Month: September 2009

I just went to OfficeMax’s website and discovered that the best pens in the whole world, Pilot G-2 pens, are on a buy 2 get 1 free sale.  If you spend over $50 you can get free shipping too.  Sale ends tomorrow.

I recommend the Extra-Fine (0.5 mm) tip if you’ve never used the G-2 before.  It’s hard to find in any color but black here in Memphis.  They had several colors available online.  I just ordered enough blue pens to last me the next five years.

First of all… Welcome to Memphis A.I.! I read a recap of his press conference with the Grizzlies yesterday, and was really impressed with his attitude. I like it that he insisted his bonuses be tied to team achievements, rather than his own. If we become a playoff team this season, you know Iverson is not going to be satisfied with merely making it that far – he’s going to be there to win.

To the people who criticize him because he wears earrings and has tattoos… do you have a track record of being one of the best in the world at what you do for 10 years? No? Didn’t think so. So shut up. The man has earned the right to live his life however he chooses.

I want one of those blue guitars Gibson gave him, even though it’s already been established that I have absolutely zero ability to play guitar.

On to the news… On Friday, September 25, Friends of St. Jude will throw a “black, white & red ball” called River Rendezvous at the Cadre Building. Live music by Almost Famous, restaurant tastings, silent auction. Cocktail attire. To purchase tickets go here and click the link to buy tickets on the right sidebar. They’re cheaper if you pre-order them: $25 for members of FoSJ, $30 for nonmembers; $10 more if you buy tickets at the door.

Restaurant tastings? Bet the Nuh-Uh Girl gets on Twitter and starts hinting around that she’s looking for a free ticket. More on her later in this post.

News from Bardog Tavern… they’re adding a meatball eating contest at 4:30 PM to the agenda for their September 20 birthday party. First person to stuff 30 of Aldo’s grandma’s balls in their mouth wins. Attn Nick – better start training for this. They’ve also booked a band for the party – Jeffrey James and the Haul.

Congrats to Paul Sciubba on being the grand prize winner in Bardog’s summer poker tournament. A new 8-week tournament starts in the Underdog Room next Wednesday.

Very important date to mark on your calendar – October XXth. According to Bardog’s e-mail newsletter, October XXth is the day the “air guitar on the bar” contest returns. Do your best air guitar, and you could win a real electric guitar. Thank goodness I don’t have any plans for October XXth, because I wouldn’t want to miss this.

There was also a note in their weekly e-mail that Chef Demitrie is ready to start heating things up in the kitchen. He’s going to be roasting some turkeys, and preparing dishes like veal and cornish hen with stuffing – some good, hearty fall food.

Sad to hear that all the High Point Coffee locations in Memphis have closed. When I worked for the City Schools, I’d often take my laptop to the Union location to do my lunchtime blog posts. Very friendly people there. I’ll miss the place. I also read that all Pop Tunes locations closed this week.

Flight, the new restaurant at Main and Monroe that serves “flights” of food and beverages, was reviewed in the CA this morning. Here’s the link.

Also in the CA, Jennifer Biggs listed places to get good, down-home Memphis cooking. The article was written for out-of-town guests who are arriving for the Southern Heritage Classic, but locals may want to bookmark it too. Hmmm… it occurs to me that since I work near the airport, The Original Crumpy’s at 1584 Alcy is well within striking distance for lunch. Anybody been there? Recommendations? I usually take a late lunch – around 1 PM – do I stand a chance of getting a table without a wait at that hour?

Reminds me… if you plan on coming Downtown or Midtown this weekend, better factor Southern Heritage Classic traffic into your plans. Allow extra time, and expect parking lots and garages to be full near the hotspots.

The poker tournament at Calhoun’s was a weird one last night. All 10 players were still in after half an hour… I’ve never seen that happen before. A week ago, someone went out on the very first hand. Even though I’d amassed a sizable stack at one point, the later rounds hit and I quickly faced the prospect of being blinded out. I had to go all-in with a not-so-desirable hand and ended up finishing 5th. Congrats to Steve who emerged as the winner.

After the tournament ended, my buddy Chad who was sitting to my right ordered the best wings in Downtown Memphis – Calhoun’s habanera hot wings. Right as they came out, I heard “FOOD? You got food? Can I have some?”…

… and once again, the Nuh-Uh Girl was eating off people’s plates.

