Paul Ryburn's Journal

One of the good things about social media is that I can share things I’ve learned from my years as a web developer. For example, last night about midnight, as I was midway through my second Stone beer at the Saucer, I tweeted the following:

“I disagree with web design experts who say content is king. Content isn’t king, Jerry Lawler is.”

See, if you don’t follow me on Twitter (@Paulryburn), you’re missing out on important nuggets of knowledge like that.

Speaking of which… if you’re a fan of the King, you might want to order the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view on Sunday, February 18. On a recent episode of Monday Night RAW, Lawler won a 7-man battle royal to become the number-one contender for the WWE title. He will main event the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, challenging The Miz for the championship.

I had a good time at MMHLA Trivia last night, where I played on team Kooky Canuck with several people I recognized from Wednesday night poker at Bardog. We finished in the top quarter, a strong showing but not good enough for a prize. There were actually two Kooky teams. Our table was “LLL” and the other table was “KKK.” Wow. Might be a good idea to omit certain table letters next year. Thanks to Shawn and Lana for inviting me to play on the team.

On the way home, I stopped at Rite-Aid in Midtown and picked up a 12-pack of PBR for our Super Bowl party. One thing I’ll say about Downtown – you pay for the convenience of walking to the store. I paid $7.99 for my 12-pack at Rite-Aid. Anyplace walkable from my apartment in the Downtown core, I bet that PBR would be at least $10, maybe more. I thought about buying 24-ounce PBRs from the cash & carry, but those big cans are such a novelty that they’re very moochable. Bringing run-of-the-mill, nondescript beer is usually a good idea at BYOB parties. (I don’t mean that as an insult to PBR, which I consider the Cadillac of domestic beers.)

The Tigers play Gonzaga at 3:00 on ESPN.  You know, I feel like watching this game at a sports bar, and by its own admission, the Saucer isn’t a sports bar, so I guess I’ll head south… plenty of time to stop by the Saucer later in the day.

Reminder to friends who don’t like karaoke – don’t let people drag you there tonight if you don’t want to go. JUST SAY NO. Karaoke is Satan’s way of proving to us via music that he does indeed exist. People who try to get you to go to karaoke are preaching the word of Satan.

Congratulations to the Grizzlies, who improved to 27-24 last night and moved into 8th place in the Western Conference. We are now officially a contender for the playoffs!

I guess I’ll hit Publish and go on my way for now. Coning soon: A new Majestic Grille poll that will lead to a discount later this month, and details about this month’s SMA meeting.

For those of you who just got home from Krystal’s drive-thru with a bag of Chili Cheese Pups, or who are heating up a Jose Ole Bean & Cheese Burrito as you read this, this is what you could have had.

The Shag is a fried peanut butter & banana sandwich topped with syrup, whipped cream, blueberries, and powdered sugar. You can get it at Cockadoos.

Enjoy your burrito.

Max’s Sports Bar will open at 2 PM tomorrow for the Tigers-Gonzaga game, which comes on TV at 3. They will be raffling off Southern Miss tickets and doing “keep the glass” deals, as well as giving away other prizes. They’ll have prize giveaways on Sunday during the Super Bowl as well.

The Folk Alliance kids’ concert that I posted about yesterday is Friday, February 18, not Saturday the 19th. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Tonight I’m going to be playing in the MMHA/Skal International 6th Annual Trivia Night at the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality & Resort Management at the U of M. A few weeks ago Shawn texted me and asked me to play on Kooky Canuck’s team, and of course I happily agreed. The theme is “Sports Night,” and it’s a good thing the questions will not be all sports-themed, or I’d be mostly useless. Geography, history and Presidential trivia are more my strengths. Looks like I may be driving out there in snow, which I’m not crazy about, but I believe in honoring commitments. Should be a fun time. Maybe I’ll bring the camera and get some pics for the blog.

Semi-finals of the International Blues Challenge are tonight on Beale Street. Check the Blues Foundation home page for a list of who made the semis and where they’ll be playing tonight. $15 wristband gets you in all the clubs; buy the bands on the street on Beale.

Kerry from the I Love Memphis Blog had a good post about the Talbot Heirs guest house. If you want to stay in the Downtown core, it just doesn’t get much more Core than Talbot Heirs, and the room size and amenities are surprising for the price. Check them out if you’re coming to Memphis. In particular, check out the 360-degree panoramas of their suites! Those things look huge, and I even see exercise equipment in some of them!

This morning Texas de Brazil tweeted that for a limited time, they’ll be offering seared tuna on their salad bar.

