Paul Ryburn's Journal

The media and Congress have been scrutinizing World Wrestling Entertainment’s wellness program since the triple murder-suicide of Chris Benoit and his family last month. However, that same wellness program may have since saved a life.

Before the Great American Bash pay-per-view, WWE wrestlers were required to undergo a test in which they ran on a treadmill until their heart rates increased to 150 beats per minute. As a result of that test, it was discovered that wrestler Montel Vontavious Porter (“MVP”), the current U.S. champion on the Smackdown brand, had Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, an abnormal accessory pathway in his heart that could lead to abnormal heart rhythm and increased chance for a heart attack.

MVP has undergone a procedure to eliminate the pathway. He’s been taken off the road until next week, when an exam will determine whether or not the procedure was successful.

More info available here.

Take a look at The Weather Channel’s monthly weather forecast for Memphis. If you thought this week was bad, look what we’ve got coming up next week. Looks like MLGW will be making a fortune as air conditioners run nonstop for at least 10 more days. Although, we have Monday, August 20 to look forward to, when TWC predicts a high of “only” 96 and a 30% chance of rain.

Maybe we should convert to the metric system for some psychological relief. Since I have friends in Romania, I sometimes read their online newspapers. During a heat wave last month, Bucharest had a day with a high of 41C. “That doesn’t sound so bad,” I thought, until I did the math and realized that 41C = 106F.

I also checked the weather for San Diego, where I lived for six months in 2000. The hottest day of the next ten out there will be this coming Monday, when San Diegans will have to endure a high of 80 and a low of 70. As you can see, all over the U.S. we’re suffering from the heat.

The Commercial Appeal has a very good calendar about all the events going on during Dead Elvis Week, with lots of details about each event. Check it out here.

The problems with violence on Beale Street are finally getting some exposure in the media, with two violent attacks receiving coverage this week.

John Elkington, head of the organization that manages the street, proposes closing all the bars on Beale at 3 AM rather than the current 5 AM closing time. I don’t think this will solve the problem at all. What it will do is penalize the owners of the businesses, as well as the service industry workers in the area who get off at 1-2 AM and want and deserve a place to blow off steam for a few hours afterward.

Currently the police roll through the street at about 2 AM and sweep it clean, forcing those hanging out on the street to either go into the bars or go home. After that there is no loitering allowed. Most weekends by 2 AM there is a thuggish, scary-looking crowd on Beale. They don’t spend money, they just hang out – so almost all of them choose to leave rather than go into bars when the cops roll through.

Here’s my proposed solution – keep the bars open until 5 AM so that those who want to come to Beale late at night and party and spend money still have the opportunity to do so. But, for a period of one year, prohibit loitering on Beale after 9 PM Friday and Saturday nights. Sweep the streets at 9 rather than at 2. After that, instead of having security checkpoints at all entrances to the street, have them patrol the street and ask loiterers to go inside a business, because the street is closed. Responsibility to check IDs would fall back to the bars themselves. Having security on the street asking people not to loiter would not only drive criminals off Beale, but it would eliminate panhandling there as well during those hours.

In order to avoid hurting Handy Park – where there are a lot of vendors and outdoor entertainers in the summer – they could block it off with portable fencing and create a gate to check IDs. This has been done before – KIX 106 does it for their Country on Beale concerts on Thursdays, for example.

After a year, the thugs likely will have found a new place to congregate, and Beale could be quietly reopened… no announcement to the media or anything, just revert back to the way it was before, with ID checkpoints at 9 and a police sweep at 2. Let word of mouth, and the fact that tourists never knew it was closed, gradually return outdoor business back to Beale Street.

Just an idea… and yeah I know it’s a pretty drastic one. But I think closing the street at 9 would eliminate the thugs, whereas closing the bars at 3 wouldn’t do a thing to get rid of them.

Handling-Panhandling co-moderator Mike King was interviewed by WMC-TV channel 5 this afternoon about the online forum. I got busy with work and wasn’t able to attend, but I just got off the phone with him and it sounds like it went very well. It will be on at 6:00 tonight. I’ll post a link to it after the story is placed online.

