Paul Ryburn's Journal

Memphis Roller Derby will kick off its 2007 season this Saturday, March 3, as the Angels of Death take on the PrissKilla Prezleys at FunQuest Entertainment, 440 Hwy. 72 in Collierville.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to make it out there, as I have plans Downtown from 2 PM through the rest of the day… should be a good show though. This all-female roller derby league combines beauty, violence and fun. Hopefully I’ll be able to make it to a future event and write a blog post about it.

This morning, as I read about the latest developments in the MLGW scandal, I came across a program that is ***NOT*** connected to the scandal in any way, that seems to be a really good way to help the less fortunate. It’s called PLUS-1, and it allows MLGW customers to add $1 per month to their utility bill, with the extra money going toward lower-income families who are having trouble paying their bills. The program is administered by the Metropolitan Inter-Faith Association (MIFA). Sounds like a worthwhile thing to do. I think I’ll sign up.

Man, the MLGW thing is turning into a big mess… while individuals and small businesses with past due bills in the $300 range get their power cut, Edmund Ford is allowed to keep his power with a bill that’s in the five figures. And that’s not all… blogger Thaddeus Matthews uncovered an entire list of businesses that are more than 30 days past due and who have HUGE bills. The one I find most interesting is Memphis Publishing Company (i.e. The Commercial Appeal) – more than $79,000 past due. How can we expect complete, unbiased reporting on this matter from the CA when they’re almost 80 grand behind on their utility bills? Look to Thad and also to the Memphis Flyer for the best coverage of the MLGW case.

Just in… MLGW boss Lee just handed in his resignation and King Willie refused to accept it. This is getting interesting.

This is a drunk post.

So tonight I was out and I heard that legendary Sleep Out’s bartender FRENCHIE will be at the Holiday Inn Select Friday night. In case you don’t know where that is, here’s how to find the HI Select: Drive downtown. Find The Peabody. Look across the street (Union Avenue). You’ll see the Select.

Although I haven’t in the past been a fan of Holiday Inn bars, I have to praise them for having the common sense to realize that a popular former Sleep Out’s bartender is going to bring a built-in regular crowd and generate a lot of business. That’s more common sense that a 20-year veteran of the Downtown Memphis restaurant scene has displayed recently. A lot more. Steak, anyone?

Frenchie doesn’t know I’m posting this, by the way, so don’t hold him responsible. No one other than myself and Coors Light (yes I know it’s shitty beer, but it was on tap at Blues City) are responsible. If there are any inaccuracies in this post let me know.

What else… I went to see The Dempseys @ Blues City tonight and Bradley D. wanted me to blog the fact that he had on a shirt with flowers on it. It matched his guitar, actually. On the way home I stopped by Big Foot for drunken food, and forgot to ask Shawn about a rumor I heard that he’s honoring Sleep Out’s happy hour specials for former regulars, whatever that means.

The Dempseys, by the way, will be playing the Saucer Saturday, March 3 at 9:30. There’s a slight chance I might be there.

Congrats to the Rapscallions on a first-place victory at trivia Tuesday night, adding $50 to our stash for a total of $395. We’re gonna have to cash in those gift certificates one of these days.

Go read the CA article on EP Delta Kitchen executive chef Michael Patrick if you haven’t already.

That’s all. I got home with my food and it started raining cats and dogs 1 minute later. Guess I’ll pass out now.

Members of one of the top bands at this past weekend’s folk festival, Madrigaia, will be performing tonight (Tuesday) at Otherlands at 9:30.

Madrigaia consists of 7 vocalists and 1 percussionist. They sing in 16 languages; after the festival, half the band went home, and half stayed here. The four who are still here in town will be at Otherlands tonight, performing “some Madrigaia songs, but mostly random songs we’ve written or covered.”

Check them out – here are links to their website and their Myspace page.

Took some NyQuil last night to fight off the bug that seems to be going around lately, particularly at my office. It led to some interesting dreams.

In the first dream, I attended the black-tie carinval coronation ball that fellow bloggers Ptolemy Kat and Philip attended last Saturday at the University Club. Only in my dream the ball wasn’t at the University Club, but at the Greyhound bus station downtown.

I’m not sure which is more absurd, a black-tie event at a bus station, or me in a tuxedo. I can just see them trying to announce the krewe’s royalty for the year. “And this year’s… no, sir, I’m sorry, I don’t have ’bout fitty-two cent… this year’s queen… no, sir, I don’t have a cigarette either… this year’s queen is Qu… SIR, I’M TRYING TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT HERE, NO I DON’T HAVE A DOLLAR!… Queen Kathryn.”

Maybe their carnival krewe should look into booking next year’s coronation ball at the Greyhound station. Of course, they’d have to give it a cutesy-poo abbreviated name (they call the University Club the “U-Club”) to show everyone that they’re in like Flynn with the place. Hmmm… the “G-station” or the “b-station” just isn’t very sexy… how about the “G-spot?”

