atlanta sucks! or… does it?

Did you know that there’s a Facebook group just for people who hate Atlanta? Neither did I. But, I gotta be honest. I wasn’t that surprised when I found out.

I hear it all the time, from both natives and transplants: Atlanta sucks. It’s too small, too slow, too crowded, too hot, too humid, too smoggy, too clogged with traffic, too right-wing, too left-wing, too ghetto, too suburban…. In fact, for quite a few people it seems that the only thing that distinguishes Atlanta from Hell, is… January.

Just look at some of the things that the ‘Atlanta Sucks’ Facebookers have to say about the A:

“if it were not for section8 housing and shootings, the AJC would have nothing to publish.”

“I will be watching many of the cities fireworks diplays from a distance…from the looming fear of being SHOT! (Screen on the Green ring a bell?)”

“I was in Chicago… and was ashamed to show my (Georgia) id… when I did, I was told how sucky the city was! “You have no downtown, it’s deserted!” one person said!”

“Smog, Pollen, Humidity, ROACHES THE SIZE OF SMALL CARS, MOSQUITOS WITH DRIVER’S LICENSES, CRAPPY SCHOOLS, Ice Storms, TRAFFIC, CRIME, RACISM, I could go ON AND ON…”

It’s true. Atlanta’s no utopia.  We’ve got our fair share of issues. Traffic that’s atrocious, pollen counts that rival some cities annual snowfall levels, and don’t even get me started on the much-bemoaned male-to-female ratio.

But that’s no reason to write the city off totally. For every sucky thing about Atlanta, there are twice as many positive things about the city – they just aren’t as glaringly obvious as congested freeways and inch-thick pollen. The best parts of Atlanta are hidden in plain sight, and most of the people who say Atlanta sucks, simply haven’t trained their eyes to see them.

So to help my myopic friends out a bit, I set out on a mission. I would go out and document some of the coolest, most interesting, most creative, and most under-the-radar people, places, and things that make our city un-sucky. People who truly know how to do Atlanta. I teamed up with my cousin Krystle Solomon, of Forehead Productions and we invited several local culture creators to show us their stuff. We went into their places of business and filmed them displaying their talents and sharing their comments on what makes Atlanta a great place to live, create, and play.

After a whirlwhind month of scheduling, filming, and editing, the first part of the project is almost finished, and I couldn’t be more delighted with the results. Krystle and I have decided to call the project, How to Do Atlanta. We’ll be hosting an official launch party for How to Do Atlanta on Monday, September 20 at Pizzeria Vesuvius in Edgewood. You can get all the details for How to Do Atlanta’s official launch party on Eventbrite or Facebook.

Here are a few sneak peeks at How to Do Atlanta’s first round of local experts:

Chef / Owner Kevin Clark of Home Grown Restaurant in Reynoldstown, shows off the restaurant’s recipe for crispy, fried green tomatoes:

Nanziri Clark, of Kawa Java Coffee (a coffee roaster and distributor) explains the origin of Ugandan coffee and demonstrates how to make iced coffee at home:

Emer Reilly, curator of Cornbred Gallery, tells us where to find some of Atlanta’s edgiest up-and-coming visual artists:

DJ Applejac shares his thoughts on what it’ like to be a ‘musical minister’ in the city of Atlanta:

It’s been an amazing experience working with some of Atlanta’s best ‘hidden talent’. I’m grateful for everyone who participated, and I’m even more convinced after doing this project, that Atlanta’s cultural identity is alive and well, and that the city is decidedly not sucky.

If you want to see more of How to Do Atlanta’s videos of local experts, come out to the launch party on Monday, check out the How to Do Atlanta website when it launches on September 20, have a peek at the How to Do Atlanta blog, or get social with How to Do Atlanta on Twitter and Facebook.

And to all those who still aren’t convinced that Atlanta doesn‘t suck… I hear Detroit’s nice this time of year.

cheers,

k

How to Do Atlanta’s Official Launch and Viewing Party

Monday, September 20, 2010

7pm-until

Pizzeria Vesuvius

327 Edgewood Avenue

Atlanta, GA 30312

www.howtodoatlanta.com

dj kai alce remembers house in the park

For the past five years, Labor Day weekend in Atlanta has signaled the arrival of House in the Park, a family-friendly outdoor music festival for lovers of house, afrobeat, and soulful dance music. Though it continues to swell each year, House in the Park is still a largely under-the-radar event in Atlanta, mainly because it caters to such a niche audience.

