Month: October 2014

A week from Saturday, November 2, is the annual Harbor Town Dog Show at Nursery Park in Harbor Town. The event is sponsored by Downtown Animal Hospital. This year’s show has a disco theme and there will be a “Doggie Disco Dance Off”. Other categories include least obedient, most glamorous, best rescue dog, most original costume, and best float. For $45 you can enter your dog in two categories. Spectators may attend for free or pay $20 to be in a VIP area with gourmet food and drink.

The Friends of the Library fall book sale is this week at the main library, 3030 Poplar.

If you’re a hockey fan and you’re looking for a place Downtown to watch, Kooky Canuck has the NHL Centre Ice package. Just ask the bartender to switch to your game on one of the many TVs above the bar.

This basketball season, the FedExForum will have three fewer suites, but that space will be converted into theater boxes which are sort of a halfway point between club box seat and suite.

The Grizzlies, by the way, have a pre-season game against the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at the FedExForum at 7. Expect heavy traffic Downtown.

That’s the news for now. Time to run up to the Kroger at the top of the hill from where I work and get some cold cuts. I’ll be out at the usual spots after work.

One of Downtown’s biggest festivals happens this weekend. RiverArtsFest will happen on South Main between Huling and Georgia Saturday and Sunday. 180 artists will have booths and will be displaying and selling their work. There will be live music on four stages, and you can view the schedule here. There will be food vendors as well, and the food is above average compared to typical festival fare. $5 admission each day. There is a free festival kick-off party Friday night.

Want to be a part of the French Fort neighborhood’s revival? There’s a party called An Evening with Friends of the Fort Saturday. It’s at the Marine Hospital on Metal Museum Drive. There will be guided tours of the hospital, horror movies shown on the hospital lawn, an acoustic live music jam, local beer, wine, and Bardog sliders and dogs. Attendees are welcome to bring blankets and even an instrument to jam along with the music, although coolers won’t be allowed. Tickets are $30 in advance, $40 at the door and include food, 3 drink tickets, tours and movies.

Hear “Conjunction Junction,” “Interplanet Janet,” and other Schoolhouse Rock classics performed live. The show comes to the Orpheum November 14. Tickets are $15 or $25 for VIP and can be purchased on the Orpheum’s website.

Here’s a video of new Grizzly Vince Carter blocking his former teammate Dirk Nowitzki at the rim.

How wing fans: I have not been by to verify this myself, but I hear that the Mad Earl adjusted its hot wing recipe and the wings are now much, much hotter. A friend of mine ate there yesterday and was very pleased with what she got. I’ll have to get by there soon and try them. By the way, I didn’t make it to Thursday night Burlesque Bingo last Thursday, but hopefully I will make it this week.

I had a relaxing evening last night at three of my favorite bars: Bardog, Flying Saucer, and Blind Bear. The only hitch in the evening came when I nearly got run over by a guy on a bike delivering sliders to an office building on Front Street. I need to look more carefully when I walk, I guess.

That’s it for now. Sorry for the lack of posts the last few days, had some Internet connectivity issues.

Joe Navarro, an ex-FBI agent who specialized in counterintelligence and behavior analysis, writes books on psychology and body language. He is also a poker player and co-authored Read ’em and Reap, a book on poker tells, with Phil Hellmuth. Check out his latest article on the Psychology Today website: 12 Things Narcissists Think.

I downloaded Joe’s latest book onto my iPhone Kindle app and am reading it now. Joe is very interactive with his fans. Follow him on Twitter at @navarrotells.

After I spent an hour typing it. Didn’t save a draft or anything. So real quick – Widespread Panic at Orpheum at 8, Ex-Cult and The Limes perform behind the Montessori School on the Island at 7, Tchaikovsky piano concerto by MSO at the Cannon Center at 7:30, DNA meeting Tuesday at 6 at the Railroad Museum with rare underground tour and new MATA GM speaking. Bad things happen when you sing karaoke. Gettin dranks at Bardog at 11, join me if you feel so inclined.

I’ve been asked to post a link to Team Ernst, the website of Mike Ernst and his team fighting against ALS. Mike is a former Memphian who started on the Harvard football team. Because of ALS he is now in a wheelchair. If you’re so inclined, please take a minute to visit the site and learn more about ALS and Mike’s very real struggle.

The MBJ has the schedule for MemFix in the Edge tomorrow from 10 to 8. Come help re-imagine the area around Monroe and Marshall while enjoying food, music, pop-up shops, poetry, art, new public spaces and more.

If you’re driving Downtown tomorrow, allow extra time for heavy traffic in the area around FedExForum mid to late afternoon due to Memphis Tigers Madness.

Tomorrow is “Secure Your Identity Day” at the Commercial Appeal building, 495 Union, from 9 to noon. Bring up to 5 bags of old credit card receipts, bills, and other personal paperwork you no longer want and they will be destroyed for you at no cost. You don’t even have to get out of your car.

The Incredibles plays on the big screen at Beale Street Landing tonight, 7 PM.

Downtown and Midtown square off in the rubber match of Sandlot Baseball Sunday at 2 PM at Tom Lee Park, on the new Get RiverFit soccer field at the park’s south end. Winner gets bragging rights and the pennant. The series is currently tied 1-1. Sache will be on site printing shirts.

There was a minor fire at the Rendezvous this morning. It is out and the restaurant is open for business.

Check out the Downtown Memphis Commission’s Downtown Fall/Winter guide.

The MBJ has a look at the Old Dominick distillery that is coming soon to the Front Street Chicken District.

Plans for tonight: I’ve got the first of back-to-back birthday parties to attend at Blind Bear. Tonight it’s red rover, red rover (no, not the agency), and then tomorrow it’s the girl who wore a tube top to Stumbling Santa in 27 degrees (LOVE HER!!!). I definitely don’t mind spending time at the Bear so this should be a fun weekend.

Last night was the Nuh-Uh Girl’s final night of her Memphis trip, and I learned something from her: How to hide rice.

You see, the Nuh-Uh Girl likes to eat at a sushi buffet out east. She gets plates of nigiri, and she pulls the rice that is wrapped with it off and eats only the fish. By the end of her dinner she accumulates a giant mound of uneaten rice on her plate. She has been reprimanded by the sushi chef and told that since it is an all-you-can-eat buffet, she must eat the rice along with the fish.

However, she found a solution. She gets bowls of soup and hides the rice in the soup. That’s pretty clever.

The Silly Goose’s pasta bar is officially up and running. They are going to have it Monday through Friday during happy hour from 4 to 7:30. Shorty has expanded his toppings and you have a huge selection of meats, veggies and mushrooms from which to choose. You can get as many toppings as you want, and it’s $10 a bowl.

By the way, the Nuh-Uh Girl and I were at the Silly Goose when she told me the nigiri story. After she finished the story, she asked me, “I’m hungry. Will you order a bowl of pasta so I can have something to eat?”

From Live at 9: Learn how to make Oshi’s Toro Burger, an ahi tuna burger.

There’s a bocce tournament today starting at 5:30 at the court at South Main and Talbot.

At SEE Memphis on the Main Street Mall, there will be a Ray-Ban party tonight from 5 to 7:30.

Montgomery Gentry and Kristian Bush play a free concert at Handy Park, Third and Beale, tonight at 7.

Trolley Trials: Something’s Missing on Main Street is the cover story in this week’s Memphis Flyer. The interview with new MATA director Ron Garrison gives me hope that our public transportation system won’t be among the worst in the country for too much longer.

Next time I go to the Blind Bear, I have a free entree waiting on me. I hit the first step in their loyalty card program. If you don’t have a loyalty card, ask your server or bartender how you can start earning free food.

If you use Nextdoor, the app that connects people that live in the same neighborhood, and you live in what Nextdoor calls the Downtown South area, you can add yourself to a Treat Map to indicate that you will be giving out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. That’s pretty cool. If there’s a bar map I’ll add myself to that.

Having another knock-down, drag-out, slobberknocker brawl with jQuery today at work. But you know what? If jQuery is the worst foe I face today, it will be a pretty good day. I’ll be out at Jessica’s bar at the Silly Goose after work and I may see Shorty about some pasta while there.

I didn’t think I was going to come up with a Halloween costume for this year. Something scary? Something spooky? Something icky? I couldn’t decide. Then yesterday, on my day off, I was watching TV at the Flying Saucer when inspiration hit. I contacted Josh who has the T-shirt printing business in the basement of Winfield’s, and explained what I wanted. “I can do that Paulie,” Josh replied. The costume will require two accessories, one of which I can print myself, and the other will require a trip to Kroger. Not going to tell you exactly what it is, but I have certainly provided some hints here.

And no, I’m not dressing up as a Saucer girl, in case anyone was worrying about that.

Crap. I just realized, to do the costume properly, I will need to hold a prop in each hand (although one of the props will be released at times). How am I going to hold a beer too?

For those of you who had been asking if Downtown Dining Week would be coming back, the answer is YES it will. It will be the week of November 16-22 (my birthday week!) with many restaurants offering $10.14 lunch specials and $20.14 dinner specials. Holly has a list of participating restaurants. Let me repeat my advice one more year: If there is a particular restaurant at which you would like to dine that week, DO NOT DELAY calling and making reservations. The most popular restaurants’ reservations will fill up weeks before DDW begins.

One of the DDW restaurants, Rizzo’s Diner, is moving to a bigger space. Chef Michael Patrick announced this week that Rizzo’s will be moving around the corner to 492 South Main. I believe that’s the old Cafe Soul location. The move will add more space for tables, a bigger kitchen, and a bar. I know that there are some South Mainers who are very excited about the bar.

Shorty took the Silly Goose’s pasta bar for a second test run yesterday. Isn’t this a nice-looking bowl of pasta he made me?

I got sausage, onions, black olives, and bell peppers over pasta with a red meat sauce. They also have a marinara sauce if you want a red sauce without meat. I’ll have details soon on when the pasta bar is in regular operation and what the price will be.

Back at work after a 4-day weekend. Monday I was hanging out at the Blind Bear with Jason. Today I am populating data tables with JSON. Pays the bills though. Happy hump day everyone. I’ll be out for dranks at the Silly Goose about 5:30.

 

The Nuh-Uh Girl wrapped up Sunday Fun Day at poker last night at the Blind Bear. Of course, she was eating. I wonder whose bowl of crawfish mac & cheese that was?

Once or twice a year, an absolutely epic Sunday Fun Day happens out of nowhere. Yesterday was one of those days. We were joined at Bardog by a burlesque dancer who performs in shows around town. She told us that Thursday is Burlesque Bingo at the Mad Earl at 8 PM. After she showed us a few videos of her dancing, we were all convinced that Burlesque Bingo is something we need to attend.

Kooky Canuck is celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving today. They will be serving turkey and dressing with all the trimmings.

Tweet from MemphisWeather.net (@memphisweather1): “Primary threat still damaging straight-line wind with a secondary tornado threat this afternoon. #memstorm” Yep, I’m very happy I have the day off and will not have a commute home from Horn Lake this afternoon.

My prediction that the Memphis Tigers football team would run the table on the remainder of the AAC schedule did not come to pass. The Tigers lost to the Houston Cougars Saturday at the Liberty Bowl. Whoever wrote this article for WREG: The plural of Cougar is not Cougar’s. Geez.

What to do on my day off… hmmm… lunch with Jeannette at the Blind Bear sounds like a good start. I will probably spend some time at Pint Nite at the Saucer this afternoon. I haven’t been spending much time at the Saucer since mid-July. However, as of yesterday I plan to spend considerably more time there. For happy hour I plan on hitting the Silly Goose, because Shorty is taking his pasta bar on another test run. Put some money in the man’s tip jar and he’ll cook you a fine plate of pasta with whatever toppings and sauce you want. Evening plans are kind of a wild card today; normally I’d be at Melissa’s bar at Bardog but she’s out of town. Weather may affect my plans too. In any event, I plan on making the best of this day off. Time to get started!

Downtown has no shortage of big events happening tonight. One of the biggest is Stevie Wonder performing at the Cannon Center tonight at 8. Not only will Stevie be performing, but other artists will pay tribute to his works including India Arie, Ledisi, Sharon Jones, and Jordin Sparks. It ain’t gonna be cheap to see him, boys and girls. Tickets start at $70 and go up to $265. Think of all the music you might get to hear though… “I Was Made to Love Her”… “Superstition”… “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”… and of course, “Upright (Everything Is All Tight)”.

Wait, did I get the words wrong there?

Fun fact: Stevie Wonder performed “Superstition” on an episode of Sesame Street in 1973.

There’s also some basketball going on tonight. The Memphis Grizzlies host the Atlanta Hawks in their first pre-season home game at the FedExForum at 7.

Ginuwine, Lyfe Jennings and ‘112’ perform at the Orpheum tonight on their “Ladies’ Choice” tour. Memphis singer Ashton London will be on stage too.

If you own a restaurant, you usually don’t want to be featured on Andy’s Scorecard on WMC Channel 5. However, downtown Cuban restaurant Havana’s Pilon was recently covered by Andy in a positive light. It’s around the corner from me at Second and Madison. Delicious food and easy on the wallet. If you’ve never had Cuban food and aren’t quite sure where to begin, I recommend the ropa vieja with sides of Congri rice and boiled yucca.

MBJ article: Just how full is South Main’s development pipeline? (with database)

Plans for today: This will surprise you, but I am not going to the Cooper-Young Regional Beer Festival. It’s tbe best beer festival in Memphis, with great beer, great presentations and great food, but for some reason my intuition told me “take this year off.” I’ve learned to always trust my intuition, and listened. Looking at the forecast today, I made the right call. I’ll lead off at Panda’s bar at Bardog as usual, then proceed from there.

Whew! Busy morning. Trying to get stuff wrapped up at work so I can take a four-day weekend with Monday and Tuesday off, and I have about 41 different things to get done. The last time I took vacation, Hanin from the Blind Bear took a video of me dancing in my chair and posted it to Facebook. But that’s OK because I own my behavior and am not afraid to laugh at myself. After all, I did it. It’s not like I have the right to completely flip out on her and scream, “How DARE you post that HORRIBLE video of me???!?!!?!!!!” Some people would though.

Jeannette has promised good chair dancing music when I come to the Bear for lunch on Monday.

The Flying Saucer’s annual Oktoberfest is tonight starting at 6 PM. For $20 you can sample 12 Oktoberfest and pumpkin seasonal beers. There will be music by the Oom-Pahsters, a brat-eating contest, and a stein-raising contest.

The movie Spider-Man will be shown at Beale Street Landing tonight at 7.

The Ride to Fight On benefitting the West Cancer Center departs from the FedExForum at 8 AM tomorrow.

The annual Fall into Art contest happens tomorrow at the Memphis Farmers Market. Submit your paintings, sculptures, photographs, and any other medium by noon tomorrow at the market. Art will be judged by an MFM committee with the top pieces on display at the market next Saturday for voting. Winner will be announced at the Barnyard Ball on November 1. Live music tomorrow by Jon Dillard at 7:00, Bean at 8:30, and SwampKatz at 11. 7 AM-1 PM, Front at G.E. Patterson.

Monday, October 13 is No Bra Save the Tatas Day for breast cancer awareness. Breast cancer research is very important and I encourage all women to take part in this. PRO TIP: Tube tops are great to wear on No Bra Day.

From the MBJ: St. Jude’s fundraising arm ALSAC plans to restore a 1911 building across from BRIDGES on A.W. Willis.

Insane Clown Posse plays the New Daisy tomorrow at 6 PM. Remember when they were on WCW for a brief minute?

All right. Time to eat the Triple Layer Nachos I brought back from Taco Bell. There is not enough Fire Sauce in the world to make these things taste good, but what can you expect for a dollar, I suppose. (Inside joke: Some people would expect a bowl of pasta for a dollar) I’ll be out after work to kick off my four-day weekend. The “mayor” of the Silly Goose has to be away tonight, so perhaps I will go there and fill in for him.