No. 409: While the Gettin's Good

Good morning, everyone.

It's starting to look like we have a weekend of proper winter weather ahead of us. I know a lot of you were concerned about those woolen jackets collecting dust in your closet, but fear not! Winter is finally here.

• Nashville Megan looks ahead to next week's council meeting.
• Elsewhere Mike Wolf hunts for the best Philly Cheesesteak in town.
• Local Noise Our weekly film rundown for those trying to get out and see a flick.
• And More Can capitalism save Hollywood? Joel Kotkin hazards a guess.

Can someone explain to me why gas stoves are bad like I’m a person who wears a mask alone in the car?

Onward.

❏ BILLS DROPPED THIS WEEK

The deadline for filing new legislation is Jan 31, 2023, so new bills are beginning to pile up in the coffers of the recently-convened General Assembly. Meanwhile, as the Capitol slowly reawakens, Metro Council is business as usual: the agenda for next week’s meeting was added last night. Let’s look at some of the new legislation filed.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HB90 was introduced this Wednesday; the bill, if passed, will prohibit local governments from spending money to assist women in obtaining abortions. In other words, it will prevent the use of tax dollars to fund travel and accommodation for out-of-state abortions–  a provision Metro Council attempted to push through this past fall via Planned Parenthood. It also includes the following language: "This prohibition includes expending funds as part of a health benefit plan or for travel to a state where abortion is legal," which would directly void legislation passed in Metro council allowing their Health Board to include such healthcare in their requirements.

Also introduced this week was HB77, a bill that would require each ignition interlock device (IID) installed in a car to be accompanied by a GPS tracking device. This goes along with SB2434, a bill passed last year requiring any person guilty of driving under the influence to install and use an ignition interlock device; the bill, which was signed into law on May 2, 2022 by Governor Lee, was enacted on January 1st of this year.

METRO CITY COUNCIL

Hats off to the Nashville “bicycle brigade” (unofficial reference)! Six pieces of legislation on the docket next week concern bicycles. One resolution, announced on Twitter by CM Sledge this week, will allocate one million dollars in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds for Metro =Government to subsidize electric bicycles. The other five items on the agenda are maintenance resolutions for lighting and signal upgrades associated with cycling and pedestrian facilities throughout Nashville.

HEADLINES

• Zach Bryan Producer Ryan Hadlock on Defying Nashville Norms With ‘Something in the Orange’ (Variety) While awards and radio hits are very welcome, Hadlock’s number one goal is to bring an artist’s vision to life. “My job is to make sure that the environment suits the song and serves the song,” he says.

POLITICS

• Tennessee Lawmakers Consider Adding ‘Health of the Mother’ Exception to Abortion Limit Law (Star) Tennessee’s “trigger” law that bans abortion, titled the Human Life Protection Act, took effect August 25, two months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
• Tennessee agency declines to regulate trotline, despite allegations of danger (Lookout) The Tennessee Fish & Wildlife Commission on Thursday declined to take further action to regulate trotlines, an unmanned method of fishing that some recreation groups say poses a danger to kayakers, canoers and swimmers on Tennessee’s increasingly crowded waterways.
• GOP supermajority votes to limit debate in Tennessee House (Channel 5) The new Republican rules package adopted in the House would cut the amount of time for any lawmaker who's recognized on the floor in half — from 10 minutes down to just five.
• Democrats introduce bill to legalize marijuana in Tennessee, GOP likely to block it (Tennessean) Democratic lawmakers are renewing efforts to legalize marijuana in Tennessee as top Republicans reiterated their opposition to full legalization until the federal government reclassifies the drug.

DEVELOPMENT

• Retail Announcements & Construction Progress at Modera Gulch in Nashville (Now Next)
• Al. Neyer Prepares to Break Ground on The Hickory at Indian Lake Village In Hendersonville (Now Next)
• East Side ex-pizzeria building sells for $2.05M (Post)
• Bellevue site slated for commercial development (Post)
• Ex-NES site downtown sells for $17M (Post)
• Germantown commercial building offered for $989.9K (Post)
• Dickerson Pike corridor land listed for sale (Post)
• Wine restaurant slated for downtown tower (Post)

❦ CHEESESTEAK DELUXE

Discovering a taste of Philly in Nashville with Mike Wolf

Hot on the heels of the Governor’s announcement that the lauded-overrated-formerly-regional In-N-Out burgers are coming to Williamson County next year, this seems like a perfect time to investigate another regional specialty comprised of beef, cheese, and bread: the Philly Cheesesteak. I’ve heard enough Philadelphians argue over which spot in Philly best represents the city specialty—Pat’s vs. Geno’s serves as the main rivalry and has its own Reddit thread — though informed locals will drop the ultimate insult on those institutions, denoting them as “only for tourists.” I’ve also heard that finding a decent cheesesteak sandwich in Nashville ain’t easy, as our deli credentials have often buckled under the weight of the almighty tray at many of the various meat and threes in town (some of which I covered last week in my Arnold’s sendoff). But, I’m here to tell you there are some damn good cheesesteaks in Middle Tennessee, and it all starts with the bread.

