March 2013 Murfreesboro Pulse

MURFREESBORO

INALBUM MUSIC:REVIEWS Deep Machine, Static Revival, The Radio Symphonic, The Great Affairs page 6

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

Vol. 8, Issue 3 MARCH 2013

FREE Take one,

ENTER TO WIN! Tickets to BoroVino Wine Festival

page 25

IN MUSIC MUSIC: The Other Side of Nashville: A Reverend writes the Bible of independent music in the Music City

page 4

or two!

LIVING IN MUSI Spotlight on Non-Profit: Special Kids

page 14

CITY CHICKENS Urban chicken farming takes dinner from backyard to plate.

page 16

ONLINE AT: BOROPULSE.COM

CONTENTS

30

SOUNDS

4

Foe of Music Row The Rev. Keith A. Gordon's Other Side of Nashville, the encyclopedia of underground Nashville rock 'n' roll.

5

MTIM X Rocked Recapping Mid Tenn Independent Music Festival X.

6

Album Reviews Static Revival, Deep Machine, The Radio Symphonic, The Great Affairs

8

MARCH CONCERTS

DEAR READERS:

LIVING

0

COMMUNITY EVENTS

TSSAA tournaments, Backstage Bash, Easter egg hunt, Nashville Sounds National Anthem auditions.

w

Living Green Bypass the petrochemical industry, start your own seeds.

e

Read to Succeed Book Review The Name of the Wind

r

Helping Special Kids Organization encourages, develops some very special children.

y

Eggs-A-Plenty Even small suburban yards can accomodate enough chickens to supply a family with eggs.

FOOD

i

Fairways Golf & Grill Delicious pizzas, burgers, cheesesteaks, salads set the table for Murfreesboro's indoor golf simulator.

o

Coffee Talk World Market's delicious Coconut Marshmallow roast.

COVER STORY

16

SPORTS

p

Sports Talk with Z-Train Ambassador Dennis Rodman and MTSU B-Ball.

MOVIES

s

Reviews A Good Day to Die Hard; Mama

d

Head Up, Heart Full Local filmmaker to document his grandmother's stories.

THEATER

f g

March Performances 9 to 5, Jesus Christ Superstar, Company, Baptized to the Bone, The Secret Garden, Cabaret

MARCH GIVEAWAYS

Win a copy of The Other Side of Nashville; plus BoroVino, Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra tickets.

OPINIONS

h

La Palabra Does the public want Bigfoot to be found?

j

Phil Valentine The president of the one percent.

k

Love Your Fate: Part II Enjoy the moment, don't expect things to change.

l

Recover Rutherford Crystal Blue Persuasion: be still and know there is a calming force more powerful than yourself.

ART Exhibits Gary James work at Gyro Cafe; Presidents in pen.

CREW

PULSE

;

7 24

Publisher/Editor in Chief: Bracken Mayo



Sign up to receive our weekly digital newsletter at BoroPulse.com/Newsletter

Music Editor: Jessica Pace Senior Writer: Justin Stokes

Art Director: Sarah L. Mayo Contributing Writers: Gloria Christy, Ryan Egly, Jenny Jacobs, Zach Maxfield, Advertising Rep: Cameron Parrish, Laura Beth Payne, Elizabeth Don Clark Scott, Jay Spight, Frank Shepard, Andrea Copy Editor: Steve Morley Stockard, Norbert Thiemann, Phil Valentine

To carry The Pulse at your business, or submit letters, stories and photography: bracken@boropulse.com 116-E North Walnut St., Murfreesboro, TN 37130 (615) 796-6248

Copyright © 2013, The Murfreesboro Pulse, 116-E N. Walnut St., 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 our advertisers. Views expressed in The Pulse do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. ISSN: 1940-378X

THERE IS A VERY UNFORTUNATE and intriguing ethical and legal conundrum in Murfreesboro. Murder was the case early Valentine's morning, as bodybuilder Jacob Pearman brutally killed his wife with his bare hands (and reportedly confessed hours later). Some are saying "string him up," "rot in hell," "pick on someone your own size" (not only in reference to the lady, but now his abuse of her young child is surfacing). But what about turning the other cheek and redemption? How do we handle this?

The death penalty, vengance and execution, or compassion, grace and forgiveness? Will the state's killing him make society as cold and bloodthirsty as the killer?

Anyway, welcome to the chicken issue of the Pulse!

Find all of the poultry sprinkled around this edition.

The Mayos have joined the chicken revolution and Bojangles and Henrietta, those fine birds pictured above, are in the coop. I better get some eggs from them ladies soon!

There's a lot of good music going on this month in the 'Boro. I'm digging that Deep Machine. Epic! Listen to that "Panda Leg." Check out the Pulse's online Jukebox for lots of other great local artists.

I also love the driving forces behind the Rev. Keith Gordon's The Other Side of Nashville. Many of the individuals included in that hefty work have also appeared in the Pulse. But my Middle Tennessee independent music career is so underground, not even the Rev. knows about it!

I can see how some can get depressed over the winter; there's been a lot of sickness, darkness and coldness, but spring is here! Almost time to dig in the dirt, ride a bike, sit in the sun and (as of March 10) Daylight Savings Time has sprung, with the government graciously providing us with another hour of light for the afternoon people.

3 Brothers Deli & Brewhouse has moved to its larger location; look for these guys up on the northeast corner of the Square and soon on the Destination America television network. Though the location has changed, the food and roster of talented musicians and artists featured there seem to be the same.

I'll have to take Snackin' Bracken there this month.

Shout-out to Mr. John Taylor, heading the Pulse's video production department. View a brief video on Fairways Golf & Grill on the fresh Boropulse YouTube channel.

Congrats to the MTSU men's and women's basketball teams; both have a earned the top seed in the upcoming Sun Belt tournament in the programs' last year participating in that conference.

I know we cannot always drop what we are doing immediately for the whim of a toddler, but some of the time when your kid asks you to play with blocks or build a tent or read a book, do it. Just drop whatever else it is that's so important, every now and then, and you'll be glad you did.

Peace, Bracken Mayo Editor in Chief BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

*3

Nashville rockers (From left): Jason Ringenberg, Keith Gordon and Warner Hodges PHOTO BY TRACEY DOOLING/NINJAKITTY STUDIOS

SOUNDS DON’T LET THE “REVEREND” PREFIX

lead you astray: it’s an authentic title, all right (though that’s another story), but this Reverend’s fervor isn’t deity-driven. Rather, rock ’n’ roll is what most often inspires Rev. Keith A. Gordon to offer praise, though the longtime rock journalist is also a relentless voice of support for music of virtually any stripe whose makers are unjustly overlooked or undersung.

Gordon—a Nashville transplant from Erie, PA who is perhaps the Music City’s only bona fide link to the rock-critic royalty that emerged in the 1960s and ’70s via such magazines as Creem, Crawdaddy and Rolling Stone—spent years toiling at small and struggling publications that helped midwife the Nashville rock scene. It was not an easy birth. As Gordon tells it, the local rock contingent encountered a mostly closed-minded country music industry, which exuded disdain for its young locals and exercised its power in an attempt to squelch their self-expression.

“The traditional industry,” he explains, “had a lot of influence on the local government and other institutions. This made it difficult to open rock-oriented clubs, to promote certain types of rock ’n’ roll shows, even for bands to get their music heard.”

Gordon, one of the first writers to champion the local rock scene, is an outspoken type who eventually found himself regarded as a pariah among the country music industry. “I refused to write [exclusively] complimentary reviews about country records and attend [the labels’] parties,” he says. “Like the early rock bands, I was loud, obnoxious, opinionated, and had a forum that I wasn’t afraid to use to call ‘bullshit’ on their antics [such as] attempted censorship of bands.

I soon got a reputation among the ‘grown-ups’ as an incorrigible ‘loose cannon.’

“I probably deserved a fair amount of their disdain,” Gordon allows, “because my early writings lacked subtlety and tact, but I’d do it all over again . . . with a blade rather than a bludgeon,” says the writer, who cites radical thinkers such as Abbie Hoffman and Frank Zappa

FOE OF MUSIC ROW

 Rev. Keith A. Gordon compiles a history of Nashville’s rock underground. story by STEVE MORLEY

among those who influenced his journalistic voice—a force which would unexpectedly rise beyond Nashville in the 1980s via the local rock rag The Metro.

“What really cheesed [the country industry] off,” he explains, “was that my penchant for self-promotion helped earn [Metro] magazine and, by extension, myself, a national reputation. By the end of the ’80s, as improbable as it might seem, The Metro was taken seriously by all sorts of people unbeholden to Music Row.” Improbable, as Gordon puts it, because The Metro (now long defunct) was frequently a fly-by-night, shoestring operation. These days, he continues to write and also self-publishes anthologies drawn largely from his own backlog of work. Recently, the former Nashvillian, now living in upstate New York, published The Other Side of Nashville: An Incomplete History & Discography of the Music City’s Rock Underground, 1976–2006, the most ambitious project of his career thus far. The book—an encyclopedia of the Nashville rock scene during its rise and peak years—is a 620-page beast that took Gordon more than six years to complete, compiling it from decades’

ENTER TO WIN  SCAN HERE for a special offer just for Murfreesboro Pulse readers, an autographed copy of The Other Side of Nashville for 10 percent off the book’s cover price, or visit othersideofnashville.com for more information. OR TEXT ‘REV’ TO 86568 for a chance to WIN A FREE COPY. 4 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

worth of interviews, articles and reviews.

“I was honored to have been able to cover the growth and evolution of the Nashville rock scene as a music journalist . . . and have always been a big champion of the city’s musical talent,” he says. “What began as a ‘love letter’ to a music scene that I was proud to have been part of and documented,” continues Gordon, “would later become an obsession . . . I wanted the world to know that Nashville rocked long before the Kings of Leon, Paramore and Ke$ha.”

The gargantuan task of finishing the book wasn’t enough to sour the scribe on the subject; he’s following the oversized volume in quick succession with a small but similarly inspired compilation in tribute to the band that many contend first cranked Nashville’s rock scene up to 11: Jason & the Scorchers. The seminal country-punkers, who have since been recognized as forerunners of the Americana movement, received the Americana Music Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008, and are currently active in a revitalized lineup that features founding members Jason Ringenberg and Warner Hodges.

Though Gordon says the connection wasn’t an entirely conscious one, he agrees that his Jason & the Scorchers Scrapbook (soon to be available in print and as an e-book) makes sense coming on the heels of The Other Side of Nashville. As he recalls, Jason & the Scorchers “were the first local band that I really got behind.

Their impact on the Nashville rock scene, and in getting people outside of Davidson County to listen, cannot be overestimated,” asserts Gordon.

“They were really the first local rock band to earn any sort of national—and later, international—fame and respect. They opened the door and built the foundation for later bands.”

The Scorchers have gone on to become an

institution of independent music-making, yet ironically, notes Gordon, they remain representative of the way Nashville rockers are generally regarded by the country industry. “During the 1980s, the country music establishment hated bands like Jason & the Scorchers, viewing them as some sort of bastardization of a hallowed musical tradition. Little has changed in the decades since . . . rock ’n’ roll is still largely ignored by the labels on Music Row.” It’s a moot point now, though, as regards the Scorchers; as Gordon points out, “Their influence on the Americana genre puts it all in perspective. After almost 30 years playing together, Jason and Warner can still crank out an album as vital as [2010’s] Halcyon Times and play to a rabid European fan base, so it really doesn’t matter what Music Row thinks of them.”

Gordon agrees that today’s Americana artists are contemporary kin to the seminal Nashville rockers, likely to be passed over by the country industry, but unlike their predecessors, their presence is harder to ignore.

“I don’t think that Music Row really knows what to do with the Americana genre,” says Gordon, “but whether they like it or not, it’s beginning to exert an influence on the so-called traditional artists. Considering that folks like Jason & the Scorchers, Webb Wilder and Steve Earle influenced the first wave of Americana— No Depression artists like Uncle Tupelo and Slobberbone during the 1980s—we’re seeing, I believe, the third generation of Americana artists beginning to emerge. I think that it’s funny that T Bone Burnett, one of the granddaddies of alt-country, is picking the music for the hit TV show Nashville. Like much of the recording industry, Music Row is waning in influence, and it must seem [to the country music establishment] that the inmates are running the asylum.”

TENTH MTIM FEST A HIT 

Visit boropulse.com/gallery to view more photos

PHOTO BY G WEST CARTER



THE BORO BAR AND GRILL hosted the Middle Tennessee Independent Music Fest X on Feb. 23–24.

Bands from all around the mid-state region filled the dive with original, independent music throughout the hard rockin' weekend.

Since this was the tenth MTIM put on by 373 Promotions in just 2 years, one could expect another installment potentially right over the horizon. So keep your eyes peeled and keep on supporting independent rock.

Scan here for more images from the weekend.

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

*5

ALBUM REVIEWS

The Great Affairs

The Radio Symphonic

Have you ever needed an album to play in the distance from a backroom stereo because it’s really quiet, and there are some chores that need to be done around the house? Well, Nashvillian quartet, The Great Affairs, have the perfect option for the Southern bar pop/rock-at-heart with their newest seven-track album, 4, out of Faragon records. A hybrid band with members of fORMER, Mink and Bonepony, the fellows of The Great Affairs have been steadily releasing one album a year since its formation in early 2009, with 4 appropriately titled as the 2012 album, just barely missing a release date in December. Maybe that means they will will give us 2 in 2013, though.

The cookie-cutter barroom rock that fills every one of the tracks on 4 is never hard on the ears (so long as the mood strikes you) but there’s nothing outstanding about the group’s stylistic progression into grittier guitars and louder drums, somewhat of an adventure as they played a notch somber-er in years past. But, it needs to be playing, nonetheless, because these guys are tremendously solid.

