Paul Ryburn's Journal

This one will have to be quick, because I gotta get to work…

Important article to read in today’s CA… MPD is asking private individuals and firms with video cameras to register their cameras with CyberWatch.  That way, MPD knows those cameras are there and can ask for their video when investigating incidents.  There are a lot of cameras pointing at alleyways in the Downtown area, and it is very important that the owners of these cameras let MPD know about them.  I’ve heard of several incidents over the years where criminals hide out in alleys and wait for passersby to rob as they take a shortcut to their car, home or hotel.  Video from private cameras would help MPD identify these crooks, and over time the bad guys would become afraid to hang out in alleys for fear they are being watched.

One other item… I heard this weekend that the BP on Riverside has really tasty, big, meaty frog legs for lunch on Fridays.  Yeah I know that doesn’t do anyone much good on a Tuesday, but if I wait until Friday I’ll forget.  Make a note on your calendar.

Okay, off to work, more at lunchtime.  Got another website ready to roll out.

Planning out what looks to be a full week… let’s see what’s going on…

Tonight there are NFL-watching parties at Big Foot Lodge and the Red Rooster with beer and drink specials.  In addition to those parties, there’s always $1.50 PBR at Calhoun’s, and 5 LCD TVs on which to watch the game.  At the Flying Saucer, it’s $2.75 Pint Nite, with 2 huge projection TVs, 3 LCDs, and 2 CRTs for the game.  The Tap Room has $1 PBR pints and 4 flat-panel TVs (can’t remember if they’re LCD or plasma).

If football is not your thing, there’s $10 all-you-can-bowl at Jillian’s, and team trivia night at Huey’s at 9 PM.

Tuesday night is trivia night at the Saucer, of course, 7 PM.  If the St. Jude team is too embarrassed to return after getting clobbered by us 3 weeks in a row, there’s also trivia at Tug’s on Mud Island (8:30 PM) and the East Bumblefuck Saucer (7 PM).

Wednesday is the first of five weekly concerts in the Downtown Alive! concert series.  This one will be “Neosoulville,” in Gayoso Alley at Peabody Place, with Will Graves, Kelly Hurt, Tonya Dyson, Lila, and Tim Terry.  The alley is off Peabody Place between Front and Main.  Vending starts at 4:30 PM, music at 5, and will continue until 8:30 PM.  Because of the nature of the venue, blankets and chairs are not recommended, but it will be a great place to mingle with people who work and/or live Downtown.  Lots of great restaurants on that block too – Bluefin, Circa, the Majestic Grille – if you’re hungry after the show.  More info here.  I think they’re still looking for a bartender to work that evening.  If you have a current ABC license shoot me an e-mail (paul@paulryburn.com) and I’ll get you in touch with the person in charge.

Not sure what’s going on Thursday.  Friday is the opening of Bardog Tavern on Monroe.  It’ll be open into the AM, so I probably won’t start out there right after work… maybe I’ll go to the Saucer and round up a posse to take over to Bardog.

In other news… First United Methodist Church will begin rebuilding October 5.  That’s two years minus one day after it burned to the ground in the early morning.

The “On the River Seafood and More” place at 51 S. Main now has a scrolling sign in its window saying it will be open Monday, Sept. 22.  That’s next Monday.

Dr. Booze had a post on his blog this morning about a book called The Newly Non-Drinking Girl’s Guide to Pregnancy which helps women get through 40 weeks of pregnancy without alcohol. Would make a good gift if you know someone who got knocked up recently.

That’s it for now, picking up a burger, heading back to work.

364 days until the next Cooper-Young Festival… I’ll have a recap of yesterday in a moment, but first it’s time to roll out my latest website:

The Action Figure Collector Shop sells hard-to-find action figures, and ones that you never knew existed.  I got the idea for this store when I was building Rat Race Resources and found a series of cubicle action figures.  I decided to see what else was available on Amazon, and there were quite a few wild and weird ones, including the Crazy Cat Lady action figure, Mr. Bacon vs. Monsieur Tofu, Jon Bon Jovi, memorable past presidents, Barack Obama, John McCain, religious figures, The Fonz jumping the shark, and dozens more.  Check it out – even if you don’t buy any of the action figures, you’ll get a good laugh out of the site.

Cooper-Young was fun as always, although I wish the cooler weather expected for this week had arrived yesterday.  It was in the upper 80s and the bike ride out there nearly killed me.  Once I got to the festival, though, it was a great time.  Highlights included the delicious chicken philly crepe I had from Crepe Maker, and hanging out at Dr. Bob’s booth for a significant part of the day.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl, in a tube top, eating a pretzel:

Hmmm… let me check my wallet… I had $126 after stopping at the ATM on the way to Cooper-Young… now how much do I have left… $54.  So I spent $72 on food, beer, and Gatorade on the bike ride there and back.  Yeah that sounds like a typical C-Y Fest.  In addition to the crepe, I had a slice of pizza from Garibaldi’s, a beef and lamb gyro, and numerous cans of PBR.

