Category: Uncategorized

Wednesday update

The Orpheum announced its 2022-2023 Broadway season yesterday.

If you’re a current season ticket holder, it’s time to renew. Want to become a season ticket holder? March 29 is your day for first choice of seats.

Lucky Seven Brass Band will play a Crunk Brunch at Wiseacre Downtown this Sunday, February 27. Little Bettie, the pizza kitchen inside Wiseacre, will be serving up a breakfast pizza. Show your Memphis Tigers game ticket for 10% off your beer order. If you don’t plan to attend the game in person, you can stay and watch it on Wiseacre’s big screens.

Seen on ESPN yesterday: The New Orleans Pelicans will be able to offer Zion Williamson a 5-year, $181 million contract extension during the offseason. That’s noteworthy because Zion Williamson and Ja Morant are in the same draft class – so the Grizzlies should be able to offer Ja the same amount. $36 mil a year? Sounds all right.

The Pelicans are gonna be in a tough situation. Zion is overweight and injury-prone. He has never lived up to his potential. There are signs he doesn’t want to be in New Orleans. If they sign him to a max deal, it could be an even worse contract than the one Chandler Parsons had with Memphis. But if they don’t re-sign him, another team could nab a diamond in the rough.

On the other hand, the Grizzlies’ contract negotiation in the offseason should go something like this:

“Max OK with you, Ja?”

“Sure.”

The Calvary Waffle Shop returns March 3. The waffle shop is a pop-up lunch cafe held at Calvary Episcopal Church during Lent. It’s done in conjunction with the church’s Lenten Preaching Series, and favorites like fish pudding, corned beef and cabbage, and Boston cream pie will be on the menu. Lunch will be served 11:00-1:30 Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and they’ll serve dinner 5:15-6:15 Wednesdays. The waffle shop will return to in-person dining this year, now that the health department’s stupid COVID restrictions are long gone.

Potato milk is a thing now. Yuck. I’m not a Vladimir Putin fan but I have to admit, Russians make better beverages out of potatoes than Americans do.

Action News 5 has a copy of the 22-page FDA report on the inspection of Family Dollar’s West Memphis warehouse. Among the findings:

  • Rodent droppings too numerous to count on the shipping dock where food was waiting to be picked up
  • Employee breakroom closed October 2021 due to odor
  • Rat carcasses
  • Gnawings of spilled containers of mixed nuts and spilled product
  • Rodent droppings and a mouse carcass (so I guess I was wrong when I speculated no mice) on a pallet of Hungry Jack cheesy scalloped potatoes
  • Rodent gnawings of pouches of Knorr Chicken Flavor Rice & Pasta Blend
  • Urine stains found next to another Knorr product with spillage

… and that’s just the first 4 pages of the 22-page report. Click the link above if you want to read the whole thing. Oh my, the rats got into the Vagisil too!

Blues City Kayaks will host a Sunset/Full Worm Moonrise walk across Big River Crossing on St. Patrick’s Day. Free to participate.

The Mississippi Blues Child, Mr. Sipp, plays B.B. King’s tonight at 7:00. $10 cover charge at the door.

Crawfish will be back at the Flying Fish beginning this Friday. The ones at Max’s Saturday boils are better, but if you can’t make it to those, the Fish is an option.

New at the Broom Closet: 1-inch miniature gemstone penises. They’re $6 and come in a variety of gemstones.

117 Prime is fire-sale-ing some of their wines to make room for new and exciting inventory. You might find one of your favorite wines at a discount if you stop in.

Morning Brew has a Ukraine explainer so you can understand the conflict between that nation and Russia. Keep track of Russian military movements in real time with this map.

That’s it for today. Back tomorrow with more news.

Day of the Deuces update

Tennessee State Rep. G.A. Hardaway, Vickie Terry of the NAACP’s Memphis branch, Shelby County Commissioner Reginald Milton, and others held a press conference yesterday morning about a finding by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released Friday. The FDA said that over 1000 live and dead rodents and birds had been found in a Family Dollar warehouse in West Memphis. The warehouse supplies 404 stores in six states, including Tennessee.

