Paul Ryburn's Journal

All right, one more post before I go to trivia.  I need to catch up.

If you go to Grizzlies or Tigers games, there are two specials in the area you may want to know about.  South of Beale is running a season-long special on Grizzlies/Tigers nights – just show your tickets before or after the game, and receive 20% off on all food purchases.

Meanwhile, Sole Restaurant across the street from the FedExForum is inviting everyone to join them for a gameday buffet and $3 drafts from 5:30 to 7:30 on Grizzlies and Tigers game nights.  As far as I can tell there’s no requirement to show tickets for this one.  Gameday buffet… free food?  Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

The Tigers have a game tonight, and it’s a night to root for the home team… both of them.  They play LeMoyne-Owen at the FedExForum tonight, and it’s good to see LeMoyne-Owen back on the schedule after Coach Cal pitched a hissy fit and kicked them off a couple of years ago.  Go Tigers and Go Magicians!

Over the past couple of years, there have been three restaurants/bars that I have rarely talked about on my blog, other than to make fun of them.  These would be Mesquite Chop House, Spindini, and Primetime Sports Bar/Club Chill.

However, I’ve kept my eye on them, and recently all three places have made some personnel changes and got hold of some good people.  Mesquite Chop House brought in Michael Patrick, one of my favorite chefs Downtown and a super nice guy.  He knows how to cook a meal and he knows how to run a restaurant.  It’s hard for me to be negative toward any restaurant where he’s in charge.

Spindini overhauled its management, getting rid of the clowns who were running it before.  I’ve seen Mac Edwards posting on Facebook recently about goings-on at Spindini.  I don’t know Mac real well but I know of his reputation and respect him highly.  If he’s associated with the place, it has to have improved.

Also on Facebook, I’ve seen Christina who used to be at the Red Rooster posting about Primetime/Club Chill.  She’s a great person with a great mind for the bar business.  If she’s associated with the bar/club, I have to hold it in higher esteem than I did before.

So, I’m going to give all three of these places a chance.  I’ll mention their events on my blog from time to time, and I won’t be averse to going in and spending money at them.  If I’m impressed with the places I’ll be honest and say so on the blog.  Of course, if they suck I’ll say that just as quickly.  We’ll see what happens.

Time to head to the Saucer for trivia.  Hmmm 57 outside dropping into the 40s tonight… sounds like a perfect night for the PBR hoodie.

When I attended my high school reunion in 2007 in Downtown Little Rock, I did not see a single bum.  “Wow this is nothing like Downtown Memphis,” I thought.

Well, two years later, either things have changed for the worse in Little Rock, or the bums were there in ’07 and I didn’t see them.  I got panhandled at the bar at the Little Rock Flying Saucer.  This guy came in and he already had his money out, a $1 bill and about another dollar in change.  “Hey man, what’s the cheapest beer they got here?” he asked me.

“Well, they have all of the Diamond Bear beers on Fire Sale for $2.75 today,” I told him.  “I believe those would be cheapest.”  I knew what was coming next.

“$2.75?  I’ve only got about two dollars, do you think you can help me with 75 cents?”  I will give him credit, he actually said “75 cents” rather than “75 cent.”  I told him I couldn’t help him, and then he tried to negotiate with the bartender to lower the price of a Bud Light to the amount of money he had.  That didn’t work out for him, and he left.

That was the only time I actually got panhandled.  Saw several other street people who may have been panhandling, but thanks to my years in Downtown Memphis I’ve learned how to project a “not worth the trouble” image, so they left me alone.

I’m back in Memphis.  Thanks to everyone who e-mailed or texted me expressing their concern and best wishes.  My mother is recovering well from her surgery, but it is a good thing I went over there.  She no longer has a car, so she needed me to take her to the grocery store, Walgreens, places like that, so she can get everything she needs for the next couple of weeks.  Also, she can’t lift her arm above elbow height, so she needed me there to reset all the clocks on the walls to standard time.

It’s probably going to take me a day or two to catch up on everything… I have 70 unread e-mails that I need to sort through, plus messages on Facebook.

I’m in Little Rock.  My mother is out of the hospital and seems to be recovering well from her surgery.  She even felt like going out to eat at Cracker Barrel tonight, which kinda surprised me.  She can’t lift her arm above her elbow though, so I had to set all the clocks back to standard time for her.

