Daily thoughts of a Downtown Memphis resident
… Details to come. I have to call one of the servers there and get details, but service industry people’s morning doesn’t start at the same time as 8-to-5 people’s morning, so it won’t be for a few hours.
In the meantime, read this. Article about a new office furnishings store on South Main that will have its grand opening tonight at Trolley Tour.
Actually, you should read the Flyer even after you read this summary… it’s full of good stuff. But, here are some high points from this week’s issue:
– The Grizzlies are holding dance team tryouts Saturday, June 14 at 9 AM at the FedExForum. If you plan on trying out, it’s strongly recommended that you take their jazz workshop tonight at 7 PM at Mid-South Dance Academy, 7014 E. Shelby Drive, as well as two pre-audition classes Thursday, June 5 and 12, at the Methodist Healthcare Practice Facility at the FedExForum, both 7 PM. Classes/workshops are recommended but not required and cost $25 per dancer. Must be at least 18 or a high school grad.
– Congrats to my friend Kris Kourdouvelis, who throws some awesome private parties at his warehouse on G.E. Patterson. He attended a recent auction of Isaac Hayes’ restaurant’s inventory. He had the winning bids on a baby grand piano, drink mixing equipment, and four semi-circular booths, including the restaurant’s owner’s booth. Those will make fun additions to his next warehouse party.
– Rep. Steve Cohen’s re-election headquarters open this Saturday, May 31, at noon at 1803 Union Avenue. Steve has done a great job in Congress during his first term and I look forward to sending him back for another two years (and hopefully many more after that). More info at cohenforcongress.com.
– There’s a “Salvation Healing Revival” with evangelist David Terrell today through June 7 at the fairgrounds. According to the ad, “Jesus” is healing all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases. Why did they put “Jesus” in quotes? Is that his nickname or something? Is his name really Murray “Jesus” Christ and it’s just that none of us knew because we don’t have a direct hotline to Heaven like this evangelist does?
– There will be a vintage car show – a funky, funky vintage car show – Sunday, June 1 at 345 Madison at 2 PM. Vintage cars, motorcycles, and travel trailers. Awards ceremony at 4.
– This week’s Red Rooster ad says “Kamakaze Karaoke, Cornhole, & Tricycle Races” for Sunday. Sounds interesting.
– Ground Zero’s ad mentions their “Hot blues, cool beer” happy hour – $2 domestic draft 4-7 PM, 7 days a week. I plan on giving their happy hour a try this afternoon, now that I’ve learned that the Saucer has put yet another mediocre beer on Fire Sale today (Killian’s Red).
Ground Zero’s ad also mentions that they have food by Mac Edwards, founder of McEwen’s. It mentions a fried green tomato BLT, Mississippi caviar, Big Muddy chicken, and sweet potato fries.
– The Zodiac Ball, the annual fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society, is Saturday night at the Peabody. Looks like they’re doing a ’60s theme with tribute band Fun Fun Fun. More info on the event here.
– If anyone is looking for a service industry job Downtown, it looks like the Madison Hotel, Quetzal, and Encore are hiring.
– There’s a loft apartment for rent at 66 S. Front (available 6/15). Check the “Downtown Apt” section of the Flyer classifieds for details. It’s rare to find apartments in the Downtown core, and the price ($850) is pretty reasonable for a 1 BR/1 BA in the area.
That’s all for now. Sitting here watching a computer program process 2,400,000 records and then write them to a database. Very very exciting. Can’t wait ’til happy hour. I plan on being at Ground Zero about 5:15-5:30ish.
Here’s a list of what’s going on tonight:
Coming later today or early tomorrow: Notes and commentary on this week’s Memphis Flyer.
Calhoun’s will boil 100 pounds of crawfish on their back deck Sunday afternoon. Bar will open at 3:30, crawfish will be served starting at 4. You can get them for $3.50 a pound until they run out.
Whew… Sunday’s looking like a full day for me… brunch at the Monkey… crawfish at Calhoun’s… the Dempseys at Huey’s.
