Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We still have time to mess this up!

I really should read my own blog.

He really is that stupid.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Petty moves from a petty man.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Let there be snark.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

Dear elected officials: Trump is temporary, dishonor is forever.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Those who are easily outraged are easily manipulated.

One way or another, he’s a liar.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Nashville posse?

Nashville posse?

by | 101 Comments

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BJ regular SiubhanDuinne will be in Nasvhille next week and wants to know if there’s any BJers in the area who would be up for a get-together. Let us know in the thread. Also, any recommendations for things to do in Nashville.

If that’s not enough to seed the thread, opinions on the movie Nashville are welcome too (great Altman movie or greatest Altman movie?).

Reader Interactions

101Comments

  2. 2.

    JK

    Doug,

    If you can find it, read Pauline Kael’s review of Nashville. I don’t recall too many instances, where she praised a film to the sky.

  5. 5.

    DougJ

    If you can find it, read Pauline Kael’s review of Nashville. I don’t recall too many instances, where she praised a film to the sky.

    I’ve got her collected works somewhere, I’ll see if I can dig it up. Her review of a “Long Goodbye” is a classic. Honestly, she may be my favorite writer of all time, the first contemporary writer I ever read who really resonated with me.

  7. 7.

    Svensker

    Loathed Nashville the movie. It was where I made the break with Altman. Pre-Nashville, loved his stuff. Post-Nashville, gave me hives.

    Other than that, I got nuthink.

  8. 8.

    madmommy

    I grew up in Nashville, but haven’t been back in ages. It was a fun town for a college freshman whose parents had just moved out of state. Maybe too much fun, because I flunked out of school. Still, good times!

  9. 9.

    Yutsano

    Nowhere near Nashville (though I do have an old friend who’s a great singer there whose name, I shit you not, is Cloud) and never saw the movie, so I’m seconding Svensker’s notink. Though I like my spelling better.

  10. 10.

    Rey

    I’m 3 hrs west of Nashville, in Memphis. Went to college in Nashville, after graduation lived there for 8 years. If I had not gotten married and moved away to NC, would more than likely still live there. Great city! My marriage did not last but, the love for Nashville is still in my heart.
    I even learned to love country music….

  12. 12.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Thanks for posting this, DougJ. You are a man of your word!

    I’m a little unsure right now just when I could meet up with any Juicers in Nashville, but right now it looks like Tuesday evening (February 2, Groundhog Day) might be the best time. I’ll have been in meetings at Vandy and the State Legislature all day and not entirely sure right now just when everything will be over. But I’ll keep checking this thread, so if you’re in the area and want to try to get together, say so and we’ll sort out where and what time to meet. (Proviso: if this thread gets huge, like 250+ posts, it will crash my BlackBerry, thus rendering your message unreadable and unread, at least by me.) I need to hit the road pretty early the next morning, so it will have to be a boringly early night I’m afraid. But it looks as though I’ll be up pretty often in the next several months, so if it doesn’t work out this time, then maybe in the spring.

  13. 13.

    Church Lady

    The area around Vandy has got a lot of good restaurants and bars. Other than that, nothing.

  17. 17.

    TR

    I dropped a bunch of recommendations for restaurants, but I think all the links got it stuck in moderation. Release my people, Doug!

  18. 18.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SiubhanDuinne: I ate at a place called the Germantown Cafe when I was there. Can’t recommend it highly enough – great food, attentive yet unobtrusive staff, great view of the Nashville skyline. The pork medallions with plum sauce was oh-my-god good.

  19. 19.

    MikeJ

    I don’t think I’ve been to Nashville since I saw a Jason and the Scorchers show there back in the 90s sometime. Maybe a Lambchop show?

  21. 21.

    fraught

    @DougJ: Kael wrote her review of Nashville quite a while before the movie came out so when it actually arrived everyone was primed for a masterpiece. I think it nearly was; but it seems not to have worn well. The “I’m Easy” scene with the long slow zoom on Lily Tomlin is still breathtaking and no actress (except maybe Garbo) was ever treated so well by a director than she was in that shot.

