Paul Ryburn's Journal

The Peabody tweeted set times for their Thursday rooftop party tomorrow, and here they are: 7-8:15 for Taco & Da Mofos (set 1), 8:15-8:45 for White Tie Affair, 9 -Taco & Da Mofos (set 2). Muck Sticky will be the special guest of Taco & Da Mofos, and I hear Al Kapone will also make a special guest appearance. I met Muck in the elevator last year, and he was such a nice guy – since then I’ve followed him on Facebook and Twitter, and he always has positive words. Musically, tomorrow is going to be one of the best nights of the year on the rooftop.

Theme will be “a trip to the British Isles” with Guinness, Kilkenny, and Killian’s as the featured beers. On the food buffet, they’ll have fish & chips, pigs in a blanket, wheel of cheddar with crackers, and rye bread. In VIP they’ll have mini beef filets on potato pancakes with horseradish aioli, Cornish pasties, and smoked salmon and cream cheese spread with rye bread and crackers. Free food? You know the Nuh-Uh Girl is going to show up, so you better get there early before she finishes it all.

Even though the temperatures have dropped a bit – to the mid 90s – it’s still plenty warm enough to wear a tube top to the rooftop! $10 cover includes first drink, ladies free before 7.

First of all… GO USA!!!!! Our nearly last-minute goal not only advances us to the knockout round, but as winner of group C we have the 1:30 PM game Saturday, rather than the 9 AM game on Sunday. No getting up at the crack of dawn! I’ll have more to say in a minute, but let’s get the news out of the way first.

This Friday is the last Friday of the month, which means it will be Trolley Night on South Main, with many of the galleries open from 6 to 9. Mascots from Memphis’ sports teams – Tigers, Grizzlies, RiverKings – will be out. Play one-on-one basketball, strap on a pair of skates, or take a belly dancing lesson from Memphis Raqs. At 9 there will be a free outdoor showing of “Eli Parker is Getting Married?”

Continuing the convo thread from Twitter – #thingscolderthandowntownsaucer The interior of the mascots’ costumes on Friday night.

If you’re an SMA member, look for them grilling out in the lot next to Bluff City Coffee at Trolley Night. Free burgers, dogs, and Boscos beer for SMA members. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Question from a reader, who saw a one-piece tube top/shorts outfit the other day: “If jean shorts are called ‘jorts,’ should the outfit I saw be called ‘torts?'”

The Grizzlies are having an NBA draft watch party and a Select-a-Seat party tomorrow night at the FedExForum. Come cheer with the Grizzlies as they make their picks for 2010. If you purchase your 2010-11 season tickets tomorrow night, you’ll receive a replica Grizzlies jersey of the first draft pick, and an invitation to an exclusive meet-and-greet on Friday. You must call 901-888-HOOP to take advantage of this offer.

MPACT Memphis is having another “happy hour with a twist” Tuesday night. This one will feature an open bar at Earnestine & Hazel’s from 6 to 7. There will be an open bar, free appetizers, an open bar, and networking. In addition to the open bar, there will be discussion of “The Feedback Project,” an attempt to implement the suggestions given by the young professional community in the Voice of MPACT Survey. I wonder if “more events with open bars” was one of the things young professionals wanted. Oh, and also, free appetizers? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

There’s a new Memphis PHP developers’ group forming, and they’re having their first meetup tomorrow night. Details here.

All right, back to the World Cup… I’m receiving e-mails about Local. They decided to show the USA-Algeria game on both upstairs TVs. “The girl behind the bar did suggested we could go downstairs to watch the England game but as both games relied on each other that’s not the point,” wrote someone who was there. He said a lot of people went around the corner to the Silly Goose, which came through with both games.

In the process of deciding where to watch Saturday’s game. Things I’m looking for in a Saturday watch venue: Air conditioning, a decent beer to drink that’s under $3, and a place where I’ll have friends there. Just a reminder to local bar managers.

Outta here for now, it’s lunchtime…

The Hard Rock Cafe on Beale is hosting a benefit concert Saturday at 9 PM for the families of the fallen West Memphis police officers involved in last month’s shootout. Zach Myers of Shinedown will host, with intimiate acoustic performances by Fairwell, Sore Eyes, Prosevere, and Surrender the Fall. Tickets are $10.

The MIFA Store on Vance tweeted that all adult pants are buy one, get one free today and tomorrow. I’ve been told by the people who run the store that they also have tube tops for sale.

Chicago starts today at The Orpheum. Tomorrow is student rush night – students can bring their ID and see the show, space permitting, for only $20.

Memphis Beat watch parties at South of Beale and Calhoun’s tonight… I have trivia at the Saucer though, so will be late if I make it at all to either party.  Off to lunch… thinking maybe Fazoli’s today.

