JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN Distribution
KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher
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
CONTEMPORARY MEDIA, INC.
ANNA TRAVERSE FOGLE Chief Executive O cer
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JEFFREY GOLDBERG Chief Revenue Officer
MARGIE NEAL Chief Operating Officer
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So Long, Sam
David Porter and Deanie Parker remember the late, great Sam Moore of Sam & Dave.
PHOTO:
Wood
PHOTO:
THE fly-by
MEM ernet
Memphis on the internet.
ONE MORE
is image of Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid was just too good not to share. Memphis Memes 901 titled it “the beautiful, snow-capped mountains of Tennessee.”
RECORDS REQUEST
Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy ful lled a “burdensome” records request from state Sen. Brent Taylor recently. Taylor, of course, is seeking Mulroy’s ouster from the job during the legislative session this year. e request included 4,000 documents, 16,000 pages, six boxes, and more than 150 sta hours to complete, Mulroy said. “ ings like this are a distraction from the real work that our o ce has to do. But we will fully cooperate with legislators.”
GIF LEVEL
Reddit user Melodic-Frosting-443 took the Memphis-Shelby County Schools situation to GIF level with a photo of the board surrounding Marie Feagins, overlaid with Stealers Wheel lyrics, “Clowns to the le of me, jokers to the right …” (You could see it above. But we’re not e Daily Prophet.)
Questions, Answers + Attitude
Edited by Toby Sells
{WEEK THAT WAS
By Flyer staff
Vouchers, Immigration, & MATA
A special session on education, moves for deportations, and consultants take the transit reins.
SPECIAL SESSION
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee called a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly on Monday, January 27th, to pass his school voucher plan, though one Democrat called the move an attempt “to use an unspeakable tragedy as a public relations stunt and political leverage.”
Lee announced the move last week. e session will focus on his signature Education Freedom Act. But the governor will also introduce an aid package for Hurricane Helene relief and prepare the state to ful ll Donald Trump’s promises on immigration.
LEE, GUARD, AND IMMIGRATION
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee con rmed last week for the rst time he would deploy National Guard troops to deport undocumented immigrants if President Donald Trump makes the request.
Speaking to reporters a er a groundbreaking event at the Tennessee College of Applied Technology on White Bridge Road in Nashville, Lee said no plan exists for Trump’s strategy to remove criminals who came into America illegally and no requests have been made to use Tennessee National Guard troops for deportation.
Yet Lee said he fully supports Trump’s plan to remove criminals who are undocumented immigrants, even though the recently inaugurated president had talked, not necessarily about removing criminals, but about deporting some 18 million immigrants, including U.S. citizens who are the children of undocumented parents.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Law enforcement, local advocates, and liaisons encouraged a “connect the dots” approach last week to ending human tra cking, while also helping those who have been victims.
A panel discussion by Restore Corps by Freed Life called “Connecting the Dots. Strengthening Communities. Preventing Tra cking” focused on anti-tra cking work and shed light on the current work being done in Memphis.
“Many of those dots have already been connected in terms of relational and organizational webbing,” said Rachel Haaga, CEO and co-founder of Restore Corps. She
said, simply, demand creates supply in terms of human tra cking.
“Demand creates exploitation,” Haaga said. “If tra ckers didn’t think there was money to be made — there’s a market to exploit vulnerable people — then they wouldn’t be in the game.”
Sergeant Star Handley of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program for Memphis Police Department said Memphis has a unique problem due to its location near two major interstates. He said this o en creates consistent demand, making the city known for tra cking throughout the country.
MATA CONSULTANTS
e Memphis Area Transit Authority’s (MATA) board of commissioners voted to enter an agreement to let TransPro consultants assume interim leadership roles.
A resolution passed 7-1 during last week’s special board meeting despite open concerns from citizens. In December MATA’s board of commissioners voted 5-4 in favor of working with the city and TransPro on a contract initiating the change.
As proposed, TransPro employees would take over as interim CEO (John Lewis), interim COO (Steve Hamelin), and interim CFO (Aaron Headley). e company said this will enhance the reliability and timeliness of the agency.
Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.
PHOTO: JOHN PARTIPILO | TENNESSEE LOOKOUT; (INSET) KATE OSEEN | UNSPLASH
Governor Bill Lee o ers Trump troops from the Tennessee National Guard; (inset) Memphis is known for its human tra cking.
Out of Love
{ CITY REPORTER
By Kailynn Johnson
Bracing for Impact
A local group readies for Trump’s immigration promises.
Grand Opening
September 21, 2024
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
290 Goodman Rd. East, Southaven, MS 38671
We will have light refreshments and Great Prizes
Alocal nonpro t is working to increase awareness of the services they o er for immigrants as promises made by Governor Bill Lee may soon come to fruition — with harmful consequences.
Earlier this week, the governor called for a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly January 27th to discuss a number of topics, such as illegal immigration. O cials said this is to prepare for the implementation of policies introduced by the incoming Trump administration.
“ e American people elected President Trump with a mandate to enforce immigration laws and protect our communities, and Tennessee must have the resources ready to support the Administration on Day One,” a statement from Lee’s o ce said.
Prior to this announcement, Lee said he would work with state law enforcement agencies to conduct deportations. He also signed a statement along with 25 other Republican governors announcing their commitment to the Trump administration’s e ort to deport those they referred to as “illegal immigrants who pose a threat to our communities and national security” and “dangerous criminals, gang members, and terrorists.”
“We understand the direct threat these criminal illegal immigrants pose to public safety and our national security, and we will do everything in our power to assist in removing them from our communities,” the statement added.
Trump administration. e organization has evolved from a two-person operation to one with 17 sta members, including ve sta attorneys — three of whom are located in Memphis. Bryant and their team represent people in immigration courts and immigration o ces across Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
Advocates for Immigrant Rights also provides wraparound services such as social assistance.
Bryant said increased vigilance could also lead to an increased workload for institutions related to immigrants, especially in the facilities needed to process and hold noncitizens if they’ve been detained. ese include the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities along with places in between arriving there.
Bryant added that immigration courts that already have an “immense” backlog of cases could be a ected.
Casey Bryant, the executive director and founder of Advocates for Immigrant Rights, is making sure the community is aware of the resources available to them in light of these threats.
“ e real danger in that is creating a police state where someone who looks suspicious in some way to someone could be wrapped up in a system that doesn’t grant basic due process rights to people,” Bryant said. “It doesn’t just make this world more dangerous and insecure for people who are noncitizens, but it makes it more dangerous and insecure for people who look like noncitizens — whatever that means.”
When policies like these rely on visual identi cation, Bryant added, they end up “degrading the rights of the whole.”
Bryant started Advocates for Immigrant Rights in October 2018, a er identifying a lack of resources for immigrants in the landscape created by the previous
“Adding more cases to that means that they won’t get processed for like 10 years,” they said. “It puts people in a state of limbo for a long time, and it’s just impracticable. In the meantime, it creates fear and suspicion in communities, and noncitizens aren’t going to be able to engage con dently in society.”
In hopes of helping immigrants engage in society con dently, Bryant and their team make sure to stay visible in these communities as well.
“Our relationship isn’t just moored in a service provision,” Bryant said. “Even if our interactions are only transactional, each interaction has the same mentality that we’re not above them. We’re not sitting in an ivory tower. We’re just people wearing jeans and a T-shirt interacting with people who may not know what we know, but obviously they know other stu , so we try to build rapport and con dence.”
Bryant stressed that there are many more people who need their services than there are service providers. As a result, Bryant encourages people to donate to their nonpro t.
PHOTO: KE | UNSPLASH Immigrants need advocates now more than ever.
By Jackson Baker
A GOP Grudge Match
Behind the scenes of a fraught race for Shelby County Republican chairman; plus, Marsha for governor.
The race for chairman of the Shelby County Republican Party, due to be resolved at the local party convention on Saturday at the Venue at Bartlett Station, has turned into a real donnybrook, with potentially divisive consequences.
As noted previously in this space, the two candidates are former Memphis City Councilman Worth Morgan, the beneficiary of an intra-party “Revive” campaign supported by numerous prominent party members, and longtime activist Naser Fazlullah, whose nose-to-the-grindstone party activities have won him a sizable grassroots constituency.
Underlying the surface aspects of the race are conflicts and rivalries involving other party figures and a myriad of issues.
Morgan’s most significant supporter is undoubtedly state Senator Brent Taylor, who claims credit for having recruited Morgan, an unsuccessful candidate for
Shelby County mayor in 2022, to seek the chairmanship. Taylor won election to the state Senate that same year, claiming the seat vacated by former incumbent Brian Kelsey, who was forced out by legal problems. Since then, he has gone on to generate an amount of attention for himself unusual for a first-term legislator.
That’s partly due to the fact that Taylor, wealthy from the sale of his extensive funeral home network, has personally endowed numerous GOP candidacies and party events, both statewide and locally. And he continues to attract publicity for his aggressive efforts, in and out of the legislature, to impose stronger state control over law enforcement in Shelby County.
The most recent manifestation of what Taylor calls a “Make Memphis Matter” campaign is his ongoing attempt to force the removal of Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy, whom he accuses of lax crime control. The senator has initiated a legislative procedure that would ultimately require a two-thirds vote in both chambers of the legislature to oust Mulroy.
As it happens, Fazlullah opposes that effort, on the grounds that using legislation to remove a legally elected local official is unjustified overkill.
That’s one reason for Taylor’s animus toward Fazlullah and his recruitment of Morgan as a rival candidate. Another is his assertion, at last fall’s Germantown Festival, that Fazlullah strenuously urged GOP state Representative Mark White to oppose Taylor’s reelection in 2026. White acknowledges that Fazlullah made such an approach, which he politely turned aside.
Says Taylor: “Naser should never be party chairman after trying to recruit a candidate to run against a sitting state senator in a primary who happens to have been the largest contributor to the Republican Party while he was vice chairman. Two can play at this game!”
Meanwhile, Fazlullah has allies who hold grudges against Worth Morgan. One is Terry Roland of Millington, a notable GOP conservative who regards Morgan as a lukewarm Republican, a “NeverTrumper,” and a potential advocate of city-county consolidation.
Roland sees Morgan as a tool of party “elitists” and reproaches the chairmanship candidate for allegedly “boycotting” the local GOP’s 2022 Lincoln Day banquet, which was keynoted that year by Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows.
The showdown over the chairmanship reflects a complicated pattern of conflicting loyalties, with GOP moderates and conservatives to be found on both sides.
• You saw it here first, in our year-end forecast of future political events: U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn is seriously considering a race for governor in 2026 and has so informed an increasing number of her fellow Republicans statewide.
