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EXTREMELY COOL deal on LivingSocial today… a flying lesson from Downtown Aviation for $29.50. Lesson includes a 20 minute Cliffs Notes-style ground school course, and 30 minutes in the air.

The Memphis Flyer has a new blog about the MIFA Store and its new director, Amy Hoyt. Amy acted as personal shopper for the Flyer’s blogger, helping her find several cute outfits – complete outfits – in the $7 to $11 range.

Spindini is starting a new wine/food/networking event called Wine Time Thursdays. The first one will be August 12, and the events will continue every other Thursday. Chef Joe Cartwright will select four wines, and pair them with food from Woodland Farms. $20 per person.

Tomorrow is National Health Care Day for the Homeless in Court Square from 10 AM to 2 PM. The Memphis Health Center and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs hold this event annually. Services and information provided include medical service, shelter placement, VA social services, mental health and substance abuse connections, HIV and syphilis testing, breast and cervical cancer information, and free haircuts. If you have contact with any homeless in the area, please make sure they are aware of this.

Don’t forget that today is S’mores Day all day at Kooky Canuck, with flavored marshmallows for s’mores you can make at your table. Drink specials too.

Attn anyone trying to reach me this evening: I’ll be unable to return texts between 7 and 9 tonight, as it’s our weekly trivia night at the Saucer. I make it a habit not to text during those times, because it could be mistaken by others in the bar as Googling trivia answers. Unlike some of my fellow team members, who text, tweet, Facebook, play Words with Friends, etc. nonstop during trivia and I wish they’d PUT THEIR DAMN PHONES AWAY. I know no one is cheating, but it looks bad.

Off to lunch… I’ve heard many good things about the double cheeseburger at Tops BBQ.  Time to give it a try.

Chinese restaurants have a “pu pu platter,” which is a sampler of their most popular appetizers.  Bardog Tavern may not be Chinese, but that didn’t stop them from putting out a Bardog Poo Poo platter.  Fries, egg rolls, wings, fried pickles, and shrimp skewers.  Easily enough to feed two at a reasonable price.  Note the five dipping sauces, or four depending if one considers ketchup a dipping sauce.

Speaking of Bardog:  I went in there tonight, after the Saucer got crowded with college kids beyond belief, and REGAINED THE MAYORSHIP!!!  Trevor, thanks for holding it down while I was in New Orleans, but the real mayor is back, buddy!

Tomorrow is the beginning of Elvis Week, full of activities to honor the King on the week that is the anniversary of his death.  The CVB has an Elvis Week website that tells you everything you need to know.  Check it out here.

Groupon has a good deal today – two dugout box tickets for any Redbirds game for $10. Valid for any regular-season game through September 2, subject to availablity. Get the deal here.

Jay Uiberall, the general manager of Alfred’s and part owner of Dyer’s and Automatic Slim’s Downtown, and also of Ubee’s on Highland, died Saturday night. He fell of his balcony at his home on Pickwick Lake, and reportedly broke his neck and was killed.

I didn’t know Jay well, but based on the number of sad faces I saw around Downtown on Sunday, it’s obvious he was a great guy who will be deeply missed. I will think of him the next time I order a double-double at Dyer’s. My deepest condolences to his family and to the many friends who will miss him.

First Leonard’s closes and now this… sad weekend… someone give me some positive news to report.

Friday night I stopped by the Majestic Grille for a snack.  The Cajun Chicken Eggrolls were new to the menu and I decided to give them a try.  Very good.  According to the menu the rolls are made with blackened chicken, corn, goat cheese, cheddar, red onion, and cilantro.  They come with a Creole mustard dipping sauce.

If you go by Cockadoos, here’s a tip:  Order a muffin or scone.  Now that they’ve been open for a little while, they’re giving employees the chance to experiment in the kitchen, and good things are happening.  One of the Cockadoos staff brought a bag of muffins down the Saucer for us to try last week, and they were pretty amazing.  Banana walnut, lemon poppy seed, several berry flavors.  The regulars and the Saucer girls quickly divided them up.  “If the Nuh-Uh Girl finds out there are free muffins, she’ll be down here in a heartbeat,” someone commented.  The recent kitchen experiments are paying off.  Give ’em a try!