The story received worldwide coverage. The UK’s Daily Mail has a story on the warehouse with a video of a warehouse employee feeding a rat a Pringle with his bare hands. “Here ya go, friend, you want some chips? You want some chips? Look at him, he wants that m*****f*****.” The video also showed a rat climbing up the side of steel shelving, a litter of baby rats, and two rats fighting. Family Dollar is urging people to destroy products bought in the six states the warehouse serves since January 1, 2021 – nearly 14 months ago.

The officials held the press conference to note that many of the Family Dollars in Memphis, served by the warehouse, are in food deserts. When the chain shut its Memphis stores on Saturday, residents were left with no place else they could shop for food. They may have been using contaminated products for as long as a year or more. One woman brought her dog to the press conference to illustrate that pets have been possibly eating contaminated food, too. The officials believe that corporate greed is responsible for the warehouse conditions. They noted that past discussions with Family Dollar about cleanliness and blight have not produced results.

Big Blue Bug Solutions says that a rat produces 35 to 50 droppings per day. Assuming we take the midpoint of that range, 42.5 droppings, and that there have been 1000 live rats in the Family Dollar warehouse every day since January 1, 2021, that would mean rats produced 17,765,000 droppings in the warehouse between that date and today. If we further assume that a rat dropping weighs about 1 gram, that’s more than 39,165 pounds of feces.

One question that may come up – the news reports have mostly stated that the warehouse has been infested with rodents. That may lead the reader to ask, were there mice in the warehouse too? According to this Terminix report, probably not. “Rats will kill and eat mice,” the report states. It’s known as muricide. So an infested facility likely has a rat problem, or a mouse problem, but not both.

Maybe Family Dollar could hold a benefit concert, raising funds to provide compensation for those who consumed possibly contaminated products. Here’s my suggestion for the concert headliner.

I don’t normally promote Nashville events on this blog, but there is a concert coming up there Saturday, July 2 that sounds fantastic. Morris Day, Zapp, Cameo, SOS Band, The Bar-Kays, Midnight Star, Lakeside, and the original Mary Jane Girls. Event info and tickets

This is Insomniac Week at Insomnia Cookies. They have the following deals going on:

  • Buy 12 classic cookies, get 6 free in the app (no code needed, just add the deal to the cart to redeem)
  • Free nationwide shipping for Loyalty club members with code TWOSDAY
  • 2 free classic cookies with any purchase in-store today, 2/22, when you show them today’s Insomnia Cookies social media post

Silly Goose posted that they’re going to start doing a Buy 1, Get 1 deal on their wood-fired pizzas 4 to 8 PM Fridays.

There was a report of shots fired near Monroe and Lauderdale about 4:45 yesterday afternoon.

Michigan men’s basketball head coach Juwan Howard has been suspended for the remainder of the regular season (5 games) and fined $40,000 for his actions at the conclusion of Sunday’s game against Wisconsin. Wisconsin coach Greg Gard called a timeout near the end of the game, which Wisconsin won 77-63. Howard thought the timeout was unnecessary given the size of Wisconsin’s lead. He jawed at Gard, grabbing him by the shirt, in the handshake line, and seconds later Howard threw a hand at the face of Wisconsin assistant Joe Krabbenhoft. You can watch the video here (YouTube won’t let me embed it because of “age-appropriate content”).

By popular demand, Tattooed Chef foods have been added to the freezer section at Cordelia’s Market. Their plant-based, healthy offerings include a Cauliflower Mac & Cheese Bowl, a Buddha Bowl, and a Pesto Harvest Bowl.

It’s that time of year – Girl Scout Cookie time. CraftBeer.com has a beer and Girl Scout Cookie pairing guide you may find useful. If you don’t know where to find a Girl Scout to order cookies, DGX has knockoff versions for $2 a box. I’m eating Fudge Mints (knockoffs of Thin Mints) right now and they’re pretty tasty.

