She Always Carries Jonquils
PG found Archival Atlanta: Electric Street Dummies, the Great Stonehenge Explosion, Nerve Tonics, and Bovine Laws : Forgotten Facts and Well-Kept Secrets from Our City’s Past at the Chamblee library. There are always more stories to be heard. This repost has pictures from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. It is written like Margaret Mitchell.
In the 1840s, the Western and Atlantic railroad wanted to hook up with the Central of Georgia railroad. The spot for the meeting was called Terminus. One idea was to name the town for William Lumpkin, a former Georgia Governor and a railroad executive. Lumpkinville sounded bad in the mouth, and the new town was named “Marthasville”, after the daughter of the Governor. (Martha is buried in Oakland Cemetery.) Few people liked this name, and someone decided that the feminine form of Atlantic was Atlanta. Unlike the state flag, this is unlikely to change.
The new town prospered, and recovered from the unpleasantness of 1864. In 1875, there was a problem with stray cows. The answer was the “1875 Cow Ordinance”. The law required that cows be kept in a pen at night. A fine of two dollars was assessed for every stray cow that was caught.
About this time, there were a few very busy railroad tracks going through downtown. People were getting tired of waiting for the trains to go through. One by one, viaducts were built over the tracks, creating a forgotten ground floor. This was built up into Underground Atlanta in the sixties, which was red hot for a while, then cooled off, and is now so so.
In 1897, J.W. Alexander was the first person in town to own a “horseless carriage”. One day, he decided to take a ride to East Point. A mule objected, and kicked man and machine into a ditch.
It is a rule that all history books about Atlanta have to discuss Coca Cola and Gone With The Wind. There are only so many stories to go around. This book tells of an Alpharetta farmer who bought the Tara set from MGM. He stored in a barn, the location of which was a secret. Betty Talmadge wanted to buy it, and the price went from $375k to $5k. After a while, the sale was finalized. There was only one problem…the farmer died, and never told anyone where the barn was. Mrs. Talmadge got the money from her husband’s overcoat, went to Alpharetta, and found the barn. The set was moved into another secret location, where it was in 1996, when Archival Atlanta was published, at an undisclosed local location.
Sam and William Venable owned Stone Mountain, and had a quarry there. (The Ku Klux Klan held meetings on the mountain.) (The spell check suggestion for Ku Klux is Kook Klutz.) Sam built a large granite house at 1410 Ponce de Leon Avenue, and stocked it with ammunition. He thought a race war was on the way, and wanted to be prepared. One night, a chimney overheated. The roof caught on fire. The explosives in the attic exploded, and took the roof off. The house was repaired, Mr. Venable died, and the house became part of a Lutheran church.
One of the few ante bellum houses in Atlanta is near Grant Park. It was once owned by Lemuel Grant, who donated the land for the park. He stays in a large marble house in Oakland Cemetery now. The Grant Park house was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. John Marsh, in partnership with Boyd Eugene Taylor. After the death of Mrs. Marsh (also known as Margaret Mitchell), she was known to visit the house. “Margaret just wanders through the house, looking things over. She never talks, and she always carries jonquils. The first night she came I was very shocked. I went out to her grave at Oakland Cemetery the next day. I’d never been to the house before. But I was almost certain of what I’d find. The plot is covered by a bed of jonquils.”
Was Mae West A Real Girl?
August 17 would have been birthday 123 for Mary Jane “Mae” West. Of course, she died in 1980, so the party is off. PG saw a note on facebook, and made the comment “She was rumored to be a man.” One right click google search later, this post started to take shape. This is a repost.
There is a blogspot site, maewest.blogspot.com. It is still published, with a birthday post today. Five years ago there was a post, Mae West: Penis Rumors. It seems as though Miss West liked to say, to the press, “When I die, you are going to be very surprised!”
A hollywood gossipmonger had a story, Was Mae West…A Man?! Much of her information comes from the tasteful findadeath site. The story here is that Mae West died in 1950, and the death was kept quiet. Her brother made appearances in her place, until the final death in 1980. This would have been quite a feat, considering that John Edwin West died in 1964. That doesn’t stop people from talking.
“…the real Mae West died somewhere around 1950, give or take a couple years, and rather than let the show stop, it was announced that not Mae, but her brother, died. Of course, the brother then became Mae West and carried on until November 1980. If you look carefully at photos from around 1950 on it definitely looks like a different person not to mention the big hands and masculine features, bone structure, etc. I may not have all the details 100% correct but I would almost put money on the fact that the ‘Mae West’ ‘who died in 1980 had a weenie!!”
The hands were mentioned by Raquel Welch. The two were in Myra Breckinridge, the first movie Miss West had made in 27 years. (Miss West appeared on Mr. Ed in 1964.) Miss Welch appeared at a film festival in 2012, and had stories to tell.
“When I went over to say hello to her (one day) I said, ‘Hi, it’s Raquel, remember?’ She sort of extended her hand to me and I went to kiss the ring and one false fingernail painted silver fell to the floor. I looked at the hand and I thought, ‘Oh, I’m getting a vibe.’ I really think she’s a man! At this point in her life all bets are off and you’re not going to be able to doll it up that much. I would say it’s pretty accurate that she resembled a dock worker in drag.” …
“I had this beautiful dress and it was black with a big white ruffle around the neck and a black velvet hat … Apparently Mae got wind of the fact that I was wearing this exquisite dress and I went to the studio that day for our scene together. I got coiffed, got my hair done and went to the closet to get the dress and it wasn’t there. I asked my dresser what happened to the dress and she said, ‘It’s been confiscated. Mae does not want you to wear that dress. You can wear the red dress that you wore in the last scene!’ … Welch was so outraged that she stormed off the set and refused to return until the dress was back in her closet. … “For the scene, we never appeared in a two-shot together. She left after she did her lines and I had someone off-camera reading her lines and I had to pretend she was there.”
