Author: paulryburn

Wednesday night as I was leaving Itta Bena, I saw this on EP Delta Kitchen’s sign:

“Dead Rock Star Costume Ball April 3”

Hmmm… that could be fun.  So many choices.  John Lennon?  Jim Morrison?  Elvis?  Jimi Hendrix?  Kurt Cobain?  And many more to choose from.

This weekend is Zydeco Fest on Beale Street, which always brings some interesting-looking people to the area.  Beale will be the place to be for people-watching this weekend.  There will also be a lot of people from out of town for the Memphis-Tennessee game.

We’ve already made plans to watch the game, and managed to get two tables reserved at the Saucer.  They told us that at least half of us would have to get there at least two hours early to secure the reservation.  So I’m going to have to sit at a bar and drink beer for over four hours???  Heavens to Betsy, how will I ever manage that?

Two of the better bands that play the Saucer play this weekend:  The West Tennessee Wife Swappers (tonight) and FreeWorld (Sat).  Also, a little advance notice:  Next Thursday THE DEMPSEYS will play!

Meanwhile, this weekend is the grand opening of a new club, the Red Rooster, down the street from the Westin.  A group of us plan to check it out tonight.  We’re going to meet up at Hoop’s Bar around 9 and then head to the Rooster at 10.  Will post a report on the place this weekend hopefully.

If you’re curious about the new restaurant Onix on South Main in the old Zanzibar spot, watch or record “Definitely Downtown!” with That Other Downtown Guy, Lee Warren, on ABC24 at 12:30 AM Sunday.  They’ll have a feature on Calhoun’s sports bar as well.

The Folk Alliance is holding their big convention in Memphis this weekend, and there will be a Musicians’ Showcase at the Center for Southern Folklore tonight and tomorrow.  Cover is $10 per night and gets you general admission access to both stages.  Whew!  Lots going on this weekend, lots to choose from…

Charlie Wood plays the Westin lobby tonight from 5:30 to 7:30.

Last night I arrived at the Saucer about 5:15, and the waitress who calls me her “BFF” came running up to me.  “Paul, look!” she said, and pointed to her left.  I looked and saw a woman sitting on a bench.  “No, the chalkboard!” she told me.  And there I saw the most beautiful words in the English language:  “$2.75 Fire Sale – DOS EQUIS SPECIAL LAGER.”  Needless to say I had quite a few of those.  I was somewhat irritated at having to interrupt my Special Lager drinking to get two crap beers out of the way en route to my second plate.

Before I get to the beer report, I have a question about this “BFF” thing:  If my Best Friend Forever is a girl, am I still allowed to look up her skirt?

Previous total:  $268.75

Beers 52, 53, and 54 (but 49, 50, and 51 according to the Saucer):
Dos Equis Special Lager Fire Sale $2.75
Michelob Light $3.50
Michelob Ultra $3.50
Tip:  $9.75 x ~30% = $3.00
Total:  $12.75

Grand total:  $281.50

Time for work, gotta run!

How-To of the Day:  How to Not Be Annoying.  I’m going to print out several copies of this and take them to the bar this afternoon to hand out to people.

In the news:  Some Tennessee lawmakers want to make it illegal to text while driving.  GREAT IDEA!!!

Here’s an article on a man who is selling his Tigers vs. UT tickets to pay for his son’s tuition.  Never realized it, but college basketball tickets are becoming something of a futures market.  Who would’ve thought at the beginning of the season that this game would be #1 vs. #2?

How does going to the bathroom in space work?  After all, in space there’s no gravity and everything floats around.

Several people e-mailed to tell me that the Safari Tapas Bar I asked about a couple of days ago is being opened by Mr. Divine who recently opened the upscale Divine Rags clothing store at Main and Pontotoc.  After receiving those e-mails, I realized I reported about Safari a month ago in my own blog… geez.  Beer really does kill brain cells.

According to the Memphis Business Journal, alley parties are coming back Downtown.  A group called Downtown Works plans to throw two alley parties this year in the alley next to the building that used to be Sleep Out Louie’s.  The partnership focuses on bringing office workers back Downtown and plans to hold parties from 5:00-6:30 PM April 24 and October 2.

Got a favor to ask my readers.  Someone suggested, as a result of my post yesterday on homelessness and panhandling, that I add a page listing all the places Downtown where the homeless can get help.  This could include links to places like the Mission where people can donate, and could also include listings of soup kitchens or other outreach programs that give away free meals.  I’ve actually been meaning to do that for a while but life has intervened… if you know if items I should include on such a page could you e-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com.  All I ask is that you are sure that the information is current (e.g. not from the panhandling pamphlet the CCC used to pass out, which is 4 years old).

