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Got an insider tip for you if you’re in the mood for some yummy food today. Last night I got word from the Blind Bear’s kitchen that chicken salad will be today’s special.

Later last night I shared the news with fellow Bear regular Butt Slut #1, but she told me, “Oh, I already know. I saw a picture of the chicken salad. It looks awesome.”

The Bear opens at 3 this afternoon with Cinnamon slinging happy hour specials – $3 domestics, $5 wells, $5 house wines – until 7 PM. After that, they’ll be open until 3 AM and will have the chicken salad special until they run out. I’m sure they’ll have the NBA draft on at 7. At 7:30 they have their weekly Texas Hold’em poker tournament, which is free to play.

Speaking of poker… I’ve discovered a new poker game online, Badugi. It’s 4-card draw, with betting after the initial deal and each of three rounds of draws. You try to make a Badugi, which is one card from each suit. If multiple players make Badugis, the lowest hand wins. So A♦-2♠-3♥-4♣ is as good a hand as it gets.

Since it’s a game that is not well-known, most people don’t know how to play properly and chase after bad hands. I played only my second Badugi tournament yesterday and cashed (although it was play money), finishing 17th out of 159 by playing tight and being aggressive with the hands I did play.

Back to the NBA draft… as I said, it starts at 7 PM. The first round will be on both ABC and ESPN. The second round will be on ESPN and the ESPN app.

Ahead of the draft, the Grizzlies are reported to have traded backup point guard Tyus Jones, the 25th pick tonight, and a 2024 1st-rounder in a 3-team deal involving the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards. The Grizzlies will receive Marcus Smart, a 6’4″ combo guard.

Smart will keep the team in contention while Ja Morant is out suspended for 25 games, but the trade doesn’t address the Grizzlies’ starting small forward need. There may be another trade to come.

Smart is 29 and has 9 seasons of NBA experience, so we’re getting him right in his prime. My question is, though, what happens when Morant’s suspension runs out?  Can’t start Smart over Ja at the 1. Can’t start Smart over Des at the 2. Smart’s salary of $17,207,141 is a huge amount to pay a backup guard and even more than Tyus Jones was making.

Could it be that the front office agrees with analyst Kendrick Perkins that Ja needs a change of scenery (particularly, to get away from his friend Davonte Pack) and plans to deal him at the trade deadline?

Today is National Onion Rings Day. The Majestic Grille and Huey’s would be my top recommendations for places to celebrate.

I remember when a neighborhood restaurant had ghost onion rings on its POS system. Pat yourself on the back if you know what I’m talking about…

The Memphis Flyer has photos from the recent Loving Local fundraiser at The Ravine.

Memphis 901 FC got a nice 4-0 win over Tulsa at home last night, earning 3 points in the USL East standings.

A man is accused of stalking and exposing himself in Downtown’s South End District, near the intersection of Florida St. and Carolina Ave.

The NCAA announced that Penny Hardaway will be suspended for the first 3 games of the 2023-24 regular season. The NCAA claims that Penny failed to maintain control over an unnamed assistant coach, no longer with the University of Memphis, who committed recruiting violations during the 2021-22 season. Larry Brown?

The three games missed will be

• Nov. 6 vs. Jackson State
• Nov. 10 at Missouri
• Nov. 17 vs. Alabama State

Join us this Friday for a Community & Resource Fair hosted by Guaranty Bank! Learn about all of the banking resources and employment opportunities offered at the Uptown Branch. The DMC & @MMDC901 will also be sharing opportunities!#downtownmemphis pic.twitter.com/CvcLCXTafn

— Downtown Memphis (@DowntownMemphis) June 20, 2023

Useful info from Fox 13: What attracts and repels mosquitoes

HOTWORX is having a summer social in The Edge District today from 3 to 7 PM.

The Secret Smash Society food truck will sell burgers at Grind City Brewing Co. Sunday starting at 2 PM. Live music by Devil Train.

There’s a Badugi tournament coming up at 7:49 AM, so I’m gonna hop in. Back tomorrow with more news.

Today and tomorrow are good days to keep a browser tab open to Bleacher Report NBA and hit Reload frequently. The reason why is that the NBA draft is tomorrow night and there will be all kinds of trading going on. Also, NBA free agency starts a week from tomorrow, so things will be heating up on that front as well.

