Category: Uncategorized

Sunday update

Game time for the American Athletic Conference football championship has been set. Memphis and UCF will kick off at 2:30 PM next Saturday, December 1, on ABC.

Now, the question is, where will Memphis go bowling this year? Once again, the American does not have first-place goes here, second-place goes here kind of agreements with bowls, leaving them free to pick the matchups fans are interested in seeing. Memphis vs. Tennessee sounded like a perfect fit for the Birmingham Bowl, a money and TV ratings draw. But, the Vols being the Vols, they had to go and screw it up and lose their last 2 regular season games to Mizzou and their “little brother” Vanderbilt, rendering them bowl-ineligible. Probably for the best as no bowl host city would want Tennessee’s fans to come to town anyway. If you want a bunch of idiots running around in orange, just go unlock the door to the local prison… you’ll get finer, more upstanding folks out on the streets that way.

You know a rivalry game I would love to see? Missouri vs. Washington in The Battle of the ‘Zus. Rather than a trophy, the loser of the game cannot be referred to as Mizzou/Wazzu for the following year.

Well, butter my biscuits! Max’s Sports Bar has added a small brunch menu 11-2 on the weekends. The options are biscuits and gravy, and a biscuit sandwich with egg, one meat, and one cheese from their sandwich menu. Thanks to @Otto42 for tweeting the menu.

Max’s also has eggnog slushies in the frozen drink machine to satisfy all yout holiday alcohol needs.

Here’s a list of road closures for the St. Jude Marathon this coming Saturday. To sum it up: Don’t try to drive anywhere Downtown between 7 AM and noon that day unless it’s absolutely unavoidable.

I’m not a coffee drinker and I gave up Fireball earlier this year, but still, this brunch cocktail at Sunrise looks pretty good.

Streetdog Foundation is having a Sippin’ with Santa Paws party on December 8 at Carolina Watershed. You can get you and your dog’s picture taken with Santa Paws, Josh and Jeremy of Star & Micey will perform, and there will be a special release of Pawliday Plaid beer by Memphis Made.

Yesterday I found myself seated around the corner from the assistant director of the Munford High School marching band, and he told me they are marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade this year. Congratulations to them!

Lots of Downtown dining spots made it onto the MBJ’s list of Memphis’ priciest upscale restaurants.

The public is invited to the free 32nd annual Christmas concert at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 648 Poplar, next Sunday, December 2 from 4 to 6 PM.

Several good Black Friday/Cyber Monday specials are going on this weekend. The Redbirds are offering $1 Bluff tickets to Opening Day through the end of the day Monday.

Hulu has a deal going on this weekend where you can get a full year of Hulu for 99 cents a month.

The Grizzlies have a deal going on today for 30% off all orders with promo code SLAMDUNK.

The Daily Memphian sat down with the folks at Wiseacre to discuss their plans to add jobs and distribution with a Downtown brewery.

The Grizzlies host the New York Knicks tonight at FedExForum at 5.  Still hearing that Joakim Noah will join the Grizzlies on a veteran’s minimum deal this week.

That’s it for now. Brunch time. Back tomorrow with more news.

Friday update

There will be a drunk debate competition at Loflin Yard 7-9 PM Thursday, December 27. Two contestants at a time will square off pro and con on controversial topics. This will be a three-round contest, the debates getting progressively more intense each round. Free to enter if you’re having food and drink. Top three debaters win prizes and there will also be a prize for the ugliest sweater.

414 South Main, formerly the home of 99 Cent Soul Food, is up for foreclosure auction. Bidding closes on December 13. With the National Civil Rights Museum right around the corner, that is a prime spot for a business.

The Peabody has its holiday decorations up in the lobby:

The neon arches at the ends of the Beale Street entertainment district are doing their job and getting publicity for the street. The artist who designed the arches says they have been seen nearly 1 million times on social media posts and online videos.

It’s Tiger time! The U of M football team plays to win the AAC West at 11 on ABC. I’m going to head down to the Blind Bear for their lunch and game watching. Back tomorrow with more news.

Wiseacre coming Downtown and more Thanksgiving news

The South City/South of Forum neighborhood got some excellent news yesterday: An anchor tenant for the neighborhood is moving in. You may remember a couple of years ago, Wiseacre Brewing Co. had plans to expand capacity and production by acquiring space in the Mid-South Coliseum. That fell through, but Wiseacre kept searching for a location. Yesterday they announced a plan to purchase land and open a 40,000 square foot brewery and taproom in the South City area. The area will be bounded by B.B. King, Vance, Abel and Butler – so the southeast corner of B.B. King and Vance, basically. The taproom’s entrance will be on the Butler side, so this will be convenient for South Main people. As a matter of fact, I can see some good synergy between the brewery taproom and the soon-to-open Slider Out which will be a couple of blocks away on Mulberry.

