Category: Uncategorized

Another real quick one before I head to work…

There will be a hearing on building a skatepark on Mud Island tomorrow night.  This would be a great amenity that would attract families to the island and to Downtown.  Details here.

Folks who are working on a marketing campaign to revamp the image of Downtown Memphis need your help:  Please take this short survey here.

I read a report that the Peabody Thursday rooftop parties have been averaging over 1,000 people each week and last week they had 1,450.  They have really been stepping it up this year and it’s paying off for them.  Great job.  Gonna have to miss this week’s due to BBQ Fest though.

Morgan Freeman will host “Zero to 60,” a fundraiser to benefit the MED Foundation, at the Hard Rock Cafe on Beale on Saturday, June 6.  Music by the Bill Hurd Quartet, food, and a silent auction of music and movie memorabilia.  Tickets are $150 per person or $250 per couple, and they hope to raise $60,000 for the foundation.  Tickets can be purchased here.

Didn’t make it to the SMA meeting at the Hollywood Disco last night… the radar looked like heavy rain was threatening, so I decided not to walk that far south.  Rain never arrived though.  If you attended and anything interesting was announced, shoot me an e-mail at paul@paulryburn.com.

Friends & Family Night at BBQ Fest tonight… first pics of the finished booth will be posted late tonight or tomorrow morning.

The South Main Association meeting is tonight at Hollywood Disco. The general manager of the Cook Convention Center will speak. Free hors d’ouevres courtesy of the Disco, cash bar for beer and wine. Meeting starts at 6 PM.

Most likely I’ll make an appearance there, but will probably not stay for the whole program… I’m going to be running around Downtown handing a few people guest wristbands to our BBQ booth, and inquiring about guest wristbands for other team booths. Will probably swing through the Saucer, the Goose, and Bardog at some point… maybe a stop at Circa too since our team members have a deal on beer there this week.

A non-profit called Tickets for Troops will hold a fundraiser at the Memphis Zoo on June 18. This organization welcomes back returning troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, and provides them with tickets to family-friendly events to make them feel comfortable at home. Since the organization’s founding last December, they’ve sent 31 families to Grizzlies games, Tigers games, concerts, Redbirds games, etc. and there are another 600 families in the Mid-South who could use their support. So, they’re inviting you to their fundraiser at the Zoo, with great food, fine wine and spirits, exceptional cigars, and the Jeremy Schrader Jazz Band. Tickets are available on their website.

There’s a bake sale at the Residence Inn at Main and Monroe this Friday, May 15, from 10 AM until 2 PM. If I remember the banner correctly as I walked by last night, it’s in support of Make-a-Wish. So stop by and grab some goodies on your lunch break or on your way to BBQ Fest.

All right, we’re approaching crunch time for BBQ… got a request for people sending me announcements to blog… unless time is of the essence, please hold them until Sunday. If you send them now they’re almost sure to fall through the cracks, as I will have my hands full with BBQ blog posts and photo uploads to the team’s gallery.

Time to get back to work and troubleshoot some database connection issues… ready for tomorrow to get here so the fun can begin.

The Commercial Appeal has an article this morning on Art Under a Hot Tin Roof, a new gallery that opened at Main and Gayoso recently.  I got to meet the people who run the place last Saturday, when I was at their next door neighbor Circa to pick up my BBQ Fest team packet.  They have art, pottery, and jewelry, and a culinary arts section in the kitchen in the back.  They’re the first new business to be attracted to Downtown by the Center City Commission’s forgivable loan program.  They’re open 11 to 6 Tuesday through Saturday or by appointment, and they also have a location in Jackson, TN.

You can visit their website here.

Busy day… I’ve been at the Silly Goose for the last hour and a half adding pics to the Ques Brothers’ 2009 photo album.  I didn’t make it to the build yesterday, so I blasted out an e-mail asking for pics… boy, talk about being careful what you wish for.  Team members sent me almost 200.  I picked the 25 or so that seemed most representative of the build and added those.

