Month: February 2009

Just saw on Facebook that ANOTHER restaurant Downtown, Sauces, is adding a Sunday brunch.  Wow Downtown is loaded with choices for brunch now.  Here’s a summary of the ones I know about:

– The Majestic Grille, of course, has Sunday brunch from 11 to 3.  They have $3 mimosas and Bloody Marys, and they have a special brunch menu with frittatas, steak & eggs, shrimp & grits, and “John D’s breakfast,” a traditional breakfast with eggs, bacon, grits, and biscuits.  Other choices too, and their lunch menu is available as well.  Glad to see other new brunches popping up, but the Majestic’s is still the gold standard.

– Automatic Slim’s has brunch from 10 to 4 Saturday and Sunday.  They have $2.50 mimosas and Bloody Marys, and some incredible items on their brunch menu.  My recommendations would be the omelet with jerk meat, the crawfish eggs benedict, and the Tonga Scramble (chorizo and eggs over hashbrowns with sirachi sauce).  My friend Air Traffic Mike says they’re the only place outside New Orleans that makes Eggs Sardou the right way.  I’ve been there four times now and have been very happy each time.  With Michael Patrick in the kitchen, you can’t go wrong.

– The Blue Monkey has a brunch as well, with steak and eggs, breakfast dishes including eggs benedict and such, and they have a few salads and burgers on there.  A couple of my friends are especially fond of their crawfish bisque.  Brunch runs 11 to 2 I believe, with discounts on mimosas and Bloody Marys, and I believe it’s also happy hour from 11 to 7.

– Circa recently started a brunch, on Sundays 11 to 3.  They have cocktail specials, French press coffee, beignets, a variety of egg dishes, crepes, entrees including petite filet of beef and poached salmon, and more.  John Bragg was voted “Best Chef” in last year’s Flyer poll, so you know it’s got to be good.  This is maybe slightly more expensive than the other brunches listed here (except the Peabody and TdB), but worth it.  Apologies to John for not having made it by to try his brunch yet… I feel especially bad about that considering he’s a sponsor of our BBQ team.  I’ll get by there some Sunday in the near future.

– Silly Goose is opening their doors at 11 AM on Sunday starting tomorrow.  They’ll have a “mix your own Bloody Mary” bar where you can choose from a variety of mixes and spices, to create exactly the Bloody Mary you want.  They’ll also have a hangover breakfast of eggs, waffles, sausage, and bacon for $6.  This is without a doubt the best value on the list.  Bloody Marys will be $3, mimosas as well.

– Just got on Facebook and saw that Sauces is now going to have a Sunday brunch (and soon Saturday too) from noon to 5.  $4 Bloody Marys and mimosas – not bad but not competitive with most of the other places listed here.  Menu sounds good, with eggs benedict, chorizo sausage balls, beignets, roast chicken hash, huevos rancheros and more.  I thought Sauces was changing its name to the Green Room?  The sign is still above the door, though, and they’re still referring to it as “Sauces” on Facebook.

– Then there are the hotel brunch buffets, the most lavish of which is of course the Peabody.  Worth trying at least once in your life for sure, but Downtown locals usually go to the other places listed here, mainly because it gets mighty expensive to spend upward of $40 to eat there every Sunday.

– Oh yeah… writing about brunches over $40 made me realize I forgot one – Texas de Brazil.  They have the best salad bar Downtown, and then gauchos bring cuts of meat to your table and carve them for you, all-you-can-eat style until you can’t take it any more.  They also have egg dishes, bacon, and other breakfast dishes on their salad bar during brunch hours.  You better be hungry if you do this one.  If TdB is in your plans, you should get on their website and get on their mailing list – they’ll sometimes e-mail you coupons for 2-for-1 brunches and other discounts.

The brunch crew has been alternating 2 weeks Majestic, 2 week’s Slim’s recently, but with so many new brunches popping up, I think I’m going to deviate from the group plan from now on, and go wherever I feel like going when I get up Sunday morning.  Can’t go wrong with any of these, and I’m sure I’ll know people at all of them.

