Author: vargocity

Lactose tolerent and lovin' it!

As if things couldn’t get worse for Detroit, the Pistons just got swept out of the playoffs by our old/new nemesis, Cleveland. You may recall that two years ago I also released some steam on Cleveland after they knocked Detroit out of the playoffs. Only that time it was teh Eastern Conference Finals and this year it’s in the first round. Plus Lebron and company are favorites to win it all, adding insult to injury. Plus, Detroit has surprised even its critics by becoming an even bigger target for anyone trying to paint a picture of depression or trying to make their city feel/look better. Just listen to this guy.

That said, I was happy to be sent this video which makes fun of another city for a moment (especially since that city is Cleveland). This is version 2 but there is also a version 1. I include version 2 for one simple reason (watch til the end).

It shows exactly what I was referring to earlier, Detroit is the punching bag of even the worst-off of our cities. At least, for the time being our hockey team is still better than theirs.

NPR’s recent week-long feature on Detroit
Recent Planet Money podcast about Detroit and Auto makers
SI article about Detroit’s Courage

The HUGE and beautiful tree across the street from us is coming down and I thought I would write it an obituary.

The awe-inspiring Water Oak (Quercus nigra) in East Atlanta is being fallen this week. It is an exceptional specimen with an estimated height of more than 120 ft and diameter near 6 ft. Despite some rot (found during autopsy/murder) in an upper limb, the water oak appeared(s) to be in perfect health. Sprouted circa 1900 the centenarian was one of the original neighborhood tenants to be annexed into the city in 1915. Having survived the Great Depression the tree will now fall in the New Depression (paradoxically at very high cost). The tree saw two world wars and Haley’s Comet twice. It also served a role in WWII as a plaything for the children of GIs in the neighborhood. This oak played a part in the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, increasing the property values of the nearby homes in an exemplary neighborhood for new black homeowners (see footnote). The majestic oak even withstood the Tornado that struck the area in 2008, but could not withstand the worries of its current owner. Despite its best efforts not to fall on the home with which it shares the lot, the tree could not dismiss the fears of Miss Merriam of East Atlanta and will be taken down. In its presence we were gifted with shade and only in its absence will we be shown the light of its worth.

Facts about the Water Oak

In the 1960s, the civil rights struggle was at its peak across the country. Because the Grand Dragon of the KKK lived in an adjacent neighborhood, East Atlanta was targeted by civil rights groups to be an example of racial integration of housing. Under the protection of the Fair Housing Act, middle class black families were assisted in efforts to purchase houses in the area. Some real estate agents seized the opportunity to fan the flames of fear and racial prejudice. At their urging, many white families fled the area selling their homes at a loss (as low as $1,500 for a 3 bedroom). The new Interstate 20 highway that cut through the neighborhood removed some houses and allowed easy access to areas farther out. Slumlord investor bought many of the available houses.

During this time many hardworking black families achieved the dream of homeownership in a nice neighborhood with yards for the children and good schools nearby. Many white families remained refusing to give-in determined to live in harmony with their new neighbors. Twenty years after the first blockbusting integration in East Atlanta, their neighborhood, unlike others that had resegregated entirely, remained integrated with a 60% black and 40% white/other racial mix.

This Bulls – Celtics series is awesome!!!

Last night was the first ever Tour de Ponce. The brainchild of Miguel, it’s a pubcrawl that features some of the finest and most eccentric establishments along Ponce de Leon Ave. in Atlanta. The tour was centered around the agglomeration of bars at the intersection of Ponce with Ponce Place and it began with food and beer at Cameli’s Pizza. This is a place I have been a few times and have only once been disappointed. That one time was my own fault. See, the slices are HUGE and you can customize them but given their size, each extra item adds about a two dollars to each slice. I ordered two with about 3 items and was shocked at my bill, but the pizza was good.

Back to the point, the tour. We continued next door to the Model T. Both of these bars reside on the ground level of a large building that was formally a Ford Factory, also it’s a popular haunt for local transvestites so the name fits. Our group, which fluctuated around people, stuck out like a sore thumb. You could almost hear the record scratch when we walked in. We were greeted by a woman dressed completely in black, including a witch-like hat, who stated simply that AA didn’t work. After a game of pool we moved on.

Next we walked through the parking lot (almost getting backed over by a car) and across the street to Friends on Ponce. This place sits above a set of small retail spaces including an internet cafe. The bar is decorated with random knick-knacks from all over the place. One that I remember was the old brushed metal sign for the Armory, a former Atlanta all-male cabaret club. Perhaps the coolest thing about this place is the patio that overlooks Ponce. I heard a lot of comments about how cheap the draft beer was ($1.75) and how gay the place was. I just noticed that there were several flamingos around the place including the one in the photo with the disco nuts.

After Friends we walked over to the Bookhouse Pub. This is a relatively recent addition to the Ponce corridor and features a number of craft beers and fine woodwork. The place was much less crowded than the last time I was there and pretty enjoyable. You could walk around from conversation to conversation and they were playing The Darjeeling Limited. This most conversations revolved around Bill Murray in Rushmore and Natalie Portman nude scenes.

