Up early this morning. Sure is nice not to hear an alarm clock go off.
First of all, in case you missed the evening news, some GREAT NEWS for Memphis residents. Mayor Wharton has announced extended hours for the vehicle inspection stations. The Washington station will have two lanes open until 7 PM Monday-Friday, and the Lamar and White Station locations will have all lanes open until 7. From February 22 until June 30, all locations will have all lanes open until 7 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
What a relief… my car is up for inspection in June and I was dreading the hours-long lines… was worried how I could possibly get it done on a lunch break. Now I don’t have to worry about it. Thank you Mr. Mayor! After all these years, I’m still adjusting to having a mayor who actually cares about his constituents.
Are you a vendor or artist? Beale Street is taking applications to be a vendor in Handy Park this summer. No food or drink vendors are allowed. More details here.
The Phoenix Club has their annual Mardi Gras party next Saturday, February 27, at the Cadre Building. Al Kapone and Lord T and Eloise will perform. $40 includes beer, wine, and specialty cocktails, and there will be a faux casino with blackjack, craps, and roulette. Winners will be entered into a raffle for prizes. Last year’s party drew 1,400 people, and this year the Fire Marshal is imposing a cap of 1,000, so if you want to go and you don’t have tickets yet, you better get ’em ASAP. Proceeds benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis.
There’s a new musical addition to the Silly Goose lineup. On Tuesdays Cameron Lazek and Tyler Burns will play from 10 to about 11:30 PM. Some of you may know Tyler – he’s a bartender at the Majestic. “It’s just us and 2 guitars right now,” Cameron told me. They plan on playing some mellow background music that should go well on a Tuesday night – DMB, Jason Mraz, Tom Petty, Barenaked Ladies. I’ll try to stop by there after trivia next week and check them out.
In the news… Tyreke Evans had dinner with President Obama this week, at the President’s request.
The International Folk Alliance Conference is in town this weekend, and there are some free events today. At the Cook Convention Center, there will be an “instrument petting zoo” at 10 as well as “my first music lesson.” At 11 there will be a Children’s Music Showcase and a presentation on the basics of the music business. At 1 there will be a songwriters’ workshop, and a presentation on the wide world of sponsorships. 3 PM should be especially good – “Meet Your Memphis Local Music Scene.” At 3:30 there will be a community sing of all ages.
In the evening, the action moves to the Center for Southern Folklore, for two “Songwriters in the Round” performances. At 7:30 PM we have David Olney, Will Kinbrough, Tommy Wommack, and Phil Lee. Coming up at 9:30 are Sild Selvidge, Chuck Mead, Anais Mitchell, and Amy Speace.
Since I’m typing the Folk Alliance Conference stuff from their ad in the Flyer, I’ll go ahead and mention the ad next to it – “A Year with Frog and Toad” is coming to the Orpheum March 3 at 6 PM. I’m sure that will be good too.
I stayed home last night for the third night this week, watching poker tutorials on Daniel Negreanu’s site that I subscribed to. I’m entered in a 1000-person tourney on PokerStars at 9:40 today, so it will be my first opportunity to try out his “small ball poker” tactics in a tournament setting.
All right, got to jump in the shower so I’m ready to roll at 9:40. Outta here for now.