Chortle Me Now

Ugghhhh... after that last bleak entry, we need a funny - fast. Here's a good one from Slate: what if W's AOL search history was made public, just like poor Thelma from Duluth? Here's a taste of what it might look like:

The records of AOL customer No. 16006693.
By Evan Eisenberg (Slate)
Posted Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2006, at 3:31 PM ET

"AOL removed a list of the Web search inquiries of 658,000 unnamed users from a public Web site over the weekend, after bloggers complained that the information was so detailed and personal that it could compromise the users' privacy." —New York Times, Aug. 8, 2006

16006693 nak
16006693 nack
16006693 sharona
16006693 knack
16006693 knack downloads
16006693 oakrige boys
16006693 oakridge boys
16006693 oakridge boys downloads free
16006693 jokes about dick cheney
16006693 jokes about dick cheney but not george bush
16006693 dick cheney creep
16006693 dick cheney dickhead
16006693 rummy dickhead
16006693 where is iraq
16006693 where is lebenon
16006693 his bullets
16006693 his bullies
16006693 shiits
16006693 shee-ites

Full list here.

UPCOMING SHOW NOTE: My dear pal and former colleague, Richard "Chilton" Stewart, will be performing with his band, TexBukSex, this Friday night at the Apache Cafe. Come ready to funk yourself hot and sweaty! Oh yeah.

Friday, August 18th, 2006
Apache Cafe
9 pm
64 3rd St. NW
Atlanta, GA 30308-1035
US of A
404-876-5436
Price: $10.00
Y.A.A.Y.L

http://www.chiltonmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/chiltontexbuksex

tags: Chilton, President, Slate, funk, soul, W

Men Are Sick

Stupid too. Yeah, thought that would get your attention. So they drained the pervert playground that is Bangkok (and is that an appropriate name for that city or what) and came up with JonBenet's killer. Why stop there? No telling what other sicko American men/freaks they'd send home to meet their family and community eye-to-eye.

And there's no justice even for the all-powerful, rich white man when idiot cops are on the scene to fuck everything up, as they did in the beginning of the JonBenet case. It took two women to bring justice to the Ramseys.

From today's New York Daily News:

A grand jury probe of JonBenet's death concluded with no indictments against anyone. But in 2003, U.S. District Judge Julie Carnes, who reviewed some evidence in the case in connection with a libel suit filed against the Ramseys, said she believed the clues suggested an intruder killed the child.

Boulder County District Attorney Mary Lacy, who took over the Ramsey murder probe from her predecessor, Alex Hunter, in late 2002, said she agreed with Carnes' hunch and started a fresh investigation.

I used to drive by the Ramsey's home on West Paces Ferry Road here in Atlanta every day after work. (I think they've since relocated to another part of town.) When they moved into the West Paces house from Boulder, the Ramseys began extensive renovation work on the grounds, which opened out onto West Paces with a broad expanse of showy lawn.

The house and the property were so exposed, so vulnerable. Why did they not choose to live on a more secluded side street? Then again, this was a "pageant family," I'd shrug to myself. Everything is up for display, right? As I'd pass by, I inevitably turned to look at the opulent mess, and was inevitably returned with a wave of extreme pity and sadness as I drove on down the beautiful, excessively manicured, winding road back on over to my side of town.

Like most people, I struggled to keep an open mind about the guilt, or not, of the family of JonBenet, keeping up dutifully with the case through The National Enquirer in the checkout line. When the Enquirer ran purloined pictures of crime scene evidence that included the garrote used to kill the little girl, I bought that copy, took it home and stared long and hard at the rope.

The noose was the work of a pro. It was perfectly and carefully crafted by someone who wanted to savor their sadistic handiwork. The rope seemed brand new.

I bought that particular "evidence" copy of the Enquirer because when I was a child, one of my brothers once garroted my favorite baby doll, Lisa. I came home from school one random day, I still played with dolls in fifth grade, and found Lisa swinging from a noose on our back porch. She had been stripped naked before being hung, a peace sign scrawled across her pink cloth chest with black marker.

I remember the shock of discovering the "crime scene," the maniacal laughter from my twisted brother, but mostly I remember the utter indifference of my mother to his sicko behavior. He should have been taken out behind the woodshed and caned within an inch of his wicked little life. Instead, I was likely yelled at to shut-up and stop crying, while he was allowed to relish and revel in every treasured moment of his ghoulish, freakish action to his twisted heart's content.

Lisa was gone forever. I never played with dolls again.


Reading list for this entry: We Need To Talk About Kevin
tags: JonBenet, Atlanta, Justice, Ramsey, Lin Wood, Lionel Shriver

Everybody Podcast

I am a podcast. Yeah, well we can't all be Carrie Bradshaw. I don't have the energy to be that slutty this year. Besides, the PTA's breathing down my neck again now that school's started. The time I waste figuring out how not to sign-up for stuff I could, uh, lookup Mr. Big for old time's sake. But why would I do that to myself? Gratuitous, mind-blowing sex perhaps. Whatever that is to my life these days.

Click here for my latest from Georgia Political Digest, via the continuely amazing Georgia Podcast Network. Hell, Sonny Perdue oughta knight us the way we brand the Peach State with every breath we take.

A couple of announcements:

a.) Atlanta Media Bloggers meets this Thursday the 17th at the Loop Pizza Grill in Buckhead at 7pm.

b.) My Level II comedy workshoppe graduation is Monday the 21st at the
Punchline. 8pm.

NOTE: I and my psyche got a meager 48 hours in the mountains this summer. It could be a rough winter.

tags: Wal-Mart, Georgia, podcast, retail, technology, no vacation

Genetically Modified Wal-Mart

Don't know about you, but I'm going to speculate in corn futures. Wal-Mart wants to sell ethanol. Or E85 as it's called for commercial purposes. This is most cool, and could alter the kind of vehicles we purchase and what kind of emmissions we spew. Lord knows, I'm spewing now in my gas guzzler, and sometimes even I feel a twinge or two about it. If something safe, affordable and roomy came on the market that utilized E85, and I knew where a couple of E85 stations were close by, would that affect the kind of vehicle I drove? Absolutely.