The production value of the album along with the tightness of the band’s song structure and progression (be it standard) is a feat of well-trained musicians and producers as heard in every one of the tracks, just as much the clichés. Vocalist Denny Smith nails it on the seemingly Black Crowes/Rod Stewart-inspired vocalings of “Shame on You,” as the music takes a turn towards The Wallflowers with sweet, sweet Hammond organ running over everything. Ditto for “Rock ’n’ Roll Heart,” but the organ does eventually give way to other little instrumental intricacies half way through 4, such as piano, tambourine and a switch to an acoustic guitar on “Sherrybaby,” which has an accompanying video posted on the band’s website.

Though every song sounds exactly like it should be on a record with the other songs on this record and the template of forlorn, confused and the “trying-to-figureout-the-feelings-that-party-girl-made-me-have-whenI-fell-in-love-with-her” when it comes to the lyrics, you may stop washing dishes or dusting the clocks just to tap a foot to a couple of them such as the slower “The Ring,” the last half of “Dyin’ To,” and definitely “Fists and Guitars.” Though instead of a foot tap, the spirit of Lemmy may make you put a rockin’ hole in the wall, but that’s just another chore for later. For more on the band, visit thegreataffairs.com, where the video single for “Sherrybaby,” can be seen. — BRYCE HARMON

After their virgin opening at Liquid Smoke (for Grace and Tony) this time last year, Murfreesboro’s own up-and-coming The Radio Symphonic are steadfastly breaking into the local music scene with their version of a late ’90s/early 2000s alt-indie rock record, The Radio Symphonic. The album arrived almost a year after this quartet of friends—vocalist/keyboardist/guitarist Rob Jones, lead guitarist Erik Houston, bassist Alice Law and drummer Corey Huges—officially formed with the motto, “Music helps us make sense of our world and we take pride in playing it well” (quoted from an online bio).

Their invested pride surrounds their 10-track album, which falls right into the rock ’n’ roll vibe of afternoon MTV shows between 1997 and 2005, but more specifically sounds like a young and somewhat raspy Roger Waters singing inside of a huge barrel while The Deftones play behind him. There are little intricacies that vary throughout, though, such as the second track, “Here We Go,” that gets into a somber, Tracy Chapman-esque acoustic-picking style before it erupts into Modest Mouse territory. The following track, “Windows,” sounds like Marilyn Manson stepped into the vocal booth while the fuzziest electric picking accompanies what sounds like a gorilla on the drums. (Both styles are equally impressive.) The band also strays into a slightly emo-ish feel as well as frankly cacophonic noises as a few frilly phrases of acoustic and electric guitar flitter around like blind love birds on a couple of the tracks. In fairness, The Radio Symphonic is more keeping with the steady Deftones stride, as opposed to the few little experiments.

Production-wise, The Radio Symphonic often seems heavy on effects, but the mixing board mask comes off on a few songs, such as “Undertow” and “Hallowed,” giving the album its humanistic feel. The guys and gal play with a couple of beautiful, instrumental ideas for songs, too, like “On the Tracks,” and the 2nd and 3rd movements of the eight-minute closing track, “Contact.”

The arrangements are in mighty good taste, with fine examples in almost every song of how an outro is supposed to be done and, lyrically, the disc is just as nice. The band’s writing is polar, leaving nothing but really optimistic or really depressing sentiments, but the entire album is incredibly observational.

The Radio Symphonic can be found at theradiosymphonic.bandcamp.com. — BRYCE HARMON

4

6 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

The Radio Symphonic

Static Revival

Deep Machine

When I first saw Static Revival at some MTSU Battle of the Bands of sorts, I knew they weren’t messing around. Three years or so later, they’ve got this tight little gem of an EP, Gilding the Lily, recorded at House of Blues Studios in Nashville and released March 5. It’s six tracks of impassioned Southern rock euphoria with lyrics that mirror anyone’s worst or best of days.

Tyler Grooms’ gray vocals have a layer of dust over them not unlike Jakob Dylan’s as he sings the opener, “North to the Future” with a passionate lilt: “But when she talked about her home/Well you could see it in her soul.” The line is only one of many recognizable observations and sentiments on Gilding the Lily, which swim in twangy and astral guitars (provided by Grooms and lead guitarist Cody Wilson) reminiscent of My Morning Jacket or Band of Horses.

On “Whole,” possibly the most introspective track on the EP, Grooms crams some philosophy into the uplifting sonic framework: “The mirror makes you out to be whatever you don’t want to see if you’re scared to look / Allow yourself to know that on your own you would already have what it took / Let go of the lies you hold inside and you’ll find your peace / You’ll see the path was always clear and the things you feared have no meaning.”

Hope vanishes but does so beautifully on the dejected “Faded,” while its lyrical polar opposite, “Vista” follows right after with its eye on a bright horizon, which may be the point of Gilding the Lily— to catch the mountains (self-appreciation, defying fear) and valleys (villainous women with “Devil’s Eyes,” defeatism) with influences of the torchbearers who explored and expanded the bounds of Southern rock like My Morning Jacket and shades of oldies like Bob Seger (especially on “Wanderlust”) in a fashion like good ol’ Southern boy meets poet.

Hear and purchase Gilding the Lily at staticrevival. bandcamp.com.

— JESSICA PACE

Experimental/psych rock band Deep Machine’s Riverside Drive, a nod to the Nashville road of the same name, is a Walnut House production—co-engineered by key player Brian Cline—that dropped December 2012. Deep Machine get their usual ambient, dreamy point across in four distinct tracks, beginning with “Death’s Marathon,” which opens with snippets from the grave speech of Robert F. Kennedy on the “mindless menace of violence in America.” The speech gives way to a disorienting march as Brennan Walsh’s guitar pools out into oblivion.

The opening hard rock undertones and bass-driven pulse (Seth Ferguson) of “Panda Leg” move swiftly into a keyboard-driven melody that sounds like some strange folky dance before moving absently into jazzy territory.

Sonically lush, dense and vaguely otherworldly, Deep Machine’s wordless music is experimental and volatile, yet deliberate, kind of like a guy who’s lost but keeps driving as if he knows exactly where he’s going.

The title track is much more structured than the other tracks, or most in the band’s catalog, and contains more of Walsh’s never-failing guitar. Punctuated by crisp keys from Cline and snapping percussion from Ben Crannell, the melody sparkles and pops into the closer “G Pace Minor.” A recording of British philosopher and writer Alan Watts chimes in with a fragment of wisdom, “The real you is not a puppet which life pushes around. The real, deep down you is the whole universe,” and the band proceeds with properly spacing the listener out as usual.

Hear and purchase (name your price) Riverside Drive at deepmachine.bandcamp.com. — JESSICA PACE

Gilding the Lily

RATINGS: AVERAGE

Riverside Drive

A CLASSIC BELOW AVERAGE

We’re working hard to promote good music in Middle Tennessee.

Bands: Send your albums and promotional materials to The Murfreesboro Pulse, 116-E North Walnut St., Murfreesboro, TN 37130.

OUTSTANDING AVOID AT ALL COSTS

DEAD BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

*7

IF YOU GO:

SOUNDS Send your show listings to listings@boropulse.com

THURS, 3/7

MON, 3/18

3 BROTHERS Chalaxy, Linear Downfall BUNGANUT PIG 2nd & Vine FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra JOZOARA Rik Gracia

FRI, 3/8 3 BROTHERS Dennis & the Menace BUNGANUT PIG Clarence Dobbins FAIRWAYS Conductor Kelly & the Underground Railroad FANATICS Real Deal MAIN ST LIVE Sky Hi, Deep Machine THE BORO SXSW Drive-By featuring Matt Burke, Awake at Last, The Heavy Love Cult WILLIE’S WET SPOT Double Image

SAT, 3/9 3 BROTHERS Tuscaroara BUNGANUT PIG Karl & the Undertones FAIRWAYS Blairs West & Matty McRee FANATICS Miranda Louise NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Root Road READYVILLE MILL Johnny B & the Balladeers THE BORO The Water Fight WALL STREET Rhythm Kitchen WILLIE’S WET SPOT Pluto's Revenge

SUN, 3/10 3 BROTHERS Creative Mic Night with Lee Miller FAIRWAYS Open Mic Night

MON, 3/11 NOBODY’S Delyn Christian

TUES, 3/12 FAIRWAYS John Salaway

JOZOARA Songwriters Night

WED, 3/13 3 BROTHERS Ryan Coleman’s Writers Night BUNGANUT PIG Jon Gambino WILLIE’S WET SPOT Shane & Lenny

THURS, 3/14

NOBODY’S Delyn Christian

TUES, 3/19 BUNGANUT PIG CJ Vaughn Classic Blues Jam FAIRWAYS Tara Tinsley JOZOARA Songwriters Night

3 BROTHERS Crayons & Antidotes, She Lin Wolf BUNGANUT PIG Shoo Fly Pie JOZOARA Rik Gracia MAIN ST LIVE GOON, Alpha Vigilant, Trigger Digit

WED, 3/20

FRI, 3/15

BUNGANUT PIG Sun Parade JOZOARA Rik Gracia MAYDAY BREWERY Beery & Hymns, Tangle Blue

3 BROTHERS 3 Simple Rules BUNGANUT PIG Reckless FAIRWAYS Missy Garnett FANATICS Zone Status THE BORO Mike Mason & Friends WALL STREET LaFever Band, Sugar Lime Blue WILLIE’S WET SPOT Tempted

SAT, 3/16 3 BROTHERS Peter Moon Band BUNGANUT PIG Zone Status FAIRWAYS Nite Traxx FANATICS Jon Gower MAYDAY BREWERY Burnt Cider READYVILLE MILL Johnny B & the Balladeers WALL STREET The Langoliers, The Swinging Tire Drinking Choir, Looka Looka Looka, Roman Polanski’s Baby WILLIE’S WET SPOT Greez Monkeez

SUN, 3/17 3 BROTHERS The Enablers, The Hardin Draw BUNGANUT PIG 2nd & Vine

View Concert Listings Online: 8 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

3 BROTHERS Ryan Coleman’s Writers Night BUNGANUT PIG Franklin & Farris WILLIE’S WET SPOT Shane & Lenny

THURS, 3/21

FRI, 3/22 3 BROTHERS Paris Delane BUNGANUT PIG Junkbox THE BORO Agent of Athens WILLIE’S WET SPOT Backlit

SAT, 3/23 BUNGANUT PIG Marshall Creek FAIRWAYS Richie Scholl FANATICS Junkbox JOZOARA Northfield READYVILLE MILL Johnny B & the Balladeers THE BORO Piranah, LOBO, Noisecult WALL STREET Linear Downfall, Christlove, Matt Owen & the Electric Tuba WILLIE’S WET SPOT Evil Twin

Aura Lounge 114 S. Maple St. 396-8328

PUL SE PICK

THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH

MON, 3/25 NOBODY’S Delyn Christian

Bunganut Pig 1602 W. Northfield Blvd.

893-7860

SUNDAY, MARCH 17 @ THE BORO BAR & GRILL In keeping with the annual St. Patrick's Day tradition, Murfreesboro’s No. 1 traditional Irish folk combo The Secret Commonwealth will converge upon The Boro Bar & Grill on March 17. This year marks the group’s 20th anniversary, and members say a new album is in the works. Even if the record is not ready by show time, fans can still pick up a special 20th anniversary edition T-shirt and spend the holiday evening with the region’s most Irish band.

TUES, 3/26

SAT, 3/30

JOZOARA Songwriters Night

3 BROTHERS The Carmonas BUNGANUT PIG Stones River Pilots FANATICS The Eclectics JOZOARA Kyle Reppa READYVILLE MILL Johnny B & the Balladeers THE BORO Wheathouse, Steamboars, Swiftlets WALL STREET Great Barrier Reefs, Montezuma Fire Machine WILLIE’S WET SPOT Atomic Trunk Monkeys

WED, 3/27 3 BROTHERS Ryan Coleman’s Writers Night BUNGANUT PIG Jon Gambino WILLIE’S WET SPOT Shane & Lenny

THURS, 3/28 3 BROTHERS Deep Machine BUNGANUT PIG Midnight Highway JOZOARA Rik Gracia

FRI, 3/29 3 BROTHERS Judd Hall & Friends BUNGANUT PIG Gravel Road Gypsies FANATICS Twang Town Rockers THE BORO Boo Boo Bunny WALL STREET Dead Soldiers WILLIE’S WET SPOT Milk Bone

Fairways Golf & Grill 127 SE Broad St. 962-7853 Fanatics 1850 Old Fort Pkwy.

494-3995 First United Methodist Church 265 West Thompson Lane JoZoara 536 N. Thompson Ln. 962-7175 Liquid Smoke #2 Public Square 217-7822 Main St. Live 527 W. Main St. 439-6135 Mayday Brewery 521 Old Salem Hwy. 479-9722 MT Bottle 3940 Shelbyville Hwy. 962-9872

SUN, 3/31

New Life Christian Church 343 Rucker Rd. 977-3770

3 BROTHERS Creative Mic Night with Lee Miller FAIRWAYS Open Mic Night

Nobody’s Grill & BBQ 116 John R. Rice Blvd.

962-8019

TUES, 4/2

Readyville Mill 5418 Murfreesboro Road 563-MILL

JOZOARA Songwriters Night

WED, 4/3

Social 114 N. Church St. 904-7236

3 BROTHERS Ryan Coleman’s Writers Night

Temptation Club 2404 Halls Hill Pike 217-0944 The Boro Bar & Grill 1211 Greenland Dr. 895-4800 Wall Street 121 N. Maple St. 867-9090

SUN, 3/24 3 BROTHERS Creative Mic Night with Lee Miller FAIRWAYS Open Mic Night

Bonhoeffer’s 610 Dill Lane 202-3517

DEEP MACHINE

Walking Horse Hotel 101 Spring St., Wartrace (931) 389-7050

PUL SE PICK

THURSDAY, MARCH 28 @ 3 BROTHERS

Local psych-rockers Deep Machine just released their latest EP a few months back, so you'll hear at least some of that good and dreamy stuff live at 3 Brothers.

