June 2018 Murfreesboro Pulse by The Murfreesboro Pulse

JUNE 2018 / VOL. 13, ISSUE 6 / FREE

Middle Tennessee’s Source for Art, Entertainment and Culture News

June 8

Map on page 27

Boro Art Crawl Art Demo Garden

June 22

Co-wooﬁng: Take Your Dog to Work Day

Project features talents of Murfreesboro photographers

IN MUSIC

FOLKFEST / SO WILL I / UNITED WE STYLE / MAKE MUSIC DAY / C.S. BROWN / & MORE!

June 9, 10, 23

Root Road: Trio of Brothers Play Summer Shows

Contents ON THE COVER: "Time Flies" by Amy Barbieri courtesy of Focus on the Boro

IN EVERY ISSUE

ROOT ROAD Trio of brothers to perform at CJs, Uptown Live on the Square.

DRUM SOME Celebrate Make Music Day June 21 with rhythm session at Old Fort Park.

UNITED WE STYLE Fundraiser at Main Street combines music, storytelling and hairstyling.

FOLKFEST Annual festival brings dance troups from Italy, Sweden and Mexico.

5 Events

22 Art

40 Opinion

THIS MONTH

POETRY

SPIRITUAL MATTERS

Movies Under the Stars, Folkfest, Free Fitness Classes and more!

8 Sounds LOCAL CONCERTS

Seth Timbs, Whey Jennings, Billy Plant and Levi Massie and more! MUSIC NOTES

So Will I, Juneteenth, Make Music Day, Uptown Live, Vans Warped Tour ALBUM REVIEWS

C.S. Brown, New Threads

CO-WOOFING Bring your pet to Cultivate Coworking on Take Your Dog to Work Day, June 22.

FOCUS ON THE BORO Murfreesboro photo project features talents of local photographers.

Copy Editor: Steve Morley

EXHIBITS

June 8 Boro Art Crawl

Born into a new life through Christ PHIL VALENTINE

28 Food

President has a long history of inclusion

Coffee Fusion

Existence with harmony

REVIEW

31 Movies REVIEWS

Solo: A Star Wars Story; Deadpool 2

LIVE . . . WELL!

THE STOCKARD REPORT

Tight security at new Judicial Building

LIVING ROOM CINEMA

HIGHER THOUGHTS

NEW RELEASES

48 Sports

Martyrdom

Incredibles 2; Won’t You Be My Neighbor

For everyday living

SPORTS TALK

18 Living 36 News GARDENING

Richie James gets NFL shot with 49ers

READING

Ecce Deus: Essays on the Life and Doctrine of Jesus Christ

Advertising: Don Clark Leslie Russell-Yost Art Director: Sarah Mayo

Poetry in the Boro

World Cup Titans and the anthem

Weed and Seed

Publisher/Editor in Chief: Bracken Mayo

ONCE AGAIN, THE PULSE ENCOURAGES

HELLO SPRING BY JANICE ROBERTSON/ FOCUS ON THE BORO

FEATURES

boropulse . com

WORD FROM THE EDITOR

LEGISLATIVE WRAP UP

Switching seats in the Tennessee Senate BUSINESS BUZZ

NerfWars; Half Hill Farm Pho Express

Contributors: Will Bridges, Greg Crittenden, Jennifer Durand, Joseph Kathmann, Jordan Hall, Rick Malone, Zach Maxfield, M.C. Radford, Edwina Shannon, Jay Spight, Andrea Stockard, Sam Stockard, Norbert Thiemann, Elizabeth Tullos, Semaj Thomas, Phil Valentine, Kory Wells, Andrew Wigdor, Michelle Willard

MTSU SPORTS

FITNESS

Center, balance and flow with personal trainer Jim Genet

Copyright © 2018, The Murfreesboro Pulse, 10 N. Public Square, Murfreesboro, TN 37130. Proudly owned, operated and published the first Thursday of each month by the Mayo family; printed by Franklin Web Printing Co. The Murfreesboro Pulse is a free publication funded by advertisers. Views expressed in the Pulse do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. ISSN: 1940-378X

SIGN UP to receive our weekly digital newsletter at BoroPulse.com/Newsletter 10 N. Public Square, Murfreesboro, TN 37130 • 615-796-6248 To carry the PULSE at your business, or to submit letters, stories and photography: Bracken@BoroPulse.com

everyone to take advantage of Murfreesboro’s extensive Greenway system at their leisure. Even after much exploration and coverage in years past, I am finally realizing just how long of a trail system this city’s Greenway is. The Greenway offers over a dozen entry points and miles of paved trails for all to enjoy, much of it winding alongside the Stones River, and even crossing over it at points on some neat bridges. Whether you are training for a marathon, strolling with your date or doing a little turtle watching, enjoy the Greenway with your friends or family, or alone to clear your thoughts. And play music; always, play music, make art. June 21 marks the Summer Solstice and the annual community rhythm session presented by Everybody Drum Some at Old Fort Park. Come on out! Feel the beat. Earlier that afternoon, local entrepreneurs will gather at Party Fowl for the June Connection meet-up. These monthly meetings of small business owners in the area have resulted in numerous deals, referrals, connections and ideas. Come on out to that as well! Also, on the evening of June 21, Main Street Music hosts the big night of storytelling and style, United We Style, with all of the proceeds benefitting United Way. The following day, June 22, the Pulse celebrates Take Your Dog to Work Day with a special photo event at Cultivate Coworking. This edition contains a highlight of some local pets in the workplace and other local petfriendly restaurants and businesses to visit. The Square will see quite a crowd on Friday, June 8, as the Boro Art Crawl holds its June installment of that community art event, City Hall Rotunda will hold an award ceremony for the winners of the Focus on the Boro photo contest, and Experience Music presents a community praise and worship event on the Square, proclaiming “Jesus is still alright.” Farmers markets are back in action, and we’ve already been frying some squash and cooking cabbage and sprinkling cilantro. Get with Happy Harvest at the Murfreesboro Saturday Market for all of the produce you can handle. Thanks to them, Batey Farms, Somewhere Place Else Farm, Molly’s Sweet Shop (and honey!) and other area agricultural enterprises for keeping the tastes of Tennessee on the Mayos’ table A couple of local personal trainers will host some free group workout sessions this month as well. Antoine Fitness presents a fitness bootcamp at the Willow Balm facility at 10 a.m. on June 9; personal trainer Jim Genet then leads a June 18 community workout session at Fountains at Gateway at 6 p.m. Otherwise in Murfreesboro, we have International Folkfest, concerts from the Shacklett’s Photography balcony, Movies in the Park, Poetry in the Boro, Splash Out and much more. Keep on turning the pages, and thanks for the support, Murfreesboro. Be at peace now. Remember, through overcoming your trials, not obtaining possessions, will you be “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Peace, BRACKEN MAYO Publisher/Editor in Chief

information, call 615-648-0845 or email antoine.ﬁtness17@gmail.com.

JUNE 10–17 INTERNATIONAL FOLKFEST With dance groups from around the world, the International Folkfest performs for area schools, public libraries, civic clubs, and youth and senior citizen organizations, June 10–17. The final public performance transpires on the east side of the courthouse square Saturday, June 16, from 8 a.m.–12 p.m. For more information and the full schedule, call 615-896-3559 or visit mboro-international-folkfest.org.

BY ANDREA STOCKARD

THROUGHOUT JUNE MOVIES UNDER THE STARS Murfreesboro’s Movies Under the Stars series features family films shown at various parks in the community. Admission is free and movies begin at approximately 8:30 p.m. Bring your lawn chair, blanket or tailgate; concessions are available for sale. Locations are: Mondays – Barfield Crescent Park, 697 Veterans Pkwy. (near pavilions #1 and #2) Tuesdays – Cannonsburgh Pioneer Village, 312 S. Front St.

TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS RUTHERFORD COUNTRY FARMERS MARKET Join local farmers at the Rutherford County Farmers Market at the Lane Agri-Park (315 John R. Rice Blvd.) every Tuesday and Friday from 7 a.m.–12 p.m. Enjoy fresh produce, nursery items, local honey, farm-fresh cheese, meats, soaps and eggs; participate in a free class at 9 a.m. For more information, call (615) 898-7710.

SATURDAYS MURFREESBORO SATURDAY MARKET Attend the Murfreesboro Saturday Market every Saturday from 8 a.m.–12 p.m., held around the inner circle of the Rutherford County Courthouse. Shop for natural farm fresh foods, flowers and household items. For more information, call (615) 895-1887 or visit downtownmurfreesboro.com.

JUNE 8 HOEDOWN FOR HUNGER Join Kids Helping Kids Friday, June 8, from 7–9 p.m., at 311 Minerva Dr., to help provide 100,000 meals for starving children

Thursdays – Richard Siegel Neighborhood Park, 515 Cherry Ln. Fridays – Cason Lane Trailhead, 1100 Cason Tr. Saturdays – Fountains at Gateway 1500 Medical Center Pkwy. Showings are: Week of June 4 – Paddington 2 Week of June 11 – Dreamer Week of July 18 – A Dog’s Purpose Week of June 25 – Pan For more information, visit murfreesborotn. gov/parks.

worldwide with a night full of food, fun, and dancing. For more information, find Hoedown for Hunger on Facebook, or tickets on EventBrite.

JUNE 8

locations and be able to purchase one-ofa-kind works of art. For more information, visit boroartcrawl.com.

JUNE 9

BORO ART CRAWL

FREE BOOTCAMP WITH ANTOINE FITNESS

Check out works from a variety of artists at the Boro Art Crawl, on Friday, June 8 from 6–8 p.m. on the Murfreesboro Public Square and other downtown venues. Admission is free. Enjoy treats at some

Antoine Fitness will host a free boot camp workout session at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 9, at the Willow Balm Warehouse, 2230 Southgate Blvd., Suite B. Bring water, a yoga mat and a positive attitude. For more

JUNE 13 LIVING SENT MINISTRIES Living Sent Ministries meets on the second Wednesday of each month from 11:45 a.m.–1 p.m. at Experience Community (521 Old Salem Rd.) with Bob Williams serving as local ministry team leader. The June 13 meeting features Lisa Marchesoni from the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Department delivering the application message, with Tamara Davis from Recon Secure Computing sharing her God story. Living Sent Ministries aims to “connect Sunday to Monday.” Little Caesars Pizza provides lunch at the June meeting. RSVP to bob. williams@alhambrapartners.com. For more information, visit livingsentministries.org.

JUNE 15–17 PONY OF THE AMERICAS The Southeast Regional Pony of the Americas show features classes in all disciplines for adults and youth participants at Tennessee Miller Coliseum (304 B W. Thompson Ln.) June 15–17. Parking and admission is free. For more information, call 615-4948961 or visit mtsu.edu/tmc. CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

JUNE 9 CAPT. JEFF KUSS MEMORIAL DEDICATION Join the celebration in honoring Captin Jeff Kuss on Saturday, June 9, at 10 a.m. at Lee Victory Park (110 Sam Ridley Pkwy., Smyrna). For more information, visit captjeffkussusmcmemorial.com.

Visit BOROPULSE.COM/EVENTS for more community events

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JUNE 21

JUNE 15–17

THE CONNECTION

MUSIC CITY HITS

Local small business owners will gather for The Connection: An Evening of Professional Networking and Business Brainstorming from 4–6 p.m. on Thursday, June 21, at Party Fowl, 127 SE Broad St. All Middle Tennessee entrepreneurs and professionals are welcome to attend this casual, free, noobligation event, where they can meet other small business owners and tap into one another’s experience and energy. An open roundtable discussion will encourage participation from those in attendance, asking them to articulate their vision for their business and calling for examples of some of the business challenges and solutions they are experiencing. The series will continue the third Thursday of each month.

McKnight/Starplex park (120 Dejarnette Ln.) will host the Music City Hits fastpitch softball tournament on June 15–17. There is a camp in conjunction to the tournament on June 14 that is also open to anyone who meets the age requirement. For more information, visit tnexposure.com/music-city-hits.

JUNE 15 3RD FRIDAY NIGHT CONCERT Have fun at the 3rd Friday Night Concert Series at Cannonsburgh Village (312 S. Front St.) Friday, June 15, from 7–9 p.m. Admission is free. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket; concessions available. For more information, call 615-890-0355.

JUNE 16 JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION Bradley Academy Museum and Cultural Center (415 S. Academy St.) presents the annual Juneteenth Celebration Saturday, June 16, from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. The holiday commemorates the emancipation of slaves. This year’s event also honors the 100 years of Bradley Academy’s history. Activities include a parade, spoken word presentations, storytelling, food, vendors and more. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, visit murfreesborotn.gov.

JUNE 18 FIND YOUR BALANCE WITH JIM GENET Local personal trainer Jim Genet hosts a free workout session at 6 p.m. Monday, June 18, at Fountains at Gateway (1500 Medical Center Pkwy., near the splash pad). For more information, call 615-4273406 or email jmg1448@gmail.com.

JUNE 20 WALK READ WRITE HALF-MARATHON MEET-UP Each week for 12 weeks, children 12 and under will walk 1 mile, read one book and write one short book review. The final 1.1 miles is during Murph’s Fun Run from 9–10 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, at the Gateway Island Trail (1875 W. College St.), where completed journals can be redeemed for an award. To participate in the program on your own time/day, journals may be picked up at Cannonsburgh Village, Sports*Com or The Wilderness Station at Barfield. This Better Boro Project is sponsored in part by Read to Succeed. For more information, contact 615-893-2141 or jjoines@murfreesborotn.gov. 6 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

WEDNESDAYS JUNE IN THE CREEK Ages 6 and up can spend a few hours with Rutherford County Project WET and Rutherford County Environmental Education at Overall Street Trailhead (410 Overall St.) from 9:30–11 a.m. on Wednesdays. Listen to a story and then wade in Lytle Creek. Wear boots; sandals and flip-flops are not appropriate. In the shallow water, explore the watery world that is part of the Stones River Watershed. Nets, magnifying glasses and field guides are provided. Enjoy giveaways after each class. Nearby parking is limited; carpooling is encouraged. Preregistration required. For more information, call (615) 907-3538. June 6 – “Litter in Lytle Creek;” June 13 – “Aquatic Life in Lytle Creek;” June 20 – “Geology of Lytle Creek;” June 27 – “Water Conservation and Lytle Creek”

JUNE 20–22

JUNE 21

GRIEF CAMPS FOR KIDS

FLIP-FLOPS & POP-TOPS BASH

Trinity United Methodist Church (2303 Jones Blvd.) and Alive Hospice Grief Counselors invite children 6–14 who are grieving the loss of someone to Camp Forget-MeNot June 20–22, from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. This is not affiliated with a specific religious group or faith. Cost is $30 per child and includes snacks and lunch. Financial aid is available. Activities include arts and crafts, water activities, games and hikes. For more information, call 615-346-8680 or visit alivehospice.org.

Join the SupperClub at The Avenue (2615 Medical Center Pkwy., in the courtyard next to Talbots), Thursday, June 21, from 6:30–8:30 p.m. with music, food, cocktails from Bar Louie and samples of Steel Barrel Brews. Participate in a variety of games for great prizes and giveaways with a portion of proceeds benefiting Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Visit eventbrite.com for tickets. For more information, contact 615-895-8107 or neal@dpamedia.net.

JUNE 28 SPLASH OUT Play under the spray of the Murfreesboro Fire and Rescue Department at the summertime Splash Out Thursday, June 28 from 1:30–3 p.m. at Siegel Neighborhood Park, 500 Cherry Ln. Wear clothes and shoes to get wet in, and don’t forget your sunscreen and towel. Admission is free.

JUNE 22 CO-WOOFING Cultivate Coworking will open its coworking space to dogs and host a special event Friday, June 22, from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. during which humans can bring in the dogs for photos, treats and more. Cultivate Coworking is located at 107 W. Lytle St. For more information, find a Co-woofing Photobooth page on Facebook.

THROUGH JUNE 22 FOCUS ON THE BORO Community-wide photography contest, Focus on the Boro, is on display in the City Hall Rotunda (111 W. Vine St.) through June 22 from 8 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday with the official award reception from 6–8 p.m. Friday, June 8. The contest was created to inspire the community to get out and take pictures, experience a fun, friendly competition and have the opportunity to exhibit and enjoy photography.

