And now I wan to go to a shooting range.

And am stuck here. In Canada. With our firearms laws. And restrictions.

I miss being a Northerner, we had good respect for the Southern US on a lot of things. Just think they're pussies for having NASCAR on roads that aren't icy. (There's a few races that have a similar history to NASCAR in Northern Canada that's winter-only, and done not only on ice, but on LAKES.).

Just do like the Japs do and vacate down to the States for a bit of shooting. If you do it in the right state, for a little extra many rounds can be quickly expended with a Fun-gun(Full auto).

We don't do ice. You can keep that stuff.

Someday I might be able to afford that. I do have my passport, and hopefully am not on any lists that prevent me to get into the USA. (Drug free at least! ).

It ain't just the south ya'all. Pennsylvania is a very gun friendly state too and we are clearly a northern state.
still back on topic, in Nashville is there any food that seems to be special down there? Like Philly Cheese steaks, Chicago Deep Dish, New York Hotdogs etc.

BBQ.

BBQ isn't special.

Well, it is, but it's not a special food specific to an area. Hell, I've had BBQ in the middle of winter that my father made. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, that was good stuff. The blizzard going on barely phased him when he went out to make it, too.

Specifically, put the name of the largest city in the area in front and people start thinking its special...

I'm from the coast so BBQ all tastes the same to me.

BBQ is a Memphis speciality. We're just lucky to have a taste.

The only Nashville food that I can think of off the top of my head are Goo-Goo Clusters, (Goo for Grand Ol' Opry) ... it's a candy/snack food, however, not an entre.

Oh, and while we're here, I have to mention the Ryman Auditorium, (Usually just 'The Ryman'), well known 'First Church of Country Music". The acoustics there are to die for, and the entire place is *steeped* in history.

The Hermitage is also in Nashville. Andrew Jackson's house, it's one of the most-visited Presidential homes in the US (I want to say third), and a focus for movies and events. Nearly got hit by a tornado back around '97, but wound up just barely being missed ... the funnel took out teh trees in the front yard, however, which were all planted by Jackson back in the day.

Nashville is the leading publisher of religious literature in the US (Bibles, pamphlets, etc), and is the # ... 3? general publishing city in the US. (Possibly #4). There are, of course, several TV stations based out of Nashville, with TNN being the best known, followed by CMT (Country Music Television) ... there's several, however, and many more radio braodcasters. Nashville also houses six different newspapers at this time.

In terms of music, only New York city produces more ... yes, Nashville makes more music than Seattle or Los Angeles.

Health Care is currently the biggest industry in Nashville, with the Frist family (Lead by former US Senator Bill Frist) a major player. The usual big city stuff (Finance, insurance, etc) are all found here, while the state is, as mentioned earlier, now one of the top auto-producing states in the entire US. (For Shadowrun, it's easily the largest auto maker in the entire CAS, producing more vehicles than the rest of the nation combined.)

Oh, and while you know the Music CIty USA nickname, the Athens of the South is by far the more popular one amoung residents. Nashville has a HUGE art community and is the center for educaton in the state. "Big shiney buckle of the Bible Belt" is one that's sometimes heard, while "The Protestant Vatican" is pretty much dead. ... I've never heard the term, but it exists. (Nashville has a LOT of churches. Like, one for every thousand people lot.)

Lastly, eclipsing the #2, Detroit, Nashville has the largest Kurd population in the entire US ... a side effect of Gulf II was the liberation of the northern Kurdish areas... large groups of residents wanted out, fearful of the HUssein regieme, and were flown to the US, where the largest chunk settledin Nashville. The culture shock was smaller than you might expect, due to Nashville having a long history of absorbing foreign nationals, and a thriving "Little Kurdistan" now exists there.

So, how is Kurdish Country Music?

Once he said it I remembered memphis dry rub. The point isn't that they all do it but that the local has a snese for it that they identify. Sure Philly has BBQ places but it isn't what you think of when dinning in Philly, on NYC or Boston for that matter. Texas does BBQ but it's mainly beef so that is their thing etc. so the point is the locals in Memphis will identify BBQ as their local 'thing."

I had BBQ pretty much every meal when I was in Nashville for a few days. (Except when I had catfish.) IIRC, the BBQ was "Texas style". And good.

Yum, catfish, seafood for hillbillies that don't know what the sea is.

Nashville doesn't really have a signature style. It's trademark is the diverse food population, which is about the same as the ethnic population. Within the same few blocks you can find Greek, Ethiopian, Italian, Southern American, Tex-Mex, and Gas Station foods (yes, Gas Station, cripitos and bad corn dogs). That's not counting fast-food and other chain restaurants.

I had forgotten the Kurd population. I worked with a Kurd when I lived there.

On the note of religions, I know there are a number of historically important churches and cathedrals there; there are also a number of religiously based universities and colleges there (Trevecca Nazarene and Freewill Baptist come to mind).

We should start patching out some content.

I know they have a wider variety of beer than we get in Alabama, nothing like a cross state beer run.

Side note:

The county that Jack Daniels whiskey is made in is a dry county... no alchohol can be sold for consumption there.

It took the state legislature to pass a law that allowed them to even open again.

Ayup.

Tennessee's alchohol rules are all kinds of Byzantine.

I'll one-up you. During Prohibition in North America, it was legal in all of Canada to brew and distill alcohol, but not to drink it. Export only. The export taxes on it was too much for Ottawa to let it get away.

There were small boats on the great lakes obviously filled with whiskey, and policemen asking where the guy was going. "England." "Have a safe trip, see you in the morning."

EDIT: I still want to hear what Kurdish Country Music is like.

