Crib Notes

UPDATE: The “realest” housewife of Atlanta flies above the drama with new EP; plans to call it quits after Season Three. Read her CL profile (11/10/09).

UPDATE: Ashley “A.J.” Jewell’s murder stemmed from fight over respect.

UPDATE: Kandi Burruss’ ex-fiancé ‘hated’ being on “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” she reveals in her own blog post about AJ’s murder.

Even before news reports confirmed that Ashley “A.J.” Jewell, 34, had been killed late last night in front of the Marietta Blvd. strip joint Body Tap Club, “Real Housewives of Atlanta” cast member Kandi Burruss began receiving countless condolences from fans via Twitter.

Some were shocked, others outraged, and most everyone was saddened that Burruss’ former fiance had died such a sudden, tragic death.

Burruss’ own Twitter message — posted in the wee hours of the morning before she prepared to attend an unrelated funeral service for a recently deceased uncle — was just as heartfelt:

im just in one of those moods where i dont wanna talk, i dont wanna b held & told its gonna b ok. i just wanna cry myself 2 sleep, alone.

It’s the kind of honest reaction fans of the show have come to expect from her. Sure to form, the newest “housewife” on the show has been the anomaly all season. As a former lead singer with the defunct Atlanta R&B group Xscape, she’s the only one among the ladies of RHOA who was a bona fide celebrity long before being cast in the ongoing second season. Yet, Burruss has remained the most down-to-earth on a show where ratings are fueled by constant catfighting and diva-like drama. In a sense, the drama in her life has almost been too real for reality TV.

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The AJC reports that around 7 o’clock this morning the Georgia Theatre in downtown Athens was engulfed in flames.

“The Georgia Theatre, a converted cinema, has served as a music venue for many well known Athens bands, including REM and the B-52s.

Doc Eldridge, a former Athens mayor who is currently president of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, said he saw a huge plume of black smoke when he arrived at his nearby office at 7:10 a.m.

The theater was “fully engulfed, with flames coming out above the building,” Eldridge said.”

Continue Reading Georgia Theatre Fire in Athens.

(Photo by Todd Stephenson)

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From CL music contributor Jon Ross’ new blog, Jazzlanta:

The AJC reported today on Mayor Shirley Franklin’s decision to cut another 222 city jobs and a slew of recreation centers, but the reporter left out a small tidbit of large import to the local jazz community. It looks like the Atlanta Jazz Festival is no more.

Apparently a projected “$50-60 million shortfall for the fiscal 2009 year” is to blame.

Read the full post, “The death of the Atlanta Jazz Festival.”

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