June starts tomorrow, and the weather is just right for some unique treats.

We took a trip to Bobby’s Dairy Dip this past Sunday, and their ice cream goodness is as good as ever. They’ve even classed up the joint with a few new tables.

Where do you like to go when the weather’s hot?

Good, fun baseball is back in Nashville as the Vanderbilt Commodores host an NCAA regional this weekend.

And with tickets for 6 games only running you $35 total, I couldn’t pass it up. Much like bowl games and March Madness, postseason college baseball puts the excitement back in the sport for those of you who couldn’t make it through 9 innings without sticking pencils in your eyes.

Looks like our Preds may have new ownership. The Business Journal reports today that Nashville’s hockey franchise is being sold to Canadian billionaire Jim Balsillie, who is co-CEO of BlackBerry manufacturer Research in Motion. The sale would have to be approved by the NHL before being finalized.

Update: The sale is, in fact, official. The deal was announced this afternoon. Hopefully this will breathe some life into our hometown hockey team, which has struggled financially despite being one of the better teams in the league.

A smoking ban in bars and restaurants could finally become a reality this year, with a decision on the bill possibly coming as early as Thursday night. So will a ban help or hurt Nashville? Are you for or against? A column in today’s Tennessean makes the pro-ban case, but even the author can’t help but point out that bar revenues (and tips) are down. The article makes clear, however, that the bartenders are still more than happy with the ban.
(more…)

I went to the Sounds game last night. Since the new stadium deal didn’t get done, Nashville really needs to pack it in and ship the team off instead of forcing people to have a subpar baseball experience. All the thirsty Thursdays or Tuesdays or everydays in the world couldn’t save this sinking ship.

Not only is the stadium old, the food terrible, the gimmicks awful, the excitement nonexistent and the atmosphere depressing, the freakin’ scoreboard doesn’t even work.

Seriously, Sounds. The only other baseball game I’ve been to where the scoreboard worked worse that yours was my own little league game back in ‘89 when the power went out. There is no reason a AAA team shouldn’t have a fully-functioning scoreboard. You don’t have to have a monster LCD jumbotron, but you do need to be able to let folks know what inning it is. I don’t know how many total bulbs are in that giant guitar, but I’d say only about 10% of them were working last night. I could tell who was winning and what the count was, but I had no idea who was playing, who was up to bat, or what advertisers wanted me to visit their businesses.

It would have been one hell of a rigging job, but the old Preds scoreboard should take the place of the oversized blue guitar in left-center.

I like baseball. I like the fact that Nashville has a team. But the reality is that Vanderbilt is not only a better team, but they have a better experience overall for the fan. Unfortunately, their season is over in a few weeks, and all local baseball lovers who want to really enjoy being a spectator will have to drive to Jackson, Birmingham, Chattanooga, Memphis, Louisville, or Atlanta.

Other than a swanky new stadium, any ideas out there for improving Nashville’s minor league experience?

On the heels of the news that one Nashville musical mainstay is closing (12th and Porter), I’ve learned that Windows on the Cumberland is re-opening at its new digs. Here’s the info:

“Windows on the Cumberland”
515 2nd. Ave. South 37210
251-0097
www.myspace.com/WindowsontheCumberland

And here’s the initial schedule:

June 1st, Windows on the Cumberland Grand re-opening and Boots 57th Birthday
Extravaganza
6/1-9:30 Fluid Tuesday 11- The Loft $6
6/2-9:30 A.K.A. Rudie 11-The Wayward League $5
6/3- 8pm-Sol Driven Train (from my hometown, Charleston, S.C.) 9- Moon Taxi
10-H-Beam $6 (also my Birthday)
6/7 9pm $2 Thursdays w/ NOTeNEF PROMOTIONS Sexiest Songwriters Night
6/8 10PM CORLEONE

Each day over at CoolPeopleCare, I share an idea to improve the world. Some of the ideas have to do with recycling or the environment, and all of the ideas can be done in 5 minutes or less.

So I like it when I come across a story that shows how similar ideas happen on a larger scale.

The Predators’ old Jumbotron just sold for $10,000 to a minor league hockey team in North Carolina. Had they not sold it, they would have disposed of it. So, many many pounds of metal and glass were kept out of a landfill or the bottom of the Cumberland, and a small-time hockey team got a sweet scoreboard.

This got me wondering: What else should Nashville try to auction to the highest bidder?

It’s been a pretty busy couple of days in the Nashville real estate world. First, we found out on Friday that the GEC/Nashville Arena has been renamed the Sommet Center. And the announcements keep coming. Not only did Velocity, Bristol and Marketstreet’s mixed use condo project in the Gulch, sell 85 units in one day, local bank Pinnacle also inked a deal to put their name on Hal Barry’s new building next to the Schermerhorn Center. Exciting stuff - and continued proof that downtown life south of Broadway is getting more and more viable all the time.

I’m sitting in the Panera Bread in Hermitage. I normally don’t make it this far over on the East Side of town, but I’m killing time/working on the book while I’m waiting to pick up someone from the airport.

I grew up in Nashville, but not on this side of the tracks. So, I don’t have a point of reference, but it does seem as though Hermitage might just be ‘hoppin” as the kids say. I’ve read some posts before about the additions nearby in terms of eateries and entertainment.

I’m a downtown dweller, so I’ve got to ask: Is the More-East-Than-East-Nashville part of town all that? Is the ‘Tage better than Bellevue, Madison, or other ‘burbs? Do the amenities make up for the commute? Does the distance from the city compensate for the distance from the mall?

Here’s what I’m getting at: What’s the best Nashville suburb?

It normally takes me 25 minutes or so to get to commute from just north of downtown to the Cool Springs area on I-65, but I got there in just over 15 this morning, and I really wasn’t racing. I just must have hit a speedy pocket that pulled me along.

It reminds me of how, when I lived in the Bay Area and commuted from San Leandro to San Jose, if I aimed to be at work between 8:45 and 9, the drive took me about an hour and twenty minutes. If I aimed to be there more between 9:15 and 9:30, the drive took about 40 minutes. Not a bad savings in drive time for an extra half hour’s sleep.

Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be making any changes to try to emulate the pattern this morning; I’m guessing this was just a fluke.

How about you? If you commute, have you found tricks to make your drive faster? Have you found any weird traffic patterns in Nashville?