Thursday Tactical Drinking

So last night a small group of us were supposed to met up at Newby's at 7. The first fashionably late person showed up at 7:45 and then everyone else started to roll in. By the way to those of you who said you were going to make it out and then just decided to stay in, here's a little message for you:

And if you didn't get plenty of voicemails and text messages telling you so, that was just a little reminder.

Anyhoo, Mendi and Meredith were there. Meredith loves the tots. The first bunch she ordered were plain. As soon as she said she could eat another tot if her life depended on it, I decided to take that challenge. I ordered the smothered tots. Did you know they've changed them? The old smothered tots were tots covered in cheese and bacon with ketchup and sour cream on the side. They've done away with the sour cream and bacon on the new smothered tots. You get bbq pork and Newby's sweet BBQ sauce on the side now. It's pretty damn good. I'm not sure if I like it more than the old way or not.

Apparently Mendi doesn't like it when people take her stools. Here's an example of a mad Mini-her saying "hi."Duchess Colleen even made it to the gig. She kept saying she had to leave at 9. But I could have sworn I saw here there at 11:45. She is my NEW favorite duchess.
Miss MySpace gave her zeal of approval for our shenanigans. Or is that her mating signal? I think it's a combination of both.

The Uncle Scottie Too Hottie came after he finished his work dinner. He rolled into the bar as a James Bond impersonator. Then he started doing his Gene Simmons' look. Remember ladies, he is single.A couple of weeks ago the brother and I went to meet Mendi for her bday at the Flying Saucer. We have a tradition on each of our bday's we take two Patron shots. We actually only took one on her bday so I had to get the other round last night. Here's that fun:Here's a pic of me with Colleen and Mendi. The debate of the night was heated. I'll leave it open to yall: Are these hooker boots or not? I'm going with yeah they kinda are. Anyway, thanks to everyone who showed up: Mendi, Meredith, Mailbox Mike, Colleen, the brother, Scottie Too Hottie, HM, guy whose name I can't remember, and a few others.

After everyone started leaving, I went to find the brother. He had run into a bunch of friends from college. I decided it was high time to head home. So I jumped in the trunk and started heading eastward. I called a few wing places to get some late night grub, but they were all closed. I had to wonder: what kind of respectable hot wing restaurant is closed at 1 AM on a Thursday? The answer is any of them outside Midtown. So I decided on the next best course of action: I'm heading to a grocery store to buy some frozen oven wings. Well I had an unused Wal-Mart gift card so I headed there. It was the first time I've been on a late night, post-bar visit to Wal-Mart since college (we used to play Wal-Mart football, more on that in a future post).

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any frozen wings that weren't breaded. And they didn't have any that were hot. All of a sudden I felt a calling from the electronics section. I walked over and found my hands reaching for several DVDs. Next thing I know I'm at the checkout with Lost Season 2, Pirates of the Caribbean 1 and 2, Hidalgo, and Waiting. Alas my gift card was for only $30. But in my eloquent state, I didn't want to take the time to return any of it, so I just bought it all and headed home. Cooked my wings. Only ate four because they were horrible. For the record don't ever buy breaded wings. They have no flavor or heat.

Anyhoo, I had a great time last night. Probably too much fun for my own good, but you need that ever once in a while. I'm not sure what I'm doing Saturday night, but I hope it'll be as much fun as last night.

Hoorah!!!

I didn't drunk post last night! I'm so proud of myself. I'll post the recap later with pics. And I'm not that hungover despite the best efforts of last night's contingency of the Thursday Tactical Drinking Team.

By the way, going to Wal-Mart at 3am after a few double vodka tonics looking for frozen hot wings is a lot of fun. But I'll go into more details in the full recap.

American Idol HNT

Ok, under no circumstance have I watched an episode of American Idol. But when I was checking Break.com last night I noticed they had a bunch of pics for one of the female contestants: Antonella Barba. I know nothing about her. But they had a bunch of hot pics so instead of taking a lame ol' pic of myself, I figured I'd treat my loyal readers to a great set of pics I snagged off Break.com.
Enjoy and have a happy Half-Nekkid Thursday.

Apparently she enjoys a little BBall.Is she a sexy librarian or teacher?God Bless America!!! Peekaboos are patriotic!Playing in the fountain: it's like Friends, only hot!

Several Subjects...Enjoy

- Cool friends are hard to come by. But when you get them, you better do your best not to neglect the friendships. That being said, thanks to everyone who hosted and attended the Unemployment Fair this past Friday. The BBQ was great and the beer was cold. I was going to show up after my interview but my alternator decided to die and a wire in the wiring harness was the culprit. A few hours and too many dollars later I was able to finally show up and start drinking.

And thanks to all my friends who called/texted me to come out Friday night after I left the Unemployment Fair. I'm sure I would have had a blast at Brookhaven, the Windjammer, Newby's, Celtic Crossing, and E&H, but I had been drinking for about 7 hours and needed to go to bed.

- You already know about Saturday night. Sorry I was kinda down and harsh on the people who frequented the theater that evening. But I had a huge lack of respect for the general public after witnessing the theater incident. (see previous post)

- So far this week I have had a job offer. It's nothing fancy but it is an offer nonetheless...to work at a liquor store. I'd pull the trigger, but I just went through the first round of an interview with a great logistics company that'll start me off about 8K less than I was making. Hopefully I can swing a job there. That would be great.

- Oh yeah, this Thursday we are restarting our happy hour crew (as Uncle Scottie Too Hottie named it: "Thursday Tactical Drinking Team"). Most of our charter members won't be there, but we've got a ton of new talent showing up. I know I've invited a ton of folks, but I keep feeling like I forgot to invite some. So email me if you normally came last year and didn't get the email. I'll give you the details.

