Grammy viewing party, Sunday, February 11 at Hard Rock Cafe

The Recording Academy is hosting the official viewing party for the 49th annual Grammy Awards, to be held this coming Sunday at the Hard Rock Cafe on Beale Street. Event is free for Recording Academy members and one guest, and $25 for non-members. Check-in/pre-telecast reception is at 6:30, and viewing begins at 7.

Your admission price includes FREE FOOD (I’ve been told this includes carving stations) and an OPEN BAR all night long, so Downtowners, this sounds like an event worth attending. There will also be special giveaways and a program book. You can buy tickets at the Recording Academy’s offices at 493 S. Main, or you can call them at 901-525-1340. Tickets must be purchased by Thursday (Feb. 8) and will stop being sold once capacity is reached.

In other news: I attended a private Super Bowl party yesterday that is on its way to becoming an annual downtown tradition. I love it when the party hosts are good cooks… I had a couple of juicy Italian roast beef and pepper sandwiches which were just unbelievably good. Didn’t make it to Sleep Out’s or the Majestic Grille’s parties at all… there were just too many good people and too much good food where I was for me to contemplate leaving.

So Peyton finally has his Super Bowl ring… finally a different kind of ring than the one I (and a lot of other people) have always associated with him… BO-ring.

And that’s about it. I have a meeting at work at 1:30… our best programmer is quitting tomorrow and I think we’re going to sort out what will happen after he leaves. They had a farewell dinner for him at Outback today but I skipped it – no way I felt like eating a big meal after all those roast beef sandwiches I had yesterday.

Later today: Pint Nite at the Saucer, of course.

Back to work.

Reader feedback: City leaders and real estate developers please read

One of my regular readers sent me the e-mail below. I’d like to ask city leaders and those who have a stake in Downtown real estate to give it a read. How many more people like her have considered buying a condo downtown, but have decided against it because of the panhandling problem?

———————

I read your blog frequently because I now date someone downtown and have become a downtown regular after work hours. Even though I have worked downtown in the legal system 35 years, I have discovered a whole new scene of restaurants and clubs and all the stores at the south end.

I have lived all my life in MidTown Memphis, but I am convinced that the action has continued to move west as downtown has grown and flourished. I believe that downtown is now safer than MidTown. The burglaries and robberies in my neighborhood have now turned to home invasions. At least, I have gated parking downtown and in the condo, two sets of locked doors to negotiate.

I am seriously considering selling my house and moving downtown, but the only deterrent is, as you so frequently comment on, the many panhandlers. I am very used to this since I have worked downtown all my life, and I am not a weeny about it. I have little fear of them, except I like to keep my distance since one of them spit on me years ago and one of them came at me in a threatening way.

My beef is, why should I invest a substantial amount of money in a home in an invigorating and culturally-stimulating environment of my choosing, with wonderfully diverse neighbors, only to be harassed every time I leave my door on foot or bicycle? I am especially irritated when this happens at night because panhanding is against the law after the sun goes down. And when I refuse the panhandlers’ plea for money and they unleash a vulgar verbal assault on me, which is also illegal, it just does something to my usually upbeat mood. And this happens frequently.

I have a sense, as a downtown “outsider”, that this very vital issue is not being addressed by the powers that be, especially our City government. What are the various downtown groups, who have so much at stake downtown, doing to stop this harassment? In an nutshell, what is the most effective group working on this and what are they doing? I have a great respect for civil rights, but what are other large cities doing to handle this problem, and possibly help some of these folks find a better way to live? And yes, I know most of them don’t want any help and are living the way they choose, and that is a conundrum.

Our police department seems unwilling to enforce the noise ordinance and allows cruisers to blare loud music from their vehicles, disturbing diners in the restaurants along Second Street near the Peabody. I see patrol cars routinely parked for long periods of time in parking lots downtown. Ae they taking a break, filling out paper work, doing surveillance? They never seem to be around when I am getting the “bum’s rush.”

My friend made one simple request of a downtown landlord to remove the squatters from his land near G.E. Patterson and Navy Park, and overnight it seems the “homeless city” was cleared out. Is this all it takes? Why does it seem no one else is working on this problem? Of course, it remains to be seen if the squatters will stay away. And is this only relocating them somewhere else downtown?

In my opinion, there needs to be a master plan to address the homeless and panhandlers, which are two separate problems, and a solution that will be lasting. Where are all the condo developers who are investing millions, the corporate leaders whose employees are harassed on the downtown streets, the restaurant owners whose patrons are approached for a handout nearly every time they enter a restaurant, the hotel owners who are trying to attract tourists? Why don’t they develop a truly big-time task force to deal with this problem once and for all, along with the auto “cruisers” that sometimes clog up the downtown streets?

