Wed update 2: Aldo’s to start Monday Pint Nite and will have RedZone, book signing (attn LSU and SEC fans), Grizzlies giveaways

Aldo’s Pizza Pies is starting a new Pint Nite. Starting next Monday, all the drafts on their 30-tap wall will be only $3. Hmmm interesting. I knew if they did a pint night they wouldn’t do it on Tuesday where they’d be competing with Bardog. They’ll be in direct competition with that place around the corner though. I like it – nice to have two options nearby for $3 beer on Mondays.

Also, if you’re a football fan, Aldo’s will have NFL Redzone on all its Comcast TVs. I watched Redzone for the first time last Sunday, and what they say is true. You don’t miss anything.

Local sports writer Ryne Hancock will have his first book signing for his new book, Say Goodnight, Cassie: The Story of the 2011 LSU Tigers Downtown this Saturday. The signing will be at 3:30 PM at the Center for Southern Folklore. The book covers the 2011 LSU season through the eyes of the fans and people who covered the team, beginning with the season opener in Arlington through the rematch with Alabama in the BCS national title game. For more details about the book and how it got its name, visit this page. Signing will be at the Folklore Store, with an entrance on Main by the trolley stop.

MemphiSport.com has the full list of 2012-13 Grizzlies giveaways at the games at FedExForum. Highlights include a SuperGrizz cape, Grizzlies Christmas wrapping paper, backpacks, and several T-shirts.

All right… time to go drink some beer and inform the managers at my favorite bar that they have competition on Mondays. I’ll be at Blind Bear at 8 for trivia.

Wed update: $2 drafts at Bardog today, Bon Ton menus, gymnastics event, Disney on Ice, Unveil South Main, things happening tonight

Bardog Tavern celebrated its 4th birthday last month with an alley party. Today, however, is the bar’s actual birthday, and they’re celebrating with $2 drafts all day. They’ve also got the roasted poblano chicken chowder back as a special, and let me tell you, that is one delicious soup.

Bon Ton Cafe is now open for business. They posted their menus to Facebook.

Sunday I was eating brunch with friends at Texas de Brazil, and we were discussing events that are upcoming Downtown. Our friend Moody said she was looking for someone to go with her to a gymnastics tour at the FedExForum on October 20.

“Gymnastics?” I replied. “ANY ROMANIANS????????”

Nope, no Romanians. It’s the Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions, which will feature medalists from the men’s and women’s U.S. 2012 Olympic teams as well as champions from earlier events. Since there are no Romanians, I won’t be going, but if you’re into gymnastics, this is a chance to see some of the best in the world in person.

If Catalina Ponor from the Romanian team goes on tour, then I will buy a ticket. If she’s not enough of a draw to fill the FedExForum, I suggest my bedroom as an alternate venue.

In other FedExForum news, Disney on Ice is this weekend – a Friday night show, then two shows Saturday and Sunday. UGH Downtown is going to be crawling with kids. I will probably spend more time than usual at 21-and-up bars this weekend. Parents, if you’re looking for a restaurant to take your kids before or after the show, Huey’s, Flying Fish, and Kooky Canuck are good kid-friendly places.

20 artists will be chosen to display their work in 20 South Main venues November 30-December 19 for the Unveil South Main event. Artists will be able to exhibit 8-10 pieces of their work. They will be required to donate one piece to be used in marketing the event. On November 30 judges will visit the exhibits and will award prizes of $1000, $750, and $500. Visit the website if you are interested in entering your work.

Bingo at Brass Door is canceled tonight because Diamond Dave will be out of town.

DJ Superman will perform at Bleu tonight at 7 PM, no cover.

Don’t forget that the new poker night at Double J starts tonight at 8:30. Muruako will be your host and tournament director. He’s done a really good job at the Silly Goose the past two Mondays. Check it out if you’re in the South Main area and feel like playing a little Texas hold’em. His games usually last around two hours, although it varies depending on the number of people who show up. Game is played tournament style just like the WSOP Main Event, with blinds going up every 15 minutes.

I’ll have to miss Muruako’s debut at the Double J, though, because I’m pretty much committed to my trivia team at the Blind Bear. Trivia starts at 8 and is called by Charles. I’ll pre-game at the Saucer as usual and knock out a few more beers toward my plate. Up to 113 and counting toward plate 7. The beer boot glass goes on sale at 7, so it should be a busy night there.

