Paul Ryburn's Journal

There was an article in the Commercial Appeal this morning about Beale Street cracking down on panhandling. Street leaders claimed a new, more aggressive crowd had moved in, and they were determined to take steps to stop them.

So, I decided to put it to a test. Tonight I walked down to Beale about 6:00, bought a dollar PBR at the Tap Room, and took it out to the street and sat on the concrete blocks in front of Silky’s. I was all by myself – a sitting duck – and with a Grizzlies game at 7, I expected to be swarmed by bums. Normally, if I sat there for an hour, I could expect to be hit up for money 4 to 6 times.

Tonight I got hit up ONCE. A guy in a Denny’s uniform swaggered up to me and sat down and say, “Hey, partner, hey bro, let me aks you for one small favor.” He asked for money for the bus home. But he didn’t strike me as a working man just trying to get home after a hard day… he struck me as a bum. He had the same walk, the same approach that they all do. It felt like he had done this at least 100 times before. I told him to go away. Then he hit up people sitting at the tables outside Silky’s front door and they gave him a couple of bucks.

Still, one bum in an hour alone on Beale is a vast improvement. Security down there must really be tightening up. Good job.

Afterward, I went to the Saucer to see my waitresses, then to the Majestic to see Tif(one f)any and eat dinner. Now I’m off to bed… I have many, many topics planned for posts this week so check back often.

Alfred’s has dollar beer on Grizzlies game nights (and Tiger nights, but there are no more home games for them). Dollar Bud, Bud Light, and Bud Select 5-7 weekend game nights, 5-11 weekday game nights.

It’s hard out here for a pimp in Downtown Memphis. Especially since we haven’t had a Pimp & Ho party in over three years.

There used to be these great parties twice a year at Earnestine & Hazel’s, where everyone would dress up in their best pimp or ho costumes. I’d put on the baby blue leisure suit, feather boa around my neck, cheetah platform shoes on my feet, gold “$” medallion around my neck, fake gold teetheses in my mouth. There was great music and everyone would dance and drink and have a great time.

The thing is, though, the last Pimp & Ho party was in November 2003. From time to time I’d see Frank, the guy who organized them, around town. He’d tell me about grand plans for the next party – sponsorships, raising money for charities, multiple locations, perhaps a progressive Pimp & Ho party up and down the trolley line – and he’d always say, “there’ll be another one a few months from now.” But he’s been telling me that for more than three years.

The Sunday brunch crew was discussing it yesterday, and we have a lot of people who are ready for a Pimp & Ho party NOW, and who are ready to pitch in to make it happen. Seriously, it isn’t that hard – forget the big plans, forget about doing something on the trolley. Just go old-school with it and do it like we did back in the day – all we need to do is rent E&H for a night, promote the event among downtowners, maybe book a DJ.

Who’s in? I’d like to see this happen by the end of June, if not sooner. I’ll have to find some new ho’s, though, since both of my 2003 ho’s are now married with kids.

Be sure to check back frequently this week – got lots of good stuff to write about, although I need to download some pics from my camera first. I’ll be talking about a Peabody Place Mall rumor, where to find cheap beer before Grizzlies games, and who knows what else.

Crash Kole, who played at Sleep Out Louie’s in recent months, now has a new gig at the Russwood Park Bar and Grill inside the Holiday Inn (aka Sleep Out’s East). He’ll be playing Saturday nights at 6 PM, starting this coming Saturday the 17th. Frenchie will be bartending, a lot of the old SOL crowd will be there, and it will be just like old times, so come on by. Here’s a flyer he sent me.

– The NCAA will be offering 56 March Madness tournament games on demand for free online starting next Thursday. Sign up for a VIP pass now to get to the front of the line for viewing… once the VIP passes run out, you may be forced to wait in line for bandwidth to become available before you can view your game.

They’ve done this for several years now… it’s a good deal for people who have interest in out-of-area teams who might not be covered regionally, and for people who want to watch basketball at work Thursday and Friday. For those of you who have used the on-demand viewer in previous years, this year it has a larger screen, at 480 x 360.

– About a dozen new restaurants have been added to Memphis Discount Dining, where you can buy $25 gift certificates to those restaurants for $10. Those new restaurants include

• Cafe Society
• The original Gus’s Fried Chicken in Oakland, TN, as featured in GQ Magazine. Unfortunately the certificates aren’t valid at the Downtown location
• Interim Restaurant and Bar
• Jim’s Place Grille in Collierville
• King Biscuit Diner in Cordova
• McEwen’s on Monroe – great date place! Great wine selection!
• River Oaks
• Sawaddii – excellent Thai food
• Smoky Mountain Cafe, Millington
• Whittington’s Cafe, Bartlett
• Yazoo’s, Bartlett

– I’ve made two new posts to my other blog, A Better, Bigger Deal. One is a DVD sale, with about 100 DVDs on sale for $6 each (I saw The Wedding Singer on the list, for example). The other is a $30 instant-savings promotion at Office Depot. (Edited to add: There’s also a new post about a 50″ plasma TV)

– I’m back in Memphis… arrived back in town about 9:30 last night. Didn’t go out though… my allergies kicked in, and I’m once again taking a Claritin-D clone (which I’ve named Krogeritin-D). So Crackhead Paul is back for the spring. My mother is home in Little Rock and recovering well from her illness.

