Author: paulryburn

Friday update #2

I’ll start off today’s second blog post with a random rant. There’s a skill kids aren’t taught in school, but probably should be: How to read maps (doesn’t have to be a paper map, can be a map app on a mobile device) and establishing a good sense of where north, south, east, and west are. It kills me when I give people directions and I’m like, “So you go two blocks east on Union and…”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know which way is east.”

“You see that thing over there? That’s the river. If you’re going toward the river you’re heading west. You know this because West Memphis is on the other side of the river. So if you want to go east you figure out where the river is and go the opposite direction.”

It’s a skill that’s probably less important now that GPSs are common, but I’m still glad I learned it. Kind of like, I’m glad I learned how to do long division even though I have a calculator on my phone.

Update on tonight’s Redbirds games: Gates open at 5, last night’s suspended game starts back up at 5:35, then tonight’s game begins. I posted all that this morning, but here’s an important update: Since Thirsty Thursday ($2 select draft beers around the park) was interrupted, it continues tonight! Also since tonight is Ladies’ Night, $3 wines available to ladies during both games. Yay Redbirds for giving their fans a wallet-friendly ballgame experience. Here’s a link to the Redbirds’ rain policy.

@FrankMurtaugh had an interesting stat: All nine St. Louis Cardinals who started last night’s game were former Memphis Redbirds.

Tonight’s one-night only appearance by Austin-based smoked meats and Texas BBQ producer Micklethwait Craft Meats at Memphis Made Brewing is a big deal apparently. The Memphis Flyer has coverage of Micklethwait’s trailer tour through the U.S., and the event is mentioned by Chris Herrington in The 9:01 as well.

Heh. I looked up Micklethwait’s Austin restaurant and the hours are “11 AM – til it’s gone.” That’s a sure sign that there is good BBQ there. Wonder if my friend Chicken Fried Steak Rodger will put the mutts in an Uber and head out to Memphis Made for some Texas BBQ tonight.

The sales tax holiday in Tennessee is underway and continues through Sunday. No sales tax this weekend on clothes, school supplies, and art supplies costing $100 or less, or on computers costing $1500 or less.

I had a cross-bred jalapeno/Thai chili pepper last night. The grower wasn’t trying to be the Luther Burbank of peppers, but they were growing next to each other and it just happened. Let’s just say I was drinking water for about 15 minutes after I sampled the pepper.

Rut roe:

“This week has been Trump’s worst week ever as president,” I thought last Friday, “until next week.” That proved to be true. Also, thinking the same thought today seems relevant.

That’s it for now. It’s my second post today, so keep scrolling for more.

Friday morning update

A new homeless women’s workplace/shelter is being planned for 333 Adams. It will be called The Merging Bridge and you can help support it by attending or cooking for a chili cook-off Saturday, September 2 from 11 AM-2 PM. Entry fee per team (1 to 4 people) is $40 and goes up to $50 August 11. Team spots are limited so do not delay to enter your team.

Tin Roof will have a Wet ‘n Wild Party Saturday 11:30-6:30. 22 foot water slide, DJ Stringbean, tiki bar, promo girls from Fireball and SoCo with shot specials, prizes and giveaways. There will be patio food including burgers, hot dogs, and turkey legs. Tickets are $5 on the website or $10 at the door.

The third annual Memphis Grilled Cheese Festival has been announced for November 5 at the Hi-Tone. Teams will compete to see who makes the best grilled cheese and tomato soup. Nice to see them move this festival forward a month. On November 5, the average high in Memphis is 67 so unless we hit a cold front, it’s still festival weather. In previous years it’s been in December.

Last night’s Redbirds game had to be suspended due to weather. It will resume tonight at 5:35 PM, followed by a second 7-inning game. Fans who had tickets for last night can exchange them for a ticket to a future game. Fans who have tickets for tonight get to see both games.

Memphis Farmers Market has announced its 2017 Farm Fest at Loflin Yard Sunday, September 24 from 5 to 8 PM. Star and Micey will be the live entertainment. You will be able to enjoy food from some of Memphis’ finest restaurants, and Wiseacre beer will be served. A new vendor at Farm Fest this year will be Old Dominick Distillery, providing two signature cocktails. Another new vendor is Kendra Scott Jewelry, offering a $50 jewelry pull. Every piece of jewelry will be guaranteed to be worth $50, but some will be worth much more.

