Morning Metro: SOPO Needs a Home, Rocket88 Closed, and Brookhaven Boundaries Altered
Decatur Metro | October 23, 2011
- SOPO Bike co-op needs a new home [Fresh Loaf]
- Rocket88 closed just a month after opening [Facebook]
- A sunny day in Scotland and a new chair! [AsianCajuns]
- More influential ARC selects new leader [AJC]
- Bike training begins at Fifth Ave Academy [Be Active Decatur]
- Twirlin’ Swirlin’ Now Open [Patch]
- City of Brookhaven advocates remove Century Center from proposed study area [Mike Jacobs] [PDF map here]
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Apologies if this is a commenting faux pas: I just posted a link in the FFAF comment thread about the FAVE bike training and wondered if there was some kind of class like this for grownups (not CSD or CoD sponosred, really, just anywhere). Would really like to know and hope my more experienced bike-riding neighbors can help me out.
The Atlanta Bike coalition has some options. Have fun getting going on 2 wheels.
http://www.atlantabike.org/classschedule
Thanks!!
Why this fascination with (and promotion) of the Asian Cajuns. Am I the only one that could care less about this? They have their own blog for their self-promotion. Why does DM feel the need to cover their every move. Lar bought a chair!! Big whup! I bought two bar stools last month, but never thought to post it on my website and have DM pick up the story. Are they relatives? Don’t folks usually need to buy an ad with DM to get exposure? Enough already.
Actually the Asian Cajuns have preteen following here in Decatur ever since they donated their time to be contestants on the “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader” event last year at Glennwood Academy. The only one who got more applause was Mr. Thomas, the Vice-Principal.
Beat reading about bus schedules.
Actually it sounds like you care more than the hundreds of folks that click on the links. Why else would you go out of your way to mention it?
AC has been around longer than DM – and is older than any Decatur-based blog out there – even InDecatur. They’ve always been extremely supportive of this website – their comments pre-date Parker Cross – and I like to return the favor. In a post-blog world where it seems like no one credits anybody anymore and blog decorum is a thing of the past, AC is one of the few other holdouts out there. We old school bloggers need to stick together because there aren’t many of us left. I’ve bent a lot to the will of the community with this site over time, but I’m not going to completely forget the folks that helped keep me company early on.
What? I thought I was the queen.
My apologies Parker. Your comment actually pre-dates the ACs first comment.
In fact, you were the second commenter ever on this site. The only person to pre-date you was Dave at nDecatur!
I enjoy the periodic updates on the ACs. Thanks for including.
Me too! It has everything– romance, adventure, beautiful scenery and cool places, and… THRIFTING!!! It’s a “must click!” :0)
I also was wondering about the continued plug for the Asian Cajuns. If I was interested in following them, I would read their blog.
Thank you so much for your support, DM! We can certainly completely understand why some of your readers couldn’t give a hoot about us, and that’s fine! I hope they continue to read DM and merrily ignore any AC links.
We feel lucky to be a part of such a wonderful blogger community and real-life community in Decatur. It’s been hard moving so far from that, and I’ll make sure to continue reading DM so I can get my daily taste of Decatur, and bring some of it to Edinburgh!
Agreed! I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see links on DM to Lar’s posts. And we still get giddy and excited when we realize more people than just our parents are reading AC. That being said, feel free to ignore our blabberings!
If what you meant to say was you COULDN’T care less about the Asian Cajuns, then yes, I’m with you. No offense, I’m just not interested. But I don’t understand why you’re so riled about it. Just do what the rest of the world does, here and everywhere else: read what interests you and ignore what doesn’t.
Maybe because they are so cute? oh, sorry….
I guess the best answer I can offer is similar to the one my Dad used on me when I complained about whatever was on radio or TV: “change the channel or do something else; the world doesn’t revolve around you”.
Even though I don’t fit their demo, I enjoy their clothes ( though I might not make the same choices) and am LOVING Lars’ stories of Edinburgh. They’re having fun and sharing it with their audience. I can’t find any thing wrong with that.
So yeah, you might be the only one who cares so little that you need to write 75+ words about it.
+1 on dad’s advice.
I also don’t understand the constant inclusion of Asian Cajun blog posts. The blog doesn’t have much to do with current events in Decatur or Atlanta, or even any connection to anyone who doesn’t personally know the bloggers.
It just seems a bizarre editorial choice for an otherwise well thought out operation.
And, yeah, I just ignore it.
+1
+1. I had the same intial response to the post. Don’t see how it fits in to the DM “theme.”
I think Nick’s “theme” has always been about community and bringing us together. AC’s aren’t my cup of tea either (but I am one of those weirdos on the Anthropologie blogs) but that doesn’t mean they aren’t part of our community
so very, very +1
No surprise on Rocket 88. We went there with some friends right when they opened and it was absolutely horrible. Whole staff seemed like they were high, and the food was nothing to write home about.
It seems to me based on the photos I saw on their facebook page that these guys really wanted to be primarily a music venue but how does one do that when they close at 9pm? A much better location for them would have been East Atlanta of Little 5 Points, later hours, and just basic pub food that easy to prepare and doesn’t take long, and is hard to mess up (like nachos and the like). I never ate there but based on some of the things I heard about the place, didn’t have any desire to.
