Paul Ryburn's Journal

– This morning I was riding down the elevator, and I noticed a card advertising LoLo’s Table, a very good restaurant ’round the corner on Monroe between Main and Second. I noticed that they have a website now where you can check out their menu and special events like Wine Wednesday and Tuesday night wine dinners. They also have one of the best happy hours downtown. Great place. Glad to see them online.

– I also noticed the The Peanut Shoppe has a website now. The Peanut Shoppe, located on Main between Madison and Monroe, is one of the unknown treasures of downtown. Before I headed home for Christmas, I stopped by and picked up a pound of mixed nuts in a decorative tin and a pound of roasted-in-the-shell peanuts for my mother. The owners of this place are two of the kindest, most gentle people you’ll find downtown. They also have a good selection of candy (both regular and sugar free) if you have kids. Their products page has a complete list of the items they carry.

That’s all for now… having had two weeks off has affected my sleep schedule (sleeping until 11 every day lately) so I’m getting a relatively late start for a Sunday. Tomorrow it’s back to Cubicle World.

A couple of days ago a reader e-mailed me, asking me to list some places where a single woman in her late 40s could go to meet available men. I wasn’t sure, so I turned the question over to my readership, and got the response below, which seems to be really good.

I’m not in my 40s yet, but I’d recommend the First
Wednesdays at the Brooks and the Third Thursdays at
the Dixon. They tend to attract a slightly older,
often single crowd. And volunteering is a nice way to
meet people of any age. Why not sign up for some
Hands on Memphis activities? Or take some continuing
education classes or social dance classes or join a
gym? I think the library has a book club. Get active
in local politics? And there’s always internet
dating. Who knows? I’ve heard church is a good place
to meet people, if you’re so inclined. Several local
churches have singles ministries, but I doubt this is
the sort of advice this woman turned to you for.
Where do slightly older singles go to party down?

I enjoy being helpful, so I did a little web search.
The following was recommended for “older” singles in
Memphis. Notice the East Memphis bias:

• Ruth’s Chris for Wed. happy hour or Salsa right
across the parking lot
• Fleming Steakhouse’s wine bar, also right across the
street, also on Poplar
• Yia Yia’s in Germantown on a Tuesday or Wed
afternoon/early night
• Chinese restaurant and piano bar at the Park Place
Mall at the corner of Park and Ridgeway
• The Grove Grill’s bar area for happy hour
• Cockeyed Camel, 6000 block of Primacy Parkway
• Bonefish Grill for happy hour

As for downtown bars, Stella, LoLo’s Table, The Corner
Bar at the Peabody, or Grill 83 might work well.

Thanks for responding. Anyone else have comments? Shoot me an e-mail if you do. To the reader who asked, hope this list gets you started.

One of these days Queen Elizabeth II will die. And while I would normally place that event in the “can’t happen soon enough” category, I can’t, because at that time Prince Charles will ascend to the throne. And honestly, can anyone really see him as a king? The guy is a wimp. A wuss. He needs some serious image reform if he is ever going to make it as England’s top royal. And I have an idea for him.

You see, in modern times people can’t relate to images of great historical kings, like Henry VIII of England or Louis XIV of France. No, folks these days are spoon-fed by the media – they get their idea of what a “king” should be like from media outlets, television in particular.

And what king does the average guy on the street see most often on television? The Burger King, corporate mascot of fast-food restaurant Burger King. He’s been all over the place on commercials lately. And I have to admit, for the first time in my life I’ve wanted to buy an Xbox, because that “Sneak King” game BK released over the holiday season looks like so much fun. The Burger King sneaks around and tries to deliver tasty cheeseburgers to people before they die of hunger. He’s a hero!

Therefore, I think Prince Charles should grow a beard, to make himself look more like the Burger King. That would allow him to better fit into the image the public has of what “royalty” should look like. As a result, subjects of the UK would better accept him as their king, and he would be more likely to have a successful reign.

Yesterday I posted how the Flying Saucer won an award for being one of the 100 best bars/nightclubs in America, as recognized by its peers in a trade publication. And I wrote how they totally deserved that award. And, not surprisingly, I attributed much of their success to the girls who work there, the waitresses and bartenders.

But, thanks to a friend, I realized that I left someone out. When I come there between there between 7 pm and close, Monday through Thursday, there’s a big guy at the door named Will checking IDs. And as soon as he sees me, he gives me a generous handshake and says, “Welcome home, baby!” and waves me on through.