The mosquitoes are back and they’re the worst I have seen in a long, long time. Monday I came home from one of my favorite hangouts and it took me an hour to fall asleep because my arms and legs were itching so bad. A can of Off or Cutter is a must.

Today is the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.

A woman was carjacked Saturday morning while sitting in her parked Toyota Camry near Riverside and Court.

There will be a silent auction Saturday at Jerry Lee Lewis’ Cafe where you can acquire some of the late Killer’s most prized possessions. The auction is being hosted by his widow. The money raised will go toward a monument for Lewis’ grave.

From the Memphis Flyer: Memphis had its post-pandemic “Roaring 20s” for drinks last year

French bistro Bishop is hiring an executive chef.

Memphis 901 FC hosts FC Tulsa tonight at AutoZone Park at 7.

Caption by Hyatt kicks off its Summer Acoustic Series this Thursday from 6 to 8:30 PM. Songwriter Graham Winchester will perform in the courtyard, and you can grab bites and drinks in the hotel’s Talk Shop restaurant.

Crafts on Crafts happens every Thursday from 5 to 9 at the Ghost River taproom at Main and Crump. Relax with some coloring or borrow the taproom’s crafts supplies while enjoying a craft beer.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow.

The Craft Food & Wine Festival returns to the Columns at One Commerce Square this Sunday. Tickets include a glass and a souvenir tasting tray and guests get to sample Memphis’ finest foods from about 40 different vendors. There will be wine, beer, and cocktails as well. The event benefits Church Health. Like what you’re tasting? You’ll be able to purchase more of it from the food artisans, right then and there. This event is 21 and up, and you must show a valid ID at the door. Tickets:

• VIP ($125) gets you in the festival at 3 PM and gets you all-access, including a private VIP area downstairs.
• General admission ($65) gets you a souvenir tasting tray and glass. You get in at 4 PM and will enjoy unlimited tastings from chefs and food entrepreneurs, as well as wine, beer, and cocktails. Music by DJ AD.

The CA has a look at Memphis neighborhoods with the largest home price increases in 2023.

• Believe it or not, the biggest increase was in Frayser, up 24% from a year ago.
• Downtown is second, with average home prices moving on up from $251,500 to $294,900 for a 17% increase.
• Rounding out the top five: Whitehaven, Raleigh, and South Memphis.

Memphis Tigers basketball news: Chandler Lawson has entered the transfer portal. 12 of the Tigers’ 13 scholarship players from last season will now most likely be gone due to transfers, the end of their eligibility, or the NBA draft.

Just made a trip to Walgreens and came back with a beer recommendation. For $2.99 you can get a 25 oz. can of Bud Light at the ‘greens. Or you can get a 25-ounce can of this:

New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA. It comes in at a whopping 9% ABV. It’s time to reintroduce a measure I created in this blog in 2015, the Value Drinking Index.

A beer’s Value Drinking Index = (number of ounces) * (percent ABV) / (price including tax)

When out at a bar, you generally want to see a VDI of at least 15 (craft beers and imports) or 20 (domestics). When buying beer to take home, you want to see the VDI a little bit higher.

For the Voodoo Ranger IPA:

VDI = 25 (ounces) * 9 (% ABV) / 3.28 (Walgreens price incl. tax)

That works out to an enormous Value Drinking Index of 69. Wine me, dine me, 69 me! Or beer me, dine me, 69 me, I guess.

Today is National Ice Cream Soda Day, a good reason to visit the old-fashioned soda fountain at A. Schwab on Beale Street.

Well, that’s it for this not-terribly-newsy Tuesday. Back tomorrow.

I went back to the Memphis Public Libraries’ e-collection yesterday to find a new book to read – and I found one I’ve been meaning to read for years: Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. It’s about the intertwined lives of four men, all of whom wanted to be elected President of the United States in 1860:

• William H. Seward, full of joy for life, Senator from New York
• The pious Salmon P. Chase, governor of Ohio
• Edward Bates, elder statesman of Missouri politics
• The gangly and melancholy Abraham Lincoln from Illinois

Lincoln won, of course, and showed his wisdom by making his rivals his closest advisors as the Civil war began:

• He named Seward Secretary of State
• He named Chase Secretary of the Treasury
• He named Bates Attorney General

This is not a quick read – 944 pages in print – but if you’re into American history, I think you would love this book.

