I want to start this post with an observation about Reindeer Games, the festival that will happen this Saturday in Court Square from noon to 5. There’s a cornhole tournament at 1 PM. I know most of the talented cornholers Downtown, and I know their weekend habits. I would expect them to be either at the Tigers vs. Louisville game (1:30 tipoff) or at Max’s Sports Bar watching the game – and NOT at the cornhole tournament. So I expect a softer-than-average field. A decent but not great team could easily have a shot at winning the tournament. Don’t be shy about entering. Your chances of being beat probably aren’t as high as you think.
Also, note that the Post-Reindeer Games Pub Crawl begins earlier than most Downtown pub crawls. It will start at 5:30 PM, with Local as the first stop (then Blind Bear, Green Beetle, and Double J). I guess that means it will end earlier than most pub crawls too.
Current forecast for Saturday is scattered showers and thunderstorms with a high in the low 60s and low in the mid 40s. If the rain will just stay away, those temps are excellent for mid-December. Average is low 50s/mid 30s, but it seems like every December event I’ve attended in Court Square has actually seen windy weather with temperature around freezing. We’ve really lucked out on festival weather this year.
The Facebook event listing for the pub crawl requests, “DRESS UP this is Reindeer Games!” You know, I’ve put on a skirt and dressed up as a Saucer girl; I’ve put on an orange jacket and dressed up as Bruce Pearl, one of the biggest douches in Tennessee history; I’ve stumbled around Downtown as Santa, Elvis, and in a Snuggie. But putting on a pair of those silly reindeer antlers? Ugh. Every year around Christmas I see couples wearing matching reindeer antlers, and think 1) the girl talked the guy into doing it; and 2) the guy better have a 100% written guarantee that he will get laid at the end of the night. I don’t know why, but I’m just not down with the antlers. So probably not dressing up.
I just realized, all the stops along the pub crawl serve PBR. Well done.
All right, on to other news. The Silly Goose will have its 4th annual Naughty List Ball next Thursday, December 20, starting at 9 PM. Entertainment will be provided by the Dave Cousar Band, and there will be a special appearance by the Goose’s very own Bad Santa. This is the same night as the Blind Bear’s first anniversary party, and the two bars are only a block from each other so it will definitely be easy to attend both. This is the second time this month the two bars have booked parties on the same night. Wonder if that’s happening on purpose?
A huge asteroid will pass Earth over the next few days. It’s named 4179 Toutatis, is about 3 miles wide, and orbits the Sun once every four years. I wonder what former Goose/Saucer server Brick thinks about this. A few years ago she was worried that Obama had a plan to blow up the moon, and that would really screw shit up. Thank goodness that never came to fruition. I hope the asteroid doesn’t screw shit up when it passes by.
The Fuzzy Brew blog has information about the tappings of Hop Project batches 65, 66, and 68 tonight at the Flying Saucer. If you’re a fan of hoppy beers, give this IPA a try. No two batches are brewed the same way.
For the second time I’ve been asked to judge the balcony Christmas-light decorating contest at River Row on South Front Street. I had fun last time and after confirming important details (“Free beer for judges?”) I gladly agreed. See you Sunday! Between that and the Saucer’s Beerknurd Party, and now that I think about it my free daily mayoral beer at Blind Bear, it will be a good day for me scoring free beer Downtown.
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Not Downtown news but too newsworthy not to report: The CA is reporting that popular Midtown music venue the Hi-Tone will close. Details here. I rarely post links to the CA because of their stupid paywall but this is noteworthy enough to make an exception.
Sitting here in Horn Lake browsing the delicious daily specials the Majestic, City Market, Brass Door, and Green Beetle have posted for lunch. And now I’m about to go to KFC and have a chicken pot pie. Ugh. Hope you’re eating better than I am this noontime.