Month: April 2020

House arrest day 28 (Thur) / update 2

Jalen Green, heavily recruited by Penny for the class of 2020 U of M basketball team, has decided to go pro, joining the NBA G-League. There he will be part of the new top-prospects program, earning a salary in the ball park of $500K and performing under the eye of NBA coaches and scouts, with the ability of profiting from his likeness as he prepares for the 2021 NBA draft. He would have been fun to watch in Memphis, but the NCAA as a means to prep top players for pro ball is broken (see: Wiseman, James). Can’t blame Green for going for the money.

From Aldo’s Pizza Pies:

Today we’re launching @aldospizzapies Family Pasta Pans! Swipe ➡️ to see our new made-to-order options that feed (at least) 5… trust us, we had leftovers.
⠀
🍝 Bolognese
🐓 Poblano cream + chicken
🦐 Vodka sauce + shrimp
⠀
Here’s how it works! Call 901-577-7743 and specify:
– Base: vodka, poblano cream, or bolognese
– Protein (pick 1): chicken, meatballs, pork, or shrimp (pick 1)
– Veggies (pick 2) from our menu
– Hot or cold delivery or pickup
– We’ll have it ready for you next day!
⠀
A single Family Pasta Pan serves 5 for $25. Add a large pan of house salad, plus choice of two: cannoli or N.Y. cheesecake for $20 more. Call today to place your weekend orders! 😋 @ Aldo’s Pizza Pies – Downtown

LUNCHBOXeats is back with Lunch Lady’s Comfort Kitchen meals this Friday-Sunday, April 17-19 noon to 4 PM. Pre-ordering a day in advance is recommended. They’ve got meat-and-twos for $10 and veggie plates for $12. For delivery there is a minimum order of $40, and a 20% gratuity will be added.

Get fit online this evening!

Mark is good people.

The New York Post has an article on how Americans are spending their stimulus checks.

Live music this afternoon:

YOGA! Downtown studio Your Inner Yogi will hold classes online every Friday night at 6:30 on its Instagram feed.

The CA’s Jennifer Chandler has a look at six of the city’s best butcher shops, including City Block Salumeria inside Puck Food Hall at 409 South Main.

She also tweeted some South Main food porn:

The FedExForum sign will go light blue 8 to 8:30 PM every evening to honor health care workers and first responders.

Cerrito Entertainment will host kid-friendly Disney trivia on Facebook Live Friday from 3 to 4.

I’m reading articles on steps that might be taken when the economy re-opens, and one of them is taking people’s temperatures before they’re seated at restaurants and bars. Hmmm I suspect that I run a bit of a fever when I’ve been drinking; that could be an issue. I think I’ll get a six-pack of PBR tomorrow night to drink which I watch WWE Smackdown and take my temperature at the beginning of every beer. It’s all in the name of science, after all.

From stats site FiveThirtyEight: 22 million Americans are unemployed, and we haven’t hit bottom

I tried a new Pandora station based on an obscure song yesterday. This time I picked 1972’s “Why Can’t We Live Together” by Timmy Thomas as the origin.

No more wars, no more wars, no more wars
All I want is a
Little peace in this world

No more wars, no more wars, no more wars
All I want is a
Little peace in this world

Everybody wants to live together
Why can’t we
Live together

The Pandora station I created based on this song produced some mellow, soulful, late ’60s to mid ’70s selections. About half the songs were ones I recognized, and half not, which is good because I like to discover new stuff. Among the songs I did recognize:

  • “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye
  • “How Do You Mend a Broken Heart” by Al Green
  • “Evil Ways” (live 1969) by Santana
  • “Rock Your Baby” by George McCrae (which was on the same album on which I discovered “Live Together”)
  • “I Want to Do Something Freaky to You” by Leon Haywood

The verdict: This would be an excellent station to put on early in the day during Sunday brunch, although you’d probably want to put on something a bit more lively early to mid afternoon.

RIP:

Fire alarm just went off. No time to proofread. Sorry if typos.

House arrest day 28 (Thur) – Hog & Hominy pizza without leaving Downtown!

Governor Lee has announced free COVID-19 testing for all Tennesseans, not just those who are symptomatic. Increased availability of testing has long been said to be one of the things that must be put in place before we can start thinking about re-opening the economy. Big step in the right direction!

