I Can't Drive '55

from ISIOP friend, Ryan Cramer

Kenneth: The Snowman on Ponce

Have you ever made (and eaten) a snowball on Ponce? I know that sounds anything but appetizing, but Kenneth Woodfin sure has made a few and boy are they tasty!

Kenneth's Orleagian Snowballs recently opened in the Exxon parking lot at the corner of Ponce and Moreland. This week I stopped by and chatted up Kenneth and Nyra and I tell ya, you haven't met nicer people in your life. Both relocated to Atlanta from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and brought this great taste of The Big Easy with them.

So what's the Snowball story?
"In 1932, in New Orleans, LA the first electronic chiseler was made to streamline the process of making snowballs. Soon after, New Orleans became a mecca of mom and pop snowballs businesses. Snowball stand operators used the new treat to supplement incomes, but more so create an inexpensive treat families could enjoy together. The 30's were the years of the Great Depression so inexpensive family pleasures became valuable in more ways than one." mmmm... the simple pleasures and a true sense of community, we love it!

The Snowballs come in a variety of flavors and flavor combinations. In a strange twist of fate, Hurricane Katrina is their most popular flavor--go figure.

Hours: Weekdays from 3:00 - 8:00 p.m. / Weekends from 1:00 - 8:00 p.m.
note: Wednesdays this summer they close at 7pm, so that they can set up shop down at Georgia Tech for Flicks on 5th.

You can read more about 'em in:

The NY Times and The SNOWblog

So on a hot summer day, I suggest you swing by and cool down with an Orleagian Snowball to welcome Kenneth and Nyra to the neighborhood. Yellow snow never tasted so good!

She So Crazy

Ponce Mary...with a few choice words for the camera...
(so cover the kids' ears).

Where for ART thou?

City Hall East Gallery
675 Ponce de Leon Ave
1st Floor
Atlanta, GA 30308

Best of Atlanta - Your Vote Counts!

Creative Loafing is currently taking reader votes for 2007's BEST of ATLANTA, so now is a GREAT time to highlight and support our Ponce (and other) favorites -- including www.ISawItOnPonce.com (maybe you've heard of it).

Voting ends July 11th, so link there now and vote for at least 10 of your Atlanta favorites to beat the holiday rush. You already know who all I'm voting for...

If You Build It...

...they may come and tear it down (or worse).

So, I attended the Ponce Park (City Hall East redevelopment) event last Wednesday and I must admit that I walked away with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth over the whole thing. Though our hosts were cordial and did offer insights into the planned changes (construction officially begins October of 2008 and will take some 30 months to complete), it seems as though they were pitching TomorrowLand or something. I smell trouble with a capital T.

I heard mention so many times of how great being on the Beltline was going to be that I made up a new drinking game. And don't get me started on the implication that "people could live here without owning a car" which contradicted the other "great news" that there would be 2,000 parking spaces on-site. Say what?

Then during the Q&A, Emory Mosberger (who owns the Lawrenceville-based firm that leads the redevelopment effort) seemed first to not have heard, and then was baffled by, a reality-based question from the audience regarding the impact on the street people of Ponce. And an equally important question is what is the impact of the street people on Ponce Park--I don't see these two very different worlds colliding too quietly.

Don't get me wrong, the proposed greenspace and the repurposing of the nearly empty City Hall East building itself would be great (see what Boston, Minneapolis and Dallas have done with their former Sears distribution centers), but I'm afraid an Atlantic Station-esque mixed use mentality is in place (and that is all kinds of wrong--especially on Ponce!)

Then ATLmalcontent brought this to my attention last week and I've stewed all weekend at the thought of another historic Ponce building being compromised in the name of "progress." (note: I.M. Pei gave us both The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Pyramide du Louvre.)

And then I saw that these other folks are telling us that local property values are in jeapordy because of Historical Regulations. Stop the insanity folks! Can't we all just get along and retain the integrity of our past while accommodating our present and future?

I think that Atlanta tries so hard to be a big city sometimes that it loses sight of what truly makes it a great city (and we end up acting too big for our britches). Walt Disney didn't tear down FrontierLand to build TomorrowLand, now did he?

30 Something

The Dekalb Farmers Market turns 30 this year (it all began back on June 2, 1977). So long before Atlanta saw the likes of our beloved Whole Foods or Trader Joe's, they were bringing locals fresh and wholesome veggies, meats and cheeses.