The Blind Bear has posted the special dinner menu they will offer 5-9 PM this Saturday, the night of their Mardi Gras masquerade party. The dinner is $45/individual or $90 couple and comes with a bottle of bubbly. Call the restaurant to make reservations if interested – tables tend to fill up quickly.

First course
Fried oysters on a bed of greens with Creole mustard remoulade
or
Red beans & rice with andouille sausage

Second course
Crawfish etouffee
or
Shrimp & grits
or
Grouper Ponchartrain

Third course
Kraken Bananas Foster bread pudding

Bananas Foster? Wonder if any members of the Squeal Street BBQ team will make reservations. That dish is their specialty.

If you’re a Grizzlies fan and a Daily Memphian subscriber, be sure not to miss Chris Herrington’s Grizzlies mailbag in this morning’s edition. It alone is worth the monthly subscription price.

Smart City asks, is Downtown Memphis in trouble or on an upswing?

Putin ordered Russian troops to cross the border into the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces of Ukraine. These provinces had been controlled by rebels hostile to the Ukrainian government headquartered in Kyiv. Today’s POLITICO Playbook has more on the latest moves.

Congratulations to King Jerry Lawler’s on Beale, recipient of a recent 100 on its health inspection.

Congratulations to the city of Memphis on landing another major convention. The Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority will hold its national conference at the Renasant Convention Center March 1-6. About 6000 sorority members are expected to attend.

Memphis is under a tornado watch until 11 AM.

The great thing about the Day of the Deuces is that you don’t even have to leave your own bathroom to celebrate. Back tomorrow with more news.

Monday update

SMU handed the Memphis Tigers a devastating road loss yesterday, 73-57. The Tigers were competitive until a little of the way into the second half, when it was tied 41-41 – then the bottom absolutely fell out for Memphis. They looked like the “ugly Memphis” team (TV announcer’s description) that lost to Georgia.

If there’s a bit of good news, the DM reports that Joe Lunardi still has Memphis in the field of 68 in his latest Bracketology projection. Memphis is on the Last Four In line. Let’s take a look at the remainder of the season:

  • Thursday, February 24 vs. Temple (15-9, 8-5), 6 PM, ESPN2
  • Sunday, February 27 vs. Wichita State (13-11, 4-8), 1:30 PM, ESPN2
  • Thursday, March 3 at South Florida (7-19, 2-12), 8 PM, ESPNU
  • Sunday, March 6 vs. 14 Houston (22-4, 11-2), 11 AM, ESPN

I turned off the NBA All-Star Game at halftime last night. It wasn’t a game, it was a performance. Players just stood around as the other team dunked and shot uncontested threes. It made me realize how much as a Grizzlies fan I’ve been conditioned to appreciate great defense. For those of you who missed Ja’s dunks, here they are:

Team LeBron won 163-160. The Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry was the MVP with 50 points, 48 of which were threes.

Action News 5 has a look at the All-Star watch party that happened in WynnBET Sports Bar inside FedExForum.

There’s a massage therapist position open at the Gould’s at Big Cypress Lodge, the hotel inside Bass Pro at the Pyramid.

ABC 24 interviewed some South Main business owners on where restaurants stand after COVID. The owners stressed that Congress must replenish the Restaurant Relief Fund (RRF).

What’s going on in Ukraine right now?

I hope you don’t need to go to a bank or the post office today, because it’s Presidents’ Day.

Toilet paper maker Charmin is said to have a big announcement ready to drop tomorrow, 2/22/22, Day of the Deuces. They’ll share the news on their Instagram account.

The MemphisWeather.net forecast for today is warm and windy with a chance of scattered showers, mainly afternoon and evening, high 66, low 62. It’s gonna be a wet week and tomorrow night it will turn cold again.

