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Stefan's News from 1999

December

I brought in the New Year by watching the Peach Drop in Underground Atlanta after spending the day at First Night Atlanta. What did you do?

6X and Catfight! put on an awesome Christmas show at the Star Bar on the 18th. [review with pictures]

Diane Durrett didn't play on the 17th at the Sombre Reptile, it was a mistake in the Creative Loafing - in TWO places. I'm glad that paper is free - I'd hate to be paying money for crap. Also the food, beer selection, and sound system at the Sombre Reptile were disappointing.

I caught a double feature of Arnold Schwartzenegger in End Of Day and Toy Story 2 with Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. End of Days was really dark and I mean the cinematography as well as the plot: It was okay, though a little slow. Toy Story 2 was good to, but not as happy as the first.

Amanda Jones is participating in an online song contest. Surf on over and listen to True. It's a really mushy love song. They also put on another good show at the Dark Horse on Friday Dec. 3rd. I feel their sound is too big for such a small venue, but it was great to see Kristen back in action. The main act, Loud American Tourists were awful.

I just don't get Cowboy Mouth. I saw them at the Roxy with some friends from work and I was disappointed. My friends loved the show and had a great time. I left after an hour and walked out alone. Obviously everyone else liked them; the show was sold out. We all agreed that the opening act, Tom's House, really sucked.

Sleepy Hollow, the movie, was surprisingly good. They diverged from the traditional story enough to give it a full-big screen story but kept the important details. The acting was good, special effects were good, and the mystery was very well done. I think this will be the surprise hit of the year.

November

I went home for Thanksgiving. It was as bad as I had anticipated, but I'm glad I saw the family

Grapevine, my favorite TV series is coming back to CBS for six more episodes. Get your VCR ready! It will be cancelled again if it is as good as before. The viewing public just isn't ready for a show this open. [My Grapevine review page]

6X played the Earl on the 20th as part of the Stomp and Stammer anniversary show. They didn't start until 1:30am and most of the crowd had gone home - Too bad because they were in top form and put on an incredibly great show. They even introduced their new T-shirts - I got mine. Ultrababyfat opened with an interesting B-52's sound and a home movies. The Causey Way - dressed in white attire with black ties was not unlike DEVO. The lead singer of this "Not a Cult", who doesn't like to be reminded he looks just like David Corresh, had major sound problems but tried to make up for it by riding on the shoulders and fighting with audience members. At the climax he healed an audience member in a neck-brace. A fun but late evening. At the peak I think about 300 people were packed like sardines into the small venue. About 50 lasted to the end.

The new James Bond movie, The World is Not Enough wasn't bad. There's lot's of action, high-tech toys, and plot twists for all us fans.

I thought Being John Malkovich was bizarre beyond compare, but a lot of fun. The Omega Code wasn't nearly as good, but it did raise some good questions.

October

The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus played a Halloween show Oct 30th at Fusion. But the show and the party were weak.

Amanda Jones played a terrific show at the Dark Horse Tavern at a benefit concert for ALS. Pyrite and Crave also participated. My only complaint is the high prices they charge for drinks there. Concert review with pictures

Amanda Jones performed at Dottie's on the 16th. Their show was okay, but the sound in that place is pretty bad and Teresa blew her amp and had to borrow one from Beautiful, the next band. They tried to make the best of the situation and I give them credit for the effort. Their music sounds so much better in larger venues though. Dottie's is just not a good venue in a bad part of town. Concert review with pictures

Andy Offutt Irwin put on a great show at Eddie's Attic. Of course it helped that he filled the place with all his friends from the Georgia Renaissance Festival. His Aunt Marguerite story was hilarious and we all had a great time singing and clapping and making other noises. His flutist friend almost upstaged him with her own noises a few times. I could have lived without the constant Brave's updates though. His next show is October 30th at Java House.

