News & Opinion

For that old-fashioned newspaper pulpit wedged between horoscope and wedding announcements, Lauretta Hannon makes a promise to readers of the Marietta Daily Journal: “Not your granny’s advice column.”

It's not even 11 a.m. on the set of Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz's living room in Midtown Atlanta and already Lawrence Carter-Long has the movie buff, along with director Sean Cameron and the crew completely charmed. Carter-Long, the public affairs specialist for the National Council on Disability, has flown in from Washington D.C. to co-host TCM's month-long film festival "The Projected Image: A History of Disability in Film." Carter-Long curated the 21 films in the series and they range from 1946's post-World War II drama "The Best Years of Our Lives" to Jack Nicholson's Oscar-winning performance in 1975's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" as a psychiatric patient who rebels against the institution's dire conditions. Nattily attired in a gray formal jacket, Carter-Long is artfully making a case for tonight's airing of "Charly," the now-dusty 1968 drama that won Cliff Robertson an Oscar playing an intellectually disabled man who undergoes experimental (and highly questionable by today's standards) surgery to raise his IQ.

The city's charitable fundraising king/coiffure creator Carey Carter is back as co-chair this year for the 3rd annual Bodies as a Work of Art benefit for the Chelko Foundation, set for Sept. 29 at The Pilot's Country Club. And this year, the Carter-Barnes Hair Artisans curling iron C.E.O. has some able assistance in the form of Sara Wolf Mixon, a dear friend of the late Debbie and Paul Chelko.

March is finally roaring in this weekend, and with it comes not only the promise of spring but celebrity chefs, art exhibits, and offbeat tributes.

It's probably best that Collective Soul bassist Will Turpin's new solo EP, "The Lighthouse" is only available in audio form. Otherwise, the five instantly addictive tracks on the project (the EP hit iTunes Tuesday) would likely require a doctor's prescription. Playing piano and singing lead vocals, Turpin will debut tunes from "The Lighthouse" Thursday night at Drinkshop Live at the downtown W on Ivan Allen Boulevard. "It's just one of those innate feelings that you have," explains the life-long Beatles fan on how you go about writing a catchy melodic pop song. "When I was taking piano lessons at eight years old, my earliest music teachers kept telling me to quit using my ear. Their goal was to teach me to read music in a traditional way. But after I learned a piece of music, I was always using my ear to modify things. If it feels good to me, that's a good starting place for how a listener might respond to something I write. I'm all about melody. Somebody asked me the other day on a TV show what 'The Lighthouse' sounds like and I said, 'mega sweet, power pop candy.'" Turpin laughs and adds: "I'm not really good at describing music. But I don't think that my style on this EP is something that most people would be able to predict. Hopefully, that's a good thing!"

Great summer concert series aren’t limited to Chastain. So when the sun starts setting, grab a blanket, fill a cooler, and head to one of the many shows in neighborhood parks across the metro area. (In most cases, even Fido can come along.) DECATUR Concerts on the Square Saturdays in May at 7 p.m., plop dow

For years, nervous parents and curious high school students have flocked to the annual U.S. News & World Report National University Rankings. However much or little the rankings actually mean, they’re certainly fun to look at—and other media outlets have been getting into the game. The latest to come out with a college ranking is Money magazine, which attempts to determine which “four-year colleges offer the most bang for your tuition buck.” The top two might surprise–Babson College and Webb Institute, respectively–but the top five is rounded off by more usual suspects: MIT, Princeton University, and Stanford University.

Bill Bolling founded and was executive director of the Atlanta Community Food Bank for more than three decades. Rohit Malhotra is founder and executive director of the Center for Civic Innovation. Latresa McLawhorn Ryan is an attorney and the inaugural executive director of the Atlanta Wealth Building Initiative.