Paul Ryburn's Journal

Yesterday I got a bit ahead of myself and titled my Wednesday Update post Thursday Update. I didn’t catch it until about 6 hours after I posted it. Good thing I read my own blog or I wouldn’t have caught it at all.

Los Angeles based vendor Pranom Pop-Up, which travels the nation selling authentic Thai street food, will be back in Memphis once again this month. They will be at Memphis Made Brewing Co. today and April 19, and at Minglewood April 14. I had their Thai food at the Tennessee Brewery a few years back, and let me tell you, it is worth going out of your way to find when the mobile restaurant makes a stop in Memphis.

In other Asian food news, you can get Filipino egg rolls at South of Beale:

‘Biting into the Filipino egg rolls is like going back to the homeland.’ – Andrew Cabigao #adventuresob pic.twitter.com/6EYQYvWhtk

— South of Beale (@southofbeale) April 11, 2018

Sports 56 WHBQ radio show Fish and Stats will broadcast live from the Flying Saucer this afternoon from 3 to 6. They will have VIP tickets to Memphis Brewfest to give away.

There will be a South End neighborhood cleanup this Saturday. Meet at Ghost River at 10 AM, get your cleaning assignment, then return to Ghost River at noon for a free beer and music by Me & Leah.

For my Uptown readers: Please take a minute to fill out the 2018 Uptown Community Plan Survey.

Former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins is opening a new restaurant in Overton Square in the former Stanley BBQ space. The restaurant will serve Southern-inspired fare and will donate 2% of net food sales to the Mid-South Food Bank.

ALIVE Rescue Memphis will host Tax Day of the Dogs at the Green Beetle Sunday from 3 to 7. Live music, free Old Dominick swag, and plenty of adoptable dogs will be on site.

Random fact I learned at trivia last night: Green olives and black olives grow on the same tree. Black olives are ripe green olives. I’ll keep that in mind the next time I hit the olive bar at Bougie Kroger near where I work.

I gotta disagree with one thing Charles the Trivia Guy said last night, though. There was a question about Pope John Paul II, who served 27 years. After announcing the answer, Charles said Pius IX was the longest-serving pope at 31 years. Actually, Pius IX is the longest-serving elected pope. St. Peter, the first Bishop of Rome and considered the first pope by the Catholic Church (although that title was not yet in use), held the office from A.D. 33 to 67, a total of 34 years.

Regina’s Cajun Kitchen at 60 N. Main will celebrate the grand opening of its bar tomorrow night, Friday, April 13, 11 AM-10 PM. There will be $3 Jello shots and fruit shots, and select new appetizers will be $3. $5 well drinks and food specials too. They’ll have Game Night at 7 with Battle of the Sexes, trivia and more.

No “what I had for lunch yesterday” photos because I ate at Mayuri Indian Cuisine and have already posted photos from there. However, I do have one additional recommendation if you go: Get the papadum (thin round Indian crackers) and then get some of the spicy carrot sauce they have for dipping. Really tasty.

All right, outta here for now. Tomorrow I do expect to have a food photo for you, along with more news.

Tomorrow is the season opener of the Thursday night Peabody rooftop parties. The Molly Ringwalds, who cover all the musical genres of the 1980s, will keep you entertained. $15 general admission, $30 VIP admission with ladies and hotel guests free before 7 PM. Admission includes a buffet of chicken drummies with honey BBQ sauce and celery and carrots with Fiesta Ranch dip. If you’re in VIP you get a second buffet of lamb on a spit, stuffed grape leaves, spanakopita, and baklava.

If you plan on coming to a lot of these parties in 2018, it’s a good idea to go ahead and purchase the season-long VIP pass for $150. That gets you into all the parties including the VIP section, and it gets you discounts at the Peabody restaurants and valet parking.

For those new to Memphis, these parties are considered prime spots on the singles scene. (They can also be fun to go to and watch some of the singles try WAY TOO HARD.)

The Peabody’s restaurant Chez Philippe and Memphis in May will present a Cuisine of the Czech Republic experience May 12 from 6 to 10 PM. Czech chef, best-selling author, TV personality and entrepreneur Zdeněk Pohlreich will prepare a five-course dinner of cuisine from this year’s Memphis in May honored country.