- Lent: As I've said a few times here, I've got two things I'm doing/giving up for Lent this year:
1) Not drinking more than 2 nights a week
2) Swimming at least 4 miles a week
So far I'm doing very well on both. The first one is harder than I thought initially. I like to go out on a week night every once in a while and if I do, then I have to either be a designated driver or stay in one night on the weekend.

Well that's all I've got for now. See most of you tomorrow after work.
Have a good one and don't get none on you.

Adventure in Suburbia (movie theater drama)

I'll talk about Friday in another post. It'll be long, I promise.

Tonight I went to catch a movie and almost witnessed a hate crime. Let me explain:

I have already met my quota for going out this week (Lent: can't drink more than 2 days a week). So I could play DD for drunk friends or I could go catch Black Snake Moan. I chose the latter. I picked the7:30 showing at the Collierville movieplex, because I figured that it wouldn't be too busy on Saturday night. After all, no one goes out or does anything worth mentioning in the suburbs, right. It'll be pretty empty, right? Obviously I was wrong.

I get my ticket for the flick after waiting in line. When I think of the type of people who would move to Collierville, I imagine nice, polite families and retirees. Of course the families might have the rebelling teenager, but so what? It's a suburb of Memphis, and a supposedly nice one at that.

Well imagine my surprise when I arrive in the ticket line and realize that the bowels of Frayser, Byhalia, and Selmer opened up over the Collierville Cinema-Plex to release all of their worst elements. Every demographic's lowest common denominator was present. People were bumping into each other without apologizing and cutting in line. Of course there were a lot of nice folks who wouldn't ever be any trouble. And I'm sure a lot of great people. But apparently everyone there had stolen my idea of an easy night away from drama to catch a movie.

So I get my ticket and head in the front door. There's a guy there with the ticket box to tear my ticket. Apparently he has two responsibilities: model his pimple farm for all to enjoy and direct you to the appropriate next ticket box on the left or right depending on your film's theater location.

Have we as a society become so stupid we can't read a sign that tells you which movies are in which theaters? I know that we have to have the Nutritional Facts on our bottles of water, but are we now that much dumber?

So I get my Cherry Coke and head to my appropriate theater. I pick a seat in the middle of the row. I sit down and start to lean back, only to find that the seats here don't lean back as much as the Paradiso theater in East Memphis. I repeat the promise to myself that I'm going to get a damn good job and move from the vanilla suburbs back into the city, dammit!

The theater's filling up and the previews are starting. I notice in my peripherals a group of four bodies sitting at the end of my row to the right. The preview sucks so I just glance over. It's a family coming to watch Black Snake Moan. I notice that it's a Momma, a Daddy, and two kids. Not necessarily a big deal until I realize that the older of the two kids is shorter than I am...and I'm sitting low in my chair with my feet on the one in front of me. I think these two little girls couldn't have been older than 11 at the most. Probably more like 8 or 9. Still don't think it's a bad thing? Black Snake Moan is about a (basic plot spoiler!) bluesman in a rural town in Tennessee who tries to help this nymphomaniac overcome her sickness. And they provide plenty of examples of her nymphomania.

Just a little inappropriate for little girls. But I'm not their father.

So the movie starts, and I really enjoyed it. But about halfway through it, someone's phone rings. I've had this happen with my friends before at movies. We always feel a little embarassed that we were too stupid to turn off our ringers. But I realize that this ring is coming from the little family group to my right. (Cue bad but now proven stereotype!) That daddy answers the phone: "Hullo? Yea ******, I'm watchin da movie... Naw, it pretty good... Naw, I can taulk... Fo' real? Shiiiiiiiit."

About that moment I (and everyone else around) hear a real loud thud from that direction. Turns out an old man from another demographic kicked the back of Phone Guy's seat. Phone Guy said this before finally hanging up the phone: "...You know what? I'ma halfta call you back. Some dead fool just kicked my m*****-f***ing seat." He hung up the phone and stood up. I finally got a good look at him as well as the guy behind him. Phone Guy was about five foot four and looked like a basketball with arms and legs. He turned to face the guy behind him who was older and grey headed but kinda skinny. Phone Guy said "you gonna kick my seat, huh? You gonna back it up?"

His old lady made him sit down before Seat Kicker could respond. Then she went to get a manager. The whole time she was gone, I could hear Phone Guy: "M*****-f***er kicked my g-d seat. I'ma whoop his ass." She finally came back with a manager and pointed it out. I couldn't hear them, but I imagine that when she said the part about her man being on the phone and the manager noticed the 11 year old girls in the R movie, she probably mentioned that it was in everyone's best interest that they leave. The only evidence that I have to this is that the woman walked back to the seat, grabber her drink, and dragged her family out of there. The whole way out Phone Guy kept saying "I oughta shoot that damn m*****-f***er!"

We were able to watch the rest of Black Snake Moan in peace. It is a pretty damn good film. And Phone Guy never came back with a gun to shoot anyone. I kept waiting to see if I was going to witness to a hate crime or not, but nothing happened. Needless to say no one was quick to be the first out of the theater.

So what did I learn? That most of society's winners do not go to movie theaters in suburbia. And if someone answers their cell phone in front of you, kick their chair if you want to get shot.

Have a good one and don't get none on ya

Random notes

Tonight I went to Cigar Night. Had a blast. Only had a few beers but that's one of my two nights for this week. So now I have to choose between Friday and Saturday. Looks like it's going to be Friday. After my interview tomorrow, I am heading to the first meeting of the Unemployment Fair. There will be plenty of PBR and ribs. Turns out within the last two weeks I have two friends who quit jobs and another who was fired. So we're all hanging out, eating, and calling whomever will be the most pissed to hear "Hey, have fun at work! I'm unemployed but I'm enjoying my Friday by eating ribs and drinking PBR." If you get a phone call, sucks to be you. If you don't, I couldn't reach you or didn't call. Remember, if the phone doesn't ring, it's probably me.