And people say greed is bad. During American prohibition Canadian greed helped American liberty survive.

Greed for some, tradition for others. They'd been shining for years. The smuggling bit was a bit of greed and a bit of fighting an unjust law in their neighboring country. (Although most of the ones doing the "Unjust Fighting" did so locally.).

Let you in on a bit of a open secret, the same equipment to make maple syrup... Yeah, it can be made a distillery. And a good portion of "Maple Country" is near or beside farmsteads, so corn and other grains was easy to get.

So, let that sink in before someone calls me a syrup-drinker again.

Thanks to the other post, I still see you as a bearded, ax wielding syrup drinker. That image will never leave my mind.

I still don't have an axe, and I'm probably not going to need one in the Prairies now that I'm here. My beard growing has started, however. Almost out of syrup (I drink it in my tea and coffee as a natural sweetener.).

I don't wear flannel, BTW. Sensitive skin.

I just don't like that it seems to only come in plaid. Plaid should be for kilts only.

This topic goes through some weird bunny-trails. Does anyone have any SR Official Cannon on the Nashvegas/VolSprawl government? (I don't like Vol-Sprawl, I feel it limits too much of the mid-state) Also, what kind of paracritters would be native to the region? I have Parazoology, but that's it at the moment. I'm specifically looking for stats on Bandits.

He's a lumberjack, and he's ok...

I grew up in the Moonscape. The trees are younger than I am. And I learned IT, not mining.

Official Nashville stuff is hard to come by. Tidbits include:

1) Nashville is the BTL and simsense capital of the CAS.

2) Prostitution is legal in certain areas of Nashville due to a zoning issue. (News to me, but.)

3) The Church of Elvis is based in Nashville.

4) TN as a whole is a smuggling hub.

Not much beyond that. The CAS, as a whole, is a largely unexplored area. You have some Atlanta stuff, New Orleans, and some Texas stuff, but nothing on the rest. The governmental system doesn't quite work (1 rep per 15,000 citizens means that there are 400 representatives from Atlanta *alone*.) and it's kind of an afterthought.

Ha! I knew it! Elvis is the secret puppetmaster of the world!
However, the most scary thing most probably happens in Vegas: Elvish Impersonators.

That was very naughty, you should punish yourself...

It's also worth remembering that while Nashville is known for burgeoning country and pop music scenes, "Music City" means more than just that: there's also a thriving jazz community, and a very active hip-hop community. It's easy to monoculture a town like that, into just Grand Ole Opry and white folk eating roadkill, but it's also Cashville, Tennekeet, where people cook crack rock in glass jars and rap about it.

Kurdish Jazz? Kurdish Gangsta Rap?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW3-kAr_6qM



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X37N5f4NWcw

Multiculturism!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNxYWvE_r-k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu7ATeowtVo

As noted, the Athens of the South is pretty dang cool.

This.

Seriously.

It's how the Scots adapted to Canada, as even their tough bodies can't deal with a Canadian Winter in a kilt.

...

Well, unless they have military training. Those bag pipers are INSANE!

I don't know about jazz, but yeah, there's a lot of great Kurdish hip hop.

Most of the session players used in the 60s and 70s for the majority of the country records were mostly jazz musicians, but could and would play anything. Not sure how it works these days.

There's good hip-hop to begin with?

...

OK, Run DMC, but they're long gone now.

Yep. Quite a lot of it. Including things I suspect you'd enjoy greatly, whatever your tastes in music might be. Hip-hop's a pretty broad umbrella.

Nope. there is none I would enjoy. Too hip and too much hop.

In all candor, if you're basing your dislike on nothing more than commercial rap, you're doing yourself a disservice: in the same way that the best rock music isn't the stuff they play on the radio, the best hip hop isn't the stuff you hear from most commercial media outlets.

Besides, it's like saying, "I don't like any rock," or, "I don't like any folk." Those umbrellas are just too wide to make that generalization. I mean, unless you've actually heard all hip-hop.

Nope, they are not too wide. The traits that are common to all hip hop and define the genre I find very unpleasing to hear.

Hey, you'd know your tastes better than I would. I'd love to do 20 rounds of making sure you've heard it all - "Really? Not 'Building Steam With a Grain of Salt?' Not 'Pagina Tres?'" - but this probably isn't the venue.

I corrected myself with one group I liked. Not much else that I've seen/heard has really grabbed my attention or anything else. It's too... Refined by the time it gets to CDs.

I'd probably have to hit up Street Hip-Hop in order to get the feeling right. Like how Punk is. The emotion is there still.

You should try some Public Enemy. Chuck D is faboo, and FLava Flav *invented* the role of Hype Man.

But, I've been a rap fan since before Blondie broke the genre open for MtV, so.

or they're real men. I went to Catholic school in NY and no matter how cold the winter we were not allowed to wear sweats over our or under our uniform skirts getting to school. The drill was get within a block wearing sweats. take them off and run like crazy.

I met a New Yorker in College. He thought he was ready for a Canadian Winter as "He was a tough bastard from New YORK!".

Changed his tune the first week of December. "How the HELL do you people LIVE UP HERE?" "It's not even cold yet." "You FOLK ARE CRAZY!" "No, we're Canadians. Hard to tell the difference sometimes."

There's a country song by Luke Bryan- (Shake it for me) Country Girl. The girl in it is not dressed'country but in sort of an s&m outfit with knee high stiletto boots. My husband pointed out the out fit and girl dancing could be any video- just take out the pcik up truck and big tired, change the lighting and it could be hip hop- add some candles and smoke etc, the whole thing was so generic to be stupid.

And people wonder why I stopped liking new country songs in the 90s.

Add a sparkling Vampire... And it's still stupid.