Author: paulryburn

I’m back in Memphis! My troll insisted we take a car selfie before we pulled out of the hotel parking lot in Little Rock.

So, let’s say you’re a guy who has a girlfriend. It’s Valentine’s Day. You give her a Hallmark card telling her how much you love her. You have flowers sent to her home. You bring her a box of chocolates. You take her to dinner at Catherine & Mary’s or Felicia’s or Chez Philippe.

And at the end of the day, she thinks, “He went through the motions. He did everything a good boyfriend is supposed to do on Valentine’s Day.”

“He’s BORING!”

So, here’s a suggestion for a non-boring Valentine’s Day. Take your girl to a burlesque show!

Kitty Wompas’ Cathouse is bringing sexy back to Valentine’s Day at Bardog, Tuesday, February 14 at 8 PM. There will be $5 shots called “James’ cock” and “Melissa’s nipple” during the performance only. “Happy Valentine’s Day baby! I got you James’ cock!” You know ya girl would be impressed.

YOGA! The Saturday before Valentine’s Day, February 11, a special workshop called Love Restored will be held at Downtown Yoga from 4:30 to 6:30 PM. The idea is that too often we give our love away to everyone but ourselves, and this class will allow you to pamper and nurture yourself. You’ll learn how to turn your love inward with restorative poses, sound, self-massage, and guided meditation. There are said to be some sweet surprises in store for participants as well.

PXLS plays a free event tonight at the High Cotton taproom at 7. They will play the melodies of your favorite classic video games while you enjoy some craft beer. This is a family-friendly event. I wonder if they’ll play the music from Pengo? That’s my favorite. Dig Dug is good too. And Frogger of course. I’d love to go to this but my troll is so afraid of brewery taprooms.

Some badly-needed civil discourse will happen at Loflin Yard Thursday from 7 to 9, and you are invited. The topic at The Civil Pour VI will be living in Trump’s America. What does Trump’s presidency mean for those who support him and those who oppose him? America is more divided than ever, and we need events like this one where we can state what we believe in a non-confrontational manner and listen to what the other side has to say and attempt to understand their point of view.

Miss Cordelia’s, the grocery store on Mud Island, has some positions open. They are looking for a full-time prep cook, a part-time dishwasher, two cafe team members and a butcher counter clerk. Apply at the store.

See inside the Tennessee Brewery as redevelopment happens! The Memphis Business Journal has a slideshow.

The next time you order guacamole from Las Delicias and it’s a couple of dollars more expensive than you remember, you can thank President Trump for that.

The Memphis Tigers host ECU at FedExForum at 2:30.

Falling Into Place is the featured vendor at today’s Small Shop Saturday at the Ghost River taproom from noon to 4. They sell candles and Memphis T-shirts and sweatshirts.

My plan for the coming days is to have a perfectly normal weekend and to be off work through Wednesday. My intuition told me that is the right amount of time before returning to work. I got three bereavement days off and am using two floating holidays and three vacation days to cover the remaining time. Since I have been at my job long enough that I get three weeks vacation a year, my BBQ Fest week will not be affected. Monday and Wednesday will be days devoted to closing Mama’s accounts – because “Please hold, a customer service representative will be with you in… twenty. two. minutes” is really what I want to do on a vacation day. (Thank God she didn’t have Comcast.) Tuesday will be a play day. I rarely get Tuesdays off so I want to go see Teryn at the morning shift at Bardog.

The only thing related to my mother I plan on working on this weekend is figuring out what to do with her iPad. I got Mama her first iPad for Christmas 2010 because I didn’t want her to be left behind in the world of touch-screen devices and apps. I also believed it might help keep her sharp mentally and avoid the decline we saw in my grandmother in her final year. I already have an iPad so I don’t need the one I got Mama for Christmas 2014 after the first one became too old to receive current iOS updates. I would like to see it go toward the same intention that I had for Mama, to keep an elderly person sharp and to keep them in tune with current technology. Her church gave me contact information for Calvary Episcopal here in case I felt I needed emotional support from a local church. Perhaps I will call them and see if they have any suggestions what to do with the iPad.

