Author: paulryburn

Not getting out until 4 this afternoon. By coincidence, the Saucer opens at 4. If anyone is looking for a place to get out earlier, the Brass Door is already open and is showing the Arsenal-Man City game. I’m going to get this post up, then do laundry and taxes.

I started Friday evening at the Saucer. We had a friend in from out of town, and it was just like old times, hanging out on the rail, watching the Grizzlies and discussing the BBQ team. About 9 I headed south to The Warehouse. The Warehouse is the green building at Front and G.E. Patterson. It’s the private residence of our friend Kris Kourdouvelis. Occasionally he opens up the back part of the Warehouse, where he has a stage, and invites his friends in to mingle and hear some of the best music in Memphis. Friday was his birthday party. His actual birthday was March 16, but he allowed a few extra weeks to make sure the word got out. There was food from Double J SmokeHouse and Saloon, and music by The Mudflaps, RT Scott, Al Kapone, Mixbreed, and Jason James.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating at the Warehouse party.

Al Kapone rocked the Warehouse like you wouldn’t believe. Great show.

The Nuh-Uh Girl working on another plate of food.

Thanks Kris for a fun-filled Friday evening, and for all you do for Downtown Memphis and the local music scene. Great party.

Saturday I woke up debating whether or not to go to the Overton Square Crawfish Festival in Midtown. I was about 50/50 on going. I don’t drink and drive, so the trip to Midtown would cost me cab fare out there and back. I posted to Facebook that I was thinking about it, and I might as well have a beer at the Saucer while I decide. My friend Terry responded, “I’ll drive?” and met me at the Saucer not long after I got there.

One of the reasons I wanted to go to the Saucer was that it was the starting point for Urban Dare, a fun race/scavenger hunt in which teams of two run around Downtown in search of clues. I thought there’d be maybe 10-12 teams. Was I ever wrong! I forgot that they sold a Groupon for entry. I was told 120 teams brought the Groupon.

The Saucer about 20 minutes prior to the start of Urban Dare

Here’s a video of the racers stampeding out of the Saucer, after it was announced that the first clue was at the Statue of Elvis on Beale. Special appearance by Jessica and Katie near the end of the video.

In my opinion the smartest Urban Dare participants were these two:

They asked the Saucer girls if there were any locals in the place. Since all the clues were about Downtown locations, it made sense for them to seek expert advice. The girls directed them to Terry and me. The questions were HARD! I didn’t know about half of them.

The race started at noon, and we were still there at 1:25 when the first team reappeared with all the clues solved. More teams poured in over the next half hour. People who did the race told us it was a lot of fun. No doubt they learned a lot about Downtown too.

We told the Saucer girls we were on our way to the crawfish fest. “The Downtown one is next Sunday [April 15],” one of them said to the others. “It’s a lot of fun. You have to be careful what you wear though. The sun is bright and you’ll get bad tan lines. So wear something that won’t give you tan lines, like a tube top.” YES YES YES!!!! Wear a TUBE TOP! What a great idea! Everyone else who plans to attend Rajun Cajun on the 15 (well, females anyway) needs to make a note of this.

About 2 we got in the car and headed to Midtown. The Overton Square crawfish festival was much better than I remembered! I stopped going around 2008 because it wasn’t fun anymore. They tried to pack too many people into too small a space, and it seemed like they ran out of crawfish too early. Not this year. They blocked off Madison and there was a lot more space! More room for vendor booths as well.

Terry and Aubrey

The Nuh-Uh Girl eating crawfish

They still had crawfish when I ordered about 4:00. The crawfish were $15 a box. They were at best average. Not as spicy as last week’s crawfish at Mudbugs in March, and no corn or taters. Plus, I was still hungry after spending $15. I went back and bought a muffaletta for $5 which was really good and a much better value. Next year I’m going to stick to the other menu items at this festival – muffalettas, gumbo, red beans and rice.

After I ate, I walked around and looked at the vendor booths. I bought this shirt from Hoop City Memphis:

That’s right, I traveled to 38104 to buy a 38103 shirt! This immediately became my new favorite shirt. I’m going to have to start doing laundry more often so I can wear this more than once a week.

