Paul Ryburn's Journal

Just read this. Aiming a laser at the cockpit of a commercial jet, where it could be mistaken as the laser sight of a gun?  And then aiming the laser at the police?  Massively, massively stupid.

In other news… I had brunch at Texas de Brazil with a few friends today.  The food was phenomenal as usual, and the service was incredible.  We all ordered the “unlimited mimosa” for $3 more and Jessica rarely let any of our glasses get less than half full.  She saw two of our friends who were late walk in, and they had mimosas as they sat down at the table.  Fantastic service.  My compliments.  Their house sirloin is one of the most delicious meats I have ever eaten.

After a long session at the Saucer, home eating cheese sticks from Huey’s.  This week is going to be interesting.

Just a quick couple of “Sunday update” items…

South of Beale has announced that they will hold their first birthday party Saturday, August 7.  They’re still working out the details, but they have said there will definitely be complimentary hors d’oeuvres.  They’re also working on some beer and drink specials to celebrate long into the night.  I’ll post more details as I get them.  Free food?  Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

The Orpheum’s summer art auction is this afternoon.  Silent auction starts at 3, live auction at 4.  More details here.

If you’re into ’50s rock and roll, that’s the theme of a party at TJ Mulligan’s Pinch from 4 to 8 today.  They have the party the third Sunday of every month.

My Monday schedule this week is a little more flexible than most Mondays, so I may stay out a little bit late tonight… FreeWorld at Blues City is looking good for tonight’s plans.  They play there every Sunday night at 10:30.

Outta here for now.  A reminder, my posting schedule and my responses to e-mail/social media messages will be somewhat erratic this week, as there will be long stretches of time when I will be away from a computer.

We’re still working out the details, but I wanted to give everyone advance notice so they have time to plan their costumes:  The Elvis-themed pub crawl is coming back this year, on Saturday, August 14.  This event started last year, when the Flying Saucer, having seen the success of the Stumbling Santa pub crawl every December, asked Mike King and I to help organize a similar pub crawl Downtown to honor the King.  We stumbled through several Downtown bars, got on BBC TV, and raised several hundred dollars and boxes and boxes of canned goods for the Mid-South Food Bank.

I did a Google search, and turned up the following places online where you can buy Elvis costumes:

• Costume Supercenter
• Elvis Costumes
• Costume Kingdom
• Amazon
• BuyCostumes.com

Locally, Blues City Cafe’s general store on Beale sells Elvis sunglasses and sideburns and I believe wigs too.  The gift shop at Graceland also sells Elvis items.

As soon as we get this year’s bar lineup and charity confirmed, I’ll post more details and we’ll create an event listing on Facebook.  We’re less than 4 weeks away, so if you’re interested in participating, it would probably be good to go ahead and get your costume lined up now.

You may have heard of O.P.M.  There’s a school of thought in real estate that you want to buy properties with O.P.M. (Other People’s Money).

Well, the Nuh-Uh Girl applied that concept to a different field this past Sunday at Dyer’s.  She ate O.P.F. (Other People’s Food).

The Salty Dogs, the running group based at Bardog Tavern, is having their disco run tonight.  Here are the details, which I’m pasting from Facebook:

Start: Bardog Tavern (73 Monroe Ave) @ 7 PM
Theme: 70’s/DISCO — Dress to impress as there will be guaranteed awesome prizes for best female and male costumes!! (Note: Guys, if you’re planning to attend Raiford’s you cannot wear sleeveless shirts per dress code policy. But no one said anything about short shorts!)
Bring: Credit card/cash (highly recommend cash over cc to make transactions more speedy) and picture ID
Mileage: Approx. 2.2 miles

Route:
1) Bardog Tavern @ 7 PM (73 Monroe Ave)
2) Flying Saucer @ 7:45 PM (130 Peabody Place)
3) Earnestine & Hazel’s @ 8:30 PM (531 S. Main) — Also a food stop
4) Paula & Raiford’s Disco @ 9:15 PM (14 S. 2nd St.) — 1 mi. from E & H’s

Since this involves physical effort, I of course won’t be participating, but I’ll make sure to station myself at the Saucer around 7:45 to watch the runners come in.  Maybe I’ll hit Paula & Raiford’s at 10 after it opens to the public as well.

I drove the car today – yes, I drove the car to someplace other than work, and on a Saturday.  I’d heard so many good things about the Trolley Stop Market at Madison and Orleans that I wanted to try it, and I decided it was a little too warm to walk or wait for a trolley.

They showed me their menus, but I’d heard over and over and over again that I had to try the pizza.  So I went over to the counter and picked a slice that had sausage and bell peppers on it, and they stuck it in the oven.  The pizza had a thin, crispy New York-style crust, and was so big that it barely fit on a regular-sized plate.  A good value at $3.50, and I added a Coke for $1 more for an inexpensive lunch.

I usually take pics of my food to post, but I forgot until I’d already taken a couple of bites, and I figure no one wants to see a pic of partly-eaten pizza.  I saw some of the other Downtowners up there, so I’m not the only one making the trip.  Definitely a place I’ll visit again.

