Archive | January, 2009

Did you know?

28 Jan

Two things I’ve learned this week (and it’s only Wednesday):

Sunday was Scottish poet Robert Burns’ 250th birthday, so WRFG’s Celtic Show was playing some Burns ditties in tribute to the man. Then, two men from the Burns Club Atlanta came on to discuss the grand semiquincentennial celebratory activities for their beloved poet and the Burns Cottage of Atlanta. I did not know that Atlanta (Ormewood, specifically) in fact has an exact replica of Robert Burns’ childhood home, one of the very few in the world. Don’t worry if you missed out on Sunday’s festivities because there are apparently a whole year’s worth planned for 2009 (if you are a member of the private club)! After all, as the DJ pointed out, “It’s not every year that your hero turns 250.”

Another nuance of the city that slipped past my radar until now is the rumor of “cultlike behavior” at Your DeKalb Farmers Market. My professor mentioned this in class, and added that they adhere to some sort of management strategy that some workers are thinkers and some are doers. Those in either camp are labeled by a black or white dot on their nametags so that the thinkers can always be paired with a doer to accomplish a task, ensuring the best of both worlds will be applied. I think I recall some dots on the YDFM nametags, but I am usually more preoccupied by the list of languages each employee can speak. Insisting on dividing your staff into thinkers or doers doesn’t really count as cultlike in my opinion, but I was able to find an article from 1989 about some New Age-y stuff going down over involving a set of practices called “the Forum” that does seem to tie some significance to thought and action in leadership.

Please feel free to leave other unsubstantiated gossip in the comments.

Trauma: Life on MARTA

27 Jan

A few weeks ago, I saw a BOLO flyer up on MARTA for a man who had apparently escaped from the V.A. hospital in Decatur wearing nothing but his hospital-issue nightgown and robe, waist-length dreads, and some white sneakers. The best part was that this man was born in 1918! 1918! Oh, and his middle name is Venus. Who was handing out the middle name Venus 90 years ago? If you see him, call the V.A. hospital police department.

If there’s one thing you can count on in Atlanta, it’s that if you are on a MARTA route that passes by a hospital you are going to see some chilling things at the hospital stop, especially in the mid-afternoon.

Today I saw a man get on the bus by the Atlanta Medical Center dressed in blue paper E.R. pajamas with wounds all over his face and a giant gauze bandage starting to peel off of his cheek.

This all goes to say: wash your hands after you take public transit.

Previously: This week in MARTA-themed remixes

January: What your neighbors are watching

27 Jan

I came face to face with one of the Netflix patrons who is possibly the reason that Atlanta’s local favorites are, well, the way they are. After observing Naked Boys Singing! hover at the top of the local favorites for the earlier half of last year, thanks to this person, I might finally get to watch it for myself now that everyone else in Atlanta already has and already moved on to A Good Man is Hard to Find (no relation to Flannery O’Connor).

- Back Soon: In the wake of his wife’s death, Logan (Windham Beacham) becomes fast friends with Gil (Matthew Montgomery). But after a drunken night together ends with the two straight men sharing a steamy bed, the two must reexamine their sexual identities as they forge a new relationship.
- Save Me: Mark (Chad Allen) is a young gay man who’s hit rock bottom. Gayle (Judith Light) and her husband, Ted (Stephen Lang), welcome him to Genesis House, a Christian haven for men like Mark to get on the right path — the straight path. When Mark’s mentor, Scott (Robert Gant), becomes too intimate, Gayle and Ted must face some uncomfortable realities. Only Mark and Scott know where their future lives will take them beyond Genesis House.

Previously: October: What your neighbors are watching

Give me what I want, WonderRoot

26 Jan

WonderRoot has tons of workshops announced for the next few months, instructing things like “winter cycling” and “Adobe Photoshop.” These topics are entirely unhelpful to me, WonderRoot. I want you to offer classes in the one thing I need to learn immediately: tap dancing. I really need an excuse to buy these.

