For families: “Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters” continues, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Fernbank Museum of Natural History, Atlanta.

Movies: Screening of “Michael Jackson’s This Is It,” 6 p.m., Clayton County Public Library Forest Park branch. FREE.

Movies: Screening of “For the Next 7 Generations,” 7 p.m., Charis Books and More, Atlanta. FREE, $5 suggested donation.

Music: Reverend Horton Heat performs, 8:30 p.m., The EARL, Atlanta.

Poetry: “Rhythms in Gold,” a night of music and dance, with Salman Rushdie, Joyce Flueckiger, Deepika Bahri, Laurie Patton and Sasikala Penumarthi, 7 p.m., Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta. FREE.

Have 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: March 1 »

Salman Rushdie and Emory English professor Deepika Bahri in Rushdie archive exhibition, "A World Mapped by Stories, " now on display at Emory's library. AJC/Elissa Eubanks

So what does a Knight Bachelor, Booker Prize-winning author, fatwa subject and ex-husband of Padma Lakshmi put on display when a university comes looking for the actual words and objects that have made up his life?

Now that Salman Rushdie’s archive is on display at Emory University, we can see: e-mails and letters from the past 30 years, old computers, calendars and journals, family records, photos and doodles.

The whole thing was curated by Emory Associate Professor of English and Director of Asian Studies Deepika Bahri, but I rather like Rushdie comment, made during a media tour attended by AJCer Katie Leslie:

“From the moment I agreed to do this, I knew it was going to be sort of embarrassing,” Rushdie said during a media tour of the exhibit. “The biggest issue for me in the whole discussion with Emory …

Continue reading Salman Rushdie archive, lectures at Emory University »

Spring is coming! That's Goliath running at Six Flags Over Georgia. The park opens for weekends-only on March 6, just a day before Snow Moutain closes for the season. AJC file photo

Nevermind the Vernal Equinox, Daylight Savings Time, the Braves home opener or whatever date came printed in your 2010 calendar: spring starts in Atlanta next weekend.

What clearer proof do we need that spring is coming to Atlanta than this:

• Six Flags Over Georgia opens on March 6.

• Snow Mountain, Stone Mountain Park’s annual sledding, fort-building, marshmallow-toasting attraction, closes on March 7.

Or maybe it’s just another testament to our crazy weather and seasonal uncertainty. I choose to believe that it means Gen. Beauregard Lee was right.

So what to expect from that first weekend in March?

Six Flags has some new shows and new shops, but it’s big new attraction for the year is actually over at Six Flags White Water in Marietta, where Wiggles Water World will open this summer. Still, to …

Continue reading Is it spring?! Good-bye Snow Mountain, hello Six Flags! »

Titian's "Diana and Acteon" has never been seen in the United States, but it's coming to the High, along with "Diana and Callisto" in October.

The High is about to welcome more masterpieces, AJCer Howard Pousner reports: Atlanta’s High Museum of Art will be the first museum in the United States to show two Titian masterpieces never before seen in this country.

“Diana and Actaeon” and “Diana and Callisto” — what a High press release called “two of the greatest paintings of the Italian Renaissance” — will be part of a 25-piece exhibition, “Titian and the Golden Age of Venetian Painting: Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland,” to open here in October.

The “Diana” paintings were originally commissioned by King Phillip II of Spain, and were acquired by the Duke of Orleans in the 18th century. They went on long-term loan to the National Galleries of Scotland in 1945, and in 2008, “Diana and Actaeon” was acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland and the …

Continue reading High to show Titian paintings never before seen in U.S. »

Jennifer Maciejewski over at Atlanta on the Cheap offers the handy reminder that CityPass prices will go up in Atlanta (and Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia and Southern California) on March 1.

Prices are currently $69 for adults or $49 for kids. On March 1, they’ll jump $5 per book, which doesn’t seem like much till it’s spring break and you’re buying tickets for the entire family and a couple visitors. They’re good for nine days once you use a ticket to visit one of the attractions, but you don’t have to use them immediately. Physical ticket booklets are good for one year. An E-tickets must be exchanged for a physical booklet at one of the attractions within 90 days; you’ll have to redeem a ticket and start your nine days at that point, a CityPass customer service agent told me.

For those unfamiliar, Atlanta CityPass includes discounted admission to the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, Zoo Atlanta, Inside CNN tour, Fernbank Museum of Natural History or …

Continue reading Atlanta CityPass prices to increase on March 1 »

Well, let’s just go ahead and say what’s not in the works at the Alliance Theatre for its 2010-11 season: a Stephen King-John Mellencamp musical called “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.” Indeed, such a thing exists, and theater hawks apparently were expecting it to be there, but no, it is not.