This is outside my normal Downtown realm, but after posting the other day about Boscos wholesaling beer at its Main and Crump location, a reader e-mailed to inform me about a new beer at its Midtown Boscos Squared restaurant, Shaft on Draft.  This is a limited edition beer which will only be available in late February and early March.  It’s brewed in support of Staxtacular, the annual fundraiser for the Stax Museum which is coming up on March 7.  More info about Shaft on Draft here.

And speaking of beer, it’s time for last night’s beer report:

Previous total:  $256.00

Beers 49, 50, and 51 (but 46, 47, and 48 according to the Saucer):
Rolling Rock bottle $3.00
Pyramid Hefe-Weizen bottle $4.00
Old Scratch Fire Sale (already had it but Saucer didn’t scan it) $2.75
Tip $9.75 x ~30% = $3.00
Total $12.75

Grand total:  $268.75

Time for work… busy day coming up.

Since I’m quoted in an article on panhandling in today’s Commercial Appeal and the URL of this blog is listed, I want to take a moment to clarify my stance on panhandling and homelessness Downtown.

In no way do I believe that the answer to the panhandling problem Downtown is to indiscriminately sweep all of the neighborhood’s street people off the streets without regard to where they came from, why they’re here, what help they need.  There are some people who take the Handling-Panhandling forum I co-founded, where we discuss problem panhandlers and problem locations for panhandling, as a crusade against the homeless.  That’s absolutely not the case.

My issue is with panhandlers Downtown who have made a career out of panhandling.  These people are able-bodied and could easily find work, but they choose to panhandle instead.  They show up for “work” every day in fresh clothes and they obviously have homes.  However, they will beg for “money to help the homeless” to play on people’s sympathy.  That’s my main problem with these guys – they’re taking advantage of the homeless by redirecting people’s generosity away from organizations that would offer legitimate help.  Donations to these people generally do not get used for food or shelter, but rather for alcohol and drugs.  I have watched these professional panhandlers beg tourists for “a donation for the homeless” over and over again until they collect enough, and then head straight to the liquor store to spend what they were given.

My other issue with this group of panhandlers is that many of them will turn to criminal activity to supplement their “incomes.”  One of the guys we photographed for the Handling-Panhandling group last summer was obviously a loose cannon.  When employees of a Beale Street restaurant asked him to stop begging in front of their door, he threatened to stab them.  A couple of months later, a couple was attacked with a crowbar Downtown in an armed robbery attempt, and a security guard who witnessed the incident was able to identify the attacker because his picture was on the Handling-Panhandling site.  The attacker is now in jail awaiting trial.  As I said, I don’t believe in indiscriminately sweeping people off the streets, but I’m sure glad we identified that guy and swept him away.

The main focus of the CA article is on a new security task force funded by the Center City Commission.  The task force will hit the streets on a trial basis beginning April 30, making first-hand contact with Downtown’s street people and panhandlers.  Over time they will get to know who’s who.  For those who truly need a hand up but don’t know how to ask for it, the task force will be able to get them assistance.  That’s key, because I think we should first look to assist.  However, they are also going to meet some people who are not homeless, pretend to be homeless in order to panhandle, and cause nothing but trouble Downtown.  The security force will identify who these people are and take steps to enforce the laws on the books against them, to show them that they don’t have free run of the streets Downtown.

Another thing:  We need to choose our words carefully.  A lot of people use “the homeless” when in fact referring to these aggressive, career panhandlers.  I’ve even heard cops do this.  I hate it when people ask “how’s your forum about the homeless going?” because it makes it sound like the forum is a crusade against the homeless, when it’s not.  Not everyone who panhandles is homeless.  In fact, I’d be willing to venture that the majority are not.

There’s another local website that uses the term “bums” to refer to all the street people they encounter.  Although I’m a fan of that site and find it quite entertaining, I think they misuse the term sometimes.  There’s a famous homeless guy Downtown who walks the streets all day scratching his beard.  He never asks anybody for anything and if you talk to him (and can get a conversation that makes sense out of him), you’ll find that he’s a really good guy.  He’s not a bum.  It offends me (and a lot of Downtowners) when people refer to him as a bum.  On the other hand there’s a guy named Tommie who wanders the streets every day, asking people for money, following them, threatening them and cussing them out when they say no.  He’s been doing it for as long as I’ve lived Downtown (6 years).  Yeah.  He’s a bum.  I have no problem calling him a bum.

Anyway… just wanted to make the point that I am not trying to start a crusade against the homeless.  It’s just that there are certain people down here who are generally not homeless but pretend to be, and who ruin the quality of life for everyone.  I love Downtown Memphis.  I am so glad I moved down here.  I want people to come here and experience what I experience.  But it burns me up when they come down here and get harrassed over and over and over by these idiots and end up telling me that they’ll never come back.

