Memphis Flyer 12/3/2020 by Contemporary Media

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December 3-9, 2020

DESHAUNE MCGHEE Classified Advertising Manager ROBBIE FRENCH Warehouse and Delivery Manager JANICE GRISSOM ELLISON, KAREN MILAM, DON MYNATT, TAMMY NASH, RANDY ROTZ, LEWIS TAYLOR, WILLIAM WIDEMAN Distribution 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 Officer ASHLEY HAEGER Controller JEFFREY GOLDBERG Chief Revenue Officer BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Editorial Director MARGIE NEAL Production Operations Director KRISTIN PAWLOWSKI Digital Services Director MOLLY WILLMOTT Special Events Director LYNN SPARAGOWSKI Circulation and Accounting Manager KALENA MATTHEWS Marketing Coordinator

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CONTENTS

CARRIE BEASLEY Senior Art Director CHRISTOPHER MYERS Advertising Art Director BRYAN ROLLINS Graphic Designer

BRYAN C. PARKER

BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Editor SHARA CLARK Managing Editor JACKSON BAKER Senior Editor TOBY SELLS Associate Editor CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor ALEX GREENE Music Editor SAMUEL X. CICCI, MICHAEL DONAHUE, CHRISTEN HILL, JON W. SPARKS Staff Writers JESSE DAVIS Copy Editor, Staff Writer JULIE RAY Calendar Editor MATTHEW J. HARRIS Editorial Assistant LORNA FIELD, RANDY HASPEL, RICHARD MURFF, FRANK MURTAUGH, MEGHAN STUTHARD Contributing Columnists AIMEE STIEGEMEYER, SHARON BROWN Grizzlies Reporters ANDREA FENISE Fashion Editor KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher

OUR 1658TH ISSUE 12.03.20 Frank Murtaugh is managing editor of Memphis magazine, but he’s also been the primary sports columnist for the Flyer since 2001 or so. He writes a lot about University of Memphis sports and he does a terrific job. And it hasn’t always been easy. Frank’s seen some mighty lean years, especially in football, including the woeful Coach Larry Porter era. Each week during the season, Frank writes a column called “Three Thoughts on Tiger Football.” Back in the Porter days, I used to tweet about Frank’s “Three Thoughts” column by saying “Frank Murtaugh thinks about Tiger football so you don’t have to.” I write all this by way of saying we owe a similar debt to sfgate.com writer Bryan C. Parker, who did us all a solid by signing up for parler.com — so we don’t have to. Parler, as you probably know by now, is a social media platform aimed at “conservatives” who are disenchanted with Facebook and Twitter. Here’s what Parker wrote: “Beneath the thin guise of the app’s self-proclaimed emphasis on ‘free speech’ lies the ability to say not just a hypothetical ‘anything,’ but specifically to share racist slurs and violent threats toward political opponents. On Parler, Nazi imagery flourishes, death threats abound, and conspiracy theories reign.” To sign up for Parler, you must provide a phone number and email address. The platform claims it will not “sell” your information, but it will doubtless be used for something. Parler is funded largely by the Robert Mercer family, which has made millions on data mining. The app also has ties to Cambridge Analytica, which provided extensive voter micro-data to the 2016 Trump campaign. Once you’re in, Parker reports, you are given a suggested follow list of right-leaning media and political figures: Sean Hannity, Ted Cruz, Dinesh D’Souza, Ann Coulter, Devin Nunes, etc. Beyond that, you’re on your own. You can post, follow people, start conversation threads, the usual social media protocol. It quickly becomes apparent, writes Parker, that hardly anybody on Parler thinks Joe Biden won the election. Profane diatribes, wild election conspiracy theories, QAnon revelations, and racial and homophobic slurs abound. Free speech in the United States has famously been ruled not to extend to the right to yell “FIRE” in a crowded theater. Does it extend to the right to call for executions of political enemies, to promote anti-Semitism and racism, to proudly post the Nazi swastika? On Parler, yes, it does. This is the free speech that Parler says is being suppressed and banned on Twitter and Facebook. Parler is the newest addition to the right-wing media silo. Fox is on the decline with the true Trumper/white supremacist/racist/AngryKaren tribe. OANN, NewsMax, The Right Scoop, and others are the primary “news” sources cited on Parler. If you haven’t checked out OANN, let me just say, it makes Fox News look like NPR. I remember when the FCC had a “fairness doctrine” that required TV and radio stations holding broadcast licenses to devote some of their programming to controversial issues of public importance and to allow the airing of opposing views on those issues. This meant that programs on politics were required to include opposing opinions on the topic under discussion. The rule also mandated that broadcasters alert anyone subject to a personal attack in their programming and give them a chance to respond. The doctrine was revoked in 1987, and its elimination was widely credited with sparking the rise of conservative talk radio, including Rush Limbaugh. Giving equal time to both sides seems like such a quaint concept now. You don’t need a license from the federal government to start a website, and so here we are, with an online world where anything goes: from cute kittens to porn to racism to the most N E WS & O P I N I O N depraved corners of the human psyche, THE FLY-BY - 4 where the entire longitude and latitude NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 6 of humanity can find a home — and POLITICS - 8 validation for just about anything. COVER STORY What to do? Few of us, liberal or “BY THE BOOK” conservative, want the federal government EDITED BY JESSE DAVIS - 10 to regulate online content. Imagine what SPORTS - 14 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE - 15 Trump could have done with such a WE RECOMMEND - 16 power! But surely there are ways we can MUSIC - 18 monitor and clamp down on violent CALENDAR - 20 threats, terrorism, and human depravity. FOOD - 24 Violent words can lead to violent deeds, as BREWS - 25 we’ve so often discovered. FILM - 26 Bruce VanWyngarden C L AS S I F I E D S - 28 brucev@memphisflyer.com LAST WORD - 31

THE

fly-by

MEMernet

W E E K T H AT W A S By Flyer staff

COVID-19, Golf, & iPhones

N EVE R K N OW

Pandemic hits parent-researchers, an Overton Park upgrade, and an Apple deal.

FEUD REMEMBERED The Historic Memphis Facebook group brought back some jokes from the ’70s-era Germantown/ Midtown feud. John O’Bryan posted, “Do you know why Germantown house wives never host orgies? Too many thank you notes to write.” Tim Gibson wrote, “Memphis will never fall in the river because Germantown sucks.”

December 3-9, 2020

Edited by Toby Sells

A roundup of Memphis on the World Wide Web.

Nextdoor user Cindy Brandon wrote last week, “Never know what you’ll see in Binghampton. There was a wedding today, I guess, at Blessed Sacrament church in Binghampton and we live across the street. They had horses and a mariachi band. I absolutely love Midtown Memphis.”

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Questions, Answers + Attitude

TWE ET O F TH E WE E K @tamisawyer: “Pro Tip: Instead of bottle service, you can buy Veuve at @joeswines & sparklers online and it’ll come out cheaper and without COVID-19.” YO U’R E A M EAN O N E Dennis Ostrow called out a real-life Grinch with a security-cam photo on Nextdoor last week after the guy stole Ostrow’s Christmas lights.

WE E K LY VI R US C O U NTS The fall surge of new virus cases continued last week as the sevenday rolling average peaked higher at above 450. This Monday, total cases surpassed 48,000 and total deaths here rose to 659. As of Monday morning, 3,448 people were known to have the virus in Shelby County. Monday: new - 407, total 45,575, total deaths - 635 Tuesday: new - 377, total 45,952, total deaths - 637 Wednesday: new - 258, total 46,210, total deaths - 645 Thursday: new - 120, total 46,330, total deaths - 652 Friday: new - 366, total 46,696, total deaths - 659 Saturday: new - 519, total 47,215, total deaths - 659 Sunday: new - 607, total 47,822, total deaths - 659

Clockwise from top left: Upgrades for Overton Park golf course, protections for wild horses, COVID-19 stresses university faculty, and Apple settles for slow iPhones

C OVI D -19 STR ES S ES S O M E FAC U LTY University professors and researchers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine fields with very young children reported fewer hours worked under pandemic stay-at-home orders than other peers. This is according to a University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) study published last week. This has implications for tenure and promotion, said study lead Becca Krukowski, associate professor at UTHSC, and may have lasting effects on academic careers. It may also further increase gender inequities as women perform most of a young child’s caregiving, she said.

C O H E N AN D WI LD H O R S ES U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis) urged the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to continue to protect the country’s wild horses last week. Rather than rounding up and penning the animals, Cohen wants the BLM to use $11 million for “humane, reversible fertility control for tens of thousands of wild horses and burros.” The money is already in the 2021 House Appropriations Bill to pay for doses of the porcine zona pellucida immuno-contraceptive vaccine. OVE RTO N PAR K G O LF C O U R S E The Overton Park golf course and Abe Goodman Golf Clubhouse are teed up for renovations with a $500,000 donation announced last week by the Overton Park Conservancy (OPC).

The funding came from Amy and Bill Rhodes and would reimagine the nine-hole course. The renovation would keep the course affordable and welcome to junior, senior, and beginner golfers. OPC is now working on a design with King-Collins Golf Course Design, whose flagship project is the award-winning Sweetens Cove Golf Club outside Chattanooga. Renovations could begin this month, pending approval from city officials. The project is expected to cost $2 million, the majority of which will be provided by private donors. It would be the first significant improvement to the course in 114 years. TH R OTTLE D I P H O N ES Tennessee will get more than $2 million in a settlement with Apple Inc. for a 2016 decision to throttle consumers’ iPhone speeds. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery said battery issues with the phones back then were leading to unexpected shutdowns. Rather than disclose the issues, an iPhone update reduced the phones’ performance to stop the shutdowns, concealing the issue from consumers. To deal with the complications, many consumers bought new phones. “Apple customers were left with only one option, the most expensive one,” said Slatery. Tennessee joined more than 30 other states in the settlement worth $113 million. Visit the News Blog at memphisflyer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.

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Crossword ACROSS

Edited by Will Shortz Coaches Crossword Commute

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Bike guides help commuters find their way from home.

