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THE MEMPHIS FLYER is published weekly by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101 Phone: (901) 521-9000 Fax: (901) 521-0129 memphisflyer.com
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Chief Executive O cer
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La Comida Cubana — With a Memphis Twist
PHOTO:
THE fly-by
{WEEK THAT WAS
By Flyer staff
Memphis on the internet.
TODD SNIDER
WEVL remembered Todd Snider this weekend in a Facebook post, following his abrupt death last week. Snider launched his music career in Memphis a er moving here around 1989-1990.
His rst album, Songs for the Daily Planet, was an homage to the university-area bar where he o en played. He’d o en tell a story from the stage about nding a gig in the pages of the Memphis Flyer. An early song, “Moon Dawg’s Tavern,” was about a bar in Frayser.
WEVL said Snider made his radio debut on the station’s “Memphis Beat” show and appeared regularly on many others. He said WEVL was family to him when he moved to Memphis and promised to never forget it. He didn’t.
“Todd made good on that promise in 2023 with a fundraiser that went down as one the station’s most memorable concerts ever,” WEVL said in the post.
Mempho Presents recalled working with Snider, who played Memphis o en. e city was a regular stop during his solo acoustic tours, playing at Crosstown Arts and Minglewood Hall. He also played Mempho Music Festival in 2017 as the singer for supergroup, e Hardworking Americans.
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
Overton Park, Troopers, & Grift
A new trail, the task force creates law enforcement gaps, and the mayor of Martin indicted.
NEW TRAIL, OLD FOREST
For the rst time in nearly 40 years, there are gaps in that fence in Overton Park’s Old Forest, and the public is welcome to walk through them to a new half-mile walking trail.
Leaders and park friends gathered last week to o cially open the trail and that part of the park. e event marked the rst time the public was welcome there since the 1980s.
MEMPHIS SURGE LEAVES TROOPER GAP
Tennessee’s Department of Safety & Homeland Security is asking for more than 100 state troopers, in part to ll in patrol gaps le open because of a law enforcement surge in Memphis.
Deployment of hundreds of Tennessee Highway Patrol o cers to be part of a federal and state law enforcement task force has le patrol gaps in other parts of the state.
Safety Commissioner Je Long made a request for $43.5 million to fund 139 positions for Highway Patrol o cers, supervisors, and support sta during budget hearings with Governor Bill Lee. Nearly 120 of those would be state troopers.
e personnel increase would make up more than half of Long’s overall budget increase of $84.2 million, which includes $19.7 million for a department “market adjustment” to cover in ation.
e department has 300 troopers working in Shelby County, roughly 100 per shi , as part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, a combination of local, state, and federal forces, including the Tennessee National Guard, which is the subject of a lawsuit.
e buildup could last for a year, although Lee has said he believes it could continue in some form “forever.”
Tennessee has more than 1,000 highway patrol o cers and shi ed about 25 percent of them to the Memphis buildup from other parts of the state. Troopers are being rotated in and out of Memphis and some adjustments will be made, Long added, but other counties are le to ll in for those working in Shelby County.
CROSSTOWN COWORK
Crosstown Concourse will add a coworking space this spring. Renovation work has begun on the new space, to be called Crosstown CoWork. It will be located on the second oor next to Crosstown Arts, at the top of the red, spiral
Facility o cials called the space “a new, exible workspace designed for small businesses, freelancers, remote workers, and entrepreneurs who want to be part of the dynamic Concourse community.”
FATAL ROAD CRASHES
Law enforcement, advocacy groups, and local government came together to remember victims of road tra c accidents, while also highlighting e orts to improve street safety.
Street Fair and William’s Walk hosted the second annual World Day of Remembrance for Road Tra c Victims last weekend. Memphis reported 188 road fatalities with 350 crashes, earning the city the highest fatal crash rate in the nation in 2024.
MARTIN OFFICIALS INDICTED
An investigation by the Tennessee State Comptroller of the Treasury found that Martin Mayor Randal “Randy” Brundige, his daughter Natalie Brundige, and Bradley “Brad” Thompson, the city’s full-time director of economic and community development, scammed taxpayers there for high-end travel, getting paid for work not done, and a consulting fee scheme. For these, Mayor Brundige faces 10 charges, Thompson faces six, and Natalie Brundige faces two.
Tennessee Lookout contributed to this report. Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
staircase.
PHOTO: COURTESY JOHN PARTIPILO | TENNESSEE LOOKOUT
Tenant Union Grows {
CITY REPORTER
By Kailynn Johnson
More than 160 people have come together to launch what is touted as the largest tenant union in the city, hoping to ensure safe and equitable housing conditions at Memphis Towers.
e Memphis Tenants Union announced its intention to ght for “critical improvements” to their residential area.
Alex Uhlmann, co-director of the union, said the organization has worked at Memphis Towers since 2021 and has been able to secure a number of victories for residents, including water boilers, 24-hour security, a renovated community room, and more.
e union also played a major role in removing the building’s previous owner, Millenia.
“With a union you have power,” Uhlmann said. “One of the key components with that power is how much of the building is in the union. We believe very strongly that a union has legitimacy if it has a majority of the residents.”
Uhlmann said they have reached that majority with at least 57 percent of peo-
ple living in Memphis Towers belonging to the Memphis Tenants Union. is advantage lets them represent a large number of residents in the property.
“ e power of the union starts in the numbers and the people and activating those people to demand changes they want to see in the building,” Uhlmann said.
Mary Collier, a union member and Memphis Towers resident, lived at the property for 10 years before moving out.
Collier returned to Memphis Towers as she thought it would be a safe place for her to retire in her later years. However, she said it was not the same building she’d previously lived in.
“When I moved back it was like the wild, wild West,” Collier said. “It was completely di erent — I didn’t even recognize the place.”
Collier recalled seeing large bugs upon moving in, saying she had to use Google to identify them.
is prompted her to join the Memphis Tenants Union, which she said helped her and other residents secure changes. Prior to joining the union, Col-
lier said she didn’t feel like her voice was being heard.
“ ank God that we were able to kick out Millenia,” Collier said.
Collier noted the improvements that had been made since the union intervened, and said she and other residents are more con dent in the future of the property.
However, both Collier and Uhlmann said there is still work that needs to be done, such as upgrading the building’s elevators.
According to the union, several residents have reported being trapped in the elevators, a ecting primarily elderly and disabled tenants.
e Memphis Tenants Union is also working on being intentional with contract negotiations regarding lease agreements. Uhlmann said this will guarantee that their changes are upheld by management.
Uhlmann stressed the power of numbers in bargaining as key to transforming housing systems in Memphis.
“We have a housing system that is extremely exploitative,” Uhlmann said. “ ere is an incredible power balance between landlords and tenants.”
e co-director said the answer to this is to have a majority of people on the side of tenants, ghting for improvements.
PHOTO: COURTESY MEMPHIS TOWERS Memphis Towers
Supremes vs. the 9th
The Trump Court could start a process that scuttles a unitary Memphis congressional district.
It is eminently possible that the much-ballyhooed 2026 congressional race between incumbent Steve Cohen and challenger Justin J. Pearson will never come to pass.
How so? It has to do with the Supreme Court’s ongoing consideration of Louisiana v. Callais, a case which, as Cohen himself noted in his October 17th newsletter to constituents, “is challenging the Voting Rights Act regarding majority/minority districts [including] Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District, potentially greenlighting new district lines to dilute the impact of minority voters.”
Especially vulnerable is Section 2 of the 1965 Great Society measure, mandating fair opportunity for minority (i.e. African-American) representation in Congress.
The Court, so notoriously bound to
the wishes of the Trump administration (and presumably its anti-DEI predilection), has already begun hearing evidence in the case and could emerge at any time with a ruling that seriously vitiates or overturns outright the landmark measure.
And such an outcome, if expedited, could enable the Republican supermajority in the Tennessee General Assembly to carve and slice the 9th Congressional District in Memphis as it previously did the 5th District in Nashville, parceling out the severed portions of a historically Democratic district to adjacent GOP-dominated enclaves.
Such an act of gerrymandering could proceed forthwith, following the example of earlier this year, when several states, with a view toward the 2026 elections, undertook ad hoc redistrictings with the hopeful end result of altering Congress’ partisan ratios in their favor.
Should Republicans in the legislature convene their own off-year redistricting session, the Memphis district
could go the way of Nashville’s.
In the state’s regular redistricting after the 2020 census, the General Assembly split the Nashville-based 5th District into portions, allocating substantial parts to Districts 6 and 7 and keeping only a fragment of the city population in a newly splintered 5th. In the end, the reliably Democrat 5th District of Nashville was gone. The three reconfigured districts had heavily Republican majorities, and subsequently all three have reliably sent Republicans to Congress.
It’s easy to imagine Tennessee’s GOP supermajority, in an ad hoc session, going after the 9th District, splitting it up and parceling out portions of it to adjacent, basically rural territories in Covington, Fayette, and other nearby counties.
It’s theoretically possible, if unlikely, that all of this could come to pass in time to affect the 2026 election, specifically by transforming the 9th District from one that’s majority-Black and overwhelmingly Democratic to a
remainder that, with add-on populations, is either Republican-leaning or politically balanced to the point of making the general election, not the Democratic primary, the decisive arena for selecting congressional representation.
In that eventuality, all assumptions regarding candidacies for the new Shelby County-based districts would have to be reevaluated.
Everything depends on the calendar — most immediately in the timing of any potential action by the Supreme Court adverse, as indicated, to the Voting Rights Act.
It’s a sooner-or-later matter. If sooner, before the election of 2026, the makeup of new Memphis-based congressional districts, and the identity of the candidates in them, would certainly be influenced.
If later, post-election, whoever will have been chosen by the voters to serve them in the 9th District will have to face serious partisan challenges for years to come in future elections.
By AJ Kratz
A Changing Landscape
Why today’s retirees may need to plan differently.
The retirement planning landscape is constantly changing, and the strategies of previous generations may not meet the needs of today’s retirees. Following are five forces shaping retirement in recent years that are important to consider as you plan for the future.
1. Longer life expectancies
While an increased lifespan is great news for those of us hoping for a long and happy retirement, it means today’s retirees may need to have enough savings to last for 20 to 30 years — or even longer. It’s now more important than ever to carefully plan for your income needs in retirement, which could mean taking a more long-term approach to saving and investing than retirees from previous generations.
2. Market volatility
While investors with long investing timeframes can stand to weather market volatility, those who plan to retire in times of volatility may have additional challenges to navigate. That’s because market volatility early in retirement can lead to sequence of returns risk. This is the risk of being forced to withdraw from your portfolio during a market downturn (as your investments are losing value) early on in your retirement.
