Roadtrip! North Georgia Here We Come...

... in a couple days.

In celebration of my sweetie not getting jury duty on Thursday, we're planning a roadtrip.

The sights to be seen include:

The Georgia Guidestones, America's Stonehenge


Either a new-age celebration of man's better angels or a monument to the soul-crushing goals of the new world order. Either way I want a picture of myself next to it.

Bavarian Helen, GA

Take a normal little town. Now add a Baravian facade to every building you can get your hands on. Helen did, and we're hoping to see for ourselves.

Kangaroo Conservation Center

And now, I must surf some more in hopes of finding even more strange places to visit.

Music that Lives on My Computer: Last.fm

After seeing that Mr. P'body posted some of his musical tastes using his account at Last.fm and some of their tools, I had to do the same.

Artists most played overall:

Click the chart to see the remaining 40 bands that made the top 50.

Songs most recently played this week:

I find that I like Radiohead songs when performed by other groups. The Mark Ronson song is a great cover of their song "Just". The funk-filled song has loads of horn section, great beat and a sweet video (Quicktime Video).

For another great Radiohead cover check out the 2003 MP3 of "Paranoid Android" played by the UMass Front Percussion Ensemble.

For those looking to get exposed to lots of great music, I would highly recommend the Not Your Usual Bollocks podcast.

"NYUB was created to provide on-demand refuge from main-stream radio. NYUB harnesses podcasting technology to bring direct to you, the best independent and unsigned artists from the rock and electronic music genres. It's not your usual bollocks.....because mainstream radio is shit."

Check his site for podcasts, playlists, and band links.

***************************************************
Related Posts:

Neon Poisoning: Back in the Day: Junior High DJ
UMass Drumline 2005
stereogum: Mark's Ronson's "Just": The Bootleg Video

Apocalyptic Optimism: Thinking about J.G. Ballard

There''s a lot of talk about how the President and his administration are disconnected from the harsh truths of the world. But while I have always been liberal in my thinking, I've never believed that people with liberal ideal have a greater insight into the true workings of the world and people. Strong ideals have the capacity to hide as well as discover the truth.

...blah, blah, blah. The inspiration for this entry has faded. But the following links will give a great taste of the writer J.G. Ballard. It was these sites that got me thinking, and while I can't turn the thoughts into words, don't let that stop you from reading about this great, apocalyptic, technological writer.

And thanks to the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library System's website, I'll be getting some of the books talked about.

"Apocalyptic Optimism?" It comes from the fact that the terrible things that happen to society in his books are so interesting to read about

*********************************************************

Guardian Unlimited Books | By genre | Age of unreason

Ballardian: The World of J.G. Ballard - Child of the Diaspora: Sterling on Ballard

The Porn that Lives in the Hallway & Yadda Yadda

With my wife's mom getting married for the third time, I have the apartment to myself until she returns. This mean reverting back to bachelor ways like eating Chinese takeout from Chinese Buddha and peanut-butter and potato-chip sandwiches (healthy and crunchy!)

But what does it really mean to be alone in the apartment?... watching porn. I see it every day, just waiting for me when I come home from work. But then I go inside my apartment and it stays outside. You see, my apartment building's hallways have been a strange repository of things. The coffee maker and fondue set have disappeared, leaving the bread-maker and coffee table to keep each other company. The newest addition was a DVD that appeared a few days ago under an endtable next to our door. Now living next to us, "Suga Bush vol. 5" When ever I come home, miniature pornstars peek at me underneath that little table.

*********************************************************

With my sweetie being away, I've got a list of tasks to work on in her absence. $20 in quarters are ready for laundry, which has been neglected because of a busy work schedule on our part. Fortunately, it's calming down for the both. G-Tech's spring break is coming up this week and we hope to do a roadtrip at the end of the week. We had hoped to do the trip earlier in the week, but a jury-duty summons ruined those plans. The court system has decided that both of us need to do our duty and I got a summons for April, which had been shaping up to be one of my busiest months work-wise. Now that is all up in the air as well.

*********************************************************

Random link: "Cénotaphe de Newton" a never-built memorial to Newton. A huge,round sphere with holes pierced throughout forming stars and constellations.

Found on BLDGBLOG, a new favorite site.

No Handicap Tags: Fat Cats at Play

I saw this while working last weekend.



And laughed.

Spring is Keeping Me Up: I Miss Sleep

The nice weather is getting our neighborhood blooming. I can't see the pollen and spores but I can feel them doing their evil deeds. It could be worse, just a simple cough. Maybe once every couple of minutes, all the time, around the clock. Sleep has been escaping me.

I'm trying to use my waking hours either continually cruising the internet or watching tv, all in hopes of exhausting my mind. Its not working. Come Thursday, I'll be working 9 days straight. I wish I could get some rest before those days.

I'll try to post something worth reading while I'm up.

More Things to Be Included in The Dreamhouse: Secret Passages

When you see the videos, you'll want to want a Hidden Passageway of your own.



It's just a shame that the Batman Shakespeare Bust Switch is no longer being made.

They Like Me, They Really Do...

... but, who are you, and why would I want to spend Sunday with you?



In other words, today is the day we let the populist riffraff (with nice clothes) mingle with us. I think I'll watch Jon Stewart do his thing and hang with my wife at home. Thanks, though for your thoughtful bulk email.

Found Weirdness: At Home and in Town

Weirdness, it's all around.

A few days after Valentines day I ran up the stairs heading towards the 3rd floor laundry room of our apartment building. At the top of the stairs was this collection of items...



Leather jacket
stuffed rose (just like a stuffed animal)
woman's bracelet
creative loafing
and a paperback book



On closer examination, the book turns out to be the "South Beach Diet".

