okay so this time it looks like it’s for real*.

the national weather service has issued a winter storm warning for most of north georgia, including the city of atlanta. ice and freezing rain are expected to begin aroun 3:00 am and last through most of the morning.

need i remind anyone about how this city deals with ice storms?

it’a almost enough to make one yearn for the dog days of january…oh wait.

seriously, be safe. telecommute or call in sick if you can.

So after reading a post about the Greek mythological figure Atalanta, I got to wondering about the origins of the name of our fair city.

We have two conflicting accounts:

Wikipedia #1:

The U.S. city of Atlanta was named after Atalanta, via Martha Atalanta Lumpkin Compton, daughter of the governor of Georgia. The HMS Atalanta was also named for Atalanta.

Wikipedia #2:

Atlanta is derived from Atlas, a character in Greek mythology (and not the heroine Atalanta, as is often mistakenly assumed). Most cities or towns named ‘Atlanta’ are named after the Atlantic Ocean or some entity referencing the Atlantic Ocean, as in the case of Atlanta, Georgia, which was named for the Western and Atlantic Railroad, which in turn was named for the Atlantic Ocean.

So which is it?

Any budding historians or bloggers not afraid to call the state capital or county seat want to shed some light on this quandary?

Should I believe this?

Comments are welcome.

We’re nothing if not consistent here in Georgia, and both of our Senators in Washington, D.C. opposed legislation that would increase the minimum wage. Actually, this was a vote to invoke cloture so regardless of the position of others, these gentlemen just wanted to keep discussing the concept of minimum wage and its increase.

Here’ the full list of opposing Senators, with ours highlighted:

Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC)
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH)
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK)
Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA)
Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)

It’s Georgia and Oklahoma leading the unilateral (at least at the state level) charge against raising the minimum wage, or the continued discussion by the Senate of the bill.

I’m not so crass to point out that Isakson is a millionaire. No. No I’m not.

I think Johnny and Saxby have been listening to too much Boortz, but then I’m not one of the loquacious Libertarians around here, so what do I know?

In any event, I’m curious what other Atlantans think about the minimum wage. Not having received hourly pay for quite some time and certainly not minimum wage, I’m not the best judge here. I’m just an effete progressive who blogs.

I see boutique banks popping up everywhere, most recently with this gem delivered to my mailbox.

The Private Bank of Buckhead, which opened to customers December 12, will hold a grand opening celebration Thursday, February 8.

Now don’t get me wrong – I believe that there should be options other than the SunTrust’s and Wachovia’s and Bank of America’s, but there’s something in the back of my brain that’s tingling and whispering “Savings and Loan” and that there should be more parties open to the public offering free food and/or drink. Hell if I remember what the S&L scandal was all about or if it’s even fair to throw that out as a related thought because frankly I’m too damn lazy to look it up – but I will say that there’s something about this that makes me a little nervous (don’t give me any FDIC blah blah, I know all about it).

I’ve seen at least a dozen of these little guys sprout out of nothingness around town and in the ‘burbs recently and I’m really sincerely wondering: what’s the deal?

Anniversary party for Sweetwater Brewing next month, Sunday, February 18th at 2 p.m.

I didn’t post this link a while back, but now it seems apropos. 10 great places to see what’s brewing in beer [USA Today]. It lists Atlanta Brewing Company, but what the heck. I enjoy both our local breweries (and miss Dogwood. Sniff).

Anyhow, I hope to be there on the 18th. Leave a comment if you’re attending or just list your favorite local brew.

Not me, mind you, but potentially some of our more limber, coordinated and rhythmic readers.

The Fox reality show (which I’ll admit, I watch, and enjoy more than Idol) is holding open auditions in April.

Deets:

ATLANTA
Thursday, April 5, 2007
The Fox Theatre
660 Peachtree Street NE
Atlanta, GA 30308

Call Back Dates
Friday, April 6, 2007
Saturday, April 7, 2007

Best of luck to those inclined to try out. I’ll be watching you once you get to the TV screen.

It’s been a while since I got to do this. I’m sitting in theSpotted Dog, eating blue cheese chips and drinking Newcastle, just to get away from my desk for a couple of hours, at least. Even now, though, I’m continuing to work (well, not now — right now I’m playing with the free WiFi), thanks to the magical productivity benefits of working in a half-empty pub.

