Paul Ryburn's Journal

Here are three options for watching Barack Obama’s inauguration tomorrow.  Should be something here that appeals to everyone.  The President is inaugurated at 1 PM (noon CST) according to the Constitution.  Of course, there will be coverage hours before.

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National Civil Rights Museum (Mulberry at Butler) will have coverage of the inauguration on two giant screens from 10 AM to 2 PM.  Free to the public.  There will be no tours of the museum during this time.  Obama merchandise will be available in the museum’s gift shop on Main Street.

WHO WILL PREFER THE NCRM: Those who want to celebrate with a larger cross-section of Memphis (and the US) than just Downtowners, and who aren’t concerned with being able to eat and drink as they watch.  This will be a huge party, as we celebrate the inauguration of the first African-American president, and a man who appears to have the potential to be one of the greatest presidents ever.  This would be a great place to bring children.  I’m assuming that tours of the NCRM will resume at 2 PM, and if you’ve never had the tour, it’ll be worth your while to stick around.

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Majestic Grille (Main just north of Peabody Place) will have the inauguration on their huge 18-foot movie screen that they normally use to show silent and classic films.  The sound will be on, and the inauguration will also be on their two HDTVs at the bar.  Doors open at 10, lunch available at 10:30.  In addition to the regular menu, they’ll have Patrick’s famous gumbo.  They have quite a few reservations already, so if you plan to attend you may want to call 522-8555 and reserve seating.

WHO WILL PREFER THE MAJESTIC: Those who want a good meal while they watch (lunch menu here), and those who want to have the option of enjoying a beer or cocktail while celebrating with fellow Downtowners, without feeling like they’re in a place that’s part of the bar scene.  The Majestic is not a 21-and-up venue, so you can bring your kids, but have to go outside to smoke.

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Flying Saucer (Second at Peabody Place) will open at 10 AM, and will have the inauguration on all their TVs (7 of them, if they pull down the big screens).  Sound will be on.  I have advanced knowledge that Flying Dog Tire Bite will be the $2.75 Fire Sale for draft pints.  Tire Bite is a pale lager that has considerably more flavor than the lagers most people know (e.g. Bud, Miller Lite).

WHO WILL PREFER THE SAUCER: People who want to celebrate Obama’s inauguration with beer among fellow Downtowners.  The Saucer is the de facto locals’ bar for the inauguration, since Calhoun’s doesn’t open that early and Bardog has only one TV upstairs.  Note that this is a 21-and-up venue, so you can’t bring children, but you can smoke inside.

Note that each Saucer appears to have the ability to make its own decision about opening early and showing the inauguration, so just because it’s on Downtown does not guarantee that it will be on in Cordova.

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If you know of other places showing the inauguration, shoot me an e-mail at paul@paulryburn.com.

The NBA’s annual Civil Rights Game, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will be held at the FedExForum at 4:30 PM today.  Tickets are still available at grizzlies.com.  All-Stars Dave Bing and “Dr. J” Julius Erving will receive the National Civil Rights Museum Sports Legacy Award.  The CA has an article on Bing, a 7-time All-Star who went on to become one of the nation’s most successful African-American entrepreneurs, founding The Bing Group, a manufacturing company in Detroit that supplies auto parts.

In other news… I’ve heard that the Silly Goose will open very, very soon.  They would’ve been open already, but they drove to Nashville Friday to pick up their liquor license, only to find that the office had closed 15 minutes early for the 3-day weekend.  Gotta love our government.  Look for it to open later this week.

I’ll post a summary of inauguration watch locations Downtown later today.

Since many people have a 3-day weekend this weekend, Kooky Canuck decided to help by selling their 34 oz. Super Cold Coors Light for $2 all day today.  Sounds good… I’m always up for a deal on beer.  I’m meeting the crew for brunch at Automatic Slim’s today and then the Saucer as usual, but I’m sure I’ll stop by the Canuck at some point for at least one beer.

Couple of things that MAY happen… these are not definitely confirmed yet, so don’t take this as the final word…

First of all, I was in Calhoun’s last night to watch the Tiger game, and they told me they MAY have Buzztime Trivia by Wednesday.  Again, they’re not positive they’ll have it, but maybe.

