Tuesday update

(Wed 6:30 AM: I forgot to hit Publish before leaving the apartment Tuesday! Sorry about that.)

I got to sleep late today! Work asked me to shift my hours to 1 to 5 for one day only for a special project. It was nice to be able to stay out past midnight without worry of not getting enough sleep.

The AP preseason basketball poll is out, and Memphis came in at number 14. That’s slightly disappointing given that the Tigers have the nation’s top recruiting class, but it just means Penny and the team will have to go out and work their way into the Top 10. The blue-blood programs (Michigan State, Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke) occupy the top four spots.

Leave it to the Tennessee state legislature to screw up sports betting. Betting on sports in Tennessee will be online only. People won’t be able to experience the fun of stopping in a sports book on Beale Street to place a bet on the Grizzlies game, then walking over to FedExForum to watch they game they bet on.

I’ve heard a couple of creative uses for Skrewball, the new peanut butter-flavored liquor that is becoming a craze Downtown:

  • Go to the Green Beetle and add a shot of Skrewball to the Bushwacker, the Beetle’s chocolate-flavored slushie
  • Go to the Silly Goose and add a shot of Skrewball to a Joe, the Goose’s house-made coffee-flavored shot

On Thursday, November 7, the Gray Canary will host a cocktail party for Last Call by Brad Thomas Parsons. Parsons’ latest book explores the rituals of closing time.

Edible Memphis released a Classic Cocktail Guide this week. Among the Downtown cocktails: Bee’s Knees at Belle Tavern; Boulevardier at 3rd and Court; French 75 at McEwen’s; Martinez at Catherine & Mary’s.

The Peabody Hotel will host a Jack Daniel’s tasting & dinner celebrating 150 years of the hotel and the whiskey on Thursday, November 7. This will be a progressive dinner in the Peabody’s ballrooms, starting off with a cocktail reception, followed by a whiskey tasting, and then a 3-course Southern banquet served family style. Have a look at the menu. Whiskeys to be tasted include

  • Jack Daniel’s No. 7
  • Jack Daniel’s No. 27 Gold
  • Jack Daniel’s 150th Anniversary Whiskey
  • Jack Daniel’s “Peabody Select” Single Barrel

Tickets are $150 and include valet parking. Reservations

Bardog Tavern is expanding its staff and is hiring a night time chef/kitchen manager. Apply within between 2 and 4 PM.

Peppa Pig is live at the Orpheum this evening.

The downstairs lounge is now open at 3rd and Court Diner. The lounge has a retro 1970s feel. There will be live music Fridays and Saturdays and a DJ Thursdays and Sundays. There will be plenty of Memphis music and a concentration of blues, funk, and soul from the 1960s and 1970s. The 3rd and Court menu will be available downstairs during the hours the diner is open, with burgers after-hours. The diner now serves breakfast all day long.

Back soon with a Wednesday post.