Southside Atlanta Memories

More fun in East Point!

Continued from last week...
The Romp, Stomp and Chomp was lots of fun all around.
We went back to the best hotel in Atlanta, price and great southside location-wise,  the Marriot  Courtyard off Virginia Avenue, right between East Point and Hapeville,  right off of I-85, easy acsess to downtown.

We've had occasion to stay in several mid priced motels of this ilk in the past couple of years, and this Courtyard  was about $10 -$15 dollars cheaper. The breakfast was comprised of real food- real eggs! Grits! Real Bacon! The staff was very professional and pleasant.  The beds were wonderful and the shower was major water pressure! Only  gripes- the internet connection was leash- ethernet! and just not that great. The room itself was  squat- it seemed small but it really wasn't.

Lesson: A pleasant and professional demeanor will  go a long way.

We then went back to  ATL and enjoyed the beautiful  clear colorful  fall  day.  We went by the Urban Outfitters  in the old Plaza Drug location and goggled at the clothes. After cking out the price tags, we headed back southside to the CLOTHING WAREHOUSE in East Point! I had been so excited to see it down on Church Street near the street we took to see/ not see our little dream ranch.
We stayed there for over an hour, finding treasure after treasure in the rolling bins. Some were awesome articles of clothing to wear, some gained treasure status because of the memories they brought back to me and the kiddo. Some were treasures because of the laffs they inspired.

Another treasure was the young man who was in charge of the store that afternoon. He's a newcomer from Chicago, down here to work on music with his project, Romeo Spike. He was so friendly and patient with our digging and laughing. Two hours worth! We got lots of cool tops, a vintage 'class of 83' raglan sleeve tee included, and 3 belts.

Cool sleeping, cool shopping, but as always,  cool people are what make the southside!

   

See the most eye-popping fall leaves in East Point-

E- ye P- opping  get it? E-ast P-oint? We came up yesterday to see a house - snafu- BUT WOW it was like a trip to the mountains for us. WSBTV.com (2)?  whatever-
Anyway they have this nice web article and feature to view fall foliage in Georgia State Parks- Yay, team, glad to see them giving them a little much needed bump-
Here's the wsb link to leaves.

Here's a sneak preview of Park East Point- the rolling hills, just a small HINT  of the technicolor! We may go back today!

I'm gasping my away around mom's old stomping ground of Cabbagetown fro the Romp and Stomp-

Come up later for the Stomp and Chomp Chili cook off-

The guys at 97 Astoria were very helpful and hospitible when I talked to them yesterday-I'm sure it will be a party!

Huh? Is a girl playing football un-Christian? Well?

Raise your hand if you're sick of this whole thing...This now- Spaulding County southside girl who seems to just want her chance to knock heads with some football players instead of getting knocked up by 'em like we did back in the good old days...(no, not me, I wasn't "Christian" enough to go out with football players.)

What if she wore a long skirt while kicking? What if she got her "Christian " boyfriend to hold the ball for her?

I would not be here if not for  a merciful, loving God's incessant intervention in my life, and there is nothing that means more to me than my relationship with Him. My life is really hectic these days with school, kid's school, their sport (they  participated in the same one this year), work, prepping for a "career" that may or may not be around by the time I graduate...

Some days the high point of my day is the times in the a.m. and in the evening when I can read writings inspired by God and be thankful Someone is in control of this mess.

Please let's us who either have that relationship, or wear the name- let's not make Him look like a kooky cosmic killjoy.

If we want women to stay in their "place" in the "home,"  let's go up to the Gateway Center  and get this woman and bring her to our home and do something for her. Here's a real   quote :  "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Does "keeping oneself [un]polluted" mean not letting your daughter play football?  Then don't let your  daughter play football.

I totally [big surprise] forgot something in my previous post. [New blog name: Southside Atlanta Forgetteries...]

The other football education I got growing up in football-mad late '70s/early '80s Fayette County was that we played football. Every fall Sunday.  At  Youth Fellowship; for you uninitiated-that's night church, or- "night church." 

And what you must know is that in spite of some unseemly jocularity (among high school guys- imagine that!) it was NOT a feel fest.   We're talking football, after all.  The guys, then as now, were a lot more interested in rehashing between themselves who should have scrimmaged, blah blah, etc etc, than worrying if a play was performed by a girl.

My real objection to this young lady's choice of sport is: Spaulding is the county of Griffin. If that little thing gets good, Griffin might get her. Griffin used to be Fayette County's biggest football rival, although I can't even find them listed as a team now. What if  she kicks a field goal against us?

As you might have guessed, my other form of recreation this week has been reading through the "Blog" of Unnecessary "Quotations" with my kids. Here's another quote "for" you: "A cheerful heart is good medicine; but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."

Nine wonderful years ago we moved to the "Town" of Poorly "Maintained" Signage and the kids and their dad began their never ending quest for signs that unintentionally spell out odd words after  lights in letters  burn out and are never replaced.  Kind of a metaphor  for this town, and our lives. 

What will people read on our signs when we get old and weary and have to decide which letters are worth re-lighting?   Hopefully nothing like the footwear store in the (PC,FL) 23rd Street Formerly Wal Mart Shopping Center.

Also see Atlanta Homeless Shelter for more ways to help women (and men and children) who need help.

Major loss, Willis the Guard; Third Day dad, gone.

