Let's see, there's so much to talk about, I'm not even sure where to begin. To get us started, here's a quick pic of Matthew Mayfield opening for The Watson Twins last night.
And here's a pic of the twins themselves, performing a cover (one of many) of The Cure's Just Like Heaven while headlining at Smith's Olde Bar.But everything hasn't been universally copacetic in the ATL this week. Here's a video of a late-night incident in a Buckhead IHoP last weekend:
Police punch a young woman in the face, and then throw her to the floor and handcuff her. In case there's any mistake about who's the culprit here, here's another video of the event taken from a different angle:
This second video shows a little more clearly how the incident unfolded, as well as the context: guys at the next booth for some reason dressed like Star Wars characters goading the police on, drunken frat boys two table away laughing at the whole thing, and at around the 1:30 mark, my favorite part of the video - restless patrons snagging the newly available booth once the young woman is dragged away.
I'm posting this here not as entertainment but to document the events in case the videos get taken down off of YouTube for some reason. I feel so sorry for that woman - hurt, scared, humiliated, and, later, incarcerated. This is beyond bullying - this is brutality, this is authoritarianism of the worst kind. Atlanta needs to make some major changes in its police force.
The biggest news, though, is none of this but the weather: tonight, they're calling for "near certain" tornadoes to hit the city. The media are trying their best to inform, or scare the pants off, the public, with a local weatherman saying something to the effect that a rating of "1" indicates a likelihood of tornadoes touching down, and a "2" indicates a near certainty. Tonight rates an 8 or 9, he tells us.
Outside, the hard winds are blowing on and off, but rain hasn't started yet. The lights are also flickering from time to time, and I'm fairly certain I'll lose electricity at some point tonight. I just hope the trees surrounding my house remain upright.
But all of the above isn't even the weird part. In addition to the President of the United States having to release his birth certificate to the press today, an Atlanta-area school teacher claims to have attained a "new level of enlightenment" last week. According to the police reports, "he wanted everybody to be free now that his third eye was open."
The arresting officer explained "the obvious problem with his third eye being opened in public." The officer wrote that "He readily agreed that his decision to remove his clothing posed a problem and stated that he understood why I would likely have to place him under arrest" (he had been caught by another teacher walking naked down the halls of his elementary school). The teacher was reportedly a vegan who had sworn off soft drinks, but had gone to Taco Bell for some reason an hour or so before the incident.
At the officer's request, he put his clothes back on and told the arresting officer that he understood that his career with the school system was probably over, but that he still wanted to teach, "on a new level, with hands in the earth, gathering the essence and learning how to love one another and fully appreciate the spiritual realm."
There's still no word yet as to whether or not he will be installed as the new head teacher at the Atlanta Zen Center.
I'm posting this here not as entertainment but to document the events in case the videos get taken down off of YouTube for some reason. I feel so sorry for that woman - hurt, scared, humiliated, and, later, incarcerated. This is beyond bullying - this is brutality, this is authoritarianism of the worst kind. Atlanta needs to make some major changes in its police force.
The biggest news, though, is none of this but the weather: tonight, they're calling for "near certain" tornadoes to hit the city. The media are trying their best to inform, or scare the pants off, the public, with a local weatherman saying something to the effect that a rating of "1" indicates a likelihood of tornadoes touching down, and a "2" indicates a near certainty. Tonight rates an 8 or 9, he tells us.
Outside, the hard winds are blowing on and off, but rain hasn't started yet. The lights are also flickering from time to time, and I'm fairly certain I'll lose electricity at some point tonight. I just hope the trees surrounding my house remain upright.
But all of the above isn't even the weird part. In addition to the President of the United States having to release his birth certificate to the press today, an Atlanta-area school teacher claims to have attained a "new level of enlightenment" last week. According to the police reports, "he wanted everybody to be free now that his third eye was open."
The arresting officer explained "the obvious problem with his third eye being opened in public." The officer wrote that "He readily agreed that his decision to remove his clothing posed a problem and stated that he understood why I would likely have to place him under arrest" (he had been caught by another teacher walking naked down the halls of his elementary school). The teacher was reportedly a vegan who had sworn off soft drinks, but had gone to Taco Bell for some reason an hour or so before the incident.
At the officer's request, he put his clothes back on and told the arresting officer that he understood that his career with the school system was probably over, but that he still wanted to teach, "on a new level, with hands in the earth, gathering the essence and learning how to love one another and fully appreciate the spiritual realm."
There's still no word yet as to whether or not he will be installed as the new head teacher at the Atlanta Zen Center.
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