Tomorrow, though, I’ve definitely got to try the Goose.  That Bloody Mary bar intrigues me.  I could have a whole lot of fun with that… the $6 hangover breakfast is easy on the wallet too.  We haven’t had a good brunch at a true locals’ bar in the Downtown core since Sleep Out Louie’s closed… if I like it I have a feeling that could be my destination of choice a lot of the time.

After brunch, some of the gang is going to a Buzztime NASCAR party at Calhoun’s with prizes… I’m sure it will be a great event for those into NASCAR, but for me, the existence of golf is the sole reason NASCAR isn’t the most boring sport on TV.  Unless the Saucer does something really stupid (examples: Turbo Dog on Fire Sale, re-hiring Meghan) I don’t see myself deviating from my usual post-brunch plans.  Calhoun’s is great but it doesn’t have the ambience the Saucer does.  And by “ambience” I mean “miniskirts.”

All right… gonna go eat lunch at Bardog, after hearing a strong recommendation for their new wings.  After that I’ll make my decision where to watch the Tiger game.

Last night our trivia team, The Rapscallions, had the 10th edition of our party where we cash in all our winnings for the past three months.  Here are a few pics of the team enjoying some free beer:

This time we went back to our old tradition of picking a waitress who we wanted to work the party.  For this one we picked Amber, pictured below in a rare photo of me taken with my own camera.  She did a great job and we were thrilled to have her.

After that, we moved on to Calhoun’s, needing to get in the vicinity of Earnestine & Hazel’s for the South Main Dirty Dozen party that was scheduled to start a little later in the evening.  All the crack boxes were in use, but after about 20 minutes I got one and began my usual domination of the Buzztime Trivia competition.

Okay gonna rant here for a minute… I CANNOT STAND IT when I’m playing Buzztime trivia, the person sitting next to me is not, and they keep “helpfully” trying to supply me with answers.  This drives me nuts for several reasons:

1) I want to win fair and square, on my own.

2) The person sitting next to me may not be supplying me with correct answers, which could mess up my score.

3) The person sitting next to me may be talking loud enough for other people in the bar to hear the answer.

This was a big problem at Sleep Out’s and it’s starting to become a problem at Calhoun’s… to people who do this, STOP!  Either get your own crack box and join the trivia game, or watch quietly and keep your answers to yourself.

Down the bar from me, my friends Shawn and Joe ordered Calhoun’s lunchroom pizza.  At the other end of the room, the Nuh-Uh Girl’s radar went off that someone had food.  She came over to eat off their plate:

Complete photo album (52 pics) here.

I played trivia until a little after midnight, and never made it to the Dirty Dozen party.  Those stupid crack boxes.  And stupid $1.50 PBR.  And the fact that we’d been drinking free beer at the Saucer didn’t help either.  Apologies to the Dirty Dozen hosts for not making it after I RSVPd.

So I rode the trolley home.  I want to say something here about the trolley driver.  At every stop he was announcing not only the name of the stop, but interesting things to do at each stop.  “Union Avenue.  Huey’s.  Peabody Hotel.”  “Monroe Avenue.  Bardog Tavern.”  The trolley drivers are often among the first locals visitors to Memphis encounter, and he made the city look like a million dollars.  Kudos.  He was driving the “540” trolley about midnight last night if anyone at MATA reads this.

Plans for today:  Will watch the Memphis Tigers game somewhere at 4 PM.  Not sure where.  Meeting up with some people later on for a celebration of being single on Valentine’s Day.  Should be a fun day.

Thompson & Co. asked me to judge a homemade dessert contest their employees had today at lunch.

So I had to sample 8 delicious desserts and pick a winner.  Sometimes it’s necessary to agree to do things like this for the good of the community.  After a lot of thought about the matter, I judged the chocolate pie to be the winner.  Here’s a pic of the cook, Katie, with her chocolate pie.

