Blog in transition: Halfway there

As you can see, I’ve moved some stuff around on my blog, and added sections for people planning to visit Downtown Memphis, local news, and links I like.

Mikey is going to be slightly annoyed that people now have to scroll to see the Residents for a Safer Downtown Memphis link.

My mother is going to be delighted that I now have a permanent link from my blog to her page.

As I said earlier, I still have a Shopping section to add, but I’m going to hold off on that until tomorrow. I’ve been at the Second Street branch office all afternoon and have been drinking beer and have reached the point where I don’t want to mess with my blog’s template any more today. The good news is, I had a business meeting up here, so someone other than me paid for all the beer I drank up until 4 PM. The Hogs are playing LSU (and winning) on one of the new LCD TVs, and the USA is playing Denmark in soccer on the other. It’s been a good day.

One question I had to answer was, should I place Thaddeus Matthews’ blog under Local News or under Links I Like? On one hand, much of what he writes is opinion, and I agree that his spelling and grammar undermine his credibility. A couple of days ago he reported that someone he’s trying to track down was “having surgery in the hospitable” and I nearly died laughing (he’s since corrected it). On the other hand, he’s doing the investigative journalism that the Commercial Appeal should be doing, but they don’t because they are understaffed, or underfunded, or lazy, or afraid of the people they should be investigating, or buddies with the people they should be investigating, or whatever the problem is, I don’t know. Thad’s uncovering a lot of shit that needs to be brought into the light of day, and I think he’s going to win some kind of journalistic prize for his efforts before all is said and done. For that reason, I consider him a news source. I know a lot of people may disagree, and that’s fine.

Plans for tonight: I have no idea. FreeWorld is playing at the Saucer at 9:30, so that’s one option. For now I need to shut down the laptop and go drink about a gallon of water to rehydrate for this evening. Have a good night, and look for more changes to this blog tomorrow.

Blog in transition this weekend

If you view this blog today or tomorrow, things may seem out of place. It’s only temporary… I’m rearranging in order to provide more information, more to see.

Everything in the left menu pane except “Weather” will be moved to the right menu pane. Then, this weekend I’ll be adding local news, a brief orientation for people traveling to Downtown Memphis, a shopping section, and a list of links I like.

I’ll be heading up to the Second Street branch office shortly to begin work on it, and for a business meeting at 2 for a consulting project I’m working on. I expect to have everything but the Shopping section done today; if all goes well I’ll have the Shopping section up tomorrow.

The overall look and feel of the blog won’t change, nor will the content of the posts.

Time to get started… have a great weekend everybody.

Attn downtowners planning to attend Memphis in May this year

This morning I made my morning walk to the Walgreens at Main and Madison to get caffeine. As I checked out, I noticed they were selling disposable raincoats for 99 cents – they’re right next to the front register. If you plan on going to any of the Memphis in May events this year, it would probably be a real good idea to pick up a couple of those. They’re small enough to fit in a pocket or purse.

See, even though I quit my “Deal of the Week” column over at the CA, I’m still not done finding Deals. Not by a long shot. Consider that a hint of things to come.

House of Mews update

From the Commercial Appeal: House of Mews at the corner of Cooper and Young is not being displaced by Burke’s Books; Burke’s is moving into the space just north of their location. House of Mews is being displaced because planned improvements to the building will put the rent out of reach. The landlords donated $10,000 to their nonprofit organization. Good for them!

However, House of Mews still needs

1) People to adopt their cats, or even provide temporary homes during the move;

2) Monetary donations;

3) Help finding a location in a high-traffic spot, where the kitties in the window will convince people to come in.

If you want to help, you can contact them via their website.

Friday update: tube top pulled down, new fair, biography, and more

– This weekend I’m going to find out how good a judge of character I am. Last night I walked to Walgreens about 7:30. One of the local street people, who speaks whenever he sees me and has always seemed like a nice guy, called me over. “Hey man, I really need your help,” he said. “I need six dollars to be able to pay my rent. Please, man. PLEASE. It’s freezing outside.” I looked into his eyes, and I didn’t see the facial expressions and body language of a bum trying to “hustle” me. I saw the look of someone who was really suffering and needed help.

