Paul Ryburn's Journal

Every month, the Center City Commission’s “Inside Downtown” program hosts businesspeople, homeowners, and other people with a stake in Downtown Memphis, taking them on a tour of a notable building or area. This month’s meeting happened this past Thursday, May 3, and was a tour of the “New Main” block between Union and Gayoso. Once the most blighted block of the Main Street Mall, it now is home to apartments, condos, Sauces restaurant, Wang’s China Bistro, a dental office, and an eye doctor. The block now serves as a model for the redevelopment of the rest of Main Street. Here are a few pics from the event:

CCC president Jeff Sanford gives a presentation about New Main at Wang’s China Bistro. Wang’s was nice enough to host the event and provide a buffet for guests.

The audience listens to Jeff’s presentation at Wang’s before heading out on a self-guided tour of the block.

I want to make special note of See Main Street, the optometry clinic located on the New Main block. I don’t wear glasses or contacts myself, but several of my friends have gone there and have heaped praise upon the place – they’ve even told me, “Paul, you need to mention it in your blog.” So I went in and talked to them – they told me their 3 doctors see patients Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and do glasses and contact fittings Tuesday and Thursday. You can check out their website for more info.

This is a pic of one of the units at the One One O’Six Lofts, a condo development across the street from See Main Street. The first units have just recently been completed and the first tenants have moved in.

Another pic of the One One O’Six unit. There are 18 units in the building and some are still available; here’s a flyer with more information.

I also toured the Main Street Flats and Cornerstone Apartments, but I was walking through occupied apartments – people’s homes – and it didn’t feel right to take pictures to post on a public blog. They are some of the nicest apartment units I’ve seen downtown though. They’re 100% occupied but they said a couple of units will come available in June – if interested check their website for more info. If you’re serious about wanting to live there, you better call them NOW and leave a message… if you wait until Monday they may be gone.

I also stopped in Main Street Dental, and they were super-friendly. They gave me a tour of the office… they use technology to make the experience as painless and as little like a dental office as possible. They told me that the dental chairs massage you as you sit in them, for example, and their X-rays are digital and emit only a quarter of the rays that a traditional dental X-ray would. By the time I got back to the front, it was pouring rain, and they gave me a plastic dental chair cover to use as a poncho. Nice people. Here’s a link to an MBJ article about Main Street Dental.

Thanks to Jeff, Nicole and all the folks at the CCC, and the businesses on New Main, for a great tour.

While searching the Web, trying to find out exactly what time Lord T and Eloise will perform at Handy Park Saturday night, I came across this site – MemphisRap.com. Looks like a good site to check out if you’re into the local rap scene.

By the way, if anyone knows when Lord T and Eloise will be on stage, let me know. Looking forward to hearing them.

– BREAKING NEWS: King Willie has accepted the resignations of MLGW chief Joseph Lee and counsel Odell Horton. Herenton refused Lee’s resignation last month but said he’s now come to a “different point of view” (translation: Willie is trailing badly in the polls).

– Before we get started, here’s a Deal for you: Creative Labs has a 1 GB Zen Stone MP3 player on sale for $39.99. It’s comparable to the iPod Shuffle 1 GB (which sells for about twice as much) in that it holds approximately 250 songs. I’m assuming that, like the Shuffle, it can play the songs in either the order in which you load them, or in random order. Click the image below to get to the Deal.

– Did you know that there’s a radio station that plays nothing but Memphis music? I didn’t, until I read an article on the Memphis Business Journal’s website this morning. It’s an online station called AllMemphisMusic.com and it’s been broadcasting over the Internet since last August. This spring they’re partnering with the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau to promote Memphis in May and the 50th anniversary of soul.

– This morning’s Daily News had an article about Downtown Memphis, art, and Broken Windows theory. The theory claims that eliminating the small problems in a neighborhood – such as a broken window – eliminate larger problems like robbery, gang activity, etc. According to Broken Windows, would-be criminals see the small signs, like broken windows, as indicators that criminal activity will be tolerated in the area.