The Trumpster is expected to launch a new social network, Truth Social, this week. You’ve heard the saying, the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire? I have a feeling there will be a similar saying about Truth Social.

I stayed home, wrote, and read yesterday during the hours when there was no basketball on. Currently reading Ogilvy on Advertising, a classic in its field. The book was published in the mid-1980s, before the dawn of Internet advertising, but the psychology taught in the book is timeless. I’m about halfway through and enjoying it so far.

Later today I’ll get out for a while. Back tomorrow with more news.

Sunday update: Important basketball games, suggested mascot change for UT

Two big games on national TV today… at 2, the Memphis Tigers take on SMU in Dallas. With a win, Memphis likely moves into a 10 seed in the projected NCAA bracket. A loss puts the Tigers back in First Four Out or Next Four Out territory. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.

The NBA All-Star Game, Team Durant featuring Ja Morant vs. Team LeBron, will be on TNT/TBS tonight at 7 PM.

The NCAA tournament committee revealed its top 16 yesterday, and the University of Tennessee was projected as a 3 seed, the 11th team overall. The Vols being the Vols, what did they do? They went right out and lost, taking a beating from Arkansas, 58-48. Bet the Vols won’t appear in next week’s rankings.

I’d like to suggest a team name for Tennessee: Instead of the Vols, why not start calling them the Voles? Voles are small, insignificant burrowing rodents with the look of a mouse and the habits of a mole. They’re sometimes called field mice in North America (the things Little Bunny Foo-Foo picks up and bops on the head). Given Tennessee’s frequent failures on the football field and the basketball court, I think the Voles would be an ideal animal to represent their school.

We should make a Most Overrated trophy just so Tenneessee fans can experience what it’s like to hold a trophy.

Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane was the first contestant in the NBA’s 2022 3-point contest last night. He was a little off his game, scoring only 18 points. Karl-Anthony Towns won the contest, becoming the first center ever to do so.

Flaws in the I-40 bridge that led to its closure last summer, and which could have caused the collapse of the bridge, were detectable as far back as 1982, the Daily Memphian reports.

Here’s a link to James Aycock’s COVID Week-in-Review. The numbers are generally trending well, but James notes the last 6 weeks have been the deadliest of the vaccine era in Shelby County. He points out that the city is said to be in a “homicide crisis,” but there have been more deaths due to COVID than homicides in the past 6 weeks.

Today is Hoodie Hoo Day in the Northern Hemisphere. To celebrate, go outside at noon and shout “Hoodie Hoo,” to drive winter away prematurely and to usher in spring.

More than 1000 dead rodents were found at a Family Dollar distribution center in West Memphis. I wonder if that center was responsible for shipping the Downtown Memphis Family Dollar its many, many rodents over the years before it closed?

Action News 5 reports that 404 Family Dollar stores supplied by the distribution center were closed Saturday. I wonder if people who planned to do their grocery shopping yesterday and found their local store closed thought to themselves, “Rats!”

There’s an Elmwood Cemetery tour of African-American history this afternoon at 2. Admission is $20 and masks are required when indoors.

Former DNA president Jerred Price brings his tribute show Almost Elton John and the Rocketmen to the Hard Rock Cafe this coming Saturday.

The Krackerjacks, “the party band of the Mid-South,” play the Peabody’s Grand Ballroom from 9 PM to 1 AM Saturday. The event is to celebrate the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show but all are welcome. There will be a cash bar.

My friends in the service industry look forward to the farm & gin show week every year. They tell me the farmers and ginners are not only fantastic tippers, but very nice people as well.

Old Dominick will host a Mardi Gras party 3-6 PM Saturday. When that’s done, why not keep your beads on and walk a few blocks north to the Blind Bear, which will have its Mardi Gras party that night beginning at 8.

Toot, toot, Tootsie, goodbye… toot, toot, Tootsie, don’t cry… today is the last day for Tootsie at the Orpheum.

It’s going to be a rainy week.