So I pulled a 5 and a 1 out of my wallet and handed them to him. I NEVER give money to panhandlers but this time, it just seemed like an exception needed to be made. Plus, in all the time I’ve seen this guy, I’ve never seen him on drugs or excessively drunk. I’ve seen him drink a beer, but then, how many people have seen me drink a beer?

I honestly didn’t expect to ever see the $6 again, but he said over and over, “Thank you. I’m gonna get it back to you this weekend. Promise. Thank you.”

So we’ll see if I get it back. I’ve developed a pretty good sense of people over the past few years. I think he’s honest. We’ll see if I’m right.

– Been getting a lot of hits on my blog today from people searching on the phrase “tube top pulled down.” I did a little searching of my own and found that it was a result of this article about Port of Seattle officers sending inappropriate material in their e-mail, including a video of a stranger yanking a woman’s tube top down. Unfortunately I don’t have the video itself. If anyone has a link to the video please share.

And just remember folks, 4 months and 12 days and we’ll be celebrating Tube Top Month again, right here in this very blog.

Reason #147861 why I don’t hang out in Cordova: A band called Get U Some will be performing at the Cordova TJ Mulligan’s tomorrow night. I have a feeling that a significant percentage of the crowd that turns up to hear Get U Some will have also come downtown earlier in the weekend to see the Monster Truck Jam at the FedExForum.

– In the news today: There’s going to be a new fair competing with the Mid-South Fair this year. The Delta Fair and Music Fest will be held at the Agricenter out in East Bumblefuck, and it will take place September 21-30. The organizer said he put the event together because he doesn’t feel safe letting his daughter go to the Mid-South Fair. I really don’t like this… Memphis being the racially polarized city that it is, I worry that the Delta Fair (if it survives) will be seen as “the white fair” and the Mid-South Fair (if it survives) as “the black fair” within a few years. I hope I’m wrong, because we don’t need more racial division in the city. Since both events go on for 10 days, I guess it really doesn’t have to be an either/or thing; fair fans can go to both.

– Currently reading T.R.: The Last Romantic by H.W. Brands. Just starting the book, but I already find a lot in Teddy Roosevelt to be admired. A quote on the back of the book says it all – to paraphrase, he didn’t like who he was as a child (timid and frail), so he created a new character for himself (strong, full of energy, bold) and lived it and eventually became that character. Create yourself. That’s a great motto.

That’ll do it for now. Not sure what I’m getting into tonight. I hear Bobby Durango, Crash Kole, and Smokin’ Lemon will be playing Sleep Out Louie’s, so that’s an option. Will probably stop by the Saucer to see my waitresses at some point too. I’ll just see where the evening takes me. Have a good night everyone!

Here’s a good deal I found: save money at Memphis restaurants

This weekend I plan to overhaul this blog, adding several new sections of links in order to make this site more useful to readers. One thing I plan on adding is a “Shopping” section. While I was finding businesses to add to “Shopping,” I came across an offer that is so good that I wanted to go ahead and mention it now.

It’s a site that sells gift certificates for popular restaurants: You can buy a $25 gift certificate to the restaurant for $10 (usually; for a few restaurants it’s $12.50 or some other amount). The certificate generally must be used on a purchase of $35 or more, so the restaurant makes a little money and you save some money. Some restaurants offer other amounts, like a $10 gift certificate for $3.

A LOT of restaurants in Memphis are part of this program. In Downtown Memphis, Big Foot Lodge, Blue Plate Cafe, Dan McGuinness Pub, the Gibson Lounge, Silky O’Sullivan’s, Stella, and Superior Bar are participating.

Some of the most recognizable restaurant names in other parts of the city show up as well: Bhan Thai, Cafe Ole, Caspian Persian Grill and Bar, Grove Grill, Hephzibah, Jim’s Place East, Lulu Grille, Mantia’s, Molly’s La Casita, Napa Cafe, Pig-n-Whistle and over 60 more.

Here’s the best part – when I was checking out their site, I noticed they were offering the certificates at 50% off through the 21st, when you enter a promotional code at checkout. So that would price the $25 certificates at $5, the $10 certificates at $1.50. Not bad!

One catch: The certificate is redeemable for food purchases only (no alcohol) at most of these restaurants – so the high-dollar certificates are probably something you’d want to redeem as a group. (Except for places like Stella, where you can easily run up a $25 food tab by yourself)

To get a deal on the certificates, click the link and follow the instructions below:

Make magic happen and save on dinner tonight! Save 50% on Dining Certificates! Use code MAGIC at checkout. Offer valid through 1/21/07.

