Thanks to the Georgia Aquarium and my multiple blogs, I received invitations to “Planet Shark Blogger Day” this afternoon.  I magnanimously forwarded the invite to a “mommy blogger” friend to see if the display was kid-friendly (because I certainly wasn’t going to bring my 3-year-old around a bunch of flesh eaters).  We both thought the shark displays a bit intense for tiny ones, but the information given was interesting.  For instance:

• “galeophobia” and “selachophobia” are both terms used to identify excessive fear of sharks (“prudence” is the term for an appropriate level of fear of sharks).
• in the U.S., you are 200 times more likely to die from a deer attack than a shark attack (this is why my father shoots deer and not sharks).
• you are 700 times more likely to die in a plane crash than a shark attack (this is why pilots are paid more than marine biologists).
• the world’s largest fish is the whale shark, which can weigh 13 tons and measure 50 feet (luckily it doesn’t have to compete with the whale whale, its being a mammal and all).

The children and adults enjoyed seeing Nemo and other colorful swimming fish, and petting miniature versions of the creatures that killed Steve Irwin is always an enjoyable way to spend a half hour.

I did, however, see a preschooler get her head stuck between the bars in a shark cage on display.  I assume this is why preschoolers are not encouraged to drop beneath boats in the Pacific to film swimming sharks, right?

The verdict?  A good place to bring the family on a weekday.  I haven’t been on a weekend, but I assume there are significantly more crowds than I saw today.  But on a Friday at 2pm?  We could molest all the starfish we could find.  Ditto for the sea anemones.

And who wants to be the guy who’s never touched a sea anemone?  Not this guy.

Register for the sew-a-thon this Friday night, September 18, 2009, at Whipstitch, Atlanta’s fabric store inside the Beehive Co-op.  It’ll be like that party you had when you were younger, and you put on a blindfold and tried to shove a needle through a furry jackass, but without the blindfold and fur.  Come stitch and win prizes, like jewelry and groceries and tea.  The last one weaving gets a weekend in the north Georgia mountains for a sewing retreat.  The alternate gets a plaque in the mens room.

And don’t forget to admire the exculpatory-clause laden waiver reviewed by the Atlanta accident lawyers at Moebes Law, LLC.  We’re there to keep the peace.

Hopefully, it won’t be the summer “take cover from the torrential rain and deadly lightning” festival, but regardless, the Grant Park Summer Shade Festival is usually a good time.  There’s food, music, and drinks for the grownups.  For the youngsters, there’s storytellers, jugglers, and signing.  Children are permitted to eat and drink, too, but it’s unlikely to be much of a draw for them.

Best I can tell, there are no clowns.  Some of us are not upset about a likely absence of clowns.

But what about dogs?  Can the dogs enjoy the festival?  Apparently not.  Unless you’re certain attendance will stay below 10,000, you’ll be violating a city ordinance if you bring your pet.  It’s like the “fewer than 15 items” line at the store, but with fur.  And fines.  Maybe it’s nothing like the “fewer than 15 items” line.

The 5k starts at 8am tomorrow; the rest of the festivities begin at 10am.  We’ll likely head that way after the runners are finished.

I knew my neighborhood had about 250 break-ins last year.  Now I can stay up-to-date with who’s getting robbed and where!

Enjoy…

Saturday evening at about 9pm, one of my neighbors went for a walk about the neighborhood.  As he hit the intersection of Delaware and Woodland Avenues, a Honda Civic pulled up.  A young man got out, aimed a rifle at my neighbor, and demanded his wallet.  The perpetrator drove away and out of the area before police could catch him.

As one who frequently goes for runs around the neighborhood at that hour, this news was particularly alarming to me.  It’s also a bit ironic that I felt more comfortable going for evening runs at Balad Air Base in Iraq–where mortar attacks are a nightly occurrence–than I feel jogging within a 1-mile radius of our house in SE Atlanta.

In an effort to “take back the streets,” our neighborhood has been gathering on Saturday evenings by Ormewood Park Presbyterian Church from about 7pm-9pm.  Children and dogs are encouraged to come.  Last night, there was a tractor for the kids to ride, and City Council candidates came to discuss their positions and hear from local voters.  This Saturday, the group will gather at 6:30pm, and the tractor will be back.  Please consider participating!

The films featured are as follows:
Wednesday, July 1st:
Transformers, PG-13, released 2007.

Wednesday, July 8th
Spiderman, PG-13, released 2002.

Wednesday, July 15th
Slumdog Millionaire, R, released 2009.

So, two PG-13 films and an R-rated one are considered “family fun”?  To whom?

While I’m glad to see free movies are showing in a patch of grass near my neighborhood, so that I don’t have to pay to park or fry my backside on the concrete at Centennial Olympic Park, calling it “family fun” is misleading (or ignorant).

I got “the look” from my wife for letting our nearly-3-year-old stay in the room during Return of the Jedi last weekend (especially when said 3-year-old covered her eyes and said, “Daddy, that’s too scary” during Darth Vader’s entrance onto the nearly-completed Death Star).

Ain’t no way I’m taking her to see all the mangled bodies and crashing cars featured in the above three films.  Good idea, bad marketing.

See, e.g., the urban legend about Chevy’s marketing the “Nova” in Mexico.

Then you visit Atlanta’s sewing lounge and in-town fabric store:  Whipstitch*.  Whipstitch is co-located with the Beehive and opened June 26.  There are classes for beginners, intermediates, and whatever you call advanced people without saying “advanced people.”  Experienced?

Featured recently on Good Day Atlanta, Whipstitch fabric and sewing lounge is where you should go if you tire of packing food and gassing up the SUV to go OTP.  It’s where you can get chic fabrics and learn how to piece them together into a usable medium.  All the while, you’re supporting local merchants and designers and decongesting the connector.

That’s what Devo would do.  And don’t we all want to be more like Devo?  I thought so.

*My wife totally owns Whipstitch.  But that doesn’t detract from its awesomeness even remotely.

Thanks to a congested commute on the southbound downtown connector Friday night, I had plenty of time to catch the following tweet:  “Tonight is Family Fun Night @ Irwin Street Market! Come play games, enjoy ice cream and meet new friends!”

And then, “Secret Password! 10% off your ice cream purchase TODAY ONLY when you tell us ‘Jake’s Ice Cream is seriously cool!’”

Score!

So, we loaded up the Odyssey and headed up Boulevard toward Irwin Street.  The Mrs, the tween, and the toddler gathered around a Connect Four game while I read the required catchphrase off my Blackberry before ordering two double scoops of Chocolate Slap Yo Mamma and Strawberry Fields.  The scooper even agreed to divide the two doubles into four cups, so we wouldn’t have to endure spoon sparring between strategic plastic disk dropping.

As Connect Four gave way to Uno, the infant watched while the rest of us enjoyed our sweet desserts and Michael Jackson oldies until naptime pulled us away.

The bill was $8.65 after the Twitter discount, meaning we successfully entertained five for under ten bucks, and I looked like the smart head of household for making it happen.  Think about it.  This could be your backseat next Friday night: