Bloglanta

Yes, the Louvre exhibit is at the High Museum of Art right now, and if your tastes run to the rococo, that’s great.

More interesting however, is Gallery 304 in the Meier Building, which at the moment, is featuring American Works on paper from the High’s Permanent collection. From Rivera to Hopper, to Wyeth, roughly 30 pieces are represented. They illustrate both the evolution of the artistic aesthetic in America, but also our environmental (and just plain mental) history.

The primary benefit of the greatly expanded High Museum is not the traveling shows. They just drive up the cost and are expensive. No, the benefit is to see all the great work in the permanent collection that they previously had no room to show!  That’s exactly what’s going on in Gallery 304.

Macon, a veritable Justin Timberlake of a city, is bringing First Night Back.

For those of you unfamiliar with First Night, it’s a roughly 15 year old tradition in which, rather than getting snookered out of your skull and freezing to pieces, you go to a wide variety of artistic events and then see fireworks at midnight.  Fun for grownups, great for the kids.

Atlanta should have one of these events. They did in the days when John Briggs was in town. We have the artistic companies, we have the venues (though the lack of close proximity is what makes this a difficult process) and we have a population looking for interesting and affordable things to do.  Even if the folks downtown or in midtown did not want to pick it up, a city such as Decatur or East Point would get such an infusion of people and popularity from an event like this.  That they don’t amazes.

Gainesville picked up the mantle for Georgia, but after a couple of good years, their effort began to substantially slide.  They have decided not to do a First Night this year.

Now Macon is giving it a shot.  Their publicity has not been great.  There have been no artist profiles, no area map; just a website mention which clicks through to a word document of events.  Still, it’s better than nothing and, if you live in town or just south, it’s easy to make it down and back!  Plus, one of the venues is St. Joseph’s Cathedral, a century old building which has been completely restored.  Beautiful.

Dear Lois….

You hot sexy mama!!!!!!! You did it! You are the stuff. Will I give to WABE this year? You bet!

Why didn’t you tell us you were broadcasting in HD? Three different streams all the time! A feed for the news junkies? Yes! One for Classical Music to keep broadcast access to one of our greatest art forms? Yes. Plus the regular stream! These same streams are echoed on the Web.

All in HD Radio! Absolutely terrific! Thank you very much!

For those of you unfamiliar with HD radio, it’s a digital signal which new HD radio receivers can pick up and it sends out a digitally encoded signal. The standard allows for up to three formats in roughly each frequency range. WABE is using HD1 for it’s regular signal, HD2 for its classical music stream, and HD3 for the all news channel. Best of all, this is in the broadcast band! It’s free! All you need is a receiver.

Right now, for the most part, HD radios are a bit pricey, but more and more manufacturers are making them. However, Radio Shack has a model which if you purchase before Christmas 2006 is less than $150 with Rebate. It’s not the fanciest, but you’ll have 40 channels of radio in FM alone and no monthly fee to pay!

Now… if I could only get an HD radio card for my treo….

Atlanta has a law enforcement problem. Two major incidents have occurred in the last month that show at a minimum a disconnect between the Police and the communities they serve. All this as crime in general is on the rise. In the city, a gun fight broke out between an elderly woman and three police officers trying to serve a warrant. Officers were shot and the woman was killed.

In Dekalb County there have a been an unusually high number of incidents. 12 civilians have been shot by police over the last year. In both cases, the FBI has been called into investigate. The federal government is seen as being more independent than local authorities.

That we need law enforcement is obvious. We make laws and we want them followed. The police need community help and support to do that. Unfortunately, in some parts of the community, the criminals are more respected than the police. The demographics in these situations are similar. The civilians have all come from lower income, less educated backgrounds and have been people of color. In both the Fulton and Dekalb County cases, civil rights abuses have been alleged, but that’s where it gets hazy.

