SP Staff Blog

From everyone here at The Sunday Paper, have a safe and happy holiday weekend.

This weekend's for celebrating -- not just in the sense of "proud to be an American," but also in the "proud to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered and any other category you might happen to fall in because you were born a certain way and damn it, you embrace yourself" sense. Yes, Atlanta Gay Pride is upon us, my friends. If you like it, come celebrate. If you don't, put your angry "gays are spawns of Satan, but I still wear wool and eat pork" Bible-beating signs down and give it a rest already.

Why we celebrate...

What the hell is Atlanta Gay Pride, anyway? It's certainly not just a flamboyant show of feathers and leather. It's far more meaningful. Typically, Atlanta Gay Pride takes place in late June (the third weekend, to be exact) to honor the historic Stonewall Riots, which took place June 28, 1969. The event was a major catalyst for the GLBT community as it helped us develop a very strong and unified front. Standing together, we were going to fight back ... again and again. With organizations such as the Human Rights Campaign lobbying for our rights in Congress and California legalizing gay marriage, progress continues to be made, though we're far from true equality. As we band together during Pride, we're embracing our community for all that it is -- a veritable rainbow of bright personalities from all walks of life, be it attorneys and surgeons, teachers and police officers, military and artists, CEOs and sanitation workers, editors and accountants, restaurateurs and ministers, neighbors and friends. Together, we celebrate our similarities and our differences -- proudly.

What to do this weekend...

Because of the drought, Pride's 3-day celebration has been moved to the 4th of July weekend and from Piedmont Park to the Atlanta Civic Center. There's a plethora of activities this weekend to celebrate Atlanta Gay Pride, not just at the Atlanta Civic Center and the parade, but also at all the gay and lesbian bars around town. 

The main Atlanta Pride event is the three-day Atlanta Pride Festival, which takes place this year downtown at the Atlanta Civic Center (395 Piedmont Ave. NE). The festival kicks off at 6 pm on Friday, July 4, and lasts until 11 p.m. The next two days, Saturday and Sunday, the festival continues at the park, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day. Admission is free, and during the festival there's live music and comedy; a Pride Market featuring dozens of vendors, GLBT organizations and crafters; and a variety of forums and ceremonies.

Entertainment at Atlanta Pride is extensive and varied, and typically includes movies, concerts, cabaret and fashion shows. On Saturday, the Festival presents the first of two big parades, the Dyke March, which starts at 6 pm. The Atlanta Pride Parade is held on Sunday afternoon at 1 pm.

Happy Pride!

It's not local, but it's so great, I have to say so: It isn't often that militaries pull off something truly brilliant. But the Colmbian military did. On Wednesday, the Colombian military, having stealthily infiltrated the leadership of the terrorist organization FARC, executed a flawless ruse, rescuing former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three American contractors and 11 others--all of whom have been held captive by FARC for six years.

Welcome back, Jimmy Baron! Jimmy just sent me this message on his Facebook page (yeah, we love Facebook, too):

This morning, I received the following e-mail from an SP reader. The scorecard she mentions is in reference to Adam Murphy's monthly Restaurant Report Card (in our current issue):

Hi Kirsten,

I am a huge proponent of food safety, and I love reading your scorecard each issue. I was at [a major discount chain store] near Perimeter Mall, off Ashford-Dunwoody, and when I saw these English muffins sitting on top of the trash can,  I had to take a picture as I was so disgusted. This should deter anyone from eating fast food--no one in their right mind should want to eat food that has been sitting atop a receptacle used for nasty food scraps and who knows what else. This is disgusting and something should be done so I thought of you guys.

Thanks,

Megan

Thanks for being a proactive citizen, Megan! I've forwarded your e-mail on to Adam Murphy, who investigates health inspection violations around Atlanta and surrounding cities. Watch Adam Murphy’s CBS 46 Restaurant Report Card every Thursday at 4 p.m. and Fridays at noon. You can also catch all of his reports in streaming video at www.cbs46.com.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Charles Walter "Chuck" Dryden, a member of the famed WWII Tuskegee Airmen, will be eulogized today following his death last week at the age of 87. Funeral services will be held at Cascade United Methodist Church, 3144 Cascade Road in Atlanta. The Rev. Andrew Young, former U.N. ambassador and Atlanta mayor, will deliver the eulogy.

