Month: June 2012

Since we’re down to four and a half months until the Presidential election, I want to share one of my favorite sites with you: FiveThirtyEight. This was an independent site during the 2008 election, and is now one of the New York Times’ blogs. It is run by statistician Nate Silver, and it presents statistical analysis of the upcoming election. In particular, the site has a map with each state shaded blue or red; mouse over the state to see the probability it will go for Obama or Romney. If the election were held today, FiveThirtyEight predicts that Obama would win with 291 electoral votes to Romney’s 247. That’s closer than the 2008 election, with Florida, Indiana, and North Carolina going back to the Republican side after going to Obama in ’08.

There’s also a map that shows how likely each state is to be the tipping point, the state that provides the decisive electoral vote. Ohio and Virginia are far and away the two leaders. Both of those states voted for Obama in 2008, and both are leaning Obama in the projections (although just barely in the case of Ohio).

Saturday I made it by Kooky Canuck to try one of their 23 menu items. I ordered the Donair, a sandwich native to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The dish consists of two pitas stuffed with shaved Gyros meat, topped with onions and tomatoes and smothered with Halifax Donair sauce. I’ve been told that Shawn and Lana have a debate going about which is the best new menu item: The Donair (Lana’s choice), or the Yonge Street Burger (Shawn’s choice). I haven’t tried the burger yet, but it’s named after the longest street in the world, Yonge Street, which runs through Toronto.

Last night I was watching the Thurder-Heat game at the Blind Bear, when I got a text telling me I should walk over to the Silly Goose. This photo was provided as the reason why:

I went right over. This is truly a Tube Top Month success. If I did not do Tube Top Month in my blog, Kelly would not have been wearing this outfit. Her friend Beth asked several times, “Doesn’t Kelly look hot?” and I have to admit, she did. What progress she has made in a short amount of time. Just three weeks ago she was pictured on this blog wearing a yellow tank top that made her look like a retarded canary. This is much, much better.

We had a drink at the Goose, then went to the Blind Bear, then to Purple Haze. Purple Haze is the dance club in the old Red Rooster spot, on Second a block south of Beale. I tried a slice of their pizza. It was really good.

They serve food until 4:30 on weekend nights. Beats going to Denny’s, that’s for sure!

It’s Monday, with the usual Monday night stuff going on. That includes Pint Nite all day and night at the Flying Saucer, with almost all the drafts on the tap wall $3 a pint. Spindini has half-off pizza and wine. Blind Bear has half-off bottles of wine (except house) and $4 sausage and cheese plates. There’s poker at the Silly Goose, two games at 7:30 and 10 PM. I’ll be at Pint Nite for sure and am a “maybe” for poker again this week.

The Center for Tube Top Excellence is handing out gold stars today, for appropriate achievement. Come find me and ask for your star.

Yesterday the Memphis Daily News posted an article with tons of info about Aldo’s Pizza Pies, the new restaurant to open in the first floor of Barboro Flats on the Main Street Mall. It will be part of the Bardog/Slider Inn family of restaurants, and will serve New York-style pizza similar to what owner Aldo grew up with. Here’s a quick summary of the high points:

– 10 to 12 specialty pizza pies, or build your own

– 30 beers on draft. This wasn’t in the article but I hear 29 of them will be premium or import beers. Not a lot of taps wasted on crap like Coors Light. Bar area will seat 20.

– Aldo wants it to be kid-friendly. By state law that means it has to be nonsmoking. YESSSS!!!!! I’m assuming smoking will be allowed on the patios.

– Italian wines and cocktails, but in keeping with the family-friendliness of the place, no shots

– They’re planning a happy hour that will appeal to the ladies. They think the open glass front and eventually, patios that will seat 70 will be a big draw, as well as “deeply discounted” happy hour drinks for females. Very happy to see Aldo working on this. I was in Bardog yesterday for happy hour, and while I love that bar, the male/female ratio was downright depressing. Aldo understands that a different kind of environment appeals to women. Hopefully many of the ladies who come by for happy hour will be in tube tops.

