I like mexican food as much as the next guy.  I really do.  And if I want to eat it in Nashville and enjoy it, I usually have to get to cooking.  Because the general consensus amongst people who fancy themselves in-the-know, is that the Mexican options in this town are ‘Not Good”.  It’s pretty much the same 7 ingredients in slightly different configurations.  But with Los Arcos, I was hopeful.  There was some “buzz” and it was all pretty good.  So some of us serious foodie type blogger peoples (Ceeelcee, Lesley, Tupp and Knucklehead - and ElZ) ventured out and well - it started out fine, and then got pretty damned mediocre quickly…  and then there was the food.

No… I kid, I kid.  The company was absolutely lovely.

But alas, I won’t be back to Los Arcos, although I must tell you that i did discover an awesome new hot sauce that had a zippy kinda thing going on that I quite liked… and the chips were pretty wonderful too - fresh and warm and not too salty or greasy. That was both nice and a cool 600 calories easily (sigh)…  The usual tamales/enchiladas/rice/beans/guacamole/salsa were - ok.  A couple of folks had the tilapia and it looked - ok.

The tres leches cake was well, decorative? The industrial strength ’whipped topping’ was pretty gross but i gotta say, i hadn’t had a maraschino cherry in awhile and that was kind of fun.  Pardon the shaky shot but i hadda share.

So, see?   
It does pays to get out of your pajamas on a monday morning (<- me talking to self)…
If only for the repartee.

Sean Braisted is relieved to learn that some “Progressives” think it is okay to allow parents to homeschool. Me too.

But Sean’s post–as well as the first comment on his post, raise a couple of issues. First, if Sean thinks that states (certainly Tennessee) currently “supply educational materials and improving online correspondence courses” to homeschooling parents, that’s incorrect. It all comes out of the pocket of homeschoolers, and most of us are probably content with that.

Second, one hesitation that Sean expresses is the idea of “some keeping their kids home to teach them that the Earth is 7K years old and Dinosaur bones were planted by the devil to try and trick believers.” Sorry, but public education is failing to purge the culture of those perspectives (I’m not sure about the devil notion, frankly).

Lastly, an increasing number of non-Christian, non-Right-wing, non-Fundamentalist, etc. people are opting to homeschool, and there is an interesting mix of motivations for homeschooling; among them are a number of “Progressive” values.

As I perceive Sean has concluded, there’s no need to be afraid of homeschooling.

If you have a tween, you may be in for some begging and a heap of trouble.

Disney is not only bringing the making of the Hannah Montana movie to Nashville, but it is also looking for local people to take part in the filming.

Extras are needed to be background actors in the motion picture movie starring 15-year-old pop sensation Miley Cyrus. An open casting call will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 6 at Sommet Center, 501 Broadway.

See the Tennessean for more. 

I came across this interesting post last evening, regarding McCain VP Buzz, the list includes our own Marsha Blackburn:

“A post at FITSNews claims to have seen McCain’s top 5 list first-hand. Who’s on that list you ask? Joe Lieberman, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn are the top choices.”

I’m not sure about VP picks, but she and Barbour are easily the most talented Republicans on that list in my opinion.

Bob Krumm has an excellent post on the subject today.

(click to embiggen)

This morning, I was leaving a comment on the most wonderful Almost Vegetarian site and this verification box popped up. Hmm, that combination of letters looks familiar…

LINDA’S HUB IS IN MAH BLOGS
ASKIN FOR VERIFICATION.

Okay, it’s a stretch, but it’s Monday and any laugh (whether it’s a pity laugh or otherwise) is a good one.

Here in Middle Tennessee, at the beginning of every school year, there are dozens of forms to fill out that are kept on file at the schools. In particular there is a form which indicates how a student should be transported home in the event that school closes early due to inclement weather. Normally my child rides the bus to and from school, but I indicated on the form that in the event of an early closing, I would come to school and get her. This decision was mainly fueled by the “big snow” Nashville got back in 2003. I remember hearing stories on the news and from friends and acquaintances of children being stuck on buses for hours and hours and not arriving home until much later in the day. I figured that if we got stuck, at least we’d be stuck together and I wouldn’t be worrying about her safety (at least her safety in the hands of another person who is also overseeing the safety of 30 or more other children.) But here in Middle Tennessee, that’s about as “horrific” as it gets when planning for the worst.

