Paul Ryburn's Journal

A new concert has been announced at the FedExForum – Foo Fighters, Motorhead and Biffy Clyro will play May 20. Tickets go on sale to the public this Saturday at 10 PM.

A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about a new fitness center coming to South Main – Klein Fitness, near Main and Vance. Today’s Groupon is for Klein – $45 for a month of unlimited group classes and one 30-minute personal training session. It’s up to a $125 value.

Couple of specialty gyros are on the menu at Elliott’s on Second this week. They have the “Red Sea G,” a gyro made with hot habanero curry sauce and hummus. “If you like mouth explosions, you’ll enjoy the Red Sea G,” owner Harry posted. For those who want to enjoy hummus on a gyro without feeling like a volcano is erupting in your mouth, try the “Lamb Hum.” Both will be available the rest of this week.

The food truck ordinance goes before the full city council today at 3:30. It’s not perfect – trucks can’t operate past 10 PM and can only stay in one place for two hours – but it’s a start. Hope it passes. The Memphis Daily News has more on the food truck ordinance.

The Majestic Grille has St. Pat’s specials all week: Fish & Chips, Corned Beef on Rye, and Shepherd’s Pie. Chef Patrick, being Irish, knows a few things about cooking for St. Patty’s Day.

I got a notification on Facebook that the annual push-cart parade on Beale, scheduled for tonight, has been canceled. Not sure why. It’s something the local bars and restauants do the Tuesday of St. Patrick’s Day week.

Congrats to my BBQ Fest team The Ques Brothers, who received official confirmation from Memphis in May today that we are IN for 2011. I’m ready for a week of BBQ and debauchery!

I’ll be at the Saucer for trivia night at 7. The team is 3 for 3 since new trivia guy David took over. We’re getting another sizable stack of gift certificates together for the next team party! Right now, it’s time for lunch then a few hours of work on WordPress… have a good afternoon everyone!

I came in second at poker at the Silly Goose tonight. Unfortunately that did me no good whatsoever, as only first place gets the weekly prize! So I drank a bunch of PBR and did a shot someone bought for no return on investment at all.

Actually, that’s not entirely true. I earned 5 points toward Poker Jon’s league standings. Problem is, I’ve played so much drunk poker at the Goose and the other locations that it really won’t help.

At least I eliminated Brick (pictured here) tonight.

Damn Brick is photogenic.

I installed the WPtouch mobile theme for WordPress, to make it easier for people on mobile devices to view the blog. Posts will load faster, and there are options to e-mail, tweet, Facebook post, or bookmark blog posts. I hope iPhone, Android and Blackberry users like it. If you don’t, there’s an option to turn off the mobile theme – just scroll down to the bottom of the index page and you’ll see an on/off switch.

Bardog Tavern has a new mayor on Foursquare. Mikey, pictured here, checked in and became the mayor yesterday afternoon right before the St. Pat’s parade. You become “mayor” of a venue on Foursquare if you check in more times (only one per day counts) than anyone else over the past two months.

Mikey also has the mayorship of Max’s Sports Bar. He’s building a nice little portfolio of mayorships. I wonder if he’ll go in Bardog today and order a “MAYORAL beer” and hint around that it would be nice to get it for free, like the former mayor used to do. Wonder if he’ll hint around that he’s available if the chefs in the kitchen need someone to do a food sampling, because, “after all, I AM the mayor.”

Foursquare has changed up their points system and I like the way they do it. Usually, you get 1 point for a checkin. However, if you check in where one of your Foursquare friends is mayor, it gives you 2 points. If you check in with the mayor, you get 3 points. You also get 3 if you check in as the mayor of a venue (so I get 3 points every day at the Saucer).

There are other bonuses. When I checked in at Bardog Friday night, Foursquare informed me that I’d checked in with birthday girl Ruchee, and awarded me 3 points because I hadn’t seen her since we last checked in together at Kooky Canuck two months ago. Wow. Location-based social media is a stalker’s paradise. Yesterday I checked in and the app awarded me +3 for checking in with someone I hadn’t seen since Cooper-Young Fest.

Sunday Fun Day today. Several reasons to celebrate: Selection Sunday at 5 PM, sun doesn’t set until 7 PM, and if driving weather in Tennessee/North Carolina is good, the return of Air Traffic Mike. Going to do a please-let-the-Fire-Sale-be-good dance, then head out for the first beer of the day.

LET’S DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Huge win for the TIGERS!

When a “local” business unexpectedly goes above and beyond, I’ve got to call them out on it.

Last night was the “Blackout” pub crawl celebrating the birthdays of Ruchee and the Nuh-Uh Girl (pictured here). Everyone wore black (well, except the people who forgot or weren’t told about the theme).

The second stop was Local Gastropub. The Nuh-Uh Girl had told us she’d set up some “AWESOME drink specials” including $3 beer. Knowing the Nuh-Uh Girl’s tendency to exaggerate, I expected to be paying $3 for a Bud Light.

I was pleasantly surprised, though. The $3 special included delicious local Ghost River beers. Now we’re talking! I got out my money and got ready to enjoy a Ghost River Glacial Pale Ale.

