Paul Ryburn's Journal

Potentially good news for Memphis this morning. One of the best airlines in the world, Southwest, which does not serve Memphis, is buying out one of the worst airlines in the world, AirTran, which does serve Memphis. This MBQ article suggests that Southwest will probably operate all the routes under one brand, and therefore it’s possible will finally get Southwest in Memphis. Too early to know for sure, though.

I hope they come… when I had my business trip to New Orleans back in July, I canceled my plane ticket and drove when I saw I’d be flying AirTran. Had it been Southwest I would have flown.

If you haven’t eaten yet and you’re trying to decide where, may I suggest Chili’s? 100% of profits today got to St. Jude.

The CCC is offering a $1000 cash prize to the non-commercial entity or group of individuals with the best entry in this year’s Memphis Holiday Parade. The parade will take place on Saturday, December 4 at 5 PM. “Entrants are encouraged to pull out all the stops,” the CCC wrote, “Costumes, face paint, blinking lights, and DIY floats or other creative modes of transportation – anything with high visual appeal. Unusual or themed entries are welcome.” Go to memphisholidayparade.com for more information.

The Flying Saucer is giving away its annual Beer Knurd calendar tonight to UFO members. Each month features a pic of a different Saucer location, with one of the location’s main regular posing with their favorite Saucer girls. I know who is featured from Memphis, and while I won’t give away the surprise, they’re two very nice people who I’m always happy to see when they’re in town. The Saucer says, “Come early, when they’re gone they’re gone,” but if I remember last year, they were pushing those calendars on anyone who would take them for a good month or so.

Then there’s the usual other Monday night stuff going on: Half price pizza and wine at Spindini, Texas Hold’em at the Silly Goose at 9 and 11:30, deals on wings and Bud Light at Kooky Canuck during Monday Night Football.

As usual, I’ll be at Pint Nite about 6.

Last week I blogged about Feed the Soul, the fundraiser celebrating MIFA that will happen Thursday night at The Warehouse on G.E. Patterson.  One of the organizers contacted me and asked if I wanted to be put on the list +1, and I’m not one to turn down a chance to party at The Warehouse, one of the most awesome venues in Memphis.  Since I have the +1 I guess I should try to find a date… if I have any stalkers out there, now would be a good time to reveal yourselves… female, cute, and hopefully not psycho is what I’m looking for.

Seriously, though, this should be one of the best parties of the fall season.  There will be soul food by Chow Time, an opportunity to get photos made on the paparazzi walk, Raiford in the DJ booth, music by the Ryan Peel Band and Earl Randle, raffle drawings, a bourbon tasting, a vodka luge, oxygen bars, and more.  If you want to buy a ticket you can do it here.  Should be a really fun evening – hope to see you there.

Ah… sleep, sleep, wonderful sleep.  Got a full 9 hours last night.  That hasn’t happened a lot the past few months, since my next door neighbors got two little barky dogs.  As early as 5 in the morning some days I start hearing ARF ARF ARF.  Nearly everyone on my floor (at least the people I’ve talked to) hate those dogs.  This morning, though, they were quiet.  Maybe the neighbors donated them to a high school football team to use for kicking practice.  Or stuck them in the microwave to see what would happen.  Who cares… at any rate, glad not to have heard them for once.

I took some pics of signs and flyers for upcoming events while I was out this weekend.  Sunday, October 10 looks like it’s going to be a big day.

The Flying Saucer will have an outdoor beerfest on the 10th, with some beers not normally on tap at the bar.  $20 for a beer sampling card.  Wow… with the Cooper-Young Beerfest the day before, that’s going to be a big weekend for beer drinking in Memphis.  Needless to say, I plan on doing both events.

Fun times will also be going on down the street at Kooky Canuck:

Kooky will have 99 cent Labatt Blue on the 10th to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving, and then Monday there will be food specials.  I know turkey for Thanksgiving is kind of an American thing… I wonder what Canadians eat?  Moose maybe?  I’ll have to ask Shawn next time I see him.

Reminds me… people have asked if I get along better with Meghan now that she no longer works Downtown.  I think three tweets I directed at her last night will answer that question:

“If you had lived in the Cretaceous Period, you’d have been a Doucheasaurus Rex”

“If your image were engraved in the side of a mountain, it would be Mount Douchemore”

“If you were a beer, you’d be Abita Turbo Douche”

That first tweet probably went totally over her head.  She probably read it and thought, “Cretaceous Period… what’s that, the 1800s?”