JUNE 22 ANNUAL BLACKMAN BBQ

other articles collecting dust in the attic are welcomed. Although she will not have time to thoroughly research an item and offer a conclusive value statement, she will be able to inform owners about approximate age of their items and other general details. For more information, visit mindful-care.org.

JUNE 30 RELAY FOR LIFE OF RUTHERFORD COUNTY

JUNE 29–30 TN VALLEY LINEMAN RODEO The Tennessee Valley Lineman Rodeo is a two-day competitive event at Tennessee Miller Coliseum (304 W. Thompson Ln.), held June 29–30. The event started in 1998 by and for the employees of Tennessee Valley Authority Power Distributors. The Rodeo includes competitive events for apprentices, journeyman teams of three, individual linemen and senior individuals (age 45 and up) and recognizes excellence in safety, skill and knowledge. For more information, call 615-494-8961. Support the 69th Blackman Barbecue at The Grove at Williamson Place (3250 Wilkinson Pk.) Friday, June 22, from 5–8 p.m. This Blackman Community Center tradition features great smoked BBQ, live music, an auction, fun for all ages. Bring your lawn chairs. Proceeds benefit scholarships, playground, Atlas backpack meals, building maintenance and other community service projects by the Blackman Community Club. For more information, contact 615-400-2254 or blackmanclubpresident@gmail.com.

JUNE 23 THIRD ANNUAL RIDEJONAHRIDE Join the fight against pediatric pulmonary hypertension for the Third Annual RideJonahRide at The Grove at Williamson Place (3250 Wilkinson Pk.), Saturday, June 23, in memory of a 10-year-old Murfreesboro boy who was unexpectedly lost to pulmonary hypertension in 2015. Jonah’s family and community of friends raise funds each year to benefit pediatric research and treatment through the Pulmonary Hypertension Association. RideJonahRide blends three activities into one day: a motorcycle charity ride, an off-road outing for Jeep enthusiasts and an evening celebration with smoked BBQ and local beverage favorites from Steel Barrel Brewing Co., Short Mountain Distillery and Jug Creek Distillery. Enjoy a silent auction and musical entertainment by popular

Nashville-based ’80s cover band, Rubiks Groove. Families can arrive at 5:30 p.m.; the motorcycle charity ride and Jeep outing each depart at 9:30 a.m. Registration required for the ride. For more information, visit runjonahrun.org.

Relay For Life of Rutherford County is a powerful walk bringing together community members, cancer survivors, caregivers and those passionate about eliminating cancer in Middle Tennessee. The American Cancer Society Relay For Life movement is the world’s largest peer-to-peer fundraising event organized to save lives from cancer. Relay For Life events are community events where teams and individuals camp out at a school, park or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team has at least one participant on the track at all times and participates in fundraising in the months leading up to the event. Join in the fight at Tennessee Miller Coliseum (304 W. Thompson Ln.), Saturday, June 30, from noon until midnight.

Admission is free. For more information, call 615-341-7331 or visit goo.gl/f4Z6cn.

JUNE 30 BOAT DAY WITH SRWA Stones River Watershed Association welcomes everyone to Boat Day from 9 a.m.–12 p.m. Saturday, June 30, at the Stones River Greenway’s Manson Pike Trailhead (1208 Searcy St.). Admission is free and no experience is necessary. Try out different types of canoes and kayaks with the help of SRWA volunteers and learn boating basics, paddling and safety. All ages are welcome. Personal flotation provided. For more information, call 615-217-3017 or email lhughes@murfreesborotn.gov.

JULY 5–7 HOMETOWN HERO DAYS Join Lucky Ladd Farms (4374 Rocky Glade Rd., Eagleville), Tennessee’s largest petting farm and family fun park, to proudly salute Hometown Heroes by offering free general admission to Tennessee firemen, police officers, active/retired military, veterans and their immediate family July 5–7 from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. For more information, visit luckyladdfarms.com or call 615-274-3786.

JUNE 28 PAINT YOUR PET PORTRAIT Mayday Brewery will host a Paint Your Pet Party Fundraiser for Beesley Animal Clinic on Thursday, June 28, at 6:30 p.m. Representatives from Paint Your Pet help attendees create a unique artistic masterpiece depicting their pet. Visit paintyourpetpartynashville.com for more information, or email a photo of your pet to paintyourpetpartynashville@gmail.com and Paint Your Pet representatives will get started on sketching out your pet’s likeness on canvas (advance registration is required). Mayday Brewery is located at 521 Old Salem Rd.

JUNE 28 TREASURE TALK Join Treasure Talk at the Habitat ReStore (850 Mercury Blvd.) Thursday, from 6–8 p.m. Item appraisals are $10 per item for the first two items; $5 each for additional items, with a limit of four items per person. Cash or check at the door. Connie Sue Davenport, antique and personal property appraiser, discusses keepsakes and other items brought in. Vases, lamps, pots and kettles, chairs and BOROPULSE.COM

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Sounds

Read more about local music at

BoroPulse.com/Category/Music

MAKE MUSIC DAY 2018

nce again, Murfreesboro rhythmist Ross Lester and his drum disciples will host a community rhythm event to celebrate worldwide Make Music Day. June 21 is Make Music Day, a celebration of music that started in France in 1982, which also coincides with the summer solstice. In Murfreesboro, Lester, the man behind Everybody Drum Some, uses this day to encourage anyone and everyone to come out and join in a group percussion session, regardless of their experience. This year marks the third annual Make Music Day/Summer Solstice drum jam at Old Fort Park, a collaboration between Everybody Drum Some and the Murfreesboro Pulse. Those who have felt the beat at past

12 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

Everybody Drum Some events, which include percussionists ranging from music professionals to toddlers, know the vibe. It’s hard to dwell upon the troubles of the world when other community members surround you, all making music in unison. While Lester has plenty of rhythmic ideas prior to each community drumming session, each occurrence takes on a unique life and character of its own. “What’s amazing is that from the beginning of the evening to the end of the evening, the whole group really grows together in their ability to communicate musically,” Lester said. He and his drum disciples will have the rhythmists calling and responding, crescendoing and decrescendoing, accenting

Everybody Drum Some continues rhythm event tradition, June 21 BY BRACKEN MAYO

in unison and freestyling. “Sometimes folks come to these events not quite knowing what to expect,” Lester said. “They may think to themselves, ‘Everyone playing drums all at once? How can that work?’ Then they are surprised and delighted to find that when all of the participants get on the beat together, we can make some truly amazing music!” While collaboration and community are critical to these events, that social and musical framework does allow for some individual self-expression and creativity. “Everybody has something to say, something to contribute. The drum circle is an opportunity for each person to express themselves as an individual, and yet for all of us to join our voices into one song. It’s community

communication,” according to Lester. All are welcome to come join the community in making some joyful music together. The Murfreesboro Community Rhythm Event will take place on Make Music Day, Thursday, June 21, starting at 6:30 p.m. at Old Fort Park between the playground and outdoor tennis courts. It’s free to participate and those of all ages are invited to come join the session, or to spectate. Participants can bring drums, shakers, tambourines, wood blocks or percussive instruments of any type, but even those who have no instrument may come out and use one from the extensive Everybody Drum Some collection. To learn more about Everybody Drum Some, visit everybodydrumsome.com.

ALBUMS BY WILL BRIDGES

C.S. BROWN

NEW THREADS

Among the many thousands of songs that ever entered my ears, I have rarely listened to an album that rendered me speechless. The new album by Murfreesboro resident C.S. Brown has done just that. The album title, Galaxies is so apt. In the ever-expansive Galaxies, C.S. Brown takes the listener on a journey beyond the stars with driving hard-rock ballads, emotional guitar shreds and almost enough ambiance to fill the entirety of the cosmos. All you pop lovers be warned: there are no vocals. C.S. Brown’s most recent work is more of a showcase of skill and artistry than it is a space filler on commercial popular radio. If you are a fan of the spacey ’80s-style hard-rock guitar sound, you will probably enjoy Brown’s creations. The multi-instrumentalist takes the demanding and lightning-fast guitar riffs of the era that brought us Whitesnake and Scorpions and mashes them head-on with the superior technology and audio production techniques available today. It is truly a spectacle. With all the great musical moments that Galaxies offers, it can be a bit overwhelming. If you don’t have the stamina to listen to close to 45 minutes of Brown shredding the neck of a guitar, then you may have to take an occasional break. Galaxies offers few conventional hooks or simple melodies suitable for humming in the shower. What this album lacks in simplicity is balanced by virtuosity and a tailored approach to a completely original project. This album has definitely earned its place among my very treasured and finite phone storage and is definitely worth a listen for those who appreciate the sound of a truly skilled musician. Galaxies is available on Amazon; for more information, visit csbrownmusic.com.

Local feelgood band New Threads has released its new album of the same name. In case you haven’t heard of them, New Threads is definitely worth your time to check out. This four-piece group is: Jacob Kiplinger (rhythm guitar and vocals), Justin Siegel (drums), Nick Cheater (lead guitar) and Robby Angelotti, at least in regard to this album. The lead guitarist, however, has recently stepped down from the band. The timing of this album’s arrival is right on target, as the band’s musical styles elicit a laid-back, warmweather, coming-of-age atmosphere. If you’re hitting the open road and making any trips this summer, you might consider adding this entire album to your playlist. Although New Threads offers some triumphant ballads, the band makes sure to take a walk on the “bluer” side of things with songs like “Now and Then” and “Peach.” So in that respect, New Threads does have some ability to diversify the mood and color of its sound. It’s almost as if the band pull a musical Bob Ross, painting an immersive landscape with every one of its songs, complete with the pop and crash of fireworks and illustrated with the crisp, clean crash of cymbals. That being said, New Threads possesses a very repetitive style, so much so that some of the songs seem to double one another. Once 15 seconds pass, a listener may realize that a different song has begun, and some are so similar that it prompts the question “why even release this song on the same album?” But don’t let this deter you from New Threads, who have no confusing twists or turns. What you hear is what the band is, and sometimes it can be nice to trust a band to deliver its sound over and over. All in all, this album has earned its place in my Spotify playlist. If you like the feeling of warm summer nights and spending time with old friends, then this album is for you.

Galaxies

New Threads

A CLASSIC OUTSTANDING

AVERAGE BELOW AVERAGE

AVOID AT ALL COSTS DEAD

PHOTOS BY ANGEL PARDUE

Sounds

Clockwise from far left: Jonny Gowow, Mark Lamb and Kara Kemp prepare for the 2018 United We Style; Kemp onstage during the 2017 event; Lamb in the stylists chair; two of this year’s storytellers, Kathy Ferrell of the Red Cross, and Poet Laureate Kory Wells

Fundraiser brings fusion of music, storytelling and hairstyling to Main Street BY ANDREW WIGDOR A UNIQUE FUSION of music, storytelling, charity and hairstyling is once again coming to Murfreesboro on June 21. The United We Style fundraiser, which was first presented in 2013, started out as a charitable fashion show in which all of the proceeds benefited United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties. Since last year, however, the event has been transformed into a genre-bending and variety-filled night of performance that incorporates the talents of many Murfreesboro residents. Back in 2013, Tangerine Salon and Spa General Manager and United We Style founder Kara Kemp said that the hairdressers at the salon wanted to take part in some sort of big philanthropic act. “The salon itself has always done a lot of things,” Kemp said. “They go out and do haircuts with the homeless community. They go and volunteer with special-needs kids. But, they wanted to do something that was a little more showy.” This is when Kemp decided to employ her theater background and salon expertise to 16 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

give back to the community. “If it’s a little bit weird, I’m probably going to get behind it,” Kemp laughed. “I have a theatre background, and I like working in productions and collaborations.” Kemp’s team at Tangerine assisted in putting on the fashion show in 2013. “After three years of doing it as a fashion show, I could tell my team was a little bit burnt out on it,” Kemp said. “They wanted to do something that was a hair show because that was their specialty, and I (at the time) had just finished collaborating with Mark Lamb and my musician friend Jonathan Gower on some original storytelling pieces where we interweaved music in the performance.” Kemp said that out of a conversation between the three friends, the idea for the new format, encompassing a combination of their talents, was born. “It sparked the idea that we could do something that’s a hair show and a bigger show that has those elements (of music and storytelling), and we thought it would work,” Kemp said. “And, it did work.”

The current format of the show allows Murfreesboro hair stylists to create hairstyles and makeup schemes on models in real time as storytellers perform and spin narratives. All of this is set to live music. This year’s performance, titled “Come Together Now,” will pay homage to the music of The Beatles and will feature community members telling stories centered around their involvement in United Way. Lamb, a Peabody-winning storyteller based in New York City, and Gower, a Murfreesboro-based musician and bandleader, will once again be performing at the event. Lamb said that the experience of performing in last year’s United We Style was all new for him. “I personally got my hair cut while I was telling a story,” Lamb said. “I’m a choreographer, so I gesture while I’m telling a story. And, I had to sit really still with my arms under a cape. So, artistically that was a whole different thing for me, and it was just really exciting. When (Kemp) said, ‘Let’s do it again,’ I was really thrilled that we got to keep working in this direction with storytell-

ing and hairdressing and music.” Lamb said that the combined elements of hairstyling and storytelling go a long way in adding to the experience for the audience. “I was fascinated by the hair portion because all of (the models) had major transformations,” Lamb said. “As a storyteller and a person who likes to listen to stories, I think the part of the story that makes it really good is that there has been a transformation in the teller. So, it’s kind of worked seamlessly. . . . With the music going, the hairdressing became a dance in my mind. So the hair piece, no pun intended, was breathtaking.” United We Style fundraiser will take place on June 21 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Main Street Music (527 W. Main St.). A VIP party will begin at 6 p.m., and the stage show will begin at 7 p.m. All proceeds will go to United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties, and tickets can be purchased online, at Tangerine Salon (845 N. Thompson Ln.) or at the door. For more information, visit facebook.com/unitedwestyle2018.

International Folkfest to Bring Dances from Across the Globe

BY ANDREW WIGDOR

he annual International Folkfest once again brings dancing, singing and celebration to Murfreesboro, offering area residents the opportunity to bridge cultural divides and observe folk dances from across the globe. The June 10–17 festival brings traditional dance troupes from various cultures together in Murfreesboro to share in performance and art. The troupes dress in costume and perform for area schools, youth and senior citizen organizations and civic clubs. Folkfest organizer and Cripple Creek Cloggers Founder Steve Cates calls the festival a “people-to-people type event.” “It allows people here to experience what our local folk troupe has experienced hundreds of times as they have traveled to many parts of the globe: the sharing of traditional music, costuming, dance and, most of all, the interaction that allows our local folks to realize that these people, none of whom who have ever visited Tennessee before and many of whom have never visited the U.S. before, are folks just like themselves,” Cates said. The festival was founded in 1982 and is based on experiences enjoyed by the Cripple Creek Cloggers, the local clogging troupe that hosts the festival every year. The troupe began traveling and performing internationally in 1973. “The process of organizing was made much simpler than one would think because

of the wide variety of local volunteers who provided guidance, encouragement . . . and all types of other assistance as the first festival was organized,” Cates said. This year, three foreign dance troupes from Italy, Sweden and Mexico will be participating in the festival along with the Cripple Creek Cloggers. The troupes will be housed in residence halls on Middle Tennessee State University’s campus. Cates said that, despite the vast cultural differences between this year’s troupes, the dancing has a way of bringing people together. “Folklore is the most basic of our traditions in all parts of the world,” Cates said. “Just as Cripple Creek Cloggers represent the traditional music and dance of our Appalachian region, these visitors bring theirs as well. It is often very interesting to see similarities among all.” The 2018 festival includes public folk music and dance events at venues such as the Linebaugh Public Library and the Bell Buckle Banquet Hall. However, the opportunities to experience foreign cultures do not stop at the performances. A unique function of the Folkfest is that community members in Murfreesboro can choose to house and serve meals to foreign troupes who come for the festival. “The meals served in homes expand our mission because those who host an individual troupe often include their neighbors, family and friends to help provide the meal,

enjoy the meal with the foreign visitors and then enjoy the music and dancing following the meal itself,” Cates said. “It’s an extension of getting to know folks from places that become real to the local folks through these visits.” Cates explained that these home visits and the entire festival goes a long way in minimizing the differences people may have. “The arts are often overlooked in the midst of ‘U.S. foreign policy’ and the emphasis on how ‘different’ we are,” Cates said. “We show actually how alike we all are. As local folk here get to know our visitors, they learn about their work, their families, their education and on and on and on. It’s more than just music and dance— and far different than just knowing these countries as entities on a map.” For more information on Folkfest, visit mboro-international-folkfest.org.

