color me pretty excited that the tony award winning spring awakening is going to be coming to the fox theater this spring.

not only am i a fan of edgy musical theater of the avenue q and urinetown variety, but this particular musical happens to be based on the banned frank wedekind novel frülings erwachen which i read back in the day when i was a german major. it’s an aggressive piece to turn into musical theater; a great story and from all i can tell done with great music in this incarnation.

it’s playing march 9-14 at the fox so check it out. also, keep your eyes peeled here as we’re going to work on getting some tickets as part of a giveaway.

*ahem*

white flakes in my hair
falling gently from the sky
cigarette ashes

slow and steady race
like turtles crawling to sea
hello traffic jam

This one is about South Georgia, probably not amusing unless you’ve been there. Or have lived there.

springtime mating dance
soulmates for life meet an end
lovebugs on my car

And this one is about tonight.

long night at the Earl
drank many shots of strega
dude, where is my car?

Love y’all, I’m out!

I don’t want to seem like I’m stealing all Christa’s best stuff – so go over there and check out the rest of the goodies, and enjoy her always hilarious commentary.

i am sure this will do wonders for ridership. i know how it goes, someone will ride marta for the first time, have to climb some stairs and say “f it” my car is better than this exercise thing.

poor marta, it seems they just can’t win for losing.

it’s easy to just point the finger and marta, shake your head and say, “man, they can’t run anything.”

the real problem with marta, of course, is not bad management or waste. it is politics. everything about marta, from it’s board, to it’s absurd state oversight committee to it’s funding structure is political. people in atlanta complain all the time about not having a world-class transit system like dc or boston.

we really only have to look at ourselves.

Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, through a sponsorship from Target, has Target Free Second Tuesdays every month from 1:00-7:00 pm where admission to the museum is free for all ages. More details can be found on the website.

I only discovered the existence of this museum last year but I’m looking forward to taking my nephew next time he’s in town.

I’ve been a bystander in a lot of online and in-person conversations about his work in Atlanta and sometimes it’s hard to believe that everyone is talking about the same guy. In any discussion of his influence on downtown you’re likely to hear both giddy, glowing praise and profane vituperations fit for a pirate ship. It’s hard not to want to know more about someone like that.

Have you seen it? What did you think?

I’m sad to say that I was actually watching American Idol with La Familia  when this guy first burst on the scene.  When I logged on to Facebook the next day, I had quite a few folks with updates like, “I know this guy, he’s like this all the time.”  Anyway, here he was on TV before the Grammy’s with his fist full of belts from Atlanta.  Seriously, you can’t make this shit up.

My grandmother is currently in an unnamed local Atlanta area hospital. She appears to be on the mend, so no need for alarm, but it got me to thinking about the state of Atlanta’s hospitals and medical centers. The care she is receiving appears adequate so I’m not here to complain. However, having only frequented a hospital 3 times in my entire life (including once for a tonsillectomy when I was 5-my only overnight stay), I wanted to see what everyone else thought of the current state of affairs in the Atlanta medical community.

What’s your favorite emergency room at 3 am on a Saturday night? Who has the cutest nurses? Would you avoid Grady even if you were on your deathbed?

Inquiring minds want to know…

one heck of an album

i’ve seen them a bunch of times, inlcluding one memorable show that began at the now-defunct 545 and finished (after an intervening police raid of aforementioned 545) at the masquerade.

i’m like a virgin losing a child was probably my favorite album of 2008.

you could say i am a fan.

which is why i don’t understand why it took my until the last week of 2009 to finally buy their follow-up album “mean everything to nothing.”

maybe i just didn’t like my local rockers becoming big, getting on a label and being played by 99x. maybe i was scared that andy hull, the frontman, wouldn’t be able to pull off another songwriting triumph like the firs full length lp.

anyway, i finally got it and it’s incredible. it would compete only with the airborne toxic event album for the best album i bought in 2009. if you liked the first album, or just live good solid indie rock with some incredible songwriting, it is definitely one to get.

no idea why they weren’t up on the stage with a twirling pink, the zac brown band and taylor swift last night.

now, how about a local show, guys?

The Zac Brown Band

So I’m watching the Grammy’s with El Padre, and the Zac Brown Band comes on.  ”I want to say these guys are from Athens,” he says.  Really, I’m not watching the Grammy’s unless some chick comes out in something skimpy – I’m buried in spreadsheets (and loving every minute of it, sadly).

“Huh?  Who is this?  Zac what?”  Turns out they are from Atlanta.  Huh.  They played some pretty good country, which was way better than the crappy arrangement Stevie Nicks and Taylor Swift just performed.

Atlanta has gotten to a place where we regularly represent at the Grammy’s.  Usher is on right now, T-Pain was performing with Jamie Foxxxxxxxxxx, and Decatur’s Keri Hilson was nominated for Best New Artist.  I’m sure there are more Atlanta folks involved, but certainly it says something about our place in the music industry when I can’t even be bothered to try and count it all up, right?