Paul Ryburn's Journal

Big business news to start the lunchtime blog post. The Memphis Business Journal reports that a group of local businessmen have the winning bid to buy One Commerce Square, the 30-story building at Main and Monroe. Their top priority will be to sign Pinnacle Airlines to a long-term lease.

South of Beale will have its first birthday party this Saturday. There will be $1 Ghost River beer from 4 to 6 PM, and there will also be complimentary appetizers. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Number 10 Main Apartments is taking steps to make things more convenient for the many law students who are moving in. They’ve installed wireless Internet in the lobby, and students can go to their website to arrange study groups.

The Majestic Grille will present Arts Night at AutoZone Park Monday, August 16. Dugout seats will be available for $13 (reduced from $16 regular price) and proceeds will benefit the Majestic’s arts partners: ArtsMemphis, Ballet Memphis, the Blues Foundation, Opera Memphis, Memphis Music Foundation, the Orpheum, and the School of Music at the University of Memphis. Please note that you must purchase tickets through Redbirds Group Sales to qualify for donated proceeds. Call Jason Mott at 901-722-0251 or e-mail jason.mott@memphisredbirds.com to purchase your tickets.

I heard that City Market signed a construction contract this week to get things started on the ground floor of Radio Center Flats, northeast corner of Main and Union. Soon we’ll have a neighborhood market at that very prominent corner of Downtown. Also, Iberiabank is looking to install an ATM on the Union-facing side of that building.

A How-to of the Day of interest to Downtown Memphians: How to get rid of pigeons.

Grill 83 is hosting a wine dinner next Tuesday, August 10. It will be a 3-course prix fixe dinner created by executive chef Chris Windsor, featuring wines from Spain. Courses include a Frisse salad with chorizo sausage, Manchego cheese, chickpea croutons, poached egg and sherry dressing; Serrano-wrapped ahi tuna with grilled leaks, white beans and Romesco sauce; and an apple and rosemary tart with local honey ice cream. $59 per person, excluding tax and gratuity. Call 901-333-1224 or visit their website to make reservations.

Something interesting I saw this morning: OpenAppMkt, which bypasses the Apple Store to install web-based apps directly on your iPhone.

Memphis in May has announced that Belgium will be the 2011 honored country. I would’ve prefered Romania, but, okay. Will be fun to see what Belgium-themed design the BBQ team comes up with for the booth next year.

The trivia team added another $25 to our stash with a second-place finish last night. Man, was it uncomfortable… the Saucer was unusually crowded for a Tuesday night, and the A/C was not designed to keep up with heat indicies in the 110s. My eyes were watering badly from the cigarette smoke, and we had people bumping and getting in the way. Nevertheless, that won’t stop me from going back to the Saucer tonight…

… which is the beginning of my vacation! Off Thursday and Friday. There will be plenty of posts, but I’ll be back on my irregular posting schedule for the next 4 days. Time to count down the minutes until 5:00!

You know what I find interesting? Yesterday, after I posted that I was taking vacation days Thursday and Friday, I had several people ask me, “So, why are you taking vacation?” Why not? Isn’t “don’t feel like getting up and going to work five days in a row” good enough? Not every vacation has to be built around an out-of-town trip, or an event like BBQ Fest. I happen to live in one of the most fun and interesting neighborhoods of the South, and there’s nothing wrong with a 4-day staycation in Downtown Memphis.

There’s a beer festival coming up this weekend, and even though it’s not Downtown I’ll mention just about anything involving beer. The Snowden beer fest will be this Saturday at the Snowden Grove Ampitheatre in Southaven. More details here. Mississippi’s Lazy Magnolia will be the featured brewery, but other regional breweries will be involved as well.

Heat index will be pushing 120 in parts of Memphis today. Downtown, the CCC’s Blue Suede Brigade will be on the lookout for people who need help out of the heat. Call 575-0540 if you see someone needing help.

As part of National Night Out, there will be a potluck thank-you dinner to support our local police tonight at Central Station from 6 to 8. Bring a dish and come meet the officers that protect you. Soft drinks provided, beer and wine available for purchase. This is the first year they’ve incorporated beer and wine into the Night Out celebration, and my prediction is that attendance will at least double as a result.

Trivia tonight at the Saucer at 7.  Pint Nite tonight at Bardog, all draft beers $3 7 PM to 3 AM.

Ferraro’s Pizza and Pub at 111 Jackson will have UFC 117 Saturday, with no cover.  Of course, I’m sure they’d love it if you order a pizza and some beer while you watch.  Or a stromboli and beer.  Or a sandwich and beer. With $2.50 PBR, you really can’t go wrong.

A lot of people are complaining that their air conditioner was only built to keep the indoor temp 20 degrees cooler than the outdoor temp.  With highs headed toward 105 this week, that’s not good.  I don’t know about you but 85 is not my idea of comfort.

I came home tonight to my apartment in Number 10 Main to find the thermostat set in the mid-60s where I’ve left it for the past month or so.  As you can see on the temp gauge at the bottom, the A/C has just about got it there, despite the fact that the heat index outside (at 10 PM) is still hovering around 100.

I had a great brunch at Texas de Brazil yesterday with friends. Here’s another insider tip for you, if you go to TdB brunch: They have lobster bisque and breakfast food on the salad bar. Get a piece of bacon and dip it in the lobster bisque. Soooo good.