Last night, I walked to the Saucer, but upon seeing the NASTY beer they had put on Fire Sale (Turbo Dog) I kept right on walking all the way to the Blue Monkey, where I enjoyed bottles of PBR at happy hour prices. Then at 7 I moved on to Calhoun’s for dollar Old Style as there was a Cubs game on. Hung out there ’til 9:30 or so, then stopped by the Saucer for one Dos Equis Lager, then hit Itta Bena for Caroline’s bon voyage party. Fun night. Got home to find that my new camera had arrived. Yay. The battery is charging now. I brought the manual to work with me… running a file-processing program that takes an hour to process the current batch I’m working on, so during the wait time I’ll learn how to use the camera.
The Saucer removed some popular beers recently causing a lot of protest, but I learned there was a good reason for it… gas prices. Shipping costs have gotten high for some of those beers that they’d have to charge in the neighborhood of 7 bucks a pint to break even. Even though I drive the car once a month, gas prices are still affecting my life.
Heard Ground Zero has a good happy hour… may check it out today, depending on whether or not the Saucer has a good Fire Sale beer.
Back later today with the Thursday “what’s going on” post.
If you missed out on the Ques Brothers’ 3rd place World Championship pork shoulder at BBQ Fest, I have good news and bad news. The good news is, it’s one of the few instances where you can buy the winning product. The bad news is, you’ll have to drive a little ways to get it… to Chicago.
Our head cook, Willie Wagner (or “Willie Wonka” as some of us call him), owns Honky Tonk Barbeque in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago (1213 W. 18th St.). He’s updated his website, not only mentioning our 3rd place win in the Shoulder competition, but also two other strong finishes at BBQ Fest I was not even aware of… in the “other” category, the team placed 13th out of 101 for sweet, spicy wings, and 5th out of 65 for our turducken (a chicken inside a duck inside a turkey). Congrats to Willie and our cooking team on strong showings in all three of those categories.
Willie has a page on his site about the team’s victory, with a scan of the Commercial Appeal article quoting team member Mike King, and a photo of the team onstage accepting the trophy. So if you’re ever in Chicago (or if you’re one of this blog’s Chicago readers), stop by Honky Tonk BBQ. Or, if you need a party catered in the Chicagoland area, Honky Tonk can do that too. Not only can they supply championship shoulder, but also beef brisket, lamb, chicken, ribs, bratwurst, hamburgers and cheeseburgers, or even the whole hog. Their mobile kitchen can handle parties of 25 to 1200. “We come prepared,” says their site.
Hmmm I haven’t been to Chicago since 1997… once I accumulate some more days off, I may have to make a trip that way later this summer.
The South Main Association e-mailed with a couple of updates. This Friday, of course, is the South Main Trolley Art Tour, as happens the last Friday of every month. Galleries and other shops in the area open 6 to 9 PM, with many serving wine, appetizers, beer, and some offering discounts and/or specials. The South Main Association will have its own private area at the trolley tour next to Mode du Jour, where members can enjoy Boscos beer and grilled hamburgers. If you want to be a part of it, you can join SMA on the spot, $25 for individuals, $35 two-person households, $80 businesses. They’ll also be selling SMA and 38103 T-shirts and SMA cookbooks.
There will be a special event at this month’s trolley tour: The Music Resource Center’s grand opening. This will be at 431 S. Main #201 (across from the National Civil Rights Museum) from 7 to 9 PM. More info on the Resource Center here, led by local musicial Lord T.
Saturday morning there will be another SMA event. Help the association to neaten the neighborhood… meet up with them at Bluff City Coffee at 9 AM (you can get one of health guru AL’s favorite acai plus smoothies while you’re there). Bring brooms, dust pans, and work clothes; garbage bags, water, and snacks will be provided. Cleaning will last until 11 AM. For more details about the SMA’s events go to southmainmemphis.org.
The Mid-South Center for Peace and Justice may disagree with me on panhandling, but they sent me an e-mail yesterday in which we found common ground: music and beer.
