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Going back to the 90s, FreeWorld has jammed every Sunday night at the Blues City Cafe’s Band Box from 10:30 until close. This winter, though, they’re backing up the start time to 9:30, in response to comments like, “We want to come see you but you start so late.” Now you can come catch their first set, get a full night’s sleep, and make it to work on Monday. Come hear a Downtown Memphis tradition!

Yesterday I watched the first annual Pet Parade up the Main Street Mall, starting at One Commerce Square and ending at Court Square. Afterward I wandered up to The Barking Lot, the new dog walking park at Main and Jefferson.

Parade grand marshal Rockey Redbird

The parade ended in Court Square, where the Humane Society and other pet-related organizations handed out information.

The Barking Lot

Fuel Cafe’s food truck parked in the space in the Barking Lot reserved for food trucks.

Full photo album (27 pics) here. Quite a few dogs and children came out for the parade. I wondered if anyone would try to bring a cat, but I didn’t see any. The Barking Lot is a really neat concept. I hope the parking area will attract more food trucks Downtown.

After the parade I stopped at the Saucer for a couple of beers, then walked down to Beale Street where I ate at Johnny G’s Creole Kitchen. I’ll have a food post about my meal there later today.

The Memphis Tigers host the Murray State Racers today at 5 PM at the FedExForum. That should draw a good crowd Downtown this Sunday afternoon.

I found a new use for my Kindle Fire this morning. I’m watching full episodes of Beavis and Butt-head on it. Can’t nobody tell me the purchase of the Fire wasn’t money well spent!

So, yesterday I booked my upcoming trip to Little Rock. The hotel I like best is called The Legacy Hotel in Downtown Little Rock. Longtime residents of the city will remember it as the Sam Peck. Nice rooms, views of the State Capitol, microwave, refrigerator and coffee maker in the rooms, Wi-Fi. Walkable to everywhere in Downtown Little Rock – a bit of a far walk, but if I get tired, there’s a trolley that runs down Markham Street/President Clinton Avenue where many of the bars are.

So, anyway, I got on the Legacy’s web site and did a search. The cheapest room they had was $81 a night. Then I got on Kayak.com and searched for the hotel. They had the same room for $55 a night. Needless to say, I booked it on Kayak. $55 a night for a Downtown hotel with all the amenities is not a bad deal at all.

Was there a shirt or hat you wanted to buy at Memphis in May, but didn’t get the chance? Well, check this out:

Memphis in May is selling past years’ T-shirts, polos, hats, cookbooks, posters and more at discount prices. They’re on sale 11-5 Monday-Friday next week at 45 S. Main. Great deal. Wish those who work far away from Downtown had some opportunity to buy the merchandise outside normal business hours though.

Christine by Shelton Clothiers has raised the markdown on the entire store to 60% off. Their final shipments came in this week.

Bob Seger plays the FedExForum tonight. Get tickets here.

Late getting out today… it’s past 1 PM. Been watching videos on my Kindle Fire all morning. Only thing I really have to do today is stop by First Tennessee to hit the ATM. Hmmm the Brass Door is across the street. And they have PBR. I want to get out on the Main Street Mall and check out the pet parade in a couple of hours, maybe check out the Barking Lot after that. I wonder if any food trucks will be parked at the Barking Lot this afternoon? No definite plans for tonight, but I’ll figure it out.

There will be a special holiday market at the Memphis Farmers Market space tomorrow, Saturday, December 10. From 10 AM to 2 PM, 40 vendors will sell baked goods, produce and stocking stuffers. The holiday market will be in the pavilion on G.E. Patterson next door to Central Station.

Watoto de Afrika at 55 S. Main will have performances of “A Big Band Christmas” this weekend. Holiday songs will be played to big band sounds of the ’30s and ’40s, with dancing and singing reminiscent of Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Sammy Davis Jr. and Lena Horne. Performances are 7 and 8 PM tonight, 2 and 4 PM Saturday, 2 and 4 PM Sunday.

There will be special screenings of The Diary of Anne Frank tomorrow at the Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art at 12:15 and 2:15 PM.