According to the article, Lauren Kennedy, a Rhodes student, plans to use art to apply a version of Broken Windows to Downtown Memphis. She counted 25 vacant storefronts between Adams and Union, and intends to work with local artists to put art in those storefronts, providing a little “window dressing” for the area.

Now that’s cool. It really shows how one person with an idea can make a difference – even a college student with no stakeholdings in Downtown business. Congratulations to Ms. Kennedy for thinking outside of the box, and I hope it inspires others. Once the artwork is in the storefronts I’ll try to snap some pics and post ’em.

– Wow, TONS of news about Downtown in the local media today. The CA has an article about the Humes Room downstairs at the Superior Bar on Beale, full of memorabilia from the old Humes High School that closed in the 1970s, including photos of its most famous alumnus, Elvis. Sounds like the room is not open to the public, although they let one tour company book tours there, and occasionally they’ll take select groips down there.

– Last night I took the laptop to Dan McGuinness Pub (aka the Peabody Place branch office) and got a lot of work done on my upcoming websites. That’s a really good place to take a laptop – I love the Saucer but I’m a lot more productive at McGuinness. Think I may get in the habit of hanging out at the Saucer with the early-evening crowd, then when they leave around 7:30-8:00 I’ll walk across the street to McG and fire up the computer and work until the battery dies.

– Rusty Lemon plays the Peabody rooftop tonight from 6 to 10. $5 cover, free before 8 for ladies. According to the Weather Channel there’s a 60% chance of scattered thunderstorms this evening, and if that’s the case it will move inside. Undecided whether I’ll do that party, the one at EP’s, or neither. For the after-rooftop crowd, Snozberry will play the Flying Saucer starting at 9:30.

The Memphis Flyer has written a story about my new online store the Tube Top Boutique. Check it out here. Wow, they put it under “Business Buzz”… makes me feel like I should have a suit and tie on.

In the article they refer to me as a “Flying Saucer uber-patron” and a “tube-top fetishest, er, enthusiast.” Yeah, I suppose both of those are true. Although, it may surprise you to learn I’m not typing this at the Saucer… I’m across the street at the Peabody Place branch office, where it’s quieter. I have three more websites in the works and I want to get started on them.

The Mpact event at the Orpheum tonight was outstanding. They had food from McGuinness, Sawaddii, Another Roadside Attraction, and Central BBQ, and Pat Halloran gave a presentation about the Orpheum. Then they drew for door prizes… I didn’t win anything, but The Nuh-Uh Girl won a movie party for 10.

The Nuh-Uh Girl got some good Downtown gossip too… Cielo is in the process of renaming itself The Molly Fontaine House and plans on converting to more of a lounge atmosphere, with more musical acts during the week, and smaller-portion dishes. Cool. That’s a great place. The only drawback is, it’s too far for me to walk… I guess I could ride my bike there, but it kind of seems odd to ride up to an elegant restaurant like Cielo on a bike.

Didn’t make it to Pearl’s Oyster House tonight, so no more pics to post. I’ll try to get there sometime in the next week and will have a full report for you then.

Time to work until the laptop’s battery runs out… see you later.

Earlier this week I posted that Pearl’s Oyster House opens tonight. I have since found out that they’re having a private party tonight, and will open to the public tomorrow.

Luckily, friends of mine have reservations for a table of 10, so I’ll still be able to get in there and take pictures. I’ll probably hit the Mpact After Hours at the Orpheum at 6 and then walk down there a little later in the evening.

I forgot to mention that Pearl’s plans on having a lunch buffet as well… that means that there most likely won’t be a lunchtime post one day next week.

With all the excitement about Music Fest, don’t forget that this Saturday is the first week for the 2007 Memphis Farmers Market. Just checked their site and they have a GREAT lineup of performances for opening day. From 8 to 9:30 AM they have Beatles/British Invasion musician Jeff Golightly… then from 9:30 to 1 PM Ken and Robyn Greene will play. Those are some excellent and talented musicians… why does this event have to take place so blasted early in the morning? Also, at 10:30 the dancers of Desert Rose will put on a belly dance demo.