The problem is that no one is willing to define which civil rights have been violated. One would assume that fourth amendment issues come into play here, but no one ever comes out and says so. There also seems to be an odd racial overtone here. It’s odd because Dekalb and the City of Atlanta both have people of color as a majority of their populations and governments. The Atlanta Police Chief is African American as are the District Attorneys, State Attorney General, and Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. It’s difficult to argue that a system controlled at all points of power by African Americans is prejudiced against the community, yet those accusations seems to be floating just under the surface.

So then what’s going on? There at least two key factors. One is police corruption. The other is that we’ve transcended race here but not social class in terms of values.

Every act of police corruption is beyond heinous. Every time a police officer speeds, runs a red light, or engages in any abuse of authority, we all suffer. They are manifest representations of the state and carry the power to kill in the name of the state. Because the state is ordained by us, we ipso facto, ordain each of those killings. That is why the calls for civilian review boards, vigilant DA enforcement, and tough accountability standards are absolutely necessary. When a police officer acts above the law, they should be swiftly and severely punished. Good cops are crazy to protect bad ones. Do that and you get Sidney Dorsey.

It’s also why Dekalb and Fulton County need to make sure that all public safety officers (EMTs and Firemen too) need to be paid above the metro average. Too many experienced good officers are being lured away to new cities and to the state where the pay is easier and the job is less dangerous.

With more money should also come more accountability and training. Most people are not the enemy. Most people are grateful for police officers. Officers need to understand that they serve and are beholden to us, and not the other way around. The better the attitude of the officers, the more cooperation and support they will get. They deserve our support, but they do need to earn it everyday.

It’s hard for them to earn that support in communities that don’t support the law. We make the laws. We elect the people who make the laws and we have a remedy to change them. We cannot then attack officers who uphold the law. In some of the same communities where crime is the worst, the police are attacked even as they attempt to enforce the law. They are not getting community support. Hard to enjoy the rule of law when people won’t back up the people who back up the law.

We need to seriously and quickly address these issues. There are pretty high stakes. Part of the reason that Baltimore and Detroit have had trouble attracting new business and economic development is the perception of crime. The reports of the Federal Government and the Grand Jury need to be thorough, honest, and swift. Civilian Review Boards need to be implemented. Police Chiefs need to publicly commit to community policing and an honest courteous force. Mostly, however, we need to respect and work with officers so that their success is vested to our comfort in our communities.

If we can do this, Atlanta will be a more attractive place for people to visit and in which businesses can relocate. That will strengthen the tax base and make it easier for governments to provide services and help people strengthen their community.

So the best selling book in the world, every year in fact, is the Bible.  Ironically, it’s also the most widely stolen book from Walden Books at Lenox.  It’s stolen so much that they had to move the bible section right next to the check out.

This is incredibly ironic since the Bible condemns thievery and since you can read the bible for free on line and any number of churches will give it to you.

Still, there is something heartening to know that of all the books to be stolen out of the very center of  feeding our material needs, it’s the Bible and not something by Donald Trump.

Few of us ever know the glories of being a professional athlete. What we do know is from the outside and it’s the life of the Superstars. Most paid athletes though are minor leaguers. For every major league baseball player, there are 4 four guys making about $20,000 a year in the minor leagues.

The same goes for the NBA and in hockey too. The lives of these athletes tell you what it’s like to work for little money but doing something that you love. It also tells what what it’s like to be on your way to being the best, but not there yet.

Scot Mifsud has been with the ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators for a couple of seasons and WDUN, The radio station which broadcasts their games, has given him a 2 minute weekly show. The Gladiators are podcasting the shows and you can listen.

What you learn is that these guys are grunting it out just as we are. They have car trouble, travel issues, lack of sleep, money problems, etc. They have to spend nights on a bus (rarely do they get to fly) and live their lives almost entirely as a unit. They’re also clearly a long way from home and young.

Their story is telling. Most of us could have pursued a sport, visual arts, or music but we were afraid of what we’d have to sacrifice to get there. These podcasts give you insight in to those willing and some of what they get in return.

Lot’s of people want to the fame and fortune that accompany being a top athlete. This is a window on what daily life is like before you get there.

