Paul Ryburn's Journal

The Memphis Grizzlies-Milwaukee Bucks pre-season game last night was called off by the NBA after three quarters due to a fire alarm that went off at FedExForum. The Grizzlies were declared the winners, 87-77.

The NBA released the results of its annual general manager survey yesterday. When asked which player was most likely to have a breakout season in 2021-22, the most popular GMs’ answer was Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Grizzlies.

Did you know that Downtown is getting another brewery? Soul & Spirits is opening at 845 N. Main, about a half-mile north of A.W. Willis Ave. near the intersection of Main and Henry. Their first two beers are Bring it On Home, a lager, and Hoochie Coochie, an IPA. Their website says that they are hiring. They plan to have a taproom. They will make an appearance at the Cooper-Young Beerfest this Saturday.

Multiple people who work at the Silly Goose have told me the wood-fired pizza and cocktail lounge will start closing at 7 on Sunday evenings. It will still be open until 3 AM the other six nights of the week.

The award-winning New Wing Order food truck will come to the Gayoso House apartments this Thursday from 4:30-7:30.

Central Station Hotel will hold an on-site job fair next Wednesday, October 13, to hire for the following positions:

• Guest Services Agent
• Night Auditor
• Room Attendants
• Public Space Attendants
• Bartenders
• Restaurant Servers
• Cooks
• Host/Hostess
• Banquet Servers
• Banquet Manager

Be prepared to be interviewed on the spot at the job fair.

Dancing with the Stars Live comes to the Orpheum on March 1.

Tickets go on pre-sale tomorrow and on sale to the general public Friday for the December 6 live broadcast of WWE Monday Night Raw at FedExForum. The arena might want to update its banner image for that event – two of the stars featured prominently, Charlotte Flair and Drew McIntyre, got traded to Smackdown this week.

Check out Tennessee’s new license plate design.

Android users: Watch out for apps that send notifications saying you’ve won a gift. These apps are Trojan horses, programs that appear to do something desirable, but actually do malicious things behind the scenes. In particular, these apps ask you for your phone number, and when you give it, they subscribe you to a premium SMS service charging $40 a month.

Twitter is rolling out Twitter for Professionals, for anyone who uses Twitter to do business.

Fine-dining restaurant Flight is hiring a server assistant.

Today is National Noodle Day. My recommendation would be to celebrate it at Good Fortune Co. on South Main, where they cook Asian dishes with handmade noodles.

For the first time in 25 years, the Trumpster fell off the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in the U.S. That’s gotta be quite a blow to his ego.

That’s the news for now. Back tomorrow with more.

Lots of news about The Edge District to lead off this morning’s post.

This Friday, October 8, there will be a free concert at Edge Plaza (Monroe & Marshall) from noon to 1 PM featuring Iris Orchestra. Food trucks Mr. Frazier’s Fish Fry and Stick’em will be on hand, so come hungry. Also, if you want to take a tour of the Edge Motor Museum down the street, tickets will be discounted to $5.

This year’s Edge Motorfest will be this Saturday, October 9 from 9 AM to 3 PM. The festival is free to attend, but if you want to enter a car in the car show it’s $20. Awards will be handed out in over 20 categories including street rods, motorcycles, muscle cars, tuners, and modifieds. There will be goodie bags for those who enter as well as door prizes.

Next Tuesday, October 12 from 5:30 to 6:30 PM, the Edge Neighborhood Association will partner with Streetdog Foundation for Yappy Hour at the Edge Triangle dog park at the corner of Orleans and Monroe Extended. Bring your dogs for a costume contest, refreshment, and giveaways. See you next Tuesday on The Edge!

Details are yet to come, but Tuesday, November 9 will be the Memphis Medical Center District’s annual Taste of the District.

The Medical Center District recently interviewed Sean Robinson of Cozy Corner BBQ. Sean is the grandson of the original owners who opened the business in 1977.

NOTE: All of the information above came from the latest issue of The Vitals, the Memphis Medical District Collaborative’s monthly email. Sign up to receive The Vitals on the MMDC website.

British Invasion cover band Jeffrey and the Pacemakers will play Ghost River’s Beale Street location Sunday, October 17 from 4 to 7 PM. If you’ve near heard these guys, they are excellent and you should check them out. They play the hits of the Kinks, the Animals, Herman’s Hermits, and other British Invasion bands including the two most well-known of all of them, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

When I went to Rhodes College, my parking decal was a point of pride – it let everyone know I was associated with that fine institution. But now, according to this DM article, Rhodes students are being advised to remove their parking decals from their cars. It seems that the decals are sending the message to criminals that there is nice stuff in the house the car is parked at. Prayers for all who knew Drew Rainier, the Rhodes student killed in a home invasion over the weekend.

