Friday update

Now and then people tell me, “You know, Paul, there’s no better place to get out and mingle, to go out and meet the opposite sex, than the Peabody rooftop parties. But they only run April through August. What are we supposed to do during the long off-season?” Never fear, I have a suggestion for you. Every Friday night starting at 6 PM, Area 51 at 8025 Highway 51 has Millington Mix & Mingle where you can get out and socialize. It’s for locals so you’ll have to lie and say you’re from Millington (unless, of course, you are from Millington), but that’s a small price to pay to see and be seen at a top Mermphis metro hotspot.

Next Friday at CBU there’s going to be a workshop on Blockchain, the technology behind digital currency. It’s $60 for one afternoon and it’s on the campus of CBU. Learn what Blockchain is what when to use it, and write a program against the second largest Blockchain currency, Ethereum.

Feel the beat of The Music of the Knights tonight at the Halloran Centre. This will be a celebration of three of Great Britain’s knighted musicians: Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Sir Elton John, and Sir Paul McCartney.

The first thing I did after getting out of bed this morning was turn the air conditioner on. Because that’s what you do on November 30, right? Now I have to plan my day, where I face a dilemma. The lunch bunch wants to do 25 cent martini lunch at Felicia Suzanne’s today at 1. It probably wouldn’t be appropriate to wear shorts to Felicia’s lunch, given that tomorrow is the first day of meteorological winter. So I have to decide which I value more, wearing shorts or 25 cent martinis.

Funny thing is, two days from now the parking lot of Midtown Krogers will probably be jammed with people stocking up on milk and bread to get through the dusting of sleet that has a 20% chance to move through the city between 6:37 and 6:42 AM.

The Daily Memphian’s Jennifer Biggs visited Pontotoc Lounge this week for Bar Talk, where she chatted with owner Daniel Masters and mixologist Cady Smith. They made her a seasonal drink called the Eden.

Rizzo’s teased on Facebook yesterday that a gift card sale is coming soon. There will be a line all the way down South Main for that one.

Here’s a Peabody menu with an item you wouldn’t expect:

These days, duck is not allowed on the menu of any Peabody restaurant, because ducks are considered friends, not dinner there.

The Center for Southern Folklore is having a holiday extravaganza tomorrow with three vendors set up.

Looks like it’s a no-go on a division of FedEx moving their HQ into the former Gibson Guitar space.

My favorite stats site FiveThirtyEight has an article about what’s surprising and what’s not surprising about this NBA season so far. Not surprising: The Grizzlies re-embrace their grit ‘n grind roots and emerge once again as a playoff team.

The Trump Org considered giving Putin the penthouse had the Moscow Trump Tower actually happened.

Okay, time to go figure out this martinis vs. shorts thing. Back tomorrow with more news.

Thursday update

Cluck cluck cluck cluck cluck… it’s chicken time!

I had been wanting to try a deep-fried Cornish hen from the Flying Sobies food truck for a while, and today I got my chance. I walked over to Court Square for the food truck rodeo today. I normally prefer my chicken in buffalo sauce, but I had been told, “You MUST get the Memphis Gold BBQ sauce.” It was good advice. The hens are $10 and you can get them with beans & slaw, fries, or waffles. The truck is at Court Square most every Thursday and at Ghost River for brunch every Sunday.

WHO DAT goin’ to Loflin Yard to watch dem Saints? Loflin is having a Who Dat Party for Thursday Night Football tonight starting at 5 PM. New Orleans cuisine including gumbo, po-boys, and a shrimp boil, $2 Bud Lights, drink specials including Sazeracs and Irish coffee, and DJ Tree.

Broke Tall Folk perform at the Dirty Crow Inn tonight at 8.

Belle Tavern will be open for St. Jude runners Saturday morning and will be a safe place for you to stash your stuff while you run. By the time you get back they’ll have brunch ready.

The national craft brewing community is coming together to brew Sierra Nevada Resilience beer to benefit those affected by the Camp Fire in California. Local breweries Memphis Made and Crosstown are among those participating.

