Bloglanta

I don’t know about Y’ALL but I am ready for this weekend. Atlanta has a pretty happening lineup that somebody, somewhere will enjoy. I will personally be attending the Dowtown Rocks show sponsored by 99x. I am the ultimate Garbage fan since I saw Shirley Manson in the “Stupid Girl” video from the mid 90’s. Did I mention that it’s FREE… and what better way to get there than by our beloved MARTA. Take Marta- It’s Smarta !!

If Garbage isn’t your thing and I can’t possibly understand why it wouldn’t be, then head on down to downtown Decatur and go to Java Monkey, see Kodak Harrison host, enjoy some tasty coffee, and drink with the Atlanta SLAM Team.

If you are in the mood for the theatre, check out Actor’s Express “The Tibetan Book of the Dead“. Tickets are from $12-25. Actors Express is located at :
887 W. Marietta St. Ste J-107 Atlanta, GA. Phone : 404-432-9847

Whatever you do this weekend, enjoy it !!

To resolve any problem, the first step is to define and understand the problem. The more resources are used in executing step 1, the more likely the remainder of the process can be executed efficiently.

A few years later, after Royal Bus Lines established itself as Buford Highway’s favorite jitney, MARTA will hold a public hearing to explore ways to improve service on Route 39 — Buford Highway, one of MARTA’s most congested bus routes.

Go to the MARTA Headquarters and show up in the board room on the 6th floor on August 17. The meeting will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Those among you who have used Route 39 before may have noticed that sidewalks and more crosswalks would be a great start, but there’s nothing MARTA can do about that. Any possibility of decreasing the wait time between busses from 24 minutes to 15? Go to the meeting and find out!

This being my first post about Atlanta, I thought I would take the time to start some bitching about my birthplace. I was born in this city, yes I am a “Grady Baby”, and I am proud of that. They did a good job with me but I think I was switched at birth. I could’ve sworn that I was Ted Turner’s son. Oh well, that’s life. Back to the bitching. What tickes me off at this time is Marta. I take Marta to GSU all the time. Most of the time it is ultra depressing. When you get on at Avondale, the trouble begins.

At most Marta stations, you have to walk up a mountain of steps because the escalator is only working one day out of the week. Don’t even think about putting your hands or article of clothing on the pads because when you get to the top you are covered in some unidentifiable black smudge. You then curse Marta under your breath and proceed to the next problem.

Marta does not make it easy by having the fares be even. They make it the ultra odd, time consuming fee of $1.75. What gives I say ? What gives ? If it was $2.00 that would be fine with me ? Who wants an extra quarter in their pocket ? It also makes it difficult if you are in a group and want to buy tokens in bulk. Noone ever puts in $20.00 in the machines, because that makes things way too complicated.

Well once that is through, you have to navigate your way through the turnbuckels but then you are stopped. Why ? Because only one of the three gates is accepting change right now. The other two have been sealed shut with unsanitary band-aids.

Once you do get your token through the gate, you walk down short, slippery stairs. I have busted my but, many a time. Everytime the response is the same. Laughter and chuckles by some teenage punk. I give them the bird and walk on.

Waiting for the Marta train is an especially boring event. They recently installed LCD screens that only show one thing. The same iPod ad over and over. At first this had the wow factor and then you think to yourself, where is Marta getting all of this money for these screens ? Is this why the rate is expected to rise within the year ? Oh well… It is the city of Atlanta.

When the train finally arrives. You walk on two tacky carpeting from the 70’s. No music is playing, no one is saying anything. Everyone changes into ZOMBIE mode. I call it the Marta game. If you make eye contact with a fellow Marta rider ,you fail. If you talk out loud, you fail. If you stare at the carpet, you pass. If you have headphones on, listening to bad music, you pass. And finally, if you sit in a seat that drips water on your head, you get the grand prize !!

The marta game is not for everyone, only the bored, unassuming riders, who expected public transportation to be half-way decent.

Am I buggin ya ? I didn’t mean to bug ya !! —BONO

Longhorn Steaks closed their original location and moved to Lindbergh Center. 
You’d think this would be great!  New steakhouse right on a MARTA line, but once again stupidity overtakes our lives at an amazing rate.  Not only did Longhorn build their own building, rather than use the ample retail space already available, they took 3 Floors of the City Centre Parking Deck so that people could drive there. 
What’s the point of being on MARTA if you’re not going to encourage people to get to your restaurant by taking MARTA?
But wait!  It gets worse!  To promote their new location, Longhorn put up a billboard as close as they could.  The problem is that when you see where the billboard is located, you realize that no new construction was needed at all.  There was a perfectly good Lindbergh location available that is empty and has both parking and a kitchen.
They simply should have taken over the space previously occupied by… the Gold Club.