And I guess I never really thought about it until tonight, but half the time I come there, he’s the first face I see at the Saucer. And he does indeed make the place feel more like “home.” And that’s important. There are probably 10 other bars I could walk to as quick as or more quickly than I can walk to the Saucer. But Will makes me, and lots of other downtown locals, feel like we belong there.

So I just want to give him a shout-out. It’s easy to give the waitresses the credit but he deserves it too. I just don’t ever want to see him in a miniskirt. Not even on Halloween.

On this day 66 years ago, the Merrie Melodies cartoon Elmer’s Pet Rabbit was released. It was the second cartoon to feature Bugs Bunny and the first in which he was listed as a title character.

Watch the cartoon here.

– Looks like Court House Deli will be moving from their home on Court Square to the building on the Main Street Mall, between Madison and Monroe, formerly occupied by I. Siegel Culinary Productions. Hope the new move works out for them, and exposes them to people who haven’t given them a try before, because they have GREAT food. My favorites are the cajun chili and the crawfish etoufee. They also have jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and deli sandwiches. And excellent brownies. It’s a locally owned family business and you can get out of there for 5-6 bucks.

– Congrats to the Flying Saucer on being named one of the top 100 bars/clubs in the U.S. by Nightclub & Bar Magazine, the trade magazine for the restaurant, bar and club industry. Even though I snipe at the Saucer about little things from time to time in this blog, I have to agree, they totally deserve the award. They deliver a very consistent dining and drinking experience, and it’s just a good place to get some work done on their wireless Internet connection, or watch the game on TV, or shoot pool, or throw darts, or educate yourself on different styles of beers. And they consistently hire good people. Sure, there’s the miniskirt thing (and I’m not going to lie, I do look), but once you get past that, the bartenders and waitresses are some of the most interesting and intelligent people downtown. They’re the main reason I come back almost every day.

– Speaking of the Saucer… don’t forget, The Dempseys tonight at 9:30. Usually when they play the Saucer, it’s a work night for me and I only make it through their first set and sometimes their second. But since I have tomorrow off, it’s a sure bet I’m there for all three of their sets. And then I’ll probably stumble across the street to McGuinness. I’m disappointed that I didn’t make it to any of their shows in December, when they usually do some rockabilly interpretations of Christmas music.

– I fulfilled one of my vacation-time goals last night… to stop by the Black Diamond for a pizza and a PBR. I’m eating the leftover pizza as I type this.

– Sharp Dressed Bum has reappeared on Downtown streets. For those of you who haven’t had the displeasure of meeting this guy, he’s about 5’9″, 150 lbs., approximately 35 year old black male with goatee. He walks around Downtown streets (especially Monroe, Union, Main, and Second) begging for money. Sometimes he’ll ride on a bike. He usually dresses better than other bums, with well-pressed clothes that make him look like he’s on his way to a club. If you tell him “no” when he asks for money (and why on earth would you tell him “yes”), he’ll cuss at you and act like he’s going to come at you.

I know I’ve been asking my readers a lot of questions lately, but I’d like to ask one more, especially to any police officers or lawyers who might be reading this: When he acts like he’s going to come at me, that’s assault, right? Whereas, it’s battery if he actually makes contact. Any strategies you can recommend for getting this guy off the streets and in a jail cell? He’s been a nuisance downtown for three years now and I know a lot of people are sick of seeing him.

– I’ve gotten some good responses to the question I posed on behalf of one of my readers yesterday: Where should a woman in her late 40s go to meet men? And not just any men, but men who don’t use hairspray or have comb-over hairstyles. I’m going to give readers one or two more days to respond, then do a follow-up post.

– Congrats to the Grizzlies on their 144-135 victory last night at the FedExForum. I think Coach Barone has hit on the key element to ensure success for the team: They’re having fun. Wonder if there’s a chance Barone will be named the permanent head coach?

There was a good article in today’s Commercial Appeal on the National Conference for Media Reform to be held in Downtown Memphis January 12-14.

About a month ago I posted about this conference, and told attendees they were welcome to e-mail me if they had questions about Downtown. Since then I’ve had some groups asking about private meeting spaces in the restaurants, bars, art galleries, etc. in the area not far from the convention center. It looks like I may have successfully directed one group to the Majestic Grille. But, if I get other people asking for meeting space, where should I send them?