Glenn Jacobs, the Knox County mayor who was previously regarded as perhaps the leading Republican gubernatorial hopeful, has energized Blackburn’s likely candidacy with a formal endorsement.
The Republican nomination, though, will apparently still be contested by U.S. Representative John Rose of Cookeville, a multi-millionaire with the capacity to self-fund.
By Bruce VanWyngarden
Keepers of the Flame
Welcome to the tech industrial complex.
The presidential inauguration in the Capitol rotunda on Monday marked the return to power of the most controversial and scandal-plagued president in American history. It felt a little like when the second plane hit the tower on 9/11 — the moment when we knew it wasn’t an accident.
Monday was also Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and here in Memphis — the city where Dr. King was assassinated in 1968 — the celebration of his life takes on a special signi cance. e NBA’s annual MLK Day celebration featured the Memphis Grizzlies hosting the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the National Civil Rights Museum held a day of events called “Community Over Chaos,” which seemed a most tting theme.
But before it fades into history, buried by the noisy deluge of Trump drama, I want to take note of former President Biden’s farewell address of last week. As might be expected, he cited the achievements of his administration — the record job-creation numbers, the long-desired cease re in the Middle East, the strengthening of NATO, and the ongoing resistance to the Russian invasion of Ukraine — but his real purpose in his speech seemed to be to deliver a warning, to address, as he said, “some things that give me great concern.”
opinion and so much money to invest in doing so. And it doesn’t help that they’re supplicating themselves (and giving millions of dollars) to the new president to curry his favor. It’s called obeying in advance, and it’s worrisome stu . Journalism is in danger of being put out of business by “content providers” that have no ethical qualms about ignoring the truth in favor of whatever makes a pro t — or makes the president happy.
CNN, ABC, and even MSNBC have also made at least token moves to ameliorate relations with the new administration. CNN buried Trump critic Jim Acosta in a late-night slot. ABC settled a libel lawsuit with Trump that it easily would have won in court. Facebook eliminated fact-checkers. Companies are getting rid of diversity hiring programs. Macho (“masculine energy”) is all the rage among the tech bros. Women’s healthcare rights continue to be eroded in red states.
Citing President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s farewell address to the nation, in which he warned the country about the dangers posed by the “military industrial complex,” Biden decried the rise of a new threat, one he called the “tech industrial complex.”
“Americans are being buried under an avalanche of misinformation and disinformation enabling the abuse of power,” Biden warned. “ e free press is crumbling. Errors are disappearing. Social media is giving up on factchecking. e truth is smothered by lies told for power and for pro t.” No errors detected.
e tech industrial complex was on full display in the Rotunda on Monday, including Sundar Pichai (Google), Tim Cook (Apple), Je Bezos (Amazon, e Washington Post), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta, Facebook, Instagram, reads), and Elon Musk (X, Tesla, Starlink, xAI).
Never have so few had so much unbridled power to in uence public
Biden called it “a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people,” and cited the consequences “if their abuse of power is le unchecked.” What Biden was describing is an oligarchy. Merriam-Webster (remember dictionaries?) de nes it as “a government in which a small group exercises control, especially for corrupt and sel sh purposes.”
Can there be any doubt that an oligarchy of extreme wealth, power, and in uence is moving into power in the United States, one that threatens our democracy and our basic rights and freedoms?
Democracy depends upon the will of the people, and if the people are misinformed, disinformed, or uninformed, they can be manipulated. As we well know, public opinion — and elections — can turn on well-funded, broadly circulated lies and propaganda. Our social media platforms are already permeated by disinformation, mostly via bots that skillfully imitate real people and overwhelm legitimate content by their sheer numbers. Arti cial intelligence is now upping that deception to previously unknown heights. Biden called AI “the most consequential technology of our time, perhaps of all time.”
e former president concluded by saying to his fellow Americans, “It’s your turn to stand guard. May you all be the keepers of the ame.” at doesn’t feel like malarkey, folks.
PHOTO: EVGENIYA LEONOVA | DREAMSTIME.COM
With over 30 years’ experience in researching, reviewing, and selecting Top Doctors, Castle Connolly is a trusted and credible healthcare research and information company. Our mission is to help people nd the best healthcare by connecting patients with best-inclass healthcare providers.
Castle Connolly’s physician-led team of researchers follows a rigorous screening process to select top doctors on both the national and regional levels. Its online nomination process is open to all licensed physicians in America, who are able to nominate physicians in any medical specialty and in any part of the country, as well as indicate whether the nominated physicians are, in their opinion, among the best in their region in their medical specialty or among the best in the nation in their medical specialty. en, Castle Connolly’s research team thoroughly vets each physician’s professional quali cations, education, hospital and faculty appointments, research leadership, professional reputation, disciplinary history, and, if available, outcomes data. Additionally, a physician’s interpersonal skills such as listening and communicating e ectively, demonstrating empathy, and instilling trust and con dence are also considered in the review process. e Castle Connolly Doctor Directory is the largest network of peer-nominated physicians in the nation.
rough the nomination process, Castle Connolly also identi es female physicians for their annual Exceptional Women in Medicine award. is award was created by Castle Connolly in order to recognize female physicians who are o en underrepresented among award recipients in the medical community. Physicians selected to be recognized for this honor are a subset of the female Top Doctors on their website who are the best in their specialties, in their communities and throughout the nation, delivering exceptional patient care. is award not only recognizes physicians who have greatly contributed to healthcare through clinical care, research, community service, education, and leadership, but who have also improved healthcare outcomes for issues speci c to women. Physicians do not pay and cannot pay to be selected and pro led for Exceptional Women in Medicine award.
To keep in tip-top shape and health, sometimes a professional medical opinion is in order, whether you have an achy back or what may be the u. Fortunately, Memphis and the Mid-South is burgeoning with clinics and hospitals on the cutting edge of medical care and research.
Finding a doctor who ts your needs and who you can trust — now — can be the hard part. So, let this year’s list of Exceptional Women in Medicine be your guide while searching for the care that’s right for you. A er all, these are women who have dedicated their lives to improving their patients’ health, no matter the ailment or stage of life. Whether it’s allergies, dermatology, pediatric cardiology, or ophthalmology, these doctors are ready to listen to and care for you.
Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital Methodist University Hospital
UT Le Bonheur Pediatric Specialists 51 North Dunlap Street, Suite 400 Memphis, TN 38105 (901) 287-7337
ENDOCRINOLOGY, DIABETES & METABOLISM
Lisa M. Myers
Endocrinology and Diabetes Specialists 1920 Kirby Parkway, Suite 120 Germantown, TN 38138 (901) 334-5464
A Privilege with a Toll
Dr. Dina Marie Filiberto is grateful to treat some of the toughest cases at Regional One Health’s Elvis Presley Trauma Center. by Toby Sells
Imagine working under “incredible stress, sometimes with limited resources” while still providing world-class care for most of the MidSouth’s gunshot wounds, stabbings, car accidents, and more.
Dr. Dina Marie Filiberto calls it a privilege.
Filiberto joined Regional One Health as a trauma surgeon in July 2017. e hospital’s Elvis Presley Trauma Center is designated as a Level 1 Trauma Center in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas. at means the center o ers the highest level of care possible for patients with severe and complex injuries. It’s the only Level 1 Trauma Center within 150 miles of Memphis.
Before joining Regional One, Filiberto attended medical school at SUNY Health Science Center at Brooklyn in New York and completed her general surgery residency at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, New Jersey. She completed her surgical critical care fellowship at University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). She said she wanted to go into medicine “for as long as I can remember.” She believes doctors provide a critical service to patients and help them improve and live the healthiest lives possible.
Filiberto said she chose surgery because she enjoys the technical aspect of operating. More speci cally as a trauma surgeon, she is immediately able to address a patient’s life-threatening injuries in the operating room or the emergency room. Much of the time in Memphis, this includes gunshot wounds, stab wounds, and car accidents.
GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY
Linda M. Smiley
Baptist Memorial Hospital - Memphis
Methodist University Hospital
Saint Francis Hospital - Memphis West Cancer Center - East Campus 7945 Wolf River Boulevard Germantown, TN 38138 (901) 683-0055
HEMATOLOGY
Marquita N. Nelson
Regional One Health
Regional One Health Sickle Cell Center 880 Madison Avenue Memphis, TN 38103 (901) 545-8535
“ e biggest challenge is the mental, physical, and emotional toll of caring for critically injured patients,” Filiberto said. “Seeing adolescents involved in gun violence, taking care of patients with severe traumatic brain injuries who don’t improve, and telling family members their loved one has died are all challenges.
“Sometimes, I spend hours taking care of someone, spending a great deal of time and resources, and they die despite maximal lifesaving e orts. en I have to move on to the next trauma like it didn’t
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
Shirin Mazumder
Methodist University Hospital
Methodist Medical Group 1325 Eastmoreland Avenue, Suite 370 Memphis, TN 38104 (901) 758-7888
INTERNAL MEDICINE
Joan Michelle Allmon
Allmon Internal Medicine (AIM) 526 Halle Park Drive Collierville, TN 38017 (901) 910-3246
happen because we need to focus on taking care of the next patient. And then I try to go home and compartmentalize it, so I can spend time with my family. But how can you not think about it?”
Filiberto teaches surgery courses at UTHSC and trains residents and fellows in trauma and surgical critical care. She publishes regularly in journals such as Injury, Journal of Surgical Research, and Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open. She is also chair of Regional One’s ICU Operations Committee and director of its Trauma Intensive Care Unit.