Wiseacre is applying for a zoning variance because at 40,000 SF, the space will be too big to qualify as a microbrewery. The original brewery and taproom on Broad will remain open, but will focus more on specialty beers.

This is fantastic news for that area. There have been times when I have followed Downtown’s street hustlers doing their fake “can you help the homeless” spiel in the Downtown core, and after getting the necessary cash they walked down to Abel Street, where I assume they scored drugs. About 11 years ago it got bad to the point where I headed a group to keep tabs on panhandling Downtown with my friend Mike King, and for years I advocated wiping Abel Street along with Allen Street one block over completely off the Downtown map.  A brewery and taproom will go along way to rehab the street. Brewery taprooms tend to be hubs for the local community and the Downtown Wiseacre one will draw lots of foot traffic.

Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers play Oklahoma State in the first round of the Advocare Invitational today at 2:30 on ESPN2. The winner of that game plays the winner of Villanova-Canisius tomorrow.

Daisyland at the New Daisy has announced plans for Blackout! on New Year’s Eve. Seven DJs perform in the ultimate light and sound experience, with lights out at midnight.

Make plans to stop by the 409 South Main Market the night of November Trolley Night, Friday, November 30, for the first-ever South Main Holiday Market.

Shab Chic, the shipping-container shopping center in The Edge at 607 Monroe, will have a holiday market of its own weekends between now and Christmas. Hours will be 4-7 Fridays and noon-7 Saturdays. On Sunday, November 25 and Sunday, December 23 the market will be open noon-4.

Tuesday night the City Council stayed in session until midnight and took 101 votes, unsuccessfully trying to get a 7-vote majority to fill an open seat in District 1 (Raleigh). The vote will now continue at the next Council meeting in December, but the Council will be even less likely to get to 7 votes, because two council members will have rolled off the council by then. Your city government in action… perhaps I should delete the space between “in” and “action” to make the description more accurate.

Memphis Made will open its taproom early tomorrow, at 1 PM, for Black Friday. Prize for the first 25 people to show up, and there will be free donuts too.

First place in Blind Bear trivia last night!

It was mostly Thanksgiving trivia, and having been to trivia night on Thanksgiving week before paid off… there are only so many questions that can be asked about the holiday.

I see that an organization with which I was associated for quite some time has a new skipper. Congratulations to him.

About to head out to two Friendsgiving celebrations. Back tomorrow with more news.

Wednesday update

The annual Christmas tree lighting at the Peabody happens Friday from 11 AM to 6:30 PM. The ducks march at 11 and 5 and will spend the afternoon swimming in the lobby fountain. Local choirs will sing all day. After the evening duck march, the tree will be lit and there will be an appearance by Santa and Mrs. Claus.

The CDC has issued a nationwide warning about romaine lettuce. The bacteria E.coli has been found on the lettuce in multiple states. If you have romaine lettuce in your home, throw it out and sanitize any surfaces that it touched. If you own a restaurant, throw out romaine lettuce and temporarily remove any menu items for which it is an ingredient. Better to inconvenience your customers than to poison them.

Give the gift of baseball this holiday season:

The Metal Museum is interested in acquiring the Memphis College of Art building in Overton Square after MCA closes in 2020. The Metal Museum would move its gallery there, freeing up space in its French Fort location just south of Downtown. The extra space in the French Fort location would expand opportunities for internships, giving the students a chance to work with a variety of materials to which they would normally not be exposed as they are just starting their careers.

Lifehacker has a good article on why you should donate money, not food to your local food bank. Food banks have wholesale/bulk purchasing agreements with local sources, so they can get those canned goods a lot cheaper than you can. Also, money donations allow them to address whatever is the immediate need, whether it is Thanksgiving for families or nutritious meals for seniors.

If you’ve ever thought about being a mentor, opportunities are abundant in Shelby County:

CBS Sports has an excellent article on the Grizzlies finding success by doubling down on the Grit ‘n Grind mentality.

Heading over to Bardog here in a bit to meet my friends Cat Daddy Mark and Nappin’ Ass Nate for lunch, then we’re going to go shopping for a Friendsgiving celebration tomorrow. Back tomorrow or maybe Friday with more news.

