTO: COURTESY MEMPHIS PINK PALACE MUSEUM Cat videos make the internet worthwhile, but don’t they deserve to be seen on the big screen? Cat Video Fest 2025 says yes!
With food and drink deals, sidewalk sales, retail bargains, and events, trivia games, happy hours, open houses, and art shows. Victoria Dowdy plays the gazebo. Thursday, Sept. 4, 5-8 p.m.
COOPER-YOUNG HISTORIC DISTRICT
Homeschool Days Fall 2025
Step outside for a homeschool adventure! $80/ general admission. Monday, Sept. 8, 10 a.m.noon.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Lupus Support Group
A heartfelt gathering of lupus survivors, supporters, and caregivers. Saturday, Sept. 6, noon-2 p.m.
EAST SHELBY LIBRARY
Zoo Rendezvous
The Memphis Zoo’s celebrated fundraiser: a night of unlimited bites, sips, and live music by Smash Mouth. 21+. $200. Friday, Sept. 5, 7-10:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS ZOO
DANCE
Dance in 30
Kick off the season with Dance in 30: 30 minutes of dance, 30 minutes of conversation, plus a drink — all wrapped up by 7 p.m.! Friday, Sept. 5, 6-7 p.m.
BALLET MEMPHIS
FESTIVAL
Art on the Rocks: A Garden Cocktail Festival
An elegant evening celebrating the art of mixology in the beauty of the gardens. $55/general, $45/Dixon members, Free. Friday, Sept. 5, 6-9 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Craft Food and Wine Festival
Memphis’ premier tasting event celebrates food entrepreneurs, chefs, and artisans with curated wine and cocktail pairings. $65/general admission. Sunday, Sept. 7, 6-9 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Delta Fair
With awards in livestock, crafts, and cooking, plus education expos, a circus, and beauty pageants. Visit deltafest.com. Through Sept. 7.
AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL
TheatreWorks 30th Anniversary Theatre and Arts Festival
Celebrate grassroots, independent theater with live performances, an artist market, workshops, and dancing. Saturday, Sept. 6, noon-10:30 p.m. THEATREWORKS
The Germantown Festival
A free, fun weekend for all. Saturday, Sept. 6, 9:30 a.m.- 6 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 7, noon-6 p.m.
GERMANTOWN CIVIC CLUB
FILM
Cat Video Fest 2025
A compilation reel of the latest and best cat videos, with sourced animations, music videos, and internet gems. Saturday, Sept. 6, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
CTI 3D GIANT THEATER AT THE PINK PALACE
Movies and Brews: The Fifth Element
Every event includes exclusive pre-show programming chosen to enhance your enjoyment and knowledge of the featured film. One free beer included with ticket. Thursday, Sept. 4, 5:30-9:30 p.m.
CTI 3D GIANT THEATER AT THE PINK PALACE
Superman
The first feature film in the newly imagined DC universe. Thursday, Sept. 4-Sept. 10, 3 p.m.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
HEALTH AND FITNESS
Get Outside Fitness: Mat Pilates
A full-body, low-impact workout that emphasizes dynamic core work to enhance strength, balance, and flexibility. The session is designed inclusively for everybody. Friday, Sept. 5, 4:30 p.m. | Saturday, Sept. 6, 8 a.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Get Outside Fitness: Mental Fitness
Learn to relax your mind and prepare it to enter a meditative state by balancing the right and left hemispheres of the brain. Please bring a yoga mat and water. Saturday, Sept. 6, 10:30 a.m.
SHELBY FARMS PARK
Taijiquan with Milan Vigil
This Chinese martial art promotes relaxation, improves balance, and provides no-impact aerobic benefits. Ages 16 and older. Free. Saturday, Sept. 6, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Wednesday Walks
Take a casual stroll around the Old Forest paved road. Wednesday, Sept. 10, 4-5 p.m.
OVERTON PARK
Yoga
Strengthen your yoga practice and enjoy the health benefits of light exercise with yoga instructor Laura Gray McCann. All levels welcome. Free. Thursday, Sept. 4, 6 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
LECTURE
Ideas Over Lunch: Designing the Memphis Art Museum with Jack Brough
Take a look at the blueprints with Jack Brough, project manager for the new Memphis Art Museum and associate at Herzog & de Meuron. $14.50. Friday, Sept. 5, 11:45 a.m.-1 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Munch and Learn: Elizabeth Nourse Artists, scholars, and Dixon staff share their knowledge on a variety of topics. Wednesday, Sept. 10, noon-1 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
PERFORMING ARTS
30 Days of Opera
Opera Memphis performers sing in diverse public spaces around the city. Visit operamemphis. org for details. Monday, Sept. 1-Sept. 30
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
THEATER
Come From Away
Regional premiere of an incredible true story of the 7,000 stranded passengers forced to land in a small town in Newfoundland. Thursday, Sept. 4, 8 p.m. | Friday, Sept. 5, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Sept. 6, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 7, 2 p.m.
PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE
ACROSS
1 Drink, as water from a dish
4 Bits of broken glass
10 Locks in a barn?
14 Top card
15 How café may be served
16 ___ out (barely manages)
17 “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” novelist
19 “Nervous” reactions
20 Goes down, as the sun
21 Change from the norm
23 Bart and Lisa’s dad
27 King Arthur’s home
30 Cigar residue 31 Flamenco cheer
32 Blow, as a volcano
35 Newspaper opinion piece
39 Early railroad tycoon whose nickname is a hint to the starts of 17-, 23-, 51and 62-Across
43 James of jazz
44 Lauder of cosmetics
45 18 or so, for a typical first-year college student 46 “You don’t mean me?!” 49 Made certain 51 Real-life lawman who lent his name to a 1950s-’60s TV western 56 Pilots 57 ___ car salesman 61 Appear
62 Utah senator who once ran for president
66 “Star Trek: T.N.G.” counselor
67 Captivate
68 Noah’s vessel
69 Europe’s highest volcano
70 Getting up
71 “The Bells” poet DOWN
1 Young chaps
2 Pain in a tooth or the heart
3 Hit repeatedly, as with snowballs
4 Viewed
5 Ben-___ (Charlton Heston role)
6 Pub offering 7 Time off, informally
8 Cuts into small cubes
9 Sugar substitute 10 Nerves of steel, e.g.
11 Actor Claude of old TV
12 Classic brand of candy wafers 13 German industrial city
18 Arthur of tennis fame
22 Gchats, e.g.
24 Bread spread
25 Time starting at dawn, to poets
26 Practice piece for a pianist
27 Secret message
28 Came down to earth
29 Vegetarian’s no-no
Response 5
Resistance. Persistence. A collective of dancers, actors, drag queens, filmmakers, and musicians is up in arms and ready to respond with humor, grief, bewilderment, and hope. $20. Friday, Sept. 5, 7 p.m. | Saturday, Sept. 6, 7 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 7, 7 p.m.
THEATRESOUTH
Something Rotten!
In the 16th century, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s very first musical. $15-$30. Thursday, Sept. 4, 7:30 p.m. | Friday, Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Sept. 6, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 7, 2 p.m.
THEATRE MEMPHIS
The Legends of Quetzatcoatl
This bilingual play takes the audience through the rise and fall of four ancient worlds in Mexican mythology. Friday, Sept. 5, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Sept. 6, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 7, 3 p.m.
THEATREWORKS AT EVERGREEN
TOURS
49th Annual Home & Garden Tour
This year’s tour celebrates Central Avenue as all tour sites will be on this prominent thoroughfare that runs through the heart of our historic neighborhood. $20/advance, $30 day of event. Sunday, Sept. 7, 1-5 p.m.
CENTRAL GARDENS
We Saw You.
with MICHAEL DONAHUE
About 125 people attended “Sunday Salute! A Neighborhood Welcome Spirited by Old Dominick” at Cocozza East. It was held on a bella sera (beautiful evening) in the waning hours of August 17th.
It was the “grand opening of Cocozza East,” says Deni Reilly, who along with her husband, chef Patrick Reilly, are owners of the restaurant at 919 South Yates as well as Cocozza in Harbor Town and Majestic Grille Downtown.
People could stay for dinner following the party, but they’d have to be mighty hungry a er dining on the “Bar Snacks” at the event. In addition to marinated olives and roasted Marcona almonds on the tables, guests were to treated to sausage and mushroom crostinis, toasted ravioli, antipasto panino, bruschetta and, on the bu et table, meatballs, vodka rigatoni, and cheesy garlic bread.
above: Seamus Reilly, Sadie Edelstein, Jake Edelstein, and Charlotte Lightfoot circle: Tyler Hurt
below: (le to right) Clark Shifani, Stephanie Bowen, Katherine Bennett, Darsy Ramirez, and Anthony Jones; Patrick and Deni Reilly; Emily LaForce
bottom row: (le to right) Hailey Laurie, Lee Crump, Stacy Crump, Ron Kastner, and Catherine Kastner; Steve Masler, Jean Richardson, James Richardson, and Marilyn Master
PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE
below:
above: Dina Placo and Salih Placo
right row: (top and below) Alexis Montesi, Elliot Montesi, Emily LaForce, and Ashley LaForce; Hui, Shirley, and Hayes Black
(le to right) Lauren Berry and Logan Bennett; Hayes Hora; Alexandria Eddlemon, Scarlet Williams, Sarahanne Miesse, and Christopher Green
BOOKS By Alex Greene
Our Declaration
Danielle Allen argues the U.S. must return to its founders’ embrace of equality.
In February of 2020, a friend hosted her third “Uncommon School” retreat on her and her husband’s land, Copper Beech Farm, dedicated to twin purposes: living off the land and discussing the philosophy of social contracts. When I joined the other farmers and scholars attending, we first learned the proper way to fell a tree. By night, we gathered to discuss the principles behind the U.S. Constitution, as one does.
There were chats on the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, and readings of Frederick Douglass and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Through such texts, we strove to practice the very type of dialogue that democracy itself relies on, even as we puzzled over ways to make such dialogue a regular part of our lives.
It’s the prescience of the Uncommon School’s theme that strikes me now. Of course, the nation was already in crisis then, before George Floyd or Covid-19, as Trump 1.0 tested the waters with his authoritarian visions and stoked flames of polarization that today grow ever-higher. So it made a lot of sense to go back to first
principles. How did we get in this mess? And how might we reboot society “with liberty and justice for all”?