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December 3-9, 2020

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COMMUTE OPTIONS MEMPHIS/FACEBOOK

ACROSS

What Christ the Redeemer overlooks, for short Dawdler With 31-Down, breaking records, maybe Skedaddle Chinese money Ring cry Cry aboard a frigate Farm enclosure Winter truck attachment Overalls material Giggle syllable Go “heh-heh” Manhandle They go up to the knees Bunch of papers Wallops Abstract sculpture

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POLITICS By Jackson Baker

Party Talk

December 3-9, 2020

The run-up to the statewide election of 2010 may have been, in retrospect, the first time the seismic shift in Tennessee from Democratic to Republican dominance became obvious. Then-Governor Phil Bredesen, a Democrat, had served for the maximum two terms and was about to vacate the office. The Democratic field that year was full of worthies, as you would expect with an open seat. So was the Republican field. There had been ample harbingers of the shift to come. In 2007, the venerable John Wilder, a nominal Democrat, had lost his speakership in the state Senate to the GOP’s Ron Ramsey, and a year later, the Republicans had captured a one-vote majority in the House. The changeover accelerated during the 2010 governor’s race, as the Democratic candidates, noticing a diminishing lack of enthusiasm for their cause, began dropping out one by one. Memphian Jim Kyle, then-leader of the state Senate Democrats and now a Shelby County Chancellor, commented at the time, “I kept looking for Yellow Dog [committed] Democrats, and kept finding Yellow Dog Republicans.” The race came down to three Republicans in the end — Ramsey, Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, and Chattanooga Congressman Zach Wamp. Haslam, regarded as the more moderate of the three, won, and Wamp, who waged a credible race as an Everymanstyled conservative, finished second. The Chattanoogan’s subsequent political history is, by the standards of Tennessee politics, somewhat unusual. Still regarding himself as a conservative and a Republican, he has been at pains to present himself as a “post-partisan truth-teller.” Which means that Wamp and his son Weston, who has made efforts to establish a political career of his own, have regarded themselves as free to publicly criticize Donald J. Trump. Wamp has of late been actively tweeting in favor of acceptance of the presidential election results — an act surely unique enough among Republicans to merit special mention. A recent Wamp tweet, rebutting the no-surrender Trumpians: “What? Com-

mon [c’mon?] guys. Truth matters. Get real. Quit making stuff up and misleading people. Conservatives must stand for truth. #CountryOverParty.” Another one, directed at current national GOP chair Ronna McDaniel, a vocal defender of the Trump holdout: “I was working my butt off to elect conservatives before you were a grown-up. Today I am ashamed of your service as Chair of the RNC. Time for you and your ilk to go. Truth matters. Your lies hurt our cause.” And yet another: “The National Council on Election Integrity is spending $2 million on an ad urging a transition. On the board of this org: @GOP like Michael Chertoff, Dan Coats, Bill Frist, @BillHaslam and @zachwamp. Get to Work.” Meanwhile, as was noted here last week, Tennessee’s outgoing U.S. Senator, Lamar Alexander, is — however circumspectly — advocating for acceptance of the election results and the need for an effective transition. In a recent interview with the Tennessee Journal, Alexander cautioned: “What we have to watch for is that what happened to the one-party Democratic Party doesn’t happen to the one-party Republican Party. … Middle Tennessee was grabbing all the power and leaving East Tennessee and Memphis out. … And now we’ve gone full circle, where we have a one-party system, which again is starting to concentrate power in Middle Tennessee. … We RepubliZach Wamp cans have to watch out for being self-satisfied, not broad enough in our thinking. We don’t want to develop the flaws the Democratic Party started to develop in the 1960s.” Meanwhile, the aforesaid Democratic Party will be looking for new leadership as of January, as Mary Mancini, who has headed the state party for the last six years, is stepping down. Potential successors are beginning to emerge, and more of that anon. Under Mancini’s guidance, Democrats were able to increase the number of competitive races, including several in Shelby County. One of their winners, new District 96 state Representative Torrey Harris, replaced former Rep. John DeBerry, who was disallowed as a Democratic candidate by the state party and forced to run as an independent. DeBerry has been compensated for his pain by receiving a new job — annual pay, $165,000 — as an assistant to GOP Governor Bill Lee. That’s outreach and then some!

JACKSON BAKER

The question of partisanship draws some post-election attention.

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BY THE BOOK Eight new tomes by Memphis authors.

December 3-9, 2020

ell, the weather outside is, if not exactly frightful, certainly shading toward cold, blustery, and gray. Time-tested local pastimes like porch drinkin’ and riverside running are getting a little less comfortable. The good news? Books exist, and Memphians, from Shelby Foote to Katori Hall, have a certifiable knack for storytelling. Not to go all LeVar Burton’s Reading Rainbow on you, but a book really is the least expensive ticket to another world, a new perspective. In this issue, we’ve turned the page on eight new books by Bluff City authors. They each represent a chance to visit a new place, be it the Memphis music scene of yesteryear, the British Isles in World War II, a fictional dystopian future, or the life and times of a real rock-and-roll legend (a moral giant, if you will). So, whether you’re in search of a gift for the bookworm in your family or a cold-weather social-distancing activity for yourself, we’ve got you covered. Trust me; I’ve been social distancing since Scholastic Book Fair, 1992. Read on. — Jesse Davis

I Die Each Time I Hear the Sound by Mike Doughty Hachette Books, $17.99 I now know exactly what not to say to 10 Mike Doughty, thanks to his new book. I’ve seen him around. You probably

have, too. He’s lived in Memphis now for a few years. I’ll see him occasionally at Fresh Market, and we stood in the same line to vote this year. I love his music, but it’s distasteful to brace a guy when he’s picking produce or a president. In I Die Each Time I Hear the Sound, Doughty describes the unique unpleasantness of fans telling him how they discovered his old band, Soul Coughing. Many of those stories basically boil down to “my roommate had the CD.” Duly noted. It’s an honest insight into a particular moment, unique to an internationally known musician who makes unique music that appeals to a unique audience. The book is filled with these distinctive insights, delivered with a lot of warmth and humor. But Doughty’s also nakedly honest about anxiety, depression, and shame. The mix of these gives I Die Each Time I Hear the Sound a fresh, broad appeal. It’s a rock-and-roll book about a real person. For example: How would you feel if David Letterman complimented your guitar — not your music — on national television? What if you responded with snark and he walked away? What if you found out later that Letterman compliments a lot of people’s guitars on the show and was trying to be personable? The book is filled with honest stories from the road, talking to Little Richard in a Los Angeles elevator, eating McDonald’s in Tokyo, meeting a drunken Evan Dando at Glastonbury, and arguing/not arguing with his estranged band over the liner notes of a compilation album. But the book is most brilliant when Doughty describes music, drawing an incredibly accurate atlas of the sounds as he hears them. Here’s how he describes Steven Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians on a drive through Washington State: “It was like those undulant marimbas rose from the yellow hills. The melodies change as if you’re passing them: a note materializes at the end, a note on the top disappears.” Here’s Doughty on “These Arms of Mine”: “When Otis Redding sang the word mine — the second repetition, when the note gets higher — the word

mine becomes a glowing flower, which expanded into the sky, then the sky opened into the cosmos beyond the cosmos.” — Toby Sells

Paper Bullets by Jeffrey H. Jackson Algonquin Books, $27.95 Rhodes professor Jeffrey H. Jackson couldn’t have known how timely a subject he picked when he began his research into French artists and romantic partners Lucy Schwob and Suzanne Malherbe for the book that would become Paper Bullets. Resistance, the key motif of Jackson’s just-released (and already lauded) tome, has become something of the watchword of the contemporary era, certainly of the last four years, making Jackson’s telling of two lesbian artists who put all their considerable talents to use to resist the Nazi occupation of the English Channel island of Jersey a story wellsuited to the cultural moment. Known in the art world as Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore, Lucy and Suzanne operated a covert campaign to demoralize the German occupying army, striking at their psyche with their “paper bullets” — notes hidden in magazines and surreptitiously slipped into pockets, photo collages, poems, anything that might make the invaders doubt the morality of their position.

Before their resistance in Jersey, their relationship made Lucy and Suzanne outlaws, of a sort. “Their relationship was not their only secret,” Jackson writes in Paper Bullets. “According to Jewish tradition, Lucy would not have been considered Jewish because her mother was not a Jew. However, Nazi racial law made no such distinction.” In Paris, before the war, surrounded by artists and entrepreneurs who were anything but stereotypical and enmeshed in radical politics, Lucy and Suzanne were at the cutting edge of a conventiondefying moment in art history, in a Paris still reeling from the heavy losses sustained in the first World War. It was the perfect training ground. As women working in a male-driven field, as women who loved each other, Lucy and Suzanne had practice viewing the world from a different perspective — and often having to fight for their right to participate. Lucy, too, suffered from chronic illnesses that set her apart from many of her fellows. Their status as unconventional artists working with Dadaists and Surrealists taught them the power of art as a way to subvert expectations. The bulk of the action in Paper Bullets takes place on the island of Jersey, as Suzanne and Lucy begin to fight back against the occupation, steadily employing more sophisticated methods in their two-woman PSYOPS campaign. This is no dry history; rather, Paper Bullets almost hums with the tension of a tightly plotted thriller. Jackson deftly balances the narrative, though, giving the reader a taste of the romance that fueled the resistors’ relationship, the art scene that honed their skills, and the war that compelled them to find a way to fight. Paper Bullets has it all — it’s a tale of romance in spite of the odds, a slice of art history, and an inspirational World War II story. It is, simply put, nearly impossible to put down. — JD The Ballad of Ami Miles by Kristy Dallas Alley Macmillan Books, $17.99 The more things change, the more they stay the same. While the world as we

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COVER STORY BY FLYER STAFF

It Came From Memphis by Robert Gordon Third Man Books, $19.95 Robert Gordon’s 1995 opus, It Came From Memphis, quietly but quickly grew into a cult classic, a must-read for any music aficionado wanting learn about the gritty, Black and white roots of rockand-roll in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s — and the city where they were planted. Gordon’s cast of characters was as wild and eccentric as the river town that made them: Dewey Phillips, Sputnik Monroe, Sam Phillips, Furry Lewis, Mud Boy and the Neutrons, Bill Eggleston, Booker T., Tav Falco. Not to mention a supporting cast of midget wrestlers, motorcycle gangs, and all-around weirdos. Iconic Memphis musician and Zeliglike guru Jim Dickinson knew many of the characters and their backstories, and he is a primal force in ICFM. His insights, along with Gordon’s extensive research, many invaluable interviews, and avid storytelling, give the book its authentic juice, chapter after chapter. There are plentiful you-are-there tales from the city’s iconic music studios — Stax, Ardent, Sun. There are long nights, inspired bouts of musical brilliance, booze and blunts and pills,

bizarre escapades, and more than a little madness. Now there’s a new 25th anniversary edition of It Came From Memphis, published by Jack White’s Third Man Books (the imprint that earlier this year published Memphian Sheree Renée Thomas’ Nine Bar Blues). And better yet, it’s not just a reprint. Much has been added: all-new photos, updated stories and interviews, and fresh opinions and perspectives from Gordon and others, including Peter Guralnick. The original classic book is still there. It’s just been enhanced — and beautifully so. As Gordon admits in his preface, the original was something of “a guy book,” so he has brought more women’s voices and influences into this version. It’s a seamless and welcome addition. As the cover blurb notes: “Vienna in the 1880s. Paris in the 1920s. Memphis in the 1950s. These are the paradigm shifts of modern culture. … Memphis embraced black culture when dominant society ignored or abhorred it. The effect rocked the world.” That it did. It Came From Memphis is essential reading for anyone who wants to deepen their understanding of this city and its musical history. — Bruce VanWyngarden