Thanks to YouTub viewer joenwc for some very sad but timely information. He commented on this YouTube  video that the actor Robert Carr III had died this week. Mr. Carr voiced the wildly popular Atlanta radio icon 'Willis the Guard.' Most people I knew listened to 94Q in the mornings on the way to school; in Fayette County most kids either rode the bus (where 94Q could also be heard) or were driven by their parents, only a very few of us walked. By this time, late '70s, the 94Q morning format featured Gary McKee very heavily, as well as his sidekicks Willis and Yetta Levitt. I must say I leaned toward Yetta Levitt at that time, though I mostly listened to 96Rocks' laid back Bobby Harper and the greatest local sports commentator of all time, Jim Huber. A southern precursor to NPR's Frank DeFord, Jim gave me what knowledge of sports I have, outside of my dissociative disorder producing foray into football cheerleading, and my hours of (contentedly) watching cousin's baseball games. Jim Huber gave the highlights, and the lowlights of the players, the managers, and the owners, and the fans of the Hawks, the Braves, the Flames, and the :-( Falcons. He did so in a conversational tone that conveyed his love of games, and his occasional disgust with foolish or greedy folks that might stand in the way of a fan's enjoyment. Huber himself was clearly a fan, and though an experienced journalist, he neither philosophized nor talked down to the listener, whom he seemed clearly to expect to see at the next game. Where is he now? Dang! Right here- he's evidently been winning well deserved awards for writing- coinciding with the time I was watching less and less tv.-

Willis was country when, well there wasn't a time on the southside that I can remember that country wasn't cool, but as Gary McKee is quoted in this ajc feature obituary, Robert Carr's character Willis was Larry the Cable Guy 30 years ago. The jester can always say things that the king cannot, and 1970s Atlanta was certainly in need of a good spoofing. What got my sox was the amazing revelation that Mr Carr was the father of Third Day's David Carr. My family have been huge Third Day fans since we heard them in the late '90s. What is interesting is that i've always considered them rock descendants of - The Allman Brothers - the through 'Eat a Peach' version. If you've never heard Third Day- listen through the above song- I liked the slovak (?) lyrics!- from their 2000 release 'Offerings.' Listen to Ramblin' Road Trip to hear Gary McKee give away the new Allman Brothers' album, 'Brothers and Sisters'! Go to Airchexx for more 'Willis the Guard.' May God continue to bless Mr Carr's family.

Mockingbird of the day- Coweta

OK folks- This is from an ajc gallery, thanks m.a. -a little touch of the Panhandle for you.
The mocker is the state bird of Florida, and lantana may well be the state weed. It is gorgeous and fascinating:  the way the flower cluster changes color over a week's time or so. Butterflies like it, too. We sure don't have any steep clay banks, though, like in this Coweta family's yard. Really pretty.

Watch yor backs dirty souf! Amy Poehler's spitting you DOWN...

This girl's obviously ready to split any day- Yet Amy Poehler is KILLING it! I thought the opening sketch with Tina Fey et al was just way too stiff. At least we know Fey isn't a Regina after all.
But this Weekend Edition segment with the male anchor, the real Sarah Palin, and Poehler- funny and sharp.

They edited the Saturday Night Live C-span Skit!

Wow, that's like 1984, huh... Did you know that neither of my high schoolers have ever had to read 1984 or Animal Farm? They have to read books written in the '50s about Egypt. I mean historical novels about ancient Egypt.  Interesting, no?   We just had some great sidewalk art at GCCC depicting various banned books in honor of Banned Book Week, and some of the best was 'Animal Farm' pigs. Have you ever seen the animated film of "Animal Farm?" Scared my kids to death!

Freaky censorship of Saturday Night Live skits scares me to death.

BUT "citizen journalism"  brings me back again; this site has the original unedited version, as well as links to lots of stories about the skit. Must See TV!

Joe Greenwood, you will be missed.

No, I never met this fellow, but look at that face. East Point all the way. Glad to know he found a good place to spend his final days.
Do you all remember the horrible hysteria and prejudice - the frenzy - surrounding -AIDS-?
 Aren't we ashamed now...

I pray we'll remember that shame BEFORE we freak out next time.
Or the next time we're tempted to be fearful just because some one else is.

May God bless his family.

Saturday Night in Atlanta

NBC must have gone ahead and used Tyler Perry's new studio last night.
The folks at 4:44 and 3:29 are too real. This Saturday Night Live sketch  is the story of the housing market in Atlanta.  Not to mention  Panama City... Beach... but hey Panama town -we get our share of arson, too. There's this guy FROM Atlanta that evidently nobody likes? (a TRIPLE victim) because just as soon as he buys an old building nobody wants in Panama City?  It gets set on FIRE! I'm not sure why people are so mean to him like that...
Anyway- 

Fall Football Action

This is a great reminder of one of the better chapters in southside race relations. On the southside in  1966, young matrons looked forward to a  new modern shopping mall, to be named Greenbriar.  I was not yet an official southsider, since my southside mother had migrated to the student area around Tenth street and the park. I was actually living with my mother's younger sister and her southside (Eagan, Old National) husband on Somerset Terrace, which means theoretically you might have seen me on Ponce in 1966.  Patricia Radcliff Taylor was a striking young matron keeping her husband on his toes and her Ft Mac parents in a whirl of still amusing activities, giving them the supreme pleasure of precious grandbabies. Old National was still a quiet two lane road; the McDonald's had not yet been built; I believe the Burger King preceeded it by a couple of years. Southside Steve was a infant. (Major condolences for the loss of your dad.)

A young generation was coming up that didn't really hate each other, even though deluded uncles or grandparents might still use words casually that were beginning to make the more broadly read of the teens wince.
Many still held patronising beliefs about how 'negros' were 'this' or 'that' , but  Atlanta had grown just enough for there to be pockets of questioning. There was just enough prosperity, thanks to good paying work at plants like Doraville, RIP,  for a group of people to come up with the idea of a Brown- Carver football matchup. 

Thanks ajc for the photo gallery.