Author: paulryburn

Most of you were probably not alive, much less not old enough to vote, at the time of the 1960 Presidential election. But I have good news… you still have a chance to vote for Kennedy. Not JFK, but Kennedy the DJ from Q107.5. She’s in the running for WREG’s poll for best DJ in Memphis. She’s currently third and is the only woman in the top 3. So please go to WREG’s site and vote for Kennedy – she’s one of the sweetest people ever and really deserves the award. Don’t let the country station win!

There will be a panel discussion, hosted by New Path and the Urban League, on race and economics tonight at the main library at 3030 Poplar. The discussion, which will be in meeting room C from 6 to 8 PM, will focus on how economics affects race relations in Memphis. Speakers will include Dr. Dale Bails, Dean of Business at CBU; Dr. Jerome Blakemore, director of the Division of Social Work at the University of Memphis; and Roby Williams, president/CEO of the Black Business Association of Memphis. Daphene McFerren, Director of the Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the U of M, will moderate.

Congratulations to Downtown’s very own Earnestine & Hazel’s, which made it onto Esquire magazine’s list of best bars.

Got an e-mail from one of the owners of Hollywood Disco (formerly Raiford’s) about their new Thursday nights. It opens at 9 PM, earlier than on the weekends. It’s an ’80s ladies night, and ladies get in free. “The vibe is different, but still fun,” wrote the owner. They play more ’80s dance tunes like Soft Cell, B-52s, Madonna, etc. – stuff you wouldn’t hear on Friday or Saturday night. Also different – Thursday is the one night of the week when they serve mixed drinks, since ladies tend to prefer fruity cocktails over 40s of Bud Light.

I was in Big Foot again last night, and it looks like that Flying Moose drink I had Monday is going to make it onto the permanent list of $9.99 34 oz. mixed drinks, and I’ve heard there will be some others too. You know what, I’m going to go back there tonight and do some research. I’m going to find out the ingredients in the Flying Moose, and ask about the other new drinks too. Damn it, it’s going to be tough to go sit at a bar immediately after work and drink 34 ounces of booze, but it’s what I have to do to keep my readers informed.

My former BFF was sitting at the bar at Big Foot on her night off last night. She had a tube top on. If she’s trying to get back into my good graces and get reinstated as my BFF, wearing a tube top is a good start. I took a pic, which I’m sure will show up on the blog sometime in the month of June. I suppose it’s remotely possible she could regain her BFF status when I name the BFF of the Month on June 2, but she’s currently running well behind the other candidates.

After I finish my research at Big Foot this evening, I’ll move to Itta Bena for Downtown Night, then on to the Saucer.  May call it an early night in order to rest up for Thursday at Raiford’s tomorrow.

From the Center City Commission:

The  incredibly vivacious, enthusiastic Company d Dancers will be performing today (Wed, May 21) at Court Square from 11:45 am – 1:15 pm as part of the Center City Commission’s Downtown Alive program!  

Company d is an inspiring performing arts troupe of young adults with Down Syndrome who absolutely LOVE to dance!   They have been performing for about 7 years, and through weekly class, rehearsals and hard work, the dancers have now developed into a company that performs to music that represents many forms of dance such as jazz, lyrical ballet and modern.

They will surely add a little something special to your lunch break!  Please stop by and show your support – as all good performers, they thrive when they have an audience!

A few final BBQ Fest pictures:

The third place trophy on tour at the Saucer

In the ’67 Firebird

On the patio of our sponsor Circa by John Bragg

Ground Zero, the new blues club on Lt. Lee Avenue and neighbor to the Westin Hotel and the Red Rooster, has been open for a couple of weeks, doing a “soft opening.”  However, this week, on Sunday, May 25, they’re doing their grand opening party.  More info in this Memphis Business Journal article.  It says the new club will be open for lunch and dinner, and will have live entertainment Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

Got an e-mail saying that 64 oz. growlers of Boscos beer have been reduced from $14 to $10 at the dock of their warehouse at Main and Crump. There’s still a $3 deposit if you don’t have your own growler.

Ten bucks for 64 ounces, that’s $2.50 a pint for Boscos beer, not bad.

Tonight I started at the Saucer, then moved to Big Foot where my former BFF was bartending. She claimed to have invented a new drink called the “Flying Moose.” I couldn’t tell exactly what was in it, but it tasted like it contained sweet & sour and melon liqueur (and undoubtedly some other high-alcohol ingredients). It’s one of the candidates to go on the 34 oz. $9.99 drink menu. I hate to say it, considering it’s the invention of my former BFF, but it was GOOD. Worth ordering next time you go in. Attn Shawn and Lana: Give that drink a place on the regular menu. Then find a reason to fire my former BFF so you can take all the credit. And so I don’t have to put up with her next time I come in.

