Month: November 2008

New Year’s Eve is supposedly the biggest party night of the year.  However, as longtime readers of this blog know, I hate New Year’s Eve.  It’s totally amateur night, when all the people who can’t come out in public without acting a fool crawl out from under their rocks.  Every bar and club is packed to the point that it isn’t any fun, and they charge 3-4 times the normal cover.  Some of them raise drink prices too. New Year’s Eve plans tend to be overly contrived, with little opportunity for spontaneous fun.

However, last year’s Thanksgiving weekend, and the agenda for Thanksgiving this year, have led me to believe that Thanksgiving weekend in Downtown Memphis has become what New Year’s should be, but isn’t.  There seems to be fun – easy-going, spontaneous, laid-back fun – everywhere you look.

Last year was the first year I remained Downtown for Thanksgiving.  I was expecting a quiet weekend.  I was wrong.  Thursday I ate dinner at a friend’s condo in Barton Flats.  Then the Saucer opened at 5 and it was one of the most fun nights I’ve ever had there.  For a while it was so slow that they were allowing waitresses to play pool on the clock.  It was more mellow than even a Sunday Fun Day.  One of the waitresses bribed me with beer to go change into my Disco Paul persona I sometimes do at Raiford’s.  People were dancing.  I was doing shots as well as beer.  I found out that Thanksgiving night tends to be a party night at Earnestine & Hazel’s, and I ended up there, dancing and smacking one of the Saucer waitresses on the ass.  Friday was the four-and-a-half-hour long football game where unranked Arkansas took down #1 LSU in three overtimes, and we were on pins and needles the entire time watching it.  Good times all around.

This year, once again, I can’t get home to Little Rock for Thanksgiving – I’d have to leave Thursday morning and turn around and go back Thursday night.  However, it looks like I’ll have plenty to keep me occupied here.  Wednesday night I have a birthday party to go to, with The Dempseys at Blues City.  Big Foot Lodge is doing a “turkey tip-off” party with $2 Super Cold 34 oz. Coors Light draft all day long – from 11 AM to 3 AM.  Hmmm, and I currently don’t have a job… yeah that could be a plan for the day Wednesday.  Another reason to celebrate at Big Foot on Wednesday is that it’s Meghan’s day off.  In addition, there’s a Thanksgiving Eve party at Bardog Tavern that night.  I’ve heard something about Buffalo Trace specials and one of the bartenders dressing in a bra and chaps.  It’s also “Turkey of the Year” glass night at the Saucer, so maybe I’ll stop by there too.

Friday looks to be the pinnacle of the party weekend, as the CCC has moved Memphis’ annual holiday parade to the day after Thanksgiving, and the location has been moved to South Main.  What a great idea!  It will expose thousands of people to all the cool shops and galleries in the area.  True, since it’s off Beale Street I won’t be able to enjoy a Call-a-Cab from Wet Willie’s, but $1.50 PBR at Calhoun’s will more than make up for it.  After the 5 PM parade, a special holiday-themed edition of the South Main Trolley Art Tour will kick off, and will surely be one of the most exciting Trolley Tours of the year.  The galleries and shops will be open 6 to 9 and many of them will be serving holiday-themed refreshments.

As for T-day itself, the Saucer opens at 5, and this year I don’t plan on being late like I was last year (didn’t get there until 5:03).  If you’ve had your fill of turkey and relatives during the day on Thanksgiving, come to the Saucer and have a beer.  Or a shot of Jager, if you’ve had a really bad day.  My plans are open-ended after I leave the Saucer… maybe I’ll end up at E&H again.

But that’s next weekend… plans for today involve a 1 PM meeting at the Second Street Branch Office, where I’ll be tutoring a guy on how to earn additional income through affiliate marketing.  At 5 I’ll head to Court Square for the “Flip the Switch” ceremony, or as I call it, “Light Up the Bums,” where Court Square’s holiday lighting will be turned on for the first time.  Not sure what I’ll do after that… may walk around and look at the holiday decoration in Downtown’s storefronts, or I may go somewhere and watch the Memphis vs. Seton Hall game in the Puerto Rico Tip-off.  Game time is 6 PM CST.

I applied for a job yesterday… I said I was taking time off from job-hunting until December 1, but this was an exceptional organization that was too good to pass up.  We’ll see what happens.

Time to get things started… I’ll possibly post again from the branch office this afternoon.

