Month: April 2020

House arrest day 37 (Sat)

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris has extended the Safer at Home order that applies to unincorporated areas of Shelby County, but only until April 30. Harris says that the data indicated we are entering Phase 2 of the fight against the coronavirus, and while Phase 1 was about saving lives, Phase 2 is about saving livelihoods as well. Restrictions won’t be lifted completely, but will be eased in some areas.

Chris Herrington of the DM hopes that the governors of Arkansas and Mississippi will keep in mind that their states border the Memphis metro when loosening their restrictions on restaurants next week. News flash: They won’t.

I don’t envy Jim Strickland. No matter how tight or loose his plan is to ease Safer at Home regulations, he’s going to have one subset of citizens or another saying he’s irresponsible. I also don’t envy the medical experts advising Strickland, who will face the same criticism – especially in the case of Dr. Manoj Jain, who will probably have racial epithets thrown at him.

Flying Saucer is offering a $5 burger when you purchase a six-pack or growler fill today.

Other Saucer news:

Attention Beerknurds!
You asked and we listened! We’ve tapped a new limited beer for you and also brought back some sought after favorites! We’ve got Founders Devil Dancer, their 12% triple IPA, on draft for $15 per 32ounces! We also re-tapped @newhollandbrew Dragons Milk, @foundersbrewing Frangelic Mountain Brown, and @4handsbrewingco Absence of Light Peanut Butter Chocolate Milk Stout. Come stock up for the freakin weekend!

From the Green Beetle:

Starting Monday April 27th we are reopening for curbside and to go orders!! We are serving a limited menu of our fan favs and will be serving from 11am-8pm 7 days a week. We will also be offering delivery through Ubereats so starting Monday give us a shout at (901) 527-7337, hop on Ubereats, or come on by to get your grub on!!

The Orpheum presents a virtual edition of its Memphis Songwriters Series featuring Savannah Brister Saturday, April 25 at 7:30 PM. She was on The Voice last year, where she was offered a spot with John Legend’s team.

Here’s a pic of those Hog & Hominy pizzas for which you can get bake-at-home kits at Catherine & Mary’s:

Idea for college football 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic: State championships. Arkansas vs. Arkansas State for the first time ever. Memphis vs. the Vols and Vanderbilt. Florida vs. UCF. I could get behind that.

My friends at the Blind Bear got their photos in the Daily Memphian, but I’m sure they wish it was for a different reason: They are one of many restaurants having trouble getting employees to come back to work because the federal government is subsidizing unemployment payments so well. The Bear is now open for take-out every day from 11 AM to 9 PM, so if you miss the Bear Balls, the Hibernation Fries, the crawfish mac or another favorite, come and get them.

Devan Yanik plays a live stream today 3 to 5.

The DM has a list of bands unable to appear at Music Fest, rescheduled for October 16-18: The Lumineers, The 1975, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liam Gallagher, Louis the Child and Toad the Wet Sprocket. Not that it matters much, because I would put the probability that Music Fest actually happens at about 15%.

Catch a webcast of quarantunes with Charvey Mac, broadcast from Saddle Creek tonight 7:30-8:30.

Wild Bill’s will be back with another live stream tonight at 8:30.

From the Peabody:

It is with heavy hearts that we’re announcing the 2020 Peabody Rooftop Party season has been cancelled. We will miss seeing everyone this year, but we look forward to partying on the roof with you in the Spring of 2021!

This is sad news but the right move… throngs of people, dancing, and buffets probably aren’t the best thing right now. Thanks to the Peabody for their sacrifice to keep Memphis safe.

The DMC awarded 13 more forgivable loans to Downtown businesses yesterday. More than half the loans went to businesses run by women and minorities.

I had a dream last night that I went grocery shopping with my mom at Target. She had a shopping list as long as her arm. She had to stop every time there was a baby and tell the parents how cute it was. We practically circumnavigated the globe looking for the toilet paper aisle. There was a shelf of generic-looking trophies, and my mom asked if Memphis in May bought my BBQ team’s trophy at Target. She refused to use the wide-open shelf-checkout lanes in favor of standing in line for an hour waiting for a cashier. In other words, the dream was exactly like shopping with her in real life when she was alive.