They’re having a fundraiser on Saturday, June 7 at 1015 S. Cooper, with over 10 bands, from 1 PM to midnight, $10 wristband admission. Food, beer, drinks.
The annual Memphis Italian Festival runs from tomorrow through Saturday in Marquette Park (Park at Mt.Moriah in East Memphis). Like BBQ Fest, this is an event where dozens of teams enter a cooking competition, and build booths which are basically private parties; so you have a lot more fun if you know people in booths. However, as you can see if you click on the link, they have a pretty good schedule of bands, so it’s still possible to have a good time there if you don’t know anyone.
I don’t have the Italian Fest connections that I have at BBQ Fest (not on a team, nor do I even know a team) so I doubt I’ll make it to Italian Fest. If I go at all it’ll probably be Thursday night. If I know anyone on a team and don’t realize it e-mail me at paul@paulryburn.com.
As I posted yesterday morning, Calhoun’s Sports Bar is being forced to change its name. I meant to get down there last night and get the full details, but heavy rain prevented me from making the trip. I hear Max is passing around a sheet with suggestions for possible names. If anyone has any ideas send them to me and I’ll forward to Max. I’ll be sure to forward your name along with your suggestion (unless you want to remain anonymous) so you get credit if your name is selected.
No trivia money for the team last night… we finished tied for third, and then lost the tie-breaker. Pete the Trivia Guy is out of town next Tuesday, so the evening will be guest-hosted by Mikey the Trivia Guy.
This morning’s CA has an article about Gus’s Chicken being named one of the top 100 inner-city businesses. Congrats to Gus’s on that honor. There’s also an article about girlie drinks around town. Bartenders at Downtown restaurants including Encore, Cafe 61, Automatic Slim’s, and Blue Fin were interviewed about their female patrons’ tastes. Oh and a bartender at Spindini explained what kind of drinks Cougars (older women who go after younger men) like to drink.
Speaking of the CA, I got my photo taken yesterday for an upcoming article on bloggers. They did a really cool job… they took a pic of me on the Main Street Mall, then put that pic on the screen on my laptop, then took a pic of my laptop sitting on the bar at the Flying Saucer, with taps and Saucer matches and a beer in the background. After the photo session was over I asked the bartender, “So… what are you going to do with that beer?” I got to drink it. I think she knew that would happen, because she poured Dos Equis Lager as the prop beer. I’ve been told the article will run in the M section and will feature several other local bloggers as well. I don’t have a definite date for it, but Sunday, June 1 is my guess, which would be way cool because that would send a lot of new people to my blog on the first day of Tube Top Month.
Started work on my latest Amazon.com storefront last night… a store related to another one of my guilty pleasures. Should be live in about a week, just gotta add some more categories and pick a domain name.
Right now it’s time to go pay the bills though… off to work.
The Sauce Boss, the musician who sings songs about cooking gumbo while he cooks a big pot of gumbo onstage, will be back at Blues City Cafe this Wed-Sat, May 28-31. This is his third booking at Blues City in 8 months, so he must be bringing in some good-sized crowds when he plays there.
The unique thing about the Sauce Boss is that when he finishes his set, everyone eats. He takes out plastic bowls and invites everyone to come up to the stage and sample the gumbo he has been cooking. It’s pretty good gumbo, too, from what I remember from previous Sauce Boss concerts.
Definitely one of the more unique music options you’ll find on Beale this weekend. Check him out if you get a chance.
It’s May 27, which means Tube Top Month is a mere five days away. I spent part of the weekend updating the Tube Top Boutique, my Amazon.com storefront that sells tube tops.
The boutique sells solid colored tube tops, striped tube tops, print tube tops, tube top jumpsuits and rompers, almost tube tops (halter tops – if it has straps it technically isn’t a tube top), and tube top accessories such as strapless bras. In addition to loading up those categories with new inventory for ’08, I upgraded the software behind the site to improve the shopping cart and other parts of the shopping experience.
All credit card processing and shipping is handled by Amazon.com, so you know you’re doing business with a site you can trust. All my site does is refer business to Amazon… every time someone buys a tube top from the boutique, I get a 4-8% commission on the sale depending on monthly volume. So, you can buy some tube tops and support your local blogger at the same time.
