Paul Ryburn's Journal

I’ve had a couple of readers email me to ask if anyplace Downtown will be showing the Memphis vs. UCLA football game tonight, which is at 9 on the Pac-12 Network. It doesn’t look like it. Holly from the I Love Memphis Blog has been collecting a list of places showing the game and it’s pretty short. As of 10:30 this morning her list was

• Brookhaven Pub
• Fox & Hound
• Dan McGuinness
• Newby’s

So if you really want to see the game, it looks like you’ll be traveling to (ugh) East Memphis tonight.

Follow Holly on Twitter at @ilovememphis to see if there are any more updates. And if you haven’t checked out her blog, you should. It’s excellent.

I’ve mentioned a couple of times on this blog that recently I’ve become addicted to the TV show Bar Rescue. On this show, bar expert Jon Taffer, a bar science expert who has turned around more than 800 bars, helps failing bar owners fix their businesses. I watched an episode last night in which Taf helped turn around a hip-hop nightclub. It was really refreshing to hear Taf openly discuss problems that need to be addressed with no mention of race. Maybe we need to get Taf to rescue Beale Street. View the full episode here. In the 25 or so episodes I have viewed, this is perhaps Taffer’s biggest turnaround.

We have our first Halloween party announcement of the year. The Cadre Building at Second and Monroe is throwing its inaugural Monster’s Ball on October 31. Lord T & Eloise will provide the live music for this event, along with DJ Jordan Rogers. There will be a costume contest, a photo booth, food and drinks, a VIP lounge on the mezzanine, special appearances, and more. Tickets are $50 general admission and $100 VIP. The event benefits LeBonheur Children’s Hospital.

FANTASTIC IDEA: A new shuttle service will connect Overton Square and Cooper-Young. Premier Transportation will be running the shuttle and it will be unveiled September 18. This will keep both neighborhoods vibrant. I personally would be much more likely to make field trips to Midtown if I could hit my favorite places in Overton Square (and nearby Slider Inn) and Cooper-Young in the same night without calling multiple cabs. Glad to see it being run by experienced transportation professionals (and glad to see it not run by MATA). If the shuttle proves successful, perhaps at a point in the future we can petition Premier for a Downtown-Overton Square route.

The Flyer’s Hungry Memphis blog has a good post about Downtown brewery High Cotton’s new session IPA. It’s not often you see an IPA at 4% ABV. If they were able to maintain the characteristics of an IPA at such a low alcohol content, then that’s quite an accomplishment. The brewery is at 598 Monroe and has a taproom open late afternoon/early evening today.

Congratulations to small business accelerator Start Co., which recently received $50,000 in funding by the Small Business Administration. Nice to see the SBA recognize that Start Co. is on the cutting edge of helping to build new companies that will create the jobs of the future.

The Redbirds were shut out at home in Game 3 of the playoffs last night. Tonight is do or die for the ‘birds. First pitch is 7:05 at AutoZone Park.

Thinking about buying Grizzlies season tickets or 22-game or 12-game packs for the coming season? There’s an open house going on today until 2 where you can test-drive your seats.

On my way to Panda’s bar at Bardog for my first stop of the day. Thanks to one of my Facebook friends for helping me pick out my outfit.

The Redbirds beat Omaha last night to tie up their best-of-five playoff series at 1-1. That means there will definitely be a Game 4, which will happen Saturday at 7:05 with Grizzlies center Kosta Koufos throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Game 3 is tonight at 7:05 with Josh Pastner throwing out the first pitch.

Save the date: High Cotton Brewing will host an Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday, October 4, at its taproom at 598 Monroe. The event will last from noon to 7 PM and will benefit Grow Memphis. It is sponsored by Memphis Flyer and Holliday Flowers.

Speaking of beer, the Memphis Business Journal reports that the Midtown Aldo’s Pizza Pies will carry an exclusive Aldo’s beer by Memphis Made Brewing Co. when the new pizzeria opens in Mid-October. Memphis Made’s brewery is down the street on South Cooper from the new Aldo’s location. I wonder if Downtown Aldo’s will get the exclusive beer too?

Old Crow Medicine Show has been announced for a Saturday, November 15 show at the Orpheum. Tickets go on sale next Friday.

From Lifehacker: 3 ways to get free Lyft rides in your city

Worth a cab ride to Midtown: The Wiles-Smith drugstore is closing soon. This store at 1635 Union has an old-fashioned soda fountain like the one your grandmother went to. The soda fountain will be shut down in a few months. If you’ve never been to one of these, you should go while you have the chance.

