Author: paulryburn

Tonight my trivia team not only won best team name at the Blind Bear, but we won the whole damn shebang too. I thought it was the first time ever I have been on a team that won best name, but I was informed it happened last weekend too. Fair enough. There were a lot of shots last Wednesday.

Charles incorrectly quoted a Fireball sale price at $5 and my fav pair of librarian glasses corrected him to $3. “$5 for Fireball is kind of a rip-off,” Charles said. “SEVEN AT SAUCER!!!!” I replied. Hi Kirk!

Back to Blind Bear… while we’re on the subject, Pam & Terry play tomorrow night, Thursday September 24, at 10:00. Come check them out.

Chef Michael Patrick of Rizzo’s posted this afternoon that he had an incredible Pulled Pork Enchilada Omelet at Bedrock Eats at Main and Vance. When someone with that kind of culinary credibility compliments food, you need to take notice.

There has been a rumor going around that plans to revitalize the French Fort neighborhood south of Crump will include moving the Metal Museum to a new location. Developer Chooch Pickard got on Facebook today and said that rumor is completely, 100% false. The museum will not move from its current building.

Very cool: The Pope is ditching Congress to have lunch with the homeless. It’s a reminder that the church exists for the poor.

The past few days I’ve gotten robo-calls from scammers from local numbers starting with the same first three digits as my own number. Beware of taking calls of this type from numbers that are not in your Contacts.

From the CA… ArtSpace pushes toward the finish line. Live/work space in South Main for artists.

Home from the bars. Rare before-bed post but there was a lot of news today. Celebrating being almost entirely transparent on here and on social media and owning who I am. In general, WYSIWYG – what you see is what you get with me. That’s how I prefer to live my life. Off to bed.

A few of my friends have created a GoFundMe account for Sunday’s Best, a nonprofit that feeds as many as 200 people in need on Thanksgiving. The page tells the story of many people who have not had a family Thanksgiving in years, not because they are criminals or addicts, but simply because they are down on their luck. $5 will feed a young couple; $10, a family of four. If you can spare a donation, I can promise you my friends will put it to good use. 

A celebration takes place on South Main tomorrow from 4:30 to 7:30. It will be between MLK Avenue and Pontotoc, and will honor the recipients of the Downtown Vision Awards. Jason D. Williams, the Memphis Grizzline, and DJ Mark Anderson will perform, and there will be complimentary food truck tastings and refreshments. Free food? Wonder if the… oh wait, she doesn’t live here anymore. Well, the Nuh-Uh Girl may not be there, but I will. The event is presented by the DMC and the Chisca on Main.

Speaking of the Downtown Memphis Commission, I have mentioned a couple of times that Paul Morris who runs DMC is stepping down at the end of the year. A candidate has been selected to replace Paul: Terence Patterson. I do not know Terence personally but his credentials sound impeccable, and a ringing endorsement from Paul Morris is all I needed to read to know DMC has found the right man for the job.

Agave Maria has announced a new build-your-own-burrito special at lunch. Also, the restaurant is now serving complimentary chips and salsa for lunch.

This Friday is the 15th anniversary of South Main Trolley Night. Two trolley buses will parade from Beale to G.E. Patterson with grand marshal Ms. Kay Woodard, who was the hostess of the first Trolley Night. There will be art, live music and more up and down Main Street starting at 6 PM. Here’s a Memphis magazine article about Trolley Night. Complete list of Trolley Night activities can be found here.

A route through Downtown has been set for October 31’s Race for the Cure.

I want to close out this post by saying THANK YOU to my friends who have been there for me lately. Some of you have really proved you are true friends and I want to mention Clay, Katherine, B-rad, Lacey, Tony, and Rahul specifically. I appreciate you more than words can express.

Yesterday was MFM@TEN, a celebration of ten years of the Memphis Farmers Market. It was held at the historic Tennessee Brewery. There was live music from Star & Micey, and great food from area restaurants… and from my BBQ team the Moody Ques. We had planned to enter three regional cooking competitions this fall, but two of them got cancelled. With extra time and extra pork on our hands, we stepped up and cooked butts and strip steak for the Farmers Market party.

I planned a full photo album, but about two-thirds of the images were ruined by a nasty thumbprint on my camera lens. I still got some good shots though.

Team vice-president Clay manning the grill

Our cook Erik had some expert help assembling the skirt steak sliders from Chef Michael Patrick of Rizzo’s Diner.