But if you head East on I-40 a few hours from here you’ll get to the Oak Ridge community where there is a nuclear power plant. I wonder if the parents in Oak Ridge have the same experience at the beginning of each school year as the parents in Brattleboro, VT?

My daughter will be entering high school next year, and I am filling out the usual forms. “Evacuation Permission” falls under the usual form category here in Brattleboro, Vt., because we live eight miles from a nuclear power plant.

On the form, I need to indicate if: 1) She may leave in the car she drives to school; 2) She may leave as a passenger with another student; or 3) She must be transferred by bus to the “reception center.”

My daughter and her friends are not driving yet. Ice runs through my veins when I think of her jammed inside a yellow bus riding 20 miles north on the interstate to a “reception center” with twice as many parents in panicked pursuit.

I call my friend Ruby, who teaches in the high school. “Can I write in your name and tell my daughter to go directly to you?” but before she even replies, the pieces of the picture start falling into place. Ruby and her colleagues will be in charge of 1,500 teenagers. “You have to get all those kids in the buses and ride to the reception center, don’t you?”

This is not the first time I’ve played out a version of this disaster in my mind. Not so recently, I went to a meeting to recruit volunteers for the American Red Cross. When the recruiter laid out responsibilities such as setting up cots at the reception center after an “accident,” I began to squirm.

Read the rest of the article here.

It reminds me of the scene in Deep Impact where everyone is trying to “get out of Dodge” and the Interstate is crammed with cars and eventually comes to a standstill. Still, I think the author makes a very good point. We’ll never really be completely prepared for the worst and we can only try to keep our humor about us when preparing for it.

h/t: The Squirrel Queen

Enclave Mike reports on the President’s “remarkable,” negative reception at opening day in DC. Mike writes:

Watching baseball’s stateside opening game between Washington and Atlanta on ESPN, and I can’t remember hearing as many boos of a president throwing out the first pitch as I heard tonight directed at George W. Bush. I honestly heard more booing than cheers during the ovation. It was remarkable.

I dunno, Mike . . . the guy sitting next to the cameraman certainly was booing, but I hear a lot of support for Dubya in this video of the event.

When you buy or sell a home built prior to 1978, you’ll have to sign a lead-based paint disclosure form.  The form contains the usual legalese of cautionary tales: blah blah lead based paint is bad blah blah don’t blame your realtor blah blah blah you could die if ingested or breathed in blah blah don’t let your kid eat it (I just saved you two pages of reading).

Jag is experiencing the drama of stripping paint from a 78-year old house.  I have to say her house looks beautiful, but I don’t envy the work ahead of her. 

In the midst of March Madness and high-drama puckery, the baseball fan knows that the real season begins tomorrow (yeah, they’ve played some games in Japan and there is one tonight) during daylight hours in the country where the game evolved from its inferior English cousin (rounders).

In light of the new season, MCB has requested our West Tennessee sports correspondent - The Squirrel Queen - to make her predictions re the oncoming season. I’m sticking my opinionated nose in on the prediction game as well.

SQ Predictions and notes:

AL East - Boston by a mile. Yanks will struggle on the mound.
AL Central - Cleveland edges Detroit thanks to a more settled pen. Both teams will score a ton. Tiger pitchers are always getting injured.
AL West - Angels of whatever city they’ve added to their ridiculously long name. Mariners have the pitching, theoretically, but I don’t know if they’ll score enough.
AL Wildcard - Tigers

NL East - Three team race. Mets, Braves, Phillies. I think Santana tips it in favor of the Mets, but this one will be tight.
NL Central - I still think the Brewers may sneak in past the Cubs. BrewCrew has a ton of pitching and will score lots of runs. Need to be more consistent on the road. Who knows how long Kerry Woods’ arm will stay attached to his body. Soriano will have a better year, but I just don’t know

NL West - Another toss-up (she’s picking the Dodgers). Maybe Joe Torre is the difference here if the young Dodgers respond to him. Remember, Jeter and those guys were youngsters when he started in NY. Don’t know if the Rockies will get the same effort on the mound this season. Padres and D-Backs are still in the mix.
NL Wildcard - Phillies

World Series - Indians over Dodgers

JH predictions:

As much as it pains me, a life-long Yankee’s fan, to agree, I don’t think the Yanks make the play-offs this year either. Too many pitching question marks.