On to the news!

Disney’s Frozen kicks off an 11-day, 15-show run at the Orpheum this Thursday.

If you have kids, you might want to bring them to the Thursday, June 29 performance, when it will be Kids’ Night on Broadway. Starting at 6:30, there will be kids’ activities including an intro-to-the-theater packet, crafts, activities, and a photo booth. The performance starts at 7:30.

Happy Juneteenth everyone. On June 19, 1865, Union troops entered Galveston, Texas, where they informed thousands of slaves that they’d been emancipated.

Today is also Take Your Cat to Work Day. Yeah I’m sure that’ll go well.

Today is also National Martini Day. Just don’t order it “shaken, not stirred” as James Bond did – that’s a faux pas. Shaking dilutes the taste of the ingredients.

A 19-year-old was arrested Saturday night after gunshots were heard from the 250 Peabody Place parking garage near Beale Street.

St. Jude has been ranked the top trusted nonprofit for the second year in a row.

University of Memphis baseball has a new head coach: Matt Riser, who spent the last ten seasons coaching Southen Louisiana. Under Riser, that school made four trips to the NCAA tournament.

The Downtown Holiday Inn seeks a chief engineer.

The North American Grappling Association will hold its grappling championships at the Renasant Convention Center Saturday.

There’s free admission to the National Civil Rights Museum today for Juneteenth Community Day. Are you a museum member? Today is an Appreciation Day for you. Come by for your member gift, store discount, and express entry.

There will be a Tigers on Tour – Summer Social event at Grind City Brewing this Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Memphis Tigers head football coach Ryan Silverfield and women’s head basketball coach Alex Simmons will address the crowd at 6:30. There will be giveaways and lawn games.

MemphisWeather.net says this is the day this week Memphis is least likely to get rain. 87/71. Nice breeze coming in from the northwest.

That’s all I could round up for today. Back tomorrow with more news.

 

The NBA draft is this week. The DM has a preview of what Memphis might do with its picks in the Grizzlies podcast.

Memphis 901 FC drew Detroit City FC last night, 0-0, to pick up one point in the USL standings.

The folks at Forbes think Ja Morant’s 25-game suspension was not enough.

The folks at Oklahoma City newspaper The Oklahoman don’t think the University of Memphis is a good fit for the Big 12.

The Memphis Quartet Show comes to the Cannon Center this Wednesday through Saturday. This show is said to feature the leading quartets of gospel music. There are different artists every evening. Schedule

The Woodruff-Fontaine House presents Junebugs & Juleps, a night of summer nostalgia, this Friday at 6 PM. Chill out on the grounds of the 19th-century mansion with Old Dominick cocktails, hors d’oeuvres that are throwbacks to days long gone, and live music by East 2 West. 21+, rain or shine. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

DJ Soul Sister will play Eight & Sand, the lounge inside Central Station Hotel, Friday night from 10:30 to 12:30.

Miss Imagene Azengraber will host Drag Bingo at STIX this Friday from 6 to 8 PM. Try some of their Pride Punch, available the entire month of June.

The African Place at 581 N. Third hosts Freedom Through Food Monday at 10 AM. This event, held on Juneteenth, is about promoting food access, food justice, and food security.

Frankie Hollie and the Noise headline Thursday’s Peabody rooftop party. 6 to 10 PM, $15 general admission, $30 to go VIP.

That’ll do it for this morning. There may or may not be enough news to warrant a post tomorrow; we’ll see.

Tonight is Ladies’ Night at Pretty Taco at Front and MLK. DJ ICON (formerly DJ Decepticon) will supply the tunes.

• Free cover for ladies
• Drink specials
• Parking garage next door

The Facebook post restaurant management made said “Dress to Impress”… ugh… dress codes don’t work very well in this city. Especially not when it’s 90 and muggy outside and people are walking around to 4 different bars in one night. I wish Pretty Taco luck with it though.

