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August 2008
Atlanta’s best annual events? Dragons, drive-ins and more.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A Chicago family visited Atlanta for its first Dragon Con in 2001. They’re Kathy , Quincy 9 and Vincent Newkirk. Kathy made the Star Wars costumes. I SO want to see this in my city this weekend!
In typical Labor Day, live-it-up-it’s-a-long-winter fashion, there’s a lot going on this weekend.
Starlight Six’s Drive Invasion
I pull out these three because they’re seriously unique events that apparently happen here every year? I had no idea! Dragon*Con seems like the kind of thing that could travel from city to city, but clearly found a home here. The Decatur Book Festival is new since I lived here last. And the Drive Invasion? Well, it takes something special to sustain a drive-in, let along a drive-in celebration of kitsch and cinema.
So what are the other yearly events here — big and beloved, underground and underappreciated, growing and changing — that I don’t know about? I suspect they’re happening all the time, not just holiday weekends.
What’s your favorite Atlanta area annual events?
Speaking of holidays: I’m sleeping in on Monday. Catch you at 7 a.m. Tuesday!
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Atlanta history, gone with the wind?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The man that spoke the first lines in the “Gone With the Wind” movie died last week. Fred Crane, who played one of the red-headed Tarleton twins, along with George Reeves, died of complications from diabetes on Thursday. He had been the last living male actor with a credited role in the film.
“Gone With the Wind,” the movie and the book, seems to be dying off, fading from our collective memory, if it was ever there at all. I read it in high school, during a summer of reading epics that maximized my amusement between library trips. I saw the movie soon after, but only once. (Four well-done hours. But seriously — four hours.) I hardly remember the role of Atlanta, beyond burning.
Love or hate its politics, meaning and legacy, “Gone With the Wind” meant a lot to this city, once upon a time. It was written here and the movie debuted here. Margaret Mitchell was born here in 1900, and died at Grady Hospital in 1949. She wrote for The Atlanta Journal.
Ann Boutwell of Margaret Mitchell House pointed out that the book sold one million copies within months of publication.
Where can you find the history still? The house where Mitchell grew up is gone; so is the Loew’s Grand Theatre, at the corner of Peachtree and Forsyth, where the movie premiered in 1939.
Loew’s Grand Theatre
The Margaret Mitchell House and Museum, which is the restored building where Mitchell lived while she wrote “Gone With the Wind.” About 50,000 people visit here every year, especially from Japan and the United Kingdom. (The truest fanatics have a nickname, MM House told me: Windies.)
Oakland Cemetery Margaret Mitchell was buried here, along with several family members.
There are other signs: the apartment on Piedmont Avenue where Mitchell lived when she was struck by a car while crossing at Peachtree and 13th Street. The Georgian Terrace Hotel, where a reception for the movie premiere of “Gone With the Wind” was held.
Everything I’ve read about the premiere suggests it was Atlanta’s coming out party, complete with finicky stars, massive crowds, historic costumes and one of the saddest stories of the time: intense racial segregation, so much so that the black stars of the film weren’t invited to its premiere. (For a brief look at that, check out this Q&A with Gary Pomerantz, author of “Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn.” Or hey, just pick up that book.)
The film made its New York debut four days later.
Gone With the Wind premiere, 1939
Behind the jump, I attached a story by reporter Jim Auchmutey. I pulled it from the archives and posted it here because it was published in 1989 for the 50th anniversary of the premiere, well before AJC.com was helping stories live online forever. The story recreated that week in Atlanta history.
That’s a lot of history to be forgotten.
Dec. 10, 1989
GWTW’ AT 50: Frankly, debut was 3 days that rocked Atlanta
By Jim Auchmutey (Who still works here! Yea for us!)
It had been 75 years since the Confederacy lost Atlanta. The city wasn’t taking any chances this time.
In the summer of 1939, when an MGM executive let it slip that the long-awaited world premiere of Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone With the Wind” might take place in New York instead of Atlanta, the Junior League was horrified. A delegation descended on Mayor William B. Hartsfield’s office.
“His Honor, a passionate Confederate and a stout defender of Atlanta’s civic rights and honors, leapt eight feet in the air, ” Miss Mitchell wrote a friend. ” ‘This was the worst outrage since Sherman burned the town … said the Mayor, for in a large way, the book belongs to all of us.’ “
Most Atlantans - the white ones, anyway - really did feel that way.
The sentiment had been building since the publication of Miss Mitchell’s novel and the sale of screen rights to producer David O. Selznick in 1936. During the next three years, Atlantans avidly followed the signing of Clark Gable, the Great Scarlett Search, the titanic ego clashes that seemed to land a different director on the set each week.
Atlanta not get the premiere? Of course Atlanta would get the premiere, Mr. Selznick assured Mayor Hartsfield. If the movie was Mr. Selznick’s show, the premiere was Mr. Hartsfield’s, and the first-term mayor planned to make it the biggest blowout of nostalgia, boosterism and sheer joy in Atlanta history.
Far more important things were happening in the world. Overseas, the Soviet Union was invading Finland, and Nazi Germany was digesting Poland. But for the Depression-weary nation, and for Atlanta in particular, it was a time of tunnel vision. A time when a story announcing the presentation of a Scarlett O’Hara portrait to the High Museum of Art appeared on the same page above the small headline “Negroes’ Plight in City Deplored, ” which ran next to a tiny story about 2 million Jews being moved to a “special reservation” in Poland.
Oddly, one person who did not share the “GWTW” mania was Miss Mitchell. At first, she even refused to confirm that she’d attend the premiere, saying she might pass because her father was ill and she wasn’t feeling too well herself.
Besides, she got queasy thinking about all the hoopla starting again, the give-me-your-autograph hounding she took for a couple of years after the book came out. It got so bad that once, while she tried on a dress at Rich’s department store, a covey of curious women ripped open the curtain and one cried, “She’s small-breasted like a boy!”
But the Selznick agents persisted, and the author finally told them she’d be there.