The Beijing Winter Olympics’ closing ceremony just concluded. It’s widely believed that Russian dictator Vladimir B. Putin had held off invading Ukraine until the Olympics were over to avoid offending host country China. President Biden told world leaders that U.S. intelligence suggests Russia will begin an invasion that will culminate in encircling Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital. British PM Boris Johnson believes Russia is planning “the biggest war in Europe since 1945.”

Queen, queen. COVID-19.

I’m going to trade a Sunday for a Monday – stay home and work today, and go out tomorrow. I want to write at least one professional article and I want to buy and read a copywriting book a fellow writer recommended. Back tomorrow with more news.

Saturday update

At 1:43 AM I heard what sounded like about 30 gunshots several blocks to the south of me – about the same loudness and direction as the shots fired at Main and Peabody Place on a Tuesday morning several weeks ago, so I’m guessing that same general area. The final shots sounded closer than the first ones, suggesting the shooter may have been traveling in a vehicle.

I did not see any reports of the shots to the police, nor have I seen a report on Nextdoor. Not sure if that means I heard something else and mistook it for gunshots, or if hearing gunshots has become so normalized down here that no one bothers to call them in anymore.

The Memphis Grizzlies’ Desmond Bane scored the game-winning free throw for Team Isiah to beat Team Worthy, 50-49, in an NBA Rising Stars semifinals game last night. However, Team Isiah lost to Team Barry in the finals, 25-20. The Clorox Clutch Challenge was held between the semifinals and the finals. In the Challenge, teams of two players competed to see who could make five iconic shots from NBA playoff history. Desmond Bane and partner Tyrese Halliburton won in 0:39.1.

One of the men accused in the shooting death of Memphis Chamber president Phil Trenary has been judged competent to stand trial. Trenary was shot in an apparent robbery attempt as he was walking home from a fundraiser at Loflin Yard. There were questions about whether defendant McKinney Wright understood the charges against him and his Miranda rights because he has an IQ of only 63. His attorney claims Wright was put up to the robbery by the other defendant, and the gun went off accidentally.

A zero-tolerance crackdown called Enough is Enough will occur on the city’s roads this weekend. If you drive, obey all traffic laws to make sure you don’t get ensnared in this multi-agency project. And stay off your phone when you’re driving!

The Memphis Tigers have made it to the Last Four In in Joe Lunardi’s Bracketology. Tomorrow’s game against SMU will determine whether Memphis falls completely on the right or the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble. SMU (18-6) is on the First Four Out line of the bubble, so they’ll be fighting for their lives too – and they will have home-court advantage.

The Pick Awards party, recognizing outstanding contributions in the Memphis hospitality industry, will happen Monday, March 7 from 4 to 6 PM at the Renasant Convention Center. There will be live music by the Nick Black Band, food, signature cocktails, a photo booth, and a scavenger hunt. Free parking in the convention center garage. Award winners and runners-up will be announced in

  • Restaurants
  • Attractions
  • Hotels
  • Hosts

The event is free to attend, but they’re asking that you RSVP so they can get a headcount.

The WWE has a pay-per-view premium live event on Peacock starting this morning at 11. Elimination Chamber will feature six-way chamber matches for the WWE World and Raw Women’s titles, while WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns will defend against Goldberg. The broadcast is so early because it will be live from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government pays WWE mega $$$$$ to do two shows a year in the country.

Fox 13 has a look at Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe.

ABC 24 looks at why it’s taking so long to get new license plates in Shelby County. I have a friend who was driving around with expired tags for 3 weeks because he was waiting on his new plate to arrive in the mail.

Oh God this is bad news for Downtown Memphis… the Trumpster will be here Tuesday to present a Unity Award to Dr. Alveda King for the We Love Christian Music Awards at Visible Music College on Madison. Why on EARTH would anyone think it is a good idea for that pussy-grabbing, narcissistic enemy of democracy to present a CHRISTIAN music award?

Today is National Chocolate Mint Day.

