Month: January 2012

There’s a Downtown Groupon deal today: $7 for $15 worth of food at Cockadoos. Great place to eat breakfast, and they serve lunch too. On the weekends they open at midnight and stay open until 3 PM.

A new Jamaican restaurant called Evelyn & Olive is opening in the Edge district at 630 Madison. You can view their website here. They have a menu online in Word (.docx) format.

Today is the last day to donate to St. Jude through causes.com and have your gift doubled. They will double up to $50K in donations. Donate here.

Congrats to Grizzlies center Marc Gasol on being named Western Conference Player of the Week. Details in this MBJ article.

The Blind Bear has announced a new happy hour Monday-Friday until 8 PM. $1 off well liquor, domestic bottles and house wines. They open at 6 most nights, but on Fridays they are going to start opening at 5.

’60s British Invasion cover band Jeffrey and the Pacemakers play Downtown Huey’s Sunday night at 8:30. They’ve also secured a date at the Cavern, the Brass Door’s underground performance space, on February 25. I’m told there are plans in the works for them to possibly play the REAL Cavern in Liverpool, where the Beatles were the house band 1961-63. Wouldn’t that be a dream come true?

Tonight is the first night you can enter to win the Fat Tire bike the Flying Saucer is giving away. Just buy a New Belgium Fat Tire pint to enter (make sure you ask for entry form). Today and for the 4 Tuesdays following, Fat Tire will be on Fire Sale for $3. Drawing for the bike will be February 21. If you’re looking for an excuse to come drink at the Saucer, there’s trivia tonight at 7:30 and 10.

It’s also trivia night with Kevin Cerrito at Ferraro’s Pizzeria and Pub. There’s a prize for best team name every week. Last week’s winning team name: “On a Scale from Casey Anthony to Jerry Sandusky, How Much Do You Like Kids?” Trivia starts at 8 PM, and there are $1 PBR and Rolling Rock draft specials.

It’s also trivia night at Silly Goose. Posted start time is 8 PM.

The Green Beetle debuts their spaghetti night tonight, with a regular-sized plate of spaghetti and meatballs for $5. If you want wine with dinner they’ll have bottles of merlot and pinot grigio for $12.

And, of course, it’s poker night at the Blind Bear, which is where I’ll be tonight. I’ll start off at the Saucer for happy hour ($1 off most drafts) at 6, then wander over to the Bear at 8 for poker with Jamie.

I figured out a new way to be a more effective blogger this weekend. Facebook status updates and tweets are two of my major sources of information for this blog – but, when I’m out at the bar checking social media on my phone, I’ll often forget updates I saw. Saturday I came up with a great idea. When I see an update that’s blogworthy, I use my iPhone’s screen capture to snap an image. Then I send the image to Evernote. That way, all the info is right there when I’m ready to post, and I don’t have to type even one character to save it.

One such update came from Automatic Slim’s, who announced that starting today they will have half price appetizers and $5 martinis from 4 PM-7 PM. Great time to come try their apps. They recommended the Tuna Tacos and hand cut potato chips with blue cheese fondue in particular.

A second food blog has reviewed the burger at Roxie’s Grocery at 520 N. Third. Thomas from Eat Local Memphis reports that the Uptown Burger will Roxie your soxies right off. I have got to try this burger soon.

Karen Waldrup and Ashlee K. Thomas play the Brass Door tonight at 7 PM. $7 cover at the door.

I haven’t posted since Saturday, so here’s a quick recap of the second half of my weekend… Saturday night I headed south to The Lofts at South Bluffs for a farewell party for the Mad Hatter, who is leaving us unfortunately. A big opportunity with her company is sending her to the Northeast for a couple of years. After the party we jumped in taxis and hit the Blind Bear. Fun place to be on a Saturday night.

Sunday I did my usual routine – Majestic Grille at 11 for mimosas, Flying Saucer at 12 for beer. Hung Over Like a Bear brunch at Blind Bear was on the agenda for 3, but I was having such a good time at the Saucer that I decided to stay. Then I got a text to come to Kooky Canuck, that owners Shawn and Lana were there watching the games. So I headed up the street… always a real pleasure to hang out with them. Two 34-ounce beers later and the severe weather was approaching. I hit Bardog for the Dog of the Day, then called it a night. Apologies to the Bear for not making it by for brunch, hopefully will be back next Sunday.

