One Love
It's not as big in Atlanta as Cinco de Mayo -- yet. But we can change that. August 6 is Jamaica's Independence day. Festivities include:

• August 2 - Annual Cultural Extravaganza will take place at the Church of the Holy Cross, Royal Hall, beginning at 6:00 p.m. The concert will feature a number of cultural performances including Errol Moore, Lee Danja, the Carisol Singers, Unity Dance Troupe, The Sugar Canes, and special guest Monty Mont-gomery and his band.
• August 5 - PJ Patterson, former PM of Jamaica will be in Atlanta to attend a black-tie gala put on by the Atlanta Jamaican Association.
• August 6 - the annual Family Fun Day celebrating Jamaican independence will be held at Lithonia Park. The event will feature numerous sports, entertainment and other leisure events.
• Discounted Red Stripe & jerk cook-offs at bars that believe that Ja make ya. (I'm looking at you, The Corner Pub at East Decatur Station!)

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  Donde esta la Asociacion Lationamericana? Clearly they it is here.

New Spanish classes begin on Monday! Or, they will come and teach your employees Spanish, if you so desire. And they have all kinds of housing, legal & youth services. Oh and a link to a big 'ole bilingual job-seeker's database. They're all over that.  ¶ 10:05 PM 0 comments

  International School On August 15, just two weeks away, 278 Dekalb County elementary school kids will return to classes at a school unique in Atlanta. The International Community School in Avondale provides "refugee, immigrant, and local children with a remedial to advanced international education at the elementary level." They follow the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program.

Just in Clarkston, about 1 of every 3 residents are foreign-born, and many others do not speak English at home. Some are new to the country and don't know any Americans. So, ICS is there with an extra ESL focus and to provide an environment where international kids and local kids can build real friendships and learn about each other. Students from over 30 countries speaking more than 40 languages attend the school. All they got to be is a Dekalb County (not Decatur) resident.

Best of all, its free!  ¶ 4:03 PM 0 comments

  Happy Birthday Mongolia!
To commemorate the 800th anniversary of the founding of Mongolia by Genghis Khan, Oglethorpe put together "Masterpieces of Buddhist Mongolia", a nice exhibit focusing on Mongolia as the portal to Shambala, aka, Shangra-La.

All the pieces in the exhibit are actually permanently housed in the United States. Oglethorpe was going to show pieces from collections in Mongolia, but, on January 13, 2006, Mongolia's government collapsed, and this has prevented any of the artwork from leaving the country.

Alas. But its a nice show, only $5, but it closes August 6.  ¶ 5:31 AM 0 comments

  Domo Arigato! So you're obsessed with anime? Haiku? Akido? Sushi? Lucky you, college undergraduate, graduate, or K-12 teacher, because the Japanese government wants to bring you to their country, put you up, and teach you their language.

OK so its too late to apply for this year, alas. But now you know how you will spend the year after next.

The Japanese consulate here does tons of things, even has a Japan Caravan.

What a nice site.  ¶ 9:58 PM 0 comments

  Parley voo? Like over 1,000 other cities in the world, there's an Alliance Francaise here. The AF is an organization funded by the French government to promote French culture & language.

They offer the TCF, France's official French language proficiency test. If you're thinking of going to school in a francophone country, they'll need the TCF score.

Should you just want to hang out with other francophones or french students, check out the French Meetup, which may or may not be the same as Les Baragouineurs.  ¶ 4:23 PM 0 comments

  UNITAR There is a UN autonomous body here, CIFAL, a french acronym meaning "International Training Centre for Local Authorities/Actors". They hold seminars and do research for Western hemisphere bureaucrats with titles such as "Leveraging Airports for Economic Development" or "Caribbean Single Market and Economy", held in Atlanta and Kingston respectively.  ¶ 1:58 PM 0 comments

  Cape Verde
The Cape Verdeans of Atlanta are having their annual picnic tomorrow. Featuring a Capeverdean Crioulo buffet. But if you miss it, they have regular meetings.  ¶ 6:46 AM 0 comments

  6/500ths Fortune Magazine has come out with 2005's "Global Fortune 500", the top 500 companies in the world by 2005 revenue. Six are HQ'd in Atlanta:

Home Depot. Hint, their stores never have a payphone, so they'll let you use the one at customer service for free.

UPS. Revenue 42.2 billion. Profit 3.87 billion. 2005.

Coca-Cola. This company makes coke syrup to sell to Coca-Cola Enterprises. See below.

