Month: June 2015

Local author Austin McLellan will be reading from and signing his book Twenty Grand this Saturday at 1 PM at the South Main Book Juggler. The Book Juggler is in the Arcade Building just south of the famous restaurant. If you’re a late shopper at Memphis Farmers Market tomorrow, why not stop by?

Plans for an extended-stay hotel across the street from the Pyramid have been submitted.

Choose901 has an interview with Zac Woolfolk, owner of a new men’s clothing and lifestyle store on South Main. Blast, I walked right by that place during Trolley Night a week ago Friday.

Food porn: Chocolate brownie with Andes mint ice cream at South of Beale. Yummmmm. Chocolate mint is my favorite ice cream flavor. Next time I stop by the bar to harass Kaylea I will have to order this.

Local singer Charvey Mac posted a snippet of his upcoming album Weekend Lights that you can listen to. Charvey is one of the best singers I have heard, but he rarely plays Downtown. My friends Katie Mac (who shares a last name with him, though not related) and the Nuh-Uh Girl talked for years about how awesome he was, and finally a couple of years ago I caught a rare Green Beetle performance of his and completely understood what all the fuss was about. When the Saucer experimented with bringing back live music a couple of years ago, I urged the managers to book him, and they tried but he was in such demand that they couldn’t do it.

The Peabody will have a TV in the skyway broadcasting the NBA Finals for tonight’s rooftop party.

From The Onion: New Claritin flamethrower incinerates whatever is causing allergies

(I mentioned a flamethrower )

From Lifehacker: How to make a watermelon vodka slushy with a drill and a wire hanger. This has “BBQ Fest 2016” written all over it.

This is cool: Play magnetic Tetris on your refrigerator door while deciding what to eat. I don’t have any food in my fridge currently so it would be quick game for me. I use my refrigerator for other things, like storing my vintage 2012 Aldo’s Pizza Pies to-go box collection. Someday in the future that is going to be worth a lot of money on eBay.

Arkansas basketball fans: This projected NBA draft has Bobby Portis going at 15 and Michael Qualls going at 49. I like it.

Home from work, PBR time.

Bruce V of the Memphis Flyer has a very interesting editorial about the planned closing of the I-55 bridge for nine months in 2017 by the Tennessee Department of Transportation. He points out that the closing affects commerce and transportation in three states, and will leave only one way to get across the Mississippi, the I-40 bridge. That’s practically an invitation to terrorists to try and disrupt interstate commerce across the region, and besides that there are other possibilities, such as a barge accident, that could close the only remaining bridge.

By the way, there’s a public meeting to discuss the I-55/Crump/Riverside interchange that is planned to be built and is the reason for closing the bridge.

Did you know that Thursdays are College Nights at the Redbirds? Show a college ID and you can get a ticket for the left field bluff for only $5. In addition, the left field bar has $2 domestic drafts throughout the game.

Summer Movie Series: Top Gun plays at the Orpheum tonight at 7. If you’re in the military, show your ID for a discounted $5 ticket.

Frankie Hollie & the Noise headlines tonight’s Peabody rooftop party. Doors open at 6, ladies free until 7, $10 admission. Admission includes a buffet of beef tacos and chips & salsa (7-8 PM). If you’re in VIP you get an additional buffet of cheese quesadillas, chicken quesadillas, taquitos, corn salsa and chips. Traditional margaritas are on special, and there will be a Malibu promo of rum sparklers. Memphis Flyer Fall Fashion casting call 6-8 on the rooftop.

I’ve mentioned several times how my “DAWG” John D has a subscription to Loot Crate, where once a month he gets a box filled with geek-themed items. Well, the Grizzlies have taken that idea and run with it. You can get a monthly or annual subscription to Grizz-entials, and get a box once a month filled with Grizzlies merchandise and goodies. Check this week’s Memphis Flyer for more details.

Shelby County Schools officials are exploring moving their headquarters Downtown. More jobs Downtown = more revenue for area businesses and restaurants = a good thing.

Hungry Memphis tried Burrito Blues recently. I will look for that Beale Street Bad Blues City hot sauce next time I go in.

Senses is going to reopen in August. The nightclub just east of Midtown has been closed for several years.

Amazon will now ship items weighing 8 ounces or less for free. You have to accept a 4-8 day wait though.

My spam folder continues to entertain me. “Share some little drops of cum with Seka Crickmore” was the subject of one of this morning’s emails. Again, are there really men who are stupid and desperate enough to think that’s legit? If you are, here, have some malware!

Pretty sure there will be a second post going up around 5:30, so check back this evening.

Brides Against Breast Cancer is an organization that contributes to programs for cancer patients, their families and caregivers. Part of their outreach is a Nationwide Tour of Gowns bridal show. On Wednesday, June 17, this charity bridal event comes to Memphis, at the Cadre Building at Second and Monroe. There will be a VIP event – with first pick of the gowns – from 5 to 7 which is $10, and from 7 to 10 there will be general admission, free to the public.

