Month: January 2020

Well, I don’t have much in the way of news today. If you like Memphis basketball, turn on

• ESPN2 at 3 PM for the Tigers vs. the South Florida Bulls
• Fox Sports Southeast at 5 PM for the Grizzlies vs. the Golden State Warriors

My first non-holiday week with the new laptop has been a success. I’ve worked through 165 pages worth of examples from the data science/Python book I have been reading, learning the numpy and pandas libraries. I have installed Linux Mint and Ubuntu virtual machines on my laptop, although I’m thinking about getting rid of Linux Mint because it doesn’t prompt for a password when I sudo a command (i.e. run it with root/administrator privileges). That kind of bothers me. I have installed the Apache web server, PHP, and MySQL on the Ubuntu machine.

I still plan on making my study of Python and data science my main project, but I have a project in mind for PHP too. I want to build a REST API in PHP in three different ways: using the Laravel framework, using the Zend framework, and using the CodeIgniter library. I want to expose service endpoints that return JSON when called, then write client-side code to consume that data using Angular, React, and possibly one or two other client-side frameworks/libraries. Starting out, I won’t care if these projects look pretty, but eventually I want to apply the Twitter Bootstrap layout framework so they look good on both a phone and on a screen.

I want to build a portfolio on GitHub… it’s the kind of thing I should have done years ago, but I came home so mentally burned out from sitting in cubicle hell every day that I never had the motivation to do so.

For the first time in years I am excited about what I can do in the world of computing. Not for the sake of earning a paycheck, but because I enjoy it.

That’s it for now. Back tomorrow.

This week I had somebody ask me, what are the various neighborhoods of Downtown? I’ll take a shot at answering that question here, although there are organizations (DNA, DMC are two) that probably have better ideas of the exact boundaries than I do.

• Mud Island: Boundary explanations not necessary.
• Uptown: Bounded by the river on the west, Chelsea on the north, Manassas on the east, and A.W. Willis on the south.
• The Pinch: Bounded by the river on the west, A.W. Willis on the north, the St. Jude campus on the east, and Exchange on the South. Sometimes considered part of Uptown, although The Pinch had its name long before Uptown did.
• The Downtown core: Roughly bounded by the river on the west, Exchange on the north, Danny Thomas on the east, and MLK Ave. on the south, except where neighborhoods listed below cut into that definition. Realtors have attempted to give this area cutesy names like The NoB (north of Beale) but residents have laughed those names out of existence.
• Victorian Village: Bounded by Danny Thomas on the west, Adams on the north, Manassas on the east, Jefferson on the south. Known for its 1800s mansions.
• The Edge: Bounded by Fourth on the west, Madison on the north,Manassas on the east, and Union on the South. Unclear whether the definition of The Edge will grow to include the Union Row development, or whether that will be seen as a neighborhood of its own. The Edge is considered a part of both Downtown and the Medical Center District.
• Beale Street entertainment district: Beale between Second and Fourth. Sometimes the definition is expanded to be bounded by Peabody Place on the north and Lt. George W. Lee on the south and including FedExForum.
• South City: Bounded by B.B. King Blvd. on the west, MLK Ave. on the north, Lauderdale on the east, and Crump on the south. Formerly know as South of Forum or SoFo.
• South Main: Bounded by the river on the west, MLK Ave. on the north, B.B. King on the east, and Georgia on the south. The intersection of South Main and G.E. Patterson is the center of this neighborhood.
• Martyrs Park: Bounded by the river on the west, Artesian Condos on the north, Riverside on the east, and Crump on the south. Channel 3 Drive is the main road through this neighborhood.
• South End: Bounded by Riverside on the west, Georgia on the north, B.B. King on the east, and Crump on the south. This neighborhood didn’t exist 15 years ago, yet is now teeming with apartments, condos, and fun places like Loflin Yard, Carolina Watershed, and the Ghost River tap room.
• French Fort: Bounded by the river on the west, Crump on the north, I-55 on the east, and Jack Carley Causeway/McLemore on the south. It’s debatable whether this is a Downtown neighborhood, but the National Ornamental Metal Museum is in it and that’s usually considered part of Downtown.

