I received an e-mail from one of the Memphis Grizzlies Grannies and Grandpas Dance Team, who dance during breaks at Grizzlies home games. She informed me that it’s actually a 50 and over dance group. Their next appearance is at the November 18 home game, so come check them out. Don’t forget to become a fan of theirs on Facebook.
Speaking of which, be REAL careful on Facebook. A variant of the KoobFace worm is back, and it’s hijacking Facebook groups and posting stuff to people’s Walls. Click on the wrong link and you could get malware installed on your computer. Even be careful clicking on links posted by friends, or links to photos where friends are tagged, because their account or a group they belong to may have been hijacked. For more info see this PCWorld article.
I’ve learned of a new restaurant Downtown (haven’t been there myself yet though). It’s called Salad Expressions and is located at 120 W. Willis (formerly Auction) Avenue. I didn’t know that Auction Avenue had been renamed, but I’m pleased to see that they went with Todd Bridges’ character on Diff’rent Strokes as the choice for the new name. Auction needed to be renamed anyway, because of what it represented (slaves were once auctioned at the foot of the avenue). WEST Willis Avenue? Would that be on Mud Island then? If anyone tries this new salad place out, shoot me an e-mail at paul@paulryburn.com and let me know what you think.
Downtown Dining Week continues. The Nuh-Uh Girl had TWO dinners last night, one at Sole and one at Felicia Suzanne’s. Last time I checked her Twitter account, her last 14 tweets were about eating.
A few Downtown-related articles in the CA this morning. First of all, an article on how Midtown Yoga was convinced to come Downtown because of a unique profit-sharing arrangement.
More condos will be up for auction soon. This time there will be 15 units in the River Tower (655 Riverside) going on the block. Right across from Riverside BP… that’s a winner, the BP has an awesome deli.
News on a proposed shuttle that would connect Midtown and Downtown, and would be available late into the night on Thursday and weekend nights. Please make this happen! I would love to make occasional appearances in Midtown on the weekends, but it ain’t gonna happen until I have an option that does not involve driving (and MATA’s Madison Avenue line is an absolute joke and not an option).
Last night I took my new netbook to the Saucer, and fired up PokerStars while I drank beer. One thing I discovered – the 6-max poker tables are much looser than the 9-max poker tables I usually frequent, at least at the level I play (10c SB/25c BB). There was a horrible, horrible player on the first table I joined, who was raising with any two cards. However, for a while he was winning big, because he had most of the table intimidated. At one point he had a stack of $81, at a table with a $25 maximum buy-in. I just sat back and waited. Once good cards came, I started to punish him. Within an hour I was up $26. Other players were beating him up too, and when his $81 stack had been reduced to $7.60, he left the table. I made a note of his username, so I can search for him in the future.
However, I also learned another lesson, or rather, remembered one I already knew, and remembered it the hard way – don’t play poker drunk. After about 4 beers at the Saucer I decided it was too crowded, so I tabbed out and moved to the Silly Goose. I should have left the netbook turned off once I got there. I got involved in a scary hand with a good player. I was dealt something like J-10 and the flop came 7-8-9, giving me a straight. I decided to slowplay it and another player bet aggressively, and I called. Turn was an 8, and I failed to realize what a bad card that was for me – the board had paired, and he had a set of three nines, giving him a full house which beat my straight. I ended up losing big on that hand, and after being up $26 at one point, I finished the evening down about $10. If I hadn’t been drinking beer I would have folded that hand as soon as the board paired. Nevertheless, I can’t wait to play 6-max again – I think there’s a lot more potential profit there than 9-max, because 6-max tables attract more inexperienced players. Also, with fewer people in the hand, it’s possible to play more of a “small ball” style like Daniel Negreanu does. You have to be real careful post-flop though.
While at the Silly Goose, the bartender ordered one of the new entrees for his dinner – beef brisket with mashed potatoes, and they had the brisket wrapped around the potatoes volcano-style. Looked fantastic. I’m definitely going to give that a try next time I’m in the Goose.
That’s it for today’s lunchtime post. No plans for after work, except getting my hair cut at Rachel’s Salon at 5. Maybe I’ll take the netbook out again, but I’ll be much more careful mixing poker and beer.