Paul Ryburn's Journal

All right, time to post some of the stuff I haven’t had time to type up.

The Red Rooster has dressed their rooster up for Elvis week.  See photo below.

Heard back from a reader who tried Safari which is now open for lunch.  She said the food is not really tapas, but wraps and a few sides.  She had the falafel wrap and her friend had the chicken schwarma wrap, both of which they described as fresh and a nice size to fill you up.  She was also impressed with the service.  Looks like the place is off to a good start.  It’s just south of Main and Huling in the space that used to be Wendell’s World Beat Grill.

According to this MBJ article, there may be a potential buyer for the Gassner Building, the slanted building across from the ballpark on Madison.  However, this may not be good news for those who want to preserve historical buildings… according to the article, an unnamed New York firm wants to buy the building for $1.1 million and raze it.  Memphis Heritage is involved in the fight to save it.  The building, built in 1974, has been vacant for years.

Shout-out to Guy in College, a blogger from Germantown who linked to me recently about the Daily Grill closing.  I’ve now heard that the “name Memphians are familiar with” that may be placed on the restaurant is possibly Interim.  Glad to hear that… I had a hunch it might be renamed Sleep Out Louie’s and am glad to hear I was wrong.

Need a new watch?  Amazon is running a promotion where you can get an extra 40% off on select watches through August 18.  That’s a sweet deal… many of the watches are already listed at 25-70% below the manufacturer’s retail on Amazon, and that’s before the extra 40% discount, which is applied at checkout.

A very cool group called Funk de Ville played the Saucer last night.  9-piece band in costumes playing ’70s funk and disco music, lots of horns.  Sort of a cross between Dr. Zarr and FreeWorld, two of my favorites.

New Orleans band Dash Rip Rock plays Automatic Slim’s tomorrow night, August 16, at 10:30 PM.

Bowling news:  Jillian’s now has unlimited bowling on Monday nights for $10.  Also, I’ve heard that a Wii bowling league may be forming Downtown soon.  Details to come.  You won’t need to own a Wii to participate.

… And that’s today’s lunchtime post.  Not sure what I’ll be doing this weekend.  A lot of the gang is spending the weekend in Chicago, so except for a stop at a farewell party tonight, it’ll be up to me to find my own fun.

Last night was the Bravo Memphis kickoff event at Jay Etkin Gallery.  A co-worker and I did happy hour across the street at Onix (2 for 1 well drinks from 4-7 PM), then headed to the gallery.  The event was very well attended, couple hundred people at least.

The deal with Bravo is, if you join, you get to attend 8 arts events throughout the season.  Each has a social/networking hour with food, wine, and beer before the event starts, so it’s a great chance to get to know other young professionals.  Last night they unveiled the schedule for the coming year:

Wed 9/3 – Sister Myotis – Voices of the South

Wed 10/1 – Mini-Indie Film Fest – Indie Memphis

Tue 11/18 – Fences – Hatiloo Theatre

Fri 12/5 – Nut Remix – New Ballet Ensemble

Thur 1/15 – urbanArt – urbanArt Commission

Tue 2/3 – Chinese New Year – Belz Asian and Judaic Museum

Fri 3/13 – Backstage Pass with Adwagin Pratt – Memphis Symphony Orchestra

Thur 4/23 – Faust – Opera Memphis

They’ve extended their special offer through August 18 – join before then and get a single membership for $80 or a double for $125.  After that date, prices rise to $95/$145.  You can join here.

Memphis Limelight has info on the “Downtown Alive” fall concert series that the CCC will present over five Wednesdays from September 17 to October 15. It looks like this series will replace the “Bands, Beer and Bums” concert series the CCC held the past couple of summers in Court Square. The new series will move to a different location each week – one each in Gayoso Alley, Court Square, the National Civil Rights Museum plaza, Jefferson Davis Park, and Barboro Alley.

I think moving the concerts around is a great idea. It will add more variety to the series.  Looking forward to them.

Back later today with more… I still have four or five items I haven’t had time to type.

Bravo Memphis, the group for young professionals interested in the arts, has their season kick-off party tonight at Jay Etkin Gallery, corner of Main and Huling in the South Main Arts District, from 6 to 8 PM. The event is free to the public, and there will be booze and heavy hors s’ouevres.

At the event, Bravo will reveal its new schedule, which consists of group outings to a variety of arts events throughout the season. The events are usually scheduled about one per month, with a social hour with food, beer, and wine before each event, to give members a chance to network in addition to enjoying the arts. I don’t have a copy of the 2008-09 schedule yet but typically there are events such as visits to museums and art galleries, musicals, operas, ballets, that type of thing. If you’re new to Memphis, the social hour before these is a great way to meet other young professionals.

