Throwback Thursday: Drunk post

If you came here looking for the “Thursday update” news post, this is it, but it will be in a slightly different format today. In 2008-09 when I was between jobs, I used to take the laptop to the Second Street Branch Office, AKA the Flying Saucer, and drink while I typed my posts. That’s what you’re getting today in this #tbt post. I have a shot of Fireball and a Dos Equis Lager sitting next to my netbook, and Lacey is behind the bar. Let’s do this.

*shoots Fireball*

The Fire Sale is Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, in case you wanted to know.

Big event coming up next Tuesday, August 5 at the pavilion at Front and G.E. Patterson. It will be National Night Out, a chance to come out and meet and thank the police officers and firefighters who keep Downtown safe. It’s also a night to promote neighborhood camaraderie and police-community partnerships. There will be live music by Ashley McBride, and food from the Arcade, Central BBQ, Double J Smokehouse and Saloon, Jack Pirtle’s Chicken, the Blue Monkey, Papa John’s, and Roy Hughes on the grill. There will be wine and beer too. 6 to 8 PM. Weather permitting I will be there!

Looks like a lot of people who live in East Memphis, Whitehaven and North Mississippi who work Downtown were late to work this morning. An over-height truck got stuck on I-55 NB at Third Street. Cops had to shut down Malfunction Junction and back the truck all the way up to the 240. Gotta love idiot drivers, especially in trucks!

I need to stop by and say hello to the Lanskys while I’m in the immediate area. Their Clothier to the King store is back open in their original building, at 126 Beale, which also houses the Hard Rock Cafe.

The second annual Big One for One Drop poker tournament is going on right now, with a $1 million entry fee and a $50 million first-place prize. If you hold pocket Aces pre-flop and lose your million to some hand like 97 that hits two pair or a straight or a flush, well, that’s poker. But when you lose to this hand, well, that truly truly sucks.

Is there a Memphis Flyer Best of Memphis poll category for “best black yoga pants on a Memphis bartender” category? If not I would like to suggest its addition next year.

TJ Mulligan’s Pinch has its closing party today. They will close for remodeling and will reopen at some point in the future.

If you sign up for the Breakaway-Bardog 5K by 11:59 PM today, you’ll be entered for a chance to win a 75 minute session at Memphis Myofascial Release. I have no idea what that means but it sounds like something girls would like.

Happy birthday to Kaylea from the Blind Bear. I give her a lot of shit but I hope she knows I don’t mean it and think she’s a beautiful person inside and out. Also happy birthday to our BBQ team treasurer Frank from “Mr. Load-in”.

I just walked to the restroom and noticed the screen saver on the Saucer’s UFO computer. It was advertising an event called “Pigskin Pickin” on Saturday, August 30. “College football and a whole roast pig,” said the on-screen flyer. You have to be a UFO Club member to attend. Ask your Saucer bartender or server how to join the club if you’re not a member. It’s not expensive and you get a T-shirt. The 2014 Beerknurd T-shirts are pretty cool as opposed to the 2013 ones which I thought kinda sucked ass.

Dammit I just squirted a lime all over my netbook. At least it’s tax-free weekend if I have to go buy a new netbook.

The Orpheum is having a Grease sing-along tonight at 7. Doors open at 6. Come early for drink specials and movie-related activities.

Speaking of sing-alongs, John Lennon’s “Imagine” is playing at the Saucer and Stacey is singing along to it.

Swingin Leroy headlines the Peabody rooftop party tonight. Doors open at 6, $10 cover, ladies and hotel guests free until 7.  Admission includes a buffet of assorted mini pizzas, meatballs and garlic sticks. Now that the Nuh-Uh Girl has moved out of town there’s still food left on the buffet after 7:15. If you’re in VIP there will be a second buffet of mozzarella, basil and cherry tomato skewers, tortellini salad, and fettucine alfredo with grilled chicken.

The AP Stylebook tweeted that a group selfie is known as an usie, and is deeper than a selfie because of the social interaction displayed in the photo. This is one of the many reasons I hate the AP Stylebook and will never follow it on this blog.

Memphis Barbecue Supply has donated a Kamodo grill to be raffled off at Best Memphis Burger Festival on Sunday, September 21. Tickets to win the grill will be $5 apiece.

One of my Facebook friends posted a really good article from a site called The Mind Unleashed which lists 10 toxic relationships that mentally strong people avoid. Yep, any of those 10 would send me running. Sadly, I know quite a few people who don’t really feel like they’re in a relationship unless at least a few of these signs are present.

Actually, that entire Mind Unleashed site is good and worth a bookmark.

