Paul Ryburn's Journal

If you’re looking for a snack that won’t set you back an arm and a leg, check out the blue cheese stuffed olives at the Silly Goose. Not a full meal by any means, but a bargain at only $4.

Here’s a bonus pic of Brick, who was obviously hard at work tonight.

Elbert Hubbard, a criminal I described in a post Friday who has been seen Downtown in the past few days, has been arrested on charges of criminal trespass and assault. He was booked into the Shelby County Jail at 4:35 PM.

Keep in mind that he may have the opportunity to bail out, and it’s not guaranteed that the arrest will lead to the D.A. pressing charges. But for now, we’re safe from him.

Will post a mug shot when it becomes available.

The Memphis Tigers have a home game against the Miami Hurricanes tonight at 11 PM. The reason for the late start time is that the game will be nationally televised, as part of ESPN’s 24 hours of hoops. If you’re attending the game, Coach P is asking that everyone wear blue for a “blue-out” as we appear on national TV. Go Tigers!

Weird thing happened yesterday at the Saucer. I was leaning against the door that connects the inner and outer rooms, just watching all my friends in their funny hats, when this guy I didn’t know came up and snapped a pic of me with his camera phone. Um, okay.

About 30 minutes later, I went to the restroom, did my business, and moved to the sink to wash my hands. Someone came in and went to the first urinal, the one nearest the sink. As I was washing my hands I saw the same camera phone appear from behind the wall separating the sink and urinal, and it snapped another pic of me.

“What the f…?” I said. “You don’t go around snapping pics of people in bathrooms.” The guy pretended not to know what I was talking about. A few minutes later I pulled one of his buddies aside and told him that if I saw the guy snapping any more pics, I’d have him thrown out. He and his friends left not long after that.

So if I appear on some blog or website today, that’s what was going on and the person posting the pics is a weirdo. He seemed to want to get pics of me when I was not standing around anyone else. Whatever. The things you have to deal with when you write a popular blog.

Anyway, on to my pics. Every year on the second Sunday in November, we gather at the window of the Saucer for Funny Hat Day. This was started about five years ago, when COGIC held their convention here the second week of November. The ladies of COGIC were known for their elaborate hats, so we put our hats on too. COGIC has moved to St. Louis now (have you noticed how happy the servers have been this week?), but Funny Hat Day lives on.

Ah, Monday, as unpleasant as it is to see you, it’s the start of a not-so-bad week for me. I have a three-day weekend coming up, the Snuggie Pub Crawl, and a trivia team party. It’s also Downtown Dining Week. This week won’t be so bad. Off to work.

Today marks the beginning of Downtown Dining Week, which continues through Sunday, November 21. Nineteen restaurants will offer a 3-course meal for $20.10, and another five will offer two meals for $20.10. This is an opportunity to dine outside the box, to try restaurants you don’t normally frequent. Click the logo above or the link to go to DDW’s website. Once there, click any restaurant logo to see what’s being offered.

Restaurants tend to be quite busy, so it’s for the ones that will be in the highest demand (Felicia’s, Chez Phillippe, Inn at Hunt Phelan) it’s a very good idea to call ahead and get reservations as far in advance as possible.

Happy dining!

Last weekend, I was in Savannah for a social media conference. Thursday night, we had an after-party at the Distillery, a beer bar similar to the Flying Saucer. I mingled with my fellow conference attendees on the outdoor patio.

Most of the attendees were from Georgia or South Carolina. I was telling them about my blog and how there’s a lot to do in Downtown Memphis. “… and I can walk to Grizzlies games at the FedExForum a few blocks from my apartment.”

“Grizzlies?” someone asked. “Who are they?”

“They’re our pro basketball team,” I replied.

“Memphis has a pro basketball team?” he said. “I’ve never heard of them.”

“We’ve had them for 10 years,” I explained. “They’re an NBA team.”

“Really? You mean like the developmental league?”

“No,” I said. “They’re a major league NBA team.”

He looked at me like he didn’t believe me.

“You’ve heard of Pau Gasol who plays for the Lakers? He played for us for six seasons before we traded him. His brother Marc plays for us now. Marc is becoming one of the best centers in the NBA.”

“Okay…” he said, and we moved on to other topics. But I still got the feeling he wasn’t completely sure I wasn’t just making the whole thing up.

Wow. Maybe the guy wasn’t a basketball fan. Or maybe he’s seen Hasheem Thabeet play and just assumed we were a developmental league team.

Dan Wolken just posted it to the CA website. View article here.

Best of luck to Jelan, and I hope he works his way through whatever issues he’s facing. It would be a shame to throw away a career that could potentially lead to the NBA.

Heading out for shirt shopping and lunch.

A conversation I just had on Twitter made me realize who I’m cheering for in the Tennessee-Ole Miss football game.

I hate the Rebels. Their fans are the most obnoxious in college football. They dress like idiots for their games. You can put white trash in a tie or a sundress, but it’s still white trash.

I hate the Vols too. It’s more because their basketball coach Bruce Pearl is a huge douche, but their fans are almost as obnoxious as Ole Miss, and I hate being told I “should” support UT because I live in the same state as a school that is more than 300 miles away.

So, who to root for?

Simple. I’m rooting for whatever result is more likely to ensure that neither of these teams will finish 8th in the SEC, and get invited to the Liberty Bowl. I don’t want Vol or Rebel fans crapping up Memphis during New Year’s weekend. Stay away!

Here’s the link to the video. You have to watch a 30-second commercial before the live video begins. As of right now (12:13) it looks like they’re at lunch, so it may not be real exciting for the next few minutes. I believe the afternoon sessions start at 1.

For those wondering why Jelan Kendrick didn’t play for the Tigers last night, Dan Wolken has updated information in his blog. It’s a sad situation. The guy is clearly talented, but as Wolken notes, no one member of a team can be allowed to command so much time, effort and energy as to distract everyone else.

Best of luck to Jelan. We would really like to see him in a Tiger uniform this season, and in an NBA uniform in a season in the future.