Paul Ryburn's Journal

My good friend Angela Copeland is launching her new business, Copeland Coaching. Angela has been mentoring job candidates for 9 years, and has shown job seekers how to get to the head of the pack. Her e-book Breaking the Rules and Getting the Job explains what to do. Angela is available for one-on-one mentoring, interview preparation, and resume tune-up. Angela was one of the organizers of the Memphis to Moore fundraiser that raised over $25,000 for the Moore Public Schools that were devastated by tornadoes. I have known Angela for over 10 years and have worked with her on many projects for MPACT Memphis, and I recommend her highly.

A new record eating the Kookamonga burger at Kooky Canuck has been set: Matt “Mega Toad” Stonie at the burger in 4 minutes and 43 seconds, beating the previous record by more than 2 1/2 minutes. The Kookamonga comes with a 4 pound beef patty and with the bun and all the fixins weighs in at more than 7 pounds.

Aldo’s Pizza Pies has announced a local draft night. Every Tuesday from 7 to 11 PM, pints of locally made beer will be only $3.

Rusty Lemon returns to town this week, and will play the Blind Bear Friday night at 10.

Memphis police need your help identifying a man who stole a $4500 laptop from the Doubletree Hotel at Third and Union. Photo here.

I’m back to work after an absolutely EPIC Sunday Fun Day. In my 10 years of doing Sundays Downtown, this one was in the top 5 for sure and maybe the top two or three. After Daniel nearly killed me with a spicy Bloody Mary at Blind Bear, I joined a couple of friends at the Flying Saucer for an in-depth conversation with bartenders Sara and Wingsauce, most of which they would kill me if I quoted here. Afterward there was a second trip to the Blind Bear, where I met Kim who organizes the local Dishcrawls. My BBQ teammate Buddha invited her to the Moody Ques BBQ team booth for 2014. That invitation is another thing I can’t quote here, or I will feel the wrath of team president/lawyer Moody. If you’re friends with me on Facebook you can read it on my timeline though.

I have a 5-cent PBR wooden nickel to cash in, so I’ll start at Melissa’s bar at Bardog after work. After that, Pint Nite at the Saucer for $3 drafts off the wall.

There are a couple of bars that have make your own Bloody Marys on Sunday. I have done it often enough that I claim given the right ingredients, I can make a better Bloody Mary than any bartender in Memphis. I have let other bartenders sample my drink after I have made one, and they have admitted, “That’s not bad. That’s not bad at all.”

Last Sunday I tried Daniel’s Bloody Mary at Blind Bear. For the first time, I had to admit, it was better than any Bloody Mary I have ever made. It is very very spicy, the way I like Bloody Marys and food in general, so if you’re not into spicy beware. If you are into spicy, though, come try what has won my vote as the best Bloody Mary Downtown. 12-6 PM is Daniel’s shift.

It’s 2:23 AM Sunday morning. Perhaps I stayed out a little late. Good night to all.

I’ll start off with a quick reminder that this is the last day for Memphis Farmers Market until spring (except for a one-day winter market in December). If you want to stock up on locally-produced food, you have until 1 PM to get down there. Yoga with Jackie O at 9, kids can make their own trick-or-treat bag from 9-11, and Contact Improvisation dance demo at 10.

A screening of Disney Halloween classic Hocus Pocus will happen tonight at AutoZone Park. The movie will be shown at 6, and guests are invited to bring blankets and sit on the field (no lawn chairs allowed though). There will also be seating in the lower bowl of seats along the third base line. From 5:00 to 5:55 there will be a Halloween party for kids, with trick-or-treating and hayrides around the warning track. Tickets are $10. Concessions will be available including hot dogs, popcorn, soda, apple cider, hot chocolate, and coffee. However, no alcohol will be served (BOOOOOOOO; this is why many Downtowners own flasks).

Seen on a photo of the underside of a bottle cap last night: “Condoms prevent minivans.” Hahahahaha so true. Did you know you can get free condoms in Memphis? Here’s a link. Follow @CondomMan901 for more info.

I’ve been informed that when I refer to Chef David Scott Walker by his initials, I need to type “Chef DSW” rather than just “DSW.” Apparently women think of a shoe store when they see that. Chef DSW is our BBQ team pitmaster and the executive chef at the Blind Bear.

A live broadcast of “A Prarie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor” happens this afternoon at The Orpheum at 4:45. Tickets are $42.50-$87.50.

