Paul Ryburn's Journal

Last night I did Pint Nite at the Saucer, where my Hawaiian Shirt Paradise store received a testimonial from my friend Bicycle Bobby. “I bought a shirt from the store,” he told me, pictured below. “It is by far THE BEST Hawaiian shirt I have ever owned.” That is not faint praise by any means – Bicycle Bobby owns about 150 Hawaiian shirts.

He found it in the “Parrots” category (Hawaiian shirts with parrots on them). He says that authentic Hawaiian shirts that are made in Hawaii run on the small side, so it’s not a bad idea to order one size larger than you usually wear.

The Saucer started to get real crowded about 9:30 – for some reason it was a frat party in there early on – so I decided it was time for a change of venue. “I want to go someplace a lot quieter,” I thought. “Hmmm, Meghan’s the bartender at Big Foot tonight, so there won’t be anyone at the bar… I’ll go there.” Sure enough, all the bar seats were open when I arrived.

Meghan told me that the Travel Channel will be at Big Foot Friday afternoon, to film an episode of a new show, Man vs. Food. No doubt the show will focus on people’s attempts to down the 4 lb. Sasquatch burger (7 1/2 lb. with condiments) in one hour or less. There will also be a panel of scientists debating whether bartender Meghan is indeed a member of the bigfoot/sasquatch manimal species.

While there, I noticed that Matt from McGuinness (there were two Matts, this is the shorter one with the goatee) was training to be a bartender at Big Foot.  Great decision to put him behind the bar… that will bring a loyal Saucer regular/Saucer staff/former McGuinness regular crowd in.  I hope they give him some night shifts.

The Orpheum is having a costume parade for its Friday, August 1 showing of Gone with the Wind. It will be a hoop skirt parade, with ladies in Civil War-era outfits getting to parade across the stage before the start of the show.

There will be another costume event at the Orpheum later in August… details to come on that one, I have a reason for holding up the announcement for a few days.

The Orpheum Summer Movie Series, by the way, has been doing very well. The showing of “Steel Magnolias” drew 700 people, even though the movie was being shown on TV at the same time. I hear lots of ladies made it a Girls’ Night Out. They had $3 cosmos for sale. Another 800 showed up for “The Sound of Music” the following night. Those classic movies look great on a classic big screen. Entry is $5 each, and all movies start at 7:15, except “Rocky Horror Picture Show” on September 19 which will start at 8. Ticket packages of 10 tickets for $40 are available.

Time to get some stuff done on my next website, then grab some lunch.  Back later.

If you look at the upper left corner of this blog, you’ll see the newest feature, What’s the Fire Sale? Every day, the Flying Saucer puts one of their draft beers on “Fire Sale” for $2.75, except Monday, when it’s Pint Nite and most drafts are $2.75.  But which beer?  That’s the burning question.  Since I work Downtown – and a few other friends of mine do too – we will attempt to answer that question.  Every day I’ll walk by and see the Fire Sale posted on the chalkboard, or friends of mine will text it to me.  I’m set up to Twitter the Fire Sale to my blog, so as soon as I find it out I’ll provide the info.

I’ll try to have it up by mid-afternoon most days, often earlier.  Note that occasionally the Saucer runs out of Fire Sale beer and changes midday… most days you can depend on what you see on my blog being the Fire Sale, but don’t hold me to it.

Also, keep in mind this Fire Sale applies to the Downtown Memphis Flying Saucer only.  Each Saucer has the power to set its own Fire Sale, and I can’t cover them all.  For Downtown Memphians, though, hopefully this will be a valuable resource for one of the most important pieces of information to know on a daily basis.

The police are throwing us a party!  Next Tuesday, August 5, MPD will hold their third annual National Night Out at the South Main Substation, at the corner of Main and GE Patterson.  There will be a live DJ, food, games and fun.  MPD Director Larry Godwin will provide opening remarks, and we will also hear from Deputy Director Janice Pilot, Deputy Chief Steve Cole, Colonel Johnny Currin and Lt. Colonel Voretta Mhoon.

This is the 25th anniversary of National Night Out around the country.  NNO is designed to generate support for crime prevention, heighten crime and drug prevention awareness, strengthen police/community relations and neighborhood spirit, and send criminals a message letting them know that neighborhoods are fighting back.  Across the US there will be block parties, police presentations, cookouts, and other neighborhood-organized events.