As any frequenter of the band's shows knows, it's the perfect soundtrack for spacing out in a dark bar to the band's long, spiraling threads of guitar and keys.

PHOTO BY CHIP PICKNEY

MARCH CONCERTS

FAIRWAYS Brooke McBride & Rooted Wings THE BORO The Secret Commonwealth

3 Brothers 114 N. Church St. 410-3096

Willie’s Wet Spot 1208 S. Lowry St., Smyrna 355-0010 Wright Music Bldg.

1439 Faulkinberry Dr. 898-2493

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

*9

LIVING COMMUNITY

EVENTS compiled by ANDREA STOCKARD

Send event information to murfreesboropulse@yahoo.com

MARCH 6–9 GIRLS TSSAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS The TSSAA State High School Girls Basketball Championship will be March 6–9 at MTSU’s Murphy Center (Greenland Dr.). For more info, please call (615) 889-6740 or visit tssaa.org.

to spend a few hours with their favorite bear and special lady, whether she is her mother, grandmother, aunt, older sister or another.

Enjoy delectable treats and savory teas. Create a fun craft for your teddy bear friend and enjoy Story Time! Tour the inside of the Sam Davis Home with Andromedia Davis as she shows you where the young ladies of the house once played and sipped tea. Reservations are required and $10 per guest, excluding teddy bears. For more information, call Sam Davis Home at (615) 459-2341 or visit samdavishome.org.

MARCH 12 BOOK SIGNING Linebaugh Public Library (105 W. Vine St.) will be hosting local author E.K. Henry for a book signing on Tuesday, March 12, from 1–4 p.m. Henry will be selling and signing her book, Freak, which is a young adult paranormal fiction work. Freak tells the story of Juniper Rayne, a lower-class human born into a world where vampires rule. No matter how much she tries to fit in, she’s labeled a “freak.”

Unfortunately for Juniper, vampires aren’t that accepting. She decides to take control of her life and become a vampire hunter; she will regain control or die trying. For more info, call (615) 893-4131 or visit linebaugh.org.

MARCH 13–16 BOYS TSSAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

MARCH 7 MSO CONCERT: THE MUSIC OF HEAVEN AND EARTH The Murfreesboro Symphony, Symphony Chorus and soprano Dina Cancryn join forces to present the ethereal “Requiem in D Minor, Op. 48” by Gabriel Fauré in the “Music of Heaven and Earth” event March 7 at First United Methodist Church (265 West Thompson Ln.) For tickets or more information, call (615) 8981862 or visit murfreesborosymphony.com.

MARCH 10 & 17 TEDDY BEAR TEA Dress in your Sunday best and bring along your favorite teddy bear (or other stuffed animal or doll) to the Teddy Bear Tea at the Sam Davis Home (1399 Sam Davis Road) from 10 a.m.–noon and from 2–4 p.m. This tea party is a wonderful way for young ladies ages 4–10

10 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

State championships in boys high school basketball will take place at MTSU, Murphy Center (Greenland Dr.) March 13–16. For more info, call (615) 889-6740 or visit tssaa.org.

MARCH 14 HABITAT FOR HUMANITY SCREENINGS There will be a free health screening for adults (including vision and “ask the Oncologist” to discuss cancer risks/concerns) March 14 at Habitat for Humanity (850 Mercury Blvd). This service is available to adults ages 18 and older, and will last from 8 a.m. until noon. Please wear sleeves that can be rolled up for the lab draw and blood pressure. There will be comprehensive lab work (please fast for 10–12 hours prior to test, drink plenty of water and continue to take medications as normal.), height, weight, blood pressure and vision screening. Follow-up care will be provided if needed. For additional info, call Kathy Ferrell at (615) 631-7739.

MARCH 16 THE CENTER FOR THE ARTS BACKSTAGE BASH This year the Center for the Arts’ Backstage Bash is going onstage, too!

Festivities will begin with cocktails at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 16, followed by a 7 p.m. dinner and dancing from 8 p.m. with Karl Wingruber and his Music City Swing band. Tickets are $100 for the full evening or $35 for the band-only portion. Tickets can be purchased at backstagebash.org or boroarts. org, or by calling (615) 904-2787. In addition to mingling on stage with costumed actors from Center productions and viewing several scenes from the current production Jesus Christ Superstar, partygoers can examine and bid on silent and live auction items, among which will be an original painting of the Center for the Arts by Nashville artist Ronald Baldwin. The event will be catered by Maple Street Grill and Julia’s Bakery.

MARCH 16 NASHVILLE SOUNDS NATIONAL ANTHEM AUDITIONS The Nashville Sounds will hold tryouts for national anthem singers on Saturday, March 16, from 9 a.m.–2 p.m. at Greer Stadium. All individuals and groups who are interested in singing “The Star Spangled Banner” prior to a 2013 home game must audition on this date.

Anthem tryouts are available on a firstcome, first-served basis during the designated time period. This will serve as the only audition date prior to the 2013 season. All interested parties will be required to sing a live, acapella version of the national anthem during the tryout. For more info, call Buddy Yelton at (615) 690-HITS, ext. 124. To download a registration form, visit nashvillesounds.com.

MARCH 16 WIN A WEDDING Do you want to get married? Let’s face it, weddings can be expensive! HypeEvents wants to help by providing 12 couples a free wedding! Provided will be a minister, a decorated venue, and many other extras including a wedding cake courtesy of Through the Grapevine! HypeEvents is also looking for businesses and individual sponsors to donate time, services and/or items that pertain to weddings. Contact HYPE Events at hypeeventsinc@gmail.com or (615) 631-0702, or visit the HypeEvents Murfreesboro Facebook page for more info.

MARCH 20 VOLUNTEER TUTOR TRAINING Read To Succeed will host a volunteer tutor training on March 20 from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. at the Lon Nuell Literacy Center in First Baptist

Church (200 E. Main St.); lunch will be provided. Volunteers will now only have to attend 4 hours of in-person training. Choose your area of interest: early reading, advanced reading, basic or advanced math, English as a second language, or computer skills. Currently, tutors are assisting adults in earning a GED, going to college, reading to their children, improving job skills, and so much more. Each tutor must complete the training course (both in-person and online) before being paired with a learner. More information may be viewed at readtosucceed.org. Please contact Shelly Stanley at (615) 738-7323 or adultliteracy@readtosucceed.org to attend.

MARCH 21 MTSU CELEBRATES AMERICA’S MUSIC The Center for Popular Music at MTSU, in partnership with Linebaugh Public Library and the city of Murfreesboro, will have a six-week “Celebration of America’s Music” program featuring documentary film screenings, scholar-led discussions and concerts by local musicians of 20th-century American popular music such as swing, jazz, rock ’n’ roll, hip-hop, etc. All are welcome! Beginning Thursday, March 21, Linebaugh Library will host weekly, free film viewings followed by a discussion led by Dr. Felicia Miyakawa of MTSU’s School of Music. The Friday following each Thursday film viewing will feature a concert by local musicians performing in the style covered the day before. Among the performers lined up are The Olive Branch Church Choir, the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar, two bluegrass/old-time bands (Sweet Fancy Moses and Bradford Lee Folk and the Bluegrass Playboys), the MTSU Jazz Combo, DJ Amerigo Gazaway (and B-boys), and 2nd and Vine (an MTSU faculty rock band). For details, visit popmusic.mtsu.edu, contact the Center for Popular Music at (615) 898-2449 or ctrpopmus@mtsu.edu.

MARCH 21–23 “DAYS OF ACTION” MTSU’s “The BIG Event,” set to kick off Saturday, March 23, is the largest one-day student-run service project in the nation to help the United Way’s endeavors on the final day of the organization’s “Days of Action.” To find out more info about volunteering, visit mtsu.edu/sga/bigevent.php.

A new interesting opportunity featured for the first time this year will be “speed volunteering” from 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Thursday, March 21 and Friday, March 22. The “speed volunteering” locations are at the United Way office (615 Memorial Blvd., Suite 200) or the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce (3050 Medical Center Pkwy.). For more info or to register, contact the United Way at (615) 893-7303 or visit unitedwayvolunteer.org.

MARCH 23 54 FILM FEST The 54 Film Fest is a timed film competition designed to help local film makers network, have an outlet for their creative talent, and ultimately be inspired to create better films within a competitive environment. On Friday, March 1, competitors will be given a prop, line of dialogue, and action that must be used in their 4–7 minute film. Competitors will have 54 hours (6 p.m. Friday until 12 a.m.

Monday) to script, sheet and edit their film.

Twenty-four hours into the competition, teams

will receive a call or e-mail from the executive producer, who will have a surprise fourth element that can be used in their short films (Curveball Challenge). Screening of the films will be held at Carmike Wynnsong 16 (2626 Cason Square Ct.) March 23 at 4 p.m. followed by an awards ceremony. For more info, call (615) 542-1295 or visit 54filmfest.com/ murfreesboro.

MARCH 24 OAKLANDS EASTER EGG HUNT Oaklands Easter Egg Hunt Hop into Spring March 24 at Oaklands Historic House Museum (900 North Maney Ave.). The event offers children ages 2–10 a great opportunity to hunt for eggs filled with prizes and candy. The hunt will be at 2 p.m., and children should bring their own baskets in which to collect eggs. Admission is $1 per child for the egg hunt. After the egg hunt, stay for games on the lawn, coloring, story time and a tour of the mansion at 3 p.m. Event parking will be in the lot on Roberts Street with check-in at the pavilion. Parents, feel free to bring a camera to capture your child’s adventure. For more info, please contact (615) 893-0022 or mb@oaklandsmuseum.org.

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 11

Seeds can be started indoors with the help of a simple lighting system, or just on a windowsil.

LIVING GROW THE OIL FREE REVOLUTION

Bypass the petrochemical industry and grow your food organically. It's time to start your seeds!

ONE WAY TO GO ABOUT GARDENING is to buy trays of plants, bags of soil and

process was perfected in Germany, which makes atmospheric nitrogen more readily available. The primary source for the chemifertilizer, and bottles of pesticides. A steady cal reaction is methane from natural gas. stream of some bright, near-fluorescent blue Ecologist David Wolfe wrote in his book, Tales liquid guarantees monstrous tomatoes, Stepfrom the Underground: a ford squash and dazzling natural history of subterflowers. Practically anyone ranean life, estimates that can purchase a green thumb, nearly a third of the world’s year after year. But that blue population is sustained by wonder also guarantees this method. What a terrifyfertilizer runoff and water column by RYAN EGLY ing status quo. The source of contamination. egly@boropulse.com our unprecedented level of low As if the environmental cost agricultural output is effects of commercial fertilbased on the same non-renewable raw material izers weren’t enough, their dubious source that we use for energy and transportation. also makes a strong case for avoidance. Just It is a vicious cycle—the leading cause of take a look at the back of any of the boldly climate change is perceived as an agricultural marketed miracle products—all owe their necessity, as droughts and shifting weather existence to dead dinosaurs, a feat which is patterns push traditional means of growing relatively modern. In 1909 the Haber-Bosch

LIVING GREEN

even further out of sight. Consider the 2008 food crisis, which caused riots in dozens of countries across the globe. The World Bank at the time estimated that over 100 million people would be pushed into poverty by rising food prices. Climate change, biofuels and increased demand from India and China were cited among the causes. Now imagine that a third of the world’s food supply is threatened, as the effects of peak oil continue to make fossil fuels increasingly scarce. You get the idea. Growing your own food organically, and bypassing the petrochemical industry, is slowly being recognized as a powerful means of subverting the industrial model.

There is of course another, more ancient way than the packaged one. Depending on the last date of frost and the expected maturation time in your area, plant varieties can be started from seed indoors. The Farmer’s Almanac puts this date at April 6 for Middle Tennessee. Keep in mind that a surprise frost can still occur for a few weeks after the last frost date, so it is a good idea to have some old sheets and bricks handy for covering. I feel obliged to confess, this is my first year of trying to grow everything from seed. I have usually relied on a mix of seeds and purchased trays, although last year the majority was from seeds. The picture here shows my current setup. The indoor greenhouse was only $25 at Home Depot, while the same unit sold for $40 at Lowe’s, as of February. The 12 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

grow lights that I am using are fluorescent T5s, which use 84 watts as a system. At 16 hours of on-time per day, the total monthly cost for the two lighted growing shelves in the picture is about $3.63.

Instead of buying a bag of potting soil, I went out to my garden and filled a 5-gallon bucket. A first for me this year was pasteurizing the soil, which kills any dormant weed seeds and fungus spores. To pasteurize soil, simply put soil on a baking tray (max 4 inches thick), and heat to an internal temperature of 180°F for 30 minutes. There are more extensive ways to create your own potting soil.

The ideal soil, according to Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening: • is both moisture retentive and well aerated • contains an appropriate quantity of nutrients • allows a vigorous root system to develop • is uniform in consistency and predictable in behavior • is free from pathogens I have been composting for years, and hope that the garden soil I have used will work for seedlings. If not, it is always possible to augment the soil with a natural fertilizer that is not derived from fossil fuels. My end goal is to optimize the growing medium so as not to have to buy any type of fertilizer.

Even among the organic fertilizers, labels still have to be read. I personally try to avoid the ones that include feather and bone meal.

Using the byproducts of tortured animals to grow an organic garden seems to miss the point. One last issue not to be overlooked in any discussion of organic gardening is peat. Peat is the base material for the soilless growing mediums that have become commercially popular over the past few decades.

