To support this claim, I offer the following information:

1. Holy shellfish: there will be TONS of Blue Point and Malpeque oysters flown in and promptly steamed or fried for your eating pleasure

2. You can enjoy live music from local bands (full lineup below) as well as DJs whilst you munch on your marine mollusks

3. Ice cold beer will be provided so you can wash ‘em down

4. Most importantly, please witness my final piece of evidence:

Clearly this party is awesome.

Here’s the Q+DD:

Spiral Entertainment Oysterfest
Saturday, February 11th
Doors open at 1pm
Park Tavern in Piedmont Park*

Tickets: $20** but increase to $25 on Friday!  

Use promo code LKFest for $5 off!

(Please note that the price WILL increase and Oysterfest sold out last year. I am cool…but not cool enough to get you into a party that’s already full. Fact.)

Live Performances by:
The Issues (local Atlanta rock band)
Six Shot Revival (southern rock)
Red Zepplin (Led Zepplin tribute)
Talk Journey to Me (80s cover band)
Plus DJ Mike Walsh and DJ Mason Gill

Hope to see you guys there!

xx, L

http://www.spiralentertainment.com/events/oysterfest
**price does not include food or drink

The AJFF is a 22-day cinematic exploration of Jewish life, culture, and history.  Seeking to use the power of film to both entertain and educate, AJFF challenges conventional perspectives on complex and challenging issues facing both the Jewish and global communities.

Founded in 2000, AJFF ranks as the largest film festival in Atlanta, and second largest Jewish film festival in the United States, having attracted an audience of more than 26,000 moviegoers in 2011.  This year, the festival will feature an international collection of 70 narrative and documentary films that explore the Jewish experience.  Screenings are supplemented by guest appearances with filmmakers, actors, authors, academics, and other expert speakers.

The festival runs from Wednesday, February 8 – Wednesday, February 29.

This year will be my first to attend the AJFF, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the movies I selected!  I plan to see…

RABIES  (Rabies is playing during the Young Professionals Night at Strip and Regal Atlantic Station.)

Hot off the international film festival circuit, Rabies is the ultimate popcorn flick—a sexy survivalist thriller, a campy, clever whodunit, a devilishly fun heart stopper, and the first horror movie from Israel.  Subverting expectations at every turn, the action opens in a remote forest as a guilt-ridden brother and sister flee home only to become ensnared in the trap of a psychopathic serial killer.  Rescue efforts soon involve a group of unsuspecting tennis players, a grizzled park ranger and his dog, and a pair of rogue cops.  An impressive cast of Israel’s top talent is gradually drawn into a whirlwind of dark secrets, mix-ups and bloody mayhem.  Describing Rabies as a twisted parable on fear and rage in Israeli society, first-time directors Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado shot this slick homage to American B-movies in just 19 days on a shoestring budget.

rabies

THE APPLE PUSHERS

The Apple Pushers is the uplifting story of immigrant street cart vendors and an urban initiative to bring nutritional food to those who need it most.  Attempting to address a lack of access to fresh and affordable produce, New York City launched an experiment in which “Green Carts” bearing fruits and vegetables would be deployed to “food deserts,” low-income neighborhoods where obesity rates are skyrocketing.  In the face of entrenched political opposition, immigrant small business owners (including a Russian Jew who fled anti-Semitism) align with health advocates to take on this tough task with dignity and sacrifice, overcoming extraordinary challenges to carve out an economic niche.  Narrated by Oscar nominee Edward Norton, The Apple Pushers chronicles public-private efforts to mitigate a national health crisis through the intersection of entrepreneurship and the American Dream.

Also, don’t forget about the special 25th anniversary screening of Dirty Dancing on Sunday, February 12! 

Click here for a complete list of movies: 2012 AJFF Roll Call!

Reserve tickets here: So many AJFF movies…so little time!

So, grab some popcorn + get ready for the 2012 AJFF!  It’s going to be the greatest one yet! 

xx, L

The Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces will host its third annual Chastain Park Arts Festival in Buckhead on November 5-6, 2011.  Over 180 participating artists and artisans will display their works during this two day event. 

Visitors will enjoy fine art and crafts, a children’s area, and local food and beverage concessions including several “gourmet” food trucks.  Local acoustic musicians will enliven the atmosphere.  Best of all, it’s entirely free to attend!  

