March 2017 Murfreesboro Pulse

MARCH 2017 / VOL. 12, ISSUE 3 / FREE

Middle Tennessee’s Source for Art, Entertainment and Culture News

MAKE JOYFUL MUSIC Come and drum in the spring season at Mayday Brewery on March 22

IN MUSIC

EVENTS Local yoga enthusiasts unite for Boro Yoga Fest Annual race benefits Special Kids

FREE RUN / DEWDROP JAMBOREE /T.H.B. / WANNABEATLES / THE CANTRELLS / LUDACRIS / AND MORE!

Contents

34

WORD FROM THE EDITOR EVERYBODY DRUM SOME has agreed to lead another big community drumming event this month, with the next installment of the local group’s rhythm event kicking off at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, at Mayday Brewery. Come one, come all!

22 COVER PHOTO BY SCOTT WALKER/WGNS RADIO

10 IN EVERY ISSUE

FEATURES

10

MURFREESBORO COMMUNITY RHYTHM EVENT RETURNS

4 Events THIS MONTH

Everybody Drum Some leads March 22 group drumming event at Mayday.

Kids Closet; Mardi Paws; Gatsby Party and more!

12

6 Sounds

Husband and wife music duo Russell and Kachina Rodden explore God’s love through music.

Gordon Kennedy, Levi Massie and more!

FREE RUN

LOCAL CONCERTS

MUSIC NOTES

16

Z’S COMIC LAIR

Zambrano brother’s lifelong love of comics culminates in Murfreesboro shop.

18

WannaBeatles, Ludacris, T.H.B. and more!

REVIEWS

Commander Keen; The Cantrells

14 Food

BORO YOGA FEST

Local yoga instructors join forces for all-day yoga fest, March 18. Proceeds to help promote yoga in prisons.

SPECIAL KIDS RACE

Massive annual race serves as fundraiser for local Special Kids Therapy and Nursing Center.

Herbalist creates remedies with local ingredients.

24

Reviews MOVIES

The Lego Batman Movie; Hidden Figures; Get Out; Lion 54 FILM FEST

Teams compete in a quick-paced film project.

LIVING ROOM CINEMA

Awareness and contemplatioin TV SERIES

RESTAURANT

A Series of Unfortunate Events

RECIPE

32 News

Sub Stop

Sausage, Swiss Chard and Mushroom Bake

22

NINETY9

16 Living GARDENING

Planting for wildlife

NAVIGATING THE SYSTEM

The Workhouse

BUSINESS BUZZ

Epps Mills Market, and more!

MONEY PULSE

Manage your credit.

36

Opinion THE STOCKARD REPORT

Courts weigh Hobgood fallout as third lawsuit is filed.

LIVE EXCEPTIONALLY . . . WELL

Put it on pause.

VIEWS OF A CONSERVATIVE

Illegal immigrants with criminal records need to go.

40 Sports MTSU SPORTS

Men’s basketball team captures regular season conference title; Ladies still have a shot at CUSA title.

SPORTS TALK

Haters pile on Le Batard after Magic Johnson comment.

VISIT US AT BOROPULSE.COM FOR MORE!

Publisher/ Editor in Chief: Bracken Mayo

Art Director: Sarah Mayo Copy Editor: Steve Morley

Advertising: Don Clark Leslie Russell-Yost

Contributors: Dylan Skye Aycock, John Connor Coulston, Tanner Dedmon, Greg Crittenden, Jennifer Durand, Bryce Harmon, Joseph Kathmann, Zach Maxfield, Kevin McDaniel, Elizabeth Sawyer, Edwina Shannon, Jay Spight, Andrea Stockard, Sam Stockard, Elizabeth Tullos, Norbert Thiemann; Phil Valentine

To carry the PULSE at your business, or submit letters, stories and photography: bracken@boropulse.com 10 N. Public Square, Murfreesboro, TN 37130 (615) 796-6248

Copyright © 2017, The Murfreesboro Pulse, 10 N. Public Square, Murfreesboro, TN 37130.

Proudly owned, operated and published the first Thursday of each month by the Mayo family; printed by Franklin Web Printing Co. The Murfreesboro Pulse is a free publication funded by our advertisers. Views expressed in the Pulse do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. ISSN: 1940-378X

Sign up to receive our weekly digital newsletter at BoroPulse.com/Newsletter

I hope you are getting your sleep. Media and business queenpin Arianna Huffington has become known as the sleep evangelist, pouring more of her time, energy and writing into encouraging today’s busy professionals to get sufficient sleep. During the age of constant digital access to information, potential for 24/7 communication and an unending barrage of updates from the phone app of your preference, Huffington’s message is to disconnect for a while, meditate, exercise, stretch and unwind in a warm bath occasionally.

She even goes so far as to recommend not setting an alarm to address what she calls a “sleep crisis.” I’m not quite there yet, but I can testify that setting aside more time for sleep can get your head in a better place and result in better business results, healthier relationships and more controlled energy and emotion.

In interplanetary news, the science community has been abuzz after NASA last month unveiled its discovery of seven planets circling a star about 40 light years away. While these planets may, or may not host any sort of life, what the discovery does indicate is that there are probably many, many star systems with planets similar enough to Earth out there to justify an ongoing exploration and to not be surprised if one day we do find inhabitants on one.

Locating a planet with intelligent life could be a wonderful thing for the humans on Earth. It could bring the people of our planet together in an unprecedented way, signifying that the humans here may indeed have more in common with one another and fewer differences. when comparing our residents to another star system’s.

Then again, a coming discovery of alien life could set in motion a string of events that eventually rips our species apart in a dark apocalyptic chapter of Earth history. It will be a most curious thing to watch unfold.

Interestingly, this newly discovered Trappist-1 system sits in the Aquarius area of the universe; “peace will guide the planets, and love will steer the stars.”

Continue turning the pages of this edition of the Pulse and you’ll discover all sorts of Murfreesboro information, from the new Puckett’s to the Workhouse, from the Lone Star Rodeo to the Murfreesboro Anime and Comic Kon. Coming up in the area, individuals can participate in the Boro Yoga Fest, the Special Kids 5K, the Boro Garden Party, Be Well Boro health fair, Beasley’s Paws and Pearls; take in a WannaBeatles show if you like, or drop by the new Bonhoeffer’s location. Attend what you like!

Make some time to play music, hang with your family, exercise, read, cook, socialize, meditate and grow spiritually, engage in a mentally challenging game, get some sun, visit with animals . . . hmm, that’s why time can be in short supply.

Do the important stuff first . . .

Peace, BRACKEN MAYO Publisher/Editor in Chief BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 3

Events COMPILED BY

ANDREA STOCKARD

Send event information to murfreesboropulse@yahoo.com

MARCH 2 BEP MINI-MASTERS Presented by the Bridgestone America Trust Fund and held at the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce (3050 Medical Center Pkwy.), the BEP Mini-Masters is a full 18-hole indoor mini-golf tournament featuring holes designed by local companies and organizations. The event begins at 4 p.m.

Thursday, March 2. Food and drinks are provided during the tongue-in-cheek take on the Masters Tournament, and prizes are awarded to the winning team and sponsor with the best designed golf hole. Admission is $200 per team of four, $300 per hole sponsor and $25 per gallery ticket. For more information, visit rutherfordbepf.wordpress. com/mini-masters.

MARCH 3 WINE AT THE WETLANDS The Discovery Center (502 SE Broad St.) hosts the 4th annual Wine at the Wetlands on Friday, March 3, a wine tasting event presented by Charlie Patel and Stones River Total Beverages. Wine at the Wetlands features more than 150 exceptional local and crafted wines, whiskies, bourbons and brandies provided by Stones River Total Beverages from 5:30–8:30 p.m. with Alex Belew Catering providing hors d’oeuvres. Guests can visit 14 stations throughout the museum with experts providing details about each wine along with a mark-your-favorite wine guide. For tickets or more information, visit explorethedc.org/wine.

MARCH 3–4 90TH ANNIVERSARY STONES RIVER CELEBRATION On March 3, 1927, the U.S. Congress passed an act that established Stones River National Military Park. Join Stones River National Battlefield (1563 N. Thompson Ln.) in celebrating 90 years of sharing the unique resources and stories of the park with the public on Friday and Saturday, March 3 and 4. Enjoy a birthday cake cutting at 1 p.m.

March 3 and special programs throughout the weekend. For more information, find a Stones River National Battlefield 90th Anniversary Celebration page on Facebook.

MARCH 4 McFADDEN MUSTANG MERCHANT MADNESS Shop local merchants at McFadden School’s (221 Bridge Rd.) first entrepreneurial vendor fair at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 4. Admission is free. A list of participating vendors can be found at facebook.com/groups/mcfaddenpto.

4 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

For more information, contact president@ mcfaddenpto.org.

MARCH 4 FAMILY TRIVIA NIGHT Trivia Night at Middle Tennessee Christian School (100 E. MTCS Road) is a familyfriendly event, geared to raise funds for the Band and Chorus programs at MTCS. The event consists of 10 rounds of 10 questions beginning at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 4.

For more information, contact (615) 8930601 or mtcscougars.org.

MARCH 5 ORPHEUS FINALE CONCERT Some of the country’s finest young vocal talent (ages 19 to 30) from top colleges, universities, and conservatories will compete for cash awards totaling more than $19,000 at the Orpheus Finale Concert at MTSU’s Hinton Music Hall in the Wright Music Building beginning at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 5. For over 20 years, the Orpheus Competition has helped propel previous winners to very successful careers, including performances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Under the sponsorship of the Middle Tennessee Choral Society and MTSU School of Music, it is one of the most highly acclaimed competitions of its kind. Tickets are available at mtchoralsociety.org as well as at the door. For more information, contact (615) 898-2493 or (615) 893-6527.

MARCH 8 HEROES BREAKFAST CELEBRATION The Heroes Breakfast Celebration will honor former State Rep. John Hood at 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday, March 8, at The Grove at Williamson Place (3250 Wilkinson Pk.). In partnership with the American Red Cross, this breakfast features Keynote Speaker Dave Sanderson. When US Airways Flight 1549 or “The Miracle on the Hudson” ditched into the Hudson River on Jan. 15, 2009, Sanderson was the last passenger off the back of the plane, risking his own life in frigid water to help other passengers off the plane. That experience profoundly changed his life and today he travels the globe sharing his inspirational and motivational messages to help people make a difference in how they live their lives. For more information or to become a sponsor, contact (615) 893-4272 x 103 or kimberly.lopez@redcross.org.

MARCH 9 EXPERIENCE MTCS Experience Middle Tennessee Christian

MARCH 3–4

Lone Star Rodeo

Tennessee Miller Coliseum (304 W. Thompson Ln.) hosts the Lone Star Rodeo at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, March 3 and 4. Contest events include Bareback Bronc Riding, Saddle Bronc Riding, Steer Wrestling, Calf Roping, Cowgirl’s Breakaway Roping, Team Roping, Cowgirl’s Barrel Racing and Brahma Bull Riding. Added attractions include a Best Dressed Cowboy and Cowgirl Contest for kids 10 and under and hilarious rodeo clown Mighty Mike Wentworth. Stalls, shavings and hookups can be reserved. For more information, contact (270) 269-6000 or visit lonestarrodeocompany.com/murfreesboro.html.

Tickets can be purchased at the door or with Rutherford County School Resource Officers.

School (100 E. MTCS Rd.) on Thursday, March 9, by visiting the campus, meeting the teachers and shadowing a student in class from 7:45 a.m.–3 p.m. Each visiting student is hosted by a current MTCS student and gets a true feel for a school day at MTCS. For more information, contact (615) 893-0601 or annabeth.smith@mtcscougars.org, or visit mtcscougars.org.

MARCH 10–11 SE-YA BOOK FESTIVAL Join 40 authors of middle grade and young adult literature for panels, meet-and-greets and signings at the free SE-YA book festival, held at the MTSU campus, and open to the community. March 10 is reserved for middle and high school students to meet the authors, hear them speak and interact with them. This is the only YA book festival in the country that has a day entirely devoted to students, and approximately 2,000 young adults have registered so far. Saturday, March 11, is open to the public and will follow a similar format. Authors speak in various panels from 9 a.m.–4 p.m. and are even placed in every middle and high school in Rutherford County on March 9. Every student in these schools has the opportunity to hear from at least one of the authors from the festival. For more information, visit seyabookfest.com.

MARCH 11 LASCASSAS SPRING FLING Shop and socialize with a diverse selection of vendors offering handmade and homemade items, vintage and antique treasures, local art, home decor, gifts, repurposed items, jewelry, apparel, monogramming and more at Brown’s Store (6605 Lascassas Pk.) from

9 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturday, March 11. For more information or to be a vendor, contact (812) 480-7669 or find a event page for Lascassas Spring Fling on Facebook.

MARCH 11 KIDS CLOSET The second Saturday of every month, Kids Closet at Riverdale Baptist Church (307 Warrior Dr.) offers free clothing for children from 9 a.m.–12 noon. Recipients must pre-register. Bring picture IDs for each adult along with the names for each child and the child’s birth certificate or report card. For more information, contact (615) 663-0427 or visit riverdalebaptistchurch.net.

MARCH 11 JACQUELYN SWIFT BOOK SIGNING Meet local author Jacquelyn Swift at Linebaugh Library (105 W. Vine St.) from 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Saturday, March 11, as Swift sells and signs copies of her book, Monsters: Poetry on How to Bite Back. This book is a step-by-step internal monster hunt that includes great poetry meant to distract you from your own internal drama for a while.

Swift further expands her double life as a performance poet by teaching people how to find their stage legs as well as how to find their voice on paper through her workshop series “Fangs: Take a Bite out of Your Stage Fright.” For more information, call (615) 893-4131 or visit linebaugh.org.

MARCH 11 AMAZING ABNER YOUTH MAGIC GROUP Do you want to learn magic? Join The Amazing Abner Youth Magic Group for ages

8–12 at Linebaugh Public Library System (105 W. Vine St.) from 9:30–10:30 a.m.

Saturday, March 11, as the Middle Tennessee Magic Club turns kids into magicians. For more information, find a Youth Magic Group #LinebaughKids event page on Facebook.

MARCH 17

Bald in the Boro

Help benefit the St. Baldrick Foundation, a group that conducts research on childhood cancer, at Bald in the Boro, held at Lanes, Trains and Automobiles Entertainment Depot (450 Butler Dr.) from 4–8 p.m. Friday, March 17. Whether you decide to shave your head, volunteer or donate, come participate in this volunteer-powered charity funding childhood cancer research. For more infomation, visit stbaldricks.org/events/baldintheboro.

MARCH 11 SPRING STYLE SHOW Step into style and walk the runway during an in-store Spring Style Show at Christopher and Banks, located in Stones River Mall, from 1–3 p.m. Saturday, March 11. Contact (615) 907-9770 or find a Spring Style Show at Christopher & Banks event page on Facebook and sign up to be a model.

MARCH 11 AND 12 LIBERTARIAN PARTY CONVENTION The Libertarian Party of Tennessee holds its 2017 State Convention at Embassy Suites Murfreesboro on March 11 and 12. Speakers include State Rep. Jeremy Faison, Maury County Commissioner Michael Fulbright, State Rep. Van Huss and Glenn “Kane” Jacobs. Sunday will feature a training session provided by C. Michael Pickens from libertarianleadership.org. Find tickets to the two-day conference on eventbrite.com.

MARCH 13 PIXAR-THEMED TRIVIA BrainBlast presents a special night of Pixar-themed trivia at Nacho’s Mexican Restaurant beginning at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 13. The first-place team will receive a $150 prize. Nacho’s is located at 2962 S. Rutherford Blvd. For more information, visit brainblastentertainment.com or email brainblastthemenight@gmail.com.

MARCH. 16 THE CONNECTION, BUSINESS NETWORKING AT MAYDAY The Connection: An Evening of Professional Networking and Business Brainstorming will be held from 5–7 p.m. on Thursday, March

16, at Mayday Brewery, 521 Old Salem Rd. All Middle Tennessee entrepreneurs and professionals are welcome to attend this casual, no-obligation event, where they can meet other small business owners and tap into one another’s experience and energy.

An open roundtable discussion will encourage participation from those in attendance, asking them to articulate their vision for their business and calling for examples of some of the business challenges and solutions they are experiencing. The series will continue the third Thursday of each month.

MARCH 18 BE WELL BORO HEALTH AND WELLNESS FAIR The Junior League of Murfreesboro invites everyone to the free annual Be Well Boro Health and Wellness Fair at Stones River Mall (1720 Old Fort Pkwy.) from 11 a.m.–2 p.m. Saturday, March 18. Consult with local health and wellness providers while receiving an array of services like one-on-one consultation screenings for Body Mass Index, blood pressure, blood sugar, hearing loss, posture assessments, exercise demonstrations and water therapeutic treatments by Beyond Aquatics. St. Clair Senior Center teaches line dances for low-impact exercise and Arc Rutherford County features craft activities. Other features include Salem Creek Dentistry offering oral cancer screenings

alongside educational information from vendors. Enjoy raffle prizes and fun children’s activities including a kids workout by Crossfit Rutherford.

MARCH 18

the Stones River Country Club (1830 NW Broad St.) from 7 p.m.–midnight on Saturday, March 18. The Gatsby Party benefits the Alzheimer’s Association. For tickets, visit eventbrite.com or find a Gatsby Party 2017 event page on Facebook.

MURFREESBORO AVIATION POKER RUN

MARCH 19

Murfreesboro Aviation invites qualified pilots, their families and passengers to a flying poker run on Saturday, March 18. Participants fly to Shelbyville, Tullahoma, Warren County, Lebanon and Murfreesboro airports where they randomly choose one card from a standard deck of playing cards. Participants can fly to the airports in any order, as long as the final stop is Murfreesboro Municipal (KMBT). Murfreesboro Aviation hangar will be open to participants along with food and refreshments. At 2:30 p.m. teams present their cards as a poker hand and the best hand wins. Admission is $50 per hand, with Murfreesboro Aviation adding $250 to the final pot. The winner receives half the money with the other half going to The Child Advocacy Center of Rutherford Country (cacrutherford.org), a nonprofit agency that serves child abuse victims and drug-endangered children along with their non-offending family members. Advanced registration is required.

For more information, contact (615) 4941900 or email fly@boroav.com.