The developer of 100 N. Main is facing a lawsuit in the revamp of that building, the tallest one in Memphis. Based on things I have heard I am not overly surprised to read this.

My friend Angela Copeland’s weekly column in the Daily News resonates with me because it’s what I did when job-hunting six years ago: Take the job that feels like the right fit, not necessarily the first one that is offered. I turned down a few before finding the one that felt right. Trust your intuition.

SO ready for the weekend and it is only hours away. I am ready for beer and Fireball and will be out about 5:30.

Memphis Farmers Market announced today that it will do a special Winter Market for six weeks. From November 8 through December 13, the market will sell late fall and winter produce under the pavilion at Front and G.E. Patterson from 9 AM to 1 PM.

There’s a Groupon for a Tap ‘N’ Run event to be held in Downtown Memphis on Saturday, October 4. The Groupon is for VIP entry for $45, an $80 value. At a Tap ‘N’ Run, you run along a 4K course with three stops along the way for a 5-ounce beer. You get a 12-ounce beer at the end, and your VIP entry gets you an extra 12-ounce beer. Here are links to more info about the event and a .

Grind City Craft has photos of last Thursday’s Southern Prohibition launch party at the Blind Bear.

The Redbirds have announced more details of Game 3 of the PCL American Conference Championship series that they will host tomorrow. Gates will open at 6 PM with pre-game ceremonies beginning about 6:40. There will be a ceremonial first pitch by Memphis Tigers basketball coach Josh Pastner, followed by introduction of the teams, and then the National Anthem performed by the Memphis Boy & Girl Choir. From the time the gates open until the end of the 7th inning, there will be $2 Coors Light draft.

Beer time, back tomorrow.

A few minutes before 8 last night, I began hearing from people who had been out walking around that Union Avenue was closed between Second and Third, and the street was swarming with police cars. A few minutes later there were reports that a woman jumped off the Peabody Hotel on the side facing Union. She landed on a horse carriage parked on the street, on planks connecting the horse to the carriage. She was still breathing when ambulances arrived but she later died at the hospital. The horse was not injured.

This morning City Hall and the Federal Building were evacuated for a reported bomb threat in the Federal Building. Wow. Not a good past 24 hours for Downtown Memphis news.

There will be a Russell George Memorial Benefit at Earnestine & Hazel’s on Saturday, September 13 from 7 to 11 PM. It’s a night to honor the owner of E&H who was a great friend to many, and who passed away last year. A minimum $10 donation is requested and proceeds will benefit the Church Health Center. There will be live music by the Earnestine & Hazel’s Band.

Felicia Suzanne’s will have Tacos and Tunes tonight. There will be $2 tacos from 6 to 8, $5 margaritas, and Joe Guyton will perform.

There will be a free “Sounds of Beale” concert tonight at Handy Park at Third and Beale. Almost Famous will perform.

In case you didn’t pick up a Memphis Flyer yesterday, there is an awesome cover story about Lansky’s return to Beale. The Lansky family is so richly intertwined with the city of Memphis the past 60 years. The shop is most famously known as Elvis’ clothier but there is so much more to the story. If you enjoy Memphis history this is a good read.

The Beale Street cover charge has been dropped. Why does every issue in this city have to be a racial issue?

If you clicked on the Cooper-Young Beerfest buy ticket link in my post yesterday and were told that sales have closed, it was a bad link pointing to last year’s ticket sales. Here’s the correct link.

The Redbirds dropped the playoff opener to Omaha last night in the best-of-5 series for the PCL’s American Conference championship. Game 2 is tonight in Omaha, then the series returns to AutoZone Park for Game 3 on Friday, and if needed Games 4 and 5 this weekend.

In case you missed it: A USA Today blog named Memphis the #1 most underrated sports city in America.

A friend of mine posted a really cool invention, and one that could come in handy for Downtown bar patrons: STOP TALKING cards. When someone is boring you to death with endless, unwanted conversation, you reach in your wallet, take out one of these cards, and hand it to them. I have two comments about this. 1) Do they do next-day shipping so I can have the cards at Bardog for Saturday brunch? 2) Well, you know…

More news is coming in, so I’ll most likely be back with another post after work.

Tickets for the Cooper-Young Regional Beerfest are now on sale and you can get them here. The date is October 11. Tickets sold out last year and the festival seems to grow in popularity every year, so I would not advise waiting until the last minute to buy your tickets.