Speaking of the Farmers Market, watermelons are in season at this Saturday’s market. Live music by Tod Nations 8:30-10 and Melinda Milligan 11-12:30. The Market happens every Saturday at the corner of Front and G.E. Patterson under the pavilion, 7 AM to 1 PM.

Trip-hop skate night happens tomorrow, Saturday, July 29, 7-9 PM at RiverPlay. The Arepa 901 food truck will be on site.

Local Memphis has a great story on the fundraiser to repair Maciel’s Tortas and Tacos that was held at Rizzo’s last Sunday. New timetable on reopening Maciel’s is 5 weeks.

Wrestling fans: ESPN has announced a date and time for a long-awaited “30 for 30” documentary. “Nature Boy” will examine the life of multi-time NWA, WCW, and WWE world champion “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. They interviewed numerous people for the documentation including current WWE performer and Flair’s daughter, Charlotte Flair, as well as The Four Horsemen, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, and Mick Foley. Watch a full trailer here.

Speaking of wrestling, one of its slang terms is “cutting a promo.” That’s when you get on the mic, bash your opponents, and tell the world that you (and your clique, if you have one) are the best in the world. Currently, the world’s best at cutting a promo is not even a wrestler, but rather a fighter: Conor McGregor. However, new White House communications director Anthony “Mooch” Scaramucci is starting to give McGregor a run for his money. Mooch cut a promo on Reince Priebus and Steven Bannon last night, calling Priebus a “paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac” and said “I’m not here trying to suck my own cock” like Bannon. “I’m not trying to build my own brand off the fucking strength of the president.” Damn. This is a White House official, speaking in an official capacity. And you know his boss LOVED it. Then again, if it leads to Priebus and Bannon being booted out of the White House, I guess I’m with Team Mooch for the time being.

Overnight the Republicans’ final effort to kill Obamacare failed 49-51 with Sen. John McCain, “The Maverick,” casting the deciding no vote. FiveThirtyEight has analysis.

Time for work. Possibly back at lunchtime with a second post.

Thursday update #2

Happy Thursday, everyone. I did a massive news post this morning with tons of Downtown and Memphis-related news (and a picture of the troll). That leaves only a few local items for this lunchtime post before I start commentary on the raging dumpster fire in Washington. Make sure you don’t miss this morning’s post if you’re here for the Downtown news.

Memphis Afro-Carnival is presenting its first ever Carnival Weekend today through Sunday. Tom Lee Park will be transformed into a carnival village with thousands of people from different walks of life. On Saturday see people from around the world dressed in beautiful costumes, and there will be performances by Caribbean, Indo and Afro artists including Kes the Band, Machel Montano, Wizkid, Raja Kumari, and more.

The Memphis Youth Got Talent finale is tonight at the Cannon Center. Admission is 3 canned goods or 1 jar of peanut butter, with donations going to the Mid-South Food Bank.

Get the Memphis Tigers football schedule as your phone background:

More compliments from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Where would the Cardinals be today without the Redbirds?

Today, on “America: The Reality Show,” the New York Times reports that girls/women were brought into the US and worked illegally for Trump Model Management with only tourist visas for many months before obtaining legal work visas. Some were as young as 14. They were placed in NYC apartments with many of their fellow models as roommates, and charged exorbitant fees for rent, trainers, and other expenses.

Mooch vs. Priebus. Might want to pop some popcorn before you read this one.

Sen. Lindsey Graham said there would be holy hell to pay if President Trump fires AG Jeff Sessions, and that it would be “the beginning of the end” of the Trump presidency if he removed special counsel Mueller. Graham is drafting legislation with bipartisan support requiring judicial review if the president attempts to remove any counsel investigating him or his staff.

That’s it for this post. Hopefully a quiet day at work then out to Silly Goose happy hour. Back tomorrow.

Thursday update

I paid a visit to Las Margaritas last night. It was about 9:30 and I wanted a quick late-night snack before going home. I got the Las Margaritas Dip.

It was a huge bowl of white cheese dip with ground beef, onions, and peppers. Many American-Mexican places have something like this on their appetizer menu, but the difference is the size of the portion! I could barely finish a little more than half of it. Salsa was really good and the chips were nice and fresh and thin (sometimes so thin that they broke off in the Las Margaritas dip, but that was okay). This will be one of my regular orders at the new Mexican restaurant. As for the service, it was pretty darn fast. You’ll notice I hadn’t even poured my salsa when the dip came out.

