MemphisFlyer 05/28/2026

Great INdoors

SHARA CLARK Editor-in-Chief

ALEX GREENE Managing Editor, Music Editor

BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN Senior Editor

TOBY SELLS Associate Editor

KAILYNN JOHNSON News Reporter

CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor

MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS Staff Writers

KIMBERLY HAM Calendar Editor, Copy Editor

JESSE DAVIS, EMILY GUENTHER, BUDDY JONES, COCO JUNE, AJ KRATZ, PATRICIA LOCKHART, FRANK MURTAUGH, WILLIAM SMYTHE Contributing Columnists

SHARON BROWN, AIMEE STIEGEMEYER Grizzlies Reporters

CARRIE BEASLEY Senior Art Director

CHRISTOPHER MYERS Advertising Art Director

NEIL WILLIAMS Graphic Designer

KELLI DEWITT, CHIP GOOGE, SHAUNE MCGHEE Senior Account Executives

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

KENNETH NEILL Founding Publisher

THE MEMPHIS FLYER is published weekly by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101 Phone: (901) 521-9000 Fax: (901) 521-0129 memphisflyer.com

CONTEMPORARY MEDIA, INC.

ANNA TRAVERSE Chief Executive Officer

LYNN SPARAGOWSKI Controller/Circulation Manager

JEFFREY GOLDBERG Chief Revenue Officer

MARGIE NEAL Chief Operating Officer

KRISTIN PAWLOWSKI Digital Services Director

The Great Indoors Summer heat is just a rumor as our staff seeks out the city’s coolest climate-controlled fun.

PHOTO: COURTESY MOSH

Book Lovers Gather

For Novel’s 3rd Annual Summer Stock-Up Book Fair for Grownups. p15

PHOTO: COURTESY NOVEL

Sailing the High Seas of Sound

The Memphis Concrète Experimental Electronic Music Festival casts a wide net. p16

PHOTO: COURTESY MEMPHIS CONCRÈTE

Thursday June 11, 2026 at 7:30 a.m. at Memphis Botanic Garden Hardin Hall 750 Cherry Road Memphis, TN 38117

Memphis is home to an incredible community of talented and inspiring executives. These exceptional leaders are setting new standards of success across industries.

Join us on Thursday, June 11, 2026, as we honor the following distinguished leaders:

• Kevin Sharp of Dixon Gallery & Gardens

• Lindsey D. Rhea of Alia Wealth Partners

• Matt Thompson of Memphis Zoo

FLY-BY - 4

LARGE - 8 COVER STORY “THE GREAT INDOORS” BY FLYER STAFF - 10 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT WE RECOMMEND - 15 MUSIC - 16 AFTER DARK - 17 CALENDAR - 18

NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 19 WE SAW YOU - 20 SPIRITS - 23 FOOD - 24

METAPHYSICAL CONNECTION - 25 NEWS OF THE WEIRD - 26 ASTROLOGY - 27 FILM - 28 NOW PLAYING - 29 CLASSIFIEDS - 30 LAST WORD - 31

• Osi Imomoh of Southland Casino

Tickets are available for purchase for $30 per person and include breakfast. Tables of 10 are available for $300. Doors open at 7:30 a.m., and the program will begin promptly at 8 a.m.

Purchase your tickets today at bit.ly/4vDlRAl

THE fly-by

MEM ernet

Memphis on the internet.

SCHOOLS DRAMA

MemphisShelby County Schools (MSCS) board member Towanna Murphy aired some grievances on Facebook last week.

“Half” of her fellow board members “harbor animosity towards me due to my stance on specific issues.” She’s “tired of shouldering the blame” for board actions while “they stand idly by.”

The board created its current situation by firing former superintendent Marie Feagins. Board chair Natalie McKinney “undermines the board’s decisions, leading to poor outcomes” and McKinney “often speaks as if she is the superintendent, which is not the case,” Murphy said.

CRACKERS

This section of the Kroger on Poplar and Cleveland was labeled “future home of crackers.” Reddit hilarity ensued.

CRYPT

POSTED TO

Two mausoleum crypts at Forest Hill Memorial Park East on Whitten were up for sale last week. After owner Benny Cummins offered a discount and waived some fees, the final cost was $9,600. You really can buy anything on Facebook Marketplace.

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

WEEK THAT WAS

By Flyer staff

Schools, Execution, & Redistricting

State takes over MSCS, state reprieves a killing, and lawsuits challenge new map.

SCHOOLS TAKEOVER

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee made official the state takeover of Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) last week and appointed five Memphians to the new oversight board.

They are: Tyrone Burroughs, First Choice Global; Dorsey Hopson, former superintendent of MSCS; Shanea McKinney, The Cigna Group; Nisha Powers, Powers Hill Design; and Beverly Robertson, Trust Marketing and Communications.

CARRUTHERS’ “BOTCHED” EXECUTION

Tony Von Carruthers got a oneyear reprieve from his execution Thursday after what critics are calling a “botched” execution.

Carruthers was convicted of killing three people in Shelby County in 1994. Court documents say he buried them alive at Rose Hill Cemetery, though the American Civil Liberties Union challenges the evidence.

Carruthers was being prepped for execution at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison in Nashville Thursday. But the execution ran into problems.

Here’s a statement from the Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC): “Medical personnel quickly established a primary IV line; however, the team was unable to immediately establish a backup line pursuant to the lethal injection execution protocol.

“The team continued to follow the protocol, but could not find another suitable vein. The team attempted to insert a central line pursuant to the protocol, but the procedure was unsuccessful. The execution was then called off.”

For this Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said, “I am granting Tony Von Carruthers a temporary reprieve from execution for one year.”

The ACLU cited legal witnesses who said Carruthers groaned in pain and that the execution was halted after nearly 90 minutes.

Death-penalty critics were quick to respond.

“Today’s botched execution attempt of Tony Carruthers is horrifying but not surprising,” said Rev. Stacy Rector, executive director of Tennesseans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (TADP). “TADP has sounded the alarm for years about the serious problems with lethal injection and urged our state toward greater transparency so these problems can be addressed.”

Laura Porter, executive director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty, said, “Tennessee has effectively made the case against the death penalty.”

REDISTRICTING LAWSUITS

A federal judge ordered a legal challenge to Tennessee’s redrawn congressional districts — brought by the ACLU on behalf of voters, clergy, and nonprofits in Memphis — be consolidated with two other challenges, at the request of the state attorneys defending the maps.

The lawsuit will now be merged with a legal challenge to newly drawn maps filed jointly by the NAACP Tennessee State Conference and the League of Women Voters of Tennessee; a separate legal challenge brought by Democratic congressional candidates and voters is also part of the nowconsolidated case moving forward.

Chief U.S. District Judge William Campbell Jr., a Trump appointee, has been assigned the consolidated case, which will ultimately be heard before a three-judge panel consisting of Campbell, another federal judge, and an appeals court judge. The two other judges have yet to be named.

Visit the News Blog at memphisflyer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.

Tennessee Lookout contributed to this report.

{CITY REPORTER

By Flyer Staff

25M Gallons of Water

Protect Our Aquifer finds xAI increasing water usage at Colossus 1.

XAI purchased more than 25 million gallons of water from Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) in March to power the Colossus 1 data center, according to a local advocacy group.

Protect Our Aquifer (POA) said the company has increased its water usage, now totaling 812,502 gallons pumped from the Memphis Sand Aquifer every day. The group expects that demand to be higher in summer months.

“If companies are making multibillion dollar commitments tied to xAI’s facility, then Memphis residents deserve transparency and public accountability,” POA said.

In April, Memphis Light, Gas and Water (MLGW) president and CEO Doug McGowen told Memphis City Council members that Elon Musk’s parent company was “committed” to building the wastewater treatment facility for its Memphis supercomputer.

ity” at the facility located at 3231 Paul R. Lowry Road.

“This matters for Memphis because it signals that xAI’s infrastructure footprint here is not slowing down — our land, power, and water are becoming even more financially significant,” POA said in a statement.

As a result of these findings, POA is asking residents to call on Memphis Mayor Paul Young and the Memphis City Council to hold SpaceX accountable and require them to hold a public hearing. POA is demanding answers on aquifer protections, future Colossus and AI expansions, the status of the delayed water reuse plant, and more.

Advocates are requesting xAI, MLGW, the city’s Public Work Division, the Shelby County Health Department, and the Groundwater Control Board be present at the public forum to address transparency concerns with community input.

This announcement followed promises to build a facility to cool its data center, though the company recently declared that it was “prioritizing … more immediate projects at the site” and would continue to use Memphis Sand Aquifer water instead.

McGowen told council members that the project cost went from $80 million to around $200 million.

POA also found that xAI pays $0.19 per 100 gallons of water from MLGW while regular customers pay $0.32.

POA also found that AI company Anthropic will pay xAI and SpaceX close to $1.25 billion per month to use Colossus 1 through 2029.

Through an SEC filing, the organization found that the company powering Claude AI will “lease computing capac-

POA, along with other environmental advocacy groups including Young, Gifted & Green, Sierra Club Chickasaw Group, and Memphis Community Against Pollution (MCAP), sent a letter to Young and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris to hold the hearing to “restore even a modicum of public trust in the city, county, and City Council’s dealings with xAI.”

“Decisions with generational impacts on our drinking water should not happen behind closed doors,” POA said. “Let’s work together to ensure accountability, transparency, and a future that protects and prioritizes our community, the Memphis Sand Aquifer, and all who rely on it.”

PHOTO: SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER xAI’s demand for water is expected to be higher this summer.

American Mystery

It’s time for another U-turn.

It was the last week of June, 2015, and I was en route to visit my son in New York City. The TVs in the Atlanta airport were still broadcasting details of the horrible event that occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, a few days earlier, when a racist teenager named Dylann Roof walked into Emanuel AME Church with a Glock and murdered nine Black parishioners.

A Memphis Light, Gas and Water alternative to traditional monthly billing, allowing you to purchase utilities in advance and monitor your usage in real time.

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After a couple days in the city, Andrew and I decided to drive out to Montauk and get some sea air. On our first night there, we went to watch an indie film being screened in a local park. It was a warm evening and people were sitting on blankets and folding chairs in the dark, chatting, staring at their phones, waiting for the movie to begin.

I was scrolling idly, when a tweet with a video of President Obama caught my attention. It was the moment when the president broke into “Amazing Grace” at the funeral of Rev. Clementa Pinckney in Charleston. He began singing alone, then a few others joined, and then the sound swelled like a great wave, as everyone in the building lifted their voices as one. As I watched my little screen, I felt tears on my face. The president of the United States had somehow tapped into the unspeakable pain of that moment and transformed it into hope and love, into catharsis. I will never forget it.

Whenever I think about that night — and I still do — I’m struck anew by one of the great mysteries of my lifetime: How the American people could elect a leader with the spirit and decency of Barack Obama — a Black man, to boot — and just four short years later put a lying, self-absorbed, racist clown like Donald Trump into that same office.

problems with us [sic]. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists. They’re not sending their best.”

Trump started his campaign with racist grievances and has been escalating them ever since. The fact that we now have masked ICE and Border Patrol agents seizing brown people off American streets without warrants is not an accident. It was the plan from Day One. And now there’s so much more: We are flooded daily with new grievances, new grifts, new monuments to the president’s unquenchable ego: federal buildings, airports, a ballroom, a giant arch, a golden statue, bills, coins, passports — all festooned with the name and image of this vain, stupid man. The latest thievery? Almost $2 billion in “reparations” to be paid to the mob of violent, ignorant dupes who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021, on orders from this president.