Lunch break… gonna pick up some PBR for Sunday’s Super Bowl party, then give Burger King’s new burger with the cheese and peppers cooked-in a try. Then it will be back to work for 3 more frustrating hours of Constant Contact stripping all the formatting out of my e-mails every time I save, then the weekend.

I stayed home tonight, watched TV, and took notes on a poker training site I subscribe to. I caught the tail end of a commercial from Hooters, saying something about every location giving away a 42″ TV on February 6. Now, Hooters is not my favorite restaurant Downtown, but some people like it, and I figured it was another Super Bowl option to tell my readers about, so I pulled up their web site in my Firefox browser on my MacBook. I saw this:

To see the content I’m supposed to be seeing, I have to install a plugin.

No. I don’t care that much. Don’t make me work to see your content.

Just for kicks, I tried pulling the page up on my iPhone. Guess what. It can’t view the content either.

Idiots. Why build a site that a substantial portion of your market can’t see?

In other news… I tried out that link that lets you see all of The Daily content without paying for it or owning an iPad. Wow. Glad I didn’t waste 99 cents a week plus the cost of an iPad on that. After reading a few of the articles, I closed The Daily and switched to the AP Mobile app on my iPhone, which I thought had much more interesting, better written news.

Guess I’ll make it an early night and go to bed… my brain needs to be sharp for tomorrow. I’ll tell you why in a future post.

The annual Polar Bear Plunge and Chili Cook-off to benefit the Special Olympics happens this Saturday, February 5 on Mud Island. Some local celebrities will be doing the plunge, and if you do it and raise $50 in pledges, you get a free plunge T-shirt and complimentary lunch. The chili cook-off features a People’s Choice judging event where you can pay $5 and sample all the teams’ chili. People’s Choice tasting will happen from 10:30 to 2, and Polar Bear Plunge at 2. Complete event schedule here.

The next Brooks Museum “Warm up to Wine” event will be Downtown, at Sole Restaurant, Thursday, February 17 at 6 PM. Mark Stuart of Buster’s Liquors will host, and attendees will get to experience six different “Monster Zins.” Complimentary valet parking. $25 for Brooks members, $30 non-members. Advance reservations are required; call 901-544-6209 or visit theartofgoodtaste.org/tickets.

The Folk Alliance will have their annual concert for kids Friday, February 18 at the Downtown Marriott in the Nashville Room. At 10 AM there will be an “instrument petting zoo” with over 200 different instruments assembled for kids to play with. At 11 there will be a folk artist’s showcase, as artists perform songs specifically written for children. Show is free and all ages are welcome.

What a busy night Downtown last night for the IBC… I walked into the Saucer at 6:15 and the Garden was PACKED, as blues bands came on stage for 20-minute sets. Later I walked around Beale and nearly every club was packed. Quarterfinals continue tonight, with a $10 wristband getting you in 17 Beale clubs, the Saucer and the Westin lobby. More info about the IBC at Blues.org.

Just learned how to read The Daily for free without an iPad, so I guess I have something to read while I eat lunch.

I may take the night off from the blues tonight… music was great but I need a night off from the big crowds. If I go out, I’m thinking about doing happy hour at the Silly Goose, then over to Bar None for Thursday night poker. Then again, I may just stay home. If I stay home there may well be another post this evening, so check back.

Lonely Planet is giving away 14 of its city guide iPhone apps for free through tomorrow, February 4. They’re doing it to help people stranded in the snowstorm, but it’s not like they’re going to check weather conditions in your area before you download. Memphis is not one of the free apps, but two of the cities, New Orleans and Chicago, are a day’s drive away. Details here.

During the Super Bowl, Spindini will have $3 Peroni draft and half price pizzas. All the TVs will be tuned to “The Big Game” with sound on.

I had a question from a reader, and I think the answer is no but wanted to pass it on. Is the Jersey Shore pub crawl happening this year? One of my readers remembers it from around this time last year and wants to know it if will happen again. If you have an answer shoot it to paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll pass it along.

International Blues Challenge tonight was packed… naturally I started at the Saucer, and was shocked to walk in at 6:15 to find a standing-room-only crowd in the Garden listening to some authentic blues. Bands changed every 20 minutes or so. They’ll be back tomorrow. $10 wristband gets you into the Saucer, 17 clubs on Beale, and the Westin lobby. The Westin lobby would be kind of a cool place to hear blues.

Just got home from Bardog. I didn’t get it but one of their specials is a fried oyster tortilla with pico de gallo, black beans (I’m assuming that’s what “b bean” means on the board), and a sriracha cream sauce. Sounds interesting.

Early night in for me, got home at 10:15. 50/50 on whether I’ll do IBC tomorrow. Music is great but the crowds and the cold are a killer. I’ll see how I feel about it after work.