Natascha S. Thompson
Baptist Memorial Hospital - Memphis The University of Tennessee Medical Center
UT Internal Medicine BMG 8040 Wolf River Boulevard, Suite 102 Germantown, TN 38138 (901) 227-7900
Catherine R. Womack
Baptist Memorial Hospital - Memphis
UT Internal Medicine BMG 8040 Wolf River Boulevard, Suite 102 Germantown, TN 38138 (901) 227-7900
PHOTO: REGIONAL ONE HEALTH
Dr. Dina Marie Filiberto
MEDICAL ONCOLOGY
Sylvia S. Richey
Baptist Memorial Hospital - Memphis
Methodist University Hospital Saint Francis Hospital - Memphis
West Cancer Center - East Campus
7945 Wolf River Boulevard Germantown, TN 38138 (901) 683-0055
Carmel S. Verrier
Baptist Memorial Hospital - Memphis
Methodist University Hospital Saint Francis Hospital - Memphis
West Cancer Center - East Campus 7945 Wolf River Boulevard Germantown, TN 38138 (901) 683-0055
51 North Dunlap Street, Suite 310 Memphis, TN 38105 (901) 523-2945
Ellen J. Stecker
Baptist Memorial Hospital - Memphis River City Pediatrics 1717 West Massey Road Memphis, TN 38120 (901) 761-1280
PLASTIC SURGERY
Devra Becker
The University of Tennessee Medical Center
University Plastic Surgeons
1068 Cresthaven Road, Suite 500 Memphis, TN 38119 (901) 866-8525
Patricia L. Eby
Saint Francis Hospital - Memphis
Cosmetic Surgery Specialists of Memphis 6401 Poplar Avenue, Suite 360 Memphis, TN 38119 (901) 752-1412
RADIATION ONCOLOGY
Martha Tibbs
Methodist University Hospital
Methodist University Hospital
Department of Radiation Oncology 1265 Union Avenue, Shorb Tower, Floor 1 Memphis, TN 38104 (901) 478-7367
REPRODUCTIVE ENDOCRINOLOGY/INFERTILITY
Amelia Bailey
Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women
Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital
Fertility Associates of Memphis
80 Humphreys Center, Suite 307 Memphis, TN 38120 (901) 747-2229
SURGERY
Dina M. Filiberto
Regional One Health
Regional One Health Elvis Presley Trauma Center 877 Jefferson Avenue Memphis, TN 38103 (901) 545-7100
Alyssa D. Throckmorton
Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women
Methodist Le Bonheur Germantown Hospital
Baptist Medical Group 7205 Wolf River Boulevard, Suite 200 Germantown, TN 38138 (901) 227-8950
UROGYNECOLOGY/ FEMALE PELVIC MEDICINE & RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY
Val Y. Vogt
Methodist University Hospital Baptist Memorial Hospital - Memphis
Baptist Memorial Hospital - Collierville
Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women
The Conrad Pearson Clinic 1325 Wolf Park Drive, Suite 102 Germantown, TN 38138 (901) 252-3400
steppin’ out
We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews
Seeing Double
By Sarai Bennett
Surely, you’ve heard of Joseph Stalin, the controversial leader of the Soviet Union, but have you ever heard of Alexei Dikiy or Felix Dadaev? ese are the two characters, based on real people, in Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, a play following the lives of the two actors who are preparing for the riskiest roles of their careers: Stalin’s body doubles.
“Dianne Nora, who’s the playwright, has taken very interesting historical facts, which is the fact of Joseph Stalin’s body doubles during World War II, and created this entire world of what could have been — the training that one of those body doubles ended up experiencing,” says Savannah Miller, director of Playhouse on the Square’s NewWorks@ eWorks Playwriting Competition that Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin won.
e NewWorks competition allows six plays to be entered and examined by judges, but only two can be selected as the winners. ( e other winner of this season was Coco Queens, which was performed last summer.)
Of Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, Miller says, “It speaks to our current moment, with a new and old president coming into o ce. It speaks to critically evaluating our world leaders and what they are asking you to do. In this case, in Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin, they’re asking you to put your life on the line and you need to know exactly what you’re standing up for.”
e play, directed by Tony Isbell, encourages audiences to be more aware of what occurred in the past and how it affected people — not to mention how the past can easily become the present. “I hope that it makes them question a little bit more the world around them. And I hope ultimately that it just starts a dialogue. I think it’s a very, very timely piece,” says Miller.
e production is 90 minutes with no intermission, and it will run from this week until the week of the 26th. For more information about this newest production and Playhouse’s upcoming season as well as where to purchase tickets, visit playhouseonthesquare.org/season-2024---2025.
SIX MEN DRESSED LIKE STALIN, THEATREWORKS@THESQUARE, 2085 MONROE, THROUGH JANUARY 26TH, THURSDAYS-SATURDAYS AT 8 P.M., SUNDAYS AT 2 P.M., $25/GENERAL ADMISSIONS, $20/SENIOR CITIZENS, MILITARY, AND FIRST RESPONDERS, $15/CHILDREN UNDER 18.
VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES January 23rd - 29th
Cirque Kalabanté: Afrique en Cirque
Germantown Performing Arts Center, 1801 Exeter Road, Friday, January 24, 8 p.m., $23-$87
A show by Yamoussa Bangoura and inspired by daily life in Guinea, Afrique en Cirque shares the beauty, youth, and artistry of African culture. A colorful production beyond its scenery, costumes, and staging, it makes any theater vibrate with energy and represents the strength, agility, and joys of young Africans. Acrobats execute gravity-defying moves and human pyramids, accompanied by the contemporary sounds of Afro-jazz, percussion, and kora, a 21-string instrument used extensively throughout West Africa.
Purchase tickets at gpacweb.com.
Lunar New Year Celebration
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, 1934 Poplar Avenue, Saturday, January 25, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., free Celebrate Lunar New Year 2025 with the Brooks. Enjoy an event packed with thrilling performances, live music, hands-on art activities for all ages, authentic cuisine, and much more.
e day will include art-making, information booths, dim sum and tea, live music (10 a.m.-11: 30 a.m.), Chinese fan dance (noon), and the TNTT Sacred Heart Lion Dancers (12:30 p.m.).
Steve Martin & Martin Short: e Dukes of Funnytown!
Orpheum Theatre, 225 S. Main St., Saturday, January 25, 8 p.m., $107-$365
Steve Martin and Martin Short’s e Dukes of Funnytown! is a show that rede nes the form in unexpected and profound ways, from two of the funniest, most in uential and acclaimed talents of the past century. eir humor is o en subversive, but it is always a joyous self-deprecating romp from two comedy masters driven to make each other laugh as much as the audience. e jokes come at you at a rapid- re pace with little set-up and big punch lines as they mock Hollywood and the ckle nature of celebrity, but the comedy truly soars when they lovingly (and relentlessly) roast each other.
Purchase tickets at orpheum-memphis.com.
PHOTO: MEG CHRISTOFERSON
Dianne Nora cra s a ctional narrative based on the real lives of Stalin’s body doubles.
SO LONG, SAM
DAVID PORTER AND DEANIE PARKER REMEMBER THE LATE, GREAT SAM MOORE OF SAM & DAVE.
MUSIC By Alex Greene
Back during the initial owering of Stax Records, as the label went from success to success in its rst half-dozen years, and all its rooms buzzed with an everexpanding sta trying to keep up with popular demand, one star in particular had a tendency to saunter away from the studio, where the action was, and take a detour down Stax’s back hallways from time to time. Deanie Parker, one of the label’s rst o ce employees who soon became their lead publicist, remembers it well — that’s where she worked.
“Every now and then, he just walked in the door,” she recalls a little wistfully, “with little gi s for the girls in the o ce, little packages. at’s the kind of person he was.”
Now, scores of mourners will be sending owers to that same soul singer, Sam Moore, the high tenor partner of Dave Prater in Stax super duo Sam & Dave, who died at the age of 89 on January 10th in Coral Gables, Florida, from post-surgery complications. is week, we pay tribute to the great Sam Moore by revisiting the pivotal role he played in the history of Stax and all soul music, as remembered by two who were right there with him: Deanie Parker and David Porter.
Sam Moore: The Stax Years
e quieting of one of soul music’s most expressive voices sent powerful shock waves throughout the music world — certainly among his latecareer collaborators like Bruce Springsteen, but not least in Memphis, where Moore and Prater, singing the songs of Porter and Isaac Hayes, helped bring the Stax sound to its fullest fruition in the mid-’60s, becoming overnight sensations with hits like “Hold On, I’m Comin,’”
“You Don’t Know Like I Know,” “I ank You,” and “Soul Man.”
Even then, “Sam Moore got along especially well with the administrative sta ,” says Parker, recalling those spontaneous gi s. “He was the most gregarious of the duo. He was a great conversationalist and very personable. Dave was rather laid-back, kind of quiet.
“Keep in mind, now, that I was not in the studio with him all the time because I was in administration,” Parker goes on. “But because of our proximity to each other, it gave me an opportunity to get up and, when the record light was not on in Studio A, go in and observe and listen — not only to their rehearsals, but to the
nal takes and the playback.”
Surely anyone at Stax was rushing down the hall to hear the hot new duo’s latest, once the hits were hitting, for they were taking the Stax recipe to a whole new level of artistry. Yet while those songs are now part of the Stax canon, the de nitive statements of the Memphis Sound, the success of two newcomers named Sam & Dave was not a foregone conclusion when they arrived.
Newcomers
“ ere was no one interested in Sam & Dave,” songwriter David Porter told Rob Bowman in the liner notes for e Complete Stax/Volt Singles: 1959-1968. “It was like a throwaway kind of situation [to] see if anything could happen with them.” Indeed, it seemed no one at Atlantic Records, who had a distribution deal with Stax, knew what to do with this singing duo from Florida, who’d had little luck with their scattered singles on the Marlin, Alston, and Roulette labels. Despite this, said Porter, “I was very much interested in Sam & Dave.”
But were Sam & Dave interested in Memphis? Atlantic
PHOTO: (AB0VE) COURTESY STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL Stax salutes a fallen hero.
PHOTO: (BELOW) STAX, PUBLIC DOMAIN, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Sam Moore (le ) and Dave Prater
had “loaned” the duo to the smaller label that was showing so much promise, but in 1965 Stax was hardly a household name. Moore’s reaction, according to Parker, was, “Who wants to go to Memphis?”
Moore had his sights set on crossover pop stardom in the Big Apple, not moving to what seemed like a backwater. “He really did not have a positive impression about Memphis,” Parker says. “And apparently he was not all that familiar with Stax, which stands to reason, because when Sam & Dave got here, we only had a couple of stars. We just had Rufus and Carla, Booker T. and the M.G.’s, the Mar-Keys, and Otis [Redding]. I don’t know that we had more than those in the category of the top stars.”
Moore himself described the situation hilariously in his acceptance speech for Sam & Dave’s induction into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in October 2015. “When Dave and I rst came to Memphis,” Moore recalled, “the rst person I saw was David Porter. He had on a small hat, a big sweater, and his pants looked like pedal pushers. Water came into my eyes.” Moore paused for laughter with impeccable comic timing. “ en it got worse: I saw Isaac. Isaac had on a green shirt with a low-cut neck, like that, a white belt, chartreuse pants, pink socks, and white shoes. I started crying harder. I wanted to go home.”
ere must have been more than a little truth to that, for, as Moore went on to explain, “I had in mind to sing like Jackie Wilson, James Brown, Wilson Pickett … but then they introduced us to these two guys and we went inside and they introduced us to the songs. And they didn’t sound nothing like Jackie Wilson and all these people! And then I turned to Dave … and he was trying to get a phone number to get to the airport.