Yes, I went to the Stone Mountain Highland Games and Scottish festival. If you're Scottish or a lover of all things Scottish, I'm sure you had a great time. There were kilts and swords and all sorts of clothing for sale, there were dozens of booths about clan names and Tartan colors, and there were bagpipes and harps and other Scottish music. I went and saw it all and some of the athletic competition too. Jennifer Daniels But I'm not a Scot. The one hour food/beer lines did not make me happy. I was also amazed about a Scottish custom I hadn't realized before: the men dress-up and the women don't. I was really hard pressed to find women in traditional dress, but ALL the men wore colorful kilts and such.

Jennifer Daniels put on a truly delightful show at Moonbean and Company, a small coffee shop in Vinings. She played outside on a cool fall evening with the leaves falling gently around her. Except for a few technical problems and several train interruptions the show went really well. She made several jokes about not minding the trains which was cute. Moonbean also has beer and sandwiches, which is nice. (concert review with photos)

Lara Kiang of 6X 6X put on an incredibly great show at the Echo Lounge Saturday Oct 9th. A huge crowd turned out to support a benefit for WRAS Album 88.5, the Georgia State Univ. radio station. The band played hard and loud, which was awesome. I heard several people in the audience comment that they'd never heard of the band before but thought they were great. I'm happy that there was a good turnout - but I don't like it when it's so crowded you can't get to the bar. When I left, the line to get in still extended around the building. Read my review here.

Pop is doing okay. I made a quick trip to visit him in W.P.B. I was bad and went out shopping and drinking at a club after spending only half the first day with him. I should have tried to spend more time with him, but his senility is really hard to deal with. He really embarrassed my aunt when we went out to lunch the next day. Still, he's doing well for a 93 year old.

The Whiskey Rock Saloon on Buford highway is a great place to hear bands; as long as it's not Christopher Robin. What they lack in talent they make up for in volume.

September

6X put on a great show at the Echo Lounge. It was loud, brightly light, and awesome! The band played really loose and both Lara and Rob broke guitar strings mid-tune. But the funniest part was the Tom-Foolery which we all really enjoyed. Although it was strange that Kevin didn't thank anybody, hmmm... The other bands were very week because their lead singers - well, they sucked. They played their instruments well, just the vocalists made me cry.

"It's more fun when it's sloppy!"

Lara Kiang
09/24/99

Dwight invited me to join his family at the North Georgia State Fair which was a lot of fun. Cotton Candy, boiled peanuts, Bar-b-que, and rides for only $5 admission. (See the pictures here)

The The Candler park festival turned out to be a very small affair: only two dozen booths and very little food. But 6X put on a very good, though short, show. I also saw Three Fingered Cowboy, Young Antiques, and the Greta Lee Band which weren't bad. (Full review with pictures)

The Changelings, Aphelion, and Flowers for Luci put on a good show at the Echo Lounge. Even though it ran so late (2am) I enjoyed the "Edward Scissorhands " looking lead-singer of Lucy and the lead-singer of Aphelion was very pretty and danced beautifully throughout the Changelings set.

The Beatles' Yellow Submarine premiere at the Tabernacle was great fun. Not the star-studded event I expected but really enjoyable. It started with a ventriloquist using Beatles puppets then The Roaches, a Beatles look-a-like band, played Beatles' tunes. Young girls from the audience actually stormed the stage just like the old days. After a short intermission the restored movie was shown on the big screen and in stereo. I was disappointed that there were no fanatics in costume or any special appearances. Only a couple of hippie dancers and a small memorabilia display

Sinead Lohan put on a nice show at the Variety Playhouse. It lacked the quality of the CD (which is not uncommon) but also lacked the personal energy that a live show usually adds. It seemed unpracticed and poorly organized. I guess the hack job someone did to Sinead's hair was a fair indication of the quality of the show. Still I enjoyed it and my friends did too. The Blue Hawaiians opened with surf music, basically the background music during an Elvis movie, as was good if you liked that kind of stuff.