The Center for Southern Literary Arts will present the 1st Annual Memphis Literary Arts Festival in The Edge District Friday-Saturday, June 15-16. That Friday there will be a Dinner in the Hibiscus Ballroom, an MLAF benefit featuring D. Arthur (chef), Kiese Laymon (author), Ada Victoria (musician), and Andrea Morales (photographer). Tickets are $85 general and $250 VIP.

Saturday there will be a street fair, free to attend, on Monroe Avenue between Orleans and Madison 9 AM-5 PM. There will be appearances by authors and artists Kiese Laymon, Eloisa Amezcua, Hanif Abdurraqib, Sam Sax, Jenny Johnson, Kaitlyn Greenidge, Alice Bolin, Heather Dobbins, Alice Faye Duncan, Andrea Morales, Siphne Aaye, Arthur Flowers, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, Christina Oliveras, Osayi Endolyn, Ashanté M. Reese, and more to be announced. Readings, conversations, and performances in the Premiere Palace Ballroom and Marshall Arts Gallery. After-party at Premiere Palace 7:30-10 PM with DJ Siphne Aaye. First 100 drinks at the after-party are on the CSLA.

Fridays will be Free Stuff Fridays at the Redbirds this season. Every inning, prizes will be given away, and one fan will be selected to roll a pair of giant dice for the chance to win $10,000. If they don’t win, the prize rolls over to become $20,000 the next Friday there’s a game.

Downtown Candle Co. is having a 3 for $35 online sale today. If you buy at least 6 candles you’ll be entered into a drawing to win $100 worth of candles.

For lunch yesterday I tried Noodles Asian Bistro on Poplar, just east of Exeter in Germantown, for the first time. There were several dishes on the menu I wanted to try, finally settling on the Korean Spicy Seafood Noodles.

These are egg noodles tossed in a wok with shrimp, scallops, calamari, snow peas, sweet peppers, bean sprouts, cilantro, and Korean spicy sauce. They asked if I wanted the noodles mild, medium or hot, and I paused for a second here. Hot is my default value because I love spicy food, but in some Asian restaurants they can turn up the heat to tongue-scorching levels. “Well, if that happens, it’ll be a mistake I only make once,” I thought.

At Noodles, you order at the register then they give you a number you take to your seat so they can find you. I’ve seen several places in Germantown that do this, and I like it – it speeds things up at lunchtime. It also means I don’t have a server, saving me a few dollars on tip. While waiting on my food I noticed that they have $8.50 daily specials. I took a photo, as much for my own future reference as for yours:

The noodles came out with a spring roll on the side. They were delicious and just the right degree of hot (but remember, I like spicy; if you don’t you might want to stick to medium or mild). There was an abundance of seafood, and the sweet sauce that came with the spring roll was a nice counterpoint to the heat of my entree. With a $2 Coke and tax, I was out of there for $13.99.

Noodles has earned a spot in my first tier of lunch restaurants. I plan on coming back for their basil fried rice, Pad Thai, Dan Dan Noodles, and Vietnamese noodle soup.

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has announced he’s not going to run for re-election. Wait, I don’t get it. The Republicans have control of both houses of Congress, a puppet in the White House who’ll push their agenda, Gorusch on the Supreme Court… the 2019-20 Congressional term could be the GOP’s opportunity to shape America in its vision. Why wouldn’t Speaker Ryan want to be a part of that? He could go down as one of history’s greatest Republican legislators.

You don’t suppose… the FBI raid on Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s home, office and hotel room has anything to do with this? Naaahhh… I’m just being a conspiracy theorist.

Maybe Ryan is been bullied into not running for his seat… could be someone named RICO coming after him.

That’ll do it for now. Back tomorrow.

The Grizzlies clinched with last night’s loss on the road. No, they didn’t clinch a playoff spot. They clinched the second-worst record in the NBA for 2017-18, meaning they will have the second most ping-pong balls in the draft lottery. The Grizzlies will have a 19.9% chance at the first pick and a 55% chance of picking in the top three, with the pick being fifth in the worst case scenario. Tankathon has a lottery simulator that is fun.

Want to work for the Grizzlies? They have a Video Archivist position open.