AL East: God, I hate saying this, but the Red Sox are the team to beat. Great starting pitching and bullpen, along with young superstars in the making: CF Ellsbury and 2B Pedroia

AL Central: Detroit Tigers. They picked up one of the best hitters in baseball from the Marlins (Miquel Cabrera) to supplement an already strong batting lineup. Great starting pitching and a more-than-decent bullpen wins the day.

AL West: Angels. Mariners do have better pitching, but Tori Hunter added to this ball-team, along with Guerrero and a future breakout star Brandon Wood AND one of the better hitting young second sackers in the game (Howie Kendrick) wins the day.

AL Wild Card: Indians. C.C. Sabathia rides off with the Cy Young award.

NL East: Mets, Mets, Mets. Adding Johan Santana to this staff, along with the best left-side of the infield in modern society (Wright and Reyes) bring the title to Queens.

NL Central: I agree with SQ. Brewers are loaded. Watch for a break-0ut year from Richie Weeks (2B) and great follow-up seasons from Fielder, Braun and Hart.

NL West: Rockies. Tulowitzki is for real and Holliday is going to just keep getting better. Now that they keep the baseballs, pre-game, in a humidor, the balls don’t fly out of the park with nearly the same frequency as in the old days (much to the delight of the improving Rockies pitching staff).

Wild Card: Atlanta Braves. The return of Glavine and Mike Hampton to the rotation complements Tim Hudson well. Look for shortstop Yunel Escobar to have a big season.

World Series: Tigers over Brewers (it’s a midwestern joint this year)

Best player not many people have heard about: Hanley Ramirez of the Florida Marlins. Put him in NY or LA or Chicago and they’d be writing plays, books and poetry about this guy.

Team with a load of future superstars that just doesn’t have enough pitching: Tampa Bay. B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford already are well-known. Watch for mid-season call-up Evan Longoria (not the Desperate Housewife!)

Best 1-2 punch starting pitchers: Arizona with Webb and Haren (not enough runs scored behind them to win..last season was statistically flukish).

Player most likely to be involved in serious off-field incident: Elijah Dukes (Washington Nationals)

*No, this is NOT a story about steroids!

In the country of the Colossi, Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA and Memphis State, little Davidson College (that’s right, COLLEGE), home of 1,700 bright students, has won its way tonight into the Elite 8 of the NCAA men’s tourney. Seeded 10th (roughly expected to be the 40-43rd best team in the tournament), the Davidson Wildcats trapped the Badgers of Wisconsin who probably thought their 3 seed was good for another round or two.

Davidson is lead by the son of former NBA sharp-shooter Dell Curry, young Stephen Curry, who might just be the best player in this tournament. Even ‘King’ James LeBron showed up tonight to see Curry in person, worthy praise from the man who just might be the best basketball player in the world. Curry only outscored the entire Wisconsin team in the second half of the game.

Every few years a team like Davidson pushes its way into the world of athletic factories sponsored by sneaker makers. The Wildcats will probably get knocked off by Kansas on Sunday, but it’s nice to see actual student-athletes excel on such a level. Most of us root for the underdog if we don’t have a rooting interest in a particular team. I’m guessing that Curry and company don’t consider themselves underdogs…wouldn’t it be something if they were right?

Another cool thing at play here is that the Board of Directors of Davidson colleges paid for any Davidson student who wished to make the trip to see the game, including lodging and food. Even though classes were not called off, and it’s a LONG way from the Carolinas to Detroit, several hundred students took up the B O D on the offer and cheered their team on tonight.

In other news, the Tigers of Memphis University are going to be playing Texas on Sunday, unless they think the game is over with 10 minutes left to go and leave the arena. Coach Izzo of the losing Michigan State Wolverines is probably gonna go schizo after watching this one on the tape if he doesn’t destroy the tape first.

My apologies to those of you who couldn’t possibly care less about basketball, but Laura over at Fixin’ Supper takes a break from dinner to talk about basketball grudges. She and I share some grudges and we both struggled during last night’s Tennessee versus Louisville game. For her, UT is both a rival of Memphis and Vanderbilt (her two teams), so the Vols top her list. Check out the rest of her list here.