While there and drunk I talked to Luke, the co-owner of the Red Rooster. The Rooster is doing some kind of bachelor auction for charity in July and I agreed to be a part of it. File this under the “things I would not have done sober” category. More details to come.

Thanks to Air Traffic Mike for the gumbo. Eating it now.

(Edit: Forgot to hit Publish before going to bed, so you’re getting this Tuesday morning.)

The Downtown Flying Saucer will host an NBA Draft Lottery watch party tomorrow night, Tuesday, May 20, beginning at 6 PM.  ESPN Radio 730 AM will broadcast, and members of the dance team will be there, and there will be prizes and giveaways.  Hopefully the Grizzlies will do better than expected in this year’s lottery (to make up for last year’s worse than expected luck) and get #1 or #2 and select either Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley.  More details available here.

Trivia team:  We need to get there as early as possible and get our usual spot, or as close to it as we can get.

For those of you who live in East Bumblefuck, you can get in your gas-guzzling SUVs and drive to the other Flying Saucer, located in one of the many cookie-cutter lookalike strip malls on Germantown Parkway.  There will be a watch party there too, hosted by Soul Classics 103.5 FM.

5:25 walkthrough video of our 2008 BBQ team booth.

Walking home from Saucer/Hoop’s Bar tonight (I decided not to go to the Rooster), I walked past Big Foot and heard “Paul’s a bitch!” coming from the alley.  I turned around and looked down the alley and there was my former BFF along with several other Big Foot employees.  “No, I’m just kidding,” she laughed nervously.

Translation:  I want so desperately to connect with you, but seventh-grade taunting is the only way I know how.

I snapped the picture shown above, then turned my back on my former BFF and walked home.

Looking forward to Memorial Day Eve.  Having just had a long BBQ Fest weekend, it almost doesn’t seem right that I have another long weekend coming up.  But, you know what, I’ll take it.

BBQ video coming soon.

I arrived at the booth about 2 PM, and was immediately kicked out. “What’s going on?” I thought. The BBQ judges usually come by the shoulder booths between 11 and noon. Judging should have been over well before I got there.

“We’re top 3,” several team members told me. “The judges are coming back for the final table.” Never have I been so happy to be kicked out of my own booth. Here’s a pic of the judges and our cooks and team leaders in the booth for the final judging:

Our cooks’ hard work paid off… later in the day we were awarded Third Place (out of 70-80 teams) in the World Championship Pork Shoulder Category.  Here’s a pic of the team onstage accepting the third-place trophy:

Here’s a pic of me (the sole pic of me in the 300+ taken with my camera on Saturday) posing with the trophy:

Here’s a pic of our team shirt (front view):

And here’s the back of our shirt:

After the awards ceremony we celebrated not only the 3rd place finish, but our friend Lauren’s 23rd birthday.  Here’s a pic of her boyfriend Lee bringing out the cake:

And here’s a pic of the birthday girl:

Hey, we got Lauren porn for her birthday!  Oh, no, wait, that’s a giant birthday card.

And finally, let’s have a pic of what a $60,000 BBQ booth looks like:

That’s the upper deck of the Valero Oil booth which was next door to ours.  Saturday night and it was EMPTY.  Just goes to show, you can throw as much money as you want at BBQ Fest, but it’s the PEOPLE that make it.  Our booth, by contrast, cost about $12,000 and change, a shoestring budget considering the number of team members (~42) and the number of guests we invited (we went through 1,000 guest wristbands in four days).  Next year we will have a considerably more expensive booth, but we will have sponsors who see how much fun we have and want to have it with us, not ones who expect to take over the booth and make it a corporate BBQ team.

I’ll finish this post with a pic of the “without you, it wouldn’t have happened” people – head cook Willie (on the left) and team captain Chuck (right), with Chuck’s mom in the middle:

BBQ Fest wrap-up to come.  Got lots of thoughts and rants still to post before the subject of BBQ is done for the year.

Here’s a link to Saturday’s BBQ Fest album, so large (314 pictures) that it had to be split off as a separate album from the Sun, Wed, Thur, Fri pictures.  5-minute walkthrough video of the booth to come.

I’m giving myself permission to sleep through brunch in the morning, but if I get up in time it’s Majestic week 2.  It’s booth tear-down day but I’m invoking the “no physical labor” clause.  Right now it’s 12:30 in the morning and I’m thinking to myself, hmmm the Rooster is open.  I haven’t been out other than BBQ Fest all weekend.  Time to go have some fun.