Sadly Seegers’s is gone.  Absolutely gone.  Hope you got one last shot at that deliciousness.  The property is reportedly being taken by Tom Catherall of ‘Here To Serve’ restaurants.   The food will not likely be as high up on the chain, but then again, neither will the prices.  Catherall, however, pledges that he will recognize the importance of making this space his shining star.

While Buckhead has now received a serious blow, East Point just received a welcome caffeinated infusion as The Silk Cafe has opened!  While Coffee houses have become almost hackneyed, they have become so because ultimately they are important.  They’re a community mixing point, a place for young people to hang out, and a place for business people to get a vital service before work!

The southside has been missing a serious coffee house since the 5th Runway moved to the 14th street.  The Silk Cafe, which is on the square and run by the most cordial Terrance, has both smoothies and a good selection of teas and coffee.  More important, Terrance has made a commitment to have his hours go past rush hour!  On the weekends, it’s even a nightspot!

Here’s hoping the Ft. Mac, East Point, College Park communities will step up and support this place.  East Point and College Park have lost some of their leading restaurants and that has put a damper on the momentum they had going just a few years ago.  Just one successful new late night joint can help create an atmosphere.  With Corner Tavern and the The Break Pad, this creates a ‘Nightlife Environment’  which will attract young folks and a fun creative atmosphere to a community where housing is still affordable.

As places such as Decatur become too expensive for most folks, alternatives such as East Point need to remain strong to keep the whole metro area vibrant.

On Tuesday, all over the state, people had the opportunity to vote for Public Service Commission.  Of the over 3,500,000 eligible to vote, only 225,000 showed up.    It is amazing that even when an election DIRECTLY effects the pocketbook, we still don’t come out.

One volunteer who was working the polls yesterday cried because only 16 people hit his precinct all day.  16.  Some counties averaged as low as 11 voters per precinct.

In the metro area, Dekalb County did the best.  They turned out an average of 84 voters per precinct.  Frighentingly, Dekalb and Fulton turned out the same number of voters (Roughly 15,900 for each country), but Fulton has nearly twice the number of precincts and voters registered.  They averaged 47 voters per precinct.  Cobb did slightly better with 51 voters per precinct. and Clayton had 53 voters per precinct.  Remember that the polls were open for 12 hours yesterday.  That means in Fulton County there was less than one voter every 15 minutes.

The true patriots voted yesterday.  Regardless of party, regardless of the race,  We know there are only 225,000 dedicated Georgians and Americans.

Why list who won?  You don’t care… and that’s just sad.

You Should Vote Tuesday, December 5.

Yes.  This Tuesday.  It’s run-off day here in Georgia.  Polls are open from 7 AM until 7 PM and your vote matters not only to your fellow citizens but directly to your pocket book.  The big race is for Georgia Public Service Commission.  These are the folks who decide how much you pay for electricity and other services.

This is a statewide election between Chuck Eaton and  David Burgess.    Both men have not been the best candidates.  Eaton’s website indicates he thinks he can do something about our natural gas prices, which the PSC no longer regulates.  He’s worried the prices have gone up and yet at the same time he wants more of the market solutions that have brought us our current problems.  Still he has pledged to take no money from the industries he regulates.

Burgess is chair of the PSC and has taken industry money.  Still he’s the more experienced of the two.  He has 24 years of experience working in the utility regulation field.  Burgess, however, has voted with the Utilities against keeping rates lower repeatedly.  Yes, eventually if the cost of raw materials goes up and if the demand goes up, price needs to move to meet it.  However, Burgesses financial connections to the industry create a cloud through which his true motives are tough to discern.

Ultimately, voters have to decide how vigilant they are willing to be.  If they are willing to do the work, they should re-elect Burgess and hold his feet to the fire.  Make him use his knowledge and contacts in the industry to leverage greener, more cost-effective output.  Let’s just hope that Georgians are willing to pay enough attention.

After all, in the long term, the more green we put into our energy system, the more green we’ll all have in our wallets.