Bell South. Bell South was one of the baby bells spun off from AT&T in 1982 . Times change, and by the end of 2006, it will have been reabsorbed by it's old parent.

Coca-Cola Enterprises. This company buys syrup from Coca-Cola and makes and sells the drink. The raw materials for one can or bottle of coke cost approximately 26.6 cents¹. This includes only raw materials, like aluminum and syrup, not admin and advertising and machinery.


1. Calculated by an accountant from Coke's 2005 Annual Report  ¶ 7:30 PM 0 comments

  NBAF The time is upon us for the National Black Arts Festival; this year's theme, convienent to this column, is "In Conversation: South Africa and the American South".

Some sites have already been open since the beginning of the month, such as a good documentary/photo/history exhibit at the Carter Center about US segregation vs. SA apartheid.

Arts and crafts mainly by or related to South African traditions are on display in several galleries, and even for sale at an artists' market at Atlantic Station this weekend.

Music, plays, movies etc. Too much to list here, go to the events webpage. Many are free, open to the public, and in venues all around town. Not to be missed: King Leopold's Ghost, a movie about Belgian colonial rule in Congo Kinshasa. Belgians are said to have been the worst colonial exploiters. I suspect its true. Let's find out.  ¶ 10:05 PM 0 comments

  Makan lah! (Eat!) As far as I know, we've got three Malaysian / Indonesian restaurants here in the A. They consist of:

Malaya, in a strip mall on Collier Road near Howell Mill.
Nice decor, batiks, etc. Satay appetizer was good, but alas no ketupat. Heavy on the Thai food too.

Penang, on Buford Highway.
The one most favored by real Southeast Asians around here. I think the satay is really grilled and the rotis are quite good as well. Got lots of Thai food too.

Batavia, off Chamblee Dunwoody road in a mostly Latino strip mall.
This was recommended to me by a real Indonesian who goes there when he's homesick. No Thai food. The staff is friendly, friendly, friendly. They also have Indonesian sundries, if you really need Ultrajaya brand milk. Or a CD. Or bulletins about the Indo community around here.

There's also Satay Ria, which I didn't include because I think its a chain.  ¶ 12:57 PM 1 comments

  high.org has is not about drugs. . .
No, the High Museum is actually named for a Mrs. Joseph M. High who donated her house to become a museum in 1926.

In 1983, it got the first part of the building we see today, designed by American architect Richard Meier.

In 2005, the size of the museum doubled with the opening of a new wing designed by an Italian architect, Renzo Piano. He has also designed such gems as:

• The Menil Collection in Houston
  

• The Centre Pompidou in Paris

I don't want to hate on the "inside out" CP, but I, for one, am quite happy with the museum Atlanta got over the one in Paris.

In contrast to the CP, the High's permanent collection focuses heavily on American, and Southern US works. Most of the international works are European and come in temporary exhibits that become mega events. One year it was Henri Matisse. Very nice.

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  Jimmy & Rosalyn go to Nicaragua Jimmy & Rosalyn just filed their report on a pre-election trip to Nicaragua. The Carter Center will be monitoring the November 2006 elections there, and the Carters went to use their heft and soft power to make sure things go smoothly. A sort of way to let any potential cheaters know that someone is watching.

The Carters and their team spoke with the US embassy there, whose goal is to "help ensure an honest election that results in the defeat of the Sandinistas", according to Carter's report.

The Carter Center itself is neutral and only wants to ensure a free and fair election.

Note, Jimmy is 81 and Rosalyn is 79 years of age.  ¶ 1:49 PM 0 comments

  Delta, Delta, Delta OK, so though Delta is going through financial problems, to wit, Chapter 11 bankrupcy, it is still the main way in and out of Atlanta, international-wise. It has just started direct service to Edinburgh. International passengers made up about 30% of Delta's traffic in June 2006.  ¶ 8:18 AM 0 comments

  Tea ceremony or pub crawl? Asian culture mania at the Botanical Gardens this weekend, two days of the Asian Cultural Experience 2006. Atlanta Global will be in the front row for the Emory Gamelan Ensemble, Sanggar Lestari Indonesia, and the Chinese Cultural Center's guzheng students. India to Korea to Indonesia & almost every country in between has something doing.

But aside from that, the biggest event in the world is also going down on the 9th, the World Cup final. Italy v. France. You can catch it at the Goethe Institut for $30, includes food, drinks & parking, or get the real rest-of-the-world experience by crowding into a soccer bar. Think Brick Store, Brewhouse, James Joyce Tavern, Fado...  ¶ 7:37 AM 0 comments