Year: 2009

I want to start this post with a note to Downtown bar and restaurant owners.  When you have special events, make sure that they get listed in the Center City Commission’s “Livin’ It Up” newsletter.  This newsletter is e-mailed to hundreds of subscribers every Thursday afternoon and is available on the CCC’s website.  There’s no reason not to do this – it’s free advertising, as the CCC wants to show what a vibrant Downtown we have with lots going on, and you can help them by listing your events.  I was kind of surprised when I got this week’s newsletter and only one Super Bowl party (the Majestic Grille) was mentioned.  I know there are four or five others going on.

Anyway, you can check the newsletter for details of the Majestic’s party, and I’ve covered BB King’s in a recent post.  Here’s one more:

Bardog Tavern is adding an extra 50″ TV, so there will be three TVs total, 2 upstairs (smoking) and one downstairs (non-smoking).  During the game there will be 25 cent wings, drink specials, and lots of booze-related merchandise giveaways.  Their regular menu, including the best spaghetti and meatballs in town and their awesome Rambo steak sandwich, will be available.  Sound will be on for the pregame and the game itself.  I had the pleasure of drinking some chartreuse with Aldo the owner last night and discussing life Downtown… nice to be in such a friendly neighborhood bar.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, in the “lawyers gone crazy” department:  This Washington Post article explains why you’ve seen so many ads for bars showing “The Big Game” this week.  Apparently it’s a trademark violation to mention the Super Bowl in an ad you run, and the NFL’s lawyers are going after violators, even little fish.  You can call it the “big game” and talk about how “super” your event will be.  You can mention the date, and you can say “the Pittsburgh vs. Arizona game.”  You can’t say “Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Arizona Cardinals” though.  How incredibly stupid.  If the bar around the corner advertises that they’ll have the Super Bowl on with 25 cent wings and drink specials, no one in their right mind would think it’s the NFL’s officially chosen spot to watch the game.  I think the NFL is making itself look really bad on this one.  I understand the need to protect trademarks, but the Super Bowl is a piece of Americana and is a special case.

By the way, as far as I can read into it, I can call it the Super Bowl on here because this is a blog and a news source of sorts.  However, if Bardog, for example, ran a banner ad about their party on my blog’s sidebar, I’d probably have to call it “the big game” or some other ridiculous workaround there, because then I’d be getting paid to talk about it.

Back to last night… early in the evening, I attended Mpact Memphis’ “Mpact Outlet” at the Red Rooster.  While there, I talked to Christopher Reyes, who runs the Live from Memphis site.  He just remodeled the site and it has a new look and a lot more information.  If you’re into local music, you need to put this one at the top of your bookmarks.  In particular they’ve added several bloggers to the site who write about Memphis and music.

I also went to the Silly Goose’s grand opening party.  One of the people sitting at the bar came up with the best description I’ve heard yet of the place:  “It’s like the Flying Saucer for adults.”  That makes sense to me.  It’s not at all a pretentious status game like Swig could be at times.  It’s comfortable like the Saucer is, but it tends to draw a more grown-up crowd.  Several of the Saucer’s 2006-07 waitresses (a classic period there) now work at the Goose.  It’s also for people who have graduated from beer to liquor, or to beer that the Saucer doesn’t carry (PBR).  I like them both though.  Those two and Bardog are definitely my top three right now.  I still need to do the long version of my “why Downtowners hang out where we do” post.

Circa has some new happy hour deals.  Happy hour runs from 5-7 daily, and after 10 Friday-Saturday.  Specials include

• $5 “small plates” cravings menu at the bar.  Also available in the dining room 5-6:30
• $3 beers – all of them, drafts, bottles, whatever
• $4 wells
• $5 wine specials
• $5 sangria

Unlike many other bars Downtown, Circa’s bar is non-smoking.  So, if you want to have a place to chat with friends over good food and drink, without coming out of there with your clothes and hair smelling like smoke, Circa would be a good choice.

President Obama is asking concerned citizens to hold economic recovery house meetings on Friday, February 6.  The intent of these meetings is to help people learn how his stimulus package will affect their everyday lives.  Click here to learn more, or to get set up to host one of these house meetings.

Outta here for now.  South Main Trolley Tour is tonight.  Haven’t decided if I’m going yet.

The Phoenix Club e-mailed to say that they’re moving their annual Mardi Gras party Downtown.  In past years, it’s been at the University Club, but they wanted a bigger space and more of an opportunity to get down and dirty, so it will be at the Cadre Building this year, on Saturday, February 21.