17 years put on a great show at the Star Community Bar with Catfight! and the Mouth Breathers (their last show together). There was a lot of cross-pollinating as the bands shared Jennifer Kraft, but it was a lot of fun. (Full review with pictures)

Stigmata, the movie about a possessed women, was pretty good. A little scary and very bloody.

The Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain wan nice, but the crowd and parking was really bad. There was a lot of interesting arts & crafts but I didn't see any bands perform and the amateur tap dancing was lame. On the plus side I ate some good food. I think once was enough.

Cars Love Drive-Ins Labor day weekend I went to the Starlight Six Drive-in to see Catfight! perform with several other bands for the Starlight Six Drive-Invasion. There was music, barbecue, classic cars, and cool people. It was a whole lot of fun. They were celebrating 50 years in Atlanta. The theater may be using some of my pictures for their website and maybe Catfight! too. I'll do my page next week to give them a chance to choose pictures. Wow an actual drive-in in Atlanta, who would have thought?

August

Despite my best efforts, every once in a while, good plans don't work. It started when I saw the Skriker: a very bizarre play at the Horizon Theater. I don't think anyone really understood it. Then a new movie The Thirteenth Warrior, which has all the ingredients for a great movie except a good script. Finally Michelle Malone was okay, but not really great at a sold out Eddie's Attic. In the end , the weekend wasn't satisfying because none of these were really good. They were all just okay leaving me with that still hungry feeling. Oh well, maybe next weekend.

Wow! What a great show I saw at the Star Community Bar: 6X, Catfight, and the Stimulants. The full review is available here: pictures, links, and more.

I received a last minute E-mail from Keli Mercadante that the Women of Rock show was about to take place in Conyers. So I raced down to the Java House and was rewarded with an awesome outdoor show. Thunder storms were passing to the East, so we were actually fanned by cool breezes. Caroline Aiken, Keli Mercadante, and Diane Durrett put on a great show in the Conyers' pavilion. Read all about it here.

I saw the Thomas Crown Affair which I thought was very entertaining. There's enough naked Rene Russo to keep any teen age boy happy and a good bun shot of Pierce Bronson for the ladies. But really, it was a delightful will-they-or-won't-they romance movie with suspense. I really like all the pictures of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Mom and Dad used to take us there all the time. Nice childhood memories.

Friday the 13th must be good luck for Amanda Jones because they put on one amazing show at the Earl in East Atlanta. About 50 people attended the 1 am performance which made the small venue quite comfortable. The band, with Diana filling in for Kristen, really played well and I'm sure they impressed many of the visitors in town for the Atlantis Music Conference. I also saw Gentle Readers and Sally Anthony. Read more about Amanda Jones with pictures.

Amanda Jones - photo by Stefan
Amanda Jones at the Earl 8/13/99
Teresa, Carrie, Diana, and Vickie

I attended a very interesting panel discussion at the Nexus Contemporary Art Center titled: The Sex Worker as Artist, Activist, and Catalyst. The panelists were Annie Sprinkle, Dolores French, and Stella Zine. It was a very interesting discussion that ran a wide variety of topics, issues, and arts. About a hundred people attended the show on a warm summer Hotlanta evening. You must have been 18 to attend and should be to follow this link for a review - but don't get your hopes up for nudity on my site. I also went to Annie Sprinkle's Herstory of Porn: Reel to Real performance at 7 Stages in Little Five Points. You can read all about it at my review page.

Switchblade Symphony put on a great show at the Masquerade. The crowd, mostly Goths, really got into it. I even got to see some old friends from DragonCon.

And of course - The Mystery Men was great. I love Janeane Garafalo! It was stupid, but not too bad. It kept moving and was fun. I also saw Bruce Willis in the Sixth Sense which was very good. I don't know why the critics don't like it - maybe too much death?

July

Lola Pandora brought her live internet talk show to the Tabernacle courtesy of Excite.com. It was a pretty interesting show. There were several guests who discussed everything from meeting people on-line to Cybersex to live sex. Several audience members and online chatters got into the action too.