Loyal fans of Atlanta DJs Ramon Rawsoul, DJ Kemit, Salah Ananse, and Kai Alce – the fantastic foursome behind House in the Park – have been there since the beginning. House in the Park 2010 promises to be the largest yet, as word about the good vibes and sounds the event unfailingly delivers continues to spread beyond Atlanta’s close-knit house music family.

I sat down with DJ Kai Alce to get some insight on how House in the Park has evolved since its genesis, and what’s on tap for House in the Park 2010.

---

So, how long have you been a DJ? How did you get your start?
Aw, man. I bought my first turntables in ‘83. But I’ve been DJing professionally since ‘92. I’ve always been into music, though. I listen to a little bit of everything. My parents were Haitian, so I grew up listening to soca and all that. Growing up in New York at that time, it was like during the creation of hip hop and disco. My Dad was a jazz aficionado, and he was really into audio hi-fi equipment. So I guess that’s where I got an affinity for both the music and the equipment.

Was this something you always knew you wanted to do?
Not really. It just sort of evolved that way. The first time I DJed for a party, it didn’t go well.

I used to work at this place called The Music Institute. I worked there at 16 years old – Chez Damier got me in there. It was like the Detroit version of Paradise Garage. Then I moved to Atlanta to go to school at Morehouse. I started getting gigs and started making money, and thought, “hey, I could do this professionally.”

Where did the idea for House in the Park originate?
Ramon Rawsoul asked me about it. At that time I was working at Satellite – a record store in Little Five Points. We might have already been doing The Gathering then.
The Gathering is a monthly house music event featuring DJs Kai Alce and Ramon Rawsoul. The duo has been hosting The Gathering for over 5 years.
The first House in the Park was at Candler Park in 2005. There was another group called Earthtone that used to do an event out at Piedmont. They used to do it real renegade style, though. You know, they’d just go out there and they may or may not have a permit. I told Ramon that (getting a permit) was gonna be an issue. But we went through the process and got what we needed. The first year, we had about 200-300 people, just from the crowds that supported each of us.

What Atlanta DJs were involved that first year?
It was me, Ramon, Kemit, and Salah.
What was funny was… I think I had to DJ or promote the night before – anyway, I was out late. And you know there’s always that riff of who goes on first and who goes on last. I remember I was like, I’ll go on early. And I got there, did my set… and fell asleep. So I said – I’m definitely not doing that again.

How has House in the Park changed from that first year?
Well after the first year, we moved to Perkerson Park because of better amenities. Candler was very DIY all the way. We had to bring in port-o-potties, and everything. That first year, the crowd at House in the Park was mostly people who knew us from the nighttime sets. The second year House in the Park became more family oriented. And it just took off from there.

Did you ever think House in the Park would become as big, or continue for as long as it has?
No. Never. ‘Cause it’s getting bigger every year. More people, more problems. The more people you get, the more things they (city officials) ask you to have. Like ambulances, extra cops, then after a certain number of cops you have to get a police sergeant.
Now we’re at the point where we’re gonna have to start getting sponsors. Whole Foods has been on as a sponsor since the first or second House in the Park – they donate water. The neighborhood is one of the sponsors. Others are people who have known us, who are blessed enough to hook us up.

What is it about House in the Park that you think makes it so popular?
The good feeling and the music. The music aids in people letting go and letting down their guard. So far in the five years since House in the Park has been going, we’ve had no fights, no arguments. We’ve had a couple of lost kids, but they get found before the end of the evening.
People have said that when they leave House in the Park, the positive energy they leave with rides for a while. Even some of the kids, they don’t see some of those other kids until that event. So they look forward to playing together while their parents enjoy themselves. I had one guy come up to me -his daughter is in her teenage years – and tell me that she asked her dad to dance. He says that’s the first time she ever asked him to dance with her.
At House in the Park, you can see anybody from age 3 to 55. My dad’ll be here this year. He may have been here at least 4 times now. I had my whole family come out one time.