That’s my best guess as to the Downtown neighborhoods and their boundaries. Again, I speak in no official capacity when I type these definitions.

I rebooted my new laptop for the first time this morning. It was up and ready to go in 20 seconds. To anyone looking to buy a new computer, I cannot say enough about how much a solid-state drive is worth the money. Traditional hard disks are on their way to joining vacuum tubes, punched cards, floppy disks, and 2400 baud modems in the museum of outdated computer technology.

Let’s have a look at the NBA standings, shall we? Following a fine victory over San Antonio last night, if the season ended today the Memphis Grizzlies would be the #8 seed in the playoffs. That’s right – if the Grizzlies keep winning at this pace, they’re a playoff team, not a lottery team. That’s an unexpected boost to the collective team ego, and when it’s time to CONVEY THAT PICK to Boston for the 2020 NBA draft, it’ll be a less valuable pick than everyone thought.

Your next chance to see Memphis’ NBA playoff-caliber team is tomorrow at 5, when the Grizzlies host the Golden State Warriors at FedExForum. Come early to get a throwback Grizzlies scarf, free to the first 5000 fans. Stay late to see the look on Draymond Green’s face as he walks off the court in defeat.

Residents of Waterford Plaza were awakened by noisy midnight concrete pours at the One Beale construction site. Guess what… there will be more, although the developer said none of them will last as long as the one this week.

AutoZone Park will hold three hiring fairs for part-time, seasonal positions this month. Positions will include box office ticket seller, guest service representative, team store associate, team attendant, fan experience team member, video operator, and camera replay operator. These positions are part-time and paid hourly. Applicants must be at least 18 and pass a background check and drug screening. Job fair dates and times are

• Saturday, January 18, 9 AM-noon
• Monday, January 20, 9 AM-noon
• Thursday, January 23, 6-8 PM

If you wish to be considered for these positions, you must attend one of these job fairs. Those who finished the 2019 season employed by AutoZone Park do not need to attend.

The National Ornamental Metal Museum invites you to spend Valentine’s Eve in the Museum Store Thursday, February 13 from 3 to 7 PM. Enjoy champagne while you shop. Admission to the Museum Store is free, and if you’re a member of the Museum you get 10% off.

That’s it for now. Looks like the rain will move out just in time for my walk to Bardog. Back tomorrow with more news.

Yesterday I went to happy hour at the Silly Goose, where the GM was giving a test to the bartenders and servers, to assess their knowledge of the Goose’s offerings. One of the questions was, “What kind of wood do we use in our wood-fired pizza oven?”

A bartender answered “Tree wood.”

I have a favor to ask my readers: Go to one of the Downtown Ticer/Hudman restaurants and tip your server extra well. You may have heard that Hog & Hominy caught fire yesterday morning and will take months to repair. Their employees will be relocated to the other restaurants under the company umbrella, including Downtown restaurants Catherine & Mary’s, the Gray Canary, and Bishop. Please help support the employees who have been displaced, and the employees who are making room for them.

Loflin Yard will host a watch party for the Minnesota Vikings vs. San Francisco 49ers Saturday, kickoff being 3:35 PM. Even if you don’t care about either team, or the NFL, or sports in general, you might still want to show up for this one. The reason why is that they will have ONE DOLLAR SHOTS OF FIREBALL during the game.

I saw another meme on Facebook that is worth repeating on here. If you have luggage that you no longer want, donate it to your local foster agency. Too often foster children have to carry their belongings in trash bags when they move from one home to another.

This week I posted that there was a thread on the Memphis Sandwich Clique group about places in Memphis that cater sandwiches. Well, as your number-one source of news and information about The Edge District, I have been informed that Sabor Caribe does Cuban sandwich catering.

