Daily thoughts of a Downtown Memphis resident
From a graphic the Grizzlies posted to social media:
The lottery happens at 2 PM Sunday on ABC.
The first round of the NBA draft happens June 26.
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The Orion 5K, Fun Run, and Pickleball happens this Saturday, departing from Orion FCU headquarters at 400 Monroe. 5K runners will traverse The Edge and the Downtown Core. Stay afterward for pickleball from 10 to 4. This event benefits MIFA Meals on Wheels.
Strangewaze Wednesdays, a series of neighborhood concerts in Health Sciences Park, next happens Wednesday evening, May 15. Free food, free drinks, free music.
By the way, the items above came from The Vitals, the newsletter of the Memphis Medical District. Subscribe to The Vitals
The annual Manes on Main party is tomorrow at Soul & Spirits. Smoked Festbier release, beard and hair competitions, Hot n Heavy Dogs and Sno Junt food trucks.
Save the date! Slider Inn Downtown will host a silent disco Saturday, June 8. Beach/summer will be the theme. Free to enter; $15 to rent a headset.
Today is National Small Business Day.
Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias brings his Don’t Worry, Be Fluffy Tour to FedExForum tonight.
Drink of the Month at Max’s Sports Bar: Pink Drank (coconut cream rum, strawberries, and strawberry sparkling water).
The USA Powerlifting Master’s World Cup comes to the Renasant Convention Center this weekend.
Today’s Redbirds home game vs. the Norfolk Tides is a matinee game. 12:05 PM first pitch.
Saturday the Redbirds will give away a throwback Memphis Chicks T-shirt to the first 1500 fans. Size XL only. 3:05 PM first pitch.
Kinfolk’s breakfast is this week’s $10 Deal in the DM. Kinfolk opened recently at 111 Harbor Town Square.
There was a fire at Loflin Yard about 2 this morning. Two dogs were rescued.
RIP Chevy Malibu. With the retirement of the Camaro last year, the automaker is down to producing one traditional car, the Corvette.
I wonder what the city will do? Most City of Memphis vehicles are Malibus.
Bardog has new “Have You Dogged It Lately?” shirts for $30.
There’s a dog party at Grind City Brewery Co. Saturday. There will be freebies for humans & dogs and Albee’s Tex-Mex food truck will be on site. This is a fundraiser for Kiwanis. Free to attend for all ages.
Uncle Red’s turkey legs, which has had a location inside Carolina Watershed in the past, is coming to the University of Memphis area. Look for a location opening soon on Echles.
Apaolo plays the Tap Room on Beale tonight 8 to 12.
There’s a push to revive the Mud Island Amphitheater. The venue hasn’t hosted a concert in 6 years. $17 million has been proposed to get it back into shape.
Teachers and nurses get 10% off all week at Butterific Bakery & Cafe at 488 S. Second.
There will be comedy on Beale in Handy Park 2-6 PM Saturday. Free and family-friendly.
Gia Welch and JD Westmoreland play The Central BBQ Sessions at Central BBQ Downtown Saturday from 6:00 to 8:30 PM.
Tonight from 5:00 to 7:30, Sheet Cake Gallery at 405 Monroe presents an opening reception for “The Real & Imagined,” an exhibit by Erin Harmon and Kong Wee Pang.
From the DM: Downtown Happy Mexican keeps the good, loses the bad. The restaurant kept the same staff and added Second Street Tacos & Tequila.
The weather is perfect and nights at the Union Mission are getting a bit repetitive, so I’m staying out tonight. Back sometime in the next 72 hours with more news.
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Soul & Spirits brewery on North Main is having a “hoochie coochie party” today and tomorrow. Details will be posted on their Facebook page.
The Downtown Neighborhood Association has announced its May meeting on the rooftop of the Hyatt Centric the evening of the 22nd. Free drinks and snacks for all DNA members.
Looks like the Saucer is giving away a Duvel-branded guitar:
Russ to the Grizz this summer?
DJ A.D. plays tonight’s Peabody rooftop party. Doors open at 6 PM.
A woman allegedly killed and robbed a man of $60. It’s said she spent the money on 2 wing combos. It doesn’t get much more Memphis than that.
The Blues Music Awards are tonight at the Renasant Convention Center.
The Orpheum is hiring a manager of food and beverage operations.
From the MBJ: How the Sterick Building’s best use is being ironed out
What food product came out the year you were born? Me: Tic Tacs
Currently on fire sale at Bardog:
That’s it for today. Back tomorrow.
