The ALA lists the 25 U.S. metropolitan areas most polluted by year-round particle pollution (soot). Again, ties are listed with the same number:

1. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, Calif.
2. Bakersfield, Calif.
3. Pittsburgh-New Castle, Pa.
4. Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
5. Fresno-Madera, Calif.
6. Detroit-Warren-Flint, Mich.
7. Hanford-Corcoran, Calif.
8. Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, Ohio
9. Birmingham-Hoover-Cullman, Ala.
9. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, Ga.-Ala.
11. Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, Ill.-Ind.-Wis.
12. Weirton-Steubenville, W.Va.-Ohio
13. York-Hanover-Gettysburg, Pa.
13. St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, Mo.-Ill.
13. Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.
16. New York-Newark-Bridgeport, N.Y.-N.J.-Conn.-Pa.
16. Lancaster, Pa.
18. Merced, Calif.
18. Canton-Massillon, Ohio
20. Charleston, W.Va.
21. Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va.
22. Reading, Pa.
22. Hagerstown-Martinsburg, Md.-W.Va.
24. Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, Ind.
25. Louisville-Elizabethtown-Scottsburg, Ky.-Ind.

Pollen and smog, a killer combination…

The recent ATL Movie!

Did any of the Atlanta Metbloggers see this movie? I’m surprised to find there aren’t any reviews or anything about it on this site. Had this been a movie about New York, you’d see TONS of stuff about it! Just my two and a half cents. :)
- Anon

To be honest, and I only speak for myself here, this kind of movie doesn’t appear like it’s my kind of cinema going movie, I’ll most likely rent this when the DVD comes out… Shitty answer I know, maybe one of you could do a mini review in the comments? I know Seth did a preview of it back in February, saying he might check it out, I don’t know if he has or not…

As you could probably tell, the girl and I were at Philips Arena tonight for Cirque du Soleil: Delirium and if one word could sum it up, that would be unbelievable…

Seriously, I’ve only seen one other Cirque du Soleil show in person and this one was just mind blowing, it was a huge, expansive stage setup involving multiple screens that projected a flurry of images in unison to compliment the action and music going on… I doubt anything I could say would do it justice, you’d have to see for yourself. It’s was a bit more theatrical than the other shows, but well worth the high (read $127) ticket price, especially as we scored some choice seats.

Seriously, go see if you can, it’s only got one more night here in Atlanta….

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank has suspended his negotiations to purchase the Braves.

Blank met with representatives of Time Warner and Turner Broadcasting last week. But in a statement yesterday (Tuesday) from Blank aide Kim Shreckengost, the Arthur M. Blank Group cited an inability of the two sides “to reach a preliminary agreement on the sale” of the baseball team.

Sources familiar with the talks indicated last week that Blank used a monetary figure that hardly distinguished itself from those of other potential suitors. The sources said that adding the Braves to his portfolio might be too expensive for The Home Depot co-founder.

Blank paid $545 million for the Falcons in February 2002.

Forbes Magazine valued the Falcons at $690 million, the fourth-lowest ranking among N-F-L teams, last fall.

Forbes estimated that the Braves were worth $392 million. It estimated Blank’s net worth at $1.2 billion.

Oh well.. It’s a little over 5 weeks till opening day and 6 till the home opener on April 10th against the Phillies, best get your tickets in now…

Cirque du Soleil end a 2 year wait and return to Atlanta on April 3rd and 4th at Philips Arena with Delerium. The tickets go onsale Friday at 10am, but if your special and get occasional mail from Philips Arena, like me, you can do the presale tomorrow…

Just find the relevent pages on Ticketmaster, the password is “SOLEIL” (who really thinks of these presale passwords?)

Be warned, it’s not a cheap night out, pricing is as follows:

LOWER LEVEL OF ARENA
US $71.50 - US $127.00

FLOOR SEATING
US $127.00

UPPER LEVEL
US $71.50 - US $97.00

not including any Ticketmaster charges or anything else that might be added in.

But today, well the 9th technically as I only used it today, the Sandy Springs station switched over from the old token entry to this new fangled Breeze card which replaces tokens altogether… Alright in theory I guess, but currently it’s one of two stations along with Bankhead that uses them, it’d be nicer if a lot more were involved but at least it still accepts the current monthly passes.

Expect to see a lot more work around MARTA entrances over the next few months as Airport, Five Points, Garnett, Brookhaven, Ashby, Vine City, West Lake, Avondale and Candler Park/Edgewood stations get an upgrade betweem now and the end of March.

And further proof the future is here:

Helpful Tips:

Please protect you Breeze Card. Bending or folding will damage the antenna and computer chip inside.

Science!!!!!!!!!

de-blinked upon request

On 3 April 2006, America’s favorite pastime (designing with web standards) will come to the 755 Club at Turner Field, as the famed ballpark’s spectacularly furnished club hosts An Event Apart Atlanta.

Join messieurs Eric Meyer and Jeffrey Zeldman for an intense, in-person seminar on standards-based design and enjoy the club’s tasty cuisine and panoramic views of Turner Field and the Atlanta skyline. (You don’t have to tell your boss about the good food and great views.)

Say it now with me… Ohhhhh…

6. Best Expansion:
High Museum of Art
Atlanta
Architect: Renzo Piano

The magical daylight infusing Renzo Piano’s recent works–at his Nasher in Dallas, especially–again takes center stage at the expanded High Museum, alongside Richard Meier’s 1983 attempt. A thousand light scoops face southward like sunflowers, or a platoon of robot soldiers, capturing and diffusing rays among the collection hanging in 17-foot-high upper galleries. The intimate piazza created by the new, bright-white structures comforts and shades visitors, in spite of their harsh aluminum and glass edges. Simple glass bridges span the gallery volumes.

Meier undoubtedly approves of the new quad on the Woodruff Arts Center campus. But while Piano respectfully maintained Meier’s original design concept, the original spaces disappoint even more so today, next to the contained brilliance of the $110 million new wings.

FYI, the new Scottish Parliament ranks number 1, not bad for a project that was much derived in it’s country for being vastly over budget, greatly delayed in construction (it took 7 years to build) and a little bit over elaborate for what it essentially a government building…

Who’s idea was it to take a full loaded train from North Springs and dump them at Lindbergh at 10am? It was genius, let me tell you… Almost as good as the muppet who decided to dump a second full train onto the platform at Lindbergh about 5 minutes later, so now we have 2 train loads of people waiting in the freezing cold for 1 train… And when that train comes, guess what… It’s full too!

Mathematical geniuses run MARTA, they can compress 3 into 1 quite easily it seems…

To make traffic even worse, most of Peachtree Street is blocked off for Peach Bowl and Sugar Bowl Parades.

That said, there is a good chance you’ll end up on CBS 46news.

Oh yeah, and there is a Peach Drop tomorrow night…