Like a plane-load of other folks, New Yorker Mark Malkoff has tickets for a 7:15  AirTran flight from LaGuardia to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Monday morning.

Unlike those other travelers, however, Malkoff intends to stay on the very same flight for the next 30 days as the comic and filmmaker attempts to break a Guinness Book of World Records continuous flight record and conquer his fear of flying.

This is just the latest in a series of humorous, headline-grabbing endurance stunts “The Colbert Report” comic has attempted. Last year, he lived for a week in a sample apartment at a Paramus. N.J. IKEA. And in 2007, he attempted to order drinks at 171 Starbucks in Manhattan in a single day.

Malkoff will also be trying out the airline’s just installed, much-hyped WiFi service on board as he flies to up to 12 cities each day. At night, he’ll sleep on board the plane at its hub here in Atlanta.

“I discovered that I’m small enough to fit in the overhead compartment,” …

Continue reading Comic settles in for one long flight aboard AirTran »

Rachel Rosen Lehmann

We dimmed the lights for a moment at Buzz Central Friday afternoon when we learned of the passing of Rachel Rosen Lehmann.

We had a hunch the always-theatrical Atlanta Opera supporter, singer, hoofer and Queen of Atlanta’s Zaban Tower retirement community would have enjoyed that.

Lehmann passed away Thursday, three days short of her 106th birthday, surrounded by her family, following a stroke.

As Buzz readers may fondly recall, Lehmann first contacted us in 2005 after she read about 104-year-old bowler Bill Hargrove in our Sports section. The reason for her call? Rachel wanted Hargrove’s digits.

For a date.

After his family consented, we passed along the information to Lehmann, who in turn invited Hargrove — and us — to her 102nd birthday bash at the Atlanta Opera.

The result ended up on the AJC’s front page.

Hargrove and Lehmann at her 2005 birthday.

Upon meeting the dapper Hargrove, who arrived wearing a suit and bearing three long-stemmed roses, …

Continue reading Buzz reader Lehmann: ‘Second’ to none »

B-52's vocalist Fred Schneider

B-52’s frontman Fred Schneider himself phoned Buzz Central to give us the inside scoop on his next Atlanta DJ gig: The 17th annual Jeffrey Fashion Cares benefit set for Aug. 31.

The vocalist has agreed to be the celeb spinner at the evening’s after- party at the W hotel downtown.

“I’m real busy with the B’s but I couldn’t say no to such a great cause,” Schneider spills to Buzz. “Besides, you know I always love an excuse to get back to Atlanta and Georgia.”

The evening’s beneficiaries, The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Greater Atlanta and the AIDS Partnership Fund also played a role in snagging the singer.

As Atlantans know, Schneider has previously treated the city to his eclectic record collection via gigs at Bazzaar in Midtown. He says he’s awaiting word from the evening’s organizers on whether he’ll be flying into the city with “my dance or my loungy stuff.”

One thing’s for sure: Schneider will treat locals to a spin of The Superions‘ new …

Continue reading B-52’s frontman calls in with ‘Fashion’ably ‘Nude’ scoop »

Derek Lowe

Atlanta Braves Tom Glavine, Brian McCann, Chipper Jones, Derek Lowe, Jeff Francoeur and Kelly Johnson, along with former Braves Deion Sanders, Terry Pendleton, John Smoltz, Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy, Greg Maddux and legendary Braves announcer Skip Caray were all guests of honor this month when Julie Holzer married Joel Pazina in Las Vegas.

Well, OK, technically, the Braves were in Atlanta sitting out a rain delay with the Arizona Diamondbacks. But the players, along with their beloved late announcer, all had tables named for them at the bride and groom’s wedding reception due to their special role in the couple’s romance.

The bride’s mother, our former colleague Helen Holzer, tells Buzz the Las Vegas-based pair first met online at eHarmony after they noticed they shared a mutual love of the Braves in their profiles. Growing up in Atlanta, it was only natural that Julie would root for the Braves. But Oregon native Pazina, meanwhile, became a fan as a kid in the 1980s …

Continue reading Braves hit a romance home run all the way to Vegas »

Late soul singer James Brown

Two years and five months (and countless Buzz column inches) after his death in a Midtown Atlanta hospital, The Godfather of Soul James Brown’s estate was finally sorted out Tuesday.

Fingers crossed.

A South Carolina judge has approved a settlement that gives nearly half of the singer’s assets to his charitable trust, about a quarter to his wife and young son, and the rest to Brown’s adult children.

The settlement was a contrast to the instructions spelled out in the Augusta icon’s will and trust after his death on Christmas Day 2006. Some of Brown’s adult children contested the bequest, claiming their father’s estate was mismanaged by trustees.

“I find that the settlement is just and reasonable and provides a just and reasonable result for the charitable beneficiaries,” Judge Jack Early wrote. “From the perspective of the charitable beneficiaries, the risks of not approving the settlement agreement are substantial.”

The exact value …

Continue reading James Brown’s Widow: ‘This Nightmare Is Finally Over’ »

We filled you in yesterday on some Atlanta area celebs with a Twitter habit. Here are more. If you’ve got some to add to the list, email Buzz Central at buzz@ajc.com, or send us a Tweet @Peachbuzz.

