41 Feet and Rising

The river bulletin board on the bluff overlooking Tom Lee Park reads 41R today. That's 41 feet and rising and it's going to get higher. I took the next two photos of the river gauge this morning standing on Riverside Drive.

Last July I did a post about the river gauge down on the cobblestones and the bulletin board on the bluff. I took the picture below at that time standing on the cobblestones looking up at the gauge which measures up to 45 feet.

If I were standing in this same spot today the water would be up to my chin.

The photo below from that same day last July shows the view looking down the gauge from the wall to the river - a measurement of 37 feet. All of this is now underwater as you can see from the photos above that show the water level at 41 on the gauge.

The river gauge actually continues from the 45 foot mark up to 54 foot mark and it's posted on the train bridge at the foot of Beale Street and Riverside Drive...

The RDC website lays out some interesting river flooding information. It looks like the introduction was written a few days ago but the rest of the information is about highest recorded river levels, what to expect if the river reaches 45 feet and 48 feet and preparedness.

Seeing is Believing

And I was lucky enough to see for myself The Historic FINAL game of Series 1 of the playoffs. Alas, the Spurs found their No. 1 seed status rather spurious in the Grindhouse. It's on to Oklahoma for Series Two. Go Grizzlies!

A shot down Historic Beale Street before the Historic game. Afterwards, it was a complete crush of people as Grizzlies fans meshed with Music Festivalites.

Downtown Streets Tonight; Five Favorites for Friday

First of all I'd like to say GO G R I Z Z L I E S!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to my far-sighted friend Mary I have a coveted nosebleed seat in the Grindhouse and it is from this lofty perch that I shall behold the glory of an NBA playoff game tonight.

Secondly, if you are headed downtown tonight, as an estimated 110,000 of you are, you'd be well advised to check out THIS ARTICLE from the CA about street closures. Also, FYI, as of this morning one west bound lane of Union is blocked by MLGW trucks in a couple of spots; one from Sun Studio to about where Quetzal is and the other from just west of Danny Thomas to Fourth. I don't know if they will wrap this work up later today or if it will be on-going.

In light of the all the downtown events this weekend this week's Five Favorites are :

Five Favorite Sources For Downtown Information :

Center City Commission

Download a city map, downtown map and parking map from the MCVB

Memphis in May

FedEx Forum maps, directions, trolley and parking information

Beale Street Cam

Memphis in May

Let the Salute to Belgium begin! The photo below was taken from my rooftop this evening as I watched Memphis in May setting up for this weekend's Music Festival. I have opened my window and can hear the sound checks as well on this beautiful sunny day, a welcome change from the past few days of horrible rainy weather. Speaking of future bad weather, check out the MIM statement about flooding. Also, in honor of MIM's honored country, remember to check out the blog Sarah Has Moxie for news about life in Brussels, Belgium from our friend Sarah.

To Be Continued in the Grindhouse...

I'm re-grouping after last night's game. Re-calibrating, as it were. Posting a previously posted photo that applies to our current set of circumstances...

Game 6, Friday night at FedEx "Grindhouse" Forum. See you there, Believers, see you there.

And by the way, downtown will be on and poppin' Friday as Music Fest kicks off, the Redbirds are playing and Arcade Fire will be performing at the Orpheum.

Need parking help? click here

Grab your growl towels, your Believe signs, your Grizz caps and tees, your Jager, your Grizztinis, your special order Grizzlies cupcakes, your mood rings, your magic eight-balls, your Tater Red's "Do As I Say" candles, your evil eye charms and any other necessary Grizzlies gear and equipment essential for Believers and get your B-Ball mojo workin' Memphis!

Go Grizzlies! Game 5 Tonight in San Antonio

I'll be on tenterhooks, as all Memphis fans will be, as I watch the game tonight with friends. Here are some sporting quotes to mull over in the run up to the game:

Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. -John Wooden

There are only two options regarding commitment; you're either in or you're out. There's no such thing as life in-between. -Pat Riley

Some people say I have attitude - maybe I do...but I think you have to. You have to believe in yourself when no one else does - that makes you a winner right there. - Venus Williams

The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. -Vince Lombardi

Everybody pulls for David, nobody roots for Goliath. - Wilt Chamberlain

I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures. -Earl Warren

If you aren't going all the way, why go at all? -Joe Namath

I wanted to have a career in sports when I was young, but I had to give it up. I'm only six feet tall, so I couldn't play basketball. I'm only 190 pounds, so I couldn't play football. And I have 20-20 vision, so I couldn't be a referee. -Jay Leno

I gave my players a version of the same message at ten-to-three every Saturday: 'I would shoot my granny right now for three points this afternoon.' They knew how important it was to give everything in the cause of victory. Every time. That's why my granny enjoyed more lives than my cat. - Brian Clough

Game 4: V I C T O R I O U S!