The Chastain Park Arts Festival will benefit Livable Buckhead, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and maintaining greenspace and a sustainable community in Buckhead, as well as a scholarship fund for local artists administered by the Georgia Foundation for Public Spaces.

Here’s the Q+DD on the Chastain Park Arts Festival:
Location: In Chastain Park near the Chastain Park Amphitheater, the Horse Barn, and the Golf Course.
Times: Sat., November 5 from 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. + Sun., November 6 from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Music: Acoustic music from local musicians.
Admission: FREE!
More Info: I seriously heart a fall festival!

Have fun, festival-goers! 

xx, L

Here’s a recap of my Music Midtown experience: 

the black keys

what's better than one funnel cake??

love.

I have a feeling that Music Midtown is here to stay, people! 

In the mood for some more music?  Well, you’re in LUCK.  One of my favorite bands, Austin-based Ghostland Observatory, will be in Atlanta preforming at the Masquerade on Wednesday, October 5!

ghostland observatory

I first saw Ghostland live at Austin City Limits Music Festival (’09) playing with the University of Texas Marching Band for a few songs.  It. was. INCREDIBLE!  Anyway, they are electro-rock-funk-ish or kinda elecro-dance-soul-rock: hard to put into a box, but they have a really great, unique sound + I can guarantee that they put on an awesome live show with lots of lasers and stuff. 

For iTunes research, check out these Ghostland albums: delete.delete.i.eat.meat and Robotique Majestique.  Codename: Rondo is their newest, but I like the previous two better.

If that’s not enough to convince you, GO’s lead singer has an impressive set of braids he rocks out on stage.  You’ll def want to check them out… They’re sorta mesmerizing.  (You can kinda see below.)

And, the show is at the Masquerade on North Ave.  Not only have I never been to that venue before, but also I usually drive faster down North when I pass it because it reminds me of a haunted house or something out of a bad episode of Law & Order. 

the masquerade

However, I just Sherlock Holmes-ed Wikipedia.com and while the Masquerade looks like a pile of sticks from the street, the venue actually has a lot of history + the inside of it seems fairly reasonable.

xx, L

The Masquerade
695 North Ave NE
Atlanta, GA  30308
404.577.8178
http://www.masqueradeatlanta.com/

For something new and different: Spiral goes international!  We’re holding German Oktoberfest at an Irish pub!  (One world.  One love, guys.)

Saturday, October 1st from 6PM till close.

Tickets are available at www.spiralentertainment.com

USE CODE LKFEST FOR $3 OFF!

Here’s the rundown of events:

6:00PM: Live Music on the outdoor stage starts with Astral Freaks

8:00PM: Games…

BRATWURST EATING CONTEST  (sexy, I know)

STRONGMAN STEIN HOLDING COMPETITION (yowza!)

BEER CHUGGING  (...has now become a competitive sport, apparently!)

9:15PM: get your Bono on with U2 cover band Desire

Hope to see you there!

xx, L

Fadó Irish Pub
273 Buckhead Avenue NE

Oh yes, the magical weekend where you could be sipping your coffee at Starbucks next to a Suntrust Banker in a three piece suit and a storm trooper.

"Uh, yes, we'll have 43 half-caf americanos, please."

(When I worked in Peachtree Center downtown, I used to awake like a child on Christmas morning the Friday of Dragon*Con.  Where else can you work on the 15th floor of a high rise office building and come down for lunch and see a pack of grown men dressed as the cast of Monty Python’s Holy Grail?  I’m pretty sure nowhere, that’s where.)

If you have NO idea what I’m talking about, here’s the Q+DD on D*C (and you’re welcome.): Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe!

It’s also the reason for the WORLD’S COOLEST PARADE.

Be there or be…normal and boring?  September 3rd at 10:00AM Downtown.  (About a ½ mile long  – north on Peachtree Street from Woodruff Park at Auburn Avenue to the Hyatt Regency at Baker Street.  It continues onto Baker and ends on Courtland Street at the Marriott Marquis’ back entrance)

BONUS: It’s the 10th Anniversary!

Please note that Dragon*Con has changed their policy and will be blasting free-loaders with their light sabers.  No, not really.  But you’re not allowed to partake in any of the festivities (except the parade!!!!) unless you’re a paid participant.   So grab your Goblin’s Gold and get a badge, yo. 

