Paul Ryburn's Journal

The Commercial Appeal reports that two crack houses were shut down in the 300 block of Abel yesterday. The inhabitants of these houses were breaking into cars around downtown, particularly during events that brought heavy traffic to the area. They were then selling what they stole in order to buy drugs.

Abel is the street just east of Third, and the 300 block would place the houses just a couple of blocks south of the FedExForum. Therefore the crooks had easy access to Downtown’s entertainment district, and the South Main district as well. 13 people were indicted as part of the Blue Crush sweep that closed the houses, and having those thugs off the street should make Downtown a safer place.

Great job, MPD.

Today and tomorrow I’m in class at Quilogy out near Mt. Moriah and Kirby Parkway. The city schools sent me out there to take a 2-day course on the new features in ASP.NET 2.0, so we can quickly get up to speed on cutting-edge programming. It’s a great class and I’m enjoying it. The instructor saw that we were a little more advanced than typical students who take the course, and he stepped up his game and gave us lots of useful information. I wasn’t expecting much and was pleasantly surprised. I’d definitely recommend Quilogy to anyone who needs computer training.

I also have to tip my hat to the city schools, the first company for whom I’ve worked in seven years that has paid to send me for training – and technically I don’t even work for them, I’m a consultant. They really believe in employee development – the managers actually get graded on it. Once again, my respect for MCS continues to go up.

I meant to write a post at lunchtime, but then I remembered I was within striking distance of Popeye’s and couldn’t resist a trip out there for some spicy chicken and Cajun rice.

Hmmm… not a lot else to report. Taking a rare night off from the bars so I can get a quality night’s sleep and be in good shape tomorrow for class. Watching The Apprentice which I DVRed last night. That’s about it. Maybe tomorrow’s post will be more interesting…

He’s demanding that this be posted. “It’s a once in a blue moon occurrence, and a blue moon occurred twice today.” Referring to NTN Trivia at Sleep Out Louie’s.

Now we’re all at the Saucer and Blue Moon is the Fire Sale. Also, Mikey says hello.

Obviously we’re all drunk.

I just added the Shopping links section. To see it, scroll down and look at the left menu pane. I’m going to start the Shopping section small and build it over time, so there are only 5 links so far. I’ve tried to add links that downtowners can appreciate.

AbsintheSupply.com is the place to go to buy absinthe, or “the green fairy” as it is sometimes called. Usually consumed with a cube of sugar on an absinthe spoon, it is a liquor made from a blend of herbs including wormwood. It was banned at one point in the US, but purchases you make from AbsintheSupply.com are now completely legal. Absinthe has something of a cult following among downtowners; come find out why people are talking about it.

MardiGrasCostumes.com has costumes, hats, masks, capes, maekup, beads, trinkets and more for this year’s Mardi Gras. Fat Tuesday falls on February 20 this year.

Restaurant.com is the website I mentioned in my blog toward the end of last week. They sell $25 restaurant gift certificates for $10, and $10 certificates for $3. Some of the biggest name restaurants in the city are participating. Keep in mind that in most cases, the certificates can be redeemed for food only, not alcohol, so it’s probably best to redeem these as a group.

HomeBistro.com supplies chef-quality meals shipped to your home. These can be prepared with minimal effort; most involve placing them in a pot of simmering water for 10 minutes or less. The Chef Specials section of their site looks particularly good – haven’t drooled that much since The Romanian Sensation walked up Union Avenue in a pair of tight red shorts last July.

VistaPrint was the printer that handled Residents for a Safer Downtown Memphis’ business cards. They offer 30-60% off what you would spend at local printers. You can design your cards using their convenient web interface and have them shipped to your door.

That’s a start; I’ll add more links soon. Heading out east for an ASP.NET class tomorrow, so my posting schedule may be a bit different than most workdays.

The local chapter of Drinking Liberally is hosting a watch party for George W. Bush’s State of the Union address Tuesday night. The party will be held at Sleep Out Louie’s, on Union Avenue between Front and Main downtown, and will start at 7 PM. Convenient parking is available across the street at Parking Can Be Fun. All are welcome, although if you’re a Republican you’ll probably find yourself in the minority – but at least then, you’ll have something in common with your Republican brethren in Congress.

