Month: July 2009

Time to roll out my latest website:  UmbrellaForSale.com.

(Yeah I know Umbrellas For Sale with an “s” on the end would have sounded better, but the domain was already taken.)

This is a site that organizes the huge selection of umbrellas on Amazon.com into an easy-to-shop storefront.  Secure checkout and shipping are handled by Amazon, so you’re protected by the policies of the Internet’s premier retailer.  I never see your name or credit card number, just a note that items were ordered and how much commission I made.

Having made that announcement, I’m going to head to the Saucer to have a couple of beers, then I’m going to walk over to Republic Nightclub & Restaurant.  They’re having their job fair this afternoon and invited me to come check the place out.  I hope they don’t think I’m applying for a job though… unless they have a position called “Drunk” that pays $70,000 a year plus bar tab.  Then I might be interested.  Hopefully I’m come back with some more info about the new club.

A few days ago I was surfing Amazon and discovered a book that mentions University of Memphis head coach Josh Pastner.  The book is Championship Team Building: What Every Coach Needs to Know to Build a Motivated, Committed & Cohesive Team by Jeff Janssen.

p. 72 discusses the 1997 Arizona national championship team that beat three #1 seeds (Kansas, North Carolina, and Kentucky) on their way to the title. Miles Simon was named the tournament’s Outstanding Player and was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, “but the team’s Most Valuable Player was ironically a seldom-used, 5’11” guard named Josh Pastner.”

The book details how Pastner believed the team could win the national title despite experts saying they were too young, how he spent hours working with Mike Bibby on his jumper, how he spent hours with the coaches analyzing tape to look for opponents’ weaknesses. “While he played only a few minutes the entire season, mostly at the end of lopsided games, Josh contributed to the team in so many critical ways that the players and coaches were convinced they would not have won the championship without him.”

Reviewers note that this book will benefit any coach, whether in charge of a sports team or a team situation in business.  Sounds like it’s a book worth reading.

From the Hot Chicks with Douchebags website:  A new product is on the market – Anti-Douchebag Collar Clips.  These clips hold down the collar of your shirt, thwarting the temptation to pop your collar and look like a total douche.

I think I’ve figured out the solution to the Grizzlies’ problem of acquiring the talent they need.

Long after he retired, at age 45, Cleveland made Wilt Chamberlain an offer to come out of retirement and play for their team. Five years later, when he was 50, the New Jersey Nets made him an offer.

So here’s my idea: Let’s make Wilt Chamberlain an offer to play for the Grizzlies.

Now, I know there will be some people who will raise an objection: Chamberlain is, after all, now dead. However, dead people vote in Memphis all the time. Why couldn’t they play basketball?

One issue we have to address is the one of putting butts in seats at the FedExForum. Think Iverson would draw a crowd? Well, just think what kind of a crowd we’d draw if we had “Wilt the Stilt” as a member of the Grizzlies. Not to mention how much our centers Hasheem Thabeet and Marc Gasol would benefit from being on a team with the greatest center of all time… and you have to admit, Chamberlain’s corpse would look pretty good in a Grizzlies uniform.

So let’s do it! One of the all-time NBA greats could be ours. Let’s go get Chamberlain!

Saw a great site mentioned on Facebook and wanted to post it.  WalkScore.com will rate the walkability of your neighborhood on a scale of 0 to 100, 100 being the best.  A friend who lives in South Main posted the site this morning, and it rated his address as a 78.  I typed in my address of 10 South Main, and it came back with a 94 rating.  Nice!  And about what I expected… within a quarter mile I have a ballpark, a theater, great restaurants, great bars, the river, the trolley, several parks, etc.

The site promotes walkable neighborhoods and explains why walkability is important.  Walkable neighborhoods promote friendships with neighbors.  They strengthen local businesses, which benefit from foot traffic.  They reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  And, they allow you to stumble home drunk from bars without getting a DUI.  (That last one wasn’t on the site… I added it.)

I love the Downtown Memphis core… wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Republic Nightclub & Restaurant, in the building formerly known as EP Delta Kitchen, is having a job fair tomorrow, Saturday, July 11, between 1 and 5 PM.  They are hiring

• Bartenders
• Cocktail Waitresses
• Barbacks
• Porters
• Promotions
• Marketing
• Office
• Security
• Cooks

The Facebook listing for the job fair says the club is “bound to make history” and will offer the chance for you to “be around weekly celebrities” that they bring in from all over the world.

Please forward to anyone you know who is looking for a bar/restaurant job Downtown.

Real quick post during my lunch break…

The Power House on GE Patterson kicks off their Midnight Matinee series Friday.  At 10:30 PM, Bryant Terry, author of Vegan Soul Kitchen, will discuss his film pick and serve one of the recipes from his book, a watermelon martini.  His pick for the film of the week is Watermelon Man (1970), a film about suburbanite Jeff Gerber who is a fitness freak and a racist.  His bigoted world of taunting and harrassing black people gets turned upside down when his skin inexpicably turns dark overnight.

The Memphis Flyer is looking for about 5 new interns to help with coordinating and marketing – researching, setting up for events, guerrila marketing on the streets,  stuffing envelopes, etc.  10 hours a week, give or take, depending on what they have going on.  It’s unpaid but this is great experience in the world of marketing, and you’d make some awesome connections being associated with the Flyer.