It's Epcot Center meets SeaWorld (without the hefty admission price). With scores of rare ethnic foods and international ingredients, it's definitely the Frommer's of grocery stores and the seafood department is teeming with live critters (Maine Lobster, Tennessee Catfish, Blue Crabs, and Crawfish, just to name a few)--so take the kids for a low-cost field trip and get your shopping done while you're at it.

UrbanBaboon recently told me the story of how he once "adopted" one of the DFM lobsters--naming it "Scruffy" and keeping it at home for a couple of days before having to break down and boil the little fella. I'm sure it went down a little something like this:



Your Dekalb Farmers Market
3000 East Ponce de Leon Ave
Decatur, GA 30030

(And how cosmic are all those 30's in their address?)

Signs of the Times

Boys Will Do Boys

Atlanta's Gay Pride 2007 celebration kicks off today and though the Phoenix has closed its doors, there are still two other classic gay bars on Ponce whose milkshake brings all the boys to the yard.

Atlanta Eagle
306 Ponce De Leon Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30308
http://www.atlantaeagle.com/



Friends On Ponce
736 Ponce de Leon Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30306
http://friendsonponce.com/

Atlanta Pride 2007 Information

The Atlanta Pride Website: http://www.atlantapride.org/

Where & When

Piedmont Park, June 22nd, 23rd & 24th

Festival Hours

Friday, June 22, 6pm - 11pm
Saturday, June 23, 11am - 11pm
Sunday, June 24, 11am - 11pm

Admission is FREE

YES you are 100% GAY if you ever had an erotic same-sex dream, so get over it and go join in on all the fun.

My Big Black Stuff

Ever wonder who this Lee Haney character was?

About LEE HANEY
Nickname: Total-Lee Awesome
Born: November 11, 1959
Birthplace: Spartanburg, South Carolina
Residence: Atlanta, Georgia
Height: 5' 11"
Weight: 245 lbs

Lee has won more Mr. Olympia titles than anyone else in history (eight: 1984-1991).

He lives here in Atlanta with his wife Shirley and runs his own gym inside City Hall East (though I hear they are vacating that space by the end of July). Check out his lifestyle challenge (if just for the classic Curves-esque pics of Shirley workin' up a sweat) or if you want to give up your girly-man physique check out his ultimate body building training.

And Lee's heart is as big as his biceps; he established Harvest House, a nonprofit 40-acre retreat for children of deprived backgrounds. "The Haney's Harvest House partners with churches and community groups locally and nationwide to help save a generation at-risk."

Way to pump 'em up, big guy!

Workin' at the (Cactus) Car Wash

Potato War of Northern Aggression

Notice the bell-peppery New York style potato salad nudgin' up on our southern style tater salad at the Publix on Ponce deli. Let's just hope the German Potato Salad doesn't try to muscle in on the action too, or we'll really have to open a can of whoopass on 'em. The Southern Style shall rise again!

Istanbul was Constantinople

City Hall East will soon undergo some major changes and the Urban Land Institute and Mosberger Group are offering to show and tell all about it this Wednesday night. "Adaptive Re-Use and Redevelopment of City Hall East into Ponce Park" offers a site visit and tour of City Hall East along with presentations from the development team.

Ponce Park is a $375 million dollar mixed-use project that will border the Beltline project, so definitely something worth knowing about.

City Hall East
675 Ponce de Leon Avenue, NE
1st Floor
Wednesday, June 20th
6:00pm-8:30pm

Hello Kitty Manson

FREE BEER and the Most Un-Righteous

While tipping back a few local brews with some friends at the Righteous Room last night, one of the guys made us aware of pending legislation that is up for review on Tuesday and could seriously limit our access to some truly classic local pours (Sweetwater, Terrapin, and Atlanta Brewing Co.)

It seems that the Dept. of Revenue is miffed about the free beer that is given away during the local brewery tours and wants to put a stop to it (over my dead and beer-bloated body they will). So be righteous and click here now to "fight the man" and show your support for our local brewmasters.

I'll even buy you a beer if you .cc me on your email to the DOR, but you have to send it prior to their meeting on June 19th.

Stupid crosswalk signs is one thing, but taking away FREE BEER is a whole other matter...that I would take to the U.S. Supreme Court if I had to.