It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips!
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn
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Sunset Jazz returns to Court Square this Sunday. Ted Ludwig will perform 6 to 8 PM. Drinks will be available for purchase and food trucks will be on site.
The Majestic rolled out a new cocktail menu. Visit their Facebook page to check it out.
The NBA draft lottery is this Sunday at 2 PM on ABC.
The Redbirds host Norfolk at 6:05 tonight.
High winds and large hail could come to Memphis overnight.
Beale Street entrepreneur John Elkington thinks the bars there should close at 2 AM. Currently they can stay open until 5.
Today is National Have a Coke Day I’m doing that as I type this.
The Flyer’s latest edition of We Saw You comes from Zio Matto Gelato in Central Station.
Madison Tavern, sibling restaurant to Local on Main, opens Friday. The Flyer recently talked with the owners. Downtown news: Local on Main will be rebranded as Quinn’s at some future point.
That’s it for today! Don’t worry, I will be sheltering inside tonight. Back tomorrow.
It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips!
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn
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Question- am I crazy or do I remember reading that the construction closing Monroe between Main and Second would take about six weeks and would be done the fourth week or April?
Because we’re coming into the second week of May and it’s not done.
Between that construction and the construction of the future Brooks Museum, we have a situation where Monroe Avenue is closed, then open, then closed, then open, all on a 4-block stretch from Riverside to B.B. King.
It’s confusing to drivers and I’m sure it’s costing businesses on that street money.
Wryly Bigger headlines Central Station’s Live at the Tracks party Thursday night.
On Saturday, Canadian DJ and producer Skratch Bastid comes to Central Station’s Eight & Sand Lounge.
Bobbie and Frankie play Momma’s patio Saturday during the lunch hour. It’s an event to thank Streetdog Foundation’s sponsors. There will be no cover.
Memphis legend Jerry “The King” Lawler’s contract has been allowed to expire by WWE without being renewed. I wonder if the King, 74, will ease into retirement or move on to new creative ventures. He’s had a couple of strokes, so his in-ring days are almost certainly over.
Investor Warren Buffett, 94, has appointed a successor, Greg Abel, who will make investment decisions for Berkshire Hathaway going forward. Buffett’s longtime business partner Charlie Munger passed away at 99 recently.
Auto-Chlor at Poplar and Manassas seeks a videography and photography expert.
A petition has been filed to remove Shelby County Clerk Wanda Halbert from office.
At the Union Mission where I’ve been staying for most of the past 3 months, we have to attend chapel 6:00 to 7:00 PM daily. Well, our lead pastor, who seems to be a big fan of the late Rev. Billy Graham, is bringing in a preacher from out West and from Sunday to Wednesday, “We’re going to have a good old fashioned revival.”
Hmmm. As someone who showed up at the Mission with already well-defined spiritual beliefs, I can’t say I’m real excited about this. I’ll give it a chance Sunday, but if it’s what I think it is, I may stay out all night Monday and Wednesday.
Then again, attending a revival in person might be fascinating. It might give me ideas for articles to write on Medium.
Back tomorrow with more news.
It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips!
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com
If anyone out there uses an iPhone for Wi-Fi only – no cell service- I made a discovery yesterday that I want to pass on. On modern versions of iOS, you can turn on Airplane mode, which will turn off Wi-Fi, but you can then switch it back on.
You’ll still be able to use all your apps, including ones that connect to the Internet, as normal. Your notifications will still work. The benefit comes, though, when you’re not using your phone. It consumes almost no battery because it’s not constantly trying to connect to cellular.
Last night I charged my phone before bed and slept with it in my pocket for 10 hours. This morning the battery was at 91%. Before I learned the Airplane mode trick, it’d start the day at about 75%.
TACOnganas has added a second food truck to its new location at Danny Thomas and Adams. I guess one truck couldn’t keep up with demand by. itself. I’m not surprised!
The late Johnnie Taylor got his Brass Note on Beale Street yesterday.
It’s gonna storm this week.
It’s National Beverage Day. May I recommend the PBR?
The Blues Music Awards are Thursday at the Renasant Convention Center.
Action News 5: Businesses, hotels say they expected more business from RiverBeat
That’s the news for now. Back tomorrow.
It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips!
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com
Congratulations to former Memphis Grizzly Mike Conley on winning the NBA’s Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award. It is based on selfless play, leadership and being a role model to other players, and commitment and dedication to his team.
