Nashville Confidential

room with a view

Before I moved to Nashville, I joked that I needed to see the Ryman Auditorium from my residence. Well, it actually worked out that way.

As a bonus, I look out on the BellSouth Tower, the Life & Casualty Building, the Nashville Public Library, a number of hotels and banks and office buildings, the Gaylord Entertainment Center, the atrium of the Arcade, part of the Hermitage Hotel, some of the Country Music Hall of Fame, a sliver of the Coliseum, and best of all, the State Capitol.

One of my favorite views is Germantown, with its red roofs. Parts of Bicentennial Mall are visible, with the carillon off in the distance. I can also see the highest buildings of Fisk University.

Away from my home, these are my favorite views of Nashville:

-- The Parthenon, esp. when it’s seasonally lighted
-- The morning light in the lobby of [the place where I work]
-- Driving into downtown on Church Street, with the Capitol on the left and the Frist on the right and everything in between
-- Driving into downtown on the Woodland Street Bridge at night, looking south
-- The Arcade from 4th Ave N
-- The top of the hill on 5th Ave N, looking down toward Broadway and SoBro
-- Anything from the Shelby Street pedestrian bridge
-- The steeples on Hillsboro Road, heading south from Hillsboro Village into Green Hills

I love a downtown view, and I decided to seek that again in my new location. I’m really pleased and excited about my new place. I will be able to look down on my favorite statues, out across the river, and directly onto my favorite downtown building. I will not, however, be able to see the building in which I’ll be working, and that suits me fine. My brother commented on that as one of the advantages of my place. He knows me well.

now why didn't i think of that

I heard an interview with French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet ("Amelie," the new "A Very Long Engagement"), and he said that he always longed to see a famous Paris market designed by Eiffel. The market was gone by the time Jeunet moved to Paris in 1974, but he so wanted to recreate it, he built a replica for his new film.

I have similar fantasies about Penn Station in NYC, the White City of 1893 Chicago, and lots of long-gone Peoria locales. Some Nashville folks have this dream about Opryland (the amusement park).

Well, my apologies to all my Peoria friends whom I did not write or call during my whirlwind trip home for Thanksgiving. I was busy looking at property and staving off a killer cold. I was successful in the first venture but not in the second. Details to follow.

let us give thanks

Every Thanksgiving I have a great plan, which involves sending Thanksgiving cards, as opposed to Christmas cards.

I have yet to accomplish this. (I never get around to sending Christmas cards, either.)

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and it doesn’t receive the attention it deserves. Even before Thanksgiving – before Halloween, it seems – the whole culture is obsessed with Christmas. That’s just wrong.

Thanksgiving hasn’t been commercialized into oblivion, and it mostly involves hanging out and eating. There’s no mad dash to buy a bunch of presents that nobody needs anyway, and the music doesn’t set your teeth on edge for weeks at a time.

musicalog

I think I might have figured out how to post my musicalogs. Here's a look at the concertgoing activities of recent months.

Mapgirl Musicalog late 2004

oprah's favorite blog

In order to drive massive traffic to this site and to maximize the power of the Nashville Confidential brand, I need to get Oprah to declare this her favorite weblog.

I'm watching her annual favorites show (and can't believe I'm admitting it) and I love to see the reaction of all the people getting the free bling. Oprah just gave away a sweater that was nearly $200. I think you'll fully comprehend I have no fashion sense (as I've confessed before) when I disclose that I don't think I have any sweaters remotely near the $200 mark.

She is doing an amazing job of cross-promoting her show and her magazine. And you know that the special Oprah-shopping 1-800 number is going to be ringing off the hook. Not to mention all the companies that are giving stuff away actually get a soundbite of Oprah saying, "Company X loves teachers!" over and over. She is an empire builder, indeed.

Oprah is giving all this swag to teachers, and God bless her for that.

My dad's first life plan was to be a teacher, and he was back in a classroom recently for the first time in about 25 years and realized how difficult it is to be a teacher, even for five minutes. My first life plan was to be a poet / librarian / teacher, not necessarily in that order, and I think it's good things worked out as they did.

We were talking about this today on our walk on the Metro Center Greenway. My dad has come to town to drive me back to Peoria for the holiday. I'm pretty sure it was just an excuse to get out of the house for a while and take in the great sites [read as: meat and threes] of Music City one more time. Regular readers know it is always a great day for me when my dad is in town.

Speaking of the library, my dad has escaped there as all the screaming and shouting and rejoicing and crying of the Oprah audience was just a little too much for him to take.

no muss, no fuss

Plain and simple: it is too easy to see live music here. I am completely spoiled. I admit it.

