Hard to believe it’s nearly been 3 months, but the time for me to go back to Scotland is finally upon me…
So by way of a retrospective, here’s a few of my greatest hits in my time in Atlanta.
My first post a few days after I arrived.
A day out in Chattanooga, TN..
Not terribly exciting but a lot of fun, only 4 weeks til I come back.
Since last Thursday it’s been a little bit hectic as my friend Scott is visiting from Scotland and we had a full extended weekend planned…
It started Thursday afternoon with us (Robyn and I) picking him up from Hartsfield Airport and driving out to Athens which is the home of The University of Georgia and, I was told, a great nightlife… So we had a few drinks, got something to eat and shot some pool till Scott could stands no more.
Friday was walking around downtown Athens then back to Atlanta to see Cirque du Soleil which was quite a sight… Plus we had scored front row seats in the corner of the stage, so at times we were a little too close for comfort. I would have loved to take more pictures than the 3 I did, but security was pretty tight about cameras and the last thing I wanted was to have it confiscated (see my thought on this from 2 years ago and the infamous Dublin Foo Fighters incident).
Saturday was spent doing the CNN Studio Tour at the CNN Center then a trip up to Six Flags Over Georgia, home of the ride that makes my ass pucker up… Batman The Ride… Never again I tells you…
Sunday was a nice relaxing day down at Turner Field to see the Braves beat the Marlins 3-2 in 10 innings and a game that saw 2 homers, 2 ejections, Chipper Jones carried off injured and an exciting finish with Andruw Jones running from 1st to home after a Marlin outfielder lost the ball in the sun to win the game.
And now it’s back to work until Thursday when I head back to Scotland for a month, it’s going to be very weird being back there, I’m too used to living here now. Who in their right mind would swap 81° sun for 51° (if I’m lucky) wind and rain?
Anyways, here’s a few pictures from the weekend…
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Unfortunately I need to get pictures of Athens off Robyn, and I won’t see her till just before I leave…
Oh, and here’s what you’ve been waiting for… A CNN Center panorama, The Great American Scream Machine at Six Flags, Turner Field and Turner Field from a different view.
Via Business 2.0
Is Amazon taking on Google? Last fall the giant online retailer announced that it was launching a company focused exclusively on search. Lest anyone miss the implications, Amazon promptly rented an office far from its Seattle headquarters — in the epicenter of Silicon Valley, near Stanford University. That’s where both Google and Yahoo were born.
And with that A9 was launched on an unsuspecting public…
I guess the real question is “do we really need another search engine???”. Even their 7 reasons to use A9 sounds eerily familiar…
A9 Toolbar
Web Search: Search the web and Amazon.com’s Search Inside the Book results. You can also do searches on Amazon.com, the Internet Movie Database, Google, and look up words in a dictionary and thesaurus.
Search Highlighter: The toolbar will automatically highlight your search terms in a light yellow. By using the highlighter menu, you can see how many times your search terms appear on the page, and jump to each occurrence of a specific word. Hint: You don’t have to do a search to use the highlighter. Just type one or more words in the search box and click the highlight button.
Your History: Keep track of your last sites visited (on any computer) and your most recent searches. It will keep track of the Web pages you recently visited–even if you switch computers.
Diary: This is the newest and (we think) coolest feature of the toolbar. You can take notes on any web page, and reference them whenever you visit that page, on any computer that you use. Your entries are automatically saved whenever you stop typing or when you go to another page.
Site Info: See information about the website you are visiting, including related links, site statistics (including traffic rank), sites linking to this site, and user ranking. Select from the menu to go to the site’s page on Amazon.com where you can get more information and write a review about the site.
Pop-up Blocker: Stop those annoying pop-up ads.
Though, the diary feature of the A9 toolbar sounds a cool idea.
Things are pretty hectic here nowadays, so for the time being I’ll keep you amused with some trashy pulp fiction for years ago…
It’s as yet untitled and comes from a whole host of better writers than me, back when cotworld had a writer’s jam in 2000…
Untitled #1
I had just gotten out of the county lockup last July after serving forty-seven days for petty larceny.