My new neighbor, Wal-Mart, has already affected something on me, and if they can soften up my kinda rigidity, then they're doing something right. I wrote about my Wal-Mart miniphany (mini epiphany) this week in the Georgia Political Digest. Read full op/ed here.

From the CNN/Money story:

More than 5 million vehicles on U.S. roads today can run on ethanol - a renewable fuel that comes from corn - as well as gasoline. General Motors, Ford and DaimlerChrysler recently announced plans to double their annual production of so-called flex fuel vehicles to two million cars and trucks by 2010.

tags: Wal-Mart, ethanol, Georgia, gas, gas prices, cheap, corn futures, business

Toby Jugs Kanobi

WARNING! This post contains mommy-gag-blog items and useless personal information I ain't too proud to share. Perfect for the blogosphere. I pronouced my daughter old enough for her first screening of Star Wars. So we gathered round the DVD... I was soooo excited. Nervous, but spirits were high, as were expectations. Would she hate it? Love it? Run screaming from the room? Pronounce it really stupid, dorky and without benefit of dreamboat, Zac Efron?

No, she loved it, whew, and found it thrilling and exciting. It made her eyes shine. She pronounced Darth Vadar "kinda like Voldemort." No great imagination stretch there. She hasn't turned her wand into a light saber yet as there is generational gap involved, although one that seems easily transcendable. She asked no questions about The Force though, such as what is it and how do you use it. That was a relief for such a Muggle mom as me. All that metaphysical yap is still beyond a six-year old's realm. But not for long.

Ava told me she once had a dream that she was kissing Zac Efron/Troy, but that it was all went "horrible" because she woke up and found out it didn't really happen. Poor kid. How do you soothe that kinda deep disappointment? I'll go way out on a limb here and say she's may have a hard time yet again in the dream vs. reality department. I hear some people do. "Just keep those expectations low dear," is what I felt like telling her.

I also refrained from uttering bullshit about princes and dreams really coming true and all the usual crap she'll get enough of from bad literature and TV. Then again, whenever she asks me if I always wanted a baby girl, I tell her, "Yes, and my dream came true. God was kind to me, for some odd reason." And I mean it too. (Pardon utterly gratuitous mommy-gag-blog moment, but we all have our, uh, sarcasm limitations; mine typically involve my kid.)

And now for something completely silly, Mixed Shushi Platter.



tags: Star Wars, French and Saunders, Absolutely Fabulous, The Motherhood, mommy blogs, blogger, mom, children, kids

It's My Life

Poor Thelma out in Lilburn. She got screwed-over royally by AOL. I'd say, well hon, that's what you get for messing around with AOL, but no one deserves the nasty privacy violation the NYT today reports Thelma from Lilburn had handed to her.

From the story:

AOL removed the search data from its site over the weekend and apologized for its release, saying it was an unauthorized move by a team that had hoped it would benefit academic researchers.

But the detailed records of searches conducted by Ms. Arnold and 657,000 other Americans, copies of which continue to circulate online, underscore how much people unintentionally reveal about themselves when they use search engines — and how risky it can be for companies like AOL, Google and Yahoo to compile such data.

Those risks have long pitted privacy advocates against online marketers and other Internet companies seeking to profit from the Internet’s unique ability to track the comings and goings of users, allowing for more focused and therefore more lucrative advertising.

Hmmm... the search saga of Thelma Arnold led me to wonder about my constant Googling. When you install a Google Toolbar on your web browser, as I have, Google has this to say on its Help pulldown, with my additions in parens:

Use of the Advanced Features of the Google Toolbar requires that information about the site you visit (sounds like we only ever go to one site, eh?) be sent to Google. (Like, uh, where at Google?) This is needed to make these features possible. With all advanced features disabled, no information about the sites you visit will be communicated to Google. (And thus on to whomever!)

The full Google Toolbar privacy disclosure thingee is here.

Naturally enough, I wondered what my search history would tell someone. So, I will show you mine, totally uncensored (I swear), if you show me yours. Here's my Top Twelve of Last Things (not sites mind you) Searched on Google:

1. Boondocks Martin Luther King
2. Boondocks on Cartoon Network
3. half man half biscuit
4. guatemalan
5. the bird cage spartacus
6. the bird cage sparticas
7. italian cafe howell mill
8. scott selig
9. Cynthia McKinney district
10. georgia corporations state
11. georgia corporations state
12. lenny's atlanta

Speak volumes to you? Could care less? To me it says, "You are a notoriously bad speller, and frequently use Google just to spellcheck a word." (I once had a teacher tell me that I couldn't spell because I wasn't a reader. Dumb bitch, and I'd tell her so to her face if I saw her again. Only thing is, I can't remember who she was. I know her only by her falsehood. Shame.)

Sometimes, I don't quite heart the Internet as much as I typically do. Today, I admit feeling just a touch of betrayal.

This post put together to It's My Life

tags: Google, Internet, AOL, betrayal, not really your friend, Lilburn, Talk Talk

Go Shrug Yourself

According to the WSJ, a great time for Islamic fundys to schedule something apocalyptical would be August 22nd. What in the world will I wear?! This totally rains cataclysmic havoc on my August 25th birthday plans to drink at least two martinis. Oh, what the heck! Let's just start boozing now. Lemme put on a little HMHB first, 'cause hon, this here's one gal who's gonna go out laughing her ass off.

