Paul Ryburn's Journal

Hey, everyone, if you’ve ever thought about tipping me using one of the methods in the footer, now would be a time when it would especially help me out. I’m down to my last three dollars. I haven’t slept since Friday night. Thanks in advance for any tips you can spare.

It’s National White Wine Day. Celebrate by going to Rootstock Wine Merchants in The Edge. Talk to the staff about what you like and let them pick out some bottles for you.

It’s also the first day of school for MSCS kids. Some schools are requiring clear lunchboxes. I remember how proud I was of my Snoopy lunchbox the first day of kindergarten. Kids today won’t be able to feel that pride.

When I was in 8th grade, there was a blond 7th grader who carried a big black metal lunchbox that looked like it belonged in his father’s tool shed. It only took one day for the name Ben “Lunch Pail” Wilson to stick. I guess the 2025-26 class won’t have a Lunch Pail.

Donk Toss, a sport played on ESPN8: The Ocho this past weekend, is an improvement over traditional cornhole. Instead of bean bags, you toss cute stuffed donkeys, scoring points based on the position in which they land.

This is the last day of the year to catch an 8 PM sunset in Memphis.

A study has found that our fair city has the most dangerous morning commutes in the U.S.

The FedEx-St. Jude Classic golf tournament is at TPC Southwind this weekend. It’s the first round of pro golf’s playoffs, with the top 50 in points for the season after this event advancing to the second round. Here’s a list of who has qualified for the FESJC. The only qualifier who isn’t coming is Rory McIlroy. If you’re not attending the event live, I recommend watching it in the air-conditioned comfort of Downtown golf bar Birdie’s.

Kinda surprised there are only 2 NFL games scheduled for Sunday: Miami at Chicago (noon) and New Orleans at L.A. Chargers (3:00). The rest of the slate is set for earlier in the weekend since there is not yet any college football to take those time slots.

RIP Loni Anderson. She played station receptionist Jennifer on WKRP in Cincinnati, a character considerably smarter than her boss Mr. Carlson. Anderson was 79.

This morning about 7, I was walking down the Main Street Mall when a cop pulled up next to me and rolled down his window. Uh oh. That’s usually not a good position for a homeless person to be in. Was he going to invent some BS reason to take me on my first-ever trip to 201? I braced myself for what he might say.

He said, “Sausage biscuit from McDonald’s?” and held one out to me.

That got the morning off to a great start! Know how some people believe the world is conspiring against them? Encounters like that one lead me to believe the world is conspiring IN MY FAVOR!!!

Back tomorrow. Again, any tips are especially appreciated right now.

I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com

Not to be confused with “Sun downdate.”

I stayed out all night last night. Brrrrrr! 65F and 10 MPH north wind felt a little chilly in a T-shirt and shorts.

About 3:30 AM the Subway at N. Main and Jefferson got an unplanned new look.

A witness told me a car came barreling down Jefferson at about 60 MPH. The driver lost control at Main and took out 3 of the restaurant’s front window panes. “The car went so far into Subway that I can’t believe the driver backed out and went on his merry way,” the witness said.

Irish Network Memphis is pleased to bring Consul General Frank Groome to the Brass Door Wednesday at 6 PM for an evening of conversation and connection. All are invited and this event is free.

Celebrate the life of FedEx founder Fred Smith through music at the Orpheum Sunday, September 7 at 7 PM.

Memphis Songwriters Series, hosted by Mark Edgar Stuart, returns to the Halloran Centre this Thursday. Jimbo Mathus, Tonya Dyson, and Jeremy Stanfill are set to perform. $10 at the door.

Comedy show Killers of Kill Tony comes to the Orpheum Saturday.

Today is Grab Some Nuts Day.

Back tomorrow with more news.

I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com

If you’re a fan of Nashville musician Jelly Roll, you might want to tune into the first of two nights of WWE’s Summerslam premium live event tonight. Jelly Roll will team with WWE veteran Randy Orton in a tag team match against Drew McIntyre and social media influencer Logan Paul.

