Fourth of July Fireworks Downtown

The Fourth falls on a Friday this year which is so very nice. The Red, White and Blues Celebration in Tom Lee park starts at 3pm on Friday. There will be a variety of music and activities for kids culminating with a fireworks show over the river sometime after sunset. I am lucky enough to have a roof deck with the best view of the river.

According to the Fire Marshall's office the sale of fireworks is illegal in Memphis, therefore you can't buy them here. Additionally, individuals can't set them off in Memphis as it's also illegal. Of course, just across the river in West Memphis there are plenty of places to buy fireworks. My grandfather used to buy us sacks of fireworks somwhere in Arkansas every year and we, along with all the other neighborhood kids, would set them off in our street. But please obey the Fire Marshall this year no matter how much you want to run around with a sparkler.

Sunday: Go Fly a Kite

In Tom Lee Park today...

Friday Night

I don't have much to write today so I'm posting some random pictures from last night.

Which rooftop, I do not know. This sign was leaning against one of the street trees on Main near Blue Fin.

The blue light carriage. Perplexing.

A bride and her crew of bridesmaids out and about for their bachlorette party; the bride was already in the limo.

Refreshments.

Keeping the Street Planters Pretty

The look of a tired Poppy. At 12:45 a.m. this morning we were awakened by the harsh sound of the water truck - the one that drives around downtown watering all of the plants in the street planters. That's nice and I'm all for keeping the plants alive and looking healthy but could there be an earlier time slot for this activity? Maybe not, but for a good 30 minutes we could hear this while the plants along Monroe were watered... (to get the full effect you just need to turn your volume up to 5 or 6)



It's ok I suppose but just thought I'd share a little bit of a summer night in the life of a downtowner. I have posted a lot of pictures of the flowers around downtown which have been looking very good this year so there is an up side to this middle of the night regimen. Good thing ear plugs are pretty cheap. Now, if I could just find some for Poppy.

The North End of Downtown

There are a couple of new businesses in the Pinch District. With Cafe Francisco's departure a while back I have to admit I have not been to the area recently - or just haven't been paying attention. So things in the Pinch are getting interesting again. There is a neat new gift shop and gallery called Red Fish Gallery on Main Street just north of Jackson. The owner and her dog Jack (cutie) were very helpful. They just opened last Friday and the shop is full of interesting glass, art, jewelry, clothes and other items.

Right around the corner is a new salon at 113 Jackson (between Second and Main) called Le Tre Salon. The nice owner there gave me a tour of the newly renovated space and it looks fantastic; open, airy and very nice. It's great to see some new life in the Pinch.

Downtown Lunch Time

Lunch time downtown today was a sensory overload. The Summers! performed in Court Square as part of the CCC's Downtown Alive series. They are so, so very, very cute, cute, cute. They played a lot of covers: Pretty Woman, Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire, I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night. I suppose 13 - 15 year old musicians don't have a large body of work just yet which explains so many covers. They sounded better live than they do on the video.


These two looked like they were doing an awful lot of wobbling to me. I expected to see one or both of them fall but, alas they peddled all the way down Union unscathed.




Spidermen dangling from the Madison Hotel while the sounds of The Summers! echo off the buildings. I love downtown!

The Tree of Success at the Edge's Border

Prominently displayed at the corner of Danny Thomas and Monroe is "The Tree of Success". I was unable to find out more than that for the moment but I will try to discover who the artist is. Anyway, I thought this was an interesting installation and I see it on my 1.5 mile commute from downtown to the medical center and through The Edge (fast becoming downtown's eastern suburb) everyday. There are quite a few interesting condo projects going up in the Edge as well as some new businesses and some have been there for ages like A.S. Martin & Sons and Wonder Bread.

Grills

It's officially summer! So grills on rooftops, in sideyards and alleys are being lit all over downtown. If you're in need of grilling accessories don't forget about Lit on Union which has everthing you could possibly need. Also, how about mixing a refreshing Bloody Mary to sip on while your working up a sweat over those hot grills. Memphis Mary bloody mary mix has a really spicy, smoky flavor. You can get it all over downtown, some of the places that carry it are Gestures, The Arcade, The Peabody, Miss Cordelia's and the Tobacco Bowl.

The Green Beetle's grill, which I believe gets used all the time, on a side street off S. Main. It doesn't get more authentic than this.

Humble, but very cute Weber grill in an alley.

Sunny Saturday = Car Wash

While getting my car washed and waxed today at the Mr. Pride Car Wash in Midtown I started to think about what car wash options there are downtown.

There is this one at Vance and Third. They used to advertise "Thursday Night is Ladies Night".

1. Not sure what that means

2. Not sure if they still have it

3. Not sure about this place

This one is at Linden and East Street - more medical district than downtown but much closer than Midtown. And just around the corner on Pauline between Linden and Union there is a self-service wash with several bays. That one is very near to the "Three Habits" and "Fourth Habit" shops (but that's a topic for another post some day).

There was also one at Riverside and Jefferson but they were closed today so I'm not sure if they are out of business. Also, there is a mobile car wash guy in the garage behind Roma Pizza at Court and Third I've seen a few times. Of course there is the automated car wash at the Exxon at Pauline and Union but it's not the same as a real car wash, now is it? So no excuses for downtowners - we should all have super clean rides for the weekend.

But I still like the Mr. Pride on Union in Midtown.

Raining in the River City

It's raining tonight for the first time in a while. I was watching the steady shower over the river and in the street from the window. There was a Redbirds baseball game tonight which was delayed. Just as well to be at home; a perfect night to watch a movie.

Back in May I was bemoaning the fact that the rainboots I had ordered in March had still not been shipped to me in time for Memphis in May. Of course it rained the first night of music fest and I had to go buy a pair of plain blue ones. The ones I ordered finally came UPS a month ago and I got to break them in on my walk with Poppy tonight. They make walking around in the rain in the vacant lot and through the alley fun!