Now I’m at the Saucer drinking a Dos Equis Lager… sitting near the pool table because Bicycle Bobby is out here, and I don’t want to sit at the bar with Old Lazy Ass back there.  Chad is on his way up here to bring me my team wristband, which I will proudly wear through the rest of the week.  Here’s a quick look at today’s news:

Greg Klyma will play Memphis Mary’s Thursdays at 345 Madison (the old Stop 345) this week.  $5 cover, two sets starting at 7 PM, kitchen open 6:30 to 9:30.

The Bicycle Film Festival is coming to Memphis May 29-30.  It’s a celebration of bicycles through film, art, and music.  They hope to gather cyclists from all over the South for this event.  Film screenings at the Brooks at 7 and 9 PM on the 29th, after-party afterward at Nocturnal (1588 Madison).  On the 30th, block party at Overton Park noon to 4, film screening at the Brooks at 3, and a Bikes Rock concert at Murphy’s (1589 Madison) with River City Tanlines, Magic Kids, The Warble, and Girls of the Gravitron at 9.  More details here.

Join MIFA for refreshments and entertainment at the grand reopening of the MIFA Store, Saturday May 16 from noon to 2, 910 Vance.

The 30th Annual Blues Music Awards were held here last week.  Click here to view a list of the winners.

Battery is close to dead, so it’s time to hit Publish.  I’m working through Wednesday and have Thursday and Friday off for BBQ Fest.  Posts may be on a slower schedule through Wednesday evening.  I will be doing daily BBQ updates (and possibly multiple per day updates) through BBQ Fest come hell or high water.

Sitting here at the Silly Goose trying to find a good PHP photo album that I can install on the Ques Brothers website… I want the team photos to be hosted on the team’s server from now on, rather than my personal Picasa account.  So far I’ve installed two WordPress plugins and two stand-alone programs, and have not been real happy with any of them.  Installing Coppermine now… I wasn’t completely happy with it the last time I used it in 2006, but I figure it’s had three years to improve.

BBQ season is here… we picked up our team packets yesterday… got our shirts, team wristbands, guest wristbands, etc.  Thanks to John Bragg for providing some great beer specials for the team, and to the Silly Goose for slipping a $10 gift certificate in each member’s bag.

I’m starting to get a lot of requests of the variety “Hey Paul, I’ve never met you personally (or, in the case of some of the requests, I met you at the Saucer about 8 months ago) and I don’t know anyone on the Ques Brothers team, but I was wondering if I could come hang out in your booth for BBQ Fest, and bring a couple of friends.”  Sorry… I know how it feels to be on the outside looking in at BBQ Fest, and was in that position myself for many years.  However, the team is really cracking down on the number of guests in the booth this year.  With over a thousand blog readers per day on the weekdays, there’s no way I can invite everyone who reads my blog to our booth.

I’m probably not going to work a security shift at the door this year.  It takes away from my duties as team photographer, and we need people at the door who are better at saying no than I am.  Some of the stories we get are just ridiculous.  “Hey, I’m friends with someone who knows a guy who works with the brother of one of your team members, can you let me and the 18 people with me in?”  “Hey, we saw a Circa sign on your booth, does that mean you’re giving out Circa cocktails for free?”  Argh.

In other news… MTV is creating a new reality series based on the website Hot Chicks with Douchebags.  That should be fun.  Wonder if they’ll bring the camera crews to Memphis… plenty of ‘bags to film at the Saucer and the Rooster on a typical Saturday night.

Wang dang, sweet Zing Zang… sitting here drinking a Bloody Mary I built myself, while waiting for whoever is minding the store at GoDaddy to get off his lazy ass and set up the database I need for Coppermine… usually those requests take about 30 seconds… this one was put in over an hour ago.  Get with it dude or I’ll call my Congressman and get your H-1B visa pulled and you’ll be on the first ship back to Bangalore.

Damn this is a good Bloody Mary.  Think I’ll have another one.  I’m in no particular hurry to take the show on the road to the Saucer, because the Fire Sale today (Abita Amber) is a rather mediocre beer.