MARCH 18 KICKING CANCER SOCCER TOURNAMENT

MARCH 4

Annual Mardi Paws Masquerade Ball

Laissez les bons temps rouler! This year’s Mardi Paws Masquerade Ball at Stones River Country Club (1830 NW Broad St.) will be held Saturday, March 4, from 6–9 p.m. with a night of dining, dancing and music. For more information, find a Facebook event page for the Annual Mardi Paws Masquerade Ball.

Having dealt with Stage 4 colon cancer since 2014, Shela now chooses to help others in need. She, her family and sponsors invite you to the 3rd Annual Kicking Cancer Mid-TN Indoor Soccer Tournament Fundraiser at Magic Box (831-A Park Ave.) from 9 a.m.–6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 18.

Festivities include food and drinks, T-shirts and hats for sale, raffle items and a silent auction. For more information, contact (615) 653-2136 or find a Kicking Cancer Mid-TN group on Facebook.

MARCH 18 GATSBY PARTY Get dressed in your fanciest 1920s attire and enjoy food, libations and dancing at

HEARTS FOR HORSES Join Ferrell Hollow Farm Senior Horse Sanctuary for the 2nd Annual HeARTs for Horses Art Auction fundraiser from 12–5 p.m. Sunday, March 19, at Mayday Brewery (521 Old Salem Rd.) featuring donated art from locally renowned artists including pottery, paintings, assemblage, fibers and hand-bound journals. Enjoy live music, great beer, snacks and a food truck. Ferrell Hollow Farm’s mission is to advocate and care for special needs senior horses that would otherwise be considered at risk of neglect or abuse. For more information, contact lyricmadison@gmail.com or find a Hearts for Horses, Art Auction Fundraiser event page on Facebook.

MARCH 20 HISTORICAL SOCIETY DINNER The Rutherford County Historical Society meets at the Carriage Lane Reception House (337 E. Burton St.) on Monday, March 20, for dinner and “show and tell” from 6–10 p.m. For more information, call (615) 4767823 or visit rutherfordtnhistory.org.

MARCH 23 BUSINESS BEFORE HOURS This informal, social networking event offers opportunities for business professionals from across Rutherford County to meet at Boys and Girls Club (820 Jones Blvd.) at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, March 23. Admission is $5 for Chamber of Commerce members and $15 for future members. For more information, call (615) 893-5437.

MARCH 26 FREE CLOTHES AND FOOD The fourth Sunday of every month the Oakland Park 7th Day Adventist Church (711 N. Maney Ave.) gives away free food and clothes to those in need from 11 a.m.–1 p.m.

For more information, call (615) 410-7552.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 5

Concerts THURS, 3/2

BONHOEFFER’S

Harrison Alan, Ambrose Way, She’s Alaska

MAYDAY BREWERY

Open Mic Night

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

GARAGE BAR

Open Mic Night with Fred Reilly

MAYDAY BREWERY

JD Wilkes and the Glade City Rounders, Vanessa Barbee

MTSU Wind Ensemble

NOBODY’S

Ivan LaFever

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

NACHO’S

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

The Young Fables

THE BORO

All Star Jam Hosted

by Stuart Montez

FRI, 3/3

CARMEN’S TAQUERIA

Joe West

COCONUT BAY CAFE

DJ RDP

GARAGE BAR

Open Mic Night with Fred Reilly

MAYDAY BREWERY

Ryan Coleman

NOBODY’S

Zone Status

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

Scott Reeves and Friends

SHANGRI-LA

Jacob Steifel

THE BORO

Agents of Athens, Mike Ferrera, Ramsey Tyson

THE GREEN DRAGON

Uncle Don Clark

SAT, 3/4

MAYDAY BREWERY

The Secret Commonwealth

PHAT BOYZ

Leesha A

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

The Bicho Brothers

SHANGRI-LA

North2South

TEMPT

Mr. 110, Comatosik, Leonitius, Killbeal, Rambo Lee

SUN, 3/5

AUTOGRAPH

Softspoken, Foxbat, Knuckle Dragger, Sixnip

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

Orpheus Vocal Competition

TUES, 3/7

AUTOGRAPH

Seeker, Obelisk, Exalted

THURS, 3/9 NACHO’S

Ivan LaFever

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

J Edwards and Cricket

THE BORO

Songwriter Night hosted

by Glenn Brown

FRI, 3/10

CARMEN’S TAQUERIA

Joe West

COCONUT BAY CAFE

Jesse Kramer

Reckless

Riley Weston, Steve Dean and Leslie Satcher

SHANGRI-LA

Scott Steele & the Rockin’ Country Nights Show

THE BORO

Flossie Dukeshire, Heyday & the Blood, Vamptones

SAT, 3/11

COCONUT BAY CAFE

Robert Eskew Experience Shangri-La, LeVel 77

MAIN STREET MUSIC

GORDON KENNEDY

IF YOU GO:

SATURDAY, 3/4 @ TRINITY UNITED METHODIST

Autograph Rehearsal Studio 1400 W. College St. 615-686-6121

“Come and See” special guest, multiple Grammy Award-winning producer/songwriter Gordon Kennedy at Trinity United Methodist Church (2303 Jones Blvd.) at 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 4, with free refreshments at 5 p.m. Kennedy is known for co-writing Eric Clapton’s hit song “Change the World” as well as hits for Garth Brooks, Peter Frampton, Tim McGraw, Carrie Underwood and others. Gordon shares his songs and stories about his life in the music business before he goes on tour with Peter Frampton next month. “Come and See” is a unique, “come as you are” contemporary service featuring uplifting music and messages about love, peace, compassion and forgiveness. Everyone is welcome. For more information, contact (941) 223-0936 or visit facebook.com/trinityumcboro.

Resurrection (Journey tribute)

COCONUT BAY CAFE

Josh Wanamaker and The Arcade Aquarium

GARAGE BAR

Evil Twin

MAYDAY BREWERY

The WannaBeatles

NOBODY’S

Jake Beavers & the Stones River Rundown

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

MAYDAY BREWERY PHAT BOYZ

PUCKETT’S GROCERY THE BORO

SUN, 3/12

Karaoke with Hitman Walker

Open Mic Night with Fred Reilly Los Lemmings

Mixtape 80s Band

TUES, 3/21

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

Spring Choral Concert: A Bach Celebration!

WED, 3/22

MAYDAY BREWERY

Community Rhythm Event with Everybody Drum Some

Bonhoeffer’s 2022 E. Main St. 615-440-3794 Carmen’s Taqueria 206 W. Northfield Blvd.

615-848-9003 Carpe Artista 101 Front St., Smyrna 615-984-4038 CJ’s 352 W. Northfield Blvd.

615-546-4164

PULSE

PICK

Missy Garnett Band

GARAGE BAR

Graham Anthem Band

LEVEL 3

The Cosmic Collective

MAYDAY BREWERY

Russ Baum

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

MTSU Jazz Artist Series: Tenor Saxophonist Rich Perry

Brian Ashley Jones

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

PHAT BOYZ

Orchard Fire

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

SHANGRI-LA

John Seale

Junkbox

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

TEMPT

THURS, 3/23 GARAGE BAR

SHANGRI-LA

MON, 3/13

THE BORO

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

THE BORO

NACHO’S

PATTERSON PARK

Maria Gramelspacher

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

Emily Harrison

TUES, 3/14

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

Jack Lorens; Spencer Stevens

WED, 3/15

AUTOGRAPH

Bodysnatcher, I Am

Truth, The Widdler, Comatosik, LuKo, leet Giants at The Door, Yard Art Collective, Paige & the Texas Bargoyles

WALL STREET

T.H.B.

SAT, 3/18

AUTOGRAPH

Monocle, Slider, Retro Pinocchio, I Am The Law

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

COCONUT BAY CAFE

THE BORO

GARAGE BAR

Gérard Gobert

Supreme Defilement ACT I: Thicket, Demonbelly, Neptune The Mystic, Arakara

THURS, 3/16 GARAGE BAR

Allison Drive

MAYDAY BREWERY

Graham Anthem Band Retro Duo, Rebecca Cargill

Double Down

Brandon Pope; David P. Sartor Ivan LaFever

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

Matt Marinchick

THE BORO

Radical Arts Presents Comedy Night

FRI, 3/24

AUTOGRAPH

Ataruu, Conquer the Distance, Ire & Uprise, Trigger Digit

CARMEN’S TAQUERIA

Joe West

MAYDAY BREWERY

COCONUT BAY CAFE

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

GARAGE BAR

PHAT BOYZ

MAYDAY BREWERY

Grass2Mouth

High School Honors Clarinet Choir Good Routes Band

Zone Status

SUN, 3/26

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

Rachel Shepherd; MTSU Low Brass Studio

THUES, 3/30 NACHO’S

Ivan LaFever

FRI, 3/31

CARMEN’S TAQUERIA

Joe West

CARPE ARTISTA

Chris Amsler

COCONUT BAY CAFE

Jazz Ambassadors

GARAGE BAR

Ashes of Folly DJ Trufx

NOBODY’S

Ivan LaFever

THE BORO

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

MAYDAY BREWERY

TEMPT

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

The Hues

THE BORO

All Star Jam Hosted

by Stuart Montez

FRI, 3/17

CARMEN’S TAQUERIA

Joe West

Supreme Defilement ACT II: Neptune The Mystic, Demonbelly, Corpus Malum

SUN, 3/20

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

Woodwind Chamber; Nicole Zamorano

Tim James and Friends Space Jesus, Shlump

THE BORO

Dirty Fuss, Robbie Sieben’s Sidecar Sezerac

SAT, 3/25

COCONUT BAY CAFE

Open Mic Night with Fred Reilly Aubryn

MTSU Opera Theater: Dido and Aeneas

NOBODY’S

My July Band

THE BORO

Levi Massie, The Accidental Trio

View the monthly concert schedule at BoroPulse.com/Concerts  Send show listings to Listings@BoroPulse.com 6 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

Main Street Music 527 W. Main St. 615-440-2425

MTSU Wright Music Building 1439 Faulkinberry Dr. 615-898-2469

SHANGRI-LA

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

Liquid Smoke #2 Public Square 615-217-7822

Dewdrop Jamboree with Aaron Vance, Bobby Howard, Teresa Camp and many more

Open Mic Night with Fred Reilly

Junkbox

Level 3 114 S. Maple St. 615-900-3754

MT Bottle 3940 Shelbyville Hwy. 615-962-9872

Jacob Hendley

Missy Garnett

Jazzmatazz 1824 Old Fort Pkwy.

615-624-6944

The Jackillacs, Wes Houp’s Country Band

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

NACHO’S

Green Dragon 714 W. Main St. 615-801-7171

Sexy Rexx

PUCKETT’S GROCERY

The Boomers

Garage Bar 405 N. Front St. 615-934-7464

Mayday Brewery 521 Old Salem Hwy. 615-479-9722

Red Light

Open Mic Night

MTSU WRIGHT BLDG.

Coconut Bay Café 210 Stones River Mall Blvd.

615-494-0504

Nacho’s 2962 S. Rutherford Blvd.

615-907-2700 Nobody’s Grille & BBQ 2227 Old Fort Pkwy.

615-962-8019 Patterson Park Community Center 521 Mercury Blvd.

(615) 893-7439 Phat Boyz Bar & Grill 4425 Woodbury Pk. 615-546-4526 Puckett’s Grocery and Restaurant 114 N. Church St. 629-201-6916 Shangri-La 1208 S. Lowry St., Smyrna (629) 255-8296 Tempt 211 W. Main St. 615-225-7757 The Boro Bar & Grill 1211 Greenland Dr. 615-895-4800 Wall Street 121 N. Maple St. 615-867-9090

ENTERTAINMENT

DJ, BINGO, TRIVIA & KARAOKE NIGHTS  MONDAYS AHART’S PIZZA GARDEN Trivia, 6:30 p.m.

HANDLEBARS Karaoke, 7 p.m.

WHISKEY DIX DJ Cliffy D, 8 p.m.

LEVEL III Trivia, 7 p.m.

 FRIDAYS

MELLOW MUSHROOM Trivia, 8 p.m.

LIQUID SMOKE DJ Night, 10 p.m.

NOBODY’S Trivia, 7 and 9:30 p.m.

MT BOTTLE Karaoke, 9 p.m.–3 a.m.

 TUESDAYS

SAM’S SPORTS GRILL Trivia, 8 p.m.

WHISKEY DIX DJ Cliffy D, 8 p.m.

COCONUT BAY Live Trivia, 7:30 p.m.

STATION GRILL Trivia, 7 p.m.

 SATURDAYS

HANDLEBARS Karaoke, 7 p.m.

THE BORO Game Night, 8 p.m.

NACHO’S Trivia, 7 p.m.

 THURSDAYS

NACHOS Trivia, 7 p.m.

BOB’S BBQ Trivia, 7 p.m.

NOBODY’S Karaoke, 9:15 p.m.–12:30 a.m.

CAMPUS PUB Trivia, 6:15 and 8:15 p.m.

WHISKEY DIX DJ Cliffy D, 8 p.m.

COCONUT BAY Karaoke, 8:00 p.m.

 SUNDAYS

 WEDNESDAYS

HANDLEBARS Karaoke, 7 p.m.

O’POSSUMS Trivia, 8 p.m.

CAMPUS PUB Karaoke, 10 p.m.–2:30 a.m.

NOBODY’S Karaoke, 9:15 p.m.–12:30 a.m.

SAM’S SPORTS GRILL Trivia, 8 p.m.

LEVEL III Trivia, 7 p.m.

THE BORO Vinyl Spin with KM 9 p.m.

NOBODY'S Bingo, 7 p.m.

OLD CHICAGO Trivia, 9 p.m.

TGI FRIDAY’S Trivia, 9 p.m.

CAMPUS PUB Karaoke, 10 p.m.–2:30 a.m.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 7

Sounds

Read more about local music at

BoroPulse.com/Category/Music

 LUDACRIS HEADLINES MTSU’S SPRING CONCERT APRIL 6 Multi-platinum hip-hop artist Ludacris will perform at Middle Tennessee State University on Thursday, April 6.

Luda’s known for numerous hits in the ’00s such as “Get Back,” “My Chick Bad,” “What’s Your Fantasy,” “Rollout (My Business)” and “Southern Hospitality” as well as his role as Tej Parker in the Fast and the Furious franchise. His performance is part of the university’s Signature Events series, which has previously hosted acts such as Icona Pop, comedian Hannibal Buress and others.

Ludacris, a.k.a. Christopher Bridges, has a few other dates lined up for 2017 including Memphis’ Beale Street Music Festival, coming up May 5–7.

Students may pick up tickets at the MTSU athletic ticket office in Floyd Stadium from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Remaining tickets will be released to faculty, staff, alumni and student guests beginning March 27. Two opening acts will kick off the April 6 show at 8 p.m.

— DYLAN SKYE AYCOCK

MUSIC NOTES

 THE WANNABEATLES SAT, MARCH 11 @ PUCKETT’S GROCERY The Beatles went where no band had gone before, and in a similar spirit come Nashville’s own WannaBeatles. Going where no Beatles band has gone before, the quartet shuns the costume-and-accent route in favor of passionate fandom, energetically pumped into faithfully performed Beatles songs paired with comedy, audience participation and other surprises. Of course, they have gone to Puckett’s before—they’re a favorite with audiences at the Franklin, Nashville and Columbia locations—but this show marks their debut at the ’Boro’s month-old Puckett’s Grocery. The upcoming local show will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, a suitable occasion for the band to display its more ambitious side while recreating some of The Beatles’ most multi-layered work. Unlike the Fabs themselves, who’d left their lovable moptop persona well behind them by Sgt. Pepper, The WannaBeatles also take audiences back to the exuberant sounds of Beatlemania. Starting at 8:30 p.m, sit back and let the evening go.

— STEVE MORLEY

BLUEBIRD IN THE BORO RETURNS

THE ACORN PEOPLE ALBUM RELEASE SHOW

Enjoy the Bluebird in the Boro Concert Series at Mayday Brewery (521 Old Salem Road) at 6 p.m. nightly March 6–8. Tickets are $100 per day and benefit The Residence At Alive Hospice. Meet the songwriters behind the hits and enjoy dinner, drinks and music (included with ticket). The lineup will feature Dylan Altman and Marshall Altman on Monday, Doug Johnson on Tuesday and Tim James, Dan Couch and Rivers Rutherford on Wednesday. For more information, contact (615) 3468698 or blove@alivehospice.org, or visit alivehospice.org/support-us/ special-events/bluebird-in-the-boro.

Local rock group the Acorn People will celebrate Wayout, the band’s 10-track sophomore effort, with an album release show on Friday, March 24, at Mayday Brewery. Wayout is the muchanticipated follow-up to the MTSU alums’ 2014 debut album, Secrets. The show begins at 9 p.m. with openers Apache Jericho and O Summer.

8 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

T.H.B. RETURNS TO WALL STREET The Homegrown Band (T.H.B.) returns, presenting a St. Patrick’s Day concert at Wall Street on the Murfreesboro Square. This month marks the 10-year anniversary of the recording of the band’s album, The Greatest Band That Never Was (not officially released until 2016, but now available). The members of the three-piece— Mikey Cramer, Lenny Cramer and Glenn Rohrbach—say to expect some more Middle Tennessee shows on the horizon. Ray Dunham and the Tripmonks will join the bill at the Friday, March 17, show.

 DEWDROP JAMBOREE VARIETY

SHOW RETURNS TO PATTERSON PARK

Dewdrop Jamboree’s third season is right around the corner with the first 2017 installment kicking off Saturday, March 25. This season’s first event, hosted by Justin Reed, will showcase several Dewdrop veterans including Teresa Camp, Pat Jackson, Rhonda Tenpenny, Brenda Lynn Allen, Bobby Howard, LB Ferrell and Aaron Vance, as well as newcomers Hank Cawthorne and Natalie Logan.

Dewdrop Jamboree, organized by the American Musical Arts Group—an area nonprofit group with a mission to preserve and showcase traditional American music genres—features several genres ranging from bluegrass, traditional country and gospel to contemporary country, rock ’n’ roll and blues.

Performers will be backed by the Dewdrops, a group of session musicians.

Founder and producer Larry Martin coined the series name from a nickname given to Tennessee native Uncle Dave Macon, a renowned singer, songwriter and old-time banjo player. Later this year, Dewdrop Jamboree will have a showcase at the annual Uncle Dave Macon Days, held July 7–8.

