Month: May 2010

Every year, zombies invade South Main and Beale Street the last Friday in May. This year, the zombie march will happen Friday, May 28, starting at 6:30 PM. Unlike previous years, they will begin on South Main, rather than ending there, and march up Main and down Beale Street. The 28th is also Trolley Night, so there will be plenty to see in South Main.

You can show up to the march pre-zombified, or you can have them do it for you. If you want to be attacked and turned into a zombie by the masses, wear clothes you don’t mind getting messed up, and mark yourself with a clearly-visible X made with duct tape.

Complete details about the Zombie Massacre can be found here.

I’ll have more details on other Trolley Night events coming soon. This looks like it’s going to be one of the biggest Trolley Nights ever.

(Edit: The show will be at the Orpheum.)

Spinner.com is reporting that Robert Plant will kick off his tour with his new band, Band of Joy, in Memphis. July 13 is the date.

That name might ring a bell for those familiar with Led Zep history… he sang for a band called Band of Joy 1966-67. When Jimmy Page recruited Plant for Zeppelin, Plant told Page he had to hear the drummer from his former band. That drummer, of course, was John Bonham.

Home from work.  Few quick things before I head to the Bluff City Brewers presentation at the Saucer.

There’s a new group on Facebook called “Downtown Trash Challenge.”  They’re trying to get 5,000 people who work Downtown to commit to picking up one piece of trash each during the work day.  Think how clean Downtown could be if the group hits its goal.  They invite you to take pics of the trash you pick up, and post to the group.  No item is too small to be picked up.

Hear the Memphis Symphony in a non-stuffy environment tomorrow night… leave your tie at the office and come to The Warehouse at 36 G.E. Patterson for a performance tomorrow night, Thursday, May 20.  Works by Grieg, Strauss, and Tomasi, and for the second half the Symphony will be joined by special guests classical fusion group String Theory and Memphis’ own Susan Marshall.  Doors at 7:30, performance at 8.  Wine, beer, and laid-back snacks will be served.  $25 general admission, $15 with student ID, teenagers and up only please.  If you’ve never been to a show or party at The Warehouse, I cannot describe what an awesome space this is.  You’ve got to see it.

If you’re planning on hitting trivia at the Silly Goose tonight, you won’t find it… they’re moving it to Thursdays at 7.  Prizes from $50 gift certificates down to $10.  Gonna be interesting to see how that works out, with trivia the same night as rooftop down the street.

Poker in the Underdog Room at Bardog tonight, 7:30.  Free lesson at 7 if you don’t know how to play Texas Hold’em.

It’s Tuesday night and I just got home after another impressive Rapscallion win at trivia.  Counting the Easter Keg $100 and Chad’s plate party, we have $675.  Gonna be a drrrrrrrrrrunk night for the team.

While there at the Saucer, it was announced that in honor of Craft Beer Week, the Bluff City Brewers will give a talk about homebrewing tomorrow, Wednesday, May 19, from 6 to 8 PM.  Furthermore, Ghost River will talk about brewing beer 6 to 8 Friday the 21st.

After trivia, I decided to walk to Bardog.  On the way there, I saw the new menu for Hari’s, the new restaurant going into 51 S. Main (formerly On the River Seafood and More).   I took a pic.  Here it is.  Click on the pic for larger (readable) size.

In addition to the usual burger/sandwich fare, they’re going to have a number of different curries.  Nice to see that in my neighborhood.  I lived in San Diego’s Pacific Beach district for 6 months and they had a restaurant called World Curry that did the same thing and it was awesome.  Prices at Hari look reasonable.

Then I went to Bardog to enjoy a $3 pint night Blue Moon.  While there, I snapped a pic of this info about their runners’ club.  Again, click for a readable image.

If you’re going to run, run for beer.

Off to bed.  I can actually squeeze in 7 hours sleep tonight.

Here’s a Memphis Flyer article on new Downtown restaurant Cockadoos. They’re Project Green Fork certified, and you can place an order via Facebook or Twitter! How cool is that? When I was in there last week, I saw a computer monitor displaying Facebook and Twitter, but I didn’t realize they were using it for ordering.

