Paul Ryburn's Journal

AC Wharton issued a statement to the “Draft AC” group informing them that he won’t run for mayor of Memphis. Media coverage:

• Memphis Flyer
• Commercial Appeal
• WMC-TV

Looks like we may be stuck with Willie for four more years.

From the Memphis Business Journal:

– 21 condos were sold Downtown last month, compared to 43 for June 2006, more than a 50% decline.

– For 2007 through the end of June, there have been 116 condo sales Downtown, a 45.8% decline from January-June 2006.

– Condos sold in June spent an average of 132 days on the market, compared with 76 days for June 2006.

Looks like the condo boom is slowing down in Downtown Memphis.

(Edited to add: Maybe the reason people don’t want to buy down here anymore is because Downtown Memphis has become a panhandler’s paradise.)

My favorite band The Dempseys will play two of my favorite places this week:

– Thursday, July 19, they’ll be at the Flying Saucer at 9:30. Beer, waitresses, and rockabilly!

– And then Sunday, July 22, they play DOWNTOWN HUEY’S!!! Although the Saucer is my favorite bar, Huey’s is the best place to hear the Dempseys play, because there’s more interaction with the crowd and Sunday nights tend to be very laid back. They start at 8:30 and play until about midnight.

Also, a reminder that The Sauce Boss plays Blues City Wednesday-Saturday of this week. I wrote about him a couple of weeks ago – he cooks gumbo onstage and sings songs about gumbo as he cooks. At the end of the show, everyone eats. This guy is a must-see, so figure out which night works best for you and head on down there. Looking at my schedule, it appears that Friday night will be the night I’m there.

I got to talk to the Westin Hotel’s concierge again yesterday, and I asked her about a subject we hadn’t talked about much before: The Daily Grill, the restaurant in the ground floor of the hotel. Couple of things she told me:

– Every weekday during happy hour, the Daily Grill has smaller versions of their regular menu items available for $2.95 each. Although the portions are smaller, they’re still substantial. I remember last month during their Downtown Night… I was sitting at an outdoor table with a member of my BBQ team, and he had a plate of seared ahi tuna that he had bought for $2.95. It was nearly enough to be a meal, and I thought, “Nah… that’s got to be a mistake. The restaurant’s new, I bet the cashier rang it up wrong.” But no, that’s the correct price.

That’s one of the best deals I’ve heard of Downtown in a long time… I’m definitely going to go down there and check that out sometime this week. Actually, tonight wouldn’t be a bad night to go, since Di Anne Price plays piano in the lobby on Mondays. I’ll see how my schedule looks this afternoon…

– I also asked the concierge, “Suppose I’m visiting from out of town, and I’m only going to be able to eat at the Daily Grill one time. What would you recommend?”

She immediately responded: “Chicken pot pie. Best thing on the menu.”

That’s all for now. Preview of what’s coming this week:
– Help clean up a centerpiece of Downtown Memphis
– Thursday night rooftop pre-party with free appetizers
– My favorite band at my favorite bar
– Upcoming job fair
And more!

… that’s the word on the street about Downtown Memphis. The word on other cities’ streets.

I’ve been told that other cities are shipping their panhandlers/vagrants/bums here because Memphis is known to be a city that is soft on panhandling. Little Rock in particular I’m told does this. They had a major Tae Kwon Do convention two weeks ago, and right before the city was mysteriously “cleaned out.”

I took the camera out this weekend. Let’s see what we’ve got:

I spent about half an hour watching this dude sitting at the trolley stop Saturday afternoon at Madison and Main. He’d wait for tourists to stop to wait on the trolley, engage them, and then ask for a “donation.” Isn’t panhandling at trolley stops illegal? Why can’t MATA install cameras at their trolley stops to put an end to this? In this day and age it couldn’t be that expensive. Did I mention that the Madison/Main trolley stop is steps away from CeCe’s Liquor’s, which caters to the $2 and under crowd? Wonder if that could have had anything to do with his choice of location.

Next up we have this guy sitting on Beale Street: “How you doin’, sir? You aight?” Bum-to-English translation: “Give me money,” as was seen once he started talking to people who were more interested in conversation with him than I was.

This afternoon friends and I went to the Flying Saucer and sat on their patio… while we were there, no less than SIX bums came up to the window and hit up the people sitting there. If you’ve spent any amount of time on Second Street downtown, you’ve met the sad sack pictured above. For the entire five years I’ve lived downtown, he’s walked Second between Union and Beale, looking as forlorn and destitute as possible and asking for help. I’m almost positive he’s NOT homeless. One of these days I’m going to follow him and see where he goes when he gets off “work.”