Bon Ton Cafe to reopen tomorrow

The Daily News has reported that the Bon Ton Cafe will re-open tomorrow at 7 AM. It will serve breakfast and lunch, with dinner to be added later. The cafe on Monroe between Second and Third has been closed since mid-2008 when its owner unexpectedly passed away.

Tue update: Grizzlies Downtown block party, open practice, Oktoberfest beer boot, CY Beer Fest, National Cheeseburger Day, Internet Explorer vulnerability

The Memphis Grizzlies are doing a series of neighborhood block parties prior to the start of the 2012-13 season. Downtown’s block party is tonight. It will be at Central Station (S. Main at G.E. Patterson) from 5 to 7. You’ll get to meet shooting guard Quincy Pondexter, and mascot Grizz and the Grizz Girls will be there as well. There will be Kids Zone activities, merchandise giveaways, and free pizza and Pepsi. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

In other Grizzlies news, the team has announced that there will be an open practice Saturday, October 13 at 1 PM in the FedExForum.

The annual Oktoberfest celebration begins in Munich, Germany this Saturday. To commemorate the occasion, the Flying Saucer is selling a special Oktoberfest glass boot beer stein tomorrow night.

The boots go on sale at 7 PM for their weekly “buy the beer, keep the glass” night.

Toby Sells, organizer of the Cooper-Young Regional Beer Festival, has a guest post on the I Love Memphis blog about the fest. If you only go to one beer festival a year, make it this one. Festival is the afternoon of Saturday, October 13.

It’s National Cheeseburger Day! If you want to know where to get a good cheeseburger, the Best Memphis Burger blog can help you out.

If you use Internet Explorer on Windows XP, Vista, or 7, your computer could be vulnerable to attacks. Microsoft recommends Internet Explorer users deploy a toolkit that could help protect against such attacks. I recommend you stop using Internet Explorer and switch to a different browser. Firefox and Chrome are good alternatives.

That’ll do it for now… if more news comes in I’ll post an update this evening.

Mon update: Downtown Easy Way closing, Brass Door fish & chips deal and beer bust, Tap Room/NFL Sunday Ticket, Kindle Fire/iPad comparison, Texas de Brazil brunch, Saucer dart scoreboards, Squeal Street wins awards, and a tube top pic

One of my longest post titles ever. Newsy Monday.

I hate starting posts with bad news, but this time I have to: Easy Way is closing its Downtown store. The grocery at Main and Jefferson has been a popular place to get produce and canned goods for years. However, Easy Way has decided that much of their core base has moved away from Downtown. This leaves City Market as pretty much our only place to get fresh produce without having to get in a car and drive.

The Brass Door has a couple of new things going on this week. Every Tuesday, starting tomorrow, they will have a 2 for 1 special on their fish and chips after 5 PM. Those chips are probably the best fries in town.

This Friday night, the Brass Door will have a beer bust with Heineken and Yuengling for $10 beginning at 5 PM. When I first read that, I thought, “5 is kind of an odd time to start a beer bust,” but then I remembered we have law students down here, so that should work.

Beale Street Tap Room has started carrying the NFL Sunday ticket. If the game you want to watch is not available on the networks, the Tap Room can get it on one of their HDTVs. Just tell the bartender what you want to watch, and they’ll turn it on for you.

Now and then people ask me “Should I get a Kindle Fire or an iPad?”, knowing I own both. This comparison by The Daily is a really good answer. For certain people, the Fire is better; for others, the iPad is the way to go. It depends on what you want to do with your tablet.

Yesterday, about 8 of us met for Sunday brunch at Texas de Brazil. As always, we stuffed ourselves, first at the salad bar and then on the meats. Of course, I got a bowl of lobster bisque and dipped my bacon in it. I’ve decided that of the meats, the garlic sirloin is my favorite. I like it even better than the house sirloin, also known as picanha.

So, we filled up and were ready to waddle out of there. The waiter asked if we were interested in dessert, and pretty much nobody was. “Well, if you eat lunch or dinner with us, the dessert is extra,” the waiter said. “But it’s included in the price of brunch.” WELL THEN! We found room. I had the creme brulee, which was delicious.

Afterward I walked over to the Flying Saucer, where I noticed they had new scoreboards for darts.

These are very nice. They handle most of the popular games, and they eliminate the need for chalk. I’m horrible at darts, but now I kind of want to play a game so I can try out these boards.

After the Saucer, I visited the Silly Goose, where it was the BEST DAY EVER for reasons I won’t get into on the blog. A couple of people from the Squeal Street BBQ team showed up there. They had just returned from the Smokin’ Aces competition in Tunica, where they won first place in People’s Choice for the second year in a row. They also won awards for tomato and mustard sauces. Congratulations to them!

