Paul Ryburn's Journal

Jay Uiberall, the general manager of Alfred’s and part owner of Dyer’s and Automatic Slim’s Downtown, and also of Ubee’s on Highland, died Saturday night. He fell of his balcony at his home on Pickwick Lake, and reportedly broke his neck and was killed.

I didn’t know Jay well, but based on the number of sad faces I saw around Downtown on Sunday, it’s obvious he was a great guy who will be deeply missed. I will think of him the next time I order a double-double at Dyer’s. My deepest condolences to his family and to the many friends who will miss him.

First Leonard’s closes and now this… sad weekend… someone give me some positive news to report.

Friday night I stopped by the Majestic Grille for a snack.  The Cajun Chicken Eggrolls were new to the menu and I decided to give them a try.  Very good.  According to the menu the rolls are made with blackened chicken, corn, goat cheese, cheddar, red onion, and cilantro.  They come with a Creole mustard dipping sauce.

If you go by Cockadoos, here’s a tip:  Order a muffin or scone.  Now that they’ve been open for a little while, they’re giving employees the chance to experiment in the kitchen, and good things are happening.  One of the Cockadoos staff brought a bag of muffins down the Saucer for us to try last week, and they were pretty amazing.  Banana walnut, lemon poppy seed, several berry flavors.  The regulars and the Saucer girls quickly divided them up.  “If the Nuh-Uh Girl finds out there are free muffins, she’ll be down here in a heartbeat,” someone commented.  The recent kitchen experiments are paying off.  Give ’em a try!

I was expecting Steve Cohen to win the 9th District Congressional primary against Willie Herenton, but I thought the vote would be something like 65-35 in Cohen’s favor.  Instead, Cohen won 79-21.

I think the reason for the lopsided margin is the current occupant of the mayor’s office:  A.C. Wharton.  Herenton pointed to his record as mayor as reason why he should be elected to Congress, but Wharton has made him look really bad the past year, accomplishing things “King Willie” could never be bothered to get done.

When we had freezing cold weather last winter, Wharton took steps to make sure that no one would get their power cut off in the middle of a bone-chilling cold snap.  He also took steps to ensure that the homeless had a better place to sleep than under a bridge.  He’s made government more transparent, so that citizens can now look up government contracts online.  He’s fixing the mess that the city animal shelter had become.  He’s challenged neighborhood associations to think outside the box in terms of neighborhood beautification and improvements.  He’s given Downtowners what we’ve needed for years – a police detail that will patrol on bike and foot to control the scammers, aggressive panhandlers, and drunk and disorderly street people who give our neighborhood an undeserved bad reputation.  All of these were things that seemed to be beneath the great Willie when he was mayor.

I will say this, however:  Herenton’s concession speech was dignified and classy.  Herenton has an opportunity now to move into an elder statesman role.  Think about Jimmy Carter – he was very unpopular when he left the White House, but he earned a lot of respect with the way he served his country in the years that followed – without holding public office.  Herenton could do the same, I believe, on a local level.

One other thing:  Although I recommended Bill Haslam over the two idiots running against him in the Republican primary, that does NOT mean I’m endorsing him for governor in the general election.  I need to study both his and Mike McWherter’s positions on the issues before I make up my mind there.

I did, however, vote for a Republican in a general election this time around, rather unusual for me:  I voted for Mark Luttrell for county mayor.  Joe Ford’s inability to manage his own finances led me to question whether he could manage the county’s.  Also, I know people who know Luttrell personally, and they respect him greatly.  With me it’s not all about liberal vs. conservative as some people would believe – it’s about who has the tools and the temperament to do the best job.  In this case I believed it to be Luttrell.

Don’t think we’re done with political ads though – we still have the November midterm elections.  Maybe I’ll just unplug my TV for the next three months.

This morning I got an e-mail from a resident of the Claridge House, at Main and Adams, that made me very unhappy.  He informed me that Leonard’s BBQ, the buffet in the ground floor of that building, closed permanently on Friday and the signs have been taken down.

How sad, and if I’d only known yesterday I’d have skipped that breakfast burrito and instead headed to Leonard’s for one last lunch.  Many times I’d pay my money and fix myself a heaping plate full of ribs, smoked sausage, cabbage, green beans, BBQ chicken, corn and pulled pork, finished off with cobbler topped with ice cream for dessert.  They had a salad bar too which was included in the price of the buffet, but I have to admit I never visited it.

Very sad to know that Leonard’s is no longer among my lunchtime options when I find myself Downtown on a weekday.  The place will be sorely missed.

