Today in Memphis, we have free tickets to a concert, lots of football news, a moment of silence for Newby's, a lot of yelling about grocery stores, and Justin Timberlake.

Giveaway alert!! I have two tickets to see Eli Young Band at Minglewood Hall this Thursday. Save yourself $26 a ticket by leaving me a comment on this post telling me you want to go. I'll do a random drawing tomorrow at noon.

Congrats to Carrie Huggins - you won the tickets!

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Many thanks to everyone who came to the St. Jude Marathon Poster Party and Cheering Section this past weekend You can see marathon results here (congrats to winners Erik Orberg and Alyssa Bloomquist). 

We cheered on Chewbacca (and a few thousand other runners) on Saturday at the St. Jude Marathon. See more pictures here.

According to the Commercial Appeal, this year's marathon is projected to raise $8 million for St. Jude, which is the hospital/research center's largest annual fundraiser. No family ever receives a bill for treatment at St Jude, which has drastically increased childhood cancer survival rates. I'd say that's worth the inconvenience of one morning's traffic delays. Thank you to all who raised money and volunteered.

Memphis' newest burger joint, Belly Acres (in Overton Square) will have a grand opening this Saturday, December 13.

Justin Timberlake made a splash at FedExForum, bringing his granny to see the Grizz beat the Heat, taking over the TV cameras, and generally just being awesome. 

 

 

NBD. Just flexin' real hard at this @memgrizz game with my Granny. She must be good luck... We won by 16. #GoGrizz #GoGranny

A photo posted by Justin Timberlake (@justintimberlake) on Dec 12, 2014 at 5:22pm PST

 

— NBA (@NBA) December 8, 2014

The Memphis Tigers (and AAC Champions!) are heading to Miami on December 22 to play the BYU Cougars at the Miami Beach Bowl. The game will be on ESPN and the WatchESPN app. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. CST. The U of M has a site dedicated to the bowl game here. Stay tuned for watch party info.

Yesterday we found out officially that the Mountaineers and Aggies are headed our way. Help me welcome fans of West Virginia University and Texas A&M University as they travel to the Bluff City for the December 29 AutoZone Liberty Bowl. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. CST. The halftime show is Big & Rich. 

The Rodin exhibit. Photo via @dixonmemphis on Instagram.

You have to go see Rodin: The Human Experience at the Dixon before January 4. Rodin is one of the most famous and acclaimed sculptors of the 19th century and his work is a rare treat for Memphis. The Dixon is open Tue. - Sat. from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. They're open until 8 p.m. on December 18th this month. Tuesdays are PWYC (!!) and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon are totally free. Otherwise, tickets are $7.

Little Free Libraries are one of the coolest little community things we have in Memphis. A local group of volunteers is working to expand the program and needs your help. Donate a few bucks or volunteer here.

Last week, local foodie John Minervini launched a new Memphis food and restaurant site called The Fork. My favorite part (besides John's commentary on the local restaurant scene) is that he's supported the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry to help feed people experiencing homelessness this month. Go here to find out how you can help (and maybe get some holiday shopping done, too.) 

To go back a few weeks, Memphis made is on Entertainment Tonight when Uncle Jessie turned on the lights at Graceland for the holidays.

Santana is coming to Memphis to perform at the Orpheum on March 15.

If you're a Memphis foodie, you'll have to hurry up and add a new book, "Feeding Memphis" to your holiday wish list. Feeding Memphis is a coffee table style book about 28 of Memphis' favorite restaurants, their chefs, and recipes. $10 from the sale of each book goes to the Mid-South Food Bank.

Memphis' own Alexis Grace (of American Idol, local theatre, and local DJ at Q107.5 fame) is working on her debut EP and music video and she's offering some pretty sweet give-backs for those who contribute to her Indie Gogo. Check it out.

Last week, everyone was screaming about Trader Joe's possibly coming to Germantown. I asked Twitter what the big deal was (as I've never been to a Trader Joe's) and apparently the very cheap wine, decent paying jobs, prepared food selection, and something called "cookie butter" are the main reasons why some Memphians were so excited. I'm an Easy Way girl myself, but I'll keep an open mind.

Last but not least, let's have a moment of silence for Newby's, which closed its doors for the last time in late November. After being the Highland Strip's bar of note for nearly 40 years, the current owners and investors foreclosed on the concert venue and beer joint. The story's not over yet, however, as it seems the folks behind Overton Square are probably going to buy it and make it into a shiny new Newby's (and maybe keep the name). 

If you've made it this far, congratulations! Your attention span is amazing. Don't forget to leave me a comment if you want to win tickets to the Eli Young Band show at Minglewood Hall on Thursday night.