Paul Ryburn's Journal

The Super Bowl is one week away, so it’s time for me to start collecting info about bars throwing Super Bowl parties for a future post. If you run a bar Downtown, shoot me an email at paul@paulryburn.com (or hit me up on Facebook if that works better for you) and let me know what you’ve got going on. I’ll compile a list and post it mid to late week. (Bardog, Saucer and Mulligan’s: I have your info already.)

I do this every year, but this time around I’m going to be paying close attention to my own list. For the first time since 2005 I don’t have a house party to go to for the Super Bowl… my friend who usually throws one in his condo won’t be in town. As a result, I’m kind of at a loss for where to go. I’ll ask around where has been good in recent years.

Fun day yesterday. I did a little day drinking with my friend John D at Bardog, drinking PBR at Panda Manda’s bar. I ordered the Soup of the Day, which was a roasted poblano pepper and chicken soup. It was delicious. I’ve never been a soup person, but the specials at Bardog and Brass Door are starting to make me re-think it. In the evening, I started at the Saucer, then went on to Blind Bear where it was Whitney’s birthday. The Bear was super packed but I had a fun time catching up with friends, neighbors, poker buddies and BBQ teammates.

A couple of times during the day yesterday I heard good things about this new Double J’s Saloon that is to open soon on South Main. I don’t want to give away any details that they’re not ready to release to the public, but I’ll say I have reason to believe that the food there will be good beyond all expectations. I have also heard that they expect to have a lot of synergy with Max’s Sports Bar around the corner. They serve liquor, whereas Max’s is beer only. Max, I’ve been told, isn’t threatened by his new neighbor at all, and understands that having two bars so close by will make South Main more of a destination, benefiting both bars in the long run.

So in a month or two I’ll have a neighborhood bar, a beer garden, a lounge, an Irish pub, a speakeasy, a sports bar, and a saloon, all of which I can walk or trolley to within minutes. 2012 is a great time to be a Downtowner.

Time to hit Publish and get the day started. I will be at the Majestic for mimosas at 11, and the Saucer for beer at 12. Possible stops later in the day: Hung Over Like a Bear brunch at Blind Bear (3 PM); Memphis Jazz Orchestra at Alfred’s (6 PM); Jeffrey and the Pacemakers at Huey’s (8:30 PM).

So, in last night’s Z-boING photo I had red, white and blue beads. I said I’d come back and post why.

It was because yesterday, my friend Patrick Reilly, who co-owns the Majestic Grille with his wife Deni, took his oath as a United States citizen. Patrick grew up in Ireland. He became a citizen yesterday morning, and then Deni threw him a surprise party in the upstairs of the Majestic in the early evening. I didn’t take any photos – the space was packed, not surprising since Patrick has a lot of friends – but it was a good time. There was a buffet of all-American food, all-American drinks at the bar, and even red, white and blue M&Ms.

There was a photo of Patrick receiving his citizenship papers, and space for guests to write around the edges. I wrote, “AMERICA! Home of PBR and Patrick Reilly.” In my book there are few higher compliments than to be mentioned alongside PBR.

Congratulations to one of our country’s newest citizens!

I had to improvise. I didn’t have a headband but I had red, white and blue beads (more on why in a future post). McCleskey convinced me that a lime could serve as a mouth guard. So here you go.

If you don’t know what Z-boING is, go here.

Tonight is South Main Trolley Tour, held the last Friday of every month. South Main shops and businesses stay open on Trolley Tour night for shoppers. The Downtown Memphis Commission posted a list of businesses that will be open tonight, and it is HUGE. Check out the list here. Some of the shops offer discounts, live entertainment, and/or complimentary appetizers and beverages. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Z-boING has made national headlines. ESPN has an article about Z-boING, in which you take Zach Randolph’s defensive stance, preferably wearing a headband, and using creativity in choosing a mouthpiece. Maybe I’ll take a pic of myself Z-boING tonight and blog it this weekend. I don’t have a yellow Grizzlies headband, but I have a PBR headband I’m always looking for excuses to wear.

Downtown development is creeping farther and father toward the neighborhood’s southern boundary. The Memphis Business Journal reports that Crescent Bluff apartments will soon be developed at the northeast corner of Florida and Virginia. Virginia Avenue is only one block north of Crump. The building will hold 72 units.

Last night I made my usual stop at the Saucer, and despite a HORRENDOUS Fire Sale (Abita Turbo Dog), I decided to stick around and watch the Grizzlies. Funny thing – the bar was relatively quiet until they pulled down both big screens and turned on the sound. The place quickly got packed. Show local games with sound on, attract a crowd… it’s not rocket surgery. “Paul, go outside and look at the TV in the Garden,” one of the servers told me. So I did.