I always say I’m going to wrestle up a costume and head down, but never do it.  But you will more than likely find my gorgeous friend Erin down there in full regalia, turning heads like a Ginger Goddess.  Witness:

Erin, right, as Cover Girl from GI Joe (with a Superhero named Hawkgirl. Yep, Hawkgirl!)

Erin (center, obviously) as "Black Canary - "Holy Costume Party Batman!" as she calls it

Next year just may be my year…you know that Linds and I LOVE a good costume…

The Q+DD FOR THE WIN

xx, L

Here’s the Q+DD on Music Midtown:

From 1994-2005, the Music Midtown concert series attracted hundreds of thousands of people to the heart of the city for live music.  This year, a portion of the proceeds from Music Midtown will go toward funding recreation centers and after-school activities for young people in the city as part of Mayor Kasim Reed’s Hope Initiative.

The concert will take place in the Meadow at Piedmont Park, with Colplay as the headlining act.  Tickets are $56 and are on sale now here: MUSIC MIDTOWN RETURNS! 

Other acts include: The Black Keys, Cage the Elephant, Manchester Orchestra, Young The Giant, Band of Skulls, Joy Formidable, The Constellations, Mona + The Postelles.

A limited number of VIP packages are available for you high rollers, you…info here: BLINGING IT OUT IN THE PARK.

This is a going to be so killer.  I can’t wait!  I really and truly love a good festival concert + this one is going to be GREAT! 

ACL 2009

Welcome back, MM!  Please stay for a while. 

xx, L

Reason #20958206 why I love Broohaven: the newly-invigorated Brookhaven Farmers’ Market (Saturdays from 9am – 1pm in the Haven parking lot: 1441 Dresden Drive, Atlanta, GA 30319)

Last Saturday got there a little late – so I’ll have to go get the full experience another time, but even though everyone was packing it up as we arrived… DK+DK managed to score gold:

Mushrooms on a Log: everything you need to grow your own shiitake mushrooms on a log brought to you by 2 Fun Guys.(Props for the awesome name, dudes.)

Yup.  Just a log.  Inoculated with a strain of shiitake mushrooms.  Ready for you to take home, care for, and harvest yourself.  

Check out owners Todd Pittard and Howard Berk on their website HERE.  They’ll tell you how to care for them, even walk you through your harvest and give you suggestions on how to cook ‘em!  I couldn’t dig this idea any more.  

Dad walked off very happy with his log o’ shrooms. 

I’ll keep you posted on it’s progress!

xx, L

 
This year’s Taste & Tour is sponsored by the Lindbergh-LaVista Corridor Coalition (LLCC) + Public Broadcasting Atlanta.  The LLCC is a non-profit corporation comprised of residents, business owners + property owners in northeast Atlanta whose mission is to redefine and revitalize the community it serves.  Net proceeds from this year’s event will be used to fund a feasibility study for the establishment of a Community Improvement District (CID) in the area.  

“I’m thrilled to once again be participating in this year’s Taste & Tour,” said Kevin Gillespie, Executive Chef at Woodfire Grill.  “Cheshire Bridge Road has so many fantastic restaurants and unique businesses, and I’m happy to be part of an event that celebrates our street’s diversity,” continued Gillespie, a finalist voted “fan favorite” on the sixth season of Bravo’s Top Chef.  

Tickets are available online: Taste & Tour of Cheshire Bridge Rd.    
 
Ticket prices are $15 each for a one-day pass or $25 each for a two-day pass until July 1.  Tickets sold after July 1 will be subject to higher pricing.  Children ages 12 and under are admitted free. 
 
Many of the participating businesses have called Cheshire Bridge their home for decades while others have recently joined the diverse mix.  Participating businesses include: Alfredo’s, Antiques and Beyond, Barking Hound Village, Caroline Budd Picture Framing, The Colonnade, Décor Professionals, Habersham Gardens, Johnny’s New York Pizza, Las Margaritas, Nakato Japanese Restaurant, Nino’s, Perla Taqueria, Photography Center of Atlanta, Region’s Bank, Rhodes Bakery, Roxx Tavern, Tailor’s Art Cleaners, Roxx Tavern, Ursula’s Cooking School + Woodfire Grill.  Click HERE for a full list of participants.

This may be the most exciting neighborhood culinary tour yet, folks… 

xx, L