Author: paulryburn

The Olympic Games are underway. Amid the stray dogs and unfinished hotels, the Winter Games will be going on for the next two weeks. Kooky Canuck will have specials going on during the games. Any time there is an event on ice, they will have $2 Blue Kamikaze shooters. Any time hockey is on TV, they will have $4 34 oz. Labatt Blue on draft.

In celebration of Chinese New Year, the Belz Museum of Judaic and Asian Art is having a Family Day tomorrow with free admission. There will be activities and crafts for kids, a storyteller, cultural performances, and raffles. The event kicks off at noon. If you aren’t familiar with the museum, it is in the Pembroke Square building, with the entrance next door to the Blind Bear. More info here.

The Grizzlies will give away free fake neck tattoos to the first 5000 fans in the door for their February 21 home game. The tattoos are in honor of new Grizzly James Johnson, who has a neck tattoo.

A few more hours at work, then WEEKEND! Back tomorrow (probably) with more news.

The South Main Association is starting a monthly Happy Hour, to be held the first Thursday of the month, and the first one is tonight at the Green Beetle from 5:30 to 7:30 this evening. You do not have to be an SMA member to attend. There is no set agenda, and it is just a chance to get to know your neighbors. The Beetle will have $3 draft beer, house wine, and well drinks, and as always there will be buckets of 5 bottles of beer for $10.

The FedExForum Grand Lobby will open at 6:30 AM Saturday (that’s not a typo, AM) for ESPN GameDay. Coach Pastner is hoping that University of Memphis fans will pack the place and make Memphis look great on TV. Coverage starts at 10 AM on ESPNU and 11 AM on ESPN. It’s your chance to be on national TV! More info here.

If any Downtowners are going to the casinos Saturday night, watch out: There will be a DUI checkpoint on Third near Shelby Drive. Better designate a driver or catch a casino shuttle.

Tamp & Tap will have a watch party for “The Walking Dead” premiere Sunday at 8 PM. $3.50 craft beer, $4 “Alive Inside” espresso & OJ.

The MBJ reports that clothing boutique Muse will move into the former Art on a Hot Tin Roof space at Main and Gayoso. Muse is currently located at 546 S. Main.

There is a winter weather update on the MemphisWeather.net blog. To summarize: We could get a dusting of snow this afternoon. We could get some light snow tomorrow afternoon and evening. Winter weather is possible Monday afternoon into Wednesday and we could see snow, sleet, or freezing rain. SERIOUSLY??? Haven’t we had enough of winter?

Nice article about restaurants by the Majestic Grille’s Patrick Reilly in Memphis Magazine. You can read it here.

Cafe Keough has a Facebook page that you can “like” to keep up with happenings there. They posted their menu this morning. They also posted that the Side Street Steppers will be performing there tomorrow night from 7:30 to 10.

All right, time to munch a chicken southwest salad while having fun with SQL. Back tomorrow with more news.

Yesterday after work I went to the Flying Saucer and ordered my usual Dos Equis Lager at the bar. One of the servers came up to me and said, “Paul, look at the Fire Sale board. Do you notice anything different?” Every day they select a different craft beer to sell at a discount price (except Monday, which is Pint Nite and almost all the drafts are discounted). For the past four or so years, the Fire Sale has been $3 a draft. However, when I looked at the board I saw this:

The Fire Sale price had gone up to $3.50. I posted a pic to Facebook, and not surprisingly people complained. Kirk the general manager got on and commented, explaining that they waited to do it as long as possible and that they were the last of the locations to implement the price increase. He also said that the price increase would allow them to Fire Sale a wider, better range of beers. (Not sure a pear cider is the best way to make that point, but some people like it I suppose.)

I was joined by a friend who was on his way to the Memphis-Rutgers game at the FedExForum. He had praise for the Let’s Move Down smartphone app. “Once you have a cheap ticket and are in the FedExForum, you can find some really good deals to upgrade to much better seats. I went to a game on a $7 ticket, and at halftime I was able to move to seats about 10 rows back from courtside for only about $10 more.”

The Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives airs tonight at 10:30 on the Food Network. Thanks to @MemphisOnTV for the tip.