At 6:30 I played poker at the Blind Bear. When people started getting eliminated, we reduced the number of tables from three to two. My table was the one that broke up, and Jamie told me I could sit at whichever active table I wanted. I decided to sit at the one Bee was sitting at, because she had a tube top on.

I made it to the final table and ended up placing fifth. I’ll play again tonight at the Silly Goose, where Muruako hosts an 8:30 game. Before that I’ll hit Pint Nite at the Saucer.

Today is Downtown Museum Day

Free or half-off admission at many Downtown museums. Participants:

Belz Museum of Asian and Judaic Art
Half-price General Admission
Special Events:
– Two screenings of the Chinese film “Confucius”
– 10% off on all sales in the gift shop.
belzmuseum.org

Center for Southern Folklore
Free Admission
Special Events:
“50 Years with Elvis,” a retrospective of art created in honor of The King by Nashville artist Betty Harper.
southernfolklore.com

Cotton Museum
Free Admission
Special Events:
– Guided tours, hands-on demonstrations and storytellers all day.
memphiscottonmuseum.org

Elmwood Cemetery
Free self-guided audio tours from 8a.m. until noon
elmwoodcemetery.org

Fire Museum of Memphis
Buy one Admission and get one of equal or lesser value free
firemuseum.com

Jimmy Ogle Tours
Free City Tours
10:00a.m. Union Avenue Manhole Cover & History Tour (begin at the Cotton Museum)
11:00a.m. Court Square & Surroundings (begin at Court Square)
12:00p.m. Mississippi River (begin at Confederate Park)
jimmyogle.com

Memphis Railroad and Trolley Museum
Half price Admission
mrtm.org

Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum
Buy one Admission and get one free
memphisrocknsoul.org

Mississippi River Museum at Mud Island River Park
Buy one Admission and get one of equal or lesser value free
Special Events:
60 minute Guided Riverwalk Tours of the Riverwalk model, 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm
www.mudisland.com

National Ornamental Metal Museum
Free Admission
Special Events:
– Blacksmith demonstration at 2:30pm and a foundry demonstartion at 3pm.
– A special exhibition of work by Master Metalsmith Eleanor Moty, best-known for bringing the photetching process into the field of metalsmithing.metalmuseum.org

Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum
Buy one Admission and get one free
Special Events:
– Artists’ market and live music.
slavehavenundergroundrailroadmuseum.org

Stax Museum of American Soul Music
Buy one Admission and get one free
Special Events:
– Wattstax The Living Word: Special 40th Anniversary Exhibit is on display
staxmuseum.com

Sun Studio
Free Admission and Tours
sunstudio.com

W.C Handy Museum
Buy one Admission and get one free
wchandymemphis.org

Woodruff-Fontaine House
Buy one General Admission and Tour and get the second half-price
Special Events:
– “Mourning Memphis” on display, featuring mourning rituals of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and highlighting the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1878.
woodruff-fontaine.com/tours

Thoughts on Texas vs. Ole Miss

So, yesterday after work I was getting ready to go out. I checked Facebook and Twitter, and saw several reports that the Flying Saucer was full of UT orange. Not prison orange worn by the Tennessee Vols, but burnt orange worn by the Texas Longhorns.

Uh-oh, I thought. Being an Arkansas fan who grew up in Little Rock watching Southwest Conference football, hating Texas has been bred into me. But this week I find myself in a conundrum: Texas is traveling to Oxford to play Ole Miss, and I can’t stand Ole Miss either.

I walked down to the Saucer, and the place was indeed full of Texas fans. But you know what? They weren’t loud, they weren’t obnoxious, they weren’t rowdy, they weren’t acting like a bunch of douches and skanks. The Saucer girls weren’t coming over to complain to me how annoying they are, and what bad tippers they are. The Texas fans, from everything I observed, were friendly, polite, and respectful. This is the exact opposite of the way Ole Miss fans behave when they come to town.

It was a real eye-opener about the University of Texas.

Plus, there’s the fact that U. Texas is located in one of the best cities in America: Austin. Ole Miss is in Oxford. Need I say more?

So, the decision whom to root for tonight isn’t hard. Hook ’em Horns! Hope you beat the piss out of Ole Piss.