Paella by Chef Patrick Reilly of the Majestic Grille

Skirt steak, fresh off the smoker which still does not have a name.

Clay and Erik getting the food ready

Last memory of the brewery as we knew it

The Moody Ques will take this coming weekend off, then a week from Saturday we will be competing in Best Memphis Burger Fest at Tiger Lane. We’ve done several practice burger cooks and feel well prepared. Perhaps we will have to scoot our 2015 BBQ Fest trophy over in the case to make room for a Burger Fest trophy.

All right, that’ll do it for now. My plan for this evening is Melissa Monday at Bardog, a Blind Bear visit, and maybe a $3 pint or two at the Saucer.

MFM@Ten, a celebration of ten years of the Memphis Farmers Market, is tonight from 5 to 8 at the Tennessee Brewery. Live music by Star & Micey; beer; wine; food by MFM vendors, as well as local restaurants including Amerigo, McEwen’s, Belle Diner, The Farmer, Felicia Suzanne’s, and Rizzo’s; and as you can see in the photos above THE MOODY QUES are cooking!!!!! Tickets are $50 at the door and it is a fundraiser for the Famrers Market. Come support your local food system!

 

If you’re heading out to Cooper-Young Fest, MemphisWeather.net has said that one of the forecast models indicates showers passing through between 1-3 PM. However, it is not thought to be enough of a threat to change your plans.

Best Memphis Burger Fest is two weeks from today, on Saturday, October 3. Worried about having to choose between the festival and college game day? You don’t need to be. Seth Instagrammed this pic of HDTV antennas and ensured potential attendees that they will have your game watching needs covered. Teams including Weekend at Porky’s, Squeal Street, and the 2015 BBQ Fest trophy-winning Moody Ques will compete. As a former judge, I know that part of the burger’s score is based on appearance. No team knows more about decorating than the Moody Ques, so that’s a bonus. The cooks met earlier this week, and I have a $5000 electronic whiteboard being delivered Monday with six different colored electronic markers. I plan to use it to map out load-in for the MQs for Burger Fest.

The “Guardians of the Ribbon – Pink Heals Tour” comes to Beale Street tomorrow from noon to 5. Firemen in pink suits driving pink fire trucks will be on the street to raise awareness and money to fight women’s cancer.

There’s a Game Day Operator position open and ANC Sports. The operator would work Grizzlies games, ensuring that scoreboards and other equipment are all functioning properly for a smooth game day experience. The job description looks like an IT background would be handy.

I probably am going to remain Downtown today and not deal with the madness in Cooper-Young. Not totally opposed to going if the right offer comes along, but most likely the plan will be Panda Time at Bardog, D-RANKS with B-RAD at Blind Bear, and then back to the Bear for a birthday party tonight. It’s a black & white party which means all the girls will be dolled up to the nines and I will have a black T-shirt and white shorts on. Now that I think about it, my flip-flops are black too, so I will be totally staying within the theme. One of the flip-flops has a hole in it. I guess I should buy a new pair soon. Anyway, for now I am outta here, back tomorrow or Monday with more news.

I made a last-minute decision to play poker last night at Blind Bear, and ended up coming in fifth. I don’t play regularly anymore, but when I do play I have to say, what a great group of people with whom to sit down at a poker table. I enjoy playing with all of you.

High Cotton’s taproom is adding a trivia night on Fridays, starting tonight. 7 to 9 PM, prizes to top three teams. Tonight the Fish From Heaven food truck will be parked outside.

Early voting begins today. Action News 5 has links to a sample ballot and voting sites. The CA has a report on last night’s mayoral debate.

Chicken fried steak alert: Friends of mine ate at Tin Roof last night and they said that chicken fried steak is the special every Thursday. They said that the white gravy looks amazing. I will have to check this out soon.

From the Flyer: Chef Ana Gonzalez of Bleu takes the Farmers Market Challenge at Memphis Farmers Market.

FedExForum has released additional tickets for the October 7 Foo Fighters concert. Get them here.

No plans at all for this evening, but I will be out somewhere. I’m open to leading off at any of my “Big Five,” so I will look at Swarm and Facebook after work and see where folks are out. Ready to enjoy a beautiful late summer weekend.

