Paul Ryburn's Journal

Go vote, if you didn’t early vote already.

This is going to be a very interesting night.  I’ve talked to several people who I just assumed would be automatic votes for Hillary Clinton… and found out they’re voting for Obama.  Hopefully we can convince the Saucer to put one of the TVs on election results while we play trivia tonight.  Although, no promises we’ll be successful on that, because most of their patrons consider it a tragedy if ESPN Sportscenter isn’t viewable from every angle in the entire bar.

Scratch what I said about taking the laptop up there tonight… it looks like heavy rain’s moving in.  Just got the pics downloaded from my camera, organizing them into various folders:  “superbowl08” for the Super Bowl pics, “2blog” for random pictures that will one day make it onto the blog, and a few pics went in the “bums” folder.  Soon as I get a chance I’ll run Picasa through the Super Bowl folder and post a photo album.  Won’t be right now though – got to get back to work.  They’re finally letting me code!

As I walked down Main Street yesterday, John and Carlos, the owner and GM of Circa, stopped me to give me an exclusive:  Starting today (assuming the delivery shows up) Circa will be carrying one of Bosco’s beers.  Boscos has a warehouse at Main and Crump and they’re now wholesaling beer to a few select restaurants, and Circa will be the first place Downtown to carry their product.  They tell me the first beer they carry will be a pale ale, with a cream ale to follow next month.

I drank my first three Pint Nite beers last night, so I’m starting the running total.  They were

Bridgeport IPA, $2.50
Woodchuck Pear Cider, $2.50
Rogue Dead Guy, $2.50
Tip:  $1 x 3 beers = $3
Total: $10.50

My actual tab was $0, because when I went to pay I found that one of my blog readers had covered it.  Thanks!  Sometimes it’s nice to be a blogger.  I didn’t get a chance to taste-test Bridgeport vs. Avery because they were out of Avery.

A friend of mine pointed out a flaw in my “plate in 67 days” plan:  There are only 10 Pint Nites in those 67 days.  Due to the 3 per day rule, that means I’ll only be able to get 30 of the 68 or so Pint Nite drafts at the $2.50 price.  So there’s no way I can do a plate in 67 days and do a plate as cheaply as possible.

I’ll do beers 4, 5, and 6 tonight at trivia.  Think I may take the laptop with me tonight.  There’s a lot of Downtown info pages I want to add to the blog but haven’t had time.  Need to get Super Bowl pics up too.  That means there may be a drunk post tonight.

Time to decide where to go get lunch… I definitely want a burger, just not sure which burger.  It will either be the cheeseburger from Elliott’s, the mushroom swiss burger from Court House Deli, or the chili burger from Sam’s.  All excellent choices.  Hmm… leaning toward the chili burger.

I’ve decided to go ahead with my plan to get a second plate at the Flying Saucer.  Tonight I’ll start on the list of 200 different beers.  If I do 3 a day until I’m done, that would put me on track to finish Thursday, April 10.

Since it’s Pint Nite, my strategy for tonight will be “draft beers that do qualify for Pint Nite but never appear as Fire Sales during the rest of the week.”  That means I’ll have to resist the temptation to make Dos Equis Special Lager my first beer, as it very occasionally shows up as the Fire Sale.  Hmmm… IPAs seem to never be Fire Sales… maybe I’ll order Bridgeport IPA and Avery IPA at the same time, and taste-test them and figure out which one I like better.  Bridgeport has always been my IPA of choice, but I have friends who are big Avery fans, so I’ll give it a chance.

One question my friends and I have long asked is, “how much does it cost to get a plate?”  I’m going to attempt to answer that question by keeping a running tally the next 67 days.  Here’s how I’m going to count it:  The cost of the three beers plus the tip on those three beers, using my regular tipping strategy of 30% or a dollar a beer, whichever is more.  I’m not going to count the cost of food or additional beers ordered beyond the three that count.  If someone buys me a beer I’ll make note of it, but the amount I would have paid and tipped will still count toward the running total.  Needless to say I’m going to try to get the plate as cheaply as possible, avoiding the two $30 beers and some of the other pricey ones if I can.

