The schedule for Memphis Beer Week has been released, and it is STACKED. Memphis Beer Week will run from Sunday, April 21 through Friday, April 26, and then the big event will be Memphis Brewfest at AutoZone Park on Saturday, April 27. Memphis Beer Week is a city-wide celebration of great craft beer, and bars, restaurants, liquor stores, and groceries are participating. Tastings, talks, beer dinners, glass nights, and more. I didn’t count the exact number of events that week, but it looks like around 60 total. This is going to be an awesome week for those who love beer.
There’s a new Facebook group called Support Memphis Coach Josh Pastner. Apparently Coach P is taking a beating on sports talk radio this morning. Let’s see: He won 30+ games, he won the Conference USA regular season title, he won the Conference USA tournament, he went undefeated in Conference USA, he recruited Austin Nichols, his players are doing well in class and graduating, he was named Conference USA Coach of the Year, his players were named Conference USA Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, and he won an NCAA tournament game. And people think he’s not doing enough? Come on. If you’re a Pastner supporter, join the group and share your kind words for our Tigers’ coach.
The Blue Suede Brigade, the helpful employees of the Downtown Memphis Commission who answer questions and pass out information on the streets, are wearing blue suede shoes for the first time in 8 years. For a long time the DMC couldn’t find anything suitable, but recently some blue suede shoes were located on Zappos.com and an order was placed. Looking sharp!
Congrats to Grizzlies guard Tony Allen on making TIME Magazine’s top 140 Twitter feeds of 2013.
MPD has released some info on logistics for Saturday’s KKK rally Downtown. I apologize for giving this hate group any publicity at all, but it will affect traffic so I want to at least post that. From 8 AM to 6 PM boundaries will be secured: Poplar to Jefferson north to south, and Front to Fourth east to west. During that time, no vehicular or pedestrian traffic will be allowed in that area. MATA transportation will be rerouted around the area. The site of the rally itself, the courthouse on Adams, will be fenced off and a checkpoint established. 300 MPD, Shelby Sheriff’s, and other local law enforcement officers will be present. I know some of you will be curious what a KKK rally is like, but please stay away from this display of idiocy. If you’re looking for something to do outdoors, there’s a Heart of Memphis celebration at Tiger Lane by the Liberty Bowl that would be a much better place to spend your time.
I want to share a story from Friday. Friday afternoon I tweeted that the Silly Goose now had PBR on draft, and was selling it at a very good price. Needless to say, after work I went straight there. A friend of mine who I hadn’t seen in a couple of months showed up about 20 minutes after I did. Her plans had changed and she was looking for people to hang out with. I offered the seat next to me and it was a treat to catch up with what was going on in her life.
About 15 minutes after that, a guy who rarely comes to the Goose showed up. The Flying Saucer, Bardog, and Max’s Sports Bar are much more his comfort zone. Four things to know about this guy: 1) I don’t like him; 2) He knows I don’t like him; 3) He’s hell-bent on proving that people who don’t like him are wrong to feel that way; and 4) He’s hell-bent on proving to people who don’t like him that he’s going to be around, whether they like it or not. He had seen my tweet and shown up at the Goose as a result. After saying hello to the couple of other people in the bar he knew, he took an open seat on the other side of my friend, who he does not know from Adam. He proceeded to sit there and listen intently to our conversation for the next hour. Seriously?
My friend and I ignored him. About 8 she said she wanted to go to the Blind Bear, and asked me to come along. I was happy to do so, both to get away from my “shadow” and because I like going to the Blind Bear. We walked over and got seats at the bar.
Ten minutes later, the same guy showed up at the Bear. The Bear is even less in his comfort zone than the Goose is, after a day last year when he didn’t have enough money to pay his tab there and one of the owners was none too happy. Nevertheless, there he was, and once again he proceeded to sit on the other side of my friend. And this time, he actually tried to strike up conversation with her, interrupting me. Again, seriously? Inappropriate and creepy MUCH??? Instead of looking for good situations for himself, he spent his Friday night (and many other nights) trying to prove something to people who don’t like him. The amount of time, energy, and especially money he spends doing this is staggering.
I’m not telling this story so he will read it and realize what a screw-up he is; he’ll never change. I’m writing this for the benefit of people who are around him maybe one day a month, and who defend him to me, saying things like “he’s really not that bad” and “he’s doing the best he can.” Because of the places I hang out, and because he looks at my blog and Twitter to find out where I’ll be, I have to be around this idiot 25-30 days a month. Until you’ve been around him that much, until you’ve walked a mile in my shoes, YOU DON’T KNOW.
Plans for tonight: Pint Night at the Fl…
Wait, let’s try that again.
Plans for tonight: A couple of hours browsing the shelf at Memphis Public Library, followed by dinner at Imagine Vegan Cafe, then a couple of beers at the Downtown Hooters. But seriously, there may well be a second post tonight so check back.