Peat is essentially decayed plant matter, and comes from bogs. Extraction harms fragile ecosystems, and exposes massive amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas that has a global warming potential (GWP) 21 times that of carbon dioxide. If you are interested in using a soilless product, there are a number of “peat-free” products available.

Good luck with your 2013 garden, and the Pulse would love some pictures!

The Name of the Wind

by Patrick Rothfuss When I sat down to begin this review, a huge gust of wind stormed the house and set the windows rattling with a howl. I suppose that’s about as good a place to begin as any for this book.

The Name of the Wind is the first in Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller fantasy series. Though set in a world unto its own, its Medieval style rings with the voices of booming innkeepers, pale chroniclers, swarthy knights and cruel knaves. In this setting, education is a prize, not a right, songs and storytelling are the main entertainments, and the spirit world is interwoven with the physical.

The tale is narrated by Kvothe, the hero of mysterious legends who by all appearances has settled into the role of humble innkeeper of the Waystone Inn. A chronicler finds Kvothe and persuades him to share his stories. As the tales begin, a flicker comes back to the red-haired innkeeper’s eyes.

Kvothe’s story begins with his education by a tutor, Ben, who travels with Kvothe’s troubadour family to teach him the classical subjects of logic, rhetoric, mathematics and alchemy. Their relationship is interrupted by Ben’s sudden departure and the killing of Kvothe’s family by the evil Chandrian, a demon race.

Kvothe’s only salvation is to escape to the University, where he will learn the “name of things” and find a way to conquer the evil that destroyed his family.

He progresses quickly at the University, making him an object of suspicion by many of the teachers and of jealousy by many students, yet a firm friend with others. His story is punctuated by his musical successes at the local inns where he is rewarded for his talents and swept into the path of the beautiful but mysterious Denna, who joins him in his search for the Chandrian.

Lest readers sense too many Potter-esque similarities (a young boy

by LAURA BETH PAYNE and Hogwarts . . . I mean University), rest assured that the stories are disparate. Whereas fantasy tales in the manner of Rowling and Tolkien concern themselves with the fate of all mankind, Rothfuss is concerned for Kvothe and the nature of legends and the making of stories. Kvothe himself is a legend, a story of stories, and like the chronicler, we must listen to them all in order to understand the one.

The story-within-a-story setting is bewitching, lulling the reader into another age where stories are woven and sung in front of roaring fires and along dusty roads. Like Tolkien, Rothfuss’ witty wordplay in double entendres and phonetic spellings (nods to Old English and Latin) create a game between author and reader. Just like Kvothe, the reader must learn to recognize the names of things too. Creative types will appreciate Rothfuss’ view of the artist and muse throughout the book, and all lovers of a good story need only let Kvothe weave his yarn to revel in the words, the songs, and the wind.

READ TO SUCCEED

BOOK REVIEW

Read To Succeed is the community collaborative created to promote literacy in Rutherford County. The objective of this partnership between schools, area agencies, and businesses is to support local programming and raise awareness about the importance of literacy. For more information and to find out how you can make a difference in Rutherford County’s literacy rates, visit readtosucceed.org. The opinions expressed in this book review are not necessarily representative of Read To Succeed, but simply intended to promote the joy of reading.

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 13

LIVING

Helping Kids Special Kids changes the lives of children through therapy and encouragment. story by ELIZABETH SCOTT

C

hanging lives through Jesus Christ—this is what Special Kids strives to do. Special Kids, which was founded in Murfreesboro in 1998, is a Christian nonprofit organization that provides rehabilitation and nursing services to children with special needs. It is the only organization of its kind in Tennessee.

The organization offers physical, occupational, speech and feeding therapies to individuals aged from birth to 21 who have been referred to the facility by a physician.

The facility’s recreational gym uses mats, swings and stairs to help build children’s lost both her hands, learned she had a skill for growth and stability. This room is where some painting. Her art is hung on one of the walls parents witness their children’s first steps, said in the facility.

Elizabeth Hudson, marketing specialist.

The skilled nursing program is for children Special Kids wants to focus on abilities rather than disabilities in their Camp Ability sumwho are deemed medically fragile and cannot mer program. The program, divided into two attend other programs. “This program allows sessions scheduled for June and July, accepts parents to work or run errands knowing their children are in good hands,” ages 6 through 25. Held at Elizabeth said. The organiNorth Boulevard Church of zation also helps kids work Christ in Murfreesboro, this through difficulties they day camp is designed to help may have. Some kids have kids improve what they’re trouble with certain texgood at, not focusing on ON tures. “One girl here had an what they can’t do.

NON-PROFIT aversion to touching glitter,” Special Kids has served Elizabeth told. By the end 2,300 children from 11 counFeatured Organization: of her therapy though, she ties since its founding. While SPECIAL KIDS could put both hands into a the organization would like tub of glitter. to take in everyone, space is limited in the facility. Closets were turned into It’s this kind of accomplishment that gets offices and meeting places and the laundry a name on the praise board. The bulletin room doubles as a therapy room.“We like to board is covered in cut-outs of hands, feet think we’re using all the space we’re given, but and smiles—each one representing a differhopefully we’ll get more when funds permit it,” ent accomplishment. “Chloe says ‘Mama,’” Elizabeth said. Fundraising opportunities are is written on the board, and is one example always available for those in the community of the progress made at Special Kids. After who would like to help. nearly five years of speech therapy, this little girl made a breakthrough by saying “Mama.”

The 2nd Annual Special Kids Race is coming up on Saturday, March 23, and they are Today, Chloe has made tremendous improvevery close to selling out. The race, presented ment and speaks every day.

by Murfreesboro Medical Clinic & Surgicenter Other children learn they have great talents (MMC), will have 3,000 participants and “runthrough their therapy. Jamise, a little girl who

14 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

Every day, the Special Kids staff works to assist children overcome obstacles that may seem simple to many others.

ners will have the choice among three distances: the One-Mile Fun Run, the 5K, or the 15K,” Elizabeth told the Pulse.

People can also get involved with Impact Special Kids. This fundraising opportunity “bridges the nuts and bolts of fundraising with creativity,” Elizabeth said. With this program, members of the community have the freedom to design their own fundraising program. Bill Taylor’s Bushido School of Karate, for example, held a tournament to raise money for Special

Kids. This is only one example of how community members have been able to help the organization. By starting a fundraiser at impactspecialkidstn.com cialkidstn.com, anyone can be actively involved in changing lives through Special Kids.

Special Kids is located at 202 Arnette St., Murfreesboro. and can be reached at (615) 890-1003.

More information can be found at specialkidstn.com. The Special Kids Race website is specialkidsrace.org.

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 15

LIVING

EGGS-A-PLENTY Keeping chickens in the city: egg production can work even in small yards as urban chicken farming grows in popularity.

Kyle Hillis pulls plenty of eggs from the lovely ladies' coop next to his house.

story and photos by BRACKEN MAYO

C

hickens may not have a reputation as the best animals to keep in a suburban setting. They can be a little smelly, a little loud (if you have roosters) and do not make the smartest, most loving or cuddly pets. They can require some attention and nightly herding into a cage or coop.

Plus, it’s the 21st century. And we are a civilized society. This ain’t the backwoods. We can get our food in the sanitized and proper grocery or 24-hour big-box store, without having to be reminded that food actually comes from the dirt, or animals.

But eating local and eating natural aren’t just trendy catchphrases for many: it’s a genuine belief that there’s a better way than continually consuming mass-scale, “factory”-produced, genetically modified, hormone-injected, monthsold products, and that working outside, alongside God and the plants, animals and elements for food, is something to take pride in.

One Murfreesboro resident has proven you don’t need a large farm in order to have a successful egg-gathering operation.

Kyle Hillis keeps six chickens, the maximum allowed by city ordinance on a single lot, in his modest Murfreesboro backyard. And after making his place a little more chicken-friendly over the past few years, he now has more eggs than he can eat.

A small house, maybe four feet high and a couple feet square, split into two sides and two levels, accommodates the ladies comfortably.

“They like to have somewhere up high to sit,” Hillis says, pointing to a couple of hens on the top level of the chicken house.

A timed lighting system in their structure means the chickens get some artificial daylight in early March beginning at 4 a.m.

“I trick them a little bit, and make them think it’s summertime,” says Hillis. “The white Leghorn and the Rhode Island Red lay all the time. Some breeds don’t lay very much when it’s colder.”

Directly outside of the coop, the chickens

16 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

have a small penned area to dine and socialize in, but often during the day can roam in the (not even totally fenced-in) yard.

“If you keep feeding them, and they realize you’re not going to eat them, they’ll stay around,” Hillis says.

In the summer, water from the air conditioning unit drips into a dish for the birds. In the winter, an electrified bucket contains some water for the flock.

“I rigged this bucket up so it won’t freeze. It doesn’t get very hot, just keeps it barely above freezing,” he says. The bucket hangs slightly off the ground, offering a chicken nipple, a small watering device that has increased in popularity lately, below.

“Chicken nipples are the way everyone’s going; when I leave water on the ground they poop in it, they step in it. Plus they get curious about the red (color of the nipple),” Hillis says.

He approaches clean-up duty with a good attitude, actually seeing the value in the birds’ waste.

“I’ll take the board from the coop and just scrape it in the garden,” he says.

The plentiful eggs must be worth it. The

chicken-keeper can tell which of his birds has laid a particular egg just from its appearance. The Ameraucana lays light blue eggs, his Welsummer lays speckled brown eggs, the white Leghorn lays white eggs while the Rhode Island Red lays brown eggs, close in color to the ones of the French Grey, but distinct enough to tell a difference.

Some bird lovers fancy having some of the more odd-looking and colorful birds running around, and that’s fine, Hillis says, but advises those considering keeping chickens to have a goal, whether that may be producing as many eggs as possible, or simply having beautiful, funlooking birds hanging out back.

“I would say get five or six chickens that lay all the time. Some of the fancy breeds won’t lay as much. I spend $30 on feed a month. Sometimes, I’m like, ‘What the heck! I’m feeding this chicken, cleaning up its poop, and it’s not giving me anything,’” he says. “That’s why farmers will find a breed they like, white Leghorn or whatever, and get 50 or 100 of them, instead of having all kinds of different chickens running around.

It’s all about production for them,” he says.

Judy Wood of Poultry Hollow Hatchery agrees that Leghorns and Rhode Island Reds are great layers, but says she wouldn’t suggest those breeds for close quarters, particularly around small children, pointing to the brown-egg-laying Plymouth Rock varieties as being very popular.

“Rhode Island Reds are mean,” says Wood, who owns Poultry Hollow with her son, Todd Rutigliano. “Barred [Plymouth] Rocks are nice; the light Brahmas are even nicer.”

Visitors to that farm, located about 45 minutes from the Murfreesboro city limits in Smith County, can view and purchase dozens of breeds of chickens, as well as turkeys, guineas, peafowl, ducks, geese and more.

Colorful peacocks perched high on a barn roof greet visitors, as a group of huge turkeys gobble simultaneously, rattling in a thunderous display. White ducks waddle around and sun themselves as a customer purchases a Delaware hen to take home.

Birds of a feather: Peacocks pearch high atop a barn at Poultry Hollow. To view more photos from Poultry Hollow visit boropulse .com/gallery

(Above, clockwise): Poultry Hollow employee Shannon calms a Barred Plymouth Rock, A white Silkie hen; Poultry Hollow owner Judy Wood chats with a customer about the many different breeds of chickens they offer.

When asked if it helps a chicken’s demeanor for a customer to purchase a young chick and have her grow up in their environment versus purchasing a laying age hen, Wood replies, “it does to a certain degree,” noting every bird has its own unique personality as far as how active, friendly or curious it is, or how it interacts with humans or other birds. “Each individual chicken is different, just like people,” she says.

If the pullet, or young hen, is kept happy and healthy, she should start laying eggs by 25 weeks of age, Wood says.

IF YOU GO: WHAT: Poultry Hollow WHERE: 123 Wilkerson Hollow Ln., Brush Creek, TN 38547 HOURS: Friday, Feb. 8 at 9 p.m.

ONLINE: Visit poultryhollow.org for pricing

“That’s under ideal circumstances; it could be a little longer,” she says.

In general, though, most breeds are adaptable, whether contained in a coop or allowed to roam free-range. It’s good to let them peck around for bugs, worms and scraps, but “you always want to supplement that with feed; I wouldn’t give them only foraging for their diet,” Wood says.

In addition to its wide variety of live birds, Poultry Hollow also offers eggs and birds for meat. The eggs, which come in flats of two-anda-half dozen for $7, “are farm-fresh; grocery store eggs could be months out of the chicken,” Wood says. Whole cleaned and frozen chickens sell for $4.75 per pound.

For more information on Poultry Hollow, visit poultryhollow.org.

Hillis says he is available for hire if anyone needs help constructing coops or cages. Call him at (615) 294-3006.

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 17

FOOD

Par-fect Cuisine

Scan above to view a video on Fairways.

Fairways Golf & Grill offers pizzas, burgers, wings and more, plus fun on its spectacular golfing simulator. story by JUSTIN STOKES | photos by JOHN TAYLOR

D

espite having never been an avid follower of sports, I’ve always loved sports bars. They’re fun places to hang out, they generally have a good beer selection, and they serve some great food. And while Fairways Golf & Grill is no exception, they do provide an exceptional dining option with unique food.

I’ve driven down Southeast Broad Street my fair share, but nothing in the Discovery Plaza ever really caught my eye, however, so that particular area of town remained off the radar for me for quite some time. I find that a lot of people generally neglect that area, but the fact that it’s located on a busy street only adds to the charm of Fairways Golf & Grill, as the restaurant remains busy enough while allowing its patrons to be left alone while dining, not being disturbed. It’s peaceful; kind of like being on a golf course. You’re left alone to enjoy your surroundings and have a good time.