Thank you for giving me space in your blog to express my opinion, and I hope this will spark some action to make downtown a more feasible housing and entertainment alternative to us in the eastern regions of the city. Thank you!

This stuff is SO good


This limeade-in-a-carton is some of the best stuff I’ve ever tasted. When I wake up in the morning, all dehydrated as a result of the previous night’s beer drinking, there’s nothing better. They have it at the downtown Walgreens, in the refrigerated case. I think it’s $1.79 a for a half-gallon carton.

New Better, Bigger Deal Post: Tips on using the newspaper to find Deals

Just made a new entry to my other blog, A Better, Bigger Deal. My mother, Marilyn Ryburn, who worked in newspaper advertising for 31 years, sent me some good advice on how to use the paper to find Deals. In it you’ll find answers to questions like:

– What day of the week should you buy a paper if you’re shopping for a mattress?

– Everyone knows that big-name retailers like Best Buy and Target run ads in the Sunday paper… but what other day of the week should you look to the newspaper for consumer-electronics Deals?

– Looking to buy a house? In addition to the Sunday real estate and classified sections, where else should you look?

– If you buy the Sunday paper to get the coupon inserts, there are certain weeks when you shouldn’t bother. When?

Answers to these questions and more on A Better, Bigger Deal. Check it out.

Couple of Super Bowl parties downtown

Idiotic quote I just heard at the Union Avenue branch office: “I like Syrah a lot, but Shiraz is nasty.” Ummm… I’m no wine expert, but aren’t those the same thing?

I have info on a couple of Super Bowl parties that I wanted to share:

The Majestic Grille will have the game on the big screen, and there will be food and drink specials. They’ll also be giving away free flatbreads at halftime.

At Sleep Out Louie’s, they’ll have $1.50 Bud and Bud Light longnecks, free hot dogs, and popcorn, and there will be door prizes and giveaways. They’re talking about giving away $25 gift certificates to The Chop House Grill, a new fine-dining/steak restaurant in Southaven which is owned by Sleep Out’s parent company.

I’ll be at a private party nearby most of the day, but I’ll be popping in and out of Sleep Out’s throughout the day.

Quick Friday update

The city schools are closed today! Yay! So I’m sitting at the Union Avenue branch office getting some side work done.

AngieDawn wanted me to let everyone know that, although the Net Impact event on the 8th at EP’s (see my previous post) starts at 5:30 PM, it’s definitely okay to show up later. She realizes that a lot of people will be coming in from East Memphis and may not get there until 6:30 or even later than that. That’s fine – there will still be plenty of time to net work at get information about Net Impact. “Our official meeting will go until 7:30 (including the networking), and hopefully, some people will stay for dinner even after that.” So come on down to EP’s, whenever you can.

Regular blog reader Shane e-mailed to inform me that the Tap Room has put a stage back in for the weekend, and they will indeed be hosting bands for the International Blues Challenge tonight. I’ll probably buy a wristband to get access to all the clubs, but the Tap Room is by far my favorite – good people, and PBR on tap.

Speaking of Shane, he designed a logo for me, which I’m going to print on some business cards later today:


Pretty cool, huh? Kind of has that “Downtown Paul” feeling to it. Maybe the next time I redesign my blog I’ll use it as the logo. Shane’s a very talented artist – check out his MySpace page for more of his work.

All right… got a lot of invites and eVites and crap to send out today, so I’m gonna log off and get some work done. Happy weekend, and be careful driving home if you had to work today.

You’re invited to the Net Impact kickoff, Thursday, February 8 at EP’s

Everyone is invited to the kickoff of a new organization, Net Impact Memphis, on Thursday, February 8 at 5:30 PM, at EP’s Delta Kitchen at the corner of Second and Beale. There will be networking, drink specials, and information about a wonderful new professional organization coming to Memphis.

So what is Net Impact and why would you want to check it out?

Net Impact is a national organization of professionals, MBAs, nonprofit leaders, and students committed to social responsibility through business. There are professional and student chapters in many cities across the U.S. This will be the first professional chapter in the state of Tennessee; there is a student chapter at the Owen School of Business at Vanderbilt.

Net Impact members nationwide have used the national organization’s resources to effect positive social change through their work. One member convinced her office’s cafeteria to replace styrofoam cups with biodegradable ones. Another member led an initiative to teach workers to file documents electronically, rather than printing out each and every e-mail to be filed in a folder. This, of course, saved reams and reams of paper. These are just a couple of examples… as a member you’ll have access to a wealth of educational materials online, as well as the opportunity to be inspired through hearing notable speakers and attending conventions.

You’ll also have the advantage of networking with like-minded people, and you’ll have access to Net Impact’s career development program. Many NI members find a mentor within the organization to guide them in their careers. There’s also a members-only job board, and if you consider moving to another city, there will likely be a NI chapter there to help you get oriented.

There will also be a national Net Impact conference in November, to be held in Nashville, and we’re hoping to field a strong Memphis delegation.

So, if it sounds like something you’d be interested in, by all means come to EP’s on the 8th. There will be no obligation to join; however, if you choose the $50 Full membership (which is the one I’ll be getting), you get access to all of NI’s resources, and as a bonus you’ll get a 20% off coupon for EP’s. There are also other membership levels available: Free, for those who want to take NI for a test drive first; and Lifetime ($300), for those who fall in love with the organization and want to jump in with both feet.

Note: Net Impact Memphis is not related to Mpact Memphis, other than the fact that they both have the letters “mpact” in their names.

If you have questions, the person to ask would be fellow blogger AngieDawn, who is founding the Memphis chapter. You can also check out the www.memphisnetimpact.org website. You can also check out the national site.

Other notes:

  • One more reminder: The Dempseys at the Saucer, tonight, 9:30. Of course, I’m sure it won’t be as good as last Sunday’s show at Huey’s, since big-name, world-famous, A-list celebrity Rob Corddry (aka “THE” Rob Corddry) won’t be there. It was such an honor to be graced with his presence Sunday night. Shame on Huey’s for not rolling out a red carpet through the restaurant’s entranceway for him.
  • The Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge is happening this weekend at the clubs on Beale Street. Wristband access to all the clubs is available for $10 tonight and $15 tomorrow night. This will probably end up being my plan for tomorrow night. Wonder if the Tap Room is participating this year, now that they’ve taken the stage out?

That’s all for now… got an appointment to get to.

A Better, Bigger Deal

I’m pleased to announce the launch of my latest website: A Better, Bigger Deal.

As many of you remember, from April to December of last year, I wrote a second blog, for the local newspaper. Every Sunday I looked through the ads that ran in the Sunday paper, and picked out the best Deals on consumer electronics and computers.

Something always bothered me, though. I’d find what I considered to be the best deal of the week in the Sunday paper, and then find that even that deal was beaten by online retailers, especially Amazon.com. Of course, the idea was to promote the newspaper, so I couldn’t mention those sources. I felt like I wasn’t really bringing my readers the best information.

I also got tired of having an additional responsibility to fulfill every Sunday morning, on my day off. So in early December I quit.

A Better, Bigger Deal addresses those concerns. In it I will pull the best Deals from everywhere – the newspaper ads, online sources, or wherever else I happen to find them. Also, since online retailers don’t always follow Sunday-to-Saturday schedules, I plan on posting Deals as soon as I find them, hopefully far more often than once a week. So be sure to check back every day… for the first few Deals I’ll alert you on this blog that there’s a new Better, Bigger Deal to see.

In my first post, I take a look at inexpensive computers running the new Windows Vista operating system, and question whether they really qualify as Deals. Comments will be enabled on this blog, although I haven’t got them working yet… I’m using WordPress 2.1 to publish A Better, Bigger Deal and am still figuring out its nuances.

It’s also my first CSS-based web layout. I tested it in Firefox and IE 6; if you’re using a different browser and it looks funny, let me know.

So, check it out and be sure to bookmark www.better-bigger-deal.com.

P.S. I don’t know why the Sharp Dressed Bum post is there twice… I tried to log into Blogger and delete the extra one, but it doesn’t show up in my posts. I guess it’ll just have to stay there.

An encounter with Sharp Dressed Bum

Having come home from work, a few minutes ago I threw my backpack over my shoulder and headed to the Flying Saucer. As I crossed the parking lot at Second and Gayoso, I saw Sharp Dressed Bum, in his navy snowflake hat and winter coat, walking down Second. He didn’t see me and I stopped for a minute to let him pass.

My plan backfired. Immediately as I rounded the corner onto Second, I saw him ten feet ahead, begging a couple for money. “We’re sorry, we can’t help,” they said, and quickly moved on.

I walked right past him, not even acknowledging him. But he acknowledged me. “Punk ass,” he started. “I’m gonna beat your fucking ass one of these days, mother fucker. I’m gonna knock your head in… you better watch out… punk.” This has been typical conversation from him every time I’ve encountered him for the past three years.

Of course, I know he’s all bark and no bite. But still… how much longer are we going to tolerate people like him on the streets? And how many people visit downtown, get approached by him and decide to never come back? How many people decide to move out of downtown because they’re sick of dealing with him every time they go out?