They picked me up for grabbing a big jar of money marked HELP JERRY’S KIDS from the Stop-N-Shop over on Westover Street and running like a madman. I would’ve gotten away for sure if it hadn’t been for an overzealous store clerk and the fact that I ran right past Tully Kruller’s restaurant which was just lousy with goddamn sheriff’s deputies.
I did my time like a man. You’d be surprised how fast forty-seven days goes by when you’ve got cable. Nickelodeon ran a Hogan’s Heroes marathon that was fucking A, and I used to pretend I was Colonel Hogan and I kept calling all the other fellows by different names. You know, Carter, LeBeau, Kinch and a skinny Irish guy who stole a car was Newkirk. He was the closest we had to an Englishman. All the boys seemed to enjoy it and hated to see me go, but time waits for no man.
Anyway, I was newly sprung and in dire need of beer money. I’d learned my lesson about petty larceny, but getting a job was out of the question. Who the hell would hire an ex-con who didn’t want to work?
That’s when an excellent idea dropped in on me. I scooped up a handful of change from the fountain in Hopeland Gardens and double-timed it over to the payphone at Tully’s. The fleet-footed deputy who had apprehended me gave me a quick wave and a shit-eating smile from his usual booth as I punched out Vernon Smiley’s number on the phone. I felt like giving him the finger, but only waved back instead. This was no time to stir anything up.
Vernon answered on the fifth ring…
I forgot to mention… Congratulations to Phil Mickelson for winning his first Major at Augusta yesterday…
After 47 attempts, it’s about time Mickelson won a big one.
“I kept saying to myself that this was my day,” said the American left-hander, who sank an 18-foot birdie putt at the 18th to see off Ernie Els.
“I just kept believing that something good was going to happen”.
“With it having been such a tough journey it feels even better,” said Mickelson at the end of his 47th major.
This just leaves Colin Montgomerie as the sole contender for the title of “best player not to win a major”.
Did you hear the one about the guy who sold all his belongings (including clothes) so he could stand at a roulette table in Las Vegas and bet it all on the spin of the wheel? Oddly enough, thats what Ashley Revell did over the weekend… And walked away with a cool $270,600. Not to mention a few frayed nerves I’m sure.
A British man who sold all his possessions, including his clothes, stood in a rented tuxedo on Sunday surrounded by family and friends and bet everything on a single spin of the roulette wheel.
[…]
The wheel was spun, a crowd of supporters including his Mum and Dad from London went wild, the ball bobbled over the slots and landed on Red ‘7’ — and Revell walked away with $270,600.
“It all happened so quickly, it was spinning before I knew it,” Revell said, adding he did not intend to try to double it again. He gave a $600 tip to the croupier and plans to party — and buy some clothes.
Well, if I could, I’d do the same thing, except make sure I keep a few grand aside incase lady luck shits on me…
On Saturday we took a little trip up to Lake Lanier to have a barbeque picnic as it was Adam’s last day… And although it was overcast, it was still pretty hot and really gorgeous when the sun eventually did come out.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Unfortunately there are no pictures of the actual barbeque, as Erika has a phobia of getting her picture taken and she had taken up the chef position, I took her threat of “I know where you sleep” while brandishing a rather large and sharp kinfe rather seriously…
And I’ll end with the obligatory panorama shot, god, I’m so predictable now aren’t I?
Have you seen my wig around?
I feel naked without it…
OK, not quite the classic Jane’s Addiction song, but funny nonetheless…
This comes via Hanni.
Adam leaves tomorrow to return to the UK for 6 or so weeks… I leave in just under 2 weeks now, and it’s going to be kinda weird not having Adam around, quieter if nothing else…
Now, to appreciate that comment you’ve got to know Adam and his wicked way with words, 99% of which is innuendo in one form or another and many a great one liner that there is really no come back from…
For example:
“If I wanted your opinion I’d take my cock out your mouth”
How do you respond to that? I mean really… This is a guy who, if he had the means, would buy a Dodge Viper, drive it round to a friends house, who loves and I mean LOVES Dodge Viper’s, and wreck it in front of their eyes…
Why? For shits and giggles I suppose…
Yes, it’s going to be a lot quieter for sure.
