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Costume contest

20 Sep

I am so pumped. Halloween is almost here and just in time for Orson’s 1st Birthday (November 5th). I have started scouting out all of the Halloween costume contests he is going to be entered in, as well as planning his costume birthday party. For everyone else out there who thinks that their dog has a chance of beating my pug in being the cutest dog in Atlanta here are some of the places you can come to step up to the challenge:

The Reindog Parade at the Botanical Gardens on December 6th. Dogs adorned in holiday attire get to duke it out in the costume contest. The entry fee is a mere $10 compared to the lifetime of achievement they will feel walking across the stage with pride. The contest is from 11 to 1. I should warn you now, Orson is going to have the best costume for this event. My little black nugget will be appearing as a lump of coal in a stocking. You have to sign up for this one by October 1st.

Park Grounds is hosting the Urban Pug Halloween Party October 18th at 10 a.m. Although pugs will be the preferred breed here, I am sure if they have a sibling who is not of the chosen dogs they will still let you in.

The Little 5 Points Halloween Festival and Parade is going to have a parade and costume judging October 18th. I think this may be the day for Orson’s Darth Vader costume to come alive, although I have several other options as well.

Orson cannot be beat.



Previously: Pug people

EAV Strut

20 Sep

Don’t forget to go to the East Atlanta Strut today! It started 15 minutes ago and is going until 10 p.m.

Through the looking glass

19 Sep

Hackneyed phrases such as “so much to do, so little time” kept coming to mind as I was flipping through the Atlanta Celebrates Photography Festival Guide today. Thanks to the addition of new Executive Director Amy Miller to the organization and growth in participation, this year’s annual celebration of photography is serving up an overwhelming number of amazing events and exhibitions. There seriously is SO much worthwhile to see this year, that I do not even know where to begin.

Man of the People" Photographs by Peter Magubane at Spruill Gallery

One trend that seems to be popping up this year is a number of exhibitions focusing on civil rights struggles. The High Museum has the outstanding “Road to Freedom” exhibition up right now. The show is completely worth going to and is the result of years worth of compiling of photographs by the High Museum Photography curator, Julian Cox. The Woodruff Arts Center will be hosting a lecture to supplement this exhibit Thursday, October 2nd from 7 to 8.30 p.m at the Rich Theater. While you are there, also take a look at their additional civil rights exhibit, “After 1968: Contemporary Artists and the Civil Rights Legacy.” In this same vein is the “Nelson Mandela: Man of the People” exhibit at Spruill Gallery. This show of photographs by Dr. Peter Magubane depict South Africa pre and post-apartheid. And, if you come see this one I can give you your own personal tour of the show. The exhibit will be up through November 8th.

Spelman Museum Director Andrea Barnwell Browlee and curator Lisa Kurzner will be hosting a Public Art Artist’s Talk at the water tower at Auburn Avenue and Irwin Street on Saturday, October 4th from 7 to 9 p.m. The talk will be discussing public art and social advocacy in the context of a video installation by Bradley McCallum and Jacqueline Tarry. This has been a topic of increasing interest and importance in Atlanta over the last year, so this may be one to attend if you like that kinda stuff. Also, if you are interested in Atlanta goings on of that nature, Barbara Archer Gallery is featuring an exhibit, “Picturing the Beltline” with works by Mary Truett, which opens October 9th from 7 to 9 p.m.

At Eyedrum tomorrow night, Jonathan Bouknight, the man behind the much loved Local Ephemera blog, is having an opening for a new series, “Catch-as-Catch-Can.” You will kick yourself if you do not come to this. The opening is tomorrow night from 6 to 9 p.m.

Other shows of note:

“Hello Liberty” at Dalton Gallery with works by some of my favorites, Mario Petrirena, Hope HIlton, and Suellen Parker. The opening reception is Wednesday the 24th from 6 to 9 p.m.

“Martha Rosler: Bringing the War Home” at Emory which runs through October 11th.

“You Ain’t Wrong” by William Boling at Hagedorn Foundation Gallery. Runs through October 3rd.

