TN missing out on Wine Woot

Edit:  Just received word from a friend that Gov. Bredesen signed this bill into law.  It will take effect  July 1.  Way to go Governor Bredesen!

Edit:  Someone familiar with state government has advised me that phone calls are far more effective than e-mails.  The number is 615-741-2001.

Forwarded from Otto:

Howdy there, Tennessee wooter –

Woot’s looking for Volunteer Staters willing to volunteer a moment of
time on a vital (and delicious) issue. Right now, residents of
Tennessee cannot legally receive shipments of wine from out-of-state
wineries – in other words, you can’t take advantage of the deals on
Wine.Woot.

But last week, your wise, fair, handsome state legislature passed a
bill permitting out-of-state wine shipments. All it needs is Governor
Phil Bredesen’s signature and it becomes law.

That’s where you come in. When you get a moment, would you mind
calling Governor Bredesen at 615-741-2001, or emailing him at
Phil.Bredesen@tn.gov, to let him know you support him signing SB0166?
Be sure to remind his office that approving this measure will generate
tax revenues for Tennessee at a time when all states could use a few
extra bucks.

We don’t like to ensnare ourselves in the tangled vines of politics,
but we cannot in good conscience let you continue to miss out on
Wine.Woot’s winery-direct bargains. While the bill contains some
less-than-ideal provisions like limits on how much wine one person can
order, and a requirement for out-of-state wineries to buy a Tennessee
license, it’s huge step in the right direction.

Thanks a lot for your time, and congratulations on almost nearly sort
of being able to possibly buy wine on the Internet!

This is me again:  Tennessee has been on the cutting edge of innovations like Tube Top Month.  We are a trendsetter.  Let’s don’t miss out on Wine Woot.

Thur update

I just checked the weather, and although it’s a rainy day, it appears that the rain will move out of here by tonight… and tonight is a Thursday night… ladies, sounds like it would be a great day to wear a tube top on a rooftop.

The Plaintiffs play the Peabody rooftop party tonight.  $5 cover gets you in the door and gets you access to their free food buffet, which has been really good this year.  6 to 10 PM, ladies free until 8.  These parties continue to average well over 1,000 people per week this year.

Over at the Madison Hotel, Elmo and the Shades will be the featured entertainment.  Rooftop opens at 5:30, $7 cover, cash bar, tapas menu.

The “Chicklette of the Week” who wins the “You’ve Got the Look” contest at the Red Rooster’s post-rooftop party will get a great prize this week – a Michael Kors watch.  Free admission for ladies, $2 UV Vodka drinks, $2 draft beers.

The Flying Saucer has good post-rooftop entertainment as well.  Snozberry will take the stage at 9:30.  $3 cover, 70 beers on tap, 120 more in bottles, one draft beer on $2.75 Fire Sale every day, hot waitresses in short skirts.

Should be another fun Thursday night in Downtown Memphis… and with the grand reopening of the Voodoo Room tomorrow, and Pimp & Ho at Earnestine & Hazel’s on Saturday, it should be a fun weekend.

New website: BuyHangingMobiles.com

After several months off, I’m beginning to build new web storefront sites again.  My latest is BuyHangingMobiles.com.

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This is a store that sells mobiles, works of art that hang from a ceiling and move around as their components are pushed by air currents in the room.  Mobiles as works of art were popularized by the work of Alexander Calder in the mid-20th century.  I’ve always been fascinated with them, and have one in my apartment, the Flensted “Flowing Rhythm” mobile pictured in the logo above.  The new site also sells baby mobiles that hang from the side of a crib.

As is the case with many of my other sites including Tube Top Boutique, BuyHangingMobiles.com is a storefront for inventory carried by Amazon.com. The reason I create storefronts like this one is that Amazon’s organization is really bad; it’s nearly impossible to find all the mobiles on Amazon in one place. I’ve tried to accomplish what Amazon didn’t with this new website.

When you order through the site, Amazon pays me between a 4% and 8.5% commission on every sale, based on the total number of sales my sites ring up per month.  I never see your name or credit card info; all I get is a notice that items were purchased.  Because Amazon handles the transactions, you’re protected by their best-on-the-Internet secure checkout system and shipping and return policies.

