Paul Ryburn's Journal

I stayed until closing time at Bardog Tavern Friday night/Saturday at 3 AM. Since I have no place to go, I try to maximize time spent in central heat and a strong Wi-Fi signal.

I had 4 beers, but other people around me paid for 2 – so my tab was only $8.78. Not bad for six hours of conversations with awesome friends.

You know, this reminds me of something I used to write about on Medium.com. No matter how bleak my current situation looks, I maintain a gratitude practice, being thankful for whatever abundance I receive. Because there’s always abundance. Acknowledging it and being grateful signals to the universe (or God, All That Is, your Higher Power, however you think of it) “Yesssss! More of this, please!”

So, what was I grateful for last night?

• The fact that such a wonderful neighborhood bar has been so easily accessible to me, and had been for 15 years
• That two of my best friends, Butt Slut #1 and Butt Slut #2, were sitting with me
• That I met several other awesome people while there
• Two PBRs that other people generously paid for
• – Having ample cash to purchase two more PBRs without feeling a sense of money scarcity (the scarcity mentality can KILL a gratitude practice)
• – Two awesome bartenders, London and Nick, behind the bar

By the way, I left London and Nick a $3.22 tip for a total of an even $12. That’s 37%, considerably higher than the industry-standard 20%. Why did I do that when I was nearly broke? It’s also part of the gratitude practice. It tells the universe, “If you give me abundance, I will spread it around.”

3:00 AM came, and it was time for bed… well, for everyone in the room except me! I planned to meet my friends Randy, Theresa, and Butt Slut #1 back at Bardog at 11:00, so I had 8 hours to fill with walking the streets of Downtown and whatever other activities I could find.

Mostly walking. My usual route is on Main Street. There was a light rain throughout the night. I had on a water-resistant jacket on, and I pulled the hood of my New Zealand Kiwi hoodie up over my head.

As I walked close to places with free Wi-Fi on (or near) Main, I’d pull out my phone and check messages, email, and Facebook. Since I no longer have cellular service, I gotta get my fix when I can.

“What time does City Market open?” I thought as late morning slowly crept in. “I’d love to get a Mountain Dew and a sausage biscuit and sit in their cafe area with my laptop.”

It was not to be, however – City Market’s sign said Saturday’s opening time was “0320” – and while an opening time of just after 3 AM is on my “would be nice” list, it’s not on my “expect it to happen” list. Sure enough, it didn’t. The rain got harder, soaking through my jeans. I spent the 7:00 hour huddled under an indented storefront just south of Union. As I tried to stay dry, I formulated a Plan B for breakfast.

Unfortunately that was the beginning of the single worst day I’d had since becoming homeless about a week before Christmas. Yet, I still found a way to sprinkle gratitude throughout my day. By the end of the day, though, I was just about ready to tap out to this event called “life.”

I didn’t, though. It’s now Sunday, and I’m still here. And I figured out City Market’s hours and am here on my laptop and a Mountain Dew. No sausage biscuit, though – I decided that’d be too expensive for my current budget.

This post is getting long, so I’m gonna bust it apart into 2 pieces. The second piece will be out sometime between this afternoon and Thursday, I hope. Before I go, let me bang out an expected news item on Sundays:

MEMPHIS BASKETBALL ON TV THIS WEEK

• Sunday, January 28: Memphis Grizzlies away at Indiana Pacers, 2:30 PM. TV: Bally Sports
• Sunday, January 28: Memphis Tigers away at UAB, 4:00 PM. TV: ESPN
• Monday, January 29: Memphis Grizzlies at home vs. Sacramento Kings, 7:00 PM. First 5000 get Grizzlies Mentor shirts. TV: Bally Sports
• Wednesday, January 31: Memphis Tigers at home vs. Rice, 7:00 PM. TV: ESPN+
• Thursday, February 1: Memphis Grizzlies at home vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, 7:00 PM. First 5000 fans get a Grizzlies Black History Month scarf. TV: Bally Sports
• Friday, February 2: Memphis Grizzlies at home vs Golden State Warriors, 7:00 PM. First 5000 get a Desmond Bane mini-hoop. TV: Bally Sports
• Saturday, February 3: Memphis Tigers at home vs. Wichita State, noon. TV: CBS
• Sunday, February 4: Memphis Grizzlies away at Boston, 5:00 PM. TV: Bally Sports

That is great news for Downtown.

Tyler Perry has been in Memphis filming a Netflix project.

The DM had a couple of Downtown food notes (premium article, requires subscription);

• Uncle Red’s (previously Red Bones Turkey Legs) is gone from Csrolina Watershed. The restaurant is getting a brick-and-mortar location on Broad Avenue.
• Rock ‘n Dough Pizza has landed at FedExForum for Grizzlies games. Slice choices will include cheese, pepperoni, and a slice of the day. Tonight’s SOTD will be BBQ chicken.

