Month: December 2010

The overrated Tennessee Vols have fallen to two mid-major schools in one week. After losing to Oakland on Monday, they have now fallen to Charlotte. Read the story here.

Here’s a bonus video of Bruce Pearl discussing his lies and NCAA violations. Toward the end, the Bruchebag breaks into tears as he talks about the effect his mistakes have had on his players and his son. Can you believe some people wanted Pearl to come to Memphis after Calipari left? Think what a mess our program would be now. If I had an 18-year-old son, I’d be a lot more comfortable sending him to play under our very own Coach Pastner.

What will Bruce Pearl do if he loses his coaching job when all is said and done? Maybe he’ll go to work for a like-minded individual, and take an assistant coaching job at UK.

Wednesday night I attended a Christmas party at the Cadre Building at Second and Monroe, and made my way upstairs to the top floor, where Envision Memphis was having a party of its own. I’d never been in there before. Envision Memphis is a full-service gym. Here are a few pics I snapped:

Also on the top floor is a satellite location of Mona Spa. They put some type of butter cream on my hands, which are dried out from cold weather and beer-induced dehydration. My hands felt nice and soft with the cream on them. Nearly dropped my iPhone though.

Party was very nice, with beer, wine and a gluten-free buffet. For some reason the Nuh-Uh Girl decided to take a night off, so everyone got plenty to eat.

Sorry for the lack of posts the past two days – Christmas parties wore me out, and I spent my entire lunch hour Friday at AutoZone changing a headlight. Pop-up headlights are really cool until you have to replace one. Not sure what I’m doing tonight. Let me check a few events calendars and I’ll report back if I see anything interesting.

… Harmony, who was wearing this tube top dress.

Thanks to Harmony for reminding everyone that, although June is Tube Top Month, tube tops and tube top dresses are meant to be worn year-round.

The federal government requires that I disclose when I receive compensation in any form for events I mention on the blog. Therefore, I must disclose that I received the following for judging the Majestic Grille’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation costume contest/tacky sweater contest:

(Actually, there were two more PBRs which didn’t get included in the picture.) Christmas ham, potatoes, and green bean casserole. Pretty fine compensation if you ask me.

The restaurant also gave me this glass, a replica of the egg nog glasses used in the movie. For some reason I want to put Jager in it. This could spell trouble.

This year I was pleased to find I had a co-judge, the lovely Beth who is part of the Sunday Fun Day crew. Together we walked around the Majestic and picked the best of 25 tacky Christmas sweaters. Here are a couple of them:

The Majestic has one night left in its “Supper and a Movie” series, which will be tomorrow night, Sunday, December 19. At 7 PM they will show It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) starring James Stewart and Donna Reed. They’ll have a dinner special consisting of antipasto – stuffed cherry peppers, warm grilled mushrooms, prosciutto & arugula, beef and three cheese lasagna, Caesar salad, and apple strudel with cinnamon ice cream. Reservations are recommended – call 901-522-8555 to make them.

Thanks to the Majestic for having me Thursday night. I enjoyed judging again and the food was delicious.

Tonight is the first Thursday poker night in Bar None, the new chef’s pub in the space formerly occupied by Circa. It will be run by Jon Monroe AKA “Poker Jon” who also runs the Monday night Silly Goose and Wednesday night Bardog games. Felt tables, real chips, real playing cards, live tournament action with increasing blinds. They’ll shuffle up and deal at 7:30 PM tonight and every Thursday.

There’s an “America’s Got Real Talent” casting call for people with untapped TV talent tomorrow, Friday, December 17 at the Westin from 10 AM-6 PM. Cineflix, the company that produces such hit shows as American Pickers, Property Virgins and Conviction Kitchen is on the hunt for professional realtors, chefs, bakers, designers, contractors, business owners, animal experts, vets, history buffs and anyone else who loves what they do and thinks they have what it takes to make compelling television. If you’ve ever wanted to be a reality TV star, this could be your chance. More info here. If you can’t make it tomorrow, you can request an interview via Skype.

Good site I just learned about: FAAD, which stands for Free App a Day. Every day they have iPhone apps which are normally paid apps, but which are free for one day only. Today’s free app is Scrabble – not Words with Friends but the real licensed Scrabble. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that I heard about this site from the Nuh-Uh Girl. When she’s not out trying to find free food, she’s downloading free apps.