I’ve written about the social app Foursquare, where you “check in” at venues you visit.  One of the things you can do on Foursquare is earn “badges.”  There’s the “crunked” badge for checking in at 4 different venues in one night.  Last week I got the “player please” badge for checking in at a venue with 3 members of the opposite sex (it was a friend’s birthday party).  If you check in at a venue that has been tagged as a boat, you unlock the “I’m on a boat” badge.

One of the hardest badges to unlock on Foursquare is the “Swarm” badge.  It’s awarded when you check in at a venue where 50 people are simultaneously checked in.  Most of the people who I’ve seen unlock it, got it at busy airports while waiting for connecting flights.

I’m wondering, however, if the Swarm badge will be within reach at South of Beale’s birthday party this afternoon.  SOB tends to attract a very savvy crowd when it comes to social media.  With complimentary appetizers from 4 to 6 (yes, the Nuh-Uh Girl is on Foursquare, in case you’re wondering), $1 Ghost River Golden until the keg runs out, and $2 birthday shots, it’s going to be a very popular place to be, and lots of folks should be checked in.

I’ve seen checkins reach the teens and even the twenties at popular events Downtown… what do you think?  Can this one make it to 50?

Last night, I stopped by at Calhoun’s around 8 PM to meet up with the gang.  As the evening progressed, people wandered in from a party at an art gallery next door, the girls in summer party dresses and the men in business casual attire.  “WTF are you all dressed up for?” I asked one of my friends who got dragged there by his girlfriend.  “Haven’t you noticed that it’s 90 outside?”

Turns out it was a “recruitment party” for one of the carnival krewes in town.  They were trying to convince people to plop down ~$400 to “fill their social calendar” with formal cocktail parties, parades, happy hours, etc.

Look.  If you’re into that kind of thing, great, join.  But if you’re down here and you’re looking to meet some cool people and make friends, there are a lot of ways to do it without paying a $400 fee, and without having to put on “business casual attire” every time you attend a happy hour, or worse, a suit and tie for a “medallion party” or a tux for their formal balls.  There are a lot of opportunities to have fun that are inexpensive and a lot less stuffy.

Thinking about what goes on Downtown, here are a few opportunities coming up where I think it will be very easy to meet people and make friends.

– If you’re into running, every Monday night there’s a group that meets at Bardog Tavern at 6:50 PM.  They run a course, which is different every week and usually 3-5 miles, often with options for a longer or shorter course for those who prefer it.  Afterward they return to Bardog’s basement and chill out and talk and get to know each other.  I don’t run with them, but I know the organizers and this is one of the most open, easy-going groups you’ll meet.  They’d love for you to join them.

– If you’re not into the bar scene and are looking for something more civic minded, check out an organization I joined my first year Downtown, MPACT Memphis.  They have a calendar full of activities throughout the month.  Looking at what’s upcoming, they have a tour of an Underground Railroad museum, a “civics 101” workshop where you can learn about elected bodies, and a restaurant tour outing to Thyme Bistro.  They also sponsor debates, set up leadership luncheons with community leaders, and arrange happy hours where members can network and get to know one another.  I was very active in this organization from 2002-05 and met a lot of wonderful people who remain my friends to this day.  Best way to get exposed to the organization, if you’re unfamiliar with it, is to attend one of their monthly “MPACT 101” events.

(- Edited to add:  I hut Publish and then realized I left Bravo off the list.  If you want to get into the arts and network and meet new friends at the same time, check out Bravo.  I was a member for 5 years and made new friends in that group.)

– On the other hand, if are into bars and want to meet some folks while checking out several of Downtown’s most popular bars, buy an Elvis costume, stop by the grocery store and pick up a few canned goods, and meet us at the Flying Saucer next Saturday, August 14, at 7 PM.  You’ll be able to drop off the canned goods to donate to the Food Bank (or make a cash donation, if you’d prefer not to haul around the cans).  We’ll hang out and chat and drink and get our Elvis on for about an hour at the Saucer, then we’ll wander together to Blue Fin, and spend about an hour there, then we’ll stop at Alfred’s and Silky’s on Beale.  The Saucer is the last official stop on the pub crawl, where we’ll end up sometime around 11-midnight.  If you dress up and get into character, I guarantee you will have a good time and meet some new friends.

– One of the easiest places to meet people in all of Downtown is Calhoun’s, the little sports bar where I was last night.  If you enjoy trivia, you can ask for a blue “crack box” and play Buzztime Trivia on their monitors – once you get on there, it isn’t hard to get the others in the bar interested in joining you.  They also have Texas Hold’em on another monitor if that’s your preference.  When the weather is nice, they’ll set up cornhole boards on the sidewalks outside, and it’s very easy to find a partner and join in for a game.  When there’s a big game on, this is a great place to watch and bond with your fellow sports fans, as you stare at whichever of their 10 TVs is closest.  As big a fan as I am of the Saucer, I have to admit that Calhoun’s is probably the bar Downtown with the friendliest regulars.

