Category: Uncategorized

Voting has begun in the Memphis Flyer’s Best of Memphis poll for 2011. Click here to vote. Voting runs through July 29.

Sick of all the surveys rating Memphis one of the most miserable cities? One group is ready to tell Mr. Forbes exactly what they think about Memphis. Door of Hope will host the event at Caritas Village, 2509 Harvard, on Saturday, July 16 from 3:30 to 5 PM. Door of Hope’s writers’ group, made up of men and women who have experienced homelessness, will share personal experiences and Memphis stories as they tell you what they think. Door of Hope’s writing group meets every Wednesday. More info here.

Those lobbying for more bike lanes in Memphis should check out this Mashable article. Four cities have implemented bike-sharing plans, with Denver being the leader. If we get the bike lanes on Madison (which I hope we do) and other city streets, I’d love to see a program like this.

There’s a Dole mobile fruit stand at Court Square today. It will be there until 6, handing out samples and coupons.

There were a HUGE number of people out last night! The Saucer was packed, both early and late, and when I made my late-night stop at Bardog it was packed too. I knew there had to be a convention in town. A handy site to check when you’re wondering what convention is going on is this one. It told me that ServiceMaster is in town all week for their annual convention. Welcome, and if you need advice on what to do Downtown, hit me up with an e-mail to paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll try to respond quickly. Oh goody, the Jehovah’s Witnesses will be here later this month.

If you’re on Google+, here’s a cheatsheet that may help.

Plans for tonight: Hmmm don’t know. It’s Indian food Wednesday at City Market. Today’s special is vegetable korma, okra masala, tandoori chicken, zeera rice, and naan. I love Indian food, so I may have to eat there before I start my usual Wednesday night beer consumption. Probably will be out at the usual places later.

Last night I was hanging out at the Flying Saucer for Pint Nite. A friend of mine appeared next to me at the bar, and while I’d seen him around town from time to time, it occurred to me that it had been a long time since I’d seen him at the Saucer. “That’s right, I haven’t been here in a year and a half,” he told me. “I heard it went non-smoking and decided to start coming back.”

Previously he had done 67 beers for his UFO Club membership, in which you get a plate on the wall if you drink 200 different beers. “I had given up on it because the smoke bothered me,” he said, “but now I think I’m going to start working on my plate again.” He asked the bartender if he could get a replacement UFO card (he’d lost his old one) and got a Guinness for beer #68. This is the kind of thing I knew would happen. Former regulars who hated the smoke are starting to come back. Good to see.

I’ll be at the Saucer after work. This morning I checked our remaining uncashed gift certificates that we won at trivia there, and found that a 25 expires today! Yikes! We’ve fooled around planning a party, so I’m going to have to spend the certificate and pitch in $25 cash to the team. Gonna be hard to get there at 6 and spend $25 and still make it next door to the Silly Goose for trivia at 8. Guess I’ll be eating dinner at the Saucer. One of those sausage and cheese plates maybe.

Tonight is the fundraiser for Memphis Music & Heritage Festival at Maggie Moo’s from 5 to 9, so stop by and eat some ice cream. If you want to volunteer for the festival, go next door to the Center for Southern Folklore and they’ll sign you up.

It’s also trivia night at Ferraro’s (8 PM, $15 all you can eat and drink), trivia night at the Saucer (7 PM, and they’ve been talking about some new grand prize, a trip to Abita Brewery), and Pint Nite at Bardog (7 PM to 3 AM, all drafts $3).

If you’re looking for a place to watch the MLB All-Star Game tonight, my top recommendation would be Max’s Sports Bar on G.E. Patterson. 10 TVs and they’re sure to have the sound on. Not a bad seat in the house. Lauren is making a special Tuesday night appearance behind the bar.

Time for a quick Target run, then back to my desk to wrap up a PHP project. I hope this afternoon flies by.

Memphis Heat: The True Story of Memphis Wrasslin’ is coming to the Orpheum. The movie, which chronicles the history of Memphis wrestling from the Sputnik Monroe era of the ’50s through the Jerry Lawler era of the ’70s, will be shown on Friday, July 22 at 7 PM.

There will be some celebrity guests on hand. Jerry Jarrett, who broke away from another promoter in 1977 to form the Memphis promotion we grew up with, will be on hand. He’ll sign copies of his new book The Best of Times before and after the show. Also, one of the great announcing duos of all time, Lance Russell and Dave Brown, will be in attendance. More info about the movie can be found at memphis-heat.com.