Don't know if I'll go out Friday night...or if I'll even be able to go out Friday night.

Other than that, there's not much going on right now. I think I need to schedule another meeting of the Thursday Night Drinking Team or whatever the hell we called ourselves. It's been too long since we were all together.

Oh yeah! Shannon the FD sent me this pic from the Ptolemy Coronation Saturday night:

Thanks, bud.

Yall have a good one and don't get none on ya.

Dancing HNT

Ok so I was going to take a good pic for this week, but I had a job interview today and completely forgot. So I'll just reuse the pic from this weekend of me dancing with McAsh. Happy HNT yall (technically she's closer to HN than I am though).

And she corrected me the other day: she didn't go to the cancer bed for this; she went to get a spray tan.

Songs on the Ipod:
Bob Marley - I Shot The Sheriff
Widespread Panic - Thought Sausage
U2 - New Year's Day

Studio 60 post-poned

I just read this story on CNN. I am kinda upset. It basically says what I feared: NBC will eventually/probably be cancelled. I really like that show actually. It's smart and funny. It's stopped being preachy and is more about telling a story now. But I noticed that my tivo didn't record it Monday. When I looked into it, I noticed that the Black Donnelly's played instead. Hopefully, NBC will be smart enough to bring it back.

Anyhoo, that's all I'm going to talk about now. Oh yeah, I've already had one job interview this week and I have another two left. Hopefully one of them will pan out and I'll have a job soon.

Change is a Good Thang

In case you aren't paying attention, I just updated the blog. I like this new version of blogger. It made it easy to update the right side of the blog. So now I have two sets of lists (blogs and regular websites) as well as a pull down option for my archives. I may change it again soon.

I would like to say that I don't read all those blogs all the time. But I do check out some of them daily and check others every once in a while (i.e. when I am REALLY bored).

Have a great one and don't get none on ya.

Followup: I tried to add all the additional stuff I had on the side (FU Friday, HNT, etc.), but I can't get it to forward over. But I was able to save my tracker. Anyhoo, just thought I'd let you know. I'm going to go swimming now.

Hurting

So last night I was inspired. I still don't know by what or whom, but I was inspired. I started swimming my laps and just kept going. By the time I hit the first half mile, I decided to keep going for an additional half mile. Up until this point I had never swam further than maybe ten cool down laps beyond a mile. I swam a total of a mile and half last night non-stop, all 53 laps.
Needless to say, I woke up very sore today. But I have hit a new personal milestone. I am quite proud of myself.

And if you can't I really don't have much else to talk about. Except I don't like downtown Paul dreaming about me. That's kinda creepy.

Day Time Commercials

One thing you do when you don't work is watch tv while searching the net for a job. You can definitely tell the demographics that the day time commercials are pandering to. There was one I had to talk about:

There's a phone out there for (obviously) senior citizens called Jitterbug. It has big numbers that light up, a soft ear cushion and an extra loud speaker all for the older generation. There's even a point where this old guy says "no cutesy symbols. No flashy lights. Just a great phone."
The only real reason I bring this up is because I just went to help my grandmother buy a new phone the other day. It is hard to believe how hard it is to explain a new phone to someone older. I actually wish they sold phones like this Jitterbug at regular cell phone places. But they won't because they make their money selling the other junk (huge plans and packages). And if you have a phone that only dials people, how can you sell the other stuff.

Red Flag

Question:

If while on a first date a girl says she doesn't like Bob Marley, is that a red flag?

I was just wondering that today. I would say yes.

Obviously I don't really have much to talk about right now.

Last Night

In case you already didn't know, last night was the coronation for the royalty of the Grand Krewe of Ptolemy. Congrats to all the royalty. The party was overseen by Chairman Walker.

Here's King Cy and Queen Kathryn making their way to their thrones. (edit: how did I screw that one up?)After way too many speeches and introductions, the bars openned back up and the band kicked on. They were incredible. I definitely recommend Almost Famous to anyone who is looking for a party band.

I got to teach McAshley how to dance. She wasn't as sure about dancing as she is about tanning.

Here I am with duchess Autumn.

Here's duchess Autumn with her sister and two work friends.

I danced for a while before someone grabbed my camera and started taking pics of me dancing with the Shady Lady V and her broken rib.

In case you can't tell, we were just a little cheesy.

Here is a great pic of our Queen Kathryn and her husband Chris.

After the party really started to wind down, most folks left. The brother and I headed to the library where the royals were hanging out. Here's (l to r) Duchess April, Duchess Kristie, Duchess Beth, Queen Kathryn, King Cy, Cy's wife Lana, and Duchess Autumn.

Now I took three pics because I couldn't ever get all of them to focus at once. Sorry, but they'd been partying for too long.

Sweet Lana wanted to point out that her toe didn't try to escape this shoe (inside joke).

Here is a great pic of Duchess Autumn.

After we finally got our group together in the car, we headed to Yosemite Sam's on Overton Square. Duchesses April, Colleen, and Autumn really wanted to sing. They actually got tired of waiting for their turn so they ran out and started singing with anyone who was on the mike. While that was going, the Brother, Shannon the FD, and I were hanging back laughing at them. I decided I needed plenty of pics for future laughs.

We met some random girl there named Summer. She joined the group in singing. It was at that point we became a seasonal group: April, Autumn, and Summer.

Duchess April decided to hot dog it on one song.

Their actual song finally came up thirty minutes after they first started singing. Don't know why, but they picked "Baby Got Back." Funny thing was none of them knew the words or could rap with the screen. At one point they were just reading the screen. So this random guy comes running up and grabs a mike. He knows the words and does a great job.

At some point in the night they realized they had danced holes in the bottom of their dresses. It was confusing at first...

Then it was amusing.