When you’re forced to sell out of equities at a decreased value, you must sell more shares in order to receive a certain amount of assets, which can cause you to drain your retirement savings more quickly. In addition to selling at a loss, you’re also removing assets from the market that could have otherwise been poised to generate growth as the market recovers. To mitigate this risk, it’s important to maintain a diversified portfolio focused on long-term growth.
3. Defined contribution retirement savings
In contrast to previous generations, most of today’s retirees aren’t covered by an employer pension plan. This shift from pensions to defined contribution plans (such as 401(k)s and 403(b)s) is significant because it places the responsibility of saving for retirement firmly on the employee.
Today’s defined contribution plans rely on employees to make contributions from their paychecks to fund their retirement accounts. While employers often offer some type of matching contribution, the employee typically must
contribute a certain salary percentage to receive the match. As these individuals begin to leave the workforce, they’ll need to make sure they have enough retirement savings to support their needs throughout retirement.
4. Nontraditional retirements
Recent shifts in the way people work are also impacting how they retire. Opportunities in the gig economy and flexible work arrangements make it easier than ever to continue to live in a state of semi-retirement. Doing so allows many would-be retirees to continue earning an income while also finding plenty of time for leisure activities, travel, and hobbies. While this shift reflects a growing desire among retirees to continue maintaining a sense of purpose and structure throughout their retirement years, it also reflects the financial reality that many people need to continue working later in life in order to fund their retirement expenses. Many Americans can no longer depend on Social Security and pensions to provide financial security throughout their later years.
5. Technological advancements
More retirees are using technology to help them plan for retirement. Digital apps and online tools can help you manage your savings, investments and healthcare expenses right from your phone or computer. New technology also allows you to interact with your wealth manager, model various retirement and investment scenarios, and track progress toward your financial goals.
This commentary is provided for general information purposes only; should not be construed as investment, tax, or legal advice; and does not constitute an attorney/client relationship. Past performance of any market results is no assurance of future performance. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed.
AJ Kratz, CFA, CFP, is a Private Wealth Manager and Partner with Creative Planning. Creative Planning is one of the nation’s largest registered investment advisory firms, providing comprehensive wealth management services to help align all elements of a client’s financial life, including investments, taxes, estate planning, and risk management. For more information, or to request a free, no-obligation consultation, visit creativeplanning.com.
AT LARGE By Bruce VanWyngarden
Penny-Wise
Change is changing.
Americans will soon say farewell forever to bargains priced at $5.99. Or $19.99. Or $99.99. No longer will we be lured into falling for the longest-running hustle in the retail business: the illusion that, say, $9.99 is somehow a bargain compared to $10. ose days are over, as of last week, when the U.S. Mint stopped making pennies a er 232 years of cranking out the little suckers. ( e more immediate impact of this decision means people will have to start giving you at least a nickel for your thoughts, which seems in ationary, but we’ll see.)
But it’s not just prices that end in the number nine that will disappear. With the penny out of circulation, nothing purchased with cash can be priced with a nal digit of one, two, three, four, six, seven, or eight, either. All prices will have to end in zero or ve. How e cient. How boring.
But never fear, the coin itself will still be with us for quite a while. According to a report from the Mint, the vast majority of pennies produced in recent decades were given out in change by retailers but were never spent, meaning they never went back into circulation; they just piled up in change jars, piggy banks, car consoles, purses, cigar tins, desk drawers, etc. It’s been years since you could actually buy anything for a penny, and that’s why they are everywhere, the monetary equivalent of pocket lint.
“How many pennies are out there?” you may ask. e answer is: tons. Literally. e Mint estimates there are more than 250 billion pennies in existence, which comes out to around 780,000 tons, or 725 pennies for every human being living in the United States. So the next time you hear someone say, “He hasn’t a penny to his name,” they’re probably mistaken.
People who research such things claim that the portrait of Abraham Lincoln on the U.S. penny is the most reproduced piece of art in recorded history. So we’ve got that going for us. But the truth is, while the minting of pennies made cents (heh), it stopped making sense many years ago. at’s because the cost to produce each little copper-clad disc was 3.7 cents, meaning the return on that investment wasn’t worth a plugged nickel — or something to that e ect. And for the record, according to the Mint’s latest annual report, it costs 13.8 cents
to make a nickel, presumably nonplugged, so we’re just throwing good money a er bad. e money-making business is costing us money.
As I write this, I’m struck by the number of common sayings that come to mind that reference money, and it occurs to me that, as the penny goes the way of the dodo, many such phrases could also, er, lose currency, to, uh, coin a phrase.
In 10 years, will anyone know what a “penny-pincher” is? Will people still be able to o er their “two cents’ worth” in a discussion, or will they have to o er a dime? Could someone still be “penny-wise”?
In reality, what we’re seeing is the encroaching demise of all physical currency — and it’s well underway. e great majority of purchases are already being made digitally. With a few keystrokes on your phone or laptop, you can make a utility payment or order a sweater. By tapping a plastic card on a digital portal, you can magically pay for gas or dinner — or just about anything. e change is inevitable. Who among us hasn’t noticed the small sigh given by a salesclerk when you o er them cash for a purchase? Handling money and making change is so … 1999. And don’t tell me you don’t roll your eyes when you get behind someone in line who’s writing a check. Even SNAP bene ts are purchased with a card.
e idea of carrying around a wad of unsanitary bills and a pocket full of grungy change has become less and less appealing, especially for younger people. A Harris Poll taken earlier this month found that 53 percent of Gen Z (ages 13-28) think cash users are “out of touch,” or worse, “cringe.” So change is coming, for better or for worse — and pocket change is leaving. If you listen, you can almost hear a penny drop. Or 250 billion of them.
PHOTO: CRAIG WACTOR
Like You Children’s film Festival
Kids’ films brighten the screens at the Pink Palace this weekend.
COVER STORY
By Chris McCoy
For many Memphians, fall is lm festival season. Since 1998, the Indie Memphis Film Festival has attracted thousands of cinephiles for a long weekend — or sometimes two — of o -the-beaten-path, independently produced lms, some of which turn out to be awards contenders. But this year, thanks to massive cuts to federal and state arts funding, there is no Indie Memphis Film Festival. As behindthe-scenes maneuvering to save the 27-year-old festival continues, one Indie Memphis alum has taken matters into his own hands to produce a new festival with a new focus.
Making Movies for Kids
“I actually remember a turning-point moment that involves you,” says Noah Glenn.
Sitting in Otherlands Co ee Bar with Glenn, my eyes widened in surprise. “A good one, I hope.”
“Yeah, very good. Like, I might not be in this position if it wasn’t for this,” he says. “I became a dad and, you know, that usually means you’re not getting out to the theater as much. is would have been 2015 or so. Twitter was still more of a thing. My rst daughter when she was like 2, we
went to her rst movie. It was Moana I had that 30-something attitude of not having been a parent, not having really engaged with children’s media in a long time. I kind of looked down my nose at kids’ movies. I sent out some kind of sarcastic Tweet, like ‘I haven’t been to the theater in two years and now we’re going to Moana for my 2-year old.’
And you replied like, ‘Yeah, Moana’s really great!’ I went to the lm and I
Noah Glenn founded the new Like You Children’s Film Festival, premiering this weekend.
watched it and I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. It actually is good! Maybe I should take this kind of stu more seriously.’
“Now, I love kids’ lms and family movies. I think there’s a lot of depth to them that people don’t always give
PHOTOS: COURTESY NOAH GLENN Filmmaker
them credit for. And there’s a lot of depth to the young audience. Kids are capable of abstract thought and big ideas. ey don’t need to just have things dumped down in a bright ashy package. ey can engage with interesting, nuanced stories in the same way that anyone can.”
Glenn is a graphic designer and audio engineer who found a place for his lmmaking talents at Indie Memphis. His lms such as 2019’s “Life A er Death” and “ e Devil Will Run” have earned awards at dozens of lm festivals from Arkansas to Athens, Greece. He says he didn’t nd his footing as a lmmaker until a er he became a parent. “ rough being a dad and reengaging, getting on their level, enjoying the things that they enjoy, that really reignited a passion for movies and storytelling in general.
“I started a children’s podcast in 2020, Like You: Mindfulness for Kids at grew out of both my experiences with my kids, but also every other parent I know, things we’re going through with our kids. When you’re a young kid and you’re experiencing big feelings for the rst time, they’re new. You don’t understand them.
are trapped in a storybook world in Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds. (bottom) A father struggles to take his son with Down syndrome to a baseball game in Color Book
understand and process and handle their own emotions, so they may not feel equipped to help guide their kids through these typical feelings.”
Glenn’s podcast attracted the ears of parents all over the globe. “Fi y percent of my audience was outside of the United States. It did really well.”
For Glenn, the success of the podcast was a clarifying moment.
“I’ve really kind of come to de ne all my goals, all my mission,
I want to create, around using creative media to equip kids with tools for emotional growth and mental health — which can sound a little clinical, but really, it’s entertainment rst. It’s creating something that a kid wants to watch, wants to listen to. Because if they don’t want to watch it, your message isn’t going to get there, you know?”
Like You
In 2021, Glenn premiered “Devil Will Run.” e short lm, funded by Indie Memphis’ IndieGrant program, was based on a childhood memory from his collaborator James Dukes, aka IMAKEMADBEATS, the producer who founded Unapologetic records. e short, with an all-kid cast, won Best Hometowner Short Film and the Audience Award at Indie Memphis. It went on to have a long festival run, earning ve more awards in the process. It was especially popular at festivals aimed at children.
“I didn’t know I was making a kids’ lm until it got into children’s lm festivals,” Glenn says. “I had so much fun at those festivals in New York and Seattle and Chicago and Boston, and I thought, why doesn’t Memphis have this?”
Glenn decided to be the change he wanted to see. First, he approached Indie Memphis about partnering with the existing nonpro t to start a new program. But at the time, the a ermath of the 2023 strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild had thrown the lm industry into a period of deep uncertainty. As a result, sponsorships the nonpro t depended on were drying up. en, within weeks of Donald Trump assuming o ce, the grants the organization relied on for basic operating expenses were canceled. The annual film festival was canceled; the organization is currently searching for new leadership and new sources of funding. Glenn would have to start fresh.
“ e Like You Film Club is a new nonpro t that supports the emotional growth and mental wellness of kids through the power of lm,” Glenn says. “ at includes year-round screenings that have conversation, curriculum, and activity supports to pull social-emotional learning lessons out of the lms we’re watching, and then, putting parents in a position to have conversations about the themes
continued on page 14
PHOTO: (BELOW LEFT) KIAH CLINGMAN (le ) Hola Frida! is based on the childhood stories of Frida Kahlo. (below) Children
a er watching a movie at home. So that’s year-round, and then a er the festival we’ll also be working to curate programs that can be played either as eld trips or in school, in libraries, kind of bringing independent shorts out into the community. But the big agship event is an annual festival. e inaugural festival is this November 22nd and 23rd, at the Pink Palace. We’ve got nine feature lms, 88 shorts, three behind-the-scenes presentations, workshops, activities. It’s two days and there are two screens there.