From 8 to 11, you’ll be able to purchase funny money to bet on a variety of casino games.  You’ll then be able to redeem your winnings for a variety of prizes, including gift certificates and spa and golf weekend packages.  At 11 it’ll be time for some Aristocrunk as Lord T and Eloise take the stage.  There will be several specialty drinks provided by local restaurants, in addition to complimentary beer and wine all night.  Tickets are $40 each and the money goes to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Memphis.  You can purchase tickets on their website or you can e-mail Gaines Conaway at gconaway@elvis.com.  It’s great to have the Phoenix Club throwing events downtown – they have a decades-long track record of serving the community.

Two days before that, on Thursday, February 19, the American Heart Association will have their second annual Rock & Roll Red Ball at the Red Rooster.  $10 cover, event starts at 7 and ends at midnight.  Wear red to receive your Red Dress Pin upon arrival.  All proceeds benefit the Memphis chapter of the AHA.

Did you know that there’s an NTN/Buzztime Trivia blog?  I didn’t either but found out yesterday, when the Empoprise-NTN blog addressed my issue of transferring my points from a location that closed (Sleep Out Louie’s) to a new location (Calhoun’s).  The blog is a good one to bookmark if you’re a fan of the little blue crack boxes.

Updated info on the offerings at B.B. King’s for their Super Bowl party:

• $5 domestic pitchers
• $1.50 shooters
• $1.50 PBR
• $2 bourbon shots
• The Dirty-Dirty – 4 PBRs, 15 wings, and fried pickles for $10
• The Super-Super – 4 PBRs, popcorn chicken, catfish bites, mini corn dogs, and fries for $15
• You can add a full rack of ribs (normally $22) for only $10 more
• 10×10 foot projection screen, two 78 in. flat panels, and other TVs throughout the club
• Rock 103 will be broadcasting

I know there will be other Super Bowl parties going on Downtown as well.  Last night the bartenders at the Flying Saucer told me they’re going to have free food at the Saucer for the Super Bowl.  That will be a rare occasion when a bar puts out free food without drawing the Nuh-Uh Girl in to have a plate or six… I think she’s attending a private Super Bowl party elsewhere Downtown (the same one I’m attending).

I need to stop by Bardog Tavern tonight and get the details of their Super Bowl party to post here.  My friend Air Traffic Mike was in there a couple of nights ago, and he told me that Aldo is now putting his Grandmom’s meatballs on a sandwich.  Mmmm… I love meatball sandwiches, and as I’ve said before, I’d put those meatballs up against any Italian restaurant in town.  Gonna have to give that a try soon.

Mpact Memphis members, don’t forget… Mpact Outlet meeting tonight at 6 at the Red Rooster.  As I understand it this is a general meeting where you can learn about all of Mpact’s programs and opportunities to get involved.

Time to get stuff done… I have a business meeting at 3, at the Second Street branch office, of course.

The Silly Goose just e-mailed me back… here’s the updated info on their grand opening party, to be held Thursday, January 29 (that’s tomorrow):

• Doors open at 5
• Hors d’ouevres start at 7  (Free food?  Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up)
• $2 domestics and wells until 10
• Abe dancing on the bar

Abe dancing on the bar?  Who wouldn’t want to see that?  As I said in the earlier post, I plan to lead a group over after the Mpact Memphis meeting at the Red Rooster finishes tomorrow.  Hope to see you there!

I just re-read my “types of assets” post explaining some of the theory behind the soon-to-be-released personal finance program I’m working on.  I found a typo in there.  Blast it all, I need to carefully proofread anything I post before I’ve had my first Mountain Dew in the morning.

I wrote that a house purchased for $150,000 and now appraised at $170,000 should be recorded as a $150,000 income-producing (IP) asset and a $20,000 income-consuming (IC) asset.  That’s incorrect.

The house itself is a $150,000 income-consuming (IC) asset:  Income-consuming because you still have to pay property taxes, maintenance, and insurance after purchasing the house.  The $20,000 capital gain is a non-performing (NP) asset:  Non-performing because it’s illiquid.  You don’t gain access to the $20,000 until you sell the house.

Sorry for any confusion.  Again, if you want to be informed when the program goes to market, e-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll add you to the mailing list.

I knew I had forgotten some stuff when I hit Publish on the last post…

The Memphis Tigers have a road game tonight against the ECU Pirates at 6 PM Central Time.  It’s going to be on CSS, so any place that has Comcast cable will carry it.  Not sure where I’ll watch it, but Dos Equis Lager as the Fire Sale means I’m leaning Saucer for the watch location a lot harder than normal.  I might be talked into walking down the street to the Silly Goose, but I’m definitely not straying any farther from home than that.  Go Tigers!  We’re back up to #18/#19 in the national polls.