Sol Food

Dinner at Taqueria del Sol in Decatur tonight never tasted or felt so good. This place definitely rivals the original--and being on Ponce doesn't even bias me on this one, I swear.

Have you ever wondered how they know which table to bring the food to? They take your order and then confidently send you to your table to await your tacos, nachos and such...but never do you receive a ticket number or table marker to guide the folks who deliver the meal. hmmm...

Does anyone know what their special code is? I have to believe they type some short hand description (that equates to a caricature of the customer) into the computer. Hmmm...knowing some of the folks that I used to work with in the service industry, I'll bet that some of these descriptions can get pretty colorful. Has anyone ever worked there? or know someone who does and could leak to us the secret code?

Putting the Eater Back in Greater

Did You Get A Haircut? or Lose Weight? Cuz You Look Different

Have you ever had one of those days when you noticed something different in the landscape, but couldn't quite put your thumb on it right away? Well, today I had to do a double-take when passing by the Majestic Diner, because my peripheral vision caught something that hasn't been there in the past.

So, whatcha think?

Given the choice, I probably wouldn't have added the extra signage, but I must admit that it's true to the design and definitely gets their point across. So this is "Atlanta progress" that I can live with.

And it definitely makes these prints collector's items--so eBay here we come!

Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

OK, so maybe "death" is a little extreme, but I suspect some of the folks who get tattooed feel like those needles are killing 'em.

I stopped into Liberty Tattoo this afternoon and got so inspired by our own local Miami Ink team that I decided to add a new feature to the blog to highlight their amazing work.

Check out FRESH INK for weekly updates of the best tatts on Ponce! (and if you have some hot tatts of your own to show off, hit me up with some pics of 'em via email and you could be next week's FRESH INK!)

Rabbi Bloggers On Ponce: Now That's Kosher!

Rabbi Eliyahu Schusterman from Chabad Intown has his own blog. How cool is that? But if I find out he's on MySpace cruising for chicks too, then he has some explaining to do.

Chabad Intown is located at 928 Ponce de Leon Avenue and provides a number of great services to our local Jewish community, my two personal favorites being:

~ Kosher Kitchen
Any questions about keeping a kosher kitchen? Have you decided to go Kosher? We'll answer your questions, discuss your needs, and put the finishing touches on your new trayf-free kitchen.

~ Brit Milah
We can arrange a ritual circumcision, or Brit Milah, for any male, eight days old and older by a local certified Mohel.

It's that "eight days old and older" that really leaves the door open a bit TOO MUCH if you ask me (insert your own image of Rabbi Schusterman wrestling a grown man down to perform the Brit Milah). "Oy vey!"

And I wish that I wasn't a grown up (and was born Jewish) this summer because Camp Gan Israel starts in 2 weeks and it sounds like a blast!

I Said SCAD...with a "D"

I definitely want to applaud the good folks at SCAD for what they are doing to spruce up the old Peters House on Ponce. Kudos for taking pride in the architecture of Ponce de Leon Ave.

World Naked Bike Ride: On Ponce?

WNBR kicks off around the world this week in such cities as London, Paris, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, and Austin.

People will be riding bikes naked to celebrate cycling and the human body. The ride demonstrates the vulnerability of cyclists on the road and is a protest against car culture.

What do you say we organize a ride in Atlanta? (Seriously)

Ponce would definitely be the only logical choice of routes (maybe Decatur could be a start/finish line and the Clermont Lounge could be a sponsor?) Perhaps more Atlantans would "Share the Road" if the bicyclists were in their birthday suits. Who's in?

Underground Atlanta

And no, I'm not referring to that half-assed underground strip mall that's been decaying downtown for years (take a look into your own future Atlantic Station, all I'm saaaayin').

El Bar (939 Ponce de Leon Ave) is another one of those places on Ponce that only the local insiders are aware of. So, if you're a hipster or MJQ-goer, you're surely already in the know (and don't call me Shirley).

"Smoldering unmarked lounge meets dark sexy club in this underground hipster haunt located behind El Azteca"

Servin' up cold PBRs between 10pm - 3am.

Yet More Star Wars Scenes on Ponce

So, I have heard talk of the wild shenanigans that go down at Paris on Ponce after hours--wild parties, burlesque shows, and the like. Well here's some videographic evidence of Halloween festivities that included a cute (and seemingly inebriated) mini-me Darth Vader cuttin' a rug.

"Luke, who's your daddy?"

