Fresh Loaf

Tony & Socks: I don’t know. But I’ll tell you about Cats — it’s no Sweeney Todd. You’re never going to see a movie about Cats starring Johnny Depp as a cat. It’s the longest Broadway show in history because nobody knows what’s happening so nobody says it’s bad. That’s the crux of it. I couldn’t understand a word they said. I saw it years ago. I’m not going to see that thing again. I have a cat, but I’ve never liked Cats. It has no plot. Give me West Side Story or Oklahoma! or Sweeney Todd.

Cliff & Pilot: I hope not. So many of us love animals, love music, love dance, and all of these are incorporated into the final product. It’s incredible. We’ve always seen in dogs and cats reflections of ourselves. I’ve seen cats do things incredibly human that freaked me out. And that play vocalizes and visualizes those things. There’s a parallel between animals and humans, and they just nail it. Plus, if you have children, there’s not a better play in the world. And what better place than the Fox.

Cassie & Snapper: All I know, it’s about slinking around in leotards. That doesn’t sound very catlike to me. If it was about cats, it would be a lot of sleeping, eating and getting petted. Most people who like cats like them because they hate people, so who wants to be surrounded by a bunch of people. I would never see Cats because I love cats. I don’t want to demean them by watching humans act like cats. And now I’ll make it a point never to see it just because you’re asking me.

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Jordan: Cinemechanica’s The Martial Arts. It’s not the individual tracks but it’s like an emotional roller-coaster ride if you listen to it from beginning to the end. It’s progressive indie. It’s awesome. The worst is the Cat Empire’s Two Shoes. It’s crap. Tone-deaf retards. They’re holier-than-thou musicians that aren’t on the level of being holier than thou. It’s trying to be radio-friendly. It doesn’t work. It takes a certain personality to listen to that crap — idiot. If you relate to it you’re just as bad as the music.

Dee: Best is Bad Brains’ Build a Nation. When they decided to come back, it sounded like new and old stuff put together. They put on a really reggae vibe and a really good punk vibe. They’ve been feeding off both and it comes off as a new look on music. Worst? The Killers’ Sam’s Town is horrible. All their music is horrible. They’re stuck in that whole “too indie” phase. They’re trying to come out with their own style, but they’re still making music that kids listen to like they’re in middle school or the ninth grade.

Bri: Venus Doom by HIM. His voice is just like so amazing and deep, and it’s foreign so it makes it like 10 times cooler. They know how to harmonize really well. It’s really easy listening. Really smooth. The new Good Charlotte CD — Good Morning Revival is the worst. They used to be really good, but they’re now mainstream and just crap. Before they got famous they really had their own sound; now it’s annoying. It’s made for American teenagers, and American teenagers don’t have good taste in music.

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Robert: Yes, it is. There are so many clubs and restaurants in this city holding New Year’s Eve bashes. On top of that, you got the Peach Drop. I was there last year — absolutely insane, in a good way. I was standing there and there were transsexuals to my left, 7 feet tall. I just thought, “This is cool.” I couldn’t move, but it was very happening. It’s a smaller version of Times Square. Atlanta is in the top five for New Year’s.

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Guyton: It used to be. The law changing the closing times, that’s when Atlanta became a nonhappening place. Personally I’d rather be home with friends. Before the law, I probably would have gone to some crazy dance party or a club, like Blue or the Warehouse. But clubs close too early now. Atlanta is no longer a party town. Most people now go out of town for New Year’s. Compared to other large cities, Atlanta is near the bottom.

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Jamil: In the South it is. Miami is overplayed. It’s been done before. Nothing new. It’s always water, alcohol, little outfits, predictable. Atlanta can offer a Southern culture feel, party-like-a-rock-star atmosphere. I’m staying in Atlanta for sure. Atlanta has a few hotel parties, you buy a ticket and you can just go and drink with your friends. Those are really the best places. On the East Coast, New York definitely has that stereotypical New Year’s Eve. But we’re better than Miami.

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Torthel: Greenbriar Mall. It’s the most ghettoist mall on Earth. People get shot all the time. I went to the movie theater and right before the movie started, some kids opened the emergency exit door and, like, 10 kids swarmed in. I never see security. Kids just come running down the courtyard and start fighting. You can’t really shop because there’s too much going on with people. They don’t go there to shop. They go there to socialize and fight and steal.

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Lauren & Meredith: Atlantic Station. The crowd was a little funny. They’re very judgmental. We’re a couple and if we show any signs of affection in public there, it was not good. We were looked down upon. Pretty conservative, in what I thought would be a more liberal area. People stare at you. It starts at the face. It goes down to the hands. They keep on turning like, ‘Oh, they’re not just sisters.’ And it didn’t feel very Christmasy. There was a Christmas tree, and that was it.

