Archive | around town RSS feed for this section

Still life with meat

13 Mar

Simon Doonan and Barneys have nothing on the window dressers working Dowtown. And we’re not talking about the glorious old Rich’s at Christmastime. We mean the religious candle store, and now Park Place Bookstore on Decatur Street.

Park Place Bookstore enjoys a prominent spot on the stretch between most of the GSU classroom buildings and Five Points. The shop has not shied away from spectacle – a live iguana resided in one of the front windows for a while a few years ago – while still sticking to the traditional college used bookstore decor, like hand-written signs that say “LEAVE ALL BOOKBAGS AT COUNTER.”

The iguana’s home has since been vacated (including the branch it sat on and its heat lamp) leaving a blank, high-profile canvas for this retailer’s creative expressions.

What is the world the Park Place window dresser was trying to create when designing this scene meant to lure passers-by into the storefront? What is the imagined setting for this sad tableau that includes cut-out magazine photos of meat and a jar of peanuts?

Oh, now we see!

The modern past

10 Mar

Atlmalcontent re-posted these photos of the now-terrifying/awe-inspiring C&S bank on Moreland from DOCOMOMO. LOOK AT THEM ALL. (There are only three.)

Previously: Latest obsessions

The door to your dreams

28 Feb

Look what we turned up – an untagged/unlabeled photograph featuring the main entrance to Burt’s Place at the Omni International complex, circa 1980.

Via Jeff.Ford on Flickr

We’re all going to have to learn to deal with the fact that that marquee was a real thing! Maybe it’s archived at the Burt Reynolds and Friends Museum?

Previously: The swing of things at Burt’s Place

Window dressing

25 Feb

American Period Furniture on Ponce (right next door to Atlanta Furs) is a bit unassuming in its recognition of whatever the upcoming holiday is, but we can always count on the pair of giant plush teddy bears propped up on Chippendale chairs to be tastefully festive, even before the Midtown holiday house has wrapped the first strand of colored lights on their urns.

For Valentine’s Day, the bears were holding red satin stuffed hearts in their laps.

Previously: It’s Christmas time in the city

Torn apart by wolves

22 Feb

Does anyone else feel like this city is disintegrating before our very eyes? At least the ice-eating dirt and gravel on all our major thoroughfares finally washed away, leaving us looking a little less like San Salvador. But still, every vertical surface is getting tagged over in the sloppiest, stupidest graffiti yet! Are these guys even trying anymore? Blech!

Oh, and is anyone else anticipating the moment when we find out Catlanta is all just a campaign for Dove Urban Refreshing Essences Body Mist? I certainly am!

If you want to see truly topical street art, may I suggest:

Poncey-Highland

Old Fourth Ward

 

Viaduct mysteries exposed!

17 Feb

There’s another Unseen Underground tour next Saturday (February 26), plus two during the Phoenix Flies festival! You now have absolutely no excuse to miss it.

Seriously, move fast – these things fill up.

UPDATE: Tour guide Jeff Morrison’s email address is here; contact him directly if you want to reserve a spot on any of the walks.

Previously: The endangered marine life of Overground Atlanta

Mrs. Georgia 1968

10 Feb

The Mrs. Georgia pageant of 1968 was just like the Miss Georgia pageant of 1968, only with way more concealed arms and way more chafing dishes. SO MANY chafing dishes.

Lester Maddox gathered ’round Mrs. Augusta, Mrs. Atlanta, Mrs. Macon, Mrs. Savannah, Mrs. Golden Isles, Mrs. Rome, and Mrs. Athens to let the ladies show off how quickly and elegantly they could whip up an embellished cake and a chafing dish-based entree, design a unique place setting, and other wifely tasks – the winner taking home the title of Mrs. Georgia 1968.

Not to sound Episcopalian, but was anyone else a little disappointed by Mrs. Atlanta being such a show-off, cooking three things when everyone else just made two? I regret not getting the chance to see her tablescape, as only two or three place settings make the cut in the above clip. (more…)

There’s no place like P-Hut for the holidays

6 Feb

For those of you not acquainted with the greeting card aisle of this special Cheshire Bridge retailer, you have one week left to learn what’s up and surprise your valentine with a truly unique sentiment, captured on yellowing cardstock.