So Condoleezza Rice finally testified… And by all accounts she handled herself well… Not bad considering she’s had, what, a month to prepare?
So what do we take from this momentus occasion?
It’s not the Bush Administrations fault… They only had 238 days from taking office to the attacks of 9/11, that’s not enough time to prepare, so blame Bill Clinton for his “insufficient” policies towards terrorism. Yet, Bush administration decided immediately after entering office to continue pursuing Bill Clinton administration’s covert action and other efforts to fight al-Qaeda.
OK…
Another point she made was President Bush saying he was “tired of swatting at flies” when it came to al-Quaeda…
Senator Bob Kerrey: “Can you tell me one example where the President swatted a fly when it came to al-Qaeda prior to 9/11?.. We only swatted a fly once on the 20th of August 1998. We didn’t swat any flies afterwards. How the hell could he be tired?”
That’s grade-a ownage…
Other than that there wasn’t a whole lot, no apology, no “sorry, we fucked up”, no nothing, just a lot of Ms. Rice saying she was “quite certain” about things… Quite Certain??? It’s times like this you better be 100% sure.
“I’m quite certain the President never pushed anybody to twist the facts”
Yeah, that makes me trust her… I’m very unsure if she’s the sacraficial lamb, or the first domino to fall from this sorry affair. The real question is do you believe her? Frankly I can’t really trust that what they say anymore…
I guess everyone’s out to cover their own asses in the end. We’ll see in July… Pending White House approval, like that’s going to happen.
Meanwhile as this was going on, A suspicious package was found in Atlanta’s Hartsfield Airport and went practically unnoticed in the news.
It’s 7am and I’ve been tossing and turning for the last few hours… I’m not usually this restless but I’ve got a lot on my mind and I’m a pretty impatient person about a few things relating to general business.
I’m waiting to hear from three potential clients, so it would be nice if that could happen soon. They are “indie” singer/songwriter Beth Thornley who maybe is looking for a new design, and I’m gonna try to persuade her that we’re the people to help her out. Plus I’m really digging her music, which is a bonus, so I think it would be a cool project to get on board on. Anyways, here’s few song’s for you guys to listen to… I Will Lie & How Many Days.
Next is Mark O’Sullivan, whom I’ve known and dealt with for the past 4½ years, I’m trying to persuade him that we’d be a good company to host Cotworld so it can get back online (I’ve been missing my Cotworld fix for too long). I know he’s looking to host it from home but has been unable to find a decent ISP to suit his needs, so I offered RUWebby as a temporary stopgap for the time being, so… Again, should know in a few days time.
The last one is probably the most exciting of all… Meg Hourihan is looking for a new home and again, I’ve tried to sell our little company to her… I, personally, think this would be a huge thing as Meg has had a hand a few cool things that some people now use every day in the web world, those being Blogger and the all new Kinja, so fingers crossed that she liked my little bit of selling.
So I’ll be pacing about until I hear from at least one of them…
In the meantime I’ll give out a nod to Mark at R80o for his foresight in thanking me for a link, he must have gotten that DeLoren up to 88mph at last… But I digress. Ever wondered what you’d look like if the police sent out a sketch of you as a wanted criminal? Well compare the image to your right to that of me when I had my haircut a few weeks back… Pretty close huh?
Flash Face is the place for you. This shady character is wanted for holding up several Circle K gas stations in the Metro Atlanta area before going on a tri-state crime spree into North and South Carolina… He is considered armed and dangerous so approach with extreme caution and, we can not stress this enough people, if you do try to take him down, please shoot to kill, repeat, please shoot to kill…
In other news, it’s my brother’s birthday today, happy birthday you old bastard…
This has been your early morning SCNews update, and now a word from our sponsors.
