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If BBQ Fest didn’t completely do you in, here’s a reminder that you can get dollar cocktails at the Silly Goose tonight from 5 to 7. Fifteen classic depression-era cocktails go on sale for a buck apiece. Needless to say, that is where I plan to be tonight, possibly with the laptop because I still need to upload BBQ videos.

I’d like to wish a happy 100th birthday to Brigadier Gertrude Purdue today. She volunteers twice a week at the VA Med Center, chairs the Salvation Army’s Women Auxiliary League of Mercy committee, and participates with the Optimist Club and Quota Club. She is a beacon of light for the homeless, the hopeless, and the sick. Happy 100th, Ms. Purdue, and I hope you have many more years left to serve the Memphis community.

The Voodoo Room in the downstairs of Orleans on Front is closed until further notice for renovations and upgrades. Right now I don’t have any more details than that. Hopefully I’ll talk to Chef Clint this week and get the full story.

If you like beer, there’s a tasting at the Memphis Zoo this Friday night from 7 to 10. $20 for zoo members, $25 for non-members. More details here.

Whew… still decompressing from BBQ Fest… I’ve posted pics but I’ll probably do a post of random BBQ-related thoughts in a day or two. For now, back to work. I’ll be at the Goose’s dollar cocktail night and the Saucer’s Pint Nite after work.

Sleep Out Louie’s, one of the last places to carry NTN/Buzztime Trivia Downtown, closed in February 2007.  Since then there has not been a Paul vs. Skippy trivia match.

Until tonight, at Calhoun’s.

The results (my handle is PROFPR):

PROFPR, over 12,000… Skippy, under 9,000.  I also got the #1 monthly score on Countdown at Calhoun’s for the month of May.  I did the trivia victory dance.

Walked home after that, but of course the Saucer was on the way… good seeing former Saucer Girl Marla tonight… she showed me her new librarian glasses.

Six hours of sleep and then I get to go to work.

So, I got to the Ques Brothers booth about 2 PM yesterday, and what was the first thing I saw?

Yep, the Nuh-Uh Girl eating yet again.

Not long after I got there, I decided to walk around the south end of the park, and discovered that my landlords Henry and Heather had a booth.  Here’s a pic of their Chilean chili, which was AMAZING.  I texted the Nuh-Uh Girl and told her about it, and not long after she arrived back at the Ques Brothers booth with two big bowls of it.

Henry holding the Anything But trophy his team won Friday.

This is The Shed, the team that beat us for best booth.

Best Saucer waitress ever.  There will never be another Jenn B.

Take a look at the guy on the left… THIS IS THE MAN if you’re throwing an event.  He’s the reason our booth looked so good.  His name’s Brent and you can reach him through the Holliday Flowers website.

People were doing keg stands at the awards ceremony.  I wish I’d waited another 2 seconds to snap this photo, because this girl pretty much had no secrets left when they brought her down.

We waited to hear our name announced in the Top 10 but it didn’t happen.  We later found out that we slipped all the way to 33rd in shoulder.  The godfather of the Ques Brothers expresses his feelings on the standings: “BULL….. SHIT…..”

Awards ceremony notwithstanding, it was still time to party when we returned to the booth.  Here’s a pic of Skippy getting down.

Here’s a pic of Alexis getting down.

Here’s a pic of Terry getting down.  “Lady Marmalade” came on and he did a solo dance.

Clay didn’t get down, he got up.

Here’s a pic of everybody getting down.

Strip club The Pony rode around Downtown and handed out passes.

Post-BBQ Fest, my neighbor Nick and I and two girls went to Paula & Raiford’s Disco, and who did we see there but…

Apparently he didn’t get enough dancing in the Ques Brothers booth.

The disco was packed last night.  We stayed until about 3.

I’m not done with BBQ Fest yet… I still have more stuff to post.  Someone gave me a copy of the video of our Ms. Piggie Idol contest, and I’m going to upload it and post it.  I also did a booth walkthrough video that I’ll post, and then there’s a video of Skippy dancing last night that I need to review and decide if it is blogworthy.  Most likely it is.

I added about 160 pics from yesterday to the Ques Brothers photo gallery.  To jump right to yesterday’s pics, go to Page 12 and locate the photo tagged “Saturday, May 16.”  If you like looking at photos of 50 year old black men dancing, you’re probably going to be real happy with yesterday’s pics.

The team is tearing down the booth and loading out as I type this.  I’m using my webmaster exemption from physical labor.  I’m sure I’ll probably meet up with the team later today.