… And no, in case anyone was wondering, I did not order the jumbo margarita. 9:30 is a little too late to do that when I have to be at work the next day. I got a Mountain Dew. They carry Pepsi products.

The Big River Crossing Half Marathon is coming to Tennessee and Arkansas Saturday, October 21. This will be the first race to cross the Harahan Bridge. It will support Peer Power, an institution that empowers scholars through peer-to-peer tutoring.

It’s All You Can Eat Wings night at the Redbirds this evening. A special ticket gets you all-you-can-eat wings and sides as well as ballpark hot dogs, and one Coca-Cola product or bottled water per ticket. It’s also Thirsty Thursday with select $2 beers around the park, and college students can show ID for a $5 bluff ticket.

The View from Here is tonight’s film in the 15 Film Series at Clayborn Temple. It’s about four friends who went to explore Europe in the summer of 2015 – however, a neuromuscular disease kept one of the friends bound to a wheelchair. The film explores spatial justice and accessibility as the friends visit some not very accessible places. The film starts at 7 and includes a panel discussion.

Innovate Memphis has a Commute Options Ambassador position newly open.

Cafe Keough, the European-style cafe on the Main Street Mall, is hiring baristas. Apply in person at 12 South Main.

Hal and Julie Lansky, co-authors of the book “Come on in, Young Man!” will have two booksignings, at Lansky at the Peabody Saturday, August 12 from 2 to 4 PM, and at Lansky Bros. at 126 Beale Street from 2 to 4 PM Wednesday, August 16. The book is a children’s book telling the story of Bernard Lansky and the lifelong friendship he formed with a new customer named Elvis Presley one day in 1952. Hal is Mr. Lansky’s son and Julie is Mr. Lansky’s granddaughter.

Southern Avenue is the featured entertainment at tonight’s Peabody rooftop party. It looks like Spanish food is the theme, with your admission including a buffet of assorted pintxos. If you’re in VIP there’s an additional buffet of traditional paella, tortilla espaniola, and chorizo stuffed mushrooms. Drink specials are a raspberry margarita, and Firefly peach sangria moonshine. $10 to get in, ladies and hotel guests free before 7.

The Daily News has an article on the revitalization of the Redbirds this season.

Infographic on how to eat a crunchy taco. I completely agree.

Details have been announced for WWE Raw coming to FedExForum Monday, August 28. The main events – and we are still a month out, so this is very much subject to change – will be a Street Fight between Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman, and an Intercontinental Championship match between Dean Ambrose and The Miz. The two biggest names in WWE, Brock Lesnar and John Cena, will appear, as will Raw GM Kurt Angle, Seth Rollins, Samoa Joe, Bray Wyatt, Finn Balor, Matt & Jeff Hardy, Alexa Bliss, and Sasha Banks.

By the way, if there was any doubt that UFC fighter Jon Jones is a complete idiot, he recently said he’d like to fight Brock Lesnar. Lesnar would murder him. Not enough cocaine in the world to dull the pain Jones would be in after that match.

Just putting this out there for people who own or manage Memphis bars, an idea that has worked in other cities:

Tip from one of my fellow Blind Bear regulars: Order the Bear Balls (mozzarella balls; similar to cheese sticks, but balls) and the sausage and cheese plate. Cut one of the Bear Balls in half, grab a piece or two of sausage, and make a sandwich out of it. That sounds decadent.

Here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry about human trafficking. This is a topic you may hear more about in the coming weeks. Ties to a certain modeling agency based in Midtown Manhattan may be part of the story.

That’s it, off to work. Having that Mountain Dew so close to bedtime produced some interesting dreams, but I got a good night’s rest. Possibly back at lunchtime with a second post.

 

Wed update #2: Taproom happenings, ladies’ night at the Redbirds, Trolley Night and more

Couple of interesting events coming up at local brewery taprooms this week. Tomorrow night, Thursday, July 27 at the Ghost River taproom, Danny Broadway will be back to teach another painting class (click the link to see the painting you will paint). Painting will start at 6:30 but they recommend you get there by 6:00. $30 cash or check. Reservations are preferred but not required. Email emma@ghostriverbrewing.com to make a reservation. Eddy’s Pepper food truck will be on site.

Friday night, Memphis Made Brewing Co. and Goner Records welcome Micklethwait Craft Meats to the Memphis Made taproom. This is a highly-rated BBQ and smoked meat restaurant from Austin, Texas. Founder Tom Micklethwait, prior to opening the restaurant, was in a band called the Hex Dispensers that played Gonerfest in Memphis. Music by Hot Tub Eric Plumley and Goner DJs, with a live set by Tyler Keith from Oxford at 6 PM.

