Category: entertainment

Grilling out and gaga dance

gloATL had a weekend of performances set up at the Old Fourth Ward Skate Park and even though it wasn’t clear exactly what would be happening, we decided to check it out. But first, we grilled out over at Star & Simon’s. Or, we watched Simon grill and then enjoyed eating it.

Field Roast’s frankfurters are the best veggie dogs you can get.

Simon made a rack of Gutenfleischer’s ribs. Nom.

We brought leftover chili and Daiya to top the dogs. Star made a kale and kelp noodle salad. And we brought chips & ranch dip.

After dinner, we walked the still-in-progress Beltline to the skate park.

The dancers were in the skating bowls and also moving through the crowd. Skating continued during the performance and sometimes the skaters intricately worked their way through and around the dancers.

Apparently it was a style of dance called Gaga.

After watching and getting rained on a little bit we headed back. And had the Old Fashioned Chocolate Pudding Pie from Vegan Pie in the Sky with coconut ice cream.

The Porter & Mayer Hawthorne

Last Friday we had tickets to see Mayer Hawthorne at the Variety. Beforehand we met friends at The Porter for dinner. We started with the Belgian fries and they were ridiculous. Slathered in garlic oil. So good.

The vegan option at The Porter is the black bean burger. Oh, look, more fries. Now, given the reputation The Porter has for their food, I was expecting a little more from this black bean burger. It was .. okay. Not bad at all, just nothing memorable about it. Although that red pepper mustard was delicious.

Beer was consumed as well. I started with a Hopscotch, then dialed back the % to a Terrapin Easy Rider. It was like going from Winter to Summer. Easy Rider could become a regular summer beer.

We didn’t arrive at the venue until towards the end of the opener’s set. And our favorite seats were already taken. So we headed to the balcony. We found a pair with a perfect view except for the people shuffling to and from the stairs.

We first saw Mayer Hawthorne as an opener for Chromeo. Even if you aren’t 100% into the Motown, blue-eyed soul kind of music he puts out, the show is fantastic. It really is a good time.

And here’s a better view from the floor. These days there’s no need to be that person holding up their phone or camera the whole show because someone else definitely will.

Game of Thrones potluck

For the season opener of Game of Thrones, the Gunns kindly hosted a watching party. And Jeff made his famous lasagna. Delicious! So we didn’t have to feel too bad about it, I brought roasted broccoli. Why haven’t I roasted broccoli before? It’s amazing. Oh, and chocolate chip cookies. Because, cookies. Look, we had salad too and nommy garlic bread. There may have been adult beverages too.

Thai House and the Symphony

You’d think with my job I’d have access to all kinds of cool free tickets. Not so much. But occasionally something comes along. This Saturday I had tickets for Cirque de la Symphony with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. Since we had to travel way up to Alpharetta, a stop at Thai House for dinner was in order.

The sizzling rice soup, every time.

They have two sorts of fake meats: a chickeny one called su gai and a fishy one called su yi. I like the su yi and it’s different than the fake meats anyone else uses so I usually get that. Here it is in green curry form.

And on a bed of rice.

The symphony was okay but the sound wasn’t that great at the amphitheatre. I’d like to see them again at Symphony Hall. The acrobats were amazing, especially the final act. The things they did just were not possible.

Some in Canton have a crappy sense of humor

So some of you living in Canton are so upset over Stephen Colbert’s joke about Georgia’s Canton being the crappy one that you’re going to boycott the show? Do you people understand it’s a comedy show? Or have you been watching because you think Colbert is really a Hannity clone? My sense is that none of you that are going to boycott even watch the show, so I’m sure the ratings will be able to take the hit. At least the mayor seems to have some sense.