Author: paulryburn

An ice storm warning has been issued for the metro, including Shelby and DeSoto Counties. Details here.

It’s not doing anything outside as I type this (about 7:30 AM), but freezing rain and sleet are expected to move in sometime between 10 AM and noon. Temperatures will likely remain at or below freezing the entire day. Enough icing on the roads is expected to make a “significant impact.”

Memphis City Schools are open (IDIOTS), Shelby County Schools will have a 3 hour day, DeSoto County Schools are closed.

Check the MemphisWeather.net blog for details. This could be worse than today, when some people I know had a 3 1/2 hour drive home.

The National Weather Service has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for the Memphis metro through noon Tuesday. The MemphisWeather.net blog has a copy of the advisory, but based on computer models they feel it is a very conservative forecast and that conditions could be worse locally. Everyone be careful driving home this afternoon. Don’t tailgate or change lanes suddenly.

The Redbirds have posted a copy of their 2013 schedule to Facebook. You can see game times as well as which nights are fireworks nights.

A new speaker has been added to the lineup for EverywhereElse.co the Startup Conference that will be held at the Peabody next month. Bill Harris, former CEO of PayPal and Intuit, will speak on the topic of “Adult Supervision.”

Do you use Internet Explorer 6, 7, or 8? Microsoft is releasing a critical fix for those browsers. A vulnerability in older versions of IE can allow a hacker to remotely run code on your computer.

Grizzlies host the Clippers at the FedExForum at 7. With Rudy Gay away at his grandmother’s funeral and reserve small forward Quincy Pondexter out with injury, Tony Allen is expected to move up to the small forward position to start. Darrell Arthur will also likely spend some time at the 3 tonight.

Be safe getting home everyone.

LOST PET ALERT: Friends of mine are missing a cat on Mud Island. He’s gray, yellowish-green eyes, gray and black striped tail. His name is Frank. If you find him shoot me an email at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll get you in touch with the owners.

A site I’ve been meaning to blog about for a while is CodeAcademy. Have you ever wanted to learn how to code, how to talk to computers in their own language? This site has hundreds of interactive exercises that will teach you how. I spent some time on the site because so many WordPress plugins and themes use jQuery, a library that “makes magic happen” (slides page elements in and out, makes page elements appear/disappear, move, etc.) I had some familiarity with jQuery previously, but I wanted to be able to read jQuery script as easily as I read the Sunday newspaper. CodeAcademy’s tutorials made that happen. No tutorial is more than 5 minutes long and you can do them at your own pace. Best of all, the tutorials are entirely free.

Besides jQuery, CodeAcademy has tutorial sets for basic HTML/CSS, Javascript, Ruby, and Python. I highly recommend the basic HTML/CSS tutorials if you’re not familiar with those languages. The basics of HTML and CSS are stuff that everyone should know in this day and age. HTML is the language of web pages, and CSS specifies web pages’ look and feel. Next time you’re looking for a job, you’ll have a leg up on the competition with those in your bag of tricks.

Dining with Monkeys reviewed Arepa y Salsa recently. Arepa y Salsa is the new Venezuelan restaurant on Madison near Trolley Stop Market. I’ve linked to other reviews of the restaurant before, but I wanted to link to Stacey’s blog because there are so many good photos. You can clearly see what the difference is between an arepa and a tostone, for example. I want a tostone! I have got to try this place soon. It’s a 15-minute walk from where I live, or a 3-minute trolley ride (plus a 25 minute wait for the f-ing trolley).

In other food news, I visited Bardog last night. I timed my trip around shift change so that I’d get to spend some time at Panda’s day bar, and then at Melissa and James’ night bar. While there, the couple next to me ordered the antipasto platter ($14.99). I had never even seen that on the menu before – must be a new item. When it came out, it looked delicious – big slices of meats and cheeses in Italian dressing along the edge of the platter, with huge piles of olives and peppers in the center. It was presented so beautifully that I thought about asking the couple if I could take a photo before they started eating, but I didn’t know them at all and they seemed pretty into each other, so I chose not to interrupt. I’ll get my own platter soon and take a photo. Only thing is, it’s easily enough for two people, so there’s no way I will be able to finish it. Maybe I’ll eat half and get a to-go box, or order it when the Nuh-Uh Girl is in Bardog and accept her offer of “help” eating it.

