Fresh Loaf

A POURER’S VIEW OF THE GREAT DECATUR BEER FESTIVAL-GOER: I didn’t even have to say “act drunk.” It just sorta happened.

I was a volunteer pourer at the Great Decatur Beer Festival on Decatur’s town square Saturday. The job had two delightful perquisites.

First, I didn’t have to pay the $30 admission to taste many of the 100-plus beers available for sipping, or buy a ticket from the scalpers (yes, scalpers) wandering through Decatur that morning. All 5,000 of the tickets were sold online before Saturday.

Secondly, I got to hear several people tell how much they liked me and appreciated my work. Not my actual, thing-I-get-paid-for work, rather, my beer pouring work. Giving people beer without demanding money in return is a great way to make people like you – particularly people who’ve been been drinking nonstop for the previous five hours.

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KID ROCK AT THE TABERNACLE SATURDAY: Hours before he and his entourage were hauled off to DeKalb County Jail for scattering, smothering and covering a customer at a Buford Highway Waffle House

(photo by Perry Julien)

More on CLCribNotes.com.

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Enrollment in Georgia’s PeachCare for Kids health-care program for uninsured children in 2003: 181,172

Enrollment in PeachCare for Kids in 2007: 274,440

Number of states with more children enrolled in state health-care programs for uninsured kids: 3

Percentage of PeachCare for Kids funding that comes from the federal government legislation known as SCHIP: 73

Amount PeachCare for Kids received from SCHIP for 2007: $165.9 million

Cost over five years of SCHIP funding proposal vetoed by President Bush last month: $60 billion

Average amount PeachCare for Kids would have received annually over next five years from SCHIP funding bill vetoed by President Bush: $200 million

Iraq war’s estimated daily cost to U.S. treasury: $280 million

Sources: American Friends Service Committee, Families USA, Georgia Department of Community Health

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If the City of Atlanta runs out of water, I say we stink – and we would be the first large American city to allow it to happen.

– Ashley at Random Atlanta, in a post titled “This lack of water thing is freaking me out”

I don’t know about you, but I’m gonna start referring to the drought as “this lack of water thing.”

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Imagine an ice cream cone upside down lined with rooms and squashed a little so its cross section is more oval than round… Then make it 500 feet tall and take the elevators up to the 41st floor (higher ones need keys).

– Chris at Food, Travel And Exercise is impressed by the Marriott Marquis Downtown, designed by Atlanta architect John Portman. The atrium he describes is the supposedly the world’s tallest.

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The pushback here-the claim that those of us who dare to suggest that Marshall support this legislation are just short of being socialists-is a classic Roverian technique, and in this instance has strong overtones of race-baiting. It’s not working.

Do the right thing, Jim. Vote to override.

– Amy Morton at Georgia Women Vote wants Rep. Jim Marshall, D-Ga., to vote to override President Bush’s veto of legislation funding health care for uninsured children.

What a coincidence. So do I.

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Melania: Ivanka Trump. I like it. I admire her. The fact that she’s young and hasn’t let the public eye get to her. She’s focused on her career, and making her business even more successful than it is now. She’s taking it global. She’s very, very beautiful. She’s not that classic beauty. She’s very exotic. I love you, Ivanka. And please give me a free condo when you have your new tower here in Atlanta.

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Bryan: I get Superman a lot. It feels pretty cool. My hair is the right color. I have blue eyes. I’ve been working out. And I think the blue and the red and yellow work together well. It feels pretty cool. He is the ultimate symbol of freedom and justice. Everybody looks up to Superman and wants to be Superman. I don’t know anybody that doesn’t want to be Superman. He’s a symbol of hope for the world.

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Mark: Tupac. Not that I’m trying to be like him. It’s genetics. I’m not for gangster rap. I’m a very liberal-minded guy. He was very positive, trying to make a change. I hope people look at me in that way. I’m not here to harm. My thing is I just want to be positive. I’m told by my wife I’ve improved in that area since she’s married me. People do ask me to portray him in some of these reality-type shows. I say, ‘Not really.’ I am who I am.

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Gawker.com yesterday declared Buckhead resident John Fitzgerald Page the “Worst Person in the World” and “a colossal, mindbogglingly douchey douchebag.”

The 36-year-old actor/model/Ivy League grad/financial consultant earned the monikers after Gawker saw an angry, self-aggrandizing missive he sent to a woman who rejected him after a brief online flirtation on Match.com. Gawker also ridiculed Page’s personal website, JohnFitzgeraldPage.com.

“I think you forgot how this works. You hit on me, and therefore have to impress ME and pass MY criteria and standards – not vice versa . . . don’t blow it with the next 8.9 on Hot or Not, Ivy League grad, Mensa member, can bench/squat/leg press over 1200 lbs., has had lunch with the secretary of defense, has an MBA from the top school in the country, lives in a Buckhead high rise, drives a Beemer convertible, has been in 14 major motion pictures, was in Jezebel’s Best dressed, etc.”

