Author: paulryburn

So, last night a Grizzlies fan hit a half-court shot and won free tater tots from Sonic for life. I wonder how that works exactly? Do they give you a card that says “This person is entitled to tots for life” or something like that? And if the card is presented to a new 18-year-old waitress who started work at a Sonic location a week ago, is she really going to believe him? Who knows.

Bass Pro is celebrating Halloween at the Pyramid today through Saturday. There will be trick-or-treating, costume parades, photo booth with the Peanuts gang, crafts, and more.

Ben Callicott, Drew Erwin, The Passport, and Camino play the Brass Door tonight beginning at 7. It’s a $5 cover and if you wear a Halloween costume, you get a raffle ticket. Not many people are going to have costumes on tonight so I would think the probability of winning a prize would be higher than most raffles.

Tomorrow is the day before Race for the Cure, and there will be Chalking in Memphis on Beale Street. Pink chalk will be handed out so you can write the name of a breast cancer survivor you know, or a loved one you lost to breast cancer, on the street. Your loved ones’ names will be part of the race the next day.

R. Kelly plays FedExForum tonight at 8. As of this morning tickets were still available.

A few of my readers told me I broke their hearts last week when I posted that human DNA was found in 2% of hot dog samples. Gizmodo says don’t freak out about it, though. Very tiny samples of human DNA were found in only 2% of the hot dogs. A UCSB ecologist pointed out that if you did really thorough testing, a trace amount of human DNA would be found in most objects on Earth.

What was disturbing, the Gizmodo article went on to say, is that pork DNA and chicken DNA in varying amounts (and not always trace amounts) were found in vegetarian hot dogs. Although most vegetarians are vegetarians by choice, there are people out there who are allergic to meat and have to be concerned that veggie hot dogs could kill them.

Need to go to the library? Don’t plan on doing it tomorrow. All branches of the Memphis Public Library will be closed October 30 for a staff development day.

People are concerned about the weather for Saturday night’s Halloween parties. MemphisWeather.net (@MemphisWeather1 on Twitter) says that the rain looks heavy during the day Saturday, but should be letting up by evening, although there could be a scattered shower here and there.

The Sinners for Saints Halloween Ball (yes I’m mentioning it again) has announced its gourmet Jello shot lineup for Saturday night: Margarita (complete with gummy worm), Apple Pie, Grape Sweet Tart, Boo Berry, Moscow Ghoul (ginger beer/lime flavored), Lemonhead, Redbull Vodka, Tru Blood Punch, Harry Potter (raspberry lemonade), and Candy Corn with real vanilla bean, butterscotch, and caramel. These are not your grandma’s shots, folks. Worried about consuming these on an empty stomach? No problem, there will be plenty of food provided by the event’s sponsors. You can still get tickets in advance for $40 to avoid paying $50 at the door. Your money supports the Church Health Center.

That’ll do it for now. Possibly a second post after work with Farmers Market news and whatever else I can find. I’m heading to the Silly Goose for happy hour after work, then will choose among the Saucer, Blind Bear, and the Fire Haus for my second stop.

The Majestic Grille has put up its holiday events page. Click through and find out how to be the first to know the date of the restaurant’s annual half-off gift card sale. You will also learn how to be the first to know when reservations are open for Sunday Supper & A Movie, the annual showing of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (with costume contest), and Brunch with Santa.

With the holidays approaching, the Peabody has announced that pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, and sweet potato velvet cake are now on sale at Peabody Deli & Desserts.

Central BBQ has announced that it will begin taking turkey orders on November 1.

VERY cool: Memphian Moziah Bridges has been named one of TIME Magazine’s most influential teens. At 13, Mo owns a $200,000 a year bow-tie business, Mo’s Bows, with several national deals to supply bow ties.

From WREG Live at 9: Not only can you pamper yourself at Feathers Spa at the Peabody, you can also get a healthy meal there.

As if shopping Amazon Prime after coming home from a night on the town, now there’s this: Drunk Mall

St. Jude is building a 3-story data center.

