Paul Ryburn's Journal

Yesterday was a big day at the FedExForum. The Memphis Grizzlies played the Phoenix Suns in a special Martin Luther King Day game. It was nationally televised on TNT, and there were awards and other special ceremonies before the start of the game.

I was down the street watching the game on TV, and I noticed that several top FedEx employees were at center court, presenting awards and affirming their commitment to MLK Day and all it stands for.

So, I have a question.

If FedEx is really so committed to MLK Day, why didn’t they give their employees the day off?

Just wondering.

This morning I was reading the World Almanac, something I do to prepare for my weekly trivia match. I happened upon a section that read, “20 largest endowments – U.S. Colleges.” Harvard, with an endowment of $25 billion, was ranked number 1, a good $10 billion ahead of second-place Yale, and the numbers quickly dropped down to the $3-4 billion range for most of the rest of the top 20.

An endowment is sort of a college/university’s nest egg. If all goes well, they fund their operations out of interest earned off the endowment. Think what kind of interest Harvard must be earning off a $25 billion endowment. No wonder they’re able to fund programs like offering free tuition to students whose families earn less than $60,000 a year.

I checked the website of my alma mater, Rhodes College, whom I challenged yesterday to create a program equivalent to Harvard’s. Rhodes has an endowment of $252 million. Hardly chump change, but it’s about 1/100th of Harvard’s. So maybe they legitimately couldn’t implement a similar program.

I still believe in the spirit of the challenge I made though. This society is becoming more and more polarized into haves and have-nots, and those lucky enough to be “haves” need to assume more responsibility to ensure that opportunity is available to all, not just other “haves.”

All right. End of rant. Got a lot to get done today, so my lunchtime posts are going to be short.

A couple of weeks ago, AngieDawn made a post to her blog that caught my attention. Harvard University is now offering free tuition to students whose families earn less than $60,000 per year. Harvard’s president noted that only 10% of students in elite higher education come from the lower half of the income distribution in this country, and when that’s the case, “we are not doing enough.” So Harvard adopted this policy in order to make a top-quality education accessible to all.

What a great program. I remember when I was 17 and applied to go to Rhodes College… the financial aid they offered me wasn’t enough to make ends meet. Only because of the generosity of my grandfather and my uncle did I get a hold of enough extra money to be able to afford Rhodes. And after I graduated, I had hundreds of dollars to pay each month in student loans. I didn’t get the last loan paid off until I was 29. And because I was sending so much to each month to student loan companies all those years, I had less disposable income to work with, and often had to resort to credit card debt to finance my lifestyle. The kids who qualify for this new program at Harvard won’t have to deal with any of that.

I’d like to extend an open challenge to my alma mater, Rhodes College. In all the years since I have graduated, I have not donated one dollar to their alumni fund. Some years I just didn’t have the money; other years I did but didn’t consider a donation to Rhodes to be the best use of my dollars.

However, if Rhodes implements a program exactly like Harvard’s, offering free tuition to students with family incomes under $60,000, I’ll do the following:

1) Write Rhodes a check for $5,000;

2) Get on the phone bank in Rhodes’ Alumni Center, call as many other alumni as possible, and challenge them to match or exceed my donation;

3) Promise to continue to donate as much as I can to Rhodes in future years.

I think enough alumni would get excited about this kind of program that it would end up paying for itself through increased donations. I think there are many alumni out there who believe, as I do, that a top-quality education should be accessible to everyone, not just kids who are lucky enough to be born into families who are upper-middle-class or above.

BUT… here’s the catch. I’ll only agree to do the three things listed above if Rhodes implements a program EXACTLY like the one at Harvard. No exceptions. No differences. No excuses. Just git ‘er done.

This idea has been bouncing around in my head for about a week now, but Dr. King’s day seemed to be the right time to post it. Speaking of which, I’m off work today for MLK day, and I’m sure it won’t surprise anyone to read that I’m posting this from the Flying Saucer. They have a flyer promoting Pint Nite, with a picture of Dr. King and text underneath that says, “The dream is here! $2.50 pints all day long.” Using Dr. King’s image and most famous quote to promote beer sales? Tacky, tacky, tacky.

If you want to get involved in the community, consider coming to the 2007 Nonprofit Expo, co-sponsored by Mpact Memphis and Volunteer Memphis, at the Botanic Gardens (on Cherry Road between Southern and Park), Thursday, January 25 from 5:30-8:30 PM. This event has been going on for the past several years, and is a great way to talk to representatives from a number of different nonprofits. It will help you figure out which volunteer opportunities in Memphis you would most enjoy.