Under Trump’s impulsive “leadership,” we’ve started pointless wars, seized foreign leaders and removed them from office, murdered dozens of people in small boats in international waters without bothering to prove they are guilty of anything. We are a rogue nation, distrusted by our allies and mocked as fools by our competitors. We are led by a man in obvious mental decline, propped up by a cabinet of toadies, tycoons, and TV hosts.

It’s almost as though the American zeitgeist did a complete and inexplicable U-turn, and it happened in a heartbeat. Just 10 days before Obama led that congregation in song, the man who would become his successor rode an escalator to the basement of Trump Tower and announced his candidacy. Tellingly, his very first words were a lie: “Wow, wow,” he said. “That is some group of people. Thousands!”

There were approximately 200 people there, and campaign aides later revealed that many had been paid $50 each by a casting agency to show up and be enthusiastic. Trump went off on one of his now-familiar unscripted rambles, concluding by saying of Mexico: “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those

I keep going back to that funeral in Charleston. Can you imagine this president offering heartfelt comfort to a congregation riddled by violence, or to the families of those who died, or to anyone in pain, for that matter? We don’t have to imagine it. Trump provides evidence every time he speaks to an audience that he is incapable of talking about anything but himself for more than a few minutes at a time. It’s beyond appalling. Our democracy is careening down a dead-end street and it’s long past time for another U-turn.

The Great INdoors e G t door

We at the Flyer have considered all the outdoors options for summer fun. We’ve jumped in the pools, kayaked the rivers, and taken those early morning walks in shady Overton Park. Sure, all of that was great, but what we really wanted was some honest-to-god air conditioning. So we fanned out over the city in search of those spaces where not even a whisper of the heat could be heard. Spaces where, when entering them, you feel like you’re diving into the coolest pool on earth, immersed in a frigid world all its own, even while staying completely dry. And, we learned, there are plenty of places to do just that, even as you learn a thing or two about golf, crafts, books, movies, and outer space. Come with us, then, as we journey into the heart of the great (and very chill) indoors.

→Birdie’s

Don’t sweat your golf game — just take it indoors.

Sweat rolls into your eyes as you focus on not hitting your ball into Poplar on hole seven at Overton Park 9. Your weather app shows a 110-degree “feels like” temperature with 100 percent humidity. You can just hear the infomercial guy saying,

“there’s got to be a better way!”

Now there is. Memphis golf has moved into The Great Indoors.

If you don’t play golf, you may not be aware of the meteoric rise of golf simulators. But if you’ve walked the new concourse at Memphis International Airport, you’ve probably seen one. You’ve probably also seen new golf places pop up in your favorite shopping center.

There’s HighTee in Laurelwood. Or GOLFTEC on Poplar, close to I-240. Or Birdie’s on South Main. Or maybe you’ve caught a television snippet of people playing golf in an arena — TGL Golf — and that’s a golf simulator, a big one.

Golf simulators bring the game

indoors. You swing indoors with your own clubs, just like you do on the course. You hit a real ball but you hit it into a giant hanging screen. Onto that screen, computers project a virtual golf course. Computers also measure the speed and angle that you hit the ball. So, right after the ball gives a satisfying thwack into the screen, it shows you — kind of like a video game — where your ball goes on the virtual golf course.

If you are a golfer, you’ve probably played on a golf simulator by now. (I chunked a ball at HighTee and put a hole in the ceiling. I am still so sorry,

y’all.) If you golf, you’ve already seen simulators take over the golf YouTube landscape with lessons, how-tos, and simulator build videos. In short, they are everywhere.

When Birdie’s opened on South Main in 2023, Top Golf and Let It Fly already had simulators in the area. But Birdie’s was the first Memphis brand. Owner Bryan Duffel said he and his team built the bar from the ground up “for the neighborhood, for Memphis.”

Birdie’s is a destination bar for any Memphis golfer. Full bar. Great food. (See the pimento cheese sandwich called Magnolia Lane.) Multiple televisions. Golf touches everywhere. Not to mention the bar’s three huge, dark simulator bays in the back. That’s where Memphis golfers beat that heat.

“It’s always 72 degrees and sunny in here,” Duffel said on a recent tour. “It’s never rained in here.”

Also, at Birdie’s you can play anywhere you want. Pebble Beach? Done. Torrey Pines? OK. Aronimink? You bet, pal. Duffel said Birdie’s has about 2,000 courses to play. You can play them from the tips, or you can play every hole as a Par 3, and all degrees in between.

An hour in the Birdie’s simulator is $40, same as HighTee. Birdie’s has memberships, summer and winter leagues, tournaments, and more. It’s also 21 and up.

“Our bar space really kind of caters to the people that live here in the neighborhood,” Duffel said. “For safety reasons, we don’t want little kids

running around in here with people swinging clubs and that sort of thing. It just makes for kind of a fun date night, a place for adults. That is one thing that kind of makes us a little bit different than everywhere else.” — Toby Sells

Classes and Workshops Galore

I love a good craft. One of my favorite parts of summer as a child was the free time I’d have to “focus on art.” I’d fawn over the fan art section of M Magazine and try my hand at portraits of Miley Cyrus and Avril Lavigne, filling our house with countless sketchbooks. I’m incredibly grateful that my parents and grandma embraced and encouraged my artistic side ever since I was a child. Though this manifested with tons of bracelet making kits and endless packs of Crayola Supertips, it also meant signing me up for any and every art class during the summer. Thanks to my local 4-H in Clarksdale, I learned the art of interior design, sewing basics, and how to knit a scarf (or a square that aspired to be a scarf!).

When I moved in the seventh grade, I became a fervent student of YouTube, which in turn enrolled me as a perpetual student of TikTok University. Though I’ve picked up many crafts and skills like making my own press-on nails via the internet, there’s nothing quite like an in-person class.

Not only does it foster community and satisfy nostalgia, but there are just some things I can’t master with a video, even at half speed, like using a sewing machine. I can fix a hole or two in leggings with a needle and thread,

“A library is living. It’s breathing. And it serves. That’s what we do. We serve the public. We serve whoever needs it.”

but that’s about it. This summer I hope to break out my grandma’s old sewing machine and learn a few machine basics through an in-person class. My main goal is to learn how to take a few inches off the legs of my jeans, and upcycle a few of my graphic tees. I’d also like to learn how to crochet!

There are a few adult-friendly sewing classes in the area that I’m looking to attend. The Cordova Library hosts a Sewing Basics-Learn to Sew class, while the Cherokee Library hosts a Cherokee Sewing Club as well. The local Memphis designer, Samilia Pelshak, also offers an Alteration Academy, group sewing workshops, and private sewing lessons both in-person and online. Tapping more into my DIY side, I’d also like to make my own perfume at The Olfaction Lab at the Wolfchase Galleria Mall.

I hope to not limit my in-person classes to arts and crafts though. For the past few years fitness has become a huge part of my life. Though I work out with my trainer weekly and go to my local Planet Fitness, I haven’t tried a new fitness class in a minute. In 2024, my best friend and I went to Novel for a Gilmore Girls-themed ballet/barre class and I had a really fun time. While I can’t go to Miss Patty’s School of Ballet, I can take classes at Pure Barre. It’s one of those things that I always say I’ll make time for, but I haven’t gotten around to. So I’m pushing myself to book the class and actually go, leaving this as a paper trail for accountability!

— Kailynn Johnson

the lost history of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, featuring some truly incredible musical performances. Then on Friday, the much-anticipated debut of Backrooms, the A24 horror film by Kane Parsons based on the 21st century equivalent of a folk tale, message board creepypasta.

Stay Cool at the Movies

Movies and air conditioning were both developed around the turn of the twentieth century, and movie theaters were some of the first public spaces to be equipped with AC.

“Come in and cool down” has long been a winning pitch for theater owners. It’s one of the reasons summer has long been known as blockbuster season, when studios roll out their biggest entertainments of the year.

Star Wars helped define the summer blockbuster when it became an unexpected hit upon release on Memorial Day weekend in 1977. So it’s appropriate that the summer movie season officially kicked off last weekend with the franchise’s first theatrical release in seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu. Based on the hit Disney+ series and helmed by Iron Man director John Favreau, the film stars Pedro Pascal as bounty hunter Din Djarin and Sigourney Weaver stars as New Republic officer Ward.

If you’re looking for something a little more heady, try Boots Riley’s surrealist shoplifting comedy I Love Boosters, starring the great Keke Palmer.

On May 28th, get yourself to Crosstown Theater to see 2022 Best Documentary Oscar winner Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), in which drummer supreme Questlove uncovers

The first weekend in June, you can choose between a new Masters of the Universe movie, if you want to see that for some reason, or Carolina Caroline, an erotic thriller starring Samara Weaving which earned raves after its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. June 12th looks like a marquee weekend, offering both Steven Spielberg’s UFO epic, Disclosure Day, and Stop! That! Train!, an over-the-top disaster movie parody starring RuPaul and a who’s who of drag performers. And if you can’t get enough Spielberg, The Orpheum’s summer film series is screening Close Encounters of the Third Kind that weekend and Jaws the next weekend. Meanwhile, Pixar’s Toy Story 5 reunites Tom Hanks and Tim Allen as everyone’s favorite sentient toys, and Hugh Jackman stars in The Death of Robin Hood June 26th is absolutely stacked with 10 new releases, led by Warner Bros. Supergirl and Paramount’s Jackass: Best and Last. The sleeper that weekend is Olivia Wilde’s first directorial effort in four years, The Invite, a comedy starring Wilde, Seth Rogen, Edward Norton, and Penelope Cruz which sparked a bidding war when it premiered at Sundance last January.

By contrast, the July 4th weekend looks pretty slack: Minions & Monsters, the seventh installment in the franchise

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2026 Fashion Design Camp

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that refused to die, will torture parents worldwide. July 10th brings us the liveaction Moana starring Dwayne Johnson’s wig, and Evil Dead Burn, which seems like it could be either really good or really awful. Christopher Nolan has July 17th to himself with The Odyssey. I find Nolan to be an uneven filmmaker, but Greek myth seems like a good fit for him. July winds up with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, with IRL married couple Tom Holland and Zendaya as Peter Parker and MJ.

Looking ahead to August, when you’re sure to want some of that sweet AC action, the most exciting thing on the marquee is Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma by Jane Schoenbrun, a slasher movie riff starring Gillian Anderson, whose festival run earned boffo word of mouth. On August 29th, Coyote vs. Acme, the animated/live action hybrid that Warner Bros. tried to kill, rises from the grave to bring big laughs.

— Chris McCoy

Library Luxury

I remember those lazy summer days when our mom would take us to the old Highland branch of the Memphis Public Library. It was a place like no other. I can still remember the color scheme — blue and tan, I believe. And I can still smell the books. They smelled like, well, a library book. We left with armfuls.

I confess I haven’t been to the library much over the years. I used to go all the time to get the librarian to search the stacks (does anybody use that word anymore?) for esoteric books by some long-ago author I’d just discovered.

When we were talking about indoor places to go during the year’s hottest months, I thought of the Memphis Public Library. They have air-conditioning. You can stay there for hours and hours. And you don’t have to pay for a latte or a Quarter Pounder to keep your seat.