From today's WSJ:

What is the significance of Aug. 22? This year, Aug. 22 corresponds, in the Islamic calendar, to the 27th day of the month of Rajab of the year 1427. This, by tradition, is the night when many Muslims commemorate the night flight of the prophet Muhammad on the winged horse Buraq, first to "the farthest mosque," usually identified with Jerusalem, and then to heaven and back (c.f., Koran XVII.1). This might well be deemed an appropriate date for the apocalyptic ending of Israel and if necessary of the world. It is far from certain that Mr. Ahmadinejad plans any such cataclysmic events precisely for Aug. 22. But it would be wise to bear the possibility in mind.

I know what I'll do... I'll email Iran now and ask them to push the date back just a tad 'cause I know I need to watch me some more Boondocks on Adult Swim. You don't know "outside the box" until you've watched the MLK episode. (Thanks for the viewing, my dear Roches.)

Also, thanks for the full WSJ article hookup, Randy. I was feeling too, uh, "French" right now to actually register and read the whole thing myself. My general malaise typically sets in around 3pm. Wonderful (Italian) cafe for just that kinda Euro'tude up the road on Howell Mill. I'll email Ahmadinejad from there, watch the replay on YouTube when the hangover subsides on the 23rd. Wonder if the August Vogue has any fashion advice for this kinda situation? If they've scheduled something for the big September fashion issue, then I am so screwed.

And since this is after all a blog... gratuitous blog photo below (to be posted whenever Blogger.com starts behaving nicely) of new hairdo. Gratuitous mommy blog-like (don't get me started) comment from daughter: "Your hair looks really weird."

tag: WSJ, apocalypse, Israel, martinis, Vogue, War, HMHB, Boondocks

Vote Today on TrueGritz!

Over at my vlog, TrueGritz, we're learning some interactive video tricks. There are many kinks to work with and work out. Sas is still learning to greenscreen all by herself, and the German flash guy's wife had a baby earlier than expected, so we had to post whatever he could give us with little of no finessing, just to make our Cynthia McKinney runoff day deadline. And that's RIGHT NOW.

Still, bumps and glitches aside, it's pretty astonishing that anyone can create an interactive environment right in their, uh, pajamas. (Wigs in our case.) Believe me, if we can do it, anyone can.

So click-on over to TrueGritz and tell us what you think about Cynthia McKinney. Just keep your fingers on the volumn key; the levels are all over the place.

See you at the polls!

tags: Cynthia McKinney, Vote, Runoff, Georgia, Democrats, Slap A Cop, Technorati, TrueGritz, Politics

Please Rapture These Clowns NOW

Couple of things from the End 'O Time front... the righty hystericals over at Little Green Football called-out a blatant example of a photoshoppe-ing by Reuters of smoke over Beruit. And that's a good thing. Reuters killed the picture.

Now for their next act, LGF groupies will resurrect the dead baby killed by the Israelis.

Sure. They'd have you believe that too with all the apocalyptical mumbo jumbo being tossed around by hysterics worldwide - especially those in MSM. Hell, they're the worst of the lot.

You will roll watching these clowns as they drink the Kool-Aid, right on your own plasma TV set in front of your very eyes. See Daily Show video recap below.

Oh please, Paula. Just go pick-up some snakes and shut the fuck-up. Is there a grownup in the house?



tags: Little Green Footballs, The Daily Show, Armageddon, Kool-Aid, Jesus Is Magic, Right Wing Bull Shit, Fundamentalist, It Is Allegory, Stupid, Paula Zahn, MSM, Reuters

Shut Up And Blog

The Dixie Chicks, bless their pretty, righteous hearts, were well received in NYC this week. Big surprise there. They play Phillips Arena here in Atlanta in Oct. I am so fond of this new record, Taking The Long Way Home, that I might even brave arena rock to see them. Pay for the sins of my fellow southerners. Out the ass no doubt.

The same people who went into a frenzy over Natalie Maines' anti-Bush remarks in 2003 remind me so of the South Carolinians who handed Bush his victory over McCain in the primary there in 2000; thus paving the road to White House gold. They went into the same sheep-like, rabid frenzy over Rove's Atwater-inspired whisper campaign, or push poll, over McCain's "black baby." Seems like McCain's other (white) baby is now tougher than the rest, and has joined the Marines - something no southern patriotism-droolers nor Yale frat boys seem to be doing in droves about right now.

But what I'm really looking forward to is the Barbara Koppel documentary about the Dixie Chicks. Somehow, I don't think the South's going to get off looking very pretty in this one. At least the Chicks can escape to the big Culture Refuge Center whenever they need to - Manhattan, of course.

Sometimes I despise southerners.

In other new... CBS News recently did a feature about the virtual community, Second Life. The replay of the package that aired is on this list. Scroll down to the one called Living In The Virtual World.

One of my oldest, dearest friends is featured in this package, Catherine Smith. She's head of marketing now for Second Life/Linden Lab, and originally from Atlanta. Dig that pirate ship across the bay! Gotta go get me one of those, fer sure. Or maybe that rock star wedding... Hell, I could even get a date in Second Life.

tags: Dixie Chicks, South, Cool moms, Easily led, Sheep-like behavior, Stupid southerners, John McCain, Second Life

Remembering All

Now ladies, I know that most of you have been with a man of whom you've worried about the state of his very soul. As in... does he have one? And by the way, where's his heart? I'm not talking about the kinda guy or the kinda relationship where you're pretty sure he's got a heart; he's just not giving it to you. Moreorless, ye olde SITC infamous "He's just not that in to you" scenario. (And yes, that's a wicked-bitter pill for us women folk to, um, swallow, but once you've bitten that, um, bullet, I swear there's smooth, peaceful sailing ahead.... but that's another advice entry for you all together.)

No, I'm talking about the guy so removed from life, removed from the human experience, the day-to-day tiny joys, the run-of-the-mill heartbreaks of this life we're all given that you gotta fear for his very soul. Where did the dude get off the human path and vear so hard into Detatchment La-La Land? How did he get so far removed from us? What drove him away? And what does he do in his spare time besides wack-off to porn? You know the kinda guy... cold at the core, yet you've seen a spark somewhere. You know it when you feel it coming from him. It's there. It's buried. It's been known to rise to the occasion.