It turns out that a lot of other people were confronting the same questions. If only we had known to invite author Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, who by then had already penned a work on civic engagement and the nation’s founding. Like our Uncommon School of political philosophy nerds, that work is only more relevant today. In fact, it feels like Allen’s Our Declaration: A Reading of the Declaration of Independence in Defense of Equality was written yesterday. Since the ascension of Trump 2.0, all National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) funding for research into issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion has been halted, the new priority being projects “that examine the founding of the nation and the significance of the Declaration of Independence.” Allen’s 2014 book does just that, but not in the anodyne, flagwaving manner that any enemies of equity might have imagined.
This book is a primer on holding the United States accountable to its original ideals by fostering a sense of ownership of our government among everyday citizens. Indeed, the volume could bear the same label that Woody Guthrie stuck on his guitar: “This machine kills fascists.”
The idea for the book emerged from another kind of uncommon school, night classes for working adults that Allen taught in Chicago, during which, she writes, “I realized for the first time in my life that the Declaration makes a coherent philosophical argument … about political equality.” And in drawing out the working students to engage with the historic text, she found a kernel of hope that people might claim the Declaration as (still) their own, and thus embrace the day-to-day work that democracy requires.
Allen’s deep dive into the history of the Declaration’s writing also shows just how to do that work, as she unpacks the precursors to the Declaration and the draft versions which representatives from the 13 colonies hammered out to their liking. Those drafts, those debates over wording
that all could agree on, were, Allen argues, the best models we have for how democracy works. Democracy must involve the very “written by committee” process that makes most people roll their eyes. By embracing this, instead of the solitary genius/ author that many misconstrue Thomas Jefferson to have been, “we can cultivate the collective intelligence that is better than what any individual can achieve.”
This is all too appropriate today, as we see the federal government abdicating its responsibility to the common good. It’s up to us, apparently, to reassert the vision of a widely inclusive nation, where diverse souls are all considered equal under the law. While that was never perfectly realized, now the federal government has further undermined the very notion of justice and equality. Also presciently, Allen addressed reviving them both in her 2023 book, Justice by Means of Democracy.
Clearly, she remains optimistic. That, too, stems from her reading of the Declaration of Independence, which, she says, “is built on the foundation of a sublime optimism about human potential.” Behind the founders’ embrace of equality was an audacious hope that we the people would claim our very government as our own. Dr. Allen will speak about “250 Years of Our Declaration of Independence” on Thursday, September 18th, at 6 p.m, hosted by the Spence Wilson Center for Interdisciplinary Humanities at Rhodes College.
FOOD By Michael Donahue
Memphys Water Springing Up
Canned Memphis water hitting the streets.
Water, water everywhere. And lots of drops to drink — from a can.
Jack Simon, 35, and Riaco Smith, 36, are founders/owners of Memphys Pure Artesian Water. It’s canned water, as the label states, “Sourced From the Memphis Sands Aquifer.”
“We have some of the sweetest water in the world,” Simon says.
And the cans — with the Hernando de Soto Bridge and the Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid depicted on the label — re ect the owners’ love of the city.
e label also includes the Psalm 23:2 Bible verse, which reads in part: “He leads me beside the still waters.”
“ e quality of our water is unique and abundant,” Smith says. “It’s one of the most precious things we have as far as the city of Memphis.”
As for putting the water in a can, Simon says, “God made the water. It’s not really about us. God made the rain, the sand, the aquifer, all of that. We’re just vessels.”
Simon and Smith believe they’re the rst to put pure still Memphis water in a can. ey know of another company that uses a carbonated version of Memphis water.
Simon adds, “Someone in the early 1900s put it in glass bottles. But in modern times, nobody canned and distributed Memphis water as commercial water, as far as I know.”
Other commercial water brands, including Fiji and Saratoga, are named a er speci c places. ey believe Memphis water “can hold that same place on the shelf and space in people’s hearts and minds,” Simon says.
ey originally named their water “Memphus,” but, Smith says, “We saw someone had another company called ‘Memphus.’ We didn’t know about the clothing brand.”
eir mascot is “Memphys Mane,” a Memphys can with face and legs. “He embodies Memphis,” Simon says.
e idea to start selling Memphis water began when Smith and Simon were just shooting the breeze. “Me and Jack were on the phone one night talking about Memphis history and the culture of the city,” Smith says. “I remembered I had one video where I found the location of the Sheahan Water [Pumping] Station.”
Smith posts videos of “nostalgic memories” on his Facebook and Instagram media channel, Memphis Forgotten, which showcases Memphis history. He posted one about the Sheahan Water Pumping Station on Grandview Avenue, near the University of Memphis. e 1930s-era
water pumping station is “one of the most requested places for tours.”
e video “went crazy with people” a er he posted it. “It resonated very well. It was an educational opportunity to see how impactful water was.”
It also resonated deeply with Smith and Simon. “Born and raised in Memphis, I knew this water is special,” Smith says. “It needs to be commercialized and put out to the people.”
ey discovered it was okay to can or bottle Memphis water as long as they complied with the regulations of the FDA and the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, Smith says. “Once we got that out of the way, the sky was the limit. e city allows us to sell the water as much as we can.”