Trivia at Jillian’s is cancelled tonight… they’ve been remodeling the Tiger Den (formerly Club Atlas) and have not been through the necessary fire marshal’s inspection before reopening that part of the club.  This is not something that reflects badly on Jillian’s, just a routine process businesses have to go through when they do construction.

Every year, the Church Health Center produces a limited-edition holiday card which can be sent in honor or memory of friends, loved ones, or co-workers.  Those honored receive a personalized, hand-inscribed card acknowledging the gift (in the case of a memorial, the donor can specify who should receive the card).  A tax-deductible donation of $10 minimum per honoree is suggested.  This is one of the main yearly fundraisers for the Church Health Center, a nonprofit that provides health care to those in Memphis who would otherwise have no way to receive it.

This year’s card was designed by Danny Broadway, a University of Memphis graduate who has been designated Master Artist by PBS for the past five years.  He was also commissioned to produce the official logo of Major League Baseball’s Civil Rights Game, and his work has been featured in notable exhibits such as the Art Expo in New York.

For information on how to support the Church Health Center through their holiday cards, visit their website or call (901) 272-7170.

The Memphis Tiger basketball team plays at 3:30 PM CST this afternoon.  Normally Calhoun’s Sports Bar on GE Patterson doesn’t open until 4:30, but since it’s game day they’ll open early this afternoon.  I’ll be down there enjoying $1.50 PBR, so if you get off work early, come on down and cheer on the Tigers to victory.

I think I’m going to do happy hour at Bardog Tavern tonight, if anyone wants to meet up… will be there around 5.  Aldo told me he expects to get PBR back on tap today.

Last Saturday the trivia team gathered for Rapscallion Party IX, the ninth in a series of parties to cash in our trivia winnings.  We started at Jillian’s, blew through most of our money there, then walked across the street to the Saucer.  Here are a few pics:

Our server Brooke joins the gang for a pic.  It’s so good to have Brooke back at the Saucer.

Possibly the best pic ever of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating.  As a bonus, the Nuh-Uh Sister is eating too.

Me with BFF/Best Pool Partner Ever Lauren, although I was not involved in this particular pool game.

Frank, BFF wannabe Stephanie, and former BFF Jenny.

Yeah I don’t know what was going on here.  This one was taken around the time our extremely large tab ran out.

After the Rapscallion party we went to a friend’s birthday party at Jack Robinson Gallery, where the Nuh-Uh Girl and Nuh-Uh Sister continued to eat.

Full photo album (46 pics) here. If anyone needs them on a different platform than Facebook, let me know.

This afternoon I have updated info on how you can help Annabelle, the 5-year-old girl with spina bfida whose wheelchair was stolen and dismantled by criminals.  You can go by any First Tennessee location and leave a donation for “Annabelle’s Wheelchair Fund,” or you can call First Tennessee to wire funds to “Annabelle’s Wheelchair Fund.”

The little girl had been asked to be a princess at the December 7 Jingle Bell Ball, the ball’s organizers told me this afternoon, but she’s been asking, “How can I do a ball if I don’t have my legs back by then?”  If you have extra money to spare, please consider donating to the fund so she can have a new wheelchair (her “legs”) by then.

I just wanted to alert people who don’t keep up with Memphis local news to this story: Girl’s wheelchair snagged by thief. A 5-year-old girl’s wheelchair was left unattended in a driveway for 5 minutes, and thieves came by and stole it.  The little girl has spina bfida and used the chair as an extension of herself – she cheered in it, danced in it, etc.  Needless to say, she was devastated and, according to the CA article, was crying all day long.  She’s now being pushed around in a stroller and her parents aren’t sure whether insurance will cover a replacement.  The chair was later recovered, completely dismantled, according to comments left on the CA story.  The thieves had apparently tried to sell it for parts, and dumped what they couldn’t use from it.

If there are any plans to raise funds to get the little girl a replacement chair, please keep me in the loop (paul@paulryburn.com) so that my blog’s 1000+ daily readers have the opportunity to give.  It’s not so much the money, it’s showing the little girl that most people in the community are the opposite of the pieces of garbage who stole her chair.  So far I haven’t heard of any organized effort – someone mentioned Rock 103 in the comments but I didn’t see anything on their site (although I did see an interesting article about Led Zep touring without Plant under a different name next year).  If anyone hears of a fund-raising drive for this let me know.