Don't see, The Blair Witch Project - it was so awful I asked for my money back, then wrote a letter to the guy at the paper and asked him for a refund too.

Go see - Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt - auf Deutch). It's intense and fantastic! The music was great and the action constant. Yes it's in German with English subtitles but it's worth it! There are plot twists and surprises all through the film. For example - she's running down the street and bumps into a man on a bicycle - we get a sign the reads And Then and then we get a series of flash forward snapshots of the of the guy - first he falls off the bike, then we see him in the hospital, then a beautiful nurse, next he's marrying the nurse, next they have children - back to Lola running. Wow it was great.

A night a Eddie's - always a good time. This time it was Jennifer Daniel's turn to provide lovely music for the evening. Angela Motter was pretty good too. I could have lived without the high school group called Mike Willis and their crowd of friends who filled the place for his set then left an empty room for the next act. But Jeffery Butts wasn't bad.

I also saw Amanda Jones for a very disappointing turnout to an otherwise outstanding show at The Hanger. I don't know why, but people seem intent on ignoring this venue despite several good acts. The girls played their hearts out none the less and really put on a great show.

It's official - ABC is giving Paula Marshall another try at a TV series. This time a drama called Snoops with Gina Gershon. It looks like a bad remake of all those other failed female duo detective shows. But I love Paula (Cupid, Spin City, Chicago Sons) so let's all watch the premiere. Sundays 9pm on ABC. Oh yeah, please video tape it for me in case I miss one and don't get to see a repeat before it's cancelled.

Caught 6X and the Sonia Tetlow Band at the Echo Lounge, but didn't stick around for the third band. I like the place, but it was awfully hot. As I left it started to pour. I got so wet going to my car. Funny how the people of Atlanta don't know how to drive in the rain

DragonCon was totally unbelievable! See my site at: Dragoncon99.html for this year's review - or: Dragoncon98.html
for last year's! I met so many nice people and had so much fun I still can't believe it. I was so exhausted afterward that I kept falling asleep at work all week. The highlight for me was meeting Anne McCaffrey. The other enjoyable parts were the costume contests, the panel discussions, and the concerts. It was a blast!

June

Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me was really a lot of fun. I highly recommend it.

The Virginia-Highlands Festival was nice. Lots of artists, food, and music. But it was really Hot! The same should be said about the Renaissance Festival - Always enjoyable but hot.

The Amanda Jones CD "Voices" is finally out! It's really good. They're a local band here in Atlanta, with a strong Go-Gos or Bangles style sound. I'm really happy for Theresa and the gang. It's very good!

There's Only One Month until DragonCon 99. The largest science fiction convention in the South. I'm really excited because my favourite author - Anne McCaffrey will be there! If you're unfamiliar with DragonCon read my review of last year's convention.

May

I've switched jobs again. Now I'm up in the C-130J structures design group, actually changing the blueprints. It's pretty scary to think I'm working on 45 year old blue prints. Will other engineers still see my name at the bottom of a blueprint 45 years from now, as they work on the C-130?

Colin Hay, the lead singer of Men At Work, performed a very intimate show at Eddie's Attic. I say that not only because Eddie's is so small, but because only 30 people showed up. Of course I really enjoyed the show and was very happy to get his autograph. But others were put off by the melancholy mood of the show and the constant meandering about the ups and downs of his career. Still, we all enjoyed the music, the stories, and his sense of humor. Our new waitress, Mary Jane, was pretty cool too.

My friend Paul was in town for a wedding. So I did the tourist guide thing. We did the Cyclorama and ate out at couple of places. Not enough time though. Thai food at the Tamirand was very good.

Caught the Wild West Picture Show at the Point. Caroline Aiken opened the show. It was a very enjoyable.