Go Away

Here's an attention getting do not disturb sign from folk artist Dr. Bob who became a downtown Memphian for a little while after Katrina. It's propped up in a window facing an alley off Main Street. I suppose he went back to NOLA but I couldn't say for sure.

Waiting Patiently...

For Bardogs Tavern to open...

There have been guys working all day and most of the night on this place for weeks so I know they must be in the home-stretch. It's right next to the Little Tea Shop on Monroe between Front and Main. It looks like this has the potential to be a true neighborhood pub. I'll keep you posted.

Something to Prove

This marker is posted in November 6th alley between Court Square and Madison. When was the last time you did something just to prove it could be done? Have you jumped off a bridge? Have you ever run a saloon? When was the last time you were in a dance-a-thon? Exactly, we have a lot of work to do. Doc Hottum must have been quite the character.

This alley's name commemorates November 6, 1936, when voters elected for Memphis to build or buy an electrical distribution system that would use cheaper electricity from TVA. That's a really boring story behind a really interesting name. Too bad, maybe that's why the CCC put the Doc Hottum marker there to put some fun back in November 6th.

Father's Day

It was a beautiful day for Father's Day, and especially so from a downtown rooftop.



I made lunch for my Dad which was gazpacho and a salad; very cooling on a summer day - hard to believe it is still not officially summer. I'm here to tell you though, it is officially hot.

Gazpacho in the making - 1 cup cucumber, 2 cups tomatoes, 1/4 cup parsley, 1/2 cup bell pepper, 1/2 cup red onion, 2 tbsp. worcestershire sauce, 1 mashed up hard boiled egg, 2 cloves of garlic, kosher salt, pepper, tabasco, 1 46 oz can of tomato juice, 2 cups beef broth, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1 tsp oregano ; chop all, mix all and chill.



Gazpacho - Olé!



Main course: pork tenderloin salad with Dijon, lime & curry dressing. Baby spinach, avocado, oranges, red bell pepper, napa cabbage, sliced pork tenderloin (marinated in brown sugar and garlic/bake or grill).


Vanilla ice cream with mint berry sauce. This sauce is worth knowing how to make.
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup honey
A few leaves of mint, roughly chopped
whatever fruit or berries you like
In a sauce pan warm up the vinegar, honey and fruit together for a few minutes on medium heat adding the mint at the end. Let sit a few minutes until it cools off a little and spoon it over the ice cream.


My grandfather, Salvatore LoBianco. A special memory of him on Father's Day. 1907 - 2002

Gibson 5K

The Gibson 5K was last night and I don't think it's a stretch to say that it's the most exciting 5K in Memphis. You could be a runner, walker or just hang around and you would have fun in any case. The video posted below proves my point. Where else could you start a run and have some guy screaming "free beer, free beer, free beer with the purchase of a $4 cup!" You get to run down Beale Street while puzzled tourists look on, you get to run past the river and at the end you get a great party on the rooftop at Gibson Guitar. Incidentally, the run went down G.E. Patterson and by Calhoun's Sports Bar where they had a table set up and were actually handing out free beer to runners - though I only saw one guy grab one. The proceeds from this run went to help St. Patrick Learning Center.



Memphis Fire Department raising the flag.









After the race on the roof....

Friday the Thirteenth: Unlucky For Some

Today is Friday the 13th, a very unlucky day it is said.

What about 13 is considered by some to be so unlucky? Numerologists consider 12 a "complete" number. There are 12 months in a year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 labors of Hercules, 12 tribes of Israel, and 12 apostles of Jesus.
In exceeding 12 by 1, some say 13's association with bad luck has to do with being just out of reach of completeness. Vestiges of the fear of 13 is prevalent in today's world. According to some statistics, more than 80 percent of high-rises do not have a 13th floor. My building, for example does not call the 13th floor 13 but it is labeled in the elevator as "R" and referred to as "RG", meaning roof garden, eventhough it is an actual occupied floor and not the roof. Many airports skip the 13th gate. Hospitals and hotels frequently have no room number 13.

Explaining how Friday got to be considered unlucky gets to be a little more hazy proposition, one in which the Christian tradition factors into. Jesus was crucified on a Friday. From different things I've read I discovered that Adam and Eve also supposedly ate the forbidden fruit on a Friday, the Great Flood started on a Friday and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed on a Friday. These claims seem far fetched but there you have it. Therefore, to some the following is true:

Friday + 13 = Super Unlucky ; perhaps the perfect storm of potential bad luck.
These are just but a few of the associations with Friday and the number 13 as being bad luck.

But what about any belief that 13 and Friday are good luck? There is plenty of information to support that belief as well, most notably in the Celtic Druid and ancient Egyptian traditions. 13 was a lucky number to the Druids as it had to do with the lunar calendar they followed. Oddly, I have a necklace and a bracelet each of which have 13 moons.

I read quite a lot about this last night and I can tell you this, that for all the reasons given for 13 and Friday being lucky or unlucky, all of it seemed completely twisted from whatever original basis in fact there once was a trillion years ago and far away and none of it made much sense. Anyway, I feel lucky. If you're running in the Gibson 5K downtown tonight, good luck to you!

Lunch Time Downtown

I love Earnestine & Hazel's. I have never been there in the daylight however. I would be curious to know who has and if they've had a Soul Burger at lunch time.

This is absolutely true as this gas station has the only beer on Riverside at the moment.

What? Disco-Grocery? Some enterprising person has combined two ideas that conventional wisdom has hitherto considered to be incompatible - at least as far as a winning business venture. I hope you prove conventional wisdom wrong Disco Grocery!