Month: August 2013

Elvis Week events kick off today. One of the biggest events is the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist contest. Dozens of Elvii around the world have qualified to participate, but there’s still one spot left. The Hard Rock Cafe will host the Ultimate Last Chance Elvis Tribute Artist contest, with semifinals tonight and tomorrow at 9 PM and finals Sunday at 9 PM. Winner moves on to the main contest next week.

Speaking of Elvis, the venues have been set for the Stumblin’ Elvis pub crawl on the 17th, and there’s now a Facebook event page where you can let people know you’re attending. The crawl will start at the Flying Saucer at 7:30 PM, then will proceed to the Blind Bear, Silky O’ Sullivan’s, and Purple Haze. Come dressed as Elvis. Free to participate, but they will be collecting non-perishable food donations for the Ronald McDonald House.

One of the most awesome Downtown parties of the year is coming back. Feed the Soul, celebrating and benefitting MIFA, will happen at The Warehouse, 36 G.E. Patterson, from 6 to 10 PM Thursday, October 3. Music by Trio Plus band, singer Marcela Pinilla and DJ Stan “The Bellringer” Bell of radio station V101. Food buffet, rum tastings in the MIFA cave, fall and winter fashions modeled by Laurelwood freeze models, oxygen bar with multiple flavors, raffle with prizes from area merchants. Tickets are $45 and can be purchased on MIFA’s website or by calling 901-529-4525. If you attend only one fundraiser a year, make it this one. Always a fabulous event.

Classic movie Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone plays the Orpheum tonight at 7 PM.

Homeless man shot with paintball gun while sleeping at Poplar and Danny Thomas. People suck.

South Front Street needs this sign. Thanks to Aaron (@amprather) for tweeting.

The Brass Door will be showing the Machester United vs. Wigan Athletic game Sunday at 8 AM, for those who like soccer enough to get up that early.

Every so often, the Flying Saucer will send a beer quiz to its UFO members, and if you score 7 out of 10 you get a certificate for $5 off your tab. Here’s one of the questions from this week’s “Capt. Kieth Quiz” (I’m not kidding, they spelled his name wrong in the video preceding the quiz):

8. Did Elvis have any siblings?
A No, he was an only child
B Yes, he had two sisters
C Yes, a twin brother
D All of the above

How could the answer POSSIBLY be “all of the above?” Geez.

That’s the news for now. I’ll be out at the Saucer spending my $5 free beer tab after work.

I see I made the Memphis Flyer’s “Who’s Who on Memphis Twitter” list in this week’s cover story. I’m honored to be included and am glad people think I “keep it real” on that social medium. However, I agree that the list is quite subjective, and that there are Memphians who use Twitter far more effectively than I do who deserve to be included. At any rate, welcome to whatever new Twitter followers I pick up from the article. And I still believe there should be a PBR Hall of Fame and I should be in it.

Hilbilly Casino headlines the Peabody rooftop party tonight. “French stuff I can’t pronounce” is the buffet theme this week. Your $10 admission includes a drink ticket and a buffet of Croque Monssieur sandwiches and Pommes Frites. According to Wikipedia a Croque Monssieur sandwich is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with a fancy name. If you’re in VIP you’ll have a second buffet of Tartines, Coquilles St. Jacques En Croute, Country Pate – Rosemary, and Boursin-Breaded Artichoke. Okay, I think I understand the others but I have no idea WTF Coquilles St. Jacques En Croute is. Help, Wikipedia? Okay, the name redirects to the page for scallop. Oooo la la! Drink specials are Svedka cherry vodka for $4 and Red Bull + vodka for $8. Since when is an $8 Red Bull vodka a SPECIAL???

Mean Girls plays the Orpheum tonight at 7. The 2004 movie is one of the chick-flick classics the theater is showing as part of its summer movie series.

If you’re looking for something to do after either of the events above, John Paul Keith will play another rare solo show at the Blind Bear at 10 PM.

Chef Jason Doty of Bluff City Bakery Instagrammed a pic of his most recent creation: Caramel cake. He described it as his take on a classic, rich butter cake, drenched in caramel sauce, topped with caramel cream cheese butter cream and more caramel. Looks delicious.

Last night I started the evening at the Silly Goose. While there I drank 4 beers and all of them were PBR. I did not consume any other beers there. For those of you who prefer your information in a graphical format, here’s a pie chart.

I’ll hit the Goose again after work tonight, with other bars to follow. Maybe tomorrow I’ll do a bar graph of my PBR consumption.

South of Beale celebrates its 4th birthday today. To celebrate, they will have 15% off food until 7 PM. They will also have drink specials all night long, including $3 draft beer, $4 high-gravity beer, and $4 birthday cake shots.