“Being the new kids on the block, we had nothing to say. So we had to go on in there.”
In fact, they were walking into the Stax brain trust, which had always dared to be di erent. When Sam & Dave’s pre-Stax singles tried to emulate the more polished soul of Wilson or Sam Cooke, albeit without their orchestral ourishes, the results came o as rather corny. Now it was 1965, and pop music was getting edgier, from Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” to the Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” Even James Brown, whose biggest hits had been ballads like “Try Me,” was cooking up material like “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag.”
Dream Team
David Porter, who saw their potential early on, inched them toward a rawer take on soul music when he penned the shu ing, feel-good “A Place Nobody Can Find” for them, though the B-side, written by Porter and Steve Cropper, was a more tender ballad, with sassy
horns thrown in for good measure. Unlike their later hits, Prater was given the lead vocal, though Moore’s upper register parts hinted at the harmonies that were to come. It wasn’t until their next single that Porter and Hayes teamed up to produce the duo, and their nascent songwriting partnership blossomed. And they gelled not only in the substance of the songs, with Porter cra ing lyrics for Hayes’ music, but in the strategy they mapped out for the two new kids on the block.
Re ecting on that strategy today, Porter says that Sam & Dave “didn’t have a concept as far as the artistic direction that they needed to go. at’s why Jerry Wexler, the president of Atlantic Records, brought them to Memphis, in hopes of nding whatever that was — he didn’t know what it was. But we had our concept of what we wanted to do, and that was to bring it out of the church, the spirituality out of the church, and have the music emphasize what we called the low end of it, the bass, drums, and guitar, and the underlying chord progressions in the low end, paired with the gospel persona of it, the spirituality of the church.”
And yet, as with Ray Charles and so much of the nest soul music, the gospel underpinnings supported very secular, worldly sentiments. Lyrically, Porter paired the world of the bluesman with the spirit of church. And that came as a shock to the singers, who had both grown up singing in church choirs.
“David Porter and Sam could clash,” Parker recalls, “but it wasn’t hostile, and it didn’t last but a few minutes. It was like they were sparring, you know? Of course, Isaac’s thing was the keyboard, he was the melody man, and Porter was the lyricist. And sometimes Porter had to stop and help both of the guys understand what he meant when he wrote, ‘Coming to you on a dusty road.’ You know what I’m saying? Because this was not Sam & Dave’s environment. is was David Porter’s environment from the area around Millington, Tennessee.”
And so a great foursome was born, beginning with the single “I Take What I Want,” which, as Bowman notes, “was to provide the model for the majority of Sam & Dave’s Stax 45s.” By the time “Hold On, I’m Comin’” dropped in March of 1966, topping the R&B charts and reaching number 21 on the pop charts, that model was locked in. A er cra ing a song and a sound, Porter and Hayes would only need to give the duo a brief rundown before they got it. Porter can still picture it today: “I’m standing there with them, and I’m looking at them as I give them the lyric sheet. We go through the melody at the piano, and then by the time they get on the microphone, they go into another world. ey made it their own,
Porter
Deanie
and that’s when you know you’ve got something special.”
And so, even if “Sam was the dominant one,” as Parker recalls, and more prone to pushback, both Sam and Dave were consummate professionals. “We had to go on in there,” as Moore recalled, and they did.
Porter says, “ ere never was a comment like, ‘Well, I don’t want to do that song. I don’t like that song.’
Because we produced the albums, even when we were doing a song by some other writer, and on occasion we would do that, they still didn’t object. ey would bring their own spirit and commitment to wanting to make it as good as it could possibly be. And they did that.”
The Key to the Speedboat e foursome’s recipe for success not only gave Sam & Dave’s career a boost; it solidi ed Stax’s standing as a label. As Robert Gordon writes in Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion, “their album Hold On, I’m Comin’ proved to be the breakthrough for Stax’s album sales. In all the company’s years through 1965, they’d released only eight albums. … In 1966 alone they released eleven albums and Sam & Dave’s Hold On went to number one on the R&B album sales chart. Albums were good business.”
Parker likens it to the edgling label acquiring a sleek new machine. “ ey reminded me of a speedboat,” she says.
“A boat that nobody was 100 percent familiar with because they were not on the water in the speedboat every day. ey had to gure out a lot of things mechanically, and they had to become acquainted with each other. And I’m talking about Sam and Dave and David and Isaac. Once Sam and Dave found their groove with David and Isaac, it was like they had found the key to speedboat. ey then began to realize that they had more going for them with their new producers than they’d ever imagined.”
If the speedboat was designed by the producers, Porter makes it clear that Sam & Dave supplied the spark of ignition. “You, as a creator, can create something that you know is strong and good, but when you have an artist that’s able to create their own individuality through the spirit of what you’ve done, then you’ve got something special. at’s the thing that made Sam Moore such a special talent, as well as Dave: ey would go into the ownership of the message. I would tell them where the vibe was, and they would have to live the spirit of the message. at’s where true artistry comes in. And the more songs we wrote for them, the more comfortable they would get into doing it.”
Or, as Porter wrote on social media a er Moore’s death, Sam & Dave “were always lled with passion, purity, individuality, and believability, grounded in soul.”
e road grew dustier and rockier as the years rolled on, with Atlantic claiming ownership of all Stax masters prior to 1968, and taking Sam & Dave away from Memphis. e duo never reached the heights of their Stax records again, and split apart as Moore struggled with addiction through the ’70s. Yet, with the help of his wife Joyce MacRae, whom he wed in 1982 and who now survives him, he kicked drugs (coming to support several GOP candidates along the way) and revived his career without Prater (who died in a car crash in 1988).
By the time he spoke to the Memphis Music Hall of Fame 10 years ago, Sam Moore had fully embraced his Stax past. “Coming from a humble beginning, with no formal training in singing or anything, we were just two guys who got out there and took the church with us, like Al Green did. … I’m going to say this to you: Thank you Memphis people, the band, the friends that Dave and I met all those years. …They believed in us. They stuck with us. Every record company that we had been with just didn’t know what to do with us. Sixty years later, I’ve been doing this. I’m blessed.”
Sam Moore knew he’d helped build something for the ages. As David Porter re ects now, “ e music that was done by the four of us together will live on forever. ere’s no doubt in my mind.”
PHOTO: (AB0VE) COURTESY BILL CARRIER JR. | THE CONCORD API STAX COLLECTION
and Hayes mapping out the next Sam & Dave hit
PHOTO: (BELOW) COURTESY BILL CARRIER JR. | THE CONCORD API STAX COLLECTION
Parker heading up the publicity desk at Stax
Love breaks every rule
ELIZABETH WISE and HER GUYS CARMEN
AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule
January 23 - 29
Organ Concert: Dennis Janzer
A free organ concert featuring music composed and performed by Janzer. Free. Sunday, Jan. 26, 3-4 p.m.
ST. MARY’S EPISCOPAL CATHEDRAL
South Main Sounds
Songwriter Night
South Main Sounds begins its 10th season as Amelia White returns, with Haley Ivey and Evangeline making their debut. Friday, Jan. 24, 7-9 p.m.
SOUTH MAIN SOUNDS
Sweet Honey In The Rock
e internationally renowned Grammy-nominated female a cappella vocal quartet comes to Memphis. $50. Friday, Jan. 24, 7:30-9 p.m.
HALLORAN CENTRE FOR PERFORM-
ING ARTS & EDUCATION
The Central BBQ Sessions
Great food and smokin’ tunes by Doug MacLeod. Saturday, Jan. 25, 6-8:30 p.m.
CENTRAL BBQ
PHOTO: COURTESY CROSSTOWN ARTS
Marcella & Talibah
Devil Train
Bluegrass, roots, country, Delta, and ski e. ursday, Jan. 23, 9 p.m.
B-SIDE
Elizabeth Wise & Her Guys
As Wise sings, “I’ve been all over the world/I’ve seen almost everything/I’ve sung all kinds of places/People call me the queen.” $20, $25/ at the door. Friday, Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m.
THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS
Hairspray Nation
Van Duren e singer-songwriter, a pioneer of indie pop in Memphis, performs solo. ursday, Jan. 23, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
With e Red Mountain, Torn Apart, Slamhound, Su ering unto Wisdom. Saturday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m.
GROWLERS
Candlelight: Tribute to Fleetwood Mac on Strings
Get your tickets now to discover the music of Fleetwood Mac on strings at Memphis
Brooks Museum of Art under the gentle glow of candlelight.
$29.63. Wednesday, Jan. 29, 6:30-7:45 p.m.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Datura
With Pat Vaughn Band [Small Room-Downstairs]. Saturday, Jan. 25, 9 p.m.
HI TONE
David Collins Acoustic Septet Tuesday, Jan. 28, 10 p.m.
B-SIDE
Deaf Revival Saturday, Jan. 25, 9:30 p.m.
B-SIDE
Friday, Jan. 24, 10 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Jay Jones Band ursday, Jan. 23, 7 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Joe Restivo 4 Guitarist Restivo leads one of the city’s nest jazz quartets. Sunday, Jan. 26, noon
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Marcella Simien and Talibah Safiya Simien’s blend of traditional and contemporary sounds creates a mesmerizing, multimedia experience. Sa ya, a captivating storyteller, will share music from her latest album, Black Magic. $25.
Saturday, Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m.
CROSSTOWN THEATER
Moon Roof
With A er e Rain, Avon Park, Degenerate Breakfast [Small Room-Downstairs].
Monday, Jan. 27, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Noisy Cats Are We (R.E.M. Tribute)
Friday, Jan. 24, 8:30 p.m.
B-SIDE
Play Some Skynyrd (Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute)
Friday, Jan. 24, 9:30 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Rhythm & Rave DJs and performances by FERB, Jos.Heat, Rosamii, Strooly. $10. Friday, Jan. 24, 9:30 p.m.-2 a.m.
LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE
Runaway Ricochet
With Flying Raccoon Suit [Small Room-Downstairs].
Sunday, Jan. 26, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Seeing Red
Saturday, Jan. 25, 9 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
Sungazer
An international future jazz duo featuring bassist Adam Neely and drummer Shawn Crowder, with a blend of hard-hitting jazz fusion, 8-bit, progressive rock, and EDM. $25, $30/at the door. Tuesday, Jan. 28, 7:30 p.m.
CROSSTOWN THEATER
Sunweight
With Owlbear, e Earslips, Shorty and e Grooves [Small Room-Downstairs].
