Paul Ryburn's Journal

I was told about the neatest-sounding party yesterday, and one that is perfect for fall weather: A chili dump. Everyone brings a pot of chili, and they all dump it into one big pot and mix it up. Why have I never heard of this before?

…. And then, the day after the chili dump, you have a second chili dump in the privacy of your own bathroom.

Congratulations are in order for our friend, bluesman Eric Hughes. I was told yesterday that Eric will get his Brass Note on Beale Street Sunday, November 13 at 2:00 PM. Well-deserved and a bit overdue.

Grizzlies on national TV alert: They play a road game at Portland with a 9 PM tip. It will be on ESPN.

There will be a free salsa class at River Garden from 6 to 7 PM Saturday. You don’t need dance experience or a partner to participate.

Wiseacre Downtown will host the Grind City Coffee Xpo this Saturday from 9 AM to 3 PM. Tickets are $25-$35 and proceeds benefit Protect Our Aquifer. WKNO has info about the event.

One of the FCC commissioners wants to ban TikTok. He says the Chinese company is a threat to U.S. national security.

The Brooklyn Nets fired head coach Steve Nash yesterday.

The Memphis Veterans Day parade will return on November 11 after a couple of years off for COVID. The parade will gather at Second and Market at 9 AM.

Let’s have a look at college football games of interest to Memphians this Saturday

• Florida at Texas A&M, 11:00 AM, ESPN
• 1 Tennessee at 3 Georgia, 2:30 PM, CBS
• 25 UCF at Memphis, 2:30 PM, ESPN2
• Liberty at Arkansas, 3:00 PM, SEC Network
• 6 Alabama at 10. LSU, 6:00 PM, ESPN
• 24 Texas at 13 Kansas State, 6:00 PM, FS1
• 4 Clemson at Notre Dame, 6:30 PM, NBC/Peacock
• Auburn at Mississippi State, 6:30 PM, ESPN2
• 21 Wake Forest at 22 NC State, 7:00 PM, ACC Network

GO DAWGS!

That’s it for this morning. Tomorrow is run-errands day so the post may be a bit late or pushed until Friday.

I had a cheese quesadilla at the Blind Bear yesterday and it was really good. Probably the best quesadilla I’ve had since I’ve been down here. I don’t think it’s on the current printed menu, but they have them.

Cheers to Memphis 901 FC on their best season yet. They were eliminated by Tampa Bay in the second round of the playoffs Sunday.

Not a Downtown thing, except it kinda is because Historical Haunts and The Broom Closet are listed as hosts: There will be a Yule Masquerade Ball at Black Lodge on the afternoon of Saturday, December 10.

Harvest Hosts plans to pay to send someone on a two-year tour of breweries and distilleries across America.

Primas Bakery and Boutique is hosting a gingerbread house decorating party Sunday, December 11.

Chinese Connection Dub Embassy plays Wiseacre Downtown Saturday night.

Blue Man Group is at the Orpheum today and tomorrow.

It’s National Cinnamon Day, a day to celebrate the bartender who works Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday happy hour at Blind Bear.

Breakfast with Santa at the Memphis Fire Museum on Adams returns December 10.

New Twitter owner Elon Musk plans to start charging users $20 a month if they want to keep that blue “Verified” check mark.

The Grizzlies dropped to 4-3 with a loss to Utah last night. They’re now tied for 6th-7th-8th in the West.

That’s it for today. I hope everyone survived Halloween. Back tomorrow.

I said I was gonna take today off, but I have a high-priority news item.

The Majestic Grille is getting ready to send out an email announcing their Christmas events, including Brunch with Santa and the annual showing of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. If you are interested in attending these events, you need to do two things:

1. Go to their website and sign up to be on their email list. (Scroll to the bottom of the website’s main page to see the signup form)
2. Whitelist email from the Majestic in whatever email client you use to make sure the announcement doesn’t end up in your spam folder. If you use Gmail, make a rule to send email from Majestic to your Primary tab rather than Promotions.

When you get the email, make reservations for the events you want to attend IMMEDIATELY. Do not say to yourself, “I’ll do it later,” because these events have a history of being booked solid within HOURS of the announcement.

That’s all for now. Happy Halloween.

Penny Hardaway’s Memphis Tigers take on Lane College in their second exhibition game of the season today. It will tip off at FedExForum at 1 PM. The game will be on 98.1 FM but won’t be on TV.

Due to weather, Memphis 901 FC’s Eastern Conference semifinal vs. the Tampa Bay Rowdies was postponed yesterday. The match will be played at AutoZone Park at 3:00 today.

