Paul Ryburn's Journal

Yesterday I started the day at the Southern Hot Wing Festival, then rode a very slow trolley north to Memphis Brewfest at AutoZone Park. Here are a few highlights of the day:

I’ll post a more detailed recap of yesterday later… right now I have to get ready for Rajun Cajun Crawfish Fest on the river. Weather is much better than yesterday, so come on down!

I love it when I don’t have to travel far to go to a party. Last night, after a little pre-game beer at the Saucer, the gang gathered in the lobby of Number 10 to celebrate our friend (and my neighbor) Moody’s birthday.

 

Full album (110 pics) here. Time to shower and get dressed for Hot Wing Fest. The camera is on the charger and there will be more pics.

The Grizzlies have announced watch parties for the first two playoff games. They will set up screens outside on the FedExForum plaza and inside the Forum’s lobby, and the Jack Daniels Old No. 7 bar will be open for game viewing as well. Sunday’s party starts at 11 AM for the first game, and the second game’s watch party begins Wednesday at 6:30. More info here. (Hey, there’s Gary!)

If hockey is more your thing than basketball, there’s a watch party for that as well. Tonight Kooky Canuck will show the playoffs on their new HDTVs, with Rangers vs. Capitals at 6:30 and Blackhawks vs. Canucks at 9.

The Metal Museum is hosting Spring Arts on the Bluff Sunday. Performance by Hattiloo Theatre at 2 and the Stax Philharmonic at 3. There will be hands-on demos, blacksmiths working in the smithy, hot dogs from Cafe Eclectic and ice cream from Ms. Sally Anne’s. Blankets and lawn chairs are welcome.

Whew… fun night last night catching up with friends I hadn’t seen at a while. Saucer, then Kooky Canuck, then Raiford’s… it just doesn’t get much better than that. Tonight will probably be a quiet night. May get a few beers at the Saucer early in the evening, but I otherwise see myself sticking close to home. Ready for a long weekend of hot wing fest, brewfest, and crawfish fest!

Here’s a pic of DJ Keshia Raiford tearing it up on the dance floor of Paula & Raiford’s Disco. Damn she was taught by the finest, and it shows.

Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling, the second-largest pro wrestling company in North America, has announced a big event coming to Memphis. On Saturday night, June 11, TNA Will present “Basebrawl” at AutoZone Park.

Stars announced for the show include TNA World Champion Sting, Olympic gold medalist Kurt Angle, Matt Hardy, “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner, “The King of the Mountain” Jeff Jarrett, and Matt Morgan. It’s very unusual for Sting to work a date other than TV and pay-per-view, which is a sign that TNA is treating this as a big deal.

Although he hasn’t been announced, management at The Pony should be aware that “Nature Boy” Ric Flair works for TNA, so get ready to roll out the red carpet for him later that evening.

After the wrestling ends, there will be a fireworks show. Tickets will be on sale at 10 AM tomorrow at the box office and on the Memphis Redbirds website. In addition to regular tickets, there will also be a $50 VIP ticket for sale that includes a meet-and-greet with the TNA stars at 5:30 that afternoon.

More details about the event can be found here.

The Grizzlies lost to the Clippers last night, finishing 8th in the Western Conference. As a result, we will meet the San Antonio Spurs in the first round of the playoffs. Here are game times, locations, and TV (if known at this time). All times are Central Daylight Time.

Game 1: Sun 4/17, noon in San Antonio (TNT)
Game 2: Wed 4/20, 7:30 PM in San Antonio (NBATV)
Game 3: Sat 4/23. 6:30 PM in Memphis (ESPN)
Game 4: Mon 4/25, time TBD in Memphis
Game 5 (if needed): Wed 4/27, time TBD in San Antonio
Game 6 (if needed): Fri 4/29, time TBD in Memphis
Game 7 (if needed): Sun 5/1, time TBD in San Antonio

Blast! Game 1 is during Rajun Cajun Crawfish Fest, which I’m absolutely not missing. Guess I’ll have to rely on my iPhone for score updates. If the Grizz announce watch parties for the first two games, I’ll try to post details.

