(I took this from Flickr since I don’t have my own personal photo of him - This picture was taken by Sher Pruitt and originally posted in an artilce by Jim Farmer on the Southern Voice website www.southernvoice.com/2006/4-28/arts/feature/baton.cfm)

I first saw Baton Bob one day when I was driving down Ponce de Leon with Mike and he said “Did you just see that man in a tutu?!  He had bells on his boots, was blowing a whistle, and twirling a baton!!”  I looked in the rear view mirror just in time to catch a glimpse of him marching down the street.  I’ve seen some pretty crazy things on Ponce.  Crack addicts, hookers, bums and more!  Often times I’ll see people talking loudly to themselves.  Mike always tells me maybe they have a bluetooth earpiece on and I just don’t know it… but yeah right!

So back to Baton Bob.  A few months later I saw a feature about him on national TV… and thought OMG!!!  That’s the guy we saw!  After hearing his story, I found out he’s not a typical Ponce crackhead after all.  He was actually a quite sane, very cool guy and apparently was somewhat of an icon in Atlanta.  Basically he started twirling a baton to make people smile after he was going through a depression after 9/11.

Since then, I’ve seen him 3 other times.  The second time, I saw him marching up Charles Allen, again in ballerina outfit.  A third time, I saw him in a bumble bee costume while I was eating outside at Park Tavern at Piedmont Park.  The fourth time, walking down 10th Street on Cinco de Mayo wearing a sombrero and red feather boa.  I’ve been dying to get a picture with him, but have never been at the right place at the right time WITH a camera on me.

Anyway, I haven’t seen him in a while and hope to run into him again soon!  I love you Baton Bob!

Midtown Art Cinema is probably my favorite place to watch a movie in Atlanta.  It’s a little more low-key than say, Atlantic Station and has more of a local type feel.  It’s also where all of the indie films show in town which is another reason I like to go.

So this time I went and checked out the movie Surfwise, a documentary about a Stanford educated doctor who decided to drop everything to travel around the country, live out of his camper with his wife and nine kids, and just surf.  I’d probably give the movie a 7 out of 10.  One part when the son was singing a story about his scarred relationship with his dad was kind of corny and painful to watch and other parts I wish they went more in detail with the story… but overall the movie was pretty good.

In a backwards way the movie reminds me of how I ended up in Atlanta.  Basically, before I moved to Atlanta in 2005 I was in Hawaii living a ridiculous lifestyle to some and I thought maybe I’d get my shit together.. go to grad school on the mainland.. make more money.. be more successful.. buy a house.. blah blah blah… all the things you’re supposed to do.  What I realized after I got here and accomplished almost all of it.. is who the hell cares?  I had the time of my life living on my brother’s couch and being a beach bum.  I could practically fit all of my belongings into 2 suitcases.  Yes, I worked… but that was never a priority for me at the time.  I eventually got my own studio that had absolutely nothing in it, but gave in to mainland society’s idea that I needed more.  Looking back.. I was living in extreme simplicity to get by, but also living some of the happiest days of my life.  It’s still something I struggle with these days, the urge to go back, but we’ll see!  I’ll have to convince Mike… it would be twice as good this time around with him there with me!  One of the old Hawaiians told me before I left that the islands would never stop calling me back…=P

But yeah!  Go watch a movie at the Midtown Art Cinema!

Hands down, my favorite place to eat sushi in Atlanta is RuSan’s on Piedmont & Monroe in Midtown despite all the mixed reviews on Citysearch and other sites.  Some people think it’s too loud or has terrible presentation, but I love it.  It’s the only one in town that’s affordable and has a fun, crazy atmosphere and the menu is huge (although a little overwhelming).  I’m tired of the retardedly pretentious sushi joints here where I end up spending almost $100 on my own meal.  Every time I’ve been to RuSan’s they’ve always been so nice.. and sometimes they even take sake shots with my friends and me… very cool!  It’s a great place for a celebration or to take a bunch of people.  My favorite is to get them to do the “orange peel” trick for out of towners… if you don’t know you should definitely look into it… teeheeehee.

The Fuyuyama Maki

Sushi Pizza

I’ve never been much of a BBQ fan, but Fat Matt’s Rib Shack definitely changed that.  I’ve been here probably at least 20 times and never get tired of it.  It’s a great little mom and pop place that usually has a line going out the door as soon as it opens.  Another cool thing is that every night there’s a blues band that performs.  It’s definitely a great place to take out of towners for a local flare… YUM!

Full slab of ribs and bbq sauce (I shared with Mike)

With baked beans and brunswick stew!

One of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta is the Flying Biscuit.  I like to go to the one on Piedmont Ave & 10th Street since I can just walk there.  I love the organic oatmeal pancakes with peaches on top… mMmMM!  I usually end up loving everything I order from the Flying Biscuit.  They’re mainly known for their (all day) breakfasts, but I’ve been here for the dinner menu once and it was pretty damn good!  I have no idea why the dinner crowd is so sparse.  The weekend wait for breakfast can also be long, but then again I don’t mind since that corner tends to be a really good people watching spot!

“The High Flyer” An organic oatmeal pancake with warn peach compote, 2 eggs, and a sausage

…and also served with a flying biscuit (I added the gravy), and your choice of moon dusted potatoes, creamy dreamy grits, or a side salad of field greens.  Yum!!!

Mike and I biked to Piedmont Park today to attend the Piedmont Park Conservancy lunch and listen to stuff about the expansion and grab some grub.  I’m at the park at least 3 or 4 days a week either jogging, biking, or taking the dogs for a walk so I joined the conservancy hoping to give back somehow for all of my time spent there.  I also ended up giving money to a homeless man.  He came up to Mike and I and before we could nicely dodge him and started to play his guitar and sing to us.  He then proceeded to show us his giant tumor on his shoulder (I probably could’ve done without seeing it but I guess it was more effective for him to show it) and asked for money… which I gave him. I’m usually a sucker for giving homeless people money if they play nice.