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Last Thursday, while putting together the “what’s going on Thursday” post, I hit the Red Rooster’s website, and noticed they were advertising 50 cent PBR drafts on Wednesday night for their country night.  So I did a post about it.

Last night, several people who read about it in my blog went down there, and were told that they didn’t have 50 cent PBR draft, and had never had 50 cent PBR draft on Wednesdays.  I went down there with my BFFs Darbi and Kristin and we were told the same thing.

And yet the 50-cent PBR promotion is STILL on the front page of their website, as of the time of this post (8:18 AM Thursday August 7).  Why bother to even have a website if the promotions listed there aren’t accurate?

(Edit:  Just received an update from one of the managers at the Saucer.  The license loss only affects the low-alcohol beer (under 6%).  Over 6% is considered liquor by the state, and is covered by a different license, so the Cordova Saucer can still legally sell the high-alcohol beers.  Just sip ’em a little slower than you would a Bud Light.  Also, the Downtown Saucer is not affected in any way by what happened this afternoon in Cordova.  That means I’ll be at the Downtown Saucer enjoying a Sunset Wheat in about 30).

This afternoon I received a phone call from a friend of mine who was at the East Bumblefuck Flying Saucer on Germantown Parkway for a business function.  Shortly before he got there, he was told, the police arrived and walked out with the business’s beer license.  They can only serve liquor until they get it back, which is not good considering they’re a beer bar.  He didn’t have details why the permit was pulled.  Not sure if this affects the Downtown Saucer, but I don’t think it does.  I certainly hope it doesn’t, with one of my favorite beers, Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat, on Fire Sale today.  Certainly does suck for Cordovans, who won’t be able to get their favorite beers, Coors Light for example, tonight at their Saucer.

Speaking of beer, the South Main Association’s monthly meeting will be this Tuesday, August 12, at the Boscos Beer brewery at 827 S. Main (Main at Crump).  There will be a tour of the brewery and a tasting.  Sounds like my kind of meeting!  It will start at 6 PM, free for SMA members, $5 for non-members.  Boscos are the ones brewing the delicious Ghost River beers that have shown up at the Saucer recently.

The owners of Calhoun’s Sports Bar & Grill on GE Patterson asked me to let everyone know about upcoming expanded football hours.  Starting August 30, the bar will open at 11 AM every Saturday for college football, and will have the ESPN College Football GamePlan.  Starting September 7, the bar will open at 11 AM every Sunday for NFL football, and will have the NFL Ticket.

Over on Memphis Limelight, another Downtown blogger chimes in with thoughts about the 50 cent PBR draft at the Red Rooster tonight, and having to endure country music to get it.  Lots of other good stuff there as well.

Downtown Huey’s just painted its walls.  I was in there last night getting Paul’s Drunkass Tamales after trivia, and the walls were white as snow.  Time to bring your markers down there and show the world your art skills.

If I’m not mistaken, this may have been the first time they painted since the place opened 11 years ago.

I stole this image off Thaddeus Matthews’ blog… Thad if you have a problem with it, e-mail me and I’ll gladly take it down… but I think we’re both coming from the same place here. It’s from a rogue organization calling itself the “Memphis Democratic Club” as though it somehow were endorsed by the Democratic Party.

Hang on, let’s zoom in on that image on the left:

Yep, these people who support Nikki Tinker COULD NOT EVEN SPELL BARACK OBAMA’S NAME RIGHT. “Barak.” My God.

I don’t even need to comment on this. The image says it all.

Tonight’s National Night Out, and the police will throw a party for Downtowners at the South Main substation at Main and GE Patterson.  Food, games for kids, MPD head honcho Larry Godwin speaks at 5:30.  If they do it in the same spot as last year, it’ll be in the big, empty parking lot next door to the train station, where they hold the Farmers Market on Saturdays.

