Braves manager Bobby Cox hasn’t announced an opening day starter, but it doesn’t seem to matter.

Everyone in camp is certain it will be John Smoltz, the 18-year Brave returning to the rotation after saving 144 games the past three seasons.

“It’s obvious,” said newcomer Tim Hudson, the winningest pitcher in the American League over the past five seasons with Oakland. “It’d be an honor to do it, but even if they were to ask me to, I’d want Smoltz to be the guy.

“He’s the guy who definitely deserves it more than anybody. I wouldn’t be comfortable doing it. No chance. Even if everybody wanted me to.”

April 10th seems to be Smoltz’s first home game. I’m buying my ticket. Horacio Ramirez is the predicted Apr. 9 (home opener) starter.

Oscar night got me in the mood for movies since I noticed that there were many that I had not yet seen. I think one of the reasons is that I’m just too lazy to go to the theater unless the movie’s playing at Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema (I can walk there from home). It’s also a huge draw since it’s right next to The Highlander and Apres Diem, both which I highly recommend for pre-movie meals and post-movie drinks.

Midtown Art Cinema will also begin its new series of midnight movies with Wes Anderson’s Rushmore on March 4 & 5. If you haven’t seen this hilarious dark comedy, you’ve really got to go. $6. Midnight. 931 Monroe Drive, Midtown. 678-495-1424.

Speaking of theaters, the LeFont Plaza Theatre in Midtown is housed in a great art deco building with two screens, but they also have the most uncomfortable seats in the entire universe. I successfully injured myself and two others while seat-shifting during I ♥ Huckabees.

The AMC at Phipps is worth the drive to avoid that in the future. So, what other favorite theaters are out there?

If, at some future time, you are planning on going to Halo lounge, then I recommend calling early in the week, reserving the couch area right at the top of the stairs when you walk in for you and thirty of your closest friends, and getting there a little early. Not only does it sure beat standing up the entire time you are there, but by getting there early you get the bonus of watching the animated “Pasta Goes To War” newsreel (full on with Bowtie Bombers and Ravioli Tanks).

If you’ve been dying to get to the Fernbank for their new Frogs: A Chorus of Colors exhibit but don’t want to brave the long lines during the weekend, have no fear.

One of the best ways to take in exhibits is on Friday evenings during Martinis & IMAX. Visitors can purchase cocktails and wine, enjoy live music, and visit the museum’s exhibits and IMAX film presentations via special extended hours. You can even enjoy special dinners prepared in the Dining Room. IMAX Tickets are $10 each with no cover charge (admission without IMAX is $5). Hours are from 5:30-10 p.m. (last entry at 9 p.m.).

Okay - it’s hard to type like this!

I kid, I joke - this chick is currently contorting her body for fun down at Turner Field as part of the UniverSoul Circus.

It’s amazing that I am even touting a circus being the closet coulrophobic that I am. But alas, still buzzing from the experience, I decided to try what she is doing in the picture …when that didn’t work - I opted to come back here and blog about it.

If you are jonesing for all things circus … why not skip Grandma’s or your uncle Jeb’s circuses, head on down to the Ted!

Think of it as a GIANT house party, with the jamming music, hot bodies (contorted or otherwise) complete with lions, tigers and bears!

While you guys do that - I’m going to try this again!

Now you won’t have to rely solely on that book or your iPod for your daily commute. MARTA recently unveiled its plans for the first television and radio network for rail passengers . Teamed with The Rail Network, MARTA cars will provide a digital tv and radio network with both tv and multiple channels of wireless audio.

Beginning this Spring, passengers will be able to watch updated news programming from WSB-TV’s Channel 2 Action News displayed on flat screen televisions inside each MARTA car. However, you must have a headset on a personal FM radio or a cell phone with an FM headset for audio (according to MARTA, “the Rail Network intends to distribute up to 230,000 FM radios to MARTA rail riders during the initial launch period”).

Being politically correct, passengers will be also able to choose between English and Spanish versions of the television content and three music channels, each playing a different type of music. There will also be a “MARTA Information Channel” that will provide operational news and information.

