Thur update: New Year’s Eve, WordPress, funding opportunity for entrepreneurs

As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s Eve. Venues charge ridiculously high cover charges. You have to fight your way through crowds. Long lines to get drinks and use the restroom. Plus, it’s “amateur night” when all the people who don’t know how to party come out. Most places, including some of the bars where I hang out regularly, will downright SUCK tomorrow night.

That said, here are a few suggestions for places that might not suck:

– Kooky Canuck. They’re having a New Year’s Eve party with $2.50 Bud Light, $2 champagne, and a DJ. No cover. Shawn and Lana know how to throw a party. Yeah it will likely be packed, but if you enjoyed their Halloween and Christmas party, you’ll probably have a good time there for NYE.

– Rehab Disco. They’re not doing a cover either. $15 bottles of champagne, balloon drop at midnight. Gotta respect a business that could rip its customers off with an exorbitant cover, but chose not to.

– Paula & Raiford’s Disco. I haven’t heard of anything special that they’re doing, but come on, it’s Raiford’s so it’s guaranteed not to suck.

– South Main. They’re doing their usual last-Friday-of-the-month Trolley Night from 6 to 9, with a “Trolley Drop” at 9. Much more laid-back than most of the other parties going on NYE. A lot of the Downtown locals will be here.

Those are just a few picks. If you want an overview of all your NYE options in Memphis, you can’t do much better than this excellent Memphis Flyer article.

Yellow Cab has tweeted that the best place to catch a cab tomorrow night is in front of the Orpheum, due to street closures. 577-7777 is their number and you can follow them at @MemphisTaxi.

Speaking of New Year’s Eve sucking, MemphisWeather.net says there is a possibility of severe storms tomorrow night. If you’re going to be outside, you better have a plan to take cover. More info about tomorrow night’s weather on MemphisWeather.net’s blog. Oh – also – once the storms move through, the temperatures will drop from the 60s/70s into the 40s, so you might not want to go with shorts and flip-flops for NYE attire. (Tube tops are encouraged, though. Speaking of which, I’ve been told that blog celebrity Nikki November has a new tube top dress to wear tomorrow night. I’ll try to get pics.)

In other news: If you use WordPress, you need to update to 3.0.4 immediately. A security flaw was uncovered that the new version fixes. Head WordPress guru Matt Mullenweg rates this update as “critical.”

Entrepreneurs: Don’t miss this CA article to learn how you could receive $15,000 in startup funding and access to some of the best mentors in the city.

Liberty Bowl parade is at 3. I’ll be working and will miss it. I see that Georgia’s visit to town has brought my favorite blogger/MILF out of hiding, but it’s unlikely that I’ll see her at the Saucer later on because she has the girls with her.

Off to lunch… a few more hours and the 3 day weekend begins.