Too bad I’m not at Slider Inn right now. They’re filming a commercial and extras in the commercial (including my “DAWG” John D) get free unlimited egg sliders and PBR.

Plans for today: I’m up early enough to go to brunch at the Majestic, so I guess I’ll start there at 11. Later in the day I need to wander over to Flying Saucer and drink my 200th beer. Then tomorrow I can file the paperwork for my 7th plate party. Despite the cold and the rain, it’s still Sunday Fun Day!

A couple of weeks ago Comcast/Xfinity/whatever robo-called me and told me that my cable modem was an older model that would no longer be supported after January 17. So I called their 800 number, and after a bunch of menus and 22 minutes on hold, a lady finally answered. She was very nice and told me a new modem would be shipped to me via UPS, along with a box and shipping label to return my old modem, so it could be taken off my account. The package arrived Thursday, and I did the self-install this morning.

The good news: The self-install worked, and I have a much faster modem. I got all the way through the install without having to call the dreaded 800 support number.

The bad news: The old modem DOESN’T FIT IN THE BOX THEY SENT ME!!!!  So I guess now I get to spend my lunch hour one day next week at a UPS shipping location, trying to get this figured out. Comcast always manages to find a way to make life inconvenient for its customers.

My Foursquare mayorship of Dancin’ Jimmy’s proved to be short-lived. Congratulations to new mayor Wilbur! I still have the Flying Saucer and Blind Bear mayorships.

Blind Bear has a new special: Sofia Saturdays and Sundays. From open (3 PM Saturday, noon Sunday) until 6, you can get $15 Yellow Tail bubbly, or $30 Sofia Blanc de Blancs. They also have their Hung Over Like a Bear brunch menu during those hours.

I’m eating chicken enchilada soup from City Market as I type this. It’s delicious and I highly recommend it. You can find the soup as the same refrigerated case as their prepared dinners. It’s $8.99 but you easily get enough for two hearty meals. City Market has so many interesting foods to choose from. Check out their frozen entree photo gallery.

The Brass Door will have Arsenal vs. Man City on tomorrow at 10 AM.

I’ll wrap up this post with a couple of pieces of beer news. Tickets for Memphis Brewfest, the annual beer festival that happens at AutoZone Park, go on sale Tuesday, January 15 at noon. Attendees can sample all the beers they want for 3 1/2 hours, including samples of many beers not sold in Memphis. The date for this year’s brewfest is Saturday, April 27. Temps should be in the mid 70s by then, so ladies, it’s not too early to start thinking about which tube top you’re going to wear.

If you’re a fan of Brooklyn Brewery beers, or if you don’t know if you’re a fan and would like to find out, mark Monday, February 4 on your calendar. That day the brewery will have a “tap takeover” at the Flying Saucer. Ten beers will be on tap, including

• Brown Ale
• Brooklyn Lager
• Sorachi Ace
• Blast
• The Concoction
• The Companion
• There Will Be Black
• Gold Standard
• Brooklyn Weiss
• Mary’s Maple Porter

The Tap Takeover will take place on a Monday… and loyal Saucer fans know that Monday is Pint Nite! That means you’ll be able to get a pint of any of these beers for only $3. What a deal! If you’re unfortunate enough to live in East Bumblefuck, the Cordova Saucer will have the Tap Takeover out there too.

All right, this post is getting long. Time to hit Publish and go visit my Saturday afternoon bartenders Christina and Panda. Christina will be happy that she’s first on the list today. Keep your eye on this blog, and if you follow me on social media keep your eye there too. Big things to come in the next week.

In my Friday lunchtime post, I totally forgot to blog about my experience playing poker at Dancin’ Jimmy’s on Thursday night. Dancin’ Jimmy’s is in the old Pat O’Brien’s building, and Muruako hosted the game in what is used to be the piano bar, now known as the Napoleon Room. It’s one of several rooms in the building that can be rented out for private parties.