“Steal this Art Show” put on by Click Clique at Mint Gallery. Opens October 4th.

Danielle Roney’s Working Artist Project opens at MOCA GA October 4th as well.

Mary Stanley Studio at Castleberry Hill. Her shows are always a huge party and extremely fun. And…. you can see a photo of me done by Laura Noel, says the shameless self-promoter.

Treasure hunting

5 Sep

I had grand plans about interviewing my BF about the new used record store Criminal Records is opening around the corner from their current spot in Little Five Points, but he seemed less than excited about the prospect. Besides, does anyone really enjoy reading interviews anyways? The only real question I had was whether or not the new store would also have the counter three feet higher than their customers. Thankfully Manager Adam at Criminal has assured me that I will no longer have to feel even more vertically challenged during my visits to the new store.

The new Criminal store is slated to be open sometime before Halloween, so if all goes as planned you will have plenty of time to get your Christmas and Hanukkah shopping done well in advance. I know they have been going around to a lot of estates and private collections to do the buying for the store, and the claim so far is that there is “some good shit.” The new space will consist of everything from the current location plus more of a focus on premium used vinyl. To quote Adam: “We also believe the new location will provide our customers with a more comfortable, less-claustrophobic, more-inviting shopping experience.” The new space is going to be just around the corner, right around Stefan’s and Lucky Devil. Once the new space is open, the current Criminal is going to be used for graphic novels and comics exclusively. Think Bizarro Criminal.

Until then, for those of you anxiously awaiting crates of records to flip through, October 11th at the Little Five Points Community Center, Criminal will be hosting The Little 5 Points Vinyl Harvest. It starts at Noon and goes until they run out of steam. Admission is a mere $2 and for that you get tons of vendors, DJs, beer, food, and good times a-plenty! Excellent opportunity to pick up some new records and hang out with your fellow vinyl nerds.

Glitter is the herpes of craft supplies.

4 Sep

The monthly joy of the Indie Craft Experience is back! Tonight as a matter of fact. No longer do you have to wait for the Centennial Park and B-Complex festivals to fulfill your crafting needs. Tonight they have a line-up of 13 vendors at the new Youngblood Gallery and Boutique on North Highland Avenue including one of my favorites, Glue and Glitter. While you are there, also make a point to check out Linda Hall’s exhibit that is up in the gallery right now. 

Linda Hall

Linda Hall

Womaned

29 Aug

Because you can never have too many posts on Hollis Gillespie (I count this fifth on Pecanne Log in the last six months), or the Decatur Book Festival for that matter, I thought that everyone who has succumbed to Gillespie’s girl-crushability, or just crushability will be excited to know that she will be womaning a kissing booth at Twain’s tomorrow night at 6 p.m. for the Writers Conference Happy Hour of the Decatur Book Festival.

In other Hollis news, her first book, Bleachy-Haired Honky Bitch is being turned into a TV series. And a legit TV series at that: Accoring to NPR this morning, Paramount has the rights to the books and has cast Laura Dern to play Hollis. I only hope Laura can live up to the job. I don’t have any other information on a timeline or channel to expect this, but I will try and keep an open ear/eye.

The Death Beat

26 Aug

This weekend the Decatur Book Festival returns. Last year I was left with a bit of a sour taste in my mouth after an unfortunate Kinky Friedman lecture, but after looking at this year’s lineup I am willing to give it a second chance.

One of the Writer’s Conference workshops that will take place on Friday will be hosted by our own award-winning obituary writer, Doyenne of the Death Beat, Kay Powell. The title for her talk, “Bye, Y’all”, which I am guessing will only be a sliver of the morbid hysterics that will ensue. Since I cannot relay any anecdotes or lists euphamisms for death yet, I am going to instead provide you with a taste of what is to come with a Kay Powell obituary.

Kay with her International Hall of Obituarists Award.

Kay with her International Hall of Obituarists Award.

A step into Don Salo’s basement was a step into a movie theater lobby draped in dark blue curtains and complete with a marquee, a ticket booth and a bar with a popcorn machine.