Star Wars Episode I was disappointing - mostly because it was a kiddie movie. Come on, talking frogs and a 10 year old hero winning a car race? We never saw the bad guy because he might scare the little rug-rats and the only ones who got killed were the robots - no blood: no gore. Star Wars was an adult movie that happened to be kid friendly - Uncle Owen and Obi-Wan died, not to mention several storm troopers and the Jawas. There was action and violence and sexual tension before--Now we got the same G-rated stuff as Jurrasic park, and I didn't like that either. I still have hope for the next one. But I won't be seeing this twice. Maybe George Lucas will realize kids don't want to be patronized: They want to be treated like little adults.

Saw the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus with Glenn and Ashlee at the Echo Lounge. It's a circus/freak/burlesque type show. Ribald comedy! The slack rope walker, walking on glass, and hammering a screw driver in the skull were exciting. I can't say more here, it's a family server, but if you ask me the details it'll blow your mind.

Chuck and I road tripped to Bellevue Station in Nashville to see Barbara Bailey Hutchison. (Full concert review.) Even though she promised me days before, Barbara ran out of time and didn't do my request - I drive four hours and she didn't do it! The song she did instead was much happier though, so I'll forgive her. The bummer of the evening was the recent death of Shel Silverstein, whose song Still Gonna Die, she often sings. Chuck got us home alive, even though I was so tired I couldn't see. All concerts should be that much fun.

My review of the Mummy: The effects were good and the plot was okay. I think it was over hyped - but I enjoyed it.

We did another night at Eddie's Attic for lovely music. Of course lunch at the Vortex was a great lead in.

April

Welcome to April. That's the start of summer here in Georgia.

A two week business trip to Biloxi Mississippi was fun. It wasn't "Africa Hot" but is was really muggy. They've really revitalized the place with white sand beaches, million dollar casinos, and many new restaurants. The Mod-team I worked with was really first rate and the work wasn't too hard. The mission went really well. Best of all I got to see Joan Jett in concert - TWICE!! I got her autograph, caught guitar pics, got the playlist and had a wonderful time. The new webpage will have several concert pictures. I also visited the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola, Florida. It was really interesting. Although I'm not a big Navy fan, the exhibits were very well done and exciting. The mockup of the carrier was exceptional. I even had lunch in their Cubi bar.

The Atlanta Dogwood Festival was a lot of fun. I saw so many really great bands and the food and the arts were pretty good too. Mother nature cooperated with sunny but cool days. Many of the performers also made appearances at Eddie's Attic which was also fun. My favourites were Christian Durand and Tammy Fowler: Really excellent singers. Of course Andy Offutt Irwin was awesome, I also caught Michelle Malone, Bill Ward, and Don Conoscenti. It was fabulous to just walk among the art booths, stop for a Ben & Jerry's Ice cream, and eat it while watching a band. Nothing beats a sunny day in Piedmont park: Except maybe two sunny days.

I saw Amanda Jones playing at the Hanger in Marietta, but it wasn't great. Their music was good but Vicki (the bass player) was sick, the warm up bands were really awful, the venue was dirty, and the bar tending sucked.

Andy Offutt Irwin was a lot of fun at the Java House in Conyers. It is a really small coffee shop that has room for about forty people. Andy put on a great show with his songs, stories, and jokes. They have some great other stuff coming in the future. I'm glad I finally discovered this place, there's a bunch of great summer concerts coming up there for their summer series.

I saw The Matrix with Keanu Reaves. It was a pretty exciting roller coaster ride. All action! I was on the edge of my seat for two hours. The plot was good, but not great, but you go for the visuals. I'd call it a good movie.

March

March was so much fun, that I'm sorry it ended.

I did a double concert one Friday night. My favorite local bands were both playing at the same time: luckily at adjoining venues.

First I went to see Amanda Jones who were appearing at the 9 Lives Saloon. They were really awesome. The playing and singing were really fun. The crowd really enjoyed themselves. They attracted about 100 people to the little pub in L5P. They finished at 12:15am at which time I walked next door to the Point. I'm sure Kristen is going to think I took her playlist, but really, I found it under the table after they started.

