Author: paulryburn

This week I made a life decision. I gave up shots – Fireball, Jameson, moonshine, Jager, all of it. Mostly Fireball. After taking numerous shots during my unexpected vacation week, I saw the effects they were having on my health and decided it was time to give them up. This week I have felt a lot better, I’ve been able to stay out a lot longer, and I’ve spent a lot less money. I’m happy with my decision.

Please don’t be offended if you offer me a shot and I turn it down. Those things were literally killing me and it was time to stop. If I win a “pot shot” at poker I will let it ride until the next hand.

The Downtown Neighborhood Association will host a River Cruise tomorrow at 4 PM. The boat will depart from Beale Street Landing. The captain will discuss the boat, and Jimmy Ogle will discuss historical items of note along the cruise. There are two upper decks for river views and an air-conditioned lower deck for when you need to cool off. There will be a raffle on the cruise with prizes from Double J, Bluff City Coffee, Mid-South Casters & Equipment, Reel 2 Real, Blue Monkey, Peacock Travel, Peabody Hotel, Redfish, Rizzo’s, and Muse. Tickets are $15 in advance and can be purchased here. $20 at the door. Limited to 300 people.

 The Grizzlies are holding auditions for the Grizzline tomorrow at 3 at the FedExForum. If you’re a performer and you have mad drumming skills, come down and audition to be part of Memphis’ premier drumline. You must have some previous drumline experience and be able to sight-read music. Come a little bit before 3 to get your paperwork processed.

A study released this week revealed that MATA’s two trolley fires in the past year were caused not only by faulty equipment but also by poor management. I would have used the word “incompetent” rather than “poor.” Meanwhile, business owners in South Main say their businesses are hurting without the trolleys.

The Flyer has a good article on how to drink a beer featuring tips from owners of three of Memphis’ local breweries. By the way, I may have given up shots but I have not given up beer. I plan to drink plenty of the Cadillac of beers, PBR, today.

Grizzlies single game tickets go on sale at 10 today.

From Bleacher Report: Arkansas is the SEC’s sleeper team of 2014. I would have to agree. Although Arkansas is the only unranked SEC West team at the moment, it is projected that they would be favored against everyone except Florida State and Clemson if they were in the ACC. The Razorbacks play Texas A&M today at 2:30 on CBS. It’s time to CALL THOSE HOGS!!!

I spent a few hours last night hanging out with friends on the Silly Goose’s patio. Perfect weather for it. You know, I’ve avoided the Goose after about 9 on Friday and Saturday the past couple of years – not because of anything about the bar, but because of the crowd. But, you know, last night I had a really good time. And besides, I’ve always had massive respect for what DJ Cody does. I’m going to start going back. Not tonight, though, because there is a small private event not far away that I expect to turn in to a shitshow of gigantic proportions. I want to be there to observe it from a safe distance.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pajamas ACQUIRED for the Silly Goose pajama party tomorrow. I was beyond my cartoon-watching years when the show premiered on TV, so I guess I’ll have to get on Wikipedia and find out who these turtles are. I’ll have my pajamas on at the Goose about 1 tomorrow.

Business as usual today, with Panda’s bar at Bardog my first stop at 11. Unsure where I’ll watch the Arkansas game, but Brad’s bar at the Blind Bear is where I would normally be on a Saturday at 2:30, so if they have the game on I might have a longer-than-usual Saturday session there. Happy Saturday. Get out there and enjoy this weather! Perfect for patio dining and drinking!

 

 

All right y’all, I’ve got to make a run to Target and buy pajamas for the Silly Goose’s pajama party on Sunday, so I’m going to keep this fairly brief.

Couple of pieces of transportation news. First of all, MATA says MATA says it’s likely the trolleys won’t be running again before the end of the year. I don’t think anyone is surprised by this, although it’s still bad news.

Better news: Lyft has cut its fares in Memphis another 10 percent.

Don’t forget that the Big Scoop Ice Cream Festival is tomorrow in AutoZone Park from 11 to 4. All-you-can eat ice cream and other treats. Excellent event for kids.

Also tomorrow, the annual Pride Festival is in Robert Church Park at Fourth and Beale.

The MBJ reports that two nightclubs will occupy the interior of the former Club Crave at 380 Beale by the end of next year.

All right, that’s it, time to go shopping. Undecided whether to head south to Trolley Night or just hang out in the Downtown core after work.