Grace Askew and the Black Market Goods play the Center for Southern Folklore tomorrow night at 8. $10 cover, with half the proceeds going to benefit the Center.

The Memphis Flyer’s Hungry Memphis blog has a good post about what’s new at Kudzu’s, the friendly neighborhood bar on Monroe between Danny Thomas and Marshall. Although under new ownership, the bar will retain much of the same vibe. However, some improvements have been made, including free Wi-Fi and an Internet jukebox. New menu items have been introduced, including a pork tenderloin sandwich called The Hoosier. Beer selection has been updated with Ghost River and other craft beers. They’re retaining the popular Thursday night Pickin’ Party, and they’re bringing back trivia (Kudzu’s was among the first in the city to have it). They’re also adding a Monday night blues jam.

Future Memphis Tiger basketball player Shaq Goodwin will play in Memphis this weekend. He will be at Memphis University School on Saturday for the fourth annual Memphis vs. Atlanta Roundball Classic. Goodwin is part of Coach Pastner’s 2012 recruiting class.

If you want to know more about new Tigers football coach Justin Fuente, check out this podcast of yesterday’s interview on the Chris Vernon Show. Verno knows how to bring the personal side of people out in interviews. We learned that Fuente is a fan of the TV show Pawn Stars and that he’s an NBA fan. “We’ve got to get him some Grizzlies swag!” said Verno. Fuente will soon be wearing a Tony Allen “All Heart, Grit, Grind” hoodie.

Home from work, got the post done, time for a beer. No definite plans for tonight, so I’ll start at the usual place and then use text and social media to figure out where to go.

Last night I attended the Lazy Magnolia beer and dessert pairing at the Flying Saucer. Five desserts were paired with five different Lazy Magnolia beers. This is the first time they’ve attempted a dessert pairing, but the Saucer’s beer dinners have usually been excellent, so I had no problem buying a ticket.

First Course: Bourbon balls and Southern Gold, Lazy Magnolia’s golden honey ale

Second Course: Apple cobbler paired with Ginger Jack, the brewery’s seasonal beer

Third Course: Pumpkin cheesecake and Lazy Magnolia’s pale ale (didn’t catch the name of this one).

Last night’s event was the first time my friends Bill and Gary had ever attended a beer/food pairing at the Saucer. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

Fourth Course: Pecan tarts and Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan Ale

Fifth Course: Homemade ice cream and Jefferson Stout

All five desserts were made from scratch by Saucer manager Mike, and even without the beers they’d be worth the $20 I paid for my ticket. I had no idea Mike could cook!

Last time the Saucer did a pairing – the Abita beer dinner back in the summer – I only gave it four out of five stars because the beer rep didn’t talk about the beers enough, and because all the beers were available locally. Neither was an issue this time. Lazy Mag rep Will talked about all the beers, both in presentation format and talking to each of us individually. One interesting thing I learned is that they use an old Popeye’s biscuit maker to roast pecans for their flagship Southern Pecan ale. As for the beers, only Southern Pecan is commonly available in Memphis, although Jefferson Stout has been on tap at the Saucer before and may reappear.

The brewery is increasing its production and plans to expand its product line into new states next year. People asked how they are able to brew beer in Mississippi (Kiln, MS), when the state has the most restrictive beer laws in the country. They said there’s a misconception that Mississippi cannot have licensed breweries; this is not true, although homebrewing is still illegal there. Their beers have to be 6% ABV or less. They do tours of the brewery but are not allowed to do tastings as part of the tours. They hope to change this when new bills go before the Mississippi state legislature next year.

Back to the tasting itself – I also need to mention that servers Katie and Kyla did a great job taking care of us. I found absolutely nothing to complain about at this dinner. 5 stars out of 5, easily.

Unfortunately the dessert pairing was not as well attended as they had hoped. Their beer dinners usually sell out, but I guess people were skeptical about pairing beer with desserts (or were attending the Trans-Siberian Orchestra show down the street). They only had 12-14 in atttendance, which is a shame because Mike cooked for 40.

(Note to Saucer management: Expect an email from the Nuh-Uh Girl saying “I heard the dessert pairing went well. Any leftovers? :-)” once she reads this.)