Melvin the parking scammer is on the lot at Main and Beale.  He’s criminally trespassed from that lot.  Bum patrol has been called.  Hopefully he’ll be taking a ride in the back of a white limo with blue lights in a few minutes.

Database still not set up… and my battery’s about dead… and I’m not near an outlet.  Guess I better hit Publish and take the laptop home.  Rain moving this way.

The Kooky Canuck on Second Street will have their 34 oz. signature cocktails, normally $9.99, on sale for $5 from 5 PM to close on Tuesday.  So come on by… great food, cheap big drinks, and excellent service at the bar.  Designated driver recommended.  Or just move Downtown and stumble home like we do.

Damn between the SMA meeting at Hollywood Disco and this, I may miss trivia for the second week in a row.

Good night tonight… went to Sarah’s birthday at Bluefin then ran into Nicole, who was also having a birthday, at the Saucer and went on a carriage ride with her and her friends.

Load-in day for BBQ Fest in the morning… the team has assigned me to hold down our branch office on Second Street while they build.  I’ll be there around 1.

Here’s a look back at my BBQ Fest posts from last year, to help everyone get fired up for BBQ Fest ’09:

Wednesday Friends & Family Night – First look at the booth; Lauren eats a cherry; Skippy gets wasted and smokes a hookah; and, of course, a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating.

More from Wednesday – We established the “hot girls in tube tops get in the booth” rule; the BBQ Fest version of The Window Game; the obnoxiously garish booth next door

Thursday – Otto gets down; the team feasts on turducken; the giant Nestle Crunch bar

Friday – Terry buys the stupidest looking hat in the history of the world; Melissa puts on Mikey’s disco helmet (my God her boobs are fantastic); the team repairs the booth after a storm; the Nuh-Uh Girl eats again

Saturday – The judging; the team picks up the 3rd Place Shoulder trophy on stage; the big celebration; Lauren gets a birthday cake and card

Sunday – The trophy goes on tour

(For those of you looking for the Fire Sale list, scroll past all this crap and it’s the next post down.)

I haven’t had much time to get pics out of the camera the past two weeks, so today I’ll catch up.  Here are the highlights:

The Wine Race parade.  I believe this was Club 152.  Note that the girls have tube tops on.

Leslie got a Call-a-Cab from Wet Willie’s, a very good decision.  Note that Leslie has a tube top on.

The ladies shaking their stuff at the Queen of the Vine contest

Stella the dog watching the wine relay

Saucer people at Wine Race

Jean from Bardog Tavern answers her question in the Queen of the Vine contest

Nicole from the Silly Goose answers her question

Post-race, Otto poses with the Queen of the Vine winner.

Why do Susie and Audra look so offended?  Because I hung out with them for a while on Music Fest Friday, then blogged that the highlight of the early evening was standing on the Silly Goose’s patio watching Air Traffic Mike eat a hot dog.

Prior to going to Music Fest on Sunday, we stopped at the Silly Goose for their build-your-own Bloody Mary bar.  Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating the carrot that garnished her drink.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating off Esther’s plate.

A view of muddy Music Fest from the Flyer tent.

The rain caused lots of people to take refuge in the Flyer tent.

After years of vegetarianism, Mikey has rediscovered the joy of eating tasty dead animals.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating Corky’s BBQ in the Flyer tent.

Jen, Frank, and Stephanie at the Silly Goose’s Cinco de Mayo party.  Note that Stephanie has a tube top on.

The burrito eating contest at the Goose

After the contest, the Nuh-Uh Girl picked up one of the leftover burritos and ate it.

The chefs at the Peabody prepare special hors d’ouevres for the VIP section at the Thursday rooftop parties.  Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating an open-faced roast beef sandwich.

This weekend will probably be a slow one for picture-taking, but I’m going to make sure that all three camera batteries are fully charged for BBQ Fest next week.  All right, caught up on pictures, now it’s time for a beer.

