Paul Ryburn's Journal

The NCAA South Regional teams will have open practice today at the FedExForum. These are free and open to the public. Syracuse will practice first from noon to 12:50, then Gonzaga from 1 to 1:50, followed by Oklahoma 2:10 to 3, then North Carolina from 3:10 to 4.

Another parking scammer has been busted posing as a fake parking lot attendant, according to this CA article. The MPD’s Real Time Crime Unit saw Johnnie Upchurch, 53, taking money from people to park on a lot at Rufus Thomas and Beale. The lot was clearly marked “no attendant, pay box.” Officers were dispatched and Mr. Upchurch got a trip to jail. According to the arrest record, he lives at 692 Alabama, just east of Downtown. He told officers he was scamming people to get beer money. Kudos to MPD, and proof that their Real Time Crime unit is working. I’ve noticed an increase in arrests of parking scammers near Beale since the unit went into operation.

The Memphis Hard Rock Cafe is one of 24 Hard Rocks around the world chosen to host their upcoming Battle of the Bands competition. Beginning April 10, bands in each of the 24 cities will compete for a panel of artists and music industry professionals. Each city’s winner will advance to the finals, where they will compete for a panel of noted musicians, including Little Steven Van Zant of the E Street Band and Darrell “DMC” McDaniels of RUN-DMC. The final stage of the competition will be left to the fans, who will vote on Hard Rock’s website between May 25 and June 6.

The overall winner of the competition will receive a spot at Hard Rock Calling, a three-day festival in London from June 26-28. Headliners will be Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper & Relentless 7, Pretenders, and Fleet Foxes will be among the other acts on the bill. Rounds 1, 2, and 3 at the Memphis Hard Rock will take place April 10, 17, and 24, each starting at 9:30 PM.

Memphis Tigers vs. the other Tigers tonight at 8:37 PM. I’ll be at the Saucer to watch the game. People from North Carolina, Oklahoma, Syracuse, and Gonzaga will be arriving and looking for get their party on before their games tomorrow. Should be a fun night. The Saucer has a patio area that seats over 100, with a large projection TV and two other TVs, as well as an interior area with a projection TV and three more HDTVs. Great place to watch the game while drinking one of their 200 beers.

One of my blog’s readers is looking for a home for the puppy pictured below.  A homeless man was trying to sell the puppy on the street, but she convinced him to give her the puppy for free because she could take better care of it.  She can’t keep the puppy, though, and needs to find it a home.  It’s a female terrier mix, about 10 months old, very sweet, playful, and affectionate.  If you’re interested in adopting this puppy hit me up at paul@paulryburn.com.

On SeriousEats.com recently:  Easter eggs made out of bacon. Nice.  My health guru would probably not approve.  Nor would she likely approve of the Big Mac combo meal I had for lunch today.

WikiHow article of the day:  How to make your butt bigger.  Who says you can’t find useful, valuable information on the Internet?

Friday is Trolley Tour night, and the South Main Association is firing up the grill for the first time this year.  Free burgers, hot dogs, and Boscos beer for SMA members from 6 to 8 PM (actually probably more like 6:45 to 8; last year they weren’t real punctual about firing up the grill).  Non-members can donate $2 for a beer.  You can also sign up for an SMA membership at the event.  It’ll be next door to Bluff City Coffee on South Main.

Cock-a-doodle-doo and go Tigers!  The Red Rooster wants everyone to know that, due to the late start time (8:37 PM) of Thursday’s Tiger game, they will not have a live band as usual.  Instead, the Tiger game will be on all of their TVs, with sound!  A DJ will spin after it’s over.  There will be Madness specials, with $10 pizzas and $2 drafts.  There will be a lot of pre- and post-game activities and prizes to be won.

The Rooster’s crawfish boils continue on Friday nights from 6 to 9.  This Friday they’ll put a Sweet Sixteen spin on it, and extend their basketball specials to Friday as well.

Outta here… on my way to the Saucer for happy hour, then a private party down the street with free booze.  My favorite.

Welcome Tar Heels, Sooners, Orange, and Zags! Several people have suggested that I write a local guy’s guide to Downtown Memphis, so our NCAA South Regional visitors can find their way around. Hopefully this will help you find the good spots that the locals like, and avoid the tourist traps.

Orientation

– The first thing you need to do is pick up a copy of the Memphis Flyer, our weekly arts & entertainment newspaper. It will give you a more comprehensive overview of what’s going on in Memphis than I possibly can write here. A new issue hits the stands every Wednesday. It’s a free publication.

