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Yesterday I tried a new Downtown deli, River Time Market & Deli. This is a place that is easy not to notice because it’s tucked away on the south side of Court Square, in between Blue Plate Cafe and the former Cupcake Cutie location (111 South Court is the address). I found their menu on their Facebook page and decided to walk up there for lunch yesterday.

The first thing to know is, be prepared to take your sandwich or salad back to your home or office. The place is small and they only have 3 tables, two 4-tops and a 2-top. Secondly, don’t expect to be in and out of there in a few minutes (unless you hit the grab & go; more on that in a minute). This is not a bad thing. They hand-cut the deli meats and cheeses at the time you order your sandwich, and they prepare it with care.

My lunch yesterday:

This is the Memphis Walker: Pit ham, Genoa salami, smoked turkey and mozzarella heated and placed on a sub roll, then topped with lettuce, banana peppers, mayonnaise, and Italian dressing. You get your choice of chips or potato salad on the side. Very good and a much higher quality sandwich than you’d find at one of the chain sub shops nearby.

I will be back, and I tell you, what I want to try next is breakfast. They have biscuit sandwiches for $2.99, and the Deli Ham Cheeser (pit ham, pimiento cheese on a hot buttered biscuit) and the Walkin in Memphis (fried beef bologna and praline mustard on a hot buttered biscuit) are high on my to-eat list. Also on the agenda will be a cornbread breakfast sandwich, which you can build with your choice of meat (pit ham, sausage, bacon, turkey) and cheese (cheddar, Swiss, American, pimiento). Breakfast hours are 8:00-10:30 and the deli is open 8 AM-6 PM Monday-Saturday.

As for the “market” part, they do have a very small selection of groceries including peanut butter, hot sauce, cookies, and candy bars. They have a lot of cold drinks including Coca-Cola products, health drinks, and specialties like South American beverage yerba mate. They have a grab & go with pimiento cheese and various salads like potato salad and fruit salad. They don’t have sandwiches in the grab & go; it’s like a smaller version of the grab & go at Holiday Ham.

If this place has flown under your radar and you work Downtown, I encourage you to get in there this week and check it out. This place is a true mom-and-pop business that needs our support if it is going to make it in that somewhat out-of-the-way location.

PRO TIP: I bet Thursdays are River Time’s least busy days if you want to avoid crowds. That’s the day they have to compete with nearby food trucks.

Yesterday I pulled up The Daily Memphian’s website and saw a headline from sports writer Geoff Calkins that the University of Memphis is nationally ranked. I thought to myself, as much as Penny has loaded the men’s basketball team with talent, I would expect the U of M to be top 10 in that sport. Then I thought, I’m surprised the AP poll and coaches’ poll are out this early, though.

Then I realized, oh, wait, Memphis must have made the top 25 in football this week, following their thundering victory over Southern University last Saturday. But, no. Memphis did receive votes, but not enough to get into the top 25.

I re-read the Calkins article and learned that the University of Memphis is ranked not in a sport, but academically. For the first time ever, Memphis is in the top tier of universities by U.S. News and World Report. I am SO PROUD of my alma mater (grad school) and the place where I worked as a full-time instructor for 5 years. I have kept my eye on the university since my time there, and I have seen a dramatic improvement in all aspects of learning: facilities, quality of instruction, you name it. Heck, they’ve even built a pedestrian bridge so students can get past the damn train and get to class on time.

Calkins rightly points out that the top-tier ranking is not only a result of significant improvements in instruction and graduation rates, but a marketing campaign by University of Memphis president M. David Rudd. He wanted to make sure the U of M did not remain a hidden secret in the world of academia. Dr. Rudd is a great follow on Twitter at @UofMemphisPres. He’s clearly a great communicator and a real people person.

Get ready for extremely heavy traffic on Saturday, as two of Memphis’ premier fall events happen that day. The Southern Heritage Classic is an annual football game between two historically black colleges, this year Tennessee State and Jackson State. Kickoff is at the Liberty Bowl at 6 PM. Expect very heavy traffic in that part of town not just during game time, but all day (I’ll get to why in a moment). The Classic is more than just a football game; it’s a four-day cultural celebration beginning today. There’s a Classic Concert with Gladys Knight and Jeffrey Osborne tomorrow night at the Orpheum, and a Classic Music Festival with Keith Sweat, Joe & Tamia Friday at the Landers Center.

Post-game, tens of thousands of attendees will come Downtown to party. Expect heavy traffic on Second, Peabody Place, etc. 9:30 PM to about 2 AM.

