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Two big events going on today. One is Creative Conversations, an event sponsored by Mpact Memphis at Memphis College of Art. The Creative Conversations are local gatherings of emerging leaders in communities across the country and are part of a grass roots movement to elevate the profile of the arts in America during National Arts and Humanities Month. Its purpose is to

a) inspire you with examples of those who are bringing creative ideas to fruition, whether its for a community enhancement project, entrepreneurial business or personal skill, and

b) give you an opportunity to brainstorm with community artists, entrepreneurs and leaders to spark or add fire to your own ideas.

Event Schedule
5:30 – 6:30 Cocktail networking hour
6:30 – 6:40 Welcome and introductions
6:40 – 7:00 Helen Johnson & Staff present CreateHere
7:00 – 7:15 Q&A
7:15 – 7:40 Christopher Reyes presents Live From Memphis
7:40 – 8:45 Small Group Brainstorming

The other big thing going on tonight is the annual Halloween party at Kooky Canuck. It starts at 9 PM, and there will be $2 34 oz. Super Cold Bud Light Draft, $4 Red Bull & Vodka, and $4 Jager bombs, and other drink specials. Special guest DJ Bobby Smith. 21 and over, no cover, $300 cash prize for best costume. Kooky Canuck always throws some of the best parties of the year, and this one is not to be missed.

Once again, posting schedule will be irregular this weekend through about Tuesday, as I have to be out of town part of the time for family-related medical stuff. I will be at the Kooky party tonight, though, and in fact will be able to push it a bit later into the night than usual.

I stayed home and played PokerStars on my new netbook last night… I’ve decided that the netbook needs a name. Never felt the need to name a computer before, but this tiny blue netbook needs one. Any suggestions? I’ll try to post some pics of it when I get a chance.

I forgot to mention a couple of South of Beale news items in the last post:

First of all, if you’re going to the Grizzlies game tonight at the FedExForum, show your ticket for 20% off food items before or after the game.

Also, the debut of Ghost River’s new Black Magic beer will be at South of Beale Friday from 6-8 PM.  They will have Pint Night prices on all Ghost River beers all night Friday and Saturday, and Ghost River will be on hand to hand out prizes: t-shirts, glasses, etc.

In other news:  Mayor AC Wharton, who is an attorney with plenty of expertise in this area, said that the target letter the FBI recently sent King Willie is “serious.”  It usually signals the end of an investigation and puts the defendant on notice.  Wonder if that means we can expect an indictment soon?

First of all, a very happy birthday to our friend Mikey aka Mikey the Camera Nazi, Mikey the Other Trivia Guy, etc. Mikey is the instigator of a lot of the shenanigans that happen Downtown, and the neighborhood wouldn’t (Edit: had “won’t” there before, giving the impression that he’s leaving, which he’s not, thanks for the catch ATM) be the same without him. He’s also a big part of the reason why several of Downtown’s career panhandlers/scammers are currently in jail. I’m sure he’ll be out celebrating tonight with his favorite beverage: BEER!

One administrative note before I get started: Due to family health issues, posts to this blog are going to be somewhat irregular between now and the first part of next week. I’m going to try not to miss a day posting but I can’t promise it. Please continue to send me info for the blog, but understand that I may not be able to post it in a timely fashion. I’m going to try as hard as possible to be in town Saturday night for Halloween, but will likely have to go right back out of town after that.

I’m the proud parent of an Acer Aspire netbook. It arrived from Woot.com yesterday. It’s tiny and it’s blue, my favorite color. 1 GB of RAM and 160 GB of hard drive space for $229. Not bad. I ordered a 9-cell battery on Amazon for $50, which will give the computer 7-8 hours of battery power. I’ll end up with a kick-ass netbook for under $300. I already installed the most important software (PokerStars) on it.

Which reminds me… I’ve finally found a use for stupid people. I hate standing in line behind them, I hate sitting next to them at the bar, I hate sharing the road with them when I drive… but I LOVE sitting at a poker table with them! After trivia last night, I was waiting for a seat at a table on PokerStars, observing the action. There was a total idiot shoving his stack of chips in on roughly 4 out of every 5 hands. I finally got a seat and got dealt pocket aces first hand, and the moron did it again… it doesn’t get any better than that. His Q-8 suited didn’t hold up, and I found myself up 40 big blinds for less than a minute’s work. I made sure to write his username down so I can search for him next time I play.

Congrats to the trivia team on a first-place win last night. We’re now up to $260 for our next party. Attn team members: Please get on the e-mail list and give your preferences for the date of the next party ASAP. We’re running out of time.