So join Reed and company at Patterson Park’s Washington Theatre, 521 Mercury Blvd., Saturday, March 25 at 6 p.m. Tickets are sold at the door for $10 for adults and $5 for children. Visit the Dewdrop Jamboree Facebook page for updates on future installments. — DSA

DADDY ISSUES

NASHVILLE’S FREAKIN’ WEEKEND RETURNS FOR 8TH AND FINAL YEAR Nashville’s annual mini-fest Freakin’ Weekend is set for March 9–11. The event, curated by the Nashville’s Dead blog, will bring local punk and garagerock favorites and touring bands for day shows at Fort Houston, night shows at The End and a blowout at Exit/In on Saturday night, March 11.

The eighth and final lineup features local acts Diarrhea Planet, Daddy Issues, Pujol, Music Band, Ranch Ghost, as well as touring bands Jacuzzi Boys, Omni, Hoops and Golden Pelicans.

Ticket and show times will be available at nashvillesdead.com.

— DSA

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 9

Sounds

Read more about local music at

BoroPulse.com/Category/Music

Make Joyful Music Everybody Drum Some to hold next Murfreesboro Rhythm Event on March 22 at Mayday Brewery.

STORY BY BRACKEN MAYO

M

ayday Brewery hosts a community rhythm event beginning at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 22, open to anyone at all who would like to participate in, or observe, a group drumming session.

Ross Lester, the rhythmic mastermind behind Everybody Drum Some, will direct the crowd of percussionists at the drumming event, held in late March to help ring in spring.

Everybody Drum Some, in partnership with the Murfreesboro Pulse, presented similar group rhythm events in 2016 at the beginning of the summer and fall seasons.

While those were held outdoors, in cooperative weather, organizers wanted to have an indoor/outdoor option for late March in case of cold or rainy weather, and Ozzy Nelson and his team at Mayday were kind enough to welcome the drummers to their facility with open arms, and full kegs.

“The coming of spring has always been a time to celebrate. When the weather gets nice, people get to feeling good,” Lester said.

“Getting together to play drums is a fun way to acknowledge and enjoy the rhythm of the changing seasons.”

There will be no cost to participate in the event, which is open to drummers of all ages and skill levels. Mayday products will be available for purchase to anyone of legal age.

Those who have felt the beat at past Everybody Drum Some events, which include percussionists ranging from music professionals to toddlers, know the vibe. It’s hard to dwell upon the troubles of the world when other community members surround 10 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

PHOTOS COURTESY SCOTT WALKER AND EVERYBODY DRUM SOME

you, all making music in unison.

While collaboration and community are critical to these events, that social and musical framework does allow for some individual self-expression and creativity.

“Everybody has something to say, something to contribute. The drum circle is an opportunity for each person to express themselves as an individual, and yet for all of us to join our voices into one song. It’s community communication,” according to Lester.

He and his drum disciples will have the rhythmists calling and responding, crescendoing and decrescendoing, accenting in unison and freestyling.

“Sometimes folks come to these events not quite knowing what to expect,” Lester said. “They may think to themselves, ‘Everyone playing drums all at once? How can that work?’ Then they are surprised and delighted to find that when all of the participants get on the beat together, we can make some truly amazing music!”

Bring a drum, tambourine, shaker, woodblock or percussion instrument of your choice if you have one; for those who may not own a drum, Lester will bring his extensive collection of instruments to share with the crowd.

All are welcome to come join the community in making some joyful music together.

For more information, find a Facebook event page for Murfreesboro Community Rhythm Event at Mayday, March 22, 2017, or visit everybodydrumsome.com.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 11

Sounds

Read more about local music at

BoroPulse.com/Category/Music

Free Run Russell and Kachina Rodden explore God’s love through music.

STORY BY DYLAN SKYE AYCOCK

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ~ Hebrews 12:1 RUN: A THREE-LETTER, one-syllable word that has had a profound influence on Russell and Kachina Rodden’s life.

In July 2016, the husband-and-wife duo released Embers, a four-song worship EP under the moniker Free Run. “While we were dating, I went through a period of time at my apartment when I prayed and asked God to speak to me,” Kachina says. “I heard ‘run fervently,’ which isn’t a word I hear or use often. . . . I later went back to Hebrews 12:1, and I knew right away that’s what it meant.”

Kachina later discovered that the word had also appeared frequently in Russell’s life through various scriptures. So when the couple’s pastor mentioned the word “run” 12 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

while praying for them one day, Kachina says they took that as a sign.

“It’s something that has been confirmed in our life over and over,” she says. “It’s not about running away from from anything— it’s about us having all of these people running along beside us.”

Russell and Kachina, now in their third year of marriage, met as servers while Kachina worked on a bachelor’s degree at MTSU. “We were friends for about a year and a half before we ever started dating,” she explains.

Even though she admits to eventually falling for Russell, she says it took time because she didn’t want to get distracted or slip into a routine.

“I decided that I was going to stop pursuing any kind of relationship and instead focus on my relationship with God,” she says. “I was reading more, praying more, and then I started to see myself again.”

However, one night after a Christmas

sweater party, Kachina went home and asked God to show Russell what steps to take if he wanted to take the lead,” she says.

“That night he texted me, and the next day he asked me on a date.”

The couple dated for four months before Russell proposed, and they decided to tie the knot three months later.

“We knew it was meant to be,” Russell says.

“So we thought, ‘Why not jump right in?’”

In addition to securing the guest list, choosing a venue and planning a reception—the typical wedding planning rituals— Kachina and Russell checked an additional item off the list before the special day arrived. The couple co-wrote a song, a sweet bluegrass tune with upright bass accompaniment, to perform at the wedding.

“Songwriting is something we wanted to do from the beginning,” he says. “We started out writing together for our wedding, but it just happened naturally after that.”

Not only does the couple share a musical chemistry, but music is a vein that intersected in both Russell and Kachina’s lives at an early age.

Russell spent his early childhood in Texas and Oklahoma, where his mother, a formally trained vocal performer, helped weave a musical thread into his life. After relocating to Murfreesboro at age 11, he became involved in his church’s band, where he sharpened his piano skills and learned how to play guitar and drums.

Kachina, on the other hand, grew up in Wayne County, Tenn., where she and her three sisters sang at church and family reunions. Her father’s musical past, one that included a performance on the Grand Ole Opry stage, inspired her to explore songwriting.

“I began writing as a teenage girl who didn’t exactly know how to express herself,” she says. “I then focused on worship music because that’s when my relationship with God began to grow and progress.”

Now, Kachina and Russell teach music to the youth group at Turning Point Church, where Russell is a youth pastor. With music a recurring theme in the couple’s life, Kachina decided one year to surprise Russell with the beginning of an album savings fund.

“In the past, I had recorded things on my computer,” Russell says. “This time, we decided that if we were going to make an album, we needed to go all in and go for it.”

With the guidance of friends in the music business and a successful Kickstarter campaign providing the funding, the husband-and-wife duo settled into two studios, Franklin’s Castle Recording Studio and Brentwood’s Fox Mountain Productions, to record the album along with several musicians.

“There are some songs on the album that are joyful that allow you to celebrate his love, and there are also songs that are pleading with [God],” Kachina says.

“We felt like we were pretty authentic with the songs that we’ve shared,” Russell adds. “A couple of them are pretty honest, like the title track that basically says, ‘I’m not where I want to be.’”

In May, Russell and Kachina will welcome a new addition to the family. In the meantime, Kachina says they hope to return to the studio to record a few more songs for their next project.

Embers is available on Spotify and Apple Music.

ALBUMS

COMMANDER KEEN

THE CANTRELLS

Named after a ’90s video game of the same name, Commander Keen’ wields a sound that encapsulates sweaty house-show moshing and staying up ’til dawn for the sake of good music and friends.

The trio, now Cookeville-based but active in the Murfreesboro scene over the years, began recording its debut in the summer of 2015, though the effort fell flat and band members decided to start from scratch. A year or so later, with the help of engineer Nick Ohren, What a Waste packs a punch in its nine tracks spanning just 20 minutes.

With Blake Marlow on guitar and vocals, Matt Billings on bass and Zach Ramsey handling percussion, “Die Hard II” kicks off the album with a scuzzy guitar buzz that lingers throughout the release. Marlow’s sing-scream vocals, paired with catchy riffs and thunderous drums, recall that of Nashville garage rock duo JEFF the Brotherhood with early Diarrhea Planet thrown in for good measure. The second track, “Carolina Avenue,” is a college mantra about staying up all night that ends with a solid minute of relentless shredding. “The Pit” lives up to its name with a mental image of headbanging in the pit. Next up is the anxious, piano-riddled “Yr Heart,” followed by “Low Budget Dreams” and “Good Sport Game.”

The album as a whole is one big party, but it also captures the sobering reality of post-graduation unease with lyrics like, If I live to be older than 23, box me up and send me down the line on “Die Hard II” or Try to grow up / But I’m stuck in this rut for good on the album’s closer, “Die Hard I.” Albeit short, What a Waste is a solid release that drives home part of the college experience (if a combination of drinking, smoking and live music is your thing). It’s fun, raucous and, at times, a little outlandish, but it’s worth checking out, especially if you follow the local house show circuit.

If you want to catch the band, head to their Facebook page for show updates. To listen to Commander Keen now, visit commanderkeenband.bandcamp. com. — DYLAN SKYE AYCOCK

Whoever coined the term “Americana” must have been trying to harness the indefinable heritage-hybrid of husband-and-wife duo Al and Emily Cantrell. Their lengthy career as a trail-walking indie-label act significantly predates the internet-driven DIY music scene and the conscious cultivation of the Americana genre’s generously sized net, which is still nearly too narrow to encompass the full range of ingredients contained in their signature sound. The immediate standout qualities of Weather Reports are guitarist/vocalist Emily Cantrell’s rich and resonant voice and partner Al’s fiddle and mandolin work, on which he maintains an ideal balance of technical skill and back-pocket spirit and spontaneity. These strengths enliven a solid collection of primarily Emily Cantrell-penned originals that range from the mournful, tango-like title track to the joyous, Cajun-styled “Black Bayou,” a showcase for Al’s sure-fingered fiddling. Such contrasts define the album, which offsets romantically themed numbers like the English/Irish-flavored “’Twas a Full Moon Ago” with topical songs that link The Cantrells to the American folksinger tradition epitomized by The Weavers, Woody Guthrie and Joni Mitchell, a cross-section of activist spunk and inward-looking emotionalism.

One cut pits the global-warming controversy against an unexpectedly playful gypsy-jazz/swing backdrop.

This is musical black comedy at its most incisive, as Emily deadpans adios . . . we’re toast and offers couplets such as I remember the Earth, my starter home / Now I’m in space living under a dome.

The album’s closer, “Timber Trail,” continues the duo’s fascination with the cowboy-song genre, a central component of their artistic personality that once spurred banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck to call them “the best folk duo since Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.”

Any fan of well-crafted but unvarnished acoustic music (provided they don’t mind politics plopped onto their musical plate) will find inspired picking, writing and singing on the sometimes stormy Weather Reports, an album whose outlook, all told, remains partly sunny.

— STEVE MORLEY

A CLASSIC OUTSTANDING

Weather Reports

AVERAGE BELOW AVERAGE

AVOID AT ALL COSTS DEAD

CANTRELLS REVIEW COURTESY SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT NASHVILLE

What a Waste

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 13

Food

Read more about local restaurants at

BoroPulse.com/Category/Food

huge,” commented Karen, a patron from Murpours in through the large windows. freesboro. “The pasta salad and potato salad are When ordering a sandwich, guests can opt between white, dark or rye bread, go with a full amazing, and desserts are fabulous.”

“I cried the day I ate my last Sub Stop in footlong or half-sandwich size, choose their Nashville and I cannot believe that as luck sub variety and toppings, and finally order the sandwich cold or toasted. Go with a classic like would have it, they would bring it to me here in Murfreesboro,” Ashley Pope commented on Sub ham and cheese, a meatball and mozzarella, a Stop’s social media shortly after the restaurant veggie-only combo or the legendary chicken, opened in Murfreesboro in late 2015. “I was bacon and ranch. Sub Stop offers a cheese sub, so worried that it would with the diners’ pick of be different, something Swiss, American, mozwould be off . . . but at zarella, smoked cheddar, first bite, I was home.” hot pepper and provoloNAME The Sub Stop pizza ne cheeses, and ordered Sub Stop has also become a hit. toasted, this could make LOCATION The pizzas, available as a nice play on a grilled 306 W. Vine St. 10-inch or 16-inch pies, cheese.

PHONE are served on a thin but “The club was very 615-546-4656 chewy crust, light on the good; they load these HOURS sauce but quite generbabies up!” commented 10:30 a.m.–6 p.m. ous with the cheese one patron, Mindy, after Monday–Saturday and toppings, based on enjoying her sandwich.

COST various reports.

Her only advice: “Order Italian; Chicken, Bacon Ranch; “My favorite pizza double bacon.”

Pepper Steak and Mozzarella or any premium sub: in town, hands down,” The bread is deliv$4.89 (half), $8.79 (whole); Bobby Turman Jr. said. ered pillowy soft, and a Bowl of Creamy Potato with Sub Stop “is a regular sandwich ordered “all the Bacon, Crab Lobster Bisque, stop for me and the wife.” way” at Sub Stop means Chicken Tortilla or any soup: Another diner, who topped with lettuce, $4.49 stopped in to try out the tomato, pickles, onion, oil 16” Ultimate Meat; Hawaiian; restaurant with a large and vinegar and oregano, Chicken, Bacon and Ranch or any party, called the Ultibut there are plenty of Sub Stop Pizza: $16.99 mate Meat pizza “some other veggies and condiONLINE of the best pizza we’ve ments to select. facebook.com/substopboro ever had.”

Sandwich options also Still, a few diners say the Murfreesboro include submarine variations of the traditional establishment has still not fully captured the Philly cheesesteak and the Reuben; those who magic the Nashville eatery did. Others will enjoy the classic versions of these sandwiches say the $9 sandwiches are a little pricey for will point out that they are not exact replicas, what you get. but still many enjoy these choices.

“But they have rent to pay too,” one res“What a sandwich!” Sub Stop diner Brett said after consuming a Reuben sub with its ten- taurant industry veteran acknowledged, and overall Sub Stop has received great reviews. der corned beef, mild Swiss cheese, sauerkraut During lunchtime, Sub Stop does offer delivand thousand island. “Man, it was tasty!” ery for an additional $4, which is a plus when In addition to the sandwiches, Sub Stop also multiple people in an office want to order lunch. offers a rotation of soups, ideal for a quick, hot But the best option may be to venture into lunch. Many enjoy the chicken gumbo with anthe pink building for yourself and join the douille, a tasty dish with just a little spice to it. lunch crowd one day.

“The soups are amazing, the sandwiches are

The Dish

 STAY STOP for the Subs for the Pizza Sub Stop’s decades of tradition settled in bright pink downtown Murfreesboro building.

I

STORY BY BRACKEN MAYO

n case you have not noticed the bright pink building that sits across from City Hall on Vine Street just off of Broad Street, that is the home of Sub Stop, a long-running downtown Nashville lunch spot which now calls downtown Murfreesboro its home.

Sub Stop has become a popular lunch destination for hungry people from all walks of life in Murfreesboro.

Travis Millwood purchased the business from the Grizzard family before relocating the 14 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

sandwich shop to Rutherford County in 2015.

Now, each day, the lunch crowd files into the Murfreesboro eatery and places orders for sandwiches and soups. With local residents and business professionals chatting, Sub Stop staff calling out order numbers and country music wafting from the speakers, the noise level can be a little high during lunch hour and the place may not be ideal for a quiet business meeting, but the environment is friendly and welcoming, and sunlight

 RECIPE

Italian Sausage, Swiss Chard and Mushroom Bake

BY KEVIN McDANIEL I MADE THIS RECIPE ONE NIGHT THIS WINTER and it was exactly what I needed. It was that proverbial “stick-to-your-ribs” kind of food. The kind of dish that engages the trifecta of childhood: cheese, pasta and cheese.

But this version is a bit more grown up with the addition of the Swiss chard and wine.

For the Swiss chard I wanted to try something that would retain as many nutrients as possible so instead of sautéing it I simply mixed the noodles and mushrooms with the raw chard and baked it. It came out slightly wilted and full of flavor.

As with any recipe, this one is totally up to your discretion. If you don’t enjoy chard, throw in some squash. The only thing I ask is that you use something that is in season, and your effort will equal your happiness while eating it. For those of you who enjoy wine, I would recommend pairing this with a Pinot Grigio. The spice and heavy cream will be offset by the crispness of the wine. If you don’t partake in wine, an IPA works well too.

The hope here is that the drink cuts through the fat and allows you to eat more, prepared to face the cold wrapped in a blanket eating some cheesy pasta bake, like an adult.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, SWISS CHARD AND MUSHROOM BAKE Serves 3–4

INGREDIENTS 1 lb. pasta noodles of choice 1 shallot, chopped 2 cups heavy cream 1 ¼ cups of Parmesan cheese 1 cup of white wine 1 lb. Batey Farm’s Spicy Italian Sausage (see note) 4 ½ cups tightly packed Swiss chard ~ 2 bunches, Julienned 2 ½ cups sliced button mushrooms 2 ½ cups of sliced shiitake mushrooms 1 tsp. red pepper flakes Salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees To make the pasta: bring 4 quarts of water with 1 tbsp. of salt to a boil and then follow manufacturer’s instructions.

Brown Italian sausage and drain off 90 percent of the fat, reserving just enough to sauté mushrooms. (*Note: I like to use the loose sausage, not in the casing. If you can only find sausage in casing, simply remove it from its casing.)

In the same pan used for Italian sausage, sauté mushrooms and shallots for 5–8 minutes, or until the mushrooms begin to release water.

Add wine and simmer for three minutes or until the alcohol is cooked out.

Add cream and simmer for three minutes.

Add 1 cup of Parmesan to cream, wine and mushroom mixture, stir to combine and not stick to the bottom of pan.

Turn down heat to low and simmer for an additional five minutes.

Season with salt and pepper. (*Note: remember to use the salt sparingly as the Parmesan is salty, the water will salt the pasta and the sausage might be salty. Season, taste and re-season as needed.)

Combine mushroom mixture, Italian sausage, noodles and Swiss chard in a large bowl and stir to combine.

Pour into a baking dish and sprinkle remaining Parmesan on top with red pepper flakes.