Part those deep blue curtains, plop down in one of the four theater seats or on the leather couch and choose among 400 movie DVDs and countless music CDs.

“It was all computerized,” said his friend Andy Smith of Buckhead who helped Mr. Salo build his high-tech media room. “You just push a button and the lights dim, the curtain opens, and the movie begins. If you were watching ‘Top Gun,’ you thought you were sitting on the top deck of the aircraft carrier.”

Mr. Salo, an IBM retiree who founded his own security- alarm business, favored action movies but included such sentimental favorites as “The Sound of Music” in his video library, too.

The home theater was just one of Mr. Salo’s toys that he shared with his friends and his son, Eric Salo, of Sandy Springs. He wanted others to enjoy their play, and in 1995 donated the money to install lights at the Riverwood High School athletic field. Taking it a step further, Mr. Salo qualified for a school bus driver’s license so he could drive his son’s baseball team around, Mr. Smith said.

“He was one of the cheapest guys I knew but also one of the most generous,” said his friend Frank Bellavia of Atlanta. “If it was for a friend or his family, he spared no expense. He was super frugal, but when one of his employee’s wife needed an operation they couldn’t afford, Don just gave him the money.”

The memorial service for Donald Roy Salo, 62, will be 2 p.m. Friday at H.M. Patterson & Son, Arlington Chapel. The body will be cremated. He died of a blood clot Aug. 15. He had just finished jogging and was in the driveway of his Sandy Springs residence sending a text message when he collapsed, said his sister, Nancy Clayton of Austin, Texas.

You can learn how to do THIS Friday, August 29th at 4 p.m. at Agnes Scott College.

A request

21 Aug

Dear Readers,

Some days I find it extremely difficult to suppress my inner yuppie. Today is one of those days. One of the few budget splurges that I occassionally allow myself is a pedicure at my Nail Worldesque location in the Georgia Tech Village. I have no clue what the name of this haven of nail polish remover and small Asian women who laugh at me when I accidentally get ticklish during the foot massage portion of the pedicure, but believe you me, somewhere off of Spring Street around 3rd or 5th Street is a mecca of delights. Now, I do not believe that an affinity for pedicures is enough to spawn my yuppie comment, but when you throw in a desire for a glass of white wine to accompany your foot treatment you are walking on thin ice. Surely, somewhere in Atlanta there has to be somewhere that merges the two. I was informed that indeed this does exist, and is called a “beauty bar,” but I have not the slightest clue where one in Atlanta exists. All of my leads have proven to be dead ends. Does anyone know of somewhere that accomodate all of my needs? A trip to Mac’s pre-pedicure just seems a little more gauche than I am willing to go. Please let me know of any suggestions you may have before 5 p.m. today.

Thanks!

Susannah

The Last Supper

29 Jul

One of my favorite past times would, hands down, have to be contemplating what my last meal would be if I were about to face execution. The list usually ranges from Bi Bim Bop to mac n’ cheese to beets. It would be obscene. The Dead Man Walking blog that reports the last meals of prisoners around the country is admittedly somewhat morbid but enticing none the less. This morning I woke with an unshakable desire for some Harold’s. I have not been able to stop thinking about the delicious Brunswick stew that you can stick a fork in and not have it fall over washed down with a glass of the sweet tea. Just typing that out has caused me to start salivating again.

The owner of Harold’s has to be one of the most sinister people imaginable. Not really. I am sure that they are incredibly wonderful human beings, but putting a barbeque joint within blocks of the State Pen to remind prisoners what they are missing everyday. Maybe it is brilliant actually. It has to be somewhat equivalent to the kind of torture Dante was thinking about when he described Inferno. I cannot even conceive how long the list of prisoners who have had the smell the delicious aroma of Harold’s wafting into the yard everyday request Harold’s for their last meal. I have been trying to find some document to share that will show how many last meals are requested from Harold’s. Certainly Harold’s has to be one of the most requested last meals. Come to think of it, I can even recall someone telling me that it is in fact. However, nothing is coming up to confirm my suspisions.

