Fresh Loaf

Atlanta singles mingling at the Starlight Six's Drive Invasion this past Labor Day weekend.

All the single ladies–why are you still single in Atlanta? According to the Daily Beast’s latest ultra-scientific survey, Atlanta was ranked the top city in America for eligible bachelors. The site looked at single men with four-year college degrees and the number of meeting places (gyms, nightlife) in high residency areas. They say:

Whether it’s the Southern hospitality or the sub-tropical breezes, something about Atlanta is attracting all the right men: the doctors training at Emory, the junior executives at Coca-Cola, and the musicians and artists that make up one of the country’s most vibrant music scenes. Atlanta tops our list of the best cities in which to meet a guy. There are more single men per capita here than any other city on this list, tons of gyms, a very high percentage of bachelor’s degrees, and the social scene cooks.

The Daily Beast also said the city’s popular meeting spots are the Glenn Hotel Rooftop Bar and Graveyard Tavern, which may discredit this meticulous study. Ranked last was El Paso, TX.

 Loading …

(Photo by Dustin Chambers)

Bookmark It

Nearly three decades after leaving office, Jimmy Carter is still synonymous with excitement:

Malaise? What malaise?

Bookmark It

One month ago, I confessed on this blog to being consumed with violent anger for squirrels.

Squirrels ate all-but-one of the tomatoes I’d been growing on my patio since spring.

After my outburst, I gave up on my tomato plants and left town for a couple weeks on non-tomato-based business.

When I returned, I found new fruit sprouting on the plants.

Great. Wonderful. Hope.

I moved the plants away from the patio railing so the squirrels wouldn’t have as easy access as they did in July.

The fruit grew unmolested for three weeks.

Until last night.

Squirrels raided the patio during the past 24 hours. I counted 15 green tomatoes on the vine as recently as Tuesday.

We’re now down to three.

To make matters worse, the noxious little kleptomaniacal tree rats taunted me by leaving a half-eaten tomato on my patio railing.

Hate.

Bookmark It

I’m trying to buy myself a Wise Latina t-shirt on CafePress but none of the good designs are available in men’s sizes. That’s sexist.

Bookmark It

This writer has noticed, and Silicon Alley Insider confirms, Twitter is down. Facebook also seems to be acting wacky this a.m.

If it stays down for three more hours, I may finish my Don’t Panic! column on time for a change!

Bookmark It

Your votes are coming in strong — nearly 2,000 in just over a week. Keep them coming! Vote today for Best of Atlanta 2009. You can vote for your favorites through July 31 at clatl.com/bestofatlanta, or vote through Facebook. We’ll publish the results on Sept. 23.

And don’t forget about the Filthy Rich Voting Party coming up next week — July 23, 9 p.m., at the Masquerade. Admission is only $5, with beverages and food included (while the rations last). Attractive Eighties Women and Hardy Morris of Dead Confederate are on the bill, and you can vote onsite.

Below, check out our latest poll … and vote today!

 Loading …

Bookmark It

How can you be down with the Filthy Rich? Vote today for Best of Atlanta 2009! That’s right, voting starts today at clatl.com/bestofatlanta, and you can vote for your favorites through July 31. We’ll publish the results in September.

Now, you don’t have to be Filthy Rich to join us July 23, 9 p.m., at the Masquerade for a Best of Atlanta 2009 party! Admission is only $5, with beverages and food included (while the rations last). Attractive Eighties Women and Hardy Morris of Dead Confederate are on the bill, and you can vote onsite.

We’ve got some newfangled additions to this year’s ballot, too: You’ll be able to save and come back to your ballot, and you can vote through Facebook and share your experience with your Facebook friends.

To get you warmed up, take this quick poll on what you love most about the Best of Atlanta issue. Check back here and on our other blogs for more fast ways to get your voice heard. And vote today!

 Loading …

Bookmark It

Even though I wandered over to Craigslist in search of a bicycle, I couldn’t resist the temptation browse my favorite section.

My favorite ad: a man generously offering to take nude photos of women.

“No fee for my services, this is strictly an artistic project.”

I can’t even copy-and-paste that without laughing.

Back to the bike hunt.

Bookmark It

As we collectively honor/ogle Michael Jackson, it’s worth noting the pervasiveness of MJ’s influence as a performer was not always a good thing. For every Filipino prison “Thriller” or “Dance Raja Dance”, there’s probably dozens of these:

For the impatient, the explosion of MJ-ness arrives at the two-minute mark.

(Thank you @Kltpzyxm. By which I mean, no thank you.)

Bookmark It

Dear everyone-

Quit writing “Tags Applied For” on a piece of paper and taping it in your car window. Everyone knows you’re either too busy/lazy/broke to go to your county’s tax office and pay for them.

Pedantically,

Andy

Bookmark It

Have a look at this inspired ad parody on a utility pole at North and Highland snapped by Twitterererer @grabmol.

The dollar signs on the animals are, um, priceless.

It reminds of this.

Bookmark It

Apparently I own General Motors now.

Does this mean when I scoff at Hummers I’m really just projecting self-hatred onto others?

And more importantly, am I allowed to take one of these when they’re ready?

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

Bookmark It

This year’s National Black Power Conference is at the Crowne Plaza in Marietta.