Smith and Simon met during freshman orientation in 2008 in the old Richardson Towers at the University of Memphis.
In 2016 they started “Mad Paper Coaching,” an online coaching platform, which they still operate. e real estate/self development course teaches people “how to ip houses with little or no money,”
Simon says.
It also teaches people how to understand “the power of their mind,” he says. “Not only in business, but in life.”
“We’ve been doing it for years and helped thousands of people,” Smith says.
Smith was intrigued with Memphis water the rst time he heard the word “artesian” associated with it. at means the water was “naturally ltered for years.”
ey went “down a big rabbit hole of history” a er they discovered the “Artesian Water” marker on Je erson Avenue near Danny omas Boulevard, Smith says. e marker reads: “In 1887, the
Bohlen-Huse Ice Co. struck, at a depth of 354 feet, artesian water of such purity and abundance it immediately became the city supply, one of the country’s nest. In 1903, the wells became municipally owned.”
Smith and Simon went online and tried to nd other resources where they could learn about Memphis water.
According to U of M’s Center for Applied Earth Science and Engineering Research (CAESER), “ e Memphis aquifer (also known as Sparta aquifer or Memphis Sand) is the primary water supply, with some wells pumping from the deeper Fort Pillow aquifer.”
And, it says, “Most water pumped from the Memphis aquifer is over 2,000 years old with low levels of impurities.”
ey decided to go full force with their water business. “We put the vision on paper so people could see what we’re doing,” Simon says: “We created one or two prototype cans.”
ey got good feedback, so they bought a canning machine and went to work.
eir cans don’t have any plastic in them, Simon says. at includes BPA plastic protectors, which are found in most plastic bottles.
Simon and Smith currently work out of a commercial kitchen, where they are capable of producing more than 2,000 cans in eight hours.
ey don’t have any employees. “Friends are helping us,” Smith says.
Smoker’s Outlet on Main Street was the rst business to carry their water a er they got the bar code on the cans, Simon says. A er getting that order, Simon and Smith walked out of the store to take photographs of the can. Someone on the street saw them and asked where he could buy their canned water, Simon says.
at was last May. “Slowly but surely
word got out. e Smoker’s Outlet owner said, ‘Hey, I need more. I need more.’” Smith and Simon got Memphys endorsements from Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau president/CEO Kevin Kane, Zach “Z-BO” Randolph, Penny Hardaway, Al Kapone, Kingpin Skinny Pimp, Project Pat, 8Ball & MJG, and Lil Wyte. “We were blessed to get local support from local legends of Memphis,” Simon says. “Lil Wyte loved it. When he saw it he said, ‘Goldarn it. Somebody took my idea.’”
Lil Wyte drank a can on stage at his show at last May’s Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, he says.
Memphys water is now in 50 locations, including Maciel’s Tortas & Tacos, Sweet Noshings, and Wet Willie’s. ey want to eventually sell Memphys water all over the world, Simon says. But, for now, he says, “We want to be the number-one premium canned water beverage brand in America.” Simon and Smith hold other jobs. Simon is the owner of Platforms and Trafc, a website development and marketing company. And Smith is a real estate investor.
But they hit the streets every day with their water to “keep up with the demand,” Smith says. “My wife tells me all the time, ‘Don’t forget me. I still exist.’ e water has consumed our lives.”
People always ask if they’re going to use up Memphis water with their canned water business. e answer is “no,” Simon says. ey use less water daily than a laundromat uses, he says. “ ere’s over 100 trillion gallons of water in the aquifer. e only time to be scared and alarmed is if it were to stop raining. If it stops raining, we might have a problem.”
Visit memphyswater.com to learn more.
PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE
Riaco Smith and Jack Simon
Twin Eclipses
September makes us think of fall and cooler weather.
For some, it’s the beginning of spooky season. is year, it’s also the month of eclipses, with both a solar and lunar eclipse occurring. Neither of the eclipses are going to be visible to us, or anyone else in North America, but that doesn’t mean we won’t feel their energy. Any time a major astrological event happens in the world, its energies can be felt (and used) by everyone.
e rst this month is a total lunar eclipse on September 7th. A lunar eclipse happens when Earth is directly between the moon and sun. Earth blocks light coming from the sun, casting a shadow on the moon. e shadow makes the moon appear much dimmer and sometimes turns the lunar surface a striking red. e moon appears red because the light illuminating it must pass through Earth’s atmosphere, which scatters blue light and bends (or refracts) red light toward the moon, creating a “blood moon” e ect.
PHOTO: ROBERT JAY GABANY CREATIVE COMMONS | WIKIMEDIA
Spiritually, a lunar eclipse is a time of intense energy, especially for emotional release, transformation, and letting go of what no longer serves you. It’s a period for introspection, where hidden emotions and subconscious patterns may surface, prompting you to examine your life and make necessary changes. A lunar eclipse ampli es the energy of the full moon, which is already associated with release and completion. It’s a time to confront and release deep-seated wounds, negative patterns, and anything you’ve outgrown. ink of it as a cosmic reset button for your emotional cycle. A total lunar eclipse — where the sun, moon, and Earth align perfectly — is considered a particularly potent time for spiritual growth. is alignment can symbolize a powerful shi in energy, encouraging you to embrace change and step into your destiny.