Friday is going to be Ladies’ Night at the Redbirds, with special guest Like Pell of “The Bachelorette.” He’ll be signing autographs 6:00-6:45 and 7:15-8:00. First pitch at 7:05. There will be a block party with Scott Sudbury in the plaza. There will be FOUR specialty tickets you can purchase for this game.

  • The Fantasy Suite ticket gets you a private meet-and-greet with Luke Pell, an autographed picture, a glow-in-the-dark Memphis Redbirds martini glass, and a buffet menu including wine and draft beer.
  • The Painting in the Park ticket gets you into a painting class by Pinot’s Pallete Cordova where you will paint a Redbirds-themed canvas and wine glass. It also gets you a Field Box seat and a buffet including wine and draft beer.
  • You’ve got a ticket to ride… a specialty ticket that includes a bike ride with CycleBar Germantown, as well as a field box ticket and a buffet with wine and draft beer.
  • The 1st Impression Rose ticket gets you into the VIP line to meet Luke Pell, autographed picture, the glow-in-the-dark Redbirds martini glass, field box seat, and the buffet with wine and draft beer.

Sounds like there could be a lot of ladies on the prowl hitting the nearby bars around 9:30-10 PM Friday… keep that in mind fellas.

In preparation for Elvis Week, South Main Trolley Night will have life-sized cutouts of The King all over South Main this Friday night from 6 to 9. Elvis songs will be playing over their new sound system. South Main Sounds at 550 S. Main will have a Trolley Night Special with performances by Jack Moran, Mara Daniele, Freeman Shane Weems, and Zak Baker with Leigh Baker. Bailey Bigger will be playing in front of 465 S. Main. Art Village Gallery at 412 S. Main will show off the vibrancy of West African culture for home and fashion with a duo pop-up shop. Discounts on selected T-shirts at Sache.

An employee of Cafe Pontotoc has told me that over the weekend, they had an employee meeting where they learned that the restaurant would close in two months.

Author Diane Thomas-Plunk will sign her book Opal Saturday at noon at South Main Book Juggler. Opal is a collection of short stories about life in 1950s rural Mississippi. The depth of the characters and the layered plots have been complimented, and Thomas-Plunk was deemed a “favorite” by NPR in its Three-Minute Fiction contest.

Kaspersky has announced a new free version of their anti-virus program for PCs. Absolutely DO NOT INSTALL that software. If you do, you will be running FSB (Russian intelligence agency) spyware. Use one of these free programs instead. I like Malwarebytes especially.

That’s it for now. Out at Silly Goose happy hour after work. Back tomorrow with more news.

Wed update #1: Edge Alley opens this morning

Edge Alley, a new coffee roaster and cafe concept that has four micro-retail bays, opens to the public this morning at 7. Curious about what kind of food they will serve? The Memphis Flyer’s Hungry Memphis Twitter account has information:

Expect a transformation over the next year at the Cossitt Library at Front and Monroe, with plans to turn it into a community hub. There will be a coffee shop, an outdoor patio, and art and music. This is funded by the $5 million Reimagine the Civic Commons grant, the same grant that brought us RiverPlay.

Speaking of RiverPlay, police officers and firefighters will compete in a 3-on-3 basketball tournament at the pop-up park July 29 and 30.

For those of you who take Lyft home from the bars, now you can have the driver stop at Taco Bell on the way home.

Tonight is the final free Envision Memphis bootcamp at RiverPlay. Class is for those 18 and over. No RSVP is required; just meet at the Gear Shack on Riverside Drive between Jefferson and Court at 6 PM.

There’s a Pure Barre pop-up class at Miss Cordelia’s at 6:30 PM tonight. Be sure to bring a mat, water, and a towel for the class. This event is part of their Food Truck Wednesday series, and Stanley’s and Sushi Jimmi will have trucks on site.

The Redbirds play Salt Lake City tonight at 7:05. There’s a $15 off special for the all-inclusive Owner’s Seats by the dugout.

Yay… Adobe is finally killing off Flash. The technology will be dead by 2020. Long overdue.

Check back around lunchtime, because I expect to have a second post.

Tuesday update

Looking for something to do with the kids this week? Disney’s The Little Mermaid is live on stage at the Orpheum tonight through Sunday.

All Central BBQ locations will be closed today for the company’s annual employee Christmas party.