Friday, Jan. 24, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
The Disappeared With Spite House, Jadewick [Small Room-Downstairs].
ursday, Jan. 23, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Vinyl Happy Hour
With guest DJs every Friday. Friday, Jan. 24, 3-5 p.m.
MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Whiskey South Saturday, Jan. 25, 5 p.m.
LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM
WiMM presents Lorette Velvette & Brezay Celebrate the Chinese New Year with two of Memphis’ ercest women. Wednesday, Jan. 29, 7-10 p.m. BSIDE
Bryan Ruby With Rowdy Franks. Friday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Jimmy Davis’ Sunday Happening Hoedown
Sunday, Jan. 26, 3-6 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
PJ & The Bear
With e Eastwoods and Michael Cusack. Saturday, Jan. 25, 8 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
Scott Southworth & Mark Lavey
Tuesday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m.
HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY
CALENDAR of EVENTS: January 23 - 29
ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS
2024 Accessions to the Permanent Collection is Accessions series honors the new additions to the Metal Museum’s permanent collection throughout each calendar year. Tues-Sun, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. rough Nov. 2.
METAL MUSEUM
“All Aboard: The Railroad in American Art, 1840 - 1955” is exhibition examines the o en-symbiotic relationship between painters in the United States and the passenger and freight trains that populated cities, towns, and countrysides across the nation. rough Jan. 26.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
“Back for Seconds”
Featuring work by Roger Allan Cleaves, Melissa Dunn, Stephanie Howard, and Clare Torina. rough Feb. 1.
SHEET CAKE
Fall 2024 BFA
Exhibition e Fall 2024 BFA Exhibition features work by Ciridany Genchi Cortez and Piper Grokulsky, both graduating seniors in CBU’s Department of Visual Arts. Free. MondayFriday, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. rough Feb. 14.
BEVERLY + SAM ROSS GALLERY
Jay Etkin Group Show e rst show of 2025, with some Memphis favorites such as Roy Tamboli, Juan Rojo, Annabelle Meechum, and Carol Buchman. rough Feb. 15.
JAY ETKIN GALLERY
Jennifer Watson: “Small Spaces”
e artist incorporates three-dimensional enameled copper sculpture into highly designed, jewel-like paintings that mix overlapping and colliding geometries with animal and plant imagery. Sunday, Jan. 26-April 13.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Jodi Hays: “Befores and Afters” Hays’ paintings can be found in many public and corporate collections including the J Crew Group, Morgan Stanley, Fidelity, Fidelity, and the Birmingham Museum of Art. rough Feb. 8.
DAVID LUSK GALLERY
Justin Bowles: “Green Fountain”
An ecstatic rendering of a fantastical garden. Bowles’ garden depicts a pool surrounded by animals and plants and crystal rock formations depicted in three intricate collage works. rough Feb. 16.
TOPS GALLERY: MADISON AVENUE PARK
Kenneth Lawrence
Beaudoin: “In the Hands of a Poet”
John McIntire fondly recalls Beaudoin’s creative process behind these Eye Poems: “He would just sit in the middle of piles of magazines and books, cutting, gluing, and smoking.” rough Feb. 22.
TOPS GALLERY
“Loose Ends:” New Work by Brittney Boyd
Bullock
Bullock examines the intricate narratives of Black labor, migration, and cultural identity through an interdisciplinary approach that merges textilebased art and collage. rough Feb. 1.
SHEET CAKE
Master Metalsmith
Preston Jackson: “A Hidden Culture”
Honoring the Metal Museum’s 38th Master Metalsmith, this exhibition “reveals history that has been buried, forgotten, or deemed unimportant by society.” rough Jan. 26.
METAL MUSEUM
“Natural Histories:
400 Years of Scientific
Illustration”
Showcasing hidden gems and unique masterworks from the American Museum of Natural History’s rare book collection. rough Jan. 26.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
“Pissarro to Picasso:” Masterworks from the Kirkland Family Collection
anks to the generosity of the Kirkland family of Los Angeles, visitors to the Dixon will be able to enjoy eighteen art treasures from the family’s collection. rough Jan. 26.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
Pompeii: The Exhibition
In a media-rich, object-based immersive experience, discover the bustling commercial port and strategic military and trading center that was Pompeii before Mount Vesuvius erupted. rough April 13.
GRACELAND EXHIBITION CENTER
Preston Jackson: Tales of the River Cities
Tales of the River Cities, by artist Preston Jackson, features narrative vignettes that speak to Jackson’s family history near the Mississippi River. rough Jan. 26.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Rivertown Artists 2025 Winter Expo Exhibition
e group o ers a variety of paintings, ceramic creations, photographic showpieces, and collages to satisfy everyone’s artistic tastes. rough Jan. 31.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Sheryl Hibbs: “Two Sides of the Same Coin”
An artist whose love of oils manifests itself in both
Celebrating 35 years of an HBCU Memphis tradition, the exhibition tells the story of Fred Jones Jr., the founder of the Southern Heritage Classic. rough Feb. 28.
NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM
“Spirit of ‘74, Fire and Water”
An exhibit uniting two St. Mary’s Class of ’74 alums, Mary Hills Baker Powell and Katie Dann. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 24-April 3.
BUCKMAN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
“Starry, Starry Winter Garden”
For the museum’s inaugural Winter Art Garden, artist Greely Myatt uses found objects, including scrap metal, neon, and discarded signage, to create an illuminated starscape on the museum’s plaza. rough Jan. 31.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
Susan Elswick — “Scenic Narratives: The Art of Landscape”
Dr. Susan Elswick’s watercolor and acrylic paintings of landscapes she’s known, from salt marshes in South Carolina to the rolling hills of East Tennessee. rough Jan. 30.
GARDEN
Thomas Jackson: “Chaotic Equilibrium” Jackson harnesses the wind to create ethereal works that blur the boundaries between landscape photography, sculpture, and kinetic art. rough April 28.
MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART
ART HAPPENINGS
Temple of Souls Art & Vintage Shoppe
Jana Wilson, artist and creative mastermind behind Vintagia Memphis, presents Temple of Souls Art & Vintage Shoppe. Friday, Jan. 24, noon5 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 25, noon-5 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 26, noon-5 p.m.
VINTAGIA MEMPHIS
BOOK EVENTS
William Gotten: Right of Survivorship, Pt. 2: Resolution Continues the gripping investigation of murders that occurred in Part 1, as led by Memphis Police Detective, Harvey Martin, who knows
PHOTO: COURTESY CONTEMPORARY ARTS
Brittney Boyd Bullock leads the workshop, Teen Art Lab: Textiles as Activism at Contemporary Arts Memphis.
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.
the murders are connected. Monday, Jan. 27, 6 p.m. NOVEL
CLASS / WORKSHOP
Beginners Watercolor
Painting Course and Critique
Award-winning artist Fred Rawlinson teaches technique, brushstrokes, color, and layering, with gentle critiques of student work. Supplies not provided. $350/six-week course. Monday, Jan. 27, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. | Tuesday, Jan. 28, 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN
Digital Photography “101” Workshop
Learn photography from a professional photographer in this hands-on workshop. Free. Saturday, Jan. 25, 8:30 a.m.-noon.
COLLIERVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Lightroom Classic
Processing Made Easy
Learn how to edit your images like a pro! Free. Saturday, Jan. 25, 1-4:30 p.m.
COLLIERVILLE CHAMBER OF COM-
MERCE
Songwriting Workshop with David Porter & Brandon Lewis
For 6th-12th grade students, a songwriting and music business workshop led by Stax Records legend David Porter and R&B artist Brandon Lewis. Free. Monday, Jan. 27,
Open Mic Comedy Night A hilarious Midtown tradition! Tuesday, Jan. 28, 8 p.m. HI TONE
Steve Martin & Martin Short: The Dukes of Funnytown!
Two of the funniest talents of the past century rede ne the form in profound ways. With very special guests Je Babko & the Steep Canyon Rangers. $107, $365. Saturday, Jan. 25, 8 p.m. ORPHEUM THEATRE
Steve Trevino: Good Life Tour
Steve Trevino has had standup specials with Amazon, Net ix, and Showtime. $57/ general admission. ursday, Jan. 23, 8-10 p.m. MINGLEWOOD HALL
COMMUNITY
Memphis Artist Listening Session e City of Memphis Ofce of Creative & Cultural Economy’s second Artist Listening Session for artists and creatives, with Director of Creative and Cultural Economy, DeMarcus Suggs. Monday, Jan. 27, 5-7 p.m. MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB
Whatcha See is Whatcha Get: Educators Open House
Boyd Bullock
Teen Art Lab: Textiles as Activism, with Brittney is course with renowned Memphis artist Brittney Boyd Bullock centers on ber, textiles, and garments and their social legacy. Ages 13-18. Wednesday, Jan. 29, 4:30-7 p.m.
CONTEMPORARY ARTS MEMPHIS
Hoppy Hour Comedy at Hampline Brewing
Entirely free, this comedy showcase features local/regional comedians bringing their A-game to an intimate and lively crowd. Enjoy tasty Hampline brews while sharing laughs with fellow Memphians. Friday, Jan. 24,
7:30-9 p.m.
Jamie Shriner at Flyway Brewing Co. (formerly
High Cotton)
Onion
Comedian Jamie Shriner ( e ) headlines the High Cotton Room at Flyway Brewing Co., featuring fellow Chicagoan Aaron Chase (Laugh Factory). is will be an easy, fun way to get through winter. $10/
Explore programming on the Soulsville campus, including events, workshops, networking, and volunteer opportunities. ursday, Jan. 23, 5:30-7 p.m. STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC
DANCE
Electric Rodeo Dance Party
A genre-bending mix of country, pop, and EDM tracks, creating the perfect soundtrack for a vibrant and dynamic dance oor, with DJ Swi ie. 18+. $15, $20. Friday, Jan. 24, 10 p.m. GROWLERS
Taylor Dance Party With DJ Swi ie. All ages. $20, $50. Friday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m. GROWLERS
FAMILY
Genealogy Tips & Tricks
Learn how to nd your people, as Memphis Public Libraries historians Bonnie Pinkston and Verjeana Hunt discuss how visiting cemeteries can be useful for genealogy researchers. $10/general admission. Saturday, Jan. 25, 11 a.m.-noon.
ELMWOOD CEMETERY
Dame Mufasa and “Eyes of God:” Film Screening + Discussion
Join Dame Mufasa on January 29, 2025, for a screening of “Eyes of God,” a short film project inspired by Dame Mufasa’s recent album Church in the Wild, followed by an open discussion with the filmmakers Wednesday, Jan. 29, 7-8 p.m.