Bill Moyers often asks people: “What’s the big picture?”  He asks this to try to get a the major issues that define what we are to become.  Right now, Atlanta is looking at this squarely in the face.   The city mothers and fathers are working on a new branding campaign for Atlanta.  They want it to be positive and to help identify the city. 
The big question is what kind of city do we want to be?  Clearly there is not one answer, but there need not be.  All New Yorkers are not alike, and yet all of them identify with the city, its nature as the center of everything and to them, the most important place on Earth.  Be it Woody Allen or Darryl McDaniels, they share something of New York together. 
What then do Jermaine Dupri and Kathy Ashe have in common?  In what ways do they see Atlanta as the place they take pride in calling home?  There isn’t a lot to unify them and the way the city has developed has contributed to that. 
Al Ries thinks that the unifying idea should be ‘Hotlanta‘,  because people keep moving here despite traffic problems etc..  It’s a place to be.  The problem is that it says nothing about the character of the people or who we aspire to be.  Also, Kathy Ashe saying “Hotlanta!  We’re hot!” is just silly. 
Perhaps something like “Atlanta, the city where all people rise!” might work.  Though catchier language would be nice, this evokes both the idea of post civil war growth and the civil rights success.  It evokes the notion of class mobility and to entrepreneurship that will help keep Atlanta successful.  Jermaine Dupri and Kathy Ashe can both buy into that.

This is Leadership Atlanta’s 35th year!  Happy Anniversary!   Leadership Atlanta is a program run by the Chamber of Commerce to build mentoring relationships between Atlanta’s current leaders and those who are on the rise.  The program has been copied by several Chambers of Commerce through out Georgia and there are several metro chapters.  There are even leadership classes in specialized sectors of the economy! 
These programs do a number of things well.  They bring together representatives of disparate groups.  If not for these leadership classes they might never come together.  This year’s class is an excellent example.  Rarely does the Branch Manager of the The Federal Reserve Bank work with the chief partner of Atlanta’s most productive architecture firm and the President of Spelman College.  However, this year they will all work together, share views, and try to tackle a common problem. 
Leadership Atlanta has solid core values.  They are inclusive:  not only racially, but in terms of sector.  Partnership is the key and they recognize that effective partnerships come from valueing other voices and trusting them.  People who have achieved leadership positions most often have skills that help solve problems.  Those skills however, differ greatly by sector.  Putting a variety of people together in a guided process teaches everyone to look for stategies new to them in order to solve the problem.  You’re expected not only to listen, but present your own point of view so that others can learn it.
What can be done in the next 35 years?  Leadership Atlanta could play an even more potent role.  For Example, in 2003, Leadership Atlanta was vital in producing a report outlining a system to greatly reduce Atlanta’s homeless population over 10 years.  Yet, in the recent debate over pan handling and homelessness, there was scant mention of this report and little seems to have been done by way of  implementation.  Leadership Atlanta can be the place where these tough issues get a fair hearing by a broad constituency that has a vested process and outcome.  Governments, professional associations, and  companies can all utilize these resources better.  The sector model may be even more potent as it’s not limited geographically.  People from Atlanta will work with people from Gwinnett and people from Henry County.  Perhaps the next step is a COO Metro-wide leadership class.  In Atlanta, transcending geography is the real sign of leadership. 

First of all - Congrats Robert, apparently your post was the 100th post. So… w00t!

Now. While driving on Highland the other day, I spotted this on the car in front of me. I knew there was a reason I always carry my camera with me! Fulton County on there is what makes it so beautifully ironic.

But seriously folks… I don’t understand this kind of stuff. Why, if you live in Atlanta, would you go to the trouble of getting an “I Hate Atlanta” license plate? I’m not trying to be one of those “either you’re with us or you’re against us”/”if you don’t like it you can get out!” people but… I mean, why expend such effort to proclaim your hateration to all around you? Do you just like to bitch? -I mean, hey, I like to bitch, I’m not going to lie. But I also like to at least attempt to be part of the solution. You see what I’m sayin’ here?

Commence flaming me…

Acapella Books, in Little 5 Points, has gone out of business.  This is very sad indeed.  It was a great little bookstore.  Lots of used stuff.  Great politics and philosopher sections and a room dedicated to affordable science fiction.  Perhaps the folks a DragonCon will hold a seance to channel its spirit into another store around town.
The loss of Acapella is particularly disturbing as it comes just on the heals of a new plaza opening just south of the Little 5 area.  A city loses something culturally when Big Box stores that cater to the lowest common denominator drive out long time stores that served a neighborhood clientel’.  It also means that Atlanta is sliding back a bit. 
When communities first form, they only have local stores.  No big boxes in Rutledge Georgia.  As they begin to grow, the chains do their economic analysis and see if the market will bear the traffic and then build.  Waffle Houses, Steak and Shakes, Wal Marts, and Publix start to come in.  As the population grows in income and sophistication, Dillards, Starbucks, Barnes and Nobles, Macaroni Grills etc. come in.  All, of course, competing against the local establishments that helped the community get off the ground in the first place.  If the community still grows in wealth, sophistication, and so forth, you get your Borders, Emerils,  Nordstrom,  Crate and Barrel, Ikea etc. 
Now your community has reached Big Box saturation, much like Atlanta.  The next step, however is interesting.  To keep growing, you need to develop a new set of store unique to your city.  A reason to come because no one else has it.  No one else has Foyles books in London.  No one else has Marshall Fields main store in Chicago (or Wax Trax for that matter).
When a city loses a long time store or neighborhood that has survived, it loses part of what makes it unique.  I’d hate to lose Sevananda, IFO, 20th Century Antiques, or Manual’s.  It would be a crying shame, just like Acapella.