Author: paulryburn

About 6 last night, Trucker, the lost dog from yesterday’s blog post, was found and returned to Panda and her daughters. He was at Poplar and Goodlett, so he was probably trying to return to Midtown which was the area where he grew up.

Back at lunchtime with a news and tube top post.

A couple of random things I learned this weekend:

1) There are people who get paid to travel the country and have medical students give them prostate exams. That has got to be the worst job ever. I think I would sleep under the I-40 bridge and push a shopping cart full of aluminum cans around before I would do that.

2) There is a Christian rock remake of “Baby Got Back” called “Baby Got Book” (meaning, the Bible). That would probably convert some people, for sure… but to atheism.

That’s the great thing about being Downtown, that I have a large group of friends that I can get together with and discuss ideas. Of course, they’re mostly really stupid ideas, but still, ideas.

A second Aldo’s Pizza Pies will open soon in Midtown. The new restaurant will be at 752 S. Cooper in the former Two Way Inn building. According to the MBJ, the restaurant will have only six beers on tap, as opposed to the 30 at the Downtown location, and will probably serve personal pizzas rather than the Downtown pizza-by-the-slice option. Midtowners, get ready… GOOD pizza is coming your way!

The weekly trivia night at Tamp and Tap will have a special theme this week: The TV show Friends. Trivia is hosted by Kevin Cerrito at 7 on Wednesdays.

The Flying Saucer kicks off a five-week campaign to raise funds for Pints for Prostates this Wednesday. For the next five Wednesdays, the Saucer will tap a special German brew with a special glass. Those who purchase the glass will be entered into a drawing to win the trip of a lifetime to Bavaria and Franconia in Germany to tour breweries and other sights. This fundraiser happens at both the Memphis and Cordova Saucers, as well as the 14 other locations. Last year the Saucer raised $32,000 for Pints for Prostates.

Thanks to everyone who helped make Brewery Untapped happen. It was awesome. I hope yesterday was not my last time in the brewery.

Thanks to everyone who posted and shared this morning’s post about Trucker. He has possibly been sighted a couple of times in the Perkins area.

I’ll be out at Bardog for Monday with Melissa after work today. It’s possible we may have a special guest…

 

My friend Panda who bartends at Bardog and who sometimes wears tube tops has lost her dog. She recently moved to East Memphis, in the area of Perkins and Princeton right off Sam Cooper. The dog’s name is Trucker, and he has spent most of his life in the Annesdale Historic District area (Sledge Avenue) and he may have headed back there. Green collar with see, hear, and speak no evil monkeys and a Harley Davidson dog tag with correct phone numbers on it. Chocolate and peanut butter in color, Katahula breed, 60-70 pounds, loves to run, very fast. Panda’s daughters miss this dog very much, so any help you can provide to get him back would be greatly appreciated.

This is it. The last day that the Tennessee Brewery will be open for Brewery Untapped. If you love the brewery and hate it that it may be torn down in August, GET DOWN THERE. Let’s pack the place. Let’s have so many people standing outside on Tennessee Street waiting to get in that the trolley has trouble getting through. Let’s make a statement. It may not work but let’s make it anyway.

If you’ve never been, there is a beer garden serving local and regional craft beer, there are food trucks, there is a game room and there is a large outdoor patio that is perfect for good times with friends. It is the ultimate social space.

If you buy beer between 12 and 6 today, you get a $1 token refunded to you. You can place that token in a donation box for the charity of your choice. Today’s charities include Peer Power Foundation, Mid-South Food Bank, Grow Memphis, the Mid-South chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the New Ballet Ensemble and School.

You will have plenty more days to watch baseball. You will have plenty more days to lay out by the pool. You will have plenty more days to hang out at Bardog or the Goose or the Bear or wherever. You only have one day left to be at the brewery. GET DOWN THERE. If it rains, deal with it. I’ve been soaked twice in the past 15 days and I survived. You will too. GET DOWN THERE.