The other huge event happening Saturday, not far away from the Classic, is the annual Cooper-Young Festival. Since the late ’80s this festival has grown, to the point that it now extends down Cooper from Central all the way to Walker (about 10 blocks) and a couple of blocks on Young each way from the Cooper intersection. This is a massive event that draws tens of thousands of people (and actually I would not be surprised if attendance is over 100,000). There are over 400 vendors, bands on multiple stages, and plenty of good food as well as beer and other libations. Of course all the restaurants in the area will be packed, as well as the taproom of Cooper-Young’s brewery, Memphis Made. A few things you know if you attend the festival:

• Dress for the weather. Temps Saturday are expected to be well above normal, with MemphisWeather.net predicting a high in the mid 90s. It is going to be sunny which will make it feel even warmer. A feels-like temperature in the 100s is possible.
• Wear comfortable shoes. You’re going to be doing a lot of walking. If you make a full circle of the festival, you’ll have walked two miles. Plus, don’t count on parking anywhere near the festival, so you’ll be walking even more.
• Don’t expect to have cell service at all during peak hours (around 1 to 5 PM). The cell towers simply can’t handle that many phones in such a condensed area. If you need to check your football scores or call a Lyft to get home, you’ll have to walk several blocks outside the festival boundaries to get service.

If you’re into electronic dance music, my friend DJ Scotty B will have a dance party at the far south end of the festival (Cooper and Walker).

Little Italy is looking for hard workers to open their new location on G.E. Patterson in the former Scoops location. If interested call Giovanni at 631-626-2509.

This Friday, a full moon will occur on Friday the 13th for the first time in almost 20 years. It won’t happen again until 2049.

The Grizzlies are refusing to talk buyout with Andre Iguodala and want him in training camp. I like it. Have him serve as a mentor for the young players for a few months, then still get some value for him at the trade deadline.

That’s the news for now. Back tomorrow with more.

TV series Bluff City Law starring Jimmy Smits, which has been filming in Memphis the past several months, will premiere Monday, September 23 at 9 PM. To celebrate, the Downtown Memphis Commission is setting up a giant watch party in Court Square from 8 to 10 that evening. A DJ will spin for the first hour of the party, then it’ll be time to watch the show on the big screen. The Stix and Stickem food trucks will be there, and beer and wine will be available for purchase. Also on site: Pop-a-Roos gourmet popcorn, MEMPopS, Walking Pants Curiosities, and Rachel’s Salon and Day Spa.

I have more information about Kitten Yoga, taught by my friend Mary Patrick, at the Humane Society on September 21. (Click image to view in a larger size)

As the name suggests, kittens walk around while you do yoga, and all of them will be adoptable. More info/tickets

This is very cool: Brian “Skinny” McCabe, owner of the Hi-Tone, is starting a mobile axe-throwing business. Now you can have axe throwing competitions at your birthday party or corporate event. Or wedding reception, I guess, although that might be a bit weird…

Early voting begins Friday. Here’s a list of locations. Since Strickland refused to debate, I am going to do as I said last week and cast my early vote for Tami Sawyer. Downtowners, the Shelby County Office Building at 157 Poplar is your closest location.

Big Cypress Lodge, the hotel inside Bass Pro, is planning to open a new outdoor lounge this fall. It will be open 5-11 PM Thursday through Saturday and will be available for private gatherings. It will offer views of Mighty Lights on the Mississippi.

Ghostbusters will be shown on the big screen at Cemetery Cinema at Elmwood Cemetery on October 11.

I got to try another of the new Silly Goose pizzas last night:

This is The Sancho: duck, cream sauce, mozzarella, chipotle, tasso ham from Pontotoc Lounge, sweet drop peppers, lime zest, and green onions. This was extremely tasty and my second favorite after The Big Cheese. It’s going on the regular menu soon.

That’s all for now. Time to go to work. Back soon with more news.

They’ve got the signs up. The Downtown Jimmy John’s will be on Union next to Parking Can Be Fun, in the old Agave Maria space. As you can see they even have a dedicated parking area for Bird scooters.

Loflin Yard will have an all day summer bash Saturday, September 14. They’ll have the biggest waterslide they can find, and food and drink specials.

Joost Dijkema, a fingerpicking artist from Holland, plays the King’s Palace Tap Room on Beale tonight.

I saw on Facebook that Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt has a new nickname – Owen. As in, Owen Two.

Got to get to work. Back soon with more news.