Baron of Love: Moral Giant by Ross Johnson Spacecase Records, $15 Like the author himself (a friend and erstwhile bandmate of mine), this slim memoir (published by Spacecase Records) is a pulsating mass of contradictions that somehow selfassemble into a sentient whole. As such, it captures the way most of us live in fits and starts, and with good humor; but in Ross’ case, the fits and starts happened between the buccaneering world of rock-and-roll and the library shelves, first landing you backstage with Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls, then sending you “collapsing into a spiral of self-contempt and regret.” The common thread is Ross’ keen eye, sharpened from an early age. With echoes of his father, a journalist in Little Rock, this book is bursting with vivid, keenly observed moments. The memories unfold

in a chaotic jumble of brief vignettes, so the evocative tales of rock writing and rock drumming, with which the author made his name and honed his taste, rub shoulders uneasily with snapshots (both literal and figurative) of Ross’ youth and the dramas of adulthood. All are rendered in the clean prose of a reporter turning his investigative eye inward as well as outward. And some turns of phrase, be it “toilet club” or “mental patient rock,” are sheer poetry. Without prejudice, Ross objectively notes the brazen racism of his Arkansas childhood, his ex-girlfriend’s career as a groupie, the fascistic roots of Alcoholics Anonymous, and the size of Iggy Pop’s schlong. Every chapter title might be a line from “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” as our hero rattles off the wonders and horrors he’s seen: “Who’s Alex Chilton?,” “Roland Janes,” “Creem Magazine Saved My Life,” “Swerve Into Perv,” “Charlie Feathers,” “The Klitz,” “Guiltabilly.” Through it all, his time with the Panther Burns, the band he co-founded with Chilton and Tav Falco, weaves in and out of the narrative like a tipsy driver you just can’t shake. And “Baron of Love,” the inspired song/seance he cut with Chilton in 1978, hangs over the highway like a harvest moon. What saves the book from being mere barstool boasting is Ross’ reflective instinct. Dollops of cultural studies and politics inform his musings on the ethics of the sexism, racism, and rockism at play in every scene. It may be more of a moral microscope, but if this be gossip, it’s gossip with a heart, and gossip with a brain. — Alex Greene

LGBTQ+ Revolution 2.0 by Jill Fredenburg New Degree Press, $16.99 With the craziness and hopelessness some have felt in the last four years, it can be easy to forget how far we have come as a country in terms of social issues. In just continued on page 12

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

know it is broken in Kristy Dallas Alley’s debut novel, The Ballad of Ami Miles, many issues that plague our current society are all too rampant. Sixteenyear-old heroine Ami Miles has grown up in relative safety at her family’s survival compound, but when she receives a clue about her long-vanished mother’s whereabouts, she sets out to learn more about herself, and the world outside the compound. Ami grows up at Heavenly Shepherd, a survival compound run by her grandfather, Solomon Miles. The America she knows has drifted into a post-apocalyptic collection of small communities after a virus rendered most of the population infertile. Any woman who does have the ability to bear children is quickly gobbled up by government “C-PAF” agents. That fear prompted Ami’s mother to flee when she was a child, leaving her daughter to fend for herself in Solomon’s controlling environment. And her grandfather, the worst kind of bigoted evangelical, sees Ami as nothing more than a vessel to continue on the Miles lineage. When he invites a man to the compound to impregnate Ami, all bets are off. Her aunt provides her with directions to her mom’s last known location and sends Ami on her way with supplies. While Ami Miles might have the YA label, Alley doesn’t treat her readers with kid gloves. A post-apocalyptic America doesn’t mean societal issues have gone away, and Ami tackles racism, homophobia, and plenty of other prevalent social issues for the first time after escaping Heavenly Shepherd. And it’s not all smooth sailing for the good-natured protagonist; Alley expertly weaves in a constant thread of deprogramming along Ami’s journey. Having basically grown up in a cult, it’s hard for Ami to jettison the thoughts and “values” that have been pounded into her since day one. Even as she learns more about the world, even as she makes new friends, and even as another young woman catches her eye, her grandfather’s directive to find a man and make a baby sits uncomfortably in the back of her mind.

The Ballad of Ami Miles is an ode to many things: self-growth, finding new experiences, welcoming in ideas that aren’t your own. Every step of her journey, Ami is up for the tough challenges that lay in her path. Reading from 2020’s perspective, where so many are insulated in their thought bubbles by algorithms, social media, and the like, Ami Miles is the perfect tonic. With a brave face, there’s always room for growth and new experiences. I’m not sure I’m the target demographic for The Ballad of Ami Miles, but Alley’s electric pacing kept me hooked until the last page; ultimately, I blazed through in just two sittings. Through Ami, Alley never puts a foot wrong while crafting her narrative. Hard to believe this is a debut. — Samuel X. Cicci

continued from page 11 50 years, we have gone from segregating people based on the color of their skin to allowing true freedom of marriage. Reflecting on this can be astounding. Jill Fredenburg’s LGBTQ+ Revolution 2.0, to me, is a product of the successes that we have made as a country in recent years. The book, which is structured as a collection of narratives sharing experiences and stories from people on different spots of the LGBTQ+ spectrum, tells the struggles, triumphs, and dayto-day lives of those who are in the LGBTQ+ community. Over 21 chapters, Fredenburg discusses all permutations of the LGBTQ community. It’s not an easy read. At times I found myself angry and frustrated by the injustices faced by those that Fredenburg wrote about. Other times I felt hopeless to help. Fredenburg creates a connection between the reader and those featured in the book so that you can truly understand their lives, and the effect is immediate and intense. For all the sad stories and times of struggle there are also stories of triumph. But in that work Fredenburg also finds hope and strength in the knowledge that the LGBTQ movement is stronger than ever. “I started writing this book with the hope that the process would help me understand how experiences like Cassandra’s and my own fit into the

larger movement surrounding LGBTQ+ identity,” Fredenburg writes in her introduction. “What I discovered has made me excited for the next wave of LGBTQ+ rights.” Fredenburg’s book LGBTQ+ Revolution 2.0 is not an easy read, but it’s a needed one. She speaks for the silent other who is often ignored and left out of the conversation, showing the good and the bad, then inviting others into the conversation. Her work is important reading for everyone, and she ends her book with a reminder that I think all people can live and learn by: “Who will you be, who and how will you love, without shame?” — Matthew J. Harris Emergence by Shira Shiloah Salty Air Publishing, $15.99 Dr. Shira Shiloah is a local anesthesiologist who decided she’d get into the world of writing medical thrillers. Her debut novel is Emergence, set in Memphis and with ample description of familiar sights in and around Downtown. Shiloah also gives us a strong female anesthesiologist (beautiful, highly competent, owns a dog, touched by personal tragedy), a suitably wicked surgeon (an arrogant platinum blonde, owns no dogs, coked-up misogynist), and a sensitive resident doctor (thoughtful, supportive, easy on the eyes, owns a dog). And there is plenty of lab-coat-

ripping romance slathered throughout like a medical grade lubricant. In fact, Emergence rocks back and forth between incisions and intercourse, blending romance and thriller genres. Allow these excerpts to speak for themselves: “She could make out the silhouette of his muscular torso. His jeans were as loose as his smile. There were no blood or drapes between them tonight, just clear skin and healthy hormones. His gaze took her in.” And: “He took the knife and expertly sliced him at the level of the jugular vein.

The man screamed and struggled to get away, but with one sweep of his hand D.K. stabbed his cricoid, his voice box, so he’d be silent.” If those passages appeal to you, then it must be just what the doctor ordered. — Jon W. Sparks Memphis Mayhem by David A. Less ECW Press, $16.95 If the title Memphis Mayhem sounds like it could be describing either a crime wave or a chip-on-the-shoulder attitude or an era of public turbulence, the new book by Memphis music historian David Less concerns all of those things, but mainly it is history and memoir of the various strains of music that have percolated out of Memphis and defined the river city in its seminal relationship with the outer world. As the author himself, a writer and archivist and third-generation Memphian, describes his work, “It is a story of a city and a culture and fosters independent thinking in the midst of a strict, conservative society. There is a spirit of self reliance in Memphis. It is born of the poverty and oppression shared by Blacks and whites here, who have nothing to lose and everything to gain.” Parts of Less’ narrative are familiar from other sources, but Less does not content himself with a roster of luminaries and a catalogue of styles.

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His treatment of Memphis’ early blues masters, for example, is against a backdrop of the gambling, desperate chance-taking, and crazy optimism that characterized Beale Street and its antecedent neighborhoods. He tells his tale in an episodic style that at first seems somewhat disjointed but is more accurately revealed to be the mosaic that it is. Almost in the manner of a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces ultimately fit together — Yellow Fever; the band rivalry between two Black high schools, Manassas and Booker T. Washington,

and the dispersing into the world of the innovative results; the laboratory of Black and white music sources that was Sam Phillips’ Sun Studio; and the serendipity of a second commercial-music wave stemming as much from the self-seeking curiosity of white Messick High students like Steve Cropper and Donald “Duck” Dunn as anything else. Less explains why it is that Memphis music tends to be “behind the beat,” and he notes the importance of landmarks — like West Memphis’ Plantation Inn, where white Memphis high-schoolers learned their musical ABCs from innovative Black performers, and the Lorraine Motel, important as a honing place for white and Black musicians before it became a site of infamy and a shrine to the great MLK. It’s all here — the jazz masters of the Crump-ordered “clean-up”period, Daddy-O Dewey, Ardent Studios, Chips Moman, Willie Mitchell, Al Green. And all of it pegged to the hard-boiled but generous local populations that lived in ever-treacherous and sometimes ominous times. (It is surely no accident, by the way, that much of the narrative of Less’ book derives from interviews with veterans of the Memphis music wars now living in the plusher confines of Nashville, which has a kind of finishingschool or retirement-home relationship to the dangerous but lively city on the Mississippi.) — Jackson Baker

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*IMAGE OF ALLIGATOR RECORDS’ ARTIST CHRISTONE “KINGFISH” INGRAM BY RORY DOYLE

January 29-31, 2021

S P O R TS B y Fr a n k M u r t a u g h

Let ’Er Rip!

Three thoughts on Memphis Tiger football.

