The aggressive panhandlers are out in force for Elvis Week. If you are harassed, or if you see someone harassed by panhandlers, in the Downtown core you can call 281-9146 and the DMC’s Downtown Safety Patrol will respond on bike. They are usually there within minutes. I called the patrol on two panhandlers working in tandem (which is very illegal) outside the Flying Saucer last night, giving our Elvis Week visitors a bad impression of Downtown Memphis.
I posted that number to Facebook as well. A friend of mine told me that a panhandler tried to intimidate her near Main and Madison where she was trying to put her son in a car seat. Her son wouldn’t stop screaming because he was so scared. If you have to intimidate a mother and toddler when they are alone to get money, you are the SCUM OF THE EARTH. By the way, these aggressive panhandlers are almost never homeless or hungry; they are looking for money for booze or drugs. Don’t give these bums money, and call the safety patrol if needed. The patrol’s boundaries are approximately the civic center plaza to MLK Ave. (formerly Linden), and from Front to Third.
Enough about bums. Let’s get on to the GOOD news…
For every pizza sold through August 21, the Silly Goose will donate $5 to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. If you haven’t tried their pizza, trust me, it’s very good.
The semifinals of the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest kick off tonight at the Cannon Center. Details and ticket info here.
South of Beale will have a “Barks & Brews” party on the patio Sunday afternoon from 2 to 5. Adoptable pups will be available, and you can bring your dog to the patio too. Sundays are pint nights at SOB and half of all the proceeds from draft beer sales will go to the charity Dog’s 2nd Chance. $3 regular draft beer, $4 high-gravity draft beer.
The Peabody’s last summer rooftop party is Thursday, but the hotel has announced its schedule for its fall rooftop party season.
September 12: Hollywood
September 26: Aquanet
October 17: Andy Childs
October 31: Dr. Zarr’s Amazing Funk Monster
Dishcrawl is bringing Battledish Memphis to Downtown Memphis on October 5 from 2 to 6 PM. Six Downtown chefs will compete in this international culinary competition spanning 125 cities. More info and tickets here.
Beware of fake LinkedIn requests. I’ve received a few from people I don’t know the past few days, and when I moused over the Accept button I discovered a link to a .ru (Russia) site rather than linkedin.com. That site almost certainly will install malware on your computer. Be careful!
Time to spotlight another startup business that I learned about Tuesday night. DigiArtTrade leases and trades artworks to businesses and corporations. You can swap out art to keep things fresh, the entrepreneur told me, and she said you can even visualize what the art will look like on your wall before you lease it. The company is still in its beginning stages so the website doesn’t have a whole lot on it, but DigiArtTrade’s Tumblr is really good and there’s a place on LaunchRock where you can sign up for updates. You can also follow the business on Twitter at @digiarttrade.
Five day weekend begins at 4:45 PM today! I’ll be out at the bars at 5:30, probably leading off at the Silly Goose. Maybe I’ll get a pizza and support MDA.