As the appointed day of Dec. 15 approached, the city readied itself as busily as the filmmakers, who were still editing the movie. Men grew 1860s-style whiskers, women made hoop skirts, and the papers reported a spurt in corset sales (most ladies had to let them out). At 560,000 people, the metro area was one-fifth its present size - no bigger than today’s Knoxville, Tenn. But it was big enough to make noise.
“Hollywood is almost afraid of Atlanta, ” the Constitution fretted, warning citizens not to rip the clothes off their screen idols’ backs.
“Any moment now, ” wrote Constitution columnist Ralph McGill, “I expect to see a small boy running down Peachtree Street and hearing him shouting, ‘Flee for your lives, the dam has burst.’ “
The first cracks appeared Dec. 13, a Wednesday, at Candler Field as the first planeload of stars emerged to the first of countless renditions of “Dixie.” “Oh, they’re playing the song from the picture!” Vivien Leigh chirped, whereupon a quick-witted publicist attributed it to Olivia de Havilland, apparently thinking it wiser for the remark to come from Melanie rather than the all-important Scarlett.
Motorcycle cops escorted the group to the Georgian Terrace Hotel, where they briefly met reporters at a cocktail party. Miss Leigh, the center of attention, was watched closely by her paramour, Laurence Olivier, who grew weary of explaining that, no, he wasn’t in the movie. Married to others at the time, the couple was registered under her name. There was no registration for Mr. Olivier.
Afterward, Mr. Selznick’s party visited Miss Mitchell at her 17th Street apartment in Midtown. The author had welcomed the visitors to Atlanta by sending pots of blooming azaleas to their rooms. Now, facing the woman who brought her Scarlett to life, Miss Mitchell found her more knowledgeable about Southern history than her “Dixie” remark suggested. The author was pleased.
Then came the King.
The next afternoon, Thursday, Miss Leigh and the others were spirited back to Candler Field to await the arrival of Clark Gable; his wife, Carole Lombard; and MGM studio boss Louis B. Mayer, who, upon hearing “GWTW’s” running time, was said to have blurted, “They’d stone Christ if he came back and spoke for four hours.”
The MGM contingent had flown separately in part because Mr. Gable didn’t want to endure Mr. Selznick’s company. He blamed the producer for insulting his pal Victor Fleming by suggesting that other directors who’d worked on the film be mentioned in the credits as well. Mr. Fleming, who had threatened to boycott the premiere (as had Mr. Gable), had a legitimate excuse for not attending: His old friend Douglas Fairbanks Sr. had just dropped dead.
On the airport tarmac, the band once again struck up “Dixie, ” and the stars were swept into limousines.
As the motorcade sped north on Stewart Avenue, Rebel yells rent the air with increasing frequency. Up Whitehall Street to Peachtree, where sidewalks had been coagulating with spectators since noon, the cars slowed and the celebrities beheld a city gone delirious. Confederate flags hanging from every building, streamers twisting through the sky, bands at every other intersection, craning fans 20-deep held back by 2,000 police and National Guardsmen - 300,000 people in all, twice as many as fought on both sides of the Battle of Atlanta. Hollywood Boulevard had never looked like this.
With dusk gathering, the parade squeezed through the human tunnel to the Georgian Terrace, where a platform and a battery of searchlights had been erected. There, the governors of four Southern states were introduced to the crowd, as well as any actor Mayor Hartsfield could lay hands on. The exhausted Mr. Gable repaired to his suite.
But there was little time to rest. The ball started in two hours.
The Junior League had been planning its charity gala for months. Atlanta architect Philip Shutze had outfitted the stage of the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium to resemble a plantation house, complete with 18- foot Ionic columns. An anteroom was given over to a bazaar like the one in the movie, with Civil War relics and all manner of Confederate bric-a- brac (“Buy a Hanky, Beat a Yankee, ” read one sign).
More than 5,000 worthies, many in hoop skirts and tight breeches, attended the affair, which was broadcast on the NBC radio network. The guest list read like royalty: Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, Whitneys, McAdoos, Paleys, Rickenbackers.
Everyone wanted to be there - even the ambitious young pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church. The Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. arranged for his young adult choir, Mrs. King at the organ, to sing spirituals before the tuxedoed white folk. The choir came dressed as field hands, looking like so many Aunt Jemimas and Big Sams. A few days later, Daddy King’s colleagues in the Atlanta Baptist Ministers’ Union voted to censure him, partly because he took part in a segregated function but mostly because liquor was served.
One celebrity who did not attend was Miss Mitchell. The announced reason was that she wanted to conserve her strength for the premiere. The real reason, some Atlantans knew, was that when she was presented as a debutante 20 years before, the Junior League had not invited her to join. As God was her witness, Peggy Mitchell got even.
Come Friday, though, she would no longer have the luxury of privacy.
Premiere day was time for visitors to pay their respects.
At 10 a.m., Mayor Hartsfield picked up Mr. Gable and Miss Lombard and squired them about the Northside for a two-hour tour. Then it was back to the hotel, where the mayor followed the couple to their suite and showed them a 16mm film he had made about Atlanta. No wonder Miss Lombard called him “Cyclorama Bill.”
Gov. E.D. Rivers got his turn later when the actors called on the executive mansion, then in Ansley Park. The governor made Mr. Gable a lieutenant colonel in the Georgia militia. Miss Leigh remained a civilian.
Meanwhile, Ann Rutherford, who played Scarlett’s sister Carreen, slipped away to the Confederate Soldier’s Home in southeast Atlanta, where a uniformed veteran of the Army of Northern Virginia leaned on his cane, looked her up and down and said, “My, you’re a pretty child.” She snuggled his head in her fox coat.
The day did not start well for Miss Mitchell. At a luncheon for her publishers, Macmillan, someone pulled a chair out from under her as she was about to sit, and she plopped on the floor. When the doctor who taped her torso mummy-tight asked for her autograph, she refused. Then she arrived late at her first command performance: a cocktail party at the Piedmont Driving Club where she was to appear with the cast.
The Selznick motorcade arrived at 5:30 p.m., sirens blasting. Half an hour later, there was no sign of Miss Mitchell. Finally, at 6:10, she walked in, and as cameras flashed, Rhett met his maker. Though they were born within three months of each other at the turn of the century, the tall Mr. Gable seemed more mature as he crooked his neck to gaze down at the 4-foot-11 author, looking girlish in a big-bowed hat. He guided her into a room where they spoke for five minutes. There really wasn’t much to say.