Katie was the employee who recruited me to be the judge, so there was some grumbling that the contest was rigged.  Let me assure you that wasn’t the case at all… it was a blind tasting with numbered entries.

As her prize, Katie got her picture posted on the refrigerator door… as you can tell, they spare no expense on lavish prizes for employee contests.

They asked if I wanted a to-go plate, and I already had a sugar rush going that felt like it could rocket me to the moon, especially considering I’d had no other food earlier in the day, and 2 Mountain Dews.  However, I realized that if my neighbor the Nuh-Uh Girl found out I could’ve brought her a plate and didn’t, I’d never hear the end of it.  So they wrapped up one of each dessert and I took them home.

On the way home I passed Willie N., one of Downtown’s street people who most likely holds the record for most incidents in which the Downtown safety patrol was called (and if he doesn’t, I’m sure he’s in the top five).  “That’s that dude who shut down panhandling.  Sissy ass white boy,” he said to the bum sitting on the bench next to him.  One of the safety patrol guys was about 30 feet away, watching him like a hawk.  Good job guys!  They’ve more or less shut Willie down.

Now I’m getting ready for tonight… and I have some extra money to spend tonight, because someone named VoteForTheChocolatePie@example.com stuck $25 in my www.Buy-Paul-a-Beer.net account!  Nice!

I have an early event at the Saucer, then I’m heading to a private party in South Main.  The last time they threw a version of this party, Saucer bartender Brittney showed up and bragged, “I HAVE A VIP INVITATION, PAUL.  I get free drinks all night.”  Um, that’s kind of what “open bar” means, they’re all VIP invitations.  Dumbass.  She’s not one to miss an opportunity to brag about how great she thinks she is, though.

I’ll be out and about on South Main tonight… perhaps I’ll see you there.

(just kidding about the beer donation)

Next week is the Red Rooster’s first anniversary, and they have big plans.

The Red Ball on the 19th is a big deal… it’s the annual fundraiser for the American Heart Association and they’re asking everyone to wear red.  I’ll try to stop by and support, although this looks like a conflict for me because the Dempseys play up the street at the Saucer.

Crawfish boil on Friday the 20th?  IN!!!!!  Who’s with me?  I love some crawfish and it’s just about the season for them.  $2 drinks sound good too.

As for the 21st, I’ve said it before… Aquanet is awesome.  If you like ’80s hair band music, you’ve got to see these guys.

Other stuff to blog about…

Safari World Tapas Bar was featured in this week’s Commercial Appeal food column.  I’ve been there for an SMA meeting but not yet for dinner… got to get in there soon, the menu sounds great.  The menu has influences from Thailand, Morocco, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and more.  Safari is at the Huling trolley stop on South Main, across from Jay Etkin’s gall

Next weekend is the Folk Alliance’s annual conference in Memphis, and there will be a Folk Artists’ showcase that is free to the public at the Center for Southern Folklore Friday and Saturday nights, February 20 and 21.  Shows start at 8 PM.  Friday’s lineup is Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart, Birmingham band Act of Congress, and Deering & Down.  Saturday they’ve got legendary New York African-American string band The Ebony Hillbillies, as well as Valerie June and Andy Cohen.  Admission is free, but guests are asked to bring two non-perishable food items for the Memphis Food Bank.

Outta here… time to go judge a dessert contest.  Life is good.

Big news from the Silly Goose this week:  They’re starting “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” with a Bloody Mary buffet.  They have to pour the liquor, of course, but you’ll be able to mix it as you like it with a selection of mixes, from house mix to low-sodium to clamato and more, and you’ll be able to make it as mild or spicy as you like.  Each Bloody Mary will cost only $3 and mimosas will be $3 as well.  There will also be a $6 “hangover breakfast” with scrambled eggs, bacon, waffles and sausage for $6.  Wow that’s a heck of a deal.  Good chance I’ll show up there Sunday.  Doors open at 11 AM.