Have a holly jolly cocktail! City Tasting Tours begins Holly Jolly Cocktail Tours this weekend. Tour participants will get to try three of the best cocktails in Downtown Memphis while parading around in ugly sweaters and Santa-themed attire.

Stock & Belle at 387 S. Main will host MOD: A Rowdy Mid-Century Seasonal Shindig on Thursday, December 13 from 7 to 10 PM. Enjoy some cocktails and have a look at the mid-century furnishings of Caleb Sweazy. This event is $20 at the door and benefits One Tree Planted.

For those of you who don’t mind a few hours’ drive, there will be a chocolate festival in Eureka Springs, Arkansas on February 16.

The lawsuit between MillerCoors and Pabst has been settled, as I knew would happen. Pabst Blue Ribbon is not going away.

Trump’s former lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen entered a guilty plea to lying to Congress this morning. Cohen admitted negotiations for a Trump Tower in Russia continued far later than he had previously testified, well into the 2016 presidential campaign. Just goes to show you, liars will eventually get what’s coming to them, even if it takes years. Those who know liars are lying and enable them will get what’s coming to them, too.

That’ll do it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.

 

Wednesday update

Saturday’s American Athletic Conference championship game vs. UCF won’t be a home game, but you can watch it at the home of the Tigers thanks to University of Memphis alumni and Mayor Jim Strickland. Bring your lawn chairs and blankets to the Liberty Bowl Saturday and sit on the field to watch the game. This event is free and open to the public, and although outside food and beverages won’t be allowed in, there will be food trucks and concessions. Gates at 1:30, game starts at 2:30. From 1:30 to 2:30 they’ll have Tigers men’s basketball on the video board. Note that the same clear bag policy they had at home games will be in effect at the Liberty Bowl for this event.

The Memphis Flyer has confirmed it now – Midtown bar Old Zinnie’s is closing.

There will be a vigil on Friday for a homeless man who passed away at the MATA North End Terminal:

Attn: St. Jude runners who like beer:

Memphis Made Brewing Co. is bringing back Board Game Night at their taproom tomorrow night, November 29, from 7 to 10. The game night will feature Betrayal at Baldur’s Gate and they will also have 5 Minute Dungeon, Rick and Morty Anatomy Park, Azul, King of Tokyo, Scott Pilgrim, Clank! In! Space!,Smash Up, and Lotus. Feel free to bring board games from home, and if you don’t know how to play a game, that’s fine, they will teach you.

South Main Trolley Night is back this Friday, November 30 from 4 to 9 PM. Stuff to do will include

  • Holiday market at 409 S. Main (more on this in a moment)
  • South Main Sounds Songwriter Night #103 at 550 S. Main 7-9 PM – Byron Earnhardt, Rebecca Almond, Kaatie Bug, Tim Stanek, Leo Lazarus
  • Live music by The Moon Glimmers at 409 S. Main, 7 PM
  • Live music by Grape, The Vault, 124 G.E. Patterson, 8 PM
  • Live music by the Earnestine & Hazel’s House Band, 531 S. Main, 7 PM
  • Live music at the Arcade, 540 S. Main
  • Ollie Rodriguez Black Writer opening reception, Jack Robinson Gallery, 44 Huling, 6-9 PM
  • Sue Layman Designs set up inside Obsidian Public Relations, 493 S. Main, 4-9 PM
  • SMA member area, weather permitting, next door to Primas

If you can help decorate for the Holiday Market and Trolley Night, the SMA needs you. Meet at 409 S. Main  on Thursday, November 29 4:30-6:30, to put up holiday decorations; and/or meet on Friday, November 30 2-3 PM in front of the new Slider Inn (former bocce ball court at Main and Talbot) to help with luminaries.

As for that holiday market at 409 S. Main, here is a list of vendors you will find there Friday evening.

