Don't Rock The Jukebox? Do Rock The I-Pod.

Just another reason why Nashville should continue to diversify it's musical, cultural, and artistic offerings, rather than simply relying on Country to put it on the map.

The Mayor's Office recently announced a branding initiative to spotlight the "wide variety of musical genres" available to audiences in "Nashville Music City." That's a step in the right direction. The Mayor's branding initiative also distinguishes Demonbreun Street from the Music Row Roundabout to the Schermerhorn Symphony Center as “The Music Mile.” While that seems to allow "5th Avenue of the Arts" to develop its identity outside of the corporate (especially Country) musical sphere, it seems to ignore the historic African American musical legacy centered around Jefferson Street, as well as the Museum of African American Music, Art & Culture, which will be built at the corner of Jeff St. and 8th Ave., North.

Behe-Moth By The Numbers

Electric Lines To Morgan Park Place To Be Buried

The trench dug on the park border to hold underground electric lines that will power Morgan Park Place. Rather than putting more unsightly poles up to hold power lines, developers are "hiding" the lines underground. Morgan Park Place residents will still have to look at power lines across Van Buren St. and 3rd and 5th Avenues, but at least no new poles will be put in beyond the new one in the picture that carries the current from the extant lines to the underground ones. That's also a positive for the rest of us: fewer poles and lines to obstruct views. Also, no need for NES to hack stately trees to stubble in order to prevent limbs from knocking down power lines in storms. Now if we could find a way to sink all of the lines on the North End, what a wonderful world it would be.

Some Metropolitan Action Commission Functions To Move Out Of The North End

There have been various rumors buzzing around Salemtown about the old Fehr Elementary School building, which currently houses the North Head Start Center as well as the administrative offices and the Community Programs Services of the Metropolitan Action Commission. Rumors I've heard included:

• the property had been sold off and was going to be torn down
• the Action Commission was moving, but the building had been sold to private developers
• nothing was going to happen.

By way of introduction, the Metropolitan Action Commission was formed in 1964 as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society designed to wage what LBJ called an "unconditional war on poverty." Head Start is a program that provides pre-school education to children 3-5 years old who come from impoverished families. The Action Commission's Community Programs Services also provides summer meal programs for low-income children, home energy assistance for low-income families, and they administer a community service block grant that funds short-term emergency assistance, emergency residential repairs, residential deposit payments for homeless persons, and GED classroom instruction. The old Fehr Elementary School building was built in 1924, but I have not yet been able to track down other historical details on it.

I called MAC Executive Director Cynthia Croom to get the low down and put the rumors about the building to rest. She tells me that next year MAC administrative offices and the Community Programs Division will be re-locating to the Howard Office Building on the south side of Downtown. The North Head Start Center will remain where it is at the old school building in Salemtown.

Another Architectural Eyesore Bites The Dust To Make Room For Development

A bulldozer knocks down one of the less attractive houses on 5th Ave., North this morning. One of the nicest families I've met in Salemtown lived in this house, but they were also looking to sell the property with rising real estate values and go elsewhere. They held out for a while and I assume they got the price they wanted, because over a span of days, they moved out lock, stock, and barrel, and whoever owns the place now demolished the house before noon.

Two S-Words Used To Describe S-town In Today's Tennessean: "Spill[way]" and "Sister"

As foretold, the Tennessean published an overview today of the planned 5th Avenue Brownstones and the neighborhood. The press on Salemtown seems to be improving. We're metaphorically more of a legitimate "sister" now than an ill-conceived, unmentionable step-sister.

We Need A Hero, Whether It Be Family Dog Or Hound of Hell

We now have a sentinel-in-training for the back yard; although right now the term is just "sentinel-in-crate-training." And she's making progress; we're on our second day of four without an accident in house or in crate. We adopted her on Monday from "Love At First Sight" in Sylvan Park.