  22. 22.

    djork

    I lived in Nashville years ago. I recommend the following, provided they are still open.

    Clubs / bars:

    Exit/ In = indie rock, good place to see a mid-level band

    Springwater= scenester /hipster dive, can be fun

    Gold Rush = Pretty decent bar depending on the night, but can be mostly college kids, so if you’re old like me, you may wanrt to avoid it.

    Restaurants:

    Noshville = deli

    Pancake Pantry = breakfast

    Whitts = BBQ!!!!!!

    Rotierre’s = order the cheesburger served on french bread

    Stuff to do:

    Robert’s Western Wear = If you go to one country music tourist trap, this should be it. You can drink PBR, buy boots and listen to a slamming honky tonk band at the same time.

    Gruhn’s Guitars = awesome vintage guitar store that’s worth a look around. There’s also a special “secrect” room filled with guitars worth tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Needless to say, serious buyers only in this room, though I got in once because a friend worked there.

    Hope this helps and I apologize if anything is closed or this is inaccurate. It’s been ten years since I lived there.

  29. 29.

    DougJ

    I annoyed my wife with it thoughout dinner that night.

    I’m not the biggest Dylan fan in the world, but that one is truly underrated.

  30. 30.

    DougJ

    McCabe and Mrs. Miller with a Leonard Cohen soundtrack > Nashville.

    I’m with you on that. I’d put Long Goodbye above it too. But it’s a great movie, still.

  31. 31.

    Jay B.

    Wow. I didn’t think it was possible that people wouldn’t like the movie.

    Along with fraught’s excellent take on the “I’m Easy” scene, there are some devastating other ones — the striptease for instance — and some gorgeously humane ones — the song at the end when the drifter looking for her big break starts belting out “It Don’t Bother Me” in the aftermath…Tears me up every time.

    And then it was funny too. One of my top 5 favorite films ever, just a perfect slice of Americana.

  33. 33.

    Legalize

    Nashville: close to the top of Altman’s greatest movies, and close to the top of the list of all great movies. Not Altman’s greatest movie. See Short Cuts, The Player, and MASH first.

  34. 34.

    DougJ

    See Short Cuts, The Player, and MASH first.

    Like those, but don’t love them. I’m in the McCabe camp on this one.

  35. 35.

    Church Lady

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Around Vandy, Midtown Cafe is really good but a little pricey. For lunch, the Elliston Place Soda Shop if you love Southern Blue Plate cooking.

    Downtown, Merchants (on Broadway). It’s pretty expensive, but worth every penny.

  36. 36.

    DougJ

    @Church Lady:

    BTW, you’re from Memphis right? Is the BBQ there all it’s cracked up to be? I’ve always wanted to try the Rendezvous since it was in that John Hiatt song.

  37. 37.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @DougJ: Rendevous is good. I was in Memphis for a week last spring. My hotel was just across the alley from it. The ribs were great as expected, but the real surprise for me was how good the cole slaw was. I am not usually a slaw fan, but this stuff was mustard based and excellent. The Stax museum is a must see as well. Also.

  39. 39.

    JoePo

    I’m still partial to McCabe and Mrs. Miller, but Nashville is freakin fantastic. Anyone who claims it’s self-indulgent: is there such thing as a non-self indulgent Altman movie? Would you even want one?

    Also great is Shortcuts. Maybe except for Andie McDowell’s scenes.

    Also: Todd Snider’s East Nashville Skyline. One of the best country albums from the past twenty years. The AVclub did a feature a couple years ago of songs that are as good as any short story you’ll ever read. I wholeheartedly agree with the status they give Tillamook County Jail. I wish they’d said the same of Kenny Rogers and the First Edition’s version of Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town, but maybe since it was a cover it doesn’t count.

  40. 40.