“We’re doing our best to not only create a new experience that is focused on kids and families but also ll that void of Indie Memphis not being here this fall, and just trying to create as much as we can for people of all ages. My opinion is that there’s no reason you can’t make a great lm with a great story that happens to be PG. It’s fun for kids but can be enjoyed just as much by adults.”
Glenn admits that throwing a lm festival in 2025 was not in his original plan. “I was going to work slower at just doing a screening here and there and kind of test it out and then maybe do a festival in 2026. But the loss of Indie Memphis this year spurred me on to do it real quick. I thought, ‘Okay, can I just book a venue and show a handful of lms one day? I think I can make that happen.’ But then the more I started talking to people about it and working on it and watching lms for it, it just kind of kept expanding. It quickly became a lot bigger than I originally anticipated and, you know, in a very positive way.”
Not Just For Kids
e board of directors for the new nonpro t includes Glenn’s collaborator Dukes, as well others with experience in both art and psychology. Once the festival announced a call for lms, they received hundreds of submissions through portals like FilmFreeway. Glenn recruited a volunteer screening committee to nd the right lms for this prospective audience. “One of our board members, Chris Reed, works for Compass Community Schools and does a lot of their social-emotional curriculum. And so we were having conversations about that aspect of features and he was watching and helping pick what we’re playing. And a friend of mine in New Jersey who works in children’s media helped with the programming decisions.”
he says all the work has so far been very rewarding. “It’s a two-day festival that’s really packed full of stu , and it’s been a wonderful experience for me, having been a lmmaker, to be on this side of identifying talent, and nding what’s playing in other cities, and what are they doing in Europe or Japan. Because I’m a dad and it’s a children’s lm festival, it’s been fun to get screeners and round up the family and watch together, so it’s not just, ‘Did I like it?’ but how did they react to it? I found we generally had pretty similar tastes. ere wasn’t like anything that I hated and they loved or the other way around.”
Glenn says the festival features lmmakers from all di erent kinds of backgrounds. “I get the question all the time when people hear ‘children’s lm festival’: Is this lms by kids or is it lms for kids? Primarily, it’s lms for kids and families: professional lms, independent lms. We do have one bloc of kid-made lms [Nov. 22nd, 11:15 a.m., Deep End eater], and several local kids, including my own
appearances at the Tribeca Festival in New York and a Best Narrative Feature win at BendFilm in Oregon. Glenn says the lm speaks to the challenges of parenting. “It’s a beautiful story of a father-son relationship, of a dad raising his son with Down syndrome a er the loss of their wife and mother. He’s trying to take him to his rst baseball game, and just everything that gets in the way of that. It’s a sweet story, and the ethos of it really felt like it t with our focus on kids and families. But it’s not a ‘kids’’ movie.’”
Animation
As you might expect from a children’s lm festival, Like You features lots of animation. e festival kicks o at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 22nd, with a short lm program aptly titled “Saturday Morning Cartoons.” e 15 short animated lms come from all over the globe, beginning with Ottilie Collingridge’s short “Le Château des Chats” about Parisian cats who open their own secret jazz club. e rst animated feature of the weekend comes at noon in the Pink
surreal world as anthropomorphic cat people. Will they nd the mysterious sorceress who can help them nd their way back to the “real world”?
Workshops and Local films
If you’ve got a child who is not just interested in watching lms, but making them, Like You has opportunities for learning. “We’ve got a handful of workshops from local lmmakers,” says Glenn. “I’m teaching one about family lmmaking. IMAKEMADBEATS is doing a session about the emotions of music and how they in uence the emotions of a lm.”
While Glenn admits he was taken o guard by the scope of the endeavor,
daughter, have a lm in there.”
e festival program and lm guide include commentary and guidance on each lm that tell parents what to expect, in terms of content, so they can make decisions about which lms are most appropriate for their charges. ere are no midnight movie screenings at this festival, but there is some more mature fare on o er, such as the Parenthood Spotlight lm, Color Book (Nov. 22nd, 6:30 p.m., Deep End eater). “Our focus is pretty speci cally on families and kids, but I also wanted to make sure we were programming things that any lm lover, anyone who wants to go to a festival in the fall would come to.”
Written and directed by David Fortune, and shot in Atlanta, Color Book has had a popular run on the general festival circuit, including
Palace Giant eater. Hola Frida! is codirected by French-Canadian animators André Kadi and Karine Vézina. e lm tells the story of Frida Kahlo, the celebrated artist whose magical realist self-portraits have attracted legions of fans, as she grows up in the revolutionary Mexico of the 1910s. As a young child, she was the precocious life of the tiny village of Coyoacán. But when she is stricken with polio and con ned to her own bedroom while she recovers, she discovers a whole new world of her colorful imagination, which shows her the way towards a groundbreaking life as an artist. Sirocco and the Kingdom of the Winds (Nov. 22nd, 6:15 p.m., Giant Screen eater) was a hit in France for director Benoît Chieux. Two young sisters nd themselves inexplicably drawn into their favorite children’s book, where they must navigate a
Memphis-based lmmaker Matteo Servante will oversee “Young Filmmakers, Big Stories” (Nov. 23rd, 11 a.m., Discovery eater Workshop) where he walks the class through the steps needed to make their own short lm in 45 minutes. Cloud901’s Amanda Willoughby will dig into the basics of video editing on both smartphones and desktop computers (Nov. 22nd, 2:30 p.m., Discovery eater Workshop). e director’s documentary Shine On: e Story of Tom Lee will screen with director andi Kai’s doc Blu City Chinese and Glenn’s “ e Devil Will Run” on Nov. 23rd at 4:45 p.m. in the Deep End eater. In the Pink Palace’s Activity Station Room, kids can get hands-on demonstrations in stop-motion animation. “Sean Winfrey works at St. Jude in their Maker Space, doing stop-motion videos with kids and their families. ere will be three lms by St. Jude patients and their families, stopmotion projects, that are included in the kids’ bloc. Sean will also be in the interactivity space for a few hours each day with his stop-motion stu set up for people to drop in and play around with and experiment with making their own stop-motion,” says Glenn.
New York Times bestselling authors Brad and Kristi Montague will host a story time on Nov. 22nd at 10:30 a.m. in the Discovery eater. e authors of e Circles All Around Us and e Fantastic Bureau of Imagination will share a sneak peek of their new book, e Daily Wow! Brad Montague will also share some behind-the-scenes videos and discuss the inspiration behind his new YouTube show Zip and the Tiny Sprouts
e Like You Children’s Film Festival runs Saturday, Nov. 22nd, and Sunday, Nov. 23rd, at the Pink Palace Museum & Mansion. For more information, a complete schedule, and tickets, visit likeyou lmclub.org.
For more information on lms appearing in the festival, turn to the Film column on page 28.
Bryce Christian ompson stars as Shah in “ e Devil Will Run.”
Saturday, November 29th, 2025, 12 noon – 7:pm South Main (409 S Main —> GE Patterson) Christmas Tree Lighting: 5:10pm • Holiday Market 12 noon – 5:00pm Santa 12:30–5:00pm • Golf Cart Parade 2:30pm Holiday Street Party 5:30–7:00pm $ 1 . 2 M I L L I O N $ 1 . 2 M I L L I O N
CASHING
THRU THE
DRAWINGS EVERY SATURDAY 7PM-10PM DRAWINGS EVERY SATURDAY 7PM-10PM $40,000 CASH on Dec. 30 $40,000 CASH on Dec. 30
Elisabeth Von Trapp is a remarkable musician. She’s also the granddaughter of the Maria Von Trapp, of SOUND OF MUSIC fame. Her one of a kind concert, ranges from secular to pop to Sound of Music & Holiday tunes. Audiences will leave BPACC with a warm glow in their hearts.
steppin’ out
We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews
In a Stitch
By Abigail Morici
e Memphis Brooks Museum of Art’s latest exhibit honors Black Southern quilters. Having originated at the Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) in Jackson, Mississippi, “Of Salt and Spirit: Black Quilters in the American South” will feature highlights from MMA’s and American photographer and collector Roland L. Freeman’s collection of handmade and machine-stitched quilts.
As a documentarian, Freeman recognized these quilters as artists. “He was working in a context where a lot of Black women quilters were not appropriately identi ed or given credit for the work that they were doing,” says Brooks’ chief curator Patricia Daigle.
Overlooked due to race, gender, and class, these makers and their quilts had been le to the wayside, their art unrecognized as such for decades. “Quilts aren’t typically shown as o en as the traditional style of paintings or sculptures are in the museum setting,” site curator Kristin Pedrozo explains. “It is a cra form, and it is one of those cra forms that are extremely labor-intensive and have a lot of intentionality behind them, and are, on all levels, a form of artistry.”
For this show, each maker or each community that’s made a quilt has been accounted for, and each of the 17 quilts is proudly displayed as art, allowed to take up space.
“Quilts get passed down, so there’s this really beautiful generational handing-down of these objects. But I think they can also be appreciated as works of art,” Daigle says, “and I think the public and the museum-goers and the museum world are coming to the realization that there’s a great deal of skill and artistry that goes into cra ing and making these objects, just like you would any other art form. But it really does open up potential for so many stories to be shared as well. As a medium, inherently, it can really tap into a lot of really rich stories — family stories, history, civil rights.”
“Our iteration of this exhibition … [also] ties it back to our Memphis community,” Pedrozo says. “Memphis is de nitely no stranger to [the quilting] tradition.”
Indeed, among those 17 quilters on display is the late Memphian Mayfair “Mary” Matthews. “On of my memories of my mom is hearing her say she wanted to become a big-time artist,” says her daughter Rosemary Marr. “ is is her being a big-time artist.”
“Of Salt & Spirit” also includes interactive activities including the opportunity to share images of your own family quilts and to participate in the making of a communal quilt.
“OF SALT & SPIRIT: BLACK QUILTERS IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH,”
THROUGH JANUARY 4.
VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES November 20th - 26th
Crosstown Arts Film Series: Tav Falco’s e Urania Trilogy Crosstown eater, 1350 Concourse Avenue, ursday, November 20, 7 p.m., $20/advance, $25/at the door Alex Greene and the Rolling Head Orchestra, Memphis’ most adept practitioners of the cinematic live score, join forces with the great Tav Falco to interpret his lmic troika, e Urania Trilogy. Shot in Austria, the semi-silent lm was “made for those hungry to submerge themselves in Orphic mysteries. … It explores myth, memory, and identity through dreamlike structures — evoking shi ing realities where the past overtakes the present, and the present overtakes the past, while already hurling itself into the future.”