She is a Lab-Shepherd mix and she is named for two of the finest products to come out of New Orleans: "Dixieland Jazz" and "Dixie Beer," but she goes by "Dixie" for short. She's got her name down now and she's "going potty" just about exactly where we want her to, and she's even barking when she hears strange noises on the other side of the fence. Plus, she's irresistible. What more could we ask? (Let's see, I could ask for a few more hours of sleep after getting up to escort her to her powder room several times over the past three nights).

Police Comb Vacant Properties In North Salemtown For Body Of Murder Victim, Updated

The pictures below were taken this morning as Metro Police searched overgrown land at 1921 4th Ave., North after Marshall Frey reportedly told them that he killed a woman and dumped her body on the property. Frey was already in custody for allegedly murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend.







09/29/2005, 4:30 p.m. Update: News 2 just reported that the alleged victim for whom they were searching this morning is actually alive and well. Police are saying that they are still treating this as an investigation and that the search will go on. Cadaver dogs were brought in without any results.

T-Minus 10 Days And Counting

Dull-Witted Gangstas and Gun-Toting Crooks On The Loose, Updated

The bad boys in the pictures below are not wanted for choosing to drink "Natty Light," nor for being dull-witted enough to have their party pictures taken before they pull their piece in front of a Vanderbilt surveillance camera.

They are wanted as suspects--not affiliated with Vanderbilt--for brandishing and firing their guns at Vanderbilt students. If you see them, report them to police. If you see the Vandy student who swiped them into the residence hall, scold her for the posse she picks.

09/28/2005, 9:40 p.m. Update: The suspect in the white shirt and braids has been identified as Carlos Branch. He also has reportedly resided near the Hadley Park neighborhood in northwest Nashville on Morena St. Branch is to be considered armed and dangerous. Police are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Branch and his partner in crime.

Tennessean To Cover Plans For 5th Avenue Brownstones On Friday

Tennessean reporter Nancy Deville is writing a story on the new townhouses and retail space planned for the corner of Garfield and 5th Ave., North called 5th Avenue Brownstones. Members of Salemtown Neighbors were interviewed for the story. It is supposed to appear in Friday's edition.

Enclave and Salem's Lots introduced readers to the Brownstones at the beginning of September.

Nashville Bloggers To Appear In Upcoming Commercial

News 2 (WKRN) is making some commercials featuring area bloggers in order promote their website, NashvilleIsTalking.com, which linked the first commercial today.

Here is the direct link to the commercial. Recognize anybody?

Salemtown Neighbors Approves New Logo

At last night's monthly meeting, members of Salemtown Neighbors voted decisively to approve the new logo for the association. It was designed by Audra Harvey.

Local "Roots" Bassist Dave Roe Was On Imus This Morning

I often see Dave Roe over at Bongo East (I'm assuming he lives on the East End), and whenever I do, I harken back to the days of the Slow Bar over at 5 Points (where 3 Crow Bar currently stands). Slow Bar was a pretty good watering hole, but what made it great were nights like the nights Dave's old band, the Slow Beats, played their gigs.

Dave is currently backing Dwight Yoakam's latest offering, and they appeared on Imus and MSNBC this morning.

Now I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

Well, I may not exactly know why the caged bird sings, but I do understand now why those who burglarized my shed the weekend before last stole a little bitty almost-empty gallon gas can along with my power washer and lawn mower. During a visit to Home Depot to replace my mower, I found out that they had experienced a run on gas cans. According to the employee with whom I spoke, no Home Depot closer than Lebanon had any gas cans to sell. I eventually found cans at Auto Zone, but the folks there told me that they were going fast, along with locking gas caps, which they could not keep in stock.

Consumers seem a bit panicky about gas prices.

Hermeneutic Preponderance: The Never Ending Quest To Find The Source Of Salemtown's Name

John H. over at Salem's Lots related an interesting exhange he had with a woman residing in Salemtown for the last 46 years. Among other things she claims that Salemtown was Salemtown before the Salem AME Church was ever built.

As John says, that apparently debunks a myth. I first heard the myth a few months ago upon meeting the current pastor of the Salem AME Church, who indeed told me that Salemtown was named after the church, which sits on 4th Ave., North.

