Paul Ryburn's Journal

There will be a block party tomorrow night, Thursday, September 8 in South Main, and fashion will be the theme. In conjunction with international Fashion’s Night Out, the party will feature a sidewalk fashion show, $3 draft beer, and live music by the Patrick Dodd Band. More details here.

Live Downtown and want to make a little extra money? You can rent out your toilet to people looking for a clean place to go nearby.

The Memphis Daily News reports that new apartments are being planned for Mud Island in the area south of the A. W. Willis Bridge.

The Majestic Grille has finished their interior work and will re-open for dinner at 5 tonight, with the place looking super spiffy.

Attention astronomy nerds: A supernova is visible this week. You’ll need binoculars to see it. Supernovas happen when the biggest stars die in massive explosions. This is the best chance in 25 years to see one.

My team the Rapscallions didn’t play trivia anywhere last night, but I was at the Flying Saucer and got to watch the first week of their “new, improved” trivia. The first round is current events, and my advice to you is to study sports scores from the day before, as well as any named storms (tropical storms and hurricanes) currently churning. Prizes are slightly better – 50/35/15 I think, upgraded from 50/25/10. There was a second game at 10 but I didn’t stick around for it.

Got the Foursquare mayorship of the Brass Door back. Will probably go there at some point tonight and defend it. Right now, time for a quick lunch then back to work.

LUNCHBOXeats will be open today, and it’s their first birthday. If you’ve never eaten there because you work too far away to get there for lunch, today is your chance. It’s on Fourth Street, half a block south of the FedExForum. Eat Local Memphis had an excellent review of the restaurant last year, for those of you unfamiliar with the place.

What to do after lunch? How about a little baseball? The Redbirds play the last game of their regular season today at 1:05. Bring your glove, because fans are invited onto the field to play catch after the game.

One thing not to do today – go to the Majestic Grille to eat, because it won’t be open. They’re closed today, tomorrow and Wednesday lunch to spiff up the place with paint and a new kitchen floor. They’ll re-open Wednesday at 5.

I had the best Bloody Mary ever yesterday. The Silly Goose has a deal every Sunday from open ’til 5 where you can make your own Bloody Mary for $3. They supply the vodka and the ice, and then you can choose from several mixes and about 30 different ingredients. This was my recipe:

• Fill with Zing Zang up to about 3/4 inch from the top
• A generous squirt of sriracha (as my friend Frank calls it, “the bottle with the chicken on it”)
• A dab of horseradish
• A few shakes of celery salt
• A few shakes of black pepper
• Olive
• Celery stalk
• Piece of okra

Mix and enjoy. I let a couple of my friends taste, and they agreed, I’d made a pretty kick-ass Bloody Mary. Can’t wait to go back next Sunday and do it again.

We started the day with brunch at the Majestic, and since it was raining when we got done, the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival wasn’t an option. So we went to the Saucer, and were pleased to learn the A/C had been fixed. It was good to have nearly the entire Sunday brunch crew back there for the first time since June. It was also good to have our friend Pete back for a day; he’d come to town for a college reunion. I challenged Pete to a game of pool, and 10 minutes later he was thinking this:

I also got the pleasure of playing three games of pool with our inspirational leader/father figure. The gang has been going to Bardog a lot lately on Sundays, and Bardog is a fine place, but Sunday Fun Day is not the same without a pool table.

Dan Wolken had a good column today on how to keep the Big 12 from imploding – and it involves adding Memphis as a basketball-only member. Clever idea. Read it here.

I intend to spend Labor Day enjoying the fruits of my labor. Specifically, the fruits I will be enjoying will be limes squeezed into a glass of Dos Equis Special Lager. Pint Nite at the Saucer starts at 11 AM! Almost all drafts only $3 a pint. Later in the day (after 4:30), I plan on stopping by Max’s Sports Bar, where new bartender Whitney will be training. Not 100% sure that poker at the Goose is happening tonight, but as far as I know it is, so unless I hear otherwise I plan on being there at 9 for drunk poker and a PBRtini.