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Self Ennobling Critique
Cam Newton on Those Versace Pants, Race in America, and Whether He Would Let His Kid Play Football ~ Cam Newton shouldn’t give racist critics a free pass ~ Philip Glass ~ Racism and Violence in America ~ SJW DEBATES #11-Katie Hopkins Vs Fat Women ~ 20 Diversion Tactics Highly Manipulative Narcissists, Sociopaths And Psychopaths Use To Silence You ~ 6 Things Everyone Knows About War (That Are Totally Wrong) ~ Trump’s Long-Time Friend Speaks Out, Reveals His TRUE Identity… ~ Ted Nugent’s 20 Reasons to Vote for Trump Go Viral… Liberals Horrified ~ 11 Out Social Media Personalities You Should Know ~ Who Said It? Famous Quotes From the Civil War Quiz ~ Inconvenient Penis Is A Huge Problem For Japanese Pole Vaulter Hiroki Ogita In Rio ~ Nice and Racist: What Ellen Degeneres Teaches Us About Racism ~ 23 Emotions people feel, but can’t explain ~ The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows ~ 4 More Half-Truths Women Regularly Tell Their Significant Others ~ 5 Excuses for Slavery That Need to STOP Five things about slavery are discussed. Two of them are true. One (slaves enjoyed having the work) is said by almost nobody. One was supported by speculation about alien abduction. This is comedy, not history. ~ David’s Ankles: How Imperfections Could Bring Down the World’s Most Perfect Statue ~ @TheHashtagGame @realJKCallaway @HashtagSkirmish This This was the inspiration for @TheEllenShow and her controversial meme ~ Internal server error ~ Kodak Black staying in jail after authorities discover outstanding warrants ~ maps ~ Where to Find the Most Mouthwatering Vegetarian Food in Atlanta ~ African-American man stabbed in Olympia, attacker mentions Black Lives Matter ~ papaya ~ @robwhisman how is sticking the flag up my ass more acceptable than burning it ~ 6 Reasons Why Being Called a Cis Person Is Not ‘Oppressive’ ~ Losing Larry Wilmore and Why It Matters—to TV, Women, and the Nation ~ #HateYouHaikus ~ Whites See Racism as a Zero-Sum Game That They Are Now Losing ~ White people think racism is getting worse. Against white people. ~ Joy Reid shames pastor for Trump lies: ‘Even a pastor cannot make things up on this show’ ~ Photographs by James Bareham ~ “NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small,” ~ Trump supporter tells Joy Reid Breitbart.com isn’t racist because top writer is ‘incredibly gay’ ~ resume nonos ~ 2 dead after shooting at the Southside Inn ~ DeJarius Thurman ~ Noel Reed ~ Daniel Zeitz ~ Kenneth Hayes, Andraus Betts ~ 1 dead, 2 others shot in DeKalb County ~ Clifford Elston, Shayla Sullivan ~ Teen dead after confronting men about stolen bike ~ Royheem Delshawn Deeds ~ Which “over bloated turd” are you talking about? ~ How many of the people denouncing #CamNewton read the GQ article? ~ Is it racist for Donald Trump to say rude things about her ~ @WayneL_Jr Somebody said Cam Newton thinks he doesn’t face racism cause he dresses like a white lady ~ The old joke is true…it hurts when you laugh. ~ Peter Bogdanovich is on the Bret Easton Ellis podcast this week. He has a story about William Randolph Hearst. Someone said Mr. Soandso really hates your guts, Mr. Hearst. That’s funny, I never did him a favor. ~ is the quart the liter ally? ~ pro tip for writers: never use a word you don’t know how to pronounce ~ @chamblee54 @BretEastonEllis what does @blogdanovich think about the eagles? ~ There was a meme on twitter. “I’ve had a lot of worries in my life. Most of which never happened.” – Mark Twain After spending thirty seconds on a google search, I was directed to this The first reliable source for this quote was President elect James Garfield, in 1881. Mr. Garfield did, indeed, have something to worry about. ~ I am 35 minutes into @SamHarrisOrg chat with @GlennLoury the word talk is used often the word listen has not been used ~ Hillary, can do whatever she wants. It is Congress that will have to expand Medicare ~ @SamHarrisOrg @GlennLoury 1:16 of show…not killing someone because he steps on your shoe, in starbucks, is called privilege how strange ~ Sorry, something went wrong. We’re working on getting this fixed as soon as we can. ~ how many “self-ennobling critique” authors actually read the hines article that fired the controversy? I would guess a minority ~ Uncle Hotep @handymayhem @TheEllenShow @usainbolt ride that brutha like a horse Ellen…I know you secretly like the D ~ Ten starters on the Denver defense are black. This is the defense that shut down Carolina in the Stupid Bowl. ~ It’s a miss thing. You wouldn’t understand. ~ Isn’t Canada very picky about who they allow to move there? ~ I like to recycle overblown prose as poems. Legal writing is a productive field. These letters are no different. This quote stands out: Should we require people who are members of The Florida Bar that burn American flags to attend mandatory classes to understand how their conduct is viewed by veterans and their families? ~ “The U.S. Senate proposed the Eighteenth Amendment (mandating prohibition) on December 18, 1917. Upon being approved by a 36th state on January 16, 1919, the amendment was ratified as a part of the Constitution. By the terms of the amendment, the country went dry one year later, on January 17, 1920” That is two constitutional amendments in two years. The last two amendments to the constitution were passed in 1992 and 1971. ~ “I lost my boat, all my clothes and supplies. I’m afraid I’m a mess until I can get a shower and a change.” The man smiled at him for a long time before speaking. “It don’t matter, son,” he said in an unhurried