July 4th Weekend

• Tuesday - Canada Day
• Thursday - Firecracker 5K , 7:00pm - Racquet Club Memphis. Click here for more details.
  
• Friday - USA Day
• Friday - Star Spangled Banner Celebration 2008, 3:00-9:00pm, Fireworks immediately after - Tom Lee Park. Click here for more details.
• Saturday - Farmer's Market, 7:00am-1:00pm - Central Station Pavilion
• Saturday - Cookout on S Main - TBA
  

Weekend Schedule for the Rest of Us

OK, it's gonna be another fun summer weekend. Here are the SOMA Dozen events / parties laid out for the weekend for those who are staying downtown or close to downtown:

• Thursday - NBA Draft Party, 6:00pm - FedExForum
• Friday - Rooftop Happy Hour at the Lofts, 5:30-7:00pm - The Lofts
• Friday - State Place Fountain Party, 5:30-7:00pm - State Place Fountain Courtyard
• Friday - Wall-E Movie opens
  
• Friday - June Main Street Trolley Tour, 6:00-9:00pm - Main Street
• Saturday - Happy Birthday G !
  
• Saturday - Farmer's Market, 7:00am-1:00pm - Central Station Pavilion
• Saturday - Brunch at Renee's, 11:00pm - Renee's Sandwich Shop
  
• Saturday - Tiki in the Burbs, 7:00pm-til - Mississippi Burbs
• Sunday - Memphis Redbirds Game, 1:35pm - Autozone Park
• Sunday - Dimsum Dinner, 7:00pm - Lobster King Seafood Restuarant
  

NBA Draft Party at FedExForum Thursday

Top picks are #1 Derrick Rose (Memphis Tigers) for the Chicago Bulls and #2 Michael Beasley (Kansas State Wildcats) for Miami Heat.
More about the event at:
http://www.fedexforum.com/displayEvent.aspx?id=483

Beer Brats won 2nd Place

According to Hoops and Tony's blog, the Beer Brats won 2nd place.

http://www.thehoopandtonyshow.com/blog/?p=33

Story of The Beer Brats

G couldn't form a team for a week. He was calling and texting everybody but no replies. In the final desperate hours there were only 4, but he needed 1 more member to make up for the 5 required. Finally at 11th hour, the team was formed as The Beer Brats.

These seemingly benchwarmers simply walked-in into the fighting ring of 20 teams of barhandlers, booze heavyweights, college frat boys and other close encounters of the the pub drinking kind. Brawns, bellies, tattoos, piercings were hardly enough to rattle them. At the end of the day, with hardly any practice, preparation or ceremony, they snagged 3rd place in the EP's (Hoops) 2008 Pub Olympics last Sunday on Beale Street. Nobody knew who they were or where they came from. Talk about the underdog. Let 'em drink more beer !!

SOMA Trolley Tour Happy Hour: Lofts Roof Friday, June 27th

Don't forget: This Friday, June 27th: Happy Hour from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM on the Lofts Roof :~)

Bring friends and drinks!

Details below:

June Trolley Tour is just around the corner. Once again, it's time for HAPPY HOUR!

To celebrate this month, head down early & get your drink on.

Happy Hour will be Friday, June 27th from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM on the roof of The Lofts. At 7:00 PM, we'll walk to the South Main Trolley Tour.

To make this happy hour a little bigger than before, please bring your favorite wine or beer along with a friend. :~)

Park on the street outside of The Lofts (Tennessee Street & G.E. Patterson) and dial 422 on the box to open the door. When inside the elevator, push the button for "RG" (Roof Garden). When you reach RG (5th floor), walk straight off of the elevators, through multiple sets of doors until you reach the roof deck.

Friends are welcome.

See you there!

State Place Fountain Party Friday

Terry Lynch and company of the Southland Companies are planning to host a "Fountain Party" the last Friday of every month at State Place.   Terry's group own most of the condos and a few townhomes at State Place.  They have started a lot of improvements in the area.   For one thing, they have started building the swimming pool and expected to be completed by July.   Their vision is have South End to be a walkable place with a mix of  retail, residential and parks.  

This month's party is this coming Friday June 27th from 5:30 until 7:00pm at the Entry to State Place Courtyard.  Refreshments will be provided and friends and neighbors are welcome.    See you there !!

Crawfish Sunday Part 2

The bar formerly called Calhoun's is having another Crawfish Sunday this Sunday 6/22.
They should start serving around 4pm. Weather permitting, early birds get the patio seats if you're lucky sudden gusts of hot air from the chimney :) Spread the word !!

Firefox 3

Firefox 3 has just been released. The 2nd most popular web browser claims it is now the fastest. Improvements have been made in memory management and the GUI.

Other cool features:

• Javascript pages load faster
• Add Bookmarks in the Navigation Toolbar
• Text / Image Zoom Option
• Download Manager search
• Add-Ons Browser
• More Secure with Favicon Instant Security Info and Password Manager
• Much more!
  

For more info and to get the latest version at:
http://www.firefox.com

my first blog

and little E wasn't even here with his camera

Gibson 5K Today

The 12th annual Gibson 5K Run / Walk race is today.    The event will benefit Saint Patrick Learning Center.   The race begins at 7:00pm at the Elvis Statue on Beale Street and ends at the Gibson Guitar Factory at 141 Lt  George W Lee.    Awards will go to the top male and female , masters, wheelchair winners.  Also awards will be given to top 3 of age groups.    The best part of this event is the post-race party on the 22,000 square foot rooftop of the Gibson Guitar Factory.   Live entertainment will be provided by The Soul Shockers.

