October may be over, but there’s still one more Halloween party to go. The Dirty Dozen Does Halloween party is tonight in the back room of Earnestine & Hazel’s starting at 9 PM. In the past this has been a private party, but they gave me permission to go ahead and put the word out on the blog. It has been a fundraiser for several years, and this year it is fundraiser for Earnestine & Hazel’s itself. E&H is the Dirty Dozen’s favorite bar, and they want to help make sure it lives on after the death of owner Russell George. Minimum suggested donation $10. Rockasaurus Rex will perform, and there will be a photo booth, a costume contest, liquor, wine, and Jello shots. Party is 21 and up. This is Downtown’s best Halloween party of the season, so come on down.
That’s not the only worthy cause you can support tonight. At 7 PM, Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band will host a benefit concert at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. They are performing to raise funds to build a smarthome for wounded Marine CPL Christian Brown of Munford. Special thanks to American Airlines for flying the band in.
If you’re going to the Grizzlies’ home opener tonight at FedExForum, you’ll get one of these T-shirts. Memphis takes on the Detroit Pistons at 7 PM.
Speaking of the Grizzlies, they signed Quincy Pondexter to a 4-year, $14 million contract extension. SMART move by the organization.
New technology is being used to fight date-rap drugs. Cups, glasses, straws, and stirrers are being manufactured that change color when one of the common date-rape drugs is slipped in. Paula Raiford is on board and plans to buy the cups for her nightclub. She says it will help her know what is going on in her bar, and that customer safety is very important to her.
Off to work for half a day. I’ll be at the Dirty Dozen party tonight.