What can people expect this year? Are there any other DJs are on deck?
The House in the Park lineup will stay the same until it ends. I don’t think anybody knows our town better than we do. We try to keep it amongst us here. We may have a guest DJ that shows up some years.

How many attendees do you average or are you expecting for House in the Park this year?
Well, last year it was about 3,000. So we definitely hope to meet that.

Where can people get more info about House in the Park, purchase House in the Park gear, make donations, etc?
They can go to www.houseinthepark.net. People can buy CDS and House in the Park T-shirts at the event. That’s what helps us pay for the event. So be sure to bring cash with you. CDs are $5-10. Tees are $10-12.

What other projects are you working on? Where besides House in the Park can people see or hear you?
Well, I have my record label – NDATL. It stands for New York, Detroit, Atlanta – three places where I’ve lived. We just released a new single called “I Got Life” by Kemetic Just. Kemetic Just is DJ Kemit and Justin Chapman, but this track is just Justin Chapman with Terrance Downs. That just got released this summer. It’s doing well in the charts here and overseas. You may even see him perform this year at House in the Park. You might also see a performance by a girl named Cayenne. She has a song called ‘Someone’, which I produced along with Phil Asher. It hit # 1 on the house charts.
I’m also continuing a monthly here at The Sound Table. It’s called Distinctive. It’s usually every third Saturday, this month it will be on the fourth Saturday. We’re having Omar S as a guest in October.

And people can check out my site www.kaialce.com. That will let you know about the upcoming events and projects.

House in the Park 2009 photos courtesy of John Crooms Photography.

House in the Park 2010
Sunday, September 5 ; noon – 8pm
Perkerson Park – Pavilion Area
770 Deckner Ave. SW; Atlanta, GA 30310
Free. Open to the public.

how to watch television – tips #2, #3, and #4: put your tv in its place

“If you read a lot of books you are considered well read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you’re not considered well viewed.”
~Lily Tomlin

In keeping with the series of posts about the evils of television I started a couple of weeks back… wait. No. Let’s clarify a couple of things before we get too far along with these.

I don’t actually consider TV to be evil at all. After reading my first post on the topic, a friend of mine expressed some concern that I had morphed into one of these staunch anti-TV nazis and that I was gearing up for multi-week rant about television’s role in unraveling the fabric of modern society.

Rest assured, Dear Reader, that I enjoy vegging out in front of the tube as much as the average American. I also realize that I often get stuck for hours longer than I originally anticipated and may end up missing out on more beneficial forms of entertainment if I’m not careful. It’s a topic that has come up more than once within my circle of associates, so I thought I’d share my own thoughts on the matter for anyone else who might be interested. Sheesh. Get off my back, already.

Now, where were we? Oh yes.

Let’s delve into my next 3 tips for how to watch television more responsibly. I decided to group these all together because they have a common theme – where you keep your TV has a big influence on how much you watch it. Oh, and in case you’re just joining our regularly scheduled blog posts, you might also want to check out the first in this series of tips.

How to Watch Television – Tip #2

Take the TV out of your front room. In many homes, one of the first things you see when you walk in the front door is a TV. Just over the threshold lies this big hulking object, sitting front and center, just begging to be touched or turned on. See,that even sounds inappropriate, doesn’t it? Consider assigning your TV to a room that isn’t the main room of the house.

How to Watch Television – Tip #3

Don’t have a TV in every room of the house. There should be some place (other than the bathroom) that you can sit in the house where there is no TV to potentially distract you. If you’ve got a TV in every room, consider gifting at least one to a friend, donating it to a charity, or selling it on Craigslist.

How to Watch Television – Tip #4

Don’t make the TV the central focus of the room. Most people plan the design of the room around the TV – all of the furniture is arranged around the television as a central focus point. As soon as you sit down, you feel as if you’re automatically expected to watch the television, so you do. Try placing the TV off-center or storing it in an armoire, entertainment center or behind a curtain so you can close off the TV when it’s not in use. Yes, that means you may have to slightly shift the furniture or walk across the room to unveil the TV before tuning in. But you’ll transform turning on the TV into a mini-production, instead of an easy default activity. In turn you might feel less compelled to watch the tube just because it’s there.

cheers,
k