"Good Eats" guru Alton Brown fretted earlier this week that Atlantans wouldn't turn out for his "Feasting on Asphalt" book signing at Variety Playhouse Thursday night. He needn't have worried. More than 600 foodies filled the entire floor of the Little Five Points venue, digesting his every word as he answered questions from the stage.

The Marietta resident was his usual witty self, three parts sarcastic, two parts exasperated, one part droll. His glib recipe for "Good Eats"?

"I make the gosh darn thing. I see a check. End of story."

How about his commentator gig on "Iron Chef America"?

"There's lots of smoke. I go home."

As for the network itself?

"I'm not going to second-guess them, especially with a microphone in my hand!"

How about him competing on "Iron Chef"?

"Riddle me this: Who would get my job?" he asked. "I don't want anybody to have a shot at that job. It's a sweet gig! So long as I don't compete, no one will have that shot!"

Finally, since he likes to talk about the science of food so much, what is his chemistry background?

"I failed chemistry twice in high school. I dropped it twice in college," Brown said. "I used to blame myself. But now I blame the teachers. It was their fault for not making the information more compelling."

Tours of the times

Think those local TV news stories featuring investment property seekers snapping up steals on the courthouse steps as the houses' former owners protested a few feet away were a severe dose of reality this week? Then you might not be prepared for the first Foreclosure Tour and Learn session set for May 18 at 10 a.m. The bus tour of bank-owned properties will be led by Harry Norman Realtors' Butch Whitfield and will feature "various price points and quadrants of the city." For $49 per person (or $65 per couple), you'll score useful information on foreclosure investing and looksees at the properties. Oh, and lunch is provided.

Or as a co-worker described it Friday: "Come tour the misery of others!"

We rang Whitfield Friday to ask the obvious.

"How would this be perceived as something insensitive?" Whitfield responded. "Somebody's going to buy these homes. I'm sorry it's happened. But I sell homes. This is what I do."

Whitfield says response thus far has been strong and additional tours are being booked for June 8 and June 29.

"It's also a great way to save on gas," he pointed out.

If you'd like to book a spot, contact tour coordinator Damon Borozny at damonb@foreclosuretourand learn.com.

Usher's latest 'Dream'

Usher is such a multi-hyphenate at this moment, it's almost easy to forget we first got to know him as a singer.

At last count the Atlanta superstar was a husband, a father, an actor, a restaurateur, a fragrance endorser and a part-owner of an NBA team. Now his nonprofit organization New Look has gone into business with Atlanta's WNBA team, The Dream, so that the kids in the foundation can get hands-on experience in sports management, player development and game-day operations and marketing.

"The Atlanta Dream shares Usher's commitment to inspiring young men and women to reach their dreams," Atlanta Dream President and COO Bill Bolen said in a news release. "We are excited to partner with Usher's New Look Foundation and look forward to the New Look youth participating with us this season."

"I'm extremely excited about Camp New Look's partnership with the Atlanta Dream, and look forward to witnessing how this new partnership motivates our young people to even greater heights," Usher said in the same news release. "We wanted to do something extra special for our students, and I'm happy that the Atlanta Dream has provided an avenue for our young entrepreneurs to attain real life experience."

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Today: Singer Bono of U2 is 48. Rapper Young MC is 41.

Sunday: Comedian Mort Sahl is 81. Singer Eric Burdon (The Animals, War) is 67. Actress Shohreh Aghdashloo ("24") is 56. Former MTV VJ Martha Quinn is 49. Actress Natasha Richardson is 45. Actor Jonathan Jackson ("Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,") is 26.

OVERSCENE

The members of Radiohead sampling salads, risottos, desserts and virgin Bloody Marys at Veni Vidi Vici in Midtown before their show Thursday night at Lakewood. At the band's gig, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe and his former bandmate Bill Berry were there. Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke (right) and company, meanwhile, were spotted checking out of the brand new Midtown W hotel Friday.

Members of The Bravery at Bonefish Grill Thursday filming Ovation TV's upcoming series "Notes on the Road." The band munched on shrimp, salmon with warm mango salsa, chicken eggrolls and chicken portobello pasta.

—-Contributing: Rodney Ho, Sonia Murray and news services