With little time left in the BYU-Tennessee game yesterday, it looked like the Vols had the game in the bag, eager to avenge their loss to Sun Belt team Georgia State the week before. They were up 16-13 and were driving toward another touchdown to wrap up the win… but remember, this is Tennessee. They screwed up a run on 4th and 1, turning the ball over on downs. A little while later, BYU, facing a 3rd and 6 with 17 seconds left in the game, made a 60-plus yard play to get within field goal range. They kicked it, sending the game to overtime. Both teams scored touchdowns in the first OT, but in the second, Tennessee went first and couldn’t find the end zone, having to settle for a field goal. BYU then took their turn and scored a touchdown to win 29-26.

I checked ESPN’s site earlier in the week, and their BPI analysis had Tennessee the 72%-28% favorites to win the game. Yet they still managed to screw it up. Because that’s what Tennessee does. That is becoming their legacy. How ridiculous is it that Tennessee is in a Power Five conference and Memphis is not? Tennessee needs to drop down to the Sun Belt conference and let Memphis take its place. At least then Georgia State would get credit for a conference win when they beat Tennessee.

Jeremy Pruitt? More like Jeremy Blew It. I bet it was a depressing day for the “we all watch football together and root for each other’s teams” group that assembles at the corner table at Max’s Sports Bar. Here are some articles about Tennessee’s season thus far:

• BYU’s stunning double-overtime victory sends Tennessee to 0-2 for the first time since 1988
• Urban Meyer “shocked” by Tennessee program’s decline
• Week 2 winners and losers: Tennessee and Miami lead a surprising group of 0-2 teams
• The Bottom 10 means more with Tennessee and the SEC  Good ol’ Rocky Slop, Rocky Slop, Tennessee!
• Georgia State player says FCS’ Furman will be “tougher battle” than Tennessee

Next up for the Vollies: Chattanooga. ESPN has Tennessee as a 97.7% favorite in that game. Bet Tennessee blows that one too.

Let’s get on to the news:

Almost Elton John and the RocketMen will perform a sunset concert Thursday in Harbor Town starting at 6:30. How cool is it that we have an Elton John impersonator running for City Council?

Viva la Que (formerly Vin a Que) happens Thursday, September 19 at the Wiseacre taproom. This is to support the Brooks Museum and there will be open-flame foods paired with craft beers as well as pint glass painting, tours of the brewery, hair braiding, cornhole, and more.

Great news for my Cooper-Young readers: You’re getting a Maciel’s! The authentic Mexican torta and taco shop is coming to 820 S. Cooper, formerly Tart. It is said this location will resemble the Downtown location more than the Highland one. Never been to Maciel’s? Here are a few of my recommendations:

• Chorizo huarache (my very favorite)
• Chorizo cheese dip
• Tinga (spicy chicken) tacos
• Torta Milanesa (deep-fried steak sandwich)
• Elotes con crema (Mexican street corn)

I learned a lesson yesterday. You’ve got to be careful when you follow celebrities on Instagram. In the latest chapter of the Antonio Brown shitshow, he asked for his release from the Raiders on Instagram. Wanting to see what he’d do next, I followed AB on that platform. I immediately got hit with message requests from accounts named “Sexy Photos” and the like that had 0 posts, 0 followers, and were following 0.

There’s sunset jazz featuring Gerard Harris in Court Square tonight 5 to 7.

Edible Memphis has an article about cooking at home with Big Sue, the Downtown resident and K97 DJ who DJ’d the Blind Bear party last Sunday.

Here’s a look at FedExForum events happening this month:

• Nickolodeon’s Jojo Siwa D.R.E.A.M. the Tour Tuesday, September 10
• Kevin Gates – The Classic Mayhem Friday, September 13
• Attitude MMA FIghts XIX Saturday, September 28

There will be a White Claw Apocalypse party at Loflin Yard Saturday, September 21. White Claw is in short supply since it has become so popular, so this will be a day to mark the end of readily-available Claws and the end of summer.

That’s it for now. I stayed home for brunch this morning because I’m slowly starting to train myself that I don’t have to spend every moment other than when I’m at work or asleep at a bar. Writing in my personal journal and catching up on things I have let go for too long. I’ll probably get out around 4 though. Back soon with more news.

This week I got to try several of the new wood-fired pizzas coming out of the oven that the Silly Goose recently finished installing. First of all, let’s take a look at the menu (click image to view in a larger size):

They put a pizza with “Aldo” in the name on the menu. HAHAHAHAHA! That is trolling at its finest.

