By Paul Crum

Supporters of Grow Memphis know the appeal of fresh, locally grown food, and those who attended the Garden Party benefit on Oct. 26 seemed to appreciate the creative recipes crafted by participating vendors and chefs.

“I can’t say enough about how wonderful it was to work with Stone Soup,” said Grow Memphis Executive Director Chris Peterson, speaking of the Cooper Young café and market that opened their doors to host the event.

Manager Troy Norwood said that he and owner/chef Sharron Johnson were happy to oblige.

“We are so pleased to work with Grow Memphis for their fundraiser this evening,” he said. “We are totally on board with the things they are doing to promote growing fresh food in Memphis.”

Grow Memphis was founded by the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center in 2007 and was modeled after community garden projects that had sprung up in Orange Mound as a way of producing healthy food in the vacant lots that abound in blighted neighborhoods.

By Melissa Wray

University of Memphis sophomore Brad Karel admits he lost interest in theater upon graduating from high school.

When he did an internship in Disneyworld’s entertainment department after backing out of studying aviation, he said that the opportunity to perform in front of thousands of people “rekindled the fire in my heart” for theater.

“After the internship, I applied for the U of M and was instantly accepted,” he said. “Ever since I’ve been here, it’s been a great experience for me. I’m blessed to be getting so many roles.”

In the November 7 premiere of Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up, Karel, who plays the role of Eddie Ryan, said there are some similarities between himself and the play’s protagonist.

“Eddie’s a very shy guy,” he explained. “He didn’t do a whole lot or succeed when he was a kid, and he reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger. I was also one of those kids that didn’t do a lot while in school; everything I did do was outside of the school environment, at my church and with my family and whatnot.”

And when it comes to school in general, Karel said that he “never really clicked with it” until his sophomore year in high school, which is a sentiment that can be found in Eddie’s inability to make friends until the moment he begins high school.

Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up is originally the second book in a trilogy written by the late John Powers in 1975, chronicling his Catholic upbringing from childhood to adulthood. The main storyline revolves around Eddie and seven of his friends as they navigate the various obstacles young people face, such as falling in and out of love for the first time, sex education, and trying to find acceptance amongst their peers, all within the boundaries of their Catholic private school in the 1950s.

In her February 2013 obituary for the Sun Times, staff reporter Maureen O’Donnell wrote that the “black patent leather shoes” title was a reference to a warning to young Catholic girls from their nuns, reminding them that the reflective patent leather of their shoes had an effect on the teenage male’s libido.

When asked about the relationship between the obstacles Eddie and his friends face and what modern-day college students endure, third-year graduate student and director Randall Stevens said that the plotline is something anyone can relate to—regardless of socioeconomic statuses or demographics.

“Everybody relates to the issues of just growing up,” he said. “I think now that we’re in college, we can look back on the things we did as children and realize that now you have some perspective in life.”

Older and younger audience members can also benefit from seeing the play, Karel said.

“For older audience members, I hope this play will allow them to get in touch with memories from their past,” he said. “As for younger audience members, it’s an entertaining show, and the cast and crew are amazing.”

Bob Feldheim, correspondent for Compass Magazine, the arts and entertainment publication for the St. Augustine Record, mirrored Stevens’ sentiment about the play in his June 2013 review.

“Suddenly, the realization: These ‘kids’ who we’ve watched flower into young adults are—have always been—young adults,” Feldheim wrote in reference to the children’s mental and emotional maturing.

As far as people of diverse religious backgrounds are concerned, Stevens believes people will enjoy Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up, no matter what religion they practice.

“Now, if you did grow up Catholic, there will be some things that will seem familiar to you, especially if you grew up Catholic in the 1950s,” he said.

By Erica Holmes

Cuarteto Casals impressed audience members on opening night of the Harris Concert Hall, a music series created by Concerts International and ArtsMemphis.

They are a four-piece string quartet from Spain known as the first Spanish string quartet with an impressive international profile, including receiving the Premio Nacional de Musica and the Premi Cituat Barcelona. The quartet even accompanies the King of Spain on diplomatic visits on occasion.

The concert series will run from Tuesday Oct. 22, 2013 until Tuesday April 3, 2014 and will feature a wide variety of musical performances and genres, including a family of Armenian guitar virtuosos.

Members of the quartet are not only playing in Memphis on their two-week U.S. tour – they will play for a sold-out audience at the Library of Congress on Thursday Oct. 24, 2013.

The organization is encouraging students to attend future performances by offering a limited number of free tickets to students at University of Memphis and admission for students from other Universities is only $10 per ticket. Show tickets are available at the info desk in the University Center or at the box office in the Music Building. 

By Hassan Allawi

Crime has challenged the University District for a long time. The area outlined by Poplar Avenue from the north and Park Avenue from the south and Goodlett Street from the east and Greer Street from the west has witnessed an average of three robberies, 15 burglaries, and scores of other crimes each month since January.

