Month: March 2009

I just accepted a job offer with a non-profit company here in Memphis.  It’s exactly what I’ve been looking to do.  The job title is Webmaster, but I won’t be sitting at a computer 8 hours a day banging out code.  The position is not in the IT department but is under the Director of Marketing.  I’ll be building websites, but they have a web programmer to do the heavy coding, and a sysadmin to maintain the server.  The Director of Marketing is looking for me to suggest ways to make the existing site more user-friendly, to suggest new site ideas to broaden the organization’s audience, and to create a content management system to allow nontechnical people to upload site content.  Months ago I said that I wanted to get into marketing, and now it looks like I’m going to have that chance.

The Director of Marketing has to go out of town for a conference for over a week, so most likely my start date won’t be until Monday, March 23.  Needless to say that is just fine with me… two more weeks to finish up my freelance work, play poker online, and stay out late at the neighborhood hangouts.

Trying to throw two days off for BBQ Fest into the negotiations… we’ll see.

The offer confirms what I’ve been saying all along… that when one is job hunting, one should not take the first position that comes along, but instead wait for the right position to appear.

So this weekend I’m celebrating… no idea what I’ll be getting into tonight, other than stopping by the Tap Room at some point to wish a friend a happy birthday.  I’ll definitely be out and about though!

Just heard from Chef Clint at Orleans on Front… the beer board has approved permits for them to do crawfish boils in the parking lot Sunday afternoon, March 15 and March 29.  These are going to be big parties with musical entertainment (he’s lining that up now, details to come).  March 15 is Selection Sunday for the NCAA tournament and you’ll be able to move back and forth between the parking lot and the Orleans and Voodoo Room bars, both of which are equipped with TVs.  He’s still deciding on a start time, but last I heard, he was thinking around 4 PM.

Orleans is, as the name suggests, on Front Street between Union and Gayoso, approximately across the street from the Butcher Shop.

Save the dates!  These should be fun.  If they go well, there will be three more crawfish boils in April.

The Zodiac Ball, the 4th annual gala fundraiser for the American Cancer Society, will be held Saturday night, March 28, at the Peabody Hotel at 6:30 PM.  Dr. Thomas Chesney will be honored for his unrelenting fight against cancer here in Memphis.  There will be music by the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies, and guests will be invited to participate in silent and live auctions and a “Baubles and Bubbles” 1-carot diamond giveaway.  Funds raised will be used to support the Society’s mission to eliminate cancer as a major health problem through research, education, advocacy, and service.

Individual tickets are $250 per person.  Go here to purchase them, or contact Christine Freeman at 901-278-2091.

My love/hate relationship with the Mid-South Peace & Justice Center continues.  They and I will probably never see eye to eye on the issue of panhandling.  However, they sent me the e-mail below, about an attempt in the Tennessee Legislature to reverse the living-wage law that ensures Memphis and Shelby County employees a decent living.  Thousands of people could see their standard of living reduced if this is allowed to pass.  On this issue I’m 100% in agreement with the MSPJC.  Please read the letter below, and if so inclined, take the suggested action.

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It is urgent that you take a minute to email or call your state senator about Senate Bill 83. This legislation, which has passed out of committee and could be voted on the Senate floor THIS WEEK, forbids local governments from setting wages higher than the minimum wage. That means it will overturn the living wage ordinances we worked so hard to get passed in the Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Commission, and it will keep other communities across the state from passing living wage ordinances. It will also overturn the prevailing wage ordinance passed by the City Council. This will mean lower wages for thousands of workers in a time when so many families are already in crisis. It is also a disturbing interference into local government affairs by our state legislature.

This type of legislation has been introduced for many years in the state legislature, but this is the first time since 2003 that it has passed out of committee. Our current legislature is more hostile to workers than it has been in past years, so your action is urgently needed to stop this bill.

Call or email your state senator TODAY or TOMORROW. To find out who your senator is, and his/her contact information, go to State Senate and type in your street address and city under “Find My Senator.” Right now, only calls to senators, not representatives, are needed. If you have trouble with this feature, call Rebekah at WIN at (901) 332-3570 or email rebekah@workersinterfaithnetwork.org with your full home street address and she will look up the information for you.

Sample message:
This is ________ and I live in your district. I am calling to urge you to vote NO on Senate Bill 83. This legislation takes away control from local governments and will overturn the living wage ordinances passed by the Memphis City Council and the Shelby County Commission. Especially in a time of economic crisis, the state legislature should not act to lower workers’ wages.

If you email, be sure to include your full home address to show that you live in your senator’s district.

The Silly Goose is the latest business to be affected by what some people are now calling the second Great Depression.  In particular, it has affected their drink prices.  Every Monday from 5 to 7 PM, they’re going to offer classic cocktails (Manhattan, Rob Roy, Old Fashioned, etc.) at Depression-era prices – they’re going to sell them for a DOLLAR.  Wow.  Looks like I won’t be showing up for Pint Nite at the Saucer until 7 from now on.

In other economic news… FedEx Office (formerly Kinko’s) will print your resume for free next Tuesday.  Bring them your resume in printed or digital format, and they will print up to 25 black-and-white copies on resume-quality paper, a $5 to $10 value.  For Downtowners, there’s a FedExOffice in the Peabody Hotel, at Third and Union.