For me, it’s a little more complicated. I’ve held a grudge against Louisville since I was a small child, when I’m not even sure Tennessee had a basketball team (I keed, I keed). UT didn’t even get on my grudge-dar until I discovered while in college at Memphis that my school also had a football team (that–with one notable and oft-referenced exception–routinely got whipped by the Vols). And after the Metro conference dissolved, we had a new basketball rival, Cincinnati. And Bob Huggins. Read a couple of pages here to get a little of the story. I never threw anything at him, but I most certainly did shout “Bundy” at him (25 pounds ago, he resembled the guy who played Al Bundy on “Married…With Children”).

So, with that little history lesson, I present my top basketball grudges: Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of days ago Internet users who have AT&T (formerly BellSouth) as their ISP found themselves without Internet access. For some, like myself, it lasted roughly an hour. For others, the outage went on for several hours interrupting business and personal communications. And I will admit, I was a bit “freaked out” when I discovered that my Internet connection was gone. What will I do? How will I communicate with the outside world? I panicked, ever so slightly, then proceeded to make sausage cheese balls since my primary way of coping with stress is through eating. And when my Internet access was restored? All was once again “right” with the world.

Pathetic. I know.

But what’s even more disturbing is this statement from an article on Yahoo! about Internet addiction:

Meanwhile, mind docs say the problem is growing, now possibly affecting up to 10 percent of Internet users. Recent studies are surprising, indicating the problem is worst not among game-obsessed teens, but rather among middle-aged women who stay at home, constantly on the computer as a way of connecting to the outside world. (emphasis mine)

No, I’m not middle-aged (yet) but I guess I’ll just have to come clean right here and now.

Hello. I’m Malia. And I’m a Internetaholic.

So to “get out” more and actually physically connect with the outside world, I’d like to propose a road trip.

Crossville anyone?

(h/t Suburban Turmoil)

Looking for unique gift ideas? Want to support local entrepreneurs? Interested in original designs and stylish artwork? Then check out Mamamade!

Mamamade is a group of Nashville area moms who have put their creative minds together and started an online bazaar. You can order directly from most of their websites listed on the Mamamade blog or you can go to their 2008 Spring Market to be held on April 26th at Lillie Belle’s Tea House in Franklin, TN.

Personally, I can’t wait to get my hands on this:

The Nashville Bag!

Is it just me, or did the CBS announcers in the WKU v. UCLA game start shoveling dirt onto WKU a little prematurely . . . when they were only 6 points down with 1:25 to go in the game?

On that note, the CBS announcers in the UT v. UL game were talking up the Vols beyond even the point at which my boys had lost all hope.

Go Tigers.

Over the past few days Hillary and Obama and McCain have weighed in on the subject of the mortgage “crisis.” We can discern a lot about the respective candidates’ views of “personal responsibility” and the role of government in a free society by their take on the issue. It’s predictable how the MSM will spin the various proposals.

I use quotation marks because it appears the scope of the “crisis” is hardly “crisis-like” when one considers the entire U.S. economy and U.S. population. And when you consider that a little “crisis” might be just what the doctor ordered for the malady of irresponsible/unwise lending and borrowing practices.

Well over at TennesseeFree.com, Glen (the realtor) has started an interesting discussion about how much responsibility is being taken and by whom in this situation.

In case you missed the memo or have been hiding under a rock, I need to tell you about Nashville’s favorite local food blog, ‘Bites‘, brought to you by the Nashville Scene and manned by Carrington Fox, their uber cool, sassy and in-the-know food critic.  Jim Ridley chimes in quite frequently - flooring us regularly with his superb writing and quick wit.

If you like to keep abreast of what’s going on in this town as relates to all different restaurants - AS WELL AS the occasional conversation about the best Cupcake in town, terribly curious foodstuffs or the industrial grade whipped topping on a Krystal MilkQuake  - it is THE place to see and be seen - in a cyber sorta way…

And well, it’s totally fun. 

Forget storm chasing.  Forget sky diving.  Not interested in bungee jumping.  I want one of those jobs where I can be a ghost hunter.  I do believe in ghosts and have unfortunately experienced one or two in my time.  The creepiest was in college when I saw my bedroom door open, heard footsteps walk to my bed, the chain on the light began swinging, the footsteps retreated, and the door closed.  I learned two weeks later that a woman had died a violent death in that house and her body was found where my bed was positioned.  I rearranged my room and was never bothered again.

