Thank you, Memphis Flyer

This past week, I was forced to wake up considerably earlier than I wanted to, and to operate a motor vehicle at that, but rather than chasing the fantasy that bed might still be warm, I decided to power through the morning. I needed help though, so I stopped into one of my favorite midtown establishments, Otherlands, for a cup of a coffee and a bagel sandwich thing. Typically, I read as much of the Memphis Flyer as I can during the time it takes me to down a cup, inhale a bagel, and smoke a cigarette, folding the rest in half and tucking it under my arm with the idea I might actually finish it later. (Unfortunately, most of those newspapers are in the floor of the backseat of my car...) But instead, I decided to sit and slowly caffeinate, prepare myself for the day, and read the Memphis Flyer cover to cover.

Now, that in itself may not seem too terribly interesting, but perhaps for the simple fact that I had not taken to time to do so in months, sitting at a table by myself in a crowded coffeebar, unshowered and slovenly dressed, sipping on over-sugared coffee and reading articles that ranged from city budget allotments and public education to movie reviews, the sadly ever-shortening News of the Weird column, and the usual subtle yet hilarious jab at the Flyer's more conservative rival, the Commercial Appeal (specifically, its readers who log on to CA.com and spawn threads and threads of racist, ignorant shite) just seemed awesome.

No, nothing was specifically special about my morning (early afternoon to most of the rest of the world), and in relative terms, nothing was very special about that particular issue of the Memphis Flyer. But in an age and a society and a culture where information is limitless in its availability to everyone, where journalists find themselves adapting beautifully written articles into 140 characters for Twitter updates or Blackberry news tickers, it's good to know there are still writers out there that actually use paragraphs and grammar, and still have the venue to exhibit style and nuance. I had forgotten it's importance there for a second being that I have a special tone for my AP Mobile breaking news updates on my fancy iPhone, but it was a big blunder on my part. Especially for someone who likes to tout herself as some kind of writer, too.

So, thank you Memphis Flyer. Thank you for being free, for sticking it out through a recession & decline in paper news media, for giving spotlights to the little guys, and for always having a sense of humor.
Speaking of the little guy! Here are a few write-ups I came across during my slow midtown morning that caught my eye:

P&H Art Bazaar takes Bizarre Turn via Gadsby Creson

This past Saturday, December 12th, marked the date of the annual P&H Art Bazaar, an arts flea market for fine Memphis art patrons and daytime drunks to shop for holiday gifts. Although the turnout was considerably less than previous years, the loyal attendees were treated to a badass interactive performance piece hosted by Gadsby Creson, wife of P&H arts advocate Dwayne Butcher, and one of my personal favorite MCA staff members.

Gathering all of the unsuspecting guests around a pool table covered in brightly spraypainted beer bottles, vases, and handmade ceramic knick knacks (which appear may have been boosted from a elementary school art class), Creson led everyone in several too many rounds of Jingle Bells, all the while "checking on the turkey" in the oven, ensuring the guests of her "holiday party" all had drinks, and answering phone call after annoying phone call from the dreaded mother with no navigational skills.
After ten minutes of agonizing group singing and ten or eleven answered phone calls Creson, got flustered, grabbed an armful of vases and ran outside, leaving the four rounds of carolers trailing off in confusion. As we slowly herded outside, we found Gadsby chucking the glassware and a fireplace mantle made from cinderblocks, complete with tacky stockings, screaming in frustration about her mother's surprise holiday visits.

The moral of the story? No moral. But the point, Creson explained, was a response to the overwhelming stress and wastefulness of the holiday season. The breakables were hocked off for 25 cents a piece, and participants chucked them off the back porch of the P&H Cafe at the concrete fireplace in an attempt to relieve that stress.

No one could resist. Even in freezing temperatures and misting rain, it was two hours of consistent bottle smashing before the ammo was exhausted.

Hats off to Gadsby for thinking of such a fun way to blow off steam, and for keeping the P&H's take on art unconventional, interesting, and best of all, destructive.

And thanks to Dwayne Butcher for hosting another successful year of happenings at the P&H Centre for the Arts.

...and I apologize again for hitting your truck with bouncing ceramics...