My Eyewitness News has a good story on former Sleep Out Louie’s regular Matt Singer, a former Hollywood special-effects guy who now makes prosthetic eyes that are much more comfortable than traditional glass eyes.  He donated one of his eyes to a 7-year-old girl who was born blind and who recently lost her right eye due to complications from surgery.  Yay for Matt, he’s one of the good guys.

A couple of days ago, I added a search box to my blog (scroll to the bottom of the right sidebar) that lets you buy $25 restaurant gift certificates for $10.  I just got an e-mail that they’re doing a 50% off sale through August 7; use promotional code GAMES at checkout and you’ll be able to get $25 gift certificates for $5.  Over a dozen Downtown restaurants and over 70 within the city participate in this promotion, so enter your zip code in the search box and see which are near you.

This morning I mentioned that bartender Meghan who works at Canadian-themed Big Foot Lodge likes being tipped with Canadian money.  More information:  She also appreciates being tipped with 2 dollar bills, Susan B. Anthony dollars, Sacajawea dollars, Kennedy half-dollars, wooden nickels, Monopoly money, travelers’ checks, and IOUs.  Many ways to make Meghan happy.

That’s all for today… don’t forget to check the Memphis Limelight blog now and then for another blogger’s perspective on Downtown Memphis.

Last night was Pint Nite, and since the Ghost River beer distributor stuck money in my Buy-Paul-a-Beer.net account, I was pretty much obligated to take a break from my usual Dos Equis Special Lager and try Ghost River’s beers.  I tried the Glacial Pale Ale and the Brown Ale.  They also have a Hefe but were out of it.

The main comment I have about these two beers is how fresh they tasted.  Friends of mine have toured the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis, and at the end of the tour have sampled fresh batches of the beer.  (John D:  “WHAAAAAA?  They give you free samples of Bud Light?  Paul, let’s get the gang together and take a field trip to St. Louis!”)  “It’s entirely different than drinking it out of a can or bottle that’s been on the shelf for a month,” they’ve told me.  “So fresh and crisp and new.”  That’s how the Ghost River beers were last night… the Brown Ale in particular.  Usually I avoid brown ales at the Saucer… they’re just really boring beers to me.  But, after some coaxing, I tried the Ghost River Brown, and it tasted like it had just been born.  The Pale Ale was good too, crisp and about medium hoppiness.  I recommend both of them.  Can’t wait to try the Hefe, as Paulaner Hefe-Weizen is one of my favorites at the Saucer and I want to see how the Ghost River version stacks up against it.

I couldn’t get my laptop to connect to the Saucer’s router, so I had to do a venue change to Big Foot so I could mooch off their neighbor who has an unsecured wireless network.  While there I had an idea… do you ever get change at a store or restaurant, and you look at it and one of the quarters looks funny, and you realize they gave you a CANADIAN quarter?  It happens more than you think.  Over the past couple of years I bet I’ve picked up $2-3 in Canadian change, perhaps not surprising, this being a tourist city and all.

So, what to do with that change?  I could give it to a bum, but he’d probably turn around and try to sell it to wannabe coin collectors at a premium.  So, I got a better idea… why not use the Canadian money to tip the bartender next time you’re at a Canadian-themed bar?  I’m sure Meghan at Big Foot Lodge would be delighted to receive your Canadian money as her tip.  (You still have to pay American for your tab though.)  See, this blog is full of helpful ideas!

All right, time for another exciting day at work.  Back at lunchtime if I find any news to report between now and then.

It now reads:  “Paul Ryburn is Kristin and Darbi’s BFF.”

The Commercial Appeal had an article this morning on South Main gym Energy Fitness’ summer bikini boot camp. Participants work out from 5:45 to 6:45 AM two days a week, on Downtown parking lots, steps, and other unconventional exercise equipment. I can’t imagine getting out of bed to exercise at 5:45 AM, but I guess it works for some people. The article also has some tips from the class instructor to stay motivated, as well as some basic exercises to try.