Edible Memphis reported some good news yesterday: Although Hog and Hominy is closed for fire repairs, and is nowhere near Downtown, Downtowners can get Hog & Hominy pizza without having to drive out east. You can buy the $15 bake-it-yourself kits at Catherine & Mary’s. Pizza varieties include Quattro Formaggio, Margherita, Thunderbird! Forty Twice!, and a new one to be announced. This’ll be the first time Thunderbird! Forty Twice! has been sold on South Main since Frank’s Liquors closed.

If you’re a Daily Memphian subscriber, Chris Herrington has more on the pizzas.

The Shelby County Animal Welfare Coalition is soliciting pet food donations to feed pets of families hit financially by the pandemic.

From Mental Floss: How does a pool table recognize the cue ball?

Workers at the Downtown Sheraton Hotel (formerly Marriott) were part of a two-hotel Sheraton layoff also involving a Nashville hotel.

The FBI is warning of a new scam: Fake doctor’s notes informing a company that an employee has tested positive to COVID-19. In some cases this scam has cost businesses 6 figures in preventative measures and lost productivity.

From Max’s Sports Bar:

From Lifehacker: How to get your gym membership fees back during the coronavirus pandemic

East of Danny Thomas Blvd., Beale Street will be closed between Lauderdale and Orleans until further notice as part of the preparation to convert the old Commerical Appeal building at 495 Union into a COVID-19 overflow hospital.

If you like listening to streamed live local music to pass the time under house arrest, keep an eye on the Memphis Flyer music blog today. Every Thursday they’ll publish a list of live streamed concerts coming up for the next week.

Twelve more Downtown businesses have applied for emergency loans.

A friend of mine compared the quarantine to an in-school suspension. I like that almost as much as I like “house arrest.”

A couple of months ago I took a quiz that measured where I stood on two political scales: the traditional liberal/conservative, and libertarian/authoritarian. Watching politicians’ response to this crisis, particularly on more casual outlets, gives some excellent insight into where they stand on the libertarian/authoritarian spectrum.

One model has COVID-19 cases peaking today in Tennessee, estimating 632 hospital beds in use in Tennessee and 7812 beds available.

I guess I’ll hit Publish now and take a shower for the first time since Monday. I’m thinking about walking down to the grocery at Spindini in a bit to see what they have in their grab & go. Back later today or tomorrow with more news.

House arrest day 27 / update 2

So, I’ve begun my experiment of turning odd or obscure songs into Pandora stations. I started with the song that inspired the idea, “I Beg Your Pardon, You Never Promised Me a Rose Garden” by Lynn Anderson. That station produced a mix of ’60s and ’70s crossover country/pop, some of which I had not heard since I was a child. Songs that came up included

  • “Harper Valley PTA” recorded by Loretta Lynn
  • “You’ve Got to Kiss an Angel Good Morning” by Charlie Pride
  • “Crazy” by Patsy Cline (I used to play this on Earnestine & Hazel’s jukebox on Saturday mornings, as a commentary on who else was in the bar)
  • “These Boots Were Made for Walkin'” by Nancy Sinatra
  • “Rhinestone Cowboy” by Glen Campbell

Also I discovered that Lynn Anderson recorded “Rose Garden” at least four different times. After the fourth, I killed the Pandora station. I’ll do some more stations this week, and though hardly an obscure artist, maybe Saturday I’ll do a Billy Joel station in honor of Randy.

From Fortune: No, you don’t have to pay back your coronavirus stimulus payment. It is not an advance against your 2020 income tax refund as some have claimed. By the way, we all have something in common with Stormy Daniels now: Donald Trump’s name on a check.

if the IRS doesn’t have your bank account info from your 2018 or 2019 return, provide it here so they can direct deposit your payment.

Flight restaurant at Main and Monroe has announced family meals for this week. Pricing is per person, and you must place your order by 9 PM the day before. Pick up curbside or request free delivery.