B.B. King will be in town December 10 to play at his club on Beale Street for one night only.  If you want to get tickets, you can call their gift shop at (901)524-5464 or e-mail jphil38111@aol.com.  They’re offering a VIP package for the show which includes a 4-course dinner at Itta Bena and a reserved seat for B.B. for $200.  A reserved seat without the dinner is $125.  Also, they’re doing a buy 9, get 1 free deal for the VIP and reserved tickets.

The holiday season is about to start Downtown.  At 5 PM this Friday, November 21, there will be a flip-the-switch ceremony for the Christmas lights in Court Square, so if you work Downtown, come by after you get off.  There will be caroling, and they will be serving hot chocolate.  Or, if you aren’t into hot chocolate, you can do as Court Square’s “residents” do and panhandle until you get enough change to go buy a 40-ounce single-serve beer at Jack’s Food Store.

Following the lighting ceremony, the judging of Downtown’s holiday storefront contest will begin at 6 PM.  Judges will look for the most creatively lit storefronts, and winners will be announced at the Downtown holiday parade next Friday, November 28.

The Memphis Business Journal reports that D. Canale will move their offices into part of the space above Huey’s that is being renovated into office space and apartments.  Plans are also being made for the space above Slim’s and some of the other buildings on that block.

The panhandler who approached me a couple of weeks ago, asking for my help finding him a job, saw me last night on Main Street and again seemed pretty sincere.  So far the only lead on a job for him I’ve received is Calvary Episcopal’s outreach program, which helps people get off the streets and into homes and jobs.  I told him to give that a try, but again, if anyone is willing to take a chance on this guy, e-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com and let me know how he can get in touch with you.

Congrats to the Tigers on their victory over UMass last night in ESPN’s 24 hours of basketball.  I watched it at the Saucer, and found that having been up since 4 AM (I decided to start on my websites early yesterday) plus about 7 Leinenkugel Sunset Wheats was not such a good idea.  I had planned to finish the night at Bardog, but I knew it was time to throw in the towel.

I’ll be out tonight for trivia.  Time for us to begin winning money for Rapscallion Party X.  I need to upload the pics from Rapscallion Party IX and post them today too.  May have a couple of websites to roll out later today as well.

The cheapest beer Downtown appears to be at Hooters, which has $1 domestic drafts all day.  It’s by no means my favorite place, but hey, cheap beer.  I was told that the Memphis Flyer received a personal visit from the Hooters girls to promote the beer special.  Hey, I’m media too, sort of!  Where’s my visit?

It’s time for the annual “who’s going to be open on Thanksgiving?” list.  I’m not so much concerned with who’s having a Thanksgiving buffet or dinner – you can read the paper or Flyer for those – but rather, which bars are going to be open Downtown, for when people have had their fill of dinner with the family and need a beer or drink?  E-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com if you know of a place that will be open.

So far the list is as follows… I know that Westy’s and Wang’s usually stay open for Thanksgiving.  The Flying Saucer has signs posted saying they’ll open at 5.  That’s what they did last year, and I learned that the people who work there were getting extremely worried about me when I didn’t show up until 5:03.

Hey, finally my long relationship with First Tennessee has paid off!  They e-mailed me to offer me two Grizzlies tickets as a form of customer appreciation.  And they’re club-level tickets!  Nice!

I found out some info on the construction taking place on the west side of Main and Jefferson.  It will be an 8-story Courtyard by Marriott hotel, owned by the same group that owns Sleep Inn and Springhill Suites next door.  The hotel will have 131 rooms, each equipped with a flat-panel TV and a “jack pack” that allows iPods, MP3 players, computers, DVD players, and other electronic media to be hooked up.  The hotel will open in December 2009.

The part of Jillian’s formerly known as Club Atlas is under construction right now, and will be re-opened as the Tiger Den.  It will be an open-air lounge, a comfy place to watch Tiger games.  Sounds like a much better use of the space than it was as Atlas.  But, what will I make fun of on Thursdays in the spring and summer now?

Tigers play UMass at 11 PM tonight.  I’m not attending the game, but since it’s Pint Nite I’ll watch it at the Saucer.  I think I’ll do an extra long workday until about 9:30 or 10 – I have plenty to do – then head up there for some $2.75 Dos Equis Lager, and I also want to try the Schlafly APA that just came in.  Right around halftime the clock will strike midnight, and it will be my birthday.  I’m going to try to make it all the way to close for Pint Nite.