Michael Donahue reports for the Memphis Flyer that The Rambler, a boutique apartment hotel at the corner of Main and Huling, is now open for business. An “apartment hotel” is a hotel whose rooms are designed like apartments, which makes them good for longer stays – for example, for someone who’s in town on business for six weeks.

Facebook and Instagram were down for more than 6 hours yesterday. The outage is said to have happened during a routine update to Facebook’s Border Gateway Protocol records. Glad to hear it wasn’t a hack or a denial of service attack.

Windows 11 launches today.

Today is National Get Funky Day.

Tonight is opening night for Come From Away, the first Broadway show at the Orpheum in more than a year and a half.

Memphis Health Center at 277 S. Fourth is holding a job fair today.

That’s the news for this morning. Disappointed that WWE didn’t use the storyline idea I pitched in yesterday’s post. Back tomorrow with more news.

I’m looking at the Memphis 10-day forecast on Weatherbug. Every high is between 75 and 82. Every low is between 64 and 68. PERFECT. We get to have a fall this year. It seems like, in recent years, the highs have stayed around 88 until the middle of October, then dropped like a rock into the 50s.

Cordelia’s Market has announced that beginning today, they will no longer offer their made-to-order sandwich and pizza menus after 4 PM. The reason why is that they’re expanding their line of ready-to-eat dinners, desserts, and sandwiches in their hot box, as well as grab & go offerings in their cooler.

The Daily Memphian has a recap of the Grizzlies’ open practice yesterday, including videos from the rookie dance contest. The first pre-season game is Tuesday at 7 PM, when the Grizzlies will host the 2021 NBA champions, the Milwaukee Bucks, at FedExForum. You can catch the game on TNT.

If you agree with me that the Grizzlies Grannies & Grandpas dance team performances are the best part of attending a game, you’ll want to mark Saturday, October 9 on your calendar. The Grannies and Grandpas will have their first show of the year as the Grizzlies host Atlanta. Come cheer my sweet friend Luanne who is new to the dance team this season!

CBS Sports has updated its bowl projections following week 4 of college football. With Alabama and Georgia both projected for the college football playoff, that clears the way for the number-three team in the SEC, currently Arkansas, to take the spot in the Sugar Bowl. CBS projects a rematch with Texas for the Hogs.

Memphis’ projection is a December 29 appearance at the Fenway Bowl in Boston, playing Louisville. Current projection for Memphis’ Liberty Bowl is Iowa State vs. Mississippi State. Of course, there’s still a lot of football to be played.

Oh, one more… Clemson, a fixture in the playoff since its inception, is now projected to play in the Cheez-it Bowl. Oh how the mighty have fallen. If anyone cares, Kansas State is their projected opponent.

From the CA: City leaders hoped a $30M grant would transform Foote Park at South City. Why it hasn’t worked.

If you’re still on the fence about getting vaccinated, here’s a piece of info that may sway you: If you are identified by the health department as a close contact of someone who has COVID-19, you are required to quarantine – UNLESS you’re fully vaccinated or have had the virus yourself in the last 3 months. Getting those shots is insurance against an unwanted interruption to your routine.

Redbirds fans: Your parent team the St. Louis Cardinals have made it to the National League Wild Card Game. The Cards play the Los Angeles Dodgers at 7:10 PM Wednesday. The game will be televised on TNT, and Wainwright vs. Scherzer is the starting pitcher matchup.

Fun link I found in today’s Morning Brew newsletter: The most counterintuitive facts in all of math, computer science, and physics. Here’s one customers of Aldo’s Pizza Pies should keep in mind: If you order two 12-inch pizzas, you get less pizza than if you order one 18-inch pizza.

It’s National Taco Day, so of course Maciel’s is my lunch recommendation Downtown.

All the times and TV channels have been announced for next Saturday’s college football games, so let’s go ahead and look at games of interest to Memphians:

• 15 Coastal Carolina at Arkansas State, Thursday, October 7, 6:30 PM, ESPNU
• Temple at 5 Cincinnati, Friday, October 8, 6:00 PM, ESPN
• 6 Oklahoma at 21 Texas, 11:00 AM, ABC
• 13 Arkansas at 17 Ole Miss, 11:00 AM, ESPN
• South Carolina at Tennessee, 11:00 AM, ESPN2
• 2 Georgia at 18 Auburn, 2:30 PM, CBS
• 4 Penn State at 3 Iowa, 3:00 PM, FOX
• LSU at 16 Kentucky, 6:30 PM, SEC Network
• 1 Alabama at Texas A&M, 7:00 PM, CBS
• Memphis at Tulsa, 8:00 PM, ESPN2

With that 11 AM lineup, I’m going to have to give some consideration to Max’s Sports Bar as a potential lead-off spot Saturday. Also, the PBR draft at Max’s is $1.25 cheaper than the place I usually go on Saturday.

