Month: February 2010

If you go to Pint Nite tonight and don’t see me there, don’t worry that I might have died or something. I’ve been invited to attend a presentation on the proposed changes to the panhandling ordinance. I’ll take notes if anything interesting gets said. Should be at Pint Nite no later than 7 though.

Slight correction to my post about the Flying Saucer’s upcoming beer dinner on 2/11: Drew from French Broad brewery will be the speaker, but the 8 beers will not all be French Broad beer as I’d previously posted, but rather beers from all over. Menu: Bacon potato soup, salad, braised pork tenderloin, strawberry shortcake. Did you know that beer pairs better with food than wine does?

You have 5 days left to enter to win a romantic Valentine’s Day package worth over $1,000. Go here and share what you love about Downtown Memphis, and you could win a one-night stay on February 13 in the Madison Hotel, flowers from Holliday Flowers, champagne from the Corkscrew, dinner for two at The Inn at Hunt-Phelan, chocolates from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and a personal driver and car for the evening from Premier Transportation. Winner will be drawn at random on February 5.

I’m thinking I may skip the poker tournament at the Silly Goose tonight and attend the one Wednesday at Bardog instead. My friend Chuck went for the first time last Wednesday. “The tables are small,” he said. “We had 25 people on 5 tables, or around that number. There may have been six at one table, but no more than that.” Hmmm interesting. With a 5-handed or 6-handed table, it’s possible to loosen up starting hand requirements considerably and see a flop with almost any two cards. I kinda like that. Great food and frosty cold mugs of PBR… Wednesday should be a good night. Maybe I can break my current poker losing streak, which continued yesterday afternoon in a live game.

South of Beale held its second speed dating event recently, and it was reportedly a success. They’re planning a third one for March 6, so e-mail southofbeale@gmail.com if interested.

Porter-Leath sent out an e-mail today saying that tickets for The Swamp at Rajun Cajun Crawfish Fest are now on sale. The Swamp is the VIP area, where you can sit in the shade and enjoy unlimited gumbo, crawfish, beer, and soft drinks. Festival will be Sunday, April 18 from noon to 6 on Wagner Place between Union and Beale. Swamp tickets are $50 per person and can be purchased by calling 901-577-2500, ext. 1100.

That is all for now… bruised rib still hurts… ow…

A couple of articles in the CA that I’ll link to before leaving for work…

First of all, there was a wonderful article about my friends Jamie and Aaron and their new condo on Riverside.  Jamie and Aaron are two of the nicest people Downtown and it’s good to see the article about their new home.

Here’s a link to an article about yesterday’s Arkansas-Ole Miss game.  Weather delayed the game by a day.  The Hogs managed to beat #18 Ole Miss on the road, impressive since their star player Courtney Fortson spent most of the second half benched by foul trouble.  Always nice to see a win for the Hogs, and a loss for Ole Miss.

Ow ow ow.  I bruised a rib somehow… probably in for a couple of weeks of pain.  It hurts like hell when I cough, and considering how much time I spend in smokey bars that means I’m probably in for a lot of hurt.

Off to work.  The streets Downtown are partly clear and partly still covered in ice, depending on whether shadows from tall buildings prevent them from getting sun.  Hopefully the drive in will be OK.

I had a reader e-mail come in last night that I thought needed to be addressed.  To sum it up, the reader asked, “Are you and Brick friends?  Does she know about this blog?  Or are you just being mean and picking on her?”

The answer is:  Yes, Katie/Brick and I are friends.  She checks this blog nearly every day on her iPhone.  Usually, when she reads a “Brick Quote of the Week” post, next time she sees me she’ll give me a playful punch on the arm, explain what she meant (which often results in another quote), and then give me a hug and say, “I love you, Pauly.”

Actually, she enjoys the attention.  In fact, yesterday I was considering giving her the ultimate torture – not posting a Brick quote at all.  If I had done that, most likely by Monday or Tuesday, she’d come to me with a sad face and say, “Paul… you didn’t say anything about me in your blog.”

She’s even taken to her new nickname.  Yesterday I posted a pic to Facebook of a smoke beer I was drinking.  One of my Facebook friends who is not a fan of smoke beers commented, “yuck… and no brick today?”  Katie, who is my friend on Facebook as well, responded, “Nope no Brick.”

I often follow up my teasing with, “… but she sure can wear a skirt” or something similar.  She loves that and eats it up like candy.  It’s a running gag with my group of friends… even the gay guys in my group comment on her that way.  Heck, they probably get more comments in than anybody.  But anyway, the reason I tease her and make those kinds of comments is because she’s comfortable with it and enjoys it.  If I thought it would make her uncomfortable in any way I wouldn’t do it.

Hope that clarifies things… my friends and I all love Katie and are laughing with her, rather than at her, when we tease her.  I can understand how people who haven’t been there and seen it might get the wrong idea from the quotes on my blog, might think I’m being mean.  If you have any doubt, I suggest you go to any of the bars I frequent regularly – Saucer, Calhoun’s, Bardog, Silly Goose – and ask the people who work there whether I treat them with respect.

And now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging.  I’m up early for a change so I may get another post in before I leave for work.