Georgia Blog Carnival #19

Georgia Blog Carnival is up and ready for your browsing. Here you go.

Blogging Touches Lives

And for once I'm not being snarky. Blogging really does touch our lives -- in a way that's unique and participatory and fulfilling. Of course it also often punches us in the eye. Witness my on-going little tit for tat with He Who Must Not Be Named. Or Those Little Boys Who Should Be Named, Called Out Often, And Taken Out Behind The Shed And Whipped Soundly By Their Mommas Since No One Obviously Ever Did That Before And Sometimes Folk Just Need Some Common Sense Beat Into 'Em. (Did I just say that? Man am I getting mean and cranky and showing too much southern in my old age or what.)

Witness the comment left here. Or read James' Academy Awards acceptance speech here after winning CL's Best Blogger in Atlanta award this week. And yeah, he earned that puppy. Congratulations James! Enough earnestness in one post from me. That's your annual allotment now used up. Let's all go get wasted. DBT tonight at the Variety. Yeah!

Great Whirlwind Atlanta History Interview

Rusty does the honors when he podcasts/catches up with Boyd Lewis here on The Georgia Podcast Network. Boyd, a former 70's Atlanta media-man-about-town, blew through town from his current crib in L.A. to pimp-out a happening reception for a showing of his 70's Atlanta photos. Previously blogged about on the SGR. (Wish I'd video-d the scene-making crowd of old and young hipsters of all flavors who populated the popular reception. It was really an Atlanta arts, entertainment, media, and politics Who's Who event. I caught only the very tail end of the bash, though. My bad.)

Podcast is here for listening/downloading. Don't miss this one! It's filled with verbal bon motes about Atlanta such as Grant Park when it was a "Victorian slum." Some delicious CL dissing too!

"35" In WSJ

If you create new media, they will come. In this case, the WSJ to the cool, new live online drama "35." Hope you're tuning in at 9pm every night until the 30th for "35." It's getting good and creepy!

Producer (of "35") Kathryn Jones says that, until now, live content on the Web has been limited to "some sports, some politicians, and a lot of people at desks with microphones." Ms. Jones, who also stars in "35," says the creators wanted to mix the accessibility of Web TV with the spontaneity of theater.

"35" is also meant to be a showcase for the Web site hosting it. Ustream.tv is part of a new crop of services trying to get users interested in creating and watching live video, as opposed to sites like YouTube that show prerecorded clips.

Full article here. I wouldn't know about all that "some politicans" stuff on Ustream... or would I?

And He Can Remember?

Hands down, the haziest years of my life were 1983-1987. And this dude, of all things a drummer for the Ramones for that time frame, claims he recalls being there. Ha! I'd toss out the lawsuit immediately on the grounds that it's impossible to verify what anyone operating in rock-n-roll from '83-'87 really did or did not do.

A punk-rock drummer who did a four-year stint with the Ramones in the 1980s filed a federal lawsuit yesterday against Wal-Mart, Apple and the estate of the band’s lead guitarist, claiming that they violated his copyrights by making and distributing digital downloads of songs he wrote while with the band.

Richard Reinhardt — professionally known, in the band’s standard practice, as Richie Ramone — was with the band the Velveteens when, according to the Ramones’ official Web site, he “kept the beat” from 1983 to 1987 while the Ramones’ regular drummer, Marky Ramone, was “on hiatus.” Mr. Reinhardt claims that the rights to his songs were taken without his permission by Ramones Production Inc. and by the estate of John Cummings, better known as Johnny Ramone, the band’s lead guitarist, who died in 2004.

Click here for a great headline to this NYTimes article.

Where Do They Get This Stuff?

Live on The Internets -- "35"

Here's your groundbreaking new media! A live drama, 35, is on the Internet's tonight at 9pm. There have been two previous episodes already (go back and view those here), all presented by Sychronis.tv. And live is the operative word. Imagine a TV drama show served-up live as you watch. That's what 35 is all about. The webisode show runs through September 30th, 9pm each night.



And how did I find out about this? Twitter, of course. Tune-in here on the SGR at 9pm EDT for something most entirely different.

Ahmadinejad Not Welcome At Ground Zero? Try Edelman.