I didn’t want to impose on Terry for a ride back Downtown, so I walked down Madison and caught the trolley just past Cleveland. I give MATA a lot of grief on this blog, but this time I have to pay a compliment. The trolley driver was super nice to me and to the other passengers. Whether they realize it or not, the trolley drivers are in a sense ambassadors for Memphis, and the driver I had yesterday helped build a fine image for our city. Great job!

Rested at home for a few hours, then back out. The running order was Saucer, Bear, Goose, Saucer, Bardog. I haven’t been spending enough time at Bardog lately. It’s a great bar and the closest one to my front door. When I saw friends check in on Foursquare, I went right over.

One thing I didn’t do last night was find the Flying Saucer’s Easter keg. Every year they hide a keg somewhere Downtown, and post clues as to where it is on their chalkboard. This year there were 7 clues, and they got no farther than clue 2 before I figured out its location. First one to retrieve the keg and return it to the Saucer gets a $100 bar tab. The three previous years, I’ve either found it or helped the person who retrieved it figure out clues. You have to wait until Easter to find the keg, but both the Saucer and the keg’s location were still open at 12:01 AM, so it could be had last night.

So it got to be about 11:40 and I was trying to decide whether to go get the keg. I decided not to for three reasons. 1) If I won it four years in a row, people might think the contest is rigged, which it’s not; 2) the bartender told me there are other people, who the folks at the Saucer really like, who have tried unsuccessfully to find the keg for the past 3 years; and 3) I didn’t feel like walking down there! Since I’m not sure it’s been found yet, I won’t reveal the location. I’m 30 beers away from my sixth plate, so I have a $150 party coming up even without the Easter keg.

Plan for today: Laundry, taxes. The Blind Bear opens at 3, but for me it would be a break with tradition to make any bar other than the Saucer my first stop on a holiday. Happy Easter and RIP Mike Wallace.

An alert for Downtowners: ABC 24 reports that UPS packages are being stolen from Downtown doorsteps. I live in a secure building, but I still usually have my packages delivered to work for this reason.

The Memphis Business Journal reports that Purple Haze will move into the old Red Rooster space at Second and Lt. Lee later this month. Purple Haze has previously been operating as a dance club in the Old Daisy on Beale. When it opens, the club will hold 160 plus a patio, and will have a full menu.

The MBJ also reports that Bon Ton Cafe is expected to reopen next month. It will be open for breakfast and lunch, with the downstairs space available to rent for special events.

Congratulations to Memphis Roller Derby, who defeated #12 Knoxville Saturday to become the Tennessee state champions. The team hopes to improve its ranking to break into the top 10 teams in the region. If they do, they will be invited to the regional tournament. At the end of the season, the top three teams in each region will compete for the national championship.

The Main Street Journal blog had an excellent post about the Chisca Hotel this week. It points out that we have a responsibility not to let the buildings on newly-named Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue become blighted, as has happened with MLK Aves./Blvds./Streets in other cities. We need to either renovate it or knock it down, although it would be a shame to knock down the building because it’s where Elvis was first played on the radio. Agree with everything said in the MSJ’s post.

The Hard Rock Cafe is looking for a Sales & Marketing Manager. Email Memphis_GM@hardrock.com for more information.

Bad day to be a Hog fan. Arkansas Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino was placed on leave last night. The AD is investigating Petrino’s failure to report that there was a female riding with him – a former UA volleyball player and current UA employee – when he crashed his motorcycle earlier this week. At least it didn’t involve any NCAA violations, but lying to your boss is never a good thing. Kudos to Petrino on hooking up with a hot 25 year old blonde though.

Thanks to those of you who signed up for Dropbox via my link earlier this week. Because you signed up through my referral link, my 2 GB of free space has been bumped up to 5 GB.

Time to grab some lunch. Saucer and a friend’s birthday party are on my agenda tonight.

Last night  I started the evening by heading south to Max’s Sports Bar for poker. I didn’t have time to stop in Double J across the street, but I saw their new sign for the first time.

Then I got to Max’s and saw their new liquor bar for the first time. Michele asked if I wanted a mixed drink, but the only thing that matters to me there is the PBR tap.

Before poker, a payoff of a bet was planned. One of the regulars at Max’s had said earlier in the season, “If Kentucky wins the national championship, I’ll run down Main Street wearing a tiger head and sipping thousand island dressing out of a straw while wearing a Speedo.” It looks like Sunday, April 22 will be the day for the bet’s payoff. More details to come.