The North Pole of the Mid-South

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two more wins would make it seven seasons in a row with eight victories for the Tigers. (If COVID testing allows, the Tigers should play three more games, including a bowl contest.) The University of Memphis has a history with more valleys than peaks, but we are witnessing a golden era, one that now stretches across three head-coaching administrations. Fans tend to get lost either in the past or with what’s to come (recruiting is everything, remember). If you wear blue and gray in these parts, you’d do well to pause, raise a glass, and salute the now of Memphis Tiger football. • Ten thousand is a big number … also well earned. With 88 passing yards at Tulane, Brady White will become only the second Memphis quarterback to top 10,000 yards for his career. (Danny Wimprine’s record is 10,215.) White’s 2,602 yards this season are eighth in the country and

CAROLYN ANDROS

he Memphis defense can win a game. You have to go back a quarter-century — October 28, 1995 — to find a game the Tigers won without scoring more than 10 points as they did last Saturday at Navy. In Rip Scherer’s first season as coach at the U of M, the Tigers edged Tulsa, 10-7, at the Liberty Bowl. The win improved that team to only 3-5, though, and it would not win another game that year. The 2020 Tigers are not Rip Scherer’s defense. Even after shutting down Navy, Memphis ranks 106th in the country (out of 127 teams), allowing 457 yards per game. But last weekend in Annapolis, that defense rose when it had to, in particular sophomore safety Quindell Johnson. The New Orleans native delivered a fumble-causing hit behind the Navy line of scrimmage on fourth down to end one secondquarter drive with the game tied at 7. Then, on the next Midshipman drive, Johnson stepped in front of a Tyger Goslin pass for an interception with Navy already in field-goal range. Rare is the defensive playmaker in modern college football. But Johnson, Morris Joseph (two tackles for loss), and Sanchez Blake (forced a Navy fumble) made key plays last weekend to earn Memphis a third straight victory. “It isn’t easy coming to Navy’s home field and beating them,” said Johnson after the win. “We all had fun, flying around, just playing together, communicating. We lead as a defense when we play like that.” • Seven is a lucky number … and well earned. Should the Tigers beat Tulane this weekend, it will mark seven straight seasons with at least seven wins for the Memphis program. It would extend an already unprecedented stretch, as the longest streak of seven-win seasons before the current one was four years (from 1960 to ’63 and 1973 to ’76). Better yet,

Quindell Johnson and the Memphis defense held firm.

his 24 touchdown passes this year are tied for fourth. The superlatives will keep coming for a few more weeks for the Ph.D. candidate, now with a record 26 wins to his credit as Tiger quarterback. It will be interesting to see how NFL scouts view White’s credentials. His two predecessors — Paxton Lynch and Riley Ferguson — also put up big numbers, but fell short of signal-calling duty on Sundays, even with Lynch having been drafted (by Denver) in the first round. White is blessed with physical tools, but not the size or arm strength of most men you see winning Super Bowls. He’s also skilled between the ears and, simply put, knows how to win. Here’s hoping he gets the chance to compete for an NFL job in 2021. He won’t be intimidated by the challenge.

WINNER! f Bmeesmtpohis 2020

thank you to our friends and fans

THE

Broom Closet The Best Gift Shop in Memphis!

Art Center Supply Store Hands-on learning is more effective in engaging children and it can be fun! We have a variety of Thames & Kosmos kits in stock. They are 20% off during our Holiday Sale. Shop now at artcenter-memphis.net or visit us at 1636 Union Ave.

Moongate Limited Moongate Limited brings the best of Bermuda to you. Our featured products include aromatherapy, art, and apparel. Our Signature and Holiday candle collections are hand-poured in Memphis and available locally at Bingham & Broad, Novel bookstore, Germantown Day Spa, and Southern Bleu Boutique (Collierville). Candles, apparel by TABS (The Original Bermuda Shorts), and art, including canvases, prints, and postcards from the Bermuda-based Pixie Grotto Studio are available online at moongatelimited.com.

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The Broom Closet Memphis’ leading metaphysical store carries a huge selection of conscious living and self-care products such as sage, incense, gemstones, tarot and oracle cards, along with a variety of gifts and décor for the spiritually minded. We have hundreds of unique stones, minerals, points, pyramids, spheres, and display specimens to choose from. Holiday specials include love, healing, and Chakra stone kits from just $5 through December 6th, while supply lasts. 546 S. Main Street and online at thebroomclosetmemphis.com.

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Shops of Saddle Creek Looking for gifts that are extraordinary and unique? WinterArts, the South’s premier holiday artists’ market, presents a stellar collection of skilfully handcrafted works in glass, metal, wood, clay, fiber, and more by more than 30 of our region’s top artists. Shop WinterArts daily through Christmas Eve at Saddle Creek South (7509 Poplar Avenue), next-door to Brooks Brothers. For more information, please visit shopsofsaddlecreek.com.

Our Children’s Art Area is well stocked for ages 3 and up.

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steppin’ out (& stayin’ in)

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews By Julie Ray

Sit down with a cabernet for the cabaret. Until last week, Hattiloo Theatre’s production of A Holiday Cabaret was only open to patrons and Season 14 and 15 subscribers, presented as a series of six limited-seating shows. The unfortunate consequences of our COVID predicament changed things a bit. A post from the Hattiloo Theatre Facebook page broke the news: “We planned to perform this musical before a few live patrons over six performances, but because of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities, we have canceled all live shows. Still, we are excited to gather virtually and celebrate the season with this perfect blend of holiday music, jokes, and stories.” The unique Black repertory theater has generously opened this show — for free — to the public. Show some love for the talented performance artists and venue by purchasing a season subscription for when things open back up again. Subscriptions start at only $105. In the meantime, the show must go on, and in this case it will be a live performance recorded and streamed from the theater’s stage. The production, written by Ekundayo Bandele, founder and CEO of Hattiloo Theatre, is a gathering of four friends for the holidays. The friends will sing traditional carols, tell stories, and share the merriment of the season in a family-friendly atmosphere. What better way to bring joy to Memphis than celebrating with friends during A Holiday Cabaret.

RON ANDERSON

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

“A HOLIDAY CABARET,” ONLINE FROM HATTILOO.ORG, FRIDAY, DEC. 4, 7 P.M., FREE.

The Pie Folks’ mincemeat pie is a holiday treat. Food, p. 24

Senator Lamar Alexander (above), people remember the last thing you do. The Last Word, p. 31

December 3-9, 2020

VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES December 3rd - 9th

Community Read and Author Talk: Myia Goldberg Online from jccmemphis.org, Thursday, Dec. 3, 7 p.m., free with registration Author reads and discusses Feast Your Eyes via Zoom. The book traces the path of a fictional mid20th-century photographer, Lillian Preston.

Hollywood Feed University: Online Puppy Training Course Online from hollywoodfeed.com, Thursday, Dec. 3, 8 a.m., noon, and 5 p.m., free Learn from certified trainer Amy Lear as she discusses basic puppy obedience to ensure your puppy learns good behavior from positive reinforcement at an early age.

Virtual Resident Artist Talk Online from crosstownarts.org, Thursday, Dec. 3, 6 p.m., free Featuring presenting artists Laura Ann Samuelson and Maeve Brophy. RSVP by email to attend, residency@crosstownarts.org.

Holly Jolly Holiday Celebration Beale Street, Downtown Memphis, Friday, Dec. 4, 4:30-6:30 p.m., free Join the holiday fun in Handy Park, featuring Santa, holiday music, and hot chocolate.

FACEBOOK/HATTILOO THEATRE

A Holiday Cab

Hattiloo Theatre’s A Holiday Cabaret

Tunes & Trivia memphislibraryfoundation.org, Friday, Dec. 4, 6-7:30 p.m., $20 Know trivia, earn prizes. Benefiting Memphis Public Library Foundation. A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens’ Dramatic Premier Reading in Boston Tennessee Shakespeare Company, 7950 Trinity, tnshakespeare.org, Friday, Dec. 4, 8 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 6, 3 p.m., $15-$25 It is December 2, 1867. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and other notables await the arrival of Charles Dickens and his inaugural United States reading of his ghost story.

Peter Pan Desoto Family Theatre, 4560 Venture, Southaven, MS, opens Friday, Dec. 4, 7 p.m., and continues Wednesday-Sunday through Dec. 17, $20 Broadway’s timeless classic musical whisks you away to a place where dreams are born and no one ever grows up. Boxlot Holiday Market Boxlot, 607 Monroe, Friday, Dec. 4, 3-8 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 5, 1-3 p.m., free-$5 Enjoy virtual shopping on Friday and shop in person on Saturday for $5. Receive $5 Boxlot Bucks when you arrive to go toward a purchase.

MEMPHIS ARTS COLLECTIVE ANNUAL

Holiday Artist Market

The secret origins of 901 Comics have their roots in the P&H Cafe.

Comic Relief More than babies are born after a few beers at the P&H Cafe. Sometimes two drunk guys mutually consent to the birth of a comic book store. “I worked at the P&H Cafe for six or seven years,” says Jaime Wright, co-owner of 901 Comics. “Shannon and I conceived 901 Comics on a few bar napkins over more than a few beers.” Wright’s business partner Shannon Merritt also owns 901 Games with his wife Erin. According to Wright, Merritt opened a lot of doors for him, including a job working with Stan Lee. The P&H Cafe is a very important part of their lives. When they heard the news, they had to help. The P&H GoFundMe page states, “Due to some inconvenient and unforeseen circumstances, the P&H Cafe is unfortunately having to move to a different location.” The new location is thus far undisclosed; rumor has it that the Crosstown area might be the lucky location to welcome the beloved dive bar. Wherever it moves, it’s going to cost a lot of money. In addition to the GoFundMe, a benefit is planned for this Saturday. Twenty percent of all 901 Comics sales will be donated to the cause. Enter to win a Stan Lee signed comic book, participate in auctions, and enjoy live music at the Cooper-Young Gazebo featuring Switchblade Kid. This is a socially distanced benefit. Cosplay attire is encouraged. Wear your superhero mask. A BENEFIT FOR THE P&H CAFE, 901 COMICS, 2162 YOUNG, SATURDAY, DEC. 5, NOON-6 P.M., FREE.

MEMPHISARTSCOLLECTIVE.COM

Nov. 27 - Dec. 24

3484 Poplar Avenue, Poplar Plaza at the corner of poplar and highland

hours: Mon-Sat: 10:30a - 6:30p Thurs: til 8:00p · Sun: noon- 5:00p Drop off location for The Mid-South Food Bank

Tige Blue

Common people — (left to right) Haley Bennett, Gabriel Basso, and Amy Adams star in Hillbilly Elegy. Film, p. 26

Letteressence: The Fundamentals of Broad-Edge Calligraphy Online from dixon.org, Saturday, Dec. 5, 1 p.m., $15 members, $25 nonmembers Take part in the video workshop with local graphic designer and calligrapher Beth Mitchell. Register online. Supply kits delivered locally.

Animal Rights Online from memphis.edu, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2 p.m., free How can changing what we eat save the planet and end mass suffering? Join Tracey Glover online to find out. LGBT Legends Awards Black Lodge, 405 N. Cleveland, Sunday, Dec. 6, 6 p.m. Enjoy the red carpet event at 7 p.m. and awards ceremony at 8:30 p.m. as the light shines on the LGBT community’s past, present, and future.

