ATL 5/26/08 - Change

Temporary views - Going up and coming down...

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

MOVIE NEWS - If "Sex and the City" isn't your style, check-out "Poultrygeist". I don't know how the release of this "satirical sexploitation zombie chicken gross-out musical extravaganza" slipped past me!

Saw "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Mess" (just like $151 million worth of ticket-buying movie-goers this Memorial weekend). It was fun, but COME ON! ***SPOILER*** A snake? There are plenty of vines in the jungle when Shia LaBeefcake has to Tarzan his butt through the trees faster than a speeding monkey to catch up with a frickin' jeep! But is there a single sprig of kudzu to be found lying around when Indy needs a hand up? Nope...

ART NEWS - Sweeney Todd is at the Fox (without Johnny Depp, though).

Happy Birthday Ian Fleming - It's the 100th anniversary of the birth of James Bond's creator. Have a martini; shaken, not stirred.

Thursday, May 29th - The relocated "Screen on the Green" starts with "Jaws" in Centennial Park. I'm going to go ahead and think this is a good thing; SOTG was super crowded last summer, so maybe a successful summer in Centennial Park this year will lead to 2 SOTGs in 2009, one in Piedmont and one in Centennial. Dream Big!

The rest of the films include:

6/5 - The African-American Film - "Big Momma's House" ('06 "The Wiz", '07 "Carwash")

6/12 - The Gay Film - "Chicago" ('05 "Mommy Dearest", '06 "Breakfast at Tiffany's", '07 "Funny Girl")

6/19 - The Family Film - "E.T."('05 "To Kill a Mockingbird", '06 "Willy Wonka", '07 "Casablanca")

Then, Viewers Choice Film can either be Family, Gay, or Super-Straight - "Back to the Future", "Footloose", or "Rocky", June 26th.

NOTE: I am extremely upset about the new rule for Centennial Park - you can not bring in alcohol (although it is available for purchase). Now that Guv'ner Sunshine has signed new firearms legislation into law, you can bring F$%#ING GUN to SOTG, but not a beer? How twisted is that?!?

Saturday morning, May 31st - You can't run the Peachtree Road Race July 4th if you are under 12, but you can run the Peachtree Junior! in Piedmont Park! Come out to cheer on the kids or sign-up to volunteer. It's terribly adorable.

Saturday afternoon, May 31st - East Atlanta Beer Festival, 1:00 - 5:00 PM. $30 in advance online, $35 at the door. -tix-

LOCAL NEWS - Peace Corps volunteers are giving a talk and answering questions in Piedmont Park May 31st at 11:00 AM -link- I understand that Peace Corps volunteers have expertise in many fields, often agriculture-related...they will be answering questions like "how to I grow grass in an urban, drought-threatened public environment without alienating everyone!"

The 14th Street Bridge is now closed for the next 18 months "to replace the aging structure". "Aging"...at 19? Are we sure it's not the drought?

It's official - Piedmont Park is close to drilling wells to irrigate the park. To me, that sounded like good news, because it would make the survival of the precious grass independent of rainfall, but the Piedmont Park Conservancy still won't say our festivals can come back. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I don't see anyone working to bring culture back to OUR PARK! -ajc-

Buildings going up and buildings coming down - There is little enough history left in Midtown - Metropolis replaced "Stein Club", Spire in place of "Copacabana Motel", Viewpoint buried "Backstreet" - let's not allow Georgia Tech to tear down the beautiful Crum & Forster building - "a Renaissance revival palazzo" - without a fight! -petition- -maria saporta-

U.S. NEWS - Gas is expensive, but you have a choice - don't buy it! -cnn-

FRENCH NEWS -I can not find a single story on www.lemonde.fr about gas prices.

WEB NEWS - I want a jazz club like -this-