It looks like In-N-Out Burger’s first Memphis location will be at 5341 Poplar.

Two minor earthquakes (2.6 and 3.0) were measured in NE Arkansas yesterday. Foreshocks of The Big One?

The New York Times recently sat down with local advertising legend John Malmo, who discussed what worked and what didn’t redeveloping Downtown in the 1970s and 1980s.

Today is International Blues Music Day. Celebrate on Beale Street.

It’s also National Mustard Day. Celebrate with mustard on a Soul Burger at Earnestine & Hazel’s.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS stations, will shut down thanks to federal budget cuts.

Can you discern AI-generated images from real ones?

Back tomorrow with more news.

I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com

Folks, when you’re donating clothes to charity, please don’t donate anything that makes a political statement.

I checked into the Union Mission yesterday, having stayed out since Monday to avoid the $6 nightly charges which are now inescapable. I signed up on the list to take a shower and about 2:25 my name was called.

Now, before you go to your assigned shower stall, you stop at the clothes closet so you’ll have something fresh and clean to put on after you dry off. The attendant gives you a washcloth and towel and a shirt and pants in the size you request. As for socks, there’s a big bin full of ’em and you pick out what you want.

So I rummaged through the sock bin. The socks are balled up so they can fit as many as possible in there. I found a pair of white socks that felt fairly loose, necessary to fit over my swollen ankles. They had a red emblem on them but I couldn’t see what it was because they were in a ball.

After the shower I put the socks on and discovered that the red emblem was a Confederate flag.

Only one visit to the clothes closet per day is allowed, so returning the socks and getting another pair was not an option.

So if you see me walking around in socks that scream I AM A RACIST, that’s why.

On to the news…

The Orpheum will have a screening of Grease Saturday at 2 PM. Come sing along to the songs of the 1978 classic starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

From Popular Science: Read ebooks for free on your Kindle or other reading device

Rolling Stone has coverage of Ozzy Osbourne’s funeral in Birmingham, UK. Rock on, Ozz Man.

Build your own Tom Lee lantern at Beale Street Landing Saturday from 4 to 7. $12. This workshop is for adults only. BYO adult beverages and snacks.

There will be a jazz jam at Center for Southern Folklore Sunday afternoon at 2.

It’s Wizarding Week at Grind City Brewing:

• Tonight: Popcorn and movie night
• Saturday: Diagon Alley Market and limited can release
• Sunday: Hororux Hunt

Ladies are invited to learn to shoot a pistol at Bass Pro at the Pyramid this weekend.

There’s a back-to-school event at the Greenlaw Community Center Saturday from 10 to 2. Score some free school supplies. 190 Mill Avenue.

That’s it for now. Back tomorrow or Sunday with more news.

I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com

 

The season finale of the Thursday night Peabody rooftop party series is tonight. Country party band The Neon Mooners headline and DJ A.D. and SHAB will also perform. Doors open at 6. $15 to get in, $40 to go VIP. VIPs get a buffet of a Cuban style roasted pig with mojo, fried plantains, yucca mash, and dessert.

Earnestine & Hazel’s is now selling hats for $25.

The NFL is back tonight as Detroit hosts the Los Angeles Chargers in the first game of the preseason.

Boots, the artist who spray-paints life advice on South Main sidewalks, has an online store.

StyleBlueprint had a look at the 13 best sandwiches in Memphis. Hard Times Deli, JEM, Slider Inn, and SOB had creations on the list.

Back tomorrow with more news.

I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com

I learned something kinda interesting about beer yesterday.

Belgian brewer Duvel is very picky about who is allowed to serve its beer on draft. The Duvel folks don’t think American bars do a good job keeping their tap lines clean. So they created disposable lines that you change each time you change the keg.

The Downtown and Cordova Flying Saucers recently were certified as the 43rd and 44th bars in the U.S., and the 2nd and 3rd in Tennessee, permitted to pour Duvel on draft after having had it in bottles for years. The third Tennessee venue, in case you’re wondering, is The Pharmacy Burger Parlor & Beer Garden in East Nashville.

