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You know, this month I have really rediscovered what at great place Bardog Tavern is to hang out. It’s not like I didn’t know this: I’ve been coming every Saturday for years, and for the first year and a half Bardog was open I hung out there most every day. In recent times, though, it seems like I haven’t paid as much attention to this great locals’ bar – also the closest bar to my front door – as maybe I should have.

There were several reasons why. For one, Bardog was the first of the new locals’ bars to open in the Downtown core. As places like the Silly Goose and Blind Bear opened later, my attention was divided.

Another reason was that the law school opened. When I went in Bardog 2011ish the place would be packed with law students. It became a situation where I’d walk in and not know anyone of the 100 people there, as opposed to the old days when I’d know half the people sitting at the bar.

A third reason was my addiction to Foursquare. If you check in at a venue more than anyone else over a two-month period, you become “mayor.” As “mayor” of both the Flying Saucer and Blind Bear (and for a while in 2013 the Silly Goose as well) I felt obligated to go to those places to defend my mayorship. That left little time to visit Bardog.

This month, though, I’ve been going back more and the place really feels like home. It’s no longer super crowded with law students. I know half the people at the bar like I did in the early days. I’m rediscovering great food like their sliders and their deluxe grilled cheese. Of course, the staff there is just awesome. Aldo knows how to hire good people.

Another plus is that Bardog rides the PBR train. I can go in there and get my favorite beer on draft for $3.

Yesterday was full of reasons why I enjoy being at Bardog. I got there at 11 and started the day with my “DAWG” John D. We’re the two constants on Saturday morning; you never know who else will show up. They had the Tigers-UConn game on ESPN and our friend Mike showed up to watch. Then our friend Buddha came in. A little later in came our friends Misty and the Nuh-Uh Girl, who had just finished the Move It Memphis 5K.

Mike ordered one of the brunch specials, a lump crabmeat omelet. The Nuh-Uh Girl tried a bite from his plate and said it was very good.

A bit later in the day, our friend Buddha ordered one of the best appetizers on Bardog’s menu, four meatballs which are Aldo’s grandmother’s recipe, along with a slice of bread for dipping in the marinara sauce. Here are a few pics of the Nuh-Uh Girl finishing Buddha’s balls off.

There was a lot of Fireball being consumed, which led me to take an early “halftime” nap. I got back out at 8:30 and went back to Bardog. I wasn’t there long though. I got a text from one of my BBQ teammates who told me to come to Bluefin for a “VIP surprise guest.” There were two surprise guests, actually, two of the crowd that hung out on the Number 10 Main rooftop in the summer of 2005. They have both gone on to very successful business careers, and both live in the Chicago area now and were back in town for a visit. That summer was a blast. There was a chef in the building who cooked for his family of 4 on the rooftop grills, and would always cook extra for the neighbors. We’d bring wine to share with the chef and his wife, and that always made conversation interesting. In one such conversation in late May, after much wine I decreed that June 2005 in my then 1-year-old blog would be a special month – “Tube Top Month,” a tradition which continues to this day.

About midnight I powered on my phone to check the time. “The streak may get broken today,” I thought. I had a streak of checking in at the Flying Saucer on Foursquare going for 293 days in a row. That included a couple of days when I was sick and had to call in to-go orders (too bad you can’t get beer to go) to maintain my streak. I was having a good time with my friends, though, and wasn’t going to leave. If the streak gets broken, so be it, I thought.

However, about 12:30 everyone paid their tabs. There was a lot of sushi left over. Too bad the Nuh-Uh Girl wasn’t there for leftovers. Those tempura rolls looked really good. I need to get by Bluefin and try them soon. The group decided Raiford’s was the next stop. I did not have enough gas left in the tank for dancing, so I said my goodbyes and made it to the Saucer for consecutive checkin 294.

I’m making a resolution that from now on, I will not let Foursquare dictate where I hang out. If I break consecutive-day streaks or lose mayorships, I will not worry about it. However, since I’m so close to 300 I will hold on to the Saucer streak until Friday.

I got another treat in the form of an out-of-town visitor at the Saucer: My friend Joe, who is a pilot, has been based out of Indonesia for the past 6 months. He’s back in town for a week and it was good to catch up. He and I both like spicy food so we had that to talk about. He showed me a pic of a sumptuous seafood meal and told me it cost him US $2.62.

I finished back where I started, at Bardog. What a great Saturday and a great reminder of how much I love my life Downtown.

Time to go get checkin 295 done and then figure out the rest of the day.

Turn on ESPN at 11 this morning to watch the Memphis Tigers take on UConn. This is a very important game for seeding in the American Athletic Conference tournament as well as the NCAA tournament. UConn beat us at home last month and the Tigers need to get their win back. A win would mean that we have beat 4 teams that were ranked in the top 25 at the time, which would look good to the selection committee. A loss could have us looking at a 9 or 10 seed in the NCAA tournament.