Somi Decor
Stoerger Art
Artwork by Tonya Pearce
Artwork by Dedrick Rogers
Meet Maple Jewelry
Gifts from Nature
Retrotherapy Vintage Jewelry
Vitalant Mid-South Regional Blood Center
Memphis 901 FC
Lemon Pop Vintage Shop
Memphis Express
Pendants by Sarah Bishop
South Main Hemp
Troy Glasgow Photography
Cat’s Ballroom
MEK Designs
AT&T Mobile Retail

The Union Mission has a rare opportunity for a group to provide and serve lunch three days before Christmas:

Catching up on reading

I’m on the next-to-last chapter of The Laws of Human Nature by Robert Greene. Up until this point, the book has largely felt like a review of things I have already learned, observing people having been a hobby of mine for my entire life. It seemed like there were fewer ah-ha moments then I had reading Greene’s earlier books. However, in Chapter 17, which is about riding the spirit of the times like a wave, I had one.

Greene hypothesizes that although world events, fashion, music and culture are quite different each time, there tends to be a cycle that lasts four generations and then repeats itself. He said to consider the last four generations:

  • The Silent Generation (born 1925-1945) were children during the Great Depression and World War II. Times of crisis having been impressed upon them, when they came of age in the late 1940s-1950s they were drawn to stability, order, and security.
  • The Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) were children during this period of stability and order, which they found rather sterile. When they came of age in the mid 1960s-1970s, they rebelled against this order, embracing freedom and radical ideas.
  • Generation X (born 1965-1981) were children during the Vietnam War, the hippie era, and the let it be era of the 1970s. When they came of age in the 1980s and 1990s, they rebelled against their parents’ idealism and were more individualistic and materialistic, the “me generation” as opposed to the “we generation.”
  • Millennials (born 1982-about 2000) didn’t really rebel against Generation X as much as previous generations. However, they can be compared to the Greatest Generation (born 1901-1924) as coming of age in a time of great uncertainty. The Greatest Generation came of age between World War I and World War II, a time of great instability in the world. It can be argued that the cycle is repeating itself with challenges like new electronic currencies, how to deal with a quickly-changing world economy (leading to Brexit for example), climate change, and cyber-warfare.

Thinking about things this way helped me understand something about myself. A Generation Xer, I came of age in the 1980s, but I always felt a bit out of step with the times. The idealism, the music, and the culture of people who came of age about 10 years before me seemed more like who I was than the individualism and the totally-tubular culture of the 1980s. Now I get it… I was a Gen Xer who was the son of a Silent Generation mother, because of an unusually large difference in our ages. I can’t tell you how many times my mom said, “I like stability,” whereas my reaction was, “Slaving away in an office and coming home miserable every day, with only a couple of weeks to yourself a year is what you live for? Is stability really worth it?” I was reacting to a different generation than my peers were, which is why I always felt a bit out of time in high school and college.

Another takeaway I had from reading the chapter: The U.S. had presidents from the Greatest Generation for 32 years, 1961-1993 – Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and Bush 41. The Silent Generation never put a president in the White House. Since 1993, a period of 25 years, we’ve had Baby Boomer presidents – Clinton, Bush 43, Obama, and now Trump. I wonder if my generation will get a turn at the presidency?

That’s all for now. Back tomorrow.

Tuesday update

Howdy folks! I have lots of good local news for you today, but first of all, let’s get to the news you didn’t realize you’ve been waiting your entire life to read.

Ghost River has announced the December meeting of its book club at its brewery taproom on Thursday, December 20 from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. The book that will be discussed at the meeting will be The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. You can go to Novel Memphis, Ghost River’s partner in the book club, and tell them you’re purchasing the book for the club and they will give you 10% off. Also at the December meeting, there will be a holiday book swap: Bring any book, any genre, gift-wrapped that you would like to trade. So nice to see a local brewery running a successful book club!

The Memphis Express, Memphis’ new pro football team, will have open tryouts for locals at the University of Memphis, 1115 E. Getwell Loop Road, on Saturday, December 8.

In other news about open tryouts: Clayborn Temple will hold a casting call for a new musical this Friday and Saturday.

The day before the auditions start, Clayborn Temple will have a Deck-O-Rate the Sanctuary event 5-8 PM Thursday, November 29. There will be a hot chocolate bar, a cookie exchange (bring your favorite cookies to exchange), family fun and fellowship.