Salemtown Neighbors Meets Monday Night

Salemtown Neighbors neighborhood association will hold their September meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Morgan Park Community Center on Monday.

Items on the agenda include a discussion of the Salemtown Neighbors Booth at Germantown's Oktoberfest next month, an update on the Block Grant Citizen's Advisory Committee, and further discussion of membership requirements.

Snacks will be served.

Neighbors: Duplex On Garfield

"God Our Father" Prohibits Soccer In White House and Evangelicals "Under God"

Two Aldermen in Robertson County intend to establish religious prohibitions against organized recreation on Sunday mornings. It seems that these two evangelicals (one is Southern Baptist) believe that Sunday morning worship should be forced on all White House residents simply because they believe that Sunday is the "Sabbath."

Never mind the facts: another Alderman rightly pointed out that in the Bible the Sabbath is clearly understood to fall on Saturday. In fact the Sabbath has been recognized as such for centuries by Jews and many Christians.

It seems to me to take a fairly strong mean streak to be threatened by the sight of some families and friends enjoying some leisure time together on a ball field. I cannot imagine why anybody would be threatened by organized sports on Sunday morning, unless these two guys are just jealous and they resent being stuck at church. Ruining other people's leisure time, regardless of whether those people are evangelical Christians who worship on Sundays or not, is not the answer. But they intend to use the power of their office to try and establish religious observance in White House anyway. Theocracy by any other name would not stink so badly.

But, then again, the continued spleen-venting from evangelicals who cannot possibly live without the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance reeks from some holy halitosis itself. Those who expect that religion not be forced on children in public schools are about as threatening to evangelical religion as those who play soccer in public parks in White House on Sunday morning are to the Alderman's Baptist Church. That is, there is no threat. It is regrettable that the evangelical notion of having "your own personal Jesus" has devolved into imposing that Jesus on everyone else's person.

The irony of caustic evangelicalism is punctuated by the actual history of the pledge. Lost in today's rancor among the evangelicals who simply stop at 1954 (the year that the Senate wrote "under God" into the pledge) and go back no further, is a sense of irony that would come if they had some proper Christian humility. The little irony of the pledge is that a socialist Christian (a Baptist to be exact) wrote the pledge for a magazine company as an advertising campaign to sell flags to schools over 100 years ago. Francis Bellamy penned these original words to the pledge:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Mr. Bellamy also meant for the words "equality" and "fraternity" to be included in the original pledge, but took them out because he thought that they would be too controversial in light of widespread opposition to equal rights for women and African Americans. Isn't it ironic that conservatives are up in arms about the possible exclusion of two words like "under God" and not about the exclusion of two words like "equality" or "fraternity"? It sure is; but, no more ironic than two White House Aldermen who intend to stop people from recreating in a park on Sunday and to force them to "rest" in a church instead ... and not even on the original day that God rested.

Fall Festival At Watkins College Of Art & Design Set For Friday, September 23

Watkins College of Art & Design will hold its Fall Festival on Friday beginning at 6:00 p.m. The Fall Festival features a variety of fun, creative activities at the College’s Campus, located at 2298 MetroCenter Boulevard. Festivities will include: a trunk show featuring a variety of affordable student artwork including paintings, jewelry, pottery and more.

Tours of the new “Charles W. and Lee Ann Hawkins Residence Hall” will also be offered, and a student art show will be on exhibit in the Jack C. Massey Exhibit Hall.

Delicious food prepared by the owner of the newly-opened "Watkins Cafe" will be available, and music will be played by a student deejay. The Community Education staff will offer face painting for kids, and a screening of the Watkins Film School students’ Film 4 Productions takes place at 8:00 p.m. in the Watkins Theatre.

The public is invited to attend this free event. [Editorial Note: Watkins is the source of this announcement in its entirety; except for the picture of the residence hall, which I took. I've never actually had the food at "Watkins Cafe," so I could not judge for myself that it is "delicious," although I'm sure it is].