– $5 slice and drink special for lunch

– 11-11 Sunday-Wednesday, 11-midnight Thursday-Saturday. So, not open as late as Bardog, but late enough to be a frequent Paul’s Drunkass Food stop on the weekdays.

– Visible dough room. In an earlier post today I commented how much I used to love to watch people at Shakey’s make pizzas when I was a kid

– Family-friendly jukebox equipped with all the good Italian singers

Very very excited about this place. You never know until the place opens, and until the one element develops that they can’t control – the regular crowd. But I have a sense this place may join the Flying Saucer and Blind Bear in my top echelon of places to hang out.

By the way, anyone else think Aldo’s could put a dent in the Saucer’s business? There’s enough similarity in the bar areas that I wonder if that will happen. On the other hand, I think the pizza place’s immediate bar neighbors Local and the Blind Bear will see sales go up once it opens.

I’ve had a couple of people in the service industry ask if I think they should apply for a job there. If they haven’t already filled the positions, my answer is yes. From what I’ve seen, the Bardog/Slider/Aldo’s family of restaurants and the Majestic are the best places to work in that industry Downtown. You really get treated like you’re part of a family.

Opening date is scheduled for mid-July. Cannot wait to get my hands on my first slice there.

 

So, after publishing my post on Mexican food and sending a link to Facebook, I discovered a grammatical error. I had a question mark where there should have been a period. Not a huge deal, and I fixed it, but irritating nonetheless that I didn’t catch it before I hit Publish.

It reminded me of an experience I had with business email communication several years ago. I think some of this may be stuff I’ve blogged about before, but even so, I think it’s worth bringing up again, because I know quite a few corporate managers read my blog.

From 2004-2006 I had a job building rebate websites for large corporations. My sites did rebates on everything from cars to consumer electronics to major appliances. I didn’t do any rebates for tube tops, but I did do a site for a well-known brand of jeans. In creating these sites, I had to work with corporate marketing managers. Some of them had the worst communication skills I had ever seen. There was one in particular who would send me emails like this.

I have a question about the site? I tested it a few minutes ago? I indicated that I bought two refrigerators and a disposal? It said my rebate was 230? I think it should be 210? Can you explain?

Now, this guy was a marketing manager. As such, he surely had a college degree. Since he went to college, he surely had to write papers. Since he had to write papers, he surely must have learned at some point that only questions end with a question mark. I guess he only thought periods were necessary for writing college papers though. In business communication, the more question marks, the better! Because if he only used one (which would be proper in the email above), I might not get it that he has a question.

I wish I’d kept this guy’s email address. That way, when I win the lottery I could contact him and tell him how horrible his communication skills are. Until then, though, I guess I have to live by “don’t burn your bridges.” On the days when I was working on his projects, I dreaded getting out of bed in the morning. Why would you want to do things that make people dread working with you?

That wasn’t the worst email I got while at that job, though. One day I logged in and found this gem, not from a marketing manager but from a company president:

ok ok  u say u are ready for next phase ok lets talk tomorow 1030 I call

Interpretation: “You are not important enough for me to bother with proper capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar.” I would NEVER write an email like this to the garbage man who empties our dumpster at work, much less to an IT professional with a college degree who is building a site that will hopefully make me a lot of money. It just astonishes me that anyone would think this is acceptable for a business communication, much less a company president.

The excuse that sometimes gets floated is, “Well, normally my secretary types my emails for me. When my secretary isn’t here and I have to type my own emails, I don’t have time to proofread them.” Oh really? You don’t have time to treat the people you do business with, with courtesy and respect? You don’t get it that your emails might reflect badly on you and your company? Everything you do is marketing, whether you realize it or not. The email above is BAD marketing. I can’t remember what this guy’s company sold, but I do remember that I was a potential customer for his product. If I were ready to buy, do you think I’d buy his product or a competitor’s, after he sent me that crap? Probably the competitor’s.