Tuesday update

BREAKING NEWS: #1 class of 2019 men’s basketball recruit James Wiseman has committed to the University of Memphis.

Let’s start off this post with a look at the NBA standings.

Roughly one-fifth of the way through the season, the Memphis Grizzlies are in a three-way tie for first place in the West. These are the same Grizzlies predicted to win 34.5 games this season and end up back in the draft lottery. Overachieving!

Rumors all over Twitter are that the Grizzlies are in serious talks with free-agent center Joakim Noah. It’s clear that people have strong and polarized opinions about this. I don’t think such a signing would be a bad thing. The Knicks still owe Noah many millions so we could get him for the veterans’ minimum. He’s a good fit for the team’s defense-wins-games mentality, and he’d be an insurance policy in case Marc Gasol gets injured. Noah wouldn’t steal substantial minutes from Jaren Jackson Jr. – maybe at the beginning of the season this would have been a concern, but now that he’s starting it’s too obvious to everyone the team has something very special in JJJ. Jackson will likely end up at center after Marc Gasol retires, and Noah would give him another excellent mentor at the position. Seems to me this is worth a gamble.

From November 19 through December  19, any time you drink a Sierra Nevada beer on draft at the Flying Saucer, a dollar will be donated to wildfire relief in California.

Fake friends are the worst: This video was making its way around social media yesterday.

I wonder if orange cat offered gray cat a fist bump and said, “Hey, cat, I’m glad we’re still talking. I’mm glad we’re still friends.”

Bardog will open at 5 on Thanksgiving and for those who come hungry, Chef Hector will offer a Thanksgiving feast. Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and marshmallow-covered sweet potatoes for $21. Bardog will be open until 3 AM that night.

Commissioner Tami Sawyer has an Amazon wish list where you can donate items for winter care packs. These packs will be given out to 7th and 8th grade boys shortly before the holiday break, to ensure they remain healthy and in good hygiene while they are away from the resources of school.

Ghost River is holding another important meeting the day after Thanksgiving. If you’ve had enough of your relatives and you just need to get away and have a beer, tell them you have an important meeting to attend. Marcella Simien will perform 3-5, football will be on TV, Eddy’s Pepper food truck will be on site, and they’ll have a special-release Rosemary Pale Ale on tap.

Holiday hours for the venues on Beale Street:

TEDxMemphis will happen at Crosstown Concourse on February 2. Submit your ideas for TED talks through December 3. Artists, activists, academics, innovators, leaders and dreamers are invited to submit ideas.

Useful for shopping for Downtowners: Gifts for the sneaky booze drinkers among us

Aldo’s Pizza Pies Downtown has announced its annual Pizza with Santa event from noon to 3 on Saturday, December 15. There will be photos, crafts and cookies. All they ask is that you bring a wrapped toy for Memphis Toys for Tots.

From Maxim: Science says vegetarians are sad and unhealthy, so go ahead and have another steak. Studying over 1300 different people with all kinds of diets, scientists found that vegetarians are more likely to need health care and have higher incidences of cancer, allergies, and mental health issues. So toss that tofurkey in the garbage can this holiday season!

That’ll do it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.

Monday update

I had a good birthday yesterday. I led off at B-RAD’s bar at Pontotoc Lounge, where Full Metal Jackie brought me a warm brownie.

It was good! Perjorie T. Roll (herself with a birthday coming up soon) and I enjoyed it very much.

About 4:00 I moved on to the Blind Bear. My friend Stacey was eating some beer cheese soup, and thinking it was a special for the day, I ordered some. It turned out to be Stacey’s soup but she gave me a cup. 

I planned to make it a late night, but plans changed. My buddy Josh asked, “Can I buy you a birthday shot, Pauly?” I don’t do a lot of shots anymore but I’d been well behaved all day, so I agreed to one. A minute later I found a glass of clear liquid in front of me.

“Josh… what’s that?” I asked.

“That’s moonshine,” Josh replied. Now, the Bear has 7 flavors of moonshine, most of them a harmless 40 proof. The highest alcohol content of the flavored moonshines is the hunch punch at 80 proof. However, all the flavoted moonshines have color to them.

“Which moonshine?” I asked.

“Blue Flame,” Josh replied. Blue Flame is the Bear’s most potent Old Smoky moonshine, at a devastating 128 proof.

“And what’s that smaller glass next to the moonshine?” I then asked.