  • Thursday, April 16: House Made Cheese Ravioli $22: Come with Grandma Lulu’s Italian meat gravy, as well as a Caesar salad with parmesan Reggiano and herb croutons, cheesy garlic bread, chocolate cannoli and fresh strawberries
  • Friday, April 17: Surf & Turf $42: Two beef tenderloin medallions and a lobster tail, as well as field greens salad with baby heirloom tomatoes, English cucumber, and aged balsamic dressing; sides of roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes; dark chocolate and raspberry cake
  • Saturday, April 18: 14 oz. Niman Ranch Tomahawk Pork Chop $36: Chopped iceberg and romaine salad, bell peppers, toy box tomatoes, blackeyed peas, feta cheese, garlic and black peppercorn ranch; sides of sweet potato casserole and green beans; lemon and blueberry tart with Italian meringue
  • Sunday, April 19: Slow Roasted Prime Rib $33: Iceberg wedge salad, Applewood smoked bacon, chunky blue cheese dressing; loaded twice baked potato, asparagus, creamed horseradish sauce; toffee bread pudding with pecan caramel sauce

Infectious disease expert Dr. Fauci sees a path to sports coming back in empty stadiums. Fauci admits this is a matter of personal interest: He wants to see his Washington Nationals play again.

Self-employed people in Tennessee: Here’s help filing for unemployment

Jennifer Chandler of the CA got take-out dinners from Felicia Suzanne’s recently, and she has a review. That Lake’s catfish with Hoppin’ John is amazing!

Face mask do’s and don’ts:

The Memphis Flyer has a cover story on delivering the goods, how local restaurants and others who provide food are shifting their models to get through the pandemic. Of particular note is the new South Main Grocery inside Spindini, and I can personally vouch for its excellence, especially on the grab & go lasagna. I wan to take home some red beans & rice and some gumbo soon, too. Other specials there you might not know about:

  • Monday and Friday: $25 pork butts
  • Tuesday and Thursday: $12 roasted half chickens with a side
  • Wednesday: Full pans of Spindini lasagna that feed 6 to 8

The Daily Memphian has an interview with University of Memphis president M. David Rudd on how the university is coping with COVID-19, whether there will be classes in the fall, and whether he thinks there will be college sports.

All right, time to be productive. Back later today or tomorrow with more news.

House arrest day 27 (Wed)

This post is coming to you from a new (in a sense) desk. Sitting in front of the computer all day has been making my legs hurt, so yesterday I adapted a Dos Equis cooler I won at the Flying Saucer 10 years ago into a standing desk. One of many innovations we humans have come up with during house arrest.

From Bardog Tavern:

We’ve got a ton of new growlers at the bar, and they’re ready to find a new home! 🍺
⠀
Add a draft PBR growler to your food order for $15, or any other draft beer for just $25 (that’s four 16oz. pours)… and keep the growler. Cheers! 🍻

Good news from River Time Market & Deli on Court Square:

I am overwhelmed with joy and Happy Tears with my response of reopening! We will be open Wednesday Morning at 9:00am. We are waiting on our Delivery Truck today! Since it is going to be cool – we will have Chicken Chili and Vegan Southwestern Chili! Please call in your order- 901-482-0460.

Check out the Memphis Grizzlies quarantine chronicles part 6 featuring local photographer/videographer Michael Butler Jr.

From Max’s Sports Bar about this Saturday’s crawfish boil:

We’re doing it again this Saturday! And for a new twist, Glaze Hardage will be cooking up shrimp too! Mudbugs will be $10/lb and shrimp $15 (prices include sides). Plus, add a 6 pack of domestic for only $10 more!

In an effort to minimize lines and wait times, here are a few things you need to know-

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 11:30-12:30. If you are not here by 12:30 your order will not be guaranteed. (no walkup orders before 12:30).

3. Normal menu will not be available until 1:00.

4. We will offer curbside pickup in the alley.

Cheers to Max’s! Sounds like a yummy afternoon, and a big improvement over the original plan for April 18.

This isn’t a Downtown thing, but I saw on Facebook that Mrs. B’s Subs on Highland is back. That’ll make a lot of people happy.

If you’re looking for a way to make Memphis a better place while you’re under house arrest, tune in to this Church Health Center webinar Thursday, April 16 at 11 AM. It will address how the SNAP and WIC programs have been expanded to provide a wider safety net to provide for the nutritional needs of families during the pandemic. Join in and learn how you can pitch in to help more families while maintaining social distancing.

I am so fucking sick of typing the words “while maintaining social distancing.” Suggestion for whatever Downtown business establishment wants to take this idea and run with it: When the house arrest is lifted, can we have a symbolic funeral for social distancing?

The Daily Memphian has a good piece on Laid Off Lawn Care, founded by Downtown bartender Scott Briggs after Bar Ware closed.

Need a face mask? Ivora out in Crosstown is selling them.