You thought you could ignite an entire freakin' emotional fire within the man, but then he slips from you as if he were sinking under your very boat. And there's so little you can do, less you went under too and drowned your own self in the process; only a stupid, utterly hopeless, ain't-tasted-the-good-in-life kinda woman would do that.

Am I right so far, ladies? Even if you know what a strong, solid swimmer you are, you gotta acknowledge that at some point in the rescue effort, you're going to get tired and really cranky. Worn out to the bone. And when women get bone-tired and exhausted, well bad things is sure gonna happen... most likely to themselves. Anyways, there comes a point with a certain kinda man, a certain kinda person, that you worry so whether you could ever trust them - in anything, any effort of the heart in particular.

I've got a little test I've come up with that might help you guage the state of this other emotional life, the other heart, you're confounded by. Help you along to the right decisions and the right relationship path.



If your man watches this Johnny Cash video and has no reaction whatsoever, dump him as fast as you can. Walk immediately and swifty away. He ain't got nothing but a bad, black heart. If he likes it and comments about it in any kinda way, there's reason to stick around. If it makes him cry, well... you know what to do. If you don't know what to do, then I suggest learning more about your own heart, and real soon too -- else he's gonna eventually dump you.

By the way, my ex-husband sent me this video. Talk about something bittersweet. But well, that's all kinda personal for a blog...

Enjoy. It's all life. Just don't ever let it pass you by.

tags: Johnny Cash, Life, Heart, Hurt, Just living, I remember everything

(BTW, of all the billions of blogs out there, according to Technorati, there is not a single other blog tagged any of these: Life, Heart, Hurt, Just Living or I Remember Everything. Pretty emotionally barren out there in the blogosphere, n'est ce pas?)

Our Fave Charlestonian

Takes the total piss outta politicians and MSM - once again. Damn he does it good!

My Never Changing Moods

Listen up kiddies... there is someone out there who's hipper than you. Always has been. Hell, he was hipper than us back when we were clueless enough to think we were ice-cool. If you have to ask who Paul Weller is... well then sorry, you were never hip at all.

Just please God, don't let him be a vegan now.

tags: Paul Weller, The Jam, The Style Council, Yep Roc Records

Rebel Yap

Pauline Ashley-Wilkes sighted at B-ATL. What's next... RebelFemBloggerCon? Anyone up for organizing that one? I gotta go re-enact something or I'd do it myself.

The End Of Isolation

Here's a comment I posted to BuzzMachine after reading this entry about John Updike's recent lament over the overpowering characteristics of the digital era -- in the context of a bookstore. Yawn.

Be sure to read the Updike essay first though. And yes, I posted my comment in the wrong place. Oooops. Nothing like looking like a complete dope on a popular blog...

"Reading Updike’s amusing, musty handwringer of an essay, The End of Authorship, I was reminded of my days growing up in the rural south with quasi-hippy, isolationist-minded parents.

In the early 70s, the units imagined themselves at the vanguard of good intentions, so naturally enough we had no TV down on the (organic) farm. We had books, radio and music instead.

Books, radio and music only, for info, pleasure or entertainment, were all just perfect — for my parents. Still are. They continue to flourish and thrive with no computers or Internet access on the farm.

Books, music, radio were all fine by me too — up to a certain point. I eventually came to a place in my life, though, where I, unlike the units, had to survive in the real world of a just segregated, Deep South, rural, public school system. And believe me, “dirty hippies” was a freakish concept able to unify blacks and whites with little or no fuss.

Oddly enough, one way to keep savages at bay is to have a conversation with them. Of course “the savages” weren’t at home reading Ulysses while lovingly stroking the inches of the edges of a dusty treasure from Cambridge Square.

Rather, they were hootin’ it up in the hallways over Marcus Welby, M.D.

Since I didn’t have a prayer of sparking a conversation about Susan Stanberg’s cranberry relish, I’d often make-up anecdotal tid-bits about last night’s Rockford Files. Kinda the way I do now when I’ve missed most of the last season of Entourage.

The point being here that good old-fashioned book reading, fiction in particular, is ultimately a solitary pursuit we choose as an intellectual indulgence, with little or no interactivity involved, unless you’re an academic or in one of those icky, menopausal book clubs. And that’s ok.

However, not only does society demand interactivity, the befudling “performances, access to the creator, and personalization” that Updike stodgily dismisses out of hand are often a deep source of enjoyment and fulfillment - especially when they become something we can create, control and distrubute so easily in this digital age. And who knows, maybe they become a survival source too.

Guess that’s why my parents do not blog. But I do."

tags: Blogging, media, John Updike, Jeff Jarvis

(Alert) Moms In War Zone

Here's a blog from an Israeli mom and writer, Allison Kaplan Sommer. Allison lives in Ra’anana, a suburb located about a half hour’s drive north from Tel Aviv and chronicles on her blog, An Unsealed Room, what daily life becomes when bombs start going off around you.

Having just sent my kid to horse camp too, albeit one without reinforced walls, I find her account of living, again, in a war zone utterly compelling and not so terribly far-fetched for our placid American sensibilities. I mean, what can you do when the shit hits the fan other than what writer-moms do best... clean out the bomb shelter and have a cappuccino!

Odd choice of patronage on her blog though I must say. Are Sonic Booms big in Israel?

tags: Israel, Advertising, Parenting

News Flash: MSM Remains Kinda Clueless

What's missing from this story about blogging on ABC News dot com, (other than Peter Jennings who I still miss deeply everytime I watch at 7pm) titled Should You Quit Your Day Job To Blog? (Thanks for the link, Randy.)

The news, perhaps? I can't believe anyone can be so clueless as to write a (wildly optimistic) story about independent video blogging nowadays, mention Rocketboom right out of the gate, and then fail to talk about the glaring fact that Amanda Congdon was unboomed from Rocketboom just last week!