Their beer selection’s not bad, carrying almost 20 beers on tap, comprehensively ranging from Angry Orchard to Yuengling. There’s also an emphasis on local products, as Fairways proudly serves Murfreesboro’s own Mayday Brewery beer, as well as moonshine from Short Mountain Distillery, “Belle Meade Bourbon” from Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery and Heroes Vodka. Their drinks seem to have a Southern emphasis as well, mixing the likes of moonshine, sweet tea, etc. for some very interesting drink concoctions.

Speaking of interesting, Fairways has something rather unique for a ’Boro restaurant: a golf-themed atmosphere. It’s quite often that you see paraphernalia of various athletic teams, like, for instance, sports jerseys, on the wall of a sports restaurant, but those restaurants are generally universal to sports as a whole. Fairways welcomes sports fans of all kinds, but has taken an exclusive shine to golf. The outside has a small golf area for kids, and adults, (on one

18 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

A customer takes a swing on the simulator.

(Above) Fairways burger. (Left) Hot wings.

THE DISH NAME: Fairways Golf & Grill LOCATION: 127 SE Broad St. PHONE: (615) 962-7853 HOURS: Mon.–Wed.: 11 a.m.–12 a.m.; Thurs.–Sat: 11 a.m.–1 a.m.; Sun.: 11 a.m.–11 p.m.

PRICES: Chip Shot Club: $7.99; 14" Congressional pizza (chicken, mushrooms, onions, BBQ sauce and cheese): $12.99; Fairways Burger: $9.99; Daily lunch specials: $3.99 ONLINE: facebook.com/fairwaysgolfandgrill

of the nicest decks of any local restaurant), and a state-of-the-art golf simulator located in the back, where golfers can play on more than 80 different golf courses where you can—virtually, that is—stand on simulated turf, hit a golf ball with full force, and receive the exact distance you hit the ball, and many other ball flight details, within the game. I think Golden Tee is about to get a run for its money.

I’ve personally eaten at Fairways Golf & Grill five or six times, and feel that I’ve sampled enough from its menu to tell you that everything I’ve tried is really good. Fairways currently

offers one of the better lunch specials in town, with a selection of not one but two different kinds of lunch specials. You can choose from their $3.99 daily lunch special, with choices ranging from a burger & fries, a chicken basket, a 7-inch pizza, nachos or a fish basket, depending on the day of the week, or you can select from their $5.99 lunch special, available any day of the week. This deal includes a larger selection of food, including their chicken wrap, shrimp basket or grilled chicken salad. Both options are available from 11 a.m.–3 p.m., and are guaranteed to make for a good lunch.

More impressive than their selection of lunch specials is their selection of appetizers. Fairways serves homemade and hand-breaded cheese sticks, pretzel bites with various sauces, fried pickles, bacon fries with jalapeños, onion rings and a few more tasty pre-meal options. Their appetizers are portioned generously, so sharing is recommended.

Moving on to the main course, the options are still available, only disguised under pun titles. Pizza would not have been the first thing to come to mind with Fairways, but after having both their Hawaiian and barbecue pizzas—two staples that any self-respecting pizza fan would appreciate—I can see why pizza is on the menu.

Offering a decent variety and three different sizes, there’s something in their “Par-fect Pizzas” for everyone. I also sampled several of their “sand-wedges,” including their chicken wrap and “chip shot club,” which were above par.

But what golf main course is complete without its “greens”? (I can pun with the best of ’em).

A welcome addition to the menu that Fairways provides is a selection of salads that are just as good as items on the rest of the menu.

Golf puns aside, Fairways Golf and Grill is a place I would highly recommend to diners of Murfreesboro looking to expand their horizons, especially during the weekday.

COFFEE TALK: VOL. IV column by JUSTIN STOKES

Hey, Readers! We’re still looking for new coffees to try.

Please send any recommendations to justin@boropulse.com.

WORLD MARKET “ITALIAN ROAST” I was pleasantly surprised by this coffee. It comes out pitch black, but actually isn’t that bitter. It’s pretty well balanced, offering just enough smoke in the taste body to have a little something for everyone. It’s got a low-key flavor that would be welcome in anyone’s kitchen.

WORLD MARKET “COCONUT MARSHMALLOW” Easily one of my favorite coffees of the World Market collection, this seasonal blend was created for Easter, which appears to have come a little early this year. Someone once described this coffee to me as “a blend made to resemble the taste of a [Marshmallow] Peep, which couldn’t be more accurate. I found this brew to be delicious, and have yet to meet anyone who did not like this coffee.

JUST LOVE “LOVE POTION #3 ESPRESSO” A very interesting espresso blend. The bag’s label describes it as having notes of citrus, chocolate and nut, and while we liked the taste of this coffee, the chocolate and nut notes seem to overlap into the coffee, making them very hard to taste separately. We would also question the finish of this particular blend because the flavors are so complex. Having said that, this is a coffee we’d recommend to any espresso fan looking for something new and unique to try.

COMMUNITY COFFEE’S “COFFEE AND CHICORY” This is the first coffee I’ve actually tried from Community Coffee. Oddly enough, this coffee tasted very similar to the “Italian Roast” listed above (with the Chicory sample being more bitter). Good enough to warrant a second cup.

HAMPTON INN COFFEE (REGULAR AND DECAF) We recently heard that the Hampton Inn had its own coffee, and decided to procure a few samples of both their regular and decaf. Overall, the coffee is drinkable (it is hotel coffee, after all), but still very disappointing that a hotel chain would go to the trouble to package its own coffee and not do anything with it. A good pick-me-up if you happen to be staying at The Hampton.

SPECIAL GUEST: PRIVATE SELECTION’S “CINNAMON HIBISCUS” Kroger’s “Private Selection” brand has actually upped the quality of Kroger-brand food, bringing to the table some really good products, including their tea. The Cinnamon Hibiscus tea, which is a blend of chamomile, orange peels and herbs, is almost like a little taste of autumn any time of year. Simply enjoyable.

Read more Coffee Talk at:

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 19

SPORTS ALL HAIL AMBASSADOR DENNIS RODMAN

T

he Train Daddy is back and it’s on like Donkey Kong. The madness of March is upon us and the sexiness of May is ahead of us, April showers bring May flowers and sexy women in short shorts—just reminding you. What is more beautiful than a sunny day in May, enjoying the outdoors? While some like to bird-watch, well, I like to lady-hunt. Hey, I’m single, and just like deer hunting, when you lady-hunt, you only shoot for that prize buck—if you have standards . . . and I do.

March is an ugly month. It’s still cold, it rains a lot and I just don’t care for it. There is one solid thing though about the month of March, it’s full of Madness! There is not a better playoff system in all of sports than what the NCAA has put together in their oneand-done elimination-style bracket.

College football took some notes and finally made some improvements, and in doing so they killed the BCS and approved a four-team playoff system for the 2014 season. My dream has come true, and I send my gratitude to all the people that made a college football playoff system a reality, even though I would have gone with eight teams. It will be a process that will be looked at and evaluated in the com-

20 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

SPORTS TALK column by Z-TRAIN

titanman1984@ yahoo.com ing years, but is in effect until 2025.

I know one thing: whoever ends up ranked No. 5, shut up and take it, don’t talk about being left out.

Both basketball programs for MTSU have been very impressive this season and have brought great honor and pride to the city of the ’Boro, unlike the five players arrested from the MTSU football program for starting a chaotic night club fight recently. So let’s get into it, it’s time to talk a little college basketball, Dennis Rodman, North Korea and President Obama vs. Kim Jong-un playing a 2-on-2 basketball game.

Before I talk about MTSU bas-

ketball, I want to talk about Dennis Rodman’s visit to North Korea.

Rodman recently visited North Korea with a group of Harlem Globetrotters and a crew from HBO filming a new series. The United States has a new ambassador—Mr. Rodman—and he hit it off with the supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. Rodman stated “He’s proud, and his country likes him—not like him, they love him—and I love him.” Following the basketball game that Rodman and the Supreme Leader attended, Jong-un invited Rodman and all the players for a feast of a feast; he wined and dined them as they talked the night away.

Rodman stated that Kim Jong-un is an awesome guy, and that his father and grandfather were great leaders. So this is how I see it: you have a country that has a horrific human rights record, quite possibly the worst in the world, a regime that deprives the people of food, shelter and water—the basics of life—and new Ambassador Rodman is head-over-heels with these leaders.

The U.S and North Korea fought opposite sides of a three-year-war that ended in a truce in 1953; neither side ever signed a peace treaty. Just weeks ago North Korea conducted underground nuclear tests, making sure the proactive maneuver was a warning to the United States. According to Rodman, Kim Jong-un doesn’t want war with the American superpower, just a call from Barrack Obama to chat about their love of basketball. Yet in January, after the U.N. council voted to condemn Korea for its successful rocket launch in December, Jung-un’s National Defense Commission stated, “Settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not words.” So

in my opinion, a conversation of words between Obama and Kim Jong-un discussing basketball is no good. Here is my idea: Kim Jong-un and President Obama both are young and in shape and fans of basketball; each leader chooses one of their current cabinet members over the age of 60 and they go heads up, a 2-on-2 basketball game which decides who gets to keep the nuclear weapons. Rodman, you were just on Celebrity Rehab, you’re broke, you are an alcoholic and drug addict who just wishes for the attention of your Chicago Bulls glory days. So just to be relevant again, you go to the most defiant craphole of a country and defend its leaders—leaders who defy the world with nuclear testing and ignorance. You and I both should stick to sports and not international debate.

MTSU BASKETBALL

Moving on to basketball here in America, let’s talk about the great year the MTSU program has had this season. The men and women have had great seasons, with the men ending the season 27-4 and the women 22-7. Congrats to both teams. The men’s program tied the school record for total victories in a season and extended their regular season streak to 16 straight, the third longest in the nation. So, has MTSU earned an NCAA tournament bid? Coach Kermit Davis stated, “Yes, no question, I definitely think we have.” They also set a Sun Belt record at 19-1 for most wins in conference history, a mark made even sweeter as MTSU heads to Conference USA next season. If MTSU makes the NCAA tournament, it will earn $1.5 million in revenue for the Sun Belt conference. MTSU will have to forfeit its entire share of at least $200,000 to the Sun Belt in order to leave for Conference USA in July . . . greedy contracts. The 2013 Sun Belt Tournament will begin March 8, and the top-seeded Blue Raiders look great as they start the tournament off with a first-round bye. I wish the Blue

Raiders all the luck. They can dominate this tournament and give the selection committee no doubts that they deserve to go to the big dance.

So, what is the process for NCAA Division I teams to get a ticket to the dance? Sixty-eight teams will enter the tournament known as March Madness, and 31 of those teams get automatic entry through winning their conference championship. The remaining teams rely on a committee to award them an at-large bid. The 10-member committee is made up of athletic directors and conference commissioners that each serve a five-year term. MTSU has done everything they needed to do to get a ticket to the dance. Soon we will find out if that is so. Selection Sunday is March 17, the first round begins the 21st, and the Final Four takes place April 4, followed by the National Championship game April 8. I stand with MTSU and hope they get there.

They could be a true Cinderella story, and it’s the kind of story the whole country pays attention to.

It’s time to wrap it up—as I always say, a good idea for all you young men out there. Safety first! March 17 will be the day we all print up those brackets, we fill them out and get ready for basketball glory. Every year businesses throw money into the pile,

Marcos Knight and the Blue Raiders are set for the Sun Belt tourney, and possibly, the big dance.

fill out their brackets and pull out the highlighter to mark the wins and losses. I am a simple man: I have a group of 10 – 15, and we all throw $40 down on it, and the winner takes all. It’s a nice little chunk and this is my year, people! It’s all in good fun. It’s the one time a year the whole country can gamble and blame it on a little piece of paper with lines all over it—the famous bracket. So once again, congrats to MTSU no matter the result. It was a great season.

I sure hope the Titans are doing something right now, like figuring out how to win next season! And maybe Dennis Rodman is the answer to our problems with North Korea. Who knows?

Remember what is important to you in your life and cherish it. For the Train Daddy it is simple, and in this order: faith, family, women, sports, friends and food. The first two, faith and family, well that’s simple; I wouldn’t be anywhere without God or my family. It gets tricky after that. Women and sports were a close third, but let’s be real—I LOVE WOMEN and I love sports. Mad respect to my friends, and there is something special about a good home-cooked meal!

Look, you may have a different list than mine, but cherish what you love and live every day to the fullest. I do! The Train Daddy is out the station, CHOO-CHOO!

FUN FACTS: Brett Favre’s first completion as a Packer was to himself.

It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with footballs for a season.

Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

The average actual playtime in a MLB game is 9 minutes, 55 seconds, despite a game taking over 3 hours.

During WWII, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles combined to become the Steegles, due to so many NFL players being called to military duty.

Tug of War was an Olympic sport between 1900 and 1920.

From a complete stop, a human is capable of outrunning a Formula 1 car for about 30 feet.

JFK's golf clubs sold for $772, 500 at a 1996 auction. The buyer was Arnold Schwarzenegger.

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 21

LIVING ROOM CINEMA

MOVIES REVIEWS

column by NORBERT THIEMANN

cinespire@gmail.com

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD Starring: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney Directed by John Moore

Rated R

The best films of the Die Hard series, other than falling on odd numbers, have in common a simple premise taken to its logical, yet exciting conclusion. Die Hard (1988): off-duty cop trapped in a tower with terrorists, bloodies feet, kills all bad guys, saves wife. Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995): off-duty divorced cop solves deadly riddles, befriends Samuel L. Jackson, kills bad guys. But the John McClane of the 21st century takes the movie’s title literally, the bald version of which is an unkillable, unfunny, I’m-too-old-for-this-shit smug cliché of a cliché he helped create.