In case you missed the news, CVS will stop carrying cigarettes and all tobacco products. Management felt that they could not in good conscience promote themselves as a champion of health care while carrying those items. CVS hasn’t always had the best reputation in Memphis but I have to say this is a very, very good move.

The Grizzlies host the Dallas Mavericks at the FedExForum tonight at 7. This could be the battle for the Western Conference 8th seed in the playoffs, so it’s an important game.

That’ll do it for now. Back tomorrow with more news.

Dishcrawl’s latest Downtown restaurant crawl is scheduled for Saturday, March 8, and it will be a trolley brunch crawl. Participants will take the trolley to three Downtown restaurants for delicious brunch food. More info here.

The Tigers take on Rutgers at FedExForum tonight. Tip-off is 6 PM. The game will be on CBS Sports Network.

ESPN GameDay will be here for Saturday’s game against Gonzaga. Coverage begins on ESPNU at 10 AM, ESPN at 11 AM. Game time is 8 PM.

New apartments are in the plans for South Second Street, across from Happy Mexican. The back of the apartments will back up to South Third.

The Winter Olympics are only days away. From Gizmodo: Can Sochi get its shit together?

That’s it for now. As usual I will be out at Blind Bear poker at 8. Everyone be safe driving home from work.

Last week I mentioned a bet that had been made on the NFC championship game between Colin, one of the operating partners of the Blind Bear, and his friend Raj. I knew that Raj, loser of the bet, had to stand on the corner of Second and Peabody place for an hour holding a sign. What I did not know was that there was much more to the bet than just that.

I led off at the Blind Bear at noon yesterday, as I normally do for Sunday brunch. I found Colin sitting at one of the poker tables, blowing up helium balloons in Seahawks colors. In the back was a hideous green and plaid suit with enormous green shoes, and a clown wig. That was what Raj had to wear as he held his sign. “This is going to take shame bets to a whole new level,” Colin said.

A lot of people would have tried to weasel their way out of paying off the bet, but not Raj. About 2:40 PM he came in. They closed the curtains to the dining room and Raj changed into the clown suit. Once Raj was dressed, Colin escorted him to the corner of Second and Peabody, where he stood in front of the former Primetime Sports Bar and held his sign.

Raj was a good sport about the whole thing. He danced around holding the sign and wearing his size-40 green clown shoes. I watched the show from the Flying Saucer across the street. Colin came in and invited the Saucer girls to walk across the street and have their photo taken with Raj. Several people driving down Second stopped to pose with Raj too.

Due to the rain, Raj’s sign fell apart about 35 minutes into the hour, and Colin decided he had been through enough humiliation and called it a day. I had taken several pics and posted them to Facebook, and within a couple of hours I was getting “permission to use this photo?” texts and emails from the media. “I’m already planning for next year,” Colin said. “It’s going to be even bigger and better. Funny thing is, I will probably be the one dressed as a clown next year.”

Congrats to Colin on winning the bet, and to Raj for being an incredibly good sport who paid his bet off in full.

If you want to witness a piece of Downtown Super Bowl fun, walk or drive past the corner of Second and Peabody Place around 3 PM tomorrow. You see, two weeks ago, two Downtowners, Colin and Raj, made a bet on the NFC championship game. However, they did not bet money. Instead, they made it a bet of personal pride. Colin’s team, the Seahawks, won the game. As a result, Raj has to stand on one of Downtown’s busiest corners for an hour tomorrow, holding a sign that reads, “I MAKE BAD BETS. Go Seahawks!”

The annual Porter-Leath Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival is set for Sunday, April 27. This is Memphis’ biggest and best crawfish festival and is well worth attending even if you don’t eat the critters. Usually the fest is the third weekend in April, but it’s a week later this year. I checked the calendar and the reason for the date move is that Easter is Sunday, April 20. That means that Rajun Cajun and Beale Street Wine Race will be on the same day for the first time in several years. Dammit Jesus, why couldn’t you have been crucified in February when there’s nothing going on? I wish the two fests could figure out a way to waive the open-container law on Beale between Second and the river that day. It would be sweet indeed to get a Call-a-Cab from Wet Willie’s as a walkaround and walk it back to the crawfish festival.