Looking forward to learning about some new beers… a lot of the current ones were not around when I completed my first plate.  Not looking forward to having to deal with Turbo Dog and some of the other really disgusting beers.

Will be up there about 5.  Hmmm… forecast is high 72, low 62, bet the windows will be open today.  I may have to play the Window Game this evening.

People have been asking all week who I’ll be rooting for in the Super Bowl.  Really, I don’t have a favorite team in this one.  I’ll be happy to see either team win.

Really, I don’t have much of a favorite team in the entire NFL.  I guess if I had to pick one it’d be the Titans since they’re nearby and they played here for a season.  Mainly though, when I watched the NFL this season I rooted for one thing:  The complete and total defeat and destruction of overrated, overhyped, overexposed Peyton Manning.  I wanted a season that would prove he’s not the football god that the media, Colts fans, companies whose products he endorses, and my favorite blogger/MILF make him out to be.  I’m sick of “Priceless Pep Talks.”  I’m sick of that commercial where he’s running down the hall.  I’m sick of his presence on my TV.
And that’s why I win either way today in the Super Bowl.  If the Giants win, little brother Eli did what Peyton was supposed to do this year.  That means companies who want commercials made will be talking to a different Manning next year.  I don’t have a problem with Eli.  If the Patriots win, then Tom Brady led his team to a perfect season.  That means there won’t be any question whatsoever that Brady is the best quarterback in the league, not Peyton.

If you agree with my opinion of Peyton and are on Facebook, there’s an “I hate Peyton Manning” group you can join.

(Edit:  A couple of people corrected me on this paragraph, he didn’t grow up in TN, he just went to school here.  Doesn’t matter.  He still sucks.  Wasn’t it great to see him sitting in a box watching the Super Bowl yesterday, instead of on the field?)  Yeah I understand that the guy grew up in Tennessee.  I still don’t understand why that means I should like him.  I can name many people who grew up in Tennessee and nonetheless suck.

Another reason I’ll win either way:  My friend Chuck is making his Italian roast beef for the Super Bowl party today.  But before I go to the party, I’ll hit McGuinness for this morning’s brunch, then the Saucer to see if Pete wants his Sunday ass-whipping on the pool table, then to Second Street Shoppers to pick up beer.  I’m so glad that little convenience store/deli is there.  Yesterday I was told they have wings at the deli now and that they’re really good.

Random stuff people asked me to put in the blog:  From Fancher: Canada you had a hell of a Saturday you punk.

Recap of yesterday:  Watched the game at the Saucer.  Hung out there until 5:00.  Got a bum thrown out who tried to panhandle me for a dollar in the restroom.  Got really wasted.  Watched the dart board fall off the wall.  That was weird.  Got a pic of it but I don’t have the camera right now.  Went to Rio Loco, thinking Mexican food would sober me up a little.  It would have, had I not ordered that jumbo margarita with dinner.  They gave me a T-shirt from their 2nd birthday party.  I’m  wearing it today.  After Rio Loco, it was time to go back to the Saucer.  Then to Hoop’s Bar, but only for a little while as I threw in the towel after only one beer.  I didn’t want last night to be a late night – wanted a full night’s sleep so I’d be ready for today’s Super Bowl party.

Time to get the day started… everyone have fun watching the game today.

Last night I went with the gang to The Cove, a chic dive bar on Broad Avenue in the spot that used to be The Beer Joint.  I was completely impressed with this place for a number of reasons I’ll get into later in this post.  Very rarely do I deem a bar worthy of a car ride away from Downtown, but this one deserves it.  Let’s start with a few pics of the decor, featuring a nautical/sailing/pirate theme.

