Monday update

This ABC 24 story about National Guard troops being spotted on Mud Island contains a couple of important quotes from State Rep. Antonio Parkinson about their deployment here.

  • About 150 National Guard troops are being deployed here. They will work in 3 eight-hour shifts with no more than 50 working at any one time.
  • A typical time frame for this type of deployment is 60 to 90 days.

So no, there are not “seven thousand” troops on the way here and our city is not being “occupied.”

It’s about 11 AM as I type this and I’ve already seen the Guard twice today. A group of five of them peered into Bardog’s window as their MPD guide explained why there was a hearse parked outside. (Wouldn’t it be funny if one of them won the hearse?) Then as I walked to the Chess Club I saw a different cop leading two Guardsmen down the Main Street Mall.

River Arts Fest comes to Downtown Memphis this weekend. It will feature an artists’ market with more than 100 vendors. Great place to pick up some conversation pieces for your home or do some early Christmas shopping. Live music and theatrical performances. This festival is also known for its outstanding food.

I wonder how much sales of chicken fries (Looks like fries but it’s CHICKEN!!!!!) have dropped at festivals and carnivals since Burger King put them on the menu. They’re no longer scarce.

Memphis Tigers football moved up to 22nd in the AP and 20th in the coaches’ poll this week.

Renasant Convention Center – please update your upcoming events page.

Welcome to Memphis – you too.

Friends of mine recently went to the Seafood Shack in Marion and loved the crab boil. Add that to your list of places that’s worth a drive across the river.

A fight on Beale injured 2 Sunday.

Also on Beale on Sunday, a female’s Dodge Charger was stolen after she and her friends refused the advances of a group of men.

Probably gonna stay out of the Union Mission every night this week except Thursday. I’m getting desperately short on money and those $6/night admission charges add up. Why am I making Thursday the exception? Because it’ll be the third one of the month, the night that a church brings Commissary BBQ sandwiches.

Back tomorrow with more news.

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