Two hours later, black limousines delivered them to the Loew’s Grand, which had commanded the confluence of Peachtree and Pryor streets since opening as an opera house in the 1890s. Outside, 30,000 people stood cheering as the actors arrived, said a few words and disappeared into a white-columned facade. Miss Mitchell came last, a little woman in a pink gown in a blinding scene illuminated by anti-aircraft lights so bright that someone from Ball Ground, 50 miles north, called the newspaper to report a strange glow on the southern horizon.
Inside, 2,031 ticket holders - most of whom had paid an extravagant $10 - found their seats. Like everything else, the arrangement of the principals had been carefully orchestrated, with Miss Mitchell asking not to sit near Mr. Selznick because she figured he’d be too nervous. She ended up next to financier John Hay Whitney, who underwrote most of the $4 million production. Her husband, John Marsh, was beside Mr. Gable and Miss Lombard. Someone complained of a dry throat, and Miss Mitchell passed out cough drops.
Mr. Marsh couldn’t help but notice Mr. Gable’s tenseness.
“He was so anxious for the thing to be a success, ” he later wrote, “and we couldn’t keep our minds on the picture for wanting to tell him, ‘There, there, Capt. Butler!’ “
Then, at 8:45, half an hour late, the chandeliers began to dim very slowly and the old opera house fell quiet. People noticed Miss Mitchell and Mr. Selznick leaning forward as the screen filled with the words “There was a land of cavaliers and cotton fields …” She despised the word “cavaliers, ” but she was in a generous mood tonight.
Her story had come home.
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Why are you here? Why do you stay?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I read this story on NYTimes.com yesterday: “City Fits, Eventually, for New Arrivals.”
It’s a thoughtful, other-side-of-the-looking-glass version of an amusing Creative Loafing story from a few weeks ago, “I Love New York: Ex-Atlantans dish on life in New York.”
The NYT story is distinctly New York, the ever-abused subject of so many musicals and love letters: young people head to the big city to follow their dreams, to shake off their past, to find what’s missing, but it’s tougher than they think, until it’s not.
Reading it, I saw that the story of newcomers in New York is not the story here. In this area, there are just as many customs, behaviors, histories and habits to learn. But you may be a newcomer to “Atlanta” while never setting foot in the city itself, or in Atlanta, where you ignore our neighbor counties. It may be the biggest city you’ve ever seen, or a break from a faster life elsewhere. We have no universal reason to be here, that I can see; maybe general impatience with cold weather?
The New York story has romance, but I like that ours doesn’t have so obvious a plot. It can be tiring to deal with the constant bickering and unexpected sensitivities here; I disagree with some prevailing wisdom or insanity every day since moving here. That’s OK.
“Newcomers,” reporter Cara Buckley wrote of New York, “suddenly realize either that the city is not working for them or that they are inexorably becoming part of it, or both.”
I wonder who has the idea to come here and can’t find some way, some space, in which it works. Someone who isn’t trying, who guessed far wrong? Someone who never intended to be in love here, anyway.
But…if you are here at all, you are part of the story.
Why did you come to Atlanta or the metro area? How did you make it work for you?
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Friends don’t let friends risk bad tattoos.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some things should be done only with the recommendation of others.
Cheap Chinese food, for instance. It can be sickening to even the drunkest gullet, or a surprising delight. (Delivered!) It helps when someone vouches for it.
Unknown books longer than 500 pages. Pet adoption organizations. Movies that might be cult-classic dark comedies or whole new varieties of stupid. Yes, recommendations matter.
Another: piercers and tattoo artists.
A bad mall piercing isn’t likely to cause the trouble of, say, a bad trip to the cardiologist, but why should it be bad at all? (Bad trip to tattoo parlor…yikes. Not something I want to experience. Not something I’m willing to risk, really.)
I feel lucky to have a friendly, vouched-for piercing studio in the neighborhood. It’s nice to have a jewelry-maker and an autoclave around when you need one.
What’s your Atlanta area piercing and tattoo business of choice?
(By the way, newcomers, if you want to know the state rules and regulations about tattooing and piercing, use the searchable Georgia code. Just type in the word “tattoo.”
And check out our galleries of tattoos.
Katrina Sanchez of Smyrna got a tattoo from Brett Zarro of Oneonta, NY during the 11th Annual Atlanta Tattoo Arts Festival on June 17, 2007. Zarro had drawn the outline freehand and was filling in the details and color.
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Was “affordable college” on your list of reasons to move here?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The U.S. News & World Report college rankings hit newsstands today, and Georgia, Georgia Tech, Emory, Spelman, Morehouse and Agnes Scott all made some of the lists.
As the AJC story points out, these rankings are loathed by most school administrators. Still, it’s an ego boost to list-happy parents, students and alumni, and is quick to get the attention of people shopping for schools.
As a high school student in Michigan, I considered going out-of-state for approximately 10 seconds, the amount of time it took to do the math: likelihood of massive student loan debt + general uncertainty about life’s course - cafeteria work wages - aspirational scholarship funds = perfectly lovely in-state school education.
Of course, if you live in Georgia, the reason to stay in-state is even stronger, fancy-sounding rankings or not. It’s called the HOPE scholarship.
Here’s the deal: the Georgia Lottery-funded scholarship covers tuition, some fees and some books for students who are Georgia residents and maintain a B average throughout high school, if they attend an eligible in-state school. (Private school students can get a portion of the cost paid, too.)
Yes, in this tough economy, Georgia universities might make staff cuts and increase fees that would fall outside the reach of HOPE.
Yes, the formula to calculate students’ grade averages recently changed, which left some students and parents disappointed.
And yes, the dangling carrot of paid tuition creates some intense competition to get in to state schools.
Hard to see the downside of greater academic achievement, though. Without requiring an essay or interview, a certain SAT score or even an A-average, the program has helped 1,191,115 students with $4.1 billion since 1993.
