Paul Ryburn's Journal

Attention WordPress users: The monthly Memphis WordPress meetup will be this Thursday, April 7, at the EmergeMemphis building at 516 Tennessee Street. This month’s presentation is by Otto42, who is one of the top contributors to the WordPress codebase, and who now works for WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg. He’ll be discussing the new post types in WP 3.1. Every now and then I get somebody asking me, “Really? You know Otto42?” Yep, and you can meet him Thursday night. I’ve been very lazy about attending these meetups, but I will make it to this one. Join the WordPress Memphis meetup group here.

The U of M Law School is hosting a 5K, Race Judicata, Saturday April 9 at 5 PM. Race will start at Jefferson Davis Park. Funds raised will go to Memphis Area Legal Services, which provides legal representation to low income Memphians and the elderly. After the race, there will be live music and food.

Need a job? McDonald’s plans to hire 50,000 workers on Tuesday, April 19. Not glamorous, but hey, it’s a paycheck.

The CCC is holding a haiku contest on the Downtown Memphis Facebook wall. Post your best haiku about Downtown by 6 PM Wednesday, and you could win two tickets to Kings of Leon. Here’s mine (updated, first line had one syllable too many, oops):

Scratchy in alley
Thoughtfully stroking his beard
Talking to himself

Storms passed through about an hour ago. I hope everyone is safe and sound. From what I hear, East Memphis got hit hard. Not going to lunch because I don’t want to get out in this mess. That gives me another 50 minutes of lunch break… hmmm, maybe I’ll do a “Where I eat in Southaven/Horn Lake” post. A friend of mine thinks I eat at Chili’s every day. I’ve actually never been to the Chili’s. Hmmm let me see what I can come up with…

Last night we met up for a birthday pub crawl for our friend Joe. Stops included his apartment at Main Street Flats, Bar None, Kooky Canuck, and the Flying Saucer. Here are a few pics.

A very fun night with friends, and an excellent lineup of bars selected by Joe. (By that, I mean that crappyoke at the Monkey was not on the list.) About 12:30 I said my goodbyes, got Paul’s Drunkass Food at Huey’s and called it a night. Now I’m up and at ’em again… time for brunch at the Majestic.

With bum and birthday photos out of the way this morning, let’s get on to today’s news.

There will be a parade in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Monday, April 4. It will start at St. Peter’s, 190 Adams, going down Second to the Civil Rights Museum. Parade starts at 9 AM and is expected to end around 10:30.

I found a very cool NASA web app yesterday. Extreme Planet Makeover lets you build your own planet. You can specify the type of star (a Sun-like star, or one brighter or dimmer). You also specify the size of your planet, its age, and how far it is from its star. The app will then show you a picture of the planet you built, and will tell you information about your planet. It’s a fun way to learn under what conditions a planet can be habitable by life.

TJ Mulligan’s Pinch has announced that they’re bringing back Monday night crawfish. They’ll have the mudbugs from 6 to 10 PM, $5 a box. There will be music by Adam Levin on the patio.

This Wednesday, April 6 will be the next event in the Peabody Master Taster’s wine club series, in the Corner Bar from 5 to 6:30 PM. This one will feature wines from Spain and light bites from Capriccio Grill’s new menu. Free valet parking, and sommelier Krista McCracken will be on hand to discuss the wines. $15 at the door, or $100 for a VIP year-long pass.

Lifehacker has a really good post on top 10 uses for Twitter that aren’t self-indulgent. If you’ve shied away from Twitter because you don’t care what other people are having for dinner and similar mundane stuff, you’re missing out on a lot of alternate uses. It can be used for reminders, to find news stories you’d otherwise be unaware of, find a job, get customer support or advice, and much more. I’d estimate that at least half of the really good ideas I’ve had at work the past year developed from something I saw on Twitter.

Cooper-Young Beerfest has announced its date for this fall. View the video announcement on CY Beerfest’s Facebook page to find out.

That’s the news for now. Weather is finally nice outside, which will hopefully lead to fun times tonight.

I’ve always said, my favorite venues Downtown are the ones that are extensions of their owner’s personalities. Last night I had the pleasure of going to The Warehouse on G.E. Patterson for the birthday party of its owner, Kris. Kris is a generous guy who loves Memphis, loves his friends (and has a ton of them), and loves music. That is reflected in every last detail of The Warehouse. Here are a few pics from last night.

An exciting Friday night. Kappy birthday to Kris, and thanks for inviting me. I’ll say it one more time – if you’re ever invited to a Warehouse party, don’t ask questions, don’t think it over, just GO. You won’t be disappointed.

Had a few PBRs at the Monkey before heading over there. Averted a crisis as one of my friends, who hadn’t RSVPd, suddenly became very very very interested in going to the Warehouse for some reason. I was surprised that, for once, he wanted to do something other than sit on his ass at the same bar where he sits every weekend night, but I guess he found motivation. I gave him Kris’s number and they got him in via text message.

Today is a new day, and on to the next birthday party. This one should be fun too, since it involves several of my favorite bars in the Downtown core. “I’ll warn you though,” the birthday boy told me, “the party may end up at a gay dance club.”

“Not a problem,” I told him, especially since I know that a lot of straights go to this club too. Okay, let’s stop and examine this for a minute. Party that ends at a gay club – no problem. Party that ends at Saturday night crappyoke at the Monkey – deal killer, won’t go. Somewhere there’s an invisible line that reads, “BEYOND HERE SUCKS,” and karaoke night is on the wrong side of the line.

I hope there are TVs wherever we end up tonight. John Calidouchebag plays in his first Final Four tonight, tipoff 7:49 PM. Hopefully the Huskies of UConn will send Cal home, then lose to Butler in the championship game.

