Wednesday 2 March 2011

Letter from America: Nashville, Tennessee

by

Son of a Preacher Man



Welcome to Nashville the country music capital of the world and the state capital of Tennessee.

Nashville’s a great centre for a vacation.   Many of the attractions in and around Nashville can be researched on the Internet.  Lord Obreption of Rockall transferred his allegiance to Branson, which is in the state of Missouri.  That’s where the old timers go. 

The local pronunciation of Nea-ash-ville is not quite the strangulated vowel and though Obreption’s noted mimicry didn’t quite get it, he went down quite well in Chattanooga. 

The city and freeway system allows easy access to other parts of the state. Nashville is an important hub in the USA as the air, rail, barge and truck businesses contribute to a logistical selling point for the greater Nashville area (Davidson County).  The Cumberland River caused havoc last year when it flooded.  It is an important part of the river system of drainage, transport, energy generation and these were significant infrastructure projects in the formation of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which covers areas of the surrounding states.  The river system connects the great lakes in Chicago with the Gulf of Mexico and the intra-coastal waterways. 





Nashville is famous for country, gospel and other genres of music.  You can visit them in Music City, which is all the tacky shops beloved by Obreption.   Nashville is also a leading player in the ‘religious and spiritual’ publishing, printing and distribution sectors. 

 
Historically, Thomas Nelson set up here and though his firm has undergone many changes of name, it’s US roots planted from Edinburgh, Scotland, are still important. 

Today, Christopher Coyne was ‘enthroned’ in  Indianapolis.  From memory, there is an Anglican bishop (a lady who was elected!!) – though, I’m not sure if she was on the guest list and suitably dressed.  Bishop Coyne could certainly do with coining his application for a sermon.  It sounds like a Primark sermon and not the designer sermons as outlined by Obreption at the  Edinburgh Monetising Network.   

"What I try to do is to have a beginning and an end and not a lot of time in between the two, maybe eight or nine minutes."
(source: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011103020349)
Live country music is everywhere.  Obreption’s favourite bar was closed down years ago, but Tootsie’s, world famous, still holds in the tourists and lovers of real country. 


For related information see also:

Tootsie's
 
Many a country singer wannabe has failed here and they’ve usually moved on to preaching at some of our religious specialist institutions.  The inspiration of much of the religiosity in the state can be tracked back from Dolly Parton, through Elvis to the Old Opry.  Dollywood and Opryland are just the latest manifestations of the monetisation of the Gospel.  As Obreption summed it up in the seminal lecture, ‘First monetise, then valorise, then vaporise’.  Nashville has seen many waves of religious practices and is a melting pot of recent immigration.   


Lord Obreption has asked me to discuss reliogisity in politics in the USA. Obreption claimed that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for an atheist to become President of the USA.

If we reflect on the British political scene, we have been told that David Cameron has a faith which comes and goes with the car radio reception on the M40 and that both Nick Clegg and Ed Milliband are proud to be  atheists. Americans have also noted that Ed Milliband is unmarried. He would have to get married and become Christian to get voted in here. Mormons and Jews have yet to make it to the White House. We thought you picked the wrong brother in the case of Ed Milliband. Glen Miller Band would have had more of an impact, more so in the comeback status.

(This joke was heard on the News Quiz, on BBC Radio 4.)

I would like to present two Republicans to you: Sarah Palin and Newt Gingrich.

You may have formed your own opinion by listening to liberal Americans stating that it would be a disaster if either of them were to gain access to the Oval Office.  Admittedly, Bush Jr may be a cause for regret, but we Americans always push forward. 

That’s why we picked Obama. 

And that’s why two years later, he was dumped by the voters. 

Many aliens view the USA from the point of east coast vs west coast: rust belt vs sun belt.  Virtually all the middle of the USA is unknown - even to many Americans!  
A New York Times article described Gingrich in some detail.  Newt Gingrich is a man with several pasts and his relatively recent conversion to Roman Catholicism is viewed by some to be opportunistic. 


The article is well-worth a read and it gives some idea of the religion tick box requirement for any politician in the USA.  Politics us a big business in the USA and if you type in: Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich into a search engine with republican nomination 2012 Catholic vote or any other sectarian vote you’ll come across some prophetic and pathetic sites, all wrapped up with ads by Google which will ruin your cookie collection if you visit them. 

These are some other examples of terms which bring up interesting articles:

Hilary courts white catholic unemployed over 50 on Ohio

Richard Land to decide the next president.


As with all fallen angels, we’ve had out fair share of sinners, but don’t you just love the sinner and he ‘ate the sinners and he ‘ate the sin.  Here is a brief list of some of the spectacular falls from grace:

Swaggart
Jim and Tammy Fay Bakker
Bishop Eddy Long (in denial)
Human Life International (HLI) and Euteneuer
http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=9120

If you couple these terms with Nashville, you might get some interesting links:

Sarah Palin
Libel
Obama
Mandrell
Christmas shopping
Opryland
I fall to pieces Patsy Cline



2 comments:

  1. Seeing that you know Rockall about anything, here’s a piece on Birmingham, Alabama which also has to do with a previous administration. I don’t know if you know anything about debt swaps, junk bonds, toxic churn or if your municipalities raise money from the banks. There are many metaphors for you to screw up, but you ought to find a good headline. The ground is always browner on the other side of the fence!

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12594985

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  2. Obreption says:

    I understand that there are a few vacancies at the LSE due to what is called 'churn'. You might be able to get a few tips on banking regulation from Sir Howard, as I believe he has the required expertise. I trust your granny in Iowa did not buy any of those Birmingham, Alabama sewage bonds. I hear they're offering a really crappy return!

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