I’m thrilled with my college education and that it helped me to land here, out-of-state. But if I’d known more than what was in the rankings, if I’d believed the HOPE scholarship wasn’t some higher education fairy tale…maybe I would’ve been a newcomer sooner.
Did it convince you to move here, or to stay here?
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Newcomer Q&A: records, tartan and other answers.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This week, the return of Newcomer Q&A, because readers had questions. If you’ve got a newcomer-style curiosity that needs an answer, leave it in the comments or send it to me at jgumbrecht@ajc.com.
First, a question from reader Andrew, on the topic of open records: Are individuals’ tax returns, such as politicians’, publicly available under open records laws?
Answer: The short answer is no, but as another commenter swiftly pointed out, a lot of politicians — especially those running for office — will release their tax documents. Here’s the Georgia Press Association’s list of records that aren’t usually accessible under open records laws.
A question from reader ATC, on the topic of state symbols: Where may one purchase the Georgia Tartan Fabric?
Answer: Reader DecaturAnn quickly pointed out that the Stone Mountain Highland Games are Oct. 17-19, and there will be plenty of Georgia tartan to be had there. Otherwise, Georgia tartan is sold by Strathmore Woollen Company, a Scottish tartan supplier.
A question from reader MrLiberty, on the topic of drought: “Are you employed on the side as a mouthpiece for our failed state government - sort of the propaganda minister of water?”
Answer: Please. I was way too busy running that blog post through Minitrue to get the Ministry of Plenty talking points squeezed in. (Despite your sass, it’s awesome that you have enough background with the drought to ask bigger questions about its causes. The issue is always being watched,. but not quite so closely in — two key points, here — the newcomer blog.)
Coming soon: Georgia’s poet laureate. I haven’t forgotten about you, Julie, I just don’t have an answer for your question yet!
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Georgia’s public records: make yourself at home with them.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
One of the best ways to get to know the place you live is to look at its paper trail. It’s exactly the kind of stuff that makes huge money at the box office and shows up on the New York Times best-seller list…just…unpolished.
And you have the right to look at a lot of it.
Say you want to know what Georgia’s largest non-profits are doing with their budgets. That info comes from the Internal Revenue Service.
You can find out which campaigns are receiving Georgians money using Federal Elections Commission data.
Or maybe you’re an overzealous soon-to-be parent and you want to know the weirdest and most popular baby names in the state. Thanks to the Department of Human Resources and their records, you can make sure your kid isn’t one of six Madisons or three Ashleys in her first grade class.
Yea records!
Journalists tend to be into records in a way that makes them awesome at work and odd at parties. You don’t have to. A lot of agencies post records online for you to peruse without creating your own analysis.
It’s the kind of information that will tell you whether you’re paying what you should in taxes, what’s in your drinking water and how your kids’ schools stack up, test-wise. (Here’s a list of some of that information, by topic.)
Here’s a quick guide to Georgia’s Open Records Act, including a list from the Secretary of State that details how long agencies must hold on to records.
Looking for more? The Georgia First Amendment Foundation publishes A Citizen’s Guide to Open Government. Thirty-five pages. Totally worth it.
Even if you think you’ll never, ever request a police report or a property record, it’s important to know that you can. There are limits to what is accessible, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, and sometimes argue for it.
Welcome to Georgia. Happy reading.
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Newcomers Guide to Drought.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is drought?
A newcomer pal moved here from the desert of Arizona. As far as he and his fiance are concerned, you can shower just by stepping outside in Atlanta. (I exaggerate; it is a shower, but it’s not as unpleasant as he first thought.) This did not seem like drought.
Believe it. Even with more-than-usual rain last month, we’re deep in drought.
This photo from Shoal Creek cove area at Lake Lanier was shot in June 2008. That dock used to float.
If you’ve been around, you know the story: the beach-less weekends, the high water bills, the low-flow toilets, the angry red blot over the the northeast chunk of Georgia.
If you haven’t, here’s a quick explainer: droughts are cyclical. No matter how responsible you are with your sprinkler, they happen. Atlanta had a pretty rough one 1999-2001. This one is worse, and after more than two years, there’s no end in sight. Most of Georgia is in a severe drought, Atlanta included. The areas that hold our water are in the scarier “extreme” and “exceptional” categories. (Remember, angry red blots. Check it on the map.)
What makes it stick around? Low rainfall, and too much drain on the main water sources. The Atlanta metro area relies on Lake Allatoona and Lake Lanier for water. Allatoona is full, but could drain quickly. Lanier, which is much larger, is setting new records for low levels every day. (Here’s a great story about why one is full and the other isn’t.)
What could get us out of it? Well, the old record for low levels in Lake Lanier was set in December 1981 — we’ve so broken that record now — and “epic rainfall” snapped us out of that drought within months. Yes: a hurricane or a tropical storm shooting up from the Gulf, or maybe over from the East, would help our drought. Consistent rainfall, especially in winter, would help, too. We were way up last month, when it all evaporated away, but June was way down. Here’s the area’s rainfall scorecard.
What can you do about it, oh newcomer?
First, don’t move here expecting to maintain a very Southern yard with a clean white porch, blooming azaleas and vast stretches of green. Consider some drought-friendly, low-maintenance landscaping, like folks in this story by Katie Leslie.
Second, reduce water use. There are tons of tips, ideas and rules to live by. And even more in our summer 2008 drought survival guide. They work! Water use was down 20 percent in June, and 15 percent in July! Go us!
Third, consider where you plan to buy or build. Development in the watershed surrounding Lake Lanier only makes drought worse. Protect wetlands and build wisely.
We’re expecting 4 million people to use a limited supply of water from fragile, man-made lakes. Reporter Stacy Shelton described it to me this way: it’s like setting a barrel outside and expecting it to capture enough water for a family of twelve. When mom is pregnant. With triplets. If it’s raining long often enough and hard enough, the family will be fine. But when it stops, somebody’s going thirsty.
Newcomers, were you expecting drought when you arrived, and how have you handled it? Long-timers, what’s your drought survival advice?
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What’s your secret to parking in Atlanta?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A few things you oughtta know about parking in Atlanta…
- Lots of people don’t pay their parking tickets. The city is owed about $10.5 million in unpaid parking citations issued in the last 3 1/2 years.