drawl. “I’m gonna fuck you anyway.” ~ Political bribe solicitors/fund raisers are seeing an increase in donations ~ Every one? I suspect that many are, but 100%? Also, how do you decide who fits in those categories? ~ I bet campaign contributions to senators and congressmen are increasing ~ @WernerTwertzog I am not generous with interviewers who use profanity for no good purpose but vestigial antiestablismentarianism. ~ What about birth gendered? I just plain don’t like cis. ~ I doubt if a HO (Hillary Operative) installed those statues. ~ I see how we need a word for *opposite of trans*. However, I find the cis prefix to be distasteful. My suggestion would be to say that people in this category are birth gendered. ~ I did not care for reason number three. While being “encouraged to check your privilege.” is not oppression, it is not respect either. ~ @chamblee54 @mbsycamore @rabihalameddine @groveatlantic to say someone lost their mind presupposes that they had one to begin with ~ @WernerTwertzog I was not aware of any satire. ~ Having an opinion that differs from community standards should not be an act of bravery. ~ Being told you have a negative attitude works wonders. ~ It is a real shame to lose a friend over an honest attempt at discussion. I have written a blog post about this subject, but am not brave enough to post a link. If anyone is interested, send me a private message. It does have some great photos, taken at Agnes Scott College in 1937. ~ pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. The Atlanta Crackers played ball at Ponce De Leon Park until 1964 ~ selah
12th Street Camera
This is a repost, from six years ago. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. The link for the camera still works. It has a still photograph from 2010. The neighborhood below continues to change, sometimes for the better.
There is a nifty webcam up now. It shows the progress of a high rise going up now at 12th and Peachtree. The location of the camera itself is not certain, with the speculation centering on 999 Peachtree, two blocks south on Tenth Street.
A glance at the image reveals a curve in the road, between the two glass boxes under construction. Atlanta does not have wide, straight boulevards extending to the horizon. It is said that Atlanta did not build roads, but paved the cow paths.
People of a certain age will remember this area as the strip. The tenth street district was a neighborhood shopping area, up until the mid sixties. At some point, the old businesses started to move out and the hippies moved in. For a while, it was a festive party. Soon enough reality returned, and the area went into a crime filled decline.
The 999 complex is the neighborhood story in a nutshell. Before 1985, it was a block of small businesses. There was a hardware store, with the peace symbol set in tiles in the sidewalk. On Juniper Street stood the Langdon Court Apartments. They were named for PG’s great uncle Langdon Quin. Ru Paul used to stay there. He would sit out on a balcony, and wave to the traffic going by.
Across the street was a chinese restaurant, the House of Eng. A staircase on the side led to the Suzy Wong Lounge. Behind the restaurant was an apartment building. It was one of the residences of Margaret Mitchell, while she wrote “Gone With The Wind”. She called it “the dump.” It was.
PG went to the House of Eng for lunch one day in 1985. He noticed that he was the only customer in the house, at 12:30 pm on a weekday. After finishing his lunch, PG knew why.
At some point, it was decided to build a high rise there. Heery was one of the equity partners, along with a law firm and an ad agency. The building was designed by Heery (duh).The ad agency folded before the building opened, followed within a couple of years by the law firm. Heery was sold to a British company. PG does not know who owns the building now.
Cam Newton
It is a slow news day tradition. Some magazine has an article coming out. A few eye catching quotes are leaked. The internet has a collective hissy fit. Today, it was GQ, and the article was: Cam Newton on Those Versace Pants, Race in America, and Whether He Would Let His Kid Play Football
PG was known as Cam, short for Campbell, not for the car part, most of his life. PG has long been leery of Cam Newton. Number One has a preacher father, went to school at Auburn, and seems to be a bit of a hot dog. If you look at today’s GQ event, you will see Mr. Newton modelling a selection of pricy threads. Those fashion photos may say more about the personality of Mr. Newton than the article black twitter is wigging out about. (How many tweeters have read the GQ article?)
The article is fashion magazine purple prose. Here is a sample. This was a couple of paragraphs before the money quote: “:…The Charlotte Observer, a wonderful newspaper that’s kept its lights on during this di∞cult time for newspapers thanks in part to reactionary complaints about Cam Newton. … An honest question: Can you name a contemporary athlete who has been subjected to more veiled and sometimes outright racism than Cam Newton? Is this even a controversial opinion, to think that Cam lives in a world of coded and not-so-coded critiques that basically boil down to resentment about the existence of such a sublime black quarterback? … Maybe today he woke up and felt like being just a quarterback, not a black quarterback. Maybe he feels fatigue at having to have this conversation with any random reporter who thinks he’s entitled to his thoughts on this subject. … Maybe he just didn’t feel like participating in the whole economy of outrage that surrounds him today.”
