The SnapClap

photo by: Foto Bocch

My wife and I went to Bones a few weeks ago. Bones is like Atlanta’s Premier steak house. They had a bone in Filet Mignon that was just ridiculous. At any rate, Bones has free Valet Parking.  So we valeted and went inside.  We had our steaks and potatoes and what not, and it was time to go home.  We went outside and presented the valet our ticket, he hurriedly retrieved our key, ran over to the car and pulled it around right in front of our feet. He opened the door for my wife and handed me the keys. I hit him with a five spot, hopped in and drove away.

Almost immediately we began to smell something.  It was absolutely rank.  I knew it didn’t come from me, and I figured it wasn’t coming from my wife either; she’s too beautiful for something so foul smelling to emanate from her.  So we looked at each other kinda puzzled.  That’s when I surmised that it had to be the valet. Damn valet, he took the liberty of passing gas in our car.  And to think, I tipped him a five spot and what I get in return? Fresh ass gas from the valet. Thanks valet guy.

So we rolled down the widows and opened the sunroof and tried to air the car out. But the smell would not dissipate. Did the valet guy have an accident in the car as well? Where is this smell coming from? That’s when my wife reveled that she spilled some of her lunch, which included yogurt, into her lunch bag. She thought that she cleaned it out. But alas, some of it had gotten it a small compartment of the bar and had began to rot.

Upon this realization we went from being mad at the gassy valet to being embarrassed by a stinky car. We wondered what the valet was thinking? Maybe there’s some blog out there by this valet, talking about our stinky car or something?  The moral of the story is, don’t tip free valet guys. Nah, I’m just kidding, the moral of the story is if you’re gonna valet, don’t pack your lunch that day.

This is weird I’m sure.  Especially since this car did not do well here in the states and this is a little out of left field but, the UK website for the Volkswagon Phaeton is one of the most engrossing websites I’ve ever been to in my life.  It might not be the most technologically advanced or best designed or whatever; but in terms of interactivity and imersion I think this site is top notch.  The music is off the hook, the detail that went into the site seems to be indicative of the detail that VW put into the Phaeton.  I know the US car buyers market is not deep enough to support an $80,000 VW but man, you gotta admit this car is awesome and so is the website. 

Your dream still lives!

Go GIANTS!!!!! Looking down the final stretch of this season, I had been saying that week 16 against the Pats was gonna be my Superbowl. Why? because the Pats had a light schedule towards the end of the season and I knew that Big Blue had a chance to win and stop the perfect season. Wining that game would have been enough for me. But we lost. Now, we have a chance to avenge that loss and put a damper on the Pats perfect post season, in Superbowl 42!!! This is absolutely incredible!

photo by www.thesnapclap.com

You know, the other day when it snowed, I took out my Canon Digital Rebel without hesitation.  That camera ain’t weather shielded or nothin’. But, I took it out any.  I look back on the places I’ve been with that camera and it’s like, wow, I really don’t worry about damaging the camera anymore; it goes where I want to take pictures.  There’s something to be said for a good old faithful camera, you know?  You know where all the features and control surfaces are.  You’re all used to the ergonomics and everything, you know what I mean?  There’s something to be said for that.

I know I’m due for another camera soon, and hopefully it’ll be sealed for the environment and have all sorts of fancy bells and whistles, but I’m sure it’ll be awhile before it supplants my good old trusty Rebel.  I’ll be all ginger with the new camera, .. I’ll have it all protected and what not, . .won’t take it out in the rain and snow and sand and what not, but not Digital Rebel; That camera is a TANK.  I dropped it the other day and it just kept on truckin’, you gotta love that.  Maybe I shouldn’t even get a new camera, maybe I should get some ridiculous, 85mm f/1.2. or something insane like that. 

I will say this much when I think about how much the new cameras are compared to what I paid for my rebel, it makes me sick.  These cameras these days are so much cheaper then a few years ago, I paid like $1200 about five years ago for my Rebel.  For, $1200 you can get a damn 40D, and for $200 more you can get this crazy vibration reducing kit lens!  But you know what, the enjoyment I’ve gotten outta my rebel is priceless!  So, at the end of the day, I’ll stick with old faithful. 

Futon, by Roger Sizemore.

When I first got down here to Atlanta, I had to acclimate myself to the whole county government thing. In New York you see, its backwards.  New York is the city and the boroughs of New York City are the counties I’m used to.

At any rate, one of the counties down here puzzled me. Its called Dekalb county. I wasn’t sure how to pronounce it, becasue it sounded like people down here pronounce it with a silent “L’ as in ‘Dekab’ county. However, I’m used to Dekalb Avenue in Brooklyn, where the ‘L’ is most certainly pronounced.

So I figured that, if they don’t pronounce the letter “L” in Dekalb, . . then Fulton County, where I live, must be pronounced “Futon” County, as in “pull-out-couch-county”

I think thats what this gaffitti in the picture above is all about.

A Rare snow in Atlanta, originally uploaded by www.thesnapclap.com.

I guess when we moved here, me and my wife bought the snow from New
York with us. Sorry.

Obey, originally uploaded by gogostevie.

The Giant is here in Atlanta too. I’m trying to tell ya’ll’ the Giant is large. He’s everywhere. He’s like Santa Claus, he sees when you’re not looking, or something like that.

Atlanta Silhouetted,  by mcmillend.

So far I haven’t as much as picked up my camera here in Atlanta. I will this weekend since we’re going to the Aquarium, but seeing a shot like this makes me fiend for a lazy evening where I can melt into my photography. Especially since I got the super dope tripod from my cousin. Good work Mcmillend, this picture is fantastic. I’m a sucker for a good silhouette and a sunset.

Another pic from my phone.  This one is of Luckie street in Atlanta.  Where is everybody?  I sure hope its just the weather that’s got folks all holed-up in the offices.  I think you learn the ‘feel’ or vibe of a city by walking around.  I’ve driven by places a thousand times and didn’t really understand it until I got out of the car and walked around, you know?  You can’t understand what’s going on by looking at peoples cars all day.  You gotta, walk around and see the demographics changing around you.  See the city living and breathing, see folks going about their daily routines and such, you feel me.  To me, that’s just the most efficient way to learn about a city.  So far, Atlanta has been a hard crack.  Nobody walks around this place!  It’s a beautiful city, why don’t people walk around?  I went on a job interview in December and it bugged me out because the building had no sidewalk.  It was like a 30 story building with a parking garage, and no sidewalk?!  What gives?  The only way in or out was through the parking garage, that’s just ass backwards if you ask me.

I took this pic with my phone, from my office downtown Atlanta.  The Green tinge makes it look like the Matrix or something.  Atlanta doesn’t look too bad from above.

Drum roll please, . . the winner of the Snap Clap Ipod giveaway is:

Big Nat of Atlanta Georgia!  Congrats Big Nat, please email me with your contact info, so I can forward you this handsome Ipod that will serve you very well as an mp3 playing powerhouse of a paperweight!

Thanx to everyone who participated with a special thank you going to D.Charles and Lisa.  Thank You.  And, please stay tuned, instead of selling stuff on ebay I think I’m just gonna have drawings here on the snap clap, contests are always fun.  I have a few things, I need to get rid of so stay tuned. Peace.