photo courtesy of DerrickT

local blogger ‘the falconer’ has started a new blog called ‘do the thrashers have large talons?’ (serious kudos on the name) devoted to all things thrashers and some general hockey info thrown in for good measure.

it’s a mixture of quantitative analysis and the falconer’s general opinions and observations. great blog. i spent some time reading through it yesterday. awesome analysis and some of the statistical work seems pretty cool. the falconer is obviously looking to apply the sabermetrics technique to hockey.

i am trying to get back into hockey this year and maybe even become a thrashers fan so i have added ‘do the thrashers have large talons?’ to my feed-reader. if you are a thrashers fan or thinking of being one, check it out.

hat tip to rich at cable and tweed.

Metroblogging now has its 50th city – Graz, Austria! Go on over and welcome them, after all, they used to be just a Roman Fort and in 2003 they were the European Cultural Capital.

Image is or the clock tower on Schlossberg (thanks wp)

atlanta’s only true “shock jocks,” larry wachs and eric van haessler, the regular guys on 96 rock, have once again been fired by clear channel communications, the station’s corporate parent. the firing, reported on wsb-tv here seems to stem from differences with morning deejays yogi and panda on sister station viva 105.7, and a recording wachs made of yogi and panda in the bathroom.

wachs, of course, has a different take than that mentioned in a lawsuit filed by yoig and panda and given out by clear channel for the firing. you can read his side of the story in a statement posted on his blog here.
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The AJC is reporting that ESPN is honoring the wishes of both UGA and Florida by not referring to the yearly GA/FL matchup as “The World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party.”
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it appears that coke is going to donate land near the georgia aquarium to the city of atlanta to construct a national civil rights museum (see ajc here.) good for coke! i am sure there are some cynics out there who will see some nefarious corporate plot to all of this, but in my eyes this is just a great example of a company doing the right thing.

i watched an episode of the classic pbs documentary “eyes on the prize” (which by the way, you owe it to yourself to watch if you never have) the other night, and it never fails to move me. no matter what i think today about the politics of john lewis, jesse jackson, andy young or others, the trials they went through in the basic cause of freedom and human decency deserve a national home to be memorialized, honored and cherished in. and atlanta is the capital of the movement. the museum should be here.

kudos to the mayor for her vision to bring this museum here. kudos to coke for donating the land.

and now i think the most appropriate thing is for the king family to return the $32 million dollars they made selling dr. king’s papers to the city to help construct the shrine to memorialize all the things he worked for*.

At one point in the pilot episode of Cartoon Network’s new animated series, Class of 3000, world-famous musician Sonny Bridges returns home to the ATL, where he encounters the old preacher from his childhood church. This slicked-back pastor steps out of his swank limo dressed in green robes punctuated with dollar signs and hails the return of one of his flock.

PREACHER: Welcome back, Sonny! How’ve you been?

SONNY: Fine. I just got back into town.

PREACHER: You been in prison?

SONNY: No.

PREACHER: The Army?

SONNY: No.

PREACHER: Ah, then you made it into the NBA!

SONNY: No, sir.

PREACHER: Well, what else is there?

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It’s not the best and I guess I’m going to have to go look at the individual candidate websites to get a good sense of each race, but the League of Women Voters of Georgia has a voter’s guide out that can actually help you, as opposed to the AJC’s. Each candidate responded to two questions (dependent on the position they are seeking). For example, the gubernatorial candidates were asked “1. As Governor, how will you manage the state budget? What will be your funding priority? 2. Do you support public funding for campaigns?” Not all the candidates actually answered the question asked (a quirk of politics that generally annoys me), but at least the questions are relevant.

Another Question: Is anyone else as turned off by negative campaigning as I am? I’m not saying that this season has more negative campaigns than normal (I suspect it might even be below it) and I know that the statistics show that negative campaigning actually does work (I think it depends on how directly related to the attacking candidate the negative message is), but I am always very turned off by negative ads. Anyone else? Or do you think that they generally help inform you of negative ethics in the candidate and/or the character of the candidate?

Why don’t Atlanta’s “Suicidal, text-messaging teens” just off themselves, and leave the innocent mother of three out of it? How hard is it to head on up Roswell Rd. to the Chattahoochee, tie a cement block to your own leg, and throw yourself off a bridge and into the river? Plus, the fishies would have something to eat.

Too bad her expensive private school education couldn’t buy this girl brains or respect for the lives of others. Too bad that she will probably be out on parole in seven years at the most.

one of the greatest things about writing for this blog (besides the inevitable fun comments that always come) is that i get a chance to tout local business that just stand out above and beyond the rest.

my love affair with criminal records is a matter of record*. and recently i have been falling in love with the big peach running company in brookhaven. for a runner, nothing beats a great running store and atlanta is lucky to have one in the big peach. its owned by mike cosentino, ultra-marathoner and author of the atlanta running guide.

i am training for the las vegas marathon and over the last few weeks as the miles ratcheted up it became clear that my shoes were absolutely not right with my foot. i had been in the big peach before a few times but never really to buy shoes.

the lady who helped me out was amazing. so much knowledge, so much love for the sport. she must have spent 30 minutes trying on all sorts of shoes for me. i ran on the treadmill, then watched myself on digital video to see how my feet fell and pushed off. then another pair, then another run.

she also showed me some specific stretches for some pain i was having, helped me with training strategies and wished me luck and told me to come back with a report. and the kicker, nothing i bought was really more expensive than it was at dick’s. now i have bought shoes at dick’s before and NEVER gotten that kind of service. that’s what really sets business like criminal and the big peach apart. the best staff. with love for the merchandise that no amount of ‘economies of scale,” will ever replicate,

so hooray for the big peach. check ‘em out (they also have a location in marietta).

Blogging about festivals. This week? Little Five Points’ Halloween Festival and Parade. Everybody loves a parade! L5P’s Halloween shindig was voted best Georgia Festival three years running by Creative Loafing, so it’s not just me.

This is a good one, folks. Especially if you love Halloween, and costumes, and all-around L5P kookiness. We will be taking the rugrats. Should be interesting, as in past years, there were a few costumes that gave me nightmares. So, look out for Sunday posts about finding good child therapists in town.

Friday and Saturday, October 20th and 21st. Parade is at 5pm tomorrow.