Schedule of Dances WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13

Linebaugh Public Library 105 W. Vine St., Murfreesboro 10 a.m. – Free

THURSDAY, JUNE 14

Smyrna Public Library 400 Enon Springs Rd. W., Smyrna 10 a.m. – Free

FRIDAY, JUNE 15

Winfree Bryant Middle School 1213 Leeville Pike, Lebanon 7 p.m. – $10

SATURDAY, JUNE 16

Murfreesboro Public Square (east side) 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. – free Bell Buckle Banquet Hall 27 Railroad Sq., Bell Buckle 6 p.m. – Free (Dinner buffet available for purchase)

SPECIAL

SECTION

CoWoofing Pets in the workplace and local pet-friendly events

PHOTOS BY DANIEL DIBNAH

ach June, on the Friday after Father’s Day, many pet lovers observe Take Your Dog to Work Day by bringing their dog or other friends from the animal kingdom to their workplace. On June 22, Cultivate Coworking will open its coworking space to dogs and host a special event during which humans can bring in the dogs for photos, treats and more. Continuing the pet fun, Mayday Brewery will host a Paint Your Pet Party Fundraiser for Beesley Animal Clinic on Thursday, June 28. Here, representatives from Paint Your Pet help attendees create a unique artistic masterpiece depicting their pet. For more information on this event, visit paintyourpetpartynashville.com, or email a photo of your pet to paintyourpetpartynashville@gmail.com and Paint Your Pet representatives will get started on sketching out your pet’s likeness on canvas (advance registration is required). A portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to Beesley Animal Foundation, dedicated to decreasing the suffering caused by pet overpopulation. Here, the Pulse continues its coverage of more loyal shop animals that you may see in small businesses around town all throughout the year.

MOOSE AND JONESY

OWNERS: Paul and Justin Rayman

T&K Tire & Service Center, 515 NW Broad St. Moose and Jonesy, a father/son duo, work daily with Paul and Justin, another father/son duo, at T&K Tire & Service Center. They help keep the shop in order and meet and greet clients, but they get upset if they aren’t petted. Moose regularly goes fishing with Paul, and assists (gently) with catch and release. Jonesy helps walk Moose and loves to run around and play. When not at the garage, they’re on the furniture, the bed . . . wherever they want to be. Paul has owned T&K Tire for five years, but the business has been around for much longer.

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CHURCH AND STINKY RUSSELL

BELLA OROZCO

Ray’s Imports Auto Repair 1322 W. College St. George Russell, owner of Ray’s Imports Auto Repair, once found still-nursing kittens in a car trunk. Dubbed Click & Clack and bottle-fed by Rutherford County Cat Rescue volunteers, they have since gone on to loving homes. Then, one afternoon about three years ago, another feline twosome—later christened Church and Stinky—wandered into the garage and have been greeting customers ever since. They’re Russian Blue and tabby brothers. George has owned Ray’s Imports Auto Repair for nine years, and the garage has been in business since 1973.

Midas, 1728 NW Broad St. Bella, an 11-year-old toy poodle mix, goes to work with her dad, Juan Orozco, at Midas six days a week. “She’s an awesome dog, that’s all there is to it,” Juan says of Bella. She’s the shop sales representative, and she loves snacks, watching television at home and attending the Boro Art Crawl! Bella was adopted about 10 years ago from an area rescue. She will greet you with a smile and a tail wag when you visit Midas. Juan Orozco and Eric Lowe have owned the Midas franchise for almost 11 years.

OWNER: George Russell

OWNER: Juan Orozco

OLIVER MASTROIANNI

OWNER: Jillian Mastroianni Trail

Coleman & Stearns, PLLC 107 N. Maple St. Jillian Mastroianni, local estate and tax attorney who practices out of Trail, Coleman & Stearns, PLLC brings her dogs Oliver and Artie to work regularly. Jillian grew up with rescue dogs, and her family raised guide dogs, one of which turned out to have cataracts. Not able to serve as a guide dog due to this visual impairment, the pooch got to remain with her family. Jillian’s next dog was Maddy, a Vizsla, who attended classes at Dartmouth College with her and was a regular running partner. In lieu of wedding presents, Jillian and her spouse, David, registered for donations to Weimaraner of the South and Hero Dog Rescue, the organizations at which they met their two current housemates. Oliver is a 9-year-old Weimaraner mix, adopted from the Weimaraner of the South. Artie is a 5-year-old Weimeraner mix adopted from Hero Dog Rescue. Jillian said she loves to clear her head by walking and running with her dogs.

AUTO THE BIRD

OWNER: Jim Kirby Automotive

1510 S. Church St. Auto, a 9-year-old Green Amazon Parrot, has been greeting clients with a hearty “hello!” for eight years. He joined the Jim Kirby team at about a year and a half old and came from a local bird rescue. He loves presents and warm showers. Jim Kirby Automotive opened in October 1994, and the dealership has been home to many animals, including snakes. Carlotta, a lovely orange tabby who was also a fixture at the shop, passed away earlier this year.

PHOTO BY JENNA MAXFIELD

Take Your Dog to Lunch

Dog-Friendly Restaurants in Murfreesboro MANY MURFREESBORO-AREA EATERIES have an outdoor seating area where well-mannered pets may keep their humans company. Ahart’s Pizza Garden The Alley on Main Bar-B-Cutie Bar Louie Blue Coast Burrito The Boro Bar & Grill The Boulevard Cheddar’s Dairy Queen (Pup Cup available in drive-thru only) Dog Haus Biergarten First Watch Frozen Treats From Mars (Free doggie ice cream— sweet vanilla in a cone!) Fuzzy’s Taco Shop

Jason’s Deli Karin’s Kustard and Hamburgers (Offers pupcones) Liquid Smoke (Ask for dog water bowl!) Mayday Brewery Mellow Mushroom Party Fowl Sam’s Sports Bar Simply Pure Sweets Slim Chickens Smashburger (They have a pup burger!) All Sonic locations Starbucks (Ask for a “Puppaccino”) Spooky’s Pizza Uncle Maddio’s Pizza

Living Farmers Market Education Series BY EDWINA SHANNON

Weed and Feed I STARTED A VEGETABLE GARDEN out of curiosity in the spring of my sophomore year in high school, just after the plant chapter we studied in biology class. I had soaked my seeds in water to get a head start on sprouting, part of my theory to get the plants growing faster. I can assume that Miracle-Gro would have been involved, as I wanted bigger and better, and as soon as possible. Nutritional value and chemical residue would not have been part of my measurements or my analysis. It was not even a thought or a consideration. I would do whatever was needed to get more growth as quickly as possible. I subscribed to the theory that if a little is good, then more is fabulous. Enter advanced thinking, which in my case, comes more from experience than education or age. The results of the practical side of the food chain have hit home. With my experience, I now know that more is not always better. True enough with ice cream as well as chemical application to assist in food production. Mitchell Mote is the extension agent in Rutherford County who often gives classes on measuring, with the aim of using the right amount. In his role at the Ag Center, the right amount applies to fertilizers, weed control applications and the calibrations of tools for correct measurements in those applications. The class on calibrating the tools made my brain hurt, but I did take away the importance of correct measuring. Have an accurate assessment of the ground being covered and measure appropriately for that space. How can you help your plants thrive? Quick, two-verb answer: weed and feed. Get a soil test done. It is a necessary tool in 20 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

determining what changes to make to your soil chemical properties. Buy fertilizer that is appropriate for your situation. One of the most commonly sold fertilizers is 10-10-10, a one-size-fits-all general application. What does that mean? Equal amounts of the supplements nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are contained in that bag. Each has a minimum of a 10-percent-guaranteed analysis of the constituency of the bag contents. The secondary and trace elements in a fertilizer blend are often listed on the back of the bag. Nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are the primary nutrients needed in quantity for a plant to succeed. The lack of any of them typically results in a noticeably undernourished plant. Nitrogen is part of the plant DNA and helps in photosynthesis. It promotes green, leafy growth. Phosphorous is the second number listed as a percentage of a fertilizer. Phosphorous is associated with carbohydrate storage in roots, tubers and bulbs and affects flowers and fruiting. The third element, potassium, aids in plant metabolism, its resistance to disease and seasonal hardiness. A good soil system also provides the secondary tier of calcium, magnesium and sulphur. This secondary tier is not growthdetermining. Calcium and magnesium are added through lime application. Sulphur arrives in rainfall. Zinc, chlorine, boron, molybdenum, copper, iron, manganese, cobalt and nickel are the third level of nutrients in the soil. They are called micronutrients because they are found in very small amounts. For the most part, supplemental application of micronutrients creates undesirable effects. I will say, though, that plants can have nutritional

deficiencies, just like other living organisms. In my opinion, no matter what the status of your crop or vegetables, you will have a healthy growth of unwanted plants, a.k.a. weeds—arggh, weeds, the challenge of any gardener. If you choose to use the quick, chemical fix for weed removal, be aware of the residue of the chemical used and what documented effects it has on the soil and anything grown in it. Be respectful and adhere to the guidelines of use and application. If it is recommended to keep it off your skin, recognize that the guidelines apply to you, too. Skin is a quick, proven transmitter to our internal systems. Mechanical weed control is mowing, plowing, roto-tilling, hoeing and hand-pulling the unwanted plants. Mulching can keep weeds to a minimum. Newspapers or cardboard under the mulch adds longevity in weed control. You could choose to use clear polyethylene plastic sheeting (2 to 6 mils thick) to raise the soil temperature to levels lethal to many weed seeds. Most plastic sheeting is not biodegradable, however, which creates another problem. Then, there is a stale seedbed technique. Timing is important on this one. From the UT publication Sp 291-1, I quote, “The stale seedbed technique is a system that controls weeds prior to the planting of the crop. The theory is that most weed seed that germinate are found in the top 2 to 3 inches of soil. With soil temperatures of 70 degrees F or higher and moist soil, most of the weed seed in the top 2 inches of the soil will germinate in 2 to 4 weeks after a tillage operation. Therefore, a generalized procedure follows. 1.) Broadcast fertilizer and incorporate with a final tillage. 2.) Allow the weed seed to germinate for 2 to 4 weeks. 3.) Once most of the weeds have germinated, kill the emerged weeds . . . by performing a shallow tillage (less than 2 inches). 4.) Then seed or transplant the crops with minimal soil disturbance.” Warm soils are needed for this technique to be effective, so use it for the planting of a fall garden.

Farmers’ Market Opens The Farmers’ Market located at Lane AgriPark Community Center, 315 John Rice Blvd. is held indoors from 7 a.m. to noon on Tues-

days and Fridays. It is a producer-only market. On both days of the market, UT Extension offers free classes for local gardeners. Classes last about one hour and are given by professionals and Master Gardeners. A wide range of topics are offered. Many classes can be viewed at the RC Farmers Market YouTube channel.

Market Classes for June: JUNE 5 Concrete Garden Art: Demo on how to make your own garden art using leaves, by Deena Trimble, Certified Master Gardener.

JUNE 8 Dairy Days: Learn what impact the dairy industry has on you, and the impact you have on the dairy industry. Logan Hickerson, Extension Agent, will be the guest speaker.

JUNE 12 Killing Plants With Irrigation Learn about the water needs of landscape plants from Mitchell Mote, Extension Agent.

JUNE 15 Cultural Arts: Continuing the tradition of crafts and heritage skills like hardanger, crochet, tatting, quilting and more, by Carla Bush, FCE Club Extension Agent.

JUNE 19 STEM: Fun and exciting hands-on activities to stimulate your brain (for ages 8 and up). Amy Willis, 4-H Extension Agent, will be the guest speaker.

JUNE 22 Rethink Your Drink: Lauren Louthan, Extension Program Assistant, will discuss the importance of limiting added sugar in a beverage.

JUNE 26 Seasonal Eating: Food demonstration to offer recipes and tips for selection and preparing our local, fresh foods, presented by Carla Bush, Extension Agent.

JUNE 29 Vermicomposting: Learn all about raising earthworms and their benefits in compost from Certified Master Gardener Barbara Donnell.

JULY 3 Fall Gardening: Learn about fall vegetable gardening from Richard Lee, Certified Master Gardener.

 RECOMMENDED READING “This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America. Within the U.S., you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.” — books.google.com

ECCE DEUS

Essays on the Life and Doctrine of Jesus Christ BY JOSEPH PARKER (1867)

Ch. V: The Inauguration The Diabolic Phase There was another dispensation to pass through, the dispensation of the devil. Human history would not have been what it was but for the diabolic element; it was impossible, consequently, for Jesus Christ to enter upon his work without a very demonstrative antagonism at the very beginning. With infinite propriety does the temptation follow immediately upon the Baptism. The devil had been at work before, in persecution by means of Herod, obliquely, so as to suit the less pronounced periods of the new life; but as soon as the Baptism had brought Christ the seal from heaven, and proclaimed his true relation to God and man, a more formal and critical contest became a necessity. Christ could not have passed to his work with a merely indirect recognition of the devil’s existence; the recognition must be full, emphatic, solemn. Any man who proposed to himself the fabrication of the story of the wilderness, entered upon a most perilous task. It must be difficult for human genius to contrive a consistent devil, or to maintain in dialogue the conscious power of God. On the other hand, who could historically write the account of the temptation? No one was present with pen and ink. No one overheard the interlocution. How then does it find a place in history? It must have been outlined by Christ himself in conversation with his disciples. Many a time the conversation would turn upon the devil and his kingdom; for the Christian monarchy was set up to put the diabolic monarchy down. When the conversation so turned, nothing would be more natural than that Christ should relate his experience in the wilderness, and found upon it many of his most practical directions. The account is obviously fragmentary, and in one or two points must be read figuratively, not literally. Temptations cannot be written. The process is not conducted with all the precision of a Socratic dialogue. The heart can give but a meager account of its spiritual conflicts; its wounds cannot be translated; its triumphs are too subtle for words. At the same time all Christian hearts have, according to their capacity and susceptibility, gone

through the very course of temptation given in the New Testament narrative. All such hearts have been tempted to make bread in an illegitimate and forbidden manner; have been tempted to risk their lives and their destinations presumptuously; and also tempted to offer the homage of the soul as the price of secular aggrandizement. Upon such points as those the whole world has become a wilderness of temptation or a wilderness of discipline. Today the great strife of the world is proceeding upon these very issues—Bread, Desperation, Sovereignty. Man has been victimized by the sophism that it is necessary for him to live, and therefore necessary that he should make bread, either legitimately or dishonestly; but Christ alone broke through this sophism by showing from what the true life of man is derived, that there is something deeper than the sensations of the body, which cannot be a guest at men’s tables, but must feed on the very truth of God. Man has been also tempted to risks that are unlawful, especially on the pretense that he was but acting up to his faith; forgetting that there is a limit to human liberty, and that a narrow boundary separates trust and presumption. Man has further been tempted to bid for great dominion, and in some cases under the glare of the delusion he has bent his knee before the deceiver. So man himself has passed through the series of temptations recorded in connection with the name of Christ, and can understand what is meant by Christ having been “tempted in all points like unto his brethren,” showing that Christ took up the very temptations which had been plaguing the world for thousands of years, and did not introduce a new and unfamiliar class of temptations which had never troubled the life of the world, and which, even when overcome, left the common temptations of society untouched. This view does two things: first, it shows the barrenness and utter poverty of the devil’s resources; stripped of all that is accidental, merely decorative or diplomatic, they really consist of one thing, namely, the exaggeration and idolatry of self. Second, this view brings Jesus Christ into very close and tender sympathy with every tempted man. They stand on the same line, they bear the same tremendous shocks; they war with the same weapons. Did Christ then merely suffer in the wilderness as any other man has done? Suffering is a question of nature. The educated man suffers more than the uneducated man; the poet probably suffers more than the mathematician; the commanding officer suffers more in defeat than the common soldier. The more life, the more suf-