Lots of random stuff including possums, Rocky Horror, 1800s restaurant menus, and Double J Wednesday poker details

Last night I went to Max’s Sports Bar for their Thursday night poker tournament. They use the Buzztime game system, with one TV tuned into Buzztime trivia and another tuned to poker. You use wireless boxes to play either game. After folding a poker hand, I glanced over at trivia. The question was,

What is eaten on New Year’s Day in the southeast U.S. for good luck?

The five possible answers appeared on the monitor. Note option 4.

The folks at Buzztime, headquartered in Carlsbad, California in the U.S., think that we all eat possum down here in the South. JED! JETHRO! VITTLES IS READY!

What do we actually eat down here? Well, my friend Billy ordered the school lunchroom pizza at Max’s last night. You can get it topped with extra cheese and bacon. Billy did, and this is what came out of the kitchen.

Wow! Billy’s cup runneth over! Well, not his cup, but his pizza. Then again, the way Michele pours a PBR, his cup runneth over too.

Monday night Silly Goose poker host Muruako came in to play. He got there too late to get one of the 10 Buzztime boxes, but while he was there he told me about the new Wednesday night poker night at the Double J Smokehouse and Saloon across the street. He will be hosting, and the start time will be 8:30 PM. They’ll do it upstairs in the Loft Bar. Now I have to choose between trivia at Blind Bear, bingo at Brass Door, and poker at Double J on Wednesdays. So many good options! I guess it’s a high-class problem to have though… I could be in Cordova choosing between Applebee’s and Chili’s.

I came in second at poker. Who taught Kitty how to be such a good heads-up player? By the time I figured out what she was doing, she had so many chips that I couldn’t fight back. Congratulations to her on the win.

Afterward I walked back to the core, where I ended up hanging out with Flying Saucer alumni on the patio.

Brittney, in the orange: “PAUL, IF YOU TOOK A PIC OF MY THONG, I SWEAR I’M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS.” Nice to see that Brittney still has the same sweet demeanor she had when she was bartending the Saucer.

Tonight is the annual showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Orpheum. They sell bags of props that can be used for audience participation. I went to this two years ago and it is a lot of fun to watch rolls of toilet paper being thrown all over the theater. I bet cleanup staff hates this night the most. More info here.

Random link I found that may be of interest to foodies: An archive of hotel restaurant menus from the 1850s and 1860s.

If you have a Kindle Fire or Android device, the Amazon appstore has Tetris for free today.

I’m looking forward to a fun night… sure is nice to have next-door neighbors who have parties. I’ll probably pre-game at the Saucer about 7 for a couple of beers. Happy weekend everyone!

Thur update: Burger Fest bands and participating restaurants, Redbirds, homeless grant, Fire Museum exhibit, Double J adds poker, Saucer stein-holding contest pics, Goose patio and more

Best Memphis Burger Fest made a couple of tweets this morning with more information about the festival. There will be several live bands, including Burn the Sun, Grand Theft Auto Memphis, Saved by Zero – the ’80s Tribute Band, and Denise and the Sofa Kings. The burger competition is open to anyone with a grill, but several restaurants have chosen to compete, including Bleu, Patrick’s, Owen Brennan’s, Cafe Eclectic, and BGR the Burger Joint. The festival is Sunday, September 30 at Minglewood Hall and I’m one of the celebrity judges. Come on out and try some burgers!

Congrats to the Memphis Redbirds, who renewed their affiliation with the St. Louis Cardinals through 2014.

Also congrats to the City of Memphis, which scored a $5 million federal grant to keep homeless families together in temporary housing. Right now, in many cases the men have to go to one shelter and women and children to another.

The Fire Museum has added a new exhibit. It’s called “9-1-1 Safety Theatre” and will teach kids and adults when it’s proper to call 9-1-1. For example, it is not proper to call 9-1-1 because you need an ambulance to give you a ride to the convenience store so you can buy a beer. No kidding, that happens. The Fire Museum is on Adams Avenue just east of Main.

Another poker night is being added Downtown. I’ve been informed that Double J Smokehouse and Saloon is adding a Wednesday night poker game. I wasn’t sent a lot of details, but will find out more before the first game. If you want to play poker Downtown, here’s the complete list of where you can do it. All these games are free to play.