Most bars are waiting until the actual day to throw their Halloween parties this year, but there are a couple happening tonight. It’s “Halloween at the Disco” at Paula & Raiford’s Disco. This is always a wild night and of course, the sexier the costumes the better.

Down at Earnestine & Hazel’s, there’s a Halloween party and classic rock tribute. The Spiders, an Alice Cooper tribute band, will headline, with opening act Flaming Youth, a KISS tribute band. Cover is $10 and costumes are encouraged.

This next event isn’t a Halloween party, but it fits in well with this time of year. Spaghetti Warehouse is holding “Death du Jour Mystery Theatre” tonight. The performance will be “Wild Ghost Chase,” an original, interactive mystery. $38 includes dinner; call 901-210-0545 for reservations.

The 8th annual Costume Twilight Tour happens at Elmwood Cemetery this afternoon with walking tours departing between 4:00 and 5:30. More info here.

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra will perform Haydn, Britten, and Brahms tonight at 7:30 at the Cannon Center. Tickets are $15.

Plans for today: Got some shopping to do. Our office is having a chili cook-off on November 8, and the flyer reads “Come Dressed in Your Best Western Wear.” So I have to drive to the nearest Best Western hotel and ask how much they would charge me to buy one of their uniforms. I’ll also have to decide whether to dress as a front desk clerk, a valet parker, or a member of the housekeeping staff. I tend to make better decisions when I’m drinking a PBR, so I guess I’ll lead things off at 11 at Panda’s bar at Bardog. Later in the day I may walk down to RiverArtsFest.

Tonight is the kickoff of RiverArtsFest, which will stretch down South Main from Huling to Georgia. The centerpiece of the festival is a juried artists’ market with 180 artists participating. There will also be 50 bands on three stages, and you can create your own art at a free interactive station. Of course, there will be beer and food vendors too. PRO TIP: If the guy selling the cinnamon roasted pecans is back, get them, even if you’re not into nuts. Just do it.

There’s another Groupon for a Downtown restaurant. This time it’s for Monsieur DeMarcus French Creperie. You can get $40 worth of food for $20 or $80 worth of food for $40.

Another Dishcrawl event is coming to Downtown: Cocktail Wars. Thousands of mixologists across North America will compete to see who can create the best drink. Out of many applicants, five will be chosen to compete at this event, at Alfred’s on Thursday, December 12 from 7 to 10 PM. Winner of the event will move on to the national competition. If you want to apply to compete as a mixologist, you have until October 30.

Felicia Suzanne’s is hiring hostesses. Details here.

There’s a new Downtown-Whitehaven express bus route. The bus got from Downtown to Whitehaven in 33 minutes, which for a MATA bus is pretty impressive.

Congratulations to radio host Chris Vernon, who will be joining the Memphis Grizzlies TV broadcast team. He’ll be on the pre-game show before every Grizzlies home game.

There’s a nasty piece of computer malware going around called Cryptolocker. Once it makes its way onto your computer, it encrypts your files using public-private key encryption, making them unusable. It then tells you that you need to pay $300 to obtain the private key to decrypt your files. There is currently no known way to undo the damage caused, other than to pay. Be very careful about opening email attachments, particularly those that appear to be shipping notices. It’s also a good idea to do regular backups to a device that does not remain attached to the computer when not backing up. This malware affects computers running Microsoft Windows.

Fun night beating my buddy Pete at pool at the Blind Bear last night. Staying out until 1 was maybe not the best decision though. Taking next Friday morning off so I can stay out late for Halloween parties. That’s it for now. I’ll be out at the usual spots around 5:30. Probably not going to RiverArtsFest tonight due to the cold, but I will get there tomorrow or Sunday.

A big concert comes to town tonight. Jason Aldean brings his Night Train Tour to the FedExForum at 7:30. This brought a couple of questions to my mind: “Who is Jason Aldean, and why is he on a tour named after a cheap wine the bums drink?” A visit to Wikipedia revealed that he is a country artist with hits including “Green Tractor,” “Dirt Road Anthem,” and “She’s Country.” Hmm. Seeing as how I’m not a fan of country music, I think I’ll pass on the chance to go. I bet North Mississippi will be well-represented in the crowd tonight as compared to the average FedExForum show.

Speaking of the bums, I heard a new opening line last night: “Awww dude. You look you’re from California, or Florida, or one of them places.” Wrong. I suppose if he had correctly guessed that I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, I’d have given him a dolla.