Winter weather is a possibility tomorrow night. MemphisWeather.net has the details.

Like long-range forecasts? Yesterday I discovered that AccuWeather does a 45-day forecast. Of course, who knows how reliable it can be that far out, but here’s the good news: Only 2 of the next 45 days are predicted to have highs in the 30s, and no highs in the 20s. Also, after a week from tomorrow, no lows below freezing are predicted. I hope they’re right!

Another thing I like about AccuWeather? They don’t name winter storms. None of that Cleon, Dion, Electra BS. I’m getting sick of the Weather Channel and am going to rely on AccuWeather from now on as my national weather website.

If you won’t be in front of a TV tomorrow, here’s how to watch the Super Bowl online.

From the Consumerist blog: Hold your burger this way to keep toppings from squirting out when you bite into it. You’re welcome.

The Tigers play a road game against SMU at 1 today. Game will be on CBS Sports Network. A lot of people don’t realize that this is a big game. SMU is a very good team but doesn’t have the reputation of our foes Louisville, UConn, and Cincinnati. I won’t make a prediction on the outcome of today’s game but I will make this prediction: As today’s game goes, so will go the Tigers’ chances of making the Sweet 16 in March.

Random pro wrestling video of the week: CM Punk’s matches in TNA 2003-2004. You may have heard that Punk, one of WWE’s top stars, walked out on the company this week, right in the middle of the buildup to WrestleMania. The video linked here is two and a half hours of footage from the days when CM Punk was young and TNA didn’t suck.

That’s the news for now. As usual I will be out at Bardog at 11, then figure out the rest of the day.

Tonight is Trolley Night on South Main. Many of the shops will stay open until 9 PM or later. This month there will be live music inside Douglas & Associates, Sache, Art Jamn, D’Edge Art, Grawemyers and New World Connection Cultural Center.

Tomorrow will be the annual Polar Bear Plunge and Chili Cook-off at Mud Island River Park. The event benefits the Special Olympics and things get going at 10:30 AM. The plunge into the chilly Mississippi happens at 3.

From Gizmodo: County-by-county map of how much snow it takes to cancel school across the U.S. All of West Tennessee is in the green (any snow) area.

Need a job? Community app Nextdoor is hiring community organizers for Memphis.

The Redbirds are hiring as well. They’re looking for bat boys, boardwalk attendants, and new members of the RedHots promo team. More info here.

Williamsburg is considered the “hipster” area of Brooklyn. From Gawker: Find the Williamsburg of your city. For Memphis, it’s a tie between South Main, Cooper-Young, and Overton Square.

From WREG Live at 9: Chilean sea bass cooking demo by Chez Philippe.

That’s the news and now we’re only a few hours a way from a much needed weekend. Take it easy and I’ll be back with more news tomorrow probably.

I try to check Groupon every morning to see if there are any deals Downtowners might be interested in. No Downtown deals, but I know a lot of dog owners read this blog, so I want to mention a deal I did see: Home dog boarding from rover.com. You can browse profiles of local dog lovers who will board your dog while you’re away. The Groupon deal is good for up to 63% off.

Time for a few pieces of Super Bowl news: I have learned of two more Downtown restaurants offering take-out platters for Super Bowl house parties. Double J is offering 48 sliders for $48, with choice of two sides excluding asparagus. You can also get 24 sliders and 5 dozen wings for $99, or one dozen wings for $9.

If you want sushi at your Super Bowl party, Bluefin has a catering menu.
If you plan to order catering from any restaurant for your party, best plan is to call as far in advance as possible.

If you want to get out to watch the Super Bowl, the Flying Saucer will have Pint Nite all day and evening for Super Bowl Sunday. From opening time at noon until closing time at midnight, almost all draft pints on the wall will be only $3. Pint Nite will also happen on Monday as usual.

