Category: Uncategorized

(Forgot to hit Publish before going out, sorry)

100 jobs are coming Downtown as paper products manufacturer Kruger Products expands its production facility. White Cloud toilet paper is among the products they make here. The plant is at 400 Mahannah, near Second and Island Drive, so it would be a short commute for people who live on Mud Island. You can view a list of jobs here and there are entry-level ones available. Even the entry-level jobs pay well.

Mayor Wharton has committed to building 15 miles of green bike lanes over the next two years. Green lanes are protected from car traffic.

Interesting fact I learned on Twitter: Oklahoma University has a course on storytelling in professional wrestling.

Congratulations to Max’s Sports Bar on their fundraising for tornado victim relief. Bartender Michele posted that they raised $506 yesterday.

The Daily News reports that talks are underway for Club 152 to reopen. I have a couple of friends who work there and I know they must have hated missing that BBQ Fest weekend tip money.

Home from work, time for beer, outta here!

If the Grizz don’t get it together, Mayor Wharton is going to be FedExing some BBQ. The mayor of San Antonio contacted him, bragging about Texas BBQ and asking Wharton if he’d be interested in making a bet. If the Grizzlies come back to win the series against the Spurs, SA’s mayor will send Wharton Texas BBQ from one of his favorite restaurants. Mayor Wharton accepted the bet and said that if the Grizzlies lose the series, Rendezvous BBQ will be on its way to Texas.

In other Grizzlies news, Saturday will be a milestone: The first time the Grizzlies have ever played a game during Tube Top Month. The month is a celebration of tube tops, and while it was originally June, it has since been extended to Friday of Memorial Day weekend through July 4. Why not show your support for the Grizzlies by wearing a tube top on Saturday?

There are jobs open in Uptown, at BRIDGES. From their website: “If you want to help us build a community of leaders to advance racial, economic, educational and environmental justice, you’ve come to the right place.” Jobs open include Development Specialist, Data Specialist and Helpdesk Resouce for Bridge Builders, Bridges AmeriCorps Full-Time Member. I have toured their facility a couple of times and it is fantastic.

Twilight Sky Terrace, the swanky new lounge atop the Madison Hotel, will have a cookout for Memorial Day. From 11 AM to 4 PM they will have burgers and hot dogs coming off the grill, as well as their regular menu items. There will be all-day drink specials too. The party will continue into the night after the grill shuts down at 4.

Former Memphis Tiger D.J. Stephens recorded a 46-inch vertical jump at the NBA Combine today. That’s the highest ever recorded in the NBA.

In the news: A Seattle butcher is taking advantage of legal marijuana by feeding it to his pigs. Wonder if any BBQ Fest teams will put in orders for 2014?

That’s it for now. I’ll be out at the usual places after work.

If you want to help those in Oklahoma who lost everything to yesterday’s tornadoes, two popular bars on the south side of Downtown have a way for you to do that. Both Max’s Sports Bar and Double J Smokehouse will be collecting clothing, food (non-perishable) and money. Everything they collect will go directly to the Red Cross. Both bars will have the Grizzlies game on.

The Grizzlies’ official Game 2 Watch Party will be tonight at the FedExForum, and it’s free to the public. However, you can get there early for an Open House happening from 11 AM to 6 PM today. You can get free playoff swag including a really cool Western Conference Finals poster. If you’re thinking about buying season tickets for 2013-14, you can test-drive your seats.

There’s a new Go South Main website that is very nicely done.

I’ve been wondering about a new restaurant called Havana Pilon that I see on Madison Avenue every day as I drive home down Second. They left some flyers in my building, and I got one and took a pic. (Click to enlarge)

The upper left corner is a bit fuzzy, so here’s a list of the specialties they serve. Everything else should be readable if you enlarge.

MOFONGO – Fried green plantains mashed together in a PILON (which is a wooden mortar and pettle) with garlic and olive oil

ABACO – Cuban soup made with beef, pork, chicken, corn on the cob and vegetables

ROPA VIEJA/OLD CLOTHES – Shredded beef in tomato sauce and vegetables

CUBAN PICADILLO – Ground beef, potatoes, onions, garlic, bell pepper and olives

CUBAN FRIED RICE – Prepared as in Havana’s famous Chinatown

ARROZ CON POLLO – Yellow rice with chicken

EMPANADAS – Homemade empanada filled with shrimp, ham, or cheese

The restaurant is a tiny little place, so be prepared to get your food to-go when it’s busy.