There was a fire at 201 Friday night.
The DM has a look back at the Ruby Bridges Reading Festival that happened at the Civil Rights Museum Saturday.
End of an era: UT Health’s COVID testing center is shutting down
The Tigers’ Nae’Qwan Tomlin has received an invitation to the NBA G-League Elite camp.
Memphis 901 FC got a 4-1 win over Tampa Bay yesterday.
Happy Cinco de Mayo!
Shirt I just saw on the Main Street Mall: “Some people like to stir the pot. I prefer to smoke it”
There’s a new pop-up speakeasy in Central Station.
There’s a dispensary truck parked on Beale:
Not sure how that’s gonna work since weed is illegal in Tennessee, but whatever.
The Saucer is ready to rock for Cinco:
That’s it for today. Back tomorrow.
It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips!
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com
Longshot, the shuffleboard bar in the ARRIVE Hotel, is having a Kentucky Derby watch party Saturday afternoon. Prior to the race, pick a horse you think will win; if you’re right, you get drinks for a penny. They’ll have Prickly Pear Juleps all night long.
Luanne, DNA’s executive director, reported earlier this week that the new cigar bar at 109 G.E. Patterson plans on doing some co-promotions with next-door neighbor Max’s Sports Bar. Sounds like a sure winner to me.
Silly Goose is now serving coffee 8 AM-2 PM weekdays and 9 AM-1 PM weekends. That, too, sounds like a winner.
The security team keeping you safe at RiverBeat music festival this weekend has worked the Super Bowl in the past.
Memphis Medical District Collaborative seeks a workforce strategies training coordinator.
Today is No Pants Day.
That’s all for now. Back Monday or maybe sooner with more news.
It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips!
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com
2005-era photo. This pigeon is dead now.
Court Square and the Main Street Mall used to be overrun with pigeons. They were more plentiful than the squirrels.
In fact, at one point around 2008 the DMC bought a predator, a falcon, to control the pigeon population.
The falcon flew away.
But by 2014 or so, the pigeons were gone.
Well, this week I found them. They hang out on the vacant lot behind KFC at Poplar and Danny Thomas.
People get food and then sit at the bus stop. Naturally, they drop some of that food.
Groups cook out in that lot and feed the hungry. Naturally, they drop some of that food.
The pigeons are there. So if you miss seeing rats with wings, now you know where to find them.
Almost Famous headlines tonight’s Peabody rooftop party.
STIX Downtown gives you 10% off your tab when you show a Redbirds or FedExForum ticket.
There will be a trade contractor outreach for the redevelopment of 100 N. Main on Wednesday, May 22.
The Cossitt Library will have Crafternoons every Saturday in May for kids under 8. Noon to 1:30 PM.
From FOX 13: Final preparations are underway for RiverBeat
Today is World Tuna Day.
May the Fourth Be With You: The Music of Star Wars comes to the Cannon Center Saturday.
Bardog will celebrate Cinco de Mayo Saturday and Sunday with
I stayed out last night. I’m so tired, I can barely type. Back tomorrow.
It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips!
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com
Deion Corley and Curtis B. Scott will play the Flying Saucer’s Summer Saucer Jam Sessions Thursday at 7. No cover.
“The Little General” Andre Turner, who was the Memphis State Tigers’ point guard in the 1980s, has joined Penny Hardaway’s coaching staff.
Two Maseratis were recently reported stolen in downtown Memphis.
The juvie court building on Adams has been closed indefinitely due to asbestos, mold, and lead.
There’s a Code Orange air quality alert in effect for Memphis today.
It’s Phone in Sick Day.
Sabor Caribe seeks a bilingual server.
Longshot seeks a kitchen manager and front of house.
Automatic Slim’s seeks a full-time bartender.
The Lobbyist seeks a host/hostess.
Bad news for Grizzlies and Cardinals fans: Xfinity is dropping Bally Sports.
ABC 24 has a look at the Green Beetle.
I’m currently reading The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer. I checked it out of Memphis Public Libraries’ e-collection and am reading it on my phone. Great book; good stuff on letting go of what’s stressing you in life, what’s holding you back. I think those who enjoy the works of Eckhart Tolle would appreciate this book.
Allergies are killing me. Back tomorrow.
It’s free to read this blog, but I gratefully accept tips!
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn
Cash App: $Paulryburn1
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com