I sat in a Ted’s Montana Grill last night and watched the Braves lose to the Red Sox and thought about how sad I was that Ted Turner was gone from Atlanta.

Sure, The Ted still bears his name and Turner Broadcasting is still here, but he isn’t. Turner sold the Braves, so how Atantan is our hometown franchise anymore?

Ted isn’t even on the Time Warner (owners of Turner Broadcasting) board and spends much of his time elsewhere (Florida, Montana).

He left and all we got in exchange was a steakhouse chain and Jane Fonda. Somehow, I just felt gypped.

Kirkwood Spring Fling and Tour of Homes is today and tomorrow. There will be music, an artists’ market, and a children’s area.

Festival – Saturday only, 10am – 7pm
Tour of Homes – Saturday 10am – 6pm, Sunday 12pm – 5pm

More 411 on the festival and tickets for the tour of homes is here.

I woke up this morning and opened the door to let the dog out. The smoke was heavy and strong-smelling, casting a haze over the neighborhood. Turns out it’s not the smoke from the fires in S. Georgia. (I wrote about those here a while ago.)

There was a fire at a recycling center in Jackson last night. Evidently, a pile of tires caught fire, which kind of explains the nasty smell: burning rubber. The fire is out now, but the smoke is moving north over Atlanta.

Ick. And I was going to run today. Think I will hit the treadmill at the Y, instead.

Is this just on my side of town? (Southeast) Or are people getting this in the north, too?

Via AJC

according to a report today in the ajc, atlanta is number 12 in the country in terms of road rage according to a survey by autoadvantage. this joins our already announced position at number 10 of worst cities for allergy sufferers.

now granted thsi survey has a bunch of methodological flaws and doesn’t mean much, but ever since hearing the story of a young dad knifed to death because some other dude was in a hurry*, i just can’t get the absolute stupidity of road rage out of my mind.

interestingly i tried to find an organization or foundation dedicated to stopping road rage and i couldn’t. but surely there is some solution to this. there has to be.

until then, all of you, if someone really wants to get by you, pull over to the shoulder and let them. i mean, i have my pride too, but it isn’t worth making my kid an orphan.

Is anyone else a little annoyed with the WSB billboard at Briarcliff and Johnson Roads? In case you haven’t seen it, it shows three pictures. Let’s see if I can remember this correctly – I only saw it yesterday, but i was so thrown off by it, that I might have missed some details. One photo is Saddam Hussein, one is Osama Bin Laden, and one is Kim Jong Il. The Saddam photo is marked across, as if someone has a most wanted list, and is marking off the people on the list as they are apprehended and taken to trial (and put to death, I assume).

Don’t get me wrong. I think the three of them are murderers and pretty much get what they deserve, but somehow this billboard just seems so . . . flip. I guess I just don’t like the wild west video game feel of the ads.

Is it just me?

p.s. I tried to find a picture of the billboard online, but to no avail. I will try to snap a picture of it when I get up that way again.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a big fan of panhandlers, solicitors, Jehovah’s witnesses and the like. I have no problem telling them to take a hike. My theory is that if I already pay taxes, then why are they approaching my car on the ramp to tenth street, begging for a dollar? I know. I am a big old meanie. And people knocking on my door, trying to covert me or save my soul? It drives me absolutely nuts – If I wanted to join your church, I’d show up at the door and come on in. I don’t. Leave me alone. How would you like it if I knocked on your door and gave you some nice pamphlets on Satan worship and the best way to sacrifice cats and babies?
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He’s Petrino’s man, but he needs to straighten up.

New NFL commish has talked to him, as has Arthur Blank, “sternly”.

But the stories persist and Joey Harrington’s resume is less stellar than Matt Schaub’s potential.

Are you as sick of Vick as I am? I want to believe that he’ll mature both on the field and off, but what I really want is for him to be more like Warrick Dunn. Or at least like Curt Schilling: man enough too admit his mistakes and savvy enough to have a blog where HE can control the message.

What do you think? Is everyone else as sick of Vick as I am? Would you still be a Falcons fan (or hater) with him gone, suspended or sidelined?

Atlanta’s Eyedrum Gallery will be showcasing Athens artist Peter Loose’s folk art take on the natural world for one night only. Peter’s work takes form in paintings, bird houses, and dulcimers. I particularly like his work with roosters, because . . . what’s not to like about chickens?

Saturday, May 12, 2007
Eyedrum Gallery
290 MLK Jr. Drive
Atlanta, Georgia
7pm to Midnight

Via Bryan Dodd. (Bryan produced the R.A. Miller documentary “Lord Love You.”)

That would be my terribly-copywritten headline if I worked for the AJC and if they were running this story, but they’re not, I am.

You see, despite the fact that She Who Must Not Be Named wants Harry Potter out of Gwinnett public schools, Metro Atlantans are foaming at the mouth Harry Potter fever.

How do I know? Amazon has a nifty chart of pre-orders for the upcoming 7th and final novel, Harry Potter and the Dealthly Hallows.

As of yesterday (and today), 13 of the top 100 cities – based on per-capita pre-orders – were from Georgia, all of them in Metro Atlanta, including Decatur, Marietta and Alpharetta and Stone Mountain.

So Rodney Ho and Phil Kloer, what’s it take to get an article about Metro readers rejecting – with their wallets and eyeballs – the nut-jobbery of that female Voldemort?

And if you haven’t done so already, pre-order the book yourself!

[Via Kottke]

and no i am not talking about the recently crowned english premier league champions but annie’s recent post about atlanta bands getting national attention got me thinking about another band from the atl getting some national attention; manchester orchestra.

of course it’s no surprise to readers of this space or my personal blog that i am a huge fan (see here, here and here; but they are also gaining a national reputation after opening for pop punk rockers brand new. they were a spin artist of the day and picked as one of rolling stone’s 10 artists to watch.

want to see what all the fuss is about? you can check them out tonight at the masquerade where the are opening for say anything and saves the day.

you will not be disappointed.