MSM is falling seriously behind the curve I'm afraid. The whole dynamic of video blogging took a dramatic swerve when Amanda left and all their dirty laundry got hung out to dry.

It's almost that MSM isn't worth bothering with as they're so slow outta the gate. I mean, cranking up those multi-million dollar bits of copy and video is heavy lifting. No longer Johnny On The Spot. And as for quickie political investigations, look at what went down at Peach Pundit! Go get 'em, you Red Boys.

By the way, the answer to Should You Quit Your Day Job To Blog? is "Sure! Why not?!" I just did. So... watch this space.

tags: Amanda Congdon, Rocketboom, MSM, video, video blogging, media

The Beauty Of Rock

If you can get on the server (it's full-up with overuse right now since CBS Sunday Morning just aired a story about this treasure drove), the late Bill Graham's massive, exclusive rock memorabilia collection from the 60's and 70's is available online now.

All that's to say about this collection is "Wow." I watched the story today on TV with my mouth literally wide-open at the goodies one could behold. The previously unseen footage from the Who's last tour with Keith Moon, for instance, was enough to give one a deep longing to gaze on the whole show for as long as you could. To go back in time. To stay there too. The Jumpsuit tour. Oh wow. That's all I can say. Check out the site when you can here.

Another artist recently noted on a good Atlanta blog, SoulPole, is James Jean. He also does marvelous rock posters in that fabulous old-school Haight-Asbury style. A poster example regaling The Donnas is on the SoulPole site.


And while you're on the CBS Sunday Morning site, don't miss David Pogues', uh, grammer school primer on blogging. Cute bedroom shoes, eh? Elvishly cute that Pogue is. Um Hum. Nice person too, from what I read.

PRESS ALERT: If you happen to be in the area, be sure to pick-up a copy of The Marietta Daily Journal, Sunday edition, and pull out the Lifestyle section. Guess who's on the front page of that section? Yep - Sas and Pauline. They are such MSM hags!

tags: Wolfgangs Vault, The Who, David Pogue

Must Have Been Slytherin

Hmmm... Coke employees have been naughty, as they were caught trying to sell The Formula. Ha. As if that's possible.

Whatever they were passing around at Pepsi (and whatever Pepsi respectfully declined) everyone knows The Formula is locked in The Vault forever and ever, amen… along with some stinkin’ Polyjuice Potion, Margaret Mitchell’s tape recorder, Jeff Clark's worthiness as a human being, and Sas Gordon-Walker's first pageant trophy.

All Atlanta children grow up hearing, “If you don’t behave, y’all be locked in the Coca-Cola vault. Mark my word!” Stupid stupid people.

Alan Rickman can pour potions all over me anytime he desires... but that's neither here nor there.

tags: Harry Potter, Coca-Cola, Alan Rickman

On The Radio

Sas and I will have a chance to run our mouths good this Friday night on WRFG. Tune-in at 7pm on the 23rd via the website, or to FM 89.3 to hear us talk country and (real) country music. Don't know how "in-character" we'll be on the radio. But we're sure going to have fun, and the DJ has promised to play lots of Byrds and FBB/GP tunes just for me.

Then Saturday night is Bingo at Tube. See below entry for more on that.

Looks like a TrueGritz weekend around the ATL! See you there.

tags: Radio, media, TrueGritz

We Heart The AJC

Did I just write that? Well... MSM or not, I do. Today fer sure. Here's why:

Photo essay here.

tags: Atlanta Constitution, TrueGritz

Click on TrueGritz!

Rappers And Rich People

A coupla hilarious statements in the press today regarding rappers and rich people.

First, the rich folk and their addiction to private jet aircraft and all around tax elusiveness, from the NYT...

"Rollins Inc., a pest control company (Orkin to be specific. Atlanta-based I might add) with a market value of $1.4 billion, has its chief executive, Gary W. Rollins, use its planes for security reasons. The company paid his taxes of $7,214, bringing his travel income to $116,988 last year."

"Michelle Leder, who tracks corporate compensation on her Web site, Footnoted.org, wrote that the only rationale for security needs at Rollins could be if 'one day cockroaches decide to start fighting back.'"

Story in full here.

And then the rappers. From a Village Voice article about how indifferent the NYC radio station Hot 97 is to their special little problem of numerous guest rappers-with-entourage shooting each other up at the West Village studio. Says the reporter:

"As far as I know, the only time Hot 97 has openly taken a stand against this stuff was when they wouldn't let Nas burn Jay-Z in effigy at Summer Jam."

Ah, rappers and rich people - laughingstock to middle America. Big Cindy Tee ain't quite as bemused as I am though.

tags: rappers, rich people, radio

Black Tree Blocks His Way

Coupla things to offer you here you might enjoy... Rusty and Amber podcasted and posted the Kos (Daily Kos) gathering last night to the Georgia Podcast Network. Color me pleasantly surprised, but I may have detected a slight progressive pulse in our red state.

The place was packed like sardines to hear Kos pontificate on liberal "progress." He said not to get too excited about taking back much of anything in '08, but given the progressive infrastructure being laid on the Internet, you can go ahead and knock yourself out, go wild and be optimistic about 2016.

You can also read a really special post by Rusty about how his romance with Amber began. (On a blog of course.) Reading it warmed even my own long-gone-cold, weary old heart. Ah, young lovers...

I also want to test out this song sharing ability Napster now offers. I'll give you one of my old goth faves today since it's rainy and moody out. I've always loved this song on dark days. It goes best with tea and biscuits and a fire in the fireplace, but whatever's on your own cooker'll work too. FYI, it took a bit for all players to download the song to where it actually played. But hey, it's free. Sigh...

