Paul Ryburn's Journal

Just got home from Walgreens with cold medicine… what a terrible day to wake up with a cold, on Friday!  I had a fever so I called in, just in case it turned out to be H1N1 (which I’m not almost positive it’s not).  They don’t make Dimetapp anymore… that was what always worked best for me.  I got what seemed to be the closest Walgreens brand approximation.

Tomorrow (Saturday) is Brunch with Santa at the Majestic Grille.  Yep, you can eat the Majestic’s delicious brunch, and the kids can tell Santa what they want for Christmas.

I think reservations for Brunch with Santa may be full, but there’s still an event Sunday you can get in on – Brunch with a Bunch of Local Drunks at the bar at the Majestic at 11 AM.  That should be a good one too.  Here’s a preview:  Otto will flip through the Best Buy ads; John D will flip through RSVP Magazine and say, “there’s my boss;” Mikey will run down the details of what happened at Calhoun’s Saturday night; Pete, who is back in town for Christmas break, will comment, “well I guess after this we’ll hit the Saucer, where Pauly will probably whoop my ass at pool again.”

You’ve probably read by now that Bob Knight can’t understand why John Calipari still has a job, after two schools ended up on probation under his watch.  He says integrity is missing from college basketball.  Wow I agree with Bob Knight about something, never thought that would happen.

ESPN updated their Bracketology this week for the first time since the pre-season.  The Tigers had previously been listed under “first four out,” but in this week’s update their projection improved to a 9 seed.  Two other C-USA teams were projected in – Tulsa as a 7, and Southern Miss as a 12 via winning the C-USA tournament.  Of course, it’s still early in the season, but it’s nice to see the Tigers and the conference getting a little more respect.

The Peabody Place post office has been spared from being closed down.

Congrats to Carlos, Thang, and JJ on a fine article on Rehab Disco in the Memphis Business Journal today.  Can’t wait to see the place.  Well, I actually have seen it, but 4 PM on a Sunday afternoon is not the time to accurately judge how a nightclub is going to be.

Come on cold medicine work… if it does its job I need to step out tonight and see some friends for about an hour.  If it doesn’t work, it’ll be an early bedtime.  “Warning: Consult a doctor before taking this medication if you consume more than 3 alcoholic drinks a day.”  Uh oh.

I spent most of today in a NyQuil daze.  Late in the afternoon I felt well enough to play a little poker… I love people who lose big hands and then go on tilt and cuss everybody out in the chat box.  “F—ing moron,” said one player as he berated his opponent to whom he lost the hand.  “Only on JokerStars do f—ing idiots suck out on hands they never should have been in.  F— you.  Idiot.”

Normally I don’t get involved in poker room chat, but when the same guy lost another hand, I typed “hee haw” in the chat box, implying that he was a donkey, which is poker slang for a bad player.  That really set him off.  He started cussing me out, which was exactly what I wanted.  I figured if I could put him even more on tilt, he’d try to get me involved in a hand and then play it out even if he didn’t have good cards.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get good cards for a while after that, and another player relieved him of his chips before I could.  If you have anger management issues, poker is probably not the game for you.

That’s all for now… back tomorrow with more, probably.

Story here.

I’m not sure how many Little Rock readers I’ve seen out there, but I’ve checked the tracker and I have a few.  I’ll be at the LR Saucer (President Clinton Ave. at Rock St.) around 9 PM December 23 and 24… would love to meet up with any readers of this blog.  E-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com or just come on by.  Will take a raincheck if it’s raining heavily or snowing.

One of the good things about working near #memphisairport is that there’s a Domino’s right next door.  This week they’re doing a carry out special, a large pizza with one topping and extra cheese for $5.99.  So I’m sitting here munching on pepperoni as I type this.  I figure I’ll eat half of it today and wrap up the other half for lunch tomorrow.

Wish I was Downtown at the Majestic though… they just tweeted their lunch specials.  Soup is a gumbo with sausage, shrimp, and crawfish, and the entree is pan seared trout with rice, sauteed green beans, and a Creole salmon butter sauce.  Yum!  Flatbread of the day is BBQ chicken.

One reason that I wanted to go ahead and get some food in my stomach is that I have a Christmas party to attend at 8 PM.  There will be a food buffet there, but I don’t want to be that person who abstains from eating all day, then loads up 6 plates off the free buffet… I’d never do that… nuh uh.  Really, I’ll be more interested in the cheap, huge beers anyway.

Good news in local politics… the feds are keeping John Ford’s watch.

Terrible news in local politics… grand jury disbands without indicting King Willie.

