Best of 2019

Hashtag of the Year - #Deerheadlife

Wildlife Encounter of the Year – Baby Manatee, Crystal River Florida

 


Book of the Year – Spying on the South

Covers of the Year – Jarrod Dickenson, Under a Texas Sky  

Kid Pic of the Year – Will with Pigeons

YouTube Find of the Year – Dick Cavett and Orson Wells

Mofongo of the Year – Punto de Vista, San Juan

Laughs of the Year – Rachel Mac

Southern Thing of the Year – Stanley Church

Business Book of the Year – Millennial Whisperer 

Liner Notes of the Year – Byron Lee And The Dragonaires, Uptown Top Ranking (via Sunbrimmer Records)

 
Atlanta Restaurant of the Year – Truva Turkish Kitchen

 River Music of the Year – Wheelhouse Rousters

 

Time Waster of the Year – The Shack Project

Pimento Cheese Component of the Year – White Fox Leicester

Vintage Game of the Year – Electronic Mastermind

Reading Spot of the Year – Switchyards Inman Park Club

Atlanta Retailer of the Year – Archer Paper Goods

Logo of the Year – Ohlaf, Danish Bakery, Racine, WI

Podcast of the Year – Hard Times and Weirdness

Geocache of the Year – Taliaferro County, Georgia

Remembrance of the Year – Charles McLellan II

Best of 2013

Blog of the Year - Aquarium Drunkard

   

 

YouTube Video of the Year - Faith

Best Secret Place in Atlanta - Kids Comic Stash at Criminal Records

Office Product of the Year - Palomino Blackwing 602

Smoothie of the Year - Anything at Kale Me Crazy

Genre of the Year - Non-Fiction Buzz Kill.  Check out Command and Control, What to Expect When No One is Expecting and The Race for What's Left

 

Best New Restaurant in Atlanta for Kids - Yum Bunz

Instagramer of the Year - Eleanor Gould

Favorite New Thing in Atlanta - Honey Bubble

Cover of the Year - Milwaukee Blues (Carolina Chocolate Drops)

Top Addition to Inman Park - BoccaLupo

Stunt of the Year - David Black Does the Cannonball Run in Less than 29 Hours!

Photo via CNN

Discovery of the Year - Hotel Boheme

Photo via http://www.sanfranciscophotoblog.com

Gig of the Year - Dirty Dozen Brass Band at the Maple Leaf

Anticipation of the Year - Krog Street Market

Tree of the Year - Angel Oak

Sandwich of the Year - Hot Pastrami at the Wrecking Bar

 Kid Activity of the Year - Harry Potter Camp at Little Five Points Music Center

Consumer Product of the Year - Mo's Bacon Chocolate Chip Pancake Mix

Most Valuable Foursquare Tip of the Year 

Business Book of the Year - The Science of Marketing

App of the Year - Fiverr

Book Bits for Travelers - Pops, A Life of Louis Armstrong

As a Generation X music fan, I admit that prior to reading Terry Teachout's Pops, A Life of Louis Armstrong, I fell into the Hello Dolly/Hot Fives and Sevens camp.

I knew Louis Armstrong as a cultural icon of the post WWII generation and, later, got hip to Armstrong the musical revolutionary of the 1920s and 30s. Teachout's story of the journey between these eras is the core of Pops, and it offers fascinating insights into Jazz, Jim Crow and perseverance.

Teachout effortlessly traverses the party vs. musicology chasm that derails many musician biographies. The reader is presented with a grounding in New Orleans Jazz and the genesis of Armstrong's musicianship free of the pedantic tone that sours me on many Jazz books. We get some insights into Armstrong the viper, but stories of road life, broken marriages and the mob never take over the narrative of Armstrong the musician.

Besides his own writings (two books and hundreds of magazine articles), Armstrong recorded thousands of hours of audio tape throughout his life, capturing his stories, remembrances and occasional rants in his own voice. Teachout takes full advantage of these recordings to flesh out the role Armstrong played in the Civil Rights movement, detail the inter workings of the music businesses, and explore the relationships Armstrong maintained with many of the luminary figures of his age.

Pops reinforces Armstrong's place as the King of Jazz, but also reveals a master of stagecraft, a humanitarian and, in his own unique way, a powerful political operative.

This is a great read for the plane and a top-notch primer on hipster vocabulary! Be sure to check out the appendix for Teachout's list of the top 30 Armstrong tracks, all available via Itunes.

Look for the paperback release on October 7, 2010.

Want more? Check out Miles: the Autobiography, Bird Lives!, Can't You Hear Me Callin, the Life of Bill Monroe, or Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend

Tally in the Gulf

Click image to enlarge. Via Economist.com