Paul Ryburn's Journal

As you can see in the image above, Perjorie T. Roll is feeling good from her head to her shoes.

Knows where she’s going and she knows what to do.

She’s tidied up her point of view.

She’s got a Patti LaMelte from Chef Steph at the Blind Bear: smoked Gouda pimiento cheese and caramelized onions on wheatberry toast. I cannot put into words how delicious that pimiento cheese is. The Patti LaMelte is a special at Blind Bear this week, and if you’re a fan of patty melts, you need to try this. They’re open 10 to 10 today, so why not stop by for lunch?

The Shelby County Health Department is now vaccinating people 70 and up for COVID; if you’re a veteran and 65 or up, you can get a shot at the VA. More info

The South Main Association will meet via Zoom next Tuesday. Jimmie Tucker will discuss the South Memphis TIF to incentivize businesses in the area. The TIF includes South Main, South End, French Fort, and South City.

Uvrebu Contemporary opens at Main and Huling tomorrow night, Saturday, February 6 from 5:30 to 9:30, but because of COVID gallery tours are appointment only. Call 901-521-0782 or go online to schedule an appointment.

The speed limit, where not posted, is now 25 MPH in Memphis, a drop from 30. Stupidest non-COVID decision made by local government this year. Traffic engineers say this will primarily affect drivers in the Downtown area as well as residential roads.

The Grizzlies fell to 9-8 and out of the top 8 in the Western Conference with a loss at home to the Houston Rockets last night. Next up for the Grizz: At New Orleans 8 PM tomorrow.

Action News 5 has insight from Shelby County Schools superintendent Dr. Joris Ray on the district’s plan to return to in-person learning.

Memphis is in a blood shortage right now and donors are sought.

From STIX, the Asian restaurant on Second:

Sushi Lunch Club monthly memberships are now available at STIX Downtown! If you’re a frequent visitor, you’re going to want to get in on this deal. Here’s how it works:

Step 1:  Purchase a punch card for $35.

Step 2:  Enjoy four sushi rolls within one month of your purchase date.

Step 3: Calculate your savings!

The average price of our sushi rolls is $10, so purchasing a membership saves you at least $5.

Good news! After a COVID shutdown, the production of Peeps will resume in time for Easter.

Fun site: Who old are you? Put in your date of birth and it will tell you what people were doing when they were your age. I learned that

• When Leonardo da Vinci was my age, he started work on the Mona Lisa
• When Angela Merkel was my age, she was elected Chancellor of Germany

By the way, the two stories above came from the Morning Brew newsletter. If two more people click my link and sign up for Morning Brew, I get stickers!

The National Civil Rights Museum has announced a Virtual Book Talk for Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019. It will be online at 6:00 this evening.

Cocozza and Blind Bear have posted their Valentine’s Day menus to their Facebook pages.

That’s the news for today. Whew, barely got this post done before time to head to work! Back tomorrow with more news.

I took a tour through the new DGX store at Main and Gayoso yesterday afternoon, and my verdict is this: PHENOMENAL. They have packed so much inventory into that space. And the prices! Every Sunday I read the Walgreens online circular to find what’s on sale. There’s no need to do that anymore because those are the everyday prices at DGX.

And they have Mountain Dew Icees!

Here’s a Fox 13 story about the store.

The Daily Memphian’s Geoff Calkins has an important read this morning: One recruit went from “bush league” (Tennessee Vols) to “a better place” (University of Memphis). This kid gets it.

StyleBlueprint has an article about the 4 zones for the renovation plan for Tom Lee Park.

New rideshare service Groove On-Demand launches February 10. For $1.25 a passenger, riders will be able to travel anywhere in the Downtown, Mus Island, Medical Center, and New Chicago areas. Some points of note within reach:

• Crosstown Concourse
• Kroger at Poplar and Cleveland
• Grind City Brewing Co.

You use an app to book transportation, and those without a bank account can use a prepaid debit card to book rides. I can see myself using this for field trips! Hours are Monday-Friday 7 AM-8 PM.

117 Prime has released its Valentine’s Day menu.

Shelby County Schools will hold a virtual meeting about a return to in-person learning today at 4. Our county becomes the last holdout as Nashville returns to in-person school today.

The Grizzlies host Houston tonight at 8.

That’s it for this post. Got a lot to do today. Back tomorrow with more news.