Starving Artist Social Distance Marketplace Starving Artist Market, 4258 Rhodes, Monday, Dec. 7, 2-7 p.m. Featuring Foxy Robot Design, The Ginger’s Bread & Co., PostTraumatically Stressed Feminist, and more. Food available from Dinner by Dan. Breezy Lucia will be taking holiday portraits. Wear your festive clothes and bring your pets. The Children’s Ballet Theater Nutcracker Malco Summer Drive-In, Tuesday, Dec. 8, 6:15 p.m., $35 This fundraiser film tells the timeless tale of Clara and her beloved nutcracker doll as she is transported through time.

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

cityCURRENT Virtual Breakfast Online from citycurrent.news, Friday, Dec. 4, 9 a.m., free Zoom event featuring brand marketing expert Bruce Himelstein, credited with leading some of the travel and hospitality industry’s most prestigious domestic and global brands.

The Flyer MeMphis Tiger Blo

www.memphisflyer.com/blogs/TigerBlu

Tiger Blue THE FLYER’S MEMPHIS BLOG www.memphisflyer.com/blogs/TigerBlue/

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

FACEBOOK/THE P&H CAFE

By Julie Ray

MUSIC By Alex Greene

New Vibes

Chinese Connection Dub Embassy embraces dancehall and hip-hop.

December 3-9, 2020

he cover of Crew Vibez, the fresh album that Chinese Connection Dub Embassy drops this Friday, has a portrait of brothers Joseph and David Higgins in shades of red, gold, and green — rather appropriate, given that they are Memphis’ premiere purveyors of reggae. But among the faint letters in the background, nestled among words like “irie” and “truth,” is the name Omar. As their fans know, that’s their eldest brother, who founded the band with them (along with the hardcore punk band Negro Terror) and passed away unexpectedly in April of last year. The fact that the brothers carried on with the project is a testament to the entire family’s love of music. “My dad was a drummer; my mother was a saxophone player,” David tells me. “And our mother was West Indian as well. We came from New York to Mississippi and Memphis. We were more about the Jamaican reggae and skinhead culture. Working class, for the people, by the people.” And some tracks on the new album reflect this directly, such as politically charged songs like “Dem A Callin’ (Flodgin’)” and “Warzone.” But this is an album full of surprises, and the biggest may be the group’s embrace of other styles beyond the classic reggae they’ve purveyed in the past. As Joseph says, “It’s a compilation of different kinds of reggae, from dancehall to straight-up roots. Some feel-good tunes. We’re even tapping into a little bit of Memphis hip-hop with some of our friends. We still pay respect to reggae as a whole, but we wanna give a Memphis vibe to it. I think this project will really open peoples’ minds.” And while the group typically opens minds with their unique brand of consciousness-raising roots music a la Peter Tosh, this new work aims to open hearts as well. Many of the tracks, from lead single “Honey” to “Melanin Queen” or “So Grateful,” explore a sound that combines classic “lover’s rock” with drum-machine-heavy dancehall beats. As executive producer Ryan Peel notes, the two surviving brothers are “reinventing Chinese Connection Dub Embassy. Joseph and Dave know what I do. I’m a pop producer more than anything. Usually that lands in the realm of rap and R&B. They wanted a newer element in the sound, but also someone

who understood the history and the different rhythmic choices for each of those sub-genres. So that’s how we moved into it being dancehall heavy.” Peel has known the Higgins brothers for years, and has often drummed for them in the classic roots reggae style they perfected. But this time around, he was programming beats, not playing them. “I wanted it to sound like a hip-hop record, but with the music itself being dancehall and reggae,” he says. Indeed, the album features several local rappers and R&B singers as guests. “Tia ‘Songbird’ Henderson is on one track. ‘Warzone’ has the rappers SvmDvde and Hannya Chao$, who’s really guttural and primal. And Harley Quinn, R.I.C.O. Tha Akronym, Webbstar, and Sebastian Carson are also featured.” While David has always been the guitarist of the group, this album doesn’t feature much of that. “One song, ‘Never Gonna Break Your Heart,’ starts out with flamenco guitar,” says Peel. “And he smashed it in one take! But I don’t think David was necessarily thinking of himself as a guitarist on this record. I think he was thinking, ‘I’m a lead vocalist now.’ I was like, ‘Damn, dude! Where have you been? You should have been out here! Omar should have let you sing more!’” For most of the songs, Peel says, “Joseph would write the chords and a basic drum part, then I’d soup it up.” Once the beats were sequenced, Joseph, a keyboardist, would flesh out the arrangements, starting with the bass. “He’s the sub-bass king! He killed it. It’s almost like Joseph said, ‘All right, what would Omar do? Let me pull out my synth-bass version of Omar on this.’ As a drummer who played with Omar for years, I feel that in my heart. It feels right. For people who knew CCDE with Omar, this isn’t going to be too alien to them.”

WE’VE GOT THE CURE.

Go ahead and crank up some B.B. tunes to get primed for this perfect day trip of enjoying fabulous meals from unique restaurants as well as shopping for locally produced gourmet food items. We can almost guarantee that the real blues will be the prescription you need.

400 Second Street • bbkingmuseum.org We are following adapted tourism practices to promote responsible Travel / Best Practices from the CDC on COVID-19 for the Tourism Industry. #visitmsresponsibly

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

You can start at the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center—where social distancing is easy—and understand the tough road B.B. King traveled before becoming one of the most beloved musicians of all time. Ranked by Trip Advisor in the Top Ten Percent of all listed properties, the museum features films and exhibits that weave a fascinating story of an icon and his birthplace. Make sure to also stop at nearby Mississippi Blues Trail markers that further explain the important music heritage of the area.

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

Being cooped up inside can cause a real case of cabin fever and the 2020 Blues, so load up the family or friends and head this way for a dose of the good kind of blues.

CALENDAR of EVENTS:

December 3 - 9

Playhouse on the Square

T H EAT E R

Playhouse on the Square at Home, a series of digital content through POTS website and social media platforms. View past performances, engage in quizzes, enjoy digital playwriting, and more. Free. Ongoing.

Hattiloo Theatre

Sarafina!, past production about human rights in the 21st century, written by Mbongeni Ngema. Ongoing. God’s Trombone, enjoy the original production of inspirational sermons by African-American preachers reimagined as poetry, reverberating with the musicality and splendid eloquence of spirituals. Free. Ongoing. Iola’s Southern Fields, enjoy an online past performance drawn from the writings of Ida B. Wells. Free. Ongoing. A Holiday Cabaret, celebrate the season with a perfect blend of music, jokes, and stories to get you in the mood for the holidays. Virtual presentation of the performance. Sundays, 2 p.m., and Fridays, Saturdays, 7 p.m. Through Dec. 13. 37 S. COOPER (502-3486).

Kudzu Playhouse

66 S. COOPER (726-4656).

Tennessee Shakespeare Company

A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens’ Dramatic Premier Reading in Boston, salon curated and read by Dan McCleary. tnshakespeare.org. Fri., Dec. 4, 8 p.m., and Sat., Sun., 8 p.m. Through Dec. 20. 7950 TRINITY (759-0604).

Theatre Memphis

The Nutcracker at Memphis Botanic Garden, Sunday, December 6th, 3:30 & 4:30 p.m. information. Ongoing. P.O. BOX 47 (888-429-7871).

December 3-9, 2020

Kudzu Playhouse Virtual, join Kudzu social media for donation-based classes, games, scholarship opportunities, and more. Download the app for more fun theater activities and

Landers Center

Peter Pan, a timeless Broadway classic musical that whisks you away to a place where dreams are born and no one ever grows up. $20. Fridays, 7 p.m., Saturdays, Sundays, 2 & 7 p.m., and Wednesdays, Thursdays, 7 p.m. Through Dec. 17. 4560 VENTURE, SOUTHAVEN, MS (662-280-9120).

Bene�iting Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital

PINK PALACE WWW.MEMPHISMUSEUMS.ORG

Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com or P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY.

The Orpheum

Orpheum Virtual Engagement, join Orpheum staff, artists, and students for activities, interviews, and more on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Visit website for more information. Ongoing. 203 S. MAIN (525-3000).

Online on Stage, a Theatre Memphis Facebook group that serves as a clearinghouse for performers wanting to share their talents. Featuring storytime, readings, or performance art. Ongoing. A Christmas Carol On the Air, experience the full joy of the holidays and relive memories of Christmases past in the convenience of your own home. theatrememphis.org. $20. Through Jan. 3, 2021.

OT H E R A R T HAP P E N I N G S

Holiday Artist Market

Through Dec. 24.

3484 POPLAR, FORMERLY SPIN STREET MUSIC, 3484 POPLAR (327-8730).

Letteressence: The Fundamentals of BroadEdge Calligraphy Video workshop with local graphic designer and calligrapher Beth Mitchell. Register online. Supply kits delivered locally. $15 members, $26 nonmembers. Sat., Dec. 5, 1 p.m.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS, 4339 PARK (761-5250), DIXON.ORG.

Make Your Own Holiday Wreath with Joanna Bernardini

Create a custom holiday wreath. All materials included. No experience necessary. $85. Tues., Dec. 8, 6-9 p.m. ARROW CREATIVE, 2535 BROAD.

Memphis Flyer Coloring Book Order your book today benefiting local artists and journalism. $35. Ongoing.

MEMPHISMAGAZINESTORE.COM.

630 PERKINS EXT. (682-8323).

HOLIDAY EXHIBIT November 21 - December 31. Photos with Santa, Holiday Movies & Planetarium Shows.

CALENDAR: DECEMBER 3 - 9

FACEBOOK.COM/MEMPHISFLYER.

Memphis Modern Market Crafts Fair PopUp Shop Featuring MAC Artists Angi Cooper, Jan Shivley, and Jana Wilson. Fridays, Saturdays, 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sundays, 12-5 p.m. Through Dec. 27. MEMPHIS PINK PALACE MUSEUM, 3050 CENTRAL (636-2362).

Metal Museum Online

Peruse the art and craft of fine metalwork digitally. Featuring past gallery talks from previous exhibitions, interviews with artists, and demonstrations. Free. Ongoing. METAL MUSEUM, 374 METAL MUSEUM DR. (774-6380).

Orpheum Mini Golf

Putt on nine socially distanced Broadway-themed holes, including Hamilton, The Phantom of the Opera, The Color Purple, Memphis, and more. $10. Sat., Sun., 10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m. Through Dec. 6. THE ORPHEUM, 203 S. MAIN (5253000), ORPHEUM-MEMPHIS.COM.

The Peace Project

Hear the peace offerings made up of artists voices, instruments, ambient noises, and reverberations in a healing space, featuring work by Hank Willis Thomas. Ongoing, 6 a.m.-6 p.m. MEMPHIS PARK (FOURTH BLUFF), FRONT AND MADISON, MEMPHISRIVERPARKS.ORG.

Pinch District Art on the Patio Artists’ Market

First Sunday of every month, 2 p.m. WESTY’S, 346 N MAIN (543-3278).

Virtual Resident Artist Talk

Featuring presenting artists Laura Ann Samuelson and Maeve Brophy. Email RSVP. Free. Thurs., Dec. 3, 6 p.m. CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE, 1350 CONCOURSE, STE. 280 (507-8030), CROSSTOWNARTS.ORG.