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Tony: Lenox Square. It’s the cheese mall factor. It’s like the women all look the same. You can be standing next to somebody and they’re standing next to the mannequin and you look at the mannequin and think it’s them. It just looks like a bunch of mannequins roaming around a cheese mall. Everybody walks and looks like they’re a superstar. The dude working at the gas station there looks like he’s a big pimpin’ dude. To be different, you’ve got to be like a mutant.

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Sara: I’m excited about going to my husband’s office party. I want to see if there’s really any hot girls he works with so I can be on him. I just want to make sure. I hope they’re all big and fat and have moles all over their face. I’ll be looking around. I’ll just keep a little list in my head. I’ll be real nice, but I’ll make sure I get their names. He has no reason to lie, but he’s a man, so you never know.

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John: My boss invited me and my pregnant fiancee to the party. My ex-girlfriend works there and she’s telling embarrassing stories about me, so my boss e-mailed me saying he heard I tend to get drunk and belligerent at these parties. That really pissed me off. I decided not to go. My ex tends to make snide remarks and my current fiancee has a propensity towards violence. I don’t want the baby to get hurt.

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Halima: No, because the first year meeting everybody is kind of nice and kind of cordial. The second year, when you realize people’s attitude and differences, you realize you’re better off staying home. I’m not going. I’d rather spend my time with people I really care about as opposed to people who are fake. You don’t want to be around people who smile in your face and give you a cheesy gift you don’t like. It seems ridiculous.

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Bobby: I’m one of the best hip-hop artists and hardest-working people that’s ever graced Little Five Points — ever. Atlanta, being a mecca for hip-hop, I set an example for people who believe if you want to come to a city [to record hip-hop], this would be the city to do it in. I’m gracing people with good music and inspiration. I’ve sold 27,000 CDs by myself. People come to Atlanta to see me. If I wasn’t here in Atlanta, it would be like a part of Atlanta was missing.

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Melissa: I supply the city with coffee and I drive better than most people. I was in 13 accidents between the age of 15 and 16, so I kind of got a feel for that whole ‘oh, this is probably going to happen soon.’ I’m, like, more alert. I’m a good driver now. No more accidents. I’ve been driving since I was 10. I’m also a socialite, so I go to all the bars and hang out. I’m supporting the Atlanta socialite scene. If it weren’t for me, everyone would be in a worse mood.

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Phillip: I’m fuckin’ awesome, that’s why. I have impeccable taste in music and fashion. And I work in a really terrible place, but I just make it awesome, for real. Whenever I walk in the store, everyone starts smiling because I’m here. I have studied a little bit on being awesome, but for the most part it’s just natural. I’m just overall awesome. It makes Atlanta a cooler place, but unfortunately I’m leaving soon. San Diego will be a lot cooler.

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Al and Juan: “Christmas in Hollis” by Run-DMC. We grew up in New York, so we know what it’s about having Christmas in Queens. Also, they had midgets and elves in the video. The worst is “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Are we supposed to duck? Give me a break. We’re brothers. We never got presents. Here comes Santa Claus? Well, guess what. He never came to our house, but Run-DMC was always there in our radio every night for Christmas.

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Candance: “Back Door Santa” by Honeymoon Killers. It’s bluesy and trashy. We really don’t have a lot of that around Christmas; Santa sliding down your chimney, sneaking out the back door. I just like old, dirty blues songs. The fact it’s a Christmas song makes it even better. The worst is those dogs barking to “Jingle Bells.” It’s the most annoying song I’ve ever heard. I don’t like small dogs, or babies, and that incessant barking makes me crazy.

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Larry: “Santa Claus Go Straight to the Ghetto” by James Brown. I could relate to it. When it came out, I was living deep in the city and I thought what a cool idea for a song. Instead of giving to the haves, how about giving to the have-nots? Worst is “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” When you think about Christmas, you don’t think about something that morbid. As a songwriter it caught your ear pretty much but in the spirit of Christmas it failed miserably.

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Marisa: At the Highlander. They do a really good Thanksgiving dinner, then you can get drunk and not have to worry about the shame of doing it in front of your folks. That’s the spirit of Thanksgiving! And instead of hearing early Christmas carols or crappy family music, you get heavy metal. Sweet. I’d be more thankful if my fiance was down here. He’s in Canada. Canadians have their Thanksgiving in October. But it’s not a real Thanksgiving, much like their money and their army.

Frank: Make your own dinner. It doesn’t have to be turkey. If your favorite dish is lasagna, cook lasagna. Bring your music, spoil yourself. Take that long shower or bath. A holiday is a day off. The pressure people put on themselves to make the turkey is almost like a wedding. It’s just a freakin’ Thursday. Relax. With turkeys being so big, you can roast a chicken with the stuffing and turkey gravy. It will be just like Thanksgiving, and you will still have leftovers.