I did a tweet yesterday – the best Downtown bars to be in during a tornado. My list was Bardog Tavern, Brass Door and Local Gastropub. All three have basements without windows. More importantly, all three have PBR.

My plan for tonight is again the usual routine: Pint Nite at the Saucer at 6, poker at the Goose at 7:30.

Trying to catch up on two days’ worth of news. This post may be long.

The big news yesterday is that Southwest Airlines announced that it is expanding to Memphis. They already have the gates at Memphis International Airport, having bought AirTran last year. First flights are scheduled for August. Memphis air travelers will finally get to fly on an airline that has good customer service and whose planes arrive on time. I bet R.C. Johnson will be doing a lot of bragging about this.

The Brass Door will open early tomorrow, Sunday, January 22, for two important soccer matches. At 7:30 AM, Manchester City will take on Tottenham. Following that, at 9:30 Arsenal faces Manchester United. No better place Downtown to watch soccer while enjoying breakfast and drinks.

Here’s something I saw in the Flyer: On Tuesday, January 24, “The Black Diamond Experience” will be at Memphis Sounds Lounge, at 22 N. Third next door to A&R Bar-b-q. No, that’s not a tribute to the recently-closed late-night bar on Beale. Rather, it is a Neil Diamond tribute. As far as I know, this will be the first time Neil Diamond songs have ever been sung properly in Downtown Memphis. Clay and Robo butchering them at the crappyoke night the Monkey used to have on Saturdays doesn’t count.

If you’re in the mood to hear some good music tonight, check out “Seeing Stars with Star & Micey” tonight at the Center for Southern Folklore. The folk singing, guitar playing trio will take the stage at 8 PM. More info here.

The Green Beetle is starting a new special on Tuesdays. They will have a regular sized portion of spaghetti and meatballs for only $5. Want wine to go with your dinner? They’ll have $12 bottles of Canyon Road merlot and pinot grigio. A night out with an Italian meal and a bottle of wine for under twenty bucks? Not bad at all.

The 6th annual chili cook-off and 13th annual Polar Bear Plunge will happen on Mud Island Saturday, February 4, in support of Special Olympics of Memphis. For $50 you can participate in the Plunge and take a dip into the frigid Wolf River. You get a T-shirt and a free lunch. More details on the Plunge here. Divisions for the chili cook-off are red chili, salsa, and People’s Choice. There will also be prizes for showmanship. More details on the cook-off here.

Bardog Tavern has announced their Super Bowl watch party. They will have 25 cent wings, $2 Bud and Bud Light longnecks, $2 Fireball shots, and 4 HDTVs including the debut of a new 60″ TV in the Underdog Room.

The Memphis Flyer has more info on the Union Mission expansion. The new, larger building will ensure that all their guests have beds to sleep on, and that no one will be given a mat for the floor. Guests get four nights free a month and it’s $6 thereafter. You can purchase vouchers good for free nights here to hand out to the homeless. This is a much better way to help them than giving them money.

Thursday night I met some friends for the Silly Goose’s third anniversary party. We got there right as it started and there were cups full of prizes laid out along the bar.

Joe and Chad found “DUDE” headbands in their cups. These were souvenirs from Three Olives Vodka, makers of “The Dude” vodka that tastes just like Mountain Dew.

I found a Fireball shot glass in my goodie cup. I also got an E&J money clip.

Looking forward to my lunch today. I stopped by City Market on my way home last night, and found some Nawabi Gosh (spicy Indian beef with rice) in their pre-packaged to-go food section. I had their Vegetable Korma last night as a bedtime snack. I love Indian food and am pleased to see they’re doing more of it at the market.

Tigers play SMU at the FedExForum at 12. I’ll be at either Bardog or Saucer watching the game. Haven’t decided which yet. Fun times ahead for tonight – may be pics on the blog tomorrow.

