Saturday update

Happy Fifteenth! If you spent a bunch of money on flowers and chocolates and dinner yesterday, I hope you got some.

Did you know that most V-Day flowers enter the U.S. through the port of Miami? I read that in the excellent Morning Brew newsletter.

It’s National Clementine Day, celebrating one of Memphis’ most dangerous streets. You can see Clementine Rd. to the north as you drive 240 between Mill Branch and I-55. I don’t recommend seeing that street from a more up-close-and-personal vantage point unless you’re packing the nine.

It’s also National Hippo Day.

Stage play When a Woman’s Fed Up is at the Orpheum today. 2:30 and 7:30 shows.

In other Orpheum news, hit Broadway musical Hamilton returns Tuesday and will be in town through March 2.

Congratulations to the Grizzlies’ Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells, both on 2025 NBA Rising Stars champion Team C. The team will advance to the NBA All-Star tournament on Sunday.

Jaren Jackson Jr. will play for Kenny’s Young Stars Sunday, coached by basketball commentator Kenny Smith.

Beale Street Bears notes that Jaren is on track to be named to an All-NBA team this season. If he does, he’ll be eligible for a supermax contract extension this summer. 5 years, $345 million for an average annual value of $69M. Time for the Grizzlies to start paying luxury tax.

The Daytona 500 is tomorrow.

I have another good story about the Memphis Union Mission, told to us in chapel by one of the pastors.

You may have heard that the Union Mission operates a drug and alcohol recovery program called Iron-on-Iron, on a countryside campus called Calvary Colony. It’s on Benjestown Rd. in the area between the Mississippi River and Frayser. To get there from Downtown, you’d go north on Second until it curves right and turns into Whitney Avenue.

Calvary Colony wasn’t always in that location, though. In the 1950s it was on Mud Island.

This was years before the A.W. Willis bridge and the monorail bridge. When new participants signed up for the recovery program, they had to be ferried across the Wolf River Harbor channel by boat.

Why did they move Calvary Colony off Mud Island? Because in that era, nearby Beale Street was booming. On Friday nights, men in the program would jump in the water and swim across to go party on Beale.

Back tomorrow or Monday or Tuesday.

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Friday update

We’re in for a couple of weather events in the coming days.

On Saturday, Memphis is expected to get storms with heavy rain at times. The forecast radar has line after line of storms moving through all day. If you have plans outside, might as well forget about them.

On Wednesday we could see light snow or a wintry mix. Good news though – the high is predicted to be in mid to upper 30s, so frozen precipitation should melt quickly.

Max’s Sports Bar news: Starting next week, they’ll offer a honey hot chicken pizza with honey gold hot sauce, chicken, onions and ranch.

Today the Flying Saucer will feature a flight pairing 4 Memphis Made beers with Girl Scout cookies.

Ghost River will host Love Song Bingo, called by Cerrito Entertainment, tonight from 7 to 9 in the taproom at Main and Crump. Prizes every round.

House music fans, Saturday night is your night as ClubHaus comes to the Cadre Building at Second and Monroe 7 PM-2 AM. From the event listing:

ClubHaus returns bigger than ever, showcasing everything house music has to offer with some of the top DJs in the region. If you love House, Bass House, Tech House, Future House, Progressive House, and even some UK Garage, you’ll feel right at home at the premiere house event of 2025!

Prepare to experience high-energy club vibes in a massive and elegant downtown venue. ClubHaus will have a powerful sound system, stunning visuals, and a mesmerizing laser show provided by ILLumination Lasers & Lights!

DJs for ClubHaus: Von Gögh, Brian Hamilton, Andy Chance B2B Scotty B, Jordan Rogers, and Vibeology ( Delyrius x FERB ).

Uptown residents are concerned about the traffic a new Chick-fil-A will bring to the area.

That’s all. Weather permitting, back tomorrow.

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Wednesday update

Grind City Brewing hosts Love & Hate Trivia tonight at 6:30. $50 gift card for first place, $25 gift card for second, and a 6-pack for third.

Read the love story of Patrick & Deni (Majestic Grille, Cocozza) in this week’s Memphis Flyer.

The CA says plans for a Downtown Chick-fil-A are still on track.

The Grizzlies are in L.A. to play the Clippers at 9:30 tonight. TV: FanDuel Sports

Professional Bull Riders are at FedExForum Saturday.

Shen Yun returns to the Cannon Center Tuesday.

That’s all for now. Back tomorrow.

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Tuesday update

Edible Memphis has a look at the folks behind new restaurant Hard Times Deli out in The Edge. Not only will they serve a quality product, but they also intend to keep quality of life high for their employees and themselves.

