This week in MetroPulse, Frank Cagle opines [1] on Knoxville sloganeering, suggesting a rocking chair and "Welcome Home" will do.

Ummm, no.

Ktowndownlow has joined [2] the fray, sponsoring a contest encouraging local hipsters to subtitle our fair city with a hip, insiders-only moniker. (hat tip to Knoxville Talks.)

I took a moment to reflect.

Who can forget such previous slogans as

• "Knoxville. It's all around us." (Just not in Knoxville)
• "Knoxville. Where Nature and Technology Meet." (images of a deer being splattered on the inside of a superconducting supercollider at the Spallation Neutron Source come to mind with that brilliant juxtaposition.)
• "Knoxville. Naturally." (Knoxville is now a name brand laxative?)

Going back another century, Parson Brownlow, pro-Union publisher of the Knoxville Whig, had two slogans for the masthead of his paper: "Cry Aloud and Spare Not," and "Independent in All Things, Neutral in Nothing." These two are just as apt today in Knoxville and Knox County's heated political climate.

Such thoughts reminded me of a conversation I had a few years ago with someone from the State Economic Development Office.

"Memphis is Eeyore," this official described to me. "Woe is Memphis, the sky is falling."

"Nashville, however, is Tigger. Nothing but blue sky in Nashville."

"What about Knoxville?" I asked.

"Knoxville is Pooh," the person continued. "This is my honey pot. You get your own damn honey pot."

"Perfect. Captures the essence, doesn't it?"

"Yep."

Knoxville. Get Your Own Damn Honey Pot.

or

Knoxville. Full of Poohs.