Amazon is offering a free MP3 download of “Let’s Get it On” by Marvin Gaye for Valentine’s Day.  Click here to get it. It’s free through 11:59 PM on February 14.

I just want to remind everyone that my friends Pete and Josh have a clothing screen printing business that they operate out of Winfield’s at 2 S. Main.  They are local Downtowners and good people who will give you a fair deal.  If you need shirts, hats or other items for your BBQ Fest team or for an upcoming event, you can give Josh a call at 901-859-4190 or go by the store and ask for him.

Calhoun’s, the sports bar on G.E. Patterson next door to the Cheesecake Corner, has some new stuff going on.  They now have Buzztime Trivia tournaments on Tuesday, Buzztime Texas Hold ‘Em tournaments on Thursdays, and NASCAR stuff on Sundays, with gift certificate prizes for all three.  They’ve added a BBQ pulled pork sandwich and BBQ nachos to the menu.

So last night I went down there for the poker tournament (came in 4th) and then switched over to Buzztime Trivia, scoring 9,000 out of a possible 10,000 points on the first game.  Mikey, who was in second place, kept trying to find reasons for me to leave.  “Paul, I heard that there’s free beer at Bardog.  I heard that there’s free beer at the Flying Saucer.  I heard that you get a free car if you go anywhere but here.”  It didn’t work – I held on for the win and resurrected the trivia dance I used to do at Sleep Out’s.

Then the network rankings came on, showing how people playing at Calhoun’s did against players nationwide.  My network ranking?  NUMBER ONE BABY!!!!  There’s a certain arts writer who plays down there under the handle “skippy” who thinks he’s all that and a bag of chips because he’s won a few games at Calhoun’s when I haven’t been around.  But, Skippy, have you ever had #1 national rankings in Buzztime trivia games at TWO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS?  Didn’t think so.  You better be glad the Flying Saucer is so much closer to home for me than Calhoun’s, or I’d be dishing out trivia ass-whoopins’ to you on a regular basis.

Next weekend will be a big weekend at the Red Rooster… back later today with news about that.  I have a full day ahead of me… I get to judge a dessert-making contest at a local ad agency today.  Got two parties to attend tonight, one in the core and one in South Main, both of which I’m eagerly anticipating.  Going to be a good day!

Kacy and Suzy, the two ladies who helped me plan the TubeTopalooza party last year, asked me to give Delphinium a mention on my blog.  It’s a boutique in the South Main district, in the Arcade building just east of the restaurant on G.E. Patterson.  Here’s what Kacy had to say about Delphinium:

It’s SO NICE to have this downtown. I just wanted to make sure everyone knows that it actually exist. Girl stuff is always fun to read on your blog, since most of your post are extremely man friendly. It is like having a “Sephora” downtown! They carry bareMinerals and smashbox. PLUS they have great vintage jewelry and lots of fun accessories (purses, scarves,gloves, etc.)

I definitely want this place to stick around. Otherwise, you have to drive to Avenue Carriage Crossing or Wolfchase Mall for this stuff.

Also, ladies, while I have your attention, I’d like to ask your help with the Shopping Bloodhound site I launched this morning. I realize the clothing, shoe, and watch lines I carry on there right now are somewhat man-centric. I just don’t know which brands women love. Mainly I’m looking for stuff that either isn’t available locally, or which is cost-prohibitive from buying in boutiques and stores, but might not be on eBay.  If you can suggest brands shoot me an e-mail at paul@paulryburn.com.  It’s already been suggested that I add a purses/handbags section, and that is in the works, so suggestions on that category are welcome too.

If you’re a Memphis musician or part of the music scene, the Hard Rock Cafe and the Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission want you to come to their networking event, held every other Monday at the Hard Rock from 5:30 to 7:30 PM.  There will be complimentary appetizers, a lively atmosphere of discussion, and the chance to connect with others in the industry.  This is part of the Hard Rock’s “authenticity” theme:  They want to do more than just open a club and make money – they want to do their part to improve the music scene in the city.  Good for them.