    Dee Loralei

    Are you crashing the teabagger party in Nashvegas? Sorry I can’t join you for a drink, being 195 miles down I-10 from the state capital. Let me know when you do make it to the BigM Town, I’ll for sure have a drink then.

    Doug, Rendesvous is not bad, go for the ambience and the terse waiters. BBQ is bettah other places. And my god the music and music history in this town is amazing. Omnes @37, go take the Sun Studio tour next time, that’s a fun,fun,fun experience. Gibson Guitar factory is very cool too.

  42. 42.

    Ailuridae

    A little OT. I’m pretty ambivalent about MSNBC but their coverage of the President’s speech today is really, really excellent.

  45. 45.

    DougJ

    I’m pretty ambivalent about MSNBC but their coverage of the President’s speech today is really, really excellent.

    I thought that about their coverage of SOTU. It was just the right tone. They made it seem momentous the way Pat Summeral does with a play-off game and they also made smart points. I’m watching it for all this kind of stuff from now on, even if I could live without most of the other stuff on the network.

  46. 46.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Dee Loralei: I did Sun Studios as well. Graceland too. Civil Rights Museum. Still, Stax was my fav. I came back through Memphis on my trip to NOLA earlier this month. I came up Hwy 61-cool drive. I ate at a place called the Catfish Cabin near the airport; it was amazingly good (especially given the location).

  47. 47.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @TR #17: Aha! Finally saw the list you posted hours ago. I’ll pursue the links but I’m sure any of them would be great. Thanks so much (will also retain for future reference).

  48. 48.

    JoePo

    @Dee Loralei: He’s quickly become one of my favorites in the past year. He writes with so much empathy about the people in his songs without sounding corny and with such great craftsmanship. And a lack of cynicism… usually.

  50. 50.

    Hob

    I guess if Nashville is “self-indulgent”, then I must be Robert Altman, since the movie indulged me. Cool!

    Jay B., I agree about the final scene. The transition from “oh no, I can’t stand to watch this, that poor schmuck is going to add embarrassment to a tragedy” to “holy shit, she’s really good, except now the audience is singing along cheerfully with the least appropriate song ever for what just happened”… I don’t know what to call that, but it stuck with me.

  52. 52.

    bvac

    Hey all, I’ve occasionally run project wonderful ads here in the past (for candles and other handmade things, not ones on how to get a flat stomach) and got a good amount of traffic from them.. so if anyone would help us out by voting for Berd & Bee on this blog we’d greatly appreciate it: http://bit.ly/voteberd

    Also someone should set up a B-J group on Eventful, because if there were enough people in my area I’d be down for a meetup.

  53. 53.

    JK

    @DougJ:

    People who hate Bob Dylan’s vocals have no excuse not to love Nashville Skyline Rag. Of all Dylan’s albums, his best vocals by far appear on Nashville Skyline.

    As for Robert Altman, who can forget Gosford Park and California Split. The guy was a genius.

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus #18: oh my FSM, that sounds wonderful! Thanks for the rec.

    @sorry, can’t find your post so I don’t know whom I’m replying to: wish I *could* spy on/infiltrate/subvert the Teabaggers! Would love to report back to y’all on their teabaggy wingnutty shenanigans.

  55. 55.

    TR

    And by the way, great reference in the title.

    A friend of mine once hooked up with the tattooed blonde from Nashville P*ssy. She took him to meet her mother the next morning. So, so weird.

  56. 56.

    madmommy

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    At the rate that little wingding is imploding, by the time the actual date arrives it will likely be three pasty-faced shut-ins and Caribou Barbie. Even still, you’d probably have to pass some sort of purity test to get in.

  61. 61.

    Mike E

    M*A*S*H is tops for being the 1st mainstream movie to use the “fuck” word (football sequence) and the only one to have images of the moon (loudspeaker shots) when ‘Merkins were walking on it.