- Seems easy to be one of the scofflaws. Haven’t paid? Well, debtors’ cars aren’t given a “boot,” vehicle registrations aren’t suspended, and only the police are empowered to tow in most areas — if and when they have the time.
- You might not be able to dodge that bill much longer. A private company with expanded enforcement capabilities might take over parking ticket collections after the city’s current contract with ACS expires Nov. 25. The proposed contract would give Central Parking the power to boot and tow, as well as other collection capabilities, said Public Works spokeswoman Valerie Bell-Smith. Current city parking enforcement employees would work for and be paid by Central Parking, she said.
All this info appeared in a story by reporter Mike Maciag, “Fined drivers owe Atlanta millions.”
Just after my move here, I half-heartedly hung up my car keys — who wants to pay $60 a month to park downtown when it costs half that to take the train and requires time in traffic? A few car-less months later, the very idea makes me queasy.
Of course, the packed streets of the city tell me a lot of you don’t see any option other than your car. How do you do it? What’s your parking strategy, your parking secret?
Pay for a pass, chance it on the street or find an unusually wealthy, kind employer with a free lot? Take MARTA to special events? Park ‘n’ Ride in? Pay your tickets, or ignore ‘em?
Here’s a link to a flyer from Atlanta’s Public Works office: Atlanta Parking 101.
Share your horror stories/wisdom/advice in the comments.
Here’s mine: my hatchback was pretty tiny, but it’s way easier to park a bike.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment | Categories: Getting Around
Learn your Georgia state symbols!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today, a quick return to fourth grade: let’s learn our Georgia state symbols.
They are people, animals, objects and events designated by our General Assembly because they represent the state. Some are long-standing designations, like the state seal and motto. Others are fresher, like the tree frog, which earned the title of “state amphibian” in 2005 after a group of students from Armuchee Middle School near Rome lobbied for it. (Gov. Sonny Perdue made it official with a real tree frog sitting next to him.)
We have a state plaid, a state dance, a state beef cook-off and a state pork cook-off. Our state ‘Possum is my favorite: Walt Kelly’s Pogo, one of the creatures from the Okefenokee Swamp.
Consider it conversation fodder, and proof that you can accurately refer to Georgia as “The Right Whale State” or “The Knobbed Whelk State.
Check out the list behind the jump and tell me: any other symbols you’d like to see for our state?
Here’s the list from the Secretary of State.
- Amphibian: Green Tree Frog
- Art Museum: Georgia Museum of Art
- Atlas: Atlas of Georgia
- Ballet: Atlanta Ballet
- Beef Cook Off: “Shoot the Bull”
- Bird: Brown Thrasher
- Botanical Garden: The State Botanical Garden of Georgia
- Butterfly: Tiger Swallowtail
- Creed: Georgian’s Creed
- Crop: Peanut
- Fish: Largemouth Bass
- Flag: State Flag
- Flower: Cherokee Rose
- Folk Dance: Square Dancing
- Folk Festival: The Georgia Folk Festival
- Folk Life Play: “Swamp Gravy”
- Fossil: Shark Tooth
- Fruit: Peach
- Game Bird: Bobwhite Quail
- Gem: Quartz
- Historic Drama: “The Reach of Song”
- Insect: Honeybee
- Marine Mammal: Right Whale
- Mineral: Staurolite
- Motto: “Wisdom, Justice & Moderation”
- Musical Theatre: “Jekyll Island Musical Theatre Festival”
- Peanut Monument: Turner County Peanut Monument
- Poet Laureate: David Bottoms
- Pork Cook Off: “Slosheye Trail Big Pig Jig”
- ‘Possum: Pogo ‘Possum
- Poultry: “The Poultry Capitol of the World”
- Prepared Food: Grits
- Railroad Museum: Historic Railroad Shops
- Reptile: Gopher Tortoise
- School: Plains High School
- Seal: Great Seal
- Seashell: Knobbed Whelk
- Song: “Georgia on My Mind”
- Tartan: Georgia Tartan
- Theatre: The Springer Opera House
- Tree: Live Oak
- Transportation History Museum: Southeastern Railway Museum
- Vegetable: Vidalia Sweet Onion
- Waltz: “Our Georgia”
- Wildflower: Azalea
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Newcomer Q&A: How do you find a doctor?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m nervous about the sniffle and hack medley that rings through the newsroom this week.
There are a few too many sick days and Z-Pak prescriptions going around, far too much exhaustion and malaise. And oh yes, school is in session, which means every child, and sadly, every parent, is a bastion of disease.
I managed most of the challenges of moving, but never managed to find a doctor or a dentist. I’m flossing and washing my way through a wave of general health. I’m fine! Fine! For now.
So how do you find a new doc in a new town? The weak overtures I made to finding a doctor ended with a lot of recommendations, mostly for doctors that work an hour away who stopped taking new patients.
Sure the American Medial Association has a nice database. The AJC has a searchable database of local doctors, too.
I found tips about how to find and choose a doctor in a 2007 news story and posted them below the jump. If you’ve got other Web site recommendations or more tips, share them in the comments.
Know who to call. You’ll rarely hear the term “general practitioner” these days. Primary care and family practice doctors, who see both children and adults, and internal medicine doctors, who see those usually at least 16 to 18 years old and up, are the choices. Determine if you prefer a female or male doctor, and if you want a solo practitioner or someone who is part of a group.
Find out who is on your insurance plan. Having that list is a good starting point. Determine which doctor has multiple locations or offices near your home. Also, know the hospitals where they have staff privileges —- usually found by looking online or calling the office —- to make sure it’s near where you live. Another option is to ask a specialist you already may be seeing to handle your general medicine needs, said Dr. Michael Dailey with Infectious Disease Services of Georgia and a Medical Association of Atlanta board member.
Get word-of-mouth referrals. Ask co-workers, other parents, people who share your religious beliefs whom they recommend, said Sandra McVicker, senior vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer with MCG Health in Augusta. If you know people who work in the health care community, get their impressions.