There will be a launch party at 4:30 this afternoon to celebrate the future Madison Pocket Park. Demolition on the old Burger King building, the site of the park, will be christened this afternoon with water balloons, Silly String, and more. There will be music, drink specials, and Yolo frozen yogurt.

In case you haven’t heard, the Grizzlies will give away flip-flops for their home game against the L.A. Clippers. Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and the gang from L.A. are probably the best-known team in the NBA for “flopping,” taking a dive to get unwarranted foul calls on their opponents. No giveaway could be more appropriate.

Excellent High Ground News article on The Art of Science, an exhibit at Memphis College of Art, 477 S. Main, tomorrow evening from 6 to 9. The idea came from two scientists at St. Jude when they were new to Memphis four years ago. They loved the art, but they wanted to find a way to join it with the beauty of science. You can see the result tomorrow.

The Dragon Boat Races are Saturday at Mud Island River Park.

The Silly Goose is holding a “Goose got me loose” pajama party on Sunday. Start time is 1 PM. “Best pajamas win the best item in the house,” whatever that means.

People have been asking me where they can see Best Memphs Burger Fest results. Found ’em.

A new Thursday weekly poker night begins NEXT Thursday (so no game tonight) at Jerry Lee Lewis Cafe on Beale Street. It will be free to play and will be run by Winn who is a regular at some of the other Downtown poker nights. There will be food specials, $3 domestics, and $3 Fireballs during the game for players. 8:30 start time and you get 1000 extra chips if you show up on time.

All right. Time to walk over to the Medical Center District and get my car with its new, expensive cooling fan. I’ll be out at the usual places after work.

Working from home today because the car’s engine cooling fan decided to die sometime while I was on my 11-day vacation. I took the car in, expecting to get it back by lunchtime and drive in. Instead I got “we ordered the wrong cooling fan” and “by the way, the right cooling fan that you need is more expensive.” Great.

Replicas of Christopher Columbus’ ships The Niña and The Pinta will be parked at Beale Street Landing from September 26 to October 5 and will be open for the public to tour. The ships are floating museums that re-create the world of Columbus’ first voyage to America in 1492.

Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera returns to the Orpheum today. The Broadway musical will run through October 5.

South Main Trolley Night is this Friday, with shopping, art, and live entertainment, in the South Main District from 6 to 9 PM. This month you can be among the first to see the Soith Main Mosaic ArtWalk. There will be live entertainment by Rice Drewry & 3 Degrees, The Po Boys, Eric Crays, Evan Farris, Michael Joyner, Steve Reid, Shelly Brown, Savannah Long, and Tim Plunk & Chris Johnson. There will be on-the-spot portraits by Alex Harrison, and hand-bound journals by Renee Hodges.

Diamond Dave, who runs British Bingo at Brass Door and Bardog, just texted me that there will be more British bingo tonight at Aldo’s Pizza Pies.

Friday is Tamp & Tap’s local Kill the Keg Party with beer from local breweries Wiseacre and Ghost River. $2.50 pints from 4 until the kegs run out.

Budweiser of Memphis and Yuengling will be at Downtown Local tonight at 6:30 providing free samples.

Plans for this evening: A walk to go get my car (at least I couldn’t ask for a better day for a walk) then over to Jessica’s bar at Silly Goose as normal. Since I’m Downtown, it’s time to go grab some chili from Court House Deli, then back to work.

Sorry the blog posts have been so sparse for the past 12 days or so. What happened was that a weather event led to me having an unexpected 11 1/2 consecutive days off from work. It was the first time since I got my job in 2009 that I have had an entire week off that was not BBQ Fest, so I decided to go out and enjoy life and neglected the blog a little more than I meant to.

The monthly Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting is tonight at 6, in the High Point in the Pinch, 1 Commerce Street, next to the Balinese Ballroom. Bass Pro will have reps there to give updates on what’s happening with construction in the Pyramid. There will also be an update on prevention of Downtown crime by Councilman Lee Harris and a South Main police officer. Social at 6, program at 6:30, free catering by Ferraro’s Pizza.

Oshi, the new burger bar opening across from Local, is having two exclusive tasting preview parties September 28 and 29. Tickets are $25 and benefit Exceptional Foundation of West Tennessee. You can be one of the first to tast Oshi’s gourmet burgers. More details here.

Photographer Frank Chin did his usual awesome job on the Best Memphis Burger Fest album. View it here.