– If you need to ask for directions Downtown, look for the Blue Suede Brigade. These are Downtown guides employed by the Center City Commission. They’ll have on white safari hats, white shirts, and khaki pants or shorts. If it’s cold outside they’ll have on blue jackets. They can answer any questions you have, and they have maps and coupons that they can give you.

– The Main Street Trolley is a great way to get around Downtown, for locations that are too far to walk. It runs from 6 AM to 11:45 PM Mon-Thur, 6 AM to 1 AM Fri-Sat, and 10 AM to 6 PM Sun. It costs a dollar to ride.

Where to eat

– People have been known to travel hundreds of miles to get to Gus’s Chicken, on Front near Pontotoc. Not much in the way of ambience in the place, but many Downtowners believe it’s the best chicken in the world.

– For a good burger not far from the FedExForum, check out Dyer’s. It’s on Beale between Third and Fourth. Good milkshakes too, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.

– You may have heard of Memphis’ most famous BBQ joint, the Rendezvous. If you want to eat there, it’s in an alley running north off Union Avenue across from the Peabody Hotel. However, I think the ribs are better at Blues City Cafe (Second at Beale). Good tamales and crab au gratin there too.

– If you want something a little bit nicer, the Majestic Grille (on Main just north of Peabody Place) has great steaks, chicken, seafood, flatbreads, salads. It’s my favorite restaurant Downtown. Even though it’s a nice restaurant, you can still walk in there casually dressed.

– Some other recommendations: Rio Loco (Mexican, on Union between Main and Second); Huey’s (burgers and bar food, Union at Second); Happy Mexican (Mexican, at Second and Talbot); Bluefin (sushi, on Main just north of Peabody Place); Kooky Canuck (Canadian-themed bar food, on Second south of Union); Flying Fish (seafood, on Second just south of Union); Texas de Brazil (meat meat meat, Second just south of Union).

– Breakfast recommendations: Blue Plate Cafe (Court Square); Elliott’s (on Second between Madison and Monroe); Arcade Restaurant (Main at G.E. Patterson).

– Lunch-only restaurant recommendations: Alcenia’s (soul food, on Main just north of the I-40 bridge); Leonard’s BBQ Buffet (Main at Adams); Little Tea Shop (meat and two, Monroe between Front and Main; be sure to meet owner Suhair, a Downtown icon).

Watering holes

– A good place to start is the Flying Saucer at Second and Peabody Place, in my opinion the best bar Downtown. They have 70 beers on tap, another 125 in bottles, and they also have beer flights and beer mixers. 5 TVs plus two more big-screen projection TVs that they turn on for most NCAA tournament games. Pool table, two dart boards, free wi-fi. Every day they put one of their premium beers on “Fire Sale” for $2.75. They do have somewhat of a limited liquor selection, as this is mainly a beer bar. The Saucer is where I’ll be watching this weekend’s tournament games, so if you see me, feel free to say hello.

– Down the street from the Saucer (Peabody Place between Main and Second) is The Silly Goose, a fairly new bar that is catching on with the locals. Extremely huge liquor selection (something like 300 bottles). 10 beers on tap including PBR, 30 more in bottles, wine. Comfy couches in the back. 2 public computers if you need to check your e-mail. Free Wi-Fi as well. 4 TVs for game watching.

– Bardog Tavern, on Monroe between Front and Main, is another place locals love. Well-stocked bar, 10 beers on tap including PBR. Unusually good food menu for a bar – the sliders and the spaghetti and meatballs are my top recommendations. 2 TVs upstairs, 1 down. Extremely friendly staff and regulars.

– If you must hang out on Beale Street, the Tap Room is a place many locals go. Unpretentious, just 20 beers on tap plus lots of liquor. Good mix of locals and tourists in there most days. You can order food off next-door restaurant King’s Palace menu. Food is very good – the Chicken Pontabla and the Mardi Gras Pasta are two of my top recommendations.

– A note on smoking: Memphis still permits smoking in bars under certain circumstances – in particular, the bar can’t let anyone under 21 in. All of the bars listed above, and Calhoun’s below, permit smoking. Huey’s (Second and Union) and Kooky Canuck (Second just south of Union) would be good places to try if you have people under 21 with you.