O N G O I N G ART

Arrow Creative

“On Your Mark,” exhibition of works by Shelby Brown in the virtual Mary and Mike Conley Gallery. arrowcreative.org. Through Dec. 31. 2535 BROAD.

Art Museum at the University of Memphis (AMUM)

“Africa: Art of a Continent,” exhibition of African art from the Martha and Robert Fogelman collection. Ongoing. “IEAA Ancient Egyptian Collection,” exhibition of Egyptian antiquities ranging from 3800 B.C.E. to 700 C.E.

142 COMMUNICATION & FINE ARTS BUILDING (678-2224).

ArtsMemphis

“Unfolding: The Next Chapter in Memphis,” exhibition of visual art by local Memphis artists, curated by Kenneth Wayne Alexander. artsmemphis.org. Ongoing. 575 S. MENDENHALL (578-2787).

Buckman Arts Center at St. Mary’s School

“Magellan’s Medicine,” exhibition of hand-painted ceramics by Dr. Malini Gupta. Through Dec. 14. 60 N. PERKINS EXT. (537-1483).

Clough-Hanson Gallery

“Quarantine Couple,” exhibition of work by Art 260: Curation in Context artists Lacy Mitcham Veteto and Gregory Allen Smith. Curated by Ben Aquila. Visit Facebook page to view virtually. rhodes.edu. Ongoing. “Second Life, Third Life,” exhibition of work by Art 260: Curation in Context artists Meredith Potter, Melissa Wilkinson, and Emily C. Thomas. Curated by Roland Donnelly-Bullington. Ongoing. “Interiors: A Study of Domestic Quarantine,” exhibition of work by Art 260: Curation in Context artists Paula Kovarik and Sophia Mason. Curated by Jenna Gilley. Ongoing. “playground,” exhibition of work by Art 260: Curation in Context artists Elizabeth Alley and Susan Maakestad. Curated by Dresden Timco. Ongoing. “Home is Where the Art Is,” exhibition of work by Art 260: Curation in Context artists Nick Peña, Ryan Steed, and Nancy Cheairs. Curated by Julia Conway. Ongoing. “Eyesolation: Seeing and Looking in Quarantine,” exhibition of work by Art 260: Curation in Context artists Melissa Dunn, Alexander Paulus, Emily C. Thomas, Mary K. VanGieson. Curated by Katie Clark. Ongoing. “Landscapes in Isolation,” exhibition of work by Art 260: Curation in Context artists Clare Johnson, Maysey Craddock, and Susan Maakestad. Curated by Caroline Koch. Ongoing. “All by Myself,” exhibition of work by Art 260: Curation in Context artists Jesse Butcher and Emily C. Thomas. Curated by Marlo Morales. Ongoing. RHODES COLLEGE, 2000 N. PARKWAY (843-3000).

David Lusk Gallery

“Woebetide,” exhibition of visceral gouache paintings of ephemeral landscapes that examine dualities and mysteries of nature by Maysey Craddock. Through Dec. 23. 97 TILLMAN (767-3800).

The Dixon Gallery & Gardens

“Made in Dixon / Hecho en Dixon,” exhibition of artwork by Dixon program participants of all ages, diverse cultural backgrounds, and interests. Through Dec. 20. “Illuminating the Word: The

Saint John’s Bible,” exhibition of the first handwritten Bible that interprets and illustrates scripture from a contemporary perspective. A reflection of a multicultural world and strides in science, technology, and space travel. Through Jan. 10, 2021. “The Beauty of Calligraphy,” exhibition by the Memphis Calligraphy Guild celebrating calligraphy and the resulting gestural art. Through Jan. 3, 2021. 4339 PARK (761-5250).

Fratelli’s

“Rawlinson Atelier Studies,” exhibition of watercolors from demonstration studies. Through Jan. 21, 2021. 750 CHERRY (766-9900).

Gallery 1091

Bartlett Art Association, exhibition of works online by BAA members. wkno.org. Through Dec. 30. WKNO STUDIO, 7151 CHERRY FARMS.

Jay Etkin Gallery

Permanent Collection: “The Flow Museum of Art & Culture,” ongoing. 942 COOPER (550-0064).

Memphis Botanic Garden

Plein Air Exhibition, Dec. 5-Jan. 2. 750 CHERRY (636-4100).

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

“Arts of Global Africa,” exhibition of historic and contemporary works in a range of different media presenting an expansive vision of Africa’s artistry. Through June 21, 2021. “Drawing Memory: Essence of Memphis,” exhibition of works inspired by nsibidi, a sacred means of communication among male secret societies in southeastern Nigeria by Victor Ekpuk. Ongoing. 1934 POPLAR (544-6209).

Memphis College of Art

“Intrepidly Yours,” exhibition of Spring 2020 BFA work by last graduating class. mca2020bfa.com. Through Feb. 28, 2021. 1930 POPLAR (272-5100).

Mid-South Artist Gallery

Jon Woodhams, through Dec. 5. Becky McRae, exhibition of works by featured artist. midsouthartist-gallery.pixels.com. Ongoing. Michelle Lemaster, exhibition of works by local featured artist. Ongoing. Sandra Horton, exhibition of works by featured artist. Free. Ongoing. 2945 SHELBY (409-8705).

Tops Gallery

Luther Hampton, exhibition of 17 sculptures made between 1968 and 2000. By appointment. Through Dec. 31. 400 S. FRONT.

continued on page 22

“Home For The Holidays” package Includes one night’s accommodations, plus: • Peabody Holiday ornament

• WiFi

• Unlimited coffee & hot

• Parking

chocolate in Peabody Deli & Desserts

Christmas To Go Spend more time with the family than the oven this Christmas. Order a fully-cooked Christmas Dinner from The Peabody Kitchen, ready for you to heat & serve.

Christmas at the Peabody Celebrate Christmas at the “South’s Grand Hotel “ with a Christmas Lunch served in high-style in the Continental Ballroom. This lavish meal features appetizers, salads, holiday-style entrées, side dishes, and desserts.

Information: 1-800-PEABODY or PeabodyMemphis.com

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

Live show featuring Crafts & Drafts makers and artists in their own studios via Memphis Flyer’s Facebook Live. Mondays, 4 p.m. Through Dec. 14.

from the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology collection. Ongoing.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

Memphis Maker Mondays

CALENDAR: DECEMBER 3 - 9 continued from page 21 B O O KS I G N I N G S

Community Read and Author Talk: Myla Goldberg

SHOPS OF SADDLE CREEK, 7509 POPLAR AVENUE, SUITE 1 (753-4264), WINTERARTSMEMPHIS.COM.

MEMPHIS JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER, 6560 POPLAR (761-0810), JCCMEMPHIS.ORG.

S PO R TS / F IT N ES S

Animal Rights

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Showcase of handcrafted works by regional artists. Mondays-Thursdays, Saturdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sundays, 12-5 p.m., and Fridays, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Through Dec. 25.

Author reads and discusses Feast Your Eyes via Zoom. Free with registration. Thurs., Dec. 3, 7 p.m.

L E CT U R E / S P E A K E R

Weekend

WinterArts

How can changing what we eat save the planet and end mass suffering? Join Tracey Glover online to find out. Free. Sun., Dec. 6, 2 p.m. MEMPHIS.EDU.

cityCURRENT Virtual Breakfast

Featuring brand marketing expert Bruce Himelstein via Zoom. Fri., Dec. 4, 9 a.m. CITYCURRENT.NEWS.

Hollywood Feed University: Online Puppy Training Course

Basic puppy obedience course. Free. Thurs., Dec. 3, 8-9:30 a.m., 12-1:30 & 5-6:30 p.m. HOLLYWOOD FEED, 2013 UNION (591-1795), HOLLYWOODFEED.COM.

Turner: 3rd Annual Talk True

Candid dialogue about pivoting companies in a COVID-19 environment and the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in business. Free. Thurs., Dec. 3, 3:30 p.m. TURNERCONSTRUCTION.COM.

E X PO S/ SA L E S

Gifts of Green at the Garden

Seasonal pop-up shop inside the Botanic Garden’s newly renovated visitors center. Through Dec. 30, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN, 750 CHERRY (636-4100).

Holiday Artisan Market Shop Levitt Shell-inspired works from local makers. Through Dec. 31. LEVITT SHELL, 1928 POPLAR (272-2722), LEVITTSHELL.ORG.

Starving Artist Social Distance Marketplace

Featuring Foxy Robot Design, The Ginger’s Bread & Co., *four eyed girl*, Tedy Treats, PostTraumatically Stressed Feminist, and more. Food available from Dinner by Dan. Breezy Lucia will be taking holiday portraits. Wear your festive clothes and bring your pets. Sun., Dec. 6, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and Mon., Dec. 7, 2-7 p.m. STARVING ARTIST MARKET, 4258 RHODES.

Virtual Crafts Fair

Featuring artists and brands from Memphis and the surrounding areas. From paintings and home decor to jewelry and candles. Through Dec. 12. MEMPHIS PINK PALACE MUSEUM, 3050 CENTRAL (636-2362).

Aim to Maintain

Determine your own goal for yourself, whether it is monitoring your weight, physical activity, limiting sugar intake, or something else. Get tips and challenges and check in weekly for random drawing entries via the Kroc Center of Memphis Facebook page. Through Jan. 3, 2021. THE SALVATION ARMY KROC CENTER, 800 E. PARKWAY S. (729-8007), FACEBOOK.COM/KROCMEMPHIS.

Luckydog Barrel Race Thur.-Sun., Dec. 3-6.

AGRICENTER INTERNATIONAL, 7777 WALNUT GROVE (757-7777), LUCKYDOGRACES.COM.

Wolf River Group Run

All paces welcome. Run 3-5 miles along the Germantown Greenway or the Wolf River Trails. Free. Wednesdays, 6 p.m. Through Feb. 10. BREAKAWAY RUNNING GERMANTOWN, 1223 S. GERMANTOWN (754-8254), BREAKAWAYMEMPHIS.COM.

LGBT Legends Awards 2020

Enjoy the red carpet at 7 p.m. and awards ceremony at 8:30 p.m. as the light shines on LGBTQ past, present, and future. Sun., Dec. 6, 6 p.m. BLACK LODGE, 405 N. CLEVELAND (272-7744).

“The Negro Motorist Green Book”

Exhibition highlighting an annual guide started in 1936 that helped African Americans travel the country and was a resource for the era’s Black-owned businesses. $10. Through Jan. 3, 2021. NATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS MUSEUM, 450 MULBERRY (521-9699).

Prison Fellowship’s Angel Tree

Sponsor area children of incarcerated parents in the Greater Memphis area. Through Dec. 23. PRISONFELLOWSHIP.ORG.

Tunes & Trivia

Know trivia, earn prizes. Featuring a Memphis music artist, benefiting Memphis Public Library Foundation. $20. Fri., Dec. 4, 6-7:30 p.m. MEMPHISLIBRARYFOUNDATION.ORG.