Memphis Brewfest, one of the city’s largest beer festivals, will be held on the field of the Liberty Bowl this Saturday, April 14 from 4:00 to 7:45 PM. Complete list of participating breweries

A Paranormal Evening with Alice Cooper comes to the Orpheum October 19. Cooper’s theatrical brand of hard rock draws from horror movies, vaudeville, and garage rock. Tickets go on sale this Friday at 10 AM.

In other Orpheum news, two legends of comedy, Steve Martin and Martin Short, are coming September 29. Tickets on sale this Friday at 10.

Baseball! Who’s in from Downtown? Just in time for the start of the season, Jennifer Biggs of the Commercial Appeal has five foods to try at AutoZone Park. The Redbirds have their Opening Day at home tonight. Gates open at 6:00. First pitch is 7:05 but fans are encouraged to be in seats by 6:40 for a presentation honoring the championship-winning 2017 club. Penny Hardaway will throw out the first pitch. First 1500 fans will receive a championship pennant with the name of every player and coach who helped win the 2017 PCL title. Select beers throughout the stadium for only $2, and there will be $1 hot dogs courtesy of Polk’s Meat Products.

The Kaleidoscope Food Festival returns to Wiseacre Saturday, April 21 from 3 to 7 PM. This will feature food from multicultural chefs in the Binghampton area. There will be dance performances and storytelling as well. Kids and dogs welcome.

WWE Smackdown Live returns to FedExForum on Tuesday, June 12. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday at 10 AM. There will be a Superstar Shake-Up between Raw and Smackdown next week, so until after that it is not clear who will appear on the show.

Belle Tavern will have all three of its Rabbit Hole Bourbons – the bourbon, rye, and PX sherry cask – half off all this week through Sunday. Rabbit Hole is only available in 9 states.

Volunteer Odyssey has open volunteer positions for the Tambourine Bash on April 19 benefiting Music Export Memphis’ ambassador program. This program provides tour grants for Memphis musicians to spread the good news of Memphis on the road. The Tambourine Jam will be at Old Dominick Distillery.

A bill allowing liquor stores to open on Sunday has passed the Tennessee House 55-35. It would also allow grocery stores to sell wine on Sunday. However, an amendment to the bill would ban liquor sales on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. The bill now goes to the Tennessee Senate.

For those of you who weren’t paying attention to the news yesterday, FBI agents raided the home, office, and hotel room of Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen. They took away boxes of communications between Cohen and his clients, including Trump. Now, normally such communications would be inadmissible in court, due to attorney-client privilege. However, that privilege does not apply when the attorney and client were conspiring to commit a crime. Furthermore, the judge who issued the warrant had to find probable cause that conspiracy to commit a crime existed. Long story short, Cohen is in deep doo-doo.

Oh, one other thing… although Special Counsel Mueller referred the evidence, this is being handled by the public corruption unit of the Southern District of New York. In other words, Cohen will be hit with state charges. Presidents cannot pardon convictions at the state level. So Cohen is almost certain to go to prison. The only way out would be for him to turn state’s evidence and testify against Trump. Even though there were no indictments or convictions, yesterday was a pretty terrible day for The Donald.

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

One of the best festivals of the spring season happens this Sunday in the Downtown core. Rajun Cajun Crawfish Fest benefiting Porter-Leath happens this Sunday, April 15, from 11 AM to 7 PM on Wagner Street and Riverside Drive between Union and Beale. There is no charge to enter the festival. Big buckets of crawfish are sold to the public, and for those who are not into crawfish there are always some good food trucks and carnival food vendors.

There will be live music by Marcella and Her Lovers, FreeWorld, ShotGunBillys, Black Oak Arkansas, and The Bar-Kays. There will be a crawfish eating contest, bobbing for live (!!!) crawfish, and crawfish races. There will also be a gumbo cooking contest going on. Although admission is free, there are tickets available to the VIP Swamp tent. The VIP experience is $125 individual/$225 couple and includes a shaded area, an unlimited buffet of crawfish and other Cajun foods, beer, beverages, and dessert.

By the way, a big F.U. to whomever ordered this January weather in April. I checked WeatherBug’s 10-day forecast and it shows high 48, low 34 for Sunday. Plus it’s going to rain Saturday so I won’t be able to walk down to the farmers market for some yoga pants watching.

Something Rotten! plays the Orpheum tomorrow through Sunday. Set in the 1590s, it’s the story of Nick and Nigel Bottom who are desperate to get out of the shadow of that “rock star” Shakespeare and have their own hit play. After a local soothsayer sees the future of plays, the Bottoms set out to write the very first musical.

