Old Atlanta: Part Duex & Work Report

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.

International Time Capsule Society: And Other Groups that Like Old Crap

I like old things: cars, pictures, etc. So, I was pretty pleased that an eccentric entity like the Oglethorpe University's International Time Capsule Society resides in Atlanta. What to actually do with this newly acquired knowledge, um... I don't know.

But thinking about historical surroundings and preservation aren't new fascinations for some folks, myself included. In the 1870s, the Society for Photographing Relics of Old London started taking pictures of sites in the city that were old at that time. Places like The Oxford Arms, Warwick Lane were in peril when the picture was taken and destroyed soon after the picture was taken. That place and others can be seen here at The Eastern Window. That's why I've been digging the pix of some of the local blogger/flickr/urban explorer people. They have captured some things that have already been lost like Casa Destruido someplace in the city...



... and Brooke Novak's got some Urban Decay | Texture which includes this former Mr. Fangs mural which is no longer around.

Mr. Fangs, originally uploaded by brookenovak.

"My House, My Home, It Rolls with Me."

Brick Car, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Saw this car and thought to myself, "Best car ever." In hindsight, that's not true but it's pretty damn close. Making me think that I will need to be carrying around my camera all the time.

Title quote from a Southern Culture on the Skids song.

Atlanta UE: Going Where You're Not Supposed To

Urban Exploration, think of it as tourism with a touch of breaking & entering. But between being a coward and the scorn heaped upon me by my wife at the very mention of it, I have yet to do any UE. The closest I have come is buying all the issues of Infiltration Zine...



... a cool read about people willing to tell their tales. The zine and the Infiltration website were the brainchildren of Ninjalicious. But the future of the zine is up in the air since his passing of cancer this year.

Atlanta has its fare share of UE fans poking around the city's bits. The Urban Exploration Resource website has a Georgia section and an Atlanta subsection. Earler this year, the city was host to APEX '05, a "conference" for urban exploration enthusiast, which included an tour of the city's abandoned attractions.

So, thanks to the internet for keeping me out of cool, abandoned buildings and free from tetanus because I stepped on a nail in the dark.

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Related Links with loads of pictures:

See Pie Bar before it was over-priced - Georgia National Trust.

The amazing and huge 1903 Canfranc International Railway Station.

Massive Japanese Website with an abandoned amusement park amongst other places.

Abandoned city/island - Gunkanjima - Views of an Abandoned Island

London's Abandoned Tube Stations

Modern Ruins

Forgotten NY

Road Trip Saturday: Social Circle, Madison, Athens, GA

Since our arrival in Atlanta, we hadn't been any further than Stone Mountain Village. With a lull in work, the wife and I planned a trip to Madison and Athens, GA. The main attraction in Madison was the tiny cars of the Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum. While the website taunts with a collection of great pictures of tiny cars, Bruce doesn't spend much time with his cars... Tuesdays, Thursdays, and on Saturdays by appointment only. So with no appointment made, we weren't going to be seeing any small cars today. But we decided to head off anyways to Madison and Athens.

On our way, we passed a sign for "Historic Social Circle," Social Circle being a small community north of the 20. When visiting a "Historic" district, one is betting that the ratio of cheesiness to genuine historic worth is balanced. Meaning that the place you are visiting, usually a Main St., has a nice collection of restored and nicely painted buildings and only a few of the tenants have names like "Karl's Krap" and "Julie's Jeweled Junk." Social Circle has a perfectly fine historic district. Nuff said.

Back on the road, we go to Madison. Lots of cute houses, including this one...

House 1 - Madison, GA, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

... love the windows on it. Madison also has a decent village square and a good candy store. 1/4 lb of maple fudge and 1/4 lb of chocolate walnut were bought at Antique Sweets. And on to Athens we went.

We had never been to Athens and their brochures we got at the Madison Chamber of Commerce were no help. So in looking for a restaurant, we hit one of the health food grocery stores and asked for advice on finding a place to eat. One of the suggestions was The Last Resort, which is where we ended up eating. And what a great choice! Seriously good food, mine was penne with beef tenderloin and carrots and green beans. It tasted so great and it felt nice and healthy. Highly recommended.

Lastly we went back to our car to find it blocked by a bus...

Girls Gone Wild - Athens, GA, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

... until they tired of being wild in Athens. In the picture is my favorite wild girl, my wife.

City Mayors: Mine and Yours

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?

Shows Galore: First Up, Raymond Loewy at the MoD

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.

Daytripping: Breakfast, DMV, Stone Mountain Village & YDFM

A chore turns into a trip... Having relocated to Atlanta from Vegas, the GA DMV made us get state licenses. They track the movement of people into the state via insurance records. Thus we were spotted and told to get ourselves new licenses now! And we did, but not before breakfast. We had "the most important meal of the day" at Radial, where we again had another good meal. The neighboring martial arts studio teaches a collection of fighting styles. Some more familiar than others, "Kill Bill", "Jedi Style?"...