Yesterday in the COVID-19 task force press conference, Shelby County Health Officer Dr. Bruce Randolph announced that Health Directive 17 will remain in place for a full four weeks, which would mean until Friday, February 19 at 11:59 PM. He said there were two reasons for not reconsidering restrictions sooner. For one, the numbers are headed in the right direction and the health department wants that trend to continue. Secondly, a “suspicious” case in Shelby County is being studied as possibly the first known case in the county of the super-contagious UK variant of COVID. (Update: Confirmed to be the UK strain)

Sigh… Dr. Randolph and the health department are absolutely making the proper call. I just feel bad for my friends who used to make $500 a night working an 8 PM-3 AM shift, and now they’re making $75 a night working a 6 PM-10 PM shift. It sucks for them. They are being asked to shoulder an unfair amount of financial burden compared to the rest of society.

Blind Bear has announced specials for the football game Sunday:

Loaded Chili Dog.- 1/4 pound Beef Hot Dog on a Dave’s Bagel Pretzel Bun topped with Homemade Chili

Chili Cheese Fries- Seasoned Fries topped with Chili and loaded with Cheese and cheese sauce, Red Onions and tomatoes

Loaded BBQ Nachos! Nachos topped with BBQ Pork, Lettuce, Tomato, shredded cheese, and BBQ sauce!

Sunrise Memphis will have two specials this weekend:

• Brady Benedict: Two fried crab cakes, arugula salad with capers and onions topped with lemon Hollandaise, poached eggs, on a house-made open-faced buttermilk biscuit
• Mahomes Hash: Pork belly burnt ends with Kansas City BBQ sauce, two easy eggs, and Tabasco onion straws over a sweet potato hash topped with scallions

From Lifehacker: Why you should never unsubscribe from illicit texts and emails. This advice is on point. When you click “unsubscribe,” you’re telling scammers “this is a valid email/phone number.” That’ll get you more unsolicited crap, not less.

The Daily Memphian has a look at Slim & Husky’s, the new hip-hop pizzeria out in The Edge, in New Eats. Notable: They have $10 pizza specials every Tuesday.

I saw a fabulous post on Medium yesterday, and it’s behind a paywall but you get a few free reads a month: Gaslighting phrases you aren’t paying attention to. Yes yes yes. I know people who use every one of the phrases listed in the article to deflect and dismiss, because they lack the depth to have anything more than superficial conversation. For instance:

• “You’re the only one who thinks that.”
• “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
• “It’s all in the past.”
• “I don’t see what I’ve done wrong.”

Sad to say that we lost another member of the Downtown extended family this week. I’ll miss your pizza, I’ll miss your nachos, but most of all I’ll miss your friendship. It warmed my heart when I’d come in and you’d tell me, “Paul, it’s good having you in here. It’s good having my regulars around.”

This month you can vote for what the official beer can of Memphis Tigers athletics will look like. Go by the Grind City Brewing Co. taproom off N. Second anytime this month and vote for the blue, black, or grey Tiger Tail can. I gotta tell you, if I get by there I’ll be voting for the blue!

Midtown news: There’s a report on Nextdoor that the 19th Century Club is now Red Hook and they’re attaching giant plastic lobsters to the outside of the historic building. Mmmm, lobster!

Cruise line American Queen, which makes stops at Beale Street Landing, will require COVID vaccination for passengers effective July 1.

The Memphis Grizzlies dropped to 6rh in the Western Conference (9-6, .563) following last night’s loss to Indiana.

Memphis hosts UCF at FedExForum tonight at 7. The game will be on the ESPN+ premium service.

The new DGX convenience store at Main and Gayoso. I’ll try to get by there today or tomorrow and  bring back a report.

That’s it for today. Back tomorrow with more news.

If any Downtown restaurants or bars are doing anything for the Super Bowl they’d like promoted on here, hit me up at paul@paulryburn.com or get in touch with me on Facebook. I’ll be happy to refer to it as The Big Game Party, the Football Championship Party, or the Superb Owl Party if it’ll help keep the NFL’s trademark enforcement people happy.

The Tigers and Grizzlies both won last night. Penny’s team blew away UCF, 96-69, improving to 10-6 and 6-3 in conference play. The Grizzlies also had a big win, beating San Antonio 133-102. With a 9-6 record, Memphis is now tied with 12-8 Denver for fourth place in the West at .600.

If the games missed due to COVID can’t be made up, I wonder if number of games won would be a tiebreaker? Maybe I’ll submit that to Chris Herrington’s mailbag since I’m a DM subscriber.

As your number-one source for news and information about The Edge District, here’s a tidbit about cocktail lounge The Inkwell opening this summer: It won’t have TVs. The owner wants to encourage conversation among the lounge’s patrons.

Cerrito Bingo will host a free virtual bingo game presented by Old Dominick Thursdays at 8:30 beginning this week. Prizes include distillery tours and tastings, Malco movie passes, and Cash Saver and Smoothie King gift cards. The game will be broadcast on Twitch.