Across the plaza at The Point, 6X was having their CD release party. I was really fortunate because they started at 12:30am. Rob and Lara were really on a roll and did everything perfectly. The place was packed with 250 people who were all really happy with the music. Kevin was really hamming it up with his, "Thank you Cleveland," "Thanks Detroit," "It's great to be here in Minnesota," until he broke a string on his bass. Then he had to beg the opening band to borrow one from them. I don't think he needed to keep throwing candy into the audience, especially when it was thrown back so violently that one hit his bass and sent it out of tune. The last song I like Chicks was unbelievably good, but their version of Bad Reputation lacked Joan's emotion. I really enjoyed the show.

Twelfth Night, performed by the Soul-stice Repertory Theater at the 7 Stages theater in L5P, was delightful. Although they took some musical liberties that I didn't like. It's just a really fun play. We happened to run into the performers eating dinner before hand at the Vortex too, that was interesting.

I saw the Genitortures perform at the Masquerade, it was its usual extraordinary show. Gen did her awesome singing and stage show with the help of four willing victims as well as a couple of locals. Godhead and Sins of Lust opened and set the mood well. I was really happy to see the Goth crowd turn out in force and really enjoy themselves.

Although all the local newspapers were there, very little was written about the 1999 World Horror Convention. It was primarily directed at professionals with seminars about how to get published and produced, but lectures by Neil Gaiman and other prominent writers as well as many artist exhibits and collectors booths made it interesting for us commoners. The two midnight parties hosted by The Secret Room were very entertaining: Especially the performance pieces by Purge and music of Masterbeat Theater.

February

Had a wonderful time at Eddie's Attic. Beth Wood and Jennifer Kimball were really good. The place was full too.

We saw the preview showing of Julius Caesar at The Shakespeare Tavern, it was very good. Julie about flew from her seat when Caesar's ghost appeared. It was one of the best shows we've seen there.

Disney's version of My Favorite Martian was very silly and made for children. I'd suggest everyone avoid it.

I escorted some Australian officers around Lockheed as part of a training program. We had fun, but I think my co-workers felt I hadn't been doing my share of the work. Well, what could I do?

I passed 1,000 miles in my new car (coup foure!) and had the oil changed. They were a little curious why I changed the oil so soon, but many people advised me to do it.

I went to an RPI Almuni Association (RAA) hockey broadcast at Stooges. There was a full turnout of RPI and Clarkson fans to see it. RPI lost, which was a bummer. I met some nice people but no one my age. It did help me make a decision about joining the Atlanta chapter of the RAA.

January

Happy New Year and all that crap! Yaddah, Yaddah, Yaddah.

I saw Amanda Jones, an all-girl rock group at the Masquerade. The band was good, but the other bands weren't. There was less than 100 people there. Maybe the rain scared all the Goths away.

Spent a day helping Chuck and Julie move into the new house. It is really BIG. I like it a lot, but they're much further away now.

I saw Shakespeare in Love, and really enjoyed it. Queen Elizabeth's part was very well written, she steals every scene she's in. Ben Aflick was pretty good in his minor roll. I really felt good afterward and I like that in a movie.

My car tags finally arrived. - I had to wait almost six weeks! I haven't driven the new car too often, much to the chagrin of my co-workers. Ever since I moved down to the flightline they've insisted on seeing the new car. But since I still have my Toyota, and there are so many accidents in the Lockheed parking lot, why risk it?

Done your taxes yet? I finished mine the last week of January and am eagerly awaiting my refund. This year I was very good.

Old News

The last year's news can still be found on the 1998 page.

You can see the full list of where I've been in my Atlanta Sites page and guide.

SATAN is still dead. But you can always read about the demon cat that possessed our home. His website, called Satan's Place, remains.


Created Oct. 10, 1995
Last updated 15 Sept. 2012
©2012 Stefan Oestreicher
spunbystefan@yahoo.com