Year: 2011

The lockout is getting serious. Today the NBA announced that pre-season training camps have been postponed indefinitely, and pre-season games the week of October 9-15 have been canceled. More information here. Tens of thousands of dollars in lost ticket sales, concessions, revenue for businesses near the FedExForum… not to mention lost income for all the people on an hourly wage who were scheduled to work game night. I hope owners and players get on the same page soon.

There’s an ice cream festival at AutoZone park tomorrow, Saturday, September 24. It benefits the Ronald McDonald House. For $10 you get ice cream, frozen treats and drinks. There will also be a silent auction, live entertainment, and contests. All you can eat ice cream? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

The Memphis Flyer is introducing a new beer blog called Memphis Beer Beat. An introduction to the new blog can be found in this Hungry Memphis post.

In the news: Kudzu’s has new owners. They plan to improve the bar but not change its feel.

I came in 5th at poker at Max’s Sports Bar last night. Not disappointed at all, just got unlucky, twice shoving all-in with big pocket pairs, only to run into bigger pairs. Afterward I went to the Brass Door. “We saved the last PBR for you,” they said. “We had a feeling you’d be coming.” Now, is that a bar that takes care of its regulars, or what? Afterward, I got Foursquare bonus points for checking in at the Saucer 55 days in a row.

After work I’ll grab a couple happy hour pints at the Saucer, then head south to meet Windell the Miller High Life guy at Max’s Sports Bar at 8:30. Plans TBD after that. One more post to come this lunchtime hour, so if you don’t see it check back.

It’s the last day to enter to win the Bud Light mini-fridge at Bardog Tavern. Just order a Bud Light to enter. Only because he’s been hanging out at Slider Inn lately does my friend John D not have 100 entries in this contest.

In other beer news – yesterday I posted that Windell the Miller High Life guy will be at Max’s Sports Bar Friday at 8:30 PM. If you can’t be Downtown Friday night, you can meet Windell for lunch. The Green Beetle will be feeding him from 11 to 1. The Beetle will have Miller High Life specials all day too.

While you’re down in South Main seeing Windell tomorrow, stop by the National Civil Rights Museum for their 20th anniversary celebration. There will be family activities including outdoor civil rights games, music, rides, art, a birthday cake bake-off, and discounted admission to the Museum. The party is from 11 AM-3 PM.

The dragon boat races return to Mud Island tomorrow. From 10 AM to 3 PM. Teams of 20 paddlers, a drummer and steerer race in authentic Hong Kong-style, 46-foot-long dragon boats. More information here.

This isn’t a Downtown event, but worth mentioning… Friends of the Memphis Animal Shelter will be hosting a Black Tie Yappy Hour at Memphis Animal Services, 3456 Tchulahoma, from 4 to 7 PM today. All black/black and white pets will have their adoption fee reduced to $10 during the event. Refreshments will be served, including pizza from Memphis Pizza Cafe. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Question for my readers. Yesterday, two people asked if there are any happy hours Downtown that start before 4 PM. They want to go out from 2 to 4 this afternoon and are looking for a happy hour. If you know of anything, shoot me an email at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll pass on the information.

If you watch sports on TV, you’ve probably seen the commercials featuring Windell Middlebrooks. He’s the High Life guy who is seen delivering beer to businesses, and removing it from those he does not think are worthy of carrying Miller High Life. Friday night at 8:30, you’ll have the chance to meet Windell in person. He’ll have a bunch of High Life swag with him so you’ll be able to load up. In honor of his visit, High Life is $2.50 at Max’s through Friday night.

The Brass Door has announced their music lineup for their alley party this Saturday:

• Forklift will open for Myla Smith at 3:00
• Jeremy Stanfill at 5:00
• The Candy Company at 7:00
• WALRUS at 9:00
• Irish band Big Betsy to close

Uh oh… I have a scheduling conflict. The Arkansas-Alabama game is at 2:30 and I can’t miss my Hogs. Most likely I will watch the game at Max’s Sports Bar then head north to the alley party, which would put me there about 6 I suppose.