I just wanted to give everyone a heads-up about next week… blog posting will likely be on a rather erratic schedule Monday through Friday.  I will be attending a national bridge tournament for work, to see what happens at such an event.  I’ll also be attending bored meetings (that both is and is not a typo).  I’ll have the MacBook with me, but probably not during the day.  I will have access to e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter via my iPhone, but I may be slower than usual to respond to anything sent my way.  Also, I may do a post or two from the WordPress app on my iPhone, so please forgive those posts for spelling and brevity.

I was just looking at the event listings on DowntownMemphis.com and it reminded me how much fun regular stuff there is to do Downtown every Saturday.  A few things:

– The Memphis Farmers Market is every Saturday next to Central Station at Front and GE Patterson.  In addition to fresh fruits and veggies, you can buy meat, arts and crafts, jellies and preserves, flowers, and whatever else the vendors bring down there.  There are also kids’ activities and musical entertainment.

– The Memphis Hightailers Bicycle Club and the Farmers Market host historic Downtown bike rides every Saturday.  These tours leave from Central Station at 9 AM.  No cost, all skill levels welcome, but they do require helmets.

– Pam and Terry perform on the King’s Palace patio most Saturdays from 1 to 4.  Check their Facebook page to see a photo of Pam and Terry with Robert Plant.

– Ghost River Brewery at Main and Crump gives tours every Saturday at 1.  These are free, but you need to make reservations in advance.  More info here.

– If you have friends in from out of town and they think they have to see an Elvis impersonator to have a true Memphis experience, Radford Ellis performs his show “The ‘E’ Factor” every Saturday at Alfred’s from 6:30 to 9:30.

– Singer Susan Marshall and a piano player perform every Saturday night at Itta Bena at 7.  Itta Bena is the restaurant on the third floor of BB King’s.

– The Center for Southern Folklore has shows every Saturday night.  If you want to hear something different than a Beale Street band playing “Mustang Sally” or bands playing the same tired old ’80s covers, this is the place to hear some good music with a real Southern feel.  Today they have the Bluff City Backsliders.

– If you must do karaoke, the Downtown Blue Monkey has it every Saturday night.

There ya go… a full day’s worth of events, all walkable or trolley-able, and these are just the regular events.  Lots to do Downtown on a Saturday.

I talked to one of the managers at the Saucer last night, and wrote down the menu for the beer dinner next Friday, July 23.  Here it is:

First course:  Cioppino (seafood soup)

Second course:  Mozzarella, proscuitto and melon salad

Third course:  Lasagna

Fourth course:  Young’s Double Chocolate Stout ice cream float

Each course will be paired with a beer, and there will be four bonus beers.  A cicerone (whatever that is) will lead everyone through the dinner, telling you how to taste the beer to bring out the flavor in the food.  As I’ve said before, if you’re still skeptical whether beer can really be paired with food, you need to give this a try.  They usually provide paper so you can write down what you thought of each beer.

Here’s a link to Wikipedia’s article on cioppino, for those who have never heard of it before.  I had it at Bardog one time, and it is delicious.

The fourth course is like a root beer float, except without the “root.”  Ice cream in beer.  Chocolate-flavored beer.

Tickets are $35 if you’re a member of their UFO Club, $40 if not.  They’re limiting attendance to 50, and the manager told me last night that ticket sales are already in the 20s.  If you want a ticket, just go to the Saucer and ask your server, bartender or manager.

Jerry Lawler is opening up a new shop called “King Jerry Lawler’s.” It will be at Main and Adams in the ground floor of the Claridge, in the spot that has been a deli and coffee shop in recent years. At this time, Lawler is not sure whether it will be a restaurant, retail shop, or something else. He’s leaving the business development to his good friend and fine, upstanding citizen Joe Cooper. Hmmm. Kinda worried because of Cooper’s involvement and the lack of direction, but I hope it works out… sure would be nice to have the King’s presence Downtown.

Several retail and office applications went before the CCC this week, including Aldo who owns Bardog, who asked for a facade grant and forgivable loan for his new idea, Aldo’s Pizza Pies at 64 S. Main. I hope he gets approved and construction moves forward… I’m ready to sit at the bar, watch some TV and enjoy a slice of pizza and a PBR!

I dropped by Calhoun’s last night, and Max told me they’re thinking about having a bacon cookoff on Saturday, July 24. Definitely a good idea. I’d like to point out to my health guru that you never hear about anyone having a tofu cookoff.

Brad Birkedahl, formerly the guitarist of the Dempseys, will play the Madison rooftop party next Thursday with his Burnin’ Love Band. If you haven’t made it down to Blues City to check out the new band, here’s your chance to do it while enjoying some beautiful views of Downtown.

There will be a “Could you be Elvis’ leading lady?” contest at South Main Trolley Night on Friday, July 30. Come dressed in your leading lady best that night to win the title of Elvis’ leading lady. More details to come. If you’re trying to figure out how to dress like a leading lady, I have two words for you: TUBE TOP.

GREAT blog post by Mayor Wharton about giving Memphis the bike-friendliness it deserves. Think King Willie would’ve got this done when he was still mayor? He’d likely have viewed this as a trivial detail that is beneath him, as he focuses on more important things, like fighting retired boxers and putting on a three-ring circus for the media.

Reminds me… Early voting starts today! Get goin’! Vote Cohen! Let’s show Willie how irrelevant he has become in this city.

That’s all for now… time for lunch.  No plans for tonight but I’m sure I’ll be out drinking beer somewhere.