Also, while I was there, Mikey was on the barstool next to me, texting the managers of the Flying Saucer.  “They told me they’re going to open at 10 AM on Tuesday and have the inauguration on all the TVs, with sound,” he said.  I’ll try to confirm this when I’m in there today.  If they do it I’m going to have a tough decision to make – Saucer vs. Majestic to watch the inauguration.  I’ve never had to decide between those two before – favorite bar vs. favorite restaurant – and it’s going to be a tough call.

Time to head to brunch.  I’m thinking I’ll do the Bananas Foster French Toast today.  With a side of bacon, of course.  Mmmm bacon.

Tonight’s the big night – there will be a toga party at the Voodoo Room, Hoop’s new bar in the basement of Orleans on Front.  It will start at 10 PM and run until 3 AM.  If you’ve never been, the restaurant is at 94 S. Front across from the Butcher Shop.  Look for a set of stairs leading down to the basement, lit up by a disco light.  There will be contests for the sexiest and ugliest togas (I’m a judge).  Togas will be provided for the toga-challenged.  $2 PBR cans, and yes, bartender Lauren will have a toga on, I’ve been told.

Memphis takes on UAB tonight at the FedExForum at 7:00.  Not sure where I’ll go to watch the game.  I have advance knowledge of the Fire Sale at the Saucer – Leinie Red, not one of my favorites.  Considering making a rare Calhoun’s appearance for the game, then heading north to Voodoo Room afterward.

Finally upgraded my blog to the latest version of WordPress, 2.7, this morning.  I wanted to wait until a slow time because I knew my blog would be down for 15-20 minutes while files transferred to the server.  The new system is great and so much easier to work with.  The WP development team, including Downtowner Otto, did a great job with it.

No plans for today until 7… I’ll probably work on the personal finance software project today and then take Tuesday off as a trade to watch the inauguration.

Here’s a link to a listing of Barack Obama inauguration parties Tuesday night within 30 miles of Downtown Memphis.  These are evening parties, not inauguration watch parties during the day.

Mpact Memphis will have its first general membership meeting of the year, now called Mpact Outlet, at the Red Rooster on Thursday, January 29 from 6 to 8 PM.  If you joined Mpact but haven’t got involved, or have thought about joining but haven’t, this is a good time to find out about networking and volunteer opportunities and fun outings that are part of Mpact.  Hattiloo Theater and ArtsMemphis will be there.  Free for members, $5 for non-members.

If you want a more detailed introduction to Mpact (for those who have never been involved with the organization before), there’s an Mpact 101 at Quetzal on Tuesday the 20th at 6:30 PM.

LaunchMemphis is having a boot camp for entrepreneurs on Saturdays, January 31 and February 7.  Session 1 is “Building Your Business Plan,” from 8:30 AM-1:00 PM on the 31st, $30 to attend.  Session 2 is “Enriching Your Business Plan,” from 8:30 AM-3:00 PM on the 7th, $50 to attend.  You can attend both for $60.  Detailed agenda for each session here (with the second session mis-labeled as the 8th rather than the 7th).  You can register for the event here.

The CCC is holding a groundbreaking ceremony for Barboro Flats, the parking garage/apartment building that will rise from the big hole in the ground at Main and Gayoso, at 2 PM Monday, January 26.  When finished there will be 92 apartments, 7,000 square feet of commercial space, and 95 parking spaces.

There’s a sign on Kooky Canuck’s door advertising $2 beer all day “Sunday, January 16” to celebrate the 3-day weekend.  I’m pretty sure they mean Sunday the 18th and not today.

That’s all the news that’s fit to print this morning… outta here for now.  No particular plans for tonight, although I may stop by Voodoo Room and get the details on these toga contests I’m supposed to judge tomorrow night.

The creator of the new Toilet of the Day local blog contacted me to tell me that my blog inspired him to create his.

I always dreamed of being someone who’d inspire others to do great things.  Looks like I’ve achieved my lifetime goal.