If you’re there for the food, best to get there right at 7 AM for your pick of strawberries, lettuce, arugula, micro-greens, spinach, radishes, broccoli, broccoli rabe, carrots, red beets, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, goat cheese, beef, chicken, pork, eggs, fruit trees and shrubs.

Hungry? Two of the best chefs in the city, Michael Patrick (EP’s – 9:00) and Felicia Willett (Felicia Suzanne’s – 11:00) will give cooking demos. There’s also a new Market Cafe this year serving breakfast and lunch foods.

There will be pottery demos at 8 and 10, and MFM will give away free slices of strawberry cake at 9:30.

What a schedule… looks like I’m going to have to choose between sleep and the Farmers Market. This looks too good to miss.

This is gonna be a super-quick one. A couple of rumors I heard while hanging out on my rooftop last night:

– The old Empire Coffee location at Madison and Main is apparently being converted into a shoe store. Hope they don’t cover the ceiling.

– I also heard that the people renovating the Lincoln-American Tower expect to have people moving in about 9 months from now, and there may be a Starbucks in the building.

I haven’t confirmed either of these (what do I look like, a real journalist?) so if you have any more info let me know.

Also, I read in the Commercial Appeal this morning that there will be a Music Fest after-party at Handy Park (Third at Beale) from 8 PM to 1:30 AM Friday and Saturday nights. I’m definitely going to be there Saturday, because a group I’ve been wanting to hear for a long time will perform – Lord T and Eloise. Several of my friends have told me I must see them, that they’re developing a cult following here in Memphis… apparently it’s a couple of rich, aristocratic Memphis University School grads who do hardcore rap. If anyone knows exactly what time they’re playing Saturday let me know.

And that’ll do it for now. Much more to come, when I get some time to post.

After more than a week of work, I’m ready to announce that my new online store is ready for public viewing.

When I got into online marketing, people told me, “Paul, build a store around a product that you enjoy. Build a store around a product that makes you happy.”

So, I thought to myself, what makes me happy? …TUBE TOPS!!!

Therefore, I’m pleased to announce the grand opening of the Tube Top Boutique. Click the link and you’ll find hundreds of tube tops, tube dresses, and related products. You know, when I was doing the preliminary marketing research for the site, I was surprised to discover that “tube dress” as a search term is more than twice as popular as “tube top.” But that’s okay, we gotcha covered (well, except for your shoulders) with well over 100 dresses.

The site also has related categories as well, including tube top jumpsuits, maternity tube tops, strapless bras (although it’s perfectly acceptable to skip the bra and go au naturel underneath your tube top), and rompers. Not sure what a romper is? Hang on, let me post a pic of a romper.

There ya go. That’s what a romper looks like. It’s a one-piece tube-top-and-shorts set, usually made of terrycloth. We’ve got about a dozen of ’em on the site. The model in the pic above, by the way, was the co-hostess of the ’70s party on the roof of my building, Number 10 Main, last weekend. I added a special “almost a tube top” section to the site just for her, because it took two years of training to teach her that if it has straps, it isn’t a tube top.

Here’s a picture of the other host of the ’70s party, who made a special guest appearance all the way from 1977:

The best outfit of the evening, though, pre-dated disco by a few years. Straight from 1972, here’s the man who’s totally working the ‘fro, our very own Skippy.

Here’s a pic of Skippy line dancing. He requested the song, “Electric Slide,” by the way.

All right… with the ’70s pics out of the way, let’s get back to the tube top store for a moment. All the orders are processed by Amazon.com, so you know you’ll get excellent service and that your credit card information will be safe and secure. This is my first attempt at building my own Amazon-based store… maybe it’ll be successful, maybe not, but at least if it fails I’ll learn from my mistakes.

I have more ideas for online stores… the one I’m thinking about doing next will feature a particular place… a very, very wonderful place… rather than a clothing item.

So if you’re a female who likes to buy tube tops, be sure to check out the Tube Top Boutique. Tube Top Month is a month away, so you still have plenty of time to order. Guys, sorry, there’s not a lot of shopping for you to do at the new store, but I still like to believe it’s a store that will benefit men indirectly.