I came in third in poker. Here’s a pic of the winner, Mikey, taking a photo of “WINNER: MIKEY” on the monitor.

After that I caught a trolley north. After a quick checkin at the home base (Saucer), I went over to the Blind Bear, where modern speakeasy band Tumbledown House was performing.

Perfect fit for the venue. It’s too bad the Bear can’t hire Tumbledown House as their house band, but they’re a traveling act.

Here’s a pic of Uncle Ray at the Bear.

After that I went over to the Brass Door, where Diamond Dave was having his “Love Train” 70s extravaganza in the Cavern.

I ended the evening at Bardog with a couple of PBRs. I was going to get those bacon wrapped shrimp again but they sold out. Here’s a pic of Uncle Ray at Bardog.

A fun filled Thursday night. Probably back at lunchtime with a news post.

WMC-TV reports that a car crashed into B.B. King’s club shortly after 3 this morning. The club was already closed. The front of the building is a mess, and it looks like the car took out a traffic control box too. The club will be open regular hours today though.

The Daily News has a good article about the three banquet halls planned for the old Pat O’Brien’s space. It sounds like these event spaces could help attract conventions to Memphis in the future.

Live music recommendation: Muck Sticky’s “Hullabaloo” album release concert at the New Daisy, 7 PM Saturday, April 7, with Taco and da Mofos, $10 cover. I’ve been a fan of Muck Sticky since I caught a performance of his on the Peabody rooftop two years ago. I was impressed not only with his music but the positive message he spreads to his audience.

ATTN NUH-UH GIRL: Today Mashable posted about a startup company called Swaggable that will send you free samples. The idea is that consumers trust peer reviews more than ads. So, the company is willing to send you free samples if you’ll write reviews and share them with friends. The samples that are easiest to obtain are said to be free food from specialty food companies, and personal care items. More info here.

Mac owners: 600,000 Macs are said to be infected with a Trojan horse called Flashback. It infects you with an installer that appears to be for an Adobe Flash update. Once installed, it looks for your passwords. Find out if you’re infected here.

Weather permitting, I’m going to hit Max’s for poker tonight, then stop by the Blind Bear to hear the modern speakeasy band that’s peforming tonight, then over to Brass Door for Diamond Dave’s “Love Train” party.

Max’s Sports Bar has announced that it will open at noon tomorrow for MLB opening day. 10 TVs, all the games, big deck out back, PBR and some other beers on tap, and now they have liquor.

The Fuzzy Brew blog has two new posts up of interest to Downtowners. The first is a review of the River City Brewers Festival. If you’re really into beer, you’ll probably get more out of their post than out of the one I did. They are more beer-centric, whereas my post was more people and food-centric.

Secondly, they have a post about the upcoming Memphis Brewfest at AutoZone Park on Saturday, April 21 (unfortunately the same day as Hot Wing Fest, again). Couple of pre-festival events to happen at the Flying Saucer that week. There will be a Sports 56 WHBQ broadcast at the Saucer on Tuesday, April 17, with beer specials. Then on the day of the festival from 11 to 2, there will be a brewers/distributors brunch that is open to the public. It will have a buffet that includes breakfast tacos, shrimp & grits and plenty of fresh fruit. All you can eat buffet? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

The Madison Hotel has announced the first two months’ schedule for Sunset Atop the Madison, their weekly Thursday night spring and summer rooftop parties. Here it is:

April 12: Elmo & the Shades
April 19: Memphis All-Stars
April 26: Joyce Cobb
May 3: Deering & Down
May 10: Marcela Pinilla
May 17: Brian ìBreezeî Cayolle & Friends
May 24: The Billy Gibson Band
May 31: Reba Russell Band

Outta here, beautiful spring day, time for beer.

