Month: March 2021

This morning, I find myself thinking back to my late 1990s-era club days.

I had this friend Billy. Billy used to play pool in The Dungeon of Six-1-Six, and he used to say, “Paul, tonight you finta get stuck. Stiggedy-stuck, I’m talking about. Stuck, stuck, stiggedy, stiggedy. Stuck, stuck, stiggedy, stiggedy. Stiggedy stuck, stiggedy stuck, stiggedy stuck, stiggedy stuck…”

He was referring to anal sex, of course. And of course, he was kidding.

But I can’t help but think of Billy, because today I’m gonna get stuck. No, not like that.

I finally scored me one of them COVID-19 vaccine appointments!!!!!

You may remember I was unsure whether I qualified as high-risk before. I’ve talked to several experts, and they’ve all told me that with high blood pressure measurements in the past, and the illness I had in October-November 2018 when my legs were weak, I’m well within my rights to identify as high-risk. Besides, it’s going to be a free-for-all soon anyway.

So yeah, I’m heading over to Med Center Walgreens this afternoon. It’s a beautiful day so I’ll walk down there. If I feel funny after I get the shot, I’ll call a Lyft or an Uber to get home.

Let’s get on to the news. First of all, and I’m sorry I didn’t report this earlier because it might have altered your plans if you’d known, but I didn’t know myself… last night was the last night for Cocozza. The Italian-American ghost kitchen had a good run, but Patrick and Deni feel the time is right to make Main Street Majestic again.

From Luanne who’s on the DNA board of directors:

💙💛 On March 21, Mighty Lights will glow blue and yellow to support the 4th Annual Walkin’ In Memphis: Down Syndrome Annual Awareness Walk on 3.21. The event is a day to celebrate the diversity and abilities within all individuals, as well as raise funds for Down syndrome awareness and Down Syndrome Association of Memphis & the Mid-South!

On this day each year, founder Joshua Greer walks for 14+ hours across the Memphis area. He will start walking at the crack of dawn beginning at the Big River Crossing around 4am. The final stop of the walk will end on the riverfront where everyone will watch the Mighty Lights show.

Here’s a link to James Aycock’s COVID Week-in-Review. He thinks we’re about 6 weeks away from all this crap being over with. I hope so. I’m totally willing to wear my mask for 6 more weeks (even after my second dose) if it will help put an end to this mess once and for all.

Tonight is the 700th episode of The Simpsons.

Cashing in on the non-fungible token (NFT) craze, a man in New York City sold a fart for $85. Yes, you can own a fart now. It will be yours forever. I wonder what the probability is that the fart contains an air molecule that was once farted by Julius Caesar? Any science nerds out there who want to weigh in on this?

NCAA Tournament Round of 32, Day 1 games of interest to Memphians:

• #6 Texas Tech vs. #3 Arkansas, 5:10 PM, TNT
• #10 Rutgers vs. #2 Houston, 6:10 PM, TBS

Upsets from first-round action yesterday:

• #10 Maryland 63, #7 UConn 54
• #13 Ohio 62, #4 Virginia 54
• #11 UCLA 73, #6 BYU 62 (I called that one!)
• #14 Abilene Christian 53, #3 Texas 52

Also, #7 Oregon advanced when #10 VCU had to forfeit due to too many players out for COVID protocol.

From WREG: Iconic Earnestine & Hazel’s reopens quietly under new ownership

Today is National Crunchy Taco Day.

That’s it. Got a few hours to kill before I go get my shot. Back tomorrow with more news.

It’s Saturday late in the day and my plan is still to go to Blind Bear and try to hang out until close. I especially want to see what the 12 AM-1 AM hour looks like.

If I stay out until 1 AM, I’m sure it goes without saying that I will not be up and bangin’ away on the laptop at 5. There will be a Sunday update post, but it won’t be up until somewhere in the 9 AM to noon range. Check back then.

In the meantime, congrats to the Tigers on their first-round NIT win over Dayton.

As Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle would say, “It’s true. It’s true.” For weeks I’d been hearing rumors that the Family Dollar on Main just south of Monroe was closing, and yesterday they hung the sign on the door. Based on what I’ve heard around the neighborhood, the closing was a done deal even if DGX hadn’t moved in down the street, but DGX’s arrival may have sped things up a bit.

Family Dollar is dead. Long live DGX!

Do we have any speculation as to what will go into that building once Family Dollar has moved out and the exterminator has been through with a thorough treatment? That is a prime location, across the street from One Commerce Square and between two great Downtown restaurants, Ben-Yay’s and Maciel’s Tortas and Tacos.

Let’s move on to results from Day 1 of the round of 64 in the NCAA men’s tournament… the biggest upset was #15 Oral Roberts over #2 Ohio State, 75-72.  Why this is great news: Arkansas is the #3 seed in that quadrant of the bracket. That means Arkansas is the favorite in every game it plays until the Elite Eight. If the Hogs get there, they presumptively will have a money matchup with former Southwest Conference rival and #1 seed the Baylor Bears.

#3 Arkansas took care of its business yesterday. After a first-half scare, the Razorbacks defeated #14 Colgate, 85-68. The Hogs play #6 Texas Tech in another matchup of former SWC rivals tomorrow. FiveThirtyEight’s interactive bracket now has Arkansas at a 12% probability of making the Final Four and a 2% chance of capturing its second national title.

Other upsets yesterday:

• #9 Wisconsin 85, #8 North Carolina 62
• #13 North Texas 78, #4 Purdue 69 (OT)
• #10 Rutgers 60, #7 Clemson 56
• #11 Syracuse 78, #6 San Diego State 62
• And of course, the result that should not come as a surprise to anyone…

#12 Oregon State 70, #5 Tennessee 56. The overrated Vols disappoint their hick fans yet again. The real losers, though, were the NCAA tournament committee members. The Vols should have been a 9 or 10 seed.

It must be so embarrassing to be a Vols fan. But then there’s always “NEEEEXXXTTT YEEEAAAARRRRR” I suppose.

I didn’t fill out a bracket this year, but my upset picks for today, Day 2 of the Round of 64, would be #12 UCLA over #5 BYU and #9 Missouri over #8 Oklahoma.

And now for some AWESOME, FANTASTIC NEWS: The state of Tennessee has opened COVID-19 vaccination to all adults. It seems like just days ago Biden made the promise to allow all Americans to get vaccinated starting May 1, and we beat that deadline by more than 6 weeks. Simply put, we are kicking some ass. The acceleration of the vaccine effort gives me hope that after 4 weeks under Health Directive 19, maybe there won’t be a Health Directive 20.

I want to make this point again: How come there is no vaccine location in the 38103 zip code? Many of us down here don’t own cars so we can’t drive out to the Pipkin Building or one of the Walmarts. I understand that the pharmacy at Downtown Walgreens being temporarily closed might have something to do with that, but can we get one of those pop-up sites for a day?

WREG has a report on the Save the Mud Island Amphitheater meeting held Thursday night at Carolina Watershed. Participants sought feedback on how to best use the $4 million allocated by the city to restore the amphitheater as a popular concert venue.

Spring arrives this morning at 4:37 AM CDT.

Jerred Price, president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, posted to Nextdoor that Riverside Drive has been permanently reopened, thanks to city COO Doug McGowen, City Council members Michalyn Easter Thomas, Ed Ford, and JB Smiley, and city engineering. The thoroughfare had been closed on the weekends, which contributed to Downtown’s interior streets becoming clogged with people out cruising.

Opening Riverside is a step in the right direction. However, it is not a substitute for an increased police presence to eliminate the crime surge that has happened Downtown since the pandemic hit.

In the NIT, #1 seed Memphis plays #4 seed Dayton at 11 this morning. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN. Winner faces #2 seed Boise State, which advanced with a win over SMU Thursday.