Time for a beer. Leading off at the Silly Goose where Daniel and his crew will be pre-gaming for Grizzlies. Trivia later at Blind Bear.

The schedule has been announced for Sinners for Saints Ball Halloween night at Stop 345.

• Doors open at 9
• DJ Lil’ Eggroll 9:00-11:30
• Live fortune tellers 9:00-11:00
• Amurica photo booth (in trailer park) 10:00-1:00
• Lord T and Eloise featuring DJ Witnesse 11:30-1:00
• Costume contest at 1:00
• Dj Lil’ Eggroll 1:00-close

I already have my ticket and I hope to see you there!

The Silly Goose will have All Hallow’s Eve beginning at 9 that night. There will be a $50 cash prize and a $25 gift card in costume contests every 30 minutes. That’s a LOT of contests! $2 Jello shots and music by DJ Cody.

Meanwhile, a half block down the street the Flying Saucer will have live music for Halloween. SNOZberry takes the stage at 9. The Saucer’s famous $3 mystery beer tub will be back.

Great article by Karen from Earnestine & Hazel’s: What it’s like to work in the most haunted bar in America

West Memphis’ Ray’s World Famous BBQ is making its way to South Main. A commercial kitchen permit was filed for 302 S. Main, near Pontotoc.

If you’re going to the Grizzlies home opener tonight vs. Cleveland, you’ll get a free magnet schedule of the 2015-16 games. The game tonight will be on Fox Sports Southeast. Tip-off is 7 PM.

MIFA’s Feed the Soul party at The Warehouse earlier this month raised $127,000 for the organization. Great job by Kris and everyone who worked to make this gala celebration happen.

From USA Today: Thanks to Memphis, we will get some insight into how the college playoff committee thinks. With rankings coming out November 3, and assuming Memphis wins this weekend’s game, it will be the first time the committee has issued rankings when there has been a Group of Five conferences team with a decent strength of schedule and a win over a SEC school in the Top 25.

Here’s a cool phone app developed in Memphis with the help of a Downtown hotel: FrontDesk Connect, which lets you get in touch with your hotel’s front desk anywhere you have your cell phone, as opposed to having to use the hotel room phone which is usually stationary.

For my Chicago readers: Starting Monday you will be able to get Gus’s without leaving town.

That’s it for now. I will be out at the usual spots after work.

Downtown Dining Week menus are up. Click through to the site, then click on the restaurant logo to see the menu. There are still some “to be announced” but quite a few are there. For those who don’t know, the deal is that from November 9 to 15, participating restaurants serve a special menu for the price of $20.15.

If you want to go to a restaurant that takes reservations during DDW, make reservations now.

The Sprock ‘n’ Roll group party bike is expanding its service to include a Downtown route, and the bike will be partnering with the Grizzlies to offer discounted tickets to select home games.

Miss Cordelia’s, the grocery store on Mud Island, is having a fall festival Saturday, November 7 from 11 AM to 3 PM. There will be a cookout, live music, and pop-up shops. The store’s new growler station will be open, and there will be beer tastings. It will be the first week of Miss Cordelia’s new Saturday markets.

Tip for wine lovers: The Blind Bear is changing up the wine it stocks, and is selling bottles that would normally run for about $40 for only $20. There are several different varieties, both red and white.

From what I have heard, the Norah Jones concert at the Orpheum last night was a success. Another big name comes to the theater next month: Mary J. Blige on November 4.

3-time US Disc Golf champion Will Shusterick will present a clinic at this week’s Pints and Putts, tomorrow from 5 to 8 at Central BBQ Downtown. There will be a disc golf putting contest and $3 pints.

Tweeted by @HungryFlyer: Pair beer with Halloween candy

Always fun to look at college football bowl projections. Of course, with over a month left in the season, you have to take them with a grain of salt, but these projections have Memphis playing Arkansas in the Birmingham Bowl December 30. Yikes, I might be put in the rare position of having to root against my Hogs. The same projections have Texas and Tennessee in the Liberty Bowl. Noooooooo! Please don’t crap up my city with a mass influx of Tennessee fans!