Now let’s have a look at the four pizzas I sampled this week. I’ll start off with my favorite:

This is The Big Cheese: roasted garlic cream sauce, feta, mozzarella, parmesan, and bacon. OMG that garlic cream sauce is SO good alongside all those cheeses. This immediately became one of my favorite pizzas ever. Vegetarians can request the bacon be left off.

This is The Katie: mozzarella, Calabrian chili, prosciutto, charred kale, parmesan, and olive oil. I was a bit skeptical about ordering a pizza with kale on it, but they assured me it was delicious and it was. Most likely this pizza is named for owner Daniel’s wife, although a lot of people think it is named for regular customer Katie Mac.

Here we have The Silly Goose: pulled pork, pineapple, tomato, mozzarella, cilantro, lemon, olive oil. This is a slice of a friend’s pizza that I was given, and as soon as I took the photo with Perjorie T. Roll I pulled the pineapple off. “What are you doing? The pineapple is the best part. It’s what makes the pizza,” said my friend, grabbing my discarded pineapple and putting it on his own pizza.

One note: If this pizza sounds like something you want to try, you better get down there soon. The pizza chef was talking to us last night, and he indicated he may replace it with something else soon; he’s a bit dissatisfied with it as the cocktail lounge’s namesake pizza. If you have tried this pizza and love it, as my friend did yesterday, you might want to get by the Goose and encourage Daniel to keep it around.

The chef brought out another pizza for us to try:

The City Block: Mortadella, brie spread, asiago, black pepper, Calabrian chili, and arugula. This pizza is named for City Block Salumeria in the Puck Food Hall at 409 S. Main, from which the Goose sources many of its pizza ingredients. This is quite tasty and one I would order again, although honestly I’m so in love with The Big Cheese that I may never order anything else.

The chef said the pizzas come out 10 to 12 inches in size, but he is shooting for a consistent 12 inches as he gets more experience with the oven. Daniel wants to add dipping sauces for the crust sometime soon.

The last few days, the pizzas have been coming out in to-go boxes even when the order is dine-in. I gotta tell you, I disagree with that. For one thing, it encourages people to leave when they’re done with their pizza rather than stick around for another drink or two. I also don’t think people eating out of cardboard boxes fits the cocktail lounge vibe very well.

That’s a minor gripe though. Go try these pizzas!

Well, here’s something totally different. That Golden Girls Show! comes to the Halloran Centre March 28. This show parodies some of the most memorable Golden Girls moments with puppets. Hmmm OK.

I’ve always said that Edible Memphis, an excellent source of food and restaurant news here in Memphis, should have “edibles” at one of its events. Well, they’re doing it. On Saturday, September 28, they are hosting a CBDinner at Comeback Coffee. This is a CBD-paired wine and food event, with food by Justin Hughes of Cafe 1912, and cocktails by Paul Gilliam of Lucky Cat Ramen. The courses will come with approximately 70 MG of CBD, curated by local store Ounce of Hope, whose experts will guide diners through the experience and talk about the products used. Each diner will take home an Ounce of Hope goodie bag with CBD products.

There’s going to be a specialty ticket at the Cooper-Young Beerfest this year. The 10th Anniversary High-Gravity Package, sponsored by Orion FCU, gets you a Beerfest T-shirt, a steel carabiner mug, and a koozie in addition to all-you-can-drink craft beer.

A friend of mine who works for Downtown agriculture tech firm Indigo AG has put the word out the they are looking for Strategic Partner Managers. The candidate needs to be Memphis-based with 3 to 7 years of business-to-business experience. A college degree is required, and Salesforce experience is preferred. This job is 30 to 50 percent travel. I’ve been told Indigo AG is a great place to work, with a lot of perks like free healthy lunches. If you’re interested email me at paul@paulryburn.com and I will get you in touch with my friend so you have an “in” to the job rather than just sending a resume to HR.

Chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman are opening a third Downtown restaurant. This will be in the new Central Station hotel. It will be called Bishop and will be a French brasserie in the northeast corner of the hotel. They are also opening Eight & Sand, “a bar that will be all things Memphis,” near the main entrance. Eight & Sand will be open when the hotel opens in early October, with Bishop opening the following month. Ticer & Hudman currently operate Downtown restaurants Catherine & Mary’s and The Gray Canary.

The MBJ reports that a mixed-use development is planned for three long-vacant buildings at 82, 86, and 88 South Main. There will be 38 apartments upstairs and ground-floor retail. This is great news and will go a long way to the further revitalization of the block of Main between Union and Gayoso.