This year they’ve expanded it. In past years they’ve limited participation to 35-40 nonprofits… but this year they’ve upped it to 75. So there will be plenty to see, plenty of people to talk to.

In addition to volunteer opportunities, some of the nonprofits will also have information about serving on their boards. Serving on a board is a great way to gain some leadership experience, and it looks great on a resume (I was told that one of the reasons I got my current job is that the manager liked my community involvement, having served on Mpact’s board).

The expo is open to the public, and there’s no charge and no reservations required. So come on down and see how you can help make Memphis better. Hope to see you there!

The other day I went to Walgreens and paid for my purchase with a 20. Among the change I got back was a two dollar bill. It has been several years since I last saw one. Thomas Jefferson’s picture is on the front of the bill.

According to Wikipedia it isn’t valuable beyond the $2 value, but I think I’ll hold on to it anyway.

After seeing the AccuWeather banner on my mother’s homepage, I decided I wanted one for myself. So I signed up with AccuWeather and have added a small weather banner on the left side of this blog (you may need to scroll down to see it). It’s not as nice as the one on my mother’s page (I simply don’t have the room for the full-size banner), but it will at least give you the current temperature and radar image for Memphis, as well as links to hourly and daily forecasts. Hope you enjoy it.

Glad I don’t live in Tulsa… they’re having a nasty ice storm over there. It’s going to be a rainy mess here in Memphis today, but the temperature is going to remain in the 60s, which means I get to wear shorts.

Hmmm… my mother’s list of links is giving me an idea for some things I could do with the left and right window panes of this blog. I may do some rearranging over the next week.

So I met up with Semi-Charmed Kat at the Saucer tonight. We sat in the couch area (actually, the two wing-back chairs next to the couch) in the indoor section, for those of you familiar with the Saucer.

About 20 minutes after we sat down, our entertainment arrived, sitting on the loveseat across from us. It was a 50ish man, dressed very professionally in a blazer and button-up shirt. Or, at least he would have portrayed a professional image had he not had about 10 drinks too many. He brought a bum in with him. Professional Man held a gift bag containing his evening’s shopping; Bum held a garbage bag containing his life’s possessions. Amazingly, management didn’t throw the bum out.

Professional Man bought Bum a beer. Now, I’ll admit, I’ve bought a bum a beer downtown before. Not very often, but I have. But, when I have, I’ve bought the bum the cheapest damn beer I could find. Professional Man bought his bum a Chimay. That’s an $11 beer.

Also, when I buy a bum a beer, I hand it to him and gesture that it’s time for him to go – far, far away. Professional Man, on the other hand, sat on the couch with Bum and they drank their Chimays and Professional Man talked and whenever he wanted to emphasize a point, he touched Bum lovingly on the arm. I’m not kidding, there was some genuine affection there. The kind of affection that comes to the surface after 10+ beers.

Shortly thereafter, they left. Together. I’m guessing Professional Man got him some bum lovin’ tonight. And when I say “bum lovin’,” I mean “bum” in both the American and the British sense of the word.

– Thanks to the Nuh-Uh Girl for sending me this Memphis Business Journal article on Spindini, the new restaurant set to open soon in the former Glass House space on South Main. It will be centered around a wood-burning oven and Judd Grisanti will be cooking right out in the open where people can watch. Pizzas will be $12-13 and entrees $13-29. There will be a $5 martini every day and over 80 wines. They will be one of the few restaurants downtown with ample parking, and they will keep a small glass art space in the front, a bit of continuity from the Glass House days. Article says they should open around the 15th.

– Also on the MBJ’s site today, there are plans for BB King’s to open a third floor. I’ve heard about this for a while, as one of BB’s managers lives in my building. It will be a space where you can go to have a conversation without having to talk over the music. The manager told me that they want to target locals for the 3rd floor (which seems to be a popular strategy these days, the Majestic Grille, EP’s Delta Kitchen and Sauces having already done it).

– The Memphis chapter of The Recording Academy is hosting an “Up Close and Personal” session with Big Jon Platt on Thursday, January 18. Platt is the Executive Vice President/Head of Urban, Creative, West Coast for EMI Publishing, and is one of the big dogs in the industry having worked with names like Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Beyonce and Usher. He works with emerging artists and established stars. Seating is limited to 50 and you must RSVP to reserve a seat. Free for Recording Academy members, $20 to the general public. Call 901-525-1340 or e-mail memphis@grammy.com to reserve a seat.

