Very cool event happening tonight… L.A.-based DJ Cut Chemist will be in Memphis tonight to play a set in Central Station’s Eight and Sand bar. He has agreed to abide by the rules of the house, meaning Memphis music only. He’ll be joined by other DJs including Red Eye, Capital A, Scott Bomar, Bizzle Bluebland, Otis Shredding, and Memphis Jones. This is my #1 recommendation if you’re looking for something to do tonight, and I bet even those not normally into DJs would like it.
It’s the first of the month, and that means it’s time for a look at non-basketball events happening at FedExForum in February.
- Today: World-famous basketball touring team the Harlem Globetrotters will bring their new show, “Pushing the Limits,” to Memphis. 7 PM show time.
- Friday, February 7: Tyler Perry brings the third leg of the Madea’s Farewell Play Tour to FedExForum.
- Sunday, February 9: Celine Dion‘s Courage World Tour, her first tour in over ten years, makes a Memphis stop.
- Saturday, February 15: Professional Bull Riders bring their Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour to Memphis. These guys don’t make it to Memphis every year, so if you’re into bull riding, better seize this chance to see it live. It’s a shame folks will be drinking Bud Light at a PBR event.
- Sunday, February 23: Soup Sunday, a fundraiser for Youth Villages, happens from 11 AM to 2 PM. Over 50 of Memphis’ finest restaurants set up tables in the Forum concourse so attendees can sample all the soups, breads, and desserts they want. You get a holder that will let you carry around 4 soups at the time, although some people (the Nuh-Uh Girl) have been creative enough to fit 9 soups in the holder at once.
Geez… that’s the fifth year in a row I have told that Nuh-Uh Girl story when mentioning Soup Sunday. I need to watch it repeating the same stale jokes year after year… if I keep it up with the recycled bad jokes, I might be put under consideration to emcee DTO. I don’t own a bad tux though.
It’s always good to see the locals make the big time: A former West Memphis Shelter puppy will be in the Puppy Bowl this year
It’s also always good to see people doing good for others: MLGW employees have been spending their lunch break feeding the homeless
For those of you in town one more night following the IBC finals, and for those who are always up for some good live music, may I recommend the Brass Door tonight. It’s an Irish pub on Madison between Second and Third and they have a cozy and intimate performance space downstairs. (It’s called The Cavern, named after the place the Beatles performed 1961-63, and their 1960-62 drummer Pete Best has played there.) Tonight they will host a Memphis Songwriter Showcase presented by Missihippie Music. Eric Lewis, Mallory Everett, Devan Yanik, and Stephen Michael are the lineup.
Happy weekend, YOGA! There will be a Yoga and Mimosas class tomorrow from 2:30 to 4:30 PM at Art Village Gallery at the corner of Main and Huling. This is an all-levels class. There will be a guided meditation and a vinyasa flow accompanied by a soulful playlist, followed by mimosas. Participants are asked to bring a yoga mat, towel, water, and good vibes.
Beer koozie mittens: The winter attire item you didn’t realize you needed.
Jalapeno poppers crossed my mind twice yesterday. I thought to myself, “I haven’t heard anything about the annual jalapeno popper throwdown that normally happens in late March.” I pulled up the website and there’s a “That’s all, folks!” sign on the homepage, so I guess that event’s run has come to an end.
Fear not, though, for there are still jalapeno poppers to be had Downtown. I went to the Blind Bear for lunch yesterday, and Mary told me jalapeno poppers were recently added to the menu, and that means one more menu item she can order, having recently gone vegetarian. So if you miss popper fest, come down to the Bear, and give theirs a try!
The Bush League & Friends come to Earnestine & Hazel’s tonight at 9.
Eric Hughes Band plays Loflin Yard tonight at 9.
Memphis in May will have a volunteer expo on February 20. This is the chance to learn how you can get involved in this month-long festival. Great way to meet people, form lasting friendships, and get an inside look at how this event comes together.
Nerd time: I discovered a very cool techie tool yesterday. It’s called CSVkit. It’s a command-line tool that lets you do all kinds of cool things with CSV (comma separated value) files. Among its command-line capabilities: convert Excel to CSV, convert JSON to CSV (and vice versa), perform searches, and even query the data using SQL. Since it converts Excel to CSV, that makes it possible to run SQL queries against an Excel file without ever exporting the data and importing it into a database. It’s one of those tools for which, I don’t know why I need it yet, but I know at some point in the future it’s going to come in really handy.
Crappie Madness – Kids’ Weekend happens today and tomorrow 1:00 to 3:30 PM at Bass Pro at the Pyramid. First 50 kids each day receive free gifts, including head lamps and tackle boxes. All kids can attend a Crappie 101 workshop and get casting tips.
Primas Bakery + Boutique is offering an Intro to Watercolor workshop on Saturday, March 7. Artist Jesi Lee will lead this two-hour class. $50 fee includes all supplies and a watercolor pad and brush to take home.
Wiseacre Brewing Co. out on Broad Avenue will host a Flower and Chocolate beer event on Saturday, February 15. If beer is more your idea of a Valentine’s Day gift than traditional choices, come to this event for a tour of the brewery and beer and chocolate pairings. The chocolate will come from local maker Dinstuhl’s, soon to have a Downtown location. There are three time slots, 2, 4, and 6 PM, and all three will sell out quickly. If you want to make reservations, do not delay.
This is an interesting read: The concept of a U.S. dollar collapse goes mainstream. Currencies usually collapse when the country that issues them takes on more debt than it can possibly support, and the U.S. has been piling up debt at record speed. Other countries are buying up gold at an alarming rate, sensing a dollar collapse could happen. Although, I wonder if the world standard currency of the future is blockchain rather than gold.
Most of my fellow Democrats are disappointed that TN senator Lamar Alexander announced he would not vote to call witnesses in the Trump impeachment trial. I’m not disappointed at all, for several reasons:
First of all, evidence could prove that Trump is an alien who is out to snuff out humankind with a giant laser, and yet 20 Republican senators would not vote to remove him. Trump would have been acquitted, whether sooner or later.
Second, look at what Alexander said. The Democrats proved their case. He saw no reason to hear even more evidence that Trump is a corrupt president who is willing to put foreign interests ahead of the Constitution if that’s what is necessary to keep him in office. Alexander feels, however, that it is the job of the American people to decide if that warrants removing Trump, not the Senate. Okay, let’s take him up on that. There’s an election in 9 months. Let’s decide for ourselves if we want 4 more years of authoritarianism and corruption.
Third, the Senate doesn’t want to subpoena John Bolton, and hear whether he has first-hand knowledge of a Trump quid pro quo with Ukraine. Well, fine. Let’s get this impeachment hearing wrapped up, get the State of the Union behind us, and then there’s nothing stopping the House Oversight Committee from subpoenaing John Bolton to testify before them (and TV cameras) about what he knew. That could be very damaging to Trump as election season heats up, especially if additional witnesses are uncovered.
2020 may be the American people’s last chance to get it right. There’s nothing wrong with having a Republican in office – just not this fake Republican who serves his own interest above all others. There may not be after a 2024 election if we send him back to the White House.
Okay. Rant over. Bardog time. Back tomorrow with more news.