I won’t make it to poker night at Bar None, because I’ll be judging the movie costume contest and tacky sweater contest at the Majestic Grille tonight, as they show National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation at 8 PM. They’re just about filled up but may have a last-minute cancellation; call 901-522-8555 to see if there’s a spot. I don’t have a tacky sweater, so I’ll wear my profile pic – Santa hat and “I Love Romanian Girls” T-shirt.

If you have kids, you might want to call the Majestic and see if any tables are open for Saturday’s “Brunch with Santa” from 10 AM to 1 PM. This has always been a big hit with kids. Hot chocolate, kids’ brunch specials, holiday movies on the big screen, and Santa.

The Majestic movie is just one of three holiday events I have tonight… maybe I’ll bring the camera… should be a very fun evening.

There will be a holiday open house at the Cadre Building, located at Second and Monroe, tomorrow night, Wednesday, December 15, from 5 to 8 PM. It will be hosted by Envision, the Cadre, Mona Spa, Main Street Dental, Shelton Clothiers, and Christine by Shelton Clothiers. Music in the main ballroom by Watchpaper and The Old West, and Star & Micey will play upstairs in Envision. Envision will waive the $150 initiation fee for the first 10 people who join the gym at the party. You’ll be able to register for free fittings, closet makeovers and a shopping party from Shelton Clothiers and Christine by Shelton Clothiers. There will also be chair massages by Mona Spa, and of course holiday hors d’oeuvres. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

The following day, Thursday the 16th, the Flying Saucer will have its holiday party for Beerknurds from 5 to 7 PM. Complimentary buffet and great swag. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

And now some techie stuff…

All of the Gawker family of sites were hacked last weekend, and hundreds of thousands of usernames and passwords were made public. Sites include Deadspin, Gizmodo, io9, Jalopnik, Jezebel, Kotaku, Lifehacker, and Gawker itself. If you had an account on any of these, you need to change your password immediately. Also, if you use the same username/password elsewhere on the web, you need to change your password there too. This widget on Slate.com will help you find out if your username/e-mail address and password has been compromised.

I’ve been using a fantastic FTP program, Cyberduck, on my MacBook for the past year. There’s now a Windows version available for download. If you’re looking for a Windows FTP program, this is well worth checking out. More info here.

If you own an iPad, CNN has released a very nice app for it. The app was created especially for the iPad and is very visual and social. Apps like this will help bring the iPad into its own, and help people see it as more than a big iPhone without the phone.

A very happy birthday to my buddy Lee today. Lee is a true friend and one of the best guys I know. Hope it’s a good one.

Everyone be careful tomorrow… freezing rain and sleet is possible during the morning hours.

Time to make a quick trip to Target. I am not looking forward to getting out in this weather.

Yeah, no lunchtime update today, sorry. Was just too cold to post. I don’t see how people live in places like Minneapolis where days like today are considered normal, or even warm. All I did on my lunch break was go to Wendy’s and try their new natural cut fries with sea salt. Meh. They’re fries. Nothing to get that excited about.

The big news Downtown today is that the Blues Foundation is coming to South Main. Their current office at 49 Union is not as visitor-friendly as they’d like it to be, so they’ve found a 4000 square foot showroom at 421 S. Main. Visitors will be able to experience interactive presentations with audio-visual elements, memorabilia, and artwork. The building will also have a retail store selling Hall of Fame recordings and literature and Foundation-themed merchandise. Congratulations to the Blues Foundation! The new space will help them get the word out about all they do to support the blues.

The Silly Goose has started opening at 3 PM on weekdays for happy hour. Specials include $2.75 Killian’s draft, $3 well drinks, and $4.50 house wine.

British Invasion cover band Jeffrey and the Pacemakers plays Downtown Huey’s Sunday night at 8:30. Lots of Beatles, Kinks, Animals, Yardbirds and other British rock from the ’60s, with a few covers from their favorite American bands of that era too. This band is a lot of fun, so come on down.

Kerry has an excellent 2010 Memphis Charitable Gift Guide on the I Love Memphis blog today. Check it out if you’re looking for a place to make a holiday donation. Twelve excellent causes. My personal favorite on the list is #6, the Hospitality Hub.

If you want to learn more about the Church Health Center, there will be a light breakfast and tour from 8 to 9:30 AM Thursday. To ensure your spot, RSVP to Hannah Newsom at (901) 272-7170 or newsomh@churchhealthcenter.org. The Center is located at 321 S. Bellevue.