Unexpected news in pro wrestling… it’s reported that Bret “The Hitman” Hart has signed a short-term talent contract with WWE.  Never thought I’d see those two work together again.  Period of the contract is said to be January 1 through two weeks after Wrestlemania.

I’ll probably play an hour of poker tonight, then hit the Saucer about 6:30ish for a couple of warm-up beers before the party.

All right, so this has been a really horrible week for posting, probably my worst week in three years.  There just isn’t a whole lot going on.  I guess everyone has private Christmas parties to attend this week.  I’m taking the night off from going out, sitting here typing on the laptop while playing Razz on the netbook.  Let’s see what I can find to talk about…

First of all, South of Beale has announced that they will be open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  They don’t open until 4 PM though (that’s their regular schedule).

If you want a hot dog from Main Street Hound Dogs, the vendor with the cart at Main and Union at lunchtime, you better get by and see him soon.  He’s tweeting that he may soon pack it up for the winter due to cold weather.  You can keep up with him at @mainsthounddogs to see if he’s out.

I’m getting e-mails from people asking me what to do Downtown for New Year’s Eve.  My best recommendation is to get on DowntownMemphis.com and do a search for the 31st.  NYE has been such a crapshoot/amateur night in recent years that I hesitate to recommend much of anything.  The Tigers vs. Tennessee game at the FedExForum is going to throw an interesting kink into a lot of people’s NYE plans that night.

Abita Turbo Dog is no longer the foulest beer on draft at the Flying Saucer.  They brought back Dogfish Head Chicory Stout, which is a chicory-flavored beer.  I had it when I was working on my first plate, and it was so disgusting that I gave up on it after about 3 sips.  Think of it as a dark beer with a strong coffee flavor.

They have a banana nut bread flavored beer that’s new as well, and it sure sounds better than Chicory Stout.  It’s $11 a bottle though.  Maybe I’ll have one Saturday on my plate party tab.

Just discovered something cool:  The Current Events portal in Wikipedia.  Links to articles related to events in the news.  I spent some time reading about a volcano about to erupt in the Phillippines.

All right, that’s enough for now… got a private party to attend at a popular local restaurant tomorrow night.  There will be free food and I have a feeling the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up, so expect pics.

Here’s a name Sleep Out Louie’s alumni will recognize… Brooke Tweddell will have a jewelry trunk show entitled “cable + pearl” at Lansky’s Lucky Duck in the Peabody from December 18 through 20.  On the 18th from 4:30 to 8 PM there will be a holiday wine and cheese reception at the Lucky Duck featuring Brooke’s jewelry.  Free food?  Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Yeah, I know my post output has been pretty horrible the past couple of days.  Been busy.

The Rapscallions fended off a visiting team to take first place in trivia tonight.

Home from work.  A few quick notes:

If you park at the Parking Can Be Fun garage on Union when you come Downtown, be aware of changes if you’re a night owl.  Starting on January 10, the garage will close at 11 PM (Edit: PM, not AM, thanks ATM for the catch) Sunday through Wednesday nights, and will re-open at 7 AM the next day.  It will still run 24 hours Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.  Monthly parkers will be able to scan their card to get in and out after hours.

Feeling generous this holiday season?  Check out the 2009 Memphis Charitable Gift Guide on the I Love Memphis blog.

Also check out this NY Times article about Josh Pastner.

And finally, I had someone e-mail and ask me a few questions today, and he finished the e-mail with:

It’s Monday, so you’ll probably be at Pint Nite. If you go I hope you’ll give Brittney the tip she deserves.

It’s not possible for me to give Brittney the tip she deserves.  The US government stopped minting the half-cent coin in 1857.

I’m feeling the need for a night off from poker, so I think I’ll skip the Silly Goose tournament tonight.  That’ll make for an extra-long beer drinking session at Pint Nite.  Will be there in a few minutes.

Sitting here drinking Mountain Dew and eating Shelton’s Sultry Salsa, which I got from Shelton Clothiers.  Did you know that the premium men’s clothing store had salsa?  It’s kind of like those hot wing places that also sell cell phones.  Except, classier.  Recommendation:  Shelton’s Sultry Salsa and Sweet Spicy Chili Doritos pair up well together.

Yesterday was Saturday, the last calendar day of last week.  Today is Sunday, the first calendar day of this week.  Know what that means?  Even though I posted a “Brick” quote of the week yesterday, it’s already time for another one.

So, Thursday night I was hanging out with friends at the bar, and Brick came up to me and shared her latest news:

“I’m getting my IQ re-done so that it’s almost a 4.0.”