The Venus Mission will perform this Thursday at the Peabody’s rooftop party. Theme this week is “A Taste of Asia,” with teriyaki chicken kabobs, egg rolls, and pork fried rice on the food buffet. In VIP there will be fried dumplings with soy sauce, fried wontons, Thai chicken, and cashew spring rolls. Asahi and Sapporo will be the featured beers. Also… this isn’t part of the official Peabody program, but… you’ve heard of cooking demonstrations? I’ve heard the Nuh-Uh Girl will give an eating demonstration at approximately 7:30. If you miss it, there will be additional demonstrations at 7:37, 7:46, 7:59 and 8:14.

There will also be a Third Thursday party that night, as the businesses on Main between Gayoso and Peabody Place throw their monthly block party. Entertainment by Bluff City Backsliders, Star & Micey, and the Daddy Mack Blues Band. Food and drink specials, retail discounts. Good stop for pre-rooftop warmup.

The second round of Corporate Karaoke happens tomorrow in Court Square at 11:45. Click this link to register and get a crack at $200.

Friday is Bike to Work Day. More info here.

Wow Facebook is screwing up more every day. Privacy invasions, inability to keep data secure, suspending accounts seemingly on a whim, etc. They’re the 800-pound gorilla right now but I really wonder if they still will be in a year’s time. Sounds like their management doesn’t have a clue.

All right, gonna grab a bite to eat then back to work. Damn these “daily update” posts seem so sanitized compared to the fun posts I did last week. I kinda don’t like it. Possibly another post after work, we’ll see. Trivia tonight at the Saucer at 7. May do Super Tuesday at Kooky Canuck ($5 34 oz. signature mixed drinks) afterward.

I didn’t realize this happened until I heard about it last night: Tent S-200, five down from ours, was raided Saturday night. Marijuana and a variety of pills were discovered and three team members were hauled off to jail. Details here.

I always try to do a walkthrough on a weekday when it’s slow.  Here’s this year’s.

Nearly made the 11:30 Silly Goose poker game but talked myself out of it. Going to bed.

Yeah, I know, no lunchtime post today.  Our computers had to be shut off at work, due to A/C issues.  Also, the day after BBQ Fest weekend ends is never a stellar day for my blog posts, due to being so damn exhausted from the weekend.  I need to recharge my brain.

In the meantime, take a look at the blog of our sponsor, Matt Mullenweg from WordPress.com.  Matt has several pics of the Ques Brothers, as well as a pic of the Filet Mignon Benedict from the Majestic Grille.

As I said, I need to recharge my brain.  And I hear beer is brain food.  Pint Nite, here I come.

Saturday was the last day of BBQ Fest.  “Why don’t they have it on Sunday too?” people ask.

“Because one more day of this and we’d probably all die,” is my answer.  Here are some of yesterday’s highlights.

Team member Otto with WordPress guru Matt Mullenweg and his friend Van.  You know what I like about both of our sponsors?  They’re big names in their respective fields – Matt in open-source software, and John Bragg in cooking – but they’re both just regular guys who you can sit down and have a beer with.

One of the judges

Christy took a break from chowing down on BBQ at the Squeal Street booth to stop by and get her photo taken for the blog.

How to break a cart

My friend Nicole was out taking photos of all the BBQ booths.  She had a tube top on.

One of the best photos I took all weekend

Nicole, by the way, is a very talented photographer who often has work on display in Midtown galleries.  You can check out her photography at 11photographs.com.

The Nuh-Uh Girl was mad at me for the comments I made in the Friday recap post.  “I was not hovering by the food more than any other team member!” she protested.  Okay, I’m going to have to call bullshit on that one.  MANY team members saw her doing it and made comments about it.  Fellow Ques Brothers, can you back me up?

After the awards ceremony, the Green Man stopped by our booth.

Nicole with the Green Man

Facebook is being uncooperative right now, so I can’t upload the entire photo album and link to the pics.  I’ll try again tonight.  I’m seriously thinking about doing an anti-Facebook rant, because they’ve been irritating me in many ways lately.

Team members:  I have all the photos in 3264×2448 resolution, which is much higher resolution than what I have posted here and on Facebook.  If there are particular photos you want in high-res, bring me a USB memory stick and I’ll copy them for you.  Photos are about 3 MB each.

I just saw a post on Craigslist about a schnauzer missing in the area of Union and Fourth.  Photo below.  His name is Sampson.  He’s wearing a blue collar, although you can’t see it in this pic.  More details about the dog, more photos, and phone numbers for the owners, can be found in this Craigslist post.