Author: paulryburn

I’ve posted a couple of times in the past week about the Harahan Bridge Project. This is a pedestrian/bike walkway that will connect Memphis to West Memphis via a $30 million pedestrian/bike path on one of the existing Mississippi River railroad bridges. More information about the project will be presented at tomorrow’s Downtown Neighborhood Association meeting. The meeting will be at Number 10 Main (hey, I know someone who lives there!), on the Main Street Mall just south of Madison. Meeting will be either be on the rooftop or in the lobby, depending on temperatures tomorrow.

On Foursquare? There’s a new Mayor Special at a Downtown pub. The Brass Door posted to Facebook, “Don’t forget to check in on Foursquare. Free Lunch and a Pint for the Mayor each week!”

If you’re into sports talk radio, Sports 56 is now on the FM dial in Memphis as well, at 87.7. You can also listen to them online at http://sports56whbq.com.

Over the weekend, Facebook changed your primary email address to yourusername@facebook.com without asking your permission. This Lifehacker article explains how to change it back. Zuckerburg continues to find new ways to piss people off. He really needs an assistant who gets the whole “basic social skills” thing (he obviously doesn’t have them) to tell him when he has a stupid idea.

Tomorrow has been declared another Code Orange Ozone Alert day, so trolley rides will once again be 25 cents.

Tickets are now on sale for the 6:05 Independence Day Redbirds game at AutoZone Park. There will be fireworks that night, and there are two special options if you want to enjoy some good old American food.

– For $40: Club Level ticket & 2 hour all-you-can-eat buffet of Rendezvous BBQ & ballpark fare
– For $28: Field Box ticket & 2 hour all-you-can-eat buffet of ballpark fare

Tickets are limited, so call (901) 721-6000 to get them while you can. Game time is 6:05. July 4 is the last day of Tube Top Month. Why not show your support for the Redbirds by wearing a tube top!

Time to hit Pint Nite at the Saucer – almost all drafts on the wall $3 a pint. Undecided whether I’ll play poker at the Goose at 7:30.

Last night I went all the way to 8 PM without eating. I left Mud Island before my friends took the Boston butts off the grill. After showering and changing, I stopped at Bardog to see Panda Manda (who promised a tube top this Tuesday) and then the Saucer. After a couple of beers there I was starving and in the mood for something spicy. I walked up the street to Rio Loco.

I ordered the Shrimp al Chipotle. It’s a generous serving of shrimp in a chipotle cream sauce, with rice and beans on the side. Knowing the dish would have a fair amount of spice to it, I ordered a small guacamole dip as well, to take the heat off.

I don’t know how they manage to do it, but that chipotle cream sauce makes the shrimp taste like they are wrapped in bacon. It’s brilliant. The guac did its job controlling the burn in my mouth, although the shrimp were not quite as spicy as I’d thought they’d be. I needed food in my stomach to have a base for the evening, and this meal nailed it. If I ever end up on death row I’d be totally content with the Shrimp al Chipotle as my last meal.

Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo, sorry.

Another thing about eating at Rio Loco is that you can control how the rest of the evening will turn out through your choice of beverage. Here’s the way I see it:

• Want to be sober later in the evening? Order a Coke with dinner.
• Want to be hammered? Order a jumbo margarita.
• Prefer something in between? Order a 25 ounce Dos Equis Lager.

I should mention that Rio Loco has an excellent selection of tequilas, if that’s your thing. I’m not into tequila, other than as a margarita ingredient, so I don’t look at that as an option.

All in all, a fine meal that got the evening started right. If you’ve never looked beyond the burritos and enchiladas at Rio Loco, you’re missing out on some good stuff.

This morning I took the trolley north to A. W. Willis Avenue (25 cents today because there’s an ozone advisory). Then I walked across the bridge to Mud Island Greenbelt Park, where LuvMud Island was taking place.

When I got there a little after 11:30, a crowd had already started to gather, especially where there was shade. The runners were lined up and started taking off in heats about 10 minutes apart. Food vendors included the Revival and Scratch food trucks, Cafe Eclectic, and Crepe Maker.

The final obstacle on the obstacle course was a 50-foot mud pit.