I just added the last BCS conference, the Pac-10, to my family of College Logo Shopping sites.  Here are the links to the new sites:

• Arizona Wildcats
• Arizona State Sun Devils
• California Golden Bears
• Oregon Ducks
• Oregon State Beavers
• Stanford Cardinal
• UCLA Bruins
• USC Trojans
• Washington Huskies
• Washington State Cougars

College Logo Shopping now hosts 72 college sites in all – the BCS conference schools (except for a few non-football Big East Schools), Notre Dame, Memphis, ECU, and UCF. Now the fun starts – I have Google Analytics installed on all of the sites, and will look at my reports to figure out how to tweak the individual sites to improve search engine optimization and the quality of the shopper’s experience. They all started as copies of the same template, so there’s a lot of customization that can be done. I’m looking forward to learning the use of Analytics as an SEO tool.

Google tends to reward sites with longevity with more search traffic.  Case in point:  The 62 College Logo Shopping sites that were up yesterday (minus the Pac-10) received 137 hits total, barely more than an average of 2 per site.  By contrast, my first shopping website, the Tube Top Boutique, which is now almost two years old, received 405 hits yesterday, even though it’s not exactly tube top weather in the U.S. right now.

If there’s a mid-major or non-football Big East school that anyone wants me to add to CLS, let me know.  However, don’t expect the nearly 300 item categories the BCS school sites have… at most there will be 50 to maybe 120 items.

Glad to have these sites up, at least in their initial form.  Now I can move on to other projects.

I just got an e-mail from the Majestic Grille saying they will show Barack Obama’s inauguration next Tuesday on their big screen, with sound.

So I guess I know what my lunch plans will be for Tuesday!  Unemployed/self-employed/vacation day crew, want to meet up?

Pull up “417 S. Main” on Google StreetView, and not only will you get an image of the condo building at that location, but you’ll also get to see the bum who sleeps on the air vent outside that building every night.

I realize most of you are quite tired of seeing this pic, but I feel I have to post it again for Downtowners who are new to my blog.  Jumper Cable Guy (pictured at left) is back on the streets of Downtown.  You can click the pic to see a larger image of him.

Jumper Cable Guy will approach you and tell you that his truck broke down and he needs 7 dollars and some odd amount of change to buy jumper cables.  He’ll tell you that he’s a veteran and a former teacher.  If you have jumper cables, he’ll tell you he has a heavy-duty truck and needs bigger cables than the ones you have, and again ask for money.

The thing is, JCG’s truck breaks down many, many times a day.  It seems to break down around Main and Union a lot, and also around the Civil Rights Museum, and lately he’s been seen a lot in Midtown.

This is probably his fifth time to have his pic posted on my blog.  He knows he’s on here too.  Last spring he came up to me on the street and introduced himself.  “Hey Paul.  I’m Jumper Cable Guy.  I just wanted to apologize, man.  Yeah, I’ve been out here scamming people.  I’m a former teacher and I needed money and got desperate.  But I ain’t going to do it no more.”  Yet stories continued to come in to the Handling-Panhandling forum of him approaching Downtowners and Midtowners with the same old song and dance.

Yesterday I was out taking my “what’s the Fire Sale” walk, headed north on Second when H-P co-moderator Mike King pulled over in his car.  “You’re about to run into Jumper Cable Guy,” he told me.  Sure enough, I saw him on the Main Street Mall talking to three tourists.  I followed behind them until the group got to Main and Beale.  At that point JCG turned around, saw me, hastily bid his guests goodbye, and headed south on Main.

I called Mike.  “You still out in your car?  JCG is headed south.”  Mike caught up with him and followed him to an apartment building on Abel Street.  Abel is a little street in the South of Forum area that runs parallel to Third.  It’s the section of Downtown that hasn’t been redeveloped yet, and there are several slummy apartment buildings and rooming houses on it and the next street over, Allen.  We frequently see panhandlers heading toward these two streets after they’ve collected money.  Two residences on Abel were busted by Blue Crush in 2007 as crack houses.  I’m not implying JCG was headed there to buy drugs – he may legitimately live there – but Abel is a very common destination for our top panhandlers, for whatever reason.

Jumper Cable Guy has been wearing a navy blue jacket with a light blue V-shaped stripe on the back lately, and a light colored cap.  He looks like he’s lost a little weight since the pic shown here was taken of him last spring.  If you see him on the streets, yell out, “HEY, JUMPER CABLE GUY!” to him, especially if he’s talking to passersby.  Let’s let him know his actions have seen the light of day.