it’s groundhog day! looks like georgia’s general beauregard lee, who is 94% accurate, saw his shadow this morning and predicts six more weeks of winter. we’ve had a mild winter, so maybe we’ll actually get some snow!

clementine and i planned on heading to lilburn to see the general make his prediction live, however we were both sickly and it was freezing. next year for sure! at least we woke up and put on groundhog day, as per holiday tradition!

– ryan & gub

for the second year in a row, we went to kinsey family farms in search of the sterritt family christmas tree! it’s about an hour outside of atlanta and offers some great winter agritourism. besides picking out a tree, there’s plenty of holiday fun to be had! they have tractor rides, a petting zoo, and even hot cocoa & s’mores by a bonfire.

kinsey farms offers lots of christmas tree options as well. there are pre-cut firs, living trees, cut-your-own trees, as well as small charlie brown style ones and various wreaths. we went with a cut-your-own leyland cyprus like last year. clementine was a big help cutting down the tree, as you can see in the photos.

check out our post from last winter when we first discovered kinsey family farms. we are glad we’ve made it an annual family holiday tradition!

– ryan & gub

kinsey family farms

7170 jot-em down road
gainesville, ga 30506
770-887-6028

the 2012 batdorf & bronson holiday blend is now available at dancing goats! it’s a great dark, spicy coffee for those cold winter mornings.

– ryan

dancing goats coffee bar

419 west ponce de leon ave
decatur, ga 30030
404-687-1100

our friends ben & meredith brought us some delicious pickled goods they made from their garden this year! they included pickled peppers, okra, cucumbers, squash, green tomatoes, as well as jams and tomato sauces. we are so thrilled!

– ryan & gub

my brother and i headed up to the cobb energy center last week to catch david byrne & st vincent. the show was really awesome, i’m glad i was able to attend. it wasn’t quite the life changing concert that songs of david byrne & brian eno was in 2008, however it still held its own.

the concert was the end result of a pretty ambitious collaborative project between the two artists called love this giant. the concert entailed david byrne & st vincent playing a few talking heads & david byrne songs (naive melody, burning down the house, road to nowhere, strange overtones, lazy, like humans do), a few st vincent songs (save me from what i want, marrow, cheerleader, northern lights, cruel, the party) and then songs from their collaborative album.

all in all it was a cool concept and a great show. hearing them sing backup on one another’s songs was pretty special. in particular, st vincent’s backing on stranger overtones was amazing! it actually sounded better than the album version, which is saying a lot. here is the full setlist.

– ryan

my brother and i recently attended the jesus & mary chain at the variety playhouse. after all these years, the reid brothers can still put on a great rock show! they weren’t touring for a new album or even new material, so they just played the hits, which was perfect. they covered classics from psychocandy though honey’s dead, while passing on their 90s material besides snakedriver from the crow soundtrack. check out the full setlist!

the jesus & mary chain were actually the first small concert my brother and i attended some 18 years ago. they played at the ritz theater in ybor city (tampa) on october 13, 1994. they were touring for stoned & dethroned and had mazzy star & velvet crush opening up! it was also the last show at the ritz before it became known as masquerade for 10+ years.

– ryan

i started my new job today as production manager at spots films! i am very excited to have normal work hours again and not have to find more freelance work every week.

– ryan

on the same building as yesterdays collaborative mural you will find this 2010 living walls piece. it was painted by street artists ripo from barcelona, spain & remed from paris, france.

remed also painted the huge 11-story mural we recently covered, head there to see more of his artwork. if you would like to see more of ripo’s murals, head here, here & here or for an interview head here.

check out our previous coverage of living walls atlanta!

– ryan

living walls: ripo & remed

studio nine hundred
900 dekalb avenue
atlanta, ga 30307

you will find this collaborative 2010 living walls mural along dekalb avenue on the side of studio nine hundred. we drive on dekalb quite a bit, so this was one of the first murals that brought our attention to the non-profit. the walls were painted by street artists swampy (oakland, ca), gaia (baltimore, md) & greg mike (atlanta).

gaia & greg mike have painted numerous other living walls murals and swampy also painted a collaborative mural with doodles near the eyedrum during the 2010 campaign, which is also great!

check out our previous coverage of living walls atlanta!

– ryan

living walls: swampy & gaia & greg mike

studio nine hundred
900 dekalb avenue
atlanta, ga 30307

this living walls piece from 2010 went up on the front of an apartment complex on edgewood avenue. it’s by atlanta-based artist michi meko and is fairly close to a bunch of other old fourth ward living walls murals along edgewood ave.

michi meko has a pretty diverse portfolio of fine art and street art, so be sure to visit his website or you can read interviews here and here.

check out our previous coverage of living walls atlanta!

– ryan

living walls: michi meko

608 edgewood ave
atlanta, ga 30312