This way, many years from now when our grandchildren ask us what it was like during those months of unemployment after we lost our jobs as tax attorneys and assistant visionary coordinators, we can honestly answer, “Hear tell, honey child, of when times were so hard during The Economic Recession of the Late Aughts that we couldn’t even watch Bromance on MTV.com because the next door neighbors, ‘TraceyFam5011,’ were foreclosed out of their own home and we couldn’t steal their wireless anymore. Fortified by nothing but Trader Joe’s breakfast soysage for protein and stockpiled Sparks for empty carbs, we entertained and warmed ourselves through those devastating 45 degree winter days the best way we knew how – gluing some bottlecaps to the soles of our Tigers, sewing together some brightly colored rags, and putting on a show down at the community center!”

What is wrong with the AJC?

21 Jan

No, seriously…what is wrong with them? I really want someone to explain it to me.

(via Wonkette)
If you want a newspaper with our ACTUAL CURRENT president on the front page, you will just have to buy one of these stupid-ass t-shirts, available in 3XL.

Made for prepaid

20 Jan

I had a whole love letter to MARTA brewing in my head this afternoon, but then I was left waiting for the bus for, I don’t know, 20 extra minutes to get home. I lost track of time because I was more preoccupied with watching the temperature drop from 25°F to 23° to 22° to 21° on the Five Points Coke sign than counting the minutes passing. Maybe when my face (and heart) thaw I will re-summon the favorable words I had for public transit and post it here.

But still, I can’t be in Five Points without noticing something amusing. Windy days whip up all the litter downtown and make it look even rougher, as you can see below in the photo where I noticed this (new?) sign for a V-Mobile store that perhaps was inspired by Crunch’s.

Previously: Five Points signage

Drum Major for Justice

19 Jan

It’s not too late in MLK Jr. Day to delight in this 1986 hit from the King Dream Chorus & Holiday Crew called “King Holiday” (via oceanchum). This superstar band includes Run DMC, New Edition, Whitney Houston’s spirit, Menudo, Lisa Lisa, &c. &c. in celebration of the first official federal holiday commemorating Dr. King and his service. Dexter Scott King does a little introduction to the song by taking some kids around the King Center. More background on “King Holiday” plus the lyrics can be found here.

This wasn’t the first MLK Day-related song – Stevie Wonder released the single “Happy Birthday” in 1981 to lobby for a national holiday on Dr. King’s birthday. Wikipedia informs me that Stevie Wonder also sang this song at the closing of the 1996 Olympics.

Oooh, and what other song was sung at the closing ceremony? HINT. Wait, is “The Power of the Dream“ about Olympic glory and Nike sponsorships or universal human rights and racial transcendence? Is Celine Dion (or her songwriters) more clever than I thought? You know what, I don’t want to know. Enjoy Ricky Martin in the above video.

Previously: “Welcome to Forsyth County – they don’t mean it.”

Celine Dion sucks…

18 Jan


…because she performed in Atlanta last night and did not sing “The Power of the Dream.” Does the IOC or Andrew Young or Izzy own the rights to this song so Celine isn’t allowed to perform it live anymore?

Photo stolen from AJC.com’s “Celine Dion wows Atlanta fans” gallery.

Previously: It is the power of the dream that brings us here

Ladies of fashion

18 Jan

On dull cold days like this, a good way to while away the minutes it takes for muffins to bake is jealously looking through Yokoo’s photos and Etsy store:

She sells wonderful cozy knits (crochets?) for the oppressive cold plus warm-weather-appropriate knitted things (like her famous chains), and she has inimitable style and an eye for nooks and crannies around Atlanta that make for great photos.

Also, check out Amy’s Ministry of Tiny Hats blog for more adorable style and all things miniature.

Previously: Ministry of Tiny Hats takes over the world, your heart

Free Kids’ Cooking School (pay attention, this thing is tomorrow)

9 Jan

For any of you Pecanne Log readers who have kids, this looks like a fun event!  And it gets you free admission to Imagine It! Children’s Museum, which is easily one of the coolest things to do with a little one in Atlanta.  The class is tomorrow from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at the children’s museum.  The event is being hosted by Clementines from Spain, so the recipes being taught will probably include these.  Mmmm, clementines.  Ceci Carmichael, who is a chef and a mom, will be leading the class.

To attend, you will need to RSVP to atlantacookingschool@webershandwick.com

Great Scott! Antique Market, that is.

9 Jan

Tomorrow is going to be another wretched rainy day, so why not make today the last time you watch Muppets’ Christmas Carol on VHS until next December and spend Saturday at the Scott Antique Market in the Atlanta Expo Center! And with this $1 off admission coupon and the assurance that “swearing, vulgarity and crass behavior is [sic] not tolerated,” you really can’t say no.

