Has anyone been to the John Portman exhibition at the High ? I’d forgotten about it until this story in The Architect’s Newspaper (via Planetizen) popped up in my RSS reader.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_ii-54NTyM&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

I’ve been a bystander in a lot of online and in-person conversations about his work in Atlanta and sometimes it’s hard to believe that everyone is talking about the same guy. In any discussion of his influence on downtown you’re likely to hear both giddy, glowing praise and profane vituperations fit for a pirate ship. It’s hard not to want to know more about someone like that.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

When I put up a post about Atlanta folks showing up in force at the Grammy’s, I totally forgot someone.  Sure, Jennifer Nettles showed up with Bon Jovi right after I wrote that post, but I’m actually talking Atlanta newest recording sensation, General Larry Platt.

I’m sad to say that I was actually watching American Idol with La Familia  when this guy first burst on the scene.  When I logged on to Facebook the next day, I had quite a few folks with updates like, “I know this guy, he’s like this all the time.”  Anyway, here he was on TV before the Grammy’s with his fist full of belts from Atlanta.  Seriously, you can’t make this shit up.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIyA1HMtNhA&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re well aware of the current healthcare debate that has taken the nation by storm. I’d like to bring it down to a local level and actually remove the insurance portion of the debate entirely.

My grandmother is currently in an unnamed local Atlanta area hospital. She appears to be on the mend, so no need for alarm, but it got me to thinking about the state of Atlanta’s hospitals and medical centers. The care she is receiving appears adequate so I’m not here to complain. However, having only frequented a hospital 3 times in my entire life (including once for a tonsillectomy when I was 5-my only overnight stay), I wanted to see what everyone else thought of the current state of affairs in the Atlanta medical community.

What’s your favorite emergency room at 3 am on a Saturday night? Who has the cutest nurses? Would you avoid Grady even if you were on your deathbed?

Inquiring minds want to know…

i have loved atlanta-based indie rockers manhcester orchestra for years. i bought their ep when it was only available on itunes. i think rich over at cable and tweed probably first turned me on to them when he posted his mix tapes of atlanta music.

i’ve seen them a bunch of times, inlcluding one memorable show that began at the now-defunct 545 and finished (after an intervening police raid of aforementioned 545) at the masquerade.

i’m like a virgin losing a child was probably my favorite album of 2008.

you could say i am a fan.

which is why i don’t understand why it took my until the last week of 2009 to finally buy their follow-up album “mean everything to nothing.”

maybe i just didn’t like my local rockers becoming big, getting on a label and being played by 99x. maybe i was scared that andy hull, the frontman, wouldn’t be able to pull off another songwriting triumph like the firs full length lp.

anyway, i finally got it and it’s incredible. it would compete only with the airborne toxic event album for the best album i bought in 2009. if you liked the first album, or just live good solid indie rock with some incredible songwriting, it is definitely one to get.

no idea why they weren’t up on the stage with a twirling pink, the zac brown band and taylor swift last night.

now, how about a local show, guys?