****Peer Gynt "Suite Number 1, Op. 46 - In The Hall of The Mountain King"

I feel really ashamed right now about an off the cuff comment I made in the last post.

You see, Marc and I moved into the Edgewood neighborhood here in Atlanta four years ago, with the knowledge that it was destined soon to turn around from a drug infested, poverty stricken, high crime neighborhood into an extremely sought after address, merely due to the proximity to downtown, midtown, the airport, and I20 and I75. We knew that this last bastion of intown Atlanta was going to explode market-wise.

Well, it has exploded. We are feeling the ripples we had counted on. Housing values have skyrocketed in our little neighborhood over the past two years. New developments are transforming this once forgotten but now demografically ideal few blocks into a desirable neighborhood for a second generation of investors and gentrifiers to prey upon.

We are feeling ripples we never counted on nowadays though. We made friends with Butch. Butch went away because he could not afford the upkeep on his parent's home that he grew up in, much less the skyrocketing tax accessments.

Nettie from across the street welcomed us from day one. She always had a smile, a hug, and a shout out for me and Marc. When she was under the influence of crack cocaine, Nettie was a mess and a monster. When she was clean, she was an absolute natural, glowing beauty. She radiated this unaffected and genuine beauty, charm, and humor that could melt the hardest heart.

Nettie made dinner for us almost every Sunday. I've told you guys about that already...the collards, the ox tails, the ribs, the pig's feet. God knows she barely had the means to feed her family, much less her crazy neighbors. But she did...she brought over heaping plates of warm food and a big warm smile on those warm lazy southern summer Sundays. Moments like that can't be bought with equity.

Nettie was so excited the first year we had a crop of muscadine for wine. She spent the afternoon boiling and sterilizing big pickle jars, so we would have make-shift vats to cure the grapes in. She wanted to make sure we did it up right.

Nettie did this from her heart, in exchange for Marc and me occasionally fixing her air conditioner, retrieving a softball from the roof, or trying to jump start any variety of junk cars that materialized in her driveway.

I'll miss the kids the most. Little Ricky, Romelo, and Kikkie playing in the yard. Christmas morning here for the past four years has always included those three...running around our house with the new toys Marc and I wrapped for them. I don't know who got the biggest thrill out of it, Marc and me, the kids, or Nettie.

Circumstance has finally caught up with Nettie and Big Ricky. They can no longer hold onto their family's property...Nettie's mother's home that has been in the family for decades. Nettie's sister, Red finally vacated the house last weekend. A crew of contractors lit upon the house tuesday to begin the process of gutting and shaking up the house to make it fit for yuppie consumption.

We didn't count on loving our neighbors here. We are getting what we wanted when we decided to move here, but at a price we hadn't anticipated.

1) We are babysitting Beauregard and Jasmine this weekend. Beau is a tiny Maltese, but always rules the Doghouse when he visits. He's got a huge crush on Gracie. Gracie is approximately 8 times his size, but that doesn't stop him from desperate romantic advances. Jasmine is a miniature Schnauzer. She always has a very, very serious look on her face....like she is constantly on a mission.



2) I finally have an entire work-free weekend...no meetings, no uncious sales reps, no nothin remotely resembling commerce.

3) The neighbors from across the street moved out this week. No more collards 'n crack for your's truly. Dang.

4) I consider mayonnaise a seperate food group.

5) The Asiatic Lillies in the perennial border burst open this week. They are one of the big show-offs in the border when they bloom. The perennial border is mostly planted with "cottage-style" plants, and when these bad girls bloom, they steal the show.



****The White Stripes "Seven Nation Army"

An homage to the fathers of techno. They set the barometer for all machine music to this day.

If a good DJ knows how to progress, work a crowd, and mix in old skool...then kicks this around 2 am...I'm on the floor and in heaven...even since I stopped doing ecstasy. It may get on your nerves at first..but hold up. The best part starts about 1:45 into this live video of an extended version.





*****Kraftwerk "Numbers"

Brother Prank talked about one of the first concerts he went to when he was a kid on his post over at Cowbells today...Iggy opening for Mott...holy shit. That kind of line-up came nowhere near my little burg, except in my head and my bedroom on Tomahawk Trail.

I started thinking about the first concert I went to. I had to contemplate a moment to remember. It was Rick "Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo" Derringer, opening for Edgar "Frankenstein" Winter.

Somebody's mom dropped us off two blocks away, because McCallie Avenue was so crowded. That gave us enough time to hit that sweet Pine Hill Paralizer and share that fifth of Jack before we walked into Memorial Auditorium. Amazing what crafty 70's teens could conceal beneath those CPO and army jackets.

Walking into a theater of "we's" for the first time was charged with a spirit of dazed rite of passage. Being a part of a gathering...a part of a mass of people moved by tunes was a turning point. I can still see the faces of my peeps and all the "we's", wide eyed, as Edgar threw down the first chords of Frankenstein...Da da da da da da da da dah.....

I was thinking that "The First Rock Concert You Saw?" is a good delineator. Just curious.

What was YOUR first concert?

Peace, T.