Paul Ryburn's Journal

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.

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.

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?

If you missed The Dempseys Sunday night at Huey’s, you have another chance to see them, at the Flying Saucer tomorrow night. They take the stage at 9:30 and will play until a little after 1. Needless to say, I will be there. I have a possible business meeting tomorrow night, and I’ve told them that the meeting must end by 8:30, unless we meet at the Saucer in which case I can go until 9:30. Business is business, but I ain’t missing the Dempseys!

Maybe we can convince Brad to do The Worm again.

Forgot to mention in my Sunday post… another one of the songs in their “cities, states, counties, towns” medley is “What made Milwaukee famous… made a loser out of me.” As they sang that line I raised my beer glass. Bass player Slick Joe Fick commented, “Well, at least you’re honest, Paul.”

Actually, I was drinking Bud, so I guess it was what made St.Louis famous, rather than Milwaukee, if you want to get technical, that made a loser out of me.

Tied up in meetings with Microsoft all day long… so I get to sit through presentations on SharePoint Services and SQL Server. But the good news is, they’re buying us pizza for lunch!

I have a new website 99% ready to go, and I hope to finish it this evening after work. Look for an announcement soon. For now I’ll just say that it will be a big deal.

Gotta get back upstairs to the meeting, it’s pizza time and if I get there late it’ll be picked over and I’ll be stuck with veggie pizza (yuk). See ya later…

Who cares if he’s talking shit about me… his readers are clicking my Google ads and that’s all that matters.

Apologies to the 99% of you who don’t know who I’m talking about, this is a drunk post.

Congrats to the Rapscallions who won 1st place tonight, bringing our total Saucer gift certificate winnings to $325.

Back sometime Wed. with a worthwhile post.

(Edit: Attn Master Polo: I apologize for calling you a Z-list celebrity last summer, I didn’t know what Z-list was until Sunday night.)

Since the teams for the Super Bowl were determined a little over a week ago, I’ve been trying to figure out who to root for. After a lot of mental debate, I have decided that I will be pulling for the Chicago Bears. Here’s why:

1) I’ll be going to a Super Bowl party at Barton Flats, and the hosts are from Chicago. It would be rather rude to go there and then pull for the other team;

2) At my old job – the one I quit last April – the corporate client I managed who was by far the most annoying/demanding was located in Indianapolis;

3) Peyton = blah. The guy bores me. I just can’t find any reason to get excited about him. I understand he’s Archie’s son and Archie is a big deal around here, but still… yawn.

Therefore, I’m for Chicago.

Some big posts coming soon… within a couple of days I’ll be rolling out a site that is something of a big deal… I’ll also be telling you about a new organization focusing on networking, career development, and corporate social responsibility.

Off for a 4-hour meeting with Microsoft engineers. Fun.

If you checked my blog a few minutes ago you may have seen a post appear and then disappear… here’s what happened.

One of my readers sent me a link to a 15% off coupon at EP Delta Kitchen and Bar. I posted it, but then found out that they were asking people to fill out a short form (to add them to their mailing list) before giving them the coupon. I didn’t want to circumvent EP’s attempt to build a mailing list, so I took the post down.

Here’s the link. You can decide for yourself whether you want to provide your name and e-mail address in exchange for a 15% off coupon.

Last night I went to Downtown Huey’s to see The Dempseys. Turned out to be a wild night.

About midway through the performance, my friend Harmony who was sitting next to me at the bar asked, “Paul, do you have your digital camera on you? Because, there’s a celebrity in here and you have an opportunity to take a picture of him. Down there at the other end of the bar, that’s Rob Corddry.”

“Really?” I asked. “Rob Corddry is in here? In our local bar, only two blocks from where I live, ROB CORDDRY is here? Oh my God!” Then I asked, “Who the hell is Rob Corddry?”

Harmony explained that he’s a former correspondent for The Daily Show and he got his start as a comedian with the Upright Citizens Brigade. “He was one of the funniest, most satirical correspondents on The Daily Show,” Harmony told me. “Why don’t you go down there and talk to him? I’m sure he’d let you take a photo.”