Speaking of the Silly Goose… they’re having a grand opening party tomorrow night, Thursday 1/29, from 7 to 11.  One of the owners gave me complete details last night, and I somehow managed to lose the piece of paper on which I took notes between there and home.  I have an e-mail in to them asking for details and will post an update when I get a response.  There’s an Mpact Memphis meeting tomorrow night at the Red Rooster from 6 to 8, and I’m going to attempt to round up people to make the short walk to the Goose afterward.

Congrats to the Rapscallions, who rolled to our 4th first-place trivia victory in 5 weeks last night.  We now have a $300 cash stash to spend at our next party, and still some more opportunities to add to it.

That’s all for now… time to get back to work.

The South Main Association has a new website, after having domain issues with their old one.  You can go to southmainmemphis.net to get the latest news from the SMA.  You can e-mail them at info@southmainmemphis.net or call the president, Brandon Herrington, at 901-340-8882 if you have questions.  You don’t have to live in South Main to join SMA; you just have to love the neighborhood.  I live in the core, yet am a member.  Since joining 8 months ago I’ve been completely impressed with the group.  It’s a member-driven organization that gets things done.  Any one member can choose to step up and make a big difference, as happened in December when a member’s idea led to over $2,000 being raised for the Food Bank.

Rachel and the City asked me to mention that there’s a speed dating event tonight at T.J. Mulligan’s at 7 PM.  It’s for professional men and women 25-35 years old.  Each will have 10 to 12 five-minute “dates” at the event.  There’s a $14 cover charge.

Bravo Memphis, the arts group for young professionals, will host an event at the Center for Southern Folklore on Tuesday, February 3.  It will be a chance to hear real blues, with Blind Mississippi Morris and Brad Webb performing.  It’s free for members, $10 for non-members, and that cover charge includes beer, wine, and hors d’ouevres.  Bravo is a great way to network, and to get exposure to the arts in Memphis; I was a member for five years before I got too busy to make it to the events, but I still recommend it highly.  Glad to see them adding the Center, one of the true gems of Memphis, to their calendar.

As I was walking down Second last night, I noticed an “EVERYTHING 50% off” sign in Coco & Lilly’s window.  I hope that doesn’t mean they’re the latest business to leave downtown.  Perhaps they are just clearing out their winter inventory to make room for spring.  Anyway, ladies, this is a good chance for you to save some money on the latest fashions.

Earlier in the week, one of the managers at the Saucer told me he had some good news for me.  “Maybe they’ve finally fired Brittney,” I thought, pleased with the idea of life at the Saucer without my least favorite bartender.

But no, the good news had to do with beer.  “Dos Equis Lager will be the Fire Sale Wednesday,” he told me.  $2.75 pints of Dos Equis Lager all day?  I guess I’ll be working from the Second Street Branch Office today then.  I’ll be up there with my laptop shortly after it opens at 11.

Chef Michael Patrick of Automatic Slim’s appeared on WREG’s “Live at 9” TV show this morning to do a cooking segment.  You can see the video here (find Tuesday, January 27 in the list).  Fast-forward through to about 44:00 to see Michael’s segment.  He explains how to cook Slim’s jerk omelet, available on the brunch menu Saturday and Sunday 10 AM to 4 PM.

In the segment he announced that Slim’s now has a new website:  automaticslimsmemphis.com

Slow news day, so I figured I’d talk a little about this personal finance program I’ve been revising this month, which we intend to start selling online in February.

In my opinion, the main thing the program does is teach you about the different types of assets you can purchase with your money.  Here are the different categories of assets:

Income-producing (IP) assets throw off additional money – they produce a return on your investments.  These include stocks, bonds, mutual funds, CDs, savings accounts, Treasury bills, etc.

Income-consuming (IC) assets are the opposite of IP assets – once you buy them, you have to spend additional money to maintain them.  Houses are income-consuming assets because you have to pay property taxes, maintenance, insurance, etc.  Cars are income-consuming assets because you have to pay for gas, insurance, repairs.

Non-performing (NP) assets are assets that realize a gain, but you can’t get the gain until an event happens.  The appreciation in the value of a home is an NP asset.  For example, if you bought your home for $150,000 and it’s now appraised at $170,000, (Edit: I had this wrong when I first posted it) you have a $150,000 IC asset and a $20,000 NP asset.  However, you can’t get your hands on the $20,000 until you convince someone else to buy your place.  IP assets are liquid; NP assets are not liquid.

Neutral (N) assets neither throw off income nor consume resources to maintain.  Art, jewelry, and furniture are in this category.

The program also keeps track of liabilities (L).  Liabilities are money you owe – mortgages, car notes, credit card debt, etc.

The program defines saving as anything you do that causes an increase in income-producing (IP) assets or a decrease in liabilities.  The program charts out how much of your assets will fall into each of the asset categories, based on what you’re doing now with your money, for the next 25 years out, projecting total dollar value of each type of asset, and showing the percentage each type of asset will contribute to your total net worth.  This data allows you to answer the question everyone wants answered – “am I saving enough?” If you don’t like the future the program shows you, you can adjust what you’re doing in the present to change it.