As I watched it years ago, I thought the movie “The Blair Witch Project” was really lame.  Until the end.  You know the end…. the boy in the corner. It gave me the willies to the same degree that the story of the Bell Witch makes my hair stand on end.  So I was fascinated when I read this by Just Another Pilgrimage about a trip to Adams, Tennessee.

It began with a sighting of a strange animal in the cornfield. The family began to hear strange noises, thumbs and scratches on the walls coming from unseen forces. The noises seemed to escalate, then turning into more tangible happenings. Bedsheets were pulled off the bed while the family slept. Pillows were tossed around, and finally, physical assaults on John and his daughter, Betsy.

One of the commenters, an ancestor of the John Bell, said his family still experiences hauntings. 

I pass the Adams exit off of I-24 every time I head to my parents’ place in Kentucky. One of these days, I’m going to stop. 

From the Boredest Girl in Nashville, but it could have been written by me or plenty of women I know:

I’m not the sort of girl guys talk to. I’m a buddy girl. I’m witty, I’m fun, I’m cool, but not “hot”. Or whatever. It’s cool. I don’t really want to be “picked up”.

Guys say they like a sense of humor and all that, but it’s certainly not what initially attracts them. They’re visual creatures and short of wearing a clown suit (or ironic t-shirt, same difference), it’s hard to convey your sense of humor through how you look. It’s even harder for me since I don’t wear glasses, so I can’t get that “Tina Fey” look to let men know that I have a witty, dry sense of humor.

When I was still single and living in Memphis, there was this party held every week on the roof of the Peabody Hotel. I’m sure it had some marketing name, but we all called it the Rooftop Party. It was a meat market (meet market?). It was fun to go if for no other reason than to observe the mating ritual of the human.

But there were tales…urban legends…of women who met their husbands there. Read the rest of this entry »

According to the car blog Jalopnik and the National Motorists Association, Nashville is one of six cities (also including Chattanooga) accused of shorting the amber cycle on certain traffic light intersections in a reported effort to pick the pockets of unsuspecting drivers.

Even without red light cameras, police in Nashville, Tennessee have been earning hundreds of thousands in revenue by trapping motorists in conventional ticket traps at city intersections with the shortest yellow warning time.

In 2006, Nashville resident Joe Savage obtained the data on every red light running ticket issued on Broadway street since 2000. He said that yellow lights are longer at intersections along Broadway until the areas where police are issuing tickets. At those locations, Savage clocked the yellow signal time at less than 3 seconds, in violation of both state law and federal regulations.

For some reason, this is just now making the Internet. Also, according to www.speedtrap.org, Nashville is one of the worst speed trap cities in the country. Have these people ever driven here in rush hour? Or been on the 440 Speedway?

So while Hillary and Baack are spending energy slashing each other to pieces, should McCain be doing more to advance his own campaign, raising campaign funds and consolidating his party? Or should he jut sit back and wait for the Democrats to destroy each other before Denver?

Aside from getting a bit confused over Sunnis and Shi’ites and who each supports, he’s een pretty low key for the last few weeks. Is that good strategy?

Adobe has launched a new web-based service: Photoshop Express. It’s an online version of their design industry standard photography editing and image creation/editing software available for everyone (with a broadband connection). They give you 2GB of online storage free. The URL is https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html

Confused?

But now you can!  It’s yet another of lifes mysteries SOLVED thanks to the women of Home Ec 101.

So like if you eat and own a refridgerator, this could totally help…

OR…

Our beloved Tupperware Avalanche just won a pretty darn cool second prize which could not have worked out any better… for her.

I was recently the runner up in a blogging competition here. I entered an essay contest aimed at picking a blogger to attend the International Housewares Show. I really wanted to go, so I wrote about my filthy secret: I have a lot of crappy kitchen gear.

But Tupp… listen to meeeee, please.  Back away from the $50 all-clad measuring cups. 

Geeshk, you can’t tell these crazy kids anything…

Newscoma has a post about a new Obama Girl(s) video on youtube. Of course, you can judge for yourself whom they are backing for president.