Fresh Loaf

AMERICAN CICHLID ASSOCIATION CONVENTION: We’re always grateful when the subjects of photos write the captions for us.

The American Cichlid Association’s annual convention and competition attracted hundreds of tropical fish hobbyists to the airport Hilton last weekend.

Like a dog show for fish, 350 cichlids vied for top prizes before being auctioned. The road to the top isn’t easy for cichlids, natives mainly in Central and South America, and Africa. They’re judged on body size and color, as well as how they present themselves. Fish have a tendency to hide, says Atlanta Area Aquarium Association co-founder Mark Barnett, and must be conditioned to swimming in a bare tank in a high-traffic area.

In addition to competition, the convention provided networking opportunities for cichlid connoisseurs. Cichlids, which includes angelfish, discus and tilapia, can be selectively bred and even hormone-induced turn particular colors. But there is no drug test for the show, Barnett says, not even for fishy competitors.

(Photo by Dustin Chambers)

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YOUTH ACTIVISTS CALLING THEMSELVES BILLIONAIRES FOR COAL PROTEST A PROPOSED COAL POWER PLANT BY PRETENDING TO SUPPORT IT: You can tell she’s a fake billionaire because a real billionaire would never that hat with pearls.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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THE VINYL SHOW AT NEW STREET GALLERY: It’s the vinyl countdown.

“Portrait of Frank Sinatra as a Chinese Sage” wouldn’t be the first thing most people would think paint out old vinyl disc, but that’s what’s been so great about the Vinyl Show – New Street Gallery’s series of shows and silent auctions featuring work by local artists who let their creativity run wild on 12-inch vinyl canvasses.

Saturday’s show featured a variety of media, from paint and acrylic to the more unconventional – vintage porn, cut-outs of Dr. Seuss characters, plastic plants, feathers and cork. Some artworks carried messages of love and commercialism and were melted and decorated to the point the original disc was nowhere to be seen.

New Street co-founder Meshakai Wolf says the vinyl records are an easy, cheap way to level the playing field for artists. Despite the series’s knack for pulling audiences, Saturday’s show was the series’ and the gallery’s last hurrah. Wolf says he plans to focus on New Street’s record label and literary journal after the gallery closes. It’s time, he says, to move on from the financial struggle of maintaining a public gallery space.

(Photo by Dustin Chambers)

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WHOLE LOTTA GRUB: Robert Plant and Alison Kraus entertain diners at Chastain Thursday.

(Photo by Perry Julien)

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More than 50 same-sex couples walked down the aisle at the Atlanta Pride Festival Commitment Ceremony Saturday.

Some couples donned white gowns, while others wore shorts and sneakers at the rather informal event. With partners exchanging rings and wedding vows, the event closely resembled a wedding ceremony. Couples received commitment certificates and danced to Etta James’s “At Last” – a wedding classic – at the reception.

After the interfaith ceremony, led by a religious leaders wearing rainbow-colored scarves, couples received private blessings in their preferred religious traditions.

For some couples like Ivy Nia and Shaun Everhart, the ceremony was a stepping stone to becoming legally married. Shaun says the couple is thinking of going to California “to make it extra-legal.”

For others like Joanna Camper, who drew a crowd before the event by dressing her partner Anissa in a headpiece with rainbow-colored ribbons and a hand-made shawl, the ceremony was a way to rekindle their commitment.

In a state where gay marriage is outlawed, the ceremony was symbolic rather than legal. But that didn’t stop couples from yelling, “We’re married!” at the end of what the Rev. Tessie Mandeville of Christ Covenant Metropolitan Community Church called a “subversive” ceremony that recognizes love under God without discrimination.

(Photo by Michelle Ye Hee Lee)

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RISING APPALACHIA’S CONCRETE PANDEMONIUM III AT EYEDRUM: “That song’s gonna be stuck in my head all night.”

(Photo by Tara-Lynne Pixley)

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LIVE MUSIC AT DECATUR BEACH PARTY FRIDAY: “Good evening, Decatur, are you ready to nap?”

(Photo by Dustin Chambers)

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HEALTHCARE PROTEST: All we are saying is give comprehensive single-payer, universal coverage, including prescription, vision, dental and mental a chance.

Fifteen people gathered outside Blue Cross Blue Shield Georgia’s Buckhead quarters Thursday to protest for-profit health insurance.

“People are not getting the care they need,” says Margie Rece, a retired nurse who helped organize the protest. Because they now determine things like care procedures and which drugs to use, Rece says insurers have turned doctors and nurses in to little more than “record keepers.” She and her fellow protestors voiced support for HR 676, a bill in Congress that would extend Medicare coverage to all Americans.

After holding up signs for cars and handing out information to passersby, the protestors gathered on the steps and read aloud a multi-count indictment of all insurance companies (ex. “Count #3: That insurance companies drop people from coverage while they are sick, when they can longer work at the job from which they get their insurance or can no longer pay their premiums).

An amusing side note: I almost missed the protest because of a run-in I had with building security.

When I pulled into the headquarters building’s driveway, a security guard stopped me to ask which of the building’s tenants I was there to see.

I told her I’m a writer with Creative Loafing and I was there to talk to the protestors.

Oh, no, you can’t park here for that, she said.