Robitussin cough syrup has been recalled.

Memphis River Parks Partnership seeks a field trip assistant for Tom Lee Park.

That’s it for today. Back tomorrow or Sunday or Monday.

• Roast beef sandwich with lettuce, tomato, onion, and Horsey mayo – 17
• Carne Asada topped with chimichurri; truffle fries – 23
• Soup: French onion
• Dog: Chicago-style
• Mussels: Garlic, tomato, white wine
• Bourbon pecan pie
• Caramel cake

If you text or PM me (during reasonable hours for people to be awake) and I don’t respond within 10-15 minutes, I’m probably at Local on Main. Their Wi-Fi is out and I don’t currently have cell service.

Today is National Irish Coffee Day. Bardog is your place to take care of that need. There may be a social media post from them about the holiday featuring a video with Emily and Allie Cat.

Today is also National Fish Taco Day. Either Maciel’s or Flying Fish can help you celebrate.

Vocal ensemble New York Polyphony performs at Calvary Episcopal Church tonight at 7:30. Everything from Gregorian chants to the 20th century will be fair game.

RIP Charles Osgood. The CBS newsman was 91.

Hotel Indigo seeks an engineer to do equipment maintenance and repair.

College students, do you dream of wearing the red and black? AutoZone has 11 different types of internships this summer.

Speaking of the ‘Zone, construction of their new pedestrian bridge across Front will block a couple of Downtown streets for the next month:

• Front from Union to Beale
• Peabody Place from Front to Main

The Grizzlies seek a foundation content coordinator.

The Memphis Flyer’s 20 Under 30 annual issue is out.

Bounty on Broad now has 25 cent martinis EVERY DAY from 5 to 6 – not just Wed-Thur anymore. Go see my friend Maddie!

Back for a limited engagement: Today is the second of two days Bardog is once again selling wings. They got shipped a case by mistake and decided to roll with it. I THINK these details are right, but don’t hold me to them:

• Happy hour ONLY
• Get ’em with Buffalo or BBQ sauce
• 6 for $11 or 12 for $18

The Nine Sushi & Thai on Union has closed temporarily for renovations and will reopen in March 2024.

The Grizzlies beat Miami 105-96 last night. Vince Williams Jr. led the team in scoring with 25.

The Metal Museum seeks a development & communications coordinator.

Hotel Indigo seeks an operations manager.

That’s it. Back tomorrow.

 

 

Smurfey’s Smokehouse at 149 Madison has its grand opening Friday and Saturday. If you’ve eaten at their food truck, you know; if you haven’t, you must go. Pulled pork baked potato with cheese, veggies, and Smurfey sauce; dat is all da people need to know.

WWE Monday Night RAW will be broadcast exclusively on Netflix beginning in January 2025. Yeah, I know some of you will respond, “Who cares, it’s a fake sport,” but RAW has consistently been one of the highest-rated cable TV shows of the past 30 years. This deal will generate a lot of subscriptions for Netflix… just as Thursday Night Football has for Amazon Prime. Tremendous assets are being leveraged in new ways.

Content is king. All hail King Content.

Starbucks at Main and Monroe is back open.

It’s National Peanut Butter Day.

Shen Yun comes to the Cannon Center this Saturday and Sunday.

Shufflegrit with the Scrub Jays play South Main Sounds, 550 S. Main, this Friday at 7.

And – one more reminder about a BIG show happening this Saturday: Island 45 plays the Blind Bear at 9 that night. Not only will our awesome friend, Downtown regular Jenn, be fronting the band, but it will be a BIG birthday celebration for another well-known Downtowner, Butt Slut #1. There’s still time to get her a gift – she likes hippos, soup, and the Dallas Cowboys.

IBIS is throwing a service industry New Year’s party tonight. It’ll be upstairs with DJ Tree spinning. $4 High Noons, $5 Mexican Tea shots, $6 Red Bull vodka. Door prizes for the first 50 guests and VIP cards for all service industry folks.

The Cooking with Chef Eli event at Cossitt Library’s Dos Hermanos Kitchen that got snowed out last week has been rescheduled for this Thursday at 6. Learn to make pan-seared salmon with a bechamel sauce, spinach, and fettuccine.

Nerd Nite Memphis happens at the Memphis Chess Club this Friday from 7 to 9. Nerdy knowledge about architecture and biology, great food and drink, and a musical interlude.

Rowdy Franks plays Momma’s tonight. 7 PM. $2 off apps. $15/$17 domestic buckets.