H O LI DAY EVE NTS

Arrow Creative Holiday Bazaar

Shop local artists and makers for the holidays. Through Dec. 23. ARROW CREATIVE, 2535 BROAD.

M E ETI N G S

Churches from the Presbytery of the MidSouth: Sunday Worship Livestream Combined livestream worship. Visit website for more information and livestream link. Sun., 11 a.m. IDLEWILDCHURCH.ORG.

Virtual-T

Weekly Zoom gathering for anyone 18+ who identifies as a member of the trans or GNC community. For login information, email ahauptman@outmemphis.org. Tuesdays, 6 p.m. OUTMEMPHIS.ORG.

S P EC IA L EVE NTS

A Benefit for the P&H Cafe

Help the P&H Cafe get restarted in their new location. Twenty percent of all 901 Comics sales will be donated to the cafe. Enter to win a Stan Lee signed comic book, auctions, raffles, sales and more, plus live music at the Cooper-Young Gazebo. Cosplay encouraged. Sat., Dec. 5, 12-6 p.m. 901 COMICS, 2162 YOUNG, 901COMICSMEMPHIS.COM.

HappiDog Holiday Pop-Up Shoppe

Featuring wine and appetizers, a huge selection of items at bargain prices, and swag bags with every purchase, benefiting HappiDog Animal Rescue. Free. Sun., Dec. 6, 5-8 p.m. COLETTA’S, 2850 APPLING (383-1122).

Be a Santa to a Senior

Carriage Crossing will be collecting gifts for senior citizens. The tree with ornament wish lists will be in the Wonderland Experience lobby. Shop and return unwrapped gifts to the tree. Through Dec. 12. CARRIAGE CROSSING, HOUSTON LEVEE & BILL MORRIS PKWY. (854-8240), SHOPCARRIAGECROSSING.COM.

Boxlot Holiday Market

Virtual shopping on Friday or shop in person on Saturday for $5. Receive $5 Boxlot Bucks when you arrive to go toward a purchase. Free-$5. Fri., Dec. 4, 3-8 p.m., and Sat., Dec. 5, 1-3 p.m. BOXLOT, 607 MONROE.

The Children’s Ballet Theater Live Nutcracker

Live holiday performance with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the Botanic Garden. $25, Free for kids ages 2 and under. Sun., Dec. 6, 3:30 & 4:30 p.m. MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN, 750 CHERRY (921-0388), BALLETCHILDREN.COM.

The Children’s Ballet Theater Nutcracker

This fundraiser film of the classical ballet. $35. Tues., Dec. 8, 6:15-8 p.m. MALCO SUMMER 4 DRIVE-IN, 5310 SUMMER (921-0388), BALLETCHILDREN.COM.

Delight at Concourse

Enjoy local pop-up dining areas and rock out to live music popups. Through Jan. 31, 2021. CROSSTOWN CONCOURSE, 1350 CONCOURSE.

CALENDAR: DECEMBER 3 - 9

MEMPHIS PINK PALACE MUSEUM, 3050 CENTRAL (636-2362).

Folk All Y’all: Holidaysin-the-House Show with Barnaby Bright Virtual holiday house concert. $20. Sat., Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. FOLKALLYALL.COM.

Holiday Wonders at the Garden

Activities at three venues: Snowy Nights in My Big Backyard, Under the Stars Outdoor Lounge, and City of Memphis Christmas Tree. Through Dec. 27.

Zoo Lights

Millington Christmas Parade

FO O D & D R I N K EVE NTS

MILLINGTON LIBRARY, 4858 NAVY (872-1585).

Billie’s Pecans Holiday Pop-Up Shop

Sat., Dec. 5, 1 p.m.

Mini filled stockings will be given to the first 50 children in attendance. The child must be present to receive a stocking. Thurs., Dec. 3, 6 p.m.

Senior’s Greetings

Orion Starry Nights

BEALE STREET, DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS (529-0999), BEALESTREET.COM.

SHELBY FARMS PARK, 500 N. PINE LAKE (767-PARK).

THE ORPHEUM, 203 S. MAIN (525-3000).

MILLSTONE MARKET & NURSERY, 6993 POPLAR (800-624-7404), BILLIESPECANS.COM.

MILLINGTON LIBRARY, 4858 NAVY (872-1585).

Brings the spirit of the season to life on select nights with displays featuring more than 3.5 million lights. $16-$35. Through Jan. 3, 2021.

Virtual Christmas concert benefiting Orpheum Memphis. $40-$125. Sun., Dec. 6, 6 p.m.

Stop by and grab your favorite treats, a great gift to drop off to a local loved one. Thursdays-Saturdays, 10 a.m.5 p.m., and Sundays, 12-4 p.m. Through Dec. 20.

Millington Tree Lighting Ceremony

Holly Jolly Holiday Celebration

Jim Brickman: Comfort & Joy At Home

MEMPHIS ZOO, 2000 PRENTISS PLACE IN OVERTON PARK (333-6500).

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS, 4339 PARK (761-5250).

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN, 750 CHERRY (636-4100).

Featuring Santa, holiday music, and hot chocolate. Fri., Dec. 4, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Visit on select nights. Zoo Lights closed Dec. 2, 3, 9, 10, 24, and 31. $10. FridaysSundays, 6-9:30 p.m. Through Jan. 3.

All Dixon members are invited to celebrate the season with free family photos and festive decorations. Reservations required. Not a member? Join today. Sat., Dec. 5, 2-4 p.m.

Santa’s Forest South

Winter wonderland featuring Santa, entertainment, and vendors. Mondays-Saturdays, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., and Sundays, 1-7 p.m. Through Dec. 25. SANTA’S FOREST SOUTH, 3268 COMMERCIAL.

We Carry Only Authentic Vaporizers, Kratom, CBD, Tasty Puff, E-Juices, Sprays & Glues.

Letters to seniors initiative encourages customers to set aside one or more of the greeting cards they plan to send this holiday season and drop it off in the mailbox by Barnes & Noble. Through Dec. 13. CARRIAGE CROSSING, HOUSTON LEVEE & BILL MORRIS PKWY. (854-8240), SHOPCARRIAGECROSSING.COM.

Socially Distant Santa Through Dec. 24.

CARRIAGE CROSSING, HOUSTON LEVEE & BILL MORRIS PKWY. (854-8240), SHOPCARRIAGECROSSING.COM.

VE, & SMO PEACE, LO

KIN’

South Main Lights in the South Main district, through January 31, 2021 South Main Lights

Stroll, dine, shop in Memphis’ brightest and most beautifully lit neighborhood for the holidays. Through Jan. 31, 2021, 4 p.m.-midnight. SOUTH MAIN HISTORIC ARTS DISTRICT, DOWNTOWN.

Toy Truck benefiting Porter-Leath

as well as cash, check, or credit card donations. Through Dec. 5, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. POPLAR COLLECTION SHOPPING CENTER, 4615 POPLAR, PORTERLEATH.ORG.

Wonderland: An Interactive Holiday Photo Experience

CARRIAGE CROSSING, HOUSTON LEVEE & BILL MORRIS PKWY. (854-8240), WONDERLANDMEMPHIS.COM.

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Audrey Anderson offers a hard-to-find pie.

es, you can get a homemade mincemeat pie locally. And you don’t have to be from the North to like it. Audrey Anderson makes them at her bakery, The Pie Folks, in Cordova. But first, here’s why mincemeat is my favorite. In addition to its tantalizing taste, a lot has to do with nostalgia. My dad was born in Minneapolis, so our Christmas and Thanksgiving dinners didn’t include cornbread dressing, candied yams with marshmallows, and other Southern fare. We had bread dressing or stuffing with raisins and boiled, mashed rutabagas with butter. We had pumpkin pie, but we also had mincemeat pie. My mom used None Such mincemeat, which still is available, to make her pies, but she added four peeled, cored, and sliced apples to the mixture so she could make two 9-inch pies. I still use None Such, but I’ve tried other ways to get mincemeat pies in and around Memphis. Chef Josh Steiner surprised me on my birthday one year with a mincemeat pie he made from scratch at his old Strano! restaurant. It was fabulous. Christine Martin, a friend who is a cashier at Carlisle’s Cash Saver in Holly Springs, gave me a mincemeat pie recipe from her mother-in-law, the late Ollie Martin. In beautiful handwriting were listed 11 (!) ingredients, which included a half pound of chopped suet. I am going to try making that one of these days. But, for now, why not order one from The Pie Folks? Anderson began making mincemeat pies about five or six years ago. “I had not heard of a mincemeat pie until we started getting calls around the holiday time,” she says. “I went online to see what it was and try a few of the recipes and come up with one that was good.” Then, she says, “The recipe I found online that I made, I tweaked it with different spices to where I could eat it.” Most people who requested the pie were from “up North,” Anderson says. “It is not common in the South. Most people who buy it are older people. I’ve never had a younger person.” Her mincemeat pie fans are “60 and above.” To make them, Anderson begins with raisins, but, she says, “You have to let those raisins swell in water. I don’t use straight raisins. I let them kind of swell. It makes them softer.” A mincemeat pie consists of “a lot of spices,” including cinnamon and nutmeg.

“It’s spices that make it good.” She also uses some meat. “Some people put lean beef in, but I don’t like that texture. I like to use ground beef.” Her 9-inch mincemeat pies, which sell for $27.99, are more popular around Christmas. “I make them any time, but people only request them during the holidays.” And, she says, “The people who get them, usually I do them for them every year. They will be back.” Kirk Hevener bought his first Pie Folks mincemeat pie this year for Thanksgiving. “My dad passed away a couple of years ago, but mincemeat pie was his favorite pie and we always had it at Thanksgiving,” he says.

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The Pie Folks owner Audrey Anderson and her mincemeat pie

His family ate mincemeat pie “usually just Thanksgiving. We didn’t really go all out for Christmas.” Mincemeat pie, which his dad bought somewhere each year, was just one of several pies served. His dad, Gene Hevener, “was born in Ohio. Maybe that’s where he picked it up. I never realized maybe it’s a Northern thing. I was really happy to discover The Pie Folks had it, even though it was a specialorder pie.” Hevener, an assistant professor at the College of Pharmacy at UT Health Science Center, says just he and his wife, Dionne, celebrated Thanksgiving. They did a “virtual Thanksgiving this year via TVs and Zoom.” Hevener’s eaten mincemeat pie “30, 35 years. I’m in my 40s now. I’ve been eating it since I was a little kid.” And, he says, “I like mincemeat pie. It’s an interesting pie. I like to put a little vanilla ice cream with it and it’s awesome.” The Pie Folks is at 1028 N. Germantown Parkway in Cordova; (901) 752-5454.

BREWS By Richard Murff

Apple Time ’Tis the season for a cider … or two.

