Author: paulryburn

BREAKING NEWS from the Memphis Redbirds: “Due to travel complications with tonight’s opponent, Colorado Springs, tonight’s game has been postponed. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader this Saturday, with the first game beginning at 5:05pm. Tickets for tonight’s game can be exchanged at the AutoZone Park Box Office for any remaining 2014 home game, excluding all fireworks games.”

Former Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins put his foot in his mouth in yet another interview. Hollins, the new coach of the Brooklyn Nets, compared living in New York to living in Memphis, saying, “Memphis is like, compared to New York, it’s back in the stone age when you didn’t have electricity or something.” Lionel. Just stop giving interviews. I like ya, I hope you do well in Brooklyn (except when playing the Grizzlies), but just shut up.

Bluff City Coffee tweeted that they’re looking for experienced baristas for afternoon and evening shifts. If interested, email your resume to info@BluffCityCoffee.com.

There’s a Wizard of Oz sing-along tonight at the Orpheum. Sing classic songs like “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” with the characters on the big screen in this classic 1939 movie. Doors open at 6, movie at 7. Come early dressed as your favorite character for drink specials and an audience-participation costume parade.

Meanwhile, over at the Peabody, it’s the weekly rooftop party. Live music by Al Paris & the Heartbreakers with special guest Chromeo. Admission is $15 this week, with ladies and hotel guests free before 7. Admission includes a buffet of fried catfish, mac & cheese, and hushpuppies. If you’re in VIP you get a second buffet of fried chicken, fried okra, and country ham biscuits.

*Sigh* Tourist says she was scammed at Downtown parking garage. I hate hearing stuff like this. The thing is, a lot of these guys who run scams are pretty smart. They know where to stand so you don’t see the “do not pay any person, pay the box” signs and know exactly the right angle to use to get your money. If it wasn’t for the fact that they’re unreliable and smoke crack, many of them would make good salespeople.

The Hungry Memphis blog paid a visit to Riverfront Bar & Grill, the new restaurant in Beale Street Landing.

Work duties permitting, I hope to be back out at the usual places this evening at the usual time. Not getting out until 9 last night gave me cabin fever!

Downtown agency RedRover, once a graduate of a startup accelerator program, is giving back. The agency is celebrating its #RoverRefresh campaign and its own new logo by offering to give away a logo refresh to one Memphis-area startup business. The logo refresh will be pro bono, or “on the doghouse” as they like to say. Nominate your favorite startup here. You have until noon on Tuesday, July 22 to nominate.

This fall you may be able to watch NFL Sunday Ticket, carrying all out-of-market games on Sunday, without a satellite. The NFL is considering offering streaming to computers, mobile devices, and gaming devices. Very cool. Probably not good news for Max’s Sports Bar though!

Construction will reduce the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River to two lanes in each direction beginning today. The bridge is being reinforced to withstand up to a 7.7 earthquake.

The Silly Goose has added a local beer to their draft selection. Memphis Made Soulful Ginger is now on tap. They had to take PBR off tap to make room, although they still have it in cans. I’m perfectly fine with losing PBR draft. It’s great to see the Goose support a fine local business.

Here’s the Facebook event listing for the Best Memphis Burger Festival on Sunday, September 21 if you want to post that you’re going or see who is. Your $7 entry fee will benefit three local dog charity groups. I just learned this afternoon that my friend and fellow blogger Air Traffic Mike will be a judge at the event. I wonder if he will bring noted food blogger Pepe’ El Desatascador to be a judge too?

All right. Time to be on call for work and wish I were at a bar. I may be out later.

Got a request for my readers. I didn’t go to the trolley meeting Monday night, but a friend of mine who was with me at Bardog got a text that “the trolley meeting is getting a bit heated.” Can anyone provide details? Email paul@paulryburn.com if you can.

In related news, MATA chose a new general manager at a board meeting last night. Keep in mind he was hired the day after the trolley meeting and can’t be blamed for anything that happened there.