I’ll be watching the game from my usual Saturday morning seat at Bardog Tavern. Go Tigers!

If you live Downtown and have to drive tomorrow morning, allow extra time. The Move It Memphis 5K/10K will happen tomorrow morning from 10 AM to noon and streets will be blocked for the runners for periods of time.

Concert news: Morrissey has announced a May 27 date at the Orpheum. My “DAWG” John D must be giddy with joy over this announcement. Every time a bartender at Bardog gives John a couple of bucks to put in the jukebox, I know I’m about to hear some Smiths.

The Peabody Pastry Shop has Valentine’s Day ducks waiting for you.

From Bleacher Report: Russian curler Andrey Drozdov hits a bullseye – with his head. Ouch!

There’s a warning out from the FBI that the person you meet on social media and fall in love with may be a scammer. Sadly, this has happened to at least one of my Facebook friends. The person being scammed gets messages from an American working overseas whose profile matches her interests. The conversations get romantic and the scammer professes his love for the victim. He may even send flowers and gifts to her home address. They make plans to marry soon when he returns to the States. However, then a “tragedy” occurs in the scammer’s life, often a sick relative. He can’t afford to pay, and he asks the victim to send money. He may also ask her to forward packages and cash checks for him, and the victim willingly does so, not knowing that she is participating in the shipment of stolen goods and money laundering. If you get messages like this on Facebook or other social media, watch out.

Ladies, a tip for tonight: Nothing says “Happy Valentine’s Day” like a tube top. Outta here for Friday. I hope those of you who celebrate V-Day have a good one.

As I logged into just now to make this post, WordPress informed me that two of the top search terms that lead to my blog are “tube top” and “girls see through shirt dunk tank.” I really need to find a way to monetize that.

After I posted about the March 15 St. Patrick’s parade on Beale Street yesterday, one of my readers messaged me a possible reason why the parade is at 2 PM this year rather than the usual 4 PM. The American Athletic Conference tournament will be at FedExForum this weekend and the championship is at 5 PM. Moving the parade time back will allow people to attend without being late for the game.

Wiseacre Brewery will be at Bardog from 5 to 7 tonight. There will be specials and giveaways. I love how Bardog puts an “M” next to local beers on its draft beer board. That makes it easy for out-of-towners (and residents too) to tell what the Memphis products are.

Speaking of Bardog, I had their deluxe grilled cheese sandwich last night, which comes topped with ham and bacon. At $6.99 it’s a very affordable and very tasty dinner. It comes with Bardog’s award-winning fries or potato salad. First time I’ve had the deluxe grilled cheese in a couple of years, and I had forgotten how good it is.

There’s a Groupon for Kudzu’s going on right now. $8 for $16 worth of food.

Monster Jam comes to the FedExForum this Friday and Saturday. If you’re still trying to figure out what to do on your date for Valentine’s Day, here you go.

From the Flyer news blog: public art could be coming to South Main.

Memphis Tigers forward Dominic Woodson has been suspended indefinitely. Woodson has been warned in the past about the foul language he uses, and when he used that language on the bench where fans could hear it, Coach Pastner sent him to the back early. Woodson won’t be going to the Saturday game at UConn and won’t be brought back until Coach is convinced he has made a permanent change.

If you’ve seen the TV commercials for Shari’s Berries (and how could you miss them, they’re everywhere) but prefer to shop local, Miss Cordelia’s has chocolate-covered strawberries.

That’ll wrap up this Thursday post. I’ll be out after work, probably leading off at the Silly Goose as I usually do on Thursdays.

Today’s post will start off with information about a couple of parades coming to Beale Street in March. On March 8, the second annual Grizzlies Dribble Parade will take place on Beale. For $35 you will receive a Grizzlies basketball, a T-shirt, and a ticket to the 7 PM game against Charlotte. A portion of the proceeds will go to Youth United Way of the Mid-South. More information here.

The Beale Street St. Patrick’s Day parade will happen one week later, on Saturday, March 15. This will be the first parade since founder and spirited leader Silky sullivan passed away, and everyone involved wants this to be the best parade ever to make Silky proud. The time has been announced as 2 PM, odd because in previous years it has begun at 4. They are still looking to add bands and dance teams. Email the organizers at bealestreet@bellsouth.net if interested.

Cafe Keough received some praise from former Downtown Memphis Commission president Jeff Sanford in a tweet this week. He complimented the lunch, salads, sandwiches and soups, and said it looks like a place in the Village in New York City. The cafe is in the Number 10 Main building, on Main between Madison and Monroe.