Big thanks to my neighbors who texted me and asked if I wanted an extra face mask yesterday. Now I’m rockin’ the PPE when I go out.

With the Safer at Home order likely to be lifted in waves, I will have to figure out at what point to discontinue the “House arrest day __” post titles. The criterion will be this: When I am able to sit inside one of my three favorite bars (doesn’t have to be at the bar area) and drink a PBR without also having to order food, at that point I will consider my house arrest to be over.

By the way: Drinking at home is boring AF. I got some PBR to drink as I watched WWE Smackdown last night, and I thought, what does this accomplish other than waste money and move my bedtime forward by hours? I pulled up the Lightclub and Wild Bill’s virtual events for a little while and they were good, but it just isn’t the same as being out. I understand the need for staying at home and social distancing, but I refuse to be all rah-rah about it the way many in the media are. It sucks, I can’t wait for it to be over, and I refuse to pretend otherwise to set an example for the public.

On that note, I’ll sign off for now. Back when there’s more news to share.

House arrest day 36 (Fri)

The Downtown Neighborhood Association is hosting an Uptown Cleanup Day Saturday, May 2. Meet at the Greenlaw Community Center at 10 AM if you want to participate. They will provide trash bags and gloves.

And now, on to the rest of the news. This mor…

Huh? Magic words?

Please? Thank you? You’re welcome???

Oh. I get it.

On Saturday, May 2, you can help DNA clean up the Uptown neighborhood WHILE PROPERLY SOCIALLY DISTANCED. That’s right, folks, you can pick up trash while remaining six or more feet apart from your fellow humans. If you really want to be a party animal, you can wear some PPE to the cleanup!

Have y’all heard cats are now testing positive for COVID-19? No I am not kidding. Both house cats and big cats in zoos have tested positive. How are we going to get cats to socially distance? They won’t listen.

Did the Flying Saucer get robbed? I walked past there yesterday and there were “NO CASH ON SITE | VIDEO RECORDING IN PROGRESS” signs on the windows and the front door.

The Daily Memphian has a thorough article on the four doctors (Jain, Haushalter, McCullers, Warren) who are help shaping plans to re-open the economy. A plan for Memphis is expected early next week. You can catch Dr. Jain’s on the DM’s Behind the Headlines Podcast this week.

The DM also has an article on the new art in Fourth Bluff Park. The sculptures are here through a partnership with Nashville organization Tri-Star Arts.

Tonight is the second edition of the DJ Series, a virtual dance party broadcast from Central Station, presented by the Memphis Music Hub and I Love Memphis. This week’s party is all about women in soul and features DJ Alpha Whiskey. It will happen online 8:30-10:00 PM tonight. If you missed last Friday’s show, themed on old-school Memphis rap with DJ Spanish Fly, you can view it here (fast-forward to about 9:55 for the start of the show).

Yao’s China Bistro at Main and Gayoso has napkins, paper towels, and toilet paper for sale.

Should be obvious but I guess not: Don’t share screenshots of your stimulus check online

Let’s hear it for the good guys one more time.

Rev. Omma of The Broom Closet will teach a free Tarot Reading 101 class on Zoom Tuesday, April 28 at 7 PM. She’ll provide tips and tricks for drawing meaning from the cards, as well as best practice to prepare for a tarot reading and to receive one.

Local biz City Tasting Tours in the New York Times! It has an article about how entrepreneurs are adapting to live during COVID-19.

Happy weekend, YOGA! Downtown yoga studio Your Inner Yogi will host a free class tonight on Instagram at 6:30. The instructor will supply the playlist in advance for those who wish to flow to music. When the house arrest is lifted, these classes will move outdoors to Court Square.

Play Cerrito Bingo tonight at 8 on Zoom.

Lightclub Memphis will be on Twitch tonight with DJs Alora, Shinobi Senses, and Scotty B. 8-11 PM.

There will be a live stream from Wild Bill’s tonight 8:30-11:30. The Juke Joint AllStars and The Sensation Band will perform. Tips accepted via CashApp.

About that Scribd subscription…

More than 30 days have passed since I signed up for a free 30-day trial for Scribd, the service that lets you read unlimited books and magazines, and listen to unlimited audiobooks. Once the trial is up, it’s $9.95 a month to keep going. Having tried it out, I thought I’d give it a review.