She needed to rest so I’m back at the hotel now.  For those of you who know Little Rock, I’m staying at the LaQuinta Inn on Broadway.  Pretty nice place, with a microwave and fridge in the room and free wireless Internet.  I’m thinking this is going to be the place I stay for all future Little Rock trips.

Okay let’s see here… it’s only 7:30, nowhere near my bedtime… and I’m in Downtown Little Rock… and there’s a Flying Saucer in Downtown Little Rock… sounds like a winner.  I’ll get to try some beers they don’t have in Memphis and get beers number 195, 196, and 197 for my plate done relatively cheaply.

Posting will be somewhat irregular until about Wednesday.

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had bought a Kindle book called The No BS Guide to Winning Online No Limit Texas Hold’em.  It helped my game almost immediately.  Prior to reading the book, I had finished in the money in single-table Sit’n’Go tournaments but had never won one.  Within a day of reading the book, I won two.  I also started placing in the money in large multi-table tournaments.

Well, I just found out that the book’s author has a website – internetpokercoach.com.  You can buy the book there and have it delivered immediately in PDF format, or order a printed copy.  He also has a blog that he updates frequently, and which is well worth reading if you want to get better in online no-limit hold’em.  He occasionally talks about other games – Omaha, Stud, Razz – as well.

He also offers coaching lessons, where he railbirds (watches) the poker room or tournament in which you’re playing and gives advice over the phone.  Having a third party observe your play is a great way to become aware of leaks in your game which are costing you money.  I may take him up on this in the near future.  I played a 10 cent SB/25 cent BB ring game for several hours the other day and ended up only winning $6.  That’s better than losing your entire bankroll I suppose (which is what many players do), but I have a feeling I could be doing a lot better than a buck or two an hour at that level.

Anyway, if you play for money online, I highly recommend you read his blog and get his book.  My copy has more than paid for itself.

Due to transportation issues I’m still in town.  The car wasn’t ready to go until 5:05 yesterday, and by then my mother was out of surgery and recovering well and I’d already talked to her on the phone.  I revised my plan to go out of town Sunday.  I was going to come back for Halloween tonight anyway and then leave again, so this way I’m making one trip rather than two.

Since I ended up in town Friday night after all, I walked down Main Street to Radio Center Flats, where my friends Lauren and Jesse had a Halloween party.  Here are a few pics.

Okay, I hate to start this out on a bad note but I have to.  The guy in the middle of the pic above was just a complete and total douchebag.  I mean, look at him.  Spiked gelled hair, ridiculous beard, stupid-ass shirt, and an LED belt buckle that read, “WANNA RIDE?”  This guy made me wish I’d just skipped the party and gone to Calhoun’s instead.

Statler and Waldorf.  You can’t have a Halloween party without a couple of dirty old men showing up and gawking at all the hot girls in skimpy costumes.

Crowd shot of the party

The Facebook Fairy and the… uh… oh there are so many jokes to be made here that it’s impossible to pick just one.

The Nuh-Uh Girl never strayed far from the food buffet.  Here’s a pic of her and Esther pigging out.

Me with hostess Lauren, and a cameo appearance by Kermit the Frog.

I wasn’t the only one who dressed up as a Downtown business.  Here’s the Happy Mexican.

Someone spilled a beer by the front door.  Good thing we had the ShamWow guy there to clean it up.

Later in the evening, the ShamWow guy was exhausted from all that selling and cleaning and beating his girlfriend.

Lauren and Jesse:  THANK YOU for an awesome Halloween party.  It was just what I needed to take my mind off the situation in Little Rock and yesterday’s car problems.  Food was delicious, decorations were spooky… you truly went all out to create a great party.

Attn Erin:  You really need to find reasons to wear short shorts more often.  Just sayin’.

Lauren and Jesse had a mystery beer tub.  In past years I’ve had great luck with the Saucer’s mystery beer tub on Halloween, pulling out one $10 beer after another.  Not the case last night.  I got a Miller Lite, another Miller Lite, and then a Smirnoff Ice grape.  After that I gave up and went to the PBR keg, which is what I should have done in the first place.  It’s hard to do much better than PBR.

Now it’s time to plan for tonight.  Nearly every bar Downtown is having a Halloween party.  Of course, the Saucer will be a sure stop on my route, and the Silly Goose too.  Then I’ll have a decision to make.  There’s a private party in South Main which will probably be the best of all the Halloween parties… but it’s almost a mile walk home and the same people I partied with last night.  Meanwhile, a block from my front door there’s this:

Dunno… I’m about 50/50 on remaining in the core vs. heading south.  I’ll see which way the wind blows tonight.

