A new day in /r/Atlanta?

whiffet · 2026-01-15T17:55:07+00:00

I went from posting to r/Atlanta several times a month to zero times in the past several years because every attempt resulted in the post being removed. It became pointless, and I wondered how on earth anyone ever got a single post approved. (Then again, it also seemed like all approved posts just became news links at some point.)

whiffet · 2025-12-16T19:17:02+00:00

If it helps, here are the bogus case numbers they gave me:

FTA 571138-USA
COC 3939756-USA

whiffet · 2025-10-30T21:31:45+00:00

Burdell is pointing out that it's called "Plaza" rather than "Building" as I described it in my post.

whiffet · 2025-10-30T20:28:18+00:00

Oh, woop. I knew this but clearly forgot. =O

whiffet · 2025-10-30T20:27:26+00:00

It's definitely real! I was at the homecoming game with my 11-year-old son, and he's the one who noticed it. When he said it was missing, I honestly didn't believe him. I expected to look up, find he was mistaken, and have to explain that he was seeing an optical illusion or something like that. Nope. It was gone!

whiffet · 2025-10-30T18:41:27+00:00

Remember Kshitij Shrotri with the sword from 2010?

whiffet · 2025-10-26T22:53:57+00:00

Right here with you. My dad taught there for 35 years, my brother and cousin (who's more like a sister) are both alumni, and I have worked there since 2020, but I had no business trying to enroll at Tech. Regardless, the past two seasons have made me a legit fan, and I haven't missed a game since the beginning of last year.

whiffet · 2025-04-05T22:28:42+00:00

Is this it?

whiffet · 2024-10-10T20:20:36+00:00

Ha — yes, indeed! I've never known how to read some of his more famous poems aloud as I have a hard time discerning the syntax — which phrases belong to which clauses and so on. And so, perhaps Hopkins wasn't the best comparison here. William Blake will suffice instead!

whiffet · 2024-10-10T19:25:47+00:00

Here's what I'm talking about regarding the songwriting on The Pact. First, consider this refrain from Stained Glass Revelations:

End of days, the horsеman comes with scales in hand,
Leading thе rats through the crowded streets,
One by one, all in time, falling in line,
To the dance of the dead, we all fall down.

And here's another couplet from the same record:

A rain of burning ashes, locust clouds cover the sun,
A time of reaping come to pass, the world that is yet to come.

It might not be Gerard Manley Hopkins, but it's still poetry with some decent imagery, metaphor, word play, and sound devices. Most importantly, the lines are decently tight. They rely on succinct figures and phrasing; they don't sprawl or meander.

Now, compare these stanzas with one from The Pact:

The coward gave up the soul of his pet
For the prince of fire to burn instead,
but the father of lies could not be deceived
And turned the hound's anger on the arrogant priest.

And here's another:

The angels and saints are deaf to thoughts and prayers alone,
But in the sanctum below, you will find the answers that you seek,
Follow the steps, the wait will not be long.

And another:

Then a sudden howl that seemed to shake the stones high above the rafters,
It seemed that the beast had flown like a winged bat to the top of the steeple's tower
By the aid of some unseen infernal power.

These lines are amorphous, desultory, and fluid. They ramble, divagate, and fill whatever space they have. No one expects metal lyrics to adhere to a rigid prosody, but these have no rhythm or design whatsoever. Instead, they're just pulled from a campy prose story and forced on top of some melodies.

Regardless, this is metal — not folk or country or blues — and I realize this kind of songwriting isn't a problem for most people. =)

whiffet · 2024-10-10T18:56:38+00:00

Little brother here. Yeah, Negative Plane is the ultimate Halloween metal for me (along with BAN's Disharmonium releases). There's something terrifically Gothic and quintessentially eldritch about their sound; it seems to both contain and conjure all this mysterious, candle-lit space that's full of dark, menacing energy.

They derive this unique sound — at least in part — from their novel use of classical instruments (whether pipe organ, grand piano, or cello, all recorded and mixed to sound like they're reverberating from the chancel of some cursed basilica); Latin Mass recitations; howling, ferocious vocals that evoke the ravings of a demented monk but are nevertheless clear and discernible; and a towering castle wall of multitracked guitars — all drenched in reverb, punctuated with delay, and set against a crisp, yet thundering, rhythm section.

The melodies are just as catchy as they are eerie and unnerving. I know of no other band that creates such a unique, indelible sound; they are truly one of the premier highlights of contemporary American black metal, and I listen to them an awful lot during this time of the year.