The brewery is open from 11 to 9 today. I have to admit I may need a tube top snuggle bunny to deal with the sadness when it closes if anyone wants to help with that.

GET DOWN THERE.

I almost went to Italian Fest yesterday. I had an offer to split a cab, and at least one booth I was guaranteed to get into and several others I probably could as well. I met my friends at the Silly Goose after work. I kind of wanted to go. A lot of my friends talk about how much fun they have at that festival, and believe it or not I’m not opposed to the idea of going to East Memphis if there’s something that interests me out there. The rain situation looked iffy, though. Two rounds of rain had already moved through, and I had heard that Marquette Park gets even more muddy than Tom Lee Park. It was clearing out at the time but a look at MemphisWeather.net radar showed a huge cell over Tupelo and Oxford. “That bad boy is probably going to hit Memphis in about two and a half hours,” I told my friends.

Two things were the deciding factors. My friends got texted a photo of the ground outside the booth we had been invited to. There were at least three inches of mud. Then there was another text. “If you cab down here, don’t get dropped off at the gate. Have the cab drop you off at Target to buy rain boots.” Well that did it. There would be no Italian Fest for me. I hated to miss wet tube tops but I just could not deal with the mud. I had a relaxing evening with a few BBQ teammates at the Blind Bear then called it a night.

In the news: A flight from Los Angeles to Boston had to make an emergency landing in Kansas City because of a large dog pooping in the aisle. The dog pooped as many as three times and the crew on the plane ran out of paper towels to clean it up. Passengers nearby were getting physically ill because of the smell.

If any of my readers live in the St. Louis area, 18 Redbirds games will be broadcast on KTRS 550 AM this season. Here’s a list of the games.

The Belz Museum of Judaic and Asian Art is showing the movie Gandhi today at 12:30. Admission to the museum is included in the price of the movie. The museum is inside Pembroke Square on the Main Street Mall.

There’s a “Memphis in Gay” burlesque and drag show hosted by Julie Wheeler tonight at 8 at Earnestine & Hazel’s.

One of my neighbors in my apartment building reported that a bachelorette party fought and puked outside Paula & Raiford’s last night. See, this is the kind of free entertainment you just don’t get if you live in a cookie-cutter neighborhood in Collierville or Southaven.

It looks like the joint BBQ team takeover of Brewery Untapped is set for tomorrow. I got a text last night that nearly all of Squeal Street will be there, and quite a few of the Moody Ques will be as well. If you’re on or are a friend of either team, come on down.

Off to Panda’s bar at Bardog to start the day. Rest of the day is unplanned after that, although I don’t see Italian Fest happening for me today.

 

 

We’re thinking about getting a large Downtowners/Moody Ques/Squeal Street group together to do a takeover of Tennessee Brewery Untapped on its last day, Sunday, June 1. I put it out there on Facebook a little while ago but wanted to mention it here too for those who aren’t on Facebook or don’t check it often. If you want to meet up shoot me a text. It looks like we will be starting fairly early, with some of the group getting there right at opening at 11. I doubt I will get there THAT early (after all it would be rude to not stop at Bardog for a beer) but I should be down there by 1.

It’s South Main Trolley Night, with excellent shopping, dining, and entertainment in the South Main District from 6 to 9 tonight. There will be entertainment by Yancy and Yancy @ D’Edge, Joe Sanders & Friends @ Art Jamn, Joe Guyton @ Charlotte, Mara Danielle @ Sache, Eric Crays & 30 Paces @ Chapman Furniture, Ashlee K. Thomas & Ashlee Wilson @ Memphis Thing, Swampkatz @ Bocce Ball Court, Pistol & the Queen @ Earnestine & Hazel’s (9 p.m.), Savannah Long @ Green Beetle, Chelsea Chandler @ Douglas & Associates, and Isis Dance Academy @ Ghost Lot. There will be a reception for Inspired by Marisol: A Sculptural Response at Cafe Pontotoc. Vendors will include Pink Pig Apparel, Kingfish Metal Works, Art by Meredith Wilson, Kari Fieskes Jewelry. The weather is looking beautiful for tonight and spring Trolley Nights always get packed, so why not throw on a tube top and come on out? Or, if you don’t have a tube top, you can buy one at the shops on South Main.

