Category: Uncategorized

Wednesday update

I was a bad boy yesterday. My plan for after work yesterday was to run to the bank, get a haircut, run down to STIX for their $50-gift-card-for-$25 sale, then come home and work on my professional writing career.

I ran to the bank, got a haircut, went to STIX, then crossed over the parking lot at Second and Gayoso to get back to Main Street… well, hey, there’s the Blind Bear! I suppose it’d be rude for me to walk right by without even stopping in to say hello.

If someone knows of a course entitled “How to Say Hello in Less Than 3 ½ Hours,” let me know.

The University of Memphis men’s basketball team tips off at home tonight, hosting Arkansas State at 7. Those attending tonight’s game will want to note FedExForum changes related to COVID-19.

The Daily Memphian has great coverage of the COVID-19 task force press conference yesterday, so for the most part I will turn you over to them for complete information. Some highlights:

  • There was some confusion about parties being hosted in an enclosed tent, as happened at In Love on Winchester Saturday night. A tent is still an “enclosed space” and is not subject to the same rules as outdoor events. Apparently Health Department inspectors onsite didn’t understand this.
  • Dr. Haushalter indicated that all restaurants will follow the same rules going forward, whether they are full-service or limited-service. She never directly said it but I got the sense that the tripwire closing ONLY limited-service restaurants AKA bars if 450 new cases/day threshold may not be relevant anymore. Whether that’s a good thing or bad thing  I can’t say.
  • By the way, Dr. H’s response was to a Memphis Business Journal reporter who asked, “With hospitalizations up, how is it that bars are allowed to still operate?” If I had an MBJ subscription, I’d consider canceling it due to the tone of that question. I invite that reporter to visit Bardog or Blind Bear sometime. My friends who own bars are doing everything by the rules. Don’t blame them for the surge when the real problem is people who have symptoms but go to work anyway.

Pink Pig Apparel is back online for a limited time. The brand made famous by Shelton Clothiers more than 10 years ago is back for your holiday shopping needs, with men’s polos, baseball caps, and women’s tees.

If you did No-Shave November, you could get a free McRib for posting a photo of your clean-shaven face to social media today.

Although I’m done with web development as a career, I’m still on job email lists. Usually, I just delete the emails without ever clicking into the jobs, but this one sounded interesting: Developer/Programmer/Hacker. Sounds like you’d have to work your ass off but you’d be in on the ground floor of a startup with a great idea and would have potential to rise to Chief Technical Officer. The URL makes it appear the job is with a New Jersey company, but really, in web development during COVID times, nearly every job is remote. If you know someone in IT who would be excited about this opportunity, pass it along.

I want to give a shout-out to Larry, a new stylist at Rachel’s Salon at 10 N. Main yesterday who did a fabulous job cutting my hair while my regular stylist takes some time off. Although he has years of experience, he’s new to the salon and still building up a clientele, so go see him if you need someone new to do your hair. Conversation with him yesterday:

“Now, if we take three inches off, that’s going to hit right at your shoulder blades. Is that where you want it?”

“That’s perfect.”

My mom would roll over in her grave if she heard that conversation. Now that I think about it, Silver who cut my hair 2004-2006 would too.

Visible Music College will host a free virtual event with Christmas classics tonight beginning at 6:30. The college also plans to release an album with the songs performed tonight.

Donald Trump’s vice-president/narcissistic enabler Mike Pence will be in town tomorrow for a coronavirus discussion.

From Local Memphis: The “heart” of the Orpheum, The Mighty Wurlitzer, has returned

The Best Times, a magazine for active mature Mid-Southerners and the old coots who sit at the corner table at Max’s, has an article about the Downtown Memphis Christmas tree.

Seeing a report that Union was closed from Danny Thomas to Riverside this morning at 12:54 AM… I assume it’s back open now, but I wonder what that was about? Anybody know?

There’s a part-time server position open at The Sheraton on North Main across from the Convention Center.

Grizzly Bear Blues: Jaren Jackson Jr.’s absence at the start of the 2020-21 season will allow other young players to develop. Brandon Clarke will have the biggest opportunity to shine.