I always liked Napster over iTunes anyway. I thought their search function was much easier to find and use the artist offerings (albeit limited). I wouldn't mind resuming relations with Napster since you can buy a seriously uncool little player that's compatible with Napster (I assume) for a very uncool $40-bucks at Publix in the Dollar Bins every now and then. That little player (comes in color choices even) is so uncool it might be seriously cool to have one... now that I'm poised to be found on iTunes when the Georgia Political Digest lists our podcasts there. Possibly by next week!

And also by next week, despite a host of hosting woes, TrueGritz is still scheduled to put out on the 15th. Busy world we live in, eh?

tags: Napster, Peter Murphy

Georgia Podcast Network, Y'all

A cool, techno-minded Atlanta couple, Amber and Rusty (yes, they are smarter than you, especially combined) has created the Georgia Podcast Network. Many long hard days after working hours were surely put in to get this service up and running, so stop by often to support this dream home team.

Better yet, get your own podcast going and put out on the GPN. (Need help? Don't panic because my new co., WaySouth Media, will be ready to help any day now.)

Rusty blogs here. Amber here. And that gal sure can write! But not for the simple-minded, easily offended reader. Consider yourself warned.

Rusty and Amber will be podcasting the Kos appearance at Manuel's tomorrow night. See below entry for more details, and see you there.

tag: Georgia Podcast Network

Announcements Announcements Announcements

"...a terrible fate to be talked to death, a terrible way to die." Least that's what we used to sing at camp anytime the lead-dog counselor would take to the mic.

For you SGR readers only... a special sneak preview of TrueGritz -- a peek at lots of goodies comin' your way.

NEXT WEEK: Don't miss Big Swinging Blogosphere Dick, Kos, when he's here in town at Manuel's -- May 9th at 7:30pm. I'll see you at that one fer sure.

Before you're outta here, my pal Tom Roche reports being the first person to recognize "out in the street" the newly-minted celeb, Ray McGovern. Ray's the CIA nutter who dared play a round of tough guy Q&A with Rummy during his recent visit to the ATL. You can see that infamous event in full here.

tags: Daily Kos, Rumsfeld, Atlanta, Ray McGovern, TrueGritz

Have Some Fun

The annual Inman Park parade on Saturday was a blast. I dragged along my cranky six-year old, who clearly did not want to leave a Harry Potter computer game to attend yet another loopy, mommy-inspired event.

Ten minutes into the parade, fourteen burly bearded men in tutus waving pompoms, dozens of costumed dogs, a Big Gulp full of candy, and a neckload of beads later I got my vindication: "Mom, I'm really really glad you made me come to this!" There was even representation from a local Harry Potter fan club marching by. So she goes to DragonCon one day. As long as it keeps her out of the Young Republicans.

When local politcos floated through, I somehow restrained myself from yelling "Wiki Wench" at a convertibled Cathy Cox, still with some of the worst highlights good money can buy. Mark Taylor was ahead of Cox in the lineup, looking like he'd managed to shed a few pounds.

My favorite float was the E.A. Yacht Club's boatload of nutters, naturally enough. E.A.Y.C. is now celebrating twenty years of getting us ATLers totally trashed.

Also, just in time for one more Immigration Day rally, here's another Georgia Political Digest column from moi.

tags: Immigration, Inman Park, Georgia, politics, Atlanta, immigration reform

Jump In The Econoline

Atlanta's Stomp and Stammer is streaming the entire new Neil Young album, "Living With War." The record's not out for another two weeks.

Listen here. Keep on rockin' in the free blogosphere, folks.

tag: Neil Young

Governor's Race Goes To Code "Criminal"

This is wild stuff, folks! The Georgia '06 political landscape is just crazy -- already. Indeed, a new columnist with the Georgia Political Digest (disclosure -- I'm a columnist there too) is calling the whole GA gubernatorial race "criminal."

This is gettin' juicy I tell 'ya. First there was the Wikipedia Resignation on Wednesday. Now the "extortion" word is being slung about. Get the whole enchilada here.

tags: Georgia politics, Georgia governor, Cathy Cox, Mark Taylor, Governor, Wikipedia

River Revival Party -- May 3

Order tickets online now, before the price goes up on Sunday! (From $35 to $45) The River Revival party on May 3 at 6:30pm promises to be a hoot! Dames A'Flame will be there, and bluegrass pickin' and dancin' and an auction and tons of amazing food and booze courtesy of Park Tavern on gorgeous, happenin' Piedmont Park. All for a terrific cause too. Come on out for what promises to be a gorgeous spring night on the town, and you don't even need to dress-up as it's an all-denim soiree.

Sure hope to see you there! Click here to order tickets online.

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid

Then get a grip and do something when you have the opportunity -- chiefly VOTE Religious Right toadies out of office and out of our personal lives, because the fallout from conservative "values" filtering into our once-credible information pipelines is getting to a critical, dangerous level.

From a Glamour article:

"Young women now read false data on government websites, learn bogus information in federally funded sex-education programs and struggle to get safe, legal contraceptives—all of which, critics argue, may put them at greater risk for unplanned pregnancies and STDs."

Full story here. (Tip of the hat to Being Amber Rhea for that one.) And one must assume that when not busy shoving false information and religious rheotoric into our faces, the Fundys are hard at work helping curb the scourge of child prostitution infecting Atlanta. Yeah. Sure. Right. And I'm Teri Hatcher.

Ooops. Now that I think about it, my love life is almost as pathetic as hers. So... lemme back up... Sure. Yeah. Right. And I'm Evita Peron.

tags: women's health, religious right, Politics, Teri Hatcher, child prostitution, Atlanta

Get Serious - About Net Neutrality

You heart the Internet. I heart the Internet. We all heart the Internet. It's kinda now, kinda wow -- and it's all about us all the time. Well, there are many dark forces at work in the land who wish to curtail all the fun, games and wonderful openness we currently enjoy as free Americans on the Internets right now.

There are pages upon pages of deadly boring URLs I could link you to, but I like you way too much to do that. To find out more about why the "Net Neutrality" issue is so critical to the way we all enjoy going about our business these days, click to a cool short video here. And take nothing for granted. Nothing.