The Boil Water Advisory has been lifted for MLGW customers.

A pizza festival is coming to the Agricenter in September. It’ll benefit the Mid-South Food Bank and admission will include unlimited pizza samples.

Beale Street Bears proposes a trade that would bring Tyus Jones back to Memphis. The Grizzlies would also add a second-rounder to their bag of picks.

The Grizzlies have a 6:30 game at Miami. It’ll be on Bally Sports.

I may post Bardog and Local specials later this morning, so check back.

 

 

Well, the Memphis Tigers didn’t fall as far in the polls as I had thought – number 19 in the AP and number 22 in the coaches’ poll.

Ben Yay’s just announced that popular local singer/guitarist Charvey Mac will play at the restaurant Valentine’s night. That should fill up the reservation book quickly!

I added some more reasons to love the Residence Inn – Memphis at Main and Monroe to last Friday’s post.

If you haven’t been to happy hour at Max’s Sports Bar in a while, here’s what you’re missing:

• $7.50 PBR and Fireball combo
• $14.50 domestic buckets
• $5.00 wells
• $5.50 drafts
• 25% off items on the appetizer menu

Today is National Pie Day.

Atomic Rose announced that they have parted ways with Bella Duballe as host of their stage shows. Going forward they plan to use rotating hosts.

Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis faces a reappointment confirmation vote and this one counts. The vote that took place a few weeks ago was merely a committee vote and was nonbinding.

The Grizzlies beat Toronto on the road 108-100 last night. JJJ had 6 steals in the first quarter.

The New Hampshire primary is today.

That’s all for now. Back tomorrow probably.

They’re writing the specials on the board and I’m here with the MacBook. Let’s do this.

• Buffalo chicken wrap with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and ranch – 16
• Blackened chicken & shrimp Alfredo over spaghetti – 18
• Soup: Lobster bisque
• Dog: Chili, cheese
• Mussels: Garlic, tomato, white wine
• Bourbon pecan pie
• Caramel cake

In other news, there was a boat in one of the Price Is Right showcases this morning:

Also, Butt Slut #3, my hotel neighbor for now, is here. That’s not him in the photo, but there IS a male butt slut. We don’t discriminate around here.

I’m gonna update my “reasons to like the Residence Inn” post from Friday and then I’ll be back tomorrow with more news.

The Memphis Tigers lost to Tulane on the road yesterday, 81-79. That’s Memphis’ second bad loss in a week. The Tigers were AP number 10 and a projected 4 seed in the NCAA tournament. Predictions as to how far they’ll drop?

Some are saying Memphis will be out of the Top 25 and on the tournament bubble. I think that’s too drastic. I’m gonna guess AP number 24 and a projected 8 seed. But I do agree, the Tigers need to fix their chemistry and execution issues pronto or they will play themselves right into the NIT.

Three big dates on the Tigers’ calendar:

• Sunday, February 18 at SMU
• Sunday, February 25 vs. Florida Atlantic
• Saturday, March 9 at Florida Atlantic

These are Memphis’ remaining Quadrant 1 games and the best chances to impress the NCAA seeding committee.

A writer for Beale Street Bears thinks that Memphis Grizzlies center Xavier Tillman Sr. is a top trade target for NBA title contender the Boston Celtics.

Memphis’ weather made the national news on ABC.

You can adopt a pet for only $20 through the rest of January.

I discovered another treat at this hotel breakfast buffet: Single-serve packets of Nutella. Perfect for dipping a banana. They have single-serve packs of Jif peanut butter, too, but I’m not Elvis.

Bardog will have Don’t Tell Comedy in The Underdog Saturday at 6.

MLGW’s CEO says the boil-water advisory could end Thursday.

Memphis’ famous Charlie’s Meat Market is now known as Triangle Meat Market.

Restaurant owners and managers: My friend Kendall has enjoyed success in the service industry and as an IT professional. So I want to recommend his product ROI on Tap which can improve your ratings on Google. Kendall can also do marketing for your business via email and text, brainstorm and schedule social media posts, and build or upgrade your company’s website.

Today is National Hot Sauce Day.

Saturday’s fire at Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum caused $70,000 in damage.

Gas station chain Kum & Go will get a new name.

Florida governor Ron DeSantis suspended his presidential campaign over the weekend and endorsed the Trumpster.

That’s it for today. Back tomorrow probably.

 

 

I got to Bardog right at 11 yesterday, interested to see what kinds of changes the city’s Boil Water Advisory would bring to the tavern’s operations. Not surprisingly, delivery people were rolling in cases of bottled water and 12- and 18-packs of Coke and Sprite.