  62. 62.

    worriedman

    @DougJ: Rendezvous, Central , Interstate – all are the real deal. Great regional food.”Best” is probably a matter of taste. I’m an Interstate kinda guy myself.
    @Legalize: This , though I would add “Gosford Park”.
    “California Split” is also pretty damn perfect. Maybe overlooked.

  63. 63.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @madmommy #56

    Me, passing a purity test. Hmmmm.

    (Scratches chin reflectively) Hmmmmmmmmmm

    Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

    Good one, madmommy!

  64. 64.

    madmommy

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Hee, hee. The best part is it would be so easy to pass-just think of the wingnuttiest response possible to every question and you’re in like Flynn!

  66. 66.

    Dee Loralei

    Doug, I had a group of friends come visit me from London and they wanted the quintissential Memphis food experience. On the first night I took them to BigFootLodge for an appetizer of BBQ Eggrolls. ( Yes, real eggrolls and real Memphis BBQ and damned amazing and I was kicking myself for never having created it.) Then we went to Elvis’s on Beale Street for fried dill pickles and Bloody Mary’s. And then we walked a block down Beale and had BBQ Nachos at Rum Boogies. Stayed for the first couple of sets by the house band James Govan and the Boogie Blues Band ( They play lots of old STax and Sun music, with some Nashville, Chicago and Austin thrown in.)Then we went to the Peabody for dessert. Wended our way back to Beale at Tater Red’s we looked at the Voodoo stuff and the primative art. And then back to BBKing’s for the last few sets of Ruby Wilson and the King B’s. ‘Twas a great night and totally original to Memphis.

  67. 67.

    hamletta

    I’ve lived in Nashville all my adult life, and I am appalled by the West End/Midtown bias in this thread. East Nashville is where it’s at, people!

    I work in an office park right across from Opryland, and I’m dying to get all my old improv buddies out to fuck with the Tea Partiers in the bars. Only thing is, drinks at Wally World cost an arm and a leg.

    I don’t go out much these days, bein’ P.O. po’ and all, but I’d surely make an exception for a BJ meetup.

    Robert’s doesn’t sell much apparel these days; they’ve gone strictly honky-tonk. It hasn’t been the “scene” since BR-549 left, but it’s still pretty cool.

    If you want to get a true Nashville food experience, you have to go for hot chicken, the Music City’s signature dish. Prince’s Hot Chicken is the king daddy of hot chicken shacks. The Rude Pundit described it as “biting into electricity. Hot, juicy electricity.” Hot chicken : Nashville :: cheese steak : Philadelphia.

    And swinging back to Altman, you have to see our Parthenon. It’s better than the original, because it’s not falling down (any more)! It also contains a ginormous statue of the goddess Athena created by local artist Alan LeQuire. The Parthenon serves as the city’s art museum, and has a permanent collection, as well as rotating shows by local artists.

    Bill Frist’s daddy gave jillions to renovate the old post office on Broadway and turn it into an art museum. The Frists may be the original robber barons of health care, but the museum is pretty awesome. They scrubbed years of coal smoot off the building, and it turned out it was built of white stone, not gray! Who knew? I used to get mail there, and there were friezes up high on the walls that I thought were brass, but it turns out they were cast aluminum stained with years’ worth of nicotine.

    Anyway, the Frist Center gets some incredible traveling art shows. When my mom comes to visit, her first question is, “What’s at the Frist?” The last time she was here, it was works from the Phillips Collection, which to her was like visiting old friends, as she went to American University, and used to study in the room with “The Luncheon of the Boating Party.”

  68. 68.

    Steeplejack

    Obligatory song link.

    Yes, I was just 13, you might say
    I was a musical proverbial knee-high
    __
    When I heard a couple new-sounding tunes
    on the tubes and they blasted me sky high
    __
    And the record man said every one
    is a yellow Sun record from Nashville
    __
    And up north here ain’t nobody buys ’em
    and I said but I will

    And of course Keith Carradine won an Oscar for “I’m Easy” in Nashville.

