Paul Ryburn's Journal

The Commercial Appeal’s arts writer Skiptopher M. Blank has a good article about this weekend’s RiverArtsFest in the South Main district, including a schedule of the acts that will perform on various stages.  Check it out if you plan on heading down there.

As with most festivals, there will be beer stands, and although I haven’t heard the prices yet, most festivals run them in the $3-4 range for domestics.  However, you should know that there is a value beer drinking option on the festival route:  Calhoun’s, which sells PBR for $1.50.  By the way, that’s not a festival price, that’s an every-day price.  Calhoun’s is on G.E. Patterson Avenue, in the same building that houses the Arcade, all the way to the east end of the building next to the cheesecake place.

Furthermore, when you buy your beer at Calhoun’s, it will be served to you by hotties.  My BFF and former Saucer girl Lauren is the day bartender on the weekends, and she’ll be there pouring PBR (and other beers, if your tastes aren’t as exquisite as mine).  Furthermore, since the owner Max anticipates a high sales volume for the festival, he asked Lauren to recommend a second bartender to help out on Saturday, and she recruited another former Saucer girl, Jamie.  Looks like I’ll be spending a lot of time at Calhoun’s during RiverArtsFest.  This kind of violates my “no side trips during festivals” rule that I’ve had the past year or so, but this is an unusual circumstance worthy of an exception.

See you at RiverArtsFest tomorrow.  Another post to come later today with pics of “Killer” the lost dog.

Big Foot’s party last night was a blast as always.  Best costume of the night was definitely my buddy Frank, who is trying to get on the Hot Chicks with Douchebags site.  He dressed up in three shirts with popped collars, the outer one, of course, being pink.  He also had spiked gelled hair, douchey sunglasses, and bandana around his head.  He carried a backpack with him that had “Summer’s Eve” printed on it, so he was a douchebag carrying a douchebag.  Well done!  I didn’t do a very good job snapping pics last night… if anyone has a pic of Frank I can post, please send it to me.

That site continues to provide hours and hours of entertainment for me as I make my way backward in time through the archives… late Wednesday night I was reading the November 2007 archives, when I came across this post explaining why Jeffy from the Family Circus is a douchebag.  Great stuff.

I’ve wasted so much time reading the HCwDB site that I’ve come up with my own unit of measure for it.  You may have heard of the erg, a physics term that measures work.  Specifically, one erg is equal to the work done by the force of one dyne acting over a distance of one centimenter.  Well, I think it’s time to invent a new unit of measure, the brittney, which measures laziness.  One brittney equals the amount of laziness needed to sit on one’s ass for one hour and not work.  I’d estimate that I exerted 3.23 brittneys Wednesday night reading HCwDB.

As for my own costume… meh.  I’m definitely getting bored with the Saucer Girl costume, and tonight will surely be its swan song.  I honestly wasn’t thrilled about bringing it back for a fourth year, but girls love it for some reason (at least some of them do), it doesn’t cost me anything since I already own it, and I make tips.  Reminds me… let’s see how much tip money I made last night… $6.47, not bad for a night’s work.

Still unsure what I’ll end up doing tonight.  Having Halloween on a Friday is a total clusterf**k because everyone tries to do their parties the same night (except Big Foot, which was a smart move).  I’m scheduled to work the 4:00 shift on the floor at the Saucer, so I’ll probably show up there about 4:35.  It’s trolley tour night but I don’t know if I’m excited enough about it to go down there.  My apartment building’s party starts at 8, and I definitely plan to make it to that one for a while.  After that, completely undecided.  One option is a large party about a mile south of where I live.  Another option is a party about a mile to the east.  Or I may just remain at my own building for the duration.  I’ll know more people if I go south, but I suspect that the very important “hot girls in skimpy costumes” quotient will be higher at my own building’s party and the one to the east.  After 8 I’m going to play it by ear and spontaneously decide where to go.

More to come today – info on cheap beer and hot girls at RiverArtsFest tomorrow, and I have more photos of “Killer” the lost dog to post.  I’ll wrap this up with a couple of questions:

Q:  What would you call it if Big Foot bartender Meghan put on a Frankenstein mask for Halloween?

A:  A big improvement.

Q:  What would you call it if Meghan dressed up as a mime for Halloween?

A:  An even bigger improvement.  Mimes don’t talk.

Is it possible for bloggers to suffer from manic depression, but only as it relates to blogging?  If so, I must be in my manic phase right now.  What is this, the 7th or 8th post within 24 hours, after what was admittedly several days of subpar blogging to start the week?