– If you’re a history fan, keep an eye on the DowntownMemphis.com event calendar.  There’s a historian named Jimmy Ogle who gives tours around Downtown, explaining street names, wording on manhole covers, and other little-known facts about the neighborhood.  He gives lunchtime tours now and then on weekdays, but the ones you really want to watch for are the Saturday afternoon, two and a half hour walking tours.  Those seem like they’d be a good way to meet and chat with like-minded people, just casually walking the streets and learning together, on a day when you don’t have to worry about rushing back to work for an afternoon at the rat race.

You know, I guess I see these things so easily, because when I moved down here in 2002, I didn’t know how to find friends very well… yet, within a few years I had fallen into the wonderful group of people you see me with in photos.  I guess that’s what this blog is all about… writing about cool things going on down here, so that others can experience and enjoy Downtown as much as I have the past eight years.  Without paying a $400 yearly fee to have friends.

That said, the carnival krewe I mentioned at the beginning of this post most have something going for it, because several of the coolest females I know, women I really respect and enjoy having as friends, are members and are in fact very active in the krewe.  I also have to give a tip of my hat to their boyfriends for dressing up and going to these parties.  I honestly don’t think I could do it, were I dating someone in the krewe.  It’d probably be the source of a lot of arguments.

Check back… I have more to post today, once I jump in the shower and get some laundry done.  I regret to tell you that one of my posts today will bring sad news to Downtowners.

My friend Mikey is to Calhoun’s what I am to the Saucer.  He’s there every day.  If he doesn’t show up at some point, people begin to worry that he’s sick.  Or dead.

A few weeks ago, Mikey got an iPhone.  He saw how much fun we were having on Foursquare, and downloaded the app.  On Foursquare, you “check in” to venues as you are in them.  If you check into a venue more than anyone else over a 2-month period, you become the mayor.  So Mikey started checking in everywhere he went, and his checkins began to add up.  Yesterday about 5 PM he checked into Calhoun’s… and that one was enough to oust the old mayor, Otto.

Over the next week we will see a furious battle between Mikey and Otto to control the mayorship of Calhoun’s.  Mikey will eventually win in the long run, but for a while we will be treated to an epic struggle between the two.  Should be fun to watch.

Tonight I was on my way home, on a long walk home from Calhoun’s.  People walking up Main convinced me I needed to stop in Bardog for one more.  Once there, bartender Melissa invited me to have a piece of her birthday cake, which was the Coke Cake on the menu at Circa by John Bragg.

The Nuh-Uh Girl was in Bardog earlier in the evening, and will probably be mad when she reads that I got cake and she didn’t.  But that’s the way the cookie crumbles.  Or, in this case, not the cookie, but the rich, moist layers of chocolate.

Yesterday after voting, I made a stop by the MIFA Store at 910 Vance.  It’s one of the biggest thrift stores I have seen, with racks and racks of men’s and women’s clothes.  Prices were very reasonable – I saw jeans for $3 and blazers for $2-3.  I’d been told it’s a good place to shop for Hawaiian shirts, but the only one I saw ($2) was an XXL, too big for me.  I’d also been told they have women’s tube tops, but I thought it would look kinda weird if I dug through the women’s clothing racks, so I’ll just have to take their word for it.

They had lots of other stuff besides clothes.  They had several racks full of glassware.  I saw two loveseats in good condition, one selling for $35 and the other for $40.  They had several desks that were in excellent shape.  In the back I saw a couple of sets of golf clubs.

They have a good selection of used books too. One book caught my eye, since I work for a non-profit that sanctions the card game bridge – it was a book by Charles Goren, who in his day was considered the foremost authority on the game as well as a father figure.  He’s to bridge approximately what Doyle Brunson is to poker (except that Brunson is still alive and playing).  I don’t play bridge myself so I didn’t buy the book, but someone who does ought to swing by the MIFA Store and grab it.

They also have an assortment of brand new sneakers, popular brands like New Balance, that were donated.  They are selling these for $10.

They also have specials sometimes, advertised on a big board near the entrance.  When I was there, the special was adult pants, buy one get one free.

College students looking to furnish a dorm room should definitely check this place out, as well as anyone else looking for some amazing deals.  Hours are 7:30-4:00 Monday-Friday.