The South Main Association will show the movie Beetlejuice in the vacant lot between Earnestine & Hazel’s and Sache tonight at 6:45. It’s free to attend, and you can bring lawn chairs and blankets.

Memphis Made Brewing Company has added two more Downtown accounts: Central BBQ and Tamp and Tap. Tamp and Tap, by the way, is having a local beer “Kill the Keg” event tomorrow beginning at 4:00 with $2.50 pints.

Normally I don’t blog events happening in Cordova, but this is a really cool event: LivingSocial has a deal for half off tickets to India Fest for two or four. The festival is a celebration of Indian culture, with food, music, dance, and traditional clothing.

Meanwhile, back Downtown there’s an ongoing Groupon for Spaghetti Warehouse. You get $20 worth of food for $12 in this deal.

The Green Beetle starts a new 7-week trivia league tonight. The 7-week winner will receive a trip to Nashville and a VIP tour of Yazoo Brewing Co. Hotel and gas card will be included.

If you like to eat cheap crap, Krystal will be selling its burgers for 25 cents tonight from 7 to 11. Add cheese for 5 cents more.

That’ll do it for now. I’ll be out at the usual spots around 5:30.

Groupon has a good deal going on a ticket to the November 4 or November 13 Grizzlies game, along with a T-shirt. Good chance to check out the new team on the cheap. Details here.

Quote from one of my BBQ teammates this morning:

To the City of Memphis, PAVE FRONT ST. My car will thank you!

It appears that others agree. There’s a smartphone app called “Smart City Government App” that has a PIC/FIX option: You can snap a photo of what needs to be fixed with your phone, and then send it directly to city government.

The Daily News Blog has info on pop-up shops soon to appear around Memphis. One of the shops will be clothing boutique Crazy Beautiful, which will have a three-day home Friday-Sunday, October 25-27, at 387 S. Main next to Spindini. That’s RiverArtsFest weekend, so if you’re coming to the festival, stop by and do some shopping.

Tomorrow Spaghetti Warehouse will celebrate World Pasta Day a day early with all-you-can-eat spaghetti for $10. It comes with bread, a soup or salad, and soft drink or iced tea included in the price. You will need to print out this coupon. All-you-can-eat? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Memphis Farmers Market has posted the results of the Name the Gourd contest last Saturday. This Saturday’s Market is the final one of the season. Front at GE Patterson under the pavilion, 7 AM to 1 PM.

From Memphis Magazine: The last known survivor of the 1925 steamboat disaster in Memphis that made Tom Lee a hero has died.

In the news: Bama fans paint ‘The Rock’ at the University of Tennessee. LOVE IT.

Yesterday after work I went to the Flying Saucer, where I was greeted with another juvenile, passive-aggressive attempt to get under my skin. For the life of me, I do not understand why this idiot spends so much time trying to bother me. I could try to get even, but why; the best revenge of all is knowing that this person will spend the rest of his life living as himself, which is about as close to hell on earth as it gets. On a more positive note, it was ’90s trivia night and a couple of the girls dressed up. The Saucer will have all-Halloween trivia next Tuesday at 7:30 and 10:00 and costumes are encouraged. After the Saucer, I went over to Blind Bear for the usual Tuesday night poker game. I wasn’t thrilled with the table I was at; people were raising every hand regardless of what they had. It isn’t really 100/200 if you know you’re going to be putting in at least 500 to see a flop every time. I got my points toward the final table for showing up though, and the PBR cans (the Bear recently switched from draft to cans) fit perfectly in the poker tables’ cup holders.

Plans for this evening: Apparently I’m in BIG TROUBLE if I go anywhere but Silly Goose for happy hour on Wednesdays, so I’ll start there. It’s the first night that it’s cold enough to wear my Pabst winter jacket, so I’ll stop by the Blind Bear next to show it off since that’s where I got it. I prefer warm weather, but PBR cold-weather attire makes the current temps more bearable.

Some of the Downtown Dining Week menus have been posted. If a restaurant’s name is listed in red on the site, click on it for the menu; if the name is gray, menu is not available yet. The dining week is November 17-23, and participating restaurants will offer a 3-course dinner menu for $20.13. Some are also offering a special lunch for $10.13.