fering; the billows of sorrow being in proportion to the volume of our manhood. Now Jesus Christ was not merely a man, he was Man; and by the very compass of his manhood he suffered more than any mortal man can endure. The storm may pass as fiercely over the shallow lake as over the Atlantic, but by its very volume the latter is more terribly shaken. No other man had come with Christ’s ideas; in no other man was the element of self so entirely abnegated; no other man had offered such opposition to diabolic rule: all those circumstances combine to render Christ’s temptation unique, yet not one of them puts Christ so far away as to prevent us finding in his temptation unfailing solace and strength. The temptation of the Beloved Son is important as an historic fact, but infinitely more important as a doctrine giving hope to men who are tempted by the devil to some degree of the same enormities. Could Christ have been overthrown? Most certainly; otherwise his temptation has no message to man, except one of despair. Whatever is less than infinite is temptable and capable of sinning; Christ’s humanity was less than infinite, therefore his humanity might have been overthrown. Sympathy can proceed only from community of situation. To say that Christ could not have been successfully tempted, and that the result of his temptation should comfort men, is equal to saying that, because no man can blow out the sun, therefore no man can blow out a candle. The record of the temptation is an act of cruelty, if it have no bearing on human strife; but an analysis of the temptation shows that the methods of assault are fundamentally the same. When, however, is it affirmed that Christ could have been successfully tempted, the words require to be carefully considered. The possibility relates, of course, entirely to the human side of his nature. So far as the weakness of the flesh was concerned, Christ was open to all the results of diabolic seduction; but there was in him that spirit of perfect trust in God, which rendered the fiercest assaults of the enemy simply futile. He did not come upon the tempter as Eve did: she was necessarily inexperienced, she could not foresee the result of disobedience; Christ had the history of the world as a living illustration of the course of diabolic policy immediately before him, so that he could give the lie to every diabolic suggestion. A common illustration will simplify the idea that the spirit of perfect trust which was in Christ, taken in connection with the results of sin which abound everywhere, rendered temptation utterly futile. Take the most respected man of a given neighborhood, a man whose honor and integrity are known to be above suspicion; and it may be affirmed of that man that it is impossible to persuade him to defraud his neighbor of a penny. The idea of his doing so would be regarded by those who knew him best as an imputation not to be tolerated for a moment. But why? The man is only human, like other men; why then this indignation at the idea of fraud? Simply because

the spirit of honesty within him is too strong to succumb to such a temptation. But increase the force of the temptation; raise it from a paltry penny to ten thousand guineas, and multiply 10 by 10, and add the assurance that no human being can ever be cognizant of the fraudulent deed; and if that amount will not reach to his full moral stature, add to it according to his integrity: and thus a tremendous rival force may be set up, with which the man may find it difficult or impossible to contend. In the case of Christ, the devil persuaded this critical course, rising from the mere satisfaction of hunger to the rule of all kingdoms. Still the Messianic spirit towered far beyond the pretentious offer. The deceiver could not attain the overshadowing height; other men had been measurable and conquerable, but this man was of gigantic structure and his shield was impenetrable. While then, looking strictly to the human side of Christ, it may be affirmed that he was exposed to all the risks of temptation, it may be affirmed with equal truth, looking at his spirit, that it was impossible that Christ could fall. There is a great truth in each representation, and the combination of the two can alone give us the reality of the case. One fact will show that the temptation of Christ was designed to be a source of strength to every tempted man: all the temptations are such as might have been addressed to a merely human being—not one of them was adapted to being believed to be divine. With a Socinian creed (professing belief in God and adherance to the Christian Scriptures but denying the divinity of Christ and the Trinity), the devil adopted a Socinian policy. He assailed the man; he aimed no weapon at the God. He regarded him, indeed, as a man of great name and bold pretention, but a man still. The first temptation has an air of benevolence about it—“It is written (so) prove the truth of the writing!” The third is an appeal to the senses— “All these I will give thee!” Through this course we ourselves have been taken, and it would be a poor consolation to know that there was no point of sympathy between Christ and our souls. In further elucidation of Christ’s spirit, showing that it represented not only innocence but holiness, not a negative but an affirmative condition of soul, one remarkable circumstance should be noted. Eve and Christ returned precisely the same answer to Satanic suggestion. Eve referred to the word of God, so did Christ; Eve answered, “God hath said;” Christ answered “It is written;” yet Eve fell, and Christ stood. The strength, therefore, was not in the mere answer as containing a piece of information. Life is greater than intelligence; sympathy is more profound than obedience. The world’s first woman was necessarily inexperienced; she had no historic footprints to go by; she knew her instructions; but they were set on no background of guilt and sorrow. The world’s second Man was rich in history; he had no formal instructions, but brought with him the spirit of all caution and strength.

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* JUNE 2018 * 21

Art

 POETRY BY KORY WELLS

Mark Lamb to Participate with Joshua Moore in June 10 Poetry in the Boro, Hold Local Workshops JUNE IS SHAPING UP as a time to

SUNDAY, JUNE 10

celebrate story in all its forms, including on the stage, in an award-winning novel and through poetry. It’s a busy month, so let’s get straight to the details:

This month’s Poetry in the Boro will be at Murfreesboro Little Theatre on Sunday evening, June 10. The event will offer a slight twist on the usual program when storyteller Mark Lamb takes the stage after featured poet Joshua Moore. An hour of open mic will follow. Joshua Moore is a Nashville poet, second-year Vanderbilt MFA candidate and the host and producer of Nashville Public Radio’s Versify podcast—a show in which poets turn people’s personal stories into poems. Winner of the 2018 Academy of American Poets University Prize, he’s also the Poetry and Comics editor for the Nashville Review.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6 At 6 p.m., the Murfreesboro Barnes & Noble monthly book club meeting will discuss Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. Winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and a National Book Award finalist, this novel explores the importance of art and beauty in a post-apocalyptic world. (Read my review at boropulse.com/ station-eleven). This event is free and open to the public.

LAMB

Mark Lamb is a New York City choreographer, performer and GrandSLAM Champion of The Moth storytelling series. His story “A Boy and His Dolly” was sanctioned by Dolly Parton herself to benefit her literacy program the Imagination Library. Originally from Sturgis, Kentucky, and never far from his Southern roots, Mark will be in Murfreesboro as a headliner and storytelling coach for United We Style, a June 21 performance event. Doors open and open mic sign-ups begin at 6:30 p.m., June 10. Featured artists start at 7 p.m. MLT is located at 702 Ewing Blvd. Find full details on this free event on the Poetry in the Boro Facebook page. While storyteller Mark Lamb is in town for United We Style, he’ll also be offering two workshops, both focused on helping participants explore ways to tell their stories authentically through writing, improvisation and performance exercises:

THURSDAY, JUNE 14 6:30–8:30 p.m. “Writing and Performing Your Personal Monologue,” a workshop for youth ages 11–16. Lamb and Murfreesboro Poet Laureate Kory Wells will help participants interested in performance or poetry confidently claim their unique stories for use in theatre, spoken word, school presentations, and other purposes. The workshop, to be held at Patterson Park, is free, but pre-registration is required by contacting Susan Hicks at 615-893-7439, ext. 6104 or shicks@murfreesborotn.gov.

through Aug. 3. Entitled “The Other Side: Contrasts in Our Community,” the exhibit will include photography by Jessica Nelson, painting by Ginny Togrye and poetry by Kory Wells. The exhibit will also include a collage of work by community artists of all ages who participated in outreach projects conducted by the laureates this past year. The exhibit reception will be Thursday evening, June 28. See Facebook for exact time and other details. The title of the Murfreesboro Arts Laureates show, “The Other Side,” is a nod to the well-known poem “The Bridge Builder,” written around 1900 by native Murfreesboro daughter Will Allen Dromgoole, a prolific author and columnist for the Nashville Banner.

The Bridge Builder BY WILL ALLEN DROMGOOLE An old man going a lone highway, Came, at the evening cold and gray, To a chasm vast and deep and wide. Through which was flowing a sullen tide The old man crossed in the twilight dim, The sullen stream had no fear for him; But he turned when safe on the other side And built a bridge to span the tide. “Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near, “You are wasting your strength with building here; Your journey will end with the ending day, You never again will pass this way; You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide, Why build this bridge at evening tide?”

MONDAY, JUNE 18 7–9 p.m. “Tell, the First Steps to Finding Your Story.” This workshop, held at Murfreesboro Little Theatre, will help participants find new paths into sharing stories that could be useful for everything from corporate presentations to sharing a story at a dinner party or perhaps entering a storytelling competition. Fee is $20 at the door (cash, check or card); no preregistration required.

The builder lifted his old gray head; “Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said, “There followed after me to-day A youth whose feet must pass this way. This chasm that has been as naught to me To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be; He, too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”

MONDAY, JUNE 18

Kory Wells is principal founder of Poetry in the Boro and the inaugural Poet Laureate of Murfreesboro. Contact her at korywells@gmail.com.

Murfreesboro’s Inaugural Arts Laureates will hold an exhibit of their work in the Rotunda of Murfreesboro City Hall from June 26 22 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

MOORE

Art

 EXHIBIT

Photo Project Features Talents of Murfreesboro Photographers MURFREESBORO’S PHOTOGRAPHER Laureate, Jessica Goings Nelson, has spent her inaugural year building a network of local photographers ranging from amateurs to experts and facilitating connections, classes, professional development, photography outings and new friendships. Jessica’s final contribution before handing the reins over to the next Laureate is a community-wide photography contest titled Focus on the Boro that will be on display in the City Hall Rotunda this June. She wants this photography event to inspire the community to get out and take pictures, to experience a fun and friendly competition, and to have the opportunity to exhibit and enjoy photography. Earlier this year, local photographers of all ages, styles and experience levels submitted

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images in the categories of: people, landscape, still life, animals, flora, architecture, sports/action, abstract/special effects and Murfreesboro. The artwork will be on display through June 22 in the Rotunda Gallery of Murfreesboro City Hall, 111 W. Vine St. Results of the final Focus on the Boro judging will be announced at a community reception in the Rotunda held on Friday, June 8, from 6–9 p.m., coinciding with June’s Boro Art Crawl. Organizers will present awards to both an adult and youth (ages 17 and younger) photographer in each of the nine categories. For more information about the contest or on photography in Murfreesboro, email photoconnectmboro@gmail.com or visit facebook.com/groups/photographyconnectmboro.

Clockwise: “Bell Buckle Bliss” by Jessie Arras “Growing New Life” by Mellisa Ogilvy “La Couleur” by Abigail Bobo

Art

 EVENTS

ARTIST TEAMS COMPETE BEFORE A CROWD AT ART CLASH MIDDLE TENNESSEE ARTISTS will come together for a cause at the first-ever Art Clash on Friday, June 15, at Nashville’s Texas Troubadour Theater. Art Clash will bring together teams of artists and creatives to make a piece of artwork out of upcycled materials in a two-hour competition. A panel of esteemed adjudicators will judge each piece, with awards presented for first through third place as well as a “people’s choice” award. Proceeds will benefit SmART! Supplies, a Nashville thrift store that supports programs such as employment training and residential support for people with intellectual disabilities. Murfreesboro artist Michelle Swett, who says she plans to team up with Dawna Kinne Magliacano and Sarah Arace to compete in the event, encourages friends and art fans to buy up some tickets, support the cause, and come out and cheer their team on from the crowd. For more information, find Art Clash presented by Lightning 100 on Facebook, or purchase tickets to the event on EventBrite. Texas Troubadour Theatre is located at 2416 Music Valley Dr., Nashville.

 “Aaliyah” by Dorothy Stevens at Sugaree’s  “Reﬂections” by Gabrielle Davis at The Write Impression  “Tree of Life” by Susan Denton at Trendy Pieces

JUNE 8 BORO ART CRAWL TO FEATURE ART DEMO GARDEN THE BORO ART CRAWL RETURNS to businesses on and near the Murfreesboro Public Square on Friday, June 8, from 6–9 p.m. Held one evening every other month, the Boro Art Crawl features a variety of artistic creations from area artists. Participating venues include Simply Pure Sweets, Center for the Arts, Sugaree’s, Vibe, L&L Contractors, Boutique at Studio C and others. Organizers will introduce a new feature during the June Crawl: The Demo Garden. This will take place in the wooded area near the Rotunda of City Hall. Local artists will demonstrate their skills for guests including painting, woodworking, caricature, encaustic and more. The Demo Garden is scheduled to return for the August and October Art Crawls as well. Attendees can stop by to see local artists in action and learn more about the hard work that goes into making the art pieces unique. Participating artists are Ashley Wilkerson, Beth Moore, Gregory Lannom, Mark Woodruff and Nancy Olson. For more information on the Boro Art Crawl, visit boroartcrawl.com.

CENTRAL MAGNET STUDENT SEVON ASKEW WINS 2018 SPOTLIGHT AWARD FOR HIGH SCHOOL THEATER SEVON ASKEW OF CENTRAL MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL recently won the 2018 Spotlight Awards for Best Actor, and will travel to New York to compete nationally in the Jimmy Awards (the National High School Musical Theatre Awards) on June 25. Tiyanna Gentry of Hillsboro High School in Nashville took the Best Actress award in the fifth Nashville High School Musical Theatre Awards, or Spotlight Awards, created by Mike Fernandez, Dean of Lipscomb University’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts, to recognize excellence in local high school theater. The program, in partnership with Tennessee Performing Arts Center, also recently evaluated musical productions from 26 Tennessee high schools. Hosted by award-winning actress and classically trained musician Elizabeth A. Davis in TPAC’s Jackson Hall, the Tony Awards-style ceremony recognized individual and ensemble talent in 27 categories after students participated in all-day workshops on the Lipscomb campus. Other Rutherford County students recognized with awards include Lelan Wilhoite of Siegel High School (Standout Male Dancer), and Diamond Goins of Siegel High School (Standout Female Soloist). For more information on Lipscomb University’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts, visit cea.lipscomb.edu. For more information on Tennessee Performing Arts Center, visit tpac.org. 26 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

Food

Pho and Pulse

Read more about local restaurants at

BoroPulse.com/Category/Food

Coffee Fusion Combines Traditional Coffeeshop with Thai and Lao Favorites

CURRY PHOTO BY SARAH MAYO; ALL OTHERS COURTESY YELP.COM

Spring Rolls and Tarro Bubble Tea

Shrimp Curry

BY BRACKEN MAYO

Hot & Cold Coffee

HotterCurry

he Southeast Asian dining scene continues to grow in the Southern U.S. town of Murfreesboro. Pho and pad Thai are such popular dishes here, they can now even be had at the local coffeeshop. Entering Coffee Fusion, a locally owned shop located at Gateway Village at the Thompson Lane/Medical Center Parkway intersection, the sounds and smells of a standard coffeehouse greet the patron. A deli case displays fresh muffins, bagels and other baked goods. But this coffee shop offers much more than the standard coffeehouse fare. The Coffee Fusion menu also contains a variety of curry, pho, stir fry and noodle dishes, in addition to coffee and pastries. The cold-brew coffee, bubble teas, 28 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

espresso and lattes get favorable feedback from patrons, as do the pandan coconut waffles. One diner was recently enjoying a Lao iced coffee, an iced concoction with cream and sweetened condensed milk. “If you like strong coffee that’s sweet, I highly recommend it,” she said of the drink that she chose to accompany her banh mi, a large pork sandwich on a split baguette, topped with carrots, daikon, cilantro and jalapeño. Coffee Fusion also offers a drink called Viet coffee, similar to the Lao coffee, but not quite as sweet. And for those who enjoy bubble tea, Coffee Fusion offers a good variety of flavors, including kiwi, peach, jackfruit, mango, taro, passionfruit, red bean and honeydew,

Banh Mi

among others. The establishment opens at 7 a.m., making available breakfast sandwiches and bacon and eggs. For lunch, though, the Asian flavors come out. Coffee Fusion owner Iris prepares everything from fried rice to drunken noodles, soups, sandwiches, spring rolls and even a fried tilapia dish (served with jasmine rice and a Thai sweet chili sauce) in the kitchen. Keo, Iris’ husband, says without any further instruction from the customer, the cafe’s curry will come with “a little bit” of spice. Though one diner, very familiar with the local Thai restaurants, recently proclaimed that the spice level of Coffee Fusion’s standard curry is well over “a little bit.” Be prepared. But many like the spice, and here, they can find it. Many of the lunch items come a little tamer for the average American palate. For $7.99 a Coffee Fusion customer can select three items from the “Lunch Table” portion of the menu: fried rice, chicken lo mein, pepper steak, roast pork, chicken

wings, chicken on a stick, chicken and broccoli, tofu and vegetables or yellow curry chicken. And the staff will heat up a breakfast sandwich or wrap anytime of day. For outdoor dining or sipping, a few tables and chairs sit outside of the restaurant. Restaurant patron Joshua Mendoza said he appreciates the variety of food and drink choices at Coffee Fusion, mentioning that he particularly likes the pho, papaya salad, sticky rice and chicken wings. Most anyone can find something to suit them at Coffee Fusion, whether it’s a hot or cold coffee drink, a hot and spicy dish of pho or duck soup, a traditional American breakfast plate or a baked good. And if the curry or pho sets your mouth ablaze, luckily you are already in the right spot to obtain an iced vanilla latte, Thai tea or mango bubble tea for a cool and sweet dessert.