Sports bars

– The main sports bar where locals go is about half a mile south of the FedExForum – Calhoun’s, on G.E. Patterson Avenue east of Main. Nine TVs plus a 120″ projection TV on the back deck. They have the NCAA Madness package. They also have Buzztime trivia/poker, only bar Downtown that does. 10 beers on tap including PBR. No liquor or wine, however. Very friendly regulars and bar staff. Extremely small bar, so you may have trouble finding a seat, although the back deck they recently added expands their capacity by 20.

– I don’t recommend any other place Downtown that uses “Sports Bar” in its name. You’ll have a better time at the “watering holes” listed above.

Where to hear good blues

– B.B. King’s club at Second and Beale has some excellent bands. Highly recommended. They have a good restaurant on the third floor, named Itta Bena, which is the town where B.B. was born.

– Elsewhere on Beale, Mr. Handy’s Blues Hall (near Third) tends to have some really good blues bands. Small bar, so get there early for a good seat.

– A block south of Beale on Lt. George W. Lee Avenue is Ground Zero Blues Club. This is a large club, but it has that authentic juke joint feel. They have live bands Thursday through Saturday.

More live music

– Wednesday and Thursday nights, March 25 and 26, a band called The Dempseys plays Blues City Cafe’s Band Box, at Second and Beale. I cannot recommend highly enough that you go see this band. They play stuff like Elvis, Johnny Cash, and rockabilly tunes, but they play it like no one you’ve ever seen, doing crazy stuff on stage and trading instruments mid-song. They played in the movie about Johnny Cash’s life, and they played for former president Bush and Japan’s prime minister when they visited Memphis. Absolutely a must-see, even if you don’t think you’re into that type of music.

– The Hard Rock Cafe, on Beale between Third and Fourth, has really impressed me lately. Local bands on a great sound stage. They have one of the best music memorabilia collections Downtown (including Elvis stuff). They are known to donate proceeds from their door to local charities. Never mind that they’re a chain – they’re a good club and good neighbor.

Where to dance

– The Red Rooster (Second at Lt. George W. Lee, one block south of Beale) is a big club with good bands on the weekend, and a DJ spinning tunes between sets. It’s extremely popular and gets packed weekend nights. Full bar. Good food – the nachos and pizzas are my favorites.

– Hollywood Disco (Vance at Mulberry, just east of Main) is a small club that spins great disco and ’80s tunes. Very unique decor with handprints on the walls, white leather couches, disco lights. They sell quarts of Bud Light to drink. You can carry liquor in and they’ll sell you set-ups. They have a limo if you need a ride home or back to the hotel. Only open Friday and Saturday. Doesn’t open until 10 PM; doesn’t get busy until after midnight, but by 1 the place is usually packed.

Other stuff

– The National Civil Rights Museum (Mulberry between Huling and Butler) is definitely worth a couple hours of your time for a tour. In its former life as the Lorraine Motel, it’s where Dr. King was shot on April 4, 1968. The museum’s exhibits chronicle the civil rights movement in the United States.

– A. Schwab on Beale is a good place to visit for unique souvenirs. It’s a “dry goods” store that’s been there since 1876.

– If you need a drugstore, there’s a Walgreens at Main and Madison. Open ’til 8 weekdays, 7 Sat, 6 Sun.

– Grocery and convenience stores: Shell station (Main at Auction); Jack’s (Main at Jefferson); Easy Way (Main at Jefferson); convenience store (Second at Madison); Second Street Shoppers (Second South of Union); Frank’s (Main at Vance); Riverside BP (Riverside at Carolina).

– Don’t give money to panhandlers. Many of them will try to do a “tour guide” gimmick similar to what the Blue Suede Brigade does, except with a very aggressive request for money at the end. Sometimes they will try to hand you a Downtown Merchant Guide or other free publication. Just say “no thanks” and walk away. Also, don’t give money to anyone who tries to charge you to park on a public street or at a metered space – these are scammers and what they’re doing is illegal. These people are generally not homeless and your money will be used to support their alcohol and crack addictions. If you want to help the homeless, donate to the Memphis Union Mission instead.

And that’s it – hope that helps!

If you have questions I didn’t cover here, you can e-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com. Please note however that I started a new job this week, so I can’t promise a speedy turnaround time on answers, but I’ll do my best. Welcome to Memphis, and I hope you have a great time this weekend.