Bookmark It

The main office of local commercial builder Gay Construction Company is on Smyrna’s Log Cabin Drive.

Bookmark It

Twitter does not have a theme song.

I think it should.

Bookmark It

What do you give a dog for her 10th birthday?

Extra food?

Belly rubs?

Distemper vaccine?

A gimp squirrel she can actually catch?

Bookmark It

Driving down Roswell Road this afternoon, I noticed for the first time the bold and puzzling boast on the Pep Boys sign.

Parts. Of course. That’s why I was there. For car parts.

Service. Okay. They have a shop where you can can your car fixed if you want.

What more do I want from a Pep Boys? A better question: what more can a Pep Boys store conceivably offer?

Companionship?

Foot rubs?

Organic lettuce? (more…)

Bookmark It

Not really.

DNA Evidence Frees Black Man Convicted Of Bear Attack

Bookmark It

The hillbilly Starbucks will carry an exclusive version of Dolly Parton’s latest CD, Backwoods Barbie, featuring three unreleased tracks. From the press release:

The three new songs on this disc, “Rose of My Heart,” “Hallelujah Holiday,” and “Berry Pie” were selected by Dolly herself from her extensive catalog.  “I wanted the songs I chose specifically for this release to reflect how I feel about Cracker Barrel and all the good things you can find there,” said Dolly.  “I think it’s important for there to be an authentic connection to the heritage that Cracker Barrel and I share.”

A heritage of rock candy, rocking chairs, and that triangle peg-jumping game. Album drops at Cracker Barrels Mon., March 23.

Bookmark It

Matchstic, a marketing firm based near Ormewood Park, and a few other partners are offering about $80,000 in services to the winning nonprofit that applies. The deadline is March 23, and surprisingly, the application isn’t filled with questions that most fledgling nonprofits won’t be able to answer. The “prize” includes a new logo, Web site design and development, promotional print materials (and the copy writing and actual printing services) and some help with strategy and brand positioning.

It’s true the “On the House” campaign will probably benefit the providers, too, but there’s no harm in supporting a community organization in the process, right? Last year’s winner was City Church Eastside.

Bookmark It

In The Bad Girl’s Guide to the Open Road, Cameron Tuttle suggests the following technique for getting out of a DUI: If you get pulled over, immediately step out of the car with a bottle of your favorite liquor and chug a couple shots’ worth. The officer now has no way of proving you were drinking before you got out of the car. Interesting thought, but is this actually true? Perhaps the most the officer could do would be to cite you for public intoxication/open container in public?

— Hazle Weatherfield, via the Straight Dope Message Board

Yes, Hazle, that’s an interesting thought. But can you imagine this ridiculous gambit actually working here in reality land? I didn’t think so. Tuttle concedes as much, prefacing her advice with the comment that “if you’ve been drinking and have an open bottle of hard liquor in your car, you’re already in deep shit. So what do you really have to lose?”

Let’s back up a bit. Prior to Breathalyzer-type technology, which measures blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, drunk driving was a tough charge to make stick – prosecutors needed witnesses to testify about the defendant’s slurred speech, unstable gait, and so on. Things got only slightly easier after BAC testing devices became available in the 1930s. Although a high BAC was telling evidence, you still needed corroborating testimony about drunken behavior, plus you had to have an expert witness explain what BAC meant. Eventually states wised up and passed “per se” laws, which defined drunk driving quite simply: operating a vehicle with a certain minimum BAC. Today it’s .08 percent. Read more.

(Illustration by Slug Signorino)

Bookmark It

LEAD STORY: “Genetic modification” sounds like frighteningly complicated lab work, but amateurs are routinely doing it in garages and dining rooms across the country, according to a December Associated Press report. Hobbyists (some terming themselves “biohackers”) are busy creating new life forms and someday, observers say, may turn up a cure for cancer or an accidental environmental catastrophe. The community lab DIYbio in Cambridge, Mass., has patrons who typically work on vaccines and biofuels, but might also whimsically create tattoos that glow. One amateur bought jellyfish DNA containing a green fluorescent protein (for about $100), and built a DNA analyzer (less than $25) so she could alter yogurt bacteria to glow green when it detects melamine (the substance recently discovered in deadly Chinese baby formula and pet food).

Read more News of the Weird.

Bookmark It

From the “Activity Partners” page on Craigslist:

Reply to: comm-945764695@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-12-05, 4:36AM EST

Hello, thank you for reading.

I have chosen to live a more bizarre and exciting life, and all exciting lives include an arch nemesis, to keep you on your toes day to day.

Not the kind of nemesis that blows up buildings or kidnaps people that I’ll need to save, more like the kind that we can exchange prankish sort of things, like hide in the bushes outside my house and spray me with a fire extinguisher on my way to work, to which I retaliate days later with something equally silly.

There are some requirements:

• must have a handlebar mustache
• must be able to speak with an east European accent
• must wear a top hat or bowler
• must own a cape
• must have some basic knowledge of bizarre sciences
• must have title starting with “Dr.” “Prof.” or “Mister”
• must have scar on face
• must have an “evil” pet or pets, like tigers or alligators or robots or homeless minions
• must laugh with fists clenched

If you fit these requirements, lets set up an audition, and hopefully you we can start our epic nemecy.

Bookmark It

It sounds like the happiest place on Earth.

Bookmark It