I just got back from my morning caffeine run to Downtown Walgreens. I just noticed that they have 10-packs of disposable hand warmers in the clearance rack, which you see right as you walk in (right now they have Valentine’s candy on the rack too). I’ve been told our homeless friends find them very useful. If you buy a pack and hand them out, I’m sure they will be appreciated.

Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias has a show at FedExForum tonight. Iglesias is the star and executive producer of Netflix original series Mr. Iglesias.

There’s a Pagan and Witches Meetup at the Broom Closet on South Main 2-4 today. Rev. Omma will give an overview of Norse mythology, teachings, and practice.

Broke Tall Folk play The Vault tonight at 7.

That’s it for now. Back tomorrow.

Friday update

Last night I decided to partake of the “steak” part of Steak, Whiskey & Poker Night, the new Thursday night special at the Blind Bear. For $19.99 you get a steak, a baked potato with butter, and a salad. The cut of steak changes weekly. Yesterday it was a Creekstone 6 oz. sirloin.

Whoever thought up Steak, Whiskey & Poker Night deserves a Nobel Prize. This is one of the best ideas ever. The steak was perfectly cooked to my specification of medium rare. You have the option of adding cheese, sour cream, and chives to your potato for 99 cents, but I like to taste the butter on my potato so I declined.

Speaking of the Bear, the photos from their February 12 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre party are now online.

The NBA All-Star weekend kicks off tonight with the Rising Stars tournament. 4 teams will compete in games that will not have a game clock. The semifinals will be a race to be the first team to score 50, and the finals will be first team to score 25. Grizzlies star Desmond Bane will play on Team Isiah, coached by Isiah Thomas.

Collage Dance Collective presents RISE at the Cannon Center this weekend. The performance will be the collective’s return to the stage after 2 years and will be in conjunction with the Dance Theatre of Harlem. All audience members, including children, must wear medical-grade face masks. Cloth masks must be accepted. Audience members must show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test, and those 17 and up must show photo ID.

Speaking of masks, the CDC is set to relax its guidance on mask-wearing in the coming weeks.

Alton Brown Live: Beyond the Eats comes to the Orpheum Wednesday, March 16. Comedy, dangerous science, cooking demos.

Twin Soul plays the Tin Roof tonight at 6:30.

Jimbo Mathus and Them Durty Crooks play South Main Sounds tomorrow at 7.

Developer Henry Turley is unhappy that Uptown residents are being temporarily relocated while renovations take place to their public housing units. Turley says there is nothing wrong with the houses, which are only about 20 years old.

The 2022 Memphis Tigers football schedule has been released. Nonconference opponents include Mississippi State (the season opener on September 3), Arkansas State, North Texas, and North Alabama.

It’s the final weekend of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Random fact I learned from the Morning Brew newsletter: Olympic gold medals are at least 92.5% silver.

Today is National Drink Wine Day.

That’s it. Back tomorrow.

Thursday update

Beer lovers now have a new reason to get to the airport early when flying out of Memphis… the Memphis airport’s Concourse B has reopened and it includes a Memphis Made taproom! Enjoy a Fireside or a Junt while waiting for your scheduled boarding time.

The full lineup for the 2022 Beale Street Music Fest, to be held at the fairgrounds from April 29-May 1, has been released. Enjoy scenic views of the Liberty Bowl and asphalt parking lots while your favorite band performs.

Cerrito Trivia will host ’90s Pop Culture Trivia tonight at Old Dominick. The fun kicks off at 7 PM.

DJ Superman plays a free show at Downtown Wiseacre 6-10 PM Saturday.

Cafe Keough has a full-time barista position open. If you want to work in the Downtown core and have your afternoons, evenings, Sundays, and Mondays free, this could be the gig for you.

MemphisWeather.net reports that there is a threat of severe weather this afternoon including possible damaging wind and tornadoes. Noon to 4 is the most likely time for severe stuff and wind gusts could reach 35-45 MPH.

