Stuff people asked me to post

Got a bunch of “will you mention this on your blog?” stuff in my Inbox.  Let’s clean it out:

The South Main Association will hold its next meeting Tuesday, September 9 at the Westin on Lt. Lee Avenue one block south of Beale.  Meeting starts at 6 PM and there will be complimentary food and booze for members ($5 non-members).  Pat Kerr Tigrett will speak on the upcoming 15th anniversary Blues Ball and what this charitable event means to the city.  There will also be info about an Oktoberfest event for SMA members, to be held Sept. 21.

AIGA will have their Thursty Happy Hour at the Majestic Grille next Thursday, September 11.  AIGA provides a chance to meet, greet, and collaborate with creative professionals from across the Mid-South.  Thursty Thursdays are a monthly networking event to bring in-house, boutique, agency, entrepreneurs, and students together.  Though geared to the design community, the public is welcome.  They’ll be on the mezzanine of the Majestic at 5:30 PM and will be displaying the Graphis 2007 Annual Reports show.  Complimentary appetizers provided by Patterson Graham Design Group.

Amazon unveiled their new Emmy Central site this morning.  Check it out if you’re a TV fan.

Argh… more stuff to post but it’s time to get some work done.  Back with more later.

Jillian’s new specials

Monday night I found myself sitting at the window at the Saucer next to some of the top managers from Jillian’s.  I got to talking to them about how they are going to reconfigure their space; I reported on their plans Monday night.  They’ve now sent me their list of upcoming specials, and it’s worth a post of its own.  It looks like they’re really going all out to get Downtowners and other locals in there more often.

The big news is what they are doing for NFL Sundays.  They’ll have $2 Bud and Bud Light drafts, and $3.99 wings during the games.  Furthermore, if you go you’ll have a chance to win $5,000 every week.  To enter, you’ll fill out an entry form when you get there, and then when the second half of the Titans game starts, a name is drawn.  If the opening kickoff of the second half is run back for a touchdown, that person wins the 5 grand.

Here are their other promotions:

– Monday: $10 for unlimited bowling

– Tuesday:  Pitchers and Pins.  Buy a pitcher of beer ($8.99 domestic/$9.99 import) and get 2 free games of bowling, including shoe rental.  If a colored pin comes up and you bowl a strike, you’ll get a ticket for a $2 pitcher of your choice.

– Wednesday:  SIN night bowling league… see the link above to my previous post, I talked about it there.

– Friday:  This is still in the works, but they’re thinking about doing a trivia night from 8 to 10 PM.

– Saturday:  NCAA all day.

Also, this Saturday, they will show the UFC fight for free, and will offer $2 Bud/Bud Lights until the fights are over. 

And at some point in the future, they’re going to do a Jillian’s pool party on a Tuesday with free pool all day.

I have to give them credit, they’ve come up with some good incentives to get people in the door.  Maybe a year from now, I’ll be sitting in Jillian’s window staring at the Saucer, instead of sitting in the Saucer window staring at Jillian’s.

Pic of fake St. Jude donation guy

Memphis Limelight has a new pic of the panhandler who goes around Downtown trying to sell free publications, asking for a dollar “donation for St. Jude.” Here’s a link to the pic and to a post about the Memphis Limelight blogger’s encounter with St. Jude bum this past weekend.  Going around using the ruse of a children’s charity to panhandle is about as low as you can go.

Oh, speaking of St. Jude… the team of St. Jude scientists and researchers showed up at the Saucer for trivia again last night, and for a second week got their ass handed to them by the legendary Rapscallions.  Another first place, bringing our gift certificate total for the next party to $100.  I heard that some of the St. Jude team members were afraid to come back and get beaten and then blogged about again.  Waaaaah!

We barely squeaked past the Weiss Asses to take first.  I was surprised we did, because the final 30-point bonus was to name the 3 men who formed the First Triumvirate in Rome in 60 BC.  Most of the Weiss Asses were in high school around that time, but maybe they weren’t paying attention to current events.  By the way, the correct answer was Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassius.  I was told that no one got Crassius (we got the other two).  A lot of teams guessed Antony, Lepidius, and Octavian (Augustus Caesar), but that was the Second Triumvirate that formed in 44 BC after Julius Caesar’s murder.

Article from The Onion that must have been written by a Memphian:  Inconveniencing others makes me feel alive

Coming later today:  Info on upcoming specials at Jillian’s – so many of them that they’ll take up an entire post.

Links: Dunkin’ Donuts, new browser, politics, how to open wine without a corkscrew

Just got a text that the Saucer now has New Belgium beer on draft.  They’ve had it in bottles for about a month now.

This morning’s CA had an article about Dunkin’ Donuts move into Memphis, and into Downtown. Says they still plan to grab the 2800 SF ground floor location at the corner of Union and Main (Radio Center Flats) to use as their flagship location for Memphis. Says the new store should be open this year, which is earlier than I had previously heard (January 2009). The article also said that the store will sell breakfast and lunch sandwiches as well as donuts.