The nautical theme even extends to the cocktail napkins.  In the next picture we see Skippy holding one of the napkins:

Next, let’s talk about the drinks.  They have a very, very extensive drink menu.  All of their drinks are made from scratch – there are absolutely no mixes in use anywhere.  This means that the bartenders may spend several minutes making your drink – but it’s made the RIGHT way.  I ordered a mint julep and the bartender carefully crushed the mint, spooned out sugar, and then poured in carefully-measured ingredients.  A friend of mine ordered an old fashioned and was very happy.  Another friend told a story of an earlier time when he had been in, and detected a hint of licorice – but just a hint – in his drink.  “That’s because, for that particular drink, we rinse the glass in licorice before we pour,” the bartender told him.  Elegant little touches like that tell you that, although it appears to be a dive bar at first glance, the people at The Cove really know what they’re doing.  Drinks are reasonable too.  My mint julep was $6.50.  The PBR bottle I drank was $2.25 (but you really should skip beer and try the mixed drinks there).

Oh, and John D was extremely impressed with the Bud Light bottles he had at The Cove.

While I was at the bar, the bartender showed me a bottle.  “Absinthe?” he asked.  He explained to me that absinthe – REAL absinthe, not the fake stuff – became legal in the US only five weeks ago.  He then told me The Cove was the first place in Memphis to have it.  So I ordered a drink, which he mixed with a sugar cube and water (they don’t have the spoons yet though).  Damn.  That is definitely not a drink you want to chug.  Just smelling it from four feet away got me drunk.  Here’s a pic of my glass of “the green fairy” and also a ginger beer that The Cove carries.

I’ve been told that absinthe gives people all kinds of weird hallucinations, but I didn’t drink it fast enough, or I didn’t drink enough of it, to experience anything like that.

Let’s move on to the food.  They have a small menu but it works.  Apps like hummus and pita bread; several sandwiches including vegetarian options; pita pizzas; shrimp cocktails; oysters on the half shell.  Here’s a pic of my friend Robin having the oysters, which she said were some of the best she’s ever had.  The oysters are expertly shucked by an alumnus of the late, great Anderton’s restaurant.

And now we come to the part of the post that everyone’s been looking forward to, the “random pics of us drinking” section:

Me with our BBQ team captain Chuck.  One of the bartenders had tattoos of sailing ships and a pig on his arm.  Chuck, who likes to go sailing on Lake Michigan in the summer: “Now that’s a man after my own heart!”

 

The Nuh-Uh Girl and Chuck pose for a picture.

 

The gang at the bar (front view).  Note the Bud Light bottle in front of John D.

 

The gang and random people in suits at the bar (back view).  Note the ’50s movie being shown on the plasma HDTV.  They also showed a British zombie movie and The Big Lebowski while we were there.  It’s refreshing to walk into a bar and not see ESPN Sportscenter on TV.

 

Skippy tries to convince the Nuh-Uh Sister to take him to Maui on the trip she won on Wheel of Fortune.

 

I once again have to say how much Picasa rules.  Its auto-contrast feature rescued about half the images shown above.  They were practically unusable before I imported them into Picasa because digital cameras have so much trouble with dim light.

By 10 the bar started to get crowded, and we headed back home.  A very good time was had by all.  Looks like we aren’t the only Downtown barflies to find out about this place – I saw several people I recognized from my usual haunts.  Good to be back home Downtown, but The Cove will see me again.

In November 2005 I completed my 200th different beer and got my plate on the wall at the Flying Saucer.  It took me two and a half years to do it.  People have asked if I plan on going for a second plate, and I’ve always said no.  I figure, I’ve tried them all once and have earned the right to drink only beers I like and discounted beers on Fire Sale.

However, a few months ago I changed my tune:  I would be willing to go for a second plate on one condition.  That condition is, if I could complete the 200 beers in exactly 67 days.  They only count three per day to avoid people getting wasted and driving home.  200 divided by 3 is 67 when you round.

