Paul Ryburn's Journal

Keep an eye on the weather Sunday night. Yesterday afternoon when the National Weather Service announced a Winter Storm Watch, they did not have Shelby County under it. As of this morning, we are now part of the watch. This map shows Memphis in the “significant ice accumulation” category, as of the latest forecast around 8 am Saturday. Better check whatever weather resource you prefer Monday morning before you drive in to work. My way to check the weather is to follow @memphisweather1 on Twitter. I also like the TDOT Smartmap to check road conditions. When you first load the smartmap it centers on Nashville, but you can drag Memphis to the center and then use the + key to zoom in. I like to check the “Traffic Congestion” and “Incident” boxes. If there’s an accident on my route to work, I turn on the cameras to see how bad the traffic delay is.

Local beer dinner alert: The Flyer’s Hungry Memphis blog posted a list of Mardi Gras events. Only one on the list is Downtown but it’s a good one: Local Gastropub is hosting a beer dinner with Wiseacre beers brewed locally over on Broad Avenue. It will be a 4-course meal for $35, reception at 6:30 and dinner at 7. Wiseacre beers will be paired with food you might find in New Orleans. Click the link to see the complete menu.

Doubleheader at FedExForum today: Tigers vs. Louisville at 1 and Grizzlies vs. Cleveland at 8. The MBJ reports that you better be ready to spend some cash if you want to go to the Louisville game and don’t already have a ticket. The Louisville game will be broadcast nationally on CBS. I have one bar opening to report: The Silly Goose will open early for people pre-gaming Tigers-Louisville.

Also in the MBJ: An excellent guest article by Grizzlies season ticket holder Thomas Whitehead on his experience with the Let’s Move Down app.

Around this time of year I make a prediction for the NCAA tournament, and my track record has been pretty good. So here’s this year’s prediction: The Tigers enter the NCAA tournament as a 9 seed, beat the 8 seed in overtime, then go on to play 1 seed Wichita State in the round of 32. Wichita State is a team much like the Tigers were prior to this year: Great win-loss record, but in a nothing conference full of cupcakes. I predict the Tigers will beat Wichita State to make it to the Sweet 16 for the first time under Josh Pastner.

As for the American Conference tournament, I’m not going to make a prediction on it but one note: In the tournament quarterfinals, the 3 seed plays the 6 seed and the 4 seed plays the 5 seed. There are five good teams in Conference USA. Therefore, the Tigers need to aim for the 3 seed in the tournament so that we don’t have to play a good team until the semis.

Oh, by the way, you remember Mike’s f’n run because f’n Cal won? In 2012, my friend Mike said he would run down South Main in a Speedo and a tiger hat while sipping ranch dressing out of a straw if Kentucky won the national championship. He carried out his bet and turned it into a fundraiser for Wounded Warriors. He said he’d never make that type of bet again, but Thursday night he went and ran his mouth: He said he will repeat his run if Arkansas wins the SEC tournament.

In other Memphis sports news, the Tigers baseball team is off to an 8-1 start, their best since 1994.

Remember this the next time you visit Aldo’s Pizza Pies: An engineer explains why you should always order the larger pizza

Keep an eye on the world news. Russia may take military action against Ukraine, against President Obama’s warning. I don’t think Russian president Vladimir Putin is Kim Il-Sung/Jong-Il/Jong-Un crazy, but he’s maybe about 70% of that. Which is still pretty damn crazy. And he has his hands on nuclear weapons. Not good.

I led off at the Flying Saucer last night and could definitely tell the farm & gin show was in town. Lots of camo clothing, overalls, trucker hats, flannel, work pants, boots. Don’t get me wrong, though; those are some GOOD people. I kept hearing how they treated the servers well and tipped generously. I wish all convention attendees conducted themselves with as much class as the ginners.

Starting off at Bardog at 11 as usual today. From there I will figure out where to watch the Tigers-Louisville game. I need to get by the Saucer at some point this afternoon in hopes of giving an update to one of my BBQ teammates. Tonight I will make a rare Saturday night appearance at the Silly Goose for a friend’s birthday party. Got an hour to kill before Bardog. so I guess I’ll put my WWE Network membership to good use and watch the little spinning “Loading…” icon for the next 60 minutes.

Moody Ques BBQ teammates: The payment button on the team website is now working. It’s time to pay your dues! I paid mine this morning. More BBQ team info coming soon.

Miss Cordelia’s is adding a juice bar station, and is looking to hire people to help. If interested, apply in person on Monday between 9-11 AM or 2-4 PM. View the Craigslist ad here.