Couple of places you can get crawfish today. Glaze’s Crawfish is doing a boil at Momma’s, the Aldo-owned bar at Crump and Kentucky. First batch comes off about noon. Momma’s is 21 and up but well-behaved pets are allowed on the patio.

Carolina Watershed will have a post-St. Patrick’s Day party today 2-11 PM. Crawfish boil, drink specials. Music by Kota 2-6 PM. DJ Mo 7-11 PM.

Not sure if Max’s Sports Bar is doing a boil today. Glaze who usually does their crawfish will be at Momma’s, and there’s nothing about it on Max’s Facebook page, so my guess is no. With the NCAA tournament on, Max doesn’t need crawfish to draw a full house today.

If you’re up for a trip to Crosstown Brewing Co., they’ll host Pints for Pangolins today. WTF is a pangolin, you ask?

D’Cruze N, Singh B, Mookerjee A, Harrington LA, Macdonald DW (2018), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A pangolin is a scaled mammal resembling an anteater. Apparently, these things are under threat of human exploitation and we care about saving them. Proceeds raised will be donated to conservation efforts. There will be pangolin merchandise, artwork, and the opportunity to learn more about them from Memphis Zoo keepers.

Vintage plays Momma’s patio tonight at 7.

Grape plays The Vault tonight at 7.

The Broom Closet on South Main will host a Wicca 101 – Curious? event today at 2. This 2-hour overview will cover magick, altar tools, and paganism. They’ll cast a circle and answer as many questions as they can. Masks are required, space is limited, and their Facebook event listing indicates this is a free event.

The Grizzlies host Golden State tonight at 7.

With the ridiculously stupid 2-hour limit on food and beverage service eliminated, tonight I begin my return to being a night owl. Last call will happen at Blind Bear a little before 1 AM and I plan on being there! For the next four weeks, I’m going to deprioritize going out during the day as I learn how to do nights again. I bet I could count on the fingers of both hands the number of times I’ve been out past 9:30 since the pandemic started.

Earnestine & Hazel’s is not quite in my plans yet. If I can’t experience E&H standing, mingling, dancing, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder at Nate’s bar with friends I haven’t met yet, I don’t want to be there. Hopefully soon though.

Time to publish this post and get busy. I have a lot to do on Medium this weekend. Going to see if I can nail a 4th Top Writer status in one of their topics. Back tomorrow with more news.

Earnestine & Hazel’s posted good news to Facebook yesterday:

We would like to thank all the loyal Earnestine and Hazel’s friends who stopped by when they saw the lights on, doors open, and the smell of Soul Burgers cooking on the griddle. It was great to see our staff doing their part to keep the E&H tradition alive and well! A special thank to the returning staff, Big John and Darrell, as well as, some new ones – Jermaine, Brittany, Chris, Little Jimmy, KJ, Everyone asked about our longest running employee — Mr. Nate — rest assured we plan on his safe return very soon as well!!!

Follow the sound of the jukebox and the smell of the Soul Burgers and come visit us. We are opening tonight at 5pm and will close according to the Covid safety directives. Currently, our schedule will be Wednesday – Friday 5pm – Close. Saturday and Sunday opening at 11am – Close.

Please remember to mask up and adhere to the social distancing requirements.

We appreciate the warm Memphis welcome as Earnestine and Hazel’s reopens its doors again celebrating its 29th year!

Shelby County has moved into Phase 2a/2b of COVID-19 vaccination. More info on the phases here. If you qualify for either phase you can make a vaccine appointment. If you don’t have Internet access you can call 901-222-SHOT.

Still no place in the 38103 where you can get a vaccine. Ridiculous.

Interesting article by Vanity Fair on the so-called “upper crust” of Memphis society and the crowning of Memphis royalty every year. The only King I recognize is Jerry Lawler.

Jobs:

🚨 Job Alert!🚨

Multiple positions open for data and evaluation with Innovate Memphis and civic sector partners.

