Thur update: DMC party, RiverArtsFest admission fees, karaoke for a cause, Red Deluxe new digs, movie attendance, the politics of beer, the CA’s timely news coverage

The Downtown Memphis Commission is having an Open House this afternoon from 4 to 7 at their office at 114 N. Main (at Adams). They will present Vision Awards to honor Jason Wexler, University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, Robert McGowan, Annie Mahaffey, and Jimmy Ogle. Live entertainment will include Preston Shannon, Valeria’s Wings, Misti Rae Warrent, Beale Street Flippers, and Tiger High. Beer, wine, and refreshments; complimentary food by Downtown Memphis restaurants. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

I had heard they were going to be charging admission for RiverArtsFest this year. Here are the details. Free Friday, October 26; $5 admission Saturday, October 27; $5 admission Sunday, October 28 but free 10 AM to noon. This is a great festival and $5 is a small price to pay to get in.

Karaoke for a cause: The Double J Smokehouse and Saloon will have karaoke from 7-11 PM Sunday night in support of the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). There will be food and drink specials. Karaoke is a lot less atrocious when it benefits a charity, so come on down to the Double J and show your support.

Red Deluxe is leasing the office space on the southwest corner of Union and Main. The space had previously been leased by Thompson and Company, which merged with CS2 to become Sullivan Branding.

I’m surprised to learn that there’s someone who goes to the movies even less often than me: 101-year-old woman goes to the movies for the first time

The politics of beer: This chart shows which party you’re more likely to vote for, and how likely you are to vote, based on the beer you drink. My first reaction to this chart is, they left off PBR!!! Unthinkable. At the Flying Saucer, one of the few bars that doesn’t carry PBR, I drink Dos Equis, which casts me as a middle-of-the-road voter and slightly less likely than average to go to the polls.

This morning I pulled up Google Reader on my laptop and looked at the Commercial Appeal’s RSS feed. They announced the winner of the Smokin’ Aces BBQ contest in Tunica. So, the contest ended Sunday and the CA is just now getting around to reporting on it? Not exactly timely coverage. Also, they only covered the grand champions. You’d think they might have mentioned that a local team, Squeal Street BBQ, won People’s Choice for the second year in a row, but nope, they didn’t. Also reported early today was that there are 12 new electric car charging stations Downtown. Other news sources (including this blog) reported that last week. Keep up the good work, CA.

That’s all for now. Plans for tonight: Could head north to the DMC party, south to poker at Max’s, or go have a beer at the Saucer. I’ll make a game-time decision which to do.