The Spaghetti Warehouse saw that I posted a coupon of theirs yesterday. They emailed to tell me it’s Warehouse Wednesday, where you get spaghetti with a choice of meat sauce, tomato sauce or marinara, along with a garden salad and bread for $5. No coupon needed and this is a weekly special.

The Metal Museum will have a free day from 10 to 5 this Saturday, September 24.

Memphis’ own Jerry Lawler was legitimately injured in a spot on WWE Monday Night RAW this week. The new World champion Mark Henry attacked Lawler during an in-ring interview, and performed his signature move, the World’s Strongest Slam, on the King onto the announcer’s table. The table, however, was not a gimmicked table designed to break easily. It was a standard hard table. Neither Lawler nor Henry knew this and went through the spot with full impact. Lawler had to be taken to a hospital after the show. That’s gotta suck, to be 61 years old and get slammed onto a hard table by a 400-pound man.

Breaking news: R.E.M. just announced that they’re calling it quits after 31 years.

Plans for tonight: No idea, but I’ll be out somewhere on this beautiful fall day. Skipping lunch so I can have something good for dinner Downtown tonight.

There’s a coupon on Facebook for Spaghetti Warehouse, good today only for $5 off spaghetti and meatballs or any other original recipe spaghetti. You can get it by going to their fan page and “Liking” the restaurant.

Tickets will go on sale next Friday, September 30, for the American Queen’s maiden riverboat voyage in April. The CA has the details here. Wow those river cruises are not exactly cheap, but I guess you get first-class treatment like you would on any cruise ship.

Christine by Shelton Clothiers will stay open late this Thursday, and from 6 to 9 PM you’ll get 30% off everything in the store. For every purchase of $50 or more, you’ll get an entry into a drawing for a print by local artist David Lynch. Wine and appetizers will be served. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

This morning, the city council passed an ordinance requiring carriage drivers to clean up urine. They’re already required to clean up manure.

That’s all the news I’ve got… the only other piece of news is that the Muppets will host WWE Monday Night RAW on Halloween night. Maybe the Flying Saucer will show it on the big screen, with sound. I mean, heck, nothing else will be on, just some football game nobody cares about.

All right, time to go to Fazoli’s and try to steal the mayorship back… outta here for now. Not sure if I’m going to go to trivia tonight. If any of the team decides to go, shoot me a text.

Something I’ve been thinking about recently… I last changed my blog’s profile pic (and on Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare) in December 2007. Since then I have not come up with anything that says ME as much as the current image. Last week, though, I dressed up as “PBR Man” for the Silly Goose’s superhero party. That may be a winner. What do you think? Time for a change?

There will be those who object, “But Paul, don’t you think ‘PBR Man’ will make a bad first impression on new visitors to your blog?” Those people fail to realize that I’ve had a Santa hat and I Love Romanian Girls shirt on my profile pic for almost 4 years now. Clearly I’m not too worried about first impressions.

The Saucer showed the Charlie Sheen roast, with sound, tonight. They could have showed Monday Night Football with sound but chose not to.

You know what? It’s time for a quick rant. They want to be an “American restaurant” ala Gordon Biersch. That works for most of their locations but the Memphis Saucer is a block from Beale. It’s a huge venue unlike most of the other Saucers. It’s a bar not a restaurant. It’s time they realized that and stopped doing stupid shit like Charlie Sheen night.

How was the crowd? Well, the past three Mondays I’ve constantly had to maneuver to get out of people’s way so they could order. Not this Monday. It was deader than an doornail.

Saucer corporate: Not all your venues are the same. Take maximum advantage of each, instead of expecting them to all conform. Want profit? Show MNF. At least at the Downtown Memphis location.

I want to open this post with a huge CONGRATLUATIONS to my friends on the Squeal Street BBQ team. They competed in the Smokin’ Aces regional BBQ championship this weekend in Tunica, and took home numerous prizes, including FIRST PLACE in People’s Choice! They also got 4th place for the Exotic category (they cooked alpaca), 5th for beef, 5th for mustard, and 10th for ribs. Great job!