I arrived with two friends about 30 minutes early for the game. As soon as I got there, I checked in on Foursquare, and got an unexpected surprise: I became mayor of Dancin’ Jimmy’s! So it has been added to my portfolio of Downtown bar mayorships that already includes Flying Saucer and Blind Bear.

The Napoleon Room has a giant projection HDTV where the pianos used to be. It literally stretches nearly from floor to ceiling, and the picture is great. If there’s a game on during poker, get there a little early and make sure to get a seat facing the TV.

Another thing at Dancin’ Jimmy’s that is unique among the Muruako-hosted and Blind Bear poker games: It’s the only place where you can get a Big Ass PBR. I started the evening with one and it was $5. From what I saw most of the drink prices were very reasonable.

As for the game structure, it was similar to the other games Muruako runs. 3000 starting chips, first level 25/50, 20 minute levels, latecomers can still get in through the end of the fourth level.

I had a bad beat early in the game. I got dealt pocket Queens, and was delighted to see a Queen fall on the flop. My friend Marty seemed interested in the hand, so I made bets to start moving all his chips toward the middle. By the river there was no possibility of a straight or flush, so I wasn’t too worried about my set of three Queens being beat, even when an Ace fell on the river. Marty went all-in and I happily called. Oops! Marty had pocket Aces and I lost most of my chips. Later in the game my luck improved, and I got all the way to heads-up, where I lost to eventual winner Shane.

There were about 14 players and it was a good first week. The only negative was that with two tables pulled together to make a poker table, the players sitting on the ends were about eight feet apart. It was very hard for them to deal without mis-dealing.

I didn’t get any food but a friend of mine got a cup of gumbo and said he enjoyed it.

Poker happens at Dancin’ Jimmy’s every Thursday at 8 and is sponsored by Fireball Whisky. Free to play, first place wins a $50 gift certificate. “Like” the Bluff City Poker group on Facebook to keep up with the Thursday game and the two other games Muruako runs.

If you like to learn about different cultures of the world, head to South Main this Sunday, January 13. The Russian Cultural Center at 509 S. Main will host Russian Federation Day from noon to 4 PM. This will be a Russian bazaar with music, food, photos, and speakers including Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell.

I saw a comment on Twitter this morning about Comcast’s terrible new logo. If they want a logo that truly reflects their brand, it should immediately bring “waiting” to mind. As in, waiting in an endless line at their customer service center… waiting hours and hours for the service rep to show up for an appointment… waiting forever on hold to talk to a human on their customer service phone line. I experienced that last one earlier this week. Anything over 5 minutes on hold is unacceptable except when there’s a major network outage. I was on hold 22 minutes.

Ever wanted to learn more about the Church Health Center? If so, put Wednesday, January 23 on your calendar. There will be a Church Health Center happy hour on the second floor of A. Schwab on Beale Street. You’ll be able to mingle with friends and enjoy food and drink while learning more about the center. It’s from 5 to 7 PM.

Slideshow: Things Your Bartender Won’t Tell You.

There’s a 20% off Aldo’s Pizza Pies coupon in this week’s Memphis Flyer.

There’s a Pi Kappa Alpha convention in town this weekend. They’re very nice guys, but the convention usually means 200 extra dudes in the Flying Saucer, which is not really what I hope for. I may spend much of the weekend in alternate, less-crowded venues. That’s all for now, got a couple of errands to run. Later!

Edit: see correction to Josh Pastner chat date below.

When I’m out at the bars, I use Evernote to jot down notes on things I hear that I need to blog about. It’s a high-tech replacement for the pen and note cards I carried around for years. So let’s see what notes I took from last night. I tend to abbreviate quite a bit.

“local 3 see fb”

I pulled up Local Gastropub’s page and remembered that they had announced the 3rd birthday party for the Downtown location. It will be tomorrow, Friday, January 11, starting at 9 PM. There will be $2 Fireball shots, giveaways, food specials, and beer and cocktail specials. They promised more details to come. “Like” Local’s Facebook page to read those details as they are posted.

