Vision nightclub in Midtown in 2006, just before it closed. Its owners, Alex and Michael Gidewon, want to open a new club on Peachtree Street. Neighbors oppose it. AJC file photo

What does it mean to have fun in Midtown? What should it mean?

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A story on the front page of the AJC last weekend described two perspectives so different, it’s hard to believe we’re talking about the same neighborhood.

The first: a $4 million nightclub unlike anything else in the city — “Video screens on the ceiling. Marble-top bar counters. A state-of-the-art fog system.” — a more mature version of a few years ago, when the blocks between 10th and 14th street were filled with high-profile clubs.

The second: a dense residential neighborhood with new condos, offices and restaurants. Families, young professionals, retirees. New, but comfortable. Busy, but quiet.

The first comes with …

Continue reading Can neighborhoods and nightclubs coexist in Atlanta? »

"Anne Frank in the World" in Decatur. AJC/April Hunt

A 600-photograph, 8,000-word exhibition about Anne Frank will move to Sandy Springs later this year, but for now, it’s still on display at the DeKalb History Center in the Old Courthouse in Decatur.

More than 150,000 people have already seen the exhibit, “Anne Frank in the World: 1929-1945.” It was on display for three years in Kennesaw, and will finish a three-year run in Decatur in December. It will move next — perhaps permanently — to a space in the Parkside Shopping Center on Roswell Road, just north of I-285.

From the Monday AJC story, “Frank exhibit to call Sandy Springs home”:

City leaders hope to raise the $300,000 needed for the three-year lease within a year, creating an endowment that will keep the exhibit in the north Fulton County city while paying for traveling exhibits throughout the state. The commission could then opt to renew its lease for another three years and beyond.

“We are looking at this as a …

Continue reading Decatur Anne Frank exhibit to move to Sandy Springs »

Comedy: “Jeff Justice Comedy Class Graduation”, 8 p.m., The Punchline, Atlanta.

Film: “You Never Bike Alone” documentary shows, 8 p.m., Eyedrum, Atlanta.

For kids: “Exploring Trees Inside and Out” exhibition enters its final weeks, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, Atlanta.

Food: Midtown Restaurant Week continues through Sept. 6, Atlanta.

Stage: “The Medicine Showdown” by Flying Carpet Theatre closes, 8 p.m., 14th Street Playhouse, Atlanta.

Visual art: Last day for exhibitions by photographer Frank Sharp and painter Builquis Samadi, 9 a.m.-9 p.m., George Pierce Park Community Recreation Center, Suwanee. FREE.

Got an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to the AccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: August 31 »

Joel Darby runs for the finish after his vehicle crashed. AJC/Brant Sanderlin

The Red Bull Soapbox Race near Piedmont Park was just as ridiculous as you think it should be: huge crowds of some 40,000 people, last I heard, costumed people completely dedicated to the cause of crossing the finish line and sunshine trying to cook us all.

Indeed, 10th Street was closed, lined with hay bales and thousands of onlookers waving fans and ringing cowbells. (As noisemakers go, the cowbells were effective, but not obnoxious. Good job, Red Bull!)

To get a true taste of what it was like, I highly recommend photographer Brant Sanderlin’s photo gallery of soapbox race oddities. I’ll try to post more photos and video later, too.

Meanwhile, a sampling of what you would’ve heard, had you been there. Other than cowbell, of course.

Announcer: “You injured Chuck Norris!”
Team member: “You can’t injure Chuck Norris.”
— Announcer to team member, after a Chuck Norris-themed car killed Chuck Norris.

“It …

Continue reading Overheard: Red Bull Soapbox Race on August 29 »

"The Ship is like a palace, my cabin ripping — hot and cold water, a very comfy-looking bed — and lots of room." — Hugh Woolner, First Class Passenger AJC/Jamie Gumbrecht

On my way into Georgia Aquarium’s “Titanic Aquatic” exhibition, I was handed a replica boarding pass for a passage on history’s most famously tragic ship. Lily Potter was the name. She traveled with her daughter, Olive Earnshawa. It was April 10, 1912, when she joined the voyage from Cherbourg, France to New York.

RMS Titanic. AJC file photo

I stepped into a museum version of how the trip was intended to be for first class passengers. It was exciting, like the blown-up front pages showed, and richly luxurious, like the detailed replica room. (Going rate: $4,000 in 1912.) There was clean china with unspoiled patterns, remnants of the hot-and-cold bathtub spigots, toiletries someone carried on board. They’re all behind climate-controlled glass — no touching allowed — but they are the real thing, brought up to …

Continue reading Inside View: Ga. Aquarium’s ‘Titanic Aquatic’ ends Sept. 7 »

Red Bull soapbox race in Turkey. Quite a crowd! Photo courtesy of Red Bull.

