Monday, November 30, 2009
Barry / Politics Medical Mart Game On: Nashville vs. Cleveland vs. NYC
Posted by Bruce Barry on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 6:38 PM
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Today's splashy announcement of plans to convert Nashville's existing convention center into a 12-story medical trade mart injects new life into a race among three cities to be first to build such a facility. Both Cleveland and New York have been pursuing similar projects with different corporate partners for quite some time.
The Nashville Medical Trade Center, as it is being called, would be jointly owned by Dallas-based Market Center Management Company, which operates trade marts in Dallas, Brussels and Shanghai, and a real estate investment trust called CNL Lifestyle Properties. The developers plan to seek private financing for the estimated $250 million it will cost to renovate our existing convention enter and build a 12-story addition that adds 1.5 million square feet of space.
Barry / Media Desperately Seeking the News: Post-Holiday Roundup
Posted by Bruce Barry on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 10:19 AM
[1] Burying the Lede. Every political operative knows the best way to bury bad news that you can't literally bury is to make it public right before a weekend or, better yet, a holiday weekend. By that standard the afternoon before Thanksgiving is about as good as it gets (or as bad, if transparency in government happens to be your thing). So it comes as no surprise that the mayor's office chose last Wednesday afternoon to release an audit indicating that MDHA's pre-development work on a proposed convention center was riddled with serious flaws in contracting practices. What is a surprise, of the unfortunate journalism kind, is that neither The Tennessean nor The City Paper, in reporting the story, even mentioned the suspicious timing of the release--a transparent effort by city leaders to ensure that as few people as possible notice this latest embarrassing aspect of the Music City Center story.
Breaking News In the Know? Then You Already Knew Franklin is the Malibu of Tennessee
Posted by Tracy Moore on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 10:09 AM
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Make no mistake: We were way "in the know" about the fact that Nashville is the third coast and the new L.A., and the next Brooklyn, but were we hip enough to know Franklin is the Malibu of Tennessee? I hate it when the Times knows before I do. Head hung in shame.
From the New York Times' style mag T:
In-Store | F.M. Allen Those in the know call Franklin, Tenn., just outside Nashville, the ''Malibu of Tennessee.'' A small city with a lot of spending power--thanks to locals with names like Keith, Nicole and Wynonna--Franklin recently got a boost with the arrival of Will Woods's men's-wear shop F. M. Allen. (He also has a New York store.) Woods calls the brand ''rugged yet elegant,'' just right for the genteel country life.[Via Nashvillest]
Media Morning Roundup: Perfect Storm Hits Metro Council and More
Posted by Jim Ridley on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 7:20 AM
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It's not often that Channel 3 qualifies as must-see TV, but tomorrow night's Metro Council meeting is shaping up as a blockbuster--a perfect storm of guns in parks, public art, the Music City Center, the fate of the Fairgrounds and more. Joey Garrison has a preview. ...Colleagues mourn state Rep. Larry Turner, D-Memphis, who died Friday at age 70 after a long unspecified illness. Via Kleinheider....The Vince Young who once looked like a legend in the making now looks like--well, a legend in the making. If you missed the evidence yesterday against the Cardinals, read here what everyone'll be talking about this morning. ...
The proposed Museum of African American Music, Art & Culture at Rosa Parks and Jefferson faces a hard climb to raise $12 million by next December. ...WSMV says to watch for a big economic announcement this morning from Gov. Phil Bredesen, something about health care. ...Fire hats off to District Chief Bobby Connelly, who just celebrated his 50th year as a Nashville firefighter. ...Why is the Federal Trade Commission investigating pharmacy chain CVS? ...Correctional Incarceration Tip No. 37: Before you release a guy from jail, always check his ID. ...
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Barry / Media Morning Roundup: Go Back to Bed, Then Get Up and Eat
Posted by Bruce Barry on Thu, Nov 26, 2009 at 6:05 AM
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It won't be called the Sommet Center any longer. ... Meanwhile on the road away from the soon-to-be-once-again-nameless building the Predators win their seventh straight. ... An audit of MDHA's role in development of the convention center project finds "serious flaws" in contracting practices. ... A suspicious Santa led to an evacuation of the state Capitol. ... Tony Giarratana says he's finished as master developer for the moribund May Town Center project. ... The local jobless rate edges downward. ... Hordes spend the day before Thanksgiving getting vaccinated. ... and that's more than enough news for a holiday morning.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Hargrove Hal Graham, Rocketman
Posted by Jim Ridley on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Remember when James Bond launched himself from the roof of a French chateau with a rocket pack in Thunderball? Almost 50 years ago, a Middle Tennessee man named Hal Graham did it for real. Graham actually made the first free-flight rocket-belt test for Bell Aerospace, thrilling Pentagon officials and President John F. Kennedy with his soaring demonstrations, bounding over H-21 helicopters and across a lake at Fort Bragg.
When he retired, Graham became a charter pilot, a man at home in the sky. But when age and illness began chipping away at the flying skills he'd sharpened over nearly half a century, the Federal Aviation Administration revoked his pilot's license in October. Two weeks later, Graham strode into the ground floor of the Briley Parkway office building occupied by the FAA and shot himself. Brantley Hargrove tells his story in the Scene's cover article this week.
Above is archival footage from the first Pentagon test referred to in the story, with Graham himself introducing the clip in 2008. Below is an excerpt from a History Channel documentary that shows some of the events described in the story. In both cases, your jaw will drop every time the pilots' feet leave the ground.