I am consistently amazed that anyone would open a restaurant here in Decatur. The saturation, and inclusion of almost at genres, seems like it would prevent many newcomers from even trying. The restaurant business is a hard one, with low margins and high overhead. It’s always a bit concerning when I see inexperienced restauranteurs spend their retirement or severance and make a go of it. Is that the situation with Rocket88? If so, it’s even more of a shame that it could only open for 1 month before it had to pull the plug.
They were the last (but not only) owners of Johnny’s pizza and its my understanding that they had run that place into the ground as well. They probably should have cut their losses after Johnny’s closed. I don’t know them personally, and I’m sure they just wanted to make ends meet like the rest of us, but it seems obvious to me that they didn’t know a whole lot about running a restaurant. Like someone said above, restaurant ownership usually does not produce an immediate profit and requires money in the bank to gets through the first few years. Oh well, hopefully they will chose another line of work the next time around.
This is pretty accurate. They were an unremarkable local chain pizza joint surrounded by a lot of better options (Fellini’s, Mellow Mushroom, Zucca, etc.). This was less apparent before No. 246 and Sapori di Napoli opened, but with those more upscale pizza options on either side, they seemed to know their fate was sealed. A half-assed overnight change-in-name-and-menu-only wasn’t going to save them, but they didn’t seem especially motivated to hang around anyway. I wish them luck in whatever comes next. And thanks for the mural (now with RED GIANT SUN)!
Thanks for the mention of inDECATUR, which is slowly coming out of an extended medical leave. Yes, The RC site is older than both nD and DM (which came on the scene in the same quarter, as I recall). Even though they don’t generally focus on Decatur per se, they were both located in Decatur until recently, and (to me) they represent the best of Decatur. I used to frequently link to them as well, and will again in future. It has never occurred to me to complain to any blog, or paper for that matter, about it’s content. I simply overlook what I’m not interested in. The fact they are cute as all get out and dress well is just a bonus.
Blogs do seem to be trending away as other forms of expression like FB, Twitter, and online “papers” emerge. I’m trending in that direction myself. Perhaps a paragraph in Decatur history 50 years from now will mention RC, nD, DM, and the original Decatur blog (the name of which escapes me at the moment). How quickly we forget. Keep up the good work, DM and RC.
“It has never occurred to me to complain to any blog, or paper for that matter, about it’s content.”
Maybe you don’t, but lots of people do. Letters to the editor are some of my favorite things to read and they can take on a whole life of their own, for better or worse.
This blog is not a democracy and I get that, but I appreciate that he’s responsive even if I don’t always agree with him. If he had the “if you don’t like, leave” approach, that would be a huge turnoff (for me anyhow.)
@Decaturight – If you had ever bothered to actually read an Asian Cajuns’ blog post, or even look at their site once over, you’d understand that the blog is in no way maintained for “self-promotion” purposes.
They don’t advertise on the site, like Decatur Metro does. It is not their “job” nor a source of revenue of any kind. It is maintained simply because the Asian Cajuns are passionate about the Decatur community, and have been more or less promoting that, rather than themselves, since the blog began.
Occasionally, the blog will venture out beyond just what the Decatur community has to offer, but let’s face it, as much as we don’t want to admit it, there is an entire world out their beyond this 3 sq. mile city.
As long-time, active members of this community, it disappoints me to see such negativity and hostility coming their way. It’s not like they asked Decatur Metro to re-post their blog “ramblings.” Who knows how long their constant mentioning of our local boutiques on their blog, and volunteering their time to appear on WAY EARLY morning news programs, without compensation, to talk about them have kept many in business.
While I can certainly agree the blog is not for everyone, I cannot allow for the assumption that it exists for self-promotion of any kind. If you do not find yourself a fit demographic to be an avid Asian Cajuns follower, simply don’t be. Just please don’t go making false, negative statements about them publically. They deserve better than that.
This is getting too complicated. The ACs are part of the cultural fabric of this city, just like the Halloween ballot box kid (Moey?) is, just like a successful novelist in Winonna Park is, just like the Beer Fest is, just like our various community gardens are, just like the dude who parks bikes in front of his house is, just like all kinds of stuff is.
To suggest that active members of our community who’ve helped boost the city’s profile are somehow questionable content for a community blog is silly. Read it or don’t. It still fits.
Great post!
Hector says: “Just please don’t go making false, negative statements about them publically.”
I am confused. What false statements are you referring to? Some people said they don’t dig the ACs and don’t really understand why DM links to their blog. Then DM and others chimed in about how great the ACs are and how they’ve been longstanding supporters of Decatur.
Some people like the ACs. Some don’t. Some people enjoy posts about the ACs on DM. Some don’t. There is a difference of opinion. Exactly what falsehoods are being spread?
Sorry I caused such a ruckus. I now understand the relationship with DM. I was/am aware of the community events that they have participated in. Kudos…I truly mean that. The posters who suggested I just “change the channel” are spot on. Runswithdogs’ dad sounds like a wise man. I was just asking a question and, in the process venting, and expressing an opinion. Hector, if you don’t see any self-promotion in their blog, I think you’re being disingenuous. Didn’t mean to tick anyone off.
I’m showing my (8 months from 2/3 of a century) age again. I used RC (for Ragin Cajuns) instead of AC (for Asian Cajuns) in my comment. I’ve just associated Ragin with Cajun (a common name for LSU fans) much longer. My bad. Apologies to the charming ACs.