A couple of weeks ago, I tried this trick at the Graveyard Tavern in East Atlanta, and got a surprising amount of work done, sitting at the bar with printouts and my red pen. I’d stopped going to the Graveyard because it still feels weirdly empty and somehow unfinished — like the tables have been set up on a stage with plenty of space for the actors to play their scenes. Happily, the Graveyard updated their menu back in September (which was news to me), but unhappily it isn’t quite enough, yet, I don’t think. Still, I’ll go back again and sample something else off the new menu to be sure, and let you know.

But first, let me say that the Spotted Dog is a great space — big but with some cozy spaces, dark but not gloomy, classy but not too stiff. The building, as you know, used to be a firehouse, but inside I might think I was in part of an old train station, thanks to the scale (big clock, huge bar, expansive tile floor). Parking is a right bitch, but if I were on foot in Midtown, I’d get in here in a second.

The menu here seems to be identica to Hand in Hand (which is, I think, the only other Derek Lawford pub I’ve actually been to), which is fine, but also a bit of a letdown — I like this menu plenty, but I feel like I’m going to exhaust it pretty quick, especially if I’m seemingly ordering off it everywhere I go. Until that happens, I’ll get me another Newcastle, order something with Stilton and try to imagine how I can get back to the UK.

While I’m daydreaming, though, tell me something: What’s your favorite of the Derek Lawford pubs?

The case of Genarlow Wilson hasn’t gotten coverage here before (maybe it has and I’m forgetting, but search yielded no answers) but I came across an interesting blog post by Mark Cuban that spurred me into action.

Cuban is nothing if not loquacious but this case rated all of his ire but none of his verbosity. Here’s a choice quote:

Personally, there is no chance I do business in the state of Georgia beyond the committment the Mavs have to play the Hawks until Genarlow is out of jail.

From a purely economic standpoint, not having a billionaire do business in your state hurts. I don’t know how much money he would have normally brought to Georgia, but still.

On the other side, the man is a media mogul both traditionally through his old Broadcast.com and HDNet and also on the internet through his blog. The national and international attention he could bring this case are huge.

And I’ll admit that I don’t know all the facts but it seems odd not to offer amnesty or a reduced sentence to Genarlow Wilson. Why continue to punish him under the old laws?

I’ll leave the commenters to debate the case, the laws and it’s merits, but Mark Cuban is making sure we haven’t heard the last of this case.

leah over at confessions of a music addict has been raving about this band the beggar’s guild for as long as i’ve been reading her blog, and i downloaded a copy of their song “minnesota” from either her or rich over at cable and tweed, and have played the track whole bunch, so when i saw they would be playing at smith’s old bar last night, it definitely went on my calendar. the offer of a free cd and a personal email from the drummer sealed the deal for me.

so i headed over to smith’s and listened to one of the most rocking 45 minute sets i have heard in a while. the bloggers have been raving about this band for good reason. it’s kind of rockabilly-mixed with some counting crows-mixed with some hootie and the blowfish (which sound strange but just trust me on this) played by musicians with great songwriting skills who really take the genre to a level beyond the standard cookie-cutter southern rock fare. the lead singer has a voice that was just built for the songs; the addition of a steel guitar added a nice touch, and really the songs are just damn good. damn good head-bobbing rock tunes that just about anybody would love.

i also collected my free copy of their new ep breaking me down and it is really good. i have been wearing it out in the ipod as i drive around town all day. personally, i think that if you weren’t savvy enough to read my post yesterday, print out the coupon, go to smith’s and redeem it for a free ep, you should definitely go over to their myspace page and buy it.

and if you don’t trust me because i’m a libertarian or something, you can read leah’s review of the show on confessions here.

p.s.- i only stuck around for two songs of the electric fiddle-hillbilly act that came on next so i can’t really comment, but leah really liked them.

Look at me when I’m typing to you, Zoo Atlanta. What’s this BS I hear about you picking up and moving out of Grant Park? What do you mean, what do I mean? Someone told me you’re thinking about moving to Lakewood. What do you mean, who? Does it matter?

Why would you want to move out of town after all these years? There’s no such thing as a geographical solution, you know. You can just run away from your problems and think that it’ll all be different with a change of scenery.

You’d be moving from 35 acres to 120, you say? I can see where that would be enticing. And a lake on the property? Sure. 800 parking spaces ready to go, you say? Have you ever even drawn that many people? Do you think you will? Right, right…the baby panda.

Well, if you want to go, I’m not going to stop you. I understand that being in the same spot for over 100 years can get a little old, really, I do. And I know that if I’m going to convince you I care, I should visit more often… but we’ll always have that day in the summer of ’98…

(Footnote: if you have no idea what the hell I’m talking about, read the AJC article)