ATTN MY FAVORITE BLOGGER/MILF: This year I’ve added a new category called NFL tube tops. Take a look at the tube top below, available under that category:
It’s the Indianapolis Colts tube top. It can be worn with or without the strap (I recommend “without,” as it’s not a true tube top “with”). So my favorite blogger/MILF can show her support for her stupid overrated Peyton and wear a tube top at the same time.
*sigh* Long weekend is over… so the days of 9, 10, 12 hour sleep are gone for a while. Back to work. Trivia night tonight at the Saucer, possibly followed by a stop at Calhoun’s or whatever they’re calling it now.
Calhoun’s Sports Bar and Grill, the tiny little bar on G.E. Patterson next to Cheesecake Corner that has been open since December 31, will soon have a new name. There’s a restaurant chain that operates several locations in Middle and East Tennessee that goes by the name Calhoun’s, and they have sent our Calhoun’s a cease-and-desist letter. I’ve seen the other Calhoun’s advertise on TV during Tiger games; it’s apparently a big operation. I guess, as a place that prides itself on its food, they have a problem with a restaurant by the same name serving school lunchroom pizza. The owners and regulars are brainstorming a new name for the place. If you have ideas or suggestions, swing by the place and give ’em your input.
They can change the name, but as long as they don’t change the $1.50 PBR, I’ll be happy.
I arrived for brunch yesterday at the Downtown Blue Monkey about 10 minutes after it opened. Here are a few pics of the new place (click on images for full-sized view):
The entire gang showed up over the next hour, and enjoyed the Monkey’s brunch menu and happy hour prices (happy hour lasts from open until 7 on Sundays). The Nuh-Uh Girl ordered salad with ketchup as dressing. Gross! Then, even grosser, she wondered how pancakes would taste with ketchup:
The Nuh-Uh Girl and the Nuh-Uh Sister have this game they play called “Name a food that doesn’t go with either chocolate sauce or ketchup.” So far they’ve yet to name one food that (in their minds) doesn’t go with one or the other.
Then the Nuh-Uh Girl asked, “I wonder what ketchup ice cream would taste like?” What is wrong with that girl?
On the walk down to the Blue Monkey, I passed the Family Dollar store on Main. There was a poster on the window saying that FD now carries the Bugle Boy clothing line. Talk about a brand whose identity has gone down the proverbial crapper. In the late ’80s that was one of the hottest brands around. And now it’s being sold at Family Dollar? Sounds like Bugle Boy needs to fire its marketing department.
One of the brunch crew recently celebrated the 1-year anniversary of the day he met his fiancee. So he took her to Circa by John Bragg (who, I’ll mention one more time, was our BBQ sponsor). “I don’t even want to look at a menu,” my friend told John. “You pick what you want us to have,” he said. So the couple got a secluded back room at Circa and were served an elegant six-course meal, each course specially designed by the chef himself. They said it was one of their best meals ever. So if you want a custom meal designed for a special occasion, Circa would be a great place to do it.
We stayed at brunch until 2:15, longer than we’ve stayed at the Majestic or McGuinness in a long time. Everyone seemed to have a great time and I have a feeling we’ll be back there a lot. Majestic may be able to hold on to a place in the Sunday brunch rotation; McGuinness probably won’t. As much as we all like Amy, the mimosa and bloody mary prices just aren’t competitive with the Monkey and Majestic, and breakfast ends too early at McG (noon, compared with 2 at the Monkey and 3 at Majestic). I’ll try to include McG on my list of nighttime stops more than I have in the past to make up for it.
After brunch, we moved to the Saucer to shoot pool, then I wandered down to Big Foot for a couple of $2 34 oz. beer specials. That pretty much did me in… wandered to Sawaddii for Paul’s Drunkass Food (lettuce wraps = GOOD) then home.
Revising one of my online stores today, then heading out to eat (probably the Monkey) then to the Saucer for Pint Nite.