I stayed past the end of the festival, catching the Kings of the Delta on Celtic Crossing’s patio.  Darbi and Kristin were there.  “Did you ever appoint a BFF for September?” they asked.  No, because quite honestly, I forgot.  “So I guess we’re still your BFFs then,” they said.  “Well, look,” and they showed me the “Paul is my BFF” panties they had on.  No kidding, they really did create them on CafePress and order them.

Fun day.  Today is recovery day… there’s no way I’ll make it to brunch (it’s week 1 Blue Monkey, for those who check the blog to keep up with such things).  I’ll probably hit the Saucer about 2 with the backpack, beat Pete at pool a few times, then pull out the laptop and work on more websites.

It’s just before 8 in the morning, and I’m up on a Saturday.  Gonna get dressed, put some air in the bike’s tires, and ride down to the Cooper-Young Festival.  Looks like any rain we get from Hurricane Ike won’t be here until tomorrow morning, so I should be OK to ride.  A few things before I go though…

First of all, if you’re not planning to go to the festival and want to watch football, don’t forget that Calhoun’s is now opening early for the games.  They open at 11 today I believe, and Best Pool Partner Ever Lauren is back bartending the morning shift.  They have the ESPN college game day TV package.  They also have a featured game every week.  If you’re there for the entire game, and the team they pick covers the spread in the featured game, you get 25% off your tab.  Just think about it… that’s 37 and a half cents off every $1.50 PBR you order!

Last night at the Saucer, I ran into the owner of Bardog Tavern on Friday, and he told me that next Friday, September 19, will likely be the opening day.  Can’t wait.  A neighborhood bar less than a block from home… love it.

I also walked by 51 S. Main yesterday and noticed that restaurant-to-come-soon On the River Seafood and More now has its hours in the window.  It’ll be open until 8 Monday-Thursday, 10 Friday, and midnight Saturday.  So Downtowners will have another place to get good seafood for dinner.

Dr. Bob will have a booth at the festival selling his artwork, and I’ll probably spend a fair amount of time in there today reminiscing about all the times I beat Pete at pool.  Around 10:30 I’ll get there, lock the bike to the nearest available street sign, and then I’ll be out on the street until the festival ends at 7:00.  No breaks this year, except to the convenience store to load up on PBR tallboys.

Looking forward to having a beer with fellow blogger Buck Daddy at the fest.  Buck Daddy, by the way, has info on a meet and greet with WWE Superstars happening tomorrow at Stereo One in East Bumblefuck.  WWE Monday Night Raw will be broadcast from the FedExForum this Monday.

Thanks in advance to Bicycle Bobby, who is going to ride by the Saucer and check the Fire Sale and text it to me, so I can update “what’s the fire sale?” on the blog.  Outta here, see you at Cooper-Young.

Tonight I told myself, if I go out, no more than 2 beers, because I’ve got to rest up for Cooper-Young tomorrow.  So what happened?  I had 3 beers at the bar then tabbed out.  Then ran into other people I knew and had 3 more that I ordered from one of the waitresses.  Then I decided it was time for Paul’s Drunkass Food and headed to Big Foot… but was SHOCKED to see that Meghan had a full bar.  Must’ve been tourists.  So I thought, “where else can I get a quick burger?” and realized it wasn’t 10 yet and therefore the Flying Fish was still open.  Although known for their seafood, the Fish has a burger on their menu.  So I decided to give it a try.

So I went to the Fish and ordered it to go.  “It’ll be a 10 minute wait,” I thought.  “Better order a beer to pass the time.”  And I looked in the cooler and not only did they have PBR cans, but Busch cans and PBR Light cans as well!  First time I have seen PBR Light Downtown.  Domestic price is $2.75.

Nevertheless, I ordered PBR regular to drink while I waited.  At home eating the burger now.  See you at Cooper-Young Fest tomorrow.

The Memphis Business Journal reports that a new lounge called The Silly Goose will open in the space formerly occupied by Swig by December.  It will be operated by several partners who know the area well, including Daniel Masters who used to bartend at Dan McGuinness.  It will be a laid-back lounge, the article states, a place for locals to go, with over 400 different types of liquor.  They’ll have plenty of wine and beer on hand too.  They’ll serve lunch and dinner, and will have a happy hour from 3 to 8 PM and a second happy hour from 11 PM to 3 AM.  I can’t wait for this place to open.