When the NFL regular season starts next week, Downtowners will have one more place to watch all the games. It will be particularly handy for those who live in Fielders Square and points east. Sky Grille at 668 Union has announced that they will carry the NFL Sunday Ticket. They’ve also announced the followins specials during NFL games:

• $8 Budweiser, Bud Light, Bud Light Lime & Michelob Ultra, Coors Light & Miller Light Specials (5 beers per bucket)
• $5 Rolling Rock & PBR Pitchers
• $7 Bud Light & Shock Top Pitchers

$5 PBR pitchers? SCORE!!! I haven’t been to Sky Grille yet, and while it seems odd for a bar to be a nightclub on Saturday and then a sports bar on Sunday, there is a precedent; Red Rooster did both well. Hopefully Sky Grille will too. Sky Grille is located in the old Quetzal space near Union and Marshall.

The Memphis Music & Heritage Festival continues today on the Main Street Mall, between Peabody Place and Gayoso. Here are some of my top picks for today:

• Barbara Blue, blues, Comcast Folklore Hall stage. 2:00 PM
• Yao Tan of Wang’s Bistro, cooking demo, Yao’s signature dish, 2:00 PM
• Valerie June, blues, Folklore Store stage, 4:30 PM
• Craig Dorff of Blue Fin, cooking demo, sushi, 5:00 PM
• Mr. Del, gospel rap, Tennessee Arts Gayoso Street stage, 5:00 PM
• Michael Patrick of Rizzo’s Diner, cooking demo, skirt steak using Neola Farms beef, 6:00 PM
• Salute to Rufus with FreeWorld and special guests Marvell, Vaneese and Carla Thomas and James Govan, R&B/soul, Comcast Folklore Hall stage, 7:15 PM
• Bluff City Backsliders, jug band, Folklore Store stage, 9:30 PM
• Blind Mississippi Morris and Brad Webb, blues, ArtsMemphis Peabody Place stage, 9:45 PM

I’m totally unfamiliar with Mr. Del by the way, but “gospel rap” sounds interesting enough that I’ll have to check it out, at least for a few minutes.

In addition to yesterday’s “what to do between bands” suggestions, I’ll add a few more for today:

• Enjoy brunch at one of the restaurants within the festival boundaries. My top pick would be the Majestic Grille. They serve Sunday brunch from 11 AM to 3 PM.
• Walk around the corner to Second Street and enjoy 99 cent Bud Light all day long at Kooky Canuck. (unfortunately it’s outside the borders of the festival, so you can’t get to-go cups)
• Check out the final fireworks show of the season following the Redbirds’ 6:05 game. I’d estimate the fireworks would start sometime around 8:45 to 9:00, depending on the length of the game.

You can view the full music schedule and cooking demo schedule online. My plans for the day are somewhat up in the air; I was going to do brunch at the Majestic, then the Flying Saucer, then the festival, but the A/C was not working at the Saucer yesterday. Unless it’s fixed I’ll probably spend a minimal amount of time there today, maybe just one quick beer in order to defend my Saucer mayorship on Foursquare.

If college football caused you to miss the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival yesterday, come on down. You’ve still got a full day left to enjoy it!

Just saw a pic posted on Facebook that Thai Bistro has $1 Bud Light drafts, $2 domestics and $3 imports all day today.

Thanks to Bicycle Bobby for the info.

A fantastic regional music fest is happening on the Main Street Mall today and tomorrow. I’ll be at the Center for Southern Folklore’s Memphis Music and Heritage Fest nearly all day today, with occasional stops at nearby bars to cool off and check football scores. If you’re unfamiliar with the bands playing the festival, here are a few of my top picks for today:

• Watoto Memphis, children’s dance, Tennessee Arts Gayoso Street stage, 11:00 AM
• River City Tanlines, rock, ArtsMemphis Peabody Place stage, 5:45 PM
• Jonathon Plumlee, cooking demo, chicken tips with bell pepper & pineapple chutney, 6:00 PM
• The Bo-Keys, soul, ArtsMemphis Peabody Place stage, 6:45 PM
• The Subteens, rock, Tennessee Arts Gayoso Street Stage, 7:15 PM
• Hope Clayburn and Soul Scrimmage, Comcast Folklore Hall stage, 9:15 PM
• Exodus, reggae, Tennessee Arts Gayoso Street stage, 10:00 PM

What to do between bands?