You know, sometimes I feel like I need to say this more often: THANK YOU to all my wonderful friends for being a part of my life. I was thinking on the way to work this morning what an awesome day Sunday was. I started off at D-RANKS with B-RAD at the Blind Bear with my new Sunday brunch crew Rahul and Tony. In the early afternoon, my classic brunch crew for the past 10 years/Moody Ques teammates joined me at the bar. Later in the afternoon, current and former Blind Bear and Flying Saucer folks came in and we caught up on happenings in each others’ lives. After B-RAD got off, we went for drinks at the Silly Goose, then some of us continued on to the Flying Saucer. Then it was back to the Bear for co-owner Jeannette’s birthday. Super, super day.

Then I had another fun day with friends last night. I led off at the Blind Bear, where my friends Rodger and Mary were pre-gaming for Norah Jones. Mary and I were trying to remember whether we went to the Saucer Sunday night, and who came with us. Jeannette had the evening bar shift and she told me they are starting Moonshine Mondays at the Bear, with $3 moonshine shots and $6 moonshine cocktails from 7 to 11 PM. Around 9 my friend Duck texted me that he was back in town and at the Silly Goose, so I went over there and had a great time chatting with him. “Do you know you have a 2 year old bar tab at the Blind Bear?” I asked him. I walked back over with Duck and he paid it, also paying a bar tab our friend Buddha had left there. I took a photo of him with both tabs, “Paid” written on them.

Conversation I overheard sometime in the past 7 days:

“Do you know who Richard Simmons is?”

“Is he the the lead singer of KISS?”

“Yeah, that’s him. He’s a good friend of mine…”

WHAT???

Possibly a second post this evening, so check back. Not sure where I will lead off tonight, but I will be out somewhere.

Happening this week: U.S. Women’s Olympic Boxing team trials at the Cannon Center. 24 women will compete, with a winner being chosen in each of three weight divisions.

Rachel’s Salon and Day Spa is having its annual Cut-a-Thon in Court Square Thursday from 11 to 1:30. You can get a haircut or neck massage and meet Teri Trotter, founder of the Pink Wig Project. There will be food trucks and live music by Gerry Finney.

Want to be a cannibal? Eat a hot dog. A study found human DNA in 2 percent of hot dogs. That’s pretty disturbing. Also, 10 percent of vegetarian hot dogs were found to contain meat.

The owner of the New Daisy blasted the Tennessee Department of Revenue for padlocking his business without prior notice. He had the matter cleared up within one day and no concerts were missed.

Norah Jones plays the Orpheum tonight at 8.

This Friday is a spooky South Main Trolley Night, with many shops in the area open until 9 or later. Ar South Main Book Juggler, there will be a signing of Sun Records: An Oral History. EZR Management will have an open house at 390 S. Main. There will be a South Main Association member area next to Bluff City Coffee with chili dogs and witchy brews: free for SMA members, $10 for others. Live music at venues up and down the street.

The Sinners for Saints Halloween Ball has announced an additional attraction: Fortune tellers at the indoor trailer park from 9 to 11 PM. I will say it one more time: This is absolutely the party where you want to be on the evening of Halloween. $40 in advance, $50 at the door. Lord T and Eloise are the headline act.

Station 3: The Memphis Fire Haus will be open Wednesday night for those who choose to pre-game or post-game for the Grizzlies’ home opener against Cleveland. Southbound Seafood will be there, selling boiled crab legs, boiled shrimp, gumbo and etoufee.

That’ll do it for now. Undecided between Bardog and Blind Bear for happy hour tonight, but I will be at one or the other.

I would like to wish a very happy birthday to my friend Jeannette, co-owner of the Blind Bear and fellow Scorpio. Thank you for putting up with my friends and me these past four years and giving us such an awesome place to call home. I can’t even count the number of people I have met there who have become my friends.

I’ve kind of been out of the loop this weekend but I hope to be back tomorrow with a news post. In the meantime I will be at D-RANKS with B-RAD at 11 at Blind Bear if anyone wants to meet up.