They add to the merchandise but never shift out the old stuff – it’s a treasure trove of campy cards that probably go back to Poster Hut’s inception (prices not adjusted for inflation, either). They carry a lot by one greeting card company called Aquavision that was made in Baltimore. If you see anything by this brand (all dated 1984), purchase it immediately!

2175 Cheshire Bridge Road

“Atlanta by car, 1991″

3 Feb

How does this video ONLY have 67 views on YouTube? And how did it take until now, in 2011, for us to discover the perfect freestyle keyboard music for cruising around Downtown and Midtown?

Oh, wait’ll you see this drive-by of the Margaret Mitchell house – the music is even better in this one than the last!

We really mean it!

Previously: Like a virgin

Destination Atlanta

24 Jan

Nowadays if you try to give your mom a surprise trip to Atlanta, she worries about Freaknik traffic until you agree to just meet her at the Panera at Mall of Georgia instead.

Pecanne Log’s Suburban Explorer

22 Jan

One thing that has been brought to our attention recently is HOW TERRIBLE IT IS TO FEEL LIKE A PRISONER IN YOUR OWN HOME. This is why Pecanne Log has created a new feature to help you get out of your house and see new things, anything, anything at all really, even if it means driving down Memorial Drive through unincorporated DeKalb, even if it means taking the interstate, even if it means going to a place that doesn’t even have its own website.

PECANNE LOG’S SUBURBAN EXPLORER

(more…)

Happy Holidays

24 Dec

"Santa + reindeer in Plaza Way - looking up at Kimball House" (December 4, 1951)

via the Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection at Indiana University

Caught on Street View

30 Nov

I mean, of course there is a man wandering across four lanes of moving traffic by Woodruff Park! I have neither the time nor patience to whiz through some of the major thoroughfares of the city on Google Maps, but I bet this kind of thing gets captured by the Street Viewmobile a lot considering the real-life frequency.

Previously: Google Freak View

It’s Christmas time in the city (…sort of)

29 Nov

What gives, Atlanta? I went cruising around this evening hoping to see some dazzling lit-up bungalows reflecting on the shiny wet streets (I mean, Thanksgiving is over, people!), but came home pretty empty-handed on Christmas inspiration. People get way more enthusiastic about Halloween decor in Atlanta than they do for Christmas, it sometimes seems, which could be a disappointment at the end of the year for those of us who love any excuse for staring at colored lights against the city night sky. (See also: crying at the BeltLine lantern parade; crying at Ten Thousand Points of Light.)

There’s one Midtown house, however, that I can always count on. (See also: Valentine’s Day; St. Patrick’s Day; Halloween.) Well, except for during Thanksgiving, which they ignored – I was in a sour mood all month because they took down the two-story spiderweb from Halloween and I had no idea WHAT season it was or WHICH holiday we were supposed to be anxiously anticipating until the gentlemen of the manor finally put out a dozen glowing red topiaries.

What I respect most about this house is they always have a good balance of night and day decor. They don’t want the people who are visiting Piedmont Park during daylight hours to be alienated from the festivities, so there are giant stockings and snowflakes to excite and bewilder passers-by. Then after dusk – the house is ablaze in holiday colors!

My other two annual favorites are Edgewood Animal Clinic in the Old Fourth Ward:
(more…)

Just thankful that “hick” rhymes with “sticks”

24 Nov

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Knowing what fans we are of both Murder, She Wrote AND Transit TV, many of our readers have been dying to know, “When will Pecanne Log break their legendary silence over the passing of Tom Bosley, which occurred way back on October 19?” Consider the silence SHATTERED…we just didn’t want to let the tragedy ruin Halloween. Now let’s move on to the holiday at hand.)

Everyone enjoy your Thanksgiving, no matter how far yonder you have to go to celebrate!

Which Southern stereotype are you most thankful for?

(And since you asked, that little number is from the deliiiiiiiiiiiightful Bloodhounds of Broadway.)