Earlier in the week I posted about Caddyshack showing tonight at the Orpheum, and post-party at the Westin with $50 bar tab for the best golf outfit.

Well, I just learned there’s a second movie and party tomorrow night, Friday August 10: The silent version of Phantom of the Opera. This will be the grand finale of the summer movie series and the last post-movie party at the Westin. At the party they’ll have the grand prize drawing for a night’s stay in the NBA suite at the Westin, and dinner for two at the Daily Grill. Details below, click the flyer to see it in full size.

Last night I worked until about 9 and then made the trek down the street to… you guessed it… the Flying Saucer. A fellow regular who I hadn’t seen in a couple of weeks was sitting at the bar, and the very first thing he said to me illustrated why we need an educational campaign about panhandling.

He said, “I liked the article in the paper, where they interviewed you about the homeless.”

“No…” I replied. “The article wasn’t about the homeless. It was about panhandlers.”

“Homeless, panhandlers… I consider them pretty much the same thing,” he said.

That’s the problem… people don’t realize that “the panhandling problem” and “the homeless problem” are two separate problems.

Ran into Mike King, who co-moderates the Handling-Panhandling online forum with me, at the Saucer. He had been sitting at Second and Beale watching a guy hit up tourist after tourist after tourist, must’ve talked to at least 15 people. This was after dark, which means what he was doing was illegal, even with a panhandling permit. Finally Mike went up and talked to him and the guy admitted he wasn’t homeless, he had an apartment.

Later after Mike and my other friend left, I moved to the window facing Second Street. I watched the guy pictured below (photo taken about a week and a half before) chase down tourists at the intersection of Second and Peabody Place and hit up each one for money.

I watched him from about 10 to midnight and he must have talked to 40 people. Again, keep in mind that panhandling after dark is against the law in Memphis. Finally I decided to meet this guy myself. I paid my tab, walked across the street, and pretended to be a tourist taking photos of the area. And wouldn’t you know, he came right up. After initial banter about places to go in the area, he said, “Look here, man. I’m a real guy. My name’s Terry.” He pulled out his ID and showed it to me. “Look, I’m just trying to get money to get a beer.”

Once again, this illustrates that the hardcore panhandlers and the homeless are not the same people. If this guy was truly homeless and down on his luck and needed a hand to turn his life around, he’d be more concerned with finding shelter for the evening, and maybe getting some clean clothes so he could go around the next day and apply for jobs. But no, he wanted a beer. Or at least that’s what he said. His bottom teeth were missing, and while I did not see him do anything illegal, it’s very common for people who smoke crack to have their bottom teeth missing (the pipe rots them out).

If you want to help the homeless, give to Calvary Episcopal’s Street Ministry. Or the Union Mission. Or call your church and ask if they have outreach programs for those in need. But PLEASE don’t give money to these idiots on the street.

Tomorrow is the annual Saba Fest, in memory of Bill Saba, at Premiere Palace (Monroe at Marshall). Walrus, 40 Watt Moon, and Kyle Haston will perform. All proceeds go to St. Jude. For more info see Philip’s blog.

In honor of Bill Saba, I decided to walk over to Elliott’s on Second for breakfast and get their “Toast to Bill Saba.” It’s a sandwich that consists of sausage, egg, cheese, bacon and ham on Texas Toast. Very tasty but I think I got my daily recommended allowance of calories, fat and cholesterol through the end of August by eating that one sandwich.

Actually, half a sandwich… the thing was way too big for me to even come close to finishing.

Elliott’s has a good breakfast menu though… I’ll definitely be back to try some of the smaller, less artery-clogging items in the future.

Last night I was talking to one of my blog’s readers. “You did a month on tube tops,” she said. “Why don’t you do a month where you focus on a different part of the body – and I have a suggestion. Feet.”

Feet?

“Sure,” she said. “You could take pictures of feet, and write about who has nice feet and who has ugly feet. Tube Top Month may have drawn a lot of men to your blog, but women like feet. If you want to get a lot of female readers, you should do a month about feet.”

Um… thanks, but no.