You do have to consider the source before you get nitpicky about people’s email communication. In my current job, I often receive email from people in their 70s and older, people who didn’t grow up around computers, and who may be nearly blind and have difficulty typing. Their emails can be as messy as they want, and I will still do my best to treat them the way I would treat my grandmother or grandfather had they emailed.

But corporate presidents, CEOs, chairmen, veeps, directors, managers? You should know better. If your business email communication resembles either of the above, STOP IT. NOW.

Come to think of it, does your personal communication (other than text messages) resemble the above? If so, STOP IT. NOW. Remember, everything you do is marketing.

Those of you reading this who aspire to become corporate presidents, CEOs, chairmen, veeps, directors, managers: Do your emails resemble the above? If so, STOP IT. NOW.

…..

One postscript before I hit the Publish button:

I have a friend who uses the following email signature: “Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse brevity and grammar.” Now that’s really smart. It lets people know he has a valid excuse for not capitalizing words and using “u” instead of “you.” After all, he’s on a mobile device that’s hard to type on, and for all I know he could have 45 seconds to type this email before he has to board a plane. Really good idea to let people know if there’s a reason why your emails aren’t pristine grammar- and punctuation-wise. If that corporate president had just appended “sry 4 email, secrtry on vaca” to the end of his communication, I would have taken it much better.

All right. Rant/public service announcement over. I’ll be at Bardog at noon for brunch with Panda Manda.

This week I came to a conclusion. I tend to prefer the Tex-Mex style of Mexican food over authentic Mexican. I also tend to prefer chain Mexican food over food from locally-owned Mexican restaurants. Is that wrong?

Even as a little kid, I had extensive experience dining out. I’d been to McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and Burger King numerous times. There was also places called Burger Chef and Minute Man that I thought were as big a deal as McD’s but apparently they weren’t. I’d been to a pizza place called Shakey’s, which I loved because I could watch them make the dough. I went to a BBQ place called The Shack which was good. My grandmother took me to a cafeteria called Franke’s, which I thought was the most boring place in the world because I was the only one there under 70. I’d been to Steak & Ale a couple of times and thought it had to be the fanciest restaurant ever. I bet President Carter eats at Steak & Ale every night, I thought.

Spring 1978 was the first time I got to venture beyond American food. There was a restaurant called Casa Bonita in Little Rock, in a shopping center at Asher and University. You went through this long line to order. There were four different Mexican plates, for $4.95 each. But I didn’t care about those! I wanted the Deluxe Dinner. It consisted of a cheese enchilada topped with chili con carne, a beef burrito topped with nacho cheese sauce, a tamale, a taco, a guacamole salad, and rice and beans. Also, the Deluxe Dinner had free refills, whereas the other dinners didn’t (the Nuh-Uh Girl would have loved the Deluxe Dinner). There was some debate about whether I should be allowed to order the Deluxe Dinner, because 1) I was still a little kid, and there was reason to doubt I could eat it all; 2) I’d never eaten Mexican before and might not even like it; and 3) at $5.95, the cost was nearly pushing into Steak & Ale territory. After several minutes, I won the argument (only children nearly always do) by pointing out that I could eat an entire Big Mac by myself already.

The $5.95 proved to be money well spent when I not only finished the Deluxe Dinner, but put the flag up and ordered a refill! Casa Bonita had the best idea ever for calling a server over to your table. They had flags at each table. When you needed something, you put your flag up and someone would come right over. If your flag wasn’t up, they didn’t bother you. It was brilliant. I was too young to really notice it in 1978, but a lot of people did date night there. The flag system worked well because people wouldn’t interrupt you while you were talking to your date. I wonder how many guys in 1978 got a peek at what’s under the tube top after a successful date at Casa Bonita?