Call the doctor’s offices to investigate. How fast you can get an appointment is going to be a major factor. If you’re being told the wait is long, take the initiative and ask if anybody has canceled that day, said Dr. Robert Kaufmann, an internal medicine physician with the Kaufmann Clinic in Atlanta. Ask the staff about evening and weekend hours. Find out what happens when it’s 2 a.m. and you’re sick and in need of a doctor. “You really get a good idea by their responses whether it’s a positive environment that you’re going to, ” McVicker said. Dr. Samantha Collier said physicians should be willing to make time for you to visit and interview them, at no charge. If they say no, cross them off the list.
Do background checks. While public and private Web sites offer information about physicians, some may cost money and may be inaccurate. In Georgia, the Composite State Board of Medical Examiners has a physician database at www.medicalboard.georgia.gov. Look to see if they received their training from a U.S. medical school, if they’re board certified, how long they have been in practice, if any disciplinary actions have been filed or malpractice settlements awarded. Certification shows the additional and ongoing training doctors have undertaken, experts say. Only six out of 10 doctors nationwide are board certified, Dr. Davis Liu said. Use the age or years out of medical school to help guide you, said Collier, whose site, www.healthgrades.com, provides that and other data, for a fee. You may want a younger physician if you feel you can relate to them better, or an older physician who has more experience, she said.
Determine the potential for a relationship. Observe whether the doctor is listening to you. Are they focusing on you, making eye contact, without interruptions? “I worry that doctors sit at computers and almost don’t look at the patient, ” Dailey said. “They’re sort of entering data as opposed to seeing how the patient says something and reacting to that, to figure out what is going on.” Make sure the person is knowledgeable about any chronic illness or health concerns. Ask how comfortable they are treating it and its symptoms or reactions, Collier said. And let them know if you expect to receive test results, even if there’s nothing wrong. Some doctors assume there is no need to call if everything is OK, she added. Kaufmann also advised asking what opportunities are available for communication, such as a physician’s e-mail, blog or Web site.
Consider their style. Does the physician talk to you in a way that’s like a partnership vs. talking down to you? “I think most patients now don’t want that Marcus Welby, paternalistic, ‘Oh, just do what I’m telling you because I know best’ [mind-set], ” Collier said. Ask if they will welcome you back if you choose to get a second opinion on an issue. “Some physicians and health care professionals in general think they can take care of everything, ” McVicker said.
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Let it be known, Atlanta is a panda town.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lun Lun: baby mama, again?
Zoo Atlanta is on 24-hour baby watch for it’s mama panda, Lun Lun.
Cute. But so what? Zoo Atlanta seems to have a fresh crop of babies all the time.
Well, prepare yourself. In the next few weeks, you hear squeals from nearby cubicles and unceasing discussion of birth weights.
This is a panda town.
When Lun Lun gave birth to Mei Lan in 2006, it made the zoo famous, drew huge crowds and launched a live panda cam. (Hence the squeals.)
Panda pregnancy isn’t a simple thing. Zookeepers are dealing with artificial insemination, a teeny uterus blocked by bamboo-stuffed intestines, mood swings. (“Lethargy” is the word they use, but we’ll go ahead and call sleep a mood.)
Mei Lan was a media star a few years ago; expect the same if there’s a new arrival or two.
What else does a newcomer need to know about this panda town?
Zoo Atlanta posts daily updates on Lun Lun to keep everyone informed.
Pandas are born weighing about four ounces. (Just think: one third of a can of Coke equals one panda cub.) An adult weighs 175-275 pounds. Click here to learn more panda history and science.
They don’t start out like the stuffed pandas in the gift shop. Here’s a photographic timeline of Mei Lan’s growth, to show what this baby (if there is one) could look like.
There’s not much action in the Zoo Atlanta panda exhibit right now — mama needs her sleep — but if you live in Atlanta or Fulton County, the zoo is free to you this weekend.
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Gwinnett Braves groundhog’s name in play.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is Beauregard. I’d never heard of him until yesterday, when I read the Gwinnett Braves mascot was inspired by him. His keepers in Lilburn hadn’t heard they’d inspired a mascot until yesterday, either.
I made a newcomer stumble yesterday when I read a fun story out of Gwinnett County.
The new Gwinnett Braves baseball team is running a contest to name its mascot. The team will accept nominations on its Web site through Aug. 27. A panel will narrow the nominees down to three and fans can vote for their favorite Sept. 1-5. The winner and the mascot will debut before the end of September; the team’s $45 million stadium won’t come till April 2009.
So what is this mascot? Something brave, yet kitschy and fun enough for minor league ball?
Oh yes. It’s a groundhog. But I still didn’t get it.
Why? Because it’s cute? It is. But why?
See, it’s not just any groundhog, it’s “a portly cartoon groundhog inspired by Gen. Beauregard Lee, star of the Yellow River Game Ranch in Lilburn,” my colleague Eileen Drennen wrote.
::stumble::
Wait. General…who?
If I’d moved here a few months earlier, I’d know. He’s Gwinnett County’s own weather prognosticator, Punxsutawney Phil with banana pudding and a drawl.
He lives at Yellow River Game Ranch, and is a distant relative of the ranch’s earlier groundhog, who went by the name Robert. (FYI: He called for an early spring on Feb. 2, 2008.)
In addition to inspiring a minor league mascot, Beau’s list of honors is quite impressive. It includes:
- recognition from four Georgia Governors.
- two commendations by the National Weather Service.
- honorary doctorates from The University of Georgia as a “Doctor of Weather Prognostication,” and Georgia State University as a “Doctor of Southern Groundology.”
- appearances on The Today Show in 1988 and Animal Planet in 2004.
- dozens of appearances in the AJC, including a 2005 story with the headline “Groundhog awakens in fighting, mating spirit.”
When I called Yellow River Game Ranch to get their pick for the name, they hadn’t even heard about Beau’s latest honor.
“This is news to us,” Yellow River Manager Codi Reeves said. “Of course, it’s good news.”
They’d love for them to meet, marmot-to-mascot, someday.
Their vote for a name, Reeves said, would be pretty clear: Beau or Beauregard.
What’s yours?