New Blog & New Banner

Recently, Live From Memphis offered to let me have a blog on their website. Okay, that was like in January. But I finally got around to setting one up during the excess spare time I had lofting around the house post-op. I haven't really squared down a theme or anything like that. This blog really doesn't have one, but so far on LFM, I'm trying to post Memphis related stuff, specifically social & cultural commentary, criticisms and showcases on the good & bad happening in this city, reviews on art shows, art happenings, indie movies, and other cool shit locals are doing, and other things of the sort. I drew something in the park the other day and made it into a banner last night. Check it & my blog out at: livefrommemphis.com/holtermonsterinhiding

Stingray Sam is my hero.

The 12th Annual Indie Memphis Film Fest is well underway and so far, though I'm there open to close, I don't really get to watch many of the movies. But today I got the chance to watch Stingray Sam, a six episode installment of the adventures of Stingray Sam, an outlaw cowboy lounge singer in outerspace in the future. And he's my new favorite hero.

---

Really nice looking black & white 35mm live action mixed with colorized collage sequences, illustrative animations, and robot hand puppets. Also, the writer and director, Cory McAbee is also the lead role, and the lead singer of the band who wrote & performed all of the music, The Bily Nayer Show. Oh yeah, did I mention it's a musical?

I can only describe it as like Monty Python meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy meets the Firefly series... meets Idiocracy... Did I mention it's a musical?

I got a chance to meet Cory and he's a very cool guy. His film, the American Astronaut, is screening at the festival Saturday night at 10PM, and I'm going to use every volunteer I have to keep the fort held down while I slip into that one. You should make time and put aside a few bucks to do the same.

I'm the type of person who likes to go into a movie completely blind and dumb of what I'm getting into, and that's means two things: firstly, I wandered blindly into a badass surprise this time, and secondly, I'm not going to ruin a damned thing for any of you that might want to see it.

If you're interested in researching a little more about Mr. McAbee, or downloading Stingray Sam, check out: http://www.corymcabee.com/

[ crossposted to livefrommemphis.com/holtermonster ]

Schedule THIS.

I'm not trying to piss anyone off by writing this---I'm really not. But it's an issue that has irritated me for a while now, and having discussed it with others, I've found I'm not alone in my irritation. Memphis is a great city, at least I think so. Yeah, we've had a shitty mayor for 18 years straight, a crime rate through the roof, high infant mortality and murder rates and the absolute worst drivers in the country, but the arts scene, albeit small is strong and usually cohesive.

---

Perhaps its the fact we don't have a big booming art scene like the metropolises of the East Coast that has spurred on so many locals and undergrounds to strive tirelessly to get things happening in this city--like Live From Memphis, or Indie Memphis, or Odessa, or Five In One. In a lot of ways, it's an uphill battle. Since Rozelle Artists Guild starting in 2006, it's always been a struggle to do something cool enough for people to pay for that doesn't solely revolve around alcohol. You oftentimes end up having to trick your audience into showing up. You're constantly fighting for people to give a shit or give a dollar, and more often than not, we all end up being each other's support group. I mean, if the guys from Marshall Arts and Material and the Brooks and MCA didn't come out to our fundraisers, who the fuck would?

So in a city with an art scene entirely interdependent, why would anyone grow an ego about what they're doing as compared to anybody else's creative efforts? Why would anyone think the seeds they're planting are any more important than the others being sown all over Memphis? I'm not going to get all middle school and name names, but I've heard some disappointing encounters between art gallery/organization owners butting heads and refusing collaboration. We do not have the luxury of being picky. If we, as this hodge-podge group of artists & art advocates, really want to see our collective goal of art flourishing in Memphis, everyone should be chomping at the bit to get another party into what they're doing.

Now, I'm obviously of the opinion that all the art orgs--MCA, MBMA, LFM, RAG, VINI, Material, Odessa, Marshall Arts, PHM, ArtsMemphis, NOMM, Pink Palace, AMUM, etc.---are after the same bigger picture endgoal, but I also respect everyone has their own individual subgoals. The Brooks & MCA are looking to engage international artists with an older, more sophisticated, more financially generous demographic, while people like VINI & RAG are aiming more for the younger, amateur, post-grad art kid crowd. Whether it's Cabernet Sauvignon in a Riedel or Pabst Blue Ribbon in a Solo, we're all respectively contributing to a nice well-rounded arts community, but we've got our own agendas.