A quick web search revealed that the State of the Union drinking game has been updated for 2007.

About to head out to the Union Avenue branch office and am taking the laptop with me… I have a lot of work to get done. I should have the Shopping section added to this blog later today (look for it on the left menu pane, you’ll probably have to scroll down). I also have some other cool stuff I’m working on, which I’ll be rolling out in the next two weeks. Glad I don’t have the Deal of the Week column to distract me this morning… ’cause I’m in the process of putting together a better, bigger deal. Stay tuned…

Here’s a link to a video on the history of Dyer’s (205 Beale) and how their hamburgers are prepared. Dyer’s deep-fried burgers, fried in 90+ year-old grease, are some of the best burgers in Memphis.

As you can see, I’ve moved some stuff around on my blog, and added sections for people planning to visit Downtown Memphis, local news, and links I like.

Mikey is going to be slightly annoyed that people now have to scroll to see the Residents for a Safer Downtown Memphis link.

My mother is going to be delighted that I now have a permanent link from my blog to her page.

As I said earlier, I still have a Shopping section to add, but I’m going to hold off on that until tomorrow. I’ve been at the Second Street branch office all afternoon and have been drinking beer and have reached the point where I don’t want to mess with my blog’s template any more today. The good news is, I had a business meeting up here, so someone other than me paid for all the beer I drank up until 4 PM. The Hogs are playing LSU (and winning) on one of the new LCD TVs, and the USA is playing Denmark in soccer on the other. It’s been a good day.

One question I had to answer was, should I place Thaddeus Matthews’ blog under Local News or under Links I Like? On one hand, much of what he writes is opinion, and I agree that his spelling and grammar undermine his credibility. A couple of days ago he reported that someone he’s trying to track down was “having surgery in the hospitable” and I nearly died laughing (he’s since corrected it). On the other hand, he’s doing the investigative journalism that the Commercial Appeal should be doing, but they don’t because they are understaffed, or underfunded, or lazy, or afraid of the people they should be investigating, or buddies with the people they should be investigating, or whatever the problem is, I don’t know. Thad’s uncovering a lot of shit that needs to be brought into the light of day, and I think he’s going to win some kind of journalistic prize for his efforts before all is said and done. For that reason, I consider him a news source. I know a lot of people may disagree, and that’s fine.

Plans for tonight: I have no idea. FreeWorld is playing at the Saucer at 9:30, so that’s one option. For now I need to shut down the laptop and go drink about a gallon of water to rehydrate for this evening. Have a good night, and look for more changes to this blog tomorrow.

If you view this blog today or tomorrow, things may seem out of place. It’s only temporary… I’m rearranging in order to provide more information, more to see.

Everything in the left menu pane except “Weather” will be moved to the right menu pane. Then, this weekend I’ll be adding local news, a brief orientation for people traveling to Downtown Memphis, a shopping section, and a list of links I like.

I’ll be heading up to the Second Street branch office shortly to begin work on it, and for a business meeting at 2 for a consulting project I’m working on. I expect to have everything but the Shopping section done today; if all goes well I’ll have the Shopping section up tomorrow.

The overall look and feel of the blog won’t change, nor will the content of the posts.

Time to get started… have a great weekend everybody.

This morning I made my morning walk to the Walgreens at Main and Madison to get caffeine. As I checked out, I noticed they were selling disposable raincoats for 99 cents – they’re right next to the front register. If you plan on going to any of the Memphis in May events this year, it would probably be a real good idea to pick up a couple of those. They’re small enough to fit in a pocket or purse.

See, even though I quit my “Deal of the Week” column over at the CA, I’m still not done finding Deals. Not by a long shot. Consider that a hint of things to come.

– From the Commercial Appeal: House of Mews at the corner of Cooper and Young is not being displaced by Burke’s Books; Burke’s is moving into the space just north of their location. House of Mews is being displaced because planned improvements to the building will put the rent out of reach. The landlords donated $10,000 to their nonprofit organization. Good for them!

However, House of Mews still needs

1) People to adopt their cats, or even provide temporary homes during the move;

2) Monetary donations;

3) Help finding a location in a high-traffic spot, where the kitties in the window will convince people to come in.

If you want to help, you can contact them via their website.