One of the websites I’ve found most useful is Dropbox. It gives you 2 GB of space to store your files in “the cloud.” The service is completely free of charge. Once you save a file to your Dropbox, it’s then available on every device on which you have Dropbox installed – computers, tablets, smartphones. Some of the ways I’ve used Dropbox include:

• Transferring pics I took with my iPhone to a computer for use in blog posts. Since I have a Mac I can use iCloud for this too, but Dropbox is more handy since it also works with Windows computers.
• I uploaded photos of a BBQ Fest board meeting/food sampling to a Dropbox folder. I then shared the folder with our team’s sponsor, so he could download the photos and use them on his own site and social media accounts.
• I have several social media ebooks that I use both at home for my own sites, and for work. Dropbox is the perfect place to store those.
• I have several poker tutorials in PDF format. I can put those in Dropbox and then read them on whatever device I have handy at the time – my iPhone, my Kindle Fire, or my Android tablet.
• I uploaded photos of Downtown’s worst panhandlers/scammers to a folder in Dropbox. That allows me to quickly pull up a photo on my iPhone to show police if I catch one of them doing “fake parking attendant” or similar scam.

You can use this link to sign up for Dropbox and get an extra 500 MB of free space, for a total of 2.5 GB. (I get an extra 500 MB too when you use my link to sign up.) Believe me, once you have Dropbox you will find uses for it.

A couple of weeks ago there was a mention of a “highly celebrated” BBQ restaurant coming to the South Main area. I mentioned that I’d heard rumors of this for over a year and it would be a big deal if/when it happens. Well, today the Daily News let the cat out of the bag: Central BBQ is coming to South Main. They’ve filed a permit to convert the building at 147 E. Butler from a commercial kitchen into a restaurant. The building sits cat-a-corner to the Civil Rights Museum on St. Martin Street at Butler. They hope to have the restaurant open in the next two months. Meanwhile, they plan on having their new tie-dyed food truck at the Memphis Farmers Market on Saturday.

Here’s an additional article on the new Central location from the MBJ. They say that one room will be a patio and will have garage doors like the Flying Saucer has.

What a great thing for South Main. Just think about it – a year ago the neighborhood didn’t have Rizzo’s Diner, it didn’t have the Double J, it didn’t have Grawemeyer’s, it didn’t have the Green Beetle. Max’s didn’t have liquor and the Monkey had karaoke night on Saturday. How things have improved! The only long-term issue I can see is that parking will become a problem as South Main becomes more of a destination from other parts of the city.

Here’s a video about the Love Train event happening tomorrow night at the Brass Door:

The Love Train leaves the station tomorrow night at 8:30, with Diamond Dave spinning ’70s tunes all night. Happy hour prices all night to anyone in ’70s attire.

The National Earthquake Conference will take place in Memphis April 10-13, in observance of the 200th anniversary of the New Madrid quakes. On Tuesday evening, April 10, there will be a discussion about retrofitting the buildings of South Main. Many of these buildings are 100 years old, and plans will be discussed to make them last another 100 years. More information can be found here. The discussion will take place from 7 to 9:30 PM in the Venetian Room at the Peabody. At 6:30 there will be a hosted reception and light refreshments. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Flying Saucer will open at 4 this Sunday, rather than its usual noon opening time because it’s Easter. Meh. Maybe I’ll stay in Sunday afternoon and get my taxes done. Definitely not doing Majestic that day because it will be super crowded for Easter brunch. Not sure if Bardog is doing regular hours Sunday, but if so that might be an option.

I had a good night last night. Started at the Saucer talking BBQ with one of the Squeal Street team members. About 7:45 I left for the Blind Bear, and my timing was impeccable, as the conversation would have turned into The Muppet Show if I’d stayed even a minute longer. I was much happier with my poker performance last night than I was with Monday’s. My aggression level was higher and I found the right spots to get chips in. I didn’t win, but I at least made the final table and survived to the 2000/4000 level.

Probably going to take a night off from poker this evening, but for those who want to play, Bardog is the place to be at 7:30. Poker Jon is the host.

The first day of the Memphis Farmers Market is this Saturday, April 7. The theme is “Charming Farming.” There will be a visit by the Easter Bunny at 10. Music will be provided by Brenda McGuire (7-8), Michelle Bush (8-10:30), and Star & Micey (10:30-1). There will also be pet adoption by the Tunica Humane Society from 8 to close. The market is in the parking lot next to Central Station, on G.E. Patterson Avenue between Front and Main. Hours are 7 AM to 2 PM. More information about this week’s events at the market here.

Not far from the market space is Memphis City Gardens, where Downtowners have a space to have their own garden in an urban setting. They posted some photos of the building of the new garden beds, which took place March 31.

Watch Local Color on Thursday, April 5 at 6:30 PM on WKNO for more information on what will happen at the Southern Hot Wing Festival this year. The festival is moving from South Main to Jefferson Davis Park.