Yesterday I blogged about the Tonga Lounge with DJ Mark Anderson every Saturday at Automatic Slim’s, starting this Saturday.  I’ve since heard that this Saturday is a grand opening private party and you have to have a ticket.  So if you can’t get in this Saturday, no worries, you can go Saturday the 14th or after that.

Kooky Canuck takes its Kookamonga Challenge to the RiverKings at the DeSoto Civic Center Saturday, March 14 and 21.  Participants from the audience will be selected to try and finish the 7 lb. Kookamonga burger in under an hour.  You’ll also be able to bet on which participant you think will win, with proceeds from the betting to benefit St. Jude.

Check back later today for info on a gala fundraiser to benefit the American Cancer Society.

The South Main Association will hold its next meeting at Circa on Tuesday, March 10.  The theme will be “Justice for Tennessee” and the featured speaker will be TN Supreme Court Chief Justice Janice Holder.  Meeting starts at 6 PM; usually there is a half hour or so of socializing before the program starts.  Complimentary appetizers, and $2 wine and beer.  Free for SMA members, $5 for non-members.  Don’t forget to bring old cell phones and ink cartridges for the SMA’s recycling fundraising program.

New promo code for Restaurant.com gift certificates: Enter CHEF at checkout to save 50%. That means you can buy $25 face-value certificates, which normally sell for $10, for only $5. Many Memphis-area restaurants take these. Click here to search for your favorite restaurant.

Now and then people e-mail me questions about how to use social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to promote a business.  Here’s a place to go for answers:  Social Camp Memphis.  This is a one-day seminar on Saturday, March 7, from 8 AM to 5 PM.  There you’ll learn how to leverage social media sites, as well as how to promote blogs and videos related to your business.  There will be an optional mixer the night before, Friday, March 6, at Celtic Crossing from 5:30 to 7 PM.  Some of the brightest social media people in Memphis will be there, so I can promise you will learn a lot and make some very valuable contacts.

Silly Goose is going to start offering a $5 flatbread lunch special, a different one each day.  Their flatbreads are outstanding, so this is worth checking out.

Don’t forget that Automatic Slim’s starts their new “Tonga Club” DJ night this weekend.  Mark Anderson will DJ from 11 PM-’til Saturday night.  It’s billed as the only ultra lounge in Memphis, with delicious wines and popsicle martinis.  Hmmm the “dress to impress” thing usually doesn’t go over too well Downtown… if I’m barhopping between 4-5 places, I don’t like having to dress up because one of them has a dress code – especially in the summer when it’s hot outside.  I do hope it works out for them though.  There are some great people at Slim’s.  Maybe this will have some of the vibe of the old Club Ten in the Toyota Center, which was a great scene.  Don’t forget about Chef Michael Patrick’s late-night menu.  Since he took over the kitchen, the food there has been superb.

Outta here for now… got an appointment in the airport area at 2 PM.

I found an interesting article on How To of the Day that might be useful to Memphians:  How to make a decoy wallet.  It protects you from having to cancel all your credit cards and get new IDs if you get mugged.  Basically, you get a cheap wallet and dress it up with a minimal amount of cash (maybe a 10 or 20 and a few 1s), an old photo ID, a couple of expired credit cards, and whatever else you can find with your name on it that you don’t need.  Then, in the event you get mugged, you hand the robbers the decoy.  By the time they figure out that you’ve handed them a few bucks and a bunch of useless cards, you’ll be long gone and safe.

Today I went to the Silly Goose to check out “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” where they have a Bloody Mary bar and hangover breakfast from noon to 5 PM.  Here are a few pics:

The setup.  You pay Ashley $3 for a glass filled with ice and vodka, then take it over to the Bloody Mary bar and add what you please.

Five different kinds of Bloody Mary mix:  Bold & Spicy, Zing Zang, regular, low sodium, and Ashley’s special mix.  They said they’re going to get Memphis Mary in future weeks but the shipment didn’t arrive in time.

Worcestershire, Tabasco, A-1 sauce, several different types of salts and peppers.  They also had Clamato and Beefamato for those who prefer them to the five house mixes.

Celery, carrots, peppers, okra, olives, horseradish.

The $6 hangover breakfast:  Eggs, toast, biscuits & gravy, bacon, and sausage links.  Except for the eggs this is how it came out of the kitchen, jelly already on toast.  I asked the bartender if I could borrow her Sonny Salt to top the eggs.

It was a lucky accident that I ended up at the Goose.  I was going to head to the Majestic at 11 for their brunch, but I was in an online poker room and there were a couple of people making really idiotic moves.  I knew I could clean them out if I just waited for my cards.  So I played until noon, collecting about $10 in the process.  Then I realized, “Hey, the Goose is open, why not there?”  Glad I made that decision.  The Bloody Mary bar was an excellent value and the food was also a value for $6.

I do want to address one thing here – you may have heard negative stuff about the Goose’s brunch.  This was their third Sunday to do it.  I was there for their first Sunday and they were completely unprepared.  Bloody Mary bar was not set up as promised and the food was, in a word, awful.  I decided not to blog about it, believing they would learn from their mistakes and come back with a good brunch, and they did.  If you were there the first week or if you’ve heard what happened, consider giving the Goose’s brunch another try.

Back at the Goose playing poker as I type this post… wish this morning’s poker players were still online.  This group is more challenging.  Battery is about dead, so I’m going to hit Publish and get out of here.