Paul Ryburn's Journal

I rewarded myself for a long and productive week writing with a visit to the Blind Bear last night. I had been surfing their dinner menu and had narrowed down my selection to either the seafood risotto or the lasagna. The lasagna was so overwhelmingly recommended by the staff that I decided it would be my first foray into the new menu.

The lasagna was super fresh, plenty of meat, obviously made with quality ingredients. It was very good, and yet, it was… different… than the lasagna I’m used to. I couldn’t figure out why. As I got home and got ready for bed, I thought, “I’ll have to ask my chef friends if they’ve had the lasagna, and if they can describe how it’s different.”

This morning I realized what was going on. I thought, over the past 10 years, where have I had the most lasagna, not counting lasagna I’ve heated up at home?

Spaghetti Warehouse. Of course, I don’t eat there anymore, since it’s been closed for a few years. But when the Huling Avenue location was open, I ate there enough that I guess their lasagna became my idea of what lasagna was.

Spaghetti Warehouse was a chain restaurant. Successful chain restaurants know that you never deviate very far from the expectations of the average suburbanite. Therefore, the lasagna they serve there is a very Americanized version of the Italian dish, designed to appeal to the masses.

That was what was different about the Bear’s lasagna. The recipe was authentic. I just had to pull my taste buds off Germantown Parkway or Goodman Road to appreciate the dish as it deserved to be appreciated.

You definitely want to give this a try if lasagna is one of your go-to menu items when you eat out. Next up for me will be the seafood risotto, which I don’t believe I’ve ever had before, so I will not walk in with any preconceived expectations.

Fox 13 visited Silly Goose last night to see how Downtown bars are doing now that they are once again allowed to be open. I disagree with their headline that “Downtown bars are packed” though. The video shows that they were following the regulations, with tables spaced apart as required in the health directive.

Really looking forward to reading James Aycock’s data analysis of where we are in the fight against COVID-19 today. He and I probably don’t agree on whether bars should be open but his numbers are solid. We’ve had a couple of days with low new case numbers and low positivity rates and I’m curious whether he considers those outliers, thinks data is going unreported, or if he believes we’ve turned a corner. He usually posts an end-of-week update early in the afternoon on Saturdays.

Larry Dodson, the original lead singer of The Bar-Kays, has a live pay-per-view concert tonight at 7. Jessica Ray will be his special guest and he will perform the hit single “I’m Good.” This event is sponsored by Jack Pirtle’s Chicken.

From the Downtown Neighborhood Association:

We are happy to announce we are partnering with one of our newest Members, The Mallory-Neely House, for a fall movie series on the lawn of this beautiful, historic museum! The biweekly events, starting Thursday, 10/1 at 7pm (event opens at 6:30), will offer a chance to be outdoors with a large screen, a sprawling lawn for blanket/chairs, space to socially distance, and a great movie! Food trucks will be available. Limited to 50 per event (including 5 staff). The first movie will be the classic “House On Haunted Hill” to break in the Halloween season!

Admission will be $8 for adults, $5 for children, and 3 and under get in free! To get tickets and read details, click here: https://www.memphismuseums.org/…/movies-at-mallory-neely/

Thank you to our partners, Museum of Science & History Historic Properties (Formally Palace Family of Museums).

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITY: Want to be the business or family to sponsor the movie night? A $300 sponsorship will get you promotion for event, your name/logo on the big screen before/after movie, and much more! To sponsor, email us at downtownneighborhoodassn@gmail.com

The Downtown Mobility Authority has announced the agenda for its Tuesday, September 29 meeting along with details on how the public can attend via phone or Zoom. Parking garages and bike repair stations are among the agenda items.

Starting Thursday, October 8 there will be a new Downtown Dinner and Music Series in the open dining area next to Puck Food Hall at the corner of South Main and Huling. Grab some food from one of the nearby restaurants, grab a PBR from Bar 409, and listen to some live music. 5-7 PM. Southern Avenue will kick things off at the first concert on the 8th.

Cody Clark Band plays Slider Inn Downtown tonight 6-9.

FiveThirtyEight has flipped Ohio blue in its presidential election forecast. It’s still a toss-up but Biden is now a 52/48 favorite there according to the model. No Republican has ever won the White House without winning Ohio.