I immediately could tell that the image on the big screen was much sharper and brighter than it had been before. “We got a new projection TV,” they told me. Gotta hand it to the Saucer – they may claim to be a beer bar, not a sports bar, but they’ve really raised the bar for showing games lately.

Kooky Canuck has four new Canadian beers by Unibroue. Here is more info on them (click the photo for a larger image):

And while we’re on the subject of Kooky Canuck, here’s a bonus photo of me with Lana, taken last Sunday:

All right, that’s the Friday news. Sorry these posts have been coming after work rather than at lunch, but I just haven’t had enough newsworthy stuff to do lunch posts several times this week.

Time to go get something to eat, then beer after that.

Yeah so no lunchtime post or after work post today. There just wasn’t much news to report. As soon as I went out, my Facebook news feed started blowing up with items to post. Doing this from my iPhone’s WordPress app, so please excuse any spelling mistakes.

Rehab Disco celebrates its second anniversary Saturday night, January 28. Congrats to JJ and Mo and the crew. Will do my best to get in there and offer best wishes.

Blind Bear has announced a plan to make Mondays more fun. From 6-9 they’ll have half price wine, excluding house wines, and $4 sausage and cheese plates.

Congrats to Flight. They were named one of OpenTable’s top 100 restaurants.

Speaking of OpenTable, you can now use the site to book reservations to Rizzo’s Diner.

Typing this at the Saucer. A bum just came in and asked for two fives for a ten. I guess the crack houses down on Abel Street are charging $5 a rock these days.

All right, time to hit publish and drink some beer toward my 6th plate. Thinking about a progressive party for number 6. If I can win poker once more each at Silly Goose and Blind Bear, I’ll have a $150 tab at Saucer, almost $100 at Goose, and $100 at Bear. That could be a fun little night. In the meantime, go Grizz! We’ve got the Clippers on the road at 9:30.

There’s a vote going on for best NBA Twitter account, and the Grizzlies’ very own Tony Allen is in the running. Vote for TA here.

Kerry from the I Love Memphis Blog put up a post yesterday that is absolutely a must-bookmark: The Ultimate Guide to Drinking Cheap in Memphis. Happy hours, pint nights, and other events where you can get deals on beer, wine, and booze.

If your sweetheart is a Redbirds fan, you can buy them the Redbirds Valentine’s Day Pack again this year. Fans can purchase their valentine a $40.00 ticket pack that includes two dugout ticket vouchers, a $20.00 gift card to Pugh’s Flowers, $10.00 in Redbirds Bucks and a single rose. For just $35.00 more fans can have Rockey deliver the package to their valentine on Monday, February 13 or Tuesday, February 14. Rockey only has time to deliver ten packs, so call 901-721-6000 for availability.

The International Blues Challenge is next weekend, and Downtown restaurant Kooky Canuck is getting in on the fun. They will host the first-ever Canadian Polar Bear Blues Showcase Thursday, February 2. The first 150 people will receive gift bags containing CDs from Canadian artists and other Canadian promotional material including a voucher for a complimentary Canadian beverage. More info and artist lineup can be found here.

Home from work, heading out for a beer. Will probably do happy hour at the Saucer, then move on to Blind Bear at some point before the Tiger game lets out.

There’s a Downtown Groupon deal today: $7 for $15 worth of food at Cockadoos. Great place to eat breakfast, and they serve lunch too. On the weekends they open at midnight and stay open until 3 PM.

A new Jamaican restaurant called Evelyn & Olive is opening in the Edge district at 630 Madison. You can view their website here. They have a menu online in Word (.docx) format.

Today is the last day to donate to St. Jude through causes.com and have your gift doubled. They will double up to $50K in donations. Donate here.

Congrats to Grizzlies center Marc Gasol on being named Western Conference Player of the Week. Details in this MBJ article.

The Blind Bear has announced a new happy hour Monday-Friday until 8 PM. $1 off well liquor, domestic bottles and house wines. They open at 6 most nights, but on Fridays they are going to start opening at 5.

’60s British Invasion cover band Jeffrey and the Pacemakers play Downtown Huey’s Sunday night at 8:30. They’ve also secured a date at the Cavern, the Brass Door’s underground performance space, on February 25. I’m told there are plans in the works for them to possibly play the REAL Cavern in Liverpool, where the Beatles were the house band 1961-63. Wouldn’t that be a dream come true?

Tonight is the first night you can enter to win the Fat Tire bike the Flying Saucer is giving away. Just buy a New Belgium Fat Tire pint to enter (make sure you ask for entry form). Today and for the 4 Tuesdays following, Fat Tire will be on Fire Sale for $3. Drawing for the bike will be February 21. If you’re looking for an excuse to come drink at the Saucer, there’s trivia tonight at 7:30 and 10.