And if you know where I can get a nice lady's tee shirt with the above borrowed symbol on it, please lemme know.

tags: net neutrality, ISP, Internet, Internet access, give internet access a chance, all we are saying

Pauline Ashley-Wilkes

Coming soon to a URL near you!

Watch this space for more info.

OK... more info. As usual, The Economist misses the big picture. And where is The Big Picture these days? Down South, hon! Where else? Pauline Ashley-Wilkes and co. will be bringing it all back home. Soon, real soon.

You're Gonna Make It After All

Oh wow! This is so cool. I'm about to burst with pride; one of my oldest, dearest friends, the incomparable Queen Catherine S. The First, formerly of the ATL, is now head of marketing for Linden Lab/Second Life.

WTF is Second Life you ask? Whatever it is, and there are many answers to that timely question, it is featured on this week's cover of Business Week.

And regardless that Cath is there in San Fran and I'm here in the ATL, I've gotta break out the bubbly in her honor tonight. You go on with your bad self, hon!

tag: Second Life

So Long Fly Boy

Aviation and Right Stuff legend Scott Crossfield died here in N. Georgia doing what he did best - flying planes. What a way to live a life.

tag: Scott Crossfield

Don't "Believe" In Abortion? Don't Have One.

... then shut the fuck up.

Show the women of South Dakota and the world that you DO give a damn about them and their right to safe and legal abortion. Add to this photo petition here.

You'll Never Blog Alone

Feeling a little down? A quickie over to Wonkette will always set 'ya right. See what I mean.

tag: Wonkette

Something's Not Right

There's real sicko Fundy stuff going on out there. Read about the latest trend here. Or here. Creepy, weird and just plain icky.

tags: purity balls, religion

Great Party! Great Cause! May 3

10th Annual River Revival
Wednesday - May 3, 2006

Park Tavern at Piedmont Park

6:30pm

Dress up in your funkiest jeans and party to help keep our drinking water safe. Admission ($35. It is a fundraiser, folks) includes complimentary beer, wine, great food and a years membership to Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.

Entertainment from Kingsized, Apostles of Bluegrass, and The Dames Aflame. Plus auction, prize drawings and great folks.

Order tickets here. I'm on the host committee, so be sure to put my name (Grayson not Spacey Gracey) in the appropriate space. Thanks.

Come ready to have a whole lot of fun. And remember, the Chattahoochee is our only water source for 3.6 mm folks here in the ATL. See you there!

tags: Chattahoochee River, conservation, Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, environment

Atlanta Media Bloggers Tent Revival

We're all gettin' together for a covered-dish gatherin' in Fellowship Hall of First Atlanta Church of Net Neutrality this Wednesday April 19. Fry up a mess 'a catfish fer sure.

Don't mean to scare 'ya kiddies, but Atlanta Media Bloggers will be gathering, as we do every third Wednesday of the month, at The Loop Pizza Grill in Buckhead at 7pm. And this meeting's topic is Net Neutrality.

Some required reading is my recent op/ed piece about BellSouth for the Georgia Political Digest, of course. Other recent excellent items here and here.

Note the glaring absence of a very cool AMB logo for this posting. So any graphically-inclined blogger who would like to help us out there, please have at it. I cain't draw; just babble.

See ya'll there!

tags: net neutrality, Atlanta Media Bloggers, BellSouth, Earthlink

Welcome To The Show Brother

Look! See Monica Run. Run Monica Run. WSB-TV here in the ATL is now pimping their online offerings/website with glaring new promos. I couldn't help but notice 'em yesterday with the TV blaring in the background.

That is most contrary to what the News Director at WSB-TV looked me in the eye and told me, about a year ago, in response to a question (from me) at an Atlanta Press Club function where I asked him, "Do you have plans to incorporate 'new media' into the local news environment?"

The (then) clueless exec replied, "We have no plans to do A THING different with the way we deliver the news." And he was a proud mother f-er too when he made that backassward statement! Wonder if they fired his lame-butt and now have someone in there with half-a-clue?

Man, the way things are hoppin' around here, the Press Club might even think to invite Jeff Jarvis to speak by '08. Wow.

tags: WSB, Jeff Jarvis, media, local news

Caption Oh Caption

Have at it...

tag: Rumsfeld

Less Rant, More Human

I've been on a bit of a rant-roll of late. And been reminded in at least one prominent blog about useage of bad words, as I tend to head to the gutter cursing when in full rant mode.

But as a writer and frequent blogger, I do get caught up in absurd mommy-war issues when I least expect, and I always feel bad afterwards as the discussion never fails to deteriorate to some shouted playout of our cheapest emotional responses. (See below entry and you'll understand what I'm talking about.) Why this happens is beyond me. Is it a Mean Girl thing? An Alpha Mom thing? Low-self esteem left dormant from teen years? BTFOM!

Instead, it really is best to look at the many issues of modern day motherhood not as who's issues are better, or have more validity, credibility, etc., but as an adventure with universality galore: a colicky baby in Liberia is moreorless the same as a colicky baby in Lithonia, and any mom prays and strives for the same outcome -- for her baby to feel better.

Still, I would urge any woman pondering the murky waters of mommyhood to read not just all the usual pregnancy books, particularly Marg Stark's What No One Tells The Mom, but also An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths.

Now I'm a hard-core fiction kinda gal. I can get quite elitist when it comes to reading materials; I read literature, the more epic-y, tedious, lengthy and drawing room-ridden the better. Some of my favorites are Ian McEwan, Anita Brookner, Austen, Thackery, Tolstoy and now Dickens after seeing the astonishing Bleak House on Masterpiece Theater recently. That Gillian Anderson was absolutely transcendental and luminescent, in a character that was not particularly transcendental or luminescent at all. I hope she gets a really big fat award of the highest kind for her portrayal of the tormented Lady Dedlock.

