THIS JUST IN: Double J SmokeHouse and Saloon has received their liquor license, just in time for Music Fest. The saloon is in the old Beignet Cafe building on G.E. Patterson, across from the cheesecake shop and Max’s Sports Bar.
I got out a few minutes too late to miss some excitement yesterday afternoon. There was a runaway horse carriage in the Downtown core, with passengers but without a driver. The horse galloped down Peabody Place, then made a left turn north onto Second (which is one-way south). The passengers were screaming “Help us!” as the carriage passed the Saucer, and a patron jumped out of the garage window and chased after the horse along with another man. By Union they had caught up with the horse and grabbed its reins to stop it.
Later in the evening I got a text: “Where has ladies night specials?” I realized I didn’t know the answer. It’s weird – a few years ago it seemed like nearly every bar was doing Ladies’ Night on Thursday, to try to draw the rooftop crowd in. Now I don’t know of any that are. What happened to the ladies’ nights?
Cooking tip of the day, from Lifehacker: Cook rice in beer for a flavorful, non-lumpy dinner dish.
After years and years of Music Fest weekends when it was 54 degrees and pouring rain, it looks like we will finally catch a break this year. The MemphisWeather.net forecast shows 89 today, 91 Saturday, low 90s Sunday, with lows in the 70s and only a slight chance of rain every day. In other words, perfect tube top weather.
One of my Facebook friends made a very good point today about social media panhandling the week of Music Fest. There are ticket panhandlers who will post something like, “Not sure if I’m going to Music Fest because tickets are expensive. I might go if anyone has an extra ticket. :-)” It’s so funny to watch these people come out of the woodwork.
Congratulations to a local startup that has pulled itself up from the bootstraps and earned a $300,000 round of funding. Work for Pie provides a way to measure a developer’s contributions to the open source community. It’s kind of like a Klout score for open source, and it has the potential to change the way potential employers measure applicants for dev jobs. The company was a graduate of Seed Hatchery, an intense 90-day program that takes entrepreneurs from “nothing but just an idea” to “ready to apply for venture capital.”
The Brass Door has announced that they will be showing the FA Cup Final tomorrow at 11 AM. They will also have $4 margaritas for Cinco de Mayo. Three TVs, full brunch menu.
Then at 5, the Brass Door will have a Kentucky Derby party. $8 Kentucky Brown sandwiches. Hmmm… even though I couldn’t care less about the horse race itself, I may have to stop by. I haven’t had a hot brown since I taught a couple of corporate classes in Lexington in 1999. They are delicious. Also, $1 off drinks if you dress in Derby attire, which means I will be paying full price for drinks.
Just a few more hours until one of the best people watching weekends of the year. Not going to Music Fest but I’ll be out Downtown.