I did a Google image search of “Atlanta 4th of July” and this was my favorite find.
(via)
Happy Independence Day!
These three days are not just a long weekend devoted blowing off fingers in celebration of our nation’s independence from an oppressive empire; it’s ATLANTA BEAR FEST! Don’t worry, it’s nothing to be frightened of, according to this recent article in the AJC:
Bears are on the move in north Georgia. A number of bear-related incidents have been reported in the past few weeks and months, including two on Thursday.
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“We have a healthy, growing, really thriving bear population in Georgia and north Georgia in particular,” Hammond said. “We’re seeing bears in places where we haven’t seen them in some time.”
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Some simple precautions Hammond suggests individuals take include never feeding a bear, respecting bear cubs and minimizing the amount of garbage, pet food and bird food kept outside.
Did you get that? RESPECT THE CUBS.
(I know, I know – it’s difficult not to be redundant when we’re over on Twitter and here.)
Previously: Community calendar
I can’t tell if Urban Outfitters had something to do with this street art or not. 
Poncey-Highland
You guys, let’s get real about our roots. Atlanta has not always been the wholesome, safe hometown we love and respect. There was once a tainted time in our genteel city before the Clermont Lounge, before the Ying-Yang Twins, before the basement dungeon at the Atlanta Eagle – this was a long, long time ago, but it existed nevertheless.
The other day I discovered (on what appears to be the blog of the Wigwam building) this excerpt from the 1889 tome History of Atlanta by Wallace P. Reed:
East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia is the railroad company that in the very late 19th century became Southern Railway and eventually Norfolk Southern. These shops were later known as the Pegram Shops. Snake Nation is now Castleberry Hill, but lives on as the name of the neighborhood’s kickball team.
More on this area from the DeKalb Sheriff’s website:
By 1851, two sections of Atlanta, known as Murrel’s Row and Snake Nation, inhabited by the criminal element, had grown in size and reputation. The first Atlanta jail was not very suitable. Prisoners would either dig their way out, or wait until enough people had been incarcerated, at which time they would simply turn the structure over, and crawl out. It was in this year that law abiding citizens started their own war against crime, and completely destroyed Murrel’s Row and Snake Nation, scattering their inhabitants.
“Murrel’s Row?” (Also spelled Murrell’s Row.) “What’s that?” you ask. From Archival Atlanta:
read more…
1) Go to Pasaquan in Buena Vista, Georgia. What’s a Pasaquan, you ask? Let me tell you about a little blog known as “Pecanne Log” where a blogger named “Christa” talked about it once.
2) Get back to Atlanta in time to attend Sacred Geometry Atlanta’s Occult Origins of America Block Party. You can dress up like extras in the History Channel’s Aliens, Illuminati, and Our Founding Fathers special, or just draw golden spirals on your Peachtree Road Race t-shirt.
This looks cosmic! And proceeds benefit WonderRoot.
Speaking of hidden secrets, I read Terminal Station with great interest to see that the old Masonic lodge on Moreland is up for redevelopment. (Photo here.) It has always been a dream of mine to buy that lodge, the Castle by Woodruff Arts Center, or the Kriegshaber House, also known as the decaying mansion further up on Moreland by DeKalb Avenue. You know, this one: read more…
This Saturday is the fourth of July, just in case you haven’t been paying attention. It’s always kind of agonizing trying to decide where to go to watch the fireworks, especially if you are like me and can’t decide whether or not you should subject your toddler to a way late bed time and possibly terrifying experience in the name of tradition. While weighing the pros and cons of picking the perfect spot to set up a blanket, eat some watermelon and see whether or not an 18 month old is really of the fireworks age, I have been trying to at least decide where we should go if we do go. When I was in high school and still living off my parents, we would get a hotel room in the Embassy Suites in Centennial Park, and you could see the Lenox and Centennial fireworks from the roof. Too bad I was too embarrassed by my parents and my suburban-ness to really appreciate those trips. Now I’m way too broke to stay in the Embassy Suites. Some of our other spots have included random parking lots of random shops on Peachtree near Lenox Mall where other fireworks-watchers have created their own tailgating parties. Fun, but a little bit of a bummer when you watch people peeing in bushes right before climbing behind the wheel to drive home. Most recently, I went to the Decatur Square display, but watched from one of the church lawns. I was pregnant and all of the children running around with glow sticks warmed my heart. In my research, I found (of course) the Access Atlanta “Best of the Big A!” official fireworks venue winner. Apparently Stone Mountain won by a slight margin. Lenox Mall’s fireworks were a close second. They also list their top 5 picks for best venues, as well as reader picks. My favorite aspect of the review is all of the creative ways that the author picked to say “watch fireworks.” Seriously. My favorite phrase is in reference to the “pyrotechnical treat” at Lenox Mall. Well played Shane Harrison. Well played. BUT, I do seriously wonder if they really think that the ASO 4th of July All-American Celebration is the fifth best place to go, or if they were just trying to seem fancy.