Bake in oven for 20–25 minutes or until the dish is bubbling around the edges.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 15

Living

Top-Selling Top-SellingComic Comic Series Seriesto to Try Try Out Out

5 5

Batman/ TMNT Adventures This animated teamup is a spin-off of the more serious crossover events from last year between the Caped Crusader and everyone’s favorite pizza-eating sewer reptiles. It’s a kid-friendly adventure that sees the unlikely allies teaming up to take on Joker, Shredder, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and more.

Graphically Speaking

PHOTOS BY DYLAN SKYE AYCOCK

1

Entering Z’s Comic Lair

O

BY JOHN CONNOR COULSTON

n the west side of Murfreesboro, development is running rampant with new subdivisions, fast food restaurants and grocery stores popping up seemingly overnight. Mixed up right in the middle of all of it is an oddball but welcome new local business, Z’s Comic Lair.

Z’s is the product of brothers Patrick and Nick Zambrano and their lifelong loves of all things geeky. The duo began their journey to the Lair as kids, diving into Marvel classics in the form of trade paperbacks.

“We used to have Marvel Essentials around the house, and I would always read the Spider-Man ones,” Nick says during our recent visit to the shop.

Growing up in Owensboro, Ken., the Zambranos soon saw their love of the medium growing into a desire to start a shop. With Patrick moving to Murfreesboro in 2010 and then Nick in 2016, they found the place where they wanted to bring their idea to fruition.

“It’s a lifelong dream that really took off within the last two years,” Patrick said.

“We’ve always liked comics. We’ve always liked being around it. It’s just something we always wanted to do and we finally got to a spot where we could do it.”

The space they found was the right-hand shop in the small shopping strip located at 3863 Franklin Road, part of which will soon be occupied by Patrick’s wife Becky’s décor business.

Internally, the shop’s left wall is lined with new releases and graphic novels, with tables of back 16 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

issues that tend to grow larger every week. On the other side of the store, a myriad of toys and collectibles new and old fill shelves. It’s a scene straight out of an ’80s/’90s kid’s fever-dream.

As far as external qualities, the Lair’s location, not far from Blackman High School, is surrounded by young families, teenagers and Nashville commuters alike. Murfreesboro’s other comic shops are located on Broad Street, which can feel like light years away from the bustling suburbia of Murfreesboro’s west side during peak hours. With a prime location marked by growth and a presumably untapped demographic, the storefront was set for success.

“We joked around when we first opened [in October], that we hoped people would come in,” Patrick says. “We literally didn’t advertise and had people coming in the days before we opened because they heard a comic book store was coming.”

One of the the trends the Zambranos are seeing at the shop is the intergenerational interests parents are passing down to their children. The kids are introduced to the medium via beloved characters like Mickey Mouse, Spongebob Squarepants and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and adults are rekindling their

fascination with Superman, Spider-Man and Wolverine all over again.

“You have a lot of family members that are in their 30s and 40s and now have kids,” Patrick says. “They’re introducing their kids to comics, or Star Wars or toys.”

The new arrivals will always be the go-to for new readers, but Z’s specialty is its attention to the old. They’ve acquired numerous collections totaling approximately 50,000 comics, which have included many rare birds. Some of the gems that have already passed through the shop are the first appearance of Wolverine, the first issue of The Walking Dead and one of comics’ holy grails, Amazing Fantasy #15, notable for marking the first appearance of Spider-Man. Beyond comics, one of the guys’ passions is vintage toys. Shelf space in the shop is occupied by rows of Stormtroopers and Jedis side by side with old-school Ninja Turtles, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and numerous other cultural staples. It’s a nostalgia seeker’s paradise and a door to pop culture discovery for a new generation.

The shop is establishing another important aspect of running a local business: community. The shop owners are grateful to be accepted into the area and have already attracted numerous regulars.

“We just like being in the neighborhood,” Patrick says. “One of my friends is a barber, and I never considered it until he told me, we’re almost like a local, neighborhood barbershop. The same people come in. We get new people, but we then get to know them.

Wednesday’s our new comic release day, and when someone comes in the door, depending on the time of day, we can almost tell who’s coming in. We get those regulars.”

So as Z’s Comic Lair has gotten its foothold into the Murfreesboro community, the Zambrano have fulfilled their childhood dream, and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

“It doesn’t feel like a job,” Nick says. “It doesn’t feel like going to work at all.”

“We’ll look at the time, and it’s time to close, and it feels like we haven’t done anything,” Patrick continues. “We have, we’ve done a ton of stuff and talked to a bunch of people, but we get to talk about stuff we like. And it’s awesome.”

Z’s Comic Lair is located at 3863 Franklin Road in Murfreesboro. For more information, head to facebook.com/zscomiclair.

Curse Words This fantastical series focuses on a beloved, famous wizard in New York City who is secretly a kinda bad dude with a past coming back to haunt him. It’s a fun and funny take on the fantasy genre that takes a wild ride between the Big Apple and a world of magic.

2

Darth Maul The coolest Star Wars character in The Phantom Menace that wasn’t Liam Neeson gets his very own story, set before the prequels. We see Maul impatiently waiting for Sidious’ permission to start confronting Jedi and blowing off some steam in Sith fashion (by killing things). It’s set to be one of Marvel’s most anticipated Star Wars offerings.

3

Detective Comics Detective Comics has been DC’s flagship title for close to a century, and its recent revitalizing has made it one of the hottest comics out now. Batman has recruited a team of Gotham vigilantes including Batwoman, Spoiler, Orphan and the reformed villain Clayface. It’s compelling, full of action and well worth the price.

4

Superman Just like the previous title, Superman was revitalized last year with outstanding results. The Man of Steel is up to his typical heroics with one major addition: a super-son. The series follows the two trying to figure out Superboy’s powers, while hitting all the feelgood emotions you could expect from a father-son tale (albeit one with lots of heat vision).

5

Comic Kon Returns

Murfreesboro Anime and Comic Kon to be held March 4–5, event features artists, wrestlers, cosplayers and more.

BY TANNER DEDMON MURFREESBORO WILL ONCE AGAIN play host to anime and comic fans from across Middle Tennessee as the Murfreesboro Anime and Comic Kon returns March 4–5 with guests, special vendors and memorable events.

For the past several years, the Murfreesboro Anime and Comic Kon has brought prominent guests from within the pop culture world to Middle Tennessee to interact with fans and M.A.C.K. attendees.

From professional wrestlers to artists to the voices behind fan-favorite animated characters, there’s certainly something for everybody. Convention organizer Marc Ballard is thrilled to say that this year’s event will feature the largest number of celebrity guests to date.

“We have added more guests than ever with almost three dozen,” said Ballard about the expected guests. “Authors, wrestlers, cosplayers and more.”

Aspiring cosplayers also have the opportunity to express their talents and reconstruct their favorite fictional characters in a cosplay competition where they can set themselves apart as the best convention cosplayer in Middle Tennessee. Competitors will also have the chance to learn the cosplay craft from the Cosplay Collective, a Nashville-based organization that makes appearances at conventions and events.

Similar local community groups, such as the Tennessee Ghostbusters, a Tennessee chapter of Ghostbusters that attends various conventions, will also be in attendance for photo opportunities and the chance to meet

guests. Music City Steampunk will also show off its unique style and outfits.

Multiple authors and artists across a spectrum of genres will be in attendance to answer questions and sign fans’ favorite copies of their books and comics. One of the guests that Ballard says is sure to be an exciting addition to this year’s convention is Kyle Starks, an Eisner Award-nominated comic artist and primary writer behind the comic version of Rick and Morty. Aside from meeting guests and signing autographs, Starks and the comic’s regular artist, CJ Cannon, will also participate in a Q&A panel to answer guests’ questions about their past, present and upcoming works.

Starks is also excited to discuss with those in attendance his next accomplishment in the industry, a new comic debuting in April. Written and drawn entirely

by Starks, his newest comic, Rock Candy Mountain, is being published by Image Comics, the organization behind The Walking Dead comics.

“It’s going to be a hobo extravaganza of fights and laughs and mysteries,” said Starks about his upcoming series.

Vendors will be onsite to purchase comic and other pop culture memorabilia such as action figures, clothing and posters. Representatives from similar comic and anime events, such as the Middle Tennessee Anime Convention, Fandomfest and Hypericon will also be present to foster the anime and comic community.

The March convention will take place on Saturday, March 4, from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Sunday, March 5, from 11 a.m.–4 p.m at the Clarion Inn on Old Fort Parkway in Murfreesboro. Admission is $10 a day with special VIP packages offered at $35 per person that include signed comics and exclusive gifts. For more information and a list of all the guests and panels scheduled for the convention, visit comiccitytn.com.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 17

Boro Yoga Fest Yoga instructors gather for all-day March 18, with proceeds to help promote yoga in prisons.

BY TANNER DEDMON

Y

oga enthusiasts and aspiring beginners can look forward to the Boro Yoga Fest in March, a new festival centered around yoga, community involvement and the encouragement of healthier lifestyles. Scheduled for Saturday, March 18 at the Lane Agri-Park Community Center, the Boro Yoga Fest will host yoga instructors from within the Murfreesboro community to teach guests about a variety of yoga styles. One of these instructors is Sunshine Nutrition Center co-owner/operator Kim Dunaway, who also serves as the coordinator of the Boro Yoga Fest.

“All the yoga teachers are Murfreesboro residents, and that was really important to me,” said Dunaway. “I thought about maybe bringing in some more from Nashville to fill in the different styles, but honestly I didn’t have to. We have enough unique styles here in Murfreesboro to have a full day of yoga.”

Some of these yoga forms set to be taught at the festival include power yoga, vinyasa and meditation among other forms and styles. Both newcomers and veteran yoga aficionados will be able to find something they can enjoy due to the more than seven hours’ worth of planned activities and lessons.

“We definitely encourage beginners to come because it’s a great opportunity to be introduced to a lot of different types of styles,” Dunaway said. “A lot of time, people think, ‘I don’t even know what style of yoga I want to do, I don’t know what this style is,’ so it’s definitely beginner-friendly. Most teachers are trained to be able to teach someone who’s there for the first day and also someone who’s been doing yoga for 20 years.”

The idea behind the festival came from the success of similar neighboring efforts 18 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

including yoga festivals in Nashville and Chattanooga. Another large influence on the Boro Yoga Fest is The Prison Yoga Project, a nonprofit organization devoted to bringing yoga lessons to prison systems to benefit inmates. All of the proceeds from the Boro Yoga Fest are set to be contributed to the project.

“What Prison Yoga Project does is really two things,” Dunaway said. “They do Prison Yoga Project trainings for current yoga teachers, and they also bring yoga teacher trainings into prisons where they can teach inmates to become yoga teachers themselves. It’s grown, it’s basically all around the country now.”

At a more local level, the Boro Yoga Fest also hopes to contribute to the Rutherford County Work Center by collecting books on yoga and healthy living to donate. To assist with this effort, soft-cover yoga and wellness books can be donated at the Boro Yoga Fest and at Gold’s Gym Hot Yoga locations in Murfreesboro and Smyrna.

Aside from the yoga lessons, vendors from local businesses will also be in attendance at the Boro Yoga Fest. Massage therapists will be present, nutritionally conscious grocer Sprouts will have a booth and other apparel and fitness vendors will also set up to welcome guests in case they need a break from their day-long yoga session. I Love Juice Bar will also be attending the festival to provide food and drink for guests.

For more information about the festival and a complete schedule of the planned events, visit boroyogafest.com. Tickets are currently on sale for $35 each, and a student discount is offered. The event is scheduled to run from 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. March 18 at the Lane Agri-Park Community Center.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 19

Living Farmers’ Market Education Series

BY EDWINA SHANNON

ACTIVITIES AND CLASSES FOR THE MONTH OF MARCH: MARCH 7 – Tai Chi - Lane Agri-Park Auditorium (315 John R. Rice Blvd.)

The first class of eight consecutive weeks; 60-minute sessions. Preregister: (615) 8987710 or cybush@utk.edu.

MARCH 9

Plantings to Provide for Wildlife

O

ne of the points within the Tennessee Smart Yard program, a certification program open to any homeowner, is providing for wildlife. Wildlife includes any of the birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians that are native to our area. What type of wildlife would you want to have in your yard or on your property? Wildlife needs cover, water and food. Cover includes a nesting area but also refuge from the weather and predators. You will need to familiarize yourself with the needs of the wildlife that you want to attract. Any dead trees that you keep on the property for your wildlife support should be at a distance from buildings to minimize damage from their fall.

Songbirds, rabbits, frogs, bats, squirrels and butterflies are the most commonly attracted ones, but you may find yourself watching raccoons, opossums, lizards, dragonflies, owls and even white-tailed deer. Some require dead trees, others need a rock/brush pile; tall grasses and weeds are another type of cover area. The size of your yard will determine how many areas you can offer that support wildlife. With any life cycle, expect to be witness to life-cycle events.

In addition to the living area for the animals, do you have a water source? Water is needed to support any wildlife. The most varied wildlife will do best with a small pond. It should be no deeper than two feet, ideally placed in a partially sunny location. Birds can use birdbaths, but the sunken pool will support amphibians, reptiles and insects. Insects are the food source for bats and birds. The water source should be available year-round. You may choose to dig a hole in a clay location of your yard or install a small pond complete with pumps. The water needs to be clean so the wildlife will use it as a source for living.

Try to plant native species of a wide variety.

20 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

Many ornamental plants do not support our native wildlife. You do want to plant annual flowers, herbaceous plants, low and tall shrubs, vines and small and tall trees. This wide variety of plant species encourages cover for a variety but also is a food source. The same animal can have different food needs throughout the year. As an example, birds feed primarily on seeds, but will switch to insects when raising their young. Consider planting a combination of plants that will provide nuts, seeds, fruits, berries and flower nectar. What they attract will act as food for other wildlife which brings me back to witnessing the cycle of life statement that I made earlier.

In planning and planting your wildlife refuge, mimic nature. Intermix areas of open grass, shrubs, and trees. As you plan your yard, don’t forget to plan places for yourself. Provide a refuge with a seat among the trees. Have the bird feeders within view of your windows.

Draw up your plan on graph paper; decide if you or a landscaper will be doing the work.

Realize that vegetation growth does take time and every stage of the wildlife support and the yard transformation needs to be accepted each season for what it is.

The Boro Garden Party has ideas and plants, classes, and workshops for both the nominal and the involved home gardener. Of special interest to the apartment and condo dwellers within the ’Boro are the sessions devoted to container gardening. The idea is to utilize any available space for productivity.

That productivity could be producing smiles from the attracted birds or growing you the most delicious tomato you have ever eaten.

Perhaps the walkway gets lined with flowering containers, and you smile. My point is that you do not need acres to be a productive gardener.

What do you want to produce?

Riparian Tree Planting Jordan Farm, 1233 Cherry Lane • noon–4 p.m.

Tree seedlings to be planted along the stream.

Dress accordingly. Pre-register with Cynthia Allen at cynthia.allen@mtsu.edu or (615) 8982660. (rain date March 10) MARCH 23–25 – Beginner Beekeeping Lane Agri-Park Auditorium Rutherford County Beekeepers Association hosts beekeeping classes from 6:30–9 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m.—noon on Saturday. For more information or to register, call Keith or Robbin Elrod at (615) 274-3725.

MARCH 25 – Earth Hour 2017

Turn off all lights from 8:30–9:30 p.m.

APRIL 1 – Parks Day Clean Up Old Fort Park Pavilion No. 2 Community volunteers will remove and treat invasive plant species in the park and along Lyle Creek, and remove litter from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Dress accordingly. Pre-register with Cynthia Allen at cynthia.allen@mtsu.edu or (615) 898-2660.

BORO GARDEN PARTY PREVIEW: The Boro Garden Party will be held at the Lane Agri-Park Community Center (315 John R. Rice Blvd.) on March 31 and April 1, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Two children under 13 get in free with an adult ticket purchase of $5.

There are free children’s activities as well as classes and workshops to help adults grow their own happiness. The Murfreesboro Pulse is a sponsor of the event. Tickets are available at the door.

MARCH 31 AND APRIL 1, 9 A.M.–5 P.M.

Join the spring fun at the Boro Garden Party.

Vendor booths, garden ideas, flower arrangements, speakers, demos, workshops, an art/ photography show, free children’s activities and entertainment comprise this annual event. Entry fee includes scheduled speakers sessions. Workshops are an additional cost for materials. Pre-register for workshops on making honey products, essential oils, wild harvesting, black gold and natural soda.

FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 10 A.M.

Oaklands Mansion: Historic Plantings at the Maney Spring and the Arboretum Connor Moss, Master Gardener Curator The grounds of the Oaklands Mansion are

home to historic plantings that have stories attached to their years of growth. Join Connor Moss for a slide show of the Mansion property, including the Maney Spring and the recently recognized Oaklands Arboretum.

Tickets to the Boro Garden Party that are purchased at the Oaklands Mansion Gift Shop are a donation to the Garden and Grounds Fundraiser for Oaklands Mansion!

FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 11:30 A.M.

Eating Your Colors Megan Fraley, Health Coach The importance of growing your own produce from seeds and why some varieties should be selected over others will start the talk. The importance of eating for the season, eating your colors and what that means nutritionally, assessing the nutrition of produce and how to maintain nutrition in cooking will be covered.

FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 12:30 P.M. AND SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 2 P.M.

Plants for Winter Interest Jeff Harvey, Dirt Dawg Nursery Include the winter season in your garden plans. Jeff Harvey will discuss planting for winter color and architectural interest in the dormant season. The care and culture of evergreens as well as ideas for companion summer plants will be part of the slideshow.

SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 9:30 A.M.

Brewing Up a Garden – Ben Valentine Growing hops and other plants that are used in the brewing process will be presented by Ben Valentine. Ben is a member of the MidState Brew Crew and has brewed “La Fortune” commercially at Bearded Iris Brewing in Nashville. Brew kits for planting your own “brew” garden will be available for purchase.

SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 11 A.M.

Success with Container Gardening Loraine Sutton, M & L Greenhouse If you are growing flower baskets, hanging baskets, vegetables in pots or a potted herb garden, you need to prepare it for success.

Loraine Sutton will show the details for beautiful plants grown in containers with this class in container preparation and choosing the right soil mixture and nutrients. Loraine speaks to groups and offers classes at her greenhouse.

SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 12:30 P.M.