Here’s another one at the Saucer’s window.

“Hey man, look here. I ain’t had nothin’ to eat in about 3 days, can you help me out?”

This is the guy who comes up to you and sings… and then expects a tip. Fellow Sunday bruncher John D wanted to be mentioned in the blog, so here ya go, John… this guy came up to the window about 4 PM, his second time to do so Sunday afternoon. He noticed that “Humpty Dumpty” was still there.

Another longtime resident of Downtown Memphis stops at the Saucer’s window to ask for “assistance.” The Saucer’s landlord is Belz/Peabody Place, don’t they have security that are supposed to keep these people from bothering the customers? Sure didn’t see them.

This guy was all over Peabody Place and Second Street looking for handouts.

Here’s the same guy again, having come up to the Saucer’s window to ask for money. Why is he looking up? Because one of the patrons hit the switch to lower the window, to put a shield between him and us. He wasn’t happy about that at all.

Hey, you remember the guy who was begging at the Madison trolley stop Saturday afternoon? Well, here he is again. The liquor store isn’t open on Sunday so there was no need for him to stick close to it. Here he is on Second in front of Jillian’s, using one of the oldest gimmicks in the book, picking flowers from a public display and then giving them to people in exchange for “tips.”

Other cities have made it clear that panhandling will not be tolerated… why can’t we? I’m sick of hearing about their “rights.” What about our right to sit outside and enjoy a beautiful Sunday afternoon without being bothered time and time again?

The Memphis Limelight website has relaunched, carrying humorous news stories with local flavor, kind of like a local version of The Onion.

The first issue is available here (PDF format). The main story is about a group called DAMS – “Downtowners Against ‘Mustang Sally.'” Glad to see a group stepping up and filling this need. Downtown Memphis will be a better place because of them.

311 plays the Mud Island Ampitheatre tonight at 8. Ticket information here. $39.50 plus Ticketmaster’s outrageous convenience charge. Special guests Matisyahu and Particle.

Unfortunately I won’t be attending… too bad, because my favorite blogger/MILF wrote that she’d “do almost anything” if someone would take her.

Looks like I’ve got a full evening ahead of me though… a friend’s plate party at the Saucer at 5, a party at the Lofts at 8:30, and possibly EP’s after that.

I’ve been promoting the after-parties held in the Westin Hotel lobby, on Friday nights in conjunction with the Orpheum summer movie series, for several weeks now… but last night, for the first time I actually made it to one of the parties.

My reaction: Why would people NOT go to these? They put out a spread of free food – chicken skewers with Thai peanut sauce, veggie shish-ka-bobs, boiled shrimp with cocktail sauce, spinach dip, calamari. It was so good I went back for seconds. The drinks at the bar were regular priced – I paid $7 for a Crown and Coke, but he made it in a tall glass and gave me a generous pour. Lots of sofas and chairs where you can lounge around and talk with friends.

You don’t have to go to the Orpheum movies to attend the Westin after-parties – just show up! The movies start at 7:15, so around 9:30 is the time to get to the Westin. Heck, I never go to the movies – nothing against the Orpheum, it’s a great series. It’s just that I’ve never been a movie person. Although, looking back I wish I had gone last night… I read the Wikipedia entry for Rocky Horror Picture Show and remembered that there are Transylvanians in the movie. I like Transylvanians.

While I was there, I talked to Joan the concierge and she told me that the Westin is a pet-friendly hotel (40 lbs. and under). I’ve asked her to send me more details. It sounds like they not only accept pets, they pamper them.

Next on the schedule: Goldfinger, next Friday at 7:15. I’m sure the Westin will have fun creating some Bond-inspired drinks.

If you didn’t read the Commercial Appeal this morning, you missed a review of one of my favorite new Downtown restaurants, Pearl’s Oyster House. Jennifer Biggs got it right on the money – you feel like you’re on vacation in Destin or Key West when you eat there. Be sure to check it out if you like seafood.

I had to go down to the Board of Education this morning to pick up my last paycheck from the City Schools. As I walked through the halls, I stopped to look at one of the bulletin boards, where announcements and sometimes artwork by the kids are posted.

One of the problems is that people keep walking off with the bulletin board’s push pins. So the City Schools posted a sign asking them not to do that:

“PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE PENS”

Pens. With an E.

I hope whoever created that sign isn’t giving the students any spelling tests.