There’s a fundraiser for the radio show Beale Street Caravan July 16 at the Red Rooster, 7 to 9 PM.  Music by Billy Gibson, heavy hors d’ouvres, free harmonicas, open bar.  $75 general admission, $800 reserved table of eight.  More info here.

Kevin & Bethany Paige on the Peabody rooftop tonight.  Hmmm… either I deleted the Madison Hotel’s e-mail or never received it, so no idea who’s playing there this week.  My recommendation for post-rooftop would be Snozberry at the Saucer, 9:30 PM start time, $3 cover.  The Rooster is always a good post-rooftop spot too.

Busy day… gotta get back to work.  I’ll be on the Peabody rooftop tonight.  Hope the riff-raff that have been there the past couple of times I’ve been (King Willie, Meghan) don’t show up.

I wish I could learn to enjoy a quiet evening at home.  Unfortunately I can’t.  Not when there’s so much good food and drink Downtown.

Last night after trivia I stopped by Kooky Canuck and had their maple marinated flank steak, with blue cheese mashed potatoes and green beans.  At under $10 it’s one of the best values Downtown.  Even my health guru AL would approve, I think, and she’d be happy to hear I ate a green vegetable.

Tonight I stopped at Bangkok Alley for their seafood green curry.  Shrimp, scallops, and the fish of the day (today it was salmon) in green curry with vegetables.  Very very good.  I forgot to tell them to kick it up a notch on the spice, but even at the default level I liked it.

Check the back page of the Flyer if you’re looking for an apartment Downtown… there’s an ad for a 1BR luxury apartment at 481 S Main for $800 a month, utilities included, W/D, tile and all that jazz.  I’ve heard this is a very nice apartment.  This is a GREAT deal.  One note though, if the landlord is who I think it is, he’ll call you “spirit” as you sign the lease.

Tomorrow is an Ozone Action Day.  Ride the MATA bus for 25 cents.  Why not?  They’ve got a punctuality record that is unparalleled in the transportation industry, except for maybe Delta Airlines.

Old Lazy Ass at the Saucer is actually being nice to me.  It’s somewhat disturbing.

Probably not an early morning post.  I see I have an opportunity for 9 hours of sleep and am going to take advantage of it.

Southwest Airlines is doing a deep discount sale that ends today:  One-way tickets to all their major cities $30-90.  The thing is, the sale ends at 11:59 today, so if you plan to fly, you better jump on it.  Tickets must be used between September 9 and November 18 and can’t be used on Friday or Sunday.  Details here.  True, Southwest doesn’t have a gate at Memphis International, but unlike all the commercial airlines that land at Memphis International, Southwest doesn’t suck.  Little Rock has Southwest service and is only a 2 hour drive, and Nashville does as well and is a 3 hour drive. 

If you’re a member of MPACT Memphis, there are a couple of events happening Downtown within the next week. Friday, July 10, they’re having a Lunch Bunch gathering at Wrapzody, a restaurant that specializes in wrap sandwiches. They’ll meet at noon. The restaurant is on the ground floor of the Renaissance Apartments building, 99 N. Main.

Next Tuesday at 6, there will be an MPACT Memphis happy hour at Grill 83 in the Madison Hotel. This is a chance to get to know other MPACT members in an informal, laid-back setting… hmmm that’s right around the corner from where I live… I could hit happy hour there and still make it to trivia not long after 7… may have to RSVP for this one.

In other news, Capital One has bought the Horizon Building. The Horizon is the unfinished tower building at 717 Riverside, which has been sitting there since the old owner defaulted. Hopefully they can finish it and get people in it soon, whether as condos as originally intended, or apartments which became the plan later.

I read online (can’t remember if it was Twitter or Facebook) that the Peabody plans on announcing the lineup for its New Year’s Eve party soon. They’ve done a great job turning around their weekly rooftop parties… can they do the same for the New Year’s party? For the past 5 years my stance on their NYE party has been “won’t even consider it,” but they seem to have a renewed commitment to customer service in 2009. Still skeptical given the quality of previous NYE parties, but at least willing to hear what their plans are this year.

Probably going to hit the Silly Goose for a couple of beers after work.  I doubt I’ll stay out late though, because I want to get home and work on yet another website idea.  Busy busy…

Time to launch my newest website.

Flasks for Sale is an Amazon storefront that carries hundreds of different flasks by category.  Looking for a leather hip flask?  A girlie flask?  A stadium seat cushion flask?  An elegant stainless steel flask?  We’ve got them all.  Hundreds of categories to choose from.  As always, this site is done in association with Amazon.com. They handle the checkout with their world-class secure system, and they also handle shipping and returns. I never see your name or credit card info, just a notification that items were ordered and I made commission.

After doing 8 or 9 sister sites to Tube Top Boutique, I got tired of building women’s fashion sites… so I decided to do something different and build a sibling site to Mid-South Alcoholic Supply, perhaps my favorite of all the stores I’ve created over the past two years.

Got another one coming sometime in the next few days… right now, though, it’s time to head to trivia.