Friday update

I just checked the MemphisWeather.net forecast, and their second-week prediction maps for January 24-30 are exactly what we do not want to see this time of year: temperatures projected to be below average and precipitation projected to be above average. We’ll have to keep an eye on that one.

Monday evening from 6 to 8, Wiseacre Brewing Co. will team up with Old Dominick Distillery for a collaboration at the Downtown Slider Inn. They’ll have their Gotta Get Up to Get Down coffee stout aged in Old Dominick Huling Station Bourbon barrels, as well as Ananda aged in Southern Gin barrels. In addition, there will be a few Wiseacre-Old Dominick beer cocktails that will be sold all day Monday.

If you’re off Monday, may I suggest the following plan?

  • Noon: Visit the National Civil Rights Museum, free that day, and also check out the activities going on outside on the stage
  • 2:30: Attend the National Civil Rights Museum’s Sports Legacy Award Symposium in the Grizzlies’ practice facility at FedExForum. This year’s award winners are Sheryl Swoops, Doug Williams, Robert Parish, and Caron Butler.
  • 4:00 MLK Day game, Grizzlies vs. New Orleans Pelicans at FedExForum
  • 6:30: Slider Inn for the Wiseacre/Old Dominick collaboration

For those who can’t make the events in person, the award symposium will be broadcast on Fox Sports Southeast and the game will be nationally televised on TNT.

It’s always nice to hear that our Memphis Tigers alumni are doing well, and one did well this week: Jeremiah Martin signed a two-way contract with the Brooklyn Nets. Under the terms of that contract, Martin will play primarily for Brooklyn’s G-League team, the Long Island Nets, but can spend up to 45 days on the Brooklyn Nets’ roster (and get paid NBA money for every day he’s on there).

South Main Sounds Songwriter Night returns tonight to South Main Sounds, 550 S. Main, from 7 to 9. Performers will include Alexis Taylor, Michael Graber, James Godwin, and Yubu Kazungu.

Memphis 901 FC has released its 2020 schedule. There will be 17 home games, the first of which will be March 7 vs. Indy Eleven. The April 29 and June 3 matches will be featured on ESPN.

If you’re a retailer who wants to give a Downtown location a try without making a long-term commitment, you might want to give the Downtown Memphis’ Commission’s Open on Main 2020 initiative a try. Selected businesses get a storefront on Main, rent-free, for a month or longer. There are certain requirements you must meet including having furniture and inventory to fill the store, and being open a minimum of 5 days a week.

Samite, a former refugee from Uganda, will share his stories in Lessons of Humanity: What My Grandfather Taught Me at the Halloran Centre tomorrow at 10 AM. Samite is a gifted storyteller and his stories are interspersed with vocals along with background music by African instruments.

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