Gift card sale alert: Asian restaurant STIX will sell $50 gift cards for only $25 each at both its Downtown and Collierville locations Tuesday, December 1. Give the gift of Beale Street Rolls, Tuna Nachos, and Filet Mignon Hibachi to friends, family, co-workers, or yourself.
People suck: I was listening to the police scanner last night and there was a report of a man rolling a wheelchair toward the McDonald’s in the medical center district. It belonged to a homeless man with no legs who was left in the parking lot of the Exxon down the street lying on the ground, crying out for his chair.
I met a gentleness coach on Medium.com yesterday. I didn’t know that was even a thing, but boy, do we ever need that profession right now.
Also on the scanner, last night a 2010 Dodge Ram was stolen at Fourth and Union by a man who put his hand in his coat pocket and implied to the owners that he had a weapon. This happened a little after 10. Everyone be careful going walking around Downtown at that hour. With all the restaurants closed, it’s the equivalent of walking around at 5 in the morning pre-COVID.
No matter who the players are, no matter who the coach is, the men’s basketball Tigers seem to produce the same result every season. They fail to pass multiple times to set up a great look. They jack up threes and generally play like they’re still in AAU competition. They lose to squads that are far less talented but who understand teamwork and taking care of the basketball. It happened yesterday vs. VCU and the Tigers now possess a losing record and an uphill battle getting to the Big Dance in March.
The Tigers have added Central Arkansas to the schedule, filling the December 4 slot Ole Miss pulled out of due to COVID concerns. Needless to say, that is a downgrade and the Tigers could win by 60 and still not impress the NCAA tournament committee. Tip-off will be 7 PM and the game will be on the ESPN+ subscription service.
The football Tigers are on the road at Navy tonight, a 6 PM kickoff with the game televised on CBS Sports Network. A loss would put Memphis out of the hunt for the AAC championship game.
Tin Roof is the latest restaurant to jump on board with Drag Bingo. Pattie O’ Furniture will call the action at 1 PM in the Green Room, but brunch starts at 11 AM and the Roof has bottomless mimosas.
There’s an Open on Main Small Business Saturday Pop-Up Shop today at 55 S. Main. They’re open normal hours 10:30 to 6, but if you come between 12 and 4 there will be free wine for those 21 and up, and you can get two purchases wrapped for free by Get Wrapped 901. The 30+ vendors’ offerings include ceramics, art prints, jewelry, apothecary, weavings, candles, vintage and more. There will be social distancing, of course.
Yippie Trippie & The Pork Stars will be the food truck at Grind City Brewing Co. today from 1 to 9. If you haven’t been to this fabulous new brewery yet, GO TODAY while you still can before the Health Department shuts everything down. It’s like Loflin Yard but with craft beer brewed onsite.
Those of you who are posting or responding to the “Honor a Pet Who Is No Longer Here” meme on Facebook, I hope none of you are using your deceased pet’s name as a website password.
High Ground News has excellent coverage of Downtown Memphis Commission’s transit and parking plan for the core, The Edge, and the Medical District.
A highly disturbing article from Gizmodo: Microsoft’s creepy new “productivity score” gamifies workplace surveillance. I’d recommend letting that system gamify you typing resignation_letter(1).docx. Furthermore, you know how career coaches advise you to be tight-lipped during exit interviews? This is an exception; tell them EXACTLY why you’re leaving.
Y’all want to see what my Thanksgiving looked like?
I debated long and hard whether to accept an offer to come out to my friends Randy and Theresa’s house in Eads for dinner. Dr. Haushalter and Dr. Randolph advised keeping Thanksgiving within your household wherever possible. However, my household is just me and it would be a lonely Thanksgiving, and Randy and Theresa are people I see regularly so it’s not like the chances of us giving each other COVID would be significantly greater. Each of us has to decide how much risk we can reasonably take on during this pandemic, and I judged the risk as reasonable.
My Thanksgiving plate. Since Randy and Theresa are Northerners who now live in the South, there was both dressing and stuffing. As you can see, Perjorie T. Roll chose to stand next to the green bean casserole because it was closest in color to her hair.
Apple pie with homemade vanilla ice cream. Theresa said the pie, pre-baking, weighed 20 pounds.
A canned mixed drink in their freezer. I posted this pic to Facebook with the caption “+1.” Most of my Facebook friends didn’t get that but I’m sure Wilbur, David the Worm, Mirrorboy, and Guido did.
Perjorie was super excited about this Grasshopper, a chocolate mint flavored mixed drink that exactly matches the color of her nose. Melissa at Bardog makes a good Grasshopper if you want to try one.
I watched the Downtown Memphis Commission set up for Safe Santa yesterday. They had a snowglobe set up next to the Christmas tree. He sat inside while kids stood outside the globe for photos.
Wait a minute… I thought Dr. Fauci said Santa is an essential worker who is by his very definition immune to COVID. You’d think the snowglobe wouldn’t be necessary then?
Other than the Memphis game, college football games of note today:
- Texas Tech at #23 Oklahoma State, 11 AM, FOX
- Penn State at Michigan, 11 AM, ABC (can a game be a “marquee game” when one of the teams involved is winless all season?)
- #22 Auburn at #1 Alabama (Iron Bowl), 2:30, CBS
- Pitt at #3 Clemson, 2:30, ABC
- #8 Northwestern at Michigan State, 2:30, ESPN
- Mississippi State at Ole Miss (Egg Bowl), 3:00, SEC Network
- LSU at #5 Texas A&M, 6:00, ESPN
This has been an unusual November in that we have yet to have an ultra-chilly day when the temperature struggles to crack 40. Looks like that day will arrive as November goes out. MemphisWeather.net has Monday starting in the low 30s, maxing out near 40, and then dropping to the mid-20s overnight Monday/Tuesday. I’m grateful we actually had a fall this year but it is coming to an end.
There’s a move to save the old Griggs College of Business building at 492 Vance, which has been scheduled for demolition. It was one of the first Black-owned colleges in the city and it was open until about 1976. Learn more about the building from Memphis magazine’s Ask Vance.
The Grizzlies have announced their preseason schedule.
- at Minnesota (Target Center), December 12 and 14, both 7 PM
- vs. Atlanta (FedExForum), December 17 and 19, both 7 PM
Fox 13 has coverage of the Peabody’s guests-only tree-lighting ceremony.
That’ll do it for today. Back tomorrow with more news, if there is any to report.