Community Blog

The Decatur Book Festival is like a buffet for bibliophiles…there is so much to choose from that you might walk away too full to move.  In this particular instance, your brain might be too full to think.

Beautiful and historic downtown Decatur will be hosting tons of authors and readings all over the city.  It’s super close by and  you can spend all weekend or all day there.  Attendees can go to book signings and panel discussions plus poetry slams and writing workshops-for those who want to be more than just an avid reader.  Throw in children’s interactive games and activities, live music, parades and cooking demos, and this weekend is going to be great.

The festival will be Friday, September 3rd through Sunday, September 5th all over Decatur.  A great way to experience The Decatur Book Festival is to arrive early in the morning and have a wander around. The booths and stages will be lining the streets and the events will be posted up so you can plan your daily schedule.

So go, read, enjoy and find others just like you!

Do you love your dog?  Ever take them to doggie daycare?  It’s always nice to have a place to take your pup when you are out of town for a few days or maybe as a nice treat when you have to put in a long day at the office?  But doggie daycare is a tricky business.  How do you know the place is good?  How do you know your dog will be safe, happy and well taken care of?

So this begs the question, which local doggie daycare do you use?

I was rooting through the TV listings for the fall…you know prepping my TIVO…and I have to say, NBC has a rocking line-up. I mean yeah, there have slim pickings in terms of unscripted reality programming but I’m okay with that.  Look at what they do have…

The Event, is brand new and will be showing on Monday nights. The reviewers are saying good things about it.  Then they have another new show called Chase which might be good.

Tuesday night you can watch Biggest Loser but it also has Parenthood airing.  Anyone watch Parenthood?  It’s actually pretty good.

Law & Order: SVU will be back and will be airing on Wednesday night and right after that will be newest in the franchise Law & Order: Los Angeles. I personally think Dick Wolf is a genius, how about you?

30 Rock and The Office are back-to-back on Thursday night and all is right with the world.

Outlaw a new series is playing on Friday night. It has Jimmy Smits playing a Supreme Court Justice. I’ll give it a whirl-sure why not.

What about you?  What shows are you eagerly waiting to return with new episodes?

image courtesy of flickr: Alan_D

First, Everything Alternative 99X, the alternative rock station that was the mainstay of Atlanta in the 1990’s, went from 99.7 on the radio dial to online-only radio.  Then it came back to Atlanta radio to occupy 97.9FM.  And now it looks like 95.5 The Beat is gone as well.

The Cox radio conglomerate has taken 95.5 The Beat off the radio and replaced it with, the bastion of Atlanta’s AM talk radio, WSB. The format won’t change just because this AM station is now on the FM dial, there will still be lots of weather, news, opinion radio hosts throughout the day.  Just no Usher.  Weird huh?

Although 95.5 The Beat was popular, it wasn’t popular enough to weather the storm in Atlanta’s highly competitive radio market.  A music station that plays some rock, has to compete with Project 9-6-1 (96.1FM).  A radio station that plays some hip-hop, has to compete with V103 (103.3FM). And a station that plays some adult alternative, has to compete 92.9 DaveFM.  So it seems like 95.5 The Beat fell victim to the age old “jack of all trades master of none” dilemma and couldn’t compete with other more niche stations.

So what about you?  Is 95.5 The Beat gonna be missed in your car?

image courtesy of flickr: alexkerhead

Who likes to pay full price?  Raise your hand.  Now take that hand and smack yourself in the face to snap yourself out of it!  Say no more to paying full price!  No more I say!

You can sign up with two of the biggest online coupon sources, Living Social and Groupon, to get some of the best deals in Atlanta.  These aren’t buy one get on free coupons for cans of green beans at Publix.  Instead, these are like lifestyle coupons- where there are steep discounts to be had on teeth whitening, manicures and for various restaurants in and around Atlanta.  You sign up and they send you a daily deal email.  If you like the discount, then you buy the coupon and save it in your online “cart” until you are ready to redeem it.

Newspapers also have coupon deals and I have to say, the best local online coupons are CL Deals with Creative Loafing online and Sunday Paper’s Half Price Depot.  Half Price Depot is great because you know the deal you are getting (1/2 off) and you can them in other cities besides Atlanta.  It’s perfect for travel.