Now, when I first thought about doing the plate in 67 days, it wasn’t possible, because I had upcoming out-of-town trips for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I was also considering moving my base of operations to the Downtown Blue Monkey once it opened.  However, now I’m in a position to do it… I don’t see any trips away from Memphis on the radar between now and May, and I’ve reversed my earlier decision about the Monkey and decided the Saucer will remain my base.  Also, if I start soon I can have the 200 done in time to throw my $100 plate party money in with Rapscallion Party VII, which will likely happen in late April.

Going to think about it over the weekend… don’t want to go ahead and start because tonight’s field trip to The Cove and Sunday’s Super Bowl party will prevent me from being at the Saucer long enough to drink 3 beers those days.  If I do it, Monday will be the start date.

BREAKING NEWS:  Pau Gasol just got traded to the Lakers.

Got a project that’s stalled at work… I’m working with a guy from our New York office on an XML project, but he became a new father this week and is out on paternity leave.  I’m too new to have the understanding of the system to get very far by myself, so this morning when I got home I thought, might as well burn one of my days off.  So I e-mailed my lead developer, went to bed, and woke up at noon.  At my company there’s no distinction between sick and personal days, just “days.”  I like that.  It means people don’t have to pretend to be sick when they need a day off.

Calhoun’s Sports Bar & Grill e-mailed to notify me that they WILL carry the Tiger game tomorrow.  This was one of the three games they thought they were not going to be able to show, but they arranged an Internet feed.  They say that the picture quality may not be up to HD standards through the feed, but the game will be on and the beer will be flowing.

Women for Obama are hosting an event tomorrow night, Saturday, February 2, in the downstairs of Pearl’s Oyster House at 7:30 PM.  They want to rally Obama’s female supporters but men are welcome too.  You can network with other Obama supporters, meet local staffers, and join a “Letter to the Editor” campaign to make the community aware of the presence of Obama supporters.  Hmmm… I don’t have plans tomorrow… and I like Pearl’s… and haven’t been there since Yoko’s birthday in November… and the crowd will be mostly women… and if they’re Obama supporters, that means they’ll be intelligent women.  Good chance I’ll show up.

Expect an update on The Red Rooster, the new club next to the Westin, very soon in this blog.  They’re looking at February 21 as a projected opening date.

Onix, the new chicken & waffles restaurant on South Main at Huling in the old Zanibar space, opens Monday.

Did you realize that this coming Tuesday is Fat Tuesday?  It really snuck up on us this year.  Easter is March 23, one of the earliest possible days.

The Dempseys were excellent last night at the Saucer.  First time I’ve heard them in over two months and they’ve added a lot of new songs to their set.  They’ll be at Blues City tonight and Saturday.  They’ll be back at the Saucer on the 28th, and out at the East Bumblefuck Saucer on the 29th.

Also last night, I finally turned the tables on the food-stealing situation at the Saucer.  In 2006 I inadvertently donated to the Feed Romania project, as the Romanian Sensation snuck fries off my plate.  In 2007 Feed the Zebras was the cause of choice – every time I ordered Rocket Tots, the little zebra-haired waitress would show up and start eating them.  But 2008 is the beginning of the Feed The Blogger movement.  As I was listening to the band, one of the waitresses took her meal break at the table next to me, but she had to leave her food to go get beer for her customers.  I managed to steal about a third of her fries before she caught me.

Field trip to The Cove as soon as everyone gets off work.  In the meantime, I guess I’ll report to the Second Street Branch Office for the afternoon shift.

What a day at work!  The office building had a water main break this morning, and when we arrived to work we were told there would be no running water in the building all day.  We were told we could walk to the nearby Morgan Keegan office tower to use the restroom.  Of course, my apartment building is just as close so I went there.  In any case, I had to walk in pouring rain, which was not fun.