Dryden trained at the Tuskegee Army Flying School in Alabama and was among the second class of black pilots to graduate pilot training in U.S. military history. On June 9, 1943, he made history yet again, leading a flight of six pilots against enemy aircraft over Sicily, the first time black American pilots of the U.S. Army Air Corps had engaged in aerial combat.

Dryden also flew combat missions in Korea and served as a professor of air science at Howard University, among many other distinctions. He also wrote a book about his life, "A-Train: Memoirs of a Tuskegee Airman." Our condolences to his family.

If you've had trouble reaching a specific public official recently, I want to hear from you. Whether you're a member of the media or non-media citizen, if you know the name of the person with whom you need to speak and that person is in fact the person in charge of the area about which you need information, there is no sense whatsoever in wasting time and energy dealing with PR people who take it upon themselves to decide whether you really need to talk with that person or not. This is not the way that responsible and accountable governments do business. This is the way that people who don't want to face the public do business. It also seems to be the way that the Georgia Department of Human Resources does business, based on the latest round of phone-hockey I've endured. Members of the media, members of the citizenry, if you've run into the same wall of baloney, I want to hear from you. Email stephanieramage@sundaypaper.com

Gas prices are steadily climbing, but that's not stopping us from shopping great deals. Savvy shoppers, read on.

From July 2 to July 9, Fickle Manor's got all spring and summer clothes marked down 30-50 percent off. And July 10-16, everything is 50-70 percent off. Great finds from Notice, Liquid, Nicole Miller, Veronica M, Curtsey, Envi, Johnny Was and more. www.ficklemanor.com

Get deep discounts at the Boutique Warehouse Sale Friday, July 18th & Saturday, July 19th from 10 to 6 at Atlantic Station (above Metropolitan Deluxe). Enjoy merchandise at 50-75 percent off from The Fickle Manor, Sandpiper, Bloom, Boogaloos, Chelsea Parkes, fab'rik, Pella, Mooncake, Tulipano, Liv's and more. www.boutiquebargainsatl.com

1. LICKING THE SNOW: For just under two bucks, you can’t beat the big-kid sno-cones at Cajun restaurant Just Loaf’n to battle southern summer heat. www.justloafn.net.

2. HIDING OUT AT THE CHOP HOUSE: The best place to be if you want to chill out with a drink during a Braves game. But get there early, because once the outside temp hits 90 degrees, the place fills up fast. www.braves.mlb.com.

3. VISITING THE FROZEN TUNDRA: Fernbank’s IMAX theatre lets you choose between screenings of “Antarctica” (pictured) or “Alaska: Spirit of the Wild” all summer long. Air conditioning included in ticket price. www.fernbankmuseum.org.

4. SAMPLING INTERNATIONAL FLAVORS: Scoops of the tasty Limoncello and Green Tea gelatos at Paolo’s Gelatos sure hit the spot—and watching the irrepressible Paolo Dalla Zorza in action is a treat in itself. www.paolosgelato.com.

As old-school “Original Gangsta” Ice-T and Atlanta’s Soulja Boy (pictured) have traded barbs online earlier this week, it's been hard to know who to feel worse for: The 17-year-old “Crank That” phenom, clearly out of his league, giggling at his own jabs at Ice-T’s age, or the 50-year-old “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star, lowering himself to a rambling, nearly eight-minute diatribe aimed at a teenager. Of course, it was Ice’s assertion on a recent mix tape that Soulja Boy is killing hip-hop that started the whole thing.

Neither performer has come out of this "feud" looking very good, and neither has Atlanta-born Grammy winner Kanye West, who took Soulja Boy's side in the debate. (Since you've been dying to know, I'm more inclined to take Ice-T's position, as he's clearly an artist who's proven his talent and longevity. Except that "Crank That" doesn't, strictly speaking, strike me as hip-hop: It's just a dissonant, slurred pop novelty, and attacking it as "garbage" inflates the song's pop-cultural status beyond what it deserves.

It’d have been better for everyone involved had the Iceberg taken a cue from NBA superstar LeBron James, who back in March dismissed an insult from Washington Wizard DeShawn Stevenson, saying that to respond would be like Jay-Z acknowledging a diss from … Soulja Boy.