Miguel took off early and got all of us into MJQ for free (I think). This was my first time in the labeled dance joint. It’s very cool to know that you are literally underground when you’re there. The entrance takes you down a path that makes it clear that you’re descending below the parking lot. The dance floor was a bit slow but I could see how of would be very fun in about 2 hours. The music sounded good and the artwork along the walls was equally entertaining. Kissatlanta.com was parked outside in a pimped ice cream truck.
Next was the Local where I ran into a friend outside and talked to him until we left. I have been here on weeknights an it’s always pretty crowded and very smoky. Saturday night is very similar. It’s appropriately named because it is nothing special but feels comfortable for people who live around there.

We crossed Ponce again and tried to hit the Clermont Lounge. This is the storied establishment in the back of a ‘hotel’ that has most recently gained press because the hotel has gone up for sale. The lounge, however, is not for sale and the line on Saturday showed why. This place is a hit, a local favorite with true unique flavor. Unfortunately we did not wait in line to get in but we did get to witness an outburst by the bouncer when someone disregarded the yellow sign and tried to take some photos.
Disheartened but not dis-going-to-bed (we all felt like Lance Armstrong at a time trial after a rest day), we trotted down to El Bar, Atlantan for The Bar in the basement behind El Azteca Mexican Restaurant. This place is a small, loud, crowded, windowless room of a club (so basically it’s a club) with great hip hop DJs on the regular. I have ended up here several times and usually find my way into some dancing. Drinks are in plastic cups and beers are simple. One thing that would make it even better would be free chips and salsa.

From El Bar, we disbanded. Kris was back to Clermont to find Nicole whom he had left there in line with some other friends. Chernock and Kate had already left us. Matt, Priya, Leslie, Lauren, and I were committed to the Majestic Diner down the street. Miguel, Rebbecca and Dave had a hankerin’ for a burger and cabbed it to the Vortex. “WTF, mate!?,” said Priya. I thought this was the Tour de Ponce. Not to be persuaded otherwise we continued to Majestic where we once again ran into Chernock and Kate. We ate our early morning mediocre breakfasts declaring the first ever Tour de Ponce a success, and then proceeded to culminate the tour with a jaunt home (on North Ave).

Wednesday night I went to the second playoff game in the Atlanta Hawks’ series with the Miami Heat. Looking down from our $12 seats we felt like hawks perched on the side of building or the edge of a canyon cliff. As the Hawks were about to be introduced a real hawk flew through the space of the arena and landed on a corner of the jumbotron located in its center. This is standard issue for Hawks’ games. See the hawk with Dominique Wilkins and the the proud handler and the very jealous apprentice handler behind him. The Hawk even has a name (Spirit), a handler, and probably a steady diet of small mammals. It probably even goes through practice drills just like the team; fly to the jumbotron, head back to the handler, repeat. But Wednesday night something went wrong. After the lights were dimmed to call in the starters, Spirit went AWOL. The lights were brought up and Spirit was gone. Spirit returned about a minute into the game, swooping over the hardwood with incredible speed and grace. The refs had to stop the game as Spirit found a new perch on the backboard-mounted camera. Surprisingly, the refs and players continued to play until Spirit took another spin around the arena and over the fans’ heads, landing this time on the top of the glass. Then the handler came out and Spirit returned to his arm.

But that burst of freedom, an instance where Spirit truly lived up to his name, has earned Spirit the trendiest of administrative mandates, the furlough. Spirit has been suspended from duty for the remainder of the Hawks’ playoffs run. See the AJC’s coverage here. The article expands on the details of Spirit’s suspension saying that the hawk will be involved in the games but will not be flying during player intros.

Postscript: When I began to tell Lauren this story she jumped ahead of me and envisioned Spirit getting (literally) burned by flame shooting apparatuses (apparati?) that were going off while it was flying around the arena. This is a pretty wild image, bird of prey gliding near the heads of people while flames erupt from the tops of basketball hoops. Alas: the flames do not go off while Spirit flies.

If I lived in coffee county I'd get the VANITY licence plate CLDZNMY

It’s finals time at GaTech CoA and for the architects that means anything but papers and exams. Instead they have exhibits and panels and present perspectives. I have been snapping pictures of some of the works in the last week or so. Warning: I know nothing about any of these projects, I just look at them everyday.

This first one was only up for a day or so. I stopped to read it once and it was Dr. King’s I Have A Dream Speech with hand prints and pictures of the Dr.

There are several of these, but I think this is one of the best. The drawings fit in with the real tree outside.

There are tons of posters everywhere. They take days to make and they can stay up for less than an house. And they cost a lot to print.

This is an exhibit that’s been going up for over a week now.It’s in the courtyard of the College. The first picture is last week and the newest one was earlier tonight.


The last one has been going on the longest. I’ve seen a lot of people working on it, usually late at night. Assembling these things on the floor, setting the tension lines to lift them up to the ceiling and then using a lift to get up there and arrange them.

If I was in a sweet jazz ensemble I would want to play Life in a Glass House for an encore.