There’s a bit of controversy in the world of professional wrestling right now, and it’s real, not a scripted angle. When someone is the very best at what they do, people often say he’s “the man.” Well, the best overall performer in the WWE right now is not a man – it’s RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch, who beat both UFC legend Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair at Wrestlemania. Having beat the other top two women in the company, Lynch acknowledged her status as the very best by nicknaming herself “The Man.” The name has been very successful. She uses it all the time in promos, and it has sold a ton of merchandise.

However, about a week ago wrestling legend “Nature Boy” Ric Flair filed for a trademark on “The Man,” claiming he has been saying, “To be the man, you have to beat the man” as far back as 1976. Needless to say, this has not made WWE officials (including his longtime friend Triple H) and Becky Lynch too happy. It also puts his daughter Charlotte in a terribly awkward position, since she frequently feuds with Lynch and “The Man” is used in promos. Charlotte is said to be not too happy with her father these days.

As for Ric’s take on all this, he says he likes Lynch personally and is a big fan of her work. He plans to let her keep using the nickname, whether he wins the trademark or not. He just wants WWE to fairly compensate him for the use of the name.

We’ll see how this all works out. The ironic thing is, Ric Flair stole the “Nature Boy” nickname from former NWA/WWWF champion Buddy Rogers.

That’s all for now. I’ll try to be back tomorrow with more news.

I just want to say thank you to those of you who have continued to come to this blog despite the fact that it’s been largely devoid of content the past three weeks. A lot of my readers have reached out just to tell me they care and I appreciate it.

First day at work was excellent. They had me on a project within 10 minutes of setting my foot in the door. It felt good to hunker down and put in some hard work after all the time I’ve had with nothing to do. Obviously I can’t go into details but I am helping someone who deserves justice obtain it.

I’ll try to get this blog back on track in the next couple of days.

Good news: I have been offered a job and start today. Last week, my blog was shown to a couple of friends of mine who have a law firm. They have a couple of very high-profile cases coming up, and they needed someone to help them sort through the paperwork. Although I have no prior legal experience, they saw that I write well and that I have past experience teaching at a university, and decided that I am bright enough to handle the work.

It’s a very short walk from where I live. It’s a three-month gig, and it’s only part-time, 9 to 1, but that will leave me time to interview for other positions. I am incredibly grateful to these people for believing in me and giving me a chance, and I intend to work really hard. Obviously I can’t talk about the cases I’ll be working on, but they are both quite interesting and I feel like the work I’ll be doing will help get justice for people who need it.

I’ll write more later.

Yesterday I saw something I haven’t seen in many years: a lemonade stand. Two little girls, I’m guessing about 10 and 7, set up a table in front of the Shrine Building, selling lemonade, sweet tea, lemon bars, and cookies as their father looked on from a distance. Their business didn’t last long as numerous people made purchases and they sold out. Downtowners are generous.

I have friends who like to shotgun White Claws on bar patios. They might want to know about this:

Let’s have a look at some of yesterday’s college football results:

Memphis 15, Ole Miss 10: Solid win for the Tigers but it bothers me a bit that they didn’t cover the spread, which was said to be 5 1/2 a few days before the game and 7 at game time. I’m not a betting man so it didn’t matter to me personally, but I would have preferred to see the Tigers overachieve. Next week they’ll play Southern and have an opportunity to fine-tune their performance.

Arkansas 20, Portland State 13: I didn’t know Portland State existed prior to yesterday. The fact that the score wasn’t more like 55-13 tells me Arkansas probably isn’t going to a bowl game this year. At least they beat their cupcake opponent, unlike some SEC schools, such as…

Georgia State 38, Tennessee 30: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Tennessee lost to a Sun Belt team at Neyland Stadium! The Panthers probably got an appearance fee around $800,000 to come to Knoxville and lose… except they didn’t lose. I would love to have been a fly on the wall at Max’s Sports Bar yesterday, to see the look on all those Vol fans’ faces. “Well, things may have got off to a bad start at good ol’ Rocky Top, but let me tell you wut, boy… next year, 2020, that’s GONNN BEEEE ARRRRRRRR YEAR.” Yeah good luck with that.