South Mainers: I’m going to have food truck news for you soon. It’s a couple of days early to post because it could get forgotten by the day of. But, good news coming soon.

From Mother Jones: Bud and Miller re trying to hijack craft breweries – and it’s totally backfiring. They have started fake craft breweries like Shock Top that are not breweries at all, but subsidiaries of the large beer companies. The idea was to take market share away from small craft breweries, but that hasn’t happened. Instead, the fake breweries are cannibalizing their parent companies’ sales. Serves you right, Bud and Miller. Craft beer is here to stay.

Okay, after two hours this post is finally ready. Apologies for any spelling or grammar errors. It’s hard enough to type sober on a 10 inch netbook, and I’m not exactly sober as of now. Going to hit Publish and move on to Bloom’s bar at Bardog.

Wed update: BOM vote, karaoke, sandlot baseball, more on pop-up fitness park, Riverside Drive

Today is the last day to vote in the Memphis Flyer’s Best of Memphis poll. Don’t miss your chance to make your voice heard in Memphis’ most respected “best of” poll.

There’s karaoke at the Mad Earl tonight at 9. Normally I wouldn’t encourage that kind of thing Downtown, but a friend of mine’s sister is running it. Maybe Robo and Katie Mac can do a duet of a Neil Diamond song. I’m sure it will sound like the noise a cat makes when someone steps on its tail.

Sandlot Memphis is hosting a second sandlot game between Downtown and Midtown on August 24. Midtown beat Downtown 6-5 in the first one and Downtown is looking for some revenge.

Last night I blogged about the Grizzlies’ plan for a pop-up fitness park at Tom Lee Park. Not only would there be exercise stations (to be designed with the help of Envision Fitness), but there would be a soccer field and beach volleyball court as well. Very cool!

Grizzlies staff: You realize you have access to a resource who is an expert at moving equipment into Tom Lee Park, right? Feel free to call on the services of “Mr. Load-in” if you want. I would be happy to sit at the Flying Saucer drinking a Dos Equis Lager while I direct the unloading process remotely via iPhone or laptop. I would also be happy to run errands for you. For example, you could send me to Bardog to confirm that the PBR there is sufficiently cold. I’m here for you!

From WREG: People sound off on changes to Riverside Drive

From Mashable: Bull tramples, almost kills man trying to take selfie in France. Dumbass.

I’m just a few hours away from a long weekend. I plan to get a bit wild and take the filter completely off the next four days. Kind of like I did at BBQ Fest, but minus all the hard work I had to put in during the load-in process. Expect some interesting blog, Facebook, and Twitter updates. I’ll kick it off around 5:30 tonight at Jessica’s bar at the Silly Goose. Get the Fireball ready!

Tue update #2: Grizzlies plans for Tom Lee Park, @bealestlanding, Blue Plate Cafe, Bardog alley party news, and more

Very cool news came out this afternoon: The Grizzlies want to turn Tom Lee Park into a pop-up fitness park. The organization would like to see more done with the park during the 10 months of the year it’s not in use, They want to put a number of pop-up fitness stations in the park to help make Memphis more healthy.

Speaking of Tom Lee Park, if you’re on Twitter the @bealestlanding parody account is a good one to follow. If you like @midtownkrogers you’ll probably like @bealestlanding.

The Daily News reported that the Blue Plate Cafe has re-opened following a fire several weeks ago. Not all the paintings are back on the walls yet, but the restaurant is open.

Here’s a link to the latest Bark & Herald newsletter from Bardog Tavern with complete details of the Sunday, August 17 alley party.

Michael Buble is in concert tomorrow evening at the FedExForum. Except heavy traffic in the Downtown core. Allow extra time to get where you need to go and expect to pay an upcharge for parking in the area.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: I am taking vacation Thursday and Friday of this week. There will still be posts, but they will not necessarily happen at the times you expect to see them on weekdays. I may also break information into multiple posts the way I used to do it before I had to cram everything into a lunch break.

That’s it for now. Home from work and on my way out for beer.

Tue update: Riverside Drive meeting, important bacon news, Grizzlies license plate, cat circus, new NCRM leader, bad decisions by social networks, Aldo’s

If you have feedback about the recent switch of Riverside Drive from 4 lanes for vehicles to 2, don’t forget that there’s a community meeting about the street tonight. It’s at Beale Street Landing, 251 S. Riverside Drive, at 6:00 this evening.

Important bacon news: There will be a bacon lovers’ Dishcrawl at three restaurants in Memphis on August 13.

The Grizzlies have announced an official Memphis Grizzlies Tennessee license plate. They need 1000 pre-sale orders for the plates to be produced, and once they have the 1000 it will take 4-5 months to produce the plates.

Speaking of the Grizzlies, they’ve dropped the “interim” from Chris Wallace’s general manager title, and signed him to a long-term extension. A good move.

Local cat lady @stephMEM tweeted some exciting news yesterday. A cat circus is coming to Memphis this fall. It will be in the Evergreen Theatre in Midtown in November. Cats will push shopping carts, ride skateboards, and perform other tricks. Also a band made up of cats will perform.

Also in November, Terri Lee Freeman will take over as president of the National Civil Rights Museum. It sounds like they made an excellent hire, someone who will work to increase national and international awareness of the museum.

Social networks screwing up their apps, part 1: Facebook is moving all messaging to its Messenger app. If you try to send messages via Facebook’s mobile app, you’ll be told to go download Messenger. Not a big fan of this decision.

Nor am I a fan of something Foursquare did. It is now forcing users to switch to Swarm to check in. That I don’t mind, but Foursquare went and screwed up the best thing it had going: mayorships. There is no more “mayor” concept, in that the person who checked in the most at a place over the past 60 days became mayor. Instead you get a crown sticker for having checked in the most days of any of your friends. So my 2+ year reigns as mayor of Flying Saucer and Blind Bear have come to an end. BOOOOOOO!!!!

The Midtown Aldo’s Pizza Pies that is opening soon will have a rooftop patio.

That’ll do it for now. Back this evening or tomorrow with more news.

Phoenix Club summer party coming up this Saturday

Only one news item today, and it is not something happening Downtown, but I’m blogging it anyway because it’s a good organization supporting an excellent cause. This Saturday, August 2, The Phoenix Club will hold its summer party featuring the Soul Shockers. It will be from 7 PM to midnight in the Overton Square Tower courtyard. Tickets are $20 in advance and price of admission includes unlimited cold beer and specialty drinks from local sponsors. Proceeds go to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Memphis and will help pay for mountain bikes for their summer camp.

If there is more news this afternoon I will do an after-work post. I’ll be out for Melissa Monday at Bardog around 5:30.

Memphis Dawgs to be at pup pool party at the Barking Lot today

I have just learned that one of Memphis’ best mobile food vendors, Memphis Dawgs, will be at Downtown dog park The Barking Lot from 10 to 2 today. There is a pup pool party going on there with pools for dogs and ice sculptures for dogs to lick. While your dog is running around enjoying the great outdoors, you can enjoy Memphis’ best hot dog. They’re made with Nathan’s franks and you will have a variety of toppings from which to choose. Even if you’re not a pet owner, come give Memphis Dawgs a try.

Follow @Memphisdawgs on Twitter to find out where they’ll be selling hot dogs in the future.

Fri update #2: Tennessee Brewery, Bardog alley party, Riverfront Bar and Grill, Paulette’s wine dinner, how to zoom in iOS on sites that don’t allow it

BREAKING NEWS AND IT’S GREAT NEWS: A contract to purchase the Tennessee Brewery has been signed, saving the building for demolition.

I saw a quote on Twitter today that describes my job to a T: “This is front-end dev… 10 hours of fun times building cool things, 10 hours of making it work in IE.” Exactly! Is there a web developer out there who cannot relate to that?

New event at Bardog’s alley party/fundraiser for St. Jude which is set for Sunday, August 17: For $10 you can race a Yuengling motorized cooler for the chance to win one to take home. Sounds like fun and a prize that many Downtowners will have an interest in. Seriously, don’t miss this party, and taking a vacation day on the 18th would not be a bad idea.

The Flyer has a good article about Riverfront Bar and Grill in Beale Street Landing. It will give you a good idea what to expect at this new restaurant, which recently obtained its liquor license.

Here’s info on a wine tasting dinner happening at Paulette’s on Tuesday, August 5.

From Lifehacker: There are some websites that will not let you use your fingers to zoom in when you’re using iOS. Here’s a workaround that lets you zoom in on those sites anyway.

Off to Bardog. I’m on call for work so I’ll be in and out tonight.

Fri update: Front Street Chicken District, Grifters concert, Harry Potter, Owen’s Flight, Just Peachy, Silly Goose cola, Memphis women are heaviest drinkers, Raw tickets on sale tomorrow

This is what you missed if you weren't at the Silly Goose yesterday for happy hour.
This is what you missed if you weren’t at the Silly Goose yesterday for happy hour.