I guess when you take off your shoes in a bar that tends to happen.

After we closed down the bar, I drove April to her house. We then took Autumn to her house. We would have driven Mailbox Mike home too, but he ran into someone from college and shaded out on us. When we got to Autumn's house, we found David on the couch.

We had a great time all together. There were plenty of friends there who I didn't get pics with on my camera. If any of you have pics you want me to post or just send me, put them in an email and send them over.

Have a good one and don't get none on ya.

Saturday Night Options

So you're stuck in the Memphis metro area and you're looking for something fun to do. Well there are a few options out there (besides hiding from the approaching storms).

First, tonight is the coronation for the Grand Krewe of Ptolemy at the UClub. $35 per person for non-members. Almost Famous is the band. They are supposed to be pretty damn good. It is black tie and will be a great time as always. There are supposed to be a ton of folks showing up.

If you're way out east and need some great music, check out

I've got it!!!

I now know what I want in my next job. I want to work somewhere just like Dunder-Mifflin in the Office. You know a place where nothing ever gets accomplished and you are surrounded by idiots and nut-cases. I think it would be great. I'd sit back in between customer's calls and laugh at everyone. Then after a week, I'd quit just so I'd keep my sanity.

On a serious note, a few of the companies where I had my foot in the door have been put on hiring freezes or are downsizing right now. That sucks. I've been close (final four or final two) in several interviews, but you don't get the paycheck when you come in second place. Anyone know of any good jobs (not free-lance insurance sales!) in the Memphis area?

Friday Night gigs

I'm not going to this, but I promised someone I would post it. I recommend going to Beale Street for the 18th annual Memphis Zydeco Festival. I went to it a few years ago and had a friggin blast. Of course I'm probably going to save my second night of drinking during the week (what I'm doing for Lent) for Saturday.

Also if you know the distinguished Mr. Kalb, wish him a Happy Birthday this weekend.

HNT

Happy HNT yall. Beware of the booze.

The Next Day

Earlier today I told a few folks that it wouldn't be Ash Wednesday if you didn't feel like ass. So yeah, I had a few too many Fat Tuesday libations. Don't believe me? Check out this pic:

No I haven't shaven since last week. That was at the first bar I went to. I got Mardi Gras beads, a mask, and maraccas from everyone's favorite overtanned blonde bartender, Miss Myspace. Let's back up, I first had a big steak dinner with plenty of libations to match the entree. Absolutely delicious. After that I headed over to Newby's. Ran into Uncle Scottie Too Hottie and Dr. No Name. Stayed there while Freeworld jammed out a bunch of New Orleans rock. I loved the covers of the Meters' songs. After Uncle and Dr left, I had one or two more drinks, then headed home. On the way home I decided to stop and have a drink at Doc Watson's (the old Bottom Line). There I met several interesting characters:

Don - the wise learned construction worker who told me that finding a career was more important than your friends

Cyndi - the future cougar who seemed as dumb as a bag of rocks, wears hooker boots and jean skirts. Apparently her parents were confused as to where to place vowels when they named her.

Sylvia - the attorney who just got screwed over

I had way too much fun there. I saw all kinds of things happen (most of which I can't really post here). I will say that there was definitely something in the water there. Everybody was having too much fun. I hate to say it, but I am really starting to like going to that bar. After I left there, I came home. I tried to watch some of the shows I tivoed last night, but I hopped on the computer and didn't pay attention. Next thing I know I drunk posted on here and sent a few too many emails and messages out to people. Btw if you got one from me, sorry.

I got up this morning and left the house early. I didn't have a chance to read what I posted last night and was actually a little sketched out by what I might have said. So when I finally got back on here to check it, I realized it was nothing bad.

BUT I have been getting a lot of grief from my friends about the speedo thing. Let me say that it is not the banana hammock speedo that you are all thinking of. It's the speedo trunks. My old suits are all too big (they used to be too small) to swim laps. So I went to the Jaws Swim Shop on Poplar near Ronnie Grisanti's restaurant. These are the only kind of swimsuits they have. I bought a pair and love them. Plus I'm going to try and start swimming miles competitively (I just dropped my time from about 45 minutes per mile to 40 minutes). Don't worry, I'm not going to use them anywhere except to swim laps. And I'm sure as hell not going to take a damn picture of myself in them. However, I did take a pic just so you can see what the hell I'm talking about.

I feel that if I'm going to be serious about swimming laps to stay healthy and in shape, I need to use the proper equipment. I wouldn't go running in hiking boots, so this is the same thing. Anyhoo, enough of that.

In case you didn't know today is the start of Lent. Being a good Episcopalian, I will either give something up or do something. So here's what I'm doing/giving up:

- I'm going to swim at least 4 miles a week

- I'm only going to drink two nights total each week (including weekends) between Sunday and the following Saturday

Ok, I'm going to go and let you recover from reading this. Have a good one and don't get none on ya.

Ok FIRST!!!! Thank you to the grand-daughter of our neighbor who brought over girl-scout cookies to sell! Lord knows that J0-Bu loves his samoas!!! That really made my week.

However despite whatever EVIL that cookies bring onto me, I must mention that I bought a SPEEDO. Yeah, I put that in CAPS just to express what the F I bought. I bought a pair of speedos. Not your average, sterotypical, banana hammock speedos. But Speedos which grasp at the waist and cling just above the knee (past the thigh). The are the equivalent of "board shorts" that are tight throughout (the only negative is the lack of enhancement when I submerse myself in coldwater).

Anyhoo, it is fat tuesday. Let me rephrase that

IT'S FAT TUESDAY IN MEMPHIS, YA'LL!!!

I hope you celebrated well! I did a civic duty, swam a mile, went to Newby's (pic to be distributed later), and went to Doc Watson's. Let me restate:
BAD PIC from Newby's to be distributed ON THIS BLOG later!

