Paul Ryburn’s Journal

People are always e-mailing me and asking me where they can find a good place to live in downtown Memphis. So, in this post I will review all of the major downtown apartment complexes. I have friends all over downtown and have been in almost all of them. I will try to note [...]

I’m a little disappointed that Sunset Symphony is on Saturday this year. The past several years the Great Southern Food Fest has run Saturday and Sunday, and they’ve had the Symphony and fireworks Sunday night.

This year they discontinued the Food Fest, which was a good move because most people would rather bring picnic baskets anyway. [...]

(Names and dates are fictitious, but this is all based on too much of my reality.)

Thursday the 1st, 7:30 AM

(At my downtown networking group. We’re going around the table, giving each other referrals that we’ve picked up in the past week. Larry, a professional resume writer, stands up.)

Larry: I have a referral for [...]

Artrageous lived up to expectations and then some. Definitely the most FUN fund-raiser I’ve ever attended. And, I discovered a great local band – Automusik. How to describe this act…I can’t even begin. The old “Sprockets” skits from Saturday Night Live come to mind, but that doesn’t do them justice. Just [...]

(Based on the empty boxes discarded by the liquor store around the corner, which caters to a clientele that finances its purchases by begging for change)

Vendange. I have no idea what that is, but the bums must like it, because they threw away three cases. Well, I am connected to the Internet, I guess [...]

Artrageous tonight, of course. The tickets are being advertised at $30, but you have to buy them through Ticketmaster. By the time they tacked on all their “convenience” fees, my total had become $38.55. I hope the Arts Council comes up with an alternate method for ticket sales next year.

Tomorrow night, the tentative [...]

Last week I was at the local beer joint, having a few with my friend Scott who used to bartend there. When I was ready to leave, I tabbed out and handed the bartender a 5. “Paul, were you ever a bartender or server?” Scott asked. “You’ve always tipped well since I’ve known [...]

Following are links to a 3-part story that will appear in the next issue of Newsweek. The article discusses whether President Bush and staff conspired to find ways to circumvent the Geneva Convention’s standards for humane treatment of prisoners, and whether they were looking into this even prior to the war with Iraq. Read [...]

This Friday, the Greater Memphis Arts Council is putting on Artrageous, its annual fundraiser, at the United Warehouse on St. Paul, one block southeast of Main and GE Patterson downtown. (check the website for map) I went to this event last year and had a blast. There will be a variety of musical [...]

Saturday night: Hang out on Beale Street, have a beer with friends, talk to tourists who are in town for BBQ Fest. Doubt I’ll go to the festival itself though (went yesterday at lunch). Possibly I’ll head to Swig where Mr. White is DJing from 10 to 2.

Sunday day: Head to Sleep [...]