That’s it. Going to try to get an hour of writing-related activities in before brunch. Back tomorrow.

Great news for South Main today. Posted yesterday by Max’s Sports Bar:

We’re back! Our doors will be open again Friday afternoon!

Enjoy the great weather and start of SEC play with us this weekend. Our courtyard and patio will be setup and ready for you, as will a couple of tables inside. See you this weekend!

Assuming they keep the same hours as before, with adjustments for the stupid mandated closing time, they’ll be open 4:30-10 weekdays and 11-10 weekends. Come down and watch some games, shoot some chocolate salty balls, and hear about the pet dinosaurs the people at the corner table had when they were little.

The weather this weekend will be perfect for patio dining. From MemphisWeather.net’s forecast:

• Today: 76/64, 10% chance of rain day
• Saturday: 82/67
• Sunday Mid 80s/Lower 60s, 30% chance of PM showers

The past couple of weeks, you may have had trouble getting outdoor seating at Blind Bear. Well, they have addressed the matter! They have doubled their patio size and are ready to serve you some deliciousness off their new menu this weekend.

Neo-soul/R&B artist Jordan Occasionally performs in Health Sciences Park today from 11 to 1. There will be a food truck on site with safely distanced tables and hand sanitizer. Masks are encouraged.

Tomorrow Cordelia’s Market will hold its Oktoberfest celebration noon to 4 PM on the North Patio. $6 gets you a house-made sausage, toppings, and a bottle of water. Oktoberfest beer will be on sale, with $2 off singles and a dollar off six-packs. 10% of the proceeds will benefit the Good Neighbor Project. Masks are recommended and seating is limited to 6 per table.

In the CA today: An opinion piece about the police writing parking tickets on Mud Island in an area not clearly marked as “No Parking.”

Those who participated in the Breonna Taylor protest Wednesday Night say that a man pulled a weapon on them on South Main. Protesters returned to the area on Thursday and held a barbecue.

South Main Sounds will broadcast a live stream featuring the music of Grace Askew Saturday 6:00 to 7:30 PM.

Chris Johnson plays The Vault 6-9 tonight.

That’s it for now. I made a deal with myself that if I published 6 articles to Medium this week, I would reward myself with dinner from the Blind Bear’s new menu this afternoon. I am currently a couple of paragraphs away from that goal. Now I have a decision to make: Seafood Risotto or Lasagna? I’ll have all day to think about it. Back tomorrow with more news.

WHOA… the MBJ is reporting that Dollar General has leased 113 S. Main for a new Dollar General concept that is a cross between a Dollar General store and a convenience store. That is the old Yao’s location and NOT what I was expecting to go in there. I hope they stay open late. Once this stupid 10 PM bar/restaurant closing time mandated by the health department gets phased out, there are going to be a lot of people stumbling down Main in search of a microwave chili dog late into the night.

The Silly Goose reopened yesterday and I was there! Well, for two hours I was there.

Perjorie T. Roll enjoyed a shot of house-made cinnamon whiskey

On Jessica’s recommendation I got a wood-fired pizza I’d had many times, but in a new way. The Capone comes with sausage, bell peppers, red onions, garlic, oregano, chili flakes, ricotta, parmesan, olives, and marinara. Jessica suggested I sub out white sauce for the marinara. That was a fantastic call!

Very, very cool: The Memphis Flyer has a look at The Multiverse, a 2000 SF art installation in a warehouse near Downtown by multimedia artist Christopher Reyes.

Activists returned to the streets of Downtown last night to protest the lack of justice for the death of 26-year-old EMT Breonna Taylor in Louisville. The organizer of last night’s march says there will be more.

Got a couple of pieces of news from the Memphis Public Libraries system. They are going to make another attempt at the in-person Rainbow Fish story time and arts & crafts event Sunday, September 27 from 4:00 to 4:30 PM at River Garden Park, 51 N. Riverside. Seating at least 6 feet apart will be designated by twine and stakes. The story will be announced over the PA so everyone can hear without the storyteller raising their voice. Each participant will have an individual craft bag to build their own Rainbow Fish. Masks are requested, and parents are asked to remain on site with their kids during this event.