A couple of days ago, I got an e-mail asking if I knew of anyplace Downtown taking Toys for Tots donations. At the time I didn’t, but now I have an answer… the Redbirds will take them. You can bring toys to their store on the first floor of the Toyota Center next to the ballpark, which is open 10:30 AM-2:30 PM Wednesday-Saturday. If those hours don’t work, you can drop off toys at the Redbirds office on the third floor of the Toyota Center 8:30 AM-5:30 PM Monday-Friday. They’ll give you a 2011 ticket voucher as a thank-you for your donation.

It’s Monday night, so I’m sure I don’t need to tell you where my next stop is… but I’ll tell you anyway. Pint Nite at the Flying Saucer. Most drafts only $3. Time to knock out numbers 95, 96, and 97 toward my next plate.

I found some more good Twitter accounts to follow, and wanted to share. First of all, I found another account that tweets Memphis jobs. @WorkInMemphis is a good one because it tends to tweet a lot more professional-level jobs than the accounts I’ve mentioned previously. Heck, if I wasn’t happy where I am, it would have already given me two leads since I started following it earlier this week.

Once you get the job, these accounts will tell you what’s in store for your commutes to and from work:
@TNInterstate240
@TNInterstate55
@TNInterstate40

Keep in mind that Interstate 40 spans the entire length of Tennessee, so I recommend only following that one if I-40 is an interstate you travel regularly.

Also, @idigmemphis is a good account to follow… its retweets have led me to the accounts listed above and other good ones.

Oh my goodness… I just found a great Daily News article about Judd Grisanti’s Trattoria at Poplar and Humes, and about the feuding going on within the Grisanti family. If you remember what Spindini was like when Judd ran it – he opened it in 2007 and ran it until forced out by investors in early 2009 – this article is a must-read.

A few highlights:

• Judd’s Trattoria has a major investor who wants it to be run differently. The investor is bringing Judd’s dad Ronnie back to the restaurant, “to bring the restaurant up to the finest of Tuscan cuisine in the old style.” Judd will work under his dad’s direction.
• “Judd is not a manager, and he won’t recognize it,” said Ronnie.
• In early 2011, the restaurant will revert to Ronnie’s name.
• “If Judd doesn’t want to be in the kitchen, I will get someone else to do it,” said Ronnie.
• The article also talks about Ronnie’s feud with uncle Big John back in the ’80s, and about the differences between Ronnie’s sons Judd and Alex. Alex cooks at Elfo’s down the street on Poplar. I’ve never met Alex but I’m Facebook friends with him and he seems like a super nice guy.
• Ronnie finishes the interview saying, “I hope this will help the restaurant, but, whatever…”

Simply a great article. Read it here.

Taking advantage of a break in the rain, I walked down to City Market, the new grocery and deli at Main and Union, for lunch. After looking over their menu, I decided to go with the Blazing Beale, a panini sandwich made with curry chicken, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions on naan bread. I love Indian food so this was an easy decision to make. It’s a little spicy, but not too spicy. It came with a side of potato chips and a pickle.

While I was waiting on my sandwich, I walked around the store, and Sunny, one of the owners, showed me some of the items City Market carries. I’m definitely going to try some of their snack mixes at a future date, with the wasabi mix looking to be a likely first choice. I tried the Mexican fire mix too and it was good. Sunny also showed me their selection of stuffed olives and their selection of different cheeses. I noticed they had some ready-to-heat to-go meals in a refrigerator case, with Cajun chicken and lemon pepper chicken dinners being today’s selections. They also had wraps, deviled eggs, slices of meatloaf, and those vegetarian Indian frozen dinners that are so popular. They had frozen bags of edamame (shelled and unshelled) too.

I decided to dine in, and not only did I enjoy my sandwich, but the view out the window.

They have a new glass counter set up facing Main Street, and you can sit there and watch people go by as you eat. Union and Main is one of the best people-watching corners Downtown. It reminds me of my early years down here, when I used to sit in the Map Room/Empire Coffee at Main and Madison and people-watch out the windows. Several friends passed by and waved. People walked by walking their dogs.

Then, as I was eating my sandwich – horror of horrors – the Nuh-Uh Girl walked by, and I had food! With the big glass windows, there was no opportunity to hide it before she saw me. Amazingly, though, she kept walking. I guess she realized that if she came in and asked, “Can I have a bite?” – which she was surely tempted to do – there would be 8 or 10 photos for this blog post rather than two.

I lingered at the counter for an hour, in no hurry to leave. I watched people come in and get coffee, and look at the five or six different types of cakes they had at the counter.

A good first experience dining there. I’ll be back at City Market soon, to shop and to eat.