Very, very important announcement, so important that it deserves bold type: Bardog Tavern is selling all the beers in the house for only $2, all day today until 3 AM. Although they had their birthday party at the end of August, today is their actual third birthday. I will be late getting to Pint Nite at the Saucer this evening, because I will be at Bardog after work enjoying some $2 beer! The lovely Melissa will be at the bar for happy hour tonight. Now the only question is what to drink – do I stick with my usual (PBR) or mix things up a little?

The Green Beetle sent me an update with their activities for the week. Here’s the list:

• Monday: Monday Night Football with $10 domestic buckets, $13.99 import buckets
• Tuesday: Steak Night 12 oz Ribeye, 12 oz Fatty Natty $12.99 w/ Blake Ryan Acoustic Set 6-10
• Friday: Fish Fry Friday Catfish plate $7.99 w/ The Dave Experiment 8-12
• Saturday: Klint Kilmore 8-12

The Beetle has $2 Fatty Natties all day, every day. Personally, I’ll pay a dollar more for a PBR, but if value drinking is your goal, the Natties are the deal for you.

The Peabody will have $3 martinis in the Corner Bar tonight 5-7. Four martinis to choose from: Caramel Swirl, Blue Coconut, Berry Bliss, and House Gin.

The Flying Saucer will have a Roast of Charlie Sheen watch party tonight at 8. Heck if I understand why they’ll turn on the sound for that, but not for football. Most drafts $3 all day today for Pint Nite.

Long Sunday Fun Day yesterday. I started with brunch at the Majestic as usual, then moved on to the Saucer and played pool with our inspirational leader/father figure. After that we went over to Local, where his daughter was working, and enjoyed drinks and shots on the patio. Later I was back at the Saucer for round 2, then finished the evening with a Dapper Dan Dog (chili + cheese + bacon bits) at Bardog.

Majestic was super crowded with people dining before the Les Miserables matinee. I think from now on, when there are major shows at the Orpheum with a Sunday matinee, I’m going to take the week off from brunch.

I have to rant for a minute on a disturbing trend I’ve been noticing: Two of the past three Sundays, someone has walked into the Saucer carrying a murse, a purse designed for males. This is a disturbing trend. It’s worse than fanny packs. I don’t care if they do it in Europe, I don’t care if hipsters think it’s cool… it needs to STOP. Death to the murse.

That’s all for now. I’ll be at Bardog around 6 for some $2 beers.

Before I get started on this post, I want to wish a very happy birthday to our inspirational leader/father figure. He doesn’t like having his name published on the blog, but if you’ve spent any amount of time around our group, you know who I’m taking about. It’s been a pleasure to hang with him at Sleep Out’s, to shoot pool with him at the Saucer, and just to know him in general. In recent years his girlfriend has become a mother figure to the group as well. Happy birthday!

Just wanted to let everyone know about a couple of new things going on this Sunday. First of all, Max’s Sports Bar will be open early today and will have all the NFL games on. This will be the first NFL Sunday with Whitney behind the bar. Whitney worked at the Saucer from 2006 until recently. Here’s a pic from Rajun Cajun Fest ’10:

Geez… not my best pic. Apparently I forgot to use sunscreen and drank about 32 beers before this was taken. Note that Whitney has a tube top on. Anyway, she’ll be there to open, and then about 4:30 Michele will take over as usual.

Another new thing going on is the bottomless mimosa at the Silly Goose. According to info I got from one of the servers, it will run from noon to 3 today and cost $15. Since a bottle of champagne + OJ costs about $14 at most bars that do Sunday brunch, this is a good deal if you can put away more than one bottle of champagne in three hours. When I went to Sleep Out’s, I’d sometime run through two bottles in that amount of time. One Sunday years ago I went through 4 bottles at the Monkey, but it took me 10 hours.

If mimosas aren’t your thing, the Goose also has a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar for $3 per glass. Try my recipe: Zing Zang, sriracha, a dash of horseradish, and generous shakes of celery salt and black pepper, garnished with a celery stalk, olive and piece of okra.

In other news: Good CA article about R.C. Johnson’s current situation. Time to retire, R.C. Then you’ll have more free time to buy hair spray and hang out at your beloved Memphis Airport.

I got 6 PBR koozies at CY Fest yesterday. If anyone wants one let me know.

Time to get the day started! With perfect weather and a birthday in the group, this should be a good one.