Plans for tonight: The Blind Bear has been my Grizzlies watch spot, and I see no need to change that. Game is at 8 but I’ll get there early to get a good seat.

BBQ Fest has wrapped up and the winners have been posted. Here’s a list. My team the Moody Ques didn’t get any top-three finishes other than first in Best Booth. Chef David Scott Walker said that after the judging, one of the judges came by and offered very helpful constructive feedback. The meat was championship quality, he said, but the way we did the presentation needs some work. Chef commented on Sunday that BBQ Fest is addicting and added, “Can we start talking about next year?” When people are asking that question the day after, rather than saying “I don’t want to think about BBQ until at least September,” it’s a very promising sign.

There’s an article about BBQ Fest on SeriousEats.com today, with coverage of the Moody Ques booth. Thanks to Ben for coming by and talking to the team.

A bar named Prohibition may be coming to the Front Street space that was formerly Rehab Disco. The MBJ reported today that the owners have applied to the DMC asking for permission to put up the sign.

Six new companies have graduated from SeedHatchery startup bootcamp. The bootcamp is an intense 90-day process to guide entrepreneurs through the very early stages of their new businesses. Congratulations to all six.

I am WORN OUT. BBQ Fest has left me physically sick, and I know I’m not the only one on the team in that condition. Made it to work though. I’ll be out for a little while after work, but it will be a pre-10:00 night for bed though. Will probably lead off at Silly Goose because I haven’t spent much time there the past week and want to catch up on a few things.

Even though I have a lot of hard work and responsibilities on my team The Moody Ques, I still find time at BBQ Fest to cheer for friends on other teams. Squeal Street is a patio porker team made up of a group of Downtowners that was founded in 2010. Patio porker teams are restricted to a 10 x 10 booth and have to cook ribs as their competition entry. Despite those limitations, Squeal Street has earned a reputation as one of the best places to hang out during the festival. They’re also one of the most well-organized and well-educated teams, with several members having been to BBQ judging school. Their hard work paid off yesterday with a second place finish among the patio porker teams. We love these guys and are so proud of them.

Now let’s have a look at what happened on our own team. I stayed out of the booth until 3:00. Presentation is a significant part of the judging, so I tend to stay away to avoid making a bad impression. Besides I had work to do holding the fort at the Flying Saucer, and when our sponsor the Blind Bear opened early I stopped by there too.

Chef taking a well-deserved break after handing in the championship shoulder. We really hit a home run with David Scott Walker in the kitchen. The team was well-fed and happy at all times. Thanks so much to Jamie and Jeannette for making the introduction.

With all the BBQ excitement going on, let’s not lose sight of the fact that Tube Top Month starts in 5 days and THIS IS HOW IT’S DONE.

Beauties in our booth on Saturday

Cap’n Ron

I don’t think anybody could deny that Danielle is looking damn hot in this pic, but she asked if this counts as a tube top and the answer is no. Tube tops do not have straps.

Bones

Squeal Street members prior to their appearance on stage

The Nuh-Uh Girl. “I’m not a member of Squeal Street but if you feed me I’ll wear your shirt”

WordPress rock stars @nacin and @otto42 with Nikki

It just wouldn’t be BBQ Fest without this happening at least one night. Thank goodness he didn’t bring the fluffy white hat this year.

Corey serving the shoulder

Matt and the WordPress crew enjoying the second-story view of the river

10 PM: Frank makes the announcement that the park is closing. “We need all hands on deck for load-out in the morning. Except Paul. Paul, we need you at the Flying Saucer at noon to hold things down there.” Got it.

Post-festival, Lauren chows down on a Soul Burger.

Later at E&H this happened.

Full photo album (132 pics) here.

What a great year. About 5:00 yesterday I was leaning against the rail in the booth and looking around. I thought, “This is my booth and these are my friends. If I die today I will be proud of what I did with my life.” Between my own team and my friends on Squeal Street, I just couldn’t ask for better people to be around.

Now it’s time to turn our attention to the Grizzlies. Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals is today at 2:30 on ABC. The Blind Bear is gaining national attention as THE place to watch games Downtown, and that’s where I’ll be. They are opening early at noon, and after a brief stop at the Saucer to fulfill my BBQ team duties, that’s where I’ll be.

Early yesterday afternoon I posted “Who the real and who the jabroni at BBQ Fest?” It’s a question retired pro wrestler The Iron Sheik asks on Twitter. A “jabroni” is someone who loses all the time, and is the opposite of “the real.” Last night, the Moody Ques proved we are the real, taking home the first-place trophy for Best Booth.