You know the Trumpster is screwed in his bid to claim election fraud when even Attorney General Bil Barr disagrees.

That’s it for today. Got several articles I’m writing for Medium in the pipeline, so it is extremely unlikely I will go out after work. Back tomorrow with more news.

Tuesday update

One more reminder: Today is buy a $50 gift card for $25 day at Stix Downtown. That is a screaming deal on some yummy fast-casual Asian food. Take a look at their menu to see what they have. I am not sure if there are any restrictions that come with these gift cards as there often are with Downtown restaurant gift card sales; might want to ask before you order. I personally am willing to put up with a few restrictions to get a Grizz Burrito or some Filet Mignon Hibachi for effectively half off.

The big story in Memphis coming out of the weekend was a party called The All Black Party thrown by Curtis Givens at his club In Love Memphis at 7144 Winchester. The good news was, the party was outside, which is safer than indoors as relates to the spread of COVID. Bad news, there were hundreds of people gathered, with no social distancing and hardly any masking. Discussions on Facebook indicate there may have been people who attended this party after having received a recent positive test for COVID.

I watched a press conference yesterday afternoon by Dr. Stephen Threlkeld, a local infectious disease expert, and he explained how this party was so dangerous because it has the potential for spread on top of spread. Meaning, two weeks from now, people who attended the party will be sick with COVID. Even worse, four weeks from now, the parents and grandparents of those who attended the party will be sick with COVID, and because of their age they will be more likely to require hospitalization, overwhelming the system.

To the people who attended the party: Look, no judgment here. I’m bored AF and I know you are too. But please, please go get tested, and if you’re positive isolate yourself, especially from the elderly people in your lives. And be aware that if you attend more events like Saturday night’s, a second Safer at Home order will be inevitable.

Hospitals are starting to cancel elective surgeries due to the surge in COVID-19. I want to say a word about this. My mom had a knee replacement around 2010. My grandmother had a hip replacement in 1988. Both of those, I believe, would technically be considered elective surgeries. But both my mom and my grandmother would have been left in pain and unable to walk for weeks had they needed those surgeries this month.

This morning’s Daily Memphian headline: Is there data to show diners get infected at local restaurants? Health Department refuses to provide it. Dr. Haushalter, head of the department, has received numerous calls from media over the past week but has not returned them, nor has city mayor Strickland. County mayor Harris says he’s “seen all kinds of data” but won’t elaborate. I bet today’s COVID-19 press conference will be a heated one. The Thanksgiving holiday allowed officials to escape accountability for over a week, but the clock is running down.

Wiseacre 2 (the Downtown location) is hiring for beer & food prep for its taproom:

South Main Sounds will stream Christy Lynn Band (Duo) online tonight at 6:30.

If you’re running in the virtual Memphis marathon this Saturday, WMC Action News 5 has tips to get the most out of the experience.

From The Guardian: Since he lost the election, Trump is losing Twitter followers while Biden is gaining them. I guess pretty soon Trump will call Twitter “the enemy of the state” and encourage his followers to delete their accounts and join him on Parler.

That’s it for today! It’s possible I will do a COVID-19 press conference recap after work, but I have a haircut appointment at 1:30 so I’m not positive I will be able to fit one in. I should be back no later than tomorrow with more news.

Monday update

While preparing today’s blog post I came across a very important holiday some of you may want to put on your calendar. The first Friday of December – so this year, Friday, December 4 – is Bartender Appreciation Day. This holiday was created by Sailor Jerry in 2011 to show appreciation for bartenders’ skills and the services they provide.

From Cristina of City Tasting Tours:

City Tasting Box showed out with this holiday exclusive SUGAR & SPICE box! There’s FOURTEEN small businesses you can support with one purchase! Black Friday Weekend Sale ends Monday – 15% off everything + $5 Nationwide Shipping

If my mom were still alive, that box would absolutely be one of her Christmas presents from me this year. Keep it in mind for your family and friends who don’t live here – or even those who do.