There are plenty of restaurants nationwide in the program, so if you’re reading this from a location other than Memphis, it’s still worth checking out.

I really, really, really hope to have the new version of the blog up by this weekend at the latest (to the point where I’ll skip Sunday brunch at Sleep Out’s if it isn’t done). There are going to be some cool links for Downtowners, and also a section for people who are thinking of visiting Downtown and find my blog on the search engines. Hopefully you’ll find it useful. Back to work, have a good afternoon!

Question: Memphis City Council on TV?

When I was growing up in Little Rock, the city council meetings (over there I think it was called Little Rock Board of Directors or something slightly different) were broadcast live on one of the public-access cable channels.

Does anyone know if the meetings of the Memphis City Council are broadcast on public-access cable TV, and if so what channel and time? If they are broadcast, I’m going to start setting my DVR. I’m sure the meetings would be among the most entertaining shows on television, considering that the City Council has more clowns than Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey.

In today’s news: Councilman Edmund Ford, facing federal bribery charges, throws a tantrum because the Council’s chairperson didn’t appoint him to head any committees. Meanwhile, Councilman and Beale Street Merchants Association president Rickey Peete pleads not guilty to his federal bribery charges. I can’t wait to see what Thaddeus Matthews has to say about all this.

Cat lovers: House of Mews needs your help

This morning there was a story in the Commercial Appeal about Burke’s Books upcoming move. The bookstore will be moving to a location that will include 944 S. Cooper, the current home of House of Mews. This is definitely good news for Burke’s, which has experienced financial trouble in recent years. Having a storefront with heavy foot traffic may be just what is needed to save their business.

However, this is not such good news for House of Mews, an organization that has found homes for 7,000 homeless cats over the past 11 years. They found that their rent was being raised from $1,000 to $3,000 and they’re forced to vacate by March 1.

I remember going to visit House of Mews one Saturday when my mother was in town visiting. We walked in the front door and half a dozen cats came running up to greet us. As I reached down to pet one, another was so happy to see me that he jumped on my back and had to be lifted off. There were about 100 cats in the shop, including a pen full of cats who had lived their lives in the wild and were gradually being conditioned to human contact. Most of those kitties would likely have been put to sleep if House of Mews had not existed.

The owner of the building says he has found House of Mews “equivalent space” in a building at Central and Philadelphia. That “equivalent space” quote is the biggest load of BS I’ve heard in a long time. It may be the same square footage, but it isn’t in a high foot-traffic area. House of Mews survived all these years because people were walking by on their way to Dish, Blue Fish, Casablanca, Cafe Ole, etc. and saw the adorable kitties in the window and went in. That’s how I discovered it. Take away that foot traffic and their business – and community awareness of House of Mews – will dwindle.

So it sounds like House of Mews needs

1) People to adopt the cats, or even provide temporary housing for them during the transition;

2) Donations to help them stay afloat;

3) Retail space which is in a well-traveled commercial area.

Anyone who wants to help them can contact them through their web site.

Here’s a link to this morning’s Commercial Appeal article on Burke’s/House of Mews.

"The Grey Goose… got the girl feelin loose"

One of the advantages of having a blog is that you have readers. And sometimes your readers help you out in unexpected ways.

Earlier this week I checked out the MySpace page of one of my regular blog readers who e-mailed me a couple of times. Her headline read: “The Grey Goose… got the girl feelin loose.”

Well, tonight for some reason her MySpace page came to mind… and it made me think, hey, you know what? I bought a bottle of Grey Goose vodka back in May. I stuck it in the refrigerator and promptly forgot about it.

I thought to myself, I wonder if it’s still there?

So, when I got home tonight, I opened the refrigerator, and there it was. Stuffed in a dark back corner behind the empty pizza boxes from September. It’s like finding money in the pockets of your coat. Only not money, but alcohol.

You know I ain’t missing no damn pigeon question

Tonight the Rapscallions took second place in team trivia, earning a $25 gift certificate and bringing our total to $225.

One of the questions: What do restaurant menus call a pigeon that is not old enough to fly?

As a downtowner, you know I ain’t missing no damn pigeon question!

Correct answer: Squab.

Although, now that I think about it… restaurants serving pigeon on the menu, that’s just gross.