With the origins of Pride rooted in a fight for a right to party, there’s no more fitting way to pay homage to Stonewall than a weekend full of blockbuster dances and good times. Atlanta’s clubs and party promoters recognize Pride weekend as the most vibrant of the year, and they’ve gone all out in their attempts to create memorable experiences for revelers.
“It would be a catastrophe for Atlanta not to have huge DJs coming in for Pride,” said promoter Chris Coleman, who has a cadre of heavy-hitting international DJs slated for his parties. “I think Atlanta’s got a lot in store for Pride, and a lot of us are stepping up by bringing the big-name DJs.”
Coleman helps kick-off Atlanta Pride’s festive weekend with a cocktail set at Whiskey Park in the W Midtown on Oct. 6. The “Stride into Pride” party takes place following Atlanta Pride’s commitment ceremony, and features the sounds of DJ Scorpio and $5 drink specials all night.
Ah, it’s that time of year again, Atlanta: Dragon*Con.
Many who have never attended the convention see it as just freaks and geeks who like to dress up in elaborate costumes for a weekend. This may be partially true, but Dragon*Con happened to be where I realized something about myself that I had never known before: I have a reading disorder.
Besides parades and parties, Dragon*Con offers a large variety of sessions on everything from costume design to how to conduct a successful ghost hunt. Last year, I attended a session on graphic novels that included a panel of guests.
One speaker was a librarian who expressed his frustration at the difficulty he had in convincing schools and libraries to take graphic novels seriously. He credited these books with saving his education. As a child he had suffered from a learning disorder and the only books he could read growing up were graphic novels.
One of the things I admire most about my girlfriend, Katie Jo, is her community. A Georgia native, Katie has maintained friendships with folks from high school, college, graduate school, and her jobs.
Since I moved away from Tennessee, most of my hometown and college friends live hours away. Plus my growing phobia of the telephone hinders any opportunity for those hours-long conversations to catch up on every detail of each other’s lives.
One group of Katie’s friends is the “Book Club.” I put this in quotes since I’m not convinced they actually read books or even talk about them. My take on their monthly meetings is like a shirt I saw recently — they “Read Between the WINES.”
Until recently, my acting resume consisted of a non-speaking part on the “O.C.” for three frames. Seems that was enough to land me the role of Friend #4 in a new form of family entertainment: the adoption video.
I was not aware of this new marketing tool used by would-be parents and am still unsure of how common they are in the adoption world. But like everything, even adoption has apparently gone Hollywood. These days, even the loving act of bringing a baby into your family requires you submitting to judgment based on beauty, success and wealth.
My friends Ken and Matt had made their home the “set” and hours of filming had already gone into their adoption video. I missed earlier scenes which included “The Cookie Jar” and “The Band-Aid to the Rescue.” Earlier in the week, Ken and Matt had sent out the outline of the shoot and casting assignments to their friends and their kids. The couple had pulled out all the stops in their efforts to become new dads to some lucky baby and their mini-movie was the latest part of their attempt to show how welcome a baby would be.
Since 2009, Mike Pope has been the resident DJ for the popular Joining Hearts party and HIV fundraiser. This year’s event is set for Saturday, July 23, at the Piedmont Park pool, with Pope and DJ Seth Cooper providing the beats. Pope, 39, also spins at numerous other dance parties, including at the Heretic, where he is the rotating resident DJ, and at Mixx.
Born near Baltimore, Md., and raised in Columbia, Md., Pope moved to Atlanta 14 years ago where the boys love him and his disco house, tribal house and vocal house beats. He took a few moments out of his busy schedule to discuss his swimsuit selection for the Joining Hearts party as well as who gets his top vote in a match between Lady Gaga and Madonna.
Do you have a day job? What is it?
Yep, I'm not a jet-setting international DJ quite yet (but hopefully someday). I am the Media Services Analyst at The Art Institute of Atlanta. I manage the audio and video equipment and recording studios for the Audio & Digital Film-making Programs at the college. I've been doing that for the last eight years.
I really didn’t think they would do it. Yet while it is historic that New York legalized gay marriage, you would think it would already be legal there by now and even be allowed in California (and we saw how that worked out with Proposition 8).
I mean, both of these states pride themselves on being more progressive than the rest of the country on most everything. I think a majority of the United States would agree with them, especially Georgia.
But the fact that New York and California still fight it out on whether gays should be allowed to marry in their state proves to me they aren’t as progressive as they would like to think. And Georgians should not assume that we have to wait in line behind the Northeast and West before we get our turn at anything, including gay marriage.
Atlanta DJ Brian Beck has died due to complications from lymphoma, according to a posting on his Facebook page.
Project Q Atlanta was the first to report the news.
The note posted today to Beck's Facebook page by his family states, "Brian passed away earlier today from complications from his battle with lymphoma. He went peacefully and quietly surrounded by his loved ones. In the next couple of days, we'll post memorial details. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers."