Holiday shopper rant and a second helping of Tuesday news

(Editor’s note: It may be a few minutes into Wednesday morning despite the Tuesday news title. I stay up late.)

I’m Rob Lowe.

And I’m Holiday Shopper Rob Lowe. I stand at the cash register with my weekly ad circular, quibbling over the price of each of the 50 items in my cart, handing the cashier 13 different coupons (half of which are expired or for the wrong item), while my 4 kids drool all over the place, oblivious to the fact that there are 9 people behind me in line who are trying to buy a couple of necessities on their lunch break and need to get back to work soon.

Such was my life at Horn Lake Target today.

Don’t be this me.

Seriously, why do people lose all standards of decent human behavior when they’re in a big-box retailer between Thanksgiving and December 31? It’s nice to have a Target I can get to in my work lunch hour, but I’m happy there’s not one Downtown.

Earnestine & Hazel’s will introduce a sister restaurant in the back bar called Hole in the Wall. It will be headed by Kelly English and will be a separate space with different hours and offerings than E&H. Also, E&H will be acquiring a liquor license because of the sister restaurant’s opening.

The Flying Saucer is planning four beer dinners next year, in March, June, August, and November, with breweries Schlafly, TN Brew Works, Lazy Magnolia, and SP Brewery. At least five beers will be sampled at each, with food pairings to match. If you want to go to all four dinners, a $150 value, you can purchase a “season pass” for $99. Ask your Beer Goddess for details. Beer dinners are something the Saucer has always excelled at, making the pass a very good value.

In other Saucer news, the bar has offered some suggestions if you are looking for a toy to bring to the Stumbling Santa pub crawl that departs from the Saucer Saturday at 7. Wooden puzzles with the big pieces, African-American dolls, Transformers, Spiderman or Batman toys, color rings that infants stack to develop motor skills, letter number toys and blocks, toy trains, and mini footballs and basketballs. Toys will be collected and donated to the children of Porter-Leath.

Also note that there are certain toys they can’t take to Porter-Leath: toy guns or knives, games that involve play money or throwing dice, or food.

There will be another Memphis Type History book signing Downtown. It will happen Friday at the High Cotton Brewery tap room at 598 Monroe. If you buy the book, they’ll give you a free High Cotton pint. 4-8 PM.

Know someone in Memphis who is active in health and fitness issues? You can nominate them as a Memphis Grizzlies/Blue Cross Tennessee “Shape the State Hero.”

Gizmodo reports on an interesting thing some restaurants in New York are trying: Instead of taking reservations, they are selling tickets to dine. Whereas in an arena you would pick your section and seat, in a restaurant, you pick your table, date, and time. This is good for the restaurants because the ticket system eliminates no-shows and last-minute cancellations: The diners pay for their ticket up front. Also, just as some seats in an arena are better than others, some tables, dates, and times are more in demand than others, and the restaurants can upcharge for those “premium” tickets.

Aldo’s Pizza Pies will be closed this evening for the annual employee Christmas party.

The Belz Museum is offering $1 admission 7 AM to noon Saturday. You can come by during or after the St. Jude Marathon, and there will be free coffee and hot chocolate for visitors. The museum is in Pembroke Square on the Main Street Mall.

Off to bed. Back tomorrow or when more news comes in.