Food Truck Friday will be back at Emerge Memphis (Tennessee Street at G.E. Patterson) this Friday from 11 AM to 1:30 PM. This week Mr. Frazier’s Fish Fry will be there. This food truck offers fried and grilled catfish filets, fried catfish steaks, Big Bone Buffalo, and whole whiting. They have sandwiches including shrimp po’boys, catfish po’boys and burgers. Other offerings include fish tacos, hot wings, tamales, and frog legs.

If you borrowed a flapper outfit from the Blind Bear for their Southern Prohibition launch party last Thursday, they would like it back. Jeannette posted that to Facebook last night. I replied that I didn’t have an outfit to return, but thanks for the Halloween idea. (For those who are not long-time readers, I dressed up as a Flying Saucer waitress for three years for Halloween.) Several of my friends replied “No Paul.” Jeannette replied, “YES PAUL!” We will see.

The TV show MasterChef will be looking for the next master chef in Memphis, with a casting call Saturday, October 11 at the Doubletree. (Unfortunately the same day as Cooper-Young Beerfest.) Chefs will have three minutes to plate a dish. There won’t be a kitchen onsite to use so chefs will have to prepare everything in advance.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be on the big screen at the Orpheum at 8:00 Friday (doors open at 7). If you are a fan of this movie and have never seen it at the Orpheum, I highly recommend it. Prop bags will be sold for $5. They really go all out for Rocky Horror and I would hate to be a member of the cleanup crew Saturday morning.

There was a MATA bus that broke down on two-lane Riverside Drive this morning and there was a traffic backup that lasted for a long time. From Georgia to Beale there are no side streets that can be used as detours.

From CityLab: Overall, U.S. streetcars (trolleys) just aren’t meeting the standards of good transit. Memphis’ trolley system is mentioned as part of the study.

For the record: I am not responsible for posting to any fake Twitter accounts. I bring this up because I saw one this weekend that people are bound to think I’m behind. I’m not.

While at happy hour at Blind Bear last night, I noticed that Southern Prohibition has a beer called Sinister Minister. I wonder if the SoPro people are fans of pro wrestling and Father James Mitchell in particular. Not long ago I watched TNA Wrestling footage from about 10 years ago of Father Mitchell and his disciples feuding with Raven and his followers C.M. Punk and Julio Dinero.

Charles the Trivia Guy, who does trivia Tuesdays at Double J and Wednesdays at Blind Bear, is in training to be Charles the Poker Guy to direct the 6:30 Sunday poker game at the Bear. Charles has a loyal following and it will be interesting to see if any of the trivia players become poker players.

That’s it for now. I’ll be at the Silly Goose after work for happy hour.

Good news about a long-unfinished building. The Memphis Business Journal reports that The Horizon is under contract and will likely be developed into condos. The Horizon, which is at 717 Riverside, was built several years ago and was never completed.

Country star Trace Adkins is bringing his Christmas Show 2014 Tour to the Orpheum on Tuesday, December 16. The tour will feature songs from his Christmas album The King’s Gift. The show is said to combine fireside storytelling with performances of classic carols. Tickets will go on sale Friday, September 12.

If you like craft beer, check out the September I Love Memphis podcast. Taylor James of Cash Saver and Andy Ashby of Memphis Made Brewing Co. are this month’s guests.

Local leaders want to make Downtown’s parking garages safer.

Whew. Tired out from Labor Day weekend. Nevertheless, I’ll be out at the usual spots tonight. That’s all for now.

Yesterday on my vacation day, I left my apartment as a man on a mission. A mission to drink beer. Well, I suppose that’s my mission every day, but yesterday I had a particular mission: To drink the three featured beers brought to the Memphis market by Hattiesburg, Mississippi brewing company Southern Prohibition. I wanted to learn as much as possible about the beers, so the best place to go was the Flying Saucer. As a member of their UFO club, I can print off tickets on the computer recording that I have purchased the beers. When I get to 200 different beers, I get a plate on the wall. I have 8 plates on the wall (actually one plate, colored white to signify that I’ve been around the Ring of Honor 8 times) and had been stuck at 48 beers toward plate 9 for quite some time. Yesterday I got unstuck. The great thing about the ticket system is that the tickets have really good descriptions of each beer, so you can learn about what you’re drinking.

Devil’s Harvest is the brewery’s American Pale Ale. It’s full of flavor and quite hoppy, but the hops aren’t overwhelming.

Jack the Sipper is SoPro’s ESB, Extra Special Bitter. It uses English ingredients to produce a UK experience when drinking this beer.

 

The bartender told me that Suzy B has been SoPro’s most popular beer sold at the Saucer. It’s a blonde ale that is easy to drink.