🚑 Innovate Memphis, EMS Research Associatehttps://t.co/NsFNCuMjag

✅ Innovate Memphis, Data Project Managerhttps://t.co/hKD9LKtxJd

— Innovate Memphis (@InnovateMemphis) March 18, 2021

From the Tri-State Defender: “Intentionality” drives Paul Young to the Downtown Memphis Commission

Wiseacre will have a celebration for its latest year-round beer, Bow Echo Hazy IPA, at both locations today. At the Downtown location, they’ll have Fried Stuffed Mushroom Bites to pair with the beer, and out at Broad they’ll have Gandy’s Grub Hub food truck.

Getting ready to welcome you inside Backlot Sandwich Shop at 265 S Front St. We love the illustrations that Farmhouse Branding created for us! Thanks for your patience. We will be opening soon! pic.twitter.com/aXjOxLe0zu

— The Backlot Sandwich Shop (@backlotsandwich) March 18, 2021

Join ENVISION Memphis and DMC for a free Total Body Burn class every Thursday in Memphis Park. Bring your own mat, towel, and water bottle for this 30 minute workout that requires no equipment other than your body. The class is appropriate for all levels.

Entrepreneurship hub Epicenter will relocate from Cooper-Young to the ground floor of the Peabody Place/Terminix building.

NCAA tournament games of note today:

• #14 Colgate vs. #3 Arkansas, 11:45 AM, truTV
• #12 Oregon State vs. #5 Tennessee, 3:30 PM, TNT
• #15 Cleveland State vs. #2 Houston, 6:15 PM, truTV

MPD has posted photos of the suspects wanted in the carjacking at Malco Powerhouse as well as another carjacking a block away.

“Big Ticket” James Wiseman won’t travel with Golden State for back-to-back games vs. the Grizzlies, WREG reports. Contact tracing is the reason. COVID RUINS EVERYTHING

That’s it for today. I’m going to try to get my entire next week’s worth of writing on Medium done over the weekend, but I might be able to see myself sneaking out for a little while this afternoon. Back tomorrow with more news.

Health Directive No. 19 dropped yesterday afternoon and goes into effect one minute after midnight Saturday. Among the changes for restaurants:

• No more stupid 2-hour window to order food
• No more stupid rule that bartenders must wear a face shield when serving customers seated at the bar (although, it is still “recommended”)
• Closing time for restaurants can be as late as 1 AM, with customers allowed to remain as late as 1:30 for the purposes of settling up their tab
• Max people at a table increases from 6 to 8
• No more stupid rule that restaurants have to keep contact tracing information (good, I was getting tired of signing Perjorie T. Roll’s name)

But:

• Groups of people sitting together at a table or a bar must be 6 feet apart from other groups
• No indoor dancing
• No ordering or standing at a bar area
• You still have to wear your mask when not actively eating or drinking

I like it. All the really stupid stuff is gone now. Hopefully, the health department will consider eliminating all the restrictions once we’ve been through four weeks under these.

Happy Thursday! I hope the St. Patrick’s Day hangover, if you have one, isn’t too bad. Due to server issues, it was 1:30 PM yesterday before I got my Wednesday update post online. It has a ton of good stuff, so if you haven’t seen it yet, keep scrolling when you get done with this post.

It’s official: Longshot is coming back in late April or early May.

From the CA: 5 things to know about the historic 100 N. Main building as the Downtown Memphis Commission moves to complete the building’s purchase

Smart City Memphis has a look at what the Paul Young era could mean for the DMC. Young steps into his new role as president of the organization two weeks from today.

Starting Monday, April 5, Cora Pitt will teach an outdoor Pilates-60 class at Marytrs Park the first Monday of every month. Cora is awesome and the class is all-levels, with Cora offering ways to deepen the exercises for those with Pilates experience.

There’s a room attendant job at the Sheraton that is available. Salary.com thinks the job starts at 74K and could pay into six figures. Yeah I’m pretty sure Salary.com is wrong there.