A few quick things before I head to work:

Big Sam’s Funky Nation from New Orleans will play the Center for Southern Folklore Friday, April 3 at 8 PM.  This is a band that really rocked it at the 2007 Memphis and Music Heritage Festival.  Big Sam plays trombone and combines the improv style of jazz with the horn-heavy style of funk.  Should be a great show.  Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door, with $5 off with a student ID.  Or, you can buy a $25 ticket which also gets you access to a meet-and-greet with Big Sam before the show, with beverages included.

News from the Voodoo Room, which has a new neon sign today… they’ll have a Jimi Hendrix concert on TV tonight at 10.  If this is as good as the Led Zep concert they showed last week, it’s more than worth a trip down there.  Thursday through Saturday they’ll have $1 PBR draft all night.

News from Orleans on Front as well… their $4 happy hour is still going strong.  They’ll have crawfish on Thursday in the restaurant, and they’ll also have another crawfish and shrimp boil outside in the parking lot on Sunday, at 2 PM.  If you don’t work Downtown and haven’t been able to try their lunch, they’ll be open for lunch this Saturday with the regular menu so you can.  Specials this week include a Stuffed Panko Catfish with jalapeno cream sauce with zucchini, and Crispy Pan Fried Duck Breast.

They’ll be showing the games on TV both upstairs and down.

The people at Calhoun’s asked me to mention that their back deck is open, expanding their capacity by 20, with their 10′ projection TV available for NCAA watching after sunset.

New Restaurant.com promo code: Click here to access the site and enter SAVE at checkout to save 70% through March 31. That means their $25 face-value gift certificates, normally $10, are $3 with the promo code. Many Memphis-area restaurants are part of the program; click through to the site to search for your favorite dining spots.

Congrats to the Rapscallions on our first-place victory at trivia last night.  After a few weeks of struggling performances, it’s good to be back on top.

Thanks to everyone who suggested good places to eat lunch near the airport.  Got several new ideas.

Several people have asked me to post a locals’ guide to Downtown for the benefit of those coming to Memphis for the NCAA South Regional tournament this weekend.  I’m working on it.  Should be up either at lunch or after work.

First day on the new job went well.  At lunch I drove around the airport/Whitehaven area and located the nearest Walgreens, ATM, etc.  Discovered that there’s a Popeye’s Chicken within striking distance of the office!  Nice!  Also, there’s a Domino’s literally next door.  I hear their oven-baked sandwiches are pretty awesome.  Looks like I’ll be trying them soon.

It’s SO nice to have my own office rather than a cubicle.  This week it looks like I’ll be investigating ways to use the JQuery Javascript library to snazz up a website.  I started to get into JQuery right before I got laid off the old job and saw all kinds of potential for it.

The FedExForum is being transformed for the NCAA South Regional men’s championships this weekend.  There’s a story on Fox 13 about the work being done.  According to the FedExForum’s Facebook page, #2 seed Oklahoma tips off vs. #3 Syracuse at 6:27 PM Friday night, followed by #1 North Carolina vs. #4 Gonzaga.  So you’ll have plenty of time to get home from work and to the FedExForum (or your favorite bar, if you prefer to watch games there) in time for the games.  Friday’s winners meet in a Sunday afternoon game for a trip to the Final Four.

I’ve already picked my watch location for Thursday night’s 8:37 PM Memphis Tigers vs. Missouri Tigers game.  This time I’ll be at the Flying Saucer.  My reasoning is that people from out of town will be arriving for Friday’s games, and will be out for a night of fun before their teams take the court.  I want to be where the action is.

And it’s a BIG bar with plenty of good seating… last night I heard my friend Mikey advise people to take off work early to get to Calhoun’s in plenty of time to get good seating for the Tiger game.  The 8:37 PM Tiger game, you know, which starts more than 3 hours after most people get off work.  That kind of thing is exactly why I don’t watch Tigers tournament games at Calhoun’s.  Too crowded.  Great bar otherwise but simply too crowded.

Doesn’t it seem like every time a TV commercial mentions a discount these days, they have to refer to it as a “bailout” or a “stimulus?”  Those are becoming the most overused terms of 2009.

Here’s a Commercal Appeal article on the economic impact to Memphis of this week’s NCAA South Regional.

Don’t forget that Friday night is Trolley Tour in the South Main district.  Looks like it may rain, but if the rain stays away, it should be a perfect night for walking from gallery to gallery, with a predicted high of 75.

Off to work… the usual trivia night tonight at 7.  Maybe a stop at Bardog Tavern for their $3 pint night after that.