The South Main Association holds its monthly meeting at the Tennessee Brewery tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 10. Social at 6, presentation at 6:30 as usual, but you’ll want to get there even earlier for a 5:30 tour of the building. Also, you’ll want to be at social hour right at 6 for a sampling of Goldcrest 51 beer, once brewed at the Tennessee Brewery. Billy Orgel will talk about the brewery. Also, Phil Woodard and Terry Lynch, two of the earliest believers and investors in South Main, will talk about the future of the neighborhood. Free for SMA members, $10 for non-members.

The Center for Southern Folklore will host a paint class led by Sumo the Artist this Friday.

I really enjoyed WrestleMania last night. I won’t include any spoilers for those who have yet to watch the show, but let’s just say the event was anything but predictable. Well done.

Excited about Monday Night Raw tonight. Back tomorrow with more news.

I started off yesterday as I usually do my Saturdays, at Bardog. They were having problems with the PBR keg and my beer mug got all foamed up. “Take you a big ol’ swaller and I’ll fill you up,” said bartender Bloom, reminding me of a conversation my friends Tony and Rahul have had many times.

Meanwhile, my troll played the jukebox.

Didn’t realize she was an Eagles fan.

Later in the day, we went over to the Blind Bear, where my troll made a new friend.

Later in the day my troll stopped by the Majestic Grille for a heart-healthy dinner.

Pro tip about the calamari: The red peppers are not just there for decoration. Eat them. They’re the best part.

Random thing I learned yesterday: “I need more color” is how you tell the bartender you need more orange juice in your mimosa.

Two weeks from this day marks the 10th anniversary of the Sunday jazz jam at Earnestine & Hazel’s.

New: You no longer have to sign your credit card receipts. The card companies have decided the protection against fraud your signature provides is almost nil.

The finals of the riverfront soccer tournament are this afternoon, Tom Lee Park, 1:00.

Max’s Sports Bar won’t have crawfish today, but they will open at 2:00 for The Masters.

Hoping to resolve the conflict over immigration, Mexico has agreed to pay for Donald Trump’s mental health care.

Happy Rusev Day everyone! After the BBQ Fest cooks’ meeting, I will be watching WrestleMania on the WWE Network. I’m not going to predict every match, but I will predict one. After Asuka defeats Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown women’s championship, Carmella cashes in her Money in the Bank briefcase and hands Asuka her first WWE loss with the help of Big Cass. Also, I don’t have a prediction for the winner but Miz vs. Balor vs. Rollins will be the match of the night.

That’s it for now. Almost time for the cooks’ meeting. Back tomorrow with more news.

This week a Downtown nightclub posted to Facebook that it will no longer be playing hard rap music. The club’s post said the music attracted a certain “urban” crowd and talked about “black on black crime” outside the venue. The post was later deleted. Okay. Let’s see what we have here. 1) Kudos for wanting to run a club where everyone feels safe, but 2) posting that during MLK50 week (or really, any week) is a textbook example of how not to do public relations for your business.

Advice for any club in Memphis that wants to clean up its overall feeling of safety: Here’s what you need to do. Have a drug-sniffing dog at the door. The dog sniffs everyone, and I do mean everyone, who walks in.

Patron fails the dog test: They’re refused admission.

Employee fails the dog test: Fired on the spot and banned for life.

Manager fails the dog test: Fired, banned, and detained until MPD can get there.

If you want to make your venue crime-free, making people who prefer a certain style of music feel unwelcome is not the way to do it. Nor is making people of a certain skin color feel unwelcome. Make criminals feel unwelcome. It’s as simple as that.

Weekend! The thing I’m looking forward to the most is the BBQ Fest cooks’ meeting tomorrow. You may have an image of a bunch of grillmasters standing around hearing the rules from Memphis in May representatives. That’s what I thought for a long time too, but that’s not what actually happens. It’s “give us all yo moneyz” day as we write checks for park entry wristbands for team members, 24-hour wristbands for cooks and those who stay late to clean up, electrical equipment and various other things. If you’re contracting with a Memphis in May-approved scaffolding vendor, you write a check for that. Even the folks who will bring IVs to your booth to cure hangovers are there accepting money.