Poor President of Iran... he's coming to visit the States, do a little debating, raise a few nuclear weaponry funds, take in a show or two. But Little Man Ahmadinejad has been thwarted from his whacked photo-op intentions to lay a wreath at Ground Zero. Official New York surely doesn't want him to darken their doorstep downtown.

Silly dude! Didn't anyone tell him he just needed to hire Edelman? They excel at fake PR. They're the network. They Da Man.

Whatcha want to bet Edelman could get Ahmadinejad the Ground Zero wreath laying event he's craving? Edelman thing doesn't work out, try Caren West. Heck, she'll even toss in a fake column in the Sunday Paper for ya too at no extra charge. What a deal.

Come on Ahmadinejad. Think outside the Axis of Evil! This is America hon, where you can always manufacture yourself some ethics and integrity if you're running low.

Soccer Moms Outraged Over Hannah Montana Ticket Scam

And when soccer moms get pissed, watch out. Glad to see WAGA is covering this story, although they don't seem concerned enough, given this limp package of excuses, to pursue a full investigation.

Thanks for putting this on YouTube, Buzz. Now let's hope we see some follow-up from media folks with actual resources to investigate this further. And if anyone was able to purchase a ticket at face-value that day they went on sale, from Ticketmaster or Gwinnett Arena, or anywhere for that matter, please contact me at spaceygracey at bellsouth dot net. I'd like to hear your story. Thanks!

The Sweetest Thing Happened To Me

This was so lovely and touching that for a moment I thought it had to have been written by Andisheh. I know he feels the same way too, bless his heart.

Hannah Montana Ticket Scam In Atlanta

If you hear howling throughout Atlanta, it's the sound of my kid being told she's not going to be seeing Hannah Montana live anytime soon, as there seems to be a blatant ticket scam going on center stage at Ticketmaster and the Gwinnett Arena. From an AJC blog today:

Tickets went on sale Saturday morning to the “Hannah Montana” show in November at the Gwinnett Arena. Not only were they sold out pretty much instantly, there are reports of people who were first in line at a Ticketmaster outlet being told there were no tickets available.

Full post here. The scalpers sure got their paws on the tickets real quick-like though. Check out the scalped ticket prices on eBay!

Writers Lost Jobs To Save This One?

This just defies every last snippet of reason and logic: the AJC loses journalists and writers the likes of Tom Baxter, Teresa Weaver, and Eleanor Ringel, but keeps on staff a jaw-dropping hack this stunningly hideous? What the bloody hell are they smoking over there on Marietta Street? Least they buried this one on the Obit Desk. Hell, she's worse than Caren West and Lisa Baron. If that's even possible.

h/t to Tania.

Atlanta's Fake Media

Cox Media Plantations deceptively faked the "public" nature of their Hour Of Grady Power (or lack thereof), the I Have A State-Funded Dream phony, staged event I whined about in Peach Pundit here. It was merely an hour of rather odd dino-anchor blather really.

John Sugg at CL complains too; not only did they not allow press from beyond the reach of the Cox Media Empire, but they only allowed in invited "town" guests.

Now we come to the public forum that wasn’t. WSB-TV Channel 2 — the television arm of the media Coxopoly — hosted a “town hall” meeting on Grady Thursday night (Sept. 13). But as reporters for the upstart Atlanta Progressive News found out, Cox had a peculiar view of who lives in its town.

The event was invitation-only. Community activists had every reason to suspect that only certain opinions would be aired. “It’s a town hall meeting, but the town isn’t invited!” Terence Courtney, director of Atlanta Jobs with Justice, told the media activists with APN. “They’re running from us. We want a [true] public process.”

Full blog post here. I bet they let in their own kind though, meaning someone from the AJC. What un-transparent jerks they are at Death Star 2. They completely manipulated our perceptions and the purpose of their TV show. Emphasis of course on their show. Sure wasn't "ours." A shameful pox on Cox. Again.

Blog Carnival 18 Now Up

And it contains THE most comprehensive list of Georgia blogs I've seen anywhere. That Sherry Heyl, who hosted this month's Georgia Blog Carnival, is one amazing lady. Thanks Sherry!

New Hairdo

Not so sure about this one. Must have been channeling Anna Wintour -- again.