If I have any Memphis Police readers out there, here’s a tip for you: Set up DUI checkpoints on the roads between Downtown and Midtown on Sunday, January 19 between 11 AM and 5 PM. The reason why is that there is going to be a mimosa bar crawl that day, organized by a national company that does bar crawls. The stops will include Hopdoddy, Babalu, and Lafayette’s in Midtown, and Coyote Ugly and Flying Saucer Downtown. How are people going to get from one location to another without drinking and driving? You can tell this event wasn’t organized by locals because no local would be stupid enough to organize a pub crawl with stops 3 miles apart.

Friends of Cossitt Library will have a meeting at the temporary pop-up library in Puck Food Hall, 409 S. Main, Thursday, January 16 from 6 to 7 PM. If you’re interested in becoming a friend of the library, this is a good time to do it. All are welcome and refreshments will be served. Come hear about future programs at the library as well as progress on renovations. When it’s done, that library is going to be something special for the community, going far, far beyond a place to check out books.

Susan Marshall and Reba Russell play the Halloran Centre tonight at 7:30. Tickets are $35.

IVY Multimedia will present a Podcasting 101 workshop Saturday, January 11 from 10 AM to noon at 60 N. B.B. King Blvd. You’ll learn how to develop content for your podcast and select the podcast style that is right for you. You’ll also learn the technical side of podcasting, including hosting and distribution. They’ll also give you tips to build a social media presence to promote your podcast.

Food & Wine recently made a list of the best coffee shops in America, and The Pinch’s own Comeback Coffee made the list.

Steak night will make a return to Green Beetle on Mondays. Every Monday they will have an 8 ounce strip, cut by Charlie’s Meat Market, and a baked potato for $12.99.

Longshot has a special this weekend: Frito pie with berber spiced lamb chili, Fritos, Greek yogurt, chili oil, mint oil, and micro celery.

The Grizzlies host the San Antonio Spurs at FedExForum tonight at 7.

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

The Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team hits the road tonight to play Wichita State. This is probably the most important game left on their schedule, a chance to get a road win against a Quadrant 1 team. A victory will probably push the Tigers up one seed in the NCAA tournament and maybe two. The game is at 6 PM and will be televised on ESPN2.

Yesterday I had to walk over to First Horizon and I noticed a couple of things on my way there and back. First of all, there is a sewing and alterations place on Madison right next to the convenience store at the corner of Second. I never knew it was there. Just thought I’d mention it for those in need of one of those places Downtown.

Second, Havana’s Pilon, the Cuban restaurant just east of the alterations shop, has a great deal for lunch: $6.99 for an entree of the day, along with two sides and a 20 oz. bottled Coke product or a bottled water. Yesterday it was the piccadillo, the Cuban ground beef dish.

I want to thank the Blue Suede Brigade, the Downtown guides/public safety officers employed by the Downtown Memphis Commission, for addressing what has long been a problem down here. Every morning the street people gather outside CiCi’s Liquors waiting for it to open so they can get their first drink of the day. They’ve been known to harass people walking to work, walking to Walgreens, waiting at the Madison trolley stop. The Brigade has posted up two to three officers at Main and Madison every morning around 8 and it has made a tremendous difference in the behavior of CiCi’s regular customers.

Dave Brown joined commentary on All Elite Wrestling last night, broadcast live on Fox from the Landers Center in Southaven. 411mania.com has the results.

Tim Howard, who had a storied soccer career including being the US team’s goalkeeper at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, embarks on a new soccer journey this coming season. Howard has been named the new sporting director of Memphis 901 FC.

The Downtown Neighborhood Association has announced its first meeting of 2020. It will be Tuesday, January 21 at the Arrive Hotel at 477 S. Main. Appetizers will be provided and there will be a cash bar.

That’s it for now. Kind of a slow news day. Back tomorrow.

Trolley Stop Market has closed its doors a few days earlier than announced, after posting last week that Friday, January 10 would be their last day. They are taking the rest of this week to prepare for the sale of their restaurant equipment. If you are interested in purchasing any of the equipment, contact the Market on Facebook.