The big Memphis news is that the NBA announced Ja Morant’s suspension for conduct unbecoming to the league in the form of waving a gun around on Instagram video for the second time. He got 25 games, a reasonable raise from his 8-game suspension for the first incident.

The 2023-24 NBA schedule is not out yet, but a look at last season’s schedule suggests that Ja will be out through approximately the first week of December. He won’t be able to play in Grizzlies’ preseason games either.

Morant’s suspension will put increased importance on Tyus Jones, considered by many to be the best backup point guard in the NBA. Just about any chance Memphis had of using Jones as a bargaining chip in a trade to fill the team’s small forward need is off the table now.

Now they’ll have to find a backup PG for Jones for those 25 games. Chris Herrington of the DM weighed in on the matter. Second-year player Kennedy Chandler is available but probably isn’t ready to handle a starting role should Jones have to miss games. Herrington thinks a more viable option is to field a squad without a true point guard and with Desmond Bane as the primary ball handler.

The suspension without pay will cost Ja a little over 7 and a half million. However, Nike, with whom he has an endorsement deal, has announced they will stand by him and will not drop him from the brand.

Pink pineapples at South Point Grocery!

Bonus points for South Point NOT saying these would make good pizza toppings. Pineapple does not belong on pizza.

From WREG: WKND Hang Suite employee allegedly hits server with glass hookah pipe

There will be a burlesque show called Seduction on South Main in the upstairs of IBIS, 314 S. Main, Friday, June 23 from 8 to 11.

Dads receive their first beer free tomorrow (when starting a tab) at Grind City Brewing Co.’s Father’s Day celebration. Tacos Mondragon and SnoJunt will be the food trucks on site.

The Smoke and Rolls food truck will have All Day Brunch beginning at 1 PM today at the Ghost River Brewing Co. location at Main and Crump.

If you missed Deep Roots at Blind Bear last night, you can catch them at Loflin Yard at noon tomorrow.

There will be a Father’s Day Backyard Style Barbecue tomorrow at the Terrace at Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid. Items from the grill, classic cookout sides, and of course burgers and dogs. $50 for adults, $25 for kids 3-12.

That’s it. Back tomorrow if there’s any news.

 

Usually on this blog, I mention any lesser-known holidays that occur on the day of the post. For example, today is National Flip-Flop Day.

However, the website I use as my source only reports on national and international holidays, and therefore misses out on an important but lesser-known holiday local to Memphis.

Today is 6/16, Six-1-Six Day.

Six-1-Six, located on Marshall Avenue between Monroe and Madison in what is now The Edge, was one of the most awesome nightclub experiences ever, lasting from approximately 1990 to 1999.

There was the main dance floor, where DJ David the Worm played alternative dance music hits on Friday and Saturday. Sunday was Disco Inferno with DJ Jive and later DJ Moses manning the booth.

There was the pool room with 5 coin-operated pool tables. Next to the bar was an aquarium holding a 5-foot-long caiman and whatever goldfish were unlucky enough to be in there.

There was the live side, which hosted national touring bands. My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult and K.C. and the Sunshine Band were two of the bands I heard at Six-1-Six.

Finally, there was The Dungeon, located downstairs backing up to Madison. DJs in that room tended to play lesser-known, cutting-edge tracks. A lot of folks who became well-known in the early 2000s electronic dance music scene hung out in The Dungeon in the 1990s.

On Tuesdays only The Dungeon was open. Wednesdays were $5 beer busts. They told us the beer was Bud Light but I think it was actually Natty, a switcheroo that would be adopted by my BBQ team years later.

Thursdays bottled domestics were 10 cents from 9 to 10, 25 cents from 10 to 11, and 50 cents from 11 to midnight. You better believe I was waiting outside the door at 8:59 sharp every Thursday.

The club’s last 5 years, 1994-1999, overlapped my time as a faculty member of the math & computer science department at the University of Memphis. I’d often see my students there.

Six-1-Six was 18 and up. Since it closed in 1999, the youngest people who went there (legally) turn 42 this year.

Here’s something that makes me feel old… some of the girls I made out with on Six-1-Six’s dance floor are GRANDMOTHERS now.

