Wed update: Tigers are back, Bardog ladies’ special, Rizzo’s expands weekend hours, wine tasting, STAX Groupon, SMA meeting/election, “Last Call with Carson Daly” watch parties at Kooky

Wow that was one of the longest post titles ever. Busy news day. Let’s get to it.

The Memphis Tigers basketball team is back in action tonight at the FedExForum. The #9 (coaches’ poll)/#11 (AP) Tigers take on LeMoyne-Owen in an exhibition game at 7 PM. Welcome back (and welcome new team members) Tigers! Welcome back also to the LeMoyne-Owen team – this is an important game for them in terms of generating team revenue. The Tigers only have a couple of weeks until the Maui Invitational, full of top teams like Duke, Michigan, UCLA and Kansas. Hopefully they’ll polish their game in the exhibitions and be ready!

If you plan on eating Downtown after the game, might want to hold on to your ticket stub. If the Tigers score 80 points or more (pretty much a given against LeMoyne-Owen), show your stub and the Flying Fish will give you 20% off your total dinner value. They do these “Tiger Challenges” throughout the season; follow them on Facebook at Flyingfish Memphis to keep up with Challenges.

Bardog Tavern has announced a November special: Ladies will get 2 for 1 drinks during Happy Hour, from 5 to 7 PM weekdays.

The Peabody Master Taster’s Club will sample fortified wines, including ports and sherrys, tonight in Capriccio from 5:00-6:30 PM. Wines selected by the Peabody Sommelier and there will be appetizers prepared by Peabody chefs. $15 to attend; call 901-529-4183 to male reservations.

Rizzo’s Diner, in the former Harry’s Detour spot on G.E. Patterson, is expanding its hours. Chef Michael Patrick emailed me this morning and asked me to let everyone know they’ll be open at 11 Saturday for lunch, and 10 Sunday for brunch.

There’s a Groupon deal for STAX Museum going on right now. Admission for 4 for $12, up to a $48 value. If you’ve never been to this museum, you need to take a tour. Lots of soul music memorabilia including Isaac Hayes’ 1972 Cadillac Eldorado. The admission is worth it at full price, and even more so with the Groupon discount.

The South Main Association will have their monthly meeting next Tuesday, November 8, at 6 PM at the Green Beetle. A slate of officers will be presented for election to the 2012 board, and there will also be an opportunity to take nominations from the floor. Might want to pop some popcorn – I have a feeling this meeting could get interesting. Meeting attendees will receive a ticket for a raffle for a bottle of wine at the Corkscrew.

There will be four FUSE watch parties for “Last Call with Carson Daly” at Kooky Canuck this month. Dates are November 3 (that’s tomorrow), 10, 14 and 17. Party will be held from 5-7 PM and there will be $3 34 oz. Bud Light as well as free food. More details here. Check in at the party on Foursquare to receive a prize from FUSE. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Today will be the last warm-weather day (high in the low 70s, low in the low 50s) for a while, so get out and enjoy it after work! My plans this evening are TBD, but I may bring out my new toy, my Android tablet, to play with and show off.

Escape Alley Sundry, great live music spot in the Edge, faces foreclosure, needs partner/investor

I’m hoping someone reads this post and sees opportunity – an opportunity to be a part of Memphis’ live music scene.

Escape Alley Sundry, the live music venue at 655 Marshall, has been looking for a partner/investor for a couple of months now. Their time is close to running out: If they don’t raise $10,000 by Thursday, their building will be sold at auction.

I’ve been to Escape Alley a couple of times. The first time I was just there to check the place out. I had some delicious nachos and some cheap, cold PBR. I really liked the vibe of the place. I came back about a month later to hear British Invasion cover band Jeffrey and the Pacemakers. They sounded fantastic in that space, the room was full, and the staff was so friendly and nice. Intimate and tastefully decorated, there really isn’t another place like it in the city.

If you’re interested in partnering with the current owners and saving this treasue of a music venue, give them a call at 901-581-3639.

More details about the venue and the trouble they’re facing can be found in this Facebook post.

Tue update: Eighty3, marketing coordinator job Downtown, Kate Campbell, Kooky gets NHL Center Ice, Peabody NYE party, Folk Alliance Conference to leave Memphis, dumpsters

Grill 83 has announced that they will evolve their restaurant into a new concept called Eighty3. Changes will include an updated physical space, the introduction of small plates, and an emphasis on the enjoyment of eating and sharing meals together. During the redesign, restaurant service has moved into the Madison Hotel mezzanine, serving Grill 83 favorites and preview items from the new Eighty3 menu. Eighty3 will open November 16, and will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with brunch menu on Saturday and Sunday. “Like” Eighty3 on Facebook to keep informed of news about the restaurant.

