Paul Ryburn's Journal

– Sleep Out Louie’s now has the ability to plug your laptop or iPod directly into their sound system and play your tunes. Just create a “Louie’s mix” and show it to Smokin’ Lemon or whoever the bartender is. Assuming the songs are all bar-friendly, they can then plug it in and play the mix.

– The Tap Room has removed their stage and I hear they won’t be having any more bands there. That’s both good news and bad news to me. On one hand, they had some damn good bands there – Starunner is the one that comes to mind but I know there were a lot of others. And the funny thing is, the Tap Room was hardly a high-paying gig for them – most of the bands who came there just wanted to play on historic Beale Street where their heroes, and their heroes’ heroes, played. On the other hand, The Tap Room is my favorite bar on Beale because it’s not flashy, it’s not glamorous, it’s just a place where you can have a good conversation. And it’s easier to hear the conversation when a band isn’t playing. Still, though, one of the other regulars predicts the bands will be back by summer.

– Heard a rumor today that Las Margaritas, in the Artesian hotel on McLean that used to be a Ramada and before that a Holiday Inn, will move into the spot that is currently The Happy Mexican on South Second.

– FreeWorld (unplugged) at the Saucer tonight, 9:30.

– I have more pics from last night to post, but the people involved weren’t wearing tube tops so it isn’t a priority.

For the past two years, I have declared June to be Tube Top Month in my blog. I have used the month to raise awareness of the tube top as an essential clothing item. It has been a very successful endeavor, as several of my readers have told me they wear tube tops more often now.

I will probably do Tube Top Month again next summer. This morning it occurred to me… Tube Top Month ought to have a retail sponsor. I could partner up with a local women’s clothing store/fashion boutique, and make a deal that customers get 10% (or some amount) off tube top purchases for the month of June, if they mention my blog.

Anyone know of a clothing store that might be up for it?

In other news: I’m sitting here at the Union Avenue branch office, and Josh (aka Smokin’ Lemon) has confirmed that there will NOT be a cover charge at Sleep Out Louie’s on New Year’s Eve.

If you’re considering purchasing a new BMW, it might be worth a trip to the south side of Atlanta to do it. Home run leader Hank Aaron owns a BMW dealership there. According to his Wikipedia article, every new BMW bought at his dealership comes with an autographed baseball.

Here’s a good place to go to find lots of deals – gotapex.com

Thanks to regular blog reader Otto for letting me know about this site. It contains current deals, discounts, and online coupons. They seem to be particularly good for finding deals on Dell computers.

About a year and a half ago, I declared June of 2005 to be Tube Top Month. Not sure if people totally got it, I did the same for June 2006, and when the month was interrupted I extended it through July.

I looked upon the month as a public service. An opportunity to educate the public as to what a tube top was, when to wear a tube top, and why.

Well tonight the fruits of my labor have been realized. Regular blog reader Carmel showed up to a Christmas party in a tube top. See below:

Not only did she wear a tube top, but when I asked her what insipred her clothing selection, she informed me she wore it to impress a guy (not the guy in the pic, just to clear up any misconceptions in advance). The thing is, this is a girl who, 18 months ago, did not know what a tube top was. She kept trying to tell me, “It can still have straps and be a tube top.” NO!!!! But look at her now. Not only does she understand the tube top concept, but she’s using it to impress a guy. I’ve always maintained that there has been a certain educational component to this blog, and today we are seeing the fruits of its labor.

Happy 30th to one of my regular readers by the way.

I live Downtown and work in Midtown. I started my current job in April, and for the first four or five months, I drove down Union Avenue to work. Every day I’d stop at the Exxon Tiger Mart at Union and Cleveland to buy my morning wake-up Mountain Dew.

And I’d say that roughly 75% of the time, between the time I got out of my car and the time I got to the front door of the Tiger Mart, a bum would approach me and say something like, “Hey mayne, hey bro, lemme get a dolla, fitty cent, some change or somethin’.” And it wasn’t always the same bum. They all seemed to know it was a prime begging location.