On to the news…

Let’s start off with one more lesser-known holiday. Today is No Orange Clothes Day. That’s a holiday that needs to be observed weekly between the last Saturday in August and the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Deep Roots plays Blind Bear tonight at 10.

Wonky’s Sweet Treats at 315 N. Main has its soft opening this Saturday at noon. DJ Calypso will supply the live music. That space would be the storefront that shares a building with Alcenia’s just north of the I-40 overpass.

The Genre at 200 Poplar is celebrating its 2nd anniversary in June. Tonight from 6 to 8 there will be free hookah and 2-for-1 green tea.

Memphis 901 FC hosts its annual Pride Night this Saturday at 7:30 PM at AutoZone Park. Detroit City FC is the opponent. A specialty ticket gets you a sideline seat and a 901 FC Pride T-shirt. A portion of ticket sales will go to Mid-South Pride.

Wednesday, June 21 is The Longest Day, the day of the year with the most sunlight. It’s a day when people come together to fight the darkness of Alzheimer’s Disease. To that end, Old Dominick Distillery will release a single-barrel whiskey with proceeds going to the fight.

Birdie’s, the virtual golf bar at 493 S. Main, will have its grand opening today through Sunday. Play some golf, drink some beer, watch the U.S. Open, win prizes.

The Daily Memphian’s $10 Deal this week is the loaded fries from Red Bones Turkey Legs, the kitchen inside Carolina Watershed.

The city’s Independence Day fireworks show will happen at Liberty Park in Midtown the evening of Monday, July 3. The relocation for the second year in a row is necessary because work on Downtown’s Tom Lee Park is still being completed.

Many people have a 3-day weekend coming up with Juneteenth, America’s newest federal holiday, on Monday.

Grind City Brewing Co. will present a Summer Luau Party at Loflin Yard this Saturday. There will be beer specials and, at 2:00, a free-to-enter cornhole tournament. First place wins a $200 gift card to Grind City’s taproom.

Electric 30 plays Earnestine & Hazel’s Saturday at 9 PM.

Ted Horrell and MCN play The Central BBQ Sessions Saturday at 1 PM at Downtown Central BBQ.

Rowdy Franks plays at 9 AM and Natalie Hall at 11 AM at Memphis Farmers Market this Saturday.

Rachel Ross, Lina Beach, Joe Austin and Brian Sherwood will perform at South Main Songwriters Night, 550 S. Main, tonight at 7.

That’ll do it for now. Back tomorrow.

 

Since the Grizzlies have told Dillon Brooks in no uncertain terms that they will not bring him back for the 2023-24 season, the team is in need of a small forward. They will want to replace at least some of The Villain’s strong defensive skills, and if they can sign a player who provides some offensive power, that’s a bonus. Beale Street Bears takes a look at the top 6 Brooks replacements Memphis might sign in NBA free agency this summer. Number one on the list? The Charlotte Hornets’ Kelly Oubre Jr.

Bleacher Report has a preview of every NBA team’s offseason. Other than replacing Brooks, here are a few items that stand out for the Grizzlies:

• The team will be below the luxury tax line and will therefore have access to the NBA’s non-taxpayer mid-level exception. That will allow Memphis to sign a player for about $12.2 million even if they’re over the salary cap.
• Extending Desmond Bane is a priority. Another Bleacher Report article predicted the offer would come in around 4 years/$100 million.
• The Grizzlies have picks number 25, 45, and 56 in the 2023 NBA draft a week from today.
• The Grizzlies can offer up to four 2024-2030 first-round picks as part of trade packages. They can also offer a protected 2024 pick they acquired from Golden State.

The Grizzlies are looking to hire a manager of AVB operations. This person will manage all aspects of the scoreboards, video boards, and scoring system.

30 Minute Ego plays Slider Inn Downtown tonight beginning at 6. There will be yard games and the Slider Rider food truck will be on site.

Congratulations to Atomic Rose on being named by TimeOut as one of the 10 best drag bars/shows in the South.

Chris Vernon, of The Chris Vernon Show on Grind City Media, will join Peacock this weekend for 4 days of coverage of the U.S. Open. My recommendation for the best place to watch would be Birdie’s golf bar at 493 S. Main.