Metal Heads Used For Something

From today's AJC:

Brent Hinds, guitarist for Atlanta's ruling metal quartet Mastodon, is being treated in a Las Vegas hospital after he suffered what the band's management calls a "severe head injury."

Has Jeff Clark finally rained geek-vengeance down on Mastodon? Does make you wonder, since all encounters with this completely pointless band inevitably lead to, quite literally, skull cracking. From Clark, May '07:

The four Mastodonians are about as friendly, funny and easygoing as any dudes you'll meet. Even guitarist Brent Hinds, with whom I had a nasty, public brawl (a head-butt) eight years ago - in his pre-Mastodon days - has chilled out considerably. I suppose world metal domination will do that to a guy.

That full Stomp and Stammer piece here. What goes around comes around, eh?

70's Atlanta Show

Now you know Atlanta must have been one happenin' place in the 70's! See for yourself at the opening of The Atlanta 70's Show: a Retrospective of Boyd Lewis’ Photography of Atlanta at the Mason Murer Gallery, Friday September 14th at 7pm. About Boyd Lewis, a name you may be familiar with:

Boyd Lewis remembers the Atlanta of the 1970s in a photographic tour de Force at Mason Murer Fine Art. Lewis was a journalistic fixture in Atlanta from 1969-1997. Lewis was first hired in Atlanta as a reporter for The Atlanta Voice in 1969. He also worked as a freelance photographer at that time, landing photographs in Time, Newsweek and other major publications. Mr. Lewis became news editor of The Atlanta Inquirer in 1972. Here he documented the rise of Maynard Jackson, the election of Andrew Young to Congress, and the emergence of the African American Power Structure in Atlanta politics.

Read more here.

When Big Media Met Little Media

In the Why Do They Bother, They'll Never Be Cool category (kinda like Republicans), the Atlanta Press Club will host the anchor of a MSM show called i-Caught. According to their press release...

(Bill) Weir is host of ABC’s new hit show, i-Caught, the newsmagazine for the YouTube generation. It is based on user-generated Internet video and the stories behind them. It airs Tuesday nights, 9-10 p.m."

I-Neverheardofit, but I do plan to be at the APC's newsmaker luncheon to hear more of MSM's outrageous spinning of their gluttonous success-i. Last one I went to though was, giving panel, the hideous Art Harris, of some ultra-hideous, blow-a-celeb show, this blog, and sometimes CNN.

With genuine pride and glory, mixed with this utterly contrived and feigned I'z just doin' the peoples bid-ness self-preservation shuck and jive, Harris was downtown at the Commerce Club showing-off his exclusive interviews with some jail-housed relation, in the utter stinking shit heap that was the Anna Nicole death and re-death coverage. There's turd polishing and then there's Art Harris, who just smears the reeking fecal matter all over himself and wanders around like it's Chanel N°5 he's wearing.

I'm still ashamed and furious at myself that I sat through a reeking video presentation of his glorification of scum-celebrity culture (i.e."exclusives") without standing up and yelling, "Get that disgusting celeb-stink out of my face, you shameless bald-headed Big TV freak."

APC's newsmaker luncheon with Bill i-Somethingcute, and Kate Snow, of ABC News info is here:

WHEN
Thursday, September 20
11:30 a.m. – Registration
Noon – Lunch
12:25 p.m. – Remarks
12:45 p.m. – Question and Answer Session

WHERE
The Commerce Club
34 Broad Street, 16th Floor Dining Room
Atlanta, GA 30303
For directions, please visit www.thecommerceclub.org/location.html. Because of limited parking at TCC, please consider using MARTA, whose Five Points station is across the street, or parking in nearby decks on Marietta Street.

R.S.V.P.
This luncheon is open to the public. APC members may purchase individual tickets for $28 each or tables of 10 for $280, which includes signage. The nonmember prices are $35 for individual tickets and $350 for tables of 10 with signage. Parking is not included in the ticket price. Tickets and tables may be purchased at http://www.atlantapressclub.org/ or by calling
404-577-7377. No tickets will be sold after noon on Wednesday, September 19. Payment must accompany reservations, and there is a 48-hour cancellation policy.

Mommy Look! A Fred-head!

