gloATL's Magic "Hinterland" in Downtown Atlanta

Big crowds enjoyed glo Atl's one time performance of "Hinterland" last night in downtown Atlanta. We shared visions like this at the fountain wall at Woodruff Park.


Sound, lights, Big Boi, acrobats, trick cyclists, 40 dancers from glo Atlanta. Bigger crowds that anyone expected. Not instantly grokked. I'm sure the crowds discouraged many. Some left early on. It was hard to see, unpredictable, We never knew where things would happen next.


Dancers appeared out of nowhere in the middle of big crowds.


Big Boi, in his red coat, performed on the ground, in the air, and on the fountain wall.


When performances moved to the fountain, magic happened. Ethereal music led folks to the fountain's wall, a natural stage where we could see. The grim wall came to life.


This short video of the electric skirt gives a sense of the ambiance. This tiny figure mesmerized me in the giant downtown space.


Drummers and acrobats led a parade to Centennial Park. Downtown looked darn good.




This video is about a minute long. To the tune of "Sigur Ros - Ba Ba" It helps me remember.


See the ArtsCriticAtl.com/ review: "Hinterland Review: Big Boi, gloATL, giant crowds and an exuberant spectacle in downtown Atlanta" to which I say, "What they said...."

Happy Thanksgiving: The Pictures and Video

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you don't mind if we share a little of ours with you.

We had 12 family and 6 guests. Our big room did the job yet again. We moved furniture, brought in 2 more tables, and chairs from everywhere. We had room for more. Mark your calendar.


We honor the folks who brought food.

Grandpa and Grandma and Deb and Dave: 3 pies, deviled eggs and more.


Camden with rhubarb pie and festive turkey ornament thing.


Syd with asparagus casserole.


Don with dressing.


Ryun brought the football and banana bread.


Nick brought the tamales.


We opened the buffet. (32 seconds)


And it got quiet for just a few minutes as we sat down. (14 seconds)


Zella won the Architecture Tourist Prize for "Least Likely to Bloat."


Don won the Archtiecture Tourist prize for "Best Green Balance." It was a pretty plate I tell ya'.


I'll announce all the plating awards in another post.

Our Thanksgiving Menu 2010 and our greasy 2009 menu

Could be some changes but here we are so far.


Last year's menu did it's duty. We put it into the Architecture Tourist Hall of Fame.


Flashback to Thanksgiving 2008: Deb, Grandpa, Grandma, and KK doing the walk of honor with cake:

Whistling Angels & more at Mason Murer Fine Art

That's "Whistling Angels" by Marc Chatov at Mason Murer Fine Art. I couldn't get enough of them last night at the Holiday / Christmas reception.


Little babies liked them.


I'm always up for getting my picture taken hovering celebrities. Righty, lefty, and no-finger styles.


Here is the artist, Marc Chatov, but it was out of his hands now: Muses? Graces? Angels.


I wasn't the only one who wanted pictures.




They attracted a crowd.


I could almost hear them.


Some folks got it.


Some need to talk it out.








If you've gotten this far you might enjoy the video. Maybe you can hear them.


Thanks to Marc Chatov, Mason Murer and the heavenly host for putting me in the Christmas spirit.

Here are all the pictures.

Reception for Ruth Franklin, Tracy Sharp, & Michael West at Maxwell Gallery

It's going to take me a week to blog last Friday night. I started at "Eclipse" curated by Maxwell Gallery's Mellanie Bugg featuring Ruth Franklin, Tracy Sharp, Michael West at Tracy Sharp's new studio on Highland Avenue.

Being color staved in these days of neutral, Ruth Franklin's dresses caught my eye first.


Here is Melanie Bugg, owner of Maxwell Gallery, with photographer/artist Michael West. Michael's encaustic trees seem to emit their own silver-gold light


Here is Tracy Sharp with her reddish head and a nude. Does the portrait have Tracy's smile? Almost. So few paintings smile these days.


I didn't meet Ruth Franklin but I couldn't resist her colors. They looked good enough to eat.




This yellow-blue-green pushed all my color buttons. I want to see this again in person.


Ms. Franklin must have happy technicolor dreams.


Maxwell Gallery is compact and comfortable.


Each gallery seems to have it's own kind of crowd.


Tracy's dress reflected into the street sign.


I managed a self-portrait. It that a white beret? I thought they were illegal after Labor Day.


There are a few more pictures if you'd like to see them.

Thanks,
Terry

Brunch at the Lunching Pad - Kitsch, Function, Sense of Place, People

There are plenty of nice folks in Atlanta who don't like The Varsity. We pray for them.

Even "V" haters sometimes find themselves there humoring the children, grandchildren or out of town guests. The Architecture Tourist dining advisory board recommends: Get an FO and enjoy this remarkable building.

The daughters asked me to drop them off for the Georgia Tech - Miami game last Saturday. We decided on a nice brunch with 1000's of our best foodie friends.


We ate in the Lunching Pad, one of THE BEST DINING ROOMS IN THE CITY. After you get your dogs, head north up the stairs to the Lunching Pad, then left. Try to get a booth on the eastern wall of windows overlooking the downtown connector.

Enjoy the view from this amazing room: Georgia Tech, the Tech Tower, Bobby Dodd Stadium, Downtown Atlanta skyline, the SONO skyline, Tehnology Square, the Midtown skyline, all while enjoying fresh, hot, inexpensive comfort food.

The lunching pad is this way and up the stairs.


We're still bummed that the Varsity Junior closed.


But the Big V has it's compensations.


If you eat a chilli dog, and a chilli & pimento cheese steak all the way with rings at 10:30 a.m., you just don't need to eat again that day, but we're professionals.

Beautiful Stair Reinforces My Architectural Optimism

The Shepherd Center parking deck reinforces my architectural optimism, more on that in a minute.


Did the architects know how beautiful this would be? You can only see this from Bennett Street in the evening.


A quick glance south from Bennett shows a substation, railroad, then parking lots. Ugh. But wait a minute, this is beautiful.


An architectural optimist believes that we can have beauty without $billions; that the modest and the practical can delight and inspire, that the mundane can be art.


Here the requirements for stairs, lighting, ventilation, safety, paint, make something special for the few folks that happen to look.


I hope that it didn't take one extra dime to make it beautiful. Did the architects know? I'll bet they did.