We’re ready to serve is the theme of tomorrow’s Memphis Farmers Market. The market has fresh produce and meats that you can prepare later, but they also have food that is ready to eat now. This food is available in various forms: Food trucks, grab-and-go meals, and jars of jellies and salsas. The UTHSC College of Pharmacy will be there from 9 to 12 with information about stroke prevention. Pet adoptions by Real Good Dog Rescue 9 to 12. Live music by Eric Crays & Friends 11-12:30. The market runs from 7 AM to 1 PM at the pavilion at Front and G.E. Patterson.

Don’t forget that the kick-off party for RiverArtsFest happens tonight in South Main from 6 to 10. Live music and some of the vendors will be open. This is the only day of RiverArtsFest with free admission.

Also happening in the South Main district tonight is the Tennessee Whiskey Festival at Artspace Lofts.

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra will perform a concert with fireworks tonight outside the Pyramid. Blankets and picnic baskets welcome.

I haven’t confirmed this myself yet, but I heard last night that the sushi restaurant on South Main in the former Grawemeyer’s space is now open.

Every year Ballpark Digest honors noteworthy accomplishments in the baseball world, whether it be major league, minor league, college, or any other form of organized baseball. This year the Digest gave an award to AutoZone Park, recognizing the significant renovations and improvements that happened when the St. Louis Cardinals bought the Memphis Redbirds and pumped millions of dollars into the Downtown baseball stadium.

Depending on weather, I will try to make it to the RiverArtsFest kickoff tonight. If it rains, I will be at my usual places in the Downtown core. Working from home today so I’m going to grab some chili from Court House Deli, then a few hours to the weekend.

My friend Katie Mac is going to be very, very happy about this first news item: Memphis will see its first-ever grilled cheese cook-off on December 13. Cookteams will compete to win awards, including most cheesy, most ridiculous, best tomato soup, fan favorite, and best overall. It will be held at the Hi-Tone and each general admission ticket will come with a ballot to vote for the fan favorite award. The Hi-Tone lounge will be open and serving drinks. Money raised will benefit ALIVE Memphis Rescue.

Pam and Terry play the Blind Bear tonight from 10 to 1.

The Chris Johnson Band plays Tacos and Tunes on Felicia Suzanne’s patio tonight 7-10. $2 tacos, $5 margaritas.

Save the date for a brewery party: On Saturday, November 7 from 1 to 9 PM, Memphis Made Brewing Co. at 768 S. Cooper will celebrate its second birthday with a party called MALTED. The party will feature big malted beers, including Nut ReMix, Junt, Fireside, Drew’s Day Off and other limited releases. 16-ounce Belgian-style MALTED glasses are free to the first 50 customers. Live music from Tony Maynard, Caleb Sweazy, and DEVIL TRAIN. In addition, New Ballet Ensemble and School will do a preview of Nut ReMix, their interpretation of The Nutcracker which they perform each year at the Cannon Center. The Gourmade and Sushi Jimmi will be on the parking lot if you want to order some food.

Speaking of Sushi Jimmi, that food truck will be at the Fire Haus tonight. Hmmm… I have wanted to try their food… perhaps I will walk over.

And while we’re on the subject of food trucks, Holly Reports that there will be a new food truck on the Memphis scene as of this weekend: 4 Dumplings, an offshoot of the restaurant in East Memphis, where nothing is fried or processed and there are plenty of vegetarian and vegan options.

RiverFit Relaunch happens at Tom Lee Park today. The RiverFit fitness park by the Grizzlies, initially intended as a temporary installation, is now permanent. Come down and celebrate from 5 to 6:30 with yoga, hula hooping, rowing, and food trucks.

The Downtown Neighborhood Association is having happy hour at Twilight Sky Terrace atop the Madison Hotel tonight from 6 to 7:30. You don’t have to be a member to attend and there is no agenda; just a casual environment in which to have a drink and get to know your neighbors.

Keith Burgess and Chris Ashley from Hard Core TV will be at Bass Pro at the Pyramid tomorrow from 1 to 5. They will be doing a Q&A as part of the ongoing Waterfowl Expo.

