Month: November 2005

Continuing my last post’s historical theme (and seemingly my compulsive weekend blogging), the Atlanta Time Machine has lots of now-and-then pictures of the city. Listed by location, the side-by-side comparisons use the same angles illustration well what has changed and remained the same. The shear volume of newly taken pictures show that the site is a labor of love. And the “Atlanta, My Home Town” mp3 shows that the city didn’t need a new theme jingle to replace the first written in 1961. Maybe it should have just been rerecorded by Outcast.

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On a work related note, I got to work the Laurie Anderson show at the Ferst Center. She’s a well regarded visual/performance artist and NASA’s only resident artist, and it was that experience that she based last night’s performance on. Really nice, gracious person. As the crew was breaking down the stage we started talking about identity theft, and she joked that she wished someone would steal her’s. I told her she should either sell it on eBay or rent it out. I think she liked the idea of that. When I told her that the folks over at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center hoped she would stop by for tonight’s opening (Saturday 12th) she sounded genuinely disappointed that she was leaving that night. I always had an appreciation for her performances, and now I have an even better impression of her as well. It’s nice to get paid to work for good people.

I don’t think of Shirley Franklin as my mayor. I had looked towards taking in new, cool bars and music venues when moving to Atlanta, but it seems she has worked hard towards making it harder for places like that to thrive. Now, take a look at Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

In the past he has said that if given the choice he would look towards leagalizing prostitution, was a celebrity photographer for Playboy, he is Sin City’s biggest cheerleader, and most recently has suggested that the city should cut thumbs off graffiti ‘punks’.

“Goodman said the city has a beautiful highway landscaping project and ‘these punks come along and deface it… …I’m saying maybe you put them on TV and cut off a thumb,’ the mayor said. ‘That may be the right thing to do.'”

Plus, once a month, he has a public meet-and-greet at a Vegas coffee house. You get ten minutes with hizzonner. He definately has his faults and detractors, but it hard to beat a former mob laywer who played himself in the movie “Casino” for attention grabbing stunts and city promotion.

So, in the upcoming election, what are the topics a new Atlantian should be paying attention to and what stance do the candidates have on them?

You are invited to see the fruit of my labor…

… it’s a gorgeous show, full of pretty, shiny radios, cars, and assorted consumer designs/goods from the 1920’s – the 70’s. Opens Thursday, the 3rd at 6pm. Plus the folks at the the museum are pretty cool and would love to see your smiling faces. Oh, the show may be covered on CNN. They stopped by and filmed the galleries earlier today.

Next week, it will be “Cindy Loehr and Rachel Lowther: Rough Magic and Dark Lullaby” & “Cecelia Kane: Hand-to-Hand, a Project for the Round Gallery” at the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center.

And lastly it will be Laurie Anderson at the Ferst Center for the Arts. Work is good. Tiring, but good.