Complaining to the Exxon cashiers did absolutely no good. “We’re busy in here working the registers,” they’d say. “We don’t have the time to go chasing people off the lot.” So it was our (the customers’) problem and we were stuck with it. By the way, it’s not just that one store. I’m approached by bums most of the times I stop at the Exxon at Union and Pauline. I’m approached by bums most of the times I stop at the Exxon at Danny Thomas and Poplar. I guess Exxon Mobil has a company-wide policy of not caring whether bums and beggars bother their customers.

Back around August-September I discovered that Madison Avenue is a faster route to work than Union. So then I began stopping at the Circle K at Madison and Cleveland for my Mountain Dew.

Circle K has signs up that say “NO LOITERING, NO SOLICITING” in big, bold letters. And up until today, I never, EVER saw a bum anywhere on their premises. Today for the first time I saw one, and in the minute and a half I was there the cashier notified him twice that the police had been called and he’d better go, literally chasing him off the lot the second time.

Thumbs up to Circle K for handling that problem. Nice to see a store that respects its customers enough to ensure that they won’t be harrassed by panhandlers, beggars and bums as they go about their business on store property. I’ve been buying my Mountain Dews at Circle K, but I’m going to start buying my gas there too from now on. Thanks Circle K for helping to clean up this city.

I went out at 9:30. I meant to have one beer at the Saucer and then come home.

I had that beer. I also had another beer, another beer, a shot of Jager, another beer, a shot of Jager, another beer, another beer, and then I walked across the street to McGuinness and had a Woodchuck Cider.

When I got to my front door, it took me 2 minutes to figure out how to insert the key into the lock.

It’s probably a good thing I didn’t have female company tonight.

New Year’s Eve is not normally one of my favorite holidays. Congested downtown streets, parking fees and cover charges that have been jacked up to the moon, long lines to get drinks, crowded bars where there’s no room to move around, drunk assholes who yell and scream and start fights and think that’s what “partying” is all about. Normally I won’t go near Beale Street or any of the surrounding “party bars” on New Year’s Eve.

Well, here are two options for people who want to avoid all that mess, who just want to have a laid-back, chilled-out, fun time with their friends and people who love Downtown Memphis.

First of all, I heard that the Majestic Grille was doing something for New Year’s, and I e-mailed Deni, one of the owners, asking for details. Here’s what she sent in response:

New Year’s Eve at the Majestic Grille

Tired of going to restaurants on New Year’s Eve

and paying too much for the same old food?

Then come to the Majestic Grille where we will

be serving our regular menu at regular prices to

our wonderful regulars!

In addition to our menu, Patrick will be

creating some fantastic specials…just in case

you want to spice things up a little.

Champagne will be flowing, spirits will be

high and the Majestic Grille will welcome

In the New Year in our laid back, classy way!

Come as you are and join us for New Year’s Eve.

Make reservations by calling 901-522-8555

Or visit our website at www.majesticgrille.com

In her e-mail to me, she agreed that she and Patrick hate to see restaurant owners overcharge for New Year’s. Therefore, they want to provide a casual but classy environment where you can come as you are, grab a burger and head to Beale, OR dress up, order some specials, a bottle or three of champagne and blow it out. They also gave me a hint as to what they’re thinking for one of the specials… Gorgonzola encrusted Ribeye with a port wine reduction.

Here’s a second party option for that evening. Sleep Out Louie’s is having a NYE party with two bands – Bobby Durango, Crash Kole, and Smokin’ Lemon from 6 to 9, and Pam & Terry from 10 to 2.

Sleep Out’s tends to be a friendly locals’ bar, rather than a tourist/party bar, and it’s far enough removed from Beale that they won’t draw a whole lot of rowdy drunks who stumble upon it by accident. And although Sleep Out’s is more laid back, if you’ve read my posts over the past year, you know that we have a whole lot of fun there. I don’t think there’s a cover but I’m not 100% positive – I’ll check with Josh (aka Smokin’ Lemon) on that.

So come on down and check out Sleep Out’s, or the Majestic, or both on New Year’s Eve. Since New Year’s Eve occurs on a Sunday this year, I’ll probably do a very extended Sunday brunch at SOL, and then wander over to the Majestic at some point during the evening. First New Year’s Eve in several years that I’m looking forward to… should be a good time.

Yesterday in the Commercial Appeal, there was an article about four proposed projects to fill in the big, muddy hole at 100 S. Main, former home of the Cook & Love shoe store and of some abandoned buildings that burned in the late 1990s. The hole was to be filled by a 28-story apartment complex called The Vue, but the project was abandoned when funding could not be secured.

After looking at the four proposals, the one that I think would be best for Downtown Memphis is the 20-story apartment-and-retail building proposed by Riverside Partners. Here are the reasons why, as a long-time Downtown resident, this one looks best to me.

First of all, this development would have the most apartment units (202) of any of the four proposals. The people involved correctly assessed that there are not enough apartment units in the core of downtown, as many of the existing units are being converted to condos. With downtown thriving and more restaurants and entertainment options being added all the time, I have no doubt they would be able to fill those apartment units.

Also, building apartments rather than condos will increase diversity downtown. More and more, downtown is approaching as situation where people can’t afford to live there unless they can purchase a condo for $200K or more, or write a four-digit rent check every month for one of the few remaining apartments. There are a few exceptions, but those apartments are becoming harder and harder to find. I want to have artists and musicians as my neighbors downtown; I want to have people in education as my neighbors; I want the people who work service-industry jobs downtown to be able to live nearby and walk to their jobs. Therefore, I’m happy to see more apartments being planned.

The Riverside Partners proposal also contains more square feet of retail space (about 14,000) than any of the others. There are still plenty of retail opportunities yet to be adequately addressed (GROCERY STORE!!! BOOKSTORE!!! DRUGSTORE THAT STAYS OPEN LATER THAN EIGHT FREAKIN’ P.M.!!!) downtown, and making as much space as possible in the downtown core, on the trolley line, is a good thing. The project does not include any hotel or office space, but several other hotels are currently being built nearby, and as far as I’ve heard there’s no lack of office space in the area.

In addition, three of Riverside’s partners (Darrell, Cardell, and Eric) are people I’ve known and worked with in Mpact Memphis for the past five years. They’re people of strong character, and I know that when they propose projects, they’re looking to enrich the community as well as themselves.

Also, this is the only of the four proposals that has 100% minority involvement. In a city like Memphis, that’s extremely important.

They have solid financial backing in place, through a real estate brokerage and finance firm out of Dallas, so it’s unlikely the deal would fall through like the Vue did. They also have a partner on their team who runs the Washington, DC Minority Business Development Center. Sounds like they’ve assembled a capable team.

So, if anyone from the Center City Commission reads this – and I know my blog is read regularly at the CCC – consider this some citizen feedback. I can’t speak for all Downtowners, but this is the project at least one Downtowner would like to see.

Coming tonight: My recommendations for a fun New Year’s Eve downtown, how to have fun without dealing with pushy crowds and high cover charges.

Last week, I posted an article about Best Buy moving to a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE) at its corporate offices. Under this system, employees are not required to be at the office during mandatory work hours – they can do their work when and where they choose, and they are measured by their performance, not by their presence. Companies that have adopted ROWE have seen a significant increase in employee performance, as well as a decrease in employee turnover.

CultureRx, a consulting company that helps other companies convert to ROWE, has a presentation on their website explaining how ROWE works (requires Flash). If you’re an entrepreneur or corporate manager, or if you’re an employee who loves your job but hates Cubicle World, I encourage you to check out this site.

Quote from the site: “If Einstein developed his Theory of Relativity in 1 hour, would you make him sit at his desk 7 more?”

Great to see companies thinking outside the box. Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of cubicle culture.