Desmond Bane scored 32 and Dillon Brooks scored 30 but it was not enough to stop the Utah Jazz last night. They beat the Grizzlies 124-123. The Grizzlies’ regular-season record is now 4-2.

How about those L.A. Lakers though! 0-5!

Author Sheree Renee Thomas will have a book signing for her book Black Panther – Panther’s Rage this afternoon from 3 to 5 at Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum on N. Second.

Bardog now has Cinnamon Toast Crunch shots. They’re $7 + liquor and sales tax, so probably $9something.

The girl who invented the bleach shot (blackberry & peach moonshine) tasted my invention, the strawnana shot (white chocolate strawberry & banana pudding moonshine) Friday night and gave it her stamp of approval (would that be a tramp stamp?). Well, actually, I think Michael at Blind Bear invented the shot and I named it. But anyway, we now have outside confirmation that the strawnana is heaven in a shot glass.

Reggae Halloween happens today at 3 at Carolina Watershed.

Attention Nate: There’s a twerking class tonight in Cooper-Young.

Word that needs to come into common usage Downtown: sozzled. I was watching an episode of The Andy Griffith Show and Andy and Barney were searching for an illegal still out in the country. They didn’t find it, but they did find a chicken who had gotten into the moonshine the still produced. “That chicken is sozzled,” Andy commented.

Reminder: Today is Oktoberfest at Wiseacre Downtown.

There’s trick-or-treating tomorrow at Bass Pro at the Pyramid tomorrow 3-6 PM.

That’s it for today. I may possibly take tomorrow off from posting.

Chez Philippe, the Peabody’s signature fine-dining restaurant, is back open after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus. Its new tasting menu is a 7-course adventure that includes an amuse bouche, sorbet to cleanse the palate, a collection of petite sweets, and a take-home treat from the Peabody’s pastry shop. Chez Philippe is Memphis’ only Forbes Four-Star/AAA Four Diamond restaurant. Its hours are

• Afternoon tea: Thursday-Sunday 1:00-3:30 PM
• Dinner: Thursday-Sunday 5:30-10:00 PM Dinner Menu

Rock ‘n roll lost a legend yesterday. RIP “The Killer” Jerry Lee Lewis.

Mayor Jimbo from Mempho said he wouldn’t get involved in the dispute between Memphis in May and the Memphis River Parks Partnership over the use of Tom Lee Park for Music Fest and BBQ Fest, but it looks like he did. He proposes that the city put up a damage fund – $350,000 in 2023, $150,000 in 2024 – that would cover repairs to the park needed following those two festivals. Memphis in May would still have to put up a $250,000 damage deposit, but it would only be touched if damages exceeded the amount the city put up.

The Grizzlies play a road game vs. Utah tonight at 8. Ja is listed as doubtful for the game due to a non-COVID illness.

The Blind Bear solved its problem of getting an Xfinity “Not Authorized” error when attempting to tune into Bally Sports Southeast for Grizzlies games. The solution? They cut the cord and are now relying on smart TV subscription packages to get the channels customers want. Good for them. Xfinity sucks.

Feast & Graze is doing a Sunday brunch with DJ AD Sunday, November 20.

Yesterday I was watching boxing at Bardog and noticed that one of the boxers had the Led Zeppelin IV runes tattooed on his back. Nice.

Today is Hug a Sheep Day.

WREG has a look at the Historical Haunts ghost tour.

There’s midnight bowling at the Fishbowl inside Bass Pro at the Pyramid tonight from 9 to 2.

It’s Zombie Night all weekend at Craft Axe Throwing.

Southern Airways has named an aircraft after former Memphis Chamber CEO Phil Trenary. Trenary was shot and killed in a robbery attempt on South Front Street as he was walking home from an event.

Quintessential Sweets is opening a Downtown location at 97 N. Main. Downtowners can now get a deep-fried Twinkie without having to go to a fair.

That’s it for today. Heading out to Bardog for Saturday brunch.

Jennifer Biggs of the DM reports that Flight will reopen today following 4 weeks of having to shut down due to a water main break. The owner of Flight says he’s committed to keeping the restaurant Downtown despite the infrastructure problems.

The same article said the basement level of Brinkley Plaza was flooded with 8 feet of water due to the water main break on October 1. There’s an art gallery down there. I wonder if all of its works were destroyed.

Today is Frankenstein Friday.

GREAT NEWS: It’s now official. Memphis in May will return to Tom Lee Park in 2023. This year the festival had to move to the fairgrounds due to construction and saw the lowest attendance in many years.