A 4th-ranked vs. 3rd-ranked showdown? Sounds like that could be Cincy’s ticket into a playoff slot.

The Texas-Oklahoma game might very well determine who takes the Big 12’s spot in the Sugar Bowl.

All right, if you’re not a WWE fan, you’re dismissed. See you tomorrow.

Fantasy booking the second night of the WWE draft: The Usos get drafted to Monday Night Raw, which makes Paul Heyman blow a gasket because Jey and Jimmy have orders to beat the life out of Paul if he can’t get the Usos drafted to Smackdown.

So Paul Heyman proposes a match: The Usos vs. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. Winner gets to pick their brand; loser has to accept their draft assignment.

Kingston and Woods win the match and choose to stay on Raw with their New Day stablemate, WWE Champion Big E. The Usos put a beatdown on Paul Heyman as directed by their Tribal Chief, Universal Champion Roman Reigns. Brock Lesnar comes out to save his former adviser from the Usos, and the two reunite against the Bloodline in advance of the Reigns-Lesnar match in Saudi Arabia later this month.

Just an idea. Back tomorrow with more news, if there’s enough news to report.

The Liberty Bowl, home of Memphis Tigers football, will be renamed Simmons Bank Memorial Stadium. Allowing Simmons to acquire the naming rights will provide money for significant improvements, another move in the right direction for Memphis to get invited to a Power Five conference.

Let’s have a look at college football games of interest to Memphians today:

• Memphis at Temple, 11 AM, ESPNU
• 8 Arkansas at 2 Georgia, 11 AM, ESPN
• Tennessee at Missouri, 11 AM, SEC Network
• 7 Cincinnati at 9 Notre Dame, 1:30 PM, NBC
• 12 Ole Miss at 1 Alabama, 2:30 PM, CBS
• Arkansas State at Georgia Southern, 3 PM, ESPN+
• Mississippi State at 15 Texas A&M, 6 PM, SEC Network
• 21 Baylor at 19 Oklahoma State, 6 PM, ESPN2
• 22 Auburn at LSU, 8 PM, ESPN

I hate it that the Memphis game and the Arkansas game are on at the same time for the second week in a row. The Arkansas-Georgia game is probably the most important college game of the week, because it has CFP implications. However, every game Memphis plays right now is an important one – the better the Tigers’ record, the more likely an invite to a Power Five conference. Memphis deserves to be on the most prominent TV in the bar. I’ll watch Arkansas on the ESPN app if I have to.

Saturday, October 9 is National Chess Day, and the Memphis Chess Club will celebrate by holding tournaments giving away nearly $2000 in prizes.

Deni from the Majestic Grille posted some useful information yesterday: Those of you who work in restaurants and bars who got the Pfizer COVID vaccine are now eligible for a booster shot, due to your high-risk occupational status. It has to be at least 6 months since your last shot. Get your booster free at the Pipkin Building, Tuesday-Friday 9-6, Saturday-Sunday 9-1. You’ll need to bring your vaccination card. No need to make an appointment, just show up.

The New Wing Order food truck has announced their flavor of the month for October: Raspberry Serrano wings. The sauce starts with sauteed onions, garlic, and serrano chiles, and the finish is done with raspberries, smoked paprika, and brown sugar. The truck will be at Memphis Made Brewing Co. on South Cooper today 4-7. I’ll let you know the next time they head Downtown.

Speaking of wings, I tried two flavors of Flying Saucer wings yesterday that I had not had before: Sriracha Gold and Nashville Hot. Both were very good!

Yesterday I posted that Little Bettie, the pizza restaurant inside Wiseacre Downtown, is adding 4 new pies to its menu. Do you want to make those pies? Little Bettie is hiring. Details here

Old Dominick Distillery will host a rooftop workout Thursday, October 21. Here’s the schedule:

• 6:00: Low impact, high-intensity workout with Shred Fitness
• 6:45: Yoga class led by Amy Lenkzus of Sumits Yoga
• 7:30: Cocktail time!

Cost is $23. In case of rain or cold weather the class will be moved indoors.

Let’s have a look at the non-basketball events coming up at FedExForum this month.

• The Lit AF Tour featuring Martin Lawrence along with Rickey Smiley, DeRay Davis, Tommy Davidson, B. Simone, and Benji Brown Friday, October 15
• The Dude Perfect 2021 Tour Saturday, October 16
• Legendz of the Streetz Tour: Rick Ross, Jeezy, Gucci Mane, 2 Chains, Fabolous, Boosie Badazz, with DJ Drama Friday, October 22
• Kane Brown with Jordan Davis and Restless Road Saturday, October 23
• Lil Baby with Gunna, 42 Dugg, and Mooski Friday, October 29

There will be lane closures on the I-55 bridge for routine inspection Monday through Thursday 9 AM-5 PM.