Memberships for the season will be sold at a special discount rate tonight – $80 for a single (regularly $95) and $125 for a double (regularly $145). Note that you don’t have to bring your significant other to join as a double – you can grab any person you can find at the event tonight and join as a double with them, and that gets both of you full membership privileges for $125 total, or $62.50 each.

In addition to food and alcohol, there will also be mini-massages by Natural Body and Spa, a spoken word performance by Tonya Dyson, and a demonstration by Cookertainment. Plus, you’ll get to browse the art of Jay Etkin Gallery, one of the best galleries in the region.

A co-worker and I are going to hit a happy hour nearby, then head to the event at 6, so if you’re going, I’ll see you down there.

Lots more to post today, just gotta find the time.

Leonard’s BBQ Buffet, on the Main Street Mall in the first floor of the Claridge House (Main at Adams), is now open for dinner from 5 to 8 PM Wed-Fri. Previously they have only been open for lunch.

If you work in another part of the city and don’t do lunch Downtown, you gotta check it out… for about $10 you get a buffet of ribs, pulled pork, BBQ chicken, smoked sausage, spaghetti, vegetables, breads, a salad bar, and desserts. Good stuff. One of my favorite places to go for lunch, but only when I’m really hungry.

The Overton Park Shell (Levitt Shell) is re-opening next month, and they’re kicking it off with a weekend of concerts September 4-7.  More info here.  Amy LeVere will play opening night, September 4.

Amazon.com has created a new store, Amazon Green, to showcase the best environmentally-friendly products selected by its customers.  It’s a cross-category store with everything from light bulbs to printer paper to sheets and towels to solar panels, and much more.  Check it out if you want to buy products that are kind to the environment.

The Daily Grill in the Westin Hotel is closing, according to this News Channel 3 link.  The article ends by saying the restaurant will reopen “seamlessly” under a name that’s familiar to Memphians… if anyone knows what name they’re talking about shoot me an e-mail and let me know.  I have a feeling I may know what the new name is, and I hope I’m wrong.

Something called the Midtown Security Community meets tonight to discuss security issues.  Wonder if the reason Midtown had to form a security community is because the Downtown safety patrol chased many of the bums out of Downtown.  Whatever the reason, good to see residents taking an active interest in their safety… it’s worked wonders down here, and I bet it will lead to good things in other neighborhoods as well.

EP Delta Kitchen has a week of Elvis-themed entertainment lined up.  Check their calendar to see what’s going on.  They also have a special Elvis week menu.

Shawn Klush, the winner of the 2007 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist contest, will be honorary duckmaster at the Peabody tomorrow morning.  He’ll be in Elvis attire tomorrow morning, leading the ducks from 10:45 to 11 AM.  The semifinals of the 2008 contest are tonight at 7 PM at the Cannon Center, with finals tomorrow night.

… And that’s the lunchtime post.  Still looking forward to the party at work with beer at 4:00 today.  4 to 5 PM is going to be one of my most productive hours ever (at least by my standards of productivity) at the office.

Today’s the last day to vote in the Memphis Flyer Best of Memphis poll, so if you haven’t voted, today’s your last chance. Voting is all online this year – there are no paper ballots.

Many people have used the restaurant search box (scroll to the bottom of the right sidebar) on my blog to buy $25 restaurant gift certificates for $10. They’re running another special through the 17th – enter code GOODBUY at checkout for 50% off. That reduces the cost of their $25 certificates to $5. Discount also applies to their Dinner of the Month Club promotion.

I didn’t make it to the South Main Association meeting last night, but friends of mine did and came back with news. Safari, the tapas bar on South Main next door to Onix (just south of Huling), is now open for lunch at 11 AM. With free trolley rides at lunchtime this week, it’s a good time for Downtowners who work in the core to try it out. They’ll have their grand opening August 29 (which would be trolley tour night).

The South Main Association will have a Christmas parade on November 21. Appropriately enough, the parade will happen on South Main.

I watched the women’s gymnastics team finals last night. I have a complaint about the TV coverage though – WHERE WERE THE ROMANIANS??? The camera followed every move of the Chinese and US teams, but there was hardly any coverage at all of the third-place Romanian team. Beautiful Romanian girls on uneven bars = ratings. Hopefully they’ll do better on the individual competition coverage.