"Some Will Rob You With A Six-Gun, Some With A Fountain Pen"

Marvelous, marvelous new blog from a thoughtful, literary, lyrical country Georgia gentleman who can craft a wonderful, poignant tale steeped in pure southern culture. I'm delighted and honored to bring you Paw Paw Bill. From an August entry, I Hear Woodie Guthrie Singing:

When my Daddy first took sick, one of my sisters stayed with him for a while. Daddy’s health went rapidly downhill after the death of his wife, my stepmother. My sister prepared my stepmother’s clothes to send to the Salvation Army, and after she began to find money, folding money, including $100 bills, tucked away in the pockets of jackets and in purses, she searched through everything carefully. My Daddy and his wife were survivors of The Great Depression of the 1930’s, and they hoarded things and stashed stuff in hiding places.

Before his death, Daddy had explicitly instructed me to take responsibility for his bank safety deposit box. He admonished me about my sisters, “You do right by the girls.” The day after his funeral, I phoned the lawyer to schedule a trip to the bank to clean out the safety deposit box. “Oh, I’ve already taken care of that,” the lawyer informed me. “There wasn’t nothing in it but some insurance papers and property deeds.” Some days later we had the reading of the will, and the lawyer presented me documents to sign releasing him from bond and waiving any claim whatsoever against him for any liability ever conceived by mankind.

I heard Woody Guthrie singing.

Full post here. And here's The Byrd's rendition of the Guthrie song quoted by Paw Paw Bill, from a 1971 rode-hard performance, back when young men were dramatic and fearless and beautiful and poetic.

French Onion Delight

I'm not much of a foodie. I'll eat a can of Chef Boy'ardee with nary a whine. But, unconsciously perhaps, I've been searching for a bowl of French Onion soup like this since my college cocktail waitress days, when the restaurant crowd would get off work at midnight, go hit the discotheques to dance to Donna Summers, the B52's (down down down), and Michael Jackson, then of course be crazy-starved for food.

The only thing open at 2am in Charleston, SC that was halfway approachable way back when was Marianne's, the best French restaurant this side of Paris; the only thing I could afford on the menu way back when was a glass of Dubonett and a bowl of soup. The French Onion there was hearty and heavenly.

The other day I found a taste of those long ago high times when I ordered the above soup at the Carroll Street Cafe. Mon Dior, it was a nostalgic mini-reunion. Sigh....

Drive Invasion Racist?

What's all this blather about Drive Invasion being racist? Just because folk of varying stripe choose not to hang in 100-degree heat with a bunch of tattooed, ugly, obnoxious, drunken, illiterate rednecks-posing-as-hipsters who look like they're one step away from some hideous, needle-induced infectious disease while the worst music you've ever encountered blasts you across melting black asphalt, now come on, does that make an annual booze-fest event where the Confederate flag is occasionally displayed in some twisted, reverse-reverse-irony manner inherently racist? If so, I'd have a bad rash of self-loathing to go with my sunburn by now.

What about the people, and surely there were some, who chose not to go to a Michael Vick dog fight? Such as Vick's father. Were they self-loathing blacks who wanted to secretly be more white by ignoring ghetto behavior?

Damn I love a great cultural confounding with Southern implications! Exactly what this blog is all about.

DragonCon '07

Yes, DragonCon is everything you've always heard it was. The Shelbinator has your video goodies here. I gave video blogging panel moderation there on Saturday, rather traumatized and agonized though because the panel was during the freakin' parade. (Why oh why during the parade, of all fabulous things, D*C schedule people?)

Still, I managed to shoot some video of the glorious street scene before and after the parade, just haven't packaged it yet. One sight that puzzled me was two kids walking around in matching shirts. One had a large letter "G" on, the other an "F."

My kid took one look at the footage and screamed, "It's for Fred and George!!!!" Uhhhh duh... come to think about it, they did have red hair. And were twins. And were carrying wands.

Need answers? Ask a 7-year old.

Georgia Carnival Fresh Out Of The Oven

The 17th Georgia Blog Carnival roundup is now available. Have at it. Thanks, Elementary History Teacher. You provide an excellent service to the Peach State. Surely to us bloggers. I bet you give great history too! Thanks for including the SGR.