In fact, you can stay as long as the library is open, says Memphis Public Library director Dr. Eric Harris. “You’re welcome to sit and spend the day,” he says.

Most of the 19 branches are open from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Some

branches are open until 8 p.m., and all branches except one are open six days a week. The Central Library, aka the Benjamin L. Hooks branch, is even open on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m.

“Every branch has free Wi-Fi. You’re welcome to use that as well,” says Harris. “There’s also a computer if you don’t have your own computer device.”

I ask Harris what he would tell somebody who hasn’t been to a Memphis Public Library in years. “It’s not your father’s or your mother’s library,” he says. “We’re not just about books and quiet studiers. It’s about community involvement.” The library offers something for all ages. “Honestly, we are an entity that can serve people from birth to the day before death.”

Kids, teenagers, and young adults come through the doors. “You have parents bring in what my grandmother would call ‘arm babies.’ All the way up to seniors.”

Library branches offer many free events, including the upcoming MPL Comic Con on May 30th at the Raleigh branch. There will be a lot of adult participation at the event, which will include graphic artists and vendors, Harris says.

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There are cooking classes at the Frayser and Raleigh branches. “You can learn how to make various dishes,” says Harris. And the Cossitt Library downtown features a podcast program that not only teaches people how to podcast, but also the business of podcasting. Branches offer arts and crafts, book clubs, computer production and design classes — and soft chairs for people who just want to flip through magazines. All for free. Go to memphislibrary.org for more information.

The Memphis Public Library

is “a lot more organic,” Harris says. “A library is living. It’s breathing. And it serves. That’s what we do. We serve the public. We serve whoever needs it.” And did I mention there’s air conditioning? — Michael Donahue

Journey to the Stars

Outer space is very, very cold, and that’s just how I like it. When I hear that temps in interstellar regions approach absolute zero, I assume that’s referring to chilling vodka in the icebox. So it’s fitting that,

as I step into the Memphis Museum of Science and History (MOSH), aka The Pink Palace Museum and Planetarium, on my way to their AutoZone Dome at the Sharpe Planetarium, I first savor the impeccably air-conditioned ambience. Leaving behind the stickiness of a Memphis summer day, I quickly relax into the inviting coolness, even more so once I enter the planetarium itself. It’s no wonder that MOSH has begun hosting bands there in their Laser Live series (with Lukah opening the season on July 11th). Or that the reliably fun laser shows set to classic albums continue to draw crowds.

It makes sense: the seats are angled back and extra cushiony, the acoustics are hushed, and the walls are round. They could host yoga or meditation classes in there, given the room’s mood of serenity. Yet there’s a different sort of meditation in store for me when that day’s planetarium show actually begins. Under the dome, one is led to contemplate the vastness of the cosmos, the smallness of humanity, and, as the presentation Dark Side of Light makes clear, humanity’s hubris. Even before the show begins, when we’re asked to turn off our cell phones — because their screens would contradict the whole point of planetariums in the first place — we get a hint of how humanity’s illumination has made its impact. That’s even more apparent when we’re dwarfed by a projection of Earth’s dark side as seen from space: our species has filled most of the land mass with 24-hour light. And thus are all organisms’ biological rhythms of day and night disrupted, even as artificial light disrupts our view of the night sky’s grandeur.

Humans, the narrator says, have largely forgotten what it’s like to see the belt of the Milky Way (the glowing center of our own galaxy) stretching from horizon to horizon. Indeed, city dwellers may never “remember” what that looks like until they visit a planetarium, which can simulate a perfect moonless night in the country, or even time-travel to reveal the darkness of a world before electricity.

The constellation Boötes is a giant ice cream cone in the sky.

Dark Side of Light completes its run by press time (returning again in the future), but there’s always the upcoming Mars: The Ultimate Voyage Each presentation also includes a “star talk,” a walk through current highlights of the night sky over Memphis, like Jupiter dancing with Castor and Pollux, or how to find the constellation Boötes, which you can pronounce any way you like, but really looks like a giant ice cream cone in the sky. Mmm, ice cream at absolute zero … now that’s a fun summer escape!

— Alex Greene

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Where Memphis Book Lovers Gather

This Spring

By Kimberly Ham

Book lovers looking to refresh their shelves — and maybe discover a few hidden gems along the way — will want to mark their calendars for Novel’s 3rd Annual Summer StockUp Book Fair for Grownups. Equal parts literary celebration and community gathering, the morning and a ernoon event has quickly become one of the city’s most anticipated summer happenings for readers.

“It started because of the overwhelming nostalgia we were seeing around the old Memphis bookstores of the past,” says Kat Leache, social media and promotions manager at Novel. “People really missed the feeling of browsing tables of books and discovering things together.” at sense of discovery is at the heart of the Stock-Up Book Fair. Inspired by classic school book fairs and expanded through Novel’s partnership with local businesses and artisans, the event blends curated book displays with food, drinks, and themed vendors. is year’s fair includes browsing sessions staggered by ticket time (10 a.m., 2 p.m., or 3 p.m.) to keep the experience relaxed and interactive.

Guests attending the morning session will receive co ee from Belltower Co ee, a scone from Muddy’s Bake Shop, and a 10 percent discount coupon. A ernoon ticket holders can enjoy cocktails or mocktails from Donelson Bartending, plus a custom tote bag and the same storewide discount. roughout the event, local baked goods and jams vendor O’Regan Creations will o er popup snacks for guests while they peruse the Book Fair and the store for all their bookish wants and needs.

Leache says the event has evolved signi cantly since its debut in 2024. What began as a modest setup with folding tables has grown into a large-scale immersive experience with expanded vendor participation and a stronger focus on creating a welcoming atmosphere for longtime readers and newcomers alike.

“ e best part is watching people spend hours here just talking about books,” Leache says. “You can tell they’re genuinely excited to slow down and explore.”

For Memphis readers, the Summer Stock-Up Book Fair o ers more than a shopping trip — it’s a celebration of the city’s literary community and the enduring joy of getting lost in a good bookstore.

3RD ANNUAL SUMMER STOCK-UP BOOK FAIR FOR GROWNUPS, NOVEL, 387 PERKINS EXTD., SUNDAY,

VARIOUS DAYS & TIMES May 28th - June 3rd

Stars on Ice

Landers Center, Sunday, May 31, 4 p.m.

Fresh o record-breaking performances at the World Championships and on the road to Olympic glory, the 2026 Stars on Ice tour glides into Southaven with a lineup of America’s top skating talent. Headlined by Ilia Malinin, the “Quad God,” alongside Olympic gold medalist Alysa Liu and Olympic Team Gold Medalists Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the tour also features National Champions Isabeau Levito, Amber Glenn, Jason Brown, and others in a high-energy showcase celebrating the sport’s biggest stars.

Dragon Boat Festival

Shelby Farms Park, Saturday, May 30, 8 a.m.-3 p.m.

is annual fundraising event is

hosted by the Memphis Chinese Community Center, a nonpro t dedicated to promoting cultural heritage, cultural exchange, and community connection. is festival brings together dragon boat racing, dance performances, live music, and a wide variety of food vendors for a lively celebration that draws participants and spectators from across the region.

Memphis Voices: Our Stories, Our City

Cossitt Library, Saturday, May 30, 2-4 p.m.

is monthly, in-person storytelling series invites Memphians to gather, share, and record authentic local stories centered around a theme.

e events function both as a community storytelling experience and a live recording opportunity, with select stories later curated for an

upcoming Memphis-based podcast dedicated to preserving the city’s voices and lived experiences. e series is rooted in the idea of “Memphis telling Memphis.”

Picnic for Pachyderms

Memphis Zoo, Saturday, May 30, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

Enjoy a delicious lunch and upclose animal encounters, making for a memorable outing whether you’re planning a family day or a gettogether with friends. is popular must-do event supports conservation e orts, with proceeds bene ting Elephants for Africa, a Botswana-based organization dedicated to protecting the endangered African elephant through research and education. Tickets are $60 for members and $75 for non-members, and the event is open to all ages. It is wheelchair accessible.

MUSIC By Alex Greene

Sailing the High Seas of Sound

The Memphis Concrète Experimental Electronic Music Festival casts a wide net.

tarting your own festival is no small feat, especially one dedicated to what some consider “difficult” music. Yet organizer Robert Traxler, whose occupation as a software developer pales before his preoccupation with modular synthesizers, knows that for every audience member at this week’s Memphis Concrète Experimental Electronic Music Festival who may squirm at the unorthodox sounds, there will be half a dozen more who listen with considered, open-minded attention. And, truth be told, the festival has quite a spectrum of music on hand. Indeed, the terms “experimental” and “electronic” cut such a wide swath of musical real estate that Memphis Concrète may in fact be the city’s most eclectic festival of all, offering everything from sheer sound sculpture experiences to slapping dance grooves — and all points in between.

“I approach experimental music from the most loosely defined description,” says Traxler. “I don’t want to be, like, ‘Oh, this is what’s experimental,’ you know. It’s a small community, so I just want to get as many people from Memphis involved as possible. By virtue of that, all kinds of different stuff falls under the umbrella of experimental.”

And some of it even falls outside the umbrella of “Memphis.” To get a sense of what to look for in this year’s

sixth iteration of the festival, Traxler led me through the highlights of what to expect this Saturday, May 30th, and Sunday, May 31st in The Green Room at Crosstown Arts. Visit memphisconcretemusic.com for details.

Slow Slow Loris

“They are this year’s international component,” Traxler says. “They’re from Germany, and on tour now. We did a show with them last year, and they’re really, really incredible. They’re a duo, industrial sounding, but in a slow, atmospheric, kind of dense way. Not like heavy-beat industrial; a lot of melodic vocals, but processed in all kinds of crazy ways. They have this really dense sound. I’m excited that they’re coming back.”

Emery Miles

Aside from the above German players, Miles is the farthest-flung artist, coming from Louisville, Kentucky. “I went up [to Louisville] to play another festival, in this place called Wolf Vine Chapel. It’s an old church that’s now used as a performance space, and Emery Miles was also playing, and her performance blew me away,” says Traxler. “She mostly played saxophone, and maybe flute (it’s been a while), run through a Max/MSP for sound processing. So, a kind of abstract sound manipulation.”

Eve Maret

This Nashville-based artist’s bio reads, in part: “Drawing inspiration from 19thcentury orchestral and choral works, the Fluxus movement, Kosmische Musik, and funk, Eve makes use of digital and modular synthesizers, a vocoder, clarinet, electric bass, guitar, and field recordings to create works that range from lush cinematic compositions to space disco.” And Maret is no stranger to Memphis Concrète, as Traxler explains, “She did our virtual festival [in 2021], and at that time she did kind of this ambient synth set, but I think her main work is kind of pop music-based dance, but experimentally minded.” He rates her as one of the festival’s more dance-friendly acts.

Cel Shade

PHOTO (LEFT): SLOW SLOW LORIS | FACEBOOK Slow Slow Loris

PHOTO (TOP RIGHT): COURTESY MEMPHIS

CONCRÈTE Eve Maret

PHOTO (CIRCLE): COURTESY MEMPHIS

CONCRÈTE Shake Machine Down

Shake Machine Down

This Memphian describes himself as a “local Earthling using noises available to him to help people connect to the ancient art of dance.” Traxler agrees: “He’s dancey, but with a lot of crazy sounds going on.”