I think I am going to have to add Harold’s to my last meal list.

This is why we’re HOT

13 Jul

Apparently, 40,000 New Yorkers have moved to Atlanta in the last five years, according to an article in the New York Sun. Although, based on this article, I am a little confused as to what they were moving for:

Differences like that make some transplants disdainful of their new address 900 miles south.

“Atlanta is a second-tier city,” Jessica Harlan, 36, who relocated two years ago, said. “New York is cooler and more exciting in every respect.”

New Yorkers may even take exception to the way Georgians speak. Their drawl, and expressions like “y’all” and “bless her heart,” grate on some newcomers.

“If my kids have a Southern accent, I will kill myself,” Brooklyn native Jodi Fleisig, an Atlanta resident since 1998, said. Ms. Fleisig said she tends to socialize with ex-New Yorkers, and finds inviting Southerners to lunch can be troublesome.

“Being Southern means you wait for someone to finish a sentence,” she said. “We talk really fast. They can’t get a word in edgewise.”

Chock full of glitter and doom

16 May

In my posession right now, I hold a ticket to see Tom Waits on July 5th at the Fox. Granted, not the ideal location, as my ticket was $82.50 for upper balcony, but hey I’ll take what I can get. When I mentioned this to my boss, a devout Tom Waits fan she started screaming fanatically in the phone and then hung up on me (I’m guessing to order her own tickets). So, for all of those who share our love, you better get on Ticketmaster now. You probably should have before even reading the rest of this post if you want a ticket. Anyways, hopefully you won’t suffer the same fate I did with his show at Tabernacle on his last tour through Atlanta. I was five minutes after the tickets sold out. In 3 minutes or something ridiculous. I missed Waits’ crazy banter once, but I will NOT again.

I am going to have Fishing with John to prepare myself for fish stuffing pants goodness that I anticipate will be this show.

Show & Tell

14 May

Show & Tell is this Sunday at Eyedrum from 1 to 6 p.m. Show & Tell is an opportunity for artists to meet and present work to members of the Eyedrum Art Committee. This event is considered an alternative to submitting a formal proposal for a show, and artists who participate will be considered for future art exhibits at Eyedrum. Many artists who have attended previous Show & Tells were awarded solo shows in our Small Gallery. Others are being considered for group exhibits. All you have to do is bring in your work and talk about it. If you are shy, don’t even fret: you will only be talking to one person at a time, and I promise we are not intimidating in the slightest. You probably made fun of us in high school.

 

 

I <3 Public Access

26 Apr

For all of you that couldn’t quite get behind Ms Tyler and her vagina power, I hope this will bring tears to your eyes. Make sure to pay attention when Eli tries to rhyme something with cripple.

Now you can’t say you have nothing to do tonight.

26 Apr

Tonight Beep Beep Gallery is having the opening reception for Zarlacc and Harrison Keys from 8-11 p.m. Their pen and ink drawings have a distinctly doodlesque aesthetic, but with a hint of mature nods to the graphic novel greats.

On the Dekalb Avenue side of the Cabbagetown Krog Street Bridge there will be a one hour exhibition tonight. It might be cut short if the authorities arrive, but stop by between 11 and 12 if you are in the neighborhood.

Tonight is also the closing reception for Sopo’s Bike Frame Show. If you haven’t seen the custom painted frames yet, this could give you some ideas for how to pimp your fixed gear.

Foundation One Gallery is having an opening for Groundwork II. This will be the last opportunity to see an exhibit in the current space on East College Avenue. Groundwork II will feature over 60 works by more than 30 emerging artists.

Last but not least, Mint Gallery is having their Yart Sale today. Great opportunity to get some cheap work by local artists who are cleaning out their studios. One man’s flop is anothers masterpiece, or something like that. The sale will be going until 3pm today, so you still have 4 hours to make it out.