Volunteers are needed Saturday at Tom Lee Park to help people complete 2020 Census materials and voter registration forms during an End of Summer Bash. Shifts are noon to 3 and 3 to 6. Volunteers will also rent skates and oversee games.

WREG interviewed Max of Max’s Sports Bar about the new “Share the Tab” grant that is available to limited-service restaurants closed by the health department for 77 days. He said he is looking forward to reopening his business, which is good news for those worried the sports bar might have been a permanent victim of the pandemic.

Hi-Tone will reopen soon. How is a live music venue supposed to have a 2-hour window for dining?

A Green Book Motorist Guide exhibit will debut at the National Civil Rights Museum October 3 and will be on display through early January.

There will be a Drive-Thru Voter Information Drive on Beale Street Alley next to FedExForum Saturday 11 to 2. Staff from the county election commission will be there to answer all your voting questions. Free growl towels, T-shirts, scratch-offs, Rendezvous BBQ, and Pepsi products while supplies last.

Some of you have noticed I’ve been going out a lot less this month. I want to make it abundantly clear that I am not upset with Bardog, Silly Goose, Blind Bear, Slider Inn or any other of my regular spots. I am cutting back the amount I go out for two reasons:

1. I am at a critical point in my writing career. I’ve committed to publishing five to seven times a week, but I do not yet have a “recipe” for coming up with new articles. I do not yet have a system in place for writing, editing, and publishing. I absolutely have got to get that figured out before I resume my normal daily routine.
2. It’s just isn’t as much fun to be out these days, because of the health department regulations – and because I’m required to order food, it’s more expensive to have less fun. If the regulations are relaxed in a few weeks, I’ll go out more.

I think I mentioned that I recently paid $197 for a course on writing – not so much instruction on the writing, but networking with writers and publishers to get myself on the fast track to being a known name. Since I bought that course I have stayed home 9 evenings. The bar tabs I didn’t run up those 9 nights paid for the course.

I do plan to bring my laptop out to my favorite places and do some writing over a few beers, once regulations are eased.

If there’s anything interesting in the COVID-19 task force press conference at noon, I’ll be back with an afternoon post. Otherwise, back tomorrow.

Shelby County Health Directive No. 12

Quick summary: There is no real change for full-service restaurants. Limited-service restaurants may now open but have to follow the same rules, including

• Bar areas should remain closed to both seating or standing
• Patrons must be seated at a table and order food to be served alcohol
• Seating for dine-in food service (and the alcohol that can be purchased with food) is limited to two hours
• 10 PM closing time; may stay open for take-out past 10 but can’t serve take-out alcohol beyond that time
• Music, including live music, is allowed only if the volume is such that customers don’t have to raise their voices to talk over it
• Dancing is only allowed outside and with 6 feet of separation from those not in your party

Beer gardens, wine pubs, and the like may reopen under the same restrictions too.

Important: If you own, manage, or work in a full- or limited-service restaurant, do not rely on this summary or any other summary you find. Read the Health Directive directly for guidance.

About those party pedal bikes that many Downtowners hate: There’s been some question about whether they can legally operate. From Health Directive No. 12: (All of the bullet points below are direct quotes, highlighted by me for emphasis)

• Patrons may not consume beer or alcohol while riding, and “stops” should
  not be made for patrons to consume beer or alcohol while touring on the
  bikes.
• In addition to drivers/operators, patrons must be required to wear face
  coverings or masks while riding on the bikes.
• Patrons must not be permitted to yell and sing loudly.
• Music must be kept at a decibel level that permits regular conversation. In
  other words, the noise level should not be so great as to cause patrons to
  raise their voices to be heard.
• Only groups of six (6) people from the same household are allowed to ride
  together.
• Bike operators must maintain at least twelve (12) feet separation between
  the bikes and people who are walking nearby or dining outdoors.

Do we think these regulations will actually be observed by party bike drivers and their customers? HELL NO! Remember, Code Enforcement is responsible for making sure the rules are followed, not MPD. I’d love to see Code Enforcement pull these bikes over and write them up, but I don’t see it happening.

Back to the restaurants: I suspect they’re going to wait an incubation cycle (14 days) to see what happens. If the numbers don’t go shooting back up I predict they will ease some of the restrictions at that time. It will be like moving from Phase 1 to Phase 2 all over again.