— Page’s response to a woman who rejected him on Match.com, as reproduced at Gawker.com on Oct. 11

Stalin. Hitler. Bin Laden. John Fitzgerald Page. Somehow, I am ranked at #1. My crime – murder? treason? pedophilia? rape? No, worse. A woman winked at me on the internet. I sent her an introdutory email. She tried to rescind her initial wink by saying we weren’t a “personality” match . She ascertained that from my first email without ever speaking to me. Here is my crime. Instead of just letting her float away, I let her know that I feel that if you approach me, you should meet my standards and listed facts about myself.

— Page declined CL’s request for an interview, but after we spoke he posted a long response to the hubbub on his personal website, JohnFitzgeraldPage.com.

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GANDHI’S BIRTHDAY AT KING NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE ON FRIDAY: Aloha, Mahatma.

(photo by Sarah Harms)

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Zach: Sweetwater Bar. Really good to their people. They don’t treat us like shit. They do fliering and promotions, free of charge. It means a lot to a band. I hate to be an asshole, because everybody thinks it’s cool to like the Masquerade, but they suck. The sound people are real assholes. They really could care less. They think because they’ve been doing sound wrong for 15 years, they’re right. They get real pissy. For all you sound guys out there — get over it!

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Scott: Best is the Star Bar. They have Lone Star beer. Most clubs don’t. The sound is usually crappy as hell, but I like the beer and that’s the most important thing. The worst club to play is the Star Bar. It’s always hot and smoky as hell. The cigarette smoking in there is ridiculous. They don’t have anything to filter the air out. Every time I leave, my fuckin’ throat is all sore and hoarse. But everybody else seems to live through it, so I guess I’m just whining.

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Michael: The new Lenny’s. The sound guy is awesome. Lenny’s is about the music. Lenny’s loves everybody — the mopeds, the punks, the skinheads, the rap heads. It’s about music and drinking PBR, not Diesel jeans and haircuts. Vinyl is the worst because it’s about Christian rap and expensive parking. It’s not rock ’n’ roll. It’s Buckhead. It’s about lifestyle and clothing. Very uppity, expensive and a pain in the ass. They make the bands pay for the parking and load-in.

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Robert Hiestand has sold roses at the intersection of West Paces Ferry Road and Northside Drive since 1986. His shop consists of an umbrella and a bucket of roses placed between lanes of traffic. He began selling roses on the street for the Sunshine Floral Company in 1977. He works for himself now.

Hiestand’s formula for roadside rose-selling success: “Take a good corner, invest time and the patience to build a corner; a little bit of elbow grease, a little bit of sticking with it.”

He says he sold 72 dozen red roses, 56 dozen colored roses and 13 mixed-flower bouquets last week.

His first job was working at a metal fabrication shop. There his boss gave him advice he still lives by today: “Find a place where you fit, and fit there.”

Hiestand’s first roadside stand was at Northside Drive and Interstate Parkway North.

His stand has never been robbed, but someone has attempted to grab a couple of his flowers.

Hiestand says he loves “cheering people up with the flowers.”

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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BURMA PROTEST IN DECATUR: Pictured on the sign is Aung San Suu Kyi, the imprisoned leader of Burma’s democracy movement.

I accidentally joined a street protest in downtown Decatur on Saturday morning. I say “accidentally” because when I approached the protest to photograph it, a lovely Burmese schoolgirl greeted me with a smile and handed me a protest poster. I couldn’t resist. And really, I didn’t want to. The protest was intended to draw American public attention to the Burmese military dictatorship’s crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy demonstrators in Burma. The protest was organized by the girl’s parents, who fled Burma after a similar military crackdown in 1988.

One Burmese man in the protest who barely spoke English told me he’s only been in the U.S. for four weeks. “Did you flee because you protested against the military?” I asked.

“No. Army come my village. Make fire. We leave.”

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CL TESTS THE SMART CAR: Not as smart or light as I was hoping it’d be.

(photo by Joeff Davis)

Last Friday afternoon, I was one of the 100-plus people who test-drove the much hyped Smart car, a sub-sub-sub compact made in France that, once it hits the U.S. market in 2008, promises to revolutionize the way Americans are killed in collisions with SUVs.

Though I was impressed with how the Smart drove, I was rather disappointed with its intellect. It’s a Smart and it’s French, so I figured it’d enjoy chatting with me about smart French stuff. You know, like Saint-Exupéry, Debussy, or at the very least, this year’s Beaujolais. Au contraire. Smart refused to say a word to me. Even their cars are snobs.