“What am I supposed to say?” I responded. “‘Hi Rob, I don’t know who the hell you are, but I’d like to take a picture of you’? I don’t think so.” So I gave Harmony a quick lesson in how to operate my camera and she took it down to his end of the bar. A few minutes later she brought him over and I snapped this pic:

Meanwhile, The Dempseys were having fun on stage. At one point Brad put his guitar down and told the others, “I’m sorry, guys, but I gotta do this,” and proceeded to do The Worm on Huey’s wood floor. He actually did it very well too, reminding me of the late ’90s when WWE wrestler Scotty 2 Hotty used to do The Worm in the ring during his matches.

Later in the evening, the band broke into a Poison song. Now, it’s normal for them to start riffing the first few bars of Metallica or Skynyrd or something like that and then breaking off and saying “Just kidding, folks,” or “that’s all we know.” But last night they played the Poison song ALL THE WAY THROUGH. Remember, this is a ROCKABILLY band. I guess if the rockabilly thing doesn’t work out for them, they could have a second career as a heavy metal/hair band. There’s probably an opportunity for a Hair Club For Men sponsorship in there somewhere.

They did a medley of songs about cities, states, counties, and towns. Of course, I’ve been to so many of their shows that I know the medley all the way through… the last song is Marty Robbins’ “Out in the west Texas town of El Paso, I fell in love with a Mexican girl.” I like to sing along but I change the lyrics to, “Out in the Mid-Southern town of Memphis, I fell in love with Romanian girls.”

Here are a few photos of The Dempseys doing their usual thing:

When the band was on break, Huey’s had the music turned to the Led Zeppelin channel on whatever radio service they subscribe to. Or maybe they had all Zeppelin CDs in the player, don’t know. Whatever the case, my compliments to the person who selected the music.

Also during break, I noticed Sharp Dressed Bum wander through on three separate occasions. He’d walk in the front door, use the restroom, and then walk back out. People who had come in recently told me that he was standing outside, begging for money. When he came in the next time, I alerted the bartender. “Do you know that guy?” I asked. The bartender said no. “He’s a bum! He’s not in here to order anything. He’s been outside panhandling.” That was all the bartender needed to hear. He got the manager, and Sharp Dressed Bum was kicked out of Huey’s. Hopefully they’ll remember him and not let him come back.

Due to the cold weather, Sharp Dressed Bum hasn’t been looking so sharp lately. He’s been wearing one of those navy knit caps with white snowflakes on it that ties up under the chin, and a brown coat. I’ve been seeing him walk down Second every night about 11 PM, and up Third every morning about 7:45 AM. I wonder if S.D.B. has a J.O.B.? I find that hard to believe though.

Here’s one more pic, my attempt at artistic photography:

It’s a picture of the inside of a beer glass, with Huey’s neon lights reflecting off the beer. Far out, man! Psychedelic! Trippy!

Taking a day off work to get some personal projects done… really, I can’t do anything at work until two different meetings get set up, so there wouldn’t have been much to do there anyway. Microsoft is sending some engineers down here tomorrow and Wednesday for question-and-answer sessions about Visual Studio 2005, Active Directory, SharePoint Services, SQL Server, and anything else we want to ask. Microsoft is even catering lunch for us tomorrow. Looking forward to that.

Also looking forward to tonight, when I have a meeting scheduled at The Majestic Grille. Anytime I can find an excuse to eat at the Majestic, it’s a good thing.

That’ll do it for now… see you later, still have plenty to blog about, just have to find the time.

Friday, January 19: Professional wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow, 45, passes away at his home in Hudson, Florida.

Sunday, January 28: The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that professional wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow has passed away.

Now, granted, this is hardly a story of primary importance, but still, it’s nine days old. Why even BOTHER with it? If you can’t report the news in a timely fashion, why report it at all?

This is what passes for “journalism” in 2007. No wonder the bloggers are running the newspapers out of business.

From my living room windows, I have a perfect view of the hot tub on the roof of the Residence Inn by Marriott (formerly the Wm. Len). Looked out the window a few minutes ago, and there was a brown garment hanging on the rail next to the hot tub. Got out the binoculars and could see that it was either a bikini top, or a bra.

Guess someone had a good time up there last night.