ATL 4/21/08 - Inman Park

Happy 1st Anniversary - Megan and Kevin
Appalachicola Cemetery
Born Cork County Ireland...Drowned...Died of Cholera
Don't really know what this sculpture is all about...
Our sand sculptures - Gator & Frog...Porpoise...Squid and Teddy Bear
Wide open sunset sky

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

MOVIE NEWS - Shelter, is a gay-surfer-growing-up-coming-out-young-adult-angst-flick starring Brad Rowe. From the trailer, it looks like he plays the romantic interest to a guy having trouble with his sexuality. Brad's movie debut 10 years ago was in "Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss", where he played a guy having trouble with his sexuality. What goes around comes around.

ART NEWS - Inman Park Festival - Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27, 2008. The highlight for me is the parade at 2:00 on Saturday. Look for Trees Atlanta! (While in the neighborhood, check out the home decor at City Issue.)

Rent is at the Fox April 25-27.

"Doubt" is at the Alliance Theater through May 4th...I really want to see this!

LOCAL NEWS -THIRST - Taco Mac finally opened up in my basement last Wednesday. Within 90 minutes of opening, there was a line waiting to be seated. S & I signed up for the beer passport program - consuming 125 different beers gets you a plaque on the wall! After that accomplishment, I hope there is still a reason to go in May ;)

DROUGHT - Atlantans are cutting back on water usage, which also means the city is receiving less income/money in the form of water & sewer bills, which means the city is scrambling to make payments on issued bonds!

For example: Let's say the average, pre-drought, monthly water bill was $50. When people conserve and cut back 15%, the city now gets only $42.50. Multiply that by 100,000 households and you get a loss of $750,000 PER MONTH!

The city "NEEDS" that "lost" revenue - one way to get that money back is to increase the water rates by 17.6%.

A better way is to not raise the rates on reasonable, conservative water usage (let's say 1000 gallons per month per bedroom), but increase the rate by 50% for anything over that (if you still "NEED" to water a lawn, wash a car, raise a hydroponic pot garden.)

ATLANTA CITY COUNCIL - DO NOT PUNISH PEOPLE FOR CONSERVING WATER! -ajc-

HOUSING MARKET - Suburban growth down 70% in ATL, but intown is holding steady - 'Drive til you qualify' is not longer a valid 1st home purchase principle with gas prices as high as they are.

WILDFLOWERS - Hike Arabia Mountain this weekend! Wildflower season is winding down.

NATIONAL NEWS - TEXAS MATH - 126 moms + 60 dads = 416 undeservedly messed-up kids.

THE POPE - His Holiness came a callin' on DC and NYC. We didn't get to hang, but I did get my Catholic on... my adorable nieces had their 1st Communion. All that "Stand/Sit/Kneel/Stand/Repeat" kept me awake, so I noticed:

There is a Hymn 666, 'We are the Living'. I just thought that was funny.

The head priest at St. Jude's is very Irish; I kept expecting him to spout off a limerick - 'There once was an apostle from Nantucket...'

Eggs Benediction is the perfect 1st Communion brunch dish.

FRENCH NEWS -The french like the Dalai Lama, too, making him an honorary citizen. How he positions himself during the Chinese Games will be interesting. -lemonde-

WEB NEWS - lifehack.org has great tips for making little improvements to your life; I really like wha the site had to say about cooking!