“Cel Shade takes a lot of stuff and puts them in an insane blender,” Traxler notes of the Memphis artist, “using vaporwave, video game music, glitch things. They can go from ambient to just crazy beats. A lot of their stuff’s instrumental, but sometimes they’ll get on the mic and do some screaming, distorted, aggressive vocals. You’re kind of like, what direction is Cel Shade gonna go in this time? And you know, I never have any idea.”

Artificer

“Artificer is drone, or ambient, with meticulously crafted textures,” says Traxler, adding, “Really very deep and purposeful sound sculpture, if that makes sense. They’re Memphians, though the last time they played Memphis Concrète was 2019. We’re talking about modular synths and stuff, and they do a lot with tape, and some little synthesizer drone boxes. It’s pretty hard to describe how immersive and intense their stuff is.”

Tangela

Another artist Traxler rates among the festival’s most dance-friendly, this Memphian is a veteran of the scene. “She’s been making music for a while,” says Traxler. “She also does a lot of engineering and live sound. That’s actually how we met, because she did sound for Memphis Concrète last year, and she was like, ‘Hey, I want to play next year.’ She’s really awesome.” Traxler isn’t alone in that opinion. Her bio notes that “she honed her skills as a singer, writer, and performer at Stax Music Academy,” then “earned a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where she received a Professional Music Degree with concentrations in vocal performance and electronic production. After graduating in 2019, she returned to Memphis in hopes of rediscovering who she was, what she wanted to create, and how she was meant to wield her artistry.”

AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule May 28 - June 3

Wendell Wells

Sunday, May 31, 9 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

Rock the Boat and DJ

A.D.

ursday, May 28, 6 p.m.

THE PEABODY ROOFTOP

Keer and Reese

Sunday, May 31, 6 p.m.

ARRIVE MEMPHIS

The Pretty Boys

Sunday, May 31, 3 p.m.

HUEY’S DOWNTOWN

Acoustics In The Park

Worship music in a natural

setting. Friday, May 29, 5 p.m.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

Debbie Jamison Band

Tuesday, Jun. 2, 6 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

Elmo & the Shades

Wednesday, Jun. 3, 7 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

John Williams & the A440 Band

ursday, May 28, 8 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

Strings in Full Bloom

Violin by Renecia Michelle.

Saturday, May 30, 10 a.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

The Settlers

Sunday, May 31, 3 p.m.

HUEY’S EAST

Angela Burton Acoustic

ursday, May 28, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Deborah Swiney Duo

ursday, May 28, 6 p.m.

THE COVE

Devil Train

ursday, May 28, 10 p.m. B-SIDE

Orion Financial Free Concert Series: Eddie 9V Blues mixed with vintage soul, funk, and alt-folk in uences.

ursday, May 28, 7:30 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

Cut Chemist By Candlelight

Friday, May 29, 7:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB

The Committee Explores the Music of Horace Silver

Celebrating the pianist/composer who helped de ne the soulful sound of hard bop.

Friday, May 29, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Grawdad Sniper With Nimbo, Gill_Yum, e Depths. Friday, May 29, 8 p.m.

GROWLERS

Orion Financial Free Concert Series: Billy Allen & The Pollies

A hybrid of classic Southern rock, soul, grunge, and funk.

Friday, May 29, 7:30 p.m.

OVERTON PARK SHELL

Starlito

Friday, May 29, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Thin Lear & runi salem

Friday, May 29, 8 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

Tilt

Friday, May 29, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Zynifest 2026

Bringing sludge from the roots of Memphis to your ears. Friday, May 29, 7 p.m.

THE HI-TONE CAFE

Arc of Quasar

With Supreme Imperial, Turnstyles. Saturday, May 30, 9:30 p.m.

B-SIDE

Bingo Loco

Saturday, May 30, 7 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Drfelix & The Afrosoul

Band

Drfelix is back with another epic Afrobeat and highlife music night. Saturday, May 30, 6:30 p.m.

B-SIDE

Memphis Concrète

An experimental electronic music festival presenting

local and national artists who defy expectations since 2017. Saturday, May 30, 4-10 p.m. |

Sunday, May 31, 4-10 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Elevation Memphis (Tina Turner Tribute)

Sunday, May 31, 5 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Jazz Jam with the Cove Quartet

Sunday, May 31, 6 p.m.

THE COVE

Rev Down Trio

Sunday, May 31, 6 p.m.

THE HI-TONE CAFE

PHOTO: COURTESY MIKE KERR

Strings in Full Bloom at the Memphis Botanic Garden

Wyly Bigger

Blues and rock and roll piano. Sunday, May 31, 3 p.m.

HUEY’S MIDTOWN

Shadowgrass

Americana and bluegrass. Wednesday, Jun. 3, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Daikaiju

Wednesday, Jun. 3, 9 p.m.

GROWLERS

Jason D. Williams

Bringing a full-throttle mix of honky-tonk country and Memphis rock ‘n’ roll. Friday, May 29, 8 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

October London, Lalah Hathaway, and Eric Benet

A special concert event celebrating love, soul, and timeless music. Saturday, May 30, 8 p.m.

LANDERS CENTER

Spaceman’s Dead Friends (Grateful Dead Tribute)

Saturday, May 30, 8 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Concerts in The Grove: Bailey Bigger

A local Americana hero. ursday, May 28, 6:30 p.m.

THE GROVE AT GPAC

Jazz in the Box: Denise Thimes Trio

Vocals from velvety to scat.

Friday, May 29, 7 p.m.

GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Zazerak Soul Jazz Trio

Saturday, May 30, 7:30 p.m.

MAEVE’S TAVERN

CALENDAR of EVENTS: May 28 - June 3, 2026

ARTS AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS

Bill Killebrew: “The Four O’Clocks”

ese pieces pull scenes from his everyday life, dinner parties, errands, a lobster boil with friends, and then create a world for the viewer, blending contemplative observation with heightened reality. rough May 30.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

“Blues Power!

Celebrating the Legacy of Albert King”

A limited-time photo exhibit honoring one of the most inuential voices in blues history. rough August 6.

STAX MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SOUL MUSIC

Dorothy Gunther Pugh:

“Nature Yearns”

ese contemplative drawings and watercolors of closely observed trees and their twisted branches, fallen limbs, and rotting stumps covered in lichen, may come as a surprise to many Memphians. Free. rough June 7.

DIXON GALLERY AND GARDENS

“Feels like earth but not”

Paintings by Elizabeth Alley, which examine her connection to vulnerable landscapes and their precarious position in terms of climate change and government control. rough June 13.

SHAPESHIFTER GALLERY

“Introvert navigates an extrovert world”

is collection of Heather Parker Jones’ recent works includes both paintings and prose inspired by her travels and her experiences around travel. rough May 28.

WKNO DIGITAL MEDIA CENTER

Mary Sims: “A Retrospective” e rst museum survey of Sims’ extraordinary career, will be something of a revelation even to those who knew the artist and her work. Free. rough June 7.

DIXON GALLERY AND GARDENS

Meghean Warner Art Exhibition

e artist is inspired by Memphis, God’s glorious creation, and the wonderful people in the city. rough May 30.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

“Memphis College of Art, 1936-2020: An Enduring Legacy”

An exhibition of work by 90 former faculty, administrators, and graduates, this show reects on the school’s historical impact. rough Sept. 30.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM

“The Mystery of Cave Island”

Los Angeles-based artist

Eileen Havant Townsend pres-

Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.

DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENTS LISTING, VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.

ents eight dioramas of rocky landscapes alongside graphite drawings. rough June 20.

TOPS GALLERY

Shelby East Garden Club: “Garden Beds & Community Roots” is show highlights the enduring connection between nature and community, showcasing archival photographs and personal stories that reect decades of environmental stewardship and oral artistry. rough July 3.

TOWN OF COLLIERVILLE MORTON MUSEUM

Summer Art Garden: “Wax Print Wonderland”

Samilia Pelshak presents an enchanting installation of her vibrant African wax print designs. rough Sept. 27.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM

“Of This Moment” Drawings and watercolors by Jeanne Seagle. Paintings by Annabelle Meacham. rough June 9. THE MEDICINE FACTORY

Kaleidoscope: Artists’

Link Art Show

An annual judges exhibit in the Memphis Botanic Garden’s Visitor Center and Grand Hallway galleries. Free. rough June 30.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

“The Sisters of the Brush and a Brother” e Sisters of the Brush —

Phyllis Boger, Barrie Skoda Foster, Jana Jones, and Ann Brown omason — and “brother” Patrick McGee bonded over their love of painting and formed a collective that is truly unique. Free. rough June 25.

WKNO DIGITAL MEDIA CENTER

PHOTO: COURTESY DIXON GALLERY AND GARDENS

A thrilling evening of mystery and intrigue at the Secrets in the Garden event.

ART HAPPENINGS

Exhibiting Artist Talk

Working across painting, drawing, animation, installation, and multimedia, these artists explore identity, perception, and the complex relationships between human and non-human worlds.

ursday, May 28, 6 p.m.

CROSSTOWN ARTS GALLERIES

Opening Reception:

“Of This Moment”

Opening reception for art show of works by Jeanne Seagle and Annabelle Meacham. Sunday, May 31, 5 p.m. THE MEDICINE FACTORY

BOOK EVENTS

3rd Annual Summer Stock-Up Book Fair for Grownups

With curated displays for you to browse and expert booksellers on hand to make

individualized recommendations for your summer reading list. e best part? You’ll get 10 percent o everything in the store as long as you want to shop. $15. Sunday, May 31, 10 a.m. | Sunday, May 31, 2 p.m. | Sunday, May 31, 3 p.m. NOVEL

Club de lectura

(Spanish Book Club)

Este club de lectura del Dixon les invita a compartir sus experiencias de lectura en español a través del título seleccionado del mes: Relato de un náufrago, por Gabriel García Márquez. Tuesday, June 2, 6 p.m. DIXON GALLERY AND GARDENS

Jason Crawford wtih Joy Moore & Fr. Wes Gristy: God’s Fools Stories of modern comedians, from the pioneers of early cinema to the provocateurs

PHOTO: COURTESY CROSSTOWN ARTS

Crosstown Arts Film Series presents e Summer of Soul in collaboration with Memphis Listening Lab.

operator of Ghost River Rentals, Harry will share details about the bio-diversity and wonder of the Wolf River and the surrounding area. Friday, May 29, 5:30 p.m.

GRIND CITY BREWING CO.

Museum Muses: Tea Time Cards

Guests will experiment with di erent techniques to cra unique stationery, perfect for a thoughtful note or a small work of art to share. Friday, May 29, 12:30 p.m.

TOWN OF COLLIERVILLE MORTON MUSEUM

Plant Parties

Create your own Teacup Treasure in this charming succulent workshop. Choose a teacup and saucer set and plant it with a selection of succulents to make a one-ofa-kind display. Friday, May 29, 6 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Flame and Flow:

Healing with Solar Goddess Alchemy

of contemporary stand-up. ursday, May 28, 6 p.m. NOVEL

COMMUNITY

Whet ThursdaysMemphis in May on the Bluff

Whet ursdays are free monthly events on the last ursday of the month, where you can enjoy free admission to the museum, live entertainment, hands-on activities, metal-smithing demos, and cra cocktails on the beautiful riverside blu grounds. Friday, May 29, 5 p.m.