As you may have heard, Mr. Newton said something about racism. Here is the actual quote: “Your now former teammate Josh Norman said last year, “I’m going to be precise when I say it: It’s hate.” His response may be somebody else’s response, but that’s not how I feel. Do you feel like football fans are racist toward you? It’s not racism. Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion. So if it’s not that, what is it, do you think? I’ll let you be the judge. I don’t look at it like that. I look at it like some people have certain beliefs, and I have my own belief, and we can agree to disagree on certain things. But this is what makes sports so amazing, that we can start a discussion around a table, in the newspaper, in the magazines, that will get people’s attention. And that’s what sports does. In January, right before the Super Bowl, you said: “I’m an African-American QB that may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.” I don’t want this to be about race, because it’s not. It’s not. Like, we’re beyond that. As a nation.”
@HiiiPoweredSoul So Cam Newton tuckin his tail to avoid controversy? I expected better. Especially bc of all the racist comments thrown at him.
@theintlfiles 5m5 Cam Newton was partially right when it came to criticism of himself, but my man was dead wrong when it came to the “post racism” society.
@KiamberNicole • welp. Cam Newton is officially a part of the ashy coon community.
@OhLordTaylore Wasn’t looking for Cam Newton to be an activist or anything, but to come out and say something as ignorant as we’re past racism? Smdh
@SonofBaldwin Remember how we had #CamNewton’s back too, when all those white folks came for his throat? For him to just sell us down the river for it…
mariaj81 Some negroes think that just because they have some coins that race no longer applies to them. Im looking at you, Cam Newton
Later in the interview, Mr. Newton says that Donald Trump is ” an unbelievable businessperson.” The author, Zach Baron, tries to get Mr. Newton to comment on North Carolina’s “bathroom bill.” Mr. Newton declines a comment. “But that’s too personal. That’s when you put the microscope to the person. But overall, I don’t care. Man, in my circle, and especially growing up in Atlanta, you see everything! … Sometimes I talk too much.”
Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Linguistic Turf Wars
Read more: PUBLIC NOTE: The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of the Urban Intellectuals, affiliates or partners. ~ Andrew Caruso, Akron, OH, Barbara L. Pawley, Los Angeles, CA, Domingo Pestano, Caracas, Venezuela, Dorothy Harbeck, Fair Haven, NJ, Heather Fougere, Center Conway, NH, Henry Biggs, Sydney, Australia, James Siragusa, Lewiston, ME, Julie Crowley, Ballyphilibeen, Ireland, Kathryn El-Assal, Middleton, WI, Leslie Craven, Wellington, New Zealand, Neil T Godden, Nouméa, New Caledonia, Peter S. Bjorkman, Rocklin, CA, Rachel Nirenberg, Toronto, Canada, Raluca Murg, Paris, France, Randy Denker, Tallahassee, FL, Ted Downes, Cardiff, Wales, William Lattanzio, Boyertown, PA. ~ “The expression [the shit hits the fan] is related to, and may well derive from, an old joke. A man in a crowded bar needed to defecate but couldn’t find a bathroom, so he went upstairs and used a hole in the floor. Returning, he found everyone had gone except the bartender, who was cowering behind the bar. When the man asked what had happened, the bartender replied, ‘Where were you when the shit hit the fan?’ ” ~ @SecretService The Secret Service is aware of the comments made earlier this afternoon. ~ is that what happens when you get “poked”? ~ homophobia is not a phobia you are not scared you are an asshole ~ Food for thought. The trouble is, I am on a diet. ~ “Because all news is satirical” This is a satire site. ~ ABSTRACT Joke-Making Jews / Jokes Making Jews: Essays on Humor and Identity in American Jewish Fiction Beginning from the premise that humor plays a prominent role in the construction of group and individual identities, as a social phenomenon and a simultaneously alienating and assimilating force, these essays explore and examine humor and its construction of American Jewish identity within the context of various works of American Jewish fiction. ~ making a visual joke about answer to your question being that facebook graphic — i am too baptist for this ~ There is a football stadium over at Atlanta University Center. It was built as a field hockey venue, with football the use after the games. The school went out of business. The stadium is in ruins. (Full disclosure: This is from an article I do not have a link to.) ~ You currently have 285 social media contacts aka friends. 285 is the number of the dreaded perimeter highway, the barrier between itp and otp. Are your friends constantly stuck in horrific traffic, while they go roundround circumnavigating the zircon encrusted metropolis? ~ @tariqnasheed Malia Obama’s suspected white supremacists friends dry snitched on her 4 smokin weed. Blks must understand every SWS is a potential snitch ~ Is #blacklivesmatter a registered trademark? who owns the rights? How do we know they are activists, and not crooks making $$ ? ~ The Great White Hype: No One Is Energizing the White Working Class, Not Even Donald Trump That title is problematic. Many of the issues affecting white people also affect POC. Labeling concern over these issues as racism sucks. The divide and conquer lives on. ~ @Zombie_Cartman You believe in Dinosaurs yet no living human has ever seen one alive, But if I believe in what a man did 2000 years ago i’m dumb @chamblee54 if you believe you know what a man did 2000 years ago, based on 1800 yo book, you are dumb ~ I, the Prime Minister of Israel, care more about Palestinians than their own leaders do. Sounds incredible, right? ~ Reince Preibus without vowels is RNC PR BS ~ The Simple Rules That Govern Our Modern Political World 1. There is a group of very rich men who control the levers of power. 2. Those men own the media. 3. Those men sponsor political candidates on all sides to do their bidding. 