The Red Bull Soapbox Race will take over Piedmont Park on Saturday, and organizers are expecting a crowd not unlike that for Paul McCartney — about 50,000 people.

Of course, this crowd gets in free. (Free!) Not that Sir Paul didn’t haul a big production into town, but he didn’t need space to race 50 gravity-powered vehicles, either.

Here’s what you need to know before the show gets on the road on Aug. 29.

Rain? What rain?
At last year’s race in Philadelphia, a hurricane remnant came through — poured rain, but skipped the lightning or tornadoes. The race went on. The same rules apply here. As of Friday morning, Saturday’s forecast calls for lows in the 60s, highs in the mid-80s and showers likely in the afternoon.

What to bring, what not to bring.
On the list of no-nos: pets, tents, glass containers, food to be sold, alcoholic beverages, weapons. But, you can bring your own food and drinks, or buy them …

Continue reading What to know before you go: Red Bull Soapbox Race »

As kids, we all like the idea of mud on our hands, a take-home art project that still makes mom tear up 20 years later.

But as adults, we only buy into pottery when the IKEA catalog suggests it.

The medium finally gets its due beginning Saturday in Watkinsville at Perspectives: Georgia Pottery Invitational 2009, when 50 hand-picked potters from Georgia will display more than 4,500 pieces for show and for sale. The pottery show also includes workshops, demonstration and studio tours.

AJCer Howard Pousner wrote a lovely profile of Atlanta potter Katy McDougal, who will be there with her signature bird-inspired pieces. You can read the whole story, “Atlanta artist one of 50 showing at Ga.’s largest pottery exhibition,” or get a glimpse of it here:

Bird bowls by Katy McDougal. AJC/Johnny Crawford

“I’m trying to emulate my grandmother’s time in my art as well as my domestic life,” allows the mom of 18-month-old Violet and wife of Wayne Pelletier, a graphic design creative …

Continue reading 50 Georgia artists, 4,500 pieces at Pottery Invitational »

Lots of creative guesses on this week’s Access Point, but just a few of you knew it was a fish in the watershed exhibit at the Chattahoochee Nature Center’s new Discovery Center.

Scales on this fish are made from old CDs. AJC/ Jamie Gumbrecht.

Indeed, many recognized the fishy qualities of the photo, but you seemed convinced that it was the giant creature outside the Atlanta Fish Market. Others saw the CDs, and guessed everything from Hard Rock Cafe to AOL headquarters.

But it was commenter PJ who first mentioned the place — the new Discovery Center at the Chattahoochee Nature Center — and Smokey the Bandit who said it was the giant fish located there. Nice work!

This fellow isn’t just a fish, but a largemouth bass. If you’ve been fishing in Lake Lanier, you’ve caught one. He is one of about 13 animals made from repurposed household goods and on display in the new Discovery Center watershed exhibit.

Rope snake. AJC/Jamie Gumbrecht

Plenty of nature centers rely on taxidermy or …

Continue reading Access Points: Chattahoochee Nature Center watershed exhibit »

I typically leave the money-saving news to Rana Cash over at the Atlanta Bargain Hunter blog, but this one involves enough fun stuff around Atlanta that I want to make sure you see it.

Here’s the deal: during the month of September, you can use your membership at any of nine different institutions to get discounts at all the others.

Show your membership card to Atlanta Ballet, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta History Center/Margaret Mitchell House, Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Georgia Aquarium, High Museum of Art, Imagine It! The Children’s Museum of Atlanta, Michael C. Carlos Museum or Zoo Atlanta at any of the others. With that, you’ll get a free class or discounts on admission, cafe food, book shop purchases or memberships at other attractions.

Not a member? The deals are still good as soon as you join. Even without the discounts, memberships can be a good deal, if you are out and about often enough or like to have a first glimpse at what’s new.

Want the details? …

Continue reading September discounts for members of 9 Atlanta attractions »

For kids: Storytime with “Story Trekker” Deborah Feanny, 9:30 a.m., Bookmiser, Roswell. FREE.

History: Night at the Museum event, 1-9 p.m., Barrow County Museum, Winder. FREE.

Music: Tiffany (yes, that Tiffany) performs, 9 p.m., Andrews Upstairs, Atlanta.

Science: “Science on Tap” lecture series featuring Georgia Aquarium’s dive team, 6:30 p.m., Georgia Aquarium, Atlanta.

Stage: “Grey Gardens” previews begin, 8 p.m., Actor’s Express, Atlanta.

Visual art: “The Lucid Eye: Photographs from the Collection of Arnall Golden Gregory” opening reception, 5-7 p.m., Emory University Visual Arts Building & Gallery, Atlanta. FREE.

Got an event, venue, restaurant or performance in and around Atlanta? Add it to theAccessAtlanta.com calendar.

For instant updates, follow @insideaccess on Twitter.

Continue reading To do list: August 27 »