Five breaks the odd-number trend, enlisting a cadre of me-

diocre action film vets to whip together the horribly titled A Good Day to Die Hard (2013): old off-duty cop goes to Russia to find his son, joins son’s CIA mission, blows shit up, reconnects with son by killing all the bad guys.

Now, I’m not opposed to dumb. I liked last year’s Dredd.

And I don’t hate unnecessary sequels. I’ll recommend Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol to any-

one who’ll listen. But this movie is both dumb and unnecessary.

Firstly, this iteration lacks a charismatic villain like the Grubers of Die Hards of yore, replacing them with a carrot-chomping Russian dancer and a sexy villainess who couldn’t elicit terror if she wore a Bane costume.

Secondly, Jai Courtney, as Willis’ onscreen offspring Jack McClane, not only misspells the name Jay (duh), but worse, looks

MAMA Starring Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waladau, Daniel Kash Directed by Andrés Muschietti

Rated PG-13

Guillermo del Toro: you’ve made some good choices as a producer. Mama was not one of them.

The premise of the film is that a man finds his dead brother’s children, after the brother killed his wife. The children, who have been missing for almost five years, are found in a desolate cabin in the woods, behaving in a feral-like manner and believing in an entity they call “Mama.” Of course, a smarmy “stock character” doctor completely discounts the supernatural, yet believes it completely plausible that these two little girls lived by themselves eating cherry pits in the woods without any sort of assistance. The girls move in

RATINGS:

with their uncle and aunt, and lo and behold strange paranormal things start happening in the couple’s new house.

This movie simply didn’t care, and neither should you. It’s a weak-ass backstory that offers nothing interesting in the slightest. I never thought I’d say this, but the Paranormal Activity series

A CLASSIC

22 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

actually offered more.

This little ditty is based on a short horror film which you can find on YouTube, which is essentially a chase scene. If you’re looking for a good scare, you’re better off watching that than getting invested in this movie. There is no payoff, except when you get out of your seat to use the bathroom.

OUTSTANDING

AVERAGE

like an unholy union of Seth Rogen and Channing Tatum cursed with the devastating dearth of the personality of either.

Thirdly, the father-son subplot (as well as the terrorist-stealingweapons-grade-whateverium actual plot) could’ve been written by a fill-in-the-genre computer program, with all the narrative beats hit with such dutiful familiarity you can all but mouth along every time Willis utters a slight variation of the phrase, “I’m supposed to be on vacation!” (which he says at least four times).

Like one of the myriad multiflip car crashes John McClane somehow survives in this sad excuse for an action movie, A Good Day to Die Hard—or as I like to call it, Die Hard V: Son of Die Hard—will undoubtedly, and unfortunately, fail to kill a franchise that should’ve died easy long ago.

— JAY SPIGHT

Guillermo del Toro, what happened? Are you biting off more than you can chew, or are you simply looking for quick paychecks to cash? I’d like to know; you’ve done some of my favorite movies, and this is very unlike you. I just hope this isn’t permanent, like you’re pulling a John Carpenter and throwing in the blood-soaked towel. I took your advice, and I wasn’t “afraid of the dark.” To be fair, you didn’t give me much to work with over that, just like when you attached your name to this. Perhaps you should take a break, then work on something like The Orphanage. Also, please stop doing movies about ghosts and residual energy. I feel you’ve overplayed that card. You made vampires scary again. I know you’re better than this.

I gave this film one star. It’s simply forgettable.

— JUSTIN STOKES

BELOW AVERAGE

Underground Personalities

A

light browsing session on a popular streaming website unearthed these two gems, which I gleefully watched for free. The 1960s were a fertile time for new movements, including underground art and cinema. People were inspired and motivated to take on DIY projects and to have them received by the open-minded audiences of their time. The two films below offer a look into the lives of individuals who were immersed in this pioneering era of cutting-edge filmmaking.

A wonderful common thread is that John Waters appears in both films.

 Pie in the Sky: The Brigid

Berlin Story (2000) is a documentary about Brigid Berlin, directed by Vincent and Shelly Dunn Fremont. Brigid grew up in a very wealthy and conservative family. Her rebellions and curiosities eventually led her to become a fixture in Andy Warhol’s New York City studio, Factory, during the ’60s. She is an artist in her own right, and has appeared in multiple films for her friend Warhol. Later, Brigid Berlin would also appear in films made by self-confessed fan John Waters.

 It Came From Kuchar (2009)

is a documentary about the filmmaking twin brothers, Mike and George Kuchar, and is directed by Jennifer Kroot. Aside from effectively chronicling their humble beginnings, the documentary has some really good interviews and commentaries throughout. Some notable personalities weighing in are filmmakers John Waters, Guy Maddin and Cory McAbee, to name only a few.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

DEAD

Jeffrey Brant is seeking funding to travel to Ontario and document the stories of his grandmother. Scan above for more information, or to donate.

HEAD UP, HEART FULL

Local filmmaker seeks documentary support MY NAME IS JEFFREY BRANT. I am a 25-year-old, aspiring filmmaker from Nashville and former MTSU student. I’ve been focusing on freelance video the past two years, and have been making great strides toward a career in film. I started JBrantFilms, a freelance company of my own, to get my work out to the public eye.

Our support has been great since I started, but now my producer and I are starting to focus on topics that we feel deserve our attention. This is why I’m reaching out to you.

On Jan. 9, 2013, my grandmother was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer, with doctors only giving her a few months to live. Now, my biggest regret in dealing with the death of

family and friends in the past is not being able to understand why I didn’t do more to preserve their memory. Why didn’t I take the time to ask the questions that really mattered? And above all, with having a passion for a camera, why didn’t I ever use this media to record moments and preserve memories I had with my loved ones?

My father passed away near the start of my senior year of high school in 2005. My best friend and I found him on the front lawn, dead from what they said was a massive heart attack.

It took a couple of years to finally understand why the tragedy had such a prolonged effect on me. It was not until I came into my own as an independent person and an independent thinker

that I realized I had never truly known the man who raised me. I never knew what made him tick. I never knew what his deepest regrets or his childhood dreams were. I never got to know the person who always picked me up from basketball practices and gave me money whenever I needed it. I was too busy with routines that I firmly believed were the most important things in my life at that time. However, that was not true.

After watching one of those “heartfelt story” kinds of movies at four in the morning, days after her diagnosis, I was inspired to tell my grandmother’s story in dealing with this cancer.

A documentary I’ve named Head Up, Heart Full is a story with hopes of teaching a lesson about life and how precious it really is. I want to portray how the most important gifts we have, especially each other, are often taken for granted.

On Feb. 6, I launched an online crowdfunding platform through indiegogo.com. We set our goal of $20,000 to help raise money for cost of equipment, pay for the travel and lodging expenses for a small crew, including myself, as well as promotion and distribution for the feature film when it is complete. We want to push this message to as many film festivals as possible, worldwide. The fundraiser is set to end on March 10, 2013.

As stated above, the funding we raise will cover the costs of traveling and lodging. This is because the story takes place on a Native American reservation in Canada, where I was born. I’m a full-blooded Native American Ojibwa from the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation reserve in Ontario, Canada. Through this firsthand look at cancer, I also want to cover the culture of a society that not many people know much about these days. We want the message of life to be first and foremost, but we want to do it in a style that’s visually compelling, true to the

native theme, and, most important, relatable to an audience of all races affected by this disease.

All I ask is that you take five minutes today to watch the video on the link below. Click the “contribute” button and help donate to our cause. In the event that you read this after the fundraiser is already over, there will still be a PayPal option through which you can donate at jbrantfilms.com.

Help spread the word and let’s make this film a reality. Every little bit counts, I promise you that.

Every little bit makes a difference. This story isn’t just for my family, but for everyone who has seen their lives and the lives of those close to them torn to the ground by this awful disease. The message is not about death, but the importance of life and all of its wonderful attributes that often go unnoticed. I still believe compassion in our society has a long way to go. This is just our contribution at making it believable once more.

— JEFFREY BRANT

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 23

THEATER 9 to 5, The Musical

MARCH PERFORMANCES

Company

9 TO 5, THE MUSICAL 7:30 p.m. March 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23; 2 p.m. March 10 and 17 The Arts Center of Cannon County 1424 John Bragg Hwy. artscenterofcc.com DREW WHITNEY STAND-UP COMEDY 9 p.m. March 7–9 Out Front on Main Baptized to the Bone 7:30 p.m. March 14–17 and 21–24 Out Front on Main 1511 E. Main St. outfrontonmain.com COMPANY 7 p.m. March 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 and 23; 2 p.m. March 10, 17 and 24 Murfreesboro Little Theatre 702 Ewing Ave. mltarts.com JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR 7:30 p.m. March 8, 9, 15, 22, 23, 29 and 30; 2 p.m. March 10, 17, 24 and 31 Murfreesboro Center for the Arts 110 W. College St. boroarts.org THE SECRET GARDEN 7 p.m. March 21–23; 2 p.m. March 24 Central Magnet School 701 E. Main St. wintont@rcschools.net 24 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

Jesus Christ Superstar

TPAC’s Cabaret a Top-Notch Production column by JENNY JACOBS

CURRENTLY SHOWING at TPAC’s Johnson Theater through March 16 is Cabaret, and whether or not you’ve seen the 1972 film musical starring Liza Minnelli, this stage presentation is a unique must for those who like their musicals served spicy hot. Still culturally and politically relevant, this fine production, directed by Rene D. Copeland, proves there is absolutely no need to traipse off to NYC for the finest in theater. No matter your appetite— burlesque, history or competing narratives—it can be satisfied right here in Music City. And if you hunger for nothing stronger than some delicious singing and outrageously provocative, magical choreography, then all you want is a cabaret . . . and here you go!

A blistering kaleidoscope of love and loss, Cabaret tells the story of the Kit Kat Klub, a seamy oasis in the midst of mind-numbing political squalor. The musical manages to deftly blend the tension between a host of characters who are all teetering on the precipice of World War II. Set in a 1920s Berlin cabaret, ladies and lads of the night cater to the pleasures of all comers, absorbing the bruises and blows of a burlesque-craving Weimar, Germany. The non-German characters of British Sally Bowles (played by the delightful Jenny Littleton of “Doyle and Debbie” fame), a good-time working English girl a long long way from home, and her closeted American writer friend Cliff Bradshaw (portrayed by Patrick Waller) reverse national identities in this stage version. Cabaret, as a cultural and political metaphor for its time, is given a different treatment in this adaptation by switching the political identities of the main characters. Allowing Sally to be British and openly apolitical here lends her a quality more mature than that the endearing American charmer portrayed by Minnelli back in 1972. Cliff Bradshaw, played by the leonine Michael York in the film, was a closeted gay British man (or was he?). Here, Cliff is an exceedingly naive American with a heart of gold. Revisionist history and the competing narrative allow the audience to appreciate the evolving sexual and political identities.

But if that kind of analysis leaves you cold, the cabaret with its Willkommening entertainers will warm you right up. They aim to please.

These über-flexible specimens and survivors of life have one message: on with the cabaret!

The play has interesting American and British roots in any case. British playwright John Van Druten’s 1951 play I Am a Camera, together with fellow Brit Christopher Isherwood’s short-story collection, Goodbye to Berlin (1939), formed the basis of Joe Masteroff ’s book for the

Kander and Ebb musical Cabaret (1966). This contemporary stage version has undergone many transmutations that aren’t commonly seen in theater. This is partly due to the evolution of sexuality’s opening closet. The Kit Kat Klub doesn’t need to camouflage its unbridled sexual behavior, drugs, alcohol, etc. Indeed, that lays the dirty bare floor necessary for a full-on exploration of sexual politics. A free for all!

Herr Schultz and Fraulein Schneider, played flawlessly by Derek Whittaker and Ruth Cordell, are the ill-fated lovers representing old, comfortable Jewish Germany and old, pragmatic Aryan Germany. Here they are, star-crossed lovers who can barely admit or be permitted to reveal a single indiscretion. Cordell’s numbers “So What?” and “What Would You Do?” are heartbreakingly perfect, and when the two finally embrace true love in their older, wiser stages of life, the number “It Couldn’t Please Me More” sums it up. While Sally and Cliff become intimate, albeit for different motivations, their mistakes can be forgiven as youth’s follies. For the older pair, we grieve. Such promise, such entwining self-acceptance, expressed in “Married” and the cast’s gorgeous Act I closer, “Tomorrow Belongs to Me.” Coming in at an hour and forty-five minutes in the first act of a twoact play, attention was strained, and that’s not fair to an exquisite cast and story. Either cut something out or break it up earlier.

Act II opens up in refreshing mode, where it is discovered that the match made in heaven between the German and the Jew cannot ultimately hold back the jaded tide of oppression that will soon sweep over Europe. Practicality trumps in love as well as in politics. There is no bitterness between the German and German Jew, only a sort of gracious nod. “We’ve been here before . . . this too shall pass,” they seem to whisper.

But all’s well—look at the cabaret! Such youth, such joie de vivre!

Sordid and decadent, Cabaret is glued together by its pacemaker, the Emcee (played by the brilliant David Compton). He’s only too happy to bear the inevitable weight of buoyant, flirty fearlessness. As a bisexual Jewish character (in this version!), he flawlessly sets the pace and mood between ecstatic and heartfelt numbers . . . he knows the score, he’s been there before, and he embodies the spirit of Cabaret to the hilt. Play now, for tomorrow we die. What makes this musical most compelling is its fearlessness. Despite one of the most inexplicably disturbing stories humanity has endured, the “cabaret” allows us to keep on keepin’ on. Just make sure the orchestra is lively and the boys and girls indefatigable! We can dance all night!