A Downtown architecture firm is seeking a marketing coordinator. Details can be found here in a Craigslist listing. Basically you’d need to be familiar with Adobe InDesign, the WordPress platform, and Apple OS X. I have a friend who works at this firm, and she really enjoys her job.

Kate Campbell will perform a special concert at the Center for Southern Folklore Sunday, November 6 at 3 PM. She’ll introduce her new CD, Two Days in Texas, as well as play many of her favorite songs. Call 901-525-3655 to reserve tickets. Tickets are $20 and include a moon pie sundae in honor of Kate’s song Moon Pie Dreams. The Center is smoke-free and friendly to an all-ages audience.

Hockey fans: Kooky Canuck has added the NHL Center Ice channel. The channel lets you watch 40 out-of-market games during the regular season.

The Peabody has announced that Free Sol and the Bo-Keys will play their New Year’s Eve party. View their calendar of events for more details about the party, ticket info, and packages that include the parties along with dinner at Capriccio or Chez Philippe.

The Folk Alliance conference is leaving Memphis in 2014. They will be moving to Kansas City for five years, where they’ll have access to a bigger space and cheaper airline fares. I hate to see Memphis lose such a wonderful conference, but when I attended this year, they were clearly using every available inch of the Marriott’s space.

A Downtown dumpster ordinance amendment passed City Council today. It would curb the practice of businesses placing their dumpsters in public alleys, rent-free. The dumpsters smell and look bad. Current dumpsters would be grandfathered in for two years. New dumpsters generally will not be allowed, unless the owner can prove there’s no other practical alternative. In that case, owners of new dumpsters would have to pay the city rent for taking up alley space. Good move that will make Downtown cleaner.

Two of my friends scored big in Halloween giveaways last night. My friend Bicycle Bobby won the Magic Hat bike at the Flying Saucer. Patrons drank Magic Hat beers to get entry slips. This is Bobby’s 20th bike, and his garage is so full of bikes that he can’t fit his car in there. Within minutes of the drawing, several Saucer girls were asking him, “Can I have the bike?” Geez.

Later in the evening, my friend Jake won the Bardog Tavern Halloween raffle. His prize: A 1987 Cadillac Brougham hearse. I know he really wanted it and I’m happy that he won.

Uggghhhh. Glad Halloween weekend is over. One more day of that and I’d probably be riding in the back of Jake’s new hearse. Plans undecided for after work, but I won’t be out nearly as long as I’ve been the past four nights.

Son of Hearse to be raffled at Bardog tonight

Son of Hearse, a 1987 Cadillac Brougham hearse, will be raffled off at 11:59 PM tonight at Bardog Tavern. You can stop by anytime today and purchase tickets.

Before the hearse giveaway, there will be a costume contest at 11:30. $250 cash for the winner, $100 for second place, $50 gift certificate for third.

Should be a fun night! Put the costume on one more time, and come celebrate Halloween the way it’s supposed to be celebrated… on the 31st!

Biggest possible waste of a Saturday afternoon

Saturday afternoon I had several hours to kill before it was time for Halloween parties. I got Krispy Krunchy Chicken (see review below) and decided to waste the time in the worst possible way. I got on MTV’s website and started watching episodes of Jersey Shore.

So, The Situation was trying to hook up with this blonde. Then he discovered that she had a twin. So he tried to arrange a threesome with both of them.

They were out at a club and he was working on it, when Deena stole one of the twins and started making out with her in the club. The roommates commented she was on her way to a “lesbionic” experience, adding a new word to Urban Dictionary.

They brought the girls home. The twin that came home with Deena got into bed with Vinny. Then Deena pulled her out of Vinny’s bed and back into her bed. Deena hooked up with the twin. Then the twin crawled into Vinny’s bed and hooked up with him. Meanwhile The Situation hooked up with the other twin.

Later, there was disagreement whether Deena went all the way with her twin, and Deena asided to the camera, “I may be bi-curious, but I really love penis.”

Meanwhile, Snooki got all mad when The Situation told the roommates that they hooked up 2 months ago, which may or may not have been true. Why in the world would you tell other people you hooked up with Snooki? She’s disgusting.

Then JWoww and Snooki discussed having clay molds of their boyfriends’ penises made, so they could have their boyfriends with them (in a sense) while thousands of miles away in Italy.