There’s going to be a new Friday night outdoor concert series called Memphis Jams on Beale, presenting free outdoor concerts at Handy Park (the pavilion at Third and Beale) Fridays at 6:30 PM. Here is the lineup so far:

June 6: Memphis Music Foundation presents Chinese Connection Dub Embassy
June 13: United States Navy Band Showcase
June 20: Goner Records presents Jack Oblivion & The Sheiks, The Nots, Tyler Keith & The Apostles
June 27: Shangri-La Records presents Marcella and Her Lovers
July 11: Memphis Music Foundation presents Dead Soldiers
July 25: Shangri-La Records presents The Grifters
August 1: Nancy Apple’s Rhythm & Roots Revival

There’s a Development Officer position open at MIFA. Details here.

That’s it for now. Unsure whether I am going to Italian Fest or Trolley Night tonight, so the idiot who follows me everywhere (except to my BBQ team booth) will have to deal with incomplete information. Happy weekend everyone.

Tonight is jam-packed with fun stuff to do Downtown. The event I will be attending, weather permitting, is the Start Co. Lounge at the Tennessee Brewery. This is a chance to connect with creative types, innovators, tech enthusiasts and others who appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit that is brewing in Memphis. This weekend is also last call for Brewery Untapped. The Start Co. Lounge happens from 5:30 to 7:30 and the brewery is open until 9. Start Co. was our BBQ team sponsor this year. If any of my fellow Moody Ques want to join me, bring it on!

Tonight is also the first Peabody rooftop party of Tube Top Month, and from what I have been hearing a lot of people are really excited. A lot of ladies plan to have their finest tube tops on tonight. The band Hollywood will provide the entertainment. Doors open at 6, $10 to get in, ladies free until 7. Admission includes a buffet of pasta salad, deviled eggs, and fried chicken legs.

It’s a big night at AutoZone Park too. The game tonight vs. the Iowa Cubs (7:05 first pitch) is the CBS Sports Network nationally televised minor league game of the week. The Redbirds organization want to pack the park and show how much Memphis loves baseball. They are enticing fans to come with $3 Bud and Bud Light drafts, $2 popcorn, and $1 hot dogs.

There will be a Crop Hop 5K on Friday, June 20 at 6:30 PM to benefit the Memphis Farmers Market. Race will begin and end at the market pavilion. Details here.

Outta here for now. I hope the weather holds up this afternoon so I can get to the brewery.

Rest in peace, Maya Angelou.

My friend and career coach Angela Copeland has released her first podcast. She interviews Amy Ware from CBU Career services. You can listen here. If you want to get to a better place in your career, you need to be following Angela. She’s on Twitter at @CopelandCoach.

A new cafe is opening on Beale. The Withers Collection, a photo gallery and gathering place of the works of photographer Ernest Withers, has added a cafe next door to its 333 Beale location. The cafe will be called Dorothy Mae’s. More info here.

Following Memphis in May, Riverside Drive will be closed for two more weeks as the city implements a pilot project that will reduce car traffic to two lanes while increasing bike and pedestrian space. Once the street reopens, it will remain in that configuration for 12-18 months. More info here. Glad to see this additional step to make Memphis more bike-friendly, but I have to admit I don’t like it that no public input was sought before making this change.

Brass Door Bingo will be Thursday this week instead of tonight. 7:30 start time.

There’s a Groupon for Memphis Segway Adventures. You can get a $75 value tour on a Segway for only $39. There are also two-person and four-person options. Great way to learn about Downtown’s landmarks and history and maybe do some tube top watching too.