A Square Meal on Wheels food truck will be at Emerge Memphis this Friday for lunch, 11 to 1:30, Tennessee St. at G.E. Patterson.

The Metal Museum will hold its annual Repair Days October 2-5, where metalsmiths will offer repairs and demos. Saturday, October 4 is Family Fun Day beginning at 10 AM with a free community dinner and art auction and late-night dance party beginning at 6:30 PM.

I went to WWE Monday Night Raw at the FedExForum last night. I agree with this post on Bleacher Report. The overall card was not very memorable, although Dolph Ziggler regained the Intercontinental title and Dean Ambrose was just awesome in general. But: A boring main event that’s been done a million times, a wrestling bunny, no Paul Heyman, no Bray Wyatt, no call-ups from NXT (and I really hoped to see The Ascension). Average show at best.

All right. Home from work, time for beer.

Tomorrow is the Best Memphis Burger Festival, in the parking lot of Minglewood Hall, 1555 Madison in Midtown, from 10:30 AM to 6 PM. Teams will compete to see who can cook the best burger in several categories: Veggie burger, Anything but cow, Extreme burger, and Best Memphis Burger. The event benefits three pet-related charities: Streetdog Foundation, the Tunica Humane Society, and Fayette County Animal Rescue. Some cook teams will offer burger samples in exchange for a suggested donation to these wonderful charities. Since my BBQ team does not compete in Burger Fest, I will be joining forces with Squeal Street BBQ for the day.

In addition to the cooking competition, there will be live music, a pickle-eating competition for the kids, and a slider-eating contest (sponsored by Slider Inn) for the adults. There will also be pet adoptions, a cornhole tournament, and food trucks.

There’s a Build Your Own Terrarium workshop today at Garden Path at the corner of Madison and Marshall. 1 PM. More info here.

John Paul Keith and Mark Stuart play the Harbor Town Amphitheatre at 7 tonight.

A suspicious package was found in the FedExForum parking garage yesterday.

Lots of tribute bands performing tomorrow, with the School of Rock performing a tribute to Green Day and Van Halen at 4. At 6:30 tomorrow there will be a Led Zeppelin tribute at the New Daisy.

In the news: Pabst sells for $700 million to Russian company

All right, time to hit Publish and get this day going. Starting off at Panda’s bar at Bardog as usual.

 

Central Station is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a free concert on October 2. Country band The Grahams will perform in the Hudson Ballroom at the train station. Doors open at 7, live music begins at 7:03. The Memphis Railroad and Trolley Museum, housed in the train station, will have special events October 3 and 4 to celebrate. There will be two special rail cars at the museum on the 3rd. On the 4th there will be free admission with tours of the MATA trolley barn, face painting, and food from the Double J. More details here.

Congrats to Downtown agency RedRover, recently approved for a marketing contract for #memphisairport.

The Downtown Memphis Commission is having their annual celebration of Downtown this afternoon at The Columns at One Commerce Square. Live music by The Soul 7 Band and John Paul Keith and the 145s. The annual Downtown Vision Awards will be presented. Things kick off at 4:30.

The Ghost Town Blues Band performs a free “Sounds of Beale” concert tonight at 7. Handy Park, Third at Beale.

TV personality and author Tavis Smiley will give a talk about his book Death of a King tomorrow night at the Civil Rights Museum. The book is about the last year of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life. 6 PM.

Penn & Teller perform at the Orpheum tomorrow night.

There’s a “Fall is here and so is the beer” tasting at Downtown Central BBQ tonight from 5 to 8. Sample beers with amber, pumpkin, and spice. Live music by the Detective Bureau, giveaways. After all, tis the cheeason, my friend, to quote the guy from the Sonic commercial. Not sure what that has to do with beer, but maybe you could make beer cheese soup with one of the beers from the sampling. If not now, then when?

The Gourmet Grillers food truck will be at Emerge Memphis tomorrow from 11 to 1:30 for lunch. Tennessee at G.E. Patterson.

Want to volunteer in Memphis but aren’t sure where? Volunteer Odyssey just launched a calendar that can help with that.