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Percentage increase in number of robberies reported in Atlanta during first half of 2007 compared with same period in 2006: 25

Percentage increase in number of burglaries reported in Atlanta during first half of 2007 compared with same period in 2006: 16

Percentage decrease in number of rapes reported in Atlanta during first half of 2007 compared with same period in 2006: 8

Percentage increase in pickpocketings reported in Atlanta during first half of 2007 compared with same period in 2006: 69

Number of men in recently arrested gang described as “driving the crime rate” in Atlanta by police Chief Richard Pennington: 8

Number of murders for which they’ve been charged or are considered “viable suspects”: 6

Percentage increase in number of murders in Atlanta during first half of 2007 compared with same period in 2006: 48

Sources: Atlanta Police Department, WSB-TV

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After liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org ran a newspaper ad questioning the loyalty and patriotism of U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus, Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., voted for a House resolution condemning the group.

After conservative talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh referred to soldiers who oppose the Iraq war as “phony soldiers,” Kingston reacted quite differently.

“The left has long targeted conservative talk radio and in particular, Rush Limbaugh.”

— From “Jack’s Blog” on Kingston’s House of Representatives website

“Commending Rush Hudson Limbaugh III for his ongoing public support of American troops serving both here and abroad. Recognizing Mr. Limbaugh for his relentless efforts to build and maintain troop morale through worldwide radio broadcasts and personal visits to conflict regions.”

— From a House resolution supporting Limbaugh submitted by Kingston on Oct. 1

“He has a right to speak out and say what he thinks.”

— Kingston, defending Limbaugh in the New York Times

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Stacey: Even though it’s a tough year, they’re still your team. I’m from Edmonton. Along with my husband, we’re the only Falcon fans in Edmonton. Everyone else are Broncos, Raiders, Seattle and Packers fans. I wasn’t much of a football fan and then in 1999, I watched the Super Bowl. The Falcons were the underdogs, and I’ve been a Falcon fan ever since. I’m not for jumping off-the-wagon to start cheering for someone else. But we’re definitely Oilers fans, not Thrashers. Sorry.

Kevin: My whole thing is tailgating. Even if you lose, you have a great time. I don’t think they’re that bad. A few years from now, they’ll be on top. What I hate is when the other teams’ fans get all painted up and go crazy. Steelers fans come out in droves. They were ripping those towels everywhere last year. We were like, “We don’t have towels.” That’s why, this year, first game, you noticed we had towels. They’re not going to allow that shit to happen again.

Falconi: It’s been a futile endeavor being a Falcon fan, but I’m still here. Sixteen years. They need a guy like me to keep them honest. I call them out. Vick is a punk and Mora was an idiot. Rich McKay should have gotten fired. I always come late to the games and I hear the voices behind me saying, “Thank God, the Falconi is here.” As long as the NFL lets me be Falconi, I’ll rise to new heights. And I have a lot of hope in the new coach, Bobby Petrino.

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(Photo by Joeff Davis)

When most people imagine firefighters, they rarely imagine women. Sharyl Chatman joined the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department four years ago. She is one of only 40 women in a department employing 1,045 people.

Why did Chatman become a firefighter? “It’s exciting. I like the variety [and] community involvement. It’s a brotherhood and sisterhood.”

“Imagine you’re trapped in a building with someone. You learn their family, their kids. You feel people’s grief.”

“We work 24 hours on and 48 hours off.”

Her first fire call was her most nerve-racking. “My first fire was the worst. There was a woman yelling, ‘My baby. My baby.’”

Before Chatman was a firefighter, she was a teacher. “I was a math instructor in a high school.”

On why there aren’t more women firefighters: “It’s a very physical job. We’ve lived in a patriarchal society. We are moving forward because our ancestors have fought.”

“I’ve been on a couple of calls and people said, ‘There’s a lady!’ It’s girl power, if you will.”

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I AM THE STREETS: Young Jeezy speaks on Auburn Avenue.

(Photo by Eamon Siggins)

Auburn Avenue was blocked off Saturday night for the grand opening of Atlanta rapper Young Jeezy’s new clothing store, Eight. His new fashion line, 8732, will be sold there, along with other urban fashions. On a telephone keypad, 8732 is code for USDA — the original name Jeezy had in mind for his line. In Jeezy’s lexicon, USDA is an acronym for United Streets and D-Boys of America. Unfortunately, major-level pushers — the United States Department of Agriculture — beat him to it.

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NEWT GINGRICH AT SOLUTIONS DAY IN COBB: Gingrich is beloved by social conservatives for having exclusively heterosexual extramarital affairs.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

Newt’s had a busy week.

Last Thursday, the Republican former speaker of the House threatened promised to run for president if he received $30 million in contributions during October.