METAL MUSEUM

Memphis Voices: Our Stories, Our City is series invites the public to gather, share, and record authentic Memphis stories consisting of personal memories, cultural moments, family legacies, neighborhood history, triumphs, and turning points. Saturday, May 30, 2 p.m.

COSSITT LIBRARY

Spring Social Picnic

Celebrate the end of Spring with all of the wonderful women in Memphis. Come picnic in the park. $32.93. Saturday, May 30, 11 a.m.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

CLASS/WORKSHOP

Country Swing Dance Lessons

It’s never too late to start and a partner is not required to join the class. Friday, May 29, 7:30 p.m.

WHISKEY JILL’S

Drink a Beer, Save a River with Habitat

Harry

A passionate freelance naturalist and former co-owner/

Join Rev. Emily for a dynamic, elemental-based workshop exploring the transformative power of re and water. $13.73. Saturday, May 30, 2 p.m. THE BROOM CLOSET

COMEDY

Jeremy Hellwig and Milly McDermott

Headline Flyway

Comedy Club

Showcasing the funniest touring and local underground comedians the last Saturday of every month. is month, St. Louis-based comics Jeremy Hellwig and Milly McDermott will be delivering all the laughs. Saturday, May 30, 8 p.m.

FLYWAY BREWING COMPANY

DANCE

Collage Dance Conservatory:

Charlene & The Chocolate Factory

A highly anticipated culminating performance which features more than 300 students from the Collage Dance Conservatory who train in ballet, tap, modern, jazz and West African dance. Sunday, May 31, 3 p.m.

CANNON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

FAMILY

Mudpie Mondays

Come to the Guest House

Patio in My Big Backyard for a mud-tastic time this summer. Children can dig in and cra their own mudpies using natural materials. Free. Monday, June 1, 10 a.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Super Saturday - Pointilism

Inspired by the richly detailed works of Carroll Cloar in the museum’s Permanent Collection, young artists will explore the technique of pointillism — creating images with tiny, vibrant dots of color. For ages 5-12. Free. Saturday, May 30, 10 a.m.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM

Storytime and Sign

For babies and kids through 5 years old, sing a song, learn a sign, dance a little jig, and sit for a story during this interactive, weekly story time for little ones and their caregivers. Tuesday, June 2, 10:30 a.m. | Wednesday, June 3, 10:30 a.m.

GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY LIBRARY

Sweet Summer Fun: Kids Dog Cupcake Decorating Class

Kids will learn real cake decorating and fondant sculpting techniques in this fun, hands-on cupcake class with award-winning cake artist Avalon Yarnes. $129.99. Wednes-

day, June 3, 3 p.m.

SHELBY FARMS PARK, FIRST HORIZON FOUNDATION CENTER

FESTIVAL

Dragon Boat Festival

The festival features boat racing, dance performances, live music, and lots of food. Saturday, May 30, 8 a.m.

SHELBY FARMS PARK

FILM

Summer of Soul

Featuring unforgettable performances from Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, and Sly and the Family Stone, this film captures a cultural eruption that went unseen for decades. $5. Thursday, May 28, 7 p.m.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

Friday Flick: Zootopia 2

Enjoy a free movie night at the Center Green. Come early for popcorn, music, and more fun. Free. Friday, May 29, 7:30 p.m.

CARRIAGE CROSSING

Movie Night in the Park: House Party Marathon

An adults-only (18+) movie marathon and party under the stars hosted by Play Your Park! Saturday, May 30, 5:30 p.m.

EAST HIGH SPORTSPLEX

Short Film Showcase

Free screenings of locally made short films. Monday, June 1, 7 p.m.

MALCO POWERHOUSE CINEMA GRILL & MXT

Reel Friends

Join fellow cinephiles to discuss and explore different movie genres, directors, actors, and more. Tuesday, June 2, 1 p.m.

GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY LIBRARY

FOOD AND DRINK

The King’s Table: A Spirited Dinner, Poured by Old Dominick

Enjoy a night out done right — five courses from Chef Mario, each one presented as it arrives at your table, paired with expertly guided pours from Old Dominick, Memphis’ own celebrated distillery. Saturday, May 30, 7 p.m.

THE GUEST HOUSE

Picnic for Pachyderms

Enjoy a delicious lunch and up-close incredible encounters. Whether you’re planning a fun family outing or an iconic day with friends, this is one for the record books. Saturday, May 30, 11 a.m.

MEMPHIS ZOO

HEALTH AND FITNESS

2026 Sunset Skate

Let’s roll, Memphis! The 2-time award-winning Sunset Skate returns to the riverfront for another unforgettable season of community fun. Thursday, May 28, 6 p.m.

TYRE NICHOLS SUNSET CANOPY

Adult Golf Night

Adult Golf Night: 3rd Edition is here and it’s next level. $28.52-$81.88. Friday, May 29, 6 p.m. THE LINKS AT PINE HILL

LECTURE

Mid-South Hydrangea Society 22nd Annual Speaker Event

Jay Sifford, award-winning landscape designer based in North Carolina, will share his personal discoveries from 20 years of garden design including tips on rhythm, lines, shapes and light. Free. Saturday, May 30, 10 a.m.

DIXON GALLERY AND GARDENS

Munch and Learn: Stories From the Saltmines

David Lusk’s inside scoop and insane stories about the art world, and especially about his friend Mary Sims. Wednesday, June 3, 12 p.m.

DIXON GALLERY AND GARDENS

PERFORMING ARTS

Big Top Tease: Seven Deadly Sins

Enjoy this monthly variety show and see aerialists, burlesque dancers, drag artists, and more. $12.51. Saturday, May 30, 9 p.m.

DRU’S BAR

The Mystic

This event is a catalyst through music, story, silence and dialogue, and a way to strengthen our attachment to our hopes and dreams. Tuesday, June 2, 6 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM

SPECIAL EVENTS

Secrets in the Garden

Enjoy a thrilling evening of mystery and intrigue in the Dixon gardens. Thursday, May 28, 6 p.m.

DIXON GALLERY AND GARDENS

MEM-GALA 2026

Experience a night of green vibes, mental health talks, and good times in Memphis. $161.90. Friday, May 29, 6 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

SPORTS

Stars on Ice

Celebrate America’s figure skating superstars, including Ilia Malinin, the “Quad God” and two-time World Champion, Alysa Liu, reigning World Champion, and Olympic Team Gold Medalists Madison Chock & Evan Bates. Watch skaters who are bound for more Olympic glory. Sunday, May 31, 4 p.m.

LANDERS CENTER

Crossword

Note: When this puzzle is done, read the dotted letters line by line from top to bottom to spell a title related to this puzzle’s theme.

ACROSS

1 Book of the Bible after John

5 Like some high-end cigars

10 ___ vu 14 Russian rejection

15 Like about 60% of the world’s population

16 Daredevil Knievel

17 Org. for the New York Cosmos

Alternative to a hedge

Answer to “Shall we?”

“Come in!”

Overton Park 99 Golf Tournament

Cheer on golfers playing 99 holes in one day to raise money for Overton Park Conservancy, the Overton Park Junior Open, and the Loren Roberts Scholarship Fund at First Tee Memphis. Monday, June 1, 6 a.m.

ABE GOODMAN GOLF CLUBHOUSE

THEATER

Primary Trust

Dive into the mind of a seemingly ordinary middle-aged man named Kenneth, spending his evenings at a local bar with his “friend” Bert. Thursday, May 28, 8 p.m. | Friday, May 29, 8 p.m. | Saturday, May 30, 8 p.m. | Sunday, May 31, 2 p.m.

THE CIRCUIT PLAYHOUSE

Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties

This hilarious play explores anger, sex, love, and the “thea-tah” through five women named Betty. Friday, May 29, 8 p.m. | Saturday, May 30, 8 p.m. | Sunday, May 31, 2 p.m.

THEATREWORKS @ THE SQUARE

Beauty and the Beast

The show boasts the Oscar®-winning and Tony Award®-nominated score, including the classic songs “Be Our Guest” and “Beauty and the Beast.” $241.04. Tuesday, June 2, 7:30 p.m. | Wednesday, June 3, 7:30 p.m.

THE ORPHEUM THEATRE

Counterpart of long.

One side of Niagara Falls: Abbr.

Had as a customer

Dijon darling

“Star Trek: T.N.G.” character with empathic abilities

Bump up in pay

Impart

$15/hour and others

Suffix with elephant 47 Got ready to be photographed

Prez before J.F.K. 23 Bygone car model named for a horse 24 Technique employed in the painting hidden in this puzzle 27 What’s far from fair? 29 ___ Fighters (rock band)

48 Takes too much, in brief

49 What a Heisman winner might hope to become

52 “Le Comte ___” (Rossini opera)

53 Weaving machine

54 First small bit of progress

56 Artist who created the painting hidden in this puzzle

61 Crime scene clue

62 Rapa ___ (Easter Island)

63 Willem of “The Grand Budapest Hotel”

65 Tower-building game

66 ___ Radio Hour (NPR program)

67 Egg shell?

68 “Awesome!”

69 French religious title: Abbr.

70 Specialty

1 Green Gables girl

2 Ink cartridge color

3 Aviators trying out new planes

4 Pope who negotiated with Attila the Hun

5 Half-___ (coffee order)

6 Did, once upon a time

7 Dot on a Hindu woman’s forehead

Forty-___ (old prospector)

All-in-one undergarment

Chess rating system

Minor maladies

Counterparts of outs

Save for later

Dismiss with derision

Self-satisfied about

Harbor hazard 51 Took

TWe Saw You.

hree hundred people attended this year’s Healthier Memphis Gala a.k.a. “The MEM Gala” presented by Lifedoc Health.

The event, held April 24th, was again at the old Summit Club space atop Clark Tower.

Chefs from top Memphis restaurants were on hand with everything from duck confit (Erling Jensen, Erling Jensen: The Restaurant) to strawberry pistachio tarts (Konrad Spitzbart, Chez Philippe, The Peabody).

“Giving in Style” was the title of this year’s gala, which the Lifedoc invitation describes as “A culinary experience and charity benefit.”

And the invite reads, “All proceeds from the evening will support Lifedoc in building a prevention-first health system, reshaping how Memphis invests in health.”

According to its website, Dr. Pedro Velasquez founded the Lifedoc concept in 2000: “Within five years, in 2005, he and his wife, Astrid, opened a family healthcare practice for the rapidly growing, and severely underserved, Hispanic community.”

PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE

top row: (left to right) Gabe Velasquez; Pedro Velasquez Jr. above middle: Sarah Rapp, Craig Wiener left: (left to right) Gwen and Marvel Sutton; Claudia Guzman, Landon Neira circle: Andy Velasquez bottom left: Will O’Kelly, Chet Velasquez, Dr. Pedro Velasquez below: Esther Calderon, Dr. Astrid Velasquez, Arantza Camarena

Diners made their way to the Mississippi River, but, because of a chance of rain, they had to eat inside Beale Street Landing instead of on a riverbank table at the Memphis River Parks fundraiser.

But the event, which was held April 18th, was still memorable. An amazing sunset, which seemed to last almost half an hour, drew guests outside to view and take photographs.

A total of 126 guests attended, says Memphis River Parks CEO/president Paul Chandler. He originally wanted to hold the dinner outside, but he was pleased with plan B. “I think we’ll do it again and we’ll produce at Beale Street Landing,” he says.

Deni Reilly, Gina Neely, and Jennifer Chandler were co-chairs.