As if a total lunar eclipse isn’t enough to jolt us into action, it’s followed by a partial solar eclipse, happening just before the autumnal equinox. All eclipses, whether solar or lunar, partial or total, are times of transformation. ey are liminal times where we nd ourselves in between dark and light, and liminal spaces and times are regarded by cultures around the world as being potent with magical energy.
On September 21st, a partial solar eclipse will happen. A solar eclipse is o en thought of as a time of change. e movement of the moon between the Earth and the sun is something that does not happen o en, and spiritually is thought to catalyze change. e energy of a solar eclipse is believed to accelerate events, bringing to the surface issues that have been simmering and demanding attention and action.
Part of the eclipse’s properties of transformation come from the fact that the usual cycle and movement of the planets is disrupted. e obscuring of the sun’s light can symbolize a break in routine. In astrology, a solar eclipse is sometimes viewed as a powerful time for new beginnings. e eclipse is seen as a doorway to signi cant life changes, o ering opportunities to reset, rethink, and start fresh. e blocking of the sun, a symbol of light and clarity, invites introspection and encourages individuals to look inward, reassess their paths, and make substantial changes. is partial solar eclipse is happening right before the fall equinox. Although they are distinct celestial events, the two share several meaningful commonalities — both astronomically and symbolically. Both events occur along the ecliptic, the apparent path the sun takes through the sky. Eclipses happen when the moon crosses this path at a node, and equinoxes mark the sun’s crossing of the celestial equator — also part of the ecliptic system. Both events involve the sun in a signi cant way — eclipses obscure it, while equinoxes mark its balanced position in the sky.
ey’re both moments when we’re invited to re ect on our relationship with light, shadow, and time.
Many spiritual traditions use both eclipses and equinoxes for ritual work, intention-setting, and energetic recalibration. ey’re seen as potent times to release, realign, and renew. e equinox invites balance; the eclipse reveals what’s hidden. Together, they o er a powerful metaphor for seeing clearly and integrating our shadow selves.
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.
By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication
Repeat Offender
In August 2023, News of the Weird reported the arrest of Calese Carron Crowder of Glendale, California, for the unusual fetish of butt-sniffing. Now he’s back in the news: According to KTLA-TV, Crowder was arrested on July 22 at a Walmart in Burbank after he crouched behind a woman at Nordstrom Rack and “inappropriately sniff[ed] her buttocks.” Crowder, who’s a frequent flyer with Los Angeles County, was on active parole for his previous offenses and had his bail set at $100,000. “He needs to be put away for good,” said one alleged victim. [KTLA, 7/25/2025]
Animal Antics
• Visitors to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming responded in a surprising way to a wily fox nicknamed the Sneaker Snatcher, The New York Times reported on July 17. The National Park Service posted “wanted” signs to warn campers that a fox was stealing shoes from campsites, but as the total number of shoes ballooned to 32, park staff realized people were intentionally leaving their footwear accessible to the four-legged Jesse James — “just in case he visits.” A video posted to Instagram pleads with visitors: “Don’t bait wildlife with belongings. Feeding or encouraging wildlife can put animals at risk,” the park advised. [ NY Times , 7/17/2025]
• Early on July 26, as Katherine Vanbuskirk let her dogs out on her deck in Somerville, Massachusetts, a raccoon jumped at her, clawing her face and scratching her arms as she tried to fight it off, WFXT-TV reported. Vanbuskirk was able to get away from the raccoon and close her deck door, and she called 911. “I just encountered a monster,” she said. “All I could do was scream, ‘Help me! Help me!’” She was treated with antibiotics and rabies shots at the hospital. [WFXT, 7/28/2025]
Bright Idea
In an unlikely brand extension, Coors Brewing Co. is pitching Dura Chill, an underarm deodorant that should be refrigerated before application, KDVR-TV reported on July 29. The limited-edition hygiene product is said to smell like the breezes of the
Rocky Mountains. “Coors Light is all about helping people ‘Choose Chill,’” said Marcelo Pascoa, vice president of marketing for the brand. “Dura Chill is like giving your underarms their own ice-cold beer.” The deodorant, available on the company’s website, sells for $14.99 and is limited to two per household. [KDVR, 7/29/2025]
Please Remain Calm
At the Savannah River Site nuclear facility in Aiken, South Carolina, a team found a nest of wasps near a tank on July 3, WCVB-TV reported on July 30. The nest was sprayed, then checked for radioactivity, reading at 100,000 dpm — about 10 times the level of radiation allowed by federal regulations. The nest was bagged as radiological waste, and officials said the surrounding area was uncontaminated. The Savannah River Site became an EPA Superfund site in 1989 and no longer has functioning reactors. [WCVB, 7/30/2025]
The Tech Revolution CBS News reported on July 25 that an unnamed man in Argentina won a court appeal against Google for “harm to his dignity” after the company’s Street View camera captured him walking around his yard naked. The dispute began in 2017, when the man and his house, with the house number clearly visible, were posted to Google’s system. He said the images exposed him to ridicule at work and among his neighbors. A lower court ruled against him, saying he was “walking around in inappropriate conditions in the garden of his home,” but appeals judges disagreed and awarded him about $12,500. “The invasion of privacy is blatant,” they wrote. [CBS News, 7/25/2025]