His political think-tank, American Solutions, held a political gab fest called Solutions Day. It was designed to brainstorm “nonpartisan” solutions to America’s problems and featured an appearance by noted nonpartisan problem-solver Sean Hannity.

He published a book called Contract with the Earth advocating what he calls “mainstream” environmentalism (translation: other environmentalists are hysterical radicals).

And then, on Saturday, he says he changed his mind about running because he didn’t want to step down as head of American Solutions. “I’m not going to walk off and allow American Solutions to collapse at this point.”

A nation weeps.

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ESPN’s Town Hall meeting on Michael Vick last Tuesday featured an audience that was so pro-Vick, it booed and hissed a representative of the Humane Society. It was riveting television, with panelists divided on how, and whether, race has played a role in Vick’s dogfighting conviction.

“I talked to Michael. I said, ‘Michael, I’m going on this show. What do you want the people to know?’ The first thing he said was, ‘T, if I’m guilty of anything, it’s being loyal to friends and family. I have never picked up a gun and killed anyone or anything in my life. I love animals.’”

— Terance Mathis, former Falcons wide receiver

“When you have an organization like PETA, and you’re like Michael Vick and so visible … you become the big face of what dogfighting is. From that standpoint, he gave them the ammo to load that gun.”

— Chuck Smith, former Falcons defensive end

“I guarantee you … if it was a white player, we would not be having the same discussion that we are now.”

— Selena Roberts of the New York Times

“There was the aftermath of that town-hall meeting, for instance, when a middle-aged man approached me with a pained look. He said he was upset that I kept ‘attacking’ Vick … [and that] ‘People just don’t want to give Michael Vick credit for doing so much for Atlanta.’ For instance? ‘He’s the reason we’ve been on “Monday Night Football,”” said the man, with others in the vicinity nodding after his every word. ‘We never would have been on Thanksgiving Day without Michael Vick. He’s just done so much, and y’all just won’t give the young man credit for that. Y’all just want to keep tearing him down, because he’s Michael Vick.’”

— AJC columnist Terence Moore on his experience as a panelist

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NORTH GEORGIA STATE FAIR: David “The Bullet” Smith, entertainer and subtle reminder to children of the importance of staying in school.

(photo by Sarah Harms)

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Adam: The streets wouldn’t be any cleaner anyway. People throw McDonald’s cups and beer cans. If you want to be clean, you need to hire more people to clean streets. People throwing cigarette butts on the street is like spitting in the ocean. It’s not a good idea to do but there’s a lot more problems. There’s going to be cigarette butts. I think we can deal with it. Move out to rural Georgia if you don’t want cigarette butts.

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Jessica: I just don’t care. We’re not allowed to smoke inside. We can’t throw them in the trash ’cause you don’t want to light the trash can on fire. So what else are you going to do? They pay people to sweep the streets. I’m boosting the economy. I throw them out of my car. No one has ever said anything, but I’m kind of waiting for the day somebody does, so I can say “screw you” and drive on.

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Mike: I don’t litter. Some birds think they’re worms and eat them. It kills the birds. I see no reason to kill something unless I’m going to eat it. I have no interest in eating blue jays. And I smoke organic cigarettes with filters that break down into the soil, unlike some other cigarettes, where the filter will stick around for a very long time. Unless you throw your butts into the ocean. Then they will dissolve within two weeks.

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CROWDED HOUSE AT THE TABERNACLE: Hey, when? Now, apparently.

Last Wednesday in the parking lot outside the Tabernacle, I bumped into Matt Sherrod, drummer for the reunited Crowded House. He was wandering in search of decent cell phone reception. He indulged my fannish inquisition and even asked me if I had any requests. I suggested “Walking on the Spot,” a lilting, accordion-driven ballad from the group’s 1993 album Together Alone. “No,” he replied. Apparently they hadn’t rehearsed it. Bastards. Despite the rejection, I still had a great night. Alongside the hits, the group played some unexpected album cuts like “There Goes God,” “When You Come,” and “Italian Plastic” – songs I never expected I’d hear performed live.

(photo by Perry Julien)

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ATLANTA TURKISH FESTIVAL DANCER: “Like a record, baby …”

Norcross’ Istanbul Center for Culture and Dialogue sponsored the fifth annual Atlanta Turkish Festival in Piedmont Park on Sunday. Attractions included kebabs, dancing and strong coffee, and an appearance by Turkish singer Rafet El Roman. El Roman is a huge pop star in Turkey. He specializes in soaring romantic ballads accompanied by music videos starring attractive couples looking really upset for reasons I don’t entirely understand, since I can’t understand Turkish.

(photo by Sarah Harms)

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MAYOR FRANKLIN AND MEI LAN ON PANDA’S 1ST BIRTHDAY: “To protect our children, we call on China to replace Mei Lan with a safe, lead-free panda.”

(Photo credit: Sarah Harms)

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