Collecting and Using Free Water Rutherford County Master Gardeners Linda Lindquist, Rebecca Cowan and Edwina Shannon will be present a practical and efficient use of water, both as a money saver and an environmental responsibility. The talk will include watering your property efficiently, collecting rain in barrels and cisterns, drip irrigation and installing rain gardens. Slides and an optional walk through the demo gardens.

Health With Herbs Ninety9 uses plants from local farm to produce herbal remedies.

BY ELIZABETH TULLOS WHILE REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS DEBATE the future of healthcare in the United States and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, flu season is already in full swing and allergy season is just around the corner. Instead of relying on traditional pharmaceutical means, many Americans are now exploring alternative and natural holistic personal care options to combat the rising costs of drugs and preventative care. Ninety9, a local holistic startup, was founded to provide the people of Murfreesboro with handprocessed herbal tinctures crafted from organic ingredients grown in Tennessee.

“I actually made the first few herbal tinctures out of desperation—leery that natural herbs could even work, but I was at my wit’s end with the entire pharmaceutical industry,” said Jessica Stafford, the founder of Ninety9. “After the first few weeks it was working so well that my friends and family tried it and, miraculously, it worked for them, too.”

Mother Nature offers a wealth of solutions for at-home cold, allergy and stress relief if you know where to look. Stafford now seeks to deliver her knowledge of these natural remedies and personal care methods directly into the hands of the residents of Murfreesboro.

According to Stafford, the first step in considering treatments for common ailments naturally is to consult with your doctor. Those new to herbalism should ask about both holistic and prescription medication, as some herbs may interact with prescription drugs.

The next step is to decide whether or not to buy the herbs and create your own herbal products or purchase remedies directly from a trusted herbalist. For consumers lacking the time or space to grow their own herbs, it is crucial to research ingredients in any purchased remedies.

“In my products, I use hyssop for congestion and fever, lemon balm for immune support and tulsi for sleep issues,” Stafford said. “All of our natural, non-gmo herbs come straight from Twin Creeks Farms in Murfreesboro. Other herbalists will suspend their tinctures in alcohol, but I decided to use glycerine products at Ninety9 because they’re safer for diabetics and those in recovery. My dad has been sober for 18 years and I’ve watched him struggle to find products he feels safe taking. Glycerine products also naturally sweeten the taste without raising glucose levels.”

For those considering growing their own herbs, the Master Gardeners of Rutherford County, a UT horticulture education extension program, provides beginner and advanced courses in gardening. The Murfreesboro Community Garden also provides introductory gardening information and a communal gardening space at their plot on East State Street.

For more information about Jessica Stafford’s story and information on holistic alternatives, visit ninety9byjess.com. To pick your own herbs or produce at Twin Creeks Farms, call Corrinne Lemoine at (815) 630-0999.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 21

Living

Holland is just one of many Special Kids served by the Murfreesboro based ministry.

Race For Kids

April 8 race to help fund Murfreesboro ministry’s mission of impacting the lives of Special Kids.

BY ELIZABETH SCOTT SAWYER

22 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

S

he comes across as shy when you first meet her, but, within minutes, her smile lights up the room and she’s ready to show off all she knows and can do.

Holland, this year’s Special Kids impact race partner, was born in January 2014 at 25 weeks. She was premature and weighed only 1 pound, 6 ounces. Her first 89 days of life were spent in the NICU. She was diagnosed with failure to thrive when she was a year old, after having feeding difficulties that eventually led to her receiving a Gastrostomy feeding tube (G-tube) in order to receive nutrition. Then, at 2 years old, she was also diagnosed with cerebral palsy.

Special Kids is a nonprofit therapy and nursing center for children with special needs. The Murfreesborobased ministry started with one child in 1998 and has grown to serve over 3,000 children from 18 counties in Middle Tennessee.

Holland’s family discovered this organization in the fall of 2016 as they were researching options and realized they had other acquaintances whose children have also been treated at Special Kids. The peer-modeling program in the Nursing Center was a large part of the appeal for Holland’s mom and dad, Megan and Daniel, and they knew that it would be beneficial for Holland. She now receives physical, occupational, speech and feeding therapies and is also part of the Special Kids nursing program.

“Wow!” shared Holland’s mom, Megan, to describe one word on the progress Holland has made since starting Special Kids. Holland has learned new words and can now speak in complete sentences. She has also improved her mobility skills and is trying new foods.

Holland shares a unique bond with her new friends in the peer-modeling group at Special Kids, who motivate her to advance in the nursing program.

Holland is just one example of the positive influence Special Kids can have on families of special needs children. Each child that enters a program at the facility hopes to experience progress much like Holland has done. Special Kids is able to make this

growth possible because of fundraising events like the annual Special Kids Race.

Each year, the Special Kids Race is held as a fundraiser for the Therapy and Nursing Center. Race participants, teams and even individuals not running or walking can additionally help children with special needs by joining Impact Special Kids, an online fundraising community that helps supporters turn their fundraising ideas into a reality. Impact members can participate as individuals or create their own team.

Every dollar raised goes towards offering services to all of the kids—not one child in particular.

The 6th Annual Special Kids Race will be held on Saturday, April 8, 2017, at Murfreesboro Medical Clinic.

Space is limited to 3,250 registered participants in this huge event. Runners and walkers will have the opportunity to join in one of three race distances—15K, 5K or 1-Mile Family Fun Run. The event welcomes all levels of participants and encourages the whole family to get involved.

“We are looking forward to our sixth year of this event,” says Stephanie Folkmann, Special Kids director of development.

“In addition to our impact program, we will also continue our program for businesses to become involved called the ‘corporate challenge.’ Our hope is that the community and businesses will take hold of these fundraising opportunities to come together for the kids.”

The corporate challenge encourages businesses to pay for their employees’ registration and to commit to raising funds for Special Kids.

Another way of helping the cause is to participate in the race at the underwater treadmill facility, Beyond Aquatics. The underwater treadmills are in heated, four-foot-deep pools. The benefit of the underwater treadmill is that it takes 80 percent of the weight off the person walking. So, for those unable to walk in the regular race, this is a good way to show support.

To register for the race, or discover more information about impact fundraising, visit specialkidsrace.org.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 23

Reviews MOVIE

adopts a son, Dick Grayson (Michael Cera), who begs his way into a sidekick position as Robin. We also meet Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson), the new commissioner aiming to clean up Gotham by collaborating with Batman (an idea our loner hero scoffs at).

Most kids watching this film will see a simple adventure loaded with gags featuring a cool superhero. And that’s great in itself, but the real joy in the film comes from an older viewer’s point of view.

The film’s loaded with not only a near constant onslaught of Batman in-jokes, but also pop culture references to Jerry Maguire, The Matrix and Harry Potter, among many others.

Lego Batman is also an extremely self-

aware film in this regard. It pokes fun at the character’s past films, the mixed reception of Batman-cameo-featuring Suicide Squad and the numerous oddball enemies Batman’s faced off with, such as Condiment King and Crazy Quilt.

There’s loads of cameos (particularly the ones involving the Hanna Barbera-era Super Friends lineup made this reviewer grin extra big).

It also touches on the varying aspects of what makes the character tick, Whether it’s Bruce Wayne mourning the loss of his parents, he and the Joker’s (Zach Galifianakis) symbiotic rivalry or Alfred’s (Ralph Fiennes) adopted father role.

The latter comes in a mix of ways such as his devotion to helping Batman save the day, his insistence of Bruce and Dick bonding just as he

once did and, in a comedic way, Alfred installing a parental lock on the Batcomputer after Bruce misbehaves. Their relationship is prime example how this film works on multiple levels.

It’s able to dive into what makes the characters interesting without wasting too much time or at the expense of silliness.

The star-studded cast of comedic greats sell all the gags with ease and give each character a defined personality without straying too far from the comics’ blueprint. Arnett as the arrogant Batman and Cera as the silly, naive Robin have excellent chemistry, even as animated bricks. Galifianakis’ Joker is unique in its shift away from insanity into emotional genuineness and helps it stand apart from Mark Hamill’s revered animated take on the character.

Plus, there’s a load of notable actors in bit parts that are a joy to hear such as Channing Tatum as Superman, Conan O’Brien as The Riddler, Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face and Apple personal assistant Siri as the Batcomputer.

Overall, The Lego Batman Movie succeeds at exactly what it sets out to do: provide a hilarious animated feature with heart ala The Lego Movie, a welcome entry to the Dark Knight for young viewers and an entertaining comic book romp for adults.

— JOHN CONNOR COULSTON

Hidden Figures is an awesome movie about people overcoming a system designed to defeat them. It features some great performances all across the board, and its leads are badass.

Seriously, if you’ve been feeling down in today’s political climate, here is another great escape film. This film shamelessly plays on your heartstrings, but I never once minded. I think the main reason I didn’t mind was because this film never really seemed to dramatize its story. The most “dramatic” moment in the film did actu-

ally happen (John Glenn proudly talked about it later on in his life) and the movie does a good job to feel pretty intimate, despite the grandeur.

This film is anchored by a terrific performance from Taraji P. Henson. Another snub at this year’s Oscars, Henson bursts onto the scene in a blaze of glory as the lead here, the snarky, way-smarter-than-you’ll-ever-be Katherine G. Johnson. This character is beautifully written

by Allison Schroeder and Theodore Melfi, as is the rest of the supporting cast, which is almost as strong as Henson. Octavia Spencer is the big name here, and she is wonderful, but I was taken aback by Janelle Monáe. The pop singer has burst onto the acting scene this year with great performances in both Moonlight and Hidden Figures. Here she plays Mary Jackson, who is every bit as ambitious and snarky as Katherine.

Mahershala Ali makes another strong supporting appearance, and co-stars Kevin Costner and Kirsten Dunst (I almost missed her, she looks so different) are good, too. In fact, Dunst had a wonderful character arc and even has one of the most emotionally impactful moments at the end of the film. The only weak link here, surprisingly, is Jim Parsons, who may be too famous in

his most well-known role for his own good.

Glen Powell absolutely kills it as John Glenn.

This dude is pretty much a no-name right now, but you better watch out because he’ll be exploding onto the scene after this film.

This film also had a great soundtrack.

While the score is mostly invisible (which is a shame because it was composed by Hans Zimmer), the songs, mostly composed by the great Pharrell Williams, make up for it. They provide an extra layer of depth and make this a very fun and upbeat film to watch—hence, the reason why it’s the perfect escapism film to watch right now! The 1960-era set and costumes are pretty standard for a period film like this. Honestly, everything outside the acting, script and soundtrack are pretty invisible, but I think that’s how director Theodore Melfi wanted it. This film is all about Katherine G. Johnson, and everything else you see is around just to help bolster her character.

I don’t really have any complaints with Hidden Figures other than the fact that its motives are very obvious, but is that really a bad thing?

This is a great film, and definitely worthy of your time. — JOSEPH KATHMANN

THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE DIRECTED BY Chris McKay STARRING Will Arnett,

Michael Cera, Ralph Fiennes, Rosario Dawson, Zach Galifianakis RATED PG

History shows us that Batman just can’t be fun. From the laughably cheesy Joel Schumacher films in the late ’90s to the beloved-yetdated ’60s TV show, the idea of a Batman that isn’t brooding just hasn’t meshed well with modern audiences.

However, this kid-friendly love letter to all things Batman proves that there’s room for more than one Caped Crusader.

The Lego Batman Movie is a spin-off of the humongously successful Lego Movie with Will Arnett (Arrested Development, Bojack Horseman) reprising his role as the Dark Knight.

The film, directed by Chris McKay (Lego Movie, Robot Chicken), follows our titular vigilante as he faces off with the Joker, who’s recruited a team of villains only bound by the copyright agreements Warner Bros. couldn’t work out. Along the way, Batman inadvertently

HIDDEN FIGURES DIRECTED BY Theodore Melfi STARRING Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, Janelle Monáe, Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Glen Powell, Mahershala Ali RATED PG

A CLASSIC 24 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

OUTSTANDING

AVERAGE

BELOW AVERAGE

AVOID AT ALL COSTS

DEAD

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 25

54 Film Fest MTSU Film Guild tackles a timely tale.

BY JOHN CONNOR COULSTON IT’S AROUND 5 P.M ON FEB. 24, and young filmmakers are all gathered in MTSU’s John Bragg Media and Entertainment Building, buzzing with anticipation. Why are they excited to be meeting at school on a Friday evening? Well, they’re all waiting for the kick-off to the 54 Film Fest competition, which will begin promptly at 6 p.m.

The basic concept is simple: Make a short film in 54 hours. That includes writing, shooting, editing and finalizing, a process these groups typically stretch out over weeks, if not months. To make it an honest and intriguing challenge, teams don’t know what genre they will be assigned until the competition begins.

The groups are also be given a special prop they must utilize, an action to be included and one line of dialogue that must be in their script. These requirements limit the ability to prepare ahead of time and sets the stage for what will certainly be a weekend with long hours, sleepless nights and a looming deadline as a constant motivator.

Leading the meeting is Ben Jones, the city producer for the Murfreesboro competitors.

Aside from his day job as MTSU’s director of accounting services, Jones dedicates his time to organizing the Middle Tennessee division of competition; another division is also hosted in Knoxville.

“I wanted to see this film festival build the Murfreesboro arts community, which to me needs some passion and vitality to it,” Jones says. “There are people who do great things here, but I’d love to see an immersive community and for the ’Boro to have its own artistic flavor.”

The regional teams will all be judged against one another for accolades in directing, acting, best use of prop and other areas at an awards show and screening on March 18.

Competition aside, 54 Film Fest is all amount learning and challenging oneself at its core.

“54 gets you a chance to put yourself into a ‘war-like’ situation and have you make decisions,” Jones says. “With the 54 you get the live-action opportunity to create something artistic, something spontaneous, something life-altering, something you will never forget.”

Among the eight Murfreesboro teams competing (43 in all, regionally) is the premier filmmaking organization at MTSU, the MTSU Film Guild. Designed as an extracurricular production training ground for university students, the Guild aims to teach members everything they need to know about video 26 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

production.

The Guild is no stranger to the 54 Film Fest, competing year after year with such entries as 2015’s thrilling revenge tale Exhale and last year’s entry Time Well Spent, a story about a son spending one more day with his deceased father. “(The difficulties) are always what you don’t expect to be a process,” says MTSU junior Zach Carpenter. “Sometimes it’s editing, sometimes it’s on set with a hard scene to do or sometimes it’s writing. There’s no way to know what’s going to be the hardest . . . It’s a great learning experience for everyone involved.”

As we talk, it’s just before 7 p.m. on day one.

Writers are bunkered away scripting a timetravel tale, which must include a puzzle piece as a prop, the action of dancing and the line “That’s too much!” in its dialogue.

The production team members are standing by waiting for the script to be finished so they can plan shots, contact actors and prepare sets.

“This stuff normally takes us takes about three months,” says Jessica Rigsby, junior film production major.

With a script being worked over the next few hours, that means the production teams will be pulling an all-nighter to complete their tasks before the Saturday morning call time.

This is all a part of the weekend challenge, with the festival’s motto even being “Sleep is for the week.”

“Last year there was a time where we all just took an hour nap in my car. We just skipped dinner and slept,” says junior Erin Moore. “What’s more important: food or sleeping? That’s what it ends up being.”

At 4 p.m. on Saturday, the MTSU Film Guild is at its final location, the First Baptist Church in Hendersonville. They’ve spent all day a few miles away at Gallatin’s Amulet Farms shooting their film, which focuses on a time-traveling duo out to steal innovative ideas across history.

The team in the writers room completed the script around 2 a.m., and then the crew was off to work. Rigsby and Moore spent their first hours of the day building the time machine, a prominent element in the tale. It took a lot of lumber, paint and flashing lights, but the team constructed a device even Bill and Ted would admire.

“Art Department didn’t sleep at all last night,” Moore says, “We had to go straight into building sets and everything right after the script was done. We were even late to our call time just trying to get everything done.

But we still made a time machine, and we spray-painted it chrome, and it was a lot of fun and we had a long night learning how to use a table saw. It was great.”

The 54 Film Fest screening and awards ceremony will take place on March 18 at the Hollywood 27 Regal Theater located at 719 Thompson Lane, Nashville. For more information on the competition, visit 54filmfest. com. For more information on the MTSU Film Guild, visit mtsufg.com.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 27

Reviews MOVIE

LION DIRECTED BY Garth

Davis STARRING Sunny Pawar, Dev Patel, Nicole Kidman, Rooney Mara

and Nicole Kidman.

The story is about Saroo, and as it progresses he spends more time with his girlfriend (played by Rooney Mara) than he does with Kidman’s character. But in every single scene Kidman was in, she just stole the show. She made me cry more than anyone else has all year, and she did it just with her facial expressions. I think director Garth Davis and company realized they had something great on their hands as the shooting for the film went on, because early on when you see Kidman it was often in wide shots that included David Wenham.

As the film went on, though, those wide

shots turned into close-ups of just Kidman.

Toward the end of the film there’s a scene with Kidman and Dev Patel, (who plays Saroo as an adult) in which Kidman conveys so much emotion through her eyes alone . . . it was absolutely devastating.

In addition, this film has a trove of Bollywood stars, most notably Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is one of the A-listers of Bollywood.

There were a few problems with Lion that keep it from receiving a perfect score.

One was its pacing, particularly in the first half. There are a lot of things that happen to young Saroo, and while they are meant to serve a purpose, it does throw off the

pacing. No doubt, the opening sequences should be there, but the meat of this story is in the second half, and it takes too long to get there. Additionally, I wasn’t a huge fan of the score. It was nominated for an Oscar, so a lot of people must like it, but it bothered me. The main theme sounded exactly like “Light of the Seven” from Game of Thrones Season 6. Every time I heard the main theme all I could think of was Game of Thrones! I think this was totally accidental, and when the main theme wasn’t playing I certainly dug the unorthodox score, but come on! “Light of the Seven” is one of the coolest and eeriest uses of music in a TV/ film sequence in recent memory. You cannot sound even close to that opening piano sequence with your main theme for a film.

That, my friends, is a fail.

Still, Lion is an incredible work of cinema.

It’s beautifully shot and beautifully edited and has great set design. It’s a fantastic smash-up of Bollywood and Hollywood and well-deserving of its six Oscar nominations.

