Here is a little ditty for the Tech kids. We realize how terrible things have been around here. Finals hell.

[What, precisely, are these Georgia Legislators celebrating?]

1. The New York Times has an article on Big Boi’s hip hop ballet.  We are in no way stating that Atlanta needs validation from the elite newspaper, even if we didn’t read the AJC’s coverage of the same topic.
2. Getting drunk.  Helping animals.  What are two things honkies definitely like?  The Critter Crawl is in Little 5 Points this weekend.
3. The AJC has the summary of this year’s state legislation.  Prepare to be underwhelmed.
4. Dan Radakovich is a glutton for punishment.  LSU has hired an athletic director that isn’t DRad.  GT Sports Blog with a nice get.
5. The Georgia baseball squad, at 9-3, has the best conference record in the SEC.  The Bulldogs swept South Carolina this weekend.  If you are in need of more prodigious coverage take a look over here.
6. Arts related jobs are way up in Atlanta according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.  Any guesses as to what percentage can be specifically attributed to the 47 movies/tv shows Tyler Perry shot last year?
7. Want to go the East Atlanta Beer Fest for free?  Volunteer here.

[The paternalism continues.]

1. Urban Gardeners new location in East Atlanta Village is having its grand opening this weekend.  It is located at 491-B Flat Shoals behind Sugar Britches.  While the store is pretty pricey the staff are excellent and the selection is varied.
2. The UGA baseball team pounded Clempson last night.  Official UGA has the dirty details.
3. Dennis Dodd has a great article on new Tech coach Paul Johnson.  It seems to us that the chip on Johnson’s shoulder will be uber popular with the angst-ridden male attendants and alumni of the Institute.
4. Cynthia Tucker takes it easy on Mayor Franklin.  In our opinion she is a mayor without a legacy running a government only slightly more efficient than what we got under Bill Campbell.
5. Sunday Sales = Dead.
6. Drive a Faster Car has the 2008 Chastain schedule.  Embarrassing fact - we have never been to Chastain.  Stepford North Atlanta is scary.
7. A few days back PWD did some interesting analysis of the future of Georgia men’s basketball.  Okay, you can go back to obsessing about football now.
8. Potentially free New Pornographers tickets at Cable & Tweed.  Need we say more?
9. Metroblogging with a nice find regarding MARTA’s new operating chief.
10. New bowl game to be played in DC.  It has an ACC tie-in.  Despite the potential for chilly weather it has great travel possibilities.  GT Sports Blog.

[Just gorge yourself.]

1. Braves and Birds talks state of the Thrashers nation. Some of the facts are quite damning.
2. Yesterday we discovered (only in the same sense as Columbus discovered America) a great Gwinnett blog called Exurban Adventures. With nearly 800,000 residents we question Gwinnett’s exurbanity. Here is their take on the “gang fight” at Mill Creek High School. The battle for control of the Mall of Georgia is getting intense, huh?
3. Rusty from RGM has a great piece of Georgia Legislatature history. Did that elicit yawns? It involves booze. See, we knew you drunkards would be into it.
4. FEMA teat, as predicted, available for suckling.
5. Peach Pundit has an interesting local perspective on the Obama race thing. We will not call it a “controversy,” unless, of course, we can say it the British way.
6. Former SEC basketball official going to prison for running a Ponzi scheme. The SEC official was initially investigated by the, uh, well, SEC. Who is investigating yesterday’s crew for the Georgi-Xavier game?
7. AJC gets around to discussing Moreland Avenue development. So, they are only about 2-3 months behind on the story. If this related to Buckhead we guess the response time might have been quicker.
8. CL has a review of the Glenwood, a restaurant in East Atlanta. The EAV was hit hard by the tornado. Make you way over and support the neighborhood with your patronage.
9. GT Sports Blog has the world’s quickest”Where are they now?” Info on Taylor Bennett.
10. Mixed-use development in Henry County. We are guessing that there is no public transportation element. Don’t be fooled by terminology into thinking something is green, or smart development, or whateve.
11. GrifDrift talks about Shirley Franklin defending her daughter’s light sentence via internet pseudonym. If we had caught the same charge as Kai Frankin we would be servicing our prison boyfriend at this very moment.
12. Tondee’s says an elected official was caught whilst being serviced by a staffer. No names yet.
13. Magic City, the Atlanta strip club known throughout the hip hop world, has been repurchased by its original owner.  We once heard Dennis Scott say the club was a favorite spot to take GT basketball recruits.
14. UGA VI was named top mascot in the NCAA tournament.  Yeah, not much consolation.
15. Rep. Stephanie Stuckey Benfield is upset that she was called out for missing so many votes.  Decatur Metro with her excuses.
16. Terrell Pryor to Ohio State.  You are officially the last college football fan to know.
17. South Atlanta High School basketball wunderkind Derrick Favors is the Georgia Player of the Year, according the official beverage of jortsporters.  How can Georgia get this kid?
18. Kudos to Creative Loafing for putting a reference to the Wire in this headline.
19. The Tour de Georgia starts in 31 days.  Why can’t they call it the Tour of Georgia.  The “de” seems silly outside of French speaking countries.  Euro teams Saunier-Duval, CSC, and Gerolsteiner are among the competitors.
20. Tondee’s has an excellent summary of the 2008 Georgia US Senate race.