I look forward to the next beer/food pairing at the Saucer, and if they do another dessert pairing I hope this post convinces people to give it a try. Big thumbs up on an outstanding event.

As for the news: I have enough to do a “Friday update” post, but I need to use the remainder of my lunch break for a different activity – eating lunch! There will be a post up tonight.

Earlier this fall I blogged that there wouldn’t be a Downtown holiday parade this year. Well, it turns out there will be… but it will be a four-legged parade. The first annual Downtown “Howliday” Parade will march up the Main Street Mall at 3 PM tomorrow, December 10.

All people and pets are invited to come be part of the parade. If you want to participate, line up outside the One Commerce Square building, at Main and Monroe, a little before 3. At 3 PM there will be a march to Court Square for an afternoon of games, caroling, pet photos and other activities. People and pets are encouraged to dress in festive holiday attire. There is no registration fee to be part of the parade.

Also that afternoon, a couple of blocks up the street from the parade, the Barking Lot will open at Main and Jefferson. This used to be a vacant, blighted lot, but it has been renovated into a dog walking park and a landing space for food trucks. Whether or not you have a pet, stop by on Saturday and check it out.

Justin Fuente, co-offensive coordinator at TCU, will be named the new head coach of the Memphis Tigers today. I hadn’t previously heard of him, but here’s a review of the hire on Coaches by the Numbers. They gave the hire an A-, not bad. Welcome Coach Fuente!

Lauren Lee of Fox 13 tweeted (@laurenleefox13) about the hiring process. At one point Alabama offensive coordinator Jim McElwain was the frontrunner for the job, but according to Lee, talks with his agent Jimmy Sexton got contentious. U of M search committee member Brad Martin told Sexton, “You’re not dealing with R.C. anymore.” LOVE IT!!! Seriously, I hope this is the beginning of a new and exciting era for Tiger football.

Congratulations to Memphis Music Foundation’s Pat Mitchell Worley on being nominated as one of Billboard’s Women in Music. Pat is the director of development and communications at the Foundation, and in the past has worked for the Blues Foundation, MPACT Memphis, and as a freelance music journalist. When I was on MPACT’s board I got to work with her and she is a super lady. More on her nomination here.

The Green Beetle has a new promotion going on: Buy a Miller Lite and get a special Memphis Tigers pint glass.

Memphis Magazine’s Vance Lauderdale has an interesting article about the Gerber department store on Main, which stood in the space now occupied by Springhill Suites. The store opened in 1880 and saw the heyday of Downtown Memphis shopping, even adding the city’s first escalators in 1949.

Today Memphis has to say goodbye to one of the classiest guys in the NBA, Shane Battier. He’s been signed by the Miami Heat. Thanks for all you did in your second run here Shane, and I hope there’s a championship ring in your future.

Stuff going on tonight: Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the FedExForum, and the beer/dessert pairing at the Saucer (see last night’s drunk post for the listing of desserts). Tickets still available for both.

Just a quick reminder if you didn’t see my last post… freezing fog is possible in the morning and that is a serious cause of wrecks. Be extremely careful. Go in late if you can, work from home if you can. Turn on the weather on TV before deciding your commute.

OK serious announcement over. This is Paul’s Drunkass Post. This is a traditional lunchtime or after-work “news update” post except not at either of those times. And drunk. This post is brought to you, by the way, by the USS Arizona, not a Naval ship but the dog of the day at Bardog. It’s got black beans and rice and pico atop it. And some other shit I think.

Let’s go to the news before I finish this dog and pass the fuck out. I found out the menu for the Saucer’s beer and dessert pairing. Jefferson stout ice cream, pecan tart, apple cobbler, Bourbon balls, pecan cheesecake + 5 beers. Well, +4 beers, because I assume the Jefferson Stout counts as one of the five.  $20/$25 non UFO members. Call 901-523-8536 for a ticket. Still a few left. It’s at 8 PM Thursday, December 8. That’s today by the time most everyone reads this.

The Blind Bear, the new speakeasy Downtown in the former Bar None space, is now on Twitter at @blindbear901. Join Jamie, Jeannette and Colin on Twitter. They also have a Facebook page and if you “Like” it you’ll get an invite to a special grand preview.