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Shenise: Thanksgiving is a really wonderful movie day. There are no Emory students in there. They’re out of town, so you get to enjoy your movie and hang out with cool people who actually want to see the movie. Have you ever been stuck behind an Emory student at a movie? You know they’re Emory students by how many times they say “like” in a sentence. They sit in front of me with their really big heads and ruin my Wes Anderson movie.

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Alex: Ben Franklin believed the turkey was more of a patriot than the bald eagle. Ben said the bald eagle was nothing more than a fish eater and a pirate. I don’t know why we chose the bald eagle. The turkey is more representative of Americans. We’re fat and we eat each other. The bald eagle is majestic, but is America really majestic? Are we really the land of majesty and purple mountains? I don’t see any purple mountains. I see the turkey as the rugged underdog which is America.

Page: We would look foolish. You call people turkeys when they act like a doofus. A bald eagle is regal. It flies into the sky and then plummets down and eats whatever it wants to. It could eat a turkey, too. Eagles are intelligent and turkeys are just kind of stupid. They just run around and they let us eat them. If I could have called it out, I would have picked the hummingbird. They’re adorable. You can fit four of them in a teaspoon when they’re babies.

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Patrick: It’s a delicate situation right now with us and Turkey. If we were to switch the national symbol, Turkey might feel good and that could save thousands of Kurds. Turkey would feel honored. Who wouldn’t? The bald eagle is in Alaska and that’s about it. We already have Alaska, so they can’t do anything. Are they going to secede or something? The turkey is not as majestic, but maybe a little more accurate as to what America is. We’re a lot goofier than we think, but I’m OK with goofy.

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Daniel: It will keep me off the streets. When it gets dark, I head in. I don’t want to be out amongst the criminals anyway. You don’t need to be out on the streets at night. You need to be home taking care of your business and your families. I was raised on a farm. By 8 o’clock, we was in the bed. You should be able to do anything you want to do in the daylight anyway. I like it because it’s for the kids. They’re out early in the morning catching the bus for school.

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Tracie: It messes up my schedule. Your body has to adapt to it and mine usually takes awhile to adapt when it comes to what time I’m up, what time I go to bed. I’ll probably have to stay up an extra hour at night just because. At the store I work at, we close at 8:30 during the week and now it’s going to be a whole lot darker. That’s not good for females when we’re walking out to our cars on the street. People usually commit their crimes when it’s dark.

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Angela: Daylight-savings time is fake. We need to go back to the real time. Time is not artificial. Time is a device that was created by humans to follow the movement of the Earth and the sun and the hours of the days, and the days of the year. Going back will put us back in the way that nature is. Now when I wake up, it’s 8:30, but my body wakes up at 7:30. So now it’s going to be correct and it will wake up at 7:30 eastern standard time, which is standard, which speaks for itself.

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Anna: The Roxy. Every time I walk in there, it’s the same crowd — the Buckhead Betties. You get in the bathroom line and you know your favorite song is going to come on while you’re waiting, and it does, and then you’re pissed off because all the little girls are putting on their lipstick real slow. Get some more bathrooms! And when you go to a rock concert, you’re rockin’ out, you get thirsty, and they get angry if you ask for a cup of ice water. I’m a SoPo (South Ponce) girl. The Roxy is just too fabricated.

Gene: Gwinnett Arena. I hate shows there. It’s too big and impersonal. The bands don’t enjoy themselves because they don’t sell as many seats as they would like to. Tool totally sucked there. The [security] guys at Gwinnett are dicks. That’s the biggest part of it. The kid sitting beside me lit up a cigarette and was kicked out. They could have just told him to put it out. If you light another one, then we’ll kick you out. Come on, it’s a rock show. We all rage against the machine.

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Sharon: HiFi Buys. If you’re on the lawn, you’re not going to see anything except the big screens. I saw Elton John there and I got a Coke thrown on my back because I wanted to stand up and dance to the songs. The sound is not very good. It’s loud but you can’t pick up the nuance of the music. I don’t go to shows there anymore. The ambiance is like going back to high school. And last time I was there, they frisked me down worse than the TSA.

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Elphaba: Vegetarian lasagna. Animals should not be killed for their meat. On Halloween, I stay at home because that’s when all the people are out making fun of it. They don’t know what Halloween means, especially to someone who’s actually green. They’re all, it’s like ‘nice costume.’ Everybody thinks I’m wicked because I’m green. Not true. I used to give out apples until people began to believe this myth about razor blades. Now I give out candy; otherwise people would egg my castle.