Note that this program is not Quicken, and does not try to be.  Quicken is great for handling your financial present (e.g. online bill paying) and seeing what you did in the past.  Our program helps you plot your financial future, using a unique algorithm that is covered by a United States patent.

Working with the program gives a lot of insight why people’s finances are so screwed up.  Many people have been told to buy as much house (or condo) as they can, taking out a mortgage to pay for it.  That’s an IC + L double-whammy:  Tying up almost all your money in an asset that eats future income, and then using debt to pay for it.  Do this and our program will not show good things happening in your financial future.  Of course, home ownership is a goal for most people, and it’s nearly impossible to buy without a mortgage these days, but our program will show you the long-term cost of the “spend all you can” philosophy.

The program also illustrates where conspicuous consumption will get you.  We’ve been taught to purchase cars as status symbols, paying for them with financing.  Again, this is the IC + L combination.  Purchasing bling-bling jewelry on a credit card is N + L.  In neither of these cases are you saving.

That’s just a quick overview of the kinds of things the program can tell you.  I’ve been working with the program’s inventor, Lee Ryder, for 10 years now.  I’m in the process of setting him up with his own blog, because he has a lot to say about personal finance and the discoveries he’s made using the program.

We took it to market once before, about 5 years ago, and it was a disaster.  For one thing, the program wasn’t ready.  It had certain features that caused it to be compared to Quicken, that didn’t add any value and needed to be removed.  Secondly, we wasted a bunch of money on expensive print media advertising and a Flash-based website.  This time we’re going to follow the example Seth Godin sets out in his book Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us and use viral marketing to get the program in widespread use.

We also made a mistake pricing it last time.  We thought it should cost about what Quicken cost, and priced it in the $50-80 range.  This time I’m pushing for $14.95 as the price.  You’ll be able to pay for it online and immediately download it and begin using it.  I also want to create an affiliate program, so that people who use the program and find value in it can get paid commission for referring it to their friends.

Anyway, that’s a quick summary of what I’ve been working on the past 6 weeks or so… I really have been doing more than just sitting at the Saucer drinking Fire Sale beers all day long.  I’m heading to Nashville the first part of next week for a meeting with the inventor, and then the wheels will really be in motion to get this thing to market.  If you want to be notified when the program is released, e-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll put you on the list.

I just hit WMC TV-5’s site to check on the weather situation, and discovered a story about Downtown’s Union Mission on Poplar.  The shelter is seeing record numbers of homeless this year, as new people deal with the cold and with sudden losses of jobs.  Full story here. The story notes that the Mission serves more meals per week than many restaurants do.

Because of the increased demand, the Mission is in need of donations, especially warm, heavy clothing.  Here’s a link to the Mission’s website, where you can learn about ways to help.  Although I don’t recommend giving money to individuals on the street claiming to be homeless – because in Downtown Memphis they’re often not and are trying to get money for liquor or drugs – I wholeheartedly recommend donating to the mission, where the money will go to services the homeless need, including shelter, meals, and clothing.

In other news:  I’ve had several people e-mail me and confirm that Stella is indeed closed.  Note that while Monroe has lost three restaurants this year, none of the losses were due to poor business.  Stella’s lease ran out and the building is being sold; LoLo’s had an unfortunate financial event right as it appeared poised to draw more customers than ever; and Bon Ton Cafe’s owner died unexpectedly and there was no plan to continue the business.  Fans of Stella who want to continue to dine Downtown may want to try Felicia Suzanne’s, McEwen’s, Encore, or Circa.

Yawn… boring day here.  Setting up a WordPress site so the inventor of the personal finance software I’m working on can write a blog.  Going through my College Logo Shopping sites and removing store categories that don’t have any items.  Transferring domain names from one GoDaddy account to the other.

I was invited to the CCC’s groundbreaking ceremony for Barboro Flats today, but decided not to go because it’s too cold outside.  Congratulations to them on getting that project, which will add almost 100 apartments and hundreds of parking spaces in the core, under way.

Plans for tonight:  Pint Nite, of course.

I got an e-mail this morning from a reader saying that Saturday night was the final night for Stella, the elegant restaurant at Main and Monroe.  The e-mail stated that they are trying to negotiate a move to East Memphis.  Anyone got more details on this?  I know the Broadnax Building is up for sale, and I guess they weren’t able to negotiate a lease that would keep them there during and after the sale.  Sad to see them go… that makes three great restaurants on Monroe (Stella, LoLo’s Table, and Bon Ton Cafe) that we’ve lost in the past year.