I Can Never Tell Whom They Come to Praise and Whom They Come to Bury

This morning I sat at my last brunch at East Nashville's Red Wagon, noshing on Migas, and feeling a sense of irony as I read the January 25th Nashville Scene.

To what do I attribute the irony? To the fact that once again I was reading a glowing blurb in another edition of the Scene highlighting Jefferson Street's Kijiji Coffee House & Deli (this time in the Dining Guide; p. 44 in hard copy), despite the fact that Kijiji has been closed for months. It opens, "Kijiji ... One of the first new businesses to open in years ...." Here's a quiz for these wiz kids: what years would those be?

The Scene writers and editors had the excuse of the preceding holidays when they promoted defunct Kijiji in their "Annual Manual" a few weeks ago. But what's their excuse now? That they are too tired to fact check? Or is this an expression of "Factcheck This"?

What I'm perplexed by is that Scene editor Liz Garrigan "cringed" that the Annual Manual reported an open Kijiji; but just a short time later, no effort was made to edit out the mistake in the weekly Dining Guide? Are not entertainment and dining this tabloid's stack pole, and thus, checked and guarded regularly?

But back to my irony. Even more vexing than the editorial oversight is the fact the Nashville Scene was all set to close down the Red Wagon prematurely a few months ago via an opportunistic Kay West piece, but they just don't seem willing to close down Kijiji months after its owners have.

Just as it was time to be firm about the Red Wagon in September, so now it is time to let go of Kijiji. It is gone, Scenesters. I'll never eat at Red Wagon again; nor will you or any of your readers ever have Kijiji coffee on Jeff Street again (assuming you ever actually visit any place on Jeff Street).