Just got back from the Second Street Branch Office where I had my business meeting.  On the way back, I saw a sign advertising Cafe 61’s Halloween plans for Friday night, and figured I’d pass on the info:

The manager at the Saucer was in the back doing inventory, so I didn’t get a chance to ask him what election night festivities will be going on in place of trivia.  There were signs saying “watch election night results here,” so that’s encouraging.  If I can verify that they’ll have the results on with sound, and won’t change the channel if some putz comes in and goes, “D-UH, ME LIKE FOOTBALL, ME WANT TO WATCH THE MIAMI-BUFFALO GAME” which is that night, and if they can promise a good Fire Sale, I’ll likely be there for at least a while that night.

All right, time to get my costume together.  Will be at Jillian’s/Saucer between 7:30 and 9, then will head to Big Foot.  Wishing I had a “PIMP” goblet to carry on my Halloween costume server tray for some reason.

This week’s Livin’ it Up in Downtown Memphis is out.  Check it out to learn about all the Halloween parties that will be going on Downtown Friday night, as well as for info about RiverArtsFest and other Downtown events happening within the next 7 days.  They have a blurb about Alcenia’s appearance on the Food Network next Monday at 9.  Wonder where they learned about that?  Don’t forget that you can subscribe to Livin’ it Up to have it delivered to your Inbox every Thursday.

BLAST IT ALL!!!  I missed the CCC’s tour of Downtown manhole covers today at lunchtime!  I wanted to go on that, but got so wrapped up in last night’s website discovery that I totally forgot!

I just heard a rumor that a vegan restaurant may be coming to Downtown Memphis.  Needless to say, that does not appeal to me at all, but I’ll get the info for my vegan readers.  My health guru AL is probably jumping up and down clapping her hands right now.

Also, I just learned that trivia at the Flying Saucer is canceled next Tuesday due to election night.  Not sure if the Saucer plans on putting the sound on for the results or running any kind of specials, but I’m here right now, having just got done with a business meeting, and will find out.

Lazy, do-nothing, sit-on-her-ass Brittney is bartending today.  Normally that’d be enough to drive me straight out the door after my business meeting, but I can’t wait to show Brittney what I found on a certain website’s archives last night, since Brittney and Meghan are good friends.

Oh and the fire sale is Yazoo Pale Ale.  I haven’t used Twitter to update the “what’s the fire sale” box yet today.

Good how-to link I found yesterday – How to deal with a mooching friend.  It doesn’t take a genius-level IQ to know when someone is trying to freeload off you.  This article gives useful tips to help you curb their mooching behavior.

Yay!  I scheduled another meeting at the Second Street Branch Office for this afternoon.  I like working from the branch office.  Hmmm the Weather Channel says it’s going to 70 today.  Is it unprofessional to wear shorts to a business meeting?

Got a question for everyone… we’ve all been so busy making Halloween plans, that it’s been easy to lose sight of the fact that Election Day is only 5 days away.  Question for restaurant/bar owners and managers reading this – who will be showing the election returns on their TVs, and will you have sound on?  Let me know and I’ll post a list of places where you can watch returns.

Getting fired up for Big Foot Lodge’s Halloween party tonight at 9.  It looks like I may have to work before the party… one of the girls at the Saucer asked if I could pick up her shift, so I may have to go in and work for about an hour, hour and a half.  Management has promised me I’ll be off by 9 so I can go to Big Foot.  I’m grateful for the chance to make some money, but the thing is, in this economy I’m really going to have to work it to get good tips.  I won’t be able to just sit on my ass and run my mouth all night, like Meghan and Brittney did before Meghan got hired by Big Foot and Brittney got moved behind the bar.

It’s trivia night at Jillian’s with $2 Bud and Bud Light and $3 grape, cherry and Jager bombs.  I probably won’t make it this week, but maybe some Rapscallions will show up and win some more money and continue our perfect winning streak.

All right, time to get a couple of hours work done before I go to my meeting.  Which means, time to get 10 minutes of work done, and spend the rest of the time laughing at the photo I found on one of my favorite websites last night.

RiverArtsFest happens this Saturday and Sunday in the South Main Arts District, with music on 5 stages, food, and more than 150 artists selling their work.  South Main from Huling to St. Paul will be closed off for the event, which will run from 10 AM to 6 PM Saturday, and 10 AM to 5 PM Friday.  This is the descendant of the South Main Arts Festival and Arts in the Park, and drew 40,000 people in its first year last year.