Tiger basketball news: Josh Pastner is expected to hire Keelon Lawson as an assistant by the end of the week. Lawson has three sons who are top prospects for college ball within the next five years, and a fourth son who is a sixth-grader.

Downtown agency RedRover has a new logo. It’s part of the #RoverRefresh campaign in what is expected to be a big year for the agency.

The Grizzlies have posted a photo of the 2014-15 Grizz Girls and video of their final audition last night at the Orpheum.

@ObsidianPR tweeted a good Henry Kissinger quote this morning. “If it’s going to come out eventually, better have it come out immediately.” Very true.

Pink Pig polos, formerly sold Downtown at Shelton Clothiers, are back in stock at the Poplar, Union, and Cordova Outdoors Inc. locations. They also have a new item: Pink Pig performance T’s.

Like to read? Amazon is prepping an unlimited Kindle book rental service that will likely cost around $10 a month.

High Ground news about national developer Artspace’s plan to renovate United Warehouse at 138 St. Paul into artist studios and living space.

Plans for tonight: Nothing. This is going to be a rare day when I don’t do happy hour. My company is kicking off a 12-day tournament in Las Vegas this afternoon, and I need to be available in case there are issues posting results. So, I’ll spend a rare evening at home, probably giving the apartment a much needed cleaning. If I get the all-clear on the results I will be out about 8, but I really don’t care too much if this is completely a night at home.

My friend Angela Copeland of Copeland Coaching released a new podcast today, and it is a must-listen if you are looking for a job or think you might be looking soon. Angela got an interview with Glassdoor.com, the Webby Awards #1 “Best Employment Site,” and specifically with Scott Dobroski, Career Trends Analyst. Scott shares great insights on how to perform salary negotiation, how to determine if a company is the right place for you, and how to level the playing field in your job search. He talks a lot about how Glassdoor.com offers salary data that allows people to really know how much they’re worth. You can listen here, or download it for free on iTunes by searching “Copeland Coaching Podcast.”

Angela is a Downtowner who performs one-on-one career coaching and who writes the “Career Corner” weekly article for the Memphis Daily News. She releases a new podcast every Tuesday morning, so if you listen and like what you hear, be sure to check iTunes or her website, CopelandCoaching.com, for new episodes.

I saw on Holly’s blog that there is a petition to bring Google Fiber to Memphis. You can sign it here.

This next item is not Downtown news, but still might be of interest to my readers. There is a free concert at Minglewood Hall this evening, with Moon Taxi and Wild Club. The event is presented by Budweiser, and here’s the information you really want to know… there’s free beer. That’s right, free beer. Apologies for the last-minute notice, but I didn’t find out about this until mid-afternoon, too late to get into the lunchtime post.

Change of plans. Leading off at the Goose tonight. Time for a PBR.

What a crazy afternoon I had yesterday. Heavy storms were heading straight for I-55 as I was wrapping up the day at work, so I stayed put for about 15 extra minutes. I missed the rain, but there was a wreck on 55 North right before Malfunction Junction, and I could see that there must be another wreck on 240 North around Norris because traffic was all backed up. “No problem, I’ll stay on 55 and take Riverside home,” I thought.

After dodging another wreck on 55, I got on Riverside to discover that there was a train stopped on the tracks and I couldn’t turn onto any of my usual routes home – Union, Monroe, Court, Jefferson, Adams. I had to get on 40 east and get off on Danny Thomas, then weave through a bunch of side streets. What a pain. WTF was that train doing there? This is not Highland and I am not on my way to class!

I guess I can’t complain too much, though. I heard that power was out from Cooper-Young to points east. Downtown is on a double circuit so we don’t have to worry about that. Also, there was Courtney in a tube top dress to brighten my evening:

Quote from last night (not mine): “There are three levels of hot. Level 1 is, I’d listen to her fart over a cell phone. Level two is, I’d drink her bath water. Level three is, I’d eat the corn out of her shit.” In case you’re wondering what kind of stuff we talk about at Monday happy hour at Bardog, now you know!