If you want to help the homeless, please donate your money and/or time to one of several great organizations that help people get back on their feet.  Calvary Street Ministry.  Door of Hope.  Union Mission.  Salvation Army.  There are others.  That kind of donation is much, much more effective than giving to a street panhandler.

I hope that helps you understand where I’m coming from.  I could talk myself into circles about this all day but I have to get some work done.  If you have questions or comments you can e-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll try my best to address them.

Boscos beer is now wholesaling their beers out of their warehouse location at 827 S. Main (at Crump). They will carry their South Main Pale Ale, Tennessee Cream Ale, Flaming Stone, Bombay IPA, Midtown aka Downtown Brown Ale, and Isle of Skye Scottish Ale in half-gallon growlers, 5 gallon kegs, and 15 1/2 gallon kegs. The dock will be open 9 to 5:30 Monday-Thursday, 9 to 6 Friday, and 9 to 1 (PM, not AM) Saturday. For best service on kegs, call a day ahead. Here’s a page on their website with more information.

More info from Otto: “Had to look around a bit to find the sales place though. As you’re
heading south on Main, just before you get to Crump, you take the
right into their big gated parking lot. The sales office has a sign up
that says “DOCK SALES” and some hours on it. Go in that door, up the
dock, tell the guy what you want. Done and done, easy.

They take credit, and don’t have a lot of cash on hand, so either
bring credit or exact change.”

A new restaurant looks to be opening in the former Wendell’s World Beat Grill location on South Main. A reader of this blog sent a couple of pictures of the new sign hanging out front, reading “Safari World Tapas Bar.” Its slogan is “taste the journey!” Anyone got more info on this? E-mail me (paul@paulryburn.com) if you do.

So, who’s doing pre-game/during-game specials for #1 Memphis vs. #2 Tennessee Saturday?  E-mail me and let me know.

Congrats to the Rapscallions on ANOTHER first-place trivia victory.  Even with one of our own as the trivia master, we didn’t have to cheat to win.  We’re just that damn awesome.  That brings us to $100 toward our next party.

Beer report:

Previous total:  $239.75

Beers 46, 47, and 48 (or 43, 44, and 45 according to the Saucer):
Preacher’s Collar $5.50
Spaten Bock Fire Sale $2.75
Woodchuck Raspberry bottle $4.00
Tip $12.25 x ~30% = $4.00
Total:  $16.25

Grand total:  $256.00

My BFF and her mini-me were both working tonight, although neither was our waitress.  The mini-me is developing a hell of an attitude, not surprising when you consider who her role model is.  After leaving the Saucer I went to Calhoun’s for one beer with Mikey the Trivia Guy, running into Sam and arts columnist Skipford M. Blank and of course bartender extraordinarre Lauren.

This has been your Tuesday night drunk post.  Time for bed.

Tonight’s trivia night, but usual trivia master Pete the Trivia Guy won’t be able to make it this week.  Therefore the Saucer has asked our very own MIKEY to step up and fill in as trivia master.  Although he’s a longtime member of the Rapscallions, he has promised to call it fair and square and not give our team any special advantages.  Let’s face it, the Rapscallions don’t need special advantages anyway; we’ll kick everyone’s ass regardless.  Be prepared for tons and tons of Mikeyisms as trivia kicks off at 7:00 sharp.

As always, if you don’t feel like losing to us you can play trivia at Tug’s on Mud Island (8:30 start time).

Yesterday I drank my plate beers in honor of friends:

Previous total:  $229.25

Beers 46, 47, and 48 (but 43, 44, and 45 according to the Saucer):
Young’s Double Chocolate in honor of Otto $2.50
Harp Lager in honor of Chuck $2.50
Avery IPA in honor of Clay $2.50
Tip $1 X 3 beers = $3.00
Total:  $10.50

Grand total:  $239.75

I’ve now settled the question as to whether Bridgeport IPA or Avery IPA is better.  Where Bridgeport is actually drinkable, the Avery IPA was so horrible that I had to leave half of it, and order an ultra-sweet Woodchuck Pear Cider as a follow-up to get that awful taste out of my mouth.

Coming soon to this blog:  Bum video.  I was sitting in the window about 5 PM, and it occurred to me to switch the camera to video mode and record panhandling all-stars like Sharp Dressed Bum and New Sharp Dressed Bum ply their trade.  Due to cars in the way I didn’t get anything good before the sun went down.  But two and a half weeks from now, it will be light outside past 7 PM, and I’ll have plenty of time to record a new form of evidence of how bad panhandling has become in Downtown’s tourist district.

That’s it for now, short post this morning, heading to work.

MyFoxMemphis.com has unedited video of the end of the Memphis Tigers vs. UAB game Saturday night, where the Tigers came from behind to win 79-78.  UAB appeared to make a game-winning shot at the last second.  On TV it was obvious that the shot went off after the buzzer, but was perhaps not so apparent to the crowd in attendance, especially with emotions among UAB fans running high at the prospect of knocking off #1.

