Paul Ryburn's Journal

The Nuh-Uh Girl is celebrating her birthday tonight at the Happy Mexican and the Saucer.  I’ve decided to give her a present that only I can give… I’m going to keep the camera turned off tonight.  She’s free to eat whatever she wants without worrying about showing up in the blog tomorrow morning.

Busy morning… got Parallels Desktop and Windows 7 installed on the MacBook, and I downloaded and installed Avast Anti-Virus, which seems to be the top-rated anti-virus program for Windows these days.  I could spend hours more copying files and installing programs… or, I could go to the Saucer and have a beer.  I wonder which I’ll do?

The City Council Homeland Security and Safety Committee will again be discussing the proposed panhandling and since beer ordinances next week.  The meeting will be at Tuesday, March 9 at 10 AM, 5th floor of City Hall, 125 N. Main.  If you support the ordinances and can make it to City Hall at that time, your presence is very much needed.  As I’ve said before, Council members need to see that this ordinance has widespread support among Memphians.

Note that I said Memphians, not just Downtowners.  The Council needs to see that people who live in other parts of the city support the ordinance as well.  It’s not true that this is “just a Downtown ordinance.”  For one thing, 66,000 Memphians who live in all parts of the city come Downtown every day to work.  They deserve a safe environment as they walk to and from their cars, and as they go out to lunch.  Also, all Memphians deserve to have safe access to Downtown’s amenities such as the Orpheum, FedExForum, Cannon Center, and Autozone Park.  Tax revenue from Downtown businesses is used to support all areas of the city.

Why does the panhandling ordinance only declare parts of Downtown a panhandling-free zone, and not other parts of the city?  Well, Downtown is a unique case.  There are a lot of public areas Downtown – the Main Street Mall, Court Square, the Elvis statue on Beale, the Beale Entertainment District.  These are all hotbeds for panhandling.  In other parts of the city, panhandlers tend to beg for money on private property.  How many times have you been approached by a bum at the Circle K on Union, or the Piggly Wiggly on Madison, or the Bookstar on Poplar?  The owners of these businesses have the right to ask the panhandlers to leave their property.  The new ordinance actually provides more protection for them as well, by prohibiting panhandling within 25 feet of a business entrance, and within 50 feet of an ATM or entrance to a healthcare facility.

Please attend if you can, and show your support.  These ordinances are vital to Downtown living up to its vast potential.

I wanted to stay out late.  2, 3 AM.

But it was Saucer bartender Brionne’s retirement party.  And there was Jager.

So I’m home early.

Great news for Beale Street today… the old Pat O’s building is getting a new tenant, and it’s a familiar name. Ground Zero, the blues club currently next door to the Westin, will close temporarily and relocate there. Nat, the manager there, told me she’s excited to be down the street from the Red Rooster (moving into the old Double Deuce space) again. She and Luke who runs the Rooster have some exciting ideas in mind for their new block of Beale. Great to hear it! That block has always been less popular than the Second to Third block, but with two proven winners going in there, business is about to pick up!

And that’s not all… a new restaurant called Lil’ Anthony’s Breakfast and Soul Food will be going in across the street. They’re adding electrical outlets and Wi-Fi and will be open 7 days a week. Sounds like I may have a new place to take the MacBook. Beale Street Branch Office?

I have more info on the River City Brewers Festival which happens next Saturday, March 13. Proceeds will benefit St. Jude, and musical entertainment will be prodived by the Mighty Electric St. Jude Band at 12:30 and the Mud Flap Kings at 6:30. There will be 70 different beers to try, including many not normally available in Memphis. You’ll get a souvenir mug. There are two sessions – 12 to 4, and 6 to 10. If you plan to go, better buy your tickets early (click the link to do so), because beer fests usually limit the number of attendees.

Seth Krasnove, chef at BB King’s and Itta Bena, has been profiled in the CA’s Meet the Chef feature this week.

I found out more details about what the M.O.U. (Master of the Universe) card gets you. The Flying Saucer awards the card to members who have made it through the Ring of Honor 5 times. Once you hit M.O.U. status, you have a guaranteed reserved place at all beer tastings with advance notice. You also don’t have to wait until 7 PM on Wednesdays to buy the “buy the beer, keep the glass” glass of the week.

Memphis ad agency Brainwoo is up for an “ad agency blog of the month” award. Check out their site, and if you like what you read you can vote for them here.

Shelton Clothiers is having a sidewalk sale today. Everything outside is $19.95, while it lasts.

Plans for tonight: Beer.

See his blog if you don’t know why I’m congratulating him.

One of the best people I’ve met Downtown in my 8 years here, and I wish him all the happiness in the world.

Too drunk to type anymore.

It’s time for the return of the best regular features on this blog – “What the Bums are Drinking this Week.” Last night I was walking home from the Saucer and I saw this on the Main Street Mall:

So it looks like the bums are drinking Icehouse this week.  Or at least one is, anyway.  This is another reason why we need the single-serve beer ordinance to pass – to reduce litter Downtown.

The new MacBook Pro has arrived! I spent a few hours playing with it last night. I got my Wi-Fi working and downloaded OpenOffice, a free open-source substitute for MS office. Still trying to figure out what other free software I need. If you have suggestions, e-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com. Parallels Desktop and Windows 7 arrived too, but I’m going to wait a week before installing them, so I can get used to the Mac experience first.