First of all, the interface is easy to use. Reading a book is quite intuitive, very similar to the Kindle app on desktop or smartphone. I would read books all day on desktop, then take my iPhone to bed to continue reading, and one app would pick up where the other left off, never losing my place in my current book.

Scribd by no means carries every book ever published. I would say it carried about 20% of all the titles I searched for, so don’t jump in thinking a Scribd subscription is going to give you access to everything you’re interested in reading. However, it does have a really good “you might also enjoy” feature, so even if you don’t find the book you wanted, you might find something similar.

Scribd particularly excels in two areas:

  • Bestsellers: Scribd seems to have a contract to keep the latest and greatest on its virtual shelves for a period of months.
  • Audiobooks: Scribd has a lot of titles that it doesn’t have in print digital format but does have in audio format. Their audio player is easy to use. In my opinion Scribd is a better deal for audiobooks than Amazon’s Audible trial.

Overall verdict: It’s worth giving them a credit card number and trying it out for free. Just remember when you subscribed and make sure you cancel before your 30 days run out if you choose not to keep it. Canceling your subscription is easy and you don’t have to talk to anyone on the phone. There’s no risk and the reading might help pass time time, since Mayor Strickland has announced we will continue under house arrest until May 5 and possibly longer.

I read about 10 books on Scribd in the 29 days I had my free trial, and Face the Music, by Paul Stanley, co-founder of KISS, was the best I read. A quick synopsis of the book:

  • Gene was generally a good business partner but had a habit of making everything all about himself. The stories you hear about Gene being an astute businessman are as much self-marketing as they are truth.
  • Ace was an incredible talent when motivated – however, he was often not motivated.
  • Peter, in Stanley’s opinion, lacked the raw talent that the others had – however, he thought he was the be-all and end-all because he wrote “Beth.”
  • Though Paul Stanley was a wildly successful musician, he didn’t find true fulfillment until his late forties – and it was not through the band.

Ace and Peter have autobiographies on Scribd as well, but I ran out of free days before I could get to those.

You know what? I think I may take some of my blog’s own recommendations today. I should have a project I’ve been working on for a while wrapped up this afternoon. After that, I think I’ll walk around the corner at Main & Madison and see my friend Carl Winfield’s new store Downtown Wines & Spirits. Then tonight I will check out the Lightclub, Memphis Music Hub DJ Series, and Wild Bill’s live streams. Back tomorrow with more news, or later today if there are news items that can’t wait.

House arrest day 35 (Thur) / update 2

So, I’ve been asked my opinion on the “when should Memphis restaurants reopen” debate.

Quick recap: The president of the Memphis Restaurant Association has pushed for a May 1 date to re-open dine-in at Memphis-area restaurants. He claims that the majority of restaurants in the city are on board with that plan. However, he does not offer data to prove such a majority exists. Many times over the past 18 years I have heard someone start off an idea with “we all plan to…” when “this is what I want to do, please agree with me” was closer to the actual truth.

A prominent Memphis restaurant owner posted a Memphis Business Journal article quoting the MRA president to Facebook. Although he posted the article without comment, the owner is known for having said in the recent past he believes May 1 is too soon to re-open. The vast majority of people who commented the owner’s Facebook post agreed with him. However, like attracts like. We are likely to have more Facebook friends who agree with our point of view than oppose it, and it rocks the boat less to agree with someone else than to disagree.

So here’s my take on it:

  • I don’t own a restaurant;
  • I don’t derive any of my income from a restaurant; and
  • I don’t have the letters M.D. after my name.

Therefore, my opinion on whether restaurants should re-open on May 1 should not matter. On a personal level, yes, I miss them, and I dislike being told I can’t go to them (hence, my “House Arrest” post titles). However, I understand this is what has to be done.

Nashville released its reopening guidelines today. This gives you an idea of what things might look like in Memphis, although no two cities are the same.

The CA’s Jennifer Chandler has a roundup of local brunch eats, including some yummy looking pictures from Sunrise Memphis and Bedrock Eats & Sweets.

Round 1 of the NFL draft is tonight, beginning at 7 PM. Here’s the info.

Whatchu talkin’ ’bout, Willis? Repairs on a water main will result in detours on A.W. Willis Avenue between Fifth and Fourth through at least Friday, longer if rain delays repairs.