The Dish NAME: Coffee Fusion LOCATION:

836 N. Thompson Ln., Suite 1F PHONE: 615-900-1515 HOURS: Monday–Friday: 7 a.m.–7 p.m.;

Saturday: 7 a.m.–8 p.m.; Sunday: 8 a.m.–6 p.m.

PRICES: Regular iced vanilla latte: $4.05; Large Thai tea: $3.55; Chicken, beef or veggie curry: $9.95; Pork roll banh mi sandwich: $4.99; Shrimp pad Thai, pad se ew or drunken noodles: $10.95; Large brewed coffee: $2.50 ONLINE: thecoffeefusion.com

Movies

REVIEWS

Glover embodies the essence of Lando so well you might wish the movie centered on him. New characters, like Han’s non-Leia love interest Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) and his newfound partner in crime Beckett (Woody Harrelson), are neither very memorable nor completely forgettable, but both feel slightly miscast. Unfortunately, standouts like Val (Thandie Newton) and the sassy droid L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) get short shrift.

While Solo suffers from how-thesausage-was-made syndrome (there are multiple cringeworthy “origin story” moments), Ron Howard’s direction elevates the non-essential heist plot, making for an enjoyable action-adventure. But, like Spielberg with Ready Player One, though the technical skills have remained, something intangible, akin to heart or soul, seems to have disappeared with his youth. The best part of Solo is its production design. Not since Jabba’s palace have I been so drawn to the sets and costumed characters in the background. There are some truly stunning trappings of the Star Wars world within this film. But this also highlights the film’s shortcomings, because they are, after all, just trappings. Stripped away of all the fan-servicing callbacks, all the aesthetic allusions telling us “this is a Star Wars!,” I don’t think there is a good standalone story underneath. Rogue One worked because it told a story integral to the Star Wars saga while introducing interesting new characters. Solo ultimately fails because it tells an non-integral story involving uninteresting versions of old characters. — JAY SPIGHT

was absolutely a lot more content there that they let slip by, and for how much they were featured in the marketing it felt a little . . . lazy to me. There is some lazy writing in this film, taken to the point that Deadpool breaks the fourth wall to point that out. It’s funny the first time, but gets old real fast. Cable is a rather interesting villain, and is played well by Josh Brolin. He’s basically playing himself here, but that’s honestly better than “Thanos without the makeup.” I really like Brolin, so I have no problem with seeing him play himself. And the writing behind his character is really strong, despite

his origins being straight out of Terminator. But his character arc and relationship with Deadpool plays out in an interesting and relatively unique way. Also, Zazie Beetz. Her breakout performance as Domino is easily the best part of this film. If the Atlanta star isn’t overloaded with work after her smart, sleek and snarky portrayal of the lucky heroine, then I don’t know what will do it. If you’re into superhero movies, then Domino is worth the cost of admission alone. You may have noticed that I haven’t really mentioned Deadpool to this point. That’s because his character is where the “more of the same” mantra really applies. Yes, Ryan Reynolds is funny, but he doesn’t experience much any sort of variability from his character in the first film. It’s just more of the same. Which is an easy way to summarize Deadpool 2. If you were a fan of the first one, you’ll be a fan of this one. But if you’re not, or if you’re becoming cynical with the sheer volume of comic book films being released: at best, you’ll shrug and move on; at worst, you’ll nod your head disapprovingly. As for me? *shrugs* — JOSEPH KATHMANN

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY DIRECTOR Ron Howard STARRING Alden Ehrenreich, Emilia Clarke, Joonas Suotamo RATED PG-13

With Solo: A Star Wars Story, the spell has finally been lifted. Where once we were basking in the narcotic haze of nostalgia reborn on the silver screen, now we can see the forest for the Kashyyykian trees: the Marvelization of the Star Wars universe. Only, where Marvel has managed to mine its forgotten heroes and turn them into icons, Disney Star Wars is turning its icons into forgettable heroes. Poor, square-jawed Alden Ehrenreich does his damnedest to inhabit a character that was less a person on the page than it was Harrison Ford himself. This isn’t James Bond; you can’t just recast him. Ehrenreich hasn’t half of Ford’s charisma, bravado or

nonchalance, and it’s jarring to watch Han Solo act solemn when he should be exasperated, worried when he should act casual, and noble when he should be roguish. Surrounding Han is a menagerie of old and new characters. Chewie is always great and would be a hard character to mess up (though not impossible—check out the Star Wars Holiday Special at your peril), and Donald Glover does with Lando Calrissian what Alden E. couldn’t with Han Solo.

DEADPOOL 2 DIRECTOR David Leitch STARRING Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Zazie Beetz, Terry Crews, T.J. Miller RATED R

It’s tough capturing lightning in a bottle twice. The original Deadpool took the world by storm and was a box office smash, crushing all R-rated box office records and paving the way for the R-rated superhero movie. So, does Deadpool 2 successfully follow up the formula of its predecessor? Well . . . yes and no. It feels like something of a cop-out doing the exact same thing again. But hey, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, right? The formula of Deadpool is light and fun with strong jokes scattered throughout its runtime. I think this is exactly what a superhero movie should be. That said, it’s not without faults, the biggest of is T.J. Miller still being involved with this project. Seriously? If All the Money in

the World could remove a top-billed actor in six weeks, then Deadpool 2 could’ve easily removed T.J. Miller in the six-plus months they had since he got caught on the wrong side of the #MeToo movement. And he was featured heavily in the marketing campaign as well! Miller’s brand of stoner humor is easily replaceable; if Silicon Valley could figure out a way to write him out of their show, then Deadpool 2 could’ve done the same. Speaking of marketing campaigns, I was disappointed at how little the X-Force was actually utilized in the film. Yes, they get some good jokes out of the group, but there

A CLASSIC

OUTSTANDING

AVERAGE

BELOW AVERAGE

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

BOROPULSE.COM

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LIVING ROOM CINEMA column by NORBERT THIEMANN

facebook.com/livingroomcinema

Martyrdom

Here are three important movies about modern martyrs who face injustice, and their plights against the English status quo.

 Gandhi (1982) is directed by Richard Attenborough. Ben Kingsley plays Gandhi with great dedication. Mahatma Gandhi inspired the people of India to free themselves of English imperial rule in the 1940s. It is perhaps the greatest display of aggressive non-violent civil disobedience documented in a narrative film. Gandhi should be required viewing in schools everywhere.  Vera Drake (2004) is directed by Mike Leigh. Vera is a loving wife and mother who tries to help anyone she can. In particular, she offers aid to local young women who are in need of her care. It is a work of fiction, but the scenario is recognizably plausible. Mike Leigh’s films often shine a light on social injustices waged against the poor.  Hunger (2008) is directed by Steve McQueen. IRA member Bobby Sands led a prison hunger strike in response to the English revoking their status of being considered prisoners of war. The film is uncompromising in its depictions of protests and the sad wasting away of Bobby Sands.

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OPENING IN JUNE PLAYING THIS MONTH

JUNE 1 Action Point Upgrade

JUNE 8 Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Hotel Artemis

JUNE 15 Incredibles 2 Superﬂy

JUNE 22 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Under the Silver Lake

Murfreesboro CityTV Wins Award for The House Still Standing Documentary THE 39TH ANNUAL TELLY AWARDS has recognized the City of Murfreesboro’s local documentary The House Still Standing as winner in two categories: General Documentary and Biography. The House Still Standing tells the stories of Burrell Gannaway, one of Murfreesboro’s first aldermen, and King Daniel Ganaway, a descendant of a slave who became a celebrated African-American photographer. Documentary writer/narrator Mike Browning and CityTV video producer Michael Nevills collaborated to produce the historical documentary for airing on CityTV. The film highlights the work of genealogists Tim and Brenda Fredericks and Daryl Webb, whose research of their ancestral past unsilenced the story of their African-American ancestor. The House Still Standing first aired as a special edition of Murfreesboro Storytellers in November 2017; its airing continued with a celebration of Black History Month in February 2018. View the documentary at the City of Murfreesboro’s YouTube, or at boropulse.com. “We want to thank the Telly Awards for recognizing the work of these dedicated genealogists who should be recognized as historians in their own right,” said City Public Information Officer Mike Browning. “The Gannaway/Ganaway histories are compelling stories

of early nineteenth-century America and twentieth-century Black migration. We simply wanted to present the history in a way more people in Murfreesboro and across the globe could gain a deeper appreciation for the history, the work by genealogists and the Murfreesboro property.” Genealogists Tim and Brenda Fredericks, of Indianapolis, and Murfreesboro native Daryl Webb first visited Tim and Brenda Fredericks and Daryl Webb the Gannaway home and slave cabins in Murfreesboro in June 2016. Browning, a Public History graduate from MTSU with lengthy television experience, accompanied them as they visited the structures still standing on property in the Barfield area. Tedious research led them to the property after discovering that Tim’s great-grandfather, King Daniel Ganaway, had descended from slaves. Fredericks, who grew up white, and his African-American wife, Brenda, tell the story of how Tim’s family history was kept secret until they uncovered that his AfricanAmerican grandfather was from Murfreesboro. Through their ancestral journey, they have helped other relatives discover their newfound interracial family history.

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News ★ 2018 ELECTION ★ SHAKE-UPS IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE Switching seats in the Senate BY ELIZABETH TULLOS BETWEEN 2017 AND 2018, a surprisingly large number of incumbent legislators in the Tennessee state House of Representatives and Senate announced their departure from their offices. In the 99-seat state House, as many as 17 legislators have announced they will not seek reelection and in the 33seat state Senate, as many as seven senators will not seek reelection. Reasons for the record turnover in the Tennessee General Assembly vary from person to person, including retirement after many years of service or seeking out different offices. Speaker of the House Beth Harwell will not seek reelection in 2018 in favor of her gubernatorial run. Longtime state Senator Bill Ketron of Murfreesboro

has announced his departure from the state’s upper chamber in favor of a campaign for Rutherford County mayor.

SENATE DISTRICT 13 For 16 years, Sen. Ketron has represented Murfreesboro in the state Senate. Over the years he has served as the Republican Caucus Chairman, Vice-Chair of the Joint Fiscal Review Committee and as a member of the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee, State and Local Government Committee and the Commerce and Labor Committee. During his time on the hill, Sen. Ketron has sponsored notable legislation including the 2014 bill to permit wine sales in grocery stores and the 2018 seven-day sales

legislation. Once Sen. Ketron announced his departure from the Senate in favor of the county mayor’s office, several citizens announced their candidacy for his seat.

ERNEST G. BURGESS ernestburgesstn.com Rutherford County’s mayor of 12 years, Ernest Burgess, announced his candidacy for Sen. Ketron’s seat in February of this year. A lifelong resident of Rutherford County, Mr. Burgess has also served as an elder at North Boulevard Church of Christ and a member of the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Inter-Government Relations as well as serving on several local boards before pursuing a seat on Capitol Hill. Under Burgess’s mayoral leadership, a full-time county fire and rescue department was established and the school system has been recognized as one of the best in the state. “Public service is important to me, and I am proud of all we’ve been able to accomplish at the county level,” Burgess said. “I want to take my executive experience and conservative principles to the state senate and continue working for the betterment of Rutherford County. We are in this race to win it, and we will not be outworked. We will leave no stone unturned and no Republican voter untouched and will run a positive campaign focused on the future.”

KELLY NORTHCUTT kellynorthcutt.nationbuilder.com A resident of Murfreesboro for over 20 years, Kelly Northcutt is the only Democrat campaigning for the state Senate vacancy in the upcoming election. A political outsider, Northcutt cites her family’s legacy of military service as her inspiration to seek public office. Northcutt has spent her professional career in the graphic design industry, as an award-winning television art director and in graphics quality assurance. “The majority in our state legislature 36 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

have done more to deny opportunities than to preserve them; to deny rights instead of protecting them; and too little to improve on the day-to-day issues that matter to us all,” Northcutt said. “I strongly believe we need to bring respect and collaboration back to politics. We need to focus on the things that make a difference in our daily lives. I’m used to working hard, and I plan to work hard for the people of this district and for the state of Tennessee.”

DAWN WHITE votedawn.com Following Sen. Ketron’s announcement to retire from the Senate, state Representative Dawn White chose to not seek reelection to her House seat of six years in favor of the Senate vacancy. Before joining the state legislature, Rep. White taught kindergarten in Murfreesboro schools and later owned and operated online retailers thevacuumcenter.com and thesewingcenter. com. Rep. White, a member of the House Education Administration and Planning Committee, sponsored legislation in 2018 that allowed for the development of a high school firearms course. The education standards for the course, outlined in Public Chapter 906, were drawn from gun safety courses from law enforcement agencies and the National Rifle Association. “I believe that it is extremely important to ensure that our next state senator is a proven conservative leader who has a record of standing up for hardworking Tennessee families,” White said. “As State Representative, I’ve fought for lower taxes and for smaller, smarter government, and I’ve proudly stood up against an out-of-control federal government. If I have the honor of serving as Rutherford County’s next state senator, I will continue to fight for our shared conservative values at the state level.” An open primary election for the vacant Senate seat will be held Aug. 2, 2018, and the general election will be held Nov. 6, 2018. Next month, the Pulse will review the candidates running for the state House of Representatives districts in Rutherford County.

AROUND TOWN ’BORO BUSINESS BUZZ

Nerf Wars, Virtual Reality, The Bug Man, Pho Express, McCarter|East, Half Hill Farm, TGI Friday’s

events. Scale House Print Shop will officially open June 15. For more information, check out scalehouseprintshop.com. Columbia’s THE FADED FARMHOUSE is bringing its shabby chic design aesthetic a little closer to Murfreesboro with a new Arrington location. Helmed by Lori Diaz, The Faded Farmhouse offers distressed finish and chalk-painted furniture and accessories for the home. Check it out at thefadedfarmhouse.com.

BY MICHELLE WILLARD THERE ARE A FEW NEW THINGS to do around town. First, the team at LANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES recently announced that it was closing down its laser tag venue to make room for a new attraction. “We felt like laser tag had run its course in Murfreesboro and we wanted to do something different. We saw people were throwing more Nerf tactical combat parties for their kids,” said Jimmy Patrick, owner of Lanes, Trains and Automobiles. Called “MURF WARS,” the new offering is the first indoor foam dart arena in Murfreesboro. Players will be able to use multiple types of Nerf guns to play a liveaction foam dart battle. Hudson Lee was one of the lucky kids who got to try out the arena and he gave his review of Murf Wars, “It’s like playing Fortnite in real life! I loved searching for the hidden chests filled with darts. I want to come back and play again with my friends.” Lanes, Trains and Automobiles plans to eventually offer “Murf Wars” birthday parties where the birthday boy or girl gets to use a special Nerf gun called the Birthday Blaster. Murf Wars opened June 1 at the Lanes, Trains and Automobiles’ location at 450 Butler Dr. in Murfreesboro. The future is now with VIRTUAL REALITY LOUNGE in Stones River Mall. The new VR attraction offers industry-leading equipment to provide users with a truly immersive and exhilarating experience. Using HTC’s VIVE headset and gear, the new lounge allows for the absolute best VR experience whether you want to visit the Eiffel Tower or battle your friends PvP. The VR Lounge also hosts birthday or private parties, corporate events and team building activities, and even host both private and global tournaments.