“coming soon bear muder mystery every thur”

It took a minute to stir my memory on this one, partly because I wondered what I meant by “muder” and partly because I got bought a Jameson shot almost as soon as I sat down at the Blind Bear last night. Jeannette told me that they’re going to start a murder mystery night every Thursday. (I don’t think it begins tonight – Jeannette, if I’m wrong let me know.) That will be a lot of fun. Something different, and a 1920s style speakeasy is the perfect venue.

Sad news: Live from Memphis is closing up shop. The independent website covered Memphis music and the creative, positive side of Memphis for 12 years. Please click the link and read their message.

Kerry who writes the I Love Memphis Blog will have a live chat with Memphis Tigers basketball coach Josh Pastner (correction: next Friday, January 18). Got questions you’ve always wanted to ask CJP? This is your chance.

A few years ago, popular restaurant Circa by John Bragg closed its Downtown location (now the Blind Bear) and moved east to the Regalia Center. Many of us missed Circa, but traveling east to Regalia is about the equivalent to traveling east to Thailand in many Downtowners’ minds. Well, good news: Circa is moving back closer to us. Circa is relocating to the old Ronnie Grisanti location at Poplar and Humes. This is a good thing for John and the restaurant, because he can use the additional space. Sekisui is taking over the Regalia location.

I learned something this morning. Most of you who are on Twitter know that RT means “retweet,” but have you ever seen MT used in a similar context and wondered what the difference was? This article explains. Basically, a rewteet (RT) indicates that you did not modify the original tweet at all. If you did, it’s proper to use MT (modified tweet) instead.

So let’s say @twitter_guy tweeted, “Going to Dollars for Doggies this afternoon.”

I could tweet “Me too RT @twitter_guy Going to Dollars for Doggies this afternoon.” and that would be proper.

So would “Me too MT @twitter_guy Goin 2 $ 4 Doggies this afternoon.” if I needed to modify the original tweet to get it under 140 characters. See what I mean?

Plans for tonight: I’m going to check out the new poker night at Dancin’ Jimmy’s (corner bar in the old Pat O’s building) at 8. Prior to that, I’ll get out about 6 and pre-game at the Saucer and/or maybe the Goose. MemphisWeather.net has predicted possible severe weather with damaging wind tonight between 6 and 11. That block-and-a-half run from the Saucer to Dancin’ Jimmy’s may seem more like a mile and a half this evening. On the plus side, it will be warm enough to wear shorts in January, so there’s that.

I’ll try to take some pics of the new poker venue tonight. Happy afternoon everyone.

There was no post yesterday because I finally caught the bug that has been going around. Monday night I was sniffling and coughing a good bit, but didn’t have a fever so I deluded myself into believing it was just a bad allergy attack. Tuesday morning, however, I had a fever and called in to work. I bombed myself with NyQuil and got lots of quality sleep, which I believe is the best medicine of all for a bad cold. Back at work today, and I’ll be out tonight.

Apologies to those I played poker with Monday night. If I had known I was actually sick I would not have come out and passed around cards with you guys. Hope none of you caught it from me.

Speaking of poker, there is a new poker night Downtown starting this week. Dancin’ Jimmy’s, in the old Pat O’ Brien’s building on Beale, will hold a game on Thursdays at 8 PM. Muruako who hosts the Monday game at Silly Goose and the Wednesday game at Double J will run Dancin’ Jimmy’s poker. For more details “Like” the Bluff City Poker page on Facebook.

The Hungry Memphis blog posted about the deep-fried strawberries at Johnny G’s Creole Kitchen. I was just in there Sunday. Why didn’t I try these? Next time they ask “Dessert?” I need to resist the reflex “no” answer.

There will be a Grizzlies watch party Downtown Saturday as the Grizzlies travel to Portland to take on the Trail Blazers. TJ Mulligan’s Pinch will host the party starting at 8 PM. There will be prizes, games, and more.