For more good times, make sure you check the reader comments on the winner announcement page. There are some golden responses, like this one from David, who is clearly right off of the Straight Talk Express:
Roswell High School, no music, no pre show. Bring some Popeye’s … enjoy your family and friends … then it gets dark and there’s fireworks. Simple.
I’m sold. Thanks David. But just in case some other readers aren’t, does anyone else have any good suggestions?
I don’t know how many people out there need to reregister your cars this month, but I am pretty bummed that I just shelled out $34 for a new license plate in Dekalb County. ’Why?’ you ask. Well, the Georgia Aquarium just announced the new design for Georgia Aquarium license plates. Damn you, Miles Cline, and your winnings!
Miles Cline was the lucky grand prize winner of our random drawing, winning a trip for two to Marineland for a day of dolphin programs and encounters!
If you are lucky enough to have a birthday that falls after the cursed month of June, you can buy your awesome license plate here.
Y’all, we are doing Twitter. Mostly because the pressure of writing long and engaging posts became all too crushing, leading to a deafening silence on this blog, slowly leading to the realization that no on in Atlanta actually reads blogs anymore, just Twitter. So “follow” us, won’t you?
Don’t worry! We’re still hanging out here at the old URL we paid good money for! We’re just trying to fit in.
Our very own Gomorrah has recently joined the ranks of Top Design and HDTV shows everywhere. The Clermont Lounge’s design contest, which began yesterday, is now in full swing and will continue through the deadline of July 22nd. So, any of you with artistic inklings of any sort (”designers, architects, students, creative geniuses, butlers, bell boys, photographers, tourists, bartenders, dancers and engineers” requested specifically) get to crackin’! Grand Prize for the redesign of the lobby and guest rooms in the hotel wins a weekend stay at the Clermont (Let’s hope this is post-redesign, otherwise plan on bringing your hazmat suit), a whopping $1,000 (Good), and a year supply of Whynatte (Is this the purple drank of latte’s?). Second place get’s a not quite as awesome prize of a tall boy and a lap dance. So far, I am a big fan of Creative Loafing’s design suggestion of emulating the infamous Chelsea Hotel.
A while back we showed Very Small Array’s map of Craigslist’s top Missed Connection locations by state and marveled that Georgia’s is L.A. Fitness. But later, VSA shed some light on that ranking when she broke down the missed connections by gender seeking gender, and that explained a lot. The top spot for M4W and W4M was, of course, Wal-Mart. It’s the South, duh. The most frequent missed connection location for W4W was the Botanical Gardens. And M4M? L.A. Fitness! There must have been a lot of L.A. Fitness missed connections to drown out the star-crossed Wal-Mart lovers!
And I’m pretty sure 95% of those L.A. Fitness M4M missed connections are coming from the Ansley Mall location. I was unaware of this phenomenon till one Saturday I was dining at that sandwich shop at Ansley and saw some serious, serious mesh-swathed cruising going on between the gym and the Starbucks. I can’t believe Vice overlooked that spot in its “How to Get Laid By a Man (If You Are Also A Man)” but I guess they were primarily focusing on the Cheshire Bridge area.
Anyway, this is how overt L.A. Fitness is about its status as a hook-up destination! I actually saw this with my own camera phone.
Make sure if you do go to L.A. Fitness this summer you’re fully decked out in attire from The Boy Next Door! The theme in their window display right now is “SWIM MEAT.”
Previously: Mapping what just wasn’t meant to be
What? Are these pictures real? Were this hardboiled detective and streetwise gumshoe watching Chinatown or The Maltese Falcon when they got called by the no-nonsense police chief to investigate the park stabbing? The plot twist is that someone at the top of City Hall is behind the murders. I hope the corrupt district attorney doesn’t get involved!
(Obviously I am making a joke about panama hats, not the actual gruesome crime. Photos via AJC)
The documentary Valentino: The Last Emperor is playing a limited engagement in Atlanta starting tomorrow at Tara. I have it on good authority (the film’s website) that director and Vanity Fair special correspondent Matt Tyrnauer will be holding Q&A sessions after Friday’s 7:15 p.m. screening as well as following all the Saturday shows. You can see the trailer here.
Miss Darrow will probably be in attendance at all showings with a million questions about what it’s like to travel with Valentino’s half-dozen pugs.
Additionally, Anvil! The Story of Anvil, also a documentary, opens tomorrow at Midtown Art Cinema. I had the opportunity to see it last weekend and it is so good – hilarious and human and sad and redeeming. To top off how endearing the film is, Lips and Robb from the band Anvil will actually be there opening night!