Barenaked Ladies at Apple Party

BrianC reported last night from Apple WWDC that their host hired Barenaked Ladies to perform at the after party.   Sorry dudes, not the real thing.  It was the band :)

2008 Father's Day Glass

Whoo hoo!  Managed to score a 2008 Father's Day Glass at the Flying Saucer this evening. 

A Star Wars themed beer glass with Darth Vader print and tagline "Grab a pint with your old man."  The glasses sold out within an hour.  

Harbortown 5K Update

Harbortown 5k last Friday was a blast ... at least there was definitely a blast of hot air from the weather. Dozen members ran and walked in the sweltering sun eager to reach the finish line for their favorite beverages :)

The course ran thru River Island Drive and looped inside the Harbortown streets. Neighbors turned on their sprinklers to the runners relief and there were occasionally fun treats along the trail like Jell-O shots!

Day ended at the Blue Monkey and we didn't even care to shower. Stinky monkeys are always welcome there anyways :)

iPhone 2 Update

Thanks to our mild-mannered ;) Dozen reporter in the Apple WWDC Conference in SFO, BrianC, for these updates.  Here are the details of the new iPhone 2nd Generation.

• 2 Models: an 8Gb ($199) and 16Gb ($299).  You should be able to pop-in your current SIM card and it should work.  Not sure about a new 2-year contract with AT&T though.
  
• 3G  (means faster wireless data transfers)
  
• Built-in GPS 
  
• iPhone 2.0 Software (supports Microsoft Exchange Activesync, works for 1st Gen iPhone as well) 
  
• $9.99 Games available with Wii-like controls
  
• Available July 11th in 70 countries
  
• New mobile sync services MobileMe (a revamped .Mac.  If you currently subscribed, they will automatically upgrade your account for free)
  

iPhone 2 at Apple WWDC

We are just receiving live WWDC reports from San Francisco by our very own Dozen correspondent member, BrianC. There are a lot of new apps and tools for the iPhone. More details soon.

You can also follow the proceedings from these live blogs:
http://live.gizmodo.com/
http://www.macrumorslive.com/

http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/09/steve-jobs-keynote-live-from-wwdc-2008/

Harbortown 5k Today

The Harbortown 5K run / walk is today at Harbortown , Island Drive at 7:00pm.   For walkers, the walk starts at 7:15pm.  Most Dozen members are ready to participate.   You can still register walk-in at the race but it's $25.  

There will be awards to the top male and female 1,2,3 overall, masters and grandmasters and age groups.   Live entertainment will be provided by Walrus!   Fruit, clear mountain water, coke and draft beer and other refreshments will be served after the run. 

Movie Fever 2

More on the Summer Movie fever !!  

(Source: Commercial Appeal)

June 6

• Kung-Fu Panda (Animated)
  
• Don't Mess with the Zohan (Adam Sandler)

June 13

• The Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton)
  
• The Happening (Dir: M Night Shyamalan)
  

June 20 

• Get Smart 
• Love Guru (Mike Myers)

June 22 

• Wall-E (Pixar)
  
• Hancock (Will Smith)
  
• Wanted (Angelina Jolie)

July 11 

• Hellboy II : The Golden Army

July 18 

• The Dark Knight (Batman series)
  
• Mama Mia! (Musical starring Meryl Streep)

July 25 

• X-Files: I Want to Believe

August 1

• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (The Mummy series)

August 15 

• Star Wars: The Clone Wars
  
• Tropic Thunder
  

Movie Fever

Some Dozen folks are going to see the movie "My Blueberry Nights" at 7:30pm tonight. Be ready to assemble at 6:00pm and have a bite somewhere before. If you are interested, call the G for details.

Also some Dozen folks are planning to see Indiana Jones 4 on Digital Projection at the Paradiso later this week.

Cooper Young Night Out

Not sure if anyone is interested in heading over to Midtown this Thursday, but thought I would throw out that it's the Cooper Young Night Out. For info on CYNO check out http://www.cooperyoungnightout.com if there's anyone interested in going let me know and we can car pool :-)

Cyberwatch Alerts Please Sign-Up

Everyone should be very concerned about their safety and well-being. Downtown is said to be the safest precinct in Memphis, but that said, crime still happens anywhere anytime.

Recent Cyberwatch reports show an aggravated assault near Georgia and Front Streets Monday, normally the short cut route for some of us when we walk to go to South Main.

If you haven't signed-up, Memphis Police Department has a Cyberwatch Alert system where citizens can monitor and report crimes in their neighborhood. Click on the link below to get more info and sign-up now !!

Memphis Police Department Cyberwatch Alert System

Crawfish Sunday

Calhoun's caught up on a new suggestion, a "themed" Sunday to serve or host a unique food or event at least every Sunday.

Last Sunday was Crawfish Sunday and it was a success. Some Dozen members were in attendance and had 2-3 lbs servings of the crawfish. It was really good and cheap. You may be treated with random extras of boiled corn, sausages, green hot chili peppers in your dish. Or sudden gusts of wind if you are seated on the patio. Max was agreeable in making this an every Sunday thing. Any suggestions ?? Can't wait until Cauliflower Sunday !! :)