I didn’t have the opportunity to post yesterday because I attended a Facebook marketing training seminar out east at the Hilton. The seminar’s title was “Facebook Marketing for Relative Newbies.” Since I’m not exactly a newbie, I expected to be bored out of my mind for 5 of the 6 hours, and pick up useful tips in the remaining hour. That was not the case. I was engaged for the entire 6 hours, and took probably 5 pages of notes. The instructor was great about figuring out who the advanced students were in the room and tasking them to help the newcomers.

When she’s not doing corporate training, the instructor, Faye Hill, runs a consulting business helping churches improve their customer service. Many people don’t realize this is an issue, but it is. If your church could use some improvement in that area, by all means check out the Faye Hill & Associates Facebook fan page for more information.

So, toward the end of the day we were sitting at tables of three to five. We had absorbed most of the knowledge by that point, and were given a group exercise. Each group was given a shape, and we had to design a 30-second commercial and Facebook campaign around our shape. This is what my table was given:

We first had to decide what our object was – a spoon, a peanut, and a hairbrush were all tossed around as ideas. Finally we decided it was a scoop. Since it was green, we decided it had something to do with being “green” or environmentally friendly. We came up with a story that our business was a children’s activity center. Parents could bribe their children with frozen yogurt while they learned about being kind to the environment. As a play on Project Green Fork, we named our business Project Green Scoop. I was elected to do our 30-second commercial. When it was our turn, I got up and said,

“Start the new year off right by teaching your kids to love the Earth. At Project Green Scoop, your children will enjoy our delicious frozen yogurt while they engage in a variety of activities that will teach them to recycle, to buy environmentally friendly products, and to live a more healthy lifestyle. “Like” us on Facebook (pointing the scoop toward the “Like” button) and enter your name and email address to get a coupon for your first cup of yogurt, free!”

Those of you who know me personally know that most of the time, I am rather quiet, and I really surprised myself by doing that announcer’s voice so well. After a few minutes I realized where it came from. It came from watching the Poo Trap commercial.

Yeah I know that’s the third time I’ve posted that video, but if you haven’t seen it, take a minute to click Play. It is one of the funniest commercials you’ll ever see.

So anyway, you may think to yourself, “That was kind of a silly exercise.” It actually wasn’t. Besides getting us to use what we learned about Facebook, trainer Faye Hill told us afterward that it was designed to teach an additional lesson. “What if this had been an individual exercise?” she asked us. “No one of you would have come up with anything nearly as creative.” The exercise taught us the importance of having a team to work on social media marketing campaigns.

The class wrapped up about 3:45, and I thought to myself, “Hmmm, I’ve got time to get to the office by 4:30.” And by “the office” I mean “the Second Street Branch Office.” And by “the Second Street Branch Office” I mean “the Flying Saucer.” Nice to have an early start to happy hour yesterday. Also nice to get an extra hour’s sleep in the morning. If I ever get elected president, I’m going to issue an executive order that all corporate training seminars should be 9 AM-4 PM.

Anyway, I’m going to get caught up and see what I missed yesterday and hopefully pull a “Saturday update” post together. Apologies if you sent me an email yesterday and I didn’t respond – I’ve got over 50 sitting in my inbox that I’ll try to get to this morning.

There’s a Groupon for a ticket to a Grizzlies game being sold right now that is an excellent value. You get a T-shirt plus your choice of a Terrace II or Club level ticket. Get the deal here.

There’s a Tigers game at the FedExForum at 12 Saturday. For Tiger fans who want to eat before they go to the game, the Majestic Grille is opening at 10:30 that morning for Saturday brunch. I’ve said for years that the Majestic is the best brunch Downtown. Call 522-8555 to get reservations.

Bluefin has announced a check-in discount. Check in on Facebook or Foursquare at the popular sushi restaurant, show it to your server and get 10% off.

Two Downtown businesses, St. Jude and Baker Donelson, were named to Forbes’ list of best 100 places to work. Congratulations to them.

The Daily News reports that Bluff City Coffee has leased a 3000 square foot kitchen in the Pembroke building. They plan to use the space to expand their food offerings, with an upgraded lunch menu, more pastries, breads, donuts and soups, and other improvements. It’s part of an aggressive expansion that they hope will eventually include a retail spot in Midtown.