Then we saw a severe storm on the radar, moving toward Memphis from the west.  The temp was hovering around 32 at the time, and when the precipitation started it was sleet.  At that point management told everyone who drove to work that they could go home.  That was a nice gesture, even though a warmup of a couple degrees caused most of the precipitation to fall as rain.  I remember a few years ago, when I worked for a company that said “WE HAVE A POLICY OF NOT CLOSING FOR BAD WEATHER,” and one day when sleet moved in at noon no one did the sensible thing and left.  Of course, everyone was so stressed out over the anticipated dangerous drive home that no work got done that day.  People were too busy looking out the window.  By the time 4:30 rolled around, I had to drive home on Sam Cooper on an inch of sleet (it never changed to rain or snow that day).  I did about 20 mph and got home fine, although the car in the next lane was going 50 and nearly sideswiped me.  That’s why it’s dangerous not to close Memphis offices in bad weather; it’s not that you don’t know how to drive home in it, it’s that all the other idiots on the road don’t.

So anyway, I was one of a few remaining people in the office.  If I were set up on the VPN so I could use Remote Desktop to connect, I would’ve worked from home too.  Need to talk to the sysadmin about that but he’s in New York right now.

On to today’s news:  The International Blues Challenge competition takes place on Beale Street today and tomorrow.  If you feel like rooting for the home team, the Eric Hughes Band is one of the bands competing.  You’ll be able to buy wristbands for all the participating clubs on Beale tonight and tomorrow; finals are at the Orpheum on Saturday.

The Food Network has been doing more filming Downtown than the previously-mentioned Alcenia’s piece.  They also went to the Little Tea Shop on Monroe.  They were there Wednesday filming and talking to owner and Downtown legend Suhair.  They loved Suhair and will be back filming the lunch crowd on Monday, so stop by and maybe you’ll appear on TV.  It’s for their “American Classics” series.

Circa will be back open for lunch from 11-4 weekdays starting tomorrow.  Chef John Bragg e-mailed me a copy of the menu.  Some of the standout items:  cornmeal fried oysters with red chili sauce ($9); half-pound certified Angus steakburger ($9); crab cake sandwich with roasted pepper remoulade ($12); beef tenderloin medallions with mushroom bordelaise and mashed potatoes ($14); grilled chicken and pasta with pancetta and scallions in white wine cream sauce ($13); and for vegetarians there’s a chef’s vegetarian special ($12).  They have Wi-Fi so you can take your laptop and do a working lunch.

My plans for the rest of the week:

Tonight:  Dempseys @ Saucer.  They take the stage at 9:30 but I’ll probably get there at 7:30-8ish so when they ask from the stage, “You drunk yet, Paul?” I can say yes.  I’ll stay through all three sets then walk home.  of course mcguinness is on the way home

Tomorrow:  Field trip to The Cove on Broad Avenue from 6 to approximately 9-10ish.  I’ll bring the camera and take pictures to post.  After I get back – not sure, maybe the IBC on Beale, will figure it out when I get back Downtown.

Saturday:  No idea.  There’s a Tiger game at noon.  May go someplace close by to watch it, or maybe I’ll just sleep late and turn it on the TV when I get up.  “Buy beer for Sunday’s Super Bowl party” is the only item on my agenda.

Sunday:  McGuinness 11-12:30; Saucer 12:30-2; Super Bowl party at friend’s house nearby 2 til about an hour after the game ends.  I’ve invited a few people who read this blog – if you want to meet up with me at McG or the Saucer beforehand you can walk over with me, otherwise call my cell.

And that’s the news.  Be careful if you drive tonight.  Predicted low is 30 and the streets are still wet.

Tonight after work I hit Circa for one of their happy hour beers, then made the trek down South Main to G.E. Patterson Avenue to watch the Tiger game at Calhoun’s.  First time I’ve been there in 29 days, and first time to see the bar during a Tiger game since they’ve had time to develop a regular crowd.

The place was PACKED.  Luckily I had a friend who saved me a seat at the bar, but otherwise if you want a bar seat you need to get there an hour prior to game time.  Keep in mind that, given the size of Calhoun’s, “packed” means about 40 people. I got to enjoy one of their newest draft beers, a Mexican beer called Dos Equis Special Lager, while I watched the game.  In addition to #1 Memphis defeating Houston, there were a couple of added bonuses.  The only other undefeated team in NCAA Division I, #2 Kansas, lost to #24 Kansas State, and Arkansas defeated Mississippi State.  I noticed that Calhoun’s has a framed photo of a razorback hog above their main TV.  Nice.