The first band of the day got the runners motivated.

The get Rhythm! tent invited everyone to come in and try their hand at drumming.

The pit up close. To protect the Tube Top Cam and iPhone, I decided to move farther away from the pit and rely on zoom to photograph the runners.

Here comes Rusty, and… they’re off!

The first-place finisher. Most of the people who finished within the first 5 minutes of this guy weren’t concerned with wallowing around in the pit. They were serious runners who were shooting for the best possible time.

However, there were good reasons to wallow around in the mud. LuvMud had hidden a couple of prizes in there, including an iPad and an iPod Nano, which could be exchanged for new, working models at the finish line. There was also a car key in a Ziploc bag that was found in the pit. That wasn’t a prize – it fell out of someone’s pocket.

SPLAT!

SPLAT!!

SPLAT!!!

Rambo and his girlfriend won the costume contest prior to the start of the race.

He hoped there were cookies in the mud pit.

That iPad’s gotta be in there somewhere…

Roscoe was excited about the 2 PM dog lover’s race.

Special appearance by Charlie Brown

Big splash in 3, 2, 1…

The Memphis Fire Department helped racers rinse off.

Bad day for the ice cream man. No one could get to his truck!

The Web of Doom, another obstacle the racers had to navigate. They also had to run through buses and over giant haystacks.

Full photo album (114 images) here. This isn’t an album where you’ll see a lot of the people I hang around with; however, if you ran the race, you may well find yourself in this album!

The participants didn’t really stay around for the festival (which goes until 7 tonight) as much as the organizers probably hoped they would. I can understand why though; it was extremely HOT! There was a group of 6 of us that were going to walk over to my friend Bob’s place on the Island for smoked Boston butts. However, by 2 I was completely dehydrated, even though I’d only had one beer. I realized I could walk home to my place as easily as I could walk to Bob’s; so I did, stopping at nearly every convenience store on the way for a cold drink.

If what you see here looks like fun, you don’t have wait long to jump in and get muddy. LuvMud will have a festival in Shelby Farms Park September 28 and 29.

As I was walking home from Mud Island today, I saw this sign on Ferraro’s Pizzeria and Pub. Important news for Downtowners.

Home from LuvMud. Processing the photos in Picasa now. Not as many tube tops as I’d hoped. I’ll have a photo album up in a little while.

The Famous Chicken (often known as “The San Diego Chicken”) will make an appearance at the Redbirds game Friday at AutoZone Park. Game will be versus the Albuquerque Isotopes and first pitch is at 7:05. Gates will open 2 hours early for an end-of-the-week block party in the plaza with $2 16 ounce Coors Light. Click here to buy tickets.

By the way, I heard an interesting fact last night: In all of professional baseball – major and minor leagues – there is only one park where the number 1 item in food sales is not the hot dog. Can you guess which city this park is located in? Answer at the end of this post.

On Tuesday there will be a Dragon Boat Race Demo at Mud Island River Park from 2 to 5. This is a chance for you to see what the annual Dragon Boat Race, scheduled for September 22, will be like. Teams of 20 will race around the harbor in authentic Hong Kong-style dragon boats. It’s very much a team sport because all 20 members have to work in sync. The race benefits the Tennessee Clean Water Network. If you like what you see at the demo, you have until September 9 to submit your team application, although you’ll probably want to attend the August 27 team captain’s meeting as well.

Want to have a July 4 cookout, but don’t really feel like cooking? Talk to the folks at Double J Smokehouse and Saloon. They’ll have Boston butts available for $30, and full slabs of Double J baby back ribs for $20. Sides will be available too. Putting your order in as far in advance as possible would probably be a good idea.

The Daddy Mack Blues Band has their CD release party at the Center for Southern Folklore tonight at 8. Special guest Billy Gibson and the Ghost River Blues Band will perform as well.

Kerry from the I Love Memphis Blog visited one of Downtown’s hidden secrets this week: Wayne’s Candy on East Carolina.

And now, the answer to the ballpark question: The only city in which hot dog sales are not number 1 is Memphis. BBQ nachos are the top seller here.