Everyone is encouraged to turn on their porch light on Tuesday, August 5 in support of National Night Out.

Now and then I’ll be going about my business around Downtown, and people will stop me and ask to talk to me for a few minutes.  Lately many of the conversations have gone like this:

“Downtown will never be a real neighborhood until we have a grocery store.  I think you should make that the main focus of your blog, lobbying to get a grocery store down here.”

“What’s your opinion on the push to open Main Street back up to traffic?  I think it’s a terrible idea, with all the cruisers on the weekends.  I think you should use your blog to fight to keep Main Street closed.”

All great ideas.  But the thing is, this is MY blog.  I have to decide what issues I’m going to push.  Up ’til now, the fight against panhandling has been my main one.  The work there is not done yet, although the situation has improved.  I have to decide for myself which topics to stress.

We need more voices Downtown.  Let a thousand flowers bloom!  If you feel passionately about an issue, maybe it’s time to start a blog of your own.  It’s not hard, and if you do and it’s relevant to Downtown, I’ll link to it.  To help you get started, this morning I skipped brunch and created a 4-part tutorial on starting a blog:

• Part 1:  Pick a blogging engine to use
• Part 2:  Decide where to host your blog
• Part 3:  Tips for post ideas, traffic, and links
• Part 4:  Trackers and search engine optimization (SEO)

Hope that helps.  It’s time for everyone with a passion for Downtown to let their voice be heard about neighborhood issues.

A few days ago, I was walking to the Saucer, and passed legendary Downtown homeless person Scratchy on the sidewalk.  He had on a T-shirt that said, “the possibilities are endless.”

That’s our Scratchy.  Always an uplifting word for his fellow man.

Or in Scratchy’s case, always an uplifting word for the invisible fellow man who Scratchy talks to all the time.

I didn’t go out last night. For one thing, it’s just too hot outside to walk around much. For another, my new book on The GIMP, the free open source image editing tool which is on par with Photoshop, arrived yesterday and I made my way through the first three chapters.  The book recommended using my own images, taken with my digital camera, for the exercises.  I took several images that were poorly lit, and using The GIMP’s Colors -> Levels option, was able to make them look even better than Picasa can do.  Then I decided to have some Photoshopping – or in my case, GIMPing – old photos.  Here’s one of my first image projects, a pic of what Big Foot Lodge bartender/former BFF Meghan might look like if she got my name tattooed on her chest:

You can get a free copy of The GIMP here.  Make sure you download the Help as well as the program itself.  Note:  Either one of two things will happen.  Either you’ll get frustrated with it and give up after 15 minutes, or you’ll get addicted to it and nothing you planned to do today will get done.  Here’s a hint for you:  After you fire it up, go to the File menu and select File->New and create a new image, or FIle->Open to open an existing image.  The GIMP isn’t much fun unless you’ve got an image to work with.  I know that sounds like basic advice, but I sat there for a while thinking the Layers dialog was an open image, and wondering why I couldn’t do anything with it.

Probably skipping brunch again, because I want to play with the GIMP some more, and because I’ve got momentum going on my next site and don’t want to give that up.  I’ll be out later today, probably around 3:30.

If you’re into the blues, check out the Center for Southern Folklore, on the Main Street Mall just south of Gayoso, tonight at 8 PM.  The Daddy Mack Blues Band’s new documentary DVD, by Jim O’Donnell, will be screened at 8 and the band will perform at 9.  $5 cover.  Details below, pasted from an e-mail they sent me:

The Daddy Mack Blues Band and cinematographer Jim O’Donnell celebrate the official DVD release of “Plain Man Blues,” the Daddy Mack documentary that premiered last fall at the Indie Memphis Film Festival.  The fun starts Saturday, July 26 at 8:00 p.m. with a screening of the documentary followed by a blistering set by the Daddy Mack Blues Band at the Center for Southern Folklore Store located at 123 S. Main @ The Peabody Place Trolley Stop.  Admission for the DVD party is free while the cover for the live concert afterward is only $5.00.