It’s also trivia night with Kevin Cerrito at Ferraro’s Pizzeria and Pub. There’s a prize for best team name every week. Last week’s winning team name: “On a Scale from Casey Anthony to Jerry Sandusky, How Much Do You Like Kids?” Trivia starts at 8 PM, and there are $1 PBR and Rolling Rock draft specials.

It’s also trivia night at Silly Goose. Posted start time is 8 PM.

The Green Beetle debuts their spaghetti night tonight, with a regular-sized plate of spaghetti and meatballs for $5. If you want wine with dinner they’ll have bottles of merlot and pinot grigio for $12.

And, of course, it’s poker night at the Blind Bear, which is where I’ll be tonight. I’ll start off at the Saucer for happy hour ($1 off most drafts) at 6, then wander over to the Bear at 8 for poker with Jamie.

I figured out a new way to be a more effective blogger this weekend. Facebook status updates and tweets are two of my major sources of information for this blog – but, when I’m out at the bar checking social media on my phone, I’ll often forget updates I saw. Saturday I came up with a great idea. When I see an update that’s blogworthy, I use my iPhone’s screen capture to snap an image. Then I send the image to Evernote. That way, all the info is right there when I’m ready to post, and I don’t have to type even one character to save it.

One such update came from Automatic Slim’s, who announced that starting today they will have half price appetizers and $5 martinis from 4 PM-7 PM. Great time to come try their apps. They recommended the Tuna Tacos and hand cut potato chips with blue cheese fondue in particular.

A second food blog has reviewed the burger at Roxie’s Grocery at 520 N. Third. Thomas from Eat Local Memphis reports that the Uptown Burger will Roxie your soxies right off. I have got to try this burger soon.

Karen Waldrup and Ashlee K. Thomas play the Brass Door tonight at 7 PM. $7 cover at the door.

I haven’t posted since Saturday, so here’s a quick recap of the second half of my weekend… Saturday night I headed south to The Lofts at South Bluffs for a farewell party for the Mad Hatter, who is leaving us unfortunately. A big opportunity with her company is sending her to the Northeast for a couple of years. After the party we jumped in taxis and hit the Blind Bear. Fun place to be on a Saturday night.

Sunday I did my usual routine – Majestic Grille at 11 for mimosas, Flying Saucer at 12 for beer. Hung Over Like a Bear brunch at Blind Bear was on the agenda for 3, but I was having such a good time at the Saucer that I decided to stay. Then I got a text to come to Kooky Canuck, that owners Shawn and Lana were there watching the games. So I headed up the street… always a real pleasure to hang out with them. Two 34-ounce beers later and the severe weather was approaching. I hit Bardog for the Dog of the Day, then called it a night. Apologies to the Bear for not making it by for brunch, hopefully will be back next Sunday.

I did a tweet yesterday – the best Downtown bars to be in during a tornado. My list was Bardog Tavern, Brass Door and Local Gastropub. All three have basements without windows. More importantly, all three have PBR.

My plan for tonight is again the usual routine: Pint Nite at the Saucer at 6, poker at the Goose at 7:30.

Trying to catch up on two days’ worth of news. This post may be long.

The big news yesterday is that Southwest Airlines announced that it is expanding to Memphis. They already have the gates at Memphis International Airport, having bought AirTran last year. First flights are scheduled for August. Memphis air travelers will finally get to fly on an airline that has good customer service and whose planes arrive on time. I bet R.C. Johnson will be doing a lot of bragging about this.

The Brass Door will open early tomorrow, Sunday, January 22, for two important soccer matches. At 7:30 AM, Manchester City will take on Tottenham. Following that, at 9:30 Arsenal faces Manchester United. No better place Downtown to watch soccer while enjoying breakfast and drinks.

Here’s something I saw in the Flyer: On Tuesday, January 24, “The Black Diamond Experience” will be at Memphis Sounds Lounge, at 22 N. Third next door to A&R Bar-b-q. No, that’s not a tribute to the recently-closed late-night bar on Beale. Rather, it is a Neil Diamond tribute. As far as I know, this will be the first time Neil Diamond songs have ever been sung properly in Downtown Memphis. Clay and Robo butchering them at the crappyoke night the Monkey used to have on Saturdays doesn’t count.

If you’re in the mood to hear some good music tonight, check out “Seeing Stars with Star & Micey” tonight at the Center for Southern Folklore. The folk singing, guitar playing trio will take the stage at 8 PM. More info here.

The Green Beetle is starting a new special on Tuesdays. They will have a regular sized portion of spaghetti and meatballs for only $5. Want wine to go with your dinner? They’ll have $12 bottles of Canyon Road merlot and pinot grigio. A night out with an Italian meal and a bottle of wine for under twenty bucks? Not bad at all.

The 6th annual chili cook-off and 13th annual Polar Bear Plunge will happen on Mud Island Saturday, February 4, in support of Special Olympics of Memphis. For $50 you can participate in the Plunge and take a dip into the frigid Wolf River. You get a T-shirt and a free lunch. More details on the Plunge here. Divisions for the chili cook-off are red chili, salsa, and People’s Choice. There will also be prizes for showmanship. More details on the cook-off here.