How about you?  Do you use online coupons?  What’s the best deal you’ve ever gotten?

image courtesy of flickr: striatic

Next Saturday will be Creative Loafing’s Highland Beer Fest at Inman Park from noon to 6pm.  Tickets run 35.00 if bought in advance and 40.00 if bought at the gate the day of.

They’ve landed some really impressive craft breweries like Great Divide and Left Hand Brewing and then some larger-scale breweries like Tarrapin, Abita and Dog Fish Head will also have tastings.  Food is available for purchase and Hobnob, Pure Taqueria (you have to try their gauc) and Savi Urban Market will all have booths.

They’ll have live music from some pretty good local bands like The Perimeters and Grinder Nova.  They are also making arrangements with ATL Cruizers -an eco friendly transport service- to ferry people to and from the Inman Park Marta Station.

Every wonder what’s on the inside of City Hall East?  On the side fronting Ponce there is a sign for a gym- although I’ve never seen a gym leaving the premises. Other rats yes, but gym rats no.  The Police Department had offices and car garages on the side fronting North, but what’s in the middle?  Apparently, sandwiched in between Ponce and North Ave there is some pretty serious stuff…

And by stuff I mean stuff, almost 5,000 items will be sold at a week-long garage sale held by the City Monday, August 23rd through Saturday, the 28th. Can you imagine the plethora of stuff that has to have been housed in the 2 million square-feet former home of a Sears distribution center?

I can’t even begin to wrap my head around it.  Creative Loafing did a photo expose called The Lost World of City Hall East- check it out.

In the early part of this century a much-loved and (seemingly) well-respected faculty member at Emory University resigned amidst a scandal over a book he wrote.

Michael Bellesiles was a history professor at Emory for over a decade and seemed to have an untarnished professional resume until the book was published.  The book in question, Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture was heralded at first and even won The Bancroft Prize.  Then an inquiry into his research and his findings by his peers told a different story, and he was found to be “guilty of unprofessional and misleading work” and the book wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on.  He returned his Bancroft Prize, resigned from Emory and seemed to disappear.  Emory has always been known for cutting-edge research but this went far beyond cutting-edge, or even revolutionary, and teetered instead on fraud.

So what did he do?  Well he moved up North, withdrew from academia for five years and only returned to teaching as an adjunct professor in Connecticut- a far cry from the “publish or perish”, ivory towers of Emory.  He now has a new book out. 1877: America’s Year of Living Violently has just been published by independent non-profit publisher New Press and it will be, with all probability, be under heavy scrutiny.

So this begs the question, would you give him a second chance?  Academic trust is a huge responsibility and do Emory students, alums and the general public forgive and forget?

Maybe that’s a question for history to answer…

image courtesy of flickr: LinPernille

All month long Atlanta’s Festival League is offering film buffs over 300 different films to watch in venues throughout the city.  The Atlanta Festival League is actually an umbrella group for the various filmmakers, artists and musicians in the city who want to show their work locally.  This week is Atlanta shortfest at The Plaza Theatre and The Highland Inn Ballroom in Midtown.

Next week will be all horror films at Spring 4th Center.  The week of August 17th, will be DocuFest which will be all non-fiction films at The Carter Center and The Woodruff Arts Center.  Lastly, the league will round out the month with the underground films at Eyedrum and The Goat Farm.

Creative Loafing’s Curt Hoffman, my go-to guy for all things Atlanta and arty, went so far as to list his recommendations for each week.

Happy watching my fellow film aficionado.

Everyone who’s been in Atlanta for a while knows that the Roxy closed.  It was an Atlanta landmark, and so many great performers came through that venue- it was a shame to see its time had passed.

Originally constructed in 1931, it’s been completely remodeled over the past two years and has now re-opened as the Buckhead Theatre.  The newly restored venue is going to host some pretty impressive acts to celebrate its new look.

Dead Confederate, an Athens favorite and the next big thing in emo-rock,  will be there this Saturday night at 8pm. Built to Spill, an incredible band with a cult following, will be playing on Monday, August 9th at 8pm.  Saturday August 21th at 8pm the art-house geniuses Scissor Sisters will be playing.

It looks like the Buckhead Theater will be having no problem filling the very big shoes that The Roxy left behind.

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