As I’m sure you heard by now, Facebook is rolling out a Dislike button. I have to admit, I didn’t understand the point of such a button. Then Daniel from the Silly Goose reported that Sam’s Club is playing Christmas music on September 17. Now I get it.

It’s Apple-Pickin’ Time at the Memphis Farmers Market this Saturday. The Market has apples by the bushels, and they are a low-calorie snack (only 80 of them) with no fat, cholesterol, or sodium. Live music by Paul Waits 8:30-10 and Adam Levin 11-12:30. 7 AM to 1 PM Saturday at the pavilion at the corner of Front and G.E. Patterson.

Are you the kind of person who doesn’t typically carry cash on you, instead paying for everything with a credit or debit card? No problem, you can still get everything you want at the Memphis Farmers Market. Bring the card to the information booth, and you can get tokens to spend at vendor booths. SNAP cards are accepted too.

In other Farmers Market news, don’t forget that this Sunday (5-8 PM) is MFM@TEN, a celebration of ten years of the Market. It will be held at the Tennessee Brewery, with live music by Star & Micey. There will be food by local vendors, as well as restaurants including Amerigo, McEwen’s, Belle Diner, The Farmer, Felicia Suzanne’s, Rizzo’s Diner, and more. Beer, wine, auction items. $40 advance tickets, $50 at the door, $20 for non-alcohol tickets.

The CA has a review of Five Spot, the restaurant behind Earnestine & Hazel’s with a new menu designed by Chef Kelly English.

Big score for the zoo: It has landed a James Beard Foundation dinner. The dinner will be hosted in the Teton Trek Lounge on October 8, and two of the participating chefs are from Memphis.

The Grizzlies have announced an open practice Tuesday, October 13 from 1 to 2 PM at FedExForum. It will ne preceded by a plaza party.

There’s a job opening for a front desk agent at the Downtown Quality Inn.

Another job opening: Bridge Builders seeks a Participant Tracking Coordinator.

Well, this is cool… the Volkswagen Bus is coming back, but as an electric model.

Home from work, time for beer. Happy hour at the Silly Goose is my first stop, then I will figure the rest out.

Between 2003 and 2010 I attended many performances of rockabilly band The Dempseys and got to be friends with them. About eight years ago Dempseys singer/guitarist Brad Birkedahl invited me to his house for a July 4 cookout and I discovered that he has a second passion in addition to music: vintage 1950s cars. Well, now Brad and his fellow entrepreneur, Brandon Cunning, are combining those two passions into Rockabilly Rides, a new tour company in town. They are both Elvis lovers in particular, and they recall that Elvis used to love to drive his friends around Memphis. You can’t ride with Elvis, but Brad and Brandon can give you a ride in the next best thing: A 1995 Chevy Bel Air or a 1959 Ford Fairlane 500 Skyliner Galaxie in which you can see the town as Elvis saw it. Check Rockabilly Rides out if you’re a fan of The King or classic cars.

On Friday, September 25 at Marshall Arts in The Edge, a new concept to present public art and secure funding for projects will be presented. It will be called “The Collaboratory: The Edge Survey,” led by artist Catherine Pena and showcasing public art concepts for The Edge by eight artists selected by the DMC. Since spring the artists have brainstormed and blogged about their concepts for The Edge. In early October, the concepts will be presented to the DMC for funding consideration. You can meet the artists on the 25th from 6 to 9 at Marshall Arts.

The Commercial Appeal has rolled out its new website. There is no hard paywall anymore: Non-subscribers can read up to a dozen articles a month. Take a look.

The paywall coming down means that Chris Herrington’s guide to the 2015-16 Grizzlies schedule is now available to non-subscribers.

Newman Farms ground pork tacos are the featured $2 tacos at tonight’s Tacos and Tunes on the patio of Felicia Suzanne’s, 7-10 PM. $2 tacos, $5 cocktails, live music.

There’s another singer-songwriter night tomorrow from 7 to 9 PM at 550 South Main. The lineup is ‘out-of-towners’ Amanda Ashley and Angie Keilhauer, first-timers Christopher Jones and Amber Rae Dunn, plus Zeke Johnson, and 4-timer Andrew Cabigao.

South Main Book Juggler’s events go beyond mere book signings. Tomorrow night there will be a BBQ sauce signing there! The creators of Uncle Murle’s Tennessee Crafted BBQ Sauce will be on hand. You can taste-test the sauce, buy a jar, and get it signed. 6-9 PM tomorrow.