WREG reports there was a carjacking on the lot at South Front and Butler Sunday evening around 6:30. This is the third such robbery in the area in the past 11 days.

Shred415 and STIX Asian restaurant are hosting a Valentine’s Weekend workout Friday, February 12 at 6:45 PM. For $25 you get a 45-minute workout class and your choice of Hibachi Shrimp, Steakm, Teriyaki Chicken.

For those of you who believe, as I do, that poker is a metaphor for life, here’s a fantastic article by online poker player Chris Sparks on meta-skills in high-stakes poker. (Note: This is about a 30 minute read) Sparks has a new personal development business based on all he has learned playing poker. I signed up for his free workbook last night.

It’s National Tater Tot Day. In other faux-holiday news, the stupid rodent says there will be six more weeks of winter.

AutoZone Park was offered as a COVID vaccination site, but the City of Memphis and Shelby County Health Department declined.

The Grizzlies are back in action tonight at the Indiana Pacers. Game time is 7 PM.

I hate, hate, hate the direction they’re taking Alexa Bliss’ character the past two weeks of WWE Monday Night RAW. I know we’re supposed to suspend disbelief to an extent, but they’re overdoing it.

I plan on listening to the COVID-19 task force press conference today at noon, when I hope there is a further loosening of restrictions similar to what was seen in Nashville this week. It’s time to shift the mandate to individual responsibility and get back to business. Back tomorrow with more news.

Fans of Memphis gift shop Feelin’ Memphis at 509 S. Main, perk up your ears for this announcement from co-owner Tawanda:

Its not a SECRET now….. Feelin’ Memphis (all apparel 30% off) Saturday and Sunday. It’s all COOL stuff.. we only opened our doors Oct 7 2020 and we get new stuff in everyday, so yall come on down and check us out. 509 S Main Memphis TN. OPEN DAILY 9am till 6pm!

Nashville’s restaurants and bars will be allowed to stay open until 12 midnight starting this week. Comparing Shelby County and Davidson County on COVID Act Now:

• New cases/day: Shelby 38.2/100K, Davidson 49.0/100K
• Reproduction rate (R-nought): Shelby 0.86, Davidson 0.82
• Positivity rate: Shelby 7.3, Davidson 11.3

Dr. Haushalter? Dr. Randolph? If Davidson County can have nice things, and our numbers are comparable or better than theirs, why can’t we have the same?

The Grizzlies returned to the court last night, beating San Antonio 129-112. Current NBA standings show Memphis in fifth place in the West with a .571 record. The standings reveal how hard-hit Memphis has been by COVID and its protocols, though. The Grizzlies have only played 14 games this season. Some teams have played 20.

The Sinful Delight is the special at The Dirty Crow Inn’s pop-up at the 480et8 off I-55 exit 281 in West Memphis today. It’s a bacon cheeseburger made with a Gibson’s donut as a bun. Get there early, because they have a limited number. They have the Dirty Hawaiian and the wings too, and if Sundays are not good days for you, they’re now doing the menu on Mondays too. 3-10 PM with live music starting at 4.

That’s it. Short post today. Back tomorrow with more news.

Carolina Watershed has made some fantastic upgrades to make its outdoor space appealing no matter the season, reports Jennifer Chandler of the CA. The flooring and sports amenities have been upgraded, as has the stage. Fire pits line the outdoor seating. They built a pit to roast whole hogs, too.

Beer alert: Momma’s will host a keg tapping of Memphis Made MEMPHIS AS TRUCK beer next Wednesday, February 3 at 5 PM. The beer is brewed with French Truck coffee and the keg is being tapped in a trucker-themed bar.

There are updated plans for the hotel to be built on Beale’s eastern end, with the plans now calling for six stories. Six stories, thirty stories, the square root of -1 stories… as long as 380 Beale does not house the Plush Club or a successor club, I’m good with it.

NOOOOOOOO! Popeye’s quietly removed its Cajun dirty rice side dish from its permanent menu. Worst move by a fast food chain since Taco Bell discontinued the Enchirito.

Mud Island news: MPD is investigating car break-ins on Harbor View Drive and Harbor Isle Circle.

Cerrito Entertainment, which does the live trivia and bingo games around town, is doing a free WWE Royal Rumble contest this weekend. Follow Cerrito Entertainment on Twitch, then sign up to enter. You will be given a number between 1 and 30 in the men’s or women’s Royal Rumble. If the wrestler assigned your number (in the order they come out) wins their Rumble match, you win a prize pack featuring a Cash Saver gift card (the Cash Saver Bottle Shop is a co-sponsor of the event).