Other than that, it was the usual FAT TUESDAY in Memphis. I highly recomment looking into the Phoenix Club's Mardi Gras Party on March 17. It is thrown by my friends:

THE BROWNS

Lord T & Eloise will be the musical entertainment, and I have been told that a mix that I do MAY be the music played before the main act. HOLY CRAP!!!

Last Night

Last night started off relaxed and cool. But by the end of the night, it had gone crazy. I promised the party involved that I wouldn't publish the details on here. Let me just say I have a friend out there who is lucky to be alive today. Enough of that though.

I saw that Britney Spears shaved her head. WTF!!! Bitch is CRAZY!

Anyhoo, I really don't have much to say since I promised I wouldn't go into last night's debacle.

Esta Noche

Tonight I met Scottie Too Hottie...WAIT! I mean, Uncle Scottie Too Hottie. Anyhoo, met the Uncle at the Young Ave Deli tonight as well as a few other folks. A Dr. "NoName" was there too. The downside was that it was team trivia night. We couldn't talk to the folks we met. Kinda sucked but we made do. Other than that I had a blast. Now I am back home watching the shows I missed:
My Name is Earl
The Office
Grey's Anatomy
Just finished the first two and am starting Grey's. Earl was funny as hell. The Office was beyond funny.

Ok, I just finished Grey's Anatomy. All I'm gonna say is WTF!!! Don't want to ruin it for anyone, but WTF!!!

Valentine's Recap

Well last night was a bust. The hype was...hype. There were cougars and FM Radio DJ's at the bar when we got there. The funny thing was that the cougars were chasing the FM Radio DJ. But HM and I had a good time. We hung out and after a while I started putting money in the jukebox. Too many dollars later we were listening to some great songs. The cougars tried to bait us into conversation. I wasn't distracted by their died blonde manes or plunging necklines. This evening I was not going to be their prey.
After we had our last round of drinks, we called it a night. On my way home I had a hankering for another beer. I stopped at Doc Watson's over on Kirby Pkwy (the old bottom line). After a few beers, I headed home and crashed on my bed.
Overall I had a great time. There weren't that many folks out. I guess most folks who aren't in couples would rather hide at home in pity parties than going out to celebrate another 364 days that aren't Valentine's Day.

Remember tonight

If you are single on Valentine's and want to go out, check out Newby's tonight.

"The Memphis Icebreakers" are playing Wednesday, Feb 14th...They are the ultimate band for Valentines!They play all the top Mo-town, love songs...$7 cover, plenty of tables for the show!Main Stage @ Newbys... Doors @ 8 pm... Show @ 9 pm...Let's Get It On, It's A Wonderful World, etc...A longtime favorite of the Memphis party scene, the legendary Memphis Icebreakers can play it all and keep a dance floor packed all night. Classic dance music from Motown, funky R&B and soul, beach music, golden oldies, even contemporary hits -- they're versatile, talented, and lots of fun.

Ask anyone in town: this band has played hundreds of wedding, corporate parties, charity galas, and club events.

It doesn't get much better than the Memphis Icebreakers!

By the way, I heard that the Phoenix Club's Mardi Gras Casino Party (March 17) will have Lord T & Eloise. Put that on your calendar. If you want tickets, let me know. I'll have them in the next week or so
memphisphilip (at) hotmail (dot) com

Other Blogs

Ok, this is going to be a blogger post. If you don't read other folks blogs, just stop yourself because you probably won't know what the hell is going on.

Now most of you know I try not to comment about other people's blogs here. That's their respective worlds and they have every right to say whatever they want. BUT sometimes I just can't help it.

I was skimming through my usual viewing of blogs and other websites when I landed on Downtown Paul's blog. For those of you who may not be familiar with his blog, he is a computer...guru, I guess, professionally. He lives downtown and is very adamant that there is nothing better than downtown Memphis in our surrounding area (that's his opinion and I'm cool with that...I have to disagree but whatever). He talks about different events going on downtown socially and the local bum scene. When he strays into politics, he takes a seriously left-minded view of things (again, his perogative). But I'm afraid he's come to one of the following problems:

1. he's run out of things to say
2. he's become too narcissitic

Not sure what I'm talking about? Well his post that I just read was about...his hair. With pictures. It was a five minute discussion about how his hair has been and where it's going in the future. I actually read the whole thing in hope that there was some kind of funny end to it all. No, there wasn't.

Now Paul has a tendency to make fun of Used-To-Be-Charming Kat (sorry I had to, that was too easy). She talks about her involvement in the Grand Krewe of Ptolemy (which I am also in) among other fun stuff she does (i.e. going out drinking with friends, pining over getting a boytoy, or going to the gym). She's really happy with her involvement in the Krewe and has made several new friends. Paul thinks she talks...no wait, obsesses about it all the time. She doesn't. Sometimes she talks about it a little too much, but she at least has a nice healthy balance with the other stuff going on. So I can't wait for what Kat has to say about the hair post. If you can't tell they have this love/hate relationship: they love to mess with each other because they hate each other.

So what do you think? Has Paul just run out of stuff to say or has he become too narcissitic? I think it's a combo of both. Let's sit back and watch.

Other than all that, I'm really bored and need to get a job. Have a good one.

Songs on the Playlist (just a little too 80s):
Flock of Seagulls - I Ran
Animotion - Obsession
Big Star - Thirteen
The Church - Under The Milky Way
Corey Hart - Sunglasses At Night
Cutting Crew - I Just Died In Your Arms

Weekend Recap, Single Man or Woman's Valentine's Plans

Friday night the brother scored two free tickets to the game between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Minnesota Timberwolves. We went. The Grizzlies won...and shut down Kevin Garnett. If you haven't been to a game in the Forum (which I hadn't until Friday night), GO. I don't care how bad we have been losing this season. It is actually a lot of fun. The barbeque nachos sucked though. But the beer was cold. Real cold.