Bar owners are ordering supplies and preparing to reopen. A few notes on limited-service restaurants frequented by readers of this blog:

Silly Goose will open today and Dylan will fire up the pizza oven. Their hours are noon to 10.

Alchemy owner Nick Scott says he’s “gathering the troops” and will try to do a soft reopening this weekend.

Flying Saucer will reopen next Wednesday, September 30. Its temporary hours will be 4-10 weekdays and 11-10 weekends.

Blind Bear reclassified as a full-service restaurant August 26 and has been open since then. As of this week, they have a new menu with seafood risotto, lasagna, a wedge salad, and a lot of other goodies.

Max’s Sports Bar has not made an announcement yet, but oftentimes the bartender working that day will make announcements about opening on his personal Facebook account, the day of. Under the old schedule, Wednesday would be a Mike day, so those of you who are friends with him might want to keep an eye on his account. Those hot dogs are going to be good for putting in a food order with your alcohol without busting the bank.

In other COVID-19 press conference news, health department director Dr. Haushalter said that if the virus reproduction rate remains above 1, we would expect a surge sometime around February. If we can get the rate back below 1 and keep it there, then we would see it as already having had the surge.

The Daily Memphian reports that the Museum Lofts apartments next door to the National Civil Rights Museum have been completed and they’re now leasing.

Now that clubs are allowed to reopen, Atomic Rose is back with two drag shows this Friday. Buy two entrees, get a free appetizer 6-9 that night.

Tonight’s Memphis 901 FC match against North Carolina FC has been postponed because COVID RUINS EVERYTHING.

A push to make FedExForum an early voting site has failed.

My article Prepare Yourself to Know What You Want after College went live on online magazine The Ascent about 10:30 yesterday morning. Quick summary: Study whatever you want, but become a well-rounded person in the summers by doing the following:

• Summer before freshman year: Work in an office
• Summer before sophomore year: Work in sales
• Summer before junior year: Volunteer
• Summer before senior year: Work in a restaurant

This will give you an innate understanding of people and work environments that goes beyond the gates of a college campus. This will help prevent picking a major at 19 that leads to a career in which you’re unhappy at 35.

I mentioned “the narcissist smirk” on here a couple of days ago. Yesterday I finally found a photograph which is royalty-free that illustrates what I’m talking about:

If you look at someone’s photos and see them doing this, it’s a sign you should watch out.

Off to work. Silly Goose is on my afternoon agenda. Back tomorrow with more news.

In the Shelby County COVID-19 task force press conference, Health Officer Bruce Randolph announced that bars (limited-service restaurants) will be able to open tomorrow after the new health directive goes into effect at midnight. However, they will have to follow the same rules as full-service restaurants, including

• Bar seating must remain closed
• Alcohol can only be served to customers also being served food and who are seated at a table
• Maximum stay for dine-in service 2 hours
• 10 PM is still the mandated closing time; restaurants can stay open past 10 for take-out but can’t sell to-go alcohol after 10

In summary, it was the least they could do. The very least.

If Health Directive No. 12 is posted this afternoon, I’ll update this post to include a link.

If you’re looking for a job in the service industry, there’s a chance to become a member of a Memphis restaurant family this week. Aldo’s Pizza Pies Downtown will hold a job fair Wednesday and Thursday of this week, 3 to 7 PM each day. They’re hiring chefs, servers, delivery drivers, managers, and more. If you have experience tossing pies, that’s a plus.

Aldo’s is staffing up at a time of year when things would normally slow down. Perhaps this is another hint that the Health Department may be about to relax the regulations that have strangled Shelby County restaurants and their customers since July.

The folks who run the Saucer think such an announcement will come no later than next week, because they will have a re-opening party September 30 and thereafter will be open Monday-Friday 4-10 and Saturday-Sunday 11-10, with the hope of bringing back weekday lunches soon.

Are the closing times a sign that the Health Department-mandated 10 PM closing time will remain in place? I’d be OK with that. It’s the really stupid regulations (no seating at bar areas, 2-hour window to dine in, must order food to purchase alcohol) that need to go.