Bad luck struck, though. Right as the customer ahead of me was being served, the CO₂ tank blew. All the beer lines were down. The bartender thought for a minute and said, “Well, I tell you what, I’ll give you a bottle for $3.” She listed my options and I went with a Red Stripe with a lime. Red Stripe for $3? Not bad at all.

Gotta give them kudos for overdelivering. They did indeed have an “awesome” beer special for the party, and then they made the best of a bad situation to make sure their customers left satisfied. Very pleased to see it. When the place first opened a year ago, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the service, but based on my experience last night it appears the problems have been corrected.

Also gotta give them props for what they did this morning. I’ve complained that they pander to UT fans too much, but this morning they opened at 10 for Tigers fans to watch the game. Good job on that.

They have crawfish boils every Sunday in March at 5 PM. I need to stop by for one of those.

I need to find out who won “Blackout Bingo” that was played last night at the pub crawl. People got squares for accomplishing certain tasks, like tweeting a photo of them taking a bar’s specialty shot, or tweeting a pic of a prominent feature of a bar, like the stripper pole at Raiford’s. My bingo card accidentally got misplaced in the garbage can at Bardog (not sure how that happened) so I didn’t win any prizes.

On to today… St. Patrick’s Day parade on Beale Street at 4. I’ll probably pre-game at the Saucer for an hour then head down there a little after 3. I’m bringing the camera and plan on wandering around a lot and taking pictures. First St. Pat’s parade in years that it’s been warm enough to wear a T-shirt and shorts. Should be a fun Saturday. Let’s get this party started!

MPACT Memphis’ Soul of the City Gala is tonight at Minglewood Hall. One of the best young professionals’ networking parties of the year, with music by Party Planet, complimentary wine and beer, heavy hors d’oeuvres, old school party pics and free parking. They’ll celebrate the winners of their “MPACT Maker” Awards, and they’ll also have a “wine pull” – pay $20 and pull a bottle of wine to take home. All the wines are worth at least $20, but some are worth as much as $100. Online ticket sales have closed, but you can purchase tickets at the door. Party starts at 7 PM.

Good news for people living in East Memphis: Gus’s is coming to the Poplar/Mendenhall area. Looking for a recommendation what to try once the restaurant opens? I suggest the chicken.

I’ve heard from someone who works there that the bar at Blue Fin is expanding and will open next week. I’ll try to stop in and snap some pics once it’s ready.

This weekend is your last chance to see the Mel Brooks comedy Young Frankenstein at the Orpheum. They say the show will not disappoint if you love the movie or comedies like Blazing Saddles and Spaceballs. Details here.

Good CA article on Watoto de Afrika, the children’s dance studio on the Main Street Mall.

Tigers play ECU at 5:30, winner to advance to the C-USA championship game.

I’m attending a birthday pub crawl tonight, so I’ll have to miss the Soul of the City Gala. Five bars (at least) on the itinerary tonight. And then tomorrow is the St. Pat’s parade on Beale (4 PM), and Sunday is Selection Sunday! Shaping up to be a fun weekend.

I want to extend condolences to the family and friends of Rock 103 DJ John “Bad Dog” McCormack, who lost his battle with leukemia today. Even as he fought cancer, he still continued to give back to the community, raising millions for local charities. Memphis lost one of the good guys today.

Looking for a spot to watch the Tigers at 2:30? Bardog, Majestic Grille, and Max’s Sports Bar have all announced they will have the game. Majestic will start its happy hour at tip-off.

Yesterday the Peabody announced the lineup for the first two months of its Thursday night rooftop party season, which will begin April 14. Here are the bands:

April 14: Ingram Hill / special guest Finger Eleven
April 21: Dr. Zarr’s Amazing Funk Monster
April 28: The 17th Floor
May 5: Kevin & Bethany Paige
May 12: Andy Childs
May 19: Party Planet
May 26: The Venus Mission

The parties are from 6 to 11 PM, and admission is $10 ($15 on April 14) which includes one drink. Ladies get in free until 7:00. You can buy VIP passes at the door for $75; these get you into all 18 parties, plus free valet parking, 20% discount in the deli and logo shop, and 2-for-1 drinks at the Corner Bar. VIPs also get a private area on the rooftop with beer samplings and chef’s tastings.

If there’s anything you want to see at the parties, give them a shout on Twitter (@PeabodyMemphis) or on Facebook. The hotel has been very good about interacting with fans and guests on social media.

Speaking of the Peabody… there’s an After Hours networking event there tonight with the staff of the Memphis Business Journal. Space is limited to 150 people, so you’ll need to register in advance if you want to go. You can register here. There will be drink specials and complimentary appetizers. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up. She’ll be in the building to walk the ducks anyway.

Trolley Stop Market has announced that they are selling Whitton Farms-grown daffodils for $4 a bunch.

There will be an adult marching band in Court Square today, a March Madness band from Louisville, that I’ve heard is really good. They are supposed to be there sometime between 4 and 5 PM.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to watch the Tigers game (stupid work schedule). However, I do plan to be at Max’s Sports Bar this evening for the Arkansas game and for Thursday night Buzztime poker. Let’s Go Tigers and Woooooo Pig Sooooieeeeeee!!!