Green's With Envy

Image by Ryan Cramer

Here's another one of my favorites from Ryan's collection.

Why Borders is Now Dead to Me

I don't typically have bad things to say about members of the Ponce business community, but I can only bite my "Spanish" tongue for so long on this one. The Borders on Ponce is terrible.

Strike 1: They Don't Carry What I Buy Three times in the past 6 months I have gone into the store only to find that they DID NOT HAVE what I was looking for.

At Christmas I was looking for a copy of Amy Sedaris' wildly popular "I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influnce" (on CD)...not a single one in stock (kudos to Outwrite for having a ton). Then I was looking for a cool book on Tattoos that I had spotted at a Barnes and Noble...never even heard of it (thank you Virgin Megastore--San Fran for stocking plenty). And last, but definitely not least, I was in last month looking for a new copy of Down On Ponce to give a friend, but NOOOOOoooooOOOO...none, zilch, nada (Amazon had to provide that one).

Strike 2: They refer me to the (damned) Buckhead Borders for book signings
Um...'scuse me...if I wanted to live, work and play in Buckhead (or if it was magically 1990 again), I would have moved to Buckhead, BUT I live here, in this neighborhood, and you are supposed to sell books and have events HERE on Ponce. I'm already a little pissy over the fact that such a strip mall exists in the neighborhood as it is, but at least don't ACT like such a bland chain store (Whole Foods doesn't, now do they?).

Wanna guess when the last event at the Borders on Ponce was? Try March 3rd (some 3 months ago) and they actually have a regional Marketing Manager, you say? How about helping me get him to pay attention to this part of the region by sending a quick email requesting that our store get some immediate attention? Email Matt Schweers

Strike 3: Seattle's Best Coffee just sucks (there, I said it!)
I have tried and tried to not be a coffee snob, but their coffee really doesn't appeal to me--even if it IS owned by Starbucks. Talk about false advertising..."Best", my ass!

Don't just take my word for it that Borders stinks, because the only thing better than hearing customers complain is to get an insider's view and see how much the employes are kivetching...

Astounding and Musings on Rewards Marketing

And last, but not least, Borders has been pissing off their shareholders too. Last week they announced their 5th straight quarter of significant losses.

Dead to me. 'nuff said.

Mmmmm...Donuts

Shares of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts slid to their lowest point in eight months yesterday. That's excuse enough for me to burn my proverbial Atkin's diet bra and run down to our local doughnutery at 295 Ponce de Leon Ave and buy up a couple dozen of their orignal glazed for me and my co-workers today. You know you want to too, so do it Hot Fresh Now!

Hocus Focus: Star Wars Edition

mdm made two great comments regarding my "graffiti" post yesterday (I knew I liked that guy for a reason) and I wanted to highlight them for those who might have missed 'em.
mdm said...

1) "Graffiti seems different from tagging, and this is all tagging. One's aspirational, the other's..." I'll finish that sentence for him..."the other is POO." And we don't need to be seeing anyone's poo smeared on the walls of our neighborhood, but I'm game for a mural or two.

2) "Hey, you gotta come up with a name that Death Star Trash Compactor Zone in the first photo. " Hahaha...Being half geek (on my dad's side), I loved the Star Wars reference and agree that I must go back and reshoot with some folks in stormtrooper gear. Who out there is up for participating in a re-enactment (and has had a recent tetanus shot)? And afterwards we can shovel all of that poo into a truck and send it to a REAL trash compactor.

Or perhaps we'll just green screen it like Colbert did.

An Inconvenient Truth: Size Does Matter

One trend we're glad to be seeing in Atlanta these days is the increase in the number of scooter places in town (our favorite being ATL Scooters on Ponce, of course). Granted, I wouldn't recommend scootin' down Ponce de Leon Ave anytime soon--but perhaps intown intra-neighborhood scoots on streets like Ponce de Leon Place or Ponce de Leon Terrace would be a good idea.

An Inconvenient Truth is that Atlanta is definitely a "driving town" with more than its fair share of gas-guzzling SUVs, but maybe those of us who live, work, and play intown could be a bit more Euro and make some compromises by walking, busing, biking, scootering, or... SMARTing!