Butterfly Ball 2K8

26 Apr

Well, last night was my first experience with the Inman Park tradition of the Butterfly Ball, which kicks off the Inman Park Festival. From what I could tell, the Ball is yet another great seasonal excuse for our parents to get plastered and know that they can stumble home through the closed streets after dancing to ‘Ride, Sally Ride’ without fear of being hit by a car. I must say that I was a bit sad for them when I realized that the (most glorious vision ever conceived) corn dog stations were totally set-up and ready for the masses, but sadly closed at the late hour. I know that on nights when I crawl home from East Atlanta, I would love nothing more than for there to be a corn dog stand on the way. Isn’t that why JB’s always did so well in Athens?

The Butterfly Ball is really the prime people watching location for people like myself who aren’t much for dancing (unless HEAVILY intoxicated), and arrive at the tail end of the night. Here are my notes:

  • People are walking around to each table checking to make sure that every bottle has been drained. If not, they are bottoms-upping even half full bottles of wine.
  • The outfits are incredible. There are several elaborate hats. One woman has pirate sleeves that she is making a point to gesture at everyone in her vicinity. I have come to the conclusion that despite whatever the demographic is, in Atlanta every formal affair there will be bow ties. Lots of them. (more…)

Tugging at my heart strings

24 Apr

There is nothing I dislike more than people toying with my emotions. I do not appreciate getting emails from people misleading me to think that Kara Walker, the artistic apple of my eye, is coming to Atlanta tomorrow for a workshop. Apparently, Spelman College is hosting artlure 2008: Reinventing the Reel tomorrow from 6-9pm at the Camille Olivia Hanks Academic Center. The email was titled, “See how Kara Walker does it,” but only is referring to the silhouette workshop being offered. Jipped, I am.

Pug people

21 Apr

I will be the first to admit that I am way too into my pug. I like to entertain the idea of recording dedication albums to him (it will be titled, “It Takes a Pug” and will feature my vocal stylings with guest spots from various people in his life), buy him new toys every week, gush to other pug owners about how pugs are the superior breed. It is a disease. In the same way that cat people can have that uncomfortable creepy vibe when you walk into their house and there are 30 cats cuddled on a embroidered blanket with all of their faces on it, when you walk into my house the first thing you will see is Orson’s plush headquarters, which boast a bed nicer then my own, piles of toys, a pillow oasis. You get the point.

I take comfort at least in knowing that I am not alone. Not by a long shot. For the other Atlanta pug enthusiasts, this Saturday (May 3rd), The Atlanta Pug Meet-Up at Piedmont Park will be taking place at 10 a.m. The meet-ups (from what I understand) are slightly obscene displays of pug love.

Previously: Orson lost a tooth!

You’re getting a Dell for Christmas

19 Apr

Totally met this guy at The Local last night. I think he was doing body shots off of someone. I’m pretty sure that made me not want a Dell for Christmas. “Steve” is now playing murderers on Law and Order now. And he wants a Mac. We should call Steve Jobs and see if he’ll give the guy one.

My online crush has returned!

18 Apr

And I didn’t even know it until this morning when I was bored at work and scrolling through old Pecanne Log posts. The Plug(!!!!) a.k.a. the greatest online zine possibly ever. About two years ago, Jay Carlson (the most adorable man I have ever met in my life) brought the endeavor to a halt out of fear that he had peaked and could not out-do himself further. Apparently he is back, and has been! My boredom at work has officially ceased now. I interviewed Jay for my zine, I Swallowed A Fly, that I put out in Athens forever and a few of years ago and it was one of the best interviews of my life. Sweet peppermint tea drinking Jay. I remember it like it was yesterday. Memories of the candy eating to find the best candy ever (and Jason loosing his mind) and interviews with surly grocery store employees are coming back to me in a flood. Great news!

The worst news ever:

17 Apr

The Clermont Lounge is for sale. What am I supposed to do on Wednesday nights when the MJQ hipsters have taken over The Local? Where else am I supposed to find as glorious of a dive bar as the Clermont Lounge provided me this side of Peachtree? And most importantly, what is Blondie going to do?

CL broke the news today. Time to go cry.

UPDATE: The owners are just looking for investors, not buyers, for the Clermont Hotel. Fresh Loaf explains it.

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