The original Karate Kid movie will be shown at 8:30 tonight on the big screen at Beale Street Landing. The movie is free to the public.

The Food Network published a list of the best hotel bars in the United States. Twilight Sky Terrace made the list.

In other hotel bar news, The View atop the Residence Inn at the Marriott is now open on Wednesdays.

Dollar King Cotton hot dogs tonight at the Redbirds. First pitch is 7:05.

A subpoena has been issued that will compel Paul Manafort to testify IN PUBLIC tomorrow before the Senate Intelligence Committee. I truly hope they make him testify under oath, so they can get him on perjury charges if he lies (he will).

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

It’s time to extend the Main Street trolley tracks all the way to Crump

If you’ve been on the Main Street pedestrian mall lately, you’ve seen that certain sections have been fenced off. The trolleys, absent from Downtown since 2014, are close to making their comeback. MATA is repairing the tracks and cobblestones, damaged by two years of trolley-like buses running that route. I know a lot of people, particularly business owners in South Main, will be happy to see the trolleys back.

However, once restoring the trolleys is complete, the next project should be extending the Main Street line all the way to Crump.

What the trolley tracks were first laid down on Main, it didn’t make sense to go farther south than Calhoun (now G.E. Patterson Avenue). The corner of Main and Calhoun was a destination because of the famous Arcade restaurant. Earnestine & Hazel’s had just been bought by Russell George the year before, transforming the former brothel into a respectable and iconic dive bar. (Yes, E&H really was a brothel into the early 1990s. I won’t name names but I know a couple of people who were customers of the ladies upstairs.) If you didn’t mind a block walk over to Front, you could catch some live music at The South End. But there really wasn’t much south of Calhoun at the time.

Now the south end of Downtown has become a destination. I would like to go to Loflin Yard a bit more than I currently do, but even if I rode the trolley to its end I’d still have another seven blocks to walk. I wish I spent enough time at the Ghost River taproom to call myself a regular, but I have six blocks to walk beyond the end of the trolley line to get there.

Last year The Dirty Crow Inn opened at Crump and Kentucky. Around the time it opened, I had a week off for BBQ Fest and walked down there and checked it out. I immediately got that feeling of “this could easily be one of my homes away from home.” The food there is delicious. Plus, I’d like to get to know Paul who runs the place as well as I know, say, Max from Max’s Sports Bar or Aldo from Bardog. But I’ve only been back twice, because it’s not convenient, with a seven-block walk even after I get off the trolley at Main and G.E. Patterson. Extend the trolley line and all I would have to do is cross Crump.

It works in the opposite direction too. Thousands of homes have been built in South End the past ten years. Give those residents access to a trolley line, and they can use public transportation to get to Grizzlies games and Tigers games at FedExForum, and to Memphis Redbirds games at AutoZone Park. South End residents could use public transportation to get to work at companies like AutoZone, St. Jude, and Servicemaster. Those in South End who want to visit the places I talk about all the time on here could do so without involving a car. They could ride the trolley to get the tacos at Maciel’s, or crawfish mac at Blind Bear, or a pizza pie at Aldo’s.

When I think about the east end of the Madison trolley line at Cleveland, I think, “Why did they stop there? There’s so much good stuff the next couple of miles.” With the rise of South End, the Main Street line has become the same way. There’s too much good stuff south of G.E. Patterson to stop there.

People talk about making Downtown more walkable. Projects like the Main-to-Main pedestrian crossing and pop-up parks on Riverside are all well and good, but you really want to make Downtown more walkable? Lay 6 more blocks of trolley tracks.

Sunday update: Moody Ques to enter Best Memphis Burger Fest

Yesterday we made it official… the Moody Ques will be competing in Best Memphis Burger Fest at Tiger Lane on Saturday, October 7. We will be entering a Bloody Mary, a veggie burger, a specialty “anything goes” burger, and a traditional cheeseburger in our effort to show that we make the best damn burgers in Memphis. We’ll also be giving out burger samples in exchange for donations to Memphis Paws, an organization that funds dog rescues and other nonprofits that make life better for animals. There are still spots open for teams, so if you cook a mean burger, fill out an application and bring it on!

Mick Danger Parrish will be the special guest at the Ghost River taproom’s Songwriter Sessions tonight from 5:00 to 7:30, hosted by Crockett Hall. Flying Sobies will be on site all day (doors open at noon) selling their Cornish game hens with your choice of sauces and waffles. The brewery is at the corner of Main and Crump.

