Have You Seen This? Part II: More Viral Videos of Tennessee
February 19, 2013 by Devin Greaney · Leave a Comment
American Values from Leigh Johnson on Vimeo.
American Values from Leigh Johnson on Vimeo.
What do we Americans value? Dr Leigh Johnson, philosophy professor at Rhodes College in Memphis, asked volunteers to tell her.
Last April, Across Tennessee published a collection of some of the viral videos of the Volunteer State.
But one thing that happens in the world of the internet.. There is always more!!
Oh What a Year!: The offbeat Tennessee of 2012
December 21, 2012 by Devin Greaney · Leave a Comment
In September, Nashville star Carrie Underwood responded-positively- to a 12-year-old’s sign asking “will you be my first kiss?”
What a year it was when the words “gangnam,” “Pussy Riot” and “Honey Boo Boo” entered the vocabulary?
Docu-Memphis: Part Two of a Two Part Series
July 2, 2012 by Devin Greaney · Leave a Comment
Morgan Jon Fox’s film “This is What Love in Action Looks Like” shows a clash of cultures in Memphis
This is part 2 of a two part series. Part 1 is available here
Jaz Gray remembers films in school were a mixed blessing. “I remember in college and in high school, which was only a few years ago, when the teacher said ‘we are going to watch a film’ on one hand you were excited because you were thinking ‘at least I don’t have to do some work’ but on the other hand you knew it was going to be boring. When the lights go out some fall asleep,” Gray aspires for more. “For me a documentary is the opposite of that experience.”
True Stories: Memphis as Seen Through Documentary Films
June 25, 2012 by Devin Greaney · Leave a Comment
Craig Leake of The University of Memphis has been making documentaries since the 1960's. Photo by Linda Leake
This is part 1 of a 2 part series. Part 2 can be read here.
In Fall, 1988 Memphians got excited when Great Balls of Fire, a big budget bio-pic on Jerry Lee Lewis started filming in Memphis. Just few months earlier (but released later), Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train was a love letter to the corner of GE Patterson and Main. They were not the first films shot in the Bluff City, but still something was different from earlier productions. Hollywood discovered the area for the classic Hallelujah released in 1928. Decades later, the very forgettable Making the Grade was released in 1984 along with bits and pieces of other films. But in the late 1980’s Memphians were speculating now Hollywood was discovering the area and its look that was like no other.
Tennessee’s Playground: A weekend in Greater Gatlinburg
June 18, 2012 by Devin Greaney · Leave a Comment
Saturday night, Gatlinburg
It would be a lifetime to hit all of the trails in Sevier County, better known as Greater Gatlinburg. The trails offer a communion with nature, a fitness challenge and just plain adventure.
What’s Good Here?: Reflecting on Stuff We Like about the State
May 14, 2012 by Devin Greaney · Leave a Comment
The State Flag
The point of this web magazine is to document the good and bad of Tennessee. But national attention recently has focused on the negative. Tennessee has been the epicenter in the “culture war” as to issues like same sex marriage. The state was also covered extensively over the murder and kidnapping of the Bain family of Hardeman County where two were killed and two were rescued. So here are some of the good things which are not necessarily exclusive to Tennessee but still some positives. In no special order:
Pure Game: Ten Minor League Teams Make their Homes in Tennessee
April 9, 2012 by Devin Greaney · Leave a Comment
Hitting Coach Cory Snyder of the Jackson Generals greets members of Jackson's little leauge team, The Kings
Here in Tennessee if you want college sports, few states have better bragging rights. Looking for major league football and hockey? Go to Nashville. Want NBA pro basketball, there is Memphis. As for baseball, the state is conveniently located between the Washington Nationals, Atlanta Braves and Saint Louis Cardinals. But there is more to the state and our national past time don’t write off Tennessee and the national past time TOO quickly. Ten minor league teams – some in places many Tennesseans, have never heard of – play ball in Tennessee and though Hunter-Wright Stadium ( home of the Kingsport Mets) 2,500 seats will never be confused with Turner Field ( home of the Atlanta Braves with just over 50,000 seats). The feel is still there – ice cream out of a plastic helmet, free fly balls to the lucky fans and John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” over the loudspeaker.
Just for Fun: A Tennessee Trivia Quiz
April 2, 2012 by Devin Greaney · Leave a Comment
EVERYONE knows the tulip poplar is the state tree. Can you answer some tougher questions?
Do not get excited. No prizes will be awarded. Feel free to use Google ( how would anyone know? ) And when in doubt answering “C” will not help you as the answers are in alphabetical order. This, like the title says, is just for fun!
CLICK! : Memorable photographs that chronicle The Volunteer State
March 26, 2012 by Devin Greaney · Leave a Comment
The pillow in the corner shows Jackson was sick and in bed when Mathew Brady took this photo in 1845.
They are split-seconds frozen in time that tell the story of a place called Tennessee. The photos can be beautiful or ugly. They illustrate a split-second like Kevin Dyson’s near-win in the 2000 Superbowl. A fraction of a second earlier or later the photo would not have been nearly as dramatic. Or perhaps the scene has changed little. The natural beauty of Ansel Adam’s photos of the Smokey’s was enjoyed by him when he visited in the 1940s as it is today. And some notes on the photos – all of these can be found in various places throughout the internet. However where I could not find the owner of to the rights of the photo or royalties were cost-prohibitive, included only a link to the owner and or photographer’s website. There is a lot of use of copyrighted material without the owner’s permission but Across Tennessee will not participate in this practice.
Morning of the Twisters: A New Day and More Deaths.
March 19, 2012 by Devin Greaney · Leave a Comment
Jackson is in the middle of the towns hit by tornados, but Jackson and Madison County was not hit
Part 2 of a 2 part series remembering the 60th anniversary of Tennessee’s Deadliest Tornado Outbreak. Part 1 can be read here.
As midnight hit, residents of Tennessee towns, including Bolivar, Dyersberg and Moscow were searching for people, treating injured and trying to come to understand how their world of six hours earlier was so different from that moment. But the heavy weather had no signs of getting any lighter.