FedExForum has announced that Lionel Richie’s “All the Hits, All Night Long” will come to the arena on June 18. CeeLo Green will be the special guest.

The Orpheum has filed a $10.2 million permit for construction on a new Centre for Performing Arts at 225 S. Main, currently the parking lot south of the theatre. The centre will offer advanced performing arts education programs. More info here.

A new band of snow has fired up over Crittenden County as of 1:00 and it looks like it may be headed this way. We may not be done with winter weather quite yet so everyone be careful on the roads today.

You may have seen one of those “As Seen on TV” commercial for a device called Stufz. Stufz is claimed to be the easy way to make a gourmet stuffed burger. Tonight, Action News 5’s Andy Wise puts Stufz to the test at Downtown restaurant the Green Beetle, making stuffed versions of the Beetle’s burgers. I hear there will be a special guest judge helping out, someone who is an expert in the local burger community.

This Thursday, the Downtown Central BBQ will tap the last available Memphis Made Humbucker IPA keg on earth (for now) for the weekly Thirsty Thursday event starting at 4 PM. This beer is a limited edition IPA with generous portions of Amarillo hops. The Memphis Made Brewing Co. held this last keg back specifically for their friends at Central. There will also be Memphis Made Lights Out and Plaid Attack on draft for only $3, and if you buy one of those beers you get to keep the Memphis Made/Central glass. There will be fresh fried chicken skins, pork rinds, and homemade potato chips to snack on at the bar. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Speaking of beer, a new homebrew supply shop is set to open at 2881 Poplar in the Chickasaw Crossing shopping center.

You may have heard that the Memphis Symphony Orchestra is in a state of financial crisis. If you want to donate to support the symphony, you can do so here on Kickstarter. Of course, you can also support by going to www.memphissymphony.org buying tickets to performances.

The Grizzlies host the Washington Wizards at 7 at the FedExForum. SportSouth will be the local TV for this game.

I’ll be at poker at the Blind Bear tonight at 8. Expect a “winner winner chicken dinner!” post to Facebook about 10:45.

Beer drinkers, would you like to own a Guinness glass with your own name engraved on it? You can get one at the Brass Door starting at 5 PM tonight. The glasses are first come, first served until they run out.

Want to tour the newly-renovated National Civil Rights Museum before it opens to the public? You can, at tomorrow night’s South Main Association meeting at the museum, which is free to both members and non-members. There will be a social in the foyer at 6, followed by the meeting and tour at 6:30. Cash bar, appetizers compliments of the SMA. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Holly from the I Love Memphis Blog tried the Valentine’s Day Flight at the Flying Saucer recently. A flight is a good way to sample many different beers, with five 4-ounce taster glasses. The Valentine’s Day flight is made up of dessert beers and you also get some sweet treats on your serving board.

That’s all for today. I’ll be out at the usual places after work.

Last night I stopped by the Blind Bear about 9:00 for a PBR or two. After bringing me a can, Colin who was bartending asked if I’d like to see the “new, new menu.” “There’s another new one?” I asked. The “old, new menu” was only about a month old. Colin brought it to me. For right now it’s just a printed menu on a clipboard. They haven’t had time to insert it into the covers yet. “It’s two pages,” Colin told me, with the appetizers on page one and the entrees and desserts on page two.

I saw that the pepper jack mac & cheese was now prominently featured on the “Hotsy-Totsy” (appetizer) section of the menu. I was pleased to see it, because before it hadn’t been on the menu at all and you had to know to ask for it. A lot of people likely missed out on one of the best sides/apps in Downtown Memphis because of that.

Then I turned to page two, “The Great Gatsby” (entrees). Several of the dishes I had covered in my recent Paul’s PBR Review of the Blind Bear were gone. However, a new one appeared that I was delighted to see: Crawfish pepper jack mac & cheese! Two of my favorite foods, combined into one bowl. I have had crawfish mac & cheese a couple of times in my life, but it has never been on a menu of a restaurant I go to regularly. I ordered it immediately. “It’s a big bowl,” Colin told me.

Colin was right. It was a sizable bowl of the Bear’s signature pepper jack mac & cheese, with not only crawfish tails but asparagus as well. The asparagus added a nice touch to the dish and made me feel like I was making at least a little effort to get a serving of green vegetables in for the day. There was plenty of meat and it seemed like I had a crawfish tail in just about every bite. Despite having skipped lunch, there was enough of the mac & cheese that I could not finish it all.

Later in the evening, Jeannette, another of the owner-operators, came over and asked if I had seen the new menu. She mentioned that it is “a menu in transition” so if the crawfish mac looks like something you want to try, better do it soon. Personally, I hope it sticks around for the long haul. Not sure what’s going on with the menu. I didn’t ask last night because the place got super busy after Wicked let out. As soon as I can find out what’s going on (and the Bear is OK with me posting it) I will have an update.