I wouldn’t mind seeing them keep contact tracing in place too. That basically requires restaurants to have a doorman at all times, which prevents a lot of idiotic behavior that doesn’t need to be happening during a pandemic.

The owners of The Office @ Uptown are retiring and are planning to sell the business. They hope to find new owners who will keep the restaurant as a neighborhood hub. The Office @ Uptown closed for what they thought would be a week or two when the pandemic hit, so I guess technically they’re on the list of business pandemic casualties. COVID RUINS EVERYTHING.

Holy crap, I may soon be able to say that I went to college with a Supreme Court Justice. I hope not though. Amy was two classes behind me, I believe, or possibly three. This afternoon I’ll try to find my yearbook from senior year. Fellow Rhodent or not, she’s a poor replacement for Notorious RBG.

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra returns with the latest in its Unplugged series Thursday and Friday, October 15 and 16. The concert title will be Amadeus: Inside the Mind of a Genius, exploring childhood prodigy composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. How much of the movie Amadeus was true? How did he compose so much in only 35 years? Rock me, Amadeus! This event will be at the Halloran Centre and of course all that “important policies and procedures” crap will be in place so you don’t catch COVID-19.

The Birds Aren’t Real movement has made it to the Upper West Side of New York City.

The Memphis Tigers, by then recovered from COVID-19, will be back on national television on October 3, traveling to Dallas to take on SMU at 2:30 on ESPN2.

Catch Napoleon Dynamite on the big screen tonight at the Orpheum tonight at 7.

Tropical Storm Beta has made landfall on the middle Texas coast. It is expected to turn northeast toward Houston, Shreveport, and Memphis. It will be a rainy rest-of-the-week after today. High tomorrow is unlikely to make it to 70.

There will be voter registration and a showing of All In: The Fight for Democracy at Memphis River Park today. Advanced registration required on the All In website if you want to watch the movie.

I’m scheduled to have an article appear in The Ascent today, although as of the time I’m typing this (7:20 AM) it’s not up yet. At nearly 120,000 followers, The Ascent is larger than the three other Medium publications my work has been in, combined. Life lessons are what The Ascent is all about and it’s described as “A community of storytellers documenting the journey to happiness & fulfillment.” I’ll try to have a link and an article summary for you tomorrow.

I’m gonna be reloading the Shelby County Health Department health directives page every few minutes this morning to see if a new directive is issued. Possibly back with a COVID-19 press conference recap this afternoon. If not, look for a recap in the morning.

Open 7 AM-11 AM for breakfast, 11 AM-3 PM for lunch, dinner menu 3-10 PM (longer when allowed) and happy hour 3 PM-7 PM. Brunch 10 AM-3 PM on the weekends.

Click or tap images to view in larger size.

The COVID-19 numbers for Shelby County looked really promising yesterday. 120 new cases were reported out of a total of 2131 tests, for a daily positivity rate of only 5.6%. Now, granted, statistics for one isolated day can be “noisy.” It’s sure better than a one-day rate in the fourteens, though. Can we please have our limited-service restaurants back open now?

A speeding car took out a light pole on Mud Island last night.

There was a shooting around midnight near the Huey’s on Union, which was closed at the time due to the stupid health department regulations.

Please be on the lookout for my neighbor’s truck, which was stolen over the weekend:

If seen call 545-COPS. MPD has the theft on file with NCIC. I’ve been told the truck was NOT stolen from the parking garage across the alley from our building.

There will be a memorial for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the steps of the D’Army Bailey Courthouse, corner of Adams & Second, tonight at 6:30.

As I was reading articles on Medium yesterday, I came across a really neat concept to help serve the needs of those experiencing homelessness: Cloud Covered Streets mobile trailers. The article I read discussed the trailer in Phoenix but they want to expand to other cities too. The trailer has

• A full-size shower stall (wheelchair accessible)
• A stackable washer and dryer
• Wireless laptop where a member of the team can assist in filling out job applications and contacting loved ones

The trailer also employs those experiencing homelessness. Sure would like to see something like this in Memphis!

Last night I got invited to submit an article to Data Driven Investor’s online publication on the Medium.com platform. I’m not making huge money as a writer yet but I’m already acquiring some building blocks for my writing resume! DDI on Medium has about 35,000 followers, about the same size as the Age of Awareness education publication that accepted one of my articles last week.