Purchase tickets at crosstownarts.org.
NutRemix
Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, 255 North Main Street, Friday, November 21, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, November 22, 5:30 p.m. | Sunday, November 23, 2:30 p.m, $34-$63
Pulling elements from Tchaikovsky’s e Nutcracker, at the heart of NutRemix lies New Ballet’s mission: pushing artistic horizons and making dance accessible to all.
e Memphis Symphony Orchestra and the Memphis Jazz Workshop breathe life into classics by Duke Ellington, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, and also perform a remixed classical Tchaikovsky score. Dynamic choreography weaves a rich tapestry of cultural in uences, including hip-hop, Memphis jookin, Spanish dance, and West African dance and drumming.
Purchase tickets at newballet.org/nutremix.
& Juliet
Orpheum eatre, 203 South Main Street, Tuesday-Sunday, November 25-30, $52.65-$157.40
Created by the Emmy-winning writer from Schitt’s Creek, this hilarious new musical ips the script on the greatest love story ever told. & Juliet asks: What would happen next if Juliet didn’t end it all over Romeo? Get whisked away on a fabulous journey as she ditches her famous ending for a fresh beginning and a second chance at life and love — her way.
Juliet’s new story bursts to life through a playlist of pop anthems as iconic as her name, all from the genius songwriter/producer behind more number-one hits than any other artist this century, Max Martin. Get tickets at orpheum-memphis.com/events/ and-juliet.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART, 1934 POPLAR AVENUE, ON DISPLAY
PHOTO: MISSISSIPPI MUSEUM OF ART, JACKSON Emma Russell (1909–2004), Star Quilt, 1978.
MUSIC By Alex Greene
Three Vinyl Gems
Just in time for shopping season, here are some gift-worthy Memphis platters.
One sign of hope in these troubled times has been the resurgence of vinyl albums as viable consumer products. Being one who once routinely puzzled over the perfect albums to give friends and family for the holidays, who then lost that option when everyone ditched their turntables and CD players, I can only applaud the return of physical albums — on vinyl, no less — as things to acquire, yes, and to covet, yes, but also to give.
If you’re also so inclined, here are some long-playing gems released this year, all made here in the Bluff City.
Above Jupiter - Abscission (Red Curtain Records)
This group happens to be from Memphis, and happens to be very young, but you’ll be impressed with their new album regardless of such details. And lest you imagine that, with a name like Above Jupiter, these youngsters are synth-giddy sci-fi freaks, note that this is a remarkably warm, almost old-fashioned-sounding album. Part of that’s due to recording it at the home base of the rapidly expanding Red Curtain Records.
As the label notes on its website, “the band knew these songs would benefit from the analog warmth of a professional studio, and they found the perfect home at Memphis Magnetic Recording Co. All songs were tracked live in the room using the studio’s collection of vintage instruments.”
The album is imbued with homespun sounds, right down to the slightly out of tune piano on the closer, “Evergreen.”
Part of what’s striking is the growth of the songwriting since their earlier releases, the melodies and underlying chord changes echoing the sometimes eerie musical choices of artists like the Flaming
Lips or David Bowie, influenced by jazz and even classical music’s Romantic era.
Above Jupiter’s members have always had sophisticated palates. “We’ve been calling it art pop,” drummer, singer, and composer Graham Burks III told me last year as the band picked up steam. What they created then fit that tag, with a kind of New Wave twist, but the new album takes on a more expansive scope, musically and lyrically. Ostensibly a “Shakespearean-style tragedy” about four fictional characters created by the band, the sometimes cryptic lyrics, sung with genuine youthful forthrightness, reward repeated listening even where the wordsmithing feels a little green (à la Brian Wilson). And if you can’t quite make out the narrative, the lilac-colored vinyl LP version of Abscission includes a zine booklet that tells the story through lyrics, paintings, and prose.
Above Jupiter’s record release show is this Saturday, November 22nd, 7:30 p.m. at the Green Room at Crosstown Arts.
Optic Sink - Lucky Number (Feel It Records)
One of the city’s most inventive bands is also, it turns out, one of its most prolific, with Lucky Number being their third LP in five years. Each successive release has also marked a quantum leap in the group’s sound, with 2023’s Glass Blocks marking the group’s first recordings with bassist Keith Cooper, and a corresponding boost in their oomph factor. The latest drop adds even more of that. The Optic Sink of 2025 is a locked-and-loaded band, road-hardened, achieving a chemistry cemented by sweat and hot lights.
And yet they’ve stayed true to the original aesthetic mapped out by band founders Natalie Hoffmann and Ben Bauermeister, pairing Hoffmann’s dry,
disaffected vocals (more restrained than her work in Nots) with her ingenious old-school synth lines and drum machine beats from Bauermeister (Magic Kids, Toxie). “I really like the tension of a more human voice that is sounding pretty machine-like, but mixed with these actual machines,” Hoffmann told the Memphis Flyer at the time of their debut.
Five years later, while the large brush strokes of that blend have remained, the beats have grown more complex, the arrangements more nuanced, more dynamic, and, with Cooper’s bass more integral than ever, the bottom more heavy. All along, the band has always composed and performed on actual hardware as three humans in the moment, recording their basic tracks live rather than splicing software and loops. Adding to that, Hoffmann’s inclination to play guitar again, first apparent on Glass Blocks, has only grown on this album, to spectacular effect. And finally, as if put up to it by the music’s increased muscularity, Hoffmann’s vocals have taken on an energizing, aggressive tone, that, paradoxically, also gives way to out and out singing in places. It’s a virtuoso performance by her, track after track, the cool deadpan of her earlier work sometimes giving way to outright rage or full-throated lament.
Lawrence Matthews - Between Mortal Reach & Posthumous Grip
This album was a long time in the making, as Matthews shrugged off the stage name of Don Lifted and embraced a more authentic, harder-edged version of himself three years ago. After the opener, “Green Grove (Our Loss),” begins with classic soul strings, the track briefly dips into some very Don Liftedesque atmospherics until a harder-hitting
beat kicks in. Matthews’ new voice is one of grim determination, mixed with a new playfulness that might even make it scarier. “This blood, this soil, infused, this river/This money, this drink, devour your mental …”
And just then it cuts to some midsong banter from an old record by Mississippi Fred McDowell. That’s typical of the whole album. As Matthews explains, “My narrative mirrors the narrative of so many folks who have lived and died poor, fighting for scraps, even while their songs are known all across the world. I felt a kinship with them, but at the same time, I didn’t want to be that. So while I was signed to Fat Possum, I started to pull from their catalog for samples. Nearly every sample on this new album is from Hi Records, Fat Possum, or Big Legal Mess. And even though I’m not signed with Fat Possum now, we have a great relationship and they’re helping me take care of business. So this project, to me, was channeling those artists’ stories.”
The spirit of the album is not celebratory, but rather drenched in sex and death. It’s an approach Matthews dubs Southern Gothic. “Outside of one Stylistics sample, every person sampled on the record has passed,” Matthews explained when debuting this work. “Most of the songs are about death — death and love and obsession. And, being from the South, violence. How much violence I’ve experienced in life, and how much violence is brewing in me, because of what I’ve experienced. Those elements of my life had no place in the music I made as Don Lifted. But with this project, I could express my anger and frustration more directly. I’m expressing the ways violence has come at me and comes out of me. Now, I’m leaning into that without shame.”
AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule November 20 - 26
Ashton Riker & The Memphis Royals
ursday, Nov. 20, 8 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
Baunie and Soul
Sunday, Nov. 23, 7 p.m. |
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 7 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE BLUES HALL
Blues Trio
Saturday, Nov. 22, noon
| Sunday, Nov. 23, noon |
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 4 p.m.
B.B. KING’S BLUES CLUB
Eric Hughes
ursday, Nov. 20, 7-11 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Flic’s Pics Band
Led by the legendary Leroy “Flic” Hodges of Hi Rhythm.
A blues harp virtuoso combining the grit and raw drive of Chicago with the warm textures of Memphis Soul. Monday, Nov. 24, 6:30 p.m. |
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 6:30 p.m.
RUM BOOGIE CAFE
Even Odds
Sunday, Nov. 23, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S DOWNTOWN
Jagged Edge: Cuffing Season Tour
With special guests Lloyd and Eric Bellinger. Sunday, Nov. 23, 7:30 p.m.
ORPHEUM THEATRE
Jazz at the Junktion
A family-friendly art exhibit by Colleen Couch, “Late for the Sky,” combined with a jazz festival featuring Paul McKinney & the Knights at 4 p.m. and Candace Mache & the Machetes at 5:15 p.m. A paper making workshop with Couch will also be o ered.
Free. Saturday, Nov. 22, 3:306:30 p.m.
OFF THE WALLS ARTS
Memphis Songwriters Series: Bailey Bigger, Talibah Safiya, and Lina Beach
Mark Edgar Stewart passes the mic to Memphis’ nest singersongwriters in a personal, conversational setting. is week showcases three women who are rede ning the music of the Mid-South. $10. ursday, Nov. 20, 7-9 p.m.
HALLORAN CENTRE FOR PERFORMING ARTS & EDUCATION
Richard Wilson
Original jazz and bossanova.
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 11 a.m. JUST LOVE COFFEE CAFE - MEMPHIS
Songwriter Night With Yubu, Deion James, and Curtis B. Scott
Friday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m.
SOUTH MAIN SOUNDS
Van Duren and Sophie Chertow
Bringing together a Memphis legend and a promising new voice on the scene. $15. Saturday, Nov. 22, 7-9 p.m. SOUTH MAIN SOUNDS
Elmo & the Shades
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 7 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
John Williams & the A440 Band
$10. ursday, Nov. 20, 8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
Motel California (A Memphis Tribute to the Eagles)
Friday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
The Deb Jam Band
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 6 p.m.
NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM
The Settlers
Sunday, Nov. 23, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S POPLAR
Van Duren
e singer-songwriter, a pioneer of indie pop in Memphis, performs solo. ursday, Nov. 20, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
MORTIMER’S
Above Jupiter Record Release Show
e inventive art-pop group celebrate their new full-length album, Abscission. With the Narrows. Saturday, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Alex Da Ponte
Friday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Area 58
Some of the city’s nest Latin music. Saturday, Nov. 22, 9:30 p.m.
B-SIDE
Ari Zelig
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 7 p.m.
