Month: November 2011

City Market introduced weekend breakfasts starting today. Menu includes Eggs Benedict and Florentine, omelets, pancakes, waffles, sides, and juices and fruits. You can view a pic of the menu here.

The Green Beetle was reviewed in the CA yesterday. The reviewer was impressed with the place, and particularly with the mountain of lasagna that came out. Read it here.

The Orpheum has unveiled a keepsake passport that offers discounts to 8 venues that showcase Memphis’ rich music history. The attractions include

Graceland – 50% off the Graceland Platinum Tour

Stax Museum of American Soul Music – Buy one, get one free admission

Sun Studio – Buy one, get one free admission

Memphis Rock ‘N’ Soul Museum – Buy one, get one free admission

The National Civil Rights Museum – Buy one, get one free admission

B. B. King’s – One free cover and half price appetizer

Backbeat Tours – Buy one, get one free Memphis Mojo Tour

The Orpheum Theatre -Buy 1, get 1 free ticket to any Family Series show

Passports are available at the Orpheum box office, the Orpheum box office at the Booksellers at Laurelwood, and the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, as well as at the concierge desk at intermissions of Orpheum shows. You know, I remember years ago, I was at an MPACT Memphis discussion, and we were asked to go around the room and say what we liked best about Memphis. One person said, “Well, this really isn’t a thing, but it’s the fact that Memphis has soul.” Exactly. The passport is a great way to experience that.

Plans for today: Due to RiverArtsFest and Halloween, I’ve hardly been home the past two weekends, and my place transformed from an apartment into a dumpster as a result. I’m forcing myself to stay home and clean until it looks like a human being lives here. This evening, it will be time to watch some football. The LSU-Bama game and the South Carolina-Arkansas games are on at almost exactly the same time, which kind of sucks because I’m an Arkansas fan. The best place to see both games on TV at once would be Max’s, but it’s going to be super crowded and I don’t feel like dealing with that, and besides, they allow smoking and the place will stink to high heaven. So, Saucer will probably be my plan. I hope to get there around 5.

It’s time to CALL THOSE HOGS!!!

(Saturday 11/5: Whoa! This didn’t publish yesterday for some reason. Don’t know what happened there. Apologies to my reader who wanted me to mention the True Blue 5K – no point now, since it was last night.)

The Memphis Farmers’ Market Harvest Celebration is this Sunday, November 7, at Central Station from 4 to 7 PM. This is the market’s annual season-ending party, with a complimentary bar and “tastings” from over a dozen restaurants that support local growers. There will also be a silent auction and live music. Tickets are $45 in advance, $55 at the door. More info and ticket info here.

Want to work for a very cool nonprofit? The Church Health Center has five positions open: Child Life Associate, Medical Assistant, Registered Nurse, and two positions at Perea Elementary: Event Coordinator and Team Teacher. Details about these jobs here.

If you’ve been looking for a reason to check out The Columns, the new party space in the building next door to One Commerce Square, you’ll have one November 19. The Mid-South Chapter of the American Red Cross will hold the second annual Boa Ball. There will be live music from The Super 5, an extensive auction, booze, and food from local restaurants including Cafe Society, Rendezvous, The Bayou Bar and Grill, Pete & Sam’s, Raffe’s, Interim, and Coletta’s. This is the Red Cross’ annual fundraiser. $75 individual tickets, $130 couples, $500 table of 8. Call 901-672-6353 for tickets.

Yesterday on my lunch break, I not only ate CEO-provided pizza, but I swung down the street for a few minutes to order a new phone: The iPhone 4S. Unfortunately they didn’t have any in stock, but they ordered one for me, and it will be here in 10-14 days. Can’t wait! In the meantime, I plan to upgrade my MacBook to OS X Lion (right now I’m still running Snow Leopard) so I can take full advantage of iCloud. Huge compliments to the AT&T store on Goodman Road. They took care of me the second I walked in the door and had me in and out in under 10 minutes. Very friendly and professional service.

(Edit: Deleted the “plans for tonight” paragraph, since it too referred to last night. Sorry about the late post.)

The Green Beetle emailed me this morning with some news to pass along:

– They’re starting a new happy hour from 3 to 7 PM with $3 drafts, $3 wells, $3 domestics, $3 house wines.

– For people in the service industry, happy hour is all day.

– Starting next Tuesday, they’ll be doing a pint night with New Belgium. $4 pints on Tuesday, keep the glass, and $1 of every sale goes to the Mid-South Food Bank.

– Starting on the 15th, they’ll be doing trivia night. (Wow that will be FOUR trivia nights Downtown on Tuesday)

Short lunchtime post today because our CEO is buying us pizza. Wouldn’t want to miss that!

So I just did a calculation. About 1,500 Memphians out of 650,000 are able to walk into Bardog, order the Dog of the Day, and walk it home. That makes me one of the lucky 0.23%.

Wow that was one of the longest post titles ever. Busy news day. Let’s get to it.

The Memphis Tigers basketball team is back in action tonight at the FedExForum. The #9 (coaches’ poll)/#11 (AP) Tigers take on LeMoyne-Owen in an exhibition game at 7 PM. Welcome back (and welcome new team members) Tigers! Welcome back also to the LeMoyne-Owen team – this is an important game for them in terms of generating team revenue. The Tigers only have a couple of weeks until the Maui Invitational, full of top teams like Duke, Michigan, UCLA and Kansas. Hopefully they’ll polish their game in the exhibitions and be ready!

If you plan on eating Downtown after the game, might want to hold on to your ticket stub. If the Tigers score 80 points or more (pretty much a given against LeMoyne-Owen), show your stub and the Flying Fish will give you 20% off your total dinner value. They do these “Tiger Challenges” throughout the season; follow them on Facebook at Flyingfish Memphis to keep up with Challenges.