    Nashville is a great Altman movie, but I have to say that the greatest is M*A*S*H. Sorry that it came early in his career, and he had a lot of great movies, but there it is. It has been obscured by the saccharine TV series, but it was epochal at the time, and it still holds up after 40 years.

    Edit: FYWP.

  69. 69.

    hamletta

    I know I’m writing like the flack I used to be, but I wanted to throw in a couple more architectural landmarks, the work of Philadelphia architect William Strickland.

    Downtown Presbyterian Church is one of the few remaining examples of the early 19th-century Egyptian Revival. It was extensively restored a few years ago.

    Strickland’s other great work is our State Capitol building. He was so proud of it that he’s buried in the walls.

  70. 70.

    hamletta

    @Dee Loralei: That’s great!

    One time, the American Academy of Pediatrics met in New Orleans, and we kidnapped our dear Australian friend, the Dr. Spock of the Pacific Rim, and made him fly back via Nashville.

    On the road trip, we stopped in Memphis. When we ventured into the lobby of the Peabody, it just so happened the famous Peabody ducks were getting A Major Award from some hoteliers’ industry group. We couldn’t have asked for better timing!

    A huge crowd, flashbulbs popping, and the ducks’ famous march from the fountain to the elevator. It was so awesome. Dude was blown away.

  71. 71.

    Ivan Ivanovich Renko

    Born and raised in Nashville– took the lowest offer I had after college (go TSU Tigers!) because it was geographically the farthest I could get from there (miss you, Seattle!).

    That said– screw up your courage and go on Jefferson Street to Mary’s Pit Barbecue. At least, I think it’s still there; it was a North Nashville landmark for as long as I can remember. If you want to check some history, Nashville is home to three HBCUs– the incomparable Fisk University; the Meharry Medical College (incidentally, where I was born back before we were welcome in “white” hospitals), and of course, Tennessee State University, home of the Aristocrat of Bands (take that, FAMU).

    There’s also a great Mexican restaurant (don’t ask me the name, it’s been a while) on Nolensville Road, about a half mile north of Thompson Lane (it’s on the west side of the road, right across from Whitsett Road, which is where I grew up).

    I, unfortunately, am sitting in a control room in Baroda, India right not. Say hello to my hometown for me!

  72. 72.

    Ivan Ivanovich Renko

    @JD Rhoades: Ditto on the guitar shop. Many’s the time I went in there– no friggin way I could afford it— staring and drooling at a tobacco-sunburst Les Paul Standard… mmmmmmm

  73. 73.

    Yutsano

    I, unfortunately, am sitting in a control room in Baroda, India right not.

    There’s a story here you may have to share with us sometime.

  74. 74.

    Church Lady

    @DougJ:

    Yes, and avoid the Rendezvous if you want GOOD Bar-B-Q. The waiters are pretty cool (most have been there forever and, no matter how large your party is, they never write down your order but it somehow is always correct. The atmosphere is also nice – the restaurant is in the basement of a building downtown, the entrance is in an alley and it has the appropriately dumpy look of a restaurant that is considered an institution. Unfortunately, the food sucks. For good Bar-B-Q, a lot of people swear by Corky’s, but they’ve went corporate and the quality of the food really went down. The Bar-B-Q shop in on Madison in Midtown is really good (sandwiches served on Texas Toast instead of buns, for a different twist, and really excellent ribs). Still, even as I complain about some of them, they still beat hands down what is referred to as Bar-B-Q in most parts of the country.

    If you ever come to Memphis, the best time to come is during Memphis in May. I have a feeling that you would love the Beale Street Music Festival, especially the Blues Tent. It’s always held the first weekend of May. Also great is the last weekend of the month, when the Sunset Symphony is held. Don’t come for the Bar-B-Q contest, unless you know someone with a tent – otherwise, it’s a waste of time. Another good time to come is during Dead Elvis week in August – always a huge number of tourists from all over the world, but an astounding number of Asians and, for some weird reason, Brits.

    Come on down – we are famous for our hospitality. Sadly, these days we’re also too well known for our crime.