There’s a GoFundMe to help feed and clothe the less fortunate in Memphis this holiday season. I can promise you the money will be used wisely; this is organized by my buddy Rahul, who participated in many activities to help the homeless when he and his parents had a convenience store out in Binghampton.

A petition is circulating to ask the Shelby County Health Department to release all COVID-19 data that led them to conclude that imposing further restrictions on restaurants was warranted for Health Directive No. 15. Sharing the data would go a long way to helping the restaurant owners understand the “why” behind the decision. Many restaurant owners feel like their industry is being singly targeted by health officials who want to be able to say they “did something” about the surge.

Not a local story but very cool: 17-old entrepreneur has a business selling chicken wing-style sauces. Her company generated $192,000 in revenue last year and she has raised $245,000 in funding. The barrier to entry in business has been flattened in the age of the Internet. If you have a great idea and are willing to go out there and put in the work, the sky is the limit.

From The Daily Memphian: COVID has taken a $4 million bite out of a fund used for Downtown improvements, funded by tourism dollars. This could affect Tom Lee Park improvements, most of which are scheduled to happen after Memphis in May 2021. (But will Memphis in May 2021 happen?)

Also notable in the article above: Downtown Huey’s is really hurting from the lack of tourists. Y’all go up there and get a Texas Toast Burger or some nachos or whatever your favorite is.

The DM’s restaurant reporter Jennifer Biggs will be on FM 91.7 Thursday at 11 AM with Tawanda Pirtle to discuss Biggs’ first-ever Steak Sandwich from Jack Pirtle’s Chicken. If that time doesn’t work for you, the podcast will drop this week on The Daily Memphian website.

Baptist Ambulance is hiring EMTs and Paramedics.

From The Dirty Crow Inn:

Who has been missing the food from The Dirty Crow Inn??
Well, stay tuned!

Momma’s took over the building at Crump & Kentucky where The Crow operated, but the deal allowed The Crow to keep exclusive control over its own recipes. I’d love to see the “5-Star Dive Bar” make a return, especially if it’s a little closer to home.

Still writing professionally on Medium… in October, it took only 8 days to beat my September earnings… in November, it took 29 days to beat my October earnings. Not particularly pleased with that but I guess it’s better than not beating my October earnings at all.

Hmmm… “Quotes from experts” is an article type that always does well on Medium. Maybe I’ll write one titled “4 Experts Share Their Most Powerful Advice For Fighting Covid” and quote the following experts:

  • Becky from Facebook
  • Karen from Facebook
  • Kandi from Facebook
  • Sue “Social Distance Yourself/Wear a Mask” Richardson from Twitter

I have a lot of errands to catch up this week, so it will likely be Thursday before I get out to do anything fun – assuming “fun” does not get completely banned by the Health Department by then. Back tomorrow with more news.

 

Sunday update

New Wing Order has a 20% off gift card sale going on through the weekend. Here are the details:

Blind Bear has size medium logo hoodies back in stock. I believe they are $35.

If you like Bardog’s food but maybe haven’t dined in as much as you would have liked due to the cigarette smoke, remember that it’s all nonsmoking right now – upstairs and downstairs. This isn’t due to a decision by Aldo, but rather Health Directive No. 15. They have a temperature check and the door and really good social distancing if you want to give dine-in another try.

Here’s a link to James Aycock’s COVID week-in-review. If even his most conservative predictions are correct, we’re in for another round of restrictions before Christmas.

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

Saturday update

Gift card sale alert: Asian restaurant STIX will sell $50 gift cards for only $25 each at both its Downtown and Collierville locations Tuesday, December 1. Give the gift of Beale Street Rolls, Tuna Nachos, and Filet Mignon Hibachi to friends, family, co-workers, or yourself.

People suck: I was listening to the police scanner last night and there was a report of a man rolling a wheelchair toward the McDonald’s in the medical center district. It belonged to a homeless man with no legs who was left in the parking lot of the Exxon down the street lying on the ground, crying out for his chair.

I met a gentleness coach on Medium.com yesterday. I didn’t know that was even a thing, but boy, do we ever need that profession right now.