I want to personally recommend the work of one of the artists who will have a booth there:  Shane Paris Art.  I’ve known Shane for 5 years and have seen his work in several galleries during previous South Main Trolley Art Tours.  His premise is that everyone should be able to afford art, not just the rich.  You can check out some of his artwork here.  He also can be hired to create a custom photo montage of your favorite images.  Shane also does logo design, and he custom-designed the logo I currently use on my business cards to reflect a “Downtown” feel.  He does freelance ad layout design too.  Also, he can take an ordinary photo of your pet and turn it into a truly unique and special memory.

Furthermore, Shane is not only an artist I highly respect, but a true friend as well.  When I was invited to come to Sunday brunch at Sleep Out Louie’s one day in early 2003, Shane was one of the first people I met, and he and his girlfriend Leigh immediately made me feel welcome and part of the group.  Since then he’s always been there with advice when I needed it, and has just been a real good person to sit at a bar and drink a beer with.  He’s a good person for Downtowners to hire to do custom work, because he lives and breathes Downtown Memphis.

Be sure to look for his booth this weekend.  Look for me too – I’ll be at RiverArtsFest both days, probably getting there around noon and staying until close.

I saw this “lost dog” sign posted on a tree as I walked around Downtown today, and figured I’d help the owner out by posting a pic of it.  This dog was lost last Saturday at the Farmers Market, which would be in the area around Front and GE Patterson.  There’s a large cash reward to get “Killer” back.

I’ve been asked to post info about Ptolemy’s fall party at Earnestine & Hazel’s, which will happen Friday, November 7.  Details below (click the image for larger size).  Ptolemy is one of the Carnival crews, and fellow blogger Ptolemy Kat and her socialite friends are members.

I just deleted a post that had been up for 13 minutes.

Tonight I was surfing the archives of a website I read frequently, and found a photo of Meghan who bartends at Big Foot Lodge.  It’s a site I’ve mentioned several times before, not a local Memphis site but a national site where people send in pics to be posted.  There have to be two particular elements to the pic for it to be considered worthy of posting on that site.

After laughing my ass off, I posted a link to it a few minutes after midnight.  But then compassion got the better of me.  Even as rude as she was to me Monday night, I just can’t embarrass her like that, not on such a large scale.  Not to mention that it would embarrass the two other girls and the guy in the pic as well, people with whom I have no problem (and I’ve heard the guy, who I’ve only met once, is actually a very nice guy).  So I took my link to it down.  Damn it.  I’m too nice.

John D, Air Traffic Mike, and Bicycle Bobby, the link to the page I’m talking about will be in your e-mail Inbox in the morning.  For the rest of you, sorry.  (Edit:  Air Traffic Mike, I’m getting that “mailbox not found” error from your AOL account again.)

Late in the day for my first post… I was away from the computer most of the day.  I attended an alumni luncheon at the University of Memphis today.  They presented awards to several outstanding alumni, and spoke about new projects in the works.  Afterward I walked around the campus awhile.

I’ve got to say, the U of M has really stepped it up.  They’re well on their way to becoming a first-class university.  The attitude has changed from a decade ago when I got my Master’s degree there and then went on to teach there.  Back then, too often the attitude was one of settling for mediocrity due to budget concerns.  Now the attitude seems to be, “we’re going to strive for excellence, and if money’s a problem we’re going to go out and create the community partnerships that need to be made in order to take care of it.”  It’s turned into a university I’m proud to have graduated from, and it’s certainly grown out of the derisive “Tiger High” label people used to slap on it.

Lots of birthdays this week… first of all, happy birthday to my new BFF Lauren.  She celebrates her birthday today, as does my friend Skippy.  Yesterday was my friend Mikey’s birthday, and I skipped trivia to attend a surprise party for him and Skippy at Calhoun’s.  There was food, music, and of course, beer.  Someone gave him a 12-pack of PBR as a present.  Now that’s a thoughtful gift.  By the end of the evening Mikey was dancing on the bar.

I’m getting my costume ready for Big Foot Lodge’s Halloween party tomorrow night from 9 PM to 3 AM.  No disrespect to anyone who works at Big Foot (well, except Meghan – lots of disrespect to her), but the best waitress there tomorrow night will not be a Big Foot employee.  $2 Super Cold Coors Light, drink specials, $300 cash prize for first place in the costume contest, cash prizes for second and third also.

Gotta rebuild my server tray, so I’m outta here for now.  I have a couple more items, so I may post again later.