Hey, I just looked at the clock… it’s 12:03 and that means the Saucer is open.  Time for a beer.

My BBQ teammates tell me that my blog has a loyal following in Mexico.  So, Hola Mexicanos, and I hope you enjoy today’s photos.

Gilligan Jr. plays catch with a beach ball.

One of the Whole Hog teams prepares their entry for the BBQ championship.

For the second year, our booth was a stop on the BBQ Fest poker run.  Participants played toss the beach ball and drink.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl standing next to Uncle Ray and eating.  Note that the Nuh-Uh Girl has a tube top on.

Here’s a pic of Esther eating.  Note that Esther has a tube top dress on.

Our cook team from Honky Tonk Barbeque prepares our championship entry.

News Channel 3 came by and did the weather from the rooftop of our booth.

Arts writer Skippy “Christopher” Blank and Alexis share a funnel cake.

We won 3rd Place in Best Booth.  I haven’t seen the first and second place entries, but I can’t imagine how they can be better then ours.  Still, though, a trophy’s a trophy, and thanks again to Holliday Flowers for doing such an amazing job decorating our booth.

The Nuh-Uh Sister and Nuh-Uh Girl asked me to post this pic, to prove to the world that they do look cute and they don’t spend all their time eating.

Ruchee wearing a tiara.  “I borrowed it from Terry.”  Note that Ruchee has a tube top on.

The girls enjoying a cold beverage on the rooftop of our booth.

Matching cowgirl outfits.

A rare pic of me in my own photo album, with a blog reader from Atlanta.  Nice meeting you, shoot me an e-mail at paul@paulryburn.com if you want to keep in touch.

I added 150 new pics to the Ques Brothers photo album.  You can see the album here, or if you want to jump straight to Friday’s pics, jump to Page 9 of the photo gallery and start with the pic tagged “Friday, May 15.”

Since the title of this post is “Hola Mexicanos,” I’ll tell a funny Mexico-related story.  I was standing near the entrance to our booth when a very drunk Yoko (wow I don’t think I’ve used that nickname since last year’s BBQ Fest) grabbed me by the shirt and slurred, “Paul.  Aren’t you worried about swine flu?  All these pigs being cooked and all these people here… don’t you think it’s possible that everyone’s going to get sick and die?”

At that moment one of our team members from Mexico walked by.  “IT’S HIS FAULT!” I told Yoko as I pointed at him.  “He brought the swine flu up with him from Mexico!”  And drunk Yoko started yelling at him.  Great fun.

For about 30 minutes last night I did the thing I swore I would not do this year… I worked security at the door.  Mikey had an emergency to take care of, and I was the nearest team member who has a good sense of who should come in and who should not.  So for 30 minutes, I had to argue with people and say no a lot.  Our rule was, team members can bring friends in, but friends can’t bring their friends in.  With as many people as we have on our team, we had to do it that way.  So I had to deal with “yeah but I know so-and-so, come on, let me in” for half an hour.  And “yeah I was in there drinking beer with y’all before, I’m friends with one of the main people on the team” but he couldn’t tell me what the main person’s name was.  Geez.

Today is the judging, so I’m staying out of the booth until about 2 PM so I don’t get in the way.  Hmmm… wonder if there’s a place between here and Tom Lee Park where I can start the day with a few beers… maybe someplace where the waitresses wear short skirts?  Note to my invited guests:  There’s a good chance I will be away from the booth from 6 to 7:30 PM for the awards ceremony.  If you need to find me call my cell phone.

Outta here for now… hopefully tomorrow I’ll have pics of a trophy to post.

Friday: I went out to the Saucer at 11 AM and then the Ques Brothers booth.  It’s past 2:30 AM and I just got home, with Saucer bookends.  My apologies to those expecting pics and a recap, but I must take the night off.  If I don’t get a full 8 hours sleep I will die.  Pics to come soon.

Here’s a look back at BBQ Fest Thursday in the Ques Brothers booth:

Here’s a pic of Otto smoking.

Rehearsing for Ms. Piggie Idol

Stephanie and Erin enjoying Anchor Steam (well, that’s what the tap handle said… tasted like Natty though).  Note that they both have tube top dresses on.

Getting ready to head to Piggie Idol

Suzy had a tube top on.

More tube tops

Ms. Piggie

Adrienne and her friend have tube top dresses on.  The girl on the right gets a “not a tube top but still smoking hot” pass.