I’ve learned of a couple of job openings. The Corked Carrot, the wine and cupcake bar at 314 S. Main, is looking for a creative culinary team member. They want someone who loves wine, loves cooking, and who wants to learn and have fun. You can apply in person between 3 and 5 PM any day.

Healthy Memphis Common Table is seeking a Healthy Shelby Program Coordinator. The successful candidate will need to have a Master’s degree in a relevant field.

Police need your help in identifying two suspects involved in a hit-and-run at the 110 Peabody Place parking garage. The incident happened around 5 AM Sunday morning, July 28. Photos of the suspects and their car here.

Here’s a link to the 2013-2014 Memphis Grizzlies schedule and a link to schedule analysis by Memphis Flyer writer Chris Herrington.

To get you in the mood for Elvis Week, here’s a pic of Elvis and his hound dog from 1957. The image was posted to the Historical Pictures Twitter account. I followed it a couple of days ago and there’s some really excellent stuff. I’ve seen an 1890s one-man band, a 1930s construction worker sitting atop a beam in New York City, a 1969 photo of Jimi Hendrix and Mick Jagger, and the 1972 “blue marble” photo of the Earth from space. Follow the account at @HistoricalPics.

I took a night off from Blind Bear poker last night and got three high-alcohol beers done for my next plate at the Flying Saucer. One of them in particular, Stone w00tstout, was really tasty and not badly priced at $8 considering it’s a 13% beer. I’ll be back at the poker table next week.

All right I’m outta here. I forgot to eat lunch yesterday and want to make sure that doesn’t happen again today.

I don’t have a picture because I already ate half of it, but the curry spinach in City Market’s to-go counter is the bomb.

Sunny and Hamida: Will you let me know when you have that again? I run by your to-go section pretty much every night anyway these days, but let’s make sure.

There’s a new Pint Night coming to Downtown Memphis. On Thursday night, Tamp & Tap will have $3 pints starting at 5 PM. Normally the closing time is 9 PM, but if the place is packed at 9, they will stay open.

The city council will consider a proposal this afternoon to move funds around, so that funds to MATA are not cut. This would prevent MATA from having to cut back on bus and trolley service.

The winner of the Create Your Own Burger contest at Huey’s has been announced. Employees were eligible to enter – after all, they know Huey’s burgers better than anyone – and an employee of Downtown Huey’s won. Kitchen manager Patrick Burfield created The Hawaiian. It will be on Huey’s menu beginning in October.

Sullivan Branding is hiring a Media Coordinator. Details here.

The NBA releases the Grizzlies’ 2013-14 regular-season schedule this afternoon. I’ll try to post a link in my next post.

Plans for tonight: Taking a week off from poker at Blind Bear. Last week’s game didn’t end until 12:30 AM and that’s too late for me to be out when I have to support a national tournament going on this week for work. I may go over to the Bear and watch my friends play for a while, after the usual stop by the Flying Saucer to do some more work on my plate. I’ll be out about 5:30.

Sorry there weren’t any posts this weekend. I was busy with stuff from work. We’re having a national tournament in Atlanta, and I had to help out to make sure files and results were being posted in as timely and as accurate a manner as possible. I may go out and party and have fun, but I never lose sight of the fact that there are 167,500 reasons (the dues-paying members of the nonprofit I work for) that I am able to live the lifestyle I live. They have to come first.

Tomorrow is the 30th anniversary of National Night Out, and there will be a celebration in South Main. It will be at Central Station Pavilion from 6 to 8. Come bring lawn chairs and meet the police officers that keep Downtown the safest neighborhood in the city. The event is free and there will be live music and food. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

My friend Angie has an update on Memphis to Moore. Karen Wilder Fitness had donated $18,000 worth of gym equipment to be used at a Moore, Oklahoma junior high gym once it is rebuilt following the May tornadoes. The problem was, though, how to get the equipment to Moore, 8 hours away? Big League Movers stepped up, and the equipment is scheduled to arrive today.

That’s all for now. I’ll be out at Pint Nite at the Saucer about 5:30.

Ever thought about trying Hulu Plus, the subscription service that lets you watch current episodes of your favorite TV shows online? Here’s a link that will get you two months of a free trial, rather than the standard one week.

A new airline, Southern Airways Express, flying out of DeWitt Spain Airport just north of Downtown, is expanding. The airline offers direct flights, no TSA checks, and no baggage fees. You can arrive 20 minutes before your flight leaves, and each passenger gets an iPad to use in-flight. Routes from Memphis to Atlanta and Birmingham were announced, and in the fall routes to Biloxi and Knoxville will be added.

