So you thought your evening was going to include late night TV & take-out, but now I know exactly what you’re going to get into tonight, tango!

Come on down to Centennial Park at 8pm to get your tango essentials kicking, then stay and enjoy the tango social starting at 8:30pm.  Sponsored by Tango Nashville, this is a free event that is open to the public.

Pack a dinner & blanket, and call it an evening well-spent!

So last night I headed down to the Nashville Humane Association on Oceola Ave to start my volunteer training.

First off, if you’ve never made it down to the new building, you’re in for quite a treat.  As you walk in, you will be impressed by the open architecture, as well as the lobby’s amazing, treed cat room with plenty of window-space to peer into the eyes of your new kitty; or step back a few paces and look into the eyes of your new best friend- your pick!

What was interesting to me about the shelter was the 17% adoption rate, which basically means about 17 in 100 visitors to the center end up adopting a kitten, cat, puppy or dog. 

With the cost of each animal averaging around $350, and adoption rates between $40 & $160, I’ve decided we need to start adopting more furry friends, Nashville!  So, each week we’re going to support an animal of the week, that you should then fall in love with and provide a loving home.

What do ya say?

Btw- the cute guy up at the top is Bowe, check him out here!

So, I have a question I’d like to pose today.  Will so many businesses closing down & heading elsewhere due to crime & lack of interested shoppers, are you becoming fearful of the Antioch area?

It seems like every week there is at least one felony crime reported in the Antioch area of Nashville and the Hickory Hollow Mall is getting closer to a ghost town than a shopping center, with Dillards and Linens ‘N Things packing up shop.  Antioch housing costs are at an all-time low, while unemployment is way above the national average and so too the murder rate.

You tell me, if you have to head into Antioch, are you doing it full sunlight style?

Morning, all.  I take it since you’re reading this post, that you made it through another Nashville summer weekend without injury.  Pats on the back.

So, on the blog menu for today I thought we’d talk about those pesky little mailbox pests, mainly the bulk direct mailer Valpak.  Whenever those guys enter the mailbox uninvited, they go straight to the recycle bin, unopened.  But last week I did something I have done only once before, a very dangerous action that might cause serious mishaps, I actually opened one.

I was hoping that I was going to be targeted as a Nippers Corner resident & a next to free lunch was in my near future, but lo & behold, they just wanted to clean my carpets & get rid of my pests, which sounds kinda dirty really.  As you can follow, this led me to ask myself who 1) opens these shotty Valpak bulk coupon envelopes and 2) who actually uses the coupons before the expiration date?

I mean, are we all pretty much just sending them to the recycle bin? 

Nashville, lemme know if you’re at all using these mailbox menaces…

Okay, I’m opening a can of worms more than likely, but…..how do you feel about The Tennessean’s site, tennessean.com? 

Now it’s a Gannett production, so we can’t hold that against them, but do you cringe virtually every time you have to navigate the site?  I’m just wondering if it’s me or an epidemic of reluctant patrons visiting the site for daily news & the recent Nashville area scoop.

You never wanna diss without just cause, but each time I visit the site to find the best daily music events it’s like I’m performing some clunky ballet thickly moving from page to slow page. 

How do you feel about this?

So early last week, I managed to buy some IMAX tickets to see The Dark Knight Sunday evening at 7pm.  And boy o boy was it a good idea to buy those tickets so early, as the whole weekend quickly sold out.

And not only did the 7pm showtime sell out, Nashvillians and the like starting showing up for the show in question at like 5pm to stand in that all-too-familiar IMAX line.  When it finally came time to enter the theater, the security guard was a little too much on the eager side and almost took out a member of my party who was trying to get inside.

But it was all worth it in the end.  The Dark Knight lived up to any expectations with a solid plot, well-written script and beautifully preformed acting by boh Christian Bale and the late & talented Heath Ledger.  Compare this film to the George Clooney Batman’s and you’ll be hard-pressed to find any fault in the much-less-hokey Knight.

The Dark Knight itself blazed through the weekend with a record-setting $155.3 million, putting Spider-Man in the dust as the best opening weekend ever on the records.

So, you tell me, what did you think of the newest Batman film?

Stop.  Right there.  Cancel those plans tonight.  You’re gonna instead be heading out to the Wildhorse Saloon to show your old school support for one Hootie and The Blowfish.  Yep, that’s right, they’re still around, folks.  And rockin’ you solid.

Starting at 6m Wednesday evening Hootie and The Blowfish, along with the Drew David Band will taking the stage at Wildhorse.  The tickets are going for quite a variety, $35, $65, $75, $85 and $150, just depends on how excited about this show you are really.

So grab your tickets & come on down to see how the old folks can still work it.

Okay, who else is guilty of falling prey to the hype about the 3G iPhone?  I don’t mean that the hype doesn’t hold some place in reality, but reports of how long some of those folks stood in the Mac line at Green Hills Mall is a little astounding.

I myself took to Hickory Hollow Mall’s AT&T store, thinking the line would be shorter & hopefully the staff prepared for the event.  Well, I was 18th in line when I arrived at 7am & by the time 10:30am rolled around, only three people left the store with a working 3G iPhone in sweaty little hands.

So, what gives?  Did good old Stevsies think we weren’t gonna make it out last Friday & to just not worry about adding a few more supportive servers to iTunes?  And, sorry to be the soapboxer this morning, why on earth wasn’t AT&T more prepared for the big day?  Did they just not get the memo?  I mean, it was like they had never seen a 3G iPhone before, never opened the box & familiarized themselves with the programs and inner workings of the phone. 

But maybe I just visited the wrong store.  What were your experiences this weekend over the 3G iPhone?

With the price of gas rising this summer as well as the temperature, which means high electric bills, are you going broke?

We can’t do a European vacation this year due to the failing dollar, we can’t go on a long road trip due to gas prices & the fear that Al Gore will come kill us all, and now we can’t even do anything at all because of expensive electric bills.  Is there a happier side to this coin?

It looks like the only positive benefits to this situation is getting to know Nashville better, and I mean the FREE Nashville.  So, what I’m doing this summer is finding out all about the freebees like Movies In the Park or checking out the local state parks.

Is this situation even effecting you & what are you doing about it, Nashville?

German DJ legend Paul Van Dyk will be hitting the City Hall stage Tuesday night at 9pm, you gonna be there or what?

The ages 18+ show is said to be mind blowing & will change the way you think about…everything?  Dyk prefers a soft & easy trance dance-pop, and tonight’s show shouldn’t be an exception.  Bring some of those very infamous shoes to gaze at, darling!

Cost of tickets range from $20 to $35.