Tonight is the kickoff of RiverArtsFest, which will stretch down South Main from Huling to Georgia. The centerpiece of the festival is a juried artists’ market with 180 artists participating. There will also be 50 bands on three stages, and you can create your own art at a free interactive station. Of course, there will be beer and food vendors too. PRO TIP: If the guy selling the cinnamon roasted pecans is back, get them, even if you’re not into nuts. Just do it.
There’s another Groupon for a Downtown restaurant. This time it’s for Monsieur DeMarcus French Creperie. You can get $40 worth of food for $20 or $80 worth of food for $40.
Another Dishcrawl event is coming to Downtown: Cocktail Wars. Thousands of mixologists across North America will compete to see who can create the best drink. Out of many applicants, five will be chosen to compete at this event, at Alfred’s on Thursday, December 12 from 7 to 10 PM. Winner of the event will move on to the national competition. If you want to apply to compete as a mixologist, you have until October 30.
Felicia Suzanne’s is hiring hostesses. Details here.
There’s a new Downtown-Whitehaven express bus route. The bus got from Downtown to Whitehaven in 33 minutes, which for a MATA bus is pretty impressive.
Congratulations to radio host Chris Vernon, who will be joining the Memphis Grizzlies TV broadcast team. He’ll be on the pre-game show before every Grizzlies home game.
There’s a nasty piece of computer malware going around called Cryptolocker. Once it makes its way onto your computer, it encrypts your files using public-private key encryption, making them unusable. It then tells you that you need to pay $300 to obtain the private key to decrypt your files. There is currently no known way to undo the damage caused, other than to pay. Be very careful about opening email attachments, particularly those that appear to be shipping notices. It’s also a good idea to do regular backups to a device that does not remain attached to the computer when not backing up. This malware affects computers running Microsoft Windows.
Fun night beating my buddy Pete at pool at the Blind Bear last night. Staying out until 1 was maybe not the best decision though. Taking next Friday morning off so I can stay out late for Halloween parties. That’s it for now. I’ll be out at the usual spots around 5:30. Probably not going to RiverArtsFest tonight due to the cold, but I will get there tomorrow or Sunday.