Also on the scanner, last night a 2010 Dodge Ram was stolen at Fourth and Union by a man who put his hand in his coat pocket and implied to the owners that he had a weapon. This happened a little after 10. Everyone be careful going walking around Downtown at that hour. With all the restaurants closed, it’s the equivalent of walking around at 5 in the morning pre-COVID.

No matter who the players are, no matter who the coach is, the men’s basketball Tigers seem to produce the same result every season. They fail to pass multiple times to set up a great look. They jack up threes and generally play like they’re still in AAU competition. They lose to squads that are far less talented but who understand teamwork and taking care of the basketball. It happened yesterday vs. VCU and the Tigers now possess a losing record and an uphill battle getting to the Big Dance in March.

The Tigers have added Central Arkansas to the schedule, filling the December 4 slot Ole Miss pulled out of due to COVID concerns. Needless to say, that is a downgrade and the Tigers could win by 60 and still not impress the NCAA tournament committee. Tip-off will be 7 PM and the game will be on the ESPN+ subscription service.

The football Tigers are on the road at Navy tonight, a 6 PM kickoff with the game televised on CBS Sports Network. A loss would put Memphis out of the hunt for the AAC championship game.

Tin Roof is the latest restaurant to jump on board with Drag Bingo. Pattie O’ Furniture will call the action at 1 PM in the Green Room, but brunch starts at 11 AM and the Roof has bottomless mimosas.

There’s an Open on Main Small Business Saturday Pop-Up Shop today at 55 S. Main. They’re open normal hours 10:30 to 6, but if you come between 12 and 4 there will be free wine for those 21 and up, and you can get two purchases wrapped for free by Get Wrapped 901. The 30+ vendors’ offerings include ceramics, art prints, jewelry, apothecary, weavings, candles, vintage and more. There will be social distancing, of course.

Yippie Trippie & The Pork Stars will be the food truck at Grind City Brewing Co. today from 1 to 9. If you haven’t been to this fabulous new brewery yet, GO TODAY while you still can before the Health Department shuts everything down. It’s like Loflin Yard but with craft beer brewed onsite.

Those of you who are posting or responding to the “Honor a Pet Who Is No Longer Here” meme on Facebook, I hope none of you are using your deceased pet’s name as a website password.

High Ground News has excellent coverage of Downtown Memphis Commission’s transit and parking plan for the core, The Edge, and the Medical District.

A highly disturbing article from Gizmodo: Microsoft’s creepy new “productivity score” gamifies workplace surveillance. I’d recommend letting that system gamify you typing resignation_letter(1).docx. Furthermore, you know how career coaches advise you to be tight-lipped during exit interviews? This is an exception; tell them EXACTLY why you’re leaving.

Y’all want to see what my Thanksgiving looked like?

I debated long and hard whether to accept an offer to come out to my friends Randy and Theresa’s house in Eads for dinner. Dr. Haushalter and Dr. Randolph advised keeping Thanksgiving within your household wherever possible. However, my household is just me and it would be a lonely Thanksgiving, and Randy and Theresa are people I see regularly so it’s not like the chances of us giving each other COVID would be significantly greater. Each of us has to decide how much risk we can reasonably take on during this pandemic, and I judged the risk as reasonable.

My Thanksgiving plate. Since Randy and Theresa are Northerners who now live in the South, there was both dressing and stuffing. As you can see, Perjorie T. Roll chose to stand next to the green bean casserole because it was closest in color to her hair.

Apple pie with homemade vanilla ice cream. Theresa said the pie, pre-baking, weighed 20 pounds.

A canned mixed drink in their freezer. I posted this pic to Facebook with the caption “+1.” Most of my Facebook friends didn’t get that but I’m sure Wilbur, David the Worm, Mirrorboy, and Guido did.

Perjorie was super excited about this Grasshopper, a chocolate mint flavored mixed drink that exactly matches the color of her nose. Melissa at Bardog makes a good Grasshopper if you want to try one.

I watched the Downtown Memphis Commission set up for Safe Santa yesterday. They had a snowglobe set up next to the Christmas tree. He sat inside while kids stood outside the globe for photos.

