Tue update: Z-boING could win you tickets, Grizz give back, Folk Alliance public show, Vance neighborhood improvements, Redbirds announce social media night

Doing a little Z-boING could win you a pair of half-court plaza-level Grizzlies tickets. Take a pic of yourself Z-boING and submit it to the Z-boING site and you could win tickets to the February 29 game vs. Dallas. Alternately, you can enter to win the tickets by buying one or more Z-boING or Rudy Gay “Make Your Own Luck” T-shirts from the site.

Speaking of the Grizzlies, two very generous team members spent their own money to throw a party Monday night for kids who normally wouldn’t get to see the team. Tony Allen and Zach Randolph had a party at The Westin Hotel on Beale, across from the FedExForum, for the mothers and children of the Memphis Family Shelter. The moms got manicures and pedicures while TA and Z-Bo helped the kids make Valentine’s Day cards for their mothers. More on the party here. Doesn’t this kind of story make you proud to be a Grizzlies fan?

It’s still a week away, but this is a date worth saving: Next Wednesday, February 22, is the one day of the Folk Alliance Conference that will be open to the public. Pay $10 and get to pick and choose from a musical buffet of over 30 artists. Folk musicians from around the world attend this conference. I went to public night last year and most definitely recommend it. It will be at the Downtown Marriott and the line-up for the evening can be found here.

Residents of the Vance Avenue area south of the FedExForum are planning improvements to their neighborhood. This Memphis Flyer article has details. Apartments worth saving will see improvements; those that are too far deteriorated will be demolished. I see a signpost from the intersection of Vance and Allen accompanying the article. There are many “need to be demolished” apartments and houses among Allen and its parallel street Abel. Downtown panhandlers go to these streets to buy drugs after they collect enough money. Getting rid of their havens would make all of Downtown considerably safer.

The Redbirds have announced a social media night for April 26. The ‘birds will follow the first 500 guests who write down their Twitter handle. Fans will be encouraged to take photos from their seat and post to Facebook during the game; adding their seat location will make them eligible to win a social media-themed prize during the game. One fan will also receive a prize pack that includes a bird watching book, a team-signed hashtag and a box of figurines containing 140 characters.

That’s the news. Time to put on my 1920s gangster attire, and after a quick one at the Saucer, hit the Blind Bear for poker and St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

St. Valentine’s Day Massacre at Blind Bear at 9; Blind Bear poker to start early at 7

Just a quick reminder that the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre party at Blind Bear happens tonight at 9. There are two ways to get in free: Dress as a 1920s gangster or flapper, or dine at the Majestic Grille beforehand (reservations required) and get a password. $5 cover for everyone else. Moonshine shots, jello shots. DJ BCON and MLW. Costume contest at 11 with $50 Bear Bucks as prizes.

Also a reminder that Tuesday night poker at the Bear will happen, but the start time will be at 7 rather than 8, and Jamie will increase the blinds a little faster than usual to get it done by 9. You get an extra point toward the long-term standings if you show up in costume. Jamie told me that he is considering an iPad as the prize for the long-term winner.

Got news, but it will have to wait for my after-work post. I’ve got to run over to Southaven and try to find a tie to go with my gangster costume. I hear Sammy’s Man of Fashion over on Airways might be the place to go. In this evening’s news post: Redbirds news, info on how to win Grizzlies tickets, and possibly more.

Mellow Mondays $4 sausage and cheese plate @ Blind Bear. Plus: Monday evening news

Tonight at the Silly Goose I got knocked out of poker at 8:56 PM. I ran to the bar. “Nikki, can you tab me out quick, please?” I asked. She did. Nikki is awesome. I sprinted down Main, past two police cars, the occupants of which may have wondered if I just held someplace up, to the Blind Bear. “Sausage and cheese plate!” I barked at Morgan, who was holding down the bar while Jamie stepped away for a minute. Morgan is awesome too and knew what was up. She put my order right in. You see, every Monday the Bear has $4 sausage and cheese plates (and half price wine) from 6 to 9. I made it by two minutes.