And like I've already mentioned, not everyone is up for collaboration and cooperation. That's fine. To each his own. I was personally very supportive of the talks of a collective arts entity for the city that were happening at Material several months back, and equally as disappointed to see them bear no fruit for lack of agreement between all the reps. What I'm saying is, it's okay that some are open to joining forces, and others aren't, but it seems there isn't always the courtesy of respect either.

We are all so eager to draw the rest of Memphis into our events (although I'd like to think we all appreciate the interdependent proxy art crowd that show up to most of them), but we've got to make it easier for the rest to show up. No one between all these awesome arts entities is going to agree on a standard means of attracting outsiders--and rightly that we shouldn't. The diversity is what makes our tiny bubble so interesting. But can't we all at least have the courtesy to check each other's calendars?

Look at this weekend. We have the kick-off weekend of Indie Memphis' 12th Annual Film Festival (a date which I've had in my iCal for over six months) the same weekend as National Ornamental Metals Museum's Annual Repair Days (also a weekend long event) the same weekend at the Memphis College of Art Reunion the same weekend as the AIGA Design Conference (which can carry no blame as it is a nationally sanctioned event, not a local organizer) the same weekend as Rock O Rama at Odessa---and these are just the events I know of off the top of my head, having been isolated in Cordova recovering from back surgery the past two weeks.

Come on, people. Visual arts, live music, filmmaking, designing---it's the same crowd. I will be at IMFF this weekend as I'll be receiving a paycheck for it, but this is the second year in a row that the Film Festival and Repair Days coincide. I love metalsmithing! I was looking forward to attending this year and soldering some old lady's jewelry box hinge or retinning another copper platter. And the design conference which I will miss approximately all of? I'd love to go. I'm majoring in Design Arts and I have awful taste in fonts. It would have been a lovely educational experience. I'd also love to go schmooze with MCA alum from the 1980's or see my buddy Travis play at Odessa.

But poor planning like this weekend doesn't help anyone, it just splits up the already slim pickins of an audience. Three of my four roommates who would love to hit up IMFF will be at AIGA, because they're designers. Bill Price who probably wouldn't be opposed to hanging out with oldschool MCA students will be at Repair Days, because he's a metalsmither. Why don't we just throw in a couple art openings and a theatre event too?

I'm not blaming any one specific AO here. I don't know who scheduled what first and it's not really the point of this schpiel, but come on, Memphis. We've got to work together, if only just a little bit, at least when it comes to scheduling.

With all that being said, go to at least one of these things this weekend, and if you can, make it to more than one. Everything going on will be amazing and you'll be impressed wherever you go.

EDGEFEST 2009!

This past Saturday was the first ever Edgefest, an art sale, outdoor music show, and general good time at the Edge Coffeehouse at 1400 Overton Park. Although it was small, it was fun. Alex Harrison from the Warble played live, local artists came out to set up tables and booths, and the Edge got a bit more business for the day. I even made $50.

Amoung the vendors: VINI's Alice Laskey-Castle & Michael Andrews, Rozelle Artists Guild's Lauren Rae Holtermann, Shea Colburn, Derrick Dent, Taylor Martin, & Markece Brown, and others, Meaghan Chadouin, Alex Warble, & Rachel Holtermann.






Check out the rest of the photos on my flickr:

Something Good In Memphis

Watch the local news in Memphis and you get damn depressed. I can't watch it everyday. A bombardment of stories about dog fighting rings, stolen babies, corrupt politicians, drive-by shootings and stray bullets killing innocent kids, and even the good stories like the Memphis Gay & Lesbian Community Center's billboards celebrating National Coming Out Day are ruined by ignorant hate crimes ripping them down.

And then there's Something Good.

Something Good In Memphis is a website that showcases the good stuff happening in Memphis. From filmmakers helping to document this city's musical history in the making to volunteers keeping non-profit organizations open to 80-year old MIFA Meal's delivery guys.

Check out the website for a pick-me-up next time the news brings you down. I've been nominating people for a while. Christopher Reyes has already made it up on the board:

EDGEFEST: Art Sale this Saturday

Join us this Saturday, October 3rd from 10AM-6PM for EDGEFEST!

Memphis artists from Five In One & Rozelle Artists Guild, as well as local artists Markece Brown, Alex Harrison, Derrick Dent, & others will be selling art in the parking lot at the Edge Coffeehouse.