The Memphis Business Journal reports that Memphis could be named the host of Red Bull’s annual Flugtag event, which would bring thousands of people to the Mississippi River. Flugtag means “flight day” in German, and the event consists of teams building non-mechanical aircraft and then flying them off a ramp. The event is free to the host city, and Red Bull alone would use 1,000 area hotel rooms for the event, which would probably be held in the Wolf River Harbor.

Dr. Booze reports in his blog that Schlitz beer has reverted back to its original formula, rather than the nasty, cut-as-many-corners-as-possible formula their beer has employed since the late 1970s. Schlitz under the original formula was the top-selling beer in the US until 1955, when surpassed by Bud. The new Schlitz is on the market already in Milwaukee, and grocers are having trouble keeping it on the shelves because it’s so popular. Wonder if the Saucer will carry it one day.

Speaking of the Saucer, that’s where I’ll be after work for Pint Nite. I’ll probably have my laptop with me, using their free Wi-Fi to do maintenance on my sites while I drink. Due to being sick I didn’t get to try Ghost River’s beers Saturday when the Hefe was the Fire Sale, so I’ll catch up tonight. Will also have to have a Woodchuck Pear since I was also out sick Friday when that was the Fire Sale. I’m sure there will be a few of my favorite Dos Equis Lagers in the mix too.  Maybe I’ll see you there.  Right now it’s time to microwave a piece of pizza and head back to work…

I had a reader e-mail me and ask, “You used to have an Amazon search box and Restaurant.com links on your blog. Can you put those back on?” So I did. I added a Google search box too. They’re on the right sidebar, scroll all the way to the bottom (unless you’re reading this in the archives and I’ve found even more crap to stick on my sidebars since I wrote this).

Google and Amazon searches are pretty self-explanatory. Restaurant.com is a search engine that lets you order $25 gift certificates to local restaurants for only $10 (and sometimes they do specials even below that). There are restrictions, the most common one being that the certificates cannot be redeemed for alcohol, but rather for food only. Some of the lower-cost restaurants also have a $10 certificate for $3 option.

If you enter 38103 in the Restaurant.com search box, as of this writing you’ll find listings for the following Downtown listings: Big Foot Lodge, Blue Fin, Blue Plate Cafe, Cafe 61, Circa, EP Delta Kitchen, Green Beetle, Ground Zero, Lolo’s Table, Majestic Grille, McEwen’s on Monroe, Papa Pia’s, Sauces, Silky O’Sullivan’s, Stella, TGI Friday’s, and The Superior Bar.

Last Thursday, I was checking all the websites to compile my “Thursday night, what’s going on” post.  While at the Red Rooster’s site, I noticed something verrrrrrrry interesting… on Wednesdays they have 50 cent PBR draft.  I’m a big fan of PBR, especially at that kind of price.

However, there’s a catch.  It’s country music night.  So now I have a decision to make.  Can I tolerate country music for the sake of 50 cent PBR?  If I drink enough PBR, will country music actually start to sound good?

Actually, while watching the Dempseys, who have some classic country in their set, friends and I were discussing the question:  Exactly when did country music start to suck?  The classic Johnny Cash/George Jones/Merle Haggard stuff from the ’60s is fine.  Then in the ’70s you had Willie and Waylon and Jerry Reed… that was okay too.  I pegged 1979 as the year country started to suck, but then I remembered that Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler” came out in 1980.  So it was after that.  And Dolly Parton sang that “9 to 5” song in 1981, that was okay too.  So it was after 1981.

When did that song “All my exes live in Texas/And Texas is the place I really love to be/But all my exes live in Texas/That’s why I hang my hat in Tennessee” come out?  That wasn’t bad.

On the other hand, Garth Brooks became a big star in the late 1980s, so the official date when country music started to suck has to be before then.

Anyway, I’m going to have to think about whether I can handle country music for the sake of 50 cent PBR.  Maybe I can bring my iPod to the Rooster and turn my headphones up all the way while I drink.