Remember: the number of followers and followees can change by the second, but this gives you an idea of the scope of their popularity on Twitter.
Keri Hilson

On Twitter: MissKeriBaby

Followers: 106,035

Following: 55

What she’s Tweeting: “2mro’s the day yall…showtime in ATLANTA (Fox Theatre). Me, Bobby V, the Dream, & Keyshia all live here = CRAZINESS!”

Why follow? She’s getting a lot of attention in music and online, but actually responds to Tweets.

Don Lemon

On Twitter: donlemoncnn

Followers: 35,569

Following: 17,097

What he’s Tweeting: “president speaking live on cnn. he is really funny!!!!”

Why follow? Responding to one of his many feedback-seeking Tweets is the least tragic/embarrassing way to get on CNN.

Ludacris

On Twitter: ludajuice

Followers: 117,965

Following: 79

What …

Continue reading Atlanta Celebrities on Twitter, Round 2 »

Ashton Kutcher is known as aplusk on Twitter.

If it wasn’t already clear when Ashton Kutcher beamed his Twitter name onto CNN Center, even the rich and famous can fit their egos and ideas into 140 characters. (Twitter: the great equalizer?) Aplusk, as Kutcher is known on Twitter, isn’t the only celeb there. Among Atlanta-tied stars, there’s Jane Fonda, Diddy and a cadre of folks from CNN. (Not to be too precious, but Peach Buzz is not too shabby with with the updates, either.)

Here are more Atlanta area celebs with a Twitter habit. To be fair, the number of followers and followees can change by the second, but this gives you an idea of the scope of their popularity on Twitter.

Check back tomorrow for another round of Twitter-using celebs (Part 2)! If you’ve got some to add to the list, email Buzz Central at buzz@ajc.com, or send us a Tweet @Peachbuzz.

Richard Blais

On Twitter: RichardBlais

Followers: 2,529

Following: 510

What he’s Tweeting: “Heading to Whole foods on Ponce. …

Continue reading Atlanta Celebrities on Twitter, Round 1 »

Atlanta loves to tear things down and look towards the future. But in Virginia Highland, several bars have survived multiple decades.

Warren Bruno, owner of Atkins Park Tavern since 1983, thought it would be fun to have a walking tour of five of the older establishments in the area Saturday May 23 from 1 to 6 p.m.

“A lot of times we see the kids coming in whose parents used to come in and sometimes, even grandparents,” said G.G. Najour, who runs George’s Bar & Restaurant and whose father started the bar in 1961.

For $10 in advance and $20 at the door, you get a T shirt, a mug and food and drink discounts that hearken back to the past. At Manuel’s Tavern (established 1947), you can get two chili hot dogs and tater tots for $3. George’s will have $1 Miller High Life drafts, $2 Sweetwater beers, $1 hot dogs and 60 cent fries. Atkins (which opened as a deli in 1922) is going to dare people to try a Tang and Bacardi mix.

Sandra Bruno, Warren’s wife, had to order the Tang off Amazon …

Continue reading Virginia Highland bars toast their histories »

Lead singer Nick Niespodziani and sax player David Freeman perform at the Dunwoody Beer Festival as part of Yacht Rock Revue

Cover bands are a dime a dozen in Atlanta. They do ’70s disco, ’80s metal, ’90s grunge, tributes to Michael Jackson and Bon Jovi.

Then there’s a sub-genre that has been oft-ignored: late ’70s/early ’80s K-tel friendly soft rock. Core artists include Doobie Brothers, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross and Captain and Tenille. Most of this stuff even B98.5 won’t play anymore in their regular rotation.

But members of the local band Y-O-U in late 2007 thought it would be a lark to have an offshoot group specialize in this arena under the name Yacht Rock Revue.

Now it’s actually pretty successful. They perform every Thursday night at 10High in Virginia Highlands. They grooved at the Dogwood Festival this past spring. They sang “Silly Love Songs” to the buzzed crowd at the Dunwoody Beer Festival last weekend. They’ve even done weddings.

“It’s taken a while for …

Continue reading Baby comes back — ’70s soft rock lives on with Yacht Rock Revue »

“America I AM: The African American Imprint,” a new exhibit to open at the Atlanta Civic Center next month, covers 500 years of history with 15,000 square feet and nearly 300 artifacts. But now that the show is moving to Atlanta, its producers are looking for even more.

John Fleming, the exhibition’s executive producer, told Buzz Wednesday that they’ve got artifacts from the Atlanta University Center and local civil rights leaders already, but they’d love to add more three-dimensional objects from the civil rights era.

It’s not that they’re rare — “rare” would be clothes worn by slaves, which they’re still searching for, Fleming said — but objects that might be sitting in people’s basements and attics, instead of being loaned out by museums.

The key that locked Martin Luther King Junior in a Birmingham jail cell in 1963 is part of "America I AM."

Other artifacts to be featured in the exhibit include the doors to the Cape Coast Castle in Ghana, the typewriter Alex Haley …

Continue reading “America I Am” seeking civil rights artifacts in Atlanta »