Dragon Con 2007

My favorites from this Saturday's Dragon*Con Parade!

Superhero (and villain) autographs! (By the way...if Superman is so invincible, why does he wear "Under Armor"?)
My family - S. gets psyched, B. gets Power, J. lends a hand.
Celebrities - Prez Belushi, Schoolhouse Rock, Estrada, Uhura
Some skin
Mario Brothers and more than one kind of Spartan
Monty Python and Princess Bride to save the day!
"...the family that"...um..."Dragon*Cons together..."
On of the sponsoring hotels
...and an exotic dancer I recognized as a pirate from last year!

All the pics...

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ATL 9/17/07 - Int'l Pirate Day

This is a short preview for next week while I'm visiting the motherland - Oregon! I honor of my yearly trip, this week's photo is of me and mom in our backyard in Portland in fall of 1967...right around the time my little bother showed up. It shows both the fall foliage that is just around the corner, as well as that age old adage for young boys - your gloves should always match your galoshes.

MOVIE/ART/WEB NEWS

MOVIE NEWS - "Into the Wild" is released next Friday - I loved reading John Krakauer's book about a young man's delusional attempt to live off the land in Alaska; don't know if I'd love watching it.

ART NEWS -Whole World Theater is bringing Improv back to Piedmont Park for the next three Wednesday evenings - September 19 & 26, and October 3rd - at 8:00 PM. I can't think of anything else to say.

...and...think of me on Sept 19th; I'll be out in the woods hiking the Pacific Crest Trail on "International Talk Like a Pirate Day". PLANET NEWS - Eat less meat. Methane is the second most significant greenhouse gas and cows are one of the greatest methane emitters. Their grassy diet and multiple stomachs cause them to produce methane, which they exhale with every breath. (But don't stop eating meat, altogether - someone has to empty-out those cows for my leather shoes!)

WEB NEWS - I like the wallcoverings, fabrics, and customized lamps at inhabit.

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ATL 9/10/07 - Dave Matthews

I don't know where to begin with this photo; it's dated 1974 and tooth-wise, I'm between the headgear (to push all my molars further back into my head), oral surgery (to remove the teeth that just weren't going to fit), and braces (which I would wear...on two different occasions...until my junior year in high school.)

It's from a visit to Vancouver, British Columbia, to visit family friends. I'm not sure where this is taken (come on, I'm 10 years old) - all I remember about visiting Canada was that next to the English words on cereal boxes, there was a 2nd, funny-looking language, and zoo monkeys are loud when they masturbate.

ART/PLANT/NATION/LOCAL/FRENCH/WEB NEWS

MOVIE NEWS -"The Brave One" is released this Friday - Jodie Foster's first movie (where she plays a vigilante) since last year's "The Inside Man" (where she played a b&*%h - AND I LOVED IT!!!)

ART NEWS -"dark play or stories for boys" is playing now through October 10th at Actor's Express; can't say I know anything about it firsthand, but it sounds interesting, and I've never been sorry that I went to one of their performances.

PLANET NEWS - Buy fresh foods instead of frozen. Frozen food uses 10 times more energy to produce. And it goes without saying that local it better than imported.

NATIONAL NEWS - 5 men have been jailed in Washington state after killing a whale with a machine gun. Like all good NRA arguments in favor of automatic weapons, I'm sure this was a case of self defense.

LOCAL NEWS - We attended the Dave Matthews concert in Piedmont Park - along with 49,998 other folks. It was huge; that's all the participants in the Peachtree Road Race standing in the same place at the same time (as opposed to spread out along 6 miles of race course). That's 10,000 more people than fit into Turner Field. That's 1000% more that fit inside the Fox Theatre.

Traffic did seem negligible due to folks taking MARTA as promoted and I did have a great time, but the Piedmont Park Conservancy has a lot to improve upon if they intend to do this again.

1) PEEING - They seemed to provide the same number of porta-potties for this event as them have for Screen on the Green, even though there were 500% more people (and 1000% more beer). The event was made that much more green by guys giving up on the bathroom lines and returning the "recycled" beer to the wet(ter)lands at the north end of the meadow.