So the big thing this week is...nothing. But if you are looking for something to do for Valentine's Day and you are single, check out Newby's. One of my friends told me that over the last few years, the underground name for the party is "Valentine's Vixens." Here the party details from the Newby's MySpace bulletin:

"The Memphis Icebreakers" are playing Wednesday, Feb 14th...They are the ultimate band for Valentines!They play all the top Mo-town, love songs...$7 cover, plenty of tables for the show!Main Stage @ Newbys... Doors @ 8 pm... Show @ 9 pm...Let's Get It On, It's A Wonderful World, etc...

A longtime favorite of the Memphis party scene, the legendary Memphis Icebreakers can play it all and keep a dance floor packed all night. Classic dance music from Motown, funky R&B and soul, beach music, golden oldies, even contemporary hits -- they're versatile, talented, and lots of fun.

Ask anyone in town: this band has played hundreds of wedding, corporate parties, charity galas, and club events.

It doesn't get much better than the Memphis Icebreakers!

This is true. I really enjoy the Icebreakers every time I see them. So if you aren't with anyone or you really don't feel comfortable going on a pressure date with someone you just started seeing but want to go out for Valentine's, check out Newby's. This is the only real single person's party Wednesday. I'm sure you will run into a stalker or two there (I know I probably will), but it should be fun nonetheless.

Esta Noche

Tonight, we are headed to the Grizzlies game. I predict a loss...but a great time. See ya bitches.

Anna Nicole Smith is Dead

That's right folks, the perpetual pill-popping plump skank has passed away. I only say that because I actually watched a few minutes of her show on the E network: the Anna Nicole Show. I have been around people who are stoned out of their minds and I have been around people who are sober and lucid. That chick was anything but lucid.

I hope that she finds the peace in death that she was looking for in life through mounds of pills.

OK, double post

Sorry to double up today, but I was just checking the site tracker and someone actually came to my page by googling "I need to find a dale jr garter for a wedding." That's above and beyond the call of complete white trash. As my buddy would say, that's RCWT. Guess what that stands for.

Whoa Wednesday

Has it really been 4 days since I last posted? Sorry. I haven't put the pics from the weekend on the computer just yet. So I won't recap Mendi's bday yet.

Thanks to Patrick, Holly, and Goose for hosting a great Super Bowl party. Unfortunately, I didn't realize a lot of folks were going to bring their kids to the party. I really wish someone would hold the parent(s) responsible every time a child bangs on a drum for 20 minutes. I was in another room and it got real old. We were sitting with a woman and her husband. She said "hey honey, you know how we've been talking about maybe having a kid? I think I've just been cured of that desire."

Anyhoo, the wings kicked butt as usual. Someone brought ribs too. So by the time the fourth quarter started I was fighting to stay awake (curse the 'itis').

Anyone else think the commercials sucked in general? I did. There were a few exceptions of course. These are the ones I thought were funny:
Sierra Mist Beard/Combover
Blockbuster Online Mouse
Bud Light Slap
Carlos Mencia's Bud Light Immigrant Commercial
Hitchhiker with Bud Light
Bud Light Auctioneer Wedding
Emerald Nuts Robert Goulet (definitely top three if not the best one)
Doritos Crash/Clumsy people
Etrade Bank Robbery
Etrade One Finger (only because the guy flips someone off at the end)

If you want to view these or the others from the game, check out at Break.com on their Superbowl commercials.

Anyhoo, I had a great time Sunday as always. I'm outta here. See some of you at the Ptolemy New Member Party tonight.

Have a great one and don't get none on ya.

Friday Night Recap

Oh wow. Last night the claws were out. I heard more trash talking than I have in a long time. I heard new nicknames that will never be used again or identified:

Clinger

Awkward Lingerer

Inappropriate Side Hugger

Anywho, enough of the negativity. I met Les, Kenny, Mallory, and Lana at El Porton for dinner. Today (Saturday) is the Shady Hasbeen's bday. The wait staff were very appropriate in acknowledging this fact:

After all that hoopla I headed to the Brookhaven to meet up with David, Autumn, Tackleberry, Mikaholic, some random chick, and Colleen. Colleen's "parents" ended up showing up after a while. Here are a few pics:

We had a good time. I can say that I was not hungover this morning...unlike some folks. Tonight I'm headed downtown for Mendi's bday. There's no telling what's going to happen.

Songs on the Ipod:

The Grateful Dead - Box of Rain

GD - Friend of the Devil

GD - Sugar Magnolia

GD - Operator

GD - Candyman

GD - Ripple

GD - Brokedown Palace

It Is On!

We are definitely on for Mini-her's bday tomorrow night. Jobu is heading downtown. I feel a lot of good ol' fashioned debauchery in the future. I need it. I've been cooped up too damn long in G'town. I'm definitely going to have fun. I'll do my best to behave within moderation. I'm not promising anything extrordinary, but I will put up a recap Sunday or Monday. Here's a glimpse from the last bday festivities I had with Miniher (mine in October):

p.s. I'm also going out tonight with the Shady Hasbeen, Kenny, and Mallory ("Hey Valerie"). This is weird. Out of nowhere, I'm going out three nights this weekend.

I'm getting that itch...

It's been too damn long since I went out and partied like a rock star. I think that Mini-her's birthday party continues this Saturday night. I'm not sure what the details are, yet. But I owe her at least two shots of Patron. Hopefully I'll make it out there. No matter what, I'm definitely doing the cab thing Saturday night.

Utter Stupidity "I Have A Draem"

I honestly believe that Dr. Martin Luther King is rolling over in his grave. Why? Well part of the push in the Civil Rights Movement was for equality across all lines of society. That way we would all have an equal chance for education. But if he were able to see this pic, he would weep. Utter stupidity.