The meeting is at Old Dominick Distillery, which I still have not yet been to. Looking forward to venturing outside my PBR box for an Old Dominick cocktail. Just one, though, because later in the day tomorrow I have WrestleMania to watch.

Tickets for the Memphis Flyer’s Bacon & Bourbon Fest are now on sale. The event will be under the Memphis Farmers Market pavilion Saturday, April 21 from 6 to 9 PM. Your ticket includes tastings of 15 bourbons, as well as sampling of pork dishes from some of our best local restaurants. General admission tickets are $41.61 including convenience fees. Proceeds benefit the Memphis Farmers Market.

The Memphis Redbirds have a new Redbirds Rundown podcast you can listen to in order to keep up with the latest team news and happenings.

ALSAC/St. Jude is asking the city to sell one of Downtown’s oldest fire stations. For seamless expansion of its campus, ALSAC is looking to purchase Fire Station No. 1 at 211 Jackson for $975,000.

Check out the Redbirds’ group outing packages. The ‘birds have multiple options for groups of 20 of more, each of which includes a new Redbirds hat and a voucher for a Coke and a King Cotton hot dog for each guest. Packages must be purchased from a group sales representative.

For my East Memphis/Germantown lunch yesterday I returned to Cafe Med on Kirby Parkway for their Spartan gyro, a gyro topped with sauteed mushrooms, onions, bell peppers, and hot giardiniera mix. It was very good and I was in and out of there in under 25 minutes.

All right. Time for a meeting with my Deputy Director of Public Relations to plan for this cooks’ meeting tomorrow. Your work is never done when you’re on a BBQ team. Back tomorrow with more news.

OH DEAR GOD. King Willie is running for mayor in 2019. He says he’s doing it to continue the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He made the announcement at an MLK50 event at LeMoyne-Owen College. Way to take an event remembering one of the greatest men in American history and make it all about you, Willie. Congratulations.

When he stepped down in 2009, how I hoped that I would never have to type the name Willie Herenton in this blog again. Uggghhh….

The Memphis Farmers Market returns tomorrow from 8 AM to 1 PM under the pavilion at Front and G.E. Patterson. Live music by Natalie Mae, The Trueharts, Alex Bosworth, and Sasha Aaron. Kids can make a barn image out of popsicle sticks, complete with animals at the Market. If you’ve never been, this market offers far more than produce. There are food trucks on site. Non-produce vendors offer meat, seafood, eggs, cheeses, breads, dog treats, arts and crafts, and much more. The Market will run at this location Saturdays through the end of October.

The annual GrizzFit 5K is tomorrow morning. Packages start at $45 and get you a race entry fee, race bib, a ticket to tonight’s or Sunday’s game, and a post-race beer tasting.

The Memphis Grizzlies and Marc Gasol are offering a free kids’ game ticket to the Sunday, April 8 game vs. the Detroit Pistons with the purchase of an adult ticket. Arrive early to the game to enjoy Grizzlies inflatables, face painters, and more. All fans (adults and kids) will receive a free Grizzlies poster. The kids’ deal is available only at FedExForum’s box office. The deal applies to all sections and tickets start at $15. As Jason Wexler (@MainStMemphis) tweeted, the 2:30 start time and the BOGO deal makes this an ideal game to introduce kids to the Grizzlies.

In other Grizzlies news, the team has signed MarShon Brooks to a multi-year contract. Brooks, previously on a 10-day contract, was the first Grizzly in history to score 20 or more points in each of his first three games.

The Grizzlies play Sacramento tonight with the first 10,000 fans in FedExForum receiving a Grizzlies rally flag. Conley, Evans, Gasol, Green, Harrison, Martin, Parsons and Selden are all out tonight.

There will be a crawfish boil at Loflin Yard tomorrow at 11:30 AM. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. This event will raise money for the restoration of Clayborn Temple and for the installation of clean water systems in Honduras.

AutoZone Park has announced the dates and menus for All-You-Can-Eat Thursdays with the Redbirds. This special ticket gets you access to an all-you-can-eat buffet from 6:00 to 8:00, the theme changing from one game to the next. The first of the series will be next Thursday, April 12, featuring wings. You’ll have three choices of sauce and there will be celery and carrots too. Whether you purchase the buffet ticket or not, Thursdays are Thirsty Thursdays at AutoZone Park, with select domestic drafts $2 throughout.