I read an interesting Lifehacker article and figured it was worth sharing: Save big money on your next vacation by volunteering. The article explains how to donate a little of your time to see some exotic locations cheaply. Examples include working on hiking trails in Hawaii, taking care of animals in Ecuador, and cataloging pink dolphins on the Amazon. There are a number of sites linked in the article to help you find your dream volunteer opportunity. The article also notes that these types of vacations are great for practicing and developing new skills, and you can write off the money that you do spend.

Miss Cordelia’s posted that they are doing a double sampling tonight. They have Sassy Lady Sausage at the front door, and a dried fruit and nut couscous (with recipe) at the deli. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Programming note: I’m attending a social media marketing training out east tomorrow. I’m not sure if I will be near a computer with access to the Internet, so there may not be a lunchtime post.

All right, after-work post is done, time to go out. I’ll try to hit the Silly Goose’s party tonight at 9. Daniel posted that there will be giveaways including T-shirts, Crown Royal headphones, tattoos, shot glasses, flash light key chains, beer openers, beads, hats, koozies, and headbands. I’ll pre-game at Saucer or Blind Bear or possibly both.

I’d like to start today’s blog post with a “thank you” and a “congratulations” to my friend Pete the Trivia Guy. He completed his 4th plate at the Flying Saucer, commemorating that he drank 200 different beers there for the 4th time. They rewarded him with a $125 tab to throw a party, and he had it last night. Good to see Pete (who actually isn’t the trivia guy anymore) and catch up with him.

One of the other party guests told me about a style of beer I hadn’t heard of before – chili beer, which is beer flavored with chili peppers. He said that there’s one brand of chili beer where there’s actually a pepper in the bottom of the bottle. I know the Saucer doesn’t carry it – can you buy chili beer at Raffe’s or Whole Foods? If so, I’d be willing to make a field trip beyond the Parkways.

Quote of the night from the plate party: “I’ve been shitting Gus’s for the past 24 hours”

This morning I got an email from the Memphis Flyer about upcoming shows around town, and one name rang a bell: Loudon Wainwright. For some reason I thought I’d seen him in the credits on M*A*S*H. I checked Wikipedia (which is back online today) and sure enough, I had. Wainwright guest-starred as the “singing surgeon,” Captain Spalding, on several episodes during the Henry Blake years of the show. I remember him singing about Tokyo being a town with clean sheets and kimonos. He plays the Buckman Performing Arts Center Friday. Details about the show can be found here.

The blackouts yesterday in protest of SOPA and PIPA appear to have worked. Many Congressmen, including sponsors of the bills, have dropped their support after learning more about what a bad idea these bills are. You know what? What happened yesterday is the real Occupy. Not pitching a tent in front of a government building. It’s about making a statement that the public won’t allow large corporations to buy legislation anymore.

I also want to point out that SOPA and PIPA were backed by the entertainment industry more than anyone, and about 90% of that industry’s political donations go to Democrats. Although I don’t really consider myself affiliated with either party, it’s no secret that I lean left on most issues. For that reason, I am VERY DISAPPOINTED with the Democrats in the House and Senate who allowed their support of these bills to be bought. The problem with our government is not a Democrat/Republican issue, but rather that Corporate America has more influence with our legislators than the average Joe who pays his taxes. That’s not what our Founding Fathers envisioned. I bet Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, et al. are rolling over in their graves. Corporate America is the new King George III.

So, last night after the plate party, my friend Mike showed up, and he wanted to check out the Blind Bear. It doesn’t take much of a reason to talk me into going to the Bear, so I happily went along. I had a few PBRs and caught up with him, then ordered chicken tenders and fries to go. Not only did I want to try the Bear’s tenders for the first time, but I wanted to try out these sauces on them:

Jim Ross (J.R.) used to be the lead announcer on WWE Monday Night Raw, and was the announcer on Mid-South Wrestling which I watched back in the ’80s. He has a line of BBQ sauces and jerkys. Last week I came home from the bars and placed a drunk order. Pictured above: Main Event Mustard, All-Purpose Rub, Slobberknocker Hot Beef Jerky, and Chipotle Ketchup. I used the mustard, rub and ketchup with the chicken tenders and fries last night, and was quite happy. Normally I hate ketchup, but the chipotle flavor is different enough that I like it. You can view his product line here. If you’re a wrestling fan, he has a blog that is good to read.