2) AISLES - During the evolution of the Screen on the Green event, they learned to help manage crowds by roping off aisles for moving through the crowds. Not so for this event. I would have bought more beer if I thought I had a chance in hell of being able to return to my spot in fewer than 45 minutes.

3) WATER - If you are not going to let people bring water in reusable bottles to a "green" event, then you'd better make sure folks don't have to wait 30+ minutes in line to purchase a $3.00 bottle.

I did feel like the oldest person there - the 16 year-old dancing next to me proclaimed me to be cool and not "old like his dad" and then told me his dad was 45 - 2 years older than me.

All the young guys were dancing around shirtless with each other, leaving their girlfriends to huddle-up and talk amongst themselves. I couldn't resist talking to one of them. "Is that your boyfriend?" "Yeah, we came in from Birmingham. Is that your girlfriend?" "Nope, that guy over there is my boyfriend." "OMG! You're gay? That's soooooooooooooo cool! OMG! Do you have a myspace page?" Even though I said 'no, I didn't', she still passed me her leopard print Jack Daniels flask.

While standing in the porta-pottie line, a drunk asked me if "someone made my necklace". No, no one made my necklace, the bead fairy just shat it out on my pillow one night. "Oh, that's cool."

Upon exiting the park onto Charles Allen, a group of staggering partiers asked out to the crowd "which way is Virginia Highlands"? Several arms swung up to point vaguely to the east. "Thanks", they said, turning to march off in that direction. They had 1.2 miles to go.

FRENCH NEWS - The McCann's, who reported their 4 year-old missing from their vacation hotel room in Portugal, have returned to the UK after being questioned as suspects in their daughter's disappearance. All of Europe has been riveted by this case.

WEB NEWS - Go here, enter your address, and this website will rate the how "walkable" your neighborhood is. For instance: my old house scored a 42 vs. our condo rates a 94.

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Kickball

The Nair TeamS.'s team - Playing outfield!
S.'s team - At plate
S.'s team - Pitching and scoring
S.'s HOME RUN!!!!

S. joined a Kickball League this summer; Saturday was the last game. The team they were supposed to play forfeited, so that counted as a win. They proceeded to play a pick-up game, and won that, too! 2 wins in one day!

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ATL 9/03/07

As dad went through his slide collection for me to scan, he told me he left out some that were...in his opinion..."embarrassing". Like what? I asked, thinking he was referring to I'm-never-gonna-be-a-Senator photos showing me and a goat, or proving that I never really finished Citizenship merit badge.

"You know, the ones with you and your headgear."

Oh...that. Those aren't so bad. I did hate that headgear...I had to wear it when I was like 9 years old to line up my teeth to get them ready for braces. Like braces aren't bad enough by themselves.

So, here I am, with my little brother, in the first stages of getting those front teeth under control. I think it's good for today's generation to understand that beauty isn't easy.

MOVIE NEWS - "Shoot 'em Up" is released this Friday - Clive Owen is one reason to see this gun caper (maybe the only reason).

ART NEWS - The Oglethorpe University Museum of Art exhibit "Rodin: In His Own Words" opens on Saturday, September 8th...

...and if you've got the tickets, we'll see you that afternoon at Piedmont Park for the Dave Matthews Concert! Gates open at 4:00 PM, the Allman Brothers start at 5:30, and DM is set for 8:05.

PLANET NEWS - Cover your pots while cooking (and boiling water) and conserve the heat/energy required for what you are cooking. Even better are pressure cookers and steamers: they can save around 70%! During the summer, when A/C costs and arm and a leg, we go so far as to turn on the exhaust fan over the stove and vent more of the heat out of the condo. (I know, I know, the fan uses energy, too, but not as much as running the A/C!)

NATIONAL NEWS - Some Senator isn't gay. Apparently, that's news. (I think this youtube video sums it up.)