SmartUSA is coming and you can reserve one of these little bad boys for just $99 (no lie). I've already put in my order for one! And though this little critter isn't I-75 ready, it'll stand up to Ponce driving for sure. If you have any doubts (or if you just like seeing guys break stuff) take a look at this crash test video clip.
The "Street Smart" road show will be in Atlanta in October--so we'll see if we can get them to visit us on Ponce and you can have a look, feel and taste for yourself.

Little Red Rides in the 'Hood

These are just a few of the cool Ponce pics
submitted by our neighborhood friend Michael David Murphy.
Can you tell where on Ponce each of these cars is parked?

Check out MDM's photoblog to see more of his great work.

Say It, Don't Spray It

Is it just me, or is everyone else noticing a rise in graffiti and vandalism lately? I'm convinced that this lack of "neighborhood pride" is contributing to the increase in more serious crimes we're seeing in and around Ponce. The city should take a lesson from The Broken Windows theory (George L. Kelling) and The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell) and focus on turning the tide.

Kelling's book, Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities, offers the following: "Consider a building with a few broken windows. If the windows are not repaired, the tendency is for vandals to break a few more windows. Eventually, they may even break into the building, and if it's unoccupied, perhaps become squatters or light fires inside. Or consider a sidewalk. Some litter accumulates. Soon, more litter accumulates. Eventually, people even start leaving bags of trash from take-out restaurants there or breaking into cars."

In Gladwell's The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference he further explores this theory under what is dubbed the "tipping point" (a sociological term that refers to the moment when something unusual becomes common.)

I'm all for creative self-expression, but not when it crosses the line into property damage (or worse), so perhaps we could take a lesson from these folks on fighting graffiti in our community and find ways to channel the energies of these "artists" elsewhere.

El Pollo Loco

Saturday night at The Local, this young lad wanted to show off his own little (it's not THAT little) stupid human trick--he calls this "the chicken lips." So, I guess you could technically say he showed us his pecker...(it wouldn't be the first time we saw such on Ponce, and it surely won't be the last). He's no Willy or Big Chicken, all I'm sayin'.

Ponce de Leon Ave: It's Where You At!

Well, we all know that Ponce is where it's at and that you either love or loathe those Boost Mobile commercials (I still like the "old school" ones better, but the new ones are all about "location, location, location" so I have to love 'em too).

Old School



New Kids On The Block



But have you heard about Boost Mobile RockCorps yet? It's a GREAT concept- "Boost Mobile and RockCorps have partnered to spread a national youth movement: Boost Mobile RockCorps. The movement encourages volunteerism in young people. It was created to effect social change and act as a bridge between communities in need and the young people who want to make them better. Every volunteer who gives 4 hours of service, receives a ticket to a concert featuring the hottest artists today. Boost Mobile RockCorps introduces youth to service opportunities in their own neighborhood starting them on a lifelong commitment to civic engagement and service." Now THATs where its at.

Boost Mobile's RockCorps is coming to the Fox Theater June 9th.
http://www.boostmobilerockcorps.org/TourDetail.aspx?TourId=3

Sadly, I don't see any remaining volunteer events on their calendar between now and the concert, BUT if you know of a worthy cause in our community that could use some helping hands let me know and I'm sure we could convince the good folks at BM to hook us up.

Free Willy (from those bike shorts)

Here is a great documentary-style tale of one Mr. Willy Terry, a staple on the corner of Ponce and Briarcliff (or sometimes Ponce and North Highland Ave) for the past 15 years. The name doesn't ring any balls you say?...hmmm... perhaps you never got his name, but you DO know who he is.

Occupation (speculation) includes: male prostitute, professional bus-rider, and contractor (note: I would contend that all three of those could be dubbed as "contractor")

Aliases include: the bicycle man, Willy St. Charles, the three-legged man, Lefty, Potato Pants, and MARTA Man.

Conspiracy theorists believe that what is in those white bike shorts is a sock or a tumor. It's not a tumaaah.

Oh hell...enough with the set up...the videos speak volumes (and will surely have you LOL'ing). I particularly love the commentary of J Dawg and Zack from the "good" Exxon (on Briarcliff), but I'm anxious to hear comments from ISIOP readers.

Enjoy.




...and the 2nd half is just as fun.



Willy claims to have made love to 1,000 women in his lifetime. Wilt Chamberlain got a book deal out of such lofty claims (not to mention a few STD's). Perhaps there is a book deal or Nike sponsorship in Willy's future. Just Do It, Willy...Just Do It!