Memphis Made and Mahjong Merriment will host Taps and Tiles Friday evening, March 7. This is not a class; you need to already know how to play mahjong.

Today is Extraterrestrial Culture Day.

Taconganas Cordova employees were detained by the feds yesterday. Could the Downtown taco truck be next?

The Grizzlies have a 9 PM (CST) game in Phoenix. TV: TBS, TNT, or truTV

Kaleidoscope (subset of FreeWorld) plays Downtown Central BBQ every Saturday from noon to 3.

That’s it. Short post on a rainy day. Back tomorrow.

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Monday update

Did you know that Super Bowl halftime performers are paid only union scale – which tends to be not six or seven figures, but three? Super Bowl halftime show facts

It’s going to be a rainy week in Memphis.

Today is National Brownie Day and National Poop Day.

The NBA All-Star Game this coming Sunday will have a new format.

The 17th-ranked Memphis Tigers got a 90-82 revenge win over Temple yesterday. They improve to 20-4 overall, 10-1 AAC. Next up: Thursday at South Florida

Live horror experience INSIDIOUS: The Further You Fear comes to the Orpheum Wednesday.

The Trumpster says he’s getting rid of the penny.

That’s all. I may take Tuesday off from blogging due to the weather.

It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips! 
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I spent last night in 201.

I know, I know. My life just keeps getting stranger and stranger.

I’ll tell you the story at the end of this post. But let’s do the news first.

From Sports Illustrated: The most, and least, desirable Super Bowl squares numbers

Today is National Potato Lover’s Day. I recommend the BBQ nachos at Central BBQ, sub out their homemade potato chips in place of tortilla chips.

There’s an emu on the loose in Batesville, MS.

A grand jury will hear the case against the man accused of killing musician/teacher Blake Rhea.

Bleacher Report has results from WWE Smackdown in Memphis last night.

Tonight is mascot Grizz’s 30th birthday as the Memphis Grizzlies host the OKC Thunder at FedExForum tonight at 7. Free Classic Edition Super Grizz cape and mask to the first 5000 fans. TV: FanDuel Sports

The Comeback Concert Series is coming to the Mud Island Amphitheater April 18-20. Volunteer

ALSAC, the fundraising arm of St. Jude,  is looking for a summer intern in marketing/graphic design.

There’ll be a lantern parade celebrating the 100th anniversary of Tom Lee’s river rescue on 901 Day this year.

Just found out Memphis Chess Club has mimosas. No I’m not having one. I’m drinking a canned Coke.

Streetdog Foundation will host Barking Bingo Thursday at the Flyway taproom at 598 Monroe. Win stuff for your mutt. Must bark (woof woof) to win.

Merit Koch plays Old Dominick Distillery tonight at 6.

Where “Turning Japanese, I think I’m turning Japanese, I really think so” meets “Do you really want to hurt me? Do you really want to make me cry”

So, yesterday morning I checked in at the Union Mission at 10:45, narrowly beating the 11 AM get-in-free deadline. They printed out a ticket with my bed assignment.

I got assigned to an upstairs dorm. Those have the highest bed numbers.

My bed, for example, was number 201.

I had a great night’s sleep in 201! As a bonus, I got a pair of Marvin the Martian socks at the Mission’s clothes closet.

Back tomorrow or Monday with more news.

It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips! 
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Friday update

The NBA trade deadline has passed… and Jimmy Butler is NOT a Memphis Grizzly. PRAISE THE LORD!!! Jimmy would have been poison in the Memphis locker room. His bad attitude could have been contagious to an impressionable Ja Morant. We don’t need or want Jimmy here.

Jimmy did, however, achieve his goal of getting out of Miami. Not only did Golden State accept him in a trade, they gave him a 2-year, $111M max extension.

Anyone else think Jimmy and Draymond Green are gonna mix like oil and water?

Prediction: An intra-Warriors locker room brawl will break out sometime in 2025. And I for one can’t wait for that to happen, because DRAY. WILL. BEAT. JIMMY’S. ASS.

The Grizzlies sent Marcus Smart and a 2025 first-round pick to the Washington Wizards and got back two second-rounders. That will reduce their total salary, which is needed because the Grizzlies have to offer Jaren Jackson Jr. an extension this summer and doing so won’t be cheap.

Today is National Fettucine Alfredo Day and National Patty Melt Day.

The DMC has a list of Downtown Valentine’s Day events, not all of which are on the 14th.