Former Dempseys guitarist Brad Birkedahl debuts with his new band The Burnin’ Love Band at Blues City Cafe, 8 PM. He and the band will be there tomorrow and Saturday too. I’ll have to walk down tonight or tomorrow and check them out.

The Silly Goose will reopen for lunch starting March 15. Opening at 11:30 AM, they will have $5 paninis and flatbreads, and a full salad bar. Great idea! Downtown needs more salad bars.

WREG has links to discount deals at several Memphis restaurants here. Two restaurants, A&R Bar-B-Que and Cordelia’s Table, are located Downtown.

Yay… Bardog is tweeting their specials. Mussels with Jamacian run down sauce, potato and corn chowder.

City Market, the new grocery and deli scheduled to open at Main and Union this spring, now has a Facebook fan page. Become a fan to keep up with the latest news on the store’s opening and what they will carry.

Lansky at the Peabody got together with Hush Puppies to create a limited-edition Blue Suede Shoes line. The shoes were featured in Footwear Magazine, and you can read about them here. You can buy the shoes at Lansky at the Peabody, or here.

MPACT Memphis has invited the public to meet the “new” MPACT Memphis. They’re not the same organization they were when founded in 2001. They have over 700 members and have become a powerful force engaging Memphis’ young professionals. You’re invited to a Cocktail hour at its office (506 S. Main) on Thursday, March 18 where you can meet the faces of MPACT, and where you can learn about its new Voice of MPACT survey and its importance to the community. Cocktails, finger foods and networking at 6; presentation by Executive Director Gwyn Fisher and Board Chair Shante K. Avant at 7. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

With the weather to soon get warm, I’ve had a request for a post on Downtown’s best patios. I’ll try to pull that together soon.

Plans for tonight: I’d love to stay home and play with the MacBook, but one of my favorite bartenders is leaving the Saucer this week, so I pretty much have to show up tonight. Probably I’ll play with the MacBook for an hour and a half, and arrive at the Saucer just in time to squeeze in a happy hour beer. Maybe I’ll walk down to Blues City to catch Bradley D. later in the evening.

Great tweet from @watchdogon3 this morning: “Willie Herenton against the legalization of marijuana. Might cost him the election. You’d have to be smoked up pretty good to vote for him.”

If you’re into event planning, or if you have an upcoming event to plan, you might want to bookmark my friend Christina’s new blog Zen Planning and Events. Christina aka “C-Pop” was the one who planned the Jersey Shore Pub Crawl that happened last month.

On a related topic: South of Beale tweeted yesterday that they’d tasted the new Ed Hardy vodka, and it was pretty smooth, so they were considering ordering it. That started a storm of tweets in reply, pretty much all of them against the idea. A few hours later, they tweeted, “WOW…looks like we won’t be carrying Ed Hardy Vodka ANYTIME SOON! Haha!” Good call. Carrying that vodka would send a “we cater to douchebags” message. Probably not their desired clientele.

Two big concerts at the FedExForum this week: Thursday is country night, with George Strait and special guests Reba McIntire and Lee Ann Womack. Friday will be the night of rock legends, with Eric Clapton and special guest Roger Daltrey. The Memphis Marriott is offering a special room rate of $115 per night to concert-goers March 4-7. Go to their website to book a room and use promotional code D52 to get the rate, while supplies last. The Marriott is about a mile north of the FedExForum, but it’s right on the trolley line so you can ride almost all of the way there.

Speaking of hotels – The Peabody is now pet-friendly. They’ve wanted to do this for a while, but have had to figure out what special precautions to take, since pets might not play well with the Peabody’s 5 famous residents. They’ve worked it out so that pets and the ducks can co-exist.

I’d posted to my poker blog that I’d be attending poker night at Bardog tonight at 7:30, but it now looks like I’m going to have a new MacBook to play with when I get home from work. Poker will have to wait a week.

Again, not much to report today, but I’ll work with what I’ve got…

MPD Director Larry Godwin will speak on “Panhandling, Graffiti, and Crime in South Main and Downtown” next Tuesday, March 9 at the monthly meeting of the South Main Association at Local Gastropub.  Social at 6, meeting at 6:30, cash bar, complimentary hors d’oeuvres by Local.

Wonder where Director Godwin will park?  Maybe he’ll park in one of the metered spaces not far away on Beale, and have a bum try to charge him to park there.

Stepbrothers, the two-man band consisting of Cameron Lazek and Tyler Burns, performs tonight at the Silly Goose at 9 PM. On the band’s Facebook page, they list their influences as DMB, Jason Mraz, Barenaked Ladies, Sister Hazel, Oasis, Bob Dylan, Matt Nathanson, Howie Day, John Mayer, and Jimmy Buffett.

Good fan page to join on Facebook – “Memphis Happy Hours.”  Every day they post specials going on around town.  Specials at Boscos, Fox and Hound, and Bardog Tavern were mentioned in today’s post.

That’s all I’ve got for now… trivia tonight at the Saucer at 7.  If my MacBook arrives a day earlier than expected, I may no-show trivia, otherwise I’ll be there.

The Nuh-Uh Girl saw my post from earlier tonight about the ziti that is the special this week at Bardog. She messaged me on Facebook, “Ziti? Nice.”

She lives in my building. I guess I better make sure the deadbolt is secure on the door before she comes a knockin’ looking for leftovers.