Look at the artwork on the cans! This is clearly a brewery that takes pride not only in its beer, but in the medium in which the beer is packaged as well. The bartender told me that on her Thursday night shift, she sold about 10 cans of Southern Prohibition beer. That may not seem like a lot, but it is. Patrons at the Saucer have 125 bottled and can beers and 75 draft beers to choose from, and a disproportionately high number have been choosing SoPro.

I walked out the door at 51 beers toward my ninth plate. Along the way on the quest for 200, the Saucer gives interim awards to its UFO Club members. Because I crossed the threshold of 50, the next time I swipe my membership card on the computer, it will print out a ticket good for $5 off my next tab.

Later in the day yesterday, I decided I wanted to go to the Zoo Brew event at the Memphis Zoo. So I posted on Facebook that I was looking for a date to the beer tasting. “You: Single, female, hot, extra ticket to Zoo Brew, willing to pay for my cab to Midtown,” I typed. However, there were no takers, so no Zoo Brew for me this time around.

The big event Downtown today and tomorrow is the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival. You can view the schedule here.  My top pick for today is, oddly enough, not live music. If you want to hear the story of a true Memphis music legend, go to the Center’s Folklore Hall at 4:45 this afternoon. Bluesman Bobby Rush will be interviewed on the Folklore Hall stage. The Folklore Hall is in Pembroke Square, and you enter through the doors to the left of the Blind Bear. PRO TIP: The Folklore Hall has a kitchen. Try some of their greens and hot-water cornbread for a real Southern experience.

Bobby Rush, by the way, will headline the Peabody Place stage at the festival tonight at 9.

It’s time to CALL THOSE HOGS!!! Arkansas takes the field at 3 PM today against #6 Auburn on the SEC Network. I don’t expect the Razorbacks to win, but if they can at least keep it competitive it will be a positive sign for coach Bret Bielema and his team.

Plans for today: With awesome music and food three blocks from my front door, why would I be anywhere but the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival? I plan to be down there all day, with frequent stops at Brad’s bar at the Blind Bear throughout, so if you don’t see me at the festival, check the Bear. I will still lead off at Panda’s bar at Bardog as usual (I want to see her new blue hair) but it will be an abbreviated stay this week. I want to hit the festival no later than 12:30 this afternoon. Come join me!

It’s a vacation day and I have a couple of hours to kill, so this is going to be a rather long post.

The last Friday of the month means that South Main Trolley Night is back tonight (minus the trolley). The shops and galleries along Main Street from Vance to St. Paul will stay open late (6 to 9 PM or later), many offering hors d’oeuvres, beverages, and specials and discounts. It’s a chance to not only shop but to get out and mingle with your neighbors. There will be live music up and down the street, including

• Short in the Sleeve
• History 901
• Tim Plunk
• Evan Farris
• Mara Danielle
• Shufflegrit
• Eric Crays
• Sing for Glenn
• Melinda Milligan

Also for Trolley Night, you can stop by Art Lounge on the Dock for free refreshments while you make your own art. Mama D’s Italian Ice and Frozen Pops will be vending at Trolley Night. Brittany Vega, 2013 Memphis College of Art graduate, will have a show at Leadership Memphis Gallery 363, at 363 S. Main. The gallery is curated by Jay Etkin and wine and appetizers will be served. Folks representing RiverArtsFest will be working the street, handing out info about the 8th annual arts celebration and recruiting volunteers.

There’s a Kill the Keg party today at Tamp & Tap beginning at 4 PM. $2.50 pints of local beers by Ghost River, Wiseacre, and High Cotton until they run out.

Tonight’s Memphis Jams on Beale concert is a Radio Ambiente Festival. The concert is at Handy Park, Third and Beale, beginning at 6:30 PM. It is free to attend.

MEAT-Loaf is the theme at Memphis Farmers Market tomorrow. It’s a celebration of the quality meats sold at the Farmers Market, including Black Angus beef, pork, chicken, catfish, and seafood. When you buy meat from MFM, you can be confident you are eating animals that were well-raised, and you’re also supporting the local economy. This week children can make back-to-school lunch sacks at a special workshop from 9 to 11 AM. Live music includes Bill Stanek at 7, Three Degrees at 8:30, Rick Williams at 10, and Michael Joyner at 11. Front at G.E. Patterson, 7 AM-1 PM tomorrow. There are not many farmers markets in the country that can claim to be better than this one.

Got a question for my readership. Is there a word for someone who friends you on Facebook not so much because they like you and consider you a friend, but because they want to keep tabs on what you’re up to? And you know this at the time they make the request, and they know that you know this… but it would be impolitic to ignore/refuse the request because of mutual friends. Yeah, I think I had one of those this summer. Can anyone out there relate? Is there a word in Urban Dictionary for this?