On the video you can see UAB students and fans pelting the Tigers with all sorts of debris as they walked to the locker room.  Someone told me Shawn Taggart got hit in the nose by a bottle.  Thank goodness the staff was able to restrain Dorsey, as that would have been the end of his college career (and probably the Tigers’ title hopes) if he had made it into the stands.

#2 Duke lost last night.  That makes Saturday’s Memphis vs. Tennessee game mean even more, as #4 Tennessee will likely move up to #2 today (#3 Kansas also lost in the past week).  So we’ll have a #1 vs. #2 showdown Saturday night at the FedExForum.

It’s already being discussed… if we lose, how far will we fall in the rankings?  Some people are asking whether we’ll still be in the top 10.  Come on, it won’t be that bad.  Realistically, I think we’d drop to #4 with a loss.  Personally, I think we should only drop to #2 if we lose, since our only loss would have come to the team who would then be #1.  I know better than to expect coaches and sports writers across the country to view Memphis in that positive a light though.

Of course, the best way to avoid that scenario altogether is to win the game!  GO TIGERS!!!

(…to use a Mikeyism.)  Got to Calhoun’s about 10:30 tonight.  I knew I’d actually get there long before the Saucer closed, but if I blogged that my plan was to leave the Saucer and head there, I’d have had people going, “Pauly, it’s 4:00, are you ready to go to Calhoun’s yet?”  There was a PBR draft in front of me before my ass touched the bar stool.  I swear, that bar is doing absolutely everything it can to get me in there.  I stayed until about 2:15, then navigated the gauntlet of bums home.  I counted… Calhoun’s is only 12 blocks from where I live.  Thought it was 14.

They’ll be seeing more of me.  I’ve decided that it’s time to move back into barhopping mode.  I’ll still work on my 3 beers a day for my plate, but beyond that no more sitting at one bar the entire night.  Time to circulate again.  When I did that in early December it seemed to work well.

Had a bum try to chase me down on the way home.  “Hey, sir!  Hey!  Hey!”  I turned around and faced him.  “NO BUMS, DUDE, MOVE ON!”  He then claimed he was just going to ask me what time it was.  Yeah right.  He walked off cussing at me.

Sleep is going to be good tonight.  Every Monday needs to be a holiday.

I’ve been given permission to provide more details about why we had a private party Friday night at a friend’s house.  I hinted that it was a celebration of sorts.  Here’s what we were celebrating:  The night before, Thursday, Valentine’s Day, my friend Clay (pictured below, at left, green shirt)

proposed to his girlfriend Jessica (pictured above at right, black top, referred to as Yoko on this blog up until now).  I won’t give all the details (you can ask them) but it happened upstairs at the Majestic Grille and Jessica had absolutely no idea it was going to happen.

I mentioned that we had a storyteller who brought tears to all of our eyes.  That storyteller would be Clay, filling us in on how the proposal happened from start to finish.

Here’s Jess showing off the ring:

Needless to say we are all thrilled for them.  If ever there was a couple that was meant to be married it’s these two.

Major props to the Majestic, by the way, on helping him pull all this off.  Jessica thought they were just going there for a simple dinner; in fact, she was mad at Clay at the time because she thought he had forgotten to bring her Valentine’s Day gift home from work.  But really, hours and and hours of planning went into the evening, and the folks at the Majestic played their parts perfectly.  The Majestic’s owners were thrilled that Clay selected their restaurant as the place to propose, and the fact that they went so far out of their way to make the evening unforgettable (including a special chef-designed menu for the newly engaged couple) only adds to my already stellar opinion of their restaurant.

6:49 PM.  Home from the Saucer taking a break, eating a little, drinking a Mountain Dew so I can get my second wind and go back out for more Saucer, Beer Pong at Hoop’s, and Calhoun’s.  I’ve already done my three for the day so here’s my beer report:

Previous total:  $214.25

Beers 40, 41, and 42 (but 37, 38, and 39 according to the Saucer):
Avery White Rascal Fire Sale $2.75
He’Brew Genesis Ale $4.25
Pyramid Curve Ball $4.00
Tip $11 x ~30% = $4.00
Total:  $15.00

Grand total:  $229.25

Manager Katie told me she selected the Fire Sales all of this week, and in my opinion senior management needs to make that her permanent assignment, as she has done the best job selecting Fire Sales in many, many weeks.

About to head back up there.  Meghan’s mini-me is working tonight.  Just thought I’d throw that out there, since I know several of the guys in my group are big fans of the mini-me.  Mini-me thinks it’s “ridiculous” that she doesn’t get a real name on this blog.  Well, go get a marriage proposal from a great guy (like Yoko did) or win $47,000 on a game show (like the Nuh-Uh Sister did) and maybe you’ll get a real name.