I watched the Arkansas-Alabama game at Max’s (formerly Calhoun’s) yesterday and had a really good time.  The place was loaded with Hog fans and the place exploded when Mallett completed a pass for a touchdown 50 seconds into the game.  Too bad the Hogs couldn’t hold on.  For the first 45 minutes they looked like a team that could hang with anyone in the country, and in the fourth quarter they just couldn’t handle the pressure.  Congrats to Bama on a good game.  As I’ve said before, I’ve always liked them.  Hopefully the Hogs can recover, not lose another game this season, and have a chance at getting to a BCS bowl.  I wonder how far we’ll drop in the rankings?  16 maybe?

There was still a silver lining for me concerning yesterday’s game… while it was on, people got on my College Logo Shopping site and bought stuff, so I made commission while sipping a PBR and watching TV.  Arkansas fans bought more stuff than Alabama fans (someone bought a $164.99 Razorback cooler), so at least the Hogs won that battle.

I saw on Twitter last night that Local Gastropub has added a TV with 100″ projection screen.  So if you like watching football on a really big screen, that would be a place to go.

The next part of this post requires me to fire up my painfully slow 2006 laptop to grab a pic… wow this thing is taking all of 7 minutes to boot. Glad I have a MacBook now.

Last night was a sad night at the Saucer, as one of my favorite bartenders ever worked her last shift there.

Jessie (on the right in the pic above, at our BBQ Fest ’09 booth with two of her best girlfriends) is one of the sweetest people ever.  She will most definitely be missed, although I can’t blame her for moving onward and upward.  Don’t be a stranger!

Hair color update… I now have it back to medium brown without any adverse effects from dyeing it black for the Elvis pub crawl.  Next week or the week after, I’ll dye it medium golden brown, which is only one shade darker than it was before, and let the sun fade it back to the old color.  Nikki will be happy that she has “her” hair back.  Susie will be happy too.

Getting ready for Sunday Fun Day, which I have a feeling will be extra fun this week.  May post again later, we’ll see.

This will be brief because I’m blogging from my iPhone. In my earlier post this morning I forgot to mention something else going on Downtown tonight… Muck Sticky at the New Daisy. Talented artist with an inspiring positive outlook on life. If you haven’t heard him before, search YouTube to see some of his videos.

Downtown Memphis just posted the following to Facebook:

Downtown Memphis Would you use a “Local” card that got Memphians discounts at Downtown parking garages, restaurants, clubs and shops? Give us a “like” if you would use it – if we get enough interest, we’ll try to make it work!

If that sounds good, please visit their page and “like” that post.

First day of vacation went okay last night… I started at happy hour at the Saucer, but a lot of people were starting to come in for a young lawyers’ event and I knew the place was going to get crowded.  I remembered it was poker night at Max’s (the former Calhoun’s) and decided to head south.  My winning streak didn’t continue this week… about an hour in, I lost on a hand that was rather interesting.  Poker is all about getting your opponents to make bad decisions.  This hand was a case where all three of us in the hand did the correct thing, and yet only one person can win.  In this case, it wasn’t me.  I analyzed the hand a few minutes ago on my poker blog.

It’s the last Friday of the month, which means it’s Trolley Night in South Main.  Most of the galleries and shops will open from 6 to 9 and invite shoppers in.  Many of the stores offer wine and hors d’oeuvres to their guests.  There are usually bands and street performers outside, and lots of folks come out to mingle with their neighbors.  When the weather is nice (as it should be tonight), the SMA grills out, offering free burgers, hot dogs and Ghost River beer to its members.  Free food?  Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.  Trolley Night is always a good time, and normally it’s on my agenda every month.

However, this time I have to make a decision, because there’s something good happening in the Downtown core as well.  It’s the third in the Alley Jams concert series, with Ryan Peel and the City Champs performing at Main and Peabody Place.  There will be food and drink vendors there as well… sales start at 4:30, music at 5.  More info about tonight’s show can be found here.

It’s also Disney on Ice at the FedExForum, and I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that’s high on my list of things to do.

I hope you realize I’m joking.

Anyway, I’ll try to hit both events, and happy hour at the Saucer, this evening.  In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy my second day on vacation.  My e-mail Inbox is really backed up… over 100 messages and I don’t know if I’ll get it cleared today.  If you send me anything, apologies in advance if I take a couple of days to respond.

I may go back to Lunchbox Eats today.  That burger sounded absolutely delicious.  It will be my last chance to get to try it for a while.

Looks like plans for an Arkansas-Alabama game watch party have fallen through.  Now I have to figure out where to watch it tomorrow.  Calhoun’s, er, Max’s, will likely be too crowded for my taste.  Wonder if the Saucer can be convinced to put the sound on for the game.

May post more today since I’m not on a schedule.