Every single night that I venture out to see a show, at least one time in the night, I say to myself, “This is just too easy.”

Before I moved to Music City, here was the concertgoing plan of attack:

-- Take time off to see a show
-- Buy tickets (including TicketMaster markup)
-- Drive three hours to St. Louis or Chicago
-- Find a place to park – and pay for parking
-- Crowd into a club, sometimes with a two-drink minimum
-- See the show (which just might be a bad one, or could involve people talking through your most anticipated song)
-- Stay over night at a hotel (once I hit age 30, I could not / would not drive all the way back home in the wee hours of the morning)

Here’s how it works now:

-- Decide to go to a show – sometimes 20 minutes before the show.
-- Drive to venue, typically within two miles of my house.
-- Park for free near the venue
-- Pay a pittance at the door
-- See a fabulous show
-- Usually talk with nice people who share your concept of concert etiquette
-- Drive home

The biggest hassle is trying to get the handstamp washed off so no one notices it at the 8 a.m. meeting.

Just because live music has been more accessible, it hasn't made it less special.

Man, I am going to miss Nashville.

just because

Because I was feeling a little melancholy about my impending move, after I worked late, I went to my favorite place in Nashville, Tin Angel, for dinner.

Because it was late in the evening, and the wait for a table for one was too long, I sat at the bar.

Because I cannot make it to Brussels tonight, where they serve the best salad nicoise on the planet, I ordered one at Tin Angel.

Because I give off the vibe that it's OK to talk to me without me instantly thinking you're hitting on me, the guy next to me struck up a conversation.

Because he was nice and funny and a good guy (doctor, from Mississippi, beautiful hands), I talked back.

Because amazing things happen to me in this town, we had a fabulous conversation about TennCare, music, the joys of Germantown, music, brunch, David Lee Roth, music, engineering, mandolin bands and more.

Because my musical world revolves around Webb Wilder, who hails from Mississippi, I urged my new friend to come to the Webb Wilder show on 18 December.

Because it's 65 degrees and mild, I opened the sunroof and drove home, marveling at how many cool people I've met here.

Because I could only eat half of the massive salad, I brought home the rest to enjoy tomorrow.

Because I still can, I'm going to see Matthew Sweet for $15 at the Mercy Lounge right now.

an unforeseen burst of responsibility

Tim Carroll will have to wait for another time. I have some work I have to finish and then go to bed. My weblog has suddenly become boring. Hang in there, readers.

I did learn that Tim Carroll and Bill Mallonee (whom I've never seen) will play the 5 Spot on Friday 3 December, so all is not lost.

I have a list (of course) of songs I would really like to hear live before I leave Nashville.
(1) "Isolde" by Paul Burch and the WPA Ball Club 10 Nov 2004 (more details later)
(2) "Girl That's Hip" by Tim Carroll 3 Dec 2004
(3) "Closer to the Ground" by Will Kimbrough 14 Dec 2004
(4) "Cold Front" by Webb Wilder 18 Dec 2004
(5) "I Really Don't Want to Know" by Jason and the Scorchers ... we can only hope we'll hear this one live again someday.

Looking at the concert line-up for the rest of the year, I think I have pretty good chance -- well, not for that Jason and the Scorchers, but 80 percent is nothing to complain about.

I have a lot of pretty bizarre lists.

christmas comes early

Nashville Mandolin Ensemble, Frist Center for the Visual Arts, 9 December. Oh yes. I'm so happy.

This week's festivities:
Monday - Tim Carroll @ 5 Spot
Wednesday - Matthew Sweet @ Mercy Lounge
Friday - Jim Lauderdale @ 3rd & Lindsley

So much stuff to write about but my brain is full and tired from work-related stuff. So much posting to do. I have to document the last couple weekends (well, all the way back into September) before I move on. And I have to start planning the farewell tour ...

perspective

A local radio station has a Flashback-like show called "Retro Lightning." Each Saturday morning they play four hours of music from a particular year, and 1988 is today's show.

About this time in my life in 1988 I was waking up to a horrible fact: I lived in a town I hated, had a job I hated, and had practically no friends in the area. Without a doubt it was the low point of my life -- well, April of 1989 was. I remember driving down a road and hearing the Rolling Stones' "Out of Time" on the radio and bursting into tears.

Every song from that time is etched on my brain. So hearing "Angel of Harlem" (which is on the radio right now) conjures up all kinds of pictures.