Just realized, the SEC is a one-douchebag league, now that Pearl’s gone. The one that’s left is a mighty big ‘bag, though. Wonder if World Wide Wes will join Cal on the sidelines tonight.

All right, 58 messages in the inbox, and some of it appears to be news I need to post, so let me hit Publish on this one and see what we’ve got. Another post is likely to come soon.

Thanks to CeCe’s Liquors at Main and Madison, one of our local street people was able to enjoy a half-pint of Dark Eyes vodka at 9 in the morning. I have to hand it to whomever consumed this bottle – they have a more expansive view of the world than I do. Whereas, I would have looked for a trash can after finishing my vodka, to this guy, all the world’s a trash can.

CeCe’s specializes in serving the sector of the Downtown economy who got’s about two dolla or less and just want to get them somethin to drank. When someone near Main and Madison asks you for ’bout fitty seven cent, that’s likely the amount they need to complete their next purchase at the liquor store. If you want to truly help people in need, you’ll do much better giving to the Union Mission than to someone on the street asking for money.

Here’s a really useful site for those who come Downtown for events: Parkopedia. It’s like Wikipedia for parking. Lots are listed on a map, with info like rates, whether they’re covered, and how many spaces. It’s available as an iPhone app too. Credit to Lifehacker for turning me on to Parkopedia. Tempted to add a note to the Tri-State Bank lot entry at Main and Beale telling people to beware of fake parking attendant scammers.

Tomorrow is the next Saturday Super Tour with historian Jimmy Ogle. If you want to learn a lot about the history of Downtown Memphis, these tours are great. Assemble at 10 AM at The Cotton Museum front door at Union Avenue & Front Street, and begin a 2.5-hour walk from Riverside Drive east on Union to Fourth Street, south on Fourth to Church Park, west on Beale Street to The Orpheum Theatre, and then north up Front Street to Confederate Park. Tour is free and you can join in or drop out at any point.

If you’re into beer tourism, Fuzzy Brew had a good post this week on the best craft breweries state by state.

If you’re coming to the South Main District tonight, be aware that there will be a 5K being run in the area. It’s the Opening Eyes to Autism 5K. Route will be Beale (starting at Second), to Fourth, to Pontotoc, to Second, to St. Martin, to G.E. Patterson, to Front, to Georgia, to Riverside, to Beale, to Second, to the finish line at the Gibson Guitar Factory. Details on the race here.

Another radio internship has come open, this one at Sports 56 WHBQ. The listing states that you won’t spending your time getting coffee – you’ll be involved in pre-show and in-show production as well as remote events. I know some of the guys at Sports 56, and they’d be great to work with. Most people in sports radio started as interns. They stress in bold type that they only accept serious applicants who are ambitious, creative, and hard-working. Well, that eliminates one under-employed person I know.

Very excited about the weekend. I have two birthday parties to attend in two days. Both have done a stellar job crafting the guest lists! Good times ahead.

In what has to be considered a rather surprising move, the Flying Saucer has decided to get rid of the plaid Catholic school girl skirts that the waitresses wear. Senior management at the corporate office in Texas decided that the school girl look has run its course. Beer Goddesses will be given corporate-issued black/colored skirts, designed with input from some of the girls. I’ve been told the change will take effect late spring/summer.

Wow. The skirts are secondary only to the beer as part of the Saucer’s corporate image. I hope they know what they’re doing. It’s like KFC deciding Colonel Sanders needs an updated look, and portraying him clean-shaven rather than with a mustache and goatee.

I hope everyone is enjoying this first day of April. I have more news, so there will be a second lunchtime post. I just figured this item was newsworthy enough to stand as a post of its own.

This afternoon’s blog post features a couple of news items that will make Downtown foodie the Nuh-Uh Girl very happy. Perhaps they will make you happy too.

The food fight blog has reported that vendors at farmer’s markets have been given the OK to offer samples to visitors. Makes sense. After all, the farmers sell based on taste. Food may look delicious, but why not let them prove it?

Furthermore, chefs can give demos at farmer’s markets. The markets will not have to pull permits, and can have as many chef’s demos as they want. Since demos usually conclude with audience sampling, the Nuh-Uh Girl and other visitors will have plenty to eat this year.

Meanwhile, the Redbirds have announced they will have an all-you-can-eat buffet for $25 (includes admission to the game) for Thursday night home games. Buffet will be in the left-field area and will include King Cotton hot dogs, AutoZone Park nachos, potato chips, watermelon, Turner Dairy ice cream cups and Coca-Cola soft drinks. Fans who purchase the buffet will get a wristband and will have two hours to go back for all they want. Two hours? I hope the ballpark’s accountants have red ink pens, as they will need them to record Nuh-Uh visits in the ledger.

More news to report. Time for a beer though. Maybe another post when I get home.

This is the 10-week point prize not for the whole league, which encompasses Silly Goose, Bar None, and Bayou as well, but just the 10-week prize for the top point total at Bardog Tavern.

A 42″ TV (no I didn’t win. Congrats Jeremy). The league prize is even bigger. If you think you’re good at poker, you need to get your ass to one of these locations and start earning points and prizes.

• Silly Goose Mondays 10 PM
• Bardog Wednesdays 7:30 PM
• Bar None Thursdays 8 PM
• Bayou Bar & Grill Sundays 8 PM

Follow “Gut Shot” on Facebook (icon is a bunch of poker chips) for more details on Jon’s league.

So… I promised you that I’d check out a happy hour tonight. It was as awesome as I’d heard and then some. And completely undiscovered – my friends and I were the only ones there for most of the night. I’ll post details tomorrow in my lunchtime post. I usually take lunch around 1, but I don’t have a set time, so it could go up as early as 11.