Chris Hill plays Saturday brunch at Slider Inn Downtown tomorrow.

Aldo’s Pizza Pies has SB-inspired pizza specials Sat-Sun:

THE KANSAS CITY
BBQ sauce base, Aldo’s 5-Cheese Blend, beef brisket burnt ends, red & yellow peppers, BBQ sauce + slaw

THE PHILLY
poblano cream base, Aldo’s 5-Cheese Blend, ribeye, green pepper, mushroom, red onion + provolone

Back tomorrow with WWE Smackdown results from FedExForum and whatever other news I can scrounge up. YEET

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Thursday update

Monday night when I was out, I talked to a friend who had dined at Petals of a Peony recently. She and several friends ordered five dishes and split them family style. She raved about the food, noting that the recipes were all authentic Sichuan, not the Americanized Chinese food commonly found in Memphis.

This is good news for Downtowners because we’re getting a restaurant named Little Petals Chinese and it’s by the Petals of a Peony folks. It’ll be on Madison next to the First Horizon office tower.

The same friend raved about another restaurant on Madison, JEM Fine Dining in The Edge. She said the food was delicious and the restaurant lives up to the chef’s stated goal of making fine dining comfortable for people who don’t normally visit that type of restaurant.

The NBA trade deadline is 2 PM Central. I recommend keeping a tab open to Bleacher Report’s NBA News page and refreshing it every 10 minutes.

Memphis in May is putting Beale Street Music Fest on pause for a second year.

MATA wants more funding so it can get the trolleys back online this summer.

A new Downtown gym, Grind Fitness, is hiring.

Bar Limina will open next month in The Edge in the former Inkwell space. It will be a “technique-driven cocktail bar.” Visiting bartenders will come in and make drinks.

Expect a heavy amount of yeeting at FedExForum tomorrow night for WWE Smackdown. I bet Royal Rumble winner Jey Uso will confront unified champ Cody Rhodes as Uso decides whether to challenge for Cody’s title or world champion Gunther’s at WrestleMania. (He’ll eventually pick Gunther.)

That’s all for today.

It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips! 
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Wednesday update

THE BEST burger chain there is, In-N-Out Burger, is opening 4-5 locations in Memphis!!! What to order: “Double double, animal style

MIFA is hiring an inter-faith officer.

The Grizzlies are in Canada to play Toronto at 6:30. TV: FanDuel Sports

Daily lineups are out for RiverBeat Music Fest.

The DMC has a list of Super Bowl watch parties at Downtown venues.

The Grizzlies are showing interest in trading for Lonzo Ball before the deadline tomorrow.

WWE Smackdown comes to FedExForum this Friday.

Dance Theatre of Harlem comes to the Orpheum this weekend.

YOGA! Wiseacre Downtown will have free yoga by Sana Yoga Saturday morning at 10.

Make ink out of metal in a class at the Metal Museum Saturday.

That’s it, back tomorrow.

It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips! 
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
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Tuesday update

Since the weather is warm , I decided to stay out last night… and I narrowly avoided becoming a victim of theft again.

About 3:45 AM I was sitting on a bench in front of the Moxy Hotel across from Court Square. I looked to my right and there was a man attempting to unzip my backpack and take the contents inside. I said, “HEY!!” and he took off north on Main.

Be on the lookout for a black male, early 30s, 6’3”, 240, camouflage jacket, medium complexion, curly hair. I got the feeling he was a seasoned pro at this type of crime and probably “works” the Main Street Mall a lot of nights.

Thankful to be safe and have all my belongings intact. And now, on to the news.

Despite a sloppy game against Rice Sunday, Penny’s Memphis Tigers rose to 17 in the latest AP poll. Next up: at home Wednesday vs. Tulsa at 7.

My new troll Pinky Tuscadero got very excited on our visit to the Flying Saucer yesterday:

The Saucer will soon carry a Three Floyds beer called Trolls Trolls Trolls.

Glaze Hardage will have his boiled crawfish and shrimp (best in town) at Max’s Sports Bar again this Saturday. The first batch will be ready about noon.

Sounds of Memphis with Wyly Bigger and Mario Monterosso happens Saturday at 7 PM at South Main Sounds.

Momma’s will have $6 Jameson green tea shots and $18 domestic buckets for Taylor Swift’s boyfriend’s team vs. Taylor Swift’s boyfriend’s brother’s ex-team this Sunday.

Cordelia’s Market is hiring a food prep team member.

Typing this at Bardog, where they tell me there’ll be a fried oyster slider special today.

Belle Tavern news:

Back tomorrow.

It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips! 
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
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