Here's a rumor that would certainly be sucktastic if it turns out to be true. Art, Beats & Lyrics, the annual traveling show that started in Atlanta and now includes several other major U.S. cities (NY, LA, DC, … St. Louis?), will end after this 2013 show. Without having spoken to my friend Jabari Graham, a promoter who started the show six years ago with Atlanta artist Dubelyoo, I can't confirm it, but I hope that it's either a wickedly clever promotional play or a vicious lie. Either way, at least it looks like we'll have something new from the same team. Yae-yaeeee!

Anyway, here are some pics of amazing art created by ATL residents, throngs of people enjoying free Gentleman Jack cocktails, and two music legends--DJ Quik and Teddy Riley--performing live.

Did you know there are still people moving to Atlanta for "the music industry"? Seriously. Like, "rappers," people who "can sing," and even folks who make "beats" and have "groups," "managers," and "labels." But truth be told, while entertainment still draws lots of career-seeking creatives to ATL (from music to the increasing frequency of major film productions like The Hunger Games, Anchorman 2 and Dumb and Dumber To) , and the local art scene is spitting that hot fiya (as my man Maurice Garland recently pointed out), the best evidence and biggest reason to get excited about Atlanta is the long-awaited discovery of the city by the tech startup scene. And that's where Choose ATL comes in.

Ha! Just kidding; I contributed to Mayor Kasim Reed's campaign (which, let's just be real, is not in danger of failing) because the man has done a great job, especially when you consider that Mary Norwood seemed to have a good chance to beat him when he first ran (causing Lisa Borders to bow out to give Mayor Reed the clear path to victory), and now she's content to take a city council position, because duh.

Since he's done well in his first term, creating a working relationship with Governor Nathan Deal and bringing ATL's budget from -$10 million to +$100 million (thanks, Shirley!), I think Mayor Reed deserves another four years at least. I also love the fact that he's brought a gang of next-generation Atlantans into his cabinet, which has helped get more of my peers into prominent roles in city and county government. Without naming them just now, I will say that seeing friends and fellow A.U.C. alums at his reelection fundraiser party at the old Luckie Lounge (now Suite Food Lounge) means a lot. I speak from no part of racial preference when I say that I love seeing the black intelligentsia representing proudly at a political event in Atlanta. The same way I love to see the white/Indian/Native American/Asian/Latino/miscellaneous intelligentsia representing. I love it when smart, responsible people take part in the political system; at the very least it cancels out those who might support the ATL version of Ted Cruz.

Truth be told, I can't vote for Kasim anyway, since I live in East Point (and we won't even get into East Point's local politics right now...). But I support what he's done and I hope to see him run Atlanta for another four years of progress, especially if we can see the housing market continue to climb, the tech/entertainment/design sectors continue to invest in the city, and the school system get its act together.

Support Mayor Reed. And get ready for Kwanza. Or Ceasar.

Or me.

UPDATE: My check must not have bounced! Here are freshly received photos of Mayor Reed and I. See him A) peeping the MJ business card; B) embracing me in appreciation of the sheer awesomeness of the MJ business card; and C) proudly posing for a photo with that "I'm Kasim Reed, and I approved this business card" look. Politics.

There is more than one scene in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave that's not easy to watch, but like many movies about some of humanity's most historically evil times, there's one that will stand out for most people. Without giving it away, I'll say that it's something that also happened in D'jango Unchained but not quite to the same degree, although I say that while taking nothing away from Quentin Tarantino's film.

People will immediately compare D'jango and 12, and for good reason. Both seem to be opposite sides of the same cursed coin minted from the blood/cotton money that is still owed to the descendants of slaves to this day. However, in one of these films, a character that is not based on any known historical figure kills almost every person involved in his bondage. In the other film, which is based on a true story (reportedly fact checked for historical accuracy by none other than Beer Summit attendee/Harvard professor/pseudo Obama friend Henry Louis "Skip" Gates), the hero receives no such satisfaction. No spoiler alert necessary--all one has to do is look up the story of Solomon Northup.

Cut a figurative check to those who paid the cost.

I am not here to recap the desolate and dry reality of this pitiful excuse for a carnival. I will not discuss how I was gypped (ha! because carnivals are run by gypsies!) for an extra dollar because they charge for two people if an adult has to accompany a child that's too short to ride an attraction by his/herself. I won't even revisit the fat woman on the concession cart who tried to charge me $5 for a caramel apple when the sign right in front of her said it was $4, and she still tried to stick to her spoken price.

I will merely turn this blog post over to my special correspondent, The Booger Bear, who will narrate a slide-story of images taken yesterday at Downtown East Point's carnival. The journalism is in her facial expressions, and the story is clear: East Point's carnival SUCKS.

My favorite beer-drinking time of year is "pumpkin." With that truth comes plenty of side-eyed glances, but it also usually comes with delicious flavor and a rabid hunt for whichever bar, beer store or growler shop still has the dark orange brew available by bottle or tap.

What sucks is that this year it was all sucky, and therefore everybody's tastebuds got all jacked up and thrown out of whack. Take, for example, this Paste Magazine pumpkin beer ranking. And hey, Paste represents Atlanta, so I love them. But there are some numbers on this board that are so ridiculous that you remember that whoever wrote it gets drunk off pumpkin beer, if you will. So I wanted to share some trill thoughts on the subject.