Yesterday I was surfing Facebook, and someone posted to the Memphis Sandwich Clique group, asking where was the best place in Memphis to get sandwiches catered for lunch. There were numerous responses, including a couple of people who recommended Jimmy John’s. Predictably, the Memphis Sandwich Clique account posted to the group and warned everyone not to discuss chain restaurants on there, that the Clique was a place to show local restaurants some love, and that those who mentioned chains would be muted. Fair enough. But…

A couple of hours later, the owner of the Memphis Sandwich Clique account posted a photo of the burger he was having at the Cordova Flying Saucer. Now, there’s no doubt the Saucer makes great burgers. However, it is a chain! Its headquarters are in Texas, the original location was in Fort Worth, and 5 of the Saucer’s locations are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. There about 15 locations total in the Southwest, South, and Midwest. Here’s a map of the locations

The Grizzlies, after last night’s win, are a half game back from eighth place in the Western Conference. If the Grizzlies keep improving as Ja, Jaren, and especially last night Dillon find their place on the floor, they will be a playoff team come April. Who’da thought? As recently as six weeks ago, people were still talking about finishing in the bottom six in the NBA so they wouldn’t have to CONVEY THAT PICK to Boston.

Arcade restaurant at Main and G.E. Patterson was recently honored by the Food Network as having one of the best sandwiches in the U.S. Their peanut butter and banana sandwich on Texas toast is a tribute to Elvis.

Edible Memphis magazine will have a pick-up party for its 46th issue this Saturday at Puck Food Hall, 409 S. Main, from 11 AM to 1 PM. Dr. Bean’s Coffee and Tea Emporium will offer samples of coffee and soda. Bar 409 will have Old Dominick’s coffee-infused vodka. Come meed fellow foodies, folks from the Memphis restaurant scene, and the Edible Memphis staff.

Stats site FiveThirtyEight released their global rankings of 628 soccer teams. Memphis 901 FC was near the bottom at 615, but the good news is they’ve come up one spot since the previous rankings. Liverpool came in at number one, followed by Man City and Bayern Munch.

Speaking of Memphis 901 FC, I got a media alert to expect a “big announcement” from them today. Keep your eye on the news if you’re a local soccer fan.

Cardinals Caravan returns to AutoZone Park on Friday, January 17. This is a chance for St. Louis Cardinals fans in Memphis to find out what is going on with their team during the offseason. Current Cards Jack Flaherty, Randy Arozarena, Tyler Webb, and Justin Williams will make the trip, along with former players Bo Hart and Scott Terry.

This year there will be two Caravan events in Memphis. The first is a luncheon at the Home Plate Club on the second level of AutoZone Park at noon that day. There will be a question-and-answer session followed by autographs. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased here.

That evening, there will be a free event at the ballpark at 6 PM. Children 15 and under will be able to get autographs, with a ticketing system in place due to high demand. First 400 kids with a ticket will be guaranteed an autograph from one current and one former player. There will be a question-and-answer session and a raffle as well. The event will be emceed by Cards broadcaster Tom Ackerman, and local radio station 92.9 ESPN will be onsite.

For those of you who knew Uncle Ray, don’t forget that the celebration of his life is tonight at 6 at the Downtown Local.

That’s it for now. I’m deep into my data science study, relearning matrix algebra that I haven’t used in years. Back tomorrow with more news.

 

 

Yesterday a friend of mine, who had his car parked on Peabody Place, went outside to smoke. He noticed an officer writing him a parking ticket. (I believe the city outsources ticket writing to private security now, rather than using sworn MPD officers or PSTs. My friend ran over there. “What are you doing?” he asked the officer. “I still have 90 minutes left on the meter.”

“Oh. Sorry. I made a mistake,” said the officer, who then started to change the license number letters he had written down on to the ticket.

“Why are you writing me a ticket?” my friend asked again. “My meter’s not expired.”