Classic movie The Big Lebowski will be shown on the Orpheum’s big screen tonight at 7. Come early for film discussion with Craig Brewer at 6:30.

Memphis in May has announced that Panama will be the honored country in 2014. I wonder if any BBQ teams will have a canal running through their booth?

Radio host Chris Vernon announced the Grizzlies’ pre-season lineup on Twitter (@ChrisVernonShow) yesterday. We have home games on October 9 vs. the Dallas Mavericks, October 13 vs. Maccabi Haifa, October 15 vs. the Milwaukee Bucks, and October 25 vs. the Houston Rockets. Away games will be October 7th vs. the Chicago Bulls in St. Louis, October 18 at the Orlando Magic, October 20 at the Atlanta Hawks, and October 23 at the Toronto Raptors.

The MBJ reports that the 100 N. Main building, the tallest in Memphis, has several tenants leaving and could be repurposed as a mixed-use building. Residential, hotel, retail, and office space are all possibilities and the property is zoned for any of those.

I found out why my friends didn’t enjoy the 9 PM poker game they attended last Friday at Southland. It has the most God-awful structure I’ve ever heard of. $8 buy-in, with $5 rebuys if you get knocked out. Also, it’s a turbo, meaning the blinds go up every 10 minutes instead of 15. That structure just encourages players to play stupidly and to go all-in with bad cards, knowing if they are eliminated they can get back in for next to nothing. I said that bar poker was nothing like tournaments for cash in a casino setting. I stand corrected. This tournament is exactly like bar poker, except it’s for money. If you know how to play poker at all, skip this donkey-fest and play the 3 PM Saturday tournament instead ($35 buy-in, freezeout format which means there are no rebuys). Several of my friends who are good players go to that one regularly and enjoy it.

That’s the news for now. No definite plans for tonight, but one place I won’t be is Southland’s poker room.

Those who miss the Peabody Place bowling alley may have a new bowling alley to look forward to Downtown. One of Bass Pro’s proposed signs for the Pyramid shows a mermaid in a bikini top swimming in a fish bowl that is also a bowling ball, with bowling pins in the background, with a logo reading “Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl and Grill.” That strongly suggests there are plans for a bowling alley in the Pyramid.

The reason this sign came to light, by the way, is that some people think the sign is too risqué. Because of a bikini top? Whatever. Women have been wearing bikinis for what, 60 years now? Get over yourselves, people. View the sign and the other proposed signs here.

Do you wish you could help St.Jude, but don’t have the funds to make a donation? There’s another way you can help. My BBQ team president told me recently that she gives blood at St.Jude. All the blood donated there is used by St.Jude patients. Every donation they receive helps offset the cost of having to buy whole blood or platelets from an outside source such as LifeBlood. A platelet donation saves the hospital $500-700; a whole blood donation, $250. If you’re interested in donating, here is more information.

FuzzyBrew reports that local beer distributor A.S. Barboro has received its license to distribute high-alcohol beers, which in Tennessee is usually defined as beers above 6.25% ABV. Beers from Schlafly, Southern Tier, Samuel Adams, and Lazy Magnolia will be arriving in bars soon. The first high-ABV beer distributed by A.S. Barboro, Schlafly American IPA, has already landed at the Flying Saucer.

The Redbirds will honor a baseball legend tonight. The first 3000 fans through the gate at AutoZone Park will receive a statue of one of the all-time greats of the St. Louis Cardinals, Stan Musial.

MissUsed headlines the rooftop party on the Peabody Hotel tonight, and it seems as though the kitchen staff has seafood on their minds. Admission includes one drink ticket and a buffet of fish fingers and tater tots. Those in the VIP section will enjoy a second buffet of crab cakes with roasted red pepper sauce, chili-spiked sea bass encroute, and coconut shrimp. Party from 6-11 PM, $10 cover, ladies free before 7.

Great letter from the editor this week in the Memphis Flyer. Bruce V talks about people who live in the ‘burbs who constantly criticize Memphis.

A construction permit has been filed for the renovation of a building at 347 S. Front into Printer Alley’s Lofts. The building and an adjacent lot would be converted into apartments, townhomes, and retail space. One reason to move into this building, once completed, is that it will be across the street from Gus’s Fried Chicken.

There’s an active Groupon for half-off a Memphis Magazine subscription. There are one-, two-, and three-year options.

Pretty Woman plays at the Orpheum tonight at 7.

Newsy day today. I’ll be out after work at the usual spots. It’s a celebration of IPA Day at the Flying Saucer with rotating $3 IPA Fire Sale pints all day, and since I like India Pale Ales that should be fun.