I had a reader e-mail me and ask where Downtown would have both the USA-Algeria and England-Slovenia games on tomorrow morning.  I posted the question to my Facebook Wall, and got two responses.  Local Gastropub will be open with both games on.  Calhoun’s will also be open, and they definitely have enough TVs for both games.  Lauren will be bartending, although she didn’t say the magic words – “I’ll be wearing a tube top” – in her reply.

Brick in a tube top dress? Spectacular.

(Edit: I’ve been told that management at the Saucer has shut the windows and cooled the place down, and has said they’ll keep the place cool when there’s a heat advisory.)

Not much to report for this Monday lunchtime post. I mentioned that Calhoun’s is doing a watch party for the new show “Memphis Beat” Tuesday night. Party starts at 7, show at 9. Since the last post, I’ve learned that this is a South Main Association event, and I’ve also learned the menu for the party. It will be catered by the award-winning Squeal Street BBQ team, and there will be BBQ ribs, pork tenderloin, BBQ pizza, collard greens, and blackeyed peas. A true Southern feast!

Sole Restaurant has announced that they will start doing sushi nights on Wednesdays. With their connections importing seafood, it’s sure to be the freshest sushi in town.

The only other thing I have to add is that ladies attending Pint Nite at the Flying Saucer might want to wear a tube top, and this time it’s not because it’s Tube Top Month. Rather, because it’s freaking HOT in there!!!! People have been complaining about the temperature at the Saucer on Twitter since they opened this morning. Since the heat wave started, it’s been extremely sticky there, even in the indoor room. Not sure if their air can’t keep up, or if they’re just being stingy about turning it on. Does anyone have a cheap thermometer they can bring with them tonight? I’d love to know exactly what the temperature is in there.

Just checked back. Now the regulars have started a #thingscolderthandowntownsaucer hashtag. I love it.

Time for lunch. #thingscolderthandowntownsaucer The interior of my car after sitting in the sun for 5 hours in June.

Last night I was trying to stay awake to meet a friend who gets off work around 4 AM, so when Cockadoos opened at midnight, I stopped in for breakfast.  My order was something I’ve been meaning to try for a while – “The Shag.”  This is a peanut butter and banana sandwich on French Texas toast, covered in powdered sugar, whipped cream, and blueberries, with syrup.  Soooo good.

Cockadoos, by the way, serves both their breakfast and lunch menus when they open at midnight on the weekends.  You can see their menus here.

I never did make it to meet my friend… after the sandwich, I went home to take a nap.  Set the alarm for 2, and when I woke up, the mixture of beer and sugar in my stomach was not sitting too well.  I texted and canceled… I hope she’s not too mad at me.  4 AM is something of a stretch, even on the weekends, for people who keep an 8-5 rat race schedule during the week.

When I was out earlier, I saw lots of bachelorette parties, many of them in tube top dresses.  Nice.  Bicycle Bobby and I were commenting how girls plan these things a month in advance, and make long checklists of things they have to do.  Whereas, if guys even bothered with a checklist, it would contain three items:  “Drink beer?  Check.  See boobs?  Check.  Pass out?  Check.”

Time to go get my morning Mountain Dew.  Up early enough to do brunch at the Majestic, but I bet it will be super packed for Father’s Day… may skip it.  I’ll probably be at the Saucer around noon for Sunday Fun Day.

Last week, one of my readers e-mailed and suggested that since I started Tube Top Month early for Memorial Day weekend, I should extend it through the July 4 weekend as well.  I asked readers for feedback and those who responded were 100% in favor of extending Tube Top Month.  So Tube Top Month will end Monday, July 5, as the long weekend ends.

I’ve been home all day.  Been cleaning the house and experimenting with poker online.  I’ve come to the conclusion that Daniel Negreanu’s “small ball” style does not work in low-limit cash games.  You have to be hyper-aggressive and bully everyone with your bets to be consistently profitable.  I’ll save small ball for tournaments, where it’s very effective.

Gonna be a long night.  Last night I ran into a friend who had just started working Downtown, and she wanted to hang out tonight after she gets off.  “I get off around 4,” she told me.  Oh Jesus.  May have to stop by Cockadoos for some breakfast and Mountain Dew after they open at midnight.

I hope to see lots of tube tops tonight, as we celebrate the extension of Tube Top Month!

These just may be the best nachos in all of Downtown.  I stopped by Hollywood Disco last night for my friend KJ’s farewell party.  After a quart of Bud Light I decided I was hungry, so I walked across the street to the Green Beetle for a snack.

One word of warning… the A/C was not working at all.  So if you hit the Beetle for nachos, dress comfortably.  A tube top would be a good idea.