Bardog Tavern has announced a November special: Ladies will get 2 for 1 drinks during Happy Hour, from 5 to 7 PM weekdays.

The Peabody Master Taster’s Club will sample fortified wines, including ports and sherrys, tonight in Capriccio from 5:00-6:30 PM. Wines selected by the Peabody Sommelier and there will be appetizers prepared by Peabody chefs. $15 to attend; call 901-529-4183 to male reservations.

Rizzo’s Diner, in the former Harry’s Detour spot on G.E. Patterson, is expanding its hours. Chef Michael Patrick emailed me this morning and asked me to let everyone know they’ll be open at 11 Saturday for lunch, and 10 Sunday for brunch.

There’s a Groupon deal for STAX Museum going on right now. Admission for 4 for $12, up to a $48 value. If you’ve never been to this museum, you need to take a tour. Lots of soul music memorabilia including Isaac Hayes’ 1972 Cadillac Eldorado. The admission is worth it at full price, and even more so with the Groupon discount.

The South Main Association will have their monthly meeting next Tuesday, November 8, at 6 PM at the Green Beetle. A slate of officers will be presented for election to the 2012 board, and there will also be an opportunity to take nominations from the floor. Might want to pop some popcorn – I have a feeling this meeting could get interesting. Meeting attendees will receive a ticket for a raffle for a bottle of wine at the Corkscrew.

There will be four FUSE watch parties for “Last Call with Carson Daly” at Kooky Canuck this month. Dates are November 3 (that’s tomorrow), 10, 14 and 17. Party will be held from 5-7 PM and there will be $3 34 oz. Bud Light as well as free food. More details here. Check in at the party on Foursquare to receive a prize from FUSE. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Today will be the last warm-weather day (high in the low 70s, low in the low 50s) for a while, so get out and enjoy it after work! My plans this evening are TBD, but I may bring out my new toy, my Android tablet, to play with and show off.

I’m hoping someone reads this post and sees opportunity – an opportunity to be a part of Memphis’ live music scene.

Escape Alley Sundry, the live music venue at 655 Marshall, has been looking for a partner/investor for a couple of months now. Their time is close to running out: If they don’t raise $10,000 by Thursday, their building will be sold at auction.

I’ve been to Escape Alley a couple of times. The first time I was just there to check the place out. I had some delicious nachos and some cheap, cold PBR. I really liked the vibe of the place. I came back about a month later to hear British Invasion cover band Jeffrey and the Pacemakers. They sounded fantastic in that space, the room was full, and the staff was so friendly and nice. Intimate and tastefully decorated, there really isn’t another place like it in the city.

If you’re interested in partnering with the current owners and saving this treasue of a music venue, give them a call at 901-581-3639.

More details about the venue and the trouble they’re facing can be found in this Facebook post.

Grill 83 has announced that they will evolve their restaurant into a new concept called Eighty3. Changes will include an updated physical space, the introduction of small plates, and an emphasis on the enjoyment of eating and sharing meals together. During the redesign, restaurant service has moved into the Madison Hotel mezzanine, serving Grill 83 favorites and preview items from the new Eighty3 menu. Eighty3 will open November 16, and will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with brunch menu on Saturday and Sunday. “Like” Eighty3 on Facebook to keep informed of news about the restaurant.

A Downtown architecture firm is seeking a marketing coordinator. Details can be found here in a Craigslist listing. Basically you’d need to be familiar with Adobe InDesign, the WordPress platform, and Apple OS X. I have a friend who works at this firm, and she really enjoys her job.

Kate Campbell will perform a special concert at the Center for Southern Folklore Sunday, November 6 at 3 PM. She’ll introduce her new CD, Two Days in Texas, as well as play many of her favorite songs. Call 901-525-3655 to reserve tickets. Tickets are $20 and include a moon pie sundae in honor of Kate’s song Moon Pie Dreams. The Center is smoke-free and friendly to an all-ages audience.

Hockey fans: Kooky Canuck has added the NHL Center Ice channel. The channel lets you watch 40 out-of-market games during the regular season.

The Peabody has announced that Free Sol and the Bo-Keys will play their New Year’s Eve party. View their calendar of events for more details about the party, ticket info, and packages that include the parties along with dinner at Capriccio or Chez Philippe.

The Folk Alliance conference is leaving Memphis in 2014. They will be moving to Kansas City for five years, where they’ll have access to a bigger space and cheaper airline fares. I hate to see Memphis lose such a wonderful conference, but when I attended this year, they were clearly using every available inch of the Marriott’s space.

A Downtown dumpster ordinance amendment passed City Council today. It would curb the practice of businesses placing their dumpsters in public alleys, rent-free. The dumpsters smell and look bad. Current dumpsters would be grandfathered in for two years. New dumpsters generally will not be allowed, unless the owner can prove there’s no other practical alternative. In that case, owners of new dumpsters would have to pay the city rent for taking up alley space. Good move that will make Downtown cleaner.

Two of my friends scored big in Halloween giveaways last night. My friend Bicycle Bobby won the Magic Hat bike at the Flying Saucer. Patrons drank Magic Hat beers to get entry slips. This is Bobby’s 20th bike, and his garage is so full of bikes that he can’t fit his car in there. Within minutes of the drawing, several Saucer girls were asking him, “Can I have the bike?” Geez.

Later in the evening, my friend Jake won the Bardog Tavern Halloween raffle. His prize: A 1987 Cadillac Brougham hearse. I know he really wanted it and I’m happy that he won.

Uggghhhh. Glad Halloween weekend is over. One more day of that and I’d probably be riding in the back of Jake’s new hearse. Plans undecided for after work, but I won’t be out nearly as long as I’ve been the past four nights.