Month: March 2010

Not much to report today, since I had a lot of news in yesterday evening’s post.

Here’s an article from WikiHow that shows you how to make a fun appetizer for your next party – candied bacon.

If you hung out at Club Six-1-Six in the 1990s, you may be interested to know that DJ David the Worm is returning this month. He’ll play a show at Nocturnal at 1588 Madision in Midtown, along with Mary Jane and AVH-1 on Friday, March 19. $5 cover, 21 and up.

If you’re a fan of pro wrestling, the Monday Night Wars resume permanently tonight. TNA Impact is moving to Mondays 8-10 PM on Spike TV, to go head-to-head with WWE Monday Night Raw. Not sure about the quality of the main event though… Hulk Hogan and “The Monster” Abyss vs. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair and the TNA World Champion “Stylin’ and Profilin'” AJ Styles. I know they need Hogan and Flair to pop ratings, but Hogan has had a hip replacement and Flair is 61 years old. I have a feeling that Impact is going to suck, but curiosity may get the best of me and get me to come home from Pint Nite early to watch. Wish I could find a bar that showed wrestling on TV. Not since Darrell worked the Tap Room in 2005 have I been able to find one.

Slow day at work. About a third of the staff, including most of management, is gone to Reno for one of our three national tournaments. I almost got to go. Most likely I will get to go to the next one, in New Orleans in July.

That’s all for now… I’ll be at Pint Nite after work.

48 Hour Launch happened this weekend.  This is a weekend workshop in which participants launch a new business, including all aspects such as putting together funding, writing a business plan, putting together marketing, and putting up a website.  Although I didn’t get to attend 48 Hour Launch, I followed the project on Twitter and Facebook, and they came up with a very cool business, idea, TippJar.  TippJar will be a place where any creative person can get tipped for their work.  Musicians can get tipped if people like their recordings.  Programmers can get tipped if people like the software they write.  And, now that I think about it, bloggers could use it to receive tips too.  I want to hear more about this project – would definitely be willing to drop PayPal and instead use TippJar for my Buy-Paul-a-Beer.net site once TippJar gets going.

Slowly but surely, Downtowners are sending the message that we’re tired of street hustlers, of scam artists, of BUMS, and we’re not going to take it anymore.  My friend Mikey checks the Shelby County Warrants site several times a week and runs the names of our known Downtown scammers.  When he finds active warrants, he prints them out and puts them in his pocket.  So today, we were sitting in the Saucer, when Fake St. Jude Donation Guy walked by.  This guy panhandles all over Downtown, telling people he’s collecting donation money for St. Jude.  “Hey, Mikey, look, isn’t that St. Jude Bum?” I said.

Mikey dashed out the door and ran over to a police car that was parked across the street.  “See that guy, right there, crossing the street?” Mikey asked the cop.  “This is his warrant.”  Mikey handed him a piece of paper listing the warrant number and containing his mug shot.

The officer smiled and said, “Thank you,” and turned on his siren and lights.  Not 45 seconds later, St. Jude Bum was in the back seat of the squad car.  The car remained parked for about 20 minutes, then delivered St. Jude Bum to 201 Poplar.  Another scammer off the streets!  We’ve had enough of these morons and we’re not going to take it anymore.

I saw a flyer today listing new hours for Cafe Napoleon, the soul food restaurant at 86 N. Main Street, north of Jefferson across from the Renaissance Apartments.  The cafe is now open 4 PM to 3 AM Monday-Saturday, and 8 AM to 8 PM Sunday.  They’re also offering delivery within a half-mile radius of Main Street.  That’s an unusual move, for a restaurant that is only a restaurant, not a bar, to stay open until 3 AM, especially one as far north as they are.  I guess they’ll catch traffic as people walk home to the Renaissance, Claridge, and the Marriott though.  I hope it works out for them.  Anything that gets more foot traffic on Main Street is a good thing.

Also in restaurant news, on a sadder note, it looks like On the River Seafood & More at 51 S. Main didn’t make it.  There’s a “space for lease” sign in the window.  It’s a shame – their food was as good as the Flying Fish, but they didn’t have as high a volume of foot traffic passing by their door.  Location, location, location.

Calhoun’s has announced that they will carry every SEC and Conference USA tournament game and March Madness game.  They’ll have the Mega March Madness package on their 10 TVs.  Great place to watch a game.

I’ll wrap this post up with some sunset pics I took from the rooftop of Barton Flats this evening.

The latest bracketology update on ESPN.com (as of 11 PM last night) now shows the Memphis Tigers going to the big dance via automatic bid.   We’re third from last in, with San Diego State and Arizona State behind us.  UAB is out.  Of course, we can make our own luck by winning the C-USA tournament next week, but things look more encouraging than they have in months.

It’s Saturday night, and I made it past the stroke of midnight.  Which means, it’s actually Sunday morning, and time for a new “Brick” Quote of the Week.

Brick was working this evening.  She came over and told me that she was tired and ready to leave.  I’m glad she did that, because I needed clarification from the previous 122,734 times she came over tonight and told me she was tired and ready to leave.  That one additional time helped me figure out where her mind was at.

At the time, it was about 8:30 PM.  “I started at 2,” Brick told me.  “If they don’t cut me by the time the Grizzlies game lets out, I’m going to have to work a 12-hour shift because it will get busy.”

“So, if you work a 12-hour shift, what time will you get off?” I asked Brick.  Remember, she said she started at 2.