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Austin Curtis was a prominent Black scientist whose work had spectacularly practical applications. Among his successes: He developed many new uses for peanut byproducts, including rubbing oils for pain relief. His work exploited the untapped potential of materials that others neglected or discarded. I urge you to adopt a similar strategy in the coming weeks, Aries: Be imaginative as you repurpose scraps and leftovers. Convert afterthoughts into useful assets. Breakthroughs could come from compost heaps, forgotten files, or half-forgotten ideas. You have the power to find value where others see junk.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In Polynesian navigation, sailors read the subtle rise and fall of ocean swells to find islands and chart their course. They also observe birds, winds, stars, and cloud formations. The technique is called wayfinding. I invite you to adopt your own version of that strategy, Taurus. Trust waves and weather rather than maps. Authorize your body to sense the future in ways that your brain can’t. Rely more fully on what you see and sense rather than what you think. Are you willing to dwell in the not-knowingness? Maybe go even further: Be excited about dwelling in the not-knowingness. Don’t get fixated on plotting the whole journey. Instead, assume that each day’s signs will bring you the information you need.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The umbrella thorn acacia is an African tree whose roots grow up to 115 feet deep to tap hidden water beneath the desert floor. Above ground, it may look like a scraggly cluster of green, but underground it is a masterpiece of reach and survival. I see you as having resemblances to this tree these days, Gemini. Others may only see your surface gestures and your visible productivity. But you know how deep your roots run and how far you are reaching to nourish yourself. Don’t underestimate the power of your attunement to your core. Draw all you need from that primal reservoir.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): To make a tabla drum sing, the artisan adds a black patch of iron filings and starch at the center of the drumhead. Called a syahi, it creates complex overtones and allows the musician to summon both pitch and rhythm from the same surface. Let’s imagine, Cancerian, that you will be like that drum in the coming weeks. A spot that superficially looks out of place may actually be what gives your life its music. Your unique resonance will come not in spite of your idiosyncratic pressure points, but because of them. So don’t aim for sterile perfection. Embrace the irregularity that sings.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): There’s a Zen
By Rob Brezsny
motto: “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” I hope you apply that wisdom in the coming weeks, Leo. Your breakthrough moments of insight have come or will come soon. But your next move should not consist of being selfsatisfied or inert. Instead, I hope you seek integration. Translate your innovations into your daily rhythm. Turn the happy accidents into enduring improvements. The progress that comes next won’t be as flashy or visible, but it’ll be just as crucial.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In Japanese haiku, poets may reference the lingering scent of flowers as a metaphor for a trace of something vivid that continues to be evocative after the event has passed. I suspect you understand this quite well right now. You are living in such an after-scent. A situation, encounter, or vision seems to have ended, but its echo is inviting you to remain attentive. Here’s my advice: Keep basking in the reverberations. Let your understandings and feelings continue to evolve. Your assignment is to allow the original experience to complete its transmission. The full blossoming needs more time to unfold.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the Australian desert, there’s a phenomenon called desert varnish. It’s a thin, dark coating of clay, iron, and manganese oxides. It forms over rocks due to microbial activity and prolonged exposure to wind and sun. Over time, these surfaces become canvases for Indigenous artists to create images. I like to think of their work as storytelling etched into endurance. In the coming weeks, Scorpio, consider using this marvel as a metaphor. Be alert for the markings of your own epic myth as they appear on the surfaces of your life. Summon an intention to express the motifs of your heroic story in creative ways. Show the world the wisdom you have gathered during your long, strange wanderings.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): In Indigenous Australian lore, the Dreamtime is a parallel dimension overlapping the material world, always present and accessible through ritual and listening. Virtually all Indigenous cultures throughout history have conceived of and interacted with comparable realms. If you are open to the possibility, you now have an enhanced capacity to draw sustenance from this otherworld. I encourage you to go in quest of help and healing that may only be available there. Pay close attention to your dreams. Ask your meditations to give you long glimpses of the hidden magic.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Saturn is your ruling planet and archetype. In the old myth of the god Saturn, he rules time, which is not an enemy but a harvester. He gathers what has ripened. I believe the
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The Gross National Product (GNP) is a standard of economic success by which countries gauge their health. It reflects the world’s obsession with material wealth. But the Buddhist nation of Bhutan has a different accounting system: Gross National Happiness (GNH). It includes factors like the preservation of the environment, enrichment of the culture, and quality of governance. Here’s an example of how Bhutan has raised its GNH. Its scenic beauty could generate a huge tourist industry. But strict limits have been placed on the number of foreign visitors, ensuring the land won’t be trampled and despoiled. I would love to see you take a similar GNH inventory, Virgo. Tally how well you have loved and been loved. Acknowledge your victories and awakenings. Celebrate the beauty of your life.