Google plans to release its own Web browser, called Chrome, this week. More info available on Google’s blog. Did the world really need another web browser? If people realize how much IE sucks, they can already download and install Firefox. And now web programmers have one more browser to test for compatibility with their sites… groan. I’ve been dealing with CSS and its stupid “clear:both” tag for a good part of the day at work.

Political links of the day: A Times Online writer from London offers her opinion on why America needs a post-Bush makeover, how we can restore some of the stature and respect our nation has lost around the world in the past 8 years. Also, Time has a good article on Sarah Palin and her rise to power in Alaska.

And finally, if you ever need to open a bottle of wine but can’t find your corkscrew, Dr. Booze has an article on using common household tools to open a wine bottle.

Off to trivia.  I’ll probably get soaked with rain walking home, but it’s worth it if the Rapscallions pick up another $50 first prize like last week.

Jillian’s to transform itself into bar that doesn’t suck

I spent a good amount of time in the window at the Saucer tonight talking to some of the managers of Jillian’s, and they gave me some information on major changes that are going to happen to the place:

– First: The short-term news. They’re starting a bowling league Wed 9/3 to 10/22 (8 weeks). Starts at 10 PM. $100 fee per team. Cash prize for the champs. $2 shooters and drafts, $3 bombs during league play. If you want to sign up get by Jillian’s IMMEDIATELY, as league play starts Wednesday. If you can’t do it by then, they tell me it’s no big deal if you miss one week.

– Now, on to the renovations. First, the best news of all… Club Atlas will soon be GONE. They’re moving the dining area where Atlas is, and opening up the windows to make an open-air patio similar to the Garden at the Saucer. WOOOHOOO! I’m sure the nightclub poser crowd will mourn the loss of Atlas.

– The pool tables will remain but will move to the current dining area.

– The current dining area will become a banquet hall.

– Unfortunately the 2nd floor game room will go away, as the 2nd floor of the mall is turned into Peabody suites.

– The bowling alley will remain intact.

– They want very much to get the type of crowd that the Saucer gets, which is a good sign since the Saucer has turned into more of a locals’ bar the past few years.

That’s the quick summary of what I was told. Sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend, but I was drunk.

(Edit:  I forgot to mention, UCLA 27, Tennessee 24 in overtime.  FRANK?  NUH-UH GIRL?  CARMEL?  YOU HAVE COMMENTS?  Didn’t think so.)

Memphis Music & Heritage Fest keeps getting better every year

I had a great time at the Center for Southern Folklore’s Memphis Music and Heritage Festival.  Seems like it keeps getting better every year… more people attending, better bands, better variety.  Great food too, inside the folklore hall… I had some homemade chili yesterday.  They have meat and vegetarian varieties.  They also have BBQ shoulder sandwiches, and Ella Kizzie’s chicken, greens, and hot-water cornbread.  There are street vendors selling funnel cakes, corn dogs, and the like.  Circa has white and red sangria for sale for $5.

Here’s a pic from yesterday.  Three tube tops – nice!

Looking forward to another fun-filled day… at least hurricane refugees arriving here from New Orleans will have something to occupy their mind today.

Heading back there in a few minutes to get started until day 2.  Festival runs all day today, so come on down.

It’s official: Interim will take over the Daily Grill

The CA had an article this morning announcing that the rumors are true:  East Memphis restaurant Interim will take over the Daily Grill.  The restaurant will not be named Interim (they have yet to pick a name) and will emphasize fresh fish, although there will also be chicken, burgers, steaks, oysters, and other menu items.  More details here.

Fun Trolley Tour last night.  Mikey the Camera Nazi had his monthly porch party outside his condo, and I tried my luck at cornhole and found that my skills had improved considerably since last time.  After that I went to Calhoun’s with some new friends for beers.  I didn’t make it to Aquanet’s performance at the Red Rooster, so I’ll have to catch them next time.

I put gas in the car for the first time in three months this morning.  That Riverside BP is a gem.  Bought a couple of breakfast sandwiches to take home.

Time to get dressed and head down Main for the Memphis Music & Heritage Festival.  I’ll put a fresh battery in the camera and take pictures.

Friday update: Tube tops, veggie wine dinner, discounts for locals, where to eat prime rib?, is it time for a Downtown charity beer fest?, and more

While researching listings for my new happy hour search engine, I happened upon an article from a Denver newspaper listing some Ladies’ Night promotions. I was especially intrigued by this one:

“The Walnut Room, 3131 Walnut St. The Walnut’s ingenious ‘Tube Top Sundays’ provides ladies clad thusly with free drinks from 2-5 PM.”

Attn Memphis bars, restaurants and clubs: Here is a promotion just begging to be copied. This is one of the best ideas ever, and any local bar that copies it has about a 99.9% chance of seeing me as a customer. If I ever take a vacation to Denver, I know where I’ll be Sunday afternoon.