If you have kids, don’t forget that you can take them trick-or-treating to Bardog Tavern tonight.  They’ll be handing out candy outside the bar.  Better yet, leave the damn kids at home and go to Bardog and drink you some PBR.

The cops are going to be out in force tonight looking to pull people over for DUIs.  Be sure to have a designated driver or take a cab home.  One tidbit of inside info:  If the traffic light at Main and Union is flashing red, be sure to come to a FULL STOP, because there is almost certainly a cop with his headlights off laying in wait about a quarter block up Main.  Linden and Walnut is another intersection where they love to do this, for those of you coming from Midtown.

All right, time to hit Publish.  Since I didn’t expect to be in town this afternoon, I have nothing to do, and I already know the Fire Sale is crap (Shiner Bock) so I’m not heading to the bar.  Guess I’ll fire up PokerStars and see if I can make a little money to pay for my bar tabs tonight.

Sitting here waiting on the car to get serviced so I can get on the road to Little Rock.  I hoped to be on the highway by 9:30 this morning… didn’t get up until 11 though.  Oops.

While I’m waiting, I’ll go ahead and post some pics from the Halloween party last night at Kooky Canuck.

Canadian bacon

He may not be James, but he sure is Brown.

Scary pic of the Nuh-Uh Sister and the Nuh-Uh Girl

The gang

The Fruit of the Loom guy celebrates his costume contest win with a beer.

The Nuh-Uh Girl and Nuh-Uh Sister dancing

There was also a witch dressed up as Pocahontas, but I didn’t get a pic of her.  After Kooky Canuck we stopped by the Saucer for a beer, then I headed to Bardog for to-go food.  Hot dog sliders topped with chili and cheese = yum.  I have to clean up all the chili I spilled on my carpet though.

In the news:  Don Scott, the chef at On the River Seafood, is profiled in Meet the Chef in the CA today.

Good deal on a netbook today on Woot.

All right, that’s it for now.  I’m definitely coming back for Saturday night’s parties, even though it means burning two extra tanks of gas, so there will be more pics.

Two big events going on today. One is Creative Conversations, an event sponsored by Mpact Memphis at Memphis College of Art. The Creative Conversations are local gatherings of emerging leaders in communities across the country and are part of a grass roots movement to elevate the profile of the arts in America during National Arts and Humanities Month. Its purpose is to

a) inspire you with examples of those who are bringing creative ideas to fruition, whether its for a community enhancement project, entrepreneurial business or personal skill, and

b) give you an opportunity to brainstorm with community artists, entrepreneurs and leaders to spark or add fire to your own ideas.

Event Schedule
5:30 – 6:30 Cocktail networking hour
6:30 – 6:40 Welcome and introductions
6:40 – 7:00 Helen Johnson & Staff present CreateHere
7:00 – 7:15 Q&A
7:15 – 7:40 Christopher Reyes presents Live From Memphis
7:40 – 8:45 Small Group Brainstorming

The other big thing going on tonight is the annual Halloween party at Kooky Canuck. It starts at 9 PM, and there will be $2 34 oz. Super Cold Bud Light Draft, $4 Red Bull & Vodka, and $4 Jager bombs, and other drink specials. Special guest DJ Bobby Smith. 21 and over, no cover, $300 cash prize for best costume. Kooky Canuck always throws some of the best parties of the year, and this one is not to be missed.

Once again, posting schedule will be irregular this weekend through about Tuesday, as I have to be out of town part of the time for family-related medical stuff. I will be at the Kooky party tonight, though, and in fact will be able to push it a bit later into the night than usual.

I stayed home and played PokerStars on my new netbook last night… I’ve decided that the netbook needs a name. Never felt the need to name a computer before, but this tiny blue netbook needs one. Any suggestions? I’ll try to post some pics of it when I get a chance.

I forgot to mention a couple of South of Beale news items in the last post:

First of all, if you’re going to the Grizzlies game tonight at the FedExForum, show your ticket for 20% off food items before or after the game.

Also, the debut of Ghost River’s new Black Magic beer will be at South of Beale Friday from 6-8 PM.  They will have Pint Night prices on all Ghost River beers all night Friday and Saturday, and Ghost River will be on hand to hand out prizes: t-shirts, glasses, etc.

