ATL 6/29/08 - Wigs and Peachtree

Wigs with Kyle's on Colquitt
Photo installation proposal for Metropolis Fitness Center

MOVIE/ART/LOCAL/U.S./FRENCH/WEB NEWS

ATLANTA - A FUNNY THING

Walking home from Publix, a man asked me - 'Do you live around here? Do you know where Taco Mac is?'

Ever helpful (and super-pleased to be confronted on the street with a question other than "do you have any spare change?"), I replied "Sure! It's just one block up on Peachtree."

"But I thought this was Peachtree."

"Oh...so you're not from Atlanta. Yeah...funny thing about streets named 'Peachtree' - there are like 30. Back there's the corner of West Peachtree and Peachtree Place, but Taco Mac is up there at the corner of Peachtree Place and Peachtree Street. Simple, right?"

"Um...right."

"No worries, you are welcome to walk with me; I'm headed that way. Are you staying downtown? Did you take MARTA here?"

"I'm at the downtown Hilton, visiting from Chicago. I just wanted to buy a six pack & watch the Sox game in my room..."

"Oh...yeah...funny thing about liquor laws in Georgia. It's Sunday, so you can't buy beer and drink it at home, but you *can* pay to drink in public."

"Um...right...well, since the liquor stores are closed, I figured I'd just walk to a bar. Taco Mac's address is 943 Peachtree and the Hilton is in the 200's, so I was thinking it must be like only 7 blocks away."

"Oh...yeah...funny thing about addresses in Atlanta - block numbers don't really match the street numbers; they aren't very helpful for navigating. I think it's a Sherman thing."

"Um...right...hey, is that Taco Mac there? Thank god...the game has started and I need a cigarette. I can smoke in there, right?"

"Oh...yeah...funny thing about tobacco laws in Georgia..."

MOVIE NEWS - "Screen on the Asphalt" is done and "Flicks on Fifth" is taking a break this week. Do yourself a favor this 4th of July weekend - set up a chair in the backyard and quietly enjoy the fireflies; now that's a light show.

July 2nd is the release date for this week's superhero movie, "Hancock". Will Smith plays a hard-drinking traffic hazard who appears to unintentionally do more harm than good, to himself and to others...I guess Gary Busey didn't fit the suit.

ART NEWS -Sorry...no time for art this week...it's the 4th of July and Pride! I've gotta get my red, white, & blue and red/orange/yellow/green/blue/indigo/violet on!

LOCAL NEWS - TRAGEDY - Teen fence hopper tragically decapitated at Six Flags. Poor choice to cut to the head of the line.

BUDGET - Atlanta City Council approves budget without the mayor's proposed $14M property tax increase. Bite the bullet, Shirley - firing two hundred unneeded city employees will only piss off 200 people/voters ...raising the taxes of 450,000+ Atlantans is another thing entirely.

GUNS - Starting July 1st, it will be legal in Georgia to carry a permitted, concealed weapon on MARTA and into state parks and restaurants serving alcohol. Thank goodness - sometimes tipping isn't enough to get the bartender's attention.

RUNNING - Friday, July 4th - 49,998 folks are joining S. and me in the Peachtree Road Race, the world's largest (warmest? most humid? sweatiest?) 10K!

PARADE - Sunday, July 6th - Atlanta's Pride Parade! For those in the know (and in the building)...brunch at 10 AM! Parade down Peachtree at Noon!

U.S. NEWS -CHANGE - The Obama Campaign's Foreign Policy Advisor is named Susan Rice. Change = First-Name-Not-Condoleeza.

FIRES - Electrical storms spark 1000+ Southwestern wildfires - No huge surprise...lightning doesn't strike the same place twice; it strikes all over the damn place.

MORE GUNS - The Supreme Court ruled that Washington D.C.'s restrictive gun laws were unconstitutional. The 5-to-4 ruling by the judges - who all work in a highly-secure, no-guns-allowed courtroom - now makes it easier to have guns in every workplace other than their own. Thanks, judges! For my birthday, please send me a copy of the 2nd Amendment...printed on kevlar.

FRENCH NEWS - Lemonde is reporting a 4% yearly inflation rate for the euro for the year ending in June, 2008. What does that mean? Other than "Paris ain't gettin cheaper", I have no idea. -euro- - U.S. -

WEB NEWS -

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ATL 6/23/08 - Oregon Coast

Mike wonders "when is high tide?"

MOVIE/ART/LOCAL/U.S./FRENCH/WEB NEWS

MOVIE NEWS - Wed - Flicks on Fifth is "The Bourne Ultimatum". We went last week - arrived 8:15 ish w/ full-sized, folding chairs & sat near Moe's (facing the screen erected at the 5th St. bridge).

Thurs - Screen on the Asphalt is "Footloose". "6 Degrees of Separation" is how far I'd like to be from Centennial Park.

Fri - The release of Pixar's "Wall-E". It looks cute...but how am I not supposed to think of "Short Circuit"?

Last Saturday of the month - Plaza Theater has "Silver Scream Spook Show". Can't really vouch for it...except the poster is cool and indie film theaters rock...there...I vouched.

ART NEWS -Fox Theater - “Oklahoma!”: A new production with the original choreography of Agnes De Mille. (June 24-29). -TOTS-

Sat - Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus sings Kanter and Ebb at the Woodruff Arts Center. They had it coming... -agmc-

Sat - Wig-out at Kyle's on Colquitt (for those in the know...)

