29 November 2009

requiem for a tree

the elm on 11th street is a goner --- it adapted, sort of, to nearly everything in the vicinity getting paved over, mainly because it never had much that wasn't paved over or built on in the first place (that's an aerial view of midtown in 1949 down there) --- but it was too much when they dug up all the pavement and graded as they realigned 11th street


dee-catur

here's a preliminary look at the city's just-completed historic resources survey

testing the 14th

two straight lawyers, one of whom defended bush in bush vs. gore in 2000, are going for broke in the contest for gay civil rights ---

The stakes are high. If Perry v. Schwarzenegger reaches the Supreme Court and Boies and Olson are successful, gays and lesbians nationwide would not only have the right to marry, they stand to gain many of the legal rights they have sought for decades. Don't Ask, Don't Tell would be invalidated, as would employment discrimination against gays and lesbians. In the eyes of the law, gay people would be equal to straight people, and any legislation that discriminated against them could be challenged and easily struck down against this precedent. However, defeat could legitimize such discrimination against LGBT Americans, making it far more difficult to sue for parental or housing rights. The door to any federal litigation on marriage equality would be shut for decades. . . . This is risky because Boies and Olson are entering a legal no-man's land. . . . Despite Martin Luther King Jr.'s assurance, the arc of history does not bend in any direction -- much less toward justice -- on its own.

28 November 2009

what's really skeery?

everybody has gotten all wigged out about nuttin, if you get to thinking about it --- 'cause as usual they got us looking the wrong way

the great eggo famine of 2009

one of the major producers of eggo is here in atlanner, out off fulton industrial blvd --- they got flooded out in september and the company is also in the process of "equipment enhancements and repairs in our largest waffle bakery" (in tennessee), and now there is a great want for eggo waffles throughout the land --- don't expect full production until the middle of 2010

it's like a third-world country, i guess, when you can't keep eggos on the table

moratus milans

only 4 mm long

26 November 2009

25 November 2009

the white lady

interpreting mrs. dull

apples and cranberries:
1 pint cranberries
1 cup sugar
4 or 5 apples
¾ pint water






potato salad:
4 cups cold diced potatoes
2 cups chopped tender cabbage
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup chili sauce
⅛ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons grated onion
salt, pepper and more lemon juice if needed


23 November 2009

19 November 2009

scary stuff

what is wrong with these people?

17 November 2009

bioplastics

seriously:

Sinskey can’t do much about the plastic that’s already polluting the Earth’s oceans, but he is trying to help keep the problem from getting worse. Next month, a company he founded with his former postdoc, Oliver Peoples, will open a new factory that uses MIT-patented technology to build plastic from corn. The plant aims to produce annually 110 million pounds of the new bioplastic, which biodegrades in soil or the ocean.
that would be better than sliced bread, one would think --- the supply of plastic crap could then be, theoretically, endless

(speaking of which, my doggie-excrement management system includes biodegradable plastic bags that i think come from corn)

coming down

the tower crane at 12th and midtown, that is --- they're repairing the parking garage that fell down over on spring street, but otherwise, midtown is built

16 November 2009

end of an era

both the southern voice and the washington blade closed today after the parent company filed for bankruptcy --- sovo had been publishing since 1988; the blade since 1969 --- we don't need them like we used to, but it's still too bad ---

building

the bad economy hasn't ended the tear-downs --- this was a perfectly good (and large) 1920s house on taft, a block off the park --- the roof, floor joists, and some of the wall framing is there, but not much else

















meanwhile the driving club's gazillion dollar addition already has issues --- aside from the crappy stucco, the whole south end is settling, so much so that the granite foundation has started to crack (near center of this image) --- methinks the lawyers are involved at this point

10 November 2009

08 November 2009

white oak plantation

this is one of the finest collections of 19th and early 20th century farm buildings in the west georgia piedmont --- now it's empty and the neglect is starting to show

missing and presumed lost

one of my favorite houses is gone --- built by some of my ancestors near lone oak in meriwether county before the civil war --- plantation-plain style, log joists, but beautiful hand-planed moldings, mantles, and doors --- my grandma grew up there after her father died when she was three years old --- i hadn't seen the house in ten years and when i went to look today, there was a big-ass horse barn on the site ---- boo hoo

click the pic if you wanna see what it was

05 November 2009

the westin

a year and a half after the tornado, they have finally begun reglazing the peachtree plaza, starting at the top --- i had heard it would be a bronze glass, but it doesn't look that way --- more like just a darker, less reflective glass --- it'll kinda ruin the disco-ball look, but it can still be mocked for its erectilinearity

meanwhile the equitable building, the owners of which went bankrupt earlier this year, remains surrounded by scaffold, and the missing metal from the cornices on the flatiron and the carnegie building have never been repaired

and as it does from time to time, the cattlyea is blooming --- the color is the best, rivaled only perhaps by that intense delphinium blue

04 November 2009

a semi-progressive night

weird goings on last night, not the least of which was watching atlanner get a step closer to having its first caucasoidian mayor in 35 years -- and that house seat in upstate new york that went democratic for the first time since the civil war! plus two red governors ---although it has been pointed out that the virginia governorship always goes to the party opposite that of the president.

and of course the campaign for civil rights for all took a big hit in maine, but not in washington state, where domestic partnership is still intact---and is a lesbyterian really in a run-off for houston's mayor?

03 November 2009

awright

i voted, but i didn't vote for the white lady --- not that it matters

now keeping the fingers crossed that the homophobes don't win their battles in washington state and in maine --- gotta drag some people along kicking and screaming on civil rights, doncha know

diversity in the klan

02 November 2009