• Go to the Center for Southern Folklore’s Folklore Store and purchase regional music, arts and crafts
• Go to the Center’s kitchen (it’s to the left of the Folklore Hall stage) and get Ella Kizzie’s greens and hot water cornbread
• Enjoy a drink on the patio of the Majestic Grille, Bar None, Silly Goose, Wang’s, Local or Blue Fin
• Do a little shopping at Shelton Clothiers (men’s) and Christine’s (women’s)
• Check out the art at Art on a Hot Tin Roof
• Check out the 20+ arts and crafts vendors at the festival
• Get some Las Delicias guacamole – they’re one of the food vendors

You can view the complete music schedule and cooking demo schedule online. There are samples for the audience at the end of each cooking demo. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Festival is on the Main Street Mall between Peabody Place and Gayoso. For parking I’d recommend the Peabody Place parking garage between Main and Second, or Parking Can be Fun on Union.

Look for me in my red Arkansas Razorbacks T-shirt at the festival. It’s time to CALL THOSE HOGS!!!

The Flying Saucer is planning their next beer dinner. It will be Thursday, September 29 and will feature beers from Abita. Although only four of their beers are commonly sold in Memphis bars (Purple Haze, Amber, Turbo Dog and Light), Abita brews many more. There are seven flagship beers, five seasonals, three harvest brews and three “big beers.” The beers haven’t been selected yet but the chef for the event showed me the menu last night:

• Fried oyster sliders
• Seafood gumbo
• Fried gator tail
• Mini king cakes

These four courses will be paired with 5 beers. I’ve been to every beer dinner the Saucer has held since 2006, and without exception they have been outstanding. If you’re into beer, or if you’d like to learn more about pairing food with beer, I recommend that you go. They always have a beer expert, often from the featured brewery, on hand to discuss how to pair beer with food and to answer any questions.

Space is limited, so if you plan to attend, get down to the Saucer and buy your tickets now.

Madison Avenue, which has been closed between Main and Second since March 26 due to a collapsing building, has re-opened. Eastbound traffic and the trolley line are running. The avenue is still closed to westbound traffic.

I had an interesting and enjoyable Thursday night yesterday. A good friend of mine in the wealth management business asked me to meet with him, to brainstorm on how to use social media to connect with people. He has some really outstanding ways for young professionals, especially those getting married or about to start a family, to increase their future wealth without impacting their lifestyle at all. He’s also very concerned about the fact that most people in the service industry don’t have health insurance. He’s seen too many fundraisers for bartenders and servers who got sick and couldn’t work, and is trying to pull together ways to insure them inexpensively. It was fascinating to hear about, and I hope I gave him some good ideas. Should I do a full post about him? I can if anyone is interested, although it will probably be next week before I get around to it (there’s beer to drink, after all).

He told me that his smoke breaks are rather lonely; he’s the only one in his 16-person office who smokes! Time to give up that habit buddy!

Next Friday, September 9, the Madison Hotel will begin a new wine tasting and reception in its lobby. Wines will be paired with food stations designed by Grill 83 executive chef Chris Windsor. Ambient jazz band Front Street will provide live music. Event is from 6 to 8 PM, costs $35 including tax and gratuity, and will be held every Friday during September (except tonight). Call 901-333-1224 to make reservations.

The Redbirds released their 2012 schedule this morning. They’ll play the first game of their 13th season on Friday, April 13; clearly the Redbirds are not superstitious. They’ll have home games on Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day and July 4. If you’re one of the first 3000 fans to attend Sunday’s game, they’ll give you a free magnetic 2012 schedule.

The Memphis Business Journal published a list this week of the top revenue-generating teams in college football. I’m sure it will surprise no one that Texas as at the top of the list. My Arkansas Razorbacks come in at number 15. Tomorrow night it will be time to CALL THOSE HOGS! I have an invitation to watch the game on PPV, but will likely miss it because I will be at the Memphis Music and Heritage Festival.

Speaking of the festival, the schedule is now on the website. Wow. This looks like the best year ever. Cooking demo schedule is up too. This season’s Hell’s Kitchen contestant Jonathon Plumley is among the chefs who will be on stage.

The Flyer has broken the news about Chef Michael Patrick’s new restaurant. It’s going into the old Harry’s Detour space on G.E. Patterson. It will be called Rizzo’s Diner and the Chef is hoping for a mid-September opening.

Three day weekend coming up and I’m ready… just gotta get through the afternoon and then the fun begins. And by fun, I mean beer.