A new building is coming to the long-vacant lot just north of Earnestine & Hazel’s – which, I’ll remind you, reopens to the public this weekend.

The Peabody will host a job fair tomorrow, looking to fill 60 positions.

Teenagers carjacked a Malco Powerhouse employee yesterday afternoon.

I heard distant gunshots around 11:30 last night. Turns out I wasn’t the only one; they were reported on Nextdoor by a Fielder Square resident.

Flash flooding stalled cars on S. Fourth Street yesterday.

Looks like the IRS may delay the tax filing deadline.

Remember to keep scrolling if you haven’t seen Wednesday’s post yet. Back tomorrow with more news.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and I apologize for the late post! My web hosting service GoDaddy had some issues this morning.

Here’s some St. Patrick’s-appropriate news. Silky O’ Sullivan’s has won Food Network Magazine’s Irish Pub Award for Most Interesting Drinking Buddies.

Blind Bear has $4 Guinness 14.9 ounce cans for $4 as well as 2 for $10 Irish car bombs to celebrate the holiday today. Go see Tre, Kat, and Michael this afternoon/evening.

Here’s a reason to support your local Walgreens: It recently became the only Fortune 500 company with a Black woman as CEO.

Paul Young, the director of the City of Memphis Division of Housing and Community Development, has been selected as the new CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission. He’ll start on April 1. Congratulations, Paul!

Join Grind City Brewing Co. for Yoga, Sunset & Beer at 5:30 PM on Thursdays beginning tomorrow, March 18. All levels are welcome. For those of you who have never been to Grind City, the river views are gorgeous. Yogis 21 and up get $2 off their first Grind City beer following the 45-minute Vinyasa class. YOGA!

Action News 5’s latest 5 Star Story is from The Edge District, where they take a look at Edge Motor Museum. The museum showcases sports cars “from post-war to ’74.”

The Orpheum will host an outdoor Candlelight Concert Series beginning next month. TIckets are $25 per show and can be bought in pairs. There will be socially distanced, limited audience seating and masks will be required. The lineup:

• April 23: Nick Black
• April 30: Strings in the City: Memphis Music
• May 14: Amy LaVere
• May 21: Symphony Sounds: Made for Brass
• June 4: Kela Johnson & The Xperience

From Republic World: All the locations where The Firm starring Tom Cruise was filmed. There were several scenes filmed in Memphis.

From stats site FiveThirtyEight: The favorites and Cinderellas of the 2021 NCAA men’s tournament. I can’t say I’m thrilled that they like 14 seed Colgate’s chances against my Arkansas Razorbacks.

GREAT thread I found on Quora recently: What apps do narcissists use to hide their calls, texts, and online communications from their spouses or significant others? LOL! Narcissists better hope their wives don’t read my blog. Phone always on silent and face down when not in use is a big red flag.

An interesting thing I learned on Medium: Want to get the best price on your airline ticket? Clear your cookies before visiting the airline’s website. Remember, what you pay for your airplane seat is not necessarily what the next person pays. Don’t allow your past browsing to help the airline figure out what is the maximum amount of money it can screw you out of!

Cheers to the Memphis City Council on fighting the good fight against environmental racism yesterday. All 12 Council members present supported a resolution opposing the Byhalia pipeline.

HELLO, stimmy! It deposited in my account today! $1400 will buy a lot of PBR.

Y’all be careful driving home this afternoon. Severe weather is expected. Turn on your headlights, slow down, and don’t tailgate.

Back tomorrow if there’s any additional news to report. Otherwise, back Friday.

There’s a news update on that shooting that happened Downtown Sunday night: It was a 13-year-old girl, out riding scooters, who was caught in the crossfire between several cars shooting at each other near Union and Riverside. See this WMC Action News 5 story for more. 

So we can’t even go outside and enjoy walks along the river on the weekends in our own neighborhood. When are cops going to get serious about cracking down on all the cruising that happens down here? I hope this is an interview question Mayor Strickland asks police director candidates.