It wasn’t just the food I loved at Casa Bonita, but the atmosphere as well. They had a strolling Mexican guitarist who would come around to your table and sing for you. They had someone in an animal costume – at first I thought it was a bear, but now I’m pretty sure it was a monkey – who would come by and entertain the kids. They’d also give the kids tokens for their arcade. In 1978 the arcade would have housed a bunch of pinball machines, Pong, Breakout, and maybe Space Invaders. In other words, by modern standards it would have sucked, but back then I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Of course, I wanted to play well past the couple of tokens that the restaurant gave me, and got additional quarters for the machines. Those quarters helped offset the restaurant’s loss on my Deluxe Dinner refill.

Casa Bonita was one of the few restaurants where I’d choose a non-carbonated beverage over a Coke or a Mountain Dew. The Deluxe Dinner came with choice of drink, and I’d always go for the restaurant’s homemade fruit punch.

The one part of the dinner I wasn’t totally crazy about was dessert. They had sopapillas. You’d bite a corner off these puffy pastries, pour honey in, and then eat them. I must admit I never saw the point. You got honey all over you and they weren’t that great. I ended up ordering a refill of my Deluxe Dinner and had that while everyone else ate their sopapillas.

Anyway, Casa Bonita became the standard against which I judged all other Mexican restaurants. To this day I eat at other places and think to myself, “Is this as good as Casa Bonita?” The answer is always the same. NO!

Yet, as I got older – and particularly after I lived in San Diego for six months – I began to realize something. The food at Casa Bonita was not authentic Mexican fare. It was Tex-Mex. Two things were giveaways. For one, the cheese enchilada was topped with chili con carne, rather than red Ranchero sauce. Second was that the enchilada was there at all. The closer you get to the border, the less you see enchiladas as a staple on the menu.

In 1980 I discovered a second Mexican restaurant called Taco Kid. It was on Cantrell Road in Little Rock, right at the top of the hill from where I lived, much more convenient to get to than Casa Bonita. They had what must have been the lamest cheese dip ever – cups of dip made from plain cheddar, with maybe a hint of nacho seasoning stirred in, often left to cook a minute too long to give it a slightly burnt flavor. But back then I thought it was the best cheese dip ever!

So, nowadays I live in Downtown Memphis, and work in Horn Lake, Mississippi, right near the border with Southaven. Horn Lake is too far away to come back Downtown during my lunch breaks. So, I’ve made it a point to try every Mexican restaurant within a 5 mile radius of where I work. Do any of them measure up to Casa Bonita? NO! Yet, I realize I feel that way because my first Mexican food wasn’t “proper” Mexican.

Which one of the Horn Lake/Southaven Mexican restaurants do I like the best? Thomas from the Eat Local Memphis blog is going to shudder when he reads this. On the Border. A chain restaurant. Yeah, I know, but it reminds me of what I had as a kid. For one thing, they have a choice of two different queso dips – yellow or white. Most “authentic” Mexican places in the area only have the white variety. However, the yellow cheese dip reminds me of what I had at Taco Kid in the early ’80s, so that’s what I order.

My favorite main course at On the Border? Ranchiladas. It’s skirt steak topped with Ranchero sauce, with two cheese enchiladas topped with chili con carne, with rice and your choice of black or refried beans. Totally a Tex-Mex dish. The cheese enchiladas are reminiscent of the ones I had as a little kid. For my choice of beans, I know black beans are healthier, but I always get refried because that’s what came on the Deluxe Dinner at Casa Bonita.

My second-favorite Mexican restaurant ever? Mexico Chiquito, also Little Rock-based and also very Tex-Mex oriented. I would kill to have a Mexico Chiquito open in Memphis.

Thank goodness Little Rock didn’t get a Taco Bell until 1985. Can you imagine if I’d grown up thinking that was the standard for good Mexican food?

