A Mild Uproar of Fun

…to WEVL for reaching its goal (and then some) during the Spring Pledge Drive!

Help support our favorite radio station by making a donation during WEVL’s Spring Pledge Drive. The drive starts today and continues through April 21st. The pledge line is 901-528-1990 or you can pledge online.

Have any of you (particularly our Memphis friends) seen this new website, Memphis Crime Stories? It’s connected with the Commerical Appeal and allows you to check crime reports through a series of categories: Crime Type, Street, Date, Police District, and ZIP code. Here’s a report on my old street Clark.

What better way to drown one’s sorrows over the Tigers lost on Saturday than with some Chicago deep dish. Apryl and I took our Memphis friends Brooke and Jeff (who were in town looking at law schools) to the downtown location of Lou Malnati’s. Good, good stuff. Although, Apryl still prefers Giordano’s.

Also, we have had nice weather to help with the disappointing end of the Tigers’ season. In fact, we have had two days straight of records highs of 77 degrees! Now, before all our Memphis friends brag about 90 degree weather, I am quite pleased with our current weather. We have had our windows up all day, and there is a pleasant breeze circulating around the apartment.

Tigers, we love you! Can’t wait to see you in the Final Four next year!

Pinch me! I must be dreaming! Did we really just win that game??? Not sure what happened there at the end with the time clock, but what I do know is that we’re in the Elite Eight! I got to catch my breath!

Hey, Matt Sweetney of the Chicago Bulls never doubted it.

Just thought I would tell everyone that we made it back safe from our Spring Break in Greer’s Ferry (Arkansas) and Memphis. It was great getting to see everyone. Click here for some photos from our trip (more to be added later).

Tonight, I joined fellow University of Memphis alumni for a True Blue Watch Party. I have been meaning to go to one of these gatherings, but something always seems to come up. Well, I picked a good game for my first outing with the group. The Tigers beat Gonzaga by one point in overtime. While I was one of the youngest there, it was still really nice talking to Tiger fans. I thought it was funny that the majority of them were from Chicago and had only gone to school at the U of M (or Memphis State for most). I sat next to a gentleman named Ed Young who was an assistant coach for the 1972-73 Tigers season—the season the Tigers went to the Big Dance! He was very nice and told me about a lot of things to check out in Chicago. Click here to read about the miracle season and see a picture of Young in the team photo.

The sports lounge where me met was also near Jim’s Original Hot Dog, which is a restaurant I always notice when driving Apryl to school because it’s visible from the interstate. The place has been around for 68 years and his highly endorsed by Yelp. Next time I’m in the neighborhood, I’m picking up a dog!

I was really excited to discover a package from back home favorite WEVL, complete with the 30th Anniversary T-Shirt and the newly designed bumper sticker. Become a member today!

My buddy Chris’ band Arma Secreta came through town this week with a gig at the Empty Bottle. We put them up for the night, and Apryl even served them homemade brownies and milk. The guys played a great set, and I even was able to videotape it for them. My favorite moment of their stay was when they asked us if we had wireless internet. And when we informed them that “Yes, we do,” everyone pulled out their own personal laptops. It was too funny; I had to snap a photo:

Note that the Christmas tree is still up (it even includes my new Grizzlies ornament— thanks David!). On Saturday, we cut the lovely thing up into little pieces and took them to a setup recycling center near Humboldt Park. Chicago parks all over the city were providing recycling services for Christmas trees in exchange for a free year’s supply of blue recycle bags—why you have to normally pay for recycling bags in the first place still seems bizarre and counterproductive. Anyway, it was a lot of fun seeing all the folks pull into the park with their trees on the roof of their cars, ready for the shredder. It was actually quite a communal event. Unfortunately, it seemed to offically mark the end of the holidays.

We had a lot of fun hanging out with friends and family over the holiday break in Memphis and New Orleans. We look forward to seeing you as our guests real soon!