By the way… WREG, when covering the story, said the shooting happened near the corner of Union and Monroe. Those are parallel streets that run one block apart and never cross each other. You really can’t be bothered to pull up Google Maps and do a quick fact-check on these locations before you publish stories? WREG has famously labeled the Third Street exit off I-55 as “Downtown,” when it’s actually several miles to the south.

The Downtown Memphis Commission board is ready to pick the organization’s next leader, having done their due diligence to research the candidates. They will meet this morning and pick the person to run DMC.

A new app called ParkMobile, which will take the place of parking meters, will be used in an experiment along Front Street in the Downtown core and along Monroe Avenue (which does not intersect Union; I checked the map) out in The Edge. If successful, the app could spell the beginning of the end of meters along our city streets.

Good morning, America, how are you? The train they call the City of New Orleans will once again resume service 7 days a week, thanks to a COVID grant by Congress. The line connects Chicago to New Orleans with a stop in Memphis.

Wear green and catch the St. Patrick’s Day Mighty Lights show on March 16 and 17 every half-hour after sunset.🍀 pic.twitter.com/ivWVveXNdS

— City of Memphis (@CityOfMemphis) March 15, 2021

The Peabody is seeking a Digital Marketing Manager. You’d be managing the hotel’s online presence including the website, email marketing, mobile marketing, and reputation management. I know the person you’d be working for and she is super cool. Apply for the Digital Marketing Manager and other Peabody positions here.

A Twitter glitch caused users to have their accounts temporarily suspended if they tweeted about “Memphis” on Sunday.

The DM has a look at candidates for MPD director.

There will be a Save the Mud Island Amphitheater Community Engagement Event at Carolina Watershed Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30. Mayor Strickland has allocated $4 million to bring the venue back to life. Come give your feedback on what you would like to see to make the amphitheater an attractive concert venue once again. County Commissioner Mickell Lowery will be on hand. If you’re a DNA member, there will be free beer, wine, and apps.

That’s it for this post. Time to get the grit & grind started for today. Back tomorrow with more news.

Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers failed to score a bid to the NCAA tournament, but they are in a strong position to go out there and prove they’re the 69th best basketball team in the country. The Tigers received a number 1 seed to the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and will play number 4 seed Dayton Saturday at 11 on ESPN.

Arkansas got a 3 seed as expected and is in a bracket with other top seeds 1 Baylor, 2 Ohio State, and Purdue.

Memphis’ conference rivals Houston and Wichita State got invited to the Big Dance. Houston is a 2 seed in a bracket with 1 Illinois, 3 good ole West Virginny, and 4 Oklahoma State. Wichita State is an 11 seed and faces Drake in a play-in game Thursday.

The tournament is a little different this year in that the round of 64 will be played Friday-Saturday (rather than Thursday-Friday) and the round of 32 will be played Sunday-Monday.

I hate to sound like a Tennessee football fan and go, “NEXT YEEEAAAAARRRRR… I TELL YOU WHUT BOY, THATSSS GONNN BEEE AAAAARRRRRR YEEEAAAARRRRR” with respect to Tiger basketball, but this has been kind of a weird year with COVID canceling so many games and in particular moving the Houston regular-season game. But 2021-22, Penny’s got no excuses. If Memphis doesn’t dance in March ’22, then we may have to wonder if the “Penny can’t coach” haters have a point.

My suggestion to Penny would be to hire a hypnotist who can erase every minute of AAU ball they ever played from these kids’ minds. That’s where the sloppiness comes from. If the hypnotist can put a “You are a 90% free-throw shooter” suggestion in there too, that’d be nice.

For those of you wondering if the health department is out harassing restaurants still… the answer is yes. They were out at one of my favorite places Saturday, telling them that a seating arrangement that had received their approval for 4 months was no longer acceptable. Trying to keep up with the changing regulations is like shooting at a moving target in an arcade. I really don’t understand why we need any regulations beyond FEET ON THE FLOOR, MASK ON THE FACE at this point. Granny can go get vaccinated now. And we can travel 25 miles to the east or south and sit at a bar where there are no regulations at all.