(Updated 12:38 PM:  I just got a call from someone who’s at the Saucer.  ALL TWELVE are on Fire Sale as of now, but… every hour they take one away.  So there will be 11 beers on Fire Sale at 1 PM, 10 at 2 PM, and so on.  No idea which beer will be taken away each hour.)

Today is the Downtown Flying Saucer’s 12th birthday, and the Saucer is celebrating the occasion by putting 12 beers on Fire Sale.  Counting down from noon to midnight, they’ll have a different beer on Fire Sale each hour for $2.75.  Here are the 12 beers:

• Anchor Steam
• Anchor Liberty
• Yazoo Pale Ale
• Yazoo Dos Perros
• Woodchuck Amber Cider
• Woodchuck Pear Cider
• New Belgium Mighty Arrow
• New Belgium Fat Tire
• Spaten Oktoberfest
• Spaten Franzkiskaner
• Murphy’s Stout
• Murphy’s Amber

If you need to knock some beers off your quest for the 200-beer Ring of Honor, today’s a good day to do it for cheap.  They’ll also have the $2 Mystery Beer tub, and FreeWorld plays tonight at 9:30.

Don’t know how I’m going to tweet this to my @firesale Twitter account – no way all those beers will fit in 140 characters.  Guess I’ll just say “12 beers on Fire Sale” and refer them here.

Lots of birthdays today… looks like I’ll be going to a birthday party tonight at Bluefin… although I wonder what kind of condition I’ll be in after a day of drinking Fire Sales and mystery beers.

Also happy birthday to my friend Nicole, who will probably get mad at me for picking the Saucer’s birthday party over hers, but I can walk to the Saucer.

Whew… I need to download 2 weeks worth of pics off the camera and do a “random pics” post… look for it later today unless I get distracted.

Mpact Memphis will hold their Mpact Outlet program tonight at Pearl’s Oyster House at Main and Pontotoc from 6 to 8 PM. This is their monthly program where they lay out ways to get involved in Mpact’s volunteering and networking programs. There will be free giveaways as well. Free to members and those who join at the event; $5 for others. Pearl’s has some great seafood, so be sure to eat while you’re there.

Looks like good weather for rooftop parties tonight… the Weather Channel is predicting sunny with a 20% chance of rain, high 85, low 70. ’80s cover band Venus Mission plays the Peabody – $5 cover, free for ladies before 8 PM. Seems like the Peabody rooftop events have improved big-time this year. One week they had a free build-your-own slider bar, and the Nuh-Uh Girl told me another week they had a taco bar… and this was part of the regular admission, not the VIP section where there are additional hors d’ouevres.

Over at the Madison, Grace Askew with Groundspeak plays tonight. She and the band are described as “a little soul, folk, country, and a New Orleans sound.”

Post-rooftop, the Dempseys play the Saucer at 9:30. Their crazed rockabilly act is always fun to watch.

Over at the Red Rooster, the “Chicklette of the Week” who wins their “You’ve Got the Look” contest will win a Diamond Tennis Bracelet by Platinum Jewelers.

I’ll definitely hit the Peabody rooftop tonight. Most likely I’ll be at the Saucer afterward, but not for sure… I like to leave plans open for later. Maybe I’ll be flying the saucer, or maybe I’ll get silly like a goose, or maybe I’ll slim things down a bit. Maybe the evening will go to the dogs. I might even rock out with my cock out. One thing’s for sure though, I won’t be chillin’ like a villain.

Coming up this weekend, Hollywood Disco at Mulberry and Vance will have a contest. Whoever brings the largest group to the club this weekend will win a free party (no cover, cash bar, anytime except 10 PM-4 AM Friday-Saturday). Just tell Angie at the booth how many are in your party, and give her your name and cell number so she can contact you if you win. Winner will be called Sunday.

Eating a Frosty from Wendy’s as I type this… wonder how my health guru AL would feel about a Frosty and nothing else for lunch.  All right, that’s enough for now, back to work…