Get your pets ready for The Blessing of the Animals on October 5:

Tickets are now on sale for Cooper-Young Beerfest. Those of you who are longtime readers know what I am about to say. If you love beer and love learning about beer, this is the one Memphis beer festival you need to attend. It seems like the point of some beer festivals is to see and be seen and get your photo in RSVP magazine (is that even still around?) or Michael Donahue’s Memphis Flyer column. Not this one. CY Beerfest is different and better because

• They require someone involved in the brewing process to be in each brewery’s booth. Breweries can’t just send a marketing person. They want you to be able to talk to a person who made the beer you’re sampling.
• They limit the number of tickets sold, because they want the brewers in the booths to have time to chat with you about their beers
• There is an education tent, where brewers give presentations about all kinds of aspects of making beer, as well as the business side of owning a brewery
• All the breweries they invite are within a day’s drive of Memphis, so if you like what you taste, you can easily go have the beer again in the brewery’s taproom

Well worth the cost of a ticket and a Lyft or Uber ride out there.

That’s it for now. Reminder: no post tomorrow. Back Tuesday (probably) with more news.

 

If you smoke cigars, there are events today and tomorrow that you will really enjoy!

The Beale St. Cigar Festival happens today in Handy Park (corner of Beale St. and B.B. King Blvd.), with the festival itself from noon to 6 and a 10-year anniversary party from 6 to 10 in the evening. General admission tickets are $10 and get you into both of those events. There are also upgrades:

• Robusto Gold Ticket ($50) gets you admission to both events, plus 5 premium cigars
• Robusto Platinum Ticket ($75) gets you admission to both events, 7 premium cigars, a custom cutter, a custom lighter, and preferred seating

I’m not a cigar smoker, but if I were, one of the VIP upgrades would sure sound like the way to go! There will be a cash bar, vendors, and food trucks. Park in the 250 Peabody Place parking garage across from Robusto by Havana Mix.

Then tomorrow, Sunday, September 1 from noon to 6, there is going to be a HUGE party at the Blind Bear. There will be someone there to hand-roll cigars, and DJ Big Sue and Karen Mus’sang Brown will perform.

(Click the images to view them in a larger size; sorry for so much whitespace but that was how they were sent to me)

This event is expected to draw between 300 and 500 people. The Blind Bear is more or less bringing in every server and bartender they have to guarantee good service for the event’s patrons. If you enjoy listening to Big Sue on K97, this is your chance to see her do her thing live. I have personally spoken to the organizers and believe this will be an afternoon of the highest quality.

It’s College Football Saturday! Memphis hosts Ole Miss at the Liberty Bowl at 11 this morning. If you’re not going to the game, it will be broadcast nationally on ABC. Other than that, the best game of the day looks to be Oregon at Auburn, at 6:30 also on ABC. As is typical for the first week, most other schools have cream puffs scheduled to work the kinks out in a real game and to get a W toward that 6 needed to qualify for a bowl invitation.

Great quote I saw on Facebook the other day: “GBO” stands for “Got Blown Out” (“GBO” is what Tennessee fans say; kind of the equivalent of “GTG” in Memphis)

3:30 on a Wednesday will be released on a Saturday, specifically this Saturday. That is the name of the latest beer Memphis Made Brewing Co. is releasing. You can try it in the taproom today. This is a specialty beer for Music Export Memphis, an organization that promotes the music and bands of Memphis in other cities. The name of the beer is a reference to the time and day on which the emergency sirens are tested each week. The beer is a honey wheat, and in additional to the original, they will have raspberry and peach. The release happens today at 3:30.

A new restaurant is coming to the Downtown core. Stix is coming to the ServiceMaster building on Second Street, in the space occupied by Dan McGuinness Pub back when the building was a shopping mall. Stix is a small chain that started in Alabama, and this will be the 6th location. They tested out the Downtown market with a food truck in Court Square on Thursdays, and it did well so they are eager to get into a permanent location. They have pan-Asian food, hibachi, and sushi, and will focus on quick counter service for those looking to grab lunch and then get back to work.

In my Thursday post I mentioned my friend Mary who is a yoga teacher. I saw her yesterday and she told me she will be teaching kitten yoga at the Memphis Humane Society on Saturday, September 21. I guess this is kind of like goat yoga, except that kittens walk around while you do yoga instead of goats. I will try to get more info on this if any of you are interested. A previous version of kitten yoga happened 10-11 AM and cost $25. Mary says the class will happen in “that big open room.” They don’t have the September 21 event listed on their website yet so I can’t link to it.

Two Downtown Memphis restaurants that are normally open on Saturday, Sabor Caribe out in The Edge and River Time Market & Deli on Court Square, will close today so that their staff can enjoy a three-day Labor Day weekend. Both will re-open on Tuesday. River Time, by the way, continues to get a lot of love on the Memphis Sandwich Clique group on Facebook. It’s not on a major thoroughfare so I have a feeling a lot of people don’t know about it or don’t think to go there for breakfast or lunch. Don’t miss out!