While I’ve got the camera out, let me post a pic of the grilled cheese sandwich I had Tuesday night, which is part of South of Beale’s new late night menu.

I never liked grilled cheese sandwiches growing up, but Downtown restaurants – particularly SOB, the Majestic, and Bardog – have made me a fan.

Not sure what’s on the agenda for tonight… I’m absolutely not doing Art on Tap at the Dixon. Fifty bucks a ticket is just too damn expensive. Not paying it. Great event but they’ve overpriced it the past two years.

They’re doing registration for this weekend’s scooter rally at Calhoun’s tonight. The organizers invited me to stop by and people-watch and take a few pics, so I’ll be there at some point… not sure where I’ll end up after that.

Just a few quick notes…

A panhandler was arrested last night for robbery at Front and Beale.  After following a couple to their car as he begged for money, he reached through an open window, grabbed the man’s wallet, and ran.  Witnesses apprehended him and held him for police.  Click through to the story to see a pic of him.  I think I’ve seen this guy around before.

Even though this guy was still out, I want to say that in general, I’ve seen a lot fewer panhandlers out recently than I did this time last year.  MPD is keeping a closer eye on them, and the Downtown safety patrol is helping a lot too.  You hear about occasional incidents like the one above, but overall I think Downtown is much safer than it was a couple of years ago.

Sole Restaurant in the Westin is having a Lobster Bake starting Saturday, September 19 and continuing every Saturday through October.  For $29 you get two courses:  1) Choice of house salad or lobster bisque; 2) Whole lobster served with Peruvian potatoes, toasted almond cole slaw, and corn fritters.

South of Beale has posted their new late-night menu on their website.  I still need to post a pic of the 3-cheese grilled cheese sandwich I had the other night.

College Night at Hollywood Disco begins tonight.

I’m about 50/50 on whether I’m going to head to Calhoun’s to play poker tonight, or just hang out closer to home at the Saucer.  I already know that the Saucer has a good fire sale (Sunset Wheat – gotta tweet that in a minute).  Wonder if they’re going to put the sound on for the game… hmmm… I guess I’ll wait until I get home from work and then see how strongly I feel about poker.

Details here.

I have a few minutes’ break while they’re rebooting our web server, so here’s some more quick news.

Hard Rock Cafe on Beale is gearing up for the second annual HammerBanger’s Ball on the 19th, with Kiss Amy and Finding Jimmy Hoffa. Doors open at 9, performances start at 10. $5 cover, 100% of which goes to benefit Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis.

ArtsMemphis is running a special today for 09/09/09. Get a double Bravo membership for $99 (normally a $245 value). Call 901-578-2787 by 5 PM today to take advantage of the deal. Click here to learn more about Bravo.

In case you didn’t hear the news, Allen Iverson has said “yes” to the Grizzlies. That’ll put some butts in seats. There are pluses and minuses to AI but overall I think it’s a good move.

From Wired Magazine: Apple has dropped its iPod prices, including a $120 price drop for the top-of-the-line Touch. The Shuffle may be gone from the lineup.

That’s the quick news post for now… back to work, then off to the PRSA seminar in about an hour.

Notable for this week:  This week marks the 73rd anniversary of the extinction of the thylacine, or Tasmanian wolf or Tasmanian tiger.  The last one died in a zoo on September 7, 1936.

More info about thylacines here.  The thylacine was a marsupial and no relation to the dog, although the species evolved with similar characteristics.  The Tasmanian Devil, the thylacine’s closest surviving relative, is in danger of becoming extinct too because of a very contagious facial tumor disease.  Here’s info about saving the Tasmanian Devil.

Also, this week marks the 62nd birthday of pro wrestler The Great Kabuki.  Congrats to Kabuki on surviving to this ripe old age.

Looks like Republic Nightclub is living up to its promise to bring in celebrities.  Kaya Jones of the Pussycat Dolls will perform there this Saturday night.

The South Main Association will have its Oktoberfest party Sunday, September 27.  It will be in Harry’s Detour courtyard on GE Patterson from 3 to 7 PM, and there will be catering by John Bragg and beer by Boscos Brewery.  Event is free to members, $15 for guests; or you can join as an individual member for $25 and your membership will be good through the end of 2010.