Starting the new job today.  Feeling excited because there is a lot more marketing/creativity than in past jobs.  I’m going to get to do neat stuff like work with Photoshop and Illustrator and write copy, which will be fun.  I’ll have my own office for the first time in more than five years, which is great because I hate cubicles.

For those of you who are unemployed or employed fewer hours than you’d like, here’s a great post by Seth Godin in how to invest the extra time in yourself.

On to the news this morning:  If you missed out on filling out an NCAA bracket, or if your bracket has been blown to bits by upsets in the first two rounds, you have a chance at a do-over.  The Flying Saucer is doing a new bracket challenge starting today, involving the Sweet 16 teams only.

According to this CA article, the #2 seed Memphis Tigers take on the #3 seed Missouri Tigers in Glendale, AZ at 8:37 PM CDT Thursday.  Good, a night game – that means I’ll be able to catch it on TV.  Should be a good matchup.  The Mizzou coach was an assistant coach under Nolan Richardson at Arkansas, and has adapted the “40 minutes of hell” style of play that won Arkansas a national championship in 1994.

Grizzlies news:  The NBA is doing a bracket match-off for dance teams.  All-Access members can go here to vote for the Grizz Girls vs. the Denver Nuggets dance team.

Look for info here on how the Grizzlies are giving back to the community.  On April 3 they’ll be educating fans on going green, and later in the month they have the largest silent auction in team history, and a Fan Appreciation Night.

Off to work.  I guess this means my posts will be returning to the early morning/lunch post times as they did when I had my last job.  Since I’m working by the airport I won’t be able to take my “what’s the Fire Sale” walks on weekdays anymore, but if someone wants to text the Fire Sales to me, I’ll update them on the blog.

Tonight:  Dollar Depression-era cocktails at Silly Goose from the time I get home until 7, then Pint Nite at the Saucer.

The Silly Goose will have dollar PBR during the Memphis Tigers vs. Maryland Terrapins game this afternoon.  Game starts at 2:20 PM CDT.  I was equally divided on Saucer, Goose, and Bardog as possible watch locations, but I suppose dollar PBR will win the day for the Goose.

I watched basketball at Bardog for a few hours yesterday afternoon with Air Traffic Mike and John D.  They had the sound on for the Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee game, and it was quite an enjoyable place to watch the action.  I’d never considered Bardog an NCAA watch spot before, but it’s on my list now.  After the game, I felt it was my duty to text all the Tennessee fans in my phone’s Contacts and tell them that their team lost.  Thank goodness we’re done looking at Bruce Pearl for another seven months.

Quote of the day:

Air Traffic Mike: “Both the Great Pumpkin and Bruce Pearl come out in October.”

Me: “Yeah, but how can you tell which is which?”

After that, I went to the Saucer, where Ghost River was on hand to tap their keg of Wee Heavy.  It was delicious, and was 8.5% alcohol by volume, odd because the Wee Heavy the Saucer normally carries (Belhaven) is 3.9%.  I’ll have to get one of my beer-brewing friends to explain that variation to me.  As I drank the beer, I thought to myself that it would go great with some salted-in-the-shell peanuts and Gus’s chicken.  A couple of hours of NTN Poker at Calhoun’s wrapped up the evening.  Watched off-duty Saucer bartender Marci cheer on her Arizona Wildcats to an upset of Utah.  Guess they proved that they belonged in the tournament after all.

My bracket is still looking pretty good so far.  I picked 25 of the 32 winners in the first round.  I only picked two teams to go to the Sweet Sixteen (Utah and West Virginia) and one to go to the Elite Eight (West Virginia) that have already been knocked out.  All of my Final Four (Louisville, Duke, Memphis, Oklahoma) are still intact.

What’s going on tonight?  It’s my last party night before the job starts and I’m hoping to stay out late.

Time to take the laundry out of the dryer, then head to the Goose to get a good seat.  Go Tigers!

Wow… really not much to write about today.  I know of a SQL Server 2005 database administrator opportunity if anyone is looking.  E-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com if you are.

Only thing I’ve got on the agenda for tonight is the Saucer at 7 PM, where the Ghost River people will tap a special keg of Wee Heavy.

Tigers play Maryland at 2:20 PM CDT tomorrow.  So far my bracket is looking pretty good – got 13 out of 16 right yesterday, two better than our President did.  I didn’t have any of the three I got wrong winning another round, so the damage is minimized, and I’m particularly proud of picking #12 Western Kentucky for the upset over #5 Illinois.

