 | | Wednesday, AUG 20, 2008 | |
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Weekend at Lolla
 | | Cover photo by Jamie Donahue |
There’s not much I wake up at 5 a.m. for. There’s also not much I choose to spend my whole weekend on and push back deadline responsibilities until the last possible minute.
However the combination of Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead at one location is absolutely one of those things, and when great secondary acts like The Raconteurs, Gnarls Barkley, Blues Traveller, Lupe Fiasco and Flogging Molly are included on the bill, I’m on my way to Chicago for Lollapalooza.
We arrived in the Windy City about nine hours after leaving Middle Tennessee—after battling some thick Interstate congestion, confusion arising from multiple Hyatt locations and a train ride stopping at more than a dozen stations on the way into town—concern arose that time may run out before we could pick up our passes. The 6 p.m. pickup deadline passed as I ran full speed through the streets of the great Midwestern city on a muggy summer afternoon. Preparing to accept missing Radiohead and only being able to attend the last two days of music, things started to look up at 6:10 p.m. when the girl strapping on my wristband said “Oh, it’s after 6, the person behind you is the last one of the day.” [read more] |
Carrying on a Dying Art
 | “An old man won’t live long, when he quits working.”
—Eurel Donnell Sauls.
Photos by Chet Overall |
Tony Lehew 07.AUG.08
The fact that Murfreesboro has over 100,000 residents has been big news lately. It’s easy to see the change: just look around. Areas that used to be farms are quickly turning into subdivisions and strip malls.
Growth, for the most part, is a good thing and brings many benefits, but it also has a downside. All the growth in this area is taking away that small town charm that many of us grew up in, and I for one miss it. The simple truth is that the links to the past of Murfreesboro and Rutherford county are getting harder to find. But, they do still exist; you just have to look for them. The public square is a good place to search for those links. It’s one of the few places in the area that has maintained that small town feel. Some of the oldest businesses in the city are located there.
One in particular is Tip Top Barber Shop, owned by Eurel Donnell Sauls. Sauls is 84 years young and has been cutting hair since 1953. In 1963, he bought the barber shop, which has been in operation since the 1920s under the same name. So, Tip Top Barber Shop has been in business for over 80 years. [read more] |
Hometown Taste, Hometown Style
 | | Fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes. Photos by Chet Overall |
Valerie Nutt 07.AUG.08
Located just east of the square, one of Murfreesboro’s longest-running businesses serves up southern style cuisine and community tradition, just like it has since 1900.
It was a busy Saturday afternoon when I walked through the doors of the City Café for the first time, the kitchen staff running full speed even though they were one member short. A mix of café regulars, families, and visitors, like me, were settled at the tables, perusing papers, sipping sweet tea, and occasionally leaning over to talk to their neighbors.
It’s a welcoming scene. Tables and booths look worn but comfortable, local memorabilia graces the walls and the smell of food wafts from the back.
I sat at a booth and took it all in. Grace came by, looking busy but still smiling, with a tall glass of cool, perfectly sweetened iced tea and a menu. [read more] |
“Buddy Holly” Plays Woodbury
 | (From left) Chris Eisenhour, Ian Hunt, Grameme Morris
and Brad Poe in “Buddy.” |
Terry Mayo 07.AUG.08
I catch myself between shows every so often, while someone on stage is busy with a hammer, a paintbrush, in the prop room getting furniture and old wall pictures, or setting lights and sound for the next big adventure on the Rutherford County stage.
I am so delighted that Carol Reed with the Arts Center of Cannon County has embraced The Murfreesboro Pulse and myself in the past month, enticing me with kindness, on-time press releases, and a sure-fire press pass when I walk in the door of the theater. I hope the kindness continues during my future reviews and critiques of the productions in that beautiful theater.
I enjoy, as well, being able to walk into the Murfreesboro Center for the Arts on any afternoon, unannounced, and talk with Todd or Gary or Sherry or Jesse. I continue to learn things I never knew about theater, even after 30 years, and enjoy conversing for 20 minutes or so.
Going into the offices of Patterson Park is also warm and inviting, and although chatting with Terry and Jeff, or Michael, Chris, and perhaps Elizabeth, I do of course get a reserved conversation sometimes, since Patterson Park is owned by the city, and the Parks and Rec folk get a little antsy if you ask too many questions or attempt to dig too deep. I still miss George and Raemona there. [read more] |
Deco flappers and dappers
Lisa Rollins 07.AUG.08
The bygone era known as the Jazz Age will soon find new life via art in downtown Murfreesboro with the inspired aid of Erin Anfinson, assistant professor of art at MTSU, who will return to The Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County to complete a new mural depicting this historic time.
Since July 1, Anfinson—along with MTSU students Emily May-Ragland and Sarah Sullivan—avidly works each afternoon to create a Jazz Age-inspired mural, more than six feet tall and nearly 20 feet long, which depicts “flappers and Dapper Dans on a night out in Murfreesboro.”
A member of MTSU’s art faculty since 2006, Anfinson “has designed a mural that reflects the Jazz Age’s energy and art deco aesthetics,” said Melissa Zimmerman, heritage programming specialist for the Center for Historic Preservation.
“Art deco design, patterns and color palettes have always struck me as exceptionally lively and fun subject matter, which made conducting research for this project a pleasure,” said Anfinson, referring to the project and art deco style, an international design movement popular from 1925 until 1939. [read more] |
07.AUG.08 CD Review: “Quote', The Pace of Our Feet
07.AUG.08 Movie Review: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
07.AUG.08 Movie Review: Step Brothers
07.AUG.08 Movie Review: The X-files: I Want to Believe
07.AUG.08 Music News:
Sound and Shape aims for the ears
07.AUG.08 Music News: Girls Camp Still Rockin’
07.AUG.08 They Walk the Line
07.AUG.08 New Civil War Finds Spur Research
07.AUG.08 Letter to the Editor
07.AUG.08 Opinion: Gagflex: The Time of Forgiveness and I Told You So
07.AUG.08 Opinion: The People’s Dow
07.AUG.08 Opinion: Phil Valentine: Housing Market Can Stabilize Itself
07.AUG.08 From the Editor
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