B-SIDE
Big Wheel
Friday, Nov. 21, 9:30 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Bryce Leatherwood ursday, Nov. 20, 6 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Candlelight: Neo-Soul Favorites ft. Songs by Prince, Childish Gambino, & More
e Beale Street Quartet brings a multisensory musical experience to the Brooks with great art as a backdrop. $36.77. Friday, Nov. 21, 8:45-10 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Candlelight: Tribute to Whitney Houston
Hear the Listeso String Quartet bring popular music to life under candlelight. $38.41/general admission. Friday, Nov. 21, 12:30-1:45 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Circle Birds
Friday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m.
B-SIDE
Dead Letter Office
(R.E.M. Tribute)
Friday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m.
GROWLERS
Deborah Swiney Duo ursday, Nov. 20, 6-9 p.m.
THE COVE
Dee GOAT Listening
Session
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 6 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Devil Train
Bluegrass, roots, country, Delta, and ski e. ursday, Nov. 20, 9 p.m.
B-SIDE
Ethan & the Parallax
Tuesday, Nov. 25, 11 p.m.
B-SIDE
Generation X Saturday, Nov. 22, 5 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Jason D. Williams
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 6:30 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Jazz Jam with the Cove Quartet
Jazz musicians are welcome to sit in. Sunday, Nov. 23, 6-9 p.m.
THE COVE
JD Westmoreland Band
Monday, Nov. 24, 10 p.m.
B-SIDE
Joe Restivo 4
Guitarist Restivo leads one of the city’s nest jazz quartets. Sunday, Nov. 23, noon.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Kathy Zhou and Aybil: “Reverie”
A night of riveting tales, heartfelt storytelling, and community connection through the songs of these two artists, played by candlelight. Friday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Level Three
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 10 p.m.
LOUIS CONNELLY’S BAR
Lorette Velvette and FaithNYC
Memphis’ legendary roots rocker is joined by Felice Rosser and Fin Hunt, aka FaithNYC. Saturday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m.
Acoustic guitar by an accomplished amenco player. Tuesday, Nov. 25, 4 p.m.
CROSSTOWN BREWING CO.
Memphis Mojo Saturday, Nov. 22, 9 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Dale Watson Friendsgiving
Listen and dance to some Christmas classics with Watson, Celine Lee, and the Big Band. e uno cial a er-party for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Graceland. ursday, Nov. 20, 7:30-11:30 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Graceland Holiday Lighting Weekend
A double-header of Christmas shows: A Rockin’ Memphis Christmas concert and dueling pianos show on Friday, Nov. 21, and Dean Z’s Ultimate Elvis Christmas show on Saturday, Nov. 22.
GRACELAND SOUNDSTAGE
Iron Sharpens Iron: Free Musicianship Workshop
Memphis Reggae Nights
Featuring Yubu. Sunday, Nov. 23, 7:30 p.m.
B-SIDE
Skiptown
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 10 p.m. B-SIDE
Soilent Green
Sunday, Nov. 23, 8 p.m.
MINGLEWOOD HALL
Susan Marshall, Reba Russell, Mallory Everett, & Eric Lewis Present: The Ho-Show Saturday, Nov. 22, 5-8 p.m.
B-SIDE
Tequila Mockingbird
Sunday, Nov. 23, 3 p.m.
HUEY’S MIDTOWN
The Sonic Prescription
Dr. Zak Ozmo leads this curated sound experience that illustrates key neuroscienti c insights. rough engaging stories and live demonstrations, discover how music can serve as a tool for healing. Friday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Five O’Clock Shadow Sunday, Nov. 23, 6 p.m. HUEY’S MILLINGTON
A Rockin’ Memphis Christmas Concert
A holiday-themed tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Carl Perkins. $41.50/reserved seating (all-in pricing). Friday, Nov. 21, 7-9:30 p.m.
GRACELAND SOUNDSTAGE
Catapult is performance company presents an mix of music, dance, theater, acrobatics, illusion, and storytelling. $29/ general admission. Saturday, Nov. 22, 8-9:30 p.m.
GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS
CENTER
Clownvis Presley
LA Weekly called him “better than the real Elvis.” Saturday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
A workshop with drummers Chris Pat and Alex Pruitt. Learn pro skills, teamwork, and gig readiness. Open to all 6th to 12th graders. Free. ursday, Nov. 20, 5:30-7 p.m.
STAX MUSIC ACADEMY
Ken Houston Trio
Sunday, Nov. 23, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S SOUTHAVEN
Lucie Tiger & Shara Sky
Friday, Nov. 21, 7 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Ping Rose e Pistol & e Queen opens for this virtuoso guitarist. Saturday, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m. LINK CENTRE
The Chaulkies Sunday, Nov. 23, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S SOUTHWIND
Ultimate Elvis Christmas ft. Dean Z
A performance of Elvis’ rock-and-roll, rockabilly, and Christmas classics. $41.50/reserved seating (all-in pricing). Saturday, Nov. 22, 7-9:30 p.m.
GRACELAND SOUNDSTAGE
Angelina David Sunday, Nov. 23, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S COLLIERVILLE
Duane Cleveland Band
Sunday, Nov. 23, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S GERMANTOWN
Elisabeth von Trapp: Home for Christmas
As the granddaughter of Maria von Trapp of the Trapp Family Singers, Elisabeth’s clear vocals and classical guitar will evoke an Old World Christmas. $40. Saturday, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m.
BARTLETT PERFORMING ARTS AND CONFERENCE CENTER
Jack & the Fat Man
Sunday, Nov. 23, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S OLIVE BRANCH
Terry & the Wallbangers
Sunday, Nov. 23, 6 p.m.
HUEY’S CORDOVA
PHOTO: PRISCILLA BRIGGS FaithNYC
CALENDAR of EVENTS: November 20 - 26
ART HAPPENINGS
Meet the Artists Night
With Mary K. VanGieson, Brittney Boyd Bullock, Patricia Doughty, Sharon Havelka, Lacy Mitcham, Christen Parker, and Mia Saine. ursday, Nov. 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Shapeshifter Art School and Gallery Opening
Reception
Celebrate this new creative venture, embracing originality and transformative learning experiences, at its opening reception. Saturday, Nov. 22, 6-10 p.m.
SHAPESHIFTER ARTSCHOOL AND GALLERY
Tour: Learning to Look
Enhance your visual literacy alongside fellow art enthusiasts. $10. Sunday, Nov. 23, 2-2:45 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Tour: The Evolution of Artistic Mediums
A tour focusing on how materials have shaped artistic practice. $5. ursday, Nov. 20, 6:30-7:15 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
BOOK EVENTS
Chase Parham and Jeff Roberson: Stories from Ole Miss Baseball is hardcover, co ee-table book includes compelling stories about 150+ years of Ole Miss baseball. Tuesday, Nov. 25, 6 p.m. NOVEL
Sheri Joseph: Angels at the Gate
e author speaks with Eric Schlich about her new work, in which a college student investigates a friend’s death. ursday, Nov. 20, 6 p.m. NOVEL
CLASS / WORKSHOP
Like Really Creative
Inspiration Salon: Zip Code Zine Mixer
A zine workshop and a live artist demonstration. Saturday, Nov. 22, 3-5 p.m.
ORANGE MOUND LIBRARY
Lunchtime Meditations
Visit the Dixon for free meditation sessions every Friday. Friday, Nov. 21, noon-12:30 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
PHOTO:
COURTESY CROSSTOWN ARTS
Tav Falco’s semi-silent lm, e Urania Trilogy, features a live score performed by the Rolling Head Orchestra.
Papermaking Workshop
Led by artist and papermaker
Colleen Couch. Saturday, Nov. 22, 4-5:30 p.m.
OFF THE WALLS ARTS
Wicked Craft Night
Wicked: For Good is premiering on November 21st, so why
not celebrate with cra s? $60. ursday, Nov. 20, 6 p.m.
HEIRLOOM HOUSE
COMEDY
Comedy Night
With your hosts, Ben and Bush. Sign-ups at 7 p.m., show
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.
at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 26, 7 p.m.
BAR DKDC
Mo Alexander and Friends
Alexander made history by becoming the rst comedian ever to record an album at Sun Studio. Sunday, Nov. 23, 7 p.m. GROWLERS
Open Mic Comedy Night
A hilarious Midtown tradition. Tuesday, Nov. 25, 8 p.m. HI TONE
COMMUNITY
Memphis Seniors
Thanksgiving Turkey Drive
Meet Senior Bene ts Advisors and celebrate Memphis community giving. Saturday, Nov. 22, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
TIGER LANE
DANCE
Glow: A Body Paint
Rave
Experience the transformative powers of body paint and movement. Friday, Nov. 21, 9 p.m.
HI TONE
NutRemix
New Ballet’s NutRemix puts a new, Memphis-centric spin on the classic tale of e Nutcracker. Friday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 22, 5:30 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 23, 2:30 p.m.
CANNON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
EXPO/SALES
Fiesta Friday at the Vesta Home Show
Celebrate the nal Friday of this spectacular event. Friday, Nov. 21, 6:30-9 p.m.
HIDDEN CREEK
Gifts of Green
A variety of tropical and unusual plants, stylish pots, and other botanical novelties. rough Dec. 30. MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Tech901 Tech Show & Tell
A fun and informal gathering celebrating the weird, wild, and wonderful world of old devices and retro technology. Friday, Nov. 21, 4-8 p.m. TECH901
FAMILY
2025 901KidsFest
901KidsFest celebrates all things kids. Kidpreneurs, kid authors, kid performers, and more. This is a family-friendly event for all ages. Free. Saturday, Nov. 22, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
COSSITT LIBRARY DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS
Special Story Time at Novel: Eloise Turns 70
It’s been 70 years since the first Eloise book was published, so it only seems right for there to be a celebration! Saturday, Nov. 22, 10:30 a.m.
NOVEL
FILM
Crosstown Arts Film Series: Tav Falco’s The Urania Trilogy
With an original live score performed by Alex Greene & the Rolling Head Orchestra, this surreal, haunting, semi-silent film was shot in Austria by cinematographer Richard Pleuger.
$20. Thursday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m.
CROSSTOWN THEATER
Like You Children’s Film Festival
It’s like family movie night, but bigger and better. Discover new independent feature films, or take in short films by the freshest voices in children’s filmmaking. Saturday, Nov. 22-Nov. 23.
PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION
FOOD AND DRINK
Charcuterie & Conversations
Food, faith, and real talk with Christian singles. Free. Saturday, Nov. 22, 3-5 p.m.
OAK CITY CHURCH
Cider Fest
The ultimate fall hangout: cider, craft brews, good food, games, live music, farmers, and local makers. Saturday, Nov. 22, noon-6 p.m.
GRIND CITY BREWING CO.
Whiskey Pairing Dinner
Don’t miss the next Whiskey Pairing Dinner set. $80/general admission. Thursday, Nov. 20, 6-8 p.m.