Okay, let’s get on to the news. TJ Mulligan’s in the Pinch is closing at the end of the month. They hope to remodel and open later, but for the time being they will be closed. It’s a shame Bass Pro didn’t finish on their original schedule. if they had, the Pinch would be booming and Mulligan’s would possibly not have had to close.

Want to get a first-hand look at what first responders do in an active-shooter drill? You can volunteer to be a victim for drills at Wolfchase on September 14 and Oak Court Mall September 28.

The MBJ has a photo of the new college playoff championship trophy.

Former Memphis Tiger Joey Dorsey has signed a two-year deal with the Houston Rockets. He’s been playing overseas the past several years. With the Rockets, Dorsey will play a backup role to Dwight Howard.

I’ll be out at the usual places after work. Flying Saucer is my likely first stop, although I may not stay depending on who’s working. Undecided on whether I’ll play Blind Bear poker at 8.

Damn. They’re killing Archie.

The Grizzlies posted photos of the Grizz Girls auditions.

The city’s cease-and-desist letter to Lyft and Uber is not keeping their drivers off the streets. The companies are telling drivers to keep driving, that “we’ve got your back.”

Thanks to one of my readers who sent me this article about tube tops. I’ve posted stuff like this before, but there’s some interesting new information: Tube tops are a very popular clothing item in the virtual world Second Life. A tube top in Second Life costs about 100 Lindens, or 38 cents U.S. dollars, or it did as of the time of the article. I wonder if there’s a Tube Top Month in Second Life.

There are only 10 tickets left to the Memphis Made beer dinner at Bardog Thursday night. See last Thursday’s blog post (the first one, there were two) for the menu. Call 901-275-8752 to reserve your ticket.

The Majestic Grille is donating $50 gift certificate to people who purchase season tickets to the Orpheum 2014-15 Broadway season through August 4. Season includes Phantom of the Opera, Once, A Christmas Story, The Lion King, Kinky Boots, and Motown the Musical. Call 901-525-3000 or visit the Orpheum counter at Booksellers at Laurelwood and use the code “MAJESTIC GRILLE” to redeem the offer. The Majestic offers a special “pre-theatre menu” prior to each Broadway show.

The Brass Door is closed for a week and will reopen with a new menu and new events next week.

Plans for tonight: Melissa Monday at Bardog then will figure out the rest from there.

Great news for Downtown Memphis this morning. Old Dominick, a high-end spirits distillery, will open at 301 S. Front by the end of 2015. It will be opened by D. Canale, a beverage distributor which has been in Memphis for many, many years. There will be a tasting room (yaaaaaayyyyy!) The distillery is named for company founder Dominic Canale.

Major pickup for the Grizzlies: The team has signed Vince Carter, a shooting guard and NBA All-Star who most recently played for the Dallas Mavericks. He is in the twilight of his career, but still, he will give us some badly needed depth at the wing.

From the Daily Mail: Taylor Swift shows off her slim figure in tiny tube top on outing with her parents.

Author Samantha Crespo will sign copies of her book 100 Things to Do in Memphis Before You Die this afternoon at 5 at A. Schwab. There will be complimentary hors d’oeuvres. A new classic cocktail menu by head soda jerk Patrick Gilbert will be available. There will also be non-alcoholic beverages and frozen goodies for sale.

Cafe Keough will have $3 mimosas tomorrow from 11 to 6. Those should pair nicely with their great breakfast menu.

Team I don’t care about plays team I don’t care about in a sport I don’t care about at 3. Maybe I should drive out to Fox & Hound Cordova so I can watch it in a bar I don’t care about. Right now it’s time to get dressed and get to Panda’s bar at Bardog for my usual Saturday visit.