Thank goodness. For now.

A controversial bill to shield government negotiations on economic development projects from public disclosure stalled in the Senate Thursday afternoon after more than an hour of discussion.

ìThis bill levels the playing field in the entire state so Georgia can compete better for jobs,î said Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga), chairman of the Senate economic development committee.

House Bill 218 was tabled, a parliamentary move that sets the measure aside for later consideration, apparently because its passage was in doubt. The bill, introduced by Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Garden City), had overwhelmingly passed the House by a vote of 118-52. Mullis said the bill probably will not return to the Senate floor for debate and a vote this week.

Critics of the bill have expressed concern that the bill could lead to widespread secrecy in industrial recruitment.

Yeah, let’s just look back in history and search for a time with secrecy in government was a good thing (other than, of course, national security type instances). I can’t find any - can you?

I love WRAS. Even though the daytime shift does boast some of the sleepiest DJs to ever buzz the airwaves, Georgia State’s radio station is a dependable source of interesting music that knows few bounds. The problem comes with the format, the fact that you’ll get three or four songs in a row from artists you’ve never ever heard of, but might want to hear again. There is a good chance that the DJ might be so kind as to identify them all when the set is done, but you usually don’t have time to sit in your parking lot or driveway and wait it out.

Worry and wonder no more. YES is here. The service works for all of Atlanta’s stations (so far as I can tell). You just scroll to the call letters you want, pick the time you need and voila … instantly gratifying identification. Oh, intarwebs … how do I love thee.

Quick. Show of hands, please. Be anonymous if you must, but I’m curious. Alpharetta’s ChoicePoint says that only 2,805 of our Georgia neighbors were notified about the theft of their precious information. All total, ChoicePoint places the nationwide collateral damage at just under 145,000 affected. Investigators disagree, saying that the figure is closer to half a million.

So who got a notice? Who’s nervous? If the name in the headlines was Atlanta’s other info giant, would you be more worried?

So, Brookhaven: east of Buckhead, west of Peachtree-DeKalb Airport, south of 285 and north of the Connector. That’s my definition: others may differ.

(Speaking of which, did anyone else know there’s a historic tomb at the corner of Peachtree and Dresden?)

Should you care to explore Brookhaven, you can do so with the Atlanta Singles’ Running Club tonight and every Wednesday night. Or you can get in your car, with the usual warning that people run across Peachtree and/or Buford Highway all the time, not so much disregarding traffic as asserting their very pedestrianness in the face of traffic.

Other Brookhaven tidbits:

99 Ranch Market is a chain. But is it as ruthless as Whole Foods? Discuss.

The Dairy Queen at the corner of Clairmont and Skyland is the world’s earliest-closing Dairy Queen. Strangely, the bakery attached to Plaza Fiesta (not a chain) stays open much later.

The dim sum at Happy Valley (nestled in on the Buford Highway side of Plaza Fiesta) can be quite good, comparable to that of Hong Kong Harbor on Cheshire Bridge. A warning, though: go early, especially on a weekday. You don’t want to take a chance on the dishes being anything less than fresh.

Oglethorpe gets no credit. It’s so pretty! And Gothic! And . . . pretty! Granted, there’s not a whole lot happening on campus until the Shakespeare Festival gets started again. But do you really need such slick presentations? Picnic now, before the weather gets too warm and everyone else gets the same idea.

“Brookhaven takes pride in its history and diversity while looking to the future with its truly fine displays of New Urbanism.” HA. That from the website of Haven, a restaurant about which, I must admit, I have heard good things.

Does offer some slogan possibilities, though. Brookhaven: Truly Fine.
Or, Brookhaven: Close to Buckhead, But Not Annoyingly So.
Or, Brookhaven: Move Here and You Can Satisfy Every Apple Pancake Craving You’ve Ever Had.
Or, Brookhaven: If You Don’t Like It, There’s the MARTA Station, You Va-Hi Wannabe.