In other news:  Mayor AC Wharton, who is an attorney with plenty of expertise in this area, said that the target letter the FBI recently sent King Willie is “serious.”  It usually signals the end of an investigation and puts the defendant on notice.  Wonder if that means we can expect an indictment soon?

First of all, a very happy birthday to our friend Mikey aka Mikey the Camera Nazi, Mikey the Other Trivia Guy, etc. Mikey is the instigator of a lot of the shenanigans that happen Downtown, and the neighborhood wouldn’t (Edit: had “won’t” there before, giving the impression that he’s leaving, which he’s not, thanks for the catch ATM) be the same without him. He’s also a big part of the reason why several of Downtown’s career panhandlers/scammers are currently in jail. I’m sure he’ll be out celebrating tonight with his favorite beverage: BEER!

One administrative note before I get started: Due to family health issues, posts to this blog are going to be somewhat irregular between now and the first part of next week. I’m going to try not to miss a day posting but I can’t promise it. Please continue to send me info for the blog, but understand that I may not be able to post it in a timely fashion. I’m going to try as hard as possible to be in town Saturday night for Halloween, but will likely have to go right back out of town after that.

I’m the proud parent of an Acer Aspire netbook. It arrived from Woot.com yesterday. It’s tiny and it’s blue, my favorite color. 1 GB of RAM and 160 GB of hard drive space for $229. Not bad. I ordered a 9-cell battery on Amazon for $50, which will give the computer 7-8 hours of battery power. I’ll end up with a kick-ass netbook for under $300. I already installed the most important software (PokerStars) on it.

Which reminds me… I’ve finally found a use for stupid people. I hate standing in line behind them, I hate sitting next to them at the bar, I hate sharing the road with them when I drive… but I LOVE sitting at a poker table with them! After trivia last night, I was waiting for a seat at a table on PokerStars, observing the action. There was a total idiot shoving his stack of chips in on roughly 4 out of every 5 hands. I finally got a seat and got dealt pocket aces first hand, and the moron did it again… it doesn’t get any better than that. His Q-8 suited didn’t hold up, and I found myself up 40 big blinds for less than a minute’s work. I made sure to write his username down so I can search for him next time I play.

Congrats to the trivia team on a first-place win last night. We’re now up to $260 for our next party. Attn team members: Please get on the e-mail list and give your preferences for the date of the next party ASAP. We’re running out of time.

This morning I saw a site called Treehugger Deals which apparently finds good buys that are “green.” It recently talked about a store called Flora & Fauna which is selling nature-inspired fashion for 25% off. The reason I mention this is that one of the featured items on sale is a jellyfish tube top. Yay for nature’s inspiration, and yay for tube tops!

I also found a good article in which women discuss slutty Halloween costumes, and the psychology behind wearing them.

Memphis Farmers Market will have a harvest celebration on Sunday, November 8 from 4 to 7 PM. It will be at Hudson Hall in Central Station, and attendees will enjoy food from some of the city’s best chefs, an auction, live music, and most importantly, complimentary beer and wine. There will be food from Andrew Michael Kitchen, Amerigo, Big Ono Bakery, Cafe Society, Felicia Suzanne’s, Henny Penny Catering, Inn at Hunt Phelan, Interim, Majestic Grille, Mesquite Chop House, Restaurant Iris, Sole, Tsunami, and more. Music will be by performers who played MFM throughout the season. Auction items include a private cooking session by Ben Smith, a Whole Foods shopping spree, vacation retreats, and a family portrait session worth over $700. Go here to purchase tickets. $45 single/$80 couple but the prices go up when November gets here, so buy early. Discounts for MFM vendors and volunteers.

If you missed the last PR class for nonprofits and other civic and congregational groups, it’s being offered again Monday, November 9 at Hutchison’s Center for Excellence, 1740 Ridgeway. Learn to create news briefs, calendar items and public service announcements, pitch story ideas, and book guests on TV and radio shows. $49. To register call 901-507-2460.

The South Main Association will once again be grilling out at Trolley Tour on Friday, October 30. Free to SMA members, $5 for non-members. Boscos beer, and burgers. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

All right, that’s all the time I have for now… all I have to do is get through the afternoon at work, and then I can go home and start fishing on PokerStars again.