I also watched a preview clip of the new Beavis and Butt-head episodes. They were watching Jersey Shore, where the roommates made a chart of who hooked up with whom on a chalkboard. Beavis: “If they trace it back far enough, they’ll discover where herpes came from.”

When you have to look to Beavis for witty, insightful comments, you know the world has gone to hell in a handbasket.

Krispy Krunchy Chicken

Yesterday afternoon I got to-go food from Krispy Krunchy Chicken, the new restaurant at 51 S. Main. It’s been open about a month. It’s one of 600 stores in the Krispy Krunchy chain. You can view their website here.

I got a 3-piece white meat deal – a breast, two wings, and a biscuit – for $5.49. I added a side of jambalaya. The pieces of chicken, especially the wings, were huge. Really, the two wings were so big, they would have been a meal without the breast. The chicken is spicy – the spicy chicken at Popeye’s would be a good comparison, although Krispy Krunchy is a better value for the money. Biscuit was light and fluffy. It had a honey flavor. Jambalaya was really good, and I wouldn’t mind going back for a large order of it as an entree sometime soon. I also want to try the Boudin bites and red beans and rice on a future visit.

Past incarnations of restaurants at 51 S. Main have been dreadfully slow. I remember days sitting there bored out of my mind waiting 15 minutes for my food. That’s not the case with Krispy Krunchy. Service was so fast that I was standing outside with the restaurant with a bag of chicken before I got around to checking in on Foursquare.

I published my checkin to Twitter, and immediately got a response: “Gus would roll over in his grave.” I wouldn’t put the chicken at KKC on the level of Gus’s, but it was a good value for the money, and it’s one block from my front door. I support and agree with the “eat local” thing, but I also believe Downtown needs to have a few more fast food chain restaurants in order to be a well-rounded neighborhood. I’m happy KKC is here and plan to make a second visit soon.

Friday update: South Main Trolley Tour, Memphis Gooners, no holiday parade, Bobby Rush, Halloween mystery dinner, Dog of the Day and more

With all the Halloween parties and events going on this weekend, it’s easy to forget the fact that it’s the last Friday of the month. That means it’s Trolley Tour night on South Main. Area businesses will be open from 6 to 9, many serving wine, beer and hors d’oeuvres. The Beale Street Flippers will perform, the Mobile Music Machine from Live from Memphis will be out, SACHE will have a live DJ and punch, and the SMA will sell beer, wine and champagne.

Arsenal.com has a great article entitled Meet the Memphis Gooners, the Arsenal fan club that meets at the Brass Door to watch games. Because of the time difference, they’re often there as early as 7 AM. I joined them for one game back in August, and it was a lot of fun.

No Downtown holiday parade this year. The CA reports that the parade is being scrapped in favor of a 6-week lighting project designed to draw more people Downtown to shop. I’ll miss the parade, but I have to agree this is the right move to benefit area businesses the most. The parade had been held on the first Saturday in December, putting it in competition with other parades, the St. Jude Marathon, the SEC championship game, and Stumbling Santa. The lighting project will let people come downtown when they choose, rather than forcing them to choose on a very busy day.

Bobby Rush plays the Warehouse tonight. $10 admission, free to Rhodes and U of M students. Special guests the Bo-Keys.

There will be a Halloween themed interactive mystery dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse from 7 to 10 tonight. $38 admission includes dinner. Might want to call ahead and see if reservations are needed (901-210-0545) if you plan to go to this.

I see that the “Dog of the Day” at Bardog today is the Cujo: Chili, cheese, pico and sriracha. That is one of their best hot dogs ever. I highly recommend it.

PBR Man attended the Kooky Canuck Halloween party last night. It was a good crowd and a lot of fun as always, but I was surprised by how few people I knew there. Hung out with my friend Joe and the group he was with. There was a woman in the group who I remember being dressed as the mysterious Mad Hatter at last year’s Halloween parties – she and Joe had become friends. That’s what I love about the holiday – you make new friends, bonding over costumes.

Plans for tonight: A few warm-up beers at the Saucer, then step into a telephone booth and morph into PBR Man, then on to a private party three of my friends are throwing. If it’s anything like their 2009 bash, there will be amazing food, spooky decorations, and of course, BEER! I also like the fact that they live in the core, so when I get ready to leave I’m only steps away from Downtown’s best bars. Of all the parties on this weekend’s schedule, this is probably the one I’m looking forward to the most.

Time to hit the water cooler and hydrate in preparation for this weekend. It’s going to be a big one!