In wines and champagne, I tend toward the dry side of things, so Woodchuck amber was a little sweeter than I’m used to, but it’s crisp enough that I don’t mind it. What’s more, apple cider fits the environment, which really is half the battle when you’re stepping out of the usual well-worn habits and trying something different. It’s fall — sure it’s about to be winter, but it’s going to keep feeling like fall until January. The leaves are still turning is what I’m getting at here, and that always provokes a rash of almost historical Johnny Appleseed pieces on the Sunday-morning shows. Which is where I learned that until prohibition the vast majority of apple production in the United States was for booze, not the heart-healthy, keeps-the-doctoraway varieties of the fruit we cram down our children’s throats. This was always a struggle with Littlebit, who didn’t like apples — until

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No bad apple — Lakeland’s Long Road Cider makes a stiff drink with Pommaux.

now. So for the craft beer set sneering at the cider, this isn’t a new fad but a tremendous patriotic backflip of a century and a half. I’m glad she suggested it because I forgot how much I like the stuff. It doesn’t have a foamy collar like a beer, but there is enough fizz to give it a little bite, which is what makes cider so refreshing. It goes down pretty easy, and to judge by the way I outpaced Littlebit, a little too easy. Not the sort of example I need to be setting. Now that we’ve launched ourselves into the eatin’ season, it’s good to know that cider pairs well with roasty fall dishes — and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better beer to quaff with a roast turkey or a grilled chicken than a crisp, well-made apple cider. Woodchuck is made in Vermont — and they seem like the sort to be good at this kind of thing. For a more local option, there is the Long Road Cider Company located in Lakeland, also available around town if you don’t want to make the trip. Besides, some of their ciders pack a wallop, so the return trip from out there can get swirly. They also have a 19-proof hard cider called Pommaux that isn’t exactly liquor — but it is great for making an interesting twist on the Wassail-type hot-spiced holiday mug. True, it rarely gets cold enough to require it, but it sure as hell gets damp and clammy enough. If you want to take a six-pack home, you’re better off with Nashville’s Diskin Cider — which sounds suspiciously like a pecker joke. At any rate, on a recommendation I tried their Daydream Prickly Pear Rosé Cider. Well, I try my best to be positive here, and for that matter I also try not to be sexist, but … This rosé pear cider seems to be ringing the same bell that wine coolers rang back in the ’90s. The sweetness borders on Jolly Rancher territory, and pears don’t have the crisp bite to counterbalance it. In short, I know what market they’ve targeted, and why said market likes the stuff. But I am not that market. For the record, Littlebit recommends Bold Rock Cider, which claims both Virginia and North Carolina as home. Alas, you’ve got to head up into the mountains for a pour.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

nd so it was that Littlebit came down from atop the mountain and said unto me: “Verily, Father, I really haven’t the taste for beer, so I’ll have an apple cider.” Or words to that effect. Sewanee has wrapped up a very nearly plague-free semester and sent its charges home to take their exams. Judging by some of the Instagram feeds, exactly how they stayed very nearly plague-free is God’s own private mystery, but here we are. At any rate, that’s how I found myself hoisting a pair of Woodchuck amber ciders with the gal.

FILM By Chris McCoy

Blame the Victim

Is Hillbilly Elegy the year’s most depressing film?

Wikipedia entry lists his occupation as “venture capitalist.” He was born into a working-class family, but he’s not exactly someone for whom the American dream was “out of reach.” He succeeded! Maybe that’s why Hillbilly Elegy seems so vacant and shallow. It wants you to have sympathy for the hard lives of these characters, who are all based on Vance’s real family, but it cannot bear to turn its gaze on the deeper question begged by all the scenes of violence, drugs, and squalor — what has gone wrong here? Why are these people so screwed up? From the start, the dialogue reveals a tin-eared writer. “Where you goin’?” asks the grizzled old redneck. “Swimming hole,” says teenage J.D. (Owen Asztalos). “Don’t get bit by a cottonmouth!” The Grapes of Wrath this ain’t. A few minutes later, J.D. is getting bullied by three local boys who hold him under the water until he almost drowns. Now this looks more like the hillbilly life I remember! Turns out, J.D. Vance isn’t even from the mountains of Kentucky — he’s from suburban Middletown, Ohio, and the actual hillbillies hate him. His

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i, my name’s Chris, and I’m an authentic hillbilly. I grew up on a farm in the Appalachian foothills of Tennessee. I watched Hillbilly Elegy on Netflix so you don’t have to. The film is based on the book by J. D. Vance, which is subtitled A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis. The book became a bestseller during the run-up to the 2016 election, and became a political touchstone for pundits trying to explain the appeal of He Who Must Not Be Named to the white, rural voters who put the Orange Menace in the White House and the country on what we now know was the road to ruin. The story begins in Jackson, Kentucky, in 1997, with a tinny voice on the radio declaring: “In an age of prosperity, the American dream seems out of reach.” But here’s the thing: Vance is an Iraq War veteran and graduate of Yale Law School whose

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(above, l-r) Haley Bennett, Gabriel Basso, and Amy Adams star in Hillbilly Elegy, based on the book by J.D. Vance; (bottom left) Glenn Close as Mamaw grandparents moved from Kentucky to get jobs in the Ohio steel mills, which are closed now. There’s Mamaw (Glenn Close), J.D.’s mom Bev (Amy Adams), and sister Lindsay (Haley Bennett). A nostalgic sense of loss hangs over the family. Two generations ago, they were peasants pursuing opportunity in the big city. Now, they’re the suburban poor with nowhere else to go. Mom did well in school, but got pregnant young and found herself stuck in a cycle of failed relationships, struggling to keep food on the table for her two kids while she’s slowly being eaten away by the opioids she pops for stress. “We were all different in Middletown,” J.D.’s voiceover intones. “Something was missing. Maybe hope.” And yet, there are no scenes in this two-hour film showing us the good things about rural life. It can be very beautiful, and the rhythms of the farm can be peaceful. Least authentically of all, not once does anyone step foot inside a church. The plot, such as it is, revolves around grown-up J.D. (Gabriel Basso) trying to juggle career weekend at Yale with his mother’s latest addiction crisis back in Ohio. Much of the actual conflict involves Mom and Memaw’s access to healthcare, which is the film’s most authentic and relatable aspect. In The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck doesn’t shy away from the causes of his Okies’ miseries. It’s the banks that foreclose on the family farm during the Depression, the orchard owners who pay starvation wages for backbreaking work, and the thugs who beat

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indifferent at best, except for the closeup of the heroin needle circling the toilet bowl. The pacing veers between leaden and excruciating. But it’s the film’s attitude toward its characters that makes it truly odious. It’s always been hard to be poor, but other chroniclers of poverty, such as Steinbeck, Charles Dickens, and Victor Hugo, left you with an understanding of the systems and people who oppressed the peasants. Hillbilly Elegy’s ideology prevents it from looking at America that deeply. J.D. saves his mom and gets the job because he’s just better than everyone else. For the people and the way of life he’s supposed to be elegizing, life sucks, and it’s all their fault. Hillbilly Elegy is showing on Netflix.

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the union organizers into submission. When Bev, fresh off an OD, is kicked out of the hospital because she doesn’t have health insurance, it’s treated as another example of her moral failure, and an inconvenience for J.D., who has to be back in New Haven, Connecticut, for a job interview at a corporate law firm the next day. The real bad guys — the pharmaceutical companies who knowingly marketed highly addictive opioids to a population who are being worked to death by rapacious capitalists — are nowhere to be seen. Directed by Ron Howard, Hillbilly Elegy is a deeply unpleasant watch. Everyone professes that “family is the only thing that means a goddamn thing,” but they only seem to communicate by shouted insult. The cinematography is

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T H E L AS T W O R D B y Ke n n e t h N e i l l

The Last Thing You Do … The long and sad goodbye of Lamar Alexander. Senator, this is perhaps the third time I have written to you publicly in 2020, the final year of your third term as our state’s senior senator. Like many Tennesseans, I have always considered you an excellent representative of our state, and a dedicated public servant. Unfortunately, 2020 was not America’s greatest-ever year. Nor was it yours. I read with interest the interview you did last week with the Daily Memphian and paid close attention to your comments about Donald Trump, now the lame-duck president of these United States. This was the digital headline in the DM:

Alexander to Trump: ‘People remember the last thing you do’ That statement is certainly true, Senator, particularly when the “last thing you do” is particularly good or particularly bad. But did the thought not cross your mind that people might well remember the last things of consequence you have done as our outgoing senior senator? Many Tennesseans know exactly what’s happened during this, your last year in office. Many of us will always remember what you did and didn’t do in 2020. Indeed, last week’s Daily Memphian headline might just as well have read:

Lamar Alexander

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

How ironic, sir, that you will always be remembered for what you did and did not do in 2020, the year in which you announced your retirement. Ironic, in the sense that you first became our governor in the dying days of 1980, 40 years ago, when your predecessor, Ray Blanton, was removed early from that position, on account of his awarding pardons to all kinds of scoundrels. (Apparently, Donald Trump is now doing the same kind of thing, but that’s another story for another day.) I interviewed you in Nashville in 1981, a month or two after you took office. Clearly, you were a vast improvement over Blanton. How sad, then, after such a long and illustrious career in our state and in Washington, D.C., that you too will be remembered now for the last things you did, carrying water, time and time again, for Trump, all the while endorsing, aloud or in silence, the wretched policies of this worst president in our nation’s history. Last January, you helped make sure that the president, under impeachment, would not be convicted in the Senate, declining to bring John Bolton forward as a witness before the Senate Chamber. And for the next 10 months, after Trump’s acquittal, you said next to nothing about this de facto mob boss in the White House, who, in 2020 alone, came close to destroying our country, ignoring the coronavirus, all while time and again challenging America’s democratic institutions. As best I can tell, Senator, you said nothing whatsoever about Trump’s ongoing failure to deal with the pandemic. You said nothing at all about his absurd focus on golf, glitter, and Twitter. Perhaps, as chair of the Senate Health Committee, you suggested privately that Trump might meet more regularly with the Coronavirus Task Force, but if so, that suggestion was never made public. Month after month, you said and did nothing about this president’s penchant for fiddling while America burned, putting the country’s economy, its institutions, and its public-health systems through the ringer. Last week, when you spoke to the Daily Memphian, you gave Mr. Trump advice you apparently never had given to yourself. Why did you wait until November 23rd to make that headline observation, that Trump had screwed the pooch, when such an observation might have made a real difference six months ago? Don’t worry, many of us will always remember the last year of your last term as our senator. At least you’re retiring shortly. Perhaps you’ll have plenty of time to think about how different things could and should have been, had you used your final year in office to try to make America great again. Instead, you chose to be part of the problem, making no real attempt to be part of the solution. That’s a tragedy, for us all. Kenneth Neill is the founder and publisher emeritus of the Memphis Flyer.

THE LAST WORD

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Tennesseans to Alexander: ‘People remember the last thing you do’

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