People ask me from time to time if the Downtown bars get uncomfortably packed for the Super Bowl. No, most don’t. There is so much competition between all the bars that day that most of them are average-busy, probably a little busier than the typical Sunday but not packed to the gills. Still, it’s a good idea to get there an hour (or more) early to get a good seat, wherever you go. If your destination is known as a good place to watch sports (e.g. Max’s Sports Bar), may want to get there even earlier.

Discount on tickets for Youth Villages’ Soup Sunday ends January 30. Get tickets here.

Eat Local Memphis has good coverage of brunch at Rizzo’s Diner. Nice photos of the meatloaf sandwich and the catfish benedict.

In the news: Wine-in-groceries bill passes committee vote in TN house

From WMC: Beware of $9.84 charges on your credit and debit cards, often listed as from “customer support.” This is a small charge scammers use to determine if a card is active. If you get one of those $9.84 charges it is a sign you may be about to be hacked. I have enabled text alerts on my phone so I will know about those charges on my card immediately.

You’ve probably heard about the snowstorm in Atlanta that caused 940 accidents and left people stranded in their cars overnight. The deal was, they knew 1-2 inches of snow was predicted for the city, but it hadn’t started by morning rush hour so everyone went to work and school as normal. STUPID. Don’t listen to all those people who say, “Wait, we’re closing offices and schools because it MIGHT snow?” Listen to your intuition. If YOU think it’s going to get bad, stay home and keep your kids home from school. By the way, MemphisWeather.net says we might have an icy weather event next Tuesday or Wednesday.

That’s it for Wednesday’s post. I’ll be out after work, probably leading off at the Silly Goose.

I got more information on the gaming systems at Tamp & Tap. Kevin Cerrito who does the Wednesday night trivia there reported that they have an N64 as well as an original NES, and a great game selection too.

The Green Beetle emailed to let me know that going forward, they will have $3 Wiseacre drafts (Ananda and Tiny Bomb) and $6 Beetle Burgers all day on Tuesdays.

The Silly Goose will have its 5th anniversary party this Thursday. Start time is 9 PM. Congrats to the Goose on hitting 5 years.

If you’ve ever wondered what a career coach can do for you, check out this interview on Action News 5. My friend Angela Copeland talked about her coaching service. I was just talking to her the other day about some of the consulting she does, and believe me, if you want to jump-start your career, you should talk to her.

The Eat Local Memphis blog has a good post about Felicia Suzanne’s. It talks about the new patio and “the shack out back.”

It’s official: The Hard Rock Cafe move has been confirmed. The Hard Rock has filed a permit for $2.5 million in renovations to the building at 126 Beale. The article says the building last housed EP Delta Kitchen in 2008, but that’s incorrect: It was the short-lived Republic Nightclub after that.

That’s it for now. Time to go run errands in the freezing cold. Most likely I’ll be out at Blind Bear poker tonight at 8.

Join Mayor Wharton for “Out to Lunch on Beale Street” this Friday, January 31. At 11:30 AM the Mighty Souls Brass Band will promenade down Beale. At 11:45 the Grizzlies Claw Crew, Rockey Redbird, the Amurica photo booth, music and more will be at Handy Park. Join the mayor for lunch and rediscover America’s most iconic street.

Follow @mmfa1784 on Twitter to learn which fire trucks are browned out each day. Today there’s just one browned-out truck, in South Memphis.

Downtown is losing an auto repair shop. Madison Automotive at 440 Union will close at the end of this week. The shop’s Covington Pike location will remain open.

Walking down Madison this morning, I noticed that the space formerly occupied by Jack Yacoubian Jewlers near Second Street is for lease. That block is starting to experience a comeback, with the Brass Door, Mad Earl, and Havana’s Pilon all thriving. Hopefully something good will go in there.

Saw this on Facebook yesterday: Follow these tips and live hangover-free for the rest of your days

I saw on Twitter that Tamp & Tap has a Nintendo 64. Pretty cool.

The Flying Saucer has some new menu items, and I tried one yesterday: Queso fondue.

You get your own pot of fondue, with ham, bratwurst, veggies, and pretzels to dip. This is a LOT of food! TWo people could easily split it and get plenty to eat.

That’s it for now. Everybody keep warm; next two days are supposed to be bitter cold.