Union, a new musical that explores the sanitation workers’ strike of 1968 and the continued push for social justice, has performances at Clayborn Temple tonight and tomorrow at 7 PM and Sunday at 3 PM.

Wisdom from former Memphis Tiger D.J. Stephens. He probably wasn’t referring to the service industry, but nevertheless, good restaurant/bar owners/managers get this and bad ones don’t:

Worst thing you can ever do is think somebody is expendable when they’re really an asset…

— Dj Stephens (@DdotJAY30) April 5, 2018

Tonight’s Games on Front in the Cossitt Library courtyard will be postponed due to rain. It will be back next week.

After Tuesday’s expensive experience at Babalu East, I found a great lunch value yesterday: the Exlines’ Pizza on Kirby just north of Quince. Technically this was not my first visit to Exlines’ – there was one in Court Square that closed about a year after I moved into my current apartment. Their pizza was outstanding as I recall, but not something that can be easily ordered in an hour lunch break. So, I looked at their non-pizza menu items. Hungry for Italian, I ordered the spaghetti with Aunt Vi’s secret recipe meat sauce. It came with a side salad:

The salad came with a generous cup of Thousand Island, one of seven dressing choices they offer. When I was a kid, I remember a Schoolhouse Rock ditty advising you not to drown your food (in dressing). I guess I didn’t pay attention though; I drown my food, and Exlines’ gave me enough dressing to do just that.

Generous portions of spaghetti and a garlic loaf, and that meat sauce was delicious. I got a large (I’d guesstimate 32 oz.) Mountain Dew for $2.19, compared to the pint glass of Coke that cost me $2.95 at Babalu Tuesday. Salad, spaghetti, garlic loaf and Coke all combined gave me a total tab of $10.93, $13.93 after I tipped. It may not be as hip to go to Exlines’ as it is to go to Babalu, but it was a much better value. I’m promoting Exlines’ into my top tier of restaurants out East along with Mayuri, Cafe Med and PizzaRev. Exlines’ has a diverse menu and I want to go back for the Ultimate Tamales, Uncle Walt’s chicken wings, the cheeseburger, and the lasagna.

The only drawback was that the register and phone got real busy with to-go orders as the noon hour hit, and there were only 2 people working front of house. I finally had to go get in line at the register to be able to pay out and get back to work. Still, Exlines’ is a place I will happily return.

Winding down the work week. I’ll be out at Blind Bear 5:45ish tonight for happy hour. Back tomorrow with more news.

Due to weather concerns the Truth Booth’s appearance at Memphis Park has been changed to today 1-5 PM. This is a portable sound bubble in which you can record your truth, whatever it is. It’s a project that records the truth of the world’s diverse people. Memphis Park is located at Front and Jefferson.

Cafe Keough will present Louder Than Bombs: A Smiths/Morrissey Tribute On Saturday, April 21 from 10 PM to 1 AM. Whoa… wonder if we’ll get a late night John D appearance Downtown that night.

Widespread Panic is coming to the Mud Island Amphitheater Friday, June 29 and Saturday, June 30. Tickets will go on sale this Friday at 10 at Ticketmaster. Tickets will be $55 general admission and $65 reserved.

From the Memphis Business Journal: An investor plans to revitalize a 7-story building at 300 Court Avenue, recently vacated by First Horizon, into apartments. That is great news and will expand Downtown’s residential community eastward toward Danny Thomas Blvd. The building, 46 years old, could have easily gone into decay had this investor not come forward.

Radio host Gary Parrish tweeted this morning that it’s all but a done deal that former Grizzly Mike Miller will be hired as an assistant coach on Penny Hardaway’s staff. Parrish and his radio guests have said this is something Miller has been planning for a while and he would have had offers from other schools if Memphis had not pulled the trigger on his hire. Parrish has also said Penny wants Larry Brown, a former head coach with an NCAA championship, to round out his assistant coaching staff. However, athletic director Tom Bowen is not too excited about having someone on staff who has been in so much trouble with the NCAA in the past.

Tonight is the first night of monthly (first Thursday of every month) Downtown Yoga at South Main Market at 409 S. Main. An instructor from Downtown Yoga will lead an all-levels class at the Market at 6:30. The cost is $10 and includes a token to spend at the market after class. Bring a mat. YOGA!