The Orpheum kicks off its summer movie series with a double feature Friday at 7 PM. Night of the Living Dead and Zombieland will be shown in honor of the annual zombie walk, which departs from Army/Navy Park in South Main at 6:30 sharp.

All right, outta here. I’ll be out at the usual places after work, probably leading off at Silly Goose.

There’s one festival left in the Memphis spring festival season, and unfortunately it isn’t Downtown. It’s the Memphis Italian Festival at Marquette Park, at the corner of Park and Mt. Moriah, in (forgive me for the two blasphemous words I am about to type) East Memphis. It’s a lot like BBQ Fest in that it is a Thursday-Saturday festival, teams compete in cooking categories, and they build elaborate booths. You have to be a team member or invited guest to enter the booths and sample teams’ food. There is also food sold to the public, and live music.

I haven’t been to Italian Fest in a few years, but I could probably be talked into going if I can find a few Downtowners who want to split a cab Friday night or Saturday. If I do indeed make it out to East Memphis, someone better take pictures, because this does not happen often.

And I guaran damn tee you if I go I am sticking a disposable rain poncho in my back pocket. Not going to get soaked three times in one month.

It’s 38103 vs. 38104, Downtown vs. Midtown, in a friendly game of sandlot baseball Sunday, June 1, at the Farmers Market site at Front and G.E. Patterson. Memphis Made Brewing Co. and the Local Gastropub Airstream will be on hand selling beers and brats. Game time is 5 PM.

If you’re not sure what’s going on with the Grizzlies organization these days, Chris Herrington has a good article on ESPN.com. Read it here.

A very cool initiative has been launched this week. Create Memphis is a sort of “idea map” where people can post ideas to better their neighborhoods. There is no commitment expected on the person who had the idea to make it happen. Others can vote on ideas, and the hope is that someone will pick up an idea and run with it. Read more about Create Memphis here.

Morrissey plays the Orpheum tonight. Tickets are still available and you can get them here.

The Hungry Memphis blog has a post about Nacho’s, the new place on Jefferson in the former China Restaurant space. Thanks to that post I learned the hours: 7 AM to 5 PM Monday-Friday.

I had a fun Memorial Day yesterday, spending much of it at Bardog where I was lucky enough to have drinks with some great local businesspeople: Cordell and Tawanda of Jack’s Pirtle’s Fried Chicken, and Jeff Stamm of Double J Smokehouse. About 5 I was alerted that I needed to come to the Saucer, where there was an excellent tube top dress seated at the bar. Unfortunately I didn’t get a pic.

Getting a haircut after work (the last time I got a haircut was a few days before Stumbling Santa) then will be out after that. Undecided whether I will take part in Blind Bear poker tonight.

Before I start today’s post, THANK YOU to all who have served this country. If it were not for you, I would not be here doing the things that I do. And then there would be no Tube Top Month. That would be a shame.

So, yesterday I went to Bardog and hung out at Bloom’s bar for a few hours. Then a few of us migrated to the Silly Goose. I have a bad habit of not eating when I go out for a day of PBR and Fireball. My BBQ teammate Dusty, who was bartending, brought this out.

“Paul, this is yours if you’ll take a picture and blog about it,” he said. The photo really doesn’t do it justice. It was a huge breakfast sandwich with sausage, bacon, egg and cheese on a muffin. Those are au gratin potatoes covered with cheese on the side. Both were really, really good. The flavor of the bacon stood out in particular. The Goose is really stepping things up lately, with a lot of remodeling, a new Sunday brunch menu, and a new hand-crafted drink menu. If you haven’t been in the Goose lately, you need to give it a try.

Foursquare informed me that I’m only a few days from regaining the mayorship of the Goose. My buddy better not miss any more days…

And now, it’s time for the tube top dress picture of the day.

All right. That’s it for now. Time to go walk in Bardog with wet hair for the third day in a row.