Its time to stop talking the talk and start walking the ride.

Motivated by lack of legislative support and a lack of “sensible funding”, MARTA advocates have deemed tomorrow, April 17th “Ride MARTA Day”.  (h/t: InDecatur)

From the Ride MARTA Day website…

On Ride MARTA Day, participants will all ride MARTA at least once, per their usual commute or replacing their usual mode of transportation. Participants will ride at the time of their choosing. In other words, all you need to do is ride the bus or train on Friday, April 17.

Simple enough.

But I wonder how we’ll be showing solidarity to anyone but each other.  We need some of those pissed off CAP bigwigs to take public transit to work with us.  That should be enough to get an AJC photog down into a station.  Otherwise I’m thinking we will have to strip down to our skivvies to get the needed attention.

Dave at Little Shop reminds us that the official book launch party for Terra McVoy’s “Pure” will be tomorrow starting at 7:30p.

Little Shop of Stories’ Terra McVoy is about to become a rock star. Her first novel, Pure, was officially released on April 7th. Initial reaction and reviews have been impressive.

The official book release party for Pure will be held this Friday at 7:30 at Little Shop. There will be live music by Daniel Clay and a reading by Terra, who will be signing copies of her book with a big smile on her face.

Andisheh's Trackside Photo

SeniorScottie writes in with hopeful news about Trackside…

My roommate was walking by [Trackside] today, saw Jonathan and some of the others packing some stuff into storage, and asked what was up. Apparently, they got the insurance money (finally), are salvaging everything they can, and someone is going to come look at it so they can start to rebuild at the same location. No idea what the timeline is but I’m super exited.

Very good news!  I assume this will be a complete rebuild?

And before someone asks, I’ve heard nary a word about 5th Earl.

From Scott's Infamous iPhone

My wife and I noticed the tell-tale signs while walking the dog up to the Square last night:

• Giant lights keeping the confederate monument company
• Mechanical dinosaurs reaching towards courthouse windows
• The long white trailer taking up those two coveted parking spots along Ponce
• The bored security guard

Sure enough, more filming at the Courthouse!

By the time I checked in this morning, Steve, Scott, GAK and the AJC(!) all filled me in on the details.  The Lifetime original “Drop Dead Diva” is back at the Courthouse and is sporting a California flag, opening up the opportunity for countless jokes involving left-leaning Decatur and the Left-Coast.

The AJC article doesn’t mention this, but this isn’t “Diva’s” first time in Decatur.  It was here last September filming at the same location and around town.

GA tax credits to film studios have inadvertantly turned Decatur into a film set.  And while we know the city and county make a tidy sum from permits and whatnot,  I wonder what kind of financial boost the DeKalb History Center gets from this activity…