Bishop, the new Hudman/Ticer French brasserie in the Central Station Hotel, will have a grand opening masquerade ball the evening of Saturday, February 22. There will be a mask bar (is that a bar where you get a mask? I haven’t been to a lot of masquerades) and a silent disco, as well as food, cocktails, beer and wine, a DJ, a band, and performances by Opera Memphis. Tickets are $100 and benefit Southern Foodways Alliance, an organization that researches and documents food trends in the rapidly changing South.
The National Civil Rights Museum will host a program tonight at 6:30 exploring the history of African-American Islam.
The Salvation Army will host an evening with Tony Dungy Saturday evening, April 4 at the Peabody. The organization and the former NFL coach will reflect on the 120 years Salvation Army has been in Memphis. Tickets are $150-$25,000. In case you’re wondering what the top level ticket gets you, it comes with ten seats at Tony’s table and a VIP reception with Tony. It also makes you the title sponsor, gets you a full-page ad in the program as well as social media mentions, and you get a signed copy of Tony’s book Uncommon.
Soccer supporters’ group Bluff City Mafia now has the link live where you can join for 2020. What do you get when you join?
- Bluff City Mafia swag including T-shirt and koozie
- Pre-match meetups at the Brass Door, with happy hour prices for members in the Cavern from 4 PM until the march over to AutoZone Park
- Priority seating in the first few rows of sections 108-112 for Memphis 901 FC home games
- Exclusive access to BCM Slack channels
Don’t forget, folks: Half-off candy at Walgreens tomorrow. The Downtown location opens at 8 on Saturdays.
Got news on some Downtown jobs to share with you. First of all, Aldo’s Pizza Pies is in immediate need of an expo on night time weekends. It sounds like if you come in and apply, you might be able to make some money as soon as tonight or tomorrow. They are also looking to build up their server staff as the busy season approaches. As I have said before, the Aldo family of restaurants are great work environments.
Tin Roof is hiring security starting at $13 an hour. Generally your hours would be Friday and Saturday 9 PM-6 AM give or take, and occasionally a weekday here and there for special events. Must pass a background check.
As your number-one source of news and information about The Edge District, it’s my pleasure to tell you that Evelyn & Olive still has Valentine’s reservations open. They have some special treats planned for tonight including chocolate chip bread pudding and chocolate-covered strawberries. Call 901-748-5422 to reserve your table.
New phone, who dis? Bleacher Report has a look at the reasons NBA players have to get new phones so often. Reminds me, I think I’ll give Jaren a ring and see if he wants to do lunch.
There will be a South Main Mardi Gras Bar Crawl Saturday, February 22. Participating locations include Momma’s (formerly The Dirty Crow Inn), Ghost River Brewing Co., and Loflin Yard. Free beads and New Orleans food and drink specials. Rodrick Duran Band will play Loflin Yard 9-midnight.
Friends of Cossitt Library will have their monthly meeting at 409 S. Main at the Puck Food Hall from 6-7 PM Thursday, February 20. They’ll have guest panelists from volunteer organizations speaking on ways to volunteer and engage. There will also be information on how you can participate in the Cossitt Library’s re-opening this fall.
Those of you who bank at First Horizon: Watch out for a text message scam saying there is a problem with your account.
I want to call out my fellow Democrats/liberals on a disturbing trend I’ve seen on social media this week as the primary race heats up. People are posting something of the form, “If you (vote / don’t vote) for (x), you must be a (y).” Some examples:
- If you vote for Bernie, you must be a communist.
- If you don’t vote for Warren or Kloubchar, you obviously hate all women.
- If you vote for Bloomberg, you’re OK with billionaires buying elections.
- If you vote for Mayor Pete, you must be a racist.
We have got to stop attacking each other. If you believe a candidate possesses a negative quality that should disqualify him/her from becoming president, post evidence to that effect, for sure, but don’t attack his/her supporters. Don’t get so negative with those on your own side that they will feel deflated when your candidate gets the nomination instead of theirs, and as a result they stay home in November and we end up with 4 more years of this circus. Fragmenting the Democratic party is what Trump wants. It’s what his digital manager Brad Parscale wants. That’s what Putin wants. That’s what the online Russian trolls, who will happily join the attacks, want.
For example, this Politico article speaks about the fears Democrats in Congress have that Bernie as the nominee will hurt their re-election chances, and in particular could hurt the Democrats’ chances of gaining control of the Senate. Its message resonates with me. However, for those of you who are Bernie supporters, I respect you, and I respect the way you share his beliefs for a society that offers opportunity for all. If he becomes the nominee I promise I will go to the polls and vote for him in the general election.
That’s it for today. I am ready for the weekend. If Jaren doesn’t answer his phone, causing my lunch plans to fall through, I will be out at the Blind Bear and the Silly Goose this afternoon.