— JOSEPH KATHMANN

Get Out is writer/director Jordan Peele’s one and only directing credit. Best known for his collaborations with Keegan-Michael Key in the show Key & Peele and the action/comedy Keanu, in which the two play suburban African Americans posing as gangsters to steal back the titular kitten, Jordan Peele has carved a niche for himself as a hysterical, genre-loving voice whose comedy explores the all-too-human grey areas between black and white. Get Out is no exception, aside from the genre. A horror/thriller of its time,

Get Out is every bit as thrilling as Peele’s comedy is hilarious, and above all, an astounding debut.

As simple a pitch as “a horror Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” the bare-bones premise belies its depth of possibilities. When Chris, a photographer, is invited to meet his Caucasian girlfriend Rose’s parents for a weekend at their upstate estate, his apprehensions are echoed by his friend Rod and lovingly assuaged by Rose. When he meets Missy and Dean Armitage, they appear to be a welcoming, typical New England couple, Dean a neurosurgeon who likes to travel and Missy a psychoanalyst who specializes in hypnosis. After she hypnotizes Chris against his will (so he’ll stop smoking), Chris begins to notice odd occurrences around the house; the groundskeeper running at night and the housekeeper staring at herself blankly in the mirror, as well as the fact that they are both African American, a fact that, Dean assures Chris, he knows and hates how it looks.

Chris will soon realize that it more than “looks bad.”

The eminently likeable prick Bradley Whitford and the stony, steely-eyed Cath-

erine Keener are perfect as Rose’s parents.

His casual “my man’s” and “you know what I’m sayin’s” reek of forced effort. Allison Williams (Girls) is the perfect foil, the “rebellious” daughter who out-liberals and out-bohemians her parents by bringing home an African American boyfriend, but her penchant for fighting Chris’s battles for him, though misguided, comes from a place of love. Daniel Kaluuya (Sicario, Black Mirror) takes it all in stride, conveying a lot while saying a little. He plays a man trapped between cultures with a natural cool.

The only weak link, and it’s not even enough to subtract a sliver of a star, is Caleb Landry Jones as Rose’s brother, who twitchfiddles his way through every scene looking like a freaky, freckled Culkin. He’s annoying but fun to hate, which may very well be the point. In an interview, Jordan Peele said his primary goal was to entertain. With Get Out, he succeeded brilliantly. This movie is suspenseful without being suffocating, political without being preachy, funny without being forceful and, perhaps most substantially, fun without being fluffy.

— JAY SPIGHT

RATED PG-13

Lion is 2016’s Room—an emotionally devastating story that seems so unlikely you think there’s no possible way it’s true. Yet . . . it is. I’m still crying as I write these first few sentences because it’s just that much of an emotional train wreck. Well done, Weinstein Company.

The story of Lion is simply incredible.

Every moment of this film is gut wrenching, even the slower-paced moments. We spend pretty much the entire first half of the film with a young Saroo, played by newcomer Sunny Pawar. This segment could’ve sunk the entire film if it wasn’t as beautifully shot and acted as it was. Throughout the sequence Sunny Pawar has to convey emotions with just his face, and he does so marvelously. The audition for young Saroo must have been grueling, but they found their poster child with Sunny. After a brutal and emotional 45 minutes or so, young Saroo finally finds a home with John and Sue, played by David Wenham (of Lord of the Rings fame)

GET OUT DIRECTED BY

Jordan Peele STARRING

Daniel Kaluuya Allison Williams Catherine Keener RATED R 28 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

Awareness and LIVING ROOM CINEMA Contemplation column by NORBERT THIEMANN

facebook.com/livingroomcinema

Complex social subjects require complex thought and philosophical contemplation. These enlightening documentaries do a fantastic job in outlining the history and facts of their chosen subject, while presenting various philosophies to consider going forward. They are also riveting and entertaining.

13th (2016) is directed by Ava DuVernay. The film is named after America’s 13th Amendment, which abolishes slavery, with the exception of our prison population. It begins with the fact that 25 percent of the entire world’s prison population belongs to the United States.

Along with a thorough presentation, DuVernay interviews experts as varied as Newt Gingrich and Angela Davis. 13th has been nominated for Best Documentary in the upcoming Academy Awards.

Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (2016) is directed

by Wener Herzog. Herzog chronicles the beginning of the internet, along with its original key players. The film explores many technological advancements with a quizzical eye. In classic Herzog form, he focuses on philosophies and the impact on us humans.

Requiem for the American Dream (2015) is directed by Peter D. Hutchison, Kelly Nykes and Jared P. Scott. Noam Chomsky presents the historical structuring of our government, and the economic impact that results by its design. It is a fascinating look at how much democracy we are actually afforded, and provides contemplation for the future.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 29

 REVIEW

BY JOHN CONNOR COULSTON

A Series of Unfortunate Events NETFLIX HAS RECENTLY BEGAN TO adapt the best-selling children’s book series A Series of Unfortunate Events (written by author Daniel Handler under the penname of Lemony Snicket), in the form of a series dividing each book into two episodes. The first season was released on the streaming service on Jan. 13 (a Friday, of course) and brings the series’ first four books (The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill) to life.

For the uninitiated, the series tells the stories of the Baudelaire orphans, Violet (Malina Weissman), Klaus (Louis Hynes) and Sunny (Presley Smith).

The trio learn of their parents’ deaths in a fire that destroyed their home at the beginning of the story are are soon off to live with the first of many seemingly unknown relatives. Unfortunately, that relative is the wicked and wacky Count Olaf (Neil Patrick Harris), who turns into the main antagonist of the series.

As the title would allude, the Baudelaires have a rather rough time adjusting to life without their parents. After Olaf loses custody of the children due to a scheme to steal their inheritance, they are sent to new guardians, with Olaf always on their tails ready to use any disguise to infiltrate their lives. These schemes often don’t bode well for the guardians in his way, as they often end up dead just as things are looking up for the children.

While this may seem like a silly, repetitive premise for a series, there’s one thing that sets Unfortunate Events apart from any other show on TV or streaming platforms: the tone. The tone of the series (which is perfectly in line with the novels) is grim and storybook-esque.

Everything’s a bit gothic and feels more like a 30 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

play than a TV show. This is thanks to production designer Bo Welch (who also directs two episodes). Welch brings his fantastical visions to life just as he did on the Tim Burton classics Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns. It’s a visually unique look fit for a uniquely melancholy series.

Adding to the tone is the narration by Patrick Warburton, who tells the story as Snicket.

His signature vocals serve as the perfect guide into the desolate tale. Just as in the novels, Snicket will step into the story and advise readers to look away and do something else with their time, as the story is far too depressing for anyone to experience. It’s an odd storytelling device, but it’s an effective one.

While the visual presentation and narrative are the backbone of the show, the performances hold their own. Specifically, Harris’ Olaf is the driving force of the show. He had big shoes to fill, not only because Olaf himself plays various characters within the story, but also because he was replacing Jim Carrey, who portrayed the villain in the series’ 2004 film adaptation. While Carrey is a joy to watch, Harris feels more true to the character and less of a zany caricature. He’s simultaneously evil and whimsical, with just enough edge to be sinister. When it comes time for him to go into disguise, he sells it. Whether it’s as an elderly sea captain or as a female optometrist’s secretary, Harris’ inner showman comes out and really goes for it.

While Harris is a scene-stealer, the children are able to hold scenes right alongside their experienced adult counterparts.

While all the pieces of A Series of Unfortunate Events are strong, the mesh of oddball narrative and characters can be off-putting for the uninitiated. While the beginning can be bit challenging to get through, once the cavalcade of guest actors come into play, it’s much more enjoyable, and viewers with an eye for the unusual will eat it up, as well as the original fans of the book series.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 31

News

NAVIGATING THE SYSTEM SERIES BY BRYCE HARMON

PART 8

The Workhouse BESIDES 940, there is another jail in

Murfreesboro; the second one, overseen by Mayor Ernest Burgess’ office rather than the Rutherford County Sheriff ’s Office, facilitates a community-based rehabilitation model for some of Rutherford County’s inmates.

Inmates of The Rutherford County Correctional Work Center (RCCWC), also known as The Workhouse, located at 1720 S. Church St., have either turned themselves in within a month of being court-ordered by a county judge to do so, or have been transferred from 940 to serve their sentence after a classification staff within 940 reviews an inmate’s transfer request and finds a need for the inmate at RCCWC, according to newly appointed RCCWC superintendent Bill Cope.

Either way, the offender or inmate’s case must be considered non-violent by either 940’s classification staff or one of the county’s judges.

Being processed into the single-story Workhouse is much like at 940 (which was discussed in part 7), but instead of the naked squat-and-cough, fresh inmates remain clothed and are made to walk around an eight-foot-tall black pole that’s actually a mobile X-ray machine supplying a 360-degree scan of a person to show if contraband is hidden within their body, much like Transportation Security Administration (TSA) scanners do at an airport. The other difference in processing in at The Workhouse is an obligatory (instead of optional) shower during which the incoming inmate is sprayed with a delousing agent by one of the correctional facility guards before given their gray jail clothes and orange Crocs replicas as well as a white mesh laundry bag filled with the same hygiene products and writing essentials as at 940. Mattresses are distributed in the pods.

There are no cells in The Workhouse pods, but the pods are about the same gymnasium size with two stories within them. The first floor is reserved for dining tables where inmates eat and watch television when permitted, two open bathroom areas at the far end of the first level made up of four curtained shower stalls and four waist-high cinderblock toilet stalls each, and a separate recreation room where inmates can get books, play cards and work out on a couple of pieces of gym equipment. There are a couple of flights of metal-grate stairs, one at each end of the room, that lead to a cemented loft overhanging half of the first floor. An array of about 32 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

25 to 30 two-high, gray metal tray bunk beds resembling those in a camp cabin or a barracks, as well as five or six single metal tray beds along the railing, is all that is up there.

There are frosted windows on the ceilings of the pods to allow in daylight.

Bill Cope, the newly appointed superintendent of RCCWC, invited me into his office a couple of weeks after he took over for Bernard Salandy (who was reassigned to jail administrator at the Sheriff ’s Department at 940 at the end of January 2017) to further understand the inner workings of The Workhouse outside of my own experience as an inmate there. One of the focal points of the conversation was to understand both the difference between a Sheriff-run jail and a Mayor-run jail, as well as how they work together and separately during the last three years since my incarceration at 940, but to do so at this particular time in Rutherford

Cope, $20 of the $63 is paid for by the inmate at both RCCWC and 940, the total of which is added up ($20 per day of incarceration) when the inmate is processing out of either facility and sent to the county clerk’s office at the judicial building to be added to the inmate’s court costs. For the remainder of the $63: to preface, committing a felony offense is considered a major offense whose consequences are overseen by the state of Tennessee, while a misdemeanor offense is considered a minor offense whose consequences are overseen by the county. Our two jails house inmates convicted of both felonies and misdemeanors, but only for up to 11 months and 29 days, just under the one-year mark, as the one-year-and-longer felony sentences are served in state penitentiaries rather than county jails.

According to Cope, The Tennessee Department of Corrections “pays a rate for each state inmate” which helps fund only felons housed at 940 and RCCWC while misdemeanor cases are left to be funded by Rutherford County, whose money is kept in the general fund. Remember, this breakdown of $63 is for one day only.

“We partner with about five companies in Murfreesboro [who employ inmates in the sanctions program], transport them there, make sure they get in, leave them for eight hours, and pick them up.”

— WORKHOUSE SUPERINTENDENT BILL COPE County history involves a delicate touch in the face of all that has happened recently in the jail’s administrative climates.

“Historically, [The Workhouse] has always been a separate entity,” said Superintendent Cope, explaining the history of the Rutherford County Workhouse that started in the late 19th century as a debtor’s prison out on County Farm Road and later moving to its current location on the 1700 block of South Church Street, all the while evolving into what it is today.

However, the two jailing facilities are connected within the criminal justice process.

When someone is arrested in Rutherford County, that person is taken to 940, where it is up to a judge or a “classification staff ” to permit them incarceration at RCCWC, according to Cope.

The two correctional facilities are also financed by the county, the state of Tennessee and by the inmates themselves, but not in similar fashion.

According to County Commission records from October 2016, it costs Rutherford County $63 a day to house one inmate. From my records, and according to Superintendent

At the time of our meeting on Feb. 17, 2017, there were around 140 inmates serving sentences at The Workhouse, with a “low percentage of state [felony] cases here [who are] serving ‘county’ time with a state sentence on the back. [That] is why they’d be here,” explained Cope. The ten or so inmates of the 140 currently housed was an example of the low percentage mentioned. The Workhouse’s maximum capacity is 250 inmates. 940 houses all other felony inmates outside of the small percentage housed at RCCWC. While an inmate at 940 in March of 2014, a few inmates of the pod in which I was housed discussed one method for becoming an inmate at The Workhouse, but ended their conversation with, “Good luck with that, though,” emphasizing the difficulty of being transferred during the climate of 940 at that time.

While an inmate at The Workhouse in August of 2016, I spoke with an inmate who was able to successfully transfer from 940, but only during the final week or two of his sentence before it was considered completed and he was to be released.

“I can’t comment on what Arnold was

doing, but it’s a time for healing and moving on,” said Superintendent Cope.

And healing and moving on is exactly what RCCWC offers its inmates, as Cope stated that he and former Superintendent Bernard Salandy worked closely together over the last decade to develop a similar view on how to operate RCCWC, which—according to RCCWC’s goal and mission statements on rutherfordcountytn.gov—provides “inmates with solid work ethics and programs with the objective of releasing them back into our communities with . . . the skills necessary to lead a law-abiding, productive life . . . without sacrificing public safety . . . [and with] a clear direction of their future . . . by providing structured educational, vocational substance abuse and work release opportunities.”

How an inmate accomplishes this once they are processed into the Workhouse is influenced by the type of case they are involved in, the length of their stay, what they do for a living outside of incarceration, what’s available or “needed” of them at the Workhouse, and even an application process submitted to the RCCWC review board made up of volunteer citizens of Rutherford County if the skill set and sentence-length of the inmate fits the board’s needs.

Each pod seems to exist for a reason as Cope’s view that jail “shouldn’t be a warehouse for human beings, [but to] educate them for when they get out.”

When an inmate arrives, they are housed in a transitional pod for the first two weeks while they are being classified for work detail and then moved into one of several other pods, which are reserved for on-compound labor, work-release labor, a disciplinary pod for inmates who act up, and a “very structured therapeutic community,” where educational, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and faith-based programs take place at the opposite end of the RCCWC compound from the classification, work, and disciplinary pods, according to Superintendent Cope.

Everything from finance to Yoga classes goes on at that end of RCCWC, and there are graduations for those completing educational feats there, too.

One pod is for inmates helping to maintain the prestigious American Correctional Association-accredited RCCWC compound. According to Cope, every jail in the state is under the watch of the Tennessee Correctional Institute, the state correctional facility organization that decertified 940 in December of 2016.

Only five percent of the jails in Tennessee are ACA accredited, which is a federal organization that holds a higher standard of operation to jails across the country. Cope stated there CONTINUED ON PAGE 37

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 33

AROUND TOWN ’BORO BUSINESS BUZZ

NOTHING BUNDT CAKES,

Epps Mills Market, The Local, Saint Thomas Health— New Salem, Nothing Bundt Cakes

BY BRACKEN MAYO JAMIE JENNINGS, the owner/operator of BROAD STREET TOBACCO AND BEVERAGE in Murfreesboro, has opened another store off of Exit 89 near Outpost Armory. Epps Mill Market (6177B Epps Mill Rd., Christiana) sits in the Subway strip mall next to Love’s Travel Stop, and offers a wide variety of tobacco products and domestic and craft beer. A sushi and Thai restaurant has plans to open soon in the suite right beside Epps Mill Market.

The owners of The Boulevard Bar and Grille have unveiled plans for a new restaurant, called THE LOCAL, on Memorial Boulevard in north Murfreesboro, across the road from Sir Pizza. The new Brookhaven development will host other commercial tenants once complete.

Saint Thomas Medical Partners has opened its SAINT THOMAS HEALTH—NEW SALEM facility, on New Salem Highway near St. Andrews Drive. The office offers primary care services, walk-in express care, outpatient rehabilitation, radiology imaging and lab services. Saint Thomas also operates the 286bed hospital on Medical Center Parkway in Murfreesboro.

a bakery specializing in various sizes and flavors of bundt cakes, has announced plans to open at Fountains at Gateway facing Medical Center Parkway.

Jeff and Lynne Warne, who also own Nothing Bundt Cakes franchises in Nashville and Franklin, will soon bring yellow and chocolate marble, carrot and pineapple, red velvet with chocolate chip and other cake varieties to Murfreesboro. The shop can top a miniature or full-sized bundt with its signature frosting made with cream cheese and butter, or with a lighter sweet drizzle frosting.

Nothing Bundt Cakes operates or has franchised nearly 200 bakeries across the U.S. For more information, visit nothingbundtcakes.com.

This development, adjacent to the Embassy Suites, promotes granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, pendant lighting, ceramic tile bath floors, a resort style pool and a rooftop deck overlooking the restaurants and retail of The Avenue.

TDK has built thousands of apartment units, and various other properties throughout Tennessee, Texas and elsewhere, including the local 3343 Memorial, St. Andrews Apartments, Woods at Greenland, Raiders Crossing and Creekside at Three Rivers properties.

Swanson is expanding its building on Park Avenue near Middle Tennessee Boulevard, the former home of the MidTN Expo Center, currently occupied by AT&T. Travelers on

CHICK-FIL-A will soon open its second

Murfreesboro location (its third, if counting the one on the MTSU campus) in a freestanding building on Memorial Boulevard across from the new Sprouts.

TDK Construction has begun leasing units at its VINTAGE AT BLACKMAN apartment project, expected for completion this spring.

“It’s already over 50 percent leased,” Ross Bradley, vice president of TDK, said in mid-February.

“We’re averaging 6 to 8 leases a week there.”

Additionally, TDK is constructing VINTAGE AT THE AVENUE, two buildings housing a total of 203 luxury apartment units with an approximate average monthly rental rate in the $1,300 neighborhood.

34 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

Church Street can see the leveling work being done near the Church Street/Middle Tennessee Boulevard intersection.

Swanson doesn’t yet have a tenant for the new portion of the building, according to Swanson COO Debby Kirk, but will be looking to lease it upon completion of construction.

FOUNTAINS AT GATEWAY will include

400,000 square feet of office space, 70,000 square feet of retail, a 100-unit apartment community and a mid-size hotel.