The Brass Door will be open early this weekend for the Rugby World Cup. Lineup of games can be found here.

One of Memphis’ largest outdoor street festivals, the Cooper-Young Festival is this Saturday from 9 AM to 7 PM. If you’re a new Memphian and don’t know what top expect, Holly has an excellent guide. Tip #7 (embrace the insanity) is especially worth reading.

I will probably be back with a second news post around 5:30 this afternoon. I have Memphis Farmers Market news and we will see what else I can find to talk about.

Breaking foodie news: Brookhaven Circle’s chefs Andrew and Michael are opening a restaurant in the Chisca. It will be named Catherine and Mary’s for the chefs’ grandmothers, and will have an ambiance that matches the historic nature of the building. Pastas and open-fire cooking will be featured.

Rizzo’s Diner Chef Michael Patrick is locked up for MDA today and won’t be released until he raises $800. You can help break him out of jail here.

I can always count on MemphisWeather.net (@memphisweather1) to tweet out lots of useful information. Today MemphisWeather.net linked to another weather site’s article, Which college football teams are the most likely to have their games delayed by lightning? Number 5 on the list is Arkansas (tied for 5th), the highest-ranked school not in Florida. Arkansas State was 20. Memphis was not in the top 20, with an 0.64% chance of having a lightning-induced game delay.

If you’re going to Cooper-Young Fest Saturday, be sure to stop by City Market’s grand opening at 836 South Cooper. City Market has been a great resource for Downtowners and I am sure that Cooper-Young residents are going to love it. Great salads, great breakfast sandwiches, great deli, great smoothies. I took home food from the grab & go last night.

The CA’s Chris Herrington has a really well-written article: On the scene at Monday Night Raw at FedExForum Monday night.

Didn’t know this: The CA has an “Outside the Loop” blog for people who live in suburbia.

iOS 9 is out. Here’s how to download it.

That’s it for now. I will be out at the usual places after work, leading off at Silly Goose probably. Might play trivia at Blind Bear later in the evening. Back after work or tomorrow with more news.

Pints & Putts is a new disc golf event happening on the patio of the Downtown Central BBQ every Wednesday from 5 to 8 PM. You get $3 local Memphis Made drafts when you present your putter disc, and it is $3 a round to play. Proceeds support Memphis Athletic Ministries. They have some cool-looking Central BBQ discs you can purchase.

Tickets are now on sale for Howl at the Moon, the annual fundraiser for Streetdog Foundation, a wonderful organization that fosters and adopts dogs that otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to find a good home. The event is Saturday, November 7, at The Warehouse on the northeast corner of Front and G.E. Patterson. There will be food, live music, live and silent auctions, and a photo booth. 100% of the money raised goes to the dogs.

It’s been going around social media the past day or two, but in case you haven’t seen it, Thrillist has a list of 50 iconic Memphis foods you must try before you die. There are three on here that I most definitely agree with:

• #9 – Lobster Pronto Pup at Rizzo’s – one of my favorites since the days when I went to EP Delta Kitchen on Beale
• #34 – Vodka Pizza Pie at Aldo’s Pizza Pies – yummy alternative to a tomato-based pie
• #48 Sea Bass at Tsunami – a dish I had back in my Midtown days and early Downtown days when I was more willing to drive out there. Delicious.

Not a Downtown event, but worth mentioning: a festival celebrating breakfast is taking place on Broad Avenue September 26. Wait a minute… this thing has cooking competitions? *Withdraws $4 from Moody Ques bank account, heads to Kroger to pick up some frozen Eggo waffles* Hey guys, I’m not thinking about putting the waffles in the mircowave either… I’m leaning toward a cooking method that will get them… extra well done, shall we say.

(I alluded to the BBQ device I’m not allowed to mention on here anymore )

Great article on the Halloran Center for Performing Arts and Education in the Daily News this week.

From Gizmodo: How to use your iPhone’s LED flash for notifications. This is very handy and something I have used for several years.

Read this story if you have kids. More and more kids are swallowing hand sanitizer because it’s sweet and it tastes good. Trouble is, hand sanitizer is almost all alcohol and it is making kids very sick.

The Downtown portion of Third Street becomes B.B. King Blvd. tomorrow.

That’ll do it for now. Possibly another post 5:30-6:00ish today.