Tomorrow is a special 901 Day themed Cerrito Bingo at Loflin Yard, 4 to 6 PM.  Wear any Memphis-themed shirt or outfit and get an extra bingo card. There’s a special prize if you bingo on a number ending in 9, 0, or 1.

Got a couple of pieces of Silly Goose news. Their new wood-fired pizza oven is now operational and they have rolled out a pizza menu. I didn’t take a photo of the menu because it said “Practice Menu” at the top and I am told it will change, but there are 5 pizzas on there ranging in price from $12 to $16. I didn’t order one, but the one I saw come out of the oven looked like it would feed 2 people or 1 really hungry person.

The Goose will host Shop Silly, a girls’ night out, Thursday from 5 to 9. Kelly.Boutique and Dream Lilly Boutique will be there with the latest fall fashions. There will be a DJ spinning a special ladies’ night playlists, and special cocktails for this event will be available for purchase. There will be a raffle where you can win percentages off your clothing purchases.

Congratulations to my friends Brittini and Donny, who got to lay eyes on their new baby boy for the first time yesterday afternoon.

All right. I want to give an update on my thoughts about the upcoming mayoral race. For the past several months I have been undecided between County Commissioner and local activist Tami Sawyer, and currrent Mayor Jim Strickland. My heart has been with Sawyer. I agree with her that Memphis can’t be a truly great city until there is opportunity for all Memphians, not just the ones who live in the right neighborhoods. Women and people of color should have a bigger piece of the city’s economic pie, and I believe Sawyer has the best ideas on how to bring that to fruition.

However, I believe that Mayor Strickland has done a good job in his first term in office, especially compared to predecessors Wharton and Herenton, and especially considering the mess he inherited when he took office. Two accomplishments of his administration I greatly appreciate are the massive reduction of 911 call response times, down to 10-15% of the time before he took office; and the improvements at the Memphis Animal Shelter, where a professional rather than a mayoral crony has been put in charge, greatly reducing the kill rate. Given our city’s history of mayors since I have lived here, I’m not particularly inclined to vote someone out who I generally believe is doing a good job. So, I was leaning toward Strickland.

However, it bothers me a lot that Strickland is refusing to debate Sawyer. It strikes of white privilege, as though he’s using his power to deny her the right to appear as an equal to him on a debate stage. It also makes me wonder if Strickland is scared to debate, sensing that Sawyer might be a good enough orator to tilt the vote her way. Therefore, if Strickland does not agree to a debate before early voting starts, I am swinging my vote over to Tami Sawyer.

By the way, an image of the latest cover of Memphis magazine was being posted on Facebook yesterday, and I hope it is a sick joke and not the actual cover. All three mayor candidates were portrayed in unflattering caricatures. The problem with it was, when I saw the caricature of Tami Sawyer, it immediately reminded me of renderings I have seen of what Australopithecus afarensis might have looked like. A. afarensis is a human-like ape that lived about 3.9 to 2.9 million years ago, and which is very possibly an ancestor of the Homo (human) lineage. If that is the real cover and not just a joke that went viral, Contemporary Media needs to issue an apology. Surely it’s possible to caricature a black person without likening them to an ape.

Programming note: There almost certainly will not be a blog post on Monday. That will probably be my last Bardog Monday before I begin making changes I need to make to get my life back in order. On holidays I like to get there super early to get a good seat. There will probably be a post tomorrow.

Now it’s time for me to decide where to watch the Ole Miss-Memphis game. Do I want to be among people who talk ABOUT me, who make ASSUMPTIONS about me; or do I want to be among people who talk TO me, who LISTEN, who seek to UNDERSTAND me? I think you know which choice any logical person would make.

Bardog it is then.

 

I had many responses via text, email, and private message to my post yesterday. Thanks to all who responded. No matter what the tone of the message, I know you took the time to touch base with me because you care about me.

First of all, thank you to two people who are going to try to help me find work, something which I can walk or trolley to and which will be something I enjoy. Thanks to them also for ensuring that I will be able to get out and see my friends this weekend. Thanks also to the person who made them aware of the situation.

Thanks to two other people who slipped me cash as they shook my hand. The very first thing I did when I got the cash was to go down to the Blind Bear to clear out that bar tab I left open on Tuesday. I found out it had already been paid.

I had a couple of responses saying I need to get in therapy (which is certainly true) and recommended options. Thank you for your help.