The Memphis Redbirds are teaming up with a couple of corporate partners to benefit the Officer Timothy Warren Fund. For each ticket sold to Friday’s games (doubleheader, with first game starting at 5:05), the Redbirds will donate a dollar to the fund for the fallen officer. It gets even sweeter though: AutoZone and Fundamental Advisors, LP have each committed to match the ‘birds donations, turning that $1 per ticket into $3. There will be various items up for auction to benefit the fund Friday night, and if you want to donate additional amounts beyond the price of a ticket, the stadium will be happy to collect those donations.

The second Tuesday of the month is normally the South Main Association meeting. However, due to many members being out of town, this month’s meeting has been canceled. President Hank Cowles is working on getting plaques installed on historical properties, and is also working on the restoration of ghost signs around the neighborhood.

I’ve been asked to spread the word about a coworking survey going on in Memphis right now. If you have an interst in coworking, please take a moment to click through and fill out the survey.

Thanks to the folks who told me about Move2Picasa.com, which lets you import your Facebook photos into Picasa, for use with Google Plus.

Home from work. It’s Pint Nite at the Saucer, so time for a beer. Trying to decide whether to walk down to the Green Beetle for dinner later in the evening.

Last night I stopped by the Green Beetle, where they were having a pre-opening party. Official opening is tomorrow for lunch. They’ll be open late night too. Here are a few pics.

I had a fan of my blog approach me tonight at the Saucer. She generally complimented my blog, but she’s read long enough to know I’m anti-Ole Miss. She had something to say about that.

“Look Paul, I know the women are bitches and the guys have a dick up their ass, but you need to come spend one day at The Grove.”

Yep. Persuasive.

Yesterday afternoon I received an invitation to join Google+, the new social web that is similar to, but different than, Facebook. I accepted the invitation, although I didn’t have a lot of time to play with it until I got home from work. After work and this morning I gave it a try.

Google+ is based around the concept of “circles.” The idea is, most people run in several different social circles, and may want to share different information with different circles. Default circles include friends, family, acquaintances and “followers,” who are people you’ve never met but whose information is of interest to you. You can create circles of your own. So far I’ve created two new ones:

• A circle I call “inner circle,” which will contain the 12 or 14 people I hang with most every day. I’ll likely share more with that group than the 200-300 people who will land in my “friends” circle.
• A “social media/tech community” circle. There are a lot of people in Memphis who post excellent stuff about social media, PHP programming, WordPress, etc. I want to hear what they have to say, and hopefully contribute to the discussion as well. I talk to them on Facebook and Twitter already, but I’ve always hated it that they’ve had to read “Woohoo! Tube top sitting two seats down from me nearly had a malfunction!” and similar posts and Flying Saucer checkins and so on. Now I can keep that group separate. People can be in multiple circles at once, so I can put tech contacts in my “friends” group as well if I want them to see my tube top and drinking posts.

One thing I really, really like about Google+: When you add someone to a circle, they are notified they’ve been added, but they aren’t told which circle. This addresses a big problem I’ve seen with another social network, Foursquare. Have you ever got a friend request on there, and you don’t really want that person knowing where you are, but you also don’t want to hurt their feelings and ignore their request? (This has been a big problem in my group of friends lately.) On Google+ you can add such a person to your circle, and they’ll get notified and be happy, but you can actually add them to a circle you don’t plan to share much with.

I also like it that Google+ uses Picasa as their photo app, and there is now unlimited photo storage. Problem is, I used Picasa up until about 2009 when I started using Facebook for photos, so now there’s a two-year hole. I wish there were a Facebook-to-Picasa photo importer. Maybe there is. I’ve only been playing with this for a day. I do think Picasa is superior to Facebook’s photo app.

Also interested to see what they will create as the equivalent of Facebook fan pages for businesses. As of right now, they’re asking businesses to hold off on joining. They’re still working on business presence and they want businesses to join the correct way, when it’s ready. Since I manage our social media presence at work, I’ll have to keep an eye on news about Google+ in the coming weeks.

Obviously there will be a lot of plugins written in the weeks and months to come, to integrate Google+ with other social media and web platforms. (Interested to see future WordPress-Google+ interaction.)

I’m just getting started with Google+, so it’s too early for me to agree that this will be the Facebook-killer some people think it is. They’re not off to a bad start though. Right now Google+ is invite-only, but they should have it completely rolled out to the public by the end of the month.

 

LivingSocial has a good deal today: $10 for $20 worth of food at LUNCHBOXeats.

I know a lot of the locals avoid the TGI Friday’s in the Doubletree because it’s a chain, but today would be a good day to make an exception. 100% of their proceeds today will be donated to the Officer Timothy Warren Fund.

Good article in the Memphis Daily News about beer pairing events in Memphis.