  • Sunday: Blind Bear, 6:30 PM, hosted by Michael Bean
  • Monday: Silly Goose, 8:30 PM, hosted by Muruako
  • Tuesday: Blind Bear, 8:00 PM, hosted by Jamie
  • Wednesday: Bardog, 7:30 PM, hosted by Poker Jon; and Double J, time and host TBA
  • Thursday: Max’s Sports Bar, 7:00 PM, on Buzztime monitors and boxes

I was late for trivia last night because I wanted to cover a contest happening at the Flying Saucer. It was Sam Adams Oktoberfest glass night, and they had a special contest. They had these huge steins, which when filled with water weighed 5 pounds. There was a contest to see who could hold the stein with their arm straight out, no bending, the longest. Winners in the men’s and women’s division would advance to the semifinals on Monday, then the finals next Wednesday, with winners getting a trip to Munich for Oktoberfest. Hmmm, doesn’t Oktoberfest start in, like, 10 days? Gonna be kind of difficult for the winner to get time off work, and a passport if they don’t have one, in such a short period of time. I brought this up to one of the Saucer girls, who commented, “Yeah, the winner’s going to have to be someone with no life and no job.” Here are a couple of photos I took.

Men’s division
Women’s division

So, a little after 8, I walked over to trivia at the Blind Bear. As I passed the Silly Goose, I noticed that the bar had made another change: They have replaced the iron tables and chairs outside with wood benches. That seems like a good move – will probably add an extra 10 seats to the Goose’s Covered patio.

Our trivia team was rather depleted this week for various reasons: Work, a concert nearby, Wednesday night kickball. However, the five of us who were there managed to pull out a first-place win to add $50 Bear Bucks to our coffers. We never seem to win Best Team Name though. Every week the best name is announced, and most weeks I think, “God, that name sucks,” and then I realize we couldn’t come up with anything better.

Stuff going on tonight: Deering and Down play Bleu at 7:00, $10 cover; sports trivia night with Kevin Cerrito at the Green Beetle, 8:00 PM; DJ Cody at the Silly Goose, 10 PM.

Outta here for lunch. Probably going to play poker at Max’s tonight.

Wed update: Fireball, good news for Lawler, Tom Lee Park sinkhole, Silly Goose poker and TV improvements, things happening tonight

Fireball Whisky is a cinnamon-flavored whisky that has become very popular Downtown in the past two years. If you want to hear about local Fireball events, join the FIREBALL WHISKY Memphis group on Facebook. All you have to do is request to join and if you’re over 21, local Fireball brand ambassador Clay Thompson will approve you. As a group member you’ll hear about opportunities to party with the Fireball folks and possibly score some sweet Fireball swag. If anyone in Oxford is reading this, the Fireball people are heading your way tonight and tomorrow.

Great news this morning for a local legend. A CAT scan was run on Jerry Lawler and it found that The King did not suffer any brain damage from his heart attack on WWE Monday Night Raw this week. He remains hospitalized in Montreal and it is uncertain when he will be able to return home. Family members, including his son Brian who wrestles as Brian Christopher, have crossed the Canadian border to be with him.

The King’s longtime broadcast partner, Jim Ross (J.R.), posted a commentary on Lawler’s heart attack and the Montreal Monday Night Raw. Well worth a read. Few people know the King as well as J.R.

There’s a sinkhole that has appeared in Tom Lee Park. Hope the city gets that fixed before BBQ Fest next year!

I forgot to blog about a couple of changes to the Silly Goose’s Monday night poker game. The start time has been moved back to 8:30 – as I found out Monday when I showed up at 8:55. They let people come in through the first four blind levels, though, so it was OK. For the third poker game in a row, I finished in third place. However, for purposes of league points, I came in second, because owner Daniel was one of the other two left and he can’t win his own prizes. But there was more, and I totally forgot about it until I checked my Instagram feed last night and found that I’d taken this photo:

They’re now awarding a $25 certificate for second place. First place has always received $50, but the second-place award is new. Combined with other poker winnings, that gives me a nice little tab at the Goose.

In other Goose news, their new 70″ projection TV has arrived.

That will be great for Monday Night Football and for their Sunday fantasy football league parties with happy hour domestic beers and $4 Fireball.

Last night I stopped by the bar at Bluefin, where current and former Saucer people nearly killed me with hot sake. The bartender, Daniel, remembered that I like extra limes in my Dos Equis Lager, despite having last served me a beer in August 2010. That’s really impressive.

Stuff going on tonight: Glass night at Flying Saucer featues a Sam Adams Oktoberfest stein, and they’re having a contest to see who can hold up the stein the longest with one arm, 7 PM; Tim “Badboy” Bachus at Bleu, 7 PM; poker with Poker Jon at Bardog, 7:30 PM; bingo with Diamond Dave at Brass Door, 7:30 PM; trivia with Charles at Blind Bear, 8 PM. I’ll be at the Bear, earning extra points for my team with my checkin on social media.