coming weeks will feature his metaphorical presence, Capricorn. You are primed to benefit from ripening. You are due to collect the fruits of your labors. This process may not happen in loud or dramatic ways. A relationship may deepen. A skill may get fully integrated. A long-running effort may coalesce. I say it’s time to celebrate! Congratulate yourself for having built with patience and worked through the shadows. Fully register the fact that your labor is love in slow motion.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): In Greek mythology, the constellation Aquarius was linked to a heroic character named Ganymede. The great god Zeus made this beautiful man the cupbearer to the gods. And what drink did Ganymede serve? Ambrosia, the divine drink of immortality. In accordance with astrological omens, I’m inviting you to enjoy a Ganymede-like phase in the coming weeks. Please feel emboldened to dole out your gorgeous uniqueness and weirdness to all who would benefit from it. Let your singular authenticity pour out freely. Be an overflowing source of joie de vivre and the lust for life.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In 1932, trailblazing aviator Amelia Earhart made a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic, steering through icy winds and mechanical trouble. When she landed, she said she had been “too busy” to be scared. This is an excellent motto for you now, Pisces: “too busy to be scared.” Not because you should ignore your feelings, but because immersion in your good work, mission, and devotion will carry you through any momentary turbulence. You now have the power to throw yourself so completely into your purpose that fear becomes a background hum.
FILM By Chris McCoy
Of Divas and Demons
hen Blade Runner was released in the summer of 1982, it presented a fresh view of the far-o future of 2019. Many of the lm’s predictions didn’t come true. Here in 2025, a new life does not await us in the o -world colonies. Replicants don’t roam undetected among natural-born humans, requiring specialized hunterkiller squads. ankfully, we don’t have ying cars.
But there is one prediction from Ridley Scott’s lm that turned out to be spot-on. In the glimpses we get of Los Angeles street life, Asian in uences pervade pop culture. Smiling Japanese faces look down from video billboards. e English alphabet and kanji live side by side on signs. When Rick Deckard is summoned back to the dirty business of replicant retirement, he just wants to nish the ramen noodles he bought from a street vendor. In 1982, this looked exotic. In 2025, it looks normal. Probably the biggest reason Asian cultural in uences are everywhere these days is the incredible popularity of anime. An art teacher friend of mine says she begs her students to try to draw something, anything besides anime characters, but to no avail. With the exception of Pixar, the eld of animation is dominated by Japanese and Korean artists. e highest grossing lm of 2025 is a Chinese animated lm, Ne Zha 2, based on a Chinese myth about a half-human, half-demon hero who must come to terms with his split heritage. ( e Chinese title translates to “ e Demon Boy Churns
the Sea.”)
Taylor Swi might dominate American music charts, but South Korean pop music — K-pop — has been making major inroads with young music fans for a decade. Motown at the height of its ’60s hitmaking power could only dream of a machine as e cient and pervasive as the K-pop ecosystem. ere are even hints of Elvis in K-pop, as young heartthrobs’ careers stall out when they get called up to South Korea’s mandatory military service.
So when a movie called KPop Demon Hunters becomes the most-watched lm in Net ix history, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise. What should come as a surprise is that it was produced by a team from North America. Writer/director Maggie Kang grew up in Toronto, Canada. Co-director Chris Appelhans is from Idaho. e Sony Pictures Animation shop which produced the lm is headquartered on Wilshire Boulevard
in sunny, replicant-free Los Angeles. But the lm’s soul is pure Seoul. e Snakes on a Plane-esque title tells it all. is is a story about a K-pop trio called Huntr/x who live secret lives protecting the human world from the demonic minions of Gwi-Ma (voiced by Lee Byung-hun). eir leader Rumi (Arden Cho) is a second-generation K-pop idol. Her late mother was also secretly a demon hunter, but she had a secret lover who was, you guessed it, a demon. Rumi keeps her secret from her bandmates, Mira (May Hong) and Zoey (Ji-young Yoo), as they split their time between chasing supernatural threats and wowing sold-out crowds with their lightweight pop hooks. e girls live and work together in a hip, high-tech apartment, like the Beatles in Help. But being on top is hard work, and they’re looking forward to zoning out on the couch a er a whirlwind world tour and a hard day of sending demons back to hell. But
there’s one more item on the agenda: releasing their newest, and best song “Golden” to the adoring fans.
Gwi-Ma asks his demons, “Who will rid me of these troublesome pop idols?” Jinu (Ahn Hyo-seop) answers the call with a radical pitch. Who better to best the perfect pop idols than an irresistible, androgynous boy band? e black-clad hellspawn transform into the Saja Boys, who immediately set about ruining Huntr/x’s vacay.
I don’t think it’s a spoiler to tell you that Rumi and Jinu fall for each other despite themselves, and the rest of the story is about the star-crossed lovers trying to reconcile their feelings for each other with their temporal and supernatural duties. Along the way, there are lots and lots of songs delivered to arenas full of screaming fans. e animation is top-notch. ere are obvious anime in uences, but Kang and Appelhans’ veteran crew carve out a distinctive style all their own. e action sequences play as dance pieces, while the musical performances build and release tension like battles. e breakneck pace ts a lot of incident into 100 minutes, not overstaying its welcome. e number-one priority is fun — which also explains the worldwide appeal of K-pop itself. It looks fresh and new and maybe even a little radical, but at its heart, KPop Demon Hunters is just a backstage musical like Gold Diggers of 1933. Hey, if ain’t broke, don’t x it.
KPop Demon Hunters is streaming
on Net ix.
