This was the first D*Con that I actually bought a badge for, although admittedly too late and only for one day. Peachtree Center food court still I think the best place to get great candids of Troopers windin’ down, getting their Gyro on, etc. Also should have started watching the parade from Woodruff, not the Hyatt, too crowded. We managed to take in a couple of panels, although the Geisha dancing was canceled. Nerd fest. Regrets: missed the Apocalyptic Writing workshop and “Frodo: the Reluctant Hero.” Only at D*Con! Looked in on the Thriller dance, hilarious but I had no desire to be a part of that. ARC attack Masquerade was slammed, too slammed to get in, or spend too much time trying to get in. Lots of steampunk action. Saw the 30 rock guy. Lou Ferrigno. Drank Sweet Carolina Tea vodka out of the bike bag. It still kills me that they only let badged people into the merchandise rooms. Do they just not need the money? In the works for next year, Gatchaman costumes, getting a large group of people to share a room at the Marriott for a base. This would make resting, drinking, downtime that much easier while cavorting with the freaks and geeks…
Tonight I hear about 4 bars being robbed early Thursday AM. 4 in the same night! Not to mention a fatal stabbing in Piedmont Park (male-hustling related or not…we’ve all been there.) City council-lady robbed for the 3rd time in 9 months. A woman attacked during a home invasion. After being burgled, I have been somewhat, but not really, surprised to hear that most people have an equal or worse story about Atlanta crime that happened to them. And the best part, the city of Atlanta is claiming that crime is down! Puhleez. The Mayor AND the Chief of Police need to fall. They have failed the taxpayers. That is all.
So fucking what. Traffic laws were intended for cars, face it. Bike infractions- running through red lights, stops signs (puhleez), are effectively tantamount to inane pedestrian offenses like jaywalking. As long as a cyclist is riding accountably, who cares about traffic laws made for bigger, dumber vehicles. Anyone that thinks bikers need to obey traffic laws has never been on a bike or experienced the reality of bicycle commuting. I understand that it would be a safer world if we all wore helmets and waited for Mary Poppins to cue us to cross the street but this reality is unlikely. So let’s choose a more pragmatic one. When was the last time you stopped fully at a stop sign in a car? When I hit a red light biking on an uphill, you sure as fuck better bet I’m going to run it to keep my wheels rolling and my struggle against gravity continuing. And of course I’m going to make sure the coast is clear first! On a bike this much easier to do than in a car. One has much more peripheral vision and also agility, and the ability to start and stop quicker. I find most of the time that I am passing cars in city traffic, and that THEY are like giant cumbersome animals, distracted by their cell phones and limited visibility. Plus I can get from one side of Atlanta to the other in 10 fucking minutes on a bike with one gear. So fuck you.
As you might know from the Facebooks, I got burgled last week on Easter. Burgled. Ransacked. Pillaged. Crunked. All I can do is try and recreate it in my mind the way you imagine someone else’s story. Completely insufficient details. Vague and blurry images of quick footed individuals (kids? trolls? terminators? baby Jesus?) kicking in a door, confronting the stillness of an unprotected house, adrenaline, real-time assessment of valuables, the thrill of the job culminating in the absurdist gang-banger defacing of a sofa with lemonade and coke…possibly urine? Back door and refrigerator left open, an inexplicable pile of items resting by the fence in the backyard: guitar, korg, two pairs of jeans, two cans of frozen apple juice concentrate. The aftermath is like my own personal natural disaster.
The very next night I was confronted by a hooded man as I rode my bike up to a friends gathering, on the other side of Grant Park. I ignored the sketchy dude who minutes later pulled a gun and grabbed two girls purses.
Today I was pulled over for running a stop sign outside my fucking house. Simply on the way to buy a new front door, to better secure myself against the wildlife that the Atlanta police obviously cannot control. The police officer didn’t see the irony in my situation for reasons that probably made her a police officer. Atlanta has a serious crime problem, one that is obvious and undeniable to anyone living in the city limits. It is far worse than it was a year ago, or two years ago. It is quickly spiraling out of control. I don’t know what the wisest course of action is. Seems that Atlantans Together Against Crime is a start, and will at least draw media attention. Whispered words from an officer put both the mayor and the police chief to blame, for what it’s worth.
Dude, if you haven’t checked out the latest Mastodon masterpiece, Crack the Skye, then you needs to get a checkin’…this shit is EPIC. If you don’t like metal than beat it, pussy. (Apologies for the MTV embed with 15 sec commercial, couldn’t find it without.)
I’m so nostalgic for the carefree days of silly suburban vandalism. Thinking of a new Wes Anderson take on Clockwork Orange…suburban droogs who battle ennui with “grinching.”
Four teenagers were arrested by Marietta police for “grinching” — allegedly using a machete to destroy some of the inflatables.
I am all for “little brother” when it comes to nabbing clowns like these. Several videos of them on youtube. Idiots. Still, impressively quick work.
This email is from a Grant Park resident who lives on Broyles at Orleans:’
To let everyone know and to pass the word around, our house was broken into this morning and our tv, laptop, and digital camera were stolen. We have video of it and have uploaded it to youtube in the hopes that its dissemination may help. Please forward to anyone you think may help. We are ok and our dog is fine, but to let everyone know, neither the dog nor our alarm system were a deterrent. The whole thing happened in less than 4 minutes, with the time in and out of our actual house less than 30 seconds.
The vehicle they were driving is a Nissan Pathfinder, year range 1996-2004, light in color, maybe beige, light green or silver, with a roof rack.
I walk into Lowes today to obtain materials with which to wage massive war upon the squirrel population living in my attic, and these two little girls are sitting in the entrance rapping a song in tandem. I hear Obama and McCain mentioned. I ask them what it’s all about and they went on about their school doing it and being on the Today Show or Good Morning America or some such thing. This is the video for it. Seeing the full production I am speechless.
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