Two of you hit the nail on the head. I have gone out to drink socially with my friends for quite some time, but the period when I officially crossed the border into alcoholism was 2015. I had a very bizarre situation develop during that time, one I’ve alluded to numerous times on this blog – gaslighting and the whole “people being shitty” thing. One of my best friends, who means well, tells me “it’s not important.” He’s wrong. It’s very important. It has messed up my psyche for years, and the situation persists to this day unresolved. I can’t just “get over it” and “forget that it happened.” Two of my friends, in different ways, said that in therapy I need to first deal with the mental and emotional trauma of that situation, and then deal with the alcohol dependency issues that arose from it. That’s EXACTLY what I believe. If a therapist tells me differently, though, I will listen.

I had several people who also suffer from depression and anxiety issues told me they could relate to my post, and while they understood how painful it must have been to throw my issues onto a public blog for all to see, it helped them.

I had a longtime friend who moved from Memphis many years ago tell me she does not see someone who lies and uses people in my posts, both here and on Facebook. She sees someone with great kindness who uplifts people. I needed to hear that. That was the response out of all of them that brought tears to my eyes.

By the way, I want to pat myself on the back for something I did last night. A friend met me at Bardog and palmed me a 20 as she said goodbye. With that 20 I could have stayed at Bardog past midnight and had 4 or 5 more beers. I didn’t even seriously consider it. All that was on my mind was getting the 20 over to Blind Bear and squaring up that tab I did not pay Tuesday. I like to go out and drink, but friends are more important. By making that decision I saw in myself what my friend from the previous paragraph sees in me.

I had a couple of friends send me links to AA meetings in the Downtown area, and one even offered to go to a meeting with me. I’m going to have to think about that. I’m not sure I’m down with the twelve-step thing. Although a lot of recovering alcoholics believe “it’s the only way,” I’m not sure I do. Also the steps don’t address the underlying issues that led to my dependency.

I had someone who’s been where I am now, with regards to alcohol, reach out and offer to talk, having gone through the process of getting sober over a decade ago. I may very well take him up on that. He’s offered before but I wasn’t ready. I will probably wait a few days to get in touch because the weekends tend to be his busy time.

I had a few friends contact me to say, “I don’t have any advice but I just want you to know you are loved.” Thanks. I appreciate that.

I had a friend with depression issues herself suggest some medications, both over-the-counter and prescription, that might help. I will think about that. The thing is, I do not have physical depression, meaning the chemical wiring of my brain. So, I don’t know if such meds would be appropriate for me. Again, that’s a question for a therapist.

I had a friend – the same one who means well – fuss at me for going to the Blind Bear right after making yesterday’s post, saying I had no business being in a bar. Well, first of all, I went to the Bear and told Tre, the bartender on duty, that I couldn’t afford to drink at the moment but asked if it would be all right if I just hung out there to be among friends. A couple of beers ended up getting bought for me, but I didn’t go down there with drinking as my intention.

Related to that, another friend emailed to say she too has depression issues most of the time, but when she gets out to the Blind Bear and is around the circle of friends that goes there – including me – she’s actually quite happy. Yes! That’s how it is for me too. Quitting the bars entirely would mean losing my support system.

Perhaps over time I will learn to drink non-alcoholic beverages when I go out to the bars. Thing is, though, I would feel like a bum sitting there drinking a $2 Coke for four hours when the bar stool could be filled by a customer who spent more. Maybe if I tipped according to the time I spent there rather than the amount of my tab it would be all right. And no I’m not going to even consider O’Doul’s. That stuff is garbage.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who replied – even those who lectured me because that is just the way you show you care. I’m sorry I haven’t responded to most of you individually yet. That was by design actually – my friends come from a broad range of backgrounds and have a diverse range of experiences. I wanted to take in what everyone had to say and see what resonates with me.

As of this morning the VALIC money had still not transferred into my account. I called the rep (again) and OF COURSE it went to voice mail. You know how most people cut out of work at 2 or 3 in the afternoon the Friday before Labor Day? I have the feeling he cut out about 9 AM. As soon as the transaction completes I am going to call corporate and complain about him.

So I will have anxiety over the weekend about that situation not being resolved. The good news is, my short-term situation has improved since yesterday. I am no longer stuck with $4 to my name, which I spent yesterday thinking I wouldn’t be able to go out this weekend at all. I now have spending money and a Blind Bear gift card thanks to the generosity of a few people. I will be able to see my friends this weekend. I will be able to get out somewhere tomorrow to watch Memphis beat Ole Miss.

No promises but I’m going to try to hunt down some Downtown news for a post tomorrow. Again, thanks for reading, everyone.