I hope you enjoy the new site.  I already have an idea for the next one, so it’s time to get back to work.  Hmmm… I must really enjoy building these storefronts… I’m excited enough about them to take a night off from beer.

Back tomorrow with more stuff.  I still haven’t posted about the Red Rooster’s promotion that starts next Wednesday.  If you’re a fan of extremely fine beer and of having fun, this will be one you want to hear about.

Zero to 60 fundraiser featuring Morgan Freeman to benefit the MED

The Hard Rock Cafe on Beale and Morgan Freeman will host a fundraiser called “Zero to 60” Saturday night, June 6, to benefit the MED.  There will be live music, hors d’oeuvres, and a silent auction featuring music and movie memorabilia.  Some of the cool stuff in the silent auction includes Titan tickets, a box at Oaklawn race track in Hot Springs, a painting by MS artist Jason Bouldin, a duck hunt for two, group Redbird tickets, signed guitars by several musicians, a Sam’s Town weekend package, signed posters of Morgan Freeman, and more.  Guests will also get to chat with Morgan and get pictures taken with him.

Why support the MED?  Here are a few reasons:

  • 1 in 4 Shelby County residents will need The MED this year
  • The MED is the only Level 1 burn and trauma center within 150 miles
  • It’s the third-busiest trauma center, and with a 94% survival rate, it ranks in the nation’s top 5
  • Treats more brain-related injuries than any other hospital in the nation
  • Has treated 45,000 premature or critically ill babies, reducing the nation’s infant mortality rate

With so many great hospitals like St. Jude and LeBonheur here, the MED is often completely overlooked, but Memphis would be lost without it.

This should be a great event… plus, given that it’s a Saturday night on Beale Street, there should be plenty of good tube top watching in the area.

Check out The MED Foundation’s site to learn more about the MED and how you can support them.  You can purchase tickets to the fundraiser here.

Wed update: Majestic art exhibit, Farmers Market dinner @ Slim’s, SMA meeting and more

nuhuh-tubetop-bbqLots more news to report that I didn’t have time to type yesterday…

“Painted Things and Apron Strings,” featuring the art and aprons of Carolyn Olivia Dodson King, will have an opening reception in the Innovators Room of the Majestic Grille next Tuesday, June 9, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. There will be a wine special with 3 tastings for $10 during the opening, and there will be free hors d’oeuvres. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.  The Nuh-Uh Girl, by the way, is pictured here in a tube top eating at BBQ Fest.  One of the team members gave her a new nickname – “Pigeon” – because like a pigeon, she sees food and swoops in to eat.

There will be a Farmers Market dinner at Automatic Slim’s next Monday, June 8. Here’s the menu:

Hor’s d’oeuvres

Jerk poached Jones peaches, heirloom tomato marmalade, Bonnie Blue goat cheese

Trumpet mushroom encrusted, Neola Farms short tender carpaccio Bruschetta Creole mustard aioli

1st course

Gracious Gardner kale lobster spring rolls, summer cabbage slaw, Bennet Burkes smoke tomato plum dipping sauce

2nd course

West Wind farms smoked chicken, Marconi chili rellono, Alcenia’s apple butter

3rd course

Grilled Neola Farms beef tenderloin, Farmers Market slaw, pickled ramps, Whitton snap pea puree

4th course

Jones orchard strawberry crème Delta Grind grit cake tartlet

Dinner is $60, with proceeds to support the Memphis Farmers Market. 901-525-7948 for reservations.

The monthly South Main Association meeting is next Tuesday, June 9, at Pearl’s Oyster House, social at 6:00, meeting at 6:30. Complimentary hors d’oeuvres (wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will be there?), cash bar. The featured speaker will be David Williams, CEO of Leadership Memphis, who will speak on the topic “Leading from Where You Are for Where You Live.”

If you’re a member of Mpact Memphis and work downtown, they’ll have a Lunch Bunch gathering at Onix at Main and Huling on Friday.