Shelton Clothiers is having its final sale, with everything marked down 40-70% (Pink Pig apparel marked down 20%). This includes new fall arrivals they could not cancel. Suits, sport coats, pants, shirts, ties, sportswear, and more. Due to the nature of the sale, all sales are final.

From WMC: Coasters in Beale Street bars are helping to raise domestic violence awareness

Also from WMC: A 30-foot decorative catfish has arrived at Beale Street Landing. The catfish is designed to appeal to kids.

Big party at the Central BBQ Downtown location Sunday at 3 PM. There will be a beer tasting by Memphis Made Brewing Company and live music by The Half Hog Smokers and the Southern Satisfiers.

The I Love Memphis blog has more information about the changes at Bleu, which has a new chef. The blog has several photos of food from the new menu.

MemphiSport has a recap of WWE Monday Night RAW from last night’s broadcast from the FedExForum.

Elmwood Cemetery’s annual costume walking tour is this Saturday. Details here.

That’s all for this Tuesday post. See ya later!

WWE Monday Night RAW broadcasts live from the FedExForum tonight. Show time is 7, but the event time is listed as 6:30. There are usually a couple of dark matches prior to go-live as an added bonus from the live crowd. WWE Chief Operating Officer Triple H and his wife Stephanie McMahon are scheduled to appear. They will deal with the Big Show’s recent firing and oversee the contract signing for the WWE title match between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan. C.M. Punk should be there as well, continuing his fight against Paul Heyman’s guys Ryback and Curtis Axel.

Historian Jimmy Ogle will conduct a free walking tour of Adams Avenue tomorrow. Meeting point is at Front and Adams, at 11:45 AM. The tour will last about an hour.

There will be a food truck rodeo in Court Square Thursday at lunchtime.

The FuzzyBrew beer blog has a review of Cooper-Young Regional Beerfest.

Bleu Restaurant and Lounge, the restaurant in the Westin across the street from FedExForum, has a new executive chef, Kevin Rains.

Not attending RAW tonight but I’ll watch it later in the week on Hulu Plus. Maybe I’ll see some people I know. I’ll be out at the usual spots around 5:30 today.

Ugh. I hate it when I make stupid mistakes like this. If you read my earlier post about a small business seminar Thursday at the Silly Goose, cancel that. What happened was, I took a blue notepad with me to C-Y Beerfest yesterday. This morning I saw a blue notepad with that note on the front page – but it was a different blue notepad, with a note I took over a year ago. I just found the notepad I took with my yesterday in my pants pocket. Sorry for the confusion. Glad I caught that before I went out for the day.

Live music alert: Candlebox plays the New Daisy on Beale tonight. Show starts at 7 PM. Open Air Stereo is the opening band.

Chef David Scott Walker is rolling out the new brunch menu at Blind Bear this weekend. Selections include pancake breakfast tacos, a reuben Benedict, the Big Bear Breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausage, breakfast potatoes), fried chicken and a waffle, biscuits and sausage gravy, and a BELT sandwich. On the side you can get smoked juniper bacon, buttermilk biscuits, smoked breakfast sausage, hand-cut fries, and breakfast potatoes. The bar has $3 mimosas, moonshine (apple pie, blackberry, or peach), and Fireball during brunch. They also have a bottle of Yellow Tail sparkling with orange juice for $15 or Sofia blanc with orange juice for $30. Other drink specials include a breakfast shot and The Flapper (Three Olives Mango). The Bear opens at noon Saturdays and Sundays. Brunch runs until 6 PM and they have NFL RedZone so you can keep up with all the games.

By the way, I’m going to start carrying a notebook again. I gave it up when I started using Evernote. However, there is no way I could have typed the info above into my phone after a day at Beerfest. Having the notebook as a backup will ensure that I don’t miss anything.

St.Jude will not be hit with fines due to the Affordable Care Act. Many hospitals that provide free care to the poor will be fined. St.Jude, however, will be exempt, although it will have to file paperwork every three years to prove that the exemption is deserved. Families never receive a bill for treatment received at the children’s hospital.

Several fights broke out on Beale Street Friday after Memphis Madness. It’s a shame that we have such a fantastic event Downtown in support of our Tigers and yet people can’t behave themselves. However, security has been beefed up on Beale Street. Although they don’t do checkpoints at the entrances on weekends during the cold winter months, there are 55 cameras watching the street and the alleys to the north and south.

Finally, I’m done posting for the day. I’ll lead off at the Blind Bear at noon, where I may have to give that reuben Benedict a try.