Felicia Suzanne’s is doing Fried Chicken Friday tomorrow. Feed your family, and there’s an option to add local beer. Pre-order by 8 tonight.

A local company is selling jugs of hand sanitizer to the public.

Is there a place within the boundaries of the river, A.W. Willis, Danny Thomas, and Crump that I can go right now and either buy a face mask at a reasonable cost, or get one for free?

  • “If you don’t have a face mask, you can use a bandanna” doesn’t count. I said face mask.
  • “You can order one from us and have it delivered to your home in 2 to 3 days” doesn’t count. I said right now.

I agree with the sentiment of the City Council members who want to require the wearing of face masks in public, but I don’t see how that can be implemented when masks are not readily available in Memphis’ most densely populated region.

Think I’ll go for a walk. Back later today or tomorrow with more.

House arrest day 35 (Thur)

The Gourmade food truck will be out at 525 N. Main from 3 to 7 Saturday, and they will give away a free dessert with the first 100 entrees.

This week’s digital issue of the Memphis Flyer is now online. They’ll be back with a print issue, next week.

Speaking of the Flyer: As your number-one source of news and information about The Edge District, I am excited to tell you that the Memphis Flyer’s annual margarita festival has been rescheduled for Saturday, June 6 deep in the heart of the district at the Boxlot shopping center. Your ticket gets you 15 margarita samples and benefits Volunteer Memphis. This is a 21 and up event, of course. It’s possible this date will have to be moved again, but assuming it happens on the 6th, I may just have to put on my sombrero and saunter on out to The Edge for seis de junio!

When the house arrest is lifted, we gonna be like

Grizzlies assistant Niele Ivey has been hired as the head coach of Notre Dame’s women’s basketball program following the retirement of coaching legend Muffet McGraw. Ivey is an ’01 alum of the Fighting Irish.

The latest Downtown venue to offer bake-at-home pizza: The Peabody.

The local coronavirus rate is slowing down, reports the Daily Memphian.

There’s virtual Cerrito trivia tonight at 7 on Facebook Live.

The ShotGunBillys bring their Shut Up and Sing event to Facebook Live tonight 7-9.

Kind of a slow news day so far. Back later today or tomorrow with more.

House arrest day 34 (Wed)

Chicky nuggies! Wendy’s is offering free chicken nuggets at its drive-thrus on Friday. You can drive up and get a four-piece of their crispy or spicy chicken nuggets, no charge, no additional purchase necessary. The Downtown Wendy’s is at the corner of Danny Thomas Blvd. and Washington.

The house arrest continues. Mayor Strickland has extended the Safer at Home order to May 5 for the City of Memphis. Looks like we’ll be celebrating Cinco de Mayo on Zoom.

That’s not the biggest news from the mayor yesterday though… he went before the City Council to present the new fiscal year budget. Lost tax revenue for upcoming fiscal year due to COVID-19 is projected to lead to at least an 8-figure shortfall… and lost revenue for this fiscal year ups it to 9 figures. The city has cash reserves to cover most of it, but operating with no cash reserves is a perilous idea; cities can’t operate on defecits the way the federal government can. Layoffs and deep cuts in city services seem unavoidable. If you’re a city employee, you probably should get your resume together and update your LinkedIn page.

Bilingual guitarist and singer Alex Walls will perform a live concert from Health Sciences Park, to be broadcast on Facebook and Instagram by the Memphis Medical Center District Collaborative, Friday at noon.

Education opportunity this Friday:

The Peabody has a plan for Mother’s Day, or as former City Councilman Berlin Boyd calls it, “Yo Mama Day.”

Wait a minute.. most adults (especially ones who can afford a Peabody holiday meal) don’t live in the same household as their mothers. You’re not supposed to be visiting people who live outside your household during quarantine! So be aware that you risk getting lectured by all the “Stay at Home and Wash Your Hands” people on Twitter for being irresponsible if you go this route.

However, some HUGS are safe by social distancing standards.

RIP Scott Bowden, 1990s Memphis wrestling manager and more recently the host of the Kentucky Fried Rasslin’ podcast.

News for my East Memphis readers:

Three words for ya: DUCK FRIED RICE.