Ahhh… I’m going to enjoy this Thursday update, which is not being typed from the confines of a cubicle on a lunch break.  Let’s see what we’ve got…

Bon Ton Cafe is making a comeback.  Mac Edwards posted on Facebook this morning, announcing that it will be open again in early 2011, and everyone is invited to “like” the cafe on Facebook to stay up to date on its progress.  The breakfast/lunch restaurant on Monroe closed unexpectedly when the owner died two years ago.  Being only 50, he hadn’t bothered to create a plan for keeping the restaurant going.  Glad to hear it’s coming back, as that was one of my favorite meat-and-two lunch spots Downtown.

Another Downtown business is also on Facebook – Memphis Sounds Lounge, the blues lounge on Third Street sharing a building with A&R BBQ at Court.  You can “like” them and receive news about the place.  I’d tell you more, but when I try to pull up their page I get “An error occurred while processing your request” and a reference code.  Damn Facebook sucks.

Shelton Clothiers is having a birthday party for its Pink Pig line of apparel!  Wear your Pink Pig attire to the store between 5 and 9 PM Friday, October 1, and enjoy Squeal Street BBQ, wine, and Ghost River beer.  Free food?  Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.  No alligators, whales, or polo players allowed.  Don’t own any Pink Pig merchandise?  Buy a T-shirt that night for $10, a hat for $15, or receive $10 off any knit.  Ladies can wear their Pig apparel down the street at Christine by Shelton Clothiers for a 20% discount that evening.

A new vintage shop, Hoot + Louise, will have its grand opening at 109 G.E. Patterson tomorrow night during Trolley Night.  A friend of the owner sent me some info about it.  Here’s what she had to say:

Named for the owner’s grandmother, Hoot + Louise reflects the style and charm of Louise “Hoot” Williamson. “Hoot” is a one-of-a-kind woman, and her uniqueness serves as inspiration for the hand-selected items you’ll discover in this eclectic boutique. The feel at H+L is like granny’s living room, where old mingles with new and where everyone feels at home.

We encourage our customers to cozy up with a cup of tea and browse our carefully chosen vintage, new and handmade apparel, jewelry, accessories and gifts.

For years, Anna Avant has looted her grandmother’s home of its retro knick-knacks to add charm to her own Memphis home. A self-confessed shopaholic, Anna loves handmade apparel, unique jewelry and rare gifts. So when Anna left the corporate world to open a boutique, she hoped to bring to clients similar treasures to those shes taken from granny’s house. Except the buttermilk pie. Thats only for Anna.

I heard this afternoon that the mats the CCC ordered, which will mark zones Downtown where panhandling is permitted, have arrived and they will be out October 1.  I am about to meet my friend Mike King at the Saucer… he has received details on where these mats will be placed.

Working on the Best of Memphis commentary, but it’s not done yet… perhaps tomorrow or this weekend I’ll get it up.  Time for BEER!  I like it when I get to do the entire 3-hour happy hour at the Saucer.

Today I made the walk to Lunchbox Eats, the school lunch-themed restaurant that just opened at 288 S. Fourth just south of Linden.  I ran into two of my friends there, who happened to arrive just as I did, so we all sat together.  The entire menu looked good, but all three of us arrived at the same order… the 3rd Period Smoking Birds sandwich, pictured above.  It’s turkey, chicken and duck along with their veggie slaw, stacked on two slices of buttery 7 grain whole wheat bread.  It’s served with Tri-Bird Pan Liquor and your choice of BBQ sauce or green tomato relish.  The sandwich was out of this world.  I’m glad they brought extra napkins because this thing is as messy as any BBQ sandwich.  Which is not a bad thing – messy usually equals good when it comes to dining in Memphis.

They told me that their Graduation Burger is also popular, and reading the menu I can see why.  It’s a juicy cut of meatloaf, tunneled with pepper cheese, topped with mashed potatoes, tomato gravy and crispy tobacco onions on white bread.  That will be my next meal there, although since I work in Horn Lake, who knows when my next meal there will be.  It’s open Monday-Friday 10-3.

So, I came in third, tied for third actually, in the Best Blog category of the Memphis Flyer’s 2010 Best of Memphis poll.  I’ve had a few people ask I’m disappointed about it.  Maybe a little, but overall I think it’s a very, very good thing for Memphis.  In 2010, a vibrant, thriving city needs to have many good local blogs writing about it.  We haven’t always had that.  In 2008, when I won, I was happy I won, but I thought, “there really need to be others…”  Now we’ve got them.  Some are new.  Others have been around for a while, and are finally getting some much-deserved recognition.

As I mentioned yesterday, Kerry Crawford’s I Love Memphis Blog is a pleasure to read.  She truly does love the city and is the perfect person to be promoting it.  I have learned about many things going on around town from her blog.  And, if you meet her in person, she is sooooo nice.  She could not have deserved her first-place win more.

