ATL - 9/29/08 Seattle

Ace Hotel...Pike's Market...Architecture...The Gum Wall

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

MOVIE NEWS - This weekend, look for "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" (whose posters remind us to pronounce it "chee-wow-wa"... from Disney, whose "Ratatouille" posters spelled out "rat-a-too-ee"), "Flash of Genius" (Greg Kinnear - the intermittently successful actor - as the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper), and "Nick and Nora's Infinite Play List" (Michael Cera as...well...Michael Cera).

ATLANTA NEWS - After all the controversy and comparisons following the Stepford-Wife-Like conclusion of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, I could't help put worry that our little "Bubba-games" in 1996 didn't fair very well. In Atlanta, we didn't have "Bird's Nest" or "Water Cube", but we did have the Olympic Stadium in which we now enjoy Braves Games every summer, the Natatorium and Olympic Village, which Georgia Tech administers and enjoys every day, and Olympic Centennial park, which is still a natural draw for visitors and natives alike.

We didn't build any Calatrava-like soaring sports cathedrals, but nor did we end up with any debt, or, like Lake Placid, a new jail.

Based on liquor license requests, 404 Lounge wants to open up in the Arts Center Tower...I understand the name tie-in to our area code (I've been to the similiarly named "Five-O-Three" in Portland), but on the internet, "404" is Not Found.

Congratulations Jimmy Carter on you 84th birthday this week!

U.S. NEWS - Sarah, Sarah, Sarah...just tell me you were wrong to teach abstinence to your daughter and I'll start listening to what else you have to say.

SEATTLE NEWS - In the ATL, we are used to event sponsorships by Delta, Coca-Cola, and Georgia Pacific. In the SEA, it's all Starbucks, Boeing, and Microsoft. While boarding Amtrak (the BEST way to go from Seattle to Portland), a woman loading her bike was asked if she was doing the "MS Bike Ride"...I of course assumed it was Microsoft. Nope...Multiple Sclerosis.

WEB NEWS - As if I don't have enough to daydream about (my terrific partner...my ability to travel to visit friends...my closet), I can get lost all afternoon at outnext.

...the rest of the story...