Through Valentine’s Day there will be a discount in the National Ornamental Metal Museum store… 15% off for members and 10% off for non-members.  Bet you could pick up a unique gift there for your sweetie.

Cafe Soul is hosting an event called “Erotegy” Saturday night at 9 PM to celebrate Valentine’s Day.  Couples will learn to spice up their relationship with a sex toy demonstration, a sexy dance performance, live music, and poetry.

I’m suffering from a case of “the Brittneys” today, meaning I’m feeling extremely lazy, too lazy to compile a list of all the other V-Day events.  So instead I’ll refer you to this week’s Livin’ It Up in Downtown newsletter where you can see what’s going on.  Okay, I will mention one – the Spaghetti Warehouse is having a mystery dinner theater that night.  That’s something you don’t see down here too often.

Time to go spend my $5 gift certificate that I won from a Saucer beer quiz… if you’re in the UFO club and they don’t have your e-mail, you’re missing out on the chance to win these from time to time.  I’ll be at the Memphis Flyer Hotties party around 5:30ish or so.

I had lunch at Hard Rock on Beale yesterday… the management there contacted me and asked if they could buy me lunch and talk with me about the place.  Like many Downtown locals, Hard Rock simply hasn’t been on my radar the past several years – there’s a tendency to dismiss it as just a chain restaurant where only tourists go.  I have to admit, once I got in there I was surprised by a few things I learned:

– All their food is made from scratch in the kitchen, except for one very popular item (the spring rolls).  As a corporate chain I’d assumed all the food was shipped in pre-prepared.  That’s not the case, they told me.  I had the chicken mac & cheese and it was definitely from scratch and very good.  They said that’s why their food is slightly higher than other Beale restaurants – because they have to cover labor costs involved in preparing the food.

– When there’s a cover at the door for live events, it usually goes to charity.  When local management suggests an event to corporate, corporate will often come back to them with the response, “That’s great.  Now how can we partner with a charity and make this a win-win for both of us?”  Except for very special events, they try to keep their cover reasonable, no more than $5.

– Authenticity is one of their key values.  “If Jimmy Page came in here, we’d ask him to sign a guitar,” they told me, “but we couldn’t hang it on the wall.  We’d probably auction it for charity.  We couldn’t hang it on the wall because the guitar would have no significance.  The guitars and clothes and other items you see on the wall here were used for a particular tour, or with a special show the band did.”

– They showed me their upstairs area, which is the second-largest publicly viewable collection of Elvis memorabilia in the world (obviously the largest is Graceland).  They have a wedding picture which Priscilla came in and signed.  They even have Elvis’ garbage can, encrusted with jewels, from one of his California homes.

I was pleasantly surprised by the place and will go back.  They’re trying to be a locals’ destination for live music, so there should be some good shows there this year.  I invited them to send me details of upcoming events, and I’ll post them as they do.

I will make one criticism though:  Beer pricing.  They told me they had to fight with corporate to do a $3 special on pints of Coors Light.  If they want locals in there regularly, they need to understand that $3 Coors Light is hardly considered a “special” Downtown.  Reminds me, I need to get back and do the long version of the “why I hang out the places I do Downtown” post that I promised a couple of months ago.  “At least one value drinking option” is one of the things I look for, and that most Downtowners look for.  Hard Rock management:  Feel free to show this to corporate if it will help.

Overall though, I liked what I saw, and Hard Rock will be on my radar from now on.  Thanks to management for the lunch and the tour.

Tonight is the annual Memphis Flyer Hotties party, to celebrate the “Hotties” named in the annual Valentine’s Day issue.  It’s open to the public and will be at the Red Rooster from 5 to 8 PM tonight.  There’s no cover, there will be happy hour drink specials, and they’ll have free hors d’ouevres.  Free food… wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up?

