Paul Ryburn's Journal

Saturday night, WMC-TV reported that the recently-closed Pat O’Brien’s location on Beale Street might come back to live as a hotel/restaurant owned by Joe Cooper and Jerry “The King” Lawler.  Well, today the Memphis Business Journal reports that the hotel is a “pipe dream,” according to John Elkington of Performa, the company that manages Beale Street.

According to Elkington, there are many reasons why the hotel will never happen.  For one, the business is in bankruptcy, and anyone wanting to work on the property would therefore have to deal with Pat O’s creditors.  Also, Cooper and Lawler would need to control the parking lot behind the building in order to create enough space, and Performa does not plan to give up control of that lot.  Finally, the state’s historic preservation department would have to approve changes to the building, and there would be a fight against a building taller than the current height (Cooper and Lawler want a 5-story hotel).

So, it looks like the future of the old Pat O’s building is still up in the air.

This is one of those days when I’m having a creative block as far as blogging goes, so here, read this instead.  Time Magazine’s article on the late, great Isaac Hayes:  Isaac Hayes: From Shaft to Chef

The only news I have to report concerns a Downtown restaurant, and I’ve been asked not to report it yet.  As soon as I get permission to let the cat out of the bag, I will.

I wish there was a way to get on the Olympics’ official site and enter my phone number, then have them text me “HOT ROMANIAN GYMNASTS ARE ON TV NOW” when that is indeed the case.  That’s a service I’d be willing to pay a buck a text message for.

Last night was the last night for Pat O’Brien’s on Beale Street… they’ve closed down and served their last Hurricane.  This WMC-TV article hints at the future of the building.  Local businessman/politician Joe Cooper (you remember him from the Main Street Sweeper scandal that sent Rickey Peete back to prison) wants to turn the place into a hotel and restaurant.  The hotel would be five stories, all suites, some with balconies overlooking Beale, similar to hotel balconies that overlook Bourbon Street in New Orleans.  Cooper’s partner in the venture is none other than professional wrestler Jerry “The King” Lawler.

Speaking of wrestling, this morning I’ve been reading an article on Sputnik Monroe, a wrestler who in the ’50s was even more popular in Memphis than Jerry Lawler is today.  Monroe played a key role in race relations in the city.  Once he became the town’s biggest draw and was selling out the Ellis Auditorium on a weekly basis, he went to the promoters with a demand:  Get rid of the “colored section.”  In those says seating at sports events was segregated, and African-Americans were restricted to the nosebleed balcony seats.  Monroe demanded that blacks be allowed to sit anywhere they wanted in the auditorium, or he wouldn’t perform.  This paved the way for integration at other sporting events and nightclubs.

Whew!  Rough start to the day, after my trivia team cashed in its $460 worth of gift certificates last night.  We’ll start over at zero on Tuesday.  I missed brunch again.  Will head to the Saucer about 2.  Going to take the laptop with me so I can work on my latest website once I get done beating Pete at pool.

When you get up at 10:30 AM, breakfast and lunch get combined into one meal.

All of the items above were bought at the Downtown Walgreens.

The buffalo chicken nuggets are in the beef jerky section and they are bad to the bone.  Well, actually there are no bones.  But they are without a doubt the best jerky-type item I have ever eaten.

The Caramel Overload ice cream is possibly the best ice cream I’ve ever had.  I contemplated not blogging it because I was worried other Downtowners would buy it all up, and they’d be out next time I wanted a pint.  But, what the heck.

And, of, course, no meal would be complete without Mountain Dew.

I wonder what my health guru AL thinks of my lunch.  I have a feeling she’d probably approve, except that she’d recommend replacing the Mountain Dew with some kind of disgusting tofu milkshake.

Gonna spend a few hours building websites – the next two websites I put up will be somewhat controversial, which makes building them even more fun.  After that it’ll be time for a long day of plans involving alcohol.

Today’s issue of the Memphis Business Journal has an article about Frank’s Grocery, a new grocery store to go in at the corner of Main and Vance, in the old Frank’s Liquors location. It will be owned by Bud Chittom who is a principal in several of the businesses on Beale Street (Blues City Cafe, Club 152). He says that although it will not be the size of a big-box Kroger, care will be taken to address the needs of Downtowners. “It won’t just be a place for cigarettes and potato chips,” said Chittom. The store will also have a deli and bicycle delivery. That will be a great addition to Downtown, and right on the trolley line. Very nice.

Tomorrow there will be a chitlin’ cooking contest at Handy Park from 9 AM to 3 PM. Also, Dr. BBQ, whoever he is, will hand out free samples of pig tails. Why would you miss an event like that? Local luminaries such as John D have already hinted they will be there. No doubt John D will wash down his chitlins with a 32 oz. Bud Light.

MATA will offer free trolley rides next week during lunchtime. For more details see this Memphis Business Journal article. For those who work in the core, it’ll be a good chance to ride down to Earnestine & Hazel’s and try a soul burger or their new slaw dog for lunch.

The Memphis Flyer notes that AutoZone Park has been named one of the most vegetarian-friendly ballparks in the nation. Patrons can order grilled vegetable paninis, veggie dogs, crudites, hummus, and bruschetta at ballgames, and PETA likes that and ranks the Memphis park highly. What the hell is a “crudite?” I’ll stick to good old BBQ nachos. I’m sure my health guru AL will be happy though.