LOCAL NEWS - The ajc announced that a portion of the local sewer re-work that we are all suffering through in town was completed in Grant Park just in time for last week's gully-washers. At the same time, they reported that the ginormous tunnel being bored underneath Midtown (from Clear Creek in Piedmont Park to a new sewage treatment facility on the Chattahoochee) is 1 year behind schedule.

RETAIL NEWS - Beleza in 905 Juniper had its dry run last week...the new raw, non-dairy food and exotic juice cocktail restaurant should be opening any day! And, following extensive, hands-on research, it has been confirmed the McCray's really is closing September 1st, but Loca Luna has a reprieve until the end of the year.

WEB NEWS - I'm a geek. Geeks go here.

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ATL 8/27/07

ME NEWS - This is me and my little brother with our Grandma and Grandpa Lennon - my mom's parents - in southern California, circa 1972. At this point in our lives, we road trip down from Oregon each summer to visit.

I look at this photo and see me being all teeth and no eyes. The teeth will be addressed soon enough...and pictured in next week's photo. I don't know what's up with the helmet hair and chubby cheeks. We look like we are auditioning for a Life cereal commercial ("hey Mikey, he likes it!")?

MOVIE NEWS - "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" at the Fox, 7:30 PM tonight!

ART NEWS - Dragon*Con is this coming weekend. The parade - starting at Woodruff Park and marching up Peachtree St - is Saturday at 10:00AM.

PLANET NEWS - Paper or plastic? How about neither! Trader Joe's sells reusable, nylon shopping bags for just $0.99! And, when you shop with it, you are entered into a weekly $25 gift certificate sweepstakes.

FRENCH NEWS - Le Monde is reporting in a series of articles about the Iraq war that the suicide rate in the U.S. army is at its highest level in 26 years. Which makes me wonder what our troops were going through in 1981 to cause a high suicide rate back then.

NATIONAL NEWS - Michael Vick faces a judge today in his plea bargain. I don't think he has much to worry about; if he spends as much of his jail sentence actually behind bars as Nicole Ritchie did last week, his jail time could be reduced by 94.3% (roughly the same amount he shortened the lives of the dogs he executed.)

LOCAL NEWS - The Little League Team from Warner Robins won the Little League World Series yesterday. There's nothing 'little' about these champions - great job! This week, let's talk more about these athletes and less about a certain mean, ole EX-Falcons quarterback.

RETAIL NEWS - Chocolate Pink, located in 905 Juniper, is open until 11:00 PM on Fridays and Saturdays for a great post-dinner dessert. They don't have a liquor license, but they'll let you BYOB - chardonnay + chocolate = bliss.

METROPOLIS NEWS - (pssst...it was my birthday yesterday)

WEB NEWS - I don't have anything against Starbucks (but if you do...go here)

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ATL 8/20/07

ME NEWS - I can remember loving this playpen in 1967. The sides ratcheted up and down, - hinged on a central post like the leg rest of a cheap, aluminum-framed lawn chair - trapping my little brother between the netted sides.

Horrors! Child entrapment? Abandonment? Permanent Developmental Psychosis?

Maybe...

I used to crawl in there with books and stuffed animals to play with my brother for hours at a time...which led to building tents out of lawn furniture and pool towels in the backyard...which developed into a need to play "Gilligan's Island" on a blanket "raft" in the middle of the living room floor...which brought me to hiding under the stairs with a flashlight, a Jules Verne book, copy of the Millennium Falcon made out of Legos and Light Brite pegs, and a sandwich bag of finger Jello cubes.

All of this - I'm certain - can be blamed on...gasp...playpens.

(It's probably also why I live in a condo and always wear my seatbelt.)

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MOVIE NEWS - "Manufactured Landscapes" starts this Friday at Landmark Art Cinema. David forced me to like subject of the film - photographer Edward Burtynsky - so I'm going to force him to take me to this movie.

ART NEWS - The Atlanta Botanical Garden is open Thursday evenings for cocktails from 6:00 to 10:00 PM through September; August's theme is "Hostas and Hurricanes". No word on whether Hurricane Dean will be joining us.