Congratulations to the Memphis Tigers’ Landers Nolley II, the latest Memphis athlete to sign an NIL deal. He’ll represent Boosted Biz, an e-commerce and monetization site where customers can build their brands.

The Grizzlies lost to the Portland Trail Blazers last night, 123-119. Good news: Golden State lost its most recent game, too, so Memphis remains only 1.5 games from catching them for second in the West.

Ja Morant All-Star jerseys have arrived in the Grizzlies’ store.

There will be a couple of street closures next week for the Mid-South Farm & Gin Show. Exchange Avenue will be closed between Main and Second, and Main will be closed between Exchange and Winchester.

Holly has a post about the Turkish coffee at Qahwa in the I Love Memphis Blog. Qahwa is on the ground floor of the Claridge House at N. Main and Adams.

Delta Joe Sanders, Yubu Kazungu, and Amber Rae Dunn perform tonight in the Memphis Songwriters Series hosted by Mark Edgar Stuart at the Halloran Centre. Admission is $5.

Don’t forget, tonight is Steak, Whiskey, and Poker Night at the Blind Bear. Steak with salad and baked potato $19.99, Old Dominick whiskey specials, and Texas Hold’em with Charles, free to play.

Back tomorrow with more news.

Wednesday update

The Memphis Union Mission serves approximately 175 men per night, providing them with a change of clothes, 3 hot meals, a shower, and hygiene products. Currently, though, they are out of razors. Here is an Amazon link to inexpensive razors that work well. If you can help out, please have them sent to

Memphis Union Mission
Attn: Dr. Randy Daniels
383 Poplar Ave.
Memphis, TN 38105

A Wordle-esque game for people who love geography: Globle. You type in the name of a country, and it highlights that country in a shade of red on a globe. The darker the shade of red, the closer you are to the country of the day which you’re trying to guess. It’s a fun way to learn the names and locations of the countries of the world.

Starting Thursday, February 17, the Blind Bear will start doing Steak, Whiskey, and Poker on Thursday nights. On the sites where I write professionally, I write a lot of listicles (articles that are lists). Allow me to present a mini-listicle here:

7 Reasons I Like Steak, Whiskey, and Poker Thursdays at the Blind Bear

  1. It’s not a drag show
  2. From 5 to 10 PM (or while supplies last) every Thursday evening, you can get a steak for $19.99 at the Bear. It comes with a salad and a buttered baked potato. Load the potato with cheese, sour cream, and chives for 99 cents more. The steak variety will change weekly. This week it will be a Creekstone 6 oz. sirloin.
  3. It’s not a drag show
  4. Support local with Memphis-distilled Old Dominick Whiskey specials!
  5. It’s not a drag show
  6. Texas Hold’em Poker hosted by Charles at 7:30. It’s free to play, and the top finishers receive Blind Bear gift cards. How cool is that? You sit down to play poker, you end up with all the chips, and you have enough Bear Bucks to pay for next week’s steak!
  7. It’s not a drag show

Crawfish is back at Max’s Sports Bar this Saturday. The doors open at 11 and the first batch of the mudbugs come off at 12. They come with all the fixins – corn, taters, and sausage cooked in the boil. The price will be $12.50 for 1 pound or $21 for 2 pounds. They’ll also have boiled shrimp for $16 per pound. Sides do not count toward the weight of the box, but are included in the price.

@glazescrawfish will once again be doing the boils. I have had Glaze’s crawfish on numerous occasions and they are BETTER than any crawfish festival’s in Memphis. If you have never made it down to Max’s for some of Glaze’s ‘bugs, treat yo’self this Saturday.

The Memphis Tigers improved to 15-8 with a road win over Cincinnati, 81-74, last night. Joe Lunardi had Memphis as “first team out” in his updated Bracketology yesterday morning. The win last night may have been enough to get the Tigers on the right side of the bubble – but Penny and his team can’t stop to celebrate now. The Tigers are 1 game back of conference leader SMU – and they play on the road Sunday at SMU in a nationally televised game. A win in Dallas would almost surely put the Tigers into the projected field of 68.