It’s sunny and 70 outside… got a little business to take care of, but I’m going to get it done as quickly as possible and go outside. I bet Beale Street and the surrounding area will be fun this afternoon, since the Conference USA tournament crowd will be out by about 1:00. (Edited to add: Pam & Terry on the King’s Palace patio, 1-4 PM today)

The Orpheum is looking for artists to design a sculpture. There’s a cash prize for the design that is selected. Also, they’re looking for submission for their annual art auction. For more details take a look at their blog.

Sleep Out Louie’s favorite band, Pam and Terry, has signed on to play Friday nights at the Holiday Inn Select, across the street from the Peabody, from 6 to 10 PM. Here’s what Pam and Terry have to say about the new gig.

Kudos to Holiday Inn management for going out of their way to make the Sleep Out’s regulars feel at home… first they hire Frenchie, and now Pam and Terry. Couple of other suggestions for the Holiday Inn:

1) Last summer, Sleep Out’s hired one of their best waitresses ever… and she was from Romania. You might want to look into hiring some Romanians.

2) NTN TRIVIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you get NTN I can pretty much guarantee that former Sleep Out’s regular Skippy will start coming in there. And the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up on Friday nights to play celebrity trivia.

I’d suggest a Sunday brunch too, but the Majestic Grille has done such a good job that I really don’t know what Holiday Inn could do to pull us out of there.

Holiday Inn will be honoring Sleep Out’s drink prices during Pam and Terry’s gig. Not sure if I’ll be back in town in time, but if I don’t see you this Friday night, I’ll see you the next.

Hello from Little Rock everyone. I’m over here taking care of my mother, who is sick… I’ll probably return to Memphis tomorrow night, as I have some business I need to tend to Saturday.

On the way over here, I heard something interesting on the radio. The Who will play a show at North Little Rock’s Alltel Arena two weeks from today. Wow… never thought they’d tour again. Of course, it’s only Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey – the other two founding members have passed away. They have a supporting band including John “Rabbit” Bundrick, who played keyboards with the band for the last several years before they split up in the early ’80s; and drummer Zak Starkey, who is Ringo Starr’s son.

Hard to believe it’s been 42 years since they released “My Generation,” one of the all-time rock classics. And, it’s been 38 years since they released Tommy, probably the most successful rock opera ever.

Tour info and tickets available here.

Here are a few pics from last Sunday’s brunch at the Majestic Grille:

And, of course, there’s the famous $3 mimosas and the $12 Majestic Mimosa (a bottle of bubbly + a pitcher of orange juice). We’ll be up there again this Sunday. Come early if you want a seat at the bar – the crowd continues to grow and we just about had all the bar seats filled up by noon.

Another place which we’re making a home is the Russwood Park Grill, the bar/restaurant on the ground floor of the Holiday Inn Select across from the Peabody. I never, ever thought I’d see the day when Downtowners would be hanging out at a hotel bar, but management is doing everything right. When Sleep Out’s closed they hired Frenchie, knowing he’d bring in all the regulars, and they’re making other improvements to the place to make us feel at home. They even counted the number of steps from Sleep Out’s front door to theirs (300).

Gotta get out of here… my mother isn’t feeling well so I’m going to run over to Little Rock to take care of her. Should be back tomorrow night. There’s Internet access there, so it’s possible that I’ll be blogging from the road. See you this weekend.

Thanks to Andy Ashby at the Memphis Business Journal for forwarding me this info.

A new restaurant called Circa will open at 119 S. Main, on the ground floor of Gayoso House/Pembroke Square, in the space that used to be Holiday Ham and before that, the Market on Main grocery store. I had seen a beer permit application sign in the window for several weeks and had wondered what was going in there.

The restaurant will focus on wine, with a sommelier serving your choice of 200 bottles. Bottles will be stored in wine walls throughout the restaurant. There will be wine tastings, wine flights, and other ways to get people excited about wine. Cool! Just the other day my friends and I were saying we need a true wine bar downtown. Looks like we’re about to have one.

Chef John Bragg (formerly of La Tourelle, Erling Jensen, and River Oaks as well as other restaurants) will open Circa in late April. Menu will include French and Mediterranean-inspired dishes, as well as steaks, chops and fish.

Of course, the Majestic Grille and Bluefin are already on that block of Main, and the addition of Circa will really cement its reputation as a dining destination. Looking forward to its opening.

In other news… I’d just like to point out that four days from now, the sun will set at 7:04 PM Memphis time. I love Daylight Saving Time. Moving it back three weeks was perhaps the one thing the 2005-2006 Congress did right.

The Rapscallions lost last night, missing third place by six points, so our gift certificate stash remains $0.

God I wish I could post some of what I was told Monday night. Can’t though. I may see if I can get permission to post one particular tidbit of info which is relatively innocuous, but nonetheless will come as a surprise to a lot of people.

All right, back to work. These lunch hours sure fly by.