DVDs of “Plain Man Blues” are now available for sale in the Folklore Store for $18.99.  You can also pre-order your copy by emailing store@southernfolklore.org or calling the Folklore Store @ 525-3655.

“Plain Man Blues” traces the late blooming career of Daddy Mack Orr who taught himself how to play guitar at the age of 45 after years of picking cotton, working construction and starting his own auto repair shop.  Now in his sixties, Mack makes his living fixing cars by day while playing the blues music he loves nights and weekends.  His talent was apparent early on when he joined the legendary Memphis-based blues band, The Fieldstones. As the leader of his own band, Mack and his crew have entertained audiences around the world from fish fries in Paris, TN to music festivals in Paris, France.  Along the way, he has achieved success as a recording artist with three consecutive albums in the Top Ten of the national blues charts – “Fix It When I Can,” “Slow Ride” and “Bluestones.”  Even so, life as a musician doesn’t come easy and Mack is still waiting to hit the big time.  “Plain Man Blues” shows what it takes for Mack to make it as a blues artist and the road he took to get there.

The creative force behind “Plain Man Blues” is Jim O’Donnell, an independent Memphis filmmaker.  He produced and directed the award-winning documentary “Ray4theNBA,” which aired nationally on College Sports Television, as well as, being screened at film festivals throughout the country.  He has produced several Memphis-centric documentaries such as “The Party Ain’t Stopped Yet,” about the closing and re-opening of The Center for Southern Folklore and “75 Years of Pink,” the history of Memphis’ Pink Palace Museum, as well as the fiction film “Presumed Dead.”  O’Donnell has also been nominated for a Regional Emmy for his work as a photojournalist.  He is a graduate of The University of Memphis Department of Communication’s Graduate Program.

For more info on Daddy Mack and “Plain Man Blues”, check out: http://www.insidesounds.com/artists.php?ArtistId=1693

http://www.plainmanblues.com/

Last night was “Christmas in July,” a fundraiser for Make-a-Wish at the Red Rooster, with The Dempseys, The Plaintiffs, and Frankie Hollie and the Noise.  Here are a few pics.

The rooster guarding the front door was in the Christmas spirit.

Christmas decorations, a Christmas tree, and the Dempseys.

Sam the thinking elf

Me with August BFF of the Month candidates Kristin and Darbi.  Note that Darbi has a tube top on.

Outside:  A Christmas tree, snow machine, a sleigh, and reindeer.

The Plaintiffs rocked it out onstage and got the crowd dancing.

The St. Jude scientists make a blog appearance for the second consecutive day.

My co-worker Tanner, making a rare Rooster appearance.

Darbi liked The Plaintiffs so much, she tried to get on stage and sing with them.

Here’s a link to the full photo album (44 pics). It’s a shame The Dempseys played as early as they did (6 to 7), because they sounded incredible on the Rooster’s stage.  Hopefully the club will bring them back for a full-length performance sometime soon.

It was a block party, with bands inside and outside… but July is a rough month to throw a block party.  With temps around 90 and mosquitoes biting, most people chose to stay inside the club.  I felt sorry for the girls working the 4 outside beer stations, who weren’t making any money.

There were a lot of people inside though, which is a good thing because they raised some serious money for Make-a-Wish.  I tip my hat to the Rooster for finding a way to give back to the community and provide some quality entertainment at the same time.

Plans for today:  I’m going to walk up to the Election Commission and cast my vote, for Steve Cohen of course.  Then I’m going to spend the afternoon building my next website.  Tonight:  Not sure, no definite plans.  I’m 50% on skipping brunch tomorrow, depending on the progress I make on my website today.

Probably more blog posts to come this afternoon, since I’ll have the laptop with me.

There’s a yellow booth giving away free King Cotton hot dogs outside Easy Way at Main and Jefferson this morning.

Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger turns 65 tomorrow, and as such, will be eligible to receive 91 pounds (about $180) per week in benefits, according to this article.  That pension should nicely supplement the $558 million his band grossed on their 2005-07 world tour, and should provide him a little extra financial cushion in case his $450 million net worth is not enough to support him for the rest of his life. 

Happy birthday to Mick, and here’s hoping there’s another Stones album and tour to come, if they can ever get guitarist Ron Wood to sober up.