“My fault,” said the officer, abandoning the writing of the ticket. He walked right past two cars, both of which were parked at meters that were flashing red, meaning their time had expired. He did not bother to write either of those cars a ticket. The officer got in his car and drove off.

Has this happened to any of my readers? Been written a ticket when your time on the meter had not expired? Makes me wonder if the security officers are on a salary or get paid on the basis of how many tickets they write.

I have to agree with what Penny Hardaway said upon finding out that the AP poll voters dropped Memphis from number 9 to number 21 after losing a game to Georgia. The people voting in the poll were just sitting there waiting for Memphis to lose so they could drop the Tigers way down in the poll, and it didn’t matter to whom they lost. As Penny says, the disrespect will motivate the team. Unfortunately, I bet the disrespect shows back up  again on Selection Sunday, limiting the Tigers to around a 6 seed at best.

The Daily Memphian has a primer on how city government is run that is well worth a read and even a bookmark. Actually, it’s only a primer for city council. I hope they will do a follow-up listing the structure of the mayor’s office and the top positions/departments that report to the mayor.

The annual MLK Day parade will close Second from Jackson to G.E. Patterson from approximately 9 AM to 2 PM on Monday, January 20. If you have to work that day and take Second to get there, you’ll need to figure out an alternate route. Probably Danny Thomas is your best bet since Front is in the middle of convention center construction.

The annual Mix-Odyssey cocktail competition will return Friday, March 6 at the Botanic Garden from 7 to 10 PM. Bartenders and mixologists from all over the city compete to see who can make the best cocktail, the proceeds benefiting a wonderful organization that promotes volunteerism in Memphis. In addition to being able to vote on the cocktails, your ticket gets you gourmet hors d’ouevres, fortune tellers who predict where you will volunteer (I’ve had my fortune told, it’s really cool), the Grizzlies’ DJ, Wiseacre beer, Kendra Scott giveaways, and a special guest emcee.

Downtown company Indigo Ag has made such a name for itself in agricultural technology that it has attracted investment from FedEx. In addition to improving profits for growers, Indigo is working on measures to address climate change, lowering the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere.

Chewish, a mash-up Chinese and Jewish dinner hosted by Wok’n in Memphis and Caramelized, two restaurants inside the Puck Food Hall at 409 S. Main, will happen Monday, January 20. This 7-course meal is $75 plus tax and gratuity. Spots are limited, so if you’re interested, reserve yours today.

The Internet of Things has officially gone too far: With ingestible new pill, you can track your farts on your phone

The Grizzlies host the Minnesota Timberwolves tonight at 7 at FedExForum.

There’s a cornhole tournament in the Tin Roof’s Green Room tonight with live music at the Roof as well.

I embarked on my study of data science this weekend and yesterday, installing the Anaconda suite which includes the Python language, an integrated development environment, and a bunch of libraries I will need to learn. I spent yesterday working with the numpy library, which facilitates fast operations on arrays of numbers. I’ve formulated an overall plan for my study of data science:

• There are a number of great free PDF books out there about data science. My plan is to read as many of them I can and work through the exercises, absorbing as much knowledge as I can for free.
• Only then will I enroll in IBM’s data science certification course. You pay per month until you complete it, so I want to get through it as quick as possible. The final project is to use the Foursquare API, and I know I can combine that with my knowledge of Downtown to come up with a really cool project (and if anyone has suggestions I’d love to hear them).

So I’ll have a certification in data science, but no professional experience. So how will I get a job? Well, I found a site called Kaggle that offers data science project competitions (as well as lots of great free data sets). So my plan at that point will be

• Enter a bunch of data science competitions, and lose, and then see what the winners did.
• Eventually win a bronze medal. Win a second bronze medal. Work my way up to winning silver medals and even maybe a gold.
• Get to the point where people are wondering “who is this guy?” and reaching out to me saying, “Hey, want a job?”

