This new Agnes Scott initiative is very cool.  So cool, it got some love on the New York Times’ Tierney Lab blog!

The Metro Atlanta Solar System is centered at the Bradley Observatory, where the Sun is represented by a circular granite plaza about 30 feet wide. From there it’s almost half a mile to the 3-inch model of Earth (at the Decatur Public Library), nearly 12 miles to Uranus (at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport) and more than 18 miles to Neptune (at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Lithia Springs, Ga.)

According to the project’s website, at each of the designated planet locations, pseudo-space travelers will find two large-format panels, which show the location of each planet and a scaled image of that location’s planet.

Here’s the full list of locations for those uneasy with wandering aimlessly in space.

• Sun -  Bradley Observatory
• Mercury - Alston Campus Center, Agnes Scott College
• Venus - Decatur High School
• Mars - Columbia Theological Seminary
• Jupiter - Emory University-Physics Building
• Saturn -  Georgia Tech-Physics Building
• Uranus - Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
• Neptune - Sweetwater Creek State Park

Thanks to Emily for forwarding the NY Times link!

DHS teacher Chris Billingsley reports…

The Jr. ROTC Department, students from Mr. Billingsley’s A block, and guests from throughout the school participated in a 9/11 memorial ceremony this morning. Mr. Billingsley read the names of Georgians who were killed on 9/11 and the name of Jonathan Shields, a former DHS student and member of the U.S. Army who was killed fighting in Iraq in 2003. The ringing of one bell honored their memory. Thanks to Colonel Richards and the Jr. ROTC department for all their hard work in putting on the ceremony.

First off, they do exist.

Even though it was announced last week that tickets for this year’s Decatur Beer Festival had sold out in 12 short days, there are still unsold tickets out there.

How and why is this possible?  It all has to do with excessive number of people who jump up and volunteer for this event.

The city’s Linda Harris explains…

Here is what happened: We always have more volunteers than we have spots so the committee decided to hold back a limited number in order to allow those who did not get a volunteer spot the opportunity to purchase tickets. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We had no idea the event would sell out so fast so early. In retrospect, the committee said they should have just placed all of them online at the same time and they will do so next year.

Live and learn.

These “extra” tickets will be made available on October 1st, after final decisions have been made on festival volunteers.  So, if you’re still in need, you might want to jump over to Ticket Alternative on 10/1 and search for tickets.  I’m not sure exactly how many tickets are left, but I’m sure they won’t last more than a couple hours.

This story has been confirmed independently by both the city of Decatur and Ticket Alternative.

Use this post to ask questions and make comments about topics not covered in posts over this past week.

Comments will be closed Monday.

Michelle at Agnes Scott writes in…

Just wanted to post that we have a free “Screen on the Green” tomorrow night 9/11 at Agnes Scott for City of Decatur Residents and friends.

We are showing the movie “Up” on the main quad at sundown. Bring friends, a blanket, food, etc. Should be a great time!

Our next two screen on the greens are:

Sept. 24th “The Soloist”

Oct. 10th “Star Trek”

FYI: sunset is at 7:49p this evening.