Speaking of old made new, the old CAMINO REAL on Broad Street is under new ownership and has been rebranded as AZTECA MEXICAN GRILL. MURF WARS

an “AMC CLASSIC.” This designation means the theater will offer more “value” options like an annual refillable popcorn bucket program. Once the Stones River Mall theater opens, a dine-in theater with 1,000 seats with full-service electronic, high-back recliners featuring seat-side dining, it will be called “AMC STONES RIVER 9.” Fresh off opening a new “Wellness Emporium” in Bell Buckle, the fellows at HALF HILL FARM announced they have outgrown their space at the Arts Center of Cannon County. The kombucha and extract maker will move into the building next to DTC on High Street in Woodbury. Owners Christian Grantham and Vince Oropesa purchased the 3,600-square-feet building with plans to expand manufacturing and retail. The High Street location will feature a kombucha tap and tasting room, products made by the farm, handcrafted gifts and other health and wellness products. Half Hill Farm is currently in the third year of a shared lease at the Arts Center of Cannon County where they make and bottle kombucha, botanical extracts, apple cider vinegar tonics, tinctures, teas and more. The

new location will officially open on High Street when the lease with the Arts Center is up at the end of the year. The law office of McCARTER|EAST is moving into the West Main Street building next to Whiskey Dix. After an extensive retrofit, the law office is close to opening. Maybe they’ll offer discount DUI defense to Whiskey Dix customers. There’s no harm in asking. The former location of Top of the Block on Lokey Avenue has a new occupant with THE BUG MAN. The Cassidys, along with company mascot Goldendoodle Lincoln, will move its family business from South Church Street to the building on Lokey. But don’t worry, they’ll still come to your house to kill bugs. Sarah Clark is expanding her side hustle and opening a brick-and-mortar letterpress shop. Called SCALE HOUSE PRINT SHOP, the new shop will be located in the old office and scale house of Clark Iron and Metal, which was built in 1961. Clark uses antique printing presses, handset metal type and hard-carved illustrations to create posters, stationery and unique invitations for special

Another dining option has opened in historic Lascassas. FATGUY BARBECUE has a spot to park its food truck; owner Jordan Pack is ready to fill your belly with barbecue, brisket, ribs and more at a new home directly across from Dollar General and Sweet T’s, another local food truck, on New Lascassas Highway. COUSINS MAINE LOBSTER has expanded its food truck to a physical location at 1932 Almaville Road in Smyrna. Coowner Craig Betts said the biggest difference between the truck and the restaurant is the menu. “There will be things we can do now that we didn’t have room to do on the food trucks,” he said. Some of those new items are whole-belly clams, a lobster BLT and a haddock fish sandwich. Never fear, the lobster truck will continue to prowl the streets looking for hungry lobster lovers. If you’re craving Vietnam’s national soup, PHO EXPRESS has opened on Old Fort Parkway. Located in the strip mall space formerly occupied by Chex and Touchdown Wings, Pho Express has also partnered with blueraiderfood.com to deliver hot soup to your door. As reported last month, McALISTER’S DELI has purchased the building that formerly housed Peter D’s American Southern Bistro on Medical Center Parkway.

In anticipation of opening a new movie theater at the mall, AMC has rebranded Carmike Wynnsong 16, the Cason Lane multiplex, as 38 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

Another familiar favorite, Smyrna’s OMNI HUT, has reopened after a brief labor-related hiatus. The reopening doesn’t come without changes. Owner Polly Walls-Balakhani recently reported that she plans to reopen in June with a lunch buffet, because a buffet takes fewer people to operate.

VIRTUAL REALITY LOUNGE

The deli, which has operated a Memorial Boulevard location since 1999, should open in late fall, Southern Rock Restaurants CEO David Blackburn said. BOOMBOZZ CRAFT PIZZA & TAPHOUSE has finally announced an opening date. Kind of. Bryan Beach, COO of BoomBozz, recently said that eager pizza eaters can mark their calendars for a midJune opening. The Louisville, Kentuckybased chain specializes in gourmet pizzas with premium ingredients, local and craft beers, and TVs, lots and lots of TVs. CLOSINGS CORNER REED AND EMBRY didn’t exactly close, though the business recently moved to another town. Jason Reed and Mike Embry, who created Reed and Embry in 2014, packed up and moved their goods to Franklin. BOB’S BBQ closed its Murfreesboro location in the old Kirkenburt’s spot on Cason Lane; Bob’s still has its Smyrna store. Two chains bit the dust locally in the past month, too. TGI FRIDAY’S closed its store by Stones River Mall, as did Which Wich in The Avenue. The closing of TGI Friday’s leaves only the Madison and Opry Mills locations in Middle Tennessee. The Franklin store closed in November 2017. HOP SPRINGS: ‘RURAL WONDERLAND’ SOON TO OPEN Hop Springs, the 80-acre property that houses the production facilities for Steel Barrel Brewery and the lab for MTSU Fermentation classes celebrated in May with a special sneak-peek opening event. This special event coincided with the annual Craft Brewers Conference, which Nashville hosted this year. Shuttles carried conference attendees from downtown Nashville to Hop Springs, billed as a “rural wonderland” and located on John Bragg Highway (Highway 70S) just about six miles from the MTSU campus. Hop Springs owner Mark Jones, who also owns Franklin-based Mantra Artisan Ales, says he plans for his new property to eventually offer an 18-hole disc golf course, a 3,000-seat amphitheater, a dog park, dining and picnic areas, agricultural fields, livestock pastures and more, and that the property should be officially open to the public in early July. To sign up for the Hop Springs newsletter and stay informed of the latest Hop Springs news, visit hopspringstn.com.

Opinion

SPIRITUAL

MATTERS

first bellow saying it was hungry. While in its mother’s womb, darkness was the calf ’s only reality. It had yet to see the world outside. It had yet to taste the sweet milk of its mother which would nourish and sustain life. And it had yet to breathe the fresh air. But now, suddenly, if it were robbed of that air it would cease to live. What a dramatic change! This calf now lived in a new existence, the existence we call life; and the miracle of birth was the entrance into that life. Jesus speaks of an entrance into a new life as well—a spiritual life, and He uses the image of birth to describe that entrance. Like the beginning of our natural life, Jesus says we “must be born” into this spiritual life. Through this spiritual birth we enter a new world outside our natural existence. Jesus calls this new world, “the kingdom of God.” It is the spiritual world of Christ’s reign. The apostle Paul tells us we are by nature strangers and foreigners to this spiritual world (Ephesians 2:12). In our fallen condition we have no real knowledge or awareness of Christ’s kingdom until God births us into it. Like the unborn calf who, apart from birth, cannot see the world outside its mother’s womb, Jesus tells Nicodemus that, we “cannot see the kingdom of God,” unless we are “born again.” But Jesus also tells Nicodemus: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” He distinguishes between natural and spiritual birth. By doing this Jesus does not allow Nicodemus to assume he is a “natural born” citizen of the spiritual realm. Nicodemus may be alive physically and yet spiritually be “unborn.” This is true for all of us. If we are spiritually unborn, we live in the womb of our fallenness, and the light of the spiritual world is outside our perception. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh;” it is not spirit. If Nicodemus truly perceived Jesus as “a teacher come from God” then it was not his own flesh and blood which revealed this truth to him; rather it was a spiritual revelation

BY RICK MALONE

Born Into A New Life THE APOSTLE JOHN TELLS us in the third chapter of his gospel: 1. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 3. Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” . . . 6. That which is born of the flesh

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is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:1–3, 6–8). Birth is a miracle. As a young boy working on a dairy farm in Indiana, I witnessed this miracle many times. It was amazing to see the first flicker of light in a calf ’s eye, the first breath it inhaled, the

birthed into him by the Father in heaven (Matthew 16:17). The apostle Paul tells us in First Corinthians: The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). When we are yet spiritually unborn, the power and the glory of the cross and all the benefits it brings seem like foolishness to us. People may tell us there is a world that exists out there, a world of God’s love and mercy found in Christ, a world where Jesus reigns over all that is. But, being spiritually unborn, we cannot see that reign, so we fail to believe it. But once God births us into spiritual life, those things no longer seem like foolishness to us. We have been given eyes to see the kingdom of God. We find that the work Christ performed on the cross is no longer foolish, but something we put our hope and trust in. This is the difference between being naturally alive and spiritually alive. Many of us have loved ones with whom we share the grace and love of Christ, yet their reception of that grace is not what we hope. And we wonder why they cannot see. Why do they fail to believe a gospel that is so wonderful and so life-changing and so forgiving of our brokenness? Jesus answers this question. He helps us understand the inability of the flesh: “That which is born of the flesh is (only) flesh.” Putting our trust and faith in Christ is a spiritual act the flesh cannot perform. It is only once we have been birthed into that realm that we behold its glory, and it becomes a life we want and cherish. Jesus continues in His discourse with Nicodemus by comparing the Spirit’s rebirthing (or regenerating) work to the wind. He says in verse eight, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” This new birth is a performance of the Spirit of God. We do not birth

ourselves into the spiritual realm any more than we birthed ourselves into the natural realm. God is the progenitor of this family. His Spirit comes as a force like the wind. His regenerating power blows “where He wishes,” and He brings spiritual life out of death. He births believing faith into hearts of darkness. And He performs this birthing work through the truth of the gospel. James tells us, “By His own will He begat us, through the word of truth” (James 1:18). God uses the “word of truth” to accomplish the birthing process. This word of truth is the glorious gospel of the love of Christ: that by His love He went to the cross to take upon Himself our sin and give us His righteousness: “For our sakes God made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus “knew no sin.” Who of us can make such a claim? We are all naturally unrighteous. Out of the womb of our fallenness we live a fallen life. We may strive to live a good life. But we can never escape the fact that we “know sin.” It is our constant companion, even when we overcome it. We can never achieve the perfection of righteousness. But God has provided a righteousness for us, the righteousness of Christ. And in this truth, we see the infinite value of the gospel. The one who “knew no sin” took our sin upon Himself that we might become His righteousness. He took our sin. And the cost of that sin was death. As He made that payment He redeemed all those who are His. He substituted Himself in our place. And in turn He laid His righteousness upon us. What an exchange! What a gospel! Through the proclamation of this gospel the Spirit of God blows the breath of new life into hearts. Is the Spirit blowing in your heart? Is there something which rings true as you read these words? Is there something which draws you to the Savior who died for you? Place your trust in Him. Like a new birth, enter this new world of the kingdom of God, where there is light and life and perfect forgiveness.

Opinion Our President Has a Long History of Inclusion, Working With Jewish People

ou know what’s getting old? This tired line from the left-wing media that President Donald Trump is a racist, anti-Semitic homophobe. Let’s dispense with the anti-Semitism charge straight away. The man just moved the American embassy to Jerusalem. This is something Israel has wanted us to do for decades. It’s also something that three prior presidents

VIEWS OF A

CONSERVATIVE

PHIL VALENTINE

philvalentine.com

promised to do but didn’t. Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he would move the embassy and he did. Why that’s so controversial is beyond me, but Israel loves Donald Trump. One would think a president who promised to move the embassy and then didn’t would be the one labeled anti-Semitic. Only in the world of Trump Derangement

Syndrome do we see this. Not to mention that Trump’s own daughter, son-in-law and grandkids are Jewish. The media made hay over Trump’s reportedly odd relationship with his daughter. He’s obviously crazy about her. And she’s Jewish. How can the man hate Jews? Oh, but that’s just his daughter. He must hate all the other Jews, right? No. He surrounds himself with Jews. He’s done business his entire life with Jews. He seeks their counsel. He appoints them to positions of power and socializes with them. Which brings me to Mar-a-Lago. Some of you may not be familiar with this story. It’s amazing how many people aren’t. Trump bought Mar-a-Lago in 1985 and proceeded to turn it into a social club. The only problem was he socialized with blacks, gays and Jews. The town of Palm Beach continually tried to throw roadblocks in front of him and shut the club down. Trump sued. At an infamous hearing in 1996, Trump had his attorney distribute copies of the movies Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, about a white woman who brings a black man home to meet her parents, and Gentleman’s Agreement, about a reporter who masquerades as a Jew to write a piece on anti-Semitism. Trump filed another lawsuit. The town council eventually relented. If you’re hearing this story for the first time you need to ask yourself why that is. I always say media bias isn’t so much what they tell you, it’s what they don’t. That Mara-Lago story is a huge piece of the Donald Trump story. Let me ask it this way. Can you

imagine the left-wing media would ever stop talking about that story if it were a Democrat? Not a chance. In fact, the Democrat would’ve already won some coveted leftwing prize for it. Donald Trump is anti-illegal-immigrant. The left wants you to think he’s just antiimmigrant. He’s also anti-terrorist. The left would have you believe he’s anti-Muslim. The problem is the left is losing so badly these days that the only club they have left in their golf bag is the bigotry wedge. And it’s wearing thin. Even such liberal darlings as former San Francisco mayor Willie Brown have admitted trashing Trump is a losing strategy. “It’s time for Democrats to stop bashing President Trump,” Brown recently wrote in the Chronicle. “Like it or not,” he wrote, “a significant number of Americans are actually happy these days.” He admonished the Democrats for not coming up with their own platform that addresses voters’ hopes and dreams. Donald Trump joked on the campaign trail that America would get so sick of winning. The Democrats already are. That muchtouted “Blue Wave” grows ever-smaller as it fades over the horizon. And if you look real hard you can see it waving goodbye.

“Donald Trump said on the campaign trail that he would move the embassy and he did. Why that’s so controversial is beyond me, but Israel loves Donald Trump.”

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Phil Valentine is an author and nationally syndicated radio talk show host with Westwood One. For more of his commentary and articles, visit philvalentine.com.

Live Exceptionally...Well! BY JENNIFER DURAND

Existence With Harmony OVER SEVERAL DECADES I have had the privi-

lege of exploring, studying and applying a variety of natural therapies. One in particular that I am fond of is known as Breema. The practice is simple yet profound. It is precisely written so I will share some of the excerpts taken from Breema — Essence of Harmonious Life by Jon Schreiber, founder of the Breema Center in Oakland, California. He travels the world teaching and has written several books to support a deeper understanding of this practice. Jon learned Breema from Malicheck Mooshan, as described below. Breema Bodywork’s name comes from the village in the Kurdish mountains where the therapy originated. The practice has been passed down through the generations by local masters. Malicheck Mooshan learned this form of healing from his grandfather and then brought it to the United States, where he developed a teaching center during the 1980s. Working with its nine principles of harmony creates balance and cooperation between the mind, body and feelings and awakens and revitalizes every cell of both the practitioner and the recipient. Like other Eastern forms of bodywork, Breema Bodywork recognizes that the act of cultivating the life-force energy, known to Kurds as del-aka, as an essential part of healing. The applied bodywork, done on a fully clothed client lying on a padded floor, uses a variety of techniques ranging from the simple holding of points on the body to movements that enhance flexibility and dexterity. Breema Bodywork should balance all the energy systems as a part of daily life, so body movements used in activities such as forming bread dough or doing farm work are also employed. Breathwork is also incorporated with stretches during the treatment. As with most energetic modalities, the work is intended to activate the body’s own self-healing forces. There are Nine Principles of Harmony in Breema. They are most useful tools when trying to quiet the ever-chattering mind. They are principles to live by, not just to apply when doing the bodywork. BODY COMFORTABLE – The first principle of Breema is Body Comfortable. Take a few breaths, and experience that your body is breathing, and that your body has weight. You can experience the refreshment of becoming available to yourself and to your immediate situation. Real comfort is a dimension of consciousness where everything is working in harmony. NO EXTRA – We exist as a part of the whole of existence, in perfect harmony with the whole. To express our true nature, nothing extra is needed. When our being is participating, we are able to accept our thoughts and feelings because they no longer keep us from living life in harmony with existence. FIRMNESS AND GENTLENESS – Firmness

and gentleness are never separate. They complement each other. In firmness and gentleness we can find the possibility of harmonizing our mental and emotional activity, so that they can support each other. Firmness comes from the knowledge that “there is a body.” Gentleness comes from the presence of our natural feelings which, nonverbally, express gratitude for being alive. FULL PARTICIPATION – The most natural way of moving and living is with full participation. Full participation is possible when body, mind and feelings are united in a common aim. When the mind and feelings participate fully in the activity of the body, we can let go of imaginary separation. MUTUAL SUPPORT – Any time you give support, mutual support is taking place, because you are receiving support simultaneously. When you are in a position to give support, it is because you have been supported to be in that position. At any moment you manifest in harmony with your understanding, in harmony with your conscience, in harmony with your true nature, you are being supported. NO JUDGMENT – Our thinking mind is incapable of comprehending the timeless nature of reality. The mind thinks in concepts, imagining everything to be outside of itself. That is the root of our judgmental attitude toward life. The present is the domain of our being, not of our mind. Through being present and actualizing the principles of no judgment, an atmosphere of acceptance is created. SINGLE MOMENT, SINGLE ACTIVITY – When you are present, there is a single moment. Your receptivity to the moment becomes a single activity. In the absence of thought and feelings, you enter into the present, and there is one moment and one activity. NO HURRY, NO PAUSE – Through connection to the body, we enter the present. Our being participates, without hurry or pause, and our rhythm is the rhythm of existence. Our movements and activities are in harmony with the natural flow of life energy. NO FORCE – Moment after moment, awareness emanates, and the timeless process of existence flows without force. To be in harmony with existence is our nature. All that’s necessary is to let go of assumptions of separation. These principles take a little more digesting than a mere glance. I hope something strikes a curiosity in you to explore more. Breema is available at The Nurture Nook Day Spa, with other practitioners in the Nashville area. Jennifer Durand is the owner and operator of The Nurture Nook Day Spa & Gift Shoppe. Let her help you find your personal “ahh . . .” factor by visiting nurturenook.com or calling 615-896-7110. BOROPULSE.COM