Loflin Yard will have a month-long holiday celebration. Events include

  • December 8 – toy drive. Free drink to those who dress in holiday attire and bring a toy.
  • December 15 – dog holiday costume party. Prizes from Hollywood Feed for best dressed and your dog can get a pic with Santa.
  • December 22 – ugly sweater contest. Drink and s’mores specials.

Caution for my readers who ride Bird scooters on the Main Street Mall: We are in the peak of the fall season, and the pedestrian mall is covered in leaves and pollen. The debris on the ground can conceal ground-based planters. I saw a man riding a Bird go flying off his scooter after he hit one yesterday. Luckily, he had on a helmet (must’ve been a Bird employee) and was able to hit the ground running as he fell off, so he wasn’t injured. Could’ve been a bad spill though.

Aldo’s Pizza Pies Downtown will host a Grizzlies watch party for the away game vs. the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday, December 2 at 5:00. There will be $2.50 beer specials on Ghost River Grindhouse, Budweiser, Bud Light, and Michelob Ultra, and branded giveaways by Eagle Distributing and the Grizzlies.

Tonight the Grizzlies host Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors at FedExForum at 7.

I haven’t confirmed this but I am seeing reports on Twitter that iconic Midtown dive bar Old Zinnie’s is closing.

Some well-known car models will be disappearing thanks to the closure of five factories by General Motors. Say goodbye to the Chevy Impala, Chevy Volt, Chevy Cruze, Buick Lacrosse, and Cadillac CT6.

Okay, those of you who don’t want to read about politics here can go now. Back tomorrow with more news.

Special Counsel Mueller has filed paperwork to request that Paul Manafort’s plea deal be revoked. Mueller said Manafort continued to lie to his team after signing the plea agreement. If a judge revokes the deal, Trump’s former campaign manager most likely gets tried on a bunch of charges Mueller was willing to let slide, which could lead to Paulie spending the rest of his life in prison. Analysts pointed out three things about this breaking development:

  1. It may be significant that Mueller waited until after Trump filed his written answers to Mueller’s questions to bring this action against Manafort. If Mueller has proof that Manafort lied, and Trump’s written answers match what Manafort told Mueller’s team, then Mueller has proof Trump lied too.
  2. Mueller will have to provide proof that Manafort lied. If made public, that proof could offer the public an unprecedented look at the evidence Mueller’s team has uncovered. Also notable: Because this is an ongoing matter and not a new finding, Mueller does not have to get permission from Acting Attorney General Whitaker to make the matter public.
  3. Manafort likely knew he’d be caught lying and that the plea deal would be revoked, but spending the rest of his life in prison was preferable to truthfully telling everything he knew. This could be because the Russian mob notified Paulie Walnuts that he’d be whacked if he sang like a canary about their activities.

These are interesting times we live in…

It was good getting out and seeing everybody yesterday, but you know what? …With the high barely expected to crack 40 degrees, today seems like a good day to stay at home. I have a book I’d like to finish before the weekend and I think that will be today’s project. See you tomorrow.

 

 

Monday update

The 2018 Beale Street Holiday parade is this Saturday, December 1 from 4:00 to 5:30. You know the drill… floats, marching bands, people throwing candy to the crowds, and of course Santa. Unfortunately the parade happens right in the middle of the American Conference championship game, but there are plenty of bars on Beale with TVs.

I plan on being there… my usual first Saturday stop Bardog Tavern always gets super busy the day of the St. Jude marathon. What I’ll probably do is get warmed up at the Blind Bear when it opens at 11, then head down to the King’s Palace Tap Room to watch Memphis play UCF and to watch the parade.

Take advantage of the Cyber Monday special at the Peabody Hotel today if you’re coming to Memphis to visit anytime in December, January, or February. Get 40% off their best available rate. There are some blackout dates and the rate is subject to availability.

However, you might want to wait until tomorrow (Tuesday) to book your air travel. Lifehacker says the Tuesday after Thanksgiving is one of the best days of the year for airfare rates.

Tune into WREC 600 AM tonight at 7 for the first edition of The Penny Hardaway Show. Coach Penny will be on the radio every Monday at 7 through March 4.

