Author: paulryburn

Midtowners who live near the 1400 block of Central:  Beware, a coyote has been positively identified in the area.  It has already killed one neighborhood cat.  Use caution with pets and small children.  More details available here.

I’ve posted before that an Elvis-themed pub crawl is being put together for Saturday, August 14, the Saturday night of Elvis week. We did this last year and it was quite successful, with over 70 Elvii and hundreds of dollars and cans raised for the Mid-South Food Bank.

Pub crawl will start at the Flying Saucer at 7, where participants will be able to check in and get identification that they are part of the crawl (important because there will be drink specials at many of the stops). Bring your canned goods or monetary donations to the Food Bank to the Saucer.

The pub crawl will then continue to Blue Fin, through the Peabody lobby, then on to Alfred’s, Silky’s, and back to the Saucer. Plus, you never know what else will happen – last year we were filmed for BBC TV as well strolled down Beale Street!

It’s just over two weeks away, so start thinking about your costume now. You still have time to order from online sites, although you might want to expedite the shipping. Blues City General Store sells Elvis glasses, sideburns and I believe wigs as well, and the Graceland gift shop has Elvis merchandise, of course. Local costume shops should also have Elvis costumes you can buy or rent.

Make your plans to crawl with us, honor the King, and support one of Memphis’ best charities! Search for the crawl under “Stumbling Elvis” on Facebook Events if you want to reply that you’re coming and keep up with the latest news on the event.

Tomorrow night, Friday July 30, is the monthly Trolley Night on South Main beginning at 6 PM. This one will be an Elvis Presley Trolley Night. They sent me a press release and these are some of the high points:

– Hot rods and barbershop quartets will line the streets

– Dress up your favorite Elvis’ Leading Lady for a chance to win prizes at 6 PM

– Elvis tribute concert by Cody Slaughter after the contest

– The film “Elvis, That’s the Way It Is,” sponsored by Woodard Properties to be shown at 9. I’ve been told that if you want to bring blankets to sit on, Harry’s Detour will hold them while you walk around the shops and galleries. Film will be shown in the open field next to Harry’s.

– Trolley Night will be sponsoring the Alzheimer’s Foundation of Memphis this month.

Trolley Night is always a good time, so come on down!

Yesterday was a sad day, as we learned of the loss of former Tiger/Grizzly player Lorenzen Wright. His body was found in a field in Collierville, the victim of multiple gunshot wounds. He was the Grizzlies’ center during the years we made the playoffs. Sincere condolonces to Wright’s family and friends.

Boat racing returns to the Mississippi River this weekend for the Memphis International Riverfront Regatta. This is the professional league of powerboat racers. Should be fun to watch from the riverwalk or a nearby rooftop.

I am thrilled to see another beer festival popping up in Memphis, even if it’s not Downtown. The Cooper-Young Regional Beer Fest will be Saturday, October 9 from 1 to 5 PM at 1015 S. Cooper, corner of Cooper and Walker. Tickets will be on sale August 20 at www.cooperyoung.org. Mmmm beer… this may be worth a cab ride.

Here’s a CA article about the Green Beetle closing. It sounds like the owner is open to ideas for the place, so it might not be gone for good; he just doesn’t want to run it himself, and closing gives him an opportunity to do much needed repairs.

Bluff City Coffee on South Main has announced that they’re now selling sausage biscuits and chicken biscuits for $1.50 each.

A great Memphis band, Garry Goin and G3, plays the Peabody rooftop tonight. They were the house band for EP Delta Kitchen and they are very good. “Soul Food” is this week’s theme, with fried chicken, macaroni & cheese, cornbread, and summer tomato salad on the buffet. In VIP there will be fried green tomatoes with choice of toppings, chicken fried steak fingers with white gravy, and deviled eggs. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up. $10 to get in, price of admission includes first drink, ladies free until 7.

A few blocks away, the Madison rooftop hosts the Daddy Mack Blues Band tonight. $7 admission.

Of course, I know a lot of people are staying home from the rooftop parties tonight to watch the season 2 premier of Jersey Shore. Here’s an article about what to expect for the second season.

Twitter quote of the day, from @SustainableTips: “America could get rid of its need for oil in months if all women agreed to only hookup with guys who drive electric cars.”

In the news: YouTube increases its video time limit to 15 minutes.

Not going out for lunch today… using my lunch hour to type this longer-than usual post, and to vote in the Memphis Flyer Best of Memphis poll. Voting ends tomorrow, so if you haven’t gotten it done yet, you need to. After voting has ended, I’ll do a post about some of my votes… I don’t like doing it before voting has ended, could be seen as an attempt to skew the results.

I got nominated for best Twitterer? WTF? Foursquare check-ins and drunk tweets about tube tops are worth a nomination? Well, glad to know at least some people find my tweets entertaining. I didn’t even vote for myself for the Twitterer category. It’ll be damn funny if I win, though.

Happy birthday to KALMDF, who may be reading this post with her aunt sometime today. KALMDF’s name is too long so I’ll just use her initials as an acronym. 

50/50 on whether I’ll hit the rooftop tonight… if not I’ll probably be at the Saucer working on my 4th plate.

Some people are fans of green beer on St. Pat’s and some are not, but I think everyone can be a fan of a different type of “green” beer. In his blog today, Air Traffic Mike writes about his visit to Outer Banks Brewing Station, America’s first wind-powered brewpub and restaurant. Environmentally friendly beer… I like it.