And to sweeten the deal, Top Design/Martha Stewart’s own Eddie Ross will be personally guiding tours around the antique mart this weekend to tell you what to buy (for a fee). Even though I love love love Eddie, Wisit is the only top designer I would pay to shop with because have you heard his golden operatic voice? (via Daily Candy)


Between Highland Row‘s sale on the first weekend of the month, Scott Antique Market on the second, and visits to Kudzu Antiques and Chamblee’s Antiques Row spread out over the remaining weekends, you could literally never buy a new item again for the rest of your life. I was introduced to Chamblee for the last week and was lucky enough to find a Georges Briard olive dish with a tiny gold serving fork on a chain attached to the dish at Antique Factory! It was truly one of my favorite vintage finds.

Coppertop News Network

9 Jan

Despite his seniority at Creative Loafing by virtue of attrition, Thomas Wheatley’s first real brush with fame was when Rick Sanchez cited him on Twitter and Facebook. But we all thought Thomas was officially Big Time after he was published in Next American City (circulation: 56, all city and regional planning grad students at UPenn). But then:
THE DR. SANJAY GUPTA. Does this mean Thomas may be tapped as Undersecretary of Diet Coke? Watch this space!

Oh and Thomas, this is our way of telling you we have your Gmail password. Whoops!

How to remember when stuff happens

8 Jan

If you don’t know what day it is, then you probably still haven’t gotten a 2009 calendar. That’s okay, because the Plug has helpfully crafted a month-by-month breakdown of our newest year complete with illustrations and notations of all the important dates of which we need be mindful – e.g. March 29, “Dress rehearsal for Halloween;” November 4, “Razzle Dazzle Day.” Miss Darrow is probably peeing in her pantaloons over this. Print it out, now, before the next national holiday!

The hiatus is over

7 Jan

I hadn’t seen these little guys since July and suddenly at some point in December they reappeared along North Highland Avenue.

(more…)

Let the spin-offs begin!

6 Jan

Remember how intrigued I was by NeNe’s friend Dwight on Real Housewives of Atlanta, and then I never watched the show again? (Although that could change this weekend.) Well, one of our favorite readers alerted me to Dwight’s “new reality show” about his salon Purple Door Salon that is so fancy and exclusive that there is a fountain in the middle of it. Here’s the trailer for Behind the Purple Door:

I have no idea if this will air on television (I am guessing no), but this is another indication that the stars and sub-stars of RHOA WILL NOT BE IGNORED.

Someone should do a reality show about Key Lime Pie because I bet that would be some crazy salon drama. When I used to go there, every stylist always looked like they were about to be fired. Sorry, but I don’t want to get my hair cut by a bunch of scared animals. I never had a bad cut but always felt like it was only a matter of time before a bang trim disaster.

Atlanta’s secret nightlife

6 Jan

See, the problem with Atlanta’s nightlife isn’t that there isn’t any, but that the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau and other hospitality agencies can’t talk about what is there – the pleasures that anonymous short-term businesspeople might like to enjoy under the cloak of darkness. For example, Flex, the gay bath house right behind the Georgia Tech conference center. How many out-of-town family men do you think pay a steamy visit to that pink shack behind their hotel room on an average weekend?

So Robb Pitts is on to something when he says Atlanta needs to amp up the vice. Why, we’ve metaphorically chased every last one of those wide-eyed strippers with big dreams who showed up in 1996 hoping to bank on Olympics fever with tar, feathers, and rusty pitchforks via all sorts of state and local laws and such, or at least the threat of passing such ordinances. And what about the ridiculously named Operation Hammer Time in free-for-all unincorporated DeKalb?

So Atlanta should keep doing what it’s good at, and do it out in the open, and just go ahead and legalize gambling, and maybe instead of having an inferiority complex to places like Manhattan and Los Angeles we can start looking down on Reno. This isn’t just about tourism money or getting more bodies into Kenny’s Alley on a Saturday night, it’s about self esteem!

By the way, Atlanta’s nightlife is cool, but I guess I don’t hang out where any douchey members of the American Society of Home Inspectors would want to party anyway.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 71 other followers