Normally I don’t post a lot of announcements from outside the Downtown area, but these are good people and I’m happy to see them making a comeback. From the Hi-Tone:

After a wild ass year, we’re still here! We’re doing something really cool too. Brunch that starts at 5 and goes til midnight. Every Sunday. 💥 Live DJ and no cover. The food is killer. All safety measures are being met above and beyond. It would be our pleasure to serve you and thank you for the continued support.

You can also order brunch to go by calling in at 901-490-0335 or we offer Ubereats/Doordash etc.

Now THAT’s the latest brunch I’ve ever heard of… Sunday brunch that lasts one minute into Monday… maybe an hour into Monday, if the health department relaxes its stupid restriction on closing time this week.

Grind City Brewing Co. will do a Tap Takeover at Carolina Watershed this Friday at 6. On tap will be

• Tiger Tail
• Viva Las Lager
• Godhopper
• I’m in Love with the Coco
• … and surprise tappings

Glaze’s Crawfish is bringing one of his awesome springtime boils to Momma’s this Saturday. Boxes of crawfish include corn, taters, and sausage. The first batch will roll off around noon. Come enjoy some mudbugs, Momma’s spacious patio, some cold beers, and the NCAA tournament on TV.

From Sunrise Memphis:

We’re hiring! Your favorite breakfast place is looking for some front of house with great attitudes to join the team. Email us a copy of resume or come see Ross this Tuesday from 1-3.https://t.co/LAH1fbnlfc pic.twitter.com/vb9ffizEqk

— Sunrise Memphis (@sunrise_memphis) March 14, 2021

Today is International Eat an Animal for PETA Day. Now, that’s an idea I can get behind. Of course, it’s also the Ides of March, the 2065th anniversary of Brutus’ murder of Caesar.

A woman is in critical condition after being shot at Union and Riverside yesterday evening. Wonder if it’s connected to the cruising that happens Downtown on Sunday evenings. Wonder if the woman was an innocent bystander out for a nighttime walk or run, or one of the participants in the shooting.

Why do the local Walgreens locations only have COVID vaccine appointments in the mornings? For someone who works 9-1, that doesn’t do any good! Why can’t they have mornings some days, and afternoons some days!

Could be an interesting day: The state is expected to release results into the investigation of wasted COVID vaccine by the Shelby County Health Department.

Former Vice-President Al Gore called the proposed Byhalia oil pipeline “a reckless, racist rip-off” at a rally in Memphis yesterday.

Downtown Walgreens has six-packs of half-liter Mountain Dew for the first time in four weeks. All is right with my world this morning. Almost time to head to work. Back tomorrow with more news.

I didn’t get a picture, but I have a recommendation for a Downtown dinner out that is a really good value: The Picnic Salad at Bardog. It kinda flies under the radar because it’s not flashy: Just a large, traditional salad with greens, yellow and white cheese, and tomatoes topped with fried or grilled chicken tenders for $9.99. I got the tenders fried and buffaloed (99 cents extra). The tenders are enormous and you get 5 of them. I had to put probably 70% of it in a to-go box after I got full.

Yesterday at Bardog. Dolla, dolla bill y’all.

Here’s the news from The Dirty Crow Inn about today’s pop-up restaurant at the 40et8 on Legion Rd. in West Memphis:

This weeks special is the Dirty Pattie, 1 or 2 Angus patties with cheddar or American cheese on Texas toast, with our lemon aioli, or Dirty Crow Mustard and grilled onions. It will want you to slap your Momma. Plus all the other favorites, including the 2 new sauces we have, just dew me wings, and Buffalo garlic parmigiana wings, SOOO GOOD! Others try to replicate but fall so short! Keep an eye out on the other weekly specials. Live music and fantastic staff with a dive bar feel. See everyone Sunday!!! Ka-Kah!!