My friend Michael Butler has a review of the Quasi Halal Asian Street Food truck on the I Love Memphis Blog. The truck makes appearances at Ghost River now and then. What could be better than craft beer and food trucks?

Tonight at Clayborn Temple, PRIZM Entertainment presents MLK50: A Concert for the Next 50 Years to honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The PRIZM Chamber Orchestra and Celebration Choir will perform along with guest soloists 7-9 PM. Tickets are $25. A $50 VIP ticket gets you into the concert as well as a 5:30-6:30 reception with light refreshments and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the concert.

Yesterday I decided to go to Babalu for lunch after hearing good things about their lamb sliders from several people, including a former employee of the East Memphis restaurant. The sliders are 3 for $9.99 and come with Rosen Farms ground lamb, goat cheese, pickled red onions, arugula and chipotle aioli on brioche buns. I added on fries for $2 more.

The sliders were good, although the goat cheese made them so rich that I only got two and a couple of bites of the third down before giving up. The fries were outstanding. Crispy, thin, just the right amount of salt, made in house. I sat by myself at the bar and the bartender was very attentive, making sure I knew about the lunch specials and their social hour 3-6. He even gave me a card. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bartender give me a card before, but it makes sense, I will remember his name the next time I go back in there. They have a big bar with many local craft beers on tap.

Then came the part of the meal I didn’t like as much… the part where I had to pay. With the sliders, fries, Coke and tax, my bill was a little over $16, leaving me with a $20 lunch expense after I tipped. Yikes! The Coke was $2.95. When I eat, I prefer something sweet to drink to offset the taste of the food. I may have to learn to start liking water though!

The verdict: I liked Babalu and will visit again, but it hasn’t made it to my top tier of my East Memphis/Germantown lunch hour restaurants. So far the top tier is the lunch buffet at Mayuri, the gyros at Cafe Med, and the build-your-own pizza at PizzaRev. On my radar to try: either the lasagna or spaghetti with meat sauce at Exlines’, the sandwich plate at Germantown Commissary, and the smoked wings or smoked Kielbasa dinner at One and Only BBQ.

Happy birthday to my friend Stacey. May it be filled with naps, bath bombs but not the ones that make you smell like a stripper, and booze.

That’s it for now. Back tomorrow with more.

MLK50 day has arrived and the eyes of the world are on Memphis. Here’s hoping we present ourselves as a city of peace, progress and dignity, and not one of violence and divisiveness.

Allow extra time and plan alternate routes if you go Downtown today. The area around Main, Talbot, Second and GE Patterson is closed to traffic. Also, according to TDOT Smartway, Danny Thomas is closed from Madison to Crump, and portions of Madison, Beale, Pontotoc, Vance, Mississippi and Crump near Danny Thomas are also closed. The streets southwest of Crump and Danny Thomas are closed as well, in the area of Mason Temple where Dr. King gave his final speech.

There will be a nationwide bell toll for Dr. King this evening at 6:01.

Bass Pro at the Pyramid will have a job fair/hiring event for its two restaurants 10 AM to 7 PM this Thursday and 8 AM to noon this Friday. Interviews will be done on site for server, cook, host, busser and steward positions.

Dweezil Zappa plays the New Daisy tomorrow night, Thursday, April 5 at 8 PM. It’s a stop on the “Choice Cuts” world tour. This is an all ages show and tickets are $25-90.

Details of Penny Hardaway’s contract have been reported by the CA. The new Memphis Tigers men’s basketball coach will get $1.3 million his first year, $1.6 million his second, and $1.9 million his third, with an option for contract negotiation after year two. He will receive a $300,000 bonus in any year where average turnstile count at FedExForum exceeds $12,000. He will also receive a $50,000 bonus any year season ticket sales exceed $5 million.

Jerry Lawler’s Bar and Grill on Beale Street will host a watch party for the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame inductions this Friday at 7.

If you drink Stella Artois bottles, switch to something else for a while. They have been recalled due to contamination by glass particles.

From Rolling Stone: Hear Elvis perform a rare, stripped-back take of “Suspicious Minds”

Maya Angelou would have turned 90 today. “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time” is my favorite quote of hers. I definitely kept that in mind when I responded to a Facebook friend request a few months ago.