CELTIC CROSSING
HOLIDAY EVENTS
All Aboard! Holiday Kickoff
Featuring an outdoor screening of The Polar Express, Santa photos, and train rides. Sunday, Nov. 23, 6-8 p.m.
SHOPS OF SADDLE CREEK
Artists’ Link Holiday Show
Including over 40 works by local artists in a variety of media. Through Dec. 29.
ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH ART GALLERY
Christmas Tree Lighting
With Santa Claus, kids crafts, hot chocolate, and more. Free. Thursday, Nov. 20, 6-8 p.m.
THORNWOOD GERMANTOWN
Collierville Burch Library’s Holiday Market
Experience the sights, sounds, and scents of the season at the Collierville Burch Library’s Holiday Market. Sunday, Nov. 23, 1-5 p.m.
LUCIUS E. & ELSIE C. BURCH, JR. LIBRARY
Downtown Tree Lighting & Holiday Market
Free photos with Santa, live music, and a tree lighting ceremony at 4:50 p.m. At the corner of Main and Peabody. Free. Saturday, Nov. 22, 4-6 p.m.
MAIN STREET
Fire Pit Fridays
Ugly Sweater Night. Photos with Santa start at 4:45 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23, 4:30-6:30 p.m.
TOM LEE PARK
Hernando Dickens of a Christmas
With the lighting of the town Christmas tree, ice skating, and a holiday movie on the square. Friday, Nov. 21, 4 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 22, 5 p.m.
HERNANDO COURTHOUSE SQUARE
Lantern Festival
Featuring more than 60 larger-than-life illuminated fixtures. Through Feb. 1.
MEMPHIS ZOO
University Schools 5th Annual Artist & Crafters Holiday Market
Support local talent and University Schools. Featuring 40 local artists. Sunday, Nov. 23, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS
LECTURE
Phoebe Cook Lecture: Hanneke
Frankema
A master-florist for 20 years, Hanneke discusses her use of color and avant-garde techniques. Thursday, Nov. 20, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
PERFORMING ARTS
Art Unplugged
Live music, poetry, and comedy blend together in this innovative show. $15/advance, $20/at the door. Sunday, Nov. 23, 6-9:30 p.m.
RUMBA ROOM
Friendsgiving Poetry and Comedy Jam
Artists share about friends who became family and vice versa — or the opposite of that. Open mic. 21+. Saturday, Nov. 22, 6:30 p.m.
RUMBA ROOM
Rainbow Rumble
Hosted by Moth Moth Moth. Saturday, Nov. 22, 9 p.m.
HI TONE
ACROSS
1 Speaker’s accessory
9 “Phooey!”
15 Not running loose, say
16 ___ Collezioni (fashion brand)
17 One with drawing power in Hollywood?
18 Claptrap
19 With 53-Across, jalopy
20 Establishments whose products might be described by this answer + H
22 Scripture
23 Follow
25 “Poor venomous fool,” in Shakespeare
26 Brings in
27 It appears over a tilde
30 Drop ___
32 Emmy/Tony winner Arthur
33 Top of a Pacific island chain
36 Only person to win an Oscar for playing an Oscar-winning actress
37 Book of stars?
38 Tats
39 A’s, e.g. … or a word following “A”
40 Harrisburg-toAllentown dir.
41 Handles, with “with”
43 Not the sharpest crayon in the box
45 Cold-weather coat
49 Pro ___
50 The half-blood prince in “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
53 See 19-Across
The Dinner Detective True Crime Murder Mystery Dinner Show
From the mischievous minds of Friends of George’s, a must-see event. Free. Thursday, Nov. 20, 8 p.m. | Friday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m.
THE EVERGREEN THEATRE
SPORTS
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Sacramento
Kings
An epic matchup. Thursday, Nov. 20, 7 p.m. FEDEXFORUM
Wreath Run 5K
Packet pick-up at 1 p.m., run at 3 p.m., youth fun run at 4 p.m., and an after-party. Open to non-runners. Sunday, Nov. 23, 3-5 p.m.
GRACE-ST. LUKE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
THEATER
A Tuna Christmas
Set in a fictional town where the Christmas Yard Display Contest is about to commence. Friday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 23, 8 p.m. CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE
Chicago Justice is blind, but she loves a good headline. Thursday, Nov. 20, 7:30 p.m. | Friday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 22, 2 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 23, 2 p.m.
UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS, DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE & DANCE & Juliet
This new musical flips the script on the greatest love story ever told. $52.65-$157.40. Tuesday, Nov. 25, 7:30-10:15 p.m. | Wednesday, Nov. 26, 7:30-10:15 p.m.
Culturally insensitive theater artists create a politically correct elementary school play about the first Thanksgiving. Thursday, Nov. 20, 7:30 p.m. | Friday, Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 22, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 23, 2 p.m. THEATRE MEMPHIS
The Wizard of Oz
Dorothy Gale is swept away by a twister and finds herself in the mystical land of Oz. Thursday, Nov. 20, 8 p.m. | Friday, Nov. 21, 8 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 23, 2 p.m.
PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE
by Will Shortz No.
54 “The Little Mermaid” lyricist Howard
57 Insincere welcome
59 Congested, in a way
60 Push-ups, e.g.
61 Creator of Kermit the Frog and Rowlf the Dog
62 Book that doesn’t take long to get through
DOWN
1 Uneager
2 Musical with the song “You’re Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile”
3 Patriot who said “Moderation in temper, is always a virtue; but moderation in principle, is a species of vice”
4 ___ City (sobriquet for New Haven)
5 Play auditioner’s hope
6 #, in chess notation
7 Sardinia, e.g., to locals
8 Website relative of JDate
9 ___ joke (total groaner)
10 Pirate’s exclamation
11 Off in biblical lands?
12 Nosh
Amateurish
Attacks, as in a joust
Busted out of jail
Tarot card that bears the numeral XIII
Enter quickly
Willy Wonka’s factory output
Bygone communication
As prompted 33 Event for computer whizzes 34 Epic narratives 35 Jon of
PUZZLE BY PAOLO PASCO
We Saw You.
with MICHAEL DONAHUE
Between 3,500 and 4,500 people attended this year’s Cra s & Dra s Holiday Market, which was held November 8th inside and outside Crosstown Concourse.
“De nitely one of our better ones,” says general chairperson Molly Willmott.
More than 90 artists/makers were featured along with more than a dozen cra beers.
e annual event was co-hosted by the Memphis Flyer and Crosstown Arts. It featured brews from Eagle Distributing.
“We’re so proud to continue to showcase all of the great local artistic talent we have here in Memphis,” Willmott says. “And we are very grateful that our guests support our artists with their dollars. Where art grows, community thrives.”
PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE above: Lukas, April, Astrid, Jakob, and Erik Proveaux circle: Jalecia Cowan with Daisy and Lilly below: (le to right) Robby Grant, Josh Breeden, and Rachael Grant; Chad Carter; Matt and Rene Fumich bottom row: (le to right) Ellie Kizer, Nick Pernik, and Lynlea Kizer; Janey, Crosby, and George Newton
above: Kristin Bennett-Banks and Wyly and Emily Bigger circle: Josh Satter eld right row: (top and below) Lee Kleitsch and Bob Shatzer; Paula and Kenneth Acey below: (le to right) Meredith and Nate Woloshin; Alex Horne and Luke Hanna; Brantley Ellzey, Jim Renfrow, and Blueberry; Jon Michael Watson and Hillary Watson bottom le : Desiree Joiner and Verio Pollard; Danyelle White and Quantas Seward
FOOD By Michael Donahue
La Comida Cubana — With a Memphis Twist
hef Kyle Gairhan introduced many Memphians and Mid-Southerners to the culinary delights of Cuba through his Buen Sabor (Good Taste) Tours company.
His tours, which he began in 2019, focus on “mainly the good culinary parts of Cuba,” says Gairhan, 40. ey eat at the best restaurants, including La Guarida, which, he says, serves “highend French-style cuisine with a Cuban air,” and Amigos Del Mar, a seafood restaurant on the coast where Gairhan ate shark for the rst time. ey also experience farm-to-table dinners, take cooking and cocktail-making classes, and ride around Old Havana in classic cars, including a 1950s convertible.
And they visit El Floridita, where the daiquiri was popularized, and Sloppy Joe’s, where they possibly invented the classic sandwich of the same name.
Gairhan takes people using the “Support of the Cuban People” license through the U.S. O ce of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). “It’s legal for Americans to go but not under straight tourism. We have to have an itinerary that is full of support of the Cuban people. Like staying in Cuban houses, eating at Cuban restaurants, and not supporting the government.”
Several Cuban trips are planned, but a future Cuban tour will focus on helping with his soup kitchen, Un Plato Más (One More Plate), which he plans to open in December in Cuba.
A Memphis native, Gairhan started a nonpro t, Cuban Aid Alliance, last spring. “I am trying to reduce food insecurity in Cuba.”
“I’ve been going to Cuba for a long time, and every time I go I see people that are desperate for food. e food there costs around the same as it does here, but people only make $10 to $20 a month, so it’s really hard for people to buy it. I gured the best way for me to give back was with my cooking skill.”
Gairhan saw people in Old Havana who were begging. But, he says, “ ey’re not asking for money. It’s ‘Can you give me some bread? Can you get me anything?’ ey’re just desperate for food. I gured a soup kitchen would be the best way to do it.”
e soup kitchen is in Old Havana, “where there are a lot of unhoused people.”
Gairhan was going to Cuba about four times a year, but now, he says he’s planning on being there more o en when he opens his soup kitchen, which is housed in a Colonial building that he
believes dates to the 1700s.
Gairhan will strictly be doing food deliveries at rst. “ e place I found is just a kitchen, really. I can’t seat people in it.”
He plans to be at the soup kitchen most of the time. “And then I’ll be going back and forth from Memphis because my family doesn’t want to move down there. e secretary of my nonpro t is Cuban, and she will oversee it when I’m gone.”
Gairhan will serve Cuban fare, but “di erent from restaurants that are around and in Cuba,” he says. “I’m going to try to use ingredients I can nd in Cuba, but with a twist.”
Like guava-barbecued pulled pork. e pork will be cooked normally, but the barbecue sauce will be made from guava paste.
Also, he says, “I’m going to do these skewers with chicken. Mojo chicken. It’s like a citrusy garlic seasoning they use in Cuba. It’s going to be chicken, plantains, onions, and peppers. A kabob, but with Cuban ingredients.”
Gairhan has eaten all over Cuba. “You can buy two lobsters o a lobster sherman for three dollars. And mangos. You can get a mango the size of your head, ey’re so good.”