LOCAL NEWS -Water - Atlanta water & sewer rates are going up. Citizens have been making noise about a proposed rise in property taxes, but that only amounts (on a $200,000 home) to about $24 per year. The City Council approved water increase will average $24 PER MONTH! -ajc-

Piedmont Park - Last week, the PPC received permission from the Georgia EPA to drill for water in the park. They wasted no time - we saw the drilling rig at work last Saturday.

Smog - Pollution levels in ATL were high enough for the news to warn people not to exercise on heavily traveled roads; car emissions can cause health problems. Let me get this right...the cars pollute, so people should stop running? Why not...oh...I dunno...STOP POLLUTING!

Bootcamp - Saturday, June 28th - No Bootcamp or Peachtree run this weekend; instead, we are doing the Pride Run (8:00 AM, Ansley Mall). The official Pride celebration in Atlanta has been moved from this weekend's anniversary of the gay rebellion against societal oppression to the 4th of July weekend (anniversary of another little rebellion), but the Run is still this Saturday!

(And speaking of Pride, I've heard that following the parade on July 6th, many folks are going to ignore the city's relocation of the festival to a parking lot and head to Piedmont Park ... in many ways it is the heart and soul of the gay community in Atlanta.)

U.S. NEWS -America lost a great comedian; George Carlin. So what advice did he have pertaining to today's gas prices?

"Kilometers are shorter than miles. Save gas, take your next trip in kilometers." ~George Carlin

And in what I find to be the ultimate irony, Texans - who have long protested the porous US/Mexico border that allows Mexicans to come to the U.S. seeking economic opportunity - are now going to Mexico...seeking cheaper gas. It seems the Mexican government subsidizes gas to make it more affordable for the average citizen...and Texans are crossing the border to buy it...meaning that the Mexican government nows subsidizes Texans. -npr-

FRENCH NEWS -Two news stories about the U.S. - a photo essay on Iowa under water and a report on the thousands of firefighters struggling against wildfires in California. My cousin is one of them! -lemonde-

WEB NEWS -A great entertainment concept that I wish would make its way to ATL - LivingRoomTheater - a place to listen to live music, eat, drink, and watch movies (in couches!)

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ATL 6/16/08 - World Naked Bike Ride

Friends!
Getting ready
The Ride
After The Ride - The Riders
After The Ride - More Riders

OREGON/MOVIE/LOCAL/U.S./WEB NEWS

OREGON - I participated in "World Naked Bike Ride" - an event to bring attention to oil dependency...and bring attention we did! Some estimates put the number of riders at over 2,000! It was just like riding a roller coaster - maybe a little nervous at the start, but once we got going, I didn't want it to end! -bikeportland-

Having an Obama sticker on your car in Portland is like wearing a Star of David in Israel...doesn't everybody already know you're Jewish?

Nike has replaced garbage cans in individual offices with recycle bins. If you bring something into the building that can not be recycled, reused, or composted, you have to make a walk of shame down to the breakroom to the communal garbage can.

Love Stumptown Roasters for coffee. Unlike Starbucks, where you wait in line, give your order to one person, pay, and go to another person to pick-up your latte, at Stumptown, you wait in line until a barrista is available. You tell him your order and he makes it in front of you, hands it to you, and you pay him. It made my latte seem so...personal.

A new traffic/bike lane system is being implemented at select intown intersections. There have been many biking accidents caused when a bike is in the right hand bike lane and a car traveling parallel to it turns right and hits him, especially at a stop light. The PDX solution is the green bike box - at an intersection, cars stop behind the "green box" - about 12 ft back from the crosswalk - and bikes pull up and stop in front of them. Bikes are the first to take off at a green light (and cars also can't turn right on red...they are too far back from the intersection).

"Honored Citizens" - Signage on Trimet buses for "Seniors" and "Disabled" seating.

Sshould not be played for investment purposes" - Warning sign on Oregon Lottery billboards. -the law-

OLCC - Oregon Liquor Control Commission - When throwing a party with alcohol, they are the ones you worry about coming to shut you down...not the police!

Had to change hotels, ending up at the fantastic "Hotel Lucia". I walked in to ask about a rate. "We have a special low rate for Triple-A; are you a member?" Boy, I sure could use a low rate.

"Um...no...but I can spell it!?!" "Good enough!"

I really love that hotel.

MOVIE NEWS -Wednesday, June 18 - Flicks on Fifth, "Horton Hears a Who"

Wednesday, June 18 - Fox Theater, "No Country for Old Men"

Thursday, June 19 - Screen on the Asphalt, "E.T."

LOCAL NEWS -Friday - Decatur Beach Party -events-

Saturday - Coming down the stretch! Only two more Saturdays to practice run the Peachtree; meet in the Metropolis lobby at 7:30 with your Breeze card. MARTA up to Lenox/Buckhead and run back to Midtown. Meet again at Caribou for coffee at 9:00!

U.S. NEWS -The Midwest has too much water and Texas has too little; who's going to grow all that corn we need to produce that energy crisis-solving biofuel? Oh, yeah, and what are we going to eat? How about we start by not feeding food to food...

WEB NEWS -Great photography website at aymeric giraudel.

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