May Forum Meet

[doormanpoet]

First we would like to thank Josh Smith for being a gracious host! The donuts and coffee were a perfect stimulant for discussion. William Willams invited his friend and collegue from MDHA, David (sorry I forgot his last name.) Along with Josh's father and brothers we had in attendance 14 forum posters including a couple of new posters. Thank you all for joining in today for the discussion and the walking tour.

While we were walking on Church Street, we met Chris Hollman one of our regular posters. Chris has been on the forum since December and he has a keen interest in skyscrapers like myself. Thanks Chris for flagging down It's Just Dave! Chris actually recognized Dave from a forum pic, plus we all look kind of geeky anyway!

Lexy has the camera as usual and he went down to his knees in front of the Financial Tower to capture a pigeon walking around! I though Cassie was going to kick him in the butt. Cassie, you had your chance girl!

We all salivated and bowed down to the Signature model inside the Cumberland window. (notice the new Cumberland sign?) Although the bible suggests we don't bow before idols and false gods, we made one exception. I thought Lexy was going to start speaking in tongues. Ron practially was waving his hands in the air like a praise and worship service!

Davey (field marshall j) and I shook hands after our terse discussion on the forum about white flight. See; on our Nashville forum we can have liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans and we still like each other! Todd; however still will not admit he voted for Ralph Nader last time....

Much discussion was on the commuter rail system, the convention center, and the sounds ball park and what Struever is going to propose. We hoped the commuter rail system would ship Purcell out of town!

Seriously, a great time was had by all and William and myself would like to thank all for joining us on what started out as our Saturday coffee chats. Our forum has grown so much that we may need to consider some more organization without it becoming too formal. Between now and June, lets think of a possible agenda and maybe scheduling a guest speaker. Tony expressed interest in coming again as did my hotel manager John Fleming.

If they are reading, we encourage Bzorch and Cdubb to PLEASE come back. As per our discussion today, we can differ politically, spiritually, culturally and within our chosen professions. Its takes all of us and all of our imput to make the city greater and better.

One last thought, do any of us want to attend the convention center forum on May 30th and report back to the group, or would we like to plan a group outing?

Regards and bast wishes until next month,

John the Doorman.

[Lexy]

We had a great time, as usual. Thanks for having us!

Savage House is VERY nice, I can hardly wait for it to open.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Is this our new mascot for Nashville's UP chapter ?

[chris holman]

It feels good to finally put a face and meet the members that post on Urban Planet. I was late for the meet and I wish I could have been there earlier.

Also, is good to see the people that share the passion like me for a greater city that we all love and built to its full potential.

Thanks, Dave for the tour of Nashville!! You showed me parts of the city that I haven't discovered or seen yet on my own. That look over spot was amazing!

And Lexy, I also have a love for photography as well. I had a photography class when I was in High School. You have A eye for great shots.

Looking forward to the next meet. Again a pleasure to meet all of you!!!

[Lexy]

Chris, it was mine and Casey's pleasure to meet you today. I am just glad that we took the walk up Church and saw you by the Cumberland. What a surprise! Next time, I am sure you will be able to make the "offical" get together @ the Library. If not, look for us around the same spot at the same time! LOL!!! Thanks again for the kind words. You honestly made my day when you told me how much you enjoy my pictures.

[Nashvillain]

Thanks to Josh Davis for hosting today. His restaurant is really going to be elegant, classy and sophisticated. All things that us UP Forumers are not. Casey excluded of course. Had fun, see ya'll next time.

[smeagolsfree]

Is this our new mascot for Nashville's UP chapter ?

Gee, I thought that was a new forum member, a giant pigeon really upset with Lexy for taking his picture.

Enjoyed the meet and looking forward to next time around.

[william]

Friends,

Another great monthly meeting. MDHA's David Koellein was the "industry professional guest" for the meeting and did a fine job. I have invited architects from Hastings Architecture and Everton Oglesby and expect their presence in the future. As the Doorman of Poetry noted, Tony Giarratana is hoping to make an appearance again. And we will work on Michael Hayes and Richard Lawson to attend too.

Josh and his family were gracious hosts in what is a truly beautiful Savage House. Very nice.

As noted, we met Chris Holman after the meeting. Chris has the passion (just like the rest of us) and told me he has been interested in skyscrapers for many years.

On an interesting side note, I had lunch today with a long-time friend who lives in Row 8.9n and follows Nashville's built envrionment changes in a casual way (he is clearly not as obsessed as we are). Anyway, from his "layman perspective," my friend feels Nashville is officially "booming." I told him about many of the exciting projects (after he asked). He knew of some and not of others. His assessment is that the city is poised to explode.

The Doorman made an interesting observation in his post starting this thread and that is that we might want to consider an agenda so as to keep us focused. Could be worth considering. And the Doorman is correct in that we all agree we would like Bzorch and cdubb back on the forum and at the meetings. I will call them and request they give it some thought. We need the professional perspective.

IJDave must have given Lexy, Casey and Chris quite the tour. Told you you would like the convertible, Chris.

Hankster and Rural King, you were both missed. As was Tom Campion. Hope I'm not forgetting anybody.

Next meeting is back at Provence at the library.

WW