That’s it for now. Blog updates will be somewhat irregular in the coming week, but I will try to post as much news as I can.

Before I get started about what’s been happening with me, I want to post that Abandon Ship will play their first gig ever at Blind Bear Friday night. This is a very talented duo and I have heard them practice. Come out and lend them an ear. They start at 9:30.

On Tuesday I was having a lot of trouble trying to find someone and take my mother’s stuff away so I could hand in her keys and get back to Memphis. After getting about a dozen “no, we don’t do that” responses I called Little Rock’s Union Rescue Mission. They listened to my story – that I’m an only child from our of town burying my mother – and they said “we’ll do all we can for you.”

Indeed they did. Four men and a truck met me at 9 this morning. They were so happy to be there. They saw my mother’s donations and I could tell they were excited that people in need would receive her furniture, clothes, and other items. Even items as simple as a coffee mug were appreciated. I could also tell that, besides the donations they received, they were just happy to be there serving others, having possibly been through some previous rough times. God bless those four men.

I did rescue one item from the Mission truck, my mother’s jewelry box. There’s nothing terribly valuable in there but I want to take photos to send to my cousins. If they can identify anything as my grandmother’s they can have it. I don’t need jewelry. When my mother moved out of her house in 2008, I got the chance to take anything of my grandmother’s I wanted. She had a green plastic watering can that she and I used to water the violets when I was 5. That can is more valuable to me than any jewelry will ever be. That is the only memento I need.

I also have a memento of my mother’s, a love bug she sent me for Christmas 2014.

That’s why I didn’t mind giving away the stuffed animals Mama slept with to her neighbors. I already had my memory. The love bug has been sitting on counter watching over me for two years now.

I expected getting my mother’s belongings out of her apartment to be an all-day task if not more. Thanks to the folks at the Union Mission it was over in just a little over two hours. I drove back to my Downtown Little Rock hotel and then it was time to get lunch. I went back to the River Market where I had eaten the day before.

After checking out the various ethnic foods, I had to go back for a second helping of Indian food. I got the chicken tikka again, but my troll suggested I get the spinach as my second entree because it was the same color (approximately) as her hair. I have to say, it’s been interesting having a troll the past month. That spinach was spicy and I love spicy food, so it was a good call on her part.

Heading back to Memphis after I get some sleep. I’ll be back with another post Saturday or Sunday or so then things will gradually get back to normal.

 

 

For those of you who might visit Little Rock at some point in the future, I have a quick tip about a place that I discovered yesterday: The Ottenheimer indoor market on President Clinton Avenue between Rock St. and River Market Avenue. I had been in there years ago, but it was mostly vendors selling various things. Now it is almost completely a food court.

They have almost any type of food you can imagine, and it’s not Sbarro/Chick-Fil-A mall food court kind of stuff. It’s the real deal. It’s also inexpensive. Among the varieties of food were Mexican, Middle Eastern, Indian, pizza, sandwiches, burgers, Thai, sushi and teriyaki, and cupcakes and pies. Also, I don’t know if any of my readers are vegetarians who travel to Little Rock, but in case I do have such readers, I will mention that there is a vegetarian place as well. The seating is all open in the middle, so if you come with a group or family, each person can get what they want and then all sit together.

There’s also a gift shop selling Little Rock-themed gifts and locally produced items in the market area.

I decided to order from the Indian restaurant:

Two entrees and basmati rice with naan for $8.99 is not a bad deal at all. I got the chicken curry and chicken tikka. The food was excellent!

I wonder how similar this market is to the food hall concept going in at 409 South Main in Memphis. I would love to see something like this wonderful market I visited yesterday in Memphis’ downtown area.