I didn’t discover the Eat Local Memphis blog until relatively recently, but I can see why people enjoy it.  I’ve already picked up a lunch recommendation from the blog – Lunchbox Eats, where I will probably go today or tomorrow.  Well written, laid out well, lots of photos of the food.  If you want to step beyond the Chili’s and the Applebee’s of the world, this blog will tell you where to get some delicious food prepared by people who are part of the fabric of the city.

On the other hand, I’ve been reading Dining with Monkeys for years.  I actually went to college with Stacey, and met her when I had a paper-typing service.  I’d type papers for $1 a page on my Macintosh SE with 9-inch black and white screen, and print them out on my Apple ImageWriter dot matrix printer.  If it was a really important paper, I’d put the paper on disk and go to the computer lab to print it out on the LaserWriter, with its stunning 300 dpi resolution.  Ah, those were the days.  But anyway, Stacey was a good writer even then.  I really enjoy her restaurant reviews, and even if you don’t have kids (or “monkeys” as she calls them), there’s a lot to be learned about Memphis restaurants from reading her blog.

It’s a very, very good thing that these blogs have gotten as popular as they are.  They dispel the myth that there’s nothing to do in Memphis.  People will read all there is to do (and eat) and get out more and start enjoying Memphis, and saying good things about it, creating a positive snowball effect.  People from out of town will read these blogs and want to visit, or even relocate here.  Disappointed that I didn’t win?  Like I said, a little, but overall, I am thrilled to be mentioned in the same breath as these bloggers, and thrilled that I’m one of the people spreading the good word about Memphis.

I will say that I’m proud of one thing I’ve done on this blog though – even though it got popular and became a source of information about Downtown Memphis, it never stopped being my personal blog.  I never stopped voicing my opinions and doing things my way.  I had to deal with people saying I hate the homeless because of my anti-panhandling posts, even though I’ve said repeatedly I’m not after the homeless but rather the scam artists who operate Downtown.  I’ve had to deal with people who think Tube Top Month is not politically correct.  Then there are the people who got their panties in a wad over my references to “Brick.”  But you know what?  I don’t care.  I’m going to do the thing these people dread the most – I’m going to keep on being me.  I want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who voted for me and got me to the top three.  I write this blog for you and I appreciate your readership and your support.  I intend to keep writing for you in the year ahead.

Commentary on the other categories still to come.

I think I’m going to swear off liquor altogether.  Not all alcohol, mind you – beer will still be on the agenda for sure – but lately liquor has not led to good things.

With a party to attend and a vacation day today, my plan was to have a blast at the Memphis Flyer party, then come back Downtown and hang out at the Saucer until close, and then try to carry on at either Bardog or the Silly Goose.  Didn’t happen.

The plans changed at the Flyer party, when Air Traffic Mike and I decided to do Fireball shots with the Bardog winners.  A few minutes later, another Fireball shot arrived.  Followed by another one 40 minutes or so later.  By the time I made it back Downtown to Bardog and then the Saucer, I was wobbly.  Only made it a little past midnight.

The food at the Memphis Flyer’s Best of Memphis party was superb.  I actually had to pick and choose and not load up at the first food station I went to, because there’s only so much room on a plate.  Pizza from Memphis Pizza Cafe was an obvious selection, as were BBQ nachos from Central BBQ.  And the sushi!!!  All three sushi winners – Sekisui, Blue Fin, and Sekisui Pacific Rim – catered the event, and the sushi was just amazing.  Sushi covered a good portion of the real estate on my plate.

It was also good seeing the new Playhouse on the Square.  Tip for those who haven’t been there – there’s a bar at the back of the first floor that is very very comfortable.  It kinda feels like “Cheers.”  The stage and seating area is a big improvement over the old space.  The new theater is very well done.

And yet, I kinda didn’t like it as a venue for the Flyer party.  Previous parties have tended to be in big, open spaces, like last year’s at Minglewood Hall, with food stations and bars along the walls.  I think those venues work better for this kind of party than Playhouse.  And WTF was up with “business casual attire” on the invitations?  A dress code at a Flyer party makes about as much sense as my BBQ team throwing a potluck and saying “vegetarian dishes only please.”  Dress code or not, I wore jeans.

All right… trying to clear the cobwebs out of my head and get the day started.  I may make some changes to the layout of my blog today and get rid of some of the sidebars I haven’t updated in a while.  Also need to get back in touch with someone who claims they can serve up relevant ads on my blog.  I don’t mind ads on here if they are indeed relevant – for example, Groupon is relevant because restaurant deals are something my readers would be interested in.  Car insurance is not relevant.  I may give it a shot, but if I don’t like it I won’t hesitate to take it down.

Also going to go through the list of Best of Memphis winners, and will post comments about the poll.  Check back – I’m not confined to a schedule and a cubicle today, so there will be more posts!