That path may change, and I know it’s ambitious, but it’s where I’m heading at the current time. As I said, in 2020 I plan on being out less, so if you go to happy hour at the Goose and don’t see me, don’t worry, I’m probably at home writing Python code.

Of course, I’ll be writing blog posts too. Back tomorrow with another one of them.

 

I know it’s been a week since the Liberty Bowl parade, but I forgot to report something I observed as I walked onto Beale about 35 minutes before the parade start. The street was crowded, mostly with Kansas State fans, and people were walking single file east and west as they attempted to get to their desired watch spot on Beale. Well, most people were walking single file; one was not. I recognized him as one of Downtown’s petty criminals and scammers. He was moving erratically through the crowd, shifting from one direction to the other, cutting through lines of people as though in a hurry. I have little doubt he was looking for an opportunity to pick a pocket or grab a purse. I just wanted to warn everyone, at future parades, keep your hand on your valuables as you navigate your way down Beale.

Loflin Yard will host a free Tennessee Titans watch party this Saturday at 7:15 PM.

Bluff City Backsliders play Loflin Yard at 8 Friday evening. They’re described as “high-powered, hip-shaking, barrelhouse hoodoo music that’s as profane as it is glorious.” Not exactly sure what all that means, but I’ve seen this band before and they’re good.

Random thing I learned over the holiday break… you can now buy wet wipes shaped in the form of a mitten. The product’s name? Shittens.

Couple of cool events happening at the Halloran Centre this month. History fans are gonna love this one… Give ’em Hell, Harry! is an accurate and often whimsical look at the life of Harry Truman, from his beginnings as an apprentice in the political world through his two terms as president. Since 2017, Truman has been portrayed by Clifton Truman Daniel, Harry Truman’s oldest grandson. That performance will happen on Saturday, January 18.

On Friday, January 31, conductor Robert Moody and the Memphis Symhpony Orchesta will perform The Complete History of Music, Abridged. The performance will explore how music evolved from 9th century single monastic tunes to 21 century musical styles. Everything from Gregorian chants to Frank Zappa will be on the menu.

All Elite Wrestling, the relatively new wrestling promotion with a national TV deal, will broadcast its weekly Dynamite TV show live from the Landers Center at Southaven at 7 PM Wednesday. Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that AEW will go out of its way to pay tribute to legends of Memphis wrestling on the show, far more than any other national promotion ever did. Among those honored will be “Macho Man” Randy Savage and his father Angelo Poffo, Lance Russell, “Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert, “Dangerous” Doug Gilbert and their father Tommy Gilbert, Brian Christopher, Austin Idol, Dave Brown, The Rock & Roll Express, Randy Hales, Brandon Baxter, and the “Boogie Woogie Man” himself, Jimbo from Mempho, “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant. Why will Jerry “The King” Lawler not be among those honored? He works for AEW’s competition, WWE, as a color commentator so AEW can’t use his likeness.

Matches for the AEW show in Southaven are expected to include

• Riho defends the AEW women’s title against Kris Statlander
• Cody Rhodes and Dustin Rhodes vs. the Lucha Brothers
• Jon Moxley (formerly Dean Ambrose in WWE) will give his answer to the Inner Circle’s invitation

The holidays are over! Back to work. After work I am going to continue on my study of data science. If you don’t see me out some days this week, don’t worry, I’m probably at home studying. Back tomorrow with more news.

We tried an experiment at Bardog yesterday. We all played our birthdays on the jukebox, in the form of CD number (day) / track (month). Mine was “When the Lillies Die” by IO Echo. Never heard that song before.

In other Bardog news, regulars know how the chorizo sliders and the turkey melt have been on the special board every day for the past several months, effectively attaining menu status without being on the menu. It now looks like the fried chicken sliders, previously a Friday staple, have attained that status as well.

The CA reports that Vogue has named Bishop, the new Ticer/Hudman French restaurant in Central Station Hotel, to its list of most anticipated restaurants for 2020.

French dressing on pizza is a thing. Makes more sense than pineapple at least.