By Melissa Wray

In this 4:42 interview, James Sexton, manager of the smoke shop Whatever, elaborates on how it got started, what he loves about running a "questionable" business and the perks of operating his business in an area full of people from differing backgrounds.

By Jasmine Deener

A little after noon, tables and refreshments were set up in the Meeman Journalism Building lobby as the Journalism Department set up  for its open house.

“The main thing for open house is today is to get students who wouldn’t normally have access to this building, to get them talking to people who are working in the field, get them talking to people who are studying  Journalism,” said senior Taylor Smith, 21.

Smith, the managing editor for The Daily Helmsman, the campus newspaper, was there is a liaison for the paper. At her table, there was candy, an application to be on the next year’s newspaper staff and an example of how editing a paper works. Visitors to her table, especially ones showing interest in becoming members of the newspaper staff were welcomed and given specific instructions for applying.

The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) had a display for their organization as well, with pamphlets available to take home. Ashley Deering, the organization's Treasurer, was there to greet students and inform them of all the perks of becoming a member.

By Matthew Schwartz

Hot dogs have been a staple in American diets for nearly 150 years.

People typically associate the hot dog with a sporting event, street vendor or somewhere on Coney Island. But Memphis, and in particular the University District, now has its own great venue.

Blues City Hot Dogs, located on 669 Highland St. in the heart of the Highland Strip, is a relatively new restaurant in the area, opening its in June 2013.

Iman Rasoul and his family run the day-to-day operations of the restaurant.

By Natalie Cole

The best things in life can often be the hardest to come by and just the same, the Tiger Bike shop is one of those things. Nestled behind the front parking lot on Southern Avenue at the end of campus and a parking lot adjacent to the Rec Center is one of the University's newest “green” programs.

Each semester the student body at the University of Memphis pays a required $10 green fee, which boasts a multitude of environmentally friendly programs on campus and in the surrounding neighborhoods. The Tiger Bike program began March 2013 with the goal of allowing students access to a cost-efficient, eco-friendly means of transportation as well as health promotional implementation for exercise.

Along with providing students a means to meet the “Memphis Healthy U” recommendation for “daily exercise for good health,” it directly corresponds with the local government’s endeavors to “provide bike lanes along city streets and to build greenlines and other trails that connect parks and recreational areas throughout the city and the county," according to the U of M's website regarding the program.

"There are so many students who live within a two-mile radius of campus and don't have to drive their car to campus," said Amelia Mayahi, sustainability coordinator for the U of M. "They can ride their bike and go straight to the door where their classes are. And we also have a parking issue on our campus. I think this [program] could help with the limited amount of parking spaces.”

In its initial semester, the program did not get much student traffic, said Arthur Johnson, Tiger Bike shop coordinator. But this semester has shown more promise.

“In our opening semester we rented, maybe, six or seven bikes total," Johnson said. "Okay, maybe ten. Within two weeks of the opening of this semester, however, every single one of the Tiger Bikes was spoken for and remain so to this day.”

The U of M is proud to be amongst some of the top universities with sustainability programs. Before launching the Tiger Bike program, Mayahi visited universities such as Ole' Miss and Rhodes who have similar programs to do research and gauge their effectiveness.

By Margot Pera

Halloween weekend will be an extravaganza to remember for Ben Jenkins, a University of Memphis math graduate student and techno DJ.

Jenkins will begin his party binge Thursday, Oct. 31, at Mollie Fontaine Lounge and end at Mollies on Saturday around 3 a.m.

Jenkins began his DJ vocation in 2008 after seeing some electronic music DJs play live at Voodoo Festival in New Orleans.

“I went to Voodoo fest to see Rage Against the Machine, and I saw a couple of DJs there and kind of liked it,” Jenkins said. “My friends and I started researching electronic music and eventually I started discovering a bunch of underground artists I really liked.”

 Jenkins’ favorite type of techno music is house, which he says has a softer melody than other derivatives like dubstep and trance.

“All of the electro genres, dubstep, trance, house, are derived from techno, which originated from disco,” Jenkins said. “Trance has a faster tempo and uplifting chords, and dubstep is basically a meditation on base.”

By Grant Milner

With three-year starter Paulo Henriques graduating following the 2012 season, Memphis was in search of a kicker. It’s safe to say they found one.

Freshman Jake Elliott connected on his first 11 field goal attempts of his career, with his first miss coming last Saturday against Southern Methodist University.

“The first kick was definitely nerve wracking,” Elliott said. “I adjusted and I just block everything out and it feels like a high school game. I hope they have the confidence to send me out whenever they want. I’ll be up for it and I’ll be ready.”

Elliott took a different route to a college scholarship than most Division I athletes. He didn’t start playing football until his junior year of high school and was more focused on tennis. He had friends who played on the football team who informed the coaches that their search for a kicker needed to end with Elliott.

“I went to practice and kicked a few, and he told me to come back tomorrow if you want,” Elliott explained. “I thought it over, decided to come back and it turned out pretty good. It just came naturally to me.”