My mother’s service at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church yesterday morning was beautiful and simple, just the way she would have wanted it. Many of her friends from her retirement community attended, as did a former boss of hers and a cousin from the Ryburn side of the family. She will be laid to rest at Forest Hills Cemetery near my grandmother.

I wish so much that the funeral could have been my final memory of my mother, but it’s not. Today I have to go over to her apartment and meet the Union Rescue Mission at 9 so they can haul away her stuff. This is going to be so hard.

My posts are going to be on an infrequent, when-I-feel like it basis for about another week, then things should get back to normal and I will get back on an every day schedule.

Hi everyone. Here’s what has been going on with me, why I had to take a leave of absence.

For about a week my mother, Marilyn Ryburn of Little Rock, Arkansas had been hospitalized with pneumonia. She also had a hernia which the doctors deemed inoperable due to her age and the fact that she had a pacemaker. For a while the medication seemed to help her, but toward the end of last week she seemed to take a turn for the worse. Last Friday I had “the conversation” with her – if surgery for the hernia was necessary to save her life, what were her wishes if she was not in a state to consent or decline on her own. She said she left the matter in my hands. She also told me that if she were in a situation where life support was keeping her alive with no chance for a recovery, she wanted me to ask them to pull the plug.

Saturday morning I woke up to a missed call from 12:33 AM. I keep my iPhone’s ringer turned off at work so as not to disturb my co-workers, and I guess I forgot to turn it back on. The call was from the hospital. The nurse said, “Paul, please call us about your mother,” and left a number. It’s never good when they don’t tell you why they need to talk to you in the voice mail.

I finally got a hold of Mama’s doctor. She had a cardiac arrest and collapsed early Saturday morning. She was in no pain but the only thing keeping her alive was the machines. “She’s not brain dead but she’s completely unresponsive. She’s not coming back,” said the doctor. After consulting with her older brother, my uncle Forrest Green of Prarie View, Texas, I gave them permission to turn off life support.

“Do you want us to keep her on life support until you can drive over from Memphis and see her one last time?” the doctor asked me.

“Would she know I was there?” I replied.

“No,” the doctor said.

“Then don’t wait on me,” I told them. My last memory of my grandfather was of him lying in a hospital bed, near death. I didn’t want that to be my last memory of Mama. I had visited her on Christmas and she sat there in her chair, eating the pecans I had bought for her at the Peanut Shop down the street from where I live. That’s how I wanted to remember her.

“Then we will focus on her comfort and start removing her from our systems. She will be in no pain during her final minutes or hours. Would she want a prayer said over her before we disconnect life support?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, she would like that very much,” I said.

“Okay, then we will have the chaplain come up and say a prayer, then we will start the process,” the doctor told me. “Do you want us to call you right before we disconnect her, or afterward?”

“Afterward,” I told the doctor. “I don’t think I could bear it if you called me before.”

I needed my friends. My friends are very much my family and I don’t know how I would have got through this without their support. I was with my friends Clay and John D, and with Panda, Bloom, Jai and my Bardog family, when I got the call that I have been dreading my entire life.

“Paul, she passed peacefully a few minutes ago,” a nurse told me. “Time of death was 11:08 AM.” She asked what funeral home my mother was using, and arranged for her body to be sent there. Later that day the funeral home called me, confirmed that they had the body, and set a 2 PM appointment for Monday, January 23 to make the arrangements.

I decided not to drive over to Little Rock until Monday morning. That was partly because I couldn’t do much with Mama’s affairs over the weekend, and didn’t want to waste money on unnecessary hotel nights. However, the main reason was that I needed to be around my friends. With Mama gone, my friends are my everything. They are the reason I am going to make it through this.

Monday I went to the funeral home and made the arrangements. Thank goodness Mama pre-arranged everything, and they coordinated with her life insurance for the cost to come out of there. I didn’t even have to write a check. For those of you with children, you will be doing them a huge favor by pre-arranging your funeral.

