Monday update

For those of you who fondly remember the fish races at the original Sleep Out Louie’s, it appears something similar is now happening at Loflin Yard on Sunday nights. They had turtle races with a live video on Facebook. The turtles were placed in the middle of a large circle, and at start time were released from a bucket. First to make it outside the circle was the winner. The turtles were in an enclosed space so they couldn’t escape, and they weren’t harmed in any way. I couldn’t tell how people knew which turtle was “their” turtle. Loflin Yard is doing a lot of fun stuff lately and I need to spend more time there once the weather warms up a bit.

The Memphis Restaurant Association had their annual awards banquet last night, and the Restaurateur of the Year was a name many will recognize: Patrick Reilly, co-owner of the Majestic Grille with his wife Deni. In addition to operating that tremendously successful restaurant for the past 13 years, Patrick and Deni have consulted with other restaurants, helping them develop the systems for sustained long-term success. Congratulations! A very well-deserved honor.

The CA has a review of KISS’ performance at FedExForum Saturday night, with all the theatrics the band is known for and a nod to their first Memphis performance, in 1974 at Lafayette’s Music Room.

LeBron James comes to town tonight as the Grizzlies host the Los Angeles Lakers at FedExForum tonight at 7.

Cerrito Bingo is hosting BingoMania at Memphis Made Brewing Co. this Friday at 7 PM. This will be a wrestling-themed bingo night, and anyone who dresses in wrestling gear or who wears a wrestling T-shirt will get an extra card. There will be a prize for best ring attire. If you bingo on a WrestleMania number (that’d be 1 through 35 counting the 2019 show) you score free tickets to 901 Wrestling. There will be Royal Rumble pinball for you to play. If you get hungry, the New Wing Order food truck will be parked outside.

Jennifer Biggs of the Daily Memphian has info on the new Cousins Maine Lobster truck that is operating in Memphis. The truck is a franchise of a business that got funding from one of the investors on Shark Tank in 2011. The goal of the business is to bring New England-style lobster boils to cities across the country. There are Maine and Connecticut rolls and items such as a lobster grilled cheese, lobster quesadilla, and lobster bisque.

Amid the wave of businesses relocating Downtown from other parts of the city, Raymond James is doing the opposite and packing up their headquarters on N. Front Street for a move to East Memphis. They have had problems with the building in recent years including employees being trapped in elevators.

Southern Living has an article on classic Mississippi roast and how it differs from other varieties of pot roast. Pontotoc Lounge serves this dish, and it is so popular that it is on both the dinner and brunch menus.

Don’t forget that the kickoff party for BuildDowntown Design Studio is tonight from 5 to 7:30 at the Center for Southern Folkore Hall. It’s open house format. Come join them for drinks, food, live music, and conversation about the future direction of Downtown.

El Mero Taco will be selling their Mexican fare at Cordelia’s Market tonight from 5 to 8.

I continue to have computer problems. Yesterday I got a portable version of Ubuntu 18.10 running on my ailing laptop and it worked beautifully. I was so happy. Then this morning, while I was on a trip to Walgreens, it froze up, and wouldn’t unfreeze. Rebooting didn’t help. So I’m going to try again, using a different flavor of Linux on a different USB drive. After I get that fixed I’ll do happy hour at the Silly Goose then probably stop by the BuildDowntown party. Back tomorrow with more news.