Month: June 2010

The Hard Rock Cafe on Beale is hosting a benefit concert Saturday at 9 PM for the families of the fallen West Memphis police officers involved in last month’s shootout. Zach Myers of Shinedown will host, with intimiate acoustic performances by Fairwell, Sore Eyes, Prosevere, and Surrender the Fall. Tickets are $10.

The MIFA Store on Vance tweeted that all adult pants are buy one, get one free today and tomorrow. I’ve been told by the people who run the store that they also have tube tops for sale.

Chicago starts today at The Orpheum. Tomorrow is student rush night – students can bring their ID and see the show, space permitting, for only $20.

Memphis Beat watch parties at South of Beale and Calhoun’s tonight… I have trivia at the Saucer though, so will be late if I make it at all to either party.  Off to lunch… thinking maybe Fazoli’s today.

I had a reader e-mail me and ask where Downtown would have both the USA-Algeria and England-Slovenia games on tomorrow morning.  I posted the question to my Facebook Wall, and got two responses.  Local Gastropub will be open with both games on.  Calhoun’s will also be open, and they definitely have enough TVs for both games.  Lauren will be bartending, although she didn’t say the magic words – “I’ll be wearing a tube top” – in her reply.

Brick in a tube top dress? Spectacular.

(Edit: I’ve been told that management at the Saucer has shut the windows and cooled the place down, and has said they’ll keep the place cool when there’s a heat advisory.)

Not much to report for this Monday lunchtime post. I mentioned that Calhoun’s is doing a watch party for the new show “Memphis Beat” Tuesday night. Party starts at 7, show at 9. Since the last post, I’ve learned that this is a South Main Association event, and I’ve also learned the menu for the party. It will be catered by the award-winning Squeal Street BBQ team, and there will be BBQ ribs, pork tenderloin, BBQ pizza, collard greens, and blackeyed peas. A true Southern feast!

Sole Restaurant has announced that they will start doing sushi nights on Wednesdays. With their connections importing seafood, it’s sure to be the freshest sushi in town.

The only other thing I have to add is that ladies attending Pint Nite at the Flying Saucer might want to wear a tube top, and this time it’s not because it’s Tube Top Month. Rather, because it’s freaking HOT in there!!!! People have been complaining about the temperature at the Saucer on Twitter since they opened this morning. Since the heat wave started, it’s been extremely sticky there, even in the indoor room. Not sure if their air can’t keep up, or if they’re just being stingy about turning it on. Does anyone have a cheap thermometer they can bring with them tonight? I’d love to know exactly what the temperature is in there.

Just checked back. Now the regulars have started a #thingscolderthandowntownsaucer hashtag. I love it.

Time for lunch. #thingscolderthandowntownsaucer The interior of my car after sitting in the sun for 5 hours in June.

Last night I was trying to stay awake to meet a friend who gets off work around 4 AM, so when Cockadoos opened at midnight, I stopped in for breakfast.  My order was something I’ve been meaning to try for a while – “The Shag.”  This is a peanut butter and banana sandwich on French Texas toast, covered in powdered sugar, whipped cream, and blueberries, with syrup.  Soooo good.

Cockadoos, by the way, serves both their breakfast and lunch menus when they open at midnight on the weekends.  You can see their menus here.

I never did make it to meet my friend… after the sandwich, I went home to take a nap.  Set the alarm for 2, and when I woke up, the mixture of beer and sugar in my stomach was not sitting too well.  I texted and canceled… I hope she’s not too mad at me.  4 AM is something of a stretch, even on the weekends, for people who keep an 8-5 rat race schedule during the week.

When I was out earlier, I saw lots of bachelorette parties, many of them in tube top dresses.  Nice.  Bicycle Bobby and I were commenting how girls plan these things a month in advance, and make long checklists of things they have to do.  Whereas, if guys even bothered with a checklist, it would contain three items:  “Drink beer?  Check.  See boobs?  Check.  Pass out?  Check.”

Time to go get my morning Mountain Dew.  Up early enough to do brunch at the Majestic, but I bet it will be super packed for Father’s Day… may skip it.  I’ll probably be at the Saucer around noon for Sunday Fun Day.