The Madison is combining their rooftop parties and their Smoking Up High events. For Thursday nights in August and September, you can purchase fine cigars from Havana Mix on the rooftop, as well as bourbons and scotches that complement the cigars. This Thursday they will kick it off with live music by Gary Johns. $7 cover, cash bar.

Author Jon Pendergrass will be at Davis-Kidd tomorrow night from 6 to 8 to sign copies of his book, Pepper Jack. The book is set in Memphis and there are scenes at the Blue Monkey, Mollie Fontaine’s, and many other well-known Memphis venues. I’m not normally a fiction guy but I really enjoyed reading this one.

Couple of sports-related items: There are rumors floating around that the Big East will announce that Memphis is its 17th member, and 9th football-playing member, at its annual media day tomorrow. Of course, more often than not these rumors prove false, but I hope tomorrow is the day we finally make it into a BCS conference.

Great article on Ole Miss football coach Houston Nutt on SI.com. It talks about how Nutt used to be a stand-up guy during his winning years at Arkansas, but now he has turned to the dark side. The article makes him sound like the Calipari of SEC football. I can’t wait for October 23, when Ryan Mallett and the Hogs put a whoopin’ on the Rebels.

Interesting article on Lifehacker this morning about poker faces. The article quotes a study that suggests, when playing poker or engaging in some form of deception, a slight smile is more effective than a completely emotionless stare.

Ah… three-day work week. I knew I’d probably need some time to unwind after our national tournament at work wrapped up (which it did last night), so I scheduled Thursday and Friday off. No idea what I’ll do. Trying to come up with something more interesting than the default value, which of course is “drinking beer at the Saucer.”

Which reminds me… tonight’s Pint Nite at the Saucer, so you know where I’ll be. If you’re looking for other stuff to do, the Salty Dogs running club meets at Bardog at 6:50, although I can’t imagine running in this heat. There’s also trivia with Will at Local at 8.

Time for some boneless wings at Zaxby’s, over and out.

Last night our friend Frank had a big birthday and we celebrated.  Here are a few pics.

Dinner was delicious – I had the char-grilled oysters and the tilapia.  After taking an eternity to get our checks and pay, we headed north to the Saucer where even more people were waiting for us.

Saucer was crowded and sweaty.  This time I’m not blaming the bar – they had the A/C running, but the fact was that at midnight the heat index was still nearly 100 and there was simply no way it could keep up with a room that full of people.

“Anything would be better than sitting here and sweating to death,” I thought.  Then the group proved me wrong by deciding on karaoke at the Blue Monkey as their next destination.  That sounded like the most lame, boring idea on earth, so I broke away from the group at that point and hit Bardog, the Silly Goose, and Rehab Disco over the next three hours.  I ended up at Rockbottom, the downstairs bar of Rehab Disco, a spot I’m starting to like more and more every time I go in there.

Tweet from Frank’s girlfriend Stephanie, who went to karaoke:  “I’d do anything for Frank.  Even this.”

Bardog, by the way, was equally as crowded as the Saucer, yet I did not get more than 5 steps in the door before Melissa was looking my direction and waving a PBR in the air.  I mentioned that I’d reveal of a few of my Best of Memphis votes after voting ended.  Last night was an example of why Bardog got my vote for “Best Service.”

Still full from last night, but it’s time to eat again:  One of the members of our group has half-off coupons to Texas de Brazil, and I got invited to brunch.  Obviously that’s not an invitation I’m going to turn down.  Time to eat some meat!

The Professional Bull Riders will be at the FedExForum August 20 and 21 for the PBR Memphis Invitational.  If you plan on going, hit LivingSocial’s site today – they have tickets on sale for half off.

If you want to learn more about this weekend’s Riverfront Regatta, the CA had an article about it this morning.  As I was driving to work, I notice that they had Riverside Drive blocked off at Union this morning, making me think that Tom Lee Park might be a good place to watch the action.

I’ll be at Trolley Night on South Main tonight.  Since the Elvis’ Leading Lady contest starts right at 6, I guess I better skip my usual pre-party beer at the Saucer and head straight down there after work.

Just checked WeatherBug… heat index at AutoZone Park is 110 right now.  Everyone be careful out there… stay comfortable and hydrated.

Midtowners who live near the 1400 block of Central:  Beware, a coyote has been positively identified in the area.  It has already killed one neighborhood cat.  Use caution with pets and small children.  More details available here.

I’ve posted before that an Elvis-themed pub crawl is being put together for Saturday, August 14, the Saturday night of Elvis week. We did this last year and it was quite successful, with over 70 Elvii and hundreds of dollars and cans raised for the Mid-South Food Bank.

Pub crawl will start at the Flying Saucer at 7, where participants will be able to check in and get identification that they are part of the crawl (important because there will be drink specials at many of the stops). Bring your canned goods or monetary donations to the Food Bank to the Saucer.

The pub crawl will then continue to Blue Fin, through the Peabody lobby, then on to Alfred’s, Silky’s, and back to the Saucer. Plus, you never know what else will happen – last year we were filmed for BBC TV as well strolled down Beale Street!

It’s just over two weeks away, so start thinking about your costume now. You still have time to order from online sites, although you might want to expedite the shipping. Blues City General Store sells Elvis glasses, sideburns and I believe wigs as well, and the Graceland gift shop has Elvis merchandise, of course. Local costume shops should also have Elvis costumes you can buy or rent.

Make your plans to crawl with us, honor the King, and support one of Memphis’ best charities! Search for the crawl under “Stumbling Elvis” on Facebook Events if you want to reply that you’re coming and keep up with the latest news on the event.