Alrighty then… think I’ll go up to the rooftop and watch the sunset, then get a few things done around the apartment, then go drink a celebratory beer. Back tomorrow with more to say.

– Before we get started, let me remind everyone that today is the last day to buy discount restaurant gift certificates for 60% off and get an additional $10 certificate free with every order. That means that instead of getting a $25 face-value certificate for $10 (regular price), you can get it for $4 (60% off) and get an additional $10 certificate for free on top of that. Not bad! Just click on the links on the left panel of this blog, visit Memphis Discount Dining, or visit Restaurant.com and use code APRIL at checkout.

– Some events coming up this week… Mpact Memphis will have an After Hours at the Orpheum this Wednesday, May 2, from 6 to 8 PM. Great food, cocktails and door prizes. Here’s a flyer with more details (click for a larger image):

Mpact will have another After Hours Tuesday, May 22 from 7 to 9 PM… unfortunately, I won’t be able to make that one because that’s my trivia team’s night at the Flying Saucer. ….Oh, wait a minute… yes I WILL be able to make that one, because the After Hours will be at the Saucer!!!! Cool! More details to come about that one as the date approaches.

– I promised you a funny story about the Flying Saucer that had to wait until after the weekend… now I can post it, so here ya go. Friday afternoon I was at work and got a call from my friend Mikey, who was sitting at the bar. “Paul, the manager wants to talk to you,” Mikey told me, and handed him the phone. The manager? I wondered if maybe I forgot to pay my tab the night before, or something.

“Paul, we’re having a 10th birthday party Saturday night,” the manager informed me. “You’re the guy who dressed up as a Saucer girl for Halloween last year, aren’t you? We were wondering if you’d be willing to dress up in the costume and jump out of a cake at 10 PM.”

Of course, I had to tell him no, since two of my good friends had a birthday party of their own – on my building’s roof – that night. But, for those of you who attended the Saucer’s birthday that night, just know that you narrowly missed seeing me dressed as the Beer Goddess yet again. Never fear, though, Halloween is only six months away, and as of yet I haven’t come up with any costume alternatives.

– A friend of mine who stopped by EP’s Delta Kitchen after the party – pretty late in the evening, around 2 AM – told me that the place was PACKED, particularly the upstairs balcony. He said it was a nice looking crowd and a young crowd. He said it got so busy that EP’s was starting to run out of stuff. Hmmm, I’ll have to put that on my list of places to check out late-night. Downtown just keeps getting better and better.

– The Center City Commission’s “Inside Downtown” group will meet this Thursday at 4:30 to take a tour of the “New Main” block between Main and Gayoso. Once a boarded-up, blighted eyesore, New Main has come to life with new restauarants (Wang’s, Sauces), an eye clinic, a dentist, apartments, condos, and more in the works. The group will meet at 4:30 at Wang’s (Main at Gayoso) for a presentation by CCC president Jeff Sanford, then take the tour. They ask that you RSVP if you plan on attending – you can e-mail Nicole at hernandez@downtownmemphis.com and let her know.

– The Memphis Flyer e-mailed me this morning – they’re looking for an IT director. It’s a Mac workplace, although knowledge of Windows is also necessary. Need FileMaker Pro, Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, and pre-press skills, as well as graphic design, cutting-edge web techniques, and network security skills in your tool bag. If this sounds like the right job for you e-mail me and I’ll pass you on to the right person.

– That’ll do it for now… still working on my new online store, which is close to being done. I hope to roll it out to the public tonight or tomorrow. Probably will NOT attend Pint Nite tonight so I can work on the store… if I get it rolled out tonight I’ll head up there for a celebratory beer late in the evening, maybe 10, 11ish.

Got lots of pics to post as soon as I download them from my camera – got about 50 pics from Wine Race yesterday (enough that I’ll have to do a photo album), a few pics from the ’70s party I attended this weekend, and some other stuff. So be sure to check back often. Happy &?@%ing Monday everyone.