[Cheap Beer Available.]

1. Pop Death Squad is having its monthly free Big Trouble in Little 5 Points show. Dancin’ shoes required. Drive a Faster Car with details.
2. Slapppy Kingston continues to shine in his role as Republican Hatchet Man - Obama Division.
3. Preston at kissatlanta says is refocusing his blog. He says he is moving away from electronic music and returning his focus to our fair city. We couldn’t be happier. See if you can catch what we guess is a Michael Pollan reference in the post.
4. GT Sports has range. Info on the GT Presidential search.
5. Remember how that sales tax hike you voted on was supposed to prevent hikes in water rates? Whoopsie.

[Y’all love to gawk at tornado pictures.  We do too.]

1. AJC says that Democrats are saying they will only approve the sales tax transportation measure if the bill allows “some of the cash to be used for rail.”  How much is “some”? Oh, and rural Georgia wants a disproportionate share of the revenues.  As usual.  This public transportation puff piece was issued at about the same time.
2. More East Atlanta Tornado pictures at flickr.
3. UGA softball pitcher Kate Gaskill pitched a perfect game!
4. Sour grapes at GT Sports Blog — “At least there is justice in the world though. First, they get shipped out west as a 14-seed. Second, it ensures that Dennis Felton is going to hang around a few more years. Good guy, but I don’t see him taking them consistently to the next level in hoops.”
5. We are cold hearted bastards, but damn if this tornado puppy ain’t cute.

[EAST ATLANTA BEER FEST!]

1. Tony Barnhardt talks about the Ray Ray McElrathbey (that dude who adopted his little brother) situation up at Clemson. Interesting stuff.
2. Built to Spill and the Meat Puppets play tonight at the Variety Playhouse. Creative Loafing has slightly more info.
3. GT Sports Blog has a neat map showing where various ACC recruits hail from. We are currently inquiring about the existence of an SEC version.
4. EAST ATLANTA BEER FEST! EAST ATLANTA BEER FEST! EAST ATLANTA BEER FEST! Looks like prices went up.

[Remember it’s only the spring game. If your team looks Texas State-esque don’t worry.]

Is the lack of College Football gnawing at your soul. Thought so. Here is something to look forward to……..spring games.

1. Georgia - The G-Day game will be at 2 pm on Saturday, April 5th. The players have been hard at work perfecting their game. You need to get to work perfecting your gaitin’ skillz.
2. GT - The Tech spring game is supposed to go down two weeks after UGA’s on April 19th. There are whispers that, due to a lack of players, there may be no game. No joke there, just the truth.
3. Georgia Southern - If you are thinking about heading down Statesboro way, the Georgia Southern Blue-White game will be on April, 12th. Last year they had 5800 in attendance. Maybe Southern should match up against Tech in their spring game. God knows Tech won’t play ‘em in the regular season.
4. VSU - We are pretty sure that Hotdosta is still hot in March. The national champion Valdosta State Blazers spring game is on March 29th.

1. Hooray for a decent college football game on Thanksgiving day. The Texas-Texas A&M rivalry game will move back to turkey day thanks to a new ESPN television contract. You may never have to watch NFL football again.
2. Braves single game tickets go on sale Friday. Opening day is Monday, March 31. We are going to ask our boss for a half day right now.
3. We have been seeing a lot of signs asking for a higher homestead exemptions in Atlanta. I am sorry, but this ain’t gonna keep people in their homes. It will exacerbate Atlanta’s budget issues. AJC with some coverage.
4. Booze and college football license plates are all that we’re interested in. Peach Pundit talks Sunday alcohol sales.
5. The Georgia women’s tennis team beat the number one ranked Georgia Tech women’s team. GT Sports Blog has your GT weekend wrap up.
6. Here is some nuggets of wisdom from US Representative Jack Kingston (R-GA). Our gag reflex is starting to act up.

[Do they still use these things?]

1. What the hell.  The Georgia - Georgia Tech basketball game will not be broadcast in Atlanta.  You can listen to the game FDR fireside chat style on WSB.   PWD has a good preview.
2.  Metroblogging Atlanta is talking Georgia Primary.   The primary is February 5.  I guess the “W” sticker era is really coming to an end.
3. The Grady saga continues at the AJC.