I went to the Southern Prohibition Brewery launch party last night at Blind Bear, but I didn’t get to try any of the featured beers. About 10 I was starving, so I figured I’d get some food, go home and eat, and come back. What really happened? I got food, went home to eat, fell asleep, and woke up at 2:54. I do want to try those beers, because I remembered Southern Prohibition’s beers being among the favorites I sampled at Cooper-Young Regional Beerfest last year. By the way, for new readers who haven’t heard me get on my soapbox about this… Cooper-Young Regional Beerfest is THE BEST BEER FESTIVAL IN MEMPHIS by a mile. It’s the only beer festival in Midtown that I like enough to pay for a cab ride out there and back. It happens October 11. Save the date. Yes I know there’s football that day… get some kind of mobile package where you can watch on your phone at the beerfest if you have to. If you like beer, you are missing out if you are not there.

Speaking of football, the annual tradition begins tomorrow… the annual tradition of me looking up whatever team is playing Arkansas to make sure I don’t accidentally wear that team’s colors.

Also in football news: A pink locker room awaits visiting teams that play Iowa.

Want to take a bike tour of urban chicken coops? Go here to learn how.

The In the South, It’s a Religion blog has coverage of Start Co. startup GemPhones for Fashion Find Friday.

LOLing at something I saw on Facebook today. One of my Downtown bartenders/servers took a “How many children should you have?” quiz on Buzzfeed or one of those sites. The result? It told her she should get a cat. If you know who I’m talking about, it’s totally true. Hint: Some of the beers she has served me have been served at a table covered in red or black felt. Second hint: Next time she sees me, she’s going to go, “I saw what you wrote on your blog about me. RUDE!”

Look for me if you go to the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival tomorrow. If I’m not out wandering around or at one of the stages, I’ll be inside the Blind Bear cooling off at Brad’s bar. I intend to get down there by 12:30, so my lead-off stint at Bardog will be an abbreviated one tomorrow morning.

All right, time to get the day started. I had two items on my agenda today: 1) Throw away the half eaten box of Easter candy that has been on my coffee table since April, and 2) Day drinking. However, a wise Facebook friend pointed out that I should hold on to the candy to hand out to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. So I’m down to one agenda item. Better get started on it.

Tonight is the Southern Prohibition beer launch party at the Blind Bear Speakeasy at 8 PM. You’re invited to dress as a gangster, flapper, or your favorite Southern Prohibition beer. I decided to do a little research on the three featured beers at tonight’s party:

– Devil’s Harvest is a 5.8% alcohol by volume (ABV) American Pale Ale. This beer is brewed with a Munich Malt and four hop additions. Untappd describes it as “a real hop bomb.”

– Suzy B is a 5.3% ABV American Blonde Ale. She’s a dirty blonde, unfiltered, but said to be an easy drinker.

– Jack the Sipper is the brewery’s tribute to England. This 5% ABV Extra Special/Strong Bitter uses 100% English hops and English malts. Flavor is said to be toasty and fruity and ratebeer.com describes the beer as “a true UK experience down South.”

You can learn more about the beers (and see the labels if you want to dress like one of the beers) at SoPro’s website.

There will be a prize for best costume, blackjack tables, live music by Jen and Levin Band, and beer, drink, and food specials. If you’ve seen the photos on the dining room wall (look for me in gangster attire holding cards) and want to get on there, Joey Miller will be there taking photos.

There’s a currently-running Groupon to attend one of three Ole Miss home games at a discount price.

At this point you’re probably thinking, Wait a minute, am I reading the right blog? You HATE Ole Piss, Paul! You think it’s the douchiest football school, with the douchiest football fans, in the entire SEC! In the entire nation, even! Why are you encouraging people to support them?

I’m not.

You see, one of the three options is the game against Memphis, on Saturday, September 27. Memphians who want to travel down to that shithole and support the Tigers amidst all the argyle-wearing d-bags and sundress-wearing d-baguettes can do so at a discount price ($42 for a $55 value ticket).

The Redbirds have announced an exhibition game for April 3, 2015. They will play the St. Louis Cardinals at AutoZone Park. It will be the final warm-up game before the Cards begin their 2015 regular season.

I’ve got a few more hours of work, then it will be time for another four-day weekend. I will be at the Southern Prohibition party tonight and I do not have to leave early to rest up for Friday at work, so I’m going to try to push it late night a bit. Back tomorrow with another post, although perhaps not a sober post or one at the regularly scheduled time.