Cabaret continues through March 16. Visit tpac.org for tickets and more information.

WIN GREAT PRIZES!

Courtesy of our awesome sponsors.

TEXT ‘VINO’ TO 86568 to win a pair of tickets to the BoroVino Wine Festival held at Embassy Suites on Saturday, April 6 TEXT ‘MSO’ TO 86568 to win a pair of tickets to the Murfreesboro Symphony Orchestra’s Majesty of Tchaikovsky performance at First United Methodist Church on Thursday, April 18 TEXT ‘REV’ TO 86568 to

win a copy of the Rev. Keith A. Gordon’s The Other Side of Nashville: An Incomplete History & Discography of the Nashville Rock Underground

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 25

OPINIONS Finding Bigfoot

La Búsqueda del Bigfoot

IN ENGLISH: A WHILE BACK I MADE THE CASE for the existence of Sasquatch in an article called “Real Men Hunt Bigfoot.” I promised readers a follow-up from my ongoing investigation of the phenomenon that is the subject of numerous documentaries and even reality TV shows like Animal Planet’s Finding Bigfoot.

I may not have my own investigative reality TV series, but what I do have is a wild curiosity and a video camera. Last September I traveled to Newton County, Ark., after learning my Endangered Species Act through imminent domain as has been the case for thousands relatives own property in a mountainous area of Americans in the past. Furthermore, with bordering a national park that is known to a beast having characteristics so similar to be a hotspot for Bigfoot. What I found on my that of humans you might even have some solo camping adventure was eye-opening. folks trying to place it on food stamps.

Wishing at first to avoid contact with To make matters more interesting, it was locals, I made camp in an isolated hollow suggested by one witness that enough photo with no cellphone service and 10 miles from evidence from game cameras and other any paved roads. It was prime squatching sources has been suppressed that, if revealed, territory with a myriad of indicators that it would “make a believer out of anyone.” nightfall would be interesting. However, Thus it seems the tendency on the part of after a day of exploring, a storm forced me to some locals to avoid the topic, suppress informove my camp early. My vehicle barely made mation or simply fail to it up the rocky hill. The report sightings serves as rain was making the trail a bulwark to change. Add muddy and almost left me Una columna del idioma español por to this the commercial instranded. So I continued CAMERON PARRISH terests such as the logging my search elsewhere for industry, which might be signs of Sasquatch. affected. The result is a coalition of silence Between hikes through the dense forest, I working against official discovery. explored the nearby community, asking quesWhat I have uncovered here isn’t news tions at opportune moments. Having a connection to the area helped open conversations to the Bigfoot research community. But the public needs to know that there are many and I was able to get a handful of witnesses credible eyewitnesses who don’t come forward to speak to me about their experiences with because the discovery of a new species where Bigfoot. What I uncovered was a surprise. they live isn’t a good thing for them. Since I One couple I spoke with has owned real estate in the area for 30 years. They said that on have family who could also be affected by this discovery, I totally understand. Having said several occasions they saw a 9-foot “person” that, I believe the recognition of Bigfoot is incovered in hair but didn’t report it. Several of evitable and overdue but it must coincide with their guests had also seen the creature. Two protection for the little guys and not just the gentlemen I met at a local café said they had 9-foot super-primate with night vision. They seen it cross the river last winter. Whenever I have the proven ability to protect themselves asked about reporting these incidents a faswithout government help or food stamps. cinating theme emerged. They didn’t fail to report out of fear of being ridiculed. Instead they believed that if the authorities were to EN ESPANOL: find out, life would change.

Would recognition by mainstream science ÉRASE UNA VEZ QUE ARGUMENTE of a large primate in North America force a favor de la existencia de Pie Grande en unwanted changes on Americans? It’s possiun artículo llamado “Hombres Verdaderos ble. In order to manage and protect Bigfoot’s Cazan a Bigfoot.” Había prometido a los natural habitat, land in many regions where lectores un seguimiento de mi investigación Sasquatch lives could be taken using the en curso del fenómeno que es objeto de nu-

La PALABRA

26 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

merosos documentales e incluso programas de TV como Finding Bigfoot que sale por Animal Planet.

No tengo mi propio reality de investigación, pero lo que tengo es una curiosidad salvaje para lo desconocido y una cámara.

El setiembre pasado viajé a Newton County, Ark., después de saber que mis primos tienen un terreno en un área montañosa, ubicado junto a un parque nacional que es conocido entre investigadores como una zona ocupada por Bigfoot. Lo que encontré durante mi aventura solito fue sorprendente.

Deseando al principio evitar el contacto con los lugareños yo hice campamento en un pequeño valle aislado afuera del servicio telefonica celular y 16 kilómetros de carreteras pavimentadas. Fue un territorio de “squatching” optimo con una gran variedad de indicadores que al anochecer sería interesante. Sin embargo, después de un día de explorar los alrededores, una tormenta me obligó a mover mi campamento temprano.

Mi vehículo apenas logró llegar a la cima de la colina rocosa.. La lluvia estaba haciendo el camino fangoso y casi no transitable. Así que continué mi búsqueda en otros lugares de evidencia de Sasquatch.

Entre excursiones por el denso bosque exploré una comunidad cercana haciendo preguntas a los lugareños en los momentos oportunos. Tener conexiónes familiares en esa área ayudó a entablar conversaciones y yo me fue posible encontrar unos testigos dispuestos de hablar sobre sus experiencias

con Bigfoot. Lo que destapé era una sorpresa.

Una pareja con la cual hablé ha poseído terreno en el área durante 30 años. Ellos dijeron que en varias ocasiones vieron a una “persona” de 9-pies cubierta en el pelo, pero no lo relataron a las autoridades. Unos invitados de ellos también habían visto a la criatura. Dos señores que encontré en una cafetería local dijeron que ellos lo habían visto cruzar el río el invierno pasado. Siempre que yo preguntaba sobre el reportaje de estos incidentes surgió un tema fascinante. Ellos no dejaron resaltar el miedo de ser ridiculizados. En cambio ellos creyeron que si las autoridades lo supieran,su vida cambiaría.

El reconocimiento por la corriente científica principal de un gran primate en América del Norte obligaría a hacer cambios no deseados a los estadounidenses? Es posible. Con el fin de gestionar y proteger el hábitat natural de Bigfoot la tierra en muchas regiones donde los Sasquatch viven podrían ser adoptadas mediante la Ley de Especies en Peligro tal como ha ocurrido en el caso de miles de estadounidenses en el pasado. Por otra parte, a una bestia que tienen características tan similares a la de los seres humanos, algunas personas tratarian de darle cupones de alimento y vivienda subvencionado por el gobierno.

Para aumentar el interés fue sugerido por un testigo que bastantes pruebas fotográficas han sido suprimidas ya que, de ser revelado esto “haría a un creyente de cualquiera.” De aquí, la tendencia de parte de algunos vecinos de evitar el tema, ocultar información o simplemente no sus experiencias. Añadiendo a esto que los intereses comerciales, como la industria de registro, que podría ser afectada, el resultado es una coalición de silencio que trabaja contra el descubrimiento oficial.

Lo que he descubierto aquí no es noticia para investigadores de Bigfoot el público debe saber que hay muchos testigos creíbles que no avanzan porque el descubrimiento de una nueva especie donde viven no es algo bueno para ellos. Yo tengo familia que también podría verse afectado por este descubrimiento, así que yo lo entiendo totalmente. Habiendo dicho esto, creo que el reconocimiento de Bigfoot es inevitable, pero debe coincidir con la protección de humanos y no sólo el super-primate de 9-pies con visión nocturna. Tienen la capacidad probada para protegerse a sí mismos sin ayuda del Gobierno o cupones de alimento.

The President of The One Percent

T

his was supposed to be the most transparent administration in American history. Remember that? It was also supposed to be the administration that would look out for the “little people” and sock it to the one-percenters.

As it turns out, if you raise a half mil for the president’s propaganda machine and have some long money on the hip you can break bread with the man himself.

This is nothing new for the Obamas.

They’ve been one-percenters for quite some time now, posing as the downtrodden down with the struggle. The only thing they’ve struggled over is which French wine to order at dinner.

The First Lady being shoehorned into the Oscars made it glaringly obvious who the Obamas’ true friends are; it’s not the middle class who Mr. Obama evokes at every campaign stop. Even though her husband demonizes the evil rich the Academy Awards theater—which could’ve doubled as a one-percenter convention—looked upon the First Lady with doe-eyed adoration. It’s Chuck Todd, of all people, is sounding the as if with a wink and a nod the Hollywood alarm bell. The MSNBC Obama sycophant leftist elitists know that when the president voiced outrage at the discovery that Obama’s talks about people paying their “fair share” Organizing for Action group was “selling he’s not talking about them. He’s not even access” to the president at $500,000 a pop. talking about himself.

Todd was actually regurgitating what he had Even though he said people like him learned from The New York Times, which should pay a little more, he made sure his was actually first reported by the Los Angeles accountants fixed it so he’d pay a lot less.

Times. Could it be that Obama’s lap-dog Despite Mr. Obama being in the 35 percent media is coming unraveled? tax bracket (now 39.6 for the new year) he Apparently, accordpaid an effective tax rate ing to the reports, giving of closer to 20 percent.

VIEWS OF A or raising a half-million He wrote off nearly bucks gets you direct ac$300,000 in deductions. column by cess to the president via a Not that there’s anything PHIL VALENTINE national advisory board for illegal about it, it’s just imphilvalentine.com Obama’s group. You get to moral to preach to the rest attend quarterly meetings with the president. of us that the rich need to be paying their Now, the president and his people might fair share and then do everything you can argue that this group will attempt to tackle to make sure you pay as little as you can. some of the nation’s more serious problems Same goes for this golden access pass but it assumes that the nation’s problem solvgiven to high-roller donors. It’s one thing ers are only among the top one percent. to talk about the middle class. It’s another It may be perfectly legal or, then again, thing altogether to give them the same it may not. Either way, as Chuck Todd puts access to you that you give the rich. Yet he it, “this just looks bad.” It’s more than just hides behind the veil of empathy and caring. looks, Chuck. It is bad. I think we’re all The most transparent administration rather sick of the influence of big money. We in the country’s history, eh? Perhaps it just don’t know what to do about it. Banning is because, Mr. Obama, we can see right it certainly doesn’t work as we’ve seen with through you. the George Soros-funded, Michael Moorefronted organizations that simply navigate Phil Valentine is an author and nationally around the law. But to have a president who syndicated radio talk show host with Westrailed so against the rich to now grant spewood One. For more of his commentary and cial access just for them is reprehensible. articles, visit philvalentine.com.

CONSERVATIVE

“

Apparently, according to the reports, giving or raising a half-million bucks gets you direct access to the president via a national advisory board for Obama’s group. You get to attend quarterly meetings with the president.

”

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 27

OPINIONS

Love Your Fate: Part II

column by FRANK SHEPARD

frank@boropulse.com

I AM LOOKING AT AN OBJECT, absorbed in it eating the fruit was fear and self-awareness. They were told completely, with no sense of self. This is what Hegel calls they would die, but they didn’t . . . or did they? A life of perConsciousness, but “I” do not yet exist. I become self-aware petual fear is a death (and is a worse thought than “eternal when I Desire. So let’s say that the object I’m looking at is recurrence”). One who rejects the tree of knowledge and edible and I become hungry. This is Self-Consciousness, chooses the tree of Life instead sees life (circumstances, otharoused by Desire from a sense of Lack; now “I” exist. ers, self) without evaluation or judgment. Eden is a powerImmediately, a competition begins between my Self—the ful parable contrasting the default human condition (driven Desiring Subject—and the Object. I assimilate (eat) the by lack) with an alternative: the tree of Life—abundance. object and destroy the lack, only to be immediately conJesus repeatedly forbade judgment. He offered the sumed with a new Lack (I’m cold, lonely, bored, insecure, natural world (lilies of the field, birds of the air) as models etc.). This time I see something but it is not an Object, it is of ceased striving. Perhaps the Psalmists understood what another Desiring Subject (a human). A competition ensues.

Nietzsche was getting at: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall want (Psalm 23, emphasis added). In other words, (see Hegel’s Master/Slave dialectic). not want” Since Desire is what constitutes existence (self-con“I will have no wants.” Consider “be still and know that I sciousness, self-awareness), all human existence, our every am God” (Psalm 46). The constant competition generated moment, is consumed with Desire driven by a sense of by lack can cease by trusting in what is (I am). The word Lack. Thus the human condition, and thus the cultures we “amen” means “so be it”—an affirmation of what is. Paul create, are defined by and immersed in competition, which talked about having learned the secret of being content in breeds fear, strife and restlessness. That is, unless I decide all circumstances “whether well fed or hungry . . . in plenty that I lack nothing. or in want.” (Philippians 4:12) “Thus the human Last month, I broke down A common Buddhist mantra condition and thus the Nietzsche’s “amor fati” (love of is “om shanti.” Om is a solemn fate). Another idea of Nietzsche’s assent meaning “yes, verily, so cultures we create, are is “eternal recurrence.” It defined by and immersed be it,” much like “amen.” Shanti basically asks us to think about means peace. This is saying yes in competition, which reliving the same moment over to the moment and declarbreeds fear, strife and and over again. To Nietzsche, ing peace in place of anxiety restlessness. That is, it is the thought of the greatest aroused by a sense of lack. unless I decide that burden. I think it is his way of Meditation can function as an I lack nothing.” shutting down all teleological exercise in contentment. hopes—expecting that things are going to improve. He Now, let me balance this Zen, passive, yes-saying contentment with a strong dose of reality. Amor fati must be wrote, “Everything becomes and recurs eternally—escape practiced with eyes wide open. Life is unfair, broken, ugly, is impossible!” If I were in such a loop, I would (eventually) disgusting, disturbing, grotesque, senseless and absurd. give up evaluating the moment (whether it is good or bad) If, and when, a beautiful thing occurs, it’s sheer miracle. and the next moment too (because it isn’t coming). As you I must come out of Plato’s cave, enter the real world, and might imagine, this could produce many varied reactions. say yes to it—over and over again—including my death (Think of Phil Connors’ stages of acceptance in Groundhog and everyone’s death. All the typical escape valves must be Day: denial, depression, hedonism, hope of escape, accepclosed: stoicism (false sense of peace), skepticism (apathy, tance and self-improvement.) Eternal recurrence is a tool nihilism), and religion (fantasy, afterlife, good/evil dualism). to put me in a mindset that maximizes my life. Nietzsche wanted to not wish anything to be different than what it is.