Yesterday afternoon, the Old Dominick distillery was being discussed on Twitter. It will be on Front Street near Gus’s, and it was suggested that the area be named the Front Street Chicken District. That would be awesome. Let’s make this happen. #FrontStreetChickenDistrict

The Grifters play this week’s free concert in Handy Park. Tonight, 6:30 PM.

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets, the second movie in the Harry Potter series, will be shown at the Orpheum at 7 tonight. Doors open at 6, and you can come early for drink specials and movie-themed activities. Tip: If you show your ticket at BB King’s club, they’ll give you a free appetizer with the purchase of two entrees.

A special this week at the Flying Saucer is “Owen’s Flight,” a manager’s pick of three high-gravity and two low-gravity beers. Owen used to bartend the other Saucer out in Cordova and he knows a lot about beers, so I bet he’d pick some good ones for you.

Just Peachy is the theme for the Memphis Farmers Market tomorrow. Peaches are in season, and they freeze well, so you can buy a case and have them year ’round. Saturday is National Dance Day and New Ballet Ensemble & School alum and NYU graduate Frankie Fernandez will be teaching the “easy” dance at 10:15. Music by South Side Supper Club at 7, Kris Acklen at 8:30 and Steven Schad at 11. 7 AM-1 PM, Front at G.E. Patterson. Also don’t forget that the MFM’s Rock ‘n WIld Picnic is tomorrow evening at the pavilion. Buy tickets here.

From Vine: Video of Silly Goose house cola being made. That’s right, they use house-made cola for their hand-crafted mixed drinks.

From the CA: Memphis women are the heaviest female drinkers in America. I can think of a few Downtowners who resemble that remark.

Prince Mongo’s episode of American Pickers will be on the History Channel next Wednesday at 8 PM.

Tickets to the September 22 WWE Monday Night Raw, which will be live from Memphis, go on sale at the FedExForum tomorrow at 10 AM.

Plans for tonight: I’m still on call for work. I’ll be out, but I need to stay in locations where I can get home quickly to post tournament results as they come in. Therefore, I won’t be able to attend South Main Trolley Night or a party I’ve been invited to in that area – I’d really like to, but it would take me 30+ minutes to get home and that’s too long. So I’ll remain close to home – probably Bardog, which is right around the corner.

I will still be at Bardog brunch tomorrow at 11 AM. Panda is out of town, not sure who will be filling in for her.

Time to get a few things done then it’s the weekend. Outta here!

Thur update: Peabody rooftop party, Steel Magnolias, Memphis Made expanding, summer pup pool party, Iron Sheik in Rolling Stone

Circus headlines the Peabody rooftop party tonight. The cover is $10, but if you’re female or a hotel guest you can get in free before 7:00. Admission includes a buffet of smoked Polish sausage, sauerkraut, peppers & onions, and rolls. If you’re in VIP there’s a second buffet of weiner schnitzel sliders, bratwurst, and German potato salad.

Steel Magnolias will be on the big screen tonight at the Orpheum. Movie at 7, but doors open at 6 and you can come early for drink specials and pre-movie activities.

Memphis Made Brewing Co. is expanding. They have added three new fermenters to more than double their beer production. This move happened faster than expected, but demand for Memphis Made beer is high. The brewery currently distributes beer in kegs and bottles to more than 60 restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and liquor stores. Visit the brewery’s website here.

There will be a summer pup pool party this Saturday, beginning at 10 AM, at Downtown dog park The Barking Lot at N. Main and Jefferson. In addition to pools for splashing, your dog will be able to enjoy licking ice sculptures made especially for pets. Donations to Mid-South Spay and Neuter will be accepted, either monetary donations or in-kind. Top in-kind needs are distilled water, paper towels, stamps, and copy paper.

The Iron Sheik the real, he not the jabroni like the Tito Santana. He in Rolling Stone, you read or otherwise go f*** yourself.

Funny moment at the Silly Goose last night. One of my friends asked, “So what’s up with that weird guy who follows you around everywhere? I guess he didn’t follow you today?”

“No, that’s him, sitting six seats down the bar from you, eating Thai meatballs and pita points and taking pictures of his food,” I said. Then I showed her a picture of him that has gone viral lately, of him holding a beer at Bardog after he got drunk at a beer festival and fell down in the mud. He had on his still-muddy shirt and a red, white and blue headband in the pic. ‘Merica!

Plans for tonight: If you didn’t see this morning’s post, Jessica will be tending bar at Silly Goose in a tube top at happy hour today, so I guess I don’t need to tell you where I will be. Most likely you can expect a tube top pic on the blog tomorrow.