– There will be a parade downtown on Monday for MLK Day. It will start at 10:15 AM and will start at Main and Auction, go south on Main to North Parkway, west on North Parkway to Front, south on Front to Beale, and east on Beale to Handy Park. For more info see Eyewitness News’ site.

– Oh good Lord… David Gest is getting his own reality show. It will be shown on British TV, but will be filmed here in Memphis, following him around on his day-to-day routine. Why would ANYONE want to watch David Gest? So if you’re out in downtown Memphis, now you have to be prepared to be annoyed not only by Gest himself, but a camera crew as well. I still haven’t forgetten his “Be My Gest” campaign where he fed the homeless on Christmas Day 2004. I predicted it would be a disaster, and it was. From what I heard, if someone had brought a video camera they could have filmed footage for some new DVDs in the “Bum Fights” series.

– My WeatherBug is chirping… heavy rain is expected this weekend, and there’s a flash flood watch until Sunday night.

– Got an e-mail from a Romanian reader who lives in Memphis… she was hoping the Romanians who lived downtown this summer were still here. Unfortunately, they’re not. If you’re a Romanian living in Memphis, she’d like to meet you, just to have someone from back home to talk to – shoot me an e-mail and I’ll forward it to her.

– One of my regular blog readers pointed out that I may have trouble getting a date to the Monty Python SPAMALOT show for which I have free tickets, because the show is on February 13, the day before Valentine’s Day. “On the other hand,” she writes, “some guys dump their girlfriends just before the big holiday, so they won’t be obligated to buy gifts or flowers or dinner or whatever.” So maybe I’ll have a chance to find someone after all.

– Plans for the 3-day weekend: Hang out with Semi-Charmed Kat tonight, do some consulting work tomorrow and then network with the media conference people at TJ Mulligans, brunch at Sleep Out’s on Sunday (where I will likely kick Skippy’s ass in NTN Trivia again), Pint Nite at the Saucer on Monday. All right, got a million other things to get done on the computer before I go out, so I’m outta here.

My friends at the Orpheum e-mailed me and asked if I’d help get the word out about Monty Python’s SPAMALOT, a musical coming to the Orpheum February 13-18.

SPAMALOT is based on – or as they like to say, “ripped off” from – the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, which was voted as the best British film of all time by the United Kingdom arm of Amazon.com and the Internet Movie Database. “Telling the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and their quest for the Holy Grail,” the press release reads, “Monty Python’s SPAMALOT features a chorus line of dancing divas and knights, flatulent Frenchmen, killer rabbits and one legless knight.” It is currently one of the hottest shows on Broadway and picked up three Tony awards in 2005.

For more information about SPAMALOT, you can go to the Orpheum’s website or the show’s official website. To buy tickets, visit Ticketmaster.

As a reward for this “public-service announcement,” I now find myself holding two press tickets to SPAMALOT’s opening night (hey, at least I’m honest enough to tell you when I’m accepting bribes in exchange for blog publicity). Opening night is on a Tuesday, so trivia team, I’ll be absent on the 13th. Also, I guess I’ll have to find a date, since I have an extra ticket. Oh, well, I’ve got a month to figure it out.

Here are a couple of pics from the show:

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I went to see a Pink Floyd tribute band called Pulse, who played at Neil’s in Midtown. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much; I was just going to support one of my co-workers who is the band’s drummer. Well, I was in for a surprise. Pulse had one of the most elaborate stage setups I’ve ever seen – 7 people in all, including two female singers. They performed magnificent versions of Pink Floyd’s songs – “Another Brick in the Wall (Part II),” “Have a Cigar,” “Dark Side of the Moon/Eclipse,” “Run Like Hell,” and many more.

Well, they’ll be back at Neil’s this Saturday, January 13, from 9 PM to 1 AM. They’ve added a third female singer, and the drummer has a new set of drums he’s eager to break in. I won’t be able to make it this time, because I want to stay downtown and network with the people here for the media conference. But, if you’re looking for something to do and you like Pink Floyd’s music, this is well worth checking out. Neil’s is at the corner of Madison and McLean in Midtown and they have a full liquor bar and food menu. The band will be in the back room, and unless they’ve changed it from last time, cover is $5.