Hey, you want my Royal Rumble predictions?

• Men’s Rumble: Final Four: Jey Uso, Cesaro, Big E, Bobby Lashley. Big E wins, and although a Smackdown superstar, he uses the opportunity to challenge for any championship to jump to Monday Night Raw and reunite with Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. At Wrestlemania, New Day turns heel for the first time in years, and cheat for Big E to win the WWE championship. Also at Wrestlemania, The Hurt Business turns face, establishing Lashley as Big E’s top challenger.
• Women’s Rumble: Final Four: Alexa Bliss, Shayna Bayzler, Bayley, Bianca Belair. Unless the writing team is out of their minds, Belair wins this one and the torch is passed to her at Wrestlemania. She’s been on the main roster for only a year and has obvious Hall of Fame athleticism and charisma.
• Roman Reigns retains the WWE Universal Championship in a Last Man Standing Match with Kevin Owens. Very possible Brock Lesnar will appear after the match and beat the holy hell out of Reigns’ “special advisor to the Tribal Chief” and Lesnar’s former manager, Paul Heyman. If not, there may be something to the rumors that Reigns will be challenged at Wrestlemania by his cousin, The Rock.
• Drew McIntyre becomes the first champion since 2016 to successfully defend against Goldberg, retaining his WWE World Championship.
• Nia Jax and Shayna Bayzler defeat Asuka and Charlotte Flair to become two-time WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. The lost sets up Asuka to defend the Raw Women’s Championship vs. Flair at Wrestlemania.

That’s the news for today. Back tomorrow with more.

They’re still doing some construction work out front, but it looks like DGX, the new convenience/grocery store in the former Yao’s space at Main and Gayoso, is close to being open.

DGX is a Dollar General concept aimed at metropolitan city centers. From their website: “DGX stores offer a smaller retail footprint with a curated assortment of grab-and-go salads and sandwiches, home cleaning supplies, an expanded selection of health and beauty products, home décor, electronics, seasonal products, pet supplies, candies and snacks, paper products and more—all at everyday low prices that Dollar General is known for.” According to the website, the store’s hours will be 8 AM-10 PM.

Perjorie T. Roll and I tried one of Chef Steph’s burgers, the Swiss You Were Here, last night at the Blind Bear.

It comes with garlic peppercorn aioli, Swiss cheese, maple bacon, and A-1 candied shiitake mushrooms on an 80 special grind burger.

The DM’s Elle Perry has more information about The Inkwell, the new cocktail bar to open in The Edge. Owner Ben Colar wants it to be a place people can go to relax, not only from the pressures of work but from the pressures of the bar scene in Memphis. Looks like it will have a super nice outdoor patio.

From the Memphis Flyer: Salt | Soy is set to open in the Broad Avenue district next month. They’ve been doing booming business running their menu at Alchemy, and now that the stupid COVID restrictions are relaxing a bit, they are ready to move into a space of their own.

ESPN has a feature on how sports bars have struggled to stay open during a pandemic.

From the UK’s Daily Mail: Mike Pence and “Mother” are homeless after being ejected from the vice-president’s residence last week. They’ve been couch surfing.

From WREG: Shooting begins in South Main for ABC series set in the civil rights era

Interesting…

I did a story on this yesterday….. its basically being done on the honor system. The state would prefer you get vaccinated in your home county but its not required…and almost all other West TN counties are on 1B at this point.

— Jeni DiPrizio (@local24jeni) January 29, 2021

In Love Memphis got closed down by the Health Department again for COVID restriction violations.

That’s the news for today. Back tomorrow with more.

More info about The Inkwell, the cocktail lounge set to open on Madison Ave. out in The Edge later this year:

🗣Aye! I’m hyped to announce that I will be opening a new cocktail bar called Inkwell. Opening summer of this year. Took a ton of work just to get to this point. And will take tons more moving forward. Go ahead and follow Inkwell Bar on IG to get updates. Let’s get it. pic.twitter.com/MbCVcIYVcI

— Ben Colar (@bencolar) January 26, 2021

The Daily Memphian reports there are plans to use an old warehouse building as parking for The Snuff District that is under development along the river in Uptown. Maybe one day there will be a river walk from Bass Pro north to The Snuff District then on to Grind City Brewing.

Bluff City Born, a showcase of original music by local artists, comes to the Tin Roof on Beale Wednesday evening, February 3.

Jennifer Biggs and Chris Herrington recommend 12 soups around town in today’s Daily Memphian. Downtown is represented by the caldo tlapeño at Maciel’s. Yes! Get this! Even if you’re not a soup fan, you’ll love this and you’ll have enough for leftovers. One of Downtown dining’s best values.