Bardog Tavern has announced their Super Bowl watch party. They will have 25 cent wings, $2 Bud and Bud Light longnecks, $2 Fireball shots, and 4 HDTVs including the debut of a new 60″ TV in the Underdog Room.

The Memphis Flyer has more info on the Union Mission expansion. The new, larger building will ensure that all their guests have beds to sleep on, and that no one will be given a mat for the floor. Guests get four nights free a month and it’s $6 thereafter. You can purchase vouchers good for free nights here to hand out to the homeless. This is a much better way to help them than giving them money.

Thursday night I met some friends for the Silly Goose’s third anniversary party. We got there right as it started and there were cups full of prizes laid out along the bar.

Joe and Chad found “DUDE” headbands in their cups. These were souvenirs from Three Olives Vodka, makers of “The Dude” vodka that tastes just like Mountain Dew.

I found a Fireball shot glass in my goodie cup. I also got an E&J money clip.

Looking forward to my lunch today. I stopped by City Market on my way home last night, and found some Nawabi Gosh (spicy Indian beef with rice) in their pre-packaged to-go food section. I had their Vegetable Korma last night as a bedtime snack. I love Indian food and am pleased to see they’re doing more of it at the market.

Tigers play SMU at the FedExForum at 12. I’ll be at either Bardog or Saucer watching the game. Haven’t decided which yet. Fun times ahead for tonight – may be pics on the blog tomorrow.

I didn’t have the opportunity to post yesterday because I attended a Facebook marketing training seminar out east at the Hilton. The seminar’s title was “Facebook Marketing for Relative Newbies.” Since I’m not exactly a newbie, I expected to be bored out of my mind for 5 of the 6 hours, and pick up useful tips in the remaining hour. That was not the case. I was engaged for the entire 6 hours, and took probably 5 pages of notes. The instructor was great about figuring out who the advanced students were in the room and tasking them to help the newcomers.

When she’s not doing corporate training, the instructor, Faye Hill, runs a consulting business helping churches improve their customer service. Many people don’t realize this is an issue, but it is. If your church could use some improvement in that area, by all means check out the Faye Hill & Associates Facebook fan page for more information.

So, toward the end of the day we were sitting at tables of three to five. We had absorbed most of the knowledge by that point, and were given a group exercise. Each group was given a shape, and we had to design a 30-second commercial and Facebook campaign around our shape. This is what my table was given:

We first had to decide what our object was – a spoon, a peanut, and a hairbrush were all tossed around as ideas. Finally we decided it was a scoop. Since it was green, we decided it had something to do with being “green” or environmentally friendly. We came up with a story that our business was a children’s activity center. Parents could bribe their children with frozen yogurt while they learned about being kind to the environment. As a play on Project Green Fork, we named our business Project Green Scoop. I was elected to do our 30-second commercial. When it was our turn, I got up and said,

“Start the new year off right by teaching your kids to love the Earth. At Project Green Scoop, your children will enjoy our delicious frozen yogurt while they engage in a variety of activities that will teach them to recycle, to buy environmentally friendly products, and to live a more healthy lifestyle. “Like” us on Facebook (pointing the scoop toward the “Like” button) and enter your name and email address to get a coupon for your first cup of yogurt, free!”

Those of you who know me personally know that most of the time, I am rather quiet, and I really surprised myself by doing that announcer’s voice so well. After a few minutes I realized where it came from. It came from watching the Poo Trap commercial.

Yeah I know that’s the third time I’ve posted that video, but if you haven’t seen it, take a minute to click Play. It is one of the funniest commercials you’ll ever see.

So anyway, you may think to yourself, “That was kind of a silly exercise.” It actually wasn’t. Besides getting us to use what we learned about Facebook, trainer Faye Hill told us afterward that it was designed to teach an additional lesson. “What if this had been an individual exercise?” she asked us. “No one of you would have come up with anything nearly as creative.” The exercise taught us the importance of having a team to work on social media marketing campaigns.

The class wrapped up about 3:45, and I thought to myself, “Hmmm, I’ve got time to get to the office by 4:30.” And by “the office” I mean “the Second Street Branch Office.” And by “the Second Street Branch Office” I mean “the Flying Saucer.” Nice to have an early start to happy hour yesterday. Also nice to get an extra hour’s sleep in the morning. If I ever get elected president, I’m going to issue an executive order that all corporate training seminars should be 9 AM-4 PM.

Anyway, I’m going to get caught up and see what I missed yesterday and hopefully pull a “Saturday update” post together. Apologies if you sent me an email yesterday and I didn’t respond – I’ve got over 50 sitting in my inbox that I’ll try to get to this morning.