We then went out hunting for the DMV. The direction had us going to Candler Rd. near Flat Shoals and searching the quazi-rundown mall for the unmarked DMV hidden inside. The people were fine and the pictures bad. But since we reserved our arrival times in advance on their phoneline, less time was spent waiting than expected. So, with the rest of the afternoon open, it was time to explore.

First, we headed to Stone Mountain Park. Where we turned right around and left when we found it was cash-only to enter. Instead we went to the admission-free Stone Mountain Village. Which is soon to be holding its local elections. Lawns were littered with candidates' signs, like the following examples from Williams and Peterson...









Ponce De Leon Ave cuts through Stone Mountain Village, and we started back on it. We stopped at Your Dekalb Farmers Market. I had first heard of it when listening to an NPR show about the market (NPR : Visiting the DeKalb Farmers' Market) and had some idea of what to expect. But my wife had not a clue, and wasn't expecting the expanse of organized chaos. A little shopping was done with definite plans to return. Strangely enough, the market has a "no photography" policy.

And now I end my evening writing about our day's adventure.

Shrunken! Tiny!! Automobiles!!! Reducto Would Approve

A favorite Adult Swim villain with a penchant for shrinking things would love The Bruce Weiner Microcar Museum. I am so there! I discovered this place about 20 minutes ago on Jalopnik. After finding Madison, GA via Google Maps, and visiting Bruce's website, I am awaiting the day I can go. An unusually full work schedule has me putting off this trip, but my wife has been promised/warned that I must go here.

Some examples of the cars on display. . .

1956 Avolette Tourisme (de Luxe)
1964 Zeta Sports
1958 Zundapp Janus

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The upcoming show at the Museum of Design is coming along quite nicely. A showcase of the designer Raymond Loewy, the museum will be exhibiting a collection of his works. A seriously nice collection of pieces. Good works makes it almost impossible to screw up the exhibition.

Raymond Loewy Exhibition Fully Booked for Three Year US Tour

3 Things: Blogging Potpourri

Post-work decompression = surfing a bunch of MP3 blogs. Found a gorgeous vocal/choral/electronical song by Kelly Polar. Find this song and listen to it.

Curious about my new musical find, I went to Amazon to research Mr. Polar. What greeted me on the site's home page was this...


Yes, the Philips HeartStart Home Automated External Defibrillator. When you care enough to jump-start the ones you love. It's a strange time we live in.

And for those who like Samurai Jack and bands like Ratatat (Pitchfork Review)... the best music video (mov format) you've seen where animated Vikings in long boats having a battle-of-the-bands on the open sea. And the boats turn into robots. It's that good!

Blog's Worth & Blah, Blah, Blah

My blog is worth $7,339.02.
How much is your blog worth?

Now if I could take a loan out on my blog, I would like to buy... well, a lot of things. Instead, I will chill out, detox after work and gasze upon my sweet wife. We have 15-minutes until plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck and my sweet wife (this is one of the reasons she is sweet) says to me, "Your butts cuter then Christian Troys." Nip/Tuck shows his ass quite a bit and it being Fox its naked butt along with an excess of profanity, kinky sex and gorey surgery.

Good, clean fun.

Working: Can't Blog...

A steady gig at the Museum of Design means I will be using up all available brain-power at work, leaving none for blogging. With good news coming, will work on upcoming posts.

Dinner with the Sweetie

Friday was our 5th anniversary, so I surprised my wife with dinner out at Dantes Down The Hatch. The pirate ship-and-wharf themed restaurant was great, the fondue meant slow eating and quality time with my sweet wife and the service was great. If that sounds like an exercise in bad taste, it was actually pretty great. But then again I liked Vegas, so you be the judge.

Road Tested Chair: Sit/Don't Sit + Car Talk

It's far too big, matches nothing in our house and at $3,200 would be a down payment on most cars. But I love this chair in all its... insert appropriate adjective. Available at UncommonGoods, along with other cool, overpriced things.

The chair falls under my love of vintage airstreams/travel trailers/roadside attractions. If it shiny, lights up and/or has wheels I like.

If I had me a silver house on wheels, I'd be towing it with my car. I've had a black '50 Mercury since my days in high school. Thing of beauty, but with $3 gas, I don't know what job I would have to get to actually afford the bill. So, for now it sits in upstate NY with my mom and pop. It's best that it stays there, with the crazed drivers and narrow streets here, I worry about our little car. Never mind this black and chrome battleship cruising the little streets of Atlanta.

At the first APWBWGTTD (Atlanta People With Blogs Who Get Together To Drink), this car was the answer to the question "What's the one thing you would save in an emergency?"