Bob Cramer's Blog

Downtown Atlanta on Saturday night, Moms and Dads everywhere, waiting mainly for their daughters, most dressed in cowgirl boots and short skirts, bubbly appearing from watching Taylor Swift in concert, buoyed with big smiles, souvenir posters and a general air of refreshing happiness, joy and wholesomeness rarely seen in our slightly depressed city coping with a double whammy of bad economy and bad baseball.

These parents and their decked out kids made their way from the northern suburbs, from small towns in Georgia, from many points of light, to come to Philips Arena for the “Tay” concert (or a different definition of a “T party” so says my daughter).   My wife and I made our way from the northern Atlanta city boundaries, destined to spend a night in the Big City before the perfunctory concert pick up, finding our way to the delightful and often forgotten “Pitty Pat’s Porch” restaurant tucked in next to a garage on a side street off of the main attraction of Peachtree Street.  A delightful find though a different kind of ambiance than we expected as we too were decked out, dressed in black, sporting black leather jackets (first sort of cool night of Fall) and my own slicked back black (ok, gray) hair, ready to find some hip, not just weather cool in-town dining spot where we could mix with the happening crowd for one short evening, a real depart from our regular life, only for us, of course, to find our way to not only the least hip place in downtown Atlanta but perhaps on earth.

We thoroughly enjoyed  PPP’s collard greens,  fried chicken, and the feed-an-army basket of baked breads in the utterly un-modern décor of the windowless establishment, sitting under the watchful eye of deers, lions, and other creatures from the wild who met a disappointing fate only to be permanent enshrined on the walls of this southern, plantation-like eatery where they barely serve Yankees and Rhett and the gang from Gone With The Wind haven’t gone anywhere.  The food was wonderful, the people could not have been nicer but I never found the porch and we were finished a good two hours before the T show was to end.

To kill some time and show that we still did have a little (very little) hip in our step, we made our way to the delightful Café Intermezzo.  Well, this place did have windows, but we really went from 19^th century Deep South to 19^th century Europe all within the span of two blocks.   Café Intermezzo is a tribute to the great coffee shops of Vienna, Prague and Budapest that both predate Seattle-born Starbucks and provide a refuge for those who need a break, a drink, a snack, a TV to watch Alabama and Florida or quick pick me up from over a hundred different coffee concoction many including alcohol.  Café Intermezzo is an under the radar Atlanta success, from its start in the Brookwood section on Peachtree, to now four locations, including the Airport and Downtown.  Way to go!

Soon, sensing it was time to walk over the CNN food court abridged next to Philips Arena, we made the refreshing walk, feeling the happening, hip-hop vibe of downtown and joining hundreds of other hoping their little ladies were having a ball with Taylor.  It seemed like no one left disappointed and we even heard that Atlanta resident Usher showed up to do a special number with Taylor.  I need to check up on exactly who Usher is anyway.

My loyal reader(s), I owe you a big apology for my extended absence.  It is a long story and I know you don’t want details so let’s move on.  

While I have been gone, the U.S. women’s soccer team has unceremoniously disappeared from sight along with the US economy, any reasonable political leadership and a good chunk of my stock portfolio.  As I told you, if we had only won the stinking game things would be different (click here).  But there is no crying over spilt milk and a stupid goal in the last remaining seconds when you had the game against Japan won so as a country, it is time for us to hitch up our pants, tie our laces and get back to business.

Poor President Obama.  After his extended vacation, he came back and has really confused all of us with his jobs program and then his shift to the left.  Of course, the other side seems to only know how to say no so we have a Mexican standoff (nothing against Mexico, except in Texas, if you come to the country illegally, you get a discount at UT, thanks to Rick Perry.   Having one child in college and another one soon on the way, I am very sensitive to the college tuition issues as is Mitt Romney evidently).

Speaking of college, etc., I have one major grip that I want to share.  I have noticed a trend in the taking of standardized tests.  It seems more and more students are getting extra time on the exams because they have been diagnosed with some sort of learning difficulty.  Now I am not against anybody with a disability being given a fair shake, but this extra time being awarded to kids who seem just fine and get good grades in school seems like somebody is gaming the system.  Please remember that colleges are not notified that a particular student received extra time so frankly that is a huge and truly unfair advantage.   If I were the King of the SAT and ACT, I would crack down on this abuse and making it extremely difficult to qualify to get extra time.  By the way, I also think these testing operations are great businesses and I wonder who exactly is the College Board and how do I get a piece of some of their action.  Anybody?

Now for a personal update:  there is less of me than there was when I last blogged.  Your dedicated writer has been on a training program trying to get in shape for winter clothing and the Holiday eating season.   You may see me whizzing by if you happen to be out by the Chattahoochee River at various odd time (yesterday I ran into ((not literally) my Yoga instructor (see funny, if I can say so myself, Yoga Blog) and I’m sure he was impressed with my pace and overall dedication).  Sometimes I can also be seen waddling up and down the hills of Chastain Park, ducking from errant golf balls, and trying not to get hit by a car as I watch all the pretty girls go by.  Usually I am going so fast that nobody sees me, but in the rare instance when I throttle back from the speed of light, please honk or wave.

