A rare view of Hurt Building details, from a window on the north wing of the (I think) 16th floor, looking south.
Filed under Uncategorized
what a dummy
You never know what will greet you when you come to work in the Hurt Building. Throngs of hip-hop extras, rumors that Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw are in the building, a day of regression therapy . . .
Monday morning, the building was wrapped with extension cords and surrounded by trucks for the production of Past Life, a new Fox TV “Reincarnation-themed drama about a psychologist and an ex-NYPD homicide detective who team up to help people solve past-life traumas and present-day crimes.” I can hardly wait.
Actually, I don’t have to. I can tell you what happens. Some dummy jumps (or was he pushed?) out of my office window and lands on an old car down below. From the looks of the cars and taxis, this past life is in NYC in the ’80s. Later in in the afternoon, guys repeatedly run up and down Edgewood Avenue below my window, looking up to point at me and ducking at what seem to be gunshots. They do this over and over, as if trying to get it right. (That was a reincarnation joke — get it?)
Here’s more about the show. You won’t see me looking out the window. The cameras were pointed the other way.
Filed under Movies (and Tube)
I’ve always said that rap and opera are two genres of music I have simply failed to develop an appreciation for. Now that I’m on my way with opera, I think it’s time to start listening to rap. Or at least paying attention to the rather operatic drama that surrounds it.
Why now? This interview on NPR yesterday morning with an international relations prof from GWU convinced me.
“If you go back to, like, 19th century bounce-power politics, this is how rising powers would make it,” Lynch says, citing conflicts between Japan and Russian as well as among rising powers in Europe. “If they wanted to get somewhere, they had to take someone out.”
The difference today is that we’re in a uni-polar world with the United States on top. In the rap world, Jay-Z is that guy.
The Game is the erratic wildcard.
“He’s North Korea; he’s Iran,” Lynch says. “He might not win, but he can hurt you if he drags you down into this extended occupation, this extended counterinsurgency campaign.”
Tell me this doesn’t deserve to be an up-and-comer on Stuff White People Like.
Listen to the NPR piece here > (if you can stomach snarky, pasty Steve Inskeep)
And send me your recommendations. Prudish me has always had a hard time with lyrics (are they called lyrics or just raps?) about women’s behinds and other bodily features, not to mention all the stuff about shootin’ folks. The 20-Something I work with listens all the time and finds the words hilarious.
Maybe I should start with some of the artists who film videos in our building. Here’s one. When we watched it in the office, the 20-Something recognized all sorts of other artists in it — I suppose a cameo in another dude’s (oh . . .dude is very white: bro’?) video is a form of political alliance?
On second listen, I like it! (Hey, Mikey!) It was filmed in the Hurt Building, on Edgewood outside, and in some other ATL spots you’ll recognize.
Filed under Tunes
City Grill, the crown jewel of downtown Atlanta restaurants, closed its doors yesterday.
When I got the terse Hurt Building email yesterday morning, I couldn’t believe it. City Grill and Dailey’s? Where in the world will downtowners have their Christmas luncheons? We already have such a shortage of good restaurants on our side of town. This leaves us with nothing.
Such a shame: great food, very reasonably priced, in a beautiful space. The former home of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, in fact, and I understand the vaults are still back in the kitchen somewhere. When the restaurant opened 20 years ago, about the time the Hurt Building reopened, it gave what was then a tired part of downtown a shine that lasted all these years.
The news settled over me like a death yesterday. In fact, I’m still in the denial phase of my grieving. Not having it there leaves a big gaping hole in our building and our neighborhood.
We will miss the leisurely two-hour lunches, the seasonal menu, and especially the graceful Jimmy the bartender.
*Update: Kyle”s own personal remembrances of City Grill. With old photos.
in BDay's bubble 