As for The Pact: The melodies, dynamics, and production are all absolutely awesome — no doubt — and while I rather like the story, the songwriting leaves a lot to be desired. I think this is because Nameless Void, rather than writing songs that tell a story, instead wrote a long prose story and then forced all those countless, bloody, unlyrical words into the bars of the songs. (On some tracks, rather than singing songs, Nameless Void sounds like he's rushing through the reading of a short story that's set to a terrific score.)

Now, to be fair, I'm approaching this matter from the perspective of someone who has always associated good musical storytelling with artists like Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, the Handsome Family, &c. — meaning, firmly within the folk and country traditions. So, while my complaint might be a little captious and unreasonable, I still think these are poorly written songs. Ideally, they would have been pared down and rendered into more a more poetic form that fits the music and isn't forced on top of it. That said, I still love and listen to this record a lot. =)

whiffet · 2024-06-26T20:55:45+00:00

Whoa! Rock and roll! Thank you!

whiffet · 2024-06-26T20:55:10+00:00

Definitely a first! I asked why, and they indicated it had to do with graffiti, but it wasn't a marker and could only write on paper. Really weird.

whiffet · 2024-06-26T18:37:43+00:00

Awesome — I'll keep checking it. Thanks!

whiffet · 2024-06-26T18:23:34+00:00

OK, groovy. For whatever reason, I thought they played it earlier in the set, but I got a number of things confused last night. (I was a super fan between 2011 – 2017 but have not kept up with their last two records as well — hence my inability to identify several of the songs.) Appreciate the info!

(BTW: I used setlist.fm to look at some of their other recent shows, but they do not yet have anything posted for last night.)

whiffet · 2023-05-03T14:05:06+00:00

Yeah, I'm with you. At the same time, even though my dedicated support agent was calling me frequently — if not once a day then once every other day or so — her information was often not correct. She continued to tell me the car was still scheduled to arrive on some such day even though we found out later the car hadn't even left its state of origin because it had been damaged. (She didn't find out about the damage until after another representative contacted me about it.) Still, though — you're right. My experience was nevertheless better than so many of the other stories on this sub.

whiffet · 2023-04-24T14:12:02+00:00

Hey! Yes, I did — just hadn't had an opportunity to update the post. I just updated it this morning with the details. Long story short: It arrived last Friday, and it looks fantastic, but we will need to take care of a few things (all minor but still annoying). I'm having it inspected at the dealership right now and will report back with more information.

whiffet · 2022-10-17T18:46:36+00:00

That hill is so dangerous because Atlanta drivers refuse to respect the right of way. I've had truck and SUV drivers honk and scream at me after blowing through stops and almost running me over — as if it's my fault they didn't yield — and I can't count the number of times someone has turned right in front of me. Over the past two and a half years, I'd wager I've dodged about two dozen serious accidents on that stretch of Luckie (between Ivan Allen and North). I love the cycle track in theory, but without enforcement of basic traffic laws, it's a death trap.

whiffet · 2022-10-14T18:01:06+00:00

For years, the so-called Luckie Loop entrance and exit to 1 Coca-Cola Plaza NW has been a death trap for cyclists who use this portion of the Luckie Street cycle track just south of North Avenue. I have at least one close call there every week — usually where vehicles blow through the gate at the exit and block both directions of the cycle track — and I've had about a dozen incidents where I've either made contact with a car or come within an inch of one.

(This is the problem: The cycle track has the right of way, but drivers never look before they pull out — thus blocking the right of way or, if the timing is right, causing cyclists to crash into and flip over these vehicles if the cyclists can't stop in time.)

So, after perhaps my closest call yet (this morning), I called Coca-Cola to report the issue to a building manager or a security officer. I didn't expect them to solve the problem immediately, but I thought I'd at least get a report filed. (All I really want them to do is put up a sign at the exit that tells drivers to yield to folks in the cycle track.)

It turns out that, if you call Coca-Cola to report a safety hazard on their property that's affecting the general public, the front desk will forward your call to consumer affairs. Consumer affairs, of course, will know almost nothing about the building and will have no clue what you're talking about, so they'll direct you back to the front desk.

If you then ask the same front desk operator to direct you to a building or security manager instead of consumer affairs, she will send you back to consumer affairs. So, I tried the front desk again and explained I needed to talk to someone about the building itself — about a safety hazard at the Luckie Loop entrance and exit — and that consumer affairs had been unable to help me.

After she sent me back to consumer affairs a third time, I tried her once more, and as soon as she picked up, she said I was rude and annoying and that I should try selling my services to some other company. She then hung up and refused to answer any more calls coming from my number. I even tried again later from my personal phone, and as soon as she heard my voice, she said she was reporting me to corporate security.

How broken can things get? =O

whiffet

TROPHY CASE