4. Those men have a simple agenda of increasing their wealth and power, to be gods among men. ~ Marijuana is dangerous to the profits of the alcohol industry, and their media enablers ~ Michael Phelps reportedly used to date Carrie Prejean. She is the beauty queen who got in trouble for saying that gay marriage is yucky, and not shutting up when she had the chance. ~ comment deleted after seeing it sourced to Perez Hilton ~ There are a lot of problems with this article. ~ Clinton to Donor: In Next War, I’ll Let Israel Kill 200,000, Not Just 2,000, Gazans Luther Mckinnon “Because all news is satirical” This is a satire site. Bert LeVert McDert Oops. Those things get me all the time. Rod McCoy Hillary wrote these words in a letter to a donor. It is no satire, though disinformants may have taken the flag and run… Luther Mckinnon Do you have credible evidence for that claim? Rod McCoy I am sure you would denounce it, I have no need to convince you. Beleive what you will. This is not the only source of the information. Do your own research before you attack. You are ot open and will not receive the information from me, so I will not go beyond what I have offered.Luther Mckinnon In other words, no Rod McCoy in other words you are here to argue and attack. go do your own search, instead of habitual neysaying.Luther Mckinnon I did my google search yesterday It said the site was satire. While it is technically possible that HRC said those things, I find it unlikely. She is too slick to say something that crude. If you are making the claim, you should have the proof. Rod McCoy you did a search on the site and found what you wanted to have permission to beleive what you had already decided to beleive. ~ It is too bad that the beautiful “round bank” was not built on a better location. Or that it seems to be unusable for anything other than banking. It definitely is not a good venue for a restaurant. ~ What about “Ventriloquism for Dummies” ? (Did I just spell Ventriloquism correctly without using spellcheck?) ~ The line about Mr. Reagan was that if America had a figurehead monarch, that he would be perfect. ~ The good news is, no one is blocking interstates to protest citizen on citizen crime. ~ The blurb uses an unfortunate adjective. ~ Brad, are you implying that the men of “D town” have small dicks? ~ I googled “desegregation is a benefit of gentrification.” None of the headlines on the first page appear to say this. ~ @kat_blaque What do people think they’re going to accomplish by calling me a racist? Like, I always wonder where the conversation is supposed go after. ~ The word listen does not appear in that meme. ~ @DesertFoxMulder The same group destroying property tonight commits 55% of all homicides in the US, despite being 13% of pop. @fubaglady I think they’re down to 12% now, since they spend so much time killing each other. ~ @RuPaul Why do people who’ve been oppressed take on the same characteristics as their oppressors? ~ 4.Ghostbusters continues to bomb at box office. ~ @peterkz #BlackLivesMatter Benefit show @TheSecondCity 100% proceeds go to #BLM #onenightonly @chamblee54 how do you donate to #blm do they have a bank account? Is this *official* #blm or someone using the name to steal @peterkz sounds like someone hurt you boo boo sowwy! @chamblee54 In other words you don't know ~ @lex_looper If you're more outraged by poor people in #Milwaukee burning property than rich people on Wall Street robbing you daily, you are delusional ~ @extravaganster Fellow white ppl: If you don't understand destruction of property as an act of protest, then you have an abundance of privilege. ~ Black Lives Matter is ‘woke’ to old problems — but still sleeping on solutions ~ Shit and the Need for Data-Driven Standards ~ Scrotal Asymmetry in Man and in Ancient Sculpture, etc. ~ Don’t Shy Away From Discussing Difficult Topics Of Race And Equity At Work ~ Why Angry White Men Love Calling People “Cucks” ~ Two Years After Darren Wilson Killed Michael Brown, Police and the Media Need to Do Better ~ Police: Man running from police hit, killed by cars on interstate ~ I’m Offended By That and Your Privilege is Showing: The (Other) Inherent Problem with Poetry Slam. ~ The (Actual) Inherent Problem with Poetry Slam ~ 39 arrested in Chatham, Effingham child-sex sting ~ Becky with the Good Hair and White “Activism” Get Taken Down on Survivor’s Remorse ~ Is Neoliberalism Behind the Rise of Donald Trump? @chamblee54 article was mostly economics, & downplayed racial issues…the R word is the king of clickbait ~ @Fedup_Mom @EmoNegro1 Tell it! That’s what I fear most for the Obama girls. They’ve been so segregated from black folk they’re not prepared for racism. ~ Learning to Live With Changes to the English Language ~ Investigating the Meaning of the Gadsden Flag ~ The Great White Hype: No One Is Energizing the White Working Class, Not Even Donald Trump ~ 10 Signs You’re a Shaman & Don’t Know It ~ The Linguistic Turf Wars Over the Singular ‘They’ ~ EXCLUSIVE: ‘We ended up kissing and kissing led to other things’: Mother, 36, and son, 19, who fell in love when they met last year after she gave him up for adoption as a baby, say they’ll go to JAIL to defend their relationship ~ I’m a Judge and I Think Criminal Court Is Horrifying ~ racism clickbait The line is the blurb is from paragraph 14. It is about a judge, telling a defendent they can’t go to see a friend to eat beans and rice. ~ A 10-panel comic explores a subtle kind of racism many people of color experience. ~ Black people wait twice as long to vote as white people, a new study finds ~ poem ~ How Evangelicals are Losing an Entire Generation ~ RuPaul just gave the most politically pragmatic endorsement of Hillary Clinton` ~ Casanova Was Also a Grave Robber ~ Tim Smith ~ Man shot, killed inside metro Atlanta home ~ Tyreun Gaines, Antoine Coon ~ Jeremy Milbry ~ pictures for this preposterous waste of bandwidth today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. ~ selah
Richards
A comment at a recent post mentioned “Jenning’s Rose Room, a classic poor white juke and dance hall … where Trader Joes now sits.” PG had been in that building when it was called Richards. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
There is no telling what the original use of the building at 931 Monroe Drive was. It was across the street from Grady Stadium, and adjacent to Piedmont Park. The railroad tracks that became the beltline ran behind it. The parking lot was primitive, with a marquee sign built at some point. (PG drove by that sign several nights and saw that Lynyrd Skynyrd was playing.)