Good news: The rolling 7-day average of new COVID cases in Shelby County fell below 300 yesterday, at 282. It was the first time below 300 since late July.

Anchor Eryn Rogers tried goat for the first time as she ate Panamanian cuisine from Downtown restaurant Curry N Jerk. Check out the Eryn Eats segment on Local 24.

KJ Wild performs at South Main Sounds tonight 6:30-8:00. That’s a duo, although the name sounds like a single performer.

The Memphis Salsa Convention is happening this weekend at Rumba Room.

That’s it for today. I guess I will venture out to Bardog to watch football here in a bit. Back tomorrow with more news.

Broadway returns to the Orpheum next week as the hit musical Come From Away will run 8 shows Tuesday through the following Sunday. Down the street, the Majestic Grille will have a Broadway’s Back on the Bluff celebration on opening night, Tuesday, October 5. From 5 to 7 that night, the Majestic will hold a Red Carpet Happy Hour on the patio. They’ll have Old Dominick drink specials, live music, and a pre-theater menu. Call 901-522-8555 to reserve your spot on the patio for that evening.

Grind City Brewing Co. hosts its Oktoberfest, also its first-anniversary celebration, tomorrow. Here’s a summary of what will happen there:

• Custom Grind City beer steins for sale
• Vendors: Viva La Plant, Queen Styles Boutique, My Cup of Tea
• Food trucks: Diamond Dave’s, Flying Saucer, Arbo’s, Wolf River Popcorn
• Mighty Souls Brass Band 3-5
• Elevation Memphis 6:30-9:30
• Axe throwing 2-5; axe throwing competition at 4
• Inflatable slide
• Cornhole
• Giant Jenga
• Hook and ring game
• Bratwurst toss competition 1 PM
• Bratwurst eating competition 2 PM
• Stein holding competition 6 PM

Riverside Drive between Beale and Union will be closed tomorrow for Wine on the River (sold out).

The annual Memphis holiday parade is set for Saturday, December 11 at 3 PM on Beale Street. Thank you Memphis for not scheduling the parade for the first Saturday in December. There is too much that goes on that day (St. Jude Marathon, AAC and SEC championship games, Stumbling Santa).

I went in the Blind Bear yesterday evening and I noticed the bartenders glancing at each other like, “Who’s going to tell Paul his puppy got run over?” After a minute, Maddie gave me the news: “We’re out of PBR.” That turned out to be okay, though, because I got to try something new and delicious:

Memphis Made FUN is a crisp, refreshing lime seltzer. I could drink this all day long. I wish I had discovered this a few weeks ago when the feels-like temperature outside was 106. I felt like I should be on the patio drinking this, but it was raining and Perjorie T. Roll didn’t want to get her hair wet.

As for the PBR situation at the Bear, never fear… the GM told me they have 3 cases coming in today.

Little Bettie, the pizza restaurant inside Wiseacre Downtown, has announced some new pies on its menu:

• Yabba Dabba Nduja – Corn, nduja, cheesy mayo, mozzarella, shaved garlic (Wondering WTF nduja is? Wikipedia to the rescue)
• Luca Changretta – Tomato sauce, shrimp, lemon conserva, capers, Calabrian chiles, bread crumbs
• Cosmic Trigger – Tomato sauce, mushroom conserva, garlic, thyme, black pepper honey, cheese
• The Mountain – Beer-braised Mississippi pot roast, banana peppers, pickled cabbage, cheese, ricotta cream

The CHF Race for Hope 5K and 10K are tomorrow in Court Square. Proceeds benefit the Chris Hope Foundation, a nonprofit that assists families battling childhood illness.

The McRib returns on November 1.

Tonight is Cosplay and Cocktails at Jerry Lee Lewis’ Cafe on Beale. $15 at the door. Must be 21.

That’ll do it for today. Back tomorrow with more news.

The Memphis Flyer’s Best of Memphis 2021 poll results have been released. There’s a BOM website but my God does it ever suck. You have to click into a category, then click into each individual award, then click the Back button to get back to the category page. Why couldn’t they just list all the Arts & Entertainment winners on one web page, and all the Food & Drink on another, and Goods & Services on another, and so on?

I just about guarantee a marketing person had some say in the way that site was designed. Marketing people screw up everything. Anyway, for an easier-to-read version of the awards, check out the online copy of this week’s print edition of the Flyer. Yeah you’ll have to zoom in and out but that’s preferable to 140 clicks of the Back button.

The annual AutoZone sales meeting happened this week, the first convention to be held in the renovated Renasant Convention Center. Normally the meeting draws 5000 from across the U.S., but to maintain social distancing the number dropped this year. Attendees were required to be vacc’d against COVID and produce a negative test. Thank you AutoZone for doing the right thing and preventing the spread of COVID among your valued employees and in our community!