Attention Foursquare users: The mayor of the Silly Goose, who has had that bar pretty much on lockdown since November, is out of town for the next nine days on a ski trip. This is likely the best chance you’ll have all year to steal it. The Goose mayor’s first beer is free every day, so there’s a very real incentive beyond just bragging rights.

Tonight would be a good night to start stealing. The Goose’s 3rd anniversary party is at 9. (Sorry to those who went by yesterday, after I published the wrong date.)

Correction: In my lunchtime post I listed the Silly Goose party as tonight. It’s actually tomorrow. One piece of other Goose news – they have acquired a Ms. Pac-Man machine.

Soup Sunday has been announced for February 19 at the FedExForum. This is an event that runs from 11 AM to 2 PM and over 70 of the best restaurants in town participate. Your ticket entitles you to walk around the FedExForum’s concourse, stop at the restaurants’ booths, and enjoy unlimited samplings of their soups (and in some cases other items). You also get unlimited soft drinks. More info here, including VIP ticket options and how to become a volunteer for the event. Ticket proceeds benefit Youth Villages.

Time for my annual advice on this event: If you plan to attend, get there early. Be in line at the front door at 10:55. By 11:30 the lines get super long, and by 12:30 the most popular restaurants start to run out of soup. They give you a container that holds 4 soups, which reduces time standing in line. I’ve seen one person modify said container to hold as many as 9 soups at once. (Can you guess who?)

The third annual River City Brewers Festival will take place Saturday, March 31 in Handy Park on Beale Street. As was the case the past two years, there will be afternoon (12-4) and evening (6-10) sessions. Tickets, which are not yet on sale, will be $30/session and will benefit the Ronald McDonald House. If you want to volunteer at the festival, you can sign up here. If your brewery wants to offer samples at the fest, details can be found here. The festival is still seeking partnerships if you want to get involved. “Like” the festival’s Facebook page to keep up with news and updates. When the ticket link becomes active, I’ll post it. They did a very good job with this last year, and if the weather would just cooperate for once this could become a huge beer fest.

Speaking of beer: The Flying Saucer is giving away another New Belgium Fat Tire bike.

From January 24 to February 21, every time you buy a New Belgium Fat Tire you’ll be entered into a drawing for the bike. (Be sure to tell your server or bartender you want an entry form.) Perhaps the best days to enter the drawing will be Tuesdays, when Fat Tire pints will be on Fire Sale for $3 all day long.

Foursquare has announced that they are adding menus to their platform. Starting today, you’ll be able to click though to menus of restaurants that have made their menus available on the service. You can even see prices. So if you get the drunk munchies and want to know where to find a burrito under $5 near your current location, now you’ll know.

Speaking of location-based apps, here’s a really cool one: Find My Car Smart app, which uses the iPhone 4S’s Bluetooth 4.0 capability to mark where you parked your car. That way, when you come out of the bar hours later and have amnesia for where you parked, your phone will remind you, keeping you from mistakenly filing a stolen car report with the police. It’s in the App Store for 99 cents.

I don’t need no stinkin’ app, though, because I do Downtown properly – I WALK to the bars! And right now, it’s time to walk to the Saucer for a happy hour Dos Equis Lager. May hit Blind Bear later.

Today is the day when many websites are blacked out to protest SOPA and PIPA, two bills that have the potential to bring China-style censorship of the Internet to the U.S. Wikipedia is perhaps the most well-known site that has gone black. Google blacked out its logo but stayed online. If you click the blacked-out logo, it takes you to a page where you can sign this petition protesting SOPA and PIPA. I did that, and I also tweeted Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) asking him to vote against SOPA. I strongly considered blacking out this blog today, but I didn’t have time to get the plugin installed.

Speaking of Wikipedia: One thing I discovered yesterday is that there’s a version of it called Simple Wikipedia (and it’s not blacked out). This is a wikipedia written in basic English, so it can be more easily understood by children and non-native speakers of the language. I had no idea it existed until work asked me to edit a page that had an incorrect fact.