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School? Already?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m back! I feel like summer is in full swing, but in fact, school started this week for most kids in the area. There is all kinds of super-cute back-to-school photo gallery proof right here.
Five-year-old Kylie Kirk heads to school in Acworth. Kylie got some help from her dad Robert Kirk in finding her kindergarten classroom on the first day of school at Pickett’s Mill Elementary School.
Really? School? Already?
My high school in Michigan (Go Holly Bronchos!) won’t start school until Sept. 2. High school was a while ago now, but I distinctly remember the post-Labor Day start.
Here, the Department of Education list of 2008-09 school calendars shows that it’s a rarity.
I called Dana Tofig, spokesman for the Georgia Department of Education, to find out what’s behind the early start.
The answer: “It’s hard to say why.”
It’s not a statewide decision; each school system sets its own calendar. Many want an early start date so they can complete testing before the winter break rolls around. It can work particularly well for schools on block scheduling.
We also have 22 school systems with a year-round schooling component, which means there is no lengthy summer break like the one on a traditional school calendar.
The earliest start date I saw for a school with a traditional calendar: Chattahoochee County, July 24.
The latest: Chatham County, Sept. 2.
A story by AJC reporter Laura Diamond, keeper of the Get Schooled blog, pointed out the State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox introduced a plan to start the school year later. (Read that story here.) Tofig says it’s just out there for the schools to consider.
There are some perks, of course, to the early start. Atlanta Public Schools students can start summer jobs and video game marathons come May 22, 2009.
Even if a miracle occurs and my high school’s year ends without a half-dozen snow days to make up, kids at my high school will soldier on till June 10.
Tell me: what do you think of Georgia school start date? Or is this the same-old start date you’re used to?
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Roar!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A notebook containing the information for today’s blog post is mysteriously missing.
Instead, I bring you this important announcement: we have baby lions roaming in Atlanta, and they’re pretty adorable.
By the way, here’s the story from when they were born and fresh news about a revamp of Zoo Atlanta.
Been there, newcomers?
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My, how Atlanta changed!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s Newcomer guest post comes from AJC business reporter Kristi Swartz, who covers media and technology. She’s one of those semi-newcomers who came back to the city after a number of years away. She recognized some of it…but not all of it. Jamie will be back next week, and would not be surprised if a new condo development had sprouted up on top of her apartment in the time she’s been away.
I arrived in Atlanta as a fresh-faced eager intern who wanted to see and do as much in the city as I could.
That was 10 years ago.
So after a few stops in North Carolina and Florida, I’m back in one of my favorite cities. Some of it, like walking through Piedmont Park and listening to live music at Smith’s Olde Bar was as familiar as if I had never left. But there were also changes, some rather striking. Here’s a list of what I found:
Traffic. OK, this is a no-brainer; the traffic has always been a mess. But I remember the usual backups on I-85 and 400 during rush hour or before a Braves game. Snarled traffic on side streets in the middle of a Saturday afternoon is beyond me.
Atlantic Station. I came from Florida, where people like to eat, drink and shop. And, in Atlanta, people like to eat, drink and shop. I don’t know if it’s the location or the size, but Atlantic Station is just colossal. And, I hope I don’t have to go anywhere near it during the holiday shopping season.
Piedmont Park. I am sad that the city’s major festivals can’t be held here because of the drought. I get it. But it makes me sad.
Parking. I had forgotten that some lots charge for parking at night. But I guess ALL lots charge for parking at night. And during the day. And any other time. I just don’t like paying the equivalent of a premium beer or more before I actually get inside wherever I am going to actually drink beer.
Lofts. Lots and lots and lots of lofts. Actually, it’s not that there are so many nice loft apartments, it’s that I am not sure that management got the memo that we’re in a housing downturn. Here, you can rent this eclectic two-bedroom loft for the monthly price of … the mortgage payment on my Florida home, even after I gave the tax man my arm and the insurance company both of my legs.
Downtown. I work down the street from the CNN Center, and 10 years ago I recall that was about the only place around to go eat lunch or perhaps hang out after work. (I could be wrong.) I was pleasantly surprised to discover the number of little affordable restaurants along Broad Street as well as a couple of hot spots that have sprouted up along Marietta. The downtown still needs some work, but it’s nice to see how much it’s developed.
Grant Park and East Atlanta neighborhoods. I lived in a pretty eclectic neighborhood in South Florida. There was a downtown strip that came alive at night but it was mixed in some cute, restored homes with some ones that needed some TLC. I don’t know what drove the improvements to Grant Park and East Atlanta, but I find both neighborhoods to be full of charm.
Decatur nightlife. Downtown Decatur wraps up a little early. Now, I don’t need to be out at 2 a.m., but there are far too many places that close at 11 p.m. on a Friday and Saturday night and well before that during the week. And it’s a shame, too, because the places along the square are fantastic.
Returning newcomers, what changes surprised you when you came back to the metro Atlanta area?
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Atlanta’s vegetarian surprises.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s Newcomer guest post comes from intern Lindsey Peacock, who’s returning to Atlanta after four years away in Athens, being all collegiate. She found a few offbeat choices for vegetarians, but would love to hear your suggestions down in the comments. Jamie will be back next week, and probably hungry.
So here’s the scoop: I just moved back to Atlanta after roughing it for four years in Athens at the University of Georgia. Normally this wouldn’t pose such a dining dilemma. I’m originally from the Atlanta area, so I’m somewhat familiar with the town and its offerings. However, there’s a new stipulation that significantly reduces my choices — I’m now a vegetarian.
In the spirit of discovery, I thought I’d do research of the yummy kind and find the three top-notch, wallet- and vegetarian-friendly restaurants in the Atlanta area. I’ve also tried my best to steer away from the more well-known veggie restaurants in town, just so I can provide little-known international options to newbies such as myself. And the latter two of these restaurants are off-the-beaten-track kinds of places. But don’t be afraid. Be intrepid! Discover new tastes, smells and textures to satisfy your diverse palette! And I’d love to hear about more places any readers think is worth a trip. Be it near or far, I’m always willing to make a drive for great veggie cuisine!