On my way to Mud Island with the Tube Top Cam to check out the LuvMud festivities. I’m really not excited about being outside in 95 degree heat, having to put on sunscreen, and missing my regular noon stop at Panda Manda’s bar at Bardog. However, this event seems too good to miss. Also, my friend Bob is cooking BBQ sliders at his house, and when a member of Squeal Street BBQ is cooking, it’s a wise move to show up. Panda will be at Bardog until 8 so I have plenty of time to get back to the core and have some PBR at her bar. Come on down to LuvMud Island and let’s see those TUBE TOPS!

If you run a website, it’s important to be aware of what kinds of content are the most popular among your site’s viewers. With that in mind, I pulled up my site stats this morning.

For a couple of years I didn’t even have a tracker on this site, but recently I installed WordPress’s Jetpack plugin which does stats along with a number of other things. From Jetpack I have learned that I average about 1150 hits on weekdays, plus or minus 100. On weekends it tapers off to 700-1000 per day, depending on how active I am.

Tuesday of this week, however, was an exception. That day I had 1689 hits, my biggest day since putting tracking on my blog. The good thing about Jetpack is that it presents this data as a bar graph, and all you have to do is mouse over that day’s bar and it will tell you what content you posted.

So, what did I post Tuesday that was so popular? Drunk tube top pics.

Map created by yours truly. I was in there tonight and they were not easy to find.

Best non-tube-top picture to ever appear on the blog during Tube Top Month, in my opinion.

We are one day away from LuvMudIsland. This is a 5K obstacle race, where the final obstacle is a 50-foot mud pit. More than that, though, LuvMud is an all-day festival (11-6 PM) with local bands, vendors, food trucks, and a kids’ area. LuvMud is a fundraising event for Habitat for Hope, a non-profit organization that supports, serves and cares for families that have a child that is critically or chronically ill. Race time is 11 AM, kids’ race at 1 PM, dog lover’s race at 2 PM.

What to wear? Well, it seems to me that LuvMud and Tube Top Month go together like toast and jam.

As for happenings tonight, Norah Jones plays the Mud Island Ampitheater at 8 PM. Tickets can be purchased here.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is tonight’s Summer Movie Series movie at the Orpheum. It starts at 7:15, but if you arrive early at 6:30 you’ll be treated to some bluegrass music by local band Blue Day.

Gone Fishin’ will be the theme at the Memphis Farmers Market tomorrow. Kids will be invited to make a catfish collage from 9 to 11, and from 9:30 to 1 the Wolf River Conservancy will give kids rowing lessons. In addition, Felicia Willett from Felicia Suzanne’s will give a chef demo. (Chef demos usually result in free food for the audience. Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up?) Music by Ron McDonald (7:00), Jeff Dillard (8:00), and Buck Hutcheson (11:00).

Prince Mongo will co-host MemphiSport Live tomorrow. Tune into AM 560 from 11 AM-1 PM to hear what the spirit from the planet Zambodia has to say.

Last night I got more info on this trip to Belgium that the Flying Saucer is giving away. Click the image below for details.

The Belgium trip is being organized by BeerTrips.com. They are professionals who help beer lovers discover the best beer destinations. The Belgium trip has stops in Brussels, Brugge, and Gent. It’s an 8-day, 7-night trip with a total prize value of $6500. To enter, you can purchase raffle tickets at the Saucer. Proceeds from the raffle tickets go to Pints for Prostates, an organization that helps men fight prostate cancer through the universal taste of beer.

I had a fun time at the Shelton Clothiers fundraiser for Wounded Warriors. “I knew I’d see you here,” commented Tom Shelton after a pic was posted to Facebook of Saucer girls Danielle and Christina serving BBQ. Good chatting with Tamara from Shop Girl New York, a trendy women’s fashion boutique in the South Main district.

Arkansas plays South Carolina at 8 PM tonight in college baseball. Winner will advance to meet Arizona in the finals of the College World Series. The game will be on ESPN. Therefore, my plans for tonight involve watching the Hogs with a tasty cold beverage in front of me.