“Ropa Vieja,” which means “old clothes,” is one of Gairhan’s favorites. “It’s an old beef dish that has shredded beef in it. A stew. Cuba’s national dish.”
Gairhan might sell cocktails in his soup kitchen, but he’s not sure. Since he’s in Havana, it will be “mostly rum drinks.”
He won’t be running the soup kitchen by himself. “I have a few friends who are going to work with me. I have these mission trips I’m starting to set up, where people will come down on a five-day trip and work in the mornings with me in the soup kitchen.”
Gairhan has always found Cuba a safe place to be. “Cuba is the safest Latin American country. I feel way safer there than I do walking about in Memphis. And I feel safe walking around in Memphis. Most places. It’s like any big city. Just don’t go in dark alleys or places that look seedy.”
A former chef at Memphis Whistle, Gairhan also was the sandwich chef at the old Backlot Sandwich Shop. He made barbecue at the Alpine Beer Company in San Diego, California, and was head chef at the
old Not a Burger Stand in Burbank, California.
Gairhan also began his own cannabis business, Pissing Excellence, in Los Angeles, California. He won the High Times Cannabis Cup a few times doing extracts and topicals.
He was co-owner of RAWK’n Grub in Memphis until the pandemic hit. Gairhan then began his now defunct Mane St. Provisions line of pickles, jams, sausages, and sauces.
Gairhan isn’t planning to stop with one soup kitchen in Cuba. “I want to buy a farm, so I can be able to make enough produce to open the soup kitchen in other towns and just supply my own food there.”
For info on Buen Sabor Tours, go to buensabortours.com, and for info on Cuban Aid Alliance, visit cubanaidalliance.org.
Kyle Gairhan opens soup kitchen in Havana.
PHOTOS: COURTESY KYLE GAIRHAN | MICHAEL DONAHUE
(above, le to right) Shark from Amigos del Mar; Kyle Gairhan; sloppy joe from Sloppy Joe’s; (below) octopus carpaccio from La Guarida
By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication
What’s in a Name?
When police responded to a call from a home in Crawford County, Kansas, on Oct. 18, they found a red pickup truck that had been stolen earlier in the week, KAKE-TV reported. Officers were told that the truck had pulled into the property and the driver had asked the resident for gasoline, and to “not call the cops.” So they called the cops. The driver, Michael Jackson — “and not the one who sang ‘Billie Jean,’” they said — was arrested for possessing stolen property.
Compelling Explanation
The trial began on Oct. 17 in Houston for Kristina Chambers, 34, who is accused of manslaughter, the Houston Chronicle reported. In 2023, Joseph McMullin, 33, was leaving a doughnut store with a date when he was struck and killed by Chambers’ Porsche 911 Carrera. Police said Chambers was four times over the legal alcohol limit and had baggies of cocaine in her car and purse, and they estimated she was driving about 70 mph when she hit McMullin. He was thrown about 30 feet and died at the scene. Chambers’ attorney, Mark Thiessen, however, posited that it was Chambers’ Christian Louboutin shoes that caused the accident, claiming the heel got stuck on the car’s gas pedal. Chambers could serve up to 20 years in prison if she is convicted.
Nature Gone Wild
Residents of Christmas Island, about 900 miles from Australia, are carrying rakes in their cars and avoiding driving at certain times as the annual red crab migration begins, ABC reported on Oct. 21. Each year, 100 million crabs leave their forest burrows and make their way to the ocean, where they lay eggs. “We have to put rakes in our cars and leaf blowers to ensure the crabs have a safe passage,” said Christmas Island National Park acting manager Alexia Jankowski. “A lot of people, if they can, will work from home,” said resident Megs Powell. “It’s one of the most amazing wildlife experiences you can see on the planet,” said Oliver Lines, director of community services.
News You Can Use
Denise Bacon, 65, of East Sussex, England, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s
disease in 2014, The Washington Post reported. The condition affected her ability to walk, swim, dance, and play the clarinet. Doctors at London’s King’s College Hospital recently revealed that Bacon underwent deep brain stimulation in July — and played her clarinet during the procedure. As she played, doctors stimulated her brain, one electrode at a time. Neurosurgeon Keyoumars Ashkan said the effects could be seen immediately. As the right side of her brain was stimulated, he said, her left fingers were “flying,” while her right-hand fingers were “stiff and slow and couldn’t move.” Bacon is “delighted” with the outcome and said she’s “keen to get back in the swimming pool, and on the dance floor to see if my abilities have improved there.”
Saw That Coming
An accidental shooting left an 89-yearold woman with an injury to one of her legs on Oct. 20 in Flanders, New Jersey, the Daily Record reported. It happened at Frank’s Pizza, where 70-year-old William H. Schmieding was having dinner with two friends. Schmieding unholstered his handgun and moved to clear the ammunition from it, but a bullet was fired, ricocheted off a chair, and struck the woman. Schmieding, of White House Station, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, violating safe carry firearm requirements, and prohibited carrying of a firearm.
Standing Room Only
Spanish police announced on Oct. 22 that they had arrested a group of criminals for stealing chairs — more than 1,100 chairs, to be more precise. The New York Post reported that the thieves, six men and a woman who did the pilfering under cover of darkness, had stolen the chairs from the outdoor seating areas of 18 different restaurants and bars throughout Madrid and a nearby municipality during August and September. Police said the chairs were resold in Spain, Morocco, and Romania, and estimated the impact at about 60,000 euros ($69,000). The gang will face charges of theft and belonging to a criminal organization.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the coming weeks, I invite you to commune intimately with your holy anger. Not petulant tantrums, not the ego’s defensive rage, but the fierce love that refuses to tolerate injustice. You will be wise to draw on the righteous “No!” that draws boundaries and defends the vulnerable. I hope you will call on protective fury on behalf of those who need help. Here’s a reminder of what I’m sure you know: Calmness in the face of cruelty isn’t enlightenment but complicity. Your anger, when it safeguards and serves love rather than destroys, is a spiritual practice.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): The Korean concept of jeong is the emotional bond that forms between people, places, or things through shared experiences over time. It’s deeper than love and more complex than attachment: the accumulated weight of history together. You can have jeong for a person you don’t even like anymore, for a city that broke your heart, for a coffee mug you’ve used every morning for years. As the scar tissue of togetherness, it can be beautiful and poignant. Now is an especially good time for you to appreciate and honor your jeong Celebrate and learn from the soulful mysteries your history has bequeathed you.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Over 100 trillion bacteria live in your intestines. They have a powerful impact. They produce neurotransmitters, influence your mood, train your immune system, and communicate with your brain via the vagus nerve. Other life forms are part of the team within you, too, including fungi, viruses, and archaea. So in a real sense, you are not merely a human who contains small organisms. You are an ecosystem of species making collective decisions. Your “gut feelings” are collaborations. I bring this all to your attention because the coming weeks will be a highly favorable time to enhance the health of your gut biome. For more info: https://tinyurl.com/ EnhanceGutBiome
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Why, yes, I myself am born under the sign of Cancer the Crab, just as you are. So as I offer you my ongoing observations and counsel, I am also giving myself blessings. In the coming weeks, we will benefit from going through a phase of consolidation and integration. The creative flourishes we have unveiled recently need to be refined and activated on deeper levels. This necessary deepening may initially feel more like work than play, and not as much fun as the rapid progress we have been enjoying. But with a slight tweak of our attitude, we can thoroughly thrive during this upcoming phase.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I suggest that in the coming weeks you care more about
By Rob Brezsny
getting things done than pursuing impossible magnificence. The simple labor of love you actually finish is worth more than the masterpiece you never start. The healthy but makeshift meal you throw together feeds you well; whereas, the theoretical but abandoned feast does not. Even more than usual, Leo, the perfect will be the enemy of the good. Here are quotes to inspire you. 1. “Perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order.” — Anne Wilson Schaef. 2. “Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.” — Harriet Braiker. 3. “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” — Vince Lombardi.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Now is an excellent time to practice the art of forgetting. I hope you formulate an intention to release the grievances and grudges that are overdue for dissolution. They not only don’t serve you but actually diminish you. Here’s a fact about your brain: It remembers everything unless you actively practice forgetting. So here’s my plan: Meditate on the truth that forgiveness is not a feeling; it’s a decision to stop rehearsing the resentment, to quit telling yourself the story that keeps the wound fresh. The lesson you’re ready to learn: Some memories are worth evicting. Not all the past is worth preserving. Selective amnesia can be a survival skill.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): A Navajo blessing says, “May you walk in beauty.” Not just see beauty or create it, but walk in it, inhabit it, and move through the world as if beauty is your gravity. When you’re at the height of your lyrical powers, Libra, you do this naturally. You are especially receptive to the aesthetic soul of things. You can draw out the harmony beneath surface friction and improvise grace in the midst of chaos. I’m happy to tell you that you are currently at the height of these lyrical powers. I hope you’ll be bold in expressing them. Even if others aren’t consciously aware and appreciative of what you’re doing, beautify every situation you’re in.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): A day on Venus (one rotation on its axis) lasts about 243 Earth days. However, a year on Venus (one orbit around the sun) takes only about 225 Earth days. So a Venusian day is longer than its year. If you lived on Venus, the sun wouldn’t even set before your next Venusian birthday arrived. Here’s another weird fact: Contrary to what happens on every other planet in the solar system, on Venus the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. Moral of the story: Even planets refuse to conform and make their own rules. If celestial bodies can be so gloriously contrary to convention, so can you. In accordance with current astrological omens, I encourage
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Your theme for the coming weeks is the fertile power of small things: the transformations that happen in the margins and subtle gestures. A kind word that shifts someone’s day, for instance. Or a refusal to participate in casual cruelty. Or a choice to see value in what you’re supposed to ignore. So I hope you will meditate on this healing theme: Change doesn’t always announce itself with drama and manifestos. The most heroic act might be to pay tender attention and refuse to be numbed. Find power in understated insurrections.
you to exuberantly explore this creative freedom in the coming weeks.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Let’s revisit the ancient Greeks’ understanding that we are all born with a daimon: a guiding spirit who whispers help and counsel, especially if we stay alert for its assistance. Typically, the messages are subtle, even half-disguised. Our daimons don’t usually shout. But I predict that will change for you in the coming weeks, especially if you cultivate listening as a superpower. Your personal daimon will be extra talkative and forthcoming. So be vigilant for unexpected support, Capricorn. Expect epiphanies and breakthrough revelations. Pay attention to the book that falls open to a page that has an oracular hint just for you. Take notice of a song that repeats or a sudden urge to change direction on your walk.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Awe should be one of your featured emotions in the coming weeks. I hope you will also seek out and cultivate reverence, deep respect, excited wonder, and an attraction to sublime surprises. Why do I recommend such seemingly impractical measures? Because you’re close to breaking through into a heightened capacity for generosity of spirit and a sweet lust for life. Being alert for amazement and attuned to transcendent experiences could change your life for the better forever. I love your ego — it’s a crucial aspect of your makeup — but now is a time to exalt and uplift your soul.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): What if your anxiety is actually misinterpreted excitement? What if the difference between worry and exhilaration is the story you tell yourself about the electricity streaming through you? Maybe your body is revving up for something interesting and important, but your mind mislabels the sensation. Try this experiment: Next time your heart races and your mind spins, tell yourself “I’m excited” instead of “I’m anxious.” See if your mood shape-shifts.