The Green Beetle (@GreenBeetle39) tweeted that they will have $1 Miller High Life drafts for the Tigers game tomorrow. In other Beetle news, Shufflegrit will play there at 3:30 Saturday, a quick walk from RiverArtsFest.

The Grizzlies posted that they have sold out of the $15 tickets I mentioned in yesterday’s blog.

On Mondays and Thursdays, Double J has bottles of Pepperwood Grove wine – Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, and Chardonnay – for only $15 a bottle.

Want to hear something weird? I get my days mixed up, based on which bartender I will be visiting that evening. I was just thinking, “Today is a Jessica day, so it must be Wednesday or Thursday, which is it?” I had to consult the calendar and was pleased to see it is Thursday. I’ll lead off at Silly Goose after work, probably a stop at the Fire Haus after that, then over to the Blind Bear for Pam & Terry. Sounds like a very good evening in Downtown Memphis.

If you’re a NASCAR fan who lives in Memphis, tomorrow is a big day for you. Tomorrow at the Waterfowl Expo at Bass Pro in the Pyramid from 4:00 to 5:30, you’ll be able to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kerry Earnhardt, and Kelley Earnhardt Miller. There is a limit of one autograph per person while time allows.

Felicia Suzanne’s is having a Hanna Farms dinner next Wednesday. There will be elevated street fare from Hanna Farms, prepared by Chef Michael Hanna. $35 plus tax and a 20% gratuity. Click the link to see the complete menu for the dinner.

There will be a yard sale at the 2 West Condos at Front and G.E. Patterson Saturday beginning at 7 PM, cat-a-corner from the Memphis Farmers Market. Key items include foosball table, love seat, dinette set, electronics, tables, lamps, chairs, and artwork. RiverArtsFest will be going on nearby too, so you can get a foosball table, fresh produce, and craftwork by regional artists all within two blocks.

@TigersMedia has tweeted that the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award has announced the inclusion of Memphis Tigers coach Justin Fuente on its watch list.

If you’re a pro wrestling fan, listen as one legendary announcer interviews another. Jim Ross interviews Memphis announcer Lance Russell on his podcast The Ross Report.

Holly reports that there’s a basic blacksmithing workshop this weekend at the Metal Museum.

Time for a beverage at the Silly Goose. Back tomorrow.

I’m leading off this lunchtime post with a movement happening on Facebook that I can definitely get behind. Bring CityTarget to Downtown Memphis is a move to put a Target location in the empty Peabody Place Mall. That would mean that Downtowners would no longer have to drive to West Memphis or East Memphis to shop at a retailer like Wal-mart or Target.

There are several reasons it is believed this would work. One is that Downtown has a population the size of a small city, about 30,000. What city that size does not have a Wal-mart or Target? Another reason is that although Peabody Place failed as a “shopping destination” that people would travel for miles to visit, it’s perfect for redevelopment as an “every day use” destination to serve the needs of people who live in the neighborhood, as well as visitors staying in the hotels here. Fill it with shops and services Downtowners need.

The New Daisy is back open after being padlocked unexpectedly by the state for back taxes. Neither the city, which owns the building, or the Downtown Memphis Commission, which acts as landlord, was notified in advance. One of the owners settled the tax matter in time to have the theater open for a concert tonight. The closing came as a shock because the theater just had a grand reopening with $500,000 in new equipment.

Meanwhile, renovation has begun on the building at 380 Beale formerly known as Club Crave and the Plush Club. It will be a sister concert venue to the New Daisy and will blur the lines of what is actually known as the Beale Street Entertainment District.

Seen on Facebook today: In Albuquerque, a city worker drives around asking the homeless if they would like to work for the day cleaning up the city. If they say yes, they work 5 1/2 hours at $9 an hour, then are taken to a health center where they are offered food, shelter, and other services. We need something like this in Memphis.

The Grizzlies are releasing some $15 terrace level tickets for the October 28 opener against Cleveland.

The Tigers now lead the AAC in attendance for football.

Grizzlies guard Russ Smith has been implicated in the Louisville sex scandal.

Possibly back after work with a second post, so check back.