This morning I saw a site called Treehugger Deals which apparently finds good buys that are “green.” It recently talked about a store called Flora & Fauna which is selling nature-inspired fashion for 25% off. The reason I mention this is that one of the featured items on sale is a jellyfish tube top. Yay for nature’s inspiration, and yay for tube tops!

I also found a good article in which women discuss slutty Halloween costumes, and the psychology behind wearing them.

Memphis Farmers Market will have a harvest celebration on Sunday, November 8 from 4 to 7 PM. It will be at Hudson Hall in Central Station, and attendees will enjoy food from some of the city’s best chefs, an auction, live music, and most importantly, complimentary beer and wine. There will be food from Andrew Michael Kitchen, Amerigo, Big Ono Bakery, Cafe Society, Felicia Suzanne’s, Henny Penny Catering, Inn at Hunt Phelan, Interim, Majestic Grille, Mesquite Chop House, Restaurant Iris, Sole, Tsunami, and more. Music will be by performers who played MFM throughout the season. Auction items include a private cooking session by Ben Smith, a Whole Foods shopping spree, vacation retreats, and a family portrait session worth over $700. Go here to purchase tickets. $45 single/$80 couple but the prices go up when November gets here, so buy early. Discounts for MFM vendors and volunteers.

If you missed the last PR class for nonprofits and other civic and congregational groups, it’s being offered again Monday, November 9 at Hutchison’s Center for Excellence, 1740 Ridgeway. Learn to create news briefs, calendar items and public service announcements, pitch story ideas, and book guests on TV and radio shows. $49. To register call 901-507-2460.

The South Main Association will once again be grilling out at Trolley Tour on Friday, October 30. Free to SMA members, $5 for non-members. Boscos beer, and burgers. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

All right, that’s all the time I have for now… all I have to do is get through the afternoon at work, and then I can go home and start fishing on PokerStars again.

I’ve decided it’s time to jump on the “Healthy Memphis” bandwagon. Here are 10 tips for Downtown Memphians to stay healthy and get in better shape.

1. Rather than walking to your favorite bar, jog. That way you’ll get there earlier, and may be able to squeeze an extra beer in before happy hour ends.

2. Drink at Kooky Canuck. They have 34 oz. beers rather than the typical 16 oz. beers. You will burn extra calories lifting the heavier glass.

3. Form a walking club. You and 9 of your friends agree to wear pedometers all week to track your steps. Everyone throws in $10 and at the end of the week, the person who has recorded the most steps gets a keg party.

4. Drink your beer quickly. The quicker you drink, the more trips you’ll have to make to the bathroom. Those steps from your bar stool to the bathroom = calories burned.

5. At Tigers and Grizzlies games, make frequent runs to the concession area for beer. All those trips up and down the stairs will burn calories.

6. Bud now makes a 55-calorie beer, and Miller makes a 64-calorie beer. Take advantage of these new offerings. Lift a 24-pack of one of these new ultra-light beers over your head several times to get a workout, before you put it down and pick up a 24-pack of PBR to take to the cash register.

7. By the way, walking to the register and carrying that PBR = more calories burned. Good job.

8. If you own a bike, find ways to make it more appealing, so you’ll want to ride more often. For example, you could install a cup holder on it so you can carry a beer with you as you ride.

9. There’s lots of walking involved in the annual Stumbling Santa pub crawl every December, so this is a good way to get a workout. Just make sure when shopping for a Santa suit that you get one with pockets deep enough to hold multiple cans of beer.

10. Dancing at one of Downtown’s many nightspots is great aerobic exercise. Just be sure to take breaks and drink plenty of beer in order to stay hydrated.

I hope you’ve enjoyed these tips. I plan to get quite a workout tonight, as I walk the three and a half blocks from my front door to the Saucer for trivia. I’ll also have to walk home later in the evening. That’s a total of seven blocks! Just doing my part to keep Memphis healthy.

I’ve been asked to update the list of Halloween parties that are open to the public Downtown. Here’s the list – hope I’m not leaving anything off as I do this from memory.

Thursday, October 29

Kooky Canuck – they’ve been handing out tickets, so you may want to stop by beforehand and get one to make sure you get in. Attn trivia team: I have a few extras that I’ll bring tonight. I wonder if Satan will be there Thursday night. I’m not talking about a costume.

Friday, October 30

No public parties that I know of.

Saturday, October 31

Friends for Life “Under the Big Top” party at BRIDGES

Paula & Raiford’s Disco

Bardog Tavern

Silly Goose

Flying Saucer

Hard Rock Cafe

Republic Nightclub

Hollywood Disco

South of Beale

“Cougars & Kittens” party at Spindini

I may add a few more after the Memphis Flyer comes out tomorrow.

Note that Downtown is going to be super packed due to Halloween falling on a Saturday. Expect traffic and premium prices for parking. Best bet is to get down here as early as possible. Many of the places listed above are within a few blocks of each other, so it’s perfect for party-hopping.