Nothing Bundt Cakes joins BURGER REPUBLIC, TOM+CHEE, FUZZY’S TACO SHOP and BOARD & BRUSH in leasing retail space at Fountains at Gateway.

For more information about the property, visit fountainsatgateway.com.

NOBLE CIDER products will soon be on

shelves in Murfreesboro stores, thanks to a recent deal between the North Carolina-based cider company and Murfreesboro-based Tennessee Craft Distributors.

Noble’s four flagship cider varieties—The Standard Bearer (a crisp, dry hard cider), The Village Tart (with cherries), The Spice Merchant (with chai tea, cloves and other spices) and The Golden Arrow (with ginger)—will be available in 12-ounce-bottle four packs in the Middle Tennessee market.

In 2016, Noble produced over 50,000 gallons of cider from fresh-pressed apples in more than 20 different taste profiles, available in kegs, growlers, 500 ml bottles and in their taproom.

“When we began, our plan was to meet local Asheville consumer demand at the tap, alongside the area’s beloved craft beer,” according to Noble co-owner Trevor Baker.

“Now that cider continues to capture more of the beverage market share in retail, moving to 12-ounce bottles make sense for our growth.”

Some beverage experts predict a 15 percent growth for ciders over the next five years.

For more information, visit noblecider.com.

Still, not much dirt has been moved at the property on South Church Street near Joe B. Jackson Parkway that ALDI will anchor.

VINTAGE AT THE AVENUE

Baker Storey McDonald Properties continues to market numerous outparcels in the area between Camino Real and Walmart at the entrance to SAVANNAH RIDGE.

Manage Your Credit THE MONEY PULSE

BY BERNARD JAMES

L SIMS COMMERCIAL REALTORS AND AUCTIONEERS will sell more than 400

pieces of antiques and fine furnishings from the estate of Mrs. Virginia Elam Allman Waite, a prominent longtime resident of both Murfreesboro and Nashville. The collection includes some 150 pieces of antique European and American furniture, more than 150 examples of fine porcelain vases, urns and figurines, fine silver and more.

All items will sell to the highest bidders regardless of price at absolute online auction. Place bids at larrysims.com.

Bidding is open through March 16 with public showings of all the property scheduled for Saturday, March 11, and Wednesday, March 15, where they are currently stored at a home on 2866 N. Thompson Lane, Murfreesboro.

Highlights of the auction catalog include: • Victorian Italian White Marble Fireplace and Mantel with Ornate Carved Detail • French Curio Cabinet with Inlay and Brass Fittings from the Late 1700s to Early 1800s • Porcelain and Ceramic Pieces from highly sought after makers: Wedgwood, Sevres, Staffordshire and more • An antique JW Meeks sofa Mrs. Waite, or “Peggy” as she was commonly known to her friends, began collecting antiques at an early age travelling to local auctions with her parents throughout Rutherford and Davidson Counties. She met and married Warren Lee Waite, a prominent local businessman, at one part owner of Tom’s Snacks Company. The young couple moved from Murfreesboro to the Green Hills area of Nashville where they became active members of Hillsboro Church of Christ. Mrs. Waite and her husband both enjoyed a passion for antiques, and so they spent much time together over the years studying and collecting fine antiques and art on their travels throughout the United States and Europe. Locally, much of the couple’s collection was sourced from C.B. Arnette’s gallery in Murfreesboro, Temptation Gallery in Nashville and many other well-known antiques dealers throughout Middle Tennessee.

Although the auction catalog is substantial, the items represent only a portion of Mrs. Waite’s collection as the bulk of the items she owned were generously given to friends and family by bequest at her death in 2000. To view more on the many items, visit larrysims.com.

ast month, in the debut of Money Pulse, we talked about budgeting. I really appreciate the great feedback I received from the article. Our goal is to give you some financial information that can put you on a path to reach your personal financial goals.

Let’s start with a challenge: the tax refund challenge. When you receive your refund, save at least half of the amount you receive. Yes, 50 percent. That is not the challenge. The challenge is to have that money in savings next year when you get your refund. You pay bills 11 months out of the year without that small windfall, so just keep going on business as usual—unless you rely on the full amount for the Great American Christmas Payoff. I think most of us know what this is, but here’s a brief rundown of the process: • Know the exact amount of available money on every credit card you own, or strategically visit all of the short-term loan companies that still have you on file from the previous year.

• Make a list of names of individuals to receive gifts. Go to the mall and spend the exact amount to max out each card, but not enough to be embarrassed by a card being declined.

• Walk out with no worries because you will pay it off with . . . your tax refund.

Unfortunately, this is a very common practice in way too many households. We have forgotten one of the most basic principles of using credit: only charge what you can afford.

So, we are going to look at some basic tips to help better manage credit. Knowing what credit bureaus are looking at each time they adjust your scores is valuable information.

The things that make up our credit score and how they affect our score.

35% – Payment history: PAY ON TIME. According to equifax.com, one 30-day-late payment could cause as much as a 90–110 point drop in your scores. In 2015, the average national credit score for a consumer with no late automobile payment is 703; for those with at least one late payment, the average is 605.

30% – Amounts owed: KEEP BALANCES DOWN. So, the Great American Christmas Payoff may not be the best strategy. Once your credit card balance goes over 30 percent of the available balance your score can decline. When you purchase a new car your scores may drop a little until you begin to show some payment history and lower the balance. Many believe this is because of the inquiry, but according to myfico. com one inquiry should have minimal impact on your score. However, the amount owed on the installment loan once it is reported is 100%.

This is also one of the reasons you don’t close unused credit cards. For example: You have two credit cards, Card 1 and Card 2, with a $500 available balance on each card. You have $200 charged on each card. You are using 40 percent of your available balance. You decide to stop depending on credit so much so you are only going to use one card from now on. You transfer the balance from Card 2 to Card 1 and then close Card 2. Big problem! Now you are using 80 percent of your available balance and your score is going to suffer because of it.

EXTRA TIP: Never close a credit card or line of credit with a balance still remaining! This is a common mistake, but it has the same effect as the example above, the balance will continue to count against you without the benefit of the available credit limit. I don’t care how much the lady at the 800 number upset you, don’t do it.

15% – Length of credit history: DO NOT CLOSE YOUR OLDEST CREDIT CARD. A percent of your credit score is based on how long you have had credit and how often you use it. Accounts go dormant after six months of inactivity, meaning they do not report in your scores.

10% – New credit: HAVE A CREDIT CARD OR TWO AND USE THEM. Opening a new account can be a good thing. Just make sure you don’t open a lot of accounts in a short period of time. The same goes for credit inquiries. One or two times over a couple of months is not going to crush your score. Ten probably will.

10% – Mix of credit: USE ALL FORMS OF CREDIT. A mix of credit cards, installment and mortgage loans with a good payment history will show very favorably on your credit score.

SOME SIMPLE TIPS FOR CREDIT MANAGEMENT: • Make sure credit you apply for will report to all of the three major credit bureaus. Experian, Equifax and Transunion.

• Protect your credit. Don’t run from collectors or lenders. Believe it or not, lenders want to work with you to make your payments. If you are in a tough situation, answer the phone and talk to them or pick up the phone and call them first. This can avoid credit headaches later.

• Don’t get hung up on minor things like inquiries, focus on paying bills on time and not being overextended.

Credit can be fixed! Your credit score is a scorecard of your risk at this particular moment in time. Effort, time, determination and maybe a little money, and your score can rise as high as you are willing to take it.

Bernard James, a Community Reinvestment Loan Officer with Guaranty Trust Company in Murfreesboro, aims to help area families and individuals achieve the financial goals that they have set. Contact him at (615) 631-2877 or bernard.james@guarantytrust.com.

NMLS #1009886 BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 35

Opinion Courts Continue to Sort Out Fallout From Hobgood Arrests After a Third Lawsuit Has Been Filed The

STOCKARD REPORT

BY SAM STOCKARD sstockard44@gmail.com

MURFREESBORO POLICE CHIEF Karl Durr ran smack-dab into the rough reality of city police policy when he took the job in April 2016. Nearly a year later, he’s still got big problems.

Sure, he tried to stem the bleeding from an incident at Hobgood Elementary School where police arrested children and handcuffed two of them for their alleged role in a neighborhood fight. Durr promised an immediate investigation, an outside probe and action, if warranted, against the officers involved.

Durr did all that, DURR setting new policies after an internal investigation found serious problems with the arrests of several elementary-age children and having Metro Nashville Police look into the matter.

Nashville’s investigation turned up nothing significantly different than the internal probe did, but it sure prolonged the misery.

Nine months later, though, the chief handed out nothing but a few measly suspensions and written reprimands.

Officer Chrystal TEMPLETON Templeton, the chief perpetrator of this idiocy, was suspended for three days and placed on six months’ probation for unsatisfactory job performance and incompetence while two other officers netted one-day suspensions. One of those was School Officer Mark Todd, who took a sick day so he wouldn’t have to be at Hobgood to witness this miscarriage of justice. Three others were slapped on the wrist.

Todd should have done something to stop Templeton from making what appear to be false arrests and ruining these children’s lives. But, in his defense, the thought of those kids being rounded up like criminals

36 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

probably made him sick to his stomach.

He wanted to be anywhere but at Hobgood.

Rather than being thankful to keep her job with Murfreesboro Police in light of the problems caused with this ill-advised and faulty arrest, Templeton disagreed with the discipline and requested a hearing before the chief, according to records.

That takes a lot of gall, considering she upset an entire community, destroyed some kids’ perception of police and the criminal justice system and will likely cost the city of Murfreesboro and its taxpayers several hundred thousand dollars, if not close to a million.

Murfreesboro officials defended Durr and the investigation process even though it took months to figure out what police knew within a matter of days: that they screwed up.

They won’t say anything about the discipline meted out—or the lack thereof—because parents are suing the pants off of them and rightfully so.

Fortunately, District Attorney Jennings Jones stepped in and showed some common sense when he dropped the charges against the children not long after they were charged with being “criminally responsible for the actions of another.”

Unfortunately, his assistant DA at the Juvenile Court level probably didn’t do enough to stop the mess before it got started.

The bungled situation started with cellphone video a child shot in which several children encouraged one or two smaller kids to take punches at a bigger kid one day after school in the spring of 2016. The video is disconcerting, no doubt, but were their actions criminal? Hardly.

Egging on violence is nothing new on playgrounds, in yards or on the streets, and it isn’t confined to predominantly black neighborhoods, either, as some people might try to lead us to believe in this case.

But that misconception aside, since when did police start serving justice based on

some foggy video and the compilation of a list of names from talking to children who might have been in the vicinity, might have been heard on the tape (but we’re not sure), or might be related by birth to kids who might have been nearby?

The answer for Murfreesboro is: Probably quite some time ago.

TELLTALE SIGNS IGNORED

The third lawsuit filed in the case paints a clear picture of the absurdity that took place in the days leading up to the children’s arrests.

Templeton went to the home of one family and asked the children there who was involved. They gave her some names, and she left, never giving them any indication they might be arrested, according to the lawsuit.

Guess what, though: all three children wound up being charged, even though, according to the federal court filing, one was at a basketball banquet at CiCi’s Pizza when the incident took place and one was at home coping with a diabetic condition.

Another one is believed to be the child in the background on the video screaming for the children to stop hitting the older child.

To be sure, some of the kids involved in the neighborhood fight did some bad things and were charged in a more heinous incident. But it is unrelated and has nothing to do with these three children and several others being wrongfully arrested, one of them handcuffed in front of children and placed in a police car at Hobgood that day.

Making matters even worse, police officers, school officials and parents tried to stop this mess, but Templeton persisted and then didn’t have the gumption to show up at Hobgood to take part in the affair. If

“Not only does this type of stuff violate the civil rights of children, it displays a mindset that goes back to Jim Crow days.

Let’s throw all the black kids in jail, so they’ll learn a lesson.”

she started it, then she should have seen it through to the bitter end.

In addition, the matter was reported up the chain of command to Maj. Clyde Adkison and to other supervisors. But none of them did anything to derail it. Adkison was placed on leave immediately after the arrests took place for failing to manage the situation, but he wound up receiving nothing but a written reprimand.

TAKING IT FURTHER

Besides botching this incident, Murfreesboro Police have been allowing and encouraging officers to arrest minor children even when the offense didn’t rise to criteria allowed by state law, according to the lawsuit. Instead of issuing misdemeanor citations, they cart kids off to juvenile jail as if they had a warrant out for their arrest and then the detention center staff holds them until deciding whether they’re a threat to themselves or the community, according to the filing.

Attorneys contend this is a violation of state law, yet Murfreesboro and Rutherford County were aware these policies violated state statutes but continued to let things escalate, the lawsuit says. Maybe they figured there was no sense in upsetting the apple cart?

Murfreesboro Police may have changed its policies by now, but the fact it reached this point should embarrass everyone who ever called Murfreesboro home. Everyone who ever served in the administration of Murfreesboro Police Department should lose their retirement package because of this.

Not only does this type of stuff violate the civil rights of children, it displays a mindset that goes back to Jim Crow days. Let’s throw all the black kids in jail, so they’ll learn a lesson. Then they’ll know how to handle themselves in detention once they turn 18.

No wonder we have 800 people in the county jail while we’re trying to crawl out from under yet another federal lawsuit over the county’s former probation service company.

Good Lord, God almighty, help us see the error of our ways.

Sam Stockard can be reached at sstockard44@gmail.com

Continued from page 32

could be a bug in a light fixture and the ACA would notice.

Pods exist to specifically house off-site work detail, such as the Community Service Work Crew, which goes out into the Murfreesboro, Smyrna and La Vergne areas every day to pick up trash along the roadsides and provide maintenance work for municipal buildings. There is also housing for inmates involved in the Sanctions program that have special skills and qualifications to be reviewed by the RCCWC’s volunteer committee of citizens for release into more fine-tuned and specific jobs around town.

“We partner with about five companies in Murfreesboro [who employ inmates in the sanctions program], transport them there, make sure they get in, leave them for eight hours, and pick them up. [The inmates] wear ankle monitors with GPS [tracking] on them and we can tell if they step foot out of the door,” explained Cope.

The disciplinary pod exists for those who don’t conform to the goals and mission of RCCWC. While I was there, there was a fight between two inmates after a series of back-and-forth pranks went too far for them to handle and ended up with one of them giving the other a black eye.

Another time an inmate cracked a joke at the expense of one of the guards while lining up to go outside on a sunny day. That stuff happens there. Inmates are accessible to one another, joking around as best they can while in a pod all day, and even the staff gets in on that from time to time as everyone tries to keep good morale, because the Workhouse “is run in the style called ‘Direct Supervision’ [where there is a much greater amount of ] staff/ offender interaction. You get to know these guys not out of fear, but professionalism,” said Cope.

“You get some knuckleheads occasionally,” he added.

I asked, “So, you do give tours?” “[To] anyone who wants to see the inside of the jail and see what a good one looks like. I want to show off the best jail in Tennessee,” Cope responded.

TO BE CONTINUED . . .

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 37

Opinion Live Exceptionally...Well!

BY JENNIFER DURAND

Put it on Pause H

ave you ever just wanted to hit the pause button on the control panel of your life? Perhaps the rewind or slow-motion option? Or fast-forward to get to the good stuff ? Lots of things might make you feel this way. A hectic, overactive or un-balanced lifestyle can contribute to making your life feel like it’s a whirlwind. What if channeling your thoughts or actions was as simple as hitting the pause button? Whatever is happening instantly STOPS! Everything is standing still, motionless. What do you do now? Look around you, look inside. What needs to shift? What is the highest priority? This is the moment of truth—in what direction will you move? What do you need most? Rest? Clarity? Change? Less?

How would you feel if you didn’t have these needy thoughts? Freer? Lighter, more carefree? Happier?

Guess what? The power is in the present moment, of thought. The power of choice. You can access this anytime you need or want to.

How do you do this, you ask? Whether you need to be a good listener or need to act on a situation, remember to “put it on pause” first. Breathe, assess the situation, think, process, then act.

Notice I didn’t say react.

“There is more to life than increasing it’s speed.”

— Gandi “Picture an old-fashioned, nondigital clock in front of you. Take your finger and stop the clock’s second hand. While time is literally stopped for you, breathe in a sense of calm. Feel it flow gently over your shoulders and neck. With each breath you take, feel the rest of your body relaxing. When you are ready, let go of the the clock’s second hand.” — from Meditation Express.

Be present, alert and aware that you do have control over your time.

Have a notepad handy to write down the first things that come to mind. Trust your instincts, then follow through to experience your highest sense of what needs to shift in your life to make the change.

Then be brave and do it!

Putting your verbal comments or opinion on pause is also beneficial when conversation starts to heat up. In order to prevent having an argument or intensifying one, it is wise to slow it down or walk 38 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

away to gather your thoughts or let some of them go altogether. Arguments often occur due to one’s need to be right. This would be a good time to check in with yourself and see what the underlying fear is in needing to be right. Once you identify that, you can redirect the conversation to gain a healthier outcome.

Say what you mean. Don’t beat around the bush, however tempting. It’s simpler, more honest and avoids confusion. When you truly believe something, say it clearly and then stand by it.

Sometimes hitting the mental fast-forward button is a good practice to see where it is you are wanting to go.

Then you can ask yourself if what you are doing in the present moment is leading you in the direction of that desired outcome. If it is not, then you can change the course. It’s okay and good to be patient.

We live with constant change and daily demands for quick decisions and automatic responses. Slow down. Give yourself time to consider and sort through complicated issues. Wait for responses.

Patience calms our lives and offers options. Don’t rush it.

If you seek more balance in the busyness of your day, sit quietly and take several deep, intentional breaths.

Make a mental (or physical) checklist for yourself by asking what is vital to keeping you in balance. Write down whatever comes to mind.

Starting this at the beginning of your day is encouraged so you can incorporate and utilize as many of the suggestions that come to mind.

“Genius is merely a greater aptitude for patience.”

— Comte de Buffon The answers that guide and shape you are always within you. Listen to your internal wisdom. Honor it with obedience and watch the outcome!

Jennifer Durand is the owner and operator of The Nurture Nook Day Spa & Gift Shoppe; she is a certified QiGong and Breathe Empowerment instructor, a skin care and makeup specialist and is licensed in massage therapy, body work and somatic integration. Let her help you find your personal “ahh . . .” factor by visiting nurturenook. com by calling (615) 896-7110.