Then I drove over to St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, the church where Mama was a member and for several years a front desk volunteer. “Have you decided where to have the service yet?” they asked. “We’d be honored to have it for her here.” So I met with Father Danny at St. Mark’s and he asked me a little about her so he could pick Scripture readings for the funeral.

It occurred to me that I now have no beneficiary for my life insurance and 401(k) at work. Over the weekend I identified a charity that I would like to name as my beneficiary. For reasons I won’t go into, I don’t want to discuss it on here but feel free to ask me about it. I emailed them and got their tax ID and other relevant information so I can file the paperwork when I return to work late next week.

Tuesday was the hardest day. I had to find someone to donate all her belongings to, someone who would come and clean out her apartment. After being told “Sorry, we don’t do that” about a dozen times, Union Rescue Mission agreed. They will be out Thursday morning. I was doing OK until I walked into Mama’s bedroom and saw the stuffed animals she slept with. Then I just completely lost it.

Her neighbor had a spare key and I gave the neighbor and others in the building who cared about Mama permission to enter her apartment and take the memories they wanted. I requested specifically that someone take the stuffed animals, and her neighbor did.

I made sure to take care of myself and not do too much on any one day. As you can see from the previous post, I treated myself to a visit to a couple of craft breweries and dinner at one of Little Rock’s most famous restaurants.

About to get dressed and go to Mama’s funeral. I expect to be back in Memphis Friday and probably off work through next Wednesday to grieve and take care of Mama’s affairs.

That’s what’s going on. Forgive me if I am slow to respond to your messages for the next few days.

by Perjorie T. Roll

I’m Perjorie, Paul’s troll. During Paul’s leave of absence, I wanted to make sure something got posted to this blog. I’m over in Little Rock this week. Little Rock makes the best cheese dip!

This was at Izzy’s on Ranch Drive off Cantrell Road. Get the Shrimp Garden Pasta. Warning: The rush hour traffic on Cantrell coming back to I-430 can get backed up for miles!

Tuesday afternoon I went to the Lost Forty Brewing taproom in the east warehouse district of Little Rock. I am terrified of brewery taprooms and looked out the window the entire time. Paul had a beer which I hid behind. Of note: They do not have food trucks as Memphis breweries do. They have their own kitchen and menu. Cheese dip and Petit Jean bacon for $7!

After the taproom, I went to one of the true Italian classics, Bruno’s Italian Villa, for dinner. Bruno’s has been around since 1949 and sponsored the Arkansas Travelers games Paul used to go to in the 1980s. It just doesn’t get more classic than their lasagna.

Next up was another brewery, Blue Canoe. Again I hid.

I’m scared of taprooms but this was a nice little place on 3rd Street east of Rock. There’s a lot of condos around. I hope the neighbors are nice.

I finished up the evening at the Flying Saucer Little Rock where they had 16 ounce cans of PBR. You can’t find that at the Saucer in Memphis. Apparently “those kinds of people” who like PBR aren’t wanted at the Memphis Saucer. Who is that exactly? People with discretionary income who go out every night and appreciate a drinking value? Plastic trolls who stand an inch and a half tall and have green hair? Boo.

That will do it for this post. Paul should be back Saturday or Sunday, although give him mid-week next week to get back into his groove.

Hey everyone I need to take a leave of absence from the blog for about a week to deal with a family matter. Please keep me in your prayers as I am about to do the hardest thing I will ever have to do in my life.

Lots of local brewery news to report today! Thanks to a change in state law, breweries in Tennessee will be able to produce and sell beers as high as 10.1% in alcohol by volume. That will allow Memphis Made Brewing Co. to produce styles like Double IPAs and Imperial Stouts, which were not possible at the previous limit of 6.2%. The first high-gravity release, Slumber Party, an Imperial Stout at 9% ABV, will be released today. It will be available in Memphis Made’s taproom, and a limited number of kegs will be released next week.

Oh, speaking of that taproom? It’s expanding its hours in February. Currently open Friday-Sunday, the taproom will open as well on Monday 4-10 PM and Thursday 1-10 PM.

