if you are not a georgia resident or somehow visiting the state over the coming weekend, then continue down the page and join in the thundercats discussion already in progress.
however, if you are such a citizen, then you need to know that friday and saturday will be the next “sales tax holiday” in georgia. yes, i know, weekends are typically saturdays and sundays, but for the purposes of house bill 1312, friday steps in and sunday gets the day off. or something like that. but what does it mean?
if you recall, they had one of these back in march, but i know i didn’t hear anything about it until it had already passed. not everything is tax-free. in fact, most of the things you normally buy will be taxed just like usual. the exemption applies to school supplies (under $20), footwear (under $100) and some clothing (under $100) — the list is quite bizarre, but the big benefit is with computer sales. if you buy a new computer this weekend, you pay no sales tax on the first $1500 you spend. the ajc has some more to say about the matter, but the long and the short of it is that georgia wants you to spend some cash this weekend, and if you can and will, then good. you get to forget about sales tax, the economy gets a bit of a revival and we all come out of the weekend with new toys and cool shoes.
just minutes before you leave for a job interview.
1. you still know how to tie a tie. (going with the muted yellow bill blass with the smallish navy box-shapes in a grid pattern.)
2. you’ve been awake for over an hour and nobody else in the house is anywhere close to stirring, waking or otherwise moving.
3. for all the friends you have, you know none of their addresses. phone numbers and email addresses, sure, but postal-wise you are out of luck. (reason for pondering: what if they ask for personal references? email is great, but probably still not smiled upon by any human resources department.)
4. the shoes you want to wear are AWOL, so you are going to have to go with the second stringers that have a wearing lifespan of about three hours before they become intolerable.
too late to turn back now. going. gone.
chances are, you’ve not heard a thing about her. this is another one of those that would probably fly just below your radar, unfortunately drowned out by the latest nu-metal idiocy polluting the local airwaves, or just not alternative enough to garner a collegiate notice. her name is emm gryner. not emma, just emm, and you can learn more about her right here. once you’ve read a little, you can consider a purchase at her own record label – she’s not just an artist, she’s the president. and another thing, she does some cover songs, but not your typical sounds-like-the-original cover songs. she calls them girl versions, and they’re incredible. did i mention she keeps an online journal?
want another? got room in your ears for more candy? try this one: holcombe waller. a san francisco native that cites ani difranco and jeff buckley as his primary influences (while sounding not exactly like either of them) is certainly worth a click or two, eh?
two things that are always good for a laugh. ever seen the various hot-or-not sites? sure you have. admit it. and if you haven’t, go take a look at one and click around until you get the general idea. go ahead. and now gentle reader, it is your turn. this is your opportunity to let me know:
is my weblog hot-or-not?
if you’re an actor, you have your favorites. or maybe a better word would be wishes. wants. those plays that you would love to see, love to produce, love to perform and love to direct. somewhere near the top of my stack is mighty bill’s henry v. and i’ll be honest, i was sold first on the play not by the text or any on-stage production, but by a young kenneth brannagh’s fierce cinematic interpretation. his henry is so human, so earnestly burdened with the responsibilities of royalty that your heart breaks with each dreadful decision and soars with every inspired speech. would i want to play henry? perhaps, though the role of exeter has a kind of good-guy menace that makes me smile. no, the role i love is the chorus, because of the college professor at-the-scene quality of the lines that give you the sense that someone wants to make sure you not only know what is about to happen, but why it is happenning and why you should pay attention.
for a more modern take on old hank five, atlantans might be well-advised to head north this weekend for a bit of athenian theatre. town & gown second stage’s production of henry v will run for three days only, starting this friday evening and ending with a matinee on sunday afternoon. your only cost would be the fuel to push your vehicle there and back, plus five bucks for a seat, and culture that cheap is rare. for more information, take a look in today’s banner-herald.
one of my first dvd purchases was an under $10 edition of fritz lang’s metropolis. i had seen the movie before, probably late at night on american movie classics or something of that sort, and i wanted to see it again. but my purchase was such a let down, because metropolis is one of those fine movies from the early part of the 20th century that exist in a kind of copyright limbo. this is why you can find really cheap knockoff dvds of nosferatu, the cabinet of dr caligari and others, but these are not bargains. these are disappointingly pale shades of whatever greatness might have been. the transfers are out of ratio, the contrast hurts your eyes and the sound is out of sync.
but here is hope. kino international has restored metropolis to its original 1927 glory and is re-releasing it to theatres. of course, none of these theatres are here in atlanta, but those of you in new york city can head on over to houston street for a viewing. taking advantage of the partial restoration from georgio moroder’s 1984 pop version of the film and adding footage from another restoration attempt in 1988, kino has made it possible to see the most complete and absolute version of this film.
people will tell you that one film or another was responsible for so many others that followed, but in the genre of science-fiction this is the original. nothing like it came before, and every single sci-fi flick owes it a debt of visual or thematic gratitude. a grand electric city with flying cars and pneumatic tubes, high rises and skyscrapers, robots created to serve man that will eventually lead to man’s undoing. sound familiar? blade runner, the fifth element, logan’s run … the family tree the branches from this film is extraordinary.
so why am i so keyed up? well, i saw a screening of the wild bunch a few years ago. it was another restored and remastered re-release. and the gentleman who oversaw the restoration, he spoke briefly before the film, and he jadedly revealed one of the not-so-secret motivations of hollywood’s restoration enterprise. these films, he said, aren’t really restored for the sake of the big screen, but rather for the sake of the home video (and now dvd) collector. bringing them back to the theater is just more effective than any other ad campaign. so this means that for every restoration, there will be a video release. so maybe, just maybe, i can have a decent and watchable version of this amazing film.
so… are there any films that you’d love to see remastered, restored, renewed or re-released? come on. don’t be shy.
seen today on ponce (de leon) avenue. on a yellow ford explorer sport-trac. with florida tags. no other stickers aside from the one right above the plate. and it said:
i throw peanuts at old ladies.
nice.
seventy-four times have i lobbed my resume in the general direction of one posted job or another. not bad for two day or so. i have filled out online application forms so much that i could do it in my sleep while standing on my head, with one-hand tied behind my back and a monkey swinging off my ear. okay, so maybe the monkey would prove a little distracting, especially after he started suffering from a serious banana jones, but you get the idea. i am applying here in atlanta, but also other places and elsewheres. you never know where opportunity might take you.
but so far, the creepiest job listing i have found in the last few days has to be this one. and no, i am not even thinking of applying. i’d rather deal with the monkey…
you know those games on your cell phone? like the snake game where you move your ever-growing reptile around the screen while eating odd little pellets of food? they’re fun, certainly, but you feel kind of wasteful because you’re burning precious battery life. don’t you? maybe it’s just me, but here is your solution: why use your phone when you can do it online?