And I know this is a legit pic because I heard about it on the radio and other places before the pic was emailed to me. I hope these folks have been sterilized so they can't reproduce. Their stupidity doesn't need to go to another generation. How can you screw up the word dream?

I'm actually surprised these aren't some of the Memphis indigenous population. But they're actually from Corpus Christi, TX. I guess even the screwups are bigger in Texas.

Upcoming Concert Calendar

Here are the upcoming concerts in Memphis and the surrounding area worth noting (in my opinion).

Thursday 2/1/07 Garrison Starr @ The Hi Tone Cafe
Thursday 2/1/07 Bela Fleck & The Flecktones @ The Orpheum Theatre (hippie/folkie jam band)

Friday 2/2/07 John Mayer @ Fedex Forum
Friday 2/2/07 Better Than Ezra @ Horseshoe Casino in Tunica/Robinsonville, MS (always a great show)
Friday 2/2/07 Lucero @ Proud Larry's in Oxford, MS (definitely a great place to catch a show no matter who it is)

Sat 2/3/07 Joan Jett & the Blackhearts @ Horseshoe Casino in Tunica/Robinsonville, MS ("I Hate Myself For Loving You")
Sat 2/3/07 Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band @ The Pyramid (Bob Seger rocks. This is the last show in the Pyramid ever...or so they claim)

Wed 2/7/07 The North Mississippi Allstars @ Proud Larry's in Oxford, MS (this will be a packed house)

Friday 2/9/07 Willie Nelson @ Grand Casino Tunica in Tunica, MS
That bears repeating:
WILLIE NELSON IS COMING TO TOWN!!!

Tue 2/13/07 Yonder Mountain String Band @ The Library in Oxford, MS (this will be a badass show!)
Tue 2/13/07 The Lemonheads @ The Young Ave Deli (early 90s band who had the hit song "Into Your Arms")

Thur 2/15/07 Cowboy Mouth @ Horseshoe Casino & Hotel in Tunica/Robinsonville, MS (always a great show. I probably won't make it because I don't need to go to a Casino when I don't have a job...yet)

Wed 2/21/07 The North Mississippi Allstars @ Proud Larry's in Oxford, MS (it's like deja vue)

Sat 2/24/07 The Wiggles @ FedEx Forum (just kidding. This is an actual show according to Pollstar.com, but I thought I'd put it up here as a joke)

Sat 3/3/07 Kansas @ Sam's Town Casino in Tunica/Robinsonville, MS (I won't make it...sorry. There's a rule: don't walk down streets named after states or go see bands named after cities or states...see Boston and Kansas).

Sun 3/4/07 Gin Blossoms @ Horseshoe Casino in Tunica/Robinsonville, MS (pop/rock band from early 90s)

Thur 3/15/07 The Dave Matthews Tribute Band @ Newby's (take a hippie chick as your date, buy her a few Rockstars, let her dance, and let the magic begin!)
Thur 3/15/07 The North Mississippi Allstars @ Proud Larry's in Oxford, MS (again?)

Fri 3/15/07 Blue Man Group @ Desoto Civic Center in Southaven, MS (this will be a great show...other than the fact that it's at the Desoto Civic Center)


That's all for now. Yeah I know. Two posts in one day. Who'da thunk it?

American Idol

I'm going to just say it. I don't like American Idol. I watched the first episode of the first season. A few weeks after that some friends tried to make me watch it. I made it through five minutes. It was at that moment I lost all plausible interest in American Idol. Since then I've had to hear about how talented all the contestants were and how wonderful the show is. Yada yada yada.

The show sucks. It's full of people who although they can sing, they don't write their own music. It's nothing more than over-blown karaoke. It is more a marketing machine to make money off the idiots who'll spend the $2 per text on thousands of votes based (usually) not on talent but on the demographic of their favorite contestant ("she's from the Midwest, just like me! I'll vote for her!").

Frankly it is the cultural dumbing-down of America. There are talented people in bands traveling across the country and starving trying to get people to hear their music, yet these no-talent ass-clowns get to sing and dance. Yes, I'll admit that the eventual winners and runners-up are talented singers. But I still feel (in my opinion) that they aren't as good as some of the starving artists out there who actually have something to say (and can read, Fantasia or whatever your name is).

Anywho, I just felt like I needed to share that with you.

Nashvegas Rocked!

So I didn't leave until much later than I wanted to yesterday. I got into Nashville (actually Franklin, TN) around 7:45. I called Sambo and we met for drinks at this bar/grille right next to my hotel. It's called Jonathan's Grille. Pretty nice place other than the fact that the ratio wasn't that great. But their two-for-one specials start at 10. That's right two-for-one drinks specials START at 10. Pretty damn cool.

Here are a few of the things that were on discussion:
Key West Cougars
The Hot Tub trick
The Three Second Rule
Are they paramedics or Best Buy employees?
Smuggling Cuban Cigars
Bribing Venezulans with Coca-Cola
Smuggling wheels of gouda cheese from the carribean
Where do waitresses get gaudy watches? Answer: Target

After way too many drinks, I went back to my hotel and crashed. I had to be up and checked out by 8 am for the next part of my interview. When I walked out of the room, my eyes were just a little bloodshot. Anywho, things went very well. I'm about to head to Arkansas to hunt for the last weekend of duck season.

I hope yall have a great weekend. Have a good one and don't get none on ya.

Traveling the Ol' Music Highway / CHEAP GAS

I'm headed to Nashvegas tonight for the next part of a job interview. Unfortunately I won't be able to go out boozing it. But hopefully I can catch some pics of cougars in the Nashville wild.

Speaking of job interviews, I'm noticing more and more men of a certain demographic wearing suits that look like they took the fabric from either the drapes or an old couch. What's up with that? And why they hell do you need 42 buttons on a jacket?