Another piece of Memphis Made news: I Love Memphis is having a watch party for Grizzlies vs. Jazz on Saturday, March 28 at the taproom at 8 PM.

Bleus and Brews, a beer and cheese pairing and tour, comes to the Wiseacre taproom Saturday, January 28 from 2 to 8. They will pair Snowbeard Barleywine and other beers with a plethora of bleu cheeses. You’ll get to learn about the development of the barleywine style, get a brewery tour, and learn about bleu cheeses from all over the world. There will be blues music in the taproom. Tickets are $20. Sign up on Wiseacre’s website for a 2 PM or 4 PM tour.

Pair to Be Great, a Ghost River beer dinner, will happen at Loflin Yard Friday, January 27 from 7 to 9 PM. Four courses from Chef Andy Night will be matched with four Ghost River beers. Dinner + beer is $65, not including tax and grat. Following the dinner, at 10 PM there will be a free show by Austin-based soul band The Nightowls. Email info@loflinyard.com to reserve your seat.

While we’re on the subject of Loflin Yard, South Side Supper Club is back Sunday at 2. Hmmmm… this could be interesting. Sundays are a dilemma for me, because I want to go down to Loflin and hear my friends play, but I always get comfortable at D-RANKS with B-RAD at the Blind Bear and never make it that far south. However, B-RAD is not working this Sunday. If ever I am going to catch South Side at Loflin, this is the week! If I go I will probably lead off there when Loflin opens at noon. Not sure I’m going to do this, just an idea I’m kicking around.

Make-a-Wish Mid-South will host Wine for Wishes Thursday, February 16 from 6:30 to 10 PM at the Cadre Building. This is a wine-tasting event for young professionals, with a silent auction, live entertainment, and food.

There’s a good article on Patrick and Deni Reilly who own the Majestic Grille in the Daily News today.

The Grizzlies host the Sacramento Kings at FedExForum tonight in the first of back-to-back 7 PM home games.

Follow @MatureTrumpTwts to see what Trump’s tweets would look like if he behaved in a presidential manner.

Let me reiterate that today is about you – ALL Americans. So w/gravity & solemnity, I’ll endeavor to lead you w/strength, dignity & grace. https://t.co/NXBNMSY3VP

— PresidentialTrump (@MatureTrumpTwts) January 20, 2017

The 45th President of the USA pic.twitter.com/kA2SrkJEeS

— History In Pictures (@HistoryInPix) January 20, 2017

I wonder at what point my blog will be labeled “not patriotic” and my domain will be taken away from me… May? June?

That’s it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.

Got a couple of scam alerts to start of this Thursday post. The first one is a bar scam that I personally witnessed. A guy will come in and say that the night before, he and his wife had been in there and someone had spilled a drink on his wife’s very expensive jacket. He will say that the manager told him to bring in a receipt to be reimbursed for the dry cleaning bill. This is totally false. Don’t fall for it.

The second is an email scam that is affecting Gmail users. You will be sent an attachment in an email that appears to be from one of your contacts. When you click on the attachment, you’re directed to a fake Google login page. If you fall for the scam, the hacker will have access to all your email.

The Memphis Redbirds announced a rebrand yesterday that is, in my opinion, gorgeous. The new logos still make it clear that the St. Louis Cardinals are the ‘birds parent MLB team, but at the same time are a nod to nearby Beale Street and Memphis’ rich music history. Among the new uniforms are powder blue ones that were inspired by Cardinals uniforms of the 1980s. You can buy merchandise with the new logos in the online store.

For those of you who haven’t made it to Belle Tavern yet, I snapped a photo of their cocktail menu last night when I was in there. (Click photo to see larger size)

Thanks to Luluemon, the flow is free at a 5:30 PM class at Downtown Yoga tomorrow, Friday, January 20. YOGA!

Fish & Associates, a holistic wealth management company, is going to be buying some beers for people at the High Cotton taproom tonight around 6:15. The Gourmade food truck will be parked outside.