Our booth facade is a tribute to the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm. Memphis in May always brings in dignitaries from the honored country to help with the judging. I’ve been told that any Swede would instantly recognize what we were doing with our booth.

Huge thanks to Brent, Travis and the team at Holliday Flowers who made this awesome booth happen. They weren’t even going to do it this year, but they got excited and jumped on board. If you need an event designed, these are absolutely the people you need to call.

Let’s see what else we have on the camera:

Chef David Scott Walker working on the fish fry for lunch

Chef DSW’s hot sauce was amazing on fries.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating, two booths down the sidewalk from ours. She tried not to get caught eating. Thank goodness for my 10x zoom lens.

Greene family portrait

Lunch

The guest of honor

Due to injury Puckett couldn’t talk for a while yesterday. Puckett not talking is about as rare as the Nuh-Uh Girl not eating.

Ciara and Christina

Our inspirational leader

Our bartenders

Before I started this post, I uploaded yesterday’s pics to Facebook. Air Traffic Mike commented, “Katie Mac and a rack” on this one. I can’t do any better for a caption than that.

Cody

Roglly and the Nuh-Uh Girl

In the evening I paid a visit to my friends at Squeal Street BBQ, where an ice luge was happening.

Shout-out to the LOSER who flipped me off in Squeal Street’s booth, by the way (not pictured above and not a team member). You are insignificant to me, so flip me off all you want. Then go get your foot stepped on by Bill the horse again. Or whatever today’s crisis of the day is.

Okay. Sorry about the brief rant. Let’s get back to the Moody Ques. As we all know, 2012 was not exactly our best year, and 2013 was sink or swim time. We could not afford to disappoint this year, and if we did the team was likely done. So far, we’ve brought a first-place trophy back to the booth, kept our team members well fed, and kept the door free of drama. And the way Chef DSW has been cooking, I have a feeling our work hauling trophies around the park is not done yet. We have redeemed ourselves and our team is now poised to be a force at BBQ Fest for years to come. I am proud to be on the team and proud to be associated with my teammates.

Here’s the full Thursday photo album (130 pics).

Plan for today: Pre-gaming at the Saucer at 11, park at 12. Another fine day at BBQ Fest.

If you’re looking for BBQ Fest pics, scroll down to the next post. I got them up earlier this morning. Time to bang out a news post while I wait for the bars to open.

BBQ Fest will be over Saturday and there will still be a day left in the weekend. Looking for something to do on Sunday? South of Beale is having a “Bones and Brews” party from 1-4 Sunday. It will be a benefit for Mid-South Spay & Neuter Services. Pay-what-you-can donation gets you complimentary appetizers, $3 mimosas, $3 Bloody Marys, and $3 pints. The parking lot will be blocked off and dogs on leashes will be welcome.

Real 2 Reel Photography is a great place to buy art to decorate your walls, and now is a good time to do it. They have a buy 2, get 1 free special that will continue through this weekend. Real 2 Reel is at 523 South Main, just north of G.E. Patterson Avenue.

Sad news: Two BBQ icons have passed away. Don Pelts, founder of Corky’s, and John Willingham, founder of Willingham BBQ, have died. These two men were cornerstones of the city’s rich BBQ tradition.

If you know someone with Alzheimer’s, then August 1 would be a good night for you to come to AutoZone Park. The first annual Alzheimer’s Association Night with the Redbirds will happen that evening, first pitch at 7:05. Tickets can be purchased for $15, $5 of which goes to the association. Fans are encouraged to wear purple to show their support for the fight against the disease.

The San Antonio Spurs play the Golden State Warriors tonight at 9:30 on ESPN. If the Spurs win, they play the Grizzlies in the Western Conference Finals. If the Warriors win, they force a Game 7 with San Antonio. The Grizzlies will have home court advantage if Golden State advances to the WC Finals.

Party Planet plays the Peabody rooftop tonight with special guest Brit Nicole. If you’re not going to BBQ Fest, you can get some BBQ on the rooftop. The buffet will have BBQ pork sliders, slaw, and baked beans. The VIP buffet will have BBQ ribs, slaw, pulled pork potato skins, and biscuits. Doors open at 6, ladies free until 7, $10 cover includes first drink.