There was another nightclub building on the hill behind JRR. One night, PG went to see a jazz band there, accompanied by someone who lived in a nearby house. After seeing the band, PG was led to a horse stable behind the bar. The horses were not well maintained … you could see the ribs sticking out. There is a story of a goat getting loose from the stable, and being chased out of the jazz bar during happy hour.
Jennings Rose Room was before PG’s time. There is a story that some men had lunch there, and made a bet. The idea was to hit a golf ball from the JRR parking lot, and putt it into a hole at Piedmont Park. A biscuit was used as a tee. The first shot went across the street, onto the field at the stadium. Eventually, the ball was hit across Tenth Street, onto a green, and into the cup.
At some point, Jennings Rose Room closed. A gay club called Chuck’s Rathskeller was opened in that location. A rock and roll club or two did business there. Then Richards opened.
The first time PG was in the house was after a Johnny Winter concert at the Fox. There were rumors of visiting musicians dropping by Richards to play after their shows. Mr. Winter was only onstage for a couple of minutes after PG got there.
The most memorable trip to Richards was during the summer of 1973. The headliner was Rory Gallagher, who was ok but not spectacular. The opening act was Sopwith Camel, one of the forgotten bands of the seventies. They performed a novelty hit, “Hello Hello”. Someone in the audience liked it, and paid them to do it again. The band wound up doing “Hello Hello” five times, and said that was the most money they made in a long time.
Average White Band was making the rounds that fall, and had a show at Richards. A lot of the audience was black, and they hit the dance floor in unison when “Pick up the Pieces” was played. Fellow Scotsman Alex Harvey was in town, and joined AWB to sing “I heard it through the grapevine”.
Muddy Waters played at Richards one night. The band did most of the playing, with Mr. Waters tossing in a few licks on bottleneck guitar. He might have sang a couple of times.
About this time, Iggy Pop played a few shows at Richards. One night, someone snuck up on him, and gave him a hug. It was Elton John, wearing a gorilla suit.
PG saw three more shows (that he can remember) at Richards. Richie Havens was worth the two dollar admission. Soft Machine played in the winter of 1974. Larry Coryell played a show that summer, with the Mike Greene Band opening. PG got to talk to Mike Greene that night. The National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (who do the Grammy Awards) had a President named C. Michael Greene at one time. PG thinks this is the person he talked to that night.
Two friends of PG went, as their first date, to see Spirit at Richards. They were married a few years later. Towards the end of 1974, Richards was running out of steam. They advertised a New Years Eve show starring B.B. King, and sold high priced tickets. When the crowd showed up for the show, they found the doors locked. Richards had closed.
The next tenant for 931 Monroe Drive was going to be Cabaret After Dark, a gay club. There was a fire the night before the grand opening. The building was never used again. Eventually, a shopping center was built on the site.
UPDATE: Here is an article, from the Great Speckled Bird, about Richards. This is a repost.
Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest 2016 Part Two
This is the rest of the published entries from the 2016 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Part one hit the ether yesterday. Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. The Atlanta Crackers played ball at Ponce de Leon Park until 1964. If you get tired of the text, skip over it and look at the pictures.
There are no bad writers from Georgia in this contest. This is the fifth year of chamblee54 coverage, and there has never been a Georgia writer mentioned. Maybe Florida, and North Carolina, were too productive, and exhausted the southern quota.
PG read all of the material, and should recover. What follows is the product that got PG’s attention. The samples here are in alphabetical order, starting with “Knowing well.” The winner for most popular first word is the, which begins five entries. The next most popular first word is she, which is utilized four times. Maybe we should just start the bad writing party.
Knowing well the hand signals of his platoon leader, Private James Dawson silently dropped to the dirt, concealed and motionless for what seemed an eternity, a move that he had learned, coincidentally, from his parents whenever the Watchtower ladies would ring the doorbell.
Peter S. Bjorkman, Rocklin, CA
Little Jenny would stop at nothing in her ambition to become an astronaut—that way she wouldn’t end up as an unfulfilled cashier married to a dweeb like Colin Snodgrass, with a sizeable mortgage and four lazy kids who couldn’t even be bothered to pick up a book like this, never mind become astronauts. — Julie Crowley, Ballyphilibeen, Ireland
Osgood knew he wasn’t popular, well-liked, or even very good looking, and could suck the life out of a room like a fat kid sucking the filling out of a Twinkie, but surely a date with the beautiful blonde in the corner wasn’t out of the question, he thought as he licked the cream from his fingers.
Marie Gaither, Asheville, NC
Patrice— the most-feared henchman of the global terrorist mastermind Ivan Terrible—staggered back to his car, wiped the dead cocktail waiter’s blood from his hands, picked up his smartphone, and texted a terse status update to his employer’s personal assistant: “Tell IT that our server is down.”