Like to learn new things? Got a couple of leads for you today. For one, I was surfing Kerry’s blog and learned about a new organization called Guild Local. This organization lets you learn new skills from local teachers at a very affordable price. Recent classes being offered include basic jewelry-making, creative writing, hip-hop aerobics, publicity, film developing, and photo techniques and lighting for any camera. Have an idea for a class you’d like to teach? Have an idea for a class you’d like to take? Get in touch with them. When I lived in San Diego for 6 months, there was a group like this. Glad to see the idea has spread to Memphis. We have much to learn from each other.

Meanwhile, Lifehacker has posted the best online courses from Spring 2013. Take college courses from some of the very best in the field for free. Categories include computer science and technology, finance and economics, science and medicine, social science, classics, humanities, law, and cross-disciplinary courses.

New blog to keep an eye on: Memphis Cup. This blogger has lived in Memphis for a while, but his blog is a journey to conquer Memphis in 2013. When people ask him “Have you been there? Have you done that?” he wants to be able to say yes. So far he’s covered Shelby Farms dog park, Center for Southern Folklore, the Arcade, Belmont Grill, Mosa Asian Bistro, and Gus’s. Thanks to Craig from the excellent Memphis Que blog for making me aware of this.

If you’re looking for a social media/marketing job, the Twitter account @tmj_mem_adv tweeted a couple of them this morning.

That’s not all I’ve got, but it’s all I’ve got time to post now. Coming soon: Info about a new group that will help you make friends as you get fit. I’ll be out about 6 tonight. People pre-gaming for Tigers will probably take over the Saucer, so I’ll probably look for an alternate initial venue until they leave for the game at 7.

I’m starting today’s blog post with another Groupon deal. This one is not a local deal, but it is one of the most incredible values I have ever seen. They’re selling a complete Cisco certification IT network training bundle for $99. The bundle is a $3,295 retail value. It includes instructor-led training, hands-on exercises, multimedia presentations, and exam simulators. It’s everything you need to get your CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) and CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) certifications. As someone who works in IT myself, I can tell you that you rarely see CCNAs and CCNPs in the unemployment line.

Heading to Arkansas this week? Take I-40. Lanes will be closed on the I-55 bridge for construction. Crews will be patching concrete between 9 AM and 3 PM. Work should be done by Friday.

Great article in the Memphis Daily News today about efforts to battle blight by the Downtown Memphis Commission. Paul Morris, who runs DMC, notes that the current tax codes punish developers for improving blighted structures. The DMC tries to counteract that with tax incentives and developmental loans, as well as their internal resources which include an architect, and attorney, and an accountant. The Barking Lot, the Chisca Hotel, and the demolished parking garage at Court and Jefferson are a few recent wins in the blight battle.

One Commerce Square is having a blood drive in The Columns from 9-4 Thursday. All are welcome, whether or not you work in the building.

Political statistical analysis blog FiveThirtyEight carried extensive analysis of the 2012 presidential election (and called all 50 states correctly). Now that the election is over, though, the blog has time to focus on non-political matters. Its author Nate Silver did a statistical analysis of airports with the most unfair fares. Not the highest, because some cities have good reasons for fares to be higher than others; but the most unfair, all other things being held equal. Guess which city made the list? Thanks a lot, Delta!

Lady, the stray shepherd mix who wandered Beale Street for years, has found a forever home. Action News 5 has the story.

The BCS national title game is tonight. I’m torn whom to root for. Bama is an SEC team. It has traditions I deeply respect, and I have a lot more friends who are Bama alumni than Notre Dame alumni. On the other hand, I like how Notre Dame has stayed independent and refused to join a conference. I think I’ll stay neutral on this one.

Recommendations on where to watch the game: Flying Saucer and Silly Goose in the Downtown core; Double J and Max’s Sports Bar in South Main. If smoking is an issue, the Saucer and Double J’s downstairs are nonsmoking. Double J loft bar, Max’s, and the Goose allow smoking.

It’s also the beginning of a new poker league at the Silly Goose. Game begins at 8 PM, free to play. There are going to be more prizes and a restructured way of awarding points. “Like” Bluff City Poker on Facebook to keep informed of happenings within the poker league.

That’s all for now. I’ll probably hang at the Saucer until close to 8, then wander over to the Goose to play poker and get more info on developments with the new league.