I want to remind everyone to walk where it is well lit and well traveled after dark. Don’t walk down alleys as a shortcut! A woman was sexually assaulted and robbed in the alley between AutoZone Park and Downtown YMCA Sunday at 1:35 AM.

The CA’s Jennifer Biggs reviewed The Dirty Crow Inn on E.H. Crump Blvd.

Renovations are almost complete on the food hall and event space at 409 S. Main.

Small Shop Saturday is your chance to get to know a local vendor while enjoying Ghost River beer in the brewery taproom. The vendor this Saturday from noon to 4 is Makeda’s Homemade Butter Cookies. The cookies are made with 100% pure butter, and the freshness and highest quality are guaranteed.

The Trumpster is preparing major budget cuts for after he takes office, including the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities. However, The Orange One does plan to spend money on military parades. You know, the kind of parades they have in great countries like Russia and North Korea.

There used to be a website called Television without Pity that would feature snarky reviews of popular television shows, particularly reality shows. Guess what… it’s coming back.

From ESPN: Meet Amara Baptist, the Grizzlies’ social media manager. As part of a four-person crew known as Grind City Media, she manages the team’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat accounts.

There was an incident while the WWE Smackdown roster was in the area this week. Randy Orton got into an altercation with a fan at a gym in Jonesboro. However, as retired wrestler Lance Storm writes (if I can be serious for a minute), the altercation was not Orton’s fault. The fan interrupted Orton while he was resting between sets, a violation of gym etiquette. If the fan had waited until Orton was done with his workout routine and then approached him, that would have been fine.

A second story: AJ Styles had cash and belongings stolen while performing in Jonesboro. His bag had $1000 in American dollars and $7000 in Japanese yen in it, along with an iPhone and some Xbox 360 stuff.

That’s it for now. I’ll be out at the usual spot after work.

Congratulations to Elite Total Health Downtown Memphis, celebrating its 2-year anniversary this month. People said, “A clinic will never work Downtown, you should open it out east.” However, Elite proved them wrong! To celebrate two years, they are offering buy-1-get-1 Lipo shots this month. Bring a friend and help them start their weight loss journey. Several of my friends have raved about the weight loss success they have had at Elite.

The city has unveiled a transformation plan to complement the investment St. Jude is making in the Pinch District and to transform the experience motorists have as they arrive in Memphis via I-40. Zip lines and fire, you can’t make this stuff up!

If you want a sneak preview of Old Dominick Distillery, don’t forget that the Memphis Flyer’s 20 Under 30 party is tonight and the public is invited. The distillery is on Front Street near Gus’s.

The Memphis City Council has passed a resolution related to MLGW’s Save the Pennies program. Those enrolled in the program have their MLGW bills rounded up to the next whole dollar, with the difference in cents going to keep the lights on for those in need who can’t pay their bill. The program is currently opt-in, meaning you have to ask to join Save the Pennies. The resolution changes the default to opt-out, meaning you automatically get your bill rounded up unless you tell MLGW you don’t want them to. This will help a lot of families in poverty. Please don’t un-enroll from Save the Pennies unless you are in dire financial straits.

Soccer on the river! There will be a league competing for the Memphis Riverfront Soccer Cup Sundays from March 5 to April 9. Sign your team up to compete.

Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers perform at the Halloran Centre Saturday, February 4. Saxophonist/vocalist Abair has collaborated with Stax legend Booker T. Jones on two of her albums. She was the featured saxophonist on American Idol, she has performed on The Late Show with David Letterman, and she joined Aerosmith for their 2012 tour.

My home state of Arkansas is voting on whether to ban junk food purchases with food stamps. I have mixed feelings about this. Some areas of the state simply don’t have easy access to healthy food choices. I would rather see programs to encourage healthy choices when available rather than a ban on unhealthy ones. On the other hand, it bugs me when I see a sign reading “THIS ITEM CAN BE PURCHASED WITH EBT” hanging next to a king size Snickers at Circle K. I’d be in favor of a ban on such signs, for sure.