Neither 2019 NBA #1 draft pick Zion Williamson nor 2020 Rookie of the Year/#1 pick in everyone’s 2019 do-over draft Ja Morant played in last night’s Memphis Grizzlies vs. New Orleans Pelicans game. Tyus Jones dropped 27 and JJJ added 23 as the Grizzlies rolled to a 121-109 win.

The Grizzlies are now only 1.5 games back from catching the Golden State Warriors for second place in the West. That’s important because the 2 seed is guaranteed to have home-court advantage in both the first round of the playoffs and the Western Conference semifinals.

The Grizzlies host Portland at FedExForum tonight at 7 in their final game before the All-Star break. Locally, the game will be televised on Bally Sports Southeast.

Cordelia’s Market will start doing Taco Tuesdays next Tuesday. $3.50 each, crunchy or soft, chicken or ground beef. Chef Muffin fries the crispy taco shells herself, in-house. The tacos will be made to order rather than sitting in the cafe’s hot box.

Soul & Spirits, the brewery on North Main, has released Mo’ Joe Workin’, an Imperial Coffee Stout that is a tribute to “Got my Mojo Workin'” by Muddy Waters. It’s brewed with local coffeemaker Dr. Bean’s Ethiopia coffee beans. 9.4% ABV, so you want to go easy on this one. It’ll only be available on draft in the brewery’s taproom.

The Daily Memphian uncovered that all the MLGW board members are serving on expired terms.

From Sports Teller: The top 5 Memphis Grizzlies concessions at FedExForum

That’s it for this post. Walking over to Rachel’s Salon this morning for a haircut – my first in 8 months and 8 days. Back tomorrow with more news.

Tuesday update

This is gonna be a fairly quick one.

From CNBC: Every commercial that played during the Super Bowl

From the NFL’s YouTube: Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige & Kendrick Lamar FULL Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show

Two Saturday Night Live legends come to the Orpheum Saturday, September 24. Steve Martin and Martin Short will stop in Memphis as part of their You Won’t Believe What They Look Like Today tour. Get ready to shell out some money if you want to see them; tickets start at $95.

The Memphis Tigers play a road game at Cincinnati tonight at 6. TV coverage will be ESPN+.

That’s it. Back tomorrow.

Monday update

About 9 PM last night, I became a BIG WINNER.

No, I didn’t have a bet through an online sportsbook. No, I didn’t hit my numbers on Super Bowl Squares.

I became a big winner because now I don’t have to watch a league I don’t care about on TV for six months.

If you want to celebrate today for some other reason than it’s a totally contrived holiday designed to sell flowers, candy, and fancy restaurant dinners, try celebrating National Poop Day or National Football Hangover Day. It’s Library Lovers Day but I won’t celebrate that until the Cossitt Library schedules an opening date less vague than “soon.” If the library near where YOU live is open, today would be a good day to go there and read the works of Frederick Douglass, because today is his day. (Here’s a library guide of Douglass’ works)

If you’re a Daily Memphian subscriber, don’t miss this article about Wendy McCrory, who opened the first Memphis franchise for Gus’s on South Front Street. She now owns all but two of the 36 franchises.

From the Washington Post: BUBBLE WATCH: Memphis rounding into form at the right time

Blind Bear has announced a Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball for Saturday, February 26. Guests are invited to wear masks and beads, although of course you don’t have to. The Mario Monterosso Band will perform. Jamie Harmon will take pics and mug shots for the wall and the Amurica photo booth will be parked outside. Drinks and specials will be announced as we get closer to the date of the party.

Play Some SKYNYRD, A Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band, plays the Hard Rock Saturday night. Hmmm… An alternate Facebook event listing suggests the name may be Play More SKYNYRD. Anyway, you get the idea.

That’s it. Short post as expected today. Back tomorrow if there’s any news to report.