She wondered why we were all laughing, and I felt bad and hugged her and said, “Brick, I’m sorry.  You’re right.  I have no doubt that your IQ is close to a 4.0.”  And all was well after that.

I think she works today, so hopefully she’ll provide a quote for next week.

Wow there was a whole lotta douche Downtown last night.  Affliction logos everywhere.  Graphic tees worn two sizes too small to show off that the owner works out and roids up every day.  Spiky gelled hair.  Faux hawks.  Chin-strap beards.  Bramble tatts.  It was gross.  I went home early… definitely did not want to be out after the fight was over.

I’ve been asked to provide feedback on a topic of interest today at 1… thank goodness I can do it while drinking beer.  May play in a live Texas hold’em game at 3… will see how I feel about it when time rolls around.  Tonight I’ll be back up at the Saucer for another lazy Sunday night with Brittney.

The Acer Aspire 10.1″ 1 GB RAM/160 GB HD netbook that I bought about a month ago is on sale on Woot.com today.  They’re throwing in a USB DVD R/W and a wireless mouse with this one for $269, not a bad deal.  The 3-cell battery sucks, giving you only about 2 hours of battery life, but you can order a replacement 9-cell battery on Amazon for about $50.  The 9-cell will give you about 7 1/2 of use, and you’ll have a very nice little netbook with accessories for barely more than $300.

Go to Woot.com to purchase.

So I rode the bike down to Memphis Cash & Carry this morning.  It’s a grocery on Carolina right where Second Street ends.  They have a lot of good deals there.  Usually you have to buy by the case, but if you need a lot of something, you’ll save money there.  They had just about everything you’d find in a regular grocery, including name brands, beer, and a large cigarette/tobacco selection.

Huge selection of cans and bottles of beer.  They had a 12-pack of PBR 24-ounce cans for $12.90.  They also had a lot of bands you don’t see in tallboys every day… for example, they had a 12-pack of Modelo Especial tallboys.  Didn’t see the price, but that’s a good beer – I like it as much as I like Dos Equis Lager.  Gotta have a lime with it, though, since it’s a Mexi-beer.

People who should definitely check out the cash & carry:

• College students, or those who are fresh out of college and on a tight budget.  I saw cases of Ramen, as well as cases of Beefaroni, chili, beef stew, and other inexpensive dishes that can be heated up in a microwave.
• People planning a party.  If you need to buy stuff in bulk, this is a good place to get stuff cheap.  They have a big meat selection, and I already mentioned the beer.  Didn’t see produce.  Of course, they’ve got chips, cookies, soft drinks, and all that stuff in bulk.
• People who use a lot of one particular item.  For example, if you’re addicted to Altoids and suck on them all day, every day at work, you can get cases of them at the cash & carry.
• Smokers.  If you smoke, chew or dip, you’ll definitely save money at the cash & carry.  Of course, you’ll save even more money if you quit your filthy, nasty, disgusting, cancer-causing habit altogether.

And don’t ride a bike down there like I did.  You’ll want a car with plenty of trunk space.  It’s open until 3:45 PM weekdays and 2:45 Saturday.

I didn’t make it to the Creole restaurant on Florida.  I decided it was just too cold to ride all the way down there.  When we get a Saturday in the 50s I’ll give it a try.  However, on the ride home I rode down GE Patterson, and there was Beignet Cafe, which I had not yet tried.  So I got Creole food after all… red beans & rice, to be specific.  Very good, neat little place, and they’re staying open until 10 Mon-Sat now.  Will definitely go back.  Full bar, and I think they have Wi-Fi there, so maybe I’ll bring the netbook.

I was going to stop in for a beer at Calhoun’s, but it was starting to spit rain, so I just hopped on the bike and rode home.  Rain + bike is not a good combination, especially when it’s 40 outside.  Now I’m home… going to mess around with Jolicloud OS on the netbook and play Razz on PokerStars for a few hours.  At 5 I’ll head to the Saucer for the Beerknurd party.

Oh… good news.  If you’re going to the Beerknurd party, you won’t have to deal with this.

The Nuh-Uh Girl won’t be there.  She’s in Nashville this weekend.  So the rest of us actually might get something to eat.

Jolicloud OS update:  I got PokerStars installed to run under Wine, the Windows emulator for Linux, on which Jolicloud is based.  It worked well for over an hour, but finally, as I switched back and forth between a table, the PokerStars lobby, and Firefox, PokerStars crashed and I had to reboot.  Oh well.  It is a pre-beta of Jolicloud that I’m using.  Can’t expect perfection.  About to log back on and try again.