Speaking of free food, thanks to the Flying Saucer, who put out a free buffet last night to thank its UFO members for their business.  There was bratwurst and sauerkraut, cheese and crackers, pasta salad, and enormous fruit and vegetable trays.  It was a very nice gesture that is much appreciated.  It was also Valentine’s “Buy the Beer, Keep the Glass” night, although I wasn’t fond of the slogan, “I love you more than beer.”  That’s just sacrilege.

At the Saucer, I watched the Memphis Tigers dominate Tulsa.  Tulsa scored a total of 37 points… that’s the kind of score that’s rarely been seen since the shot clock and the three were adopted.  Go Tiger defense!  I had conversations with two people about Tyreke Evans, one who said that Tyreke will definitely go pro after this year, and another who said that there’s no way Tyreke will go pro and he wouldn’t even be a first-round pick.  We shall see what happens… I am ready for March Madness to get here.

Meeting my BBQ team captain Chuck at the Center for Southern Folklore in a few minutes… it’s Thursday, which means it’s their Brown Bag concert series with lunchtime musical entertainment.  They don’t have the artist posted on their site, so I guess this one will be a surprise.

It’s time to roll out my newest website… Shopping Bloodhound.  The bloodhound tracks great deals on eBay’s auctions and “Buy It Now” sales for brands in clothing, shoes, and watches.

For clothing and shoes, I tried to list brands that are either hard to find locally, or that sell for extraordinarily high prices at local boutiques and can be found for a lot less on eBay.  Over the past year I’ve bought a few Robert Graham shirts, which sell for $198-238 locally, for $50-70 on eBay.

For watches, I tried to pick brands that are collectors’ items and whose offerings tend to change from year to year, and from clothing makers who also have watch lines.  About five years ago, I bought my current watch (pictured below) for $40 on eBay.  The retail price was $189, so it’s possible to save some considerable money.

I definitely plan on adding more brands to each category, and possibly expanding beyond shoes, clothing, and watches.  This is a site that will expand as the year goes on, so feel free to bookmark it and check back.

I got the idea for this site after adding some eBay links to Tube Top Boutique a couple of months ago.  In January they made me an extra $30.  Not exactly a down payment on a new condo, but it made me realize that an all-eBay site was worth building.

If you know of particular brands that you would like the bloodhound to track, shoot me an e-mail at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll see about adding them.

Back later today with news about Hard Rock, tonight’s Memphis Flyer Hotties Party, and more.

Here are my notes from last night’s South Main Association meeting:

– Meeting was at Earnestine & Hazel’s.  There were free Soul Burgers… I wanted one, but there were a lot of people in the room who’d never had a Soul Burger before, so I let them go first.  E&H has a new menu item, shrimp creole with salad and bread for $10.

– Joan Robinson came up and talked about the new SMA fundraiser.  She found a company called Funding Factory that recycles cell phones and inkjet and laser printer cartridges.  Every phone or cartridge received turns into points, which turns into money for SMA.  Being your phones and cartridges to the March 10 meeting at Circa.  She’s also trying to organize drop-off points around South Main; if you can help shoot an e-mail to info@southmainmemphis.net.  Larger businesses can also sponsor this project for South Main if they choose.

– Sherman Wilmott of Shangri-La Records/Projects came up to speak about a possible new music fest for South Main. The Shangri-La Pops Fest has happened for 3 years in Midtown, and now he’d like to bring it Downtown, to offer 3 hours of free music after the July 31 Trolley Tour.  Everyone agreed it’s a great idea.  The amount of music offered will depend on how much sponsorship money he can raise between now and then.

– Next up was Brian Paris with the Center for Southern Folklore.  They’re now opening at 8 AM and serving coffee, etc. to make up for the loss of Blues City Pastry down the street.

– Also, the Center now has free live music from noon to 1 PM every Thursday and Friday.  You can come down there and brown-bag it or eat the CSF’s food.