Puck Food Hall is offering a subscription service to support its vendors during the pandemic. A $60 a week subscription gets you food and beverages from vendors including Chinese, Mexican, coffee, gelato, and fresh meats and cheeses.

Memphis Escape Rooms is now booking live video escape rooms.

From the Orpheum:

The Tennessee Office of Emergency Management is seeking bottles to be used to distribute hand sanitizer to first responders.

Volunteer Odyssey has compiled a list of highest needs in the community.

From the CA: New book on the history of tacos features Memphis taquerias

A relevant article given that the presumed Democratic and Republican nominees for president is well into their 70s: What happens if a nominee can no longer run for office?

That’s it for this morning. Back later today or tomorrow with more news.

House arrest day 26 (Tue) / update 2 (chicken and dumplings)

The Memphis River Parks Partnership is challenging Memphians to stay active while maintaining social distancing. The first challenge goal is to walk or run 500 miles in two weeks . You can enter your progress into their tracking form. People’s progress will be shared on their @memriverparks social media outlets, and each time you submit, you’ll be entered into a raffle to win a $100 gift certificate to the Downtown Memphis restaurant of your choice.

500 miles in two weeks? That’s more than a marathon a day! Maybe they mean all the participants combined, not individually.

They’ll also highlight new workouts created by fitness instructors who, let’s face it, don’t have shit else to do these days. These workouts, shared on social media and Vimeo, will hopefully inspire you to get moving.

You can also sign up for “recess texts” encourage you to breathe in, breathe out, get up, get down, get moving, do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around, because that’s what it’s all about. Just don’t do it within 6 feet of another person.

From Crosstown Concourse:

Today’s @saucychicken901 family dinner deal (Tuesday, April 14): chicken & dumplings, mac & cheese, fried okra, and cheesy corn muffins. Feeds four for $29.99. Available for pick-up or with free Concourse delivery!

Their delivery range includes Downtown.

J.D. Westmoreland performs on #dontletmedown Facebook Live today from 4 to 6 PM.

The Small Business Administration has disaster response jobs open, some of which are either virtual or duty station negotiable. These include

  • Disaster recovery specialist/call center
  • Attorney adviser
  • Commercial loan specialist
  • Loan processing assistant
  • Loan servicing assistant
  • Supervisory commercial loan specialist
  • General loan specialist

If you’re multi-lingual, that is a huge plus.

Good news if you plan on flying anytime soon:

Proof that politicians can be bought: Florida Republican governor Rick DeSantis deemed WWE an essential business so it can continue to operate during Florida’s Safer at Home order. Well, I guess that makes sense. After keeping the beaches open a month longer than he should have, allowing COVID-19 to spread far and wide, there’s going to be a lot of need for The Undertaker in that state.

Ah ha… right after I linked the story in this blog post, I found this tweet. Well this explains a lot.

One third of cable subscribers may cancel if the NFL season is canceled.

Great quote I read today: “If you believe the noises of the world rather than the silences of your soul, you will be lost.”

New experiment I’m gonna try today: Take the most obscure or forgotten songs I can think of, turn them into Pandora stations, and see what happens. The song that gave me this idea was the ’70s song “I Beg Your Pardon, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” that Bardog had on the jukebox for a while. I’ll give that a try later today and let you know what happens. I’ll try to think of some other good songs to turn into Pandora stations as well. I think that songs that pre-dated the MTV era will generally lead to more interesting stuff, although I could be wrong.

From CBS Sports: Three storylines to watch as college basketball enters the late signing period. One of the stories is whether Penny will be able to repeat his 2019 recruiting success.

This graphic reduces the chance I will go outside today to just about zero.

The Big O!

All right, since this post contains a daily food special I’m going to go ahead and publish it. Possibly back this afternoon with another post.

House arrest day 26 (Tue)

Silky O’ Sullivan’s is doing a virtual happy hour tonight starting at 5 with musical guest Craig Schuster. Having played piano at Silky’s for 20 years, Craig has plenty of songs to sing and stories to tell. Pick up his latest album on Amazon for 99 cents, and follow him on Facebook and Instagram to stay in touch. Craig will have a virtual tip jar running during the performance. Can’t make tonight’s happy hour? Craig will do one at 5 every Tuesday for the foreseeable future.

The Rusty Pieces will play live on Facebook Thursday night 7 to 8 PM.