As the Philadelphians—like the Phoenicians, but instead of building ships, they build sandwiches—have informed me, a great cheesesteak starts with the roll. Amoroso’s hearth-baked rolls have been a Philly staple since they first fired up the hearth back in 1904. Used by many of the legendary shops in the northeast, the sturdy yet pillowy rolls provide the perfect bed for the weighty onslaught of meat, cheese, and onions. As the modern poets Boyz II Men once said, “Not too hard, not too soft.” Luckily, we have a handful of gems in Nashville and beyond who import these same Amoroso rolls and put their foundational prowess to the test.

⌘ CHART OF THE DAY: SPACE TRAFFIC

⚔ MISSIVES ⚔

• 🏛 Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday appointed a special counsel to investigate the presence of classified documents found at President Joe Biden’s home in Wilmington, Delaware, and at an unsecured office in Washington dating from his time as vice president.
• 💰 Goldman Sachs said a big chunk of its consumer lending business lost slightly more than $3 billion since 2020, revealing for the first time the costly toll of the Wall Street giant’s Main Street push.
• 🔋 Tesla Inc. cut prices for some of its vehicles sold in the U.S. by nearly 20%, aiming to lure new buyers at a time Wall Street is concerned appetite for the car maker’s vehicles is weakening.

THINGS TO DO

View the full calendar here.

🐙 The Eighth Room, a new venue taking the place of the Douglas Corner Cafe on 8th Avenue, is now open for business! Check out their shows and their great radio station.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out Nashville's winter farmer's markets on our farmer's market guide.

🎧 Listen to the Pamphleteer's Picks on Spotify, a playlist of our favorite bands in town each week.

🏕 Happy New Year! Here's our list of this year's best southern festivals, where you'll find celebrations both popular and obscure, with a wide range of themes including music, history, health, heritage, beer, BBQ, cars, and more.

TONIGHT

🎻 The Cowpokes @ Acme Feed & Seed, 12p, Free, Info

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

🎙 Opry @ The Ryman, 7p, Sold Out, Info
+ Celebration of the Grand Ole Opry

🎙 Myron Elkins @ The Basement, 7p, $15, Info
+ Country

🎸 Spafford @ The Basement East, $20, 8p, Info
+ Funky jam band

🕺 Disco Unusual @ The Blue Room, 8p, Free, Info
+ punk, indie rock, disco...

💀 The Stolen Faces @ Eastside Bowl, 8p, $20, Info
+ Grateful Dead tribute band

✹ WEEKLY FILM RUNDOWN: JANUARY 12-19

The latest releases and special screenings hitting Music City this week.

FIRST AUTHENTIC THRILL RIDE

Plane Number 10 on our list of the most anticipated movies of 2023 finds Gerard Butler as a commercial pilot crashing behind enemy lines in the Philippines and teaming up with a woefully misunderstood murderer (Mike Colter) when a guerilla army takes his passengers hostage. If the stellar marketing is any indication, this movie knows exactly what it is and what it should deliver with a gonzo self-awareness that puts it a cut above the average January fare.

Now playing in theaters.

BITING ROYAL DRAMA

Corsage Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Vicky Krieps) is tired of being window dressing, so she fashions herself into the fan favorite royal she’s known as today. A biting costume drama that escapes the trappings of its genre and basic BookTok feminism.

Now playing at the Belcourt.

WORTHY ENOUGH REMAKE

House Party Kudos to Warner Bros. for rescuing this redo of the Kid ‘N Play comedy from HBO Max’s streaming abyss and releasing it in theaters. Two wannabe talent managers (Tosin Cole and Jacob Latimore) decide to throw the eponymous shindig at LeBron James’s mansion when they realize he’s out of the country during their main hustle as housekeepers. The trailer holds up after playing before every movie released this holiday season, but don’t expect much edge (it’s just happy to have LeBron, why would it make a joke about the Chinese owning him?).

Now playing in theaters.

SHOESTRING TERROR

Skinamarink This $15,000 indie horror movie about two five year olds alone in a house at midnight has already gained a cult following. There’s enough VHS footage and nods to obscure 70s slashers to earn cinephile cred, but no unimpeachable evidence it’s anything more than nostalgic wallowing.

Now playing at AMC Murfreesboro 16 and The Belcourt.

WHAT THE HELL?

The Devil Conspiracy We hate to copy/paste, but we just can’t beat a log line like “A cult steals the Shroud of Turin for wicked purposes.” Best seen at a multiplex with a bar.

Now playing in theaters.

RECENT ARTICLES

Around the Web

The coming media shift, despite its pecuniary motivations, is an important one for the nation’s future. To offer blanket condemnations of American culture and history is no healthier than to ignore, as was often the case in the past, their darker parts. Repeated accusations of male patriarchy, “systemic racism,” and evil oil companies do not accurately portray the totality of the American past or present.

The key point here is not that culture or media should be liberal, conservative, or fabulist, but expansive enough to include all three. Until those in Hollywood and Manhattan realize that their approach is alienating a huge segment of their audiences, their bottom lines will continue to suffer.

Source: Can Capitalism Save Hollywood?
City Journal, 5 January 2023, Read Online

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Words of Wisdom

“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”

William Faulkner

Today's newsletter is brought to you by Megan Podsiedlik (Nashville), Edward Landstreet (Local Noise), and Davis Hunt (everything else).