Two events in Court Square today: Memphis Music Foundation Showcase featuring Chris Johnson & Lights as Lenses at 11:45, and Zumba at 5 PM.

That’ll wrap up the news. Time to put on sun block and head to the park.

Tonight is “Friends & Family Night” at BBQ Fest. It’s like a practice day before the park opens to the public, a soft opening of sorts. You can’t buy tickets at the gate, and even a 3-day park-hours-only wrist tik won’t get you in. You have to have a separate ticket for Friends & Family Night, or a 24-hour-park-access wristband, in either case purchased by your team about a month in advance. There’s a limit to how many of each you can buy. I think the limits are 50 for the tickets and 15 for the wristbands. Counting team members, sponsors, and cook team, we have about 60 people on our team. So Wednesday tends to be more “Just Us Night” than Friends & Family Night.

Hours are 5:30 to 10:30 PM. Closing time is earlier than the midnight closing time Thursday and Friday. But that shouldn’t be a problem, right?

Well, tonight it’s a big problem.

You see, our booth is all the way to the south of the park. When the park closes, it’s about a 25-minute walk to the bars in the Downtown core. Most likely I’ll be hanging out at our sponsor the Blind Bear, although Silly Goose and Flying Saucer are also options.

So, what’s the problem?

The problem is that the average NBA game is 2 hours and 20 minutes long, counting timeouts, commercial breaks and halftime. The Grizzlies-Thunder game, a very important game because a win sends us to the Western Conference Finals, starts at 8:30. Now, I don’t feel like I have to see ALL of the game. But I’d like to see the last few minutes.

But the last few minutes of tonight’s game, I’ll be walking. That’s a problem. What to do? Leave early? Go to the much-closer Max’s Sports Bar on the south end rather than one of my usual bars in the core? Between now and tonight I’ll have to figure it out.

Congrats to the Grizzlies on making the cover of Sports Illustrated. The title is “True Grit” and there’s Mike Conley driving to the basket.

There’s an after hours at Mud Island River Park from 6 to 8 tonight. Wine tasting, river views.

There’s also a wine tasting at Spindini tonight. Northern Italian food paired with “vine to table” wine. $45 per person, reservations highly recommended.

The Memphis Flyer had a recent article about two gluten-free options available in Downtown Memphis and elsewhere. At the Memphis Farmers Market, you can purchase gluten-free boxes of Chocolate Ginger Macadamia Muffin Mix, Cinnamon Raisin Pecan Muffin Mix, and Richard’s Favorite Waffles and Pancake Mix produced locally. Also, Huey’s has rolled out a gluten-free menu.

Just saw a tweet that the Church Health Center offers free cooking classes, and you don’t even have to be a member of the Church Health Center Wellness program to attend. I wonder if there are tastings at the end of the cooking classes, and if so, I wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Envision Memphis, the health club on the top floor of the Cadre Building (Second at Monroe), will have a dodgeball bootcamp on Wednesday, May 30.

That’ll wrap it up for now. Today I’ve got to do the errands I didn’t get done Monday (too hung over) or Tuesday (went to the park because the team was desperately short-handed). About 3 I’ll pre-game at the Saucer, and then I’ll head to the park at 5:30. Mostly I’ll hang out in my own team’s booth (Moody Ques S-215), although I do plan on going over to Squeal Street for a minute, where Bob, Mike, and Bones will have an ABBA dance-off in honor of MiM host country Sweden. No Number 2 in their port-a-john please!

Today I got to the Flying Saucer around noon, totally intending to stay there a while to hold the fort for the BBQ team again. It wasn’t very busy, and I started playing with my phone. After about an hour I checked Gmail just for kicks, and saw an email saying that only 4 people had shown up at the park to help build the booth. I actually felt bad for the people in Tom Lee Park. With a 2-story, 25×35 foot structure plus more space for the cookteam, it simply wasn’t going to get done on time  with that few people. So I did the unthinkable, at least for me. I texted one of our team captains and told him I was on the way down.

While there, I snapped a few pics of the booth in its early stages:

The facade. I’m told that anyone who has been to Stockholm will instantly recognize what this has to do with Memphis in May’s honored country, Sweden.

The interior of the booth looking in from the entrance. The booth will be divided into a small front room/patio and a larger room which will serve as a place to eat during the day and a dance floor/Blind Bear Speakeasy at night.

The second floor in an unfinished state. As you can see, even though we didn’t pay for a riverside space, team members will have no trouble viewing the river.