“Eleven,” Brick replied.

For all of you who wish there were extra hours in the day, you should talk to Brick.  She’s managed to find them.

The Hi-Tone in Midtown just Facebooked their dinner specials for tonight.  Seafood chowder and a PBR for three bucks?  That’s a hell of a deal.

Normally it’s not time for Paul’s Drunkass Food until 10-11 PM, later on weekends.  However, an afternoon trip to the Saucer necessitated a food run at 4 PM today.  One of the bartenders had mentioned she was hungry for South Philly, and having not been there in 3 years, I decided to get to-go food from there, and I picked her up an order too.  Look at that sandwich!  Why have I not been going there???  I guess it demonstrates that location, location, location really is everything – it’s just slightly off beaten path and yet I totally forgot about it.  I definitely won’t forget about it in the future – that cheese steak was downright memorable.

Gonna play around on the computer for a few hours, then head to the Saucer at 8 for the Nuh-Uh Girl and Brian’s birthdays.

The Nuh-Uh Girl is celebrating her birthday tonight at the Happy Mexican and the Saucer.  I’ve decided to give her a present that only I can give… I’m going to keep the camera turned off tonight.  She’s free to eat whatever she wants without worrying about showing up in the blog tomorrow morning.

Busy morning… got Parallels Desktop and Windows 7 installed on the MacBook, and I downloaded and installed Avast Anti-Virus, which seems to be the top-rated anti-virus program for Windows these days.  I could spend hours more copying files and installing programs… or, I could go to the Saucer and have a beer.  I wonder which I’ll do?

The City Council Homeland Security and Safety Committee will again be discussing the proposed panhandling and since beer ordinances next week.  The meeting will be at Tuesday, March 9 at 10 AM, 5th floor of City Hall, 125 N. Main.  If you support the ordinances and can make it to City Hall at that time, your presence is very much needed.  As I’ve said before, Council members need to see that this ordinance has widespread support among Memphians.

Note that I said Memphians, not just Downtowners.  The Council needs to see that people who live in other parts of the city support the ordinance as well.  It’s not true that this is “just a Downtown ordinance.”  For one thing, 66,000 Memphians who live in all parts of the city come Downtown every day to work.  They deserve a safe environment as they walk to and from their cars, and as they go out to lunch.  Also, all Memphians deserve to have safe access to Downtown’s amenities such as the Orpheum, FedExForum, Cannon Center, and Autozone Park.  Tax revenue from Downtown businesses is used to support all areas of the city.

Why does the panhandling ordinance only declare parts of Downtown a panhandling-free zone, and not other parts of the city?  Well, Downtown is a unique case.  There are a lot of public areas Downtown – the Main Street Mall, Court Square, the Elvis statue on Beale, the Beale Entertainment District.  These are all hotbeds for panhandling.  In other parts of the city, panhandlers tend to beg for money on private property.  How many times have you been approached by a bum at the Circle K on Union, or the Piggly Wiggly on Madison, or the Bookstar on Poplar?  The owners of these businesses have the right to ask the panhandlers to leave their property.  The new ordinance actually provides more protection for them as well, by prohibiting panhandling within 25 feet of a business entrance, and within 50 feet of an ATM or entrance to a healthcare facility.

Please attend if you can, and show your support.  These ordinances are vital to Downtown living up to its vast potential.

I wanted to stay out late.  2, 3 AM.

But it was Saucer bartender Brionne’s retirement party.  And there was Jager.

So I’m home early.

Great news for Beale Street today… the old Pat O’s building is getting a new tenant, and it’s a familiar name. Ground Zero, the blues club currently next door to the Westin, will close temporarily and relocate there. Nat, the manager there, told me she’s excited to be down the street from the Red Rooster (moving into the old Double Deuce space) again. She and Luke who runs the Rooster have some exciting ideas in mind for their new block of Beale. Great to hear it! That block has always been less popular than the Second to Third block, but with two proven winners going in there, business is about to pick up!

And that’s not all… a new restaurant called Lil’ Anthony’s Breakfast and Soul Food will be going in across the street. They’re adding electrical outlets and Wi-Fi and will be open 7 days a week. Sounds like I may have a new place to take the MacBook. Beale Street Branch Office?

I have more info on the River City Brewers Festival which happens next Saturday, March 13. Proceeds will benefit St. Jude, and musical entertainment will be prodived by the Mighty Electric St. Jude Band at 12:30 and the Mud Flap Kings at 6:30. There will be 70 different beers to try, including many not normally available in Memphis. You’ll get a souvenir mug. There are two sessions – 12 to 4, and 6 to 10. If you plan to go, better buy your tickets early (click the link to do so), because beer fests usually limit the number of attendees.

Seth Krasnove, chef at BB King’s and Itta Bena, has been profiled in the CA’s Meet the Chef feature this week.

I found out more details about what the M.O.U. (Master of the Universe) card gets you. The Flying Saucer awards the card to members who have made it through the Ring of Honor 5 times. Once you hit M.O.U. status, you have a guaranteed reserved place at all beer tastings with advance notice. You also don’t have to wait until 7 PM on Wednesdays to buy the “buy the beer, keep the glass” glass of the week.

Memphis ad agency Brainwoo is up for an “ad agency blog of the month” award. Check out their site, and if you like what you read you can vote for them here.

Shelton Clothiers is having a sidewalk sale today. Everything outside is $19.95, while it lasts.

Plans for tonight: Beer.