Charity poker and bunco tournaments tonight at 6 at Blind Bear to fight breast cancer. As you all know I love breasts (especially tube top breasts) so I am all in. If you want to win a prize I suggest you play bunco because I am whooping that ass at poker,

This morning I saw one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen Downtown. I was walking past one of the upscale apartment buildings (no not mine) and there was a notice posted on the front door. Management had detected “the illegal odor of marijuana” and when they figure out where it’s coming from, that person will have three days to vacate. Why would you post something like that on your FRONT DOOR, for the PUBLIC to see? Post it by the mailboxes. Post it by the elevator. But the front door? Really? In my opinion the person who posted that notice made a poorer decision than the person smoking the weed.

And aren’t there e-cigarettes you can buy these days that smell like marijuana? How do you know it isn’t one of those?

For those who don’t keep up with the news, Scotland votes whether to secede from the United Kingdom today. The Daily Beast reports that part of the reason Scots want to secede is the prospect that Prince Charles will one day become King Charles III. I feel their pain. I mean, the Queen is kind of like Elvis in that she may not be your cup of tea, but you can’t help but respect her. As for William and Harry, the kids are all right. Di was cool when she was alive. But Chuck? Chuck sucks. Even back in the 1980s I remember my grandmother telling me that the Queen might issue a decree that then-infant William would follow her in the line of succession because no one wanted to see Chuck as king. You know it’s bad when your own mother thinks you suck.

The Chisca caught on fire last night. It doesn’t sound serious though. It was a 2-alarm fire but that was just due to the size of the building,

The Curb Couture Trashion Show returns Sunday, September 28. You, yes you, can pay $53.49 to see people dressed up in garbage. This ranks right up there with karaoke night and Ole Miss home games in terms of events I plan to attend.

I just trashed the trashion show.

From the Flyer: New rules are coming for Uber and Lyft.

iOS 8 dropped today. Here’s a review.

Don’t forget about the RiverFit pop-up fitness park opening at Tom Lee Park this afternoon. If you get there at 6:30 you can work out with the Grizz Girls.

All right. Gotta get back to other things. I’m creating a detailed load-in plan for Squeal Street BBQ for Best Memphis Burger Fest on Sunday, but Microsoft Excel keeps crashing because this netbook only has a gig of RAM. I guess I can draw the pie charts on bar napkins if I have to. Unlike my BBQ team, Squeal Street has not won a trophy thus far in 2014 and I plan to do everything I can to change that on Sunday. In the meantime, if anyone wants to meet up for dranks I will be at Jessica’s bar at Silly Goose at 4 PM today.

 

Apologies for the lack of blog posts lately. What happened was, we had an ice  cream social at church and somebody ordered a second gallon of peppermint and things got a bit crazy. You know how that goes.

Damn that was some good ice cream.

Bardog is doing a trial run of British bingo with Diamond Dave tonight in the Underdog Room (that’s the downstairs) at 7:30. This is the same Diamond Dave who calls bingo Wednesdays at the Brass Door. It’s also pint night with all pints $3 (including the good stuff, PBR) tonight at Bardog.

The Grizzlies’ new pop-up fitness park has its grand opening at Tom Lee Park tomorrow afternoon from 5 to 7.  You can work out with Kosta Koufos and the Grizz Girls with instruction by professional trainers. They’ll have pre-season vouchers while supplies last. Face painting n’ shit for the kids.

The Blind Bear has sweet tea and Dr. Pepper for lunch now.

Lily from the AT&T commercials? I’d hit that.

The Flyer interviewed the legendary Lance Russell last week. Who’s going to Monday Night RAW six days from now? Me and my buddy Nick are going so look for us on TV. I didn’t buy the tickets but I hear we’re facing the hard camera and they’re pretty good seats. And we’re laying a guilt trip on our buddy Chad to take his boys Louie and Doc to see John Cena even though we think John Cena sucks. Brock Lesnar beat that ass at SummerSlam and I wish he’d killed Cena.

Don’t forget about the charity poker tournament Thursday night at Blind Bear. Prediction: Me vs. Lisa, final two, heads up. Which I will win because I’m much smarter than Lisa.

I actually bothered to highlight text and select the U icon in WordPress. I am awesome.

JJ from Blind Bear just showed me a picture of his new pet which is a bird eating tarantula.

I need a new netbook. This one’s five years old. Do they even make netbooks anymore? Chick who just sat next to me has one of those tablets with a plugin keyboard and it looks like the damn dance floor at Raiford’s.

Sheryl (Jeannette’s mom) just told me I’m the only person from Arkansas she’s ever liked. “And I have to go to Walmart over there.”

All right, time to hit Publish. Possible second post today so check back. Or maybe Friday.