Tonight is the #PrayForTrey pub crawl on Beale. This is a benefit for for Collierville High School student Trey Erwin, who was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. All ticket sales will go to the family. Participants must be 21 years of age and wearing a #PrayForTrey shirt. The Entry Fee includes cover into all venues and specials for pub crawlers. Tickets, schedule and more info here.

Also tonight, there will be a free reception for two new solo exhibitions at the Metal Museum. Those are Virgil England: The Het Lands and Harlan W. Butt: National Parks Project. Performance by Big Jerry Blues Band, and the Fuel Food Truck will be selling food. 5:30-8:30 PM.

The 31st annual Outdoors Inc. Canoe and Kayak Race will happen tomorrow, from the Wolf River Harbor to the Memphis Harbor. 10 AM start time. More details here.

There will be a STOP Open House at The Warehouse, 36 East G.E. Patterson, next Tuesday, June 19, from 6 PM-til. This is a chance for residents to stop by, meet our police officers who patrol the Downtown beat, thank them for all they do and have some food with them. These open houses are held the third Tuesday of every month.

Jerry Seinfeld will play the Orpheum Friday, August 24. Tickets will go on sale on the Orpheum’s website next Friday. More details here.

Last night turned into an unexpected early night home for me. I arrived at the Flying Saucer about 6, as I do most every weeknight. The plan was to pre-game and meet up with people, then head down the street to Kooky Canuck’s 7th anniversary party at 8:00.

One of my favorite bartenders from another popular Downtown bar came in. “Shot of Jameson, Paul?” he asked. The Saucer doesn’t carry a lot of liquor, but they do have Jameson, a fine Irish whisky. So I did the shot, and before long I wished I hadn’t. My stomach felt like I’d just done a shot of Drano. It was probably because I hadn’t eaten anything since 1 PM.

As 8:00 drew near, it was clear Kooky was going to have a big crowd for their party. More than a dozen of us were using the Saucer as a staging area. I think there were two or three more at the Goose next door. When we walked down there, only a few minutes after the doors opened, there was already a long line to get in. My stomach was in knots by this point, but I hoped some food from the Kooky Buffet at the party would calm it down.

Didn’t happen. I ate a small plate of food and drank about half of a 34 oz. beer. By 9, though, the combination of an upset stomach and shoulder-to-shoulder crowd was too much for me. I went home, half intending to go back out a little later – but once there, I decided to call it a night. At least I got to see a few tube tops in the brief time I was there. Shawn and Lana: Sorry I couldn’t stay longer, and congratulations on 7 great years.

All right, quick lunch then back to work. The project I’m working on this week is the website equivalent of trying to wire a house built in 1765 for electricity. Plans for tonight TBD, but I’ll be out somewhere about 6.

Another Code Orange Ozone Alert has been issued, this time for tomorrow. That means that MATA bus and trolley rides will be 25 cents tomorrow, as well as the remainder of today.

MemphisWeather.net is seeking a nowcaster/social media intern to start work in late summer. It’s a volunteer internship, but you’d get to work with a very sharp meterologist who has a real knack for using social media effectively and explaining weather in layman’s terms. If I were an undergrad or graduate meteorology student, I would jump at this chance. Hours must be somewhat flexible, depending on weather. Applications are due by July 1 and position will run August-December.

Fox 13 reports that Desi Arnaz used to hang out at the Green Beetle all the time. His band would play the Chisca, but the hotel had a policy that if you played there, you couldn’t hang out there. So he’d go down to the Beetle and get a steak. Desi, of course, went on to star in I Love Lucy with his real-life wife, Lucille Ball.

A panel of airport officials and local economic experts presented a forum about high airfares this morning. Memphis is said to have the third highest airfares in the country, and citizens’ groups such as Delta Does Memphis have popped up in protest. To sum up what was said, Memphians are screwed, and there’s not much we can do about it for the foreseeable future. Want an affordable flight? Hope you enjoy driving to Little Rock.