The “Definitely Downtown” TV show, hosted by “That Other Downtown Guy,” Lee Warren, will film at South of Beale Thursday night.  Come on by and support the place and get on TV!  I stopped by and tried their late night menu last night, and had a really good grilled cheese.  Will post a pic of it when I get a chance to get it off the camera.

Time to get dressed and go to work… I’m attending a PRSA seminar about Twitter at the U of M today at lunch.

Many thanks to the Center for Southern Folklore for a great Memphis Music & Heritage Festival this weekend.  The Center is a hidden gem of Downtown, showcasing authentic regional art and music.  Tour groups often say that the Center is the most impressive stop on their tours of Memphis.

If you want to plan an event that is uniquely Southern, the center can work with you.  The two photos below outline the many services they offer – venue space, tours, booking musicians, great Southern art and food, and more.  Click the photos to see them full size.

Own a scooter?  Whether its a new model or a classic from the mod era of the ’60s, you can show it off this weekend in Downtown Memphis.  The Memphis Kings scooter club will hold a rally Friday through Sunday.  The festivities will begin Friday night at Calhoun’s with burgers, dogs, and beer.  Saturday there will be rides, breakfast burritos, and scooter judging and an awards ceremony.  Sunday there will be breakfast at the Arcade and more rides.  Fun weekend and a chance to meet some of your fellow scooter owners.  I’ve heard tales about the construction of the trophies for this event, and they are not to be missed.  Registration details and full schedule here.

Sole Restaurant is doing their “buy a burger and beer, get a burger and beer free” special again today from 11 to 8.  Sole is in the Westin Hotel, on Third just south of Beale.

South of Beale will have a new late night menu starting tomorrow night, September 8.  If you’re up late, stop by and check it out.

Hollywood Disco is adding a college night on Thursdays, with no cover for 21 and up and a $5 cover for 18-20 year olds.

The Young Guns, the teenage band who absolutely rocked out the Southern Hot Wing Fest back in April, e-mailed to say that they have a few gigs coming up.  On October 3 they play the Hernando Music Festival at 7 PM, opening for Eric Church.  They play the Liberty Bowl for a Tiger game on October 27.  On November 29 they’ll play the Best of South-Regional Talent Search at Minglewood Hall.  Great band and they rock harder than most bands twice their age – check them out.

I posted a pic of Michael Patrick doing a cooking demo at the Memphis Music & Heritage Fest… he’s no longer at Slim’s.  He’s moved to Mesquite Chop House as executive chef and partner, and he’s implementing some very much-needed changes in the place.  He’s emphasizing seafood and locally-produced products more, and he’s trying to get the price points of the entrees down to where they’re affordable for more people.  Hmmm… I’m a huge fan of pretty much everything Mike does, but the restaurant is still under the same ownership.  If you go there, shoot me an e-mail and let me know what you thought of the place – particularly 1) how are the drink prices and 2) how was the service.

WTF was the Saucer thinking, only having three bartenders scheduled for the entire day yesterday?  They only had one bartender on when they opened at noon, then a second came on at 3, and a third at 6.  There was an Ole Miss parade on Beale at 11 yesterday!  Did they not realize the place was going to get slammed?  Oh well, at least the bartenders who were there made major bank yesterday… or maybe not.  One server told me she’d never seen so many zeroes on the tip line in her life, as the out-of-town Ole Miss students that took over the bar yesterday did not have the class to take care of the waitstaff.  Ole Miss makes me embarrassed to be from the south.

I was impressed that the Saucer turned the sound on for the game though.  If not for the Ole Miss crowd it would’ve been a very enjoyable place to watch the game.

I want to apologize to Jeffrey and the Pacemakers for missing their performance at Huey’s last night.  I actually did come in at 8:30, but I saw a room packed with Ole Miss people, and having dealt with them at the Saucer all day, I was not in the mood.  Attn Downtown Huey’s:  PLEASE book this band again, on a normal Sunday when it’s not a holiday weekend and there’s not a major festival going on nearby.

Attn Majestic Grille:  That brisket sandwich on your special festival weekend menu was fan-freakin-tastic.

Don’t be confused by the name:  It may be called Pint Nite but it starts at 11 AM.  Come on down to the Saucer and have your choice of $2.75 drafts.  I’ll be there for a while this afternoon and evening.