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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > July > 09 > Entry
Clark Howard dishes about politics, beer and briefs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Consumer advocate Clark Howard teased a late-night crowd Saturday during the “Lucky Yates Talk Show” with his drinking habits, his underwear preference and his political aspirations.
Rodney Ho/AJC Staff
Howard, who almost ran for mayor in 1997, said he is thinking about running for Atlanta mayor once Shirley Franklin’s two-term limit is up in 2009. He has also pondered becoming lieutenant governor.
“Come on!” Yates scoffed. “Aim higher! You’d get elected governor!”
Howard’s priorities as mayor if he were to run would include creating a special group of cops who only do traffic and safety, and streamlining city government and schools, which he thinks are less about serving the public and more a “jobs program.”
On a less serious note, Howard noted that he gets drunk after just two beers. (During the show, located at the Laughing Skull Lounge next to Midtown’s Vortex, he nursed a single Heineken followed by a Diet Coke.)
Then an audience member asked: boxers or briefs?
“Definitely briefs!” Howard said, because they’re cheaper. He said there’s an upcoming tax-free holiday in Florida, where he has a vacation home. There, he’ll be able to pick up nine briefs at Wal-Mart for just $6.84!
“Lord, help me!” his long-suffering wife Lane said from the second row.
BIDDING TONGUE & GROOVE ADIEU
Earlier in the night, Buzz checked in at Tongue & Groove for its final night in its current spot in Buckhead. The nightclub has lasted 13 years, an eternity in such a fickle business, and is moving a block up Peachtree Road this fall to make way for more upscale development.
Co-owner Michael Krohngold hugged old buddies who came by for an early friends-and-family party while hobbling with a cast on his right leg after a recent Jet-Ski accident. “That’s a rich folk’s accident,” cracked Tom Houck, a friend and longtime media observer in town. He was quick to add that Krohngold helped create ” a legendary place, a phenomenal bar.”
PHOTOS: Your Tongue & Groove photos
HOT DOG! PRO EATER’S AT IT AGAIN
Buzz caught up with Atlanta’s best competitive eater Dale Boone, who made his first appearance since 2004 at Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog competition July 4 at Coney Island in New York City. Out of 16 entrants, the charismatic, trash-talking Boone came in 11th, consuming a personal-best 25 hot dogs in 12 minutes.
But he was obliterated by Joey Chestnut, the celebrated Californian who ousted six-time champ Takeru Kobayashi. Chestnut ate a world-record 66 hot dogs, beating his own record of 59.5 a month earlier. Kobayashi, despite jaw problems, gobbled 63. Boone said the new generation is raising the bar and he’s picked up some pointers to improve his own performance. “You have to teach an old dog new tricks,” he told Buzz.
RANDOM BITS
Standup comic Andrew Dice Clay, who threw a few verbal grenades against Peach Buzz last week on 790/The Zone for mocking his $100 price tag at the Punchline July 3 and 4, ended up selling about 300 tickets out of a potential 540. Punchline co-owner Jamie Bendall said an off-the-cuff half-price sale Clay announced on the Zone Tuesday morning did not generate a significant bump in sales. “He was very gracious and easy to work with,” Bendall told Buzz… .
Lucky us! The producers of ABC’s upcoming sitcom “Cavemen,” based on the Geico insurance spokesmen, have set the show back in Atlanta. The original announcements earlier this year said the cavemen would live in “modern-day Atlanta,” but a pilot Buzz recently saw had them living in Norfolk, Va. A spokeswoman for the production company had no explanation for why the producers keep changing their minds… .
The multiple Live Earth concerts Saturday featured a few folks with local ties, including Georgia native Trisha Yearwood in D.C. and local rap star Ludacris and former Atlantan John Mayer in East Rutherford, N.J. Mayer joined the Police for the finale “Message in a Bottle.” …
Clay Aiken got into a tussle with a woman on a flight to Tulsa, Okla., Saturday and was held for questioning, then released, according to the Tulsa World.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Brian Dennehy is 69.. TV personality-turned-musician John Tesh is 55. Actor Jimmy Smits is 52. Actor Tom Hanks is 51. Actress Kelly McGillis (“Top Gun”) is 50. Singer Courtney Love is 43. Actor Fred Savage is 31.
BUZZ ROUNDUP
After seven months of just playing music in the mornings, rock station Project 9-6-1 has finally found a personality to helm that crucial drive time: “Giant” Brian Carothers, morning producer and sidekick at Philadelphia’s classic rock station WMGK-FM under John DeBella.
Station program director Chris Williams, in a text message to Buzz, wouldn’t say why he chose Carothers, a big, bald Pittsburgh native and standup comic. He also couldn’t pinpoint a start date, though Carothers will likely start next month.
Contributing: news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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