I had email and text conversations with the two team co-founders today. They absolutely do intend to have the team wrap-up party, where team members will be invited to give feedback about the 2014 experience and plan for 2015. The reason they haven’t set it up yet is that the team has leftover bills to pay from 2014. As soon as that gets cleared up, we will have that meeting. We are looking at September as a possible time frame. I hope that answers some questions that have been asked this week.

This sucks: City sends cease-and-desist to Lyft and Uber

Events going on tonight: The Dead Soldiers will play Handy Park tonight in the summer weekly concert series. I’ve already mentioned the Green Beetle anniversary party at 5, and Office Space at the Orpheum at 7. Here’s a hint as to what you will find at the Beetle party.

Tomorrow’s Memphis Farmers Market theme is to-MAY-to, to-MAH-to. Or “maters” as my grandfather called them. There will be a tomato-tasting contest from 10 to 11 where you can taste tomatoes from multiple vendors and judge which is the best. At 10:15 there will be a preview performance of Stage Door Productions’ Godspell. Music by Jason Middlekaoff at 7, Heather and Sam at 8:30, Rob Halford at 11. 7 AM-1 PM, Front at G.E. Patterson.

Great feature about our BBQ team sponsor Start Co. on WREG.

Tomorrow is Family Day at the Cotton Museum, with free admission for adults and kids. There will be crafts, snacks, and activities tailored especially for kids and parents. It’s in the Cotton Exchange Building on Union at Front.

Speaking of the Cotton Museum, I was in there last night for Craig David Meek’s booksigning and “‘cue and a” session for his book Memphis Barbecue: A Succulent History of Smoke, Sauce, and Soul. “Mr. Load-in” and The Free Agent were there, so the Moody Ques were represented. Squeal Street didn’t send anyone but I guess that’s okay since their team wasn’t mentioned in the book. There was a BBQ buffet by Leonard’s and High Cotton beer. Craig read a few selections from his book and took questions. Several audience members brought up restaurants that even Craig hadn’t heard about. Maybe there will be material for a second book. Thanks to Craig, Leonard’s, and the Cotton Museum for a good time. Later The Free Agent and I debated which one of us is smarter (I am, although I admit it’s a very close race).

Tentative plan for tonight is to hit the Beetle birthday party. Also, if the Blind Bear’s password for tonight is who I think it is, may have to make a stop there later in the evening.

I read an awesome article and wanted to pass it on: Why women owners struggle with self-approval. Every woman, whether a business owner or not, ought to read this. Come to think of it, men should read this too. The article contains one of the secrets to life. (I’m being serious here. This isn’t another of my tube top posts.)

The 1985 movie Clue is on the big screen at the Orpheum tonight at 7. This comedy/murder mystery was inspired by the board game. Come early at 6 to play a mini-version of Clue in the lobby for prizes and for drink specials.

The Plaintiffs headline the Peabody rooftop party tonight. It’s a casting call for the Memphis Flyer’s fall fashion issue for anyone out there interested in doing a little modeling. $10 admission, doors open at 6, ladies and hotel guests free until 7. Admission includes a buffet of popcorn and Pronto Pups. If you’re in VIP, you get a second buffet with a nacho bar, pretzels, Cracker Jacks, and potato chips. (Is the chef at the Peabody on vacation this week?)

Wiseacre Brewery has announced its beers that it is bringing to the Green Beetle’s third anniversary party tomorrow: Tiny Bomb, Ananda IPA, Try Double IPA, Berliner Weisse, Avast! Pirate Porter, and Kling Klang Dusseldorf Alt.

Plans for tonight: Well, since I have a douchebag who makes a habit of showing up wherever I do, let’s just say I’m making my annual visit to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to observe the mating habits of several species of mountain goats. The douche can’t afford a plane ticket to Bishkek (or even Jackson, TN for that matter) so he’ll have to find someone else’s conversation to intrude upon.