Michael Vick is hosting a football camp in Memphis this weekend. If I wrote that this is a sign our city is going to the dogs, would that be inappropriate?

It’s time for “what I had for lunch in my Germantown work neighborhood.” Yesterday I had to make a Target run to get diapers for Panda’s diaper party, and I learned something valuable: How to get to the Target at Poplar and 240 without ever setting tires on Poplar. North on Kirby to Quail Hollow to Briarcrest to Ridgeway Loop Road. Got there in only 3 minutes. After getting the diapers, I ate at (appropriately, considering who I was shopping for) Panda Express in the same center.

I had the Beijing Bowl, with crispy beef, bell peppers and onions in a sweet-tangy sauce over a choice of side (I chose fried rice). It was my first time ever at a Panda Express and I liked a couple of things about it. First of all, the food is already prepared. If there’s no line, you’re sitting down with your food in about 2 minutes. The other thing I like is that I can see the kitchen and see that it is clean. In some Chinese restaurants I wonder about that. And, of course, any time I can get lunch in East Memphis/Germantown that’s not at a crappy fast food place for under $10, that is good.

That’s it for this post. Back tomorrow.

Downtown is getting a new park. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Reflection Park at MLK Avenue and Second Street will be a place people can go to get a better understanding on why Dr. King came to Memphis in 1968 and the impact his presence had on this city. It will be a place for meditation and reflection on the life and service of Dr. King.

Big River Crossing will put on 15-minute light shows tonight and tomorrow after sunset in observance of MLK50.

ServiceMaster honored Dr. King with a day of cleaning yesterday. The employees spent the day beautifying the route Dr. King took as he marched from MLK Avenue (then Linden) to City Hall in 1968.

I have a suggestion: Find a lifelong Memphian who was old enough at the time Dr. King was here to understand what was going on. So, someone who was at least 12 or 13 at the time. Ask him or her what Memphis was like in those days, how Dr. King changed things. In another 30 years we won’t have people who had first-hand memories of Dr. King in Memphis. We need to learn all we can from our elders while they are still here with us.

Strong storms are expected to cross the Mississippi River into Tennessee around 6 tonight. Stay alert if you have to be outdoors for MLK50 events or other events. Tonight was supposed to be the first week of free Our Yoga Downtown in Memphis Park, but I bet it gets canceled.

When I went to the New Wing Order tasting last Thursday, I got a copy of their menu for the new food truck they will roll out in September. One item I didn’t get to try, but which drew interest from people I showed the menu, was the hot wing nachos. They tweeted a preview this week:

What happens when you combine two of the best dishes in the world? You get hot wing nachos! We load tortilla chips with boneless wing strips, queso blanco, pico, Buffalo sauce, jalapeño ranch, queso fresco, & cilantro! Get yours from the New Wing Order food truck this September! pic.twitter.com/OyjBEYER2c

— New Wing Order (@newwingorder) April 2, 2018

The Memphis Tigers baseball team hosts Ole Miss tomorrow night at AutoZone Park. Throwing out the first pitch will be none other than the Tigers’ men’s basketball head coach, Penny Hardaway.

The Redbirds are upgrading their Papa John’s Rockey’s Kids Club for kids age 12 and under and their families. Kids can join Rockey’s club for $35 and get a bluff ticket to every Sunday home game, including the May 27 Redbirds game. They also get invitations to special events, catch on the field, a special gift, and Fast Lane access to “Kids Run the Bases.” Also, members of the club will be selected randomly to participate in exclusive experiences prior to each Sunday home game. Families can purchase packages for $80 to joint their child/children on the Bluff. Family package also includes a photo on the field.

Jennifer Biggs of the CA reports that Paulette’s will celebrate its 44th anniversary with a three-course meal for $19.74, featuring a throwback menu.

Biggs also reports that we now have an opening date for 117 Prime. It will open on April 23 for dinner, with lunch service to follow soon after.

The Grizzlies have signed Marquis Teague, who was the Memphis Hustle’s standout star this year, for the rest of the season.

Plans for tonight: I’m going to a diaper party, but the guest of honor won’t be there! Panda had the baby three weeks early. Still gonna drop off some Huggies at Bardog and hang out there for a little while. Back tomorrow with more news.