  75. 75.

    Dee Loralei

    @hamletta: LOL the Peabody ducks are great. I’ve spent some time at the lobby bar. Too bad the ducks leave at 5, but the march is fun. I think being the duck wrangler/herder would be one of those great jobs that would never get old, just because of the people you’d meet from all over the world. And man, have I people watched in the lobby bar.

    And kidnapping friends and making them take roadtrips sounds exactly like something I’d do! Good for you. You ever make it down my ways, let’s have a drink:-)

  77. 77.

    MikeJ

    Come on down – we are famous for our hospitality.

    Southerners are always hospitable if they know you’re going to leave. It’s when they think you’re going to stay that they turn nasty.

    /former midtowner

  78. 78.

    Dee Loralei

    @Church Lady: DougJ, I gotta agree with ChurchLady here. Go to the Rendesvous for the experience, the ambiance, the snooty waiters. Do not go there for the BBQ. Neely’s, Interstate, hell there’s lots better BBQ in Memphis than the ‘Vous. Corky’s is also mostly mediocre (for Memphis) but they have a great “Onion loaf” if you’re in to onion rings.

    And I ALSO have to agree that Memphis in May is the most fun time to be had.Sunset Symphony is my absolutely favorite weekend. Music Fest is a few weeks after SxSW and the N’awlins Voodoo Fest, so it gets many of the same artists. And the BBQ Fest is loads of sillyness, and fun can be had without being on a team; but being on a team is like walking in to a Christopher Guest movie set. (And if he ever does one, I better fucking be called to help write it or act in it :-P)

    If you’re in to Elvis then you must come during Birth Week on Jan8 and the week before, or death week in August. (Both weeks also waiting patiently for a Christopher Guest treatment.)

    My favorite time to be a Memphian is Sunset Symphony. Last Saturday in May. Me and 50K+ of my friends and neighbors, I always cook a gourmet feast, usually in the style of whichever country we’re celebrating. And then we have the sun setting over the river, the barges slowly powering their way up-river, the BigM bridge alit . Classical music wafting over the land, the riverbluff and the flood-plains of Arkansas. They used to have an old tenor belting out round after round of Ole Man River and we’d all rise up and lock arms and sway and sing along. Unfortunately he, James Highter, went to Jesus.

    They haven’t been able to fill his void. But they still have a local HS band march on playing Sousa with fireworks and then they still end it all with the 1812 Overature. And honey, trust me, when I say to you “You have not heard the 1812 until you have heard it with real cannons firing off a real riverbluff”. It’s a sublime experience.

  79. 79.

    Church Lady

    @Dee Loralei: Have you ever gone up to the roof to look at the Duck House? I swear that their house is nicer than mine. :) My favorite thing at the Peabody? The Sunday Brunch – Yum! It’s pretty hard to beat.

    Years ago, we had a group of Chinese suppliers in town and took them there for the brunch. It was the first time any of them had been to a buffet, and initially they didn’t quite understand that you could go back as many times as you want – they would come back to the table with these plates towering with food. Many of the seafood dishes have caviar garnishes surrounding them. Needless to say, all of them loved caviar and proceeded to scrape up every single bit of it on any tray. The looks on the faces of the waitstaff as they watched this huge group of Chinese men hoover up all of the caviar was priceless and we still laugh about it even today. Needless to say, we definitely go our money’s worth that day!

  80. 80.

    SouthernYank

    @ hamletta–
    Right on about East Nashville. It’s one of the most vibrant examples of a mixed income/comeback community around.
    May I suggest Margot Cafe as a possibility?

  83. 83.

    Mark Centz

    So that’s why I keep stopping by this place, McCabe lovers abound here. His work during the 70’s is amazing- Im also partial to Brewster McCloud which although flawed is enjoyable while 3 Women still sends chills through me when I think of it. But McCabe is tops, for reals. Teriffic cast and first rate photography on top of the previously mentioned Leonard Cohen soundtrack.