Alley Dayz comes to Uptown 5:30-7:30 tonight. Live music, local vendors and pop-ups and an opportunity to explore businesses on the block. 605 N. Second St.

There will be a dog social at Memphis Made Brewing Friday at 6. Music by the Memphis Snake Doctors.

Slow Poke Rodriguez is the burger of the week at Momma’s: guacamole, bacon, pepper jack, lettuce, tomato, onion, and chipotle mayo on Angus-certified beef.

The third week of January, the Grizzlies will make a trip overseas to play games in Berlin and London. However, this means they won’t be at home to host a 2026 MLK Day game.

The home of the Memphis Redbirds, AutoZone Park, will undergo extensive renovations with a price tag in the mid-eight figures. The renos will bring the park up to MLB standards, ensuring that parent club the St. Louis Cardinals will want to keep their AAA affiliate here.

You can now “favorite” drivers on the Lyft rideshare app.

Back tomorrow with more news.

I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com

Today is International Tiger Day. Why not celebrate by going ahead and purchasing those Memphis Tigers football or basketball season tickets you’ve had your eye on for a few years now?

Cold front, cold front, we love you: A cold front is predicted to roll through Memphis sometime Thursday or Friday. It will usher out the dangerous heat we’ve had the past several weeks. FOX 13 forecast after that:

• Fri: 87/72
• Sat: 88/71
• Sun: 89/72

D&B, techno, and more genres come to Flyway Brewing in The Edge Friday night for an event called Divergent. DJ lineup will be

• FERB (MAD Events)
• Jos.Heat (Bodywerk)
• Kurvball
• Mirdo (Exile DJs)
• Rosamii

Doors at 8. Music 9 to 2. $10.

It’s National Chicken Wing Day… seems like there are several of those a year, doesn’t it? Smoked wings at either Central BBQ or Momma’s would be my pick.

Makeda’s Cookies handed out dolphin-shaped cookies Saturday to remember and celebrate Young Dolph. Sunday would have been the rapper’s 40th birthday.

The Greater Memphis Chamber seeks a Chairman’s Circle coordinator.

Penny’s men’s basketball Memphis Tigers will play an exhibition game vs. Auburn in Atlanta on Oct. 30.

Downtown’s skyline will soon change as St. Jude adds a 16-story research center on its campus.

Last night the $6 cover charge I paid to get in the Union Mission proved to be worth it. I got a badly needed shower – goodbye greasy hair! – and Kirby Woods Baptist brought us a delicious dinner of fried chicken tenders, green beans with pork and onions, mashed potatoes, corn, and peaches. It took about 3 minutes for me to fall asleep after my head hit the pillow.

Tonight I’m gonna stay out of the Mission and go see #VoteForAllison at Earnestine & Hazel’s. By the way – on the official online voting form, Allison is listed as serving at another restaurant. Don’t worry about that. Go ahead and vote for her anyway!

Hey, how about a list?

TOP 10 THINGS I DON’T MISS ABOUT THE UNION MISSION ON NIGHTS I DON’T STAY THERE

1. People who talk to themselves – FAR AND AWAY number one!!!!!! As irritating as the other nine items on this list combined!
2. Top bunks – since I’m under 60 and don’t walk with a walker or cane, most nights I get assigned one. I swear, one of these days I’m gonna fall out.
3. People who walk around in hoodies (with the hoods up) in July – the Mission is climate controlled at about 72 degrees most of the time. There’s no need for a hood. It seems to me like the wearers are trying to hide from the world.
4. People who use a toilet (for either number one or two) and then unroll an entire roll of toilet paper and throw it in there – WHY??????
5. Individually wrapped bags of chips served at dinner – because a lot of people will pocket those chips to eat in bed later. Crinkle, crinkle, crinkle, crunch, crunch, crunch, SMACK, SMACK, SMACK as I’m trying to fall asleep. Mamas, please teach your babies to chew with their mouth closed.
6. The phrase “Like a motherfucker” as an adverb meaning “very” – e.g. “Now, Fred, he tall like a motherfucker.”
7. People who’ve been staying there for more than a year, but still ask what time dinner is multiple times a day – it’s 5 PM. It’s always 5!!!!! It doesn’t change from day to day!
8. Chapel audience members who call out, “Take your time, preacher” – DON’T ENCOURAGE THEM!!!
9. People who gulp down their dinner tray in 3 minutes – some of the folks who stay at the Mission would make great competitive eaters. Most nights the food is not bad. Why not savor it a little?
10. People who don’t watch where they’re going – they’ll make 90 or 180 degree turns on a dime without slowing down at all and run right into someone. (This can also be experienced at the Memphis Farmers Market.)