Weather update: The Weather Channel is now predicting high 68, low 48, the first time in 5 years that we’ve had temperatures that are normal for Halloween. Also 0% chance of rain, which I like a lot.

If you have the ArtsMemphis iPhone app, check the App Store for an update.  The update will let you save events to your Outlook calendar.

Check Woot.com for bargains throughout the day.

Um yeah OK today’s blog is not going to be terribly interesting, because the combination of RiverArtsFest and the Dempseys at Huey’s yesterday killed nearly every brain cell I had left.

The Memphis Tigers football team gets some national exposure tomorrow night, when their game vs. ECU at the Liberty Bowl is televised on ESPN2. I’ll have to keep my eye on the TV during trivia.

Several earthquakes in the 2.5 to 2.9 range in Arkansas and Missouri within the past 24 hours… hope they aren’t precursors to The Big One.

Congratulations to new mayor AC Wharton who gets sworn in at noon today. Interesting fact: 5 of Wharton’s 13 transition team members are either members of MPACT Memphis or past recipients of the organization’s MPACT Maker awards. If you want to become a community leader and also meet other future community leaders, MPACT is a good place to start.

There were several good food vendors at RiverArtsFest… in addition to Central BBQ, there was an Asian food vendor and a Cajun vendor. I saw people getting food and then looking around suspiciously as though they felt the need to guard it. “Don’t worry, she’s out of town,” I told them, referring to the Nuh-Uh Girl, who spent the weekend in Boston. Had she been in town, she undoubtedly would have staked out the food vendors, waiting for people she knows to go up and order. Then would come the begging: “Can I have that nacho right there? Oooh shrimp fried rice, can I have a shrimp? Can I have some of your pecans? Can I have a bite of your BBQ sandwich?” One of her co-workers at FedEx told me she prowls the halls of her office building at lunchtime, to see who brought back leftovers.

It’s a bad day for my friend John D… his hero Morrissey collapsed on stage this weekend and had to be rushed to the hospital. I imagine John will cope with the news by drowning his sorrows in Bud Light.

Big kudos to all the bartenders at Calhoun’s this weekend… the place was just massively packed during RiverArtsFest, and yet I never had to wait more than a minute for a PBR.

Good seeing Lizzie and George last night… everyone who knows Lizzie (pictured in the previous post), please encourage her to move back to Memphis.

That’s all for now… really not a lot going on during the early part of this week, as everyone is resting up for Halloween. This is one of those days when I slept too late to have time to shower before work, so I’ll have to do that when I get home. I’ll probably be at Pint Nite around 6.

Okay, let me give you the inside scoop on RiverArtsFest in 3 words:  CINNAMON ROASTED PECANS.  There is a vendor called The Nut House (pictured below) set up right next to the National Civil Rights Museum gift shop.  They sell all kinds of nuts and their cinnamon roasted pecans are possibly the best thing I’ve ever eaten.  They make them fresh on-site.  If you’re not into pecans, they have cinnamon roasted peanuts and cashews too.

Here are some more pics from the festival:

Looking north from G.E. Patterson.  The booths were better spaced out this year and thanks to great weather, the festival was packed.

John D enjoying his favorite beverage, an ice cold Bud Light.

Clay lifts Stella the dog up to Calhoun’s window so she can order a beer.

I don’t even want to think about what Terry might have in that cylindrical-shaped bag.

UT fans made Calhoun’s look like a damn carrot patch yesterday.  Reminder to festival-goers today:  Calhoun’s has the NFL package and 10 TVs if you want to drop in and watch a game.  $2 PBR.

Be sure to check out Shane Paris Art if you go to the festival today.  His booth is located right in front of the Arcade on Main Street, second booth south of G.E. Patterson.  Come support the work of a local Downtown artist.  If you can’t make it to the festival today, check out Shane’s web site.

Stella stalking a tennis ball in a parking lot near the festival

My plans for today:  I was going to go to brunch at Sole this morning – seeing Melissa at Paula & Raiford’s Thursday night reminded me that I hadn’t been there in a while.  But that plan changed the moment I found out the Young Guns are playing at 11:55 this morning at RiverArtsFest.  The Young Guns are an absolute MUST SEE.

After that, I’ll probably hang out at the festival until it closes at 6, with at least one trip to the Nut House for cinnamon roasted pecans, and a trip to Central BBQ’s booth for BBQ nachos.  And, of course, trips to Calhoun’s throughout the day for beer.  After that I’ll head north to the Saucer for another lazy Sunday night with Brittney, then at 8:30 The Dempseys take the stage at Huey’s.  It’s gonna be a long day…