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Opinion The

STOCKARD REPORT BY SAM STOCKARD WORD ON THE STREET in December 2017 was that the Murfreesboro City Council would give Rob Lyons the boot as city manager and replace him with City Attorney Craig Tindall—at least temporarily. Sometimes it takes things longer than expected to come to fruition— about six months in this case. It’s also pretty unusual for a city attorney to apply for a city manager TINDALL job. It’s never happened here, though some people would contend city attorneys and county attorneys, for that matter, have been running the show in Rutherford County for years. But council memSMOTHERMAN bers were almost irate with a consulting firm’s handling of a national search, as well as the candidates it turned up. The firm apparently didn’t bother providing any interviews of the 10 finalists, none of whom overwhelmed the council anyway. Thus, they had very little to go on, and basically the crap hit the fan. So it wasn’t surprising to see City Councilman Eddie Smotherman nominate Tindall for the post, based on the failed national search and considering what was being said in late December when Lyons was on the hot seat. Smotherman, in fact, acknowledges he wanted Tindall to take the job as interim city manager last year, giving the council an opportunity to see him on the job before it would have to vote whether to retain him or not. Instead, the council made Jim Crumley 44 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

the interim city manager, and now they’re putting all their bets on Tindall. In a letter to the council, he touts his experience as city attorney in Glendale, Arizona, and in Murfreesboro, where he handled ordinances, finances, department communications, etc. Questions have surfaced about whether Tindall had the inside scoop on the job since he advised council members during attorney-client meetings about how to handle the Lyons situation last year. Council members, including Mayor Shane McFarland, are adamant they didn’t talk to Tindall about giving him the job at those private sessions. Apparently, we’ll have to trust them, which is a scary thought, since those meetings are closed, allowing the city attorney to discuss legal strategy with city officials. But the proof, ultimately, will be in Tindall’s perMcFARLAND formance once the council approves the contract for his $180,000 yearly salary, plus $40,000 in benefits. The questions are many: Will he be able to function in the open, which city managers are largely required to do? Attorneys can keep much of their activity confidential, since it deals with legal advice, although Tindall typically answers questions when asked. Also, will he be able to help break the city’s habit of spending money like a drunken sailor? Why did the council go back with Strategic Government Resources for a national search when it failed to produce results in a search for an HR director? And, why didn’t anyone with major credentials want the city manager’s job? Tindall, after all, could have taken it when the council asked city employees to look at it last December. Maybe, just maybe, nobody really wants to work for the council. I’d take the $180 grand, plus benefits, but I couldn’t work for them, especially if they handled everything like the hiring of Tindall.

PHOTO COURTESY OF WGNS RADIO

Tindall, Trains and Tight Security at New Judicial Building BEAUTIFUL BUT HATED

The early verdict on the $74 million Rutherford County Judicial Complex: It’s pretty, but it sucks. It has plenty of open space, lots of big courtrooms (no more jostling for elbow room in standing-room-only courts with folks who need a douse of cologne), plenty of discussion tables and a huge montage of pictures depicting the cupola of the Historic County Courthouse. Compared to the former Judicial Building, it’s a palace, especially the old room where defendants, district attorneys and public defenders handled their business. Seriously, it’s hard to believe nobody caught a disease from those filthy chairs where people sat while waiting to talk to a public defender. Half the time, someone would be sleeping against the wall with slobber hanging out their mouth. They needed drool buckets, not plea agreements. Anyway, those days are done, and we’re on to better climes. But county leaders got attorneys’ dander up when they made them go through a metal detector with the rest of the rabble. And with security considered paramount— bordering on paranoia—they made it harder for court people to do their jobs. They’ve got attorneys running up and down elevators from inmates to courts, and judges are pretty much blocked off from everybody. So much for efficiency and communication. You might see judges on the bench, or when they walk to lunch. Otherwise, forget about it. The same with their court assistants. The old General Sessions office was, oddly enough, a pretty cool place to hang out. Besides the staff, attorneys were always in there having orders and other documents signed, and judges were accessible in their offices. No more. And the plan that stationed a General Sessions Court judge at the county jail to expedite hearings? Apparently, it’s gone with the wind.

“The old General Sessions office was, oddly enough, a pretty cool place to hang out. Besides the staff, attorneys were always in there having orders and other documents signed, and judges were accessible in their offices. No more.” At least we don’t have inmates walking down the hallways anymore, though I never saw one of them threaten anybody. And, we’ve been able to put about eight more deputies to work in security at the new building. Too bad the escalator never seems to work. Oh well, they don’t really need it anyway. It’s about as useful as the overall security plan, which has sealed people off from the public and made communication damn near impossible.

TRANSIT DOWN THE DRAIN

Dreams of catching a high-speed train in Murfreesboro for the commute to downtown Nashville are gone, dashed by those dratted Davidson County voters. They just didn’t see the sense in spending more than $5 billion (or maybe $9 billion) for buses, light rail lines and a 2-mile downtown tunnel to make getting around Greater Nashville easier. Instead, it’s going to be status quo. Better get a comfortable ride or one with great gas mileage if you’re driving to Nashville regularly. Then again, it was going to take many years to build light-rail lines out Nashville’s main corridors, maybe 15 years, and even then they weren’t going to reach the Davidson County line. It would take even longer for Rutherford County and other doughnut counties to build lines to meet those in Nashville.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21 The divine word is potential only as it represents the full consent of man’s mind, soul, heart and will. Eve gave her answer simply without doubt; Christ gave his answer with perfect faith. The temptation was a movement towards humanity on the part of Christ. Men had lost sight of him for something like 30 years, with one exception. He was near them at his birth; and again he approached society when he was 12 years old; but now that he is in the wilderness he seems nearer to human hearts than before. From the baptism he went up, as it were, towards God as the “Beloved Son;” but from the temptation he comes earthward as the Son of man. The Jordan lies on the heavenly, the wilderness on the earthly side of Christ. There is a “river,” but there is no wilderness, in heaven. The particular manner of the inauguration, so far as its demonstrativeness is concerned, seems to have been required by the protracted seclusion of Jesus Christ. It is not a little perplexing that one whose birth had been attended by such marked, such unparalleled circumstances, would have been allowed by his contemporaries to subside into obscurity for a considerable succession of years. It seems impossible. We should think that Nazareth would have been watched day and night; that all the learning and religion of the land would have adjourned thither, and impatiently demanded a decision respecting the destiny of the Child. Instead of this, the most marvelous birth of the ages is allowed to fall into partial, if not into total, oblivion. The demonstration attending the birth makes this subsidence the more remarkable. The song of angels, the homage of wise men, the sensation in Jerusalem—all increase the wonder. It is to be borne in mind, however, that by many the sword of Herod was supposed to have taken away the Child of the Star and the Song. When that Child reappeared at the age of 12 years, he did so without any of those demonstrations which had accompanied the birth, simply exciting attention by his unusual sagacity. It was a long way, too, in those days from Bethlehem to Nazareth, and in that detested Galilean town the ear of corn could die before reappearing in its multiplied form.

By the time all this could get done, anyone who voted for it would likely be retired or dead. I’d probably be face down on my laptop with someone peeling my cold, stiff fingers off the keys. So the idea of catching a tram or train to Nashville, hooking up to WI-Fi and checking email or writing a story—instead of making an hour-and-a-half commute, on a good day—will probably remain that: an idea. Those who opposed the May 1 referendum in Nashville made lots of great points, the main one being it was too dang expensive for the return. The wiser thing would have been to embark on this 25

Strange, tumultuous years they must have been, overshadowed by that mysterious Son of hers, and must have sunk under the great burden of its own reflections, had not “the power of the Highest” been her continual defense and rest. This long seclusion seemed to require an inauguration corresponding, in some degree, with the annunciation. Instead of the Star we see the Dove; instead of the Song we hear the Voice from heaven; and instead of the flight into Egypt we have the withdrawal into the wilderness. At this point, we get another glance at the unity of the double mystery of Christ. He took the dispensations as he found them; he underwent circumcision, and gave to the Lord a pair of turtle-doves and two young pigeons; long year afterward, he found God’s purpose set forth in a particular baptism, and openly identified himself with it; then he was taken into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. Why hesitate to say so plainly, and believe so literally? A man who had not been tempted would have been of no use to men. He would have been a stranger to their mental history; only able to talk at, but never to their spirit: all his words, refined and lustrous, would never have penetrated into the deep rips and wounds of human nature. There is no need to gloss the bare and startling announcement that Christ was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. It is better to put the fact thus boldly before men. The weary, aching heart cannot feed on metaphors, or the cunning sleights of rhetoric; give it a Christ tempted, yet victorious, and the fact that one man has overcome the devil will sustain its own endeavors in the same daily conflict. The scene in the wilderness illustrates the risks of solitude. The self-diabolizing spirit of man always reveals itself to the lonely contemplatist, either in moments of vacancy or under the stress of spiritual crises. Eve was tempted when she was alone; the suicide succumbs when he is pushed into the last degree of loneliness; the darkest thoughts of the conspirator becloud the mind when he has most deeply cut the social bond: when man is alone, he loses the check of comparison with others; he miscalculates his force, and deems too little of the antagonisms which that

force may excite. All these are among the risks of solitude. The solitary man either degenerates into a misanthrope and the tool of the diabolizing spirit, or he enriches and strengthens his life by reverent and subduing contemplation. Whenever we can glimpse the course of the diabolic spirit, we are left in no doubt as to the value which he sets upon the individual heart. He teaches new doctrine in numbers. We calculate majorities by units; he teaches that the unit itself may be the majority; he counts by much, not many, his majorities being measured not by numbers but by force. The minority may be the majority. Caesar is more than all Caesar’s legions. When Eve was overthrown, a world was conquered. The persons whom the devil has elected to high offices in his government have been strongly individual in character and faculty; from Eve to Judas, the succession has been marked by the coolest subtlety or the intensest passion. As the devil won a world when he won Eve, he knew that he would have won it twice, and forever kept it, if he had subdued her Son. But the risks of solitude, it should be added, are in proportion to its value. This was Christ’s example, illustrated most vividly at one exciting point in his history: the disciples of John went and told Jesus that their master had been murdered by Herod; the intelligence seems to have shocked his spirit with a disappointment: sickened and saddened by this talk of blood, “he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart,” as if to average the murder upon the diabolic instigator, or to weep great drops of blood; yet we are told in the very next verse, that “Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion towards them, and healed their sick.” These were the hemispheres of his life—secrecy and publicity; praying in the desert, and healing in the city; weeping alone, and working in the presence of many witnesses. The desert was to Christ a holy place, after the initial battle; the sight of the old footmarks inspired his depressed heart; the echoes of the victorious quotations became as voices of promise. In the first instance, he was led up of the Spirit into the same wilderness to be comforted. The answers which Christ returned to the tempter illustrate the intensely spiritual nature of

the temptation, and show how man is dependent upon an objective revelation in seasons of trial. Not one answer was returned from within; the soul looked out of itself for defense, yet gave the answers with the firm emphasis of perfect trust. Man cannot do things simply because they are “written.” The action comes from the harmony which is established between what is felt and what is “written;” consciousness and revelation must be at one, and then the citation of written authority is not a sign of personal weakness, but a token of vital fellowship with God. If merely to say “it is written” were enough, then no man would fall; the point of failure is where the written Word and the life of the soul are not entirely at one. Men are not kept by revelation, but by the acceptance of the heart of that which is revealed. Yet objective revelation is of the highest consequence in human life. It stays the soul in special conflicts, and as men may feel stronger and safer in company than in loneliness, so the heart feels braver by the very presence of a written Word. A subjective revelation might have been the only revelation given, and might have been enough under primary conditions; but by so much as man fell from those conditions, he required books as well as a conscience. Nor does Christ’s example hinder this position; for throughout he combated the diabolic spirit as a man; nowhere did he launch the lightnings of his proper divinity in reply, but ever made the simple answer of a man who had the revelation of God. Other courses were open to Christ. He could have recalled the tempter’s own memories of heaven, the ancient sentence, the terrible deposition; the indwelling God might have shone through the human eyes, and abashed the tempter by the light from which he had been expelled; yet all this side of defense is untouched, and the tempted man shelters himself behind the rampart of the written Word. Every assault is encountered upon the human side: to have met the tempter otherwise would have been to deflect from the only course possible to man, and to have divested the wilderness period of the Incarnation of all the features which endear it to probationary manhood. •••

years ago, when it was a whole lot cheaper. Then maybe we wouldn’t look at light rail or trams or trains as some sort of mystery. But even back in the mid-’90s, people got sticker shock when they looked at the price tag, and it’s not getting any cheaper. Instead, look for the American love affair with the vehicle to continue, at least in Middle Tennessee, and despite talk about autonomous cars ruling the future, will they wreck any less than those maniacs who drive I-24 every day? I doubt it. Sam Stockard can be reached at sstockard44@gmail.com. BOROPULSE.COM

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Opinion Higher Thoughts for Everyday Living, Vol. VI MIDDLE TENNESSEE HYPNOTIST, PHILOSOPHER AND MOTIVATOR M.C. Radford encourages everyone to think positively and live life with a healthy, optimistic attitude. Here, he shares more points from his book Higher Thoughts for Everyday Living, suggesting that readers meditate on one each day—and be amazed at the positive changes that transpire in their lives.