Broadway musical Les Miserables returns to the Orpheum this week for performances Tuesday-Sunday.

That’s it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.

Sunday update

Game time for the American Athletic Conference football championship has been set. Memphis and UCF will kick off at 2:30 PM next Saturday, December 1, on ABC.

Now, the question is, where will Memphis go bowling this year? Once again, the American does not have first-place goes here, second-place goes here kind of agreements with bowls, leaving them free to pick the matchups fans are interested in seeing. Memphis vs. Tennessee sounded like a perfect fit for the Birmingham Bowl, a money and TV ratings draw. But, the Vols being the Vols, they had to go and screw it up and lose their last 2 regular season games to Mizzou and their “little brother” Vanderbilt, rendering them bowl-ineligible. Probably for the best as no bowl host city would want Tennessee’s fans to come to town anyway. If you want a bunch of idiots running around in orange, just go unlock the door to the local prison… you’ll get finer, more upstanding folks out on the streets that way.

You know a rivalry game I would love to see? Missouri vs. Washington in The Battle of the ‘Zus. Rather than a trophy, the loser of the game cannot be referred to as Mizzou/Wazzu for the following year.

Well, butter my biscuits! Max’s Sports Bar has added a small brunch menu 11-2 on the weekends. The options are biscuits and gravy, and a biscuit sandwich with egg, one meat, and one cheese from their sandwich menu. Thanks to @Otto42 for tweeting the menu.

Max’s also has eggnog slushies in the frozen drink machine to satisfy all yout holiday alcohol needs.

Here’s a list of road closures for the St. Jude Marathon this coming Saturday. To sum it up: Don’t try to drive anywhere Downtown between 7 AM and noon that day unless it’s absolutely unavoidable.

I’m not a coffee drinker and I gave up Fireball earlier this year, but still, this brunch cocktail at Sunrise looks pretty good.

Streetdog Foundation is having a Sippin’ with Santa Paws party on December 8 at Carolina Watershed. You can get you and your dog’s picture taken with Santa Paws, Josh and Jeremy of Star & Micey will perform, and there will be a special release of Pawliday Plaid beer by Memphis Made.

Yesterday I found myself seated around the corner from the assistant director of the Munford High School marching band, and he told me they are marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade this year. Congratulations to them!

Lots of Downtown dining spots made it onto the MBJ’s list of Memphis’ priciest upscale restaurants.

The public is invited to the free 32nd annual Christmas concert at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 648 Poplar, next Sunday, December 2 from 4 to 6 PM.

Several good Black Friday/Cyber Monday specials are going on this weekend. The Redbirds are offering $1 Bluff tickets to Opening Day through the end of the day Monday.

Hulu has a deal going on this weekend where you can get a full year of Hulu for 99 cents a month.

The Grizzlies have a deal going on today for 30% off all orders with promo code SLAMDUNK.

The Daily Memphian sat down with the folks at Wiseacre to discuss their plans to add jobs and distribution with a Downtown brewery.

The Grizzlies host the New York Knicks tonight at FedExForum at 5.  Still hearing that Joakim Noah will join the Grizzlies on a veteran’s minimum deal this week.

That’s it for now. Brunch time. Back tomorrow with more news.

Friday update

There will be a drunk debate competition at Loflin Yard 7-9 PM Thursday, December 27. Two contestants at a time will square off pro and con on controversial topics. This will be a three-round contest, the debates getting progressively more intense each round. Free to enter if you’re having food and drink. Top three debaters win prizes and there will also be a prize for the ugliest sweater.

414 South Main, formerly the home of 99 Cent Soul Food, is up for foreclosure auction. Bidding closes on December 13. With the National Civil Rights Museum right around the corner, that is a prime spot for a business.

The Peabody has its holiday decorations up in the lobby:

The neon arches at the ends of the Beale Street entertainment district are doing their job and getting publicity for the street. The artist who designed the arches says they have been seen nearly 1 million times on social media posts and online videos.

It’s Tiger time! The U of M football team plays to win the AAC West at 11 on ABC. I’m going to head down to the Blind Bear for their lunch and game watching. Back tomorrow with more news.