I hope you’ve enjoyed my list. Back tomorrow with more news.

I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com

No, I’m not kidding.

From Thursday to Sunday, ESPN8: The Ocho is back on the air. It’s a celebration of the absurd and obscure in the sports world. There will be two prime-time Savannah Bananas games, combining baseball and performance art. There will be dodgeball. Pop-a-Shot. Corgi races. An auctioneers’ championship.

And the sport in which the Tennessee Vols will build a dynasty…

(It sure isn’t football…)

OUTHOUSE RACES!!!

I mean, can you think of a sport that screams, “GOOD OL’ ROCKY TOP… ROCKY TOP, TENNESSEE” more than that one? Go Vols! They can stuff some possums and raccoons in the competition outhouse for a post-race cookout.

A new site called Fanstake lets fans of college sports (legit ones, not outhouse racing) come together to craft NIL deals to get their fav prospective players to commit to their fav school. Prospect picks a different school? No problem, you  get your money back.

Where can you get a burger with both a beef patty and a fried mac & cheese patty? Flying Saucer, that’s where! Limited-time special “The Dad Bod” also comes with applewood smoked bacon, queso, arugula, and Fresno aioli.

Police Academy is coming up Wednesday night at the DNA’s free summer movie series at Slider Inn Downtown. 20% off food for card-carrying DNA members. It’ll be National Night Out and MPD will be there.

I stayed out all night Saturday and Sunday to save money, but tonight I’ll gladly pay the $6 to get in the Union Mission. You see, the fourth Monday of every month, Kirby Woods Baptist brings dinner and it’s always top-notch. Excited about a bed to sleep in and a shower too.

Back tomorrow with more news.

I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com

There will be a screening of Grease at the Orpheum Saturday. $12.

Today is National Creme Brulee Day. Bardog has it. The ‘dog can also help you with National Chicken Finger Day (after 3 PM) and National Scotch Day.

This is the second-to-last Sunday to enjoy TV without the NFL on.

Looks like the approaching weekend may bring relief from the heat. The forecast is for 90 Friday, 89 Saturday with north winds that should drop those miserable dewpoints..

Ducks Unlimited Expo comes to the Renasant Convention Center Friday through Sunday.

Back tomorrow with more news.

I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com

RIP Bill Morris, former mayor of Shelby County. Morris was 92. Morris was county sheriff 1964-1970 and read James Earl Ray his rights following Ray’s arrest for the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A former University of Memphis football player may have leaked Tigers defensive playbook secrets to UTSA prior to last season’s game between the two schools. Memphis found itself out of the championship race in the AAC after losing that game 44-36.

It’s World Tofu Day, a holiday I do not recommend celebrating.

Happy 250th birthday to the U.S. Postal Service.

River Inn of Harbor Town and its restaurants Terrace, Tug’s, and Paulette’s will be reimagined by Q1 2026, WhatNow reports.

Creed plays FedExForum Sunday night with opening bands Daughtry and Mammoth.

To celebrate Shark Week, Edge Motor Museum will unveil the Shark Roadster today.

Devil Train plays Slider Inn Downtown tonight at 8.

Jacob Chalk brings the comedy to Flyway Brewing tonight at 8.

Back tomorrow with more news.

I gratefully accept tips:
Venmo: @Paul-Ryburn (8113 if it asks for digits)
Cash App: $PaulRyburn1
Zelle: paul@paulryburn.com
Apple Pay: paul.ryburn@gmail.com