It’s March! March just may be my favorite month of the year. It’s the first month of the year when it’s pretty consistently warm enough to wear shorts most of the time, and it’s usually the first month of the year where I run the air conditioner more than the heater. I love air conditioning. It’s 67 outside and I can’t wait to get out there.
Only 8 more days until Daylight Saving Time.
Only 7 more weeks until Rajun Cajun Crawfish Fest.
Only 8 more weeks until Wine Race.
Only 2 1/2 months until BBQ Fest.
Only 3 months until Tube Top Month. Although, it’s perfectly acceptable to go ahead and start wearing tube tops now.
A new sports bar may be coming to Downtown. The Memphis Business Journal reports that Ozzie Smith, who has a sports bar in St. Louis, may be interested in opening one here. They are looking at the former Have a Nice Day Cafe space at Fourth and Beale, and also a spot near the Red Rooster. The MBJ article interviews one of the owners of Calhoun’s to ask if he is worried that another sports bar Downtown will cut into his business. He need not worry. I looked at the menu on Ozzie’s Sports Bar’s website and it is the kind of generic crap menu you find at Chili’s, Applebee’s and other restaurants that people who live in East Bumblefuck go to. As much as I respect Ozzie, I can’t see Downtowners who already know about Calhoun’s relocating to the new sports bar. Calhoun’s goes out of their way to make their customers feel like they’re at home. I spent a couple of hours there last night catching up with Mikey the Camera Nazi, Otto, and various others who popped in.
I had a female reader e-mail me with a request: “More pictures of Skippy please!” I have a video from August 2006 of him dancing at Sleep Out Louie’s… want me to upload that to YouTube and link to it?
I have heard from a credible source that the armed robbery that supposedly happened on Beale Saturday night, and which was reported in a Union City paper, is a hoax. What I’ve heard is that the dude got his ass kicked and made up the robbery story to try and look like less of a fool. Didn’t work.
Interesting site I found this morning, quite by accident: DateACougar.com. I bet Philip will be saving that one to his bookmarks. If you don’t know what a “cougar” is, this Wikipedia entry will explain it. Then again, if you live in Downtown Memphis, you don’t need a cougar dating website; just go sit at the bar at the South Main restaurant that has valet parking, I hear that place is the “cougar lounge.”
I tried the Red Rooster solo last night… I had previously only been with groups. The place was packed and everyone seemed to be having a great time. That place is going to make it. Unfortunately I was dead tired from staying out late the night before, so I didn’t talk or dance much. Left about 2:30 and walked up Second toward home… but I happened to walk up the street at exactly the time the people who closed the Saucer were walking out. “Paul, come have a drink with us at McGuinness!” they said. I wanted to go to sleep SO badly… but you know I’m not going to say no to a drink at McGuinness. So I hung out there until close, then the night was finally over.
Now it’s time for the beer report – a double beer report, since I didn’t do one yet for Thursday. Both Thursday and Friday nights I came in the Saucer after they started charging cover, and since I had my UFO card I didn’t have to pay.
Beer report for Thursday night:
Previous total: $392.25
Beers 73, 74 and 75 (but 69, 70, and 71 according to the Saucer):
St. Peter’s Ale $6.25
Pilsner Urquell draft $4.50
Red Stripe bottle $4.00
Tip: $14.75 x ~30% = $4.00
Unpaid cover due to UFO card $-3.00
Total: $15.75
Grand total: $408.00
Notes about Thursday night’s beers: St. Peter’s Ale is one of my favorites because it looks like it comes in a flask. I love to sit in the window and drink it and make the bums who walk by jealous. The Pilsner Urquell draft was a mistake, as I meant to save it for a Pint Nite. It printed on the UFO computer (“Beer-tron-a-ton”) receipt as a bottle; however, there are no Pilsner Urquell bottles at the Saucer. A good waitress would have noticed this and at least asked if I still wanted the beer. However, I didn’t have a good waitress that evening; I had my BFF. So she brought me the draft and told me to shut the f up when I protested. Red Stripe brings back good memories. When I was in college at Rhodes, we used to drive over to the beer distributor on Warford and buy cases of it for 8 bucks.
Friday’s beer report:
Previous total: $408.00
Beers 76, 77, and 78 (but 72, 73, and 74 according to the Saucer):
Flying Dog Doggie Style Fire Sale $2.75
Barbar Blonde $7.00
Miller Lite draft $3.25
Tip: $13.00 x ~30% = $4.00
Unpaid cover due to UFO card $-3.00
Total: $14.00
Grand total: $422.00
I highly, highly recommend the Barbar Blonde, a new bottle they have at the Saucer. It’s a Belgian style beer with hints of honey and orange peel, and it’s 8% alcohol.
Plans for today: As soon as I shower and get dressed, I’m going to go out and snap photos of bums. The gang is talking about watching the 3:00 Tiger game at someone’s condo, but that sounds boring so I’ll probably watch it at the Saucer and get my 3 beers for the day done. After that, don’t know.
(Edit: Forgot to hit Publish, so you’re getting this morning’s post at 8 at night. Sorry.)