It’s a day game with the Redbirds playing Vegas (or as my friend Bicycle Bobby calls it, LAS Vegas) at 2:05 this afternoon. Players will be signing autographs in the concourse prior to the game. First 2500 kids get an ice cream treat and kids get to run the bases after the game. Gates open at 1:00.

Vinnie Hines from the 15th season of American Idol will play the Hard Rock tonight from 9 to 11. He will be taking requests.

25-year-old Scott Blumstein won the World Series of Poker main event last night, taking home over $8 million. I watched much of the final table live on TV, with Blumstein playing classic big stack style, forcing the smaller stacks to make tough decisions with marginal holdings and play bigger pots than they would like. Blumstein is from New Jersey, one of three states whose attitude is “online poker is a nice source of tax revenue” rather than “Jesus didn’t play poker online and neither should you.”

Don’t forget, all you can eat Maciel’s tacos at Rizzo’s tonight from 5 to 8 in a fundraiser to get Maciel’s back open. Sache will be selling a special Maciel’s shirt for $20.

That’s it for now. Off to D-RANKS with B-RAD at the Blind Bear for Sunday brunch. Back tomorrow with more news.

Saturday update: MLB scheduling, Princess and Pirate Night, and more

Last night I got into a fascinating discussion… how does scheduling for Major League Baseball work? You have to play each team in your division so many times, and you have to play teams in your league so many times, and then you have to fill in remaining games from the other league. There are dates when a team has to play at home – for example, you would want the Washington Nationals to be at home for the July 4 game, and you’d probably want the Yankees and Mets at home on September 11. Perhaps the Texas Rangers can’t be at home August 13 because Justin Bieber is having a concert in their stadium, that kind of thing. Then there’s logistics. You wouldn’t want a road trip to the Los Angeles Dodgers, then the Miami Marlins, and then the San Diego Padres, because it would be a waste of jet fuel. As someone who programs computers for a living, I nerd out on stuff like that. I would love to see the scheduling algorithm. “I bet in the 1940s before computers, the schedule took weeks to get done,” I said. “Now you can probably open an app on an iPhone and it’ll spit out the complete MLB schedule in two seconds.”

Well, as it turns out, there’s an ESPN 30 for 30 about that very topic. The Schedule Makers

Big night at the Redbirds tonight, as they play Las Vegas at 6:35 (gates open at 5:00). First 1500 in the gate get a free fidget spinner from Prarie Farms Dairy. It’s Princess and Pirate Night with Moana, Elsa, Jasmine, and other characters, a costume parade, and a horse and carriage for photos. There’s a special ticket ($17 field box, $20 dugout) that includes your choice of a pirate eye patch or a princess tiara. Live music by Jamie Baker Duo in the plaza before the game with select $2 draft beers. There will be fireworks following the game.

Hmmm… looking through the press release for this homestand, it looks like next Friday night will be Cougar City at AutoZone Park. Details to come.

I don’t know if I have any fellow webmasters who read this blog, but if I do, I want to recommend a tool I’ve been working with lately: Cludo. It takes search on a website to an entirely new level. It lets me create banners for featured search results, and the banners can even include video. I’ve been using banners this week to intercept searches for names of cities and returning links to everything we offer in that city. It understands that play, played, playing are basically all the same search. It can handle misspellings. It can let me define which pages I want to come up first, second, etc. for particular keywords and key phrases. I can boost particular areas of the website that are the most relevant. It has analytics including ineffective searches (users didn’t click on any of the links) and searches with zero results, so I can find opportunities to create content my users are looking for. I thought nobody could beat Google Site Search for search within a website, but I was wrong. Cludo takes things to a whole new level.

Even better, they did all the implementation for me. They worked for a few days then sent me a PDF. Put this code here, put that code there, and boom, I had a working search box. No CSS to tinker with, no Javascript functions to write, no XML or JSON to parse. I’ve been using Cludo for two weeks now and am already a huge fan.

It’s very possible that a bipartisan bill strengthening sanctions on Russia will land on the Trumpster’s desk for his signature this coming week. That will put Mr. Tangerine Man in a bind: If he doesn’t sign the bill, he pisses off his own party. If he does sign the bill, he pisses off his new best friend Vlad Putin. By the way, the president threw another tantrum on Twitter this morning.

That’s it for this post. Off to Bardog. With an Excessive Heat Warning today, I don’t see myself walking very far from home.