Once again, no lunchtime post today because I didn’t have time. Yesterday I ran the car through the inspection. Today I went to the clerk’s office and got the tags renewed. No line at the 150 Washington office about 11:15 AM. Nice! Before heading back to Horn Lake I stopped by Court House Deli for their red beans and rice topped with jalapenos, onions, and cheese. This should be the last lunchtime field trip for a while, so posts will hopefully be back on schedule.

The Green Beetle announced some exciting news last night. Beginning Thursday, July 12, the Beetle will run a new weekly sports trivia tournament hosted by Kevin Cerrito. There will be weekly prizes donated by Miller Lite and Coors Lite, and teams will compete toward a grand prize of 6 tickets to the Indianapolis Colts vs. Tennessee Titans game on October 28. There will be food and drink specials from 8-10 PM during trivia. Kevin already hosts the very popular Tuesday night trivia at Ferraro’s Pizzeria and Pub, and it’s one of the best trivia nights in the city, so I expect good things at the Beetle.

Here’s a quick look at tonight’s Thursday night outdoor parties. Andy Childs will play the Peabody rooftop. $10 to get in but it includes your first drink and a food buffet. 6-11 PM, ladies free before 7.

Rhythm and blues by Elmo and the Shades will be the featured entertainment on the Madison rooftop. $7 cover, 7-11 PM, small plates and cash bar.

Tonight is the first night for The Rebel on Beale concert series, six free Thursday night concerts presented by The Rebel 95.3. Jaida Dreyer will perform tonight at 7:30. Even if you’re not into country music, these concerts are excellent tube top watching opportunities.

Also, don’t forget that there’s a party going on at Shelton Clothiers right now. A $5 donation to Wounded Warriors gets you BBQ and Ghost River beer. Wear your Pink Pig shirt for entry into a drawing for prizes.

Around the corner from Shelton, the Flying Saucer has one of the best Fire Sales ever: Stella Artois. You can get pints of it until closing time tonight for $3. I have never seen them Fire Sale Stella in the 9 years I have been coming to the Saucer.

Lifehacker linked to a really good post this morning: Do you know what success means for you? High points: Don’t just follow the crowd, define success step-by-step, and keep a success journal. Good stuff.

I have friends who tell me that Facebook is blocked at their job – not so much because the company is worried it will make them unproductive, but because their IT admins are afraid they’ll get malware on their computer from clicking on links on Facebook. Well, here’s an interesting fact: This study indicates that poisoned search results are more than six times more likely to lead to malware than links on social media. For 2011, search results were responsible for 40% of all installed malware; social media, only 6.5%. How do you block results from Google and Bing? You can’t. People have to have it to do their jobs. The study contains a number of good tips for detecting malware links in search results before you click on them. In particular, use Google’s Preview feature, and beware of domains like .ru and .in.

Time for beer. With Stella as Fire Sale, there’s no doubt where my first stop will be. I’ll probably hit the Wounded Warrior BBQ at Shelton at some point. Then, I have to decide where to watch the Arkansas-South Carolina game. With the NBA Finals on tonight too, I may have trouble finding a bar showing the Hogs on TV. Max’s Sports Bar will have it on for sure; I’ll walk down there if I can’t find it in the core.

So, Lana and Shawn from Kooky Canuck have this ongoing debate as to which is the best new menu item: The Donair (Lana’s choice) or the Yonge Street Burger (Shawn’s choice).

I hate to disagree with Lana (never a good idea) but, having had the Yonge Street Burger tonight, it gets my vote.

It’s two quarter pound patties of burger topped with American cheese as well as onions, mushrooms, and bacon. If you want the traditional burger toppings of pickles, onions, tomatoes, and lettuce, they are there on the side waiting for you to add. I was too tired to dine in, so I brought it home, and found packets of mustard, mayonnaise, and ketchup as more potential toppings. I chose a little mustard and pickles, leaving the rest on the side. Simply awesome. One of the best burgers I’ve had Downtown. I’d put this one on the same plane as Kooky’s Four Cheese Burger, which has been named one of the best burgers in the city.

It’s 11:36 and I have no doubt I’m about to get some fantastic sleep. I hope to dream of a remote controlled device that makes tube tops come down.