Yep. That’s all I got. Slow day. They’re putting some kind of treatment on the windows here in the office, and making all kinds of weird scraping noises. I want to spend as much of my lunch break as possible away from my desk, so I’m outta here. If more news comes in I’ll post after work.

At 8:15 I staked out a spot in front of AutoZone Park for the “Sea of Blue,” the procession of police cars assembled to honor fallen patrolman Timothy Warren.

I had never been to a “Sea of Blue” before and didn’t know what to expect. I thought I’d be cheering on the officers that passed and saying “thank you.”

Then, as the first cars rolled by. I realized the night meant something entirely different to them. It was a salute to a fallen comrade. I understood but not in a way like they did. I got quiet and put my hand over my heart. I’d heard 150 police cars would participate. Wrong. It was more like 600 to 700. In addition to MPD and Shelby County, there were officers from nearly every surrounding city, as well as from places as far away as Franklin, Knoxville and the border patrol.

R.I.P., Officer Warren. My sincere respect to all those who honored him tonight.

(Edit: There’s a video of the Sea of Blue here)

The Memphis Police will conduct a “Sea of Blue” procession Downtown tonight at 8:15. The procession is in honor of patrolman Timothy Warren who was killed in the line of duty Sunday. It starts at the Pyramid and this is the route:

1. South on Front Street to Linden Avenue
2. East on Linden Avenue passing the E.D.U. Office (136 Linden)
3. Continuing on Linden Avenue to Danny Thomas Blvd
4. North on Danny Thomas Blvd. to Union Avenue
5. West on Union Avenue passing in front of the Double Tree Hotel (185 Union) to Third Street
6. North on Third Street to Poplar Avenue
7. West on Poplar to Front Street
8. North on Front back to the Pyramid

This is a good opportunity to find a spot along the route, and applaud and show appreciation to our police officers as they roll by.

Bike rider? Baseball lover? Combine the two activities on Sunday, July 17 with a bike ride from Midtown to AutoZone Park, including a lap around the field. Meet at the First Congo parking lot at 4:30; game begins at 6:05. $7 outfield seats for bike riders. If you want to be a part of it, there’s more info here.

Maggie Moo’s will host a fundraiser for the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival Tuesday, July 12 from 5 to 9 PM. The festival is held on the Main Street Mall over Labor Day weekend, put on by the Center for Southern Folklore, and is a huge celebration of regional music and culture. On the 12th Maggie Moo’s will have live music, and you’ll be able to go next door to the Center and sign up as a festival volunteer, and purchase items from the Folklore Store. A portion of all proceeds from Maggie Moo’s sales that evening will go toward the festival.

Widespread Panic has been announced for the FedExForum on Saturday, October 1. I remember when they played here a few years ago; I didn’t attend the concert but it made for some fascinating people-watching in the parking lots around the Forum.

Mudflap King is the featured entertainment for the weekly Peabody rooftop party tonight. $10 cover includes first drink; ladies free before 7; VIP passes for the rest of the season available for $50. Budweiser will be giving away a Port Paradise cruise; details about the cruise can be found here. Buffet theme this week is Sunset in Key West, with make-your-own fish tacos, tropical fruit and veggie trays. In VIP they’ll have Cuban sandwiches, seafood salads and rice and beans. After-party in the Corner Bar from 10 to 12, benefiting the Memphis Music Foundation, with DJ Luis Gee, sponsored by La Onda Magazine.

Over on the Madison rooftop, the Memphis All-Stars will play tonight. If you’re a student or employee of the U of M Law School, show your ID to get in free this week. $7 cover, sophisticated drinks and tapas menu available on the roof. Party starts at 5:30, sunset at 8:17.

Tomorrow, July 8, is Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-a. Come in completely dressed in a cow costume and get a free meal. A partial costume gets a free entree. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Reader emailed asking for suggestions for interesting things to do Downtown Sunday evening. Memphis Jazz Orchestra practice at Alfred’s (6 to 9) and FreeWorld at Blues City (10:30) come to mind. Other suggestions? Email me at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll pass them on.

Plans for tonight: Looks like a bunch of us will meet outside AutoZone Park around 8:15 to applaud the police procession as it passes. Will probably pre-game at the Saucer for a few beers, starting around 6. No poker at Max’s Sports Bar for me this week.

One of the people re-opening the Green Beetle has posted to Facebook saying they’re shooting for lunch Monday as the opening date. Sounds like a good idea. When you had a reputation as a late-night bar, you want to iron the kinks out before you open as a late-night bar again. A weekday lunch is perfect.

Based on email reaction I’ve received, a lot of folks are very excited about the rebirth of the Beetle. Best of luck and I’m sure I’ll see you soon.