It’s Bestie Day at the Fourth Bluff Ice Rink. Buy one admission, get another half off. There will be $1 funnel cakes from 5 to 8 PM.

Jim and Carrie Brock play The Dirty Crow Inn this Friday night from 9 to midnight.

One of the latest exercise crazes to hit the area is to have a yoga class at a brewery, then socialize over beer. However, there’s a new trend that takes the idea one step farther. Over in Germany, students in BierYoga classes drink beer WHILE they are doing yoga. The concept is spreading internationally and has reached Australia. YOGA! BEER!

Russians have minted an In Trump We Trust coin to honor the incoming president of Russia’s newest vassal state.

If you didn’t make it to FedExForum last night, here are the results from WWE Smackdown Live broadcast from the arena. “The Lass-Kicker” Becky Lynch made the rounds yesterday doing interviews with local radio hosts and podcast hosts, as she prepared to challenge Alexa Bliss for the Smackdown Women’s Championship inside a steel cage. Unfortunately the cage did not prevent the mysterious La Luchadora from interfering, allowing Bliss to retain the championship. After the match Bliss and La Luchadora beat down Lynch, and then La Luchadora unmasked to reveal that she was returning superstar Mickie James.

In addition, here are the results from 205 Live, the cruiserweight show which was filmed last night at FedExForum. There was also a dark match following 205 Live where John Cena and Dean Ambrose defeated The Miz and Baron Corbin.

That’s it for now. Family medical situation is improving, for those wondering. Probably out at Silly Goose happy hour after work.

Hi everyone. Please forgive me if my updates are bit sparse and if my wit is not as sharp this usual this week. I have a family medical matter going on that is consuming a lot of my thought.

Next Tuesday, January 24, will be the grand opening of Hotel Napoleon. The boutique hotel is at the corner of Third and Madison in the former Press-Scimitar Building, built in 1902. There will be a reception at the hotel from 4:00 to 6:30 PM.

Country singer Scott Southworth performs at the Green Beetle tonight 6:30-8:30. All tips will benefit MIFA’s Meals on Wheels program.

The Flying Saucer will have its annual Beerknurd Appreciation Party Thursday evening. Just show them your UFO card (or MOU card, if you’ve made it to that level) and have a plate of BBQ and a beer on the Saucer.

You might have free money coming your way if you received a robocall from one of several companies named in a class-action lawsuit.

I don’t know if I have any readers who do yoga and also run, but if I do, Downtown Yoga has a class for you that will help you get in shape for summer running.

Winter Training for Summer Running Success – Sun., Feb. 12 @ 130pm https://t.co/elAiHD3Mpv pic.twitter.com/l8K98BLBMm

— Downtown Yoga (@dtown_yoga) January 16, 2017

There will be a Memphis Women’s March down Second Street (sidewalks and crosswalks) from Adams to Huling between 10 and 12 AM Saturday. The purpose is to promote women’s rights.

I see in my daily wrestling news email that Jerry “The King” Lawler is getting ready to open a second restaurant. This one will be in Cordova, at 465 N. Germantown Parkway. By the way, the Downtown location on Beale Street is probably the best place to see WWE wrestlers after Smackdown Live from Memphis is over tonight.

If you’ve thought about volunteering and want a little inspiration, Mayor Jim Strickland has been volunteering one Sunday a month at a soup kitchen for decades. The WMC-TV cameras caught him serving food at St. Vincent de Paul on Monroe in Crosstown recently.

Loflin Yard has started opening on Mondays from 6 PM to midnight.

Memphis Made will host the the 3rd annual Tilted Hearts pinball tournament from 2 to 6 PM on Saturday, February 18. The tournament is IFPA endorsed, three-strike knockout, $10 entry but no coin drop.

That’s all for now. Apologies if typos.