Wait a minute… I thought Dr. Fauci said Santa is an essential worker who is by his very definition immune to COVID. You’d think the snowglobe wouldn’t be necessary then?

Other than the Memphis game, college football games of note today:

  • Texas Tech at #23 Oklahoma State, 11 AM, FOX
  • Penn State at Michigan, 11 AM, ABC (can a game be a “marquee game” when one of the teams involved is winless all season?)
  • #22 Auburn at #1 Alabama (Iron Bowl), 2:30, CBS
  • Pitt at #3 Clemson, 2:30, ABC
  • #8 Northwestern at Michigan State, 2:30, ESPN
  • Mississippi State at Ole Miss (Egg Bowl), 3:00, SEC Network
  • LSU at #5 Texas A&M, 6:00, ESPN

This has been an unusual November in that we have yet to have an ultra-chilly day when the temperature struggles to crack 40. Looks like that day will arrive as November goes out. MemphisWeather.net has Monday starting in the low 30s, maxing out near 40, and then dropping to the mid-20s overnight Monday/Tuesday. I’m grateful we actually had a fall this year but it is coming to an end.

There’s a move to save the old Griggs College of Business building at 492 Vance, which has been scheduled for demolition. It was one of the first Black-owned colleges in the city and it was open until about 1976. Learn more about the building from Memphis magazine’s Ask Vance.

The Grizzlies have announced their preseason schedule.

  • at Minnesota (Target Center), December 12 and 14, both 7 PM
  • vs. Atlanta (FedExForum), December 17 and 19, both 7 PM

Fox 13 has coverage of the Peabody’s guests-only tree-lighting ceremony.

That’ll do it for today. Back tomorrow with more news, if there is any to report.

RIP Dr. Herman Green

I’m very sad to report that Dr. Herman Green passed away this week. Dr. Green, who had a drive-by 90th birthday party earlier this year, was one of the last (perhaps THE last) of the Beale Street musicians of the 1940s. Dr. Green was the saxophonist and heart and soul of local jam band FreeWorld. Thank you Dr. Green for your many years of service to the Memphis music scene.

Thursday update

The Memphis Restaurant Association hand-delivered a letter to Shelby County Health Department Director Dr. Alisa Haushalter, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, and Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. The letter requested improved dialogue between the Health Department and restaurants. WMC has the full text of the letter.

The Memphis Tigers defeated Saint Mary’s 73-56 in the opening round of the Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota yesterday. They play Western Kentucky at 11 AM today, with the game nationally televised on ESPN.

Memphis River Parks Partnership will host two webinar feedback sessions for those who use the trails in Tom Lee Park. They want to hear from walkers, runners, bike riders, scooter-riders, and skaters.

Out in The Edge, Boxlot will host a Holiday Market next Friday and Saturday, December 4-5, with seven Black businesses participating.

In other Edge news, WREG reports that Slim & Husky’s pizzeria will open on Union in the neighborhood, just steps from Sun Studio. Opening date for the pizza joint, inspired by hip-hop, is December 16.

Just in case I don’t do a post tomorrow morning, remember that the Downtown tree lighting and photos with Safe Santa will happen at Main and Peabody Place tomorrow at 4.

Kellan Bartosch, co-founder of Wiseacre, told the MBJ the story of Little Bettie, the pizza kitchen that will open in the Downtown Wiseacre taproom.

The COVID numbers are starting to look a little better… this morning COVID Act Now has Shelby County with a reproductive rate of 1.01 (had been as high as 1.2) and a new case average of 34.0 (had been above 45).

WMC has the info on where to get a free Thanksgiving meal today.

Zoom and Microsoft Teams are allowing unlimited calls today so you can share a virtual Thanksgiving with family members.

Happy Thanksgiving. More likely than not I will take tomorrow off from blogging.

Wednesday update

I watched the COVID-19 task force press conference with a PBR in my hand, having got off work early yesterday. I want to start off with a scary statistic: Last weekend, the city hosted 4 testing sites for people who were asymptomatic – meaning, they had absolutely no idea they were sick, and were just getting tested out of curiosity.