The @RealTimeWWII Twitter account is getting really good. It’s now up to June 1940. The French have abandoned Paris and are days away from asking the Germans for an armistice. Really interesting to see a war unfold on this medium.

As a pro wrestling fan, I feel the need to make a couple of comments about WWE Monday Night Raw.

1) They have a new guy named Ryback who is being built as an unstoppable monster, kind of like WCW did with Bill Goldberg back in the ’90s. On last week’s show he won a handicap match vs. Arthur Rosenberg and Stan Stansky. This week he beat William Fillmore and Rutherford “P.S.” Hayes. One of my favorite things about Raw now is tuning in to see the names of the jabronis that Ryback destroys.

2) They brought back (Big Van) Vader this week! When I heard he was back – and apparently main eventing – I thought to myself, “wasn’t he 40 when he had his last run in the WWE in the mid-90s?” I looked him up on Wikipedia and sure enough, the guy is 57. Wow they are getting desperate for main-event talent if they’re bringing back a guy that old.

Today marks the halfway point of Tube Top Month. The good news is, you still have tonight and then 20 more days to rock those tube tops! Let’s see ’em! If you’re going to the same party Downtown that I am tonight, may I suggest a tube top as party attire!

The party of which I speak does not start until 8. No better place to pre-game for it than the Saucer! I’ll be there by 6.

One of the Peabody rooftop series’ most popular bands, Aquanet, plays the Thursday night rooftop party tonight. Aquanet performs covers of ’80s hair band songs in full costume. $10 admission, but that includes your first drink and an American buffet with popcorn, grilled cheese sandwiches, dill pickles, and potato chips with onion dip. Ladies free before 7. If you’re in the VIP section, there’s a second American buffet with spinach dip, sausage and cheese with crackers, pepperoni pizza, mushroom and onion pizza, and chicken fingers. 6-11 PM. They’ve announced they will have a 52″ TV in the Skyway for those who want to watch Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

Over on the rooftop of the Madison Hotel, the King Beez will be playing soul, blues, and R&B. 7-11 PM. $7 cover, cash bar and small plates available.

In other Madison Hotel news, they will host a Summer Truffle Wine Dinner on Sunday, June 24. Here’s the info, from the press release they sent me:

eighty3 executive chef Connor O’Neill will prepare a five-course menu featuring the tantalizing truffles from the Tennessee foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Each course features truffles and is paired with select wines for a dinner unlike any other. Cost is $75 per person, and reservations are limited. Reserve online at www.eighty3memphis.com or call 901-333-1224. Menu:

amuse-bouche
Truffle BBQ duck with smoked Gouda on cornbread

appetizer
Grilled oyster with truffle butter and Parmesan, plus a vanilla vodka and truffle oyster shooter

first course
Napoleon of smoked trout and sweet potatoes with truffle lemon vin

second course
Crispy lobster and leek mac-and-cheese

main course
Center-cut rib eye with truffle butter and sweet potatoes

dessert
Truffle bacon ice cream and beignets, plus homemade chocolate truffles

Back to things happening tonight: Felicia Suzanne’s will have live music in the courtyard tonight. Two Mule Plow performs from 7 to 9, and there will be drink and food specials during the show.

Donnie Darko plays tonight as part of the Orpheum’s Summer Movie Series. 7:30 start time. $7 adults, $6 for kids 12 and under.

The National Civil Rights Museum is about to undergo its first major renovation of the Lorraine Motel building since the museum opened. Construction will begin in November, and the old Legacy Building boarding house across the street, which is now part of the museum, will remain open. The public is invited to a sneak peek at the final design plans on Tuesday, June 26 at 6 PM in the museum’s auditorium.

More news on the police substation planned for Beale Street. ABC 24 reports that the substation will be located at 340 Beale, which I believe would be the building that housed the Red Rooster most recently. That’s right across Fourth Street from Club Crave (formerly the Plush Club). PERFECT location to put a police substation. It will cost $50,000 over a 5-year lease and I cannot think of a better use of the money.