Fun times at Big Foot’s party last night.  I got there at 8 before the place got crowded and drank a Super Cold Coors Light.  Several times I’ve noticed the Super Cold machine and thought, wow, they made it look like it’s covered in ice.  Well, last night I found out how they did it… it really is ice all over the machine.  So you truly are getting beer at below-freezing temperatures.

They had Meghan out from behind the bar, hostessing in a low-cut blouse and one of her old Flying Saucer miniskirts and not serving any customers.  Truly Big Foot has discovered how to best utilize Meghan’s talents.  My compliments to whomever placed a fan near the kitchen entrance, which blew her skirt up every time she walked by.

Plans for tonight:  None whatsoever.  I need a good night’s rest to be ready to go for the Cooper-Young Festival tomorrow.  I’ve decided I’m going to ride my bike down there… I plan on getting there around 10:30, and will be at the festival until it ends at 7.  Mmmm… looking forward to a day of festival food.  Gyros and pizza and stuff.  I hope those nachos from Germantown Commissary are back this year.  I also hope that the convenience store at Cooper and Evelyn has stocked up on PBR tall-boys.

More news later… check back.

This is going to be the condensed version because it’s 1 AM.

I had an interview with Channel 3 at 7 PM about the benefits of the Downtown safety patrol.  At 6:45 I got a call from Mike King, the co-moderator of the Handling-Panhandling group.  He told me St. Jude Bum, the guy who panhandles and tells people that the money they give him is a St. Jude donation, was at the Elvis statue.  Did I mention that St. Jude bum had an oustanding warrant?  Interestingly enough, my 7 PM interview was to take place at the Elvis statue.

Mike called the Downtown safety patrol.  They called the cops.  The cops showed up at precisely 7:01 PM.  I pointed him out and the cameras got a shot of St. Jude Bum being cuffed and put in a car.

I don’t remember what I said but it could not have possibly compared to that image.  Kudos to Mike on a job well done.

More to come tomorrow or this weekend.

Tonight I’m meeting Channel 3 for an interview.  They saw my post on the Downtown safety patrol, and how we may not be able to keep them around if it’s not fully funded by local businesses and stakeholders.  (No tax money goes toward funding the patrol.)  They’re meeting me at one of Downtown’s panhandling hotspots at 7 tonight to talk about it.  Not sure when the story will air, could be as early as 10 tonight.  Turn on the news and look for me if you’re in front of a TV at that hour.

Had a very important demo at 12:30 today, so no time to do a lunchtime post, sorry.  Real quick update… don’t forget Big Foot Lodge’s back to school party tonight.  $2 Super Cold 34 oz. Coors Light, $4 Red Bull and vodka, $4 Blue Anchor and Flying Moose.  There will be a DJ and the party kicks off at 8 PM.  Also, the Dempseys play the Saucer tonight, starting at 9:30 with a $3 cover.  So I guess I’ll hit the Big Foot party for the first hour or so, then head to the Saucer.  Should be a fun night.

The Downtown safety patrol has had some big successes in the past 5 months.  Most recently they found out the name of the panhandler who has been asking for money claiming it’s a donation for St. Jude.  During their first 12 weeks on the job, they responded to 476 requests from Downtown residents and visitors, mostly panhandling requests.

Downtown is statistically the safest neighborhood in Memphis, but like many urban areas, it sees its share of quality of life crimes like panhandling, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct.  This can cause visitors to conclude that Downtown is not safe, and keep them from wanting to come back and spend money at Downtown businesses.

The Downtown safety patrol runs from 8 AM-9 PM Sunday-Wednesday and 8 AM-11 PM Thursday-Saturday.  There are two officers on bike on duty during these hours.  They have received 36 hours of training from private security firm CDA, Inc., and 28 additional hours of training by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department.  (One of those hours of training was provided by myself and Handling-Panhandling co-founder Mike King.  We educated them on common panhandling gimmicks and gave them color printouts with photos and MO’s of some of Downtown’s most active aggressive panhandlers.)  They stay in regular communication with the Memphis Police and can call them in if a situation warrants it.  Also, by being on the streets 13-15 hours a day, they have learned where the true hotspots are for panhandling and other crimes, and they have passed this data onto MPD so officers can be utilized more effectively.

The program costs $200,000 to operate, and will not be able to continue if funding is not provided by stakeholders and business owners.  Suggested donations for businesses include

• $250/year for businesses with less than 5 employees
• $500/year for 6-25 employees
• $1000/year for 25-50 employees
• $2500/year for 50-100 employees
• $5000/year for more than 1000 employees

Contributions are tax deductible.  You can contact Larry Bloom at bloom@downtownmemphis.com or at 901-575-0562 if you would like to contribute.

Please forward this post to Downtown business owners.  If you remember how things were before April 1 – when the panhandlers and thugs had free run of the streets – then you understand how vital it is to keep the Downtown safety patrol in place.