MALCO STUDIO ON THE SQUARE
Space: The New Frontier 2D
From self-assembling habitats, commercial space stations, and rockets without fuel to the Lunar Gateway to deep space. Through May 23.
MEMPHIS MUSEUM OF SCIENCE & HISTORY
FOOD AND DRINK
Chili Cook-Off Fundraiser for Peabody Elementary
A fun day of chili and craft beer. Free. Saturday, Jan. 25, 1 p.m.
MEMPHIS MADE BREWING (DOWNTOWN THE RAVINE)
Drag Queen Bingo (feat. Cheri Lie Maid)
Slay and play at Drag Queen Bingo with the fabulous Cheri Lie Maid! Friday, Jan. 24, 7-9 p.m.
MOXY MEMPHIS DOWNTOWN
Robert Burns Night
Bagpipes, poetry, whiskey, wine, and more! Visit Bog & Barley for Robert Burns Night to honor Scotland’s great bard. $125/general. Saturday, Jan. 25, 7-10 p.m.
BOG & BARLEY
LECTURE
Munch and Learn: Why So Small?
A discussion of Jennifer Watson’s latest exhibition “Small Spaces,” featuring her vibrant, kaleidoscopic paintings. Wednesday, Jan. 29, noon-1 p.m.
THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS
PERFORMING ARTS
Sinister Sisters
A very scary, fairy, birthday festivity [Big RoomUpstairs]. Sunday, Jan. 26, 8 p.m.
HI TONE
Slayful Sundays
An evening filled with delicious drinks, amazing music, tasty food, and your favorite performers. Sunday, Jan. 26, 6 p.m.
DRU’S PLACE
Zumbathon benefiting One by One Minsitries
Memphis’ favorite Zumba instructors help support new moms. Saturday, Jan. 25, 2-4 p.m.
KIRBY WOODS BAPTIST CHURCH
SPECIAL EVENTS
PRSA Memphis: Recognizing Memphis Mayor Paul Young as Communicator of the Year
Honor the 2025 Communicators of the Year:
CALENDAR: JANUARY 23 - 29
Memphis Mayor Paul Young, Howard L. Robertson, and Ro Lane. $10/PRSA member, $40/nonmember, $15/student, $500/table of 8 (includes priority seating and promotion). Thursday, Jan. 23, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.
UNIVERSITY CLUB OF MEMPHIS
SPORTS
14th Annual Mike Cooley Overton Park 10K Trail Race
Honoring the memory of Mike Cooley, lover of Overton Park, and founder of the race. $35.
Saturday, Jan. 25, 8-11 a.m.
ABE GOODMAN GOLF CLUBHOUSE
Arena Motorcross Nationals
Starts with a pit party, followed by a show including music, lights, lasers, fog, and full opening ceremony, plus pro qualifying races.
Friday, Jan. 24-Jan. 25.
AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL
Harlem Globetrotters: 2025 World Tour
Don’t miss your chance to see the dunks, alleyoops, long shots, magic, history, and laughs! $35. Sunday, Jan. 26, 3 p.m.
LANDERS CENTER
Memphis Grizzlies vs. New Orleans
Pelicans
Friday, Jan. 24, 7 p.m.
FEDEXFORUM
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Utah Jazz
Saturday, Jan. 25, 7 p.m.
FEDEXFORUM
Morrighan’s Bluff, Amtgard of Memphis
Meet Saturdays at noon for medieval/fantasy live-action roleplay game. Join the adventure! Saturday, Jan. 25, noon.
W. J. FREEMAN PARK
THEATER
Black Odyssey
A vibrant reimagining of the Odysseus saga is set in modern-day Harlem, telling the epic tale of Ulysses Lincoln, a soldier facing the most daunting of voyages to reunite with his family. Friday, Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 26, 2 p.m.
HATTILOO THEATRE
Carmen
Bizet’s sizzling epic of love, jealousy, and obsession, featuring some of the most loved music ever written. In French with English and Spanish subtitles. Friday, Jan. 24, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m.
SCHEIDT FAMILY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Inherit the Wind
An explosive legal drama inspired by a moment in Tennessee when two great legal giants of the century battled over a state law banning the
Crossword
teaching of evolution. Directed by Jeff Posson. Thursday, Jan. 23, 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Friday, Jan. 24, 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 25, 7:30-9:30 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 26, 2-4 p.m.
NEXT STAGE
Parade
In 1913 Georgia, Leo Frank, a Jewish man from Brooklyn, is caught in a grueling trial after the tragic murder of his factory worker, Mary Phagan. $25/single tickets. Friday, Jan. 24, 8-10 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 25, 8-10 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 26, 2-5 p.m.
PLAYHOUSE ON THE SQUARE
Six Men Dressed Like Joseph Stalin Set in a neglected part of the Kremlin, this abstract play follows two actors as they prepare for their most significant role yet: Joseph Stalin. $25/single tickets. Thursday, Jan. 23, 8-10 p.m. | Friday, Jan. 24, 8-10 p.m. | Saturday, Jan. 25, 8-10 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 26, 2-4 p.m.
THEATREWORKS
The Grace of Grace: Shining a Light Through Shakespeare’s Broken Villains Dan McCleary, who has performed for over 35 years, explores Shakespeare’s men of deformity, abuse, honor, and prejudice. This enhanced literary salon will feature full production values on stage. Saturday, Jan. 25, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Jan. 26, 3 p.m.
TENNESSEE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
Edited by Will Shortz No.
PHOTO: COURTESY ORPHEUM THEATRE
Steve Martin & Martin Short redefine comedy in unexpected and profound ways.
FOOD By Michael Donahue
Good Times Set for Hard Times Deli
New eatery opening soon in Edge District.
Hard Times Deli is slated to open in February. And that means good times for foodies.
“We’re doing an upscale sandwich shop,” says Harrison Downing. “It’s our take on classic deli sandwiches.”
Downing is the executive chef as well as owner/operator of the upcoming restaurant at 6555 Marshall Avenue near Sun Studio in the Edge District. His other owners are his Secret Smash Burger Society pop-up cohorts Cole Jeans, owner of Kinfolk, and Schuyler O’Brien, City Silo food and beverage director.
eir bread will be made at Josh Steiner’s Hive Bagel & Deli. e beef and pork will come from Home Place Pastures in Como, Mississippi.
“We’ll have, of course, an Italian on the menu.” e classic sandwich is made with salami, pepperoni and mortadella. And, Downing says, “We’ll be making our own mortadella using Home Place Pastures pork pepperoni salami.”
ey’re still doing their smash burger at pop-ups and special events, but the one at Hard Times Deli will be another version of their standard. It will be a “chopped cheese” burger, which is “a big New York deli thing. Picture a Philly cheese steak. But it’s ground beef instead of steak.” You put the meat on the at top, cheese on top “and then you chop up the sandwich.” ey will have a smoker in house for their sandwiches, Downing says. “We’ll have four hot sandwiches and four cold sandwiches. And a couple of vegetarian options.”
Downing described the type of bread he wanted to Steiner. “I gave him the bread I really fell in love with — ‘Dutch Crunch’ — in the San Francisco area. Over the past year we’ve been doing some tinkering and working on it.”
“It’s a sweet bread between a brioche and baguette with a slight sweet crust,” Steiner says. “Harry had one bread on his mind when he approached me about helping him with his fresh bread. We worked back and forth for a couple of months and I think we nailed it.”
A native Memphian, Downing says his mother was “a ridiculously good cook.” His rst restaurant job was at Jim’s Place Grille in Collierville. “Once I started really getting into it at Jim’s Place, I just never got away from it,” he says.
He also worked at Greys Fine Cheeses & Entertaining and Hog Wild BBQ. But, Downing says, “I’ve always wanted to open a sandwich shop.”
When his sandwiches began getting popular at Greys, Downing pitched the idea to open a sandwich shop to Jeanes and O’Brien. He said if they were going to open one, now was the time. at was more than two years ago. “We’ve been putting our minds together and nding a space and getting it built up.”
Architects John Halford and Patrick Brown of cnct design helped everything come together. “I was looking for a place to do something and I stumbled across this with John.”
Halford told Downing about his building, which once housed the old Escape Alley bar. “ e building was abandoned and completely cinderblocked up.”
Downing, who frequented High Cotton Brewing Company, wanted his own place in the area. “I’ve always loved the Edge District. You’re close to everything. Especially with a sandwich shop and doing what we’re doing, there’s no one in that area doing it. You’re surrounded by hospitals and colleges. People that eat that kind of food.”
ere are “four art studios” and “a couple of tattoo shops,” he says. “It’s the next cool, artsy neighborhood.”
ey began working with cnct design
“I’ve always loved the Edge District. It’s the next cool, artsy neighborhood.”
— Harrison Downing
a year ago. Brown “showed us 3-D oor plans. We just kind of gave him our vision and what we wanted to do and we all worked through it together.”
e new space is “really, really pretty inside,” he says. e interior features cobalt blue and cornsilk yellow tile oors and dark stained woodwork and shelving.
Says Brown: “ e last time the
building was occupied it was Escape Alley. It was a dive bar. We looked at it for years for possible tenants.”
ey wanted it to be “an active space [with] food, drinks. And the tenants [being] active in the community was important for us. We got really lucky when we ran into Harrison, Cole, and Schuyler. ey’ve got their hands in a lot of projects.”
He describes them as “a great group of younger, energized people” who “have an eye for what they want.”
And, he adds, “ ey knew they liked these vintage style diners. at’s where the checkered oors come in. Very mid-century, ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. Darker stained woods, checkered oors. We brought in some of that lighter yellow. e canary yellow in the tile. So, looking into all those design features and bringing it into an industrial building and trying to modernize it for today’s world was pretty much the main scope.”
Kinfolk went with the “old-school diner” look, Downing says. Hard Times Deli went with the “old-school sandwich shops” look.
e name Hard Times Deli came from the three owners going through hard times, including “trying to run restaurants for other people,” he says, adding, “ e industry is rough. Long hours. Not a lot of pay.”
ey also have been getting used to becoming “new dads,” Downing says. “All of us are pretty new to the married game and new to the dad game.”
e restaurant, which will feature lunch every day except Sunday, will seat 40 inside. It’s too small to do live music inside, but when the weather gets nicer, outdoor events with music can be held in the spacious parking lot, Downing says. “And if it’s 6 and people are still hanging out, we’ll keep slinging food.”
Helping him in the kitchen will be Bailey Patterson and Cody Boswell. “We’re all sandwich artists here,” says Downing. “All of us have done crazy food.”
