DO WE SUCK?

Yes.

My husband and I have been avid Metro Pulse readers for years. We, too, have been disappointed in the changes in content and lack of coverage over the past months as detailed in Dr. Ricardo Gozina's letter in the last issue [vol. 8, No. 9].

We would especially like to see more restaurant reviews and coverage of local and regional art/craft/historical events. We would also enjoy reviews of area bed & breakfast establishments.

Dana R. Kenny
Knoxville

No.

After the letter lambasting you for no longer being just an "entertainment weekly," I feel compelled to offer a defense (not that you need one). In a town where the only daily paper and the highest-rated TV news program both appear to be "in bed" with the mayor's office, I have become increasingly dependent on Metro Pulse to, in the words of William Butler Yeats, "cast a cold eye" on the manner in which local events are presented by the "mainstream" media. In light of recent tragedies, both human and economic, Metro Pulse responded with editorials that were honest, compassionate, and insightful. While some may call that "boring," I call it "responsible journalism"—something we could use more of amid all the "don't-worry-be-happy" fluff.

Jeff Callahan
Knoxville

Yes.

A loud second to Dr. Gozina's letter taking you to task for what you are leaving undone! It's been over a year since I wrote voicing much the same complaint when the shortcomings were in their early stages of development. "Ear to the Ground," I complained, had become something like "Eye to the Press Release."

Your heading to the good doctor's chiding, "We Suck," should have been "We Sleep, and Don't Get Around Much Anymore!"

How did you miss the newsworthy story of the brief and fire-ended history of "Rhapsody," the restaurant on Homberg Place? (Or was it the "Symphony," or the "Ecstasy" whatever?)

William S. Verplanck
Knoxville

The View From The City

In response to Jack Neely's piece ("Knoxville in the Rearview Mirror," Vol. 8, No. 1), I was surprised by what the expatriates he interviewed never mentioned. We are an over-70 San Francisco couple who have recently established a second residence in Knoxville to spend quality time with a grandchild and her parents.

(Quite incidentally: Neely kept referring to a Marin County resident erroneously as being from The City—wherever they are, true San Franciscans always refer to home as "The City." Marin is only a mile across the Golden Gate, but a world away.)

While we are not giving up the exhilaration of living here with a drop-dead view of this world-class waterfront scene, mild weather year around, and the rest of Northern California all around, we certainly look forward to the unique delights, large and small, of East Tennessee. Some of our favorites are:

The spring, the dogwood, and all the other blooms bursting forth in such a riot in every neighborhood, with the associated festivals and activities...The fall leaves, and the big vacuum trucks that whoosh them up...The soft winter snows which seem to us to last only long enough to create a fabulous scene and some fun for the children (although we have been told we've just never been around for the heavy stuff)...All the varieties of song birds year around. The sight of a red cardinal perched near a bright blue jay against a snow white background has us glued to the window...Thanksgiving and the Christmas holidays celebrated with such exuberance by all, and the joyful community activities to match...All the folks dressing in seasonal colors is almost as eye-popping to Californians as the wall-to-wall orange expression of local enthusiasm for the university athletic events...Small-time professional baseball. If the little stadium must be changed, moving it away from an urban center in dire need of action seems very shortsighted. A summer evening there mingling with the locals is more fun for us than all the big leagues within minutes of our San Francisco house...Likewise for all the UT games. When the Lady Vols are at Stanford, we rush down. Coach Pat could find us quickly in the crowd, just about the only orange spots off the court...Gasoline costs a third less a gallon, monthly TV cable charges are half as much, the morning paper is delivered by 5 a.m., and Metro Pulse is of higher quality than all the similar weeklies on the coast. (No kidding!)...The absence of graffiti, and the comparable safety of most streets (also, no kidding.) I can just take a walk right out the front door at any hour, on my own...The strong character study in the Alex Haley statue, designed for children to climb upon. Those hackneyed contemporary lumps of twisted-into-nothing-recognizable which have been in vogue as "public art" are so boring...The Tennessee Theater, especially when the organ is roaring...The low prices and interesting stuff at Esau's monthly antique market, and in between the nifty small shops all around, of which my personal favorite is Fountain City Antiques...the soft accents and natural courtesy everywhere. When we arrive we look forward to the first of all the sincere "thankYEWs."

In San Francisco choices for excellent food are famous, and almost boundless, except for a total lack of the luscious Southern fare we're not supposed to ingest these days. So we never admit to our adult children our addictions when we slip out alone for Calhoun's ribs, lard-fried chicken anywhere, the entire menu at that charming new little hole in the wall on Chapman Highway, Southern Vittles, and (go ahead, hoot!) the neighborhood Shoney's. The breakfast bar there is a wonder of selections virtually unknown in California restaurants: biscuits, gravy, grits, spiced apples, and all the rest. We're not as enticed as we might be by the excellence of the Tomato Head, The Blue Moon Bakery, and some of the finer coffee shops because they are, well, so much like any old day in The City.

As for the wonderful Knoxville city center, Market Square, and Old City, I have such empathy for the Knoxville citizens who over the years have obviously envisioned the possibilities but can't quite grasp lasting and vital solutions to all that potential. The new Waterfront Promenade is super as far as it goes, but something is still lacking in the concept when to enjoy it one must either be hospitalized, jailed, standing atop the university garage, or feeling guilty parking in spaces marked for specific restaurant patrons only.

The new coalition described in your last issue, "The Superchamber," looks like a definite maybe for making a new and strong start. Urban revitalization projects really just need one person—one enthusiastic, stubborn soul to hang in there through all the setbacks, to do the organizing, and call on local talent as needed. Even the most dedicated community activists must return to their own lives over time. But if there is that certain individual in place to keep things going, and never, never, never give up—well, one need go no farther down the road than Chattanooga for such an example.

So, I wish Mr. Tom Ingram every success, and hope that among his attributes are a thick skin and a hard head. And I thank Knoxville for providing our California-bred daughter and son-in-law with excellent career opportunities and a safe and nurturing environment in which to raise the 4-year-old who is God's gift to our old age. When headed west, our view in the rear mirror is very pleasant indeed.

Julia Viera (Mrs. John J.)
San Francisco