Tonight’s Elvis glass night at the Saucer. It’s a really nice Pink Cadillac glass this year. They go on sale at 7 and will sell out immediately – the Elvis glass is the most popular one of the year. Best advice is to get there at least a half hour early, get seated, and let your waitress or bartender know you want to order one the minute they go on sale. By 7:10 they will be gone. Show up late, you lose. Also, they usually do a one-glass-per-person limit on the popular glass nights, so sending a friend to get you a glass may not work if they’re getting one too.

We’re having a party at work this afternoon to celebrate our recently expanded office space… and it’s my favorite kind of party… one with BEER!  (John D:  “Whaaaaa?  …Paul, what kind of beer are they having?  Didn’t you tell me they had Bud Light in the refrigerator?  Can you get me invited?”)  Looking forward to getting started an hour early this afternoon.

This Memphis Business Journal article says that a Boscos may be opening in Montana… MAYBE.  From reading the article, it looks like the people in Montana think it’s a done deal and already have billboards advertising Boscos beer, while the people at Boscos corporate say it’s one of several possibilities.

Divine Rags has opened a “denim bar” and are pushing their new line of jeans.  They’re having a “Denimology” session tomorrow night, Wednesday, August 13, at 6 PM, at their store at 300 S. Main, at their denim bar, which they call “the premier denim bar of Memphis.”  To my knowledge it’s also the only denim bar in Memphis.  Anyway, ladies who want to get educated about the different styles of jeans and how to wear them, that’s an option for tomorrow night.  More info available at their Doing Denim website.

That’s all for now… still raining, so I still can’t take my Fire Sale walk.  Trivia tonight at the Saucer, 7 PM.  Pete the Trivia Guy will be back after a 2-week absence.

It’s raining, so I can’t take my usual 11:00 walk by the Saucer to see what the Fire Sale is.  If anyone gets by there and happens to see it, shoot me an e-mail or text it to my phone, and I’ll use Twitter to update it on my blog.  Otherwise the Fire Sale will have to remain a mystery until my afternoon break/walk, or until tonight if it’s still raining this afternoon.

I took a walk around Beale Street last night around the time the sun set, and noticed that I’ve been failing to mention another place where you can get Pabst Blue Ribbon draft at a bargain price:  The Tap Room.  On Mondays they have PBR draft for $1 a pint.  I used to go there all the time in ’04-’05, but kind of gradually drifted away over the years and forgot about this special, thanks to the Saucer’s $2.75 Monday Pint Nite.  Not the same quality of beer that you’ll find on most of the taps at the Saucer, but if you want to drink a lot of beer for cheap, you can’t beat the Tap Room on Mondays.

It’s almost too cheap… I remember when I used to hang out there, the bums on Beale Street would beg for change to collect enough for a dollar PBR.  My all-time favorite was when one of them had 98 cents collected, and slid in the door when the bartender wasn’t looking and asked me, “hey, bro, let me get two cent from ya.”  When I said no, he came back with, “one cent?”

After leaving Beale, I walked up to Big Foot Lodge.  I didn’t see Meghan behind the bar, then I turned to my right and saw this:

“OH, NO!” I thought.  “THEY KILLED MEGHAN AND MOUNTED HER HEAD ON THE WALL!!!”  I was shocked.  “Shawn’s finally gone too far with gimmicks to get people in this place,” I thought.  “It’s one thing to serve 34-ounce beers and 18-scoop ice cream sundaes, but to kill your bartender and put her head on the wall?  That’s just crazy.”  Over the next couple of minutes, I started to adjust to a post-Meghan world at Big Foot.  “Maybe it won’t be so bad,” I thought to myself.  “Even though she’s dead and mounted on the wall, she’ll still offer about the same level of friendliness, courtesy, and customer service that she did when she was alive.”

I was thinking, I’ll have to add her to my new site RecentlyDeadPeople.com, then I turned around and Meghan – the real Meghan – appeared behind the bar.  I realized she wasn’t dead and on the wall after all.  I ordered a 34 oz. Molson and all was well.

I hadn’t eaten all day… normally I’d get one of Big Foot’s excellent burgers, but last night I was hungry for a Texas Toast burger from Huey’s (buttered Texas toast, Jack cheese, jalapenos), so I made that my stop for Paul’s Drunkass Burger on the way home.

Don’t forget, the South Main Association meeting is tonight.  It’s an especially good one, at the Boscos brewery at Main and Crump.  This is where they make the new Ghost River beers that have shown up at the Saucer and other beer joints around town.  There will be a tour and tasting.  Free for members, $5 non-members, starts at 6 PM.