What the crap else is going on… well, if you’re a female you’re in luck. Christine by Shelton Clothiers is shutting down, as previously mentioned, but they ordered some new shit and didn’t have time to cancel it. So tomorrow night – tonight I guess, since I’m posting after midnight, Dec 8 – they’re having an extra 10% off their 50% off sale. That’s 60% for those of you bad at math. (Or would it be 55%? Meh, who cares.) They’ll have snacks too and will be open til 7:30. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up and eat the whole damn store.

Men – drop your woman off at Christine’s and come hang out at Shelton down the street, also open til 7:30. Beer.

Metal Museum will have an open house 12-5 this Sunday the 12th. Interactive activities 2-5. No charge to get in, 10% gift shop discount, 20% for members.

I need to do this more often. Time for bed. If they do the USS Arizona as the Dog of the Day again tomorrow you should get it.

I’ll start this lunchtime blog post with a gift suggestion for the Grizzlies fan in your life: A Tony Allen “All Heart, Grit, Grind” hoodie. The Chris Vernon Show started selling this logo as a T-shirt last spring, and it was a massive success. Now he has the logo on a limited amount of hoodies. Go here to see the hoodie and to order.

Seth who writes the Best Memphis Burger blog stopped by Kooky Canuck recently and gave their Four Cheese Burger a try. He really liked it and gave it 4.5 stars out of 5, although he said it’s “more like a 4.8999.” Read the review here. I agree about the Four Cheese Burger. Usually I’ll add either mushrooms or bacon as a topping, depending on my mood.

Envision Health Club and Spa, the health club on the top floor of the Cadre Building at Second and Monroe, has their second annual holiday open house tomorrow from 5 to 8. Food and drink, music by the Allied Standard. Given that they’re a health club, they usually have some healthy (and tasty) treats. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

The Memphis Newspaper Guild, the union to which many Commercial Appeal employees belong, has learned that nine CA employees will be laid off. Actually, the number may be more than nine, because they were not notified about non-guild employees. More info about the layoffs on Mediaverse. The layoffs will occur 5 days before Christmas. Way to stay classy, CA. If I were a CA employee (even one who survived the layoffs) I’d get my resume current and put feelers out about other job opportunities in my field. Not a real stable place to work IMO. The new paywall may destabilize things further.

Forecast for tonight is upper 20s with patchy freezing fog late. That means everyone needs to be extremely careful driving to work in the morning. Freezing fog is as dangerous as freezing rain – actually more so because people don’t see any precip falling and don’t think to slow down. I remember when I worked in Arkansas, and I took the Riverside-I-40 on-ramp at 50 as normal (sign suggests to slow to 25) and my car fish-tailed all over the place and I missed the concrete wall by less than two feet. I later found out it was freezing fog. Freezing fog also recently caused a 50-car pileup near Nashville.

Flipboard for the iPhone was released this morning. I’d heard great things about it from iPad owners, who told me it was a way to keep track of news and social media updates in a visually appealing format. I downloaded the app, but couldn’t create a custom Flipboard – nor could thousands of others. The increased traffic crashed their servers. Scalability fail! I hope they get it working soon, because I am eager to play with the app.

All right, lunchtime. Will be out somewhere tonight, not sure where.

Mayor Wharton says he’d like to see 380 Beale, currently the home of Club Crave and formerly the home of the Plush Club, shut down for good. The club is at the northeast corner of Beale and Fourth, just outside the Beale Entertainment District. There has been a pattern of shootings and stabbings in and around the club dating back to the mid-1990s. Both mayor and nearby merchants think the club may be “cursed” and that no business that operates there can escape the pattern of violence. ABC 24 has more here.

I have to agree. When Plush was shut down, the plan was to make it a family-style Jamaican restaurant. That never happened (or if it did, it happened so briefly that many people never even knew the restaurant was open). Within months it was back to thugs and guns. I think 380 Beale would make a beautiful parking lot, and I applaud our mayor for taking what is surely a controversial stance in regard to this building.