In other news, the FedExForum is offering a GameDay ticket special for remaining tickets to the Memphis-Gonzaga game at 8 tonight. All remaining Terrace Level tickets will be on sale at a special rate of $25. You have to go to the arena’s box office to purchase them. It opens at noon today, but if you want tickets you better get there early and get in line: There are only a few hundred left. Don’t forget to turn on ESPN for GameDay coverage in Memphis beginning at 11 AM and going all day. Word is that the Peabody ducks will make an appearance.

Today is the first day of GiveCamp Memphis, where programmers, techies, marketers, and creatives come together for a weekend to help area charities with their needs. You can follow @GiveCampMemphis on Twitter to keep up with their activities today and tomorrow. The event is being held at CoWork Memphis.

Interesting map: How cold does it have to get before cities are required to shelter the homeless? Depends on where you are.

I didn’t watch the Olympics opening ceremony but I was told that the flag-bearer for Romania was pretty hot. Here’s a pic. I hate it that there are no Romanian gymnasts at the Winter Games. Catalina Ponor from the 2012 Romanian gymnastics team still hasn’t responded to my marriage proposal.

The Wikipedia article of the day is about Gertie the Dinosaur, a 1914 film. Several men visit a museum and see a dinosaur skeleton. One of the men claims he can bring the extinct “dinosaurus” back to life in the form of a cartoon. It isn’t the most interesting film in the world, but it’s a look at what cartoons were like in the very early days. The film is said to have inspired Walt Disney and other animators. You can watch it online on Wikipedia’s page.

That’s the news for now. As usual I will lead off at Bardog at 11, where hopefully they will have GameDay in Memphis on a TV.

The Olympic Games are underway. Amid the stray dogs and unfinished hotels, the Winter Games will be going on for the next two weeks. Kooky Canuck will have specials going on during the games. Any time there is an event on ice, they will have $2 Blue Kamikaze shooters. Any time hockey is on TV, they will have $4 34 oz. Labatt Blue on draft.

In celebration of Chinese New Year, the Belz Museum of Judaic and Asian Art is having a Family Day tomorrow with free admission. There will be activities and crafts for kids, a storyteller, cultural performances, and raffles. The event kicks off at noon. If you aren’t familiar with the museum, it is in the Pembroke Square building, with the entrance next door to the Blind Bear. More info here.

The Grizzlies will give away free fake neck tattoos to the first 5000 fans in the door for their February 21 home game. The tattoos are in honor of new Grizzly James Johnson, who has a neck tattoo.

A few more hours at work, then WEEKEND! Back tomorrow (probably) with more news.

The South Main Association is starting a monthly Happy Hour, to be held the first Thursday of the month, and the first one is tonight at the Green Beetle from 5:30 to 7:30 this evening. You do not have to be an SMA member to attend. There is no set agenda, and it is just a chance to get to know your neighbors. The Beetle will have $3 draft beer, house wine, and well drinks, and as always there will be buckets of 5 bottles of beer for $10.

The FedExForum Grand Lobby will open at 6:30 AM Saturday (that’s not a typo, AM) for ESPN GameDay. Coach Pastner is hoping that University of Memphis fans will pack the place and make Memphis look great on TV. Coverage starts at 10 AM on ESPNU and 11 AM on ESPN. It’s your chance to be on national TV! More info here.

If any Downtowners are going to the casinos Saturday night, watch out: There will be a DUI checkpoint on Third near Shelby Drive. Better designate a driver or catch a casino shuttle.

Tamp & Tap will have a watch party for “The Walking Dead” premiere Sunday at 8 PM. $3.50 craft beer, $4 “Alive Inside” espresso & OJ.

The MBJ reports that clothing boutique Muse will move into the former Art on a Hot Tin Roof space at Main and Gayoso. Muse is currently located at 546 S. Main.

There is a winter weather update on the MemphisWeather.net blog. To summarize: We could get a dusting of snow this afternoon. We could get some light snow tomorrow afternoon and evening. Winter weather is possible Monday afternoon into Wednesday and we could see snow, sleet, or freezing rain. SERIOUSLY??? Haven’t we had enough of winter?

Nice article about restaurants by the Majestic Grille’s Patrick Reilly in Memphis Magazine. You can read it here.

Cafe Keough has a Facebook page that you can “like” to keep up with happenings there. They posted their menu this morning. They also posted that the Side Street Steppers will be performing there tomorrow night from 7:30 to 10.

All right, time to munch a chicken southwest salad while having fun with SQL. Back tomorrow with more news.