Food was provided by Chefs Jimmy Gentry, Nate Henssler, Patrick Reilly, Benny Estevez, Betty Joyce (BJ) Chester-Tamayo, Patricia “Chef P. Lynn” Sanders, and Felicia Willett-Schuchardt. Violinist Journey performed.

PHOTOS: MICHAEL DONAHUE

top row: (le to right) Susan Arney, Karen Carlisle, Carmen Bond; Paul and Jennifer Chandler

right: (le to right) Chef Benny Estevez; Valerie and Scot Bearup circle: Deni Reilly

below: (le to right) Chefs Jimmy Gentry, Patrick Reilly, Nate Henssler; Journey; Gina Neely

bottom middle: Patricia “Chef P. Lynn” Sanders and Betty Joyce “BJ” Chester-Tamayo

SPIRITS By Buddy Jones

The Bloody Mary

Love it or hate it, the iconic cocktail is the ultimate hair of the dog.

It’s o en stated that religion and politics should never be discussed at an establishment that includes a happy hour, a bar stool, or a last call. Combined with diverse viewpoints, passionate beliefs, and, ahem, diarrhea of the mouth, these inebriated exchanges can grow hostile. If you’re thirsty for a more casual, lighthearted conversation, spice up your discussion with a Bloody Mary. e history of the Bloody Mary is questionable. e recipe for the perfect Bloody Mary is debatable. e hangover healing powers of the Bloody Mary are laughable. But the reason we drink a Bloody Mary is undeniable: It’s a guiltfree way to get our buzz on before noon. It’s the only cocktail that hydrates us, nourishes us, and doesn’t judge us for drinking early.

stray piece of toilet paper on the bottom of their shoe a er they le the bathroom of their local saloon.

If you were to ask 100 bartenders how to make the perfect Bloody Mary, you’ll get 200 di erent answers. e classic hole-in-the-wall bartender is quick to reach for their favorite brand of mix and just add vodka. But mixologists (aka bartenders who take themselves too seriously) have secret recipes for their homemade tomato juices.

e garnishes are a matter of personal preference. A piece of celery was inserted into the original versions to help customers stir the drink. Plastic straws weren’t around and apparently it never occurred to anyone to just use their index nger. Modern-day Bloodys are o en paired with anything that will t in the glass: raw vegetables, green olives, blue-cheese-stu ed olives, pickles, jalapeno peppers, cherry tomatoes, parsley, and the list goes on.

As with most alcohol-inspired stories throughout history, the details of the origin of the Bloody Mary are hazy at best. Most historians attribute the drink’s creation to a bartender named Fernan Patio from Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. During the 1920s, he allegedly mixed vodka with tomato juice and called it the Bucket of Blood. Fast-forward to post-Prohibition in 1930s New York, the cocktail would evolve. Spices, Tabasco sauce, horseradish, and lemon were added to what would later become a staple at every brunch in America. One theory is that the drink was named a er Queen Mary I of England, who, because of her unique style of persecuting Protestants, was a ectionately known as Bloody Mary. Others attribute the name to a waitress named Mary at the Chicago Bucket of Blood Club. Either way, the name stuck with people like a

To the carnivores reading this, open up and say, “ahhh,” for the Marys with bacon, sausage, shrimp, lobster, and maybe a whole hamburger. For those, you’ll probably need a to-go box, or a cardiologist. It begs the question, “How did we go from tomato juice and vodka to a Golden Corral bu et?”

e real reason for the Bloody Mary’s longevity is that it’s the ultimate hangover helper, the hair of the dog. We’ve all been there. First thing in the morning, we can barely open our eyes. ere are stamps on both our hands. e toilet bowl is more comfortable than LeBron James’ favorite hotel room. e fresh fruit and vegetable concoction may sound like a healthy remedy. But it’s alcohol’s main element, ethanol, that will cancel out the over-abundance of methanol. We think. We’re not scientists, we’re drinkers. Love it or hate it, the Bloody Mary is a cocktail icon. Are the stories around the history of the Bloody Mary true? It’s possible. Do I make the best Bloody Mary? Maybe. Can a Bloody Mary cure a hangover? at’s a possible maybe. Is it acceptable to drink vodka and tomato juice before 10 a.m.? Absolutely, as in Absolut Vodka with my Bloody Mary, please and thanks.

Buddy Jones is a longtime Memphis bartender and comedian who hosts a weekly comedy night at Peoples on Beale.

FOOD By Michael Donahue

On the Hunt

Chef’s food journey leads to Rosie’s Tavern.

Jaik Hunt was a picky eater growing up.

He was still a picky eater after he grew up. “I really didn’t start eating vegetables until I was in college,” says Hunt, 29. But, with the exception of bananas (“I like the flavor,” he says. “I don’t like the texture.”), Hunt overcame his pickiness. Even so far as to become a chef.

Hunt is chef de cuisine at the upcoming Rosie’s Tavern, the second floor bar/restaurant, at the new Andrew Ticer/Michael Hudman establishment. Josephine Estelle, the Italian-American restaurant, is on the first floor. Both are slated to open in early June at 6695 Poplar Avenue.

Hunt was a picky eater, but he says, “Cooking was always something I did growing up.” Every so often, Hunt made breakfast in bed for his parents. “Comprised of whatever was in the pantry. Putting a bunch of stuff at the bottom of a bowl and covering it with cereal. From gummy bears to chocolate.” Those breakfasts were “always welcomed with a big smile. But I don’t think the bowl was always empty.”

Hunt’s first restaurant-related job was a delivery driver at Windy City Wieners on the campus of Illinois State University, where he majored in audio engineering and minored in film studies. He also prepared food at home. “I lived in a house off campus with some friends. I’d cook, but pretty simple stuff. Cooking was always an interest, but I didn’t take it seriously until I went to work at a farm-to-table restaurant.”

That was at the appropriately named Epiphany Farms Restaurant in Bloomington, Illinois. “I started expediting and food running, and never looked back.”

He remembers eating his first radish, freshly pulled from the ground 10 minutes earlier. That’s when he began “really tasting instead of just eating. I think once I started doing that, everything just clicked and I wanted to try everything.”

It was like only ever eating mushrooms from a can, he muses. “That’s not very appetizing. But once you get to try some well-prepared mushrooms you can understand how beautiful a mushroom can be. Your standard is only as high as what you’ve been exposed to.”

Hunt also realized cooking could be a career “and not just hobby-oriented” after he began working in the kitchen

at Epiphany Farms.

He moved on from there a little over a year later when two of his favorite colleagues went to work at a new restaurant, Lexington Social in Lexington, Illinois. The chef doing the hiring didn’t recognize him, Hunt says. “He was my soccer coach when I was a kid.” Hunt didn’t tell him until over a week later. “I didn’t want to get the job based on that.”

Lexington Social, a bistro, was “the only fine dining restaurant” in town, Hunt says. “One of my favorite parts was the focus on local vegetables and produce. We would wake up, meet the farmer at 8 a.m., and go shopping for all of our seasonal produce. And then go to the restaurant and cook the vegetables.”

When he was “ready for the next step” in his career, Hunt moved to Chicago, where he went to work at Lardon. He staged (worked without pay) with Walt Stallings, now executive chef at Josephine Estelle. They were both line cooks, but Stallings also taught English at DePaul University. And he was a vegetarian at the time. “I really admired this well-spoken vegetarian teacher who moonlights as a grill cook on the weekends. He has these two passions.”

They both looked up to Chris Thompson, their executive chef. “He’s somebody that Walt and I talk about just about daily. He’s another one of

Chef Jaik Hunt’s path to the kitchen started with a freshly picked radish; (left) Painting in the stairwell at the new Josephine Estelle/Rosie’s Tavern

those guys who’s a great guy that hasn’t lost his drive and passion for cooking. Somebody to learn from.”

Like Stallings, Hunt left Lardon when Thompson left to open The National Restaurant in Telluride, Colorado. “[I] kind of bounced around Chicago a little bit before I went back to Lardon when Walt was head chef.” And, he says, “That’s kind of how I’ve progressed in my career. If I find people I really admire and look up to, and I want to do what they’re doing, I’ve been thankful enough that they want me to follow.”

That’s what happened when Stallings got the job at Josephine Estelle. He told Hunt how impressed he was with Ticer and Hudman. “That’s when I knew that I would feel the same way about them. We share the same values when it comes to cooking.” And, Hunt adds, “If he was willing to take this leap of faith, I wanted to be a part of it.”

Stallings then told Ticer and Hudman that Hunt was interested in working in the kitchen at Rosie’s Tavern. “They said, ‘Let’s do it.’” Hunt, who’d never been to Memphis, drove here, talked to Ticer and Hudman, and ate at one of their restaurants, Hog & Hominy. “And that was enough,” he says.

He was also impressed with the way Ticer and Hudman “spoke about food. People as successful as they are, and they’re still very much hands-on and have that same love for food that they’ve always had. They’re constantly raising the bar — and setting the bar high — for themselves.”

Hunt describes the fare at Rosie’s Tavern as “Americana, tavern-style” food — “burgers, steaks, and seafood.”

The TV show, Cheers, has been thrown around a lot in regards to Rosie’s Tavern, Hunt says. “A tavern is really a place where you can feel welcome and go have a dining experience. You can go to a football game and then have a burger. Or come back on a date night and share some seafood.”

Working with the Ticer-Hudman duo has been “a true collaboration. Michael is just a waterfall of brilliant ideas. He usually gets the ball rolling. And we all sit around a table and pitch ideas and thoughts. You want to use all your tools around you. We’re always working toward a similar goal.”

That goal, Hunt says, is “really hard to describe. It’s more of a feeling, to me, than anything else. Being proud about what you’re serving. And making guests happy.” And, he adds, “When you can do both of those at the same time, it’s the most rewarding thing.”

Hunt took his parents to eat at Catherine & Mary’s, another TicerHudman restaurant. “They’ve never had an experience like that. They were blown away.” They were especially impressed with Maw Maw’s Gravy, made from Ticer and Hudman family recipes, and enjoyed the restaurant owners’ stories about helping out in the kitchen as kids and sitting around the dining room table with family.

“You can elicit the memories of your childhood through food,” says Hunt. “It takes you back to spending time with your family. Being able to do that through food is really beautiful.”

Cosmic Voltage

e heart of change lies in this planetary alignment.

O

n May 22nd, the cosmos delivered one of the most electrifying alignments of the decade: Uranus Cazimi in Gemini. “Cazimi” is an ancient term meaning “in the heart of the sun,” describing the brief moment when a planet sits within 17 arc-minutes of the solar center, so close its energy fuses with the sun’s. When Uranus, the planet of revolution, innovation, and awakening, enters this sacred heart space, the result is a jolt of cosmic voltage.

is isn’t a gentle transit. Uranus is the sky-shaker, the divine disruptor, the archetype of sudden insight and radical change. In Gemini, the sign of communication, technology, and the mind’s mercurial dance, Uranus becomes a lightning bolt through the nervous system of humanity. e combination is rare and its arrival now signals a collective turning point.

Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the messenger god, whose domain includes language, learning, and connection. Uranus in Gemini ampli es these to a global scale. Expect breakthroughs in AI, quantum computing, and communication technology, but also in how we think and speak to one another. e Cazimi acts like a cosmic download: ashes of genius, sudden clarity, and ideas that arrive from nowhere.