I was expecting Steve Cohen to win the 9th District Congressional primary against Willie Herenton, but I thought the vote would be something like 65-35 in Cohen’s favor.  Instead, Cohen won 79-21.

I think the reason for the lopsided margin is the current occupant of the mayor’s office:  A.C. Wharton.  Herenton pointed to his record as mayor as reason why he should be elected to Congress, but Wharton has made him look really bad the past year, accomplishing things “King Willie” could never be bothered to get done.

When we had freezing cold weather last winter, Wharton took steps to make sure that no one would get their power cut off in the middle of a bone-chilling cold snap.  He also took steps to ensure that the homeless had a better place to sleep than under a bridge.  He’s made government more transparent, so that citizens can now look up government contracts online.  He’s fixing the mess that the city animal shelter had become.  He’s challenged neighborhood associations to think outside the box in terms of neighborhood beautification and improvements.  He’s given Downtowners what we’ve needed for years – a police detail that will patrol on bike and foot to control the scammers, aggressive panhandlers, and drunk and disorderly street people who give our neighborhood an undeserved bad reputation.  All of these were things that seemed to be beneath the great Willie when he was mayor.

I will say this, however:  Herenton’s concession speech was dignified and classy.  Herenton has an opportunity now to move into an elder statesman role.  Think about Jimmy Carter – he was very unpopular when he left the White House, but he earned a lot of respect with the way he served his country in the years that followed – without holding public office.  Herenton could do the same, I believe, on a local level.

One other thing:  Although I recommended Bill Haslam over the two idiots running against him in the Republican primary, that does NOT mean I’m endorsing him for governor in the general election.  I need to study both his and Mike McWherter’s positions on the issues before I make up my mind there.

I did, however, vote for a Republican in a general election this time around, rather unusual for me:  I voted for Mark Luttrell for county mayor.  Joe Ford’s inability to manage his own finances led me to question whether he could manage the county’s.  Also, I know people who know Luttrell personally, and they respect him greatly.  With me it’s not all about liberal vs. conservative as some people would believe – it’s about who has the tools and the temperament to do the best job.  In this case I believed it to be Luttrell.

Don’t think we’re done with political ads though – we still have the November midterm elections.  Maybe I’ll just unplug my TV for the next three months.

This morning I got an e-mail from a resident of the Claridge House, at Main and Adams, that made me very unhappy.  He informed me that Leonard’s BBQ, the buffet in the ground floor of that building, closed permanently on Friday and the signs have been taken down.

How sad, and if I’d only known yesterday I’d have skipped that breakfast burrito and instead headed to Leonard’s for one last lunch.  Many times I’d pay my money and fix myself a heaping plate full of ribs, smoked sausage, cabbage, green beans, BBQ chicken, corn and pulled pork, finished off with cobbler topped with ice cream for dessert.  They had a salad bar too which was included in the price of the buffet, but I have to admit I never visited it.

Very sad to know that Leonard’s is no longer among my lunchtime options when I find myself Downtown on a weekday.  The place will be sorely missed.

I’ve written about the social app Foursquare, where you “check in” at venues you visit.  One of the things you can do on Foursquare is earn “badges.”  There’s the “crunked” badge for checking in at 4 different venues in one night.  Last week I got the “player please” badge for checking in at a venue with 3 members of the opposite sex (it was a friend’s birthday party).  If you check in at a venue that has been tagged as a boat, you unlock the “I’m on a boat” badge.

One of the hardest badges to unlock on Foursquare is the “Swarm” badge.  It’s awarded when you check in at a venue where 50 people are simultaneously checked in.  Most of the people who I’ve seen unlock it, got it at busy airports while waiting for connecting flights.

I’m wondering, however, if the Swarm badge will be within reach at South of Beale’s birthday party this afternoon.  SOB tends to attract a very savvy crowd when it comes to social media.  With complimentary appetizers from 4 to 6 (yes, the Nuh-Uh Girl is on Foursquare, in case you’re wondering), $1 Ghost River Golden until the keg runs out, and $2 birthday shots, it’s going to be a very popular place to be, and lots of folks should be checked in.

I’ve seen checkins reach the teens and even the twenties at popular events Downtown… what do you think?  Can this one make it to 50?