My right-hand neighbor at the bar ordered coffee and the bartender told him she couldn’t do it. Coffee gets hot (around 160 I think?) when brewing but it doesn’t come to a boil. The advisory states that tap water needs to come to a boil for 1 minute to be safe to drink. For the same reason, Starbucks at Main and Monroe is closed until the advisory is lifted.

They were serving dine-in food in to-go containers cut in half – not the aluminum bottom and transparent top Bardog uses for actual to-go food. The containers had the shape of Styrofoam containers but they weren’t Styrofoam. They seemed to be made of a thick paper. Project Green Fork would have approved.

They were minimizing the number of dishes they had to wash, so my PBR came out in a transparent plastic cup. It made me think I should have ordered a bag of peanuts, a box of Cracker Jack, and a hot dog with my beer.

Seriously, though, Bardog did a great job responding to the circumstances. Well done, indeed.

Here’s a look at Memphis basketball for the coming week:

• Sunday, January 21: Memphis Tigers away at Tulane, noon. TV: ESPN2
• Monday, January 22: Memphis Grizzlies away at Toronto Raptors, 6:30 PM. TV: Bally Sports
• Wednesday, January 24: Memphis Grizzlies away at Miami Heat, 6:30 PM. TV: Bally Sports
• Friday, January 26: Memphis Grizzlies at home vs. Orlando Magic, 7:00 PM. Faith & Family Night. TV: Bally Sports
• Sunday, January 28: Memphis Grizzlies away at Indiana Pacers, 2:30 PM. TV: Bally Sports
• Sunday, January 28: Memphis Tigers away at UAB, 4:00 PM. TV: ESPN

C.S. Lewis on Stage: Further Up & Further In comes to the Orpheum this afternoon at 3.  Actor Max McLean steps into the persona and mind of Lewis. 90 minutes, no intermission, recommended for ages 13 and up.

At the Orpheum Wednesday through Saturday: The 34th International Conference and Festival of Blacks in Dance

A mansion at the corner of Lauderdale and Pontotoc, the West J. Crawford House, has been nominated to the National Register of Historic Places. The two-story home was built in 1876-77 with a carriage house added in 1888. The neighborhood around South Lauderdale was known as “Millionaire’s Row” during that period.

The Chicago Bulls got a 125-96 win over Memphis last night. The Grizz are looking pretty sweet in the standings… well, the ones for Tankathon’s 2024 NBA draft lottery simulator. I ran five simulations and Memphis ended up with the 8, 9, 7, 4, and 7 picks.

By the end of the day, MLGW may have an idea when it can end the Boil Water Advisory. I notice the water pressure in my hotel room has gotten considerably better overnight.

Center Jordan Brown will rejoin the Memphis Tigers today on the road against Tulane. He’s been on an extended leave of absence.

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day. Leave some nuts on the ground outside Local on Main for Steve the Squirrel.

Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum on North Second is temporarily closed following a fire.

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

My first-ever make-your-own waffle at the Residence Inn’s hot breakfast buffet. Thanks to the extremely friendly, courteous staff for helping me through the process. After the waffle was done I added strawberries and whipped cream.

I got a couple of sausage patties on the side and topped them with syrup. One of my readers would be so proud of me.

I do have one complaint about this hotel room though: The bed is too warm and soft and comfortable! I was lying in it last night watching WWE Smackdown and fell asleep and missed both main events – Randy Orton vs. Solo Sikoa and A.J. Styles vs. L.A. Knight. I also missed Pete Dunne take his real name back: No more “Butch.”

MLGW has issued a Boil Water Advisory for all its customers as pressure continues to drop. From the DM: Why some Memphians have low – or no – water pressure

The DM also has a list of roads which the city considers priorities for treatment during snowy or icy weather.

Today is National Cheese Lovers Day. Go get a pizza with extra cheese and whatever other toppings you desire from Aldo’s Pizza Pies. Or go get some fried mozzarella sticks from Huey’s.

Ill Syl plays Eight & Sand Lounge at Central Station tonight.

The International Blues Challenge finals are this afternoon at the Orpheum. $50.

The Grizzlies are headed to Chicago for a 7 PM game. Catch it on Bally Sports.

MemphisWeather.net predicts a high of 21 today. No precipitation but winds out of the north at 13. Ugh. The low tonight is expected to be 10. This should be the last night for lows below 20. The folks at Channel 5 think it’ll get to 61 Thursday, 10 degrees above normal.

Many Memphis restaurants have been closed all week, leading to hardships. Food has hit the expiration date and servers haven’t made any tip money.

Most of Sports Illustrated’s staff was laid off yesterday.

The Hyatt Centric seeks an assistant front office manager.

From FOX 13: Mud Island roads leave some residents stranded

Today’s breakfast bell is tolling! Back tomorrow with more news.