That’s it. Time to get this week started. Back tomorrow, or sooner if an announcement about the bars is made today.

I saw photos of the beer dinner Bardog had this week and the food looked scrumptious. If you missed out, you’ll soon have another chance at one of their special dinners, although this one won’t feature beer. The chef said yesterday they’re looking at Halloween as the date for the next one. He’s thinking about a seafood theme and each course will be paired with mixed drinks.

After that conversation, I realized something, not about Halloween at Bardog but about Halloween in general this year. Consider the following:

1. Halloween is one of the biggest party nights of the year
2. This year Halloween is on Saturday, the biggest party night of the week
3. We’re in the middle of a pandemic.

Might as well walk over to the calendar right now and mark down SHITSHOW for October 31, because that’s what it is going to be.

… But wait, there’s more. Even if you’re smart enough to not go out on Halloween night this year, there’s still a high probability you will be around people who did… on ELECTION DAY, after the coronavirus has had three days to incubate.

If ever there were a year to vote early, this is it.

Well damn… it’s 1:28 AM as I type this and there are still a lot of people awake. 14 rooms have their lights on at the Holiday Inn, at least the side of it that faces me, at this hour. Honestly, I’m surprised 14 rooms are even occupied. I guess the pandemic hasn’t completely killed Memphis’ tourist business. Anybody having sex? (Gets out binoculars) Nope, doesn’t look like it.

The Silly Goose has their fall cocktail menu up.

(Photo credit: Brittini who bartends there) You can’t hang out while you drink your cocktail – although hopefully that’ll change soon when Health Directive No. 12 comes out – but you can get it to go. Might as well get one of their wood-fired pizzas to-go too!

It is now mathematically impossible for Memphis 901 FC to make the playoffs this year. The squad lost 4-1 to Louisville City yesterday on the road. They return to AutoZone Park Wednesday night to host North Carolina FC. Playoff hopes or no, the matches are a lot of fun, so come out! Plus, it might be a bit easier to get one of the 1000 or so social distanced tickets now.

The Memphis Tigers football team has canceled Friday’s date with UTSA as the virus continues to rage. However, the Tigers have added a home game with Stephen F. Austin on November 21.

Only September 20 and we’re already on the Greek letters: Tropical Storm Beta is expected to hit the Texas coast Tuesday and could dump some rain on Memphis as a tropical depression Thursday night and Friday.

I wonder what will happen if they run out of Greek letters? There’s still two and a third months left in hurricane season.

Tin Roof has NFL Sunday Ticket to go along with its brunch.

Still trying to figure out writing on Medium.com. Thursday and Friday I published 3 new articles on the platform and busted my ass trying to cultivate relationships with other writers. Saturday I went to Bardog for PBR and shots (and calamari, because you have to order food). I made more money Saturday than I did Thursday and Friday combined. Long-term – like on a monthly basis – Medium is a good side hustle once you build up a writing portfolio, but day-to-day there’s more variance than there is at the dog track in West Memphis.

I am better learning how to target an audience, though, and I have an article on intuition I want to get posted, so I’m going to publish this blog post then head over to Medium. No Sunday brunch today although I might get out later if I completely exhaust my creative self. Back tomorrow with more news.

Rest in peace Justice Ginsburg. You were one of the great justices of modern times, a champion of gender and LGBTQ equality. You sacrificed a well-deserved retirement for our country. Thank you.

Perhaps the biggest local news story is not an official story… yet. To provide context, from the Memphis Flying Saucer:

No official announcements yet, but we’re getting close to having some good news for Memphis! In the mean time, if you want to get in on the Vote Glass that has predicted the last three presidential elections, pre-order online!

You remember the week before the COVID-19 task force announced Phase 1, which rolled out May 4? They made it pretty clear to everyone, although they never outright said it, that an announcement about reopening was going to be coming that week.

There was a veiled message to restaurants – which may have been actually said through back channels – to go ahead and hire back your staff, go ahead and place your food service and beverage supplier orders, so you’ll be able to hit the ground running when we officially give you permission to reopen.