The Brass Door has added outdoor seating. You can grab a table under their new weather-resistant awning.

FedExForum posted an update on its plan to keep game and event attendees safe from COVID. Most notably, they’re going to implement a CLEAR Health Pass to keep lines moving faster. Attendees will be able to upload their vaccine card and negative test results to the CLEAR app on their phone, and those who do so will receive priority entry into the arena.

Tiger fans, take note: The U of M does not plan to offer refunds for those turned away from Tigers basketball games because they’re not compliant with the vaccine/test rules.

Regina’s Cajun Kitchen in the Lincoln-American Tower at 60 N. Main is back open. Tuesdays through Thursdays they are open for lunch 11 AM-2 PM and for dinner 5 PM-10 PM. Saturdays they are only open for dinner 5 PM-10 PM.

There was a rally on the Civic Center Plaza yesterday, but it was a bunch of kooks, crackpots, and people who think taking a horse de-wormer prevents coronavirus, so I’m not going to provide a link and give them publicity.

There’s a free show by Boombox tonight at Carolina Watershed. The music is described as “A little house, a little blues, a little funk, a little rock, and a whole lot of soul blast” – anything you would hear coming out of a boombox.

Congratulations to Daryl and Ashley of Walking Pants Curiosities. The gift shop and art un-general store celebrated its 5th anniversary yesterday. They say there’s a big announcement coming in the next couple of weeks.

Tug’s Casual Grill will celebrate Oktoberfest every Friday in October, starting tomorrow. They’ll serve a menu of classic German dishes and Oktoberfest biers.

If you’re looking for something fun to do tonight, come check out Bad Bear Bingo at the Blind Bear tonight at 8. They have a variety of games including traditional bingo, four corners, and fill-the-card. If you bingo, you get to spin the wheel for a chance at prizes including $5 or $10 off food at a future visit, a $1 Fireball shot, or you’re the password (e.g. “(Your name) sent me”) on a future weekend night. Sharmin is a fabulous bingo host!

Signups are now open for Memphis in May’s BBQ Fest judging seminar. If you want to be a judge at BBQ Fest – or regional competitions in towns like Atoka, Marion, and Southaven – this is the place to start. Also, many BBQ teams send their cook teams and leadership to the seminar, to get a better idea what judges look for. It’ll be Saturday, November 6 at the Sheraton Hotel Downtown. Cost is $99.

Today is the final day Bardog will be closed all day for repairs and renovations. I talked to one of their bartenders last night and she told me they will return to their normal weekday opening time of EIGHT AM beginning tomorrow (they’d been opening at noon on the weekdays).

I hope they get the downstairs open for weekend brunch, too. As someone who’s normally up there on Saturdays, I can tell you, they have been flushing piles of money away by not having it open. Last Saturday, at least 8 groups came in, found there was a long wait for seating because only upstairs was open, and decided to go somewhere else for brunch.

Up the road in St. Louis, the Rolling Stones performed their first concert without drummer Charlie Watts. Watts died last month after 58 years with the band. Watts wasn’t going to do this tour anyway and gave his personal approval to drummer Steve Jordan, so the band decided to respect his wishes and carry on. Mick is 78, Keith is 77, and Ronnie is 74. Which’ll happen first – final Stones concert ever, or Tom Brady retires?

The Arkansas Razorbacks made my favorite statistical analysis website, FiveThirtyEight! Alex Kirshner discusses how Arkansas revived its football program.

Whaddaya think of this unlikely scenario: Arkansas upsets one of Georgia or Bama and goes on to beat Ole Miss. Cincinnati runs the table. The playoff committee has to decide who gets the 4 seed in the CFP.

Beautiful house for rent if you don’t mind living in a sorta-sketchy area: 309 Hernando

YOGA! There will be a special yoga class in the yard of Slider Inn Downtown Sunday, October 17 at 10:30 AM. Funds raised from the class will go toward participation in the Rock ‘n’ Roll New Orleans race, which benefits St. Jude. $20 gets you a one-hour class instructed by Kandace Stewart and a ticket good for an order of fries or a beer. Bring your own yoga mat. Mask is optional while doing yoga but is required to enter Slider Inn.

Former City Councilperson Barbara Swearengen Ware has died. She was 82.

That’s it for today. I’ve got some maintenance work I plan to do today on my previously-written professional articles – I want to give their SEO a tune-up and add some monetization tools that were not available when I wrote them. I’ll be out for Bad Bear Bingo this evening, so if anyone from the Bear is reading this, time to re-stock your PBR – I drank the last can last night. Back tomorrow with more news.