I had this plate and one Mason jar of PBR, and my tab was a whopping $6.87, tax included. Yeah it will never be confused with escargot at Felicia’s or Chez Philippe, but you know what? There’s nothing wrong with a good, working-class meal at a very reasonable price. Seasoned smoked sausage, cubes of Swiss and Jack, pickles, crackers, mustard. The kind of evening snack that makes me hope I get knocked out at poker early more often.

I’m sober enough to post the news, so let’s get a few things done while I’m at the computer.

A Downtown soul food restaurant was destroyed by fire. Willie Moore’s Family Restaurant at Third and Crump was consumed by flames this weekend. Best wishes and thoughts to the owners and family; I didn’t get a chance to eat there but they were clearly loved by people in the area.

EmergeMemphis will hold a meet & greet February 23 from 4:30 to 6:30 PM to say goodbye to outgoing director Gwin Scott, and to welcome interim executive director Eric Mathews. If you dream of starting your own business you need to come and meet Eric. He’s very approachable, so don’t be shy. Although, you can hit him up on Twitter at @ECMathews if you prefer to make contact electronically.

Speaking of Twitter, there’s word on there tonight that Jack White will perform at the New Daisy on March 13. It will be one of his first solo shows since leaving the White Stripes.

And that’s the news. Actually home at a reasonable hour tonight, having declined to play the 10:00 game at the Goose. Will get a full night’s sleep. Probably back tomorrow at lunchtime with another post.

Mon update: Winter weather, Mathews to lead Emerge, Silly Goose V-Day party, MDQ cast to perform for free at Rock’n’Soul Museum

The updated MemphisWeather.net blog indicates that the drive home this afternoon could be messy. Sleet and snow are due to move in, with possible accumulation 3-9 PM. It’s already been sleeting in Horn Lake where I work. I’m hearing reports of sleet and snow Downtown too.

Congratulations to SeedHatchery founder Eric Mathews, who has been chosen as interim executive director of EmergeMemphis. A fine choice indeed. I met with Eric in November and got a fuller understanding of how the different pieces fit together to support entrepreneurial culture in this city – SeedHatchery, LaunchMemphis, the LaunchPad, EmergeMemphis. Eric is extremely passionate about what he does, and is an ideal choice to lead the small business incubator on Tennessee Street. Read more about Eric in this MBJ article.

The Silly Goose is having a Cupid’s Rejects party tomorrow night. DJ Cody will perform, and there will be a $3 martini menu for single ladies. Starts at 9 PM.

The cast of Million Dollar Quartet will perform at least 7 songs from their show tomorrow afternoon at the Rock & Soul Museum at 1:30 PM. Free to the public, and guests will also get free admission into the museum. The show will run tomorrow through the 19th at the Orpheum. More info here.

Plans for tonight: Pint Nite at the Flying Saucer at 6 (or later, depending on how long the drive home takes), poker at the Silly Goose at 7:30.

Sunday update: Winter weather, Jerry Lawler Show is back, Iron Sheik/Twitter

It appears we have the potential for a winter weather event Monday afternoon – one we’ll have to drive home in, which is no fun. To have weather events explained to you in layman’s terms, there’s no better place than the MemphisWeather.net blog. This is one to keep an eye on. Monday afternoon rush hour could be a major headache. Tim Van Horn of Channel 5 has a good point – if you haven’t done your Valentine’s Day shopping, do it today, rather than putting it off until tomorrow and having to deal with the weather.

The Jerry Lawler Show returns to the air after a 19-year absence. Unfortunately I didn’t get the word out in time for you to catch its debut – it will be on Fox 13 every Sunday morning at 6 AM. Set your DVRs for next week. Lawler had his own news and interview show about sports and wrestling from the 1980s to 1993. When he signed his WWF contract, he was forced to shut the show down, because its 11 AM Sunday time conflicted with WWF programming on the USA network. The 6 AM time shouldn’t conflict with anything the wrestling federation – now the WWE – has on the air. Good to have the King back. Here’s an interview he did with MemphiSport Live yesterday about the new show.