– Every two months or so they plan on having larger events where the audience can get up close and personal with the musician.  There will be a performance piece and an on-stage interview.  On February 14 they’ll have the first of these, Robin and Linda Williams.  The next one will be Big Sam’s Funky Nation from New Orleans in April.

-Mode du Jour is closing this month.  Friday 2/27 will be their goodbye party/sale at Trolley Tour.

– Major Sheffield of MPD came up.  He commands the South Main Station in Central Station.  Although the name of the station is “South Main,” the district he commands covers Crump on the south, the river on the west, Chelsea on the north, and Third and then Danny Thomas and then all the way to Watkins on the east.  He has 2 lieutenants and 20 patrolmen under him.

– Advice on panhandling from the major:  Look at them.  Most people look away and are easy targets.  If you look at them and give off an “I see you” vibe, they’re more likely to decide you’re street-smart and leave you alone.

– All the majors were asked to submit plans for their precincts, and among his plans he said, “I like to see officers on foot.  I like to see officers on bikes.”  That allows them to sneak up and catch vehicle burglars and aggressive panhandlers in the act.  GO MAJOR SHEFFIELD!  That’s something a lot of us have been saying down here for years.  Cops can’t truly know the problems of the community when all they do is cruise around in their cars at 25 mph.  On foot/bike weather permitting, of course.  It isn’t reasonable to expect them to be out on bike when it’s 35 and raining.

– The question was raised about calling the South Main Station (636-4099) vs. calling the main MPD number (545-COPS) for help.  Major Sheffield clarified that the South Main Station doesn’t dispatch.  If you want a car to come out on a call, call 545-COPS.  What the South Main Station can do is ask if there’s a car in the area than can run by the location you request.  He said that the person who answers the phone at South Main Station should never be rude when explaining this to callers, and if they are rude to ask for a lieutenant.

– An audience member complained of being woken up at 5 AM by two construction projects near Main and Jefferson.  She asked if there was a noise ordinance, and the major said yes.  He arranged to get details from her and said he would pass on the info.

– Mike King asked if dormant police cars – ones not in use – can be parked at strategic locations around South Main to give criminals the sense that the police are watching.  The major said that was possible and he’d look into it; however, once a car has just sat in the same spot for a couple of days, people tend to ignore it.

– The major is new to this precinct.  As such, he wasn’t totally familiar with South Main.  He quoted a crime that happened at 895 N. Claybrook, which may be in the same ward but is of little concern to South Main residents.  He also talked about generic topics like when and when not to call 911 that were perhaps a waste of time for a crowd as sophisticated as the SMA.  It would have been better if he’d brought a lieutenant who has worked the area for a while and is familiar with the unique set of circumstances in the neighborhood.  That said, I can tell the major is a good officer and good man, and will learn the neighborhood and respond.  He said he has an open door policy if there are concerns.

– The audience question and answer session in my opinion was a mess.  People were interrupting and asking 4 or 5 follow-up questions and there were people who had their hands up for 20 minutes who were being ignored.  I got tired of it after about 25 minutes and left to head to trivia.

– Mike King stayed and talked to the major about some of our repeat offenders.  I know he brought up Jumper Cable Guy specifically.  Let me clarify about JCG a little… if all he was doing was panhanding he wouldn’t be a big concern.  However, he’s been known to follow and threaten people who refuse him.  I’ve heard comments that people’s wives feel afraid to walk around their own neighborhood now, after encounters with JCG.  That’s the kind of thing that needs to be stopped.  It’s not just the panhandling.

– To his credit, the major said he was willing to stay until 10 PM and talk with audience members individually about their concerns.  As he said, “there are things I can talk about and things I can’t talk about,” but he definitely didn’t appear to be ducking audience members’ questions.  Once he gets acclimated to South Main he will be a real asset to the neighborhood.  Thanks to Major Sheffield for coming out.