Yesterday Memphis in May announced that the 2022 Beale Street Music Fest and BBQ Fest will move to the Memphis fairgrounds. The move is happening for one year only (at least, that’s what they’re telling us) while construction is being done on Tom Lee Park.

Meh.

I mean, it was probably the best option they had. There was no other public outdoor space Downtown that was suitable for holding the two events.

But, still, meh.

To make it clear, my “meh” reaction is with regard to BBQ Fest. I haven’t been to Music Fest in many years and couldn’t care less where they hold it.

Not being able to walk to and from BBQ Fest is a major bummer. I’m not saying “I’m out” for BBQ Fest 2022, but I’m less than 100% sure I’m in.

If they get a strong and free shuttle service to and from Downtown for BBQ Fest participants, as they had in the Tiger Lane year of 2011, that would sway me much closer in favor of doing it. As many BBQ Fest team members live Downtown or stay in Downtown hotels, a shuttle would be a very good thing to have.

Anyone operating an AirBnB in Cooper-Young is about to make some money next May.

On a happier note, CHEERS to FedExForum management for doing the right thing! If you want to attend a Grizzlies or Tigers game this season and you’re 12 or older, you must show that you have had at least one COVID-19 vaccination dose, or you must show a negative COVID-19 test that is less than 72 hours old. The policies will be in place until at least November 19. Also, in compliance with the Shelby County mask mandate, all Grizzlies and Tigers fans will be required to mask up as long as the mandate is in place.

If you attend a Grizzlies or Tigers game, you might want to get there 15 or so minutes earlier than you usually do… checking vaccination cards and negative tests will probably take a little while to figure out.

Bet FedExForum has to hire some extra security to deal with unruly fans who are livid that they can’t get into a game without a vacc or a test.

The Memphis Redbirds are back at AutoZone Park for one final homestand of the regular season. Their opponent will be the Charlotte Knights, Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. Let’s have a look at what is happening this week:

• Today: Final weekday matinee game with a 12:15 first pitch
• Thursday: Throwback Thursday, with $2 draft beers, $1 hot dogs, and the Redbirds in their classic Memphis Chicks uniforms. It’s the last Bark in the Park of the season, where a special ticket gets you and your dog admission. First pitch 6:45.
• Friday: There will be two specialty tickets. One gets you a St. Louis Cardinals puffy vest. The other gets you all-you-can-eat ribs, beans, chips, hot dogs, and up to 2 drinks (soft drinks or water) per ticket. First pitch 7:10.
• Saturday: There will be two specialty tickets. One gets you a replica of the 2006 World Series trophy. The other gets you a Costway red canopy chair. First pitch 3:15.
• Sunday: Free ice cream sandwiches for kids 12 and under. First pitch 2:05.

Mud Island residents, you’re getting a pharmacy. Harbor Town Pharmacy opens Saturday, October 9. They’ll be located at 103 Harbor Town Square and will be open 9 AM to 6 PM Monday-Saturday.

Buddy Albert Nemenz plays King & Union Bar & Grocery tonight at 9. That’s the space in the Doubletree Hotel that used to be TGI Fridays.

Feelin’ Memphis, the Memphis-themed gift shop at 509 S. Main, now has landmark coasters. Take home a coaster with images of classic signs outside The Rendezvous, Paula & Raiford’s Disco, Central BBQ, Silky O’Sullivan’s, Memphis Made Brewing, and many more.

Amber Rae Dunn & The Mulberries perform at Central Station Hotel’s Live at the Tracks series tomorrow 6:30-9:30.

Yesterday I heard a Sugar Grits employee say that there are plans to open a second location in Collierville.

I’d never heard of Quad Cities pizza until yesterday, but now that I have, I want one! Mountains of mozzarella, sausage, and fragrant tomato sauce on a crust that is cooked in such a way that it doesn’t go limp when you pick it up. The pizza is cut party-style. The Quad Cities are Moline and Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa. They are now on my bucket list to visit.

Four teenagers have been arrested following a string of about 10 car break-ins in South Bluffs. A stolen iPhone was tracked to Breedlove Street in the New Chicago neighborhood. There, police found all four teens wearing the same clothes they had on in security video. Stolen items were recovered, as were two weapons.

Miss Gay Arkansas America, Athena Sinclair, will make a special appearance at Atomic Rose’s drag show Saturday at 10:30 PM.

The Peabody’s mixologists have been busy upgrading the Lobby Bar’s drink menu. Have a look.

As your number-one source of news and information about The Edge District, it is my pleasure to share with you some news about one of The Edge’s businesses. Sunday is National Boyfriend Day, and Craft Axe Throwing is celebrating by offering free throws to all boyfriends and husbands. The place will fill up, so make a reservation to claim your spot.

The Peanut Shoppe is selling its two-story “PEANUTS” sign.