KPop Demon Hunters is just a backstage musical like Gold Diggers of 1933.
Our critic picks the best films in theaters.
The Conjuring: Last Rites
The paranormal exploits of Ed and Lorraine Warren continue in this ninth installment of the $2 billion horror franchise. In this installment, Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed (Patrick Wilson) are faced with a specter from their past. Can they finally defeat the only demon which evaded their exorcism?
Hamilton
For the 10th anniversary of its debut, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s epoch-defining musical is finally hitting the big screen. Originally shown on Disney+ during the pandemic, this filmed version features the original cast in one of its final performances of 2016 at the Richard
Rodgers Theatre on Broadway. Miranda stars as Alexander Hamilton, one of the most enigmatic of the Founding Fathers — George Washington’s right-hand man and the brains behind the Treasury, who was killed in a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. Don’t throw away your shot to see it on the big screen with an audience.
Splitsville
Modern love can be complicated. Carey (Kyle Marvin) and Julie (Dakota Johnson) are getting a divorce. Their best friends Paul (Michael Angelo Covino, who also writes and directs the film) and Ashley (Adria Arjona) are in an open relationship. But their commitment to openness is challenged when Carey and Ashley hook up. Sexy hijinks ensue.
THE LAST WORD
By Patricia Lockhart
Girl Chores
A monthly mom and daughter day.
I’m a mom of four: an 11-year-old girl, twin 13-year-old boys, and a 17-year-old boy. at’s three boys and one girl. Including my husband, the ratio of male to female is 4:2. My daughter and I are outnumbered, and sometimes we need a little girl time.
Several people have told me, “Enjoy her while it lasts because once she becomes a teen, she’s going to hate you!” Or, “It’s nice now, but just wait.” I don’t know what the future holds or what her high school years will look like, but I’m determined to be part of them. So once a month we go out and do “girl chores.” is name came about by accident.
Girl chores are an excuse for a good time.
One day, Eve and I were sneaking out of the house — because sometimes there’s just too much testosterone! — when my husband texted while we were pulling out of the driveway and asked, “Where are you two going?” I swi ly replied, “Oh, nowhere really … just out to run a few errands … do a few girl chores.” And we proceeded to do the best chores ever! Cra ing, makeup, food, and books. Now it’s our monthly escape, just a few chores here and there around the city.
Sewing Club at the MPL
My daughter and I are both part of the Raleigh Library Sewing Club. We’ve been sewing for a little over a year. While I always play it safe making cute little bags, my daughter is more adventurous. She takes her clothes and alters them. Her latest creation is a pair of laced bell-bottom pants. She has been growing like a weed, straight up to the sky. To avoid ridicule for wearing ankle-beaters, she added lace to the bottom. Cute! Now she’s really into thri ing and doing the cutest alterations to her clothes.
While we sew, we chat about the latest fashions, and I show her my Pinterest page of bags and clothes I’d like to sew once I’m brave enough. She encourages me to just try. She’s able to do this and more at the Raleigh Library because they have sewing machines for the public to use! (I know you’re probably tired of me telling y’all how awesome our libraries are, but they’re amazing!)
Novel Bookstore
A er sewing club, we head to Novel. We’re both avid readers. We roam the shelves looking for our next read. I can enjoy any genre, except romance. If I’m gonna read one, it must be spicy and sci- or thriller-adjacent. My daughter used to be a big fan of graphic novels. She’s read all the e Baby-Sitters Club books, the entire Nat Enough series, and every book by Raina Telgemeier. She would nish one in a day. A er being pushed into di erent genres by summer reading requirements, she discovered she enjoys realistic ction. She read e Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty and was hooked.
Recently, she’s been diving into romance! So her book selection, e Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, was a no-brainer. And the fact that it’s also a TV show? Bonus! No wonder it’s such a popular book for teens.
And since we’re already at Novel, we might as well read a little and get something to drink. I grab a house red (of course) and she grabs a lemonade. We read a few pages and spend the rest of the time talking to each other. We talk about school, work, friends, crushes, goals, concerns, and a little bit more.
Kukuruku Crispy Chicken
A er drinks, we craved crispy fried chicken. (We know we could have eaten at Libro’s, but we wanted some FRIED, fried chicken.) We drove to Kukuruku Crispy Chicken on Poplar Avenue. We marveled at how di erent the place looks now that it’s no longer part of Lucchesi’s Beer Garden. Nevertheless, we were greeted with a friendly smile. I ordered the twopiece with gravy and she ordered chicken tenders with fries. Each combo also came with a drink and a cookie. e chicken is fried fresh! So if you’re looking for something quick, it’s best to call ahead.
e chicken was perfectly crispy. e skin! LAWD! So good! I dipped my chicken in gravy (as any normal Memphian does) and did my happy dance. Eve enjoyed her meal too and even tried several of the sauces they o ered.
A erward, we went to Ulta to combat the “itis.” at’s when you eat a good meal and immediately get sleepy. We purchased a few things to add to our face care routine and concluded our “chores.”
I look forward to this time together every month. Doing girl chores with my daughter is amazing!
Patricia Lockhart is a native Memphian who loves to read, write, cook, and eat. By day, she’s an assistant principal and writer, but by night … she’s asleep.
