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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2006 > July > 02 > Entry
Marching Kazoos ready for Fourth parade
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Let the Rose Bowl invite precision marching bands. Independence Day is the time for slack community outfits. We’re not talking the Marching Abominables. Those folks look like a Blue Angels squadron compared to the bands that regularly saunter through Decatur on July 4. Take the anarchic Decatur Marching Kazoos, for example. “We always ask people how we sound, and they change the subject,” said leader Beth McAlister. In terms of musicianship and entertainment value, McAlister said her band ranks “at the bottom, no question.” On the other hand, members aren’t harassed by the demands of the practice schedule, because there isn’t one. They will gather at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Decatur’s First Baptist Church to prepare for the 6 p.m. drum roll, and if you have a kazoo, you’re welcome to join. “Our best number has always been ‘The Flintstones.’ It’s American as apple pie.”
Huffington signed for Decatur book bash
Arianna Huffington, founder of the news and opinion blog Huffingtonpost.com, will be the keynote speaker for the first AJC Decatur Book Festival Sept. 1-3 in downtown Decatur. The author of “Fanatics and Fools” and “How to Overthrow the Government” takes a slightly kinder and gentler tack with her forthcoming book, “On Becoming Fearless: In Love, Work, and Life.”
Organizers of the book festival, sponsored in part by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, announced the lineup at a luncheon Thursday, attended by several of the headliners: Emily Saliers, member of the Indigo Girls and co-author (with her father, theologian Don Saliers) of “A Song to Sing, A Life to Live: Reflections on Music as Spiritual Practice”; Michael Connelly, best-selling crime fiction writer; novelist Joshilyn Jackson (“Between, Georgia”); and Melissa Fay Greene, author of the acclaimed “Praying for Sheetrock,” whose forthcoming book, “There Is No Me Without You,” is a densely reported, intensely personal account of the impact the AIDS crisis in Africa has had on children. For a full lineup of authors and events, go online at decaturbook festival.com.
A Neiss send-off
Ed Neiss, retiring after 25 years as director of the Fox Theatre, was honored Wednesday night by a host of Atlanta show-biz luminaries with a sit-down dinner on the Fox’s stage. Neiss was praised for brilliant programming at Atlanta’s rococo Midtown venue, where he kicked off his tenure with a 1981 show by the Rolling Stones. Rock promoter Alex Cooley said Neiss had stellar ability at adding obscure charges to a performer’s bill, and added modestly, “I taught him everything he knows.”
Chris Manos, founder of Theater of the Stars, said, “Ed Neiss is the nicest person who tells the worst jokes in Christendom. But every once in a while, there’s a great one in the midst of all that rubble. So those of us who like jokes stick around.” Alan Thomas, chairman of the Fox’s board, told the group that Neiss was about to complete his 25th consecutive year in the black, which must be some sort of record for American theaters. Neiss offered the following advice to his successor, Allan C. Vella: “When they [promoters] say it’s not about the money, it is about the money!”
Also, find elves
One of Dewayne Herbert’s first challenges as the new area director of marketing and public relations for Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza will be finding a new Santa Claus for Phipps, to replace the beloved Ray Bryan, who died in April. The Simon Property Group introduced Atlanta business leaders to Herbert on Wednesday during a cocktail reception at the InterContinental Buckhead’s Au Pied de Cochon. Herbert, 26, began his career with Simon in 2002 at Tippecanoe Mall in Lafayette, Ind. He also served as the manager of mall marketing for DeSoto Square in Bradenton, Fla., before moving to Atlanta. Herbert holds a bachelor’s degree in management from Purdue University and he lives in Atlanta with his wife, Brandi, and his dog Kobe.
More Star wars
Star Jones Reynolds continued to blab about her departure from morning chat show “The View” on other chat shows, including “Larry King Live” on Thursday night and the “Today” show Friday morning, but the unkindest words of all came from ABC’s president of daytime, Brian Frons, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly. Frons told EW that ABC made a mistake by not getting rid of Jones Reynolds sooner. “If I have one regret, it’s that I didn’t press Barbara [Walters] to get rid of her when her connection to viewers hit an all-time low in November,” said Frons. “Had we done that, there would have been no connection to the Rosie O’Donnell signing. It would have been really focused on what Star had done to herself.”
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Missy Elliott is 35; Pamela Anderson is 39; Carl Lewis is 45; Dan Aykroyd is 54; Deborah Harry is 61; Twyla Tharp is 65.
Sunday: Lindsay Lohan is 20; Jose Canseco is 42; Jerry Hall is 50; Richard Petty is 69.
Contributing: Marylin Johnson, Howard Pousner, Teresa Weaver and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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