Walking in Memphis- Beale Street

Fun Sights in Memphis

Band in the Window

As seen on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee.

Pictures of the NashTrash Tours "Big Pink Bus"

The infamous "big pink bus"



Scenes from inside the bus. The camera battery died after this picture but we have one with the "Jugg Sisters' that I will be able to post soon. Stick around you'll wanna see that one cuz I couldn't get them off of me. It was like I was made of velcro or something.

In the Window at Silky O' Sullivan's in Memphis

What does this mean? I dunno, you tell me.

Fly like a Sky Gypsy

By Dennis Wagner, USA TODAY

RODEO, N.M. — At sunrise, John McAfee guides his kite-winged aircraft between granite spires in the Chiricahua Mountains of southeast Arizona, then yells to his back-seat passenger: "Hang on now, and don't panic."

The winged tricycle dives into a slalom run through Cave Creek Canyon, skirting the tips of giant Ponderosa pines and dodging rock formations at 85 mph as it reaches the desert floor.

This is aerotrekking, an evolving new sport that brings human aviators almost down to earth, but not quite. The idea is to follow terrain, skimming a few feet above the ground, visiting wild and beautiful places that could never be reached on foot or by car.

To the chagrin of some environmentalists and neighbors, McAfee, founder of McAfee Software, has spent $12 million completing an airfield near Rodeo — midway between Tucson and El Paso — and is developing an 1,100-mile circuit of six more aerotrekking ports in isolated parts of Arizona and New Mexico.

"It's what Icarus dreamed of," McAfee, 62, says after landing. "This is really human flight. You are attached to the wing, and you feel every sensation, every movement, every breath of air that goes by."

Read the rest of this story in the USA Today

Visit the official website of the Sky Gypsies

Keith Urban in a Motorcyle Accident in Sydney, Australia

See Why We Don't Want the Paparazzi in Nashville?

~C.S. Webbspun

Keith Urban was in a motorcycle accident today in Sydney, Australia, after being followed by paparazzi. He was not injured.

This morning, Urban released the following statement, "Today's incident was the result of one person's desire to do his job and my desire to maintain my privacy. Some have already attempted to inflate the facts, but the reality is this: while out riding to an AA meeting, a time when my privacy is especially important to me, I felt myself being pursued.

"I sped up, and in an effort to elude an oncoming car which was making an illegal U-turn, saw no choice but to drop my bike. In actual fact, my pursuer came to my assistance, without taking photos, and helped me from the road. I returned home, got my car, and continued on my way."

This comes from

BEVERLY KEEL

Staff Writer

Tennessean

My Nashville

I have read a book called "My South" by Craig McMahon and I love it. If you get a chance to read it, do it because it is a wonderful book that gives you the feel of what makes the South so special.

I would like to create something here called "My Nashville" and hear how you all feel about Nashville. I want to hear from Nashvillians and people that have visited our great city. I want to know what part of Nashville touches you deep in your heart and why you live here or wish you lived here.I look forward to hearing your input.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Nashville:
Walking around inside the Ryman and imagining the history and wishing the walls could talk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the book "My South"--

My south is home. It’s the tall pines under which I played in my youth. It’s the soft red clay that was a key ingredient in my mud pies.

In my South, people still say “please” and “thank you,” “yes, ma’am’ and “no, sir.”

My South is sunset symphonies and fine wines…and southern R&B so alive that you can’t sit still and gospel so good it brings you to tears.

In The Words of Bill Marriott: All I Can say about Macau . . . is WOW!!!

Give the Chinese a crack at capitalism and all heck breaks loose - that's my main take-away after seven days here in Asia. The consumer potential of this country is awesome. That's why Marriott is so bullish about our growth plans here.

China's economy is growing at the rate of 10 percent a year. If you think that's impressive, wait 'til you get a load of Macau. It's growing at more than 20 percent a year.

This tiny, little island is about one-sixth the size of Washington, D.C. and only an hour-long ferry ride from Hong Kong. About 100 million people are within a three hour car ride and 3 billion people are within a five hour flight.

No surprise that last year, Macau overtook Las Vegas in gambling revenue.

You should see the monstrous casinos at the brand new Venetian. It's the second largest building in the world after the Boeing plant in the state of Washington. They have an entertainment center under construction that will accommodate 15,000 people for major events like rock concerts and NBA exhibition games.

The lowest bet at the high roller tables is $3000. There are no slot machines - well there are just a few - some baccarat, a lot of roulette, blackjack and "sic bo," which means high-low in Chinese.

And talk about speed to market: the Venetian was a $2.4 billion project but only took 24 months to build.

Read the entire post in Mr. Marriott's blog, Marriott on the Move.

Street Musicians

Part of Nashville that I love is seeing musicians everywhere trying to make money and a name for themselves. You see it everywhere people are moving about as they try to make it and hope to be the next Garth Brooks, Tim McGraw or George Strait. It makes our city so alive to see these guys do what they do and try to make their dreams a reality.

Come visit and enjoy the music on the streets as well as in all the music venues around Nashville. You'll be amazed at the talent in most any place you walk into and you will want to take that step out to try and fulfill your dreams...just like the guys onstage or on the sidewalk.

Lightload Beach Towels Create a Unique Happy Experience for You.

This sound really handy and good for road trips and so many other things.

