Random House began a new ad campaign for books-on-tape at this year’s Decatur Book Festival, which purposely focuses on grid-locked Atlanta because of our long commute times.

Diane Capriola of “Little Shop of Stories” adds a little color to the AJC article by recounting the trials of Decaturites that live 15 minutes from any highway “You try to get to Buckhead from Decatur and it could take you a good 45 minutes,” said Capriola. “It’s (audiobooks) just a good option to have.”

I’ve listened to countless books-on-tape over the years during my commute downtown…currently I’ve got Faulkner’s Sound and the Fury in the CD player.  Though I don’t buy them, I just take them out of the library.

Photos Courtesy of the AJC

When the AJC voter’s guide asked the two men running against each other for the only disputed city commission seat on Nov. 6th , both made sure to include elements of the city’s drafted Community Transportation Plan in their response to the question “If elected, what will be your priorities?”

In addition to both making promises of tax relief, current commissioner Jim Baskett specifically mentioned “Improve safety at railroad crossings” (pages 12-21 of the Streets section of the Transportation Plan) while challenger Alvin McNeely gave a synopsis of the plan “I want to make sure that the bike lanes, sidewalks, greenspace, traffic calming, and other quality-of-life measures get implemented. Quickly.”

Both also mentioned addressing the concerns of future development, with Baskett looking to “protect the property owners that are in R-60 zoning from being overwhelmed by adjacent commercial properties“, (originally a concern brought about by the E Howard/Hillyer St condo development), while McNeely wants to address the issue of infill (see DeKalb Infill Overlay Ordinance).

To see how the candidates answered other questions like “What experience will help you in this job?”, “What’s the best thing an elected official in the post you are seeking can do for your community?” and “If you were stranded on a desert island…” (I’m serious) click here.

As noted by In Decatur, the AJC features not a review, but something that reads more like a press release, of Decatur’s new salad bar joint, Tossed. (I definitely saw this write up a couple days ago online, so to see an Oct. 18th publication date on it stumped me for a moment, but I guess that may be when it finally went into the print edition.)

In Decatur also points out a small feature about Bada Bing! in an AJC Jon Waterhouse Neighborhood Dining wrap up about upscale tailgating (oxymoron?).

335 West Ponce – Photo Courtesy of City of Decatur

And for any and all Decatur development junkies, a small update on In Decatur’s eulogy to Tropical Smoothie Cafe (sniff…we hardly new your mango/kiwi smoothies and salad wraps) – there doesn’t seem to be an immediate renter of the vacated space in the 335 W. Ponce De Leon condo building, since they’ve recently hung a “For Lease” sign in the window.

Andrew Sullivan recently asked readers of his blog, The Daily Dish, to submit the most “manly” names they’ve ever come across. While many readers fabricated names like Slab Bulkhead, Fridge Largemeats, and Punt Speedchunk, one reader from our town of Decatur, Georgia wrote in…

“I manage a local history archive in Decatur, Georgia, and two years ago I did a short genealogical research project on a local man named Straiton Hard III. I have never met the man, but when I heard the name I had to find out if it was legit. I have attached my one-page summary report documenting that this is the real name of a real person. The research showed that the name “Straiton” is a variation on one of his ancestral names: “Stratton.” Also notice that Straiton Hard III was a member of the class of ’69. ”

Class of ’69 at Decatur High School?

I know, I don’t believe it either. This blog is only into its fourth week of existence and this morning I woke up to see that Slate.com was sending me visitors. So I headed on over there and discovered my sarcastic comment for China in the Dalai Lama Congressional Medal Angers China posting was the second quote on Michael Weiss’ “Today’s Blogs: The Latest Chatter in Cyberspace” page.

From Slate…

Reacting to a Tibetan Communist Party flunky’s comment that the Dalai Lama lacks patriotism and has tried to “split the motherland,” Decatur Metro ripostes: “Oh China, you sure know how to sweet talk the rest of the civilized world with your nonsensical mandated patriotism. Certainly the Dalai Lama should love the country that destroyed his homeland and makes constant attacks on what’s left of Tibetan culture. That makes complete sense.”

Craziness. I visit Slate pretty regularly, so this is a big ol’ honor for me!

Expect a lot more coverage from Decatur Metro on the Dalai Lama’s visit as we head into the weekend.