– As I left, Deni from the Majestic Grille was trying to get the floor to make an announcement.  I think she was going to talk about the Gundlach Bundschu wine tasting Monday, February 23 from 6 to 8 PM.  $35 per person, 4 courses with matching wines.  Courses include Crispy Wonton with a spicy Tuna Tartare; Roasted Sea Scallop, white beans, smoked bacon and leek cream; Grilled Lamb chop; carrot puree, homemade apple jelly; and Chocolate Pot au Creme.  Call 522-8555 to make reservations.

– She probably also talked about their special Valentine’s Day menu, which includes Peppercorn Crusted Tuna Carpaccio, Lobster Bisque, Herb and Dijon Crusted Rack of Lamb, Filet Mignon Oscar, and Sauteed Black Grouper.  Regular menu will be available too and classic romance movies will be playing on their big screen.  Again, call 522-8555 to make reservations.  I’d be all about that Filet Mignon Oscar if I were going.  I can’t say it enough – Patrick cooks the best filet in the city.

After the meeting, I headed north to Tuesday night trivia, where the team took second place.  “You can have your choice,” the manger told us.  “A $25 gift certificate or 3 T-shirts.”  We don’t want no stinkin’ T-shirts!  We want beer money!  Afterward I wandered over to Kooky Canuck for to-go wings, then called it a night.

The Memphis Tigers play Tulsa, the team with the second best record in C-USA, tonight at the FedExForum.  Also, Mpact Memphis members, don’t forget the happy hour tonight at The Cove.

A correction to something I wrote in an earlier post:  The FedExForum didn’t sell out 3 times in 3 days – it sold out 3 times in 26 hours.  AC/DC, the Tiger day game the next day, and then the Grizzlies game that night were all sellouts.  Congrats to the Forum on a very successful 2009 so far.

Don’t forget the South Main Association meeting tonight at Earnestine & Hazel’s.  Free for members, $5 for non-members, and it will be an important one because the topic is crime in South Main and an MPD major will speak.  If there is a question-and-answer session afterward, I plan on asking if anything can be done about Jumper Cable Guy, who is in the area running his scam on almost a daily basis.  Program starts at 7:00.  I’ve heard times of both 6:00 and 6:30 (not sure which is correct) for social hour prior to the meeting.  Free Soul Burgers.

If you’re a member of Mpact Memphis, don’t miss their happy hour tomorrow night at The Cove, on Broad a block or two east of Hollywood.  The Cove is a very cool little bar, the kind of place that existed in the ’50s… best way I can describe it is a very classy dive bar, with a nautical theme.  Downtowners – if you like Bardog you’ll probably like the Cove as well.

Thursday night is the Memphis Flyer’s annual “Hotties” party at the Red Rooster.  This is the party to celebrate their annual list of Memphis “hotties” (male and female) that they pick for their Valentine’s Week edition.  I don’t think they can possibly have a Hotties cover that is more talked about Downtown than the one they ran last year.

Amazon has released the newest version of their electronic reading device, the Kindle 2: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device (Latest Generation).  It’s thinner, has more storage, battery life is improved, the page-turning mechanism has been improved, and it has a new “read-to-me” feature that reads your book to you in an electronic voice.  Downloading books via Kindle tends to be considerably cheaper than paying for hardcover or paperback, so if you read a lot the Kindle may end up paying for itself.

New Restaurant.com discount code: Enter TREAT at checkout for 60% off. That means their $25 face-value gift certificates good at many Downtown restaurants, normally $10, can now be had for $4. They’re also throwing in a $15 FTD reward with purchase. Good through Sunday, February 15.

Go Tigers!  #8 AP, #10 ESPN.  A 2-seed in the NCAA tournament is looking more and more likely.   The way we’ve been playing with Tyreke Evans at point guard, I think we could go toe-to-toe against any 1-seed in a regional final.

Outta here, time to do some work, will be at trivia tonight after the SMA meeting.  Hmmm… it’s supposed to rain tonight… getting to E&H and then back to the Saucer is going to SUCK.  Oh well, I’ll deal with it somehow.