David Byrne from the Talking Heads will appear at the Orpheum with Brian Eno on September 23. They’ve been writing together since 1981, and are touring in the fall in support of their new album Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. Tickets are $52.50/$42.50 plus all of Ticketmaster’s usual bullshit fees, and you can get tickets at ticketmaster.com. You can download “Strange Overtones,” a song from the new album, at everythingthathappens.com.

Not sure what I’ll be getting into tonight.  I’ll probably go out in a little while.  The Dead Elvis Week people are starting to arrive in town, wonder if they’ll be on Beale.  They can be fun to talk to.

I’m at the Second Street Branch Office aka the Flying Saucer laptopping on my lunch hour.  The manager just told me that the Cordova Saucer or as we Downtowners call it, the East Bumblefuck Saucer, has its beer license back.  So they can now serve their full array of 200 beers, as well as liquor, wine, soft drinks and whatever else they serve.

My nachos are here.  More to come later.

While perusing the EXCELLENT recent posts on Memphis Limelight, I noticed that 5 Spot will re-open this weekend. 5 Spot was a little hole in the wall restaurant in the back of Earnestine & Hazel’s – and I mean hole in the wall only in terms of location. It’s a tiny little place that is hard to find unless you know it’s there, and it seats about 8. But, the FOOD. The food was on par with any fine-dining establishment Downtown. The neighborhood’s culinary experience is greatly enhanced with it back. Great place to take a date.

The Center for Southern Folklore’s Memphis Music & Heritage Festival happens in three weeks – Sat-Sun, August 30-31, over Labor Day weekend. This festival probably presents the most diverse line-up of music and entertainment of any outdoor festival in the city, from rock to bluegrass to country to blues to different types of ethnic music. There are also puppeteers, cooking demos, and lots of other great stuff. They need volunteers, so if you want to help out, go here to sign up, and plan to attend a volunteer orientation on Monday, August 18 at the Folklore Store (123 S. Main) at 6 PM.

Looks like I’ll be ordering a new book from Amazon soon. One of the most respected authors in the field of influence and persuasion has a new book out.
Robert Cialdini, author of the classic Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, has a new book out entitled Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. The book draws from a variety of examples, including modern advertising and pop culture, to illustrate priniciples of persuasion you can put to everyday use.  Looking forward to reading this one.

Didn’t go out tonight… well, I almost did.  I went to the Saucer after work, but the place was jam-packed full of suits, I mean like 10 PM on a Saturday night crowded.  So I came home and just decided to take it easy and watch the election results.  Congrats to Rep. Steve Cohen who handily beat challenger Nikki “No Substance” Tinker today.  On the news Tinker was asked if she’d run again, to which she replied, “Well, I am only 37.”  Nikki.  Please don’t.  You’ve made Memphis look bad enough already.

Hey, I just remembered!  I have BFF pictures on the camera from last night!

Here we are at Hoop’s Bar, where we ended up after the Rooster didn’t know what was going on with the 50 cent PBR promotion advertised on the front page of their own website.

EP’s had a surfing display (heck if I know why) and the girls gave it a try.

Another surfing pic

Feels good to stay home for an evening.  I’m going to lie in bed and read for a while.  Got a big weekend coming up, so I’m going to need my rest.

I got my hair cut at lunchtime, then went and voted.

I have to admit, the temptation to just skip voting was great.  To do it meant driving the car (which I hate doing), getting out in the rain (which I hate doing, and it was raining pretty hard at the time), and standing in line (which I hate more than anything).  I’ll admit, I thought, “surely Steve Cohen will win handily – he’ll do fine even without my vote.”

In the end, though, I made myself do it.  The thought of having Nikki Tinker represent me in Congress – or, more accurately, the thought of Nikki Tinker representing special interests in Congress while claiming to represent me – was too much to bear.  I don’t want to be in any way responsible for that.  So out in the rain I went, driving to a church at 538 Linden which was my designated polling place.  Actually, my worst fear, standing in a long line, turned out to be unfounded.  There was no line at all.

I do have to say, having the polling place way on the other side of Danny Thomas is extremely inconvenient for Downtowners who walk everywhere.  Yeah I have a car and was able to get there, but many Downtowners don’t.  Seems like there ought to be a voting location no more than 3 blocks from the trolley line.

Anyway, I voted.  Did you?

Last night I tried a new bottled beer after seeing an off-duty manager order one:  Abita Jockamo IPA.  It was very good, not as hoppy as some IPAs (Bridgeport, Avery), unique flavor.  Worth a try if you’re into pale ales or IPAs.

While drinking it, I thought, the taste reminded me of Caramel Overload, a Walgreens premium ice cream I became addicted to last weekend when I was sick.  I thought to myself, Caramel Overload ice cream and Abita Jockamo IPA would be a perfect match.  Hmmm I’m going to have to find Jockamo in six-packs and give that a try this weekend.  I bet I can create a beer float from those two that rivals the Saucer’s Young’s Double Chocolate beer float.

Today is the last day to get an additional 50% off those $25-for-$10 restaurant gift certificates (which would make them $25-for-$5 certificates).  To get them, scroll down to the end of the right sidebar of this blog, and look for the restaurant search box.  Load up your shopping cart with the certificates you want, then use the promotional code GAMES to get the discount.  Lots of Downtown restaurants are part of the program – search on 38103 to find out which ones.

Busy lunch hour today – gotta go get my hair cut and vote – so, relatively short lunchtime post.