It’s South Main Trolley Night tonight from 6 to 9. Many shops will stay open late for you to come shop. Entertainment includes

• Shelley Brown and Lee Booth-TBD
• Steve Reid- Art Jamn
• Mara Danielle-Sache
• Pistol and the Queen-Ernestine & Hazel’s
• Christopher Wright – A Memphis Thang
• Po Boys – Green Beetle

As an added incentive to get you to come visit, some of the shops put out free appetizers, beer, and wine. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

The Memphis Flyer has a list of Music Fest performers linked to their websites. Good way to check out bands you’re not familiar with.

The Mid-South Farm & Gin Show is in town this weekend. Welcome, ginners!

The Redbirds have announced a Kids’ Club for kids 12 and under. For your $10 membership fee you get

• Official membership card
• Bluff seating ticket to EVERY Sunday game (12 total)
• Exclusive member t-shirt
• Five (5) Boardwalk tokens
• Chance to be the “Kids Announcer of the Game”
• Chance to watch a game from a suite at AutoZone Park
• Lead the Running of the Bases after every Sunday game
• Special Flex Plan pricing for Mom & Dad
• A fun activity every Sunday

Not a bad deal at all.

The Tigers got their first “bad loss” last night against Houston. Hello 9-11 seed. We need to go out there and kill it in our remaining games. In better news, my Arkansas Razorbacks completed a sweep of Kentucky for the 2013-14 season, handing the Wildcats a rare home loss.

That’s it for now. Ready for a much-needed weekend to rest.

The music lineup for “The Event I Don’t Care Much About That Happens 2 Weeks Before BBQ Fest,” or as others call it, “Memphis in May Beale Street Music Fest,” has been announced and you can view it here. Expect a lot of “This is the best lineup ever!!!” and “This lineup sucks!!!” today on Twitter.

The Music Fest lineup is not the biggest Downtown news today though. The MBJ reports that the 100 N. Main office building is to be converted into 250 apartments and a 170-room hotel. Current tenants have until June 1 to vacate. The hotel will occupy floors 9 through 19, with higher-end apartments above. By the time those apartments and hotel rooms are ready, they will be walking distance from the new Bass Pro in the Pyramid.

The latest rumor about the restaurant space in the ground floor of Lincoln-American Tower is that it has been rented to a cooking school similiar to L’Ecole Culinare and will be open to the public.

If you’ve ever been curious what happens at afternoon tea at the Peabody, here’s a Live at 9 video.

We now have a date on when former Memphian the Nuh-Uh Sister (sister of the Nuh-Uh Girl, who I posted about yesterday) will appear on the game show Jeopardy: April 25. She taped the show in January.

All right, off to do something I haven’t done a lot of on my lunch break lately: Eat lunch. I’ll be out at the usual places after work. WWE Network subscribers, don’t forget the NXT Arrival special tonight at 7!

One of the most frequently-mentioned people in the ten-year history of this blog is leaving Memphis. Today the Nuh-Uh Girl announced that she is moving to the Bay Area. I already knew – she told me Sunday night at poker – but today she emailed and told me she has made it public on Facebook, so I am free to post.

There have been many photos on this blog of the Nuh-Girl eating food, usually other people’s food. Despite the good-natured kidding we all give her, though, she has earned a reputation as a well-respected foodie. Chefs around Downtown seek her out to sample their new dishes and provide valuable feedback. For a while she co-authored a blog for the CCC (now DMC) about the things hip young professionals like to do Downtown. When she asked to write a guest post on my blog about Downtown Dining Week, I immediately said yes, knowing there would be no one better to write such a post.

She will not be alone in the Bay Area. Her brother Joel, one of Facebook’s first employees, lives out there, and her sister the Nuh-Uh Sister moved there in 2010. She has the chance to pursue education and opportunities in a field she is passionate about (you guessed it, food). She is very sad to leave Memphis but is excited about what the future has in store.

So you have only a few more weeks to read “Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up” in this blog. She has been a great friend and neighbor. Many of us Downtown will miss her, but we can’t blame her for choosing to pursue her passion.

Good luck to you, Rebecca, and please stay in touch and let us know how your new adventures are going.

There’s a really good Groupon for a Commercial Appeal digital subscription happening right now. For $26 you get one year of digital content, a $239.88 value, and you have the option of adding the Sunday print edition. 50 cents a week is not bad at all.

Looking for a job? Aldo’s Pizza Pies is doing open interviews from 3 to 5 this afternoon. They are looking for happy, smiley hard workers.

Tamp & Tap will have a Kill the Keg party Friday starting at 4 PM, featuring local Ghost River, Wiseacre, High Cotton, and Memphis Made beers. There will be live entertainment from Christian Seay and Jamison Puckett from 6 to 9.