PLANET NEWS - I've just read that many exfoliants contain tiny plastic particles to scrub away dead skin cells. That plastic then goes down the drain and out into the environment and directly into the tummies of helpless little barnacles! If you can't find a skin cleanser that promises to be all natural AND exfoliate, just pour the one you have into your hand and add some sugar before scrubbing away. Works for us! Leftovers can just go into your cereal.

FRENCH NEWS - Must be a slow news day; le Monde had 2 technology stories on the front page. 1) Canon announced the release of the 10.1 megapixel 40D for about 970 Euros (Canon captured 47% of the digital camera market last year, followed by Nikon with 37%.) 2) Nokia has pissed-off India by recalling 46 million cellphones with exploding batteries. Based on my careful budgeting for our Parisian vacation in July and the current U.S. export market figures, I estimate that 970 Euros costs about ... oh, I dunno ... $100,000.

NATIONAL NEWS -ABC News reports that pain medication use has doubled in the United States in the last 10 years. In the same period, so has marijuana use in Canada - commercialized vs. socialized medicine?

LOCAL NEWS - The AJC reports that after 2 years of "negotiations", the Atlanta city council is finally taking action to limit the size of McMansions on small, intown lots. New zoning will allow big houses on big lots, small houses on small lots. This little equation took 2 years to formulate? No word on where zoning will allow these corresponding big egos to exist.

RETAIL NEWS - Join us at McCray's Tuesday, August 21st, for a big throw-down! We hear it's closing to make way for the continuation of Viewpoint's retail down Sixth Street. Can Loca Luna be far behind?

Wednesdays in August are your chance to get some South in yer Mouth at Joe's on Juniper; $1 PBR (...in a can...in a brown paper bag), moon pies, tater tots, and more Daisy Duke shorts than you can shake a corn dog at.

MIDTOWN NEWS - Because of a judge's ruling last week, the Atlanta Botanical Garden plans to begin construction on their parking deck in Piedmont Park this October. (nearly 2 years after the city council's vote of approval.) Wait...that's funny...did I just dis on something I promoted?

WEB NEWS - I (heart) T-Shirts and I (HEART) Threadless.

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ATL 8/13/07

Movie news - The Fox Theatre is showing 2 movies this week. Thursday (8/16) at 7:30 is "Spiderman 3" and Sunday (8/19) at 7:00 PM is "Knocked Up". It's $7 at the door, or $60 for a pack of 12 tickets. ($5 each for the math impaired...well...for everyone...really.)

I heard the movie version of "The Nanny Diaries" is coming to theaters August 24th. (Sure, it was a fun book, and it was published a year before that other I-have-an-icky-boss tell-all tome, but how is this movie not just "Devil Wears Diapers?")

Art news - This Friday is Jazz night at the High Museum, 5 PM to midnight.

French news - American mortgage rates are a hot topic as Thierry Breton, a former French Economic Minister, speaking on the fall of international financial market indices, claims that the Central European Bank is a "prisoner" of the practice of increasing mortgage rates/payments and American debt. (Growing the French treasury isn't just as easy as selling us Louisiana again, is it?)

National news -Mitt Romney won the Iowa straw poll. (Patricia A. Morris of Winterset won first place overall in the C&H Preserves competition ... and was awarded 30 pounds of C&H sugar for her peach preserves.)

Local news -It's Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week. (Most folks know I joke about not going south of the Fox Theater, but for a $25, 3-course dinner at French American Brasserie, I'll get in mom's car.)

Midtown news - The old Red Cross site on Monroe is becoming Gable apartments, with the largest unit (1,400 sq. ft.) renting for $1800.

999 Peachtree, our next door neighbor here at Metropolis, is going to be redeveloped with an additional 50,000 sq. ft. of retail. The architectural firm GreenbergFarrow designing the do-over is going to be a new neighbor, too; moving its headquarters from Cobb County to W. Peachtree.