9% of those people tested positive.

Friendsgiving events are popular Downtown, and everyone hosting one or attending one needs to take heed of that statistic. For every person you invite, there’s a 9% chance you’re inviting COVID as well.

Let’s do a little math here… if you’re asymptomatic, there’s a 91% chance you don’t have it.

If you spend Thanksgiving with one other person from outside your household, there’s a 0.91 * 0.91 = 0.8281 chance neither of you have it.

Invite a third person from another household, and there’s a 0.91 to the 3rd power = 0.75 chance neither of you have it.

Invite seven asymptomatic people from different households and the probability drops to 0.47 – in other words, it’s more likely than not that someone at your gathering has COVID and doesn’t know it.

Not to mention the person you invite who thinks, “My throat is a bit dry and I have 99.8 fever, but I’m sure it’s nothing, I’ll be fine, I don’t want to miss out on turkey and pumpkin pie.”

Dr. Haushalter clarified the part of Health Directive No. 15 that says people sitting together should all be from the same household. She said the restaurants are not expected to police their patrons, checking IDs and requiring MLGW bills as proof that people live in the same household. She said that if people tell the host or server they live together, it’s reasonable to believe that they do.

Next, I want to address an issue that was covered in the press conference yesterday: During this pandemic, health officials across the country find people cussing at them and threatening them. I’ll give a personal example. When one of the local bars restarted trivia night, a team named itself “Fuck Dr. Haushalter” and that was chosen as the winning name. I thought that was highly inappropriate. The health officials have a job to do, and while I disagree with some of the decisions they make, I have no doubt they have the community’s best interests at heart.

Dr. Haushalter, Dr. Randolph, thank you for your service to our community, and I wish you a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Tigers on national TV today: Memphis plays Saint Mary’s in the first round of the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, SD today at 1 PM on ESPN2. COVID has caused several teams to have to be replaced. The tournament field is

  • Memphis Tigers
  • Northern Iowa Panthers
  • South Dakota State Jackrabbits
  • St. Mary’s Gaels
  • Utah State Aggies
  • VCU Rams
  • Good ole West Virginny Mountaineers

This MBJ article on inquiries about buying Earnestine & Hazel’s makes me think the real estate agent does not understand owner Caitlin Chittom’s desire to sell to a local owner who will keep the spirit of the dive bar alive. He’s talking about a restaurant downstairs and apartments upstairs.

Off work today, so I guess about 8 I’ll walk over to the Cossitt Library at Front and Monroe and read a book. Wait, what? The library’s not open? Well, I guess I will walk in that general direction a few minutes after 8 and see if I find anyplace that strikes my fancy. Thanksgiving is a slow news time, especially during a pandemic. Back next time I have news to report, sometime between later today and Saturday probably.

Tuesday update

Yesterday I reported that a well-known Downtown Memphis bar is said to be up for sale, and out of respect for the owner I didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag. Well, the announcement has been made: Earnestine & Hazel’s is for sale. Owner Caitlin Chittom posted to Facebook, saying the sale was not about money. Rather, the memories of her late father Bud Chittom, who had owned the building since the 1990s, were too much for her.

Caitlin says she is 100% committed to selling to someone who is local, and who will keep the legendary dive bar, known for its Soul Burgers, jukebox, ghosts, Nate’s bar upstairs, and history as a brothel intact as it has been for nearly 30 years. I am so relieved to hear that. E&H is a legendary piece of Memphis culture and needs to be preserved. The selling price is $975,000 and you can click the link above to see how to get in touch with the real estate agents. I’m going to go buy a Powerball ticket and buy E&H if I win.

Health Department Director Dr. Alisa Haushalter and County Health Officer Dr. Bruce Randolph appeared before the Shelby County Commission yesterday, their first public remarks since dropping Health Directive No. 15 late Friday afternoon. Haushalter was asked about the regulation that you must keep your mask on between bites and sips at restaurants. A Commissioner asked, wouldn’t that contaminate the mask by touching it so much? Haushalter stated that the goal of the regulation is not necessarily to take it on and off between bites and sips. “Exercise some common sense and work around,” she said.