A rare pic of me taken with my own camera, posing with Esther.

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

The reason our booth looked so good

Amanda from the Saucer

Lee got into the spirit of BBQ Fest by wallowing in the mud like pigs do.

Tracy and Nicole from the Silly Goose.  Note that Tracy has a tube top dress on.

I added 230 pics from Thursday to the Ques Brothers photo album.  You can view the entire album here, and the new Thursday pics start on this page beginning with the pic tagged “Thursday, May 14.”

And now it’s time to do it all over again.  The team has Best Booth judging at 11:30, so I’m going to find an alternate location to drink beer until about noon.  Hmmm… maybe… the Saucer?  I think Old Lazy Ass may have day shift at the bar today.  If she does I’ll sit at the window so I don’t have to deal with her.

If anyone got pics/footage of our team at Ms. Piggie Idol, send them to me and I’ll upload.  I had to stay in the booth in case guests came by.

Can’t believe I thought I’d actually catch up on sleep during my time off for BBQ Fest… not gonna happen… time to throw some clothes on and get out there.

Last night at 5:30 the gates to Tom Lee Park opened for Friends & Family Night, and I walked in and headed straight to our booth at the south end of the park.  Here’s the first look at the finished product:

Looks a little better than last year’s booth, does it not?

This year we added a new key member/sponsor to the team – Brent from Holliday Flowers, seen above directing the booth decoration as we set up on Tuesday.  Brent is a pro and made the booth look amazing.  He’s available to make your events look as great as he did ours.

The seating area right inside the front door.  Our booth looked better than most nightclubs in Memphis.  One team member compared it to Club La Vela in Panama City Beach.

The white triangle in the corner of the seating area was more than just a decoration.  It served as a projection screen as well.  After dark, our sponsor the Center for Southern Folklore showed concert footage.  Above:  The Grateful Dead singing “Touch of Grey.”  Sing it, Jerry.

This year the team has lockers, so we can safely stash stuff we bring to BBQ Fest.  Local artist Shane Paris painted the team logo on the lockers.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating, and as a bonus, the Nuh-Uh Sister eating too.  Our cook Willie is in the background to the Nuh-Uh Girl’s right.  About 6:30 ribs, chicken, and sausage came off the grill, and the Nuh-Uh Girl was all over it, going back for several helpings within the first 30 minutes.

The main dining/socializing area.  See that bar in the background?  Brent built that bar, just for this event.  It looks nicer than most of the bars I sell on Mid-South Alcoholic Supply.

Kelly and Edison boogie down on our upstairs balcony.

View of the booth at night, with the moais in the window lit up.

Our sponsor John Bragg underneath his Circa sign.  Attn Silly Goose: Where was your signage?

All right, that’s the basic tour of the booth.  You can see all 149 pics I added to the photo album here for a complete look at the Ques Brothers’ 2009 home.  I have to believe we’re the frontrunner for the Best Booth award.  It was funny to watch people walking past on the sidewalk, and then they’d see our booth and stop and stare.

Today is the first day BBQ Fest is open to the public.  Gates open at 11… hmmm… you know what else opens at 11?  The Saucer.  So it’ll probably be noon before I make it to the booth.  Hopefully I’ll get a walk-through video of the booth today.  Tonight is the Ms. Piggie Idol competition.  Attn team members:  If anyone with video can film our entry in Piggie Idol and upload it to YouTube, that will serve as a good backup in case I miss it.

A reminder that Hollywood Disco at Vance and Mulberry is open tonight for post-BBQ Fest partying.  They usually aren’t open on Thursdays.

If BBQ Fest isn’t your thing, it’s also rooftop party night Downtown, with parties at the Peabody and the Madison, and post-rooftop parties at the Red Rooster, Flying Saucer, Automatic Slim’s, and all the other hotspots.  Lots to do tonight.

Time to shower last night’s BBQ smoke out of my hair and get ready to do it all over again.  All three camera batteries are charged… many more pics to come.

(Edited to add:  149 to 123!  Haha!  I took more photos than Edison!  I WIN!!!!)

Here’s a quick orientation to BBQ Fest for those who are new.

Wednesday night is Friends & Family Night, when only team members and a few invited guests are allowed in the park. You have to have a special red ticket to get in – these are allocated to the teams and are not sold at the gate. A certain number of tickets are allocated per team (not sure exactly how many). Smaller teams get enough to be able to invite family members and close friends. Larger teams, like the one I’m on, find that the tickets are so scarce that team members are lucky to get one ticket, much less extras to give to guests, so it’s more “team night” than “friends & family.”

Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the fest is open to the public. It’s free to get in at lunchtime Thursday and Friday. Otherwise, unless you’re on a team and wearing your official Memphis in May wristband, it’s $8 per day to get in.

Although the festival itself is open to the public, almost all of the BBQ booths are private parties. This is not the choice of the teams; rather, it’s due to health rules that prohibit teams from serving food to the public. So, only team members and their invited guests are allowed in the booths. This means, if you go to BBQ Fest and don’t know anyone on a team, it can kind of suck. There are public vendors that will sell you BBQ, but it’s generally inferior to the stuff served by the teams.

Many teams post security at their booth entrance to make sure that only invited guests get in. The first year we did it, I thought this was unnecessary and complained that some of my teammates were acting like the Door Gestapo. However, once I worked a shift at the door myself, I completely understood their point. Lots of people no one on the team knew approached me with all kinds of lies and sob stories, trying to get in to freeload food and beer.

Many teams hand out their own wristbands to signify that you are an invited guest in their booth.  These only grant you access to that booth; you still have to pay the $8 to get in the festival.  Important note: If you plan on coming to BBQ Fest multiple days, do not cut or pull off guest wristbands at the end of the night. Keep them on for the duration of the festival. Guest wristbands are scarce, and if you take yours off, you may not be able to get another one.

It can be hard to get access to many team booths on Thursday night, even with a guest wristband. For many teams that’s “sponsor night,” where the business sponsoring the team takes over the tent, and invites their employees or clients in. Team members generally wait on the sponsors and their guests, and everyone else is kicked out for all or part of the evening.

My team is an exception to the Thursday rule. We decided early on that we only want sponsors who will party with us, rather than order us around. We found two excellent Downtown sponsors, Circa and the Silly Goose, who felt the same way we did, so we’re going to have a big ol’ party Thursday. Last year Thursday was the most fun night party-wise for us.

Friday is party night for everyone and tends to be the most crowded night. Door security at the booths is usually at maximum strength on Friday, as it also tends to be the night when freeloaders show up in droves.

Saturday is not as much of a party day. In the morning and early afternoon the judges come around, and since presentation is part of the score, teams have to be on their best behavior. Also, nearly everyone is gone from the booths between about 5 and 6:30 on Saturday, because that is when the awards are announced.

Many teams are already tearing down their booths by Saturday evening. By that point, people are tired and worn down from 4 days of partying and 4 days of building before that. My team keeps going right up until the end, though. Last year we had additional reason to party Saturday night, because we returned from the awards ceremony with the Third Place Shoulder trophy. Hopefully this year we’ll bring home an even bigger trophy, and I hear our chances are good in the Best Booth and Piggie Idol competitions as well.

If you plan to go, my recommendation is to go Thursday if you can get access to booths that aren’t doing sponsor night; otherwise, go Friday.

So, if you aren’t an invited guest to any of the team booths, what’s the best way to get invited? Here are some tips:

1) Go during the day Thursday or Friday. Security is a lot more lax and people are a lot more laid-back during the day. You’re more likely to find teams whose members are generous with guest passes and wristbands during those times.

2) If you’re new to Memphis, tell that to people on teams. We were all on the outside looking in at some point in the past, and experienced how not-fun BBQ Fest can be when you don’t know anyone on a team. Maybe you’ll be able to find a team whose members sympathize with you and let you in.

3) If you’re female, hot, and you’re not trying to get some douchebag guy in with you, your chances are generally pretty good at most booths. (Note: Wearing a tube top doesn’t hurt either)

4) Don’t lie. Last year we had people come up to the booth saying “I’m a friend of so-and-so” when they obviously weren’t. This rarely works.

5) Be courteous. Don’t walk up to the door and act like it’s your God-given right to be in the booth if you’re not a team member. We had one douchebag try to push his way in last year because he was a friend of one of the bartenders who worked for the sponsor. Pushiness and douchebaggery do not go over well.

6) It’s generally not a good idea to try and get 20 of your friends in with you, especially if they don’t know anyone on the team. Split up into smaller groups and walk around.

7) If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, might not be a bad idea to post a message that you’re looking for booth invitations.

8  Hang out with people who have guest invitations to several booths, and they can say, “hey, we’re already invited, can we get one more friend in too?” This doesn’t always work but it’s worth a try.

Heading down to the park at 5:30 and am off work for the next two days… should be a fun weekend.

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.