There will be a Grizzlies pep rally tomorrow in Court Square from 11:45 AM to 1 PM. Grizzlies Claw Crew and the Grizz Girls dancers will be there, and you can challenge Grizz to a round of Twister.

Go Grizzlies!

The Peabody just posted its menu for the first rooftop party tonight. For those who have never been, your $15 cover (usually it’s $10, higher tonight because of Ingram Hill) not only includes your first drink, but a food buffet that changes from week to week.

Tonight they’re doing an Italian theme, with meatballs, penne pasta, and pizza rolls on the buffet, with Stella Artois as the featured beer.

If you’re in the VIP section (buy a season pass for $75 to get this), they’ll have bruschetta, antipasto, and fried ravioli.

This afternoon I confirmed a rumor that I’ve been hearing for weeks. If you plan to go to the Thursday night Peabody rooftop parties and were wondering where to party afterward this season, you have a new option, and it’s a good one.

Paula & Raiford’s Disco will be open. They plan to open at 9 PM on Thursdays and stay open until around 1 AM or so. Ladies will get in free until 11, and will pay $5 cover thereafter; men will pay $7 cover.

Raiford’s is a short walk from the Peabody. Just walk a block and a half north on Second Street, and the club will be on the right next to Elliott’s.

Should be a fun after-rooftop option. More upbeat than just sitting at a bar, but not the frenzy of Club Shadows where the Nuh-Uh Girl and her cougar dance party go on weekends. I’ll miss the first rooftop party tomorrow night due to friends in town, but I’ll probably make it to the next one… and possibly Raiford’s afterward.

A South Main Precinct police officer has been named MPD Officer of the Year. Officer Brian Falatko has been recognized for his intuition thwarting crime and finding suspects. Congratulations to Officer Falatko!

Slow news day, but that’s because I pretty much exhausted my supply of news last night when I made three posts. I bought one of the Texas de Brazil VIP cards I blogged about last night. All last year I ate brunch for cheap (well, cheap compared to their regular prices anyway) on friends’ cards, so I decided it was time to buy one myself and give back.

Change of plans for me tonight… I’d planned to go to Bardog for Wednesday night poker, but I have work to do instead. Last weeked I upgraded my web hosting account to PHP5, accidentally breaking all 110 of my Amazon affiliate websites. Fixing them isn’t hard – just gotta put a couple of lines in a php5.ini file and FTP it over – but I have to do it 110 times. Fixed about 40 sites last night. Need to get the other 70 done tonight. I see no reason why I can’t fix the sites while drinking beer, so I’ll probably grab the netbook and hit the Saucer after work.

I will try to make it to the Grizzlies watch party at Bardog at 9:30. Go Grizz, although if it will help us avoid the Lakers I’m not so sure I’d mind a loss tonight.

A lot of Downtowners have been waiting for this… Texas de Brazil VIP cards are on sale again. You pay $59.99 for a punch card that can be used for up to 12 dinners at 50% off. If you use even 3 punches, you’ll make a profit on the card, and the $59.99 goes to the Children’s Cancer Fund.

There are various restrictions on the card, so be sure to read all the fine print before purchasing. The biggest restriction is that the card can’t be used Friday or Saturday nights or on major dining-out holidays. However, my group of friends has found these restrictions quite easy to work with: We go to Sunday brunch with the cards. Delicious meats, breakfast items like au gratin potatoes and bacon on the salad bar, and of course we add on the $3 unlimited mimosa. Getting a meal at TdB including mimosas, tax and tip for around $30 is quite the bargain.

Punches on the card must be used by September 29. One punch or many can be used at one table, but you can’t use multiple cards per table, so don’t get a group larger than 12 together when you go eat.

Attn gang (you know who you are): Do we want to get a bunch of these again? I’m certainly willing to pay for a card.