In no particular order of deliciousness:
Fogo de Chao — I know what you’re thinking. A Brazilian steakhouse? Veggie-friendly? Yes, it is! Well, if you don’t mind the parachute pants-wearing gaucho waiters walking around with giant spits of meat in their hands. If those sights and smells don’t bother you, then try out the salad bar — it’s to DIE for. Literally. The expansive bar not only offers the typical lettuce, croutons and fresh veggie what-nots, but also artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, portabello mushrooms and smoked salmon for you pesco-vegetarians. And for those of us ovo-lactos, they also offer numerous varieties of fresh cheese, from swisses to cheddars and everything in between. On top of all this deliciousness, the price is significantly reduced for salad bar-eaters — from $49.50 per person at dinner to $19.50 per person. How do you say “brilliant” in Portuguese? 3101 Piedmont Road, Atlanta. Phone: (404) 266-9988.
The Mughals — Indian food at its best! If you’re like me, and the thought of basmati rice and curry make your mouth water, then this is the place for you. Indian food is generally a great stand-by cuisine because many Indians are vegetarian, and Mughals, in my humble opinion, is the best Indo-Pak place in the area. The naan, or flat bread eaten with most dishes, is made fresh every day in their special tandoori oven, and is quite fluffy and delightful. I have been known to make a meal out of that alone. One of my other favorites is the vegetable biryani (basmati rice with various veggies tossed in). The best way to try everything is to take a group of friends who share your Indian love and each of you order something different to share. And for dessert, try a gulab jamin (a fried dough ball soaked in a syrup sweet enough to turn you diabetic on the spot) or a mango lussi, a mango-flavored, milkshake-type drink. 5265 Jimmy Carter Blvd., Norcross. Phone: (770) 446-6941.
Hot Café — A hole-in-the-wall Thai/Laos place off Riverdale Road, close to the airport. This place is completely authentic, which is one of my main requirements when I search for international options. And while the location is not ideal (it sits in a rough-looking plaza next to a run down convenience store), the food is delectable. This place has the best pho around (a common Vietnamese stew with rice noodles, bean sprouts and other veggies of choice), with large portions and a cheap price tag. Just make sure to request the veggie pho — often they’ll include tripe in the mix when they cook it. The soup is accompanied with a side order of a couple of types of lettuces, bean sprouts, lemons and other greenery. Accessorize that dish with an order of sticky rice and some Thai tea. 5286 Riverdale Road, Atlanta. Phone: (770) 996-6544.
For more veggie options, check out lists from AccessAtlanta and Happy Cow.
What are your favorite affordable, offbeat veggie choices for dining out?
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Where to find Atlanta area trails for casual hikers?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Today’s Newcomer guest post comes from AJC intern Eunice Lee, an Oregonian who first came to Atlanta as a student at Emory University four years ago. Jamie returns next week, if she’s not lost in the woods.
Need to get some peace of mind? Here’s one quick getaway inside the city.
Hiking does not require a backpack that towers over your head, or 15 lbs. of supplies from REI, or an expansive knowledge of the great outdoors, contrary to popular belief.
I was born and raised in Oregon, so hiking runs in my blood. But I’m what you’d call a casual hiker—for me a hike requires a pair of sturdy sneakers, a water bottle and 10 minutes of Internet research before heading out.
When I came to Atlanta four years ago, I was excited to find the metro area well endowed with trees, sloping hills and patches of nature that reminded me of my own green home state.
While looking for good hiking trails, I turned to the advice of Atlanta blogger Doug Boyle, (aka The Urban Baboon.) Though Boyle said he doesn’t fancy himself a hiking expert, he has checked out over 40 different trails in the past few years, which was good enough for me.
So on a lazy Sunday afternoon, instead of watching reruns on Comedy Central, I took up one of Boyle’s recommendations and hiked the East Palisades Trail, a little gem tucked away inside the neighborhoods of Roswell.
A leafy canopy keeps hikers cool at the trail head of East Palisades in Atlanta.
Who knew you could find yourself in the middle of a forest inside Atlanta so quickly? The five-mile loop offers a few inclines and plenty of level trails for leisurely strolling. The clearly marked path has room enough for two friends chatting and catching up or someone (like me) who just needed a bit of space and quiet.
“You need places to find peace and solitude,” Boyle said to me. “It’s good for your soul.”
I got that. Especially after the quick trek downhill led me to the edge of the Chattahoochee River.
Often you’ll see kayakers or a few hopeful fishermen out on the Chattahoochee River along the East Palisades trial.
Boyle had plenty of other trail suggestions as well as tips for hikers. He said East Palisades was probably the most scenic place inside the I-285 perimeter (and costs only $3 for parking), but just outside the perimeter there are plenty of great hikes (think right along the places where major interstates cross I-285).
If you’re willing to venture out farther and work up more of a sweat, Boyle recommends Sweetwater Creek State Park (west on I-20), Providence Canyon State Park (south on I-85 and then past Columbus, GA, on I-185), or any number of the Appalachian trails (starting on the northeast corner of Georgia bordering Tennessee).
What to bring: water, bug spray, sunscreen, basic First Aid supplies, light snacks.
While it’s helpful to check Web sites like GeorgiaTrails.com before blazing ahead, don’t let the planning swallow the party.
“It’s about having fun, not about making a plan,” Boyle said. “Don’t get married to the map.”
Have you found any hidden gems around Atlanta? Where are your favorite places to hike? Share your ideas and tips in the comments.
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Sorry, Kansas.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m out for a a few days. (Did you hear? “Farmer Wants A Wife.”) Keep your eye out next week for guest bloggers and a newcomer Q&A.
Meanwhile, if you weren’t check in on Peach Buzz or Rodney Ho’s Radio & TV Talk blog, maybe you didn’t hear that comedian Stephen Colbert apologized during Wednesday’s show for calling Canton, Georgia, “crappy.”
I know it was hard for him, but it’s appreciated. Colbert admits he hasn’t visited Canton, Ga. Neither have I! Blame it on my newness to the area. But he details many of its charms in this video:
That settles it. Canton, Georgia: not crappy.
Where he actually meant was Canton, Kansas.
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