I wrote last week about the New York Times article on Clarkston’s Fugees soccer team, then later about the resulting movie deal. This story has generated tons of discussion, both here on Metroblogging Atlanta, and in the blogosphere at large. Metblogs reader ZLocke provided an interesting link in the comments for the original post and I thought the site was interesting enough to warrant its own post here.

The blog Global Game|Left Wing (Crossing Soccer with Life) has an interesting and seemingly well-researched take on the whole issue: “Fictional Breed of Soccer-Hating Southerners Adds Pitched Drama to New York Times’ Fugee Tale.”

Maybe Lee Swaney and the citizens of Clarkston have been given unfair treatment. This story is unceasingly fascinating to me.

So my wife and I are seriously considering moving from our suburban confines (Smyrna) into the city.

We both work in Midtown and have a ton of friends and co-workers ITP, so the move makes sense.

Plus, we’re expecting our second child and the current homestead in it’s present configuration isn’t going to fit all four of us. Upgrading makes more sense (potentially) than updating and perhaps pricing ourselves out of our neighborhood or not recouping our investment.

So I’m asking for your help. What neighborhoods in town do you like the best? Not necessarily for shopping or eating or live music, but for living.

We’re most concerned about schools, wide open spaces (for the kid(s) and our dog) and young, urban professionals. Dear Lord, we’re yuppies!

In any event, we have friends who have a great place in Kirkwood and we really dig Oakhurst, but we’re open to suggestions. Basically, if it looks remotely Craftsman, has a good elementary school nearby and we can walk to the park, I’m already sold.

Anybody want to offer some advice to an ex-urban OTPer looking to move? Leave a comment, please and thank you.

UPDATE: Yes, I realize Annie blogged a similar meme this week, but I’m intimately interested in places to live because 1) my wife is pregnant, so we’re on a schedule and 2) I’m not so much concerned with “hip” as I am with finding someplace I’ll enjoy living. I gave up on hip a while ago.

The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA) is presenting an exhibition of Cartoon Network stuff. (“Stuff” is a word not used nearly enough by the graphic design and arts communities, in my opinion.)

The opening night on February 1st is free. Me likes free.

5-9 pm
February 1st
Museum of Design Atlanta
Click here for museum hours, location, and admission information.

no joke.

atlanta-based band the beggars guild (myspace link, you were warned) is playing tonight at smith’s old bar and if you show up the guys in the band will give you a free copy of their new ep, breaking me down.

you can try emailing the address freecd@beggarsguildmusic.com but i got a note from the drummer and he probably can’t check his email after three, so i am going to post the coupon after the jump, and he says that if you print it out from here, it’ll be totally cool as well.

you should definitely come. great music, free cd and yours truly will be there.

and we all know what happens when i show up for a concert*.

don’t forget the coupon after the jump….
(more…)

Local blogger and bon vivant Robert pointed out that the Atlanta produced/directed/acted movie The Signal showed at Sundance this week.

I was reading Ain’t It Cool and found this review about The Signal. Made by the Atlanta filmmaking team of David Bruckner, Dan Bush, and Jacob Gentry it also has local actress Anessa Ramsey.

They also got a brief mention/photo in Monday’s Living section of the AJC.

My connection to the film is actor A.J. Bowen. A.J. and I both went to Lassiter High School in Marietta and he was a groomsman in my wedding.

I actually blogged about The Signal on my own blog last year, getting all doe-eyed about A.J.’s sexy beard.

And I just read on another blog that The Signal now has some distribution through Magnolia Films. Go local film scene!

If you want to see the disturbing trailer, go here.

Congratulations to everyone associated with The Signal. We’d love to hear from you in the comments or do an interview for the blog.

Some information that I got in my inbox at work this morning, about 4 hours too late.

I’m putting it here a bit too late as well, but whatever.

Please be advised of a major traffic alert this afternoon due to the Get Motivated conference going on Downtown Atlanta today. Event ends at 5 pm and all roads are expected to be severely congested until at least 7 pm.