And yes, I did actually do some work. I laid carpet on both floors and then helped hang some silver curtains. I was down there for about three hours.

Big thanks, by the way to BBQ teammates Justin and Roglly. They saw that I had abandoned my post at the Saucer to go help at the park. They were at a Redbirds game, and after the game concluded they stopped by the Saucer to check on things for me. They reported that all was well and that nothing had come up that one of our team members would need to handle.

It’s 6:00 and I’m home to hydrate and to drop off my team packet so I don’t lose it. Then I’m back out to check on the Saucer again, then over to Blind Bear to continue my research on their PBR. One more day when I have the daytime to myself, then Friends & Family Night kicks off at 5:30.

Yesterday was scheduled to be the main load-in day for the BBQ team. Now, as I’m sure you all know, there is nothing I love more than getting covered in mud and sweat building our team booth. However, yesterday I was not allowed to. “Paul, you know that it is absolutely vital that we leave one team member behind at the Flying Saucer to hold down the fort and handle anything that comes up there,” the team captains told me. “You’re the mayor of the Saucer on Foursquare and you have experience in this role. Please please PLEASE put the team ahead of yourself and do this for us.”

As much as I wanted to be at the park, I knew they were right. I stayed behind and entered into negotiations with beverage consultant Sara. “Dos Equis Lager is on the menu for $4.75,” I told her. “Is there ANY way we can knock the price down a little?” Sara thought about it and gave it to me for only $3. Based on her tone, I got the feeling that if I’d waited even one more day to take care of this, I would not have been able to make this deal. About an hour after I got there, three teammates arrived to help me hold down the fort and they got the deal too. In fact, everyone in the bar seemed to be getting the deal. Glad I could lay the groundwork.

Later in the day, I showed support for the Memphis Grizzlies on behalf of the BBQ team by watching the Saucer girls hang blue and yellow balloons that read, “Believe Memphis” and “Grit-n-Grind.” Of course, the Grizzlies went on to win last night in overtime, and if I contributed to that victory in some small way through the support I showed, I am happy to have done so.

Manager Ollie, who was back at the Saucer after having been gone a couple of years, didn’t seem to understand my role. “Holding down the fort?” he asked. “What does that involve? It sounds like you’re just standing around here drinking all day and avoiding work.” People who aren’t on BBQ teams simply have no idea what all is involved to make things happen. Different team members contribute in different ways.

Unfortunately I didn’t get all my work done yesterday. I finished the day at our sponsor, the Blind Bear, where I sampled the PBR to make sure it is fit for consumption in the team booth. After seven 16-ounce samples I still had not made up my mind. I will have to go back there and put some more time in today.

A team email went out last night that we got the hard part of the booth’s facade done yesterday, but there are a lot of tent items to be delivered and they really need everybody in the park between 10 and noon. They didn’t even mention me holding down the fort again today, but I guess they assume that I will handle it. They’re starting to take me for granted.

Okay, let’s get on to the news. There’s a new food truck in Memphis called Hunger Monkey. The owner plans to provide healthy alternatives for vegetarians, vegans, and those following the paleo diet. Hmmm it doesn’t sound like I’ll be spending much money at this truck. Food truck diversity is a good thing though, so I’m glad it’s up and running.

Soccer fans: The Brass Door will show the Arsenal vs. Wigan Athletic game today at 1:45.

Game 5 of Grizzlies-Thunder will be on TNT at 8:30 Central time Wednesday. Since that’s Friends & Family Night at BBQ Fest, I won’t be able to watch it at the Blind Bear as usual.

The state of Tennessee is zeroing in on office space Downtown to replace the space they are vacating. They are leaving the Hill Building in Civic Center Plaza.

Historian Jimmy Ogle is conducting one of his famous manhole cover tours today at 11:45. That sounds weird but I hear those tours are very interesting and you learn a ton about the history of the city in a most unique way. Free. Tour starts at the Cotton Museum.

Taking a quick look at Foursquare. Our team vice-president checked in a few minutes ago and commented “going to be another long-ass day.” I “Liked” his comment to show my support for all the hard work he will do at Tom Lee Park today. By the way, the booth was wrongly marked as “The Moody Ques S-214” on Foursquare. That’s last year’s number. I used my superuser powers to change it to “The Moody Ques S-215.” Just another thing I do to add value to the BBQ team. If it were left as S-214 people might not be able to find the correct location of the booth.

All right. Time to go accomplish stuff. If there’s more news I’ll make a second post.