The Grizzlies got a fine 125-110 road win at Sacramento last night. Desmond Bane is looking like he plans on joining Ja Morant in the 2023 All-Star lineup.

MATA is offering free rides today so people can early vote.

Been experimenting with ABOUT and CRIES as my starting words for Wordle and have had pretty good success lately.

I normally groan when I walk into Bardog and see that stupid horse racing channel on TV. It’s a bunch of damn animals running in a circle. Who cares. However, yesterday there was a race that was exciting: Two horses bucked their jockeys and finished riderless.

Over and out. Back tomorrow.

Yesterday I made the following post to Facebook:

Foods we need Downtown

1, Chicken fried steak (the REAL kind, not “country fried steak”)

2. Pho

3. Indian food

I was at Local on Main eating lunch when I posted that. About 30 minutes later Jessica went downstairs where the kitchen is. She came back up and told me, “I talked to Miss Helen (the cook). She says we’ll have chicken fried steak as a special next Wednesday. With the white gravy.”

So I guess I’m officially a social media influencer now!!! I’ve eaten enough of Miss Helen’s cooking to have little doubt she makes a proper chicken fried steak.

The Grizzlies hit the road tonight for a game at the Sacramento Kings. Tip time is 9:00 Central. I sure hope the bar where I watch games has figured out how to get Bally Sports Southeast on their Xfinity package.

Bad news for the Grizzlies, though: Second-year G/F Ziaire Williams, a key reserve, will miss 4 to 6 weeks with a knee injury.

The trouble with 9:00 Thursday games is that the bar TVs will already be tuned to Thursday Night Football and people will get mad if I ask to change the channel, even if it’s for a local Memphis team. Hmmm…. who’s playing tonight… Baltimore vs. Tampa Bay. Lamar Jackson vs. Tom Brady. Well, that won’t be too bad.

I’ve been talking a lot about Ole Smoky moonshine on here recently. Yesterday someone was telling me that the distillery in Gatlinburg has tasting tours. “You only get 0.5 ounces in each sample,” he said. “But you get to try EVERY flavor of moonshine, and there are like 25 of them, so you can get pretty buzzed. And you get to try the moonshine pickles and cherries too. It’s not expensive. I think it’s only like five bucks.”

Hmmm… maybe a bunch of us need to rent a party bus and go to Gatlinburg. I hear that part of the state (other than the shithole known as UT) is beautiful. I bet our friend Allison could write the trip off as a business expense.

Today is American Beer Day. I recommend celebrating with the very finest American beer. I’m talking, of course, about PBR.

Lunch specials at Local on Main for the rest of this week:

• Thursday: Turkey & dressing, green beans, cranberry sauce
• Friday: Fish & chips, slaw

Young Rock will continue to film in Memphis. The EDGE board granted the production a 4-yeat PILOT as an incentive to stay here.

Old Dominick will release Straight Tennessee Whiskey next week. It will be the first whiskey completely made in Memphis since Prohibition.

Oh! I just remembered – I have another piece of Ole Smoky moonshine news. If your moonshine flavor is under 60 proof, you can stick it in the freezer and eat it like a slushie. A friend told me that yesterday.

Gotta run. Back tomorrow with more news.

The Daily Memphian has an article about the MLGW mess on Monroe Avenue. A water main broke on October 1 and from what I’ve observed, the city isn’t even close to fixing the damage. Two restaurants, Flight and Bogie’s Deli, have been closed since then. The apartments above Flight have been without water, as has office building Brinkley Plaza. The basement of Brinkley Plaza was flooded with water from the water main break, and the building’s power was shorted out. As I mentioned last week, I’ve seen workers come out of there in HAZMAT suits.

Blind Bear is starting “30 days of soup” this Friday. As the weather turns chilly, every day they’ll have a different soup special.

McDonald’s has announced that the McRib is coming back for a “farewell tour” from October 31 to November 20.

I have bad news for those of you who like Jameson whiskey: A restaurant manager told me his price from the distributor went up 20% this month. That increase will surely have to be passed on to customers.

Eight & Sand inside Central Station will have its Halloween party from 4 to 10 PM Friday. There will be a live set by DJ Epik, a $100 costume contest, $6 Wiseacre beers, and specialty cocktails.

Downtown Wines & Spirits on Madison near Main has a new arrival: Hibiki Suntory whiskey.