Details on Morgan Freeman fundraiser to come… it deserves a post of its own.  I also have exciting news about a new night with games and cheap beer at the Red Rooster.

More news from the Voodoo Room

More news from the Voodoo Room in the basement of Orleans on Front, in addition to June 20 Tube Top Night from my last post.

The grand re-opening of the Voodoo Room is this Friday at 10 PM, no cover, 25 cent PBR draft all night long. Live music, and they’ll be introducing some new pizzas, as well as old favorites like Rotel fries.

There will be live music on Fridays, 75 cent Bud Light draft on Saturdays for ladies (unless you wear a tube top on June 20th, in which case it will be free that night), and locals’ night on Wednesdays (more details to come soon).

Also, the question was asked: If guys wear tube tops on the 20th, do they get free Bud Light? The answer is NO!!!!!! Actually, I didn’t confirm that with Clint, but I’m pretty sure he’d agree with me.

Still lots more news to come, including a fundraiser featuring Morgan Freeman, a Farmers Market dinner, and more stuff… but for now, I have to go to trivia.

Tube Top Night at the Voodoo Room, Saturday June 20

I’ve been waiting to announce this, and just confirmed it with Chef Clint… Saturday night, June 20 will be Tube Top Night at the Voodoo Room.  Ladies wearing tube tops will drink Bud Light draft for FREE all night.  There will also be a contest, which I will judge, with the winner getting a $50 bar tab… parameters of the contest are still being decided.  The Voodoo Room is in the downstairs of Orleans on Front, the Cajun restaurant on Front just south of Union, across from the Butcher Shop.

This, by the way, is not an event that will take the place of the TubeTopalooza party… it’s just looking like, due to several circumstances, I may have to wait until after June to do TubeTopalooza.

I’ve received several more e-mails about some interesting promotions going on at Downtown nightspots, including more to happen at the Voodoo Room… however, I don’t have time to post them right now, because a rather expensive consultant is due at the office in a few minutes.  More to come later today, or in the morning.

Attn any Downtown bar that will listen: It’s time to bring back Sunday Night Swill

In 2003, when I first became a regular at the Flying Saucer, they had a promotion called “Sunday Night Swill.”  From 8 PM on, they would sell cans of PBR, Schlitz, or Old Milwaukee for $1.50 per can.  They’d even give you brown bags, with the Sunday Night Swill logo printed on them, to hide the fact that you were drinking such supposedly substandard beer.

They discontinued the promotion toward the end of 2003.  I think it’s time to bring it back.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be the Saucer… and it doesn’t necessarily have to be those three beers… Old Style and Miller High Life Light would be other good choices… Natty might be stretching it a little.  Price to ideally remain at $1.50 but under no circumstances more than $1.99… any takers?  Any Downtown bar (that doesn’t completely suck) could build a loyal following from this night.  “Sunday Night Swill” may be trademarked, so you may have to think up an alternate name, but trust me, everyone will recognize the concept.  Bar crowds are normally dead on Sunday nights, but this is a concept that could get people to stay out a little bit later, spend a little bit more.  I saw lots of cute girls in tube tops walking around this past Sunday… maybe this would be a way to get them to come in.

Just something to consider.

Pimp & Ho Ball at Earnestine & Hazel’s this Saturday

It’s almost time for the 5th Annual (although it hasn’t happened since 2004) Pimp & Ho Ball at Earnestine & Hazel’s. The party happens this Saturday, June 6, from 8 PM until midnight, with a $5 cover at the door and DJ Tree on the 1s and the 2s.

“Pimps, be sure to bring your cane, your bling and your grill,” reads the event’s invitation on Facebook. “Hos, wear your fishnets and come dressed to thrill.” I’d like to add that tube tops would be very appropriate ho attire.

“The pimp juice will be flowing all night,” the invitation continues.

I’ve got most of my outfit together… need to find a new pair of pants, but I can do that Saturday. My hos from the last party are now married with kids, but it looks like I may have at least one new ho lined up.

Should be something fun to do on Saturday… these happened twice a year when I first moved Downtown, and were always quite entertaining. With lots more people in 2009, I suspect Pimp & Ho will be bigger and better than ever.