Transforming the old building, which previously was “an eyesore,” is helping to improve Memphis. “We want to be a part of making the city better.”
And this won’t be the only Hard Times Deli location, Downing says. “We are looking to grow. I’m kind of building this model. Making it scalable. We’d like to get multiple businesses open. And we have other concepts in the works.”
PHOTO: MICHAEL DONAHUE (le to right) Bailey Patterson, Cole Jeanes, Harrison Downing, Schuyler O’Brien
PHOTO: (RIGHT) COLE JEANES e chopped cheese is a spin on a New York deli classic.
By Emily Guenther
Year of the Wood Snake
is will be a year of quiet recalibration and renewal.
The lunar, or Chinese, new year is January 29th, and 2025 is the year of the wood snake in Chinese astrology. is is a traditional classi cation system based on the Chinese calendar that assigns an animal and its attributes to each year. e 12-part cycle corresponds to lunar years, rather than months. e Chinese zodiac is represented by 12 animals and their elements. eir mythology states that the Jade Emperor set up a running race for all animals to take part in. e rst 12 to reach the nish line were rewarded with a position in the lunar calendar.
In Chinese astrology, the 12 zodiac animals are each a liated with an element — metal, wood, water, re, earth — as they move around the zodiac cycle. When an animal reappears a er 12 years its elemental a liation will shi to a new element.
In 2024, the energy was wood dragon, which lived up to its reputation with big announcements and high- ying promises competing for our attention. Optimism ran high, o en to the point of being unrealistic. In 2025, energy shi s to the wood snake. While the dragon and snake may look similar, the snake does not y. Its entire body lies on the ground, feeling every vibration, every footstep, every pin drop. e snake’s energy is grounded, practical, and cautious.
In this zodiac system, wood as an element represents vitality and creativity, as well as steadiness, honesty, generosity, and calmness. e snake represents wisdom, knowledge, intelligence, intuition, and creativity. Snakes are also associated with good luck, prosperity, fertility, and longevity. In some legends, snakes are considered divine messengers and guardians of sacred places. ey are also revered for their ability to shed their skin and renew themselves, symbolizing transformation and rebirth.
Expect
Each year holds di erent elements, which gives it a di erent essence and meaning. e wood snake is a charming, intelligent, and creative sign, but also secretive, cunning, and sometimes ruthless. e wood element adds a layer of creativity, exibility, and growth to the snake’s traits, making it an ideal year to focus on planning and transformation.
At the beginning of 2025, the world is still under the rulership of the outgoing wood dragon, and so a high-action period with plenty of activity is expected. Snake years are times when the world stops to think. Mythology recognizes the snake as a creature of healing, which in uences the physical body to shi to a more spiritual outlook. A great deal of quiet progress can be made in 2025 with the help of this energy.
In a snake year, the energy is quieter and more thoughtful. Businesses may become more cautious about hiring or expanding. People may spend less, preferring to stay home. Snake years o en coincide with a down stock market, though there have been exceptions, like 1989 and 2013, when the market rose considerably. e ouroboros symbol of the snake eating its tail represents a closed loop, signifying endings and new beginnings. is theme is echoed in Western astrology, where Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all move into new signs, suggesting that seemingly insigni cant changes that happen in 2025 may have great repercussions in a few years.
is is a year of re ection, recalibration, and renewal, o ering a mix of calm energy and intellectual challenges. e snake’s intuitive wisdom, paired with the nurturing wood element, creates a time to re ne your long-term goals and strengthen personal and professional relationships.
If we combine the Chinese astrology prediction with the tarot card for 2025, e Hermit, we can see a united message. is is likely going to be a year where we, and the world, hold our breath. It could be a period of playing things close to the vest, being mindful of our actions, and being introspective, as well as a time of growth and study. Key themes for this wood snake year are transformation, strategic growth, and deepening connections. By aligning with its energy, you can make 2025 a transformative and prosperous year. Whether you’re seeking success, stability, or self-discovery, the wisdom of the wood snake is here to guide you.
Emily Guenther is a co-owner of e Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.
FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS JANUARY 1 – MARCH 1 7PM – 10PM
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PHOTO: ANNA BROTHANKOVA | DREAMSTIME.COM
a slow but steady rebirth in the Year of the Wood Snake.
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication
Saw That Coming
The Rockwall County Herald-Banner in Texas reported that Valencia Smith, mother of a former football player for Rockwall-Heath High School, filed a suit on Dec. 23 against the team’s former coach John Harrell and 12 other coaches. Smith’s suit stems from an incident in January 2023, in which the coaches allegedly used excessive exercise as punishment for wearing the wrong uniform or failing to show enough “hustle.” Students were forced to perform more than 400 pushups within an hour, which led to at least 26 players being diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a condition that causes muscle to break down and enter the bloodstream. Smith said her son spent seven days in a hospital. The lawsuit seeks compensation for his medical expenses. Harrell resigned in March 2023; he settled two other lawsuits, but this is the first that names the assistant coaches as defendants.
The Foreign Press
Belarusian retailer ZNWR, sometimes called the “Balenciaga of Belarus,” is making headlines with its newest line of dresses and jackets, starting at about $116, fashioned from bubble wrap. The Times of India reported on Dec. 30 that the air-filled pockets provide a satisfying, quirky popping experience. The brand hyped the dresses as perfect for those who want to stand out on New Year’s Eve (rather than wear the tired old velvet and satin). At least when you fall down drunk, you’ll be cushioned!
Least Competent Criminal
In Haines City, Florida, on Dec. 29, Jervin Omar Mendieto Romero, 40, arrived at the home of his former partner, ClickOrlando reported. Romero wanted to speak with her, but when no one answered the door, he crawled into the house through a window, police said. “Once inside,” police said, Romero “confronted … his ex-domestic partner and her new boyfriend.” The boyfriend was shot five times; in the process, Romero managed to shoot off his own ring finger. “This caused [him] to drop the firearm and flee the residence on foot,” police reported. They tracked him down less than a mile away, and he was charged with attempted firstdegree murder and armed burglary with assault or battery, along with other
offenses. The boyfriend is expected to survive.
Inappropriate Behavior
Jude Hill of Plymouth, England, traveled to Thailand a few months ago after a fire at her home in September, Metro News reported. Around 3 a.m. on Christmas, Hill and her boyfriend were seen in the lobby of the Flipper Lodge Hotel in Pattaya, Thailand, consummating their relationship on a sofa. Witnesses said the pair then tried to move to a glass table, but it shattered. “We approached them and discovered they were not hotel customers, so we ushered them out,” an anonymous worker said. Hill ran away but was detained by an armed officer near the beach. The hotel plans to press charges.
Bright Idea
Canadian business student Javeria Wasim, 19, was with a friend in Toronto when she hatched the brilliant idea to try to bite into a 3-inch jawbreaker, the Daily Mail reported on Dec. 24. Immediately, Wasim’s jaw began to hurt, and a tooth became loose. X-rays revealed that she had suffered two fractures in her jaw. The following day, she underwent surgery and had her jaw wired shut for six weeks. She said she would “probably never try a jawbreaker again. It hurt really bad, I was crying a lot when the ambulance came,” she said. “All my bottom teeth are messed up. I lost seven pounds in two weeks. It was a dumb idea.”
That Rule Doesn’t Apply to Me
Magnus Carlsen, 34, the No. 1 chess player in the world, dropped out of the FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship in New York on Dec. 27 because he didn’t want to change out of his blue jeans, Sky News reported. Officials said he had broken the dress code; Carlsen wasn’t moved. “I didn’t even think about it. … They said I could [change] after the third round today. I said, ‘I’ll change tomorrow if that’s okay’ … but they said, ‘Well you have to change now.’ At that point it became a matter of principle for me.” Carlsen said he’d head somewhere with better weather.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Author Anaïs Nin wrote, “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” I bring this to your attention because you Aries folks now have a mandate to expand your life through courageous acts, thoughts, and feelings. I suggest we make the Arctic fox your power symbol. This intrepid creature undertakes epic migrations, journeying over 2,000 miles across sea ice, using starlight and magnetic fields to navigate. Let’s dare to speculate that you have something in common with it; let’s propose that you are equipped with an inner guidance system that gives you a keen intuitive sense of how to maneuver in unfamiliar territory. PS: Anaïs Nin has another tip: “We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.”
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus archeologist Howard Carter made a spectacular discovery in 1922: the intact tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, more than 3,300 years after his death. It was filled with over 5,000 artifacts, became a global sensation, and to this day remains the most famous find from ancient Egypt. A short time before he succeeded at his five-year quest, Howard Carter nearly gave up. But then his sponsor agreed to provide funds for a few more months, and he continued. In this spirit, Taurus, I urge you to keep pushing to fulfill your own dream. Renew your faith. Boost your devotion. Remember why you feel so strongly.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): The James Webb Space Telescope is the largest telescope in space. Recently, it discovered hundreds of galaxies that no humans had ever before beheld. They are very old, too — far more ancient than our own Milky Way Galaxy. I propose we make this marvelous perception-enhancing tool a symbol of power for you. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you now have a robust potential to see things that have always been invisible, secret, or off-limits to you. Some of these wonders could motivate you to reinterpret your life story and reshape your future plans.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): One theory says that humans evolved to be afraid of reptiles because our early ancestors were frequently threatened by them. Among the most commonly feared creatures in modern culture are snakes. And yet, as anyone knows if they’ve studied mythology, snakes have also been symbols of fertility and healing in many cultures. Because they periodically shed their skin, they also represent regeneration and rebirth. I’m hoping you don’t harbor an instinctual aversion to snakes, Cancerian. The coming weeks will be a favorable time for you to call on and benefit from their iconic powers.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In the coming
By Rob Brezsny
months, be extra creative as you enhance your network of connections and support. Encourage your allies to provide you with tips about opportunities and possibilities that you would not otherwise know about. Ask them to serve as links to novel resources that will nurture your long-term dreams. Here’s an idea to energize your efforts: Get a vivid sense of how trees use vast underground fungal webs to communicate with each other. (Learn more here: bit.ly/TheWoodWideWeb) Knowing about this natural magic may impregnate your subconscious mind with evocative suggestions about how to be ingenious in weaving the kind of community you want.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I love my job as a horoscope writer. What could be more fun than analyzing cosmic signs to generate inspirational counsel for my readers? It’s a big responsibility, though. I am intensely aware of how crucial it is that I craft my messages with utmost care and compassion. Having been scarred as a young adult by reckless, fear-mongering fortune-tellers, I’m rigorous about nurturing your free will, not undermining it. I want you to be uplifted, not confused or demoralized as I was. With these thoughts in mind, I invite you to take a vigorous inventory of the effects that your work and play have on the world. Are they aligned with your intentions? Are your ambitions moored in impeccable integrity?