Amor fati is a freedom from fear, lack and inaction. It is freedom to the wild nature of life, risk and action. Here’s the Ironically, it’s contentment that produces action. tricky part: this new Action does not spawn from lack. I still Consider the Garden of Eden myth: eating fruit from the need nothing. The Action will be whatever is mine to do at tree of knowledge opens one’s eyes to good and evil. This that moment, and I will not label it good or bad. I will not new vision judges everything as varying degrees of good compare it to what anyone else is doing. Since I am loving or evil. If the object is good, I need or want it; if it is evil, I the moment (amor fati), and the moment is eternally recurneed protection from it—both create a lack, then a desire, ring, I trust my action is coming from love. If I become Love then a tension. This paradigm produces a perpetual state of (as subject) and I only see Love (object), the war is over. need, fear and conflict. Adam and Eve’s first response after

28 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

RECOVER RUTHERFORD:

“Crystal Blue Persuasion” Step II: From Insanity to Belief column by GLORIA CHRISTY

STEP 2: WE CAME TO BELIEVE that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

Busted! Caught right in front of the Old Main, barefoot, and darting through the grass by the New Classroom Building. My excuse: Only moments before, while driving around town, I was wooed, cooed, caressed by soft, wistful tones over the radio.

Look over yonder–what do you see?

The sun is a’ rising, most definitely A new day is coming, people are changing Ain’t it beautiful, crystal blue persuasion For an MTSU coed, a sorority girl in the 1960s, running barefoot on campus was defiant, anti-conventional behavior. And there I was, confronted by a perplexed sorority sister with a baffled stare as she walked by going to class. After all, there were emerging paradigms in those days, a sense of newness, a fresh mindset. Certainly, running barefoot across MTSU campus was considered, as the Dean of Women would insist, “unlady-like.” For a young woman in that era, who could resist the tone of the day? Many were compelled to protest the political and social unrest in their own way. My triumph and rebellion of choice was to freely walk across campus barefoot. Oh well, just as the warm sun was lifting life that spring day, the lyrics spurred my soul into a primitive gesture. Even now, 43 years later, I acknowledge that the incident was liberating, giving my spirit renewed brilliance.

How could I have known in those whimsical moments that the greatest storms of my life were in my future? Ahead were impossible situations that would leave me with deep anger and depression, feelings of isolation, abandonment and guilt, followed by a victim mentality. I am writing this to help others to find internal peace. A peace beyond life experiences and circumstances, a kind of peace that, in those days, I did not think was possible.

Beyond the surfin’, Motown, Beatles and bubblegum songs of the early ’60s emerged a stream of innovative groups that were sympathetic and relevant. Without the aid of push-button synthesizers, these innovative bands with their distinctive melodies proclaimed the soundtrack of our lives, sounding out contemporary struggles and issues. One of pop music’s great lesser-known heroes was Tommy James, with his band, the Shondells, who recorded an impressive and nearly seamless string of hit singles in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Often, the Shondells’ hits climbed to the top of the charts, landing alongside The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones.

An online interview* with Tommy James reveals details about the song. “‘Crystal Blue’ was interesting. First of all, I was becoming a Christian at that time, and we never thought a thing about it. We never thought that doing something

semi-religious was any big deal. We didn’t think of it as being politically incorrect or anything like that. We just did what felt right. I wrote ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ with Eddie Gray and Mike Vale.

Eddie came up with the little guitar riff, and Mike and I did the lyrics. And it just felt very right as a sort of semi-religious poetic song, but it turned out to be one of the hardest records I’ve ever made.” James goes on to explain that the arrangement took weeks to perfect. He painstakingly removed several instruments from the original recording, until the gentle, spacious sound he’d envisioned was accomplished.

Gaining the respect of his musical contemporaries, Tommy James and the Shondells hammered out 23 gold records in all—“Hanky Panky,” “Crimson and Clover,” “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Sweet Cherry Wine,” just to name a few. But it was “Crystal Blue Persuasion,” written as the band was converting to Christianity, that was birthed out of a “crisis of belief.”

Plummeting into drug and alcohol abuse, a despondent James found himself alone in a hotel room, a victim of the greed and exploitation in the music industry. He cried out, “God, talk to me somewhere!” opened a drawer and pulled out a Gideon Bible. He began reading the book of Ezekiel. At the time James was fascinated by the possibility of UFOs, so he was blown away by the celestial imagery.

In February 2010, an autobiography of James was published: Me, the Mob, and the Music. When the strong-armed Morris Levy of the mob-controlled Roulette Records refused to pay the band and all those who signed with Roulette, James fell into despair and hopelessness. He estimated the company owed him and the band between $30 and $40 million in royalties, which he never received. James describes this experience as “trying to take a bone from a Doberman.” Trying to cope, he did what many musicians do, filled his life with years of pills, booze and dysfunction.

Just as “Crystal Blue Persuasion” was becoming a No. 1 hit in the late summer of 1969, James was asked if “Crystal Blue” is a reference to the Book of Revelation. He replied, “Yes, it is. It’s

out of the Bible. The imagery was right out of chapter 19 of the Book of Revelation, about the lake of crystal, and just what John sees. The imagery was just right there. ‘Crystal blue persuasion,’ although those words aren’t used together, it was what the image meant to me.”

The lyrics, “It’s a new vibration,” are about James becoming Christian, but many listeners had their own interpretation. He explained: “Of course, everybody thinks if they don’t understand what you’re talking about it must be about drugs. But it wasn’t. We were going through a real interesting time back then, and a very wonderful time. Everybody in the band, by the way, became Christian. And we’re very proud of it. And ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion’ was sort of our way of saying that in a kind of pop-record way.”

The song was peaking on the charts at the time the now-legendary Woodstock festival was being organized. Tommy James and the Shondells were invited to appear, but, as Tommy explains, “Like dopes we turned it down.”

In August of 1969, the Shondells and the soft strains of “Crystal Blue Persuasion” might have calmed the moments of restless paranoia lurking just under the surface of the seemingly groovy youth culture at Woodstock. An intermission from the jangling guitars would have made a great message for the festival and the nation.

Have you come to that place where your old ways just don’t work anymore? Do “if onlys” and “shoulda/couldas” replace broken promises and dreams? In my days without God, anxiety dominated my thoughts, distorted my perceptions and paralyzed my actions. The insanity did not stop until I admitted I was powerless, realized that a power greater than myself could help me recover.

Even the ability to form such beliefs is the mark of God’s image in our life—“crystal blue persuasion.”

Better get ready, gonna see the light Love, love is the answer, and that’s all right So don’t you give up now, so easy to find Just look to your soul and open your mind Interestingly, the universal aspects of the color blue—covering the blue skies above, the deep blue seas beneath and every shade in between—symbolizes God’s Presence all around us. This Presence is total Love and only asks us to believe! Somehow, our physical senses are hushed! The earth is connected to true healing, and we are made alive and new!

Maybe tomorrow, when He looks down On every green field and every town All of his children, in every nation There’ll be peace and good, brotherhood . . .

Crystal blue persuasion A song 40 years ahead of its time! If you have an old, dusty vinyl copy, pull it out, play it, or find a version on the Internet. PLAY IT LOUD! . . . and barefoot. *Interview excerpts from songfacts.com.

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 29

ART Gyro Cafe Hosts the Beeswax Pointillist Work of Gary James BALLPOINT PEN POINTILLISM with pigmented beeswax on plastic—this is the unique

art form created and perfected by local artist Gary James. James has been creating art for most of his life.

“I’ve been drawing a long time,” James said. He said he began using a black ballpoint pen when it was invented (after a little research, we found the modern version of the ballpoint pen was actually developed in the 1930s, but James has been making art with one for decades). It took 10 years to perfect the colorization process of his art. Each drawing begins in black and white, and then color is added with beeswax and colored plastic. “It starts in my mind [as] black and white,” the artist said. The color comes later.

Although he has done some traveling as a part of the Air Force and Navy, Murfreesboro is his hometown, and where he has done most of his work. James has been making a living with his art for years, drawing logos, artwork, anything someone wants drawn. “There’s nothing I can’t draw,” he declared.

His art is permanently displayed at the Gyro Cafe on North Rutherford Boulevard. The 35-print show can also be seen on his website. Every Friday night, James is at the Gyro Cafe to talk with anyone who wants to know more about his art. James said he loves talking with anyone who is interested. He also often has visitors to his studio. I’m there “between 3 p.m. and sunrise,” James said. He draws inspiration from many things, but James said that, for years now, “What inspires me more than anything is a beautiful woman.”

James’ work can be viewed and purchased at garyjamesart.com, or look for him at the Gyro Cafe, 225 N. Rutherford Blvd., Murfreesboro, every Friday at 7 p.m. — ELIZABETH SCOTT

Visual Vernacular, Icons and The Hand-Crafted Book THE MTSU DEPARTMENT OF ART’S TODD ART GALLERY hosts “Visual Vernacular,

Icons, and the Hand-Crafted Book,” a show billed as explorations of hand-printed materials and book forms and featuring new Department of Art faculty members Andrew Kosten, Kathy O’Connell and Ashley Hairston. Respectively, they represent the art areas of printmaking, book arts and graphic design. Also included in the exhibit is the invited work of some of the trio’s contemporaries and associates including Brandon Sanderson, Matt Hopson-Walker and Amos Kennedy.

Discussing his work in the exhibit’s printmaking portion, Andrew Kosten states, “Throughout its all too often tragic history, humanity has turned to the comical, the bizarre, and the extraordinary in order to maintain a sense of lightheartedness. . . . Throughout the history of art, issues involving the human condition have provided the most challenging and engaging critiques of human behavior.”

Kathy O’Connell’s “Mixtura” represents the “Hand-Crafted Book” portion of the exhibit and is an international book arts project inspired by food that includes independent arts studio 30 * MARCH 2013 * BOROPULSE.COM

Taller 72 (Lima, Peru) and a total of 16 artists through an Access and Diversity Grant from MTSU. The “Mixtura” artists, along with Kathy, represent a wide diversity of nations also including France, Japan, Romania, South Korea and the United States.

Ashley Hairston’s work from her Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) thesis, “The Space Between,” will also be on display. About the work, she states, “‘The Space Between’ is a means of translating the personal into public for conceptual action and art. I investigate identity formation and societal pre-judgments,” Hairston explains. “I am interested in how tightly point of view is rooted in identity, a unique combination of traits and experience, both familial and cultural. Much of this is outside the individual’s control, yet defines what we see. More recently,” she adds, “my work concerns itself with the tension of a personal sense of identity that conflicts with cultural expectations, and how that affects and limits personal and relational mobility. The work inquires into how identity navigates the bewildering space between polar opposites.”

Brandon Sanderson is an assistant professor of art at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke who teaches multiple levels of drawing and all levels of printmaking including intaglio, lithography and woodcut. He describes his “Denizens Series (Folly of Post-Literacy)” as etchings that explore human folly. The characters are absurdly constructed of mechanical and organic elements. Just like many people, they are unaware of an awkward and ill-conceived nature.

Fellow printmaker Matthew Hopson-Walker took to playing in a band after receiving his 

Presidents in Pen and Ink THE CITY HALL ART COMMITTEE welcomes the work of pen and ink artist Greg Lyons to the Rotunda of Murfreesboro’s City Hall through March 15. Featuring 19 oversized portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, the exhibit will also feature processspecific detail regarding the art of pen and ink while also describing the art chronology of the exhibit’s solo artist.

Addressing his work on Abraham Lincoln, Lyons attributes the work of Robert Terry for the inspiration that led him to produce what he calls the Abraham Lincoln Portrait Collection. Initially comprised of 37 separate images of Lincoln in different poses throughout the 1850s and 1860s, it is easy to admire the work while also noting the pen-and-ink portrayal of decline in the President’s health due to the Civil War and the likely effects of the connective-tissue genetic disorder known as Marfan syndrome.

The exhibit also showcases Lyons’ renderings of President George Washington. Exhibiting the same bold, oversized approach as the Lincoln collection, the Washington portraits provide a side-by-side comparison and artistic interpretive look of America’s first President throughout his public life.

To provide the public with greater detail regarding the art of pen and ink, Lyon has put together a presentation of photographs and images to explain the level of commitment and time it took for him to produce this truly unique collection of work on two of America’s most beloved Presidents.

All exhibits of art in the City Hall Rotunda are open to the public at no charge during City Hall’s regular business hours, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. City Hall is located at 111 W. Vine St., Murfreesboro. For more information call (615) 893-5210.

Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kansas City Art Institute in 1998. Even so, in 2003 he completed his Masters of Fine Arts degree at the University of Iowa and has since placed work in collections located at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the University of North Dakota Art Collection in Grand Forks, and the Tama Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan. Currently, he teaches at the College of the Sequoias and California State University at Fresno.

All MTSU Todd Art Gallery exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Eric Snyder at (615) 898-5653 or eric.snyder@mtsu.edu, or visit mtsu.edu/art.

BOROPULSE.COM

*

MARCH 2013

* 31