Additionally, please note the break and lunch schedule for this event so that you can alter your lunch plans as needed:

Break – 11:20am – 11:40am
Lunch – 12:40pm – 1:50pm
Break – 3:10pm – 3:25pm
Ends 5:00 pm

Be careful out there tonight. Leave early if you can.

I wrote here about the New York Times’ story on Clarkston’s refugee soccer team, The Fugees. Seems the story really caught the imagination of the country, and of Hollywood. ATL blogger Andisheh has the details on Andy2000. He mentioned it in the comments for my Fugees post, but I would hate for news like that to get buried. Check it out – Great story and hopefully will mean great things for the Fugees and their families.

Added plus: This answers questions about Andisheh’s gender, and raises a new question: Does A. look like an Ikea employee?

One thing that I feel my neighborhood (East Atlanta) is sorely missing is a really good classic Italian restaurant. It used to be that we also lamented the absence of a decent Mexican restaurant, but I think La Casita Cantina has filled that void well. Before you deluge me with mentions of Little Azio, I will clarify that I am seeking a classic, hole-in-the-wall type place, with the atmosphere of Benedetti’s or Alfredo’s – You know: red leather booths and dim lighting. I like to hide in cloak of darkness while gorging myself on garlic rolls swimming in butter. Little Azio, while a great addition to the neighborhood, is a little too much like eating in a garage or a midtown loft. I like it, and it is GREAT for dinners out with the kids, but I don’t think of it as “Italian” as much as a pizza place; They don’t have Eggplant Parmigiana, people.

Okay, so what is your favorite hole-in-the-wall Italian place in Atlanta? Extra points for something closer to East Atlanta than Benedetti’s.

dear sirs and madams:

i would like to address an issue with you; namely the current speed limit on georgia 400 and your jurisdictions attitude toward enforcing it. first let me start by saying that georgia 400 is perhaps the safest designed major interstate in the metro area. it has only 7 exits between the perimeter and the end of the county line and only two within your jurisdiction. further the ingress and egress merges are long, straight and clearly visible. and yet curiously the speed limit remains 55 mph through your jurisdiction when it is higher in other areas throughout the metro.

why do you do this? is it for the safety reason? if so, why is the speed limit higher in other jurisdictions? and why don’t they take the aggressive approach to enforcement on the same road that you do? today you had more than 7 police officers on the road that i counted; three standing on a bridge with radar guns where no one would see them and slow down, so so much for deterrence.

by the way, what percentage of your police force does that represent? i would imagine its pretty high. surely speeding on georgia 400 is not the biggest public safety threat in sandy springs. also how unsafe do you think it made it when all of those drivers slammed on their brakes at a high rate of speed when they saw your officers on the bridge?

i can only conclude that the low speed limit and your devotion of SO MANY police resources can only lead me to believe that you are using the law as a revenue generator. frankly, i think this is unfair and wrong. if you need money for your operating budget, raise the taxes on your citizens or put a toll on the road, but i cannot support you in using a public safety law to fill your city’s coffers.

until the speed limit is raised to 65 mph or you drop your aggressive enforcement of the 55 mph limit and settle into a pattern of enforcement similar to your metropolitan counterparts to the north, i am refusing to purchase anything within sandy springs city limits.

your police department may catch me some day and i’ll pay the fine, since i agree with the ‘don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time’ sentiment, but i hope that the money you get is offset by the lost sales tax revenue from my little boycott.

i am inviting others who have been pulled over or feel similarly about this issue to do the same.

sincerely,

james h.
metroblogger

yes, even we here on the metroblog had a little fun at mike vick’s expense when the whole water bottle story broke.

i even posted a fun little poster over at my blog.

so now that vick is cleared, i suppose a mea culpa is in order. well, sorta. there are still unanswered questions and it appears that the miami police have destroyed the tape of the incident.

either way it gives me another excuse to link to ronmexico.com.

love that site.