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Why are diamonds considered so valuable? I’m skeptical. High-grade diamonds are not as rare as public perception would lead us to believe. Yes, they are extraordinarily hard and scratch-resistant, but is that a reason to regard them as a sublime treasure? I acknowledge they are pretty in a bland way. But other gems are more intriguingly beautiful. Maybe the most important reason they are so prized is that diamond sellers have done effective marketing campaigns to promote them as symbols of love and luxury. All this is a prelude to my main message: Now is an excellent time to think and feel deeply about what is truly beautiful to you — and take steps to bring more of it into your life. For you Libras, beauty is an essential ingredient in your life’s purpose.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The way that ancient Romans made concrete was more ingenious than modern methods. Their manufacturing materials included “lime clasts,” which gave the concrete selfhealing qualities. When cracks arose, they fixed themselves. That’s why Roman aqueducts built 2,000 years ago can still convey water today. Metaphorically speaking, I hope you will work on building similar structures in the coming weeks. It’s time to create strong foundations that will last for a very long time.
AQUARIUS (Jan.
20-Feb. 18): In old Hawaii, it was forbidden for ordinary people to touch objects that belonged to the chiefs or to anyone with spiritual powers. Other taboos: Never walk across the shadow of an important person and never wear red and yellow feathers. Our modern taboos are different, but often equally rigid. For example, you are probably hesitant to ask people how much money they make or what their relationship status is. What are other taboos you observe? I won’t outrightly advise you to brazenly break them, but now is a good time to reevaluate them — and consider changing your relationship with them.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Do you harbor a yearning to learn a new language, new skill, or new trick? The coming weeks will be a favorable phase to get serious about doing it. Have you fantasized about embarking on an adventure that would expand your understanding of how the world works? The time is right. Have you wished you could attract an inspirational prod to unleash more creativity and experiment freely? The astrological omens suggest that inspirational prod is imminent. Have you wondered whether you could enhance and fine-tune your receptivity — and thereby open up surprising sources of fresh teaching? Do it now!
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Bristlecone pine trees grow very slowly, but they are hardy and long-lived. Their wood is so dense and strong that it’s virtually immune to disease, insects, and erosion. They grow in places that are inhospitable for many other trees, flourishing in cold, windy environments where the soil is not particularly rich in nutrients. For the bristlecone pine, apparent obstacles stimulate their resilience. I don’t want to exaggerate the ways they remind me of you Capricorns, but you and they certainly have affinities. I believe these shared qualities will be especially useful for you in the coming weeks.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): As winter progresses, each day is longer and each night shorter. Most humans feel an undercurrent of joy that the amount of light in the world is growing. But as an astrologer who appreciates cycles, I like to honor the beauty and powers of darkness. That’s where everything new gets born! It’s where the future comes from! In ancient Hawaiian religion, the word kumulipo meant “beginning-in-deep-darkness.” It was also the name of a prayer describing the creation of the world. In the coming weeks, I believe you will be wise to tap into the rich offerings of darkness.
TV By Chris McCoy
Work From Hell
You think your job sucks, wait until you see Severance
o you ever feel like a di erent person at work? Everyone has a work persona they put on, especially if you deal with the general public. For some people, the di erence between their work self and private self is vast.
Severance, which just debuted its second season on Apple TV+, takes this observation to extremes. What if, instead of just watching your language and putting on a fake smile for work, you became an entirely di erent person? at’s what happens to Mark (Adam Scott) every time he steps into the elevator at Lumon Industries. He’s an “Innie,” someone who has had a chip implanted into his brain which creates a kind of split personality. When he’s in the o ce, he’s a macrodata re nement specialist, and not even he knows what that means.
e work he and his co-workers perform just looks like staring into a computer screen and dragging random numbers and letters into a box. He
doesn’t even know what criteria he’s applying.
When he’s not at work, Mark is a depressed mess, a widower whose pain is so acute he chose to spend a third of his life with his mind wiped. He has no idea what goes on in the basement of Lumon Industries, and, at least at rst, he doesn’t care.
Severance’s depiction of the alienation of labor in late-stage capitalism has struck a nerve.
In season 1 of Severance, Innie Mark went from the model Lumon employee to being suspicious of his employer. And there’s much to be suspicious of. e Innies are
indoctrinated into a weird cult of personality around late Lumon founder Kier Eagan (Marc Geller). When onboarding his newest coworker Helly (Britt Lower) goes wrong, Mark takes the blame and gets a taste of the “benevolent” company’s discipline practice. At rst, Mark’s suspicions fall on deaf ears, as Irving (John Turturro), a stickler for the rules, will hear no dissent. Eventually, Mark wants to know what his Outie is like, and, with the help of a secret
group of formerly severed people, devises a plan that allows him to “wake up” outside. While there, he discovers a picture of himself with his wife and realizes that she is not dead. His Innie knows her as the company’s wellness specialist, Ms. Casey (Dichen Lachman).
Severance’s rst season ended with a bang, with the second coming three years later.
TV By Chris McCoy
Season 1 ended with a big bang, as Innie Mark and Innie Helly disrupted a company event to reveal that Lumon is torturing the Innies. It was hard to imagine where showrunner Dan Erickson and executive producer Ben Stiller could go after that. It seems that they weren’t so sure either, so season 2 comes three years after season 1. Granted, they were interrupted by the WGA/SAG strikes, but the long-cooking first episode of the new season is promising. It takes place entirely within the confines of Lumon’s stark white, retro-futuristic offices. Innie Mark is back, and this time, it seems, he’s a willing subject. But he’s got a secret agenda — to find Ms. Casey, who has disappeared from her wellness center, and reconnect with
the wife he thought he had lost. Severance’s metaphorical depiction of the alienation of labor in late-stage capitalism has struck a nerve. It’s not heavy-handed because it follows the rules suggested by the premise and expands on them to reveal more pieces of the bigger puzzle. The parade of heavy-hitting acting talent, including Patricia Arquette and Christopher Walken, doesn’t hurt either. Ultimately, the mystery boxes (why is Mark’s wife alive? What does Lumon Industries even do, anyway?) driving the plot are not the point. It’s the atmosphere of impersonal despair with a happy face plastered on top that makes Severance compelling television.
Severance is streaming on Apple TV+.
If you fail to answer the Complaint within that time, the Plaintiff will be awarded default judgment against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.
s/Steven L. Alexander STEVEN L. ALEXANDER ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF
Date: 6/18/2024 POST OFFICE BOX 618 PICKENS, SOUTH CAROLINA 29671 (864)898-3208
THE
LAST
WORD
By Jesse Davis
Of Time Travel, Tech Bros, and Tyranny
e futurists are looking backwards.
As I write these words, on January 16, 2025, Mr. Donald Trump is still President-elect, though he’s certainly acting as though he’s already been inaugurated. anks to the peculiar time traveling magic of print periodicals, President Trump will have been in o ce for at least three days before you read these words, such as they are. (Look, I’m not any more excited to write about the guy than you are to read about him, but news is news.)
Despite a compelling farewell address (more on that below) from the 46th president of the United States, the absurdity machine is already winding up here in the nal days of President Joe Biden’s term in o ce, as a casual glance at recent headlines attests.
“Trump Taps Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight as Hollywood ‘Ambassadors’,” from e New York Times. Makes sense. At 69, 78, and 86, respectively, those venerable gentlemen surely have their collective nger on the pulse of the generation. When I think about connecting with Gen Z, my mind immediately goes to the co-star of 1972’s Deliverance and prominent right-wing nutjob Jon Voight. With Los Angeles devastated by the historic and tragic winter Palisades Fire, Trump’s move shows he still has all his old tricks, ready to go. It’s performative, backwards, and it toes the line between casual cruelty and cluelessness. We are o to a great start indeed.
A loosening of tech’s stranglehold on U.S. policy seems increasingly unlikely with Trump at the helm.
Worse than Trump’s sycophantic set of Hollywood “Ambassadors” are the rich and empathy-de cient tech titans lining up to pull the president’s strings. In his farewell address, Biden warned of this oligarchy of the super-rich and the in uence they wield, particularly through technology, and I agree with almost everything he said — save one minor detail. Biden warned that this tyranny of tech bros is on its way; I say it’s already here. I worry our nation will be as successful in ousting the tech-industrial complex as we have with the military-industrial complex President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of in his farewell address in 1961.
Trump is notoriously susceptible to attery. His own former national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, already admitted as much in an interview in 2024, not that we needed an expert on security to attest to that fact. With Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg announcing that Facebook and Instagram are letting their fact-checkers go, it will be that much easier to suck up to the new president. He really did have the biggest inauguration crowd of all time — and no one is allowed to prove otherwise!
Jokes aside, if abandoning fact-checking wasn’t Zuckerberg’s way of saying, “standing by, dear leader,” I’m not nearly as well-versed in the speech patterns of nearhuman replicants. All those hours watching Blade Runner on repeat and Star Trek: Next Generation on reruns really were wasted, I guess.
Social media — and the tech industry in general — are criminally under-regulated. Well, that is to say, their actions aren’t technically crimes, because there aren’t really any regulations. But it should be a crime. Unfortunately, a loosening of tech’s stranglehold on U.S. policy seems increasingly unlikely. Between Trump’s burgeoning friendship with the AI Axis of Evil — the aforementioned Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Je Bezos, and Elon Musk, the gri er who bought Twitter, renamed it X, and is now poised to poison Memphis’ water — and an aging and out-of-touch legislative branch who don’t see the harm in a little social media, it seems to me that the tech-industrial complex keeping Biden up at night have already set up shop. ough I’m sending this missive from a presidency in the past, I sincerely doubt that all hope is lost already, on ursday, January 23, 2024. You can re the fact-checkers, but you can’t burn all the facts everywhere. at doesn’t mean that the coalition of the mean and greedy little minds won’t try. It just means to remember that everyone (including yours truly!) has bias, that book burning is never the last move in someone’s playbook, and that libraries are a truly radical and wonderful place.
Anyway, at least I’m sure I’ll get a good laugh out of the “article” my uncle shares on Facebook as proof that the Mississippi is supposed to be on re, actually, and annual ice storms can’t be climate change, because it’s global warming, not global icing, dummy.
Jesse Davis is a former Flyer sta er; he writes a monthly Books feature for Memphis Magazine. His opinions, such as they are, were minding their own business in Memphis on January 6, 2021. Were yours?