The Downtown Memphis Commission announced its first forgivable loans to help see Downtown businesses get through the pandemic. These include

  • Alcenia’s
  • Premier Flowers
  • South Main Book Juggler
  • The Broom Closer
  • Brass Door
  • Rachel’s Salon and Day Spa (where I get my hair cur! Ask for Beckii!)
  • Wrapzody
  • McEwen’s

Click through on the Daily Memphian link above to learn how each business will use the money.

As your number-one source of news and information about The Edge  District, it is my duty to inform you that Mayor Strickland announced yesterday that the old Commercial Appeal building on Union Avenue will be used as an overflow hospital for COVID-19 patients. It will be the primary overflow site due to its proximity to the Medical Center District.

Did you know that you can get grocery delivery Downtown?

From The Green Beetle – Oldest Tavern in Memphis on Facebook:

Happy Monday everyone! We have great news AGAIN! This Friday the 17th we will be cooking up our famous burgers and catfish as well as offering whole homemade coffee cakes and bushwackers (with a food order) for curbside pickup.

We are taking preorders for lunch or dinner so if you just can’t go any longer without some beetle food 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
Homemade Cinnamon Coffee Cake $15 (8″x8″ cake serves 6-8 and is simply amazing)

If you have someone in your life who is crazy about Elvis, Lansky Bros. has a new TCB belt.

From Lifehacker: Now is the time to infuse a bunch of vodka

Wow…

Thank you to all our police officers who risk their lives to keep us safe… not just from the coronavirus but everything else as well. The other day, I was listening to the police scanner and they got a call on a “mental consumer”, 6 feet tall, 385 pounds, known to be violent when off his meds, who was off his meds. I can’t even imagine how you deal with a situation like that.

If you think at some point in the future you’ll want grocery delivery from Amazon or Whole Foods, go ahead and get on the waiting list now.

The Peabody tweeted its vanilla muffin recipe yesterday:

Blood drive today 10 AM-3 PM at the Red Cross, 1399 Madison.

Kids, this is the one chance you’re gonna have in your life to wear a bandanna over your face to court. Better take advantage of it!

The DM’s Jennifer Biggs recently enjoyed some quarantine cuisine at Aldo’s Pizza Pies and Slider Inn. She went to the Midtown locations but you can get the same stuff Downtown.

Any place Downtown selling masks? I feel kinda bad going out on my runs to Walgreens and City Market without one. Just don’t know where to buy one.

This is the kind of person I was talking about in yesterday’s post: She was about to start a new job. Then the economy collapsed. So her health insurance hadn’t kicked in yet, and she can’t file for unemployment since she quit her last gig, but was never actually employed by the new one. Those of you who have steady incomes, and who are saying that the Safer At Home order may need to be extended until July or August, need to consider cases like this one before you preach. If you’re going to expect people in these situations to pay up to five months’ rent and bills without any income, then walk the walk and donate your own income for the period of the quarantine.

Another group that will be most heavily affected if the quarantine gets extended for months: 2020 graduates, who face an evaporated job market.

Although, these are the people who will be most heavily affected of all:

As goes professional wrestling, so goes life.

What the world has come to:

Bernie endorsed Biden for president yesterday. “We’ve got to do all that we can to make Trump a one-term president,” said Sanders.

That’s the news for this morning. Back this afternoon or tomorrow with more.

House arrest day 25 (Monday): news and thoughts on where the response to COVID-19 is heading

The Teach901 virtual job fair will happen online April 20-24. Teach901 recruits passionate and high-quality teachers to our city’s schools, and seeks to retain them. Your week will start off with a talk with a counselor about the positions which are a fit for your skill set. Your counselor will then direct you to Zoom sessions which will prepare you for your career goals, and then you will be put in touch with partner schools. Although the initial sign-up must be done online, those who don’t have an Internet connection at home can participate in the week-long fair via phone.

Former Grizzlies star Mike Conley beat Tamika Catchings in a game of HORSE in the quarterfinal round on ESPN last night. ESPN graded the participants, giving The Conductor an A. He is considered a favorite to win the tournament. The semifinals will be Thursday at 8 PM CDT on ESPN. Conley will play former Detroit Piston Chauncey Billups for a chance to punch his ticket to the finals.

So, let’s talk about this COVID-19 thing. One model, which has been the prevailing model the majority of the time we’ve been under house arrest, shows that the virus peaked in the United States two days ago and is expected to peak in Tennessee April 19 (pick Tennessee from the dropdown list at the top of the page linked above to see state information). If this model can be believed, that’s a good thing; we’ll be past the peak a week from now.