By the way, if you’re a pro wrestling fan and you’re not following the legend, former WWF champion the Iron Sheik on Twitter (@the_ironsheik), you are missing out. Sheik gives his opinions on other professional wrestlers, especially those from his era. This was one recent tweet:

“hulk hogan and ultimate warrior each deserve gold medal in the piece of shit olympics”

And a classic from several months ago:

“one time the andre the giant shit his pants on bus. he make entire bus smell like egg.”

Sheikie baby also discusses what he’s been up to, with “smoking the green medicine” being a popular activity lately. He solicits opinions from his followers, asking if various celebrities are “the real or the gay.” Sheik, who is from Iran, also discusses female celebrities he thinks are hot, and speculates whether he’d have sex with them “old country way or new country way.” A well-rounded Twitterer, Sheik even discusses politics. In a recent tweet he said that “the mitt romney have the grasshopper dick like the virgil.” Free entertainment just doesn’t get much better than this.

Yesterday I did something I almost never do – I drove the car on a weekend. I had to get gangster attire for Tuesday’s gangster and flapper party at the Blind Bear. I bought a gangster-style jacket at Party City, and let me tell you, if I’d taken that piece of junk out of the bag and examined it before I took it home, I never would have bought it. Cheap, flimsy nylon/rayon material. It’ll have to do for Tuesday, though. Jamie really wants the people who play poker before the party (special 7 PM start time, party at 9) to be dressed as gangsters and flappers. Not interested in getting out in the snow Monday to try and find a better jacket. Once Tuesday is over I’ll order a better one, because there will be more gangster/flapper parties to come.

After that it was time for day drinking. The running order was Bardog, Saucer, Johnny G’s Creole Kitchen for dinner, Saucer, Goose, and back to Saucer. Got to sit in on another BBQ team board meeting. I still can’t share specifics, but there are big improvements over the old team in the way money is handled, and in being more selective about membership. Very excited about this year. I’ve been made an admin on the team website, and am going to try to come up with some content in the near future.

While at Bardog, I was watching basketball and a Dodge Ram commercial came on. I wonder if there are people out there who think the truck is named after computer memory rather than a horned sheep.

All right… got about 40 minutes until the Majestic opens for brunch. Going to spend the time going through old BBQ Fest pics and seeing which ones we can use on the new site. Saucer, Blind Bear on my agenda for later today.

 

Stuffed peppadew peppers and Mardi Gras cheese dip @ Johnny G’s Creole Kitchen

Johnny G’s Creole Kitchen on Beale Street has become one of my favorite places to grab dinner. After an afternoon of day drinking at Bardog and the Saucer, I decided it was time for a Johnny G’s visit. I made a deal with myself that I had to order menu items I had not yet tried. I chose the Stuffed Peppadew Peppers and the Mardi Gras Cheese Dip.

Both were listed as “featured items” on the menu. The stuffed peppadew peppers had intrigued me every time I saw them on the menu, but I’d not yet got around to trying them. They were listed as sweet and spicy peppers stuffed with crab. I decided to give them a try. At $6.95, I wondered how big the portion was. I decided I better get something else to go with them, just in case the peppers themselves weren’t enough. I selected the Mardi Gras cheese dip.

Good thing I did. The peppers were about the size of cherry peppers, and like cherry peppers were red, fried with crab stuffed inside.  There were six of them, no more than an appetizer – but then again, for $6.95 it was still a dish worth the money. They were delicious dipped in the remoulade sauce that came with them.

(Edit: Here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry for peppadew peppers. They’re from South Africa.)

I love the chips at Johnny G’s. They’re thin and covered with seasoning. Actually, sometimes they were too thin, breaking apart as I dipped them in the cheese dip. I didn’t mind though. Cheese dip was tasty, with spinach, tomatoes and peppers making it tasty and visually appealing. I would definitely order either of these again.