From Max’s Sports Bar:

Thanks everyone that came out last Saturday! We had a blast and cant wait to do it again this weekend! @glazescrawfish will be in the pit cooking up mudbugs for $10/lb and shrimp for $15 (prices include sides). And dont forget to add a 6-pack, a slush, or one of our new housemade POPTAILS!

As always, we are looking to be more efficient and get you guys on your way quickly. So please take note of the following –

1. Please comment on our Facebook post to preorder. Cutoff for preorders is 4:00 on Friday. Walk up orders cannot be guaranteed.

2. Preorders will be served from 11:30-1:30. If you are not here by 1:30 your order will not be guaranteed. (no walkup orders before 1:30).

3. Normal menu will not be available until 2:00.

4. We will offer curbside pickup in the alley. But please be patient as we try to take care of any customers in line on the sidewalk as well.

That’s the news for now. Back later today or tomorrow.

House arrest day 33 (Tue)

Tennessee governor Bill Lee has announced that he will allow the state Safer at Home order to expire April 30 for 89 counties. Shelby is not one of those counties, but this development indicates that it is highly unlikely the house arrest in Memphis will last through July as some had predicted. The Memphis Restaurant Association has submitted a plan – not yet approved by Shelby County health officials – to reopen restaurants at 50% capacity, rising to 75% in two weeks and 100% in four weeks. The MRA would like to put the plan into effect May 1 but acknowledges it probably won’t be quite that soon.

From the Green Beetle:

It’s Monday and we’re back it taking preorders for this Friday the 24th!! We will be cooking up our famous burgers and catfish again as well as our whole wings. We will also have the Beetle Bakes favorite Swiss Roll Cake and bushwackers (with a food order) for curbside pickup.

We are taking preorders for lunch or dinner so shoot us a DM with your order, phone number, and preferred pick up time and we will be in touch! Pickup is available from 11-2pm or 5-7pm and we are offering discounts on bulk orders (10 or more). We are accepting cash, credit, or Venmo.

The available menu is:

Beetle Burger (w or w/o American Cheese) with house cut fries $10
Catfish Plate served with fries, BBQ spaghetti, and bread $13
6 Whole Wings with fries (your choice of dry Cajun rub or one of our sauces: hot, mild or honey gold. Your choice of ranch or blue cheese) $12
Homemade Swiss Roll Cake $35 (9” cake serves 8-10 and is simply amazing)
Add a Bushwacker to go $6

Stats site FiveThirtyEight discusses how to maximize the number of games played during a shortened Major League Baseball season: Bring back the dying breed known as the doubleheader. Twin bills accounted for nearly 30% of the games played between 1901 and 1961.

The folks at Memphis Made Brewing Co. recently shared their 3-ingredient bread recipe with the Commercial Appeal.

6’7″ wing Landers Nolley is transferring to Memphis to play with the Tigers men’s basketball team. He is considered one of the top transfers who will be required to sit out a year. It’s possible that year may be waived, however, by an upcoming NCAA vote. Memphis beat out two SEC schools in recruiting Nolley.

New email scam going around: Subject is “Electronic Payment Acknowledgement” and it appears to come from a domain that looks like “Accounts Payable” or Microsoft. If there is a PDF attached, don’t open it; it will install malware. Not sure how this is making it through spam filters.

Huey’s is charging a carry-out fee, but their heart is in the right place with it.

I wonder if Huey’s sold more orders of their nachos than usual yesterday?

U.S. oil prices crashed below $0 yesterday. I wanted to bring an economist on as a guest poster to explain what that means. Unfortunately I don’t know any economists, so I decided to let one of the trolls do it.

“You know how around Christmas, you hang mistletoe above the door? Well, imagine that you’re standing under the mistletoe, and you’re wearing a Christmas sweater that says ‘U.S. OIL PRICES.’ Except, the mistletoe isn’t really mistletoe, it’s the number 0.”

That will go down as the stupidest thing I’ve heard all day, as long as I don’t turn Fox News on.

Downtown businesses The Peanut Shoppe and Alcenia’s were on the news yesterday.

Cerrito Trivia will host Malco Movie Trivia online from 7:05-8:30 PM Saturday. April 25.  Gather your team via Skype, Google Hangouts, FaceTime, in person, or however you want to do it. Click the link for complete details on how to compete.

