Memphis is still alive in the American Conference tournament, having beaten Tulane 74-54 in the semifinals yesterday. Once again, the Tigers looked like a team who belong in the NCAA tournament. There is only one obstacle standing in their way now: The Tigers play UConn at 2:15 on ESPN in the American Conference finals. Winner gets an automatic bid to the Big Dance.
Jimmy Ogle leads a free Bridge Walk tour, walking the Memphis-Arkansas (I-55) bridge. Meet at Crump Park (exit 12C, Metal Museum Drive) at 2 this afternoon.
Seen on Facebook yesterday: A receipt signed by a woman who left a decent tip on an $18 tab. However, the decent tip was then scratched out and $1 tip was left instead, along with a note “I’m her aunt I can’t let her spend like this.” To the woman who had the tab: Next time, don’t bring Aunt Cheap Ass with you.
Wine lovers: Food & Wine has a great article on how to talk to your sommelier. It lists five questions that could lead to the unexpected discovery of wines you will love, and five questions that really don’t lead to much value at all.
I made it to the Beale Street St. Patrick’s Day parade yesterday, at least for a while. I got a spot outside the Tap Room, and met up with friends.
I saw a family walk by with an Aldo’s Pizza box and thought, “Those are the smartest people here.” I didn’t catch any beads, but thanks to my friend Michael I got beads earlier in the day at Bardog, shamrocks with a green shot glass. Due to being on call for work I had to refuse several offers to fill that shot glass.
I kept an eye on the radar on my phone, and about 3:30 I knew it was time to head for the hills before the rain moved in. I considered where to go… Blind Bear is the default, but I have had bad luck being at Blind Bear during parades. Max’s to watch the Tigers play was an obvious choice, but then I would have to deal with getting back to the Downtown core in possibly heavy rain. Diamond Dave put on Facebook that he and Seamus were bartending the Brass Door. I asked if they would have the Tigers on and Dave replied “Yes sir!” Having had such a good experience Wednesday night, I decided it was time for another Brass Door visit.
While the place had been packed Wednesday, it was relatively empty yesterday… which made sense, everybody was at the parade. Of course, it got full afterward. I stayed through the end of the Tigers game. I asked for a menu, but Dave advised me that I should try the chef’s daily special, the corned beef with cabbage. That’s a dish I love, so I was happy to take Dave’s suggestion.
This was some of the best corned beef and cabbage I have ever had. After I finished eating I shook the executive chef’s hand and thanked him for a delicious meal. If corned beef and cabbage ever shows up as the chef’s special again, get it; you will not be disappointed. “Like” the Brass Door on Facebook to keep up with specials and other things going on. They open early (like, sometimes as early as 6 AM) when there are important soccer matches on TV.
They are giving away a cooler:
Drink a Bud Light to enter to win. I decided not to enter because 1) I already have a similar Dos Equis cooler at home that just sits around and takes up space; and 2) Bud Light kinda sucks.
I am just heartwarmed by the respect Seamus has shown me the times I have gone in there this week – and really, every time I have ever been in the Brass Door. It makes me think, I may have to evaluate the list of bars I call my “Big Five” and determine whether the Brass Door should be in that list. More and more I think it should.
“Paul, I want to get you re-introduced to the staff here,” Seamus told me. Of course, I already know Diamond Dave, and I am friends with one of the servers there who I know from other Downtown bars. The Romanian bartender who served me Wednesday came in for the night shift, and I got to talk to her a bit. For those of you who remember the Romanians who were here for the summers of 2003-2006, she is from the same city they were – Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania.
Seamus, Dave and the staff at the Brass Door gave me plenty of reasons this week to keep coming back. However, Swarm by Foursquare gave me one more. I have a new mayorship to defend.
I’ve held three Foursquare bar mayorships simultaneously before, but never this combination: Brass Door, Bardog, and Blind Bear.
I gave Seamus my phone number so he can let me know about upcoming events. Expect to hear more about what’s going on at the Brass Door in this blog.
I am pleased to announce that the Moody Ques have acquired a partial sponsor. I will make an official announcement this week on the team website. The sponsor will help us with liquor and beer as well as a small amount of cash. I had a beer with him at the Blind Bear yesterday and he asked me who was the distributor for PBR in Memphis, because he wanted to talk to them. Things continue to move in a positive direction for the BBQ team. We still have room for another sponsor; if your company would be interested, send us an email at moodyques@gmail.com.
Yesterday I commented that it would be a fantastic civics lesson for the kids if the Republican convention became contested. On that note, I want to give some advice for my readers who have children: Watch the news with your kids. Part of the reason I am the person I have become is because my mother and grandmother had the news on all the time as I was growing up.
I remember when I was a toddler, sitting in my high chair eating Gerber’s beef stew and watching TV. I wasn’t watching The Bozo Show or Sesame Street; I was watching a bunch of men in suits having a hearing of some sort. It didn’t make sense to me, but my grandmother explained that the president did something really bad, and the hearing, called Watergate, was to determine if he should still be president any more. If he left office, my grandmother told me, it would be the first time in the history of the United States something like that had happened, and the vice-president, a man name Ford, would become president.
Because my mother and grandmother had the news on all the time, I understood what was happening when Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin signed their peace treaty. I learned what inflation was. I watched news of the Shah being overthrown and Ayatollah Khomeini taking power. I watched the 1980 Democratic and Republican conventions all the way through. That fall, my elementary school held a mock presidential election. I voted for Carter and he won my school, but lost the real election.
Of course, when I was little the news was subject to the interpretation of adults. I remember running into my grandmother’s room to tell her that a special report was on TV, and that Elvis Presley had died. “Oh, don’t worry about him. He’s just a drug addict,” she said. Well, while that was technically true, he was also the most important figure of a major genre of music. Three years later, that genre’s second most important figure, John Lennon, was shot and killed and my grandmother made a similar comment. (She liked Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr though. If she had an opinion on George, she never shared it with me.)
Watching the news as a little boy probably aided in a few of my trivia team’s victories over the past decade. So, if for no other reason than that, I urge you to watch the news with your kids (and please, not Fox News) and if they have questions, explain to them what’s going on.
I will lead off at D-RANKS with B-RAD today at the Blind Bear. About half an hour before the Tigers play, I will make a decision whether to stay there for the game or walk down Main to my home away from home on the south side, Max’s, which will open at 12:30 and will have the patio open as well. Go Tigers! An NCAA tournament bid could be just hours away.