The Memphis Business Journal has an article on the Pinnacle Airlines bankruptcy and how it will affect One Commerce Square. Nothing is set in stone, but from what the article says, it appears the Downtown highrise will come through this okay.

Bardog Tavern is giving away a kayak. Drink a Yuengling to enter. Drawing is May 10.

That’s all for now. Time for beer then poker.

Kentucky beat Kansas last night, and John Calipari finally got his national title. Dan Wolken of the Daily wrote a good article about Kentucky and about Cal. For better or worse, NCAA basketball is now a farm league for the NBA, and Calipari has figured out how to play the game better than anyone.

There will be a benefit concert on Friday, April 20 at the Hard Rock Cafe for Jerry Dunaway and his family. A friend described him as “a light-hearted and fun 30 year old” who has an inoperable brain tumor. This has led to the loss of a job and also the loss of his short-term memory. His insurance plan is maxed out. So, his friends have thrown together this benefit with Crushing Juliet, Deadfall Rd, Arvada, Castielle, and Artifas. View the Facebook event page here. After-party at Rehab Disco. If you can’t come to the event, but would like to donate to his cause, you can do so by depositing at the following bank:

Bank of Bartlett
Jo Ann M Dunaway
Rebecca L. Johnson
Jerry Dunaway Cancer Fund
Account 620065573

I saw on Twitter that the Ben & Jerry’s near Clark Tower will give away free ice cream from noon to 8 today. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Yesterday I blogged about a Yazoo beer dinner at the Flying Saucer on the 19th. Well, that isn’t the only bar Downtown doing a Yazoo dinner. Local will have one on Wednesday the 11th. The theme is “Homage to TV Dinners Past” featuring Kobe Salsburry Steak, Pork Belly Mac n Cheese, and other new plays on old favorites, paired with Yazoo beers. $35 plus tax and gratuity. More info about the dinner here.

The Flyer is giving away a couple of lower-bowl tickets to tonight’s Grizzlies game vs. the Golden State Warriors at the FedExForum. Click here to find out how to enter. Drawing is at 3 PM today.

I played poker at the Silly Goose last night, and am not happy with my performance. I apparently forgot everything I’ve learned the past three years and played like a complete donkey! I’ll try to redeem myself tonight at the Blind Bear at 8 for poker with Jamie. It’s the final week in their 12-week league. I believe I’d qualify for the final table (and the chance to win an iPad) even if I took a week off, but why not play and try to win $50 in Bear Bucks? I’ll pre-game at the Saucer at 6 for the last hour of their happy hour.

The Majestic Grille has a yummy appetizer on its menu tonight. They just got a shipment of Soft Shell Crab, which they are serving over a bad of mixed greens with lemon caper butter sauce and fried capers.

Baseball fans – tomorrow is Bird Watching at AutoZone Park from 11 AM to 2 PM.. Fans are invited to enjoy the afternoon at the ballpark while watching the Redbirds practice (weather permitting) as they prepare for Opening Day. Free hot dogs, nachos and soda will be provided. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

If you’re wondering what’s up with Beale Street Landing these days, Kerry has the info and some good photos.

Saturday, April 14 is Downtown Cleanup Day. You can show up to volunteer at three different sites around Downtown: The Huling trolley stop in South Main, the cobblestones at Union and the riverfront, or Uptown Park. 9 AM registration, 10 AM cleanup, 12 noon party.

On Wednesday, April 4, the public is invited to a noon celebration at Third and Linden. At that time the stretch of Linden from Wagner to Danny Thomas will be renamed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. The renamed part of Linden runs past Clayborn Temple where Dr. King gave his famous 1968 speech to Memphis sanitation workers.

The Flyer’s Hungry Memphis blogger visited Grawemeyer’s, the new restaurant/bakery on South Main.

Now and then I get asked what’s the best way to learn HTML. I really haven’t had a good answer, other than “buy a book” or “view source of existing web pages.” Well, now there’s a better way. CodeAcademy now offers free courses on beginner HTML and CSS. Details here.

Plans for tonight: Going to start at Pint Nite at the Saucer, obviously, but not sure if I’ll stay there to watch the game. Also undecided whether I’ll do poker at the Goose at 7:30. Definitely too tired to play the 10:00 game this week.