All Undocumented Immigrants With Criminal Records Need to Go

R

eality aside, whether or not something is actually happening in the minds of the public depends, in large part, on the media coverage. That may sound strange but it’s true. For example, ice has been melting and reforming in the Arctic for millions of years.

It wasn’t until 1979, when satellite technology advanced to a point that we could see it, that it became big news. That news coverage changed the perception, but it did not change the reality.

The same can be said for a different kind of ice, the recent ICE raids. The media are in hysterics over Trump’s 680 criminal illegal alien arrests in one week in February. However, Obama averaged 1,250 arrests per week in his last year in office, according to Syracuse University’s VIEWS OF A Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). An average of 1,250 arrests and the COLUMN BY media hardly noticed.

PHIL VALENTINE philvalentine.com And yes, I said criminal illegal aliens. It’s already a misdemeanor to break into this country the first time. The second and subsequent times are felonies. Those people targeted by ICE are illegals with criminal records for crimes other than merely coming here illegally.

The sad reality is we’re only arresting a fraction of those people who need to be kicked out of the country.

According to the current acting ICE director, there are 950,062 illegal aliens in the country with active deportation orders. These people have been convicted of crimes in the United States and ordered to self-deport. The Trump raids constitute just .07 percent of those with deportation orders. ICE currently has in custody 11,006 criminal illegals. The vast majority of those were obviously arrested under Obama.

Still, that’s only about 1 percent of those with active deportation orders.

It gets worse. There are about 3 million criminal illegal aliens just walking around our country. The ones we have in custody make up only .37 percent of those who should be in custody. If there are 20 million illegals in the country then about 15 percent of them are bad actors. That’s a pretty alarming rate, and that’s just the ones we know have criminal records. Countless crimes by illegal aliens go uncounted because we have no idea who they are.

If you knew that 15 percent of any group was statistically criminal would you feel good about letting them on an airplane without going through security? Then why on earth are we letting people come unvetted to this country?

The Washington Examiner cites immigration experts as saying the reason most of these criminal illegal aliens aren’t in custody is because of sanctuary cities. So many of these people are jailed in sanctuary cities and then set free. Many of the ICE raids would be unnecessary if cities simply did their jobs and held criminals until ICE agents arrived. And we only need look to the Kate Steinle case in San Francisco to see what can happen when they don’t.

I hear all sorts of excuses for illegal aliens. It takes too long to get here, or it cost too much to come here. The figure that’s now taken hold in the pro-illegal movement is $7,000 for a green card. It’s actually $1,000 for a green card. If your home loan takes too long or the fees are too much, does that mean you rob the bank?

It’s time we stopped making excuses for illegal immigration. Two-thirds of the people coming up from Mexico come legally. Two-thirds come the right way! There is no excuse for coming any other way.

So, what do you call 680 criminal illegals arrested in one week? A good start.

CONSERVATIVE

“And yes, I said criminal illegal aliens.

It’s already a misdemeanor to break into this country the first time. The second and subsequent times are felonies. Those people targeted by ICE are illegals with criminal records for crimes other than merely coming here illegally.”

Phil Valentine is an author and nationally syndicated radio talk show host with Westwood One. For more of his commentary and articles, visit philvalentine.com.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 39

Sports

BLUE RAIDER SPORTS BY GREG CRITTENDEN

BLUE RAIDERS CLINCH REGULAR SEASON C-USA TITLE But need tourney win to qualify for the Big Dance.

WILLIAMS

T

he Blue Raiders got off to a hot start in conference play in January, but February is the month tournament résumés are built.

MT started off the month making a Texas road trip, with the first stop being in San Antonio to take on the UTSA Roadrunners.

The game started a bit slow and sloppy, as each team struggled through lengthy scoring droughts. However, Giddy Potts did surpass the 1,000-point milestone, becoming just the 33rd player in Blue Raider basketball history to score as many in a career.

The Blue Raiders went into halftime trailing 25–23, but the second half would be a much different story. Middle scored 46 points in the second half, while holding UTSA to only 34, clinching a 69–59 victory. Potts led all scorers with 22 in only 23 minutes of playing time, while JaCorey Williams produced a doubledouble with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

The win in San Antonio stretched MTSU’s win streak to 10, but they ran into a wall on their trip to the border against Texas-El Paso.

The Blue Raiders got off to a strong start as they jumped out to a 27–16 lead at the half.

However, the Miners caught fire in the second half. UTEP shot 63 percent in the second half as they outscored Middle 41–27.

Only two Blue Raiders, Williams and Brandon Walters, scored in double figures in the game. Walters scored 10 and Williams notched another double-double with 24 and 10 rebounds. Reggie Upshaw went scoreless before fouling out.

Upshaw and company looked to bounce back when they returned home to face Old Dominion, and bounce back they did.

The game marked Upshaw’s 129th game appearance, a new school record. Befittingly, Upshaw led the way for the Blue Raiders with 18 points. Middle held ODU to just 27 percent shooting in the first half as it was their defensive effort that claimed the 64–51 victory.

In their next contest against Charlotte, MT got off to a slow start as they fell behind 12–4 early. However, the Blue Raiders turned

40 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

POTTS

things around quickly and closed the first half with a comfortable 33–24 lead. JaCorey Williams scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half to help close out the 70–55 victory. Williams also added 10 rebounds to record yet another double-double.

Middle then went on a road trip, starting with bitter rival WKU. Upshaw recorded his 106th career start against the Hilltoppers, setting a new Blue Raider basketball record. In a game that was never in doubt, Upshaw posted a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds. Williams also posted another double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.

In a game that had stamps of efficiency all over it, none stood out as much as the four turnovers MT committed. The mark tied the school record low for turnovers set earlier this season against Toledo. The Blue Raiders rolled the Hilltoppers 78–52.

Middle next traveled to Huntington, W.V., to take on the high-powered Marshall offense.

The Blue Raiders got off to a strong start, outscoring Marshall 47–26 in the first half.

But Marshall was firing on all cylinders in the second half, scoring 60 points in the second half alone. However, the second-half production was too little too late. MT came away with their fourth straight win and their 14th in 15 games, but the bigger story was Kermit Davis.

This victory marked his 300th career win.

The Blue Raiders wrapped up the month with a trip to Birmingham to take on UAB with a shot at claiming the Conference USA regular season title. The Blazers were chosen to win the title themselves in the preseason, so it was no surprise that this one came down to the wire.

Middle held a slim three-point lead at the half, but the second half would prove to be even more closely contested. After six lead changes, the Blue Raiders had one last possession late to take the lead with the score tied at 64. As the shot clock ticked down to its final seconds, Tyrik Dixon began to drive to the lane, drew the defense in, and then pivoted to pass to Birmingham native JaCorey Williams who hit the go-ahead 15-footer. With four seconds remaining, the Blazers took a buzzer-beater three to try to win the game, but it ricocheted off the back of the rim to give the Blue Raiders the C-USA regular season title.

Despite their success in C-USA, the national analysts remain split on whether or not MT can get into the Big Dance without a C-USA Tournament Championship. If they hope to do so, they will most likely have to win out their remaining conference schedule.

They will wrap up their conference play at Murphy Center. The Blue Raiders will host Florida International at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 2, and Florida Atlantic at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 4.

 Lady Raiders Earn FirstRound C-USA Tourney Bye, Coach Insell Inducted into Women’s Hall of Fame The Lady Raiders’ success in January would put them in good position to move into first place in Conference USA, but would they be able to seize the top spot in February?

They would get their first opportunity to do that at home against UTSA. Ty Petty had the hot hand early, as 10 of her 20 points represented the first 10 points for the Lady Raiders. A tightly contested third quarter saw MT lead by only one going into the final quarter, but the fourth was all Lady Raiders as they outscored the Roadrunners 22–9 on their way to a 77–63 victory.

Besides Petty, three other Blue Raiders scored in double figures against UTSA. Alex Johnson led the way with 24 points, Abbey Sissom chipped in 16, and Jess Louro scored a career-high 17. Petty also added nine assists to her stat line with just two turnovers.

UTEP came to Murphy Center next, and the Lady Raiders left no doubt as to who the better team was that day.

Middle jumped to a quick 14-point lead, but UTEP battled back to close the gap to five.

However, MT responded with another run, and the game was never in question after that. The Lady Raiders ran away with the win, 76–53.

Petty led the way with 27 points while also adding five rebounds and six assists, and Johnson overcame foul trouble to score 25 points in just 25 minutes of play. Louro again proved her value as a supporting role player with 11 points and seven rebounds.

The Lady Raiders next took to the road to face Old Dominion, and the first half was all MT as they held a 41–30 lead at the half.

However, ODU started off the third quarter with a 12–0 run to take their first and only lead of the game. It was short-lived as Petty answered with a three-pointer to regain the lead for the Lady Raiders. Middle went on to win the game 80–63.

Johnson led all scorers with 28 points and also pulled down 10 rebounds. Petty scored 24 points herself, while also contributing six assists and three steals. Gabby Lyon recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The win put MT half a game ahead of Western Kentucky for the top spot in Conference USA. The Lady Raiders next traveled to Char-

lotte where they took full control of the game early. Middle led by as much as 23 in the game, but the 49ers came roaring back in the fourth quarter to take their first lead late in the fourth quarter. It was a back-and-forth game from the four-minute mark on, but it was Rebecca Reuter who put MT back in the lead for good. Reuter was fouled on an offensive rebound and put-back, and then converted the three-point play opportunity.

The Lady Raiders closed out the win 83–81.

Instead of the usual suspects of Petty and Johnson leading the way, it was Reuter and Louro. Reuter led all scorers with 23 points while pulling down seven rebounds, five of which were on the offensive end.

Louro chipped in 18 points, all of which were from beyond-the-arc, and pulled down five rebounds. Petty filled up the stat sheet with 18 points of her own while recording eight assists, six rebounds and three steals.

The next day, coach Rick Insell was voted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

“I am truly humbled and overwhelmed by this tremendous news,” Insell said. “To be included in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame is one of the highest honors one can achieve, so to be recognized for contributions to a game I love and have dedicated my life to is exceptional. I share this achievement with

PETTY

my supportive family, every single person who has played for me from junior pro, junior high, Shelbyville High School, AAU and Middle Tennessee State University. I also share this with all of my assistant coaches and support staff through the years. They all have played a part in any success I have had.”

Insell’s induction ceremony will be held in Knoxville on June 9 and 10 along with the rest of the 2017 class.

Insell’s first game as a hall of fame inductee-to-be came against rival Western Kentucky.

JOHNSON

A win here would have given Middle a full game lead in the C-USA standings. WKU held a 10-point advantage at the half; the Lady Raiders got within a point late in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Toppers pulled away with an 11-to-5 run. MT had their five-game win streak snapped in a 82–75 loss.

Alex Johnson led all scorers with 33 points and her six rebounds were also best of the night. The Lady Toppers won the turnover battle in this one as they committed only six as compared to MT’s 16.

The Lady Raiders didn’t have long to recover from the tough loss, as Marshall came to town just two days later. Despite Petty and Johnson each struggling with foul trouble, Middle put on a dominant performance that proved their depth. The Lady Raiders jumped out to a big lead on their way to a 94–69 victory. Kyla Allison scored 13 points, marking her first collegiate game of double-digit scoring.

In the final home game of the year MT hosted UAB on Senior Night. Petty, the lone senior, did not disappoint in her final showing in Murfreesboro as her 12 assists made her just the second Lady Raider to record more than 500 in a career.

Abbey Sissom put together a career performance of her own, sinking eight of nine 3-point attempts for a career-high 25 points.

Alex Johnson tossed in 22 points. The 87–56 win earned the Lady Raiders a first-round bye in the C-USA Tournament.

MT will need some help, but a regular season championship is still within reach.

They trail WKU by one game with two games remaining on the regular season schedule.

They will travel to Florida for those final two games to take on FIU and FAU. For tickets and more information on Blue Raider athletics, visit goblueraiders.com.

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 41

SPORTS

TALK

Candice Wiggins

COLUMN BY “Z-TRAIN”

titanman1984@yahoo.com

Haters Piling on Dan Le Batard After He Criticizes Magic Johnson’s Front Office Savvy THE TRAIN DADDY IS BACK, bringing sports news, life lessons and politically incorrect talk to you, the loyal readers. Choo-choo!

Let’s make America great again, or at least skinny again. Get outside and play, throw a football, grow a garden, raise some chickens! Nature, unlike man, does not discriminate; even ugly people can enjoy the beauty of Mother Nature. Let’s get the fat children away from those tablets and games.

Step 1: throw the child deep in the woods. Step 2: wait. Step 3: halfstarved child with a new appreciation for life emerges from the woods.

Okay, don’t actually do that. But physical activity is crucial to healthy living. This upcoming generation is soft; could you imagine a zombie apocalypse? You can’t ask Google for help when zombies are roaming around. It takes endurance and

42 * MARCH 2017 * BOROPULSE.COM

strength to bash zombie heads. I am just saying, imagine a zombie apocalypse. If you don’t think you would survive, it’s time you contemplated the importance of being in shape.

Well, let’s break down the beef between Dan Le Batard and Magic Johnson. We have a four-time AllAmerican claiming she was abused constantly during her 8-year career in the WNBA simply because she is a straight woman. Anytime I get a chance to bash Jameis Winston I will, and we will throw in random other topics. It’s a recipe for success!

The Dan Le Batard Show, I am sure many of you have watched or heard it at some point. The show isn’t as bad as First Take, but none the less Dan feels the desire to speak out on social and political issues occasionally.

Dan likes to bash Trump, he defends immigrants passionately

being the son of Cuban exiles and he has a loud point of view. Recently though, as Dan himself stated, the Social Justice Warriors have turned on him, some even calling him a racist. “Oh my!”

Why? Well, Dan simply reacted to the selection of Magic Johnson to run the Lakers organization as a big mistake. Stating the only reason Magic got the job was because he is famous and charming, and that more qualified people were passed over because of that. Dan blasted Magic’s failures as a late-night television host, a broadcaster and the Lakers’ horrible start to this season.

Former NFL Pro Bowl receiver Keyshawn Johnson was having none of it; we all know those diva receivers need constant attention. Keyshawn stated, “I can’t believe this dude! I can’t tolerate him saying these things about Magic.” Not tolerating it means accusing Dan of being a racist!

Keyshawn went on with “I’m going to read between the lines on this one, to me, he saying because he’s a black dude, that’s the way I look at it. . . .”

Keyshawn joins the list of racebaiting morons. It’s sad, and a reason for racial issues in this country. This is the diva wide receiver that went on Dancing With the Stars and was the first contestant eliminated that season. In 1992 they said Woody Harrelson couldn’t jump, I guess Keyshawn can’t keep a beat. I wouldn’t poke fun, but really, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Snooki and Ozzy Osborne’s son had better moves than you.

Of course ESPN had nothing to say, no defense for Dan. I disagree with 80 percent of Le Batard’s comments, but I watch his show for the perspective of one I disagree with.

The real story here isn’t Dan’s comments on bashing Magic; he has the ESPN platform and can say what he wants. The real story is race-baiting morons like Keyshawn.

Recently, former WNBA player Candice Wiggins, a four-time All American at Stanford who was drafted No. 3 overall in the 2008 WNBA draft and retired a champion in 2016, has been criticized for a recent interview she gave

with the San Diego Tribune.

Wiggins explained how she was the target of constant bullying during her professional basketball career because she is heterosexual. She claims expressing her feelings “freed her spirit” and she received private support from other WNBA players who experienced similar issues.

Wiggins said “I’m not sorry for saying what needs to be said, and I’m not patting myself on the back.

It wasn’t brave.”

Wiggins felt the need to state she wasn’t sorry because she received serious backlash for her comments.

She also stated “I would say 98 percent of the women in the WNBA are gay women. It was a conformist type of place. There was a whole different set of rules (the other players) could apply.”

She later clarified the figure was more illustrative than factual; there is no actual data on how many homosexual players are in the WNBA. So let’s flip the script: a gay woman claims she was bullied for eight years for being gay; well, you know what kind of support that women would have compared to the backlash Wiggins has experienced from players, coaches and internet trolls.

Speaking of social justice warriors, the feminists have their claws out and are screeching at Tampa Bay Bucs quarterback Jameis Winston again.

Winston was speaking to children at an elementary school when he noticed a young boy getting fidgety.

That’s when Mr. Winston stated “All my young boys, stand up. The ladies sit down, but all my boys stand up, stand up. We strong, right? We strong!

“But the ladies, they’re supposed to be silent, polite, gentle. My men, my men are supposed to be strong.”

Poor word selection, yeah. It could have an effect on some of the young ladies’ mindsets, I guess. I don’t honestly understand what Winston was trying to say anyway.

There are Jameis haters everywhere. After his career, he will still be

the guy accused of sexual assault and the rape of another FSU student. FSU paid this lady $1 million to settle.

He was the guy who won a Heisman and National Championship, and still the great FSU coach Bobby Bowden claims he’s an embarrassment to the organization.

He is still the guy who was caught stealing a soda from Burger King, the guy who was caught shoplifting $32 worth of crab legs from Publix and the same guy suspended in 2014 vs. Clemson for standing on a table in the FSU student center and randomly yelling out vulgarities.

Actions do have consequences.

Fair or not, Jameis made these decisions and has to live with them. Take a calm, collected player like Marcus Mariota, who is known as a stand-up athlete with no prior incidents other than excelling at football and leading others. Then you have Jameis, a great player with stupid decisions following in his wake.

I only make these comparisons because in the 2014 NFL Draft, Tampa Bay took Jameis with the No. 1 overall pick, leaving the Titans with the No. 2 overall pick, which they used to select Marcus. The script could have been flipped. The two quarterbacks will always be compared because they went 1 and 2 in the same NFL draft. Jameis and Marcus both have the skill to be standouts in this league. Play ball, Jameis, and stay out of the news!

I haven’t commented on the Super Bowl since the game. Lady Gaga, I applaud you—no loud political statement, you danced with drones and entertained us. Tom Brady and Coach Belichick own the football world. Tom Brady was the best of all time even without this victory, and he has cemented his status as the greatest quarterback in history.

I will say shame on the media for demanding Brady answer questions about his relationship with President Trump the week leading up to the game. Brady handled it in Brady fashion, he shut it down! Choo-choo!

BOROPULSE.COM

* MARCH 2017 * 43