Oh yeah! I have found the cheapest gas in Memphis. That's right, THE CHEAPEST GAS IN MEMPHIS. Go to the station at Getwell and Kimball (north of I-240). It was $1.819 per gallon the other day. The previous night it was $1.959 per gallon at the Flying J in West Memphis. Today I got gas at the Circle K on Germantown Parkway just North of the Super Wal-Mart for $1.919 per gallon. Hope that helps.

On The Road Again

Do you remember those late nights in college where you dropped your plans to help out a friend? I just had a relapse tonight. I went to a job interview dinner tonight. Afterwards I had a voicemail from an old buddy from college. He was headed to the grand oasis in north Mississippi that we call the casinos of Tunica. Well he was pulled over and had his car impounded outside of Memphis. He had tried to reach everyone he could. I was the first person to call him back and was actually able to make it. We got the car out of the impound and got the hell out of dodge as quickly as possible. I'm not going into too many details to protect his identity from his family and friends. Needless to say that we are now even for something that happened a long time ago (which I won't talk about). But the problem is I am now wired from the Red Bull I drank to stay awake. It didn't kick in until I was about 40 miles from Memphis on the way back. So I get to post this and watch a little Tivo until I'm tired.

But it's kind of a weird thing when I think about it: I spent the first part of the night trying to convince this potential employer what a valued employee I will be and yada yada. I spent the second part of my night dropping everything and going to bail a college buddy out of a legal bind. But the way I look at it, someday I'll be in a bind and will need someone to help me. I don't plan on driving with a suspended license or anything, but you never know what kind of trouble you might get into.

Anywho I put over 200 miles on my truck today and I feel pretty damn good. Sorry for the rambling.

Oh yeah, say a prayer for Mr. Davis. I'm not going into details because it's not my place, but just ask God for a little help sent his way.

Have a good one and don't get none on ya.

Weekend Recap

So this weekend, I went to duck camp. Left town after swimming laps at the downtown YMCA. It's actually a nice facility. Better than I thought it would be. Anywho, I rolled into town and unloaded the truck. "Crap Game" had a few of his friends from the Gulf Coast in town to hunt for the weekend. I opened a beer and was walking to the fire place when one of them handed me a raw oyster with cocktail sauce (ketchup & horseradish) on a saltine. Then they had boiled shrimp. That started the roller coaster of amazing courses of food. After that we had, oysters rockefeller followed by fresh jambalaya.

A few of the guys that were in town were from Iowa and Wisconsin. They had never had jambalaya before. They loved it. Actually they had never had Cajun andouille sausage either. They were blown away by it. We stayed up a little while and then crashed a little after 10. We got up and headed to the duck blind. We got 4 ducks total (two of which were mine from walking along the levee). We headed back to the duck house and had lunch. I took a nap and then woke up a few hours later.

Dinner Saturday night was pork chops and bratwurst with an oyster stew that one of the Gulf Coast guys made. I grilled them all and did a great job. We watched Open Range and Jeremiah Johnson on TV.

After that I went back to bed after 10. This morning I woke up at 5:30 and decided not to go hunting after the poor performance from the previous day (it had rained over an inch and the roads were already flooded). After I finally got out of bed we loaded up and headed back to Memphis.

That was my weekend. It was simple, but I ate well and had a great time. And it was very relaxing. That's all you really need to ask for sometimes.

This week I have several interviews and will head into Arkansas Friday for the last weekend of duck season. After duck season is over and I will be back on the town.

How was your weekend? I hope you had a good one.

'Sup?

Wow that is a really crappy title. Whatever. It's cold and my brain isn't working that well.

So what have I been up to since my last post? Well we were going to head into the wild frontier...of Northwest Arkansas to go duck hunting Friday night to hunt Saturday morning and the next two days. We ended up leaving Saturday instead of Friday night. We never went to the blind. We stayed at the Duck House the whole time. Why? Well when there is a ridiculous front coming through and it's raining all the time with flash floods there are a few good reasons not to head out:
1. The ducks don't like to fly in the rain
2. Flash floods in the Arkansas Delta equal bad news for both vehicles and those inside
So we had a few great meals and watched a bunch of great football games. We drove home Monday and I then accomplished nothing.

Today I was going to head back to hunt with Dad. But one of the guys we hunt with was trying to drive his F150 to hunt this morning. The fields and dirt roads have flooded so much that the brush on the side of the road is under water in certain points. At one of those points he accidentally drove into the ditch because he could no longer see where the road ended and the ditch began. He's fine, but his truck is totalled. He'll probably have to sell it (once you get flood water inside the car you better sell it, because you can never get the smell out). So Dad made a wise decision to call off the hunting...even though tomorrow will be a perfect day:
Clear skies
Low of 22
High of 36
New ducks in the area because of the freeze up North

I just hope the floods have begun to recede by this weekend so we can hunt. There are only two weekends left in the season. Then it's back to partying in Memphis every weekend. Actually, it's back to trying to find a job. I've got a few great prospects (that don't deal with crackhouses...see last post), I'd just like to finish this so I can really start to work full time again.

Anywho that's all I've got. I did swim again today, but only a half mile. I did almost 4 miles total last week (just 5 laps shy, didn't realize it until this week). I feel great and I'm almost down to 190 lbs. I just have to keep plugging away. I may actually get down to 175 lbs. I'm not going to try to, but if I do, I'll be happy...and I'll have to start buying a bunch of new clothes.

Ok this is getting boring. I'm going to stop typing and go to bed. Yall have a great day.

Songs on the Playlist:
Huey Lewis and the News - Heart & Soul
Mr. Mister - Broken Wings
Pink Floyd - On The Run (DSOTM album)
The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter
The Rolling Stones - You've Got the Silver
Al Green - Tired of Being Alone