Georgia-grown band, The Josh Joplin Group is scheduled to perform three, count them, three reunion concerts at Eddie’s Attic next weekend. The first two concerts are on Saturday December 8th at 7p and 9:30p (sold out), and a third concert has been added on Sunday Dec 9th at 3:30p.

If you like R.E.M., Joplin is your man. His lead vocals are quite reminiscent of Decatur native Michael Stipe.

Buy your tickets for the show here.

Or listen to a few tracks off Josh’s solo albums here.

Middlebury Battles Vasser in Quidditch (Photo Courtesy of USA Today)

In case you haven’t noticed or (more-likely) have never visited this site before, Decatur Metro, aside from bringing you all things Decatur, Georgia, also has a bit of a Harry Potter slant. I continually justify it by noting that Decatur was Amazon’s 18th “Harry-est” town in the country.

First we brought you the British school that was improving test scores with Harry Potter inspired lessons. Now, we bring you a USA Today article that details real, live Quidditch matches taking place on college campuses. Sounds to me like a dorked up version of Ultimate Frisbee.

MIDDLEBURY, VT – The broomsticks they hold between their legs can’t help them fly. The Snitch is not a winged golden ball but a young man who sprints across the field at lightning speed. And at times, the game looks like the mongrel offspring of rugby, dodge ball and soccer. But somehow it all works.

The first intercollegiate Quidditch match was held here this month, and though this version of the game is earthbound, it’s taking off. Originally played by wizards darting about on broomsticks in the Harry Potter novels, the game is now taking root on college campuses.

“We were all Harry Potter’s age when the books started,” says Sam Libby, 20, a Middlebury College junior geography major from Richmond, Vt. “And Quidditch is one of the most creative things that came out of the books. We were able to create that here, follow all the rules, except the ability to fly. It just caught on.”

Quidditch surfaced at Middlebury two falls ago when a handful of students gathered to play a rudimentary form of the game on Sunday afternoons, making up rules extrapolated from the books.

Read the full article here.

I can’t wait to see Emory battle arch-nemesis Wash U for the golden snitch! That’ll be a bloodbath of beaters!

The endless saga of City vs. State continues.

Atlanta area mayors Shirley Franklin, East Point’s Joseph Macon, and Decatur’s own Bill Floyd participated in a meeting of the Urban Land Institute on Tuesday.

From the AJC article, it seems that Floyd was most out-spoken (or most quotable) on the city’s transportation problems. As the state’s most liberal city, our mayor has the political backing to often take an unpopular position in a conservative state. Like raising taxes to improve infrastructure.

Floyd said the Georgia Legislature should reconsider the idea of allowing areas to tax gasoline to pay for transportation improvements. In an interview, Floyd conceded the idea could hit some potholes because of rising gas prices.

The Decatur mayor also suggested the state should let the entire Atlanta region take over MARTA’s rail service and fund it with sales tax money.

“It’s a great idea, but there’s not enough confidence [among state lawmakers] in MARTA right now,” he said after the hourlong meeting.

Unfortunately, the state’s still asleep at the wheel when it comes to helping curb and control urban growth. Perhaps we should just pray for an expanded, reliable MARTA system?