“It’s a pickle back,” Josh replied, meaning pickle juice. “You’re going to need it.” I had no doubt I would. I clinked glasses with Josh and did the shot, then the pickle back. Amazingly it didn’t come back up.

Thirty minutes later, I knew I had to call an early end to the night. I could barely order a ride home through my Lyft app.

It was a good birthday though. I got the one thing I wanted, which was to be with my friends. Thank you to all who celebrated with me and all who sent me good wishes.

The Memphis-Houston game to determine who will be champions of the AAC West has been set for 11 AM Friday. The game will be broadcast on ABC.

The River Rat Rounders free poker league are having a fun and unique event at Club 152 on Beale on Saturday, December 1 at 7 PM. It will be a tag team poker event. You and your partner start at separate tables, each with your own stack of chips. At various times the tournament director will announce “tag!” and when that happens, you have 30 seconds to trade places with your partner – even if you are in the middle of a hand.

The students of Visible Music College are putting together two free performances of A Visible Christmas – Too Much Christmas at the Halloran Centre on Tuesday, December 4 at 4:30 at 7:00. Caroling, trees, lights, elves, with Christmas music old, new, and original.

Most people know this, but from this past weekend it was clear some don’t: If you go to a bar to watch football on a local station, and the bar has Xfinity cable, add 800 to the channel number. So put 803 instead of 3 in the remote control; 805 instead of 5, and so on. That gets you the game in HD.

Firepit Fridays start this Friday at River Garden at Mississippi River Park. They will light a couple of fire pits and there will be s’mores, hot cocoa, and more. This will be a weekly event, presented by Memphis River Parks Partnership, through January 25.

Seen on Facebook: “If I see that elf on a shelf, I will probably unfriend you this holiday.”

All right, that’ll do it for today. Back tomorrow with more news.

Sunday update

The Grizzlies are offering a new way to introduce your kids to the basketball games without busting your budget. For Sunday games this year, any adult who purchases a Terrace I, II, III, or IV ticket will receive a free ticket that can be used by a child age 12 and under. The special will be on for next Sunday’s game against the New York Knicks, the March 10 game against the Orlando Magic, and the April 7 game against the Dallas Mavericks.

The Flyer’s Hungry Memphis blog has been on fire this week, full of good news about Downtown restaurants. Their latest is a report on Little Italy opening a location Downtown at 106 G.E. Patterson.

I was in Bardog Tavern yesterday and I saw something kind of interesting. The guy sitting to my right ordered the Amazing Island Club (grilled chicken cutlet, ham, fried egg, bacon, provolone, white American, avocado, onion, lettuce, tomato, spicy mayo), normally a double-decker sandwich, without bread and ate it out of a bowl with a fork and knife. For his side he substituted grilled asparagus for fries. I never knew there was a healthy way to eat the Amazing Island Club, but it looked good. I may have to give that a try sometime.

Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers beat Yale 109-102 in two overtimes last night at FedExForum. What a fun team this is turning out to be.

Random thing I learned on Facebook this weekend: There’s a new Beastie Boys book out by band members Mike “Mike D” Diamond and Adam “Kid Adrock” Horovitz. I may have to get that one next after I finish the current book I am reading. It’s available in ebook format, which is nice because I like to keep all my books on my iPad.

Memphis clothiers Lansky Bros. and Oak Hall are teaming up to offer Lucky Socks for the holidays. These socks are vibrant and colorful, designed by patients at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. You can get them 3 for $32 (men’s or women’s) at any Lansky at the Peabody or Oak Hall location. They come in a collectible gift box and a portion of the sales are donated to St. Jude.

The exhibit Crafting a Legacy, celebrating 40 years of collecting and exhibiting at the Metal Museum, will open February 3.

It’s Bring Your Dog to Bingo Day today at Cerrito Bingo at Loflin Yard at 5. All players with a dog will get an extra card. When y’all going to have Bring Your Troll to Bingo Day?

Folk/rock artist Brian Sabel will provide the tunes at Sunrise Memphis brunch this morning 10 to 1.

I watched a bit of WWE NXT Takeover last night, particularly the Tomasso Ciampa vs. Velveteen Dream match for the NXT championship and also the WarGames match. Great stuff. If you’re a WWE Network subscriber and you don’t watch NXT, you are missing out. Tonight, of course, is Survivor Series, with 5-on-5 Raw vs. Smackdown men’s, women’s, and tag team matches. Also on the card are Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan and Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair.