For individuals, this alignment can feel like mental electricity. oughts race, intuition sharpens, and conversations crackle with possibility. e nervous system may feel overloaded. If you nd yourself restless or unable to focus, take it as a sign your inner circuitry is being rewired. Uranus doesn’t ask permission; it awakens what’s been dormant.

Uranus never changes things slowly. It breaks patterns, topples hierarchies, and exposes what no longer works. Under this Cazimi, the sun’s light illuminates Uranus’ revolutionary purpose. We may see sudden shi s in global communication networks, media structures, or educational systems. e way we share information,

and the truth itself, could undergo a radical transformation.

is is also a time to question the stories you tell yourself. Gemini thrives on curiosity, and Uranus demands authenticity. Together, they ask: What ideas have you outgrown? What truths are waiting to be spoken? e Cazimi invites us to release outdated mental scripts and embrace new ways of perceiving reality.

ere’s a mischievous quality to this alignment. Gemini’s airy wit meets Uranus’ rebellious spark, creating a cosmic trickster energy that delights in breaking rules. e universe may surprise you with synchronicities, coincidences, or sudden reversals that reveal deeper meaning.

If you work in creative or intellectual elds, this is prime time for experimentation. Writers, artists, and teachers may nd themselves channeling ideas that feel ahead of their time. Don’t dismiss them. Uranus o en delivers insights that seem strange at rst but prove prophetic later.

Because Uranus operates through shock and awakening, grounding is essential. Gemini’s air element can scatter attention; anchoring helps translate inspiration into action. And practice discernment. Not every idea that arrives in a Uranian ash is meant to be pursued immediately. Let the brilliance settle before making major decisions. ink of it as lightning illuminating the landscape. You see everything clearly for an instant, but you must still choose your path with care.

Astrologically, Uranus Cazimi in Gemini marks the beginning of a new cycle of innovation and consciousness. It’s as if the sun is handing Uranus the keys to the kingdom of ideas, saying, “Go forth and awaken the world.” We may look back on this period as the spark that ignited new movements in science, communication, and social thought.

For spiritual seekers, this alignment reminds us that enlightenment o en arrives through disruption. Uranus teaches that awakening is not about comfort, it’s about truth. Gemini ensures that truth is spoken, shared, and understood.

is Cazimi is a cosmic initiation into a new way of thinking and connecting. It asks us to embrace curiosity, courage, and a willingness to see the world di erently. e sky itself is rewriting the code of consciousness, and we are the receivers. Emily Guenther is a co-owner of e Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.

COME DINE

at Memphis Finest Italian Restaurant. A MEMPHIS TRADITION FOR 78 YEARS.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication

Now It’s Gone Too Far

A tech company has produced an AI model of Jesus Christ, the Associated Press reported on April 11. The company, Just Like Me, charges users $1.99 per minute — or $49.99 for 45 minutes per month — to talk to the chatbot. Its avatar is inspired by actor Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus on TV’s The Chosen. The model was trained using the King James Version of the Bible, as well as sermons from various preachers, and offers users words of encouragement. “You do feel a little accountable to the AI,” Just Like Me CEO Chris Breed said. “They’re your friend. You’ve made an attachment.” Just Like Me isn’t the only company seeking to integrate matters of faith with AI. Longbeard, a company that digitizes Catholic teachings, developed Magisterium AI, which offers religious guidance for users. Jeanne Lim of beingAI has not yet made Emi Jido, an AI Buddhist priest, available to the public. Roshi Jundo Cohen, a Zen Buddhist priest who ordained Emi Jido in 2024, hopes to see it become a hologram. “She’s just meant to be a Zen teacher in your pocket,” Cohen said. “It’s not meant to replace human interactions.” Others are wary of the marriage of AI and religion. Podcaster Graham Martin, an atheist, expressed skepticism when an AI app, Text With Jesus, started prompting him to upgrade to a premium version. “I grew up with Southern U.S. televangelism … Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and all that crowd. And all they had to do was get on TV once a week and tell you to send money,” he said. “We’ve seen people around the world getting into emotional relationships with AIs. Now imagine that that’s your lord and savior, Jesus Christ.” [AP, 4/11/26]

Recent Alarming Headline

A Whittier, California, resident was startled by “an explosion” on April 10, NBC4-TV reported, but the loud noise turned out not to be an explosion at all. Instead, Yuder Grau discovered a large hole in the roof and debris scattered around his living room. The culprit was a block of dirty ice, which shattered into a few pieces. When Grau started sweeping up the pieces, he noticed a foul odor coming from them. NBC4 meteorologist David Biggar, a pilot, said the debris might have been frozen waste or water from a plane. “There can also be something like maybe a leaky valve or leaky seal somewhere,” he said. The Federal

Aviation Administration said it had not received a report about the incident. Grau’s landlady, Thania Magana, said she reviewed flight data from the time of the incident and found that three planes had flown overhead, but both Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines said they had received no reports of maintenance issues on the flights. [NBC4, 4/10/2026]

What’s in a

Name?

The German soccer club Fortuna Düsseldorf announced on April 12 that it is replacing its coach, the Associated Press reported. The outgoing coach is Markus Anfang, whose last name means “beginning” or “start” in German. The new coach, Alexander Ende, whose name means “end,” will coach the final five games of the season. Fortuna is in a precarious position for the season; Ende said he is “convinced that together with everyone at Fortuna we will secure our place in the league.” [AP, 4/13/2026]

The Passing Parade Westlake, Ohio, police were asked to check in on a 91-year-old woman who had failed to answer several calls to her home on April 9, News5 Cleveland reported. When they arrived at her house, she didn’t answer the door, either. Police Chief Jerry Vogel said when officers entered the home, they found her playing a video game in her bedroom. She told them she missed the calls because she was trying to beat her record.

[News5 Cleveland, 4/10/2026]

Great Art

Ari Hodara, 58, of Paris is the proud owner of a 1941 Picasso painting worth $1 million, the Associated Press reported. Remarkably, he paid only $117 for it. Hodara entered a raffle at Christie’s auction house in Paris and found out on April 14 that his ticket had been drawn for the artist’s “Head of a Woman.” Hodara, who calls himself an art amateur but is fond of Picasso, said he would “take advantage of it and keep it.” The raffle was in support of Alzheimer’s research. [AP, 4/14/2026]

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD © 2026 Andrews McMeel Syndication. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): In the weeks ahead, simply being right won’t necessarily lead to success. Having strength, intelligence, wealth, or connections might help, though not as much as usual. But a different approach will work well as you strive to overcome challenges: a blend of cleverness and integrity. I invite you to be cunning while remaining honorable. Practice subtle strategy in service of higher aims. And here’s one more secret to ensure victory: Let go of any need to receive full recognition for your efforts.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): “Dear Horoscope Guy: Two astrologers have assured me that as a Taurus, I’m a natural-born money magnet. So why am I broke? I keep begging the Divine for cash miracles, and I buy lottery tickets twice a week. Still nothing! Please tell me when I’ll finally hit the jackpot. Better yet, give me the winning numbers. –Taurus Desperate for Dollars.” Dear Desperate: The “luck” you crave will arrive as you diligently pour yourself into building your sweetest dreams, spurning shortcuts, and enjoying yourself as much as possible. The Divine prefers to fund eager co-creators, not wishful thinkers. I predict that a slow-motion jackpot will ultimately arrive through your devoted attention to doing what excites you.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): What’s the holiest, most healing trouble you could rustle up right now? I mean trouble that freshens what’s stale but doesn’t scorch the earth. Maybe it’s a buoyant disruption, like telling wild truths you usually tend to soften. Or maybe it’s asking for what your future self pines for instead of what your past self regards as polite and reasonable. As a Cancerian soul myself, I dare both you and me to give ourselves permission to rumble. Let’s be brazen as we instigate creative upheavals in service to our cheerful vigor. Let’s instigate at least one concrete action that will rattle the stagnant pattern just enough to make life more interesting.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Sea otters are a keystone species. Their presence is essential to the health of their entire ecosystem. As they eat sea urchins, the kelp forests flourish. Without otters, the urchins overgraze, and kelp forests may collapse, which in turn affects hundreds of other species. One creature’s appetite helps regulate an entire undersea neighborhood. I suspect you’re serving a similar function, Leo. You’re having more impact and wielding more influence than you realize. No pressure! But please act accordingly: with maximum integrity and robust responsibility.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): A Dutch woman who died left her grand-nephew an inheritance of 220,000 euros. The

By Rob Brezsny

only problem is that he’s homeless and constantly on the move, so the executors haven’t been able to find him. This echoes a recurring pattern in your life. Even now, sources of blessings are searching for ways to reach you, but you are slow to notice their approach or to magnetize yourself to their arrival. My prayer: May you figure out what needs to be done to make yourself fully available for these gifts — and then ingrain that capacity in your habit mind.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Visualize your fears. Consider how few of them rest on a genuine likelihood that the scary events could ever take place. Then ask yourself how much of your uneasiness springs from vivid fantasies or from a practiced tendency to fret. You might also ruminate on how you absorb the background worry that’s amplified by mass culture. After reflecting on all that, I invite you to take one concrete action to lower the level of tension you have come to treat as normal. Take another action to weaken the grip of your deepest dread. The current planetary patterns suggest you now have the bold, creative power necessary to shrink your baseline anxiety.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Even more than usual, you have a sacred duty to celebrate your poignant sweetness and dark intelligence. For the sake of your emotional health, you should pay wild reverence to your deepest, most mysterious yearnings. To be the person we all need you to be, you must tenderly nurture the parts of your inner world that resemble the aurora borealis. I want to support you in these sublime sacraments, which is why I suggest you memorize the following prayer by Rainer Maria Rilke: “Be attentive to what is arising within you, and place that above everything you perceive around you. What is happening in your innermost self is worthy of your entire love.”

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21):

Linguists use the term “false friends.” These are words in different languages that seem similar but don’t have the same meaning. For example, the Spanish word embarazada resembles “embarrassed” to English speakers but actually means “pregnant.” I suspect you’re dealing with another type of false friend, Sagittarius: people or situations that turned out to be at variance with what you initially imagined. But rather than feeling unsettled by these revelations, I suggest you treat them as a prod to see with fresh eyes. Your disorientation could be the beginning of more interesting understandings.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): An ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a code assigned to a book for commercial and cataloging purposes. It

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Among the Dogon of Mali, Sigui so is a secret language. It’s used in a sacred ritual when people gather to retell their beginnings and patch up strains in tribal harmony. I’m borrowing “Sigui so” here as a symbol for a way of talking that I hope you will specialize in during the coming weeks: language that eases tensions, soothes friction, and fosters unity. Start like this: Unleash your trademark wit but spike it with sly blessings and tactful probes. Wield your fluency to burn away confusion and uncover unspoken feelings. If you’re in an extra-bold mood, give everyone tacit permission to be their idiosyncratic selves instead of their polished personas.

contains key information and includes a built-in error-detection notation. If you transpose two numbers when entering an ISBN, the last digit will tell you something’s wrong. In this spirit, Capricorn, I heartily recommend that you build more mistake detection into your life. Invest in extra safeguards. Add verification steps. Build in double-checks. The goal is to create systems robust enough to survive oversights and gaffes. I very much want you to give yourself the gift of safety nets that will empower you to take smart risks and intriguing gambles.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): You may not yet grasp how richly creative you are right now, nor how much more abundant your generative powers could become. So it’s auspicious that you are reading this horoscope now. Consider this your advance notice: Your capacity to originate ideas, projects, and connections is surging, and it’s crucial to choose with care which possibilities you nurture and which you decline. If you are selective and intentional about what you sow, then about six months from now, you will be far more likely to gather lush, beautiful harvests instead of wrestling with overgrown, unruly tangles.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Ethnobotanist Wade Davis documented how different cultures perceive entirely different realities despite inhabiting the same physical world. It means that two people can stand in the same forest and see different forests through their cultural lens and personal mythology. This is simultaneously the problem and the opportunity you face, Pisces. You and others in your orbit are inhabiting divergent realities that superficially seem the same. If you hope to reconcile the differences, you must first acknowledge them as real. You’re dealing with fundamentally different ways of constructing meaning, not just small misunderstandings.