By the way, if you’re desperate to access the full Wikipedia today, there is a workaround. Just add a “.m.” before “Wikipedia.org” in the URL. So, en.m.wikipedia.org rather than en.wikipedia.org. That will take you to the mobile Wikipedia site, which is still online. For an interior page, also use the “.m.”, so en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis rather than en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis. Also, mobile phone apps that display Wikipedia data should work. (I just tried this with Wikipanion on my iPhone.)

He may not have been able to play, but Zach Randolph was at the Grizzlies-Bulls game Monday, where he presented MIFA a check for $20,000 for its Plus-1 program. Plus-1 helps families in need keep their utility bills paid. View a photo of the check presentation here. The kids in Memphis are so lucky to have a positive role model in Z-Bo.

If you have an iPhone 3G or earlier, you don’t have an official upgrade path to iOS5. However, there’s a jailbreak called Whited00r that will let you stuff iOS5 on your older phone and enjoy many (but not all) features. More details here. I’ve never jailbroken an iPhone before, but I know that Whited00r has been around for a while and is one of the more reputable jailbreaks. Jailbreaking voids your warranty, but if you own a 3G or older you’re out of the warranty period anyway.

(Edit: Crap, I had the Silly Goose party listed as tonight. It’s tomorrow.)

There’s a Woot-off going on right now at Woot.com. Having watched past Woot-offs, I think it’s highly likely that there will be a Bag of Crap for sale sometime between 1 and 5 this afternoon. If you see it, buy immediately and pray that your order gets through before the servers crash. You never know what you’re getting, but a few people have received TVs and Xboxes among their crap.

Gotta cut it off here, but I easily have enough news left over for a second post this evening. Preview of tonight’s post: Eat unlimited soup, drink unlimited beer, win a bike, and possibly more.

LaunchMemphis is extending the entrepreneurial culture to our teens. Friday and Saturday of this week, they’ll hold a shortened version of their intense 48-Hour Launch program. Event won’t actually be 24 hours, but 4-7 PM Friday, 10-5 Saturday at Hutchison School on Ridgeway. Participants will pitch an idea, create a viable business model and product, and finally present the fruits of their labor to the public. Instructors will be the LaunchMemphis team and local industry experts. I don’t know how many high school students read my blog, but this is an incredible opportunity to form an entrepreneurial mindset. Well worth giving up your Friday evening and Saturday, especially in January when the weather is lousy anyway. $25 to participate and you can register here. Parents, if your kids ask you for money so they can attend this, I highly recommend you give it to them.

First there was planking, then owling, then Tebowing… now it appears the latest trend is Z-boING. According to the Facebook fan page, Z-boING is “The act of mimicking Z-Bo’s defensive stance, preferably while wearing a headband… and you get style points by utilizing your surroundings for a mouthpiece.”

Paulette’s is offering 3-course dinners for $20.12 every Monday in January. That info probably would have been more useful if I’d posted it yesterday, but I didn’t know at the time, and hey, you still have two Mondays left.

The Memphis Daily News blog has another update about plans for A. Schwab’s. The new owners of the store seem very interested in preserving the history of their store and Beale Street. Very, very happy to see it. There’s a lot more to Beale than Big Ass Beer and “Mustang Sally.”

Weird weather today… high around 70, low tonight in the 20s. If you think today’s weather is something to complain about, check out this map of highs and lows 30 years ago today, known as “Cold Sunday.” Memphis had a high of 33 and a low of 0. The entire US east of the Rockies experienced some of the most frigid temperatures ever recorded.

Plans for tonight: I’ll probably hit the last hour of Flying Saucer’s happy hour (most pints $1 off) as usual, then head over to the Blind Bear for poker with Jamie at 8. Actually, I plan to get there a little early and make sure I get a seat with a TV view. At 8 tonight, Mike Anderson and the Arkansas Razorbacks take on Slimy Calidouchebag and the #2 Kentucky Wildcats on ESPN. It’s time to CALL THOSE HOGS!!!

If you operate a WordPress blog and want to participate in the anti-SOPA demonstration this week, go to this article and scroll down to the bottom. There are two plugins for WordPress. One will replace your blog on one day only, January 18, with a page you can customize. The other will add a “STOP SOPA” ribbon to the top of your blog.

Thanks to Robo for making me aware of these plugins.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Keeping lunch break short because I have a ton of work piled up. I’ll possibly do another post after work.