Silly Goose will have its Halloween party this Saturday night with $100 costume contests on the hour:

• 11 PM: Most creative
• 12 AM: Scariest
• 1 AM: Grossest
• 2 AM: Funniest

Memphis Tigers basketball will honor the 1972-73 team that was the national runner-up at its March 5 home game vs. Houston. There will be a special 3-game ticket package that includes bobbleheads of that team’s starters (most notably, Larry Finch) and of coach Gene Bartow.

Today is Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day.

Let’s have a look at college football games of interest to Memphians this Saturday:

• 2 Ohio State at 13 Penn State, 11:00 AM, FOX
• Arkansas at Auburn, 11:00 AM, SEC Network
• Florida at 1 Georgia, 2:30 PM, CBS
• 9 Oklahoma State at 22 Kansas State, 2:30 PM, FOX
• 20 Cincinnati at UCF, 2:30 PM, ESPN
• South Alabama at Arkansas State, 3:00 PM, ESPNU
• 19 Kentucky at 3 Tennessee, 6:00 PM, ESPN
• 15 Ole Miss at Texas A&M, 6:30 PM, SEC Network

That’s it for today. Back tomorrow.

Reminder: Today is National Night Out in the Malco Powerhouse parking lot, 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Come meet your neighbors and law enforcement officers and learn what we can do to keep each other safe. The event is presented by the Downtown Neighborhood Association and the South Main Association, There will be inflatables for the kids to enjoy, and the Grizzlies Street Team will be there. They’ll grill some burgers and hot dogs. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Ja Morant and Desmond Bane dropped 38 each (a career-high for Bane) as the Grizzlies took care of the Brooklyn Nets at home last night, 134-124. Unfortunately I did not get to watch the game, because where I was, we were getting a “Not Authorized” message on Bally Sports Southeast HD (Xfinity 831). I’ve heard other venues have had similar problems. I hope Xfinity gets that fixed soon.

It sure doesn’t feel like you need a jacket right now, but take one anyway:

5:55am Early morning radar hints at what’s to come. Showers to the west organize as they approach, bringing a line of storms between 9-11am. They could contain some hefty wind. Afterwards, PM temps fall towards the 50s on a SW wind that gusts to 30 mph. More right here all day… pic.twitter.com/3xfNTmiTIx

— MemphisWeather.net (@memphisweather1) October 25, 2022

The annual COGIC convocation will return to Memphis in November. It’ll be at the Renasant Convention Center November 8-15. Oh my God the COGIC convention is gonna overlap with Downtown Dining Week (November 7-13)… that’s gonna be interesting.

Graber Gryass plays South Main Sounds Friday at 7.

We invented a new hybrid moonshine shot last night at Blind Bear. It’s called “strawnana” and is half Ole Smoky white chocolate strawberry moonshine and half Ole smoky banana pudding moonshine. It is better than either moonshine by itself – in other words, it’s REALLY good.

It’s National Greasy Foods Day. A Big Mac at the McDonald’s on Union would be my recommendation to celebrate.

Congratulations to FedExForum, which got 6 perfect 100 scores on recent health inspections.

From Action News 5: Mud Island residents are frustrated about a proposed Greenbelt Park boat dock. It would be on the north end of the island and would accommodate riverboats. Residents admit the dock would be good for tourism, but feel it would disrupt the peace and quiet in their community.

From FOX 13: A registered sex offender was arrested after trying to steal a work van from FedExForum’s garage

County Commissioner Britney Thornton got a tour of the jail at 201 Poplar recently and called the conditions unlivable.

If your guess was “two and a half weeks” for how long it would take for the new jukebox at Bardog to break, you’re a winner. A repairman was in there for more than an hour yesterday and was still there when I left. He didn’t seem to be having much luck.

The University of Memphis is hiring a Library Assistant III for the Downtown law school.

That’s all the news for today. Back tomorrow.

A little more than a week ago, I reported that a new flavor of Ole Smoky moonshine, strawberry white chocolate, had appeared in Memphis-area liquor stores. That night I got to try a sample, and it tastes as good as it looks, displacing banana pudding as my favorite moonshine flavor.

Yesterday I was brunching at the Blind Bear and the GM pulled a jar out of the cooler. “We have it in stock now,” he said.

It’s in stock for Moonshine Monday! Today moonshine is just $5 at the Bear. I recommend taking advantage of the deal and giving the strawberry white chocolate moonshine a try. I looked it up on their website and it’s only 35 proof (as opposed to Blue Flame moonshine which comes in at a whopping 128), so you can give it a try without getting plastered.

Grizzlies host Brooklyn tonight at 7. First 3000 through the turnstiles get a magnet schedule for the Grizzlies’ G-League affiliate the Memphis Hustle. Back tomorrow with more news.