1 All disease, suffering, and evil are cre-

ated by man, not God. 2 God only creates into your life what you tell Him to create. He gives us the law of attraction. He says we should keep thinking about it and He will create it. When you are thinking about good, you are thinking about God. Isn’t that simple? 3 The only personal responsibility you have is what you think. You are praying all day long every day because what you think is your prayer. So doesn’t it make sense to keep your mind stayed on good because what you keep thinking about, you are praying about? All continued prayer is answered. 4 Many fools believe in the devil. If you want to know who the devil is, his name is self. There is only one power, one spirit and one intellect. Use this power in a negative way and you will have evil or the devil. Use it in a positive way and you have good or God. I say that this all-powerful mind is neither good nor bad, it is neutral. It is how you use it that puts the label on it. 5 Only man has the power to create evil. If God is perfect, as people say He is, then how could He even know anything about evil? Man was given complete freedom to create his world. He went right to work in creating an ego which is nothing more or less than the opinions of other people. With all these opinions, he sets out to manufacture his life in the likeness or the combination of all the earthly opinions he accepts as reality. 6 Many people believe that God is the creator of disease. The word disease was originally dis-ease. In other words dis (not) at ease in the mind eventually becomes dis-ease in the body which leads to ill health. So again we, not God, are the creators of disease. 7 Accidents on the highway are when two fools meet. Explanation: it is a matter of time and space. If the victims were in tune with the universal mind, then they would not have been taking up that space at that particular time. 8 A Japanese philosopher once stated, 46 * JUNE 2018 * BOROPULSE.COM

“When disaster strikes, the truth student is never there.” When a person is being robbed, his thoughts have brought him to that very spot. In short, his thoughts caused him to be in the same time and space of the energy field as the robber was in—thus the saying: There is an accident waiting to happen. 9 Some in the fields of psychology and psychiatry have come to the point of admitting that 80 percentage of all disease is of mental origin. A truth cannot be partially right, so one of these days they will come to the conclusion that the correct percentage is 100. 0 All sickness is caused by the way a person is coping with some situation in his or her life. This is why a doctor named Quimby (the father of metaphysics) made the statement that the explanation of why you have the disease is the cure. q There is a doctor in Texas who has treated many terminal cancer patients and cured them. The first question he asks them when they come to see him is: “Why do you want to die?” When they figure that out, they are on their way to being healed. w Jesus was a great healer because He realized that the mind and body were one. He knew that to heal the body, He had to treat the mind. He did this by asking, “Do you believe?” When they said yes, He said “Your belief has made you whole.” e You don’t have pain and suffering because you have an illness. You have an illness because you think of pain, suffering and sickness. r Many people will tell me they have a cold or the flu. I say, “What disappointment or aggravating circumstance has happened to you in the last week?” They will respond, “How do you know that?” My answer is always the same, “Because there has to be a cause for every effect.” t The reason so many people have sickness is they set out to beat the world instead of cooperating with it. y There is in us a mind that never sleeps; it is always active with untold power that

has never been utilized. This is a mind so powerful that it could not possibly belong to one person; it belongs to all of us. It is the subconscious mind. And everyone has access to it to create whatever we want in this life. u The subconscious mind is the most powerful mechanism in the universe, and we can use it as we see fit. We need to use our minds to create our world as we want it to be. i The conscious mind is insignificant and can barely cope with everyday life. Believe it or not, it is the boss over the all-powerful subconscious mind. The Creator gave you dominion over all things—that means dominion over the subconscious mind which is the creative intelligence of the universe. o The Bible says: “Ask, believe and receive.” The subconscious mind is telling you to ask for anything, believe in it, and it will create it for you. p When you are thinking intensely on anything, you are asking the subconscious to deliver it, whether it is good or bad. a I had a 35-year-old man come to me who had a fear of dying in his sleep when he reached 35. I helped him to regress back to when he was 4 years old; he had heard his mother and father talking about a man who lived down the street who died in his sleep at 35 years of age. This incident stuck in his mind and caused him to develop the fear of dying in his sleep at age 35. I removed the prompter, and that removed the fear. s Many people live a miserable life because of some negativism stuck or pushed into their mind when they were young. Any good hypnotist can remove the garbage from your past and let you live a more fulfilling life. d Every time you are able to remove negative experiences from your subconscious mind, you become more normal or perfect. As Jesus mentioned, we all must become perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect. f There was a man who struggled with poverty. No matter what he did, there was never enough money to meet his financial

needs. It was discovered that the prompter that caused this was planted when he was a small child. He had overheard his mother saying that there was never enough money to go around. It stuck in his mind until it was removed through hypnosis. g Here are a few prompters that have ruined people’s life: “There’s just so much sickness in the world.” “Nobody ever did anything for me.” “People are just going take what they can get from me.” “I am not good enough.” “I won’t ever amount to anything.” “Nobody loves me.” A trained hypnotist can help you remove all these prompters. h Every condition and circumstance in your life can be changed to conform to your conscious desires. j No matter where you were born, who your parents were, or what the circumstance were in your life when you were growing up, you can build a success pattern in your mind and nervous system that will take you to success, good health and a harmonious life. k There is only one mind, and we are all a part of it. When a person writes a hit song, the writer is only the instrument through which the song came. The writer prepared his mind to receive it from the universal mind. l The universal mind that is in each one of us knows no lack or limitation. It only knows to create, and it creates into it exactly what you think. ; You only need to know two things: Fear is your enemy, and love is your friend. The one you think about the most will be your partner in life. M.C. Radford will answer any questions on the mind, brain, body, spirit, hypnosis, cybernetics, parapsychology or metaphysics. He can help eliminate smoking, excess weight, fears, phobias, sexual problems, insomnia, anxiety, stage fright and other issues. For improved confidence, motivation and concentration, and to take control over your life, body and mind, contact Radford today at 615-351-2939.

Sports

SPORTS

TALK

COLUMN BY “Z-TRAIN”

titanman1984@gmail.com

Titans Getting New Pieces in Place for Playoff Run NFL Reignites Anthem Controversy with Vague Policy COREY DAVIS

THE TRAIN DADDY IS BACK, bringing sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk. All aboard! Let me start off this article with some solid advice. Enjoy life and quit whining about your problems; we all have problems. Make sure you treat family with respect, hug your dog, shoot an AR15, ride a bike, go camping, grill some chicken, dress up as Spider-man, play horseshoes, touch a dolphin, buy a hammock, plant a flower and at the end of the day thank God you live in America, the greatest country in the world. First, let’s talk soccer, since the World Cup is around the corner. It is quite embarrassing that the superpower of the world was unable to field a team for the event. Team USA failed to qualify. But first, here’s a story, so gather ’round, children. Once upon a time, quite recently in fact, there was a Muslim soccer player named Mo-

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hamed Salah whose name is being uttered in the same fashion as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He set the Premier League record for most goals scored in a 38-game season this season (32 goals) and has become a hero for Liverpool and his home country, Egypt. Being Muslim, Ramadan is a big thing for Salah. A month of fasting. Being a soccer player, fasting can be a stupid thing, a month of no energy. Ramadan begins in the middle of May and ends one day before the World Cup begins. That’s a problem for many Muslim soccer players, who need fuel to survive. Salah decided to break his fast and shortly after that suffered a nasty injury, putting his World Cup status at question. Then a Muslim preacher blasted Salah, claiming soccer wasn’t a legitimate excuse to break his fast, and it was God’s punishment served. I have one piece of advice for that preacher: “suck it!”

Who am I to speak on these matters? I am the Z-Train, that’s who! I read an article about one of the most famous soccer players in the world being lambasted for eating by a moronic preacher who said he deserved his injury, and it pissed me off. So who will win the World Cup, Z-Train? My guess is the reigning champs, Germany, or Brazil. Superstar Lionel Messi has one more shot at glory with Argentina. Maybe Mexico can make some noise being the only CONCACAF team in the field. That would make my brothers at Camino Real do a little Mexican jig. I eat way too many fajitas and trust me, they will read this article. I’m rooting for Mexico! Maybe even Salah will get healthy and lead Egypt to glory.

NFL ANTHEM POLICY

The new policy is extremely vague and opens the door for more problems. The policy states that if you’re on the field during the anthem you must stand and show respect. It also states players will be allowed to stay in the locker room during the anthem if they wish. Fines will be given to teams whose players break these rules. The NFL didn’t care to define respect, so I imagine the protesting players will be emboldened to create new signs of protest. The NFL had the opportunity to nip this in the bud in 2016, when Kap first took a knee. They ignored it and they lost fans, ratings declined, ticket sales declined and the league minced words for two years in support of players and pissed many fans off. Towards the second half of last season the anthem protest was nearly nonexistent, even during the playoffs, it wasn’t a topic. Then three months later, in May, when football is in its off season, the NFL created hysteria with this new policy. The NFL ruling has no more to do with President Trump than a squirrel’s nuts do. It’s all about the

money! Sure, Trump loves to take credit for this, but money talks and the NFL was protecting the shield. The policy is appropriate, first and foremost because the NFL can do what they want in relation to the game and its players’ actions. The NFL is like Tony Soprano and the players are like the strippers at The Bada-Bing. Tony makes the rules, the strippers listen, or they get fired. Simple, yes? The NFL handles all controversies in poor fashion. It’s not just conservatives mad about antiAmerican sentiments now. The NFL somehow managed to get liberals pointing a finger at them for being racially insensitive. Can the NFL do anything right? The best move was to do nothing and hope the anthem protest died on its own. Personally, I hate the protest. The players showed disrespect to a country that allows them to make millions playing with a ball. I won’t let a bunch of jackass players and disgruntled fans turn me away from the game, though. Many conservatives cried like Lady Liberty was being raped and claimed they were done with the NFL. Liberals passionately support players protesting and then call people like me racist and complacent for not showing support. America is a place where her citizens, no matter which race or gender, can succeed, as long as they’re willing to work and not whine. We all have hurdles, some higher than others, but we’re all given the opportunity to be in the race.

A NEW TITANS

It’s a new year, Titans fans. New uniforms, new coaches and some new talent make Tennessee. The team is fresh off its first playoff berth since 2008, and its first playoff victory since 2004. What do the Titans have to do to build upon their first playoff victory in 14 years? First, is it possible to let Coach Vrabel suit up as well as be coach, just in case? There is no doubt this dude would dominate every coach and nearly every player on the team in a brawl. Vrabel is a beast!

New defensive coordinator Dean Pees . . . pees on what? He will pee all over the AFC South and he will pee on any who stand in his way. He has two Super Bowl rings and six top-10 finishes in total defense in 10 seasons as a defensive coordinator. I put pressure on Corey Davis. The second-year wide receiver is poised to break out, and in my opinion has to break out in order for the Titans to progress. The pressure is warranted, being drafted No. 5 overall in the 2017 NFL draft. Heading into 2018 much is expected—like 1,000 yards expected. Aside from Rishard Matthews, the receiving corps is young. Delanie Walker stated he is the best all-around tight-end in the league, and is poised to duplicate his amazing 2017 season. Be ready for Rashaan Evans and Harold Landry. Harold may be the best pass rusher out of the draft, and Evans can do it all—rush, drop and enforce the run. I am so excited to see this new defense take the field. With that secondary of Malcolm Butler, Logan Ryan, Adoree Jackson and Kevin Byard, I dream interceptions and sacks. That offense, combined with this defense. Balance! Taylor Lewan stands 6 feet 9 inches, 309 pounds, and is a fan favorite. The unofficial body guard of Marcus Mariota and the man who drinks his beer straight from the gullet of a catfish, Taylor is in the midst of contract discussions. Nate Solder just received a fouryear, $62 million ($35 guaranteed) deal from the Giants. Lewan is a better player and his camp knows it. Lewan is looking to set the market, surpass that deal and become the highest-paid left tackle in the league. Lewan is known for protecting Marcus, often after the whistle, and aside from Marcus he is probably the team’s most important voice right now. Stay classy, Lewan, and thank you for not sitting out, even though you have every reason to do so! Titans ownership better pay him. That’s it. The Train’s rolling into the station. A wise Chinese man once said “shut the hell up and play football.” Choo choo!

BLUE RAIDER SPORTS BY GREG CRITTENDEN

Blue Raider Richie James Gets NFL Shot with 49ers

ichie James has seemingly been the underdog his whole life. After a stellar high school career at Riverview High in Sarasota, Florida, James was ranked by 247sports.com as the 123rd best athlete in the 2014 recruiting class. James was lightly recruited, garnishing only three offers before committing to Georgia Southern. After coach Jeff Monken left Georgia Southern for Army, James decomitted and landed in Murfreesboro. Still, James was overlooked. After receiving a redshirt as a true freshman, James opened the 2015 season behind Ed Batties and Christian Collis on the Blue Raider depth chart. With each slight, the chip on James’ shoulder grew and grew. After a strong showing from the slot in his first game against Jackson State, James built on that with an even stronger showing against Alabama. James would not be denied his rightful spot as Brent Stockstill’s go-to target as he exploded for 141 yards and a touchdown on 12 receptions against Illinois in his fourth collegiate game. After that, James never looked back. By mid-season, James had established himself as arguably the best freshman receiver in the country. In just a little more than two seasons, he broke every receiving record to be had at Middle Tennessee. Still, James was overlooked. NFL scouts considered him too small for the NFL. One scouting report criticized James as possessing below-average strength, lacking polish on his route-running and, inexplicably, his inability to catch passes thrown outside his frame. James missed his name being called at the 2018 NFL Draft 239 times. Having

been projected as high as a fifth-round pick, James fell to the seventh round to the 49ers with the 240th pick in the draft. The chip on James’ shoulder should be as big as ever as he continues his playing career, and he should utilize it the same way he always has. There is no reason to think he won’t factor into the 49ers offense as a rookie, though. One look at the 49ers receiving depth chart reveals one of the weakest corps in the NFL. But it isn’t only respect for himself James is looking for, but respect for the school that got him this far. “MTSU demands respect, and we’re going to demand it,” James said, speaking for other former Blue Raiders in the NFL. “We’re going to go get it.” OTHER BLUE RAIDERS GET THEIR CHANCE James was the only Blue Raider drafted in 2018, but others will get their NFL shot. Cornerback Charvarius Ward was projected as a possible seventh-round pick selection prior to the draft, however his chance came after the draft ended. The Dallas Cowboys signed Ward to an undrafted free agent contract. Cornerback Mike Minter held down the other side of the field for the Blue Raiders. While he wasn’t signed, he was invited to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ minicamp. Shane Tucker is in the same boat as Minter. He’ll need to impress at the Buffalo Bills’ many camp if he hopes to sign a contract. Kicker Canon Rooker, much like James, broke multiple school records at his position. He inked a post-draft deal with the New York Jets. BOROPULSE.COM

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Fitness Breathe, center, connect with your body, with personal trainer Jim Genet STORY BY SEMAJ THOMAS PHOTOS BY BRACKEN MAYO

BALANCE AND FLOW O

ften, over time, fitness journeys start slow and eventually snowball into something bigger than expected. These journeys may begin, or change course, at various stages of life for different individuals—the moment you begin a new sport, a new diet, join a gym or order some equipment to use to work out at home. Taking the first step doesn’t require one to be a certain age or in the best health. It does demand determination, dedication and discipline to get the most from it, though. Jim Genet is a 58-year-old personal trainer at the MAC (Murfreesboro Athletic Club) and has proven that someone is never too old to start working out, or to begin a new career. Yes, shake your head and be amazed. Many who see him and who know his age will only say “man, you look freaking awesome.” And they often follow that up by asking him “what do you do?” Genet traced his fitness journey back to his time as a teen when he was a competitive alpine skier in New England zooming down snow-covered slopes. He said he received Olympic-level training during that time and that he learned invaluable lessons in speed, focus, visualization and technical skills that help him in personal training now. “I had to memorize the course from top to bottom and that concept taught me to do many things I see,” he explained. Speeding down the slopes, Genet had to be very aware of different, precise body movements. Memorizing course after course repeatedly stuck with him and carried over to being a part of his life to this day. He focuses on movement, balance and awareness with his clients. He said he feels that, oftentimes, “people are not connecting

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with their body,” and wants to emphasize that those seeking optimal health and fitness should truly “connect with your body; not just move.” Some fall into a workout routine of mindlessly counting repetitions of a particular move that may only engage a very small muscle or muscle group. Genet wants to give his personal training clients some moves that not only challenge their whole body, but their mind as well. Most of his training can be described as a combination of martial arts and yoga. He recommends for everyone to find their breath, center themselves and push the air into their body. From there, coming together with your palms and settling in is what it’s about, as the difficulty increases. His training starts at 30-minute intervals and can transition easily into an hour. His routines will work many of the joints in the body through movements that lead individuals into balancing themselves into different comfortable positions.

While some of these positions take a lot of time time and patience to master, many clients will be amazed at the balance and strength they can achieve after just a few weeks of Genet’s routines. Genet says he never really worked out in a gym until recently but has fallen in love with it. He understands how it can help others meet their fitness goals, but he also wants to point out that someone can give their body an incredible workout using only their own body weight, and roomfuls of fancy equipment are not necessary in order to connect with and improve your body. Genet says his background in pastoring over 17 years, during which he recruited and trained leaders at a large church to teach others from many walks of life, still helps with personal training. Learning how to lose weight is one part of the equation, and another big part is your trainer’s per-

sonality that motivates and encourages you. Genet says his fluid movements can make for a challenging workout for nearly anyone, whether its elderly lady with joint issues or a highly fit athlete, already in shape but looking to gain an edge, “often with the same moves!” One individual may not be able to go as deep into a squat as someone else, or hold a plank for as long as someone else, but anyone can go to their personal perimeter, hold it, be mindful of it, and over time watch their perimeter change and increase. Genet wants his clients to be mindful of their personal limits, to put just a bit of stress on their muscles, but to avoid injury and not overdo it. That will help those training to stick with their routine over a long term, and gradually observe their bodies improve. Genet started running marathons at age 40 and in 10 years became an ultramarathoner. Consistency in knowing himself, his body and others has always played a part in his life at some point, and he said that while he wasn’t expecting to be where he is now, he is welcoming every minute of it and that everything he has done in life has built him for it. If you are tired of doing the same old exercises and want some spontaneity, join him for a group workout session at 8 a.m. every Saturday at the Bragg Trailhead, 1540 W. College St. Contact Genet at 615-427-3406 or jmg1448@gmail.com, or find him at the Murfreesboro Athletic Club, 710 Memorial Blvd. (he’s the lean, grey-haired man doing handstands on top of dumbbells). Follow Semaj on Instagram @BodyByShauty