Barry / Film Don't (Not See) The Messenger
Posted by Bruce Barry on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 10:10 AM
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Films revolving around war have consistently flopped at the box office in recent years. Sadly, Oren Moverman's The Messenger, which opened at The Belcourt last Friday, is apparently no exception. After a weak opening weekend, the film's run at the Belcourt will end prematurely on Thanksgiving Day.
The Messenger, which earned widespread critical raves (Ridley weighed in here), centers on two army officers who do "casualty notification"--the grim task of showing up at someone's door to share the news that a loved one has been killed or wounded in a theater of war. Emotionally wrenching premise? No question, but there's redemption and even a delicate dose of sweetness tossed into the mix. As The New Yorker's David Denby put it, this film is a "fully felt, morally alert, marvelously acted piece of work."
Many no doubt prefer to orient their holiday film going around more upbeat themes, and who can argue with that? But on a Thanksgiving that finds a president about to ask Americans to get behind putting tens of thousands more U.S. troops in harm's way in Afghanistan, The Messenger is the film that demands to be seen before it--like the hopes and dreams of a person whose "casualty" elicits "notification"--vanishes.
Correction: The original version of this post incorrectly stated that the film was being pulled from distribution, which is not the case. Its run has been curtailed here, but not necessarily elsewhere.
Wood Our Back Pages: This Week in Print Over the Years
Posted by Tom Wood on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 10:06 AM
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Our Back Pages brings you tidbits of Nashville history from near and far, chronologically speaking. 
For this edition, we revisit Thanksgiving week, 1925. In the span of a few pages from the Sunday paper on November 22 of that year are moments of old-Nashville business lore, broadcasting history and silent-movie nostalgia.
The working theory behind this post is that an almost random selection from your peripatetic scribe's garage-full of ancient newspaper volumes can yield the occasional cinema verité revelation. Your thoughts on that theory will be welcomed.
Among other personalities from our past this week, we meet an insurance magnate whose mandate from beyond the grave may have caused much of a $36 million nest-egg to dematerialize during last year's market crash.
Bonus points: Find all of the unfunny racist jokes used to fill empty column space--not only the Rastus stuff you might expect, but one aimed at the Irish as well. Call it equal opportunity.
By the Way Morning Roundup: Gobble Gobble Hey
Posted by Tracy Moore on Wed, Nov 25, 2009 at 9:29 AM
Tomorrow's Thanksgiving, but folks are already flooding the airport getting ready to descend upon far-flung family members everywhere. Hope your neuroses will fit in the overhead bin! While you're doing that math, don't forget to check out the airport's "brand new cell phone waiting area, the free waiting area for pick-up, the two long-term parking and the new short-term lot." ...
If your heart goes out to homeless folks, think twice before taking them your Thanksgiving leftovers: It's apparently illegal unless you've taken and passed a food safety course from Metro Public Health. And since the class is offered once a month, I'm guessing it's too late to take it this month. Instead, consider joining up with a church or civic organization already organized to feed the homeless this year, since those folks are exempt from this particular law. ...
The road to hell is paved with good intentions, or at least the road to impeding progress: Councilman Charlie Tygard wants to help get more art projects throughout the county and faster, but the Metro Arts Commission is all, jeez, we're already doing that! ... Spring Hill Mayor Michael Dinwiddie said he would fire anyone who leaked info that the city's police chief failed a drug test. Well, it was leaked, but he said that doesn't mean he was trying to hide anything. Nope, nothing at all. ...
Great news: 10 percent of Nashville homeowners are upside down on their mortgages. ... Nashville also ranks 56th on a list of dangerous cities, which is better than last year, when we were three spots higher on the list. Except, whoops, as a state we're still the sixth worst overall.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Morning Roundup: No Jobs, No Food, and Little Richard's in the Hospital.
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 at 7:52 AM
Requests for emergency food are up nearly 40%, so the Second Harvest Food Bank could really use your support...
The first of the Columbia mosque arsonists has been sentenced. (The details of this remind me of our discussion about racist graffiti the other day. It doesn't matter if these knuckleheads have official affiliations with white supremacist groups; they clearly look to these groups for inspiration.)...
Little Richard is recovering at Vanderbilt from hip surgery. In his honor, let's all run around singing the raunchier version of "Tutti Frutti" today...
Mumpower and Williams have an email pissing match... The Titans beat the Texans...
The Saturn plant closes tomorrow. I know the economics between the South and the Midwest are different, but I have to tell you, news of this sort takes me back to my childhood and just chills me to the bone. It's no good, Pith readers. It's very hard for communities to recover from stuff like this. Our thoughts are with the folks in Spring Hill...
The first of the Columbia mosque arsonists has been sentenced. (The details of this remind me of our discussion about racist graffiti the other day. It doesn't matter if these knuckleheads have official affiliations with white supremacist groups; they clearly look to these groups for inspiration.)...
Little Richard is recovering at Vanderbilt from hip surgery. In his honor, let's all run around singing the raunchier version of "Tutti Frutti" today...
Mumpower and Williams have an email pissing match... The Titans beat the Texans...
The Saturn plant closes tomorrow. I know the economics between the South and the Midwest are different, but I have to tell you, news of this sort takes me back to my childhood and just chills me to the bone. It's no good, Pith readers. It's very hard for communities to recover from stuff like this. Our thoughts are with the folks in Spring Hill...