Trolley Stop Market is having “Burgers & Beats” tonight. In addition to their Neola Farms Burgers, you can enjoy the music as their DJ lays down a few tracks.

The Orpheum is having an open house this Friday, July 30, from 10 AM to 5 PM. If you sign up to be a season subscriber at the open house, they’ll give you free passes to any of their summer movies.

This next one isn’t Downtown, but I promised I’d mention it… The second annual PLUG IN networking event hosted by AIGA, PRSA and AAF Memphis will be held on Thursday, July 29 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. The event will feature drink specials, free appetizers and door prizes. Entertainment will be provided by Delta Nomads, The Revisions and WatchPaper. Event will be at Minglewood Hall.

Congrats to the trivia team on a first-place win last night, as well as a three-week prize win which netted us a $20 gift card from Blue Fin.  Another prize I have no idea how we’ll split up among a large team.

Time to get some shopping done on my lunch break…

Check out their blog here.  Only one post so far, but they have pics of their menus and their pizza.

I’ve seen several reports on Twitter this afternoon that the Green Beetle has closed.  I haven’t confirmed this, but one of the tweets came from their neighbor down the street, South of Beale, which is a pretty reliable source.

If it’s true, I’m glad I went there for nachos one last time.  Definitely a late-night bar that will be missed.

I’ve been told that Small Beginnings will be moved into a ballroom at the Madison Hotel tonight if rain threatens.  So if you wanted to attend but were worried about being on an open rooftop, you don’t have to – they’ve taken care of it.  Read my Sunday post to learn more about the Small Beginnings fundraiser.

One thing I noticed about my recent New Orleans trip is that I took hardly any photos. The ones you saw yesterday in my “NOLA trip – Food and Drink” post were about the only ones I took. On the other hand, up until a few years ago when I traveled, I took hundreds of pics. It made me think – what changed?

I think there are two main reasons people take photos when they’re on trips/vacations:

1) So they can look at the photos later and re-live the memories of being there. I could have taken photos of Bourbon Street, the dive bars, the restaurants, and other places I visited in New Orleans… but you know what? I didn’t need to. Anytime I want to go back and see the places I went, all I need to do is get on Google StreetView and take a virtual walk around.

2) To offer proof that you were there. “See, I was at Disneyland, here’s a photo of me with Mickey Mouse.” “See, I was in DC, here’s a pic of me at the Lincoln Memorial.” The thing is, though, with the advent of iPhones people now have different ways to prove they were there. When I went out in New Orleans, I checked in on Foursquare every place I went. My Foursquare account is connected to Facebook and Twitter, so most of my friends saw that I was there.

I kinda like it that I kept my camera in my pocket most of the time… it made me look less like a tourist, and it was one less thing I had to keep up with.

Speaking of Foursquare… I was worried that my four-day out-of-town trip might be long enough to cost me the mayorship of the Flying Saucer, but I managed to hold on to it. I don’t see myself missing any days in the foreseeable future, so I’ll have that mayorship locked down for a while. I did lose Bardog Tavern while in NOLA. I guess I’ll have to go in this week and work on getting it back.

My next check-in at the Saucer will be tonight… trivia, 7 PM.

I tried to experience as much of the French Quarter’s food and drink as I could on my business trip, during lunch breaks and after hours.  Considering I was only there four days, I think I did a pretty good job.

There were also some places I enjoyed where I didn’t take pictures.  Bad Shane told me that I needed to check out Johnny White’s pub at the corner of Bourbon and Orleans.  This was the pub that never closed at any point during the Katrina disaster.

Another Bad Shane suggestion was the Chart House at Chartres and Bienville.  Good locals’ feel to it.  They had High Life on draft for $1.50.  When I came back the second night, they’d run out of High Life, but Bud Light cans for $1.75 weren’t a bad value either.  (John D:  “Whaaaaa?  $1.75 Bud Light?  Paul, I’m booking a trip to New Orleans!”)

Lil’ Kim told me I had to eat a Lucky Dog.  They have stands on nearly every corner on Bourbon, selling large hot dogs covered with chili and cheese.  One of these is just what you need after a couple of hand grenades.

Another Lil’ Kim suggestion was Beer Fest, two bars on Bourbon that have nearly as many beers on tap as the Flying Saucer.  They weren’t nearly as crowded as the Saucer, though, which makes me realize what a big part of the Saucer’s appeal the girls are.  Bartender was super friendly though, and gave me samples of several local and regional beers.

One suggestion I got over and over again that I didn’t get a chance to try was ACME Oyster House.  I wanted to, but there was a line out the door every time I went by.  I’m not a fan of waiting in lines, so I skipped it.

I skipped Cafe Dumonde for the same reason.  I walked by as I headed to Coop’s Place, but the cafe was super packed and I didn’t feel like dealing with it.  People told me I had to try authentic New Orleans beignets, but I’ve actually already had them:  Before Crepe Maker moved into its current location in Downtown Memphis, that spot was a cafe that sold beignets, po’boys and muffalettas, run by a chef who had come from New Orleans.

Nor did I get to the bars and restaurants in other parts of town that people suggested.  I had the car with me, but with only four days in town and a significant portion of those devoted to work, I wanted to concentrate on the places I could get to quickly.

One other note:  The mini-marts on Canal Street are a rip-off!  As I returned from my lunch break on Wednesday, I bought a 20 ounce Mountain Dew to caffeinate myself for the afternoon board meeting.  With tax, it was $2.45!

Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions where to go – I really appreciate them, and they made my first time in New Orleans memorable.