Wiseacre coming Downtown and more Thanksgiving news

The South City/South of Forum neighborhood got some excellent news yesterday: An anchor tenant for the neighborhood is moving in. You may remember a couple of years ago, Wiseacre Brewing Co. had plans to expand capacity and production by acquiring space in the Mid-South Coliseum. That fell through, but Wiseacre kept searching for a location. Yesterday they announced a plan to purchase land and open a 40,000 square foot brewery and taproom in the South City area. The area will be bounded by B.B. King, Vance, Abel and Butler – so the southeast corner of B.B. King and Vance, basically. The taproom’s entrance will be on the Butler side, so this will be convenient for South Main people. As a matter of fact, I can see some good synergy between the brewery taproom and the soon-to-open Slider Out which will be a couple of blocks away on Mulberry.

Wiseacre is applying for a zoning variance because at 40,000 SF, the space will be too big to qualify as a microbrewery. The original brewery and taproom on Broad will remain open, but will focus more on specialty beers.

This is fantastic news for that area. There have been times when I have followed Downtown’s street hustlers doing their fake “can you help the homeless” spiel in the Downtown core, and after getting the necessary cash they walked down to Abel Street, where I assume they scored drugs. About 11 years ago it got bad to the point where I headed a group to keep tabs on panhandling Downtown with my friend Mike King, and for years I advocated wiping Abel Street along with Allen Street one block over completely off the Downtown map.  A brewery and taproom will go along way to rehab the street. Brewery taprooms tend to be hubs for the local community and the Downtown Wiseacre one will draw lots of foot traffic.

Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers play Oklahoma State in the first round of the Advocare Invitational today at 2:30 on ESPN2. The winner of that game plays the winner of Villanova-Canisius tomorrow.

Daisyland at the New Daisy has announced plans for Blackout! on New Year’s Eve. Seven DJs perform in the ultimate light and sound experience, with lights out at midnight.

Make plans to stop by the 409 South Main Market the night of November Trolley Night, Friday, November 30, for the first-ever South Main Holiday Market.

Shab Chic, the shipping-container shopping center in The Edge at 607 Monroe, will have a holiday market of its own weekends between now and Christmas. Hours will be 4-7 Fridays and noon-7 Saturdays. On Sunday, November 25 and Sunday, December 23 the market will be open noon-4.

Tuesday night the City Council stayed in session until midnight and took 101 votes, unsuccessfully trying to get a 7-vote majority to fill an open seat in District 1 (Raleigh). The vote will now continue at the next Council meeting in December, but the Council will be even less likely to get to 7 votes, because two council members will have rolled off the council by then. Your city government in action… perhaps I should delete the space between “in” and “action” to make the description more accurate.

Memphis Made will open its taproom early tomorrow, at 1 PM, for Black Friday. Prize for the first 25 people to show up, and there will be free donuts too.

First place in Blind Bear trivia last night!

It was mostly Thanksgiving trivia, and having been to trivia night on Thanksgiving week before paid off… there are only so many questions that can be asked about the holiday.

I see that an organization with which I was associated for quite some time has a new skipper. Congratulations to him.

About to head out to two Friendsgiving celebrations. Back tomorrow with more news.

Wednesday update

The annual Christmas tree lighting at the Peabody happens Friday from 11 AM to 6:30 PM. The ducks march at 11 and 5 and will spend the afternoon swimming in the lobby fountain. Local choirs will sing all day. After the evening duck march, the tree will be lit and there will be an appearance by Santa and Mrs. Claus.

The CDC has issued a nationwide warning about romaine lettuce. The bacteria E.coli has been found on the lettuce in multiple states. If you have romaine lettuce in your home, throw it out and sanitize any surfaces that it touched. If you own a restaurant, throw out romaine lettuce and temporarily remove any menu items for which it is an ingredient. Better to inconvenience your customers than to poison them.