This comes from a variety of sources… Michael Moore, Michael Hanscom and Boing Boing.
Put’s it into some kind of perspective…
Poor Linus and Sally were taken away to get neutered today, and they looked like they had seen unspeakable horrors when they came back. The pathetic, well more than usual, meow’s was too much… I felt really sorry for them, Sally especially as he was locked in a cage in Adam’s room frantically trying to get out while Pigpen, with whom Sally has built up a somewhat close relationship, kept watch at the door.
Sad but heartwarming at the same time…
When I came back in at 10:30, I found both had been let out their cages, Sally had taken up residence on the lay-z-boy and Erika told me Linus was being a diva through the pain. Oh the tragedy…
Pathetic and sad but heartwarming at the same time…
It was 10 years ago today Kurt Cobain took an overdose of Heroin and stared down the business end of a shotgun for the last time…
Of course, he wasn’t found til the 8th… And I remember it clearly as it was my brother’s birthday when he was found, and for some reason I made it my goal to get on a talk radio station and talk about how music was now dead and all that jazz.
Nevermind was the first cd I bought and I listened to it constantly, I still listen to it to this day, even if “Smell’s Like Teen Spirit” is overplayed (I much prefer “Lithium” to anything on the entire cd anyways) and through Nirvana I found other bands like Pixies, who Kurt says Nirvana was heavily influenced by, as well as drummer Dave Grohl’s band, the Foo Fighters… Still, I can’t help wondering what music might have been like had Kurt not decided to piss it all away that day 10 years ago, but I suppose it is better to burn out than to fade away, my my, hey hey!
Peace, Love, Empathy…
Sorry about the lack of posting… I had a wonderful weekend in the company of Robyn, the woman I semi-mentioned in last Wednesday’s post, and it was the most fun I’ve had in a long time…
Friday night was a home cooked meal at her place followed by a movie, the wonderful Bottle Rocket. Saturday was a full day, starting with errands to Barnes & Noble and Borders to return books, then off to Turner Field to pick up tickets for the Atlanta Braves game against the Florida Marlins on April 18th.
Then we headed over to Stone Mountain, which is literally, a Stone Mountain… It’s only distinguishing feature is a huge carving of Confederate war heroes General Robert E. Lee, General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson and the first and only President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis… We went up to the top of the mountain to watch the sunset over Atlanta before watching the lasershow that’s so stirring, it makes you proud to be an American…
Quite…
Anyway, here’s a few pictures…
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Obligatory panorama action… Firstly… The Stone Mountain carving, then a 180° view from the top of the mountain and finally, a full 360° from the top of the mountain.
On Sunday we more or less just lazed the day away before going to Highland Point, a housing development in Marietta that offers a great view of Atlanta on a clear day, in fact it was so clear we could make out the Georgia Dome beside Downtown Atlanta
 |
 |
All in all, a wonderful time…
Following on from a recommendation from Jason Kottke, I’ve joined the beta test of Kinja…
So what is Kinja? Glad you asked…
About Kinja
Kinja is a weblog portal, collecting news and commentary from some of the best sites on the web. Visitors can browse items on topics, everything from food to sex. Or they can create a convenient personal digest, to track their favorite writers.
Weblogs are much talked about, but still challenging to navigate for the average web user. Kinja is designed to bring weblog writers to a broader audience, by making it easier to explore topics, posts and writers.
Kinja is not aimed at early adopters. Users wanting to analyze patterns of meme propagation, and other sophisticated data, should try the excellent Technorati.
Benefits
- keep up with favorite authors, and friends who blog
- discover new eblogs
- save time: scan excerpts before clicking through
- legible excerpts, rather than a list of headlines, or a garbled search result
- no knowledge of RSS or syndication standards required
- no reader application to download, accessible from any computer
- favorites page easily shared with friends and colleagues
Sounds like a good idea… So I’m jumping on the bandwagon by adding everyone who is on my sidebar to my digest…