    But Secret Honor deserves a moment of consideration in this corner of blogostan, the most entertaining and thought provoking Nixon ever.

  84. 84.

    hamletta

    @Ivan Ivanovich Renko: You’ll be happy to hear that Mary’s is still alive and well, even though Mary herself is not in the picture.

    And I’ve been parceling out my civic boosterism, so I’m just getting around to the Van Vechten Gallery. It’s at Fisk University, but I’m not linking to it, because the site is cranky.

    Their Web site sucks. You should just go there.

  85. 85.

    Phyllis

    You have to at least stop in at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. Backs up to the Ryman. They crank up the music at ten in the morning there. I think there’s about two feet of congealed cigarette smoke on the ceiling. Love that place.

  86. 86.

    Ivan Ivanovich Renko

    @hamletta: Ahh, the Van Vechten. I spent an afternoon there about fifteen years ago, when my mom was in hospital across the street at Hubbard (Meharry). That afternoon’s always stuck with me; as we lost her later that night. Ahh, well.

    As for why I’m in Baroda– after 11 months of unemployment I joined a VERY SMALL company that builds tire test equipment; and a lot of our sales are in India. I’ve been here two weeks this trip; have another week to go (headed for Delhi tomorrow; from there to Kolkata; eventually to Chennai by the end of next week to fly to Deutschland for a week… (love me some frequent flyer miles!)… then home for a week and then back here for two more weeks.

    I like India; I like it a lot. The country reminds me of James Brown– they got serious rhythm (I’ve been rockin’ them Desi beats!) and they are the hardest workin’ sumbitches I’ve ever seen. Weekend? Bugger a weekend!! We got work to do!

    Funny thing– people keep staring at me everywhere I go. My friend and our rep here in India tells me that people see me and wonder if I’m from South India… then if my family is from South India… and really, I’m from South Nashville. (there, a deft return to the subject at hand.)

  87. 87.

    djork

    I don’t know enough about East Nashville to comment. It was just starting to turn when I moved, hence my midtown bias.

    I will second hot chicken (can’t believe I forgot that!) and the Mexican place on Nolensville Road.

  88. 88.

    mandarama

    SiubhanDuinne, I’m in! Lots of great venues suggested above. Germantown Cafe is great…so is Margot…Gerst Haus is fun if you love beer, and we have a lot of wonderful Mexican restaurants too. SatCo across from Vandy on 21st is cheap beer-bucket fun, and a good reminder of the younger days for me. Basically, I’m cool with whatever.

    We have snow and iced-up roads at the moment, but hopefully that’ll be gone by Tues. evening.

  89. 89.

    mandarama

    @JoePo:

    You know you live in Nashville when your small children can sing along with “Tillamook County Jail” in the car. Nothing is funnier than my 5-year-old warbling, “I got a bump on my head and a bootprint on my chest / From what the folks ’round here call the Tillamook County Lie Detector Test.”

  90. 90.

    greennotGreen

    grumble grumble Buncha West End/East Nashville yuppies. South Nashville is the *new* Nashville. We’ve got a restaurant from about every country on the planet and about a hundred from Latin American ones (although they all claim to be “Mexican” restaurants even if the owners are from El Salvador.) Also, you can buy a house or rent an apartment for a reasonable amount of money, not what it would cost you around Vanderbilt where the neighborhood has been somehow transported to a New York City zip code.

    Ivan@71, La Hacienda moved a bit farther out, but we’ve got tons more, from a new, fancy place to one of my favorites that’s in an old filling station.

    I hated Nashville, the movie. I was so pissed off at the way he portrayed my city as a little podunk town that I was completely unable to see any other redeemable aspects. And that was *before* Nashville became a boom town. Also not a fan of Loveless Cafe. In my opinion, it’s where rich people go to eat country food because they’ve never had good country food and don’t know what it tastes like.

    SiubhanDuinne, let us know what time and place you decide and I’ll be there!