Easy Eye Sound recording artist Nat Myers will be at River City Records next Tuesday, June 20 at 6 PM. He’ll be stopping on his way to Nashville for his album release with Yellow Peril. Free to attend, but space is limited, so get there early.

Today is National Lobster Day. My recommendation to celebrate would be Slider Inn, home of the very first lobster roll in Memphis.

Break some wind in observance of Global Wind Day.

ALSAC, St. Jude’s fundraising arm, is laying off at least 26 employees, citing financial challenges.

From Action News 5: Redbirds celebrate Black history by changing to “Red Sox”

I have the most wonderful friends a person could ask for. I’m just going to end today’s post on that note. Back tomorrow.

 

Today is Flag Day. Today is also the Trumpster’s 77th birthday. He had a big birthday eve in court, where he was arraigned on 37 criminal counts related to retaining classified documents after he left the presidency. A summary of the afternoon’s events:

• Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges, of course.
• He was booked and fingerprinted but did not have his photo taken. The judge decided that there enough photos of Trump out there that people will have no trouble identifying what he looks like.
• Trump didn’t speak; his lawyers did all the talking.
• There will be no gag order.
• Trump will keep his passport and is free to travel, even internationally.
• Trump can continue to talk to people who work for him who might be witnesses – but he can’t talk about the case.
• A legal analyst talked to POLITICO Playbook and estimated Trump’s sentence at 10-12 years if convicted.
• But… if convicted, Trump’s lawyers plan to appeal, possibly all the way to the Supreme Court.

Would Donald Trump live all the way through an extended appeals process? Quite possibly. His father, Fred Trump, lived to be 93.

Today is also National Bourbon Day.

Today at Dos Hermanos Kitchen in the Cossitt Library:

The Pulpit Is Not a Playground – The Stage Play comes to the Cannon Center this Saturday.

Bishop, the French restaurant inside Central Station Hotel, is hiring a pastry cook.

That’s all for today. Back tomorrow, hopefully.

 

 

News from Momma’s, the trucker bar at Crump and Kentucky:

The Grizzlies are running a Father’s Day sale with deals up to 65% off through today. Visit their online store and use the promo code BackCourt at checkout.

I just finished reading Clarence Saunders & The Founding of Piggly Wiggly: The Rise & Fall of a Memphis Maverick by Mike Freeman. It’s a good read about one of the city’s most colorful (and stubborn) figures. I checked it back into the library’s e-collection, or you can buy it from Amazon (linked).

Little Bettie, the pizza kitchen inside the Wiseacre Downtown taproom, has a new menu beginning today:

Kimchi hushpuppies??? Yes, please! And I would definitely pay the dollar to add chorizo!

From ABC 24: Renasant Convention Center named best convention center in America two years in a row

Pat Sajak is retiring from Wheel of Fortune after the upcoming season.

Bluesman Eric Hughes plays The Central BBQ Sessions at Central BBQ Downtown today.

Did you know that Grind City Media has an app? Download it for iOS or Android to catch The Chris Vernon Show, The Gary Parrish Show, The Jessica Benson Show, The Odds Couple, The SneakFest Show, Grizz Beat, and tons more great content. If you download the app and turn on notifications, you’ll get a special in-app, limited-time announcement this Thursday.

Kobe Bryant almost became a Memphis Grizzly when he was a free agent in 2004.

Insomnia Cookies has a Father’s Day 12-pack of cookies that come in a special Father’s Day gift box sleeve.

Grind City Brewing will hold a tasting at Buster’s Liquors on Highland Friday from 4 to 7 PM. I just hope no one drives a car through the front of the building.

Dammit! Yesterday, less than an hour after I finished eating a big meal, I got invited to The Cove out in the Broad Avenue Arts District for tamale pie. I was too stuffed to go. I love tamale pie! From their menu, where it’s called Stoner Pie: “Two LaRosa Tamales baked in a casserole boat topped with cream cheese Rotel dip and fresh ground cumin; served with Fritos. For extreme heat, ask your server for red hot chili sauce.”

I took the laptop to the Blind Bear last night and typed this post. When I got home, there was disturbing news. I may need a few days to deal with it. And even after that, I may not be in the mood to post for a while. Close friends, please stay in touch.