Specifically, if you know of meeting spaces downtown, I’d be interested in knowing:

Address?

How many people will the space hold?

Any extras the venue provides like audio/visual equipment, wireless Internet, etc.?

Does the venue charge a rental fee, or do they provide the space for free and make their money off food/drink orders from the attendees?

If you have the info, let me know and I’ll start compiling a list. This blog has always done well in Google searches and I get these kinds of requests from time to time. Kinda cool to be an unofficial ambassador for Downtown Memphis when people find me on the search engines.

This morning I received an e-mail asking about the singles scene in Memphis.

Being a native Memphian (not to be confused with a native, residing in Mempho), I am ashamed to admit my bumfuzzlement at a particular situation for which I need your assisstance, Oh great wise and well-traveled one. Where does a late 40ish single woman go to meet single men. Now keep in mind these men cannot wear hairspray or have a swoop-over hair do. This particular lady has been single for nine years and is ready to go out and have some fun. I know there s fun to be had in Memphis, but have been unable to to locate it.
Your help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

Signed,
Native Memphian

Not sure what to tell her… the environments in which I hang out tend to be full of people in mostly their 20s and 30s, so they probably wouldn’t be the best places to recommend to her. The one thing I can think of would be the Thursday night Madison Hotel rooftop parties, but they don’t start up again until April.

Any ideas for her? E-mail them to me and I’ll forward them on to her, and post them here in a followup.

First, a couple of restaurant-related items. Chef Michael Patrick of EP Delta Kitchen e-mailed me to let me know that he’s hosting a benefit dinner for Larry Lackey, the chef/owner of Cayenne Moon. Dinner will be held at EP’s on Tuesday, January 9 at 7 pm. For more info you can give them a call at 527-1444 or use their website to make reservations. His e-mail seemed to indicate that there will be more info in the new Memphis Flyer coming out today.

Sigh… I guess I’ll be getting another e-mail from blog reader “Stan” accusing me of taking payoffs from EP’s now.

I e-mailed a thank you to the Majestic Grille, expressing appreciation for the way they treated my group of friends and me on New Year’s Eve. I also repeated my compliment about the filet off their special menu being the best I’ve eaten. Got a reply from Deni the co-owner… she writes, “We have a new menu coming out next week that includes a peppercorn encrusted filet with a Dijon brandy cream sauce – holy moly is it yummy!” Can’t wait to try that. Soon as they get the new menu running and get it up on their site, I’ll post a link.

Congratulations to one of my favorite countries in the world, Romania, which along with its southern neighbor Bulgaria was granted admission to the European Union on January 1. Before they could be admitted they had to undergo rigorous screening to prove that their government was free of corruption. I hope they didn’t use the United States government as a model of how to accomplish that. Or worse, Memphis city government.

Congratulations to my trivia team The Rapscallions, who had their best showing ever last night, only missing one question and scoring 133 out of a possible 130 points (including 5 bonus points for ordering a German beer). Special accolades to team member The Nuh-Uh Girl, who correctly predicted that the questions would be a review of 2006, which caused several of us to study in advance. The victory brings our total to $175 in gift certificates, and we still have more than two months to accumulate more for the next party.

One of my readers e-mailed this afternoon to comment that if the Wolfchase Mall, Cordova Fox and Hound, and Bahama Breeze are places that East Bumblefuck residents would list as three of the Seven Wonders of the World, then SuperTarget should be on there too. “We East Bumblefuckers love us some SuperTarget,” she writes.

All it took was a drive on the I-40 to remind me why I rarely go to the mall. I had two different drivers tailgating about one foot from my rear bumper, while I was going about 67 and couldn’t speed up because there was a car in front of me only about a car length away.

The last time I went to the mall was back in August, when I drove The Romanian Sensation to the mall. That time traffic suddenly slowed from 70 to, oh, maybe 10 just west of Whitten Road. I had to slam on my brakes and pull into the emergency lane to avoid rear-ending the car in front of me. “No no Paul, please don’t wreck your car until after I go shopping,” the Sensation commented.

It’s a miracle that I worked out there for a year and a half and never had an accident on the way home. Really made me appreciate the short drive home from Midtown that has been the norm for me the past nine months.

And once I got to the mall, I couldn’t find anything to buy, except a 2007 calendar. So it was a wasted trip. There were some hot girls there, but most of them were jailbait.

Going to lounge around the apartment for a while, then go see my waitresses and play trivia.