For my second dream, I was driving down Union Avenue, but as I approached the I-240 bridge the street was under construction and there were all kinds of detour ramps. I tried to find the ramp that corresponded to Highway 56, which was Union’s highway number in my dream (but not in real life). But I soon got all confused and ended up going the wrong way down one of the other ramps. I had to get out of my car, pick it up, and carry it out of harm’s way. Apparently I work out more in my dreams than I do in everyday reality.

So then I carried my car up a flight of stairs, and I was then in an airport terminal, looking for gate 56. I think I found my gate, but I can’t remember if I ever made it home. Next time I drive in one of my dreams I’m going to have to take Madison, instead of Union, when I head downtown.

In the third dream, I attended some kind of reception in a big convention-center type building out in the eastern part of town. It seemed to be a good event, but I was a bit concerned that there was a live tiger in the middle of the room, with only a fence made of some flimsy tarps holding him back. No one else seemed to care that the tiger was there. Sure enough, he bounded right over the fence and headed straight for me. He bit my hand, but I managed to run to the building entrance and I got a closed door in between the tiger and me. A moment later someone walked out and the tiger followed him through the door, but I walked in just as the tiger walked out, again escaping him.

As I walked back through the building, I spotted a lion walking around. Again, no one seemed to be concerned, but I decided enough was enough. I walked out the back door, figuring I’d circle the building, keeping a fair distance in case the tiger was still outside, and eventually I’d get back to the parking lot and my car. I didn’t see the tiger, but I did encounter a rhinoceros. Luckily he was a small rhino, he didn’t seem that interested in charging me, and I was able to climb up a hill that was too steep for him to follow. I made it to my car and got out of there.

I’m pretty sure there were one or two other dreams as well but the details escape me. Wow, those were some wild ones. Now I understand why the downtown bums chug entire bottles of NyQuil. It definitely puts you in an altered state of mind.

The ladies of VDay Memphis e-mailed me and asked if I could mention their upcoming event. “We’re a lively group of Memphis ladies – students, moms, professionals, artists, teachers, theater folks – from all backgrounds, ages, and ethnic groups – who work hard to put together this annual show to benefit local battered women and children,” they explained.

Sounds like a good group. Here are the details:

VDay Memphis, 2007

8th Annual Benefit Performance of Eve Ensler’s “The Vagina Monologues” at TheaterWorks, 2085 Monroe Avenue. March 2nd & 3rd. Friday, March 3rd is Pay What You Can Night for dress rehearsal. Saturday March 3rd is performance, party, bar, music and silent auction. Doors open 7PM both nights, shows start at 8PM. $10 at the door, tickets also available at Otherlands Coffee House on S. Cooper, or call 396-VDAY, or visit vdaymemphis.org. Proceeds benefit the YWCA Women’s Shelter & the Exchange Club of Memphis. VDAY is a global movement to stop violence against women and girls.

Yesterday the former Sleep Out Louie’s Sunday brunch crew took the show on the road to the Majestic Grille, on the Main Street Mall between Gayoso and Peabody Place. They treated us like kings and we had a great time.

I had the smoked salmon hash browns ($9), pictured above, which consisted of hashbrowned new potatoes covered with salmon, poached eggs, and Hollandaise sauce. It was so rich that I couldn’t finish more than half of it. Easily one of the best Sunday brunch meals I’ve ever had.

One of the other brunchers had the Andouille sausage and cheese frittata ($8), and raved about it as highly as I did about my hash browns. That’ll be my order next Sunday.

And, of course, it just wouldn’t be Sunday brunch without this:

$12 bottles of champagne with real orange juice (not that powdered “O.J.” stuff that Sleep Out’s had), and orange slices for garnish. Nice.

I’m getting hungry just typing this. Looks like we’ve found a new home on Sundays, although the Majestic may have competition a few months from now if the Blue Monkey opens on schedule.

Kevin Barbieux, a Nashville resident who writes The Homeless Guy blog, has a new article at AssociatedContent.com entitled How Best to Help the Homeless. If you live downtown and are wondering what constructive, positive steps you can take to help, this would be a good place to start.

Also, this is a good thing because AssociatedContent.com is paying Kevin for the articles he writes. The more people who check out his articles, the more pay he’ll be offered the next time he submits one. So give it a look – Kevin is a great writer and I’m happy to see him finally reaping some financial reward from it.

The Sunday brunch crew will move to The Majestic Grille tomorrow morning to continue our weekly tradition. Here’s a February 14 post listing their brunch menu. Those smoked salmon hashbrowns are sounding mighty good right now.

Their brunch hours are 11 to 3. Patrick and Deni… get ready. From what I’ve heard this week, there are going to be a LOT of people coming.

I took my Big Mouth Billy Bass to the Flying Fish last night and they hung it on the wall. It’s the last one on the right.

Here are the adoption rules:

And here’s the free meal I got in exchange for Billy Bass:

I talked to John the manager and they also accept Travis Trout and all the other varieties of mounted, singing fish as well as Billy.