Paul Ryburn's Journal

Last week at my birthday/plate party, myself, my guests and the Saucer girls enjoyed 11 cupcakes from Muddy’s Bake Shop. One of my favorite bartenders, Brittney, asked me if I’d ever had anything from Gigi’s Cupcakes. “I think they’re even better than Muddy’s,” she told me. “I’ll bring you one as a late birthday present.” So last night Brittney showed up with a cupcake. Look at this thing!

It’s more icing than it is cupcake! Which is fine with me. It was hard to eat, being so tall, but quite good. You can visit their website to see what Gigi’s has to offer.

As I was walking past Downtown Huey’s last night, I noticed that more has changed than just a fresh paint job and coat of varnish:

I notice that their bar and kitchen hours have been cut back an hour Sunday-Thursday. Just something to keep in mind if you get food from Huey’s on the way home – get there earlier or you’ll be stuck going to the Restaurant of Last Resort (Denny’s).

This has been all over Facebook in the past 24 hours, but in case you missed it: Sarah Palin says that we must stand with our North Korean allies. Good God, this woman is an idiot.

It’s shaping up to be a full Thanksgiving Day for me. Early this afternoon the owners of my apartment building are hosting a Thanksgiving potluck. They’re providing the turkey and ham, and residents who are coming are bringing other items depending on the first letter of their last name. My last name’s assignment included “beverages,” which is perfect since I don’t cook. Should be a good Thanksgiving dinner with my neighbors. Free turkey and ham? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

As I previously said, I’ll be at the front door of the Flying Saucer at 4:59 PM waiting for them to unlock it. Several beers there, then, weather permitting, I’ll head south, where I’ve been invited to a private, invitation-only potluck dinner. In previous years I haven’t attended this, saying it cuts into my Saucer time, but I’ve been told, “Pauly, PLEASE come. People want to see you there.” It’s nice to be wanted. That’s a hard invitation to turn down.

Later in the evening I’ll walk over to the annual Thanksgiving party at Earnestine & Hazel’s. It benefits CASA of Memphis. This is usually one of the best parties of the fall season. $5 donation at the door.

If you want to get out at 5 but want an alternative to the Saucer, Bardog Tavern also opens at 5 and will stay open until 3 AM. If you didn’t get Thanksgiving dinner at home, they’ll have turkey and ham with sweet potatoes, cranberries and stuffing. Be forewarned that the current mayor of Bardog on Foursquare may come over, look at your food, and go, “…can I have a biiiiite?”

Winter weather advisory for Memphis tonight. Whaaaaa? It’s 72 as I type this. Attn Mother Nature: Snow and ice should fall between the hours of 8 PM on Sunday and 10 AM on Friday. Never on holiday weekends, except Christmas because every kid should get to experience a white Christmas. Amount of snow and ice should be enough to close area businesses (including where I work), but not enough that the bars close. Please keep this in mind. Thanks.

Outta here for now. Time to get ready to eat some turkey. Hope to see you at the party at E&H tonight. It will be a good one!

Sorry I haven’t been blogging much this week. The past 7 days have been filled with drama and I just want to forget about it all and eat some turkey.

First there was the can of worms I opened when people e-mailed me complaining about Downtown Dining Week hours at some restaurants, which thankfully has been smoothed over somewhat. Then there was the uninvited guest at my birthday/plate party, which I’m still pretty livid about.

Sunday I caught one of our regular professional panhandlers, who we’ve nicknamed New Sharp Dressed Bum, out doing his thing. He’s one of the few we’ve never been able to identify by name, and as a result he has mostly flown under the radar. Since panhandling is now illegal Downtown except in designated areas, I called the Downtown safety patrol when I saw NSDB approach people. The good news is, they caught him, I ID’d him, and we got his name, which has been turned over to CCC safety director Larry Bloom and to Col. Shemwell of the Downtown Precinct. The bad news is that New Sharp Dressed Bum threatened me, and I have reason to believe he’s capable of carrying out his threats, so I really have to watch my back when I walk around now.

Tuesday morning I had “XP Anitspyware 2011” pop up on my work computer and tell me I had viruses. I knew immediately that “XP Antispyware 2011” was NOT my friend – it’s malware that runs a fake virus scan to trick you into buying the “full version,” which installs even more malware. Any program with a similar name and a logo with the Windows colors on a shield is malware too. It has many names. So, thank goodness it did not do serious damage because I caught it in time, but I had to get with our IT people and figure out what registry keys and files to delete to get that sucker out of there. That wasted my entire morning and was why there was no Tuesday lunchtime post.

And then during the day Tuesday, I heard details of heated arguments that took place at a Monday night election meeting of a neighborhood organization I belong to. Since I don’t technically live in the neighborhood boundaries, I’ll refrain from publicly taking sides. However, I do want to throw out a word of caution – I see this organization heading down a slippery slope if they stay on the course they set Monday. I’m afraid they will experience in 2011 the dissension and strife that another organization, the DNA, experienced during the tumultuous “Tommy V years” of 2007-08. I hope they can pull it together. It’s a great association and a great neighborhood.

So anyway, drama, drama, drama, sick of all the drama. I’m back now, though, and I’ll try to resume my regular blogging pattern.

Shelton Clothiers and Christine by Shelton Clothiers are having two Thursday night open houses in December, on the 2nd and 16th. In addition to 20% off purchases at both stores, there will be food, wine, giveaways, and sampler treatments from Mona Spa. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

I found another good Twitter account to follow if you’re job hunting – @JobsMemphis. This morning they tweeted that UPS is hiring part-time package handlers and delivery people, if you’re looking to pick up some extra Christmas cash.