AJCer Howard Pousner goes into some detail in his story, “Surprises in Alliance Theatre 2010-2011 season announcement,” but I’ll just leave you with the juicy list of what will be on stage. Yes, there will be cheerleaders.

The Alliance Theatre’s 2010-11 season includes…

On the Alliance Stage:

• “The Nacirema Society Requests the Honor of Your Presence at a Celebration of Their First One Hundred Years,” a world premiere by Pearl Cleage.
• “Bring It On: The Musical,” another world premiere, featuring the cheerleader movie title, but an original story.
• “August: Osage County,” a Tony winner for best play and Pulitzer winner for drama.
• Another show yet to be announced, but not “Ghost …

Continue reading Alliance Theatre season: yes cheerleaders, no Mellencamp »

Did you recognize this week's Access Point? It's an African penguin at Georgia Aquarium — just a little easier to see when it slows down. AJC photos by Jamie Gumbrecht

This is an African penguin, one of 19 that lives at Georgia Aquarium. Commenter Lora was right about the place in this week’s Access Points photo game, but it’s quite a bit smaller than a whale — most African penguins weigh 6 to 7 pounds. (Mallory was the first to guess correctly! Woohoo!)

One of these birds was the star of a recent film, “Love Lost and Found: A Penguin Odyssey.”

It’s so cute, you may have seen me squealing about it on Twitter.

Here it is:

Dodo, a 5-year-old penguin who came to the aquarium from Portugal, is the star. He was young when he arrived in Atlanta — still mostly gray, instead of his mature black-and-white — and a nervous little bird. Over many “enrichment sessions” with “environmental enrichment objects” — husbandry speak for “playtime with toys” — aquarium staffer came to learn this …

Continue reading Access Points 26: African penguin at Georgia Aquarium »

Freaknikers from Southern Illinois University danced around Five Points in downtown Atlanta in 1996. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said he doesn't expect the party to return to Atlanta.

That illustrious, verifiable source we know as The Internet says that Freaknic (sic) is coming back. “The Official Atlanta Freaknic Site” says it’ll be April 16-18 in Washington Park. It also says that the 2010 theme is “Super Freak,” and that “Freaknic is a private event for members only. You must register on this site and pledge to not break the law.” It adds, “There are no nude pictures on this Web site.”

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed says no way. Or rather, “I don’t believe it will materialize and it’s not my intention for the city to be supportive of it.” He points out that nobody has filed for a permit. It’s not clear who the organizers of the Web site are.

Continue reading POLL: Do you want Freaknik back in Atlanta? »

Alliance Theatre brings Disney's "Mulan" to life this weekend. Here, Mulan (Leslie Bellair) learns to act like a boy from the dragon, Mushu (Bernard Jones.) Photo by Greg Mooney.

I’m purposely not checking the weather for this weekend, but rather choosing to believe that they will all be as nice as last weekend. At very least, there’s a lot of fun stuff to do, all the dancing, drinking and merriment I’ve come to expect, regardless of whether the sun shines.

If you’re looking for pop music, check out more comprehensive info at the AJC’s  Atlanta Music Scene blog.

And as always, share your suggestions for weekend events in the comments! — Jamie G.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 26

Art: Studioplex Art Stroll, 6-9 p.m., Studioplex, Atlanta. FREE.

Comedy: Maria Bamford performs, 8 p.m.,Laughing Skull Lounge, Atlanta.

Discussion: “The Only Subject is Love: Imagining Better Worlds” featuring Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens and Deepa Mehta, 1-3:30 p.m., Emory University’s Schwartz Center for …

Continue reading Weekend to do list: February 26-28 »

Books: Ivan J. Houston discusses and signs “Black Warriors: The Buffalo Soldiers of WWII,” 4-6 p.m., Georgia Tech Library’s Neely Room, Atlanta. FREE.

For families: “The Canning Season” author Polly Horvath signs and discusses “My One Hundred Adventures,” 4:30 p.m., Little Shop of Stories, Decatur. FREE.

Movies: Dinner, Movie and a Tour night shows “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas,” 6-9 p.m., Kennesaw State University Center’s Museum of History and Holocaust Education, Kennesaw. FREE.

Music: George Strait performs, 7 p.m., Philips Arena, Atlanta.

Music: Soweto Gospel Choir performs, 8 p.m., Fox Theatre, Atlanta.

Stage: “Frankenstein,” a puppet show, continues, 7 p.m., Emory University’s Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, Atlanta.

Have 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: February 25 »