Now I am beginning to remember why I cut back on this blogging thing.   I awoke at 4:52 this morning.  Maybe it was the Republican debate last night that caused me insomnia or it could be the precipitous fall of the Atlanta Braves as they fight tooth and nail with the Red Sox’s to see who can be the biggest choker this season.   A bold prediction:  Braves make it and stock market goes up today.   Like the New York Mets used to say, you gotta believe. 

Have a nice Friday and I look forward to talking with you again soon (I promise).

Neither the bang-bang, back-to-back, bad news of last Thursday’s 500-point stock market plunge followed by Friday’s historic downgrading of the United States credit rating succeeded in taking my breath away more so than my Saturday’s spin on “Leap of Faith”, the signature water slide at the supersized Bahamian resort, Atlantis, where I just spent a long-planned, long weekend celebrating a big family occasion.  Yes, “The Leap” includes a freefall drop resembling the past two weeks of Wall Street, and a fast journey through a tank of live sharks, not dissimilar from the Washington debt ceiling feeding frenzy that we just chillingly witnessed during these hot summer doldrums.   Fortunately, the water slide produces a happy outcome as you are unceremoniously deposited into a little landing pool, heart pounding, eyes finally open, and secretly proud of yourself for overcoming your fears and doubts, perhaps a clue for our leaders to have some courage themselves, come together and give us a story-book ending, a bi-partisan set of plans for our country’s future.

Witnessing the massive number of people frolicking in elaborate pools, fish tanks and white-sandy beaches, and spending money like there’s no tomorrow in the bustling casino, the designer stores and the 21 or so first-class restaurants, some adjoining a huge marina with cleverly named yachts the size of football fields, one feels miles away from our no-growth economy and a country being pulled apart by hardening ideologies and an unemployment rate which refuses to budge.   The thought of “fiddling while Rome burns” came to mind until it struck me that here I was at Atlantis, the supposed recreation of the Lost Civilization of Atlantis complete with original hubris, pomp and outrageousness (in the Cramer history books, Rome and Atlantis were a lot alike). 

There is an irony here somewhere in this mixed-bag blog of trite clichés, misplaced metaphors and run-on sentences, but I cannot escape the parallels of what happened to the original Atlantis and what is happening to the United States now.  But our country is way too great to suffer the same decline, and perhaps this summer of discontent is the wake-up call that we needed.   And the more I think about it, while this Atlantis resort is not exactly my style, I like the gutsiness of the place, it’s over the top: big statement, loud, flamboyant.  I watched a video about its founder, Sol Kerzner.   He took a big risk building this place and judging from the crowds, the occupancy and the prices, it is paying off.   I cannot help but think of the jobs Atlantis creates, the tax income it generates, and the source of pride and trickle effect it has across the entire Nassau, Bahamas economy.

Back home in the ATL, ready to start a new work week against a backdrop of nervous markets and a heightened sense of negativity, let’s remember the power of risk taking, the power of entrepreneurship, the power of building and creating our own futures.   It all starts with a “leap of faith.”

Late night blogging while watching the Braves; Saw two interesting stories in the paper Thursday.  First, front page of New York Times on who has better tasting peaches, Georgia or South Carolina.   Seriously.  Georgia farmer said the key to a good peach is a hot night and that South Carolina is just not hot enough.   While South Carolina does ship more peaches today than Georgia, California ships far more than both combined.  But Georgia peaches taste best and that’s why we have peaches on our license plate and we are the Peach State. 

Other story from the AJC  focused on the post-slavery use of indentured servitude to build the city of Atlanta.  According to the story, starting in 1868, just after the Civil War, “Georgia virtually handed over its criminal justice system to commercial, for-profit interests that wanted virtually free labor.”  During this period, a black man in Atlanta could get arrested simply for being outside after sunset, talking loud or looking at a white woman in the “wrong way.”   PBS is doing a 90-minute special on this dark chapter in Atlanta’s history.  Interesting reading.

Tomorrow’s my birthday and Pirates just hit a two-run homer in top of the 9th, so might need to pack it in for the evening.  Be well.

Traveling is taking its writing toll on your dedicated blogger.   My flow is broken, the heat is high and general laziness has overtaken your overworked and underpaid scribe.  I also don’t have my newspapers spread all over the place and frankly, I am tired of the debt ceiling, sick of both parties and nauseous from the non-stop political pandering.

So I am going to resort to one of the oldest tricks in the book: a recap of last week’s intense blogging action.   The most fun blog of the week had to be Close Shave Monday, with an in-depth and humorous review of the new Gillette’s supershaver; the heads up winner of the most painful blog of the week was and Migraine Wednesday, and the sentimentality award was shared between Musical Chairs Tuesday and A Founder’s Appreciation, written on Saturday following the break in my 18-day in a row blogging streak.     Overall, your dedicated blogger was proud of his weekly output and the  time and energy that went into the writing.  You, my loyal reader(s), will be the judge.

I have big hopes for next week.  My birthday is coming up and as a present, I’d like to see us all get along, get some deals done, and go into August with a clean slate.  I also like Chocolate Cake.