Haushalter and Randolph left after giving their presentation. About 20 Shelby County business owners were there to give statements on the impact of the new restrictions, but by that point no representative from the Health Department was still present to hear their concerns, nor was a representative from either Mayor Harris’ or Mayor Strickland’s office.

I listened to part of the Commission meeting online and later in the evening talked to a business owner who had presented an impact statement. Let me just say this in response to the remarks of certain Commissioners: Liberal authoritarians are every bit as bad as conservative authoritarians. There are politicians I have supported in the past that I will never support again because of the way they have handled the pandemic response – in particular, being dismissive of those who do not hold the same opinions as their own.

Kooky Canuck owner Shawn Danko was interviewed by Action News 5 about the impact the new regulations will have on small businesses. No one wants to lay off employees right before Christmas, but restaurant owners may have to. Shawn said that Downtown Kooky’s profit is down by more than 50% since the pandemic started.

Jennifer Biggs and her team from The Daily Memphian went out spying on area businesses again, spot-checking them to see if the mask-on-between-bites rule was being enforced.

The DM has an opinion piece that Friday afternoon is the wrong time for the Health Department to drop new rules and regulations. Agree so much with all of this!

Not surprisingly, holiday parades are off the table this year. The Downtown Memphis Commission will have a safely distanced tree lighting Friday at the corner of Peabody Place and Main.

The Turkey of the Year glass is now on sale at the Flying Saucer. Normally, each year the Saucer picks a public figure as Turkey of the Year. This year, however, the Turkey is the year 2020 itself.

I made an appointment with Rachel’s Salon to get a haircut next week, and I want to remind all of you in need of a haircut or style or color or bad hair extensions (who was I thinking of when I typed that?), go ahead and get that done. If there’s an expected post-Thanksgiving surge in COVID cases, hair salons and barber shops could be on the chopping block in the next round of restrictions. The surge should hit around December 8.

A coronavirus outbreak has forced Ole Miss to pause its basketball program until December 7, canceling its game against Memphis and three others.

As a pro wrestling fan, I’d be remiss if I didn’t congratulate 30-year veteran The Gobbledy Gooker on winning his first championship. Sunday at Survivor Series, the Gooker pinned R-Truth to win the WWE 24/7 title.

That’ll do it for now. I’m off the rest of the week after today, so my posting schedule may be somewhat irregular. Back tomorrow if there’s any news.

Monday update

Memphis now has a kickoff time for its upcoming game Saturday against Navy in Annapolis: 6 PM. No national TV is listed for the game.

Thai food truck Soi Number 9 will be at Cordelia’s Market tonight from 5:00 to 7:30.

StyleBlueprint recently sat down with Paige Garland, owner of Rachel’s Salon and Day Spa.

Keep your eyes tuned to social media throughout the day, because the Downtown Neighborhood Association has promised a big announcement.

If you’re a Daily Memphian subscriber, Jennifer Biggs has a good piece on the latest health directive’s rules for masking in restaurants. Glad to see her calling them “outrageous,” but she points out, it’s what we’ve come to. If you go 78 on I-240’s south loop, the cost of the speeding ticket comes out of your own pocket. However, if you fail to wear a mask inside a restaurant, the restaurant is the one that could end up getting hurt, not you – it could have to close for two weeks. Support your local restaurants, but please follow the regulations, stupid as they are.

South Bluffs residents, lock your doors and don’t leave belongings in your cars. Three men were observed climbing over the wall to the private complex Saturday night.

Fox 13 reports that a man was stabbed at 272 S. Danny Thomas Blvd. last night. The woman who is said to have stabbed the victim apparently knew him, so this was not motivated by robbery or a random act of violence.

Rumors are swirling that a popular Downtown bar has closed for good and is for sale. I don’t want to report it here yet because I do not have confirmation from the owners, but people active in the community say the rumor has legs.

That’s the news for today… back tomorrow with more.