Retail news -Beleza opens in 905 Juniper on August 14th - "The foodarati are lining up for the opening of BELEZA, Richard Ullio’s Brazilian juice bar and restaurant and CUERNO, his ode to Spanish cuisine." craigslist (UPDATE from a real, live, Beleza employee - setting up the kitchen this afternoon, but probably no opening until the weekend...)


Plus, H&M is coming (I'm going). Part of its new Atlantic Station location will include space currently in use by Metropolitan Deluxe, making MD the first Atlantic Station casualty I'm aware of.

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ATL 8/6/07

Dad has challenged me with scanning part of his photo slide collection to digital format, so the next few weeks will be on the subject of photos from my past. This is me and ma on the Washington Park carousel in Portland, Oregon, July 1967 ish. (My immediate, family-wide population has gone from 2 to 3 and not yet to 4, as Dad is home from his tour of duty in Alaska and my little brother doesn't show up for another 4 months.)

Movie news - This Saturday (8/11) at 8:00 PM, the Center for Puppetry Arts is showing an intriguing movie: "Written by award-winning fantasy writer Neil Gaiman, Mirror Mask is a phantasmagorical treat for the eyes and mind, a wondrous blend of live action and computer graphics animation, where strange, magical creatures dwell in a fantasy world of unbridled imagination and scope, as told through the spectacular, cutting-edge visuals of designer/director Dave McKean."

Art news - This Sunday (8/12), the Atlanta Symphony plays in Piedmont Park at 7:30 PM

Retail news - Alternative Apparel has some smokin' T-shirt designs and a cool new store in Va-Hi. Check it out.

French news -The EU has announced a total quarantine on importing any livestock or livestock products from England in an attempt to isolate an outbreak of foot and mouth disease. (Fortunately, there is no quarantine against foot-in-mouth disease, so I am still able to visit my french friends...)

National news - Waiting one week after the originally announced wedding date, Usher finally got married. (I'm still waiting to care.)

Local news - Tuesday night, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, the Midtown Neighbor Association celebrates "Night Out" at the corner of 6th and Myrtle streets to take back the neighborhood from some of the shady characters that hang out there the other 364 days of the year. (We're roasting wienies! Take that, you mean old hookers!)

Traffic news - According to the Georgia Driver's Manual, it is LEGAL to make a left turn from the left lane of a one-way street onto another one-way street with traffic moving to the left. (It is not, however, ILLEGAL to be a f&*$ing idiot.)

Also (and this is a complete joke), when entering the expressway by way of an on ramp, the vehicles in the expressway have the right-of-way, "but courteous drivers will permit you to move into expressway traffic". HA!

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ATL 7/30/07

Movie news - "One Missed Call", partly filmed across 8th street from Metropolis and shamelessly promoted at this week's "Comic-Con" in San Diego, is scheduled for release January 4, 2008. (It's not too early to make plans for our own "Dragon*Con" in Atlanta, coming August 31 - September 3.)

French news - Today's headline in Le Monde is the United States' arming of its allies in the Middle East to the tune of $20 billion; they interpret this as an attempt to form an "anti-Iran front".

Art news - This Saturday is the 1st Saturday of the month; admission is free at the High Museum of Art for the first 600 Fulton County residents.

National news - Star Jones announced that since August 2003, she has lost 47% of her body weight through gastric bypass. I lost 100% of her by having a "pointless celebrity" bypass.

Local news - Cobb County has passed an ordinance limiting the number of adults living in a house to 1 per each 390 sq. ft. Some folks wrote to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to take exception to that.

Really, Really Local news - My photo books are online at blurb.com! Also, e*weber gallery will be selling my gift cards and Metropolis residents can join the DVD Club at the concierge desk (you can view the movie list here)

PLUS! Always, always, always, I keep an updated (as often as I see fit) link list for the Atlanta condo and development projects that I find interesting (in the right hand column of the blog page, under "Architecture and Condos"). It's by no means completely comprehensive, just a collection of links that is easy for me to reference. And, if I'm missing a project that you like, email me! If I agree with you, I'll add it. If I don't, go here -->

(french-english dictionary)

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