FILM By Chris McCoy
Three Picks for the Like You Children’s Film Fest
Standout titles from this weekend’s event at the Pink Palace.
If you’re thinking about rounding up the kids and heading to the Pink Palace for this week’s Like You Children’s Film Festival, here are three of the hottest tickets.
Sir Michael Morpurgo is an acclaimed author of young adult novels who was born in St. Albans, just outside of London, during World War II. His most famous work is probably War Horse, which was adapted into a lm by Steven Spielberg in 2011 and was nominated for six Academy Awards.
Kensuke’s Kingdom was written in 1998 and gained an audience in the United States when it was published by Scholastic. Directed by Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry, this animated adaptation is a joint production between companies from Luxembourg, England, France, and Wales, but never made it into wide release in the United States.
In the lm, young Michael (voiced by Aaron MacGregor) sets o with his parents (voiced by Sally Hawkins and Cillian Murphy) on an around-theworld sailing adventure. But it’s soon obvious that Michael may not be cut out for the nautical life. His sibling rivalry with Becky (Ra ey Cassidy) gets in the way of harmonious crew life. He becomes jealous when she is allowed to take a night watch on her own, and schemes to take her place. But once he’s alone on deck with his beloved dog Stella Artois, the weather closes in. As he and his father ght to save the little sailing vessel, Michael and Stella are swept overboard.
When he awakens on a strange beach, Michael discovers that he is stranded on a tropical island. But as he struggles to nd fresh water and food, he quickly comes to understand that he is not alone. Kensuke (voiced by the legendary Japanese actor Ken Watanabe) has lived alone on the island since he was stranded there as a Japanese sailor during World War II. Since he believes his family was killed in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, he has little incentive to rejoin the outside world. He has built a little paradise for one on the island and slowly adapts to a new guest. Together, the unlikely pair must join together to ght o poachers who invade the island to hunt the population of friendly orangutans. With some beautifully detailed hand-drawn animation, and a deep
Gondry kept in touch with his daughter Maya by creating short films from her ideas.
if simple story, this lm, which was initially released during the pandemic, is an overlooked gem.
Story & Pictures By (Sun., Nov. 23rd, 10 a.m., Deep End eater)
Director Joanna Rudnick dives deep into a topic almost everyone has experienced: children’s picture books. You’ve most likely had some of these titles read to you as a young child, and then turned around and read
they’re making a mark and bringing conversations around identity and other big ideas and big topics, and distilling them into picture book stories.”
them to your own children. “It covers a little bit of some of the classics like The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Where the Wild Things Are and really how unexpectedly controversial some of these classic children’s books were at the time of the release, and how they were different and unexpected,” says Noah Glenn, founder of the Like You Children’s Film Festival. “But then, it also follows some modern children’s book authors and illustrators to show how
Author/illustrators Christian Robinson, Yuyi Morales, and Mac Barnett explain why “children are the smartest, bravest readers.” They talk about what it takes to make it in the world of children’s publishing today, and expound on their inspirations and the milestones in the history of kids lit. Robinson, a Black man who was estranged from his mother at an early age, discusses how Ezra Jack Keats became a role model for him after discovering Keats’ 1962 book The Snowy Day , which was the first major picture book to feature an African-American child as the main character. Morales walks viewers through her process and talks about the origin of the concept of moral instruction in children’s books with the Little Goody Two-Shoes books. We see Barnett debut his newest book and talk about the inspiration he found in Margaret Wise Brown’s Goodnight Moon
(above) Kensuke’s Kingdom; (right) Story & Pictures By;
PHOTO: (BELOW) PARTIZAN FILMS Maya, Give Me a Title
Maya, Give Me a Title (Sun., Nov. 23rd, 7 p.m., Deep End Theater) In 2004, director Michel Gondry created one of the defining films of the 21st century with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In addition to the numerous other films, music videos, visual art pieces, and commercials he has created over the years, he had a long-running side project in stop-motion animation.
Well, calling it a “side project” may be mischaracterizing it. While he was often on the road for his projects, he kept in touch with his daughter Maya by creating short films from ideas she came up with, usually while she was taking a bath. At first, he did it in hotel rooms using his smartphone, colored construction paper, and a sharp pair of scissors. Eventually, he graduated to a real flatbed animation
setup, but in true Gondry fashion, the films never lost their handmade flavor. Working from prompts like “Every day cats save humans, but no one talks about it,” and “Maya, The Mermaid, and The Treasure,” Gondry’s charming creations grow up with Maya. When she doesn’t like where a story is going, the pair tear up the script and veer into a new, usually stranger direction. Eventually, they graduate to a crime thriller starring Maya’s grandparents (known as “Boum Boum and Pampa”) that is as fun and spectacular as anything in theaters costing tens of millions of dollars. This endlessly entertaining work from a major director gives the Like You Children’s Film Festival a worthy closing night spectacle.
& optimize critical business processes. Telecommuting permitted. Reports to HQs in Memphis, TN. Req. degree & exp. EOE. For full details & how to apply visit: bit.ly/ahsc0031
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (Memphis, TN) has opening for Sr Database Analyst (JobID SJ016GAB): Design, develop, modify, and maintain Clinical Research databases (EDCs) and other decision-making tools. Bach or equiv in Comp Sci, Data Sci, Inf Sci, Bus., Info Sys., or rlt & 4 yr exp. in IT. Telecommuting Permissible.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (Memphis, TN) has opening for Sr Data Engineer (JobID SJ017GAB): Designs, develops, and implements extract, transform, and load (ETL) processes and tools supporting applications. Bach or equiv in Comp Sci, Data Sci, Inf Sci, Bus., or rlt & 4 yr exp. Telecommuting Permissible.
Send resume w/job# to Grace Anne Boyd, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Pl, MS 507, Memphis, TN 38105 or email Recruiting@stjude.org.
St. Jude is an EEO/AA/Vet/Disability Employer.
THE LAST WORD By
Clint Abner
Why SNAP Matters
Two jobs, college, and three kids: One mom’s journey illustrates why many still need help.
e assistance provided a cushion for Danielle’s family.
Danielle was a mother, a day care teacher, and a bartender at e Blue Monkey on a select few nights during the week. In what free time she had, usually on the weekends and late weeknights, she took online classes at Arkansas State University to get the job she always wanted — a kindergarten educator. She lived across the bridge, in West Memphis, Arkansas, and she had very recently had her third son, Conner. Her work and school kept her occupied. When she was home, her time was spent building practice lesson plans and learning e ective communication methods to settle down her future classroom. Her 9-5 was more of a 10-3 at the West Memphis Christian Preschool, where she would watch the school children who were too young to start school but old enough to learn how to color in between the lines. It paid minimum wage, just like every other job she held before. is was the closest job she could get to her ultimate vision of becoming a teacher. Her second was as a bartender at e Blue Monkey in Downtown Memphis. She picked up as many shi s as she could handle. While she managed her three children, two jobs, and her own schooling every weekend for years, her checks were consistently light. Danielle received food stamps during this time, as well as WIC. She taught her oldest son, who shopped with her, to look for WIC-approved foods, scanning the aisles for maroon tags with the bold white letters. Her income alone wasn’t enough to survive, but the assistance she received got them by. ey ate good enough dinners to convince the children into thinking that, maybe, there wasn’t a money problem a er all. e assistance provided a cushion for her and a successful mirage for her children that reassured Danielle’s family everything would be okay.
WIC is the supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children. ose eligible for WIC are families whose income is 185 percent below the poverty line. In Arkansas, that was between $27k and $57k for a family of four. Danielle, my mother, did not have an income that was suitable to keep her family alive without the support of WIC. She had a boyfriend who was an out-of-work contractor and an ex-husband whose child support came infrequently. She was the breadwinner and the head of a household that was holding on to whatever breadcrumbs she brought in. WIC didn’t just provide us with meals to get by; it allowed my mother to build the foundation to get an education and create a better future for herself and her children.
During the government shutdown, WIC was not at risk as some of the other federal assistance programs. WIC received additional assistance during the shutdown to keep it a oat, unlike the SNAP bene ts, also known as food stamps, which ran out on November 1st (and are now set to ow again this month a er a lot of back and forth). During her time as head of household, my mother relied on both of these programs to inject $200 to $250 dollars a month into her budget, to keep her family fed. e shutdown, which was portrayed as a radical le issue on government websites and video messages, had great consequences for people receiving bene ts from the government — consequences that were overlooked by the salaried and still-paid politicians on hiatus.
I’ve seen celebrations regarding the halt of bene ts, from those without any understanding of the bene ts themselves. As described with my mother as the example, a majority of those who receive bene ts, excluding the disabled in most cases, have to have a job that does not pay them a living wage. is isn’t a handout for the lazy; this is a means to an end. Not to mention that keeping food assistance programs a oat is good for business. Walmart sales average around $25 billion annually on SNAP bene ts. Kroger, Tyson Foods, Post Consumer Brands, and dollar stores all take in millions of dollars in pro t annually from SNAP-supported customers. SNAP is also what allows the companies listed above to continue paying low wages, as their workforce uses SNAP themselves to cover the di erence in what their employer won’t pay.
ose who have celebrated the halt in funds miss the point entirely and don’t understand that SNAP reform cannot and will not come until the mega-corporations decide to pay their employees a wage that is suitable to live on. When our politicians fail us, they fail people like my mother, and they fail children like my brothers. Despite the strain on funds during the shutdown, our future focus should be on what we can do as organizations, cities, and states to keep our constituents fed when our government leaves us behind. While the politicians on the hill throw their parties and renovate their bathrooms, our states are being called on to uphold the example of governments not leaving their people behind.
If we prioritize keeping our voters and citizens thriving, maybe we can have more people like my mother. My mother, who eventually got her degree, became an educator who would go on to win teacher of the year in Mississippi, and bought her rst house about four years a er coming o of the bene ts that helped her provide for her family.
A native Memphian, Clint Abner is general manager of a food and beverage manufacturing company. He is a husband, father, and writer (when he nds the time).
PHOTO: VIOREL DUDAU | DREAMSTIME.COM
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