However, another model has come out showing that COVID-19 cases in Shelby County will peak sometime between late May and mid-June. If that model is accurate, that’s also a good thing, showing that recent social distancing procedures along with improved testing protocols have pushed the disease’s peak back, preventing hospitals from running out of rooms, ICU space, and ventilators.

Which model is right, or if neither is, which is closer to being right? The thing is, we don’t know. Last night I had the TV on, watching meteorologists predict the path of the storms that were moving through. They had it down to the minute: They had the heaviest band hitting Mud Island at 10:27, the University of Memphis area at 10:31, and Germantown at 10:34. The reason they’ve been able to train their forecasting models to such a high degree is that there has been lots of training data. Storms blow through here dozens of times a year. Pandemics, not so much, and thank goodness for that!

(By the way, before we continue, I’d like to tip my hat to John Bryant, meteorologist at Local 24, for the job he did last night. He was able to spell out all the scientific stuff in layman’s terms, as well as address the human side of severe weather. For example, he discussed what to do if sheltering from a tornado meant violating social distancing best practices. Very well done.)

Yesterday afternoon on Twitter, an elected official – one who I respect and on most issues agree with – made note of the model with the late June peak, said, let’s just assume we’re going to be under quarantine through August 1, and suck it up and get through it together. My reaction to that statement is below, but before I get started, Disclaimer: I am not a medically degreed professional with experience in how pandemics work. I am a guy who writes a blog.

Ideally and optimally, my opinion on fighting the coronavirus has always been, we must listen to the experts. If the doctors, if the health care professionals who know the most about the disease recommend we follow a course of action… not the talking heads on your favorite media outlet, not national politicians, but the experts… recommend a particular course of action, then that’s what we should do, if practical.

The problem is, I don’t know if extending the Safer at Home order, or the house arrest as I like to call it, until August 1 is practical. 20 to 30 percent of the population of Shelby County lost their jobs because of the virus. We’re really going to expect them to come up with April, May, June, July, and August rent/mortgage without a source of money? And pay all their other bills? It seems like we’re expecting that sector of the economy – non-athletes whose livelihood depends upon large sporting events, the servers in restaurants whose business model did not support staying open for take-out, gig economy workers, owner/proprietors of businesses deemed nonessential – to make the biggest sacrifice. It isn’t fair to them.

There’s also the fact that months of isolation from the people and routines we care about is going to lead to severe boredom, and beyond. As someone who goes out every day and writes about my experiences, I think many of my readers expected the house arrest to hit me particularly hard – however, I am an only child, and I am more of an introvert than an extrovert. It took a few days, but I adjusted to the change, and if the quarantine lasted until August, I would survive – I wouldn’t like it at all, but I’d survive. My extrovert friends, though, especially the ones who live alone, could be in for some psychological damage. Not sure if there’s a publicly traded company that offers psychiatric services, but if so, moving some of your 401(k) into that company would not be a had move right now.

I also think there’s going to be civil unrest. I already see seeds being sown on social media. If the quarantine lasts past May 1 with no end in sight, or if the quarantine lasts past June 1 whether there is an end in sight or not, there will be protests. We’ll have people violating social distancing guidelines not because they don’t know any better (which is what is happening now; listen to the Memphis police scanner for Safer at Home violations), but because they’re fed up. People hit the hardest – those driven to the brink of bankruptcy, those who had their wedding ruined by the ‘rona, those who had their dream job pulled out from underneath them – will be on the front lines. It will be less partisan than personal.

One last point I want to make – when you have your freedoms taken away, it’s natural to get angry with the entity depriving you of those freedoms. However, how do you get angry at a virus? It has no feelings. It’s not like it sat down and mapped out a plan to kill thousands of people and affect the lives of millions more. So, what do humans do when they’re angry, but for some reason it doesn’t make sense to be angry at the source of their anger? They project it onto a person or entity that did nothing to deserve that projection. I believe we’re going to see a lot of that this spring and early summer.

Those are my thoughts for now. Again, I’m just a guy with a blog, not a guy with a medical degree, so take my opinions with a grain of salt. Back later today or tomorrow with more news.

House arrest day 24 (Easter Sunday)

OH MY GOD, TWO MORE MONTHS OF THIS SHIT???