Late last night there were reports that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was in grave condition following surgery early this week. Kim is only in his mid-thirties, so if he has kids, the fourth generation of Kims are too young to succeed him.

That’s it for now. Back later today or tomorrow.

House arrest day 32 (Mon)

To provide relief from boredom during the coronavirus quarantine, Walking Pants Curiosities, the gift shop on G.E. Patterson has launched the Super Secret Jigsaw Puzzle Palooza Club. They scour places near and far to uncover the most fascinating puzzles, and deliver them to your door. Click the link to see puzzles they have in stock, and if there’s puzzle you want that’s out of stock, use the NOTIFY ME feature to let them know it’s in demand so they can order more. Also, check back in the next few days for a board game collection.

Heck, don’t just stop at the puzzles and the board games… visit their entire store online if you haven’t had a chance to make it to their physical location… or even if you have!

I wish I’d had Grandma, An Inspirational Gift Book while my grandmother was still alive.

Carbunkle Trumpet, a Brooklyn resident and former Memphian, has a take on people he’s observed openly flouting Safer at Home/shelter-in-place rules and posting on social media. Raggedy nails and exposed roots need to be symbols of pride during this pandemic, an acknowledgement that the well-being of others is more important than personal vanity.

I do want to point something out though… Prohibition didn’t eliminate the consumption of alcohol in America. What it did was lead to black markets. If the quarantine goes long enough, I think we will inevitably see a similar effect. Non-essential services like nail appointments and hair appointments to an extent will be driven underground, where in addition to increasing COVID-19 risk, they won’t be regulated or taxed.

Recipe from the Orpheum:

For those of you who are fans of the New Wing Order food truck, they’ll be parked outside Cordelia’s Market Wednesday from 5 to 8/

Volunteer opportunity: The Smithsonian is seeking transcribers. Material to work on includes astronauts’ notebooks. World War I diaries, and more. In most cases the pages are typewritten; they just need to be re-typed into the system so they can be organized and made searchable.

Speaking of the Smithsonian, Smithsonian magazine has an article: The Colorful History of the Troll Doll

Weston from The Rusty Pieces will perform They Might Be B-Sides, a collection of lesser-known songs from the band They Might be Giants tonight 7-8 PM.

MK who delivers the home-cooked meals is back with this week’s specials:

Alright folks!!!!

We’re skipping breakfast this week to take care of some pretty important birthdays!

BUT 

This week’s menu is HERE!

‼️LOCKDOWN LUNCH‼️

Italian wedding soup & a chicken caprese melt!!! 

$12

‼️QUARANTINE CUISINE‼️

This 15 layer lasagne sold out FAST the first time we did it! And for good reason!

All dinners come with a side salad, your dressing preference, garlic bread & TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CAAAAAKE! 

$15

Of course…

DELIVERY IS FREEEEEE

Text: 9015023072 to place those orders folks!

Through May 31, $5 from every bottle of local Old Dominick spirits sold will be donated to a fund to support hospitality industry staff affected by COVID-19. Look for Old Dominick at your local liquor store.

The Memphis Farmers Market is posting a lot of specials its vendors are running during the quarantine to its Facebook page. This weekend they posted about 350 Baked cakes, Guilt-Free Pastries, Thistle and Bee, Grecian Gourmet, Dodson’s Farm jams and jellies, and Whitton Farms.

The Memphis Restaurant Association supports a May 1 reopening date for restaurants, but many restaurant owners across the city think that’s too early.

Memphis Tigers guard Tyler Harris is entering the NCAA transfer portal. This isn’t really a surprise. Penny’s team is stacked at the guard positions and Harris’ talent deserves more minutes than he would be able to get here next season. This should not be the beginning of a domino effect that sees a number of Penny’s players walk out.

Sunrise Memphis burrito special this morning:

Last night I was watching a marathon of the TV show Wings on Antenna TV, and I don’t think I have ever laughed so had in my life… except the biggest laugh of all came when the commercials came on.

TRUMPY BEAR!

All right. That’s the news for this morning. Back later today or tomorrow with more.

All I need is a couple days off

After a solid month rocking this blog, trying to stay on top of everything going on Downtown during the quarantine, I feel it’s time for me to take a couple of days to myself.