5 Star Story from WMC Action News 5: Downtown alleyways turned into neighborhood spaces

Today is Goose Day. I certainly plan to celebrate that holiday this afternoon.

A reader recently asked me: “Hey Paul, you haven’t posted any pics of Perjorie to your blog lately. How’s she doing?”

She’s doing well! I’ve posted a few pics of her to social media, but they didn’t make it onto the blog. Let’s catch up!

Here’s Perjorie standing next to the Daily Dog a few Saturdays ago at Bardog. This dog was topped with avocado, bacon, pico de gallo, and spicy mayo. Perjorie especially liked the avocados because they were the same color as her hair. Someone sitting next to me commented, “Avocados don’t belong on a hot dog.” Wrong. Ketchup is what doesn’t belong on a hot dog. Unless you’re 7.

Dude around the corner of the bar ordered some olives in his PBR, so I decided to give them a try. I found that neither the taste of the beer nor the olives changed much. At least I could say I ate a serving of green vegetables that day, and Perjorie liked the olives because they were the same color as her hair.

A friend of mine is doing some contract work in San Diego. Having lived there for 6 months, I offered some dining advice: “Go to any Mexican fast-food restaurant that ends in -o’s (ex. Alberto’s, Roberto’s) and get the fish tacos.” Fish tacos are to San Diego what BBQ is to Memphis.

Well, that made me hungry for fish tacos. Luckily, I have a Mexican restaurant as good as any in San Diego right down the street here in Downtown Memphis: Maciel’s. I got 3 baja fish tacos in fried tortilla shells, topped with lettuce, salsa, and cheese. Rice and beans on the side, of course. So good. Perjorie likes Maciel’s because two of the three sauces they give you are the same color as her hair.

Downtown Memphis dining just doesn’t get much more classic than fish & chips at the Majestic Grille. Perjorie and I met two good friends there for lunch last Friday, the day of the week they run seafood lunch specials.

Well, I thought I wasn’t going to have to write any more professional articles until October 1, but it turns out I need to squeeze one more in. No problem, I have an idea on the ready. Going to fire that up, do a few other writing-related tasks, and then get out and celebrate Goose Day. Back tomorrow with more news.

Ladies and gentlemen, one of the major wrongs of the 2010s is about to be made right.

In 2013, the makers of Skittles candy decided to change the flavor of their green pieces from lime to apple. This was, of course, a horrible decision. Lime was the best flavor in the entire bag; on the other hand, the only thing that should be apple-flavored are, well, apples.

Food & Wine reported good news yesterday. Skittles’ makers have realized they made a mistake, and over the next few months, green Skittles will return to lime flavor. Hallelujiah! There is justice in the world after all.

Wahlburgers Wild, the burger concept owned by Donnie, Marky Mark, and their brother Chef Paul, has opened in Bass Pro at the Pyramid. Here’s their menu. They have 7 different burgers as well as starters, sandwiches, salads, shakes, and floats. For vegetarian diners, they have a plant-based Impossible Burger, which is noted on the menu to be Marky Mark’s choice. More on Wahlburgers Wild from the DM’s Jennifer Biggs and Chris Herrington

Arkansas will play in the College GameDay game of the week this Saturday. The folks at College GameDay made the decision to head to Athens for 8 Arkansas vs. 2 Georgia. The game kicks off at 11 AM on ESPN. Wooooooooo pig sooooiiieeee! Razorbacks!

You gotta admit River City Records has a point here:

Don’t forget that Southern Avenue will perform songs from their new album this Thursday at 7 PM at the record store – and if you like what you hear, you can pick up the album right then and there.

Here’s an article on how to get Google to blur the image of your house when people take a virtual walk down your street using Google StreetView. There are instructions for doing similar on Apple Maps and Bing Maps as well.

It’s National Drink Beer Day. I thought we just had that a few weeks ago, but it’s perfectly fine to have another one. Reminds me, I have a beef with whoever distributes PBR in this town… get the 16-ounce cans back in stock!!!

Congratulations to Hot N Heavy Dogs, who got a 100 recently on their health inspection. You can find the hot dog cart at Union and Main most Wednesdays.

Enjoy prison, R. Kelly. The artist/producer faces 10 years to life after being convicted of a number of sex crimes involving minors.

Well, I’m in a weird spot… due to the way my monthly minimum payment is structured, it doesn’t make sense for me to publish anything professionally until Friday, the first day of next month. So, OF COURSE, on the day I don’t need to write anything, I come up with FIVE kick-ass article ideas. Isn’t it funny how the mind works?

I’ll see how many more ideas I can come up with by noon, then go celebrate the national holiday. Back tomorrow with more news.

