Against Health for Health's Sake
Good afternoon, everyone.
Continuing yesterday’s conversation about bar culture, a friend who works in alcohol distribution told me that about ten percent of the beer products he sells are non-alcoholic. Almost five years ago, non-alcoholic sales were nearly non-existent. Sure, it’s anecdotal, but it matches broader, national data about drinking trends.
I’ve discussed this before, but I think abstention is indicative of the further fraying of the social fabric and younger generations withdrawing from public spaces. It’s a sign of a society hiding from itself.
It's weird to encourage people to drink. I realize that. But civilization evolved in tandem with alcohol. Some go so far as to claim that agrarian societies emerged specifically to produce beer and wine. The two go hand in hand, and I’ve yet to see a robust replacement for the kind of camaraderie engendered by enjoying a drink in good company.
Not directly related, but whenever people reduce this kind of thing to a discussion of health, I'm reminded of a statement by Robert Louis Stevenson: "For surely the love of living is stronger in an Alpine climber roping over a peril, or a hunter riding merrily at a stiff fence, than in a creature who lives upon a diet and walks a measured distance in the interest of his constitution."
That cold beer after a five-day excursion into the woods hits different. To that end, we included a list of good beer gardens in town this morning.
Onward.
What makes a beer garden? Is it an actual garden? Is it simply outdoor seating?
Not surprisingly (and as you probably guessed), beer gardens come from Bavaria, where brewers in the 19th century planted trees with shallow roots and long canopies to keep their beer cellars cooler in the warm months and decided that enjoying a beer among them was tops. As time went on, for even more convenience, they were attached to beer halls, breweries, pubs, or restaurants.
A common definition defines them as any outdoor area where beer and food are served at communal tables. So, I guess we’re pretty much rolling with the idea that for Nashville, any place that has a smattering of picnic tables will do just fine.
But even if the physical furnishings are simple, what isn’t simple is the non-physical. I argue what truly makes a beer garden is the feeling it evokes. The raw camaraderie. The extra magic of sipping a cool pint on a warm afternoon with pals and strangers or when the sun goes down and the soft glow of the humble lights above leads the way to another laugh and another pint.
The Germans call this feeling of warmth, friendliness, and belonging gemütlichkeit and believe wholeheartedly in its equal importance to a beer garden as the food or tables. You can rest assured that any of the places listed here will offer plenty of gemütlichkeit with the right draft or bottle.
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🗺️ Authorizing The East Bank Authority Last week, the council delayed their second vote on a bill that would create the East Bank Development Authority. Back in May, legislation authorizing Metro to establish an authority squeaked through the state legislature at the eleventh hour. Now, if passed by the council, it could place “the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives or their designees as ex officio voting members of the Board.”
Mayor O’Connell’s administration, including Chief Development Officer Bob Mendes, worked tirelessly to push the authority bill through the General Assembly, but will its state-approved language pass muster in council? Back in April, O’Connell wasn’t sure: “We have to be able to pass whatever comes out from the state in Metro Council,” he said at the time. “My guess is the council will not have an appetite for anything that looks like some of the state preemptive takeover activity we've seen in the past.”
“...The goal from the one meeting deferral is to follow a similar path as the Fallon deal,” explained Councilmember Jacob Kupin during last week’s Budget and Finance meeting. “To just give us time to digest it, have conversations, have the committee meet and then hopefully vote to approve it.”
Though the council’s decision to delay may be benign, a lot can change after taking some extra time for deliberation. Perhaps Mendes said it best back in March: “Metro is going to develop the East Bank whether an authority is created or not….We've got several options we've looked at, but we do think the authority is the best of them.”
Next Monday, Metro’s Ad Hoc East Bank Committee, headed by Councilmember Sean Parker, will be meeting at 3 p.m. for a full discussion of the bill. MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
🏘️ Housing Market Update Yesterday, the Greater Nashville Realtors released their monthly report comparing June 2023 to June 2024. Some key findings:
- Median home price for a single-family home increased 6 percent from $474,900 to $505,000.
- Total inventory increased by 17 percent from 9,594 to 11,255.
- Total closings decreased 13 percent from 3,533 to 3,042.
- Year to date, total closings decreased slightly by 2 percent from 16,773 to 16,518.
"This decrease [in closings] is attributed to robust property values in the region combined with the Fed’s current monetary policy," noted Kevin Wilson, Greater Nashville Realtors' president, in a press release. DAVIS HUNT
🚌 Dueling Transit Lanes Yesterday, Governor Lee weighed in on Mayor O’Connell’s transit plan, referring to the coordination between the city and the state as a “work in progress.” Since July 2023, the state’s been allowed to pursue public-private partnerships in order to construct “choice lanes.” After the passage of last year’s $3.3 billion Transportation Modernization Act, Lee took a victory lap across the state to rally enthusiasm for his plan to implement tolling and manage traffic congestion.
But will the governor’s choice lanes collide with the mayor’s proposed bus lanes? “We talked broadly about the plans, understanding that we will need to work together to make sure that they integrate and that they are cooperative,” Lee told News2. “We certainly don't want to create any more traffic than we currently have, so I think that the mayor's strategy would be similar to ours.” MEGAN PODSIEDLIK
DEVELOPMENT
✹ THIS WEEK IN STREAMING (July 11th)
The Beekeeper (Prime) Jason Statham stars as a retired special forces agent who just wants to spend time in his apiary. But when his elderly landlord (Phylicia Rashad) commits suicide after becoming the victim of a phishing scheme, he blows open a Tech Bro conspiracy that reaches the highest echelons of power. In addition to offering masterful scenes of The Stath wailing on that whiny kid from The Hunger Games, the film is a smart dissection of deplorable anger wrapped in an unbridled retro 80s action package.
Shark Week (Discovery and Max) The dog days of summer’s favorite cable tradition has survived the streaming era with John Cena serving as the MC of its 36th edition. Enjoy new entries at the pinnacle of infotainment like Alien Sharks: Ghosts of Japan, Monster Hammerhead Species X, and Mothersharker: Hammertime. Sure, there was a time when the Discovery Channel exuded class, but, at this point, we don’t have the luxury of saying no to a national unifier this ingrained in the American psyche.
In a Violent Nature (AMC+ and Shudder) One of the early summer’s most inventive movies makes its streaming debut far too soon. Told from the POV of a Gollum just trying to get his locket back from some annoying twentysomethings camping out on the logging land where he grew up, the film has no qualms about having as much in common with the deliberately paced European art films of Béla Tarr and Chantal Akerman as Freddy and Jason. While it doesn’t hold back on the carnage, it poses the ethical quandary of why we consume such abhorrent violence as entertainment in the first place.
THINGS TO DO
View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.
📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.
🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.
👨🏻🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and yearly festival guide.
TONIGHT
🎸 Tight 5 Tuesday @ The 5 Spot, 8p, $5, Info
+ feat. Judy Blank & Nathan Kalish and His Derechos
🎻 The Sphinx Virtuosi @ Schermerhorn Symphony Center, 7:30p, $26+, Info
🎸 Whitten @ The Underdog, 7p, $10, Info
+ pedal steel forward instrumental music
🎺 Todd Day Wait @ The Underdog, 11:00p, Free, Info
+ Honky Tonk Tuesday afterparty, down the street
🎸 Honky Tonk Tuesday @ American Legion Post 82, 8p, Free, Info
+ two-step lessons @ 7p, The Cowpokes @ 8p