That’s if for this post. I wanted to go over a couple of easily-missed stories in the national news, but I’ll save those until tomorrow because I have the time-sensitive item about Sunrise brunch. Heading out to D-RANKS with B-RAD at Pontotoc Lounge for Sunday Birthday Fun Day at 11, then this evening I will be at Blind Bear. Back tomorrow with more news.

Saturday update

The Downtown Christmas tree lighting party happens this afternoon at 4. A giant tree has been erected at the corner of Main and Peabody Place, and today it’ll be time to light that sucker up! Santa appearance, hot chocolate, S’mores, fun for the entire family. Or you could leave the damn kids at home and pop into the Silly Goose next door to try one of their seasonal cocktails. Whatever you want to do.

While we’re on the subject of the Main and Peabody Place area, a couple of months ago I teased in a post that a high-end barbershop and men’s grooming parlor was on its way to the area. The cat is now out of the bag – Downtown is getting a Baron’s Man Cave location. Haircuts, beard and mustache trims, facials, shaves, and treatments for men’s hands and feet.

Their Presidential men’s pedicure is sixty bucks… yeah I don’t think I’ll be throwing my toenail clippers anytime soon. Besides, I kinda like the feeling of getting out the vacuum hose and sucking up the nails after I get done cutting them.

Not a Downtown event but worth a drive tonight: There’s a gala in support of Caritas Village out in Binghampton at 2509 Harvard. Caritas Village is a wonderful organization that uses food, art, and hospitality to break down walls between cultures and ensure a place at the table for everyone. There will be art by artist in residents Jared Bullock and a meal by Chef Mac Edwards.

If you’re passionate about the development of our beloved Downtown, there may be a job waiting for you at the Downtown Memphis Commission. The DMC is looking to hire a Commercial Strategist. From reading the description, I can tell that this would surely be a job that is never boring.

The Memphis Tigers are now one game away from winning the AAC West. The Tigers toppled SMU last night 28-18 in Dallas. The Tigers host Houston at the Liberty Bowl next Friday and a win would give Memphis the West. As of Saturday morning ESPN’s power index gives Memphis a 59.4% chance to win that game. Betcha everyone down in Orlando will be rooting for the Cougars next Friday, because Memphis is NOT the team UCF wants to see in the American championship game.

What could this mean for Memphis bowl-wise? The AAC does not have well-carved out slots in bowls. (Meaning, first place goes here, second place goes here, etc.) The AAC has 7 partnerships with bowls and teams are selected to deliver the best matchups in markets where people will want to see them. None of the other AAC leaders (UCF, USF, Houston, SMU) are within a convenient driving distance of Birmingham, making the Tigers an ideal fit for the Birmingham Bowl, where they’d play an SEC opponent. Tennessee maybe? That’d draw fans from all over the area. It’d also keep the Vols’ orange-wearin’, possum-eatin’ hick fans out of the Liberty Bowl and Memphis.

Crosstown Brewing Co. will host a silent disco the Saturday after Thanksgiving from 9 PM to 12:30 AM. DJ Tree and DJ Taz will be spinning the tunes. The last time they had one of these it sold out, so get your tickets early.

Here’s another event not happening Downtown today but which would be super, super cool: A conversation with the legendary Bar-Kays at Crosstown Arts.

Thai restaurant The Nine is now open in the former Bangkok Alley space on Union, and Hungry Memphis stopped in for a look.

Hungry Memphis also reports that the new chef is tweaking the menu items at Evelyn and Olive, tuning up the spices a bit, making the food more authentic. Coconut seared salmon, Caribbean fried chicken, and soups made with chicken feet and goat’s head are also in the works.

Asian-American restaurant Wok’n in Memphis is settling into its new digs at the 409 S. Main food hall. Yesterday they posted a photo of their Peking duck with scallion pancakes, the duck from fellow 409 business City Block Salumeria.

Out at Memphis Made Brewing Co., the annual Memphis Bigfoot Festival happens today.

I learned a Lyft/Uber tip this week that is especially useful for those who live on places like the Main Street Mall where cars cannot pull right up to your front door. Previously, I had been ordering Lyfts from the lobby of my building, 10 S. Main, which is in between Madison and Monroe. Problem was, sometimes Lyft would route the drivers to pick me up at Main and Madison; sometimes Main and Monroe; sometimes it would try to route them down alleys (including ones that don’t exist) to try and get them to my front door. Now I just put in 1 S. Main, which is at the corner of Madison, as my pickup location. Since then Lyft has routed them all correctly to Main and Madison and there haven’t been any more problems. If your Lyft drivers have trouble getting routed correctly, change your pickup spot to a nearby convenient location for better results.