Give the gift of baseball this holiday season:

The Metal Museum is interested in acquiring the Memphis College of Art building in Overton Square after MCA closes in 2020. The Metal Museum would move its gallery there, freeing up space in its French Fort location just south of Downtown. The extra space in the French Fort location would expand opportunities for internships, giving the students a chance to work with a variety of materials to which they would normally not be exposed as they are just starting their careers.

Lifehacker has a good article on why you should donate money, not food to your local food bank. Food banks have wholesale/bulk purchasing agreements with local sources, so they can get those canned goods a lot cheaper than you can. Also, money donations allow them to address whatever is the immediate need, whether it is Thanksgiving for families or nutritious meals for seniors.

If you’ve ever thought about being a mentor, opportunities are abundant in Shelby County:

CBS Sports has an excellent article on the Grizzlies finding success by doubling down on the Grit ‘n Grind mentality.

Heading over to Bardog here in a bit to meet my friends Cat Daddy Mark and Nappin’ Ass Nate for lunch, then we’re going to go shopping for a Friendsgiving celebration tomorrow. Back tomorrow or maybe Friday with more news.

Tuesday update

BREAKING NEWS: #1 class of 2019 men’s basketball recruit James Wiseman has committed to the University of Memphis.

Let’s start off this post with a look at the NBA standings.

Roughly one-fifth of the way through the season, the Memphis Grizzlies are in a three-way tie for first place in the West. These are the same Grizzlies predicted to win 34.5 games this season and end up back in the draft lottery. Overachieving!

Rumors all over Twitter are that the Grizzlies are in serious talks with free-agent center Joakim Noah. It’s clear that people have strong and polarized opinions about this. I don’t think such a signing would be a bad thing. The Knicks still owe Noah many millions so we could get him for the veterans’ minimum. He’s a good fit for the team’s defense-wins-games mentality, and he’d be an insurance policy in case Marc Gasol gets injured. Noah wouldn’t steal substantial minutes from Jaren Jackson Jr. – maybe at the beginning of the season this would have been a concern, but now that he’s starting it’s too obvious to everyone the team has something very special in JJJ. Jackson will likely end up at center after Marc Gasol retires, and Noah would give him another excellent mentor at the position. Seems to me this is worth a gamble.

From November 19 through December  19, any time you drink a Sierra Nevada beer on draft at the Flying Saucer, a dollar will be donated to wildfire relief in California.

Fake friends are the worst: This video was making its way around social media yesterday.

I wonder if orange cat offered gray cat a fist bump and said, “Hey, cat, I’m glad we’re still talking. I’mm glad we’re still friends.”

Bardog will open at 5 on Thanksgiving and for those who come hungry, Chef Hector will offer a Thanksgiving feast. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and marshmallow-covered sweet potatoes for $21. Bardog will be open until 3 AM that night.

Commissioner Tami Sawyer has an Amazon wish list where you can donate items for winter care packs. These packs will be given out to 7th and 8th grade boys shortly before the holiday break, to ensure they remain healthy and in good hygiene while they are away from the resources of school.

Ghost River is holding another important meeting the day after Thanksgiving. If you’ve had enough of your relatives and you just need to get away and have a beer, tell them you have an important meeting to attend. Marcella Simien will perform 3-5, football will be on TV, Eddy’s Pepper food truck will be on site, and they’ll have a special-release Rosemary Pale Ale on tap.

Holiday hours for the venues on Beale Street:

TEDxMemphis will happen at Crosstown Concourse on February 2. Submit your ideas for TED talks through December 3. Artists, activists, academics, innovators, leaders and dreamers are invited to submit ideas.

Useful for shopping for Downtowners: Gifts for the sneaky booze drinkers among us

Aldo’s Pizza Pies Downtown has announced its annual Pizza with Santa event from noon to 3 on Saturday, December 15. There will be photos, crafts and cookies. All they ask is that you bring a wrapped toy for Memphis Toys for Tots.

From Maxim: Science says vegetarians are sad and unhealthy, so go ahead and have another steak. Studying over 1300 different people with all kinds of diets, scientists found that vegetarians are more likely to need health care and have higher incidences of cancer, allergies, and mental health issues. So toss that tofurkey in the garbage can this holiday season!

That’ll do it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.