I wholeheartedly agree with what Holly tweeted yesterday:

Please your restaurant/bar address and hours in every bio on social media, and on the homepage on your website. Why is this so hard?

— Holly ❤️ I Love Memphis (@ilovememphis) January 4, 2020

Also, if your restaurant hours change, make sure you update them on every social media platform.

Cigar bar Havana Mix will have a game night Thursday evening, January 30. Dominoes, spades, Jenga, and other popular games, as well as food and drink specials.

Primas Bakery + Boutique on South Main will host a Charcuterie and Chocolate event on Valentine’s Day, Friday, February 14 from 5 to 6:30 PM. Tickets include a charcuterie plate for two, chocolate pastries to share, and complimentary wine for those 21 and up.

Loflin Yard will host a Saints watch party today at noon. New Orleans cuisine and drinks will be served and there will be a DJ during commercials. Vikings vs. Saints on the big screens. Stick around after the game for Cerrito Bingo at 4 and have 10 chances to win prizes, swag, and food.

That’s it for this post. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to cut back my going-out hours and start seriously studying data science on the new laptop. If you don’t see me out, it’s for a good reason. As for now, I’m headed to D-RANKS with B-RAD at the Silly Goose. Back tomorrow with more news.

 

Pabst Brewing Co. has announced that PBR Hard Coffee will soon be available all throughout the lower 48. The new beverage at 5% ABV was sold in select test markets last year, and proved popular enough to be mass-produced. People who have tasted PBR Hard Coffee compare it to Bailey’s, Yoo-Hoo, and Starbucks Frappucinos. Ask your favorite retailer who carries PBR to add this new product to their inventory. I wonder which Downtown bars will carry this, at least on a trial basis? Flying Saucer would be the most obvious place, but given that it took 10 years of requests to get regular PBR in there, I won’t hold my breath.

As your #1 source of news and information about The Edge District, it is my pleasure to link you to this article from the CA offering a first look at Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe at 668 Union (there’s also an entrance on Marshall). The Edge giveth and The Edge taketh away. Goodbye, Trolley Stop Market Farm Burgers; hello, Tam’s Peach Cobbler Nachos. Visit Tam’s Soul Food Superstore in the same location for your favorite retro candy.

Those of you who go out regularly Downtown, please read the following article and in particular take a good look at the mug shot: Rizzo’s damaged by unruly guest. Jonathan L. Miller came in the restaurant and after sitting at the bar for a little while, was asked to leave and vandalized the place on the way out. As a result, Chef Michael Patrick had to close the restaurant for lunch service Friday, although Rizzo’s got open for dinner. Miller was kicked out of the Blind Bear and the Silly Goose earlier in the week. The bartender on duty at the Bear said the same thing Michael Patrick told the CA – the bartender immediately sensed something was wrong. The bartender on duty at the Goose saw him both Monday and Wednesday and commented, “We knew he was crazy.” Be on the lookout for this guy and if he comes in a bar or restaurant, let management know.

Comedian Bill Burr has two shows at the Orpheum tomorrow night, at 7:00 and 9:30. Tickets are $39.50-$49.50.

Bleacher Report has results from WWE Smackdown broadcast live from FedExForum last night. Former World champion Sheamus made his return. Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan defeated King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler in the main event, and following the pinfall, Reigns’ cousins The Usos returned and superkicked Corbin and Ziggler.

Stephen Michael plays an acoustic show tonight at the Brass Door at 7. $5 cover.

Stephen Stryjewski of New Orleans will join chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman for the first guest chef dinner at Bishop, the new French restaurant in Central Station Hotel, on Monday, January 6. This four-course dinner is $75 with an optional wine pairing for $50.

That’s it for today. As expected, not a whole lot of news for the first weekend of the year. Back tomorrow with more.