Vaccine tourism is a thing now. The COVID-19 vaccine is federal property, so the Shelby County Health Department can’t deny the vaccine to people from other counties or states if they otherwise meet the qualifications. That’s a big reason the distribution point ran out of vaccine Tuesday afternoon. The county is launching a standby list to notify people when there is a surplus of vaccines.

Today’s the first day of the Sundance Film Festival, with local screening at the drive-in on Summer. Schedule

Tigers on national TV alert: Memphis at SMU tonight at 7 on ESPN2. Memphis just beat the Mustangs at FedExForum two nights ago. A road win would help the Tigers lock down the number-two spot in the American Conference.

The Memphis Flyer’s 20 < 30 issue for 2021 is out.

I reminded Perjorie T. Roll that she only has 25 years left to make the 20 < 30 issue. She’s celebrating like she’s already made it with a piece of chocolate turtle cake:

As for me, I’m far from being under 30, but I have a reason to celebrate today. Medium, which I write for professionally, awards Top Writer status to the people who write the most engaging content in the most popular topics. Overnight I scored my first Top Writer tag:

I can lose my Top Writer tag if I don’t write about Ideas regularly, though, so it’s time to grind. Back tomorrow with more news.

On Monday afternoon, a truck was carjacked in broad daylight while parked on a well-traveled street in the Downtown core. It belonged to a worker of a management company that manages an office building, and his work tools were in it.

I bet you the thieves had cased out that building for a while, and had noted when the truck was parked outside as well as the driver’s routine. The Downtown core is perceived as a very safe part of town and no one expects such a crime to happen in the middle of the business day.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I wanted to pass the info along because it’s possible the thieves could try to repeat their scheme. Property managers, tell your employees to be extra vigilant with their vehicles and equipment.

If you have trouble deciding what to get when you go to Central BBQ, you’re going to love this announcement they made yesterday:

NEW menu item alert! 🚨 Our new appetizer sampler is perfect for watching the game or when you are just craving a little bit of everything! Includes a mini bbq nacho, pork (or chicken) slider, mini sausage & cheese, 2 hot wings with ranch dressing, homemade chips! For only $14.99! Order online (or call) to grab this from our Central, Summer or Downtown locations!

Now that the Safer at Home order has been lifted and we’re back to 50% capacity with live music permitted, B.B. King’s club will reopen Friday, January 29 at 11 AM.

Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers beat SMU 76-72 yesterday and are in second place in the AAC.

The county’s COVID-19 numbers are looking better. Yesterday Health Department director Dr. Haushalter announced a 7-day new case rolling average of 392, below the tripwire of 450. In fact, the number of cases reported yesterday (for that specific day, not an average) was only 221. The reproduction rate of the virus is down to 0.79, meaning it is having trouble finding new hosts to keep itself alive. BUT… (there’s always a BUT)… health department officials are hesitant to loosen restrictions further because of fear the new strains of COVID will make their way to Memphis. It’s always something. Heaven forbid anyone sit at a bar, or dine in at 11 PM.  Dr. H encouraged everyone to get tested and know their status, especially those under 40 and those who work in fields with high risk of exposure to the virus.

Fox 13 reports that South Main’s Malco Powerhouse Cinema Grill will reopen Friday.

We may see a little snow this morning as a system moves through… WeatherBug reports a temp of 40 though, so don’t expect it to stick. Back tomorrow with more news.

It’s another not-very-newsy Tuesday. Here’s what I’ve got:

Geoff Calkins of The Daily Memphian tested positive for COVID this month and has since recovered. He provided a full account of what he went through.

In other COVID news, the DM reports that local hospitals are out of the danger zone capacity-wise, with ICU bed usage at 89% and acute care bed usage at 86%.

Shelby County Commissioners passed a motion yesterday forbidding any public buildings to be named after Donald Trump.

The Undefeated has a conversation with the Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr.

Ja Morant has been added to Team USA’s player pool for the 2021 Summer Olympics™. That doesn’t mean he’ll play, but he’s on the list of those being considered for a spot.

COVID and its related protocols have postponed another Grizzlies game, this one set for tomorrow vs. Chicago. This will be the 5th straight the team has missed.

In today’s POLITICO Playbook there is a most interesting map of who occupies the first two floors of the White House’s West Wing.

Useful: Get access to free Kindle books with your library card. You can also use your library card to watch free movies on Kanopy. You can also get the free movies if you’re a student or a professor. (h/t Morning Brew daily newsletter)

Probably not going to watch the COVID-19 press conference today since it’s too soon for them to think about issuing another health directive. Back tomorrow with more news.