My friend at the bar next to me commented that the crowd at Calhoun’s was a “Blue Monkey crowd,” meaning the crowd that hung out at the Downtown Blue Monkey 3 years ago.  That’s a South Main neighborhood crowd, which is what they wanted.  Glad to see them doing well.  They wanted to provide a hangout for the neighbors and they did it.

That said, I don’t see myself hanging out there more than a couple of times a month… simply because, South Main isn’t my neighborhood.  The Downtown core is.  That should not be taken as a negative statement against Calhoun’s in any way.  It’s a GREAT place to watch Tiger games and other sports.  I highly, highly recommend it if you’re a sports fan and/or if you live in South Main.  It’s just that I have too many fun hangouts within 5 blocks of where I live to get down there regularly.  I tabbed out about 9:30 and told my friends I was walking home, and that’s what I did.  I went home and bought a $2.75 Fire Sale (Dos Equis Amber, they almost got it right) and listened to Roxanne Lemmon’s band and watched waitresses walk around.

Let’s get on to the daily news.  Tomorrow, January 31 (which will be today by the time most of you read this), Ballet Memphis will have an open rehearsal at the One One O’ Six Lofts on Main just south of Union from 11:30 AM-1:30 PM.  You’re invited to bring lunch (you can get to-go food from a number of nearby restaurants, including Huey’s, Sawaddii, Rio Loco, Pa Pa Pia’s, Sauces, the Majestic Grille, etc.) and watch.

The Food Network will be in town Friday and Saturday to film at Alcenia’s restaurant in the Pinch District.  The show is “Dinners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”  Owner BJ Tamayo will do some cooking, and her 87-year-old mother Alcenia for whom the restaurant is named will share cooking tips.

Walking home tonight, I saw a sign that said The Flying Fish is now doing happy hour with $1 drafts and $4 margaritas 4-7 PM weekdays.

Time to get a good night’s rest.  With the Dempseys show tomorrow, I know I’ve got another late night coming, so I better stock up on sleep tonight.

The Rapscallions came in third this evening in trivia.  Pete the Trivia Guy expanded the format this week, adding one new question per round.  Not only did trivia get longer, but weirder.  Sample question:  Which sleeping pill commercial features Abe Lincoln and a talking beaver?  Obviously our team got that one, because when I’m at the Saucer I’m all about the b… never mind, no good can come from finishing that thought.  Team member IQ was absent this week, as were many team members.  We had a team of 8, which for us is small.  We took third place, bringing our total to $365.

One post-trivia note I want to make:  Leo Lazarus has been playing after trivia for 5 years at the Saucer on Tuesday.  What I did not know is that anything you tip him goes to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.  So come drink, listen, and give on Tuesdays.

We had a new waitress tonight, and because she did not know our names she nicknamed me “R1 longhair guy” on the receipt.  R1 is the rail nearest the door.  Here’s a picture one of the other waitresses drew in honor of my new nickname.

So anyway they were training 4 new waitresses tonight.  And that’s OK – the official Saucer training manual teaches about the different styles of beer, how to make a beer recommendation for the customer, etc.  But that’s not enough.

Therefore I present The Unofficial Saucer Training Manual – the training manual that teaches the REALLY important skills involved in working at the Saucer – how to sit on your ass, send text messages, and twirl your hair.  See pictures below.

 

 

See?  It’s not that had to do.  Just wanted to give you new girls the complete picture, things not found in the training manual.  The skills pictured above will occupy 85-90% of your time.

 

After I got done at the Saucer I went to McGuinness.  The exterminator was in there spraying.  Dude next to me at the bar commented on how bad the place smelled.  He was smoking a cigarette.

 

Post on entrepreneurial event is once again on hold, waiting for a website (to be used to take a vote which is important to Memphis) coming back online.