Fri update: Tiger jersey retirement, civil rights cemetery tour, Downtown event space guide, Sirius/XM hires Chris Vernon, duck fried rice returns to SOB, Kim Jong-un looking at things, advantages of being sleepy and drunk

Lots of random stuff to talk about today. Let’s get started…

Frank Murtaugh of the Memphis Flyer thinks it’s a shame that no Memphis Tigers from the 2005-09 era, including the 2007-08 team that went to the national title game, have had their jerseys retired. His pick as the best representative of that era? Number 5, Antonio Anderson. Can’t disagree. Anderson was the glue of that team. Forgive the pro wrestling reference, but Antonio Anderson was to the 2005-09 Tigers what Arn Anderson was to the Four Horsemen.

Elmwood Cemetery has announced a 90-minute walking civil rights tour for Saturday, February 25. You’ll visit the graves of Marvin Ratner, Benjamin Hooks, Odell Horton, Ernest Withers, and Vasco Smith and learn about their contributions to civil rights. $15, starts at 10:30 AM. It’s an all-walking, outdoor tour, so dress appropriately.

Want to throw a party or event Downtown, but don’t know where to have it? The DMC has a Downtown event space guide. This is one I’m going to bookmark – I get “where should I have my party/corporate meeting/event?” emails all the time.

Congrats to Verno and Roser of the Chris Vernon Show. They’ve been hired by Sirius/XM Radio to produce up to four hours of weekend content. They will still do their weekday show on Yahoo! Sports 730.

South of Beale has posted their new menu. Duck fried rice has returned.

Funny blog I saw on Twitter today: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un Looking at Things

Lifehacker linked to this article today: Why Being Sleepy and Drunk are Great for Creativity. See? There are reasons I do the things I do.

All right, heading out for beer. Probably Saucer first (Spiros is in town!), then Blind Bear.

Poker at Blind Bear Tuesday @ 7 if Jamie gets enough RSVPs

I started at the Blind Bear tonight, where I talked to owner/poker guy Jamie. They plan on having a “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” 1920s gangster/flapper party at 9 Valentine’s Day. I asked about poker, which normally starts at 8. He said if enough people would commit to playing, he’d start at 7. “I’ll have to increase the blinds a little faster than usual,” he said. He offered to compensate by giving anyone who dresses in gangster/flapper attire for poker an extra point toward the poker league. Poker regulars: He’s asking for feedback on whether you’d be able to play at 7. Message him on Facebook. Winner gets a $50 bar tab and league points.

In other news: The Roasted Poblano Pepper Chicken soup is back on the Soup of the Day menu at Bardog. This is a very good idea. I’m eating it right now (Paul’s Drunkass Food). If you’re lucky it will survive onto tomorrow’s menu.

Second Thur update: Steamboat job fair, Grace Askew @ Brass Door, Local bar snacks menu, Aldo’s Pizza Pies

BREAKING: Sources say Marc Gasol has been selected as a reserve for the All-Star Game. His brother Pau will be home watching the game on TV.

The Great American Steamboat Company has set a date for the job fair I reported about a couple of weeks ago. It will be Tuesday, February 21, from 7 AM to 7 PM, at the Cook Convention Center. Jobs will include hospitality, housekeeping, culinary, marine and technical crew, and more positions in the front and back of house. See this Flyer article for more details. This sounds like a really good gig, with full medical and dental, 401(k), and expenses covered including accommodations, meals, and travel.

Grace Askew will perform at the Cavern, the downstairs club inside the Brass Door, Friday night, February 10, at 9 PM.

Local Gastropub posted its new bar snacks menu available from 4 to 6 PM during happy hour.

This MBJ article has some details on what Aldo’s Pizza Pies will look like when it opens. They are projecting April or May as the opening date.

And that’s your Thursday news. Time for a beer. As of yet undecided between Bear and Saucer for my first stop.