Time to head out to Bardog for Saturday brunch at Bloom’s bar. Arkansas-Mississippi State will be on ESPN but I don’t know if I can bear the torture of watching any more Arkansas football this year. Really, if someone requests the Ohio State game be put on, I’m not going to argue.

I may take tomorrow off because I won’t have a lot of time, but I will be back soon with more news.

 

Friday update

A huge game for the Memphis Tigers football team will be nationally televised tonight. The Tigers travel to SMU for a game on ESPN2 tonight at 6. As unlikely as it seems, the Tigers could repeat as AAC West champions with wins over SMU and Houston.

From the CA: Why does Memphis play so many Friday night games? And how does this affect high school football in the area? (On a side note: This is a good article but I HATE that the CA’s Tigers podcast starts to auto-play when I pull up the page. I went there to read an article, not listen to a podcast.)

On a sad note for Tigers athletics, basketball player Karim Sameh Azab has passed away from leukemia.

Tonight Postmodern Jukebox turns back time to a point we all imagine as being in black and white – a simpler time – as they bring their Back in Black and White tour to the Orpheum.

Cordelia’s Market will show The Goonies on the North Porch this evening. Chili and grilled cheese are on the menu. Food will be served beginning at 6, and the movie will start at 6:30.

First 5000 fans at FedExxForum tonight get a Marc Gasol cooking apron. It’s part of Zero Hunger, Zero Waste night sponsored by Kroger. The Grizz tip off against Sacramento at 7.

That’s it for now. Posts may be kind of brief as I get out to celebrate my birthday weekend. Plan today is lunch at Mary’s bar at the Blind Bear, over to the Silly Goose for happy hour, then probably back to the Blind Bear to watch the Tigers vs. SMU.

Thursday update

It is believed that Gordon Ramsay was in town yesterday to save a Memphis restaurant. The host of 24 Hours to Hell and Back tends to seek out restaurants that were once popular, profitable hotspots, but which have now seen better days. He then rescues the restaurant in 24 hours. There were lots of people on Facebook and Twitter speculating yesterday as to what restaurant he is here to rescue. I won’t speculate here other than to say the most credible guess I heard is not a Downtown restaurant.

Liars in The Edge District? Say it ain’t so! The Bluff City Liars bring The Kevin McDonald Thing! to Stop 345, at the corner of Madison and Danny Thomas, the night of Sunday, November 18. Kids in the Hall‘s McDonald will perform a standup comedy routine, then there will be sketch comedy performed by Memphians (McDonald is in town to conduct a seminar on the topic), and then the evening will wrap up with a bit of improv by the Bluff City Liars.

Professional golfer, golf analyst, talk show host and comedian David Feherty comes to the Orpheum tonight. Reviewers have described Feherty’s one-man show as “uncensored and unhinged,” “stupendous,” and “two hours of zaniness and madcap storytelling.”

Explore Bike Share is throwing a party/fundraiser at their historic warehouse quarters, 61 Keel Avenue, tonight. There will be food, drink, music from the Soul Shockers, a silent auction, and you’ll get to mingle with the people who keep the bikes on the streets and expand mobility for Memphians.

Tako’s Treasures has opened at the Peabody Place office building in the former Life Is Good space. They have vintage clothing and accessories with a focus on recycling.

Popular Downtown restaurant McEwen’s on Monroe has purchased additional space and will be expanding soon.

Several Mud Island employees were let go as Memphis River Parks Partnership plans to integrate the park with the rest of the riverfront.

Still having computer problems. I bought a 16 GB USB drive at Walgreens for $17.99 so I can load a 4.4 GB Windows 10 Recovery disk image into it and use it to reset my full-sized laptop. Except, that didn’t work, because the 16 GB drive errors out “drive full” just past the 4 GB mark. I’ve tried every trick in the book, but despite the drive’s Properties showing 14.5 GB free, it won’t fill up beyond 4 GB.

So I went on Amazon and found a 64 GB USB drive for $13. Four times the storage (and 16 times more, if this new drive lives up to what is advertised) for a smaller price. When I am going to learn not to go anywhere but Amazon for electronics?

That’s it for now. Going to finish up a few chores at home and then get out and about. Back tomorrow with more news.