Thursday update

I paid a visit to Las Margaritas last night. It was about 9:30 and I wanted a quick late-night snack before going home. I got the Las Margaritas Dip.

It was a huge bowl of white cheese dip with ground beef, onions, and peppers. Many American-Mexican places have something like this on their appetizer menu, but the difference is the size of the portion! I could barely finish a little more than half of it. Salsa was really good and the chips were nice and fresh and thin (sometimes so thin that they broke off in the Las Margaritas dip, but that was okay). This will be one of my regular orders at the new Mexican restaurant. As for the service, it was pretty darn fast. You’ll notice I hadn’t even poured my salsa when the dip came out.

… And no, in case anyone was wondering, I did not order the jumbo margarita. 9:30 is a little too late to do that when I have to be at work the next day. I got a Mountain Dew. They carry Pepsi products.

The Big River Crossing Half Marathon is coming to Tennessee and Arkansas Saturday, October 21. This will be the first race to cross the Harahan Bridge. It will support Peer Power, an institution that empowers scholars through peer-to-peer tutoring.

It’s All You Can Eat Wings night at the Redbirds this evening. A special ticket gets you all-you-can-eat wings and sides as well as ballpark hot dogs, and one Coca-Cola product or bottled water per ticket. It’s also Thirsty Thursday with select $2 beers around the park, and college students can show ID for a $5 bluff ticket.

The View from Here is tonight’s film in the 15 Film Series at Clayborn Temple. It’s about four friends who went to explore Europe in the summer of 2015 – however, a neuromuscular disease kept one of the friends bound to a wheelchair. The film explores spatial justice and accessibility as the friends visit some not very accessible places. The film starts at 7 and includes a panel discussion.

Innovate Memphis has a Commute Options Ambassador position newly open.

Cafe Keough, the European-style cafe on the Main Street Mall, is hiring baristas. Apply in person at 12 South Main.

Hal and Julie Lansky, co-authors of the book “Come on in, Young Man!” will have two booksignings, at Lansky at the Peabody Saturday, August 12 from 2 to 4 PM, and at Lansky Bros. at 126 Beale Street from 2 to 4 PM Wednesday, August 16. The book is a children’s book telling the story of Bernard Lansky and the lifelong friendship he formed with a new customer named Elvis Presley one day in 1952. Hal is Mr. Lansky’s son and Julie is Mr. Lansky’s granddaughter.

Southern Avenue is the featured entertainment at tonight’s Peabody rooftop party. It looks like Spanish food is the theme, with your admission including a buffet of assorted pintxos. If you’re in VIP there’s an additional buffet of traditional paella, tortilla espaniola, and chorizo stuffed mushrooms. Drink specials are a raspberry margarita, and Firefly peach sangria moonshine. $10 to get in, ladies and hotel guests free before 7.

The Daily News has an article on the revitalization of the Redbirds this season.

Infographic on how to eat a crunchy taco. I completely agree.

Details have been announced for WWE Raw coming to FedExForum Monday, August 28. The main events – and we are still a month out, so this is very much subject to change – will be a Street Fight between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman, and an Intercontinental Championship match between Dean Ambrose and The Miz. The two biggest names in WWE, Brock Lesnar and John Cena, will appear, as will Raw GM Kurt Angle, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Bray Wyatt, Finn Balor, Matt & Jeff Hardy, Alexa Bliss, and Sasha Banks.

By the way, if there was any doubt that UFC fighter Jon Jones is a complete idiot, he recently said he’d like to fight Brock Lesnar. Lesnar would murder him. Not enough cocaine in the world to dull the pain Jones would be in after that match.

Just putting this out there for people who own or manage Memphis bars, an idea that has worked in other cities:

Tip from one of my fellow Blind Bear regulars: Order the Bear Balls (mozzarella balls; similar to cheese sticks, but balls) and the sausage and cheese plate. Cut one of the Bear Balls in half, grab a piece or two of sausage, and make a sandwich out of it. That sounds decadent.

Here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry about human trafficking. This is a topic you may hear more about in the coming weeks. Ties to a certain modeling agency based in Midtown Manhattan may be part of the story.

That’s it, off to work. Having that Mountain Dew so close to bedtime produced some interesting dreams, but I got a good night’s rest. Possibly back at lunchtime with a second post.