Note to people who friend-request me on Facebook: I am totally happy to become friends with my blog readers who I have not met in person, but do me a favor. If we have less than 10 friends in common (unless they’re my close friends) and I don’t recognize the name I tend to be a bit skeptical. So, if we don’t have many friends in common, Facebook message me first (you don’t have to be friends with someone to send them a message) and tell me “hey I read your blog” and if you have met me previously, tell me how you met me.

People whose requests I have left in limbo are welcome to message me and say “hey I read your blog/hey I know you/or whatever” and I will go find you and add you. Just trying to protect my account from potential scammers.

Midtown: You’re getting a party bike similar to Downtown’s River City Pedalers. It’s called Sprock n’ Roll.

Are you hungry for some crawfish? The Green Beetle will hold a crawfish boil this Sunday from 2 until 6 in the afternoon.

Brothers Pau and Marc Gasol have received the Princess Asturias Award. This is the highest civil honor in Spain.

St. Jude is launching a national walk/run to end childhood cancer. Needless to say, Memphis will be one of the participating cities.

Deering and Down performs tomorrow on Felicia Suzanne’s patio as this week’s installment of their Tacos and Tunes event.

PBR time. I’ll lead off at Silly Goose then figure out stops after that.

General registration is now open for the St. Jude Marathon that is held the first Saturday in December. When I checked yesterday, they were already at 85% for the half marathon, so if you want to run the half you better sign up soon.

The Bus Riders Union is asking for improvements for the MATA terminal on North Main. The conditions are said to be “third world” and the bathrooms are said to be in particularly bad shape.

Random discovery I made yesterday: There’s a Facebook fan page for pudding shots. I’m sure my friends on Squeal Street BBQ will want to “Like” that page since they were doing so much bragging about having pudding shots in their booth. My team the Moody Ques didn’t have pudding shots in our booth; however, we did have Saucer girls and a trophy.

Makeda’s Cookies is now open at 488 S. Second. They make homemade butter cookies.

John Oros, COO of the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau who has been with the bureau for 22 years, is leaving to take a job as CEO of the Birmingham CVB.

Holy utility bill, Batman: The owner of 100 N. Main missed payment by the cutoff date for their MLGW bill. The amount owed is SEVENTY-NINE THOUSAND dollars.

Heh. The Redbirds have me on their media list, so I get emails listing all the things going on for each homestand. Each day has several Bullet Points: in bold listing promotions. Well, each day except for today. For today there’s no bold and just “The Redbirds and 51s continue their series on Wednesday evening at AutoZone Park.” In other words, there ain’t shit happening there tonight except for a baseball game. Still a good time though, first pitch 7:05 if you feel like going. The 51s are Las Vegas’ AAA team.

YMCA of Memphis has bought the building that houses its Downtown location.

Take a look at these actual complaints received from dissatisfied customers of a travel agency. Example: We didn’t expect all that sand at the beach and it got in our clothes. Damn, people are stupid.

Fact from FiveThirtyEight’s Significant Digits newsletter: Median monthly rent in San Francisco is $4225. How does anyone afford to live there?

From my hometown of Little Rock: Insurance agency has two dogs and two cats as vice-presidents

Time for a quick errand run then back to work. I’ll be out at the usual places a little after 5:45.

Congratulations to my friends Justin and Roglly, who got engaged this weekend. I wish them many years of happiness together.

BREAKING: Sepp Blatter, boss of the FIFA crime family, has resigned. Good riddance, long overdue.

The Redbirds have new premium 4-top tables for which tickets are available as a gameday purchase. The table tickets come with a buffet that starts one hour prior to game time.

There’s going to be an event called “Drink a beer, save a river” at the Downtown Central BBQ on Tuesday, June 9 from 5 to 8 PM (and it will happen the second Tuesday of every month). A portion of every Ghost River beer purchased during this time will go to the Wolf River Conservancy.

In other beer news, High Cotton is brewing a Peach Saison.

I’m not a pet owner, but I have to say it’s kind of cool that my apartment building, Number 10 Main, has doggie play dates at The Barking Lot every Saturday morning at 10. Glad my building is pet-friendly even if I myself don’t have animals. The Barking Lot is a small dog park at the corner of Main and Jefferson.

This is cool: Charge your phone as you ride your bike

More bike news: Bike sharing program could be coming to Memphis

The Midtown Aldo’s Pizza Pies now has slices for lunch. That has been very popular in the Downtown location and should draw a lot of business to the new restaurant.

Data site FiveThirtyEight has released projections for the Women’s World Cup, and it looks pretty promising that the USA team will make it out of Group D.

Pandora station recommendation: Earth, Wind & Fire. That’s the station B-RAD was playing Sunday during D-RANKS with B-RAD at Blind Bear. One of the Saucer girls challenged me to a chair dance-off – that’s when you dance as you are sitting on your bar stool and can’t use your body below your waist – Sunday but I was down the street at Bardog and couldn’t get there in time. I am considered the king of chair dancing Downtown.

Sunday I had my 2015 BBQ team shirt on, and I had a couple of people commented, “I’m surprised you have that on. Didn’t expect to see you in it for another 11 1/2 months.” Why wouldn’t I wear it year-round? I’m damn proud of my BBQ team, and besides the team shirt doesn’t look any worse than the other shirts I wear. One thing I am not known as down here is a fashion icon.