Gwen Dallas, Austin, TX
Quiet mornings, long lazy afternoons, and spectacular sunsets were de rigueur for Elbert and Ethel Salipit since their early retirement and internment at the Happy Valley Cemetery for Eternal Rest and Relaxation. — Tim Petteys, Malden on Hudson, NY
She couldn’t decide whether it was the tail-less rat devouring another neighboring rat’s brain in his glassed cage, or just the way the doctor and his white-haired assistant were applying the saw to Aslan’s skull casing as he lay dismembered on the great table, but something told Lucy they’d tumbled through another portal and out of Narnia.— “Lionrhod,” Winter Park, FL
She walked toward me with her high heels clacking like an out-of-balance ceiling fan set on low, smiling as though about to spit pus from a dental abscess, and I knew right away that she was going to leave me feeling like I had used a wood rasp to cure my hemorrhoids. Charles Caldwell, Leesville, LA
She was like my ex-girlfriend Ashley, who’d stolen my car, broken my heart, murdered my father, robbed a bank, and set off a pipe bomb in Central Park—tall. — Rachel Nirenberg, Toronto, Canada
She was uncertain how or when it had happened, but over the years her svelte figure-8 frame had gone lopsided and become a wretched parody of the symmetrical numeral—indeed, the bottom oval was as lumpy and pear-shaped as the carelessly-thrown-aside velour sack of the average mall Santa.
April Olion, Gainesville, FL
The evidence at Evan’s Seaside Bird Sanctuary was mounting: the scattered precocial plumage, the tidal pond encircling a quartet of lifeless birds, the brine-soaked ascot, the cane—could it be that Maurice Chevalier sank Evan’s four little gulls? — Peter S. Bjorkman, Rocklin, CA
The girl screamed, the wind rustled, something moved in the night closer and closer; the moon hung heavily over the night, white as a pearl, blood dripped from Vlad’s mouth, the girl’s pale body hung in his hands, sparkling in the moonlight—he was a vampire, after all.
Heather Fougere, Center Conway, NH
The Halkan prediction of galactic revolt did indeed come true when Han Solo seized the throne of Gandolf, was overthrown by Captain Jim Kirk, all the Wookies were slaughtered by a ragtag band of renegade Hobbits, Tribbles were ground up and made the sixth flavor of Skittles, and Saurian brandy was sold as a premixed chocolate-flavored cocktail by the Martian partners of Nestle.
David S. Nelson, Falls Church, VA
The jar was oozing, and the ooze was jarring: a dank fetid oleaginous slime that slapped and slithered across the bourgeoisie marble countertop like loathsome Gerber’s Lovecraftian puree.
Marlon McAvoy, Oak Ridge, TN
The sea roiled like water in a pasta pot about to boil, an apt simile thought Captain Samuel Turner, because if they didn’t fix their engine soon he and his crew would be floating face down like overcooked manicotti—bloated, white, limp and about to be consumed by something that wished it were eating ahi tuna instead.— Alex Bosworth, Ketchikan, Alaska
Tinkerbell the Fairy and Amy the Elf were BFFFs (best fairyland friends forever), and they loved having adventures in Big-People Land, like eating marshmallows for dinner, galloping fast on the backs of tiny lizards, and taking naps on the pillows of very important people like Judges, Mayors, and Millionaires.— David S Nelson, Falls Church, VA
Watching Emily sleep in exhausted, naked bliss while bathed by the soft shower of lucid moonlight that titillatingly teased glimpses of her supple features he had come to know, Sebastian tried to remember the last time he had seen a woman’s body so beautiful, but after the collision of his ’02 Pontiac Aztek with a Bug-X exterminator truck on East Hermosa Vista Drive in Mesa, Arizona, two months ago left him with long-term memory loss, he couldn’t. — L.A. Jackson, Apex, NC
Don’t Tread On Me
Sometimes these stories write themselves. This one began with a tweet. @NotShaunKing “SJWs are now more offended by the Gadsen and Confederate flag, than the ISIS flag. Nice job, people!” The “Gadsen Flag” is the Revolutionary War banner. A coiled rattlesnake rests above the phrase “Don’t Tread on me.” It is a staple of American history.
Supposedly, someone is making a federal case out of wearing DTOM in the workplace. The google search shows stories by Fox News, and The Blaze. The slightly more reputable Washington Post has an article, Wearing ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ insignia could be punishable racial harassment.
“Here’s an excerpt from Shelton D. [pseudonym] v. Brennan, 2016 WL 3361228, decided by the EEOC two months ago: On January 8, 2014, Complainant filed a formal complaint in which he alleged that the Agency subjected him to discrimination on the basis of race (African American) and in reprisal for prior EEO activity when, starting in the fall of 2013, a coworker (C1) repeatedly wore a cap to work with an insignia of the Gadsden Flag, which depicts a coiled rattlesnake and the phrase “Don’t Tread on Me.” Complainant stated that he found the cap to be racially offensive to African Americans because the flag was designed by Christopher Gadsden, a “slave trader & owner of slaves.”
PG read that, and began to think. This is never a good omen. If Christopher Gadsen was a slave owner, then what about Betsy Ross?
Elizabeth Griscom Ross is, according to legend, the seamstress who created the stars and stripes. The story is disputed. For this sake of this blog post, lets assume that the legend is real. Betsy Ross created the American Flag, albeit with thirteen stars. Did she own slaves?
One internet forum raises the question, Did Betsy Ross have a slave? “no, Betsy ross did not have a slave. RE: Her husband had slaves though ” Could women own property in 18th century America? Who knows? Bear in mind, this is an undocumented internet forum. As is the next story.
“Have you ever heard Betsy Ross had children by her African slaves and was shunned by the Quakers because of it? Betsy Ross was widowed three times, and I have heard that since she knew how white men were having children by African women to increase their slave population, she decided to do the same. … Betsy Ross had children by her male slaves to increase her slave popuplation (and in essence, her property value).”