Today’s Whining & Dining blog is full of useful information. It has a few paragraphs about Jason Dallas, the new chef at Chez Philippe. I’m sure the Nuh-Uh Girl will be quick to make his acquaintance and let him know she’s available if he ever needs someone to try samples. The restaurant has also announced that it will have a tapas menu in its lower tier and the Peabody lobby bar from 9 PM-midnight Friday and Saturday.

The Whining and Dining blog also has a list of restaurants that will be open for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Kooky Canuck is having a Turkey Tip-Off today. 99 cent Bud Light draft all day; turkey dinner $5.99 for lunch and $8.99 for dinner. Includes fresh roasted turkey, garlic roasted mashed potatoes, green beans, roll, and cranberry sauce. Hmmm that may be an option after I get off work – this post is running so long that I may not have time to go out for lunch. Not that I want to face holiday eve traffic on Goodman Road much anyway.

On Foursquare? Did you get felt up by the TSA while you were traveling? There’s a badge for that.

I got my Conquistador badger on Beerby yesterday for completing 25 Mexican beers. I think it kinda sucks that I have to drink 10 of the Amber version of Dos Equis to get the “Stay Thirsty, My Friend” badger; I much prefer the Lager. With extra limes.

I will remain in town for Thanksgiving weekend. Tomorrow is the start of one of our three big yearly national tournaments at work. You may remember that I got to travel to the last one, in New Orleans. I’m not going to this one (in Orlando), but I have to be where I can get to a computer quickly to assist our tournament directors in case they have trouble uploading results. The Spring 2012 tournament, by the way, will be in Downtown Memphis.

Not that I mind being “stuck” in Memphis much, because Thanksgiving weekend is a big party weekend. Tonight is “Turkey of the Year” glass at the Flying Saucer. Every year they select a newsmaker and designate that person or organization as the year’s biggest “turkey” and put them on a glass. I won’t give away the surprise, but I will say that this year’s turkey killed thousands of its fellow birds through negligent practices somewhere south of here.

Speaking of the Saucer, they open at 5 PM tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Needless to say, I will be at the door with my nose pressed against the glass at 4:59.

They’ve told us the office closes at 3, so I’ll see you early for Happy Hour!

Sunday I returned to Majestic Grille for brunch. This time I had a grilled artichoke flatbread, with leaf spinach, garlic olive oil, feta and mozzarella. More than I could finish and a bargain at $9. I shared some with our inspirational leader/father figure and we both agreed it was quite tasty. Since it was meatless I supplemented it with a side of bacon.

I saw a couple of tweets this weekend asking where to get Cheer, the seasonal beer from Shiner. Max’s Sports Bar, formerly Calhoun’s, on G.E. Patterson has it.

Oh, and F Cal.

(Updated: Right after I hit Publish I remembered that the Saucer has it too. I had one there yesterday. Speaking of which, it’s time for Pint Nite!)

… in this Memphis Daily News article.

It’s going to be in the Old Daisy, and it will operate as a retro dance club beginning on November 26 until they convert the building to be an interpretive center of the history of the street.

Um, interesting idea, wonder if it will work.

As I was walking to South Main on Saturday, I saw this truck parked on Beale near the Elvis statue:

According to the ad on the truck, a new dance club called Purple Haze, a retro dance club, will open this Friday at 329 Beale. It will be open Friday-Saturday from 9 PM to 5 AM, with ultimate lights & sound and VIP rooms. Anyone got more details on this club? This is the first I’ve heard of it. Shoot me an e-mail at paul@paulryburn.com if you have more info.

I’m not entirely sure I have the number right, so 19 plus or minus 1. Maybe. Last night was the quarterly gathering of our trivia team, the Rapscallions, to spend the gift certificates we had won over the past three months. We didn’t have an enormous $600+ tab as we’ve had the past couple of parties. This time it was a more reasonable $443.

Usually most of the team members drink $3 Fire Sales or their favorite beers in the $4-$7 range to make the tab last as long as possible, but last night I offered an alternate suggestion. “You know what?” I said, “Let’s go big. Let’s order expensive beers and see how fast we can run this tab out. We’ve earned it. We deserve to treat ourselves.” The team happily took that suggestion to heart, and beers in the double-digit price range flowed freely.

My beers for my plate were Dogfish Head Punkin Ale, Dogfish Head Raison d’Etre, and Stone Ruination IPA. Otto gave me a sample of a black IPA made by Stone which was really delicious. Going to have to try that one soon. Even though it’s only two days after my last plate party, I’m already 35 beers into my 5th plate. 165 more and I’ll get my Master of the Universe card and someone will have another plate party to barge into uninvited.

Next party will probably be in late February/early March. Go team!

Arkansas Razorbacks tube top. Click this link or the pic above to buy.

Big victory by the Hogs last night in overtime vs. Mississippi State. It was our 19th (I think) Rapscallion trivia team party where we cashed in our gift certificates for the past three months, and we watched the game on the big screen. We called the Hogs twice during the party. Pics coming soon.

I just came across this info on TJ Mulligan’s Pinch website. During football games Saturday, Sunday and Monday there are drink specials including $1.75 domestic bottles and dollar PBR drafts. Wanted to pass this info along, as this is the kind of information for which people turn to this blog. With cheap beer, sports on TV and people to talk to at the bar, Mulligan’s is starting to sound like a winner.

Got a lead on another bar with dollar draft too. Going to investigate that in a few minutes.

Here are a few pics that were snapped last night at the Snuggie Pub Crawl. Thanks to Joe for e-mailing me the pics.

That’ll do it for now… got a plan in place for this afternoon, which I can’t post because certain annoying people check this blog to find out where I am and then show up uninvited. Those who have my number can text me and I’ll tell you where I am.