FILM By Chris McCoy

Independent Contractor

Star Wars returns to the big screen with The Mandalorian and Grogu

I

n 1934, Flash Gordon first appeared as a newspaper comic strip, and soon became the most popular sci-fi of the pulp era. The strip ran daily in papers worldwide until 1993, and was recently revived as a web comic. But most significantly, it inspired three serials. The precursors of the modern television series, serials were 15-minute shorts which played at movie theaters between feature films. Serials were popular with kids, including a young Californian named George Lucas, who never forgot the magic of watching Buster Crabbe fight Ming the Merciless in Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. After the runaway success of American Graffiti, Lucas had carte blanche from Hollywood. He wanted to adapt Flash Gordon, but in 1974, Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis owned the film rights, so Lucas decided to make his own version, Star Wars Flash forward to 2019, when Iron Man director Jon Favreau introduced the first live-action Star Wars TV show, The Mandalorian. Freed from the heavy mythological resonances of the Skywalker Saga, which ended ignobly with The Rise of Skywalker, Favreau got back to the franchise’s Flash Gordon roots with wacky monsters and weekly cliffhangers. Star Wars has always borrowed from other genres, and Favreau incorporated both samurai stories, specifically Lone Wolf and Cub, and Westerns like Have Gun Will Travel. When the 2023 SAG/WGA strikes roiled Hollywood, the fourth season of The Mandalorian was shelved. Favreau and Lucasfilm’s new creative director, Clone Wars mastermind Dave Filoni, decided to make it a feature film.

Having seen The Mandalorian and Grogu, I believe this was a bad decision. It’s not necessarily that it’s a bad film.

As a film critic, believe me when I say that there is much worse slop oozing through theaters and streamers. It’s that it would have gone down much better in 30-minute chunks.

The film opens five years after the events of Return of the Jedi

The New Republic is struggling to reclaim the galaxy, with many worlds ruled by warlords, backed by what’s left of the Empire’s war machine. Our hero Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), now working as an independent contractor for the Republic’s Aldephi Rangers battalion, dispatches one such warlord with the help of Grogu, the tiny, Yoda-like, Force-sensitive creature who has graduated from his charge to his partner. Djarin’s New Republic handler Col. Ward (Sigourney Weaver) pays him with a new ship and a new assignment: Find the fugitive war criminal Coin. The only lead they have on Coin’s whereabouts is through the Hutt crime family, who promise help only if Djarin can rescue their cousin Rotta (voiced by Jeremy Allen White) from the clutches of rival crime lord Janu (Jonny Coyne).

just one more bout on his contract with Janu, Rotta is looking forward to gaining his independence and going on to greater heights of gladiatorial fame and fortune. But Djarin discovers that the fix is in; Janu has no intention of giving up the most valuable fighter in his stable. So Mando and Grogu must rescue Rotta against his will.

But when Djarin and Grogu catch up with Rotta, he’s not exactly a prisoner. Instead, the son of Jabba the Hutt has gotten super jacked and is having the time of his life as a pit fighter. With

The film’s origin as a series of 30-minute TV episodes is painfully evident. There are some great set pieces, such as the cold open set in a snowy mountain fortress and a near-silent interlude when Grogu nurses the injured Mandalorian back to health while hiding in the swamps of Nal Hutta. But every 20 minutes or so, the momentum comes to a screeching halt. Industrial Light & Magic’s visual effects are top-notch, including a fantastic stopmotion sequence from Phil Tippett. Favreau wisely keeps Grogu as a puppet

Grogu is now Din Djarin’s partner in the new Star Wars film.

throughout the film, which makes the little guy even more adorable. But that triumph is undercut by the off-putting Rotta the Hutt, made even worse by White’s checked-out voice performance. From the epic sweep of The Clone Wars to the painterly animation of this year’s Maul — Shadow Lord, there’s been plenty of good Star Wars TV. But Star Wars on the big screen needs to feel epic, and that’s The Mandalorian and Grogu’s biggest shortcoming. It feels more like a filler Marvel movie than the Greek tragedy of Revenge of the Sith or the faded glory of The Last Jedi. If you’re just in it for ILM’s artistry and some spectacular pew-pew, it’ll serve you just fine. But personally, I expect more from a galaxy far, far away.

The Mandalorian and Grogu

Now playing

Multiple locations

Our critic picks the best films in theaters.

Backrooms

Kane Parsons directs this version of his web series based on the infamous internet creepypasta — the 21st century version of a folktale. Renee Rensive stars as Dr. Kline, a therapist whose patient Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a former architect, believes he has found the portal to an alternative universe in the basement of his furniture store. When he goes missing, Dr. Kline discovers the maze of backrooms he spoke of is very real, and she must venture into them to search for the missing man.

I Love Boosters

Wild genius Boots Riley’s latest follows a squad of professional shoplifters, led by Corvette (Keke Palmer). Mariah (Taylour

Paige) and Sade (Naomi Ackie) clean out high-end Bay Area fashion boutiques owned by Christie Smith (Demi Moore) with aplomb. When they manage to steal a teleportation device created by Christie to lower shipping costs, they stumble into a crazy, colorful revolution.

Tuner

Niki White (Leo Woodall) is an apprentice piano tuner in NYC. His boss Harry (Dustin Hoffman) is quite the character, but when he gets sick, Niki takes it upon himself to raise money for his treatment. Opportunity knocks when Niki finds himself tuning a piano in a house where Uri (Lior Raz) is trying to break into the safe. Niki uses his acute hearing to crack the safe, which leads to a profitable partnership with Uri, until greed gets in the way.

THE 10TH ANNUAL

SAT MAY 30 SAT MAY 30

Ice-cold margarita tastings Dance to festive beats by DJ Zetta Snack on local eats & street bites Then vote for Memphis’ Best Margarita!

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THE LAST WORD

By William Smythe

The Red Pen, Please

The essentials of prose do not include artifical intelligence.

Here I sit, editing a chapter of my novel, racking my brain for faults. It’s finished. But something keeps nagging at me. Something tempts me to work endlessly. Jack Kerouac, in his “Essentials of Spontaneous Prose,” says, “Time being of the essence in the purity of speech, sketching language is undisturbed flow from the mind of personal secret ideawords, blowing (as per jazz musician) on subject of image.” So, I write without breath, like a trombonist on a roll. I reach about 12 pages before landing a perfect 10 on that mat of creative flow. But, in the mad dash to complete it, in my Dionysian frenzy to get it down while I had it, mistakes were made. Some, easy fixes. I’m instead of Im; their instead of they’re; etc., etc. But I can’t help but feel I’m still missing a few important mistakes. I run my finger through every dot, dash, and dit. I nitpick my prose (and myself) to death. Then, I remember: Grammarly! I’ve used it before in the past to catch mindless mistakes my mind erased from looking or staring too long. It’s been years since I used it. Lately, I try to get as much done without technology as possible. I even keep a journal now. Purely man-made. But, just this once … I can backslide and use it. It’s like cooking with propane instead of charcoal, right? As long as the work gets done, there’s nothing wrong with a second opinion. Even if it’s a computer.

Real writing lives in imperfection and the courage to keep creating.

In the years since I used Grammarly, though, generative AI has slowly but surely stalked through industries, ready to sink its claws into any field it can find. This one is no exception. What began as simple editing software now begs you to use genAI for everything. When you open a new document, it offers an option called Goals. I click on it, curious. The menu drops down, gives me settings for my document. As if it’s a video game. Your “audience” can be set to General, Knowledgeable, or Expert. You can choose to be either informal in tone or as formal as a Victorian. For a fee, you can customize your audience even further. As casual as friends or as serious as business. Finally, and even more appallingly, you can set your intent: from storytelling to convincing!

Like Dr. Grant in Jurassic Park, it looks like I might be out of a job. Hell, even extinct! I feel ill plugging my story in, but am still determined to check the grammar. Without paying for Pro, I have access to old ways. Wrong words and ill-fitting commas sought out as if by bloodhound. But I can’t get the settings menu out of my head. Is this app being as neutral as I would prefer? Or is there some invisible hand guiding my pen, making me my own plagiarist? I can’t do this. I can’t do this! I pull my document out. I rip it from those mechanical hands, and vow never to use them again.

But do I have a choice? Even going analog, genAI’s still all around me. It gives the user an advantage, like an athlete on steroids who cheated everyone out of a fair shake. We shouldn’t accept the gold medal, though.

I read Kerouac’s “Essentials” again, hoping for an answer, seeking solace from this awful, cheetah-speed modernization. What I find, once again, are scribbled notes and grammar mistakes. Encouragement to show your hand, be bold, and accept that, maybe, art is not meant to be perfect; it’s to be expressive and expansive rather than refined and honed. That’s something we are losing with this whole AI marvel: the doing, failing, learning. Someone once said all art is accessible, it’s passion most are lacking. Therein does our society lie. Therein do we stay alive and kicking.

I’m not anti-tech. But wasn’t AI supposed to do my laundry? So I can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine? Lounge, laze, doodle? What’s it doing replicating a worse yet shiny version of my own poetry? Go wash my dishes! Go paint the fences! Let us rest by the river and dreamweave with the clouds.

But that’s not the fantasy we’ll receive, it seems. The best we can do now is scribble our grocery lists on loose pages and ask strangers for directions again. If AI is here to stay, I’ll do my best to scrub my feed and life of its influence.

Now, where’s my thesaurus? There has to be a word for this. Ah, Luddite? Untethered? Liberated? Independent! The answer, I think, is human. Yes, free and purely me. Warts and all. William Smythe is a local writer and poet. He has been featured in many publications, such as Focus Mid-South and PityMilk Press.

The Hot Tamale Capital of the World invites you to enjoy an eclectic collection of events and entertaining

» MAY « Mississippi Wildlife Heritage Festival, including Frog Fest and Leland Craw sh Festival LelandChamber.com

Future Tour Golf Championship

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Lake Washington’s “Straight O The Lake” Music Festival

Snake Grabbin’ Rodeo facebook.com/GrabUOneOut tters

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» AUGUST « MS Delta Duck Boat Races at Lake Washington

» SEPTEMBER « Delta Blues & Heritage Festival deltabluesms.org

Gumbo Nationals greenvillespeedway.net

Sam Chatmon Blues Fest facebook.com/SamChatmonBlues

Stephone Hughes Old Time Gospel Fest

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Monuments on Main Street Historic Greenville Cemetery Tour deltacenterstage.org/events

YMCA Cotton Classic 10K/5K Run racesonline.com/ymca-cotton-classic

» NOVEMBER « Roll’n on the River Car Show facebook.com/redwinecarshow

» DECEMBER « Christmas on Deer Creek LelandChamber.com