It's on to San Antonio for game 5 which could be the final of the series if the Grizzlies win. If not, they come back to Memphis Friday night for game 6. http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/apr/26/geoff-calkins-grizzlies-grit-comes-surface-game-4/?partner=popular

The CA also reports on the crush of people expected to descend on downtown this week due to the convergence of multiple events. Oh, and there's going to be some rain...

GO GRIZZ!! Game 4 at FedEx Forum in Beautiful Downtown Memphis in the Shadow of Historic Beale Street

GO GRIZZ in lights on the First Tennesee bank building

For those far away and detached from the happenings here, the Memphis Grizzlies won game 3 of the NBA playoffs last night in Memphis against the San Antonio Spurs. An historic win for us. An overjoyed throng of fans (18 some odd thousand) flowed out of the Forum last night into the streets downtown. Car horns honking, people still cheering and laughing, a group of girls rode by on one of the horse drawn carriages chanting "Grizzlies, Grizzlies, Grizzlies..." How can I say what the impact has been on Memphians? It's huge. Just huge. Best out of seven, we've won 2 of 3. We believe! Today's CA article

Go Grizzlies, Game 3 in Memphis!

Five Favorites for Friday; Easter on Mud Island

Random photo from the Edge neighborhood

For your browsing pleasure, I present five Southern favorites:

Southern Hospitality

I'm a NOLA Girl

Pensieve

Chow Down Atlanta

Nashville Fashion Blog

For those of you not familiar with Memphis, it must sound a little weird to think of celebrating Easter at a place called Mud Island .... Also read about Mudpie .

Third Thursday

Be sure to check out The Facebook on The Interwebs for this week's Third Thursday at Main and Peabody block party details:

Good Deed on Good Friday

Click the image below to see the details of the Mid-South Spay and Neuter services fundraiser tomorrow, April 22 at 514 S. Main, 5:30 pm - 9:30pm...

Go Grizzlies!

As the Grizzlies play game 2 against the Spurs tonight in the playoffs I will try to maintain my composure as I watch. I'm a believer afterall.

Self-Contained Mobile Food Preparation Vehicles

Looks like the mobile food trucks in Court Square were very popular lunch destinations today. I would have been a customer myself but made the mistake of trying to kill two birds with one stone by taking the Popster on her walk. She was not happy about all the people around so I couldn't even get close to a truck to see what was being served out of these snazzy lunch wagons. It looked like there were eight or so vendors including Fuel, Crepe Maker, and YoLo. I didn't get there until 1pm and there were a lot of people still lined up to get their fix of street food fare. Tables and chairs were out around the Court Square fountain making this a really nice set up. I did manage to snap a few photos with my phone...

Easter Brunch

Some ideas for Easter brunch downtown:

The Peabody (over the top - must read the MENU)

Paulette's - Menu

Grill 83 - Menu

Majestic Grille

SOB

Local

Playoffs 101!

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2011/apr/17/grizzlies-win-first-playoff-game-101-98-over-san-a/

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6376492

Sandwishes, Cigerate and Lottory

The spell-check must have been broken.

14,000 Pounds of Crawfish and Other Fun Things

Today the 19th annual Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival is happening downtown from noon until 6pm. Tons of crawfish + a gumbo cooking contest + music + sunny 75 degree weather = perfect festival going situation! Click here for all of the details.

As a matter of fact this weekend is the watershed to a season of outdoor festivals and fun downtown. Yesterday the Hotwing Festival was down on South Main, the DUB Show, which I attended (long story fit for a blog but some things shall remain a mystery), was at the Cook Convention Center, the Memphis Farmers Market opened its season, the Africa in April festival has been going on this weekend in Church Park and God knows what else - isn't that enough? No, it isn't. Add to the mix of all the excitement that the Memphis Grizzlies take on the Spurs today in San Antonio in round 1 game 1 of the NBA playoffs! Go Grizzlies!

DUB show photos:

Curious Squirrel

I discovered a little squirrel living in its tree house in the tree pictured above a couple of days ago. He likes to look out at us when we walk past on the bridge. Behold, a cute little video of this curious squirrel:

Poppy thinks it's ridiculous that my way to communicate with him is whistling. What else should I do? Does he speak English? Should I make that grinding noise they make when they eat nuts? Or maybe they blink Morse code?

Five Favorites for Friday; Memphis Farmers Market and a Tuesday Market

This Friday's favorites are:

Sarah Has Moxie

Herbivoracious

The Sartorialist

What is a Duckworth?

The Wu Food Project

Tomorrow is opening day for the downtown Memphis Farmers Market. The expansion project looked just about finished when I drove by yesterday so there will be more covered shopping area. The photo below was taken a couple of weeks ago - the roof has been added since then.

Also, the Church Health Center will have a Farmers Market every Tuesday from 10 am -2pm starting April 26, 1115 Union.

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Flocks

As I enjoyed the sunset on the roof yesterday, I observed a few martins flying in, out and around the many martin houses installed on downtown rooftops (click on photos to enlarge):

I also observed a couple of other "flocks"... the Redbirds and a Peabody rooftop flock