Sound and vision

22 Nov

Annette Cook was a 15-year-old Grady High School student on a mission – to get Atlanta to shut the h-e-double-hockey-sticks up!

This little video was made in 1974 to educate us on the possible health damages of environmental noise pollution, but instead I was mesmerized by the absolutely beautifully-shot scenes of Annette biking through Atlanta in her dark cape and white knit gloves.
(more…)

Halloween, again: It’s never too late to not really try

30 Oct

Well, here we are again. Sheer hours away from the high expectations that your peers place on Halloween costume creativity and skill, and you haven’t thought of anything even remotely adequate to leave the house wearing. Don’t even THINK about going to Costumes Etc. at this point unless you have two whole hours to kill waiting in line behind people renting elaborate steampunk evening wear.

Here, we have made a little list for you, like we always do, of things you can be for Halloween. You barely need to make an effort.

via ABC News

Sexy King of Pops – Does that sound redundant? No, go all low-self-esteem-on-Halloween-style on his look. Dress exactly like the King of Pops, but with all the clothing cropped inappropriately short and revealing.

via AJC

Phantom of the Fox – Just throw in a phantom mask to be a little more literal, so you don’t look too much like the nightmare Six Flags man.

Ghost of discontinued MARTA routes- Roam the former bus routes like a lost MARTA soul!

Ghost of Grandma Gordon – What does a vengeful antebellum pecan tree spirit look like? Figure it out yourself. I’m just making suggestions.

Check cashing/payday lending/We Buy Gold/Title Max place – I don’t know, it seems timely. There are so many these days.

bottom half of photo by Jason Travis

Hobo Persona series – What do you carry in your hobo sack/trash bag/shopping cart? Cans of baked beans? Sugar packets? Napkins stolen from fast food places? Human teeth?

We came up with another really good one today but it requires some work and we gave it away to Thomas Wheatley, so you’ll have to stay tuned to see if he manages to pull himself together.

Previously: Your one stop Halloween costume shop

Crossroads of Commerce

23 Oct

Screw the sad-sack City Hall East rummage sale – the Commerce Club moving sale is really more my scene. Why root through the rusty cast-offs of annexed city paper-pushers in a sweaty basement when I can peruse the finely-upholstered seating accommodations and Waterford chandeliers of the Atlanta’s most powerful business elite in a gently-lit dining hall?

Of course there was a secret pre-sale yesterday so everything at the Commerce Club was really picked over. Also, almost everything I was dying to own was expensive (see the $200 red sherry keg below) or marked as sold, but it was still a worthwhile adventure.

The beautiful map of Georgia’s industries on the outside of the building had already been removed. (And where they could put it on their new location, the 191 Peachtree tower?) Another sad day for Marietta Street’s old institutions, but a great opportunity to root through gravy boats and soup spoons that Atlanta’s most exclusive gentlemen used. The sale is still happening tomorrow for you suckers who didn’t know about it today.

Previously: Puttin’ on the Omni

Autumn refreshment; or, Pecanne Log tends the bar

21 Oct

This was something I made for a test drive at the Pride parade, really intending to officially debut it prior to the Little 5 Points Halloween Parade last weekend and then we just never got around to it. I guess it would also be semi-appropriate for the Candler Park Fall Festival this weekend, so here you go:

Copper John-o’-Lantern

Ingredients:

- Pumpkin vodka*

- Apple juice or cider

- Ginger beer or brew

Mix the first two ingredients in the proportions you see fit, over ice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with copper wire sunbursts.

If you don’t have any copper wire, you can just use pennies like I did.

(Here is a heartfelt poem about Copper John if you don’t know! Or you can read about him in this weird Wall Street Journal article from last year.)

* Put pumpkin slices and all kinds of whole spices you like and maybe a vanilla bean (only if you really like vanilla) in vodka for however long it takes to make taste good – a couple of weeks?

Previously: The great Atlanta limeade shortage

This week in history: Edgewood Avenue increasing in importance and popularity

17 Oct

The Atlanta Constitution, October 25, 1925

and

The Atlanta Constitution, unsure about exact date but also 1925

Is it too obvious to say “sound familiar?“

Previously: The city too busy to change

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 74 other followers