  91. 91.

    Mum

    I love Nashville, but Altman is such a masterful director that it would be hard for me to pick out one film and call it his greatest. For me, his greatest films are: Nashville (beautiful, touching, and human), Vincent & Theo (startling visuals and a poignant story), The Long Goodbye (out-Chandlers Chandler – never a better Marlowe), 3 Women (amazing acting in a dreamscape), Short Cuts (a stunning transfer of Carver’s poetry to film), Gosford Park (brilliant acting, brilliant script, brilliant direction – what’s not to love?), M*A*S*H (needs no defense), The Player (a delightful peek into Hollywood’s inner sanctum), McCabe and Mrs. Miller (a revolution in Westerns), and Tanner ’88 (politics writ large and broad). Secret Honor is another great film, but it’s greatness may rest more with the solo performance by Philip Baker Hall than it does with Altman’s direction. And a few that I know aren’t up there with the best, but which I still love to watch: Brewster McCloud, Cookie’s Fortune, and California Splits.

  92. 92.

    Marc

    I’ll second what hamletta said: I lived in East Nashville for three years and that neighborhood is damn near the only thing I miss about Nashville. Lots of good restaurants (Margot) and bars (the Family Wash, the Alley Cat, esp. if you like friendly dives) mostly within walking distance of each other.

    Over in midtown and the West End, I had some of my best meals at Rumba and Mambu. For casual food, I was always a sucker for the southern/Caribbean mix at Calypso Cafe, but you’d better like your food sweet if you go there.

    For entertainment, I recommend checking out the Nashville Scene website (http://www.nashvillescene.com/) to see who’s playing while you’re in town. It is very, very rare to be disappointed by any musician playing in Nashville.

  93. 93.

    Pixie

    I’m from the boro, but Nashville is like a quick 25 minutes away! I would suggest the pub Mulligans for yummy food, good drinks and entertaining music. Also, the big bang is fun, but don’t expect to be able to hear one another. There’s always the wild horse saloon, the food is decent there and the dancing is a blast as far as honky tonks go.

  94. 94.

    mandarama

    @djork:

    and the Mexican place on Nolensville Road

    Nolensville Road is about 70% Mexican places nowadays (with a fair number of Ethiopian & Middle Eastern joints as well), which is good, but confusing– the south side, heading toward Antioch, is our immigrants’ corridor.

  95. 95.

    latts

    @djork:

    and the Mexican place on Nolensville Road

    Nolensville Road is about 70% Mexican places nowadays (with a fair number of Ethiopian & Middle Eastern joints as well), which is good, but confusing– the south side, heading toward Antioch, is our immigrants’ corridor.

    EDIT: Sorry about the ID thing– mandarama must have posted from my computer sometime recently, so WP kept her info and I didn’t check it.

  97. 97.

    mandarama

    @greennotGreen:

    I live in So. Nashville too, though not in a cool part. I still love it!

    Also not a fan of Loveless Cafe. In my opinion, it’s where rich people go to eat country food because they’ve never had good country food and don’t know what it tastes like

    .

    I can see your point, but my aunt works there, so I have to love it. Plus, I got to see and meet Suzy Bogguss out there at their concert barn, and that made my whole year.

  98. 98.

    mandarama

    @latts:

    Oh yeah, I guess I did that while you were out of town.

    Uh, latts is my sister. I’m not a crazy stalker breaking into her house or anything. Honestly.

  99. 99.

    jeff

    I miss Nashville, never thought I would.

    Wednesdays at 3rd and Lindsley are consistently great. I love the Wooten brothers.
    http://www.3rdandlindsley.com/

    East Nashville is really where to find everything that makes Nashville Nashville for me.

    City House is a fantastic meal, not in east Nashville, think it’s in Germantown or something?

    Also, even though it’s in the horrid downtown “honky-tonk” area, Hatch Show Print is a neat place. They do old fashioned wood block printing. You will recognize many concert posters and such. Worth a visit.

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