 

The Memphis Tigers men’s basketball team hosts the Georgia Bulldogs at FedExForum at noon Saturday. This is a chance to get a win over an SEC opponent and over a projected top-3 NBA 2020 draft pick in Anthony Edwards. There’s incentive to get there early – first 7500 in the gate get a Memphis Tigers stone car coaster from CoasterStone. For those wanting to watch from home, the game will be broadcast on CBS.

There will be a celebration of life for Ray Werfelmann, known to many as Uncle Ray, Wednesday, January 8 at Local at 6 PM. This is not a somber memorial service; this is a chance to laugh and have a good time swapping Ray stories. All who knew Uncle Ray are welcome to attend. The venue is quite appropriate; the bar at the Downtown Local was one of Ray’s favorite places to be. Ray passed away in early December after an October stroke left him paralyzed from the neck down.

I saw a meme a couple of times on Facebook yesterday that actually is a quite valid piece of advice: When signing legal documents, checks, or anything official that requires being signed and dated, don’t use the two-year abbreviation for the date this year. For example, when I wrote my rent check this morning I dated it 1/3/2020 rather than 1/3/20. Why is this a good practice? Because if you use “20” as the year, someone could come along behind you and add two more digits, turning your intended date of 1/3/20 to 1/3/2017, for example.

As your number-one source of news and information about The Edge District, it is my duty to link you to this Memphis Flyer story about Trolley Stop Market, whose owner Jill Forrester has announced the restaurant will close January 10, with hours of 10:30 AM-3:00 PM here on out. From The Daily Memphian: Trolley stop was at the vanguard of a new era in Mermphis. Very true. It was one of the first restaurants to get patrons in the mindset of consuming locally sourced meats and produce. It was also one of the cornerstone businesses that led to the rise of The Edge as a residential, walkable neighborhood. Forrester and her husband also own Whitton Farms in Arkansas, and operating both businesses simultaneously had become too much to handle.

In other news from The Edge, Venezuelan restaurant Sabor Caribe announced they will be closed this weekend, reopening on Tuesday, January 7.

One of my South Main friends reports that the Little Italy signage is back up in the window in the former Scoops location, across the street from Cheesecake Corner on G.E. Patterson. So hopefully that’s a go again after a couple of false starts.

WWE Friday Night Smackdown broadcasts live from FedExForum tonight at 7 PM on Fox. The Cerrito Live podcast recently previewed the event, including an interview with former WWE World Heavyweight champion Daniel Bryan. Bryan is expected to get a shot against current WWE Universal champion The Fiend.

There are two other non-basketball FedExForum events coming up this month:

• Grizz Bash will happen Thursday, January 9. This is a Grizzlies themed game night where you can reserve your spot to play Jaren Jackson Jr. in ping-pong or take on Ja Morant in a game of putt-putt while enjoying food and cocktails. Tickets start at $75. Proceeds will benefit St. Jude.
• Tool will appear live in concert Friday, January 31.

It’s Firepit Friday at River Garden this afternoon starting at 4:30. Free S’mores with all the fixings.

The “Letters to Santa” mailbox will stay up at the corner of Main and Peabody Place through early January for kids who want to send Santa a thank-you letter.

John Paul Keith will play the downstairs lounge of 3rd and Court diner Saturday, January 4.

A looming 100% tariff on European wines could drastically raise their prices here in America, or knock them out of stores/restaurants altogether. Thanks Trump! Prosecco will be affected? Oh my. I’m going to have some very unhappy BBQ teammates if this tariff goes into effect.

Pizza happy hour, when $11-16 pizzas are discounted to $10, and the fact that I had some money on a gift card left over from my birthday, led me to try another of the Silly Goose’s recent additions to the pizza menu yesterday.

Introducing the Greece Lightnin’: Shrimp, basil pesto, feta, mozzarella, Greek olives, red onion, tomato. They were generous with the shrimp and the combination of the Greek ingredients gave this one a taste quite different than any other pizza on the menu. This is now my second favorite behind the Louisiana Saturday Night Cajun pizza, and will be my go-to when I don’t want to eat something spicy.

Time to head to work. Back tomorrow with more news.