“Isn’t this a pay lot? Can’t I just pay to park?” I asked, gesturing to the numerous unoccupied parking spots.

“No, you can’t park here,” she insisted.

“Alright, I’ll turn around,” I said, and rolled up my window.

Before I pulled away, however, she motioned to me to roll down my window again. She wanted to tell me something.

“Are there any administrative assistant jobs at Creative Loafing?”

(Photo by Collin C. Chappelle)

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RALPH REED AT ATLANTA PRESS CLUB: I swear that it’s perfectly Christian to take millions from one casino to lobby against a competing casino.

Ralph Reed is a long-time master of fiction. What J.K. Rowling has done for juvenile wizard stories, Reed has done for the myth that the Republican Party is a beacon of Christian decency. Despite his well earned reputation as a masterful teller of tales, it’s only recently that the Duluth political consultant has turned his attention to novels.

Reed’s new book, Dark Horse, is a “political thriller” about a fictional presidential campaign featuring a black Democratic candidate, a loudmouthed minister and an assassination. Discussing the book at the Atlanta Press Club last Thursday, Reed said any parallels to the actual 2008 campaign are coincidental since he started the book years ago.

Asked about this year’s campaign, Reed said if the election is about style that Obama will win, but if it’s about substance that McCain will win. Never mind polls that show voters consistently agree more often with Democrats on policy issues. Once a tale-teller, always a tale-teller.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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VAMPIRE WEEKDAY: Wednesday’s Vampire Weekend show at Variety Playhouse ended with a stage invasion

(Photo by Dustin Chambers)

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GEORGIA TREE FARMER AND ROLLING STONE KEYBOARDIST CHUCK LEAVELL INTRODUCES STONES’ CONCERT FILM AT THE FOX THURSDAY WITH A THREE-SONG SET: Without people like Chuck, people like Keith Richards wouldn’t have anything to fall out of.

(Photo by Perry Julien)

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VA-HI SUMMERFEST: Artist Bill Winn sells puppets of famous people like Stevie Ray Vaughn, Jimmy Buffett, Frank Zappa and, um, Bill Winn.

The Virginia-Highland annual neighborhood festival, Summerfest, is supposed to be a misnomer. Seasonally speaking, summer doesn’t actually start until June 20. But this year’s Summerfest took place in the middle of a Spring heat wave that saw daytime high temperatures in the 90s all week. Damn you, Al Gore.

Despite the wrath of Helios, fun was still had at the festival. Highlights included performances by Shawn Mullins, Sister Hazel and Michelle Malone, a come-as-you-were in 1984 costume party (which I did not participate in because it was way too hot for a Members Only jacket and parachute pants), and a 5K (which I did not participate in because I’m exceptionally lazy).

(Photo by Dustin Chambers)

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PART-TIME KING CRIMSON-IAN AND FULL-TIME GUITAR-ACE ADRIAN BELEW AT SMITH’S OLDE BAR THURSDAY: The Goldthwait Years

(Photo by Perry Julien)

(Note: The original caption named the incorrect venue. I apologize for my error.)

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So much of Screen on the Green on Thursday night, with its showing of Jaws, felt familiar. There was the huge signature banner covering the monster screen. There was the crowd of picnickers camping out on the sloping grass, this time Centennial Olympic Park. There was the sort-of entertaining pre-screening music act, this time in the form of Athens’ Blue Flashing Light. There was, ultimately, a really cool community vibe that makes Screen on the Green one of my favorite Atlanta experiences.

For the entire PopSmart post and a gallery of photos from the event, click here.

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STATE CEREMONY FOR FALLEN SOLDIERS: 24 fellow members of Spc. Tracy Smith’s National Guard brigade have died in Iraq. (Photo by Joeff Davis)

On a day when presumptive presidential nominees McCain and Obama sparred over veteran’s benefits, Gov. Sonny Perdue hosted a somber pre-Memorial Day service at Mount Paran Church of God to honor the 137 Georgians who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001.

So many family members of fallen Georgia troops were in attendance that, when they were asked to stand, half the church stood up. Keynote speaker Retired Army Lt. Gen Russel Honoré said the best way to honor soldiers, sailors and Marines is expanding veterans’ benefits.

Not long after the ceremony, a veto-proof Senate majority (including Obama and Sen. Saxby Chambliss, but not including McCain) defied President Bush by voting to greatly expand benefits for veterans of the nation’s current wars.

(Additional reporting by Joeff Davis)

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MACK MESSIAH AT DRUNKEN UNICORN LAST WEDNESDAY: Band leader Kenny Crucial’s shadow-puppet-solo brought down the house. (Photo by Perry Julien)

More photos from the show can be found on our music blog Crib Notes.

Mara Shalhoup’s 2007 cover story about Kenny is also a great read.

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On May 17, the NAACP and Amnesty International jointly sponsored a rally to bring awareness to the cause of Troy Davis. Emotional loved ones and supporters gathered to try saving the life of a man they all believe to be innocent.

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MID-EAST FOOD FESTIVAL: A flake of cigar ash adds spice to any meal. (Photo by Dustin Chambers)

If you’re the sort of Atlantan who likes his/her meat-on-a-stick seasoned with Eastern Christianity, then man, oh woman, last weekend was heaven (on Earth) for you.

On Saturday, the St. John Chrys