FWIW, Betsy, (January 1, 1752 – January 30, 1836,) was indeed married three times. The lucky men were John Ross (m. 1773–1776,) Joseph Ashburn (m. 1777–1782,) and John Claypoole (m. 1783–1817.) In both cases, she was remarried the next year. If she did take a slave baby daddy, she was very efficient. Maybe the husbands were understanding.
Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”. The Atlanta Crackers played ball until 1965.
Trump or Jesus?
There is a facebook thingie this morning, Trump or Jesus? When creating the document for this feature, windows decided not to *save* the document with the T 0r J title. That is an omen.
The idea is simple. You get a quote, in contemporary english. You choose whether it was said by Jesus, or Trump. Jesus is in a blue box, while Trump is red. White letters are used for both choices. Those who think Christ is the last name will be confused.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5.
“My IQ is one of the highest… Please don’t feel so stupid or insecure; it’s not your fault.” source
“You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass.” source
“Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” John 13:34.
“If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.” Matthew 5:39
“If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously, okay?” source
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” Matthew 19:20
“The point is that you can’t be too greedy.” source
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” John 13:34
“The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families.” source
This is not a tough test. It is even easier here, with Bible verses for one, and links for another. Jesus did not tweet. The media, IQ, and Terrorist are modern phrases. (There is evidence that the phrase terrorist was coined by the Jewish rebels fighting to create the state of Israel. Ben Hecht wrote a fund raising ad, Letter to the Terrorists of Palestine. It “appeared on page 42 of the May 14, 1947 edition of the New York Post.”)
We do not know what translation was used in this test. Jesus spoke Aramaic, which was recorded in Greek, and endlessly translated. There are stories of editing by the Catholic church. Many scholars question the validity of some Gospels, especially John. While Jesus may have said something like these verses, they are not verbatim quotes.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
National Poetry Slam
PG thought he could help out by volunteering for the National Poetry Slam. The 2016 edition is in Decatur GA, just a few dozen red lights down Clairmont Road. Three shifts were involved. They ranged from boring, to enjoyable, to busy/enjoyable, to excruciating.
The first day was registration. There was nothing to do, except sit behind a table, hand t-shirts to people, and point out the “money lady.” Eventually, there were a couple of chats to listen in on, and an urban explorer to compare notes with. Later was volunteer orientation, which was about as interesting as you might expect.
For some reason, PG volunteered to take on another shift. It was for a “Daytime Performing Venue.” PG went to the library, then to the hotel. He saw a schedule. The event was “Rookie Showcase,” held at the dependable Java Monkey.
The poets performed in an open mic format. It was the usual OM assortment, perhaps a touch better than Java Monkey Speaks. One lady talked about the joys (?) of motherhood. A couple of men talked about dealing with G-d. All PG had to do was be there, set up chairs, and pick up chairs when the event was over. It was a pleasant enough way to spend the morning.
The third day was general support at Afternoon events. At one o’clock, the event was “Head 2 Head Haiku.” People were paired off, the green performer and the blue performer. They read a haiku, and the judges held up a green, or blue glow stick, to indicate the winner. Whoever won that round moved into the next round, against another winner. It goes on until one person wins.
The host put PG to work. Working from a list of names, PG copied the names on slips of paper, to be drawn out of a hat. Next, the names were written on postit notes, to be stuck on the wall. After a round, the winner’s postit goes to the next round, and the loser goes on the table.
After a brief intermission, the second event was “Black Poets Speak Out.” A series of poets stood on the stage, and shouted. They were concerned about people being killed, mostly by policemen. After the third performer shouted that “we are in a post racial america, with a black overseer,” PG decided not to endure the toxic rhetoric.
Wednesday morning, four miles south of the Decatur library, 15 year old Keaira Palmer went to the S&N Superette on Glenwood Road. “She was just supposed to be going to the store to get a Sprite, a bag of hot chips and a Slim Jim.” Someone else drove by the store, and started shooting. None of the black poets spoke out about this incident. At least, not before PG left.
Pictures are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
The End Of Racism
One of the touted TED talks in the weekly email is Color blind or color brave? It is by Mellody Hobson, a POC in the investment business. It is the standard call to talk more about race. Talk, talk, talk, and talk some more. The word listen is not used.
At the 3:13 mark, Mrs. Hobson makes a remarkable statement. “Now I know there are people out there who will say that the election of Barack Obama meant that it was the end of racial discrimination for all eternity, right?” It is possible that someone has said that. There are also people who say the earth is flat.
PG asked Mr. Google about this. The top two results are about the TED talk. The third result is an article in Forbes magazine, Racism In America Is Over. It is written by John McWhorter, one of the “black guys at Bloggingheads.tv.” Dr. McWhorter does say racism is over, sort of. The problems that remain are a lot worse. Too much food for thought, for a population with intellectual bulimia.
There is a quote in the Forbes article that is pure gold. “When decrying racism opens no door and teaches no skill, it becomes a schoolroom tattletale affair. It is unworthy of all of us: “He’s just a racist” intoned like “nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah!””
There are a lot more results. PG is getting tired of looking. If you want to see for yourself, google “the election of Barack Obama meant that it was the end of racial discrimination for all eternity.” Except for a rogue title editor at Forbes, almost nobody has said that. This is a repost. Pictures today are from “The Special Collections and Archives, Georgia State University Library”.
Chamblee54 
leave a comment