HOW BOUT THEM HOGS!!! The 16th-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks beat 7 Texas A&M 20-10 yesterday in Arlington, Texas. We still have not seen what the ceiling of this Arkansas team is. Arkansas will have its hands full next Saturday, though, with an 11:00 road game at 2 Georgia.

It wasn’t such a great day for the Memphis Tigers. A last-second field goal by UTSA handed Memphis a 31-28 loss. At one point the Tigers were up by 17, but it looked like they took the game for granted and started making mistakes. The Tigers also have an 11:00 road game next Saturday, at Temple.

CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP! The 11th-ranked Florida Gators handed the Tennessee Lady Vols powder puff football program yet another loss, 38-14. Florida has now beaten Tennessee 16 times out of the past 17 and 24 of the past 29. The Vols also have an 11:00 road game next Saturday, at Missouri in what could be a matchup to determine who is the worst team in the SEC.

Not a Memphis or an SEC game, but it sure was nice to see unranked NC State beat 9 Clemson last night, 27-21. Must’ve been a sad day for the folks at the corner table at Max’s Sports Bar, between that loss and the Tennessee one. Wonder if they did a round of prune juice and Malort to drown their sorrows and stay regular.

Memphis 901 FC is in playoff position! A 1-1 draw against Louisville FC last night left Memphis in sole possession of 4th place in the USL’s Central Division standings with 32 points. Fifth-place OKC Energy FC is one point behind with 31.

Mario Monterosso plays Loflin Yard today at noon.

The Crowd Goes Wild Tour featuring The Risky Whiskey Boys comes to Slider Inn Downtown today at noon.

Chef Tam posted that Philly cheese steak spaghetti will make a return at her Underground Cafe out in The Edge this week. That sounds yummy!

Couple of closings to report:

• Little Italy Downtown will be closed today
• Bardog will close Monday-Thursday this week to complete some maintenance that didn’t get finished earlier this month

Youth Villages will have a job fair Tuesday. They’re looking to hire Behavioral Youth Counselors/Assistants and Night Monitors.

River Inn of Harbor Town seeks a Front Desk Agent.

6 to 8 gunshots were reported at Beale and Wagner at 1:27 this morning. Another set of about 20 shots were reported in that area a half hour later.

Here’s a link to James Aycock’s COVID Week-in-Review. This week it’s mostly good news. Case counts are down considerably. Hospitalizations, while still high, are down a good bit too. Deaths are up, but deaths are a lagging indicator so that was somewhat expected.

Not going out today, other than a snack run to DGX. I’m going to start getting back in the rhythm I was in most of June and July. I want to write two professional articles and also look into a career-building opportunity that crossed my path Friday. Monday tends to be a slow news day but if there’s anything to report, I’ll be back with a post.

Well, well, well, where are my manners? In my Tuesday update post, I listed college football games today of interest to Memphians… and I forgot the most important game of all!

• UTSA at Memphis, 2:30 PM, ESPNU

The Roadrunners are 3-0 and have been mentioned as a candidate to be invited to the American Athletic Conference (they’re currently in Conference USA) to replace one of the teams that will leave for the Big 12. They got a win over a Power Five team, Illinois, in their season opener. This should be a good matchup.

Dr. Michelle Taylor, Health Department Director, said a new health directive will be issued next week but no easing of restrictions is expected. Although case numbers and the reproduction rate are down, we’re still at a high rate of COVID hospitalization. Each bed taken up by a COVID patient is a bed not available for someone with another illness or trauma.

Disney’s The Lion King plays the Orpheum November 11-28, but if you have kids, Tuesday, November 16 is the day you’ll want tickets. It’ll be Kids’ Night.  Kids can enjoy pre-show crafts, a photo booth, and a packet introducing them to the theater. There’s special pricing for a limited time: Call 901-525-3000 Monday-Friday, 9 AM-5 PM, to purchase tickets, and get a child’s ticket free with the purchase of an adult ticket. Activities start at 6:30 PM and the show starts at 7:30.

There’s a nice pic of Downtown Memphis in 1910 that got posted to Reddit.  The Gayoso House is in the lower left, so the pic appears to be looking north from Main & Peabody Place (then Main & McCall).

It’s National Lobster Day, and I would recommend either the lobster omelet that Bardog almost always has as a Saturday brunch special or Slider Inn’s lobster roll. It’s also International Rabbit Day, so I hope Flopsy Buns enjoys his day.

From WREG: What we know about Collierville Kroger shooter U.K. Thang

There’s an art festival at Real 2 Reel Photography, 136 G.E. Patterson, today.

Mr. Happy plays Slider Inn Downtown at noon.

Plans for today: Got a difficult choice to make between expensive PBRs, small PBRs, no PBR at all, or reasonably priced PBR that comes with a 20 minute walk. Life is complicated. Back tomorrow with more news.