The Flying Fish has announced that crawfish have arrived for the 2014 spring season.

Congratulations to Start Co.’s Eric Mathews on the publication of his first book, From Garage to Greatness: Succinct First Steps for Early Stage Entrepreneurs. Appropriately, he published the book on a Memphis startup, Screwpulp. You can send any ScrewPulp book to Kindle if that’s your preferred method of reading, including Kindle apps for iOS and Android.

You can support another startup business, Memphis Made Brewing Co., by purchasing a Memphis Made glass tonight at the Flying Saucer. Glasses go on sale at 7 PM.

Also at 7 PM tonight, the Grizzlies host the L.A. Lakers at FedExForum. I bet the “MARC > PAU” T-shirts will be out in force tonight.

Three people have been indicted for the shooting death of Methodist Le Bonheur nurse David Santucci. The murder happened last year on South Main. The two men who were participants in the actual shooting face a maximum of life in prison, and I hope that’s what they get.

I ordered the WWE Network last night. It was easy to pay using PayPal (you can use a card if you prefer that) and within minutes I was browsing the entire library of WWE, WCW, and ECW pay-per-views. I watched a few minutes of ECW’s 1997 Barely Legal show on my iPad. I see there are some videos of a couple of 1970s Madison Square Garden events going up today. Those would be interesting to watch. Most of all, I want to see NXT Arrival tomorrow night.

That’ll do it for the news for now. See you tomorrow, or sooner maybe.

Lots of sports-related news to report today. First up is a Grizzlies Groupon that is currently ongoing. It’s a $92.29 value that you can purchase for $30.

Still on the subject of the Grizzlies, Zach Randolph is once again helping people keep their lights on. For the fourth time, he has donated $20,000 to MIFA to help people who are in danger of having their power cut off. He has also set up a community assistance fund.

The Memphis Redbirds have introduced a 4-game Grand Slam pack. Buy it and you’ll get to see the Redbirds play March 28 against the St. Louis Cardinals (exhibition), April 12 against the Iowa Cubs, May 25 against the Oklahoma City RedHawks, and August 22 against the Sacramento River Cats. There are three seating options, including $110 for a Club Level seat, $95 for Dugout, and $75 for a Field Box ticket. For more information or to order, call (901) 722-0299 or visit www.memphisredbirds.com.

UT sports writer Gregg Doyel writes that UT should hire Bruce Pearl back. Fine with me. That school deserves an utter douchebag as head coach and that way I won’t have to look at him every time I turn on basketball on ESPN. Cuonzo is too nice. The Bruchebag perfectly fits the culture of the university, which is a compliment neither to UT nor to Pearl.

Home from work. Heading to the Goose to console a friend who had a bad day, then on to poker at the Blind Bear at 8.

So tonight I stopped by the Blind Bear and a discussion broke out about the chili cheeseburger I had at Green Beetle yesterday. I compared it to the one at Westy’s, with favorable comments about both.

“Have you had the chili at Dyer’s?” I was asked. Indeed I have. It’s damn good chili. In fact, one night I was there with a group and the Nuh-Uh Girl finagled a free bowl of chili and gave me a bite, which I guess makes me a mooch squared. Anyway, I got some awesome advice tonight about the burger at Dyer’s. “Order the double-double without the bun,” he said. The double-double is two meat patties, two slices of cheese. “Have them put it on top of the fries and then cover it with chili.”

This may be the best food recommendation for Downtown I have ever received. Thank you. Will try it soon.

David Scott Walker, the chef who is the pitmaster of our Moody Ques BBQ team, made a major announcement today. He and his family are opening a German restaurant in Overton Square, at 2110 Madison in the space formerly occupied by Paulette’s. The restaurant will be called Schweinehaus and will open in late summer. Read more about it here. Congrats Chef and I guess I will have to make some field trips to Midtown later this year.

Youth Villages has announced the Soup Sunday winners. Congratulations to Downtown restaurant eighty3 on taking the Best Bread award with its jalapeno cornbread.

WWE Monday night Raw will be at the FedExForum two weeks from today, Monday, March 10. The main event will be a six-man tag of John Cena, Daniel Bryan, and Batista vs. Kane, Alberto Del Rio, and Bray Wyatt. More info here.

That’ll do it for this Monday. Home from work, heading out to have a few PBRs at Bardog.

Happy to fulfill requests like this, especially when I wake up at 11:30 AM and am too hung over to find any other material to post. Taken at the Blind Bear about 1 this morning. In my hand is the reason why I slept until 11:30. Dammit Fireball.