We’ve got a “this is SO Memphis” thing happening at FedExForum tonight… a giveaway had to be postponed because someone is wanted by the police. The first 5000 fans tonight in the arena for the Grizzlies game against the Los Angeles Clippers wee set to receive a Jaren Jackson Jr. “Shoot” dance figure. However, now they will receive a voucher for a different JJJ figure, to be redeemed at a later date. The reason why? The originator of the “Shoot” dance, BlocBoy JB, is wanted by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office on theft, gun, and drug charges. It just doesn’t get much more Memphis than that… mane.
So I’m sure you’ve all heard about the petition to get the Memphis City Council to change the name of Main Street to Mane Street. I can understand how people would want a street named for a term that refers to a man. After all, we’ve had a street named after a term that refers to a woman for many years now: Broad Avenue.
Back to BlocBoy JB for a minute… the Grizzlies aren’t the only organization for which his criminal charges are causing PR problems. He’s booked to play Music Fest. I guess Memphis in May is going to have to start running background checks before they book their artists.
We don’t yet know the beer that will be the winner in the Memphis Flyer 2019 beer bracket, but we know the brewery. Meddlesome has two beers in the finals, last year’s winner 201 Hoplar and Broad Hammer. Vote here. You have until 11:59 tonight to vote.
Edible Memphis continues to impress with its outstanding writing about local restaurants and the people behind them. In an article posted online this week, they profiled Cesar Gonzalez, who is bringing the taste of Venezuela to Memphis. Several years ago, he opened Sabor Caribe out in The Edge at 662 Madison. He uses recipes inspired by his grandmother. For those of you a bit fearful to try Venezuelan food, fear not; Gonzalez says that unlike most other Latin cuisine, his country’s is not hot and spicy. I want an arepa with shredded beef and cheese! Maybe I’ll have to make the walk up Madison one day next week, if we can ever catch a day when it’s not raining.
The Daily Memphian reports that Memphis in May has requested changes to the redesign of Tom Lee Park. Although Memphis River Parks Partnership has promised it will not be the case, the folks at Memphis in May continue to worry that the new park, with its trees and hills, will not contain ample space for Music Fest and BBQ Fest infrastructure.
Robusto by Havana Mix, the cigar shop with full bar featured this season on Bar Rescue, seeks people to work in the humidor. Experience with cigars is not required, but a passion for knowledge is. Submit your resume to cigaronefamily@gmail.com or stop by to fill out an application.
Sarah McLachlan will be in concert at the Orpheum tonight, with opening act Vanessa Freebairn-Smith.
Yet another new style of yoga has popped up: Twerk ‘Til It Hurts Yoga. This class combines yoga, fitness and meditation with dance, specifically the form of dance known as twerking. YOGA!
Pet peeve of mine: People in bars and restaurants who do not know how to use their INSIDE VOICE. Yesterday I was at one of my happy hour spots, and a friend of mine who was sitting in the chair next to me was telling the bartender and me a story about her Wednesday night. It was really interesting but I could only hear every other word because the guy four seats down from me was on FaceTime and was talking loud enough to drown out every other conversation in the bar. Why do people feel the need to do that?
Time to go be productive. This morning I brought my mom’s old laptop back from the dead. There’s nothing wrong with the hardware but it errored out back in November and Windows Recovery wouldn’t work. This morning I got a portable flavor of Linux known as Porteus to boot off a USB drive. Now I’ve just got to figure out how to make it see my Wi-Fi network, which it should be able to, considering that I have three other devices connected to the network right now. Back tomorrow with more news.