Seth from the Best Memphis Burger blog was interviewed on “a girl, a fork, and a spoon” and listed his five best Memphis burgers. Two of those burgers are Downtown – The Uptown Burger at Roxie’s Grocery on North Third, and the Four Cheese Burger at Kooky Canuck. I haven’t made it to Roxie’s yet but I wholeheartedly agree about the Four Cheese Burger.

Lots going on tonight – rooftop parties, as well as another party nearby. Ladies, I would suggest a tube top for tonight’s attire. Gonna go grab some chili cheese fries from Dixie Queen, then back for a fun afternoon of trying to get a CMS to do things a CMS was never meant to do. Will be out about 6 tonight.

Real quick update before I head out to the bars…

MATA has announced that tomorrow will be a Code Orange Ozone Adivsory day. Due to the high levels of air pollution, bus and trolley rides will be only 25 cents, in an effort to reduce the number of vehicles on the road.

Aldo’s Pizza Pies is hiring pizza cooks. Open interviews will be held this Friday, June 15 at Bardog Tavern from 2 to 5 PM.

WordPress 3.4 is out. Get it here or use the automatic update feature if you’re running a previous version. The release is said to include significant improvements to theme customization, custom headers, Twitter embeds, and image captions.

I’ll be at trivia at the Blind Bear tonight. Jeannette (pictured below, with husband Jamie) has confirmed that trivia will start on time at 8 PM. If teams show up late, that’s just too bad, they’ll miss questions.

I read somewhere (may have been on my own blog) that beer is brain food. So, I guess I better head to the Saucer and pre-game for trivia!

The Memphis Redbirds and Nashville Sounds have announced the creation of The I-40 Cup, sponsored by the Tennessee Education Lottery. The cup will be awarded annually to whichever AAA team has the winning record against the other for the year. The losing team will have to donate 25 tickets to the winner’s charity of choice. The Redbirds would have taken home the two-foot-tall cup had it existed last year, with a 10-6 record against the Sounds.

The Flying Saucer is teaming up with Pints for Prostates to promote men’s health. Each Wednesday from June 27 to July 21, the Saucer will have glass night featuring a Belgian beer in that beer’s signature glassware. 144 glasses will be available each week. The price of the glass will go toward the support of Pints for Prostates. In addition to the glass, your purchase gets you a raffle ticket toward a drawing for a special beer trip for two to Belgium, September 7-15 of this year. Guests can also purchase extra raffle tickets: $10 for one, $25 for three, $50 for seven. Both Saucers (Memphis and Cordova) will participate in the drawing.

Mayor Wharton has promised that a police substation will return to Beale Street. There used to be one in the location that is now Superior Bar, but it and a police museum moved out about six years ago. Having a substation back on Beale will go a long way toward the perception of safety on the street.

There’s also been renewed discussion of a cover to get on Beale Friday and Saturday nights – perhaps, something like a $10 cover, but you get 10 “Beale Bucks” in return to spend at clubs, restaurants, and shops on the street. It would help cut down on the people who just come there to hang out without spending any money. Sounds good to me. The Parks & Recreation Department is responsible for places where people can just hang out. Beale Street is not the Park & Rec Department; it’s a business.

Tube Top Tuesday at Bardog didn’t happen yesterday. Amanda forgot to wear a tube top to work. She commented on Facebook that she needs to set a reminder on her phone for Tuesdays, and I agree. I decided to switch my first stop of the evening back to the Saucer, business as usual. Lots of good pre-Chappelle concert people watching there, including some tube tops and tube top dresses.

Poker at Blind Bear was well attended again this week, with about 20 people at 3 tables. I didn’t play well for the second week in a row and was out before the fourth blind level ended. I’ve decided I’m going to take a break from poker for a few weeks, until I get excited about playing again.

Will probably do trivia tonight at the Bear. Time to hit Publish and grab lunch.