No, nothing’s wrong. I’ve just been going super hard on here the past month and want 48 hours to do my own thing. I’ll be back Monday with the House Arrest Day 32 update.

House arrest day 29 / update 2

This afternoon!

The Memphis Flyer has its list of live-streamed music events in Memphis this week on its music blog, and they have done an excellent job compiling the list. In particular, may I recommend DJs Tree, Mylon Webb and Scotty B tonight at The Lightclub at 8 PM, broadcast on Twitch.

One of my favorite authors, former FBI agent Joe Navarro, discusses how to read body language now that we’re wearing face masks.

Grizzly Bear Blues has an analysis of why Jalen Green’s decision to forego college and join the G-League could be the death of college basketball as a training ground for the NBA’s elite.

Catherine & Mary’s has posted their to-go menu for today (4-8 PM).

Five inmates at 201 have tested positive for COVID-19.

From the Rendezvous:

From Bardog Tavern:

We’re hitting Facebook Live at 2pm for Ep. 4 of #QuarantineKitchen! Tag your friends that need to tune in and get ready for some big news, Downtown Memphis! 

From Max’s Sports Bar:

Due to the larger than expected number of preorders, and in an attempt to maintain safety and less wait time, we have decided to extend Saturdays crawfish
pickup window to 11:30-1:30. this means our normal menu will be off line until 2:00 and no walk-ups will be taken until 1:30. Thanks again for all of your support and we’ll see you tomorrow!

From Elmwood Cemetery:

High Ground News has info about two virtual screenings of locally-made short films, “Who is Gatsby Randolph?” (Saturday at 8 PM) and “Clubbin” (Monday at 6 PM).

Buy a meal, feed those in need:

Happy ending for Scott from Laid Off Lawn Care who had his tools stolen from Commissioner Tami Sawyer’s porch while doing work at her home:

Enough Twitter embeds for one morning. I’m off to get some PBR in the house for tonight’s episode of WWE Smackdown, eat that read beans & rice I posted about earlier, and get back to trying to finish my book before my Scribd free trial runs out. Back later today or tomorrow with more.

House arrest day 29 (Fri)

During this quarantine period, I’ve tried to shine a spotlight on those who have innovated; those who have adapted what they do for a living to survive and thrive in these rapidly changing times. One such person I wrote about was Scott Briggs, a bartender at Downtown spot Bar Ware. After he got laid off, he got a truck and some tools and started Laid Off Lawn Care.

Please read the following tweets from Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer (This is not political. PLEASE READ.)

That really sucks. Let’s show Scott that there is a lot more good in this community than bad.

Bar Ware was never really on my route, and I don’t know Scott personally to my recollection. Nevertheless, I Venmo’d him 20 bucks. To my readers, if this feels like something with which you can help, please do the same, in whatever amount you can give. We all gotta watch out for each other.

(By the way, when I help someone I usually don’t talk about it on the blog… but this is a case in which I hope I inspire copycats.)

On to the rest of the Downtown news…

For Seamus’ birthday, The Brass Door will be open this afternoon 2 PM to 6 PM for curbside pickups of fish & chips for $10 and all pints-to-go for $3 (food must be purchased with to-go beer). Call 901-572-1813 to place your order.

The Memphis Medical Center District Collaborative presents DJ Siphne, performing live from Health Sciences Park, in a virtual concert from noon to 1 today. Come listen to his grooves of hip-hop, funk and soul and imagine what a pretty day it must be outside while remaining properly socially distanced in your own prison home!

Catch DJ Spanish Fly spin the tunes in a virtual concert tonight from Central Station Hotel from 8:30-10:00. It’s the first in the Memphis Music Hub DJ Series “Spin, Groove & Move” virtual dance party. Check the Memphis Travel Facebook page for more details.

I stopped by South Main Grocery in Spindini for some grab & go meals yesterday.

Mendatius T. Roll is excited about digging into some red beans & rice at  lunch today. Five bucks for a big container of Cajun food is all right with me!

If I have any readers from Jonesboro out there, Felicia Suzanne’s takeout is coming to you Sunday.

As if we needed one more reason to hate Ticketmaster:

That’s it for now. Posts may be slightly slow this weekend because I’m on page 700 of an 820 page book and trying to finish it becfore my Scribd.com free trial runs out next week.