Last week, one of my readers e-mailed and suggested that since I started Tube Top Month early for Memorial Day weekend, I should extend it through the July 4 weekend as well.  I asked readers for feedback and those who responded were 100% in favor of extending Tube Top Month.  So Tube Top Month will end Monday, July 5, as the long weekend ends.

I’ve been home all day.  Been cleaning the house and experimenting with poker online.  I’ve come to the conclusion that Daniel Negreanu’s “small ball” style does not work in low-limit cash games.  You have to be hyper-aggressive and bully everyone with your bets to be consistently profitable.  I’ll save small ball for tournaments, where it’s very effective.

Gonna be a long night.  Last night I ran into a friend who had just started working Downtown, and she wanted to hang out tonight after she gets off.  “I get off around 4,” she told me.  Oh Jesus.  May have to stop by Cockadoos for some breakfast and Mountain Dew after they open at midnight.

I hope to see lots of tube tops tonight, as we celebrate the extension of Tube Top Month!

These just may be the best nachos in all of Downtown.  I stopped by Hollywood Disco last night for my friend KJ’s farewell party.  After a quart of Bud Light I decided I was hungry, so I walked across the street to the Green Beetle for a snack.

One word of warning… the A/C was not working at all.  So if you hit the Beetle for nachos, dress comfortably.  A tube top would be a good idea.

Robb Pate, the street person known as “Elvis,” has passed away. He was found in his apartment Saturday.

“Elvis,” who wandered the streets of Downtown in his trademark Elvis wig and glasses, could sing an accurate rendition of most any Elvis song. Although he could carry on a very intelligent conversation, he suffered from schizophrenia and at times believed he was “The King,” performing before a Las Vegas audience in 1975, ladies in tube tops swooning at his every note.

“Elvis” definitely made Downtown a more colorful place. He will be very much missed. More details of his life and his passing can be found in this CA article. A July 12 memorial service is being planned.

I took a rare night off last night… was dead tired following the Kooky party Wednesday, and felt like I needed to stay home and recharge.  Turned out to be a good night too.  I got on PokerStars and entered a tournament.  I busted out of one fairly early, but then I paid $4.40 to enter a 180-player tournament and made it all the way to fourth place, for a payout of almost $60.  Nice to come out ahead for an evening!  That doesn’t happen when I go to the bars.

WordPress 3.0 has arrived. WordPress is the best blogging software out there, and it’s the software I use to publish this blog. Can’t wait to try it, although it will be a little while before I get it on here – going to install it on a test site and play with it first. Here’s a link to a post on Mashable about WordPress 3.0.

Cockadoos has announced that they’re going to start opening a little earlier for breakfast on the weekends – specifically, they’re going to open at midnight on Friday and Saturday nights. So, if you’re in that area and get the breakfast munchies late at night, you can get something better than Denny’s.

Monroe Avenue will be closed between Front and Main from 7 AM to 3 PM Saturday. No idea why.  Probably due to heavy equipment being lifted to a rooftop somewhere on the street.

One of the best ideas the city ever had was to put webcams at their vehicle inspection stations.  I’d been dreading having to take my car through, and the fact that I procrastinated past mid-month sure didn’t help.  Yesterday about 9:50 AM I pulled up the cams, and saw there was NO LINE AT ALL at the Lamar station.  I told my manager I was taking a very early lunch, and cruised down there. Got the car through in under 15 minutes, so quick that I actually had time to eat lunch on my early lunch break.  Didn’t have time to do a lunchtime post though.

Great news… the Plush Club is closed for good.  The operator has to get out as part of a settlement withe building owner.  That club was nothing but a nuisance, with shootings, large fights, etc.  Hopefully Downtown will be safer on the weekends now that it is no more.

DeJaVu, the Creole restaurant on Florida just south of Crump, was reviewed in the CA today.

If you’re looking for something to do tonight, George Clinton and P-Funk at Handy Park would be my top recommendation.

Go USA!  I have to go to work so I won’t be able to watch the USA-Slovenia game, but I’ll track the score online.  I’ll also use the Virtual Vuvuzela app on my iPhone to make it feel like I’m there in South Africa.  If Lauren wears a tube top at Calhoun’s, someone send me pics.