~C.S. Webbspun

Here are some points and uses for the towels.

Multipurpose: Lightload Travel Towels have thousands of uses unlike any other product. Also known as “a cool tool”, people include Lightloads travel accessory towels in their hiking equipment, backpacking accessories, camping gear, hunting gear, fishing gear, golf accessories, travel accessories, outdoor activities gear, etc. for different reasons. You can buy things like a fire starter, coffee filter and first aid cloth separately and spend more money or buy a Lightload travel towel which is all of the above and save.

Space Savers: Put a handful of Lightload Travel Towels in your pocket and still have room for your keys and money. Lightload beach and travelTowels are also the only travel and sports accessory and outdoor gear towels in the world that fit easily in your pocket with room to spare!

Entertaining: Use as game pieces for a variety of rainy day activities. People can play checkers, hockey, and catch, or create your own games

Disposable: You don’t need large storage space for Lightload Beach Towels. In fact after a trip just throw them away. If you decide to machine wash them, put them in a pocket or mesh bag for best results.

Eco friendly: It’s a product that is biodegradable so good for the environment.

Super absorbent: Lightloads are the most super absorbent outdoor sports towels that are made. Each outdoor sports towel is much more absorbent than cotton towels absorbing more than 9 times its weight in water. This makes it the ideal sports towel for camping , hiking equipment and survival kits.

Visit the website to learn more and read below to get a review of them.

~~~~~~~

This review comes from the "Vagablond" blog where you can read the full review.

In a tightly packed, hockey puck sized bundle, comes a towel that is not only reusable, lightweight, fast drying and surprisingly durable but it’s also biodegradable. When I opened the Lightload Travel Towels package, it was so compressed that I felt like I was tearing apart chunks of cardboard it as I pulled and twisted it open. I thought for sure I was breaking it. Slowly, but surely, the material separated to expose a full sized, paper-thin towel.

Its smaller counterpart, the size of about six stacked fifty-cent pieces, pulled apart the same way and exposed an equally thin hand towel.

I Wish...What Do You Wish?

I wish I could paint the wind
I wish I could do more to show people the magic of Nashville
I wish I could travel more often
I wish I had a jacket from Manuel
I wish....

So what do you wish for?

Smoking is Gone in Tennessee Restaurants Today

The Non-Smoker Protection Act, signed by Gov. Phil Bredesen in June, prohibits smoking in such public areas as malls, sports stadiums and restaurants.

“I don’t see ourselves losing business,” said Eddie McCrary, assistant general manager at Big River Grille & Brewing Works downtown on Broadway. “If anything, most people, especially our employees, were happy about it.”

While non-smokers may celebrate the legislation, some restaurant owners and smokers say they’re both confused and irritated by the new restrictions.

“It’s an obstruction of people’s rights,” said Anita McKenna as she tapped out a cigarette at the Gerst Haus on Woodland Street Sunday afternoon.

McKenna says she began smoking about four years ago to deal with pain from an operation. Her husband Larry stopped smoking more than 30 years ago, but said he didn’t agree with the ban.

“I stopped (smoking) because of the dangers, but I don’t think we should make smokers feel like second-class citizens,” Larry said.

Boyd Barbee, general manager at Gerst Haus, admitted that some smokers might initially leave, but he expects them eventually to come back.

“I can go through a three-hour dinner and smoke afterward,” said Barbee, a self-described smoker.

At Big River Grille and Gerst Haus, smokers can still take a puff on the outdoor patios, which are not included in the ban.


Read the full article in the Tennessean newspaper.

Are the Predators Worth it?

That's what Metro officials and taxpayers will be deciding as they weigh a new proposal expected this week from a group of mostly local businessmen to kick in $3 million to $5 million extra each year to keep the Predators hockey team in Nashville.

The buyer's group failed in its first attempt to get more money from the city.

Whatever is proposed, the revised agreement still will likely require the Metropolitan Sports Authority and Metro council to agree to several million dollars in lease concessions, adding to the city's annual $13 million cost to operate and maintain the Sommet Center arena, where the hockey team plays.

The prospective buyers want the sports authority and council to approve the measure by Oct. 31, when they will lose their exclusive negotiating rights with Leopold.

Without the city's help, the businessmen say, they won't be able to finance the purchase of the money-losing team, and owner Craig Leipold will likely sell it to someone who would move the Predators to another city.

Is the extra money worth it to keep the team here?


Michael Craddock

Read more in the Tennessean newspaper.

Josh Turner Will Be the Newest Addition to the Opry

Hank Williams. Patsy Cline. Alan Jackson. Martina McBride. And now, Josh Turner. They're all members of the Grand Ole Opry, the nation's longest continuously running radio show. Turner was invited to join Saturday, and had no trouble accepting.

During "Opry Live," Turner presented Roy Clark with a plaque commemorating his 20 years as an Opry member. Clark then pulled an envelope attached to the back of the plaque and said, "Well, actually this is for you, Josh. It reads: How would you like to formally become a member of the Grand Ole Opry?"

Said Turner: "I made my Opry debut back in 2001. I never knew this could happen so early."
He will be formally inducted Oct. 27 by Vince Gill.

When Turner made his first showing at the Opry, he hadn't yet had a song released on country radio. Even so, he earned a standing ovation for "Long Black Train," which became his breakthrough hit, and a second standing ovation after an encore.