There’s a lot of reason to suspect similar messages were sent this week, particularly to the owners of limited-service restaurants. I HAVE NOT CONFIRMED THIS but given posts like the one above from the Saucer, there’s good reason to speculate.

Now, that would all be good and fine…. we miss the bars… except for Mayor Strickland’s weekly update, or as I have taken to call it, Weekly Info from Jimbo from Mempho. If you scroll down to the second graph in Jimbo’s info, you see that for cases through September 7, the replication rate, “R” or “R-nought” as it is often called, has risen to 1.26. That means that right now, each new person who gets the coronavirus will infect on average 1.26 people. The “tripwires” in recent health directives state that R needs to be at or below 1 – the virus therefore being starved of new hosts – before limited-service restaurants are allowed to reopen.

So now the COVID-19 task force would seem to be in  a pickle. If they delay the reopening date, the limited-service restaurants’ inventory is left to rot. Employees who were promised jobs to return to have to go back on unemployment – again. This is an industry that has been asked to bear more than their fair share of the economic burden. No one wants to ask them for yet another sacrifice.

Yet we have the social media “public health experts” out there – people who post things like “I could even get behind a second lockdown, if we did it properly this time!” If additional reopenings are allowed this coming week, they are going to scream at the top of their lungs that the tripwires were never anything more than a joke.

And they’ll be right.

There is no correct answer. It’s figuring out the least bad of the choices. As someone who has friends who own limited-service restaurants, I want them to reopen, both so my friends won’t lose their life’s investments and so I can go hang out there. But if I feel that way, am I rooting for people to die?

I don’t know, man. I’m so sick of 2020.

Let’s move on to some food porn, what do you say?

Yesterday I had to run to the ATM in the First Horizon building at Madison and B.B. King. Before I left the apartment, I thought, I’m going to walk right past fam, the Asian and sushi restaurant on Madison, why don’t I put in an order? It’s so easy to do online.

It seems like they’ve revised their menu a little since the last time I ordered, and they added a few new rice bowls. One was a spicy beef curry bowl with filet, savory curry sauce, steamed rice, kale, corn, grilled onions, and carrot. I love spicy food, and I’ve been getting bored with chicken and/or shrimp in Asian dishes lately, so this was a welcome change.

Great chefs will tell you the presentation of a dish matters as much as the taste, and look at that beautiful photo! Even having been walked a block home, my bowl was a gorgeous assortment of beef, vegetables, and rice. As for the taste, it was just about perfect. The meat was cooked tender, the curry sauce was tangy and just slightly hot, the veggies were in the right proportions. This is my new go-to at the restaurant.

I was going to get a side of egg rolls, but Perjorie hopped on the laptop’s track pad as I ordered and pressed the button for edamame. Trolls prefer foods that are the same color as their hair.

As much food as I ordered, you’d think there have been leftovers. There weren’t. It was too good to save some for later.

Another death to report: TOM III, the tiger who was the mascot for the University of Memphis, died at age 12. With TOM III dies the university’s tradition of having a live tiger at games.

Bars/limited-service restaurants may have been closed for more than two months, but they’re eligible for grants up to $10,000 under Shelby County’s new Share The Tab program. Glad the program exists but in no way will that grant completely cover the expenses of bars for the amount of time they have been closed.

Mid-South Pride will hold a Regional Pride Event tomorrow, including a parade. Lineup is at 1 PM at Tiger Lane and the parade, 2:00-3:30, will travel

• East Parkway to Young
• Young to Union (WTF? They mean Young to Cooper to Union?)
• Union to Danny Thomas
• Danny Thomas to Beale

The parade will end at Front and Beale.

The curse of the avid reader: We pronounce words wrong because we always read them and never hear them on TV. I can so relate to this. I pronounced Kamala Harris’ name wrong for months because I had never heard it spoken properly.

Let’s see what we’ve got going on football-wise… looks like #17 Miami at #18 Louisville (6:30, ABC) is the game of the day. #14 UCF at Georgia Tech (2:30, ABC) should be good too and a chance to scout a key AAC opponent. Over on USA there’s South Florida at #7 Notre Dame at 1:30.

Rodell McCord plays Dinner & Tunes at Tin Roof tonight at 6.

Bardog is my plan for today. Back tomorrow with more news.