Guest musical appearance by the Warble!

Live From Memphis Flipside

Live From Memphis, or as I affectionately refer to them, Chris, Sarah, Brad & sometimes my roommate Tommy, have been doing Flipsides for the past year now? Maybe two? They're mini-documentaries of people and groups in Memphis that are doing cool shit, originally billed as a side-project branch of $5 Cover, hailed Memphian director Craig Brewer's latest claim to fame. I don't think a single one of them actually ever aired on MTV, or its website, or even had a sad link in the sidebar of $5Cover, but they are still really badass little videos that pretty much sum up why Memphis is cool, and why LiveFromMemphis is cool. They're helping us--the big us, the collective of creatives of Memphis us--look important, and feel important, and letting other people know, whether in this city or another, that Memphis is home to a lot of really creative and driven people, despite our mayor and crimerates. LFM is kinda like a motivational speaker for our city. They're that dude in the back of the crowd flailing his arms incessantly until people look, saying "No! Stop watching the news! Start watching this band!"

Anyway, point is, LiveFromMemphis is doing a lot of good in this city, and making a lot of shit happen, whether or not you're paying attention. Here's the Flipside LFM did of my little collective, Rozelle Artists Guild:



And finally, after something like fifty Flipsides about OTHER people's accomplishments and hard work, I give you the Live From Memphis Flipside:



To my friends Chris, Sarah, Brad, and sometimes my roommate Tommy-- Keep up the good work. You're makin' me proud.

MLK's Assassination Site: Glorified Injustice or Humbling Experience?

Today I went to the Civil Rights Museum to drop a key off to a friend and I ended up sitting on a grassy knoll drawing, something I haven't sat down and done in a while. It was nice, even though it was unbelievably sunny and humid and my bandana was sticking uncomfortably to my unwashed hair. When I leaving, I noticed that lady that sits on the corner near the museum boycotting the museum. She's been there, on that corner, for 21 years and 239 days, as of today, boycotting the museum on the grounds that it is a monument to a great injustice.

On one hand, I can kindof see her point. It is a little odd to purposely and meticulously preserve the shitty motel where one of the greatest orators & civil rights leaders of the century was gunned down. I had to mull it over though, on the way home. I mean, it isn't completely unheard of to build museums or erect monuments commemorating the site of a great revolutionary's death. There are war memorials all over the South immortalizing great generals, prepared to go into battle, right where they were eventually slain.

But more importantly--and this is where I feel I get a little controversial--I feel like Dr. Martin Luther King's death was just as much a part of his career as his politicking and orating. I mean, it would be different to sanction off the patch of grass where someone like Ted Bundy died. But for a man like MLK, a man who made his career on preaching love, acceptance, equality, and peace: being killed by an act of ignorance and hate is... in a sick way, poetic. I mean, would his impact have been so immense if he had gracefully aged into the new millennium? I think standing in front of that small, frumpy, mint-green motel in the middle of what was a pretty undeveloped area of Memphis in 1968, seeing that tiny balcony, and realizing all that enormosity associated with MLK, his ideas and his philosophies, all ended in its human form with one tiny bullet, on that tiny balcony. It's... humbling. We as a species need visual explanation. When someone says that the national deficit is $11 trillion, I have no idea what that looks like. I don't even know what a thousand dollars looks like. If someone said a trillion dollars in one dollar bills in one hundred stacks measured as tall as the Statue of Liberty, I'd get it.

As sad as it is, 'martyr' is not a concept outgrown by mankind. We still need drastic examples to drill points home. Whether you're against black people or against white people, I bet you're against murder more.

Tibetan Monks visit Memphis

The monks of the Loseling Monastery are in Memphis for the week. Wednesday night, they had their opening ceremony where they sang, chanted, and played these badass instruments I've never seen before. There is a shrine to The Dalai Lama set up in the main gallery at Memphis College of Art, and a few feet away, a table on which the monks are carefully constructing a sand painting of a mandala. They are working 10AM-6PM Thursday, September 03-Saturday September 05 2009. The closing ceremony is on Sunday at 1PM. Also, Sunday, September 06 at 7PM, the monks are performing at the Shell in Overton Park.


[click to visit flickr set of the monks]