Circa is having a vegetarian wine dinner on Wednesday, September 3. If you read the article in this week’s Memphis Flyer, you know what a great vegetarian chef John Bragg is. His dishes will be paired with wine from Heller Estate. 5-course dinner, $75 with wine or $55 without.

Memphis Travel, the Convention & Visitors Bureau site, has a page for locals. There you can download coupons to use around the city. Most of the local museums offer discounts, as do other venues including Center for Southern Folklore Circuit Playhouse. You can also enter a trivia contest to win a Memphis “stay-cation” for locals.

I had a reader e-mail me asking where to take guests from Tokyo for prime rib. That one has me stumped; I don’t eat prime rib that often. There’s the Blue Monkey but I think they’re looking for someplace a little more upscale. Any suggestions? They don’t have to be Downtown restaurants. E-mail them to paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll pass them on.

Got an e-mail from one of my trivia team members, mentioning that the beer fest at the zoo tonight is sold out, and that Art on Tap got so crowded last year that the Dixon saw fit to raise the admission fee to $50 for non-members.  He pointed out that Memphians clearly love their beer festivals, and suggested that it’s time for a Downtown charity beer festival.  There’s a ball someone could pick up and run with (although I still think it’s the second-best idea in this post, after “Tube Top Sunday”).

So McCain’s VP pick is Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.  If he wants to make the case that Barack Obama is too inexperienced to lead the only remaining superpower, why did he pick someone far less experienced?  I bet today will be remembered as the day McCain blew the election.  Yeah some Hillary Clinton supporters might give the McCain-Palin ticket a look, because they want to see a woman in high office… but a woman who is staunchly pro-life?  Seems like that would be enough to turn away just about every feminist out there.

I had a good time watching Obama’s acceptance speech last night at the Majestic Grille, enjoying a whole roasted garlic chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans as I watched.  And I still have enough left on my gift card to go back and have one of Patrick’s filets.  Life is good.

Announcing my new drinking search engines

My new search engines are ready for rollout.  Here’s the scoop on each one:

Happy hour and drink special search engine – on this page you can search for happy hours and daily drink specials in your area by city/state or zip code, and by day.  I’ve added about 25 listings for Downtown Memphis, but eventually I hope to have listings nationwide.  If your favorite bar has drink specials and you don’t see them, you can use our friendly interface to add them.  Bar owners can also edit listings if they find information on the site that is out of date or incorrect.

Cheap beer search engine – here you can search for bars in your city that sell one or more beers for $2 all day, every day.  If you know of a bar that has a great deal on beer and you don’t see it, you can add it.  This search engine is only for beer deals that are “all day, every day,” available to all patrons of legal age, without additional purchase.

I hope you find these useful… it’s possible you may find a bug or two, a browser in which it doesn’t display properly, etc.  If you do just e-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com and I’ll look into it.

Over time, I’m hoping that these search engines will build up enough listings to be useful not only to Downtown Memphis or Memphis in general, but nationwide.

Memphis Music & Heritage Fest: Complete schedule and Paul’s Picks

Here’s the complete schedule for the 2008 Memphis Music & Heritage Festival, to be held Saturday and Sunday on the Main Street Mall at Peabody Place/Gayoso.

And here are my picks:

Saturday
noon Greg Hisky & his Dixie Whisky Flyers (Peabody Place at Main stage)
noon Jimmy Crosthwait – puppet show (Trolley Stop Stage)
1:15 PM Charlie Wood (Folklore Store stage)
1:30 PM Mr. White (Gayoso & Main stage)
2:55 PM Ella Kizzie Southern cooking demo (Trolley Stop Stage)
6:30 PM Alicja Trout & the River City Tanlines (Gayoso & Main stage)
7 PM Giant Bear(Peabody Place at Main stage)
8:30 PM Al Kapone (Gayoso & Main stage)
8:45 PM Hope Clayburn & Soul Scrimmage (Folklore Hall Stage)
9:15 PM Harlan T Bobo (Folklore Store stage)

I’ve also received a recommendation to go see Punching Nicholas, who will be playing down the street at the Tap Room on Beale at 10 PM.

Sunday
noon Jimmy Crosthwait – puppet show (Trolley Stop Stage)
1:30 PM Mr. White & David Agape (Gayoso & Main stage)
2:15 PM Barbara Blue (Folklore Store stage)
2:55 PM Ella Kizzie Southern cooking demo (Trolley Stop Stage)
6:25 PM Chef Michael Patrick Creole gumbo demo (Trolley Stop Stage)
7 PM Sonny Burgess & the Pacers (Peabody Place at Main stage)
8 PM FreeWorld featuring Herman Green (Peabody Place at Main stage)
8:30 PM Exodus (Gayoso & Main stage)
10 PM Jason D. Williams
10:15 PM Blind Mississippi Morris (Folklore Store stage)