Awesomeness: A restaurant in Toronto gives its burgers names like Stainless Steel Stapler and Wireless Mouse so you can expense them as office supplies

Non-fungible token (NFT) is a term you have to be familiar with in 2021. Here’s an explainer.

There’s a Food & Beverage Director position open at the Sheraton.

Memphis is in a slight risk (edit: downgraded to marginal risk) for severe weather after midnight tonight. Read more in the MemphisWeather.net blog

I picked up my third Top Writer tag on Medium overnight, and this one was unexpected.

Psychology joins Creativity and Ideas in my list of Top Writer tags. Each tag increases my visibility on the site, raising my number of views, my articles’ read time, and therefore my money earned.

That’s it for this post. Back tomorrow with more news.

Perjorie T. Roll and I share similar taste in soft drinks, while her brother Mendatius is more of a Mountain Dew Code Red kind of guy.

Sorry for not getting the announcement out sooner, but Max’s Sports Bar is doing crawfish again today. First batch should be ready shortly after noon. Plenty of room out back where you can social distance on a 72-degree day. Of course, the crawfish at Max’s come with all the sides – crawfish, corn, taters.

Plus, Max will have the basketball games on TV today. Of particular interest regionally:

• Tennessee vs. #6 Alabama, noon, ESPN
• LSU vs. #8 Arkansas, 2 PM, ESPN
• Memphis vs. #7 Houston, 4:30 PM, ESPN2

Earnestine & Hazel’s should be open next weekend. Holly has the details in her blog. The jukebox and Soul Burgers will still be there, and Nate will tend his upstairs bar as soon as they get their liquor license and he gets his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Ever dreamed of owning a parking garage?

On the way to work yesterday, I noticed a “we’re hiring” sign in the window of Felicia Suzanne Restaurant. Those in the service industry, especially those with fine dining experience, might want to inquire within. I would bet that waiting tables at Felicia’s is a pretty good income.

The owner of Primetime Movers has been indicted in the January 6 Capitol riots. You can’t fix stupid, but you can charge it with federal crimes.

If you’re a fan of the new Craft Axe Throwing in Floyd Alley, you can sign up to throw for free on your birthday.

From Action News 5: Memphis hotel industry struggling to find employees

If you want to work on the Memphis riverboats, there’s a crew job available. Full-time, year-round. Experience preferred but they’d be willing to train the right person.

Today is International Fanny Pack Day.

The IRS will start sending and direct depositing the third round of stimulus checks, maxing out at $14oo per person, this weekend. Thanks Joe!

Daylight Time begins at 2 AM this morning, which won’t actually exist because 1:59 AM will be followed by 3 AM. Hello, 7 PM sunsets!

The NCAA has proposed a new rule to shorten overtimes in football games. Teams must go for 2 after touchdowns in the second overtime. If the game is still tied after that, teams alternate 2-point conversions until one team is the winner.

Interesting post I found yesterday and shared with the writing community on Medium this morning: American Prison Writing Archive at Hamilton College. Some of these writers are very talented and do a serial blog-style format about issues they face in day-to-day prison life and in society.

I told you the other day I’d been reading a lot of opinions on the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle interview on Quora. Here’s the discussion thread. The more I read, the more I think Prince Harry married just about the worst possible person he could have found. That assessment has nothing to do with Meghan’s race and everything to do with her tendency to play the victim. If you ask me, she shares more qualities with Donald Trump than she does any member of the royal family.

Below is one of the most well-done swerves I’ve witnessed in professional wrestling in quite some time. AEW faction The Inner Circle had some dissension within the ranks, so they decided to have a War Council and iron it all out Wednesday night. However, faction leader Chris Jericho found himself interrupted by Sammy Guevara, who voluntarily left the group several weeks ago.

Roll Tide, Woo Pig, and Go Tigers. Back tomorrow with more news.