I had the crab stuffed trout at Majestic Grille last night, and it was fantastic.  Thanks to Air Traffic Mike for the recommendation.  If you want to try it, you better get there tonight – it’s the last night for their St. Patrick’s week dinner specials.

Last day of freedom before the new job begins Monday… guess I’ll wander up to the Saucer and watch the Oklahoma State-Tennessee game.

Next American City is holding an URBANEXUS salon tonight at Stax Museum (926 E. McLemore).  This will be a discussion of civic engagement in moving Memphis forward, and what various organizations around town are doing to accomplish this.  Presenters will use 4 slides per minute for 4 minutes to illustrate what’s going on with their organizations.  Presenters include

• Eric Matthews, Launch Memphis
• Dr. Charlie Santo, Coalition for Livable Communities
• Tim Sampson, Stax Museum
• John Weeden, UrbanArt
• Cardell Orrin, New Path
• Derwin Sisnett, Power Center CDC
• Gwyn Fisher, MPACT Memphis

Audience Q&A and reception will follow the presentations.  Event starts at 6 PM.  Good chance to learn about the positive things going on in Memphis, and learn about ways you can be an active citizen.

There was an article in the paper yesterday about Paula & Raiford’s Disco, set to open April 3.  Says the new club will be 4 times the size of the old one – NICE!  While it will resemble the old Hollywood Raiford’s, it will have Paula’s unique decorative touches.  Can’t wait to see the place.

Calhoun’s will open early for the NCAA tournament this week, and they have the March Madness package.  After sunset their 120″ projection HDTV will be tuned to the games on the back deck.  They are also the latest bar to get into the crawfish boiling business – they’ll do boils every Sunday at 6 PM for $4.50 a pound.

Orleans on Front will have crawfish every Thursday (that’s tonight!) in addition to the boils they have on some Sundays.  Don’t forget about their $4 happy hour!

I was downstairs in their Voodoo Room last night, where they were showing a Led Zeppelin concert on TV.  It looked like it was their 1975 tour and was just amazing.  They played songs I’d never seen on concert video before – “In My Time of Dying,” “Trampled Under Foot,” “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp,” and a few others, and of course “Stairway.”  Jimmy Page was just amazing.  It was amazing how much he improvised during the songs, and yet it all sounded like perfection.  I gotta start collecting Zep concert DVDs.  My only complaint is that Bonham wasn’t featured more.  They cut to him occasionally, but he looked like just another drummer.  The video didn’t give him the credit he deserved.  Page and Plant were clearly the stars.  I think I saw shots of John Paul Jones maybe twice in the hour of footage they showed.

Sitting at the Saucer watching the Tigers vs. Cal State-Northridge game.  The Tigers apparently left their “D” back in Memphis and are down by 1 as I type this, with 12 minutes left in the first half.  Hope they turn it around.  Haven’t watched a game here in a while.  There are a lot of different bars Downtown that show the tournament games, but the Saucer is home.  Not sure where I’ll go to watch Saturday’s game (assuming we put CS Northridge away), but I definitely plan on watching the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight at the Saucer, because there will be a lot of people around for the tournament games held here.

Go Tigers!  Gonna try and build a website while I watch the game.  Tigers have turned it around and are up by 4 now.

Normally I stay out of the Downtown Neighborhood Association’s business, because I haven’t been active in that organization for several years.  However, several DNA members have contacted me, asking me to blog about this issue, and I feel compelled to do so.

The DNA’s monthly meeting is tonight at Pearl’s Oyster House (Main at Pontotoc; social at 6:30, program at 7).  They will take a very important vote on whether to expand the boundaries of DNA.  Current president Cathy Simmons and past president Tommy Volnichak want to expand the association’s boundaries to include the Medical Center district, and even past it, all the way to Watkins in some places.  Many members are opposed to this.  No one considers the area around Watkins to be part of Downtown.  Members feel that expanding to include those neighborhoods will dilute DNA’s focus.

Also, the neighborhoods did not ask to be included in the DNA’s boundaries.  If they had, it might be a different matter.  Rather, it was presented to the DNA board as a fait accompli by the president and past president.

If you’re a DNA member, tonight at Pearl’s is your one chance to stop this expansion.  It’s possible that some expansion of the boundaries needs to be done, but members tell me it needs to be carefully studied and planned, which apparently is not the case here.

That’s the morning post… got more stuff to talk about, but I want this to stay at the top of the blog for a couple of hours.  Tigers play at 11:25 AM.  I will probably take the laptop to the Saucer and watch the game there.