Anyways, back to the point... I've never read a self-help or motivational book in my life. I just don't waste precious book reading time on non-fiction, unless you count the gripping, beautiful story by Mariane Pearl about the life of her murdered husband Danny Pearl, or that Neil Young biography given to me by a music writer. So when I refer you to a piece of non-fiction and say it changed my life, you'd better believe it had a significant impact.

If you don't have kids already, you don't really know what you don't know. It's hard to "feel" how the biology of the whole business will overcome your entire being, presumably, until you're in deep.

So to best prepare to accomodate that primal urge to "stay home" to care for your wee one (they ARE so tiny and helpless at birth, and boy will that mother tiger instinct just rock your world when you hold your baby for the first time), think about preparing to flex your schedule and your considerable skills by working from home and around your baby's schedule. Trust me, a flexible schedule makes for a happy mom. And when mom's happy, good things happen.

A great way to give yourself the confidence to begin to wean yourself from the corporate, brink-n-mortar tit/schedule is to read a mind-blowing book by the father of the blogosphere, the Instapundit dude (and dad) himself, Glenn Reynold's An Army of Davids. I'd say again that this book changed my life, but rather... this book IS my life.

Whatever you do, go forth and prosper all you amazing moms and moms-to-be!

tags: motherhood, Gillian Anderson, Bleak House, Instapundit, Blogging, Glenn Reynolds, Daniel Pearl

Is That Caitlin Singing In The Abby?

So much for the information age! Why am I just now hearing about arch anti-feminist writer, the ultra-fem Caitlin Flanagan? Maybe because I'm on a 3-month backlog of New Yorkers right now. Still, this woman is intriguing, although I gotta hate her, not because she's so icky-retro and loves marriage and suburbs and kittens and stuff. I just hate her already because she once tried to write a novel set in the Deep South. That from a woman who grew up in Berkley. Sacre Bleu! Or maybe I love her because at least she gave up that foolish sacriledge and went for non-fiction instead. Whew.

Whatever she does, she sounds like your basic hypocrite -- praising the at-home environment as a womanly ideal, yet really spending as much time cashing-in while out of it on book tours and cushy assignments.

Listen you elitist piece of shit... I don't know one mom out there who would NOT stay home with their (tiny, helpless) ones if their families could afford to do so, or if an asshole-jerk of an unsupportive spouse wasn't pressuring them to keep working, working, working until they dropped like flies.

That's what happened in my case, and yes, I got depressed and bitter too -- up until the point when I divorced his sorry ass. Bye bye blues then! And yes, Ann Coulter and your "Godless" BS, I go to church every Sunday, get on my knees and thank God I'm no longer married. Take that you barren-mind (uteri too it seems) opportunists.

From today's LA Times:

"She (Flanagan) calls herself an "at-home mom" who would "sooner miss a blood transfusion than an open house" at her sons' school. Yet she acknowledges that she qualifies as a working mother, with gigs at the Atlantic Monthly and the New Yorker. And she has a second book in the works that will expand on her recent article on the "epidemic" of fellatio-obsessed adolescent girls. It's tentatively titled "On Their Knees."

OK... that's totally ick. Those kinda epidemics are for grownups only! And I'm blowin' (hee hee) off soccer practice and headed for the Rusty Nail for happy hour with my best feminista pal, Suzan, an indie filmmaker and mother of two. We'll be sure to knock a cold one back for priss-ass Ms. Flanagan here 'cause I doubt either one of us will be buying the junk she's pushin'. Nor that honky bleach-haired beast's either. (That trash-mouth's new book is out on 666 (6/06/06). I kid you not!)


tag: Caitlin Flanagan, motherhood

Invading Iran -- Now THAT'S Controversial

In fasten seat belts and return trays to upright position news...

Good Lord Awmighty... tell me these rumors that the Cheney Administration will be striking Iran are just very bad and disturbing chatter. If we invade Iran, we are so amazingly f-ed.

Besides setting off nuclear holocaust, it'll be a free-for-all for suicide bombers lurking here in the U.S. I'd bet a mall goes "kapowee" within days of such a Cheney fright-fest initiative.

And now the Saudis are begging the Russians to help save us from ourselves.

"Saudi Arabia, fearing that US military action against Iran would wreak further havoc in the region, has asked Russia to block any bid by Washington to secure UN cover for an attack, a Russian diplomat said on Tuesday.

During a visit to Moscow last week, the head of the Saudi National Security Council “urged Russia to strive to prevent the adoption of a UN Security Council resolution which the United States could use as justification to launch a military assault to knock out Iran’s nuclear facilities,” the diplomat told AFP in Riyadh on condition of anonymity."

Full horror story here.

And what about the "media industrial complex's" role in the matter? As The Whiskey Bar points out:

"I mean, what exactly does it take to get a rise out of the media industrial complex these days? A nuclear first strike against a major Middle Eastern oil producer doesn't ring the bell? Must every story have a missing white woman in it before the cable news guys will start taking it seriously?"

That full entree here. Jeez Us Christ, we are so f-ed.

tags: Iran, Cheney, Bush, Media Industrial Complex

If That's Controversial, Then I'm...

... uh... Barbara Walters. Click here to see an ad produced by the United Church of Christ that networks deemed "too controversial" to run.

Help An Iraqi. Read A Blog.

The BuzzMachine is asking for people to help Zeyad, the same blogger I brought your attention to in the last entry. Zeyad needs money to come here and study at CUNY's Graduate School of Journalism. Says Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine:

"To get his (Zeyad's) student visa, he must show support for the year and a half that he will be here and that means raising at least $45,000. We are reaching out to foundations and individuals and working on scholarships and Zeyad is working to raise money. But that won’t do it all. We will."

All the details here.

And don't miss my first column for the Georgia Political Digest while you're busy clicking away your morning.

tags: Zeyad, Earthlink, WiFi, BuzzMachine