It's like a presentation that CSI teachers would use to test their students, what can be deduced by looking at the items left at the top of the stairs. Caroline's deduction was that a breakup had taken place and that items had been chucked out of the apartment. My take on the situation was that a stakeout had taken place, and the object of ones affection had not come up the stairs. The reading material and the leftover token of affection is what seals it for me.

Second strange apartment collection #2, this time right outside our door...





Our hallway is taking on the appearance of a rather nice thrift store. A coffee table, with a collection of small kitchen appliances appeared a little while ago. This evening, new items were added to the small shelf unit that had always lived out there. Tonight's finds: coffee pot, a bread maker and a fondue set. We cherry picked the fondue set. It's not as exciting as the strangely large and appealing bird cage that we grabbed and brought inside.



Every day is an opening day and our hallway is adding new stock all the time.

Lastly, for those with a love of breath-takingly bad taste, I offer up this rust-colored, suede covered bedroom set, with built-in lights, and mirror-covered tops. It is in amazingly good shape and the best part is the bed's built-in AM/FM radio. Could be 8-track, but I can't be sure.





The bed and dresser were found at 14th Street Antiques (Google Map).

Why No Sidelinks: Battling Microsoft

Some time ago I got rid of my sidelinks while trying to see if my site would look better on Explorer. No such luck and I have yet to reset the links.

You all are loved and will be linked to again.

Sometime.

"A Meditation on The Speed Limit Around the Perimeter:" Amazing Video

"55 is too slow for anyone in Atlanta."

Truer words have not been spoken. But if people drove the posted speed limit, what would it look like?



It would look like the movie (found here at Google Video) that was made by some local Atlanta hooligans who drove the posted speed limit on all 4 lanes of the perimeter (main loop of highway around the metro area.) Along with footage of the actual event, pre-drive video has the participants talking about the inanity of the speed limits. Watch and enjoy, this is low-level civil disobedience at it's best.

********************************************

Picture snagged from Jalopnik's post Oh Man, Bo Darville Would've Dispatched These Guys Right Quick-Like - Jalopnik

And this is Bo Darville.

Motel Palmont: Now Gone

I heard on NPR last night that the Palamont Motor Lodge was getting torn down, and today I managed briefly to stop by and see for myself. I first saw the motel in October and once again in Brook Novak's pictures.

CRW_0870, originally uploaded by brookenovak.

CRW_0871, originally uploaded by brookenovak.

Now it looks to be cleared in an effort to develop Sweet Auburn.

**************************************************

From the AJC - Historic Palamont Hotel demolished

Instead of What I Should Be Blogging About: Bad Back = World Travel

One of the easiest work days left me with an aching back. The Arlo Guthrie show on the 18th was a piece of cake: he had minimal music gear, no props, no hanging elements, nada. That left me operating the spotlight for all of two minutes, and then the rest of the show was just watching. After packing up all his gear, it was home for a night in with the sweetie.

Next morning, backache like I haven't had in ages. That was 3 days ago and its just getting better. So while I was living in the bedroom, trying not to move, I started working with Google Earth. Here's a saying that was posted on their BBS...

"Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to use Google Earth and the BBS and he won't bother you for months, if ever, again." - Mighty Pete

So freaking true. I'm in love with swooping through the globe, zooming in and out at various places, and compiling different folders with places of interest. It started out just fine... and then got a little weird...



The folders...

- Friends and Family (well, that's okay)
- Atlanta Arts and Culture (in hopes of posting a list/maps of local places of interest)
- Las Vegas (for when friends visit)
- Rob's List of Places of Interest (mostly places in Ireland, England and France that have been visited)
- Roadside Attraction, Etc... (an increasingly bizarre list, with an eye towards roadtrips from Atlanta)
- Conspiracy Theory Places of Interest (okay, let me explain)

... there are a myriad of conspiracy theories: from alien abduction, various paranormal happening and the machinations of secret societies. The New World Order is major topic with the U.N. takeover of the country, suspension of civil liberties and the creation of internment camps on American soil. Lists of secret bases and concentration camps are circulated on the Internet as proof of sinister happenings. What better way to see what's up then with medium-res satellite imagery.

Now on my map...

Mount Weather - an unacknowledged Continuity of Government (COG) facility operated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Completed in 1958, the underground bunker includes a hospital, crematorium, dining and recreation areas, sleeping quarters, reservoirs of drinking and cooling water, an emergency power plant, and a radio and television studio which is part of the Emergency Broadcasting System.

* A supposed concentration camp in El Reno, CA. Cleverly disguised as a water treatment facility.
* A supposed internment camp in the Desoto National Forest of Mississippi. (Infowars Exclusive -- Detention/Training Camps)
* Supposed Fairbanks Mental Institute/Prison - "Currently, the largest of these facilities is just outside of Fairbanks, Alaska. The Alaskan facility is a massive mental health facility and can hold approximately 2 million people." (AMERICAN CONCENTRATION CAMPS)

So far, kooky conspiricist aren't doing very well in the fact-checking department. Crazy that!

My back is much better now, and soon it will be back to work. And that means that I will have to actually stop playing on the computer. For at least one day.

Work Pictures: Arlo Guthrie + 1

There's a longer post to be written, but in the mean time, a couple of picture. Both from the Ferst Center, and in order...

H.M.S. Pinafore by Atlanta Lyric Theater
Grant Davis Arlo Guthrie, Feb. 18th, 2006

************************************************

HMS Pinafore, Atlanta Lyric Theater 4, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.

Grant Davis and Arlo Guthry, Feb. 18th, 2006, originally uploaded by Mr. Kimberly.