On to the news…

One thing I’ve learned this past week: If you’re looking for a free alternative to Microsoft Office, LibreOffice is miles and miles better than SoftMaker FreeOffice. I think I may even prefer LibreOffice Writer to Word itself.

I mentioned recently that I started reading Paul Stanley of KISS’ autobiography on Scribd. Now Twitter is recommending I follow Gene Simmons. Hmmm, I think now I understand how Scribd could afford to give me that 30 day free trial… it’s sharing/selling info about what books I read.

The Paul Stanley book, by the way, is one of the best rock bios/autobios I have read. Stanley explores himself as a person and his growth over the years as he responded to challenges put forth by his family, the music business, the band, and relationships. He is clearly a person of depth who is capable of self-examination.

There’s an online Reggae Sunday party, with performances by Kennard Farmer, Tyler, and Yubu tonight at 6:30.

The Side Street Steppers perform Quarantunes this afternoon at 4 on Facebook Live.

Ally & The Walrus are doing a live stream today at noon.

High risk of heavy wind this afternoon/evening:

Batten down the hatches, everyone.

I had a nightmare about a burger last night, but I can’t remember any more than that. Is Dyer’s serving to go? I need to get down there this week and bring a Triple-Triple home. After all, ’tis better to die of a heart attack than COVID-19.

Very slow news day, as Easter often is even when there’s not a pandemic. Back tomorrow with more.

House arrest day 23 (Sat) / update 2

Mashable has a review of the gerbil art museum mentioned in this blog earlier this week.

Here’s something to do while you’re stuck in house arrest: Get a new ringtone for your phone

Something else to do: Bake Doubletree Hotel chocolate chip cookies. The recipe has been made public for the first time.

Video from Bass Pro: Calling basics every turkey hunter should know. Study these secrets and you won’t have to depend on Kroger this Thanksgiving.

I went to Walgreens about 10:25 this morning and… SCORE! They had toilet paper! Not very much of it, just a few lonely six-packs of Quilted Northern on the shelves, one of which came home with me. As an added bonus, they were $2 off. Not sure why any retailer would be discounting toilet paper right now, but I’ll take it. I think Saturday at 9 AM is the normal time for their toilet paper deliveries.

MemphisWeather.net has a blog post on the potential for severe weather in the PM hours on Easter Sunday.

I’ll go ahead and hit Publish since this post has news of events happening several hours from now. Back later today or tomorrow with more.

House arrest day 23 (Sat) / started day 22 (Fri) (drunk)

Last Sunday I got an invite to a virtual Bardog happy hour on Zoom, but I didn’t have any alcohol in the house and I felt weird about attending without booze. So this week I went to City Market and got a 6-pack of PBR. I intended to wait until another virtual happy hour but yesterday evening I could not resist. I had a very productive week and felt like celebrating. I put on Facebook that it was my first PBR in 22 days, but after doing the math I realized it was actually 18 days; I got invited to Midtown for chili the night before the Safer at Home Order went into effect and they had PBR there.

From Max’s Sports Bar:

Just because you can’t hang out doesn’t mean you have to go without! Peruse our top shelf and grab a cigar togo too!

While I was hitting that fourth PBR, I wundered, “Are any Lyfts or Ubers out?” I pulled out my phone. As of 9:18 PM:

  • Lyft: No cars within 10 minutes but 5 within the 240 loop or closer
  • Uber: No cars shown, along with a “stay home if you can” reminder. I really don’t need Uber telling me to stay home; I have plenty of preachy accounts I follow on Twitter if I need that.

No I didn’t order a Lyft and go anywhere. Where would I go?

There’s a virtual foam rolling class today at noon. It’s said to relieve tension and stress. The class is hosted by Sundara Wellness.

Event social media managers: If your event is not happening, please either remove the event listing on Facebook or add CANCELED to the event title. According to Facebook, there’s a St. Patrick’s Day parade, a drag show, an Easter parade, multiple concerts, and a Grizzlies game happening today.

Don’t forget that local musician Eric Hughes hosts Scrappie’s Jukehouse every night at 8 on Facebook.

For those of you who like to visit Memphis’ historic cemetery, Elmwood, here’s something to print out and take with you on your next visit: A visual guide to cemetery symbols

That’s it for this morning. This is kind of a small post, but it’s hard to come up with news to report when almost nothing is going on.