According to the theater: Steve “Lips” Kudlow and Robb Reiner of the band ANVIL will be at the Midtown on Friday, 5/22 for a Q&A following the 7:55pm showing. They will perform following the 10:05pm show. Anyone who has purchased a ticket for the 10:05 show will be allowed to remain for the performance. Do not miss this! These guys are incredible! Then go thrash at the Highlander afterward.
Why wasn’t this home featured on the Modern Atlanta home tour last weekend? Because it is in Snellville? Racist. Speaking of racist, did the AJC just describe the home as “Bollywood chic” because the family who lives there is from India? The house is more like “Less Than Zero chic.” Anyway, you have to see this photo gallery in AJC’s usually boring “Private Quarters” feature. But this time: prepare to have your mind blown by the Chunaras’ $100,000 worth of decor. I have never been inside Huff Furniture on Peachtree, but this is basically what I imagined.
I’m going to go watch Designing Women now.
Previously: The best “My Style” ever
Hear, hear! Congratulations to Thomas Wheatley for winning a Pultizer Prize for his coverage of Saxby’s fake victory party in 2008!
Well, almost. He is actually a finalist for an Association of Alternative Newsweeklies award for his feature story “Sober.” Here’s to hoping the AAN doesn’t fold before Thomas gets to put on his finest L.L.Bean corduroy blazer and accept the honor! We are so proud!
Previously: War and Peace
I’m sure there is some sort of visual metaphor for the human condition that can be found in this photograph, but instead I’m just going to say I want to add this to the hypothetical downtown parking garage tour as an example of freakish things that grow when both parking decks and Trees Atlanta have too much power.
Previously: The wonders of Atlanta’s parking decks
We ordered these sweet little website cards from Avie Designs in Decatur. Here’s Avis’ Etsy store and blog if you want to see more. Not sure what we’ll actually do with these cards yet (give them out???) but they were super inexpensive, arrived really quickly, and came in cute packaging so they were, you know, a perfect impulse purchase!
There is no place in this city like Le Maison Rouge at Paris on Ponce that will work with you so closely to customize your special event in ways you never dreamed possible. Their primary form of artistic expression in event design is through buffet decor. For example, you want to have a hockey themed shrimp cocktail table?
DONE.
You want a skeleton playing an enchanted organ for your first dance? read more…
While everyone has been carrying on about Ashton Kutcher is “ding dong dicking” everyone, I have not been able to stop wondering where Tom Selleck has been in all of this. While Ashton has been busy showing off how many Twitter friends he has, Tom Selleck has been hovering in the background with aging heartthrobs all over Atlanta.
Filming for their Five Killers movie has been going on all over Atlanta in various office buildings for weeks now but still there is no sign of Magnum outside of reruns on A&E. Has anyone seen him?
Y’all, Modern Atlanta, y’all! I think Modern Atlanta is doing some of the coolest stuff in town, along with Pecha Kucha and Brunks on Dikes.
TODAY is the kick-off party for their annual week of design-y type events (this year’s theme: “Design is Human”). This weekend is the home tour, which everyone should attend because it will teach you that neighborhoods should not implement design guidelines because modern architecture is awesome and NIMBYs have no place telling people they can’t build beautiful eco-friendly homes. You can gaze in envy at some of the homes on the MA Flickr page. There’s still time to rush to Octane and buy tickets ($25 for students!) that will get you into the party and the home tour. I understand there is some sort of “interactive exhibit” at the kick-off party that I suspect will be sexual in nature, so you don’t want to miss that.
There are other events that are free, so study the lineup and try to at least send yourself on the PoMo tour.
I was talking with someone the other day about where in Atlanta we would take a group on an urban hike, and we decided a tour of Downtown Atlanta’s parking garages would be the best learning experience we could possibly facilitate.
The highlights of the tour would be:
1. Robert Wyland’s Whaling Wall parking garage at Underground Atlanta that contains the Western and Atlantic railroads’ zero milepost (the spot which basically invented Atlanta).
2. Kell Hall at Georgia State University, which was a parking garage in the 1930s and now houses many of the various science departments. There are not many stairs in the building, just ramps and ramps and ramps from one story to the next. Incidentally, Kell is extremely handicap accessible.
3. That parking garage on Marietta Street at Cone Street, across from the State Bar and AJC buildings. It looks like a giant dog kennel (seen above).
4. The “Greek temple” garage on Ellis Street.
There were more we discussed, especially some creepy ones, but now I can’t remember them all. Here’s a map of every single parking garage downtown, thanks to CAP, if you want to do a self-guided tour. I’ll spend all summer researching and we can wander around Decatur Street in sweltering August, the best time to be Downtown.
